Wenglish Bastard

Mae rhaid i mi gyfaddef fy mod yn Wenglish Bastard! Saesneg unrhyw gyfle ga’! Bur anaml yn y Gymraeg a pan dwi yn, dwi'n ceisio cael checio'r sillafu a phallu jest in case mae'r heddlu iaith yn sbïo. Annhebyg ond you never know! Ges i syniad hollol wyrion bore mha! Mi faswn ni yn Cerdded Clawdd Offa yn Gymraeg yr holl ffordd i Gelli Gandryll, wedyn fasa rhaid i mi newid i Saesneg am y prynhawn ac wedyn nol i Gymraeg tan Casgwent but both you and I know it ain't gonna happen! "Bore da a sut mae?" i bob cerddwr ac wedyn "all right" ac swrth ac wedyn ddim byd ar ôl i mi flino gymaint. Mi fyddai yn cerdded trwy ardaloedd mwyaf Saesneg Cymru a hynny wrth reswm, y ffin rhwng y ddwy wlad ydy Clawdd Offa ac mi fydd yn ddiddorol i weld os oes rhywle ble mae'r Gymraeg yn drech na'r Saesneg. Nawr beth i ni yn mynd i wneud am y cwestiwn iaith yma? Mae yn creu tristwch, iselder a dioddefaint i'r siaradwyr i weld o'n cilio ac mi ydach chi'n teimlo fel bradwr i'r achos os ydych yn defnyddio'r Saesneg. Arfer diog ydy'r Saesneg a dwi yn un ddiog! Dyna hanner rheswm i mi geisio'r cerdded yma! 
Dod i ffwrdd o'r cyfrifiadur ar drydari a cheisio gwneud ffrindiau gyda natur. Tybed ble fydd y 'blister cyntaf yn digwydd? Cymru neu Lloegr.

Referendum or Civil War?

Hand me my pikestaff! Instead of a Referendum let us have a bloody Civil War to decide whether or not we stay within the European Union. The 'remain roundheads' against the 'cowardly cavaliers of brexit'. Instead of going into a voting booth on June 23rd, let us meet across St Fagans Field and the X shall be etched upon the foreheads of our foe! "He dropped his Daily Mail, just in time for me to brand him for life with the letters Brexit on his right arse cheek".  I have just been unfollowed by somebody on twitter who I suspected to be a member of the 'Our Sovereignty' brigade. I even re-tweeted an anodyne post just to smoke them out a little. You see the Shark Fisherman's mantra is 'Trust No-one' even if you want their money for a sponsored walk. I have sent my Postal Vote off with the X in the Remain box. I wrote it in blood with my finger. The finger that I would use to flick the bird at my enemies in the Brexit Camp.

Prescriptions For Free

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/taxes-to-tincture.html

"Get all your prescriptions for free" as sung the Brotherhood of Sexism back in 1976 in the Eurovision song contest in the Hague.
I wonder what that will be called when we Brexit! Now, who would have thought that a man diagnosed with a lifelong long debilitating condition such as Bipolar Disorder would be arguing for paying for prescriptions but that is exactly what I'm going to do, well for some people anyway. I'm one of those awkward sods who no longer medicates the condition. I gave up psychotropic medication on August 22nd 2008 and I haven't popped a pill for my madness since then! I've just set about a strict regime of avoiding things that trigger my condition like work and awkward people.
The Tories of Monmouthshire, the Vale of Glamorgan and the Gower should have to pay for their prescriptions.
The wheezing ex miner in Banwen shouldn't have to!
I actually feel that free prescriptions are encouraging us to be a sick nation. "I'll go down the Docs, pop a few pills to quell the existential angst! Just a little something to quell the emotional pain!" 
I dread going to the Pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for the family! I feel embarrassed getting something for nothing, even for somebody else who probably has worked hard to pay for it! The Pharmacy I go to, the Pharmacist has got attitude. The ladies are fine but the apothecary with a skeleton head cane looks at you with that look. You have prepared your little speech and it comes out rushed and gobbledygook! "Date of Birth" "Postcode" ashamed like a wounded fox I slink off clutching the tablets. 
Some people, yes even in Wales have bought into the striving, capitalistic, dog eat pension pot mentality and they judge others for being scroungers! Well give the scroungers free prescriptions and let the Argyle sweaters with manicured lawns pay for them! How do you like them apples? They keep the Doctor away, don't they! 

