Blogs
 A new book of jokes published this week is likely to raise some eyebrows in the Race Relations Commission. The Half-Tidy Book of Welsh Jokes is a compendium of jokes collected by Cardiff based solicitor Huw James. He is originally from Aberystwyth and many of the jokes are at the expense of the Cardis, especially at their perceived tightfistedness. At a time when jokes that ridicule and stereotype racial or national groups are a taboo this book is close to the bone and could well offend some pople in Cardiganshire. The author explained, This is a collection of Welsh jokes I have assembled over the years. Many of them are Cardi Jokes. These are based on the suggestion that the people of Cardiganshire are somewhat less than keen on spending their hard-earned cash. This is, of course, a monstrous calumny. In fact I am surprised that The Race Relations Commission has not taken steps to stamp it out. The government does all it can to prevent us enjoying a bit to drink and having the food we have always liked, so why dont they appoint a minister for the suppression of inappropriate jokes? An obvious choice would be Harriet Harman. The book includes some classic homely jokes like the one about the Welshman who built two chapels on a desert island, the T bach joke and the one about Little Dai in Oxford. The book is illustrated by Beano cartoonist Mark Morgan from Cardiff. The Half-Tidy Book of Welsh Jokes (3.95) is published by Y Lolfa and is available in bookshops and www.ylolfa.com .
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Three new features have been added to the 'Jisbar' (at the bottom of the screen) in the last day. The first will no doubt prove uncontroversial. At bottom right we have added the RBS Six Nations RSS stream to help keep you up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Any suggestions for other pertinent RSS streams will be gratefully received, although we have limited space so we cant guarantee inclusion.
We have also added a 'pagepeel' ad to the top right hand corner of the site. We appreciate that some people might find this irritating but we urge you to humour us. It's an extremely useful way of advertising and drawing attention to important events like the forthcoming IRFT St David's Day special and we hope you will occasionally 'peel back' the corner of the page and take a look at whats in there.
Thirdly we have added an 'Announcements' box . This has the most potential to be a serious irritant since it pops onto the screen each time you visit the site. It should do this only once but please let us know if it misbehaves. Again this is an important means for us to draw attention to important new features on AmeriCymru and to advertise forthcoming events etc.
We hope you will enjoy these new features ( or at least tolerate them ) but please do not hesitate to let us know if you find them intrusive or if they have an effect on pageload times or otherwise adversely affect your enjoyment of the site.
Diolch
Ceri
Sexbomb invites all our friends at Americymru to log on to IRFT Celtic Radio Tomorrow, February 11th, at 5 pm PST, to hear three new 'Sexbomb' tracks to open the show on Sean Owens live radio broadcast @ www. irftradio .comlu.com ; Diolch.
RBS Six Nations News: Gareth Thomas Launches New Online Welsh Rugby TV Channel
By Ceri Shaw, 2010-02-10
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As we line up for the start of the RBS Six Nations, a new online Welsh rugby TV channel launches with its selection of the high profile international and Cardiff Blues star Gareth Thomas as its main presenter. The South Wales based online subscription tv venture welshrugby.tv has been created to deliver insight on the real stories in Welsh rugby for Welsh rugby supporters worldwide with independent comment from Gareth "Alfie" Thomas - one of Welsh rugbys biggest characters, as the main host for the channel during the RBS 6 Nations Championship. Click here to view Alfie telling us why hes involved and what he thinks welshrugby.tv should be.
The versatile player now moves into a presenters role, hosting the regular The Welsh Rugby Show on welshrugby.tv , which kicks off this week. Thomas won his 100th cap for Wales against Fiji during the Rugby World Cup in 2007, was Captain of Waless Grand Slam winning team in 2005 and captained the British and Irish Lions on their tour of New Zealand in the same year. Thomas is keen to give fans the inside track on issues and stories about the game in Wales, and the welshrugby.tv site will provide the Welsh rugby supporter with a unique combination of the latest rugby news, professional and creative video content, analysis and opinion. welshrugby.tv will produce a behind the scenes look at all aspects of Welsh rugby, including: the 6 Nations campaign, the summer tour and the Autumn internationals, the regions, club and community rugby and player profiles. Thomas will be joined by a range of top flight and local club players, giving their views and insight into the raw truth of how things really are for those involved in the game. Thomas said: Without doubt, Welsh rugby supporters are the most knowledgeable, passionate and committed fans worldwide. As I know from my own experience, rugby in Wales is far more than a game, its a part of who we are and Im really pleased to be part of a team thats giving real information and comment from behind the scenes, and I hope, will inspire the true Welsh rugby supporter. Market research by the team behind the venture has shown that rugby supporters want to have different types of programming and video clips from what is already available either online, in print or on screen. Carwyn Jones from Llantrisant commented At last, someones listening to what we want we want to be able to hear the voice and views of the real Welsh rugby supporter alongside that of the usual rugby pundits and for them to take notice of what were saying. With that in mind, as well as the The Welsh Rugby Show and the latest news at international and regional level, welshrugby.tv will host blogs, supporters forums and through the Clubzone section of the site will offer rugby clubs across Wales, the opportunity to post information on their club and upload their own videos. Tom Stroud, CEO of Webcast Global explained Welsh rugby supporters have been saying that they want to get the bare truth and be involved with rugby in Wales at all levels pro levels. Were really looking forward to delivering a full schedule of both live and on-demand (pre-recorded) programmes, looking at elite rugby, community and grass roots level as well as being a part of the development of the game in Wales through our skills and coaching programming schedule. Richard Owen, Director of Red Shoes added: Were passionate about producing great content that will deliver Welsh rugby in the raw at its best and without being shy of asking the crunch questions.
