Where Did We Meet - A Response

SherilinR wrote an article entitled "Where Did We Meet?".  This is my response to that post (slightly altered from the version that appears in her blog)




We met, as I recall, just as you pushed that big red button that had a "Do Not Press" sign on it.

It was a loud bang, but the light show was fantastic and who would have thought that my arm, as it flew through the air, would have had enough velocity to go through 10 inches of concrete!

Damned lucky for you that you knew where the safety bunker was!

And how you tried to remove that sharp piece of metal from my abdomen was really sweet of you, but it did sort of, you know, smart a bit.

I also remember how kind you were and how, after retrieving my legs, you carried them to the ambulance for me. You taught me how to write left handed and you were instrumental in getting me my new wheelchair.

Gosh! How we laughed that time when you pushed me in my chair down that big hill towards the cliffs then accidentally let go just after you said "Oh no! I think the brake is broken!" ... You remember ... it was on that day my when I was going to write my will and you said "Don't worry about that. I have a will in my pocket that I signed for you earlier."

Those were the days, eh?
 

Anyway, how are you doing? Are you out of prison yet?

Did We All Enjoy Sir Robert Catesby Night?

As  you all know, the 5th of November was, or should have been, Sir Robert Catesby Night.

In 1605, after Catesby's attempts to secure greater religious tolerance under the rule of  King James, he and his co-conspirators (John Wright, Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guido (Guy) Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, John Grant,Sir Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby and Francis Tresham) embarked on a different scheme in which they would replace the King with his 9 year old daughter, princess Elizabeth, by blowing up Parliament, thus killing the King.


As with all good plots ... they were snitched on! 


On the 26 October 1605, William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, received and anonymous letter detailing the plans of what we now know as 'The Gunpowder Plot'.


On the 4th of November, a search of parliament revealed one Guido (Guy) Fawkes babysitting enough gunpowder (36 barrels) not only to blow up Parliament, but also a great chunk of surrounding London.


Arrests were made.  


Conspirators fled.  


There was a shoot-out.  


Catesby and others were killed.


But Fawkes and seven other men went to trial and were found guilty on the 27 January 1606.


They were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.


Over the years, this plot and it's failure were commemorated in various way, including the ringing of bells, religious services and public gatherings and events.


This has evolved into the bonfire and fireworks spectacle that we now know as Guy Fawkes Night, even though Fawkes was not the ringleader and was just a 'man for hire'.  


But somehow Sir Robert Catesby Night doesn't have the same ring to it.


Really though, it should be called 'cruelty to animals night', 'night of the thick idiots parties' or just plain old 'waste of money night'.


Take your pick out of that lot and call it what you like.