Blogs
SwanseaJack with a grand total of 40 points.
Second place goes to Lorin Morgan Richards with 36 points.
Third place goes to Rhianne Griffiths with 35 points.
All our winners will be receiving 'Sheep of Excellence' and SwanseaJack will receive a copy of the DVD 'Wales:Land of Song' .
For more details about our Top Blogger competition go to this page Top Blogger
WIN 2 Tickets to Karl Jenkins Concert 'Concert for Peace - Celebrating the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.' in New York City on January 17th
By Ceri Shaw, 2010-11-30
  We are offering these tickets as a QUIZ PRIZE on Americymru! Just answer the three easy quiz questions below ( answers can all be found on Wikipedia ) and send them to us at americymrucontest@gmail.com ( all email addresses will be deleted when the competition closes ). We'll throw all the entries in a hat and pick the winner! Please email us by Wednesday, January 12th, no later than 9 PM ( Pacific Time ). Tickets will be ready at will call on 1/17 at the Carnegie Hall; the winner will just need to bring a photo ID. ( Only one entry per email address is permitted. Duplicates will be disqualified. You do not need to be an AmeriCymru member or logged into the site in order to enter this competition. )
Karl Jenkins Quiz
Karl Jenkins Discusses 'Stabat Mater' |
Below is a link to download and print a pdf - I haven't got technical enough yet to make one we can do online, but that's coming!
animalCrossword.pdf '
On Saturday the 27th of November newly formed Rhos Choir will be competing in a special concert at St David's Hall, Cardiff in the race for the 2010 Codi Canu title. The concert will be the highlight of the series, which for the last few months has followed four choirs on the journey to be crowned Wales' best community choir.This year, the series has seen four of Wales' best known faces stepping up to the challenge of conducting these choirs, with advice from some of our leading conductors.
It was fantastic news for Rhos Choir when it was announced that it would be entrepreneur Stifyn Parri, one of their most successful local talents, that would be stepping into the conductor's shoes with the help and support of experienced conductor Geraint Roberts.
Born in Rhos, Stifyn was delighted to accept the challenge, venturing back to his hometown with hopes of conducting his own people to victory. Stifyn has over twenty five years of experience in the media industry. He has starred in West End hits such as Les Miserables, national TV series' such as Brookside, and numerous productions for S4C. These days, Stifyn runs his own creative company, Mr Producer, which has been instrumental in many large-scale events over the years, most recently the 'Welcome to Wales' Concert, welcoming the Ryder Cup. With all his experience, Stifyn was an obvious choice for the series, and everyone is confident that he has all the skill to succeed as a fantastic conductor. But Stifyn would be the first to admit that conducting is not as easy as it looks, even though he enjoys every minute:
"I was brought up in the village of Rhosllannerchrugog, famous for it's many choirs! It is the most surreal and pleasurable experience to be learning how to become a conductor with my very own and brand new choir that consists of old school friends, teachers, neighbours and even my own mother!!! I'm so proud of them, they've worked so hard and deserve to win, it would be an honour to lead my home village of Rhos to victory. Please vote for us and vote for the village known for it's musical talent. Come on Rhos!!"
The concert will be broadcast live on S4C on Saturday the 27th of November between 8.00-9.00 pm, and 9.30-10.15pm. The public will be asked to choose their favourite choir, so remember to pick up the phone and vote for Rhos choir, and their conductor, Stifyn Parri.
Tickets for the live final are FREE for adults, children and concessions. Call the Box Office on 02920 878 444 or book online www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk
For more information on the Codi Canu series visit www.s4c.co.uk/codicanu
Howard Marks discovers his roots and embraces Wales and Welsh culture in new book
Immortalised for his criminal activities, Howard Marks public life story is a heady mix of fact and fiction that begins and ends with his career as one of the most sophisticated drug barons of all times.In his new book Two Dragons , Howard Marks pulls together, for the first time, the stories from his life that show the private quest he embarked upon following a chance conversation with a black American in prison for murder. It's an account of a personal journey that took him back to his Welsh roots and around the globe to discover his family history, including links with none other than the equally notorious outlaw, Billy the Kid, as well as an account of the making of the film Mr Nice and the role of the film in the wider Two Dragons story.
