Maesteg,It's Indoor Market And Books In The Early Morning

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For reasons I won't bore you with by explaining yesterday (Monday) I took daughter to school. As it's a Welsh language school it's half an hour from where we live near Maesteg and thought as I was near there might as well save some time by doing the odd bit of grocery shopping in the town rather than having to go to Bridgend later.

The view from a Maesteg car park as at 8:45am on a Monday morning

I had decided not only to go do this shopping but also to visit Maesteg Indoor Market which as I've explained in an earlier post is threatened after one hundred and thirty five years of loyal service to the community is threatened with closure by the local Labour, yes Labour council.

Most of the market wasn't yet open yet. But the book stall was left open for all to look at.

So I did

My Penguin book budget was £4.15. In the event I bought four books. The first wasn't a Penguin paperback and on the surface seems like an odd choice for me to pick.

Caitlin Moran - How To Be A Woman

I had seen on the television chatting about her recent book at the Hay-On-Wye literary festival around May/June time and was impressed. Had been looking for her books in the local Bridgend local libraries but to no avail. So was pleased to see this. Even though as a fifty two year old man it seems like the last thing I should read.

Then I saw two gold spined paperbacks of the German writer Gunter Grass. They were:

Gunter Grass - From The Diary Of A Snail

Gunter Grass - Dog Years

I haven't read a Gunter Grass book before and was excited to have got these. Did get The Tin Drum once but for some reason mislaid it. These things happen.

The last book I bought was this.

1130 - John Buchan - The Thirty-Nine Steps

Now to be honest I'm in two minds about this. The collector in me is pleased to have got a pre ISBN edition of his most famous book, and I won't deny it.

But.....

I remember once on Twitter that John Buchan was accused of being a bad writer who got lucky with The 39 Steps. Based on another book of his that I read can only for the moment agree. It was called Prestor John. Not only was it awful but even taking into account the attitudes of the time it was written it was stunningly racist. I read it with my left wing sensibilities and thought "something will happen to make this right". But I was incorrect. It was of the far right but completely, totally wrong.

The four books together cost £2. I left the money on the counter and walked away. Only then did a lady working in the local café tell me that she'd look after it for the stallholder. The stalls in Maesteg indoor market working together for the general good. A sort of Socialist attitude against the heartless  Labour Council. A microcosm of how the world has gone mad.

Until the next time.

In Which Unfortunately Christmas Started Early With The Dead Body That Is The Tree

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it was yesterday morning, a Sunday. Amazingly I was not at work instead was preparing grudgingly for the hell on Earth that is Christmas shopping in Cardiff with wife/daughter. Wife comes down slowly, she has a heavy cold. She tells me that she doesn't feel like going shopping and we'll go on Saturday instead.

Of course I make all the normal husband murmurings of concern, which were genuine, but there was also a part of me that secretly rejoiced and bells are ringing in celebration. Noting for example that I can watch the Betfred Cup final between Aberdeen and the Scottish team I support, that you may have heard of, called Celtic (I should mention here that they were picked because theirs was the first Scottish football shirt I bought. No other reason).

Then the wife continues croakily "I know you won't like this....but can you bring down the Christmas tree today?"

All celebrations stop. She is asking me to break my "No Christmas until 1st December rule". She is unwell....of course I say I'll do it.

Now before you wonder whether it's a dastardly feminine plot to get what she wanted done believe me when I say that my wife is one of those women who would rather risk walking through a thousand landmines than admit she's unwell....especially to her husband/partner/significant other. So I knew there was no trick.

A quick digression. In the continuing series "Things I hate about Christmas". The tree is one of those high on the list. A bind to set up, get down and for what? That people look at it once and then mentally ignore whilst it takes a large proportion of the living room. As for the Christmas lights? No fun crawling under the tree commando style to turn the plug on/off. Prince Albert has a lot to answer for.

Of all the household jobs the Christmas tree has clear demarcation lines. I get the tree (plus the boxes of decorations from the attic, set it up and wrap the lights around it. Wife/daughter then go and do the decorating bit.

So up the attic I go. Really you know it does look as if I've kept a dead body there.

The Body In The Attic

And I take everything including the dead bodydownstairs. It is as you realise artificial, no point wasting money on a real tree you'll throw away in January. Consequently though you have to make sure that the "branches" are put in the right place. Not easy when the instructions are missing along with some of the labels. It's not rocket science, but even Einstein would admit it's time consuming.

But eventually I finish it.

My Work Is Done

And just in time to watch Celtic win their 100th trophy.

Of course the hell that is Christmas shopping in Cardiff is to come. But at least that'll be in December.

Until the next time.

The Most Bittersweet Football Book You Will Ever Read

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday I finished Loud, Proud and Positive an autobiography of Garry Monk. Who was at the time this book was published (2012) the captain of Swansea City.

Now for those of you who have forgotten that timeframe Brendan Rodgers was Swansea City manager and during this eight year period he was mainly captain of the team when he moved from (what is now) Division two to the Premier League. He played (and was mainly captain) for city during this period and then subsequently became manager, after Michael Laudrup,in 2014. So you see he had a long footballing career with this club and was iconic.

Unfortunately, and I'll be coming to this later, he was sacked almost a year ago when results were not going well and is now manager of Leeds United and must be doing a good job given that he's still there when the owner gives the impression sacking managers is a hobby.

So let's get back to the book. Although Garry Monk wasn't there when Swansea City was at it's lowest ebb as it was a match away from extinction he (with ghost writer Peter Read) is able to convey that remarkable rise up the divisions. Whilst calling it magic is probably overdoing the hyperbole there was something in the air in that period. Incidentally if you can catch the documentary of Swansea City at this time, Jack To A King, I can heartily recommend it.

It wasn't plain sailing either. The chapter when Paulo Sousa became manager is fascinating in itself.