Pet Peeves

EXAMS & EDUCATION

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/201
6/05/exams-education-system.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/ed-wcation.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/goodbye-mr-chips.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-malory-years.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/blackboard-jungle.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/conspiracy-of-silence.html

LABOUR & WELSH LABOUR

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/belaboured.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/belaboured-2.html

THE TORIES

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/bullied-into-bombing.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/margaret-thatcher-and-crisis-in.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/capitaine-cochon.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/tory-street.html

BORIS JOHNSON

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/in-solidarity-with-10-year-old-japanese.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/tankies-trots.html

THE BRITISH STATE

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/brits-out.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/bugger-brexit.html

WORK & REFERENCES

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/les-incompetents.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/jobs-miracle.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/gizza-job-i-will-be-46-years-of-age-on.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/jobee.html

LIBRARIES

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/library-rant.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/doors.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/gorgeous-librarians.html


EISTEDDFOD

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/eisteddfod-masturbation.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/what-kind-of-welsh-are-you.html

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/pysgodyn-drewllyd-yr-eisteddfod.html

Exams & the Education System

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 system in this country with its emphasis on Exams and Exam success? On a day that we find that teacher recruitment is down and that exams are leading to teen suicide we must come to the conclusion that there is something rotten in the state of education or rather of Ofsted and the ludicrous examination system. 

As a bad student I've cribbed a bit from Wikipedia:

History

Early beginnings

Exam boards have been around as long as there have been qualifications offered by schools. As universities had experience of offering qualifications, such as degrees, it was natural that they created the first exam boards. Indeed, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge each had their own exam board and a joint board they ran together. The qualifications offered were generally of the boards' own creation. Schools and colleges (with some exceptions, detailed below) were free to pick which board they wanted to use, though most went for a local board.

The early boards established included:

• 1857: University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations (founded by the University of Oxford)
• 1858: University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES, founded by the University of Cambridge)
• 1858: University of Durham Matriculation and School Examination Board (founded by the University of Durham)
• 1873: Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board (founded by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge)
• 1896: Central Welsh Board (founded by the Welsh local authorities)
• 1900: University of Birmingham
• 1902: University of London Extension Board (founded by the University of London)
• 1903: Joint Matriculation Board (JMB, founded by the Victoria University of Manchester, the University of Liverpool and the University of Leeds)
• 1911: University of Bristol School Examinations Council (founded by the University of Bristol)

Even just to crib the above I have had to fuss ass about getting rid of links and annotations. Do you see the date of the first examination board 1857! 1857!!! The middle of the Victorian era. "Exam Boards have been around as long as there have been qualifications offered by schools." Well these buggers saw their chance didn't they? We'll make a killing on the backs of poor unfortunate students and not to put it too finely these Victorian exams and examination boards are now killing students.

We often hear that Employers complain that school leavers and even University leavers lack skills for the workplace. Well if they are sitting exams set in place in 1857 are you surprised? What are these exams testing these days? The same things as they were testing in my day? Memory. If you have a memory like a sponge, you pass, if you don't, you fail.It has just occurred to me that this is where many people get their black and white, right or wrong thinking from. From taking exams from such a young age. You either passed or you failed! There was no grey middling area. You were either a success or a failure! How dare these schools and these f*ckin* examination boards decide whether or not you are a failure at 15 and at 18? How f*ck*ng dare they play God like this? You can tell that the Shark Fisherman feels strongly about this subject! You see I do, because I was that boy that failed his exams. 

Walking & Writing

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A Date for your Diary

Friday 17th June

2.15pm

The Old Stables Tea Rooms

Hay on Wye

Dafydd Williams who writes under the Pen Name 'David Williams' is one of the writers of Wales

http://www.literaturewales.org/writers-of-wales/i/147203/desc/williams-david-g-e-/  

He will be presenting a short talk on 'Walking & Writing' the two activities that have really helped in his coping with a mental health diagnosis in a fund raising event to help raise money for Mental Health Charity Mind.

This will be kindly hosted at the Old Stable Tea Rooms in Hay on Wye http://www.chefontherunfoods.co.uk/cmsms/ run by Mike & Rachel Carnell.

Dafydd will be calling by on his way down Offa's Dyke to raise money for Mental Health Charity 'Mind' https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/RedButton

He will be reading from two books 'Amsterdamned' a mental health memoir published by Chipmunka  and '101' poems recently published by Lulu.

The two books will be available for sale and all money from these signed copies will go to Mental Health Charity Mind.

The event is free and will be at the Old Stable Tea Rooms commencing at 2.30pm on Friday 17th June. 

Please arrive at 2.15pm to partake of the delicious afternoon tea and cakes which will be available for you to order (not free) from Rachel and Mike who are kindly hosting the event.    

Margaret Thatcher and the Crisis in Masculinity

I was listening to the Stig Abell programme on LBC yesterday afternoon when a discussion on a/the crisis in masculinity took place. I was prompted to offer up a couple of tweets.

@LBC #StigAbell You will feel pressure as a man if you refuse to #compete
"We are still cavemen in suits expected to behave like gentlemen"

— Red Button Theatre (@davidredbutton) May 22, 2016

#stigabell @LBC Perhaps @GoodMenProject @theCALMzone @Mensmovementcom could help you?

