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PART II



 

Scene 9

The inside of the small seedy club has a small stage and a small bar. The room is dark, smokey and is full of dry ice vapour- as a prelude to the arrival of an artiste. The music starts up- it is a striptease song. The five tourists receive a round of five Stella's and a bill for 20 Francs which is passed around the table by the tighter members of the group- Titch- Pat until it ends up in front of Des Res who always gets stuck with the bill.

Ruth Jones is once again dressed as the stripper only this time is younger and is dressed in a ginger wig.

The five excited males start clapping with Perrier so excited that gets up on his chair and does his own version of 'Pole Dancing'. It is obvious he is aroused as his Welsh Leek emblazoned underpants begin to swell.

Mario feels uneasy- being in a rough bar in a Foreign Country containing a sleazy stripper. He looks around him and notices that the ice mist is starting to lift revealing that the other men present in the bar were wearing white vest tops, leather hats and were sporting 'Freddie Mercury style moustaches'. Mario nudges Des and Titch to alert them to the fact- but they appear to somehow know already.

On the stage , stripper Ruth Jones beckons to Pat to move closer to the stage - in his excitement he doesn't notice the stage name Rusty Rocket. Pat carefully selects the lowest denomination note from his money belt and places the note with Napoleon's head on it into his mouth. He moves forward to the stage and places the note in the ginger collection box being the knicker line of the stripper.

Perrier gulps with anticipation - bringing a lump to his throat.

Pat has his own unexpected lump to contend with. He has an eyeful of a different Paris Tower.

Pat screams: 'He's a Transister!' Outing the hermaphrodite.

Pat the traumatised paper boy shrieks...'It's got a nob!'

Perrier goes limp and jumps down from the chair trying to cover his embarrassment with his Sweater shop jumper. In the background, further shapes reappear from the mist- an Indian Chief, a telephone engineer and a cowboy-

Mario screams: 'We are in the YMCA !'

Des and Titch collapse on the floor with laughter as the big joke they have played on their 'back row' has worked a treat. The Madame sidles up to Titch and demands a small service charge for her part in his friend’s humiliation. This time the Madame reverts to her native thick Welsh accent.

He puts away his camera phone video for future evidence and pays the Madame.

Madame Fifi La Foo: 'For five Francs more- you can kiss me where it smells!"

Titch ( Rob Brydon) : "I am not taking you back to Port Talbot luv...besides you are no oil painting ( looking around at the entrance filed with French brothel type paintings) I don't Chagall I'd have to be in Seine to go on a two louse la trek with you!"

She doesn't take offence and chuckles like she has been in a wedding with distant relatives. The gang head off for the Moulin Rouge. Perrier keeps asking anyone around the way to a place called the Red Windmill.

 


Scene 10

 

The five are sat around a table watching the show at the Internationally renowned cat house. There are colourful female dancers in a line high kicking to a can- can on a stage. The boys too soon become can-can boys as the beer flows. The Estate agent becomes entranced by a dark haired caged dancer who seems to be staring at him.

Des Res: 'I am sure that's' Hollywood actress Demi Moore...she's been looking at me all night!'

Pat: 'Don't talk to me about cat houses....( sobbing in drink) I'll never be able to stroke a ginger pussy again after tonight....my pet kitty will have to go when I get home!'

Titch: 'Speaking of kitty...drink up you lot , I'm thirsty!'

The beer continued to flow - the boys were treated to some aerial entertainment. Mario was busy looking up to the heavens intrigued by his own Virgin flight of fantasy as two pensioners dressed as rodents were copulating intermittently on trapeze above their heads.

Perrier: 'I knew Disneyland Paris wasn't as good as the Florida version but surely that's taking the Mickey out of us tourists!"

Eventually, the five professional alcoholics decided to head home for a night in Le Fleapit. Back home in their hotel room after a short walk , the Welshmen were tucked up in bed.

 


Scene 11

 

With the sun shining through the holes in the room Titch awoke first. Des Res was snoring loudly with the tiles on the roof sliding back and fore with the vibration threatening to turn the Hotel into a five star one. He let out a belch that Barney from the Simpsons would have been proud of and the resulting alcohol cloud like an Iceland volcano woke the Estate Agent from his slumber.

Titch: 'See he is always up before me in the morning tickling me under the chin!' he boasted doing his own stand up routine.

Des Res: ' Don't remind Pat about last night!'

Pat: ''You bastards...you knew what you were doing ...I have had nightmares all night!' He said reaching into the mini-bar for a hair of the dog....knowing the room was booked on Des Res credit card....'I'll find a way of making you pay for that one!'

The ribbing of Pat was merciless .

Mario: ' Did your dream involve you nearly eating the 'lunch pack of Notre Dame?' " teased the chip shop owner.

He received a pillow missile for his comment. The Centuries old unwritten Welsh male oath of 'no tales on tour' was adopted.

Perrier : 'what did you think of the sword swallowing act last night?'

He fared worse than Mario as the French Gideon bible bounced off his coiffured bounce. Des was oblivious to events he was busy recalling a vision of a bikini clad Demi Moore dancing in a cage beckoning him towards her.

Des Res: ' I wonder if she was doing some research for Showgirls 2 ?'

Mario: 'Who?'

Pat: ' You are not going on about Demi Moore are you?...it wasn't her...why would an Hollywood A- Lister be dancing in a cage and staring at someone as ugly as you?

Des Res: ' I'll have you know that I was mistaken once for her ex-husband Bruce Willis in the Charles De Gaulle airport....it was during the Algerian crisis...!'

Pat: 'Rubbish!'

Des Res: 'It's true ....a tourist asked me to sign an autograph!'

Pat: 'Bollocks'

Titch: ' You were the only one talking bollocks last night!'

Pat reached for a shoe and threw it at Titch. He ducked and it hit Perrier square in the quiff. He dived over Titch to scrap the newspaper hound .

Perrier: 'Lets see who will die hard now!'

The pair grappled on the floor playfully until they both gave in to the exertion.

 


Scene 12

 

Return to the Spice Mobile. With Titch driving as usual, there was a reshuffle with Des Res being relegated to the back row and Pat and Perrier separated like two squabbling schoolchildren. Titch had donned his yellow jersey and cycle helmet for the mountain stages of the Tour De France. The mini speeds away South with Titch driving like a Playstation driver at speeds that look even faster in kilometres as he tries to make up for lost time. Here, the song motorcycle emptiness by the manics could be played. They reach the Alps and restock their own mini- bar with beer at St Berrnard in the Alpen Springs and clean water and breadsticks are taken on. The roof of the mini now is clad in breadsticks, daffodils and leeks.

Pat: 'We look like the Hovis Expeditionary ski force!'

After a further hour driving till the dark descends , they then decide to park up in a makeshift lay-by high up in the Alps. They decide to leave the car radio on over night to drown out Des Res snoring and ensure that as they are in an Avalanche zone the sound is consistent. Owen Money is busy on his BBC Wales radio show playing songs which send them gently to sleep. Titch awakes from his slumber with the first Rays of the sun on his windscreen. He comes around to an announcement on the Radio.

" Rover- the manufacturers of the Mini have decided to recall all models following a discovery that they may be technical problems with the handbrakes"

Looking down at the 1000 foot drop into Italy six inches from the mini Titch agreed. He looked at the sleeping Welsh tourists and considered saving himself.

Titch: 'It's a self- preservation society!' (cue music from film- the Italian Job- as he opens the door – which stops abruptly once he closes it again)

Titch tried to reason as to what had happened overnight. He suspected that the violent snoring of Des Res coupled with the dodgy handbrake had led to the little car becoming perched precariously with its boot hanging over the edge of the Mountain Pass. He decided to wait until the others woke naturally in the back so as not to panic the other occupants into a fatal mistake.

