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| From 2026 01 03 Pinhão, Mateus, Quintã, Porto |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Croft Port's estate, Quinta da Roêda, in Pinhão, Portugal, in the heart of the Douro Valley. It's winter, so the fields are dormant. But a large renovated historic building now serves as a tasting room and restaurant. Our visit in early January was warm and memorable.
Bonus photo after the jump.
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Prime
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Netflix
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In theatres
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| From 2026 01 02 Salamanca, Spain |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from a Flamenco performance in Salamanca, Spain. According to Wikipedia, "Although it is often described as a folk, popular or oral tradition, flamenco is also regarded as a complex and sophisticated musical system. Its forms combine song, guitar, dance, compás, modal and tonal harmony, falsetas, handclaps, footwork, melodic ornamentation and improvisatory variation. The musical identity of a palo may depend on several features at once, including rhythmic cycle, mode, chord progression, stanzaic form, geographic origin and performance convention. This musical sophistication, together with the development of concert flamenco guitar and formal conservatory study, has helped flamenco appeal not only to popular audiences but also to listeners and performers from classical-music backgrounds...On 16 November 2010, UNESCO declared flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."
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| From 2026 01 02 Salamanca, Spain |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from University of Salamanca. According to Wikipedia, it's "a public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the world in continuous operation. It has over 30,000 students from 50 nationalities."
30,000 students and one famous frog. It's a carving at the entrance of the university. According to legend, new students were challenged to spot the frog without help. If they succeeded they were to be rewarded with academic success as well.
Bonus photo after the jump.
From Exit Party, by Emily St. John Mandel
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Source: ChatGPT
On October 19, 2026, the Richardson City Council discussed ways to address housing needs identified in the City's 2025 housing study. The discussion focused on only two closely related methods, HFCs and PFCs. HFC (Housing Finance Corporation) and PFC (Public Facility Corporation) are public instrumentalities in Texas used to partner with private developers for affordable housing through property tax exemptions. Other approaches that are promised to be on future agendas include Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Opportunity Zones, and zoning changes to foster missing middle housing. But for this meeting, it's all about HFCs and PFCs.
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HBO Max
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Peacock
