The Flash (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

(The Flash 2023): Our hero uses time travel to try to prevent the murder of his mother. Nothing novel to this part of the story. What is fun is how many actors who have played superheroes in the movies get to reprise their roles with cameos in this movie. C+

A Coach Who Knows the Rules

1964: The Free Kick Game: Vince Lombardi's Packers were the first team to ever invoke the "fair catch free kick" rule. After Elijah Pitts fair caught a punt on the Packers 48 yard line just before halftime, Vince Lombardi informed the referees that they would be trying a free kick. There was confusion among all. Neither team had ever seen it before or practiced it.

The Packers lined up on the line of scrimmage with Bart Starr holding the ball. Paul Hornung stepped up and made the 52-yard field goal as the half ended. Everyone was shocked and the Bears were embarrassed as the Packers went on to win 23-12. Lombardi said after the game it was probably a "once in a lifetime" occurrence. He was proven wrong, however, as the Bears would return the favor 4 years later, beating the Packers on the free kick.

Source: Bleacher Report.

I wasn't at that 1964 game, but I was in the stands in Lambeau Field for that 1968 game. I remember I was shocked to see this play call. That Lombardi knew the rule in 1964 doesn't surprise me. That George Halas knew the rule in 1968 doesn't surprise me either, especially after the Packers exploited it against the Bears four years earlier. Great coaches know the rules inside out.

Cocaine Bear (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Cocaine Bear (2023): Like Sharknado and Snakes on a Plane, the title says all you need to know. Each bear attack is gruesome, and humans are in the movie solely to be attacked. Movie makes light of it all. You might laugh, groan and cover your eyes. It's not bad enough to be good. C+

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023): $574 million box office. How bad can it be? Movie aims at kids, but even kids deserve more. Mario Bros. may be a fun video game, but as a movie, it's all empty calories. Depicting Bowser, the villain, with several styles of animation is the only interesting thing in this movie. D+

POTD: Bourtzi Castle in Nafplio

From 2022 11 03 Athens

"Narrow islet's grace,
Gambello's castle of stone,
Stories etched in time."

—h/t ChatGPT

This photo-of-the-day was taken at Nafplio, Greece. It shows Bourtzi Castle, built by the Venetians in 1471. "The design was made specifically to fit the narrow shape of the islet. At first it was used as a small castle where an executioner lived and killed prisoners. Now it's a famous tourist attraction."

A bonus photo of a closeup is after the jump.

POTD: Ancient Tomb

From 2022 11 03 Athens

"Bronze Age's echo,
Mycenae's enigmatic
Tomb of kings and myths."

—h/t ChatGPT

This photo-of-the-day was taken at Mycenae, Greece. It shows a large underground beehive-shaped tomb constructed between 1400 and 1200 BCE. It was the largest dome in the world for a thousand years. Today, no one knows who was buried here. Sometime in the last three hundred years, it became known as the Tomb of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. It's also known as the Treasury of Atreus, another ancient king of Mycenae known more through myth than history.

Whatever its true history, we're talking ancient. It's during the late Bronze Age. For comparison, the pyramids were built in the early Bronze Age, a thousand years earlier than this tomb. And the Parthenon was built half a millennium later. There are centuries of history mostly lost to us today. What's left are the ruins of a few monuments.

A bonus photo of the exterior is after the jump.

Random Thoughts: It's 107 degrees

2023-08-02: Today's NextDoor top post:
"I am trying to understand why people say climate change isn't real.
It's 107 degrees."
The post was promptly deleted.
Because, of course it was.

2023-08-03: She asked, "I need WOWZA headshots. Who do you recommend?"
Without thinking, I answered, "Charlize Theron. No contest."
And that's how I got canceled.

2023-08-10: A person I was with, seeing a car's license plate bracket: "Dickinson State University. Where is that?"
Me, shrugging: "Dunno. But my guess would be it's now in the Big Ten."

2023-08-22: I ate in a fast-food restaurant today. At the POS machine the woman who waited on me told me to press "No tip" when it asked. I hesitated. She explained, "We don't get the tips. The manager does, and he's not here."

---

More random thoughts can be found on Mastodon.

Council Recap: Municipal Campus Site Plan

At the August 21, 2023, meeting, the Richardson City Council was shown two draft designs for a redeveloped municipal campus. The Council generally favored the building placements of Option A, but with one controversy. That was a new entrance off Arapaho Rd between the library and a relocated City Hall with a drive that will go by the fountain. It's safe to bet that the building placements in Option A will be part of the selected site plan, but what to do with that drive is very much up in the air.

Below, after the diagram for Option A, are selected comments by the Council Members that I find illustrative of their thinking.

WAIW: Super Bowl XLV

Where Am I Wednesday!

Fifty points to the first person to identify where this photo was taken.

Answer is after the jump.

TIL: Taylor Swift is Underpaid

Are you in the camp of people who think celebrities (singers, actors, athletes) are overpaid? If so, I understand where you are coming from. But Paul Krugman, economics columnist for the New York Times, isn't so sure. He provides some facts that caused me to change my mind. Try changing your mind now and then. I highly recommend the feeling it gives you. Now Paul Krugman has me asking, is Taylor Swift perhaps underpaid?