Blogs
If you, your school, choir, church or dinner wants to sing the Saint Davids Day song which has already been performed in Ontario, Patagonia, Vancouver, Disneyland Paris, the Houses of Parliament, Llandaff and Saint Davids Cathedral, by choirs and schools throughout Wales then you can buy a manuscript copy online from: http://www.ylolfa.com/dangos.php?ISBN=9781847711342 SATB, Male Voice, Female Voice and Piano and Voice versions are available.
More info about the St David's Day Song and Pembrokeshire Banner here. www.gwennodafydd.co.uk/4.html
Cenwch y Clychau i Dewi - Piano a llais by Gwenno Dafydd a Heulwen Thomas, published by Y Lolfa
www.ylolfa.com Chwilio'r catalog | Search the catalogue,Y Lolfa - Welsh Books. Buy online: books in Welsh and English for adults, children, Welsh learners and visitors to Wales from Wales' leading printers and publishers.
Reprinted with permission from David Western's blog , all material 2011, David Western --
Well after the downer tone of my recent blog, I am happy to say that all is well again in the lovespoon world and that good things have happened in threes....which makes a very welcome change from the usual 'bad things in threes' that seem so much more common.First, I am delighted to say that the unpaid lovespoon situation has been happily resolved! The cheque has arrived, my 100% record is back on track and my faith in humanity has been restored! So although the situation definitely had some down moments, in the end it has all worked out.
Next, I am thrilled that my "Legend of Taliesin" lovespoon is now on display at the National History Museum of Wales at St Fagans near Cardiff. For me it is an absolute thrill to have a piece of my art on display in the very institution which inspired my passion many, many, many years ago! St Fagans, as it is more commonly known, is a true gem in the Welsh crown and is a world class museum of history and culture. Their collection of historical lovespoons is unrivalled and I feel very honoured to have my work be a small part of it. I also want to congratulate fellow carvers Mike Davies and Sion Llewellyn whose spoons are also on display!
Finally, my book publisher, ;Fox Chapel Publishing , have generously offered three copies of my book to the eventual winners of our upcoming Left Coast Eisteddfod "Help design the lovespoon" competition!! This year we will be soliciting help to design the lovespoon which we use as a draw prize incentive to help raise funds in support of our event!
This year we want YOU, yes, YOU, to help us design the 2011 West Coast Eisteddfod lovespoon. As you can see on this year's spoon sketch, below, three circular spaces have been left blank and it is our hope that they will be filled in by supporters of our Eisteddfod.
We welcome Americymru members, Welsh society members, school kids, enthusiastic artists and poets, lovespoon carver wannabies, people who have no connection to Wales at all but wouldn't mind having their idea included on our lovespoon... in short, anyone who wants to have a bash at it!! Enter one, two, three or more ideas, we're open to anything and everything! Not an artist? No big deal. Write a very brief poem (but keep in mind, these circles are only 2 inches in diameter, so I can't fit a sonnet in there!!) make a collage, write a description of your idea, like I said, we're game for anything!!
Really keen artists among you may have noticed that the circles are placed at the dragon's heart, wings and feet, so there's some more idea fodder!! We'll be releasing full contest details very soon, but in the meantime, let your design imaginations run wild!
Americymru: Hi Ashleigh and many thanks for agreeing to an interview with AmeriCymru. Can you tell us a little about POBshop Cymru ?
Ashleigh: Well, it's just as the name implies- (POB means all / everything in Welsh). I do a little bit of everything. I have tried to develop a one stop shop for quality modern Welsh / Welsh language gifts. We do handmade wool cushions, bunting (pennants I think they would be called in America) tea towels, mugs, posters, bags and cards. The link between all of these items is the Welsh language. I only do things that incorporate Cymraeg or have a direct link to Cymru.
Americymru: What type of goods do you carry?
Ashleigh: Anything special for St David's Day? Well, as I said we do a bit of everything. Our cushions are made here in Wales using all British materials, we do mugs and tea towels with Welsh sayings or poetry. We have translated the British WW2 slogan 'KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON' into 'GAN BWYLL A DALIWCH ATI'. This is available as a card, tea towel,poster or mug. This has proven to extremely popular, and quite apt in these trying financial times! The largest proportion of my business though is greeting cards. At the minute, including the designs in production I have 113 different designs. I haven't as of yet done anything specifically for Dydd Gwyl Dewi- St David's day- I have concentrated on the day to day events like birthdays, babies, new house etc...
Americymru: You are from North Carolina originally. Care to tell us how you came to be living in Wales?
Ashleigh: Long story this one! My father as it happens is of Welsh stock, his family came over to mine in the States and liked it-I am an Edwards by birth so in a roundabout and totally accidental way have made it to my homeland. I came over to England initially in 1993 for university but as so often happens met someone and ended up in Wales- very happily I might add too.
Americymru: When did you embark upon the POBshop Cymru venture ? How did it get started ?
Ashleigh: I started this in earnest on New years day 2010. I had become increasingly frustrated with the lack of good quality well thought out / produced items available for the Welsh market. Everywhere you turned there seemed to be a Union Jack but the only place one saw the Draig goch was on a flag or a nylon cushion. I wanted to show my pride in Wales in a modern way and was sure I wasn't alone in this but the market just didn't seem to cater for it.
What really forced me was the small choice when it came to greeting cards. With 5 children, as you can imagine I am always in need of a card for some sort of occasion. I found myself constantly buying and sending the same cards- and receiving them too! There are literally millions of cards to choose from out there in English but a very small choice when it comes to Welsh Language. I wanted to fill what I saw as a gap in the market. I wanted to produce original, high quality modern greeting cards.
