Friday 31 May 2019

Here's The Question: Is Young Sheldon Better Than The Big Bang Theory?


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well picture the scene. I'm returning to the apartment from work. I ring my mother. Wife is talking to me about the work on the house we're about to move into. Daughter is doing more revision for her exams.

It is however 10:45pm. I've come from doing shift work. I'm tired and hungry. I go to the recordings I've put on the TV and start watching Young Sheldon (Series 1).

Now for those who've never done shift work as your brain slowly turns itself off thoughts wearily enter your brain and then are discarded. However one question carried itself over to this Friday morning. And it's not the question of the title.

The question was this : Why do I like Young Sheldon? It's a prequel.

Regular readers will know I'm not a fan of prequels for the simple reason that whilst you may not know the route to get there you know the destination. Gotham for example. Bruce Wayne might be a teenage boy grappling with his parents death but you know full well he's going to be Batman. What's the point of watching it when all the dramatic shifts will lead to that all important moment? There is consequentially no element of surprise.

But if you're a fan of  The Big Bang Theory you know how things are going to turn out for Sheldon Cooper. Yet there I am. Watching the show. Enjoying the show.

We come back to the question. Given that it's a prequel why do I like Young Sheldon?

And thinking about it. I'd say that the answer is that it's a sitcom. You don't watch a sitcom for it's dramatic moments. You watch it for the humour. As long as it works knowing how the lives of the Cooper family will turn out does not matter.

So we come to the question of the title. Is Young Sheldon better than The Big Bang Theory?

And I'd argue for the moment yes.

Let's start by saying that I am a fan of  The Big Bang Theory having watched it from the very beginning twelve years ago. Yet there were moments when the show did seem to lack a sense of direction. But this can hardly be surprising in a show that has had twelve seasons when Young Sheldon has only had currently two (more are planned).

But stylistically Young Sheldon is different from it's parent as well. Firstly for the most part it does not go in for the belly laugh. What it gives you is a quiet gentle smile. That's probably linked to the fact that it does not have "a live studio audience" or any audience at all.

It's a comedy that does not feel forced, which (though I like it) is an occasional flaw of The Goldbergs.

It's set in a small fictional town in East Texas. Let's start by saying that my knowledge of East Texas begins and ends with this show. But it certainly appears realistic to me and that includes all of the chracters. Again comparing it The Goldbergs if you take some of the sports tops off Murray and Barry Goldberg it really could have been set anywhere.  Also it and indeed The Big Bang Theory was not beyond going to cliché with some of the people in it. But here you believe that these are ordinary people living ordinary lives but faced with the extraordinary child genius in their midst.

Whilst there are some exceptions they are for the most part nice.

And central to this are the Coopers. Cast I would argue to perfection again they seemed an ordinary family with arguments but having to deal with the difference affecting their lives that is Sheldon Cooper. However they (Sheldon aside) are a family we would all recognise and probably deliberately are made as cliché American as possible (Dad is the school American football coach).

It is a quiet, warm show. Almost under the radar but perhaps destined to be as equally loved as The Big Bang Theory now that has finished.

Until the next time.








Thursday 30 May 2019

Why Even In Downtown Penarth Raymond Chandler Can Lead Me To Downtown LA. Plus Books Bought Today


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For my good deed of the day I went to Penarth to help someone who was going to be taking a special eyesight test at Specsavers. I won't go into detail of the medical stuff because that's personal. But eyedrops were required so that person couldn't drive afterwards, Which is where I came in.

So whilst the person went for the test. I had time on my hands. Time for a book to read which is this.

Raymond Chandler - The Long Goodbye
It's certainly funny that it was only last year I've read a Raymond Chandler novel purely because there's so many books and so little time and yet now I'm on my second (not including that tribute book of Philip Marlowe short stories by writers in the nineteen eighties).

So being framed (all around me cheapest at £69) I just quietly did not make a spectacle of myself. I just read.

And I was transported to the heat of Los Angeles of 1953. I was walking down those mean streets. Being confronted by the LAPD. A world where drinking and smoking were commonplace. As of course is murder.

And I was there.

And that my friends is art of a great writer. Takes you to a world where you are not. A world far away from the cold, wet grey morning in Penarth on a Wdnesday in late May and yet you don't notice. My body was in Penarth specsavers, but my mind was in the West Coast of a country I've never been too.

Of course I won't chat about the book properly until I've finished reading it. But you can tell I'm a Chandler fan. And it's taken fifty four years of my life to realise it.

Well good news whilst I won't go into details my passenger's eyesight test went well. So subsequently we went to the local bookshop in the town Griffin books. For any town to have a small independent bookshop which survives and isn't named Waterstones is something to be treasured.

I can't say I've regularly bought books here. Simply because living in an apartment there isn't any room. But as we're about to move into our new home after two years of searching I will be visiting more. And decided to buy at least one book. As it happened I bought two.

The main one was:

Ursula Martin - One Woman Walks Wales
The title basically explains the book. Except that she took on this challenge after being diagnosed with cancer (from which she's now thankfully in remission from). She is at this moment doing the same thing across Europe. Something which won't be easy post Brexit.

And I get why she did it. I would like to undertake the same sort of idea too if I was diagnosed with something similar. One last challenge before whatever disease it turned out to be took hold.

The other book was:

Brian Aldiss - Three Types Of Solitude
This is a pocket book series celebrating ninety years of the Faber publishing house. Regular readers will know that I'm a fan of Mr Aldiss and whilst the book of his short stories of the fifties wasn't really that good his short stories from the sixties and seventies that I have read are really top drawer. So given these stories were written in 2001 I'm expecting good things.

Finally. Could not resist a bookmark. They are getting to be a dying breed.

Don't forget the bookmark
All in all. A good day to be a reader.

Until the next time.




Tuesday 28 May 2019

The Near Midnight Meanderings On A Movie With A Microwave Meal Part 20: Air Force One (1997)


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You may remember when I last chatted about Brannigan, the John Wayne thriller in this mad series of looking at all the films in the Radio Times Film Guide (2013) I bought for £2.50 last year, I said that one of the things that made it watchable was the fact that the cast knew full well it wasn't producing something deep and meaningful about the human condition. They were having fun. And when approached in the same manner so would the audience.

If only the same approach could be seen on Air Force One. A more po faced piece of poo you'd be hard to see in a long, long while.

It takes a potboiler thriller concept, the plane of the American president is hijacked by terrorists, and treats the script as sacred text. Not to be changed in anyway.

And that starts with the score by Jerry Goldstein. Stand to attention and salute the flag music. Not so much in your face. More boxing your ears.

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen he who will forever remembered for directing Das Boat but here showing that when it comes to planes it's all run of the mill and nothing special.

It's one of those films where lots of money appears to have been spent on everything so that there's plenty of  weapons going bang and the depiction of the Presidential plane certainly looks real enough. Shame shame some of that money didn't go on the script.

This film has less tension than a stretched elastic band. The key problem is the character of the President himself. Let's pause for a moment here.

He's handsome (hey he looks just like Harrison Ford). He has a wife and a child (family man and fertile). He is a man of political principle. He is a feminist (Glenn Close is the vice president). He's been awarded the Medal of Honour (so brave and patriotic). He is President of the United States of America but well liked around the world. He speaks Russian but also likes American Football (Cosmopolitan yet still one of the guys!)

So when Air Force One is hijacked there's only one man capable of confronting a group of Russian ex military angry communist commando types.

Where does such a person exist anywhere in the world and can he/she be the next Prime Minister of Britain please? This is the President as aspiration. When you realise this then all tension goes. You might not know the route the film takes but it's destination is obvious.

Even Gary Oldman as head of the hijackers treats this seriously with an East European accent so thick you could have made borscht from it.

Of course watching it makes me realise that in it's historical context it's probably confusing for younger viewers. As it's set between the time of Communism and the rise of Putin when Russia was entering into the wide world of capitalism but not without pains in doing so.. It's actually more confusing for the youth audience I'd suspect than watching a film where the Communists were still in power.

The other funny thing watching it was that potentially a better film was there. Focusing instead on the Glenn Close character and how she would deal with an attack on Air Force One as vice president from the White House. The audience not being shown the actual attack on Air Force One. Now that would have been an interesting watch. Unfortunately for us we got this one.

This film tries to be Die Hard. It should have tried harder.

Until the next time.



Monday 27 May 2019

Why The Urdd Eisteddfod Should Be Moved To Easter


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So this week the Urdd Eisteddfod (essentially the young person's Eisteddfod is being held in Cardiff. I'd like to go. We've been there before when it's been in the Welsh capital.