— Red Button Theatre (@davidredbutton) May 22, 2016

I did a google search today and saw that this crisis had been going on for some time. Indeed Dianne Abbot told us back in 2013 that "successful women often wrongly get blamed for the problems facing men"  And what has the grand dame 'Margaret Thatcher' got to do with all this? Well the first female Prime Minister of the UK who ruled with a rod of iron from 1979-1990 and who died in 2013 is still blamed for many of societies ills and I offer up an unscientific theory.
She was a successful woman and she oversaw the dismantling of industries that employed a lot of men. She withdrew the opportunity for these men to become breadwinners. I feel that we often underestimate the power of the collective unconscious and I wonder whether a generation of men and now their sons have reacted in ways that might be reminiscent of the symptoms of PTSD.
Thatcher is actually the T in PTSD in the UK. We, the men of the UK are still not over her and you might say that we secretly envied her and admired her power. She managed to make us impotent and we allowed it. We took to the Pubs and the Bookies because essentially we are feckless and lazy and give us an excuse to do nothing and we will. The emphasis on the individual striving for himself and his family but what happens when what he does is not enough and his family turn on him. It is a huge responsibility to bear being 'The Head of the Household'. Who asked for that responsibility? I certainly didn't. My unscientific argument based on feminine intuition leads me to believe that we weren't ready for her. She was too much of a shock and even those mere men who have followed her including the equally hated Blair shrink in her shadow. She has done a great favour for women in politics for whoever now comes to the fore will always be compared to her and Nicola Sturgeon and Leanne Wood often mention her and themselves as an antithesis to her. Any female politician can only come across as compassionate in comparison to her. In the U.S.A the Trump/Clinton election again reminds you of the 1980s with Ronald Reagan's tenureship. Larger than Life figures almost grotesques with the power to make life very difficult for ordinary people. People in politics often become caricatures of themselves. 
The crisis in my own masculinity has led to a withdrawal from wider society, a stubborn refusal to compete for jobs in the form of an interview with references. There were no jobs under Thatcher in the 1980s and there are no jobs now, no decent jobs for intelligent, thoughtful bloggers like myself. I believe that she came to teach men a lesson. She sent us to war in the Falklands and she took away our jobs in the miners strike.   
I grew up under Thatcher and I never wanted to be a breadwinner and I didn't want to provide so I haven't become one.

 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/16/masculinity-crisis-men

S.O.S Support Vehicle

 S.O.S SUPPORT VEHICLE REQUIRED

Dear Fellow Shark Fisher Persons. I don't ask a lot of you and you do get a lot of free ranting and entertainment but this time old #whingebagwilliams has a favour to ask of you. I have a Driver but I need a Support Vehicle to kip in at the end of every day when I come down from Offa's Dyke. I could camp and that was the original plan but because I have a Mood Disorder, I am concerned that too many nights roughing it might trigger my Tazmanian Devil routine. So do you have anything in the chicken shed that vaguely looks like any of the vehicles pictured? I'm looking for something with a bit of character over comfort. As long as it is legal and drivable and can manage 177 miles, I am interested. You will be featured as Super Support Vehicle Donor on my Just Giving Page. Myself and driver Arthur will need it for 14 days and I could even give you some kind of monetary recompense for it, if you are that way inclined. I have been looking on ebay and autotrader and prices are way, way out of my league. I know that I have left it late but hey, excitement and adrenaline is what its all about.     

    

Sponsored Walk or Protest March?

To the untrained eye and ear, my walk in June is just yet another sponsored walk (yawn) raising money for charity (yawn) How original! Does he think that in itself will get us to part with our hard earned money? Think again Batman!
Those who know me well, and there aren't many of those left for I have disposed of them in my pursuit of greatness (grandiosity?) know that what I do always has a political backdrop.
I was born in South Wales (Pen-y-Bont-ar-Ogwr) and raised in North Wales (Wrecsam a Dyffryn Clwyd) 
I left North East Wales in 1987 and haven't returned for any extended length of time but as a teenager my memories are of Dinbych, Rhuthun, Rhyl, Yr Wyddgrug, Caer a Lerpwl and my return trips on many a weekend to watch the mighty Wrexham FC at y Cae Ras. Having lived yn y Sowth mor hir rwan, my walk in June is to heal the Psychic rift in my own soul between y De a'r Gogledd. Duw look out, my 'bratiaith' is taking off by ere now! I am walking because I believe that in the future a critical mass will be required to walk in political protest and I want to be ready. I am pissed off that North & South Wales are not united. I might try and work out on my way down how to retake Shrewsbury because Cardiff as a capital city of the Welsh nation is not working. As the capital of a nicey, nicey, licky bum, touch your forelock Principality, it is ideal, because it has loads of shops to distract the masses and bread & circus in its former Millennium Stadium. I have chosen to walk during Euro 2016 partly as protest against our obsession with Sport (Rugby and Football) or rather our obsession with competitive team games that take the place of political protest and social unrest. Wales is so poor in parts that instead of anaesthetising ourselves with Bargain Booze we should be chaining ourselves to the Houses of Parliament. I know that I shall perhaps try and find somewhere to watch the games as I am only human after all butt, but, it won't be the end of the world if I don't. I don't care who wins as long as there is a bit of 'hunan barch' involved. Ghandi had the Salt march and the Jarrow Crusaders marched on London. Martin Luther King jr  had a dream and marched on Washington.
I will be walking Offa's Dyke or Cerdded Clawdd Offa in the indigenous tongue. If you can now see that this is a little bit more than the common and garden sponsored walk then spare some coppers guvnor/madam...please! Diolch 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Dafydd-Williams4

