The Quiet Pleasure Of Turning A Page (The Love Of Reading) and the joys of chasing Penguins and Pelicans

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Firstly I'm feeling a little better. Though the night was a painful rasp of continued coughing and I've still got a sore throat at least I feel more with it than I did yesterday. Still there was no reason to overdo today so I mainly spent the day reading.

Now let me not be accused of being a hypocrite. I have a Kindle and it is useful. If you're going on holiday it's more convenient than putting a couple of books in the travel bag. You also can obtain books that are difficult to get in its print form. For example on my ereader there's The Brightfount Diaries by Brian Aldiss.I remembered enjoying reading it as a child in Barkingside Library. It was a fictional account of life in a fifties bookshop. That's right. The only copy I can obtain at a reasonable price about working in a bookshop is through an ereader. That's irony.

But, but. When all other things are things are equal there is a quiet pleasure in turning the page that the swiping of your finger along a tablet cannot match. When I am sitting down with a book in front of me, or standing in a queue, or waiting for my daughter from her school bus I can instantly find myself as I am now into the world of Scottish politics, Welsh football, A journey around the Mediterranean, a football fan's life and political thinking of a renowned essayist. Books can do this,

The decline of the paper book is a tragedy. Because the Internet cannot fulfil that latent thrill of discovering a tome in bookstall or a library that you know must read. The Internet cannot match trailing your eyes along the shelf. What it cannot do is the unexpected discovery. On the web you have to give it a guide through the search engine so the thrill is not as great.

For a while now I have been collecting Penguin and Pelican paperbacks. But only those that have the distinctive coloured spines on them. The spine bit is a bit of vanity as I like the way its uniformity on the shelves. The Penguin/Pelican paperbacks though I collect because they are the publishing house that would produce the widest range available.

As you see I'm in the process of putting the books I currently have in my collection online. At time of writing they are "under construction" (ie I've not finished yet) but hopefully they'll be completed soon.

Until the next time

In Which I Have A Coffee In The Morning But Not A Bore Coffi. Why To Me It's Like Rugby and How Alex Salmond Was The Diplomatic Choice

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Health wise nothing has changed for me since I last posted. Been to work and back powered by coughing and spluttering. Returning home my body seems to say  "Work's done so everything's going downhill now". Not downhill enough though that my first call today (a day off) would be to the doctor.

So coughing, a sore throat and a bit of a head cold. My chest feels as if someone has opened it to let the draught in.Body feels uneasy but still in control.

It's affected my sleep. Between Friday night and Saturday morning apart from a 15 min session around 1am when I needed to make a cup of tea and waking up at 6am to make breakfast only to go to sleep half an hour later I was between 8pm until 10am. This morning a sudden coughing fit got me awake at 3am.

Worst thing so far is being unable to do things that I'd wanted to do. The dental appointment I'd mentioned in my previous post has been postponed until the middle of next month. Not felt able to volunteer to deliver leaflets for Plaid Cymru and the grass outside hasn't been cut for the same reason (In a suburbia sense - It's a jungle out there).

And today specifically the thing I'm most disappointed about was that I felt unable to go to a coffee morning, or Bore Coffi  in Porthcawl organised by the local Welsh language society where you can practise your Cymraeg with a similar group of learners. That will have to wait for another morning.

I did go out to Bridgend Town today though as I needed to put some money into our bank account to pay a credit card bill. The plan had been simple. To go in, pay the money go home. But once out of the bank my throat suddenly felt raw. A hot drink down my gullet was needed,

And so I went to a coffee house. Costa to be precise.

I should perhaps explain hear that view of coffee is exactly the same as my view of rugby in that although I don't dislike it, given the choice nine times out of ten I'd go for football (my view of rugby being incidentally one of the few "Welsh" things that I haven't changed my view of since I moved here). Similarly I don't dislike coffee, but given the choice I would normally go for tea.

