POTD: Modern Cartagena

From 2018 01 22 Cartagena

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cartagena, Columbia. It's two cities in one. The walled old city is a well-deserved UNESCO world heritage site and its sprawling beachfronts are filled with high-rise hotels and condos.

Review: Mad City: The True Story of the Campus Murders That America Forgot

Amazon

From Mad City, by Michael Arntfield:

Unless he’d blown town for another spot on the map, there’s nowhere else he could be. He’d be there watching, waiting, stalking. She’d stop him this time. She’d have to. It was, after all, her purpose in life, a world shaped by torment and obsession. It was an all-consuming calling—alpha to omega."

I chose to read the non-fiction "Mad City" for one reason—my personal connection to the time and place it is set. It details a series of real-life horrific murders of young women on or near the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison beginning in 1968, just before my first year there.

POTD: Panama Hats in Columbia

From 2018 01 22 Cartagena

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cartagena, Columbia, where Panama hats are sold on the street. It seems a shame that 1) Columbia missed out on having its name attached to the hat style, and 2) Columbia Sportswear was named after the Pacific Northwest river, not the South American country. Anyway, for the purposes of this POTD at least, here are real Columbia hats.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Ready for Spring?

From 2018 01 22 Cartagena

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the streets of Cartagena, Columbia, a tropical city that always looks like Spring, even on a winter day in January.

Faces Places (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Faces Places (2017): Oscar-nominated documentary of two artists traveling rural France, meeting people and creating huge portraits and pasting them on sides of buildings. Small art on a big scale. Agnès Varda and JR make an odd couple, as empathetic as they are talented. B-

POTD: Small, Walkable, Beautiful

From 2018 01 22 Cartagena

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the old city of Cartagena, Columbia, a UNESCO world heritage site. The title comes from a tourist review on TripAdvisor.

Betting on Zero (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Betting on Zero (2017): Documentary about Herbalife from three angles: Wall Street short, Latino community class action lawsuit, and FTC investigation. I always thought pyramid schemes were illegal. Sadly, not in our deregulatory time. Maddening company. Suspenseful movie. B+

Hot Spots of Poverty

I saw a map recently that put everything into perspective for me. It's titled "Spatial Mismatch" and was designed to show "how economic disparity and transportation are intertwined in Dallas." It was published as part of a study by the University of Texas at Arlington's Institute of Urban Studies (insert plug to support research and development universities here). What jumped out at me is something about, not public transportation, but education.

POTD: Heaven's Door

From 2018 01 22 Cartagena

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the entrance to Iglesia San Pedro Claver in Cartagena, Columbia. The doors are closed. There is no door knob. There is no door knocker. The design on the door looks a little like a maze with no path to the center. Read into all that what you will.

P.S. The angel at the door is real.

Loving Vincent (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Loving Vincent (2017): Death of Van Gogh told as a murder mystery in 65,000 hand-painted frames. Like watching a living, breathing, roiling Van Gogh painting. Don't watch for plot or acting. Watch for the mesmerizing visuals. A-