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There was uproar today at the Americymru command bunker amidst allegations of massive vote-rigging in the Clown of the Month Competition. The leading contestant in the poll was disqualified after evidence of duplicate voting on a massive scale was unearthed."Some people will go to any lengths to win this prestigious award", said Dai Twaddle , the Americymru Humor Supremo. "Obviously the prospect of winning first prize brings out the worst in people." The first prize is:- " A tacky photoshop job on your profile pic portraying you with a clowns hat, false beard and glasses"The contestant at the center of the vote-rigging storm, who shall remain nameless ( Gareth Williams ) responded to the allegations this morning by saying:- " I won it fair and square...there's nothing in the rules against cheating".Amidst demands for a recount and comparisons with another famous electoral controversy in 2000, runner-up Linda Hall was declared the first "Americymru Clown of the Month". She will be rewarded in due course with the aforementioned tacky photoshop job and with a free ad for her website in our new classified ads page launching this weekend.

I know that I am one with beautyAnd that my comrades are one.Let our souls be mountains,Let our spirits be stars,Let our hearts be worlds.~From Ansel Adams, An AutobiographyA mantra of Gaelic origin given to Adams by Ella Young

Some of the earliest films made in Wales are avilable on the internet for the first time courtesy of The British Film Institute and video-sharing site YouTube:- BFI FILMS CHANNEL National Eisteddfod 1916

It is with great pride and pleasure that we feature the work of David Western in this post. He is a lovespoon carver from Cardiff, currently residing in Vancouver B.C., and has just published a book on the art of creating the lovespoon, Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons: Understanding, Designing and Creating Romantic Treasures , Fox Chapel Publishing (October 1, 2008).

Pictures of some of his beautiful work are on our Pictures tab and can be seen below:

Just the thing for St. Dwynwyn's Day or, if you must, St Valentines, or even Christmas for that special someone. You can contact David or leave him comments on his Americymru page here .

David's website gives his bio:

"I was born in Cardiff, Wales but now live in Victoria, BC, Canada. A graduate of the University of British Columbia and a cabinetmaker by trade, I hold City and Guilds Certification in both cabinet making and furniture design from the UK and Canadian Inter-provincial Certification in joinery. I have been carving for over 20 years; my spoons are found in collections throughout the world.

"My lovespoons are carved entirely by hand using only domestic North American woods. I feel our native timbers easily rival any tropical hardwood for beauty and colouration. Using sustainable, easily grown lumber such as alder and maple allows me to avoid contributing toward the denuding of tropical rain forests.

"Lovespoon carving is my passion. I constantly strive to expand the boundaries of design while creating unique and innovative carvings which respect and honour the tradition of the Welsh lovespoon. My lovespoons are not souvenir trinkets; they are art which also celebrates both my client's personal stories and my hard-earned skills as a craftsman and designer. I believe the romantic, thoughtful, hand-crafted lovespoon still has an important role to play in our increasingly sterile and pre-fabricated society. My goal is to continue the tradition of the lovespoon while introducing it to as wide an audience as possible both within and beyond the Welsh community."

THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE DIGITAL ARTS is a year long web event culminating in Awards and screenings at the RIVERFRONT THEATRE, NEWPORT on October, 3rd. 2009.Enter via the websitehttp://www.amritsa.com/idmf/home09.htmIMAGES, AUDIO, VIDEO, CGI in fact anything digital. Your entries will be posted on the festival site to be judged by viewers to the site. Short listing will undertaken mid 2009 ready for exhibition in Newport later. More details:- johnwake@wales-tours.com

I want to build a cob house. Cob is a building material made of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth, similar to adobe and people have been using it since at least the 11th century to build warm, durable homes that still stand in Wales and around the world. There are cob projects here in Portland where I live - a wall and bench of a food co-op I go to and benches at schools and on corners around town.Cob buildings can be very interesting and have a lot of character, from this traditional house in New Zealand which has survived two earthquakes:

to more artistic and experimental forms:

Here in Oregon, we're lucky to have Ianto Evans and the Cob Cottage Company . They offer apprenticeships and workshops on cob building and Mr. Evans, an Oregonian of Welsh birth, has written books on cob building and efficient woodburning stoves, including his own invention, the rocket stove .He's also written a book on building with cob, The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book , with co-authors from the Cob Cottage Company. This is a great book and I'm buying a copy, there are five copies at my library and they're always out. So if you're interested in a fascinating project - from a real house to a bench for your home, have a look at cob.