And the point is that Garry Monk, born in Bedford England became for want of a better word, Swansea. You can tell by reading his accounts of their footballing confrontations with the hated enemy Cardiff City that his colours are tied to the Jack army mast.

As a book it's readable and races along at a good pace. For those who are interested in this sort of thing there is more information about his personal life in his photos than in the text, which personally I don't mind,

It's an good read and I think conveys the person Garry Monk seems to be on the TV. A committed but essentially decent man

But...

As I've said this library book was published in 2012. It does not show Swansea's Carling cup victory or his initially successful career as manager. However neither does it mention his sacking on 9th December last year due to a poor series of results. So when you read this book and it's optimistic tone it's with a feeling of sadness as you, the reader, know what's going to happen next.

Whether you think that the sacking was justified or not (and personally I think he was entitled to at least the remainder of the year to see whether he could have turned things around) I do think that Swansea changed as a club from that moment on. They were no longer different. They now seemed to be just like any other club. A feeling that has been consolidated by their takeover by an American consortium.

Because I'm a West Ham fan (and I know that analogies can be stretched) the person he reminds me of is John Lyall. Who spent many years in the club before being sacked as manager after the Hammers were relegated from what was then Division One. His autobiography Just Like My Dreams is a sad read for a West Ham fan. For again, the club seemed to change irrevocably. Should Garry Monk eventually write another autobiography It'll remind me of Lyall's book, but I would read it.

That all said I was pleased Swansea City won yesterday in their remarkable game vs Crystal Palace, for as I've said in the past my attitude to all the South Walian teams is akin to being very friendly with a woman but not having an affair as you're faithful to your wife, Though that said my wife, West Ham, is now in a worse position in the league than it was in the beginning of the day.

They will need these victories, remarkable or not, to continue. When I spoke to a couple of Swansea City fans at work yesterday before the match they seemed to have a mindset of preparing for relegation. Such was their poor start to the season. One said to me that if the Swans had lost he was going to sell his season ticket in Ebay.

Until the next time

In Early Shift Days and Longer Nights The Surprising Winner Is George Orwell

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For the past four days I've been working the early shift at work. Six in the morning until two in the afternoon to be precise. In terms of reading haven't done that much during this period because, if you've been lucky enough not to have worked outside the nine to five, what you get is a sort of minor jet lag.

So on this case I wake up fine, do my job, drive home, have a sandwich and in front of the television proceed to nod off between two forty five until half past three when a sort of mental alarm clock jolts me up with a reminder that I need to pick up my daughter from the school bus. I don't mean to nod off you understand. It just sneaks up and takes over.

I'll come back to that waiting for a god awful long time school bus in a moment. Let's just finish off by saying that during these early shift days I'm ok between four and seven thirty when I have to prepare for the next day and then get ready to sleep around an hour's later.

So you see reading wise I've not really had the chance expect that it for the Kindle. It had not occurred to me whilst waiting for my daughter from school that even at around four o'clock the light begins to difficult to read the current "car book" I have from Alan Coren. So the Kindle with it's backlight comes into it's own as well of course reading in the evening and the collected essays of George Orwell was finished.

Being "collected essays" there were some I liked and others I didn't but on the whole I liked it. There were important political stuff (though I didn't agree with his definition of Welsh nationalism) but it was the range that impressed me the most. He could write articles on politics one moment then working in a bookshop the next. What also interested me were his demolition jobs on Kipling (who I've never read) and H G Wells (who, based on the books I've read I don't like).

So the next book on great electronic unread is My Dining Hell (a Penguin ebook special) by Jay Rayner. A slight tome which basically seems to be a selection of his worst experiences as restaurant critic of The Observer newspaper. To be honest only bought it to finish off the last bit of an Amazon gift voucher given on my birthday so I don't have high expectations.

Until the next time

The Shopping Arcade That No Longer Plays

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I had to go to Bridgend Town this morning. Unexpectedly as it happens. And as I was walking towards the Rhiw shopping centre I stopped at the Nolton Arcade, a place that contained a small selection of mainly specialised shops.

I say contained because aside from the two shops that are linked to Nolton Street every single space in this arcade is now vacant.

The Entrance To Empty

Some of those shops I remember. A toy and costume shop that we bought some dresses for our daughter in her junior school pantomime. I remember a mouse one once....so with more fear does the wife. There was a cafe and a knitting shop.

All now gone.

Memories Are The Only Thing It Has

Now of course there may be many differing reasons why these shops closed down. But the fact that no one has started new shops here suggests this is linked with the general decline of the town, the problems of the indoor market, and the move of Bridgend Town Centre library away from the Town Centre. And that places the blame on the Labour controlled council and the Labour Controlled National Assembly which, as I've explained in previous posts, have been seemingly happy to watch the town rot (And was part of the reason that made me join Plaid Cymru).

One more thing. There has been some action in this arcade and it's this.

Christmas decorations where there is no celebration

Somebody, I'm guessing the council but I might be wrong, was crass enough to put decorations in this empty place. As if Christmas gloss changes everything.

Until the next time.

Me,The Early Morning and The NBA

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So I'm awake on this Tuesday morning.  Stone, hard, cold, sober awake. It's about two forty. I am working the early shift this week.....but not today.

I get this from time to time. My eyes shoot up and suddenly I'm in the position of being too awake go asleep and too much of a zombie to do anything construct rive. People ask whether I'm worried about anything. My answer is simple. I'm not a man without worries but nothing so big that would cause this.

So make myself a cup of tea and then proceed to go to my friend at this time the DVR. The next programme on the list turned out to be last Thursday's NBA match between the Chicago Bulls at the Miami Heat.

Now although it's not my favourite sport I don't dislike basketball. The team I follow are the Houston Rockets. A team that's nearly there but not quite. So that when they eventually become champions I shall be bathed, even from this distance in Wales, in reflective glory. I can't say though that I make an effort to follow the NBA news so was surprised to learn that Dwayne Wade had moved from Miami to the Bulls. Meaning that the Miami three had become the injured one, Chris Bosh being out.

