Blogs
From the Ning Blog:-"The 6pm release will include the following updates to our Chat feature:* Chat will now match the theme or CSS of your network.* Emoticons and icons have been updated to work more seamlessly with dark backgrounds.* An online/offline flag will be available for you to toggle your status while you are on a page with Chat.* The More feature will be fully functioning and you should be able to switch between pages of members in your Chat feature.* Server updates to improve availability and stability.This week we will also be adding a clear messages option for Network Creators and Administrators to remove current text in a chat room.Along with these major updates, weve fixed a host of smaller bugs and issues throughout the weekend. While there will be some hiccups with Chat today and this week as we continue to optimize this new feature, it should be increasingly stable and polished with each passing day.Thanks to all who worked with us this weekend on the beta release, reporting issues and providing feedback! Please continue to let us know as you find issues with Chat and we will address them as soon as we can. Well have another update once we complete Chat release this evening Pacific time."
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In his own words Michael O'Brien tells his moving story of how he was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit the Cardiff Newsagent Murder during the 1980s. The book reveals the trauma and heartache he suffered whilst in prison and how he learnt to cope. During the eleven years he not only lost his freedom and youth but also members of his family including the tragic death of his daughter and step-father.
Death of Justice uncovers the shocking story of how police incompetence and scapegoating result in three innocent men being convicted and the catalogue of mistreatment during their time in prison. It is also details how Michael O'Brien taught himself law and successfully took two Home Secretaries Michael Howard and Jack Straw to court, how he won his appeal and eventual release and the largest payout in legal history.
Michael O'Brien lives in Cardiff with his partner and family and continues to support people who face similar legal battles. An exclusive programme of Wales this Week on Michael O Briens story is due to be broadcast on Monday night the 1st of September at 8pm.
Death of Justice (9.95), Michael OBrien is available here
Michael OBrien will be signing copies of his new autobiography The Death of Justice in Borders bookshop Cardiff at 12pm on Monday the 1st of September
If you would like to request a copy of Y Lolfas new catalogue e-mail llyfrau@ylolfa.com.
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I realize as I start to think more and more about these upcoming book reviews that maybe I should give a little more information about myself before I start.I live in northwestern New Jersey near Pennsylvania where I also own a small handcrafted jewelry shop. I grew up in central NJ, but have lived in many NJ towns as well as in PA and Florida. For nearly ten years I worked as a high school English teacher in both NJ and FL teaching all sorts of English curriculum subjects - World Lit, American Lit, Creative Writing, Expository Writing, and Journalism to name a few. I have spent most of my life as an aspiring author who has written many short stories and a couple books - all unpublished - in addition to an article for The English Journal. I read all the time and set myself a yearly challenge to read 50+ books and then increase that total by at least two each year. I mainly read fiction and do not limit myself to certain subjects in my reading. I'm not too big on non-fiction; however, I have been known to pick up the random biography or factual account and enjoy it fully. I carry a book list with me at all times and add to it constantly. Right now that list includes 28 titles and is sure to increase again by the end of the week.Mainly, what gives me any right to review books? I love them and have learned to look at books objectively through teaching. I know that my tastes might not suit everyone, but I will try to do my best with the books I talk about.
