Wednesday, August 14, 2019

POTD: I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke

From 2018 08 22 Kremlin

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. It shows Ellen enjoying a Coca Cola while sitting in the gardens of Bol'shoy Kremlovskiy Square, where the czars used to stroll, with the Kremlin Senate in the background.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

After Life (TV 2019)

Rotten Tomatoes
After Life (TV 2019): Even if, like me, you don't care for Ricky Gervais, try this series. He's mean-spirited and rude as always, but with a reason. He's grieving the death of his wife. There is wisdom here. Supporting cast is strong. Story arc is predictable. B-




Monday, August 12, 2019

POTD: Church and State

From 2018 08 22 Kremlin

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. It shows two of the many buildings in the Kremlin. On the left are government offices. Vladimir Putin's office is in there somewhere. On the right is the Cathedral of the Annunciation. Church and state. Old and new. Side by side. All that rich history and culture.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

POTD: The Kremlin's Churches

From 2018 08 22 Kremlin

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. It shows several of the many churches inside this medieval fortress. That's not to say there aren't massive government office buildings there as well, but it's the number of churches and palaces and gardens and museums and open squares in the Kremlin that surprised me.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

POTD: War and Peace

From 2018 08 22 Kremlin

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. It shows the Tsar Cannon, cast in bronze in 1586, "the largest bombard by caliber in the world," according to Wikipedia, whatever that means. Behind it are the onion domes of two churches in the Kremlin. War and Peace.

Friday, August 9, 2019

Review: Underland: A Deep Time Journey

Underland
Amazon
From Underland: A Deep Time Journey, by Robert Macfarlane:
Open quote 
The same three tasks recur across cultures and epochs: to shelter what is precious, to yield what is valuable, and to dispose of what is harmful. Shelter (memories, precious matter, messages, fragile lives). Yield (information, wealth, metaphors, minerals, visions). Dispose (waste, trauma, poison, secrets)."

An adventurer's journal of exploring caves, mines, and vaults, covering the Earth's history from prehistoric cave paintings until the far future when landfills full of plastic and deep stores of lead-207, the stable isotope at the end of the uranium-235 decay chain, are all that's left of our stay on the planet.

Thursday, August 8, 2019

POTD: Waxing Moon Over the Kremlin

From 2018 08 20 Moscow

Today's photo-of-the-day shows a waxing moon over the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Russia.