Cinema first

I went to the Cinema over the weekend to see Mamma Mia with a mate. Fairly enjoyable film although some of the actors were not that good singers. It is the first time that I have ever experienced applause in a cinema.

Look out for the cameos by some member's of the original group.

Travelling in and Murphy's law

I was running particularly late this morning and of course things started to go wrong: I had to wait for a train for some time where I get on (longer than normal), then when I changed they'd just suspended that line so I had to walk uphill for a few minutes to get a bus. After getting off the bus at the stop nearest to work it started to rain heavily resulting in the fact that I was fairly wet by the time I got to work. In all what should be a journey of one hour had turned into a 1 hour 45 minute journey.

It reminded me of Murphy's law:

Murphy's Law, often rendered as "If anything can go wrong, it will." was named after Captain Edward A. Murphy, an engineer. It seems rather negative but in fact it's a central tenet of "defensive design" a design methodology in which engineers attempt to make idiot-proof systems.

Here, along with Murphy's formulation, are seven other classic Murphyisms:

• If anything can go wrong, it will. (Murphy's Law)
• If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
• If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
• If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
• Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
• If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
• Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
• Whatever has happened wrong, is bound to happen again .... maybe even worse.

O'Toole's Commentary on Murphy's Law

Murphy might seem like a bit of a pessimist with his "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." But O'Toole's Commentary on Murphy's Law observes that, in fact, Murphy was an Optimist.

Salute to Israel

Incredibly tiring weekend. It was Brigade's London Parade for Awards followed by the Salute to Israel parade as part of the 60th Birthday of Israel celebrations, we marched from Piccadily (near Green Park Tube station) past Piccadilly Circus to Trafalgar Square. Due to the crowds in the square we finished in Whitehall Place after which we could visit the Square which was packed.

I was with Juniors (8-11 year olds) and this is the view back over their heads:

We also had lots of parents helping out, some can be seen above, as well as uniformed staff. The route was packed with crowds (mostly supportive) and the square was just a wave of Israeli and British flags:

Unfortunately, the Parade moved slowly and most of us were dressed in shirts and sweatshirts, combined with the fact that it was an extremely warm day with direct sunshine. We insisted the children took their sweatshirts off as they are still very young and we didn't want them collapsing, in the end only two of them felt even slightly ill and they were fine, thanks to the helpers providing water and a first-aider on the scene.