The Insomniac Meanderings Post : Birthday Not Birthday Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Today is my birthday not birthday in that whilst my actual birthday is Wednesday (fifty five folks) as I'm working on that day in the afternoon/evening shift it would be impossible for wife/daughter/mother to have done anything for me. And quite frankly I wouldn't have wanted it anyway if I was conscious of the ticking clock that would have been time to go to work.

And to be honest it wouldn't have bothered me if there was no cake etc. I'm not one for birthday celebrations as regular readers will know that I'm not one for Christmas. Given that all it's telling me is that I'm older and as Bonnie Tyler once sang the best of my years have gone by. But the women in my life (wife/mother/daughter) would have wanted it. So a low key quiet thing is acceptable today, the last day off I have before January second.

Also, since I won't be able to post tomorrow (early shift) I'll throw in New Year resolutions in as well.

Just three:

1) Make a greater effort in learning French and Welsh. And from January 1st a new language as well which I'll chat about then.

2) Increase my involvement with Plaid Cymru. There will be a time of the year when this will not be easy as I'll will be looking after someone after an operation. But for most of the year work/family aside there's no reason why I can't do this.

3) To be a far better cook. When I do look after that person I don't think 24 Pasta Bake is going to cut it somehow.

Oh.....and World Peace.

One last word about Christmas (I think). I really don't get the vibe that people really enjoyed Christmas this year. I suspect it's because they're looking at the year to come.

Random thought: I still haven't heard people call The Second Severn Crossing The Prince Of Wales bridge yet. Quiet rebellion there perhaps.

I'm not sure how 2019 is going to turn out. Everything suggests that it's going to be very demanding on us all. But let's hope it turns out to be different and so to the readers of this blog and the wayward thoughts of an old man like me I truly wish you a Happy New Year.

Anyway time to start my birthday not birthday.

Until the next time

In Which Thinking Of The Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan Movie You've Got Mail Leads Me To The Main Enemy Of The Small Independent Bookshop

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

One of the great things about Twitter is that it can lead you to things and moments that you half forgotten or slotted in the back archives of your memory. Yesterday @Warlkareham (all rights reserved etc etc) made a joke about the 1998 Tom Hanks Meg Ryan movie You've Got Mail (I won't tell you what the joke was. It's only fair that you have a look at his Twitter feed).

I'd seen the movie with the wife. Meg Ryan's small independent bookstore under threat from Tom Hank's megastore bookshop chain. Two things occurred to me when I saw the Tweet. Firstly with regard to my chat about Julie and Julia (also written and directed by Nora Ephron) this is unquestionably a woman's film. Or shall we say a film designed with women in mind.

But secondly, even though email is an important part of this piece I cannot think of a movie that has aged so quickly. After all if it was made today Tom Hanks' bookshop chain would be threatened by Meg Ryan's internet Amazon like monolith.

There is after all only one totally (if you also include stationery) bookshop chain in Britain. Waterstones. In South Wales I know of one in Cardiff and the other in Swansea but none in between. There are chains where books do form an important part of the stock (W H Smith / The Works) but other than those essentially in towns across this disunited Kingdom it's otherwise the rare small independent bookshop or a charity shop.

As an aside there is in the South East Foyles (which I've never liked) but the bookshop conglomerate I do miss is Borders. They really cared about books and it showed.

Now regular readers will know that I have ordered books off Amazon and that I have a Kindle and I'm not afraid to use it. But I still buy them from bricks and mortar places as well. No matter what the internet can do nothing beats the thrill of discovering something that has perked your interests from the shelves.

I won't say what I'm going to say next I've really thought through but it struck me yesterday that (ebooks aside) the main enemy of the small independent bookshop are not online retailers. Because if you're after a specific not easily obtainable tome then the internet is probably where you would go to anyway.

No. The main enemy of the small independent bookstores are the supermarkets.

Books occupy a relatively small space in a supermarket. But they will stock those that they know will sell and will use their purchasing power as large chains to be able to offer these books at discounted prices. Something the independent would not be able to do. As a consequence the small independent retailer would have less chance to attract what was used to be described as "passing trade" for an impulse buy.

So here's an idea...…...ban supermarkets from selling books.

We're obviously talking here about towns where there is an independent bookshop but why not?  After all competition would still exist from W H Smith and The Works as well as of course online. Also supermarkets could easily fill the space with something else. I suspect that as a gift aside most people don't go into Tesco and the like specifically to buy a book. So you know what? I don't think that shoppers - readers or otherwise -would otherwise care if they disappeared from the aisles.

Perhaps, perhaps just perhaps, you would create a generation of readers who whilst still purchasing online would also experience the wonder and love of stepping into a local bookshop.

Perhaps.

Until the next time.

Labour is the only alternative for the United Kingdom? Thing Is There's No Longer A Kingdom To Unite

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well as the turbulent year (yes that's my only prediction - not hard to work that one out) of 2019 is soon amongst us we are already seeing UK Labour people saying that the only alternative to continued Conservative rule is the Jeremy Corbyn led Labour administration.

A vote for any other party in a UK election they will say is a wasted vote.

The majority of Welsh MPs are from the Labour party. And yet Conservative governments for the United Kingdom are elected.

The majority of Scottish MPs are from the SNP. Hardly a friend of Conservatism. And yet Conservative governments for the United Kingdom are elected.

So let's be clear here. A vote for Labour in the next Westminster election in Scotland or Wales is a wasted vote. That doesn't mean it won't happen. Particularly of course in Wales where Labour still cling on to people's memories of it's past and not it's arrogantly incompetent present. I have written before that people in the next election might vote Labour because it's the lesser of two evils.

But what this mess since the Brexit vote has revealed is that Westminster is in a nervous breakdown at the moment. I have never known a situation where the entire United Kingdom is in such a fragile state that the whole union , not just in Scotland, is under threat.

Labour, particularly a pro Brexit Labour that it currently is will not change that. A vote for Labour in the next Westminster election will be a wasted vote. A vote for Plaid Cymru or the SNP will not be a wasted vote. For people who vote for the nationalist parties know that independence is the ultimate goal. Nationalists know that whilst bedding in an  independent nation will not be easy, and as I've said before mistakes will be made, there would be a purpose and indeed a true fairness that is lacking in Westminster rule.

So in this Disunited Kingdom it's the Labour vote in Wales and Scotland that's wasted. The Nationalist vote will be a pointer for the future.

Until the next time.

Two More Cinematic Issues This Christmas : Does Wonder Woman Divide Families In Ways You Don't Expect? And Is Julie And Julia "A Woman's Film" ?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Tell you what. As we all get older picking a movie that we all can watch gets more difficult for this family. When wife and I were courting it resolved itself by us agreeing on alternate choices. When daughter was much younger we acquiesced on whatever her Disney cartoon choice turned out to be. But as I've mentioned in a previous post when we as a family have the opportunity to watch a film together  now there is a massive debate.

Yesterday was such a day.

As I've mentioned before the biggest (and I'll admit widest) obstacle to the family picking a movie is me. The testosterone elephant in the room. A lot of the choices were clearly designed "for the woman's market" and I wasn't going to risk in the rare opportunity for us to watch something that there was a possibility I was going to fall asleep over (And before you say. Regular readers will know that I'm prepared to experiment with books that appear to be solely for women to see if the covers were different male readers would be interested. But books offer you solitary time that films watched with others do not).

Neither wife and daughter were impressed. Wife said "But you like Julie and Julia. And that's a woman's film."

Now I must admit that threw me. I could have gone into an argument with my wife on it but just couldn't be bothered to do so. But as I have a blog I'll just mark down my response here.

Julie and Julia for those who have never seen it is a favourite movie of mine. It's central characters are two women, Julia Childs who wrote Mastering The Art Of French Cooking and Julie Powell who wrote a blog where she attempted to cook all of the recipes in that book in a year. However neither could be considered "girly" (the lobster scene with regard to Julie Powell aside).

The men in their lives are not cardboard clichés. They are loving partners. But again the relationships are realistic. They are already there. If this was a "woman's film" then the cliché would suggest they would have started single and found romance

I'm sure I'm not the only man who is a fan of this film. I've always liked it. Perhaps because I'm a regular blogger now. But also because early this year it was one of those things that pulled me along whilst looking after my mother in Essex exile. And for that I will always be grateful.

