I managed to book a hotel right under the flight-path at Heathrow Airport when I went to London last week, which didn't matter until the first of the morning's long-hauls came hurtling over my head at 5.20 in the bloomin' morning and that was my sleep done for the day, thank you very much! Amazing to think how far all those people on board had travelled through the night though, and this is just me getting a little reflective as this weekend marks the 223rd anniversary of 'The Mutiny on the Bounty', and the start of six weeks of hell for another of my heroes, Captain William Bligh. I know that Hollywood didn't do him any favours, but in my book he was one of the bravest, most talented sailors our country ever produced. And do you know how old he was when he was tossed into that jolly boat in the middle of the Pacific? Thirty three! Just 33 and yet he had the experience and knowledge to be able to navigate back to Indonesia, saving the lives of a boat full of men and managing to sketch and map the islands they passed as an aid to future shipping! Man, I'll bet they'd have loved a 777 zipping over their heads!...
Now, remember 1982 and that huge flotilla of our ships heading out to rough up The Argies in The Falklands? It was a bad time all round, and no more so than for one of my favourite bands of all time, Split Enz. I still laugh at the good old BBC for banning their new single ... Six months in a leaky boat!
Weird, eh?...
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