What a song. As you can probably tell, I've tapped into the Manics again. Big time. Review of the new album coming soon!
Yesterday I finally broke through what has been an inpenetrable barrier for weeks and weeks - I have actually been called back by a company for a further assessment for a job vacancy. It was for a graduate trainee job at the Vale of Glamorgan council, and I am glad because it was one of the main jobs I really wanted. It was the assessment centre day yesterday and I am hopeful to get to the next stage, the interview. Here's my fingers crossed - but if anaything, at least I have the confidence I once had instilled back into me. There was a time where I honestly thought no-one was even giving me a chance, but now I hope that with this opportunity I will go on and work harder at improving my approach to vacancies in the event of not making the grade here.
This is a post in dedication of Dale who requested that I write another blog as it has 'been a while' and I should take the plunge and go 'daily'. I have a lot of respect for those people who regularly maintain their blogs on a daily basis, but I just can't do it! I know I have discussed the role of my blog on One Man once before but I just don't 'blog' like that. I try to post every week without fail, mainly with an anecdote of the past seven days or maybe some topic I have been thinking about which I a particular urge to write about. I'm sorry Dale, as much as it has indeed helped with the TTFE history project, I just cannot do what you do with an log of every day events!
One topic which has got me down was the announcement that the 'rainbow coalition' in Cardiff Bay has been shot down by the Lib Dems. Lembit Opik... oh wait not him, despite being the Welsh Leader of the Liberal Democrats he is an MP... Mike German, announced late last night that the party's interests now lie in the opposition and not in government. Even as a conservative, I did think that the rainbow was the way to go - Welsh politics needs to enter a new era after eight years of pitiful Labour rule at Crickhowell House. Now it looks like Mr Morgan will get his throne and septor back, we can look towards another four years of pitiful rule. Thanks a lot! If one good thing has come of this it is the Conservatives renewed attitude of the Welsh Assembly. Their unanimous decision to support the coalition is an example that the Welsh Conservatives have finally come around to the idea of the assembly, and that it is here to say. As a real advocate of Welsh devolution this can only be a good thing for Welsh politics and the healing of a Welsh Conservative party in a land still scarred by Thatcher.
Before I get any stick concerning the 2007 Champions Legaue Final I will get in first - it took a deflection to beat us? C'mon, we dominated the game! We just didn't take our chances and maybe Bellers should have had a go. But I do concede that Pippo was on fire last night and his second goal was pretty sweet. Just like revenge really.
To end this 'weekly' post I feel that in the spirit of the filming of the 'The Edge of Love' in New Quay (yes there is a space, I'm talking about the Welsh one in Ceredigion!) I should really pay homage to Dylan Thomas, one of Wales' finest poets. You may have heard that beauties Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley have recently been in the coastal town filming for the new film, based on the love triangle which surrounded the fine wordsmith. So here for your literary pleasure, here is a poem from Thomas which I particularly enjoy:
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To Others than You
Friend by enemy I call you out.
You with a bad coin in your socket,
You my friend there with a winning air
Who palmed the lie on me when you looked
Brassily at my shyest secret,
Enticed with twinkling bits of the eye
Till the sweet tooth of my love bit dry,
Rasped at last, and I stumbled and sucked,
Whom now I conjure to stand as thief
In the memory worked by mirrors,
With unforgettably smiling act,
Quickness of hand in the velvet glove
And my whole heart under your hammer,
Were once such a creature, so gay and frank
A desireless familiar
I never thought to utter or think
While you displaced a truth in the air,
That thought I loved them for their faults
As much as for their good,
My friends were enemies on stilts
With their heads in a cunning cloud.
By Dylan Thomas
Dw i eisiau bod yn Gymro
Jen and I enjoyed watching a excellent programme of 'O Blaen dy Lygaid' where it described the extraordinary relocation of Chris Cope, an ordinary American man from Minnesota, who had learnt Welsh online and fulfilled his desire to move to Cardiff. The programme looked at the highs and lows of such a giant leap into the unknown, from starting at Welsh degree at Cardiff University and the prospect of being the 'outsider'. His courage to do something of this kind is truly astounding.
