A book and map for driving holidays

La Palma is a confusing island to drive around. There are so many steep ravines that the roads tend to be twisty. If you want to go north from Cancajos, you have to start by taking the road south out of the village. If you want to drive southeast to the lighthouse from the Teneguía volcano, you have to go northwest to begin with. I’ve lived here for seventeen years,…

February 29, 2008
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Sheila, Patron Saint of Cabbages

Last year I decided to take “localvore” to its logical conclusion, and grow a bit of food on the balcony. I had mixed success (see “Peas”). Well, last night I harvested the solitary cabbage, and we had about a third of it with pork for dinner. It was delicious. I suppose it figures – organic cabbage harvested twenty minutes before we ate it. And then I looked at the half-circle…

February 27, 2008
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Another Sale!

Escape Velocity have bought “The Dodo Dragon” for Issue three. This story’s been published before, (once in Greek!) but it still makes me feel good all over. And the novel’s up to 80,771 words, which also makes me feel good. But I don’t think I’m going to finish the first draft by the end of the month after all. Which is a puity, because I’m starting a writing course in…

February 27, 2008
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Palmeran Hip Hop

For its size, La Palma has a surprisingly vibrent music scene. On Friday, the local Hip hop group La 38 released their first CD, “Cintas Perdidas” (Lost tapes) on the Monkey Family label. Of course all the lyrics are in Spanish. The group consists of four artists: Falcon, Lese, Soulo y Split, and they’ve been together since 2004. You can hear clips of their CD at Myspace:http://www.myspace.com/treintaiocho or see their…

February 26, 2008
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The Funeral at Last!

Last night I went to the delayed Sardine’s Funeral in Los Sauces. I finally discovered why people say it’s better than the sardine’s funeral in Santa Cruz. They say it because it’s true. The crowd was far bigger than in Santa Cruz, and over half of them wore fancy dress – mostly Halloween theme costumes. This is my hairdresser. I didn’t recognise him until he spoke. First they had a…

February 24, 2008
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A Funeral at Last!

Last night I went to the delayed Sardine’s Funeral in Los Sauces. I finally discovered why people say it’s better than the sardine’s funeral in Santa Cruz. They say it because it’s true. The crowd was far bigger than in Santa Cruz, and over half of them wore fancy dress – mostly Halloween theme costumes. This is my hairdresser. I didn’t recognise him nutil he spoke. First they had a…

February 24, 2008
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