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| Image by Arthur Webster |
Campbells struggled on with various motor vessels including MV Balmoral, before it too finally succumbed to the economic pressure and the Channel finally fell silent in 1980. It seemed that the Bristol Channel would never hear the beat of paddles on water again. However, in 1974, the Scottish arm of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society had bought paddle steamer Waverley for the sum of just 1. Looking to increase her financial horizons beyond the Clyde where she was based, they brought the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world to the Bristol Channel for a few weeks in early 1979. She was received with great delight.
AmeriCymru: Can you explain to our readers what the name 'Swci Boscawen' means?Mared: Swci means tame lamb in welsh.Something rather cutesy.Boscawen is a wild flower and also a place in Cornwall.I thought they sounded nice together and the name just stuck.
AmeriCymru: How long have you been involved in the Welsh music scene?
Mared: 14 years! I started in bands when I was 12 and kept it going amazingly! I haven't a clue how...
AmeriCymru: You have performed in he US before. Care to tell us a little about that? Do you have any plans for future visits?
Mared: New York has always been a place I go frequently to play gigs,do some filming or just visit friends.It's been great to me and I always try and go at least twice a year although I havent been for a lot longer now.The pangs are indeed coming back.
AmeriCymru: Can you tell us a little more about your new label Tarw du?
Mared: It is absolutely fabulous.Gruff Meredith who runs it has worked so hard to make it professional and slick.We're lacking good solid welsh music labels today and I really hope Tarw Du does really well.It deserves to.No longer will you have to walk into a little welsh shop and talk family gossip before you can purchase a Swci cd!
AmeriCymru: I know its an overworked question but who would you describe as your main musical influences? Who are you listening to currently?
Mared: Im a hardcore Blondie fan.And I am obsessed with pop music at the moment.But all in all,anything floats my boat.
AmeriCymru: What are some of your favorite places and must see/experience things in Wales?
Mared: West Wales is my part and I don't think you can beat it for looks.There's something maddening about Wales where you spend lots of time wanting to get the hell away from it but the moment you do the "hiraeth" kicks in and all you want is to be there! Oh and the people,I like how you can't get away with anything because you will be put in you place faster than lightning.
AmeriCymru: 'Adar y Nefoedd' is an extremely moving and powerful ballad. Can you tell us what inspired it?
Mared: It's a song about a fair few people that I have known or known of that are no longer with us.I got frustrated with people being forgotten so I wanted to try and write something that at least was a nice tribute.It came out all right I think!
AmeriCymru: Tell us about your new Super Single and how it came about
Mared: Music has been stale lately and I wanted to brighten 2010 up with some pure,unapologising pop.It's my secret bikini hit that I want people in Ibiza to go mental to!
AmeriCymru: What's next for 'Swci Boscawen'?
Mared: Recovery unfortunately.6 days ago I was diagnosed with cancer so I have to get through this particularly difficult time with some sort of dignity when all I want to do is gig and have fun!
AmeriCymru: Where can people go to download or purchase your songs?
Mared: Amazon,I tunes,etc i think! give google a little click...
AmeriCymru: Any further message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?
Mared: Just keep the welshness up.The world is filled with us and it's pretty awesome how we get around isnt it?
Hope everyone enjoys the Portland Eisteddfod and thanks for the interview!
Diolch Ceri,
Mared.
The recent outbreak of of deliberate and calculated drollery in status updates on AmeriCymru is much to be welcomed. We only wish more people would get in on the act. Since the status updates feature was added a while back, a few members have made use of it but many more have yet to discover its point and purpose.
To update your status on AmeriCymru simply log in to the site and go to your home page. Right at the top you'll find the status update feature. Simply type your message in the 'What's New' box and hit the 'Update' button to have your comment appear on the AmeriCymru front page in the activity feed. It is even possible to conduct a ( very public ) dialog this way by commenting on, or responding to previous updates by other members and, If dialog isn't your style, you could always conduct a public monologue by commenting on your own.
How Welsh is That?
...I hear you ask. Well I daresay we have all bought a local newspaper somewhere in Wales to find the following headline on the front page:- "Mrs Jones Cat Stuck Up Tree...Rescued By Fire Brigade!". Indeed this sort of thing is the mainstay of Welsh local news. So it could be said that disseminating and enjoying inanities and inconsequential snippets of information is very much a part of the national character. OK , I'm not going to claim that it is your patriotic duty to fill the activity feed with fatuous remarks but on the other hand we really do want to hear about it if you've recently taken the dog for a walk, cut your toe-nails or discovered an interesting snail in your yard.
But Seriously Folks...
