POTD: Balloon Ride over Cappadocia

"Balloons in the sky,
Over rocks and valleys wide,
Soaring at sunrise."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 11 Cappadocia

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cappadocia, a historical region in central Turkey. It is a tourist draw for its natural wonders. A highlight of any tour is a hot air balloon ride at dawn over the other-worldly landscape. What a view. We were lucky not to miss it. We were in Cappadocia for three mornings. On the first, our scheduled balloon ascent was canceled because of wind — there wasn't enough of it. On the second morning, our rescheduled ascent was canceled because of rain. On the third morning, our departure from Cappadocia delayed to give us one final chance to ascend, everything worked out for a glorious balloon ride.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Interior Chinatown (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Interior Chinatown (TV 2024): Play within a play. A waiter in a Chinese restaurant who is tired of always playing a background character in TV shows finds the wall between TV and real life breaking down. Great concept for satirizing how TV and society treat ethnic characters. B-

Hulu

A Man on the Inside (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

A Man on the Inside (TV 2024): Ted Danson stars as a recent widower who takes up a new hobby by going undercover in a retirement home to investigate a series of thefts. The mystery isn't the point here. Neither is the comedy. It's the relationships he forms. A sensitive treatment of aging. Seniors will like it. B+

Netflix

What Did We (Not) Learn from the Boil Water Notice

Source: 5 NBC DFW.

Richardson City Manager Don Magner read a memorandum to the City Council on December 16 titled "Boil Water Notice: Summary of Findings and Recommendations." I have three takeaways:

1. To his credit, Magner admitted that individuals on City Staff made errors in judgment on the day of the event and he disciplined four individuals.
2. Magner failed to assign blame for all of the "gaps in training and operational oversight" that contributed to the need for a BWN.
3. There is still a five hour period in the timeline that deserves more investigation.

Pedro Páramo (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Pedro Páramo (2024): Spanish. Adaptation of Mexican masterpiece. A surreal story of a man who returns to his family home only to find it a ghost town. Literally. Ghosts still inhabit the town, and, through flashbacks, tell the story of his cruel father's quest to gain power. C+

Netflix

City Charter: Single-Member Districts

On December 2, 2024, the Richardson City Council appointed eleven members to a Charter Review Commission, as required by law every ten years to review and suggest changes to Richardson's City Charter. I will be presenting my own suggestions.

The City of Dallas just completed its own once-a-decade review of its City Charter. As homework, the Richardson Charter Review Commission ought to review the City of Dallas's work, certainly before concluding that no significant changes are needed to Richardson's Charter.

POTD: Cappadocia Happy Hour

"Mountains in the dusk,
Wine poured in an empty land,
A toast to the day."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 11 Cappadocia

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cappadocia, a historical region in central Turkey. It is a tourist draw for its natural wonders. After a long day touring, it's time for happy hour. What a site. What a view.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Cappadocia's Fairy Chimneys

"Geology's gift:
Churches carved out of soft stone,
Filled with ancient faith."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 11 Cappadocia

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cappadocia, a historical region in central Turkey. It is a tourist draw for its natural wonders, with so-called fairy chimneys and underground cities. It was a center of early Christian life, with dozens of churches carved into the soft stone. The cave-churches and most of the private cave-homes are no longer in use, but a few families still remain. Our tour group was invited into one.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Blitz (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Blitz (2024): Mother evacuates her 9-yr-old son from London during Blitz of WWII. With indomitable will, he seeks to return on his own. As well-crafted as the story is, we've seen it all before. The historically accurate scenes play out one by one to a compromise of an ending. B-

AppleTV+

Monsieur Spade (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Monsieur Spade (TV 2024): Clive Owen plays Sam Spade less as a hard-bitten detective and more as a burnt-out case. He's in retirement in southern France in 1963. The MacGuffin is an Algerian boy who, for various reasons, everyone is interested in kidnapping, and I mean everyone. Way too many parties in this action/thriller. C-

Netflix

Council Recap: 7 Brew Drive-Thru Coffee

Corporate website: "7 Brew is so much more than just a coffee stand." What is the "so much more?" It isn't food. It isn't a sit-down restaurant. It's "service, speed, quality, energy and atmosphere." In other words, it's still a coffee stand, but one that customers allegedly love.

