But first, some news of the day. President Donald Trump seems to be losing control on all fronts.   Yesterday, the House adopted an Iran War resolution ( which therefore does not mean all that much ) to rein in Trump. Congress and the courts have forced Trump to pull back the $1.8 billion fund to compensate his allies. The Epstein files continue to lurk. The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA finals, 105-95. Haven't said much about Major League Baseball, which is about 38% into the season, with almost four months left.  From Google AI, the top pitchers are: Cristopher Sánchez (Phillies): Leads the majors with a microscopic ERA among qualified starters. He made national headlines by racking up an incredible scoreless-innings streak, showcasing devastating command with his changeup. [ 1 , 2 ] Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers): The "The Miz" has been utterly electric, leading all of baseball in total strikeouts and routinely lighting up the ...

The Luminara departed the Port of Saigon, and is heading for the Port of Danang.  Tomorrow will be an at-sea day. Lunch was at Mistral.  Basically, Antipasto Misto, Truffle Fries and Sausage Pizza, with white and red wines, plus beer. Did not do much shipwise, for it was beginning to get a bit rough at sea.  Dinner at Haesu Bit began with a sake pouring and Pho.  Also, tuna and hamachi sashimi. Decided to watch TV in our stateroom tonight because it was too dangerous to walk around, and expected to get worse.  My lowest number of steps/day since I got my pedometer.  Only 901 steps. Just finished reading the 2024  Eruption , by Michael Crichton and James Patterson.   I reviewed this novel last year. .  Took me a long time because I finally got around to it this summer, and, through my iPhone, only read a few pages when I was waiting around for something.  Took me many months to complete. I am now reading two books: A soft-back, ...

There is a La Mancha in Spain, but there is no real Man of La Mancha. This all began with Miguel de Cervantes. Was born in Spain in 1547  (?, maybe ) and passed away in 1616 at the age of 68. Considered to be the greatest Spanish writer, best known for what is said to be the first modern novel,  Don Quixote , perhaps even the best book of all time.  As translated by Edith Grossman, widely regarded as one of funniest and most tragic  books ever written. Cervantes spent most of his life in relative poverty and obscurity. At the age of 22, moved to Rome, where he worked for the household of a cardinal. Enlisted in the Spanish Navy infantry a year later, 1570, and got severely wounded, losing use of his left arm and hand. There are no portraits of him, but this one to the right is generally used. In 1575 was captured by Barbary pirates, and ransomed to Madrid five years later. First significant novel, published in 1585, was  La Galatea . Don Quixote  was publis...