A sheep farm in the Brecon Beacons in mid-Wales is providing a glimpse of a post-carbon future, writes Simon Gompertz…. From BBC News. Full story

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I know nothing about rugby. I know men play it. I know women can play it. I know there are two teams that normally battle it out against one another. And I know that if you are Welsh you are supposed to know everything about it, girl or not.

My boyfriend knows a lot about rugby, and in a quest to retain the title of ‘World’s Best Girlfriend’ I thought it would be nice to let him buy me a ticket for the Rugby Internationals.

So, after a very exciting day which involved meeting John Inverdale, (and spending half the day trying to remember how to say his surname) and Jeremy Guscott  – more on this later, I headed to meet him outside Cardiff Castle. Blackberry in hand, I thought I would do my best to capture cardiff on a rugby international.

Having lived in Cardiff for a while, I know the atmosphere can be electric on a game night. I have often gatecrashed die-hard rugby fans nights out in an aim to make my aimless, I don’t need an excuse to have a drink night better, but this was the first time I had been involved. It was bitterly cold in Cardiff last night, and not even the blue, twinkling fairy lights could warm us.

We headed over to gate 6, round the back of the Millennium Stadium on the bank of the River Taff and made our way into the ground. Leaving the boys to pick up some watery Carling, Jen and I bumped into our first hurdle. Someone was sat in our seats! Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. I am not one of those people who makes you move on an empty train just because the flimsy little ticket poking out of the back of your headrest does not match up with the one held in your ice, cold hand.

But the match was sold out – so we weren’t quite sure whether to check our eyesight or start a fight.  Three stewards later, a lot of ticket checking, moaning and not much action -  the lady in orange managed to make the impostors move.  One row along.

Sat in the third row behind the Welsh goal – I think -  they swap at half time, I witnessed it – we were able to warm ourselves from the pyrotechnics, which definitely symbolises the Welsh dragon, I began to feel a bit nervous. Why? Because the national anthem was coming up. I would have had more chance knowing the words and being able to sing along to The National Anthem by Radiohead – which by the way, are much easier and only have around three lines. Yet another reason to love Radiohead.

I am Welsh. But here’s the catch. I am the only person in my entire family tree to have been born here. No-one in my family is patriotic. My mum wanted me to take yellow and green ribbons so I could support Australia because my brother lives there. Consequently, I do not feel Welsh and do not know the words to the national anthem:

Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad,
Tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.

Cytgan
Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i’m gwlad,
Tra môr yn fur
I’r bur hoffbau,
O bydded i’r heniaith barhau.

Hen Gymru fynyddig, paradwys y bardd,
Pob dyffryn, pob clogwyn, i’m golwg sydd hardd;
Trwy deimlad gwladgarol, mor swynol yw si
Ei nentydd, afonydd, i mi.

Cytgan

Os treisiodd y gelyn fy ngwlad dan ei droed,
Mae hen iaith y Gymry mor fyw ag erioed,
Ni luddiwyd yr awen gan erchyll law brad,
Na thelyn berseiniol fy ngwlad.

Cytgan

Never mind that Welsh has a ridiculous amount of ridiculous letters put in ridiculous places. Ngw? Come on..But here I was, surrounded by true rugby fans and proud to be Welsh McDiarmids (slightly ironic seeing as they hail from bonnie Scotland) and I didn’t have a monkeys. I got to the chorus and faded into the background. Singing and rugby in one night. This was a new one.

Kick off. When all things are equal.

Within the next 10 minutes, in my expert opinion, we had lost the game. I have been to two rugby games in the past month or so. The first one, was when the Cardiff Blues played some team from up North. Ross said that it “was the worst game he had ever been to.” After last night’s match I think he had something to compare it with.

For me, as an international virgin. I was rather disappointed. There was no atmosphere. Everything and everyone fell silent. Not even the faint cries of “oggy oggy oggy” could stir up Welsh spirits. Things got so bad that there was even a ruckus in the crowd behind us. And I thought this was a gentleman’s sport.

74,000 people stormed into the stadium hopeful and expectant. They left feeling rather dejected and a little bit robbed I would imagine. Having not bought the ticket, I was just grateful to be there. Double the pain for Ross, then.

Leaving early, we fell out onto the quiet streets of Cardiff. It was ice cold, the weather reflecting everyone’s spirits and pissing down on us. Sweet.

What do you do when you lose something that you care about? In Cardiff, you tend to get drunk and listen to some god awful music and steal a drunk Welsh girl’s, Welsh hat. But this, this is just too much. Hope you don’t find yourself in one of those incriminating photos…

Off to Barocco to dance with reckless abandon, grooving one’s hips and thinking that one is the world’s best girlfriend while doing the world’s best dance moves. Both are probably untrue.

