Bridgend Labour Council: Redefining The Perception Of Services To The Vunerable

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For reasons won't bore you with I need to Bridgend Town this afternoon before I go to work. It is only a fleeting visit, so apart from one particular curiosity I'm not going to be wandering around  chatting about it tomorrow in this blog.

But as I was checking on the internet, seeing whether I needed to go at all an article came up about cuts in Blog villain Bridgend Council's Highway Services which stopped me in my tracks.

Some posts back I was chatting about the Bridgend Council leader's statement in the local paper that "unpopular" cuts would be made but the aim was to protect services for the venerable in our community. I made the point that most cuts would affect the venerable in our community the most. Citing as an example, the closure of a library.

However what this particular report suggested was that amongst the cuts proposed would be some that would directly affect the most venerable.

Three in particular stood out :

1) School Crossing Patrol Service: Lollipop men and ladies in my day. There to help children as they walk across busy roads on their way to school.

2) Council Subsidised Bus Services: Which help the elderly and unemployed (especially in the remote parts of the borough) travel around the area

3) Shopmobility: Which is a service that helps disabled, or people with mobility problems travel independently.

Now at time of writing they are just proposals, which may be watered down (as I suspect - the old trick of publicising the worst possible option and settling on an option that's not as bad as the original proposal but still worse than what they had before) or even dropped. Still these services have a direct effect to the venerable in the Bridgend area.

Was the Bridgend Council leader lying? Well it's obviously a guess but I don't think so. I think he was talking about the councils statutory services to the venerable. These examples are, as I understand it, non statutory.

Still stinks though.

So if you could be considered  "venerable" and live in Bridgend borough. Perhaps you should pay attention to proposals coming from other departments of the council in the future.

Until the next time.

In Which I Chat About Bad Santa, Pontypridd, Buying Penguins and A Welsh Rugby League Game....As you Do

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well at long last have finished The BeeKeeper's Daughter By Santa Montefiore. Whatever hope I had of finding a female writer whose quality (for male readers) was hidden by the chocolate box cover and blurb well it was not to be. The book did exactly what you thought  after looking at the cover.

There were no surprises, no shocks, really it ran on romance fiction cliché. Definitely a case of bad Santa.

Saturday was unusual as I wasn't working. And as it happens in the afternoon I'd nothing special to do I decided to go and visit a Welsh Rugby League game. Now there are better people than me that can go through the tragi-comic history of rugby league in Wales but for the moment just be aware that, though on a very small scale, there is a Welsh Rugby Premier League.

I have been to some games before when I lived in Bridgend there were the odd occasions when I'd travel to Pyle RFC, stand on a touchline and watch the Bridgend Bulldogs play whoever. This time though it would be different. For I would be going to watch the Rhondda Outlaws play the Valley Cougars and the match was going to be in Sardis Road....the legendary House Of Pain of the local rugby union club...I would be going to Pontypridd.

When I reached there about one thirty I had just enough time to grab a meal from the local Tesco and go to a particular place which I'll explain about in a moment.

I Call This "View From Sardis Road Car Park

As I didn't have enough time to wander let me say this. I've not been in Pontypridd for about two years. But there did not appear to be any major changes since I was last there. That's to it's credit. As was the £1 car charge until 6pm. Cheaper than Bridgend Town, with more to offer.

But since I was in Ponty there was one place I had to go to. The bookstall in the town market. Thankfully it's still there.

Truly,Truly Wonderful

It's the kind of classic bookshop I adore. Every space on every shelf is filled. A gem on every corner. I cannot  (as I'm sure you realise by now) recommend it highly enough.

The only regret was that I didn't have enough time to look around properly. In the event I picked two classic Penguin Paperbacks which were as follows:

C2158 - Ernest Bramah -Max Carrados Mysteries

And the other was:

Paul Bailey - Gabriel's Lament

And I should say with regard to Paul Bailey's book when I put this out on Twitter a number of people came back to say it's a great novel.

I could have stayed there forever. But I'd a rugby League match to watch (which as an aside is just four pounds including the programme...four pounds!! Cheaper than some meals at MacDonald's.

So then there I was in the House Of Pain. As I entered loud music was blasting, including the Dexy's Midnight Runners classic Come On Eileen. Not sure why that was being played unless Eileen is a Valley Cougar.

I won't lie and say that the crowd was massive and it was difficult to work out who like me was the casual supporter. Still I've seen crowds in certain Glamorgan Cricket matches that seemed just as sparse.

A quick note about their shirts. The Valleys Cougars play in pink. You'd like to think that it was to due to breast cancer awareness but still, real men play in pink.

The Cougars

Their opponents strip seemed the most odd to me. Looking like scrunched up posh chocolate wrapping paper.

Outlaws

The match then began. And what the early stages suggested was that the home side operated a charge at your opponents at whatever cost to your health strategy. it soon paid off and they scored a try.

Outlaws Attack

On the next drive however the Cougars showed they were more nimble than their opponents. Dodging tackles to equalise.

Apparently then it was brute strength over speed.

Attack Of The Cougars

The Outlaws charged then charged again. A sort of charge of the not so light brigade. The Cougars were resolute in their defence. Until an up and under kick was misjudged by a Cougar player, caught by an Outlaw for try number two.

But again as nimble as their namesake the Cougars responded with another try showing again how fast they were. With every try the announcer gave the score. And I noticed how depressed he sounded when the Cougars put extra points on the board. So when the visitors scored a third try you wondered whether you should call the Samaritans.

Outlaws tried to pressurise but mistakes began to show. One ball bounced off the chest of a cougar player straight into the arms of an Cougar player. Needless to say there wasn't a round of applause from the home bench.

On the away bench someone shouted at a baseball hatted guy behind me how many unforced errors there were. "Three plus two bad cheques" is what the answer sounded like to me. (Perhaps that means bodychecks...I've no idea)

Speaking of the benches they seemed a bit small to me.

Very Small Actually

Perhaps the Friends Of Pontypridd RFC can put up more money for a wider bench.

The first half finished 12-24 to the visitors. The second half seemed to begin as the first ended with another Cougar try. 12-30. Outlaws though responded. 16-30.

For reasons I couldn't see and understand less the Cougar number 17 was then yellow carded. As he left the pitch the Outlaws bench patted him in pity on the back. I say in pity, perhaps it was a pat of thanks, for the those Rhondda guys soon scored again. 22-30...and then again...28-30.

Things were getting close.

As the cliché goes...end to end stuff

The announcer sounded happy again....but not for long...the Cougars got their wind back and scored again 28-36.