Americymru: Where can people find POBshop Cymru on the web?
Ashleigh: At the moment I am primarily a wholesaler. There are two outlets www.bodlon.com and www.adrahome.com I do also have the facility to sell thorough my facebook page. Were anyone to be interested in wholesaling any of my goods I would be happy to discuss it.
Americymru: What's next for Ashleigh Stevens and POBshop Cymru ?
Ashleigh: Well, I have the Eisteddfod to get ready for. I have several projects lined up to be released at the Urdd in May. Apart from that, I just want to carry on growing the business and , hopefully, providing a much needed service.
Americymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Ashleigh: DIolch am eich amser, thanks for your time. Keep supporting your Eisteddfod, a wonderful and unique thing, almost as wonderful as being Welsh!
Find more Card images like this and much more at POBshop Cymru
Having trouble finding something on AmeriCymru? Fret no more. Just 'Like' it and it will appear in the new 'My Likes' page in the left hand column on your profile page. A convenient way to bookmark and share your favorite content on the site.
Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12343778
Ray Gravell bronze sculpture unveiled at BBC Wales
The bronze sculpture of Ray Gravell stands in the BBC Wales reception Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-12373750
Brian Jeffrey, 65, started on Mumbles Lifeboats in 1961, following his father who also volunteered | Bangor Cathedral's 700-year-old treasure comes home more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/northwestwales/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_9385000/9385183.stm | |
A precious 700-year-old manuscript will be on view at Bangor Cathedral for one day when a service is held to celebrate its return to the city. The Bangor Pontifical is a 14th Century bishop's manuscript, containing blessings and text of plainchant. It has recently been conserved and rebound, but will now be kept for safety in Bangor University's archive. A service on Sunday will include several plainchant melodies newly transcribed from the document. | |
Customer: 'I've been ringing 0800 2100 for two days and can't get through to enquiries, can you help?'.
Operator: 'Where did you get that number from, sir?'.
Customer: 'It was on the door to the Travel Centre'.
Operator: 'Sir, they are our opening hours'.
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SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS
Caller: 'Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about'.
Caller: 'On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from
the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I think you mean the telephone point on the wall'.
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RAC Motoring Services
Caller: 'Does your European Breakdown Policy cover me when I am travelling in Australia ?'
Operator: ' Doesn't the product name give you a clue?'
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Caller (enquiring about legal requirements while travelling in France ):
'If I register my car in France , do I have to change the steering wheel to the other side of the car?'
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Directory Enquiries
Caller: 'I'd like the number of the Argoed Fish Bar in Cardiff please'.
Operator: 'I'm sorry, there's no listing. Is the spelling correct?'
Caller: 'Well, it used to be called the Bargoed Fish Bar but the 'B' fell off'.
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Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
Operator: 'Woven? Are you sure?'
Caller: 'Yes. That's what it says on the label; "Woven in Scotland "'.
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On another occasion, a man making heavy breathing sounds from a phone box told a worried operator:
'I haven't got a pen, so I'm steaming up the window to write the number on'.
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Tech Support: 'I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop'.
Customer: 'OK'.
Tech Support: 'Did you get a pop-up menu?'.
Customer: 'No'.
Tech Support: 'OK. Right-Click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?'
Customer: 'No'.
Tech Support: 'OK, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?'.
Customer: 'Sure. You told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click''.
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Tech Support: 'OK. In the bottom left hand side of the screen, can you see the 'OK' button displayed?'
Customer: 'Wow. How can you see my screen from there?'
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Caller: 'I deleted a file from my PC last week and I have just realised that I need it.
If I turn my system clock back two weeks will I have my file back again?'.
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There's always one. This has got to be one of the funniest things in a long time.
I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired.
This is a true story from the Word Perfect Helpline, which was transcribed from a recording monitoring
the customer care department.
Needless to say the Help Desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization
for 'Termination without Cause'.
Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee. (Now I know why they record these conversations!):
Operator: 'Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?'
Caller: 'Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect.'
Operator: 'What sort of trouble??'
Caller: 'Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.'
Operator: 'Went away?'
Caller: 'They disappeared.'
Operator: 'Hmm So what does your screen look like now?'
Caller: 'Nothing.'
Operator: 'Nothing??'
Caller: 'It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type.'
Operator: 'Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out??'
Caller: 'How do I tell?'
Operator: 'Can you see the C: prompt on the screen??'
Caller: 'What's a sea-prompt?'
Operator: 'Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?'
Caller: 'There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type.'
Operator: 'Does your monitor have a power indicator??'
Caller: 'What's a monitor?'
Operator: 'It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on??'
Caller: 'I don't know.'
Operator: 'Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that??'
Caller: 'Yes, I think so.'
Operator: 'Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall.
Caller: 'Yes, it is.'
Operator: 'When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one??'
Caller: 'No.'
Operator: 'Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable.'
Caller: 'Okay, here it is.'
Operator: 'Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer.'
Caller: 'I can't reach.'
Operator: 'Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is??'
Caller: 'No.'
Operator: 'Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?'
Caller: 'Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark.'
Operator: 'Dark??'
Caller: 'Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window.
Operator: 'Well, turn on the office light then.'
Caller: 'I can't.'
Operator: 'No? Why not?'
Caller: 'Because there's a power failure.'
Operator: 'A power......... A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now.
Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in??'
Caller: 'Well, yes, I keep them in the closet.'
Operator: 'Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it.
Then take it back to the store you bought it from.'
Caller: 'Really? Is it that bad?'
Operator: Yes, I'm afraid it is.'
Caller: 'Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them??'
Operator: 'Tell them you're too f-------ing stupid to own a computer!!!'
