I just like the picture I took.
Glory
Au Revoir
Just had a really good weekend down at lovely old Saint Martin’s Plain training camp, part of the Cinque Ports Training Area. I was involved with training the cadets certain skills and I was very busy all Friday evening, all Saturday and then most of Sunday. To give you an idea I was teaching from 08:30 Sat morning until 21:30 that evening. It was hard work but thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding.
The above was my teaching space. It was quite suitable and we made it our own space. I had a good group of cadets.
While I was at SMP, on the Friday evening at 23:00 the UK left the EU. Kinda. It was a sad moment especially as I could see France from one edge of the camp. Kinda. There was a subdued sense of failure around the staff room at that moment. We then got back to annoying each other because it’s a good distraction from the utter shit this country has to face over the next year.
France is hidden in the mist. But it’s there.
We currently have to abide by the EU rules but have ZERO say in any of those rules. We used to have a veto. Not now. This was what the Brexiteers pushed for and got.
For the next year we are going to try and negotiate a trade deal with a bloc that currently is 60% of our global trade. We are going to negotiate with them using a team which has no experience at negotiating. All our negotiations for 40 years have been completed by the EU team, but they now sit on the other side of the table. We also have to negotiate all the existing trade deals the EU has with other countries too as we won’t have our own deal with them.
The chaos is only just starting and it’ll reach its peak when we leave the transition period on end of 31 December 2020.
2021 is likely to be fucking terrible.
In Summary
I will try to spend little time today thinking about what happens tonight. It has made me sad for over three years now and I am doing my best to let go. Much like I managed with Star Wars after the prequels came out I need to learn to stop loving a particular thing and being annoyed when it gets messed up. All three prequels disappointed me so much that I learnt over time to not worry about what they did to Star Wars. I learnt to let go of my feelings. I’ve only really enjoyed one of the recent films.
Today the UK leaves the EU. It is not something I want to happen and like many others it’s not really something I really thought about a lot before the referendum. I was vaguely aware of what the EU did and our membership of it. I voted remain more out of a sense of feeling that we are better in the club than out. I didn’t really have any solids reasons just a feeling of wanting to belong. Other people had different feelings and they were in the small majority at that particular time of those who voted.
Since the result I have felt an amazing loss and sense of despair at the realisation of what people in the UK think. The most recent election result shows that overall this country is full of selfish low level racists. I don’t know how else to describe the overwhelming majority that the torys got. There are, of course, issues with our representative parliament not working in a particularly representative way but that is the system we have.
The more I have learnt about the EU and the [current as I write this] position of the UK within that the more I have felt that a little education about the system would have saved this mess. People believed what they read and heard and didn’t understand how the system worked. The most basic thing for me is the understanding that ALL EU laws have to be approved by the UK PM and if we were to disagree with ANY of the laws then the UK could VETO them. It’s really that simple. It’s the bonus of being a big member of the club. If the population are angry at EU rules and laws then the anger should be placed towards the leaders of the UK and not the EU.
So, here we go. Off into the miserable world of making it on our own. Trying to get free trade and movement which we already have. One of the greatest symbols for me about the UK leaving is that it happens this evening at 23:00. Why does it happen at that time? Because that’s when it’s midnight in Brussels. The government can’t even get us to leave at a time sensible for the UK.
Over the next year, as the transition period comes to and end there will be a slow drip of news about how we lose all those benefits of being in the EU. It will happen quietly and over a year and so there won’t be an uprising but this country will be poorer in all ways as a result.
Slipknot – The O2
Given how close The O2 is to where I live this was the first time I had been there to see a concert. I went there a long time ago to see some tennis but this was the first music event. The “Millennium Dome” as it was known a long time ago was considered a GBP1 Billion white elephant in the early days of the Blair government. The display area was shit. I know, I went there. I never saw the “show” in the arena it was meant to be a bit like a circus – I guess there’s video of it but I care not. I’d also been a couple of other times most notably to see a Star Wars exhibition.
Anyway. Dave from work drove and we met up with Smith and Son. We ate. I drank. We entered the arena just after Behemoth had started.
I didn’t find them particularly good. They were quite boring. There wasn’t much dynamic shift to their songs and it was rather – meh. But still it was an opportunity to study the stage construction and layout of the arena. I noticed plenty of structural high beams, they were interesting, and the cable work holding up the PA system was impressive. Yep, that’s the sort of stuff I find interesting. I think it comes from having and engineering degree and thinking about how stuff works a lot.
The headliners were Slipknot. I was quite excited as I’d been listening to their stuff all week and I have to admit it’s pretty good stuff. It had also been quite a while since we had seen a metal headline act in an arena. Smith and I normally see either small bands in small venues or the classic M’era Luna festival in Germany.