And as the second half went on I noticed that the away team too had their share of men prepared to charge at their opponents. For the Outlaws being hit by the team played in pink must have been like having been attacked by an iron fist wrapped in candy floss.

Not A Dull Moment In The Game

All Action Stuff

The Cougars scored again...it was clearly all over...and then again ….it was definitely all over. 28-46. The announcer seemed really depressed now.

Rugby League in Wales provides an affordable day out for the family during the summer months. With a bit more marketing this league could establish a popular niche for itself in the Welsh sporting calendar. I'd like to think so.

Thankyou Rhondda Outlaws and Valley Cougars. It was fun.

Until the next time.

What's The Connection Between Me And Old London Underground Trains? We Both Emigrated To Wales

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Many, many, unfortunately too many years ago I started my working life using the London Underground for my working commute. In the beginning it all seemed rather exciting to be part of the throng entering the capital city for the day but in the end it was tiring and rather soul destroying. Of which more later.

I say all of this because yesterday we learnt the news that the new Welsh railway franchise holder Vivarail (a name that instantly makes you think of Welsh travel) will be using old (and I mean so old that they could have been trains I used in the eighties) London underground trains along Welsh railway lines from next summer.

So yet again Wales have been given what is probably the cheapest and laughing rolling stock option to deal with a situation without taking the interests of customers (ie the people who actually use and pay for the service) into account. Other than Plaid Welsh politicians have apparently just turned a blind eye to this. I assume when Welsh Labour talk about "For the Many" it's is just the misery that is shared equally amongst the passengers. These politicos are assuming that the Welsh voter will just accept what is given and is too nice to complain.

Now apparently these trains will be "gutted and updated". Let me make it clear here. That's no reason to be cheerful. I could have a heart attack tomorrow and have a new one fitted in. But the shell is still going to be over fifty years old. Also with regard to the servicing of these trains they will need to be cared for to the nth degree precisely because the body is so old.

The thing is. When I was commuting on these trains they broke down when they were supposed to be young and fresh. The eighties were the decade when a supposed general reputation in the reliability of London underground trains broke down with the same frequency the machines did.

Coming soon to Wales folks.

There's something else too. They are probably the worst trains to be stuck in if packed. they are also the worst if it's broken down in the middle of nowhere (and they will) being the most stuffy and uncomfortable I've experienced.

Coming soon to Wales folks.

Who cares if they will have wi-fi installed? Do you know what else has wi-fi installed? New trains.

No amount of refurbishment and glossing up the train company does can hide the fact Wales have got the worst possible option...yet again....and Welsh Labour allowed it....yet again.

Shameful.

Until the next time.

On Welsh Water: The First Sign A Jeremy Corbyn Government Might Be As Colonial As The Theresa May One

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have written on this blog before about a Jeremy Corbyn government for Wales. I have suggested that Plaid Cymru supporters would have to brace themselves for losses in whenever the next general election should be as Welsh people might further vote for the Labour party in the hope of getting the Tories out and then to flex ourselves into action as on seeing an unsuccessful Labour and Conservative administrations turn to Plaid to run Wales.

What I did not expect was the possibility that a Corbyn government might be as overtly colonial as the current one. But the first sign of this has occurred is that the GMB union has called for Welsh water to be supplied to London and the South East in case of drought "for the national interest".

Let's be clear here. It's not the national interest, it's a regional one. The proposal suggests that should the South East need it Wales should willingly provide it with a national resource. Wales should not be made to use it's resources to cover the problems of the privatised Thames Water. It's their equivalent of North Sea oil. For a Trades Union not to realise how colonial that proposal sounds beggars belief. It would be interesting to wonder by the way how the GMB Welsh branch responded.

Wales has authority with regard to these matters along with Westminster. But we have seen from recent events the Welsh Labour administration surrendered to this laughable current Conservative UK government so presumably it would be a lapdog to a future Socialist one.

It's not that Welsh water shouldn't be transferred to London and the South East in the event of drought, but there would be a need to make sure that the needs of the people living in Wales were catered to first, that there would be no possibility of a Tryweryn style action by the Water companies, that the South East would pay Wales for the product and that all profits would come to and be invested in Wales.

Anything less than that would be surrender by the Welsh administration.

Anything less than that would show Corbyn and the British Trade Union movement treating Wales as the last colony.

And who would have thought that possible?

Until the next time.

Is Cardiff City Council Slightly Responsible For The Closure Of The House Of Fraser / Howells Branch In The City? Possibly

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It may be an odd way to start this post. But bare with me. It's always been my belief that most men do not buy clothes on impulse but on perceived need or, as in my case being nagged at by wife, teenage daughter and mother. What occurred to me on hearing the news of the widespread store closure programme being proposed by the House Of Fraser group is that in terms of both genders you can make that logic on visiting a city centre.

House Of Fraser currently have two stores in all of Wales. Both are scheduled for closure. The point about the Cardiff store (which from now on I'll call by it's name, Howell's)was that it is a massive Department store and one of the key retail landmarks of the city centre for 153 years. However if the store cutting proposals come to pass it will be 154 and out.

The thing though is this. House Of Fraser are still keeping a number of it's stores. So you ask why Cardiff was unable to be amongst them? Well of course their troubles have been well documented in the past twenty four hours. The internet, failure to modernise, out of town shopping, the decline in the "department store" concept generally (To think in a couple of years the Sit Com Are You Being Served might be used as a historical record) it's all been rammed down our throats.

But to focus specifically on the Howells store it struck me that if you don't actually work there how many people from South Wales visit Cardiff on a whim? The last time I visited it was going to Cardiff Castle during Easter because my daughter hadn't been before. The last time wife/daughter went was to see Disney On Ice (no idea why..both of them are old enough to know better). The time we visited before that was Christmas shopping, once during that period, looking for ideas and it was generally a wasted trip.

The point comes back though to the fact that we don't go the city centre on impulse. Car parking charges/getting a space is one reason. But the other, as I've explained before, is that the centre of the capital city of Wales (including St Mary Street) is becoming tired looking with closed down shops, homeless people wandering in more numbers than I've seen them before and despite whatever gloss the St David's Shopping Centres might seek to show a general look of quiet despair.

The closure of such a large store like Howells will make that situation worse. Especially if there is nobody able to replace it. As I've said before especially with regard to Bridgend Town few things blights a town more than an empty shop which will still show you memories of what it once was in happier times.

