Sunday, August 24, 2025

POTD: Tourists Photobomb the Colosseum

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of tourists posing in front of the most photographed ruin the world — the Colosseum in Rome. I don't usually fill these pages with snapshots of tourists posing in front of tourist attractions, but it's important to me this time. You never know when it might be your last such photo.

Two bonus photos are after the jump.

Saturday, August 23, 2025

POTD: Three Views of the Colosseum

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Colosseum in Rome. According to Wikipedia, "It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world, despite its age. Construction began under the Emperor Vespasian (r. 69-79 AD) in AD 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir, Titus (r. 79-81)." The Arch of Titus is near the Colosseum. So, two of the most memorable buildings in ancient Rome today are connected to the emperor Titus, whose reign lasted only two years.

Two bonus photos are after the jump.

Friday, August 22, 2025

POTD: Arch of Titus

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Arch of Titus in Rome. I've seen photos of this arch in travel books and history books my whole life, but I've never learned its own history. It's a history that reverberates down to today's headlines.

More text and a bonus photo are after the jump.

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Exterritorial (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Exterritorial (2025): German. Mildly entertaining action thriller. Ex-soldier with PTSD hunts for her young son who vanishes inside a US consulate where the whole movie takes place. The plot is full of convenient occurrences and unexplained elements. C+

Netflix

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Book Review: South of the Border, West of the Sun

From South of the Border, West of the Sun, by Haruki Murakami:

Amazon


"We were, the two of us, still fragmentary beings, just beginning to sense the presence of an unexpected, to-be-acquired reality that would fill us and make us whole. We stood before a door we’d never seen before. The two of us alone, beneath a faintly flickering light, our hands tightly clasped together for a fleeting ten seconds of time."