The Superhero Summer Continues Where I Accidentally Discover The Comic Book Hero For The Weary Mature Man

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

One of life's quiet pleasures is when you discover something you like completely by accident. That happened to me yesterday evening.

As a family we had done some shopping (which included Morrissons in Barry - Never again - Wish my phone hadn't run out of power so I could go into detail) and returned home. We'd agreed that we'd watch a superhero movie on Netflix which we bought for the next few months to cover those moments in every school summer holiday when things are, well, dull.

Whilst considering which superhero film to choose (and the choice was surprisingly small) the phone rang. It was a friend of the wife's.

Now there is a rule I've found with the wife (and I'm sure I'm not alone here that every third conversation turns out to be a marathon and not a sprint.

This turned out to be one of them.

So instead we looked at TV superhero series. Which is where Black Lightning comes in. Based on the DC comic.

Black Lightning is a retired superhero (Jefferson Pierce) and current school principal who is forced to return to crime fighting when his daughters are threatened (now obviously there's a lot more to the plot than that.But regular readers know that I make every effort not to spoil things).

 Daughter and I watched three episodes. We were hooked.

Now the focus has been (rightly) that this is an African American family. But for fifty four year old man like me I noticed something else. For whilst the hero is younger than me. He's older than most super heroes (not obviously including those cryogenically  out of storage Captain America style).

He has an ex wife he still loves, teenage daughters, a job. He has problems. Problems that being able to attack  villains with electricity can't help.There is a weariness to him which we can relate to. The TV series has made him the hero for the older guy. Other than his powers and the effect on his family he lives in a world you recognise

The cast is perfect. One person stood out though. Was looking at the youngest daughter and thinking "I know her from somewhere". Even the wife stopped her conversation and said the same thing.

It was daughter who provided the answer. She was a star of a Disney channel sitcom. The sort of sitcom that daughter begged you to watch with her when she was too young for you to say "Sorry. I'd rather watch the football" .

And you know you're getting old when you remember such a star in a Disney Sitcom when now in Black Lightning she's drinking, smoking and talking about sex!

So older guys. A superhero for you and me has arrived. Enjoy it.

Until the next time

The Price Is Wrong : Why Plaid Cymru Should Not Change It's Name

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Regular readers will know that I have made my position on the forthcoming leadership election in Plaid Cymru clear in that I support current leader Leanne Wood. I won't bore you by going over the reasons why again here.

However I am now going to make one prediction, purely on gut instinct, about the election now.

Leadership contender Adam Price is not going to win it.

Why do I say that? Well it's following a series of proposals he's put forward with regard to Plaid Cymru that makes no sense whatsoever.

First (as I've discussed in a previous post) that Plaid Cymru should have a joint leadership. This has apparently died a death and seems to be quietly forgotten.

And now that Plaid Cymru would gain more voters by calling itself the New Wales Party.

It is, as an idea, mad. And here are some of the reasons why.

As a name Plaid Cymru is a brand that everyone understands, even those who do not speak Welsh know that it is the Party of Wales. As a name it's distinctive and it's that distinction that makes it an asset and not a liability.

The name that's being proposed to replace it, New Wales Party, has the connotations with Blair and New Labour. That makes it damaging. Voters do not like one party blatantly copying another. It smacks of desperation which whilst I'm not going to say Plaid does not have it's problems would not be a fair reflection of it's position with the Welsh voter.

It is also a very lazy political name. Bet that took under a minute for Mr Price or a person on his team to think of it before going off to have a coffee.

Finally the whole notion that somehow Plaid's problems in reaching power can be partly resolved by running away from it's Welsh name is actually quite stunning especially coming from Mr Price. After all Sinn Fein don't do badly in either parts of Ireland thankyou very much.

So the idea is bonkers. Indeed I'd argue damaging to Plaid, and I suspect to Mr Price's leadership ambitions as well.

Until the next time.

Reviewing A Library Book And the Unexpected Peril Of Moving A Library (Yes We're Talking Bridgend Again)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Been a while since I've chatted about a book I've read, which was remiss of me. Yesterday though finished The Restless Dead by Simon Beckett.

To be honest I've mixed views of this crime novel. I constantly felt as if I'd read similar things before. Did not feel that reader sensation of "Oh this is different".

Perhaps I can explain that more clearly by summarising the plot as follows:

Troubled medical guy investigates a series of murders.

Enough said re the storyline.

And the other thing is this: I've learnt as a reader that when the blurb (not any included reviews) compares the author to another writer then the book, though not necessarily bad, is not one you'd remember till the end of your days either. In this case the line is: "With forensic detail to rival Kathy Reichs".

To be fair though it is readable. And I particularly liked the way Mr Beckett was able to end most chapters with a twist. As if these chapters in the audiobook would have " Dah Dah Daah" for emphasis.

Regular readers will know how I've illustrated the urban tragedy that is Bridgend Town thanks to the incompetence that is the Welsh Labour council there. You might remember one of my oldest bugbears revolves around the town centre library, which the council moved (with EU funding!) to a place nine minutes away from the town centre. Thus making Bridgend probably the only town in Britain where the town centre library is away from the town centre.

Well I was speaking to someone recently and the subject of Bridgend Town came up. I mentioned in passing the library moving away from the town centre. The person was surprised. The person thought that the library had closed altogether after fancying after a break to borrow some books (months after the move) only to find that that the doors were shut (It's now. It needs to be said an Arts centre)

Now you might ask why the person just left it that. The answer is simple. Given the swathes of empty outlets in the town the assumption was made that it was a library closure. That was not then unreasonable particularly given the closed down premises in that street (Wyndham Street) alone.

Of course, and I acknowledge this, that this story is anecdotal. But I would guess that it's not exceptional. You have to wonder how many people stopped going to a library on this mistaken belief of closure brought on by the atmosphere of urban tragedy that is Bridgend Town.

The Welsh Labour Council should really apologise.

But you know they won't .

Until the next time.

Could A Backlash Against English Immigration Be Approaching In South Wales? The Focus Being Newport?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As a person who moved in 1997 I've never experienced any issues coming from the fact that I'm an Englishman I've met and know of a few people who do (they would tend to be the sort of person who would moan about the Welsh actually having the temerity to put their own language on signage across the country).

Similarly on a general level I've not really heard that many people within Wales complain about English immigration (aside from the issue of elderly English immigration which I've chatted about in a previous post). Where there has been resentment it's been towards those who bought property as a second holiday home rather than those who moved permanently.

But soon there might be two issues which added together might change all that.

The tolls for the Severn Bridge (aka the Prince of Wales Bridge or as I will call it for this post The Geraint Thomas Bridge) will soon be abolished. House prices in Bristol are very expensive so people are looking very seriously about moving across The Geraint Thomas Bridge to buy cheaper homes/new builds in areas such as Newport and then commuting across The Geraint Thomas to and from work in Bristol and the surrounding area.

Now let's pause on the above and look at the other fact.

There is a shortage of affordable housing in Wales. In fact in the lifetime of the current Welsh Assembly the Labour administration plan to build twenty thousand houses....for the whole country.

Now let's put those two facts together.

English families moving to South East Wales buying houses whilst Welsh families are priced out of the market.

That is a scenario for possible social unrest.

Who is to blame for this? Well some fingers point to blog villain Secretary of State for Wales and microdot of humanity Alun "Chucky" Cairns. The feeling basically is that it's part of a maniacal plan to merge Wales with England so that independence becomes harder.

Well perhaps. But the problem with that argument is that tolls on the Geraint Thomas bridge were always resented within Wales. The lifting of the tolls is a popular move. Even if some of the consequences might not be.