Dislike those coffee chains though. Always felt you needed a bank loan and a degree in beverages before entering. Needs must though so went inside and as I've a dislike of the tea served by these establishments I ordered a small cappucchino.

This is apparently what Costa considers a "small" cappuchino

Now those of you who have followed my posts know that at this moment I have five books on the go.Today is a "library book" day. I often take a book out with me as I like to read wherever the opportunity takes me.

The book I should have taken out was Christopher Hitchens' informative read. But it's bigger than a brick and so would have been awkward to take around. The book about Swansea City would have been awkward for a different reason. Those fans of the round ball in South Wales follow their team with a passion. Of course there are those who support Manchester United and Liverpool and when I first moved up here in the late nineties Aston Villa had their fair share of support. I'd assumed it was because Dean Saunders, a Welsh striker of that time was playing for them, only to have it patiently explained to me that the Villa was the closest Premiership team from South Wales.

Haven't times changed.

But of course the bulk of support is now between Cardiff and Swansea City. Bridgend, being a place which is roughly halfway between the two, is a sort of twilight zone where supporters of both live (If you go to the next main town along the M4, Port Talbot, then the footballing support turns distinctly Swansea).

Now fans of these teams can hate each other to a level that is best described as Glaswegian without the religion. Being English and supporting West Ham I'm seen by those supporters I know as neutral. So was just not in the mood to explain why I was reading a "Swansea City" book. "I like both teams" being particularly wimpish. So as I could not be bothered to argue I took the surprisingly entertaining Alex Salmond biography by David Torrence instead to pass the time in Costa.

For the record the cappucchio (which was probably as Italian as frozen pizza) could be best described as drinkable and nothing more. My prejudices about coffee chains have not been broken.

One thing I did notice that opposite the Costa was another place in Bridgend Town that had closed down for I think between two and three years.

The Welsh Labour Party/Labour Leader Carwyn Jones' Office (once)

Now the point here is not that Labour moved their Bridgend office from the town (Bridgend is a wide area) but they didn't feel able to sustain the office in the town. Something the local council (Labour) or the National Assembly (Labour) could not help them with.

Until the next time

Of Coughs,Chips and Book Updates

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You know health wise there is no more irritating (as opposed to worse) thing than feeling as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards and forwards again but not feeling unwell enough to head for the bed/couch and recuperate with a saline drip of tea.

I have been at work for the past 4 days and gradually a cough/sore throat/cold/ache that has developed to such an extent that when I returned home I'd enough energy to ping a microwave meal and a hot drink and that was that for me for the rest of the evening.

As I write this a day later nothing has changed. Except that my voice has gone down to such a level that it's almost subterranean.

So it goes without saying that not much has been done today. In fact tomorrow worries me more given that I've a dental appointment. One thing I had to do was to go to a couple of libraries to return some books and that was about the most energetic thing I've done today.

Of the books I've been chatting about previously I've finished Matt Dickinson's autobiography of Bobby Moore and I'll tell you that it was stunning. It confirmed things that I'd suspected and brought in a few surprises, the biggest being that his relationship with former West Ham manager Ron Greenwood was not as close as I had assumed as a child. What it did not do was to diminish his stature.

So a new football book was needed and when I went to Porthcawl library this was my choice.

Spanish Swans - Pablo Gomez

This is the story of how a group of Spanish players helped Swansea City moved from a position of near bankruptcy to its Premiership status today. It should make interesting reading. Personally Swansea City,Cardiff City and even Newport County are for me not unlike being very friendly with a woman but not having an affair as you're faithful to your wife, I genuinely wish them well and follow them, but if they face West Ham I want them beaten.


And that was supposed to be that. But as I was about to get this book stamped this book caught my eye.

Salmond Against The Odds - David Torrence

As you can guess this is an autobiography of the man who came this close to making Scotland an independent nation. Given how I feel about Wales now I just couldn't resist getting this book to borrow as well.

After Porthcawl I needed to go to Pyle library a few miles away to bring back a book I'd borrowed. Having done that I couldn't resist looking around the place which I consider to be the best library in the borough. Needless to say another book was picked. It was this.