My post-match commentary -

1. Learn the words to your national anthem.
2. Wear red.
3. Don’t go to the bar on your own without some form of chav defence.
4. And always, always make sure there is someone there to tell you when to cheer.

Pembroke Welsh Corgi

PEMBROKE  HISTORY

Although the Pembroke and Cardigan remain distinct breeds with their own standards, they are very similar, a result of crossbreeding between them until the 20th century.

Romantics claim that Corgis arrived with the Celts over 2,000 years ago. Others believe they are descended from Swedish Vallhund stock arriving with the Vikings a little over 1,000 years ago, although it may be that the Vallhund is descended from Welsh dogs. The name Corgi is recorded in ‘A Dictionary in Englyshe and Weshe’ published in 1574, as ‘Korgi ne gostoc, Corgi or curre dogge’, meaning working or guarding dog. It is rarely used as a herding dog today.

In 1934 the British Kennel club gave the Pembroke and Cardigans separate breed status.
PEMBROKE  QUALITIES

The Pembroke Welsh Corgi is described as:

• Hardy, highly intelligent, obedient,
• Protective and devoted.
• Active, fun-loving and headstrong

Corgis are extremely active and are good with children so long as the dog sees humans as above him in the pack order. They make fine guards, and excellent show and obedience dogs. Wary of strangers, it should be properly socialized and trained when it is still young.

They need their humans to have a determined, consistent loving approach, showing firm but calm leadership with proper human to canine communication to avoid over-protective behaviors as an adult.

Some Pembrokes are more outgoing, restless and excitable than the Cardigan Welsh Corgi. Several of these brave dogs have lost their lives defending their homes, as they were too small for the situation. They sometimes try to herd people by nipping at their heels, although they can and should be trained not to do this. The Pembroke tends to bark a lot and makes a good alarm dog.

Heelers had to be bold enough to run behind the feet of the cattle and nip their heels, low and robust enough to roll away from resulting kicks, and determined enough to go back for more. These qualities make them lively companions, but too stubborn and snappish to be good family dogs.

If you find your dog is barking at you in order to communicate you need to hush the dog and look into your leadership skills. A dog that is barking at you in that manner is showing signs of dominancy issues. Males can be aggressive with other males, particularly if a bitch in heat is in the vicinity. The human handlers need to communicate to the dog that aggressiveness with other dogs is an unwanted behavior. They are easily trained as long as training is done with gentle handling and without severe physical correction.

He is one of the most agreeable small housedogs, as well as an avid competitor in many dog sports, including conformation, herding and obedience.

IDEAL OWNERS

The Pembroke does well with an active family in a rural or suburban home.

PEMBROKE DESCRIPTION

The Pembroke is a long, low, solidly built dog with short, well-boned legs. It has a foxy head with large, erect ears; oval, brown eyes; and a black nose. It is deep-chested and naturally tailless. It has a medium-length coat.

PEMBROKE  TIPS

• Welsh Corgis must be taken for daily walks and, as often as possible, allowed to run free in an open area. Like all dos close to the ground, the Welsh Corgi tends to suffer from intestinal chills.
• Dry it well, especially the stomach and chest, after it has been out in the wet weather.
• Brush its coat regularly.
• Guard against overweight.

Information supplied by Woofahs – All things Pets.

Further information on the Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

Handy Links

Date night last night. A first date. First one in a few months. With the Welsh guy.

We had decided to meet up in my neighbourhood.

Got ready. 30 minutes before decided time, I could feel the little butterflies enter the system. The butterflies that are there because you’re going to meet a new person, whom you’ve only seen pictures of and been emailing with.

Walked in just after he had into the pub, drinks were ordered and served, sit down and… let the talking begin.

Talking, finding out favourite things, taste in music and film, work… It was a nice date, and he was nice to look at, made me laugh, I made him confused. Good times.

Time will tell if it will be a second encounter.

I learnt a LOT about Wales this weekend..
My favourite story is about the Red Dragons of Wales are protected by Pandas.

It is totally true..
Check Wikipedia..
Click on the picture below..

I learnt about Menai Bridge and how one side has three arches and the other has four

I need to be taken there next time.

AND Puffin Island

I had a lovely trip to Bangor with my good friend GJ.
You can tell its nearly Christmas when the Innocent Smoothie hats appear

The weather sucked but that didn’t stop us from walking down the pier

I learnt some Welsh and met the locals, including Jimmi who loves kareoke and blackcurrant cordial.