Cae Dafydd

Cerdded Clawdd Offa/Walking Offa's Dyke

A Ceredigion man diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder will be setting off on Monday June 6th to walk the 177 miles(official figure) but 186 miles (actual figure) from Prestatyn to Chepstow to raise money for the Mental Health Charity Mind. "In 2006 I was in recovery from a Psychosis and the help and support I received from Aberystwyth Mind got me on my feet again. I believe in them as a Charity as they are very pro-active and work to raise the profile of Mental Health. I have chosen now because we are coming up to the European Football Championships and by walking the old border between Wales & England I want to sense whether we are more than just two footballing nations. I hope to reach Hay on Wye by the time of the game on the 16th and possibly have completed the whole trail by the time of the last game against Russia on the 20th. I didn't want to sit in front of a television, I wanted to do something active to help my own mental health and raise money for universal mental health awareness at the same time."

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You can show your support by sponsoring Dafydd on either of these two fundraising pages.

Diolch yn Fawr/Thank You      

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Dafydd-Williams4

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=DafyddWilliams66

Fed up of Mental Health

It is Mental Health Awareness week and I realise that I am fed up of Mental Health. Which is handy because I'm raising money for the Mental Health Charity Mind. If you click on the link you get to see a little picture of the Shark Fisherman of Wales, he of the acid tongue. And you all thought that I had protected my identity as well as Banksy! I surface like a whale blowing water when I need to raise the profile. How does one raise the profile of a mad man. I consider myself mad and insane because still at age 50 I cannot subscribe to the insanity inherent in much of everyday life. I'm not going to list them because if you cannot feel them, then you are probably normal and well adapted to modern living. I am a throwback to a previous age. I might have been one of those who built Offa's Dyke in a previous life or probably one of those nuisance Welsh who bothered the builders. I presume that we come back as the same nationality? What do you mean you don't believe in re-incarnation. You are following the wrong blog. Yes I am fed up of Mental Health so the only thing I can deduce is that I am better. On Mental Health Awareness week, mental health as a topic is boring me. I've made too much of it. I've turned it into a coat of only one colour, grey. I've found a hobby in middle age and that is long distance walking and I have been rather opportunist by trying to raise money by doing it. I am worried about whether I will be able to fulfil my obligation but worry is not a mental health condition. I can now see the difference between worry and anxiety.



Sioni cath y fynwent (Stori Fer)

