Full disclosure: I am a bit biased when it comes to Wales. My people are Welsh. The line in my family I most strongly resemble physically and in temperament are Welsh. I have a Welsh name, Welsh coloring, Welsh features…I’ve even been accused –graciously– of having a Welsh Character because of my all-consuming love of language, mysticism and brooding.
I can also get around Welsh pronunciation fairly well. For this reason I was put in charge of any and all communication IN Wales because asking a gay man from the American South to inquire what bus goes from Aberyswyth to Machynlleth and whether we have to transfer at Llanymawddwy or Dolgellau — although highly entertaining– is considered “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” and thus puts you in violation of the 1975 Geneva Convention. Oops.
Back to the boyos.
Wales, at least the parts we were in, is rural. I mean really rural, and for Kirk and I –two fun-loving career girls from the big city– it meant one thing: Hot Boys On Tractors.
I don’t know WHAT they were farming and I don’t care. By the time Kirk and I got on our ferry to Dublin, we both had concussions from the repeated thwonking our heads took on the bus windows every time we passed some inevitably pouty, well-muscled farm boy, his dirt-streaked skin glistening in the sun while his shirt clung to his rippl…well, you get the picture.
Sadly, we did NOT get pictures of the hot sweatsy menssesses (yes, our vacation was pretty much a seven day version of a Men on Film sketch. don’t act like you’re surprised) so you’ll have to settle for the famous ones.
There aren’t just a ton of really famous Welshmen but don’t think a little thing like that will stop me from bringing you some A+ hotness from the land of my people.
But first, we have to get one thing out of the way:
Yes. It’s Tom Jones. And his prison-issue banana hammock.
Because any mention of Wales must include a reference to either Tom Jones or sheep. Sometimes both. I’m not happy about it either, but there you go. Still, in all fairness to Mister Jones, he’s got one of the most versatile voices of the past several decades and the CD he released with Jools Holland (creatively titled Tom Jones & Jools Holland) is one of those rare “all-killer no-filler” albums that’s actually an incredibly solid record masquerading as a guilty pleasure. That still doesn’t mean I’m happy about the budgie smuggler.
Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, I give you Richard Burton.
If you only know him as the man who married Elizabeth Taylor twice, everything you need to know about him can be found in this 1980 interview with Dick Cavett. More than handsome, more than talented, more than troubled, he was entrancing. Watching Burton, even near the end of his life talking about something as mundane as coal mining, I’ve always felt the way I suspect a bird must feel looking into the eyes of the cobra who has just raised his hood; mesmerized, half attracted and half afraid, but incapable of looking away.
Coincidentally –or perhaps not– he is involved with several of my favorite literary and cinematic works. He played the Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon in my favorite film “The Night of the Iguana“, the first voice in my beloved “Under Milk Wood” (by perhaps the most famous Welshman of them all, Dylan Thomas) and although he did not originate the role of Dr. Martin Dysart in Peter Shaffer’s play “Equus”, I remember walking home to my hotel in London having just seen Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths in the West End revival thinking “that was practically written for Richard Burton” only to find out –like most of you probably knew– he played Dysart in the 1977 film version. If you haven’t been exposed to any or or all of them, I demand you avail yourself of them now. They’ll wait.
Moving on to something SLIGHTLY less obvious but no less a legend I give you this:
This is Ryan Giggs’ left foot.
Should I, by some unforeseen celestial error, actually make it into heaven, I am fairly sure I’ll see this in the God’s Greatest Hits section of eternity right next to Michelangelo’s hands and Joan Crawford’s eyebrows.
For those of you who don’t know, Giggs is a Proper Football legend and pure class. He’s been playing for Manchester United since 1990, which is pretty amazing considering 1990 was the year two of his MU teammates, Brazilian twins (sigh, have lovelier words ever been uttered?) Rafael and Fábio da Silva WERE BORN. At this point, I could totally go all footballer geek girl on you, or tell you about the deep and meaningful conversation I had with our cab driver in Dublin about the inherent superiority of Giggs over Robbie Keane while he (the cabbie) stared intently down my top. Instead I’ll just show you a picture of him with his shirt off, with a bit o’ Becks as a bonus.
One good footballer deserves another, which brings us to our last offering, Little Gareth Bale.
On the one hand, yes. Yes he does look like a) a monkey b) the mean kid from Toy Story.
However, at 21, age has slowly begun to decrease his chances of a be-loinclothed Charlton Heston damning him to hell.
