Blogs

Owain Glyndwr Day – Sept 16


By mona everett, 2011-09-14

Maen Ddydd Owain Glyndr dydd Gwener yma Medi 16. Chwifiwch eich baner Glyndr uwchben eich Cyngor, busnes, ysgol a chartref a balchder. Yn ogystal, sicrhewch bod Baner Glyndr yn chwifio ar gestyll ac adeiladau eraill yn eich hardal chi sydd dan ofal Cadw neur Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol.

It'sOwainGlyndwr Day Sept 16this Friday so fly your Owain Glyndr flag with pride above your Council, school, business or home. Also, please ensure that the Glyndr flag is flown on castles and other buildings in your locality that is in the keeping of Cadw or the National Trust.

Fel Arferpasiwch ymlaen .

Please pass on as usual.

Diolch.

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New Birds 'Feature'


By Ceri Shaw, 2011-09-13

Have we gone too far? Will we be praised for our technical ingenuity or ridiculed and scorned for our blatant promotional tactics? If the latter....unload your bile and spleen here.

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The Garden


By Gillian Morgan, 2011-09-13

The Garden

Crochet filaments

Measure time,

Spaces,

Eau de Nil, cubed Queen Anne green,

Massed leaves. Capacity of sunlight

Fan-vaults this side of the sky,

Copper-cognac treen.

Solar flares,

Hurdy gurdies, hot or white;

I plant the seeds-

Sweet Williams, Canterbury Bells,

Mercerised caesuars-

As though I have the answer

To a universal need

Or just

A single lily,

Cicatricule of leaves.

Prism of lime pickle spice

Cusping a cloth of gold:

Salt chilli squid, magenta,

Bilateral harvest of crimson crabs.

It's the sun-fast colours that flavour-

Oil of Neroli, cafe granitas,

Tincture of Sedum Matrona;

Wine and my plasma brimming

A song of the day I was born.

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fyhfdh


By Ceri Shaw, 2011-09-13

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Lavender and Larvae


By Gillian Morgan, 2011-09-12

I've been whisking about the house with my feather duster (Art Course starts tomorrow).

Hanging at our windows are silk, cotton and linen curtains - (sorry, I don't want to sound like a mercer in fine fabrics-never mind the width, feel the quality, tra la la la) but natural fabrics have a weakness in certain respects.

Drawingone set back this morning, Mercy me! (or just 'Mercy' as Roy Orbison says)I awoke a sleepy moth.I soon flicked that duster around, watching little bits of down feather floating through the dusty motes illuminated by the sun.

Anyone would think I was a prestitigitateur (conjuror - don't say you came home from school again today and didn't learn anything) the way that darng moth disappeared.

It was comatose when I disturbed it but no sight or sound of it was to be seen. Now,I do not usually flap my wings at the sight of a moth, but a friend has losta few woollen jumpers and coats after a recent invasion, and it is not the moths so much as the larvae that are the culprits, though I shall hold the whole bunch of them responsible.

I have a flexible brush to go behind the radiators and use the nozzle of thevacuumto disturbthe dust in awkward corners, so I don't know how that moth made it onto the curtains.

The room (and curtains) has hada vigorous pounding and I've not seen another winged creature since, neither any larvae. However, I've taken the precaution of buying a few lavender bags and placing them on the windowsill, so I hope this means the moths will be dining elsewhere in future.

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Just go to the 'Donate' button in the right hand column on this page to make a donation to the West Coast Eisteddfod AND enter the draw for two fantastic prizes ( both original works of art ). View the video above and the slideshow below for more details about the original artwork contributed by Swansea artist and illustrator Jeff Phillips. Ever thought of turning your home into an art gallery? Well, this is your chance! Proudly exhibit original and unique portraits of 26 leading Welsh Icons for just one dollar! Each ticket purchased entitles you to a chance in both draws. Pob Lwc :)

West Coast Eisteddfod 2011 Lovespoon - Video Blog

David Garland Jones YouTube Channel

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A Film Wish List


By Kerry Ann Jones, 2011-09-11

Earnings from tourism are a big part of most countries earnings along with invisible earnings from crime...but we won't go there! Just from looking at the banners on this site the image that Wales displays world wide is of great importance. Wales is showcased by Ceri Shaws work with the Eisteddfods which helps to raise the profile of Wales our language and culture. Another member of our merry band on this site Gustavo Letelier is a film maker from Chile who is very seriously interested in making a joint Chilean Welsh film production. Talking to Gustavo made me wonder about these questions below.

