On The Basis Of Sex

Yesterday there was a bonus few hours in the day as work was shut because of a lack of water supply. It’d be nice to have another day off, but we shall see what happens. I expect to be working and anyway, I’ve got a trip out to a mathematics competition so that will still need to go ahead.

As I gained some time yesterday I decided to go to the cinema in the evening as I got done some things earlier in the day. I visited the Cineworld cinema at Rochester and went to see On The Basis Of Sex. I forgot to look at the state of the tide on the way in but I can tell you the river levels were low on the way out with only the centre channel showing a liquid covering.

As is custom I rated this film on IMDB and there’s a complete guide to the rating system within this communication. You should read that before having a major breakdown about a score I gave a film. I then tweeted the result.

I might make a joke a bit later about this film, I’m working on the wording of it but something along the lines of “I went to see On The Basis Of Sex last night and I can tell you it was NOT the kind of film I was expecting”. You have to trust me that with my reputation this would be funny or at least vaguely amusing.

I liked this film and really wanted to give it 8/10 on the Parish IMDB scale but I realised I probably wouldn’t watch it again and so therefore, no matter how good, it gets a 6. This film covers the early life and career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She is currently trying to save the USA from the religious right wing views of the other judges on the USA Supreme Court [SCOTUS]. It is, I fear, not going to work because they appointed a sex-fiend to the bench recently rather than Merrick Garland. It is a disgrace what the GOP are doing to politics and human rights in the USA at the moment and I can’t go on about it for too long or I’ll get depressed about it.

I enjoyed this film. It’s a court room drama, sort of though as there’s only courtroom stuff right at the end, I guess this more likely shows the struggle to try and make sure that everyone has equal rights. You know, everyone should have the same protection under law and everyone should be treated the same. I mean, you’d think this would be an easy choice, it’s a simple question to answer. But, it took a long time and the fight still isn’t finished. There’s plenty more work to do, not only in the USA but also this country and most definitely around the world. Just have a look at how many countries still have homosexuality against the law.

I enjoyed this film. I don’t have a huge amount to say about it though. It was a nice little review of how people have fought for the common cause of good. It was nice to see RBG at the end.

What I do want to say is that whenever it gets dark in our world the producers in Hollywood and other film makers around the world try to make a difference. They try to make political statements by pushing films with messages. This group of flamboyant people who live in a bubble of acceptance of each other attempt to release films to show the good side of humanity. It’s like saying “fuck you” to those in authority. It’s a way of getting a message out there to the world to say “you aren’t alone and we care”.

This film is a slap in the face to the current presidential administration in the USA. It aims to show how we can improve as a society and what damage is being done. It’s a reminder of what things were like five years ago when politics wasn’t binary, divisive and aggressive. Hollywood tries its best to get the message of hope out there, to slap the face of those in authority. It attempts to change the world for the better by highlighting the stories of those who suffer or those who have done good.

Recent Oscar winners show how these liberal elite try to change the world with their messages:

  • 12 Years A Slave
  • Spotlight
  • Moonlight

Hollywood and films help because they start the discussion. They allow people to talk about subjects that might be uncomfortable while at the same time they normalise those things that many might find strange or wrong. These films give hope to the world, especially in these dark times.

Goodbye Tonkas

As part of my trip around Lincolnshire I spent a few hours outside Coningsby watching the Typhoons. They are pretty loud when taking off although one did set my car alarm off by doing a full-afterburner take off and heading straight up to 15,000 feet.

Eurofighter Typhoon
Eurofighter Typhoon

I also went to the BBMF hangar and looked around the various types they have there. Here’s their Lancaster:

Avro Lancaster PA474
Avro Lancaster PA474

I also saw another Lancaster at ex RAF East Kirkby.

Just Jane - Avro Lancaster
Just Jane – Avro Lancaster

However, the main reason for being a hundred and sixty miles from home was to be relatively close to RAF Marham so I could try and see some Tornados flying before they end their airborne days. I had noticed there was a NOTAM out for Marham on the Friday and so I planned to be there about half an hour before the start of whatever it was. I figured that if it wasn’t the Tornados it would be a Lightning II and that wouldn’t be such a bad thing to see. I still haven’t seen one fly and I could only just make out two in real life over the other side of the airfield.

