Saturday, December 30, 2023

POTD: Tiddly Oggies

"Authentic allure,
Bustling spirit, markets soar,
Queen Vic, evermore."


—h/t ChatGPT
From 2023 03 17 Melbourne

This photo-of-the-day was taken in Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, Australia. "Queen Victoria Market is an authentic, bustling, inner-city market that has been the heart and soul of Melbourne for 140 years. Home to over 600 small businesses, it is a great place to discover fresh and specialty produce, hand-made and unique products, great coffee and food, souvenirs and clothing." It was an old, established market when I first visited it in 1974. It's still going strong today.

Oh, I leave it up to you to discover what a Tiddly Oggie is. I'll just say Queen Vic has them for sale.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Friday, December 29, 2023

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

A Haunting in Venice (2023): A ghost story turns into a classic whodunnit set in an old house in Venice with a large cast of suspects. It's watchable enough but Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot has nothing new to offer. B-

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023): Lots of well done chases involving cars, motorcycles, trains, and speed flying. Plot, otoh, is silly, a hunt for a physical key that controls a super AI that can rule the world. No character development. Forgettable acting. But that's not why you go to an MI movie. B+

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Maestro (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Maestro (2023): Biopic of Leonard Bernstein, whose talent and private life are too big to be stuffed into two hours. The story is compressed, exhausting, and a little schizophrenic. A ten-hour TV mini-series might have been a better fit. Carey Mulligan as his wife grounds the man wonderfully. A-

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Housing: The Calm Before the Storm?

Source: Shoot2Sell in Frontburner

Many cities are facing the same problem: how to meet the demand for housing, both in absolute numbers and in affordability. Richardson is no exception. The solutions Richardson adopts, if any, will have to emerge from the "Envision Richardson" planning process now underway. But that's been quiet recently. Too quiet. When will the calm break? How fierce will be the storm?