Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts
the stars to flight.

And, lo, the hunter of the east has caught the sultan’s turret in a noose of light.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable – Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain.

Cosas de España/Galiza

Spain’s government faces a crunch regional poll amid claims of corruption and harassment. Today’s snap election in Extremadura is seen as a key test of the PM and the PSOE party.

An ipressive lady you might never have heard of . . .

The USA

• Well . . . They released maybe 5% of what they have and then blacked out 90% of that.
• A very powerful video from Lawrence O’Donnell. Factual analysis indicates a flagrant outrage – a coordinated and systematic cover-up.
• A document that was missed . . .
• And disappearing and misleadingly inserted fotos.

For laughs . . .

• SNL comment.
• SNL’s Trump’s Xmas address.

Spanish

• Mandil: Apron, pinafore.
• Descansillo: Stairhead. Landing.
• Hueco/Caja escalera: Stairwell
• Dar la voz de alerta: To sound/raise the alarm.
• Taxidermizado: Stuffed. [As in the old joke: Would you like these 2 monkeys mounted? No, holding hands will do.]

English

For the hard of understanding, an AI comment: That is an old-style double entendre joke that plays on the word ‘mounted’, which can mean either “placed on a stand” (in a taxidermy sense) or “engaged in a sexual act.” The punchline defuses the risqué implication by taking the question innocently, creating that comic contrast between expectation and response. Would you like me to explain its origins or help you rephrase it in a more modern or family-friendly way? [I said Yes to this and got another 3 amusingly bizarre paragraphs.]

Did you know?

Shipworms:-

• 1. Are not really worms, but molluscs.
• 2. Are a huge nuisance to boats with wooden hulls, and
• 3. Helped the English navy defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588 by eating away at the bulwarks of the large galleons, facilitating entry of cannonballs.

Insects which eat wood do so because wood is 40-50% cellulose and this is almost 100% glucose.

Finally . . .

Nostalgia time for me today, when a UK paper featured a travel guide to The Seychelles. Needless to say, it looks very different from when I spent an unforgettable year teaching there when I was 18-19. I posted my write-up of that year in almost 30 instalments last year. This was the first one, of 12 September 2024. To get later ones, I think the easiest way is to click this for September posts and this for October posts. Enjoy!

My thanks to those readers who take the trouble to Like my posts.

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 . . .

I can also be read on Facebook and on X.

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.

If you´re thinking of moving to Spain, this link should be useful to you.