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...