So could it be that a lot of the blame for this possible social scenario falls on soon to be ex First Minister and blog slug Carwyn Jones and Welsh Labour? After all twenty thousand affordable houses for the whole of Wales seems like an astonishingly small figure. Also I would bet that Labour have done no/little/or just about the economic planning about the consequences of an influx of English families to South East Wales once the tolls are lifted. It would not be the first time that the Welsh Labour administration are reactive rather than being proactive to events.

Now like I've said the above is a hypothetical situation, but I'd argue not an impossible one. Cairns and Jones need to discuss this. For potentially the consequences of inaction could be very bad indeed.

Until the next time.

Today Is "Socialist Sunday" Or In Wales "Simpering Socialist Sunday". Example : Virgin Media

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

In my new found position in Twitter of "Tory Shill" for suggesting that given their rule in Wales of arrogant incompetence Plaid Cymru was a better party for people to join than Welsh Labour I should perhaps back off talking about them now.

Well.....no

Today is apparently "Socialist Sunday" on Twitter where Labour people join together. Now let's for the moment leave what defines a "Socialist". After all you could be a socialist and be a member of Plaid Cymru because you believe in independence for Wales rather than stay in  the Union. For the purposes of this post "Socialist" will mean Labour.

But in Wales Welsh Labour is the government in the devolved administration and many local government councils. It is "the establishment" and, as I've documented as best as I can, has, in the present day anyway, made a rubbish job at it.

The classic image of "a socialist" is a person using everything they have in their disposal to fight for Working families. In Wales they apparently fight for their political position first. Any other benefit is an added bonus.

In Wales Labour does not fight for working families. It simpers and makes soothing words but rarely actually fights (in fact the one exception I think of was Tata Steel and that was probably because of the UK wide publicity it engendered as well as the protests by the Trade Union movement. The trade Unions were the ones who really led this here. Welsh Labour just followed).

More typical of a Welsh Labour response is that of the closure of the Virgin Media call Centre in Swansea which on Thursday the media giant confirmed will take place. Where was the fight from Welsh Labour and the local MP beyond warm words for the 800 people who will lost their jobs?

The Welsh government's response was that the decision to close the call centre was "disappointing". Disappointing!! 800 people will lose their jobs and that's the best the Welsh Government can say? (Well to be fair it also says it will try to support the families affected. And so it should. But that is it).

Socialists of the past would have fought the decision. including organising a boycott of Virgin Media in Wales (as I've suggested in this blog before. Can be done. They wouldn't be missed. There are alternatives).

No such action. Welsh Labour have just simpered to Virgin Media. What is especially worrying is this. Let's assume that the Dark Hard Brexit of the Soul Happens with all the consequent job losses What will Welsh Labour do then? Chances are their relative inaction re Virgin Media is a precursor of must worse to come for people and their families.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Meanderings Post: Tory Shill Edition....Apparently

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it's as I write this 5:51am on a Sunday morning. Though I've actually woken up an hour before. Slowly the weather is turning. Summer now but daylight is showing it's head later than normal.

Tell you what I've been called various things on Twitter but never a Tory Shill before. It was from a Labour party supporter saying that Plaid Cymru and not them was the party for me given my experience and knowledge of the arrogant incompetence of Welsh Labour.

So to put it another way. I must be the only person to be accused of being Tory for supporting Plaid.

My first thought was "Well he hasn't read my blog" (yes I know vain). But then it occurred to me that it personified Labour arrogance. As if only Labour can help the poor and downtrodden in society. Yet in Wales as we've previously discussed they're part of the establishment. They're also therefore part of the problem.

And here's a question. Anuerin Bevan, founder of the NHS rejected Welsh Nationalism as a backward and reactionary movement. But in the light of Britain of today, where the Westminster elite (even a Corbyn one) rule Wales as a colony and given the bloated and uncaring state to their voters of Welsh Labour. Is there a possibility that he would consider Plaid now? Worth a thought.

I've seen a number of tweets from people who say they want to immediately get out of the United Kingdom for an independent Scotland/Wales. I myself have said that in the scenario of a dark hard Brexit of the soul it might be the best option for Wales if the consequences of staying in the UK are worse.

What's interesting is that I'd predict now that the very people who would argue against Scotland/Wales crashing out of the UK are the same who'd wet themselves at Britain crashing out of the EU.

And now soft drink news:

Coca Cola have brought out new flavoured colas. There's "Feisty Cherry" (which doesn't seem to taste that different to normal cherry cola), "Peach" (which tastes nice in the beginning but gets flat after a while) and "Exotic Mango".

Now Exotic Mango for some reason gets to me. After all in Britain surely all mangoes are exotic? Marketing gone to level stupid.

Sunny out there. Not sure what I'm going to do. There is a 10KG fun run in Barry island today. But to be honest the words "fun run" don't seem to make sense in English.

Right wife awake. Time to go for now.

Until the next time.

In Which Superhero Summer Continues As I Watch Ant Man And The Wasp, Buy A Comic Book For The First Time In Decades And Get Interrogated By Daughter Over My Comic Book Choices

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well as I mentioned in the previous post yesterday I took Daughter to the cinema to watch Ant Man and the Wasp as promised given her sudden and unexpected interest in comics. To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect, I could barely remember Ant Man in my comic reading past and I definitely didn't recall The Wasp.

Anyway on the drive to the cinema Daughter decided to interrogate me on my comic book tastes. Bare in mind here folks that these opinions are based on when I was her age so what these titles are like now I've no idea.

"DC or Marvel?"

Now this has the important caveat that either comic book publisher had many titles. Some I liked some I didn't. But with that proviso there was really only one answer.

"Marvel".

They were just, taken as a whole, better.

"Spiderman or Superman?"

Easy question. Given that I was not from the Planet Krypton I had more chance of being bitten by a radioactive spider. So with the schoolboy logic, and that the stories were better.

"Spiderman"

"Spiderman or The Hulk?"

Never really was into The Hulk.

"Spiderman"

"Spiderman and The Flash?"

As I said previously much as I've liked the current TV series I didn't like the original comic.

"Spiderman"

"Spiderman and Batman?"

"A tie"

Leaving aside the schoolboy logic that if I was a billionaire I too could be like Bruce Wayne the dark foreboding tales from Gotham worked for me. You know even viewed from the prism of aged and cynical adult eyes Batman has always stood the test of time.

The cinema was in the out of town outlet place that was Macarthur Glen just outside Bridgend. Whilst daughter got something to eat I quickly went to The Works shop there that sells books. Including large paperbacks and hardbacks of comics. I got daughter a Justice League of America paperback given it had a lot of the DC superheroes in there.

And....well...let's say my schoolboy years came flooding back and I couldn't resist buying one for myself..

Aquaman then - Better be good - Let's say the wife wasn't impressed

After we had a quick bite to eat we went to see the film. First there came the ads and the trailers. Won't bother saying much about them. Except perhaps you'll be surprised to learn that DFS has a sale on.

What did I think of the movie? Well not awful. A sort of light summer treat from all the heavily promoted Avengers stuff. Amiably acted (the daughter of Ant man - as my daughter noted - steals every scene she's in).

Also (and this is an important test in my dotage) I didn't sleep through part of it.

Not perfect though. Too many comedy moments for a superhero film and it could have done with a more interesting villain.

Still daughter liked it and that's the main thing.

Until the next time.

Meanderings Whilst Waiting For A Washing Machine...And It's Installer

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You may remember a few posts back I chatted about waiting for the washing repair man? Well after a few trips the machine was pronounced finally dead early this week. And today (Friday) a day I'm not at work will be partly spent waiting for the machine to be delivered then installed. Another waiting for moment begins. Nothing I can really do until this is done.

So it's 7:45am. And the wait begins.

