ST. DAVID'S DAY

St. DAVIDS DAY LUNCH
Although not present and thus unable to give my own impression of the St David's Day Lunch, the feedback I have heard is that the switch to Pennard Golf Club was a big success. I have Chairman Bob to thank for a fine selection of pictures, some of which are included here.










TAI CHI
This new group continues to flourish having completed four weeks with a turnout between 22 and 29. The higher number is certainly at the limit of capacity for this room at Hazel Court. If demand grows there will be a clear case for running two groups probably in succession on Friday morning with a 30 minute interval and thus avoiding the choice between Digital Media and Tai Chi for those who want to attend both groups.

LITERATURE
I went to last week's meeting for the first session on the new book 'Gone to Earth' by Mary Webb to see how Lawmary Champion would tackle a novel. You may remember I previously attended the reading of the last act of the play 'An Inspector Calls'. She had prepared information sheets on the background to the book (Mary Webb apparently owes her success to the advocacy of Prime Minister Baldwin) but we moved on rapidly to a group reading of the first few chapters, each being discussed in turn. A technique which involves everyone in the group and I found stimulating. The group were full of praise for the way Lawmary is re-directing this group. All nine members were there, a considerable advance on the uncertain start at the beginning of the U3A year when it faced collapse. Members are now expected to read the next few chapters and discuss them next time before progressing with the group reading.

They tell me that in their heyday there were 20 members of this group. I would certainly advise you to join, you will be welcome and I expect like me you will find the session pleasant and informative. They meet in the vestry of St. Mary's Church at 2pm on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, a very convenient location close to the Quadrant bus station.

CONCERT GOERS
Joan attended last Monday's talk by Clive John on Dvorak's 8th symphony, although as you will see later we were unable to attend the concert in the Brangwyn Hall. She returned full of praise for the lecturer.



THE WEEK AHEAD for this year's new groups.

MONDAY 9 March
ITALIAN at 10am in Hazel Court at which new members are welcome. A few more would be highly desirable.
READING GROUP 4 sharing the Craft Room is now full and anyone wanting a reading group should contact Cecily Hughes on 363875.
GETTING STARTED with INTERNET, I will have another session for a few at home in the afternoon. I have now offered help to all those who signed the lists, albeit at a shorter and more basic level than originally envisaged.

TUESDAY
CARDS FOR PLEASURE, another venture by Lawmary will meet in the Taliesin Bar Restaurant at 11 am. They meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, thus dovetailing with her Literature group.

WEDNESDAY'S LECTURE in the Faraday Theatre on the ground floor of the Engineering building looks fascinating. Elizabeth Walker, Archeology Curator at the National Museum in Cardiff will talk on 'The Red Lady of Paviland and The Early History of Gower'.

Before that the JIVE GROUP will meet in the Monkey Cafe at 10.30. It's the one U3A Group which attracts as many men as women and is always good exercise and fun. Welcome back to Julia Huntley now thankfully recovered from vertigo - not caused by Jive I assure you!! John and Val Day, who run the Art/Painting group in Fforestfach, came for the first time last Wednesday. Before them it was new U3A member Mike Lewis who has led walks for the Gower Society for years. They are already dancing like us group veterans and illustrate how easily new members can be taught and integrated. Gerwyn's cry of 'Round One Lady' ensures that every one gets to know the others quickly. We are not short of members but there is room on the dance floor for more. It is also the place where a hardcore of the MOTO group go to plot future activities.

MOTO
Anyone interested in the 6 June cruise from Stockholm to St. Petersberg should scroll back to last week's posting, because the entry has been changed significantly.

THURSDAY
The French Conversation Group meet at 10 am, when those who have done their homework will talk, in French, of their feelings about Winter and the advent of Spring.

FRIDAY
TAI CHI in ground floor room at Hazel Court at 10.30 under the excellent direction of Mike Hart.

NATIONAL U3A The Third Age Trust
FIRST ASSIST provides free legal advice to members who phone 01455 251 500. You apparently need a Code Number from our Swansea Committee (news to us!) in order to access a service available 24 hours a day. When I have additional information I will clarify this entry on the blog, so watch this space.

2009 U3A PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
We are being reminded that the theme is 'Eccentric Britain' and that the closing date for entries is 5 May 2009. A quirky humorous look at British Society is required with suggested topics being Places, People, Pets and even the Weather.

A good colour print minimum size 7" by 5" is required with each entry for judging purposes even though the source may be a digital camera. I take it the 300 dots per inch resolution asked for on the print implies a resolution of at least 2100 x 1500 pixels, which is less than 4 mega pixels. The prints are not returned and up to three different pictures may be submitted in a single entry.

