Cymru/Wales: Bipolar Nation

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Thursday 31 January 2019

Weithiau

Mae rhaid i mi gyfaddef fy mod yn blino ar Genedlaetholdeb Cymraeg ag y bobol sydd ynghlwm 
weithiau


Monday 28 January 2019

You Kip


You're on your way,
You are Theresa's two hundred and-two
Hear the roar,
Of Bercow, the House of Commons bore

You kip, more than any other kip, you kip,
You're going to kip away,
Find a way to kip away,
Brexit

To win them all,
It's what you'll set out to do
You have a dream,
You know we're not sharing it too

You kip, more than any other kip, you kip,
You're going to kip a way,
find a way to kip away
Brexit

You'll get it wrong
This time, get it wrong,
This time

It makes you wonder,
It makes you wear a shroud
To kip for you kip,
And fear the crowd 


As you're marching
On towards a
 No Deal Brexit

This time,
This time
You're on your way,

You are Theresa's two hundred and two
Hear the roar
Of Bercow, the House of Commons bore


This time, more than any other time, this time,
You're going to kip a way,
Find a way to kip away,
This time, Martial Law


You'll get it wrong
This time you'll get it wrong
(Repeat to fade away UK)



Saturday 26 January 2019

Non Consenting Adults






I geisio profi fy mod i yn gallu sgrifennu am bynciau oni bai am gathod yn Gymraeg dyma blog post yn dwyn y teitl 'Non Consenting Adults'. Yn yr wythnos sydd wedi gweld diflaniad un o sêr pêl droed Caerdydd yn hedfan ar Buddy Holly Airways i gerddoriaeth Glen Miller i Gynghorydd Torïaid o Gyncoed yn deud dyle arweinydd Cyngor Caerdydd 'tear down the tents' gan dynnu sylw at y maes pebyll sydd wedi sefydlu yng Nghanol y Ddinas. Yn lle son am fy nghredo fod Prifddinas Cymru a'i thîm pêl droed wedi cael ei felltithio mi wnai son am fy meddylfryd ble dyle pobol penderfynu drostynt ei hunan beth maent am wneud. Efallai fuasai fe wedi bod yn well tasa Clwb Pêl Droed Caerdydd wedi trefnu trafnidiaeth i'w chwaraewr mwya drud erioed, yn lle gadael iddo fo fwcio awyren ei hunan neu waeth fyth,yr asiant.
Mae 15 miliwn am fywyd yn dipyn o golled. Pwy sydd yn cael y pres yna rŵan, Nantes, neu ydy Caerdydd yn cadw'r arian ac yn symud ymlaen at yr arwiddiad nesaf? Mae yn nodweddiadol sylwi hefyd fod yr hen geg ei hunan Neil Warnock wedi bod yn dawel iawn wsnos yma ar ol deud pythefnos nol, dyle’r 'gweddill y byd mynd i uffern' yn sgil Brexit. Dwi'n meddwl fel un sydd wedi byw a bod yn geto Grangetown am dri deg o flynyddoedd hunllefus taw Caerdydd sydd yn mynd i uffern. Mae canol y dre yn edrych fel codi cap i Dante ei hun ond dwi'n deud pam dyle bobol ddim cael yr hawl i fyw mewn pebyll yng nghanol y ddinas? Oleua maen't yn osgoi talu Treth Cyngor ac rydym yn gwybod, y 'normalos', pa mor ddrud mae hwnna yn gallu bod. Yn yr hen ddyddiau fasa bobol dlawd, ddi-waith yn mynd i'r 'workhouse'. Siŵr dyna fasa’r opsiwn gorau i'r Cynghorydd o Gyncoed, fod y rhain yn gwneud 'comeback' i adael i fusnesau fynnu mewn teyrnas unedig Post Brexit. Gobeithio cariad eich bod ddim wedi tagu ar eich Croissant Patisserie Valerie ar ôl darllen beth oedd gynnai i ddeud. Fel 'neutral' dwi'n mawr obeithio mi ddawn nhw o hyd i Sala ag y peilot Ibbotson yn fyw ar un o ynysoedd y Sianel,fel rhyw fath o Robinson Crusoe a Man Friday, ond erbyn hyn mae hwnna mor debyg ar Blaid Dorïaidd yn deall ystyr y gair tosturi.  