And it is here the council could have acted to attract more people to the city centre. Cut the carparking fees. Spruce up the area. Make people want to come to, let's not forget it, the capital city of Wales. More people would bring the centre more money and that would have included Howells. But no this didn't happen. And whilst I've no idea as to whether being more proactive in revitalising the City Centre would have saved Howells. It wouldn't have done any harm

Cardiff City Centre is not yet the urban tragedy that is Bridgend Town. But the decline of a community doesn't start dramatically. Only when a big shock emerges do people step back, see the bigger picture and realise the problem in front of them. You would like to think that for Cardiff Council this might be that shock that moves them into action.

Cardiff Council I've written before have been trying to lord it over their Vale Of Glmorgan counterpart. In particular the statement by Labour Councillor Russell Goodway that Barry Town was a town without a purpose. If the problems continue councillor Goodway might be receiving calls from Barry Town councillors asking whether aside from the tourist season and sports fixtures in the Principality Stadium the centre of Cardiff has a purpose.

Those would be conversations I'd like to listen to.

Until the next time.

So Blog Villain Bridgend Labour Council Get Their Way On Maesteg Town Hall...Let's Discuss

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well after about a year and a half Bridgend Labour Council have got their way with regard to Maesteg Town Hall and have received lottery funding to turn it into a "cultural hub" (oh how I hate that term).

To explain the background to new readers the town hall was used as centre for performances and the basement as an indoor market (which had been around for 135 years). When however the council discovered that the repairs needed for the town hall were just too much they decided to turn it into the aforementioned "hub" and apply for funding. They had fancy grandiose ideas with all modern glass and also merging two libraries in the area and placing them where the market was. They wasted no time and effort in destroying it and although some stallholders fought and some moved to places nearby the council relatively quickly got most of what they wanted and the 135 year old market was no more (one stallholder stayed until April I understand - but by then it was all over).

Thing was though there was the issue of financing. They first went (via the Welsh office) to get it from the European Union (yes I know). That was turned down. Then they tried the National lottery. That was turned down and only after a revised,cheaper less grandiose plan is put is it given the go-ahead. A year and half's struggle and that's before actual hard work is done.

Personally I feel genuinely conflicted by all of this. One part of me wishes it well, as should it work then there would be a knock-on benefit to the town, and we can all approve of that.

On the other however. I cannot forget the brutal way the council treated the stallholders in the indoor market. Should there be problems in the refurbishment or it doesn't live up to expectations when completed (Bridgend council preferring remember the grandiose than using all the money it spent on these bids on the services that it intends to cut in the next few years) then the period of goodwill will be extremely short.

But as I've said before, whatever people think of what has happened, and whether successful or not  you cannot deny it's a strategy for Maesteg. Which again leads us to the question what is the council's strategy for the urban tragedy that is Bridgend Town?

Until the next time.

So According To The Welsh Conservative Leader The Expansion Of Heathrow Airport Benefits Wales....Really?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well yesterday the UK transport minister Chris Grayling, a man responsible for the nation's space programme, which surprised me as I thought that was solely between the man's ears (he really is the London Planetarium of politicians, bald, expensive and pointless) announced that the government was going to press ahead with the building of a third runway at Heathrow airport.

Now if I still lived in London the decision would have bothered me because a) the environmental impact b) the feeling that too much is being placed on Heathrow c) whether given Brexit it's actually needed at all.

However I don't live in London I live in South Wales. And from this standpoint all I can see is a decision that will benefit further London and the South East but nowhere else.

Apparently though I'm wrong. So says Welsh Conservative Leader Andrew RT Davies. A man who has the look of someone who takes politics between meals so that it doesn't spoil his appetite. He said that the expansion of the airport was vital and deliver huge benefits to the Welsh economy.

To which my response is.....really?

The distance between Heathrow airport and Cardiff is just over two and three quarter hours by car. In moderate traffic it's actually quicker to drive to Birmingham from Heathrow. Of course in a lot of cases that wouldn't matter. Why? Because Birmingham has an international airport of it's own. I've never been there, but I understand it's a much bigger operation than the Cardiff equivalent. It's very difficult therefore to believe that despite Welsh taxpayer's money being thrown into this Wales is going to have any benefit whatsoever.

And the phrase "huge benefits to the Welsh economy" comes straight out of Mr Davies' tweet. Of course if there is any benefit (And he doesn't back this up with any detail) it's probably just the South Eastern part. You know, the part blog villain Alun Cairns gives the impression of wishing to see twinned with Bristol.

Now to boost his argument Mr Davies encloses a link to Heathrowexpansion.com (so not unbiased though to be fair neither am I) which quoted the independent airports commissions conclusions stating that there would be jobs and economic growth for Wales (and again it says Wales not South Wales - How would all of Wales benefit?

I have not the time to go through the report (I will admit that) but do I really need to? Given that the report it quotes is dated July 2015. In other words before the EU referendum And therefore wouldn't any economic data have to be reevaluated in the light of Brexit? I mean at time of writing nobody, not even the UK government knows what the consequences are and the type of Brexit that will appear.

Furthermore the Heathrow Expansion link mentions the train links to Wales. That's the Intercity train link where stabilisers have to be put on west of Cardiff because the UK government wouldn't pay the pittance to do this yet is happy to put welsh taxpayer's money on essentially a vanity project for London and the South-East?

Is this fair? I don't think so.

Until the next time.

Waiting For The Washing Repair Man

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The most first world of problems has affected my day today. For you find me patiently waiting for the Washing Machine Repair guy.

He has been here before. To make the background clear the wife was complaining the smell after each wash but then we noticed what appeared to be smoke coming out of the machine. That was clearly that. The washing machine was on shutdown (especially as we currently live in an apartment with all the connotations that now applies post Grenfell).

Anyway the man came and it turned out that there was a problem with the pump. It apparently was, in the guy's words "red hot" after just a few minutes, something that just shouldn't happen. So he replaced the part, we shook hands and that was it.

Immediately wife started to do some laundry. Women, let's face it being for more concerned that clothes are cleaned as quickly as possible than men are. Men really only bring themselves to wash clothes unprompted when there's a few [insert type of clothes] left. After the third wash there was a smell that was best described by daughter as "burnt popcorn". So the guy was called again.

Which is why I'm here alone in a state of limbo. Cannot go out and explore some new part of South Wales, or, as I'd intended to do go out and do some shopping. Can't even make a phone call in case washing machine guy is trying to get through.

No I have to wait.

The sound of silence is weird. Have not turned the television or radio on. Do not want to miss him. All I can hear currently is the sound of the occasional aeroplane. When you are conscious of the silence, well that is a bit off putting.