It appeared that Wade's move wasn't without controversy although now there seemed to be an effort between him and the President of Miami Heat Pat Riley to bury the hatchet. Though if body language was any guide their weapons weren't so much buried as strategically concealed just in case.

The team was described on television as in a state of "rebuilding" more as if being demolished after an earthquake (Wade wasn't the only player to go in the postseason) .

The Heat played in grey, and no ladies it wasn't with fifty shades but just with one dull hue. Whatever colour comes to mind when you think about Miami grey is not close.

The player the Heat seemed to rely on was Justise (with the two Ss) Wilmslow. A young man who should know that if he has a successful career the NBA might change the competition to The Justise League of America. The Bulls had other notable players as well, specifically Mirotic. A man with a beard so pronounced you wondered whether he'd spent the postseason on the high seas working as a pirate.

And the match was a good one for a neutral as only until the last few minutes did you get the sense that a particular team would win. The victors being the Bulls. Neither though seemed 2016/17 champions, judging as I am on the basis of one game whilst in a semi conscious state.

I'm sure Dwayne Wade and his pals celebrated their victory. Me? I went back to sleep at four 'clock for a few hours....as you do.

Until the next time.

Don't Feel Sorry For Me That I was Working On A Wet and Windy Sunday Morning For At Least I Missed Going To A Christmas Market

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it was 3:15am this Sunday morning. Outside it was windy, I knew it was going to be cold and it was raining, And to describe the rain as heavy does it a disservice. Apparently there was mild flooding during the night a few miles away from where I live. Not only that but when on my way back from work I saw what is normally the green grass of nearly covered by large masses of water. I was told today that flocks of sheep instinctively herded their way to safety through it all and there was at least one car in trouble.

Through this I drove to work at around five thirty. Passing a flood sign but that was it. I was working from six am.

But don't feel sorry for me.

For if I wasn't working this Sunday I would have to join wife, daughter and two single friends on a trip to a Christmas market. In this occasional series, "What Irritates Me About Christmas" then the market comes up high on this list.

As I see it the Christmas Market is trying to suggest that you are going to spend the festive(!) season in two ways. Either you're going to be in some Alpine village covered in snow so you might as well stay in a hut surrounded by an open fire. Or you're going to time travel to a stately home in Victorian Britain where after a full dinner you would be paying parlour games in front of an open fire.

Instead the people going will be spending the time in a bricked abodes in Barry, Bridgend and the Valleys where after dinner families will slump around an open television too stuffed to do anything useful. The only game will be who will have control of the TV remote (spoiler alert it's never me on Christmas day the best I could manage was to record some NBA games).

And yet you're expected to buy some sort of thing to perpetuate a myth that probably never existed in the first place. To admire the tat on display only to hide, put it away and forget about it until the following year.

I've no idea whether this Christmas market was selling food. I hope not. They seem to consist of farms are trying to flog not just Turkey, but also goose, duck and venison. The latter being too dear for me.....I'll get my coat..in a few moments.

And of course they have to be "free range". I believe this is just pandering to fashion. Either you don't eat meat (which is fair enough) or you do. "Free range" is just a marketing ploy to make your conscience forget that the animal was still killed at the end of it all.

And as for Christmas cake, pudding, mince pies and the yule log...ugh. It's as if other cakes/desserts wanted a break so let the stuff people would normally avoid take the limelight instead.

So as you see though some things went down at work, I was busy and there were moments when things were a little tense it didn't matter. I did not go to the Christmas market.

The sting in this tale though is this. At time of writing wife/daughter are not yet back...and I don't know what they've bought.

Until the next time.

In Which My Addiction To Books Continues

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it was time to pay my debts to society and feed my addiction at the same time. That's right to pay the overdue library bill and to buy more books.

First stop was Pyle library. The journey was not great, rain, grey skies thunder and a bolt of lightening a few blocks away.

The Things I Do For Reading

And you can guess that I couldn't resist borrowing another book which was this.

Melanie Jones - L'Amour Actually

Picked specifically because I doubt whether anyone from UKIP would buy it.

Onward then to Porthcawl and the library there.

The Dark Weather Made The Local Church Even More Gothic

So when I went to the library the first thing to do after paying my overdue dues was to pick the football book to read. It actually turned out to be an easy choice.

Garry Monk - Loud, Proud & Positive

I won't chat about this book (written when he was captain of Swansea City but not it's manager) properly until I've finished reading it. But suspect that with hindsight it will be the most bittersweet football book I've ever read.

Also noticed (and borrowed) this.

Alex Salmond - The Dream Shall Never Die

This is his book on the Scottish Referendum. Worth a read. Suspect another referendum soon with a different result.

After that went to the Porthcawl Animal Welfare Shop to buy some Pelican/Penguin paperbacks. Armed with a budget of £3.80. In the event I bought three. These were the first two.

1113 - C S Forester - Flying Colours

1114 - C S Forester - A Ship Of The Line

For me it's rather interesting this because currently I'm reading a later Horatio Hornblower book and am in two minds about it. Will chat about this when I've finished.

The other was in the Penguin Modern Poets series.

19 - John Ashbery,Lee Harwood,Tom Raworth,

It cost 65p for the three which leaves a budget until Monday of £3.15.

Until the next time.

I'm Going To Repeat Myself In This Post....Sorry About That

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I'm writing this at 3:32am on a Friday morning. Insomnia me as arrived for two days in a row, I've put a recording of last Sunday's match in the Irn Bru cup (yes there is such a thing as I've learnt  last week) between the Scottish team Livingston and the Welsh team The New Saints on the TV. The DVR, and the video recorder before it, is really the insomniac's best friend.

Anyway yesterday finished the last two of the library books I took out a few weeks back. So going to begin by giving you a warning that on the first book I'm about to repeat myself. But it's worth saying.