Sortie - Rolling
Sortie – Rolling

I was lucky. There were five Tornados going up and preparing for a final display and fly past later in the month. It was really good to see them taxiing.

Tonka Formation - RAF Marham
Tonka Formation – RAF Marham

After about an hour over the North Sea doing their stuff they headed back to Marham but not before I had seen four F15s fly over and then three KC-135s in formation. They were a sight to see!

So I have two Tornado stories for you. The first was at North Weald airshow in the late 80s. My friend Nick and I had cycled from home and couldn’t afford entry so we just parked our bikes inside one of two fences in line with the end of the runway. We figured we weren’t airside and neither were we next to the road, we were in a kind of no-mans land. A Tornado lined up in front of us and then used full re-heat to take off. The noise and vibration was amazing. It was an awesome sight.

Just A Few Flights Left
Just A Few Flights Left

My next anecdote involves me being a cadet at RAF Coningsby in 1988. I was allowed to sit in the cockpit of a Tornado ADV and I played with the throttle. I was later told that doing this had dumped some fuel in the engine, but I wasn’t concerned. Later that night I was on the flight line “helping” and the aircraft I had been sitting in refused to start. It looks like I broke it [a little].

Head On - Panavia Tornado
Head On – Panavia Tornado

While at Marham the spotters got our own little airshow and it was such a delight. It was a special time to see these aircraft doing what they were meant to do, which is fly, for the last time.

I should add in that while in Cyprus on cadet camp there were Typhoons and Tornados taking off every evening to bomb ISIS in Syria and Iraq and I remember watching them leave while we were at the beach bar on Akrotiri. The after burners, the noise and the sight was spectacular. Tornados going to do the job they were designed for.

Lincs. Views

Having spent a few days in Lincolnshire I can confirm it is gorgeous and horrifying at the same time. The roads are too straight, there aren’t any hills, and the doesn’t seem to be any traffic after 18:00 hrs. In the time I was there I only saw some hills when I left East Kirkby and headed to Horncastle. There were hills and corners and all sorts of roads, it was actually quite exciting. I didn’t stay in Horncastle for long as I wanted somewhere to eat and it didn’t look like the town for me. I headed instead to an American themed diner at Langrick which I had driven past a few times and it was nice to stop and appreciate the views.

Langrick Bridge
Langrick Bridge

On my first evening I went to the cinema in Boston and there’s a communication covering my thoughts of Colette here. The next day I watched some Typhoon action at RAF Coningsby and then went for a tour around the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight hangar at the other end of the airfield. It was interesting.

I then drove to the International Bomber Command Centre, a memorial to those who died as part of bomber command, which was based in Lincoln. I drove past RAF Waddington but there wasn’t much going on there. Just three E3-D sitting on the pan.

International Bomber Command Centre
International Bomber Command Centre

There’s an amazing view over Lincoln from the IBCC. In this next shot you can see the castle and cathedral looking through the monument which is as tall as a Lancaster bomber is wide.

Lincoln from the IBCC
Lincoln from the IBCC

That evening I had dinner booked in Prezzo in Boston. I’m not sure what I think of Boston yet. It’s kinda of pretty in places but an utter dump in others. Cheap petrol at the Asda superstore though.

Meridian
Meridian – East Kirkby

On the final day of my trip I took in RAF Marham in the morning. There was a NOTAM out for a display and it turns out there were five Tornados practising their formation flying ready for the last-last flypast. Before that as I left Coningsby the C-47 took off in light fog shortly followed by two Typhoons. As they passed in front on the sun their shadows cast over me at 150 knots which was really cool.

After Marham and a refueling stop in Boston I went to the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at the ex-RAF base of East Kirkby. They have a Mosquito and a Lancaster there along with tons of bits and pieces from the war. It was lovely and sunny and there was definitely a certain atmosphere at the place. Really interesting.

River Witham
River Witham

Finally I had a meal at the American Diner at Langrick, next to the bridge. It’s such a strange place. I do wonder how people find their way around these parts. There aren’t any hills to use as hints to where you are and the sky is so big.