Pat was the next to wake and the look on Titch's face in the rear view mirror was enough for him to realise the odds on him surviving were slim. The newspaper hound saw his life passing before him in twirling Merthyr Depress newspaper headlines:-

'Downhill all the way for Rugby Fans on the Piste'

'Des-aster as Estate Agency crash hits peak'

'Perrier Springs Eternally'

The sound of a Welsh ringtone alarm nearly proved fatal, as four of the car occupants fumbled for their mobiles to the tune of 'A design for life' by the Manic Street Preachers. The fifth largest and oldest tourist , Des Res slumbered on blissfully unaware of the 'gravity' of the situation.

Titch: 'We need to lighten the load in the back!' (Whispering to the still, white Perrier).

One by one the 'refilled' beer bottles were 'passed' into the front seat to Titch who due to his dt's spilled most of them on Pat before pouring them on an unsuspecting French Shepherd in the Valley below.

French Shepherd Moutton Rouge: "Ello...Ello...it is peezing down again!' He said looking up at the golden stream of rain.

A text message appeared on Titch’s phone. It was a dragon symbol ( indicating it was his wife) ....it read...'How R U ....U no answer...RU OK?'

Titch: 'I knew she would push me over the edge one day!'

 


Scene 13

 

Titch's wife is sat with her mobile in her hand in her curlers reading the horoscope in the paper. Her psychic nose won't stop twitching.

She has intermittent images of Sue Barker and Princess Grace - which can only be interpreted as connected with Cliffs. She has a bad feeling something is deeply wrong with her husbands trip and doesn't want her marriage to be on the rocks. As she is always on the phone , when she rings direct enquiries they recognise her voice and know her personally.

Lynne Hatchey: 'Alpen Headquarters, please send help!'

 


Scene 14

 

Cliffhanger

The boys are wide awake and have to try and extricate themselves from their quandary. Des Res is still snoring unaware of the predicament- the boys are too frightened to wake him as he is a bit of a drama queen.

Titch: "You're still too heavy in the back!....you must get rid of some more weight!'(whispered)

Mario: "But how?" ....you've had all p*ss bottles, the last of the food, even our shoes and Perriers box of ribbed condoms...., we've given you all the heavy items...there is nothing left in the back!"

Titch: 'It's the 'Gold' beer in the boot....it's weighing us down!'

Titch: 'Eureka!' He said moving Des feet from the head rest - with the Estate Agent slowly coming around.

Titch: 'Pat - reach in the back and see if you can reach Des' wallet ...it must weigh a tonne ...you never see a poor Estate agent do you?"

The sight of Pat taking money from his wallet really shouldn't have bothered Des after all these years of round-dodging but it was the directness of it this time. Still half- cut and the sight of a hairy hand reaching into his heart pocket in the French Alps was too 'Gaulling' even for the mild mannered Des Res. Some primeval fear was awakened in him- and he uttered one audible word:-

Des Res: Darlo...

He struck out with his fist and punched Pat so hard sending him backwards in doing so jamming his behind in the steering column. He then returned to his snoring unaware of the drama unfolding around him. The resultant wedgie that Pat received for his efforts stabilised the car but sent the 'gold' label beer in the boot further backwards and the jolt sent open the spring on the car boot mechanism. Pat was now disabled , Titch was shaking with the DT's and fear. Mario was unable to move, as he was wedged tighter than one of Titch's home made roll up fags. Titch reached inside his pocket and took out his old faithful tin of tobacco. He always felt more relaxed when he rolled his own.

He cleared his head. How would his Welsh Rugby heroes get out of this tight spot? He tried to think back to his days as a boot-boy at the Arms Park. Not as an apprentice but as a hooligan. He decided to hum internationally to raise the spirits in the car. The rugby songs did the trick, as the car rocked to the tune of Bread of Heaven. The boys were convinced that God was Welsh so they prepared to meet their maker in style.

Titch: 'Barry John- into your hands I commend my spirit!'

As the car was just about to tip over the edge- from the Alpen mists appeared a giant St Bernard dog which bounded onto the bonnet of the car stoping its descent to the Valley floor below. Reaching out of the window Titch grabbed the brandy cask from around the dogs collar and helped himself to some of the St Bruno and smoked and drank deeply.

Titch: 'I'd like to share with you boys...but this is an emergency!'

Titch: 'L'eau de chien !' He spluttered spitting out the spring water like it was Albright.

With Bread of Heaven still ringing in his ears, he was divinely inspired to grab a hardened breadstick of the roof of the car as a pool cue and potted the 'gold' pool style through the rear seat flap and gold beer out of the back of the car into the deep blue yonder - causing an avalanche in the Italian village below never before seen. The mini having lost its ballast - righted itself with a bump which woke the startled Des Res suddenly.

Des Res: 'Morning Boys!' He said trying to stretch in the confined space.

'I had a lovely dream about Wales - some girls with the voices of angels were singing 'Bread of Heaven' ( cue Charlotte Church and Katherine Jenkins) - pointing at the St Bernard drooling on the windscreen.

Des Res: 'When did we acquire the nodding dog?'

Des looked around at his companions and knew something was up.

Des Res : 'What's up ....I missed something right...I've never seen Pat sweating so much since he nearly bought a round at the Millenium Stadium!'

Titch managed to drive forward with Pat lodged in the steering wheel and a two tonne dog on the bonnet to safer ground. Only then did they tell Des Res what happened. The only way to get the hysterical Estate Agent to stop shaking was to make him drive the car.

Titch: 'But you will have to drive...my Taff-ograph....says I have used up my allowed hours....and as you are the only one who is able to drive as the others are now in continent!'

Des would only drive on one condition that he could play his Max Boyce CD 'Live at Treorchy '.

He tried to convince his fellow occupants that they were lucky to be alive- and that it was another sign that the Welsh were God's chosen people.

Des Res: ' see Dog is God backwards...you were singing Bread of Heaven....the dog was carrying Spring water....it all adds up...we are bound to win in Rome boys...we are 'divinely inspired!'

He put pedal to the metal, as he screeched around those high hairpin bends above the Mountain passes, as Max Speed met Max Boyce. The boys in the back wished they 'all had Doctors papers' to avoid the butt- clenching journey. Des Res was determined to hang onto his 'yellow jersey' as he drove with the motto of the Welsh Front Row stuck in his head as lorry drivers tried to overtake him.

Des Res: 'Thou shalt not pass!'

Des Res looked in the rear view mirror and liked what he saw- not just his bronzed tanned face, and neatly trimmed 'Pepe Di Marco' goatee but the other great love of his life- behind him was a red Porsche Carrera with a flashy female driver with a body and face to die for.

 


Scene 15

 

Cut to the chase.

The mini is being pursued by a red Porsche on a straight road into Northern Italy. The driver of the mini car is Des Res and the Porsche Demi Moore. The car is tailgating the mini trying to get them to pull over so it can pass. Des Res flashes a smile at the female driver- which is reciprocated by perfect Hollywood veneers.

Des Res: ' Now that is what Chris de Burgh was singing about- that really is a 'Lady in Red'

The Porsche pulls alongside the mini on the right side of the road and Des Res and Demi lock stares- like a mutual attraction of flirting- They both accelerate to 150 kph with the mini initially in front.

Des Res (gleefully) : Outstripping the stripper!'

Des then checks the rear view mirror- the Porsche is gone- it is now in front of him. He suddenly realises there is a man in the passenger seat with her. It is the real Bruce Willis. He points at Des Res as the cars race at speed and signals that it is like looking in the mirror- like he is his doppelgänger.

