I'm sorry it's been very quiet here the last month or two, but once again I've managed to become distracted. This time the cause is related to my YouTube channel, and centers on video editions of some of my older poems.
When I first started uploading video versions of my poems to YouTube, I would read the poem and add audio of my reading to a video to create an audio/visual version of what was on the page. However, after a couple of tries at this I decided to opt for the silent format, whereby I would reproduce the text on the screen with the same pictures and music by no reading from me. Now looking back on those old videos, I've decided that this style doesn't really work for poetry, so I'm going through the list and remastering those old videos. Only my silent animal poems won't be remastered.
So far I have remastered versions of "Night of the Dhole", "Rudraprayag", "Kalua", "Ghosts of Sariska", "The Tiger and Me" and "Red Duke" up and running. There are many more still waiting to be finished, but I will have those up and running in due course. In the meantime, there's still a lot to look forward to over the next few weeks, including my analysis of Harry Baker's "Paper People", and an update on my long-gestating Mametz Wood project. All this and more will be on the way soon - he says.
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
Thursday, 12 July 2018
Remnants
There sits a man by a lake in the cold valley,
hunched over, still, face as scarred as the old quarry
waiting for the wheel to turn, coal to flood back in.
Gone, those days, remnants of steel and masonry.
Snow settles, night draws in, freezes fireless furnace,
yet he sits by the lake, eyes the winding tower,
sits, waiting, hopes for the wheel to resume turning.
Black gold no more, the mine sleeps despite his yearning.
hunched over, still, face as scarred as the old quarry
waiting for the wheel to turn, coal to flood back in.
Gone, those days, remnants of steel and masonry.
Snow settles, night draws in, freezes fireless furnace,
yet he sits by the lake, eyes the winding tower,
sits, waiting, hopes for the wheel to resume turning.
Black gold no more, the mine sleeps despite his yearning.
Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Frynwys Features #4: The Never Ending Winter
So it's safe to say a fair bit has happened in Frynwys since the last check-in. I find sometimes that to make up for my home village's lack of interesting distractions, I must leave a period of two to four months and store up any goings-on until the next installment. It's a bit like keeping a growing turkey in your freezer until Christmas, although if you tried to eat this one you'd end up with a keyboard and mouse for afters. Still, now that the sufficient standing time has passed, here's what's been going on in the village of late.
The first (and no doubt biggest) thing to mention is that Frynwys was recently caught out when the Beast from the East collided with Storm Emma over the south west. The entire village was snowed under for three days, with no one able to move their cars or make much headway through the drifts. But it did allow for some great sledging on some of the hills, and I saw several people making the most of it when I braved the blizzards myself. The ponds froze over, and by the time they began to thaw out, the snow on the road had mostly turned to brown slush thanks to grit. Like everywhere else in Wales, it took everyone a while to get moving again, and as a side effect the only shop in the village ran out of milk, which demonstrates the ability to make a cup of tea takes top priority during a snowstorm here.
Once the worst of the winter weather passed, we were still left with a bitter chill. Fortunately though, the first signs of spring started to appear, in the form of frogs crossing the road, and the emergence of daffodils. The fish are still in residence at the pond, much to the annoyance of the wildlife warden who I saw trying to catch some of them a few weeks back. It seems that the warden has a lot of things to worry about, as there have been teams of people in the nearby woods felling trees. Large sections of trees have been cordoned off with tape only to be chopped down the following day. I have no idea why they're doing it now, but it has only been the odd cluster so far, so hopefully Frynwys will not become deforested any time soon.
Another bit of good news is that there seem to be more dogs in the area than last year. Specifically I've seen a number of puppies being taken out on their first walks into the fields around the village, and they are an energetic bunch. So far I've seen golden retrievers, Cocker spaniels and at least one field spaniel out and about. It's nice to see so many new dog owners in the area and to see the puppies making sense of the world around them. Frynwys has always had a large percentage of dog owners, but in the last three years especially I've seen the number of dogs increase steadily. With so many spaniels in the area, the fish that were released into the pond are now ducking for cover every time one of them cannonballs into the water.
Now that summer has truly arrived in South Wales, it seems the people of Frynwys have been out and about enjoying the record-breaking temperatures. As someone who suffers from hay fever, the fact that I'm surrounded by trees and long grass is a constant source of irony and itchy eyes. In recent days I spotted a tractor in the biggest field cutting back the grass which releases much of the pollen, but the trees are still doing their bit in keeping noses running across the village. Many of my neighbours have been visiting the village park and the local pub, the Dormarch, especially since the start of the sunshine and the World Cup. Their investment in the tournament seems strange to me, especially since Wales were knocked out of the qualifying round, but it's nice to see people having something to enjoy given the never ending stream of bad news we usually get.