Langrick
Langrick

Colette

The other night I drove from my half decent B&B to Boston town in the fens to go to the cinema. I was here about a year ago when I saw The Shape Of The Water. I’m not sure what I wrote about the area but having spent some more time driving around South Lincolnshire I can confirm that pretty much everywhere worries me. There’s not much traffic, it’s quiet and the roads are too straight. I drove six miles earlier and didn’t go around a single corner. The fact that Boston was really quiet at just before seven pm was really worrying and the roads were dead. I mean there was another car on the road but it was a good mile behind me and stayed there. This is country completely countryed up.

Straight Roads - Highlighted
Straight Roads – Highlighted

To give a sense of scale the runway at Coningsby is 2.7km.

After parking in Boston, where all the car parks seem broken and leave me in a state of worry for my car, I went to the Savoy cinema after a small excursion to a kebab shop for dinner. I went to see Colette and I rated the film on the IMDB website. There’s a communication nearly five years old that explains the scoring process.

Well, what did I think. I definitely enjoyed the movie. I think it portrayed many of the issues still facing our society today. Women’s place to make their own money, people to be gendered however they wish etc. I enjoyed all of it. I always like these historical films because once I’ve seen them I spend a little time learning more about the characters the film was based on and learn that the real story is much more real and interesting than the film version.

Much like the other historical drama I saw recently I was somewhat surprised at the level of lesbianism within this film but if I had bothered to know a little more before I went I would probably have understood what was going to happen. There wasn’t a use of the word “cunt” in this film unlike in The Favourite.

Overall I thought this film was well acted and the setting and story were good. A nice little film with a relatively nice ending.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Took a short trip to the Cineworld cinema at Rochester to see Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. What an awful title, it’s too long and clumsy but then, given how many times Sony have tried to fix the Spider-Man franchise this isn’t a surprise, they’ve tried to make it right this time.

The tide was about two thirds but I don’t know whether it was waxing or waning. I could look it up but I can’t be bothered. I will say that the sun was out and the view was lovely. Not too cold either coming in at about 10 Celsius.

So, I rated this film on the IMDB website, which is customary now. You can see a communication explaining the scoring system somewhere on this site, or you could click here. I then tweeted my result:

I really enjoyed this movie. I liked nearly all of it and I thought it was good. This result is probably a bit of a shock to regulars to this website. I haven’t rated a superhero film as good for a long time. I find them all incredibly poorly written and boring. Also they tend to be sexist and reinforce toxic behaviour. I know, I know, I read too much into all of it, but these films help normalise poor behaviour towards each other. They also rely on the idea that we, as humans, accept a higher power looking out for us, or a better social class trying to help us. That’s not the reality.

Anyway, I loved the style of this film. The animation was beautiful and original. It really aimed for a style of its own and won. I was mesmerised with the beauty of it all. Such a wonderful job.

It had a Spider-Pig.

The story was pretty good all over and I enjoyed it. There was some lovely many-worlds theories there and it all fitted together nicely. Yeah, I could find many flaws if I tried but I don’t want to. I want this film to be allowed to just be.

I don’t think this film will change my overall opinion of superhero movies because I am pretty convinced they suck. However, when films like those regularly make over five hundred million at the box office who am I to complain about the social problems of them.

He Said What?

Over the weekend I went to a chapel communion service and I did this voluntarily. I was away at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre and while there one of the members of staff was going to deliver the chapel service. I went to the chapel service to support her and be a part of her experience. There is also the very slight possibility that one of these services might persuade me a little to partake in religion. It’s not happened yet and perhaps I secretly want this. I am, very slightly, jealous of those who have such faith, such comforting thoughts about the world.

As it turned out my friend couldn’t deliver the service because there are rules about who can touch certain parts of church paraphernalia and I guess you have to be a certain rank within the church before you are allowed to commit certain acts. I find it all rather confusing and very amusing. I think that every church has these man-made rules to govern who can do what within their made up system of belief. Everyone seems to take this very seriously.

I was once at Amport House and someone mentioned that although gay priests are allowed your vicar licence has to be approved by the local bishop and if that bishop is homophobic then you lose your licence to priest if you come out to the church. That seems utterly ridiculous that your ability to church is dependent on what your human boss thinks. But then again, the idea that a committee of humans can overturn the common ideals of a religion within a committee and change a religion’s view on a particular issue amuses me greatly.