So I think of it not as " a woman's film" but a film with women as it's central characters. Which is different. Not really sure why wife thinks differently but there you are.

But let's talk about the movie we eventually saw. Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot. Daughter wanted to see it and I was OK with the choice. Only wife was reluctant but eventually gave in. Though I wouldn't claim any scientific research in what I'm going to say next I have noticed that, shall we say, "women of a certain age" don't seem to be all that interested in this film. Perhaps it's for the same reason that Disney movies have lost their charm for me now. It's just the passing of the years. To be honest though I have no idea.

For me though it did have curiosity value. But let's be clear here. despite Ms Gadot's unquestioned beauty trust me when I say that in all of my life's testosterised fantasies Amazonian warriors have never played a part. No being a comic book reader as a child I was just curious how it would turn out. In the same way I've chatted about The Flash and Ant Man and the Wasp during the summer.

Let's start with Ms Gadot. There are some actors who are immediately the comic book character they play with no issues whatsoever. Christopher Reeve as Superman, Robert Downey Junior as Iron Man. She is unquestionably Wonder Woman for those who read the comics with no Ben Affleck issues whatsoever.

The movie has been praised to the heights. It isn't perfect. Here I come back to the wife who moaned that the beginning was slow. And she was right. It is slow. Noticed Daughter looking at her Ipod during this period.

However when Wonder Woman enters into battle then it picks up and we were all watching the TV with no comments. From that moment on you got a sense of the comic (though slightly more adult) which is I think the best praise I can truly give it.

So in the end the choice worked.....dreading the next time we have to choose a movie as a family though.

Until the next time.

During A Shiftworker's Christmas In Wales, A Provocative Thought About It's A Wonderful Life

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I spent the morning/early afternoon of Christmas Day at work. Personally have no problems with that. However on returning to the apartment needed to quickly freshen up and join the rest of the family at brother-in-law's and partner's house who had kindly invited us (amongst others I should stress) to have Christmas dinner there.

(And before any of you query why I, a man who could not call himself Mr Christmas, was happy to go there. The answer's simple. Whatever my belief I wasn't going to spoil the day for daughter, wife and mother)

But during the dinner (which was excellent by the way), as I knew it would, the long day took it's toil and found myself being half asleep at the table. Not completely enough for everyone else to notice, but enough for wife/mother to jolt me up.

The thing though is this. Sometimes in this twilight zone between sleep and the life and soul of whatever party a book lover can have my brain sometimes can have some out of the way thoughts. It did that moment. It concerned the movie It's A Wonderful Life, recently voted Britain's number one Christmas film.

Thing is...breathe in.....it's not really a Christmas film...….and breathe out again.

Now I'm not saying it's not great and of course it's set at Christmas. So it does of course have the trimmings of tinsel. But just like the debate on the original Die Hard it fails when put to one simple test.

Could the story be set at any other time of the year? And the answer is yes.

After all James Stewart is about to commit suicide because of the troubles in his savings business and the person sent to show what life would have been like without him is not Santa, oh no ho ho. It's an angel.

If you think of the film which came I think second in the poll, Love Actually, now that is a Christmas movie. Personally I don't like it. I think of it as a piece of well packaged nothing. But it is cleverly made. The reason probably why the writer set most of it around Christmas is that he knew whether for good or bad it's a time of year when our emotions are heightened as we take stock of the year that's gone and where your life is now.

Sometimes you know my brain works in mysterious ways.

Until the next time.

I'm Doin' Nothin' This Christmas Eve....Well Almost

Hello there. hope you're feeling well today.

Well it's Christmas Eve. One of the few days in these holiday two weeks that I actually have off. I don't expect sympathy. I've made it clear in this blog that I'm not exactly Mr Christmas.

I'll chat about Christmas day in a future post. For today though I just want to spend the day doin' nothin'.

I'm of an age where Christmas Eve is just a day. Perhaps the necessity of some preparation for the following day's festivities makes it a little different.....but not that much.

It is as I'm starting to write this 7:28am in the morning and I'm on the laptop. Nothing really else to do at the moment. And it's still dark out there.

I was awake by the way at 5:25am. Feeling sleepy now (8:14). No matter will set alarm for 9:30 then have to leave house for my only (short) journey of the day. It's to pay my council tax at the local post office. Get it over with. It's a small place.The door is open and the postmaster has wrapped himself in a coat.

That reminds me I need to get the deicer with me for tomorrow morning. Just in case.I

Come home and write mother's Christmas card. She's coming today. That's done.My choice of suitable cards for anything is simple. Is it stupid? If the answer is no then it's bought. Just like their hunt for clothes women spend too long looking for that suitable card in my opinion.

11:45. Daughter/wife have gift. It's a shirt. We're spending Christmas day at brother in Law's. They want me to look "smart". It fits. Trouble is apparently only blue jeans are suitable for this shirt when only a few days back we had agreed on Black jeans and she'd pick the top from my wardrobe (who says I don't give i at Christmas? ) Now in the last minute she/they want to change things? Women and clothes for en. Another thing in the long list of female related things I don't understand.

Time to wrap the Christmas presents. Yes I know it's late but there we are. I must say I'm not the greatest here. If wrapping is an art then I'm without question Picasso.

Then an argument ensues as to what Christmas film to watch on Netflix. The wife is the one who really cares. Regular readers will guess I don't. The choice eventually comes down to me as neutral arbiter and person who just wants to get it over with. I pick Jack Frost starting Michael Keaton.

(An aside my daughter has a weird memory.She ha s no idea where she put her glasses but knows the name of the character he played in the Spider man movie we saw last year!)

Anyway we don't finish it. My mother arrives as does some friends. There's dinner followed by people (including me) watching YouTube videos of kids being wild when presents are opened and Christmas trees being toppled.

I didn't laugh. I was too busy trying to stay awake.

It's 7:30 in the evening. I'm working Christmas morning so I need to escape.

I did nothin....well almost....and I did it well

Until the next time.

Why The Ghost Of L A Abbott Might Try And Haunt Me This Christmas

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

There are times as a reader when a book comes along which as a reader you enjoy for reasons that the author did not intend. Seven Wives and Seven Prisons, Or Experiences In The Life Of A Matrimonial Monomaniac is one such book.

The author, L A Abbott has claimed that her  1870 American novel is based on a true story. She seems to have taken it's subject matter seriously. Personally if you want my guess I'd be surprised. Certainly at the number involved at least. A man is married SEVEN times and is sent to jail SEVEN times in his life. Really? I mean is there actually a life where a man has time to do both those things SEVEN times?

And this story spans a good part of the man's life. Yet there are if we are to believed women who lust after him even in his older years? Yeah right.

After all his reasoning for marrying that many times is an addiction to the institution. And yet don't you think if it results in incarceration so many times that would be a cure?

Taken seriously this book doesn't work for reasons of believability. Taken as a deadpan comedy I loved it. It reminded me of Diary Of A Nobody where all of these misfortunes occur to the main character (it's in the first person) not realising the reader is laughing at him.

As for the scenes in jail suspect that's about as watered down from 18th century reality as you can get.

I don't though suspect Ms Abbott wrote it as a deadpan comedy. Entertaining as it unquestionably is when read as such. Good thing I'm an atheist or else I'd be afraid the ghost of an author past will haunt me this Christmas night....and I'm on the early shift at work.

Ben Stiller your next Hollywood project awaits.

Until the next time.

Bridgend Town : The Urban Tragedy Christmas Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As regular readers will know, one of the things that has lead me to supporting Plaid Cymru is the arrogant incompetence of the way they have managed Bridgend Town which has I would argue been the main cause of the many shop closures and general sense of the decline that it gives.

Though I no longer live in the area I still work there and yesterday I had a couple of hours being able to wander round the town.

What I'm going to say next is in no way could be considered scientific. It's just what I saw.

Overall then there appears to be no change since I came here last. Improvements in some areas mitigated by decline in others. This is not a good situation for the town as 2019 approaches. It has the potential to be hit by three separate issues and is venerable to them.

Just on the outskirts of the town centre there was this:

It was an employment office

I wish I could say that Bridgend did not need a place to advertise jobs but we all know that's not the case.

There are as I've explained before four points of reference I start with regard to the town nowadays. Let's begin with the Nolton street arcade. A small group of shops where apart from the two that go directly onward to the street every shop in the arcade has closed down. Let's see what's been done.

