It was Seafair weekend here in Seattle.
So the Blue Angels were in town to give their airshow yesterday and today.
Down below on Lake Washington, there were the hydroplane races (high-speed boats that skim across the water’s surface).
I caught one of the Blue Angels with my phone’s 5x zoom lens* as I ran outside. It’s hard to resist running outside when you hear the thundering noise overhead! *I cropped the original 3024×4032 photo to 2016×2424 pixels.
These jets are F/A-18 Super Hornets. From the Blue Angels website: The basic acquisition price of a single F/A-18 Super Hornet is approximately $67.4 million. The cost of additional weapons-related equipment varies according to the configuration, and the use of each aircraft can significantly increase the total price. The F/A-18 can reach speeds just under Mach 2, almost twice the speed of sound or about 1,400 mph. The maximum rate of climb of the F/A-18 is 30,000 feet per minute.
It’s summer, so it is wildfire season— and the dry conditions everywhere in Washington State are not helping.
There was only a trace of rain (less than 0.01 in) this July here in the city.
The last year that had happened was in 2003.
The Bear Gulch fire in Olympic National Park covered more than 7 square miles as of Saturday, data shows, and firefighters had it 3% contained. The human-caused fire was first reported July 6 near the Mount Rose trailhead in Olympic National Forest. Specifics of how the fire started are still under investigation. [Map from Seattle Times; reporting by Seattle Times climate reporter Conrad Swanson]The sun setting through a haze of smoke on Friday night, seen from Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
Happy Friday.
It’s not a happy Friday on the economic news front.
Only 73,000 jobs were added to the US economy in July, and the numbers for May and June were revised down dramatically.
Headlines from the New York Times. Trump fires Labor Official Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (commissioner Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee). Will that make the numbers look better, then? Will we believe the numbers? Fed Governor Steps Down Early For a moment I thought Jerome Powell (Federal Reserve Bank Chair) is retiring early, but it’s a governor (one of seven members) of the Federal Reserve Board, Adriana D. Kugler, that is stepping down. Fed Chair Powell’s term expires in May 2026, but Trump seems determined to fire him or try to fire him, as well.
Trump Administration Live Updates: Uncertainty Looms Hours Before Tariff Deadline
President Trump held a news conference at the White House without providing clarity about what will happen to the global trading system in less than eight hours. As of midnight, the stiff tariffs that the president announced on April 2 would go into effect, unless the president signs an executive order to stop them.
– Ana Swanson writing for the New York Times live blog, 2.00 pm EDT
The NYT: ‘Dozens of countries remained in limbo with only hours to go before President Trump’s trade-deal deadline, with tariffs of as much as 50 percent set to snap into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday’. [Graphic by Lazaro Gamio & Tony Romm/NYT]Mexico is getting another 90 days to reach a trade deal, but there is no such extension for Canada (the USA’s second-largest trading partner, the giant orange square) as of now. What will happen if no extension is given to Canada? The Trump administration will raise the tariff on Canadian exports to the U.S. that are not compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA) to 35 per cent – not including tariffs on specific sectors, like automobiles, steel and aluminum. [From globalnews.ca, graphic by Lazaro Gamio & Tony Romm/NYT]
Reporter Claire Fahy writes in the New York Times about passengers from Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America that were out on an excursion to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (on the island of Hawaii) when the emergency alerts for the tsunami from the earthquake began.
The bus driver turned around to take them back to the ship, but it was too late. They were still 20 minutes away when the ship departed for open waters. (During a tsunami, it is safer for ships to be at sea than in port. In port the vessel might get washed ashore with disastrous consequences).
The passengers left behind ended up sleeping on the gym floor of a local high school, or in their tour buses.
Authorities in Hawaii canceled the tsunami advisory and issued an all-clear on Wednesday morning local time. The Pride of America did return to Hilo, Hawaii, to pick up the passengers who were left behind.
Headlines and picture from the New York Times/ Alamy.
My phone and watch buzzed a dozen times from my Japan-based NHK app tonight, with tsunami warnings (because of the 8.8 earthquake on the Kamchatka peninsula).
By now the first waves have reached Hokkaido in the north of Japan, though, and it seems the waves will be no more than a few feet high.