Queen Camilla by Sue Townsend is absolutely brilliant. Off the top of my head she was the last popular writer that I can recall. Not popular in the bestselling sense (though she was that) but in that she could appeal to a wide range of people whilst in a humorous way give us a not always flattering picture of Britain. She is unfortunately no longer with us and she is missed.

Now that I've finished Tiny Stations by Dixe Wills I feel that I should make a new shelf to put this book in and mark it "curate's egg".

The book is about his journey through the "request stop" train stations in Britain. This is the first problem. For he doesn't visit all of these all of these places, not even half and I felt cheated by that. To be fair that isn't necessarily Dixe Wells' fault more the person who wrote the blurb. Still it created a problem for me from the start.

Secondly when describing the individual history of these stations he can be a bit trainspottery (or rather trainstationspottery). Clearly Wells did his research but it could have done with a bit of editing if you ask me.

However when he writes about his experiences at the stations and the surrounding area it is interesting and worth the read. Those were the bits I enjoyed. To be honest I think this is the sort of book that you would have been dissatisfied with if you'd bought it but feel perfectly OK with if borrowed from the library or received as a gift.

So today I'm amongst other things off to the library to bring these books back and to borrow the next football book. I'm three days late so will have to pay a fine. The wild and criminal things I do just to finish a couple of books.

Until the next time.

Paperwork Part 1

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

There comes a time in any adult's life where they face that pile that slowly builds in that long lost corner of the room. I have the day off, nothing to do, time to look at the pile of papers that's supposed to be gone in the age of the "paperless office". Here's the one and only IT hint I will give you. If somebody in IT tells how we will act in the future believe them. for it will happen. It will never ever happen however at the speed they will suggest.

So the pile. It begins with...

Supermarket coupons from Tesco: There was a time when this was a big deal. But that's long since gone since the advent of Aldi/Lidl. Still every little helps. Pile for the wife to deal with as she's cooking Christmas Day dinner (don't forget I'm working Christmas Day morning).

Domino Pizza Leaflet: Apparently they have a new " Italiano " range which is described as a "new Italian Inspired Menu". I can't help thinking of movies which describe themselves as "based on real events". For the recycle paper box.

A note: 8oz butter,8oz Caster Sugar,Flour,4 eggs,2 tsp Baking Powder. Absolutely no idea. Wife's handwriting. She'll have to deal with this.

notonthehighstreet.com Christmas Gift Guide 2016: A "paper" gift guide please note. Like UKIP emigrating to Brussels. Pile for the wife to look at.

Leekes Conservatory catalogue: As if since winter's coming that's the first thing on people's minds. Recycle paper box.

Home Insurance Renewal Papers: Have just come in today. I will need to deal with it but it looks cheap enough

Cultural Tours leaflet: Go round the world and watch your pound disappear more quickly because of Brexit. Recycle box.

Ambassador Silver Plate Wound Student Violin Set: Daughter doesn't do the violin anymore. Bin.

MPN UPVC Windows & Doors: Bin. Bin. Bin.

Seaside News Free Newspaper: Read it. Bin

Ocado.com: Uninterested. Bin.

Sovereign Paradise Found Family Holidays: See above.

A note (2): ITV The Harbour. Wife has seen it. Bin.

Letter From Electricity Company With A Leaflet Of "Important Information":Doesn't look important . Looks like glossy rubbish. But, well, better keep it.

Costco Letter Including Vouchers: Definitely for the wife pile this

Wife's Tesco Optician Prescription: We've been to the big supermarket more for opticians than groceries. For the wife pile.

Christmas Song Sheet: With Ding Dong Merrily On High and Jingle Bells. Feel like hiding it until 1st December. Will give it to daughter though.

New Coop Membership Card: Two of these for me and the wife. Like that the new Coop logo is the old Coop logo. Wonder if there was a consultant who earned a lot of money doing that.

Christmas Ideas At Ableworld: These "ideas" include a stairlift. If I needed one and somebody got me this for Christmas I would use all my remaining physical strength to attack the gift giver. Bin.

H Samuel Christmas Catalogue: Wife says she has too much jewellery...yes really......bin

Aldi/Lidl/Nisa Christmas Catalogue: Glistening wine, shiny Christmas puudings,succulent Turkeys. Are the people who picture these for a living food pimps? Wife's pile.

Note of a female phone number: Not for me in case you're wondering. Wife pile.

Matalan Presents Christmas: Really? Anyway it's an out of date voucher. Bin.

St Davids Hall Leaflet: with forthcoming attractions......in September. Justin Hayward and his Knights in White Satin have long since gone. Bin.

Old Supermarket (Nisa) leaflet: Bin

Note on my next dental appointment:Definitely save!!! Teeth getting better but still need care for the moment.

Menu for the local Indian Restaurant/Takeaway: To keep (specifically held by a magnet on the fridge). Wife/daughter like Indian food. I don't dislike it but prefer Italian. If I do eat Indian it's always mild....with chips.

Guarantee and papers: for the laptop I'm tapping on now. File.

£10 Cineworld Giftcard: No idea about this. Probably a birthday present for daughter. Wife pile.

0% Credit Card Offer from Halifax Bank: So they want to throw a credit card my way. Reminds me of the bubble before the crash. Bin. Linked also to.

Yorkshire Building Society Mortgage Offer Leaflet: Exactly the same thing as above. Bubble economics if you ask me

News From a Cardiff Bingo Hall For The Wife: She's only been to this place once. Bin.

Belated Birthday Card For Daughter From a Relative: She's seen it. Her birthday was in September. Bin.

Banco Santander/Trinity Mirror: From the days many decades ago when I believed that investing in shares was a good idea. Now I know better. Should sell these off when I get round to it. Had the Banco Santander shares when they were Alliance and Leicester...yes that long ago.

And that's it. Barely cut through the surface of the paper mountain. Part two will be called for. Probably on Friday though I've other things to do then.