Sioni Cath y Fynwent

Un diwrnod, cododd Sioni cath y fynwent a wedodd "allai ddim gorwedd yma am byth, dwi ddim wedi marw eto, mae rhaid i mi wneud rhywbeth da'm bywyd!" Dechreuodd o cerdded ac mi ddaeth ar draws Siani y sgwarnog. "Sut mae Siani?" "Dwi'n rhy brysur i siarad Sioni bach, mae rhaid i fi bigo'r plant lan o'r ysgol, mae'r merched wedyn yn cyfarfod am goffi a chacen ac wedyn mae dosbarth pilates da fi!" "Dwi ddim wedi gweld ti draw yn y fynwent yn ddiweddar" atebodd Sioni. "Dwi'n rhy brysur Sioni bach" a gyda hynny cododd ei phawen i ffarwelio. Dechreuodd Sioni lincian loncian i Aber ar hyd y lon las a dyna welodd o Bleddyn. Basset Hound oedd Bleddyn ac fel arfer fasa Bleddyn yn cocsio rhedeg ar ôl Sioni jest i brofi i'r perchennog fod o'n ci go iawn ond dim heddiw. "Beth sy'n bod Bleddyn?" "Wedi blino Sioni bach, dwi ar y ffordd i'r fynwent i gael 'forty winks' o dan y goeden dderw". "Newydd ddod o fynna ydw i" wedodd  Sioni, "does dim byd yn mynd ymlaen!" "Hmmm, hyfryd" wedodd Bleddyn, "jest fel dwi'n hoffi pethau". A gyda hynny cariodd o flaen i loncian ar hyd y lon. 
Does neb eisiau chwarae da fi heddiw, a dyma fi yn llawn bywyd meddyliodd Sioni. Mi fyddai'n chwarae da'r unigolyn nesaf dwi'n dod ar draws doed a ddel. Dwi di dod a phelen a rhuban glas da fi!
Yn y pellter welodd o gath arall, cath ddiarth iddo! Gwych, meddyliodd Sioni, cath arall, mi fydd o fownd i eisiau gwneud yr un pethau a fi! Ond ar ôl dala fo fyny sylweddolodd o na hen gath oedd o, hynach na Bleddyn o'i golwg. "Helo hen gath, Sioni dwi! Beth yw dy enw di?" "Cer o ma'r diawl bach". "Dyna enw rhyfedd" atebodd Sioni "dwi ddim wedi clywed yr enw yna o blaen, dych chi eisiau chwarae da fi, dwi di ddod a phelen a rhuban da fi" "O'r gorau" wedodd yr hen gath, "Gaf fi weld nhw". Estynnodd Sioni ei phawen tuag at yr hen gath gyda'r pethau lliwgar. Ac roedd yn edrych ar y funud yna fod yr hen gath yn mynd i ddwyn nhw o law Sioni ond glaniodd Dafydd y Deryn Du lawr y funud honno rhwng tyn nhw. "Amser i ti fynd coch yr hen gadno" wedodd Dafydd. "Dim cadno ydy o Dafydd ond hen hen gath" ychwanegodd Sioni yn gyflym. "Na Sioni, cadno mewn cot cath! Sgrialodd yr hen gadno mewn cot cath i mewn i'r gwrych agosaf i'r lon las gan ddiawlio Dafydd.
"Cofia Sioni, does dim byd yn bod gyda chadno, maen nhw yn cael bywydau caled ac unig. Mae pawb ar ei ôl nhw, y ffermwyr a'r moch mewn cotiau coch ar gefn ei cheffylau"! Roedd Sioni yn synnu clywed fod moch yn reidio ceffylau, "ond y broblem" ychwanegodd Dafydd "pam fod cadno yn cocsio fod o'n rhywbeth dydy o ddim. Ti wedi clywed am yr hen ddywediad 'blaidd mewn cot dafad' wel roedd hwnna yn gadno mewn cot cath." 
Dechreuodd deigryn bach disgyn lawr hwyneb Sioni. "Dwi di gael siom ar ôl siom heddiw mha. Dwi di gwrdd â Siani, Bleddyn a Coch a dim un yn fodlon chwarae da fi, bob un a'i esgusodion. Dim ond trio dianc o'r fynwent oeddem ni".
"Sioni bach, tyrd draw at y fainc yna gyda fi a mi rhoi gair bach o brofiad i ti". Roedd pig Dafydd yn llachar oren yn yr haul a'i chot ddu yn sgleiniog. "Mi adawais di'r fynwent fore mha, dwi'n iawn?"Nodiodd Sioni i ben lan a lawr. "Y fynwent i'w dy gartref di erioed?" "Ers i Mam cwrdd â'r gath ddiarth yn y clawdd un bore". Dydy hwnna ddim yn ffordd neis iawn i son am dy Dad". "Llys Dad, dwi byth yn ei weld o, mae o wastad off yn hel adar a llygod". "Ond y fynwent i’w dy filltir scwar?" "Ie". "Dydy pawb ddim yn meddwl yr un fath Sioni bach. Mae sgwarnog yn meddwl yn wahanol i gi sydd yn meddwl yn wahanol i gadno mewn cot cath." "Sydd yn meddwl yn wahanol i dderyn du", ategodd Sioni.
"Yn union" ebe Dafydd gan chwerthin. "Fuasai’r byd yn ddiflas ac yn undonog iawn taswn ni gyd yn meddwl yr un ffordd. Ble fuasai’r hwyl yn hynny? Fe adawes di'r fynwent fore mha gyda disgwyliadau. Disgwyl fod pawb yn mynd i fod mor frwdfrydig â thi i chwarae. Roeddet braidd yn anlwcus dyna gyd. Mae'n iawn cael disgwyliadau ond mae'n iawn hefyd i gael dy siomi oherwydd dyna sut rydym yn tyfu ac yn bwysicach byth, dyna sut rydym ni yn dysgu sut i chwerthin ar bethau pan nad ydynt yn mynd i'n ffordd ni o feddwl. Nawr Sioni, ble mae'r belen a rhuban yna? Beth am inni gael chwarae?"  

Dyfalbarhad

Historically I am one of life's quitters. If a job or relationship isn't working, I walk away. I don't have any 'dyfalbarhad' or staying power dans anglais. I felt slighly guilty after my last blog post thinking that I might have insinuated that an English mindset is a bad thing. A certain English mindset is a bad thing, the mindset of the Eton educated Tory toff aka Boris Johnson and David Cameron. I think this way because I was educated with such people and perhaps I could have gone that way. Instead I have nurtured a simmering resentment to such types because thy have been arrogant and successful and I have been humble and a failure. 'And the meek shall inherit the earth' is a biblical lie. Show me where this has happened in real life please? These men are driven by the greed is good of Gordon Gecko! 
Mental distress transcends national boundaries and the depressed man in Peebles feels a similar anguish to the woman in Eastbourne. The teenager with suicidal ideation in Welshpool is suffering the torment of the damned as much as their counterpart in Waco, Texas so its futile to insist that we are different because of national boundaries.
My psychiatrist said that if only his patients could realise how much they actually had in common, we share so many of the same anxieties and concerns and we have to go to a third party to sort them out rather than each other because we are not emotionally equipped to talk about feelings and emotions. We can talk about the weather and the football. I hope that the weather stays fine for my walk along Offa's Dyke and I will be thinking about the football. I will also be thinking about the people in Peebles, Eastbourne, Welshpool and Waco. (Notice all four places are in the Capitalist white west. I think about people in distress in other countries as well of course but am a firm believer that social inequality causes mental distress)

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Dafydd-Williams4  

Y Rhwyg

I woke this morning realising that my mind is English and my heart is Welsh. I think in the English language and I translate into Welsh. The first seven years of my life were immersed in the Welsh language and you know what those good ol boys the Jesuits say "Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man" They probably didn't mean to be sexist or maybe they did because they were a religious order.  In less than a month I will be walking/trekking/skipping the metaphorical 'rhwyg' between two nations. I call them nations even though a large number of the Welsh have been subjugated to such an extent that they refer to themselves as a Principality, they invest their money in the Principality Building Society and they go and watch their sport in the Principality Stadium. As in other countries of the world, money talks and the nation has sold its soul for a bag full of coins. We worship businessmen and economists as if they were Gods because they give us work. "Coda dy gap i Mr Springman". 
My journey in june will be 'siwrne shamanaidd' I will be like a cat marking it's territory. In the first three days of the journey I will be walking passed the school where I was educated and immersed in an English Language, Public School culture, an environment which has certainly tainted my heart and which makes me more cerebral and cold on occasion (hence the T shirts). It was a long time ago but I wonder what my reaction will be to looking down on that prison where I did a six year stretch from 1977-1983. I am physically ready for this journey but whether I am psychologically and emotionally we will have to see. The rhwyg/split in my psyche has to do with the trauma of splitting between two very different cultures. Some do not see such a difference between Wales and England hence the donning of the cloak of Principality with such enthusiasm and the reading of the Western Mail by its subjects but a seismic shift has begun in Cardiff Bay and perhaps by the time I get to Chepstow the gap in Offa's Dyke will have got bigger. My heart wanted to write this blog post in Welsh but my cold cerebral head got the better of me.   

On the Border

"I've done it again Dad". I have dropped myself in it good and proper this time. The Shark Fisherman of Wales is going land locked for the duration of the Euro Championships 2016. As a Psycho-Geographer of some note with the emphasis on Psycho it is my intention to walk Offa's Dyke from Prestatyn in the North to Chepstow in the South. 177 miles during the merry month of June. So while you will be curled up like couch potatoes with your Budweiser and Potato chips I will be striding the ancient fortification like a colossus to raise money for the Mental Health Charity Mind. As England play Wales at football I will be walking the border between the two nation states and thinking about the nature of Nation, Language and Identity. I will also be contemplating the invisible border between sanity and insanity that many of us cross on a daily basis, even those undiagnosed with a Mental Health condition. My aim is to have raised £350.00 by the time I set off on the 6th June and anything after that will be gravy baby!

It will take me a good two weeks yomping and I should be back in Cardiff to vote for the border that I will have walked, to stay in Europe, with its own exciting, invisible borders.

You can donate to Mind here. Diolch/Thank You.

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A New Kid in Town

Well I have returned to the Plaid Cymru held county of Ceredigion to find that there is a new kid in town. 

It's flying off the shelves coming in at a full 10p cheaper than the Cambrian Snooze and I tell you what, there is 'Ysbryd Gwrthrhyfel' amongst its pages with a full four pages of Cymraeg as opposed to the one column every other week in the other one. The above is issue 6 so I have either been sleeping or too wrapped up in election fever to notice this new word on the street. On Page 3 an article that headlines 'Starbucks told to respect the Welsh Language'. Well Starbucks will be a start and then we can move through the rest of the county and across Wales with this novel but obvious message. One other thing I'm delighted about as a freelance Mental Health advocate and campaigner is that there is a full page advertisement describing the support available with helpline contact numbers. 

The Welsh word to describe something substantial is 'swmpus' and the Ceredigion Herald feels just that and let us hope that it heralds a new dawn of objective journalism which this part of the world desperately needs. 