This is merely a reminder, full details will be found in your U3A magazine.

EVERYMAN OUTDOOR THEATRE at St. FAGANS
Marjorie Vanston 296375 is organising her usual coach trips to St Fagans to see:-
The Gondoliers on 11 July
King Lear on 1 August
The price will be £11 per ticket plus a share of the cost of the coach. She is asking for Names of those wanting to go by this Wednesday, but money later once the cost of the coach has been determined.

JULIUS CAESAR
(SHAKESPEARE AT THE TOBACCO FACTORY or SATTF)
Joan and I went to the matinee yesterday in Bristol and enjoyed it so much that we are booking for the second half of their Theatre in the Round Shakespeare season, which will be the better play Antony and Cleopatra. We can also recommend the rustic cafe in the same building for Tapas, light lunches or meals. It passed my criterion for finding good restaurants across the world, that is to be obviously popular with locals and free of large parties, it passed with flying colours and from our experience trying only one plate of tapas each the reputation was well deserved.

We rate last year's performance of Hamlet directed by Jonathan Miller as the finest theatrical experience we have ever had. Julius Caesar needed to be good or it would have suffered dismally by comparison. If not in the same class it was still a very enjoyable performance.

Both Joan and I had studied Julius Caesar for 'O' levels so the numerous long speeches were very familiar. Almost the whole cast had trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, a number many years ago. Brutus (Leo Wringer, an outsider who has often performed with the RSC) and Cassius (Clive Haywood) were excellent and the play came to life for me with a stunning short intervention by Brutus's wife Portia (Dani McCullum), pleading to be told what they were plotting. Dani last year won a prize at the school and represented them with the BBC. Alun Raglan was ill and so script in hand Peter Clifford played the role of Mark Antony, though he interpreted the role exceptionally well and never had to refer to the script in sight of the audience. (Just as well since by the end his script was covered in blood, and he just shook hands with the murderers!).

New Members Coffee Morning

Thank Heaven for New Members
St David's Priory was buzzing on Friday 14 November, well that was my clear impression. Maybe that's my reward for being personally involved this year now world travelling has had to be postponed, but I suspect an independent observer would have had a similar impression. It is heartening to feel the vitality and energy that is flowing out of our age group in the U3A. We are truly part of the Jive Generation, it's rumoured that Gerwyn is swatting up on jitterbug for next year!

Members are showing lots of interest in joining group activities and Hazel Court is well liked by those who have been to classes there. We hope to get sufficient support for Chess to continue on the 1st and 3rd Monday Mornings of a month. The principles of successful competition in a multiple ability group on a handicapping basis were tried today and looked promising. Tuition is available for those wanting to learn, and Maxy played four of us at once to point the way ahead.

Reading Group 4 already looks well supported and therefore safe for the 2nd Monday morning. French Conversation is showing signs of nearing the point where a second group will be needed to complement that on Every Thursday Morning from October to Easter.

Perhaps the most satisfying thing of all was the suggestion of new group topics, first
Italian. Quite by accident I bumped into my old Italian teacher from decades ago at DACE. Carolina Rosati-Jones had not heard of the U3A but is now joining. She has already joined the French course because her son lives in France, and as a successful competition writer wants to join a Creative Writing Group. But from the outset she offered to teach an Italian Group. So for the first time I publicised Italian at the coffee morning and ended up with four signatures - very encouraging. Already enough to pass on to Carolina, but given a few more we could begin to think of a new group at Hazel Court, a venue which would suit her well since she lives nearby.

Then Lawrence Hopes, ( tel 362113 hopes123@tiscali.co.uk )who runs the DVD cinema shows in Ostreme Hall Mumbles, suggested no less than three appealing topics non of which he felt competent to run but offered to assist in each case. Please contact Lawrence to record your potential interest.
1. Cycling needs little explanation but has an obvious attraction similar to walking, but a far more efficient use of energy. Wasn't the wheel one of the great inventions of antiquity! Lawrence foresaw off the road activity, meeting at say Afan Argoed for say an 8-10 mile ride.
2. Playing Guitar (his special interest is in classical guitar, though he also plays electric guitar) He said a simple £25 acoustic guitar is adequate for starters - though he was hoping that we have a more accomplished musician prepared to lead a new group. Keith Roberts plays in the Mumbles Concert Band. There are musicians about perhaps we can find the right mix to form a new group, it doesn't have to be recorders.
3. Photography. Again a widespread interest. I can't help but recall that only last week Mike Wiseman revealed his hand whilst introducing the speaker at the Wednesday lecture. I too must admit to having documented my travels with photographs which now clothe my walls and never fail to bring back wonderful memories, so I confess to an interest in a journalistic style of photography. That's three already and there must be others.