Yet on December 9, 2024, the Richardson City Council denied a request by 7 Brew to build a coffee stand on the south side of East Belt Line Rd between Plano Rd and Glenville Ave. The vote to deny was 5-2, with only Mayor Bob Dubey and Mayor Pro Tem voting to grant the permit. If this were a parliamentary democracy, I might say the leaders have lost the confidence of the body. But it's not a parliamentary system and a vote for a drive-thru is hardly consequential enough to be considered a "vote of no confidence" in the leaders. No need for any resignations, but there's a message there somewhere.

The Veil (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Veil (TV 2024): Elisabeth Moss is an MI6 agent tasked with bringing a woman from a Syrian refugee camp to Paris and learning her secret before a terrorist attack she's behind can happen. Plot is far-fetched but that's not the real story here. It's the relationship between the two women and their back stories that matter. B-

Hulu

Council Recap: Charter Review Commission

On December 2, 2024, the Richardson City Council appointed eleven members to a Charter Review Commission, as required by law every ten years. Details on the 2014 amendments can be read in "Charter Amendments: Vote Yes AND No".

Let's examine the new commission members for 2024.

POTD: Hattusa "Wish Stone"

"Temples in ruins
in the Anatolian sun.
Stone's secret persists."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 10 Hattusha

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the ruins of Hattusa, in central Turkey. Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age (c. 3300 — c. 1200 BCE). The remains of at least thirty-one temples survive at Hattusa. The Green Stone is a roughly cubic block of nephrite standing in the remains of the Great Temple. It is believed to have had some religious use or purpose, but what that may have been is unknown. The local inhabitants call the stone a "wish stone" and attribute to it magical wish-granting properties. It's amazing to me how little information remains of one of the world's largest empires of antiquity. And how people, even today, use magic to explain phenomena they don't understand.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Anitkabir

"Ascend marble steps
To Atatürk's resting place,
Eternal repose."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 09 Ankara

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Anitkabir, the mausoleum complex in Ankara, Turkey, containing the final resting place of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Bonus photos after the jump.

La Maison (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

La Maison (TV 2024): French. Fashion design house faces existential threats: scandal, succession, and a takeover attempt by a rival. Competition is less on the runway and more in the boardroom and the bedroom. It's soap opera, not prestige drama. C+

AppleTV+

Wicked (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wicked (2024): Didn't live up to expectations. Last 45 minutes of action, music, and storytelling were great, but first 90 minutes (Shiz University) was more "where is this going?" I buy Elphaba's back story of being discriminated against because she's green, but Glinda as a sheltered and privileged airhead? No way. B-

In theaters

The Penguin (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Penguin (TV 2024): Backstory for the villain who rises from small time mobster to kingpin of organized crime in Gotham City. Lots of action and violence, sure, but what makes this series great is the psychological study of a criminal. Like 2019's Joker. A-

Max

AI's View of Me

It's said that the internet knows everything about you. So I asked ChatGPT, "Based on what you know of me, create a photograph that depicts how you view me."

This is what I got:

"Here’s a photographic depiction inspired by your interests and personality as I perceive them. It combines a serene atmosphere with thoughtful elements that resonate with your love for history and meaningful storytelling. Let me know how it aligns with your vision!"

Source: ChatGPT

Nailed it! ;-)

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, most diverse, dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). Feeling a bit like "Opposite Man," I thought I'd offer a list of the ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month. It's based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for last month. That is, not all restaurants are ranked here. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department.

Random Thoughts: Pre-election Musing

2024-11-02: The Lincoln Project asks, "Other than Trump, which Republicans do you REALLY want to lose this November?"
That question drew 3.5K comments.

2024-11-04: This is Texas District 112, represented by Angie Chen Button. To keep her Dallas County district packed with as many reliable GOP voters as the GOP legislature in Austin can find, Angie Chen Button is backed up against the wall (Collin County to the north, Rockwall and Kaufman Counties to the east). She is cornered. This is what they mean by politicians choosing their voters instead of voters choosing their representatives.

2024-11-04: The biggest problem with the US Constitution is due to the Founding Fathers not respecting democratic elections.

2024-11-04: "Moldova's pro-European Union incumbent President Maia Sandu won a tense presidential runoff election Sunday, beating a rival backed by a pro-Russian party in what she called as a 'lesson in democracy.'
'Today, dear Moldovans, you have given a lesson in democracy, worthy of being written in history books.... Freedom, truth, and justice have prevailed," Sandu declared.'"
Let's hope Americans can say the same thing on November 5.
cbsnews.com/news/moldova-elect...