A lovely little town which i’m sure i will be visiting again soon

John Haywood in his introduction of the book tells us that in recent academic writing about the Celts the focus has been on whether or not the Celts really existed and on whether the modern Celts are real Celts.  His opinion on the matter (with some reservations which he will discuss in the book) is that both are real.  He feels that rather than focusing on Celtic history as a two-millennia-long decline, it should be seen as a real story of survival.  John Haywood in his book is trying to explain the reasons WHY the Celts have survived in one form or another until today.  He gives us two reasons.  The first is that the Celts were not united so in his opinion they were harder to conquer and even when defeated they were harder to subdue because there was always someone ready to rebel.  The other reason is the limitations of their enemies’ colonial systems, which could not easily assimilate the decentralized tribal societies even after they were defeated.  He uses for his resources the Classical writers, archeology, and vernacular records.  The book has a beautiful bibliography that could be used for references or further reading on a specific subject.

The first chapter of the books was a very brief history of the possible origins of the Celts.  The author talks about the Indo-Europeans, and their connection to the Celts both through possible blood and language.  The author also talks about the Hallstatt and the La Téne periods.  The chapter was very brief, but I think that has more to do with the fact that this was something that a lot of Celtic history books have hashed and re-hashed a thousand times.  A few ideas that the author presented in this chapter stuck with me though.  The first idea that came through loud and clear is that trying to define the Celts by their culture is not a viable option because there has been so many changes across time in culture, technology and social structure that the modern Celts would not be recognized by their ancient ancestors.  Also in some of the places that have been distinctly called Celtic the Celts had adopted so much of the cultures they lived in it was no longer considered Celtic culture.  The strongest way and the most widely accepted way to define Celts is through language.  Another idea is that the Celts never collectively called themselves that, this only came about in the 18^th Century and because of that, modern historians and linguists argue that the idea of the Celts as a people is simply a modern fabrication.  We have no myths of origin by the Celts and yet that did not stop the Greeks and Romans from giving them myths of origins based on their gods and cultures, and the chapter lists a few of these myths, which was really interesting.  The author also believes that during the Hallstatt period when the Celtic World began to integrate itself with the Mediterranean economy and encourage the process of political centralization they made themselves more vulnerable to conquest and political as well as cultural assimilation by the Romans.  The author believes that the end of the Hallstatt period may have been due to changes in the trading routes and the rise of the new chieftains in the North (the La Téne Chieftains).  This new power was more militant than the Hallstatt chieftains and its appearance marked the beginning of a long period of instability in northern and central Europe.  This is very much in keeping with what other experts in these two periods had said, the most widely known of which is Barry Cunliffe who wrote “The Ancient Celts” and most recently “Europe Between the Oceans”.

Chapter two discussed the Celtic migrations that were known in recorded history and they were certainly widespread.  The author believes that most of the larger scale migrations were actually planned well in advance like the Helvetii migrations, which took two years to plan.  The reasons for these migrations were believed to be due to shortage of resources, and to social tensions caused by over-population.  This includes warriors who wanted to make a name for themselves and lead their own groups of people.  Looking at the people that the Celts succeeded against, they were believed to be at the same stage of development as the Celts and this made it easier for the Celts to assimilate them into Celtic culture and identity.

The third chapter of the book talks about the Celts of the La Téne World.  It begins by discussing its social structure and how it differs from the Atlantic fringe to Continental Europe, the economy, housing and living conditions, the Celtic religion and Celtic warfare and ends by telling us that the Continental Celts were open to conquest and assimilation not because they were barbarians but because they were actually civilized enough to be included into the Roman world.  The chapter also tells us how the Celts were viewed through the ages.  For example, in the classical times they were inferior barbarians, while in the 18^th century they were seen as Noble Savages.  In the age of environmentalism and New Age beliefs the Celts became a symbol for spirituality and respect for nature.  The author also goes into greater detail about the social structure of the La Téne Celts.  He tells us that it depended on the environment and the resources available to them, which in my opinion makes great sense.  The main form of social structure was chiefdom and it depended on lineage and inheritance and it was mostly tribal based.  Chiefdoms survived in Ireland until the 16^th century CE and in the Scottish Highlands until the 18^th century CE, which is the reason they were hard to conquer and keep by the Romans.  In Celtic Europe however, they were already developing kingdoms and tribal republics by the last centuries BCE.  This the author attributes to the trade with the Mediterranean World, a rising population and increasing prosperity based on efficient agriculture.  Celtic Europe’s adoption of state formations led to the arrival of literacy using different borrowed scripts by the 6^th century BCE.  Around the 2^nd century BCE they also began to use and issue coinage.  The chapter includes great explanations of the economy and what it was based on, how the houses were built and the living conditions of people, the Celtic religion and how it was similar and yet different to the Roman and Greek ones, and the methods and instruments used in warfare by the Celts of the La Téne World.

