To The Wonder (TV 2024)

IMDB

To The Wonder (TV 2024): Chinese. Han girl dreams of being a writer in a big city, but returns to her remote Xinjiang village when she fails. A simple, heartfelt tale with beautiful scenes and rare insight into nomadic life in rural China. Only watched 2 of 8 episodes but want to watch more. B-

Inflight

Atlas (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Atlas (2024): Jennifer Lopez in a star vehicle sci-fi movie whose problem isn't her acting, but the script. Advertised as runaway AI, the robots' threat comes from their super strength, not their brains. Using a neural link to combine a still loyal robot's strength and knowledge database with J-Lo's ingenuity saves the world. C-

Netflix

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024): Kevin Costner sets the American Western back 75 years. Indians are the bad guys. Cavalry are noble. Ruthless gunmen run the place. Too many undeveloped characters. Three hours of plodding subplots, and this is just chapter 1. C+

Max

POTD: Into the Bush

"Bushland, river, sky,
Each new path holds wild wonders,
Eyes wide, hearts alive."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 11 04 Zimbabwe

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Zimbabwe. It's a track through the bush of Zambezi National Park. We took a half dozen rides of several hours through such bush, sometimes thick like this, sometimes open grassland, sometimes along a river, sometimes through wooded land. Sometimes we took to the water in boats, looking for hippos, crocodiles, or even elephants crossing the Zambezi River. We did this in South Africa, in Zimbabwe, and in Botswana. Watching for wildlife never got old.

POTD: Mosi-oa-Tunya, "Thundering Smoke"

"Mile-wide in full flood,
Rainbow in Thundering Smoke.
We stand in wonder."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 11 04 Zimbabwe

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Victoria Falls, "a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the world's largest waterfalls, with a width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft)." We were there in the dry season, which is why there are gaps in the waterfall. We were told that in the rainy season, the falls are filled a mile wide with so much water that all you can see is mist. That's what gives the falls the name Mosi-oa-Tunya, "Thundering Smoke." All in all, we were more than happy with the view we got.

POTD: The Big Five - Lion

"Resting in the bush,
Lioness with steady gaze,
Full belly at ease."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 25 Wildlife of Southern Africa

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Chobe National Park. It is Botswana's first national park, proposed back in 1931, and also the most biologically diverse.

Today's photo-of-the-day is a lion, resting under a bush, guarding her kill, an impala (not shown), of which only the hindquarters are left. We saw another pride of lions, about four or five females and one male, not too far away, also resting under a bush. We were able to drive right up to them to get this close-up photo from about 10 meters away. They pretty much ignored us. We guessed their bellies were full.

POTD: The Big Five - Leopard

"Under Kruger's sky,
Leopard rests in silent grace.
Hunter in repose."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 25 Wildlife of Southern Africa

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Kruger National Park in South Africa. It became South Africa's first national park in 1926 (although Hluhluwe—iMfolozi Park was already a game reserve dating back to the Zulu kingdom of the early 1800s).

This is a photo of a leopard, one of the game animals in the so-called "Big Five". "The term was coined by big-game hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot." We saw fewer leopards than any other of the Big Five game animals. This particular one was difficult to spot. It was resting on an outcrop of rocks about 50 meters from the trail we were driving on. Our guide spotted it, and that's how "L" was able to get this photo.

POTD: The Big Five - Rhinoceros

"In Africa’s heart,
Rhinos push with gentle might,
Power without rage."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 25 Wildlife of Southern Africa

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Hluhluwe—iMfolozi Park in South Africa. It's the oldest nature reserve in Africa. "Thanks to conservation efforts, the park now has one of the largest populations of white rhinoceros in the world, although this population remains severely threatened by the poaching of hundreds of rhinos every year in the park."

This is a photo of two White Rhinos locking horns. They pushed and shoved each other for a bit, but never really broke out into serious fighting. Maybe they were just posing for the tourists. ;-) Many of the rhinos we saw lacked their distinctive horns. Rhinos are dehorned to make them less attractive to poachers, but there are still some in all of their fighting glory, like these two.

POTD: The Big Five - Elephant

"Gentle giants walk,
Through Chobe’s golden sunlight,
Majestic in stride."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 25 Wildlife of Southern Africa

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Chobe National Park in Botswana. It's a photo of a herd of African Elephants, one of the game animals in the so-called "Big Five". "The term was coined by big-game hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot."

We encountered this family group as they crossed the trail that our 10-passenger, open 4WD safari vehicle was driving down, affording us an up-close view of these magnificent animals.

POTD: The Big Five - Cape Buffalo

"Herd of thirty strong,
Footprints mark the dusty trail,
Brawny buffalo."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 25 Wildlife of Southern Africa

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe. It's a photo of a Cape Buffalo, one of the game animals in the so-called "Big Five". "The term was coined by big-game hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot." Our guide warned us that what makes the Cape Buffalo particularly dangerous is that it's apt to charge without any warning signs.

We encountered a herd of 30 or so Cape Buffalo when they crossed the trail that our 10-passenger, open 4WD safari vehicle was driving down, affording us an up-close view of this magnificent animal.