On Monday 19th 2008 Gareth Williams addressed the masses and he spake thus:-"Ha. That William Wallace was a pussy! Big OG WOULD HAVE KICKED HIS HAGGISY ASS RIGHT BACK TO STIRLING. Dont be fooled by the Saxon/Norman propaganda machine. Owain and Elvis run a fish and chip shop in Corwen. My mate Edgar swears to it"We need evidence! Does anyone have any photographs?. ( hint, photoshop skills required ). I think there should be a prize on here for the best pic. Perhaps a jar of of "G&P's Homemade Pickled Eggs ". I hear they are a legend!

Seren will be opening a pop-up shop in Castle Arcade, Cardiff, throughout December. The National Theater of Wales have very kindly let us use their shop front at 30 Castle Arcade, for the month of December, while they are busy promoting their latest project, Silly Kings.

In addition to selling great books we will be hosting many author events with Francesca Rhydderch, Rhian Edwards, Robert Minhinick Ivy Alvarez, Damian Walford Davies , Phil Cope and Grahame Davies all due to make an appearance Books make great presents, signed books make even better ones.

We will also be giving out a secret daily discount code to be used in the shop, so keep you eyes on our Twitter and Facebook accounts!

The shop will be open every day up until Christmas from 10am 5pm . So come and join us for great offers, author events and a mince pie.

Author Events @ The Seren Christmas Pop-Up Shop:

Thursday 5th December Robert Minhinnick, 12pm
Robert will be in the shop to promote his latest title, The Island of Lightning , in which he travels all over the world, from Porthcawl, to Argentina, China, Finland, Iraq, Tuscany, Piemonte, New York, Zagreb, Lithuania and the lightning island of Malta A perfect present for the armchair traveller.

Saturday 7th December Festive Fiction, 2pm
Francesca Rhydderch ( The Rice Paper Diaries ), David Llewellyn ( Ibrahim & Reenie ) and Kate Hamer (author of 1976 , our short story of the month) will all be at the shop reading their fantastic fiction. Come and join us for an afternoon of great stories, mulled wine and mince pies.

Wednesday 11th December Rhian Edwards 2pm
Wales Book of the Year Winner Rhian Edwards will be reading from her award winning collection Clueless Dogs . Rhian is a recipient of the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry, so this is an event not to be missed.

Thursday 12th December Phil Cope, 11am
Phil Cope will be in to tell us about the ancient myths and magic tales behind the sacred wells in the disputed Borderlands between England and Wales. Beautifully illustrated in colour throughout, the wells from Cheshire to Monmouthshire, from the Dee to the Severn are displayed in all their glory, be they in remote countryside or city centre.

Friday 13th December Ivy Alvarez, 2pm
Ivy will be reading from her debut collection Disturbance , a novel in verse that chronicles a murder case, in which the family was gunned down by its patriarch. Each poem plays out like a piece of evidence, slotting together to give us the full case. We hear from the family, the neighbors and the authorities who all could have acted to avoid this tragedy.

Saturday 14th December Short Story Season, 2pm
Maria Donovan and Mary-Anne Constantine will be reading from their short story collections on the 14th. These bite sized stories are perfect for reading in a spare 15 minutes with a cup of coffee and a biccie. Pop in and join us for a minced pie.

Monday 16th December Grahame Davies, 11am
Grahame will be stopping by the shop at 11am on the 16th for a meet and greet. Grahame is the author of several books including, The Dragon and the Crescent, Everything Must Change , Real Wrexham , The Chosen People and Lightning Beneath the Sea as well as co-editing The Big Book of Cardiff with Peter Finch.

Friday 20 ^th December Damian Walford-Davies, 11am
Damian will be signing copies of his latest poetry collection Witch . With the narrative pull of a novel and the vibrancy of a play for voices. Witch offers a thrilling portrait of a Suffolk village in the throes of the witchcraft hunts of the mid-seventeenth century.

Saturday 21st December Dai George, 2pm
Dai George will be calling in to the pop up shop at 2pm . His brilliant dbut novel The Claims Office mixes straightforward narrative with elaborate and strange textures and imagery. This rich surface is undercut by an interesting attitude: a mix of rebellious energy and unflinching satire. His nature poems are often anti-nature poems, there are lively pieces about London and New York and skewed love poems.

