Today is Absolutely Today

I went to see the film Downfall this week. It’s the German film about the last days of Hitler. It has been receiving some criticism for presenting Hitler in a too human and sympathetic light. He is seen in casual settings with his secretary, or sitting surrounded by the Goebbel’s children, or petting his Alsatian dog, etc. I guess there was a feeling that showing him this way might strengthen the cause of current day Nazi sympathisers. I don’t think so. While it does show him at times in normal almost familial settings, for the most of the time he is delusional marshalling non-existent armies to rescue him in Berlin and ranting about the failures of his Generals and the German People. There is a chilling scene where Frau Goebbels methodically poisons each of her 5 children just so they don’t grow up in a world without National Socialism.

Interestingly when you Google Hitler and Downfall you get a lot of stuff about this film and then you also get Hitler, My Part in his Downfall by Spike Milligan. A very funny book about Spike Milligan’s escapades in the Second World War which I bought when I was in my teens and which I still have on my bookshelf. Spike Milligan was one of the Goons, and in my view one of the funniest people in British Comedy (and you know we have a lot of funny people in British Comedy). I had forgotten that he died back in 2002. He is responsible for such lines as:

- Money can’t buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy.
- Chopsticks are one of the reasons the Chinese never invented custard.
- Contraceptives should be used on every conceivable occasion.
- All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy

It seems to me like there was this huge news story this week when the committee established to look into intelligence failure around WMDs and the Iraq war published their findings and - lo and behold - they found that the intelligence on Iraq and WMDs was “dead wrong”. So shouldn’t there be some sort of apology made, doesn’t this mean that we went to war for the “dead wrong” reason. Instead George W. welcomed the findings saying it was time to revamp the intelligence system. People have died and a significant amount of money has been frittered away for the wrong reason and no one says a thing.

It has all got buried in the news by the Terry Schiavo case and now the death of the Pope. Shame on us!

Saturday was the American River 50 mile run from Sacramento to Auburn. It was the run that I was training for before I got sick with my extended cold/flu thing. So I bailed on the run some time ago, I just could not get back into shape in time. However, I did get to pace my buddy Chuck over that last 10 miles of the run from Rattlesnake Bar up to the finish in Auburn. This is a beautiful trail to run, along the North Fork of the American River and at this time of year, in the Spring, the wildflowers were out in all there splendor. The magazine Runners World has a rave run in each edition of their magazine, and this bit of trail upstream from Rattlesnake Bar has to be a candidate, it is spectacular, particularly this time of year.

So Chuck and Diane and Leslie and all the gang were doing very well and still running by mile 39 when I met them. They didn’t slow down too much either in the section up to Auburn, except for that last, oh so cruel, 3 miles uphill to the top of the canyon. The designers of this race certainly had a sense of humor when they made a 50 mile run go uphill – wouldn’t it be quite hard enough if it went in the downhill direction?

It was kind of bittersweet to be out there running only the last part of a run that I had worked so hard for. I guess there will always be next year – but the conditions were just perfect this year! Anyway congratulations to all - Chuck, Diane, Leslie, Marie, Karyn B, Karen T.