The Celts and the Roman Republic is the next chapter in the book.  The author begins by telling us that the Romans wrote this part of the Celtic story and so it is offered with all the limitations that that entails (i.e. this is a one sided story and we don’t get to hear what the Celts had to say about the same events).  The Roman version of events is colored by their memories of the 390 BCE sack of Rome by the Gauls. The author makes good points in this chapter about the Romans and the Celts.  The Roman expansion in his opinion was no more planned than the Celtic expansion previously was.  It was driven by internal politics and the search for secure frontiers.  The Romans were not averse to the Celts even though they tended to see them as inferior.  They formed alliances with some of the Celtic tribes just like they did with other peoples.  The Celts saw this as an advantage against their enemies of other Celtic tribes or non-Celtic tribes.  Of course these alliances tended to make the Celts easier to assimilate by the Romans but that was not necessarily unwelcome by the Celts whose main concern was whether the Elites’ wealth and status was preserved and if it was then so be it.  Most modern and classical Roman historians (like Tacitus for example) saw the Celtic disunity as a weakness that led to their defeat, but if it was so, the author asks, would it have taken the Romans 400 years to conquer the Celts??  The author gives as an example the Roman conquest of the Celtic Iberians.  He says that in the time it took to subdue and conquer these Celts the Romans were able to conquer the entire eastern Mediterranean with its ancient and sophisticated civilizations like Greece and Egypt.  Could it be that the disunity or more precisely the decentralization of the Celts be the reason that the Celts held on so long?  After all, it took only one year for the Romans to put down the rebellion of Vercingetorix after he united all the Gauls under him…I think this is an interesting concept and idea.  The author goes on to describe how the conquest of Cisalpine Gaul, Spain, and Galatia took place.  He describes how these conquests started and why and the strategies used by both parties in the wars.  The chapter ends with the threat from the north or the German tribes and their alliance with Gaulish tribes and how the Romans dealt with them after they (the German and Gaulish tribes) gave them quite the scare.

Chapter five deals with Caesar’s conquest of Gaul and how that came about.  The last chapter ended with the northern threat to the Romans and even after putting that threat down Roman attitudes towards Gaul changed.  The Romans saw Transalpine Gaul as a safe land route to Spain and a necessary buffer zone against invasions from the Germanic tribes in the north.  This is why when it was threatened by the Helvetii in 58 BCE and the Aedui, who were Roman allies, asked for help against the Arverni and the Sequani it was easy for Caesar to get the Senate to agree to war to protect Transalpine Gaul and the trade the Romans had there.  After dealing with these threats Caesar decided to go further.  He defeated the Belgae in September 57 BCE.  He then went after the Armorican tribes because they controlled the most important trade routes between Gaul and Britain.  The author then goes on to expound on Caesar’s incursions into Britain.  In the end of these raids Romans had increased trade and diplomatic contact with southern Britain and nothing more, it was up to the next leaders of Rome to conquer Britain.  The chapter also discusses the troubles that Caesar had with rebellions in Gaul like the ones led by Ambiorix and Vercingetorix.  Even though some Celtic areas remained Roman free in Transalpine Gaul in the end they too decided to get under Roman rule, which they preferred to the German tribes.

Chapter six is dedicated to the Roman conquest of Britain.  The chapter contains a lot of details that are not really given in other history books on the Celts.  It describes the troubles that the Roman had to endure while trying to conquer Britain and all the rebellions they had to deal with from people like Caratacus, Togodumnus, Boudica, Venutius, and the people of the Highlands.  It is interesting that when the Britons used guerrilla tactics they could win but when they united they lost.  In the end the Romans could not go beyond Hadrian’s Wall nor could they conquer Ireland.

In chapter seven the author discusses the Celts in the Roman world.  The Romans were good at assimilating other cultures because they tolerated other religions, which made it easier for the people to accept them.  The Celts appeared to have controlled the pace at which they became Romanized as evidenced by their burial practices.  The chapter was interesting because it told you of how the assimilation happened and how it differed from one Celtic region to another.

The making of Wales is the subject of chapter eight.  The author begins by giving you the version of events that Gildas the monk made famous and then he tells you what really happened.  Chapter eight is a very interesting starting point for anyone interested in the history of Wales and how it came about.

Scotland or Alba is the subject matter of chapter nine.  Again the author gives a great introduction to the history of the people who live there, where they came from, their struggles and what led them to the union with England.

Chapter ten is about my favorite subject, the history of Ireland.  Like the previous two chapters it makes an interesting read, whether you just want an introduction to Irish history or if you want a refresher to Irish history.  The history starts with early Christian Ireland and extends to the end of the fifteenth century CE.

Brittany in north-western France is a Celtic speaking region that I don’t know much about so I was very interested in reading about it in chapter eleven.  The history starts from when the Bretons went over as immigrants and ends around the fourteenth century CE.

England’s Celtic ulcer is the title of chapter twelve.  I automatically thought it would be about Ireland and I was right.  The Chapter dealt with the English attempts to control Ireland up until the time of Cromwell.

