Kon-Tiki (2012)

IMDB

Kon-Tiki (2012): Drama, not documentary, but what a story. Cross between Columbus and Survivor. Inspiring adventure. Fine filmmaking. B-

District 112: Race to the Right

The race for the GOP nomination for Texas House District 112 is heating up. The primary is still more than a half year away, but incumbent Angie Chen Button is already sending campaign mailers to constituents. Of course, Button is staking her claim to being a strong fiscal conservative, "100% Pro-Life" and a "defender of the 2nd Amendment." Her mailer is silent on funding for public schools and health care.

That's not conservative enough for Jared Patterson. Button's challenger is doggedly trying to get to her right. He lined up the support of Cathie Adams, who was voted out as state party chair in part for failure "to reach out to independents, disenchanted Republicans, and minority groups". Most recently, Adams was heard saying that Grover Norquist was "showing signs of becoming a Muslim" because he was growing a beard. Grover Norquist not pure enough for Adams? The author of the pledge against tax increases signed by 95% of GOP members of Congress? So much for the Muslim vote. (Or the bearded vote. Or both.) Adams also opposes immigration reform (so much for the Hispanic vote) in part because one proposed bill calls for biometric scanning of non-citizens at airports, which Adams says, "of course, we know in biblical prophecy that that is the End Times." So much for the non-evangelical vote. Most recently, Adams called protesters against Texas's recent anti-abortion, anti-women's health law "stinky stalking feminists" and "feminazis". So much for the women's vote.

That's Cathie Adams. That's the woman that Jared Patterson is proudly standing next to in his bid to represent Richardson and Garland in the state legislature. After the jump, Jared Patterson shows why Cathie Adams is in his camp.

The Whole World is Listening. If Only Someone Speaks.

State Senator Kirk Watson of Austin is bragging about a bipartisan bill passed by the Texas legislature that allows for the use of electronic message boards to facilitate communication between local government officials like city council members. Watson's bill enables something like a Facebook for local government, where council members can write messages to each other and they can respond to each other electronically, all of it in open threads the public can read. I don't really need to describe how Facebook works, do I?

Why is this a big deal? Previously, such electronic communication between council members was forbidden by the Texas Open Meetings Act, which insists that all group communications take place in public, in posted, open session. The effect of the law is to suppress deliberation, not foster it. Council members can't get together between meetings to discuss issues. They can't send emails copying the full council. They can't even email or talk to each other one-to-one because of the chance that the discussion eventually gets passed one by one to the full council. Such "walking quorums" are also forbidden.

After the jump, what this means for Richardson.

Late Summer in the Steger Garden (2013)

From Flowers

More photos after the jump.

Berkner Bounces Back

From 2013 09 06 North Garland vs Berkner

The Berkner Rams varsity football team quickly shrugged off a beating on the road last week from the South Garland Colonels. This week the Rams defeated the North Garland Raiders at home, 42-7. It's a great time to be a Ram!

More photos after the jump.

S2L77: Mashhad, Iran

Mashhad, Iran
March 29, 1977
Five hours spent at the Afghanistan/Iran border.
We made a futile effort to find a restaurant in Meshed, ending up eating at the hotel and having a bad, over-priced meal.

Source: Personal travel notes.

From 1977 03 29 Iran

From Herat, Afghanistan, it's only about 50 miles to the border with Iran. More on that and our first stop in Iran, Mashhad, after the jump.

Amour (2012)

IMDB

Amour (2012): Elderly man cares for his invalid wife. What do you do when nothing can be done? Heartbreaking. Oscar-worthy performances. B+

The Master (2012)

IMDB

The Master (2012): Acting A+. Depiction of mentality behind cults B+. Overall, empty and depressing. Characters, scenes don't connect. C+

The Butler (2013)

IMDB

The Butler (2013): Civil rights movement seen through prism of White House black butler's family. Works as both history & drama. Moving. A+

OTBR: Gun Emplacements of Wollongong

Latitude: S 34° 29.184
Longitude: E 150° 55.044

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".