President Joe Biden today signed into law the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. He hired former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to oversee the implementation. He played a key role in helping the city rebound from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Republicans participated in the White House press conference.
Two years ago I almost went weekly to movie theaters, usually on Sundays, saw two films, with maybe a
Buca di Beppo meal between them if at the Ward theaters, and was in a nice rut. Then in December of 2019 I went on a
Diamond Princess cruise from and to Yokohama. A short while after I returned to port, COVID-19
patient zero boarded, spreading the virus to the rest of the world.
But was I concerned? Nope, I took another trip from Honolulu to Thailand in February of last year when it was #2 to China in COVID-19 cases. This was before this virus gained its name. Further, this outbreak only became a pandemic in March of 2020.
What I'm leading to is that I have not entered a theater for almost two years. However, yesterday afternoon I saw for free on Netflix
Red Notice. All at home with no need to drive. A lot more convenient. Anyway, a good cast of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. I sipped on a Janneau Armagnac.
Rotten Tomatoes reviewers panned the production, giving it a 38 rating. However, audiences scored a 93, and I absolutely agree with the viewing public.
As history cites, 2000 years ago, Cleopatra bore Julius Caesar's son, but the movie begins with Marcus Antonius (or Mark Anthony) later gifting Cleopatra three bejeweled eggs as a wedding gift. They disappeared, but two were found by a farmer just outside of Cairo in 1907, while the third egg remained lost. For the record, they did have three children.
A
red notice is an arrest announcement by Interpol, which was used in the film to seek those three to the left, an FBI agent and two notorious egg-hunters. There are around 66,370 of these warrants currently extant. Just last year Interpol issue 11,094 Red Notices.
The film had all the charm of an Indiana Jones flick, even using its song theme, with an unexpected and comical appearance of Ed Sheeran at the end. The film locations were fabulous, reminiscent of one of my global journeys. Except for one thing. While more than half a dozen exotic locations were labeled, most of the filming occurred in Budapest, Hungary, with drone-produced scenes of those other sites inserted as necessary. Saves money.
So what about Cleopatra's third egg? All three were
McGuffins. You don't know what this means? Then you need to click on that link.
Clearly, there will be a sequel, almost surely a heist of the
Mona Lisa in the Louvre. My impression when I visited her in 2019:
The people in the painting are a reflection of the bullet-proof glass. Of course, she was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, but how many of you know that Mona's name is Lisa Gherardini and is an oil painting on white Lombardy poplar. When? Anywhere between 1503 to 1517. It's valued at around a $1 billion, but will never be sold. It has been on permanent display at the Louvre since 1797, except that in 1911 it was stolen, and one of those suspicioned was Pablo Picasso, but Vincenzo Peruggia was the thief. Mona was returned two years later. Her history is what makes her so popular, but the painting is only 21"x30"
There was a lot more to that trip. Read about La Tour d'Argent, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Eiffel Tower, Tattinger and Cognac.
Four other dishes this week were soba, American rib eye steak, lasagna and pork tonkatsu:
Returning to mushrooms, I went golfing at the Royal Hawaiian Golf course this past week with two residents of 15 Craigside. These photos were taken by John.
I was once a member here when it was called the Luana Hills Golf Course, designed by Pete Dye. It has a marvelous onsen with essentially this above view.
I'll close with Taylor Swift's 10-minute version of
All Too Well, which she sang on Saturday Night Live this weekend...and my sunset last night.
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