POTD: Shaman

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. While there, a shaman blessed us. That's all I have to say about that.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Random Thoughts: Two Very Different Men

Tweets from January, 2020:

• 2020-01-02: The Two Popes (2019): Conversations between Benedict and Francis when Benedict decided to retire. Two very different men, with different philosophies, portrayed by two great actors. Only action comes from flashbacks to Francis's early career, which deserve their own movie. B+
• 2020-01-03: If you ever want to know what Trump is guilty of, look at what he accuses others of.
• 2020-01-03: Cats (2019): The costumes/makeup/CGI is distracting. The comic relief doesn't work (dancing cockroaches?). The plot is thin. But so? Cats is what it is, a musical made from a book of poetry about cats. It's always been about the singing and dancing. Critics hate it. I like it. B+
• 2020-01-05: Headline: "Iranian state TV reports Iran will no longer abide by any limits of its 2015 nuclear deal."
  I'm old enough to remember when tensions in the Persian Gulf were down. There were no rocket attacks against U.S. forces. No attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Iran's nuclear program was verifiably locked down. And, oh yeah, Obama was President.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

POTD: Cuzco

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Cuzco, Peru, a city in southern Peru with an elevation of 11,200 feet. It's not much to look at from the surrounding mountains. It's brown and dusty. But...it was once the capital of the Inca empire and the Spanish conquest after that. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So, don't let the birds-eye view turn you off. It's a great city to visit.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Back at Aguas Calientes

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Aguas Calientes after visiting Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes is itself a picturesque town in the canyon below Machu Picchu.

Click to see a bonus photo.

Just Mercy (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Just Mercy (2020): Racist legal system. This time in Alabama, where black men are guilty from the moment they are born. Sheriff, DA, judge send innocent man to death row because they care more for convictions than justice. Brutal and predictable, which makes it tough to watch. B+

POTD: Machu Picchu

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Made it. Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Machu Picchu. Whether you get there via a four day hike along the ancient Inca Trail, or like us, by a two hour train ride to Aguas Calientes, followed by an hour long bus ride on a switchback road up a mountain, when you get there your breath is taken away, and not just by the altitude. It's beautiful.

Bonus photos after the jump.

The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures

The Academy Awards will be given out February 9, 2020. I've seen all the nominees for Best Picture. That means my opinion means something. Right?

2019 had a diverse set of movies. I'm not in complete agreement with the Academy's choices, but overall, I'm not complaining with the nominees they've given me to vote on (even though they haven't actually, you know, given me a vote on anything). If I expanded the field of nominees, I would include three of the four movies I considered snubs.

My ranking of the Oscar nominees is based on the grades I gave the movies immediately after seeing them. In case of ties, I ordered them by my considered judgment today. Note this is not my prediction of which movie will win, but which I would vote for, had I a vote.

The envelope please. The winner of "The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures" goes to...

POTD: Road to Machu Picchu

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on the switchback road up the mountain to Machu Picchu in Peru, looking back towards Aguas Calientes, the jumping off point at the end of the rail line. The eye can't make out any details, but that's Aguas Calientes at the bottom of the canyon. Machu Picchu is still out of sight over the mountain ridge behind me.

POTD: Peru Rail

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Urubamba River in Peru. It was taken from a train heading to Aguas Calientes, the jumping off point for the climb to Machu Picchu by bus.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Review: The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

Amazon

From The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot, by Robert Macfarlane:


The literature of wayfaring is long, existing as poems, songs, stories, treatises and route guides, maps, novels and essays. The compact between writing and walking is almost as old as literature—a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells."

It's a nature book. And a book of geology, history, archaeology, literature, and poetry. It's a journal of walks in Britain, Palestine, Spain, and China. And a vocabulary builder to boot. B-

POTD: Urubamba Pottery

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from a pottery shop in Urubamba, Peru. I show it partly to recognize the skill of artisans, but mostly just because I like to say Urubamba.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Best Romantic Movies of All Time*

* Like love itself, a personal choice

This article was originally published in "Richardson Living" magazine. Read it on that website or in the print edition. Or read it here.

The saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," applies not just to love, but to movies as well. Putting together a list of the best romantic movies of all time is an invitation for criticism. There are so many great movies to choose from that many readers' personal favorites are bound to be snubbed. I'm of a certain age, so younger readers might not even have heard of some of my selections. You see the challenges. Anyway, here goes.

The Report (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Report (2019): Dramatization of Senate's study into CIA's illegal and ineffective torture program and its cover-up. The CIA, DOJ and both Bush and Obama White Houses all look bad here. An important movie if too dry. Adam Driver is only actor with any life and that barely. B-

POTD: Ollantaytambo

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is not Machu Picchu. The Incans were nothing if not prolific city builders in places no rational person would think to put a building. These photos are from Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley of Peru, another impressive archaeological site. You might say this is where the Incan empire died. Ollantaytambo served as a center of Incan resistance to the Spanish conquest.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Maras Woman

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the town square of Maras in southern Peru. Compare with Chinchero Woman. In my judgment, the women of Peru have the best hats of anyone in the world.

POTD: Moray

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Moray Inca ruins in southern Peru. The exact use by the Incans is a mystery. Agriculture, sure, but they went out of their way to make the site more interesting — architecturally and artistically — than would have been needed just to grow potatoes or corn.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019): More of the same. Battles with everything from light sabers and blasters to flaming arrows against a fleet of star destroyers. No one stays dead, no one stays alive. Don't ask me who's related to whom. I don't care anymore. C-

P.S. I confess that during the climax's fiery destruction of the Final Order's home base, I privately imagined that George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch was burning instead.

I Lost My Body (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

I Lost My Body (2019): French. The strangest animated feature of the year. Like "Lassie Come Home" but instead of a lost pet, it's a severed hand that seeks to return to its body. Accept it on its own terms and it's not ghoulish, it's sweet and even hopeful. But it is strange. B-

Oscar Snubs

The 2020 Oscar nominations are out. As always, some worthy movies are snubbed. Before these movies unloved by Oscar are forgotten forever, here are some, in no particular order, that The Wheel recommends catching wherever they are streaming. These movies received an "A-" grade by The Wheel.

The snubs are after the jump.

1917 (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

1917 (2019): Two soldiers in race against time through no-man's land in WWI. 110 minutes of continuous intensity. Reminded me of Dunkirk. The praised long tracking shot became tiresome. Any WWI movie that doesn't end in senseless total disaster is false but still worth seeing. B+

POTD: Marasal

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the salt evaporation ponds of Maras, Peru. They have been in use since Inca times and are still actively used today. The salt ponds are interesting by themselves, but their location makes them worth a visit just for the scenery. Terraced on a steep hillside in a canyon, the view is stunning.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Machu Picchu in Stained Glass

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the lobby of Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel in Peru. The sprawling hotel and grounds, almost a resort, is beautiful. It makes a great "base camp" for exploring the Sacred Valley. That's Machu Picchu in stained glass in the hotel lobby.

A closeup photo after the jump.

POTD: Chicón

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Sacred Valley in Peru. It's a highway overlook, showing Chicón, an 18,140 ft high mountain peak of the Andes Mountains.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Chinchero Woman

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Chinchero in southern Peru.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Bombshell (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Bombshell (2019): Dramatization of sexual harrassment at Fox News. Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly bring down Roger Ailes. Movie builds tension as stakes grow. For me it's not a satisfactory ending. Fox News is still #1 and the harrasser-in-chief is more powerful than ever. B+

Richardson City Council Goals - Part 3

The Richardson City Council recently decided on the City's 2019-2021 Statement of Goals. There's so much to say, this blog post comes in three parts. Part 1 covered the process. Part 2 covered the (in)significant changes from last year. Today, I close with my biggest disappointment.

Richardson City Council Goals - Part 2

The Richardson City Council recently decided on the City's 2019-2021 Statement of Goals. There's so much to say that this blog post comes in three parts. Part 1 covered the process. In part 2, I cover the (in)significant changes since last year's goals. Tomorrow I'll close with my biggest disappointment.

Richardson City Council Goals - Part 1

The Richardson City Council recently decided on the City's 2019-2021 Statement of Goals. There's so much to say about it. Where to start? Let's break this blog post into three parts, starting easy, with process. I'll move on to covering the (in)significant changes from last year, then close with my biggest disappointment.

POTD: Toritos de Pucará

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Chinchero in the Sacred Valley in Peru. It shows two clay Pucara Bulls on a rooftop. It could be any of countless rooftops in central and southern Peru. The two bulls are placed on the roof when a new house is completed, a promise of protection, happiness, and fertility within.

POTD: Llama, Llama, Llama

From 2019 08 18 Sacred Valley, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Sacred Valley in the Andes Mountains of Peru. You know what that means. Llamas. If this photo doesn't get you excited about that, maybe the Llama Song will.

Cats (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Cats (2019): The costumes/makeup/CGI is distracting. The comic relief doesn't work (dancing cockroaches?). The plot is thin. But so? Cats is what it is, a musical made from a book of poetry about cats. It's always been about the singing and dancing. Critics hate it. I like it. B+

The Two Popes (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Two Popes (2019): Conversations between Benedict and Francis when Benedict decided to retire. Two very different men, with different philosophies, portrayed by two great actors. Only action comes from flashbacks to Francis's early career, which deserve their own movie. B+

Random Thoughts: Big Ten Football in the Snow

Tweets from December, 2019:

• 2019-12-01: Big Ten football in the snow. Wisconsin gets Paul Bunyan's Axe, clinches Big Ten West championship and a place in the Big Ten title game.
• 2019-12-01: The Irishman (2019): Scorsese directs De Niro, Pacino, Pesci (that's all you need) in a 3.5 hour intimate epic (there can be such a thing) about the mob and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. A disapproving look from De Niro's daughter, just a look, supplies the morality. A-
• 2019-12-03: Ford v Ferrari (2019): A sports movie. A good one, but still. Predictable plot. Two-dimensional characters. Clichéd dialog. The guys from Ford are supposed to be the good guys, but I found myself cheering for the "wops" from Ferrari. Good performance by Christian Bale. B-
• 2019-12-06: The Sixth Extinction: Global warming, ocean acidification, crop and animal disease, poor land use patterns, all are involved in extinctions rivaling the death of the dinosaurs. Why don't we act? If anything, this book is not alarmist enough. B-

After the jump, more idle thoughts.

Uncut Gems (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Uncut Gems (2019): Fast-talking gem dealer is a compulsive gambler whose debts spiral out of control. Shouting, bullying, foul language, and manic intensity from start to finish. Like watching a pot boil over. Adam Sandler is great and atones for every bad movie he ever made. A-

Little Women (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Little Women (2019): Clever meta-adaptation of the classic novel. If you are unfamiliar with it, the many characters and arcs and jumps in timeline will be challenging to follow. But by the end, it all comes together. Great acting all around but Saoirse Ronan excels. A-

POTD: Bajada de los Baños

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Bajada de los Baños neighborhood in the Barranco District of Lima, Peru. It's a narrow pathway down from the city to the sea, today lined with restaurants and amazing street art.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Pageant Queen

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Bajada de los Baños neighborhood in the Barranco District of Lima, Peru. The district provides beautiful backdrops for beautiful women to be photographed beautifully.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Mujeres

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Bajada de los Baños neighborhood in the Barranco District of Lima, Peru. It's a narrow pathway down from the city to the sea, today lined with restaurants and amazing street art. It's a must-visit scene in Lima.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Vermillion Flycatcher

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Lima, Peru. It shows a Vermillion Flycatcher perched on a, well, I'm not positive what kind of tree this is. Can anyone help?

Vitruvian Lights 2019

Merry Christmas from Vitruvian Lights in Addison, Texas.

More photos after the jump.

POTD: Lima Street Art

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from a city street in Lima, Peru.

POTD: Breastplate in Museo Larco

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Museo Larco in Lima, Peru. It shows a pre-Columbian turquoise and clay breastplate.

The Aeronauts (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Aeronauts (2019): Account of a record-setting balloon ascent in 1862. Not a documentary, not a biopic, not even a very good drama. Story arc is entirely predictable. But still, it gives some idea of a time of life-risking scientific exploration mostly forgotten today. B-

POTD: Sala Erótica del Museo Larco

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Museo Larco in Lima, Peru. It shows a pre-Columbian pottery piece from the Sala Erótica. It's one of the tamer pieces in this gallery. Enough said.

POTD: Lima Hillside

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Lima, Peru. It shows a residential neighborhood far from the city center. There are countless stories here, waiting to be told. Unfortunately, I don't know any of them, so all I can offer is an enticing photo.

POTD: Lonely Isolation

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Pachacamac, an archaeological site outside Lima, Peru. For 1,500 years it flourished with a large population and 1,500 acres of pyramids, temples, palaces, government buildings, and residences. Today it stands in magnificent isolation, desert all around except to the west, where the Pacific Ocean stretches out seemingly without end.

Bonus photo after the jump.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019): Love letter to a grand old house and one man's search for roots, family, friends, and belonging. Story avoids predictable paths. Characters surprise in their resistance to stereotypes. Except for the whites. B+

POTD: Pachacamac

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Pachacamac, an archaeological site outside Lima, Peru. The site dates from about 200 A.D. The pyramid shown probably dates to about 1400, just prior to the Inca conquest of Peru. The whole site flourished until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019): 28-yr-old, not very likable woman with low self-esteem decides to train for a marathon to get in shape. Totally predictable plot, starting with the title. Only very occasional laughs. Still it could be inspirational for the right audience. C+

POTD: The Park with Three Names

From 2019 08 17 Lima, Peru

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru. It shows Parque Central de Miraflores, now known as Parque Kennedy, dedicated to the US President back when US Presidents were still respected. And everyone knows it as the cat park. The church in the park adopted cats to deal with a rat problem in the 1980s. The rats are gone, but the cats remain. Whatever you call it, it's the place to dine, dance, shop, or do whatever it is this group of young people is doing.

More photos after the jump.