POTD: Soweto

"In Soweto's streets,
Memories of pain remain,
But joy still finds light."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 2

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Soweto, a township of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. "Soweto was created in the 1930s when the White government started separating Blacks from Whites, creating black 'townships.' " The legacy of those tragic times of apartheid is still visible today. The photo above shows maybe the worst of the living conditions in Soweto. There are other neighborhoods that are better off. Nelson Mandela was from Soweto. A bonus photo, showing his small but comfortable house, is after the jump.

Council Recap: Ethics, Transparency, and Trust

The Richardson City Council reviewed its Ethics ordinance on August 26, 2024, as required by law every two years. Two years ago, the City Council found nothing to amend. This year, City staff recommends six amendments. Three of the suggestions are simple clarifications to head off potential misinterpretations. Two of the changes relax the ordinance in favor of officers. And one toughens penalties, from $200 to $500 for an officer failing to obey a subpoena. I have no objection to any of these changes, and in the interest of reducing the length of this post, I won't even summarize them. Watch the video yourselves. ;-)

Instead, I want to talk about a related subject that City Manager Don Magner rolled into this agenda item, and that's for either the Ethics ordinance or the Council Rules of Order and Procedure to add guidelines for Councilmembers meeting with property owners, developers, and other stakeholders that have action scheduled for consideration by the Council, or merely to discuss topics that may come before the Council in the future.

Book Review: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

From Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk (Author), Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator):

Amazon

"The door into the kitchen was ajar, and at once I saw Big Foot’s body lying on the floor. Almost as soon as my gaze landed on him, it leaped away. It was a while before I could look over there again. It was a dreadful sight."

Grade: A-

The Serpent Queen (TV 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Serpent Queen (TV 2022): Historical drama based on life of Catherine de' Medici, cunning queen of France in the 1500s. Scheming over religion and succession fill the series with intrigue that builds to an exciting climax that is suspenseful even if you know the history. A-

Prime

#VeryTardyReview

The Instigators (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Instigators (2024): Two losers (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) pull off a heist that goes wrong each step of the way, but somehow there's always a fallback plan to keep going. A caper comedy that's easy to follow and fun to watch, with more than a few good laughs. B+

AppleTV+

TIL: A Parallel Between Hezbollah and the GOP

The current issue of The New Yorker has a story by Dexter Filkins on the growing risk of war between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon ("Will Hezbollah and Israel Go to War?"). It delves deeply into not just the current crisis, but the entire history of Hezbollah, which was founded in 1985. Hezbollah has had the military aim of destroying Israel ever since. It has adopted a political strategy inside Lebanon as well, preventing the existence of a functioning government in that nation. American politics aren't explicitly addressed in Filkins's article, but I recognized a similarity between Hezbollah's tactics and the GOP's.

POTD: Swaziland's Hottest Tourist Attraction

"Animal spirits,
Trapped within the shining glass,
Recycled, reborn."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 2

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the glass-blowing factory Ngwenya Glass in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). Tourists can watch being made, and later buy, drinking glasses, vases, and ornamental African animals, all handmade from recycled glass.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park

"A table stands still.
Warning sign keeps it open.
White rhinos nearby."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 2

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park in eastern South Africa. It was the first of many national parks we toured in southern Africa. It's the oldest nature reserve in Africa. "Thanks to conservation efforts, the park now has one of the largest populations of white rhinoceros in the world, although this population remains severely threatened by the poaching of hundreds of rhinos every year in the park."

The photo was taken at a picnic area in the park. The warning sign is probably what keeps the picnic table open. Click for a bonus photo closeup of another warning sign.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005): Married couple keep a secret from each other: each is a hired assassin. When they find out, each feels the need to assassinate the other. The premise is silly, but it's fun if you don't take it too seriously. The chemistry between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is real. B-

Netflix

#VeryTardyReview

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (TV 2024): Two new assassins are paired, fall in love, but begin to distrust each other. Different from the 2005 movie in that these two are unsuited for each other in every way, not just that they want to kill each other. Also, they are bad assassins. B-

Prime

Council Recap: Competing Views of Development

Part 2 of an important topic.
Part 1: "Council Recap: Comp Plan Update"

In the August 12, 2024, review of progress on the City of Richardson's update of its Comprehensive Plan, City Manager Don Magner and Mayor Bob Dubey laid out competing models of how development works in Richardson. Neither view was laid out in detail. I'm not sure either person has given the matter enough thought to do that. I'm not sure either one even sees the conflict between the two models. Going by what little they did say, conflict there is, and both models should raise warning flags.

Council Recap: Comp Plan Update

On August 12, 2024, the Richardson City Council and City Plan Commission (CPC) received an update on the development of a new Comprehensive Plan for the City. The emphasis was on land use with focus on allowed secondary uses, missing middle housing, and identified redevelopment zones. City staff plan to finish the Comp Plan and present it to the City Council for adoption in December, 2024.

My hopes for this update to the Comp Plan, the first since 2009, have steadily fallen during the year-long effort to produce it. Here's why.

