Super Typhoon Bavi with a wind speed of 180 MPH is approaching the tiny island of Rota in the West Pacific as I write this.  I'll continue this story at the end of this post, about the time when landfall will be reached.  We won't know till tomorrow the outcome. Gusts will reach 205 MPH! Compared to the weather today over Rota, conditions were not so bad in the nation's capital, only reaching 102F, breaking DC's July 4th heat record by 2F.   Plus there were 375,000 people in the audience on the National Mall awaiting President Donald Trump's speech at 9AM, but approaching lightnin g forced a delay until 11:15PM, when a good crowd of 150,000 returned for his almost 40-minute talk.   He actually gave a good speech . Then the promised colossal fireworks show most probably did break the world record for being the largest , with up to 860,000 shells. Pyrotecnico did a fabulous job, and all went well.   Guinness will certify this record in a few days. G...

Back to my cocoon, also known as apartment 1212 at 15 Craigside.  Looking forward to doing essentially nothing until our next potentially monumental journey: We fly to Iceland to see some geo-cold sites, then board the Azamara Journey for 18-nights from Rekjavik to Greenland, ending up in Montreal.  Of course, there is one primary reason we will be on this cruise.  The next total solar eclipse.  Sun will stay dark for 2 minutes and 18 seconds on August 12. Will you see this event from where you live?  Google AI says: Upcoming Total Solar Eclipses: August 12, 2026: Greenland, Iceland, Spain. August 2, 2027: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia. July 22, 2028: Australia, New Zealand. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] For those in the United States, the next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous U.S. will be on August 22, 2044 . [ 1 ]   How old will you be in 18 years? Some reviews of the Azamara Journey. Google AI says: The Azamara Journey is hi...

 There seems to be a stalemate with Iran about war or peace.   The U.S. now has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, with the WTI price of petroleum stabilizing at around $93/barrel.   The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up past 50,000 in February, but had already settled to around 49,000 just as the war began, dropped further to 46,500 at the beginning of April, but rose to 48,218 yesterday, and seems to be settling at around that number, awaiting further news. Gold hit an all-time high of $5,589/oz on January 28, dropped to $5,200/oz as the Iran war began, and has settled to $4,800/oz this month. Iran offered to delay nuclear development for five years, but the U.S. is demanding 20 years, I've long felt that invasion of Kharg Island was the key to disabling Iran into the future,   Watch this video ,  Why here?  Read  Wikipedia. The Marriott Marquis charges a lot because of its location at Times Square,  However, we are provided free se...