A must read for anyone contemplating a Welsh themed tattoo. This book has everything you will need!

In the foreword we learn that:

"This book aims to help you choose a Welsh tattoo wisely, confidently, and safely. It offers a glossary to help you. Beyond the glossary, this book provides enough of an introduction to the Welsh language to support you in your desire to honour it. You may even be interested in learning how to join the hundreds of thousands of people who speak it."

Authors, Robert and Meagan Davies , deliver generously on their pledge to support your decision making with chapters on 'Features of the Language' , 'Choosing  A Welsh Tattoo' , 'Translation Tips' and more, but it is perhaps the Welsh Tattoo Glossary section which will prove most valuable to readers.  This comprises a 400+ glossary of words and phrases arranged into thematic categories. 

Let's suppose for instance that you wanted a simple tattoo to celebrate your Welsh heritage and origin. You might try the 'Place and Identity' section in which you will find such entries as:- Gwlad fy nghalon yw Cymru  = Wales, land of my heart  or Cymru am byth = Wales forever. In the 'Love and Friendship section we find dedications of a more personal nature e.g. Cariad tragwyddol = Eternal Love or perhaps more prosaically Cymheiriaid = Partners.

The glossary sections (full list below) are sure to provide inspiration for whatever theme you care to adopt.

Place & Identity , Family, Love and Friendship, In Memoriam, Relgion and Spirituality, Courage, Honour and Service, Work Activities and Identities, Emotions, Qualities and Concepts, Personal Mottos and Sayings, Quotes From Popular Culture and Song, Traditional Welsh Sayings and Proverbs

The authors hail fr om Alabama in the United States so the Welsh diaspora is not overlooked. Useful phrases you will find translations for include:

Gwnaed yn America o rannu Cymreig = Made in America of Welsh parts ,   Gwnaed yng Nghanada o rannu Cymreig = Made in Canada of Welsh parts

But what of the image I hear you ask? Chapter three includes an introduction to many of the most popular symbols and emblems and also includes an explanation of their significance in Welsh history and cultrure. In short everything is here to enable you to choose your tattoo design and dedication, as the authors say, 'wisely, confidently and safely.'

Dedicated to John Good ( Americymraeg tutor) and the Welsh Society of Arizona, the book also has several chapters which serve as a basic introduction to the language for those who are unfamiliar with it. Hopefully, the book will inspire readers to learn the Welsh language after selecting their tattoo design and inscription.

In conclusion we cannot recommend this book highly enough. For anyone who is thinking of getting a tattoo to celebrate their Welsh heritage 'The Welsh Tattoo Handbook' will prove invaluable. If it inspires you to go on and master the Welsh language as well, then so much the better.

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The Welsh Tattoo Handbook is available from bradan press. Price: $11.99 US | $14.99 CDN | £7.99 UK | €9.99 EU | $14.99 AUS

Dyma drydedd sengl MÊL ond y gyntaf i gael ei recordio fel band ‘go iawn’, gyda Rhodri Owen (Owens), Morgan Jones a George Amor yn cyfrannu eu darnau – ar ben gwaith Eryl (Pearl) Jones.

Mae cyfraniadau allweddol a hollalluog Llŷr Pari a Geraldine Mac Burney i’w clywed yn y cawl hefyd. ‘Tri cynnig i Gymro’ medd rhai, ‘third time lucky’ dwêd y Sais – ac yn wir (ym marn dewiniaid y topia’) dyma sengl orau MÊL hyd yma. Mae’r band wedi bod yn trafod efo’r dewiniaid a Chyfoeth Naturiol Cymru ar gynllun i ymdopi efo’r llifogydd o ganmoliaeth bydd yn gorlifo atynt o bob cyfeiriad yn fuan (neu beidio). Dylanwadau / tarddiad y gân: Profiad diddorol ger dinas Cusco neu Cuzco (Peru), englyn y ci defaid, MGMT (albym Congratulations), cactus San Pedro, Fabien Bistoubrette, Velvet Underground, rhyfeddod llwyr, Soft Machine (y llyfr a’r band), dyddiadur y daith o 2016.  