POTD: Robben Island

"From prison’s deep shade,
To City Hall’s bright parade,
A new dawn was made."

—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Robben Island, off the coast of South Africa at Cape Town. "Political activist and lawyer Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on the island for 18 of the 27 years of his imprisonment before the fall of apartheid and introduction of full, multi-racial democracy. He was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was elected in 1994 as President of South Africa, becoming the country's first black president."

Click for a bonus photo.

POTD: View from the Top

"At Africa's edge,
Mountain shadows kiss the sea.
Cape Town's sentinel."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

Today's photo-of-the-day is the view from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Full disclosure: We took the cableway to the top. We didn't hike or climb.

Click for a bonus photo.

Feud: Bette and Joan (TV 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Feud: Bette and Joan (TV 2017): Voyeuristic look at two fading movie stars working (and feuding) on and off a movie set. Watching this felt like slowing down to gawk at a traffic accident. Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon are great, maybe because they know what it is to be fading movie stars. B-

Hulu

#VeryTardyReview

Council Recap: Interurban at the Crossroads

On August 12, 2024, the Richardson City Council deliberated an application by Clay Cooley VW to add a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot on their property in the Interurban District. Clay Cooley VW's vision is for a car-centric business located along a busy freeway. The City's vision for the district is at odds with that. There's already a major mixed-use development underway just south of this site, Belt+Main, for which Clay Cooley VW's dealership will act as a blockade against extension of that mixed-use neighborhood to the north.

Spoiler alert. After ninety minutes of deliberation, the City Council continued the hearing until September 23 to give the applicant time to...to do what, exactly? Mayor Bob Dubey punted that question to City Manager Don Magner, saying, "Don, would you please tell the applicant what we're asking him here?" And Magner punted that question to tomorrow morning, saying, "I think if it'd be okay with the applicant, I can follow up tomorrow, and we can put our thoughts together and give you some clear direction."

Council Recap: Imagine the Sky Full of Signs

On August 12, 2024, the Richardson City Council unanimously approved a variance from the existing sign control ordinance that limits sign heights to 20 feet. Clay Cooley VW wants its pole sign to be raised to 39' 7". In July, in a meeting that lasted only 5 minutes from gavel to gavel, a recommendation to approve the request was passed unanimously by the Sign Control Board (an oxymoronic name).

My Lady Jane (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

My Lady Jane (TV 2024): Henry VIII's kids (Edward, Mary, Elizabeth, and cousin Lady Jane Grey) vie for the throne. Alternate history that doesn't take itself seriously. Instead of religious war, there are Ethians (animal/human shape-shifters) vs Verities (normal humans). It took time to figure it all out, but when I did, it was a fun watch. B+

Prime

Council Recap: Budget Workshop

The Richardson City Council held two days of meetings to hear City Manager Don Magner present his recommendations for the 2024-2025 City budget. Highlights taken from the City's own slides:

• Property tax rate reduction of $.01877 to $0.542180
• Senior Tax Exemption increase of $15,000 to $145,000
• 3.95% increase in Streets, Alleys, Facilities and Parks Maintenance Programs
• 3.95% increase in the Economic Development Fund to $2,076,659; an increase in Economic Development Department funding of $78,434 to $1,280,818 (does not include the marketing position reassigned to the Communications Department)
• $1.9M for Home Improvement Incentive Program tax rebates
• $3.84 million in funding for pay-as-you-go capital replacements and $1.56 million for the IT replacement fund
• 3.0% merit-based market pay plan adjustment for all employees
• An increase the minimum starting salary for full-time and permanent part-time positions to $19.45
• Continued investment in public safety via 5.0% public safety steps, capital equipment replacement, mental health programs, expanded community programming, etc.
• Funding for Richardson Replants, ADA Transition Plan, Housing Needs Assessment, Citizen (CARES/CPA/CFA) and Neighborhood Association Programs, Network/Counseling Place support, Culturally Diverse Programming and Events
• 3.0% water and sewer rate increase
• $2.00 (+tax) per month rate increase to the residential solid waste rate
• $1.00 per month increase to the residential drainage fee to $5.25 per month
• Commercial drainage fee increase from $0.119 per 100 square feet of impervious area to $0.147 per 100 square feet
• Annual Arts Grants funding increased to $375,000
• Several fee adjustments to better position Sherrill Park to cover operational costs, equipment needs and fund a capital maintenance reserve
• Implementation of Phase 2 & 3 of Sherrill Park Master Plan via $6.0 million Certificates of Obligation

If I Were in Charge of the Olympics

I don't know a damned thing about gymnastics, and even less about scoring gymnastics, but there are some basic principles that any sport should adhere to, imo.