Until the next time.

The Latest On Bridgend Town,Polish biscuits and Books

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it seems that this is getting into a pattern. There's a viewing on the house. Wife gets into obsessive compulsive cleaning mode,I'm not at work but need to leave the house for a bit and apparently all of it is for nothing.

In the other times it's happened I've gone to Porthcawl, but to be honest thought that I should make a change and go to Bridgend Town instead. So leaving the house still not touching the Elizabeth David cookbook I've been promising to do for fear of messing up the kitchen I left at about 1:45 to wander around Bridgend Town for a bit.

The weather was not good. The sky was grey and there was that weak sort of rain throughout that makes you wet but you feel like a wimp if you used an umbrella. Obviously being a manly Eastender that I am didn't carry one, though I did need to wipe my specs from time to time.

I won't repeat a great deal of what I've already posted about the problems of Bridgend Town except to say that basically nothing has changed. The old McDonald's that was closed in 2000 and has been left to rot since then is still rotting. Bridgend indoor market seems to be in a race with it's Maesteg counterpart in which will close first and the sense of decay is growing every time I visit

To be fair what was the British Red Cross Charity shop is now a nail manicure place and what was the chiropractor is now a place selling vapes, so I suppose it's health related in a way.

Of course Christmas is coming. Throughout the borough Bridgend Council have been putting up these sort of decorations since the end of October.

I thought this was unlucky


But for sheer cruelty

Now have a look at the wording on this Christmas decoration. MERRY CHRISTMAS BRIDGEND soon to be in lights. Now why is this cruel? Because the building it's attached to is the main Post Office and as I've explained in the summer it's going to close down early next year. Just as in the case of Maesteg indoor market Bridgend Labour council can be very heartless.

But you turn around and see this

Used to be a happy place

It used to be an Italian restaurant. Now,well, look at it .

And to it's right used to be a clothes shop.

Let's have a look at the inside

Hope whoever takes this over keeps that artwork

As regular readers will know I've made a point of visiting one of the two Polish delis in Bridgend since the wave of nationalism post Brexit.

One of the two local delis

It is an aim to try out the meats and cheeses but couldn't do so this time because I was unsure when I'd be returning home. So it was just Polish wafer biscuits on the order (Wife and I are fans). I bought three packets after speaking to the amiable young lady behind the counter. I picked cream as she recommended it, chocolate as I'd like that and strawberries and cream as I think the wife would particularly like it.

I shopped Polish...and as you can see also started to eat Polish as well

I also managed to buy two Penguin paperbacks (for a combined total of 40p - Penguin budget now £3.80). The first was this in the red spined "Great Ideas" series.

18- Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own

I must admit never to have read Virginia Woolf before (so many books so little time) so am looking forward to this.

The other was this.

Bruno Bettelheim - Recollections and Reflections

This is a collection of essays by a child psychologist. The sort of thing I wouldn't have bought normally but as I have this collection am happy to read it now.

As for the house viewing....no news.

Until the next time.

In Which Palin Is At Last Finished And England/Scotland Is Halted For My Daughter

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well at last it's finished. Volume two of Michael Palin's diaries. Bought in the summer fete at Laleston where I came from the tip smelling of grass and wearing ripped jeans (sorry about that people of Laleston again)

It was, you may remember, my "car" book that I read when waiting for daughter from school etc. Because I'd started it in the summer as well it's length (609 pages) the volume has taken me a long time to complete.

So after climbing this literary mountain I wish I could say it was worth the effort but to be honest it's like reaching the top of a montain, looking round at the view and then saying "Is that all there is?"

It's not an awful book, just unsatisfying. No real humour in it. A lot of Python and/or broadcasting politics and a bit of family life. It was worth the one pound I paid for it but it's gone straight into a carrier bag for when I donate it to a charity shop so that someone else will spend the same amount for a good cause next time.

Of course this means I'll need a new "car" book which is:

Alan Coren - Toujours Cricklewood?

This was the sequal to A Year In Cricklewood which I couldn't praise highly enough so I'm looking forward to this.

When I was a child in the seventies England/Scotland was a bittersweet affair. They would play each other every year as part of the "Home International" tornament along with Wales and Northern Ireland. On the one hand these matches would be shown live on television, rare at the time. On the other it was at the end of the season, which meant if there were no Euros/World Cup to look forward then for me football was about to close down for the summer.

But the Home International tournament is no more and the England/Scotland matches are now few and far between. The rivalry is however just as strong which brings me to the imporant World Cup Qualifying game between the two. Live on free to air television on a Friday night.

But....

My daughter's piano lesson was postponed from Wednesday to Friday. It was only a few blocks away from where we live but it was night and the wife was out I had to walk with her to the tutor. The lesson started at seven thirty for half an hour. The match started at seven forty five. She is old enough now to understand,if not agree, as to why Dad was rushing her to the lesson.

So daughter with tutor I raced back to watch the start of the game. Was just in time to see the national anthems being played with the Scottish, then English tunes being booed at by opposing fans with a venom I'd never heard before, even for a game like this. I'll say now that Scottish independence seems a question of when rather than if and that moment,not Brexit,was the point of no return.

The other point to note before the match started as that Scotland were playing in pink. Now apart from Palermo I can't think of any other team that plays in pink, or perhaps how it was sold to them Salmon, Personally unless it's for breast cancer awareness it doesn't work.And besides there was no reason why they couldn't just wear the traditional dark blue strip.

And so the match began, and to be honest for the first twenty minutes or so it was rather dull. England in particular seemed to be playing as if they were frightened of losing. Then suddenly the match was paused...whilst I went out to pick my daughter from piano lessons. She tells me that she's learning to play jingle bells, I tell her in full Ebenezer Scrooge mode that I don't want to hear it until Decmber

On our return I continued to watch the game and it contined to be dull until Daniel Sturridge scored with an impressive header. One nil England with the only interesting bit of the entire half. The second half started well for Scotland where they missed a couple of clear cut chances but then England scored a second where Adam Lallana had so much space to place his header he could have started a farm.

