Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022): Stop-motion/live-action hybrid about, well, a shell with shoes on who happens to live in an AirBnB with a human who's filming a documentary about Marcel and his quest to find his family of other shells. Original, sweet, family-friendly. B+

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Jurassic World Dominion (2022): Same old dinosaurs, now with elements of James Bond, Mission Impossible, and Indiana Jones action movies as well. It just goes on and on and doesn't have a story arc that reaches a satisfactory end, although just that it ended was satisfaction. D+

Random Thoughts: I Just Migrated to Mastodon

2022-11-23: I just migrated from one Mastodon server to another. Unknown to me when I did this, my old posts did not migrate. I only lost a few posts, so it's no big deal, but, I'm starting fresh (again).

2022-11-23: Mastodon's decentralized, distributed server system is good. It helps ensure against a failure of the whole system. But if migration of one's post history from one server to another isn't possible, then one big benefit of the distributed system is lost.

2022-11-29: We are enjoying unusually good fall colors here in Richardson, Texas...and beautiful weather for at least a day or so.

2022-11-30: Periodic reminder: Confederate Heroes Day is still a state holiday in Texas.

2022-12-02: The fact that even Texas state legislators are asked to sign NDAs in order to get access to information about the Uvalde shootings shows how broken our government's willingness to share information is.

2022-12-04: It's long past time for Jerry Jones to step away from the Dallas Cowboys. His era, 1957, which he has never adequately stepped away from, is long gone.

2022-12-05: On the Richardson City Council agenda is an item to review the city's social media launch for its Convention and Visitors Bureau. I find it ironic that the City wants to promote a Visitors Bureau so soon after passing an ordinance to discourage short term rentals.

2022-12-07: If the Georgia run-off taught us one thing, it's that R’s need to focus on candidate quality. Like maybe not think of wanting to run someone whose namesake company has been convicted of 17 counts of felony tax fraud.

2022-12-07: "Volodymyr Zelensky" (sic) is TIME's POYY (sic).

2022-12-08: Headline: "WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian prison in a high-profile prisoner swap."
Thanks, Joe.

2022-12-08: Finally, something both Dems and GOP can celebrate.
Dems thankful for an American released.
GOP for a Russian.

2022-12-09: According to RISD policy "Access to challenged material shall not be restricted during the reconsideration process."
If, as a poster elsewhere alleges, the district has begun pulling books from shelves and classroom libraries for "review"" in response to parents' complaints, then the RISD is violating their own policy. This seems like an allegation that needs to be answered.

2022-12-13: Tornado watch in effect for most of North Texas. Nothing says winter in Texas like tornadoes. With climate change, tornado season is now pretty much from January to December. [/snark]

2022-12-13: Despite today's exciting news, when will fusion energy be cost-effective? That's still decades away. Why? It's because we're not serious about investing in it. The US invests $700 million/year on fusion research. Sounds like a lot. But compare that to the current cost of a single SLS/Orion moon rocket of $4.1 billion per launch. Then tell me which investment we're serious about.

2022-12-15: I've been told by a good source inside the district that, this year, they know of only one book that has been removed from RISD inventory for failure to meet district criteria. Something is going on, but it doesn't appear to be exactly what's being alleged.

2022-12-15: I drove by a street corner in Dallas yesterday where a grizzled old man was standing on the corner with a cardboard sign that read: "Lost my job as a stripper. Need $$$ for glitter."

2022-12-15: One case where the actor's name seems better suited for a sci-fi character than the name the fiction writers actually gave him: Diego Luna as Cassian Andor.

2022-12-16: I'm at a Christmas concert and they have the music program online. It's great. I can have my phone out and my eyes glued to the screen and everyone thinks I'm following along.

2022-12-16: I keep seeing stories about "Twitter Files this" and "Twitter Files that." Each time I expect it to be "Twitter Files Bankruptcy".

2022-12-21: CNN: "Zelensky on his way to Washington in US military jet to meet Biden as war with Russia enters new phase."
Wait. What? I saw nothing wrong with reporting Elon Musk's whereabouts, but if there is one person who needs privacy while in the air, it's Zelensky.

POTD: Gutenfels Castle

From 2022 07 08 Braubach and Rhine

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Kaub, Germany. It's a view of three of the scenes most common along this stretch of the Rhine: river-hugging towns below, castles above (in this case, Gutenfels Castle), and vineyards in between. We found no pattern in whether the vines were planted in rows parallel to the river or perpendicular up the hillside from the river (as in this photo).

POTD: River Rhine

From 2022 07 08 Braubach and Rhine

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Braubach, Germany. It's a view of the River Rhine from Marksburg Castle. According to Riviera Travel Blog, "Castles on the Rhine were mainly built between the 12th and 14th Centuries as defence strongholds and toll houses – and over 40 punctuate the landscape on just one 65km stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley." Click on the photo's album link to see a good sampling.