Stalker / Roadside picnic

 Similar, but not the same. Shared by Dr. Bob of this Parish

Happy New Year!

Lionel Vinyl still spinning

Getting out the old LP's from the loft reminded me of this guy. Lionel Vinyl. 

Back about 20 years ago, I went on a Sea Survival course @ Fleetwood College, and stayed in Blackpool. One evening, a possee of us headed into town to relax, & bumped into this guy spinning the discs in a "fun bar" (I think that's what they were called) I vividly remember his tagline about his white socks. Now, whenever I see Adam Bere, a fellow course attendee, it's a race to see who can shout "white socks" first.

A quick Google reveals that he is still strutting his funky stuff in Blackpool today, all these years later. Long may the power of the White Socks remain.

Alrighttttttt!

How low can you go?

Hari & Ows bought me a bottle of Viking Mead, made in Jorvik, to an old recipe. Katie commented that her bee-keeping collective had made some mead last year, and drank some after this year's honey harvest. She said it was like rocket fuel. This led me on to wondering what max % alcohol could be achieved by just brewing alone. I thought it was about 15%, similar in strength to this mead, Port or Sherry. I've even told kids this in lessons. 

It turns out that I was mostly correct, with a few caveats, such as special yeasts, and slow adding of extra sugar. Now, that's a challenge!

 

A Christmassy Run

Back to the land of my forefathers. 

Rhosili 

Stunning

Who'd have known they have reindeer!

Rhosili Bay & Burry Holmes

My Great Grandparents grave in Rhosili churchyard.

I think Margaret was the businesswoman, who took chickens to Swansea Market, and bought the Shop in Humphrey Street mentioned above. I guess she made enough money to buy the biggest monument in the yard. 

Oh. Run as in 2 wheels, petrol fuelled run :-)

Cwrw'r Wythnos saith ar hugain

 

Get offf my laaaaaand!

Q; What do you get if you multiuply one chain by one furlong?

A: an Acre!

Of course you do!

In the medieval mind, it seems that an important measure of area was "how much land could be ploughed by one man using a team of eight oxen in one day" I guess I can see how that would be important, for planning & taxation.

Originally, an acre was understood as a strip of land sized at forty perches (660 ft, or 1 furlong) long and four perches (66 ft) wide;^[4] this may have also been understood as an approximation of the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plough in one day (a furlong being "a furrow long").

I like the idea of a furrow long.

Raindodger

 

Skipping between the huts @ Langland to avoid a downpour. I wonder if there is another similar crescent in the UK?

Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know that there are! And not just in the UK!

Today there are believed to be around 20,000 beach huts in the U.K. Locations where beach huts can be seen include Lowestoft, Southwold, Walton-on-the-Naze, Frinton-on-Sea, Abersoch, Langland Bay, Rotherslade, Rustington, St Helens, Isle of Wight, Tankerton Slopes and Mersea Island. Locations in other countries include Wimereux, France, spectacular colorful picturesque in Cape Town, South Africa, Nesodden, Norway and Brighton and elsewhere around Port Phillip, Australia.

Nice to see Rotherslade & Langland getting a mention.

Bournemouth Beach

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas believers & unbelievers alike. Was John Lennon such a fool to wish for peace? 

Grummy Wallbanger

 

Copyright yours truly, I give you the Grummy Wallbanger:-

50ml the finest Tequila 

25ml Creme de Cassis

Over lashings of ice, 

And fresh OJ to taste

Bottoms up!

Manhattan

 

On the subject of cocktails, I tried to research a Martini Rosso one, namely:-

The Manhattan Cocktail

Ingredients: Whiskey (usually rye), sweet red vermouth, and Angostura bitters, stirred with ice and strained.

Garnish: A Maraschino cherry or lemon twist.

Style: A classic, spirit-forward cocktail, typically served "up" (chilled, without ice) in a cocktail glass.

Not convinced. Nah. Whiskey flavour is too overpowering.

I think a better partner to Martini Rosso is Gin, or Vodka:-

That's mush closer to the "Vermouth con Gin" NJB & I were bought in a coach stop on the way to Pamplona back in the day. Yes please!