Slipknot were pretty darn good. They kept the crowd going and all their songs were great. I really enjoyed it. At some points the mosh pit extended two thirds of the way back on the standing area and I don’t think I’ve ever really seen that before.
It was curious to see adverts for Slipknot stuff on the large screens before the band. They were advertising Knotfest which is an open air concert to take place at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes. Then, there was Slipknot whiskey made in Iowa. I mean, sure, you can buy it if you want but are you into a band that much that you want all your kit branded that way? In my experience it’s best to like the music, enjoy the shows and then not worry too much about the other stuff. Buying into a band completely always leaves you exposed to being failed when they turn out to be cunts. Not saying Slipknot are, just saying some bands are.
There was also an advert for some cruise thing from Barcelona to Naples with Slipknot appearing on board playing two shows. You can pay to be stuck on a cruise [honestly sounds quite nice] and then in the evening there will be some gigs. That’s not so bad I reckon. The Norwegian Jade will be a floating music festival and decked out like a museum to this Iowan band.
I don’t have this sort of money. The largest venue holds 2500 which is a reasonable size. It would be a pretty special time, but it is an outdoor venue and if the weather is shit you are screwed. Maybe the other bands would make it worthwhile? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll do this kind of thing once I’m retired.
Slipknot were pretty good on stage. There was the expected crowd interaction and I enjoyed it all. I don’t think I’m that fussed about seeing them again though. I think I am slowly seeking new things, new sounds or shows. My limit seems to be two times for seeing bands at the moment. I say this when I’m soon to see Aesthetic Perfection for the seventh time!
Good show. Good time. Enjoyed it. What more do you want?
Parasite
I had a spare evening and rather than rest, go to bed early and generally refresh myself I decided to go and see a film with the programme starting at 20:00. This meant it was going to be a late night and I don’t really do well with late nights, I know my limits and I adjust what I do accordingly. Anyway, a chance to get to the cinema isn’t to be missed and it also forces me to write these communications for my limited audience.
My journey to the cinema was uneventful, I listened to Skeptics With A K podcast as I drove and they talked about companies offering reviving IV drips. Although I didn’t consciously look at the tide state and note it where it was I did so unconsciously – such is my routine. The tide was low and the river was quite flat – I could see lights reflecting in straight lines over the water’s surface, there was little wind. The weather is all rather grey over here at the moment with a few more days of grey forecast.
After watching a film I then rate the thing on IMDB.com, it’s a movie website thing and I’ve been looking at it for about twenty five years. There are rules about my rating system and before anyone gives me grief it’s worth reading those rules within a communication. I then normally tweet the result although if you look back through past reviews you will see a point where that didn’t happen.
I rated Parasite (2019) 6/10 #IMDb https://t.co/VbmoRzU33Y
— Ian Parish (@iparish) January 24, 2020
So, yeah, it’s an OK film which I’m not that bothered about seeing again. I’m curious because this movie has rave reviews and I’m just not sure why. I mean, I enjoyed it, but I didn’t think it was awesome. I think I’m missing something on a higher level. Maybe my basic brain isn’t quite tuned for what this film produces.
I can see that there was some commentary on the class struggle but it wasn’t massive and I’m confused. When this happens I tend to spend some time reading real reviews about the movie and discussing it with people whom I trust. I will be reading some trusted review sources soon and I hope they will explain to me why this film is considered so good. It had a massive critics rating on IMDB and my scoring is way off theirs! So, I won’t be updating this communication with extra gumpf about what I found out because these reviews should be pure emotion and what I thought not what I think after trying to understand other points of view.
Cisterns and Ranges
I had a lovely time recently staying at Lydd Camp in the farthest reaches of Kent. I was there to attend a DDCT(E) operators course which was good fun and very interesting. The camp itself is steeped in history and has some “interesting” quirks. Needless to say that I passed the course, as did everyone, and it was fascinating watching the way things are taught from a military perspective rather than my normal civilian views on things. The SASC were very good in their delivery, which was to be expected. I might make myself a small crib sheet with the important stuff on it.
One night we [there were three from my contingent] went to the Pilot for food and it was lovely and scarily “local”. There was a fund raiser on for the lifeboat and we had some success with the raffle. The food was pretty good. It’s a shame we couldn’t see the landscape in the dark because it is haunting down on the largest shingle area in the world.
There’s a nuclear power station right on the coast and the powerlines ran close to the camp. They made a lovely crackling sound! Here’s a shot:
It’s important to thoroughly check out your accommodation when you get somewhere new and figure out the shower, toilet, and drying rooms along with where the emergency exits are. On such a reconnoitre I found a single toilet with a door that locked [some didn’t] and a seat which was attached [some weren’t] and a light that worked [you get the idea]. I was struck by the cistern in this little room. It had been painted many times but looked quite lovely.