On the other hand, I love him. I can’t help it, I have a soft spot for Bale.
Not only does he have the potential to be one of the all-time greats (thanks in no small part to his ridiculous speed, by which I mean thighs), he’s a classy player and remarkably well-behaved off the pitch so in my head he is going to be the next Ryan Giggs, thus Saving English Football from the likes of Rooney and Keane. Plus his hat trick at the San Siro (turned into a beautiful animation here, seriously, it’s worth watching) made me love him even more. I understand none of you care about that, so again, it’s strip-down time at White Hart Lane:
Now why on earth did my people ever leave Wales?
I saw Tom Jones in concert last summer and let me tell you, the man rocks. He still has it. He can sing the heck out of anything and he is charming, funny and sweet.
Comment by The gold digger — April 11, 2011 @ 10:31 am
Yeah! You took my recommendation!
But Plummie, there are so many more.
Christian Bale, Timothy Dalton, Ioan Gruffudd, Owain Yeoman, Matthew Rhys, Anthony Hopkins, and for those who love the ladies, Catherine Zeta Jones.
My new fav, Matt Ryan of Criminal Minds:Suspect Behaviour, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1790682/
Comment by jojo.k — April 11, 2011 @ 11:10 am
Don’t forget Rhys Ifans, a gorgeous, tall-drink-of-water chameleon who’s been in everything from The Replacements to Vanity Fair to Mr. Nice.
When I was a kid all I saw of Tom Jones were women throwing panties at him on television shows, and that had the effect of making him seem like a joke. His big hits weren’t the most amazing pop tunes, but his voice was and still is fantastic. I totally missed that when I was a kid, unfortunately; and now, with plastic surgery, he has a face my Welsh friend describes as “mad”, with panic and exclamation points implied in the pronunciation. It’s a shame so much time was spent promoting him on his looks, when his singing is so extraordinary. I second the Richard Burton love too.
Lucky you, with your trip to Wales! I hope you loved it.
Comment by ChaChaheels — April 11, 2011 @ 11:33 am
Richard Burton as Henry the 8th makes you forget completely about the silly Tudors show. Manly
Comment by Klee — April 11, 2011 @ 11:51 am
Sigh. I love Wales. I’m not in the least Welsh, but I did my study abroad there so I pretend. I can pronounce all the place names and I’ve hiked in the mountains with mad Welsh students and I’ve been to a real Eisteddfod and I have the t-shirt to prove it.
I’m going back to visit a rural bit of it this summer to indulge myself in small dark haired men with musical accents. Yum.
Comment by Cedar — April 11, 2011 @ 12:22 pm
Lovely, but mention of Wales always brings up Blackadder jokes in my head. Sorry!
Comment by Astra — April 11, 2011 @ 12:30 pm
Looove Wales! Was in a liquor store in Criccieth a few years ago and that’s when I found out that “Don’t even TRY to pass off this fake ID on ME junior – I used to babysit for you!” sounds exactly the same in Welsh Gaelic as it does in English. Or at least I fully understand the intent behind the yelling as those pale little high school kids bolted past me out the door.
Wales makes me believe in dragons and magic
Comment by Thea — April 11, 2011 @ 12:41 pm
@Jojo.K: I didn’t take your suggestion, it was in the original plan. You may feel free to do your own Monday hotness with the people you think I forgot, and come back to tell us about it.
@ChaChaHeels: I didn’t forget, I think he’s hideous. Good actor, face like a Welsh pony.
@Klee: I’m morally opposed to that show anyway after they DARED film in MY cathedral
Comment by Miss Plumcake — April 11, 2011 @ 12:53 pm
I did not know that Tom and Jools had an album out! I will be ordering that forthwith – thanks for the link!
Comment by Wendy — April 11, 2011 @ 1:11 pm
If American soccer players too their shirts off more it might actually catch on here.
Comment by Lisette — April 11, 2011 @ 5:41 pm
If you’re going to include Richard Burton, you should add Ivor Novello…
Comment by Julie — April 11, 2011 @ 11:09 pm
I will always love Tom Jones. I did my first burlesque performance to his version of the Tennessee Ernie Ford classic “Sixteen Tons”. The song was just as campy and totally rockin’ as you’d imagine, and I transformed a lump of coal into a diamond with only the power of my butt cheeks. It was magic.
Comment by Boobs Radley — April 12, 2011 @ 12:32 pm