Pretend It Doesn't Exist Apparently

I'm assuming (though I don't know) that this was the council's doing but really? Out of sight out of mind is that it? As if people will forget the toyshop that was once here. Or the woollen shop. Or the café.

This is really shameful whoever is responsible.

Then there is the McDonald's. Closed in 2000 left to rot for seventeen years before being demolished last year. Nothing seems to have happened to it for a year....

Yay Construction!!!

Thing is of course that you need to remember that the result is apparently social flats on top of shops. It's the shops bit that amazes. Not only does Bridgend Town have many shops that have been closed down and left to rot. It also has a number of these...

Closed Down - Left To Rot - Spruced Up - Unable To Rent

So in view of this why create another place for empty shops to thrive? It makes no sense whatsoever.

The McDonalds was left to rot for seventeen years. The Phones4U store has been closed since 2014. Let's see if it's still there....

Yes It Is

The really good news story was in the Bridgend Indoor Market. As explained previously it's had a makeover and whilst there are still a number of empty stalls there were new ones as well. Of course it's early days but I think it's fair to say that there is an air of cautious optimism.

The Lights Are On

Those lights which don't forget the council kept up for a year without bothering to take down. At least they're appropriate for now.

I saw one new shop. A hairdresser's but two shops were closed. They were...

Bridgend's in the club no more

This was a clothing store. It took a fair amount of space in the small shopping centre the town has so it's closure is damaging in more ways than one.

Betfred

Even the bookies have given up.

The decline shows itself not just in the empty shops but in other ways too...

Have a look at the bunting

I'm sure this bunting has been around since at least May when the council did something to celebrate VE day. No one it appears has bothered to take it down. It's all around the town centre.

And as it's Christmas let's have a look at the town centre tree.

Dull Isn't It?

Actually there are lights (with the look that they've been purchased from Poundland) and put on as if throwing it and seeing where it landed was the new fashion in Christmas decorations.

It was busy. But the town was not last Saturday before Christmas busy. The out of town stores (actually about a ten/fifteen minute walk away) were heaving with customers.

Bridgend Town is in a venerable state. And potentially 2019 will be the year which will decide it's foreseeable future. A combination of Brexit, the (possibly interlinked) future of the Ford Engine plant and the consequences of the local council cuts means that it will be crossing it's fingers for a while.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Meanderings Post : Late For Work Yesterday Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I was late for work yesterday. Why when I normally give myself twenty minutes leeway just to cover myself for the unexpected? Because a part of the journey from Penarth to a collection of out of town shops near Cardiff called Culverhouse Cross, a journey that would normally take ten minutes...took me over an hour!!

People were doing Christmas shopping. Which surprised me given that it was still a school day. But there they were. Queueing to get in.

I'm still in two minds about whether this Christmas will be successful for the shops. On the one hand I've already chatted about how the similar out of town stores in Bridgend were busy a few weeks back. On the other the quietness of restaurants in Cardiff Bay in what should have been an office party week.

With what happened yesterday I suspect the former. It was like what I said with regard to the situation in Bridgend. If people have money they could be spending it out of fear they would be unable to provide anything similar in a post Brexit Christmas.

What perhaps is telling though about yesterday is that of the shops people went to. The main one in Culverhouse Cross that had the most traffic was the big 24 hour Tesco. Perhaps people are just splashing out on the food and drink that they're unlikely to see for a while in the event of a no deal Brexit.

Had a look at the double issue TV guide yesterday. Here's the thing. For the most part it's rubbish. You'll say it's because I'm old and a Christmas curmudgeon. But leaving aside sport and Welsh language programmes from S4C there are few programmes that I say I want to watch. They exist. Of course they do. But they are less and less. More channels has actually meant less choice. Especially when channel surfing. As when you find a programme you might be interested in it turns out there's only about ten minutes left!

By the way...mince pies...ugh!

Depending on the traffic my plan is to leave early in the next few days and have lunch at Bridgend Town and wander around. We'll see how that goes.

I wrote two years ago in this blog that if there is a fault with the Welsh people it was that taken as a whole they were just too nice. If they acted like the Scots. Polite but firm they would have got a lot more. After all look at Ireland. Discounting the blip of the financial crisis we are observing a young prosperous vibrant country. The days when they had to put up with "Did you hear the one about the Irishman..." in Britain have long since gone.

Wales can be like that. No one is saying it would be instant or simple but Ireland is the example of what can be achieved. I say this again because in terms of the attitude towards Wales nothing has changed. It is the last colony and it's not helped by having Corbyn disciple Mark Drakeford the "Red Cairns" as First Minister. Being London's man does not help Wales one bit.

And if you want another symbol of declining Britain apparently beefeaters in the Tower Of London are taking industrial action. Perhaps they'll let loose those Ravens?

Random thought. If we assume Brexit goes badly it might be worthwhile buying a copy of the British version of GQ magazine. If only to see what "style" means in a long dark journey through the soul Brexit.

Twitter has just alerted me to a French radio station called "Crooner Radio". Interesting. Even the wife might like it given that it's apparently doing Christmas songs done by the crooners (of course I'm avoiding the Christmas songs - I'm definitely not dreaming of a white Christmas. Few things worse weather wise than settling snow). Will give the station a try though.

Anyway a new day is dawning and you know what I'm almost seeing blue skies....yes I know. Suspect it'll soon turn back to what it's been for the past few days.

Fifty shades of grey. Rather like my hair.

Until the next time.

Pro 14 Rugby. Out Of Sight Out Of Mind?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Tomorrow wife and daughter are off to watch a Pro14 rugby game between the Ospreys and the Scarlets with a friend and her grandson (I can't come because I'm working). It's made me think that though the season is roughly half way through I've not single game even on the TV this season.

Now the main reasons are a combination of work and coming back home to discover the result on Twitter beforehand. But the other big reason is the lack of free to air TV coverage in the new season. BBC Wales having lost the contract leaving just S4C to show one game a week.

And what is the result now? Well what I'm going to say is word of mouth, or rather lack of word of mouth. Because if my personal experience is anything to go by there appears to be just near silence by people I know on the subject. Why? Well they appear to be not that bothered.

Why? Well I would argue that it basically stems from the relative lack of support for the Welsh regional clubs for all of the areas they cover. The Valleys with regard to the Cardiff Blues (no longer called the Cardiff Blues it appears now) or Bridgend concerning the Ospreys. People were happy to watch the Friday night game on the BBC because it was there. But they do not have any loyalty to a club strong enough to subscribe to Premier Sports (the company that holds the rights).

(Of course I'm chatting generally here. The obvious exception are the Scarlets. Still chatting on a general level the point holds)

As I said at the time the focus was on BBC Wales losing the contract. But so did Sky Sports. They knew the product was not worth putting more money into it.

Actually there is another free to air channel showing PRO 14 rugby. Freesports. Owned by Premier Sports and they show one match a week. Trouble is the match appears to be the least attractive of that week's fixture. That is a mistake. It might not be the biggest game of the week but it should be one that people would be prepared to watch. That might make them be interesting in a Premier Sports subscription.

And this is serious. Less children being interested in watching rugby means less adults being prepared to watch the game which would probably damage the national team.

Better minds than mine can chat about how to deal with the future of Welsh club rugby. But those minds need to deal with the situation quickly.

So how is it that wife, daughter, wife's friend and her grandson are going to the game tomorrow then I hear you ask?

It was free.

Until the next time.

How Wales Subsidies London And The South East Of England.

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

In the midst of Brexit Eve turmoil and allegations of "Stupid Woman" by Corbyn (and let's be clear here Theresa May is a stupid woman. The sexism is not in the remark but there's no male equivalent) I'm going to talk about a subject that emerged yesterday.

A BBC report showed that there was more money spent by the lottery on three London boroughs than on the whole of Wales. It is of course a shocking statistic. What it means is that for Wales the National Lottery (including let's not forget those scratchcards) have become a stealth tax on Welsh families.

Wales in effect is subsidising London. Making London's life a little easier in comparison to it's own.

But the National Lottery is not the only example. I've already mentioned previously that Wales should abandon the monarchy and become a republic. Wales pays taxes so the Royal family can live lavish lifestyles and yet what does it get in return? Tourism? That is probably earmarked for Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. After all when did anybody look at the wedding of "Harry and Meghan" and thought "You know what? We should visit Mumbles for a break."