This warm, humorous and personal account uncovers a family history that is stranger than fiction. He learns of a distant relative, William Owen, a famous Welsh smuggler whose chronicle of scams, acquittals, and debauchery would put any modern-day smuggler or playboy to shame. He also discovers that his fathers family were part of Jesse Jamess gang and that his great- great grandfather was half-brother of Billy the Kid.
Howard Marks speaks of two Wales' in his experience, one he couldn't wait to get as far away from as possible and the other he is now warmly embracing once again. Throughout his journey into his past, and from one Wales into the other, Howard Marks makes new and firm friends with some of Wales biggest names in the acting and music industry including Rhys Ifans, Super Furry Animals and the Stereophonics. His search leads him to a past and present inextricably linked to his sense of identity and nationality and ultimately pride in being Welsh. In Two Dragons, we once again get to enjoy some of the well known stories associated with Howard over the years, as well as plenty of brand new ones, and all in a new, fascinating context.
Another chance conversation, this time in a pub in Laugharne, led to Howard collaborating with author Alun Gibbard in putting the story of his quest together. Two Dragons also includes new photographs especially commissioned for the book by photographer Emyr Young. The images include a literary festival in Caernarfon, a Goldie Looking Chain golf event, the Welsh Premiere of the film Mr Nice, and portraits taken of Howard in his home village of Kenfig Hill. It also includes photographs that Howard took when he visited the set of Mr Nice during filming, as well as his visits to South America and the Caribbean.
Two Dragons will be launched at the Grant Theatre, Swansea during An Evening with Mr Nice 7.30, Sunday 28th November. To contact Howard Marks call Alun Gibbard on 07747 694 643 or email agibbard@btinternet.com.
Due to the inevitable recent cutbacks, one or two doubts have been expressed about the proposed high-speed rail line planned for the London to Swansea route. On top of this, we have the unwelcome new rail fares. On the one hand, we are being encouraged to be eco-conscious and abandon private transport for public transport and, on the other, the rail companies are raising rail fares by enormous amounts. Those of us who do not have cars and rely on the railways and other public transport become increasingly frustrated, particularly as the hike in rail fares is not matched by a hike in service; indeed, it is all too often the opposite.
Yesterday, I travelled from Carmarthen to London. The train I had planned to catch from Carmarthen was cancelled yet Arriva's website (Arriva being the local train provider), which had not been updated for a few days, stated on its live update page that all services were "good". I caught the next train and boarded First Great Western's London service. If the heating was working at the start of the journey, and I'm not convinced it was, it certainly was not on during the latter part of the journey and I was obliged to put on my coat to keep warm. While on the train, I looked up the history of the Great Western Railway. In 1852, thanks to Brunel, the journey time from London to Swansea, via Chepstow (ie: the long way around), was cut to 5 hours. Over the intervening 16 decades, mankind has eradicated various diseases, conquered the air and outer space, put men on the moon and spacecraft on Mars. Come with me through the space-time continuum to the 21st century where the journey is now (via the Severn Tunnel) still 3 hours. There are occasional through-trains to Carmarthen but, usually at Swansea, one is obliged to change to the local train so the journey (approximately 220 miles by road) takes a full 4 hours. I can get to Paris in less than half the time and I can get to Edinburgh in less time. Pity those poor people who travel all the way to Milford Haven or to Fishguard for the ferry to Ireland.
Is this symptomatic of Big Government's attitude to Wales? If the high-speed rail line is deferred or simply even goes only as far as Bristol, there will surely be a domino effect on all aspects of Welsh life. If we are to be taken seriously in culture, business and all kinds of industry, we need that fast connection.
Christmas Competition - Win Copies of 'Big Fish' and 'Homeland' by Jon Gower
By Ceri Shaw, 2010-11-24
Big Fish In this collection of short stories, first published in 2000 Jon Gower introduces us to a range of colorful and tragic characters. Some of these stories are set in Wales, others in the U.S. but ALL are hugely entertaining and some of them are amongst the funniest you'll ever read.
