Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Top Gun: Maverick (2022): Predictable. To understand how far America has gone astray since the Cold War, replace the American pilots with Japanese pilots bombing Pearl Harbor in 1941. Would we still be pulling for them to succeed? Watch it like I did, on a plane experiencing turbulence. Extra exciting. C+

Random Thoughts: Runaway Slaves Escaping To Mexico

Tweets from October, 2022:

• 2022-10-03: A chapter of US history that's rarely told that holds a lesson for today. If we couldn't stop runaway slaves from escaping *to* Mexico pre-Civil War, why do we think it's possible to stop desperate refugees fleeing the other direction today? Why would we even want to?
• 2022-10-03: Today's Trump fundraising email: "We need a clear picture of how all voters in your Congressional District are leaning, and you are a leader in your district." A leader? He must read my blog!
• 2022-10-03: Up until recently, regardless of when life begins, in the United States nobody could force you to donate your own body to save another person. Republicans want the government to force you to donate your body to save even fertilized eggs. Small government, my eye.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022): Sequel to the 1993 original. This one doesn't so much build on that one as repeat it, beat for beat. Bette Midler's big musical number is better than the one in the original, but it's no "Time Warp." Skip it and go trick or treating with the kids instead. C-

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes

Hocus Pocus (1993): I never saw this Disney original, so I watched it before watching this year's sequel. I can't tell if it's bad because the humor is dated, or aimed at kids, or what. Bette Midler vamps. You'd think that alone would have saved the movie, but no such luck. C-

#VeryTardyReview

POTD: Anne Frank House

From 2022 07 03 Amsterdam

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the most famous of Amsterdam's canal houses: the Anne Frank House. Seventy five years on, tickets to enter the house, now a museum, still sell out days ahead of time. But tourists come by anyway to see the house from the outside.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Amsterdam's Canal Houses

From 2022 07 03 Amsterdam

Today's photo-of-the-day is a classic look at Amsterdam's canal houses. There are miles and miles of canals in the old city center, all of them lined with canal houses.

King Donald the First

The ad from Donald Trump, Jr., says, "My father is the Great MAGA King." It says the hat was "personally designed" by Donald himself. History lesson: since the United States Constitution was adopted in 1789, there has not been any serious movement for another King George III ruling America. Until now, maybe. My first thought was to mock Trump for not knowing American history, but on further thought, the lack of a monarchy in the USA may be what attracts him to the idea of crowning himself king. He's been President. How did that work out for him? Why not try king? His MAGA cult already stormed the Capitol for him once. Why would we think they would hesitate to toss out the Constitution altogether and genuflect to King Donald the First?

WAIW: The Staff of Hermes

Where Am I Wednesday!

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

Answer is after the jump.

Blonde (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Blonde (2022): Biopic of Marilyn Monroe. All the bad is here. Broken home. Childhood PTSD. Casting couch. Abusive marriages. Exploited her whole sad life, even after death by this movie. Lurid details invented. Hallucinations. She deserves better. But Ana de Armas is terrific. B-

Code of Ethics "Covers the Basics"

Given thorough review and amendments in 2020, Staff has no recommended additions or changes.

Source: City of Richardson.

And with that, in 17 and a half minutes the Richardson City Council rushed through another biennial review of its Code of Ethics, making no changes.