Pump am y Penwythnos / Friday Five 30/03/18

Welsh General / Questions
#1

Pasg Hapus! Happy Easter!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter / Bank Holiday weekend, whatever you are doing.

1) Do you have any Easter traditions?

2) Tuesday I took the kids to the cinema to see the new Peter Rabbit movie as an Easter treat. Being a passionate Beatrix Potter fan, I was very disappointed - as I said elswhere… for me it lacked Potter’s magic and charm. It was crass, clichéd, heavy handed and Peter was obnoxious. It is a real shame that the mischievous little rabbit lost his copyright in 2014. What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

3) I’ve ceased lying to my children about the Easter Bunny - I have enough trouble with Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:. If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

4) I toyed with the idea of making a traditional Simnel cake this Easter, Then decided that it was too much trouble with everything else that was going on. What can you produce from scratch? Whether it’s a wood carving, a cocktail, home grown cucumbers, painting, cake, piece of writing or the best barbecue for miles?

5) My early spring garden is currently full of birds, playing, fighting for territory, making nests and breeding. I’ve always felt a spiritual connection to birds, sharing a garden with them feeds my soul and makes me feel calm when I’m stressed. Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

And a couple of Easter bonuses because it’s a long weekend…

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

#2

1) Do you have any Easter traditions?

Nothing special, just the usual - growing rye grass and decorating eggs :stuck_out_tongue:

2) What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

Difficult questions… Worst adaptation is probably going to have to be The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I don’t dislike the movie, but the narration is the best thing in the book so the movie was never going to be anywhere near as good as the book :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m having trouble coming up with movies that are better than the books. Fantastic Mr Fox (Mr Cadno Campus) is the only one that comes to mind right now :smile:

3) If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

I love dragons. I’d pick one of the nice dragons from Skyrim. Odahviing or Paarthurnax :slight_smile:

4) What can you produce from scratch? Whether it’s a wood carving, a cocktail, home grown cucumbers, painting, cake, piece of writing or the best barbecue for miles?

Soap, Italian food, sushi, tofu, socks (might take two years but I get there eventually)…

5) Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

I love windy weather, trees and the sound of them together.

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

Summer because it’s the longest. I don’t really care otherwise, for me they all just mean I don’t have to go to school.

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

All the homework I’ve been ignoring for weeks :confused:

2 Likes
#3

1) Do you have any Easter traditions?

Nope.

2) What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

Hmmm, tricky. Maybe ‘The Color of Money’, which isn’t all bad but which doesn’t have much to do with the book. As for the other way round - got to be ‘Jaws’.

3) If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

Dragon, naturally :slight_smile:

4) What can you produce from scratch?

Lasagne. :slight_smile:

5) Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

All of it. Apart from snakes chasing lizards.

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

Christmas. Just, warm, fire, wine, kids.

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

Breathing… :slight_smile:

1 Like
#4

[

  1. Do you have any Easter traditions?

No, although when my kids were young I would only buy them socks for Easter - not Easter eggs as they had far too many from other family members. Always pretty ones for the girls and football/rugby ones for the boys. I still don’t buy chocolate for my grandchildren, but always something different that I think they will appreciate. And their parents appreciate this!

  1. What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

I am not really a film goer, but would never read a book after seeing a film and am disappointed by seeing a film that does not have the characters/places that I imagined when I read the book.

  1. If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

The cleaning fairy!

  1. . What can you produce from scratch?

I love trying to make anything and am a great copier! Just give me some raw materials to cook, sew, saw, join, paint, stick, grow and I am happy!

  1. Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

Any outdoor phenomena - sky, wind, water, flowers, wild creatures, and I adore trees! I have thousands of photos of trees! I love being outside whatever the weather - you can always dress appropriately to keep yourself warm/cool, dry etc.

And a couple of Easter bonuses because it’s a long weekend…

  1. Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

Not one that is a favourite, as anytime all the family can be together for any length of time is great, but this does tend to be mostly around Christmas time.

