Pepper

I guess the big news is that we now have a new four-legged member of the family. His name is Pepper, and he’s a black labrador. He has settled into life at the Gandy-Draper household extremely well… albeit with a few things chewed that shouldn’t have been. Guido is happy to have a new friend – and they get on great – most of the time. Yes, he’s an amazing fella… is growing up big and strong… and is very much loved! He loves to watch television too – his favourite seems to be Cesar Millan (he really should try and learn something) and he’s also a fan of Talent Shows. Hmmm… do we have a potential saxophone playing doggie on Spain’s Got Talent? Perhaps not.

From left to right... Kate, me, Tina, and Fiona

In other news, I squeezed in a trip to the UK in January – my first in almost 3 years. I had a wonderful time, and got to spend some quality time with my Mum… long overdo for so many reasons. The beautiful Kate also organised a surprise for my friends in the UK – Tina and Fiona. Kate, Fiona, Tina and myself were extremely close back when I lived in Blighty… so it was natural to have a night out with the ladies whilst over. Little did Tina and Fiona know that Kate had got them out under false pretences…. and that I was going to walk in behind them. Yes you could hear the squeals of delight for miles! It was lovely to spend some time with my ladies!

Right – until the next time then! Elle xx

For more info – visit our Relocation Website  – link below, which will take you straight to the article.

Spain Magazine Article

Please do not click this link unless you are prepared for the horrendous effect this will have.

I am a strong woman – but this has made such a huge impact on me! I never wear animal fur anyway… but if any of you do – then you deserve to watch this… if only to stop you from ever wearing it again

Again – I repeat the warning – this really is horrific!

Chinese Fur Farms

If you are upset by this, and feel the need to condemn… then please forward this link to everyone you know!

Signing off… a very VERY upset Elle xx

No – we don’t spend all our time lazing by the pool, or sipping cold drinks on the seafront (chance would be a fine thing).

CanaryNightlife has been going from strength to strength here in Lanzarote, and we have recently expanded into Fuerteventura too. The forum gets very busy nowadays, with plenty of new members joining in on the general chat… or asking questions against the relevant Islands and Resorts.

We’ve also been busy building new websites too… I won’t list them all, but a couple worthy of a mention are www.fumiguard.com , www.canaryislandsdreamvillas.com, www.geckopoolheaters.com and www.irishanvilbar.com There’s more coming all the time too! We’ve also released a free Lanzarote business directory, albeit under the radar for now.

Right, well I’ll let you all go for now… but if you fancy a chatter… and want to see what’s happening in the Canaries – then come and visit us in the forum at www.canarynightlife.net/forum

See you again soon!

Elle xx

Work is keeping us very busy, which is excellent… and we have more clients coming on board all the time. So what else has been happening to keep me away from this blog? Well… we’ve finally moved. With almost 2 years of Lanzarote under our belt, we decided to take the plunge and jump onto the property ladder. So we’re buying a place closer to the Rubicon Marina.

We’ve been settled in for 2 weeks now – and it feels very homelike already.

Now if we could only get 5 minutes to ourselves, we might have be able to relax and enjoy it!

The weather is fantastic at the moment, and despite neither Alan nor myself sunbathing… those tans still seem to be creeping on.  So for anyone headed out to Playa Blanca in the coming days… don’t forget that suncream!

Elle xx

Lots has been happening in the world of Lanzarote Web Design with more sites going live… and more coming over the next couple of weeks.

We managed a couple of days in Madrid during January – and loved it, despite the cold. We’re just not used to those low temperatures anymore (and long may THAT continue!).

So what little gems have I stumbled across recently?

Some e cards – a cracking site for sending e-cards. Similar humour to those black and white greetings cards we used to send back in the UK. Love it!

Live Angler – ok… didn’t stumble upon this one – it was built by my better half. Go have a look, and if you or anyone is into fishing… you’ll love it!

B3ta – one of my favourite sites… although it’s already gone 5pm, and no sign of my newsletter. Arrrgghhh… how will I cope? Go have a look… check out their links section of the message board. oodles of fun stuff. And do sign up for their newsletter… it’ll kick off your weekend nicely. But it’s not for kids!

Anyway, I’m going to log off now… and go post in a couple of forums. Speak to you soon!

http://www.kfccruelty.com

Be warned, the video on this site is not nice, and is certainly shocking in places. Don’t watch it if you ever want to eat KFC again.

There are certain elements of twenty-somethinghood that are key staples. Graduating college. Getting a real job. But chief among them is hanging out with friends at the bar. Drinking, dancing and determined to make this the greatest decade. I have spent my time in plenty of drinking establishments. Proper pubs, hole-in-the-walls and large dance clubs. In all these places, I have noticed exactly how life is lived within bars.

During my life within bars, I develop super hero powers. Well technically, three skills become more developed. So, I’m less of a super hero and more like a blind or dumb person. If I had taken the ACT’s at a bar, I am sure that I would have gotten a full ride to Harvard.

Being at a bar is one of the few places I can do division with any real confidence or real speed. I can quickly look at the drink specials, add a tip and divide that into the amount of money I brought in about five seconds. Something about the bar makes my mind work like Rainman’s. Of course the drinks at the bar make me act like him.

At the bar I also develop the amazing ability to stick my foot in my mouth. The last time I was out, I was talking to this guy and was saying how one of his elderly costumers looked like his grandmother except the costumer was a bitch. I quickly said, “which we can assume you grandmother isn’t.” His response: “No, she’s dead” and continued his story. My friend Jacob was there and sot of looked at me and whispered “Awkward.”