Which Lions tourist sprang a convict from captivity on a particularly wild night out?

What happened when the World Cup-winner played on after tearing his scrotum?

Why did the 6’7” lock receive praise in the House of Commons from the Prime Minister?

What gave one World Cup winger the nickname ‘the Chiropractor’?

Who had his career ended after assaulting a fan in the stands during a game?

Answers to these questions and much more is to be found in the profiles of the 20 players featured in  Hard Men of Rugby  (Y Lolfa). These tough and uncompromising sportsmen span the globe and the period from pre-WWI to the present day. They were totally committed to victory, and irrespective of size, situation or opposition, never took a backwards step. Most of the them operating before citing commissioners, slow-motion replays and trial by social media, some of their actions are almost hard to believe. And largely free from the confines of the commitments the modern professional game demands, many were as lively off the pitch as they were fiery on it! 

Featuring exclusive interviews with some of the players themselves, insights from former teammates and a foreword from refereeing legend Nigel Owens – who has himself had to deal with the actions of several who have made the list – this lively, engaging and highly readable book brings some of rugby’s craziest moments, biggest characters and most remarkable stories to life. 

One of the selection who contributed to the book was World Cup-winner and rugby legend Bakkies Botha, who said, “It’s a real privilege to be included in Hard Men of Rugby. I’ve battled against some of those included and heard some amazing stories about many of the others, so I am honoured to be part of this book.” 

Born and bred in South Wales, Luke Upton’s first job was selling match-day lottery tickets for Swansea RFC in those last few glorious years before regional rugby arrived. He now lives in London, where after working in the sports industry for five years he works as a business journalist and editor. He is the author of satirical rugby novel  Absolutely Huge  (“hilarious” –  The Guardian ),   also from Y Lolfa, and co-runs @NotGavHenson, the rugby humour Twitter account with over 42,000 followers, including a host of professional rugby players – some tough, others not so much! 

“Selecting the players for this book was a real challenge and I’m sure not everyone will agree with who’s included, but that’s all part of the fun! The criteria was that, yes, they had to be tough – and this could include aspects on and off the pitch – but also they had to be very good players. This rules our mindless thugs, cheats or cowards, and those super-tough guys who just weren’t quite up to scratch at the top level of the game. So, look at the list, think of your country of club in the era in which those individuals played and consider if you would have had them in your team. I think the answer would be overwhelmingly ‘yes’,” said Luke. 

So pull on your boots, apply your strapping and come face to face with the Phantom Major, the Iron Duke, Car Crash, the Blackpool Tower, the Caveman and the rest  of them…

The lawyer who represented “Wales’ most dangerous man” has revealed the chilling moment serial killer Peter Moore confessed to stabbing to death four men and saying the brutal attacks were easy - “like a knife through butter”.  

The shocking inside story is told for the first time by former solicitor Dylan Rhys Jones in a new book,  The Man in Black - Peter Moore - Wales' Worst Serial Killer , which was published to coincide with the 25 ^th  anniversary of the vicious murders which Moore said he committed for “fun”.

It was in the early hours of Christmas Eve morning, 1995, at Llandudno police station that Nazi-obsessed Moore admitted the killings in a three-month spree that had begun on Anglesey in September, terrorising the gay community in North Wales and Merseyside.

With Mr Jones, alongside him, Moore, a softly spoken film fanatic from Kinmel Bay who owned a chain of cinemas in Bagillt, Denbigh, Holyhead and Blaenau Ffestiniog, told two North Wales Police detectives he had slain the four men.

He said: “I want to admit to both of the murders in Anglesey, the murder on Pensarn beach and also I want to admit to another murder that you don’t know about which I committed in Clocaenog Forest near Ruthin.”

Moore was known in the area for his eccentric dress sense and was dubbed  “The Man in Black”.

And when prosecuting barrister Alex Carlile QC opened the case against Moore at Mold Crown Court in 1996, he called him: "The man in black - black thoughts and the blackest of deeds."