But we're not going.

Why? Simple. It clashes with daughter's GCSE exams. She's finished her Welsh one but there's obviously others to do. After this half term period finishes she's going to be continuing them. So most of her spare time is spent revising.

And let me stress here that I'm not talking about her taking part in any of the performances. Merely just visiting.

So it got me to thinking. Why is a potential audience for the Urdd Eisteddfod being hampered in this way? Why are sixteen year olds unable to go because of the pressures this time of year brings to them?

In essence Why can't the Urdd Eisteddfod be moved to Easter?

Now I know what you're going to say. Well what about those taking A Level exams (which are held earlier)?  Wouldn't their chances of visiting be compromised? Well yes. But it's the nature of the thing that obviously less children will be taking A Levels than standard  GCSEs.

Also, and I can't stress this enough, whilst it might provide them with an enjoyable day out if a sixteen year old is visiting the Eisteddfod chances are he/she is taking Welsh at GCSE level and so there is a good chance that he/she can practice his/her Welsh at the event which could only help them come exam time. Therefore being able to go somewhere and speak Welsh would surely be helpful to their chances of passing the Welsh oral part of  the exam.

It seems odd to me that the Urdd Eisteddfod (which by the way is for those up to the age of 25) should discriminate against a potentially large young audience and their families this way.

Hey Mistar Urdd. You know what you should do.

Until the next time.






The Battle For Wales: It Begins....


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well the results for the European elections are now known. In Wales The Brexit Party won. Basically hoovering up Conservative and UKIP votes. Unfortunately for those of us on the Remain side, the vote was split five ways. Though it should be noted that if you added the Pro Remain parties together the vote in a second referendum would have gone to stay in the EU. Fact.

However here in Wales there has been another focus. Not just that The Brexit Party won, but that the Labour party, victor on every national election for about a century, came third. Plaid Cymru came second.

So let's be clear. Of the disaffected Welsh Labour voter the majority voted Plaid Cymru.

Now the Labour party in Wales will try and shrug it off. Just like Alun "Chucky" Cairns' equally disastrously performing Welsh Conservatives will do. And just like the Conservatives they will use their current political power to entice voters back. But it's Plaid and not The Brexit Party that Welsh Labour will worry about, have always worried about. Because they know that the dissatisfied core Labour voter will consider Plaid Cymru before it considers any other party. Ask yourself why it is that on a Welsh level Labour always attack Plaid Cymru at a Welsh level more than any other party? Because this is their nightmare. And these results are the first national confirmation of it.

It is why that on Twitter I've seen Welsh Labour party members blame Westminster, Corbyn and Corbyn's disciple First Minister Mark Drakeford. But let's not be under any illusions. Drakeford may worship Corbyn but Welsh Labour follows Westminster like any other branch office. And if you act like a sheep what do you expect?

I've also noticed that Carwyn Jones blamed the split in the Remain vote. Well yes. But of course at time of writing that tweet Labour are a Brexit party. Does that mean the former First Minister wanted people not to vote Labour?

I've put forward the notion in this blog that Wales is slowly moving towards a political battle between Plaid Cymru and whatever right-wing force eventually evolves. The dinosaurs of the Welsh Conservative and Labour parties will be around and like the actual dinosaurs will still have power. (For example whoever the next Tory sub Prime Minister that person is likely to move towards a no deal Brexit - a disaster for Wales). But that power is weakening. Disaffected voters are looking for an alternative. And in Wales only Plaid Cymru have "that vision thing". That vision being independence.

After all what are the alternatives? The Libdems? What have they done for Wales recently except prop up the current Labour administration in the Welsh parliament? Change UK? A spent force already. The Greens? As discussed they were happy to call themselves the party of England and Wales in a vote in their party. Willingly allowing themselves to be eaten up (veganly I'm sure) by the English office.

These other parties will just be too weak and polite to fight whatever right wing force emerges.

And for those who say the Welsh owe Labour their support I say that was then and this is now. Welsh Labour have been living off past glories for years now. This was the first national election where you got the feeling that the Welsh voter felt that their debt to Labour has been paid. Welsh Labour as I've explained in this blog have been arrogantly incompetent through the years and this was the first national election where they have been truly punished for it.

So it comes back to Plaid Cymru.

The battle begins....

Until the next time.






Saturday 25 May 2019

The Insomniac Meanderings Post : Don't Know What To Do Saturday Edition


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well for various reasons my plans foe today Saturday are shot to pieces. I wanted to see if I could watch some Welsh Rugby League action but the season hasn't started yet. For all intents and purposes the Rugby Union and football seasons have finished (particularly in the sense of being able to go to a game). There is of course cricket but as I've got today and tomorrow off work I feel that spending practically an entire day away from wife/daughter (who is revising for exams) is not good thing.

Speaking of daughter and exams the Urdd Eisteddfod (that's the one for young people) is being held in Cardiff next week. Half term week. Perhaps the date should be moved to Easter time. That way kids daughter's age could go for the day without feeling guilty about not revising.

That is you know another thing with shift work. When there are days when you're not working those closest to you are used to you being away. So when you're there for a day they really are not used to your presence at these times. And you know what? That's mutual.

What's worse at time of writing the sun's shining and the sky is blue.

Yesterday I went to Penarth. Haven't been there for a while and it showed. Two places have closed down.

This was a Bangladeshi Restaurant
Now I've never been in there (as I've explained before it's not my preference food wise) but it's closure does leave an unusually large empty retail space in the town.

And...

It was a Santander bank branch
And I should also mention this. It was a Blockbuster video store. So it's been closed for at least two years.

It probably cries when it remembers the good times
Now Penarth is of course not Bridgend Town (of which more in a moment) but the Vale of Glamorgan council needs to be careful. For before you know it that's what you'll become and the urban equivalent of a comfy pair of slippers will suddenly look frayed.

Anyway back to Bridgend Town. You may recall that I've mentioned to damage to the "Cofiowch Dryweryn" mural by (I'd argue) right wing vandals.. Tryweryn being the village in North Wales deliberately flooded so that Liverpool could be provided with extra water.

Well copies of the mural have appeared throughout Wales. Started by Bridgend Town who painted a large copy against the wall of a local sweet shop. Well Bridgend Town have threatened the owner of the sweet shop with court action. This is of course typical Bridgend Labour council. Something that actually provides credit to the town is considered to be an illegal act. Yet as I've chatted in this blog since it's inception the town has been turned into an urban tragedy thanks to the council's incompetence.

The council can move fast when it wants to. Shame it doesn't devote the same amount to dealing with the town's problems that it caused.

They say it's graffiti. Who complained? I have my suspicion. If only I could say.

Of course the big political news in this Disunited Kingdom is the resignation of Theresa May probably meaning that Baboon Boris Johnson will become another Tory Sub-Prime Minister. Let's be clear. Theresa May be showing the tears now. But I have as much sympathy for her as she showed to the underprivileged in Britain today.

Quick word on the house which at this moment is in the hands of the builders. Have got an email today from the local electricity company SSE asking for a meter reading. What? We only gave a reading about a month ago when we bought the house. Will have to ring them.

Let's end on a bit of a smile. A couple of days back the wife asked me what I was doing on an internet dating site. I said I was on no such thing. She showed me the email on the computer. I pointed out that the particular email said "ad" against it.

As I said to her. Not only have I never been on such a site but do you really think I'd give an email address that she knows the password of?

Until the next time.












On Being A Temporary Carer/Househusband.....And Planning For The Next Time


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You may remember early last year I was in Essex exile looking after my ill mother for about two months. Well sometime in the future I will have to be nurse/carer for the wife who will be in hospital for regular surgery. Won't go into detail but let's leave it that it's not life threatening but she'll need help for a while.

But it occurred to me that this time I could do some forward planning.

For example said to the wife that I wouldn't be able to do any vaccumming upstairs when we move unless daughter was with her because I wouldn't be able to hear her. Let's say she was unimpressed. But I don't care. It was a thought.

Luckily for us Daughter is of an age where she doesn't need supervision in the house being a teenager....hopefully!

And vaccuming will not be easy. We have a Dyson like model and those things are not easy to get the dust out of the container. Life seemed a lot simpler when the rubbish went into a bag. But then life seemed simpler anyway.

I don't actually mind cleaning [insert house room here] as long as I've something to listen to and I'm not rushed. I'd rather do things slow and well than quick and badly (I'll stop there!).