The sermon on Sunday was interesting. The padre [I honestly don’t understand the terms for vicar/priest etc] spoke about Valentine’s Day and the love that we receive from partners on that day. He then linked this into the love that Jesus gave to us and also the love that God gives us. There was general chatter about two holy men who gave their lives for strangers. One of them was at Auschwitz and he sacrificed his life for another man. The other man went on to live to an old age and had many children. The other priest was a man who got entangled in another soldiers parachute on D-Day. The priest cut himself free to fall to his death and the other soldier went on to do his job. These stories were interesting and not ones I had heard before. While they showed a love for the stranger I do think they missed the point that they occurred within a time when there was great evil on the Earth and millions were dying in concentration camps and in battle. But religious people gloss over the problem of evil.

Within the sermon the padre talked about a passage from John. He mentioned words that Jesus said:

[side point: Jesus didn’t say these things. This was written about thirty years after Jesus died. Go back and think about any conversation, important or not, from thirty years ago and try to be convinced about how accurate you are. It amuses me just how much study is made from the EXACT words in the bible when it’s all translations and copying errors]

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Hey, it’s only my way or no way. You must do as I say or you won’t get to heaven. Do as I say you muthafuckers because I will damn you if you don’t follow my exact words.

“But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

This part was read out and the message was meant to be that if you love Jesus you will get to heaven. My problem is the bit IN THEIR OWN BOOK which clearly shows signs of an abusive relationship. This part wasn’t talked about in the sermon and it’s interesting the bits of their own book they are willing to gloss over. You see that little bit in there which is along the lines of:

Follow my rules or else. Follow my rules and I will love you. Don’t follow my rules and you are damned to everlasting hell.

Do as I say or you will be burnt and suffer in indescribable pain forever. This section of the reading was glossed over in the sermon but it screamed in my head and really bothered me. If christians take this book so seriously and believe it is the word of god then why don’t they see these parts. The parts that require complete submission or else. They don’t see them because they are either glossed over or they think it is a good thing. That passage has really bothered me for a few days now.

Follow my rules or get fucked.

It’s not like following the laws of the road or those at work. This is referring to eternal damnation and the only path to heaven is through following the rules of Jesus. Well, screw that. This book has been used to justify hatred and murder for the last two thousand years and probably will be used for another millennia. I do hope that one day we grow out of following a book written by men about two thousand years ago which is demonstrably wrong about so much.

You don’t need Jesus to understand that being nice to people is the best way to go. You don’t need Jesus to believe that treating people as you would wish to be treated is a good maxim for life. These things are self evident and don’t require a god or his naughty boy. It’s easy to use the principle of BE NICE to inform all your choices and decisions. If only more people realised you don’t need god [or the threat of hell] to be good.

Gloria in Excelsis

Once again I feel so privileged to have been able to spend time at Amport House in Hampshire. I was there helping to deliver a weekend of sessions for cadets who were learning about:

  • Unconscious bias
  • Listening
  • Expressing views
  • Morals and ethics
  • Self perception

This is held at a listed house in the tiny village of Amport. The house and the [grade I listed] gardens really make this weekend a special event. There now follows a few pictures showing how lovely this place is.

Arrival - The Moon
Arrival – The Moon
Foggy Morning at Amport
Foggy Morning at Amport
Just Before Church
Just Before Chapel

I did go to the chapel service on the Sunday morning but there were important reasons which will be discussed in a future Fooyah.net communication.

Licensed To Ill – Beastie Boys

I bought this album on a day trip to France with my secondary school. I remember that I was worried the album would be in French, I was somewhat naive. Can you imagine a band attempting to re-write every song for an album in the native language of every country where they wish to make a release?

This album came out and the band caused a fuss because people over the country started stealing VW symbols from the front of cars to wear on necklaces. Yes, that was a real thing in the mid-to-late 1980s. I never stole a car badge and I’m not quite sad enough to dress up as band members however, I did dress in a way to fit in with the metal crew, I dressed to fit. Teenagers, struggling to be different by rebelling along with all the others.

“Fight For Your Right” blazed through the sound waves and I remember being excited at this odd combination of heavy guitars and rapping over the top. It was good and worked really well. For similar amazement see the review of the album Judgement Night. Then, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” happened and it’s simple beat with crushing guitars and stupid solo was another breath of fresh air. The album had to be bought.

