Review: Where the Crawdads Sing

Amazon

From Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens:

Marsh is not swamp. Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky. Slow-moving creeks wander, carrying the orb of the sun with them to the sea, and long-legged birds lift with unexpected grace—as though not built to fly—against the roar of a thousand snow geese."

The story of the marsh is the third major story line in this novel, the one that makes the novel soar above the love story and the murder mystery.

RISD Election: How Did It Go?

On November 5, 2019, the Richardson ISD conducted its first-ever election with single-member districts. The new voting system was specifically designed in reaction to a voting rights lawsuit that complained that RISD's at-large voting system discriminated against the minority community. In this first election, three of the five single-member districts were up for election. In each of the next two years, another single-member district, plus an at-large district, will be up for election. At the end of three years, all of the new districts will have been elected under the new system. Now that the first election is behind us, let's ask how it worked.

POTD: Heads-Up! Puffin.

From 2019 03 01 Iceland

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Kevflavik Airport in Reykjavik, Iceland. That's a puffin poking down from the ceiling in the baggage claim area in way of greeting arriving passengers. Iceland's puffin population is estimated at 10 million birds. The human population in the whole country is only about 340,000, so it's natural that puffins get a lot of attention. Admission: we didn't see any puffins. The best time to see puffins in Iceland is the summer. We were there in winter to see the Northern Lights. More on that to come.

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Jojo Rabbit (2019): A boy's family shelters a Jewish girl in WWII Germany. An imaginary Hitler mentors the boy to be a good Nazi. It's a comedy. Work with me on this. Nazi Germany through a boy's eyes. Movie does a good job of balancing farce, tragedy, and touching scenes. A-

Echo in the Canyon (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Echo in the Canyon (2019): Documentary about a magical place and time when the mid-60s California Sound was in its prime. Reminiscences by many of the musical geniuses of how they inspired each other. Lots of 2015 tribute concert. Lots overlooked. Not enough old video. B+

Idle Thoughts: Just Another TV Talking Head

Tweets from October, 2019:

• 2019-10-01: "Jeffress is just another TV talking head, selling his apocalyptic tomes, and always searching for another Other to demonize." -- Rob Wilonsky. (Link)
  Yep. He says he's powerless to bring on the Apocalypse, but that doesn't seem to stop him from trying, no matter what he says.
• 2019-10-01: Downton Abbey (2019) Faithful to the TV series. Julian Fellowes gives every story line that wasn't wrapped up in the series finale a happy ending. If you've never seen it, you'll be lost by all the characters and subplots, and raise your eyebrows at some plot contrivances. B+
• 2019-10-01: Shame on you, President Trump. 45 million people died under Mao's Great Leap Forward. It's time for China to quit honoring that legacy. And it was never time for an American President to honor one of history's greatest tyrants. (Link)
• 2019-10-01: Trump's tariffs have forced Bayou Steel Group, an American steel company, into bankruptcy. They used recycled scrap metal that is largely imported and subject to tariffs to produce new steel. Another failed promise. (Link)

After the jump, more idle thoughts.

POTD: Na Pali Coast

From 2019 01 17 Kauai

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Na Pali coast of Kauai, Hawaii. Think Arizona's Grand Canyon but where the Colorado River is replaced by the Pacific Ocean. It's spectacular, whether by sea (like this picture) or by land (like the second bonus photo of Waimea Canyon — think Grand Canyon, only green).

Bonus photos after the jump.

Parasite (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Parasite (2019): Korean. Family of grifters con a rich family. All is going well until a complication arises. Then it's chaos. A black comedy with violence, suspense, and farce. Just when you think writers have written themselves into a corner, they escape. Over and over. A-

The Lighthouse (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Lighthouse (2019): Two men confined in a lighthouse descend into madness. Dark. Unsettling. Intense. Like a punch to the gut. Who's mad and who's sane? What's real and what's hallucination? Is it all damn metaphor? Did you like it is the wrong question for this movie. A-

POTD: Luau

From 2019 01 17 Kauai

You go to Hawaii, you go to a luau, right? We went to Hawaii, so today's photo-of-the-day is from a luau in Kauai.

Bonus photos after the jump.