What about the Prince Of Wales you will ask? Well what about him? He's also the Duchy of Cornwall and it's there that's the base for him to flog his organically produced tat. Wales does not get a look in...again.

What about the railways? Whilst South Walian train passengers find that on an intercity train journey from London the stabilisers are put on West of Cardiff as there is no electrification work continues on the Crossrail linking one part of the UK capital to the other. Whilst there is a proposed similar service for the South Wales lines this has not really started yet. So think whilst that included EU funding if Wales didn't help subsidise the London Crossrail through it's taxes it might have been able to built a much needed service much earlier.

And the point of all of this (and I really could go on) is that one of the arguments for Wales not becoming independent is that it would be too poor to survive. Perhaps it would be the case that it would be London and the South East of England that would suffer if Wales became independent as this subsidy would go back to the people living in Wales who through taxes maintain London/South East England services and investment in the first place.

Until the next time.

Food Stocking Up Britain of Today Continues

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I chatted about food shortages in case there is a long dark Brexit of the soul before but various circumstances basically curtailed me stocking up (mainly work) barring Lavazza coffee. Yesterday though things changed and I knew I had to start moving on this.

After all the government of the feeble Theresa May is going to start bringing troops in. Troops for goodness sake. Well that's it. I'm stocking up. Everytime I'm in a shop now I'm just going to buy something extra.

I should have mentioned as well I'm stocking up on water. Just LIDL stuff nothing fancy you understand but you never know. And you don't know anything about this disunited Kingdom anymore.

So today I've started properly on this. And I'll put this on the blog everytime I buy something. Why? Because this is the nation I live in now and I reckon it needs to be spoken about. Regularly.

If there's a deal. Or Britain ends up with a second referendum resulting in Remain fine. But it's time that the worse case scenario is considered. If only because at time of writing it's not impossible.

Incidentally wife says what will happen when it runs out? Well nothing is finite. But hopefully something will be settled in the meantime. If it doesn't...well I'll have to get the bow and arrow out and poach livestock from the nearest landowner who you know voted Leave.

But while it's still Brexit Eve and dystopia has not yet occurred let's continue with the food stockpiling.

Apologies for the blurring

So you might notice I've bought even more Lavazza coffee. After all in the event of a no deal Brexit it might be in short supply. Meaning that coffee in Britain might be same as it was in the seventies. Nescafe and Maxwell House.

Underneath the coffee there's 2 jars of powdered milk. Definitely needed. Whatever happens in the future I want a cup of tea.

Next is a jar of Pasta Bake. Will get loads of this (already bought tons of pasta, forgot to mention that). Mainly because it's simple, quick to cook and filling.

Croissants are next. Definitely my act of quiet Remain rebellion. They will go into the freezer.

At the back are crisps, jam tarts and Lucozade which I suspect won't need stockpiling.

And what's the point of all this? It's that I'm writing about Britain. And it doesn't seem stupid.

Until the next time.

Why Plaid Cymru Needs To Prepare For A Hard Brexit

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Everything I'm going to say next I've said before. But things seem to be a lot more heightened now with the government talking about sending in troops in the event of a no-deal long dark entrance of the soul Brexit (they speak of 3,500 which if you think about it seems remarkably low in case of shortages of food or medicines).

Let me say also this again. No nationalist wishes for a hard Brexit. For the damage it will cause to families across Wales will be substantial and it will not be clear when the pain it will cause will end.

But that needed and having been said. Plaid Cymru should politically prepare for a hard Brexit. For it will not be the party that failed to negotiate with the EU a workable deal (the Conservatives) or the party that has sat on it's hands whilst being unable to sort out a clear policy of it's own (Labour).

In the event of a hard Brexit the Welsh voter will not vote Conservative. But they should also be reminded that Welsh Labour were happy to let Theresa May's pathetic withering of a government have Welsh powers for seven years. The Finance Minister at the time? The new First minister Mark Drakeford.

Secretary of state for Wales and social slug Alun "Chucky" Cairns is warning Welsh businesses they should prepare for a hard Brexit. Of course if the Conservatives had done their job as the UK government such preparation would have been made months, if not years before March 29th next year. The sheer bare faced cheek of Chucky has plumbed new depths.

Which is why Plaid should make a position as the only alternative to the Unionist parties that would have brought Wales to this position crystal clear. They would have created the misery that hard Brexit would bring so in Wales it would be Plaid and Plaid only that could offer an alternative.

And that alternative would be independence.

For Plaid Cymru would simply say that if Hard Brexit has brought Wales to a disastrous situation then Wales would need to sort out it's problems away from the Union. Independence would not be simple solution. Mistakes will be made. But independence would bring solutions tailored  for Wales not Westminster's messy patchwork that brought the situation in the first place.

Plaid also will need to be unashamedly populist about this. But there's nothing wrong with populism if the cause is just.

So I say again nobody with a brain wants a hard Brexit. But should it happen Plaid must be ready to offer hope where the other parties offer failure.

Until the next time.

My Barber Voted Leave And Doesn't Want A Fresh Referendum

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The thing about Christmas is this. Even the curmudgeons amongst us (two thumbs pointing at this guy) have to prepare for it in one way or another. We have been invited to a Christmas Day dinner by brother-in-law and his partner where various other people will be attending. I have to smarten myself up and this starts with my hair, which looked like a bundle of silvery spiders fighting.

So this morning I went to the barbers to get my hair cut. And as is the way of such things we started a conversation which began with Christmas. Despite my earlier view of people spending money as if it was the last supper before an execution things do not appear to have resolved themselves that way (as my earlier post on the lack of office parties in Cardiff refers).

This malaise appears to have hit online retailers. ASOS has spoken of losses in this period. This surprised me. Largely as I thought my daughter's purchases gave them a healthy profit.

Then however, and I can't exactly say this word for word, he told me that he voted to Leave and that there shouldn't be a another ballot. I, as regular readers know, voted Remain and told him so. I also said there should be a second referendum as the choice was now clear. Remain, Theresa May's deal or the long dark Brexit of the soul that the rightwingers in the Tory party seem to prefer.

He did not agree and questioned the long term effect in this disunited kingdom. I responded by saying that potentially Brexit could devastate jobs throughout Wales. I sighted (as I have in this blog before) the Ford engine factory in Bridgend as an example.

Now all of the above implies a full blown argument. This was not the case. Certainly from my side that definitely wasn't going to occur. If only because he was holding a sharp object by my face. No it was perfectly amicable. It resolved itself by using the tactic the British government seems to have deployed for most of the negotiations with the EU by just simply pretending it didn't exist.

But for most of the rest of the time there was silence as he cut my hair. My opinion of him and his of me appeared to have changed irrevocably.

Of course he is going to cut my hair again. He did a good job. But the reason why I'm writing about this is that it illustrates how split this disunited kingdom truly is. Such conversations will continue as the deadline day approaches and will probably increase with intensity.

2019 has the potential of being a very unpleasant year indeed.

Until the next time.

The Near Midnight Meanderings On A Movie With A Microwave Meal Part 12: Fools Rush In (1997)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Imagine if you will you're Matthew Perry at the height of you fame thanks to Friends.

You get a call from your agent. A Hollywood producer offers you a lot of money to be the top billing in a motion picture. You play a character not that different from Chandler Bing AND Selma Hayek is going to be your leading lady.

Bet that decision didn't take long.

Fools Rush In is that movie. A tale of two people who have a one night stand. Selma discovers that she's pregnant and once he learns this Matthew Perry decides to propose marriage which she accepts. Two people then from different nations (she's Mexican though living in the US) planning after a one stand for a baby. A plot which predates Sharon Horgan's Catastrophe.

So in essence it's a romantic comedy. And it's not a spoiler to say that the plot basically goes through the standard Romcom hoops. It doesn't really matter though. You allow it to wash over you and it's a pleasant way to pass the time. Even though you wonder whether in real life Selma Hayek would chose Perry. After all I suspect there would be plenty of American men (and let's not be homophobic here women as well) who would be happy to become Mexican citizens if it meant she was going to be their partner.

Still of the twelve films I've chatted about in this series this is only the third I've truly liked. A quiet unassuming comedy....well there we go....enough said.

Except....

Sometimes your perception of a book, film or TV changes thanks to subsequent events. Let's look at this movie again but from a different angle. A Mexican and an American come together to form a relationship. He has to get used to some aspects of Mexican culture (the large family and an interesting taste in home décor gets gentle ribbing here) but American life is not seen as perfection either.

Sure there are problems with the relationship. But no one accuses anyone else of being drug dealers or rapists or suggests building a wall between them. Sure this is Hollywood but they work their issues out like proper adults.

So perhaps this amiable little comedy can, in the age of Trump, be seen as entertainment for the resistance against him?

Let's hope so.

Until the next time.

The Government Of Switzerland Might Declare War On Me For Saying This But Watches....Why?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday in moment at work where there was nothing to do I noticed a copy of The Times Saturday magazine on it's lonesome and out of curiosity opened it.

On the inside cover there was an ad for a Rolex watch A Rolex "Cosmograph Daytona" to be precise (whatever that means).

You know sometimes in life questions emerge in your brain as if jolted by something you've seen. This was the case for me here. The question (as revealed in this post title) is simple. Watches...why?

Now before I go on I'm not talking about those people who collect watches. I might not understand the collection but I get the passion for collecting. Similarly I'm not talking about those who wear an expensive watch for special occasions in the same way men used to wear cufflinks (remember them?). No I'm talking about wearing it in the not so wonderful Brexit eve everyday.

I recently read an article which said that John Lewis were no longer going to stock alarm clocks because people used their mobile phones for that purpose (it also said they were no longer going to stock DVD players either which seemed odd to me given that not everywhere has high speed broadband but that's by the by). I get that. I use my mobile for that very purpose.

And I also use it as a watch.

Being old enough to remember when mobile phones didn't exist, let alone when they were small enough for you to put in a pocket, I can tell you that wearing a watch wasn't great. It felt like you were being handcuffed to time. I remember when returning home from school/work my first action would always be to take it off. Now however I just take my mobile out of my pocket, check the time and then put it back. Simple.

What about the Apple watch and the like you might ask? What about it? I don't care how tech savvy you are paying for a bill contactlessly by watch makes you look like an idiot.

So if watch sales are down (I don't know and care less) then good. Let watches be put on the curiosities of history along with the sun dial.

And if you so happen to look for a group of hitmen from Switzerland trying to hunt me down they'd be easy to spot.

They'll be wearing Rolex Cosmograph Daytonas.

Until the next time.

It Needs To Be Said Again...Carwyn Jones Needs To Resign From The Senedd Not Just As First Minister

I don't often like to repeat something in this blog, but I must admit to have been annoyed by the attention Carwyn Jones has got in his last few days as First Minister of Wales.

Fly on the wall documentary (not seen it but wife says his house is untidy), programmes analysing his leadership, a round of applause from the Senedd on his last day as First Minster (tried to think of why. Reckon it's for his achievements as a Master of illusion). All is leading up to the inevitable question "Mark who?"

But we'll leave Red Cairns for another day and focus back on Jones wearing his seasonal Shifty Santa look. He will be leaving the Senedd as Assembly Member for Bridgend in a few years time.

And he should resign from that post now.

Because of the latest band of cuts local government grants from Cardiff Bay Bridgend council have said that that cuts to services for the people will have to be made. This is despite there having been extra money found by someone apparently in the back of a sofa for Bridgend (and other councils).

Now despite the Welsh government blaming the monies they get from Westminister the councils blame the Welsh government. So essentially Welsh Labour are blaming Welsh Labour.

But let's focus on Bridgend. Let's say these cuts are made. Bridgend voters would expect their Assembly Member to be banging his fist arguing for more money for the region he represents.

But he can't. Because he was the First Minister when the cuts to the grants were made.

So if he cannot defend the people of Bridgend from the cuts the council are threatening to impose then why is he an Assembly Member ? Surely the voters of Bridgend require somebody who is not tied from fighting for their interests because of the associations of the past.

That's why if he was an honourable man Carwyn Jones should resign from the Senedd now.

But he probably won't though.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Meandering Post : Wet And Windy Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Out there it's wet and it's windy. I think I've said before that weather forecasters seem to be good at forecasting bad weather. True again today.

Anyway with everyday that passes Brexit looks like the car crash where no one can apply the brakes. Thing is a second referendum would allow the brakes to be put. But no one in power wants to out their foot on the pedal.

And I say this again. There are some people on this side of the water gloating about the Gilets Jeune protests in France. But if Brexit happens and turns out to be a disaster this will be Britain.

More anecdotal evidence about Brexit. A few posts back I chatted about the lack of people in a Cardiff Bay restaurant despite this being Christmas office party season. Well the wife tells me that a colleague at work has told her exactly the same thing. The effect of Brexit Eve then.

In Wales Mark "Corbyn Disciple" Drakeford is now officially First Minister and showed off his new cabinet. Quite frankly IKEA could have done a better job. But what's important to mark up here is that a Libdem is still the education minister. Showing up again the disaster that Labour have done on the issue.

The other interesting thing is the creation of a minister responsible for North Wales. Presumably taking a campaign promise from another contender in that election Eluned Morgan. Thing is though Labour have not just failed North Wales. They have failed EVERYWHERE.

In my list of things I hate about Christmas I've forgotten to mention lights on people's houses. I'm not talking about small twinkly lights across a front door. No I'm talking about full blown Las Vegas here. I mean what is it with that?

Really windy out there. And wet.

Anyway wife's awake. Surprisingly early.

Until the next time.

Radio Ga Ga In Ceredigion

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Now let me make full disclosure here. I have never listened to Radio Ceredigion being a local radio station (and when I mean local I mean I don't and never have lived  there). All I have listened to with regard to Nation Radio is those halcyon days when pressing the button on the DAB radio (now dead - Alexa  - other such machines are available - have really killed it off) before moving on to the channel I wanted. The same company owes both stations.

But Radio Ceredigion broadcast some Welsh language programming which was important as it provided the Welsh speaker with choice. And when I say choice I'm talking about only it appears on Sunday evenings. Well choice no more as the regulator OFCOM agreed to changes in the licence allowing Nation Radio to take over the frequency despite acknowledging that that there was barely little evidence it would benefit listeners.

Nation Radio argued that the area could not sustain two commercial radio stations. Well in all honesty I don't know. What I do know is this. Nation radio is the sort of radio station you feel you've heard across the disunited kingdom. The sort of station which taken as a whole appears to have made from a tenplate. Radio Ceredigion broadcasting in the Welsh language, even if only on a Sunday evening, made it different.

I'm not going to the defend it's English language output. Purely on the grounds that I don't know what it's like and how "local" it is. So it's up to others living in the area to battle for that. But I feel there is a need to put pressure on Nation Radio's bosses to opt-out of the main channel for Welsh language programming in an area let's not forget where a high proportion speaks the indigenous tongue.

It is after all broadcast on Sunday evenings. I suspect the ratings are not high. But then again I suspect the ratings are not high for Nation Radio either. Why? Because it's a Sunday evening. Most people would be watching stuff like Strictly Come Dancing or Call The Midwife. So this "it's not commercial" argument does not wash.

Also whether through accident or design this decision is anti-Welsh. After all in London being a multicultural city there are many radio stations broadcasting in languages other than English (such as Greek). And yet a region where there is a high proportion of Welsh speakers loses a chance to hear it on a Sunday evening? How can this be remotely be considered fair?

As I've discussed before media issues are not a devolved issue. If this decision was considered by a body based in Wales I'm sure it would have been rejected. At the very least there would have been an insistence on Welsh language programming. But no. London has allowed a Welsh speaking area to lose a Welsh speaking outlet and it doesn't really care.

So really the only logical response is whether you're listening in English or Welsh to boycott Nation Radio until it allows Welsh language programming to continue in Ceredigion. Ultimately a commercial company will only be influenced by commercial pressures.

Until the next time.

An Anti-Christmas Tale: The Worst Book I've Ever Received As A Gift

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Christmas is a time when companies promote their wares in the hope that somebody will buy them and of course book publishers are no different. But personally I've always been wary of books that are specifically hyped up for the season. Showbiz biographies cook books and the like.

My view simply is that books are for life and not just for Christmas and books brought out and publicised at this time of year rarely have staying power in terms of your affection.