POTD: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

"Ancient market hums.
Treasures in a thousand nooks.
Ottoman splendor."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 06 Istanbul

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It is "one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops." It dates back to the 15th century.

Bonus photos after the jump.

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.

POTD: The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia

"Mosques stand side by side.
Minarets pierce clouds with grace.
Blue domes kiss the sky."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 06 Istanbul

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The Blue Mosque was completed in 1616. It was designed as an imperial show of strength. If you think the Blue Mosque is old, look next door at the Hagia Sophia, completed over a thousand years earlier in 537 CE. Hagia Sophia was a Christian church until 1453, when it was converted to a mosque. It was the world's largest building for nearly a thousand years.

A photo of Hagia Sophia is after the jump.

POTD: First Stop, Istanbul

"East and West embrace,
bridging time and continents.
Istanbul welcomes."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 06 Istanbul

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Istanbul, Turkey, one of the world's great cities for 2,000 years. It's the gateway between Europe and Asia, between East and West, between modernity and history. Travel there from the West and it feels exotic. Arrive from the East and it feels like you are back in familiar surroundings. It's chaotic and wonderful at once.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Two Days, Two Presidents, Two Value Systems

Two social media posts in two days.

One President with some Girl Scouts, pitching a documentary about our oceans.

One pitching guitars for $1,500 (or, if autographed by the Grifter-in-Chief himself, for $10,000).

I miss one of these guys.

Book Review: The Cartographers

From The Cartographers, by Peng Shepherd:

Amazon

"It was an open-and-shut case, they’d determined. Dr. Young had been alone—the security cameras in the Map Division didn’t turn on until the last employee in the department had clocked out, but they had already been running in the lobby since closing time the night before. The only reported movement was from the security guard on patrol, who had been the one to find him when he’d peeked in on his last loop around the library, sometime in the early hours of dawn."

Emilia Pérez (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Emilia Pérez (2024): Spanish. Head of a Mexican drug cartel wants to transition into a woman. The existence of a wife and children pose a problem. If that premise isn't implausible enough, the movie is a musical. But somehow Jacques Audiard pulls it off. A-

Netflix

Family Pack (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Family Pack (2024): French. Family game night causes a whole family to be transported back to the Middle Ages where they have to slay four werewolves in order to return to the 21st century. A comedy/adventure/fantasy that is mediocre at all of them. Maybe for kids. C-

Netflix

It's What's Inside (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

It's What's Inside (2024): Group of friends play a game of mind/body swapping with a sci-fi device. It's all fun and games until it isn't. Too many characters to keep straight, and keeping them straight is critical to following the consequences of the body swaps. The directorial style is novel, but doesn't quite work. C+

Netflix

POTD: Estancia Santa Susana

"Hooves drum on the plains,
Gauchos race with steady grace,
Horse and man as one."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 03 14 Argentina Patagonia

No trip to Argentina is complete without seeing a gaucho show on a ranch. Horse riding, a folklore show, and of course a cookout. Today's photo-of-the-day is from Estancia Santa Susanna outside Buenos Aires.

And with that, we say adios to Argentina. Next trip: Turkey.

POTD: Tango's Fire

"Velvet curtains part.
Golden age of tango lives.
Dancing fire ignites."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 03 14 Argentina Patagonia

No trip to Argentina is complete without seeing a live tango performance in Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango. Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cafe de los Angelitos. "This historic café and haunt of legendary tango singer Carlos Gardel opens its secret backroom drapes every night and transforms into a grand ballroom tanguería. 'Of the many tango shows in Buenos Aires, Cafe de los Angelitos rises above the rest,' TangoNightsBA, a travel agency that specializes in tango shows, explains. 'The refurbished cafe and theater managed to preserve the traditional feel of the tango golden age and their show reflects the same.' "

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Agatha All Along (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Agatha All Along (TV 2024): A spinoff to WandaVision. The Marvel Universe is now so cluttered that only dedicated enthusiasts can keep all the characters straight. This one is about a coven of witches who follow a road, where Agatha is seeking to regain all her lost powers. For a movie about witches, it lacks any suspense. C+

Disney+

Democrats Have an Image Problem

Democrats seem to have the advantage on the issues. But Republicans have the advantage on messaging. Let's consider Missouri. Voters there voted like Democrats on the issues. But they voted for Republicans for office. They passed some pretty liberal Constitutional amendments while voting by a 19% margin for Donald Trump for President, and by a 14% margin for Josh Hawley for Senate.

