Cheryl Gillan...Champion Of Wales? I Don't Think So

Hello there. hope you're feeling well today.

I did not expect, being as I am in Essex for the foreseeable future until my mother is well, to be writing about Welsh politics on New Years Eve ("how saddo a thing to to is that!" you will say and yes you'd be right but if I have anything on my hands for the moment it's time) but there you go.

It wasn't even the news that former Secretary of State for Cheryl Gillan was going to become a Dame under the New Years Honours List. I don't care for the system of honours but it wasn't worth a blog post. No what made me put finger to keyboard came from of course Twitter and specifically the account of the Welsh Conservatives which, whilst congratulating Ms Gillan for the "honour", described her as a "Champion Of Wales".

So let's be clear what this "Champion of Wales"has done.

1) Though born in Cardiff she is an MP for Chesham and Amersham, in Buckinghamshire since 1992 which, for those without a keen knowledge of geography is in England.

2) Rail Electrification Of The South Wales Main Line. This promised electrification of the line has stopped at Cardiff. Even though it happened after David Cameron kicked her out as Sec of State did we hear Cheryl fighting tooth and nail for Wales as a true champion would? What do you think?

3) Reduced funding for the Welsh Language channel S4C. In an age where the channel needs help in this multi-channelled age (my previous posts refers) she was quite happy to kneecap it. Not the action of a true champion of Wales.

4) She did set up the Silk Commission on future Welsh Devolution. But that would have been set up if anyone was Secretary of State at that time.

5) There was a Welsh Office Green paper in 2012 that if successful would have reduced the number of constituency Welsh Assembly members. A proposal that apparently even Tories in Wales disapproved of.

That's not even discussing the non specifically Welsh issues that surrounded her career.

So if you're looking for a Champion of Wales a Tory emigre in Buckinghamshire is really not the person you should be looking at.

Until the next time.

How I've Learnt To Love The Inventors Of Videotape. The Experiment (Part 3)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The next day then of channel surfing. The previous posts explains the experiment.Ten pm Saturday 30 December

ITV3 + 1 : Midsomer Murders: I've explained in a previous post how much I hate this show. One second. Click.

QVC Beauty : Shopping Channel. One second click.

Quest:Aliens On The Moon: No time for reality TV ghosts no time for reality TV Aliens either. One minute click.

Quest Red: The Jury Speaks: Another crime thing. This time the Jury on the Michael Jackson case. Not interested. Two minutes click.

CBS Action; NCIS: I've mentioned that I like this show. Unfortunately I've seen this episode before. And when I say "before" I mean this week. Two minutes click.

Food Network: Mystery Diners: Seems to be a show about security cameras trailing dodgy valets. Not for me.Five minutes click.

Travel channel : Life Before Zero - The Thaw: People living in cold climes that are less cold that they were.....????....rubbish. Two minutes click.

Gems TV: Another Shopping Channel. Turned over quickly but not before the woman selling jewels said that they had "A melody of colours". What??

Channel 5 + 1: The Championship: To be honest have lost track of football West Ham aside this week. Ten minutes click.

Challenge TV: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Simon Cowell is in it. Five minutes click.

FourSeven: The Simpsons. I've said before am neutral towards The Simpsons. Which for the purposes of this means uninterested. Four minutes click.

Movies4Men: The Gundown: You know being a man I can honestly say I've never watched a full movie on this channel. Nothing changes here. Two minutes click.

The Jewellery Channel: No melodies here. No interest from me either. One minute click.

Sony Movie Channel: Swat Firefight: Too old for this. One minute click.

My5:Jo Brand's Cats & Kittens: I'm not scared of cats as I am of dogs....doesn't mean I'm interested though. Two minutes click.

True Crime: Dangerous Women. Another crime show. Two women try to kill a man in four minutes on the TV. People who like this probably read Dean Koontz. Enough for me to turn over five minutes.Click.

True Entertainment:November Christmas: What???? This rubbish Christmas mush still on after it's finished? One minute click.

True Christmas: A Town Without Christmas: Well of course this town is without Christmas.....it's December 30th!!!! One minute click.

Blaze TV: Secret Access. UFOs Off The Record. Remember what I wrote about Quest TV? Ditto here.One minute click.

TBN UK: A religious channel.....I'm an atheist...One Minute click.

CBS Reality: Killer Doctors On Death Row night: Definitely not. Two minutes click.

Tru TV: Caught red handed: Series About Catching Shoplifters....I mean really ? One minute click.

My mother wakes up, time to finish up. Not a successful night.

Day Four then of the channel hopping experiment. It's 16:13 New Year's Eve

Horror: Icetastrophe: Don't really understand this channel. The Horror stuff comes late at night. This is just about people stuck in a snow storm. Two minutes click.

CBS Drama: Unsolved Mysteries: Another reality American crime series. A missing woman from the Chinese community being taken by a man. Would have turned over quicker but the phone rings.

Your TV: Body of Proof. Well I've praised this show before in this blog so I've no excuse not to watch it now. Especially as the only other channels are for children and news addicts.

So in my present situation I'm going to have to get used to this for a while.

Until the next time.

How I've Learnt To Love The Inventors Of Videotape. The Experiment (Part 2)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I'm in Essex for a while looking after my mother. I won't go into her problems until they're resolved.I'm writing a post which I'll publish then. Let's just say that at least for the next few weeks Essex is where I'm at.

And if you wonder why I'm still writing the blog? Well it gives me a sense of release for the moment. No other reason. This of course leads me to Part 2 of Channel surfing the free to air offerings my mother's TV has to offer.

It's 9pm on Friday 29 December and to continue...

Film 4: Salt : It stars Angelina Jolie. Begins with Ms Jolie being tortured in North Korea. Do I really want to watch this? No. Seven minutes click.

QVC: Never, ever watched it. 2 Seconds click.

Really: Ghost Adventures: Aftershocks: Neither believe or am interested in this rubbish. Three minutes click.

4 Music: Friday Night Hotmix: A programme which screams "Why are you watching it you're too old!" at me. And the programme would be right. Three minutes click.

Yesterday: Jackie Stewart: the Flying Scot: Cannot really say I'm interested in Formula One now. Two minutes click.

Drama: Death In Paradise: Kriss Marshall is in it . One minute click

5USA: The Mysteries Of Laura. Two season American crime drama starring Deborah Messing as a brilliant detective but as a woman can multitask by being a wisecracking but messy overworked divorced mother as well. I loved this show when it was first on but can't remember this episode. Watched all of it. Forty minutes click.

Off to make a cup of tea...then

Ideal World: Another Shopping channel. One Second click

ITV4: Demolition Man: Remember seeing this Sylvester Stallone vehicle years ago....it was rubbish. One Second click.

Home:Fantasy Homes By The Sea:Not interested at all.One Second click.

ITVBe: Botched: American series where doctors sort out the mistakes other doctors have made. Freak TV. No No NO!!!!!!!!!! One minute click.

ITV + 2 : Skyfall: The days I'd have instantly wanted to watch a James Bond movie have long since gone. Five minutes click.

E4: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Saw the original and liked it. But to be honest really cannot be bothered to see a sequel. Ditto E4+1 Each One Second click

5Star: We're The Millers: A Jennifer Anniston film. I seem to have joined it whilst Jen is doing some sort of striptease...better watch it for a while then.

Actually it's not bad. It's the sort of film perfect for a late Friday evening when your brain is in first gear. Forgot to count how much I watched but it was most of the movie. certainly over an hour. Click.

5Spike: Fury: Tail end of the movie. No point watching it. Two minutes click.

Sony Movie Channel: Pistol Whipped: Steven Seagal in his post modern fat period. There is only one Steven Seagal movie I've ever liked. And as this isn't the gloriously tongue in cheek Under Siege then five minutes click.

ITV + 1: Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince: How come is this movie on at eleven twenty one at night (ten twenty one on ITV)? It's a kids movie. Three minutes click.

Feel my brain beginning to tire. Part 3 another day.

Until the next time.

How I've Learnt To Love The Inventors Of Videotape. The Experiment (Part 1)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I've spent the day being nurse to my mother with her viral infection. I won't discuss it. People look after their family everywhere in the world everytime of the day. It's in the job description.

So instead I'll chat about something else.

My mother does not have a DVR. Nor does she have a Smart TV. That's her choice. She does not even have all the Free To Air Channels. Essentially then she goes retro and watches TV when it's being broadcast, like I did as a child of the seventies.

Whilst my mother is asleep there is little else I can do but to watch broadcast TV. I do not at the moment feel I can concentrate on reading books. Only now do I realise how much I depend on recorded or on demand TV. Because without the filtering process of your own choice you suddenly realise that TV is for the most part rubbish. In the seventies there were just three channels to watch in Britain and yet (even through the prisim of nostalgia) if you removed sports from the equation there seems less shows you want to watch now even though there are countless channels. More means less.

So during the time I had spare I decided to conduct an experiment. About as scientific as Daffy Duck you understand but there you go.

As when circumstances allow from BBC1 onwards I would watch the TV as and when it's on. When it's boring/I don't like it I'll move to the next channel on the line. The key thing is not the channel which can hold my attention for the longest, that's the luck of the draw. It's taking it all as a whole.

It couldn't be done in a day. Hence Part 1.

Half past eight in the evening: Let's start with BBC1 then. Still Open All Hours. The sequal to Open All Hours. Like most sequals it's not a patch on the original. And yet it's still there. I stay out of loyalty to the Ronnie Barker classic...and then I can't stand it anymore. After fifteen minutes click.

BBC2: Thailand: Earth's Tropical Paradise. It's an animal programme. Regular readers will know that I've not got an interest in animals. So after four minutes click.

ITV: Emmerdale. Apart from the Welsh Language Soap opera Pobol Y Cwm I don't watch soap operas. Mainly because the plot twists always seem to be in the TV guides. I'm incidentally old enough to remember when Emmerdale had a farm (and if you understand that joke then you're old enough as well).As I see it a female vicar gives a man a cuddle and a woman goes to pieces in a pub. Nine minutes click.

Channel 4:The Secret Life Of The Zoo. Another animal programme. Zoo staff chatting about why a couple of rhinos didn't have sex. Four minutes click.

Channel 5: World's Strongest Man. Initial reason why I found myself watching this was the voiceover. Eddie Butler, the man who would normally voice the dramas of Welsh rugby games is doing this?Then James Richardson normally a football presenter turns up.

Of course then comes the games. It's A Knockout as if devised by ancient Spartans. Muscled men lift heavy things....and then heavier things. Curiosity value for a time....then that curiosity goes. Seventeen minutes click

ITV2: Amazing Spider Man 2. 45 minutes left for the movie. Regular readers might remember the trip I made in the summer to see Spider Man Homecoming. Spider Man in this one seems to be older than the comics. He also has a blonde girlfriend who knows his secret identity...what?? The Green Goblin also seems to be a sort of green cyber punk and Sally Field is Aunt May. Ok she may not be Marisa Tomei but she's still too young. I'm a comic traditionalist me

My mother wakes up from her slumber to chat to me during this. It would have been clicked a lot earlier. But as it happens it's the forty five minutes click.

London Live: I'll say this for London Live. It's better than it's Cardiff eqivilaent. But only because it shows programmes that have nothing to do with London (I seem to remember Raise The Titanic yesterday. Spy drama Spooks will on next week). Now it's Best Pair Of Legs in the business. A 1973 film starring Reg Varney. As far from On The Buses as you can get. I've seen it before. Depressing is not the word that goes anywhere near to explain how black this is. Your first urge after watching this would be to jump off a cliff before you controlled yourself. Seven minutes click.

BBC Four: Francis Bacon: A Brush With Violence. A Biography of the painter. Not interested. Four minutes. Click.

ITV3: Endeavour: I'm a fan of Inspector Morse and Lewis but I've never liked Endeavour and I've tried. The problem I have with this is the problem I have with all prequels. You may not know the route to get there but you know what the destination is going to be. I try for a while but nothing has really changed. Fifteen minutes click.

Pick: Three Days To Live: One of these reality Crime TV shows. Not interested at all. Three Minutes. click

My mother asks me to make her a small snack. So I return to the TV at Ten.

Dave: Would I Lie To You? : You know if it was Have I Got News For You or QI I'd have stayed to have watched the whole programme. But it isn't. One Minute. click.

Channel 4 +1: What Britain Bought In 2017: Mary Portas, a woman who looks like an explosion in a sweet wrapping factory, presents this exploration of the shopping trends this year. It's not uninteresting I must admit. The moment you think it's just too girly (big knickers anyone?) it throws you the single brought out for the Grenfell Tower disaster. I watched it all.59 minutes click.

More 4: Greg Davies. The Back Of My Mother's Head, This was the comedian's 2013/14 tour. I enjoyed it  One hour click

Out of fourteen channels so far only two attracts my attention

So thankyou Mr/Mrs/Ms videotape. The pioneers of TV I wanted to watch. For without you....I might have gone out more.

Until the next time.

From South Wales To Essex....Unfortunately

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I'm writing this post in Essex. My knee is better though not 100%. Wife and daughter are in South Wales and I do miss them. But it has to be. As my mother is unwell.

She hadn't spent Christmas with us as she wasn't confident driving to Wales and my knee was too much of a problem for me to drive and pick her up. However on Boxing day she rang to say that she felt really in a bad way so there was no choice. I had to come down.

The drive normally takes me about three and a half to four hours. But certain things made it longer. The need to have an oil change at the beginning of the journey, to stop at three Motorway Service Stations to give my knee a break, the weather and most surprisingly of all given that it was Boxing Day the traffic.

My mother was not well. Today (27th) we've gone to the doctor. She has a viral infection. Getting an appointment proved to be easy. The timing in that morning was not as the snow that was not settling suddenly decide to get heavy and settle.

She now has the knowledge and the medication. Once she is on the mend my conscience will allow me to leave.

As I think I've said before. I've spent a lot of my life in Essex and and happy to defend it against all comers. It is however no longer home. But no matter how much you've changed there will be moments when the past calls you back and you have to go.

Until the next time.

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning Alone And Rambling

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It's Saturday night. I'm alone as wife/daughter have gone out to see a friend for the evening. I'm not going as my knee that I had the accident on Wednesday is still not feeling 100% and is uncomfortable on car journeys. I can do it if need be. But this was the first day I could properly rest it since the incident when I tripped and fell on the hard floor at work and so just wanted it to recover. Which it is. But slowly.

Nothing to watch on TV. Have a batch of Columbo episodes on the DVR. But they're waiting for Christmas Day when I return from work. But I'll chat about that another time.

The quietness is extraordinary. Either I'm the only person in the entire block staying in on a Saturday night (possible) or else this place is soundproofed to a high standard.

I find myself looking at mail. Enterprise Rentacar. Which I used as part of the motor insurance for the recent accident. Not my fault. Out of date now anyway as everything was done. Binned.

Try to activate my new Nectar card....Yes I'm THAT bored. Screen says, and remember that it's my newly arrived card UNABLE TO VERIFY YOUR DETAILS. PLEASE CONTACT THE CALL CENTRE. And it was THEY WHO SENT IT TO ME!!! Won't bother with that until the new year.

A lot of mail has been got through. Wife will be happy (though will also mention I should have done it a lot sooner.

Have also downloaded a load of books (all free) from recommendations by Robert Macfarlane's book The Old Ways. Particularly noticeable is George Borrow. I think I've done about eighty!!!

Ten pm. Daughter rings. They're coming back. Find myself starting to watch Columbo but am really too sleepy to pay much attention.

It's now Sunday morning just after seven. Have woken up before everyone else. As I make breakfast I still feel my knee. It's still not quite right.

The news leads on the fact that war with North Korea is likely. So I assume saying Merry Christmas/Nadolig Llawen to them won't help. Presumably twinning with a possible nuclear war is the sky which though dark is beginning to show a red dawn.

Oh and by the way shepherds....you have been warned.

Of course it's quiet out there. Apart from seagulls. They don't care for Christmas either.

Find myself on Twitter mocking people whose views are to the right of Ghengis Khan. Really,really don't care.

I hear voices. It's from the apartment opposite. If looks are anything to go by they're recovering from the party the night before. Genuinely not jealous. After all I didn't hear the party the night before....and I doubt would've gone anyway.

Seven fifty seven. Weather is daylight enough for me to switch the lights off. Only now do I register it's Christmas Eve.

Wife is awake. It's eight eighteen. Some people are coming over so some vacuuming needs to be done. Otherwise I think today is for a spot of reading.

Until the next time.

So Blog Villain Alun Cairns, Is The Abolition Of The Severn Bridge Tolls As Big a Triumph As You Make Out?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've chatted about blog villain, political slimeball and Welsh Secretary of State Alun Cairns' speech to the Conservative party conference before when I questioned how truly Welsh he is. But something happened last night which drew me back to it.

In his "look at me, look at me, what a wonderful guy I am" speech ( and to be fair you do have to look....he's very small). Secretary of State Cairns boasted that the abolition of fees for crossing the Severn Bridge showed a commitment to the Welsh economy by the Conservatives.

But...

In this morning's Times newspaper apparently the Ministry of Transport is considering Pay For Mile Charging on roads. Currently this proposal only applies to lorries but may be extended to cars.

Now I'm making the assumption that as this is to do with the collection of tax for use on the road, this is a British wide issue. But even if I'm wrong and it only applies to England this proposal will damage the Welsh economy (particularly West/North West Wales).

Why? Say you're a haulier based in Llanelli and you travel throughout Britain. Because you're based towards the edge of Britain your pay per mile costs would be greater overall than an equivalent haulier in, say Birmingham because most of their journeys (even to say Edinburgh) would be quicker. Consequentally you might have to charge your customers more or be unable to continue the business.

So then Mr Cairns. Were you aware of this road charging scheme? And if not why not? Do you agree with it? And why boast about the forthcoming abolition of the road charging scheme for the Severn Bridge when something a lot worse might be coming to Wales soon?

And do you really care?

Until the next time.

On Books: Including One Which Seems To Quietly Go Mad

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Finished The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. It reminded me of Don Quixote and Les Miserables where it appeared that though there was a basic plot Sterne seemed to throw in every piece of writing he ever did and somehow shoehorn it into the book.

It's a novel celebrated for being freewheeling in style. Personally for me it was as effective as a three wheeled car. You can guess that I didn't like it.

The next ebook is rather interesting. It's Letters on Sweden, Norway and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft (Mary Shelley). Thing about it is this. Whenever I watch anything about Mary, there always seems to be something along the lines of anything she wrote aside from Frankenstein was rubbish so this is a good test.

As for my recent library book borrowings, there were two. Firstly:

Annie Prolux - Barkskins

This is a brick sized book. It's going to take me a long while to read it. Unlike.....

Things That Are - Amy Leach

This is a book of essays about animals, plants and stars. It's also weird. I really wish I could break copyright and give you examples of the odd sentences that Ms Leach makes. Best I can tell you is that I challenge any reader of this book to say that there wasn't at least one example in every chapter where you thought "What on Earth is she writing?"

or

"Is she on drugs?"

If this book was a person it would be the sort of eccentric that's no harm to others but talks no sense whatsoever when you speak to them. You just nod as they go on not understanding anything that is being said.

And to think that in 2013 there were people who paid £12 for this.

Until the next time.

Have You Had An Accident At Work? Well Actually....

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I'm at work. I've said before that I don't have a glamourous or important job, but it's a job and I know what I'm doing.

I've got things to do and I know how to do it. I've a binder in my hand. I'm master of all I survey.....

And then...splat!!

I tripped..not only did I trip for a few moments I flew...before coming down to a hard floor.

My glasses scattered in front of me. For a few moments was not sure how I was feeling but then slowly got up. Aches on my arms and my legs. Unfortunately for all accident lawyers everywhere I wasn't unwell enough not to continue working.

I was hurting though. A few hours later realised that the right knee seemed to take worse of it all. It's swollen. Not broken though, I can bend it. Still when walking feel as if an extra weight has been added.

My colleagues? They laughed.

When I came back later that night I told my wife what happened....she laughed.

When my daughter heard about it ......she laughed.

When I told my mother about it over the phone she laughed as well!!!

The morning after wife showed a little more concern. After all a swelling is there and I'm clearly not walking properly.

Too late though.

And now for the first time on the blog. Naked flesh.

It's Hurting People

It's a little better now. But still makes it's presence felt. Particularly when I'm walking.

Until the next time.

Is Wales In Danger Of Becoming The Lost World?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Who is Wales run by at the moment? In Westminster it's Welsh Secretary of State and political slimeball Alun Cairns (regular readers of this blog will know I don't like him) who seems to be more interested in slowly weeding out Welsh identity than in bringing out the differences with the rest of Britain.

Whilst in Cardiff Bay Welsh Labour control the Senedd with the help of a LibDem and an independent. Not however stopping them from running things with arrogant incompetence. In Carwyn Jones it also has a leader who is facing next year on how he dealt with the dismissal of Carl Sargeant.

So where is Wales at the moment? In a very dangerous place. Poised because of Brexit to be the backwater of the backwater that Britain will become.

Take transport for example. The HS1 train project? Not available in Wales. Electrification of the South Wales railway line? Not available beyond Cardiff.

Take energy. The UK government is happy to throw the building of a nuclear power plant in Hinckley Point where the profits will go to a French State owned company and the Chinese government but when it comes to the Swansea Bay Lagoon where environmentally friendly energy could help Wales in its needs there is apparently cold feet.

Take the economy. Up and down Wales there are factories where the workers are worried about their future. Where they feel misled about Brexit and don't know what will happen next. Do you think Welsh Labour let alone the UK government are doing impact studies on Welsh regions? Both in an economic and in a social sphere? If they are they're doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

Take the perception of Wales: I have posted before that post Brexit Wales will become the last whipping boy of a certain type of English person. Do you think either administrations are trying to make Wales more assertive? Compare Wales to Scotland and you have your answer.

And what is being proposed to counter this? Basically the building of Super Prisons and a tourism policy of promoting Wales as a Principality. essentially a servile follower of England.

So the calls for independence must become louder. For the dangers of Wales becoming a Lost World are there.

Until the next time

Dafydd Elis-Thomas:The Welsh Version Of Fame Is The Spur?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For those of you who think Fame Is The Spur is a sort of sequel to Fame and gives more airtime to young New York lycraed  aspirants in show business prepare to be disappointed. For it actually refers to a 1940 novel by Howard Spring (which I haven't read) subsequently made into a film in 1947 starring Michael Redgrave (which I have seen).

The plot is simple. A man starts off as left wing but as the story moves on becomes more and more to the right. Thus alienating those who helped him.

Well it appears that the Welsh version has finally made the ultimate step of no return. And it wasn't even joining the Labour Welsh government in Cardiff as a minister.

I won't bother giving a full blow by blow account of the career of Dafydd Elis-Thomas, there are far more expert than me for that. But see how the trajectory of his political career as gone when I give the following list.

Plaid Cymru MP, Plaid Cymru Leader, No Longer Leader, Plaid Cymru Peer, Member of National Assembly For Wales, Presiding Officer For The Assembly, Leaves Plaid Cymru, Independent Member Of The National Assembly For Wales, Minister For Culture,Sport and Tourism under the current Labour Welsh government.

So the man who was once leader of Plaid Cymru is, though an independent, a minister in Carwyn Jones' arrogantly incompetent Welsh Labour administration.

But as I said. That's not the most dramatic sea change. For in his capacity as tourism minister he's announced that he will promote Wales as a "Principality". Which is, for the uninitiated, means a territory "held and governed by a prince".

No matter that Wales has not been a Principality since the sixteenth century. No matter either that not even the Welsh Labour government agrees with this. This is the image, the servile state of the heir to the British Monarchy, that a former leader of Plaid Cymru wants to present Wales to the world.

I have spoken before about the dangers post Brexit of the Welsh nation becoming the last whipping boy to a certain type of arrogance that some English people possess. This servant/master image of Wales will not help matters.

Wales is a proud nation that possess many thing that it can shout about. A culture, heritage and full of breathtaking views that surely would bring the tourists in. It's people are on the whole nice, friendly and welcoming. It is the equal of any nation not it's slave counterpart.

It'll need a slogan. "Italy with rain" is close. How about "Italy in a cool climate"?

There you are Lord Elis-Thomas, I've done your job for you. And I didn't have to risk betraying Wales in so doing.

Until the next time.

Cardiff City Centre At Christmas

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well there I was on the Monday before the Monday that will be Christmas Day in the centre of Cardiff dragged by wife and daughter for last minute holiday shopping and to see the lights. I the man with no Xmas spirit at all experiencing the capital in action.

First stop for me was going to be W H Smith. Was going to come out with the Kindle and I'd read my library books so I needed something to read whilst wife/daughter were in the clothes shops. Unfortunately nothing screamed "Buy Me!" though the unauthorised biography of the Chinese ambassador to Britain was not selling well.

How To Fall From Grace And Be Richer At The Same Time

So had to be ready for boring moments of women buying clothes and asking for my opinion. I've said before that for a man this is possibly the hell on Earth that doesn't involve weapons. First was New Look. The fashion chain my daughter was interested in. The only thing I practised there was reverse psychology in making sure that she didn't buy clothes I didn't like by praising them to the hilt. She's fifteen now however and cottoned onto that quickly enough.

Then came "Bonne Marche" The clothes place, according to daughter "for old women". A long wait was had there as well.

Marks and Spencer, finally. Small items bought. On to something to eat.

Now a word needs said about the Christmas lights. Regular readers of this blog would know how there's no way I'd describe myself as Mr Christmas. Still even I was shocked by how relatively pathetic it was. This was Queens Street:

About as imaginative as a brick wall

All Queens Street was were these lights, some blue others white but that was it. The decorations in nearby streets and around Cardiff Castle were better but rarely did you shake off the feeling that the general idea was to go for the barest minimum they could get away with and that was it. Whether it was austerity, the consequences of Brexit, the march of online retailing or a mixture of the three I don't know.

But it wasn't impressive.

So to food. Though a Monday daughter wanted us to go to TGI Friday's. As it was Christmas we agreed. So a loan on was agreed over the phone and we had dinner there.

The bit about a loan was a joke. And wife/daughter loved the food (me less so) but I tell you it was definitely expensive. I'm sure I could have enjoyed food cheaper somewhere else.

Our bellies full we walked to our car. On the way we were passing St David's Hall and we saw a homeless man just looking at the cap of coinage in front of him. It was already a cold frosty night and it was going to get worse. He was a white man in a dreadlocked hairstyle but more importantly dressed in a T-Shirt and jeans.

I gave him all the coins I had in my pocket (about three pounds - I had no notes). He thanked me and I saw his face. Couldn't place an age on him though he looked considerably older than I'd expected. There are some homeless people whose faces are so ravaged by the elements that you just can't tell how old they are.

Hope he got through last night.

There are many things more important than Christmas. Homelessness is one of them.

Until the next time.

On Books:From Dickens to Golf,Science and Ending With East End Crime.....As You Do

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I finished my post on The Thirty Nine Steps so excited was I in throwing the theory forward that racist John Buchan is still remembered today because of sex harasser Alfred Hitchcock that I'd forgotten to mention what my next ebook on the Kindle was going to be.

Well in the spirit of the season it's Charles Dickens' A Christmas....no only kidding...been there done that....seen the movie (and the musical as it happens).

It was in fact Martin Chuzzlewit.

I did not unfortunately like it. For me it seemed a lot more meandering than other books of his I've read and yet unlike those other ones it didn't seem to easily to move back into the central plot. Consequently my mind meandered as well. There are books that you persevere with because you feel as a reader you should but the only thing you're looking forward to is the end.

The only interesting thing to me about the novel were those scenes set in America. It made me wonder whether Dickens was the first writer (or the earliest still remembered today) to think that he could get greater American sales by setting part of the story there. Just a thought.

The next ebook turned out to be Arnold Palmer: Reflections On The Game by the aforementioned Arnold and Thomas Hauser. This I bought for free. Now I know why. It was just a few pages. A glorified magazine/newspaper article. Obviously Arnold Palmer had the right to chat about golf more than most people, but none of what I read held any surprise. It was a waste of the nothing I paid for it.

So the ebook I'm now reading is The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy. Gentleman by Lawrence Sterne. It's a classic of British literature and am looking forward to it.

Have also read two library books. This was the first.

The Accidental Scientist - Graeme Donald

As the cover explains it's about the great accidental discoveries in science. In this case it's a book that scientists would buy their non scientist friends ("See? Science can be fun")

The trouble with this and similar type books is that you realise as you're reading it that each chapter would have made a better complete book in it's own right. So what you're reading may not be awful, but it is unsatisfying.

This was the other library book.

David Meikle - Kate Beal Blyth - The Krays The Prison Years

I'm not old enough to remember The Krays in their gangster prime. But growing up in the East End of London (I was born in Forest Gate) I do remember that even in prison for the rest of their lives they still seemed to have this myth surrounding them. Indeed for longevity in the collective East End memory the only other icon I can immediately think of is Bobby Moore.

So a detailed book (based on a TV documentary - not revealed until the end) about this rarely documented period in their lives banged up in prison is a worthwhile addition to the library of stuff written about the Krays. It's also the best book of the four I've chatted about today (yes it was more interesting than Martin Chuzzlewit) but perhaps that's my East End background talking

It's not without problems. For me the biggest was the surprising little time spent to their early prison years. It also made me feel a little sympathetic towards Ronnie Kray, given that he was a diagnosed with severe mental problems including schizophrenia. You wondered what would have happened to them if he hadn't been plagued with these illnesses

Still I "enjoyed" reading it and it's recommended. Won't be able to get new library books until Tuesday so we'll see what they are then.

Until the next time.

Christmas Catches Up With All Of Us....Even If We Don't Want It

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well just over a week until Christmas day. Done my best to put my head in the sand but it has the unfortunate ability to seep through whatever mental blocks that I've tried to put in it's way.

Of course having a wife, mother and daughter who are more ho ho ho than my ho ho humbug doesn't help. Indeed at time of writing I might have to drive to Essex to pick up my mother and drive her back to Wales. As the cataract operation has made her feel woozy and lightheaded. Apparently this was caused by inadequate spectacles which she now has but has to get used to in time.

So you see the point is that if I do have to take my mother back to Wales on the Eve, I'll be literally "Driving Home For Christmas". A fact that almost makes me want to vomit.

There are other issues. I feel honour bound to get presents. Have got most of them and intend to finish it off early next week. Wife/mother/daughter say they haven't bought much for me. I've told them "Get me a £15 Amazon voucher" and I'm happy enough.

On Monday will get Christmas cards for wife and mother. Unlike my wife the wording in a Christmas card is of no real interest to me. As long as it says wife or mother, mentions Xmas and doesn't look stupid it could have the football scores in it I wouldn't notice. Basically I judge a card by it's cover.

(As a quick aside we've taken a gamble as to my mother's present. It's an Amazon Echo Dot. Makes a change from a Marks and Spencer gift voucher. The idea is to install it in the middle of next month when it's my intention to come down for when her left eye has the Cataract operation. Not sure whether she'll use it. But it makes a change)

I'm working on Christmas Day. But surprisingly that brings it's own problems. Wife/daughter/mother will be at my brother-in-law's and partner's house for Christmas dinner with them and her family and friends. Now I'm happy about this as they will be having a festive meal which is what they wanted.

However I'm finishing work at six and will arrive back to the apartment at around six forty. Wife/daughter/mother/brother-in-law etc want me to come back to his place and spend the remainder of Christmas with them. Whilst I have absolutely nothing against my brother-in-law or his family and am genuinely grateful for their offer the idea of coming to their house relatively late,tired and having a meal that everyone else has had already whilst starting being "Christmassy" does not appeal. No I'd rather be by myself with microwave Spaghetti and a cup of tea thankyou very much.

Yes I know I'm the weird one. Not them. But I'm sure I'm not the only person who whilst he doesn't want to spoil other people's enjoyment of the season (especially children's) wishes to spend it as quietly and discreetly as possible

But perhaps I am.

Until the next time.

The Farewell Tour Of The McDonald's Menu Part Two: Chicken Select

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For those of you not regular readers of this blog I've decided to forgo the instant (and then instantly forgotten) pleasures of McDonalds for the sake of my waistline but before I do to eat every regular medium meal from their menu.

This is (as they say) an occasional series. So occasional that I've only ever done it once before. But cometh the circumstances cometh the occasion. Therefore Part Two it is.

As the title gives away the McDonald's meal du jour is the Chicken Select. And here it is.

Not Exactly A Sight For A Hungry Tummy

Now the first thing to ask about this meal is this? Why is it called Select? After all in Britain McDonald's have been pushing the Chicken McNugget like it was a healthy option. Saying that it was one hundred percent chicken and only chicken. So what makes these Chickens so different that they are "Select"? To misquote Orwell perhaps in McDonald's all Chickens are equal but some are more Select than others?

I suspect their marketing department (who don't forget calls a Chicken burger in a bun a "Legend") wanted to give the impression by using the word "Select" that it was more of a high class product than those riff-raff at KFC which you could have if ponced up KFC (aka Nandos) wasn't available. For the record I like KFC. If only because there's no pretence. It's Fried Chicken...live with it.

And by the way the fries, why are they so wimpish? They really are the featherweights of potato cuts.

It's edible. But nothing more than that. Unless you're a snob the Select tag really is worthless. I'll try to remember that when it comes to say goodbye to the Mcnugget and see what tastes better.

Suspect really that it will be a dead heat.

Until the next time.

Why The Welsh Need To Prepare For The Certain Type Of English Person Post Brexit

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

This is the sort of post which I hadn't intended to write until Twitter raised it's head. It happened yesterday evening if you wish to check.

So I was entering an argument with a Brexiteer with regard to EU citizens living in Britain. He/She called them migrants. I was saying that they weren't migrants because the European Union allowed freedom of movement.

But then another Brexiteer, definitely a he and much more of a caveman popped up and I had this argument with him as well.

I felt I'd made my point and then he tweeted this:

Your in wales so you go bother your sheep and let the adults speak.

I responded first by attacking what he said with regard to Wales and then by tweeting:

Secondly I'm an adult and a literate one as well. I know for example it's "You're in Wales" and not "Your in Wales".......Thicko

And later when he stated that I didn't know what I was talking about with regard to EU citizens in the UK my response was 

Well given I've twice shown you can't compose a sentence in English I think I know far more than you

It referred to an earlier tweet where he again revealed an inability to write in his mother tongue.

But let's go back to his crass remarks with regard to Wales. It occurred to me as I was reading this that it was the shape of things to come with regard to a certain type of English person. The type who in the seventies would have made remarks about the colour of a person's skin or that he/she was Jewish. That person feels more careful not to do that anymore or at the very least where he (probably) will feel safe, will not attack the Irish now as they have the comfort of the EU to fall back on. Or the Scots because they voted to Remain and would give as good as they got.

Which leaves the Welsh. The majority of  whom also voted to Leave the EU. But now find themselves in an uncertain future with the English, some of whom hold the Welsh in contempt and would feel no restraint in showing it.

I made a post a year ago where I suggested that the problem with the vast majority of the Welsh people was that they were far too nice and it was this niceness that allowed them to be exploited by those whose motives you really could not trust. What Brexit has done is to make the Welsh the last whipping boy of that type of English person.

So I say again the Welsh need to react like the Scots. They need to rebel. They need to cause a stir. They need to show that they can't take this anymore and will react against it. No more Mr Nice Guy (and Ms Nice Lady of course).

In the long term independence is really the solution. But in the short term not being a lapdog will help the national psyche.

Until the next time.

So Have The DUP And Theresa May Created Conditions For Scottish And Welsh Independence?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So what did the first bit of the Brexit agreement showed? Well the EU side were professional and the UK government are just a bunch of amateurs. We now know exactly what the tactics Theresa May uses. Talk tough and then give in.

And as for the forthcoming trade talks? The way things are going the only thing the Tories will be able to trade with the EU are insults (and then giving in).

But for the purposes of this post let's focus on one thing here which is Ireland (both North and the Republic). For the first agreement allows those in Northern Ireland to have the same rights as any other EU citizen even after Brexit. 

Let us assume for the sake of argument that Brexit proves to be an unmitigated disaster. What then for the United Kingdom? For Northern Ireland the answer is strategically simple. Should the majority wish they would just become part of the Republic hence part of the EU and that was it. Job done.

Ah you will say what about the Protestants? Well if Brexit is the disaster then enough of them too would want their families to be economically secure. If the UK can't provide it then the EU would do a better job.

So then how does this help Scotland and Wales? Because people will see a country leaving the UK and not suffering in the process. Even if it meant doing the sort of deal Norway or Turkey does people will see that it can be done. What Brexit has shown is the lack of analysis and it seems care for the effect it will have in Scotland/Wales. It would appear that London, and to be specific the City Of London holds more of an influence.

What Westminster has done for Scotland and Wales is to turn England into an abusive partner in a relationship. Should Brexit turn out to be disastrous mistake then its power and authority vanishes, It means that independence would become an attractive option to the majority of the Scottish and Welsh people.

I have said before that a Brexit failure could be an opening to Welsh independence. I've also said that I don't want it to happen like this because of the misery a Brexit failure it will cause to families living in Wales. But it has to be said that the above might happen. And it would be an irony if nationalists should thank the DUP and the British Conservative Party for making it happen.

Until the next time.

Remember Bridgend Council. Hiding Behind Christmas Will Not Stop January

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It had been my intention to visit Bridgend and Maesteg town centres this past week. If only because a lot of this blog was originally about the state of these towns and how (particularly Bridgend) was being disastrously mishandled by the arrogant incompetence of the local Labour council and I wanted to see if anything had changed. I might not live in the area any more but I still work there. And I still care.

But a combination of things, work, the weather, dentistry, not wanting to drive my courtesy car anywhere outside of the barest minimum meant that I had to put it off, certainly for this week at least

Nonetheless I wanted to put in a short post about these town centres and Christmas. Because I've noticed on Twitter that Bridgend Labour Council have been going full throttle on advertising Christmas activities.

In Bridgend it appears that Santa himself is around with a purpose built grotto. Well far be it for me to criticise the arrival of the great man himself to the town. But when he's gone (and we all know he needs a rest after Xmas has finished) the problems of the town centre with its vast swathes of empty shops will still be there. Let me tell you that should Santa be able to deal with that well then that's truly a Christmas miracle.

Let's though get on to Maesteg. Yesterday the council tweeted that there was a £50 Maesteg Market gift voucher to be won in a competition there. All very well, except that there is less of a market than there was last year because the indoor market was closed down. and who closed down the indoor market? Well none other than the council. Because they wanted to renovate the town hall (the market was in the basement in case you're new to this but I've written about the background previously) and turn it to a cultural hub which, at the time of writing they still don't have the finance for.

So to advertise the market when they have shrunken it is an act of such bare faced cheek not only does it leave the mouth open but it stays there for a long while.

But remember Bridgend Council no amount of tinsel can hide the fact that the reality of January is just around the corner......and it bites.

Until the next time

How Racist John Buchan Is Remembered Thanks To A Sex Harasser

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've finished The Thirty Steps by John Buchan. Having read Prester John was expecting heaps of racism in this book too. So it's a surprise to say that there is no racism in the book.

There is instead anti-Semitism. Mainly in the first chapter. But it's there. All you need to find now is sexism (which I'll come back to in a moment) and homophobia and you'll have a connect four of bigotry.

But ignoring all of that what's surprised me about this book is how bad it is. The style is pedestrian and lazy, I've seen cotton reels more tense than this supposed thriller. I think I've written before that some bestsellers are badly written but the power of the story pulls it through. Not so here.

So then we have to ask why it is that if you ask people who've heard the name John Buchan they remember this novel and are very unlikely to know of any of the other stuff he wrote?

The answer, it occurred to me was in the all round (in the very literal sense) form of serial sex harasser/film director Alfred Hitchcock who made the book into a movie

Now let me say I've never seen the full film but I know from the bits I have seen already that it's better than the so called thriller that it was based on? How? Well there are two things I already know that make it better.

Firstly there are women in the film. In the novel there are, wait for it, no women at all. Indeed I can only recall one female character actually being mentioned in the entire book, and that was in passing. So any female readers expecting to pretend to be whatever character Madeleine Carroll played in the movie, you're going to be disappointed. And to the male readers out there, trust me when I say the lack of any women in this book doesn't improve it at all. So I would suggest the sexist counter mentioned earlier is dropped here through omission.

Secondly the climatic finale to the film, which I have seen but won't spoil for you, doesn't exist in the book either. The ending is in fact rather dull.

So before John Galsworthy and The Forsythe Saga or Michael Dobbs with House of Cards here is arguably the first case where the moving picture version was better than the bad book it was based on. But because it was so much better, it allowed the inferior original version to live on in the memory.

So a sexist/racist/anti Semite should thank a sex harasser. Such is the world we live in.

Until the next time.

A Busy Day:Assisted By Leonid and Matthew

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

There are days. And yesterday was one of them where you have things one after the other so that you're well just busy.

But before I left the apartment in the morning finished reading Operation Eichmann by Zvi Anaroni and Wilhelm Dietl. It was an interesting read and it reminds you that whatever you may think of the current Israeli government (and for the record I'm against it) Israelis have good reason to be cautious in their dealings with others.

So first then Cardiff. To the garage that will sort out the damage done to my car in the shunt. Tuesday was just a man taking pictures and examining it. Apparently the bumper and " impact bar" needs to be repaired. It's set for Thursday. Will collect the courtesy car then too.

Whilst I was waiting started to read the next book on the list. The Crushed Flower and other stories by the Russian writer Leonid Andreyev. Earlier this year I chatted about his novel The Seven Who Were Hanged, which I liked.

Once that was done off to Bridgend to get lectured on dental hygiene by someone old enough to be my granddaughter. Still my teeth are still there....and they're mine. Of course had to wait before I went in. So again had Leonid's book to distract me from the dental diatribe to come.

Afterwards had some time before work. Which meant lunch....and chips. But had about forty minutes left afterwards to read and as it turned out finish Leonid's work.

In truth some of the stories I liked,some I didn't. But the  stand out tale was undoubtedly the title story. It was quite simply quietly stunning

So work. And during breaks started to read the next book.Fantasy Life by Matthew Berry. A quick tale. When I was unemployed years ago and depressed. I discovered the fascinating and very American sports podcasts by the ESPN channel. I enjoyed most of them immensely, but my favourite was the Fantasy (American)  football which involved him, Nate Ravitz, Stephania  Bell and their producer Podvader.

I've chatted about Fantasy Sports before in this blog. But have never tried American football. And yet I loved it. So when this biography come stories of people's experiences with fantasy sports I had to buy it.

Funny thing was. I started reading this book years ago. In Disneyland Paris in fact. But I'd electronically put it down and for some reason forgot about  it....until now. Well with the caveat that you need to be interested in Fantasy Sports I can recommend this book heartily. It's simply about an ordinary guy with an extraordinary passion and how it affected his life as well as the way Fantasy sports has affected other people's lives as well.

The next tome on the eBook pile turns out to be The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan. I was toying with whether or not to read this because of my dislike of the racism in Prester John. I decided to read it out of curiosity given that it is the author's best known book. It's a decision I already regret.

Until the next time.

Is Jeffrey Archer The Tiger Woods Of Bestselling Writers (He Had It But Now It's Gone)?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

In the long, long years ago of my early youth. When I started to work and my political views were not as left wing as they are now .....well.....I have a confession I need to make.

I liked Jeffrey Archer (as a writer he stresses).

Yes there I said it. I've come out of the bookshelf to say this. Only in terms of entertainment value you understand I enjoyed his books. From Not A Penny Not A Penny Less to First Amongst Equals his books passed through my eyes voraciously.

Jeffrey Archer had seemingly the gift of making you want to turn the page. It didn't matter that his style was not perfect, he could, as any of the blurb on his bookcovers will say "tell a story".

In fact I'll go further, judged solely as an entertainment First Amongst Equals is one of the best books I've ever read.

But...(you knew that this was coming)

When I read A Matter Of Honour there seemed to be something missing. That urge to turn the page was gone. I've read another whose title I forgot but was something about The American Constitution. That too was dull, uninteresting. He seemed to have lost his touch. He was like any other writer now.

And so now after all these years I've read Tell Tale, and....he has become exactly like Tiger Woods, an impressive past hiding an unimpressive present.

These are a collection of short stories. Some are "twist in the tale", others are "rags to riches (not necessarily in wealth - in a career sense as well)". All of them are however pedestrianly written. If his name wasn't on the cover I'm sure it would not have been published.

The twist in the tale stories were either predictable or you just shrugged your shoulders in your mind and thought "there we are then". As for the rag to riches tales. He's done them before....and better.

I noticed that a number of stories were "inspired by real events". The word "inspired" gives Archer a lot of wriggle room. In Who Killed The Mayor? inspired by real events a killer (easily guessable) is revealed. I'm sure he doesn't know re the "real events" who that person really is. I don't really care aside from View of Auvers-sur-Oise which had an ending which didn't so much beggar belief as was selling the Big Issue on the street. Yet it too is inspired by real events

Perhaps what the book needs is to follow the example of Fanta Orange. There's orange in it but when you look at the bottle it's just 4% (!). So perhaps the reader should be given a percentage as to how much of each story is real.

There is also one story which has three separate endings because Archer couldn't be bothered to decide which one to pick. Listen Jeff...this is a book...not a DVD!!!

Jeffrey Archer then. He had it. He lost it. And he still hasn't found it.

Until the next time.

On Books: Particularly The One That's Ninety Percent Belgian

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

First a quick word about this blog and me. Car had a bit of a bash last week. It's thankfully drivable and if the eyesight test is anything to go by will be right as rain once the garage the insurance company picks deals with it. Cannot obviously chat about the circumstances at this time....except it wasn't my fault.

Me? Shaken but not stirred.

Even when I get the courtesy car I'm a bit too nervous at present to do any exploring of places in South Wales new to me. So that bit of the blog will be put on hold for (I assume) a few weeks.

But there will always be the books.

So have at last finished Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again. I've discussed this book in an earlier post with regard to it's attitude to African Americans. I'm afraid to say that didn't change. It does however almost makes me delighted to tell you that this novel is just plain awful even if you took that part away.

Basically about the travails of an American writer. You think you know where this is going to and then for no coherent reason vears off in both style in location. It's as if Mr Wolfe wrote the novel, then felt that he needed to make it bigger thinking it would make the book more important than it actually is. Characters appear then wander off as if they had a prior engagement....I wish I did.

The new book from the Kindle is Operation Eichmann by Zvi Anaroni and Wilhelm Dietl. It's about the capture of the notorious Nazi and bringing him to justice in Israel. Mr Anaroni was the lead investigator, so it should be an interesting read.

As for the library, yesterday I borrowed two books. This was the first:

Jeffrey Archer - Tell Tale

This is an intriguing book for me as I've not read one of his works in decades (for reasons I'll chat about when I've finished it).

It's to book I'm about to start. Because the other, and the one I finished in a day, was this:

Alec Le Sueur - Bottoms Up In Belgium

Having married a Belgian woman Mr Le Sueur has knowledge of a much maligned country and so what he's produced here is part travel book, part guidebook, part history book, part reminiscence of things Belgian that most people across the channel would not be aware of (and even less so post Brexit - again it seems to be affecting a lot of what I'm reading at the moment).

It was written,I should point out, in 2014.

Perhaps I should mention my own "Belgian" story here. Many, many, years ago I was having a conversation with a guy and for reasons I no longer recall he demanded me to name him a Belgian writer apart from Herge.

"George Simenon" I replied.

"He's French" came the indignant response.

"Actually he was born in Leige". From which I swaggeringly left the room.

What might seem like an act of bigheadeness on my part was actually because I was afraid he was going to ask me to name another  Belgian writer. I literally quit whilst I was ahead.

I loved this book. So let's get the critisms in first. There were three chapters which seemed pointless to me. First was that on the Formula 1 Grand Prix. I'm sure you could create regional variations everywhere of "the traffic to get there is awful/it's expensive/it's noisy. Ditto the Belgian history in Eurovision (aside from the interesting fact that the entry is alternately in Flemish/French).

Even the chapter on the EU seemed not really all that "Belgian" to me (Brexit again).

That out of the way this is the book Belgium needed to sell itself to the outside world. It taught me many things I was not aware of (suspect British people will be stunned by what Mr Le Sueur reveals about Stella Artois and a certain "British" sportsman..I know I was) in a humorous and friendly way. And unlike the book on the Scilly Isles I discussed previously this wasn't the sort of travel book that focuses on the eccentrics of a place.

(Without wishing to spoil things for the reader I should mention that there's one chapter that because of circumstance ends on a tragic note. The author writes about the situation humanely and should be praised for doing so)

I'm not going to Belgium (or indeed anywhere else) any time soon. But the Belgian tourist board should give this man a medal. For it's made me want to visit one day.

Can I name ten famous Belgians? At a push yes. Two cyclists,one writer and a combination of footballers and the cast of Professor T.

Until the next time

Everything You Vaguely Knew About Owls And Some Things You didn't Know Because You Were Too Afraid To Be Bored

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Let's be fair here. The Secret Life of the Owl by John Lewis-Stempel is not the sort of book I'd normally read. I've made my view on this blog before that basically I'm ambivalent towards animals other than dogs of which I've a childhood phobia.

That said having finished this mercifully slim book I'm surprised by how much I've actively disliked it.

Basically the book is split into three sections. The first is basically a compendium of facts about owls. Did you know Owls have a particular way they process food? (Vaguely I actually did). Did you know Pablo Picasso kept an owl? (No I did not....and I don't care). Do you want some poetry featuring owls? (NO!.....But it's there anyway).

So we get fact on fact on owl fact ploughed into us.

Then comes section two. Short pieces on owls that live in Britain and those that visit. I wonder if this is how The Observer Book on Owls would have worked. It also seems, given the writer is a nature writer, remarkably impersonal.

Finally we get to the first section. Which seemed just a longer version of the first bit for owl based info.