One of the most important Welsh historical sites in Northeastern PA has been desecrated. Many of the grave markers of 61 men and boys who perished in the Avondale Mine Disaster of 1869 have been spray painted, tipped, broken or have fallen into disrepair. The Scranton Times has detailed the condition of the site in a recent article. www.welshnepa.orgSeveral organizations have come together to help raise funds to repair the markers, the cost of which is projected to be $4,500 to $5,000. We have contracted to have the work done by the 150th anniversary, 2009.The National Welsh American Foundation erected a marker Oct., 1994, which stands at the entrance of the Washburn cemetery. In addition to restoring the individual graves, we want to erect a more detailed marker near the grave sites that would note the event and the names of those who perished. Any funds beyond restoration would go to this marker."The people of NEPA, through their labors with coal, iron, and steam, assured America's experiment in democracy, saved it from self-destruction, and created the dynamo that drove it to international dominance." www.welshnepa.orgThese early Northeastern Pennsylvania pioneers were primarily of Welsh origins who brought with them the skills of coal mining and iron making. As in the case of Avondale and other deadly events, the Welsh and many other immigrants lost their lives in their labors to build America."September 6, 1869, 110 men and boys left their homes that morning to go to work at the Avondale Mine near Plymouth, PA. A fire started in the shaft which was the only means of escape. All lives were lost as well as two rescuers. The youngest was 10 year old Willie Hatton, who did not work in the mine, but like most children wanted to see where his dad worked. Other father and son tragedies include the death of a father and his three sons, as well as another father and his two sons."----Linda Scott, Chairperson, Avondale Restoration Project, and a Living History Interpreter.All donations should be sent to:The Lackawanna Historical SocietyAvondale Tombstone Restoration Project232 Monroe Ave.Scranton, PA 18510The envelope and the memo on the check should state: "Avondale Tombstone Restoration Project"This is a link to a contribution info: http://www.welshnepa.org/AvondaleHelp.htmlThank you for your assistance with this important project.All the best,Jerry WilliamsPresidentLackawanna County Saint David's Society.570-785-5164gwylym@echoes.netwww.welshnepa.org

Searching for information on my 7th gr-grandfather.Thomas Hughes of Pentwyn in Llantilio,gent; buried 7 Oct.1742Jane Hughes (wife)d/o William/Susanna( Watkins)HughesNeed birth date, also name of father/mother. Judy

There's some amazing shots in the photo albums and in case you hadn't noticed, Tam Ryan has absolutely PACKED the shots in. Here are my three favorite albums of hers:St Fagin's Museum of Welsh Lifehttp://americymru.ning.com/photo/photo/slideshow?albumId=2111712:Album:15198Carew Castle:http://americymru.ning.com/photo/photo/slideshow?albumId=2111712:Album:16772Aberystwyth album 2:http://americymru.ning.com/photo/photo/slideshow?albumId=2111712:Album:14604

We were immensely excited and pleased to learn that David Llewellyn , a recording artist from Nashville Tenessee and a member of Americymru has won the 2008 John Lennon Songwriting Contest ( Folk category. ) with a song about Welsh coal-mining. The song , "Take Us Down" can be heard on his Americymru profile page here . .David explains a little about the background to the sing in this quote from the News section of his site:-"I just won the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting competition Folk Category !!!!!!!I entered Take Us Down, my song about a small boys first day down a Welsh coal mine, and his fathers thoughts.The song also helped me win the Kerrville Folk Festivals New Folk competition last year. I could say Im lucky I guess, but I must take this opportunity to thank Kari Estrin.As a consultant, and then manager, she single handedly refocused my career. She took me back to my roots, took me back to Wales, made me look at my upbringing, my childhood in the small coal mining valleys of South Wales . . . and see who I am. She went with me as I went down a coal mine for the first time, as I listened to the stories of the old miners who are the tour guides now. The song is a testament to these men, my uncles, my family, the generations of men and children who worked underground. It is their story, their words, but without Kari, I would have missed it all. Thank you Kari."David is currently our featured member on Americymru and we hope to be running a much fuller piece on his life and work in the near future.