It's been an extraordinary couple of weeks attending various events in Cardiff.
To begin with myself, Andrew 'Barkin' Bartz and Jamie Bevan went to see the Tuareg band Tinariwen at the World Proms in St. David's Hall.
I've long been a fan of those nomads of the desert blues, who were once part-musicians and part-guerillas fighting for the Tuareg identity and language in Mali.
While their music was hypnotic and alluring as ever, the atmosphere was too stilted.
It needed people to get up and dance or , at least, stand up and sway about to the sun-beating rhythms.
With a predominantly Promy audience, it was too restrained and actually finished at 9.15 pm.
As Jamie commented - 'They only just got goin!'
The rest of the evening made up for this slight disappointment.
We sampled two of the three microbreweries on Westgate Street (it should be renamed Real Ale Avenue) and the new IPA at Zero Degrees and Punk IPA at the newly-opened Brewdog were luscious brews indeed.
I could've done without the Limoncello Jamie insisted on getting (as it was strongest).....useful for cleaning out drains!
On the X4 home Andrew began a Dadaist experiment with the two of us and I jokingly suggested we should include the whole bus.
Jamie decided to carry this out and the result is described in my poem 'Y Bws Barddoniaeth'.
A couple of days later and I was in Cardiff for the well-attended rally and march against the Israeli onslaught on Gaza ( Jamie and Andrew were also there ).
My younger daughter was a little confused and asked - 'Why are we marching with all these Indians?'
I think by the end she'd got the message that, 'In our thousands, in our millions....we are all Palestinians!'
It was the most inspiring protest since those opposing the war in Iraq and , though we passed the presence of ISIS at the Nye Bevan statue (he would not have been impressed), the sense of solidarity and indignation at Israel's terror tactics was prevalent.
The speeches were varied and I was very proud of my older daughter Bethan , who spoke most eloquently in Welsh and English.
Marching as a family, it brought back the days of Anti-apartheid and CND when we'd regularly take to the streets.
Of course, I'm a good bit older now , still ardent yet somewhat cynical about the effects of such rallies.
Only ITV bothered to send cameras to a demo with over 2000 attending, while the BBC and 'Western Mail' were noticeable by their absence.
Ironically, all the emphasis on walesonline/ Western Mail and the Beeb was on one isolated incident they dubbed as a 'riot'.
I witnessed it and what happened was that several drunken racists hurled glasses and chairs at peaceful demonstrators in Mill Lane.
No police accompanied the march incidentally, which is unprecedented and feeds conspiracy theories about the racist attack.
It was all over very quickly and I found it disgusting that both the Beeb and walesonline used amateur footage as the only comment on the whole protest......not one interview or recording of speeches!
What do such demos achieve?
I've been on so many over the years that I'm bound to have doubts. Certainly , the millions against the invasion of Iraq didn't affect Bliar's bombardment.
However, the people out shopping in Cardiff will definitely have a sense of the strength of feeling against Israeli war crimes and many joined in as we were marching.
Media coverage , albeit limited, did help the cause, though walesonline actually put the figure protesting at a few hundred (most probably a police estimate).
If people continue to see the futility of peaceful protest, they will be driven towards direct action.....and who can blame them?
A week later and I was back in the capital, this time for a concert by The Joy Formidable at The Globe.
The venue is probably the size of most folk's lounges in Cyncoed, but made for a very intense atmosphere.
Support band Sun Up were excellent and the Norwegian singer even told us how she was a Cymrophile ( is that the word?). In her Norwegian school, while others picked the likes of Britney Spears for projects, she chose Wales because she loved our flag. When she drew it , it ended up looking like 'half-dinosaur, half-dog'!
Y Wyddcrug's Formidable were on top form, with a much better set than at Cardiff Uni last year : a great balance between the best songs from the two albums, with a couple a new ones which promised lots.
I particularly liked their Welsh language number, building up from hushed opening to a raucous ending.
The band are unusual because the bassist Rhydian and drummer Matt are as much focal points as the singer and lead guitarist Ritzy. Their banter and wild antics make them a wonderful live act, though it's only on the albums you can appreciate the rather oblique and subtle lyrics, with their frequent animal analogies.
Two highlights were undoubtedly the acoustic 'Silent Treatment' and their a capella 'Turnaround' where Rhydian and Ritzy went into the audience to perform a touching duet (not far from where I was standing!).
I cannot fathom how they aren't EWGE and just one outing on Jools will do it for them.
Maybe the media are waiting for Wales to happen again, without realising it already has!
To begin with myself, Andrew 'Barkin' Bartz and Jamie Bevan went to see the Tuareg band Tinariwen at the World Proms in St. David's Hall.
I've long been a fan of those nomads of the desert blues, who were once part-musicians and part-guerillas fighting for the Tuareg identity and language in Mali.
While their music was hypnotic and alluring as ever, the atmosphere was too stilted.
It needed people to get up and dance or , at least, stand up and sway about to the sun-beating rhythms.
