Welsh New Year Tradition

A Mari Lwyd

A lot of countries have their own wierd and wonderful traditions on New Years Eve and we in Wales are no different. (Hope everyone has had a great Christmas by the way!) One of the most famous was the Mari Lwyd (Grey Mare) and im grateful for having attended Welsh schools (Ysgol Parc Y Tywyn, Burry Port and Strade nr Llanelli) that I remember enacting this fabulous tradition. It also appealed to my more morbid side because it involved skulls. "Skulls?" I hear you ask astounded. Yes skulls, a horse skull to be precise. What you did was somehow get hold of a horse skull, fit it with fake eyes (and maybe ears) and cover it with a white sheet/blanket and ribbons. Attach a wooden pole and voila! The Mari Lwyd was ready.
The Mari would be taken door to door in a noisy procession (while drinking.) Those who opened their doors were greeted by Welsh poems and insults and were expected to reply in the same manner in a kind of 'verbal battle'. And win or lose the result was the same when Mari Lwyd and her crowd were called in for drinks with the householders.
Alas due to the public drunkeness and insults, the chapels of the 19th century urged people to swap insults to Christmas carols and many believe that this taming of the tradition led to the demise of the Mari Lwyd as its seldom seen these days sadly.

The Gun Jaws and Changes

First things first, yes you read the title correct. Im being 'artsy', forgive me, sometimes I can't resist it.
Secondly I understand the "right to bear arms" but before we bear arms here, sit and bear with me a while. Thank you.

The husband of the US politician Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in Arizona, has called for action on America's gun laws following the latest mass shooting where 26 people were killed, 20 of them children. And I understand how Mr Giffords must feel (we never learn) but is now the time?
Shouldn't we be thinking about those who perished? Souls gone way before their time, before they even had chance to breathe proper?
As for doing what Mr Giffords suggests, America will have to either change their mindset to maybe a Swiss model (own guns but one of safest countries regarding gun crime), or introduce much tighter gun controls in the near future. It can be done. We managed to successfully ban smoking (almost) everywhere and tobacco was equally as widespread, powerfully lobbied for, and supported by the majority.
All it would take is a prolonged campaign to change the public mindset toward firearms and gun ownership. Until then, America will always have to deal with these kind of bloody shootings. Worse it will get im afraid but alas, Mankind seems to enjoy mourning, we never learn a damned thing. All that happens is prayers and flowery photographs will be shared on social media, some will weep a little but like the other massacres that went before it, most people will forget and carry on. They always do. And the saddest part is that sympathy is diluted by events we are doomed to repeat. Heres the general feeling from the rest of the world right now:

"Listening to the Americans online I give up. Its ridiculous. Who cares anymore? Let them have their precious right to bear arms and we will just watch in horror as they kill each other. If the needless slaughter of their own children with legally bought battlefield grade weaponry in a primary school doesn't change their views, frankly nothing ever will."

People are frustrated and angry, grief is paused while the world digests this latest terrible episode in its history. We understand how Americans feel about the 2nd Amendment, "the right to bear arms". We get it we really do but when we hear about protecting homes from home invasions etc one cannot fail to wonder if our friends across the pond spend too much time living in fear. And I wonder if a person can truly see themselves as free if they live in such fear?
Its not all doom however because Dai Jakes has been buoyed by hope this morning on hearing what President Obama has said; "These tragedies have to end, and to end them we must change. We, as a nation, are left with hard questions."
Yes you are, and I for one dont envy you at all. You must be prepared for Change (capital C.) I just pray its not more heavy rhetoric from a politician eager to soothe the pain of a nation. (I want them to be soothed but not by a paper tongue.) I love the United States and hate how it is being judged so poorly/harshly during these awful days of anguish by other countries citizens. They'll say they care not of course but don't believe it. They care, just as we do for them.
I dont wish to see a total ban on firearms (though in the same breath im glad we don't have this fear to need to rely on weapons here in the UK.) Just stricter controls on the damned things. Is this really too much to ask in the wake of this latest incident?

*By the way as a footnote; most people would be hesitant to shoot an intruder in their home, especially when confronted with real danger of losing their own life. (And the simple fact that its not easy taking a persons life, even if they are putting you at peril.) The average gun toting home owner is more likely to be the one on the sorry end.

Everybody Having Fun?

