in reply to capture system date to $date

localtime 

my $date = scalar localtime;

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Although i prefer to use Time::Piece. 
use Time::Piece;

my $date = localtime->cdate;

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jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom