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.

A Second World War Book For The Twitter/Snapchat Age....It Doesn't Work

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I borrowed Voices From D-Day edited by Jon E. Lewis from the library. I'd expected to be riveted by the accounts of people who were in one of the most momentous events in the history of the world. The D-Day landings.

Mr Lewis had taken interviews, writings, diaries on the subject from all the military services (including Germany) and then proceeded to edit this book. Not I'm sure an easy task.

Which he did badly.

This book is a triumph of style versus substance. Not though in what the phrase normally means. For instead of a glossy style covering a flimsy substance what we have here is a flimsy style covering an important substance.

What we have is something like this:

We get a recollection from Person A of about three paragraphs.

BAM: We move to Person B's recollection of One paragraph.

BAM: We move to Person C's recollection of two paragraphs.

BAM: We move back to another recollection of Person B of two paragraphs.

And so on.

When I started counting the most (and this was rare) a recollection would get would be about a couple of pages. For the most part it would be this relentless/quick shift from one person, nationality, different part of the armed services to another in a few paragraphs....and it doesn't work. This does not make for settled reading

This is a book which makes an assumption about people who use Twitter/Snapchat etc. It assumes that users of social media do not have the attention span capable of reading longer accounts of important conflicts. In this case it insults such people. For regular social media users are more than capable of reading beyond a few paragraphs from the accounts of those who lived through the conflict and who for the most part deserve our respect. Respect which I would argue Mr Lewis does not give in the way he has styled this book.

Until the next time.

An Hour To Kill With Nothing To Do....Let's Chat

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

On afternoon/evening shift today. Need to leave at 12:30. I start getting ready for work at twelve. So I have an hour. Nothing to do which can be finished sooo.....I'm online.

When I was at work yesterday had a quick look at the local Bridgend paper. It mentioned one thing about the Carwyn Jones/Carl Sargeant situation I was unaware of. You may remember on Saturday I mentioned that my wife saw a police presence around Carwyn Jones' house the previous day? Well it appears someone put a graffiti message on his house. You can only imagine what it was. But obviously it wasn't pleasant.

As my wife said this morning. He must be constantly asking the question to himself why he gave those TV interviews on Monday?

Also it appears that Bridgend council and the traders have done some sort of deal with regard to Bridgend Indoor Market (which I've discussed about for over a year now). The trouble with the deal is that it does not address the one issue that could help solve the stallholders' problems. The problem is not the state of the market but the state of the town. Until Bridgend Town becomes more attractive again it's decline will continue and less people will go there. The Council needs to act. But you know it won't. And if it does it'll be moving even more in the wrong direction if past experience is anything to go by.

Latest book I got from the library is:



Quite looking forward to reading this. Am disappointed with the current library book I'm reading. But I'll chat about that when I've finished it.

It's half eleven. I give you lunch. A cup of tea with a chicken and too much pickle sandwich.

I Know You're Salivating

Of late I've been having a lot more pickle with everything. Don't really know why except it's probably because I'm old.

Whether is bright out there. Let me tell when you're working shifts there are few more depressing sights than a bright day. For that means people will be enjoying themselves when you're at work!

Ah well. The hour of dour is at end. Time to get ready for work.

Until the next time.

So Vale Of Glamorgan Council Are Considering Car Parking Charges For Barry Town....Are They Mad?...Look At Bridgend

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

If we are talking about towns and not cities then the differences between people visiting the town and going somewhere else can depend on just one decision, or a group of decisions which by themselves seem relatively minor but eventually can help lead the town into decline.

I've learnt that the Vale Of Glamorgan Council are considering introducing car parking charges throughout the borough. The biggest place that will be affected is Barry Town. As the title of this post shows, my first reaction on hearing this was to question the sanity of the councillors who were in favour of such an action.

But then I realised that I was in a unique position. Though now living in the Vale I've spent seventeen years of my life living in the Bridgend area. Perhaps what the council needs to stop it making this Brexit/Trump decision of insanity is a history lesson about Bridgend Town. And since this my blog I'll be the one to do it.

It's 1998. Bridgend Town seems thriving enough. Sure there's the big stores which are just a short walk away from the town but that really was it's only competition and it appeared to have endured that. But then Macarthur Glen Outlet stores opens outside the town. It offered many things. Crucially shops that are unavailable in the town and free parking.

But despite the clear advantages and indeed fairness to the many small retail businesses that helped the town thrive through the years,Bridgend Labour Council, displaying the arrogant incompetence that seemed to characterised it's recent time there refused to abolish car parking charges. Whilst there are other reasons for the decline in the town (and if you're interested Vale Of Glamorgan council search Bridgend Town on this blog and you'll see what it has become) it was that decision that I'd argue started the decline.

Many many years later. People could come into the town and park in the ASDA supermarket free for three hours.

But it was too late.....the damage was done.

What I'm going to show you, Vale Of Glamorgan Council, are pictures for the last time a few weeks back I went to Bridgend Town (I've posted and blogged about them before but I want you to see them) and ask yourself is this the future you see for Barry Town?

Bare in mind this is just a small portion of what I've written about the town again I say for a fuller picture look at all what I've written previously. So these are just examples.

There is in Nolton Street a small arcade which had small quirky shops. I remember a café, a knitting place and a toy and costume shop where I got a mouse costume for my daughter for the junior school Christmas panto.

Now apart from the two shops that go onto the street, every single shop in that arcade has closed down.



The Bridgend Indoor Market seems to be struggling with a vast amount of stalls empty.



And there are vast swathes of empty shops in the town centre. In the most extreme example there was a McDonald's which was closed for seventeen years and just left to rot. Only in the last few weeks has it been demolished.



And recently Argos has closed down. To be fair there is a larger out of town store about ten/fifteen minutes walk away but still. That's another major retailer that's left.



Now as I've said the above is a small picture of the state of Bridgend Town. And there are other factors in play here as well. But the imposition of a car park levy will make less people go to Barry Town, and instead go to the out of town stores in Barry or Cardiff Bay (where the car parking is free). The small independent shops will suffer first but major retailers will leave as well. Such is the ripple effect that charging will have.

My knowledge of Barry Town is recent Vale Of Glamorgan Council. And I know that it's not Venice. But I also know it's a happy vibrant place with a good mixture of independent shops and established retail outlets. Don't endanger it. The precedent of Bridgend Town is there for you.

Until the next time.

Carwyn Jones' Latest Problem: The Potential Closure Of An Unbuilt Factory

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well Welsh politics have moved into a stage since the suicide of Carl Sargeant which I cannot recall ever happening before. It's the sense that change is coming. Exactly what the change is I can't tell, But you feel that nothing will be the same again.

Of course the focus of this is Carwyn Jones. First Minister of the Welsh Government and previously though dull has nonetheless seemed secure in his job until now.

He has now stated that he acted with regard to the sacking and suspension of Mr Sargeant "by the book". That might be true, I've no idea. Though personally I would be surprised if the book included him giving television interviews and discussing the situation a day before Mr Sargeant's death. For the moment enquiries and the inquest to the former minister's death are ongoing. Most political parties are not attacking Mr Jones directly with regard to this tragedy. They are waiting for the results of these enquiries. But Mr Jones knows full well that nothing short of full and absolute backing for his actions will save him from a ferocious and angry onslaught to come.

For the moment the immediate issue as a consequence of Mr Sargeant's death has been the accusations of bullying within the Welsh Labour Party from various sources. This has been denied but then apparently conflicting statements emerge from Mr Jones. Never have you seen the First Minister look so uncomfortable.

But rather like your perception of Theresa May after her election disaster all of a sudden Carwyn Jones looks weak and venerable. And those issues which dogged his administration in the past and which he just seemed to brush off as if to say "We're Labour. Isn't that Enough?" when looked at now you realise that they are still there, and this time he's no longer in a position to be cocky.

After all, the situation with regard to the Welsh Education System is still so disastrous Wales Labour needs the help of a Libdem. The Health service is not in a contented state and as this blog has regularly discussed Bridgend voters have watched their area going downhill thanks to the arrogantly incompetent management of the Labour Council. A situation it seems not exclusive to Bridgend.

And then there's the economy. I have discussed before about the future of the Ford engine plant in Bridgend. My worry is that should the plant be closed down neither the Welsh government or the council are planning for this scenario. No one wishes it. No one. But failure to plan for the possibility is an abandonment of their responsibility as governing politicians

Which leads us to Aston Martin. To great fanfare they and the Welsh government announced that they were going to build a factory at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan which is to start in 2019. However yesterday Aston Martin's Financial Officer said that if there was no Brexit deal they could stop making cars in the UK. Thus in the worst case scenario a factory could close before it's even built.

So again, whilst the Welsh Labour government cannot be blamed for the consequences for Brexit again it needs to plan for the worst case scenario for the area. Something I suspect it hasn't done. Still I'm sure the Welsh UK Secretary of State and Political Slimeball Conservtive Alun Cairns will stop merging Wales with England for once and try to help....after all he is the local MP.

(And as a quick aside. If this occurs I'm sure the Welsh Government offered grants and incentives. Would they get any of this money back?)

Now I'm not saying in the next UK general election people would stop voting Labour. As I've discussed before I suspect people will vote Labour if they feel they can kick out the Tories.

However for the next Assembly election things are much different. Labour looks far more exposed than it did. And as the only true home for disaffected Labour voters is Plaid Cymru. It needs to act prudently, but the possibility of the end of Labour dominance in the Welsh Assembly is not a pipedream anymore.

Until the next time.

The Farewell Tour Of The McDonald's Menu Begins

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You know sometimes in life you make sudden instant decisions that probably have been bubbling up in your head for a while but all of a sudden surface. Well there was I in a Mcdonald's just outside Barry Town today getting a meal for me and daughter when I thought. "I'm going to stop eating Mcdonald's".

Now Mcdonald's is not the sole reason for the relatively large circumference of skin that surrounds me (which is actually getting thinner) but it doesn't help either. I also think I've mentioned in the past that it reminds me of a cheap bestseller. Enjoyable at the time but quickly forgotten.

But I decided not to go cold turkey, or as I should have cold beef/chicken. That would fail. No instead I would go through every standard medium meal on the menu. Wean myself off them as you will. Then that would be it. I'd wish it a nice day never to return.

(Before you wonder. My daughter rarely goes for Mcdonald's and when she does it's solely chicken Mcnuggets that she would pine for. So dear reader the problem is me)

So I went in and looked at the menu. The first medium meal on offer was for the "Chicken Legend" burger. How something that's only been on their menu for a few years can be described as a legend is something only Ronald and the other clowns in their marketing department could try and explain.

There were also three versions of the Legend depending on which sauce you preferred. I wasn't going to go for all three so just picked the version which appealed to my tastebuds the most. Which was Cool Mayo.

So took it home and here it is.





Note the French Bread style of the burger, the wisps of lettuce and of course the classic, no legendary flimsiness of the fries.

Of course it was edible. Not moreish though. That aura Mcdonald's once had of being classic Americana down your high street has long since gone. If this is anything to go buy it's just left a residual hanging taste in the mouth that has taken hours to go away and yet still holds on.

One down then. More to come.

Until the next time.

No I Won't Watch A Christmas Movie, I Won't Watch A Christmas Movie....Oh Alright Then

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it's Sunday. Lunch has been eaten. We're not going out. Nothing planned....what to do? I've no idea. Might as well start reading Thomas Wolfe.

But wife/daughter have plans.

"Let's spend the afternoon watching Christmas movies" they say. Channel 5 are showing three,count them three Xmas movies in what's not even the middle of November and they want me to watch it with them.

As regular readers will know I'm not a Christmas person at the best of times. But definitely not now. I refuse. I'm adamant. They start watching Christmas movie number one. But not me. Ear pieces are on. I listen to the latest Backlisted Podcast. It's on R F Delderfield. Bit ironic that. My mother has a few of his books. Could have had a look last week.

They look daggers at me. But bah humbug to that. Can't say I don't catch bits of it though as cups of tea need to be made. Apparently this blonde woman is torn between career and the love of her life which can only be solved when she discovers the true meaning of Christmas. With the help of Christopher Lloyd and William Shatner (why were they in this rubbish? Blackmail?) as the Santa figure.

Shatner's involvement prompts an astonished remark from my daughter.

"He is Captain Kirk?"

I didn't understand why she made that remark. Then I realised that she was thinking of Chris Pine.

Anyway that was movie one. Up comes movie two. I  know what I'm going to do here. I'm going to take a nap.

So I see it and then slowly nod off. I can hear through the nap my wife speaking.

"Don't bother waking him up. He'll regret these lost moments with his family".

I know that of all the regrets I have in my life. That will not be one of them.

As for the movie. Well on the bits I saw when I was awake the North Pole was in trouble and a young elf went to a boy's house to help him find the true meaning of Christmas. Apparently the council will not light up the town's Xmas tree.

I think you see where this is going.

As for "famous person who was obviously blackmailed to appear in this movie" I give you in the role of Santa Robert Wagner.

And to the final film, where I pretended to watch sport on the laptop, Deck The Halls starring Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito. It was the most Hollywood and most expensive of the three and basically it was about two neighbours who fought to be the best decorated house until they find the true meaning of Christmas.

I avoided these Christmas films. To those of you who say I'm a Scrooge well Bah Humbug. You wouldn't get me to watch these awful movies if I can help it. Anyway it's November, remember that folks.

So I win. But.....

But then my daughter falls ill. I won't say what happened to her. That's personal. All I need to say is that she's fine now. Just one of those one day things.

It's now Monday. Daughter is feeling better and is in front of the TV. Another Christmas film. She asks that I watch it with her and the wife. Daughter knows from an early age that when she's unwell mum, and in this case dad, will give in to anything.

So I watched it.

Moonlights and Mistletoe. About a successful woman who has to go back home to her father's declining Santa theme park called "Santaville" when he has an accident. There she discovers the true meaning of Christmas. It's interesting that two of the movies I've seen involves women changing the course of their lives if it wasn't for Christmas. Not sure whether it means anything but worth mentioning.

Anyway it was soppy rubbish. As to who seemed to have the blackmail note, I give you Tom Arnold as the father.

But I watched it anyway. A Christmas movie in November.

To those who believe it then it was a Christmas miracle.

To me it was just part of the Dad service.

Until the next time.

On Books: Particularly The Best Non Fiction Book I've Read This Year Despite One Disappointment

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well Absolute Friends by John Le Carre is finished. I did enjoy it, but on reflection it's not Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Mind you reading it for the most part whilst you're fighting dozing off in a hospital reception whilst your mother is having a cataract operation is probably not the best circumstance to give a book proper attention. But there you are.

The next ebook on the Kindle was (and I'm doing the Literary eqvilant of taking a deep breath here) The Lock And Key Library. Classic Mystery And Detective Stories. Old Time English. This Public Domain ebook (and so free) was basically a collection of horror stories by well known writers. These stories ranged from the surprisingly uninteresting (Lawrence Sterne, William Thackeray) to the downright bonkers (Bulwer-Lytton, Thomas De Quincey).

But it also had The Signalman by Charles Dickens. I'd been meaning to read this for a while. It was for the most part the calmest story in the whole collection but also the most chilling. For that alone I was happy to have read this book.

Which is more than I could say for The Great Cycle Adventure by James Plumley. A free ebook about a cycle ride he and his friends had in France,Spain and Morocco.

This is a slight book (took about fourteen minutes) and is basically his diary of the trips in print form. Really that's it. A few paragraphs here and there with no detail,explanation nothing. Really a waste of time.

The next ebook to read turns out to be You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe. I'm looking forward to reading this I must admit. We'll see how it turns out.

Went to the library yesterday. The book I took out was:

Voices From D-Day - Jon E Lewis

Seems like the right book to read at the right time.

When I borrow a book from the Library I share it on Twitter. The literary version of instagramming the meal you're about to have. Normally there's no reaction. Occasionally a few people comment and that's it.

When I tweeted out that the next book from the library I was reading was The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane I was inundated with likes and people saying how much they enjoyed it. I realised then that this was a book that men and women have taken to their hearts and loved.

Having read it now I can see why. Colour me converted.

It's a book about particular rambles the author takes on foot. Sometimes alone, other times with friends and or acquaintances. He can picture the scene and make you think you were there and definitely makes you wish you were there. The poet's language is evocative and moving.

But it's not all lyricism. He can go off in a tangent and discuss books and writers and paintings for example which have a connection to his journey and effortlessly go back to his trek. That takes talent. Once you read it for the first time you'll want to dip into it for the rest of your life. It can be described, in more ways than one but only as a term of praise, as a rambling book.

He can make the distant sounds of the M11 part of the countryside. Whereas the Essex part of the M11 I know (turn off from the M25 depart at Epping turn-off) is anything but.

This book for me is unique in that there are certain writers Mr Macfarlane mentions who I've already downloaded to read in due course. I've never done that before. Also it makes me seriously consider undertaking such routes through South Wales (as regular readers of this blog will know I've said previously I don't mind long walks as long as there was a purpose at the end of it).

And there's the disappointment.

For there is no walk undertaken in Wales in this book. There are walks undertaken in England (including Wiltshire in the west), Scotland and the all encompassing "abroad". But not in Wales. Which is a pity.

Now I'm sure you will say that I'm obsessed with Wales and/or you'll say that with regard to Robert Macfarlane it's his book and so his rules. You would be quite right. Which is why it's a disappointment and not a criticism. It does not hide the fact that it's a truly wonderful work which I heartily recommend and is unquestionably the best non fiction book I've read this year.

Until the next time.

The Barry Island Wheel Of Fortune?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I was in Essex early this week two Welsh news stories caught my eye. (It's odd now to see Welsh stories relatively far away). One was of course the death of Carl Sargeant which I discussed on my previous post. The other though, got via Twitter concerned the Barry Island funfair.

Now a couple of quick asides before I go on about the funfair. Firstly with regard to Carl Sargeant my wife was in Bridgend yesterday and told me that she drove past the house of the first minister Carwyn Jones and saw a police car stationed there. As I recall there has never been such an obvious police presence, and you can only presume that's as a consequence of what happened.

The second is that I remember when my daughter was about two watching a programme with her on Ceebeebies  called Doodle Do presented by the Welsh Comedian Chris Corcoran. He was telling a story to a couple of puppet figures about a man called Barry who was shipwrecked to a Desert Island. Once he got himself sorted out, one of the first things he did was to name the place "Barry Island".

Well I laughed. But I remember my daughter turning round giving me a look of puzzlement as she didn't understand why Dad was suddenly laughing in a programme meant for her.

And one final quick aside. Of all the pantomimes I saw with my daughter when she was younger. the two with Chris Corcoran in Porthcawl were by far the best (and I include in that much more expensive and star studded affairs in Cardiff and Swansea).

But back to the funfair. Now for those who don't know the area it's important to separate Barry Town with Barry Island. Barry Island is the place with the beach, the arcades and the funfair. It's the place where many people in South Wales go for the day. It is for the most part happy and welcoming.

It is Barrybados.

However it has been in relative decline since it's heyday and clearly needs investment to attract more people. The fairground is a good metaphor for the island as a whole.

Now according to the BBC Wales website the owner of the fairground has said that the new Ferris Wheel has been ordered to be dismantled by the Vale of Glamorgan council because it doesn't comply with planning regulations as it's too high. The council said in response that it hadn't asked him not to remove the wheel but to follow the regulations and seek planning permission. The Wales Online website suggested that a multi-million investment may be at risk.

Now whoever is correct here (and I've no idea) what is clear is that the relationship between the owner of the fairground and the council is not great. But for the future of Barry Island it needs to be sorted out. The fairground is an iconic landmark of the Island and this sort of animosity is not doing it any good.

In early October we took a day trip there on a Sunday (when the weather was surprisingly good). I tweeted some pictures at the time but didn't blog about it afterwards as I was feeling unwell. By the time I was better a few days later the moment had gone. This however means that the moment has come back. So let me give you a picture first of the fairground from the outside.



Now appearances can be deceptive. The building on the right was a pub/restaurant that we went too a few years ago to a wedding party.....closed down.

If looks were any guide the Ferris Wheel seemed far and away the newest thing there. Certainly the most impressive. We were told as we went in as we were stunned by what was around the wheel (which I'll talk about in a moment) that it cost two million pounds and was the first stage in a scheme to revitalise the fairground.

But otherwise, baring in mind that this was October so the summer season being over, the fairground seemed tired looking. As if struggling to be happy, trying to be happy, but finding it a burden.







To my untrained eye. Any objection to the Ferris wheel on the grounds of height seems odd. Leaving aside issues of Health and Safety there seems no reason why there should be planning permission at all. After all we're talking about putting a fairground attraction where a fairground already exists.

So the council (who must surely realise that a revitalised Barry Island will mean increased revenue for them) and the owner need to sort out their differences quickly. For whilst the Island is more than a fairground it's success following the owner's investment will help in an overall revival.

Of course Barry Island will always have the Beach.



Until the next time.

Why Carwyn Jones' Future Is Uncertain

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So even in Essex, where I've been for the past few days,the death of  Welsh Assembly Member and former minister Carl Sargeant has made the UK news. It is worth reflecting that in the beginning of last week the man was a minister. In this short space of time he was sacked from the post because of allegations of inappropriate behaviour (which he denied), suspended from the Labour party pending an investigation and subsequently in such apparent mental turmoil that he took his own life.

I happen to know two women who knew Mr Sargeant. Both are distraught at his death. They had nothing but praise for him. One of them saying that if it wasn't for the distance involved she would have attended his funeral.

Of course that means nothing with regard to allegations against him. Let's be clear here the First Minister was right to sack him as minister and the Labour party was right to suspend him pending this investigation. Any action less than that would have smacked of a cover up.

And if he left it at that then fine. He could have just swatted off media questions by saying that an enquiry is underway, murmuring "due process" in a sentence and that was that.

But he didn't.

Instead he gave a series of interviews on Monday commenting on the allegations. And one of the biggest questions with regard to this whole affair is why did he do that? This is the question that the First Minister will have to answer one day.

These interviews are given Monday night.

Tuesday Mr Sargeant is found dead.

And what I believe this means for Carwyn Jones is that unless the allegations against Mr Sargeant are found to be unequivocally true, then the first minister will have to resign. If the result of the enquiry is that Mr Sargent was innocent, that the allegations were unproven or even if it was a case of actions being misconstrued (eg a hug on the shoulder) then Mr Jones will have to do the honourable thing.

As if that wasn't damaging enough for the Labour Party Leighton Andrews, a former AM has alleged  bullying in the Welsh Labour government and that Mr Sargeant was a target.

Carwyn Jones' position as head of Welsh Labour seemed rock solid a week ago.

Not anymore.

Until the next time.

The Cataract Chronicles Part Two.

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

My mother is awake earlier than I am. She still has her cyborg like patch on. But once I'm awake and dressed she wants to take it out and then put her eye drops in. For seven days she has to relax and practically do nothing except watching television. I think my mother has learnt that when all you can do is watch TV then for the most part it's boring .

After breakfast have to go to Epping for my mother. Partly to get her some microwave meals but also to walk into Boots the opticians to ask for a lense  in her glasses to be taken out because of the need to accommodate the situation.

I mention this to the optician and he does it without any query given that it's me not my mother, the wife having wondered whether he would.

Hands it back to me and says that my mother should return in four weeks time to get new specs. I say not until about ten/twelve weeks time after the operation on her left eye.

She also wants a crossword magazine. Makes me feel confident she's feeling OK. Never was good at crosswords that was something which never carried over with the genes to me then.

Am going home tomorrow. If need be will return if necessary next weeks. Otherwise it's going to be eight to ten weeks for the sequel.

Until the next time.

The Cataract Chronicles Part One (Featuring John Le Carre)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So it's four am and I'm awake. But I'm not going on the morning shift today. I'm not in South Wales either, I'm in Essex. Precisely in my mother's house. Because two hours later we will be leaving to go a hospital for her cataract operation.

When we get out of the house it's dark. Not thankfully frosty though. The journey took about twenty minutes but as it was not a route I was used to it seemed longer than that.  Eventually however we get there and park.

The treatment is on the NHS. But I found out yesterday that it's a private hospital. Apparently NHS England does that, financing the private sector with public money. If you ask me it's the thin end of the wedge. We're there before seven am. Apparently my mother will be part of a group of people who are being treated at this time. I'm assuming it's all NHS before their "proper customers" arrive.

It's a place of beige and white blandness. There's the air of a hotel to the decor.

I go with my mother from the reception to the waiting room.

"Are you her husband?" One of the nurses ask me. How to deflate your ego in four words.

It's my moment to walk back to the reception. This will take about two hours. I've prepared. Brought my Kindle with me. First though cappuccino. £1 a cup. They should have paid me to drink it. It's mush.

So time to read the Kindle. It's Absolute Friends by John Le Carre. A good read reminding me of Graham Greene. As I continue reading it makes me wonder whether when Communism in Eastern European states is no longer a living memory his novels will suffer. He shouldn't be.

Trouble was,  waking up at such an early hour hit me, I felt like nodding off. But I can't in case I'm needed. Find myself struggling to continue.Eyes droop. But I continue.

90% of the Kindle done. My mother returns with an eye patch making her look less of a pirate and more of a cyborg.

We're at home now. Her sight is gradually returning. Will make sure she's OK  before leaving for Wales on Thursday. Tomorrow mainly reading I think.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Wanderings On The internet Guy Fawkes Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It's Sunday then. And unusually for me I have things to do. For tomorrow I'm off to Essex for four days as my mother is about to have a cataract operation. It is something routine,done on the day and apparently takes about a couple of hours and she can get home. Still she needs someone to be there for her for at least a couple of days given that she has to get used to the results so off I go .

It means bag packed, oil and tyres checked  and to get petrol for the journey. But not yet. Too early. Have to wait for later in the morning when wife/daughter are awake.

So wanderings on the internet I go.

Have been watching a recording of Remington Steele starring Pierce Brosnan. I remember when that show first came out. Late eighties as I recall. I remember it with affection as it provided me with some comfort when my grandfather was dying. Not saying it was the greatest thing ever on TV. But it was there when I needed something to make me smile.

I am pro EU. Will always be. Doesn't mean though I find it's attitude on Spain and Catalonia astonishing and disappointing. If a people want to vote to be an independent nation why shouldn't they be? We have found out in the past month that in a supposedly new Spain an old blackshirted Spain was hiding. If I was Catalonian and on the fence on this issue, I would become pro independent immediately as I wouldn't want to succumb to the bully that was Madrid.

Is Spain trying to make a last ditch attempt to take from Britain the title of worst European government in 2017? Has a long way to go. Still it wins the prize as the most sinister.

Twitter tells me that the rumours are that Slaven Bilic is going to be sacked and replaced by David Moyes. David Moyes then. The man who helped put Sunderland to where they are today.

"Extreme porn" was allegedly found on the computer of the cabinet minister minister Daimian Green. Bet people are scouring the internet to find  out what "extreme porn" actually means here.

Today is Guy Fawkes day. When fireworks are supposed to be across the land. As it happens lot of them were set off yesterday. Funny thing that the person in the gang who was set to blow up parliament who's actually remembered was the equivalent of the getaway driver.

Ah well wife's awake.

Until the next time.

Hideaway by Dean Koontz: An Awful Book Well Written

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

My views I must admit on how women are depicted in the media have changed through the decades. Take for example the Carry On movies. My teenage self would have no worries about scantily clad women wandering around the screen. My current fifty something self is more nuanced however. For while I'm happy to defend the films of the fifties and most of the sixties as saucy seaside postcard fun (my favourite being Carry On Cleo) I can't really defend them from the late sixties onwards. Given that they were crude, sexist and in some cases racist and misogynistic.

However whether as a testontroned teenager or a man of fifty whose shades of grey is in his hair the one thing I've always disliked with regard to the way women are shown in fiction is as victims to a male serial killer. My view is that the people (and let's face it we're talking men here) who are entertained by such fare should be examined not entertained.

Which brings us then to Hideaway by Dean Koontz.

The villain in this novel is a serial killer. He kills men but prefers to kill women. No that's not quite right young women. Not only that he collects the bodies of some of the women he's killed. He enjoys it.

Now let's make this clear here. Although there is a psychic element to this book the actions of the villain are realistic. There is no biting of necks here. There is instead mutilation. The enjoyment of it and the anticipation of doing it to other women (and indeed a teenage girl). The description of some of the victims only indulges it's audience ( eg a woman is wearing a sweater that is "tight").There is a wallowing of evil in the villain's actions and thoughts which led for me to a nasty taste in the imagination.

And the cover of the book with it's blurb gave no indication of this either. It also gives out quotes of praise from The Times and The New York Times though I realise now these quotes are of the author and not this specific novel. I wonder why.

But you know the worst thing about this book and it's subject matter? Dean Koontz can write. Although this was the first book of his I've ever read you can see that here is a guy who has got the formula for bestsellerdom and knows how to use it. In terms of how the plot was paced he knew exactly what to do. It was not unfortunately a boring book. If you're the sort of person who is into this kind of thing you would have enjoyed this book as a classic of it's genre. For the rest of us we would have been mentally vomiting in a bucket.

I have said before that this is the first book of his I've ever read and as previously mentioned in this blog I've always held the view that as a reader I subscribe to the Mastermind principle of  I've started so I'll finish. I really don't want to be surprised to finding myself reading something similar by him in the future. So I won't read another novel of his again.

Until the next time.

Maesteg Town Hall Renovation Update: So What Bridgend Council Is Plan D?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For over a year I have written about the proposed renovation of Maesteg Town Hall. To recap for new readers it was used as a theatre with the basement being an indoor market (the market being around for one hundred and thirty five years).

However apparently urgent repairs were needed to this iconic building in the town. And Bridgend Labour Council decided that they wanted not to simply renovate the building but to create a grandiose "cultural hub" (the phrase alone makes me sick) with fancy glass everywhere.

This new "Cultural hub" is to include a library...in the basement. What that meant was that Bridgend Labour Council wanted the indoor market, the market remember that served the town for one hundred and thirty five years, to close.

Despite protests from the stallholders which I discussed in the previous posts Bridgend Council basically got it's way with regard to the market. Indeed my last post on this was about sadly walking around the place last month where I could only see one stall opened, and that was going to be relocated.

So it appeared the council had got their way. But there was a problem for them. That was to start creating the "cultural hub" they needed EU money (in a system administered by the Welsh office). It begged the questions if the EU money was not forthcoming did the Labour council have a Plan B? And why did no one know what the Plan B was? Indeed whether Plan B existed at all?

Now read on...as according to rumours published by the local newspaper the results are in.

Plan A: It's nil points for the EU money. According to the report the council asked for four million ponds. Four million pounds?! Just think of all the immediate things that could be done in the Bridgend area with four million pounds. Anyway that thought is academic as it was rejected.

And then we at last discover what Plan B was if Plan A was rejected.

Plan B: Apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund with basically the same application but at a cheaper cost (presumably less fancy glass). So to repeat Bridgend Council's Plan B was to apply for money from a different organisation for a cheaper version of Plan A.

Genius.....if it wasn't for the fact (according to the report) that it was rejected.

But wait for it, Bridgend Council have the foresight for a.....

Plan C: Which is according to reports a resubmission to the Heritage Lottery Fund. We don't know what the differences to Plan B are but I suspect a tinkering of the edges.

But if Plan C doesn't work then we have to talk about...

Plan D: It appears that Bridgend Labour council's alternate plans were basically that people would be wowed by the greatness of Plan A subject to minor changes. But the questions that were asked of Plan B needs to be asked here. If everybody is blind to the sheer loveliness of Plan A,B and C does the council have an alternative to the "cultural hub"? And if not why not? After all people's businesses and lives of those who worked in the market have been ruthlessly changed by the council in this entire process. If there is no alternative plan for the town hall then that is sheer arrogant incompetence at the very least.

Let me make a suggestion. Throw out the idea of a cultural hub and instead just renovate a fine building and use it for performances with the basement being a multifaceted retail facility that would protect customers and stallholders from the elements.

In other words an indoor market.

I suspect the cost would be a lot less as well.

Until the next time.

The Trick On S4C By It's Enemies

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

What I'm going to say I've said this before in this blog. But it's worth again chatting again about the Welsh language TV channel S4C. At this moment the UK government is conducting a review of the channel, which should be completed by next month.

But the channel (now thirty five years old) has had some bad publicity for a while now. Facing as it does falling ratings and increased repeats. It will also be moving it's head office from Cardiff to Carmarthen next year. A move that strikes me as reasonable from a Welsh language perspective nonetheless has caused personal problems for people who for example have children taking exams.

But let's chat about the falling ratings. Here is the argument used by S4C's enemies:

S4C is a Welsh language channel.

S4C's ratings are falling.

Therefore the Welsh language is no longer popular

Therefore S4C is a waste of broadcasting space and should be filled by another channel filled with American imports that have been previously been shown years earlier.

Thus the enemies of S4C use the trick that the right wing used against those who claimed unemployment benefit use:

Here are people who abuse the benefit system.

Therefore everybody on benefits abuses the system

Let's punish people on benefits by making the system tougher.

But what the enemies of S4C do not tell you is that unlike every other TV channel in Britain aside from the Gaelic speaking BBC Alba S4C has to cater for a wide variety of users in just one channel. What other channel has to produce output in just one stream which is like BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament, Cbeebies and CBBC?

Therefore you might be happy to watch a sports programme but not the young person's music show after that. It's not a question of language. It's a question of your personal likes and dislikes.

However S4C, unlike any other major free to air provider cannot generally offer you an alternative without you needing to look at their on demand service.

What S4C actually needs is an S4C2. The programmes on the channel may not be necessarily new. But it will provide the alternative that the channel needs from making viewers channel surf or internet wander. Even if it's only broadcasting between say six pm and midnight it is offering a Welsh language alternative.

And the point to say here is that we're only talking about one extra channel stream as opposed to the many other broadcasters have on offer.

Without a second channel S4C will be as it is at present.Venerable to it's enemies.

Until the next time.

In Which We Take The Knap

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So it's half term. I'm not working Wednesday. The wife's off as well and we face the perennial parent question.

"What are we going to do today?"

This was the last day until Sunday we'd be together as a family. And for me Sunday will be partly spent preparing for the trip I'll be making to Essex on Monday (I'll explain about that at the time) so really today's the day for "family time".

Wife: "Why don't we go to Porthcawl?"

Me: "Are you kidding?!" After all we've lived in that area for seventeen years and she wants to go back for a wander? Unless there's a specific reason I've no intention of visiting Porthcawl, much as I must stress I like the place.

So then says the wife how about Cold Knap where you could just gaze at the sea in pleasant weather conditions? It's just outside Barry Town/Island. Apparently she went there as a child a number of times. I've never heard of the place but didn't mind giving it a go, especially as there was no better idea in my head.

Wife, daughter and myself went to have a pub lunch first nearby. It was edible with  very nice chips but the main meal seemed to be a case of honey I shrunk the full English breakfast. Once our meals were consumed we made the short trip to The Knap car park to begin the wander. And yes, the Cold has apparently gone from the wife's remembrances . Here it was just the Knap.

Before being a case of The sea, the sea. It seemed a wander through The Knap gardens seemed appropriate. Starting with the sort of tree you see in horror movies signifying a fiendish accident is going to happen.




And the thing you begin to notice are the Swans. First you notice there's just the one



From which you're then distracted by the ducks.



And then you realise there's loads of them.



These Swans were impressive looking.



You suddenly realise that you haven't seen as many Swans since they were beaten by West Ham on Match of The Day.



And they seemed to move in near formation as well.



And did I mention they were rather big?



And of course invading.



Then time for a Classic Swan pose which I couldn't resist taking a picture of.



And here they are planning world domination whilst eating grass.



But eventually you walked up some steps and saw The Knap.

First time a picture of wife and daughter have ever been in this blog

And it's a place with great views.



And let's continue on this theme.



Indeed it was a place so surprisingly calm a seagull could contemplate the world as the sun starts to set.

Told you

And you know what? I can see why people like this place. As long as the weather's reasonable it really is somewhere you can just pause and reflect. I'd recommend it. We all liked it.

A rare thing then a day out which had the approval of us all.

Until the next time.