Happy Friday.
There was a single letter in my mailbox from the Netherlands today, with four South African stamps inside (An Ebay purchase).
Here’s the stamp from the envelope.
Dutch Icons Issued Jan. 2, 2014 Serpentine Die Cut Perf. 11¼ | Self-adhesive | Design: Joachim Baan & Fleur | Issued in booklet panes of 5 | Litho. | Engraving: Walsall Security Printers Ltd. | No Watermark 1461 A664 1,05€ Red, blue, dark blue, black & beige | Dutch windmill [Sources: stampworld.com, Scott 2018 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 5]
Three amigos had beers and burgers at Elysian Capitol Hill Brewery tonight.
My beer is called ‘Little Guy’— a light American lager weighing in at 4.7% ABV. The burger is a ‘smash burger’— a beef burger with cheese and the usual trimmings of tomato, lettuce and pickles. The salad is pretty fancy but simply called their ‘house salad’.
The rose is from the little rose bush in my front garden.
From Google Search Labs | AI Overview:
Roses have a long history, with the earliest evidence suggesting their existence dating back 35 million years. Fossil evidence indicates roses were present in North America as early as the Late Eocene period (38 to 33.9 million years ago).
However, their cultivation in gardens, particularly in China, began roughly 5,000 years ago. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, wrote about roses being grown in imperial gardens about 2,525 years ago.
The year’s toughest tennis tournament* is underway: the last of the clay court season, the French Open at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
There is a sensational new youngster on the men’s tennis scene (no, not Carlos Alcaraz)—João Fonseca from Brazil, all of 18 years old.
*It’s a Grand Slam tournament, so the 128-person draw requires the champion to win 7 times. The matches are best of 5 sets (best of 3 in non-Slam tournaments), and the clay makes the ball slower and bounce higher, so the rallies are longer.
Fonseca (18, ) played against Hubert Hurkacz (28, ) in the first round today. Here he is serving, already a break up (fan with the Brazilian flag to his right). Fonseca won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, against a formidable opponent, and by retrieving shots wide, wi-i-ide out left, or right, and the dropshots up front as well. He plays with the confidence and maturity of someone 10 years older, and whips the ball on his forearm with a lethal, loose, arm and shoulder.
The match was put on Court No 7, a side court. (Why?) So there was standing room only for the rabid fans, plus a line that snaked around the corner for those that still hoped to get in before the end of the match, to share in the excitement. After the match had ended, people started leaving, but others still made their way in, just to take a look. [Still from TNT cable TV channel broadcast]
It’s the last Monday of May, and Memorial Day in the United States— the day for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
Red poppies from a garden in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. The red poppy is a nationally recognized symbol, worn to honor and remember all those who have served.
I like Gabriel Campanario’s artwork, published in today’s Seattle Times.
There is a lot of activity— and all kinds of people— on the Overlook Walk that links downtown Seattle, the Pike Place Market, and the newly revitalized Waterfront Park.
Five amigos had beers and pizza at the Olympia Pizza & Spaghetti House III here on Capitol Hill tonight.
My beer is a Radeberger pilsner— served in a branded imperial pint glass (568 ml).
“Königlich sächsische braukunst seit 1872” translates to “Royal Saxon brewing since 1872”.
Happy Friday.
It’s the start of Memorial Day weekend here in the US, the unofficial start of summer.
The weather here in Seattle will be pleasant (72°F /22°C on Saturday), and the ferries plying Puget Sound will be packed.
The Space Needle’s new all-glass, double-deck outdoor elevator is seen on the move Thursday before opening to the public Friday. This first replacement elevator is on the north side of the Needle and will open to passengers on two floors at once. [Picture by Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times, caption from Seattle Times]
Here’s a cartoon from Friday’s South African daily newspaper Die Burger (‘The Citizen’).
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Trump: ‘Would you mind if one of my caddies tried?’ (The caddies are Ernie Els and Retief Goosen— professional South African golfers who were part of the delegation to the White House. ) The sidebar comment in the corner is: ‘It looks as if Cyril stayed out of the rough’.
AGOA stands for the African Growth and Opportunity Act agreement, signed in 2000, which allowed tariff-free exports to the United States for 32 African countries. On April 2, Trump had slapped a 31 % reciprocal tariff on South Africa (now on the 90-day pause). The USA’s universal 10 % tariff on overseas goods remains in place, also for South Africa. From aljazeera.com: While the two countries did not confirm a trade agreement at Wednesday’s meeting, Ramaphosa told reporters afterwards that the discussion was “a great success”. He added that he presented a framework for a trade deal to Trump, and the two agreed to continue having discussions to figure out the specifics of this deal.