Gary Cahill a few minutes later scored a third with another header which made it jackpot for England and Scotland losing all their chips. It all just petered out from that moment, I've never watched a football match ever where even the TV commentators sounded bored and willing the final whistle to be blown. In truth, both teams were not very good but England could finish better and that is of course the point (or rather the three points) of it all.

Until the next time.

Of Books Read,Bought and Kindled

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well another one of those six books I commenced reading a few weeks ago has at last been finished. The Nowhere Men by Michael Calvin.

It's an impressive book about football talent spotters. Explaining to me that it's far more than watching a kid in the local park and saying "He could be the next Ronaldo".

It's explains, with credible readability that it's all computers, analytics, gut instincts and reports. There is a science to this now.

The book is not without it's problems. It hasn't aged well (published in 2013). The Newcastle system, which the author seemed to admire, has been undermined by their relegation from the Premier League. And the portrait of David Moyes as the assured manager of Everton is far from the potentially tragic figure he is now.

It also does seem to lag around the middle. The author going to every nook and cranny to talk about the subject where for a general reader such a thorough clean isn't really needed. Still, the chapter on the talent scout who discovered David Rocastle is worth getting the book for by itself.

I won't be getting a football book to replace this one from the library until I've finished the Sue Townsend I also borrowed there.

A sign of old age is loss of memory. I'd forgotten to mention a book I'd bought for 20p a few weeks back, It was:

Alexander Pushkin - Eugene Onegin

This is apparently a "verse novel". Never read one of these before. Anyway the Penguin Book budget is currently £3.20.

I've decided to start reading now more from the Kindle during the night for the reasons I gave in an earlier post. The first ebook is going to be the complete essays of George Orwell. We'll see how this goes.

Until the next time.

The Hunt For A Christmas Day Restaurant (Part 1).....Or So I Thought

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it's been an interesting day to wake up and discover that the USA has voted for a president where apparently the only immigrants that will be welcomed will be bricklayers. We in Britain who didn't vote Brexit commiserate with those of you in America who didn't vote Trump as you join us in the dark age.

But that is for January, the immediate problem is Christmas.

Yes I know what I said about Christmas in November but the wife has said that she doesn't want to cook the dinner on December 25th, which is fair enough. She normally takes this burden on (and produces a truly outstanding result) and so couldn't argue with her on this.

The trouble is, before any of you say why I don't man up and do the dinner myself, is that even if I was [insert TV cook here] which I am most certainly not......I'm going to be working on Christmas day morning.

Now I know that my wife would eventually do the meal if I just left the situation as it stands at present. But I don't want that, which is why today I started the hunt for a restaurant open on Christmas day.

So the first stop was the nearby village of Laleston. If you're a regular to this blog you may remember the last time this place was mentioned was in the summer when I visited the summer fete after a trip to the rubbish tip dirty with ripped jeans and bought a copy of J B Priestley plays and a volume of Michael Palin diaries......as you do. This time I was more decently dressed.

A nice place this

With A Proper Looking Church

It's not immune to austerity though below is a picture of a pub/restaurant that was apparently run by a winner of Masterchef. It has been closed for over a year.

Sad This

I was there to have a look at the local pub/restaurant The Mackworth Arms whose food was recommended to me. It was two thirty in the afternoon....and it was closed. How on earth does a pub close in the afternoon? I looked at the window. There was a Christmas menu but not a Christmas Day menu. I don't think they're open on Christmas Day. Same thing for the Spanish restaurant next door. 

I went to the hotel nearby. They are closed on Christmas Day. A hotel closed? How is that possible?

So I planned to go to Cowbridge tomorrow and have a look at some places nearby, I say I planned because when the wife came home after seeing a friend she's told me that some friends on their own this Christmas will be coming round...and she'll be cooking !!!

Husbands really can't win. Especially when you try your best.

Until the next time.

The Trouble With George Clooney's 2010 Film The American Is......I've Read The Book

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As you know from my blog I read a lot of books. What you will rarely get here is a chat about films. I'm not a film buff. Of course I have favourites won't deny that but when I've control of the TV I'd rather as a rule watch the football (rugby,basketball etc).

And there is the subsection to that of films that are based on a book. Again normally I'd avoid them as it would spoil my enjoyment of the work it was based on. Reading a book after seeing a film would be like watching a recording of a football game whilst already knowing the result (in most cases,but I'll come back to that later). And If I've already read the book then to me what's the point of watching the film for exactly the same reason.

Of course occasionally the film is better than the sourced book. But in my experience only if the original was dull. The Guns Of Navarone as an entertainment is a perfectly good war film but the only near death experience I had when reading the Alistair Maclean thriller was to my brain as it was coma inducing (and for the record that's not an exception - I don't particularly like him).

All of this is leading to of course the recent exception to the above. Wife/daughter have been nagging me to do more in watching my recorded programmes on the DVR. It's about 14%  clear at time of writing. This is to be fair mainly due to recordings of football (rugby,basketball etc) as well as the Welsh language programmes such as the soap opera Pobol Y Cwm. So I've been making an extra effort to watch them. Which brings us to The American. A 2010 film starring George Clooney.

Now you may remember a while back after reading the original Martin Booth novel I said that when this film was next on TV I'd see it. This was partly out of curiosity and partly that I like watching films set in Tuscany as this is where my Italian relatives live. It came up on the DVR list and so started viewing .....I wish I hadn't.

The film starts with a gunfight in a frozen snow ridden part of Sweden. In the book a similar scene is the main character's bad memory somewhere around the middle and that was it. In the film it's the beginning and turns out to be part of the plot. In other words they were changing the storyline.