Outside it's cloudy and grey. A contrast from the brightness of yesterday.

I started writing this (coming and going from time to time) at 9:30am. Now as I'm writing this paragraph it's just gone 12:30! I've had my lunch. The question now is, will he come before 2:20 this afternoon. Otherwise I'm off to pick up daughter from school.

Leaving aside the anger if he doesn't turn up after today a time that either me/wife will be available will not be easy to arrange for a while. At the moment the wife will be washing some of her clothes at her brother in law's house in nearby Penarth. It is though of course not ideal.

I'm hearing voices outside. I know it's not the Repair Guy. Must admit I'm curious to know what's being said but they are fleeting murmurs to my ears.

It's 2:05pm now and I hear a buzzing. Is the guy here at last?....No. Now my mind is playing mind games.

It's 2:14pm I get a call from the wife. The guy is going to come later on. In other words AFTER I've picked daughter up. In other words....I'VE WASTED A DAY!!!!

And that is of course assuming he''ll be coming at all.

Until the next time.

I May Be An Englishman Who Supports Welsh Independence. But I'm Still Going To Support England in The World Cup

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Last Saturday there was a Yes For Independence march held in Dumfries. And amongst the groups marching was one called English For Yes. What Twitter noticed and commented upon was a guy in that particular demonstration who wore an England football shirt. Basically the comments that were mocking him were in essence that here was a guy with split loyalties.

So let me be clear here. I'm with that guy. And the reason I'm with that guy is quite simple.

Football is different.

As anybody who supports a football team will tell you that supporting a team is not the same as supporting your local supermarket. When you ally yourself to a team you do so for life, not just for Christmas. So should you move away from that team you don't say, "well I might as well support the nearest club now". No you stick with the team that you have invested blood, sweat, tears and some money following.

After all I currently live near Cardiff City who will be playing in the Premier League next season and whilst (like Swansea and Newport) I genuinely wish them well I'm not going to suddenly start wearing a blue shirt, doing the Ayatollah and shouting "Bluebirds! Bluebirds!" all over the place. No the one time I intend to go to the City Stadium is to watch (quietly, I live nearby!) West ham beating them.

And that is equally the same nationally. I've supported England all my life and nothing changes now. I believe that Wales should be an independent nation and have no problem proclaiming my support for that. But as any fan will tell you the first rule of sports fandom is that once you have committed to a team that's it. You change your allegiance then you've broken the law.....it's a fact.

In fact my problem for this World Cup is going to be quite different. Normally due to my family background I would support England until they get knocked out after which I'd follow Italy. But this time Italy failed to qualify for the tournament in the first place.

Now that is a problem.

Until the next time.

Why Nationalists (Including Welsh Ones) Should Prepare For The Doomsday Brexit Scenario

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday we became aware that the UK government had prepared a series of scenarios post Brexit. And of particular note was the one that made all the headlines. "The Doomsday Scenario" as it was headlined.

What this particular scenario stated was that in a matter of weeks if Britain left the EU with the hardest of hard Brexits then there would be empty supermarket shelves and a lack of medicine for the sick. Petrol will also be in short supply. In other words the long forecast jump from the cliff edge would have arrived.

Now personally I don't think the Doomsday scenario will occur. Partly because the Conservatives have always been a ruthless organisation when they can see electoral defeat on the horizon by doing everything they can to stop it, even if it meant jettisoning their principles. But mainly I can see the old trick that was previously played by companies seeking to reduce staff.

Step One: Threaten 2,000 Job Losses

Step Two: Take in the protests

Step three: Say that there will only be 1,000 Job Losses. People are relieved. Only for them to realise later  that although it's not as bad as the original estimate the situation will still be worse than before.

But if government departments can do these scenarios then so will I. Specifically if this scenario comes true what will be the effect on the causes of independence for Scotland, Wales and the reunification of Ireland?

Well clearly that would be the push that would lead Northern Ireland to the Republic. For no matter what religion you are if you have no food on the table when your near neighbour is stocked up then that really is the final incentive you need.

In Scotland too. The idea that Westminster knows best will finally be laid to rest. There could be no clear argument for keeping with the Union and so they would go their own way.

Which leaves Wales. And no matter how apathetic politically the majority of the people are, no matter as I've said before that they are too nice a people that consequentially allow liberties to be taken against them, if the Doomsday scenario is proved accurate people will be moved to seek political alternatives outside the status quo. And the only credible alternative would be independence. Then Wales could sought out the mess with Wales and not Westminster in mind.

There is an irony here. For no nationalist actually would seek independence under these circumstances. Simply because of the agonies families will face as the scenario plays out. But that's no reason why nationalist parties (including Plaid Cymru) shouldn't prepare for it.

Until the next time.

The Latest Insomniac Awake Too Early Sunday Morning Rambling Post

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well again I'm awake too early. At time of writing it's seven minutes past five, but I've been awake half an hour earlier than that. Yet again insomnia rules.

Outside it's bright. It's also Sunday. I'm also working. Unbothered by that. Whatever Sunday is for me it's not a day of rest.

Late last night something rare was happening. There was a live Wales Rugby match on the television. Wales vs South Africa but held in America for whatever reason.  Wife was (for the late hour) surprisingly awake (I'd recorded the game for her). I, eventually after a microwave meal of LIDL's spaghetti with added grated cheese was not by the fact I nodded off well before the end.

First Minister Carwyn Jones tweeted yesterday that he was consulting with the British embassy in America concerning the Trump steel tariffs which could have a major effect on the steel plant in Port Talbot. Originally I'd assumed he'd flown there specially but could not understands why he was speaking to the embassy in a way that suggested top level discussions when he wasn't speaking to anyone in the American administration. Only later did the penny drop (thanks to Twitter, @ceribethlehem to be precise) that he was there because of the rugby game. Reality forcing him to put South Walian families on his list of things to do. You cannot help but think that yet again with regard to the Tata steelworks the First Minister has been caught on the hop without having any preparation for this scenario (which surprising with regard to it's timing was not unforeseen)

If anything did happen to the Port Talbot steelworks (and let's hope it doesn't) you know that Carwyn Jones is going to give interviews blaming Trump. And whilst that would be true he cannot escape yet again the charge that he was unprepared for events.

Well reality bites doesn't it your First Ministership? Perhaps whilst you are there in the fag end of your uninspiring leadership you can put a word in for Bridgend Ford as well? You representing Bridgend in the Assembly and all that? It would make (as I've said before in this blog) a change to do something Bridgend centric.

The birds are beginning to sing. Why do birds sing? Who knows? Conjoined of course with the question Why do fools fall in love?