South African daily newspaper ‘Die Burger’ (‘The Citizen’) reporting about the meeting in the White House between the South African delegation, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa. I added in some translations for the Afrikaans. This newspaper, and the BBC’s reporting, says that Ramaphosa ‘survived’ the attacks against him by not fighting it too vociferously, and by staying calm and by making a joke about offering a plane to the US. P.S. Trump formally (openly, brazenly) accepted the $400 million dollar jet gifted to him from Qatar today*. Does that make it official that he is the most corrupt president in America’s history— or was he that already, long before this? *The Foreign Emoluments Clause (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8) states: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
Here are the other South Africans that came with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the White House today.
John Steenhuisen: South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, who clarified political affiliations of individuals featured in a video presented by President Trump. Ernie Els (nickname “The Big Easy”) and Retief Goosen: Professional South African golfers who were part of the delegation and contributed to the discussion during the meeting. Johann Rupert: A prominent South African businessman who emphasized the broader issue of violence affecting all South Africans and proposed technological solutions to improve safety. Zingiswa Losi: A trade union leader who stressed that crime in South Africa affects all demographic groups, not just whites.
Here’s Erica L. Green and Zolan Kanno-Youngs writing for the New York Times: The encounter in some ways echoed the February visit to the Oval Office by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Mr. Zelensky in front of TV cameras, cutting short a visit meant to coordinate a plan for peace.
The meeting with Mr. Ramaphosa on Wednesday was also striking because of the ways in which Mr. Trump dismissed attempts to push back on his fringe claims by those who knew most about them.
Mr. Trump scowled and dismissed Mr. Ramaphosa and his delegates during the meeting, including a Black woman who tried to explain that brutal crimes happen to Black people in the country as well.
By contrast, Mr. Trump joked around and listened attentively as Mr. Els, Mr. Goosen and Johann Rupert, a white South African billionaire, said crime was prevalent across the board in the nation, not just against white farmers.
Mr. Ramaphosa entered the meeting seemingly optimistic about maintaining a cordial conversation with Mr. Trump. He offered olive branches to Mr. Trump, including a book about golf. He complimented Mr. Trump’s décor in the Oval Office.
He even tried to joke with the president, who had become irate when a reporter asked him about a free plane from the Qatari government.
“I am sorry I don’t have a plane to give you,” Mr. Ramaphosa said to Mr. Trump.
“I wish you did,” Mr. Trump replied. “I’d take it. If your country offered the U.S. Air Force a plane, I would take it.”
Mr. Trump seemed more intent on relaying the talking points from leaders of Afrikaner lobbying groups, who have traveled to the United States repeatedly over the years to gather support for their claims of persecution. When one of those groups met with Mr. Trump’s top aides this year, the White House identified them as “civil rights leaders.”
These stamps were on the envelope that landed in my mailbox today, mailed from the suburb of Northwood to the northwest of London.
(The Trump tariffs do not seem to affect my purchases of stamps on Ebay from overseas vendors. These are just envelopes with stamps in, though. I’m not sure what will happen if I order new albums and pages from overseas that come in a proper package).
Clockwise: Merry Christmas Issued Nov. 2, 2004 Perf. 14½x14 | Design: Raymond Briggs | Engraving: De La Rue | No Watermark 2238 BPD1 1st Class | Multicolored | Santa with red suit looking at sunset 25th Anniversary of Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Issued Aug. 12, 1981 Perf. 14 | Pair of stamps with gutter | Design: P. Sharland | Phosphorized paper | Litho. | No Watermark 1163 638 18p Greenish yellow, magenta, pale new blue, black, cobalt & gold | Woman at pottery wheel (“Skills”) Folklore Issued Feb. 6, 1981 Perf. 15×14 | Design: F. Wegner | Phosphorized paper | Litho. | No Watermark 1144 620 18p Dull ultramarine, lemon, lake-brown, bright green, black & gold | Morris dancers ‘A Merry May’ British Wildlife Issued Oct. 5, 1977 Perf. 14×15 | Design: P. Oxenham | ‘All-over’ phosphor | Litho. | No Watermark 1043 522 9p Reddish-brown, grey-black, pale lemon, bright turquoise-blue, bright magenta & gold | Badger (Meles meles) Millennium Stamps— Life and Earth Issued Apr. 4, 2000 Perf. 14¼x14½ | Design: Post office artists | Engraving: De La Rue | No Watermark 1837 BBX 2nd Class | Multicolored | Ecos Nature Park, Ballymena, Northern Ireland [Sources: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 1 Volume 1 British Commonwealth 1998, stampword.com]
Congrats to Carlos Alcaraz (22, ), winning the Italian Open today, against his old nemesis and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner (23, ).
The score was 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
Here’s Matthew Futterman writing for The Athletic: In one sense, this was one of the most predictable outcomes of the season. Sinner entered the tournament coming off a three-month anti-doping ban. Alcaraz, the Roland Garros champion who grew up on the red clay of Spain, had won the Monte Carlo Masters, reached the final in Barcelona, and then taken the Madrid Open off to nurse an injury. He came to Rome ready and rested, while Sinner arrived understandably not match tough enough to live with the player with whom he has split the last five Grand Slams.
Still, over the past 10 days, Sinner had played some of the most scintillating tennis of his life in front of an Italian crowd that wrapped him in their arms and powered him to a frightening level. He met the newly elected Pope Leo XIV one day. The next, he played what was statistically the best match of this season and the last on the ATP Tour, in annihilating Casper Ruud 6-0, 6-1.
The Italian Open champion with his trophy. [Posted on X @alcarchive]Here’s a few stills of the Alcaraz forehand. (The comments below are all mine, and I hope I describe the Alcaraz forehand more or less accurately.) Alcaraz uses a semi-western grip, which is a popular grip on both the men’s and women’s tours— but one which I was not taught as a junior tennis player. We used the “greet the tennis racket” grip (the continental grip), which is a fundamental grip also used for serves, volleys, and overheads. [All stills made from a video clip by the TennisTV streaming channel]It’s all in the timing, split-split-second timing. This is not golf with a stationary ball. That ball comes in at 80 mph, sometimes, and Carlos is in position, and now whipping his arm around, and rotating his upper body.The racquet head meets the ball way out in front of his body, and this picture makes it look as if the strings are vertical or even angled up a little bit .... but no— a rotation in the wrist and jumping up from the clay enables him to brush the racquet face completely over the ball, giving it a fierce topspin.The ball is flying back. The completion and follow-through of the whip shows that the side of the racquet head that hit the ball is now facing completely down.
Happy Friday.
I bought a few 1960s magazines at the Friends store in the Seattle Public Library for a dollar each on Monday.
This cartoon is from The Saturday Evening Post of Sept. 9, 1967.
(That would be the Empire State Building. It opened on May 1, 1931).
These days, stamps from Japan is one of my favorite searches on EBay.
I couldn’t resist this beautiful postcard and stamp from 1921 that was offered for just a few dollars.
50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Postal Service in Japan in 1871 Issued Apr. 20, 1921 Perf. 13 x 13½ | Uncoated paper | Engraved 164 A47 3 sen violet-brown Ministry of Communications Building, Tokyo ____________ Translation of the Japanese text on the postage stamp: At the top 貳拾五年紀念奉祝 (Nijūgo-nen Kinen Hōshuku) – “50th Year Commemorative Celebration” At the bottom 日本郵便 (Nihon Yūbin) – “Japan Post” 三銭 (San sen) – “3 Sen” (Sen is a sub-unit of the yen, used until 1953. Following World War II, the yen lost much of its pre-war value as Japan faced a debt crisis and hyperinflation) Bottom right: 大日本帝國政府印刷局製造 (Dai Nippon Teikoku Seifu Insatsu-kyoku Seizō) – “Manufactured by the Printing Bureau of the Government of the Empire of Japan” [Sources: stampworld.com, Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue 2017, Vol. 4, Chat GPT]
From capenature.co.za:
One of the Western Cape’s most mysterious mammals, the Boosmansbos long-tailed forest shrew (Myosorex longicaudatus boosmani), has made a reappearance, 46 years after it was last recorded!
The Boosmansbos long-tailed forest shrew (Myosorex longicaudatus boosmani) [Photo by Cliff Dorse, posted on capenature.co.za]Conservationists from CapeNature, Grootvadersbosch Conservancy and Helihack, together with volunteer biologists, were ecstatic at finding one of these tiny mammals on the edge of a pristine forest patch on CapeNature’s Boosmansbos Wilderness Area.
First described in 1979 by scientist Nico Dippenaar, the shrew was recognised as a unique subspecies, geographically isolated from its relatives by the Gouritz Valley. Its limited known range, combined with forest habitat loss and climate change, led to it being listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2016.
Nico Dippenaar, the scientist who first described the shrew in 1979 and recognised it as a unique subspecies, geographically isolated from its relatives by the Gouritz Valley. [Photo from capenature.co.za]Armed with Dippenaar’s habitat descriptions from his published account of the shrew, the team embarked on their fourth attempt in four years to find the shrew. Dippenaar, now retired, wished the group luck and fondly referred to the species as “a bit of a darling”. The survey took place from 3-6 May, with the shrew found on 4 May.
Previous attempts to catch the elusive shrew using standard rodent live traps had been unsuccessful, and it was hoped that a new method – pitfall traps – would be more rewarding. But getting all the necessary gear up to the remote wilderness area, with no vehicle access, was a challenge.
Fortunately for the team, Helihack came to the rescue. This initiative is focused on safeguarding the protected area from invasive alien pines, using helicopters to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. In partnership with CapeNature, Helihack has already made huge strides in addressing this threat to the World Heritage Site. The team were airlifted to a wilderness campsite and then hiked down to set 76 pitfall traps across various habitats.
Each trap was prepared with bedding, shelter, and the occasional earthworm. At first, the traps yielded nothing—but one of the final traps revealed a small mammal with a 6 cm tail, unmistakably the long-lost Boosmansbos long-tailed forest shrew. Weighing just 13.7 grams, it was measured, photographed, and released unharmed into its forest habitat.
Left to right: Dominique Coetzee and Makoma Mpekwane (CapeNature Conservation Officers, GVB), Dr Andrew Turner (CapeNature Restoration Ecologist), Dr Marienne de Villiers (CapeNature Faunal Ecologist), Cliff Dorse (biologist). [Photo from capenature.co.za]This remarkable discovery was made possible by a group of enthusiastic, motivated, and skilled partners working together to achieve a range of biodiversity goals—from conducting surveys to managing invasive alien plants—all in an effort to keep the superb Boosmansbos in a healthy state for all to enjoy. A genetic sample of the shrew will now be analysed to clarify its relationship to lower-altitude relatives, while further research is needed to better understand its life history, behavioural ecology, and the status of its only known population. Intensive surveys of other forest patches may yet reveal more about its distribution. But for now, it’s enough to celebrate that the special shrew of Boosmansbos is still alive and well!
I tagged along for a test drive in a new Tesla Model Y today.
The cabin inside feels familiar to the old model Y’s, but it has a number of upgrades, of course. The inside is quieter, for starters, with double pane glass all around now. The console has been upgraded, with a second smaller screen for those in the back seats. (The same media— radio station, game, movie— plays on both the front and back screens, but the vents and air conditioning for the back can be adjusted separately on the second screen). Check out the lavender LED accent stripe that runs around the dashboard and windows. It can be set to any color, or to white, or turned off altogether). The materials used for the dashboard and inside are mostly not top-notch, but seems good enough. Everything fancy costs extra money, right?All right. Now we’re heading north on I-5, with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) engaged (the blue line on the console). The FSD is getting better and better and performed well at intersections. Things can still get complicated when trying to get the car to pick a parking space in a parking lot, or when a vague destination is given to the car, such as just to go to a large shopping mall. The drive mode stalk on the right of the steering wheel was taken out, and the console is now used to engage Park or Drive or Reverse. (The turn signal stalk is still there, on the left of the steering wheel.)Yes, you are very cute, Grease Monkey .. but we are just going to wave back at you and drive on by. Our car does not use gas and oil – Yay!
I had lunch at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown today, and took these pictures.
The U.S. Bank Center building between 5th and 6th Avenue is 44 stories tall and opened in 1989. I had worked inside it on occasion— once upon a time, and years ago now. The American Eagle clothing store that used to be in the domed structure on the corner is long gone.There are still lots and lots of empty storefronts downtown. This used to be the Nike store in downtown Seattle (formerly NikeTown), on 6th Ave and Pike St. It closed down permanently in January 2023.A line of lavender taxi cabs at the entrance to the Sheraton Hotel. (So yes, they are still in business and have not been completely supplanted by Uber drivers).Here is where I had my lunch, on the second floor. It is open to Washington Athletic Club members only, and I was invited by a member of the club .Done with lunch and now I am snapping a few more pictures on the way to the Seattle Library. The Skinner building was built in 1926 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I love the detail on the frames above the entrance.A close-up view of Park Place building on 6th Avenue. It is a 21-story office tower built in the 1970s and fully renovated by international architect and tenant Gensler in 2012. Is this an example of brutalist architecture*? I wondered. *Brutalist architecture is a style known for its use of raw concrete, bold geometric forms, and functional design, often characterized by a rough, unadorned aesthetic.The Crowne Plaza Seattle-Downtown on 6th Ave is a 34-story hotel that was built in 1980 and renovated in 2019. That’s the Park Place building from the previous picture, in the reflection.Looks like Seattle International Film Festival 2025 is about to start. That first frame on the film negative below is from the 2023 romance/drama movie Past Lives. (I have seen it and I liked it a lot).Arrived at the Seattle Public Library‘s entrance on 5th Avenue, and I’m taking the obligatory shot (obligatory for me) of the diamond pattern of the outside frame.Done in the library and waiting for the G-line bus. In the reflection is the 1928 building of what is today the nine-story Executive Hotel Pacific.And here comes the G-line bus on Spring Street, to take me back up to Capitol Hill.
) played against Hubert Hurkacz (28, 
) in the first round today. 
), winning the Italian Open today, against his old nemesis and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner (23, 
).
.. but we are just going to wave back at you and drive on by.
.
