POTD: Kids are Kids all over the World

"Imperial halls,
Once power's solemn domain,
Now host kids at play."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 06 Istanbul

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. From the 1460s to 1856, it served as the main residence of the Turkish sultans. Today it's a museum, with the imperial treasury of jewels and the rooms of the imperial harem being the most popular tourist draws. But the photos here are of young people having fun. Kids are kids the world over.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

Replanting Richardson, Again

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
— Proverb.

I always thought this proverb said something about old men knowing they won't live long enough for a newly planted tree to mature. Now I have to think of the possibility it's about men who rip up trees and replant over and over, never giving the trees a chance to grow old.

Gladiator II (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Gladiator II (2024): Ignore history and forget that you've seen this movie before. If you go just for an epic account about reclaiming liberty, filled with action and gore and some silliness (e.g., sharks in the Colosseum), you won't be disappointed. B+

In theaters

My Old Ass (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

My Old Ass (2024): A teen celebrates her 18th birthday with a mushroom trip and meets her 39 year-old self, who offers her a problematic warning about her future. A light-hearted drama that packs a wallop, a lesson not only for the teen, but for her older self as well. B-

Prime

Replanting Richardson on the Down-Low

Someone informed me of some landscaping changes on Main Street in downtown Richardson. The trees in the median were reportedly ripped out and replaced by shrubs. Someone said it's the second time. That can't be, I thought. The trees were just planted. The Main Street redevelopment project was just celebrated in October, 2021. Sad to say, the news appears to be true, as the photo above shows.