Mario: 'Des ...I don't want to spoil your big moment but we drive on the RIGHT in Europe!'

The two cars almost crash as they round the bend to see a road block of cars up ahead. Des Res and Demi Moore stand on the brakes to avoid a collision.

Pat : ' It's CARmaggedon!'

There are skid marks on the road and worse ones in the back seat of the mini. The red Porsche zigzags through the fleet of black sedans blocking the road and away into the sunset. Des Res is furious that the love of his life has disappeared again. He gets out of the car and rages at the dark suited Mafia men on the hillside and road.

Des Res : ' What ...do you think you own this road?'

Perrier: ' Who are those people with the dark glasses and violin cases?'

Pat: ' I think it's a safe bet that they aren't The Blues Brothers!'

Mario: ' They are the Cosa Nostra ...and the DO own this particular road!'

Titch: 'Let me out of the car...will you...they are looking for me!'

Titch gets out of the car and walks around the back and produces a long thin packet from the fake exhaust. Instinctively, the Mobsters raise their weapons and train them on Titch and the purple incandescent Des. Des is raging like Basil Fawlty.

Titch: 'Let me negotiate this deal Des....I am gonna make them an offer they can't refuse!'

He swigs the brandy cask and pretends to be Marlon Brando. Titch has a small scar on his face from a playground fight as a kid. He comes up 'spaghetti western' style face to face with their leader who has a much bigger knife scar on his cheek. After an initial Mexican stand off, Titch whispers that he is with Mario Pizza originally from Bardi. Mario on leaving the car is welcomed by his third generational countrymen as the Godfather meets the Codfather and the first of many Italian Lobs is complete. A bag of unmarked bills is handed over in exchange for the vacuum cleaner blueprint.

The mini is allowed to pass and the car moves on silently passed monasteries until it reaches a border control check point and toll booth.

 


Scene 16

 

Checkpoint Charlie's

Stuck in a queue is the red Porsche containing the two Hollywood A- Listers. There is only one guard on duty for two booths as his mate has gone on a toilet break. He has to cover both lanes.

The Italian official looks at the Porsche containing Bruce Willis and the Mini containing Des Res...he takes both passports in at the same time to scan them and drops them on the floor mixing them up. As they look identical he hands the wrong ones back.

Italian Border Guard: ' You are not planning on 'moonlighting with any Shepherds Mr Willis are you?'

He is talking to Des Res by mistake - who just nods at him as he is anxious to catch up with the accelerating Porsche.

 

Posted in: Humor | 0 comments

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PART III



 

Scene 17

Rome sweet Rome.

Try as he might Des Res couldn't keep up with the Porsche and gets lost in the Italian Countryside in doing so.

Titch: ' How can you get lost when all roads lead to Rome?'

Perrier: 'Why don’t you ask for directions in that Spartacus Pizza Hut?'

They eventually arrive in the Roman capital with Mario announcing in Welsh and Italian to his Mother his arrival in her homeland.

Mario: ' Mama Mia...Mam I' m here!'

The streets are lined with beautiful dark haired girls with skimpy bra-less tee- shirts!

Titch: 'See Naples and die!'

Perrier: ' But I thought we were going to Rome!' he says dimly as they drive in congested traffic passed the Colosseum.

Pat: ' I don't know what you see in them girls....not one of them is ginger!'

The city is alive with Welsh Rugby fans - all clad in red and white and anti Anne Robinson tee- shirts.

Pat: ' Now that's more like it!'

The car passes designer shops, Gucci, Prada and Des Res ( Rome) Limited- a carbon copy of his shopfront back home as an Estate Agency - Des Res looks baffled as they have stolen his logo and name.

Pat: 'I bet it is expensive in there!'

Titch: 'La Coste of Living is greater out here!'

Des Res: 'Next stop... Vatican City...I have some business with the Pontiff!'


Scene 18

Is the Pope a Catholic?

The mini pulls up illegally in St Peters's Square . The boys get an ugly look from a Swiss Guard wearing a Traffic Wardens hat as they scatter the pigeons.

Des Res: ' I've got a confession to make Boys....I planned this trip to cover my own acquisition of an Old Masterpiece!'

Des Res: ' I have done a deal with the Pope to buy a priceless rare collaboration work by Renaissance Men , Michelangelo, Raphel, Leonardo and Donatello!'

To get passed the guards, he shows them his gold medallion previously hidden beneath is 1970s Bee Gee chest hair....it is of St Peter the patron Saint of Estate Agents. He is shown into a room to be granted an audience with Pope John Paul II. Des bows to the Pope and hands him a business card.

Des Res: ' We have a mutual friend- a papal knight in Merthyr- you have a palace- he has a castle!'

Pope John Paul II: ' So you have come for the Nazi War treasures Kurt Waldheim gave me ...have you?'....Do you have the Reddy Money?'

As Des opens up his wallet full of Euros - His Crookedness the Pontiff unscrews the top of his Papal Staff and pulls out a curled up masterpiece.

Pope: 'Do you want to see it?'

Des Res: ' We have a saying in the estate agency business ...in God we trust...everyone else pays cash...or goes to sealed bids...and you're the closest thing to God I will ever meet!' laughed Des taking a cylindrical protector off the Holy See's desk.

As Des leaves the room...the Pope reaches down under his white robe and pulls out a hip- flask and swigs alcohol from it.

Pope:' I've a hunch....you've been framed!'

Des RES skips back through the Square towards the car. He is beaming as he has effected the second Italian Lob.

Mario: 'Someone looks happy!'

Des places the painting unopened in the fake exhaust.

Pat: ' I haven't seen him look THAT happy since he sold that fifth floor flat with no lift to Stephen Hawking on the basis that his guests would sound like him on the intercom!'


Scene 19

The Place of the Martyrs Hotel.

The boys are all unpacking their gear ready for a night in Rome on the eve of the Rugby Match. Pat opens the room curtains to find they can't open the window because it backs onto the cells that the prisoners of the Coliseum were tortured in.

Pat: ' I always said I would be Christian here!'

Looking down at the floor which was alive with cockroaches he continues.

Pat: 'Caesars palace it ain't ...I reckon we got the animal quarters!'

Titch: ' It's thumbs down from me - the Coliseum stinks worse than Des' feet!'

Des Res : ' Stop moaning will you...at least the neighbours don't have pot- bellied pigs!'...pointing at Pat with his gut showing putting on his Welsh rugby tee shirt showing Howard Marks being arrested by a policeman.

Perrier who has a pot bellied pig takes exception to the comment.

Mario: ' Well boys...we made it to Rome...now we are in Rome we must do what the Romans do!'

Des Res : ' What...pinch handbags and arses?' ( as he pinches Pat's arse as he struggles to get the tiny tee- shirt over his big belly),

Titch: 'No...drinka di Vino!'


Scene 20

The Streets of Rome near the Trevi Fountain on Match Day. It is warm in Rome on St Davids Day and the boys have got a few pints on . They leave a side street, and join a massive throng of Welsh Rugby fans with giant daffodils, top hats and blow- up sheep everywhere. They decide to cool off by dipping into the Trevi Fountain. Titch puts his supply of beer in the front, whilst Mario and Pat argue over an ice cream cone.

Titch: 'What's this song....?'....Three cans in a fountain...

They change it to a drunken rendition of 'Volare!' ....and then 'just one Cornetto' as they fight over an ice cream. As they make their way to the Stadio Olympico, the five tourists argue and debate over the greatest Welsh Player ever. Like most Rugby fans of a certain age they harp back to the halcyon days of the 1970s when Wales ruled the Northern Hemisphere.

