Kyiv – where are all the leaders?

Posted on by adecolley

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THIS IS AN UPDATE FROM A FRIEND:

The other night (to be specific, Sunday night) I was watching the real conflict start, as buses started going up in flames and there were constant explosions from stun grenades, fireworks, gas canisters and molotov cocktails.

The demonstrators have been very careful not to damage private property, and were trying to physically manhandle a parked car out of the way of one of their hastily-erected barricades.

In the middle of all this, the car owner appeared, got in the car, drove off down the street.  Given that a nearby car was overturned and on fire, it must have been his lucky day. 

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A turn for the worse – deaths in Kyiv

Posted on by adecolley

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I am no longer in Kyiv where people are now dying amid the anti-government protests.

The pro-European protests in Ukraine are continuing, with central Kyiv still occupied by opposition supporters.

It’s all kicking off and violence seems to have escalated to a concerning level amid heightened tensions. This is a short update from a pal out there.

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Pele Museum, Lugansk – Музей Пеле

Posted on by adecolley

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The Pele Museum in Lugansk is, frankly, utterly surreal.

Thousands of miles away from Brazil, near the Russian border, it’s a shrine to Nikolai Khubodin’s childhood infatuation with the greatest player ever.

Nikolai, who played for his home town team Zorya Lugansk, heard about him on the radio in 1965 when he was ten.

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Aur – the golden gang at the Millennium Centre

Posted on by adecolley

20140117-205714.jpgIt’s not just the Olympics that dishes out gold medals – the National Eisteddfod does so too.

Cardiff’s cultural crachach were out in force for the launch of the new exhibition at the city’s Millennium Centre this evening.

To celebrate the centre’s tenth anniversary an exhibition of art by winners of the gold medal for art at the National Eisteddfod is running until mid-March.

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Pele Museum, Lugansk – Музей Пеле

Posted on by adecolley

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Yes there really IS a Pele Museum in Lugansk.

Lugansk is in Ukraine. Twenty miles from the Russian border,  it  is the easternmost major city in the country and has about 500,000 inhabitants. 

There is a Pele museum in Santos, where Pele played for the local team, which is about 7,000 miles away from Lugansk.  I hope to visit the Santos museum later this year. 

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Wales 3 Australia 2

Posted on by adecolley

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Seen Wales play football in some strange spots over the years – Qatar, San Jose and Minsk come to mind.

Llanwern High School in Newport doesn’t quite match them for exoticism.

This friendly, earlier today, pitched the Welsh Schools FA under-18s against the Aussies’ under-19s. 

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Merthyr 3 North Leigh 2

Posted on by adecolley

Merthyr Town FCFew grounds enjoy the great views from a terrace like Merthyr Town.

But the crumbling bank with that glorious vista down the Rhondda Valley is now officially out of bounds due to league regulations.

Otherwise the rest of the ground is much as it was in the 1980s – it doesn’t look fresh, a bit down at heel but the new pitch is the saving grace.

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Alabama 3, Forum, London

Posted on by adecolley

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Only got one I-knew-a-rock-star tale of before they were famous and this is it:

In 1983, at university I found my shaving mirror covered in a talc-like substance.

“Do you know what’s happened here,” I asked my flatmate.

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Euromaidan’s art revolution

Posted on by adecolley

20131209-121752.jpg One of the most extraordinary features of the Euromaidan movement in Ukraine is that it has sparked a welter of artistic efforts to capture the national spirit.

Artists can be seen painting in Independent Square and their works are on the walls of the Globus shopping centre.

So Euromaidan is not only a political movement but it has a cultural, artistic impetus.

Apart from the art there’s also constant entertainment from the main stage which has featured such magnificent acts as Dakh Daughters about whom I could gurgle all day.

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Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 4 Pandurii Targu Jiu 1

Posted on by adecolley

20131130-131821.jpgAnyone from Cardiff will tell you of the joy of watching a team play in blue and white!

Despite the stick they get, sometimes footballers really do earn their dough. This was such a night. A Europa League game not to die for.

Sleet, freezing temperatures and bitter winds in Dnipropetrovsk on a wet Thursday in November.

Well, would you fancy it?

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Kyiv City Hall revisited

Posted on by adecolley

20131211-172140.jpgThe last thing I did before leaving Kyiv yesterday (Tuesday) was visit City Hall for the second time.

At 1am it was abuzz with activity, even though maybe 150 people were trying to sleep on the floor.

A good 200 more were nervously awaiting an expected police raid,  which was eventually repulsed earlier today. Reports made it sound like a Keystone Cops raid.

A young man, about 23, came up to me for a chat, sporting a Napoleon frown.

His English was quite good. He spoke about how much he detested the country’s corrupt elite. He was angry but not shaking with rage.

I listened for five minutes – it seemed like it was something that he needed to get it off his chest after what had been the most charged 24 hours since the police attacked protesters on Sunday December 1.

He then walked off. I noticed for the first time he was carrying in his right hand, a very nasty looking crowbar.

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