Arguably - Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens was, arguably the foremost political essayist of his generation. Although I'm not saying that I'll agree with everything this collection of essays and reviews will say,I doubt I'll be bored.

Before I returned home I needed to get something warm down my gullet in a "feed yourself and starve the fever" sort of way. So instead of a normal sandwich this was my lunch today.

Hot Chip Action

Sometimes in life you need too indulge yourself. This was my indulgence for today.

In case you're interested the football stickers challenge I mentioned in my last post is still going OK. So far no doubles.

I'm now off to brush my teeth and have a cup of tea.

Until the next time.

Of Pelicans, Penguins,Panini and the leader of Plaid Cymru. With an added sprinkle of even more books and Maesteg

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

A couple of years ago I was having my hair cut and having a conversation with the hairdresser. For some reason the town of Maesteg, about half an hour away, was mentioned. She said that she'd never been there. I said I had.

"Why?" She asked

"Because I'm a world traveller" came my response. (Which on reflection was rather brave given that if there is one rule a man should always obey when it comes to gender politics it's never to annoy a lady with a sharp object around your face)

And one final point about the lady who cuts my hair. Her partner is possibly a woman's ideal man. A cook who doesn't like sport.

On Saturday I needed to go to the town and as it happened I'd learnt that the leader of Plaid Cymru was going to be at the market there around midday. Even though it is a well known killer of cats I was curious to see the leader of the political party I'd joined first hand.

So I hung around a bit.

What I like about Maesteg town centre is the way it can integrate the old and the new almost seamlessly. Obviously there are problems here as well but as I suggested yesterday it is far better than its equivalent in Bridgend.

I'm assuming this building is the local Tabernacle. Very impressive anyway.

The Building on the left is a Post Office

Now come now. Wouldn't you want your Council Offices to look like this?

The Town Hall and Market Entrance

I'd a few minutes to spare before she was due to come so looked at the book stall in the market. Just as Porthcawl has the Porthcawl Animal Welfare Service (PAWS) Maesteg has the Maesteg Animal Welfare Service (MAWS) which sells books at 50p each whether paper or hardback, I eventually picked four books as follows:

Fatima Beer - Higher Than Hope

This orange spined Penguin paperback was the authorised biography of Nelson Mandela. The important point to remember here is that it was written in 1990. The year he was released from jail.

I think I forgot to mention that not only do I collect Penguin paperbacks but I also collect their stablemate Pelican paperbacks (again it has to be in their classic coloured spine - in this case blue). What pleased was that I was able to buy two "vintage" ie pre ISBN numbered books.

A465 - Boris Ford (Editor) - The Pelican Guide to English Literature 7 - The Modern Age

A702 - Hugh Lloyd-Jones (Editor) - The Greek World

These vintage Pelican and Penguin Paperbacks are checked against the list written in a Paris Saint Germain notebook. Possibly the only time they can be put together in one sentence.

Believe me this is needed

And finally:

Michael Palin - Hemingway's Chair

Before you say "that's not a Penguin/Pelican paperback or anything to do with sports" well yes. But only the day before I'd downloaded a radio adaptation of this book and now it was there confronting me to buy it. So I did.

It was about twenty past twelve before she actually came. The life of a political leader in election time is obviously a busy one. I was in the market cafe with a cup of tea to warm me in what was a surprisingly cold day and had been ready to leave because there were other things I needed to do that day.

Leanne Williams is an impressive leader and worked the scene well.  She shook my hand and I told her that Plaid had my vote even though I'm English.. Wasn't going to go into full blown detail as to what lead me to this process or that I was now a member of the party as this was neither the time nor the place to gush like a girl to (insert boy band here).