Why was this the case? I asked Chat GPT’s AI chatbot. Great question — and a very reasonable one, given how large-magnitude earthquakes like the 8.8 off the Kamchatka Peninsula can sometimes generate devastating tsunamis. But not all big earthquakes produce massive waves. Here’s why this particular one likely produced only a small tsunami (a few feet): 1. It was very deep 2. It was likely within the subducting slab 3. The tsunami threat is highly dependent on the type of fault motion 4. Energy was spread over a wide area
Magnitude: 8.8 Depth: 21 km 13 mi Time: GMT 2025-07-29 23:24:50.842 Epicenter: 2025 Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia Earthquake Agency: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
For this extremely strong earthquake, 64 aftershocks (above mag. 2) have been detected so far. The strongest was a magnitude 7.2 quake that hit 53 seconds after the mainshock in 81 km (50 mi) distance, in 94 km southeast of Vilyuchinsk, Yelizovsky District, Kamchatka, Russia, on Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025 on 11:25 am (Kamchatka local time GMT +12). The most recent aftershock occurred 5 hours ago 217 km south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Kamchatka, Russia, and had a magnitude of 4.9.
The majority of reports came from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy (58 reports), a city with more than 180,000 inhabitants in Kamchatka in 119 km (74 mi) distance northwest of the epicenter, Russia, Yelizovo (10 reports), a town with 41,000 inhabitants in 140 km (87 mi) distance northwest of the epicenter, and Yakutsk (4 reports) (2,085 km or 1,295 mi to the northwest) in Sakha. [Source: volcanodiscovery.com]
This series is still called the sixth definitive series of South African postage stamps— but the redrawn version of it.
The images of animals and birds are larger and without frames.
Up to four different kinds of paper were used in the printing process for some denominations.
I still don’t have all the combinations, but this is a great start.
It was a beautiful summer day here in the city (77°F/ 25°C).
I went down to the waterfront to check out the newly renovated Pier 58 that had opened on Friday.
I took the No 12 bus to downtown and walked to Pike Place Market. I am taking just a quick look here at the overlook towards the Ferris wheel and the aquarium before I head down to the waterfront promenade.Incoming! Watch out little sail boat! I did not hear the ferry blare its horn at it, so I suppose it was OK. If I read the ferry schedules right, this was the Kaleetan coming in from Bremerton.Here is the new play park on Pier 58 with its octopus slide.The Wings Over Washington theater (with its tilting seats to ‘fly’ over beautiful scenery and mountains) is still there, and popular this time of year with a line of people outside waiting their turn.The display case at the entrance to the Miner’s Landing arcade with its carousel and video games inside.Here’s the Pier 57 Historic Carousel inside the Miner’s Landing arcade.One of several totem poles around the waterfront. This one is on Pier 57.The Salish Sea Tours boat with its catamaran hull, just arriving back at Pier 57 from its cruise around Elliott Bay.A display case inside Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on Pier 54. I love the alphabet book that the kids are looking at: L for Loon and M for Moose.All done! Walking back with the pedestrian overpass over Alaskan Way to 1st Avenue to catch the G-line bus.
I reworked my pages with the sixth definitive series of South African postage stamps.
The inscriptions with the animal names were first in Latin (1993).
A new set with additional denominations was issued later, with inscriptions in English (1996).
These pages with 8 pockets (rows) allows me to display all the stamps in one set on one page— very nice.
P.S. Some of the pairs of stamps look the same but they are printed on different paper, with slightly different shades of white. That makes the ink colors look different as well. And of course I cannot just choose one. I need to put both in.
Happy Friday.
These black-eyed Susans must be looking out to the skies for a little rain.
It’s the 25th of the month, and there has been none so far.
The average for July in Seattle is 0.78 in.
The black-eyed Susan or yellow coneflower belongs to the family Asteraceae.
Cade Metz reports from San Francisco for the New York Times: An artificial intelligence system built by Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s primary artificial intelligence lab, has achieved “gold medal” status in the annual International Mathematical Olympiad, a premier math competition for high school students.
It was the first time a machine — which solved five of the six problems at the 2025 competition, held in Australia this month — reached that level of success, Google said in a blog post on Monday.
Google said Deep Think had spent the same amount of time with the I.M.O. as human participants did: 4½ hours. But the company declined to say how much money, processing power or electricity had been used to complete the test.
I looked up the problems online, and here they are.
Oof. Should I give it a go, and put in two sessions of 4½ hours each?
I think I’d better not. I might damage my self-esteem. 😆
The lilies in the community garden at Republican St and 20th Ave E here on Seattle’s Capitol Hill are gorgeous.
Lilies (genus Lilium) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Lilies are among the oldest cultivated plants. They have been cultivated for at least 4,000 years. [From Wikipedia and Google Search Labs | AI Overview]
As part of the ever-expanding scope of my collection of South African stamps, I have started to collect revenue stamps of the South African colonies.
