Pump am y Penwythnos / Friday Five - 16/03/18

Helo bawb! I hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend.

Last night our school, now free of snow and ice, finally got to celebrate Dydd Gwyl Dewi. We had a night of song and ‘cawl’, with Gwibdaith Hen Fran, Neil Maffia and Phil Gas a’r Band. At one point the kids swarmed on stage to sing ‘Trôns Dy Dad’ with Gwibdaith - it was something I’ll never forget.

  1. If you had the opportunity to get on stage to perform with any artist of any genre who would you chose and why? Not limited to singers and not based on personal ability.

  2. What’s the last celebration dish you had the pleasure of enjoying?

  3. Tomorrow I have to take my daughter to the Eisteddfod Sir yr Urdd in Bangor as she’s competing with the school choir. If you could introduce a new competition to the National Eisteddfod what would it be?

  4. As Beuno our son was going to bed last night, he was singing ‘Y Brawd Houdini’ by Meic Stevens over and over again, I love the song, but please give me a different ear worm…

I’ve borrowed the next question an SSiW Friday Five I posted in 2012!

  1. I know someone who likes to collect souvenir teaspoons, I know someone who has a secret passion for Doris Day movies and I recently discovered that someone I know is quite a dab hand at home brewing exotic wines! Complete this sentence about yourself - I’m a secret/closet…

Have a penwythnos hapus!!! :smile:

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It has a very rude final verse for a song that’s popular with children hasn’t it? That seems to be an kind of elephant in the room that never seems to get mentioned. Maybe it doesn’t have to be - perhaps keeping quiet about it is a better way of preserving the children’s innocence than making a big deal about it.

  1. That would spoil the magic, wouldn’t it? How about Morrissey so that I could punch him in the face?

  2. Angela, my partner’s birthday last night. Slap-up Chinese takeaway, Prosecco.

  3. That’s a good one. Stand-up comedy? Might encourage more Welsh language stand-up.

  4. Goleuadau Llundain, the chorus in particular, is a song that I can’t get out of my head once it gets in there.

  5. What you see is what you get, I’m afraid! :smile:

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  1. If you had the opportunity to get on stage to perform with any artist of any genre who would you chose and why? Not limited to singers and not based on personal ability.

Having trodden a few Am-dram boards in the past, I’d love to work with Sir John Gielgud.

  1. What’s the last celebration dish you had the pleasure of enjoying?

Last weekend a large family group celebrated two 50th birthday party in a Manor House in Dorset - the main meal was designed by my wife and her sister and was a tasty success!

  1. Tomorrow I have to take my daughter to the Eisteddfod Sir yr Urdd in Bangor as she’s competing with the school choir. If you could introduce a new competition to the National Eisteddfod what would it be?

A practical one, like archery, but with spears. Accuracy and strength - never a bad combination and you never know when warfare will go in that direction.
(I’ve been watching a lot of “Vikings” on Amazon Prime recently and in addition, one of my grandparents was Norwegian, one of my great-grandparents was Swedish and another was Norwegian…)

  1. As Beuno our son was going to bed last night, he was singing ‘Y Brawd Houdini’ by Meic Stevens over and over again, I love the song, but please give me a different ear worm…
  1. I know someone who likes to collect souvenir teaspoons, I know someone who has a secret passion for Doris Day movies and I recently discovered that someone I know is quite a dab hand at home brewing exotic wines! Complete this sentence about yourself - I’m a secret/closet…

So tempting to put “I’m a secret lemonade drinker, R. Whites…”!!
But I won’t…

I’d actually really love to ride a motorcycle at over 200 mph. 145 is what I’ve achieved so far, but it’s not enough.

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  1. Gogol Bordello (though I don’t think I could keep up), or George Clinton (ditto). Either would be great fun!

  2. I’m just waiting for my son and his friend to finish cooking a huge paella right now!

  3. I can’t think of anything better than @robbruce’s stand up comedy.

  4. Ear worm: please take O Bla Di, O Bla Da. It’s been bugging me for ages and I don’t know why.

  5. I’m a secret/closet… weaver and knitter. There! The secret’s out! I’d love to learn proper wood working, too.

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:joy:

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1) If you had the opportunity to get on stage …
Definitely on my bucket list - EITHER a tenor to sing the duet “Au Fond du Temple Saint” from Bizet’s Pearl Fishers with OR two sopranos to sing the trio “Soave sia il Vento” from Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte with. Both of these make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. (Any volunteers at this year’s birthday party? :smile:)

2) What’s the last celebration dish you had the pleasure of enjoying?
Maureen’s Chocolate Pavlova - to die for … with the amount of cream involved … almost literally

3) … If you could introduce a new competition to the National Eisteddfod what would it be?
My granddaughter’s getting involved with Urdd through her school so I suppose I’d better start thinking about this … I’ve thunk … it’s got to be mental arithmetic :laughing:

4) … I love the song, but please give me a different ear worm…
If and only if you’re a fan of Family Guy, you’ll instantly recognise
Peter Griffin’s theme tune

  1. Complete this sentence about yourself - I’m a secret/closet…
    balletomane :blush:
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1) If you had the opportunity to get on stage to perform with any artist of any genre who would you chose and why? Not limited to singers and not based on personal ability.