Did though ask for a selfie...well it would've been a selfie if I'd known how to have used the phone. #OldMansProblems

Should've been a selfie

When I showed my wife later she was impressed. She too is going to vote Plaid Cymru,

Her visit to Maesteg probably means that Plaid they have a good chance of doing well here in the National Assembly elections. I think they're right. Based purely on the unscientific approach by the number of placards on the road from Bridgend when I was closer to the town.

I've finished A Point Of View by Clive James. Nothing has really changed from what I posted before. The only good thing about it really is that it has led me back to the podcasts.

What it means is that I need a new "Car book" and it's this.

Hunter Davies - The Fan

This is a collection of left field articles on football in the New Statesman by Hunter Davies. I've always liked him. He writes on a wide field of subjects interestingly and with enthusiasm

I'm a man in his fifties. But football and only football has the power of turning me instantly into a ten year old boy.And it occurred to me late last week that with the Euro 2016 coming soon it might be a good idea to collect a Panini Football stickers for my daughter as a souvenir when she gets older. I'm not going to deny that the schoolboy in me is part of the reason for this. But there is also the fact that this is first time Wales are in a major football tournament in my lifetime let alone hers.

My wife thinks this is silly. But I'm going to ignore her (for once). Until the end of Euro 2016 I'm going to buy 1 pack of stickers a day. How I will proceed after it finishes depends on how well I've done.

Of course I won't deny that this hasn't been completely worked out. The biggest problem being the question of what I do with doubles (as for obvious reasons I'm not going to deal with kids. I've no wish for anybody to put two and two together and make five). Hopefully though I'll muddle through.

Brings back memories

Until the next time...

Why Bridgend Town Should Vote Plaid Cymru

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Although it was the crisis in Port Talbot that pushed me over the edge to join Plaid Cymru there were various issues that moved me joining beforehand. One of them was the state of Bridgend Town which I visited last on Tuesday.

I do need to say is that I have no idea of facts and figures about what I'm going to chat about. Nor do I have a precise idea about the demarcation lines between the Labour controlled National Assembly for Wales and the Labour run Bridgend Council. But I have eyes and I can see the decline in a town where administrations both national and local appear to have done little.

The second thing is that I'm well aware that town centres everywhere have been affected by various issues such as the shopping on the Internet, out of town stores and of course the recession. But even taking that into account Bridgend Town compares badly not just with Pontypridd or Port Talbot but with the other main towns in the area Porthcawl and Maesteg as well.

Here is the first example. Admittedly the most extreme one.

More life in a tombstone

This building was, believe it or not the local McDonald's in the town. I'm not sure why it closed down. I think questions of damp was mentioned. That however is not the point. The point is that it closed down sixteen years ago. Sixteen years and nothing. Surely the council/assembly could have done something in that time to help revitalise the building? But apparently not.

Bridgend Town does have a small shopping centre called The Rhiw which also incorporates the indoor market. If you exclude the market I'd guesstimate that a sixth of the shops are closed or closing down.

This is the entrance the shopping centre. Next to it is a closed down shop that sold cards

The shop on the right was a charity shop

Latest to be closing down

And of course let's not forget the Phones4U shop. As if it was closed yesterday.

In the next photo the building on the left was a pub. Even some closed pubs can't be revitalised it appears (though another one is being restored through National Lottery funding....yes I know).

There are regeneration projects in the town. Though even they have issues surrounding them. Here's the first example.

Crane Action

That crane is apparently part of a project containing new apartments and retail developments. Now I'm not a retail expert and I genuinely wish it success. But what is the point of building something bright and shiny and don't try and first regenerate the decay around it? Those closed shops in this picture have been closed for about a year. The shop on the right had been trading for decades. I visited it on the penultimate day before closure when everything that was movable was for sale. The lady behind the counter was almost in tears.

The cultural centre

So example two. This building is a cultural centre. Again I'm in two minds about it. On the one hand I again genuinely wish it's success. Bridgend Town needs such a building. But have a look at this photo. It was the town centre Public Library until the council in its wisdom decided to move it to be situated next to the leisure centre (now called ....hold the sick bag....... The Bridgend Life Centre). It has probably become the only town where the town centre library is a ten minute walk from the town centre.

