Everybody Needs A Laugh

"... The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility. ..."

http://www.forumwales.com/fwblog/2008/05/05/everybody-needs-a-laugh/

Ar Y Teledu

"Well, I have to say that this is only the second time I’ve watched Noson Chis a Meinir on S4C and I am absolutely impressed to bits. If you like Welsh language music or just plain good rock and roll, this is a terrific show to tune in on Saturday night.



I’ve enjoyed Dylan & Meinir on Radio Cymru for years now and, of course, Meinir is a wonderful singer and performer in her own right. But this new show really offers a wonderful opportunity to showcase Welsh talent. So I would encourage you all to tune in, whether you speak Welsh or not. The programme is presented through the medium of Welsh, but music crosses all language barriers and I guarantee you’ll hear some terrific sounds. Understanding the words is not a requirements to enjoy the songs coming out of Wales and the wonderful talent of the Welsh musicians."



http://www.forumwales.com/fwblog/2008/03/22/ar-y-teledu/

Braille dictionary boost to Welsh

"A Welsh/English Braille dictionary to help users translate, learn Welsh and support the use of Welsh among Braille users, has been launched."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7288737.stm

Heavy horse breeds under threat

"Britain's heavy horse breeds are under threat with one - the Suffolk punch - reduced to a few hundred mares, say conservationists.

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust says the numbers of shire horses, Clysdale horses and Suffolk punch horses have dwindled to such an extent that their very future is at risk.

Although "heavy horses", as they are known, are renowned for their intelligence and gentle nature, encouraging more people to breed the horses in the UK has been become increasingly difficult. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7301640.stm

New language rule for 57 bodies

"The Bank of England and the Royal Mail are two of 57 new organisations which will soon have to treat Welsh on an equal footing with English.

Heritage Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas is to bring the organisations under the Welsh Language Act, meaning they will have to provide some services in Welsh. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7389087.stm

All you ever wanted to know about Wales

"BET you didn’t know that “Jones” was first recorded as a surname in England in 1279 centuries before surnames even existed in Wales?

Or that the desert scenes in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia were shot in the sand dunes of Merthyr Mawr, near Bridgend?

And we bet you’ve got no idea whatsoever that under the dunes near Kenfig there is a Welsh Pompeii just waiting to be excavated?

Well, you do now."

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/01/27/all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-wales-91466-20398431/

Ceiriog by John Ceiriog Hughes

MEDDYLIAU AM Y NEFOEDD.

Y mae y tri phennill hyn mewn rhan yn wreiddiol, ac mewn rhan yn gyfieithiedig.

Daw meddyliau am y nefoedd
Gydag awel wan y nawn,
Gyda llanw'r môr fe ddeuant,
Gan lefaru 'n felus iawn;
Pan fo 'r mellt fel ser yn syrthio,
Yn y storm gynhyrfus, gref -
Pan fo 'r llong yn teimlo 'r creigiau,
Daw meddyliau am y nef.

Daw meddyliau am y nefoedd,
I unigedd fforest goed,
Ac i'r anial, lle nas tyfodd
Un glaswelltyn bach erioed.
Ar fynyddau 'r ia tragwyddol,
Ac ar greigiau llymion, lle
Bydd eryrod yn gorffwyso,
Daw meddyliau am y ne.

Daw meddyliau am y nefoedd
I ynysig leia 'r aig,
Lle mae 'r don yn gosod coron
Gwrel wen ar ben y graig;
Trwy holl gyfandiroedd daear,
Glynnoedd dwfn, a bryniau ban,
Pur feddyliau am y nefoedd
Ddont eu hunain i bob man.

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3500

Airport 'will ruin' national park

"The three national park societies of Wales are teaming up to try to stop an airport opening in Snowdonia.

The former military airfield at Llanbedr near Harlech, Gwynedd - in the heart of the national park - is set to be taken over by a private airport. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7387385.stm

Pop music archive for Wales

"Wales's first pop archive is to be established by Bangor University to preserve the history and development of Welsh language pop music and culture for the future.