I do know what I'll be doing once daughter has woken up and gotten herself together. I'll have to watch more episodes of series one of Supergirl now she seems to have entered a comic book kick. Judged on the first episode it's not The Flash. Thing is The Flash took me back to when I was a child and enjoying the wonder that comic books (I refuse to call them "graphic novels") provided. Supergirl doesn't do that. I look at it through the weary eyes of a fifty four year old man.

I'm not saying that Supergirl is bad, and obviously I'm not the target audience. It's just not for me.

And further to this Superhero/heroine summer that it has apparently become will be going with daughter to see the Antman and the Wasp movie later today. Of course I say "intention" a lot of things are going to depend on the Washing Machine delivery today.

9:04am. Machine delivered. Hurrah. Now have to wait for the installer.

In the meantime mail has come. Swansea Grand Theatre's shows for Autumn/winter. Apart from an evening with John Hartson (the only ex Arsenal player whose performance for West Ham was just as good) it's of no interest to me. For the wife there's a dance show by ex-Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole. Email her. Ask if she's interested.

You know one of the best things about Twitter is it's ability to remind you of things. Just seen a clip of Terry Jones interviewing the writer Angela Carter in an eighties programme called Paperbacks. It reminded me that not only was Jones an actor (of course in Monty Python) but also a writer and skilled presenter. He had intelligence, knowledge and wit. The Stephen Fry of his day. It makes the fact that he's currently suffering from Alzheimer's even more of a tragedy.

10:45am. I get a call. It's my mother. Much as I love to chat about life, the universe and everything to her. Much as she has many considerable talents. She's doesn't install washing machines (though to be fair neither do I).

11:50am. Daughter still not awake. Had a very late night yesterday so unworried. Will wake her up at one. Meanwhile no installer and I'm hungry. Salami sandwich time nearly and a cup of tea.

12:33am Daughter awake. After she has a shower and dressed will be watching Supergirl Series One whilst hoping the installers will come and relieve me of this wait.

Until the next time

The Eisteddfod : Another Reason Why S4C Needs A Second Channel

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have mentioned before in this blog that the Welsh language TV channel S4C's biggest problem is not the language but the fact that it is limited to one channel stream. Thus the soap opera Pobol Y Cwm (Sheryl is dead....how could they!) could be followed by a gardening programme which I wouldn't watch.

My view was that even if it was for limited hours, say 7pm to 1am, S4C needed a second channel to provide an alternative to the viewer which other broadcasters are able to do.

Well coming up is another reason why S4C needs that second channel. The annual festival of music, literature (mainly poetry) and performing arts in the Welsh language that is the National Eisteddfod.

Now I've been to an Eisteddfod before, about eight years ago. I and my daughter enjoyed it.  There were various reasons why I haven't been to one since but we're planning to go this one in Cardiff next Friday and we're both looking forward to it (in fact to a sort of twilight zone person like me re Welsh,not fluent but far better than the cat sat on the mat, a place for the most part where Welsh is spoken without a safety parachute adds to the excitement).

As a TV viewer though my view is slightly different. For me then the Eisteddfod is exactly like my opinion of chocolate. Enjoyable in small doses but something I cannot gorge myself on.

And there's the problem. S4C provides blanket coverage of the festival. And when I say blanket if we take next Wednesday for example it broadcasts from 6am to 12:45am the following day. That's eighteen and three quarter hours. Of that time (including news and weather headlines) fourteen hours will be spent on the Eisteddfod. And remember, that's for one day.

(There are other similar festivals/shows that S4C provides similar coverage for. But as this is the next one coming up this is the one I'm using as the example)

Let me stress here. I'm not saying that S4C should not provide blanket coverage of the festival. It's in it's DNA it has to do it. But the lack of a second Welsh Language channel means that there is no option for the fluent Welsh speaker, learner or Twilight zone intermediate like me in case we'd rather watch something else. In terms of TV (as I know there is an S4C catch-up service) it might actually mean that the viewer turns to an English language channel. Irony of ironies.

So in an age when TV channels emerge for no obvious reason whatsoever. A second Welsh channel would perform a public service for the Welsh language and would provide choice. Even if it was full of repeats..

Until the next time.

No Ms Morgan There Is No North/South Divide In Wales....Welsh Labour Has Failed EVERYWHERE

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The thing about leadership competitions for political parties where that party is also running the country is that candidates to be noticed don't really say "Let's keep things as they are. We're doing such good a job" but instead advocate even to the slightest level change.

So the contest to succeed Carwyn Jones as leader of Welsh Labour and therefore the next First Minister of Wales is no different in this regard. Already we have the current favourite and Corbyn disciple Mark "Red Cairns" Drakeford strongly suggest that Wales will become a lapdog of a London Labour government (as opposed to the Jones administration that basically worshipped on the altar of Blair).

Now another candidate Eluned Morgan has stated that should she win the contest that she'd create a minister for North Wales. Stating that there had been "a failure to connect" with parts of the North compared to other regions.

Let us for this post ignore the question of how administratively speaking she would be capable of doing this. After all surely that would involve stepping on the toes of other minister's responsibilities? Or is she actually proposing a devolution from a devolved assembly? It does for the moment seem like an idea that sounds good but is not thought through.

What it does reveal is that Carwyn Jones' "steady as she goes" policy of running Wales has been a failure and is now revealing itself to the nation as such. I've said before but I feel it's worth repeating that the First Minister's one real skill was as a politician and that left him after the death of Carl Sargeant.

What Ms Morgan is essentially saying is that Welsh Labour does not have a coordinated plan for North Wales. I'd argue that Welsh Labour does not have a coordinated plan for Wales as a whole.

I have never been to North Wales. But I live in South Wales and have regularly visited the West of the country. And what I can tell you is that areas of affluence are surpassed by areas of poverty or by areas that can be described as JAM (Just About Managing). Port Talbot, Bridgend, Ebbw Vale, The South Wales Valleys will all fall into these categories.

So indeed (taken as a whole) would Cardiff. Yes Cardiff. Relatively recently in this blog I've chatted about the decline of the city centre

These JAM areas would be venerable to an economic downturn. Like say a long dark hard Brexit of the soul. The sort of scenario that Welsh Labour has not planned for.

So you see Ms Morgan's idea fails because everywhere in Wales needs attention. Welsh Labour has failed everybody everywhere because of their arrogant incompetence. What Wales needs is a proper government for all of the people all of the time.

And currently it hasn't got it.

Until the next time.

If There Is A Dark Hard Brexit The First Group Of Writers To Suffer Will Be Those Most People Wouldn't Care About

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Regular readers of this blog will know that occasionally my brain will work from the most oddest of tangents and random thoughts just enter my head. Well you may remember that a few posts back I chatted about how Britain was in such a state of nervous breakdown now that if the government was stockpiling food in the event of a dark hard Brexit then I could seriously consider doing the same without being treated as alarmist. Also that in the event of a dark hard Brexit the most important writer would become Jack Monroe, as people would have to learn to cook with less choice available and probably at higher prices.

Now, as I said in that post, I don't belive a long dark hard Brexit of the soul will happen (not saying things are going to be better than staying in the EU mind) if only because of the electoral disaster that would await the Conservatives should it occur. But given that it's unquestionably a possibility and not that far away from a probability it's not unreasonable to think of the consequences of food shortages across Britain.

It occurred to me that in the event of a dark hard Brexit the first group of writers who will suffer would be.....restaurant critics.

Stands to reason really. After all in the event of food shortages restaurants would be affected. A lot would close down and probably none would open. After all most people would be unable to afford the rising prices and those that could would probably be too scared of being targeted by the hungry masses to go.

In that scenario how can you judge a restaurant without an adequate and regular supply of ingredients? It would be like watching Julius Ceaser without Brutus and Mark Anthony. The shell would be there but important ingredients would be missing.

