For Wales!

M:  Because I'm ill and couch-bound, and because Jenna said I could, here follows my small tribute to the great country of Wales.

By which, of course, I just mean a rambling, photo-laden blog post about Little Joe Allen! Frankly, the man could use some good 'press' at the moment...

Who is Little Joe Allen, you ask? Allow me to enlighten you!

According to Liverpoolfc.com:

little Little Joe Allen, making his debut at Swansea

Born in the Welsh town of Carmarthen, [Joe] Allen spent his childhood growing up on the coast in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire.... 

Mmm, Fishguard. Anyways, he now plays midfield for the famed Liverpool FC, after he was acquired from Swansea City for a reported £15 million at the start of the 2012 season. More importantly:

Joe is among the one in five Welsh citizens who speak the native language, known as Cymraeg, and can be included in the 10 per cent who are able to converse fluently in the traditional dialect.

Proof? You betcha!! This is a blog about brogues and such, after all. At minute 1:25, we hear from young Joe Allen in the video below. And while I myself don't speak Cymraeg, I'm willing to bet that, "so, um, yeah," is an authentic phrase...



Yr Iaith Cymraeg - 'Beth Yw Pwynt?' from Spill Media on Vimeo.

Watch for a moment more and hear Mr. Matthew Rhys, star of the film Fakers, at minute 1:37!

Ok, so he can definitely chat Cymraeg with the best of them, but what about footballing? I'm glad you asked. Liverpoolfc.com goes on to brag:

HA!

Allen can boast an impressive set of statistics from the last Barclays Premier League season. The midfielder completed 91 per cent of his passes for Swansea, a higher rate than Barcelona and Spain star Andres Iniesta, and created a chance for a teammate once every 63 minutes, providing four assists. Joe also made 110 tackles, the third-highest in the division.

Now, I'll concede that his first season with Liverpool (just his second year in the Premier League) has not been without its share of setbacks, but I think anyone would agree that holding your ground in the Premier League while standing only 5'6" tall is no small feat!

Sr. Nando vs. Joe

In any case, the untimely injury of Lucas Leiva this season surely put quite a kink in the Liverpool lineup straight from the get-go. I'm quite confident things will soon turn around for Mr. Allen and the 'Pool, however.

Because they must. Because they could sooo make it back in to Champions League.

But honestly, I'll still keep watching and cheering them on either way, because professional football/soccer is incredibly addictive. Like, alarmingly so.

Speaking of, I'm off to watch the replay of Liverpool's FA Cup match from this morning. Until next time, I leave you with these little gems of the lovely Welshman, Joe Allen:

Little Joe dreams big!

Melting the hearts of the competition...

Representing Team GB @ London 2012

Little Joe in the Big City. 

The Joes say 'Bye!" for now.
(God, I miss Joe Cole...)

Broguers

J: So what was this movie called again?

M: [laughs] Fakers! I only remember because it was a terrible title. And I only figured out why it was the title hours after I watched it.

J: I just remember the awkward British pound sign in the text of the title. Didn't make much sense.

M: Mmhmm. That happened.

J: So long story short, we watched this delightful movie...

M: Because it had a Welsh person in it. And we were strapped for time. And we didn't do any research. We're so sorry Wales. [laughs] Our apologies!

J: I'm afraid it's true. This all occurred nearly a month ago, and I don't even want to tell you how long I left the movie sitting on my DVD player (Liberty Hall, you can have my firstborn). Do you remember, simply speaking, what it's about?

M: [sitting on the floor] Unfortunately, yes! I recall with quite, quite clarity? That's not what I want to say. [coughs] 'Scuse me. I recall, quite clearly, that it was about an unfortunate dude in a bad way who needed cash fast.

J: [sings] If you need cash now! Also, this guy was Welsh!

M: He sure was!

J: But not in the movie.

The whole group, hanging out. Cheers! 

M: No, not really. I mean, maybe he sounded a little different than your average Brit. In any case, they try to forge some Italian sketchings from an odd Rob Pattinson look-alike.

J: Who's they, Meredith?

M: [laughs] [buries face in couch] The Welsh guy! And his not-girlfriend! They and not-Rob-Pattinson try to pass off these "sketchings" and you can guess how well that goes. Did I leave anything out?

J: Actually, it goes pretty well right at the start, but as with most heist movies, things start to sour before too long. It's odd but fun little flick...

M: I thought you were going to say "romp". It's what they always say on the covers.

J: Romp it is!

Not-girlfriend and Welsh guy.

M: Or a caper or something...

J: It's a romping caper through downtown London...

M: Was it London? It was I think.... I think I remember some London things in the background... [laughs hysterically] I'm way too sober to be doing this.

J: That's what you think. London or not, the characters were mildly amusing...

M: I was gonna say abysmal, but that's not fair... I just like that word [laughs throughout] I really did like the Welsh guy!

J: We only even knew he was Welsh because you watch Parenthood.

Not-Rob-Pattinson, Welsh guy, and big jerk.

M: No! He's not in Parenthood! He's in Brothers and Sisters, which I do not watch. You watched that, right? We only knew he was Welsh because of my iPhone. That sounds kind of posh. In a bad way.

J: Yeah, but 5 points for saying posh.

M: I've been watching a lot of British television lately...

J: Sounds like something we should blog about!

M: It is indeed! Hilarious.

J: In any case, we've done Wales a disservice.

M: Can we post some more about Joe Allen? Just slip some more in about the Welshness?

J: We haven't posted anything about Joe Allen! That's something you need to do!

M: We have, we linked his name!

J: Meredith, I charge you with creating a fun and interesting, picture-filled post about Welsh Little Joe Allen.

M: Mmm, pictures. Deal!

J: And on that note, we've got to get to the Taproom.

M: For George.

J: Damn skippy.

M: I like dags.

J: What she said. Fin.

M: Perfect. Fin.