After some extensive googling I can confirm that this “Belvedere” model cistern was made by Finch and Co in London and is most likely an original feature of the camp. Humans just don’t make stuff this interesting anymore.
Turning Point
I want to immediately point out that this communication has nothing to do with those right wing cunts – Turning Point USA etc.
Ocean temperatures hit record high as rate of heating accelerates.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/ocean-temperatures-hit-record-high-as-rate-of-heating-accelerates
It’s a shame that many people don’t seem to accept the horror we face. Over the last forty years there has been regular news about how we are fucking the planet. Every news article I have read which tries to explain the science and evidence behind what we have done to Earth implies that we don’t understand the positive feedback mechanisms but we know they are happening. The climate has entered a phase of accelerated warming and the time to stop our emissions was twenty years ago.
Even if we stop now there’s been enough damage caused that will mean the changes will go on for years. Basically it’s fucked. It was fucked ten years ago and possibly even twenty years ago. This globe is dying through the lack of action of those in power who could change things.
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1917
Yesterday I had a “spare” couple of hours. So I went to see the film 1917. Formalities first though. The tide on the river was in the middle. I could see mud flats glistening in the setting sunlight but the level wasn’t much lower than the edge of the flats. Part of me wishes I had stopped to take a photograph because it was scenic with the falling sun and reflective water and mud.
After watching the film I rated it and tweeted the result. There’s a whole communication here discussing the rating system and it’s here.
I rated 1917 (2019) 6/10 #IMDb https://t.co/7SWAF7DpBN
— Ian Parish (@iparish) January 12, 2020
So, what did I think of the film? I really enjoyed it. As much as someone can enjoy entertainment where the slaughter of millions of people is involved. The themes of “what is right”, “how sacred is life”, “who has the right” have been playing over in my head for the last year or so and I’m am no closer to any answers to my personal philosophy but ultimately I am aware there are no ultimate answers to those questions.
This film was technically magnificent. Beautifully shot. Amazing. The story felt a little “Saving Private Ryan”, but it was different enough to stand on its own. Whether the events in the story happened I do not know but this film displays the shock and horror of the war. I should have rated this film an 8 but in reality I don’t think I will watch it again, so it must settle for a 6.
I was temporarily distracted during the film and there was a strong smell of perfume near where I was seated. I am sure that it was one of the brands SJR used to wear and the smell of it took me back to the early 1990s. I’m not sure of the brand but there were two she used to wear and one was Poison by Dior. It is a curious thing how smells can have such an effect on memory. I wonder what the brain chemistry is for that?
Tribulations
This site has been having some issues over the last couple of days and I’m not sure what’s causing it. There may be some problems with the DDNS systems or there may be worse problems. It seems that the site works at times and not at others. This is not helpful. Working or Not-Working is normally the best. If something works well then there are no problems. If something doesn’t work then causes are more easily found. If the problem is intermittent then you are screwed.
I one had a strange problem with a car I owned which, when the morning was a special type of damp, wouldn’t start. I got used to looking at the weather and then attempting to park the car so that the bonnet faced the rising sun. This normally worked and the car had dehumidified enough to start. When taking this vehicle to the garage it would be working and so it was nigh on impossible for them to track down the problem. When it wouldn’t start I couldn’t get it to the garage. I sold that car, but was honest about the occasional problem with it. I bought a motorbike.
I hope to investigate the issues this site faces as I know there are at least four people who read this stuff regularly. I aim to keep you all updated. In the mean time, if you’ve managed to read this you know there may be problems. If you haven’t managed to read this then you also know there are problems. Simple.
Everest
It’s kinda nice that after this entry into a new [arbitrary] year lots of companies trying to sell something email with a summary of what I did for 2019. I wrote about my cinema trips in this communication. I’ve now had an email from Strava with a link to my summary for the year. They had some flashy graphics and moving things but there was a summary for me.
I think the important thing to note from this summary is although I ran/rowed quite farand that not all exercise sessions were included the second law of thermodynamics still runs true for humans.
Energy in – energy out = getting fat
While my fitness has stayed mostly constant, there have been periods of time when I didn’t exercise much because of other commitments. I have recently been eating too much which means I have to start eating less to balance it out. Having to buy new trousers was enough of a warning and it’s time to get the fat burned. I have spent quite a large portion of the last decade aiming for a particular mass and not reaching it so it might be time to make my goal more reachable as we head into the 20s [also noting that it seems to be getting harder the older I get].
Recent exercise sessions have been run-walk rather than run because of extra mass considerations and so I hope to get back to full-on running soon. Also, my number 5 mess dress uniform was quite “snug” before I gained this extra mass and I need it to fit at the end of April.
Mount Everest is 29,029ft tall and it turns out that over a year I have gained slightly more than that in altitude.
Happy New Year all you readers of this rubbish.