Thing is of course most people wouldn't care. Partly because they would be too busy trying to survive themselves. But also because restaurant critics have the reputation of being London centric and elitist. I've no idea whether it's true or not but that's not the point. It's the perception.

I've reviewed in this blog an e book by the Observer Restaurant Critic Jay Rayner and liked it. But the above point didn't occur to me until now. I think the problem restaurant critics have is that unlike a movie or even a play the chances of most people being able to experience a particular place in London where you need a payday loan just for the starter would be extremely slim.

Possibly the best answer is that should there be no Brexit or at the very least a much softer one then papers and websites should consider a second critic, possibly in rotation. Perhaps people who would live in a town which for a Londoner would require a Satnav and a pack of huskies to visit. Who would chat about the local Italian or curry house. Who would look at the price and not necessarily the most expensive item on the menu. Who is not interested in the wine and would rather have cola without ice (why would I want diluted cola?).Who would wonder whether [insert food item here] goes with chips.

The number one critic goes for the headline establishments but this second group could go to places ordinary people could relate to.

Perhaps.

But restaurants and restaurant critics will have to survive Brexit first.

Until the next time.

Why Alun "Chucky" Cairns Will Probably Wish Geraint Thomas Hadn't Won the Tour De France

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I'm not going to lie. I don't really follow cycling. And if I do I'd only watch it on TV. Definitely wouldn't go and physically watch it unless I was at the end of the race. I mean what's the point? People on cycles whoosh in front of you and they're gone.

But having said all of the above everybody whatever their cycling knowledge has heard of the Tour De France and everybody in Wales yesterday probably watched Welshman Geraint Thomas win it. And people here are happy. A seemingly nice man has won a race in the pinnacle of his sport and in physically wrapping himself in the Welsh flag on the podium did not hide where he comes from.

And yet, there are possibly at least two people in Wales who when they think about it will regret Mr Thomas' victory. Soon to be ex First Minister and soon to be latest yesterday's man from Welsh Labour who failed Wales Carwyn Jones and Secretary of State for Wales and full stop to any sense of decency in Welsh politics Alun Chucky Cairns.

Why? You might ask. Well it's all to do with that bridge. The Second Severn crossing which at Chucky's prompting but with the First Minister's agreement (a fact that Cairns never let's anybody forget - you were played Carwyn you were well and truly played) was renamed The Prince of Wales Bridge thus enabling them to kiss royal backside. This despite the fact that polls in Wales showed an overwhelming majority did not approve of the name change and the way it was imposed on high (or in this case from low) by Chucky.

(And, as I mentioned previously, Cairns' response was that these polls were conducted only in Wales. Thus subconsciously possibly showing his true opinion for the office of Secretary of State.....for Wales)

The thing about renaming the bridge is this. For the most part Cairns has been Westminster's mouthpiece in Wales. This however was the only policy which you could believe was instigated by Chucky. So he's very protective of it.

Despite the opposition the change of name went through. One of the problems for it's opponents was that there was not a clear alternative that people could rally round.

Well I don't know who exactly started this on Twitter (not me) but now on my timeline I've seen people suggest that it should be renamed the Geraint Thomas bridge. This idea has legs (two of them) as well as a pair of wheels. After all Mr Thomas is Welsh, popular and the bridge has a cycle lane on it. So that with his achievement means that really no one should object.

Cairns of course will object. But he has a few problems. Firstly there is now a popular alternative name and secondly, as he himself showed in the change of name to the Prince Of Wales bridge, this can be done relatively quickly.

In fact when I was thinking this through there actually seemed one decent objection to this. Her name is Nicole Cooke. She is Welsh, a road cycle racer before her retirement at twenty nine but in her career was Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion. So in other words like Geraint Thomas she is a cyclist, reached the pinnacle of her sport and is Welsh and therefore just as entitled as him that the second Severn Crossing is named after her.

Then it occurred to me. The second Severn Crossing bridge is the second Severn Crossing Bridge. In other words there is the first one.

So why not start a campaign that the second Severn Severn Crossing bridge is named the Geraint Thomas bridge and the first one is named the Nicole Cooke bridge? Seems fair enough to me.

Now all we need is to find something to name Tanni Grey-Thompson and it will all seem complete for now.

If a bridge could bite a person in the backside then Cairns might just experience it.

Until the next time.

The Unionist's Red Herring Trick With Regard To Welsh Independence

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

A short post this. But something occurred to me which I felt I needed to write down. If you know it already ….apologies.

As I suspect regular readers will know. I enjoy Twitter. It's never a dull moment even when you're in argument with someone from across the globe.

Sometimes though it will even in the cause of arguments throw up issues that cannot be addressed properly in Twitter and need a longer platform to chat about it. So here is the latest one (though I must admit I've seen this before - just didn't consider writing about it).

I was arguing with someone on Twitter that, whilst acknowledging that the process would need planning and that mistakes will be made, Wales would be better as an independent nation. His response, basically was "but Wales would not be able to compete with the fifth largest economy" (England).

Now I didn't bother to check what he said about England being the fifth largest economy. That doesn't matter whether it's true or not. What this Unionist (and others I've seen) are trying to say is that a post independent Wales would be poorer compared to England.

The argument against it is simple. It really doesn't matter whether an independent  Wales would be poorer compared to England.

Because it's the wrong comparison.

The correct comparison is whether an independent Wales would be poorer compared to it's current position as Westminster serf. Any logical response would be yes. Remember Wales is currently low in many economic and social league tables whilst still part of the United Kingdom. Therefore a situation where Wales can improve it's own destiny can only be beneficial to the economy and the people living there.

So remember if a Unionist tries to put this comparison with England argument with you.

It's a trick.

Until the next time.

The Near Midnight Meanderings On A Movie With A Microwave Meal Part 3:On Deadly Ground (1994)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've not seen a lot of Steven Seagal movies. Largely because they came at a time when I realised that there was no chance I could save the [insert area here] from the clutches of villainous domination without getting damaged physically in the process. In other words I was getting older.

However there was one exception to this. Under Siege was the sort of film where as long you didn't take it seriously you would enjoy it. There was a sense of people enjoying themselves which no other movie I've seen with Seagal has.

(Also it was the first movie I ever saw where when there was a scene where Erika Eleniak was practically topless and my first thought was "Are they real?")

But it appeared after that Seagal movies reverted to type. Because with slight quirks On Deadly Ground is really no different to most of his other stuff.

Basically the movie is about Seagal trying to stop villainous oil baron Michael Caine from controlling the Alaskan oil pipeline and endangering the environment and the Eskimo community there.

Seagal in an expert on dealing with oil rig fires. So expert that in the beginning he resolves one whilst smoking. He can also fight. In an early scene he beats a guy up whilst saying "What does it take to change the essence of a man".....what?

And when I described Caine as villainous. Well that includes his performance in this as well. The greatest crime committed on this movie was not on the environment but by Caine getting money from the producers assuming he wouldn't (given it's 1994) fax it in. Really it wasn't so much hamming it but providing the whole pig. His accent is part American from goodness knows where and part Mockney Cockney. I'm sure somebody was offended by it. Me? I laughed

Let me rephrase this. Michael Caine. No, Sir Michael Caine, is the worst actor in a Steven Seagal movie.

Commercial Break Time: Surely the most smug man in ad land is the guy who thinks he's clever because he's hidden the smell of a bacon from a room with Febreeze and his girlfriend is puzzled because whilst the room is fresh smelling he's reeking of cooked pork?

Well my friend you shouldn't be so smug that you know how to use a Febreeze bottle. I bet your girlfriend does too. Also she will wonder whether if you can hide any unpleasant odours from a room there are other secrets you're not telling her and will leave you. Not so smug now eh?

In the movie you will get a lot on the Eskimo way of life. Well the Eskimo way of life as it appears in a Steven Seagal movie anyway. Was it genuine? Absolutely no idea.