I wish I could remember the title of the book and it's author. But obviously I've seared it off my memory. Still I'm going to give you a short tale of the worst book I've ever received as a gift.

It is either 1995 or 1996. I'm in my early thirties and my future wife and I are starting our long distance relationship visiting each other between Cardiff and London. However it's Christmas and we're at our respective families for the festive dinner.

So a cousin gives me her present. I know it's a book and am happy about that. I unwrap it and there it is. A book about how British prisoners condemned to spend the rest of their lives in jail spend their days.

And all I could think of was this.

She saw a book about the imprisoned lives of people spending their remaining time behind bars.....and she thought of me.

I really could not understand why. Perhaps it was she thought of me as being forever single destined to be a creepy old guy and then finding to her surprise that I had a serious girlfriend. Perhaps it was discounted and it was a last minute thing with the sticker taken off so to pretend she spent full price on this hardback. I don't know.

What I do know is this. The book was not looked at beyond it's cover. The first chance I got it went straight to a charity shop never to be seen again.

So the moral of this little tale is this. Don't buy someone a book this Christmas. Buy them a book token instead.

Trust me it's better.

Until the next time.

Where Was An Office Christmas Party?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

What I'm going to say is purely anecdotal. Based on what I saw with my eyes and nothing else. But I think worth a chat.

Yesterday evening I was in Cardiff Bay with wife,daughter and relatives of mine who came up for a visit. It was around seven o'clock.

We were at an Italian restaurant for a meal. It was all pleasant enough. I had the Spaghetti Sophia Loren which was fine though why it was named after her is beyond me.

Now Cardiff Bay for those who don't know is the deliberately fashionable area of the city. "Regenerated" is the word that's used. Not Doctor Who regeneration oh no. Urban regeneration which means tart the area up to appeal to more wealthy people moving in and not those who helped build the legend that is Tiger bay in the first place.

The Welsh parliament the Senedd is also here.

And it's also Christmas (boy from someone who's turned into a curmudgeon I'm writing a lot about it in this blog recently).

But despite all of this. All of this. The restaurant was nearly empty.

And as we left a few hours later into the cold night air I noticed other restaurants were relatively empty as well. On the streets there wasn't the normal drunken dregs of the office Christmas party. They were practically barren also.

I'm not saying no office parties have occurred in Cardiff Bay or anywhere else in Wales. But if one night's experience is of any guide perhaps they've been (in comparison) quiet affairs.

Perhaps the ghost of Brexit present has already arrived.

Until the next time.

Theresa May's Premiership Is On A Knife Edge....Never Mind Sorted Out The DVR And I've Got The FreeSports channel Back

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So this morning all the radio and television coverage got suddenly changed with the news that there were enough Tory MPs to force a vote of No confidence in Theresa May. One which, should she lose would mean she would be going as Prime Minister.

Well let's face facts does anybody have confidence in Theresa May about anything? I mean she has never given the impression of feeling any bit sympathetic about those less well off than herself so there's no way I'm going to turn the other cheek and sympathy to her in her hour of need.

And who cares about Theresa May? I'd a DVR to sort out.

Our old DVR had started to develop faults. Minor details like it wouldn't record for example. The wife was more bothered about it than myself or daughter as she was not comfortable with catch-up services.  She is in fact the TV watcher of the house now. Very much into those reality shows that for the most part I'd avoid with an extra large bargepole. So a new one had to be acquired.

Now if there is one thing in this family that I'm king at it's setting up electrical equipment. I bestride this area like a colossus. The wife will actually listen to what I will say  without question. It is of course not rocket science. It's just knowing which cable to slot in where and reading the instructions of course. But hey I'll take praise wherever it comes.

Bought it late last night at Tesco on my way back from work. It cost £119. Free to air channels only and called a Manhattan (for reasons that only marketing people would be able to explain).

Anyway as per my previously explained talent in slotting cables and reading instructions everything went well. Unfortunately for the wife the Freesports channel which disappeared from the old box has now returned. Which means that a lot more sport will be recorded....and it will be free.May not be Premier League football. But it will be sport.

So my day has gone well today Theresa May. And I suspect whatever the result of the ballot yours will not have gone so well.

And no one will care.

Until the next time.

The Best Thing About Shift Work? That You're Too Busy To Know Britain Is Further Humiliating Itself To The Rest Of The World. Let's Watch TV Comfort Food Instead

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I can't remember whether I've said this before in my blog but one of the greatest disadvantages working shift work is the feeling that the rest of the world is doing things whilst you're just shunted by yourself earning some money. So that when you do return late in an evening, tired and hungry and for a few brief minutes wife/daughter tells you about their day you know that for that day anyway you have become a peripherally of their lives.

But when it comes to the British picture perhaps I'm wrong. After all what good would have done for me to watch Britain humiliate itself further by seeing Theresa May the sub-prime minister say that the vote on her EU deal would be postponed after saying that it wouldn't be. Of course she's done this before. Remember her saying that there wouldn't be a general election.

So whilst other countries are busy watching the destruction of whatever British influence it had left whilst at the same time nominating it for whatever international comedy awards are going I'm busy working to be aware of it all.

When I do come home then. There is absolutely nothing I can do that night to be involved. Most of the nation is preparing to go to sleep whilst I'm preparing a microwave meal. And when they wake up they'll know that yesterday in parliament was not a dream after all but a living nightmare.

Late at night then there is nothing but to indulge myself in TV comfort food for those last moments whilst I'm awake as I'm eating the [insert microwave meal here]. For the shift worker TV comfort food is specific. Nothing too demanding (you're nearly asleep). Preferably entertaining as well.

Currently my TV comfort food of choice turns out (as I mentioned as an aside before) the New Zealand detective series The Brokenwood Mysteries. It has exactly what comfort food requires. Amiable central  characters, interesting storylines, a different location to what you're used to so it fits the bill nicely. So much so that I'm ploughing through the (five) series on demand.....sorry Netflix.

What I will watch as comfort food if hard Brexit occurs and people are fighting over a packet of German Salami I don't know. For the moment though The Brokenwood Mysteries is on the menu.

Until the next time.

The Question Welsh Labour Cannot Answer

Yesterday when I chatted about all manner of things I didn't mention a thought that entered my head so early in the morning. A question really. And it was a question that I posed on Twitter yesterday. The question was this.

What have the Welsh Labour government done better than the SNP government in Scotland?

So let's be clear here. Not issues where you could say they were the same. Issues that they were better.

And to be fair there were two examples:

The introduction of the carrier bag charge. Wales was the first UK country to do that.

The introduction of the requirement to opt-out of any organ donation.

Two. Just two.

Labour have been years in power and yet in a whole slew of issues have been considerably inferior in comparison with the SNP. Health, local government and let's not forget education. At the tail end of international league tables and let's not forget run by a Libdem minister!

And let's not forget that this is the government prepared to surrender Welsh powers to Theresa May, vote against a People's vote on the EU Referendum and yet for the dumping of "nuclear mud" in Cardiff Bay!

I could go on but you get my point.

And what this means is that whilst the Welsh opinion is ignored Scottish and indeed Northern Irish opinions are listened to in Westminster. Why? Probably because of the three devolved assemblies Wales is the only one controlled by a Unionist party. Which means it listens to London just as much as it listens to the electorate.

Will things get any easier? Of course not. A combination of Brexit and a new Welsh leader cum Corbyn disciple in Mark Drakeford means that things will actually get a lot worse. And I suspect that soon the scales will fall from the eyes of a lot of Welsh voters as they see the reality of modern toadying Welsh Labour.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Meanderings Post : It's Still Wet Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So it's 3:50am and I'm awake. Isn't insomnia great? I have with me as a companion a cup of black coffee. Bought because whilst wife and daughter were at Lidls yesterday they forgot to get milk.

I still am a bit under the weather. Mainly a cough that though relatively slight doesn't go away. It's like a car that has difficulty starting in the morning. Know it's not man flu because wife is bothered by it.

Amazing this about Brexit shortages. This is an example where shortages affects how you act. Will not have breakfast until six. When I do it won't be croissants my preferred breakfast of choice (and act of quiet rebellion against Brexiteers) now as we've run out. But neither can it be cereal because of the shortage of milk. So it has to be toast Hovis Best Of Both which whilst better than Wholemeal bread still doesn't taste as good as white bread. And when I say that I like bland tasting loaves. I don't like bread that battles with whatever the filling is to be the dominant taste when you eat it

These things have knock on effects.

Anyway this morning already seems wet. It's been like this since about Thursday making driving hazardous. My journey yesterday back to the apartment from Bridgend took me about ten minutes longer than normal (and this was on a Saturday afternoon) specifically to avoid the large puddles along the route. And this will apparently continue for a while yet.

There has been an article in the Western Mail about the reign of soon to be outgoing First Minister of Wales Mr shifty Santa Carwyn Jones. It says that Wales has been at the bottom of the pecking order since the referendum of 2016 compared to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. This is not correct. Wales has always been at the bottom of the pecking order as it can be shown by the lack of devolved powers it has compared to the other nations. A consequence of it being the only country of these four to be controlled by a Unionist party.

I've posed a question on Twitter to which I'm waiting for the answer. It's this. What has the Welsh Labour Government done better than the SNP government in Scotland? Not expecting a big list...if any.

Back to the weather. I forgot to mention it's been windy too. Just another ingredient to the treacherous conditions out there. Do you remember the summer of 2018 when it was too hot? Nature's way of laughing at us at our expense.

A quick thing about Christmas which regular readers know is not for me. Presents aside one of the best thing about the Christmas/New year fortnight as a child were the TV schedules. Well not this year. Taken as a whole there's very little I can see where I say to myself "I must watch that".

I'm getting into  the New Zealand mystery drama The Brokenwood Mysteries. Entertaining whodunnit fare without any tinsel in sight (Am on series two out of five - That statement might change).

5:19am Wind is still blowy. Will try to sleep. Might return shortly …...or  long time later

7:47am That sleep was a good one. Long and heavy. Missed Alexa reminding me to go on the exercise bike. Well that's my excuse for today anyway.

Ah the sun has actually come out. Time to go.

Until the next time.

Mark Drakeford : When Welsh Labour elect Not A Leader But A Disciple

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So Mark Drakeford is now Welsh Labour leader and probably first minister next week. If the publicity is anything to go by this is a man who will bestride "twenty first century socialism" like  a colossus.

But...

Let's be clear about Red Cairns Drakeford as I've discussed in the past he has done nothing in his career that suggests nothing more than the branch manager of the Welsh office. Indeed he is so looking forward to his future position that he has described himself as a bridge to the new generation of Labour Welsh figures such as Vaughan "Mr Memory" Gething. Thing about being a bridge though...you get walked all over.

And let's be clear what he has done as Finance Secretary. He has been part of the surrender of the Welsh Government's powers to the feeble May government post Brexit. Also he has cut the grant to local authorities. As we have discussed previously Welsh Labour in the form of the local councils are blaming Welsh Labour in the form of the government. Thus cuts to local services will occur across Wales. He, Mark Drakeford has been on the forefront of this.

And if he so cared for the Welsh people why did he surrender the Brexit powers, vote against a People's Vote in the Senedd and for the dumping of "nuclear mud" in Cardiff Bay.

Wales needs a First Minister with independence of spirit.

All Wales gets is Corbyn's tool instead.

Until the next time.

For British Institutions In Changing Times : Let's Chat As A Reader About W H Smith

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

A few days back I read online an article that bothered me. It said that of all the shops in the high street W H Smith was the rudest and less customer friendly.

So let me say at the outside that I've never experienced anything in terms of the people working there other than staff trying their best to help in the best customer friendly manner possible.

It does not mean however that W H Smith is not without it's problems.

Whilst it never solely sold books for most people in the seventies and eighties and even so now the closest thing you would have to a bookshop near you was W H Smith. For a bookworm like me it opened up a whole world of literature growing up. Starting with the stuff for kids then moving on to more adult fare.

And whether it was the classics, modern works or pure unadulterated bestseller fare like Arthur Hailey there was a good chance that W H Smith would have it, or at the very least was capable of ordering it for you.

Now however something is wrong. If we judge things purely on books then it has suffered obviously from the likes of Amazon online. Also when it comes bestseller type books the entrance of the big supermarket chains damaged them as well. They are therefore squeezed between the two.

When you walk into the shop now it looks like a bazaar in the way they try to sell books with bargains. Thing is they are for the most part not that cheap for new books compared to their competitors.

So it's not a surprise that they diversify far more than they used to. The space for books is gradually reducing for other things so what W H Smith is no longer is a place where you would automatically enter the world of books. It just battles in the High Street with the rest of them.

And it's important. For in most towns W H Smith is the only place where you could anything close to a range of books. Should the choice continue to lessen then the effect on the love of reading could be damaging for future generations.

Until the next time.

Chatting again About Learning Languages

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have in this blog from time to time chatted about learning languages which has been genuine. What I'm finding however is a problem in learning things when I'm on a working day. Doing shift work as I do. It's difficult fitting the time in when you're preparing for an afternoon evening shift when your mindset is gearing itself for doing as much tidying up as you can do, getting stuff ready and having an early lunch before you leave.

So I've decided to approach language learning differently. Instead of trying to learn the language every day. I'll try instead to learn the language on a rest day. But. Trying to be as intensive in that language as I possibly can.

So what does this mean? Well listening to radio stations and watching TV programmes in that language. When wife/daughter are not around trying to go through textbooks and stuff. Possibly go to chat to people online?

Now currently I'm learning Welsh and French. And I will add one more in the new year. It will be just one language per day you understand. To do more would be too much.

And I'm going to bore the pants off you by saying how things are going. Really that's just an incentive to myself to soldier on when things turn hard. And they will.

So we'll see how I do...mes amis.

Until the next time.

The Return Of A King

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have I must admit not read that many Stephen King books in my life. Not at any dislike of the horror genre or a snobby attitude towards bestselling writers but simply because there's so many books and so little time.

So based on a very small sample I can't say I'm really all that much of a fan. Simply because the plots seem to be that a person (group of people) face some incredible evil beyond the forces of human knowledge and yet with one bound he/she/it pulls through. To which my thought is "Really"?

Indeed of the small number (it really needs to be stressed) that I have read the only one I really liked was his non fiction trek into the genre on books, films and TV Danse Macarbre. It has been decades since a book of his (and he's prolific. Prolific in a "I'm writing by myself not James Patterson like with someone else") has come my way.

But cometh a trip to the library cometh the book.

Revival

As regular readers will know I try not to chat about the plot as much as  I possibly can. So let me say this it's not a gore-fest. What happens is a slowly building sense of unease. I like my horror that way.

Also as is rare in such a book it's difficult to say there's an evil character as such. Which makes the book's moral questions credible.

You can tell I think from the above two sentences that I loved this novel. Obviously I'd need to read a lot more but it made me think of John Wyndham writer of the Day Of The Triffids in that within the demands of the genre Stephen King is trying to write an extraordinary story in as ordinary a way as possible. No hyperbole with Mr King.

My interest in the King is not dead. It is revived.

Until the next time.

What Christmas Shopping In Bridgend Might Tell Us About Brexit

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Everything I'm going to say now is completely anecdotal. Let me stress this. But if what I'm seeing is representative then it appears many people are getting into the Christmas spirit.

Other than of course an old grinch that is me.

I already mentioned that wife/daughter have started putting  out decorations. They include a snowman the wife took a fancy to from Dunhelm. It lights up. It's tacky rubbish. Indeed it's so bad if she dies before me I will make sure it's the first thing for the tip (and if I die before her at least  I'd be in no condition to care).

Christmas Comes But Once a Year - For Seeing This Again....Not Long Enough

Daughter (who is a teenager let me stress) got out on some Christmas music from YouTube. "All I Want For Christmas  Is You. Sung not by Mariah Carey but the sort of girl group I've never seen but feel I've known a thousand times before.

" Very good"  I told her.

 "Why? Because it's Christmas?"

 " No because I'm leaving for work"

(Trust me she understands her grinch of a dad)

But here's the thing. It was Sunday and as I was passing the big out of town stores in Bridgend I noticed that the traffic was busy. In fact so busy there were queues to get into these stores. And there were queues at the McDonald's and the KFC a s well.

People were shopping for Christmas. Furthermore they were shopping for Christmas in a way I
never seen them do in a long while. I was told later that this was also happening in Merthyr Tydfil as well

Now my first reaction was actually that I was pleased that the stores were doing this business. Given the trouble the retail sector is in. But then I wondered. Could it just be that people are spending this Christmas for fear that post Brexit they won't be able to spend as much? Could it just be the retail equivalent of the condemned man's hearty breakfast?

Well I don't know. but assuming Brexit happens I'm laying down a marker here in this post. We'll see how happy a Christmas will be next year.

For even I don't want people who love the season to feel that the best of their Christmases have gone by and that their kids will never be able to experience anything remotely the same

Until the next time.

The Insomniac's Meanderings Post : Still Under The Weather Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I'm still under the weather. Still coughing sneezing sore throat mucus creator me. And yet, and yet still not unwell enough not to go to work.

I know I'm not alone. But is it me or has this started earlier than normal? If so it's worrying given winter has not really started yet.

Tell you what really bothered me during the past few days,. When my teenage daughter looked at me and said:

"But you're never ill".

Now my first reaction was to think "See. You may think I look like Clark Kent but perhaps I'm tougher than you think". My next reaction was that she's seen me unwell (and faint) when I have a vasovagal attack. But she knows that after a few days I recover.

But my final reaction was to think perhaps it's good for teenage children to see their parents unwell for a little while. Nothing long lasting, life threatening or disabling but something to make them realise that parents are not immortal and it may be time for them to prepare for life without us.

Came home from the afternoon/evening shift to watch West Ham beat Newcastle on Match Of The Day yesterday. Let me say if we have mid table respectability this season that's fine by me.

When I also came home the wife told me about the violent riots in Paris. You know what thought came into my head here. If Brexit happens and is disastrous then this will be Britain. Have you also noticed that some of those rioters looked as if they'd come out of a catwalk? So cliché French.

I remember when we were at Orly airport waiting for the plane back from Cardiff after a trip to Eurodisney and armed soldiers were patrolling the streets. Trust me they looked like supermodels (both genders). Now this might have been French military publicity at work for all I knew. But still it worked.

Welsh Labour news: Apparently there was some Welsh Labour do last Friday in Ogmore "celebrating" 100 years of Welsh Labour there. The speaker was shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry and the people in this do included  Labour leadership candidate for First Minister Vaughan "Mr Memory" Gething.

So let's be clear about this. Labour's success in Wales (which is weakening) is due to the memories of the past not because of the arrogant incompetence of Welsh Labour now. I hope they enjoyed their "celebrations" whilst Wales plunges into despair that they have helped create.

Have to mention Christmas now. Wife's put the tree up. She loves Christmas as does daughter. Me, well regular readers know it's not my thing. Not even the BBC1 trailer, which suggests a mother and son can be together again through the power of their festive schedule (yeah right) will make me change my mind.

I do like this year's tree though. It's thin and discreet.

Anyway wife's awake. Time to have a shower.

Until the next time.

Why All Readers Should Follow The Mastermind Principle Of "I've Started So I'll Finish"

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Regular readers to this blog will know that the few devout rules I have in my life is that, with certain extreme exceptions, I follow the Mastermind Principle when it comes to books in that no matter what I think about it "I've started so I've finished".

Well according to writer James Colley I shouldn't be bothered. If I don't like it. Throw it away and go to the next one.

Here is the link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/30/the-joy-of-not-finishing-books-if-you-dont-like-it-dont-read-it

The subtitle to this piece is that " you'll simply not read every book in your lifetime". Well yes. Neither will I see every film, TV Series or play. But it's through circumstance. If you've opened the pages of a book you are in. You are honour bound to finish it. For only then can you truly comment.

And he is not talking about "difficult" books. He's talking about books where you're well into it but don't feel engaged with the characters. Well some books are like that. But some books might lead you into a false sense of security to a surprising conclusion but of course if you haven't finished you will not know.

Mr Colley talks of a "joy" that you feel if you put down a book that has not been working for you. Really? If I did that then I would feel as if I've surrendered. For books are not a quick fix drug. They slowly work on you. If though Mr Colley wants the literary equivalent of a Big Mac (enjoyable at the time forgotten soon after) can I suggest the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. For it's that he seems to desire in books.

I've read Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes and I did not like it. You may agree or disagree with my view (it's in this blog) but whose opinion would you listen to? The person who finished the book or the one who couldn't be bothered to?

I am not a Mastermind. But I am and will always be a reader. And only true readers know that following the Mastermind Principle is the duty you have as a reader. Anything less and you've failed.

Until the next time.

Let's Talk More About The Potential For Anti English Sentiment Around Newport

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have on this blog chatted about the potential for anti English sentiment around the Newport area when in a few weeks time the tolls will be abolished from the Severn Bridge and the proposed M4 relief road will encourage families from Bristol to buy cheaper houses in the South East of Wales up to the Newport whilst at the same time there is a lack of social housing for the local people in that area.

When I've gone on Twitter recently I've seen tweets bemoaning English immigration generally. The argument is that those who do emigrate from England will not embrace the local culture. Indeed will actively set out to undermine it. I have read an article where the word "lebensraum" is mentioned.

Personally taken as a whole I don't agree. But there is a clear danger here because those who will be moving will still work in England. Thus they would not be starting a new life but extending the one they already have. I have mentioned in the past that Alun Cairns' Western Powerhouse plan would appear to be partitioning South East Wales.

These people will be resented by the local community if there is a detrimental knock on effect on the housing market for them. The ingredients for social unrest are clearly there.

And yet if Secretary of State for Wales Alun "Chucky" Cairns and whatever non entity/Corbyn disciple becomes the next First Minister just banged their heads together I'm sure this would be resolved.

If the danger I've described does happen we know that Chucky and [insert non entity here] will (rightly) blame those who instigated it and (purely for political gain and ignoring the facts) Plaid Cymru. But as I've emphasised before if the potential for social unrest can be stopped and no action is taken then both Unionist parties would be equally culpable as the instigators.

There is still time. But the time for action is now.

Until the next time.

That "Going Through The Mail" Day

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

There comes those days where you're not at work for the first time in eons. The weather is rubbish. You have a cough and a sore throat that your daughter has kindly given you as a pre Christmas treat. There is nothing to do. You have no other option but to go through the pile of mail that work has stopped you looking properly at previously.

I remember writing about this before almost at the beginning of this blog. Being inspired by the playwright Arnold Wesker who wrote about the excitement of receiving post. Emails of course replaced a lot of the post when I wrote the first (irony is coming) "post" (there I told you) on this and even more now of course.

So in my critically ill state (being a man of course) let's begin.....

Bank statement: It's a bank statement. We're surviving. Of course it's still Brexit eve.

Simply Be Christmas Catalogue: Thankfully not the wife's or indeed daughter's given that they provide fashion for the larger lady but sent today to the wrong address. Good. They would kill me if I suggested otherwise!

Bonmarche Bonus Club: Definitely the wife's. Not even sure why she didn't bother to open the envelope. Anyway for her to deal with.

Tesco Clubcard Savings (Just for me!!) : My name on the card but we all know who will want the Christmas coupons!

And then I had a sleep. This cold, sore throat and cough is not great. And I won't describe the mucus coming out of my throat.

But anyway...

HM Revenue & Customs: No I haven't been a naughty boy trying to pay tax. Don't be silly I'm definitely not rich enough to avoid that. No it's that the Welsh Labour Government will setting a Welsh income tax from next year. (But there will still b a UK one). So on the one side that will be a good thing. More powers to Wales and all that. On the other Welsh Labour will be dealing with it. And as we know Welsh Labour at whatever level run things with arrogant incompetence. So the omens are not good.

Swansea Grand Theatre Winter - Spring Leaflet: Speaks for itself really. Nothing really springs out though I note Peter Andre is doing a "25 year tour". You would have thought the audience would have gotten parole by now.

PPI :Well now a date has been set for the scandal to finish companies really are throwing leaflets at it. Not sure what to do here. Will chat with the wife.

Hilarys : The blinds/curtains people. Personally never understood why they advertise so much given it's a one off purchase. Anyway junk mail binned.

Specsavers: More than a one off purchase I know. But otherwise ditto the above. Binned.

McCarthy & Stone Retirement Homes: I may not be young. But I'm not that old yet. Binned.

I'd go further. But to be honest under the weather has turned into a full storm. Time to leave it for another day.

Until the next time.