Thursday, August 24, 2023

POTD: The Glare


"Off shiny glass wall,
Death ray pierces rooftop screen,
Aimed at Nasher's art."

—h/t ChatGPT

This bonus photo-of-the-day was taken in the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. Almost twelve years after it first appeared, "The Glare" is still there. "The Glare" is the sun's reflection off the shiny glass facade of Museum Tower next door and down through the Nasher Sculpture Center's "delicately calibrated roof screen", thereby endangering the art within its galleries. This photo shows three metal sculptures by Mark di Suvero. Behind them, on the wall, you can see "The Glare" and the shadows of the roof screen. The dispute over how to fix the problem, and who should pay, remains unresolved a decade after the problem was first discovered.

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

TIL: Hispanics are a Plurality in Texas

Source: Texas Monthly
Few observers of the state’s demographics were shocked when, in 2022, Census Bureau estimates revealed that Hispanics had become a narrow plurality in Texas. At 40.2 percent of the state’s population, they just edged out the non-Hispanic white population of 39.4 percent. The state will never be the same!
Source: Texas Monthly.

That's what I learned in a Texas Monthly article by Richard Z. Santos. He adds the million dollar question: "Texas Is Now a Majority-Minority State. Why Haven’t Our Politics Changed?" He never satisfactorily answers that question. After the jump, the litany of reasons that each contribute to an answer.

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

The Watcher (TV 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

The Watcher (TV 2022) Not a horror movie, or ghost story, or stalker movie. It's a mystery, with lots of creepy neighbors, each suspected and maybe cleared, all the way to a not-so-pat ending. Great cast, all getting into their over-the-top characters. For fun, not scares. A-

Monday, August 21, 2023

Great Expectations (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Great Expectations (TV 2023): Another adaptation of Dickens's classic. Purists object to its added scenes of sex, opium, and violence, but Dickens was constrained by Victorian social mores. This modern tale is still loaded with compelling characters and plot twists. And yet another ending. B+

Sunday, August 20, 2023

POTD: Temple of Poseidon

From 2022 11 03 Athens

"Shadows grow longer,
Temple guards the ancient shores,
Late afternoon's hush."


—h/t ChatGPT

This photo-of-the-day was taken on Cape Sounion about 25 miles south of Athens, Greece. It shows the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon (circa 700 BCE).

A bonus close-up photo is after the jump.