Mind you I doubt it would be enough for most women. They look at any room in their house and see something resembling a tip when it's perfectdly fine to other people. Perhaps that's the way society has conditioned  them. I don't know. It's rather like their attidtudes to dieting. A lot of women I know go on diets when they're seemingly confusing putting on weight with being fat (and for the record I need to go on a diet). Anyway that conditioning needs to change. How I've no idea.

When I was looking after my mother before I left South Wales to look after her I was very careful in packing only dark clothes. That way I could throw it into her washing machine without having to worry about colurs. In terms of her clothes though I had to go through them with her before doing the laundry. What constitutes a light or dark wash is not always obvious.....I've found.

I'm also going to do a menu plan. Why? Well I just want to cook stuff that everyone will like and will be relatively quick. Don't care that it will be simple and it will be the meals will be the same per week (though not per day). I want it done as quickly as possible. After all I'll have to do the washing up too and I'll have to do it immediately. Men do like washing up. But they prefer it to be in one big go.  A cup and plate Everest challenge wrapped up in Fairy liquid (other brands are available).

An when I have to go out to the supermarket then like when I looked after mother it will be as if I've gone out from prison on day release and entered the outside world. Yep. When you're a carer, even a temporary one the supermarket represents the rest of humanity to you.

And of course there's the caring part as well. If my experience with my mother is of any guide then things should be fine as long as you are patient. For your loved one is the person who's ill.

Time is the key issue. If I can get the plan right then it can be run like a military operation. However I need to recognise that allowances have to be made. I'm not the person who is unwell.

Am I bigging myself up? Well I hope not. I'm not going to say that I would win any awards as a carer and especially not as a househusband. But honestly I did my best helping my mother and I can especially say that I was patient. But the thing is this. What happened with my mother and what will happen with my wife is time limited. There are people across the Disunited Kingdom who do this day in day out. They save the nation money when it comes to social services and yet seem to be undervalued by most of society.

Forget entreprenurs. These selfless people are truly the folks to look up to. They didn't plan. They just learnt what they had to do immediately.

Until the next time.




Friday 24 May 2019

Coming Soon...In A Country Without An integrated Train System A "Global Centre Of Rail Excellence"


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Ken Skates is the Welsh Labour government minister for the economy and transport. He's a man who likes to make announcements but the sort of person who once they're analysed are found wanting.

He is the person who thought it was a good idea to have a monument and tourist centre in North Wales celebrating a Welsh defeat. He was also on hand earlier this week talking about a direct Wrexham to Chester railway line. Something as I've explained in an earlier post might eventually lead to anti-English sentiment.

But let's focus on the railways. For a couple days ago he announced that his plans for "a ground-breaking  global centre of rail excellence have taken a huge step forward". This is because the planning application for the area in the Dulais Valley near Neath will be made next year.

And let's pause there.

Wales is a country without an integrated railway line. South Wales is an area without rail electrification west of Swansea. Part of the South Wales Valleys carriages were modelled on sardine cans. My understanding is that the railway system for North Wales is equally full of faults to it's basic structure.

Ken Skates is to his credit is a minister with more front than Barry Island. For how with a straight face he could announce that despite the myriad of problems to it's basic structure Welsh taxpayer money is being pumped into a "Global Centre of Rail Excellence" is beyond me. Indeed "a Global Centre of Rail Excellence". Don't you think that if anyone from [insert country here] read that they'd be laughing their heads off? Who from around the world would want to come and be taught about the railways in a nation that hasn't sorted it's own system out?

And let's not forget Skates is excited because the planning application is set for next year. Who knows when/if it will actually be built.

As for "excellence" how does he know it will be excellent? Is he an expert on the railways? Of course not. He's the Welsh minister for transport.

Welsh people I'm sure would want the money to be invested into their day to day problems with the railways. Not sidetracked into a glorified vanity project.

Indeed "Global Centre of Rail Excellence" smacks very much of Ken Skates and Welsh Labour as a whole. Gloss with no substance. Arrogance with incompetence.

No wonder the tide is turning to Plaid Cymru.

Until the next time.








The Only Child Lonely Child Myth


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The latest book I'm reading from the library is The Unlikely Heroics Of Sam Holloway by Rhys Thomas. I won't speak a lot about this novel here. I've only just started it and so as the plot might alter my perceptions as I go along it won't be fair at this stage. However it has caught my eye on a general level by suggesting that as the eponymous Sam Holloway was an only child he was also lonely.

As an only child and a father of an only child let me say this. I'm not saying that that there are no lonely only children but there are also lonely children with brothers/siblings. I will argue though against the myth that an only child is a lonely child because they are an only child.

The thing about this myth is this, It confuses being alone with being lonely. Only children are used to being alone (in relation to being 24/7 with other kids). Because of this he/she develops other interests that they can do by themselves. Reading comes to mind. Books are probably my oldest friends.

Being the solitary child growing up you learn that it doesn't within the confines of your age mean solitary confinement. My daughter has friends and wants to eventually marry and have loads of children with Tom Holland (aka Spiderman) but she's of an age now where she understands the difference between being alone and being lonely. And that makes me happy.

There are other myths about only children as well. That they are selfish. Of course there are selfish only children, but again there are selfish children with brothers and sisters as well. Similarly the idea they are spoilt and impatient. Being an only child focuses the attention of others to you which larger families can hide more easily.

People will tell you that only children lack social skills and become "the loner" on thrillers planning to do [insert unspeakable act here] specifically because of being an only child? Not true. School is the unconscious teacher here. I've seen say ten year old children with siblings act as if they've only just learnt how to use the toilet. You know those stories of "loners" doing [insert unspeakable act here]. A lot of them had brothers/sisters. Genetics/life will make you the caricature of "the loner". Nothing else.

And I'm not saying that there are not issues that need to be addressed. I remember attending a parent's evening at daughter's primary school and her class teacher bemoaning the fact that her son (about four or five I think) was very possessive about toys when other children came to the house. Being an "expert" through experience I understood why and told her. You are used being a child to your things being one way. When another child comes in and messes things up it's upsetting. But you grow out of it. Life does that.

But still. The Only Child Syndrome needs to be addressed and called out for the fallacy it is. Kids grow up in a tougher world than I did as a child and these myths need to called out so that only children are not stigmatised by people who just don't know what it's like.

Until the next time.



Thursday 23 May 2019

An Analysis Of The European Elections For The Welsh Right Wing...... Through The Medium Of Signs Along The A48 Between Cardiff And Bridgend


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Regular readers will know that I do shift work and part of my journey takes me along the A48 road from Cardiff to Bridgend.

Well for the past few days the weather has been fine. Bright, blue sky and sunny. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. Sort of Goldilocks weather really.

Indeed it's been the sort of weather, rare in Wales, where you can drive in a yellow sports car with alloy wheels wearing dark glasses and not look like an idiot (saw two of those yesterday).

Now halfway along this route there's a turnoff (which I don't take) to the town of Cowbridge. Yesterday whilst passing this turnoff I noticed small road signs hammered onto the grass. They were for Nigel Farage's Brexit party. Normally when I've seen signs there they've been normally for a car boot sale.

Now before I go on certain things will need to be explained about this route. It is basically a country road with pleasant green scenery surrounding it (though a new development near Cowbridge is being built). Consequently there are no advertising hoardings along the route.

So the people who own the land along this route are mainly farmers and the well to do. The sort of people who would consider the LibDems to be the running dogs of Marxist Leninist theory. Which is why this post is chatting about the political right only here.

However in elections in the past I've seen signs posted on some of these properties in this road encouraging people to vote Conservative (in view of the above I wonder why?). Including I think blog villain Alun "Chucky" Cairns (though my memory may be playing tricks with me in that regard).

But not in this election. Nothing. Zip. Nada. If symbolism is any guide there you are. No one wants to come out and be a Conservative. Indeed you're more likely now in the Britain of today to be accepted as gay than as one of "them".

I've also got to mention that the spot these Brexit Party signs are on seems like public land to me.
I'm not saying that the Brexit Party have performed an illegal act ("As if" you'd say) if only because I don't know. But it's odd to me. Also whether illegal or not it revealed a level of confidence which to say the least is disturbing.

So what does this all mean? Well of course the above is tongue firmly wedded to cheek (though factually accurate). But if it's of any guide it seems that the signs are truly against the Conservatives amongst the Welsh right wing.....literally.

Until the next time.

Postcript: The above was written about events which occurred on Wednesday. However yesterday (Thursday) the day of the election those Brexit Party signs disappeared and were replaced by those for Change UK. The pro Remain in the EU group mainly consisting of a small rump of Members of Parliament who left the main Unionist parties.

These signs were both too small and too late. Which you could also describe Change UK as a whole. So you see yet again. The signs have it.






