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On the 13 th September 2012 , Big Pit in Blaenafon will host a memorial concert in remembrance of those who have lost their lives in coal mining accidents. The concert comes two days before the first anniversary of the Gleision Colliery tragedy .

This concert will be held at Pit Bottom , 300 ft underground . An upright piano will be placed into the cage to make the descent into the mine. Several dignitaries and special guests including the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones will be attending the concert.

Performing will be Daniel and Laura Curtis who are considered as one of the foremost ambassadors for the preservation of the music of Ivor Novello and T he Great American Songbook . Welsh writer and actor Boyd Clack will also be writing a new poem to mark the event as well as joining Daniel and Laura in song. The BBC One Show will be covering the concert for inclusion as a VT in a future programme.

Daniel Curtis said I have wanted to do a concert at Big Pit for a long time. I contacted the museum with my fingers crossed that they wouldnt think I was crazy! Luckily it wasnt the craziest request they had ever received. Its great that we are making this happen. My great grandfather died in Senghenydd Colliery and I really wanted to hold a concert to pay tribute to pay my respects and raise awareness for those who have died in mines . Singing was an important part of mining history with many miners being members of their local Male Voice Choir. The number of people who lost their lives through the years is one the biggest tragedies running through the history of Wales and Britain .

Peter Walker, Keeper and Mine Manager added: We are only too happy to work with Daniel and Laura Curtis on this concert, as we feel passionately that any effort to keep the memories of this most important industry alive is vitally important . We have had many weird and wonderful events underground, and we look forward to sharing the excitement of this unusual concert.

Stage and screen legend Jo na than Pryce has supported the concert by saying: Coal mining is ingrained in our history and has to been one of the toughest and most dangerous jobs that anybody could do. My father worked in two mines in the Holywell area including the Bettisfield Colliery, but my mother rescued him from the mines when they married and both became shopkeepers. It is very important that we remember those who have lost their lives working in mines, but also those who have died from diseases like pneumoconiosis caused by the inhalation of dust. Due to my theatre commitments with King Lear, I am unable to attend the memorial concert at Big Pit, Blaenafon but I would like to add my support to the concert and wish Dan and Laura Curtis all the very best. Taking a piano underground is certainly unique idea and will, without doubt, create a very special and poignant atmosphere. Jonathan Pryce CBE .

The piano has kindly been donated by Pianos Cymru who are an award winning piano dealership in the NorthWest Wales area and have recently opened another branch in Chester called Jones Pianos . They have been established since 1970 and offer an extensive range of pianos. They have twice won the prestigious Kawai Dealer of The Year Award which is a National Recognition Award to the Piano Dealer that has served the piano world best thorough the UK that year. They have supplied and maintained pianos for major Music Festivals across the UK , and worked for International stars that have included Jose Carreras, Jamie Cullum, Bryn Terfel, Michae l Ball and Dame Shirley Bassey. www.pianoscymru.com

Reposted by request:

St. Davids Society Gathering of the Clans afternoon celebrating our Columbus Day holiday in memory of Poultney native of Welsh heritage, George Jones (Co-founder, the New York Times newspaper). This is a charity event for United Baptist Churchs historic building upkeep.

Free Will offering. All are welcome.

Sunday, October 7th
Yankee Pot Roast Dinner * (12:30 p.m.)
(pre-paid pre-registration is required*)

Many of you probably realise by now that the majority of writers I feature on this blog are mutual Twitter Followers. In other words we follow each other on Twitter. For aspiring authors one of the best pieces of adviceI can give you is get on Twitter. It is a unique platform for getting your voice out there. By now you all now my feelings about Google+ and Facebook. Whoever eventually dominates the social mediauniverse Twitter will still bean essentialingredient for success.

Word of mouth is by far the most effective and powerful means of letting others know about your book or blog. Follow authors and readers within your niche and if they like what they see or hear they will spread the word and once the 'tipping point' is reached your book or blog becomes viral.

I recently 'discovered' a simple free app that has the potential to accelerate this 'word of mouth' process. It's called Pay With A Tweet and like most great ideas is based on a simple concept. At the moment this app is only compatible with Facebook and Twitter. Once Google+ begins to provide similar apps the potential will increase exponentially. For now, I am going to focus on its use with Twitter.

Why not let the creators of this app explain the concept in their own words:

Sell your products for the price of a tweet.

In today's world the value of people talking about your product is sometimes higher than the money you would get for it. Pay with a Tweet is the first social payment system, where people pay with the value of their social network.

Its simple, every time somebody pays with a tweet, he or she tells all their friends about the product. Boom.

