Of Coughs,Chips and Book Updates

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You know health wise there is no more irritating (as opposed to worse) thing than feeling as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards and forwards again but not feeling unwell enough to head for the bed/couch and recuperate with a saline drip of tea.

I have been at work for the past 4 days and gradually a cough/sore throat/cold/ache that has developed to such an extent that when I returned home I'd enough energy to ping a microwave meal and a hot drink and that was that for me for the rest of the evening.

As I write this a day later nothing has changed. Except that my voice has gone down to such a level that it's almost subterranean.

So it goes without saying that not much has been done today. In fact tomorrow worries me more given that I've a dental appointment. One thing I had to do was to go to a couple of libraries to return some books and that was about the most energetic thing I've done today.

Of the books I've been chatting about previously I've finished Matt Dickinson's autobiography of Bobby Moore and I'll tell you that it was stunning. It confirmed things that I'd suspected and brought in a few surprises, the biggest being that his relationship with former West Ham manager Ron Greenwood was not as close as I had assumed as a child. What it did not do was to diminish his stature.

So a new football book was needed and when I went to Porthcawl library this was my choice.

Spanish Swans - Pablo Gomez

This is the story of how a group of Spanish players helped Swansea City moved from a position of near bankruptcy to its Premiership status today. It should make interesting reading. Personally Swansea City,Cardiff City and even Newport County are for me not unlike being very friendly with a woman but not having an affair as you're faithful to your wife, I genuinely wish them well and follow them, but if they face West Ham I want them beaten.


And that was supposed to be that. But as I was about to get this book stamped this book caught my eye.

Salmond Against The Odds - David Torrence

As you can guess this is an autobiography of the man who came this close to making Scotland an independent nation. Given how I feel about Wales now I just couldn't resist getting this book to borrow as well.

After Porthcawl I needed to go to Pyle library a few miles away to bring back a book I'd borrowed. Having done that I couldn't resist looking around the place which I consider to be the best library in the borough. Needless to say another book was picked. It was this.

Arguably - Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens was, arguably the foremost political essayist of his generation. Although I'm not saying that I'll agree with everything this collection of essays and reviews will say,I doubt I'll be bored.

Before I returned home I needed to get something warm down my gullet in a "feed yourself and starve the fever" sort of way. So instead of a normal sandwich this was my lunch today.

Hot Chip Action

Sometimes in life you need too indulge yourself. This was my indulgence for today.

In case you're interested the football stickers challenge I mentioned in my last post is still going OK. So far no doubles.

I'm now off to brush my teeth and have a cup of tea.

Until the next time.

In Which Promises Are Kept,Books Are Bought/Borrowed,In Praise Of Libraries And West Ham United

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well.

Well as promised in an earlier post I've joined Plaid Cymru. I did it on Wednesday by phone as I've an instinctive dislike of buying anything online that involves the use of my bank account (I go for those cards where you put money into the thing so that if anything was hacked only the money it would be the only thing in danger).

Anyway the process was surprisingly quick. The documents will come in the post in a few weeks because of recent demand for membership and there we go. My direct involvement in politics begins.

Actually things will move even faster in the next few weeks because of the elections for the National Assembly for Wales in May. My intention is to help them in canvassing for votes. Not this week mind you, because as it's the Easter break "Dad Duties" take priority.

At long last as well I've finished Football Dynamo by Marc Bennetts after quite a break as explained in my previous post. So let me say now the second half of the book was just as good as the first. I'd recommend it to you if  you can get a copy (published in 2008). It's the best book about football in a foreign country that I've ever read.

Yesterday I went to Porthcawl and part of the reason was to get a new Penguin paperback for my collection. Going through the charity shops in the town I eventually went to the Porthcawl Animal Welfare Society shop, staffed by ladies that you could easily imagine keeping colonies of cats in their homes.  It does have the largest number of books in the area and a great number of that were Penguins.

I had intended to get a battered copy of Anthony Burgess' book A Clockwork Orange. I've read a number of his books (including that of Enderby the poet and a novel about Napoleon which explained to me as a teenager the euphemism of the number 69) but not his most famous book.

However once my eyes focused on this book, being that of the previous pre ISBN numbering system then there could only be one choice.

1933 - The White Mile - Alan MooreHead

This is a book about the opening of the Nile to the world. Full it appears of many major historical giants. It does appear to be an interesting read....and it just cost me 30p.

I also needed to get a new book from the library. The football tome  I picked was this.

Bobby Moore - Matt Dickinson

The reason why I picked this book was more than just the obvious. As I've said before I'm from the East End of London and West Ham, being the closest team where I was born, is the team I support. Other than family and friends it's the thing I have missed the most in moving to South Wales. When they've come to South Wales I try to get the see them. Given that I live here I aim for the more convenient not-stuck-in-a-corner home seats. Of course what that means is that these games are watched by me with all the vocal emotion of a monk with a vow of silence as just one utterance will make those people surrounding me know that I'm not Welsh so that I'm not supporting Cardiff/Swansea/Newport.

Short trips across the border have been made to Bristol just to see my first love again. I remember over a decade ago going to Bristol Rovers to watch a pre season friendly. Ian Wright was playing for us and he scored. Afterwards he did that classic Wright thing of raising his arms as if to say "I'm Ian Wright. I've scored. Give me a hug."(He eventually joined the list of the ex Arsenal players who came to West Ham when their best days had long since gone. The only exception -probably- to this being the Welshman John Hartson)

Anyway Bobby Moore was the first West Ham captain in my lifetime and though this word is often thrown about nowadays like confetti he was a legend. I am looking forward to reading this, probably with large spoonfuls of nostalgia.

A quick word about libraries. I think you can guess now that I am a fan of and use libraries a lot. They a station for knowledge and imagination. With every closure of a library however this slowly dies. I heard the librarian yesterday say that in the Rhondda Cynon Taff area they have in the past few years closed fourteen libraries. Fourteen!!! You wonder how these councillors can look at themselves in the mirror. They're probably comforting themselves with their expenses.

This has thankfully not happened in Bridgend yet. Mind you there was a "public consultation" by the council last year as to what services people thought should be cut. I laughed at this. For it was like asking how they wished to be tortured,water or electricity.

Until the next time...