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JOLLY WELL DONE WALES

I can't express my delight at Wales' rugby football win in Dublin any better than this Russian bloke. I'm sure No Good Boyo gave him voice coaching and sold him an e-book on artistic expression.

For non-Welshes, the Star Wars-style karaoke machine is definitely a helpful addition.

Play that banjo son!

Comments

No Good Boyo said…
Good God! This is David "The Rev" James, my old room-mate from Voronezh State University 1985-86. I'm not kidding. Last I heard he was a pastor in Poland. I must get in touch.
M C Ward said…
I get a warm feeling knowing my blog is bringing people together - so he's really a Welsh? I had my suspicions. Looks like the pastorizing didn't work out - or maybe he's started a cult?
No Good Boyo said…
There are people who would call him a right cult, it's true.

His father is Welsh, hence the surname, and he speaks basic Welsh (along with Old Norse and Gothic, for reasons best known to himself). He hails from Hemel Hempstead, home of our colleague Gadjo Dilo.
Gadjo Dilo said…
What colourful lives other people lead! I'm dredging my memories of formative years in Hemel Hempstead (skipping lightly over the incest and apotemnophilia, obviously) and can only conclude that this character is Dogface Dave, the local wheelie-bin operative and badger-baiting referee. He had a funny accent then as well, quickly identified as not-from-round-here, and was subsequently kept locked up in the slot machine arcade from Monday to Friday, for his own well-being.
M C Ward said…
Apotemnophilia, eh? The use of big words in these comments is turning me into a Wikipedophile, and I'm none the worse for that. Hemel Hemstead isn't in Dorset is it? I recall many a tragic New Year's Eve spent in Wimborne Minster square avoiding roaming gangs of fifteen-year old "Mods" hissing viciously, "He's not from Wimborne!" Dogface Dave wouldn't have stood a chance.
Gadjo Dilo said…
If only Hemel Hempstead actually had been as "glamorous" as that....

I suspect that Dogface's early experiences may have been the making of him; I'm eager to hear what updates NGB can give us.
No Good Boyo said…
The Rev spent a fruitful Hemel youth as a fornicating Marxist before going to Cambridge and catching Calvinism in a bad way. Downhill from them on, as far as I can see.

I shan't detail his Soviet-era misdemeanours for modesty's sake, but will add that knowing him enriched my life greatly. If only he could say the same.

This is The Rev's alarming site:

http://www.usenetposts.com/
Gadjo Dilo said…
Oh, this man really exists, is a serious individual, and definitely not the man that I was thinking of. I wish him well and hope feverishly that he is a force for good in whatever it is he is doing. Must have been somebody else in that arcade then.
M C Ward said…
Yep, that's quite troubling. He gets a lot more hits than I do, so there must be some method to his loucura...

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