Sun is very much coming out now. But I can also see the moon. I'm fifty four and those things still get to me. That and why people vote Conservative.

Six O'clock: Time for Breakfast.

Quasi Continental

I must admit that for the past few years my breakfast choice has gone continental with the croissants (though full disclosure here this is from Lidl's - with added jam - Oh I've mentioned them twice. Well don't be surprised. Reckon Lidl's or Aldi will be the supermarket of choice after Brexit). Mind you there's no orange juice (ran out) and the the default mechanism hot drink wise at home for most people this side of the channel is still tea.

If croissants are not available I go for porridge (with added jam) instead. Only in emergencies now do I go for throwing milk at a bowl filled with [insert cereal here]. Perhaps it's an age thing. I don't honestly know.

There's a fly I notice in the room. The windows are for the moment closed but the fly's still there. Moving in that sort of jagged jolted movements they do. Can't really go for it for the moment until it finds itself clinging to a wall....then I'll strike.....and probably miss.

There's a picture I've seen on Twitter about a rally for Scottish Independence in Dumfries. Amongst a group of people with the Banner English Scots for Yes. There's a guy with an England football shirt.

As I've explained before people should not be surprised by this. You may believe as I do that Wales should be independent from England for various reasons but let's just start with one (it's a country in it's own right) but football is different. If you're a football fan you'd understand.

The fly was by the table....missed.

Ah well.

Until the next time.

The Return Of Original Blog Villiain Bridgend Labour Council: Using Political Spin To Defend The Indefensible?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It has been a while since I've chatted about blog villain Bridgend Labour Council directly. As opposed to the effects of what it caused in Bridgend Town. But I saw something in the local paper yesterday which has brought it back to my attention and is worth commenting upon.

In it the council leader stated that they were going to make cuts of thirty million pounds in the next four years. He said that whilst these cuts would be "unpopular" it was essential so that the council would be financially stable in a tough economic environment and that they were going to protect services to the venerable.

Now let's for a moment ignore the fact that it probably means that Bridgend Town will remain the urban tragedy that it has become. Or that if they don't get the lottery funding then Maesteg Town Hall might have to close down providing a knock on downward effect there too given nothing to alleviate it (both circumstances the fault I'd argue of the council - previous posts refers).

No instead we'll focus on what the Welsh Labour leader of the council said. That despite making "unpopular" cuts services to the venerable in the community would be maintained.

The thing is that statement if you think about it carefully makes no sense (and that's ignoring the words "unpopular cuts" - who has ever heard of a popular cut) because all cuts will affect the venerable in the community the most.

For example. Let's say for the sake of argument that the council intends to close a library in the borough. They would probably say that whilst it's an unpopular decision it would not affect on their services to the venerable. However...

If a library is closed then a source of entertainment to the elderly in our community goes. Children from low income families would not have instant access to books. The unemployed would not be able to go online in search of a job using the free internet service the local library would provide.

So you see any cut will affect them proportionately harder.

I don't know whether the Bridgend Council leader indulged in Welsh Labour spin or genuinely believed what he said.

To be honest I'd be more worried if it was the latter.

Until the next time.

The Case For A Twenty Mile Per Hour Speed Limit In Sully And Beyond

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today....and that especially includes you, Vale of Glamorgan council.

Currently we're renting near Sully, a small village between Penarth and Barry Town. A pleasant place but if the signs I notice driving through are of any guide there are apparently two issues which have caused anger amongst the permanent residents. One are the proposed housing developments for the village. On this issue I'm currently on the fence. If only because I don't know what type of developments are being proposed.

But the other, whose sign I've only just seen today, is trying to persuade you to reduce the speed limit for vehicles that enter the village to twenty miles per hour. On this issue the answer should be obvious. On this you should agree with the people.

Now for the moment let's ignore the main road of the village (South Road) and concentrate on most of the other roads. Because those of us who've driven round the area know full well that there really is no reason to drive around there at thirty mph. These roads are generally relatively short, and a lot of them windy and thin.

It's important to remember that we're talking here about the roads that are in the village and not those that could go to the outside of it (such as Sully Road) so essentially the specific long stretch of road that we would need to speak about is South Road. Home to the convenience store, the library, the post office and the playing fields.

In seemingly empty traffic it's not impossible to reach thirty miles per hour on this road. Whilst there is a set of traffic lights there's not that many other things that I recall would curtail a person's speed behind the wheel along this road. Now if you're driving on the other side of the road to the convenience store and there's a delivery truck on that side it means that the lane the truck is parked in is blocked you won't see until the last minute the teenager suddenly running across the road. I am old enough to remember the ads that explained that you have more chance surviving being hit by a car doing twenty than doing thirty miles per hour.

So Vale Of Glamorgan Council how about reducing the speed limit in the village to twenty miles per hour? It's simple, cheap and effective...and you know full well that if you don't do it then it will take one child/teenager's death to change your mind. So how about doing it now?

And while you're at it (though I can't say I've done the research) I'm sure there are roads in Barry Town and Penarth that this could help as well.

You know it makes sense.

Until the next time.

In A New Dawn Let's Chat About the Age Of Innocence By Edith Wharton

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As I'm writing this it's 4:53am on a Thursday morning. The alarm had been set for six. Insomnia is a cruel mistress.

Outside a new dawn is slowly beginning to emerge. It looks for the moment kike it will be a grey one and it's certainly wet. The weather forecast indeed suggests that the rain will be much, much worse as this day continues. Of course as is always the way I have a few journeys to make today.

Normally with insomnia I would have probably spent the time the time nowadays wandering the web. An internet hobo from site to site. This morning however was different. For I had according to my Kindle less than half an hour of Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton to go. So decided to finish that.

Now this book had been split into two sections, literally Book one and Book Two. This seemed somehow appropriate. For if any novel could be described as a book of two halves in my opinion of it this is it. So let's chat about Book One first.

Book One was, for the most part, a dull trudge. I was wondering when I read this exactly why it's the classic that it is. The characters for the most part are as limp as the wettest of lettuce (and that includes the leading male in this story). And as for the denouement well it was so obvious it might as well have been covered in neon and sponsored by the city of Las Vegas.

What saves Book One, just, are two central characters. Firstly Madame Olenska, the central woman here. Beautiful, different, mysterious and for Nineteenth Century New York Society a woman with issues.

The other central character is Nineteenth Century New York Society itself. Outwardly polite it nonetheless is a very powerful force seeking to control the emotions of those it rules no matter how much certain people try to resist.