Titch: 'Gareth Edwards for me!z'

Mario: 'King Barry John'

Perrier : 'I think JJPR !" He said inebriatedly.

Des Res: ' You can't have two Mun you drunken bugger!...how about you Pat?'

Pat:' Jenks for me...professional, accurate and of course ginger!'

The cry of Wales...Wales ...echoed around the stadium corridors, as Pat reached for his digital camera.

Pat: ' Thank Barry John for that...I thought I had left my camera at the Hotel....I promised My Editor that I would get a few photos for the Depress!,

He split from the others and showed them his Press Badge and made his way with his Assistant Titch to the touch line behind the Italian posts.


Scene 21

The Italian and Welsh teams lead out and line up for their respective National Anthems. They are led out by the Band of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and a ceremonial goat. Mario, Des and Perrier could make out the shape of Little & Large sitting on the grass relaxing behind the goals. After a circuit of the ground, the band and goat leave the stadium. The game kick offs and the Welsh team race to a 9-3 lead through the reliable boot of Neil Jenkins.

Pat:' See...he slurs ...that Jenks is magic !'

Titch looks on.

Pat: ' I will let you in on a reporters secret...I know how he is so accurate!'

' A good newshound never reveals his sources but my mate works for 'Just Mentals' and he told me his secret...watch him from behind next time!'

The whistle goes again for an infringement and Jenks steps up to take the kick.

Pat: 'See that shadow of his ears on the pitch are aligned with the goalposts....he keeps his head still and kicks through his boot....he was also taught by his mate the Maori Chief that every tackle on the pitch is a spiritual battle against an invader...a modern day ' War of Jenkins Ears' if you like!' laughed Pat falling over into the grass.

Titch: ' That's bullshit!'

Pat: ' Goat shit actually !' ( rubbing his hands).

Pat looks through the camera lens but is so drunk he has double vision.

Pat: 'Titch take some pictures for me otherwise my editors will be a head-hitter on Monday Morning when I get home!'


Scene 22

Potters wheel

Up in the stand the balance of power on the pitch was turning. Like his wine- Des Res was in vintage form. He was a passionate supporter.

Des Res: 'C'mon pass the bloody ball out wide!'

He was mentally tackling and scrummaging like he was on the pitch. Demi Moore appears from the crowd.

Demi: ' At last, I've been looking for you all over the stadium!"

For the third time that weekend, Des looked deeply into Demi Moore's eyes and the Welshman lost track of the game and surroundings- it was a blur - like Russell Crowe in Elysium Fields, Gladiator Maximus Boyceius- he was oblivious to pain ( Demi-god Max Boyce is shown in a field talking to him)- oblivious as the scoreboard turns over with Italian points. Des Res is motionless- his mind is elsewhere. It is a fantasy scene. He stands behind Demi with his hands turning an imaginary potter’s wheel like in the scene from the film ‘Ghost’. She turns around and slaps him hard across the face- he has been fondling her Silicon implant breasts like he was turning a lathe. A stadium steward has to intervene to break his grip. When he realises what has happened- he goes red and then white with embarrassment like the Welsh flag.

DES RES: ‘Miss Moore, more please!” he pleads like ‘Oliver’ in the Dickens story with a finished potters bowl.

The stewards drag the sex attacker away towards the pitch and his ‘phoney passport’ falls onto the grass in the struggle. He is ‘booed’ by the crowd around him. He struggles to pick his passport up.

Des Res: ‘But I only want to go to the touchline again!”

He is restrained further by more security stewards. The Passport is lifted off the floor by a steward who looks at the picture and hands it to the nearby Bruce Willis. He in turn gets the passport stolen by a pickpocket in a melee of the crowd. The pickpocket and Des Res both get arrested by the Police and slung in the back of a Police Van. Mario, & Perrier decide to watch the end of the game before going to the aid of their friend. There is 5 minutes left with the score Italy 6 Wales 12. Suddenly, the ball is hoisted high into the air as a change of tactics.

Perrier: ‘What is a Garry Owen called in Italy?”

Mario: ‘ Him’ said Mario pointing at a hairless Pack Leader.

The Italian Captain, Garry Baldi has ordered his fly-half to kick it high and in the direction of Welsh Forward Robert Sidoli. He knows he has divided loyalties as his Brother Peter plays for the Home side.

Garry Baldi : “99”

The third Italian Lob was on. Sidoli stands sweating. The ball takes an eternity to drop. His mouth is dry- divided loyalties- does he catch it for Wales or drop it for Italy. Out of the corner of his eye he catches sight of an Italian Mafia Hitman with a gun pointed at him. Sidoli’s legs turn to jelly and his hands to ice cream. He drops it rather than be killed by a contract killer. The ball bounces free and into the hands of massive Italian forward- Hugo Bastardo. The Welsh BBC Sport commenter Jonathan Edwards takes up the microphone. John Inverdale and every single Englishman (including Eddie Butler) in the studio is willing the Italians to score and leave Wales with a first ever Wooden Spoon.

Edwards: ‘Bastardo has the ball 5 metres out…all that stands between Italy and victory is Neil Jenkins…all that stands between Wales or Italy for the wooden spoon is Jenkins…it is a David and Goliath story here and my monies are on Goliath’

On the side behind the goal, the drunken Titch had strayed too close to the action…too busy looking through the camera lens. Due to his Press Badge- no steward would interfere. He tries to get a close up shot for Pat’s editor…now all that stood between the rampaging forward was the squatting six stone frame of Titch. The noise in the ground is deafening as the Forward crosses the line and places the ball down tackled by Jenkins as he collides the unfortunate Titch. For a split second only Titch knew that the rugby ball hadn’t been grounded by the Italian Forward. He had made the supreme sacrifice for his Country.

Titch: AAAAARGH!!!! As he is hurt and the camera obliterated in the collision.

The Referee asks the Fourth Official:-

Ref: “Can I award the try?”

He and the rest of the stadium look up at the big screen and see that the Italian has put the ball down in the ‘Dead Ball Zone’ but that there was a nut sack belong to Titch in the way. Merthyr’s latest eunuch was rolling round in agony- while the rest of his companions (bar Des Res) are jumping around in ecstacy. The Try is disallowed. The referee blows the final whistle. Pat starts to sob. Mario races from the stands to the pair.

Mario: ‘Why are you crying….we won…you are both Heroes!”

Pat: ‘I bet the suitcase of money on Italy to win!”

The Italian crowd and stewards now turn nasty. They too have realised that it is Titch ‘tackle bags’ that have robbed them of Victory. Perrier takes matters into his own hands. He strips off to create a ‘Dai-version’ and streaks across the field to distract them. They race through the players tunnel and reach the Mini-Car- pursued by lots of angry officials. They then drive out of the City using the sewers and stadium roof like the film the Italian Lob. As they do…a dementia suffering Michael Caine does a double take at the Union Jack Mini. They escape (like the old Mini advert) because the Police cars cannot cross the cattle grids.


Final scene

Outside Viazzani’s Café in John Street , Merthyr

The four friends are back in Merthyr buzzing of sweat, unshaven and bleary eyed having driven the car non-stop for two days. They ‘roll in’ to a look of disgust from Luigi. They are surprised to find that Des Res has beaten them home. He sits there immaculately dressed- smelling of quality aftershave, as he lowers the broadsheet Merthyr Depress newspaper.

Des Res: “ What kept you?”

The others are shocked as to how he had beaten them home- in view of the last time they saw him he was on his way to an Italian jail.

Pat: “ How the Hell did you get home before us?”