Transport. Keith Roberts (205678 keith.roberts3@sky.com ) spent a lifetime in the electric vehicle industry. He has also rebuilt many vehicles (World War 2 vintage as a hobby. Are there other like minded members out there?

Literature
A very pleasant surprise at last Wednesday's lecture was Equity Card Carrying Lawmary Champion who said she would be delighted to read to the Literature Group. Not as delighted as they will be, at a new injection of life! Why don't the rest of you also help to revitalise what seems to me to be a very worthwhile group? Their new book is 'The Inspector Calls' by J B Priestly. It seems nicely differentiated from the other reading groups. Are George and Judith Davies and Collette Robinson who expressed interest on Open Day going to give it a go?

Finally along comes Lawmary again saying she would like to organise a group playing Cards for Pleasure. She was advocating a game I had never heard of called Hearts Contract, which is a game of skill rather than luck. Quite a small group would be viable if run in the other half of the Craft Room coincident with say Chess. She, like me, hates the thought of serious card games like Bridge. My dislike goes back to 1956 when in order to save £10 on the cost of crossing the Atlantic (which then was usually done by Blue Riband liners). I paid up for a ten day crossing on the Arosa Kulm, a corpse carrier from North Africa in the 39-45 war.(Several years later Joan paid the full £60 and crossed in five days of luxury with Cunard.) I found I was the fourth English speaking graduate on that boat, the other three were bridge fanatics and there was nothing else to do so we played non-stop. I had never played before (nor have I played since!!). So there I was marooned, the indispensable football vital to complete the quartet. My pair always lost and I was always at fault. Psychologically scarred for life I would have liked nothing more than to have to have met them again on the Rugby field and see how they would stand up, tackling was always the bit I liked best. Even now the thought makes me salivate.

DIY Lunch Parties - cook food, bring recipes, and share skills.
Val Lawton suggested that about twenty people could meet in her home. She is stuck between wanting desperately to get started and the knowledge that she will have time out for a hip operation in the early spring. If however there is sufficient interest and if there was someone keen enough to take over whilst she is hors de combat then there could be sense in an imminent start. There would seem to be no start up costs and therefore few obstacles.

Internet Skills
I now have twelve names on my list expressing interest in the Internet. Very early on in trying to popularise my blogging I realised that many people with new computers were having great difficulty in doing the simple tasks associated with productive use of the Internet. Nothing technical is planned, although the history of the Internet might well make an interesting topic for a later session. As with Digital Media for Fun it would be a question of 'tell us what you want to do and we will show you how to we would go about it'. A series of tasks might include email, searching for appropriate web sites via a search engine like Google, the Internet as an encyclopedia, as a newspaper, for shopping, for advice on health matters; to compare suppliers of fuel, savings, mortgages, cars, cameras; to find what have houses sold for in your neighbourhood, to use for Internet banking, share dealing, research into family history. The possibilities are endless, but the Internet skills required are similar hence a few weeks should suffice to get people up and running. Above all it's a case of building up the self confidence to experiment and hence start self learning.

There is already sufficient demand so we shall be looking to start something early in the new year at Hazel Court, where unlike the Vivian Hall in Blackpill we can have Internet access. It will be ideal for those who have recently got home Internet because consolidating lessons by experimentation on your own is the best way to build up your skills. And even better for those who have laptops with wireless Internet because they will be able to bring them to Hazel Court.

WEDNESDAY LECTURES and Interest Lists
I get members to sign lists before leaving the Grove Theatre, and this is where ideas for new groups germinate. If you don't go to the Grove but do receive this blog the you can email me or the preferably to the individuals named in these blogs.

Promotions
In a recent posting I promoted the Jazz Concert by Gwilym Simcock, Stan Sulzman and Jim Hart 7.30 next Sunday 23 November at the Taliesin, but without making it clear that tickets would have to be purchased from the Taliesin Booking Office. Cecily Hughes is promoting good classical music concerts, (the tickets for which also have to be purchased independently) with her Concert Goers group.
Keith Roberts ( tel 204678, keith.roberts3@sky.com ) tells me that the Swansea Concert Band with guests P A Big Band are giving their annual concert at the Taliesin at 7.30 on Friday 12th December, tickets at £5 for OAP's can be purchased through him.

If one of us is enthusiastic about a forthcoming public local event then the probability is that it will appeal to others. So let's share our passions.
I also intend to get details of the Mumbles Movies Film shows from Lawrence Hopes. He is also suggesting that the U3A could consider its own cinema club with costs of around £65/film for a 10 film year, probably mainly winter afternoons. plus hire of a suitable room.