My failure to complete the same course a few years back when compared to this gentleman's efforts certainly puts me to shame. I have mixed feelings about dropping Welsh at university. I am glad in a way that I dropped it to pursued history greater in depth and as a result, I have taken a further qualification in politics, which i probably wouldn't have done. At the same time, I have let my desire to learn Welsh wane and wane, too frightened to use it as my confidence is still rocked from the experience. But overall, I feel sorry for myself - I walked away from a challenge; turned my tail and ran when I needed to stick with it and overcome my fears to get something. I failed myself.
Well done Chris - I hope that one day in the future I can emulate the same courage and get the hiraeth again.
My failure to complete the same course a few years back when compared to this gentleman's efforts certainly puts me to shame. I have mixed feelings about dropping Welsh at university. I am glad in a way that I dropped it to pursued history greater in depth and as a result, I have taken a further qualification in politics, which i probably wouldn't have done. At the same time, I have let my desire to learn Welsh wane and wane, too frightened to use it as my confidence is still rocked from the experience. But overall, I feel sorry for myself - I walked away from a challenge; turned my tail and ran when I needed to stick with it and overcome my fears to get something. I failed myself.
Well done Chris - I hope that one day in the future I can emulate the same courage and get the hiraeth again.
Bored in the month of May
Its been an interesting May so far I guess. We have elected a new Welsh Assembly, but so far we have no idea who will actually run the country as the coalition talks go on and on. There was no way we were ever going to oust Lorraine Barrett from her seat here in Cardiff South and Penarth, but at least it was a close contest here in the constituency where the Senedd actually stands. So another victory for Labour, but at least their support here is not completely unwavering. Well done to all those who did vote by the way!
The new Manics CD is out and I am still undecided on it to be honest. I'm going to review it real soon.
I am still looking for jobs and as the title suggests, the search has taken its toll on me. I am just so bored now, and becoming almost robotic in punching out form after form, CV after CV, attached with covering letter after covering letter. This rambling is not new for any of you I'm sure but to be honest, it isn't new for me either!
It is this boredom which has prompted me to do something else whilst I plod on with the job hunt. I am currently writing a dissertation/extended essay on the history of TTFE, the beloved football institution and community that I have been a part of for just over three years. It all started when I dug out one of the old forums we used in 2004 and noticed how things have changed. Being the historical enthusiast and political animal that I am, I decided to embark on a project into how TTFE has changed over the years - complete with the debates, the attitudes of the times and the new faces that we have welcomed over the years. So far I have written the first chapter and have written a good 5,000 words, but I know and my next two chapters will be substantially longer than that, not to mention the conclusion and the several appendices I plan to include! Everyday this essay is turning into a book and its life span keeps extending with each passing paragraph. But this is not to say I am daunted by the size of the project - no no, its been liberating; I have really been able to keep my writing skills fresh, not to mention the prospect of improving them (looking at the old forum made me realise how bad my writing used to be). It has also been met with the full support of TTFE which has also made me all the more eager to get on with it. Check out the progress at the home of the TTFE.
The new Manics CD is out and I am still undecided on it to be honest. I'm going to review it real soon.
I am still looking for jobs and as the title suggests, the search has taken its toll on me. I am just so bored now, and becoming almost robotic in punching out form after form, CV after CV, attached with covering letter after covering letter. This rambling is not new for any of you I'm sure but to be honest, it isn't new for me either!
It is this boredom which has prompted me to do something else whilst I plod on with the job hunt. I am currently writing a dissertation/extended essay on the history of TTFE, the beloved football institution and community that I have been a part of for just over three years. It all started when I dug out one of the old forums we used in 2004 and noticed how things have changed. Being the historical enthusiast and political animal that I am, I decided to embark on a project into how TTFE has changed over the years - complete with the debates, the attitudes of the times and the new faces that we have welcomed over the years. So far I have written the first chapter and have written a good 5,000 words, but I know and my next two chapters will be substantially longer than that, not to mention the conclusion and the several appendices I plan to include! Everyday this essay is turning into a book and its life span keeps extending with each passing paragraph. But this is not to say I am daunted by the size of the project - no no, its been liberating; I have really been able to keep my writing skills fresh, not to mention the prospect of improving them (looking at the old forum made me realise how bad my writing used to be). It has also been met with the full support of TTFE which has also made me all the more eager to get on with it. Check out the progress at the home of the TTFE.
