Gone Girl (2014)

IMDB

Gone Girl (2014): Troubled marriage. Dickish husband. Signs of violence. Missing wife. But where's the body? Top-notch mystery/thriller. B+

POTD: Louis Vuitton in Ho Chi Minh City

From 2015 03 21 Saigon

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Saigon. It's another one of the jarring images that are everywhere in today's Saigon, as free market reforms spread throughout this still communist country. Marxism-Leninism is making room for French fashion (and Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts and Popeyes fried chicken) on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2014)

IMDB

Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2014): Portrait of ordinary workers in world's coldest land. Stunning scenery. Endless night. Cabin Fever. T3. B+

Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Amazon

From The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid:

Come, tell me, what were you looking for? Surely, at this time of day, only one thing could have brought you to the district of Old Anarkali -- named, as you may be aware, after a courtesan immured for loving a prince -- and that is the quest for the perfect cup of tea. Have I guessed correctly?"

So begins a conversation between a young, bearded Pakistani and an unidentified, nervous American at a cafe in Lahore. After the jump, my review.

POTD: Check out the Rolls

From 2015 03 21 Saigon

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Saigon. See that woman selling some kind of rolls from a pan perched on the back of her bicycle? That's not the Rolls mentioned in the headline. Do you see what is? Behind the bike? That's a Rolls Royce parked in the street in Saigon. Luxury Rolls and bread rolls side by side. Such jarring images are everywhere in today's Saigon.

This isn't your father's Vietnam. It's hard to tell that the US didn't win the war. South Vietnam may have fallen, but the dominoes didn't. Look around Saigon today. Western culture is pervasive, not Russian or Chinese. Free market reforms are everywhere.

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

IMDB

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015): Moving portrait of a singer who not only reflected her times, but shaped them. Tragic personal life. A-

POTD: Cambodian School Bus

From 2015 03 20 Tonle Sap Lake

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the waterway northwest of Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. It was taken in the afternoon in a floating village. School had just let out and the kids are headed home.

Ida (2013)

IMDB

Ida (2013): Poland 1962. Orphan about to become a nun seeks her family, discovers she is Jewish. Tragic. Stoic. Lonely. Moving. "Then what?" B+

Review: The Sleepwalkers

Amazon

From The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914, by Christopher Clark:

The European continent was at peace on the morning of Sunday 28 June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Chotek arrived at Sarajevo railway station. Thirty-seven days later, it was at war. The conflict that began that summer mobilized 65 million troops, claimed three empires, 20 million military and civilian deaths, and 21 million wounded. The horrors of Europe's twentieth century were born of this catastrophe."

It's impossible to overestimate the importance of World War I. It's also impossible to wrap your head around how the five Great Powers allowed themselves to march into a disastrous war that all could see coming, yet none could find a way out of. No one had an exit strategy for the escalating July crisis. Christopher Clark writes the definitive account of how the crisis led to war. After the jump, my review.

OTBR: A Bug in the New Mexico Desert

Latitude: N 34° 35.712
Longitude: W 106° 49.950

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".