Chapter thirteen discusses the end of the clan system and how it affected Scotland politically.  The author discusses how these clans worked in the Highlands and how they came to be, in a very simplistic manner.

The last three chapters of the book discuss the Celtic revival (how, why and where it took place), the Celtic Diaspora and the causes and effects of it and the modern Celts.  The last chapter especially discusses (though very briefly) the future of the Celts.

I really enjoyed the book because it filled in gaps in my knowledge in certain areas like Brittany and Wales and complemented what I already knew about Ireland and Scotland.  It presented the latest of the known facts on the Celts and that is what a lot of older books lack.  It is a great book for beginners or for people who want an up to date discussion of the history of the Celts.

Last week I painted up three elements of 7Hd for the Battle of Hastings. I also finished all the figures I need for the King Magnus campaign.

Feudal Hordes

These are all Essex figures, some of which I got by trade from Paul Potter. They are pretty primitive looking figures, some are armed with lumps of wood or crude stone clubs. They’ll be used in campaign games for emergency reinforcements. The middle element is made up of figures without trousers, so it’s particularly suitable for the Welsh and Pre-feudal Scots, who don’t hold with such fashion!

I also finished one 3Sp and two 3Bw for the Welsh (Feudal Castings, of course). Until I’m inspired to paint the early Welsh option (lots of 3Wb), that’s all of them for now, though I do have the figures for some more command elements, particularly another mounted one, but I think other projects will take priority.

More Welsh

And I’ve done some more Viking archers (also Feudal Castings), only to decided that if I make the Anglo-Norse huscarls immune to QK, they won’t need any more light troops. Still, I’ve now got enough archers for two Viking armies, and I’ve probably got the blades too, if I painted the rest; again I can’t see that being an immediate priority.

Viking Archers

The first date from match.com in a while has been decided.

Tuesday it is. With a Welsh guy living in Richmond.

Surprisingly, very surprisingly, the tall Swedish guy was in the email with the matches I read today. That was… odd.

Chef still acting… like something. Not too bothered by it now.

Curious about Tuesday’s meet…

Alternate Christmas music series.

Here’s another of my favorite pieces associated with Christmas. It has a simple melody that tends to get into your head as it did mine when I heard it featured in the movie “Empire of the Sun“. My favorite version is from a Christmas album by the Irish Tenors. I don’t have the english words from that album which really carry the message I’m focusing on: The Cosmic event of this present age. (I’ll try to find the words- meanwhile enjoy the beautiful Welsh version by Katherine Jenkins)

Empire of The Sun version (Japanese-Umi Yukaba)

The Wales Coastline is a beautiful landscape that stretches 170 miles from North to South and 60 miles from East to West and is of course on the West of Great Britain surrounded on three sides by the Sea.

Gower, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Cardin Bay are really beautiful with wonderful clean beaches to visit. In Wales you are never far away from both the Mountains and the Sea. Visitors to these shores include Dolphins, Basking Sharks, Porpoises, Atlantic Grey Seals and Leather Back Turtles.

The Gower peninsula was the first to be acknowledged by the British Government as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1956.

There are many islands off the Welsh mainland, Ynys Mon (Anglesey) is the largest. The highest peak in Wales is 3,560 ft high and called Snowdon and the highest mountains are dark and craggy.

If you travel down South, as you move along the land starts becoming softer, but is still very hilly. The South of Wales is the place where industrial revolution did take place. It has a totally different feel than the rest of Wales. Here are steep sided valleys, once home to the coal-mines crafted by the three rivers of Rhymney, Rhondda Taff and Cynon.

It is said Welsh people like talking, and of course love telling stories and singing. To celebrate their proud Literature they organize a Literature Festival each year in Hay-on Wey. It attracts lots of big shots from the Literary world from all over the planet.

In Wales everybody sings to celebrate victory. During the Rugby matches you can see the people chanting the National Anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nadhau (Land of my Fathers). The Harp and pibgorn (wooden pipe).can be heard at many places. Many new rock bands have also come up recently like Manic Street Preachers, Frizbee and some of the oldies like Bryn Fon, Meic Stevens and Dafydd Iwan are still going strong.

If you are a foodie or just looking for a hearty meal then Wales will please you in all these ways and more. Give your taste-buds a treat and be adventurous and visit the various eateries around offering the locally prepared dishes fresh. You will find many Restaurants boasting Michelin-starred perfection here.

World renowned Welsh Lamb and the Welsh Black Beef are not the only good things to taste, but others like Laverbread (a seaweed) often fried into crisp patties with eggs, bacon and fresh cockles for a traditional Welsh breakfast.

If you love cheese, Wales is a place that makes 600 different types of cheese dishes. For those who love cooking, a visit to one of the farmer’s market or farmer shops is a must.

You can also go to a Food Festivals, which happen all throughout the year, and you can meet the actual food producers, meet top chefs and watch them prepare exquisite dishes and sample some right yummy treats.