Staus updates do serve another, and slightly more useful purpose. You will notice that there are two check boxes adjacent to the 'What's New' field . One for Twitter and one for Facebook. Lets suppose you have accounts on all three services ( AmeriCymru, Facebook, Twitter ) and you have a Welsh related blogpost that you want to promote. You can compose a status update message on your home page incorporating the url of your post and simply check the Twitter and FB boxes before hitting 'Update'. That way the link will appear on all three services simultaneously. This is an easy way to spread the word when you have something interesting to say and you want to be heard.
So......whether you just want to tell us about your latest trip to the library or promote your latest literary creation, we cordially invite you to try out the status updates feature. Either way, we welcome your input 
  Today marks the start of Welsh Month at Portland Central Library. We set up our display case in the foyer this morning and posters and fliers are on display. We are publicizing an exciting range of Welsh and American Welsh events which will occur in Portland in the coming months:- Events will include:- Don't miss this opportunity for fellowship and Welsh culture in the Pacific Northwest! Our daytime programming will feature four days of interesting and informative seminars, workshops, concerts & much more. Book Launch at NAFOW. Acclaimed author, Rhys Bowen has announced she will use the occasion of the North American Feistival of Wales to launch the latest book in Her Royal Spyness series Royal Blood! Events include Night of The Living Bards and Last Bard Standing also Keeping Up With the Joneses , an introductory Welsh language class at Portland Central Library. Wales will be heavily represented at this years Wordstock festival. More details here:- here:- and here:- Wordstock If you live in , or plan to visit, the Portland area this fall we hope to see you at one or all of these events |
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As part of this years Left Coast Eisteddfod we are pleased and proud to announce the following event. For full details visit the Portland Central Library event page here:- Keeping Up with the Joneses -yn y Gymraeg: A Taste of the Welsh Language "In this fun, activity-based course, you will be able to do what Welsh stars Catherine Zeta-Jones & Tom Jones CAN'T do - youll be able to speak the language of Cymraeg (Welsh)! In this 2 hr taster course, forget dictionaries or taking notes, instead youll be meeting new ffrindiau(friends) and sharing gwybodaeth(information) about your interests. This is an activity-based experience that is so enjoyable you wont even know youre learning! Expect to participate, experiment and most of all to have fun! In this class well also be: **having a laugh and a go at pronouncing Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch **storytelling enjoy reading some of your favorite Jumbo Fairy tale books in Welsh. **listening to englynion and other styles of Welsh poetry."  About the teacher: To California native Diana Manzanilla , discovering Cymraeg was a fluke. Yet, the language instantly captivated her, causing her to leave home and family for the beautiful green valleys of Wales. She spent 2 years in that glorious land - the first spent learning Welsh and the second spent teaching Welsh to adults using the same methods youll experience in this course. |
THE AUGUST HEAT BOILS OUR BRAINS!
Many of you will have noticed the new sliding ad feature at the head of the AmeriCymru homepage. Its kind of hard to avoid. You may also have noticed that it is navigable via the new next/previous buttons we have incorporated. We believe that this makes for an amazingly powerful and effective advertising tool. The AmeriCymru homepage has a Google page rank of 4 and is visited by approximately 1000 unique visitors a day. Several of the current ads will become redundant by early October and we are offering our members and readers these valuable slots for just $50 FOR A FULL YEAR!! We are making available six slots at this price and we pledge that there will never be more than 8 ads in rotation at any one time once the current event ads expire in October. Also we will rotate the ads within the rotation so that each ad gets a chance to be first on the page. If you are looking to reach a Welsh American audience this gives you the chance for just 50 dollars to reach an audience of 350,000 potential customers in the next 12 months. We will design your ad if you wish and include any graphics and links you specify. Furthermore we will allow unlimited design revisions to both the design and the target url in the course of your 12 month contract. We will also consider feature articles and interviews to promote your service or product which will be heavily publicized both on this site and via other social media.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Because we need to raise large sums of money very quickly to finance our intervention at Wordstock in support of Welsh publishers and authors. See the following post on WelshIcons posted by our good friend Dom Stocqueler:- You cant keep a Welshman down: Wales at Wordstock
For us Wales international image is far more important than a couple of quid. But plane fares cost money.
WHAT DO I NEED TO QUALIFY FOR THIS PROMOTION?
Well.... basically you'll need $50 , a product, book, event or CD of Welsh relevance to promote and a desire to help promote Wales and Welsh literature at the West Coast's largest and most prestigious literary festival. This is an opportunity to combine self-interest with altruism for next to nothing. We know that many people reading this post devoted considerable time and energy to supporting our campaign in the recent Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook. This is our way of saying thank you and we pledge to ensure that your promotional campaign is a success.
Diolch
Ceri Shaw
