Most of our members and readers will be acquainted with Geoff Brookes excellent blog on this site. Likewise most of you will be aware that he is the author of 'Stories in Welsh Stone' . One reviewer described the book in the following terms:- "This book hits on the clever, evocative idea of retelling fifteen of Waless most infamous murders or mysterious deaths by focussing on the gravestones. The graves and landscapes around them are depicted in beautiful photographs and each story is accompanied by directions to find the grave."

The Western Mail described it as:- "a colourful and handsome book about passion, drama, injustice and tragedy."

We are challenging our readers to answer the following three questions in order to win a copy of Geoff's book. The answers can all be found in one or other of his blogposts which you will find listed on this page:- Geoff's Blog .

1. What was the name of the fighter pilot who died when his Hurricane crashed on the beach at Llanddona in Anglesey in January 1942?

2. Which town in Wales owes its name to a spring called Ffynnon Llwynygog?

3. The parish of St Ishmael lies on the estuary of which Welsh river?

The competition is open to everyone. You do not need to be a member of Americymru to participate. Please send all entries to americymrucontest@gmail.com and title them Stories in Welsh Stone in the subject line. Only one entry per email address is permitted. Duplicates will be disqualified.

The winning entry will be selected randomly by line number from the email address above and announced onsite on St Davids Day March 1st 2010. The winner will be contacted by email. Best of luck:)

An Interview With Geoff Brookes

'Stories In Welsh Stone'

A new book of jokes published this week is likely to raise some eyebrows in the Race Relations Commission. The Half-Tidy Book of Welsh Jokes is a compendium of jokes collected by Cardiff based solicitor Huw James. He is originally from Aberystwyth and many of the jokes are at the expense of the Cardis, especially at their perceived tightfistedness. At a time when jokes that ridicule and stereotype racial or national groups are a taboo this book is close to the bone and could well offend some pople in Cardiganshire.

The author explained,

This is a collection of Welsh jokes I have assembled over the years. Many of them are Cardi Jokes. These are based on the suggestion that the people of Cardiganshire are somewhat less than keen on spending their hard-earned cash. This is, of course, a monstrous calumny. In fact I am surprised that The Race Relations Commission has not taken steps to stamp it out. The government does all it can to prevent us enjoying a bit to drink and having the food we have always liked, so why dont they appoint a minister for the suppression of inappropriate jokes? An obvious choice would be Harriet Harman.

The book includes some classic homely jokes like the one about the Welshman who built two chapels on a desert island, the T bach joke and the one about Little Dai in Oxford. The book is illustrated by Beano cartoonist Mark Morgan from Cardiff. The Half-Tidy Book of Welsh Jokes (3.95) is published by Y Lolfa and is available in bookshops and www.ylolfa.com .

As we line up for the start of the RBS Six Nations, a new online Welsh rugby TV channel launches with its selection of the high profile international and Cardiff Blues star Gareth Thomas as its main presenter.

The South Wales based online subscription tv venture welshrugby.tv has been created to deliver insight on the real stories in Welsh rugby for Welsh rugby supporters worldwide with independent comment from Gareth "Alfie" Thomas - one of Welsh rugbys biggest characters, as the main host for the channel during the RBS 6 Nations Championship. Click here to view Alfie telling us why hes involved and what he thinks welshrugby.tv should be.

The versatile player now moves into a presenters role, hosting the regular The Welsh Rugby Show on welshrugby.tv , which kicks off this week. Thomas won his 100th cap for Wales against Fiji during the Rugby World Cup in 2007, was Captain of Waless Grand Slam winning team in 2005 and captained the British and Irish Lions on their tour of New Zealand in the same year.

Thomas is keen to give fans the inside track on issues and stories about the game in Wales, and the welshrugby.tv site will provide the Welsh rugby supporter with a unique combination of the latest rugby news, professional and creative video content, analysis and opinion. welshrugby.tv will produce a behind the scenes look at all aspects of Welsh rugby, including: the 6 Nations campaign, the summer tour and the Autumn internationals, the regions, club and community rugby and player profiles. Thomas will be joined by a range of top flight and local club players, giving their views and insight into the raw truth of how things really are for those involved in the game.

Thomas said: Without doubt, Welsh rugby supporters are the most knowledgeable, passionate and committed fans worldwide. As I know from my own experience, rugby in Wales is far more than a game, its a part of who we are and Im really pleased to be part of a team thats giving real information and comment from behind the scenes, and I hope, will inspire the true Welsh rugby supporter.