And so I approach Book Two in a depressed frame of mind. The sort of mind a reader has when he/she is halfway through a book, feels as a sense of duty as a book lover to finish it but knowing full well that their mind will be turned to mush at the end.

Well....was wrong about that.

Book Two is everything Book One isn't. Characters become fully rounded (though the two main ones from Book One are as strong as ever), the plot moves in a way that you did not expect and the ending was as subtle as it was strong. It was brilliant. You have to read Book One I'm afraid to get to Book Two. But trust me it's worth it.

No question the most surprising book I've read so far this year.

Until the next time.

Apathy Doesn't Help The Drive For Welsh Independence But It Might Not Last For Much Longer...

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I find myself chatting about independence for Wales on Twitter I get different reactions. Some of the main ones is that the Welsh don't want it or why does organisations like Plaid Cymru or Yes Cymru seek a goal without planning the consequences through.

What these people don't seem to realise is that all political parties and movements have goals which may not be popular in it's creation. These goals may lack line by line detail. That does not matter. A political party/movement is created to change the mind of the people and show people that there is another way.

I have written before that there will come a time when the Welsh non-Tory voter will seek a different political party to the rule of arrogant incompetence provided by Welsh Labour at national and local level. These people will look at Plaid Cymru for their vote. It happened in Scotland and it could happen here.

And let's like we always have to do here look at Scotland. When they got elected as a minority administration in the Scottish government the SNP didn't say "Right folks let's have a referendum". No for the lifetime of their first term they let certain people within their party plan independence for Scotland whilst they showed the nation that they could govern. That Scots could have confidence in them running the country. They may have lost the subsequent referendum for independence (because of Westminster lies but let's not dwell on that here) but the point remains that it was the closest in my lifetime that any of the four home nations got to obtaining it. There is no reason why Plaid Cymru should not follow the same approach, which whilst ultimately unsuccessful was close.

People in Scotland might be for or against independence. But the point is that since the SNP obtained power no one considers it impossible. 

We also need again to consider the consequences of Brexit. If it creates further economic austerity for Britain then that would be the final push for Scottish independence. Indeed there is a possibility that it would cause the reunification of Ireland. People living in Wales would look at this and say "why not us?"

And so planning for independence is important. But there could be a scenario where the best option (through a referendum) is just to leave rule from Westminster with the barest structure in place. That would be if the situation in the UK was so bad that a messy divorce was preferable to staying in the union. If the Remain side's post Brexit scenario proves correct that just might happen.

So Plaid Cymru needs to be ready. Events might soon prove momentous.

Until the next time.

In Which I Combine A Very English Scandal, The TV Effects Of Old Age And Why An Elderly Dubliner Could Be Angry At Bridgend Town

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So it's Bank Holiday Monday as normal nothing I want to watch. Until that is the wife suddenly said:

"Shall we watch A Very English Scandal"? (She had recorded both episodes currently shown)

Now I've posted before that wife and I find it very difficult to find things that we could watch together, but this Russell T Davies drama based on the true life events between then Liberal party (now the Liberal Democrats after mergers and acquisitions) leader Jeremy Thorpe and his lover Norman Scott fitted the bill.

Why? Because wife and I are old enough (as children) to remember the moment all of this culminated in a trial. So we could recall when all of this was made public.

What this means of course is that we have come to an age where figures real to us at the time have now become historical actors in TV dramas. We are that old. Before the only TV effects of our age were the digital channels showing programmes we remembered when younger. With a few exceptions they were always disappointing. Starsky and Hutch for example. Two detectives fighting crime with the inconspicuous sports car with a white lightening strike and a loud wheels. Loved it at the time. Laughable now.This however took our geriocracy to a whole new depth.

I'm not normally one to write about TV dramas in this blog. And after seeing the first episode we are going to view episode two sometime. But the thing that makes me want to chat about it are the scenes where the friend of Thorpe goes to Dublin in an attempt to stop Scott blackmailing the leader of the Liberals.

Because apparently the place in Britain that could pass for Dublin in the nineteen sixties was Bridgend Town. That's right the urban tragedy that is Bridgend Town was considered as the perfect substitute for the Irish capital!

Now I have never been to Dublin (I'd like to one day) and I have no idea what it was like in the sixties. But I'd be willing to guess that anybody who's lived there at that time would have been insulted. Or perhaps will be. Because those of us aware about the state of Bridgend Town in the present day will know that whilst television "Irished up" the scenery (phonebox for example) there was no real attempt to hide the closed down shops that blight the place arguably more than any town in South Wales.

Consequently in terms of the scenery (as opposed to what happens to Norman Scott there. Which I won't spoil) Dublin is shown as a rather dull and dreary place. Whereas what it's actually showing is the Bridgend Town of today.

Of course the odds of someone knowing Dublin in the sixties and Bridgend Town of today are extremely thin. But if you know of an Irish person angry after seeing this episode that's why. Trust me.

Until the next time.

In Defence Of The Male Reader

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

One of the great advantages of Twitter is the way it will lead you to things that even the normal internet would not. Yesterday, quite randomly it led me to a post by the writer David Hayden with regard to men and their reading choices. It suggested that male readers would normally see writing as the canon with women hardly getting a look in.

The article is here https://lithub.com/david-hayden-men-still-too-often-see-their-writing-as-the-canon/

It referred to readers surveys which stated that male readers almost exclusively and deliberately read fictional books by other men and not women. This surprised me. I personally wonder how these surveys were phrased. Most male readers I'm aware of don't discriminate by gender at least not as consciously as Mr Hayden's article implied. That said, as I've mentioned in this blog in the past, there have been some female writers who I have avoided specifically because the cover and the blurb suggests not that it will be too female, but rather too gushingly romantic, too girly or too delicate for my male DNA.

As readers of this blog will also know I have tried to go beyond the covers recently (too varying degrees of success as I will explain later) but I don't blame myself for not looking at books that were not designed to attract me the male reader.

These covers need to be discussed individually. There were four particular types:

a) The "Mills and Boon" Cover: We are all aware of that cover that suggests whirlwind romance through a [insert historical period here]. Avoided Georgette Heyer (only read her for the first time a couple of years and Norah Lofts (I've a book of hers have not got round to reading yet).

b) The Chick Lit Cover: Bright Colours, Swirly lettering, Cartoon figures. They were literary warning lights for men to avoid. But if circumstances were different, I wouldn't have realised that (as I've explained in previous posts) Marian Keyes is a far more important writer than her covers would suggest.

c) The Chocolate Box Cover: Which interestingly I have an example in one of the two books I'm reading at the moment.