  1. What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

Having just completed move number 1, probably a few more decisions of what will go where, then some walking!
[/quote]

1 Like
#5

Apart from… cursing the weather, falling to my knees in gratitude for two weeks off the school run, treading chocolate into the carpet, cramming impossibly big non-chocolate toys into impossibly small plastic eggs, aahing at baby lambs, then finding myself cooking a bit of one, then suffering cognitive dissonance whilst I eat… no.

Most film adaptations of books I like niggle at me - they replace the images I had in my head, and I can’t seem to get them back. If I read the book again, it gets overrun with images from the film. Tsk!
Not a film, but an addition to a story that made me smile - Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency - the creation of Bart, the holistic assassin (never in the book to my knowledge) was inspired. I saw her and knew they had channelled the essence of my little girl. :sweat_smile:

No need. They’re all there somewhere, just out of reach…

Like @Novem, soap! Also bread, cheese pie, and I’m very good at mess - masses of chaotic mess. My life’s work, I’d say!

Moonlight! It always makes me feel as though I’m about to catch sight or sound of something magical. Oh and hedghogs. I’ve been trying to help catch a missing cat, and have met many hedgehogs instead! Peaceful people wrapped in spikes.

I love Nadolig, but I also love Midsummer! I know that it is properly celebrated in some places, but we just hope to be able to eat tea outside and enjoy the sunny evening.[quote=“catrinlliarjones, post:1, topic:11668”]
7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?
[/quote]

See No 1!
:blush:

2 Likes
#6

What!? Someone who has read Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and watches the show and makes soap AND speaks Welsh? :astonished:

3 Likes
#7

Ha! :grinning:
What are the odds?
We obviously have impeccable taste!

2 Likes
#8

1) Do you have any Easter traditions?
More habit than tradition - eat and drink to excess.
The tradition of organising egg hunts has passed to my children who do it for their children.
2) …What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?
Worst - Cecil B de Mills “Ten Commandmants” starring Charlton Heston as Moses
The other way? “Blues Brothers” I haven’t read the book, but it can’t possibly be as good.

3)… If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?
Bicycle Repair Man

4)…What can you produce from scratch? …
Sourdough bread - my starter is nearly a year old. It was made and is “fed” exclusively with rye flour but I use any flours when I make the loaves (about once a week). My “Cig Oen a Mel” (Leg of lamb with cider, honey, rosemary and ginger) is always appreciated by visitors from outside Wales.

5) …Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?
The Cairngorms at any time of the year; elephants and am I allowed to mention Aurora Borealis again?

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?
Christmas for me, too. Memories of happy childhood replayed by my grandchildren

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?
Indulging in excess (see above) and enjoying my grandchildren here and (soon) in London enjoing their Easter.
Even without any religious belief, I enjoy singing in or listening to sacred music. At Easter, I normally look out for a good performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion on the radio.

#9

@Novem, @cat-1. It’s a small world. Even smaller world in Wales. Even smaller world of Dysgwyr Cymraeg. :eye:

3 Likes
#10

[quote=“cat-1, post:5, topic:11668”]
Apart from… cursing the weather, falling to my knees in gratitude for two weeks off the school run, treading chocolate into the carpet, cramming impossibly big non-chocolate toys into impossibly small plastic eggs, aahing at baby lambs, then finding myself cooking a bit of one, then suffering cognitive dissonance whilst I eat… no.[/quote]

My life in a nutshell! :joy: :joy: :joy:

1 Like
#11

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter / Bank Holiday weekend, whatever you are doing.

1) Do you have any Easter traditions?

Nope. Maybe buying a whole holiday deli food tray at the market and eating it all myself — that, and some hot cross buns — but that’s about the extent of it. I do the same thing at Thanksgiving and Christmas, minus the hot cross buns.

