Handsome Siblings

Handsome Siblings 2020 Trailer w/Eng Subtitles
We started watching this series a couple of nights ago. At first I wanted to write it off as too silly, too clownish. We have bad guys dressed up as caricatures of villains, flying through the sky and attacking with swords and spears, and we have the heroes defeating the villains with super-duper, mystically enhanced martial arts. But I stuck with it and tonight I realized it's really very well done for what it is, which is a live action version of a comic book. The settings, costumes and personalities are all very extreme, the dialog is stilted, and the fights are fantastically stylized. With all the pomp and ceremony it kind of reminds me of pro-wrestling.

Wikipedia tells us that the story is known as Juedai Shuangjiao: 

It has been consistently popular since its publication in 1966, and as of 2020 has been the subject of eight TV series and four films.

On Netflix, 44 episodes of roughly 45 minutes each, in some kind of furrin' gibberish (presumably Chinese), with subtitles in English.

Stormy Weather

Zoom Earth Storms

About Zoom Earth
Zoom Earth shows live weather satellite images updated in near real-time, and the best high-resolution aerial views of the Earth in a fast, zoomable map. Explore recent images of storms, wildfires, property and more.
Live weather images are updated every 10 minutes via NOAA GOES and JMA Himawari-8 satellites, and every 15 minutes via EUMETSAT Meteosat satellites.
Daily images are provided by services from NASA’s GIBS, part of EOSDIS. NASA-NOAA satellite Suomi-NPP, and MODIS Aqua and Terra provide continuous imagery for “AM” at local 10:30am, and “PM” at local 1:30pm.
Historical images are sourced from Microsoft and Esri.
Storm tracks and forecast maps are created using data from NHC, JTWC and IBTrACS.

Via Detroit Steve

Frozen in Time

HMS Modeste frozen in the icy Columbia River, January 1847

Car driving on the Columbia River, Portland, Oregon, January 1930

The icy Columbia River freezing over in the early 1900’s. Photo courtesy: Washington State Archives

Columbia River provides landing field on frozen water. Clarence S. Murray on the right and Glenn Murray on the left. 1930. (Columbian files)

Breakup, Feb. 11th, 1916

Before the dams were built on the Columbia River, the flow rate was much lower in the winter time which made it easier for the river to freeze.

Posthip Scott sent me the last picture which got me started.

Funnies

Funnies

Let's Have Ourselves a Good Fight

Pope Urban II Preaching the First Crusade in the Square of Clermont (1835) - Francesco Hayez

On November 17, 1091, Pope Urban II made a speech which include this bit:

At this point Pope Urban raised a second issue to which he and his illustrious predecessor Gregory VII had devoted years of effort – the chronic warfare of medieval times. The popes had been attempting to achieve a “truce of God” among the feudal nobility, many of whom seemed inclined to make war, even on their friends, just for the sake of a good fight. After all, it was what they had trained to do every day since early childhood. Here was their chance! “Christian warriors, who continually and vainly seek pretexts for war, rejoice, for you have today found a true pretext … If you are conquered, you will have the glory of dying in the very same place as Jesus Christ, and God will never forget that he found you in the holy battalions … Soldiers of Hell, become soldiers of the living God!”

Via Brian Micklethwait's New Blog

Great Circle Prayers

Which way to Mecca?

Qibla Finder shows which way devout Muslins should be facing when they pray. It shows you the shortest, i.e. Great Circle route to Mecca.

Via Iaman