Shaken, not stirred

After many years, I have now come to understand the joy of a proper Dry Martini. I think that JB has it right, with Voddy being the chosen spirit. Just pips Gin, imho.

Ingredients

2 ½ ounces London dry gin (or vodka, if preferred)

½ ounce dry vermouth (this 5:1 ratio is standard for a dry martini, but can be adjusted to personal taste)

Optional: 1 dash of orange bitters (a classic addition that fell out of favor, but is recommended by many for complexity)

Garnish: A green olive or a lemon twist

Ice 

Mmmmm niiiice.

How many kinds of stupid

Boxing has to be one of the most stupid "Sports" still carried out by mankind, along with Formula One, and perhaps Cricket. 

The idea of two blokes knocking seven shades of shite out of each other is just crazy. I can see it as the culmination of a stupid drunk argument, but to dress it up as a sport, sanitise it with gloves & some rules is just barbaric. I will never understand how otherwise rational and gentle people will give themselves a pass to watch it. My Father-in-law was a fan, much to my amazement, and he was one of the gentlest men I have known. 

It does understandable and inevitable permanent damage to the exploited idiots who take part, in the name of entertainment. 

One of the most recent mega hyped events resulted in one fool having his jaw broken in two places.

Don't start me on the story of Ricky Hatton. What a tragic life 

Madness

The only thing worse, is Ladies Boxing

Cwrw'r Wythnos chwech ar hugain

 

Philosophers Bay

It seems that as well as being a haunt if groundbreaking British impressionist painters, (see Stuff & Nonsense passim)  Langland Bay was also frequented by a beery swine who was just as schloshed as Schlegel. Who knew?

The Philosophers Song Lyrics by Monty Python

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant

Who was very rarely stable.

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar

Who could think you under the table.

David Hume could out-consume

Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel,

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine

Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya'

'Bout the raising of the wrist.

SOCRATES, HIMSELF, WAS PERMANENTLY PISSED...

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,

On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.

Plato, they say, could stick it away;

Half a crate of whiskey every day.

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,

Hobbes was fond of his dram,

And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart: "I drink, therefore I am"

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed;

A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed!

 

back to top

Welsh Faeries, Fae or Fay Folk

 

Bwbach or Tylwyth Teg

I love the idea that something misplaced or missed has been hidden away by mischievous spirits, not just lost. Sometimes the antidote to this can be a proper 'Mummy look'. Things that are invisible to us males are often found in this way. In Wales, these spirits are called Bwbach, or "little Boos". Or Tylwyth Teg - literally 'Fair family' - fair folk?

 From British fairies:-

The bwbachod live and work on farms and are most noted for their robust and old-fashioned characters: it’s said that they most hate “Methodists and total abstainers.” They seem to have been widespread across the west of Wales in former times, if the naming of places is anything to go by. Examples run from Anglesey (Ynys Mon)- which has Nant y Bwbach (Brownie Valley) at Llanrhyddlad and Lon Bwbach (Brownie Lane) at Llanddyfnan- and thence southwards through Bryn y Bwbach (Brownie Hill) at Llandecwyn near Trawsfynydd and Twll y Bwbach (Brownie Hole) near Dolgellau as far south as Crug y Bwbach (Brownie’s Barrow) in Carmarthenshire and Gerrig y Bwbach (Brownie’s Stones) at Pentre-ty-gwyn near Ystradgynlais, to the south-west of the Brecon Beacons.

One tale tells of a Cardiganshire bwbach, who objected to a Baptist preacher staying in the house. This man “was much fonder of prayers than of good ale.” Taking exception to this sober piety, the bwbach therefore continually harassed the preacher, pulling away his stool or causing disturbance and clamour during his prayers. The bwbach finally drove the Baptist off by shapeshifting and giving him a terrible fright as he was crossing a field. The minister was reading his hymn-book as he walked on, when a sudden fear seized him. On looking round, he saw the mirror image of himself- in the same clothes and with the same hymn-book; he fainted, and decided to leave the house the next day. On mounting his horse the following morning, the grinning bwbach jumped up onto the saddle behind the preacher, and the horse instantly set off like lightning with eyes like balls of fire.

There are of course other faeries living in Wales, such as the noted 'Fairy of Doom' reputed to inhabit Llys Meddyg, Newport, Pembs, who terrorises waiting & kitchen staff attempting to slack in their duties.... 