Personally it really angers me when they do that because if you hadn't read the book you'd have a wrong idea of Martin Booth's thriller. I first realised that film/TV could cheat like this when I was nine years old. There was a TV series in the early seventies of Black Beauty. Set in a Victorian country doctor's house the point was that for me as a nine year old it seemed to be a series for girls (the lead character other than the horse being the eldest child, a daughter) so I didn't watch it after the first few episodes.

About a year later I had the flu and as this was not even the age of the video recorder let alone the internet reluctantly picked a book from my great unread at that time which turned out to be somebody's unwanted copy of Anna Sewell's original novel. Well I was bowled over. Not only was it good it also had nothing to do other than have a black horse in it with the TV series that bore it's name. And incidentally it was also far tougher than I'd expected.

If you've read the book first you'll realise as a consequence that the main villain is not the same as the film. When you realise that it's not difficult working out who that is.

I mentioned  before in this blog falling asleep when trying to view the film for the first time. Well I understand why now. The novel slowly ratchets up the suspense with powerful intensity . The film is just slow and the occasional gunfight and naked female breasts cannot hide it's overall high boredom level.The most lively bit is at the end but I was just too numbed/annoyed to care.

George Clooney is the best thing in the film. In conveys the icy isolated main character impressively. However although he is the best thing in the movie he doesn't carry it.

I really should have known better.

Until the next time.

How Ellery Queen Saved Me From Boredom Whilst Out Of Town Shopping

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it was a Sunday, and unusually I wasn't working. What could I do on this classic bright but cold November day? Well go out with wife and daughter to buy clothes of course. And not just buying clothes, but buying clothes in an out of town warehouse store about twenty minutes away.

The wife had received some sort of offer from the clothes retailer Matalan and had wanted to buy clothes for myself and our daughter for Christmas (thus losing the element of surprise) as well as stuff for herself. As she needed to make sure it fitted I was dragged kicking and screaming (in my mind at least) to go with them.

I was going to miss the game between Arsenal and Tottenham. But that didn't really matter as a West Ham fan like me it was as if you were watching a fight between two people you don't like knowing that the winner was going to be very,very,smug.

Now here I should explain something. There are probably few things where men clearly superior to women but one of them I would argue is in choosing clothes. I'm not saying whether the choice is correct, just in making the decision. A man would notice an item he liked, buy it and that was that. On the other hand there seems to be two particular ways a woman does this.

The first option is to pick an item of clothing, have doubts,then go for two, three, four similar items before returning to the first item for another look.

The second option is to buy about four items, take them home,make a decision and then take the unwanted bits back to the store for a refund.

In both cases they will ask you, as the partner, for your opinion and when you give it proceed to ignore it. Especially when the answer was approving.

So I knew that my brain was going to be turned to mush by all of this. That's why I hate clothes shopping with the wife and now she's a teenager my daughter.And it was also why I took a book with me. Because I didn't want to take the library books in case I lost them, and the Beatrice Webb was a large hardback it could only be The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen.

Llantrisant, where the Matalan was was about twenty minutes away from where we lived. When we arrived there another of my pet hates revealed itself. You will find as we continue this blog that as I've grown older I'm not really a "Christmas/New Year type of person. I just accept it and hope it goes quickly. However if there's one thing I really,really hate it's Christmas in November for the simple reason that it's November,

Already the TV ads have appeared and worse than that those TV Christmas channels which shows American TV films where somebody has a crisis in their lives only to be resolved when they find "the true meaning of Christmas".I felt sick to discover they'd commenced at the end of October.

The shops, in November have turned themselves into a Christmas wonderland of things to buy as a gift and watch the recipient generally ignore later. Matalan was not an exception. I wanted to take a picture but it would've been too obvious and people would have just asked why. Let's just say gaudy would be an apt description.

As it happened it came quickly quite clear that Matalan (other than a pack of five socks) had nothing that was in my size. Let me digress here for a moment. Since my incident with the Subway "hearty Italian" baguette. and my front teeth I'd gone off eating baguettes,crisps and sweets. And because of especially not eating crisps whilst I'm not saying I'm an Adonis with a six pack I've gotten noticeably slimmer.

I was therefore surplus to requirements. The wife and daughter had garnered in about ten minutes a group of blouses for them to try out in the changing room before whittling down to a lesser number to work out later. In that moment my wife had an inspirational moment.She turned to me and said "Why don't you read the book in the car?"

She didn't need to say it twice. I was off.

So that was why I claim to be the only man ever to have read an Ellery Queen crime novel in a retail car park in Wales. I want a plaque for eternity.

And not only did I read it, I finished it. So let me say that the opinion I gave in my last post has not changed. It was readable but dated. Thank you Ellery anyway.

This of course means there is a new book to pick from the great unread, That book is:

1116 - C S Forester - The Commodore

I've read one Forester book before, The Gun and I didn't like it. This is however the first Horatio Hornblower book to come my way so I have some hope for it.

Until the next time,

Ellery Queen And The Mystery Of My Front Teeth (With Added EU)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You may remember that I mentioned in my last post that I had a problem with my teeth after eating a "Hearty Italian" baguette in Subway a week ago.One of my front teeth is slightly chipped at the bottom and the other has a mark across it like a crack in a window. Despite it's look though there is no wobble. They're still hanging on there.

The worst part though are the gums which have ballooned worryingly as if it was a photograph taken from the air of Mars.Exercise for the week has been throwing Corsodyl at my mouth.

I'm not saying that my teeth were perfect beforehand but this ratcheted up the worry level.

Well Friday I'm at the dentists for a pre arranged appointment before all of this occurred. As usual I took a book with me, the Ellery Queen, to read whilst I wait to be called to my doom. It's alright as entertainment if your brain doesn't go beyond first gear. Mind you like a standard black and white film of the thirties it doesn't wear it's age well. Neither you could say did I at that moment.

I'd read about three chapters when someone I knew entered the dentist. He was a father of a girl in my daughter's school. Hadn't seen him in a few years. We were friendly without being friends.