1. If judges take several minutes to compute a score, the athlete should be given at least as long to review the judges' work.
2. If the athlete is given only one minute to protest the scoring, the judges should be given no more than one minute to declare the protest came too late.
3. If the athlete is given only one minute to protest the scoring, another athlete shouldn't be given a whole day to protest that the first athlete's protest came too late to be considered.
4. If the athlete is given only one minute to protest the scoring, the governing body shouldn't be given five days to decide the original protest came too late to be considered.
5. Someone with a sense of fairness should be given however long it takes to realize that if the original scoring was, in fact, wrong, then correcting *that* mistake should carry more weight than correcting the mistake of accepting a protest that was submitted a few seconds too late.
6. Judges shouldn't be allowed to ruin what had been up to then a beautiful Olympics.

POTD: Art Against Apartheid

"Spiral staircase winds,
Apartheid’s dark turns to light,
Freedom's fervent fight."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town, South Africa. I'm providing two photos. The first is an interior staircase, which I consider to be a work of art itself. The second, the bonus photo after the jump, is artwork from the long struggle against Apartheid. The museum has a large collection of such artwork.

Click for a bonus photo.

POTD: V&A Waterfront

"Sunset paints the pier,
Alfred's legacy is here,
Past and present cheer."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the V&A Waterfront (Victoria and Alfred Waterfront) in Cape Town, South Africa. It's "a mixed-use destination located in the oldest working harbour in the Southern Hemisphere. With Table Mountain as its backdrop, the neighborhood contains art, entrepreneurs, and sustainable design." If you know your history, you know that Queen Victoria's consort was named Prince Albert, not Alfred. So what's with the name, Victoria and Alfred? It's named after Queen Victoria and her son Prince Alfred. "Alfred, while serving in the British Royal Navy, visited Cape Town and ordered construction of a new harbour for the colony."

Ken Hutchenrider Defends Himself

The Richardson City Council held two days of meetings to hear City Manager Don Magner present his recommendations for the 2024-2025 City budget. I've had concerns about what impact a recent collapse in sales tax revenues and the cleanup costs from the May storm might have on the City's financial outlook. Magner listed high interest rates and lingering price increases from past inflation as additional concerns. Still, Magner pronounced, "I think it's a very good budget considering all of the factors that are working against us." I'll add, Whew! We escaped a budget catastrophe.

A Different Proposal for Form-based Zoning

Recently, in The Wheel I commented on a proposed redevelopment of Clay Cooley VW. I feared that it wouldn't foster the vision or conform with the form-based zoning for the Interurban District. It's adding a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot to its work underway to greatly enlarge the auto showroom already approved by the Richardson City Council.

Contrast that with another proposed redevelopment that came before the City Plan Commission on August 7. It's for "The Nest Wellness Village". This post is being written before that hearing, so by the time this is published, there will have been news that isn't included here. I just had some immediate thoughts that I wanted to get down on paper.

Wicked Little Letters (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wicked Little Letters (2024): In a 1920s English town, a spinster receives a series of letters filled with foul language. Her neighbor, a young widow, is accused. A woman police officer investigates the crime. Three great performances carry the light, entertaining drama. B+

Netflix

Fallout (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Fallout (TV 2024): 200 yrs after nuclear war, people live underground in vaults. Above, there's a wasteland, where Lucy goes on a quest to find her missing father. The bad guys seem to be the ghouls, but really (spoiler) the bad guys are the ones running the military-industrial complex in the vaults. Based on a shooter videogame, it has more violence than plot or character development. C+

Prime

Richardson's Interurban District: "Coding the Vision"

Source: City of Richardson (2016).

I recently wrote about Clay Cooley VW repeatedly coming to the City of Richardson to ask for waivers, variances, and changes to the zoning on their property ("City Council Waits for a Sign"). Besides a 2022 request to expand the auto dealership, there are two outstanding requests for rezoning. One is to build a 39-foot pole sign and the other is to add a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot on the property. I'm back to add an important consideration that I neglected to mention in my post.

POTD: Pretty as a Picture

"From Table Mountain
Down to Cape Town's ocean blue,
New paths lie ahead."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

It's time to move to a new part of the world. Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cape Town, South Africa. That's Cape Town's famous landmark, Table Mountain, in the picture frame...and, of course, "L", pretty as a picture as always.

POTD: A Mosque Rises Out of the Atlantic Ocean

"Gathering of faith,
A hundred thousand hearts pray.
Moroccan splendor."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 09 22 Casablanca

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It's a building of superlatives. From Wikipedia, "It is the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and is the 14th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's second tallest minaret at 210 metres (689 ft). Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau under the guidance of King Hassan II and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca. The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean; worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque's outside ground."

As the mosque rises out of the Atlantic Ocean, the sun begins to get low. With that, we bid adieu to Morocco.

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, each month features a different list.

Random Thoughts: Absolute Immunity

2024-07-01: "Supreme Court says Trump has absolute immunity for official acts only." -- Texas Standard
Remember when Trump said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" I guess the part about not losing MAGA voters is still true. The only thing left in question is whether this Court would side with Trump that any shootings on Fifth Avenue are "official acts." But with this MAGA Court, is even that in question?
texasstandard.org/stories/supr...

2024-07-13: Headline: "Joe Biden avoids further gaffes at Detroit rally."
It's a low bar.