“Rhymin and Stealin” was my first and terrible introduction to Led Zeppelin. It had a drum beat sampled from Led Zep IV and I didn’t know that at the time. I wasn’t aware that bands would steal music or samples from other bands and recycle them. When I first listened to Led Zep IV I was rather shocked that the drum beat had me thinking of a rap band a further twenty years into the future.

There’s some classic 80s sexism in this album and I’m pretty sure, while it was a product of its time, it shouldn’t be erased from existence, all of these things need to be understood in the context of the zeitgeist.

If you like your singers white and shouty along with simple heavy guitars, stupid lyrics, and fun samples then this album is for you.

Alita: Battle Angel

I’ve been to see the film Alita: Battle Angel at Rochester Cineworld cinema. It was a clear day and one where I actually managed less than 2000 steps so that’s quite impressive. I’ll tell you what’s not impressive: this film. But first, before I moan about this film I need to cover the height of the river. It was high when I went into the cinema, high enough for me to assume the tide was high. The river was lower when I left so that fits with my assumption. I wonder if the amount of rain affects this part of the river which is mostly tidal.

I rated this film on the IMDB site and there is a guide to the rating system, see this communication.

I’d had some hope for this film given it was written by James Cameron but I did know it was directed by Robert Rodriguez, when I saw his name in the credits an awful lot of this made sense. Apparently this film is based on a Manga series and I guess it shows to a certain extent. I like Manga and I like Manga films. Akira is a film I have seen numerous times and there are Manga Blu-ray in my collection. I love what comics do to film. However, this film was shit.

Virtually every plot line of this film was cliche. I couldn’t really see anything new. I got bored about half way through and after that I just kept moving in my seat and wondering when the film would finish. It is not a good film.

I’ll tell you what irritated me most. And that’s apart from the superfast battle scenes [which I’ve moaned about constantly within these communications, just because computers mean we can doesn’t mean we should] and stupid games of rollerball, the terrible dead daughter plot line, the weird emotionally dead like father, the strange nurse, the stupid fucking love interest, the murderer father who isn’t, the references to characters I didn’t understand, Jennifer Connelly is still very attractive which didn’t annoy me but just wanted to hide that fact in text, the poor plot, shit cybernetics, high-tech but poor society, falling rubbish from the sky city, and the what is that jewel in her head???????

I’ll tell you what irritated me. The URM irritated me. The United Republic of Mars might have sounded cool in the test rooms but it’s a stupid acronym and should never be spoken of again. Each time a character said it, URM, it sounded just like a natural pause in their speech. Stupid.

What is it with people falling in love in these films, being betrayed and lied to and then they continue to do their best for these people. If you get betrayed or lied to move on. Tell that person to jog on. Get them out of your life they aren’t worth it. You’ll be happier in the end. These stupid films and their infatuations. She’s a teenage girl with her first crush and yet she’s prepared to die for the twat? Get real, dump the loser and get yourself a decent lad who’s not going to lie or cheat. I was happy when he died. It gave her the chance to get on with her plans.

Why does Alita have to “win” her way to the massive city? She’s an URM [?] battle warrior, she could just go and destroy it. Oh, how I hated this film. why does her heart pump liquid? She’s a cyborg, why would it do that? It seems quite inefficient to me. Why is her heart “heart” shaped? Why is it in her chest? Why is there a panel that opens easily to her heart when it’s her power source? Why isn’t it the most protected part of her body? I hated it.

Get online and watch Rollerball and The Running Man I can assure you those films will give you better ideas of the future than this pile of poo.

Liberation Transmission – Lostprophets

This is really hard to write and I’m not even sure what I’m going to say. I really like the music of this band and I even went to see them at the Brixton Academy over ten years ago on a really fucking hot summer’s day. It was intensely hot inside the theatre and was a complete test of stamina. It was a really good show and I had a great time. There are four albums by these guys. But I’m still not sure what to write. I’m not sure I even reviewed The Fake Sound Of Progress. There’s a possibility the reviewing system is a little broken as all the albums starting with “The” may have been reviewed already or they may be coming when I get to the Ts. I might have skipped “Fake Sound” deliberately.