We exchanged greetings and I enquired then how "the lady wife" was. There were two reasons for this. Firstly it's the standard thing you say to a man when his partner's name escapes your mind. Secondly however was curious how she was. Because her high powered and high paid (compared to me) job was working to promote the EU in Wales. She may not be the first person to be made redundant because of Brexit but she was one of the first who knew that she was going to be.

She is apparently alright but "angry" at the referendum result. I have seen her at work a couple of times. Such as being at an EU stall in an Eisteddfod about ten years ago. She loved her work, and now it was just going to go away.

He personally did not understand how Wales as a whole voted to leave. I suggested my theory, which I've mentioned in this blog before that nothing powers the right/far right more than the perception (doesn't matter if it's true or not)of unfettered immigration.

He nodded and then said "Britain is entering interesting times"

Now what I haven't mentioned until now is that the gentleman is Anglo Chinese. Now I'm saying this because there's a Chinese curse which goes "May you live in interesting times".

Mention this. He smiles and then proceeds to repeat the sentence. At that moment a nurse calls my name. I'm being summoned. We bid each other goodbye

As for my front teeth? It appears they experienced a "food trauma" in the reaction to the Subway baguette. I had thought food trauma was how I act to olives in pasta. Obviously now know better. The crack on the tooth was a filling which I had in when I last had a traumatic experience with food it appears. And my teeth will still be there with plenty of extra brushing,corsodyl and flossing. I leave there with my teeth relatively OK and not as damaged as I feared......for now anyway.

Until the next time.

As The Nights Draw In And I Get Older Perhaps I Should Do Some More Kindling

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have never hid the fact that I'm a fifty two year old man. Soon indeed to be fifty three. And although I'd like to consider myself to be in relatively good health (not sportsperson health you understand just the rest of the human race) I know that I'm not the man I was ten,let alone twenty years ago.

My stomach shall we say takes a greater circumference of the Earth's atmosphere than it used to. My teeth it appears is more venerable to being cracked by a Subway Hearty Italian roll (happened last Tuesday). And when I look at a young woman wearing a short skirt my first thought is "I'm not having my daughter dressed like that".

Still there are things where my body has been older than my years. I've worn glasses since I was nine. I remember the first pair I choose. Specifically picked as they were like the ones Joe 90 wore. A hero who wears spectacles would always be a role model since then. Though my eyesight has thankfully stabilised I will always need to wear a pair for the rest of my life (and in case you're wondering contact lenses are a no no for me as the thought of double glazing inserted into my eye socket does not attract).

But recently I've noticed a problem when reading at night. Not where all the lights are bright and the occupant gets a thankyou letter from the electricity company but in a normal room where a single solitary bulb bravely does it's best to shine around the area. Reading in these conditions has become uncomfortable.Not painful or I can't see just that I feel my eyes focusing more on the page than at daylight or in a more brightly coloured room.

Which leads me to the Kindle (other e readers are available). Whilst I've never hidden the fact that I own one I've only used them in particular circumstances, such as on holiday or where a particular book is not available easily in its paper form. The thing is that it has a backlight,making reading at night easier.

So I've decided to read the Kindle at night. Not immediately, given that I've currently six books on the go, but when I've whittled it down to a more manageable level.

It's not a decision I like but I'd rather read from an e reader than not read at all.

Until the next time.

Albeit More Slowly I'm Still Learning Languages As A Reaction To The Slow British Coup

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You may remember that in the light of Brexit I was going to learn three languages (not including Welsh which I was returning to beforehand anyway) as a gesture against the return to the Dark Age that the referendum result has unleashed.

Well must admit that I've not found it easy going. This is mainly due to the shift work nature of my job. When I'm working the late afternoon/evening shift the morning is mainly just a countdown clock to that moment. As for the morning/early afternoon shift then once I've finished and have had some lunch a sort of slow jet lag sets and I'm hardly in a position to learn anything let alone languages.By the time my brain is ready it's time for an early night.

So I've decided to change how I learn these languages. Instead of trying to learn them every day I'm going to only learn them in a non working day (one language per day) but as far as possible to immerse myself in them. So I'll listen to the radio, watch TV and work on those books I've bought in that tongue.

Of course that will mean progress will be slow. But I'd rather make slow progress than no progress at all. After all the tortoise did win the race eventually.

And this comes back to why. Since June Britain as a whole has moved into the dark ages. As I've discussed previously hate crimes against anyone deemed to be "foreign" have increased. Only today the Daily Mail made a front page headline about foreign drivers using mobile phones in Britain as if British drivers never do that.

Britain has now become a country where the kneejerk media reaction to child immigrants from war torn nations is to demand that the authorities check their teeth to prove their age. If you show any degree of compassion to immigrants (such as Lily Allen or Gary Lineker) you're subject to vilification which newspaper headlines with the word FURY in them.Which when you read closely tend to the fury of someone politically to the right.

Even issues where I do have sympathy. Like the placing of Poppies on the shirts of the British football teams in the forthcoming internationals are being portrayed in an anti foreigner rhetoric.

There are other things. Like the famous Vote Leave coach with the £350m to the NHS instead of the EU on it that the Brexiteers now want to make us forget. Or the way the pound has seemingly fallen to the value of Germany......in the nineteen twenties. Already the price of petrol has risen and inflation is forecast to rise even further during next year. Household items are effected such as (oh yes) tea.

If you are poor you will be poorer and if you're just over the breadline then you're likely to be dragged under it. Those at work will probably find themselves at lower earning jobs as organisations move away from the UK. As Greece showed the rich will be fine. They know how to hide their money.

Britain as a whole is in danger of becoming hard,isolated and uncaring whilst in the midst of economic and social turmoil and might be influenced even more than it already is by people a few jackboots short of a sieg heil. People who it appears seem to be bent on turning this country back into a "golden age" that probably never existed in the first place.

Until the next time.