Since Welsh language pop singing took off in the1960s, Welsh pop has been an important part of Welsh youth culture, a mirror to society of the period, and a means of expressing a political, linguistic and creative standpoint, said a university spokesperson."

http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Culture&F=1&id=13517

History of Place Names near Cardiff

Sponsor : Institute of Historical Research
Publication : Cardiff Records: volume 5
Author : John Hobson Matthews (editor)
Year published : 1905
Supporting documents : Glossary
Pages : 337-369
Citation : 'Schedule of place names: A - F', Cardiff Records: volume 5 (1905), pp. 337-369.
URL : http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=48203. Date accessed: 15 May 2008.

Cardiff - Locallife

"Your complete guide to life in Cardiff and the surrounding area, covering all aspects of community, business and leisure."

http://www.locallife.co.uk/cardiff/

Glorious Nonsense - Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky, of course, is a poem from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Despite the Alice books being often thought of as children's books, I didn't get around to reading them until I was 22. When I did, I was spellbound.

I was reading away, with quiet enjoyment, when I came across Jabberwocky. I read it, paused, and read it again. Pondered for a while, then read it again. Jabberwocky beautifully skates the thin edge of being understood and being nonsense. But such glorious nonsense! As Alice put it,

"It seems very pretty," she said when she had finished it, "but it's rather hard to understand!" (You see she didn't like to confess even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.) "Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas--only I don't exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that's clear, at any rate---"

http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/

BBC - Radio 4 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

" This adventure is not easy or straightforward - you are quite likely to die before even reaching the pub! But if you persevere and tune into Douglas' unique logic (or "consistent illogic"), you will be rewarded with some classic writing which has not been published elsewhere, e.g.

The barman gives you a cheese sandwich. The bread is like the stuff that stereos come packed in, the cheese would be great for rubbing out spelling mistakes, and margarine and pickle have combined to produce something that shouldn't be, but is, turquoise. Since it is clearly unfit for human consumption you are grateful to be charged only a pound... "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game_nolan.shtml

Jazz legend Lyttelton dies at 86

"Veteran jazz musician and radio host Humphrey Lyttelton has died aged 86."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7367385.stm

Tombstone

                     FABIAN
         Ladies and gentlemen, the St
         Crispin's Day Speech from Henry V.
         To set the Scene, England is
         Now at war with France.
         Everything rests upon the battle
         About to begin.  Henry, the young
         King of England, addresses his men
         Thusly: "My cousin Westmorland?
         No, my fair cousin-"

Another GUNSHOT and a bullet SPANGS into the column next to
Fabian with a shower of plaster.  Without missing a beat,
Fabian casually flicks a chunk off his shoulder and continues:

                    FABIAN
         "If we are marked to die, we are
         enow/ To do our country loss; and
         if to live./ The fewer me, the
         greater the share of honour..."

In the audience Barnes holsters his smoke pistol reflectively.

                    BARNES
         He's got nerve, I'll say that.
         What do you think, Billy?

Starry-eyed, Breakenridge answers without thinking:

                    BREAKENRIDGE
         Oh, he wonderful!

                    GROUNDS
         Uh-oh, looks like somebody's in love.

Raw laughter from the others.  Breakenridge sinks in his seat.

                    CURLY BILL
         Let him alone.

On stage Fabian is in full cry, giving the local a slice of
the ripest ham:

                    FABIAN
         "We few, we happy few, we band of
         brothers;/ For he today that
         sheds his blood with me/ Shall be
         my brother; be he ne'er so vile./
         This day shall gentle his
         Condition;/ And gentlemen in
         England now a-bed/ Shall think
         Themselves accurs'd they were no
         Here./ And hold their manhood
         Cheap whiles any speaks/ That
         Fought with us upon Saint
         Crispin's day!"

Wild applause and cheering.  Fabian bows with elaborate
modesty.

http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/tomb_stone.html

The Abominable Snowmen - Doctor Who

"Padmasambhava tells Songsten that he is unable to control the Doctor's mind and that the traveller is endangering their plan. He orders Songsten to take a transparent pyramid to the cave in the mountains guarded by three Yeti. Once there, the Great Intelligence will use the device to focus itself upon the Earth where it will take on physical form."

http://www.gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=nn

Grow together

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/gallery/2007/feb/27/yourphotos?picture=329766970

Liquid Sculpture

"Liquid Sculpture images are fluids in motion, frozen in time by a flash of light. They are droplets witnessed in mid-splash."

http://www.liquidsculpture.com/