Bournemouth is great - it has lovely beaches, a great climate and the worst fireworks in history.  The 'Roar on the Shore' was meant ot be a world recod attempt to set off 110,000 rockets in 60 seconds.  Who wouldn't want to see that and duly hundreds of thousands of people crammed onto the Bournemouth seafront in anticipation of this momentous occasion.  now watch the video.

Just rubbish.  Walking back from this 'world record' we bumped into some of the guys for the company that worked for it.  I suggested to them that they had also doen the Millenium celebration's 'River of Fire' along the Thames.  They got very precious and said they were really happy with their new world record and everybody expected too much.  One guy got quite aggressive and claimed that they had worked all day for charity and we should show some gratitude.  Gratitude for what.  As a Bournemouth resident I felt for all the people who had come long distances to see this 'spectacle'.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8213279.stm

How often do we read about tragedies like this one?  A 14 year old dead because he tried to rescue his dog.  It's a stupid waste of life and my heart goes out to his parents and family.

To all dog owners:

If your dog looks like it is in trouble in the water, throw it a lifebelt, get a big stick and fish it out - do not jump into the water to try to rescue it. It is more than likely it will get out by itself and if not, have a little weep and go and buy a new one.  That's what you would do anyway if it died by any other means.  There are too many parents left distraught or children denied a parent by people trying to rescue their dog.  And, by the way - clean up their mess.  We live in the 21st century not some 18th century slum. To the vast majority of dog owners who do clear up after their dogs you are being tarnished by the idiots who don't.