Sunday, March 31, 2024

POTD: Happy Easter

"Córdoba's treasure,
Sunlight's dance upon the stone,
Easter's vibrant hues."

—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 09 10 Cordoba

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain. I'll have more to say about this impressive building with a future POTD, but for today, Happy Easter, for those who celebrate. And Ramadan Mubarak for those celebrating that. Joy and prosperity to all.

Saturday, March 30, 2024

POTD: Plaza de España

"In Maria's park,
Baroque, Moorish dreams converge,
Tiled fountains shimmy."

—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 09 09 Seville

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Plaza de España in Seville, Spain, "a plaza in the Parque de María Luisa. It was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It is a landmark example of Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of the Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival (Neo-Mudéjar) styles of Spanish architecture." I wonder if that blend of eclectic, even clashing, architectural styles drew disdain like today's McMansion mishmash architectural styles do. I also wonder what reaction a similarly designed Richardson City Hall would get.

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Render Unto Tim Dunn

Source: h/t DALL-E

A political cartoon to accompany yesterday's blog post: "TIL: My Texas State Senator is a Puppet of a Billionaire Christian Nationalist".


Note that with a minor change, this cartoon would work on the national level as well, where the presumptive GOP nominee for President of the United States is hawking a $59.99 “God Bless the USA Bible”.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

TIL: My Texas State Senator is a Puppet of a Billionaire Christian Nationalist

Source: texas.gov

Look at that map. The red line is the outline of Texas Senate District 2. The yellow and orange and purple and bluish colored areas are the cities. You can see that Senate District 2 mostly excludes the cities. It is mostly rural, except for one spear point in the northwest of the district, stabbing Richardson, my home, in the heart. Richardson is trending Democratic in recent elections. With the latest gerrymander by the Republican state legislature, Richardson is the sacrificial victim to be absorbed by safely rural, conservative, Republican Senate District 2. And that's how I ended up with Bob Hall as my Senator, representing me despite the fact that he isn't, in any way, representative of Richardson, Texas. Today I learned something else about Bob Hall. I learned it from Bob Deuell, "a staunch conservative with an independent streak," according to Russell Gold of Texas Monthly. Gold tells the story.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Masters of the Air (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Masters of the Air (TV 2024): Despite the horrific death toll suffered by the bomber crews of WWII, this show is about a few survivors. Based on real people, it plays like fiction: aerial adventures of handsome, daring flyboys. We've seen this war movie before. Cramming WWII into one series makes it feel rushed. Production value is excellent. B-

#Apple TV+