Anyhow, that concludes this installment of Frynwys Features. As always if anything else interesting happens in this quietest of quiet villages, I'll be sure to let you know.
The first (and no doubt biggest) thing to mention is that Frynwys was recently caught out when the Beast from the East collided with Storm Emma over the south west. The entire village was snowed under for three days, with no one able to move their cars or make much headway through the drifts. But it did allow for some great sledging on some of the hills, and I saw several people making the most of it when I braved the blizzards myself. The ponds froze over, and by the time they began to thaw out, the snow on the road had mostly turned to brown slush thanks to grit. Like everywhere else in Wales, it took everyone a while to get moving again, and as a side effect the only shop in the village ran out of milk, which demonstrates the ability to make a cup of tea takes top priority during a snowstorm here.
Once the worst of the winter weather passed, we were still left with a bitter chill. Fortunately though, the first signs of spring started to appear, in the form of frogs crossing the road, and the emergence of daffodils. The fish are still in residence at the pond, much to the annoyance of the wildlife warden who I saw trying to catch some of them a few weeks back. It seems that the warden has a lot of things to worry about, as there have been teams of people in the nearby woods felling trees. Large sections of trees have been cordoned off with tape only to be chopped down the following day. I have no idea why they're doing it now, but it has only been the odd cluster so far, so hopefully Frynwys will not become deforested any time soon.
Another bit of good news is that there seem to be more dogs in the area than last year. Specifically I've seen a number of puppies being taken out on their first walks into the fields around the village, and they are an energetic bunch. So far I've seen golden retrievers, Cocker spaniels and at least one field spaniel out and about. It's nice to see so many new dog owners in the area and to see the puppies making sense of the world around them. Frynwys has always had a large percentage of dog owners, but in the last three years especially I've seen the number of dogs increase steadily. With so many spaniels in the area, the fish that were released into the pond are now ducking for cover every time one of them cannonballs into the water.
Now that summer has truly arrived in South Wales, it seems the people of Frynwys have been out and about enjoying the record-breaking temperatures. As someone who suffers from hay fever, the fact that I'm surrounded by trees and long grass is a constant source of irony and itchy eyes. In recent days I spotted a tractor in the biggest field cutting back the grass which releases much of the pollen, but the trees are still doing their bit in keeping noses running across the village. Many of my neighbours have been visiting the village park and the local pub, the Dormarch, especially since the start of the sunshine and the World Cup. Their investment in the tournament seems strange to me, especially since Wales were knocked out of the qualifying round, but it's nice to see people having something to enjoy given the never ending stream of bad news we usually get.
Anyhow, that concludes this installment of Frynwys Features. As always if anything else interesting happens in this quietest of quiet villages, I'll be sure to let you know.
Tuesday, 15 May 2018
The Tiger Poet vs. GDPR
The deadline for becoming compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is getting nearer, and as it does so I must confess I'm nowhere nearer to understanding what that means for this blog, or indeed for Blogger in general.
For those of you who are unaware, GDPR is replacing the Data Protection Act 1998, as enacted by EU legislation. It will cover all publishers in EU countries as well as publishers who deal with the EU. As a UK-based blogger using Google Blogger, I and many other people come under that heading. To date, Google has sent out a bunch of emails explaining in broad terms to publishers what the change of legislation means and what they are doing to comply with it. They also explain how individual publishers can take steps to comply, but in terms of guidlines for those using Blogger, the advice has been at best vague and at worst non-existent.
I have searched far and wide to find any statement from Google as to how bloggers using their platform can comply with GDPR. The best I have found so far has been a discussion on a Google Products forum where several bloggers are questioning how Google will help them prepare for when the legislation kicks in on May 25th 2018. Google's response so far has been to issue generic statements asserting their commitment to preparing for GDPR and suggesting that we read their privacy policy or consult a lawyer to find out our obligations. Far from reassuring advice.
So far I've constructed a privacy policy for use on this blog, but an unsure if it will meet with GDPR requirements. Really, this is a call for clarity more than anything else. If anyone out there is reading this post and works for Google, please let me and other bloggers know how we can make our blogs GDPR compliant and how Google will assist us in this. Hopefully making a privacy policy will go some way to achieving this, but unless Google gives us a clearer view of what to do, we may run the risk getting caught out by the new legislation. We need to process people's personal data responsibly and within the law, but if we don't know the rules of play then things will get quite complicated.
