I don’t care what nonsense you think.

The title is from something I came across on social media. The person who wrote it was tired of listening to misinformed baloney that some folks picked up watching YouTube videos.

For me YouTube is for revisiting musicians I've not listened to in an age or to hear new to me music. It's an amazing resource. But to inform myself on history or current affairs? I don't think so. Because...

'Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man.'

Remembrance

..in London, three of the four surviving British World War I veterans attended a ceremony at the Cenotaph.

Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110, and Bill Stone, 108, represented the Royal Air Force, Army and Royal Navy respectively.

These last few years Bert and I have taken a note of the number of veterans remaining from the First World War. It won't be long now until there are none left. Amazing as these old guys are they aren't immortal.

We watch the Remembrance Sunday coverage every year and I never fail to find it deeply moving. I've always had a great deal of sympathy for the armed forces - even in the darkest days of the Northern Ireland conflict - even through Bloody Sunday and all the other atrocities committed by the security forces. It wasn't a popular view for a Catholic to hold (and maybe it's part of the reason why some in my own family affectionately referred to me as 'The Unionist') but I could not stop caring for the individual soldier or police in the midst of it all.

So there you go - an opinion - I hate warring and I hate most of the reasons that make wars but I do not hate those who fight in wars.

In My Opinion

I've figured out what's missing from my blog. I don't have enough opinions. Nor am I opinionated. This is something I will have to work on.

Meanwhile here is a picture from my archives featuring Bert and two cute little kittens.

Opinionate!

Recent heavy commenting at Green had me thinking that I don't feel strongly enough about anything to put banners on the blog and like Marc I'm put off by too popular trends so wouldn't entertain this charity wrist band carry-on. So I've been worrying that, compared to other blogs, this one is a bit opinion-lite

So I devised this Amusing Game to top up my opinion count. These are the rules.

1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Open at random.
3. List the first five words or phrases that are suitable for opinionating on.
   

I grabbed Ian McEwan's Enduring Love. I opened it at the beginning of Chapter 9. I have emboldened the five words/phrases I found.

It would make more sense of Clarissa's return to tell it from her point of view. Or at least, from that point as I later construed it. She arrives up three flights of stairs, bearing five kilograms of books. And papers in her leather bag...

Sense. I have a strong opinion on sense and consider it necessary to survival. To have a lack of sense is very unfortunate indeed.

Point of view. Points of view are similar things to opinions. A point of view is worth having but I would argue that it is better not to be ramming it down other people's throats.

Three flights of stairs. Undoubtedly useful. Especially for reaching higher floors. And keeping fit.

Five kilograms of books. Well that would depend on the class of book wouldn't it? In most circumstances I'd say that five kilograms of books would be a good thing.

Leather bag. Without a doubt and with no apologies either to Stella or Sir Paul I applaud the leather bag. Leather, beef and milk are what we grow cows for. Moo!