Friday 18 January 2019

The Snakes and Ladders of Mental Health & the Workplace



I cannot believe that a Liberal Democrat and a so called Labour MP have said the following. Norman Lamb "A change of mindset was required with mental health, and GPs needed to focus on recovery through work" Luciana Berger who said "It was staggering so few with mental health conditions were in work" Now I can't believe that somebody who represents a constituency in Liverpool of all places is saying such a thing. She needs to be watching 'Boys from the Blackstuff ' on a loop. It beggars belief that the 'Suicide Minister' Jackie Doyle-Price   is the one trying to rein this pair in and asking for a more holistic culture. I thought that it was meant to be the Conservatives who were the nasty party? perhaps Norman Lamb spent too much time rubbing shoulders with David Cameron in the coalition and Luciana Berger is spending too much time attacking Jeremy Corbyn. I watched I Daniel Blake recently without a TV Licence. I was in tears by the end of the film. The scenes of Daniel Blake in the Job Centre trying to defend his dignity and humanity brought memories back of my own experiences in the Job Centre in Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff.
Norman Lamb wants "a randomised control trial to target people in primary care." We are not lab rats Mr Lamb, we are not lambs for the slaughter. These politicians, who couldn't get a job in the real world are telling us, those with 'mental health needs',that work will set you free. It is very often work, with its strict limitations on freedom of expression that has made us ill in in the first place. Have you heard about bullying in the workplace?
Middle aged men tend to avoid Doctor's practices and I am one of them. If I know that my GP is working in cahoots with the DWP to coerce me back into unsuitable, soul destroying work, I wont be very happy about it, in fact, I could like a reverse Violet Elizabeth Bott in the Just William books, instead of screaming and screaming, go into a dark cold spiral of deep depression. I am able to do this at will now. All I have to do is watch the news, eat some junk food, go down the bookies, get pissed in the multifarious happy hours and drop a few unhappy pills. Let me marinate with my intrusive thoughts and negative over thinking and then I will be ready for your control group. Despite my qualifications you can drop me in the factory line or fast food chain gang and I will work at Dickensian drudgery so the elite 1% can go ahead and continue to paint lies on the side of buses. Work does not set you free. Unsuitable work coerced on to a desperate population by Doctors and the Department of Work and Pensions will lead to further distrust and resentment. 
We can't all be politicians.....tell a lie, I'll back track on that, anybody can be a politician.  The next time that somebody on £77,000 a year tells somebody on £73.10 a week Employment and Support allowance to stop 'thinking about their sickness' and 'think about getting into work' then please allow me to attach the electrodes to the politician's head and place the rubber bung in their mouth. Unfortunately, unlike the Milgram experiment, when one of these screams in pain for me to lower and stop the electrical voltage, then its very unlikely that I will stop, because I know that it is a physical illness that they are suffering and not a mental and emotional one.      

Further Reading




Thursday 17 January 2019

Hwyl Fawr Squeaky Socks







Dwi'n casáu gweiddi! Gweiddi ar fy nhad bore mha, sydd yn drwm ei glyw, i ddeud fod dynes yn dod i fynd a 'squeaky socks' i ffwrdd. Mae Ann (with the van) yn dod gyda basged am 10.00 y bore i fynd a'r gath fach annwyl, y rhodd gan Dduw, at Annabelle ym Mhennal. Mae hyn i gyd wedi cael ei threfni gan Pat yn Ffos y Ffin. Felli 'Ladies o Loegr' sydd yn edrych ar ôl cathod Ceredigion. Roedd fy nhad yn hoffi'r hen gath fach ond roedd yn amlwg y gwahaniaeth rhwng agwedd y Cymry, neu'r hen Gymry tuag at gathod. 
"Cadw nhw ar y fferm adref er stalwm i hel llygod mawr, llygod ffyrnig, doedden nhw ddim yn cael dod i'r tŷ" 
gyda'i eiriau, dyma fi'n cofio gweld nhw, dwsin neu ugain ohonynt gyda'i asennau yn dangos trwy ei chroen blewog. Doedd cathod ffarm Dyffryn Clwyd ddim yn dew. Felli dyma ni am ffarwelio gyda chath rydym wedi bedyddio gydag enw plentynnaidd Saesneg ag siŵr o fod ar ôl iddi gyrraedd Pennal bore mha fydd yr enw yn newyd i Owain Glyndŵr, Tywysog y cathod bach sinsir neu enw menywaidd oherwydd dwi dal i feddwl taw dynes ydy hi. Ydy cymhlethdod traws rhywioldeb yn ymestyn i gathod hefyd tybed? Nol at y gweiddi. Cofio nôl i fy nghyfnod fel Athro Drama a Saesneg yn Ne Ddwyrain Llundain cyn i fi fynd off y rails yn de, cyn i fi droi yn wallgofddyn. Yn ddyddiol mi faswn yn gweiddi i gadw trefn. Yn allanol, yn ceisio edrych fod pethau o dan reolaeth ond tu fewn, yn berwi o ddiffyg trefn a dealltwriaeth o'r byd a'r betws. Doedd rhai ddim yn gallu deall sut oedd person mor ddihyder yn gallu fod yn athro Drama. "It's all an act, lyfi cariad" wedais i un diwrnod a fflownsio allan o'r staff room. Roedd gweiddi yn dangos dy fod ti wedi colli rheolaeth, yn dangos fod y disgyblion 'wedi dy gael di'. Yn llythrennol roedd dysgu drama, yn bendant yn yr ysgol yna, fel hel cathod. Gobeithio caeth Ann with a van mwy o hwyl am ddeg na wnes i yn dysgu ers llawer dydd. Hwyl Fawr 'Squeaky Socks'.   

