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Liam and I were out the house early this morning, on account of the fact that the car had to be taken to the garage, and I wanted to go into town and then to the Botanic Gardens before dropping him off at his friend's house where he is spending the night. We dropped the car off, then caught the bus into town and discovered a memorial stone to the 16 natives of Dundee who were killed fighting against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. This flower was in the flowerbed surrounding the memorial, and just seemed to be very appropriate. I have been interested in the Spanish Civil War for as long as I can remember, and in the bravery and sacrifice of the ordinary working men and women from many countries, who left their homes and travelled hundreds of miles to a country they knew very little about to help them defend their democracy from the fascist supported insurgents. It is even more amazing when you consider that these Scottish heroes, and their comrades who survived to take to battle against Hitler less than 6 months later, had to cross the whole of the UK and France to get there, and all the time the authorities of these two 'great' democracies were doing all they could to stop ordinary people from going to defend another democracy. After our brief pause here, we caught the bus out to the botanic gardens, where I bought a family annual ticket, only to discover as I was leaving that University of Dundee Students get in free: Linda is a Dundee Uni student. Still, it didn't cost much, and now I can go as often as I like. Liam headed off to Joe's and I made towards Deke's to pick up the car. It sailed through its MOT, only needing a new set of indicator bulbs. While we were in town I bought Kasabian's album. I've been meaning to get it for ages, and today I did. It is excellent: the Stone Roses of the 21st century. If you haven't got it, you need to get it.

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The British Battalion of the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War