With a predominantly Promy audience, it was too restrained and actually finished at 9.15 pm.
As Jamie commented - 'They only just got goin!'
The rest of the evening made up for this slight disappointment.
We sampled two of the three microbreweries on Westgate Street (it should be renamed Real Ale Avenue) and the new IPA at Zero Degrees and Punk IPA at the newly-opened Brewdog were luscious brews indeed.
I could've done without the Limoncello Jamie insisted on getting (as it was strongest).....useful for cleaning out drains!
On the X4 home Andrew began a Dadaist experiment with the two of us and I jokingly suggested we should include the whole bus.
Jamie decided to carry this out and the result is described in my poem 'Y Bws Barddoniaeth'.
A couple of days later and I was in Cardiff for the well-attended rally and march against the Israeli onslaught on Gaza ( Jamie and Andrew were also there ).
My younger daughter was a little confused and asked - 'Why are we marching with all these Indians?'
I think by the end she'd got the message that, 'In our thousands, in our millions....we are all Palestinians!'
It was the most inspiring protest since those opposing the war in Iraq and , though we passed the presence of ISIS at the Nye Bevan statue (he would not have been impressed), the sense of solidarity and indignation at Israel's terror tactics was prevalent.
The speeches were varied and I was very proud of my older daughter Bethan , who spoke most eloquently in Welsh and English.
Marching as a family, it brought back the days of Anti-apartheid and CND when we'd regularly take to the streets.
Of course, I'm a good bit older now , still ardent yet somewhat cynical about the effects of such rallies.
Only ITV bothered to send cameras to a demo with over 2000 attending, while the BBC and 'Western Mail' were noticeable by their absence.
Ironically, all the emphasis on walesonline/ Western Mail and the Beeb was on one isolated incident they dubbed as a 'riot'.
I witnessed it and what happened was that several drunken racists hurled glasses and chairs at peaceful demonstrators in Mill Lane.
No police accompanied the march incidentally, which is unprecedented and feeds conspiracy theories about the racist attack.
It was all over very quickly and I found it disgusting that both the Beeb and walesonline used amateur footage as the only comment on the whole protest......not one interview or recording of speeches!
What do such demos achieve?
I've been on so many over the years that I'm bound to have doubts. Certainly , the millions against the invasion of Iraq didn't affect Bliar's bombardment.
However, the people out shopping in Cardiff will definitely have a sense of the strength of feeling against Israeli war crimes and many joined in as we were marching.
Media coverage , albeit limited, did help the cause, though walesonline actually put the figure protesting at a few hundred (most probably a police estimate).
If people continue to see the futility of peaceful protest, they will be driven towards direct action.....and who can blame them?
A week later and I was back in the capital, this time for a concert by The Joy Formidable at The Globe.
The venue is probably the size of most folk's lounges in Cyncoed, but made for a very intense atmosphere.
Support band Sun Up were excellent and the Norwegian singer even told us how she was a Cymrophile ( is that the word?). In her Norwegian school, while others picked the likes of Britney Spears for projects, she chose Wales because she loved our flag. When she drew it , it ended up looking like 'half-dinosaur, half-dog'!
Y Wyddcrug's Formidable were on top form, with a much better set than at Cardiff Uni last year : a great balance between the best songs from the two albums, with a couple a new ones which promised lots.
I particularly liked their Welsh language number, building up from hushed opening to a raucous ending.
The band are unusual because the bassist Rhydian and drummer Matt are as much focal points as the singer and lead guitarist Ritzy. Their banter and wild antics make them a wonderful live act, though it's only on the albums you can appreciate the rather oblique and subtle lyrics, with their frequent animal analogies.
Two highlights were undoubtedly the acoustic 'Silent Treatment' and their a capella 'Turnaround' where Rhydian and Ritzy went into the audience to perform a touching duet (not far from where I was standing!).
I cannot fathom how they aren't EWGE and just one outing on Jools will do it for them.
Maybe the media are waiting for Wales to happen again, without realising it already has!
Y BWS BARDDONIAETH
Dada ar y bws i Ferthyr
cerddi cymunedol yma
un llinell i bob un
pobl ifanc a hen bobl,
rhai sydd wedi meddw
rhai sy’n colli eu traed
yr siaradwr a chanwr,
y dyn sy’n casglu llinellau –
‘Ey drive, ow ‘bout a las line?’
y dyn sy’n darllen yn y blaen
gyda pherfformiad swnllyd ;
y teithwyr yn clywed
mae’r galon fel y lleuad
ac mae’r fuwch yn dawnsio –
‘Da da drive, da da !’
THE POETRY BUS
Dada on the bus to Merthyr
communal poetry there :
one line for each person
young and old people,
some who are drunken
some who’ve lost their feet
the speaker and singer,
the man who gathered them –
‘ Ey drive, ow ‘bout a las line?’
who does the up-front reading
with a performance full of sound
and everybody listening
the heart like a moon
with the cow dancing –
‘Da da drive, da da!’
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