Spain celebrates Carnival in the week before the season of Lent. I always say people are making sure they have something really juicy to repent, but these days most people just regard it as a darn good excuse for a party. The funfair’s already here, and the main programme starts on Friday. Friday, 20th February 6 pm. Opening ParadeChildren from the schools and nurseries will parade from the Plaza de…
What are murgas when they’re at home? Well, they’re not murgas. They have to go out to do that. And they usually go out during Carnival. A murga is a large, costumed choir singing a medley of popular tunes with their own lyrics. The costumes can be quite elaborate, and run from clowns, demons, big, hairy blokes dressed as schoolgirls, Arabian princes, or fairies (usually the big, hairy blokes again.)…
I set up Google alerts to let me know when my name appears on the web. Mostly I get to hear about other Sheila Crosbys, but occasionally I find reviews of my stories that I didn’t know about, and just once, someone who’d reprinted a whole story, including the “Original fiction exclusive to Cosmos Online” bit at the top. (They took it down when I asked). I was very surprised…
On January 24th, a group of women were having a peaceful drink in a bar in Mangalore, and they were attacked by a group of 40 men for being “unIndian”. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7852837.stm. Big heroes NOT! They’re members of a group called Sri Ram Sena, who see themselves as self-appointed guardians, “preserving Indian culture and moral values.” Their leader, Pramod Mutalik, said, “What my men did was right. The media is…
Most of the snow has melted, and the road from Santa Cruz to the observatory is open again. But there’s a landslide blocking half the road above the treeline, somewhere near the rock formation that looks like a red submarine.
It’s a good thing I love La Palma, because I get off the island once or twice a year. But last weekend was my great nephew’s baptism, and we hadn’t even seen him. So, although we absolutely didn’t have the time, we went to Tenerife for the weekend. Getting up at 4:30 am for the 6am ferry was a killer, but we had a great time. We stayed in a…