Brief, pithy and to the point

As ever, I’m not surprised (but still slightly miffed) at the English-centric coverage of the Wales-England Six Nations match in most of the national media.
Wales won, but the lion’s share of the coverage and analysis is of England’s performance.
Even where there are articles purporting to focus on the Welsh achievements, there’s a large dose of [...]

Feeling a little hoarse

So, we did it.
The match and the result were a lot closer than many had predicted, but Wales ultimately deserved victory over England in the 6N on Saturday.
My pre-match anxiety kept building up to kick-off.
I had never shared the confidence of some of my fellow fans, or media pundits who were predicting a 20 or [...]

Fear and loathing in Las Iguanas

This year I have lined up a special Valentine’s Day treat for Rachel.
We are off for a romantic weekend in Wales.

More specifically, Rachel will be spending a good chunk of February 14 with my sister and nieces while I head off with my brother-in-law to the pubs of Cardiff’s Mill Lane and elsewhere ahead of [...]

It is grin up North, Bush’s bungles, spies like us and scary religion

A round up taking in religion, politics, spooks and laughs:
Children in the north of England top the happiness league table.
According to a report published by Oftsed, northern children have more friends and enjoy far greater emotional security than their counterparts in other parts of the country.
Not so grim after all.
Talking of laughs, what about that [...]

Haka-ed off by cultural minefield

It is official. There is no acceptable response to the Haka.
The traditional Maori call to arms performed by New Zealand’s rugby players before every international match has become something of a bone of contention in recent years.
Some argue it should be banned. I don’t agree.
But we do seem to have reached a point where there [...]

Crime never pays and other food for thought

Some interesting Sunday reading around today.
Various things have caught my eye whilst having a trawl.
The story behind the biggest attempted bank fraud in British history sounds a bit like the plot for a thriller and the fact that the young bank clerk jailed for the crime won’t divulge his accomplices adds a twist that means [...]

It isn’t just the BBC that is falling short

After the non-story about presenters’ salaries, it is quite refreshing to see the much-vaunted BBC Trust actually sticking the boot in a bit.
The Beeb has been told to improve its coverage of the UK’s nations and regions in its main news bulletins and factual programmes, with the Trust accusing it of “falling short of its [...]

Central Park in summer, the sound of leather on willow…

Trend-spotters across the Atlantic are starting to predict the hot new accessory for a New York summer – a cricket bat.
The quintessentially English warm weather game of cricket, which predictably we exported around the Empire only to watch other countries become better than us, is proving a growing hit in the US.
More especially, New Yorkers [...]

The right result in the Six Nations

Italy 23 – Scotland 20
England 33 – Ireland 10
Wales 29 – France 12
A Welsh Grand Slam. A new English star is born. The Italians make their new coach shed a tear.
It was quite an end to the 2008 Six Nations and arguably three of the best rugby matches in this year’s tournament.
The Italians claimed a last-minute win [...]

Keeping control in the Six Nations

Ireland 12 – Wales 16 
Scotland 15 – England 9
France 25 – Italy 13
Forget about dedication, control is what you need if you’re going to be the best and beat the rest.
On the penultimate weekend of the 2008 Six Nations, Wales exerted the type of control against Ireland that brought about a deserved win, a Triple Crown and [...]