I appreciate this is not the usual kind of thing I cover on this blog, but with the deadline for GDPR fast approaching, I think it's something worth talking about. If anyone out there is also confused by what the regulations mean for them, be sure to get in touch with Google to make your concerns known. Thankfully, I've got more fun stuff coming up, so stay tuned and I'll see you all again soon with more poetry.
I have searched far and wide to find any statement from Google as to how bloggers using their platform can comply with GDPR. The best I have found so far has been a discussion on a Google Products forum where several bloggers are questioning how Google will help them prepare for when the legislation kicks in on May 25th 2018. Google's response so far has been to issue generic statements asserting their commitment to preparing for GDPR and suggesting that we read their privacy policy or consult a lawyer to find out our obligations. Far from reassuring advice.
So far I've constructed a privacy policy for use on this blog, but an unsure if it will meet with GDPR requirements. Really, this is a call for clarity more than anything else. If anyone out there is reading this post and works for Google, please let me and other bloggers know how we can make our blogs GDPR compliant and how Google will assist us in this. Hopefully making a privacy policy will go some way to achieving this, but unless Google gives us a clearer view of what to do, we may run the risk getting caught out by the new legislation. We need to process people's personal data responsibly and within the law, but if we don't know the rules of play then things will get quite complicated.
I appreciate this is not the usual kind of thing I cover on this blog, but with the deadline for GDPR fast approaching, I think it's something worth talking about. If anyone out there is also confused by what the regulations mean for them, be sure to get in touch with Google to make your concerns known. Thankfully, I've got more fun stuff coming up, so stay tuned and I'll see you all again soon with more poetry.
Wednesday, 2 May 2018
NaPoWriMo Completed Again
Okay, so maybe not tomorrow (sorry about that), but here it is. That's the end of NaPoWriMo for this year. Once again I somehow managed to get to the end of April without the poems turning into a stream of incomprehensible free verse.
How do I think it went this year? Mostly the poems turned out okay. I'm thankful that this year I didn't have to rely on my old tropes as much (the tigers, anthropomorphic animals playing musical instruments, or the rolling fields of Frynwys) and tried new things. The month started on a good note with a poem about a confused cuckoo at Easter, and then a poem about poetic structure followed, which is probably my favourite one out of this year's bunch. I hadn't attempted a poem about writing a poem before, so it was nice to set out what my creative writing tutors taught me in verse.
Otherwise, this year's NaPoWriMo was fairly similar to last year's. The usual subjects appeared in the form of animals, the natural world, allusions to music and so on, and of course the tiger came back to finish the month off. There haven't been many breaks from what I usually write about, but I think I made up for it by trying new things with poetic form. Also I should probably do more of the site's prompts next year because I'm certain I didn't try enough of them this time. Still, on the whole this year's NaPoWriMo has been mostly a success.
If you stuck with it to the end I hope you enjoyed the poetic chaos. In regards to what's coming up, I have the next installment of Frynwys Features nearly ready to go, my analysis of Harry Baker's 'Paper People' and a couple of new poems as always, so look out for those over the next few weeks. And the best bit of is, we're just in time for the start of summer.
Goodbye NaPoWriMo 2018, and have a great summer everyone!
How do I think it went this year? Mostly the poems turned out okay. I'm thankful that this year I didn't have to rely on my old tropes as much (the tigers, anthropomorphic animals playing musical instruments, or the rolling fields of Frynwys) and tried new things. The month started on a good note with a poem about a confused cuckoo at Easter, and then a poem about poetic structure followed, which is probably my favourite one out of this year's bunch. I hadn't attempted a poem about writing a poem before, so it was nice to set out what my creative writing tutors taught me in verse.
Otherwise, this year's NaPoWriMo was fairly similar to last year's. The usual subjects appeared in the form of animals, the natural world, allusions to music and so on, and of course the tiger came back to finish the month off. There haven't been many breaks from what I usually write about, but I think I made up for it by trying new things with poetic form. Also I should probably do more of the site's prompts next year because I'm certain I didn't try enough of them this time. Still, on the whole this year's NaPoWriMo has been mostly a success.
If you stuck with it to the end I hope you enjoyed the poetic chaos. In regards to what's coming up, I have the next installment of Frynwys Features nearly ready to go, my analysis of Harry Baker's 'Paper People' and a couple of new poems as always, so look out for those over the next few weeks. And the best bit of is, we're just in time for the start of summer.
Goodbye NaPoWriMo 2018, and have a great summer everyone!
Monday, 30 April 2018
NaPoWriMo #30: Spectre of Bali
Even the smallest member
of the family stands tall.