All you have to do is download a Pay With A Tweet button by filling out a simple form.

This
'alternative Carmarthen' is a town riddled with secrets, vice and betrayal, but
no secret escapes the attention of Carmarthen Intelligence; its brave agents
display constant vigilance in the fight to keep Carmarthen and the rest of Wales
free from its enemies.

While the townspeople go about their business,
beneath its very centre lies Carmarthen Intelligence HQ, where our heroes, along
with their colleagues at the Welsh Bureau of Investigation in Swansea, take up
arms against a sinister cabal.

Could there be a traitor among
them?
Why does Myddfai have a sheriff?
Does Betti Williams make the best
breakfast this side of Llangollen?

I am really looking foward to discovering this secret Camarthen.

Gaynoralso has another
book available from Lulu hot off the press - 'A Meeting Of Dragons'

Click the image to go to Gaynor's page on Lulu.
Good luck Gaynor we need all the Welsh authors we can get.

AmeriCymru at Wordstock - Event Floorplan

AmeriCymru at Wordstock ( stall 302 ) Please click image above to enlarge.

WORDSTOCK

The venue: Oregon Convention Center

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AOregon_Convention_Center_Dusk_1_%28edit%29.jpg"> Photo from Wikimedia Commons

I dont know whether it's a Celtic character trait or just a personal foible but trainwrecks and disaster areas always hold me spellbound. So when I took the decision to migrate to the United States more than a decade ago I pondered my top ten "to visit" list. One of the locations near the top of that list was Mt St Helens. I got lucky there, it's only 40 miles north of Portland alongside I5 and I have visited many times over the last decade. Another location near the top of the list was Centralia P.A.. For anyone unfamiliar with the town and its incredible history there is a wealth of information below. This year on the way back from NAFOW in Scranton our return flight was booked from Harrisburg airport. Centralia is about 60 miles north of Harrisburg just off Highway 81.

As the pictures below clearly demonstrate Centralia is a ghost town. An underground fire has been burning in the anthracite seam below the town since 1962 and efforts to put it out were abandoned decades ago. Experts disagree on how long the subterranean conflagration will continue to rage but some estimates give it another 1000 years. Nearly 3000 people lived in Centralia in its heyday. According to the 2010 census there are now 10.

( You will need to click on the individual photos below to view the commentaries and it should be noted in passing that no visit to this fascinating corner of PA is complete without a visit to the Ashland Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train )

For a brief introduction to the town and its history there is always the Wikipedia but the most authoritative account is undoubtedly The Day The Earth Caved In by Joan Quigley first published in 2007. In the prologue we learn that:-

"By 1980, Centralia boasted more than twenty-five hundred residents, most of whom had emigrated from Ireland, Wales, Germany and to an increasing extent from southern and eastern Europe."

Pictured below is the damage caused to Route 61 by the underground fire and an aerial panorama of the rerouted highway after attempts to maintain the old road were abandoned in 1993.

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Here is a short video documentary about the fire, its aftermath and its effect on local residents:-

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In an attempt to secure original content displayed on the AC site we are hoping to limit downloads to signed in members only. This will obviously have the additional benefit of encouraging people to sign in I have just added the code and SJ is about to conduct tests. I'm hoping he will post here soon to tell us that all went spiffingly well ( or not as the case may be ).

It was a great weekend and we have all sorts of material and reports to upload. But first, decompression. I am not the world's keenest traveller and although the journey went smoothly I am postponing any further activities till tomorrow morning.

Special thanks though, to new AmeriCymru member Michael Hill whose help with the AC stall in the marketplace was invaluable and also hugely entertaining. I'm hoping he's not going to come on here and post any details about my unique and cutting edge marketplace cash management system.

Delboy

Diolch

Italian Cream Cake

1/2 cups margarine

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup shortening

5 eggs separated

1 tablespoon baking soda

2 cups sifted flour

1 (4 oz) can coconut

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour three 9 inch cake pans or 9 X 13 pan. In a large bowl combine shortening and margarine add sugar, cream, egg yolks one at a time beating well after each addition. Combine buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Add alternately with flour, beginning and ending with flour. Blend in coconut. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Pour into pans and bake 30 - 35 minutes. Cool completely then frost as follows.

Cream 1/2 cup margarine, 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese. Blend in 1 lb powdered sugar and 1 cup chopped nuts. Frost Cake.

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 cups mashed sweet potatoes

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 stick butter, melted

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

Mix ingredients in order in mixer. Place in greased dish.

Topping

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup plain flour

1 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup soft butter

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes