Mae Nicole Cooke yn ennill y Fedal Aur. Athletwr Cymreig cyntaf ers 1972 ennill medal Olympaidd yw hi. Rhywsut dyw ‘da iawn’ ddim yn dangos digon! A hefyd mae hi’n ennill y 200fed fedal i’r D.U. (Roedd tywydd ofnadwy hefyd.)

Llongyfarchiadau i chi Nicole!

Nicole Cooke from South Wales has just won the Gold Medal in the women’s road race in China. According to the broadcasters, she’s the first Welsh athlete representing Great Britain to have won an Olympic medal since 1972. She’s also won the 200th Olympic medal for Great Britain. Quite a pair of accomplishments in and of themselves. But in the weather conditions during the event, it was a Herculean feat to be sure.

Somehow ‘well done’ just doesn’t seem enough but ‘well done Nicole’! Many, many congratulations to you!

Gwefan Nicole
Wikipedia

For some reason I never think too much about juggling. Perhaps because it’s not something I’m particularly good at. Well, let’s be honest, I stink at it. Trying to juggle for any length of time outlasts my very short attention span and so I drop the ball with alarming frequency (nice excuse isn’t it?).

But for Chris Bliss this doesn’t seem to be a problem. And what’s even more mind boggling is that he not only gets into the music with his juggling, but with his body as well. He even sings to himself at the end! Many thanks for Sionned on ForumWales for finding this.

You all know I love Wales more than any other place on earth. But a little sunshine would be nice now and again!

A week or so ago, it seemed things were heading in the right direction, namely warm and sunny. So like many women I excitedly assessed my wardrobe with an eye toward new clothes. Realizing I had virtually no shorts, skirts, summer dresses or any other appropriate summer gear (having left all that kind of stuff in California in favor of Welsh language books) I happily went off on a shopping spree.

Well, after an exhausting day of shopping all round Swansea, I headed home with enough summer wear to keep me going for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, that amounted to about a half hour.

So, armed with new shorts, skimpy shirts and summer wear galore I have not-so-gleefully turned from sexy summer to gloomy winter in favor of warm and dry.

Meanwhile, since I was stuck inside watching torrents of rain stream down the window and form puddles on the lawn, I figured I might just as well study for my driver’s license test(s). Yep, being a driver from the U.S. means I must take the theory test as well as a hands-on driving test. I haven’t done a driving test for…..erm……well, let’s just say a WHOLE bunch of years.

I’m not looking forward to this.

Anyway, after completing the online application the DVLA informed me that I needed to submit a photo, signed by someone in the UK who’s known me for 2 years. Well, I can tell you this, if he looks at the photo that I sent him to sign, he’ll be convinced that I’m not the person he actually knows. It’s JUST that horrible.

Now, mind you, the fault lies less with my looks than it does with the regulations placed upon me by the DVLA. They specify that one is not to (among other things):

Smile
Wear glasses
Wear anything on your head (there are exceptions)
Have hair hanging on your face

Ok, well, I can understand no hair in face and I can understand no glasses on your nose. I can even, sort of, understand having nothing over your head. But no smiling?!

Come on! What’s wrong with a smile?

I was complaining about this to a friend - she said the mindset behind the submission of austere-looking photos is to enable the police to recognize you when they stop you for speeding. The idea is that you will not be smiling at them when they stop you for speeding and, in fact, you will look quite austere and properly horrified when they tell you what it’s going to cost.

Well, I guess I can live with that. At least they won’t be handing me a ticket and telling me to have a nice day like they do in California.

Thanks to Dave, ForumWales has a fresh look and feel to start the new week. Dave spent the weekend implementing a software upgrade that will offer some nice new features to our members.

So come take a look and give us your feedback in the Site Comments section.

OK, in general I’m not a big soap opera fan. It’s nothing personal, I just don’t care much for them. The exception to this is Caerdydd. I really couldn’t tell you why, perhaps it’s the scenery, the fast pace of the show, the more believable characterizations. For whatever reason I find myself glued to the television every time it’s on. Luckily for me that’s a couple of times a week or I would have missed the tear jerker ending that I expect is the season finale.

My favorite character on Caerdydd is Peter. I adore Peter. He has the looks that attract me and he’s not afraid to sleep with an older woman. Yeah Peter! So why’d they have to do him in!?!

That’s right. Peter is no more. Well, truth be told we don’t specifically KNOW that he’s no more but it seems pretty likely. Here’s why….

There I was minding my own business revising madly for a highly dreaded Welsh lit final exam the following day when screaming and yelling emerged, suddenly, from my tv screen. It was Peter. He’d flipped his lid (as my mother would say) and was running amuk someplace other than Caerdydd.