But the bar is full of awkward moments. I’ve had to introduce myself three times to someone before I could remember his name and when I put his number in my phone it was still the wrong name. I only knew this because the next day my friend asked me if I got Ryan’s number and I asked “who?” Recently, I entered someone’s name as “Byrice,” which is more like a grocery list than his name.

The greatest thing about the bars, are the people I call Nightcons. These are people that are so outrageous you have to watch them throughout the night. In D.C., my friends and I would place bets (i.e. drinks) on Nightcons to see which one would do the most insane thing. I was out one night and my Nightcon was a heavy-set, heavily drunk lesbian. I first saw this Nightcon on the dance floor when she hiked up her pants through her open shirt without first attempting to block anybody’s view of of her actions. Innocent enough, until she then reached into her pants and readjusted her underwear. Her stomach vibrated like the archival footage of the man getting hit by a cannon ball. I had to share this with someone. When I attempted to point her out to Jacob, she had disappeared. I was at first worried that she had fallen through the dance floor because there was no one dancing where she had been standing. However, it was not her obscene readjustment that gave her Nightcon status. What made her a Nightcon was later that night I saw her cuddling with this other girl and while the other girl had her head in the nape in my Nightcon’s neck, the Nightcon had her head tilted back draining a long neck bottle into her mouth. That my friends, is Nightcon behavior.

In the end, the bars represent all the aspects of our twenty-somethinghood. We go out. We have fun with friends. And occasionally there is a man dividing drinks into $60, avoiding awkward moments, attempting to remember names and trying not to become a Nightcon.

And if you don’t like this entry: Odprejskni!

Long but there’s a point………

Episode IV: A new hope
8 years ago, when I first came across Whitney (my first 5 string), I made a decision to follow the music I had loved since way back: Reggae and funky, jazzy, danceable, soul.  These days the names have changed, and they get grouped together as “urban”, but you get the picture.  It meant turning away bands to concentrate on what I wanted.  I tried the RnB originals thing.  Then I worked on a reggae band, and formed an 80s soul covers band.  Each fell apart without fulfilling their potential:- reasons various.

….Not
This year I found myself without a project (and bass players aren’t known for their solo work!).  Despite offering myself up for various bits and pieces, there hasn’t been enough to keep me busy.  I do need relevant things to be working on, otherwise I loose the motivation to practise.

Brinnnnnng!
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had a couple of phone calls from covers bands.  One is an hour’s drive away and more pop/rock (Chilli peppers, Maroon 5 etc) than funky.  The other is 70s funk based but they’ve been together for 5 years and never gigged!  Not much momentum there.  The other thing:- and feel free to call me a racist here – (I’m worried too)….  It’s the first time for many years that I’ve been in sessions with ALL white guys, and, frankly, I’m uncomfortable……

…. The dating game
I’ve always likened bands to be like dating or being engaged.  You find one, check it out and fall in love or not.  Recently a good friend of mine met a guy (A musician too.) and briefly dated him. She’s a level headed girl not given to cheapness, but his words and actions had her thinking the he was not just a possible boyfriend, but that he was THE future, and she …. Succumbed.  Having tasted, he …… well….you know.  I can’t blame the guy.  She’s hot.  If I were single, I’d lie like Captain Jack Sparrow, if it got her into the sack.  She’s really sweet.  I’d lie twice!

More importantly, I can’t blame her either, because in music, I do exactly the same thing.  A serial monogamist.  Find a band, Picture the future, invest in it at the exclusion of everything else.  We all know that all musicians are scoundrels, dreamers, escapists, and lazy.

Reality
Except that music has one important difference to dating.  One that sounds harsh if you are emotional.  It is not a sin to be with more than 1 group of musicians at once.  You might say that it is splitting resources and time.  You might think that it cuts across “emotional bonds invested in the soul of the music.  You might even feel threatened that a band mate might find something better and leave.  The reality (that I have actually witnessed) is that:
Your band mate might get pregnant and leave
Get a solo /better looking deal,
Just emigrate.
Have a car crash and be unable to play
Get married and reassess priorities.
Delay the project because, because, because,
Become an asshole.
or anyone of a hundred reasons that leave you holding 20 songs that no-one else wants to play. With 4 musicians you have 400 chances to break up!

Being a musical “slut” has advantages:
You become a more experienced and knowledgeable musician (everyone wins),
By playing more you practice and become physically stronger (everyone wins),
You make more contacts (everyone wins),
It makes the rest of the band mates raise their game (everyone wins),
One of your contacts might pay you.

More importantly if “life” happens to your project you have other projects to go on to.

So…..
The thing about these projects is that however “wrong” they might be for me, they are actually all excellent musicians.  I feel my fingers getting stronger.  I’ll be exposed to ….. don’t know what yet.  Play live. So the answer is:- do BOTH, and look for more.

So if you’re reading this because you were looking for an RnB bassist, still call.  I’m your guy.  It’s just that I’m DOing rather than talking, and definitely, definitely, fed up waiting.

P.S.  Sunday night after writing this:  This weekend I’ve spent 7 Hours In rehearsals and 4 more driving to and from.  My calves are tight, My vision is blurred, my back is tired, and the left hand has the ache that only “Green Onions” can give – which just goes to show it’s working.

You can find Dave at his profile on myspace… http://www.myspace.com/urbanbassics

Or his Band site: http://www.davethebass.com

Click HERE to make your decision.. needs sound.