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

Sundays in Spain

Lovely Llanes in Asturias.

The mystery of the origins of the Basque language is solved.

This traffic barrier is one one side of a roundabout/circle in Pv city, where the direction of travel was reversed.

The steel poles were erected to stop cars going past this point. After several cars got stuck between them, the chevrons were fixed to the poles. I believe they’ve been more successful.

The Middle East War

• Quote: The thing to remember about the Middle East is that nothing is over until it is over. And, where grudge matches span millennia, nothing is ever really over. Thus, yesterday’s optimism about the latest developments may be a little bit premature.
• Indeed . . . Everything Trump said yesterday was a total lie.
• And . . . Gaslighting hits epic highs.

The United States of Trump USA

The World Cup:-

• To follow your team from the opening match to the final will cost you almost 5 times what it did at the last tournament in Qatar.
• US hotels have slashed summer room rates as demand falls far short of expectation.
• It can’t be long before Trump calls it the biggest sporting event success the world has ever seen,

Trump’s . . .

• Latest lie: Inflation is fake.
• Dangerous delusions
• Buffoonery
• Main clown at work
• Unravelling presidency.
• Gutter-level insults hatred towards his ex-friends.

Relevant podcasts/YouTube videos

• The Daily Beast Podcast/Video
• Inside Trump’s Head Podcast/Video
• The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent Podcast
• The Rest is Politics US Podcast/Video
• The DSR Network Podcast
• The Politics Girl Video. Amusing
• The Daily Show Video. Very amusing

Quotes of the Day

• King George III would be a model of mental health compared with Trump.
• Trump might already think things are so bad for him he has nothing to lose.
• The more threatened and cornered a malignant narcissist is, the more vicious and destructive he/she becomes. We should be concerned about what Trump will do if the Republicans lose the Congress in November. Or even before then.

Spanish

• Cabo: Cape. End. Point. Corporal/lance corporal.
• Llevar a cabo: To carry out, perform, accomplish, etc.
• Devolver: To give back, pay back, return, etc.

English

• Vomitous: Nauseating. A newish word, I believe. Possibly invented the USA in the last 10 years.
• Shambolic: Apparently British slang for ‘obviously disorganized or confused’.

Did you know?

How California got its name.

You Have to Laugh

Another uncomfortable Finn . . .

Finally . . .

Probably because my neighbour’s cat no longer prowls in my garden, I have blackbirds nesting in my ivy hedge and wood pigeons in the bougainvillea. The contrast in their constructions couldn’t be more stark. The blackbirds’ is tall, circular, solid and very neat. The wood pigeons’ is just a flattish mess of twigs. But both serve their purpose, I guess.

Finally . . . Finally . . .

Nostalgia time. The Silkie group lived next door to friends of mine on Merseyside. In fact, I tried to buy a steel guitar from one of the members. They were signed up by Brian Epstein and were given this (hit) song by the Beatles, 3 of who performed on it. They were briefly thought of the English Peter, Paul and Mary but further fame proved elusive. You might have heard that, in contrast, The Beatles went on to be quite successful . . .

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 . . .

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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.

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