"Croeso i ddyfnderoedd fy isymwybod: Welcome to the depths of my subconscious. Shark Fishing in Wales is one man's odyssey to understand the land of his birth through anecdote, observation and reminiscence! By learning about his country, perhaps he can learn more about himself. A process of individuation which Carl Jung suggests we should all go through. Less assuming one nationhood and more working towards one nationhood before we become Independent." Daf Williams
Cymru/Wales: Bipolar Nation
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My second spoken word event in 4 days. I am turning from an anti-social moth into a social butterfly all in the name of 'Spoken W...
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As a Ffrinj Nutter who had a dalliance with the Welsh Nationalist Party/ Plaid Cymru/ The Party of Wales many, many years ago I was p...
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I shouldn't really go there but the Shark Fisherman of Wales tends to go to places that others fear to tread. Anti-Semitism is the new P...
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So what are we going to do about Exams and the Education system? Yes you! You and me, what are we going to do to change the Education ...
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http://www.stevieriks.net/ Conclusive evidence this morning on Page 7 of the National Newspaper of the West of England that Wales is ...
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Sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.com is two months old today. In that short time, the blog has been visited 1971 times. I am a Perfectionis...
Friday 27 February 2015
The folks who live on the Hill
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Is, Was, Now & Ever More shall be!
Recent Sad News
Literature Wales is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of three Fellows of the Welsh Academy, John Davies, Meredydd Evans and John Rowlands.
Dr John Davies (1938 - 2015)
Dr John Davies was an eminent Welsh historian, academic and writer. John is the author of Hanes Cymru (A History of Wales), one of the most comprehensive and important works on Welsh history. He was co-editor of The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. To read a tribute to John Davies by Lleucu Siencyn, Chief Executive of Literature Wales, click here.
Dr Meredydd Evans (1919 - 2015)
Dr Meredydd Evans was an academic, campaigner, composer, performer and an expert on the history of Welsh-language folk singing. He was the head of BBC Wales light entertainment for ten years during the 1960s and 1970s, and was a prominent figure in Welsh culture.
Professor John Rowlands (1938 - 2015)
John Rowalnds was a writer, lecturer and literary critic. He was a Professor of Welsh Literature at the University of Wales Aberystwyth until his retirement in 2003. He greatly influenced many of Wales’ contemporary writers. He was co-editor of Taliesin magazine with Gerwyn Williams during the 1990s.
We extend our sympathy to the families of John Davies, Meredydd Evans and John Rowlands.
Interesting to me, that the above 3 'Greats' of Welsh Cultural Life are referred to as 'was' as if their lives and achievements are in the past tense. They may no longer exist in the physical realm but their legacies live on in the present.
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Sunday 22 February 2015
This too shall pass
Stand down, stand easy! Dear West, you now need to keep a low profile. Britain does not rule the waves. The Empire is over. The American Empire is slowly imploding from within. We in the West have had our two centuries. Call it 1800 to 2000. Don't be greedy! A war of attrition with Putin is not an option. We have to change our culture! We need to find a way to regain our self respect as a people, one based on co-operation and not on competition. Greece could be our guiding light. A group of left wing organisations coming together to create a large block and now negotiating with Europe/The West. Putin is a strategist, he is a chess player. Obama is on a hiding to nothing with the Jewish Cabal and the Republican Party pulling the strings. Why do I care? Well I'm out of work. We all know, unless we are incredibly stupid that we are on the cusp of something major in world affairs. A major shift that will involve ISIL and Russia or a combination of both. The attacks in Paris and Copenhagen have hit at the heart of Europe. What we saw as free speech, 'they' saw as a hate crime. British Values needs to be re defined because British values for the Upper Middle Class and the Prime Minister are very different to those at the bottom. We will not be united and 'they' know that, the eponymous terrorist who are only standing up for their values. A critical mass of people are now alienated and have nothing left to lose, it just so happens that they live in the Middle East. If 'they' stop the beheading and the 'barbarism' would America and Europe consider negotiating with the Islamic Caliphate or are they intent on a scorched earth policy. That didn't work too well in Vietnam if I remember rightly. I think we in the West have to stop thinking that we are right all the time. A little bit of humility and diplomacy would not go amiss instead of the saber rattling. Talking of rattling, Putin has got us rattled and he knows it. The Islamic State has got us rattled and they know it. The Ebola Virus has got us rattled and it knows it. The people who don't know that we are rattled are us ourselves. We just keep on keeping on! Instead of having a referendum on pulling out of Europe, instead of having a General Election, we need to consult with each other on our fears, our goals and our motivations and if those are out of step with everybody else then we have to modify them for the common good instead of this blind acquisitiveness. I don't think we can keep on keeping on unless you take everyone with you and that is what is meant to happen in a democracy but democracy for those in the West minster bubble is a General Election. That isn't democracy in my book! Voting in the best of a bad bunch. There is too much at stake at the moment to vote incompetents in. Here endeth the lesson.
Wednesday 18 February 2015
You Wear it Well
Tuesday 17 February 2015
Monday 16 February 2015
Wednesday 11 February 2015
My House, the Coffin
Monday 9 February 2015
Bad Name
Friday 6 February 2015
Wednesday 4 February 2015
Wales v England
In 1977 I went with my old man to see Wales v England at the Cardiff Arms Park when a rugby stadium was a rugby stadium not that Millennium monstrosity, that cold, concreted, unwelcoming carbuncle in the middle of town. When everyone else will be rubbing red roses on the three white feathers I will be in hiding. Long gone are the days when I care what happens at this game. It used to be the game, as Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics sang "As long as we beat the English, we don't care". This might come as quite a shock to some, as one who writes loosely about Wales in this blog but I like England.
Pardon?
I like England! Dwi'n hoffi Lloegr! I like the English side of Offa's Dyke, Hereford and Shrewsbury, Shropshire is luverly. I like London, that's England isn't it? London is exciting. Liverpool and Manchester are interesting places to be. Wales is dull, dull as dishwater, everything is slow here, there is no sense of urgency. Born here, live here, die here! Only individuals and mavericks travel and stay away. Perhaps it is a matter of familiarity breeds contempt, Wales is so familiar, that I have become contemptuous of it and it of me. Bristol is nice, It has gravitas! It is so nice that Cardiff and Newport want to become part of it. The great Western Conurbation. I think if this happens, then Wales will have to let Cardiff go. We're going to have to have another Capital City because Wales is a wasteland in comparison to Cardiff. Cardiff is the Gold standard for Welsh towns and nowhere comes near but if economists and business bods want to cosy up to Bristol what happens to the rest of Wales then? Does it become poorer? What about the white elephant down the bay? The National Assembly with it's tin pot, trumped up, party political poseurs pontificating on £60,000 a year. This forthcoming General Election is not eagerly anticipated because people are more concerned with what is going on in the Middle East and West Africa. Our own political popinjays can take a running jump in comparison with these pressing global issues. Good old 'Bread & Circus' on Friday will anaesthetise us for another year. Roll on Saturday.
The fact is, the poet does not want admiration, he wants to be believed.
— Jean Cocteau Quotes (@CocteauQuotes) September 21, 2020
Fruity old fruit bats
Hello my fruity old fruit bats! That is a term of endearment by the way. I thought I would treat you to a piece of prose rather than the b...
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Bottom of the Ottoman
Bottom of the Ottoman from David Williams on Vimeo.
Crying in your Beer from David Williams on Vimeo.
Hitler navigates the A487 from Aberaeron to Aberystwyth
I shall never wear tweeds from David Williams on Vimeo.