Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

Sunday, March 23, 2025

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.

Saturday, March 22, 2025

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.

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Caddo Lake (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

Monday, March 17, 2025

Juror #2 (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

Sunday, March 16, 2025

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%).

Saturday, March 15, 2025

POTD: Fish Church

"Once a bustling trade,
Fishmongers' voices now gone.
Diners take their place."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 04 Gothenburg

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Gothenburg, Sweden. It shows the Feskekörka (Fish Church), "a building that formerly housed an indoor fish market. Its name is based on the building's resemblance to a neo-Gothic church. It opened on 1 November 1874...Feskekörka underwent a renovation for several years, beginning in 2021. There is now a single occupant of the building operating a restaurant business."

Thursday, March 13, 2025

A Look Back at the Mayoral Candidates

For just the seventh time in Richardson's history, voters get to vote for mayor. Three of those races were uncontested. Three offered a choice between two candidates. In 2025, for the first time in Richardson's history, voters will get to choose among three candidates. It's still early in the campaign. We've had no forums. We've had no campaign mailers, robocalls or text messages. Social media campaigns have barely begun.

I thought now would be a good time to research the archives for what I said about these candidates when they ran for City Council before. For Alan North, I chose 2011, the one and only time he filed to run for office. For Amir Omar, I also chose 2011, the first time he ran for re-election. For Bob Dubey, I chose 2019, the first time he ran for re-election. I found it interesting what I wrote in those more innocent times.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Zero Day (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Zero Day (TV 2025): A cyber attack takes out the electric grid, comms, and transportation systems, but just for an hour. Robert De Niro plays a respected ex-President tasked with finding who is behind it, before they strike again. The plot gets too complicated for its own good, with too many unresolved plot points for my liking. C+

Netflix

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Disclaimer (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Disclaimer (TV 2024): Award-winning journalist (Cate Blanchett) finds herself canceled when a secret from her past is revealed. Classic kind of she-said/she-said story told through narration and time jumps from the present to the past incident. B-

AppleTV+