I’d love to have the chops to perform with the Blue Man Group. Great combination of drumline, music played on weird objects, and sheer silliness.

2) What’s the last celebration dish you had the pleasure of enjoying?

Lobster rolls, Wellfleet oysters, champagne, Boston cream pie, and a flight of 10/20/30-year-old port with my best friend at Legal Seafoods (remember Legal’s in Boston, @CatrinLliarJones ?) to celebrate the both of us finally getting over yucky illnesses and resuming our weekly lunch date.

3) Tomorrow I have to take my daughter to the Eisteddfod Sir yr Urdd in Bangor as she’s competing with the school choir. If you could introduce a new competition to the National Eisteddfod what would it be?

Create a unique 3D red dragon. For myself, I’d like to sew a functional purse that would turn heads on the street, but others could be in paper, wood shavings, melted crayons, fruits and flowers, kidney beans, wet rooibos tea sachets, whatever. Anything except drawing or painting.

4) As Beuno our son was going to bed last night, he was singing ‘Y Brawd Houdini’ by Meic Stevens over and over again, I love the song, but please give me a different ear worm…

The Hanging Tree from the Hunger Games… sung in Polish by Sywia Banasik and Studio Accantus. Yes, I can sing it, too (the Polish captions help!). Go here to listen.

I’ve borrowed the next question an SSiW Friday Five I posted in 2012!

5) I know someone who likes to collect souvenir teaspoons, I know someone who has a secret passion for Doris Day movies and I recently discovered that someone I know is quite a dab hand at home brewing exotic wines! Complete this sentence about yourself - I’m a secret/closet…

I’m a secret admirer of Byzantine monastic chant (both nuns and monks), as opposed to Gregorian. There’s lots of it on YouTube. This is one of my favorites.

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1) If you had the opportunity to get on stage to perform with any artist of any genre who would you chose and why? Not limited to singers and not based on personal ability.

At one time, it might have been Status Quo, but these days it would be more like Flanagan and Allen :slight_smile:

Underneath the arches
We dream our dreams away (Bow-bow-bo-ba-de-be-do)
Underneath the arches (Bow-bow-bo-ba-de-ba-do)
On cobblestones we lay (Bow-bow-da-da-ba-bo)

2) What’s the last celebration dish you had the pleasure of enjoying?

A nice lamb dish (forget the name), at a pre-wedding dinner of one of my nephews.
And funnily enough, at his son’s 1st birthday party 2 days later, we had spit-roast lamb.
(Not Welsh lamb, sorry, but a good local lamb, I was told).

3) Tomorrow I have to take my daughter to the Eisteddfod Sir yr Urdd in Bangor as she’s competing with the school choir. If you could introduce a new competition to the National Eisteddfod what would it be?

Oh goodness…do a 2 minute standup comedy routine? (In Welsh, of course… :slight_smile: )

4) As Beuno our son was going to bed last night, he was singing ‘Y Brawd Houdini’ by Meic Stevens over and over again, I love the song, but please give me a different ear worm…

Funnily enough, this came into my head out of nowhere earlier today, and it’s not a song, but it’s catchy. Before your time, but tell me you love it:

I’ve borrowed the next question an SSiW Friday Five I posted in 2012!

5) I know someone who likes to collect souvenir teaspoons, I know someone who has a secret passion for Doris Day movies and I recently discovered that someone I know is quite a dab hand at home brewing exotic wines! Complete this sentence about yourself - I’m a secret/closet…

Private Eye readers will know they have a regular column in which guest celebrities are interviewed, called “Me and my spoons” … :slight_smile:

I’m a secret…

(sorry, couldn’t resist, and it’s not true :slight_smile: )

I like old B & W “noir” and similar films, like “Double Indemnity”.
Also weepies like “Brief Encounter” (oh, Elick, dorling…).

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I’m a secret admirer of Byzantine monastic chant (both nuns and monks), as opposed to Gregorian. There’s lots of it on YouTube. This1 is one of my favorites.

Thanks for this link. I’m very interested in modal music and this is new to me. Whether or not it’s an example of chant in the “Octoechos” mode, I found it very hauntinng and relaxing.