Wales will be a perfect destination for all you food buffs and Tourists with tantalizing tastes.

She wasn’t just known for singing the theme song to Goldfinger. Shirley Bassey is just about the only singer to have been asked to sing a theme song for three James Bond movies. I liked this particularly for the last stanza, when she sings, Diamonds are forever, forever, forever. Chills. I do mean chills. I used to turn my radio up when she would come on the wavelength, the days when pop music was still played on AM radio. This girl still has a powerful voice at the age of 72.

Born in Cardiff, Wales from an interracial marriage between an Efik Nigerian seaman and a Yorkshire-born white woman, Bassey identifies as Welsh, the same nationality as Tom Jones. So she was lumped together with the other Brits when they stormed onto the shores of the United States in 1963–The British Invasion, so to speak. She’s been active for over 50 years as a singer. Bassey has been married twice, but the fathers of her two daughters remain unknown. She and her second husband also adopted a grand-nephew. Several years back, though, the body of her youngest daughter Samantha was found in the Avon River, an apparent suicide. Bassey steadfastly refuses to believe that Samantha’s death was self-inflicted.

Shirley Bassey was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire in December 1999. Last week, she released a new album called The Performance. The guest performers include Gary Barlow, K.T. Tunstall, Manic Street Preachers, Pet Shop Boys, John Barry, Kaiser Chiefs, and Don Black.

Enjoy!

Today’s pictures is from backstage at The Fray concert. A friend of mine who works for the concert board asked me if I was interested in photographing a meet and greet. Though I usually prefer shooting live music rather than candids backstage, I figured I’d give it a try. Overall the concert was solid; they can certainly back their music live, only downside of their expressive music is some of their tunes are too gloomy for a concert setting. I would definitely suggest seeing them in concert if you’re giving the chance.

After photographing the meet and greet, I asked them if they would each be willing to do individual shots. It’s quite rare that I take post pictures straight how they come out of my camera, but I wanted to go for the film feel of my favorite photographers, Ryan Russell. Well here’s my favorite photo from the shoot of Dave Welsh, the lead guitarist of The Fray:

A vocabulary of English and Welsh

1829

Здравствуйте. Как поживаете? Bore da ; Pa fodd yr ydych ?

Очень хорошо, спасибо. Yn dda iawn, diolch I chwi.

Принесите кварту лучшего эля. Deuwch a chwart o’r cwrw goreu.

Вы умеете читать? A ellwch chwi ddarllen

Нет. Na allaf

Он хороший парень? A ydyf efe yn fachgen da

Очень хороший. После работы, когда его отец возвращается домой, по вечерам он читает для нас всех Библию. Da iawn ; ‘nol iddo ddibenu ei waith, a phan ddel ei dad adref y nos, mae efe yn darllen y Bibl I nigyd

Gwaith работа

Gartref дома

С. 23(33)

Сколько тебе лет? Bethyw eich oed chwi

Говоришь ли по-английски? A allwch chwisariad Saesneg

Да, Сэр, немного. Gallaf, Syr, ychydig

Brief intro into project plan b, I have just gained a slight fascination into cricket grounds that have been completely shut down and boarded up for the winter. So alive and buzzing during the Summer and yet so closed off and desolate during the Winter.

Early days yet, I’ll see where it takes me and what the outcomes are. 

Sabina,

I do believe “Eric” is actually Latin for “Lazy Blogger”, so give me a friggin’ break!!! HE HE HE

No, I don’t actually have those problems. My family decided I was lame a long time ago and just don’t expect anything out of me.

I do actually have the problem of hating being alone for the holidays though. Not that I’m not happy with being single. I really am way too good at being single.

No. What I have a problem with is the holiday kissing traditions! You know, the mistletoe and the New-Years-Eve-spit-swap. I have never actually had the opportunity to take part in any of those traditions! (at least I don’t remember any, which tells you how lame my dating life has been, since I know I’ve had at least one girlfriend during the holidays)

As for advice for you…

I say buck up and deal with it this year. No drinking. No drugging. Just take it and say thank you! Because, the simple fact is that the only people that are bothering with the questions obviously don’t know you or your life. So they don’t f-ing matter! Besides, it will make the flight to London that much sweeter, knowing that you have thousands of miles of ocean between you and the questions!

And heck, if you don’t like that idea, well… I’ll give you my phone number. They can call and talk to me. I’ll be your American lover that met you on an impetuous trip to Mexico City! The distance and family obligations here kept me from making it down there during the holidays.

You can tell them I’m planning on meeting you in London, as I too will be going to University in England. It’s a small Welsh school of animal husbandry (I’m hoping to breed Peruvian Inca Orchids for use as sled-dogs) that you have forgotten the name of. Tell them I am very good with children, but very unsure about my ability to father any thanks to a unicycle accident as a child.