Tuesday 15 January 2019

Yellow Vest






Yellow vest, up high in wardrobe see
Yellow vest, you're worn by dickheads like me
Did your nazi friend kick his own head in again?
That is very rad, makes me feel so glad
You can't fly away, in the sky no way
there's a couple of drones circling you see
I also had a yellow vest, it's got blood on it today
They're not all the same those yellow vests
In France they're OK
In Britain they're dickheads say?
Yellow vest, yellow vest
Did your dim friend leave the nest again?
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad
You can't fly away, in the sky no way
Gatwick & Heathrow are still closed
Wish that I were a yellow vest, Oui, en Francais
But I am a yellow vest dans UK
so here I sit in the shit 💩
Nothing I can do
Yellow vest, yellow vest








Sunday 13 January 2019

Ken Frane and the Bluebird Voodoo Doll



"The Blue Lamp, Jack Warner and Dirk Bogarde “Get back I say, get back” but Jack Warner wouldn’t get back. Blue lights, Bluebirds, The blues clubs of Butetown. They had their own language, Creole, Cymraeg and Voodoo. Frane stood under a street lamp and lit his cigar; the cigar that his GP told him would kill him. Frane liked to live dangerously but not as dangerously as the body found in the old East Dock. Pulled out yesterday evening, Wednesday, covered in seaweed and bloated. It hadn’t been down there long. It wasn’t for Frane to start speculating. He would wait for the call from Cardiff Bay Police HQ as it now was. They knew that he knew that it would need an old head to help solve this one".

"On nights like these down the Bute Dock when visibility was only a 
few feet in front, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were 
walking about in any year between 1880 and the present day so dark 
and so Gothic were some of the corners of the old Cardiff Docks.
As he walked past the Norwegian Church ghosts of the old sailors in 
roll neck jumpers made their way down the steps singing hymns of 
Scandinavia. The old Black Friars of Bute Park were walking and 
chanting in unison up Lloyd George Avenue as Tommy the Fish passed 
by with his barrow. The voice of Shirley Bassey came out of an old 
Café in Adamsdown. Was it a Jukebox or was it a younger her? Time 
stopped and started at random down the Docks when Ken Frane was 
about to start another investigation." 


"From policing the miners’ strike of 84/85 and match duty at the Ninian he couldn’t have asked for postings that rooted him as much into his home area. The further up the greasy pole you climb however the more tenuous that your former connections become. Napoleon used to place his police who had been former soldiers in his armies into bases and stations away from home so that they couldn’t be leant on or bribed. Frane could see the sense in this because he had been propositioned many times and he had got so fed up of it, asked to turn a blind eye here, accept a bung there that in the end it ruined his career. He was better off as a freelance gum shoe anyway. He was on Redemption Song journey. Anything he could do to crack a case now would look good when the vicar came to read out the eulogy at his funeral which couldn’t be that far off now." 


“She has gone home”
“Home?” Ken Frane presses the question home.
“She has gone home to Haiti to grieve in peace, away from prying eyes”
“When did she leave?”
“Last Thursday”
“That was very soon, his body was only found in the East Bute Dock on Wednesday evening, I was present when they fished him out”




