Bluebird Kid Clark

among the many great gifts i got in my christmas stocking this year was this little album. many of you will know of them or maybe heard them in their early incarnation the pedestrians. They are now called Bluebird Kid Clark. anyway i thought it was worth a post saying how good the album is as i fear it won't get enough exposure. i think it's just being sold through the bands myspace page and itunes. anyway if you go to their myspace page you can hear some of the songs. TheLife and Times of Peter Smith is a real gem. It's sounds like it's right out of the 1960's . in fact i think they introduce it as a Mungo Jerry song when they play it live but it's all theirs.
Nice one tim.

that christmas pub quiz part 1

ok so i'll put the finished pub quiz up so you can have a go at it if you have a few spare minutes over christmas. but be warned some would say it was too hard. see what you think. not sure what to do about the answers. think i might put them on as a comment. so the first half are on christmas and the second on 2006 (maybe tenuiously) then there is a picture round. if i did them again i would probably change quite a few but these were how they were presented in the Farmers Arms, Llanfynydd, Carmerthenshire on wed 20th December 2006......


Round 1 Christmas

1. Under which English Ruler was the celebration of Christmas banned?
2. Which countries soldiers won the festive football game during the Christmas trucein the trenches in 1914? Bonus point-What was the score?
3.What language would Father Christmas have to use to talk to the locals in his native Lapland?
4.Who wrote "A child's Christmas in Wales"?
5. The band St Etienne sang "I was born on Christmas Day" in 1994, but what day would your birthday be if you had been born on St Etienne's Day?
6.In what year was the first Royal Christmas Broadcast?
7. Which early Christian council was St.Nicholas kicked out of for slapping another bishop?
8. Which city was St. Nicholas the bishop of?
9.Mary, Joseph and Jesus fled to Egypt to escape Herod. What is the only other modern day African country to be mentioned in the Bible/
10. Which Glam Rocker did Bing Crosby duet with on "Little Drumer Boy" for Christmas 1977 of whom he said "I've never heard of him but he sings well, he's got a good voice and he reads lines well, he could be a fine actor if he wanted to be"?

11. What was last years Christmas No 1 and who sung it?
12. What are the traditional names of the 3 wise men?
13 Which religion did they follow?
14. Christmas Day is also a Quarter Day when tradtionally rents and rates were paid. Lady Day is also one on March 25th. When are the other two and what are teh days called?
15. Name the 3 reindeers with names beginning in the letter D.
16. In the Pogues christmas song "A fairytale of New York" what song were the boys of the NYPD choir singing?
17. A famous American actor appears in the video as a policeman. Who is it?
18. In which city was Handel's Messiah first performed?
19. What date is the first day of Christmas , as mentioned in the song- the 12 days of Christmas?
20. How many gifts would you have received form your true love after all 12 days of Christmas? How many of them would have been birds? (partridge and the pear tree counts as 1 by the way)

That christmas pub quiz (part 2)

Round 2 2006

21. What year will it be in the Islamic world next year? (or century if you can't that!)
22. Which Welsh MP made the news this week after announcing he was dating a Cheeky Girl?
23. Who won the Tour De France this year only to be all but stripped of the title following a positive drugs test?
24. What is the biggest selling album in the uk this year (so far). is it...
a) Scissor Sisters- Ta Dah
b) Snow Patrol- Eyes Open
c) Arctic Monkeys- Whatever people say I am that's what i'm not
25.Which country won teh Eurovision Song Contest this year and what was the act called?
26. "The Devil came here yesterday, it still smells of sulpher today." Which South American head of state said this to the United Nations General Assembly 24 hours after George W Bush spoke fom the same platform?
27.What speed did Richard Hammond reach when he crashed in September/
28. Zara Philips won the Sports Personality of the Year award this month. In waht year did her mother win?
29 Who was John Prescott caught having an affair with this year?
30Radio 4's early morning Uk theme was dropped in January. What was the distinctly Welsh element of the medley?