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| Firstly you'll need to set up an account with Blip.fm ( http://blip.fm/home ) and then you'll need to head on over to Ping.fm and do the same ( http://ping.fm/ ). Blip allows you to create your own online radio station and broadcast your favorite music to friends and other 'DJ's' on the site. Ping allows you to post status updates and blogpost urls to all your favorite social networks with one simple click. The real magic happens when you combine the two. After setting up your Ping account you must decide which accounts you want it to update. All the major social networks are on the list ( Facebook, MySpace, Twiter etc ) although Ning currently only allows you to select one network. Updates to multiple networks are currently a work in progress. After that its simply a question of adding the Ping app to your Blip account. On the navbar on your Blip account homepage click on 'me' and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you'l find a selection of links:-
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Welsh Folk Dance at NAFOW
WELSH DANCES The history of Welsh folk dancing is a sad one. With the advent of the Non-conformist sects in the 18th and 19th centuries, the chapels saw the Welsh folk arts and customs as sinful and not in keeping with chapel teaching. They did their utmost to stamp out all sorts of "sinful" folk entertainment except, of course, hymn singing and music in the chapels. Some saw the damage that was being done to the culture and managed to record the dances on paper. Like most music of that period, there was a lot of exchange and borrowing between Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and Europe and a number of Welsh dances went into British/English collections, and tended to retain the original Welsh names in translation to English. By the start of the 20th Century, folk dancing contributed very little to Welsh culture. In the Twenties, a few people started to take interest in the old dances. In the 1940s, Lois Blake and Gwyn Williams led the way in reviving the Welsh dancing tradition and in 1949 the Welsh Folk Dance Society was formed, with the aim of promoting and resurrecting the old dances. Today, there are over twenty adult teams and hundreds of teams in the schools and clubs across Wales. This program is for all ages and will teach participants a number of Welsh dances, which will be taught by Sian Frick, a well-known and experienced instructor. Music will be provided by the Portland band, Beltaine. Come, enjoy a good time.
SIN FRICK , Welsh Dance Instructor. Sin is a British national of mainly Welsh parentage. From 1984 to 1991 she attended Cymdeithas Ddawns Werin Cymru (Welsh Folk Dance Society) workshops in Wales to learn the spirited but light-footed Welsh dances, and in 1988 she earned the Cymdeithas Instructors Certificate, Part 1. From 1986 to 1992 Sin led her group Dawnswyr y Tract Cymreig/The Welsh Tract dancers, based in Newark Delaware, and in 1991 she was a member of the Dawnswyr Mn display team in Anglesey for six months. Sin is frequently invited to teach Welsh folk dance workshops and give clogging demonstrations at many of the Celtic festivals in the mid-Atlantic region. On her regular visits to Wales she has joined Welsh teams performing dances at various events such as the Gwyl Ifan (Midsummer) Festival in Cardiff.
BELTAINE is a Northwest trio featuring hammered dulcimer, guitar, flute, and marimbula. They are unique in their blend of instrumentation. Their styles range from Celtic to traditional music from around the world. They do not limit themselves to any one genre. Their backgrounds include folk, rock, classical, jazz, and blues. They choose music that speaks to them. They try to put their spin on these tunes to make them unique to Beltaine. Their music is their passion, and they love playing and performing around the Northwest. They are excited to hear that others enjoy their music and they love stories about the music.
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He is remembered in the name of a street a pub and a school in Cardiff. His achievements are recorded on a clock face in Cardiff Bay but his grave lies forgotten and neglected in Cardiffs Cathays Cemetery.
His gravestone tells us
Captain E. T. Willows
Only beloved son of Joseph and Eva Willows
Died August 3 1926
At rest
The letters on the simple stone are metal and are falling off. Without them his grave will lose its identity and become no different from the others that have faded beyond recognition. Yet it is a perfect example of a story in Welsh Stone a fading,unremarkable gravestone, quietly shedding letters behind bushes in an overgrown part of a large cemetery, slowly slipping into the past and taking a fascinating story with it.
Ernest Thompson Willows, aviation pioneer and celebrity, 1886 1926.