Des Res: ‘The Orient Express of course!”

Mario: ‘Was it packed?”

Des Res: ‘At first it was Murder…but once I showed them this…I was upgraded!”

He shows them Bruce Willis passport that he had lifted from his pick-pocket cell mate.

Titch: ‘ So how the Hell did you get out the Police Jail so fast?”

Des Res:’ I used the one word of Italian Perrier taught met !” he said (pretending to sneeze)

Perrier’ ‘What Ebola?”

Des nods.

Des Res: “ Oh and Pat…your Editor is outside the window…I think he has a message for you!”

The Editor is outside the half window of the café waving a sack.

Pat: ‘ I have something that belongs to you- !”

He hands Des the rolled up painting still in the cylinder removed from the Mini fake exhaust. Pat turns his back on the group and starts to smile- he is waiting for a cry of desperation from Des RES. The camera pans out with Pat smirking even if he is about to lose his job. DES Res unfurls the painting for the first time. It is a work of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo & Raphel as promised by the Pontiff- but they have green faces. It is of the Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles- which he has paid £40K for. He has been conned.

Des Res: (like the Terminator) ….There’s going be a new Pope in Rome soon…I’ll be back John Paul!” (angily)

Luigi: ‘ What’s the matter with him?”

Pat: ‘I think he is having ‘Turtle Recoil!”

Posted in: Humor | 0 comments

'Shedding Paper Skin' by Mike Jenkins


By AmeriCymru, 2015-05-15



#fff; line-height: 125px; text-align: center; background: #859fbe;" a="" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Shedding-Paper-Skin-Mike-Jenkins/dp/184527508X%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJVIGQN4FG3JO2YYQ%26tag%3Damericymrucom-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D184527508X"> BUY! ........ #fff; line-height: 125px; text-align: center; background: #859fbe;"> BARKIN! .... #fff; line-height: 125px; text-align: center; background: #859fbe;"> Interview .... #fff; line-height: 125px; text-align: center; background: #859fbe;" a="" target="_blank" href="http://www.mikejenkins.net/"> Blog

"The title poem marks Mike Jenkins transition from the teaching profession to a free-ranging life hereafter"



I n this new collection of his work, there's a wide variety of subject matter and approach. His longer poem, 'Journey of the Taf', traces the river's journey from watershed to sea; a sequence of poems on the Troubles of Northern Ireland takes many viewpoints, including that of a car and a chair! He pays homage to poets, dead and alive and there's verse voicing concern about threats of a seagull (see below) on Cardiff Central station. Through all his work the poet's wit and passion is pervasive."

Mike Jenkins is a retired teacher who lives in Merthyr Tydfil. He conducts creative writing workshops and blogs weekly on www.mikejenkins.net .

BARKIN!, his previous book of poems and stories, written in the Merthyr dialect, was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year in 2014. He has been the editor of Red Poets for 20 years.


Kairdiff Central Seagull

I've never felt threatened by a seagull before,

but this one's got 'STREET'

written along its beak,

which suddenly looks sharp

as a Stanley knife.

...

I wouldn't be surprised

by its swagger and attitude

if it wasn't into NWA or Tupac.

...

It eyes up my food

as if it already owns it

and I recall those stories of seabirds

snatching pasties or putting eyes out.

...

Those days spent by Aber pier

throwing crusts to balletic birds

seem a century away,

this creature's Kairdiff Central

born and bred, could pick

a packet from the rails

just before the inter-city's in.

...

It struts around me:

I am surrounded by a single bird!

Its pupils are two barrels

aiming straight at my cheese and celery.

...

I gulp the sandwich whole

like a heron with a fish.

Bro seagull saunters off

to mug a kid with a burger.

...

© Mike Jenkins 2015 (reproduced by kind permission of the author)

Posted in: Poetry | 0 comments

An Interview With Lesley Coburn


By Ceri Shaw, 2015-05-14

filling-space

,,,

As a follow up to our recent announcement that Lesley Coburn will be contributing a story to Issue 2 of eto we are pleased today to present an interview with the author.

Lesley Coburn is a writer from the Rhondda in south Wales and ''Filling Space'' was originally self published in 2006.

Lesley Coburn is also the daughter of one of Wales most outstanding 20th century writers - Ron Berry

...

...



AmeriCymru: Hi Lesley and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. How long have you been writing? Did your fathers example influence you in any way?

Lesley: Hi, Ceri, I try to imagine you. For being interviewed by a machine disconcerts. I remind myself that of cyberspace was created by real people, and is used only by real people. I hope! Congratulations on your initiative to publish Welsh/American writers, and thanks for your interest in Filling Space. Phil was one of the first readers to give me any response!

I''ve been writing many years. I began with poetry, then stories and longer poems, and years of academic writing. The latter I developed an aversion to. Now I write only what interests me. Ron''s writing was a fact of our childhoods. We didn''t think about it. Of five children, only one sister and myself write. After he gave me the unedited version of his autobiography to read, I said, ''this could change lives, Ron.'' He just said, ''you''re biased, girl.'' Of course, we covertly read his books, Miller, Lawrence, Faukner etc. Ron rated Gwyn Thomas. I never met him but Ron was in correspondence for a while.

AmeriCymru: What were/are the upsides and downsides of being Ron''s daughter?

Lesley: Ron''s first published book was kept under the counter in Treherbert Library. Swear words scared the staff. So I suppose I never was going to censor myself. Aside from all the subtle influences, the over-riding maxim that I keep in mind was his advice to writers, ''say it true, but say it new.''. There is no downside to being the daughter of Ron Berry. As a family, we have been working on his manuscripts since he died. It is all archived in Swansea University now. One day we''ll publish the unedited version of History Is What You Live. There are no downsides because I have no ambition, and no-one , until now, has been interseted anyway! Ron''s despair at being ignored for most of his life was a real lesson. If people don''t ''get'' your work, that''s it. I realised my stuff was being sent back unread, although early long poems and short stories were published in small press collections. I stopped submitting when I started writing Filling Space.

Americymru: Did his relationship with Jim Lewis and Robert Thomas inspire their creativity?

Lesley: I call Ron, Jim and Bob, the'' band of brothers''. They spent their youths reading, revolting, wandering and wenching. Whar surprises is the huge talents of these three people from a small area of Rhondda. Alun Richards always told the story of his visits from Pontypridd to find this trio of ''outsiders''. Ron and Alun met regularly in Ron''s last years.

AmeriCymru: You are contributing a story to Issue Two of eto - ''Filling Space''. Care to introduce it for our readers?

Lesley: How to introduce Filling Space? Anything I say will be good for now, But maybe not for tomorrow , And so little a part of what I was doing while writing it. I was trying to address some questions : how to give a sense of openess, field, subjectivity, flow? how to clarify without simplification? how to illuminate both the sharp pains/pleasures of consciousness, and the mysterious intuitions that occasionally seep through? And, of course, it''s about writing. The experiencing woman and the writing woman are a kind of ploy to give the writer a bit of detatchement. I enjoyed writing it and I still like reading it.

AmeriCymru: What are you reading? Any recommendations?

Lesley: I couldn''t recommend any specific reading; anything with an existentialist feel; and to anyone who needs to remember how good life is really, go to Whitman. Keep him with you.

AmeriCymru: What''s next for Lesley Coburn? What are you working on at the moment?

Lesley: I''m working on a long piece. It''s mostly sloshing around in my head, but I''ve made a start. The story of a collector of stories. First person present narrative of a young woman who returns to the valley. People are attracted to her and tell her tales of transformation. She writes their lives and all is change. No-one knows she is writing. she doesn''t need to tell. Her words add what she is to them. It''s what we do, isn''t it? I can''t stop thinking about it. All I need is time, place, a life of my own.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for our readers?