2) Tuesday I took the kids to the cinema to see the new Peter Rabbit movie as an Easter treat. Being a passionate Beatrix Potter fan, I was very disappointed - as I said elsewhere… for me it lacked Potter’s magic and charm. It was crass, clichéd, heavy handed, and Peter was obnoxious. It is a real shame that the mischievous little rabbit lost his copyright in 2014. What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

a) Book better than movie: Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles. No movie adaptation could possibly be better than the book… and the one that was done, wasn’t. The runner-up for this is his Illustrated Man, for the same reason.

b) Movie better than book: movies based on anything by Dan Brown (now there’s heavy-handed writing, and I don’t know why I bother with it), particularly The Da Vinci Code. Terribly-written book, and I only read it because my boss at the time, who adored it — frankly, I never found her possessed of much in the way of good taste or critical thinking — shoved it into my hands, then grilled me about the contents later. The movie was only modestly entertaining, but even that was better than the source material. At least I didn’t sit there thinking, Are you kidding? Who did your research? Did you do any research? Plus, it did have Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina, Jean Reno, and Jürgen Prochnow to its credit.

b, Movie better than book, version 2) This is probably heresy, but I far preferred the Harry Potter movies to the books. JK Rowling is a fantastic world-builder, but having created her world, I don’t think much of her as a writer. Being the Queen of Adverbs is not a virtue, and she really needed an editor.

3) I’ve ceased lying to my children about the Easter Bunny - I have enough trouble with Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy. If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

I’m with everyone else: dragons. Either that, or the cute little dancing mushrooms from the original Fantasia… although maybe not, because then I’d have to stop eating mushrooms.

4) I toyed with the idea of making a traditional Simnel cake this Easter, then decided it was too much trouble with everything else that was going on. What can you produce from scratch? Whether it’s a wood carving, a cocktail, home grown cucumbers, painting, cake, piece of writing, or the best barbecue for miles?

  1. Writing

  2. Music (both composition and performance)

  3. Writing

  4. Writing, if I didn’t mention it.

5) My early spring garden is currently full of birds, playing, fighting for territory, making nests and breeding. I’ve always felt a spiritual connection to birds, sharing a garden with them feeds my soul and makes me feel calm when I’m stressed. Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

Driving rain, blizzards, and really loud thunderstorms. Also huge, heavy, crashing waves on the beach, especially when they occur during a storm, and I love being on a boat when the weather is rough. Yes, you heard me right.

And a couple of Easter bonuses because it’s a long weekend…

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

The Winter Solstice; not because it means that the light is coming back, but because it falls on the darkest day of the year. Perhaps it isn’t that unusual that I like the dark: my natural circadian rhythm places me even beyond a night owl (I characterize myself as a bat who hangs upside-down from the curtain rods during the day).

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

Sleeping. Then writing. And eating, if I get around to buying the aforementioned deli tray and hot cross buns.

:grin::grin::grin:

(edit for the usual misspellings)

1 Like
#12

Oh, come on, you know this is just begging a handful of questions:

Love/hate snakes? Love/hate lizards? Weirded out by reptiles?

(Edited for misspellings. Again)

1 Like
#13

We get Easter Eggs from Thornton’s (not so many of them around now) with our family members’ names written on in icing. I wanted to get one for our 10 month old grandson, but was told he was too young. (But I think his dad would have been happy to eat it on his behalf…).

2.What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

I can’t answer this question directly, but “The Ipcress File” was one of the best British movies of all time, and I think it’s probably better than the book, although I love all the Len Deighton Books.

The Granada TV version of “Brideshead Revisited” was a very faithful representation of the book, which doesn’t often happen, and both were excellent.

3) If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

“Strider” (Aragorn) from Lord of The Rings. He’d sort a few people out.

4. What can you produce from scratch? Whether it’s a wood carving, a cocktail, home grown cucumbers, painting, cake, piece of writing or the best barbecue for miles?

A Sunday roast.

A very bad website.

5) My early spring garden is currently full of birds, playing, fighting for territory, making nests and breeding. I’ve always felt a spiritual connection to birds, sharing a garden with them feeds my soul and makes me feel calm when I’m stressed. Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

I love the sight and sound of birds as well, although I’m terribly ignorant about their names (in English, never mind Welsh).