31. Pluto was deemed to small to be a planet this year. What classhas it now been downgraded to? What are the other 2 bodies in this catagory?
32.What position will Ban Ki Moon take up as of Jan 1st 2007?
33.Which cult Carmarthen band, formed while they were pupils at Ysgol Bro Myrddin 15 years ago split up this May/
34.What was teh name of the World Cup referee who retired after yellow carding the same player 3 times in the same match?
35. This year Benedict XVI became only the second pope to enter a Muslim house of prayer. Which country was the Mosque located in ? Name?
36. A lot of publicity was given to the Borat film: Cultural learning of America for make benefit of glorious nation of Kazahkstan? what is the capital of kazahkstan?
37. Which country became the 192nd member state of the UN this June after gaining independance, leaving it's former partner the dubious honour of a Navy but no ports or access to the sea?
38. The DUP and Sinn Fein are negotiationg for a return to power sharing in Northern Ireland . What does Sinn Fein roughly translate as?

Pub quiz picture round

39. Name the people pictured below

40. Who is the odd one out? Why? ( remember the festive theme)

And that my friends is that. I'll post the answers in a couple of days.

small battles...big victories

we had some great news this morning. for the last couple of weeks lisa has been trying to get her pay off cowardly ex-boss. it was for a full time job at a champagne bar in swansea (yeah i know, it is as unsuccessful as it sounds). anyway after 2 weeks of messing around while he tries to work out how to run a bar, he phones up lisa an hour before her shift starts and tells her not to come in, there isn't a job for her anymore.

now apart from not having paid a penny yet he also thought it was alright not to give any notice. apparently because he hadn't gotaround to getting contracts sorted he thought that menat he could do whatever. anyway after seeing no money lisa went to citizens advice who put her through to legal aid who agreed with lisa that for the time she worked she should get 2 days notice and sent her a letter saying this.

the boss was having none of it saying he pays big bucks for his lawyer and she didnt stand a chance. anyway we phjoned him again this week and he still wasn't going to pay the extra money. he hadn't even made any moves to pay the worked hours. we made another call today and he sheepishly said that he had posted the full amount yesterday. all teh hours worked plus 2 days notice. now thats a result.

that and a bbc programme has really spurred me on to fight my corner. the programme was about bank charges. you know like when you go over your overdraft limit and they charge you £25. well they are actually illegal and you can claim up to 6 years of them back from the bank under a 1999 unfair charges and conditions act. so off we go on another little battle. i'll keep you posted.

up to about 25 out off 40 questions on the quiz.

christmas coffee

as it's coming up to that time again and everyone is sorting out who going where on what day i got to thining about the 4th annual (or is it fifth?) soloman grundy christmas coffee. if people are interested in getting together lisa and i were wondering whether we should go on the saturday 23rd rather than christmas eve as it might be a little less hectic than the sunday. I know we are pretty much booked up already anyway. we could go for the morning or the afternoon is people still have shopping to do. anyway i'll await your responses.

in other news i was wondering if anybody had any good questions they always wanted to put in a pub quiz. you see our team won last week which means that as well as taking £120 of prize money away (it had built up over a long time) i also have to set the quiz for next wednesday (20th) i've written quite a few already but i thought i would throw it out there. so i'm thinking some clever questions that are vaguely christmas related or 2006 related. any ideas. come on rainey i bet you have some....

dentists

seems like an age since i last had a chance to update the blog. i've been mocked on many occasions at work for even having one (hello sean or hazel-if you have ventured online to find material for the next mocking).

first thing on my mind today has been the dreaded dentist chair. many will know that i havent been there in awhile. well since before i went to uni when i was living in salford (about 9 years i suppose). i admit i avoided it during uni but that was mainly because i had a housemate with freakish teeth ( y'know those people with two rows of teeth) then after that i moved about so much it wasnt practicle. when i finally wanted one the nhs could offer me nothing. nye bevan has been turning in his grave ever since until 2 years later i manage to get one. cue the dreams about losing teeth all week. as it happens it was fine. ok i have to have one filling but not bad after 9 years and my first ever.

well this post has to come to an untimely end as i have to vacate the computer for the next library customer.

to be cont...