The Queen of Bali,
of the mangroves and the grasslands,
she prowled the dense jungles,
sending deer and birds fleeing,
shrinking from her shadow,
as fierce and revered
as her Indian brothers.
Those from across the sea
came seeking her,
to pay her homage
with steel and lead,
with the teeth of snap-traps
and bullets to the skull.
Every part of her had use,
to the visitors and her neighbours.
Her teeth and claws warded off evil,
her skin adorned the hunters' den,
her whiskers made the sharpest poison.
Such reverence and torment
scattered her to the winds of history.
A museum forms her tomb,
her bones laid in state,
her skin with the stripes faded,
her skull with the bullet hole
decorating her forehead.
Out in the mangroves
the deer sometimes cower
at a passing feline shadow,
a spectre
from the forests of yesterday.
(So ladies and gentlemen, that's it. NaPoWriMo is over for another year. To anyone who's followed my journey through the challenge this year, thanks for sticking around and I'm pleased that we got through it again this year. To my fellow poets who took on the challenge this year, well done for sticking with it to the end! I'll have my full thoughts on how I think it went this time out tomorrow at the latest. Thanks once again, and until next year, goodbye NaPoWriMo!)
of the family stands tall.
The Queen of Bali,
of the mangroves and the grasslands,
she prowled the dense jungles,
sending deer and birds fleeing,
shrinking from her shadow,
as fierce and revered
as her Indian brothers.
Those from across the sea
came seeking her,
to pay her homage
with steel and lead,
with the teeth of snap-traps
and bullets to the skull.
Every part of her had use,
to the visitors and her neighbours.
Her teeth and claws warded off evil,
her skin adorned the hunters' den,
her whiskers made the sharpest poison.
Such reverence and torment
scattered her to the winds of history.
A museum forms her tomb,
her bones laid in state,
her skin with the stripes faded,
her skull with the bullet hole
decorating her forehead.
Out in the mangroves
the deer sometimes cower
at a passing feline shadow,
a spectre
from the forests of yesterday.
(So ladies and gentlemen, that's it. NaPoWriMo is over for another year. To anyone who's followed my journey through the challenge this year, thanks for sticking around and I'm pleased that we got through it again this year. To my fellow poets who took on the challenge this year, well done for sticking with it to the end! I'll have my full thoughts on how I think it went this time out tomorrow at the latest. Thanks once again, and until next year, goodbye NaPoWriMo!)
Sunday, 29 April 2018
NaPoWriMo #29: Mesozoic Summer
In the Mesozoic forests
the summer lingers all year.
Ferns and conifers lush
and dripping with moisture,
the effect of a greenhouse planet.
The kings of the earth roam
unfettered.
Pteosaurus, leather-winged
masters of the sky
dart above the canopy
snatching dragonflies.
Coelurus, quick-footed, shrewd,
the nightmare of mammals
cowering under the leaf litter,
while a bullish Stegosuaurs
crashes through the underbrush,
its psychedelic plates
pulsating against the green.
Out on the plains, giants assert
their presence without effort.
Diplodocus steps shake the earth,
dainty heads on preposterous necks,
tails swishing like gargantuan eels.
They scan the forest edge for enemies,
the packs of therepods
lusting after the potential
of such a gigantic feast.
(This is a poem I've thought for a while about doing, and now I think I've found the right way to do it. Hard to believe I started twenty nine days ago but it seems we've gotten through NaPoWriMo for another year. Only one more to go, so I'll see you tomorrow when we're finishing NaPoWriMo in style!)
the summer lingers all year.
Ferns and conifers lush
and dripping with moisture,
the effect of a greenhouse planet.
The kings of the earth roam
unfettered.
Pteosaurus, leather-winged
masters of the sky
dart above the canopy
snatching dragonflies.
Coelurus, quick-footed, shrewd,
the nightmare of mammals
cowering under the leaf litter,
while a bullish Stegosuaurs
crashes through the underbrush,
its psychedelic plates
pulsating against the green.
Out on the plains, giants assert
their presence without effort.
Diplodocus steps shake the earth,
dainty heads on preposterous necks,
tails swishing like gargantuan eels.
They scan the forest edge for enemies,
the packs of therepods
lusting after the potential
of such a gigantic feast.
(This is a poem I've thought for a while about doing, and now I think I've found the right way to do it. Hard to believe I started twenty nine days ago but it seems we've gotten through NaPoWriMo for another year. Only one more to go, so I'll see you tomorrow when we're finishing NaPoWriMo in style!)
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