POTD: Wall Carvings in the Tomb of Rameses III

From 2019 11 22 Valley of the Kings

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It was taken inside the tomb of Rameses III. The tomb is richly decorated with wall carvings and paintings. "During his long tenure [1186 to 1155 BCE] in the midst of the surrounding political chaos of the Late Bronze Age collapse, Egypt was beset by foreign invaders and experienced the beginnings of increasing economic difficulties and internal strife which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Twentieth Dynasty."

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: The Main Draw in the Valley of the Kings

From 2019 11 22 Valley of the Kings

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It was taken at the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun ("King Tut"). This tomb is the only one of the several dozen tombs in the valley that was discovered intact by modern archaeologists, in 1922. All the others had been looted long ago. Of course, the modern archaeologists emptied Tut's tomb as well (we no longer say looted), all but for one item, Tut's mummy. I had to admit that the boy king looked pretty good for being 3,351 years old.

Bonus photo of the king himself after the jump.

Fargo - S01 (TV 2014)

Rotten Tomatoes

Fargo - S01 (TV 2014): Winter in Bemidji, Minnesota, where a mousy insurance salesman accidentally hires a hit man. Dead bodies pile up as things go from bad to worse. Engrossing black comedy with a large cast of quirky characters. I can't think of a thing to improve it. A+

#VeryTardyReview

Sweet Jesus, $47 Million? Partial Payment Request

The weekly Richardson City Council agendas are a rich source for conspiracy theories. An especially rich vein are the descriptions of the topics to be discussed in the secret Executive Sessions. Monday's agenda has this tantalizing nugget: "Consultation with City Attorney regarding JP — KBS Holdings, LLC Payment Request".

Parallels to Richardson in "The Accommodation"

"The Accommodation," Jim Schutze's classic 1986 history of race relations in Dallas, was reviewed here yesterday. Richardson is only mentioned a few times in the book, peripherally. Still, several paragraphs from the book reminded me of Richardson.

Review: The Accommodation: The Politics of Race in an American City

From The Accommodation, by Jim Schutze

In 1950, for the second time in a decade, the City of Dallas was in serious danger of racial warfare. The dynamitings of Black middle-class homes had started again. None of the measures adopted after a wave of bombings ten years earlier had had lasting effect. The tendency of the city for organized and violent white aggression against Blacks seemed ineluctable. It was the chain that tied the city to a bloody past."

Amazon

This is Jim Schutze's classic 1986 history of race relations in Dallas. Peter Simek in "D Magazine" called it "the most dangerous book in Dallas." It was long out of print, rumored because of pressure by Dallas's white oligarchy. Now it's been re-released. From slavery to Jim Crow to the 1980s, it lays out how Dallas was run, leaving a legacy we still see today. It's eye-opening, a great read, a must read.

Munich: The Edge of War (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Munich: The Edge of War (2022): Dramatization of Munich Conference on eve of WWII. Fictional characters and events turn it into a thriller and add suspense. Neville Chamberlain gets an overdue sympathetic treatment. Hitler is still a monster. Good acting throughout. B+