Nigel Farage, A Milkshake, Jo Cox And Why George Orwell Is Being Proved Nearly Right With Brexit Britain


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As I mentioned in a previous post. On Monday the leader of The Brexit Party, currently leasing in the polls for the European Parliament Nigel Farage was hit by a Milkshake was campaigning in Tyneside.
I mentioned at that time that whilst part of me was laughing my head off the other half was happy that it was a Milkshake and not something more lethal. As what you could get was Farage becoming a right wing martyr.

And I thought I was going to leave it there until early this morning when I saw a tweet on my feed. It was a comment on another Twitter feed which basically bemoaned what happened to Farage saying that the attack could have been with another more deadlier weapon. It echoed coverage of the incident in the British mainstream media which treated the attack (with let's not forget, a milkshake) as if it was Disunited Kingdom version of the Kennedy assassination.

But what the Twitter comment reminded me was that it is about three years since the murder of the Member of Parliament Jo Cox. Killed with a gun and a knife by an extreme right winger near her local constituency office. The commentator used the phrase, which I feel needs further discussion, that her murder seems to have been "erased" out of the public story. It was to me an interesting phrase. for it seemed to echo Winston Smith's job for the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 1984.

What is happening in Brexit Britain I'd argue is that George Orwell is being proved nearly right. History is not being erased by the right-wing press. It's being manipulated and then deliberately forgotten.

Jo Cox's murderer is a case in point. Her killer, acknowledged to be a man who supported the extreme right wing, was described by the right wing media as having mental health problems. Perhaps so. But just like the countless (unfortunately) atrocities perpetrated by men with guns they have been galvanised into action by right wing political philosophies. Philosophies that may not say "Go and kill" but nonetheless paint people and groups that disagree with them not just as opponents but as enemies.

And yet her murder. And her right wing murderer. Is now being not erased but forgotten. So an incident of a milkshake being thrown at Farage, a milkshake, is treated more seriously than the actual brutal murder of an MP. It makes Farage a victim. Whereas the real victim of Britain today is unable to put her point of view.

The information is there if you look for it. But you have to look. The mainstream media will not (as a rule) remind you of it. Perhaps because you will then question the political views of the people who pulled the trigger.

And this sort of deliberate amnesia continues. What about that bus during the EU referendum and it's goal the money that went to the EU should go to the National Health Service instead? Where has that promise gone.

So Orwell was nearly right. The truth is out there. But no one in power is going to remind you of it.

Until the next time.


Wednesday 22 May 2019

"Wales Is Backwards When It Comes To Technology"


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Firstly apologies. I wrote about the problems of British Steel assuming it affected Port Talbot. I've been told that the steel plant there is still owned by Tata and is separate.

So I was wrong. Have always acknowledged in the blog any mistakes I've made and do so here. I've always believed that to err is human but to acknowledge your error gains trust. Indeed as it was completely wrong I've deleted the post.

Instead I'm going to chat about an elderly Englishman yesterday. He overheard me and recognised an English accent. He walked up and said.

"Wales is backwards when it comes to technology".

There was no point in arguing with him. His views were clearly embedded in cement. I  murmured something and walked away. But his is not an uncommon view of Wales in England generally. Not just in technology but in other walks of life as well.

So let's be clear if you live in a remote Welsh valley you're probably going to have problems with your wi-fi signal. But you're going to have similar areas in England as well. Somehow though that's not the same.

It also reminded me though of the Pitching In syndrome. The TV series supposedly set in North Wales and yet filled with different Welsh regional accents. And there's the point I think. As I've mentioned previously until I came to Wales I just assumed there was one Welsh accent and only knew better when I came to live here permanently.

Whatever tech troubles the guy had (and I didn't care) he had considered it an issue to do with Wales and not the specific place he had the problem in. If you are English living in England you see Wales and not Swansea, or Wrexham or Bridgend. That is a mainstream media projection. As I think I've mentioned before people living in England probably have a greater understanding of American regional differences than Welsh ones.

So perhaps Wales should promote not just itself as a nation but get the mainstream Disunited Kingdom media to recognise the different regions within it as well.

Wales is after all a country not a region.

Until the next time.

Tuesday 21 May 2019

The Insomniac's Meanderings Post: Just Over An Hour To Chat Edition


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I must admit I didn't intend to blog today. Various things meant that I really didn't have the time. However insomnia has come to the aid in that regard. Though not to my sleep of course. Nonetheless I have just over an hour to meander. Though not enough time to do anything more constructive.

There is a poll with regard to the forthcoming elections to the European parliament putting the Brexit Party in the lead. Won't really comment on them now except that they could prove if accurate a turning point in the politics......for Plaid Cymru. However as they say the real poll is on Thursday so we'll wait to chat about that until the results are out. Except that if proven correct it backs my assertion in this blog that the fight for the soul of Wales is between these two parties and tellingly not those currently in power in Westminster and Cardiff Bay.

The political news on Monday is that the leader of The Brexit Party Nigel Farage had a milkshake thrown at him. His reaction was to blame "radicalised remainers". Two things need to be said here. One part of me laughs my head off. A taste of the Britain today that he has helped create in dairy form comes to attack him. Good. The Britain of today whose atmosphere caused the murder of MP Jo Cox.

However another thought entered my brain. It's that if someone had actually killed Farage then the far right would have gained a martyr. And the phrase "be careful what you wish for" enters my brain.

You may remember last year I suggested a potential timebomb of anti- English sentiment in South Wales (specifically housing) because of the combination of the lack of social housing and the raising of the tolls by Secretary of State Alun "Chucky" Cairns of the Geraint Thomas bridge thus English people buy cheaper housing in the area and then commute to, say Bristol, for work? Causing I'd argue pent up frustration around Newport?

Well it has happened yet. Neither did I expect it to. These things take time. But I still hold to my arguments.

However the North Walian version of this has occurred. This time in the new Wrexham to Chester Railway line. Direct services have now been restored for the first time for forty years. Both Chucky and Labour Welsh finance minister  AM Ken Skates are happy. But have the potential social consequences been analysed? Bet they haven't.

I've had breakfast. And yes it was croissants. I'm a non-conformist and proud of it.

Until the next time.










Monday 20 May 2019

The Best Science Book I've Read This Year. I'm Still Thick Though


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well let's start with the latest science book I've read then. Borrowed from the library.

Relax. Nothing to do with Brexit

Regular readers will know that I'm not the greatest reader of science books as despite looking like I was born with a white coat it has passed me by. Nonetheless as a reader when chatting about the past few science books in this blog I've been irritated by the promise of being accessible to everyone when doing anything but.

Mr Flannery's book makes no such claim and I'll come back to that point later. But it is for the most part accessible. The reason being is that (as I've mentioned before) he makes the science human by giving us a background on some of the (mainly) palentologists who made ground breaking discoveries in this field. And, let's be clear here whilst I won't go into detail scientests are weird.

And this is all to do with natural history he can make the history of the wolf in Europe (aka domesticated dogs) interesting. Also he does this with a certain level of humour.

I would admit that there came a point in the middle of the book where the science part came in heavily and oh my brain hurt. But let's be clear here this is my ignorance and not his. And I felt I rejoined the fold when coming to the chapter analysing cave drawing. That was eye opening.

I've read subsequentally an Amazon review challenging some of the science. That I really cannot comment on. As a reader I felt engaged with this book more than any other science book I've read this year.

Though I know I'm still thick though.

Until the next time.


Sunday 19 May 2019

Why Croissants For Breakfast Is A Political Statement In Brexit Britain


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

My wife. What a woman. There was I tired alone in the kitchen part of the apartment towards six in the morning when on opening a cupboard door there it was. A packet of eight all buttered scones from Aldi.

Croissants are my breakfast of choice. Other breakfasts are available and I do avail myself of them. But when I have the time to get food (remember I work shifts so it's not simple to be around to do major shopping).

I've tried going full continental but I can't. My hot beverage of choice will almost always be tea. It's literally a matter of taste.

But still here they are.

I know you're impressed
Now as I've said before when I've chatted about croissants. I know someone from France will be wetting themselves with this being described as such. Still this is Penarth not Paris.

But the point I've also made before seems even more heightened here. This Disunited Kingdom is now where there will be a number of people who will denounce the eating of croissants as "unpatriotic". The same sort of people who don't like the use of any "foreign" language being used (and that includes Welsh).

These are the people who not only dislike anything "foreign" but also anything "different". And unfortunately these are the people who are making themselves felt in the Britain of today.

