POTD: An Angel in Hell

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Devils Hangout Gift Shop in Hell, Cayman Islands. The name comes from cooled lava flows visible from the parking lot of the gift shop that must have reminded some early tourism promoter of burnt-out hellfire. That's an angel posing in front of the gift shop. Awww.

Bonus photo after the jump.

A Hologram for the King (2016)

IMDB

Hologram for the King (2016): US IT salesman has midlife crisis in Saudi Arabia. Starts exotic, ends preposterous. No reason to care. C+

One of those rare movies based on a book (reviewed here) that matches it in quality — in this case, mediocre.

POTD: Little Boxes

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the cruise ship pier at Cozumel, Mexico. I'd name the ship, but they all look just the same.

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

Source: Malvina Reynolds.

Tanna (2015)

IMDB

Tanna (2015): Tribal conflict on South Pacific island. Arranged marriage vs forbidden love. Universal tale based on true story. Lovely. A-

Regionalism and Sprawl

I am constantly adding to my collection of dirty words. These are the motherhood and apple pie virtues that I used to think were non-controversial. Virtues like tolerance and compromise and civility all have come under attack from conservatives. What I thought made American democracy great is being dismantled virtuous brick by virtuous brick. Liberals can play this game, too. Self-described "libtard" Jim Schutze of the Dallas Observer adds "regionalism" to the list of dirty words. Schutze equates regionalism with sprawl. Sprawl is bad, so regionalism must be too.

the leadership of [Dallas] is so evenly divided between the old-school champions of sprawl, which they call regionalism, and the new-school champions of cityhood.
...
During the old establishment's 20-year war for [the Trinity Tollroad], the main justification for it was that it would promote regionalism. By offering regionalism as a selling point, the old guard betrayed its utter unawareness that people on the other side of the paradigm think regionalism is the problem. And there you have it.

Source: Jim Schutze.

POTD: Playa del Carmen Beach

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the beach at Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on the Yucatan peninsula. This seems a fitting photo for the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. As the days grow shorter and colder, it's good to remember that in the Tropics, it's always summer.

Bonus photos after the jump.

mother! (2017)

IMDB

mother! (2017): Stimulating blend of religious myths. Most intense episode of Fixer-Upper ever. Writer's block is a bitch for the muse. A-