Lesley: I have no message for your readers other than to quote Whitman, ''and why should I not speak to you''.

Hope this is of some interest. All the best, Lesley.


History, art, architecture and little quirky bits are all here in a novel new map of Swansea. Local artists Melanie Ezra and Rosie Scribblah like to wander the city centre and foreshore, one with a camera, the other with a sketchbook, getting their inspiration from funny little oddities and nooks and crannies in our ugly, lovely, bonkers city. Along with 12 artists from England, they were commissioned by London-based publishers, Sampson Low Ltd, to produce one of a dozen oddball maps.

Pointing out the little idiosyncrasies that interest them, they illustrate the walk with their artwork. Melanie says, “ Swansea is full of art, culture and history and in this little map we’re only just touching on the things that fascinate us ”.

The map takes people on a trail that includes Dragons, Doctor Who and Da Vinci; street art, sand and granny’s custard; galleries, museums and allotments. Rosie is thrilled with the attention the Swansea map has been getting,

It’s been in an exhibition in London and it’s selling more copies than the other maps, there’s even been a copy ordered from the USA. It’s great that people are so interested in Swansea.”

Priced at £2, ’Swansea: On The Map: An Artist’s Walk’ is available directly from the publishers, Sampson Low Ltd http://www.sampsonlow.com/  

or from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Swansea-Artists-Walk-Melanie- Ezra/dp/1910578061/ref=sr_1_2? s=books&ie=UTF8&qid= 1429777057&sr=1-2

Posted in: Swansea | 0 comments


Britain's Got Talent Winner Paul Potts has joined forces with Britain's Got Talent finalist Charlotte Jaconelli and Grammy Award Winning Soprano, Rebecca Evans to perform a hymn originally written over 100 years ago to commemorate those who lost their lives in the 1913 Universal Colliery Disaster in Sengheyndd.

The lyrics to the hymn were discovered recently by a relative of Sarah Ann Thorne, the original composer. Sadly the music was never found despite a rigorous search through the National Archives. The hymn had been left unperformed until two Welsh composers, Daniel and Laura Curtis took the decision to write new music to the original lyrics so that once again it could be heard by the public.

The Universal Colliery Disaster in Senghenydd killed 440 people in the United Kingdom’s worst ever mining disaster.

The lost hymn, 'Prepare To Meet Thy God' was sung during the original memorial service in 1913. The lyrics were then printed and sold on penny sheets with the proceeds of the sales going towards erecting a Memorial Plate at St Peters Church. The Memorial Plate is still there today and stands in memory of those who lost their lives in the explosion.

Daniel and Laura Curtis are keen advocates for supporting projects which commemorate fallen miners. In 2013 they composed  A Miner’s Song to raise money for the National Mining Memorial. The song featured over 300 performers including; Michael Sheen, Ioan Gruffudd, Matthew Rhys, Paul Potts, Joe Calzaghe, Jonathan Pryce and John Owen Jones.

Dan Curtis said ‘It is a great honour for us to be able to write new music for Sarah’s beautiful and heartfelt words. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to collaborate with someone who witnessed the tragic events unfold, long after their words were written. In releasing this hymn to the public, we are trying to get across the message “Remember Not To Forget”. Here in Wales and across the World we owe so much to our mining heritage and the sacrifice that so many miner's made, not only with their lives but with the ill health often suffered as a result of their work, they should never be forgotten’

Prepare To Meet Thy God will be available to download on iTunes and Amazon Mp3 from Saturday 25th April 2015 and is also available as part of 'A Miner's Song Special Edition' album also available online. All proceeds will be donated to the National Mining Memorial. The recording of the hymn was generously supported by Taylor Wimpey, the family of Sarah Ann Thorne, Lilian Evans, Inspirational Lighting, Egan Waste Services, Fulcrum Direct Limited and the Nuaire Group.


Posted in: Music | 0 comments


D avid Thorpe has twin careers in writing and environmentalism. He is a novelist, non-fiction author, journalist, scriptwriter and comics writer, and the winner of a HarperCollins contest to find a major new children’s writer with his novel for young adults, Hybrids (‘A stunningly clever novel’– The Times). He has written and been the commissioning editor of many comics and graphic novels for publishers such as Marvel, HarperCollins, Titan Books and Macdonald-Futura. He is a co-founder of the London Screenwriters Workshop and co-author of the Doc Chaos comics series and TV scripts. Find out more on www.davidthorpe.info. AmeriCymru spoke to David about his latest novel 'Stormteller'.

 


AmeriCymru: Care to describe your novel Stormteller for our readers?

David:   Sure. Stormteller is a fantasy adventure set 15 years into the future about two 15-year-old teenage boys and a girl the same age who live on the mid-Wales coast just north of Aberystwyth. It's a kind of romance and tragedy, it uses two Welsh myths or legends that are set in the location, and is deeply embedded in the local landscape, which I know very well, having lived there for nearly 20 years.

There are some detailed descriptions of the landscape, both the uplands and the coast itself, which come from my extensive walks and explorations. I love that area. I loved writing about a place I knew really well. It was the first time I had done this and was quite a revelation.

Although it's aimed primarily at young adults, many adults have read it and thoroughly enjoyed it, making it what the trade terms a 'crossover' novel in the same way that the Harry Potter stories were.

The two boys, Tomos and Bryn, are both in love with the girl, Eira. But unfortunately for Tomos she chooses Bryn. The young men are really contrasting characters although they look very similar.

Tomos' background is rich, privileged, having every modern device he could want in his home. His father is a successful professor in business studies.

Bryn was brought up in an eco-village, with a great appreciation of the natural environment and the need to not use fossil fuels. His mother taught him all about growing vegetables, keeping animals, recognising all the wild plants and how to survive by foraging.

Tomos' home is directly on the coast, in Borth, and is destroyed near the start of the novel by a storm surge, that gets attributed to climate change. (In my research I found that Borth was the most vulnerable part of coastal Wales to this kind of thing. It's since seen the benefit of some storm surge protection efforts, but I'm a bit sceptical about how effective they will be in the long term.)

In the story, these storms affect the whole coast of Britain, bringing power stations off-line and disrupting supply chains for shops. Very quickly the shops run out of food and normal law and order break down.

Hungry and in search of food, Tomos goes to Bryn's eco-village and joins the community, but not for long. The breakdown in law and order even reaches them, and he is forced to rely on Bryn's survival skills when they are chased over the Welsh mountains by marauders who wish to eliminate them as witnesses to murder. But things don't go exactly as hoped...

AmeriCymru: What role does Celtic myth play in the book?

David:   There are two Welsh legends associated with the area: Cantre'r Gwaelod describes the drowning of Cardigan Bay by the drunken antics of a jealous gatekeeper who was in love with a girl that the local Prince married instead. I took this as an analog for rising sea levels due to climate change.

The second story is the origin of Wales' most famous bard and shamanic figure, Taliesin, who, as a baby, is discovered by the same Prince, having floated down the river Dyfi.

So my whole narrative about Bryn and Tomos and Eira is bracketed and interspersed with scenes starring the characters in these two myths. They all get the chance, every few hundred years, to have people in real life relive their dramas in the hope they can benefit from a different ending.

So the drunken gatekeeper wants to get the girl, and Ceridwen, who made the potion that turned the servant boy Gwion into Taliesin by accident, wants her disabled son, for whom the potion was originally intended, to receive the benefit of it. And so does the son (whose name is Afagddu), who is totally jealous of Gwion.