There’s some explanation needed here although I’m still struggling with all of it really. Firstly, this is a really good album. I really like it and I thought the Lostprophets brought something new to the table in terms of sound and popular metal / rock.

BUT

The singer is a convicted paedophile. If it’s ok to list the types of bad there is then he is pretty much down at the bottom as a complete sick-fuck. I haven’t listened to a single song by this band since that happened. I don’t even know if it’s OK to listen to their music. I don’t know if it’s OK to admit really liking the songs. I don’t know if it’s OK because the singer is a sick-fuck. It distresses me, just writing this is hard, because I know it’s easy to be taken out of context. It’s easy for something to think the wrong thing about my intentions. But, at the time I thought this was a good band. I guess they still were. It’s just the singer is a sick-fuck.

Let There Be Rockgrass – Hayseed Dixie

Ever wanted your heavy metal and rock to be a little more . . . redneck? This is the album for you. I’m not sure I could go and see them live, this is definitely an album of piss take which just happens to have allowed the band to make a decent living I guess. It’s like the album I have of Metallica songs played as lullabies. Here’s the track listing:

  • Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
  • Fat Bottom Girls
  • Whole Lotta Rosie
  • You Shook Me All Night Long
  • I Believe In A Thing Called Love
  • Ace Of Spades
  • Detroit Rock City
  • Corn Liquor
  • Feel Like Making Love
  • Walk This Way
  • Centrefold
  • I’m Keeping Your Poop
  • Highway To Hell
  • Will The Circle Be Unbroken

A couple of things to note. I spelt Centrefold correctly for UK usage. I’ve not listened to “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” but I suspect that it’s about a jerk-circle.

Racing The Mountain

I raced a race the other night and I really enjoyed it. The car was a lovely little Renault Megane Sport and the track was Mount Panorama in Australia. The circuit is amazing and I’d love to see some real racing there one day. The car performed well and was remarkably balanced for that circuit, the braking was sharp and there wasn’t much under-steer, I didn’t notice any over-steer. I sent the video to YouTube and you can watch it below:

I like the way the red rims on the wheels make it look like I’ve got proper glowing brakes. A reason for publishing this video was to bump a band video down my list a little, it wasn’t a good performance.

Let There Be Rock – AC/DC

Nearly anything by AC/DC has to be on the good side of good. This album . . . . . . . I don’t know why but this album has a much dirtier, grungier sound than all the others especially those from the Bon Scott era. I think they turned the grit up and balanced the bass a little deeper. It’s got a gorgeous sound, which, the first time I heard it jarred me a little because it didn’t sound like AC/DC.

Whatever you think about the production you can’t argue with the writing. There is not a bad song on this album. In fact they still play fifty percent of these songs on stage now, Y years later where Y = current year – 1977.

“Go Down”, I explained to a class recently that while they think most rock and metal is about death and destruction most is about love and sex. This song encapsulates that.

“Dog Eat Dog”, feeling blue? Listen to this.

Then the masterpiece “Let There Be Rock” a biblical version of the history of rock. Such high energy and an amazing song. Everything about this should be taught in every school.

“Bad Boy Boogie”, what other song are you going to get an old man to prance around the stage and eventually reveal his arse to the crowd?

“Problem Child”, amazing song, aren’t we all?

“Overdose”, it’s sad.

“Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be”, reminds us all that we should be having fun and that heaven and hell are bullshit (that’s my own take on it).

“Whole Lotta Rosie”, holy fuck this is an anthem of a song.

Get this album, get anything by AC/DC before 1982. It such lovely summer sounding music and mostly about sex. FIVE stars.

RAST Heats

I have spent some time recently at an Army Training Camp with a team of CCF cadets whilst they trained to compete in the Royal Air Squadron Trophy. They worked very hard and won the South East heats and so now move on to the national finals in a month’s time.

I can’t show you any photographs of that because they all contain the cadets. What I can show you are two pictures of Crowborough in the lovely sunny snow.

Crowborough Snow
Crowborough Snow

Another:

Glimmer Of Sun
Glimmer Of Sun

I’m very proud of the work the cadets put into the competition.

Also, while at the defence training area I found an old safe. I thought it looked particularly picturesque and so here it is:

Abandoned Safe
Abandoned Safe