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Anyone checking in on Welsh Books will see in the "Recommended" list two by Gee Williams - Salvage and Blood etc. Gee is my wife and now in demand to review other people's books so I get to listen in on the book scene although does one listen to a scene?... anyway I thought you'd like to know about the Library of Wales even if you already do. One of its choices "The Dark Philosophers" is in the Book of the Month list. It's a joint venture between Parthian, the Carmarthen publisher based at Trinity College and the Welsh Assembly, who put up the cash. The Library will bring back Welsh classic authors like Rhys Davies, Gwyn Thomas and George Ewart Evans. The one that dropped on the mat recently is George Ewart Evans' The Voices of the Children. It didn't immediately inspire confidence being, and I quote "a delicate and heart-felt story of the golden.... world of childhood". But it's good. Really good. It has excellent clear writing that makes your heart sing as when Mr Wilkins' wife would hardly let him upstairs to bed for fear of smudging the linoleum or to find that Penywaun hill was as steep as your forehead. George Ewart Evans was a pioneer of oral history but his writing deserves to be read. Try it.David Williams
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This week I agreed to start working on some book reviews to add to Americymru.I have yet to start those reviews, but have decided first to compile my personal book list of books I've read recently which in some way refer to, include, or are set in Wales, factual or fictional. I wanted to mention that I have not gone looking for books relating to Wales, but instead that the books I am listing and will eventually write about have just happened to be about Wales in some way when I've read them. This means that at times, the mention of Wales or the use of Wales is very small or subtle, but it is still there. These are also books that are mainstream and which are available for sale in the majority of bookstores.So my list so far (and this is definitely not complete, but is what I can think of off the top of my head here at the shop):The Bridei Chronicles by Juliet Marillier (fictional Wales) 3 booksKing Raven Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead (retold story of Robin Hood in Wales) 3 booksLady MacBeth by Susan Fraser King (gives a mention of Wales)The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies (WWII Wales)Added 8/15Tyrant of the Mind by Priscilla Royal (fictional Wales)The Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte (Arthurian Tale) 9 booksAdded 8/16Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde (extremely fictional depiction of Wales) 5 book
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Ambitious plans are afoot in to develop a mixed use neighborhood in upstate New York which "will interpret the history of Remsen and the legacy of Welsh immigration to the village and the area."Amongst other features ( see "Conceptual Plan" HERE ) it is intended that a genealogy, folklore and historical Interpretation Center will be established that will work in partnership with the Museum of Welsh Life in St. Fagan's, Wales.For more on these exciting plans click HERE .
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"Hollywood star Rhys joins druids"(from BBC News)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7549086.stmHollywood star Matthew Rhys may be used to wardrobe changes, but his latest costume is particularly striking.Dressed head to foot in a flowing white gown, he became a member of the Gorsedd of Bards at Wales' leading cultural festival, the National Eisteddfod.The star of Dylan Thomas biopic Edge of Love joins a select group honoured for their contribution to Wales.Rhys, 33, has adopted the bardic name Matthew Taf, recognising his home city of Cardiff and the River Taff."
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The author has placed a strong emphasis on the guide’s practicality: “My wish is to enthuse potential visitors, so I have spent more time on access than is usual, having visited every castle. I particularly hope to interest people in the lesser-known castles well worth seeing, many of which are open to the public without charge.”
Castles In Wales has a wide-ranging introduction, setting the castles in their historical, cultural, political and military context. The main guide comprises nearly 80 entries on medieval castles, including notes on access, grid references, history and the buildings themselves. Two appendices comprise a list of over 400 medieval castles and a shorter list of “possible, post-medieval and lost castles” in Wales. The book is fully illustrated with over 100 black and white photographs.
Author Gerald Morgan lives in Aberystwyth and likes to describe himself as a teacher and historian in that order. After teaching English at Ysgol Maes Garmon, Mold, and at Ysgol Gyfun Aberteifi, he served 22 years as head teacher of Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni, then of Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig, Aberystwyth. A second career saw him teaching Welsh and local history in the Extra-Mural Department of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He has published books and articles on a wide range of subjects. Castles in Wales is published by Y Lolfa and will be available in bookshops and on www.ylolfa.com from the 11 th of August for £6.95.
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Basically this sport, more correctly referred to as "coasteering" involves jumping off cliffs:-"It was early on a Sunday, I'd just spent my second night under canvas and the delights of the pub in St Davids were still weighing heavy on my mind.So perhaps hurling myself into the Irish Sea from a Pembrokeshire cliff ledge while it was blowing a gale was not such a great idea? " MORE HERE
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Hey Ceri, ti'n gwneud job fendigedig gyda'r safle. Llongyfarchiadau a diolch Taff!Hey Ceri, you are doing a marvelous job with the site. congratulations and thanks Taff!
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