We can work on the backstory more later. I’m thinking Indiana Jones meets Bridget Jones Diary.

Still single and looking forward to breeding South American dogs in England!

Scott Eric Weaver

Some further sketches from the grid project (it is yet to get a real name), these two highlight what I am looking to capture and also what I am not looking for. It is a constant battle as what looks good in situ might not come across on film and visa versa.

The first image is a failure, on site the idea of the water treatment plant being swallowed by the woods, and more importantly the sky and lake from which it gains its reason to be, was a sound one. However in production the plant is too obvious in the frame as it is part of the skyline which makes it very separate from the woods, lake and sky. 

This image is much better, in terms of the project. The houses are visible but not obvious at first and nor are they frame hogging. Here the environment is the key player, despite the major road and mass of housing, nature resumes control of the area promptly, cutting away the modern industrial world.

Well, it’s been a pretty rotten few months but finally things are starting to look better. Dave’s infections have cleared up and he is scheduled to go back to work on Monday. He is still a bit sore and gets tired easily but he’s getting there

We’ve actually started to make some of the improvements we had planned. Over the weekend we dismantled the shelving unit which previously held all the small cages. We’ve moved the remaining cages around and created a small seating area in the animal room. This means we have less cages in the room but this is deliberate as it keeps the quantity of animals in there to a more manageable level. When we re-open properly we really want to concentrate on quality over quantity. The seating area is to encourage us to spend more time up in the animal room together and will double as a free range and handling area for the rats.

Anyway, I’m really pleased with what we’ve done so far. There’s more to do – the room needs painting and I need some shelves put up for storage – but already it looks tidier and more spacious up there and the bunnies are delighted by the access to previously forbidden areas! Once it’s done I’ll take some piccies

The other exciting  news, if you haven’t noticed, is that we have a wonderful new website. Huge thanks to Christine and Peet for all their hard work in not only making it look much better, but in making it so much easier to keep updated and therefore saving me lots of time

Also, just to mention some animals for once(!), we have 5 new mouse shaped friends. I know, I know, we’re not taking anything in, no exceptions but these girls were welsh mice from a rescue which was closing down and these are lumpy, battered ones who needed a permanent space. I can’t resist the rejects!

Chaz and Moe the rats will be off to their new home tomorrow with the wonderful Sylvia and Harley mouse is going to live with Helen and her girly mice at the weekend. Happily we only have two boys left to neuter now so hopefully we’ll be able to find the money to get them done in the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ll try to be better with the updates now things are more settled

It’s the online journalism blog!

We had a lecture last week from Daniel Meadows, who first made his name touring an old routemaster bus round Britain and taking pictures of whoever he saw. The pictures are touching, interesting, funny, sad – all human life is there, and I love them, in their daft, twee glory.

What he started doing 25 years later was much the same. In 2000 he started receiving public money to help people make films like this. That’s right (watch it!) – Capture Wales is totally, totally daft, even if it does make you titter.

The project ran right up until last year, and you can see why it’s stopped now – the videos you can browse through on the site mostly look like the lower end of Youtube.

But in its early days it was more than just a bit novel. It introduced to the world the idea of picture storytelling on the internet, an easy, cheap, powerful way of getting your point across without having to deal with the huge file sizes and inaccessibility of video.

From Daniel Meadows' Photobus project

Personally, I don’t think the twee Capture Wales videos warranted public funding in their own right. I mean, the people who did them spent five days under tuition making them. Five days!

But I do concede what they tried to achieve. While I come from a young generation and the South East, where my mates were already making more sophisticated things than this (and publishing them online) by the time our Welsh Babe had her inspiration-flash, Capture Wales brought out older Valleys people who’d seldom touched a computer before (in 2000, anyway), and told them it could actually be fun. It’s the lesson they were going to learn anyway, by the time Youtube came along, but how could the Capture Wales team have known this back then?

And better Wales than anywhere else. Where else could the filmmakers have got voiceovers more chirpy, innocent and patriotic?

In other ways, too, the ends have justified the means. Forget about chirpy Proper Welsh Babes for a minute, and look at a video that was briefly mentioned in the lecture; Rape of a Nation. It’s the most informative and powerful 10 minutes about the Congo I’ve ever seen. Brilliant production values, sensitive presentation – it’ll have you spellbound.

Watch this space for my version before 3 December. No doubt it’ll be as inspiring.

The Velvet Underground

Lou Reed is often seen as the creative force behind The Velvet Underground, the 60’s experimental rock band from New York. However, most aficionados will tell you that the bands creative flame dimmed after the departure of John Cale, the groups classically trained multi instrumentalist.

