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Happy New Year/Blwyddyn Newydd Dda 2013 to all our members and readers
Check out our new Calendar feature on AC
WELSH HISTORY CALENDAR - JANUARY/IONAWR
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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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No Welsh blog on the subject of running would be complete without a reference to the Nos Galan . It may not be seasonal or topical but this series ends on July 4th so the Easter weekend is as good a time as any to write about it.
This is not an endurance event. It is run over 5KM ( 3.1 miles ) on New Years Eve in the town center of Mountain Ash/Aberpennar in South Wales. The winners are recorded ( by age group ) on the Nos Galan website here:- 2011 winners . At the time of writing it has not been updated with details of the 2012 event but here are the 2011 home and latest news pages which together with the rest of the site give a flavor of this unique event.
The run is held annually to celebrate the life and achievements of Welsh runner Guto Nyth Bran . I leave it to the children of Malpas Church Junior School to record his story and legendary exploits.
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And here is a video of the post race firework display in 2010. It is dedicated thusly:- "For those who couldn't make it and those who were too drunk to see it." Sounds like it was a good night.
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Meanwhile for those who are following my own shambolic progress toward the finishing line on July 4th I am pleased and proud to report that I managed to run for 15 mins today ( a total of one and a half miles approx ) Not a huge athletic achievement but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Only 11 and a half more miles to go.
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A message from Sian Ifans:-
IF You wish to see the A470 Named 'Main Road Prince Owain Glyndwr, sign the petition in the link canlynol and please pass on to one and all.
http://www.gopetition.com/ Petitions / campaign-to-the-name-A470-wales -Main-road-prince-ow.html
For our special Christmas interview this year AmeriCymru spoke to David Garland Jones - Welsh living legend, Actor, Guru, Raconteur, Poet and future Penderyn Whiskey, Welshman of The Year 2010 . David took this opportunity to introduce a selection of his groundbreaking videos on YouTube. He would also like to wish all our readers Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Americymru: Who IS David Garland Jones?
David: He (or should that be I. Think Ill go with I but then I am an actor sounds a bit grand and pompous). Ok, have another shot of Penderyns Finest Welsh Whiskey I (cue fanfare), am an actor, guru, raconteur, poet, and latterly male model and YouTube phenomenon. I was born on the grubby fringes of Port Talbot, South Wales in 1962. Anthony Hopkins, Ivor Emmanuel, Michael Sheen, Richard Burton, David Garland Jones what other town ever produced such a quinvirate of acting talent? as the Port Talbot Guardian (now sadly defunct) put it. A potted history of my life featuring Michael Sheen (as well as Brothers & Sisters Matthew Rhys) and can be found here:
Roger Garrick - 'The Acting Guru's Acting Guru'
Americymru: What was your first big break and how did you come to star in so many groundbreaking roles on YouTube?
David: I realised that to reach an audience I needed two things: I needed a small cheap camera (for any nerds out there I use a Flip video camera and the Power Director 7 editing suite). Three things. I needed three things. The above two things and an amiable presence to hold the camera and do all the technical stuff. So I enlisted my brother Jake. As I produce the films actually getting the leading role in them isnt so difficult. I was up against Rhys Ifans for the lead role in my epic, Grand Theft Actor, but he didnt return my call so I stepped in.
Americymru: Has fame changed you?
David: No. There are still holes in my socks, but there are still dreams in my soul. One change is that I have started acting as a guru to younger actors though in the case of Jonny Hollywood I encountered a few difficulties.
Ep 11. David Garland Jones - 'Jonny Hollywood's The Kiddie'
I also have a number one fan/stalker
Americymru: What is the current supply situation with 'David Garland Jones In A Can'? Will you be continuing this line after the holiday season?
David: Sales have been better than expected especially since our US rep, Mr Iain Sewell has been appointed. I may become the first actor who breaks America in can form. In the UK there have been reports that fake DGJIAC (for short) have been seen in marketplaces alongside fake Prada, Gucci and Calvin Klein handbags. There have been reports of other actors crudely jumping the bandwagon, or can-wagon if you prefer, e.g. Ive heard that the light entertainer, Rob Brydon, is bringing out Bob In A Bag.
DGJ In A Can #1 - 'Advert' (Spoof)
Americymru: Many of our readers have asked what really happened at the Damian Dark audition. Care to elaborate?
