Wed 10 Mar 2010
Over the weekend, I was invited to head down to Swansea with Gareth and Penny. I took some photos…
Wales from the Air set on Flickr
Mon 1 Mar 2010
Thu 25 Feb 2010
Fri 29 Jan 2010
Testing posts from the BlackBerry
Testing
Wed 15 Jul 2009
Well, hello everyone once again. It’s been a busy few weeks, but not with work for a change. Inspired by format of @jenlong’s latest entry on her log on Kruger Labs, I offer you this:
5 things I’ve done since my last blogpost
Got a new car
Yes, I’ve got myself a new car. A Mini Cooper Diesel. A substantial change on my old Volkswagen Polo. Quicker, cheaper to run and a lot more fun to drive.
I’m not going to write a great deal about it, except to say that in contains a lot of funky stuff BMW pack into their cars these days (e.g. Start-Stop engine, which switches off the engine if the car is in neutral).
Saw the Oysterband live.
I went down to Cardiff to see The Oysterband live at Saint David’s Hall with Telsa and Alan. Fantastic show, with June Tabor and One String Loose supporting. Fantastic performances by everyone, with included a cover of All along the Watchtower, Love will tear us apart and a fair few tracks from the new album.
Seen Cardiff Bay
Whilst I was down in that neck of the woods, I had the chance to go down and see Cardiff Bay and have a look around. I should confess at this stage that before this last weekend, I’d only been down to Cardiff once before. I regret not going down to see the place sooner.
I also took the opportunity to have a look around the National Assembly building, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while:
A wonderful building, open, clean, light and really quiet (I rather suspect it gets a lot noisier and busier when the Senedd is in session). Outside, in Roald Dahl Plass, we got a chance to look around the food fair and enjoy eating some damned good food and the sunshine. Before heading over to see the Doctor Who exhibition.
Arranged a trip down to the Eisteddfod
During all this activity, I was quite fortunate to be offered a place to stay for the National Eisteddfod in Meirionydd, this year in Bala (Diolch Menna!). I’m looking forward a great deal for the Gorsedd y Gîcs, a meeting for Welsh programmers, bloggers, social networking users, web designers and gadget geeks (all organised by the crew of Metastwnsh).
Picked up some new CDs
Yeah, I know… cheating slightly, but feh. I’ve been listening quite a bit to the radio shows of @adamwalton, @huwstephens and @BethanElfyn. Through them, I’ve been taking some time to revist old CDs and experiment with a few new ones. Also, since Glastonbury, I’ve been re-listening to a lot of Blur (and Oasis) nad it’s been bringing back memories of school trips up to Blackpool to see a production of something-or-other. Blur fans on one side, Oasis on the other, each fighting to gain control of the tape machine to get theirs played.
Also of interest was the Vinyl Vendettas podcast (a collection DJs who play every Saturday in Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff).
Thanks a great lot to Telsa and Alan for putting me up for the long weekend.
That’s it really, until next time.
B
Tue 23 Jun 2009
It’s been a while since I’ve wasted all of your time with the trivialities of what’s going on in my life.
It’s the same old excuses I have, but the truth is that it’s lazyness combined with a complete lack of any idea about what to write that’s kept me from logging into the blog. Oh sure, I’ve been to nearly every corner of the country (Except for Cornwall… not that I’m complaining about that). The truth is, I find it a lot easier to send a message to Twitter than sit down and write something substantial.
In anycase, I’ll endevour not to ignore this little website. If anything, It’ll give me a chance to restart writing in Welsh. (As a note, I truly do appologise for any spelling or grammar errors… it’s been nearly 8 years since I’ve written properly in Welsh).
Bye for now!
Thu 2 Apr 2009
Today saw the launch of the Women’s Aid Cut Movie video campaign on the World-wide-web and Television. Featuring Keira Knightley, it seeks to raise awareness of domestic violence.
Having worked previously with the Amnesty International:UK Stop Violence Against Women campaign, I’ve seen the rather shocking statistics surrounding domestic violence in the UK (Women’s Aid have compiled some here) and heard first hand the accounts of its victims.
The film is quite shocking, and it certainly does ram the message home. In the classic newsman voice, some of you may find this quite distressing: Cut Movie – The Video in Full.
B
Sun 29 Mar 2009
I figured it was high time to get back into the habit of writing regular blog-posts. I wish I could proffer any form of reason or excuse as to why I’ve not been doing so, half the battle for me seems to be finding something worth writing about.
Recently, I was invited to join the team putting together the Freenode Podcast – Free as in Node as one of the guest presenters. It’s been an interesting departure for me, as I usually prefer working behind the scenes. Those who know me won’t be surprised to find me reciting a bad joke at the end of the two episodes we’ve recorded so far.
During an idle afternoon on the web, I began clicking through the Twitter pages of people I follow for anything particularly interesting. One of the things that grabbed my attention was the Welsh music tweeters. I’ll confess at this stage that I’ve been horribly out of touch with the whole thing since I left Bethel for Aberystwyth. I’d had passing contact through various friends whilst at Aberystwyth (as well as the rather fabulous Castell Rock festival). I resolved to try and catch a few more live music events.
With that in mind, I ventured out last night to see The Mams play live at The Telfords Warehouse in Chester. The band, a 4 piece music combo from Llanelli in South Wales, had quite a decent mix of tracks on their MySpace page, which meant I felt slightly less of a prat going there on my own.
The set seemed to start a little quieter than I’d expected, which I think explains the rather muted response from the crowd. It did however build up quite quickly, getting on to tracks such “Respect your Elders”, “I’m not a work in progress” and “Never say never but no”. The tunes seemed to get a bit more anthemic, which drew in a few more people onto the dancefloor. The encore “No Fun Anymore” was a fine finish to a very good set. Definitely one to see live if you get the chance, had quite bit of an 80s feel, quite lively and certainly a lot of fun to watch.
The Mams – Telfords Warehouse 28th March 2009 – Set List:
- Better Opening
- I was fine until I met myself
- A Bridge (in Betws y Coed)
- You’re no fun anymore
- I’m not a work in progress
- Never say never but no
- Respect your Elders
- Neighbourhood Watch
Encore:
- No Fun Anymore
Adam Walton (BBC Wales) wrote a rather more comprehensive review on his personal blog – Wham Bammed by The Mams.
Bryn
Tue 11 Nov 2008
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them
Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), For The Fallen (1914)
