I was thinking recently (it's good practice & I intend to keep it up) it was when the memorial 'concert' for Michael Jackson was on, on both BBC2 AND Five (Altho' Five had a 10 second delay on the BBC coverage, don't know why) and my mind went back to 1997 and Princess Diana's death.

It really was one of those events you had to be at to fully appreciate. Britain forgot itself and went mental! It reminded me of a lyric from an Evita song, 'Oh What a Circus': "We've all gone crazy, mourning all day and mourning all night, falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right". It seemed that only myself and the Queen were immune, not very often I'm in agreement with Her Maj., altho' I do like corgis.

A works colleague even asked me "You're not upset at all by Diana then, Badge?" And I felt like I was defending myself when I replied "Well I'm sorry 2 kids have lost their mother, but she never meant anything to me". And she didn't, not really. I felt more sorrow when Richard Pryor or Spike Milligan died, because they DID mean something to me.

So now to Michael Jackson, and I feel the same, only now I feel angry. Diana over-shadowed the death of Mother Theresa, who died not long after, and I didn't think it fair. How do we apportion grief? Why is it those who dedicate their lives to good works pass away unnoticed, while Saddam gets on You Tube?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sorry for his family, friends and even his fans, but when 500 people are reportedly holding a vigil at the O2, I worry. When it's the same week as 8 young soldiers die in Afghanistan, I despair.

Then something happened that re-affirmed my faith in humanity. The people of Wootton Bassett, a small town in Wiltshire thru which all the bodies of the dead pass from the nearby RAF base, came out in droves as they have done since almost the first soldiers were killed, stood quietly by the side of the road and paid their respects. They did this without any urging from any organisation or authority, and for no personal gain.

Forget patriotism, this is humanity at it's most basic and inspiring. If we fail to honour our dead, we do not deserve to continue as a species, nor would I wish to be part of a species that didn't.

Thank you Wotton Bassett, thank you very much.