Opus (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Opus (2025): Creepy satire/thriller about celebrity cults. John Malkovich is the eccentric pop star surrounded by his cult. Ayo Edebiri is the young writer who finds herself at his isolated ranch. Watchable, but "The Menu" and others did it better. C+

HBO Max

POTD: San Giorgio Maggiore from Doge's Palace

"Framed through palace glass,
marble rising from the sea.
Bells ring over waves."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 09 11 Venice

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Italy. The photo was taken through the windows at the Doge's Palace. The island of "San Giorgio is now best known for the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by Palladio and begun in 1566. The belltower has a ring of 9 bells in C#."

This view makes a good bookend to the opening POTD of Venice (Venice by Sea). With that, we say ciao to Venice. Next stop, Rome.

POTD: St. Mark's Basilica

"Gold mosaics shine,
stories looted from the East,
Faith wrapped in conquest."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 09 11 Venice

Today's photo-of-the-day is from St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. "It is dedicated to and holds the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the city...The present structure is the third church, begun probably in 1063 to express Venice's growing civic consciousness and pride. Like the two earlier churches, its model was the sixth-century Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople...Middle-Byzantine, Romanesque, and Islamic influences are also evident, and Gothic elements were later incorporated. To convey the republic's wealth and power, the original brick façades and interior walls were embellished over time with precious stones and rare marbles, primarily in the thirteenth century. Many of the columns, reliefs, and sculptures were spoils stripped from the churches, palaces, and public monuments of Constantinople as a result of the Venetian participation in the Fourth Crusade. Among the plundered artefacts brought back to Venice were the four ancient bronze horses that were placed prominently over the entry."

Random Thoughts: Random NextDoor Post

2025-07-14: Random NextDoor post: "Want to know how many times I get pulled over for nothing. There about to break there previous record."
There's a sentence there with two uses of the word "there", both spelled wrong. Impressive.

City Council Goals 2025-2027 (Part 4 of 4)

This is the fourth part of my thoughts on the City of Richardson's Goal setting meeting. Let's see if I can get through Strategies and Tactics in this one.