It's What's Inside (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

It's What's Inside (2024): Group of friends play a game of mind/body swapping with a sci-fi device. It's all fun and games until it isn't. Too many characters to keep straight, and keeping them straight is critical to following the consequences of the body swaps. The directorial style is novel, but doesn't quite work. C+

Netflix

POTD: Estancia Santa Susana

"Hooves drum on the plains,
Gauchos race with steady grace,
Horse and man as one."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 03 14 Argentina Patagonia

No trip to Argentina is complete without seeing a gaucho show on a ranch. Horse riding, a folklore show, and of course a cookout. Today's photo-of-the-day is from Estancia Santa Susanna outside Buenos Aires.

And with that, we say adios to Argentina. Next trip: Turkey.

POTD: Tango's Fire

"Velvet curtains part.
Golden age of tango lives.
Dancing fire ignites."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 03 14 Argentina Patagonia

No trip to Argentina is complete without seeing a live tango performance in Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango. Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cafe de los Angelitos. "This historic café and haunt of legendary tango singer Carlos Gardel opens its secret backroom drapes every night and transforms into a grand ballroom tanguería. 'Of the many tango shows in Buenos Aires, Cafe de los Angelitos rises above the rest,' TangoNightsBA, a travel agency that specializes in tango shows, explains. 'The refurbished cafe and theater managed to preserve the traditional feel of the tango golden age and their show reflects the same.' "

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Agatha All Along (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Agatha All Along (TV 2024): A spinoff to WandaVision. The Marvel Universe is now so cluttered that only dedicated enthusiasts can keep all the characters straight. This one is about a coven of witches who follow a road, where Agatha is seeking to regain all her lost powers. For a movie about witches, it lacks any suspense. C+

Disney+

Democrats Have an Image Problem

Democrats seem to have the advantage on the issues. But Republicans have the advantage on messaging. Let's consider Missouri. Voters there voted like Democrats on the issues. But they voted for Republicans for office. They passed some pretty liberal Constitutional amendments while voting by a 19% margin for Donald Trump for President, and by a 14% margin for Josh Hawley for Senate.

Lessons from November 5th

It's now one week since Election Day. Mark Leibovich in "The Atlantic" goes all the way back to Hillary Clinton's close loss to Donald Trump in 2016 to explain the source of the Democrats' defeats in 2024.

Leibovich: "Democrats engaged in no real reckoning after 2016. Essentially they became a party that defined itself in opposition to Trump, just as Republicans have been defined in submission to him."

Standing with Public Schools

On November 7, the Richardson ISD Board of Trustees adopted a set of legislative priorities for the upcoming 2025-2026 legislative term.

Greatest Political Comeback

Jim Jordan: "This election was the greatest political comeback we've ever seen."

Well, maybe not. Nixon's win in 1968 was arguably bigger after Nixon's defeat in 1962 and pledge to the press, "You don't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." Biggest comeback and, later, biggest eventual collapse. Maybe something still to look forward to.

The Forest Was Shrinking

"The forest was shrinking
but the trees kept voting for the axe.
Because his handle was made of wood,
he convinced them he was one of them.”
— Turkish Proverb

POTD: The World's Most Beautiful Bookstore

"Readers in box seats.
Books fill up the former stalls.
Cafe on the stage."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 03 14 Argentina Patagonia

Today's photo-of-the-day is from The Grand Splendid Athenaeum, a bookstore in Buenos Aires. In 2019, it was named the "world's most beautiful bookstore" by the National Geographic. It gets no argument from me. It's located in a former theater called Teatro Gran Splendid. Customer seating exists in the still-intact theater boxes. A cafe serves food and drinks on the former stage. Over a million people visit annually, including "L" and me. We didn't buy any books (the vast majority are in Spanish), but we did eat lunch. Beautiful.

Another photo after the jump.