Market research by the team behind the venture has shown that rugby supporters want to have different types of programming and video clips from what is already available either online, in print or on screen. Carwyn Jones from Llantrisant commented At last, someones listening to what we want we want to be able to hear the voice and views of the real Welsh rugby supporter alongside that of the usual rugby pundits and for them to take notice of what were saying.

With that in mind, as well as the The Welsh Rugby Show and the latest news at international and regional level, welshrugby.tv will host blogs, supporters forums and through the Clubzone section of the site will offer rugby clubs across Wales, the opportunity to post information on their club and upload their own videos.

Tom Stroud, CEO of Webcast Global explained Welsh rugby supporters have been saying that they want to get the bare truth and be involved with rugby in Wales at all levels pro levels. Were really looking forward to delivering a full schedule of both live and on-demand (pre-recorded) programmes, looking at elite rugby, community and grass roots level as well as being a part of the development of the game in Wales through our skills and coaching programming schedule.

Richard Owen, Director of Red Shoes added: Were passionate about producing great content that will deliver Welsh rugby in the raw at its best and without being shy of asking the crunch questions.

www.welshrugby.tv

Firstly you'll need to set up an account with Blip.fm ( http://blip.fm/home ) and then you'll need to head on over to Ping.fm and do the same ( http://ping.fm/ ). Blip allows you to create your own online radio station and broadcast your favorite music to friends and other 'DJ's' on the site. Ping allows you to post status updates and blogpost urls to all your favorite social networks with one simple click. The real magic happens when you combine the two.

After setting up your Ping account you must decide which accounts you want it to update. All the major social networks are on the list ( Facebook, MySpace, Twiter etc ) although Ning currently only allows you to select one network. Updates to multiple networks are currently a work in progress. After that its simply a question of adding the Ping app to your Blip account. On the navbar on your Blip account homepage click on 'me' and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you'l find a selection of links:-

WELSH DANCES The history of Welsh folk dancing is a sad one. With the advent of the Non-conformist sects in the 18th and 19th centuries, the chapels saw the Welsh folk arts and customs as sinful and not in keeping with chapel teaching. They did their utmost to stamp out all sorts of "sinful" folk entertainment except, of course, hymn singing and music in the chapels. Some saw the damage that was being done to the culture and managed to record the dances on paper. Like most music of that period, there was a lot of exchange and borrowing between Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and Europe and a number of Welsh dances went into British/English collections, and tended to retain the original Welsh names in translation to English. By the start of the 20th Century, folk dancing contributed very little to Welsh culture. In the Twenties, a few people started to take interest in the old dances. In the 1940s, Lois Blake and Gwyn Williams led the way in reviving the Welsh dancing tradition and in 1949 the Welsh Folk Dance Society was formed, with the aim of promoting and resurrecting the old dances. Today, there are over twenty adult teams and hundreds of teams in the schools and clubs across Wales. This program is for all ages and will teach participants a number of Welsh dances, which will be taught by Sian Frick, a well-known and experienced instructor. Music will be provided by the Portland band, Beltaine. Come, enjoy a good time.

SIN FRICK , Welsh Dance Instructor. Sin is a British national of mainly Welsh parentage. From 1984 to 1991 she attended Cymdeithas Ddawns Werin Cymru (Welsh Folk Dance Society) workshops in Wales to learn the spirited but light-footed Welsh dances, and in 1988 she earned the Cymdeithas Instructors Certificate, Part 1. From 1986 to 1992 Sin led her group Dawnswyr y Tract Cymreig/The Welsh Tract dancers, based in Newark Delaware, and in 1991 she was a member of the Dawnswyr Mn display team in Anglesey for six months. Sin is frequently invited to teach Welsh folk dance workshops and give clogging demonstrations at many of the Celtic festivals in the mid-Atlantic region. On her regular visits to Wales she has joined Welsh teams performing dances at various events such as the Gwyl Ifan (Midsummer) Festival in Cardiff.

BELTAINE is a Northwest trio featuring hammered dulcimer, guitar, flute, and marimbula. They are unique in their blend of instrumentation. Their styles range from Celtic to traditional music from around the world. They do not limit themselves to any one genre. Their backgrounds include folk, rock, classical, jazz, and blues. They choose music that speaks to them. They try to put their spin on these tunes to make them unique to Beltaine. Their music is their passion, and they love playing and performing around the Northwest. They are excited to hear that others enjoy their music and they love stories about the music.