Santa Montefiore - The Beekeeper's Daughter

(The other book I'm reading incidentally is The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton)

So you're looking at that cover and would instantly see a sweeping romance style book. I won't chat about the novel until I've properly finished it. Though let's say that for the moment it's a case of Bad Santa.

4) The Delicate Cover: This tends to be a relatively thin book with a painting/photo and a blurb that suggests something arty and dull. Anita Brookner comes to mind here (though I have got a few of her books now though amongst the great unread at the moment).

There was also one other thing about Mr Hayden's piece (whose books incidentally I haven't read either - so many books - so little time ) that sprang to mind. His concentration on general literature ignored the genre where women writers have had critical and popular (including men) acclaim through the decades and that's crime.

From Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers through to Liza Cody, P D James, Sarah Paretsky, Ruth Rendell  with now Lynda La Plante and Val McDermid female writers have shown that if you write in a subject men are interested in they are happy to read you without any issues of gender. And, it should be stressed that often the people doing the detecting are women as well.

I'm not saying that men (including myself) shouldn't read more books by women authors. But I am saying that the reasons we haven't are probably less obvious than Mr Hayden's article would suggest.

Until the next time.

Cliche Ireland Is Apparently Over. Let's Try To Remove Cliche Wales

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

At time of writing (5:48 am on a Saturday morning - Woke up at 4:50am - Welcome To Insomnia) it appears that the exit poll in the Irish Referendum will mean that the Ireland will be able to abolish their extremely strict abortion laws.

But to spread the effects of the referendum out still more it will also mean that the power of Catholic Church has gone to terminal decline (which is of course their fault over how they handled the abuse scandals) and that cliché Ireland is no more.

Ireland can now truly say that it's a modern nation not tied up to it's past and not gagged by the undemocratic religious forces that so dominated it's life. It knows that once the immediate Brexit hurdles have been overcome it can look forward to a bright future within the EU whereas we in Britain will soon be looking in from the rainy shop window.

So outside of the touristy stuff there will be no more images of Ireland of "sure and begorrah" leprechauns, green hills, farming and living lives and following laws essentially set by the Vatican. That outside if Dublin there isn't anywhere that can be called sophisticated.

Cliché Ireland is no more....which led me to think about Cliché Wales.

After all Wales, it's language and people are still the butt of jokes from people who know they can't talk about the Irish in the same way as they used to.

(And that's another cliché - the stupid Irish - that was something that was commonplace on comedy shows in British TV in the seventies. Thankfully gone now. Partly because it wouldn't be acceptable but also because it wouldn't be believed).

There are many clichés about the Welsh. From the absolute love of rugby (which I've argued in this blog is not true anymore on a club level), to the weather (Ok it's not the Mediterranean but it doesn't permanently rain), to the language being either just an English word with an accent or just throw up scrabble letters in the air and create a word from it.

There are others of course. The Welsh are farmers and rugby players now that coal mining is no more or are on the dole. There is nowhere remotely sophisticated in Wales aside from Cardiff. And don't get me started on the sheep....

But possibly the biggest cliché about the Welsh people is that they are servile and will just accept anything Westminster throws at it. From the naming of a bridge after royalty, to having no rail electrification West of Cardiff, to taking nuclear waste generated in Somerset. All of this stems from the cliche that Wales is essentially there to serve England.

And of course the actions of the Welsh National Labour Government in surrendering Brexit powers whilst the Scots are Braveheartedly (another cliché I know. Couldn't resist) fighting them should not be ignored. But a country's politicians are not necessarily representative of it
(This is why journalist Rod Liddle can make comments about Wales and get away with it or England rugby coach Eddie Jones can call it a "s****y little country" and be unpunished)

But this apparent servility is partly there because as I've said before the cliché, which is true, is that the Welsh people as a whole are too nice.

So what can be done to remove cliché Wales? Well ultimately independence. But in the meantime independence of action from Westminster will help. It's why whilst not yet independent cliché Scotland is kilts and bagpipes and nothing useful except for it's oil is fast disappearing from the landscape.

Of course it's difficult to see that happening with a Welsh Labour administration as independent of thought as a train track. Which is why Plaid Cymru (the party I support) needs to be there and ready for the moment (which will come) when the people of Wales will know that change from the status quo is needed to make their lives better.

And should Labour be defeated here. Then Cliché Wales will start to crack.

Until the next time.

On Books: Particularly on the Plante in the Quick Reads Garden

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well read a number of books since the last post, so let's begin.

All Hell Breaks Loose - Max Hastings: What I said about the book previously is unchanged now I've finished it. The best non-fiction book I've read so far this year.

1227 QI Facts - John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, James Harkin: A bought it because it was a) cheap and b) I'm a fan of the TV programme. This was though a mistake, though it could be personal to me. I'm not a fan of books that you can "dip into" finding them difficult to concentrate on if you're trying to read from cover to cover. It does have Quite Interesting facts (Cardiff has more sunshine than Milan caught my eye) but I thought my view of it would be different to those similar books given I liked the TV show it was based on. I was wrong.

The Essays Of Arthur Schopenhauer ; Studies In Pessimism: Philosophers eh? They get paid to write down what they're thinking in long words and everyone thinks they're a deity? Well it's the first time I read Arthur's stuff and I wasn't impressed.

You get for example stupid ideas like "We should forgive a man his folly" and you think "Really Arthur? If I went and killed someone close to you would you really forgive me? Really?

Aside from one really interesting essay on suicide (which when he wrote it was a crime) this was mainly long words wrapped around the bleeding obvious. The real odious essay was that on Women. If you're female I'd suggest you check your blood pressure before proceeding.

And speaking of females....

Lynda La Plante - The Little One

This was the latest library book I'd read.

What perhaps is first worth discussing is that it came out of the QuickReads stable. These are slim books written by established writers either to attract people who have gone off reading or readers eager for that quick fix. Essentially literary espresso. By getting people to read more following reading a Quick Read book then it has performed a service for us all.

I had never read a Lynda La Plante book before, purely a case of so many books so little time, but I feel having finished it that clearly I've been missing out. The story of the relationship between a struggling journalist and an ex Soap star leads you one way and then twists and turns. You assume that things are moving in one direction and then seamlessly your preconceptions are subverted. Only towards the end did I begin to understand what was happening.

Ms La Plante clearly has a skill in plot then. But also in character. Your views seem to shift with every page. Things are not as they seem.

I really enjoyed this book. Clearly it's my loss I've not read her before.

Until the next time.