Could I ask anyone interested to give their opinions. I'll be starting off with my two penneth worth and am speaking as someone who comes from Canton in Cardiff, who went to Cathays High and because of Dad had Welsh as my first language. I am someone who still misses Clark's Pie and a potato fritter in batter from Yans in Whitchurch Road, almost opposite St Joe's Club in Cardiff and being able to go to Dorothy (down the side of the Brain's Brewery) for Chicken Curry on the bone and chips after going clubbing. I also remember the Brown Bear who stood in the door way of the tobacconist on the corner by the Prince of Wales by the bus station. That bear had it's knee rubbed by so many children that it had no fur left on its knee. Watching the tidal bore going up the Seven Estuary near Seven Tunnel Junction. Those are my memories and are a part of Wales that make Wales unique. For those who are not born in Wales, it would be interesting to see your answers as you will see Wales differently that Ceri Shaw, Dr Conker of Sicknote and we other natives do.

So in any film that shows Wales and the Welsh without the daft stereo-types, what does everyone think it should show not so it looks like a tourism film but shows the heart of the people and what is important to the Welsh as a culture? Our quirks, our idiosyncrasies, our humour, our soul.

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When all is said and done


By Gillian Morgan, 2011-09-09

Some years ago people who wanted to be pompous and add depth to a comment used the expression 'this moment in time', when they meant 'now'. Thespeaker wanted to show that aglimpse of eternity had been revealed,a grasp ofan existential truth that was beyond the capacity ofthe rest of us mere mortals.

Once the words 'this moment in time',were uttered, my mind shut down, realising thespeaker believed the apogee of the talk had been reached when, in reality, it was the nadir.Whatever else followedcould only be evenmore laboured prose.

Since then, more gobbledegook has followed.I particularly detest the following cliches:

Re-frame: I believe this means to look at something in another way.

Blue sky thinking: to be optimistic.

Sing from the same hymn sheet: Understand that we're talking about the same thing and are in agreement.

A window of opportunity: We have the opportunity.

Let's run it up the flagpole: Let's see if it's going to work. Let's see where the weaknesses are.

Flown the nest: (I hate this one particularly. Tweet about it in a different way, for goodness sake.)

The children have left home. What's wrong with saying that? If you want to be Fred Flintstoneyou might try: They've foundtheir own caves. Or, they're in their own tepees, caravans, tents, yurts, igloos, palaces, castles. Anything, but leave the nest out of it.

Piled on the pounds/ the weight dropped off:There must be another way of saying this, though I can't think of one.

At the end of the day: Grrr, grrr. Forget 'At the end of the day'. Just say what your aiming for. It sounds a lot better.

I see where you're coming from: I understand (the point you are making).

So, there we are. I've given youthe long and the short of it.

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Autumn in the Skies


By Gillian Morgan, 2011-09-09

September is a transitional month, the short chapter between summer and the rest of the year.Heralding new beginnings for pupils and students, it is the time to cast aside frivolity and get down to some seriously hard work.

The temperature can be unreliable, so justwhen we'vepacked away oursummer clothes, along comes a mini heatwaveto scorch us, but not this year, not yet, anyway.

The skies have frowned hard all day, splattering raindrops at will and being generally annoying. No sign of 'Haf Fach Mihangel'or 'Indian Summer' for us, just loads of 'Ugg' boots andlittle sign of the poetic 'mellow fruitfulness'.

I've a copy of 'The Cloud Spotter's Guide' which I've not read, yet. My interest in'Cumulonimbus', red skies andmackerel skies, tends tovary.

If I'm painting, the sky can be aproblem to get right.Prince Charles says he was advised to use a paper tissue to create texture in the sky for a watercolour painting, but I have decisions about how much sky to allow into the painting.

John Constable, thepainter, lovedSeptemberskies, describing them as 'silvery, windyand delicious'.

Kyffin Williams's skies are heavy, ponderous very often, and I like the confidence with which he paints them.

Some years ago, a man who lived ten miles from Haverfordwest was inhis garden when he noticed clouds rolling swiftly across the sky, as night was drawing in. He immediately called his family to look.Pointing out significantcloud shapes, hesawa war looming, with massed armies gathering.

Not long afterwards World War 11 broke out. Makes you look atclouds in a different way, doesn't it?

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Drinks all round.


By Ian Price2, 2011-09-09

Only in The Rhondda

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