And so that's why croissants for breakfast is a political statement. For whether Brexit happens or not I will not merge to what is considered acceptable by people whose motives I don't trust.

Let's go on about Brexit shall we? Daughter suddenly cropped up yesterday saying that another thing wrong with Brexit is that property prices will go down. I must admit I laughed that daughter said that but it's true. Now you might think that people shouldn't put their finances in bricks and mortar. But they have and it has been encouraged by successive governments since the eighties.

So if things turn downwards there will be many families who will be improvished by that alone.

Let's move further I've been told by someone in the car trade that used car sales are going up whilst new sales are plummeting. The reason? Cost. And the fear is that it will only get worse post Brexit. People will drive in the cars they have until they rot. The Disunited Kingdom will, in effect, become a self inflicted Castro Cuba.

And then we come to Baboon Boris Johnson. A man who despite being a failure as foreign secretary is current favourite to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. In what other field than politics can you be such a disaster as a minister but are then in line for promotion to the top job? That's why Britain is so Disunited folks.

Many things worry me about Boris Johnson. But one of the biggest is that it would not surprise me if he tried to lead Britain into some sort of skirmish with Spain about Gibraltar. Let's be clear here. I wouldn't support any British skirmish with Gibraltar. One of the reasons being I'd distrust his motives in doing so.

And you wonder why the Disunited Kingdom has come last in the Eurovision song contest.

Until the next time















Saturday 18 May 2019

The Near Midnight MLS Meanderings Over A Microwave Meal Part 4: Columbus Crew vs New England Revolution


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

We have met the Columbus Crew before in this series when they faced Atlanta United. A game which because it was brought to a temporary halt due to torrential rain and that I couldn't be bothered to google the result afterwards meant that I didn't know the eventual result as my recording cut off. As it happens I now know that it was either a victory or a draw for Columbus. Given that the TV commentator informed us that they were unbeaten in all home matches this season.

Their opponents for this game was the New England Revolution. A team presumably with regard to their name inspired by that group of Bostonians unable to appreciate the best hot beverage.

They're managed by Brad Friedel who was a goalkeeper seemingly around since the Premier League  dawn of time. Tell you what though. He seems scarier now than he was then. The sort of person you wouldn't mess with in a bar (if I drank).

So the game begins. I immediately notice a tag line for an ad on the electronic billboard. It says "The Official Insurance Company of the Columbus Crew". Now when I've seen such ads I've always assumed it meant that it's the company the [insert team here] endorses. However what if , for example, Columbus has an unofficial insurance company? You know just to be on the safe side? Just a thought.

I should also mention here that Papa John's were still offering 50% off the price of a pizza the next day if the home team won. So I say again, how about giving that 50% to your hard-working (and I'm guessing mainly minimum waged) employees instead?

The main commentator asks his co-commentator "Duncan" for his "perspective on the first eight minutes". Well let's not bother with Duncan shall we? As a man who will always be a fan of football let me tell you it was one of those games of dullness with a few moments where suddenly I was jolted out of nodding off completely. Of course Duncan couldn't say that. But I can.

Let's chat about the commentator again. He says a player "went to school in the English coast". Where exactly? Blackpool? Great Yarmouth? Southend? I know England is not America size wise but it's still a country (though with Brexit just) not a state. He needs to be more specific. It's called geography.

There is also this thing with American TV overdoing the stats thing. I swear I heard the commentator say that "100% of the possession is on the short part of the field"....what? Santos is also second in the league for "dribbles attempted and completed"....again what?

There's an overhead kick and the New England keeper almost comes a cropper. In fact his name is Cody Cropper. You know there's something unnerving about an adult with alliterative names.

There are also two bookings in the first half. One for Mancienne that particularly annoys Brad Fridel. That referee's a brave guy.

Thankfully there arrives a goal for the Crew. A free kick effortlessly headed by Williams so that our friend Cropper could only admire the view as it goes into the net. It was so fast the goalie was rigid as if his feet had been cemented to the turf. To be fair for all their effort so was the New England defence.

One - nil then is how the first half finished.

I wish I could say the second half received as close attention as the first but I could feel myself nodding off. The game did nothing to help me stay awake either. In fact there was only one event that was worth mentioning. The sending off of Mancienne for his second bookable offence. A vicious sliding tackle.

After that moment I knew then it didn't matter whether I nodded off or not. The match was over.

And I was (for once) right.

Until the next time.








Friday 17 May 2019

The Battle For Wales And Why A Good Welsh Labour Government Law Explains Why They Can't Win It


Hello there. hope you're feeling well today.

If polls are to be believed in looks like Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is on course to win most Welsh seats in the forthcoming elections for the European parliament. Meanwhile Plaid Cymru candidates continue to score impressive victories in local government elections. What these two facts means is that dissatisfaction with the two main Unionist parties are on an all time high and that Wales is slowly moving towards a battle between the forces of the right and Plaid Cymru the party I support.

How come? Because they are the parties that have "the vision thing". Either reactionary right wing movement with a cloak of democracy but nothing else or an independent Wales making decisions for Wales and not for a country across a series of bridges.

And if my hunch is correct the recent attacks on a Plaid Cymru office and the Cofiwch Dryweryn sign shows that the extreme right knows this.

But you will say what about Labour or the Conservatives? Well as I've explained in relation to other situations before when something formidable is toppled what normally happens is that their power is chipped away gradually before being too weak to fight. Hence as I said this battle, which I do believe will happen, is not a speedy process.

We'll come back to the Welsh conservatives and Alun "Chucky" Cairns I'm sure at a later date. But yesterday I read about something that illustrates how Welsh Labour, currently the government under First Minister Mark "Jeremy's Disciple" Drakeford is just too worn out to fight for the country.....and this concerns a good law.

The proposal is that all residential roads in Wales should have a maximum speed limit of twenty miles per hour instead of the current thirty. It's a good law. After all there's no real reason to drive faster in a busy street, indeed studies show that more people survive/sustain less injuries when hit by a car at twenty miles per hour than they would if hit by one driving at thirty.

So then how is it good Welsh Labour government law illustrates why they would be unable to battle for Wales? Because like the 5p charge on carrier bags or that you would have to opt out of using your organs for transplants in the event of your death the speed limit restriction is something few would really disagree with. But it's wrapping paper to things that effect people's lives daily. Issues like education or health or transport and of course the consequences of Brexit.

Here Labour have either failed miserably or have in the case of Brexit surrendered to Westminster leaving a government just shouting meaninglessly in the sidelines. a government that takes decisive firm, action unless they know that Westminster/Jeremy won't disagree is not a government. It's a scared mess of privileged politicos unable to know what to do next.

Where is the independence of spirit that lead the Labour administration under Rhodri Morgan to make prescriptions free? That is history. Instead we have an administration for example cutting local government grants so Welsh councils are cutting services. Where is the socialism there? Where is the Welsh interest there?

So that is why a good present day Welsh Labour socialism has failed Wales. And is why only Plaid Cymru can truly battle with it's clear and unambiguous position of an independent Wales against the right wing.

Until the next time.






Wednesday 15 May 2019

Why Child Poverty Is An Independence Issue For Wales


Hello there. Hope you're feeling today.

Biggest news here in Wales yesterday was that a new study by charities shows that Wales is the only nation in this Disunited Kingdom where child poverty has increased.

Three in ten children were in poverty for the period 2017-2018. Almost a third. Let's pause there and repeat the last part again. Almost a third.

The Welsh Labour National government and the Conservative Westminster government blame each other. But let's be clear here.

Both are to blame.

As I've explained in my post on the Independence march both parties have in their own way have hampered Wales' advancement as a nation either through curtailing of important infrastructure projects or in the sheer incompetence of how education is handled here. Consequently opportunities have decreased. Consequently with financial uncertainty for the disunited kingdom as a whole Wales finds itself more disadvantaged than most. Consequently families, even working families, battle against poverty. Consequently there is an increase in Child poverty.

There is also the question of Universal Credit. Poor families seeking state assistance facing regulations best described as sub-Victorian.

So in a climate such as this for children to have opportunities to show their potential and escape this poverty as adults have reduced. Thus the vicious circle for the next generation continues and increases.

Depending on the area the children live growing up in poverty is not the exception. It's the norm.

These areas also are deficient in other key benchmarks for a decent society. Such as transport for example.

And a lack of educational opportunities for Welsh children will mean that they will be not only tied into poverty but also tied into the Serf nation mentality that it has had to bare for centuries.

The Welsh Labour government are setting themselves targets to reduce child poverty. But they've set targets before, which have not been reached, whereupon they blame the Westminster Tory government. Targets therefore, certainly Welsh Labour targets, are pointless.

Therefore whilst every measure should be introduced to deal with this issue if the Unionist parties continue to act as they have been then the only long-term solution to poverty in Wales, whether of the young or the not so young is independence.

For with independence a Welsh government will be able to look at the problem through solely a Welsh perspective without having to look over it's shoulder and across a bridge.

Of course as I've said before in this blog independence will not be an immediate panacea for all ills. But what it will provide is the perspective of people living in Wales not the imposition of a government far, far away.

So child poverty is an independence issue for Wales. For without it, the future for generations to come is looking very unpleasant indeed.

Until the next time.








Tuesday 14 May 2019

Waiting For Daughter At School


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I realised today that even if daughter progresses through to sixth form and decides to stay in her current school  this would probably be one of the last times I'd pick her up from there as the new house is a walkable distance away.

So much has changed since the first time I did this in a different school indeed a different world for us all. Somethings though stay the same. As always I arrive early so that I have a close parking space and time to read a book. Today a rather made self help tome by William Cobbett. But that's for another day.

Whatever plans I had were scuppered by seven boys walking away from the school on the other side of the world from where I've parked. Clearly six formers given they are out early and are taller than m. Being sunny and hot most are not wearing jackets or jumpers, just shirts. Adults walk past in sunglasses, t-shirts and shorts without feeling stupid.Cliche Wales weather it is not.

"Let's go to Cardiff on a field trip"says one.

"You're f****** nuts" is the response.

One of the group puts a soft drink can on the top of a tall wall. As the group walks by another tips it over. Should I complain? Of course not. They're all taller than me and besides it's nearly summer. School, well this school anyway no longer holds any fear for them.College or the world of work approaches. Soon they'll learn how tough the real world can be.

Some of them a few minutes later return. One of them is on the phone having a conversation.

"He smashed the bottle and everyone was p****** themselves".

Oh the fascination of catching a call mid stream.

There is a noise from the house opposite to me. If I had to guess I would say a rocket made the racket

Over ten years ago school was an adventure for daughter. Now it's literally an examination.

In drabs and stabs kids start leaving the school. Every other one on the phone. Every other one taller than me.

A group of I'd guess six year olds walk by. The girls are wearing a standard long red check dress. Daughter sees this as she enters the car. She mentions this. She too remembers the past. She also knows that's what it is to her now.

Until the next time.










Louisa May Alcott: The Quiet Feminist?


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When there is an injustice in the world, say for example apartheid in South Africa, there are two groups of people who fight against it. Ultimately there are those people, like Nelson Mandela, who will lead the eventual toppling of this injustice. But there are also those who, whilst the injustice is still strong, will quietly chip away at the edifice. They won't topple the injustice, but they will help the people who eventually do by weakening it.

I would never say that the fight for women's rights have been effectively resolved. But they're clearly better than they were in 1869 when Louisa M Alcott wrote An Old Fashioned Girl.

Polly Milton is the girl of the title. Fourteen at the beginning of the novel she stays at her friend's Fanny's house in the town. There is the contrast between her simple countryside ways and the sophistication of her friend. But the point is this. Polly sticks to her guns. She is an individual.

Now this book surprised me. To explain I'd downloaded a group of (free) books by Ms Alcott onto my Kindle after having read Little Women (which I didn't like) and not being aware of the plot I was embarrassed as this seemed to be a teenage girl's book. A sort of older version of Polyanna. Given that I'm a fifty five year old man I felt awkward as I was reading it. But as regular readers will know I operate a Mastermind principle when it comes to reading that I've started so I'll finish.

And it was a good thing I did.

Because suddenly the timescale moves to six years later. Polly is a music teacher doing the best she can and still her own person. She becomes a bedrock to those around her in changing times.

It's interesting here to pause and reflect that Polly states that she does not want to become a "rampant" campaigner for women's rights. The use of the word rampant is I'd argue telling.

Also Polly proves to be understanding towards the poor in society, unlike the boo hiss character of the novel Trixie, who is more Trumpian/Brexiteer in approach..

This book is also a romance but cleverly done. Polly is in love but is still her own person. She wants love but clearly it's one of equals rather than of worshipping a man.

I liked this novel. It isn't the best book I've read this year but it's the one that has (pleasantly) surprised me the most and (whisper it gently) it's simplicity made me like it more than Little Women. Quietly it showed a woman achieving and surviving against the odds.

Until the next time.




Monday 13 May 2019

One Step Towards Welsh Independence Is One Step Away From Serfdom


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

On Saturday there was the March for Welsh Independence in Cardiff. Thousands turned out according to media outlets aside from BBC who said six (actually they said that "hundreds" marched but the disparity between them and other organisations is an issue in itself). I wished I could have joined them but work and personal issues kept me away.

But what this march first showed is that no longer is the cliché that an aspiration for Welsh Independence can be considered a concept for freaks. It has supporters of all ages and classes. It has momentum.

Let us be clear here. Wales is probably the last serf nation in Europe because of the way it has been exploited through the centuries by Unionist parties. Only recently projects that could help Wales, like the Swansea Bay Lagoon or the electrification of the South Walian railway line west of Cardiff have been knobbled by Westminster. With let's no forget the full support of the Welsh Secretary of State Alun "Chucky" Cairns.

What does Wales gets in return? Village flooded so English towns can have water, nuclear dumping in Cardiff Bay. Prisons to house criminals who were born and living in England. A lower standard of life  A bridge renamed after a privileged man by other privileged men just to kiss regal backside.

You might quote to me the proposed  South Wales Metro link or the M4 Relief Road. But feeding Cardiff is not going to help Wales as a whole. You could argue as to why have a metro link when the entire country does not have a linking rail network? Ask yourself why that is? It's because Westminster does not want Wales to have something that would be physically independent from the Disunited Kingdom.

No one is saying that the majority of Welsh people want independence from this Disunited Kingdom...yet. But no longer can Welsh Unionist polictios brush it off like dandruff from their expensive suits. More and more people have seen the Unionist parties car crash response to the Brexit vote plus the state of the nation, looked at the concept of independence and thought "why not?".

Wales has much to offer when no longer a serf nation. Energy and agricultural resources, tourism and (mainly) a friendly and welcoming people. Like Ireland independence could allow Wales to properly educate the children for the world of tomorrow. Equip them with the skills instead of the current Welsh Labour administration being so bad the current minister is a LibDem. I know what you'll say. Education is a devolved issue. But Unionist parties currently run Wales on a Unionist mentality. Labour, as I've explained before, has a First Minister for Wales in Mark Drakeford who is not a leader but a disciple...of Jeremy.

Like Ireland there will be mistakes along the way. No nationalist is a Brexiteer in the sense of stating that it will be instant nirvana. But it can build itself up to be a vibrant, multi-faceted economy. Not today though. Not whilst it's Serf Nation.

But the chains of Unionism that have enslaved the Welsh for centuries are slowly beginning to buckle.

Mark my words.

Until the next time.







A Short Note About The Shift Worker's Hatred For Sunny Sundays


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As I've stated before in this blog I'm a shift worker. Mainly an afternoon/evening shift, occasionally a morning one. So I do know that we shift workers operate differently on the laws of time.

Late meals, early lunches our body clock is shifted away from the classic worktime norm. Fine, we live with it. Indeed for most of the time we adjust our minds away from the norm. Most of the world does one thing, we do another and we accept that.

But you know there is a thing about working on a Sunday which is different. Not just any Sundays you understand, but sunny Sundays like yesterday. Where the sky was blue and the sun was bright and the gentle breeze made it Goldilocks style just right. So when you drive to work you feel that the world is taking a break, having a relax …...whilst you're working.

And that's depressing. The sort of the day where the world is enjoying itself except you.

More depressing though is that I'm of an age where if I don't have a plan for that day the next sunny Sunday I have off there will probably be a moment when I'll just have an afternoon's siesta.

What can I say? Life's like that.

Until the next time.










Sunday 12 May 2019

What Does Fleabag, Line Of Duty And Killing Eve Have In Common?


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So let's answer the question first before we crack on shall we? What does Fleabag, Line Of Duty and Killing Eve have in common?

I haven't seen them.

And so the next question is why?

After all I can't say a group of TV dramas are rubbish because I haven't seen them (there are actually many more I could have added to this list). Indeed I don't recall even seeing the trailers.

The fact I do shift work is no longer a reason. Given catch-up services, DVDs and the fact we've been able to record shows for decades.