Assembly Asides

"Well y Jiw Jiw" (that was not an anti-semitic statement by the way), it was Welsh for good God! They say a week is a long time in politics, well its only been three days and we can take a magnifying glass to the usual suspects. Apart from Leanne Wood's historic new dawn in the Rhondda, the result that gave me the most satisfaction was hearing of the slashing of Alun Davies's majority in Blaenau Gwent. I thought, this has to be some man who has done this and it turns out to be Professor Nigel Copner . Good on ya mate is all I can say. That was as good as a win I reckon and old squirmy farmers friend should have an uncomfortable five years in front of him. He's jumped ship once from Plaid to Labour, don't be surprised to see him jump ship to UKIP to try and secure himself a place on the regional list next time and talking of regional lists, what a farce. How the School for Scoundrels namely UKIP can now have 7 members in the National Assembly of Wales is an indictment on this form of democracy. Surely there are more people in Wales who care more about the environment than care about leaving Europe and the plight of migrants? Surely? People who have fled England from migrants, now voting to keep migrants out of Wales and to keep our sovereignty, whatever that bloody term means. A couple of things I found interesting from listening to the count, when Trystan Lewis in Aber Conway's result was read out it was announced as Plaid Cymru for North Wales and when the Plaid Cymru candidate for Brecon and Radnoshire was read out it said Plaid Cymru for the whole of Wales. Pity when Dafydd Elis Thomas' result was read out that they didn't announce him as Plaid Cymru, little Lord Fauntleroy. They are going to have to find a way to gag him or excommunicate him from the party cos he is an embarrassment, encouraging members to vote for a Labour candidate for Police Commissioner for North Wales. The Tories did badly, the pundits thinking it was because of the divided stand on Europe. Their man in Ceredigion who had been described as Donald Trump Trelech was read out at the count at Aberaeron as Felix Frank Elfed Aubel. The final result that came in was just as staggering, to me anyway, as the Blaenau Gwent result namely Cardiff West's Neil McEvoy whose achievement in this part of the City was even more spectacular than Professor Copner's in Blaenau Gwent. He has been voted in on the regional list and we can look forward to some fireworks in the Assembly with this resilient and hard working character. Carwyn (Snooze) Jones will have to be on the ball this time around and I will be surprised if this term will be as boring as previous terms with the personalities therein assembled.
I don't smile often, being a miserable bastard with bad teeth, but, I have to admit smiling wryly on numerous occasions whilst listening to the Free French Radio (BBC Radio Cymru) on Thursday night, all through the night!

       

Yesterday

The Shark Fisherman was awake all night with headphones in his fish like lugs listening to the coverage of the National Assembly Elections 2016. After listening to Liverpool beating Villarreal on Radio 5 live, I turned over to BBC Radio Cymru at 10.00pm. The Presenters could have turned up for work at 2.00am thus saving 4 hours salary of each pundit and politico but that is churlish. Listening to BBC Radio Cymru is akin to what I imagine it was like listening to broadcasts by the French Resistance during the Second World War. We, the minority tongue, in the country that bears that languages name were huddled around the old bakelite radio and what news we heard. I was supporting the Greens this time around because of the overlord of darkness, the right royal pain in the arse Lord Arglwydd Dafydd Elis Thomas. I was disappointed for Plaid Cymru because he was returned for Dolgellau, Aberdovey and surrounding boroughs and launched the independent voice salvo in his acceptance speech.  Another nemesis of the Shark Fisherman got a right royal kick in the pants in Blaenau Gwent and it was a pleasure to hear him squirming in an interrogation by the Gestapo in the shape of Dewi Llwyd, who said that it was a personal statement on him that he had dropped a majority of almost 9,000 from the last time. He failed to mention in reply that he had been a slippery bastard who was not to be trusted. If you wish to learn why the Shark Fisherman hates this git so much click by ere! The night got better when we heard that the chauffeur driven Leighton Andrews was required to take a taxi away from the count in the Rhondda. This was a major achievement and hearty 'llongyfarchiadau' to Leanne Wood who I hope will realise her dream of becoming First Minister one day. Adam Price had an excellent victory in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr and congratulations to him, obviously the Tory placards in the middle of Llandovery had no effect. My concern that the Liberals were going to take Ceredigion were unfounded. Kirsty Williams as leader won the Mrs Royal Welsh popularity contest but will be alone in the chamber wearing yellow. 
Disappointment in hearing that the Purple Meanies namely UKIP will be there in force getting in through the Regional list. 
As a Born Again Green I am 'siomedig' that the people of Wales are more concerned by what is going on in their own back yard than by Climate Change but then again they always were a contrary lot. Blydi Nimbys the lot of em! 