But of course what you get in the end are fights. Unrealistic as it happens. You just looked at them and thought physically it was impossible. Also you'll get things blowing up. Yet Seagal and Joan Chen look as if nothing had happened. In the film Seagal will lecture on the environment, and yet I'm sure all of the explosions it produced didn't exactly help the Alaskan landscape.

An awful movie. Will cross it off the list. Won't see it again.

Until the next time.

This Is The Year I Understood TV Series Can Be Discovered Like Books....Years Later...By Accident....in A Flash

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I should have of course realised this earlier in the year. When on returning from hospital in Essex when my mother was unwell I would ping a microwave meal as was too bothered to watch anything else. Slump in front of the TV and surf any channel until the moment I discovered Bones. Slowly I was hooked even though it was a twelve year old series that had finished the year before. There I was though watching repeats on a remote channel and very late to the party. But in the party I was.

Thing is. When I was child there was just three channels (Yes I'm that old). So you had a good chance of seeing all of the latest series for a couple of episodes and making a decision on whether you wanted to continue. Nowadays however with the gazillion and one channels available even if you have every pay TV channel available plus Netflix and Amazon Prime most people still do not have the time to look at every available series.

So what that means is that rather like books there is now a greater chance that TV series can be discovered by accident.....which leads me to The Flash.

Daughter had series one on DVD and asked whether I wanted to watch it. As it was raining outside (the British summer at last!) and as I'd nothing better to do I said yes, though grudgingly. I was aware of the show though I'd avoided it given that this first series started in 2014 and I was then forty nine.

The other reason why I was so reluctant was that I remembered the reading the comic (now called graphic novels....please) as a child and I was at best neutral. I mean he could run fast. So what?Hardly Spiderman now is it?

Well...I loved it.

The plot is simple. Barry Allen is struck by lightening and with the help of others becomes The Flash in which he fights various super villains. Obviously more complicated than that but I don't want to spoil it for you.

Part of the reason I think why I liked it was that it television form it seemed to capture what the best American DC and Marvel comics could do which was to mix the realistic with the fantastic. You believe in the world you're seeing.

It is basically a comic book on screen. And (though this is the varifocal lens of my memory) it's better than the original comic.

It's also helped by some familiar screen faces. Jesse L Martin as the police detective and surrogate father to Barry was part of the Law team when Law and Order was in it's prime when he partnered with Jerry Orbach. Tom Cavanagh was also in Ed. A favourite of mine in the quiet humorous hometown style of Gilmore Girls.

If it was a choice between Bones and the Flash Bones would always win. But for a few moments escapism in the mad place called Britain right now you could do a lot worse.

Until the next time.

It's Mims O'clock Plus More On Why There Should Be A Boycott Of Virgin Media In Wales

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

If Plaid Cymru supporters feel a bit deflated by recent events. There are always the Conservatives ready to help out and remind them why they became members of the party and the second class (no third class really - Scots and the Northern Irish currently seem to get the better deals) that Wales has become.

Because of a ministerial reshuffle there was a vacancy in the Welsh Office. Who did Theresa May pick as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Wales? Well cometh the hour cometh the Mims o'clock in the form of English Conservative MP Mims Davies. And when I say "English Conservative MP" I mean to say "English Conservative MP for an English Constituency", Eastleigh

Other Welsh Conservative MPs were available. But apparently they were not good enough to meet the high exacting standards set by Theresa to work with the Conservative Cymru Chief Cheerleader that is Alun Chucky Cairns.

So then what are the Welsh qualifications that Ms Mims has that supplanted others you would have thought were better suited? Well apparently she "studied (Swansea University it appears) lived and worked there" according to her Twitter account.

That's rubbish. In fact that betrays her ignorance about Wales. I could say I lived in England until 1997, which is true. But it doesn't mean I have an expertise of England because I lived in London and Essex. So she might know about Swansea (though bet that's changed since she last went there) but what does she know about Wrexham? Or the South Wales Valleys? Or Anglesey?

The tweet that she "studied, lived and worked there" actually is quite damning therefore because it treats Wales as a region, when it's a country. Whether it's through ignorance or design it shows what a low opinion she actually has of Wales.

She also, and this needs to be noted, voted against more powers for Wales and for Wales to have a say in the Brexit negotiations (Like to be a fly on the wall when she speaks to Welsh Industry.

And it gets even worse than that. Because she will still be a government chief whip as well as a minister in the Welsh Office. It means that whilst (along with her constituency work) you can marvel at Ms Mims' multi-tasking skills the office of Under Secretary of State for Wales is a part time job.

The icing on the cake? On the same Twitter account she mentions the book she's packed on her recess trip Never Greener by Welsh comedy writer and actress Ruth Jones. I've never read it but I feel I have to now. This is the impression she's using of Wales then. I despair....then I get angry....which is why I joined Plaid Cymru.

I mentioned some months back that Virgin Media should be boycotted in Wales following it's decision to close down it's call centre in Swansea. Nothing changes from that view. Except I feel it even more every time I see a Virgin Media ad on the TV or on billboards or on Twitter. In fact on Twitter every time I see a Virgin Media ad I tweet back reminding them of the Swansea 800. Yes I troll them. Politely you understand, but yes I troll and am proud of it. They need to be constantly reminded of the misery they've caused. Personally I would encourage (politely I stress) other people to troll them as well.

Wales does not need Virgin Media. There are alternatives. They should be boycotted in Wales.

Plaid Cymru's Unexpected Problem

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Let me say first, before I say anything else, that this post is about the Simon Thomas situation as it relates to Plaid Cymru and that alone. No way am I seeking to undermine or belittle the allegations put against Mr Thomas. But as there is an ongoing police investigation I don't feel comfortable about discussing those at this particular time.

When the news first broke regarding Mr Thomas' resignation from the National Assembly and Plaid Cymru yesterday morning, there was in the beginning no background as to why. My and other Twitter reaction was one of shock. But if there was one thing I knew immediately it was that there was no political motive to the resignation. Because if that had been the case he would have waited until after the Plaid Cymru leadership election had completed.

Not in a million years though would I have assumed the background to his resignations was what it's turned out to be.

With regard to Plaid Cymru the Twitter reaction from supporters was one of shock (that included me). From non supporters there seemed to be something approaching tempered glee. I saw a tweet that suggested Plaid were "in disarray" at the moment.

Plaid Cymru is not in disarray. But like all parties with a forthcoming leadership election it is in a state of flux. Whilst I've made it clear in this blog that I feel the leadership election is unnecessary and that I'm a supporter of Leanne Wood nobody could have foreseen this turn of events (except possibly Mr Thomas himself). In terms of timing this probably could not have come at a more difficult moment for Plaid. Though of course that's unimportant given the seriousness of the issue.

So Plaid Cymru might receive a short term hit on this given the obvious bad publicity. But in politics the party is eventually always more powerful than the individual. What the membership will need to do though is once the result of the leadership election is known is to show immediate and genuine loyalty towards the person elected as leader. It will be that unity that will see Plaid through a difficult patch which the Simon Thomas situation has added to.

And it will be that unity which will make us face the main enemies of Conservative and Corbyn colonialism with confidence.

Until the next time.

Climate Change: Through The Medium Of A Post Pub Lunch Walk In Southerndown

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well yesterday the wife's birthday went well. We decided to drive along the countryside of the Vale of Glamorgan and find an isolated pub for lunch. That was the plan. But through a combination of missed turnings, packed car parks and a pub too close to the effects of the muck spreading season to enjoy breathing let alone food we eventually found ourselves in the small village of Southerndown. Not that far away from Bridgend.....where we used to live....yes I know.