Saturday 12 January 2019

Anturiaethau Pellach Squeaky Socks a Tomos



Mae'r par yma o gathod yn 'grifters' soffistigedig. Mae Tomos wedi cymryd ei le yn y garej ac mae 'squeaky socks' yn gwneud y mwyaf o'r sylw sydd yn dod yn sgil cath fach chwareus. Ar ôl ddwy noson ble oedd 'socks' yn cysgu allan, gyda ni ddim eisiau annog hi i fod yn rhy gartrefol, sylweddolwn fod y ddwy gath yn ymgynghori yn ystod y nos ar sut i gael y mwyaf ffws a ffwdan allan o'r bobol meddal yma.
Ar nodyn mwy difrifol rydym wedi sylwi fod yr hen Tomos yn gloff ac mae 'na graith heb flew ar ei goes dde cefn. Efallai wedi cael e'n sownd mewn trap neu wedi bod yn ymladd a rhywbeth wedi rhoi uffern o frathiad iddo. Mae'r ddwy gath yma wedi dod atom ni o nunlle 'one dark and stormy night' ac rydym yn gwario pres ar fwyd cathod ble roeddwn ni ddim o'r blaen ag nawr mae'r bwgan o filfeddygon yn dod dros y gorwel gyda mwy o bres yn fantol. Dyna pam dydyn ddim yn cadw anifeiliaid, y gost! ond mae'r ddau yma wedi dod atom ni fel her, mae hynny yn amlwg. Wythnos arall ar wefan y 'Gynghrair Amddiffyn Cathod' fel un wedi ei ffeindio i squeaky socks ac wedyn gobeithio bydd hi yn cael ei fabwysiadu go handi. Unwaith maent wedi  blasu bwyd maen nhw yn dechrau eich addoli ag pendant dim 'duwiau' ydym ni.  Dwi'n ddiolchgar i'r par yma am un peth, y cyfle maent wedi rhoi i mi sgrifennu amdanynt yn fy mamiaith, ond erbyn hyn, yn debyg i'r hen gath wyllt, yr iaith fwy bratiog sydd gyda fi.    

Thursday 10 January 2019

Gwers mewn Gostyngeiddrwydd


TOMOS

Mae 'Squeaky Socks' chi'n cofio? Y gath fach annwyl, y rhodd gan Dduw wedi dod a chwain gyda hi i'r tŷ! Mi roeddwn yn dal yr un bach yn fy nhwylo a gweld rhywbeth du yn teithio trwy ei blew. Diolch byth am Morrisons yn de, ar agor tan ddeg y nos a minnau fel hen ddyn musgrell yn sefyllian yn y lon bwyd cathod yn edrych am rywbeth i drin ein hymwelydd dros dro (gobeithio). Wedi digwydd gweld ar y we bod cathod bach coll yn llawn chwain felli mae ein hymwelydd bach nos Sul wedi dod a ffrindiau gyda hi ac nid yn unig chwain rydym yn meddwl fod hi wedi dod a 'bownsar' gyda hi. Mae hon yn gath llythrennol wyllt a ffeindio ni hon yn y garej y bore ar ôl ymddangosiad 'squeaky socks' felli mae na rhyw feddwl na rhyw double act ydy rhain fel Estragon ag Vladimir yn Waiting for Godot neu George a Lennie yn 'Of Mice & Men' dau grwydryn yn trempio'r wlad, yr un ifanc yn wafio ei chynffon ag yn galw ar bobol "Drychwch arna i, dwi'n real cutie" a'r llall, yr un hen chwerw, yn sleifio rownd cefn i chwilio am fwyd. Mae rhaid cyfaddef ar ôl trin a thrafod a 'squeaky socks' doeddwn ddim yn yr hwyl gorau i drin yr un hen yma felli mi wnes i redeg ar ei ôl o, mi wnes i daflu dŵr tuag ato, mi wnes i droi'r hoover ymlaen i geisio rhoi braw iddo fo a 'squeaky socks' yn y ffenest yn wincio ar ei hen ffrind. Dyma ni'n meddwl fod ni wedi cael gwared ar hen beth ond dyna ni eto, fel 'minder' go iawn, roedd o yn y garej bore ma ag roedd o eisiau bwyd, a doedd o ddim am cymryd "Na" fel ymateb. Teimlais gywilydd am gael fy swyno gan gath fach ifanc wrth anwybyddu'r hen 'bwmbarth' yma, roedd yn ôl ei olwg yn tynnu tua diweddglo ei naw bywyd. 
Felli bore ma mi ges i wers yng ngostyngeiddrwydd ag mi wnes i roi bwyd i'r hen gath wyllt yn y garej. 'Tomos' rydym wedi galw hon ar ôl yr hen gath yn gartwnau Tom & Jerry ers llawer dydd. Pwy a ŵyr, efallai ar ôl i'r act ddwbl yma blino arnom ni ag ein llety tlawd, ymlaen a nhw i borfeydd brasach fel dau trempyn bach blewog, un yn hen ac yn gynhennus cwerylgar ar llall yn ifanc, yn llawn bywyd, llawn chwain a llawn triciau.    



