Wednesday 24 November 2004

Rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn!

Me and Lisa Simpson.
I am not, strictly speaking a religious man. Nevertheless the publication of the New Testament in the Celtic language of Cornish must be seen as some kind of miracle. There is no doubt that Christianity helped the Welsh language to survive and flourish during darker days (and that Welsh helped Christianity flourish too). That my children's first language is Welsh is a testament to the combined forces of Celtic Christianity and language. We had no Dark Ages here you know, merely an Age of Saints.
The website Warlinenn will tell you more of the Cornish story, but one significant event is that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury is to hold a bilingual service on Sunday at Truro Cathedral to commemorate the translation from Greek into Cornish.
A second significant event is to occur on Christmas Day, when Channel 4 will screen a 4-minute Simpsons special where Lisa fights for the cause of Cornish independence. This will be broadcast at exactly the same time as the Queen's speech on BBC and ITV.
Some days my heart feels stronger.

Wednesday 10 November 2004

inner space

The Dalai Lama's website is still under construction, so I guess I'll have to look elsewhere for inner peace today. Possibly not Uri-Geller.com, although a story does come to mind.
A troubleshooter from Dwr Cymru (Welsh Water) had come to check on my water supply. He needed to check where the pipe ran underground but hadn't brought his expensive exploration equipment (whatever that was). 'No problem.' he said, and picked up a nearby stick. He then started 'dowsing', and managed to follow the pipe from the road right through the garden into the house. Very impressive, I thought.

Wednesday 3 November 2004

brewer's droop

'a gold-plastic bulbous barrel with a red and green top and a strangely limp phallic tap which hangs down in shame. Talk about brewers droop, this looks like a sad midget dalek after a heavy night on the tiles with a rabid alcoholic'
Can you tell what it is yet? Click here for more...

we are such stuff

I don't know why, but I'm reminded today of a timeslice I witnessed some months ago in Cwm Llynfi. I turned a corner while driving and spotted a one-legged youth taking a cross in a football game. Supporting himself with his crutches, his whole body rose up to kick the ball into the back of the net. It was both a surreal and beautiful sight, I thought, as I continued driving up river.