Our meal was at the Three Golden Cups. Daughter and me has lasagne and chips. Wife had a chicken and leek pie with vegetables. We loved it. Once we finished though we felt that a post lunch walk was needed before we did anything else (that anything else turned out to be a quick trip to Lidls).

From where we had our meal the sea was close. In normal times we knew that it was prone to being extremely windy because of it (there's a golf course in the village - that must be fun in bad weather). But as it was still heatwave (a little cooler but that's just in comparison) week five these times in oh so many ways could not be described as normal.

Anyway we decided to have a walk from the pub to the cliff edge overlooking the beach.

So let's start with a view of the sea once you crossed the road from the pub.

Very Bright. Very Med looking

And there's this as we walked along

Really you can expect a shepherd walking along with his flock shortly

As we approached the sea it was the clearest blue.

Remember this is the South of Wales not the South of France

And for the most stunning picture I took of the day I give you this.

Breathe Deeply

The sign in Welsh incidentally is warning people to be careful of the cliff edge. And then gives people the number of the local Samaritans. Which obviously and sadly speaks for itself.

So then you will ask. Why have I bothered to write about a short walk on a hot day in a little village in South Wales? Am I being smug? Well look again at the pictures. They have something in common.

The grass is not the green, green grass of home.

The grass is drought yellow.

Here's one last picture.

Farmyard Animals Eating Off The Scraps Of Grass They Can Find

This is not the South of Texas folks. This is South Wales. If this continues it will get worse for us all.

Something is very, very wrong.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Meanderings Post: Wife's Birthday Special Midweek Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well, though it's too early in the morning, is the wife's birthday. She's asleep. As is daughter. Nothing to do until either of them wake up (or if I did do anything it would be likely I'd wake that I might wake them up). So here I am tapping away.

We are, both of us, not of an age to go out in the evenings normally. So the plan is for us (plus daughter) to have lunch in one of the pleasant pubs in the Vale of Glamorgan countryside. It is dull I'd admit but it is a plan. And let's face it Tuesdays is not the best day for your birthday to fall on.

Yesterday I wrote about the oncoming possibility of a dark hard Brexit making me seriously consider stockpiling food. I mentioned that if there were food shortages there might be civil unrest. Well let's be clearer about it. I see three possible sources of civil unrest. From the hungry, from the far right and from those angered that Brexit has not turned out to be what the Leave campaign promised. To those high profile Brexiteers I say this. Hire security guards. Because trust me you will be hated. I'm not advocating violence. But when you see the possibility of something happening you should not avoid mentioning it either.

Mind you I have a plan for Boris Johnson. Perhaps he should have straight swap with Iran for Nazarin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the journalist imprisoned there whose case he bungled. Win win I'd say. He wouldn't be missed.

By the way with regard to Boris Johnson and David Cameron shouldn't Eton apologise for their education of them given how rubbish to the United Kingdom they've turned out to be?

And according to an article in the Daily Mirror the world's Most Wanted could slip into Britain in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Economic turmoil, food shortages and criminal gangs. Brexit seems to get better and better and better!

For Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales the option of independence is there. Something not available for England. Which is why if a hard Brexit occurs England will be the country at most risk of takeover from the far right.

Listening to France Musique at the moment. Make that what you will Brexiteers. Yesterday whilst of the nation was watching Love Island I was listening to (amongst others) a song called "Reggae Cymraeg" on  Radio Cymru. Make that what you will.

This is the week of the Royal Welsh Show. A few weeks time it'll be the Eisteddford in Cardiff (I'll be going to that). Aside from the Welsh element what's the connection? That they will have a lot of coverage on the Welsh language channel S4C. Now I'm not saying they shouldn't have this coverage but that it illustrates again the need for S4C to have another channel. If you're not interested in agricultural shows (two thumbs pointed at this guy) there is no Welsh language alternative on TV. You have to go on demand instead.

Remember the posts I wrote about the dumping of radioactive mud from the Hinckley Point nuclear power station to Cardiff Bay? Well apparently the Welsh Labour government has offered to take in any nuclear waste from anywhere in the disunited kingdom. Leaving aside the implications of yet again Welsh Labour has allowed bad things to happen to Wales the first real question is Where will this waste go to? We should be told. And I tell you what. I'll be in any demonstration against it (for what my presence is worth).

Well wife's awake now....here we go..."Happy Birthday to you....Happy.." Well you know the tune.

Until the next time.

Britain 2018: Where You Can Seriously Ask The Question Whether You Should Stock Up On Food And Whether The Jack Monroe Doctrine Is To Be Followed

Hello there.. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it's Britain 2018. Come March 2019 it leaves the EU and slowly, in drip by drip form the Dark Brexit scenario comes into play as it's predictors have explained.

Now as I've said before I don't belive a Dark Hard Brexit will come. If only because the consequences for the governing Conservative party would be disasterous (doesn't mean life will be better than when were in the EU mind. That I don't believe.).Still when reports come in of a shortage of fuel, factory closures and Amazon suggesting that in a worst case scenario there could be civil unrest then you need to sit up and take notice.

But of all the consequences of a hard Brexit that has made the news recently it's the idea of food shortages that has really made the headlines. The idea that shop shelves will be bare come April next year. Indeed the UK government are building up a stockpile of food in preparedness for a hard Brexit.

This action by the government begs the question. If they can stockpile food. Then why can't I?

I've even worked on the plan. From this month I'd buy five items a week to hoard. For the moment it would be just canned items but as March moves closer other things will be included. That way if Dark Hard Brexit does come then at least for a few weeks myself and the family would be covered.

Also if there is a Dark Hard Brexit then I'd give one fifth of the hoarded stockpile to a foodbank. Because the consequences to the poorest in our society will be disastrous. And if we're talking about civil unrest that's where it will start. Because a hungry people will be an angry people.

(And if the Brexit is soft by the way I'd give all the stockpile to the foodbank)

Now I haven't done this yet. But the fact that I can seriously consider it to the point of planning without being considered a madman tells you all you need to know about Britain today under the Conservatives.

Which leads us to talk about cookery writer Jack Monroe. Whose struggles looking after a young son lead her make imaginative recipes with basic ingredients on the most smallest of budgets. Her first cookery book was called A Girl Called Jack, which I bought and like most of the cookery books I have was promptly put to one side as I succumbed to the seductive charms of ready meals and the microwave.

But the thing is this. Initially Ms Monroe's books appealed to those on low incomes. If however there is a Dark Hard Brexit then she will find a whole new audience in people who might be just about managing but are struggling to find ingredients even if the prices were reasonable.

So there is a good chance that post Brexit Ms Monroe will find herself the go to cookery writer of the moment (after all in a Dark Hard Brexit world few of us could go Nigella). Which then led me to think that perhaps the best thing to do would be to practice.

What I'm going to do is to go through all her recipes and see whether I can get the ingredients in either Penarth or Barry Town (I live between both) and what happens when I cook them. If you expect an ingredient list or a blow by blow account of the recipe then you'll be disappointed as that's her copyrighted work. But what I want to see is in a Dark Hard Brexit world whether the family can adapt to this most different kind of cookbook. Because in that scenario it has to until goodness knows when.

In a Dark Hard Brexit Ms Monroe has the potential of being, not just the most important cookery writer but the most important writer of the moment.

That's why the Jack Monroe doctrine is important.

Until the next time.

Let's Be Clear. Libraries Should Not Be Part Of A Capitalist Jungle. Even An Amazonian One

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As regular readers of this blog will know I have an Amazon Kindle and I'm not afraid to use it. Equally readers also know I'm a proud library card user and I'm not afraid to use that either, Perhaps that's what drew me to an article I saw on Twitter in Forbes online by Panos Mourdoukoutas entitled Amazon Should Replace Local Libraries To Save Taxpayers' Money (https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2018/07/21/amazon-should-replace-local-libraries-to-save-taxpayers-money/#2d4c7fee60a8).

Now at time of writing there are no Amazon bookshops in Britain (which is what he proposes to replace the library). But still libraries are under constant attack and are always the ones venerable to closure in the name of "austerity cuts". So using his article to defend the library service is I suspect an issue which crosses the Atlantic so here goes.

There is firstly a principle here. And that is the library is part of the community and because it is part of the community people trust it. No private company would have that trust. They would be in fact the Gatekeeper of knowledge for the very people who would need it the most. And when I say Gatekeeper it's in the Sandra Bullock film The Net sense of the word.

Despite what Mr Mourdoukoutas would imply I suspect that people enjoy walking into libraries and discovering a book to borrow. Discovering a book is one of life's quiet little pleasures. And people still borrow "physical" books. Who knows what the future brings but for the moment the reports of the death of the physical book are greatly exaggerated.

And some people don't have internet access at home. The library, and by definition the physical book provides a world of entertainment and information (ditto borrowing DVDs in the worlds of Amazon Prime and Netflix) and of course provides internet access.

He mentions places like Starbucks as where people hang out as something the library has replaced. Perhaps. But until I've seen a Starbucks where unemployed people are helped in their CVs for example I know which building helps the community more.

He refers to the Amazon online library. In Britain you have to be an Amazon Prime member to take advantage of it. That costs £80 a year. Where are the figures in the article to say using an Amazon bookshop would be cheaper than using a public library?

A library is an important resource. To lose it damages a community even in this digital day and age. Who knows what the future will bring. But for the moment it's worth fighting for in it's present form and I'd happily fight for the good fight in it's name.

Until the next time.

Alun Chucky Cairns: Secretary Of State For Only Wales

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As regular readers of this blog will know, Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns is a blog villain from the moment he called Italians greasy wops. So don't expect calm unemotional words about this man from this blogger who has Italian ancestry.

This morning the poison dwarf was interviewed on BBC Sunday Politics programme which I caught whilst channel surfing. He was asked about the naming of the Second Severn Crossing to the Prince Of Wales bridge (which I've discussed on the blog previously) and the opinion polls showing unpopularity for the name change despite previously claiming that he represented the "silent majority" who supported it.

The response of Ant brain was stunning. These polls were carried out he said only in Wales.

And whilst this needs to be dissected. Let's be absolutely clear here. How many people saw that and wondered whether Chucky was also referring to his ministerial job.

But anyway let's examine it. And it won't take long. When he said that "silent majority" remark I doubt that there was anybody who didn't assume he was talking about Wales. So his sudden consideration for English opinion has a credibility problem even if it is true.

And what if the opinion on the other side of the bridge is different?  So what? If there was a poll on a GB football team the results could be different for each home nation but they wouldn't be lumped together to make the majority view. Each nation's views would hold equal weight. Same with this bridge that straddles England and Wales. Chucky should know this and probably does but seeks to avoid this because it doesn't fall within his narrative. After all his job is Secretary Of State for "Only Wales".

His job is to fight for the interests of people in Wales. Not for his own self interests in defending his career.

Before I can make a suggestion on how we can all help Chucky with his ministerial ambitions (sarcasm a go-go) let me make one other point. Quite obviously deliberately Chucky made it clear that the decision for the name change had the full support of the Welsh government and can't give a damn anymore soon to be ex First Minister and Demob happy Carwyn Jones. You cannot escape the feeling that Jones was played by Chucky Cairns. A small footnote for the First Minister's political career, but a telling one nonetheless.

What I believe is that Chucky's heart is not in the ministerial post he's in. He wants to bestride the world stage like a colossus and not the pygmy state he's currently feeling. So perhaps we could all remind him of his actual job by calling him the Secretary of State For Only Wales from now on.

Just a suggestion.

Until the next time.

Why Jack Reacher Author Lee Child Should Understand Readers Are Gamblers Of The Mind

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've only ever read one Lee Child novel featuring his bestselling character Jack Reacher. The first in the series in fact. It was alright. Though I didn't see anything special. Still I've other books of his to read so who knows what I'd feel after that.

However I discovered on Twitter that he complained about readers moaning about the standard price of books where they would be prepared to pay roughly the same amount on two large cups of coffee.

It got me thinking. I knew Mr Child was wrong. But I couldn't put my mind to it. Then it came to me.

When a reader buys a book he/she are gamblers of the mind.

If you buy a cup of coffee unless you try one of the coffee houses "experimental" drinks (coconut coffee anyone? Not for me) you know what you're buying. You know what you're expecting. There are no surprises/shocks because what you're seeking is the taste you already know.

When you the reader buy a book however, especially with a writer you've never read before. Then you've acted as if you've put some literary chips on red number 15  in a casino. You don't know until the book is finished whether you have liked it, hated it, or in this case of the Lee Child novel I read, neutral about it.

And so that's why price matters to a reader. He/she has a limited budget so wants to spend the money wisely on a book that gives him/her the best chance that when finished will be a good experience. So no reader wants to buy an expensive book that he/she is unsure whether will be liked at the end of it.

So Mr Child books are a gamble for the budget. Coffee is not because you know what you're getting. And I'll remember that next time one of your novels comes up on the pile of the great unread.

Until the next time.

When Welsh Labour Blames Welsh Labour For Cuts In Public Spending Then Welsh Labour Is To Blame. Welcome to Bridgend (Plus The Latest Trip Around The Town)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I have in this blog chatted about Bridgend Council's public service cuts. Well on Friday came a report in Wales Online that if they have to face further financial demands from the Welsh Government then they will "think the unthinkable" in terms of cuts in order to balance the books.

Now whoever is to blame for this situation is a matter for debate. And as I've said in the past Welsh Labour have managed Bridgend with arrogant incompetence. What is clear though is this. If one part of Welsh Labour (the council) blames another part of Welsh Labour (the national government) then Welsh Labour is responsible for the situation in Bridgend.

I suspect that Bridgend Labour Council are using the old trick of ramping up the worst possible situation so that if cuts still occur they will be less than what was originally proposed but still worse than previously. Still let's assume that they completely Brigxit from reality.

The proposals include:

Closure Of The Bridgend Town Bus Station: I must admit to not having mentioned the bus station in the past and that was remiss of me. Because it's quite exceptional. It's modern, effiencient and impressive. If the town matched the bus station then Bridgend town would be an urban legend instead of an urban tragedy...….and the council would consider closing it down?.....insanity on the proportions of locking it up in a straight jacket in a padded cell.

Closing it down would also be a false economy. After all potential for people to come to Bridgend town and spend money would be reduced. And as we've chatted about time and time again Bridgend Town needs the money.

An impressive place

Closing Libraries:/Community Centres Which I would suspect be in relatively isolated areas. Thus depriving communtinites of knowledge, entertainment and help. Depriving children of more books to read, of the unemployed access to the internet. But hey. Labour is "for the many"

Closing nursery education for Three Year Olds/ Closing Daycare Centres For Adults With Learning Disabilities/Older People: You may remember previously in this blog I remarked that this year's cuts from the council were designed to protect vuncerable people? Well that's gone for the future apparently

Reduced Road Sweeping In The Town : Another false economy. Nothing attracts visitors to a town like litter.

And so it continues.

What it means is that Bridgend thanks to Welsh Labour could be reduced from madness to despair to desolation....for the many.

Now for reasons I won't bore you with I spent most of Saturday morning in Bridgend Town. I thought my next proper visit wouldn't be till September. But I'd forgotten about something so today I was there. Let's begin with the four things I regularly visit.

The old Mcdonalds site: Machinery still there. No apparent change from my last visit. Nothing seems to have been built.

The Nolton Street Arcade: No change here either. Every shop in the arcade other than the two by Nolton street itself is empty.