Only in the short couple of pages of the epilogue do we get an idea of how this book should have been written. In it he describes a personal encounter with an owl. It made me realise that he should have followed the manner of Robert Macfarlane or Jean Sprackland of having a personal based challenge, say seeking all the owls in Britain, discussing them whilst interspersing them with owl facts.

Now that would have been a wiser move.

Until the next time.

The Effect Of Brexit On My Reading

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Let's take in a bit of book keeping, or rather book borrowing first. This was the latest borrowed from Sully library yesterday.

John Lewis-Stempel - The Secret Life Of The Owl

If Twitter is any judge then there are a lot of fans for this book. If it's first twenty seven pages are any judge I'm not going to be one of them.

Anyway back to the title of this post.

I've finished An Island Parish (A Summer on Scilly) by Nigel Farrell and am becoming conscious how on almost every book I'm reading that's set in Britain/Europe, no matter when it was actually written that Brexit is becoming a factor in my reading of it. For whilst it's not changed my reading habits, the referendum result has altered the way I approach some books.

I have previously in this blog remarked on the way Brexit has destroyed the genre of Brits emigrating to some part of the EU to start a new life. And also how C S Forester's Hornblower novel presents an imagine of Britain as some sort of perfection and anything "foreign" as at best weak and at worst evil. Thus obviously appealing to people whose opinions make me move to the opposite direction even more.

Also noticing that when reading a book by an author of a remaining EU state that I'm consciously hoping that I like it. Doesn't I stress mean that I will like it, just that I'm trying to give it a fair wind.

And this is effecting even innocuous books like Mr Farrell's tome.

Let me say first that I didn't really like this book and I don't think that I would have liked it in 2008 when it was published. The Scilly Islands are close to Cornwall. And I what think I was getting here is a sort of literary Doc Martin. Expounding a cliche that anything on the South West of Britain is  full of eccentrics but at least you'll get stunning scenery.

But I borrowed this book the first thought that occurred to me was that this was a rabid Brexiteer's idea of a travelogue, now that free movement across the EU was going to be consigned to history.

And these eccentric characters? Well obviously I don't know where they are now but in the book the vet is German and two of the assistants working on particular businesses are Poles. At time of writing their future in the UK is not certain.

EU funding for the area is also mentioned. Do you think that a Conservative administration will invest the money the EU did in the long term? Think again. It would appear from the vantage point of someone who's never lived there that in the short term at least the islands are in trouble. Only time will tell.

So I should curse Brexiteers on many things. Including the effect it's had on my reading.

Until the next time.

Working The Late Shift? This Is The Guide To Type Of TV You Should Watch Late At Night

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So imagine the scene. It's 10:40pm on a weekday. I've returned home from having done the afternoon/evening shift at work. Say hello to wife. She chats about her day. Call my mother to see she's OK. She chats about her day. A few days later they will both accuse me of not listening to them. They'd be right. I'm tired but also hungry. At about midnight I'll be asleep.

But between the above, plus checking daughter is (hopefully) asleep, going to the toilet, changing clothes, saying goodnight to the wife, pinging something on the microwave whilst throwing some cold meat onto it to give the meal some oomph, saying goodnight to the wife there will be about a window of an hour whilst I eat and let the food settle before it's time for me to go to bed.

Time then to watch TV. But it's not easy. Whilst that hour draws on the danger of nodding off increases. Which is why the choice of programme is important.

This therefore is the guide to the type of programme you should or shouldn't watch (I'm assuming here that they're recorded so you can fast forward the commercials) or on demand like Netflix

1) Nothing less forty minutes: The programme might be fine but if it's less than forty minutes you'll probably want to watch a second. That's the one you'll probably fall asleep on.

2) Nothing More Than Fifty Minutes: As midnight approaches you're more in danger of sleeping in front of the TV. So you'll eventually wake up and find you've missed something important. Thus having to go through it all over again. Trust me that's not a good feeling.

3) Not new: The time you'll get to watch TV is limited. As you'll be watching something on catch-up best go for something the rest of the nation hasn't watched before you or else a spoiler will pass through someone's lips to your ears before the rest of you has actually seen it. Best for something on a more obscure channel showing repeats of a series you didn't watch years ago.

4) Nothing Intellectual: Your brain is telling you it wants to relax.

5) Nothing Simple: What do you think I am? Thick?

6) Nothing distressing: Whilst I don't believe in wrapping myself round in cotton wool to avoid the world's problems this is neither the time or the place. Law and Order SVU should be for another day.

7) Watch a series not a serial: For exactly the same reasons as rule 2. Serials have their bombshell moments towards the end, when you're at the greatest risk of falling asleep.

So what example is their currently of a TV series that falls within all these perimeters. I give you Body of Proof. A three season running drama focusing on the Medical Examiner and the cases she has to deal with starring Dana Delaney and Jeri Ryan.

I remember occasionally watching the show but not really following it on but now I am it's actually really good. Your intelligence is not insulted as a viewer but at the same time the stories are entertaining and watchable.

It is of course an entertainment, but it's more realistic than the last medical examiner TV series I remember Quincy ( as an aside a woman once told me that it had the most pervy  scene she ever knew of in mainstream TV - the opening credits when star Jack Klugman - No Robert Redford he - was drooling over a bikini clad lovely over the Golden Gate Bridge).

Until the next time.

How The Fortunes Of Swansea City And Carlo Ancelotti's Career As Business Guru Are Linked

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It's been a while since I've posted. Largely because I've had a few days of doing the jet lag without the flying that is the early shift at work and as for yesterday, well I seemed to have caught that "one day cold thing" where you feel lousy but not at death's door for a day but feel OK the next.

But let's talk about the early shift. For when I'm on it I regularly chat with a nice guy about football. He is a Swansea City supporter. So at this time it's a West Ham / Swansea City commiseration moment as we chat about our teams' bad position in the league.

Now I won't (for this post) bore you with West Ham. But the guy is at this moment is equally despondent regarding Swansea. Remember last season they only survived the drop through the skin of their teeth and he credited their manager Paul Clement for this.

During the post season they've also lost key players. Particularly Gylifi Sigurdsson to Everton. A situation which the guy acknowledged that didn't help Mr Clement. However the men he brought in to replace those that left have not apparently performed. Swansea City's performances have been unimpressive and it's this the supporter blames Clement for and it's why his managerial tenure is under threat.

Now this conversation reminded me that Paul Clement used to be the assistant manager for Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris St Germain. And so it consequently reminded me of this.

Carlo Ancelotti - Quiet Leadership

The point about this book (which I chatted about in September last year) was whilst it had biographical elements basically it was those sort of business management tomes where you take the person management skills needed in one profession and try to jam it into those of commerce. Previous examples being Star Trek Captains and Oriental military leaders.

So you would assume that Paul Clement has utilised Ancelotti's style of management at Swansea City (and if not why not?)

Let me say that I genuinely wish Swansea City the best. They are, as I've explained before, the sort of team for me that you want to do well unless they're playing your team. It's as if you're very friendly with a woman but there's no affair as you're faithful to your wife.

If Paul Clement is able to get Swansea to pull through this dark patch then Ancelotti's management style is vindicated. Should Paul Clement be sacked though then really this sort of book becomes worthless. Because unlike business football is different. No matter who you manage there will always be factors in the game which go against. You might be the dominant team in a match but if your opponent scores a winning goal it means nothing.

So football is different, and it's why two careers are dependent on Swansea City's fortunes at  the moment.

Until the next time.

Reputations: Both In Book and Welsh Labour Form

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well yesterday I went to the small Sully library. As you remember my intention is to read every book in that place barring those which at present seems completely stupid for me to do so (for example given that I currently live in an apartment gardening books).

Borrowed two books. This was one of them.

Nigel Farrell - An Island Parish

But the other book I borrowed, and the one I actually finished early this morning, was this:

David Walter/Robert Younger - The Reputation Game

Let me say now that this is not a book designed with me in mind. On reading it I know that it's for go getting young business professionals, of which I'm definitely not. I will also say that it is readable. There are stories to tell and it does so with skill.

But...

on the odd occasions I've read this sort of business/self help book (very rare,can't remember why) it always strikes me as being all style and of a substance I already knew beforehand. Ultimately here your reputation depends on how you conduct yourself. It's common sense really (now that should be a title of a self-help book).

Speaking of reputations let's chat about Welsh Labour. Throughout the time I've done this blog I've argued that their reputation in Wales is based on past glories and is used to hide an arrogant and incompetent present.

