Diolch yn Fawr Iawn

Just want to say a quick thank you to the Welsh rugby team for beating Australia today 24-22 in Cardiff. It was the first time we have beaten the Wallabies since 1987 and one of those occasions that nearly (NEARLY) brings a grown man to tears.

I won't go into any details or post any photos as it might seem like bragging and I don't want to make any enemies down under as I still plan on going to a certain wedding and blagging a bed of some of those wonderful people.

PS. All the snow is gone now.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Big surprise this morning in that I woke up to discover it had been snowing. Wow, big surprise as it never snows where I live. Since we moved in 1994, I can recall 4 occasions when it has snowed since, with the snow melting within a day every time. I think it's because I live so close to the sea and the salt melts anything that does fall. However, the few inches we had this morning still caused over 460 schools in Wales to close today. Honestly, this country goes into such a panic when the white stuff does come although I must admit skipping school back in the day after two or three flakes fell.

Here are some photos I took this morning. You can even see the sea in the top right corner of the last one, which is just below the cliff I live on top of.






In other news, Canada has apparently paid out $2BN to Natives who in previous generations, suffered from 'brainwashing' of sorts where Christian practices and beliefs were drilled into them instead of their traditional language and culture. I have witnessed segregation of sorts in Truro, where Natives stick to certain bars and 'immigrant' Canadians (is that what they're called?) tend to avoid them. I have also been told of various frustrations of Canadians towards the state benefits given to Natives. Far be it for me to pass any judgements but I was very surprised to say the least to discover these events of the past and that Native heritage was not celebrated and acknowledged as part of the diverse cultures we all live in.

A Toast to the Bride

Had a lovely conversation with Australia on Sunday evening. I was surprised but chuffed to hear from the Doctah, live and exclusive from Hicksville in Queensland. Obviously I've been counting down the days till I leave for the land down under and have not held back in advertising this on my blog. However, this Sunday gave me even more of a reason to get excited.

Although I am pumped to visit all these spectacular sights and scenery in Australia, a trip I will never forget, the event that does excite me the most is the wedding of Jane and Jeffrey. I make no secret of the fact I am extremely envious of this couple and feel extremely privileged to have been asked to be a groomsman at the wedding. However, I have now been asked to give a toast to the bride on the day which makes me feel even more proud and honoured. And exctied, I must admit that I'm looking forward to making a speech.

But here lies a dilemma. What should I say? I thought by looking over some photos I have of Jane that I would be inspired to complement her on her glowing personality, her maturity or her class. Didn't find anything though.



Maybe I could focus on her looks? I know that Jeffrey thinks Jane has a sexy ass...


Well, at least I have 3 weeks to come up with something nice to say about Jane. Any suggestions would be more than welcome and I'll try not to mention what we all think, that this would be the cuter couple


Or that Doctah J should stick to girls his own age


Eww...sour grapes, ugh

yeahbutnobutyeahbutnobut

last night marked the return of "little britain." this is one of my favourite shows and one of the best british comedies post-1990. it is a sketch-based show made up of stereotypical characters and catchphrases, similar to Harry Enfield or the Fast Show. Brilliantly funny and entirely original, although you can associate every character to some part of life in britain. to all you canadians out there, this show is out on showcase so you should check it out. here are some of the most popular characters:

this is emily howard, the worst transvestite in the world.



dafydd thomas is 'the only gay in the village' of Llanddewibrefi in wales. however, this is not the case and he spends all day tyring to avoid having a 'bit of cock' or 'some bum fluff' as the barmaid, Myfanwy calls it. igor, where are you?



here is vicky pollard, a single mum/teenager who speaks really fast and makes no sense, sometimes to avoid having to answer questions. barry, where i live, apparently has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the UK so i see plenty of vicky pollards every day.



and these are my favourites, lou and andy. andy is in a wheelchair and lou is his carer who takes him everywhere and spends all of his time looking after andy. however, there is nothing wrong with andy, he's just lazy and whenever lou is at the front of the screen, andy goes round doing whatever he wants. my favourite is when he got stuck up a tree and explained this by saying 'i fell out.' kinda derived from many cases of people in britain not working as their state benefits are better than what they'd earn so sit on their arses all day.