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I’m delighted that you like it! :grin:

There’s a huge amount of Byzantine chant from various countries and monasteries on YouTube. You can use that link as as a starting point, and it will take you all over the map of Orthodox countries. I’m particularly fond of Russian basso profundo chant; it’s amazing. While you’re at it, check out Orthodox bell-ringing. It’s beautiful to listen to and fun to watch.

I think I prefer it to Gregorian because it’s polyphonic, for starters, but also because the sound is very robust. It might be just my particular musical ear, but Gregorian chant always seemed flat and devoid of “oomph” in comparison.

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This … with them …

Birthday cake in January

Sorry, Eisteddfodau are still quite enigma to me so no ideas here… Maybe foreign choirs singing in Welsh???

Get this … something TOTALLY DIFFERENT from what we’re used to here. Enjoy and sing along … Musica e’ (Music is …)

I’m collector of all kinds of things from ambrellas (@margaretnock and @brigitte know that part) all the way to mugs and TShirts but let’s only say that I’m a secret dreamer imagining things I can never do and which could never be …

Have a nice weekendf.

Hwyl!
Tatjana :slight_smile:

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I would get on stage with The Cramps, for a version of Bikini Girls with Machine Guns. RIP the god that was Lux Interior.

The last celebration meal was a bacon roll after the neighbours and I dug the street out of the snow.

New category in the Eisteddfod would be for a song to get the whole nation singing a new song. Something like 3 lions or My brother Sylveste. All the school kids could learn it and it would sung at the football and rugby. So catchy that you would hear people humming or whistling it etc.

You want a new earworm? Teenage Kicks, by The Undertones. Fantastic and the song I would choose if I could only listen to one song for the rest of my life. All this Welsh folk does my head in, but each to their own.

No secret anything sorry, I am what you see.

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@tatjana’s umbrellas.

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:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:

You wouldn’t believe but there are two or three more in this box in the mean time … :slight_smile: There were about 20 of them (or so) when you counted them @margaretnock, weren’t there? :slight_smile: At least the one from UK is additional one. I was a bit sad I had to buy one representing UK in general instead of something really Welsh (like Welsh dragon, Welsh flag or something similar). :slight_smile:

Now you all know. :slight_smile:

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1) If you had the opportunity to get on stage to perform with any artist of any genre who would you chose and why? Not limited to singers and not based on personal ability.

It’s blasphemy to say it but I gather The Fall are short of a singer nowadays (RIP MES).

2) What’s the last celebration dish you had the pleasure of enjoying?

Curry earlier this evening with my other half. I love food so, in a way, every meal is a celebration to me. Unless it’s a bad meal - but I try to avoid those.

3) Tomorrow I have to take my daughter to the Eisteddfod Sir yr Urdd in Bangor as she’s competing with the school choir. If you could introduce a new competition to the National Eisteddfod what would it be?

Blasphemy again but I’m not…whisper it …really that interested in the Eisteddfod.

4) As Beuno our son was going to bed last night, he was singing ‘Y Brawd Houdini’ by Meic Stevens over and over again, I love the song, but please give me a different ear worm…

I have music in my head constantly. For the past couple of weeks, Wait in the Car by The Breeders has dominated my internal stereo.

5) I know someone who likes to collect souvenir teaspoons, I know someone who has a secret passion for Doris Day movies and I recently discovered that someone I know is quite a dab hand at home brewing exotic wines! Complete this sentence about yourself - I’m a secret/closet…

I have no hidden (or visible) talents and I tend to be quite open about what interests me…

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Oh, I’m with you there… Top tune!

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:grin: We seem to be very alike. Last week, it was toys we both collect; this week, it’s umbrellas and T-shirts. I’ve got around 40 vintage umbrellas, parasols, and canes (this gorgeous bronze-headed cane, the design of which is based on this series of sketches, is my latest acquisition), and I can never resist a new graphic T or sweatshirt. I keep telling myself I won’t buy anymore, but the designs are too irresistible. One of my favorites is of the Minions carrying away the Doctor Who TARDIS.

I also collect raku pottery POGs by the late Mary Garber, and have, I believe, one of the biggest (over one hundred) and most varied collections worldwide. A POG is a combination of pig, dog, and hippopotamus doing human things. These “Picnic POGs” are a sample of what these wonderful critters look like:

This is Mary’s last catalog from 2009 shortly before she died. This isn’t even all of them; just the ones currently available that year. I specialize in “musical POGs” playing many different instruments and singing.

Plus, I have a Rugby POG! :rugby_football:

POGS 2009-Catalog.pdf (344.0 KB)

:grin: :grin: :grin:

Myfanwy

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