"This is a lively, entertaining collection of verbal arabesques traced by the zany flights of a wild fantasy. The writing is pacy, stylishly manic, streetwise and state -of-the art demotic. The author is able to add a convincingly Welsh accent to an american style of humour - elliptically staccato sentences, riffs of wisecracks, vivid shifts of verbal register." - M. Wynn Thomas
Homeland
This collection of essays, edited by Jon Gower, looks at the changes in farming in Wales in recent decades. originally published in 1996 it contains much that is of contemporary relevance.
" Homeland . This Wales in which we dwell, its mountains high, its history ample and complicated, its natural history still bountiful, just. This collection of essays, by a range of writers connected with the BBC Wales series Homeland, takes this great small country as its theme. It is a country small enough to hold out the promise of being understood, whilst constantly offering discoveries around every corner.".
It is also the story of three ladies who formed a musical partnership called The Dorian Trio in the early twentieth century. Generations of children who were brought up in Wales in the 1930s, 40s and 50s knew of the Trio who travelled around schools performing and educating. They worked at University College of North Wales for ten years and later at Aberystwyth, travelling around south Wales giving concerts. However, by World War II they had turned their attention to farming in Llanarth, Ceredigion where they kept Welsh indigenous breeds. Their main interest was Welsh cobs. The Llanarth stud became world famous; their knowledge of genetics added impetus to the quality and standard of their stock. They were winners at international events. The three ladies were single-minded achievers. In the 1980s, they bequeathed the enterprise to University College of Wales, Aberystwyth for safekeeping.
As Teleri Bevan notes, “But unfortunately, old age brought a tragic ending to the story, with the dismantling of the farm and stud by the university who had been gifted the estate and farming enterprise. Many will remember the acute anger and disappointment at the final sale, the dispersal of the Llanarth stud and the press headlines and television programmes. Pauline and Enid died of broken hearts.”
Teleri Bevan was raised on a farm in Ceredigion. She spent most of her working life at BBC Wales as a radio producer, becoming the first Editor of Radio Wales when it was launched in 1978. Subsequently, she became its Head of Programmes. Now retired, she enjoys writing and this is her fourth book.
The Ladies of Blaenwern is published by Y Lolfa, priced at £8.95 and will be launched at the International Pavilion at the Winter Fair in Builth Wells on Monday 29 November.
Stori drist fferm cobiau Blaenwern, Ceredigion
Mae’r llyfr The Ladies of Blaenwern yn adrodd yr hanes fel y bu i Goleg Prifysgol Cymru werthu fferm magu cobiau o enwogrwydd rhyngwladol a ewyllyswyd iddynt, nôl yn yr 1980au.
Yn ogystal, mae’n sôn am stori tair gwraig a luniodd bartneriaeth gerddorol The Dorian Trio yn negawdau cynnar yr ugeinfed ganrif. Teithiai’r Dorian Trio o gylch ysgolion Cymru benbaladr, yn diddanu ac addysgu plant. Bu’r Trio hefyd yn gweithio yn adrannau cerddoriaeth colegau y brifysgol ym Mangor ac Aberystwyth yn ddiweddarach, ac yn cynnal cyngherddau yng nghymoedd y de. Ond erbyn adeg yr Ail Ryfel Byd roedd y gwragedd wedi troi eu sylw at ffermio yn Llanarth, Ceredigion ac yno roeddynt yn cadw bridiau brodorol. Eu diddordeb pennaf oedd magu cobiau Cymreig.
Daeth y fferm yn fyd-enwog; roedd eu gwybodaeth am eneteg yn rhoi symbyliad uwch i ansawdd a safon eu stoc. Roeddynt yn enillwyr mewn cystadlaethau rhyngwladol. Roedd y tair yn gyflawnwyr unplyg. Yn y 1980au, ewyllyswyd y fferm i Goleg Prifysgol Cymru, Aberystwyth er mwyn ei diogelu i’r dyfodol.
