Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts
the stars to flight.
And, lo, has caught the sultan’s turret in a noose of light!

Cosas de España/Galicia

It’s back to school next week and, as ever, parents will be faced with quite a bill, running into hundreds of euros. This will include copies of the compulsory text books which have been revised – possibly only slightly – since last year. Some say the Spanish publishing industry wouldn’t survive without this tax on learning.

Following up on a report in yesterday’s post, Reader David in La Coruña advises of 3 facts:-

• A car tougher than a large boar has not yet been discovered
• You can add boar protection to your car insurance. Its cheap and definitely worth it, he adds.
• If you do hit a boar and fail to report it to the Guardia Civil, your insurance company can reject your claim.

It sometimes seems that, in Spain, there’s a compulsion to add a new fiesta every few years. In Pv city, we have the ‘traditional’ Feira Franca in a week or so. This is a huge (medieval themed) festival but is only 25 years old. Across the river in Lérez there’s an annual music festival – held last weekend – which is also large but of only 3 years pedigree. It takes place over only 2 nights and is free to attend, despite the fact it involves the mantling and dismantling of a huge stage and its lighting system

Which reminds me . . . . I’ve said many times that the Spanish are lovely people but that they can be rather inconsiderate of others at times. Especially when having fun. For example, the final act of the 2nd night of the Lérez music event came on at 2.25am and was still performing – very loudly indeed – at 3.40am. Not everyone on the Pv city side of the river was happy about this.

Portugal

It’s claimed that some Lisbon restaurants are secretly operating a system of cheaper prices for locals. If so, how would you stop it?

The USA

Donald Trump, it’s reported, has been repeatedly advised by his campaign to focus on bread-and-butter issues such as the economy and immigration and to stop attacking Kamala Harris with slurs, as this puts off swing voters. But Trump is said to have confided to 2 people that he can’t help himself because of how much “animosity” he feels to wards her and other rivals.

A propos . . . Private Eye provides here an all-purpose Trump speech. Well, one from a couple of weeks ago . . . : I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be in gaol. But God saved me. Just like he did on that famous day. I’ll never forget where I was when President Trump was shot. Sleepy Joe – He doesn’t remember stuff. He doesn’t know where he is. I was taking a bullet for democracy. The bullet didn’t want to kill me. It liked me. Sure, it hated me at first, but once it met me, it loved me! It just wanted to nibble my ear. And a little voice in my head, probably God, said “Donald Duck and I did. And the bullet missed me. And killed someone else. Thank-you, God. I knew you were a Republican. But I’m a changed man, and after my brush with death, I know my mission is to bring unity and peace to the United States. Unlike Crooked Joe. Everyone can see that an old rambling man who talks nonsense and often forgets what he’s saying and, even worse, often get forgets what he’s saying, yeah, everyone knows this demented old timer is entirely unfit for office. I mean this guy would be the oldest president in the history. Fact! Do you want a guy in his 80s running the country? Of course you do!! Make American Gaga Again. Put your cross on trump. Not you, Mr Sniper Man on the roof! You’re gonna miss anyway. I’ve got God on my side. And even if I had been shot dead, Dr Lecter would have cured me. You guys know Hannibal Lecter? Great man! Great doctor! Someone comes to see him and he says I’m having some beans for dinner with a friend. Great joke! Really bigly funny. And then the shark comes over from the electric boat and drinks bleach and everyone’s much better. You guys like sharks? I’m not afraid of sharks. I’m gonna build a wall of sharks to eat all those Mexican rapists and drug dealers and Muslims. And Muslim Mexican rapists, drug dealers. They’re the worst. Trust me. Now, where was I?Oh, yeah – I was gonna announce my running mate. Ladies and gentlemen. Hannibal Lecter. Oh, no! He’s in prison. Unfair. If I’m elected, I’m gonna pardon him on day one, along with that guy in the buffalo horns who stormed the capital and tried to lynch Mike Pence. Good call! Bad man! Anyway, forget Pence, I got Vance! J D Vance! A Hillbilly boy from the Apache Mountains in Ohio. OK, so he once called me Hitler. Who hasn’t done that? But now he loves me. He’s got a great new nickname for Crooked Kamala. You know what it is? The childless cat lady. Pretty funny. That’s a childless lady, not a lady with a childless cat. Which wouldn’t be funny at all. A lot of cat lovers out there. I like a bit of pussy myself! Feline fact! Trump Truth! Vote Hitler! God bless Austria! You wouldn’t believe it, but I’m not using auto cue – it’s all in my head! And another thing . . . So I’ve called Krazy Kamala a sick bum, a Marxist fraud, an evil unhinged Jew-hater and dumb as a rock – but from now on it’s no more Mr Nice Guy. I’m sick of being Kind Trump. Nasty Trump is back. So from now on I’m calling her Lying Kamala. Because, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s lying. True fact! [continues for several hours].

[BTW: I used voice-to-text for that. The app refused to type ‘rapist’ and ‘pussy’ but was quite happy, I later found, with ‘pussycat’.]

As for Ms Harris . . .

• This columnist thinks the Democrats have ‘pulled off a miracle’. In reality, Democrats aren’t voting for Harris, though they may learn to love her over time; they are voting for the Democrats, which is a powerful political vertical that can draw upon the best image-making talent in the country. The goal that the entire party could agree on was beating Donald Trump,
• But this Guardian columnist has doubts about the ‘risky’ strategy based on memes and vibes. Taster: Meme, celebrity and cultural symbolism have become the language not only of political performance but also of political analysis and media coverage. The worlds of social media and politics have fully converged, producing a sort of extended entertainment event. Harris’s transformation itself, within days, from a relatively low-impact and low-presence vice-president to the juggernaut she has become has involved a hectic re-scripting.

Just a thought . . . If it’s true that neither Biden, nor Trump nor even Harris are really qualified to be the most powerful person in the world, what on earth does it say about the people behind them pushing their candidacies? Unelected puppet-masters?

India

• This is a fascinating podcast on the influence of Indian culture on those that followed it – including the Greeks, the Romans and the Persians. And on Muslim culture too.
• And this a book just published by one of the podcasters: The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World.

English

Talking of things curved, such as brackets/parentheses . . . A reader has kindly reminded me that ‘Traditionally, a shepherd carried a crook, with a curved top, useful for getting hold of lambs, etc.’

A few more words from Tristram Shandy:-

• Hypalage: In rhetoric, a transposition of the natural relation of 2 elements in a proposition. For example, in the sentence “Melissa shook her doubtful curls”.
• Chuse = Choose
• Pother: A commotion or fuss
• Copulative: Connecting words or clauses linked in sense.
• Covin: Fraud, deception

Finally . .

I think I mentioned there was a wonderful Asian grocers near the house of my younger daughter in the UK. This morning I opened a packet of coffee with cardamom which I bought there and brewed a pot of coffee. And promptly wished I hadn’t. The cardamom taste was overwhelming, even for someone like me who likes it in a curry. Or even – less strongly – in my coffee. Be warned.

The Usual Links . . .

• You can get my posts by email as soon as they’re published. With the added bonus that they’ll contain the typos I’ll discover later. I believe there’s a box for this at the bottom of each post. If you do this but don’t read the posts, I will delete your subscription. So perhaps don’t bother if you have other reasons for subscribing . . .
• For new readers: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.
• For those thinking of moving to Spain:– This is an extremely comprehensive and accurate guide to the challenge, written by a Brit who lives in both the North and the South and who’s very involved in helping Camino walkers. And this is something on the so-called Beckham Rule, which is beneficial – tax-wise – for folk who want to work here. Finally, some advice on getting a mortgage. And this article ‘debunks claims re wealth and residency taxes’. Probably only relevant if you’re a HNWI. In which case, you’ll surely know what that stands for.