50% more money?

If we only bought 50% of the things we fancied:-

Clothes

Take-aways

Meals out

Pub nights

Ornaments

"Toys"

Coats

Shoes

New phones (?)

Bikes

Christmas presents (specifically little fripperies given to friends who don't actually want that thing - do you know what I mean? Eg fragranced candles, scarves, mugs etc)

Pub nuts/crisps

Baseball hats 

Imagine how much we would have saved per year. & It would be sitting in our bank account now. To spend on Holidays!

Also there would be room to store stuff in the house......

A Dry Day!

 

The first dry day in ages! And more rain to come, so, it would be rude not to have breakfast in Llandovery. 

Google maps took me this way, and I couldn't be meithered to change it. 

The best bit.

I love being retired!

Lovely twisty turny road back over the Black Mountain, past Jac Morgan's gaff @ Brynamman, then the Peoples Republic of Ponty, and home. The day got sunnier & sunnier, and the views better & better. I think the road from Llandovery to Brynamman is one of my favourite routes. 

A Wintery Langland

 Beautiful in any weather 

I'm so lucky to have this on my doorstep 

A Sisley but with sound :-)

Regions cont....

Following on from my blogs passim, things are looking even worse for the Ospreys at the moment, with this article from BBC SPORT 

Former Wales fly-half James Hook says players should not be blamed for leaving Welsh rugby as Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan consider moving to Gloucester from Ospreys.

I can't say I blame them.

BTW, Hook is also on the coaching team @ Ospreylia, and has skin in the game, hoping that they stay an active region to ensure his job remains, perhaps?

Taking a look at the attendance figures for the 4 regions reveals the following:-

Perhaps this is why the WRU seems keen to throw the Ospreys under the bus, as despite their much better performance record than Newport, the latter seem to be getting more bums on seats.

Also, if you compare these attendance numbers to some of the Gallagher Premiership teams, it's not surprising that Welsh rugby is struggling financially. I think that the WRU itself is a money pit, as they are currently advertising for a technical director @ £160k pa. They seem to be overstuffed with staff, and overpaid staff at that.

Another factor may be being in the URC. I think the Gallagher Premiership would be a much more attractive & sensible option.

Update for those not paranoid:-

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRFqvdm1/

Cwrw'r Wythnos pump ar hugain

 

Grumble Groan!

 

How very dare they! I knew I should have trademarked Grumunkin, and Grum. Still, the name has served me well over the years, being unique enough to get as a username on any new site I've joined. Its fair to say that there's only one Grumunkin.

Interestingly, a quick Google search to check, shows how AI can get it wrong. According to them, I wrote David's book, and built Rob's model ships.....

A cautionary tale of AI fallibility:-

Auntie Who?

 

There is a superb article in Popular Mechanics about the discovery & ongoing deciphering of the Antikythera machine. I think it's worth a full read.

Extracts:-

This is the story—or at least one of the stories—­of how one of the world’s most confounding archaeological objects, the Antikythera mechanism, began its 2,000-year-long residency at the bottom of the Aegean. Pinpointing the mechanism’s origins

Milled with millimeter precision, likely using ancient tools like vertical lathes and bow drills, the device contained dozens of gear wheels that operated together in a dizzying display of astronomical information.

With insights gleaned from the fragments that remain, scientists know that a hand-cranked dial on its front side tracked the motion of the sun, the moon, and the other five planets known to antiquity: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The other side of the device housed two more circular dials. The upper dial reconciled the mismatch in periods between the lunar month and solar year, while the lower dial calculated both lunar and solar eclipses. It even contained a separate, smaller dial for marking athletic events like the Olympic Games.

Read on Here

 

They walk amongst us...

Bizarre story from the Beeb today. This chap sounds like a real Walter Mitty. 

BBC News - Teaching assistant lied to pupils about killing 250 people as a sniper

Graduation again

Back at Bay Campus this week, doing the graduation marshalling thing. I do enjoy it. 

I even got to ride the Hog in, as it's the first dry day in weeks!

The office for the Week. The warm glow of Welsh Winter Sun ☀️ 🌞🌞🌞☀️