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 1996 with a recommendation that he never  be released.

Moore is still alive, locked up almost certainly for ever, in Britain’s Monster Mansion, Wakefield high security prison where the Supermax wing has been home to murderers like Dr Death Harold Shipman and child killers Ian Huntley and Mark Bridger, who murdered five-year-old April Jones in Machynlleth in 2012.

But at 2.32am on that chilly morning in Llandudno the lawyer calmly took notes as Moore, in his quiet, effeminate voice, told Detective Sergeant Ian Guthrie and Detective Constable Dave Morris about the killings.

They began  in the September when Moore stabbed 56-year-old Henry Roberts to death at his home near Caergeiliog, Holyhead – there were 27 wounds in the retired railway worker’s body.

The reign of terror continued as Edward Carthy, a 28-year-old man whom Moore met in a gay bar in Liverpool, was stabbed to death in  Clocaenog Forest  in the October, followed by Keith Randles, a 49-year-old traffic manager from; in November 1995 on the A5 in Anglesey.

His final victim was Anthony Davies, 40; stabbed and left to die on Pensarn Beach, near  Abergele  in December.

The book tells how Moore called on Henry Roberts’ home in Caergeiliog dressed in black with a Nazi-style cap and armed with a hunting knife with Roberts pleading that he wasn’t Jewish before he was killed, how Keith Randles pleaded for his life and how the killer hid mementos of his victims in his garden pond.

A knife bearing traces of the blood of a number of men was found in a bag belonging to Moore.

On a shelf in Moore's bedroom were a police helmet, two German military caps and a pair of long, black boots.

Hanging on a cupboard alongside the bed was a truncheon and a sergeant's uniform hung in the wardrobe.

Speaking about the murder of Keith Randles, Moore told the detectives: “He asked me why I was killing him as I stabbed him, and I said that it was for fun.

“He fell to the floor. I just thought it was a job well done, and left and returned to my van.”

And when asked how he felt when he killed his victims, Moore replied chillingly: “It was easy. Just like a knife through butter.”

Moore confessed to attacking “many men” in the Conwy Valley over a period of 20 years before the murders started.

He said:  “When driving around, I would sometimes notice someone walking along the road late at night and I would stop and attack them.

“I would assault them with a police truncheon and strike them on the body and their heads many times. Usually I would be dressed as a policeman or in a Nazi uniform or something similar, just to scare them. I heard that a few of these men had been seriously injured after the attacks.”

In the book Mr Jones also describes the traumatic effect on himself and on the two police officers of hearing Moore tell his grisly tale in a calm, measured way.

Mr Jones, who lives in Abergele, added: “It was like watching a cold-blooded lizard move towards its prey, slowly, calculating every move not using its energy unnecessarily, just describing the bare essentials of the deed ... It was the desensitized description by a killer dispassionate as to the implications of his actions.”

The following morning, just a few hours later, Moore withdrew his confession, claiming he had done it to protect his friend, the real murderer, a man he called Jason, the name of the killer in the  Friday the 13 ^th  films he had shown at his cinemas.

Dylan Jones added: “I have reflected often on whether what Moore said during this interview was true. Was it a case of bravado, the man had his audience and he took his opportunity to perform, like an actor on celluloid before a captive cinema audience?

“Were the two detectives and I the gullible audience ready to lap up the gory details of a horrific killer in some B-movie, just for Moore’s pleasure? The three of us were without doubt shocked, horrified and captivated by the performance we witnessed. But was it true?”

The book conveys Moore’s calmness and composure, his descriptions of killing someone told in assured dispassionate terms, the process of killing sounding easy, the process of stabbing a person simple, straightforward and emotionless.

Author Dylan Jones no longer practices as a solicitor but lectures on Law and Criminology and helped create the Criminal Justice and Offender Management foundation degree course at Coleg Cambria and Chester University. He is a regular contributor to TV and radio.

He said: “Moore made killing an emotionless, simple and efficient process. He had perfected the act of killing in a way which had made him a ruthless machine feeding an inner need in the darkest reaches of his psyche to be pleasured by violence, control and ultimately death.

“The impression I had is that Moore had enjoyed what he had done, that he believed it was a job well done and that he had fed his demons in an effective way, the act of killing was like putting ‘a knife through butter’ the pleasure of killing appeared immeasurable.”

The Man in Black – Peter Moore: Wales’ Worst Serial Killer   by Dylan Rhys Jones (£9.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.

Review copies available.

She’s Got Spies releases her new album ‘Isle of Dogs’ on the 6th of November. It’s preceded  by the single ‘Super Sniffer Dogs’ on the 23rd of October. 

She’s Got Spies’  second album  ‘Isle of Dogs’  refers to an area of London, Laura Nunez’s hometown,  as well as the state of turmoil of the island of Britain. The follow up album to her debut Welsh language album  ‘Wedi’,  ‘Isle of Dogs’ features songs written over the last decade. She’s Got Spies is the project of Laura Nunez and her cast of collaborators. She spends her time between Cardiff and London, she’s multilingual and can sing in Welsh, English and Russian.  

‘Isle of Dogs’  is a charming trilingual travelogue album, with most of the songs written on the move  while travelling or whilst Nunez was living in various countries. She spent time in Russia, Vietnam, Italy,  Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, and parts were also written in Cardiff, London and other parts of Wales  and England. Threaded with Laura’s knack for a bittersweet earworm melody and surreal yet personal  lyrics, these charmingly wonky songs are underscored with dark psych tinged sounds and an unsettled  feeling which reflects the turmoil of current times. 

With music hall style pianos, bounding percussion, fizzing guitars and a playful vocal, new single  ‘Super Sniffer Dogs'  is inspired by Laura’s time spent visiting Poplar on the Isle of Dogs, an area of high contrast with the rich, banking area of Canary Wharf and large, destitute council estates. It’s about an  imaginary dystopian festival with lots of restrictions in a high walled destitute area. Despite its serious  themes, which is juxtaposed by a catchy singalong melody, it’s a joyous tuneful romp. 

The delightful first single from the album, ‘ Wedi Blino’, was released in 2019 and features a video filmed by Laura in Antarctica when she won a trip there in 2018. Meanwhile ‘The Fear’ is the newest song, written during lockdown. It reflects uncertainty of whether the record would ever see the light of day due to the pandemic, after the last days of studio time were cancelled as the lockdown started. It ended up replacing another song that was meant to be on the album that had not yet been recorded. 

All songs are written by Laura apart from three co-written with Gruff Meredith ( MC Mabon ), who also co produced with Frank Naughton on them. Recorded in Tŷ Drwg studios in Cardiff (with additional recording in various locations including Moscow, London, Vietnam, etc.) with producer Frank Naughton. The album cover was designed by Laura and features a fox that visited Laura’s garden daily during lockdown that she  caught on a night vision camera, and photographed remotely when he came to her doorstep. 

She’s Got Spies band members include Gareth Middleton (guitar) and Mel Beard (glockenspiel/ keyboard) on some tracks, additionally with Pixy Jones ( El Goodo ) on guitar, Andy Fung ( Derrero ) on drums and producer Frank Naughton on piano, synths, guitar, bass, strings and percussion. She’s Got Spies started as a project by Laura Nunez in 2005 with Matthew Evans ( Keys ). Laura’s originally from London but moved to Cardiff and learnt Welsh inspired by bands such as Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Super Animals, Melys  etc. 

She’s Got Spies have recorded sessions for BBC Radio Cymru as well as having performed and been roadcast on Welsh television channel S4C. The band have performed at festivals such as Indietracks, Focus Wales, National Eisteddfod and Wales Goes Pop, as well as appearances in more far flung  places including Russia, Bulgaria, Italy and even on an Antarctic expedition ship.

‘Isle of Dogs’ album cover ‘Super Sniffer Dogs’ single cover

‘Isle of Dogs’ Tracklist: 

1. Super Sniffer Dogs (2:31) 

2. Mariah Pariah (2:54) 

3. Despair Over Here (3:08) 

4. All Outta Tears (3:38) 

5. Harasho (3:22) 

6. Vladivostok (3:18) 

7. Vietnam (3:23) 

8. Mank Shoreshank (3:08) 

9. Cwympo (3:02) 

10. The Fear (2:41) 

11. Wedi Blino (2:30) 

12. Where Did You Go? (4:04) 

For further details please get in touch at: 

Bill Cummings: soundandvisionpr@googlemail.com 

info@shesgotspies.com 

www.shesgotspies.com  

Following the release of two pre-covid singles ‘Babanod’ and ‘Poetry’, HMS Morris are back with the third in the series,  ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol.’ , which translates as ‘International Students’. The single will be released on September 16 ^th

HMS Morris HQ is nestled on the edge of one of the most multicultural streets in Cardiff, City Road. It’s a noisy, colourful cosmopolitan crush of restaurants, shisha bars and barbers, which have recently been invaded by posh student accommodation projects. But while this may have been the initial impetus behind  ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol’ , by the time it had solidified into a definite sound and feel it was no longer a rant about fancy student halls.

Rather it had become an assertion that the world be a better place if we were all International Students. In the context of this summer’s global race-relations reckoning, there is a general moral imperative for us all to become students of the international: to watch the news as if it’s our own story, to actually take it in, to learn and adapt our behaviour. We should be prepared to immerse ourselves in other cultures, just like the international students of City Rd do.

'Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol'  will be available to stream or purchase digitally from all the usual platforms.

See them  not  live:

September 10-12 – Waves Vienna Digital Showcase
October - ‘Out of Focus’ Digital Festival organised by Focus Wales

Watch it back:

HMS Morris live from Cultvr Lab Cardiff -  https://www.cultvr.cymru/hmsmorris/

Yn dilyn y senglau cyn-covid ‘Babanod’ a ‘Poetry’, mae HMS Morris yn ôl efo’r drydedd yn y gyfres, ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol.’  Fe fydd y sengl yn cael ei ryddhau ar Medi 16eg.
 
Mae hwb creadigol HMS Morris yn swatio ger un o strydoedd mwyaf amlddywilliannol Caerdydd, City Road. Mae’n gawl gosmopolitaidd o fwytai, shisha bars a barbwyr – sydd yn ddiweddar wedi eu gorlethu gan neuaddau posh i fyfyrwyr. Problem enbyd heb os, ond er mai hyn oedd yr ysgogiad gwreiddiol tu ôl i  ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol’ , erbyn iddi galedu yn deimlad a sain pendant doedd hi ddim yn rant am neuaddau myfyrwyr swanc bellach, ond yn hytrach yn fyfyriad ar faint o le gwell fyddai’r byd petaen ni i gyd yn fyfyrwyr rhyngwladol.

Yng ngyd-destun y daeargryn cymdeithasol byd-eang ddechreuodd yn Minneapolis ym mis Mai, mae hi’n ddyletswydd moesol arnom ôll i astudio y rhyngwladol: i wylio’r newyddion fel mai ein stori ni ein hunain yw e, i’w ystyried yn ofalus, i ddysgu ac addasu ein ymddygiad. Dylen ni fod yn yn barod i drochi mewn diwyllianau eraill, yn union fel mae myfyrwyr rhyngwladol City Road yn gwneud.
 
Fe fydd ' Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol'  ar gael yn ddigidol i’w ffrydu a’i lawrlwytho o’r manau arferol.
 
Gwyliwch nhw ddim cweit yn fyw - 

Medi 10-12 – Gwyl Ddigidol Waves Vienna
Hydref - ‘Out of Focus’ Gwyl Ddigidol Focus Wales
 
Gwyliwch yn ôl:  

HMS Morris live from Cultvr Lab Cardiff -   https://www.cultvr.cymru/hmsmorris/