Yfory

A fydd yr haul yn dod mas yfory? A fydd yna wawr newydd yn wleidyddiaeth Cymru? 
Mwydro bore mha a meddwl am Blaid Cymru gan fynd heibio placardiau'r blaid yn Ne Caerdydd. Mewnfudwyr i Gaerdydd ydy rhan fwyaf os nid bron bob aelod o'r Blaid. Wedodd dynes o'r ddinas heddiw i mi fod hy'n gallu clywed yn fy llais fy mod o'r gogledd. Mae sawl gogleddwr a gorllewinwr yn dod lawr i Gaerdydd ond mae'r  llifiad y ffordd arall ddim yn digwydd. Tasa na mwy o deithio a chyfarfod rhwng pobol y De a'r Gogledd  a dim just am y Rygbi a'r Eisteddfod efallai fasa pethau yn edrych yn well iddynt. Mae anghenion bobol Caergybi yn hollol wahanol i bobol Caerdydd ac maent yn disgwyl i un Blaid cynrychioli'r ddau le.Nid un Gymru ydy o beth bynnag mae pobol eisiau meddwl! Dydyn ddim yn unedig. Rydym yn rhanedig oblegid iaith a daearyddiaeth a rhain ydy'r ffeithiau moel. Roedd mewnfudwyr Caerdydd yma cyn mewnfudwyr Gogledd a Gorllewin Cymru ac maent gyda'i gwleidyddiaeth benodol. Mi bleidleisiais dwywaith i'r Blaid Werdd(Postal Vote) ac un waith i Blaid Cymru (oherwydd fod na ddim Gwyrdd yn sefyll) fel Comisiynydd Heddlu. Ddim eisiau'r hen Alun Michael i ennill. Gwleidyddion Proffesiynol, ych a fi! Dydd Gwener neu ddydd Sadwrn fyddwn ni gweld lliwiau newydd yn y Cynulliad siŵr o fod os yw'r polau piniwn yn gywir. Dipyn bach o biws ond dim porffor Prince, mae o wedi mynd ac wedi gadael ni gyda phobol sydd yn camddefnyddio'r lliw. Yr eironi!    

Distant Drums

Well, they are not so distant now because the Politicians want us to vote for them, tomorrow! The drum roll has begun. Be warned because I am going down the 'They are all the same' route even though, deep, deep down in the rubber of my dap (plimsoll) I perhaps know that there are one or two who are in it for the right reasons. I dismiss you, if you are a Labour or Tory candidate because you are only standing for your own self aggrandisement. The line between what these two parties stand for has become so blurred that they are indistinguishable. I am talking from a Wales standpoint here! The true ripples of Socialism have started with Jeremy Corbyn but they are still just ripples. The UK Labour Party are a self hating lot and the self loathing comes from knowing that they sold out under Tony Blair. It was then that the line became blurred between the Eton old boys and the Reds of the Home Counties. In Wales, Labour are the Conservatives of England because they have been in power so long. You only have to scroll back through the archive of the Shark Fisherman of Wales to understand the contempt that I hold these people in. I hold most loathing for those who have turned their coats yer Alun Davies and yer Leighton Andrews. I know that I have crossed the great political divide myself from Plaid to Green but with justifiable reasons (see LORD Dafydd Elis Thomas) but Davies went from Plaid to Labour and Andrews went from LibDem to Labour, not because they had a conversion on the road to Denbigh but because they realised that they had a better chance of getting elected. EGO folks! EGO, you might have heard of it. Freud had a lot to say about it. If you are in your mid to late thirties onwards you realise how damaging the promotion of the self can be. Other people are left behind as you jump from one bandwagon to another. In writing this post I really am having difficulty thinking about politicians who (in my opinion) have been in it for the right reasons. Gwynfor Evans, the first elected MP for Plaid Cymru perhaps and Caroline Lucas of the present day Greens. The men and women of the people. If you are in the Green Party, you cannot be doing it for your own political advancement because Mother Earth doesn't have that long to wait.  So folks get your daps on and get down tut Polling Station for perhaps one last try and if all the usual suspects get in next time....then we can say ENOUGH to this kind of Democracy. 



UPDATE: LEANNE WOOD IS A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE AND IS IN IT FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. CONGRATULATIONS TO HER ON HER HISTORIC VICTORY IN THE RHONDDA  

Divide & Conquer

Over a cup of tea with my neighbour this afternoon I said "if we (the people) refuse to be divided then we cannot be conquered", the usual run of the mill conversation between neighbours in the Peoples' Republic of Grangetown. He replied "We wont refuse to be divided though, we all want the biggest telly or the biggest car". "We don't" I motioned in our direction. I haven't had a telly for ten years and it was never that big when I had one. I don't need a telly to get a feel for what is going on. I anticipated this Labour Party nonsense back in December and lo it has come to pass. Comrade neighbour said "that eventually everyone would have to end up living like him. They wont like it but they are going to have to cut back and count every penny".

I concurred. The days of the bright shiny things are over. Our big topic of the day was cars! Cars need to come off the roads. There are streets in Cardiff, terraced streets with four cars belonging to one family. Is this greed or need? Does every member of the family need a car? No but they want one for convenience sake. I can say that this is my car, this is my possession. There are too many cars on the roads of Cardiff. The traffic is getting like London and the cycle infrastructure isn't good enough or safe enough to offer a viable alternative. Aspirational wealth leading nowhere. I would vote for a Government that limited cars to a maximum of two per family. I would vote for an administration that re-introduced 'rationing'. There is too much choice in the supermarkets and too much waste. Packaging is ridiculous. This unlimited growth when it stops as it will might come as a real shock to some. Those who live like their governments, in an utopia of short-termism worrying nought about the legacy left to future generations. "We'll be dead anyway so what do we care". Why do we eulogise Business and the Economy? Why don't we start celebrating community living, sustainable living? perceived by the comfortable and complacent as a quaint hobby. Capitalism is a lifestyle choice and it is burning out! We have to embrace the alternatives now before we become the death star.