The Silly Season is here, roll out the carols! Fair enough, why not? I enjoy a good Christmas carol as much as the next person but some of the lyrics are enough to send Mormons to the scotch. For instance: "Now here it is Merry Christmas, everynodys having fun." No, just no. There is no 'feelgood' vibe there, not really. If you were to take away the extremely catchy music all you'd be left with is a wet fart of assembled words, empty of anything sincere and promising...well not much.
Its rather like saying, "I like putting baked beans in jacket potatoes, you do too!" Then adding a sappy "groovy" at the end.
Everybodys having fun? Surely not EVERYBODY? Even the homeless? The ones in warzones? Lonely people at their wits end? Pensioners struggling to heat their homes? Those unfortunates who have been made redundant weeks before Christmas? Lost souls crushed by addiction who see dying as a good option? Genuine disabled folks who have had their benefits cut? (And like the addicts see death as a better way.) Abused children who are beaten and raped by real life monsters?
The longer list I trot out, the heavier I feel my fingers hitting the keyboard, angry and saddened by the fact that no, not everyone is having fun at all. Not by a long shot. I realise Christmas carols must be sickly cheerful and sugar coated with dreamy sentiments, and its nice to be able to escape for a bit but lets not ever forget that its ESCAPING we are doing. The jolly-carol-festive-world is Shangria La. Enjoy but dont forget (I know some will have by the end of reading this) that Christmas doesn't give us all a means to hide for a while and it isn't always icing sugar on mince pies (or whatever that sugary stuff is.)
Of course this post is not meant to be taken as some astounding revelation, and neither is it to put a dampner on peoples festivities. Its just here as a simple reminder, this is all. Enjoy and remember your fellow man!

Prank Too Far

Dai Jakes resisted the urge to air his views on the 'Royal Prank Call' until today because to be honest I have been too angry to get my thoughts in order; and had I published them on the day that the sad news broke it would have come out like a wall of 'white noise', seething with rage and spewing profanities toward anyone in a corked hat, drinking Fosters. But attacking blindly is the fools way so I decided to hold off the blog until I gathered my thoughts some more and calmed down.
We all know the story by now and my heart goes out to the loved ones of Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse who by all accounts was dedicated to her job and a devoted mother. Sad times indeed and I pray they have the strength to get through this awful time. Some cannot understand how a person could take their own life after being 'pranked' by a radio show but not everyone is the same, everyone has a different breaking point. Take internet trolling for instance. It doesn't bother me in the slightest because to me its just words on a screen but others find being trolled a real problem. Mrs Saldanha was humiliated globally by two Australian dimwits and the strain must have been immense, resulting in the tragic consequences.
The thing I don't understand is why prank calls are considered comical in the first place? Seems a very low form of comedy which doesn't need an awful lot of creativity. The type of stunt bored teenagers would do during breaks of Call Of Duty. Cheap humour aimed at those in even cheaper seats.
As for the DJs themselves, well the less said about them the better I feel. Especially when they turned their public apology into a sickening display of "we are victims too, sob". (I can feel anger pricking my skin again.) Victims? No. Halfwits? Definately and I hope their careers in radio are finished for good and we never see or hear from them again. It is supposed to be the season of good will toward all but Dai Jakes is all out in regards to these two. And now i'll sign off to calm down again. Cheerio!

Sticky Wicked

"Would you like a game with those stickers Sir?"

I don't care what other videogamers say, I like Game. Heck if it wasn't for this store all my games would have to be purchased online because aside from a crappy little Cash Converters, there are no other dedicated videogame shops where I live. There isn't even a HMV type place where I could go. Sure there are Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets but the choice in those places is limited to chart stuff and shovelware. (Plus you get served by an automaton who wouldn't have a clue what Shenmue was if you hit him on the noggin with a copy.) Sure we have charity shops which are great for finding the odd retro classic but more often than not its another bloody FIFA we discover. (Charity stores in cities may be different I wouldn't know, im blessed to not live in one.)
One thing which does grind my gears though are Game's penchant for covering their game cases with pesky stickers. The photo above shows the latest lot I had from just two games after a recent visit to my local store. Now I am not an unreasonable guy and realise this isn't down to the lads and lasses working on the 'front line' as it were, but why so trigger happy with that sticker gun? Of course Game have to make clear the deals they have on offer but I can't help thinking it overkill. Do we really need to have stickers slapped on the disc itself? Not only that but there are also stickers to be found on the instruction manual which to my thinking is rather puzzling. Not to mention extremely annoying, especially if like myself you happen to be a collector who tries to have my videogames in as pristine condition as possible when displayed on the shelves. (Sega Dreamcast jewel cases make this ambition very hard, what with having been made from plastic that seemingly cracks when you look at it but thats another story.) First thing I do when I get home is spend ten minutes carefully removing the darned things, all the while taking great care not to tear the manual or worse still leave a sticky residue on the clear sleeve.
I realise that in the great scheme of Life, this is something of a triviality and that worse things happen at sea, but in the scheme of a near obsessive videogames colletor its very annoying. And like I say, im not having a pop at anyone, its just something I needed to blog off my chest.

My latest sticky affair