Tuesday 8 January 2019

Squeaky Socks


Am wyth o'r gloch nos Sul diwethaf, ar ôl i nodau olaf 'Canu Plygain' Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol o Sir Drefaldwyn orffen dyma fi'n clywed sŵn cath yn 'mewian' wrth y drws ffrynt. Gweld wyneb bach a throi'r golau ymlaen, diflannodd. Cae drws. Y sŵn yn dechrau eto. Tro yma ddaeth y gath fach ifanc i mewn, lliw sinsir a sanau gwyn. Gwichian  oedd hi'n neud melli yn nhraddodiad yr hen Gymry dyma roi llysenw iddi syth bin. Felli 'Squeaky Socks' sydd ar hyn o bryd yn eistedd yn y stafell ganol yn penderfynu beth i feddwl am y dihirod yma sydd wedi cymryd hi fewn. Yr unig beth allai feddwl oherwydd amseriad ymddangosiad y gath fach ifanc yma oedd ta rhodd gan Dduw oedd hi. Rydym yn meddwl ta merch i'w hi oherwydd fel y dywedais i'r fenyw o 'Gynghrair Amddiffyn Cathod Ceredigion' doeddwn ddim yn gweld ceilliau arni. Ia, dych chi'n dallt yn iawn. Fel bob rhodd arall gan Dduw sydd wedi bod, rydym wedi troi i ffwrdd o'r hen ofergoeledd yna at y byd go iawn. 'Realiti' oherwydd dyna ble mae rhan fwyaf o bobol yn byw yn de? Rydym wedi dilyn y canllawiau, cysylltu â chymdogion ac wedi hysbysu'r 'Cat Protection League' a diolch i dduw amdanynt. Roedd Squeaky Socks yn amlwg yn gwybod fod y bobol tu fewn i'r tŷ yma yn hoffi cathod ond mae'r bywyd ymarferol yn deud taw rhoi hi fyny fel 'Ar Goll' am bythefnos ac wedyn fydd hi yn cael ei rhestri fel cath yn barod i gael ei fabwysiadu. Ond sut ddaeth hi atom ni? Rhodd Dolig aeth yn ormod i bobol? Wedi cael ei dwmpio ochor ffordd? Tasa gyda hi chartref go iawn fasa hi wedi ymgeisio mynd nôl yna? Well mi wnawn ni'r gorau glas gyda'r rhodd fach gan Dduw am y pythefnos nesaf ond wedyn gobeithio mi aeth hi i gartref bach croesawgar fydd yn ymfalchïo ynddi ag mi ganwn ni fel triawd plygain hwyl fawr i'r gath fach annwyl.  

Darllen Pellach

Saturday 5 January 2019

Big bother yn Bermo bitw



You've heard of 'Big Trouble in Little China'

I give you now 'Big bother yn Bermo bitw'

Ken Frane


Last of the Cardiff Docks' Detectives



"There is a fault line, a disconnect in most villages and towns in Wales where the predominant language used to be Welsh. I say used to be, because English, the language of the incomer, the blow ins, the tourists, the hippies, tree huggers and second home owners has now taken the place of the native Cymraeg. Good People of Barmouth, hear me this evening and take a leaf out of my book, go to Evening Classes and learn Welsh!" Somebody from the back shouts “Bollocks”

The following morning Dai Williams greets Ken a bit sheepishly but even though he’s got a hangover, Ken feels human again, he was never meant for a life of sobriety.

Frane walked along the front at Barmouth. What a ridiculous place it was, like a carbuncle. A mini Las Vegas in the Snowdonia National Park. It was as if Carnival Folk had one day ridden into town and decided to put down anchor. What had locals thought when the circus had come to town? They couldn’t do anything. The impotence of the indigenous population always amazed Frane. From Aborigines, to North American Indians, to the Welsh here on the Reservation. It was as if they were in a state of constant trauma following their first encounter with the White Settlers. The fact that the Welsh here were also white couldn’t hide the fact that they were so different culturally and linguistically from the West Bromwich Popular Front who had settled here.

“Dai Williams wouldn’t even take his vest off in the summer to mow the lawn let alone go to a swingers' party” 






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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Hitler navigates the A487 from Aberaeron to Aberystwyth

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How To Be Idle
Second Sight
Freud: The Key Ideas
The Yellow World
Intimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Other
Going Mad?: Understanding Mental Illness
Back To Sanity: Healing the Madness of Our Minds
Ham on Rye
Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania
Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Mavericks
Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I Bought a Mountain
Hovel in the Hills: An Account of the Simple Life
Ring of Bright Water
The Thirty-Nine Steps
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
The Seat of the Soul


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