Review: Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

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From Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, by Salman Rushdie

This is the story of a jinnia, a great princess of the jinn, known as the Lightning Princess on account of her mastery over the thunderbolt, who loved a mortal man long ago, in the twelfth century, as we would say, and of her many descendants, and of her return to the world, after a long absence, to fall in love again, at least for a moment, and then to go to war."

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights. Count 'em up. That's 1001 nights. Consider this Salman Rushdie's attempt at fan fiction for "1001 Arabian Nights." How does it hold up?

After the jump, my review.

POTD: Mumtaz

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Agra Fort in India. A fort stood on this location for a thousand years, but the current fort dates to the Mughal Empire when Agra was the capital of India. Its most famous occupant was Shah Jahan, who built the nearby Taj Mahal as a tomb for his empress, Mumtaz. This photo of two beautiful Indian women was taken near the marble balcony where it is said that Shah Jahan died, gazing at the Taj Mahal where Mumtaz was buried.

Bonus photo after the jump.

The Big Short (2015)

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The Big Short (2015): Outsiders bet against housing market and win. Don't blame the poor. Wall Street is rigged. Too many stories here. B-

RISD's Horrible Clock Management

Football combines the two worst things about America: it is violence punctuated by committee meetings.

Source: George Will.

You know how you hate it when your favorite football team trails by two touchdowns late in the game and the team huddles with the clock running and then calls a running play that gains few yards and uses up even more precious time? The Richardson ISD is that team.

POTD: All the World's a Sunny Day

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. But instead of showing the classic photo of the main tomb building, which probably made Kodak shareholders rich in the day of film cameras, this photo shows one of the buildings that line the forecourt. India is a nation of colors. Even the architecture — white marble against blue sky framed by red sandstone — demands Kodachrome's "nice bright colors."

Spotlight (2015)

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Spotlight (2015): Based on true story. Principled. Important. Suspenseful. Maybe too tailored for Oscar notice, but it still delivers. A-

POTD: Bucket List

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Agra, India, where someone checked off a high-value item on her lifelong bucket list. The visit was every bit as delightful as she had hoped.

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

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Straight Outta Compton (2015): I still don't like gangster rap, but I love this movie. Back story of the music and of modern America. A-

Finally, Cracking Down on Payday Lending

Not the official campaign HQ of Rep. Pete Sessions

Payday lenders like CashAmerica and ACE Cash Express often make loans with annual percentage rates of 350 percent or more. They prey on the poor, trapping borrowers in debt they can never pay off. Sixty percent of borrowers are repeat borrowers who string together loan after loan, using the proceeds of the next loan to pay off the last.

But help is on the way. Finally.

POTD: Every Which Way

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from a street in Agra, India. The automobile hasn't taken over the streets in that country — yet. There's still room for auto-rickshaws, motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians, even cows. I wouldn't recommend it as an urban planning ideal, but neither do I recommend, say, Central Expressway as an urban planning ideal.