Don’t you love the sound of that word; Caerdydd? It’s magical somehow - conjures up scenes of castles and knights and Welsh kings with gorgeous black hair and……

*sigh*

ANYway, after slugging his best friend (whom he later declared his love for and kissed) he ran off into the city eventually making his way back to Caerdydd and the apartment. To make a long story short, with everyone out looking for him and having the inability to get in his car and sky off to parts unknown, he went completely over the edge, ran into the flat, ripped of all his clothes and stood sobbing, naked, against the sliding glass door overlooking beautiful Cardiff Bay.

His friends arrive awhile later and find him, still naked, sitting on the balcony doing nothing in particular. I really admire that actor. I don’t think I could sit naked on a balcony next to Cardiff Bay and look like I wasn’t cold.

Time marches on, we go through a series of everybody trying to bring him back to the edge of sanity and it very nearly works until he goes ballistic, cuts his sister’s partner with a knife, runs off down the hall, locks himself in the bathroom and does a hari kari kind of thing before our very eyes.

By this time my revision papers had fallen to the floor and I was screaming at the tv “DON’T DO IT PETER. PUT THE KNIFE DOWN!!” But did he listen?

He’s a man, remember?

Meanwhile out in the hallway all the people who love him were frantically banging on the bathroom door telling him to open it.

Now, really. If you saw a small flood of about 15 pints of blood pouring out from under the bathroom door wouldn’t you maybe consider calling 999 or perhaps kicking the door in rather than demanding he open it?!

So now we’ve left him, sitting there in a pool of his own blood, the camera blurs as we see the bathroom through his eyes and the show ends.

Unfortunately, so did my revision because by now I was devastated and in tears. Absolute toast. And I have no idea why except it was such a bloody (no pun intended) sad thing to do.

So much for a happy ending.

This has got to be one of my all time favorites:

And then there’s this one:

And finally……guess he’s not getting any tonight:

Take a trip to London this Bank Holiday weekend and visit the gardens at Kew - then walk in the tree tops, 18m above the ground! Wow.

Link: BBC Story
Link: Kew

This is truly remarkable. Have a look at Yves Rossy. Click the Videos link and watch the video of his flight in the Swiss mountains. Pretty interesting stuff.

I haven’t a clue. But I love the ad on TV. Couldn’t tell you what the ad is about, some kind of drink I think. But I really like the people on the treadmills. Personally, I can barely walk on one - maybe that’s the fascination.

Anyway, saw this today on Ordovicius’ blog, e-cletig:

This one is for Arwen (from the Forum) and hopefully it will be of interest to others out there!

This is a piece by Astor Piazzolla, the music I was listening to the other day (this video shows Yo-Yo Ma too!)…

Link: Astor Piazzolla
Link: Astor on Last.fm
Link: Yo-Yo Ma

It says here that the Ospreys will play somewhere around 10 development games next year. I think this is a great idea. Maybe the first string team should do that too! Perhaps they should play 14 or 15 development games. Maybe this would enable them to develop the ability to hold onto the ball.

Now everyone knows that I’m one of the biggest Osprey supporters known to man and, the 450 times I’ve watched my Wales Grand Slam 2008 DVD, of course, makes me an expert on brilliant Welsh rygbi play. :O)

So I have to wonder how the lads could give us such an incredible effort in Six Nations and then spend the rest of the season fumbling the ball around and missing crucial kicks. It’s kind of as if everybody ran out of enthusiasm for playing the calliper of rygbi demonstrated in Six Nations.

That’s not to say they’ve done badly in terms of results. But upon occasion those results have been by the skin of their teeth. Clearly they can do better.

This isn’t really typical blog stuff but, like everybody else I get tons of jokes in emails. Some of my favorite are these church bulletin typos. Here are a bunch I hadn’t heard before. So have a read, a good laugh and enjoy your bank holiday. Happy May Day to you!

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
———————————————————-
The sermon this morning: ‘Jesus Walks on the Water.’ The sermon
tonight: ‘Searching for Jesus.’
——————– —— ——————————–
Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of
those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
———————————————————-
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
———————————————————-
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of ou r community. Smile at
someone who is hard to love.
Say ‘Hell’ to someone who doesn’t care much about you.
———————————————————
Don’t let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
———————————————————
Mrs ….. sang ‘I will not pass this way again,’ giving obvious pleasure
to the congregation.
———————————————————-
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a
nursery downstairs.
—- ——————————————————
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the
help they can get.
———————————————————-
The Rector will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing:
‘Break Forth Into Joy.’
———————————————————
Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church.
So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
———————————————————
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be ‘What Is Hell?’
Come early and listen to our choir practice.
———————————————————
Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of
several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
———————————————————
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled.
Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
———————————————————
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you
want remembered.
———————————————————
The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment
and gracious hostility.
————————————————-
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow..
———————————————— ———
The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind.
They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
———————————– —— —————–
This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across
from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
———————————————————
The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would
lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
——————————————–
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use
the back door.
———————————————————
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the
Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend
this tragedy.
———————————————————-
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church.
Please use the large double door at the side entrance.
———————————————————-
The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign
slogan last Sunday : ‘I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours’.