Masters of the Air (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Masters of the Air (TV 2024): Despite the horrific death toll suffered by the bomber crews of WWII, this show is about a few survivors. Based on real people, it plays like fiction: aerial adventures of handsome, daring flyboys. We've seen this war movie before. Cramming WWII into one series makes it feel rushed. Production value is excellent. B-

#Apple TV+

The Problem with RISD's School Closures

"Don't tax you.
Don't tax me.
Tax that fellow behind the tree."

— Louisiana Senator Russell B. Long

In local school politics, that political adage might be:

Don't close your school.
Don't close my own.
Close that school way across town.

With votes Thursday evening, March 21, 2024, the Richardson ISD officially moved to close four elementary schools all over town. In December, I called school closures the "third rail of local school politics. Touch it and you die." I knew that no matter how long RISD dragged out the community discussions, the community would never reach agreement on which schools to close. So just two months later in February, when I first heard of Project RightSize, I said, "Bold. Quick. Decisive. Well done." Now, a month later it's official. And I was wrong (again).

POTD: Torre de Belém

"Waves lap at its feet,
Stories of conquest and feat,
Belém Tower reigns."
—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 09 06 Portugal

Now for somewhere completely different. Today's photo-of-the-day is of Torre de Belém (Bethlehem Tower) in Lisbon, Portugal, "a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers."

POTD: Selamat Malam, Jakarta

"Skyline stretches out,
A modern metropolis,
Jakarta shines bright."
—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 04 09 Jakarta

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Jakarta, Indonesia. It was taken on the last night of our month-long vacation in New Zealand, Australia, and Indonesia. Jakarta is a modern megalopolis. Situated just south of the equator, its climate is warm year-round. I say warm instead of hot because Texans experience hotter summers than Jakarta does. Jakarta is one of those cities where the expression "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" was made for.

The photo was taken on the umpteenth floor of an apartment building. I say umpteenth because it's hard to know for sure. There are levels for parking, for a mall, for a large outdoor deck, for a swimming pool and community rooms, all before you get up to the residential floors, for which the numbering starts all over. Let's just say we had a magnificent view of central Jakarta from our son's apartment high above Jakarta's streets.

Good night and goodbye, Jakarta. Selamat malam.

Woman in Gold (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes

Woman in Gold (2015): In a true life story, Helen Mirren stars as Holocaust survivor trying to recover artwork looted by Nazis in WWIII. Austrian government doesn't want to give up its national treasure. Flashbacks save this movie from being a dry courtroom drama. B+

Netflix

#VeryTardyReview

Irma Vep (TV 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Irma Vep (TV 2022): A TV series that remakes a 1996 movie of the same name, itself about the remaking of a 1916 French classic. Expect a lot of inside the movie industry references. Also a mentally unstable director and wild antics on and off set. The movie borders on the surreal. C+

Max

#VeryTardyReview

POTD: Beehouse Dijiwa Ubud

"Way down bumpy roads,
Dinner's joy in Bali's heart.
Wonderful retreat."
—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 04 06 Bali

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Beehouse Dijiwa Ubud in Bali, Indonesia. We didn't stay in this "private paradise surrounded by amazing rice paddies, lush greeneries, and view of Mount Agung." But we had dinner here on our last night in Bali. Just getting to the restaurant was a nighttime adventure down a narrow, bumpy road that our driver never hesitated on, although I suspect he scratched his car on one tight squeeze. I wish I could remember what we had to eat, but like everything about our stay in Bali, I do remember that it was wonderful.

POTD: Pura Taman Ayun

"Taman Ayun's heart,
Bali's heritage enshrined,
UNESCO's love signed."
—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 04 06 Bali

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Taman Ayun Hindu Temple in Bali, Indonesia. Pura Taman Ayun is a quiet oasis of Balinese temples and gardens with water features. In 2012, Pura Taman Ayun was added as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Ferrari (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Ferrari (2023): Biopic of a point in the life of Enzo Ferrari and his wife and dead son and mistress and his son with her...it's complicated even for Italy in the 1950s. B-

In-flight

Funny Woman (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Funny Woman (TV 2023): Dramedy about a Blackpool beauty queen in London in the 1960s, trying to succeed in a TV comedy. There are modern jokes about being gay or Black or Pakistani in London, but even those jokes seem as dated as the slapstick and jokes about sexism on a 1960s TV show. C+

Sky Max via PBS

#VeryTardyReview