POTD: Sicilian Ceramic Heads

From 2022 10 30 Mt Etna and Taormina

This photo-of-the-day shows typical Sicilian ceramic heads in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

According to legend, "there was a beautiful girl who loved to take care of flowers in her balcony. One day, while she was watering the flowers, a young Moor, who was walking in the street, saw her and fell in love at first sight...She didn’t know he was married...When she discovered the painful truth, in a rage, she cut off his head and used it as [an] ornamental vase for her balcony." (I know, legends often are very dark.)

Taormina is the setting for the second season of White Lotus. Fans of that show definitely should add Taormina to their bucket list of places to travel to. Its history goes back to ancient Greece.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: The Tallest Volcano in Europe

From 2022 10 30 Mt Etna and Taormina

This photo-of-the-day shows Mount Etna. It's an active volcano, by far the largest and tallest volcano in Italy. Its height varies from eruption to eruption, the last of which was in 2017. It's in Sicily, an island and a world apart from Italy.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

The Diplomat (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Diplomat (TV 2023): Explosion kills 41 British sailors in Gulf. Who did it? Iran? Russia? US ambassador in London works to find out, complicated by politics in both capitals, and a love/hate triangle with Keri Russell in the middle. Intrigue and personal drama. A-

POTD: Portrait and Cityscape

This photo-of-the-day is from the Meadows Museum at SMU in Dallas. It shows two paintings in the exhibit "In the Shadow of Dictatorship: Creating the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art".

Fifty points if you can say which painting is a portrait and which a cityscape. Extra credit for knowing which person the portrait is of and which city the cityscape is of. Muchisimo puntos if you know the model in the middle.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Promising Change

After apologizing for the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre", the City of Richardson pledged on Facebook, "We will also do everything in our power to make sure this never happens again."