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

I don’t really have one, but Springtime is my favourite time.

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

Exploring a walk, for our walking group, in May.

2 Likes
#14

Love all of them…:slight_smile:

Just get a little too emotionally invested in the race for freedom.

I’m presuming you’ve seen this:

1 Like
#15

1) Do you have any Easter traditions?

None actually. Maybe we’ll start one when we have kids?

2) Tuesday I took the kids to the cinema to see the new Peter Rabbit movie as an Easter treat. Being a passionate Beatrix Potter fan, I was very disappointed - as I said elswhere… for me it lacked Potter’s magic and charm. It was crass, clichéd, heavy handed and Peter was obnoxious. It is a real shame that the mischievous little rabbit lost his copyright in 2014. What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

Worst - The Golden Compass - Northern Lights got a bit tedious after a while but the film was too far from the original

Best - The Shawshank Redemption. I struggled with the book.

3) I’ve ceased lying to my children about the Easter Bunny - I have enough trouble with Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:. If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

The facetious part of me wants to say “The Welsh Rugby team of the 70s”.

4) I toyed with the idea of making a traditional Simnel cake this Easter, Then decided that it was too much trouble with everything else that was going on. What can you produce from scratch? Whether it’s a wood carving, a cocktail, home grown cucumbers, painting, cake, piece of writing or the best barbecue for miles?

I’m pretty good at carbonnara and a roast dinner

5) My early spring garden is currently full of birds, playing, fighting for territory, making nests and breeding. I’ve always felt a spiritual connection to birds, sharing a garden with them feeds my soul and makes me feel calm when I’m stressed. Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

Mountains. Doesn’t matter the weather. I see them and just feel so inspired. Inspired to do what, I’m not sure, haven’t worked that bit out yet. I’m just awestruck and they conjure ideas of giants, and armies, and all sorts.

And a couple of Easter bonuses because it’s a long weekend…

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

Harvest. September is my favourite month of the year. I love the summer to autumn transition. It’s a new beginning in this country, more so than spring. It’s a beautiful month. I didn’t really like school but always felt so hopeful in September.

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

I am working this weekend. So Monday will be spent with Emma. We’ll do some exercise. Maybe go for a walk afterwards and just enjoy each others company.

3 Likes
#16

WOW!!! That was amazing. I love every kind of reptile (snakes are fantastic), but have a particularly soft spot for iguanas. I know nature is tough and unforgiving and all that, but I was glad to see the iguana get away. Some of those upward leaps were astonishing.

Have you seen these wooden puzzles? I have the iguana with the leaf inside, and the snake with the mouse.

And there is, of course, a dragon puzzle. :grin:

(edit for dumb mistakes. “Inside” is not two words :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:)

1 Like
#17
  1. Do you have any Easter traditions?

I buy presents. And we have as many people to Easter Sunday as possible for a big ol’ roast dinner.

  1. What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book?

The Running Man. The film was nothing like the book. I enjoyed the film ‘cos I like Arnie and I’m still a little boy, but the book’s better. No film I’ve ever seen was better than the book, if the book was created first.

  1. If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be?

Idris the dragon. He was just so helpful.

  1. What can you produce from scratch? Whether it’s a wood carving, a cocktail, home grown cucumbers, painting, cake, piece of writing or the best barbecue for miles?

I’ve looked all over, but no-one sells scratch - there are no scratch mines, farmers don’t grow it, no factories make it, so I don’t think scratch exists.

  1. Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way?

Waterfalls. Every time and they don’t have to be big.

And a couple of Easter bonuses because it’s a long weekend…

  1. Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why?

We try to have a holiday near our Wedding anniversary and they’re always an adventure.

  1. What are you doing for the Easter holidays?

Caravanning in Taunton.

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#18

Just chipping in with one for now.
ET came with a glossy brochure, that was slightly weird, but apparently no where as weird as the actual book. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#19

Helo! I am just discovering this forum as I have more time than usual today - my husband has taken my 12-year-old to the Insomnia show in Birmingham - computer games and you-tubers galore. So I’m having a lovely relaxing day learning Welsh and pottering about.

  1. Do you have any Easter traditions?

We often do an Easter-egg hunt in the garden (weather permitting). One year, when hiding an egg, we found an egg from the previous year that hadn’t been found!

  1. What is the worst book to movie adaptation you’ve ever seen and which movie was much better than the book? I am glad you said that about the Peter Rabbit film, I had a sense from the trailer that it would be a bit naff. We went to the Royal Mint yesterday and got Carys a Peter Rabbit 50p instead! Can’t think of film adaptations to comment on at the moment, although there was a particularly dreadful cartoon of The Folk of the Faraway Tree which I hated when I saw it as that book had always felt utterly magical to me. I love the old film version of The Railway Children though, and still cry at “Daddy, my Daddy” every time.

  2. I’ve ceased lying to my children about the Easter Bunny - I have enough trouble with Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:. If you could bring to life one type of fantastical entity, be it a fairy or a dragon, what would it be? For my daughter’s benefit, a unicorn. Goodness knows what I’d do with it then though… For my part, I wouldn’t mind a chat with Aslan.

  3. I toyed with the idea of making a traditional Simnel cake this Easter, Then decided that it was too much trouble with everything else that was going on. What can you produce from scratch? Whether it’s a wood carving, a cocktail, home grown cucumbers, painting, cake, piece of writing or the best barbecue for miles? I used to make simnel cakes but nobody in my family likes fruit cake, so my efforts would be wasted. I can cook up a seventeenth century banquet, given a big enough kitchen. I also write poetry, but only one week a year, on the island of Lindisfarne.

  4. Is there anything at all from natural world which has the ability to affect you mood in a positive way? Trees, flowers, blue skies, rivers, mountains, rugged coastlines. Just as well I live in Wales really :slight_smile:

And a couple of Easter bonuses because it’s a long weekend…

6) Which is your favourite holiday of the year and why? Our annual week’s stay on Lindisfarne. Especially at the times when the causeway is closed and it feels as if you have the island to yourself. There’s a beach where you can find lots of ancient sea pottery and sea glass, and it’s the most relaxing thing in the world walking up and down and picking them out of the sound as the tide ebbs and flows and the birds and seals sing around you.

7) What are you doing for the Easter holidays? Spending a few days in S Wales before heading home to N Wales and aiming to give our house some of the TLC it dearly needs. Whether this comes to fruition, or whether we just head out for days out, who knows. And today… dw i dysgu Cymraeg efo SSiW.

2 Likes
#20

I tend to agree generally. This can be for a number of reasons, but one is probably that (unless it’s a short story or a very short book), the film maker has to leave out so much.

One exception would be “The Third Man”. This is based on a short story by Graham Greene. I think he must have written it before the film was made, but it’s possible it wasn’t published until afterwards, or at least not all that well known. The film version, with its iconic zither music, Ferris wheel, and sewers, starring Orsen Wells, brilliantly depicts the post-war cold-war period for those of us who weren’t around, or weren’t old enough to understand it. (The film came out in the year I was born, apparently).

(oh, here we go: from Wikipedia: “Greene wrote the novella of the same name as preparation for the screenplay.” )

Another sort of exception is when a TV series is made out of a book, because then not so much has to be left out. This is the case with the Granada TV version of “Brideshead Revisited”, the one with Jeremey Irons, which came out in 1981. I’ve watched all the interviews in the boxed set, and it is clear that the cast were all committed to both book and the TV series. They all walked around with copies of the book, and from time to time would approach the director and say “Look, could we out in this bit…”.

Originally, it wasn’t meant to be as long as it turned out, but in the end, they had practically included the whole book (which isn’t all that long), including a lot of the dialogue.

(Apparently, Evelyn Waugh revised the book, some years after first publication, cutting out a of it. I’d love to get hold of a copy of the original, and compare it to the current version).

1 Like