Bridgend Indoor Market: No change re Christmas decorations. Still up there. Person I tried to get to help me on this said there was nothing he could do that I've not already done to try and get them taken down (in let's face it July) but suggested to see what would happen when the new plan to revitalise the market comes into place. This I will do. Will wait to January and try again. (more about decorations in a moment).

Now the market had more occupancy than normal. But that was because there was a craft fair for the day so that there were temprorary stalls. Seemingly no change for the moment in the permanent state of the place.

With regard to the plan I've promised not to discuss this until September as I won't step on the work of another blogger. What I will say is that it actually seems like a good plan to my unqualified eye. But with one major flaw. No plan, however good enough, will work if people are not attracted to come to the town. Hence the idea of closing the bus station down is not just a false economy, but simply mad.

Phones4U: Whilst yet to surpass the McDonalds record of seventeen years left to rot in the town centre after having closed down come September it will reach four years. Interestingly was able to take a picture of what it's like inside.

Eerie

You can imagine on Halloween the ghosts of Phones4U salespeople trying to flog the latest oyster mobile at you or explaining the glories of 3G.

In terms of shops there doesn't appear to be much of a change since the last time I was in the town. The vast swathes of empty shops are still there.

(As a quick aside in the public meeting with Leanne Wood I posted about a few weeks back there were people lamenting about the state of Pontypridd Town. I told them that compared to Bridgend Town Ponty was like the West End of London).

On the plus side I noticed that there was a branch of The Works there. This was significant because I cannot remember the last time (other than a seller of second hand tablets etc) a high street chain came to Bridgend since ASDA about five to seven years ago.

However there seems to be a rule in Bridgend Town that when one shop opens another closes.

An unpleasant surprise

This Café has been there since at least 2000 when we moved into the area. There were signs basically saying bailiffs came in to repossess the place.

And to show how sudden this was here's a picture of it from the inside.

Sad

I was going to have breakfast there. As it happened I went to the Dragon Café in Nolton Street. Did a little reading.

Wish I Could Say I Liked The Book

So far Mr Williams has revealed himself as a fan of Empire and tolerant (though not approving of) a colour bar in drinking establishments. This is not going well.

Unlike the breakfast.

All this for £4.60

Best fry-up breakfast I've had in a while.

Now there was a classic car show in Bridgend Town. When I say " Car Show " I mean people parked old cars in some streets, made jokes about gaskets and were still cleaning their cars in case the odd speck of dust hit their vehicles. Still I get a passion is a passion and so prepare for car porn. Though looking at the cars that interested me I suspect I'm softcore.

Austin Wolseley

Morris Minor ….ahh

Bet this frightened criminals

I have this theory that Fords become interesting when they're no longer in production

It is difficult to make a proper comment on the number of people who came yesterday to the town given the craft fair and the car show but perhaps two pictures might illustrate the problems it has. Around 11:30 at (I think) Wyndham Street . This is the picture of people on one side looking at the cars.

Popular

And this is the picture a few seconds later on the other side.

Says It All

One final thing you might have noticed that in the last two pictures there is bunting that's actually across the town. It was put up for a World War Two VE party celebration they did in May. And it's not been put down. Is this another Bridgend Labour Council cut? Put decorations up but don't bother to take them down again? We'll see in September.

Bridgend....thanks to Welsh Labour....misery for the many...not the few.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac (Just) Meanderings Post : Welsh Heatwave Edition Part 4!!!

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As I'm writing this it's 6:07am which is rather late for my normal insomniac posts (though have been unwillingly awake for about an hour) but as for reasons I won't bore you with am unable to post something tomorrow and though I will post something Sunday it won't be early in the morning so I thought well might as well do it today.

And yes there is still a heatwave. Some days are hotter than others but it's still there. Relentless. And the thing is we're getting used to it. Mind you have seen the weather for next week....and it's going to be hotter.

And more and more the issue about Welsh water being used to supply England comes into the fore. Let's be clear here. Whoever (and it wasn't me) who said that water was a Welsh natural resource and could be used as a catalyst for Welsh nationalism in the same way that North sea oil helped the SNP in showing that Scotland could survive as a nation was onto something. Again it appears that Welsh resources are being ripped apart to sustain England. It's already causing resentment. And it will fester.

It seems (just to borrow the BBC Radio Wales line about the World Cup) the water's all English now.

Just imagine a scenario where many Welsh people find it difficult to pay their household bills but find Welsh water flowing into England. That will create social unrest. Wales could be the first country in Europe where political change was caused by water, and by definition climate change.

There has been a debate in Wales about the change of place names from Welsh into English. People (rightly) see it as an act of vandalism on the Welsh heritage. Just to add a small twopennyworth into this I'll say this. Surely the proof it's a conspiracy is that often the English name has no connection with the area either. "Happy Donkey Hill" or "Lake Australia! anyone?

I have a cold. Don't think it's hay fever. Just a cold. Serious enough of course. I am a man.

Came home from work last night to find Blair being interviewed on Newsnight. Let's be clear (I think I've written this before but it's worth repeating). His youthful looks and voice have gone. No one trusts him. A minority worship on his altar. Most hate him. The power of the painting in the attic has long since gone. The man is Dorian Grey personified

Quick Welsh political news: Former Conservative leader Andrew R T Davies and Andrea Leadsom Leader of the House Of Commons are hosting a dinner in the Copthorne hotel Cardiff on the 26th July.

My first thought when I heard this was that was interesting that a revival of Little and Large was taking place. Though in the cause of gender equality Ms Ledsom was taking the Sid Little part (an improvement let's be clear on her current role as glorified office manager).

It costs £30 for this experience. Something I probably would describe as danger money. The other question is why Alun "Chucky" Cairns, Secretary of State For Wales and man I would trust about as far as I could see him isn't attending. So unlike him not to appear in a pointless costly occasion.

Plaid Cymru are doing well in recent council by elections (which is pleasing to see). The sooner this leadership election is dealt with the better.

With my West Ham United cap on let me say the signing of Jack Wilshire bothers me. With the one exception of John Hartson I cannot think of a single ex Arsenal player in my lifetime whose performance was just as good in the claret and blue. We shall see. But I have my worries.

Tomorrow wife, daughter and other female friends will be going to see the sequel to Mamma Mia. I should let you in on a secret. When I was younger I liked ABBA. Now I've moved to neutrality. Whereas now I'm far more of a classical and Easy Listening guy. Is that an age or gender thing? I don't know.

Let me leave you with this opinion.

Dean Martin was a better singer than Frank Sinatra.

Anyway time to go.

Until the next time (that being Sunday)

Reading Gore In Heat

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So.I've finished this.

Really Not Worth The Effort

I had mentioned before that this was the most dull book I'd read in a long while. Not dull in this sense of too intellectual. Just plain dull.

A lot of this novel is just men talking. For a novel on American political life some were real people, others could have been real people but in all honesty I could not be bothered in the first place.

This was the novel as a sleeping pill....which was a problem.

For I was outside my daughter's school on the penultimate day of term. You could tell it was the last week before the summer holiday's by virtue of the fewer number of cars of parents waiting for their kids.

Let me tell you that there is few things worse for the reader than having to continue going through a book he/she dislikes knowing that there was nothing else to do until the children came out (I say children one of the most disconcerting things about secondary school kids nowadays is that those in their later years are taller and seemingly more confident than you).

Partly due to the continuing and freaky hot weather in Wales (which was so hot my T-shirt was feeling wet at the back) and the book I really felt like nodding off. But I couldn't of course, just in case daughter was embarrassed. I tell you though it was close.

So my advice to readers on this book is this. Don't bother reading it. And if you've been blackmailed into doing so. Don't read it on a hot day whilst you're doing the school run.

Until the next time.