Random Thoughts: I Liked Anora, Too

2025-03-03: Anora won the Oscar for Best Picture. I think Brutalist is a timeless film that will age better, but I liked Anora, too.

2025-03-08: "During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost," SpaceX said in a post on X.
"Rapid unscheduled disassembly." Kind of like the impact of President Musk's DOGE on the federal government.

2025-03-29: My Bluesky chat address is @marksteger.bsky.social. It's where I discuss all of my war plans. Just out in the open, readable by all. You can join in.

More random thoughts can be found on Mastodon.

Mayoral Candidates Talk to Democrats

On March 25, 2025, the Richardson Area Democrats (RAD) hosted an online forum for Richardson mayoral candidates. The forum also included Place 6 candidates and RISD District 2 trustee candidates, but here I focus only on the mayoral candidates. You can watch it on YouTube yourself (the mayoral portion is short) or you can read my takeaways here. I recommend you do both.

POTD: Nobel Peace Center

"Close to Oslo's heart,
A tribute to those who strive
For a world at peace."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 06 Oslo

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Oslo, Norway at the Nobel Peace Center, "a showcase for the Nobel Peace Prize and the ideals it represents. The center is also an arena where culture and politics merge to promote involvement, debate and reflection around topics such as war, peace and conflict resolution."

POTD: Royal Palace of Norway

"Statue guards the door.
Grandeur at Oslo's center.
Crown and tradition."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 06 Oslo

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Royal Palace of Norway in Oslo. The Palace "was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of the French-born Charles XIV John, who reigned as king of Norway and Sweden. The palace is the official residence of the current Norwegian monarch...King Charles John never had the pleasure of residing in his palace before he died in 1844, and its first occupants were his son Oscar I and his queen Josephine."

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Love Lies Bleeding (2024): A tale of lust, love, quiet desperation and outbursts of violence in a dysfunctional family whose delicate balance is upset when a stranger comes to town, a female bodybuilder with her own dark secrets. Realism is interspersed with moments of surrealism that make you go, "WTF". B-

Max

POTD: Old Fredrikstad

"Glimpse the fortified
old town preserved in the past.
Fredrikstad stands still."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 05 Fredrikstad

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Fredrikstad, Norway, founded in 1567 by King Fredrick II. "The city centre is on the west bank of the Glomma, while the old town on the east bank is Northern Europe's best preserved fortified town." Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Old Fredrikstad.

POTD: Walkable Gothenburg

"Flags, pendants above.
Cobblestones beneath your feet.
Gothenburg alive."

— h/t ChatGPT

	From 2024 07 04 Gothenburg

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in the city center of Gothenburg, Sweden. Walkable, vibrant, busy. What's not to love?

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Caddo Lake (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Casdo Lake (2024): Texas's only natural lake is the setting for a spooky supernatual, mysterious something. It affects multiple generations of one family over many decades and causes seizures and disappearances and wolves, and maybe...time travel? Just figuring out how everyone is related is challenging enough in this half-baked mystery. C-

Max

Juror #2 (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Juror #2 (2024): Courtroom drama directed by Clint Eastwood. Think 12 Angry Men with Nicholas Hoult playing the holdout. The twist comes very early, but then the trial and jury deliberations all go as you expect. The abrupt ending is the only thing that isn't spelled out for the audience. B-

Max

POTD: Rosenlundsverket

"On water's edge, where
Smoke once darkened sky and stone,
Now blue buildings smile."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 04 Gothenburg

Who says a power plant has to be ugly? Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Gothenburg, Sweden. It shows the Rosenlundsverket, a century-old heat and power plant. Originally fired with coal, it was replaced by an oil-fired plant in the early 1950s. Natural gas firing was put into operation in 1988. Today, Sweden generates only about 2% of its electricity from fossil-based fuel. The vast majority comes from hydropower (around 40%), nuclear power (about 30%), and wind power (about 20%).