You can hopefully see how the triangular relationship between Bryn and Tomos and Eira is kind of reflected in the rivalry between the legendary characters.

In this respect it's a bit like Alan Garner's The Owl Service, which uses the Mabinogion story of Blodeuwedd and is also set nearby, around Devil's Bridge east of Aberystwyth. That's a great novel that I loved as a child. When I moved to the area I re-read it. I love the way it is so tersely written.

I am endlessly grateful that I met my lovely and talented wife Helen Adam during the research for the myths because she was writing a musical for children about Taliesin. I'm attaching a picture of her playing at a launch event for Stormteller.

AmeriCymru: Care to tell us a little about your other fiction titles -  'Hybrids', 'Doc Chaos'?

David:   Doc Chaos came first. Initially scripts for a commissioned TV series, it evolved into a series of comic books and a novella. The novella purports to be the autobiography of this Dr. Frankenstein-like monstrous scientist who is the archetype of nuclear power. It's a romp, a crazy satire and a mad love story.

The novella was originally published by Hooligan Press but a new edition has recently come out as an e-book only, together with a new short story set 100 years or so in the future when climate change and nuclear power have virtually wiped out everyone. Stylistically, think William Burroughs meets comics writer Grant Morrison in his Invisibles stage.

Hybrids was a novel that won a national competition by HarperCollins 'to find the next JK Rowling'. Or that is how it was billed. Clearly I do not have her hair. It's about teenagers merging with frequently-used technology due to a virus for which there is no known cure.

Johnny Online is turning into a computer and Kestrella's hand is a mobile phone. Hybrids have to be registered. If they're not, they become outlaws to be hunted by the Gene Police and taken to the sinister Centre for Genetic Rehabilitation. It aimed exactly at the Hunger Games generation, but it came out first.

Currently there is interest in turning it into another television series.


..

AmeriCymru: In addition to your works of fiction you have also written on Energy Management. Can you tell us more about this work?

David:   Not only that, but books on solar technology, living sustainably on the land, and upgrading your house to save energy and carbon emissions. I've always had this twin career and passion for environmentalism.

I guess it started when, as an 11 year old, I won a national environmental essay-writing competition by lamenting how the fields next to my local playground were being covered with housing sprawl. Nowadays I'm also an environmental journalist and non-fiction book writer.

So Stormteller represents an attempt to combine my interests in environmentalism with my interest in writing Speculative Fiction for young people.

Since Stormteller appeared, it has been labelled by some critics as 'cli-fi', which stands for climate change fiction, and is apparently a hot new genre. That's fine by me. I've been invited to be on a panel at this year's Hay Festival discussing cli-fi.

AmeriCymru: What can you tell us about your work in the fields of carbon-free energy and sustainable development?

David: My most recent non-fiction book, published at the beginning of this year, is called  The One Planet Life . It is about living sustainably in the countryside: about zero carbon buildings, land management, growing your own food and keeping animals, low carbon transport, and renewable energy.

It is based on a unique and pioneering Welsh planning law which allows people to build homes on agricultural land provided that they fulfil certain criteria about feeding themselves, improving biodiversity and reducing their ecological footprint.

It's a world-beating policy and to write the book I went and interviewed a lot of people who are doing this. The book has an introduction by the former Welsh Environment Minister, Jane Davidson. Again, we are talking together at this year's Hay Festival about this.

As a result of this work I am a patron of  The One Planet Council .

Train stuck near Towyn in the winter of 2013/14 (Photo by Mark Kendell)

AmeriCymru: Where can one go to purchase Stormteller online?

David: It's available both as an e-book and in print from either  Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk or the publisher,  Cambria Books .

AmeriCymru: What's next for David Thorpe?

David:   I'm hard at work on a new novel, which I'm hoping will be the ultimate time travel story. It's set around the end of this century and in Nottingham, the city where I grew up. It's called The Moebius Trip.

I'm also researching a sequel to The One Planet Life, about living sustainably in the city. The crucial thing about this is measuring whether what is being done is actually sustainable.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

David:   Stormteller tries to give a message of hope. Just as it's implied that the characters in the Welsh myths trying to change the endings of their stories have the possibility of doing so, I wanted to give readers, especially young readers, the feeling that climate change and its worst effects are not necessarily inevitable. I want to give them hope that it's possible to do something about it.

I'd hate to be young now with the feeling that the older generations have left me this terrible legacy of catastrophic devastation that may well occur during this century in many parts of the world as a result of their burning too many fossil fuels. I would be extremely angry and depressed.

Emotionally it's very difficult to deal with these feelings. Many people try to pretend it's not happening, they deny or ignore these feelings. They don't talk about them. They carry on living their lives because of course that's what we all really want to do. We resent it when people tell us that we should save energy, not drive so much, not fly everywhere, etc.

But people must be brave and need to realise that there are real benefits to living sustainably. Your quality of life can be so much better, and so may everyone's, not just the few. We can save money. We can stop species being made extinct. It's all very possible. You just need to wake up and join with others who are already doing it.

I believe that fiction provides a way to talk about these things without turning people off, without being preachy. I hope that Stormteller does this.


David Thorpe reading from 'Stormteller' at the book launch.


....and the the many millions of Americans who claim Welsh descent. I refer of course to the following:-

Film inspired by Gareth Thomas relocated to Ireland as the US ‘won’t get Wales’

In my opinion the film will be trash as a consequence. This is a Welsh story which took place in Wales involving Welsh characters. Now of course everyone will be carrying shillaleghs and drinking Guiness and the whole thing will be turned into a pantomime farce. Who knows...perhaps there will be a few leprechauns thrown in as well for good measure? Personally I will be boycotting this travesty and I hope it flops

If you are reading this and you are similarly outraged please go to  https://www.facebook.com/AmeriCymru?ref=hl and add your voice to the growing chorus of protest against this decision. The relevant post is pinned to the top of the feed......diolch :)

Also please consider emailing Cargo Entertainment ( the production company ) to tell them what you think of them. This is their email address:-  info@cargoentertainment.com

If you are on Twitter you can also tweet one of the Producers here  @CostiganMichael



I am reproducing my protest email to Cargo Entertainment below. If they deign to reply I may reproduce that here also.



RE: 'STOLEN THUNDER'

To whom it may concern

Your claim that American cinema audiences will not 'get Wales' is every bit as absurd as it is insulting. Let's deal with the absurdity first:-

1. The President of the USA recently visited Wales for a NATO summit. He had no trouble finding it. Perhaps he had foreknowledge of its existence or maybe he used a map? Either way I  contend that few people in the US, in the post Torchwood era, do not know what Wales is or where it is. Your claim to the contrary is both patronising and grossly insulting to American film audiences.

2. You are currently producing another movie called 'The Price'. I hope you won't object if I quote from the synopsis on this page:- http://www.cargoentertainment.com/the-price/

"Clare and her 5-year-old son Finn are in hiding in rural FRANCE after an ugly custody dispute with his father Liam. She wakes in the middle of the night to find Jonas, one of Liam’s cronies, kidnapping Finn. She tracks Liam down to BERLIN ....."

I don't know whether this movie will be produced on location in France and Germany but I note that you have not changed the setting to Dublin in order to avoid confusion. Wales is, if anything, a slightly less exotic venue than either of these two.

3. Assuming for a moment that you were  correct and that  US movie audiences do not 'get Wales' would this not make the film all the more interesting? What makes you think that people constantly want more of the same?

And so to the insult:-

1. This is a Welsh story which took place in Wales involving real Welsh people. Indeed Gareth Thomas is something of a sporting and cultural icon. Therefore, in my opinion, your use of his life story without reference either to him or Wales is an act of blatant cultural 'appropriation'. Perhaps appropriation is too mild a term?