Oh and for the record I've been to the library twice. It's the most high tech and modern example I've ever been too. I also hate it with a passion best described as psychotic.

And if you want to know what's almost opposite the centre.

Still Life Model perhaps

All of this decline has been under for most of this period under a Labour administration. It's another reason why Bridgend and Wales need a change and in my view that change is Plaid Cymru.

Of course let's chat about other things in the town as well. It has the worst and my most favourite statute. Here's the worst one....

In front of the public lavatories. Seems appropriate

Now at first glance there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with this statute. But look closely. No one can position their legs or turn their head like our friend above. I don't want it destroyed though. It has a "so bad it's good" quality.

But on the other hand here's my favourite statue. A guy sitting and reading. Something I can relate to. 

Of course future generations will think that he's reading from a tablet

And a shout out for the Welsh Language shop in the town.

Siop A'r Hen Bont

Until the next time.

In Which I Forget About Another Book I'm Reading. Though Listening To The Podcast Was Better

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Today I collected my daughter from school. Now when I say "collected" and "from school" I don't mean that literally. Times have long since gone when Dad/Mom collected their child with a smile on her face from the educational establishment. No it has gone to the stage where the parental car is hidden around the corner as she gets off the school bus to walk to her parents and all the teenage thought at that moment is focused as to what there is for lunch.

So when I'm waiting for my daughter I have a little time to spare which is why there's always a book in the car to read.

Now before you ask why I don't simply bring one of the two other books I'm reading at the moment well sometimes I do, but often I just forget. So it's just convenient that there's something there for me to read when I'm in the car and opportunity rings the doorbell. It is,as it were my "car book".

The one criterion of the car book is that it has book of short stories or articles or essays. Something that can be dipped into on a haphazard basis. Like the current one I'm reading.

 Clive James - A Point Of View

This is a collection of essays from the BBC Radio 4 series where a speaker discusses various issues . Although there are a number of contributors to it his was the voice that drew me to the show when I recently started listening to the podcasts. I was always a fan of his work anyway (Indeed have admired the way he could chat about Russian literature and The Rockford Files or write poetry without seemingly being stretched) so I listened with interest and a recognition of the classic James style.

These essays actually began for him from 2007 until 2009 and when I saw this book on sale it was automatically bought.

Alas it has been a disappointment. For although there are subsequent postscripts these are the exact essays from the radio series but what it misses is of course hearing the James voice. The tone of reflective sarcasm. A voice that is relaxed,calm but nonetheless effective when in attack mode. A voice I would suggest comfortable being heard on Radio 4.When you have heard these essays in the medium they were written for then the printed page seems pale in comparison,

I should have realised that. It's my fault.

Can't win them all.

Until the next time.

Alone On A Sunday Afternoon With S4C

Hello there. Trust you're feeling well today.

I do not in any way have a glamorous job. But it's OK and my work colleagues are nice. Now it does involve shift working early mornings between six and two,sometimes in weekend. Days such as today,Sunday 10th April.

And on days such as these the wife/daughter might spend the day out somewhere. Leaving me on my own when I return home, soon to throw mini pizzas into the microwave for dinner. Which you might consider sad......if it wasn't for the fact that I have the chance to watch my TV recordings in peace.

Since deciding to learn Welsh again I've split how I watch television. One day it's sport. Mainly football of course but also bits of NBA and MLB thrown in (I'm a Red Sox fan. Picked because I follow the Spenser private eye novels of Robert Parker).

But the next day I would watch my recordings of programmes from the Welsh language channel S4C. The idea is as much as possible to immerse myself in the language for that day along with the radio station Radio Cymru.