David: Lets just say that there is now a legally enforced exclusion zone around the BBC in Cardiff which I am not allowed to enter:
Ep 6. David Garland Jones - My Name Is Damian Dark
However, I did manage a brief live appearance there:
David Garland Jones Live At The BBC
Americymru: Does David Garland Jones have any future plans for live stage appearances after the triumph at the Goldie Lookin Chain concert last year? Can you tell us how that appearance came about?
David: It was all down to Jay-Z and Alisha Keys. Thanks guys! They recorded a song called New York which was then appropriated by some Londoners and re-recorded as New-port. However, it quickly emerged that they had never been to Newport. I was in a bar one evening and someone suggested that I did a song called Aint Seen Ruthin Yet based on the classic Bachman-Turner Overdrive song Aint Seen Nothing Yet as I had never been to Ruthin. My brother Jake downloaded the karaoke track, I sang it and the rest as they say is history. To date its had over 31,251 hits. So thanks Jay-z and Alisha, if youre ever in Treforest please pop in.
But heres some more history Newports finest Goldie Lookin Chain then recorded their own version of New-port then spotted the Ruthin track and went on Sky News and mentioned it
Goldie Lookin Chain plug 'Ain't Seen Ruthin Yet' on Sky News
A relationship developed and they kindly asked me to appear with them at their big Ryder Cup gig Which Id rather not talk about, what with the booing and the heckling and the breakdown I suffered afterwards
' Who Are You? Who Are You?' - DGJ & Goldie Lookin Chain live in Newport
(However, if I was asked to perform it again I would remember the pink suitcase air guitar solo)
Americymru: More 'spoofs' along the lines of 'Aint seen Ruthin Yet' have been promised but I notice that Pontypool was not on the list. Is that because it's hard to rhyme or is there some other, more sinister, reason?
David: Someone suggested Little Jimmy Osmonds Long Haired Lover From Pontypool (formerly Liverpool) but its not even funny when you read it, let alone when you try to sing it. There will be a video in February featuring 12 of the best, Spoof Songs With Welsh Place Names In The Titles. Some of my favourites include Bostons More Than Rhydfelin, KD Laings Constant Aber-craving and my personal favourite, Odysseys How Bout Usk.
Americymru: You're a shoe-in for Penderyn 2010 Welshman of The Year , what will you do when you win?
David: Not a shoe-in, or even a shoo-in. I will need the votes of my Americymru friends first. Can I just mention that Penderyns Whiskey is the finest whiskey and the drink of kings. When, or indeed if I win, I will run naked down the lanes of Treforest ah, already done that.
M.A.D. - Mothers Against David
Americymru: After your principled stand on cigarette smoking did you succeed in getting any sponsorship money from Big Tobacco?
David: Interestingly the pro-smoking lobby group FOREST regularly blog about my work. Did they not realise that this video is actually anti-smoking? And no. No sponsorship. Nothing at all.
David's Quickies No. 7 - Cigarette Trick
Americymru: What's next for David Garland Jones? Any plans to visit the US?
David: I would love to visit the US. I have a live show which includes performing Under Milk Wood in mime. This went down really well at Treorchy Rugby Club where Max Boyce famously made his name:
Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood... In Mime
Americymru: Any messages for the members of AmeriCymru and your other fans?
David: I am an internet pioneer. Like all the great pioneers of yore I am badly dressed, ill-prepared and lacking funds. However, I am not asking for clothing, skis or money. I simply ask that you keep watching my videos, subscribe to my Youtube channel and pass the links on to your more sophisticated and cultured friends. Have a lovely Yuletide weekend and an inspiring and theatrical 2011!
www.youtube.com/davidgarlandjones
This week an author from south Wales is launching his second novel in the only existing WW1 series of detective novels. Demons Walk Among Us is Jonathan Hicks'' second book featuring military policeman Thomas Oscendale, and is the sequel to best-seller The Dead of Mametz, published in 2011 by Y Lolfa which received much acclaim.
Buy Demons Walk Amongst Us here
Read our interview with Jonathan here
The brand-new sequel, Demons Walk Among Us, finds Thomas Oscendale fresh from the horrors of war on the Western Front and on leave in the coastal town of Barry, where he is drawn into the investigation of the savage murder of a war widow. The novel paints a vivid picture of life in the trenches as well as life in the industrial towns of south Wales during the Great War.
Demons Walk Among Us is set one year on from the first novel in the series. As 2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, there has been a burgeoning of interest in its history of this period and reviewers have noted Oscendale''s potential to develop into one of the great literary sleuths.
Available from all good bookshops and via Amazon on the author''s website:
