POTD: 2560 BC

From 2019 11 17 Ancient Cairo

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was built as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu in 2560 BCE. Try to wrap your mind around that. That's 4,580 years ago. Or 54,960 month-long stay-at-home quarantines strung back to back. That's what's called an unhelpful analogy. Not only doesn't it really help you grasp just how old that tomb is, but it doesn't make your current spell of being housebound feel any better either. By the way, pharaoh Khufu himself left his tomb no one knows how long ago. They say grave robbers. I suspect cabin fever.

Bonus photo after the jump.

COVID-19: Financial Impact on Richardson

Everyone's attention has been rightly focused on the health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the City of Richardson, which has put public health at the top of its list of priorities. The question of "Who's in Charge?" has gradually settled on the answer, Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The City of Richardson will not enforce any provision in the City's own March 23, 2020 Order that is inconsistent with the Governor's Executive Orders GA 15, 16 and 17. With the Governor in the driver's seat on the pandemic response, the City can start giving some attention to the impact COVID-19 will have on other City matters, particularly the City's finances.

Code 8 (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Code 8 (2019): In a future of people with super powers, we still don't have universal health insurance, so our hero pays for his sick mother's treatment with a $10m drug heist. If you're going to make sci-fi on a small budget, you need fresh ideas, not a mishmash of old ones. D+

POTD: Gezirah Palace in Cairo

From 2019 11 17 Ancient Cairo

Today's photo-of-the-day is from outside the entrance to the Cairo Marriott Hotel, on an island in the Nile River, originally constructed as the Gezirah Palace in 1869 for the Khedive Isma'il Pasha. We stayed there in November of 2019, which was only five months ago, but it seems like five millennia ago (but more of that in later posts). Good times.

Bonus photo after the jump, of the patio restaurant in the back of the hotel.

Blow the Man Down (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Blow the Man Down (2020): A small fishing village in Maine is the setting for a murder mystery, or two. Great characters, all deserving more screen time. You can't tell the good guys from the bad guys, as the plot unfolds or even after. Just how a great whodunnit should be. A-

Tales from the Loop (TV 2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Tales from the Loop (TV 2020): Sci-fi with less focus on the science and more on the characters, lots of them kids, who live naturally in a world of time travel, parallel universes, robots, and machinery with a 1980s retro futuristic tech feel. Stories are slow but charming. B-

POTD: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

From 2019 10 10 State Fair of Texas

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the State Fair of Texas. It just looks hopeful somehow. Despite the rain, with proper precautions we can remain dry until the sun comes out, which it will.