There is a lot of rubbish spoken about S4C mainly from non Welsh speaking people who wouldn't want to watch it with English subtitles on (presumably they go around Wales wearing blinkers to all the Cymraeg around the place). Those detractors point to the low ratings of some programmes as some sort electronic ammunition to shoot it with. This of course is unfair. Because the biggest problem this one channel faces is that it is one channel. It's expected to be BBC1,BBC2, BBC3,BBC4,Ceebies,CBBC,BBC Parliament and the BBC News channel in just one stream. So a documentary programme about a dead poet in English thrown on BBC4 will rarely have a massive audience then a similar programme made in Welsh is obviously going to have even less than that as even if you're a fluent speaker it doesn't mean you'll want to watch it.

But as I will fight for libraries even though I will never read every book in one then similarly I will fight for S4C even though I will not want to watch every programme in it. For it is the main national promoter of Welsh and any diminution will damage (though will never destroy) its use.

And so today on my list to watch as follows:

Anita: A comedy about a woman and her daughter who moves from Cardiff  to Anglesey to be with her boyfriend and his family. It's funny warm and very amiable. It's also clever being able to combine English,South Walian and North Walian Welsh and yet I feel as  a learner able to understand most of it.

Prynhawn Da and Heno: These are magazine programmes for the afternoon and early evening respectively. They're useful for me  because they cover a wide variety of subjects in a general way. (The worst programmes for me are those that also require a detailed knowledge of a subject. These are pointless to watch. Recently there was a series about angling. Now the closest I get to fish is when they cohabit with chips on a plate before going into my mouth. Needless to say it was avoided.

Pobol Y Cwm: The long running Welsh language soap opera and a favourite of mine. I was a fan of the Sunday omnibus edition which had on screen English subtitles. It also taught me that translations may not give the correct phrase all the time. I remember "he thinks a woman's place is in the home" as a subtitle but I distinctly heard "gegin" (kitchen) and "gwely" (bedroom) being said!

Pobol Y Rhondda: A series spotlighting the people of the Rhondda Valley. A place that I've always believed is the Tuscany of Wales (should you believe that it's Italy with rain). It's a life affirming show. I've shown non Welsh speakers who live there this programme and they have become instant fans

Sport: I've a match of from the Welsh Premier Football League (yes Wales has its own leagues. Something I learnt quickly when moving here. I'll chat about this soon). S4C also shows Rugby at all levels in Wales and it's the only moment when I make the effort to watch it. There is a game with London Welsh in it today (though I can't say I quite understand London Welsh - they don't seem all that Welsh and they don't play in London). I must admit I'm not into rugby as much as football and again I'll chat about this another time.

Well I hope I've persuaded you to watch some programmes on S4C. If you're not in Wales S4C has its own on demand app and you can also watch it on the BBC Iplayer.

But if you excuse me...I've got some programmes to watch.

Until the next time....

In Which Promises Are Kept,Books Are Bought/Borrowed,In Praise Of Libraries And West Ham United

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well.

Well as promised in an earlier post I've joined Plaid Cymru. I did it on Wednesday by phone as I've an instinctive dislike of buying anything online that involves the use of my bank account (I go for those cards where you put money into the thing so that if anything was hacked only the money it would be the only thing in danger).

Anyway the process was surprisingly quick. The documents will come in the post in a few weeks because of recent demand for membership and there we go. My direct involvement in politics begins.

Actually things will move even faster in the next few weeks because of the elections for the National Assembly for Wales in May. My intention is to help them in canvassing for votes. Not this week mind you, because as it's the Easter break "Dad Duties" take priority.

At long last as well I've finished Football Dynamo by Marc Bennetts after quite a break as explained in my previous post. So let me say now the second half of the book was just as good as the first. I'd recommend it to you if  you can get a copy (published in 2008). It's the best book about football in a foreign country that I've ever read.

Yesterday I went to Porthcawl and part of the reason was to get a new Penguin paperback for my collection. Going through the charity shops in the town I eventually went to the Porthcawl Animal Welfare Society shop, staffed by ladies that you could easily imagine keeping colonies of cats in their homes.  It does have the largest number of books in the area and a great number of that were Penguins.

