Anhwylder Dau Begwn - red button theatre and film workers' co-operative

Anhwylder Dau Begwn - red button theatre and film workers' co-operative

Ode to the Bastard A487

 

Ode to the Bastard A487

 

An ambulance on every corner

sirens acting as traffic lights

cars on their roofs

100 yard skid marks

The Holy Trinity

The Villages of the Damned

Llanrhystud

Aberarth

Llanon with Taxis all down one side.

I'm going to buy a snow plough attachment

and I am going to take them all on a one way trip to the scrap yard

and I don't care whether they've got residents rights.

Police in unmarked cars

after the event.

Drivers going just damn too fast especially on hill-top corners.

Cofiwch Tryweryn?

I'll never forget it because I was stuck behind a Mansel Davies lorry chugging along full of food stuffs at 20mph.

Tractors, Caravans, Speedboats

"Patience is a virtue"

said the Ceredigion Council Spokesperson in a high visibility jacket just before being hit.

"F**K that! Do something you T**t.

Llanddeiniol has been renamed 'Dolur Rhydd'

Roads of Death

lead

to

Aberystwyth

but it won't stop em coming

mile after mile after mile

The Air Ambulance awaits.



Slow Burn!

It appears that Shark Fishing in Wales is a slow burn. It is a portal or resource that readers can turn to for some light or dark entertainment as the mood takes you. I have a core readership of between 16 and 21 for each post but what amazes me is that give it a month, the page views will have gone up to between 36 and 52 and I go back in the archive and some of the more racy and notorious posts have 300-400 page views. This alone makes me feel validated as a blog writer.

I have just been presented with a gift (See picture above) So I am not the only one that believes that I am an undiscovered Genius. My theory is that if I use the word Genius enough, then people will associate the word with me 'DAVID WILLIAMS' author of http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/david-williams/genius-loci-poetry/paperback/product-21567917.html
My intention is to use the notebook above to map out my 'Magnum Opus'. Look if you've got Latin in your locker you've got to use it.
I have to approach my next play in a completely different fashion. I need a different process because my characters and stories run out of puff, my endings are poor. I will be writing the last play for the MA in Playwriting at Salford University in my Writer's Room.
http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/writers-room.html
This is the most viewed Blog post on Shark Fishing in Wales which makes me think that there are a lot of writers out there who are interested in the process of other writers. I call myself a writer because if I don't, nobody else will. If you write, you are a writer.
If you are not writing, then you are not a writer at that precise moment. You are a prevaricator, a thinker about writing. If writing plays was easy, then everybody would be doing it. It is not easy, it is very difficult but it is the medium that appeals the most and if you crack it, I think it will give you the most satisfaction.
The M.A has actually dampened my ardour which is no reflection on the course. It has confirmed by workshop, seminar and Master-class how incredibly bloody difficult it is. Thinskins need not apply. In terms of self evaluation and thinking about process, I don't do subtlety very well and we are led to believe that audiences are very sophisticated. They don't want their Theatre and its message on a plate. They want to masticate and chew slowly over what is presented, discuss over a pinot grigio at the bar as to what the writer had in mind. F**k That! I want to punch the audience on the nose with my message. My message being one of 'Social Justice'. I was a teenager through the Punk Years, loved the angry music but didn't have the balls to wear the fashion. I am still angry having lived through 18 years of Thatcher & Major and 13 years of Blair and Brown and now 4 years of Clegg and Cameron. I want to write a 'F**k the Government play. In my new notebook I am going to have a go.      

Voyeur's Weekly

Welcome to your latest edition of Voyeur's Weekly. What is the cretin going to admit to this week? Why doesn't he turn Catholic and go to confessional?  Well Harry 'Heart on his Sleeve' would like to say to the Shark Fishing Nation that he has just returned from North West Wales twice in the last month and each time, it has been like an 'earthing'. I always thought that I would end up in a cave in Eryri, mumbling to myself in 'Wenglish'.  I ended up in a meeting in a place called Felinheli which is between Bangor and Caernarfon. The first time I approached via Beddgelert and Llanberis and this time I approached via Pwllheli and Porthmadog. I had a couple of hours to kill so I went in to Bangor Nye! A lady in a café said to me "I've lost my Welsh aye and people look at me gone off, you could speak to me now and I would understand what you said but I couldn't speak back to you, I only had two hours a week of Welsh in school, it's sad". She was very chatty "Look at all the shops that have shut, there's 17,000 people here in Bangor aye when the students have gone home and 25, 000 when they come back. I don't mind them but they are very noisy in the residential areas, they don't care about the locals when they are getting pissed"