Strewth, what a corker

Great news today. I have a ticket to see my first ever cricket test match. And it's only the New Years test at the Sydney Cricket Ground between Australia and South Africa.


I love cricket. It is a sport that has existed since around 1744 and has thrilled generations since, with some games lasting five days. I don't care if games take 5 days to play, they are enthralling. End of discussion. Some people may not agree but that's their opinion. And it's suddenly becoming hip and cool in Britain after England beat the Aussies this summer. However, this picture of WG Grace, cricket's 1st superstar does very little to support my argument.


The stars of today include one Shane Warne, a player I have idolised for years. I was lucky enough to train with one of the games greatest ever players in 1997. I've only ever watched him here in Wales but I can't wait to watch him with the crowd behind him rather than trying to wind him up by asking who ate all the pies?


But the way things are planned, it looks like my date to the game will be Jane Williams or as she'll be then known, Mrs Doctah. And she's hot, oo-er! This is just another reason why I can't wait to go to Oz. MJ, stop sitting on the fence and get your arse down under.

you win some, you lose some

Today and yesterday was a big weekend for sport in my house and there was good news and bad news. Yesterday Wales lost (heavily) to New Zealand in rugby but today Manchester United beat Chelsea in soccer.

Despite the differences in results, I'd like to point out one similarity between the two games: both my teams played their hearts out.

Wales were missing six British Lions from their 15, who any team would miss dearly and hadn't played together in months. New Zealand, on the other hand, are the best team in the world and have been together all summer long. Last season a full-strength Welsh side lost by a single point compared with the 38 last night but no one can question the pride each player showed in trying their hardest to the end. I am extremely proud of how they played and know on our day we can beat the All Blacks, but know have to say well played to them and appreciate how enjoyable it is to watch a team so play well together.

Man United, on the other hand, have been struggling the last couple of weeks and played Chelsea who hadn't lost their last 40 league games. There's no argument that Chelsea are an amazing side and were the best team this afternoon. However, United did what they do best and took the game to them. It was a really physical game and again, I am never more impressed than when these guys I have idolised for years are totally committed to sticking two fingers up to the opposition and the press and give their all for themselves and for the fans.

So thanks to both teams who deserve all the support they get when they take on adversity straight in the face, it's an inspiration to all.






PS. They think that 55 million sheep watched the Wales - New Zealand game from both countries. That's slightly wrong, more like 54,999,999 sheep as I had a lovely Roast Lamb on Friday night, my favourite meal!

Bah

Depressing week this one, not very exciting I'm afraid.

I've never liked Halloween so won't talk about it any further.

Tuesday, I went to see The Corpse Bride by Tim Burton. It's not great really, I kept checking my watch after about half an hour which is actually nearly half way through the film, it's so short. Yeah, don't bother seeing it.

Wednesday, had a contact lense check (I'm so cool) and played soccer. However, soccer did not go well as I had some problem with my eye so I couldn't put my lenses in and see the ball, which does make a difference.

Thursday, back to the opticians to get 2 pieces of broken contact lense out of my eye. Went to work with the intention of quitting......

Now, the only reason I still work a nearby pub is for the money. I'm not going to lie, I'm greedy about things like that. However, I never intended to work whilst studying at my Masters but liked the idea of being able to pay for my ticket to Australia. Now that's been paid off, I liked the idea of being able to buy things out in Australia. However.....

I plan to get the old chest wig out down under and top up on my tan. I don't want to go on holiday and keep my shirt on all the time (you know who you were in Fundy - Laura!) Therefore, I have been spending some quality time at the gym, making myself look irresistable. I now plan to go circuit training with Lois once a week but mainly to laugh at her, she thinks she's fit, pfft. And work is getting in the way of that and the rugby on Saturday....

So I decided I'd quit. But my boss wasn't there last night. And I ended up enjoying myself. Contrary to belief, I do work hard and am not the worst barman in the world ever - that's Igor, at Sodexho. So I started having second thoughts....

What should I do gang? I need some feedback here. Please reply with a simple yes/no on whether or not I should become an even fuller full time student, spending more time as far as possible from responsibility.

Cheers.