I had intended to get a battered copy of Anthony Burgess' book A Clockwork Orange. I've read a number of his books (including that of Enderby the poet and a novel about Napoleon which explained to me as a teenager the euphemism of the number 69) but not his most famous book.

However once my eyes focused on this book, being that of the previous pre ISBN numbering system then there could only be one choice.

1933 - The White Mile - Alan MooreHead

This is a book about the opening of the Nile to the world. Full it appears of many major historical giants. It does appear to be an interesting read....and it just cost me 30p.

I also needed to get a new book from the library. The football tome  I picked was this.

Bobby Moore - Matt Dickinson

The reason why I picked this book was more than just the obvious. As I've said before I'm from the East End of London and West Ham, being the closest team where I was born, is the team I support. Other than family and friends it's the thing I have missed the most in moving to South Wales. When they've come to South Wales I try to get the see them. Given that I live here I aim for the more convenient not-stuck-in-a-corner home seats. Of course what that means is that these games are watched by me with all the vocal emotion of a monk with a vow of silence as just one utterance will make those people surrounding me know that I'm not Welsh so that I'm not supporting Cardiff/Swansea/Newport.

Short trips across the border have been made to Bristol just to see my first love again. I remember over a decade ago going to Bristol Rovers to watch a pre season friendly. Ian Wright was playing for us and he scored. Afterwards he did that classic Wright thing of raising his arms as if to say "I'm Ian Wright. I've scored. Give me a hug."(He eventually joined the list of the ex Arsenal players who came to West Ham when their best days had long since gone. The only exception -probably- to this being the Welshman John Hartson)

Anyway Bobby Moore was the first West Ham captain in my lifetime and though this word is often thrown about nowadays like confetti he was a legend. I am looking forward to reading this, probably with large spoonfuls of nostalgia.

A quick word about libraries. I think you can guess now that I am a fan of and use libraries a lot. They a station for knowledge and imagination. With every closure of a library however this slowly dies. I heard the librarian yesterday say that in the Rhondda Cynon Taff area they have in the past few years closed fourteen libraries. Fourteen!!! You wonder how these councillors can look at themselves in the mirror. They're probably comforting themselves with their expenses.

This has thankfully not happened in Bridgend yet. Mind you there was a "public consultation" by the council last year as to what services people thought should be cut. I laughed at this. For it was like asking how they wished to be tortured,water or electricity.

Until the next time...

Of Books Read And To Be Read. And Why I'm Learning Welsh Again

Hello there. Trust you are well.

When chatting to you about the books in my first post I'd forgotten in fact that I was reading three books at the same time. As all these books have now been read reckon I should start with the book I hadn't mentioned which is.....

Danny Baker - Going Off Alarming

Took this with me when visiting my mother on the Mother's Day weekend. On the London Underground it took me from Grosvenor Road to Epping and from Epping to Victoria by chuckle. I've a soft spot for these autobiographies, particularly for its first volume Going To Sea In A Sieve. It evoked a London of my youth as the mayor seems to make the present day capital a land for for Russian Oligarchs to live in. Even if his is South of the Border and mine is of the East.

Of course Iris Murdoch could not be more different from Danny Baker and that it appears includes my reaction to this Penguin Paperback.

Iris Murdoch - The Italian Girl

One thing I will make every effort to do is not to go into great detail about the books I'm reading because I don't want to spoil it for people who want to read it in the future. So let me say this. It was a disappointment having been a fan of The Sea,The Sea. What it was was arty twaddle, For a relatively thin book it was full of unbelievable characters with unbelievable traumas in an unbelievably short space of time. The most I'll say about it is that it was readable...but that was it.

I didn't have high expectations of Neil Warnock's ghost written book The Gaffer. But that didn't matter because this is best described as amiable. Essentially it was billed as an entertaining slice of a manager's life and judged on that basis you did feel cheated. If I had to choose between the Warnock book and the Murdoch one then The Gaffer wins. But both would lose when brought up against either of Danny Baker's autobiographies.