(Before the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910, South Africa consisted of four British colonies: the Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and the Orange Free State.)
Location of the Orange Free State c. 1890 [Source: Wikipedia]From 1854 to 1902, the Orange Free State was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty* in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. It ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered itself to the British Empire at the end of the Second Boer War in 1902. It is one of the three historical precursors to the present-day Free State province in South Africa.
*A suzerain is a person, state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows internal autonomy to that subordinate.
This yellow revenue stamp with green ink from the Cape Colony is affixed to a checque (using the queen’s English— Queen Victoria) that was issued in 1897 by the Harrismith branch of the National Bank of the Orange Free State.
The Revenue Stamp First issued in 1865 by the Cape Colony | Perf. 14 |Rotogravure One penny (1d) | green on yellow paper| Queen Victoria’s profile in classical style* surrounded by grapevine and vine leaves in the corners, symbolizing the Cape Colony’s viticulture | Crown at the top, denoting British authority *Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, queen from 1837 until her death in January 1901.
The Cheque Written by the treasurer (Charles Truter) of the Dutch Reformed Church on Nov. 9, 1897 to Esquire J. Theron. (Esquire here is the title of a young nobleman). The cheque is from the Harrismith branch of the National Bank of the Orange Free State, written for an amount of 11 Orange Free State pounds*, 8 shillings, 6 pennies. *Like the South African pound, it was divided into 20 shillings, and a shilling into 12 pennies. On the far left of the check is the coat of arms of the Orange Free State. The cheque was printed by William Brown & Co. of Old Broad Street in London. Security features at the time included the fine print at the bottom of the check, and so-called fugitive printing, that would use ink that would change, fade, or disappear under specific conditions, if it was tampered with. The revenue stamp was affixed to the cheque on Nov. 15. The check was stamped ‘Paid’ on Nov. 19. It seems Esquire Theron had the amount of the check paid into his account at the African Banking Corporation Ltd. in the town of Worcester in the Cape Colony. A hole was punched in the check to also indicate it has been cashed.
The signature of Esq. J. Theron on the back of the checque.Let’s take a closer look at the coat of arms of the Orange Free State printed on the far left of the check. VRYHEID (freedom) at the top, and GEDULD EN MOED (patience and courage) on the ribbon. IMMIGRATIE (immigration) at the bottom, presumably a call to Europeans, or settlers from other South African colonies to emigrate to the Orange Free State colony. The livestock look like cattle (the OFS coat if arms image on Wikipedia shows sheep). The lion on the right must mean ‘courage’, right? The ox wagon signifies the trek that the pioneers made from the Cape Colony to escape British rule, to establish their own independent Orange Free State republic.
We are having a run of beautiful and mild sunny days here in Seattle.
The high today was 77°F (25°C).
I walked down to the fountain and texture pool in Cal Anderson Park just before sunset.
Sunset is now at 8.56 pm and there were beautiful soft blues, pinks and oranges on the horizon, looking out towards the Olympic Mountains behind the Space Needle.
Whether you are pro or anti Or could not care less We are here to tell you We are here to sell you chess
Not a chance of you escaping From our wiles We’ve locked the doors We’ve blocked the aisles
We’ve a franchise worth exploiting And we will (yes we will!) When it comes to merchandising We could kill
When you get up When you get up in the morning ‘Til your bedtime book You will have to live your life With bishop, knight, and rook
Clean your teeth with checkered toothpaste Wear our vests Our kings and queens On bouncing breasts
You could even buy a set And learn to play We don’t mind We’ll sell you something anyway
We’ve done all our market research And our findings show That this game of chess Will be around a month or so
Maybe it’s a bit confusing For a game But Rubik’s cubes Were much the same
In the end the whole world bought one All were gone By which time we merchandisers Had moved on!
By which time We had moved on!
– The merchandisers, singing a raucous interlude in the introductory song “Merano” of the 1984 double LP “Chess”.
The music was composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with lyrics by Tim Rice and Björn Ulvaeus (the Swedish translation)
Happy International Chess Day.
International Chess Day is annually celebrated on 20 July, the day the International Chess Federation was founded in 1924.
The very popular language app Duolingo that I use to dabble with German and other languages, now offer lessons and challenges in chess as well. Here’s Oscar, offering a hint as to what the best move for white would be. (Oscar sometimes quips ‘Don’t let my moustache distract you’.) But which white pawn should be sacrificed? Seems to me it’s the one on c7 that needs to go to c8 and be promoted to queen, checking the black king. Yes, the black rook can capture the new queen, but then falls itself to the white queen, a big win for white.