When I was much younger and watched much more TV I'd probably give new series a two episode rule. If it didn't engage me in the second part that was it. As I grew older that rule went down to one. And now I'm just not bothered.

Indeed the above shows are examples of where they come to me again when they're extremely successful and popular. Splashed all around the media. Fleabag this or Line Of Duty that. Then I instinctively react against them. The idea that I feel pressurised to watch something makes me want to go all Thoreau and follow a different drummer to the one I feel I'm being forced into.

I watch Welsh language programmes on S4C, sport and as regular readers will know films to follow the mad exercise of going through the Radio Times Film Catalogue of 2013. But even that doesn't answer why I'm not watching much of anything else as they are mainly recorded. I've always watched sport and Welsh language programming (since I moved here in 1997) but I watched new TV drama and comedy series as well from whatever the channel. Not now.

And before I go on there are exceptions. Wife and I saw A Very English Murder starring Hugh Grant because we remembered the Jeremy Thorpe case as children. I'm also going to watch the new Russell T Davies futuristic drama Years and Years because if the trailer is anything to go by it seems to be portraying the Britain we are moving into. But as I say they are rare nowadays.

So we come back to the question as to why I'm not regularly watching series on TV anymore and I'm including the likes of Netflix and catch-up services in that. The honest answer is I don't know. Except what appears to be happening, years after they've been originally broadcast, is that there are a few number of shows that come to me and sneak up unawares. Castle was one of them as indeed when I was in Essex exile when my mother was unwell Bones. That was a show that ran for twelve years but I found myself watching it a year after it had finished as it seemed to be on when I returned from hospital where she was for a while and well, I was hooked.

I'm also viewing the Johnny Lee Miller Elementary. I'm on Season three...but I understand there are seven.

So perhaps in this multichannel, multimedia world this is how I'm going to be watching a lot of TV series from now on.

Through pot luck.

Until the next time.


Saturday 11 May 2019

Let's Follow The Betjeman model for the next Poet Laureate


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As regular readers will know I've never hidden my general lack of interest with regard to poetry. Due I'd argue to the fact that when I was a teenager a slim volume of poetry cost the same price roughly as a thicker novel. I have recently gone for a "try before you buy" approach in listening to a poetry before actually buying the book. It's worked with Dylan Thomas but is admittedly hit and miss.

So when I saw that Simon Armitage was trending on Twitter my first reaction was "Who"? I found out that he was the new Poet Laureate.

Now before I go on let me make it clear I've never read or listened to a poem by Mr Armitage. For all I know he might be brilliant or absolutely rubbish. I've no idea.

But it was my initial reaction that set me thinking. If we want more people to get into poetry surely you'd want a poet that would be prepared to move outside the poetry world. To mix in with other people who not only have a limited knowledge of poetry but don't care either. If you after all are supposed to be the nation's figurehead for the form that is poetic shouldn't you do everything you can to make it better known to the wider poetry not bothered British public? That's why I return to a poet I do like John Betjeman. Who I would argue is the only poet in my lifetime who did this.

So what's the Betjeman tenplate that a poet laureate should follow?

Write satirically: Betjeman was able to focus on the humour of everyday life and write about it. Thus making it relatable to the listener/reader.

Write accessibly: What you didn't need with Betjeman were historical/humorous references to make the poem completely understandable. Whether you were a Politician or working in a petrol station you would instantly get a Betjeman poem.

Have public interests other than poetry: Betjeman campaigned for Victorian Architecture to be kept other than having them demolished and replaced by office blocks. That's what made him different. To be interested in architecture is for most people a yawn, but to champion something that was under threat made it something we could understand.

Do things you wouldn't expect a poet to do: Betjeman appeared on Parkinson in the seventies. It was the biggest British TV chat show of it's time. No one considered it odd then. Do you think Mr Armitage would be able to go on Graham Norton or Johnathan Ross?

He also visited the set of Coronation Street. Comparing it at the time with Dickens (possibly true then. Definitely not now). Again something that would be considered odd for Simon Armitage to do now.

So perhaps with the post becomes available again the Betjeman model should be followed in the recruitment of the next recipient. If only to help make poetry more accessible

It worked before.

Until the next time.








Living La Vita Sackville-West Loca...Through A Headache


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Sometimes a reader wants to finish a book not because he/she couldn't put it down but because you just want to get it over with as quickly as possible.

That happened to me yesterday. I had a headache. The sort of invisible vice like one that attacks you on both sides and proceeds to press. It wasn't pleasant. But no matter I was going to finish this book whatever.

And the book was....

They spelt Tehran like that in 1926?
This is an account of her journey to well let's say Tehran in 1926 to join her husband where they also attended the coronation of the King of Persia (as Iran was called at that time). She travels through various countries along the way including Egypt and Iraq.

Ms Sackville-West may have been a poet and gardener, skills I do not possess, but she isn't a great travel writer. The blurb at the back of this book described her as "Lively, humorous, acute and curious". Really? There is just one mention of the Muslim religion in the entire book and that's just a passing reference to a mosque. Other than that nothing. There are in fact (in relation to travels through Muslim countries two references to wine. It's like travelling through Ireland and not mentioning the Catholic religion once.

It is essentially a book of empire. Not all the countries she travels through were part of the British Empire but you get the sense of an annoying upper-class superiority complex. These foreign countries with the foreign ways might have certain things we do not, but we're British and therefore more sophisticated. Couldn't escape the feeling that she would have been a Brexiteer.

It's a thin book (one of the reasons why I decided to plough through despite my headache) but not thin enough. Amazingly despite it's size it still gives the feeling of being padded with the flowery language she presumably knew from being a poet. Trust me it didn't help.

When I finished this waste of time I still had a headache. Trust me I was happier though.

Until the next time.

Friday 10 May 2019

Danny Baker And The Reader's Dilemma


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Firstly I know yesterday I said I wasn't going to post anything today. But it turned out I didn't have to do what I thought I was going to have to do (if you catch my drift) so normal twaddle continues.

In Britain one of the major news stories yesterday, as I mentioned previously, was the sacking of Danny Baker from BBC Radio 5 Live for tweeting a picture of a couple walking out with a monkey with the words "Royal Baby Leaves Hospital". Given that it was on the same day as Prince Harold and Meghan Markle left the hospital with their first child, and given her African American background you could see that this caused an understandable fury in and out of the social media.

Mr Baker apologised. Saying that he wasn't even aware of the royal birth and that it was a stupid gag gone wrong. I've no idea whether he's telling the truth or not. But even if you believe him you can't argue that reasoning is stunning in itself.

I saw the reports on the news on my return from work. Watching him being doorstepped by the media Baker gave the impression that really he was the victim. But let's be clear. Even if what he says is correct, he and no one else provided the ammunition for people to attack him.

So we have a situation where Danny Baker either through a cataclysmic error or something even more disgusting has potentially put his career in tatters.

Which is a pity.

Because before the last couple of days I would have said that when Mr Baker is dead and buried and the years have passed his radio shows whether on music or football or his TV stuff or his journalism will fade away from memory. But the work that I'd predict would have survived is the first volume of his autobiography Going to Sea in a Sieve. One of the best autobiographies I've ever read.

Why? Well there is a bit on his music journalism. But mainly it's a book about growing up in the  London Docklands in the seventies. It has a sense of place, a sense of a happy working class family life and a world that no longer exists. It's truly worth a read even if you've never heard of Danny Baker.....until now.

For we come back to the tweet. Would a reader want to pick up a truly great book because of what's happened? I suspect not. If you don't believe Danny Baker you won't read it anyway. Even if you do the events of the past few days will be like an irritating fly hovering around and distracting. There would be no way you could properly give it your full attention knowing what's happened.

So Danny Baker needs to atone and atone quickly. For he wrote a truly great book. But a book that is destined to be forgotten because of his stupidity.

Until the next time.











Thursday 9 May 2019

Less Than An Hour To Chat


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've less than an hour to chat. At the end I'll be off to pick up my daughter from her exams and then off to work. I don't have the time. Tomorrow indeed I won't be going to post anything as other events means that I hardly have the time to look at a screen let alone write the deep meaningful thoughts on humanity or various kinds of twaddle, whatever you're point of view.

Blog villain Bridgend Labour council are proposing to cut sporting grounds, play areas and even the grass cutting of open fields in the area. Don't think that's going to help the fight against obesity, diabetes and heart attacks. Bridgend Labour should relise that if these proposals go through they might have blood on their hands due to stopping areas people get exercise.

So Liverpool and Tottenham are through to the Champions League final. Already Brexiteers are gloating. Forgetting of course the fact that not only so "foreigners" play and manage these teams. But in the case of Liverpool own it as well.