So there are new Penguins and Football books to buy. But I won't be able to do that until later this week so I went to the shelves of the great unread and picked two books. 

This was the first one....

Paul Theroux - The Pillars Of Hercules

As the cover says this is a chronicle of his travels  along the Mediterranean around 1994. I personally find travel books more interesting when read years after the actual trip. The phrase "the test of time" seemingly suited to it. My favourite travel books don't just capture a place but also a mood. That said I must be honest and say that I've never read any of his books in the genre before or indeed any of his novels. Not because of a personal dislike but simply as there as there are so many books and so little time that I've never got round to reading one until now.

Mind you I have read a couple of short story collections with an American consulate official as a central character. They were alright but nothing more (and obviously they did not inspire me to actively get seek out others in his canon). I do remember that the best word to describe these books was "professional" but writing to a reader I'd argue needs to be more than that.

I hadn't actively sought out another football book amongst the shelves of the great unread but it just turned out that this was the book came to my sight next.

Football Dynamo - Marc Bennetts

As (again) the cover explains book (this edition 2008) is about Russia and football written by a British journalist living there. One of my favourite type of books in this genre is one that mixes personal experience with general history. It probably explains why for example my favourite about boxing is In The Red Corner by John Duncan, about the relationship between Cuba and the sport.

Anyway it is I can tell you a fascinating read. How do I know this already? Because I've already started reading it years ago and am halfway through. It was bought many years ago. Remember beginning to read it but then another book demanded my attention beforehand for reasons I can't recall and so it was put back on the shelf (with the bookmark still on the point I left it) to be forgotten. If there was a moment you can go "ahhh" at a book it's now. Not now though (so you can cheer).

Now to completely change the subject I've recently decided to resuscitate learning Welsh. Now before chatting about the present an explanation as to the circumstances as to why I'd learnt the language in the first place is called for. Because it came about by accident.

Many years ago and before we had our daughter my wife had a job which required her to work on Wednesday evenings. At the time I felt at a loose end and decided to attend evening classes on that day. So looked at what was available. I'd wanted car maintenance as my stock move with any problem in that regard is to panic and call the breakdown people/go to a garage. But there were no lessons on that day. There were though lessons in Welsh for beginners.....so it began.

I always say that in a parallel universe there is a version of me proficient in car maintenance. Of course in another parallel universe there is another super me who can speak Welsh and  know his way around a car.

Anyway slowly but surely I started learning yr iaith Cymraeg.Getting to a stage where I passed the equivalent exam in O Level and had only just failed to do the same in the higher level. I found myself regularly watching the Welsh language TV channel S4C and the radio station Radio Cymru and practised the language socially in such occasions as coffee mornings.

However when I lost my job and found it difficult to get a new one I slowly became depressed and found it hard to concentrate on other things including Welsh. I performed disastrously in my second attempt in the exam at the higher level. My heart was not in it so just walked away.

So I was in a sort of linguistic limbo. Nowhere near fluent but a thousand times better than "the cat sat on the mat"

Now I have work, and slowly my mojo is coming back. So I'm returning dysgu Cymraeg. What I know in learning Welsh the first time is that experiences are introduced to you which are absent if you only speak English even if you're living in the country. My wife is from Cardiff and I know that in some respects I know more about this country than she does because I can to an extent speak the language.

What I also know is this. Whatever personal circumstances derailed me from learning Welsh I have always believed that the language has to survive. Because if Welsh was lost then there will be a piece of Wales that would be lost with it.

Perhaps I'm an old romantic...but there you go

I find that I can listen to general programmes on Radio Cymru and watch those on S4C and be able to catch the gist of what's going on which is encouraging. In another time I'll chat about these channels but you're spared today.

So the beginner's books are taken out. The old papers are dusted off and ymlaen.

The mutations are once again to be tackled (and I don't mean the X Men).

Welsh Language Action

I'll chat about how it's going on in future posts.

Until the next time.