When I first moved to Bridgend, I was greeted with a deep, resonant bark from my neighbour’s house. Somehow the word “bark” doesn’t fully convey the sound coming from over the honeysuckle laden fence between our houses. This was a “woof, woof, woof” of the most extraordinary timbre, the kind of noise you would hear [...]
Archive for the ‘Life’ Category
Death of a friend I never got to know properly
Posted: 29th September 2011 by Martyn in LifeTags: Chartered Accountant, George North, India, London, love, NHS, read, read-write, readwrite, RIP, www-readwrite-inc-co-uk
My best friend’s father died yesterday. A heart attack at 79 is not an unusual occurrence, and given he had an attack five years ago, only surviving because of the prompt actions of those custodians of the nation’s health the NHS, it would be safe to say he was living in overtime. Following an operation [...]
An English speaker’s guide to pronouncing Welsh
Posted: 23rd September 2011 by Martyn in Life, Wales and the WelshTags: ARIAN, AROS, ARR, BANGOR, CAUGHT, CH, COAT, COOK, COOL, CORNER, COT, DD, DEEP, DIM, EE, England, English, ER, FARM, FF, FINGER, FUR, GWYN, Hen Wlad, HINT, IAITH, LET, letter, LL, MAP, NG, NICE, PAGE, PAPER, RH, RRRR, SH, SISTER, SONG, SUGAR, TARDY, TH, THIN, Wales, WATER, welsh-phrases, YARD
Cymraeg: the language of the Land of Brothers (Cymru) Welsh is easier to pronounce than an English reader might imagine. There’s an excellent explanation of how to cope with Welsh pronunciation on Linguata’s site: http://www.linguata.com/welsh/welsh-pronunciation.html In short, here are some useful tips: 1) Stress falls on the last syllable by one. There are a [...]
Useful phrases for the English / Saes, when they visit Cardiff / Caerdydd for the rugby
Posted: 25th January 2011 by Martyn in LifeTags: Anglo Welsh, Cardiff, Cont Tew, English, english-saes, f, game, help, Loudon Square, Please Pen, richard-thompson-cardiff, saes, saes-english, Twp Slebog, useful-phrases-english-trip, Wales, Wales Daclus, welsh-for-english-saes, welsh-phrases-rugby, welsh-phrases-saes, welsh-rugby-phrases-in-welsh
As everyone knows, most residents of Cardiff are fluent in Welsh, so be prepared to enjoy a warm Welsh welcome by speaking a few words of the lingo. To help you on your way, I've prepared a small number of handy phrases: Mae fy hofrenfad yn llawn llyswennod – My hovercraft is full of eels [...]
Richard Thompson at St David’s Hall, Cardiff
Posted: 23rd January 2011 by Martyn in Life, Live Music, MusicTags: Bob Dylan, Cardiff, day, Dream Attic, English, f, Fairport Convention, Finance Industry, love, Mark Knopfler, Money Shuffle, New Zealand, read-write-co-uk-richard-thompson-davids-hall-cardiff, Richard Thompson, richard-thompson-at-st-davids-hall, richard-thompson-at-st-davids-hall-cardiff, richard-thompson-in-cardiff, richard-thompson-set-list-cardiff-2011, rugby-union-back, St David, st-davids-hall-cardiff-fairportconvention, Wales
If Mark Knopfler could write songs like Bob Dylan and had a half decent singing voice, he would be Richard Thompson. If there were any justice, Thompson would be a superstar and if I ever go to a better concert than this, then it will be the day after Wales beat the All Blacks… in [...]
Piper down – RIP Gerry Rafferty
Posted: 5th January 2011 by Martyn in LifeTags: Baker Street, Denis Cowan, dowlaisironworks, farrahfawcettanal, piper-down, pop, RIP, Something Special, the-scottish-phrase-piper-down, vaat-com, www-downrip-blog-vaat-com, www-downrip-com
I was friendly with the bass guitarist on Baker Street in the seventies. A chap called Denis Cowan. I remember him describing how they listened to the production and knew straight away it was something special. "Something Special" is how I …would describe Gerry – he had a talent that stood out amongst the chaff [...]
Welsh films of 2010
Posted: 30th December 2010 by Martyn in Life, Satire and HumourTags: 2010, amazon-welsh-alternative-music, antonio-di-natale, dai-does-dowlais, debbie-does-dowlais, hayleyturnerjockeynudepics, Helen Mirren, howtowritenewyearsresolutions, hts, iron mam 2, iron-mam, ironmam, lisasnowdonbeach, read-write, welsh films, welsh-alternative-music, welsh-films-2010, welsh-films-of-2010, welshfilms
Welsh films of the year: Iron Mam 2 Sheepless in Seattle Debbie does Dowlais Dai Hard The Gogfather 9 and 1/2 leeks Dial M for Merthyr Pembrokeback Mountain What lies be Neath The Gog, the Bard and the Ugly
Is there a fat pill on the way?
Posted: 16th November 2010 by Martyn in LifeTags: Chris Church, cost, DNA, economy, FTO, lie, lies, Mammalian Genetics Unit, Medical Research Council, MRC, Nature Genetics, NHS, Oxford University, Professor Frances Ashcroft, Professor Frances Ashcroft In, Professor Roger Cox, read-write, UK, Wellcome Trust
Scientists have gained strong confirmation of the direct connection between the FTO gene and obesity, obtaining the first direct evidence that over-activity of the gene leads to overeating and obesity in mice. The research team from the University of Oxford and Medical Research Council (MRC), with funding from the Wellcome Trust and MRC, have published [...]
The amazing Frank Feldman
Posted: 4th August 2009 by Martyn in LifeTags: 4acxh-th8-us, alexanderthegreatlettertohismotheronafghanistan, australiabus, Cabbie Frank Feldman, cabbie-frank, carandfreedom, Frank Feldman, frank-feldman-joke, Grand Slam, harrietharmanyoung, jackdromey, joedromey, motorbikesfallenover, Passenger Sounds, Passenger Who, Passenger Wow, passenger-wow-widow, picturesofskinnypeople, skinnypeoplepictures, thinpeople, verystrongthinpeople
A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by. He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, “Perfect timing. You’re just like Frank.” Passenger: ‘Who?’ Cabbie: “Frank Feldman. He’s a guy who did everything right all the time. Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happened [...]