I walked down to the Pier  and it was lovely.It stopped just short of Anglesey and I wondered why they had built it so far out. There were many benches either side of the pier and on each one was a name with a dedication. It was an education and rather sobering to see the names with the two dates and the dash in between. The dash of life.

 

Names of people who used to love the Pier but who no longer walk the earth and if you didn't know them then they are a name, two dates and a dash in between. It was 6.00pm and deathly calm on the Menai Strait. I have descendants who hail on my mother's side from Porthmadog and the Lleyn Peninsula and I do feel a connection to the area. It's perhaps the only Geographical part that I haven't lived in. I've done South East, North East and West. I wonder whether the North West beckons but like elsewhere there is no work aye!

 "The owners of the Vaynol Estate, the Assheton Smiths, owned most of the land in Y Felinheli and developed the Dinorwic Quarry in the late 18th century, They also built the harbour to export slate transported to the quay by the Dinorwic Railway, a narrow gauge railway that was subsequently replaced by the Padarn Railway. Industrial expansion gave Y Felinheli (Felin-hely, 1838) the alternative name Port Dinorwig or Port Dinorwic."    Wikipedia

I can't tell you what the meetings have been about, I am sworn to secrecy but I will give you a clue http://www.redbuttontheatre.co.uk

It's a long way to travel but I break my journey from Cardiff with a leisurely lay over in Aberystwyth by Sea. The journey from Aber via Machynlleth and Dollgellau to Penrhyndeudraeth takes you through some of the most stunning scenery in the UK. Both Porthmadog and Penygroes now have bypasses. It appears to have affected the former detrimentally but not the latter.

Well I have mentioned Wales in this Blog Post but not Sharks. I didn't see any from the Garth Pier but I'm sure they were out there somewhere.

Thank you for reading

Ch ch ch ch Changes!

I've got a feeling in my water. Change is on its way and I'm ready.

I haven't written a blog post for 5 days and that is a long time in the cut throat world of Welsh blogs. We are all trying to get your attention. You know the drill by now! You click on the video to get the 'toon' and then you carry on reading. I like how music provides an introduction to drama. You only need the opening, maybe 10 seconds in darkness, the auditorium hushes, lights up. Does expectation in the Theatre meet with Product? I have to say that recently much of what I have observed in live theatre has been a disappointment. Easy for me to say,  'the coward of the county' the man who won't venture out there and put his product on the table for peeps to criticize. There's a lot of bored reviewers out there waiting for blood. I wouldn't have seen these plays if they hadn't been part of the M.A programme that I have just completed the teaching element for. Now its the huge 12,000-14,000 word play and I have to say, I've lost me mojo. I was planning to adapt my real life tale of 'daring-do' 'Amsterdamned' into a play but I don't think it will fit easily into the 5 Act Structure. I have desperately wanted to experiment with form, anarchy, absurdism, agit-propoganda, in yer-face theatre, these are what tick the boxes for the Shark Fisherman of Wales. I don't know if I could watch another naturalistic play again. Every time I've bottled it, I've started with a screaming rant and I've run out of puff. I really don't know if I've got what it takes. I've reverted back to characters talking, dialogue, dualogue. I'm bored of the form.

I purchased for £1.99 in Cardiff's Oxfam bookshop this morning a copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson's 'Self Reliance & Other Essays' hoping that the great man can give me a shot in the arm with his words of wisdom. If you behave yourselves I might write a book review once I've read it but it was the title that got me. Self Reliance! I have to become self reliant now. Well into middle age I have been over reliant on friends and family, on the welfare state and the simple reason is lack of belief in myself. I have abrigated responsibility because I didn't have the self belief in the fact that I could be self reliant. As you may or may not be aware, I lost my freedom because I lost my mind. Freedom is not appreciated until you've lost it. Until you hear that cell door closing, night after night you won't know what a gift your freedom is. So I need to tread a fine line, I have a few responsibilities, a few commitments but not too many that will compromise my mental health (I hope). I digress. I need to write a 'State of the Nation' play and I'm not sure if I've got what it takes. I might never have this opportunity again. I'm not an academic, I couldn't write the heavy stuff. Change is on the way! Change is happening for all of us and in my case it can't come quick enough. 

Self Reliance, here I come.

Rhandiroedd/Reservation

Rhandiroedd

 

 

cwrw a cocaine

Cymry a'i Chymreictod

Ddiystyr

Didostur

Heb Iaith

Hunaniaeth

Ar lan y môr mae rhosod cochion

Ond ddim rhai'r blaid lafur ydy'r rhain

Mae'r rheina wedi boddi wrth y lan.

Mae gwaed ar ei dwylo reit enuff

Tw Reight

Scarcely Biliff ond digon o Bailiffs

Ein bod wedi troi mewn i McDonalds 24 awr

Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri aka the Reservation

Ble mae'r chwyldroad diwydiannol wedi bod, mae o wedi gadael ei ôl

Gyda'r iaith fain

Yr iaith ffwrdd a hi

Yr iaith ddiog

Yr iaith hawdd

Iaith Cyfalafiaeth

Does dim pwynt honni mae hwn ydy iaith y nefoedd

Oherwydd bod pobol wedi gwrthod credu bellach

Nawr dyneiddiaeth ar Dduw Dawkins di pob dim.

Dwi ddim yn honni fod 'na fath beth ond dwi yn honni fod 'na frwydr ar led.

Frwydr calonnau a meddyliau.

Mae rhaid i gymryd mantell Martin a Mohandas Mahatma Ghandi

Duw Cariad Yw

Ond gwatwch eich cefnau.

Canolfan Cyfiawnder/Justice Centre

I am becoming a one man rent a mob! Today, I went to lend my support to two young people who stood behind what looked like bullet proof glass at the Canolfan Cyfiawnder/Justice Centre (?) in Aberystwyth. I think it's the posh term for law courts. They were the Chair and former Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg and it was an honour to be in the presence of such principled people. Sitting in front of the Royal Seal with the Latin Inscription 'Dieu et Mon Droit' the three justices of the peace who all spoke Welsh, listened, it has to be said 'sympathetically' to the cause presented before them. I am writing this Blog post in English so as to reach a wider audience. This was a wake up call to Carwyn Jones First Minister of Wales. We are waiting for him to make an announcement on 6 Policy Changes.

We have challenged the Welsh Government to deliver six policy changes in response to the crisis shown by the Census results and ensure the Welsh language grows and strengthens over the years ahead.

 

1. Addysg Gymraeg i Bawb / Welsh-medium Education for All

 

2. Tegwch Ariannol i'r Gymraeg / Fair Funding for Welsh

 

3. Gweinyddu'n fewnol yn Gymraeg / Make Welsh the language of work

 

4. Safonau Iaith i Greu Hawliau Clir / Clear Language Rights

 

5. Trefn Cynllunio er budd ein Cymunedau / Community-focused Planning System

 

6. Y Gymraeg yn greiddiol i Ddatblygu Cynaliadwy / Welsh central to Sustainable Development

 

For more information on our detailed policies read our Maniffesto Byw (Living Manifesto)

http://cymdeithas.org/livingmanifesto

Robin & Bethan did not enter a plea regarding the charges levelled against them and have to appear before the Royal Seal again on Friday 1st August at 10.00am. 

Channel View

I went to a Public Meeting last night. A very unusual thing for a middle aged manic depressive to do but it was more out of curiosity than anything. At the Gym last Friday I had been informed of this meeting, there was talk that the Council was going to shut our beloved leisure centre to build a school, possibly a welsh medium school at that! Talk about a conflict of interests! What do you mean you silly twonk, you haven't got any children? Ah yes but I am a language zealot and anything to further the cause of the indigenous language of the motherland or is that fatherland. I am convinced by now that the Council, Cardiff Council that is are trying to 'divide and conquer'. They feel obliged to provide Welsh medium education in the four wards namely Butetown, Canton, Grangetown and Riverside because there is a call and need for it along with English Medium education of which there is a much greater shortfall of places but once again here, like in Canton, the language is being used as a political football. When I arrived, there was a coiffured middle class lady handing out headphones to the local working class population with the instruction "In case somebody decides to speak in Welsh". I declined the offer but murmerings of discontent were spreading like wildfire, "bloody ridiculous" I heard. The people next to me actually moved over to be with their own as it appeared that I had shown my hand too early. 
I was there because I had been using the Gym for close to 25 years, in fact ever since I moved to Grangetown when it was known as the Jim Driscoll Centre. It was underused and underfunded and the Council took it over. And now the centre is earmarked as one of possible six sites under consideration for a new build primary school. I could tell from the impassioned questioning and the heated debate with the Council representative that this choice was not the popular one but talk about a 'sledgehammer' to crack a nut type of approach. There is a lot of distrust of the Welsh language and its middle class ways amongst the working class of this area. I know because the neighbour tells me so on a regular basis. So we have to be careful, swanning into an area and demanding welsh Medium education and getting the Council to do our dirty work for us. Does the word 'Tryweryn' mean nothing to these people? Sensitivity, diplomacy, tact, a win-win situation is what we are looking for, not the handing out of headphones to people who are rightfully angered by the lack of consultation, with the instruction "In case somebody decides to speak Welsh".       

Bipolar Weekend

I've just had a Bipolar Weekend. On Saturday I was almost catatonic. Withdrawn, at times desperate. I made myself or rather my mind made myself a prisoner of the house. Talk about depressive rumination. I was a keyboard warrior, glued to Facebook and Twitter looking for some trifling amusement. I am an addict. I realise that I have transferred my binge drinking and dope smoking to spending inordinate amounts of time on social media. Perhaps the latter is less self destructive than the first two but it is still a waste of life and money. I suppose I am looking for answers but knowing full well by now, that there aren't any. Anything that tickles the confirmatory bias! The pleasure when you are able to exclaim 'I knew it'. I ended up googling social isolation. Just like googling your medical symptoms, a recipe for disaster. After an hour of this, I looked like Droopy.    
 

 

I've never liked Saturdays. I find that if you don't plan for them, they just flop. It's always busy out and about so I was busy working out avoidance tactics. Where can I go to avoid the crowds? So I played the safety card and stayed at home. I was in bed by 6.30pm.

Today, Sunday, I realise that I needed to do this to recharge the old Bipolar batteries. I realise that I am on rechargables. On Thursday and Friday I saw 3 friends, well two friends and one neighbour and on all occasions I did more listening than I did talking. After the neighbour, I felt well and truly brow beaten and my mood had been affected. My mood is always affected by other people, by crowds, by the hustle and bustle. This is why perversely I choose social isolation. Yesterday I was low, today I was high. I was determined to make the most of the weather but I didn't want to bum around home territory. I flung the bicycle in the back of the old jalopy and I headed out of Dodge. I wanted to get out of Wales. This Blog is testament to my love hate relationship with the country. I don't usually like Sundays but it is usually quieter than Saturdays but again if you don't make plans, this can happen.

 

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/sunday.html 

 

 I travelled 30 miles to Bristol and parked at Clifton Downs. Dragged the bike out and freewheeled down through bootiful Brizole. I didn't know of its existence before today but I came across the Bristol to Bath Railway line. Bath, seriously? was it possible to cycle all the way? It was, 13miles there and 13 miles back. So the energy I stored up yesterday was used today to generate some natural dopamine and serotonin. I was on my own but did not feel socially isolated. It was busy. There was a nice vibe. There were catering facilities for cyclists. It was very pleasant.

 

http://www.bristolbathrailwaypath.org.uk/home.shtml

 

 

I don't think that I am 'Rapid Cycling' although the down moods appear to be getting longer and more intense. I am sighing a lot which is starting to annoy me. Today's high was not 'Hypomanic' high because just as I was feeling good on the way back to Kairdiff, I looked at the Toll Charges for the Second Severn Crossing £6.40.

I realised that I had to get a job and this brought my mood down further.