A glorious sunset over Puntagorda Yesterday I set off for the almond blossom fiesta in Puntagorda. When I arrives, I phoned my friends in Franceses to see if they were in the village too. Well, they were, but at their friends’ barbecue, so we agreed to meet up later. Before I’d even left the car, they phoned back with an invitation to the barbecue. So I went, and I had…
Breña Baja: The Old Butcher’s Shop
The 19th century butcher’s shop, Breña Baja, La Palma The old butcher’s shop stands on the outskirts of the village of San Jose, in Breña Baja, near the Paradorof La Palma. The building dates from the late 19th century, and it was a butcher’s shop until the 1960s. But now it’s been renovated as a craft exhibition and shop. The famous cigars of The Breñas Although the place is small,…
It’s Raining on La Palma
Some people think it never rains in La Palma. Well, it’s the greenest of the Canary Islands for a very simple reason. And right now, it’s busy getting greener. In fact, we have an official orange weather alert, and all school is cancelled for tomorrow, for the whole archipelago. The thing is, it’s not raining all that much, at last not here. It’s just like a wet day in Wales….
News
In aid of HaitiThere will be a fund-raising shindig for Haiti in the Plaza España of Santa Cruz on Saturday, from 10 am until 3pm. This includes a market, and a raffle. At least 6 local bands are turning out. The amateur astronomy group will set up telescopes for observing the sun (safely!), somebody’s bringing “children’s activities”, and there’s a “Recycle Art” workshop. (I wonder if that’s Ruben Armichi?) Anyway,…
Yippee! I’ve been nominated for an award
I’ve been nominated for the BSFA (British Science Fiction Association) award for best non-fiction with “How to Burn a Chicken – Using Astronomy for Worldbuilding” (which appeared in Escape Velocity, vol 1 issue 2) The list of nominations is at http://www.bsfa.co.uk/Forum/tabid/61/forumid/109/threadid/17502/scope/posts/Default.aspx Of course this is just a nomination. I’m not even on the shortlist. But I’m still grinning.I just wish I knew who to thank.
Star Finders
M100 (NGC 4321), a barred galaxy in the Virgo cluster There’s a really simple reason why the Royal Greenwich Observatory moved their telescopes here. It’s one of the three best places in the world for astronomy. A modern telescope could see the equivalent of a candle on the moon, so obviously they want to be well away from city lights. Even more obviously, they want to be somewhere that doesn’t…