Fel y dywed yr awdur, “Yn anffodus, wrth i’r gwragedd heneiddio, daeth diwedd trychinebus i’r stori, gyda’r fferm magu cobiau yn cael ei gwahanu’n ddarnau a’i gwerthu. Bydd sawl un yn cofio’r dicter a’r siom yn ystod yr arwerthiant olaf, y penawdau papur newydd a’r rhaglenni teledu. Bu Pauline ac Enid farw o dorcalon.”
Cyhoeddir The Ladies of Blaenwern gan Y Lolfa. Pris £8.95. Bydd y llyfr yn cael ei lansio yn y Pafiliwn Rhyngwladol ar faes y sioe yn Llanelwedd, adeg y Ffair Aeaf, ar ddydd Llun 29 Tachwedd.
A Gorseinon couple turned their Diamond Day into a charity fund-raiser for the Healing The WoundsGolden Grove Mansion Appeal.
The appeal aims to establish a Welsh convalescent centre for the treatment of ArmedForces Personnel, Veterans and their families who are suffering from stress-relatedillnesses such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
When David and Irene Williams, of Grove Street, Gorseinon, knew their Diamondwedding anniversary was approaching, they decided they did not want any gifts.
Instead, they asked friends and family to contribute to Healing the Wounds.
Mr Williams served as a soldier with the 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers.
His tours included Egypt, Palestine and Cyprus, during and after the Second World War.
The couple said they fully supported the work of the Healing The Wounds charity and wanted to help in any way possible.
The happy couple were married at St Davids Church in Penllergaer on 23rd September 1950.
Their celebration night included a dance and a buffet at The Brighton Road Club.
The event was organised by close friends Ann and David Buck, who also run dancing classes.
The catering was by The Brighton Road Club.
The evening raised 920 and there was a cheque presentation to Healing The Wounds representatives - Executive Director KevinRichards and Director Carol Richards.
Mr Richards said: It was a very generous act for David and Irene to use their memorable event as a charity fund-raiser. It justshows how passionately people care about making sure our military personnel aretreated properly in Wales.
Pictured, left to right - Ann Buck, Kevin Richards, Irene Williams, David Williams, Carol Richards and David Buck.
Golden Grove Appeal (Healing the Wounds) has been launched for the purpose of raising the funds needed to enable the purchase ofa suitable facility within Wales for the treatment of our Armed ForcesPersonnel, Veterans and their families, who are suffering from stress relatedillnesses such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and to provide aconvalescent home to allow them to heal and recover from the traumas ofconflict.
Golden Grove Mansion has become available for purchase with 100 acres ofCountry Park, which would provide a peaceful and beautiful environment thatwould be the perfect place for recovery.
However, if the sale of the property does not materialise, Healing the Woundscharity will continue to raise the funds needed for the purpose of searchingfor an alternative suitable property to facilitate treatments and convalescencefor our Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans and their families.
This is and shall always remain the prime objective of the charity
Golden Grove Mansion was actually used as a hospital for American troops during the Second World War. It was first built in 1560 asthe seat of the Vaughan family, descendants of the Princes of Powys. Twohundred years ago it passed to Lord Cawdor and the present mansion was built in1834. In later years it housed an agricultural college, but is now empty. Thereare more than 150 rooms and the basic structure is sound. It is a grade II*listed building within a 100 acre conservation area and the grounds include awooded Country Park, a visitor centre and cafe.
The appeal is more than halfway towards its initial target of raising 200,000.
Donations can be made
By post
Tomake your donation by post, please send a cheque payable to Golden GroveAppeal, together with your name address and post code to enable us to claimgift aid, to Golden Grove Appeal, 22 Abbey Road, Kenfig Hill, Bridgend, CF336HF.
Give in person at Barclays Bank
Call into any branch of Barclays and pay your donation into thisaccount:
Golden Grove Mansion Appeal
Sort code: 20-84-41
Account number: 90516929