2. It has been suggested that this film will help members of the gay community by highlighting the pain that they go through when 'coming out'. I sincerely hope it does.  But I doubt that is your true goal. If so, It seems o dd that you would choose to dilute the impact of the movie by removing its true protagonist. It is also strange that you would seek to better the lot of one minority by viciously insulting another. The Welsh are a minority in the UK and some would claim that they are an oppressed minority also.

Please be aware that if you deign to respond, I may publicly reproduce all, or parts, of your reply.

Ceri Shaw


COMMENTS FROM THE OLD AMERICYMRU SITE

Hi Christopher

Many thanks for posting and of course you are entirely correct vis a vis the announcement in the Telegraph BUT if you go to this page you will plainly see that 'Irish Thunder' is still listed as a pre-production project:- http://www.cargoentertainment.com/irish-thunder/

SO...yes the Gareth Thomas movie has been cancelled BUT at the moment the massively insulting (imho ) 'replacement' project is still due to go ahead. No one would be happier than me to learn that the whole thing has been shelved BUT there is little indication of that on the Cargo Entertainment website.

What appears to be the case is that the Gareth Thomas biopic has been cancelled and a rather trashy exploitation flic has been substituted for it.

Christopher Benson April 19, 2015 at 2:35am

It tuns out that this is a false alarm. Yes it was a slight against Wales, but it is going no further. There will be no movie (or at least not THAT one). The following extract is from an article that appeared in the Daily Telegraph exactly two months ago on 18 February 2015. It is an interview with Gareth Thomas by Jasper Rees. I draw your attention to the last four words of the first paragraph below:

And yet there is no getting away from his story. The film world is naturally keen to get in on the act, and the first person to pop up was Mickey Rourke who, though 20 years Thomas’s senior, seemed eager to take the lead himself. The project fell through.

“It was like a car crash,” he says. Thomas is keen not to dwell on it, although he’s now working on a new film with another writer.

Jasper Rees, in the Culture Section of the Daily Telegraph, 19 February 2015.

The full Daily Telegraph article is here. My extract quoted above is around the 18th or 19th paragraph. On most browsers you can type Ctrl-F then rourke to find it). So the slight against Wales was small - very small by the usual historical distortions that emanate from Hollywood - just a slight slight against Wales, if you will.

But who is going to tell Fiona Audley of the Irish Post (Twitter @fifiaudley) that her 13 April 2015 is "all for naught"?

The Wikipedia article on Gareth Thomas has been reporting since 21 February 2015 that the Rourke film project was cancelled, and the Daily Telegraph reported it on 19 February.

It is obvious from the February 2015 article that the "coming out" aspect of the Gareth Thomas story was made into a play by the National Theatre Wales called "Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage" (Cymraeg). It was set to open that night for a scheduled 17 day run in Cardiff before Touring Wales and England that will end 121 days later near the end of June after a 32 day run in London.

There are no plans to take the Gareth Thomas play to Southern California - or Ireland for that matter. 

Chris Benson.

gaabi April 19, 2015 at 10:26am

Only the Gareth Thomas part of the film is cancelled, Rourke IS still making a film about a gay rugby player but he'll now be a made-up Irish guy instead - THAT is the problem.  If you look at the Cargo Entertainment page Ceri cited above, you'll see it, production is supposed to start in February 2016.

Christopher Benson April 20, 2015 at 1:02am

Yes Gaabi and Ceri, I agree that this is an affront to a respectable and respected Welshman, our national sport, and even to honesty. It is yet another example of Hollywood's litany of historical distortions, but most are more prominent than this one will be. The good news is that nobody goes to see movies that Cargo Entertainment are involved in.

As a fellow "Left Coast" resident of the States, I know that this kind of distortion of the facts is unnecessary and the supposed logic behind it does not reflect the average American.

This Hollywood aversion to the truth is so pervasive that I would almost feel insulted if the Welsh were not their occasional target like everyone else.

Now I find THIS insulting to the Welsh (at the 1:00 minute mark). It aired on HBO in North America on Sunday July 20, 2014.

https://youtu.be/-Aj3KZa1ZCM 

As I posted to an American forum at the time:

The Welshman insulted at the 1:00 minute mark is twenty year old Rhys Jones from Pontypridd, Wales. He has cerebral palsy and he can run faster than you.        

gaabi April 22, 2015 at 11:23pm

Good for you, Christopher!

And this especially made me happy: "...nobody goes to see movies that Cargo Entertainment are involved in."  Yes, I recall their many nominations and box office boffo... wait, no..      

The Chicago Tafia Welsh Society April 19, 2015 at 12:13am

It's a rather pathetic reason and one that doesn't make sense on any level. Trying to contact the producers and actors in the film, it's still in preproduction so there is a chance changes could be made.

Ceri Shaw April 19, 2015 at 10:23am

Gwych....will be doing likewise :)  

Ceri Shaw April 18, 2015 at 11:20am

Looking forward to Mickey's next film 'Owain Seamus Glyndwr - The Great Irish Freedom Fighter'

Ceri Shaw April 17, 2015 at 6:25pm

I just read that the movie will be called 'Irish Thunder' ??????? Words fail me!

gaabi April 22, 2015 at 11:24pm

Poster coming soon.... 

Posted in: Blogging | 0 comments

Rotating With The GIMP


By Ceri Shaw, 2015-04-01

I have recently been inspired to scan some of my old photos which I brought with me when I migrated from Wales. The results can be seen here Old Photo Scans . More to come.

Admittedly this is not a complex task and there are several ways to go about it. You could use a phone, you could use an SLR camera with a macro lens or send them to a professional service like ScanCafe, but I'm prepared to wager that most people will use a scanner.

The drudgery of scanning photos one at a time can be alleviated by loading three or four on to your scanner bed for each pass. The problem is, of course, that you will then need to extract the individual photos from the resulting .pdf file and almost certainly, rotate them so they can be cut and stored as individual jpeg images. This is where the GIMP ( Gnu Image Manipulation Program ) comes in. If you don't have the GIMP already you can get it here:- download GIMP . It's a free open source program and it's available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Having loaded your scan pdf into the GIMP you will need to locate the Rotate tool (not the one in the Images dropdown menu which only flips in increments of 90 degrees ) and straighten out your display so that you can use the rectangle select tool. This is where you'll find it:-

Then all you need to do is 'rotate':-

When you are happy that you have one or all of your images correctly positioned you can use the rectangle select tool to cut them and save as a new image ready for download on to your desktop.

Posted in: Photography | 0 comments

The Indian Doctor


By gaabi, 2015-03-30

I just recently finished binge-watching the entire  three seasons of this BBC miniseries on hulu.com

"The Indian Doctor" has a 7.9 star rating from the Internet Movie Database at imdb.com and I was excited to see that Ifan Huw Daffyd, known to us as AmeriCymru member Huw Davies, is in it.  

Dr. Prem Sharma (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and his wife, Kamini Sharma (Ayesha Dharker), emigrate from Delhi, India to the south Wales valleys village of Trefelin of  in the early 1960s, and learn to become part of the community and adjust to their new home.  Huw Davies plays Owen Griffiths, whose invitation brings the Sharmas to Wales; a miner and labor leader, widower and the troubled father of a young son.  

The show is very light, gently touching on social issues but it's beautiful to look at and pleasant to watch.  Not a world-changing documentary, just some nice story lines, period nostalgia and gorgeous scenery when you want to relax and, if you're looking for it, some chances to hear Welsh spoken by some residents of the town.

And Huw Davies is in it, so watch and rate!  ;) 

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