Pickle my bones in alcohol...

You know, if there was one thing that I learnt from the film Capote, it is that if you want to be a great writer you have to offend people.

I don´t particularly want to be a great writer, but hey, I have a spare five minutes, so I am thinking ¨What the hell?¨

But there is a problem. I - meaning me - am a coward. I have always thought the lion in the Wizard of Oz was an idiot. What do you want courage for? It is only going to get you into trouble. Every war in history is simply the result of some idiot refusing to accept that the expression ¨Your odour is reminiscent of leperous dog¨ is simply an introduction to polite conversation. In short, bravery is dumb.

So we are left with a conundrum. A puzzle. A raging riddle with ridiculous ramifications.

But today, dear reader, I have the solution. Because today, we are going to make fun of the dead.

All of this is a particularly round about way to tell you that I visited a fantastic cemetery yesterday. And like all good cemeteries this one was full of people who were long on money and just a tad short on taste. These were the first people I have met (and I use the word met in a very loose fashion)who thought that a gigantic pyramid with 2 sphinxes doing the cha cha would be the most appropriate way to be memorialised. (Aside from the pharoahs of course, although I am sure they would have had the sphinxes singing the greatest hits of the Bangles). Or perhaps a large picture of Elvis layed out in semi precious stones is more to your liking? Or maybe you are a sportsman and would instead prefer your headstone to be shaped like a giant soccer ball and painted in your team colours. The only limitation appeared to be your bank balance and any bastion of sanity that may have remained to you.

Photos, (All together now!), are forthcoming.

On a serious note (please keep your seats...) I also saw the graves of Allende and that of the family of Pinochet. The intensity of feeling that surrounds these people and the ideas and events they represent for Chileans is quite amazing. The amount conflict the older generations have experienced is communicated to you very strongly. The USA is definitely still not in favour in these parts. It is a period and place in history that I would like to know more about.

Now, forever and always people -

Rock and Roll.

Paddy.