Lessons from November 5th

It's now one week since Election Day. Mark Leibovich in "The Atlantic" goes all the way back to Hillary Clinton's close loss to Donald Trump in 2016 to explain the source of the Democrats' defeats in 2024.

Leibovich: "Democrats engaged in no real reckoning after 2016. Essentially they became a party that defined itself in opposition to Trump, just as Republicans have been defined in submission to him."

Standing with Public Schools

On November 7, the Richardson ISD Board of Trustees adopted a set of legislative priorities for the upcoming 2025-2026 legislative term.

Greatest Political Comeback

Jim Jordan: "This election was the greatest political comeback we've ever seen."

Well, maybe not. Nixon's win in 1968 was arguably bigger after Nixon's defeat in 1962 and pledge to the press, "You don't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." Biggest comeback and, later, biggest eventual collapse. Maybe something still to look forward to.

The Forest Was Shrinking

"The forest was shrinking
but the trees kept voting for the axe.
Because his handle was made of wood,
he convinced them he was one of them.”
— Turkish Proverb

POTD: The World's Most Beautiful Bookstore

"Readers in box seats.
Books fill up the former stalls.
Cafe on the stage."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 03 14 Argentina Patagonia

Today's photo-of-the-day is from The Grand Splendid Athenaeum, a bookstore in Buenos Aires. In 2019, it was named the "world's most beautiful bookstore" by the National Geographic. It gets no argument from me. It's located in a former theater called Teatro Gran Splendid. Customer seating exists in the still-intact theater boxes. A cafe serves food and drinks on the former stage. Over a million people visit annually, including "L" and me. We didn't buy any books (the vast majority are in Spanish), but we did eat lunch. Beautiful.

Another photo after the jump.

POTD: Buenos Aires on Saint Patricks Day

"Beneath city lights,
Buenos Aires sports Kelly Green,
For St. Paddy’s cheer."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 03 14 Argentina Patagonia

Today's photo-of-the-day is the view from our hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saint Patrick's Day in 2024. Across the street is the most famous Irish Pub in Buenos Aires, The Kilkenny.

After the jump, The Kilkenny.

My Instant Election Analysis

My instant election analysis:

Same Space, Different World

Same Space, Different World, Part a Jillion

Water, Water, Everywhere

"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink." — Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The City of Richardson's Holly Water Tower lost all pressure on Thursday, triggering an alert on the City's website, on social media, and elsewhere (we'll come back to that) to boil water before usage. City staff and volunteers quickly moved into action acquiring truckloads of bottled water for distribution to affected residents. All well and good. Triage before post-mortem, you know. There'll be time enough for questions later. First things first. The City is testing water and hopes to have results back Friday, November 8. When it's deemed safe to drink again, the City will spread the word...somehow.

When that day comes, there are some questions that I'd like the City to publish answers for.

November 5th was a Huge Disappointment

November 5 was disappointing, but not a surprise. It's certainly not like 2016, where the result did catch me by surprise. This time, I took a wait-and-see attitude. Two weeks before the election, I told someone struggling to be optimistic that "the most I can offer is what keeps me from despair. The odds are pretty much 50/50. That's not a reason to be optimistic, but it's equally not a reason to be pessimistic."

Now that the results are in, and Donald Trump's win over Kamala Harris is certain, it's time for despair. Hear me out.

Book Review: The Lincoln Highway

From The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles:

Amazon

"Billy went back to the front pocket of his backpack and took out something that looked like a pamphlet. When he unfolded it on the table, Emmett could see it was a road map of the United States from a Phillips 66. Cutting all the way across the middle of the map was a roadway that had been scored by Billy in black ink. In the western half of the country, the names of nine towns along the route had been circled.
—This is the Lincoln Highway, explained Billy, pointing to the long black line. It was invented in 1912 and was named for Abraham Lincoln and was the very first road to stretch from one end of America to the other."

The Fall Guy (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Fall Guy (2024): Love story. Crime story. Mostly a star vehicle for Ryan Gosling with a plot full of stunts and blowing things up. It's not very good at any of these things. Emily Blunt gets short-changed. C+

Prime