A reader sent in this set of photos to the South African newspaper Die Burger (The Citizen).
Kitty of the Kgalagadi The reader Estelle Jordaan writes: “A once-in-a-lifetime experience .. we were in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (in the Kalahari Desert region of Botswana and South Africa, bordering Namibia to the west). On our early morning drive from Nossob (at Marie se Draai) we came across seven young lionesses who came walking up the road from the front. One was very curious and approached our vehicle. The next moment she first stood with her paws on our pickup’s runner board, and then upright against the pickup with a ‘high five’ with one paw against the window (luckily the window was closed!). Then she decided she wanted to explore the side mirror more closely and taste it… the damage to the mirror? A small tooth hole, and a few light scratches– but we rather see it as lasting evidence of the best memory so far.” [Photos by Estelle Jordaan. Published in Die Burger newspaper online, Thursday Jul. 10, 2025]
Happy Friday.
It is Nelson Mandela International Day— the annual international day in honor of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, his birthday.
Inauguration of President Nelson Mandela (May 10, 1994) Issued May 10, 1994 Perf. 14½x14 | Des. Liza van der Wal | Litho. | No Watermark 882 A293 45c | Photo image of Mandela [Source: 2021 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 6A]50th Anniversary of the Rivonia Trial Issued Nov 26, 2013 Perf. 14¾x14½ | Des. Marie Vermeulen‑Breedt | Litho. | 12 Booklet panes of Rivionia trial defendants with 1 stamp each | No Watermark 1510 A547 Standard Postage (R2.80) | Photo image of Mandela as defendant at Rivonia Trial [Source: 2021 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 6A] P.S. From Wikipedia: The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location for meetings of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the newly-formed armed wing of the African National Congress. Speaking in the dock of the court on 20 April 1964 during the trial, Mandela said: During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
Clarissa Brincat writes in the Science section of the New York Times of July 15, 2025: Researchers at Cocha Cashu Biological Station in southeastern Peru set up a camera trap to study bird behavior, but they got a surprise guest appearance instead: an ocelot trailing an opossum through the jungle at night.
The ocelot, a wild cat slightly larger than a house cat, and the common opossum, a marsupial, are usually predator and prey. But in this video, they moved in tandem— like two old friends walking home from a bar.
Intrigued, they contacted researchers in other parts of the Amazon who turned up three additional, nearly identical videos from different locations and years.
… Opossums’ attraction to ocelots remains a mystery, but Dr. Damas-Moreira and her colleagues suspect there’s something that draws both animals. One hypothesis is “chemical camouflage.” “Opossums have a strong smell, and a close-by ocelot might help hide the opossum’s scent from bigger predators, or the opossum’s odor might mask the ocelot’s presence from prey,” said Ettore Camerlenghi, an evolutionary biologist and ecologist at ETH Zurich and an author of the study. Opossums are also resistant to the venom of pit vipers, a snake that lives in the Amazon. Ocelots lack that defense, and teaming up could give both animals an edge when hunting, Dr. Camerlenghi said. In North America, a similar alliance exists between coyotes and badgers, who buddy up to hunt squirrels.
[Stills from videoclips in the New York Times article ‘Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship’]
We did have the hottest day so far this year here in Seattle, with a high of 91°F (33°C). I waited until it was almost dark before I ventured out for a walk.
Sunset is now at 9.02 pm.
No, my phone’s camera was not malfunctioning. I found this coneflower (genus: Echinacea) tonight. They usually come in purple and pink varieties. This is likely a hybrid, perhaps the ‘Green Twister’ (Echinacea purpurea) that features a distinctive two-toned appearance with lime green and magenta petals.
We had 88°F (31°C) here in Seattle today.
The National Weather Service issued a Heat Advisory for today and tomorrow for the Seattle area— with potential for temperatures in the mid-90s (35°C) on Wednesday.
The weather camera by Hansville out on Kitsap peninsula picked up noctilucent clouds early this morning (the faint, bluish-silver or electric blue streaks above the orange colors of twilight). These are also called night-shining clouds or polar mesospheric clouds. They are composed of ice crystals and form in the mesosphere, the atmospheric layer above the stratosphere, at extremely cold temperatures. [Still image from a video clip posted by Skunkbayweather @Skunkbayweather on X]