Born in 1942 to humble surroundings, the son a of coal miner in Wales, he quickly showed a talent for music in particular Piano and Viola, the latter being used to devastating effect in The Velvets “Venus in Furs”. In the early 60’s Cale enrolled at the prestigious Goldsmiths College in London, using the money from a Leonard Bernstein scholarship he relocated to New York. Cale once said of the city “I like it here in New York. I like the idea of having to keep eyes in the back of your head.” He joined La Monte Young’s Avant garde group The Theatre of Eternal Music and explored the world of microtonal music and at the invitation of his mentor John Cage, once participated in an all day marathon of works by Erik Satie.

Cale, Reed and Warhol

A meeting with the afore mentioned Reed leads to the formation of The Velvet Underground, named after a novel by Michael Leigh, which the bands guitarist Sterling Morrison describes as “a really boring novel about wife swapping in the suburbs.” They came to the attention of artist Andy Warhol, who invited them to perform as part of The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, Warhol’s multimedia extravaganza. The Velvets became his pet project insisting they add German chanteuse Nico to their ranks and insisting on a production credit on their debut album “The Velvet Underground and Nico” because he’d paid for it. However the album was delayed for a year and when it was finally released in 1967 Warhol had lost interest and sales were poor. Now regarded as a classic and an album that influenced a host of bands from the past 3 decades, Brian Eno once remarked that everyone who had bought record went on to form a band.
Cale stayed with the band for one more record, “White Light/White Heat”, he contributed vocals to 2 tracks “Lady Godiva’s Operation” and his dry narration of Reed’s macabre tale “The Gift” The albums centerpiece however was the 17 minute “Sister Ray” which climaxes with Cale’s organ becoming louder than the rest of the band, he later claimed “I kept everything low until a certain point then unleashed the volume I’d been saving.” In late ’68 Cale quit after an ultimatum from Reed who had been encouraged by the bands new manager Steve Sesnick. Cale later said “Lou was starting to act funny. He brought in this guy Sesnick – who I thought to be a real snake – to be our manager, and all this intrigue started to take place. Lou was calling us ‘his band’ while Sesnick was trying to get him to go solo. Maybe it was the drugs he was doing at the time. They certainly didn’t help.”

The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol

After working on 2 solo record by VU’s former Femme Fatale Nico, Cale turned his hand to production. In 1969 he produced The Stooges eponymous debut; the band fronted by a young Iggy Pop would later achieve legendary status almost equaling the Velvets themselves. He would later produce Patti Smith’s debut album Horses and continue working with a diverse range of artists, both as producer and musician, from the ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno to the council estate dance grooves of the Happy Mondays, there’s no boundaries in his musical world.

Cale performing with Nico

“Vintage Violence” was released in 1970 to rave reviews and launched Cale’s career as a solo artist, after signing to Island records he released several highly acclaimed albums, Cale acolytes refer to this period as The Island Years which include 2 of his best albums “Fear” and “Paris 1919” However by the late 70’s Cale had moved into harder rock and began to appear onstage in a series of outlandish costumes, his increased drug use fueled this erratic behavior. One notorious incident saw Cale decapitating a chicken onstage, an act which forced his vegetarian band to quit. When asked why he would hurt an animal in such a fashion he dryly responded “I didn’t hurt it, it didn’t feel a thing”

Cale onstage in surgical scrubs

The 80’s saw a calmer Cale; he took a break from performing for several years and concentrated on getting clean but still continuing to work as a producer and musician. The death of Andy Warhol in 1987 reunited him with Lou Reed the culmination of this was the 1990 album “Songs for Drella” The “Drella” in question being a nickname giving to Warhol by his entourage. The was very well received and despite Cale vowing never to work with Reed again 3 years later the unthinkable happened, the four original members of The Velvet Underground reformed for a European Tour and live album both received mixed reviews. The decision to play many of Europe’s outdoor rock festivals did the band no favours, playing to large crowds on a sunlit stage did not create the atmosphere of edgy menace that dominated their early performances, the situation was not helped by Reed who insisted on re interpreting his vocals by adding staccato phrasing which was almost comical at times and did nothing to repair his relationship with Cale by introducing Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker and then launching into a song without mentioning Cale. Predictably a proposed US tour never happened with Cale once more refusing to work with Reed again, so far he has kept his word and with the death of Morrison in 1995 the hopes of a reunion are unlikely.

The 1990’s saw Cale become a cult figure, with many young bands seeking his services. Even in the 21st century he continues to experiment, his inquisitive mind re ignited by digital production techniques. To sum him up though it seems fitting that last word should go to Reed:
“I only hope that one day John will be recognized as … the Beethoven or something of his day. He knows so much about music, he’s such a great musician. He’s completely mad – but that’s because he’s Welsh.”

John Cale today

The Velvet Underground “Venus In Furs”

Cale and Reed performing Small Town, taken from the “Songs For Drella” album