What a maniac!
Here's a great clip with Jen in mind. She adores Top Gear and I though of her when I saw this great skit about how law enforcing speed cameras really are! If you are interested in some 'speed camera politics' from the Top Gear Trio, click here. Enjoy!
A Weekend In The City
This post is entitled after the recently released Bloc Party CD which is ab fab. Silent Alarm was a breakthrough album which blew my mind so to hear A Weekend In The City and admit it is perhaps even better than their first offering, it must be good. It is sooo in-depth, so melancholy, yet so real and hard-hitting, and topical. The Prayer and Song For Clay are just brilliant songs. The 'City' in question is actually London, which was funny really because....
...that's exactly where Jen and I went last weekend for a theatre break. It wasn't long ago that I ordered it for her Xmas present! My my, how time has flown by! We stayed in Greenwich in a very nice hotel and we tubed it in (by the way, the tube was new to me so I was amazed by the whole experience) whenever we went into Central London.
Firstly we went on the London Eye - a fantastic experience not for the faint hearted! It was an incredible view at the top! Then we went into Madame Tussauds, which I thought was going to be massively tacky - if you are indeed an avid One Man fan, you will know my thoughts of celebrity on this island. However I was swayed by the wonderful craftsmanship of the figures, especially the Michael Caine, the Sean Connery and the Tom Jones! I had mixed feelings when Jen finally met her dream husband too, the lovable rogue that is Captain Jack Sparrow. But she seemed to be happy anyhow! After that we wondered around Covent Garden and I began to appreciate how relaxed London can be.
The next day we head straight to the Tower of London to beat the crowds and I think we timed it just right busywise. It was very interesting with lots to see; we could have easily spent a day there! I particularly enjoyed the roleplay the actors played out involving Gryffydd ap Llywelyn, one of the last Welsh princes, who was being held in the tower. When Jen and I announced that we could speak Welsh they kind of ignored us, assuming that the actor who played Gryffydd was English! After that we ventured over Tower Bridge (saw it open up too) then went to Regent St and Piccadilly Circus (Jen got to look for bears in Hamleys!), and then a quick whistle stop tour of Marble Arch and Buckingham Palace before we got ready for the show in the evening. The musical we were to see was 'The Sound of Music', which i admit I had watched only once before. The show was brilliant - Connie Fisher, the winner of the TV reality show, was very good. However you have to give it up for Lesley Garrett on her last night and the Von Trapp children who were also very good.
On the Sunday we left for home with a few detours on the way. Firstly we went to Windsor where had a good walk around and picnicked in the sun with some food we bought in Lewisham. Eton was not just expensive in price - it felt expensive. It felt wrong walking down the streets, like someone was going to spring a road tax on you or something! The castle was great too. After that we meandered down the M4 corridor and at my request - and mine alone - we went to my ancestral home, the mighty town of Newbury. Yes if I was English, I would live here. And I would be mayor. But as a patriotic Welshman, I turn my nose up to my inherited lands and live it up in Cwl Cymru. It was nice to see the place before considering I've never been there and as true Argos employees it wasn't long until we sniffed out the Argos there either!
In what is turning out to be a bumper post, I have an apology to make for everyone and myself. Two years ago I used One Man to spread the good word of the franchise to all. This year I have paid very little attention to the assembly elections here on One Man, and for all political enthusaists who have been keen to get my view, I am deeply sorry. This is not to say I haven't been following the elections or lost any faith in Welsh democracy. Far from it, I have been reading the blogs, following the media, in what is the most informative age in political history. So many opinions, so many political pieces to read - it just shows how hard it will be to vote.
And yet, polling day is 30 mins away. In what seems to be rather appropriately placed event, Jen and I have just gone to see The New Statesman stage show in the New Theatre this evening, and good old Alan B'Stard was as devious as ever. It was a great show, which I suggest everyone with an interest in current affairs and politics alike should really check out. But has the ultra right-wing charlatan affected my vote? Time will tell.....
But please on a serious note, if you are reading on the May 3rd, go out and vote. It is your vote and no-one can take it away from you. You have the power to change things. Use that power this Thursday.