From member Betty Belanus :-

"The Smithsonian Folklife Festival will feature Wales this summer. The temporary Festival position of Participant Assistant is listed below. Please note, the closing date is listed as past, but we are seeking fluent Welsh-speakers based in the U.S. due to potential visa problems for Welsh-based candidates and therefore the position will be open until filled as stated. We urge suitable candidates to get applications in as soon as possible. This position is based in Washington, D.C. and the starting date is negotiable. For more information about the event, see www.folklife.si.edu and click on Festival 2009; for application procedures, click under Opportunities/Employment. If you have specific questions about this position, please contact Betty Belanus at BelanusB@si.edu or by calling 202/633-6582.

2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Vacancy Announcement Number: SFF-2009 Opening date: November 24, 2008 Closing date: January 09, 2009 or until filled

Participant Assistant 04-13-09 07-17-09 IS/GS 6 $17.81/hr. salary

Participant Assistants Assistants help the participant coordinator in making logistical arrangements for event participants; help prepare correspondence for participants. Make travel, housing and other arrangements. Spanish Language desired for one position. Welsh Language desired for one position."

This is the Welsh Blogs page of the AmeriCymru Network and AmeriCymru Blog. It features some of the liveliest blogs from Welsh writers, artists and ex-pats. Check out the latest posts from some of our friends and partners below. Posts will update regularly via RSS and new blogs will be added frequently. If you have a blog you would like to see included please contact us on AmeriCymru.

AmeriCymru Welsh Blogs

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Follow the whole nine yards here (a 95 part series) :- Half Marathon Blog

Why I am running:- West Coast Eisteddfod Bryn Seion Church

For details of how to sponsor see this post

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Well, today was my day off. I try to take at least one day off from AmeriCymru, running, blogging etc per week. I freely admit that I have spent the day catching up on the latest series of 'Breaking Bad'. If you haven't seen 'Breaking Bad' yet you are in for a treat. Easily the best show on TV at the moment imho.

But back to running. I was amused to see the following in a post on the site about the about the World Alternative Games in Wales :-

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The man vs. horse race, an event at the World Alternative Games in Wales, has been around for three decades; a man has won three times.

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I guess, over a short distance, the horse should win every time. But I seem to recall reading somewhere that native Americans would capture and break wild horses by tracking and running after them for long distances. The horse would obviously bolt whenever its pursuer came into view but would eventually tire, provided the pursuit was kept up for long enough. I also recall reading somewhere that this has to do with the fact that horses have a thick coat and are unable to lose body heat as effectively as humans . Consequently when it comes to endurance over long distances ( provided one is super fit ) a man can indeed outrun a horse.

I wouldn't swear to any of this and I cant remember the sources of my information. Maybe it's just a mental 'barnacle' ( in the words of Aldous Huxley ) that I have picked up somewhere along the way.

Anyway I dont plan to outrun any horses on July 4th....just finish the course and maybe celebrate with a pint or two. Of course I have to perform the 'Grangetown Dap Dance' before I can get down to any serious celebrating ( all part of my pledge ) but I still don't know the steps. I'll repeat my appeal for info on this . Does anyone know the right moves?

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Reproduced with kind permission of Cymru Culture Magazine

( Editors Note: Mackerel is almost unobtainable in the US apart from the Brit Food sections in Fred Meyers where it can be bought in cans. Unfortunately Mackerel tends to be used as fish bait here and not for human consumption. This is a mistake, witness this excellent recipe from Welsh gastronome Claire Meredith. The consistency of tinned mackerel is different from that of fresh or vacuum packed. The fish's texture is most important to the outcome of the pt. So, you could use smoked trout or smoked haddock if smoked mackerel is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive. )

Recipes can be as difficult as you choose to make them. I am a strong advocate of food that sounds, looks and tastes wonderful, but is very easy to make, and inexpensive. One of my favourite dishes (commonly serverd as a starter or as a chic party food) is my smoked mackerel and horseradish p t . Here's how to do it ...

First, buy some smoked mackerel from your local supermarket (don't buy the pepper-coated variety as this will clash with the horseradish used in the recipe). You could also use smoked trout or haddock instead, if you wish.

Flake the smoked mackerel into a bowl and break it into small pieces. Do not use a liquidiser as it would make the mixture too smooth (the coarse texture of this p t is one of its strengths).

Add 1-2 table spoons of creamed horseradish (to taste) and mix well. This mixture can then be stored in the fridge until needed.

Take some small capers out of the brine in which they are stored and set to one side. These will be used as a garnish for the final dish.

You could make the brown seeded rolls yourself, but I use the part-baked versions available from my local supermarket. They only take 6 minutes in the oven and come out smelling wonderful. Cut the bread rolls in half, spread with margarine (or butter, whichever you prefer), pile on a generous amount of the mackeral p t and then sprinkle with capers.

It's a simple as that! Enjoy.

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