Veale Crest

Right, lots to talk/rant about this week, so let’s get straight to it.

Found a family crest for the Veale family on the interweb – isn’t technology wonderful, eh? The motto is “conquiesco” means translates as something like “contented”.

As for the coat of arms, here comes the science bit. They are described as being Argent (silver), on a bend sinister Gules (red), three calves Or (gold).

This site gives a brief family history. The name is first found in Gloucestershire where two knights called De Vile were honoured in the Honour Roll of Battle Abbey, in 1066, and were granted lands in that shire. Following on from that the Veale family of Over were quite famous, apparently. I think that is roughly where my grandfather came from (Percy of PJ Veale & Sons).

Some of the first settlers to America which this name or some of its variants were: Jane Veale settled in Virginia in 1636; Christopher Veale settled in Virginia in 1663; James and Ann Veal settled in Portland, Me, in 1820; and Tony and Heather Veale settled in Massachusetts in 1996.

Yob Notes

We were sitting in the Cwm Con Club last night, as we do every fortnight for a quiz. Terry & Marilyn, regular quiz-goers got a message that their house, four doors down, had been vandalised. A brick had been thrown through the front window, and the windows of their car had been smashed too.

This apparently happens just one day after a public meeting about anti-social behaviour in Cwm. Nice to see the police on the scene after the event, but it’s a case of too little, too late. If this can happen on Marine Street at 9pm then it seems anything is fair game.

On a more pleasing note, it was nice to see Cardiff’s finest arresting a youth in Bute Park yesterday whilst I was out running. Guess how he was dressed? Grey hoodie, baseball cap, baggy jeans, and this year’s must-have accessory – handcuffs.

Work Notes

Office accommodation reorganisation has just been announced. Am I affected by it? Yes. Was there any consultation? Of course not. Well, announced is a strong word for it. It’s a more like a half-arsed series of whispers. I know I should be used to it by now, but it still irritates the hell out of me that people don’t think to communicate. Even worse is the suspicion that you are deliberately being kept in the dark.

Clearly I don’t get paid enough to have a worthwhile opinion on anything. This is probably the third major issue affecting my job in the last year where it seems I was the last to know.

Last year the whole department got reorganised, and the fact that my job was fundamentally changed just happened to get mentioned in a team meeting. Yeah, thanks for that.

And earlier this year a new programme of work gets developed, and eventually a copy gets to me. I find my name alongside a list of activities, all of which comes as a complete surprise.

Oh, sorry, I forgot seems to be the sole defence to this institutionalised shambles. But that’s not good enough. It does nothing to help develop a feeling of belonging or any sense of being in this together. Clearly it’s every man for himself.

Most hated update

Tempting though it is to add a few work “colleagues” (PtW), I’ll stick to celebs.

Another glaring omission from the list: Craig David. His singing/talking career has been in freefall since Bo’ Selecta did a magnificent hatchet job on him.

Weather Forecast

According to Bwrdd, the Mensa Cymru magazine…

“50% chance of rain in some areas with the prospect of sunshine in others. Strong winds possible in exposed coastal areas. Temperatures around normal for this time of year although there will be variations to this in some parts. Colder on the higher ground and cooler everywhere in the evenings.”

Doesn’t that spoof remind you of every BBC weather forecast you’ve ever seen?

Book Notes

The BBC’s Big Read was a search for the UK’s best-loved novel, and we asked you to nominate your favourite books. The site lists the Top 100. This is the top 10 and, intellectual pigmy that I am, I’ve read just three of them. And that includes Winnie the Pooh!

1. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

Cricket Notes

Its August bank holiday, the last weekend of the summer: so there’s cricket, right? Wrong.

The international series is stuck between the end of the test series and (hopefully) the one-day games next week – starting in Cardiff next Wednesday.

Glamorgan’s next home game is 6th September, their last floodlit 40 over game against Northants. They’ll need the floodlights on from the 4pm start in September.

Rugby Notes

The Tri Nations is all over after New Zealand saw off Australia for the third time this series, this time 34-27. This time they had to come from behind though with a couple of late tries from Chris Jack and Luke McAlister.

The incident of the game was a spear tackle from Australia wing Lote Tuqiri on Richie McCaw, dumping him on his head. The ref saw nothing wrong at the time, but after being cited, Tuqiri has been banned for five matches after being found guilty of a dangerous tackle.

South Africa, stilling looking for their first win of the series, take on New Zealand this Saturday on the high veldt of Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

Soccer Notes

Saw probably the worst tackle ever on the news last night. Ben Thatcher decided to lay a forearm cross on the jaw of Pedro Mendes. There was a ball nearby and apparently a football game was going on at the time, although this didn’t seem to have anything to do with the incident. The “ref” saw this as worthy of a yellow card.

Thatcher’s manager said that "What happened on Wednesday was indefensible. Any form of discipline will be discussed at board level, kept internal and we will move on from there.”

That’s laughable. The guy ought to go to jail for assault. One of Mendes’s team mates got it right when he asked "How can that not be a sending-off? What do you have to do? Kill someone?"

Fantasy Football Notes

OK, I’ve got the team drafted (Ebbw Vale Steelers) and I’m ready for the new season. My starters look like this:

QB Duante Culpepper (Miami)
RB LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego)
RB “Cadillac” Williams (Tampa Bay)
WR Plaxico Burress (New York football Giants)
WR Donald Driver (Green Bay)
WR Derrick Mason (Baltimore)
TE Antonio Gates (San Diego)

I’ve got some reasonable cover in Jake Plummer, Keyshawn Johnson and Mike Bell. So, as always at this time of year I fancy my chances. Roll on the first game on September 10. You can track the fortunes of my team here.

Incidentally, aren’t there some wonderful names around? I mean, Plaxico? Duante? Carnell Williams decided that he needed something fancier and so renamed himself the Cadillac.

Link of the week

Quizardry is a great picture quiz website, where you can download general knowledge quizzes. They tend to be pop culture and sports, and range from NBA basketball players to characters from Eastenders. A good way to while away a Bank Holiday hour or so.