He was born on 11 July 1886 at Newport Road in a house which is now used by the University. His father was a dentist and Ernest always intended to follow him, beginning his training in 1901. His great enthusiasm was flight. These early days were exciting ones, when the sky seemed to be opening up to all sorts of possibilities. It was the time of the Wright Brothers, of Bleriot, of Latham. Ascents by balloon had been commonplace for over 100 years but Willows wanted greater control and to reduce the effect of the wind on such flights. What he wanted to do was construct a rigid framed balloon or dirigible and to provide it with a motor and a crew who would be able to steer it. He was sure that the future of travel lay with the airship rather than the aeroplane. He had no formal technical training, no financial backing, merely blind enthusiasm.
He built his first airship, Willows 1 , in 1905, two years after the Wright Brothers significant achievement, when he was only 19. It was a silk envelope 74 feet long and 18 feet in diameter with a gondola beneath. It was driven by a 9 h-p Peugeot motorcycle engine. It had neither rudder nor elevator, relying upon the twin propellers which provided steering capability. It was flown for the first time at East Moors Cardiff for 85 minutes on 5 August. It had six flights. An improved version was built in 1909 which was called Willows 2. The craft was a little longer and bigger. He landed in a great publicity stunt outside Cardiff City Hall on 4 June 1910 and then flew back to his shed at East Moors. He wanted to win a 50 prize for the first such flight over Cardiff. A week later he repeated the flight to raise funds for the Infirmary. Willows was always trying to attract attention to his projects. He was a committed enthusiast but always lacked sponsorship or support.
In July 1910 it flew from Cheltenham to Cardiff in four hours and then in August Willows 2 flew from Cardiff to London.
This was a significant moment.
The flight was a record for a cross country flight in Britain at 122 miles and he became the first aviator to fly across the Bristol Channel under power. The journey took 10 hours. He had to descend to about 12 feet off the ground and ask for dircections from stunned people via a megaphone. The world was not yet ready for this simple SatNav prototype. In the end he followed the train line.
He made sure that he flew down the Thames and over St. Pauls cathedral for he was always eager to place his airship in the same frame as important landmarks.
On arrival he heard of a prize of 2000 for the first man to fly from Paris to London so he decided to take the airship over the channel in order to make an attempt. Willows 2 was re-built and lengthened and called originally Willows 3 . It first flew at the end of October 1910 over White City. Then it was re-named The City of Cardiff. It was now time for adventures.
On 11 November 1910 he flew the City of Cardiff across the Channel heading for Paris with his mechanic Frank Godden. The journey was not without incident.
There was thick fog over the Channel. There was a mechanical problem which required Willows to climb out on to the balloon envelope to fix it in the dark Petrol froze in the engine. Then Godden dropped their maps over the side and into the sea.
Eventually the airship came down at Corbehem, between Arras and Douai because of a problem with the silk envelope. On landing the French customs tried to charge him 30 import duty on his fuel. In the end it took almost 8 weeks to reach Paris.
He arrived on 28 December 1910 and on New Years Eve he was taking flights around the Eiffel Tower to illustrate the manoeuvrability of the design. This however illustrated his constant difficulty. His balloon fascinated as a novelty but he could not attract he investment he craved to take his concept further.
He returned to Cardiff with his balloon by road, unable to face any more continental dramas and also apparently to escape the customs officials.
Ernest Willows moved to Birmingham and built a new airship Willows 4 which was flown in 1912 and was sold to the Admiralty where it became His Majestys Naval Airship Number 2. They paid 1,050 for it. This one was more streamlined and has two four-bladed propellers and a two-seater gondola which was soon extended to accommodate a third man. It had a maximum speed of 50 mph.
Production was moved to Welsh Harp in Hendon in 1913, where he developed Willows 5 . This one had a rubberised fabric and a gondola for 4 people. He used it largely to take people on trips above London.
Of course the war intervened and he built barrage balloons in Westgate Street in Cardiff and also in Llanishen. In fact he developed a barrage balloon which flew twice as high- at 10,000 feet -as the previous limit. In 1916 he joined the Royal Flying Corps and became a captain, constantly suggesting new ideas and refinements.
His enthusiasm however made him little money. After the war he continued with ballooning though perhaps with a growing realisation that great success would elude him. By October 1921 he was living on a decaying river boat on the Thames and watching others develop the airship.
There is a great sadness that just before he died he would have known that Amundsen had flown over the North Pole in the airship Norge piloted by the Italian Umberto Nobile. It could have been him. If only....
Willows was reduced to tethered balloon flights at fairs. And that is how he died.
He was killed on 23 August 1926 at a Flower show in Hoo Park Kempston, Bedford whilst taking people on aerial joy rides. The net covering the balloon tore away and the basket plunged to the ground killing him and his four passengers.
He had been the first person to hold a pilots certificate for an airship from the Royal Aero Club but he had been left behind by a lack of support and finance and his dreams and schemes fell to earth just as he did.
You will find him in Cathays, in the largest municipal cemetery in Wales. It is very hard to find your way around but the very helpful Cathays Cemetery Heritage Trail will guide you to Grave Number 20.
You can download the guide from http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/objview.asp?Object_ID=3764&
I have also posted this story on my own website - and if you go there you will find some pictures of the man, his balloons and his grave... www.storiesinwelshstone.co.uk