Well as I've discussed previously a related issue that the suicide of Carl Sargeant has brought to national attention are allegations of bullying within the Welsh Labour government. Whether true or not I don't know. But it has been led credence by the fact that they have been made by an ex Labour minister and a political adviser, as well as seemingly contradictory answers by the First Minister.

Next Wednesday a vote is due to take place on the Senedd as to whether or not the Assembly should hold an enquiry into the issue. Baring in mind here that it's not just an issue for Welsh Labour (bad as bullying would be in any large organisation) but also for Welsh parliament as if true this was the atmosphere Wales was being controlled by.

Welsh Labour will have to vote for this enquiry. For if they vote against it then the charge will be levelled against them that they are hiding something, even if the allegations are false. In politics as in life, perception counts for a great deal.

But let's assume for the sake of argument that the allegations of bullying are correct. This will damage Welsh Labour far more than Carl Sargeant's tragic death, which only threatens First Minister's Carwyn Jones' career. If these allegations are true then there will be many people involved both as perpetrators and victims. It will take Welsh Labour as an organisation a long time to sort it out.

But also the reputation of Welsh Labour will change as voters will see the current party of Welsh government being shown to be run like a school playground. It will be riven as people would take sides some would have to resign if they are revealed to be "bullies" and you can see television interviews with the "bullied".

Of course even if he was unaware of all of this Carwyn Jones would have to resign.

So you see this issue has the potential of being a slow burner. Labour's "reputation" would be in tatters which would, should, allow Plaid Cymru to make inroads into the Welsh Labour's core vote (let's hope so).

Until the next time.

The Dilemma For The Left Wing Reader Regarding The N Word:Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Regular readers will remember that I chatted about the American school that banned Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird from their exam board lists because some people felt uncomfortable with the use of the N word. This action inspired me to go to the library and read this book (so thanks for that).

On reading it confirmed my view that with regard to the N word context is what you judge a novel on. Here it was perfectly acceptable especially when you read the passage when Atticus Finch condemns it.

But now I find myself in a dilemma regarding the current book I'm reading on the Kindle: Thomas Wolfe's novel You Can't Go Home Again (published posthumously in 1940). I'm about a quarter of the way through and the N word has been used twice. Afro Americans in this book a poor lower order who work in menial jobs. Susceptible/gullible to the avarice of the (white) guy who's apparently the lead villain.

Nothing suggests,aside from the very last point, that the writer disapproves. It's just normal American small town life.

And all of this, apart from giving an idea as to how bad the bad guy is has apparently nothing to do with the plot.

I remember reading John Buchan's book Prester John. Which as I've said before was even allowing for the attitudes of the time stunningly racist. I kept reading it thinking, "well this is going to change" but I was wrong.

So I'm inclined to stop reading this novel.

But....

As I've said I'm about a quarter of the way through the book. What if something changes? What if Mr Wolfe shows that he doesn't approve of the racist society as it was then? If that turns out to be the case then it makes me look like an idiot.

And that's the dilemma. Remember unlike Harper Lee's classic novel I've no idea what to expect from this book. Thomas Wolfe is a new writer to me. So should I stay or should I go?

For the moment I'm staying. I feel uncomfortable about that but the thought of a plot change (unlikely I think but don't know for certain) to undermine the impression currently given makes me give Mr Wolfe the benefit of the doubt.

It's a big doubt though.

Until the next time.

I Am The Christmas Curmudgeon Part Two: Christmas Lights

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It is four eight on a Sunday evening at time of writing. I'm alone in the apartment. Wife and daughter are out at Penarth Town Centre where the Christmas lights are going to be switched on by Welsh comedian Owen Money.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly I'm listening to Watford versus West Ham. The first match for the new manager David Moyes. A man whose last job resulted in the relegation of Sunderland, so his appointment seems as confusing as it is rage inducing (indeed as I'm writing this West Ham are a goal down).

But the other reason is this. I don't understand the attraction of Christmas lights other than as a present for the electricity company once the trading association pays the bill.

I am in the position of Christmas curmudgeon. The wife has always been into the Christmas trinkets, and so surprisingly as she's now a teenager is daughter. They love it. They're excited by it. Me? I look at Christmas decorations and it does nothing to me at all.

Perhaps part of the reason is that I've been working on Christmas day for the past two years and will do so again next month. But mainly it's because whatever Christmas spirit I possessed has been drained out of me. It's just a time of the year. A milestone towards the beginning of the next one.

Especially in November.

It's November for goodness sake. I don't want Christmas before November. I want the Christmas blinkers permanently fixed on my face before December first. Then then I'll acknowledge it's time to get presents for people I need to give to but have no idea what to get.

So what will lights do? I'm fifty three not five. My sense of wonder has long since gone. Except perhaps wondering how the retailers can afford the electricity bill. Mind you it is Penarth.

As I said I'm in the minority in the household. An example happened last night. I returned home from doing the afternoon/evening shift at work. I'm tired and hungry but all daughter wants to do is to drag me into her bedroom. I've no idea why but I start to look.

At first the only thing remarkable about the bedroom was it's tidiness (now truly that is a Christmas miracle).

Then I saw the bedspread.

Now I'm not going take a picture of the bedspread. It's after all my daughter's private space. But trust me it contained Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas gingerbread men,

I wanted to scream.

Until the next time.

Like Finding Something Valuable On A Beach

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

If we're talking about a normal sized book, then as a rule it takes me much longer than a day to finish it. Normally three factors come into play. I have the time, I have no other distractions and I want to go on.

Well yesterday those factors came to me. Helped along by some pretty miserable weather and in terms of rugby most Welsh people having Georgia on their mind (the team they were playing against).

So the book I read and completed in a day was Strands by Jean Sprackland. A book about the things she discovers on the same stretch of beach during a year(Ainsdale Sands between Blackpool and Liverpool).

And what she discovers could be various, literally from antique porcelain to Prozac, animal (not vegetable) mineral and man-made almost all flotsam of life seem to be washed on the shores.

This book did not inspire me to wander Barry Island grab whatever from the sand, search for details of what I collected through the year and write about it. Regular readers will know that aside from gazing at the views I'm not a beach body....and I don't have one either.

But whilst it didn't give me the enthusiasm to follow her. What Strands did do was to remind me of what a book does at it's best better than any other art forms. It takes a seemingly dull subject and thanks to the voice of the writer transforms it to something really special. For yes dear reader I loved this book. If it wasn't borrowed from the library I would have put it on a bookshelf marked "quiet little gem".

It's worth a read. For then you can savour the taste of what true writing is all about.

Until the next time.

The Danger Of Emigration From Wales

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Roughly about this time last year I wrote about two people at work. One who was going to move to Australia. The other who said that (as I recall) only her children's stage at school stopped her from applying to move to Thailand.

Well another example occurred yesterday (and yes I know it's a low sample base but I'll come back to that later).

So I see this person, a young man I've known on a "How are you?" basis since I started this job a few years back. It's the first thing I ask since I've not seen him for a while. General chit chat ensues. Until he suddenly drops the surprising news that he's moving to Cyprus at the end of the month.

Now I know that this is not scientific. But it's striking to me that of the only people I know who have had the opportunity to move away from Britain two have taken the chance to go and only family circumstances of the third has stopped the other from following suit.

And of course if this most unscientific of samples is the first indicator of a trend then clearly Brexit is the cause. People have seen the economic future that leaving the EU will cause and they don't like it. Good people were misled into voting leave. And there's no apparent way to stop that now.

But what they have also probably noticed is the way some people have become much colder, more selfish since Brexit. Jackboot politics fuelled by jackboot journalism, despite being weakened by June's election, still has the power to weald damage. We all know that the Brexit result has given some people the feeling of being morally entitled to be racist to people whose only "crime" is being Polish.

It does though work both ways. Regular readers will remember my posts concerning the worries I have regarding the Ford Engine plant in Bridgend. Well I've got more than one response on Twitter along the lines of "Well Bridgend voted Leave so they just have to accept the consequences".

Now leaving aside the fact that if an area voted Leave it doesn't mean the people in the plant did. What this shows is a growing lack of compassion. Something that will not serve Britain well in the future.

If a drip of emigration becomes a flood Wales will have the danger of becoming what Ireland was during the last financial troubles and it will be mainly the young that will go. For what they will see is a country on the drift towards decline. With no clear solution in sight they will understandably think of their futures first and Leave.

The only clear future for Wales in this Brexit age is independence. For then everybody will see that there is a purpose in staying. The rebirth of a nation will not be simple, or easy, or without errors along the way. But the consequences of doing nothing will be even worse.

Until the next time.