Lion Taming;Rules;Don't Jump to Conclusions;Nadolig Llawen;No Names, Please.

Dydd Sul, ugain eiliad, Rhag. 2013                Sunday 22nd. December 2013 

Disclaimer: You may recall that I posed the question, ‘Is writing a blog pandering to the ego?’ Whatever the answer, here I am, still doing it after a fortnight. I often hesitate to give advice. I wonder how qualified I am to do so. However, I can see that if I give advice when asked, it may help someone resolve some question which is troubling them. Writing this blog is not dis-similar in the sense that, though I might recognise the value of the principles explored, I don’t necessarily adopt them myself. It’s a bit like someone writing a book on how to tame lions when he himself is afraid of them. On the other hand; four fingers and a thumb. Sorry, I digress. Perhaps, writing that manual from the fearful position might make one more prudent and less likely to be mauled. As I often interject when singing Alan Hull’s lyrics in Run for Home,‘I’ve made some mistakes, had my share of the breaks…’,You’ve probably noticed! 

I heard this week that some Hollywood film star has said that calling someone ‘fat’ should be illegal. Is there anything we are not prepared to legislate for? One doesn’t have to be a Christian to see the sense in Jesus’ answer when asked which of the commandments (laws) was the greatest. 1. Love God; for those of you prepared to believe in the one he described as a loving Father: 2. Love (Treat) other people as you would hope to be treated yourself. If you subscribe to ‘1.’ Then ‘2.’ Is inevitable, isn’t it?

Oh, but I forgot, we’re human……so we fall down…all the time. But there’s a thought:

Only one law to have to live by?

 More on this tomorrow.

Hwyl fawr am nawr, fi fach.

Dydd Llun, ugain trydydd, Rhag. 2013                Monday 23rd. December 2013 

This rules thing: isn’t it all arse backwards? Now I may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but I never understand why we must keep on enacting new laws for the same crimes. What I mean is; nicking someone’s wallet from their pocket is theft right?

Obtaining someone’s bank account details and passwords via an iffy email is also theft. No? Surely the laws that already exist can still be applied to the most modern and sophisticated forms of crime?

This, however, is not what I want to explore. Most people seem to accept that global organisations and sovereign governments should make the rules and enforce them. The more laws there are the more efficiently will the populace be controlled. Really?

Let’s consider this idea as an alternative; the most control is exercised by the smallest unit; the least control is exercised by the largest unit. The smallest unit is me. If I exercise the most control, self control, then the next largest unit of society, the family, will need fewer rules. If I police my own actions and take responsibility for them, we might need fewer ‘house rules’. There will be less need for an authoritarian figure (it used to be the father, in most cases). Follow the logic of this for a moment; as the social unit gets bigger, e.g. street, neighbourhood, village, town, city, county, country etc., the less control is necessary. If each small unit is living in harmony, will not a collection of units be living in harmony?

Wanting what (I think) is good for me, is not always good for others; often, not at all. If my actions are centred on obtaining what is good for everyone else, it necessarily will be good for me.

Dydd Mawrth, ugain pedwerydd, Rhag. 2013                Tuesday 24th. December 2013 

Don’t jump to conclusions.

So this mate of mine had been working away from home but the job finished a day earlier than expected. He sent his wife a text message asking her to pick him up from the train station but she was not there to meet him when he arrived. Having taken a taxi home he let himself in to discover his wife in bed with his best friend. Well he goes a bit mental and charges about the place throwing things into a suitcase. While he is unplugging the laptop in the lounge his mother-in-law walks in. ‘Hey, what’s the matter? Why are you in such a state?’, she says. My mate shouts back, ‘I sent a text to YOUR DAUGHTER to come and collect me from the station. She didn’t turn up and when I get home I find YOUR DAUGHTER in bed with my best friend! His wife’s mam says, ‘Look, I know my daughter, and there must be a reasonable explanation for all this. Please wait. Let me go up and have a word with her.’ My butty waits. After a few minutes his mother-in-law comes down the stairs saying, ‘There we are, I told you there would be a reasonable explanation.’ What possible explanation could there be for what SHE’S done?

‘She didn’t get the text!’

Dydd Mercher, pumed ar hugain, Rhag. 2013                Wednesday 25th. December 2013 

Nadolig Llawen i chi gyd!

Now I know that nobody at all is going to be reading this blog today, which leads me to ponder that old question, ‘If a tree falls in the forest when there’s no-one there to hear it; does it make a sound? The obvious answer is ‘yes’ but there are some interesting trains of thought on this. A similar question was brought to my attention by the very learn-ed Glam Morgan, currently residing in Chile.

If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman to hear him; is he still wrong?

I wish you all a peaceful Christmas; I hope all your crackers go, well….crack!; that the jokes inside are not too bad; that nobody takes a photo of you asleep in the armchair after lunch with that paper hat over your eyes; that you are the one to get the only really useful gift inside, a bottle opener. Mwynhewch!

Dydd Gwener, seithed ar hugain, Rhag. 2013                Friday 27th. December 2013 

Had a blogless day yesterday………it didn’t hurt….and neither did watching Ponty beat Cardiff. Ole! Ole! Ole!

I thought it might be interesting to explore this parochialism; tribalism, if you will. The Pontypridd/Cardiff thing, which in recent years has come to include Y Gleision, might be summed up in this phrase, ‘We make ‘em; they buy ’em’. I refer to this in ‘Ponty Song’ (2003). The most obvious example which comes to my mind is the Wales v. England rugby union encounters. So, much ire directed towards the English and England. I don’t think that the English can be quite as vehement as we, simply because theirs would be somewhat diluted in having to direct it towards Scotland and Ireland as well. The historical reasons for such vocal animosity are easily understood. However, this supposed ‘hatred’ of the English doesn’t apply to my mate from Cornwall or Cumbria or Kent. They are just people, as are my friends and family who live in France, America, Zimbabwe or wherever. Each time we attach a name to someone (or something);English;doctor;bin man, oops, sorry, environmental recycling officer etc., we limit that person to what the word conjures up in our imagination. Even to describe another person as a man or woman immediately confines them to what we imagine a man or woman is capable of. All human beings have countless possibilities in their lives. Anything you can perceive and believe, you can achieve.