A Quick Wander Around Bridgend Town

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As regular readers will be aware the urban tragedy due to the arrogant incompetence of the Labour council that is Bridgend Town is a feature of this blog, though less frequent now I no longer live in the area (though I still work there).

I do plan to do a more measured post on the state of the town sometime in June. However unexpectedly I had to go in there yesterday so this is a snapshot of what I saw.I should stress that I only had (including grabbing lunch) about forty five minutes to play with.

And because of the relative rush I missed snapping a few things. A new nail bar is there. As is a gym (though with another one just a few blocks away I really wonder how both can survive).

I also forgot to snap the situation regarding the "McDonald's" area. The McDonald's, closed down in 2000 and left to rot for seventeen years before finally demolished in December last year. Well as I left the situation nothing had been done in March. And as we approach June nothing has changed. What it has become is an eyesore gap.

If you approached the eyesore gap from the car park on a wall nearby someone wrote "Apathy". Which was interesting as perhaps that person was trying to convey what the town has become. And whoever wrote that is educated, after all he/she didn't scrawl "can't be bothered".

I mention this because that person didn't just graffiti it there. I noticed this.

The Bridgend V For Vendetta Slogan?

Now having been fair and mentioning the places that had just opened since my last visit that I'd noticed I need now to mention the places that have closed down. Starting with this:

No Longer Cooperative

This was the Cooperative Travel agents. Now gone. Here's an interesting fact. Whilst there are Cooperative food stores in the Bridgend area, with the closure of the bank branch last year and now this, it's only presence in the town is the funeralcare. Symbolic or what?

And opposite there's this:

A Chainstore Outlet

This used to be Ethel Austin and then it became this. Now even a chainstore outlet can't sustain business in the town.

Now since I moved I have four regular features I look at regarding the town. I've dealt with the McDonald's Eyesore gap and the places that have opened and closed down. So let's have a look at Bridgend Indoor Market. Well I'm afraid nothing has changed. Many stalls are empty including apparently this one now.

All Very Sad

But if a picture can illustrate the contempt the council apparently shows for the stall holders it's this one.

Look Up

For what you see are Christmas decorations.....and it's nearly June!!!

And, (and I forgot to photo this as well) with regard to the Nolton Street Shopping Arcade it's still the case that aside from the two shops that go onto the aforementioned street every single shop in that place empty.

So then Bridgend Town. Nothing has really changed since the last time I was here. All very,very sad really.

Until the next time.

Until the next time.

How I Avoided The Royal Wedding With The Help Of Work,A Classical Music Radio Station, Heavy Rock And The Second World War

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well then Saturday was Royal Wedding Day and I was working. And a good thing too. Even if I hadn't worked I'd have avoided it. Essentially the reasons boil down to two.

Firstly I'm a Republican. A nation should not be obsessed by a fairytale idea of a King, Queen and the rest of what is a privileged elite. Why in events such as these the television stations for example will be broadcasting through the medium of curtsy is beyond me.

Take for example the reporting of Meghan Markle's father. Yet those of us old enough to remember the issues surrounding the divorce Of Charles and Diana know that he didn't cover himself with glory. And yet apparently all is now forgotten.

For a lot of people the Royal family is a fairy story that hides the true state of Britain where the tale is Grimm

Secondly I have no interest in watching a wedding on television and I suspect that most men (other than those who will dress in union jack clothing for the day - when at any other moment they'd be considered weird) feel the same whatever their views on the monarchy otherwise. As I think I've mentioned before the process of getting married in a church, as opposed to getting married is a distinctly female event. Men, I would guess, would rather watch the sport on another channel.

Wife and daughter went to an event organised by a (female) friend where they and more female fans watched the event...yes I know. And you know what? She's also recorded it!

As it happens I also missed the FA Cup Final today as well. But to be honest I don't care about that either (though I'd admit I'd would've watched it if I wasn't working). Mainly because the final does not this year hold out any interest for the neutral.

So where did I start avoiding this wedding whilst I'm wasn't working? Well a classical music radio station, so the wedding would probably only be mentioned in the news headlines (and as it happens the wedding was the second item on their news at 12:30). Not Classical King FM as Ms Markle is American so the choice was (taken as a whole) my favourite classical radio station RTE Lyric FM of the Irish Republic.

I was listening to an aimiable programme called The Hamilton Scores. Where George Hamilton leads through a range of easy listening classical scores perfect for a Saturday morning. The title? Well I'm assuming that refers to his work as a football commentator. I mean? A football commentator on a classical music station? Where else but RTE Lyric FM would be comfortable with that? It is, as I've said before the most unpretentious classical music station I know.

Heavy rock? Well this was the latest library book I read.

Ian Vince - The Lie Of The Land

This book was trying I think to make geology accessible for the masses as he chatted about the subject whilst going round Britain.

Now Mr Vince can write, when he was chatting about his travels you were interested (indeed as an aside he mentioned another book he wrote about travelling around Britain in a milk float - I do want to read that). But....when the book chatted about the specifics geology then it got ...well...rocky (apologies but I couldn't resist).

It was dull.

In essence if your interest in rocks doesn't go beyond the views it produces or avoiding them in the case of an avalanche then it really isn't the book for you.

Continued then reading Max Hastings book All Hell Let Loose about the Second World War mainly through the eyes of ordinary people caught up in it. I haven't finished it yet, but I suspect it will be the best non-fiction book I've read so far this year. Mr Hastings handles the large remit with ease and aplomb. Also, a key test of any history book is that it tells something you didn't already know. It worked on that basis as well. I thought I knew enough on the Second World War. Mr Hastings proved me wrong.

So a Conservative historian helped me avoid a most conservative of events. I should thank him.

Thank you Mr Hastings.

Until the next time.

The Farewell Tour Of The McDonald's Menu Part 11: It's A Wrap

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it is done. I've completed the medium regular meal tour of the McDonald's menu. That is it. No more McDonald's,Burger King and the like. I know you don't believe me. Temptation you think will come my way. But I am genuinely resolute. This is the first step in reducing the more than a pound of flesh on my belly.

This was the last meal then. A Bacon and Chicken One Wrap.

The End Of An Era

It was tasty but forgettable.

So what have I learnt from this experience? Well...

1) I won't miss it. Honestly I won't. The food ranged from tastily forgettable to absolute rubbish.

2) The names of McDonald's meals make for the most part no sense. Since when has a chicken been a Legend?

3)Taking the food out of the packaging onto the plate has shown how relatively small a lot of these meals actually are. We've been taken for mugs.

And that's it...it's a wrap.

Until the next time.