Tell you what. I'm more and more isolated from what's on TV channels with every day that passes. Thing is not watching Line of Duty has never bothered me. That's the point. I don't feel I'm missing out anymore. I don't care.

Cloudy out there. Apparently brighter later. There is something depressing about bright days when you're working. And yet when I'm not working I'd rather stay in. What can I say?

Have just read that Danny Baker, a writer I've mentioned on this blog before and I've admired has been sacked by the BBC after his tweet concerning the Royal baby. Trust me when I say it's not pleasant. You don't have to be monarchist to be shocked.

Sometimes when people you admire crash down to Earth. They really truly crash.

Until the next time.

Wednesday 8 May 2019

A Tale Of Two Babies


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

A good measure of the decline of the Disunited Kingdom post Brexit is the over the top coverage of the recent birth of Prince Harold and as the Daily Star memorably put it (and I'd never thought I'd recommend the Daily Star) "an American Actress".

The BBC, long thought of as a broadcasting pinnacle in Britain and around the world basically produced what could be best described as broadcasting as curtsy. As for the rest of the media, with the exception of the Daily Star (and I would assume the Morning Star as well) we basically got the idea that this (at time of writing) unphotographed and unnamed boy is some sort of Rockstar.

Even if I was a Monarchist (which regular readers will know I'm not) it was really all too much for a child who let's face it is just seventh in line to the throne.

Now let me make it clear before I go on that I'm genuinely happy mother and baby are fine.

Otherwise....I DON'T CARE!!!!

Why should I care for a child who will never experience the pains of unemployment, worry about foodbanks or homelessness all because he has been born into the biggest state funded family in Britain?

After all if Harold and Meghan were an ordinary family struggling to make ends meet and sort Universal Credit you know rightwhingers would have a go at them. But because it's the Royal family well that's all right.

I know of a man in his twenties since he was a baby. He is preparing with his partner for the birth of their first child in September. Other than the personal realisation of how time flies the other thought is that the child will be born close to the first blast of Brexit. They won't be shielded from it's effects. Especially if it turns out to be a long dark Brexit of the Soul. The Royal baby will be though.

The costs of bringing up a child are huge for ordinary families. But they will get worse post Brexit.

Of course I think the man I know will make a good dad, his partner seems to have her head screwed on straight as well. But no one can really tell yet. Parenting provides pressures, some of them unexpected. Whilst people will be there to help that help is not of the unlimited variety the regal parents will get.

So forgive me if I don't gush. For most of us. Reality bites.

Until the next time.




Tuesday 7 May 2019

The Near Midnight Meanderings On A Movie With A Microwave Meal Part 19: Brannigan (1975)


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Brannigan then. A film so seventies from the trumpety style in it's beginning as well as the one word title immediately denoting tough guy. I'm not going to lie that there were parts in this film that I must admit I viewed with a nostalgic smile.

John Wayne is a tough Chicago cop. Despite being of an age where he should be carrying a pension and not a gun and wearing something on his head that only an animal lover could identify he still can kick a Chicago door down (must have made them weak in the seventies) and threaten a man old enough to be his grandson.

He has to go to London to pick up a criminal for extradition who's currently out on bail in a plush hotel. Rather like the Robert De Niro movie with the old lag wishing to retire but persuaded to do one last job it's not a spoiler to say the extradition does not go as planned or else there would be no film.

The London mentioned is that of the Dorchester hotel and the (then no idea about now) Male only Garrick club and Piccadilly Circus.  The main British character. The "Commander" happy to deal with a lowly Chicago detective is played by Richard Attenborough. The commander's name is Sir Charles Swann. Cliché Britain for Americans. They argue in the beginning over Wayne's carrying of a gun. Respect for the rule of British law being difficult for Brannigan to accept.

Let's for a moment stop at Piccadilly circus. It brought nostalgic memories to see ads for Cinzano "the bianco" and Skol "International Lager". Whatever happened to Skol?

Incidentally perhaps Richard Attenborough should have brought brother David along to identify what is on John Wayne's head.

The one interesting exception to the Cliché London tour was that of the Docklands, which was then a run down piece of real estate before it became the skyscrapery land it is today. One wonders whether if there's a long dark hard Brexit of the soul Docklands will revert to it's seventies status.

There are few female characters in this film. The main one is Judy Geeson who plays a female police officer, or, as Brian Glover describes her later on a "bird cop" (another sixties/seventies cliché there). Mainly she seemed to be there to provide a decorative schoolgirl crush on Wayne. There are no actors of colour there either. London was a multi-cultural city even then.

So there are seventies cliché characters with a seventies cliché plot in a seventies cliché London. There is one particular scene where there was the high class call girl (played incidentally by Lesley Anne-Down)  her mincing gay pimp and the assassin paid to kill Wayne. You know he's the seventies assassin by the music that introduces him and the fact that for most of the movie he wears dark glasses. This is London. trust me there are few days when you would have needed dark glasses.

And talking of clichés there is a fight scene in a London pub that could have been taken with a change of accent from one of Wayne's Westerns (piano included).

So with a movie overflowing with clichés (including the car chase which ends memorably though impossibly) this is a movie to be avoided? Well no.

Two things save this film. Firstly John Wayne might have an unidentified furry object on his head and a face looking like the side of a mountain but he still has screen presence. I'm not going to say I've liked every John Wayne movie I've ever seen but I've never been bored by one. He has the power to carry a movie over the line through his personality alone. Something which as we've chatted about previously James Stewart could not do.

The other reason is that led by Wayne we have a cast that knows full well they're not doing Shakespeare. They are not taking this seriously. They are having fun. And if approached in the same spirit so I'd argue will the audience.

Until the next time.




Monday 6 May 2019

Bank Holiday Banishment Shambles With Josie and Robin


Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It is as I am writing this 10:52 on the Early May Day bank holiday. For the only day this week I'm not at work. Daughter is at work though. For tomorrow she is continuing with her GCSEs exams, and she is now with brother-in-law who is helping her at Math

Now before you ask Maths was never my subject and as brother-in-law is an accountant well he seemed to be the right person for the job.

So I'm away from them. Also from the wife who's on the laptop reading the Mail Online for the showbiz pages (yes I know).  I'm

I'm in the bedroom. Tapping away on the Techgear small keyboard (it works! Horray!). on the Kindle Fire. The weather outside is dry but grey. Nothing really to go out for anyway.

And now am I listening to a podcast. One which has joined Backlisted as my favourite called Book Shambles presented by Comedians Josie Long and Robin Ince. Rather like reading from a Kindle or a traditional book I'm not being unfaithful to Backlisted being as it is mainly concentrated on a particular book for that podcast. Book Shambles however has Josie and Robin with a guest basically chatting about books.

And chatting about books is the important point here. They are "well read " But in the proper sense of the phrase. They can discuss jazz, science books (which regular readers will know is not my thing so far but is a passion of Robin Ince who presents a show on Radio 4) and Dennis Wheatley a writer who was big when I was a child in the seventies but seems to have been forgotten now.

Funnily enough the presenters remind me of the late Frank Delaney who presented Radio 4's Bookshelf back in the day. Here was a man who could discuss James Joyce with an expert and also interview James Herbert or Harold Robbins but certainly gave the impression he enjoyed reading all of them.

As I've mentioned before one of the greatest pleasures when you discover a long running podcast is that you have a back catalogue to go through and enjoy whatever the audio equivalent is of the box set. I'm listening to a programme dated July 2016. Brexit has just happened and already there is a sense that things are beginning to change.

The guest here is Geoff Dyer. A man who has written about jazz, the film Solaris and the Somme.The sort of renaissance writer I'd always wished to be if I had the talent.

There is a plan for the programme, but as it's a chat there are improvisations depending on what is being said. It makes me wonder whether as comedians it comes easy to the presenters.

Now there is the next programme with an interview with two comic book artists at the Latitude festival. There is a question about has there been a good Alan Moore movie. I've read and seen V for Vendetta and like them both. Indeed the vision of the film seems closer to the far right wet dream of post Brexit Britain. As for the Watchmen I've never read the comic (I refuse to call them graphic novels) it was a good movie until the end which seemed stupid to me.

Wife comes in with cup of tea number two. It reminds me that one of the books I'm reading at the moment is by William Cobbett. He doesn't like tea. He is an enemy of civilisation as we know it.

It's now past 12. I'm hungry but don't want to disturb daughter with the sounds and smells of lunch. So starving is another on the parental sacrifice list.

Ah Brother-in-law is leaving. Time for  lunch.

Until the next time