District 102 and 112 Candidates: Your Pick

The six candidates for the GOP nomination for Texas House Districts 102 and 112 debated January 22 at a forum at the Canyon Creek Country Club. Vying to represent HD 102 were Stefani Carter (incumbent), Linda Koop, Adryana Boyne and Sam Brown. Vying to represent HD 112 were Angie Chen Button (incumbent) and Jared Patterson.

If you are a conservative Republican (is there any other kind?) you can safely take the rest of this primary season off. All six candidates were eager to make their case as the most conservative man or woman out there. All professed to be anti-tax, pro-life, anti-gay, and pro-gun. There are far more similarities than differences between these candidates.

But let's try to draw distinctions, anyway, shall we? After the jump, some highlights.

Fort Worth Stock Show

From 2014 01 22 Ft Worth Stock Show

If I had a bucket list, somewhere on it would be the Fort Worth Stock Show. Oldest continual running livestock show and rodeo (1896). First indoor rodeo (1918). First Brahma bull riding (1933). First live television broadcast (1958). Attendance over a million people each year.

Finally, this year, I can check it off that mythical bucket list. Sure, it was a midweek visit. No rodeo. No animals (to speak of). No crowds. Still, you could get some of the flavor of what makes this a big draw. Everyone was friendly and, because of the lack of crowds, had the time and was willing to talk.

More photos after the jump.

Grease at LHHS

Grease at Lake Highlands HS: Big and talented cast bring slicked hair, poodle skirts and sock hop to life with great singing, dancing, and tech.

The Spectacular Now (2013)

IMDB

Spectacular Now (2013): Party boy teaches nice girl confidence. In the end, he learns more himself. Simple, sweet story. Very well acted. B+

S2L77: Dubrovnik

Somewhere in Yugoslavia
April 28, 1977
We drove for four hours beyond Skopje as far as the bridge with a hole in it.

Somewhere else in Yugoslavia on the Adriatic Sea
April 30, 1977
Evening barbecue on the beach.

Source: Personal travel notes.

From 1977 04 29 Yugoslavia

In 1977, Yugoslavia was still united and stable. Driving up from Greece, it was impossible to know when you crossed from, say, Kosovo to Serbia to Bosnia to Herzegovina to Croatia. It was all just beautiful, peaceful, rural scenery. It's sad to think of all the violence and tragedy that small corner of the world has experienced.

Dubrovnik is a walled, medieval city on the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea. Everything about it, from its narrow cobblestone streets to its imposing fortress walls to its views of the sea, makes it a visual feast. Despite being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was not safe from the troubles that came with the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was shelled by Serbian forces during the Croatian War in 1991. Restoration was apparently successful as today Dubrovnik is used as the city of King's Landing in the HBO series "Game of Thrones." But all of this was in the future when I visited in 1977 and took these photos.

More photos after the jump.

Recycling Styrofoam

City of Richardson

Recently, I offered my own suggestions to the City of Richardson for how to make recycling easier. That prompted Bill McCalpin to inform me (hat tip) that the city recently held a focus group, which generated its own suggestions:

• Make recycling even easier by not having people try to read the tiny print on plastics to see which one it is, but just have people throw all of the plastic in, and have someone else sort it later.
  
• Make the paper bags for yard waste freely available to landscapers.
  

The second suggestion matches my own, except I want the paper bags (or "green" plastic bags) freely available to homeowners, too. (I do my own yard work.)

The first suggestion was new to me. Frankly, it puzzled me. According to the City of Richardson website, "The items below can all be placed in the blue bags: Plastics #1-7 (excluding styrofoam), ..."

All plastics, #1-7, are accepted. That's all there is. So, if it's stamped with a recycling triangle, no matter what number is inside, it's one of those #1-7 recyclable plastics. There's no need to try to read the tiny print inside the triangle to see which one it is. Anyway, that's what I thought. Then I considered that magic asterisk, "excluding styrofoam."

After the jump, what's that all about?

Big Star (2012)

IMDB

Big Star (2012): Documentary of obscure '70s cult band that lacked distribution, not talent. Movie needs more music and less talking. C+

Berkner Sweeps Lake Highlands

From 2014 01 21 Berkner vs Lake Highlands

The Berkner Rams men's basketball team swept their season home-and-away series against the Lake Highlands Wildcats with a 81-64 win Tuesday night at the Lake Highlands gym. With the win, the Rams retain sole possession of first place in District 9-5A, with a record of 7-1. It's a great time to be a Ram!

More photos after the jump.

Jared Patterson Sides with Terrorists

Jared Patterson sides with terrorists against the President.

What? Too much? Is that headline over the top? Inflammatory? Divisive? Juvenile? Yes, to all of the above. You'd hope that political discourse would be more respectful, searching for areas to work together to solve problems. You'd certainly hope that our would-be elected officials would set a good example. You'd be wrong.

Jared Patterson is running for Texas House District 112. He's a former Sachse city council member and is now seeking to replace Angie Chen Button in the Texas House. But he seems to be running more against President Obama than against Button. He's got a bit of a case of Obama Derangement Syndrome. He takes more cheap shots against the President than tell us how he'd solve problems with education, health care, water and transportation here in Texas.

After the jump, the Jared Patterson Facebook post that inspired the headline.

Stefani Carter's Friends are Few, But Rich

When last we looked, Stefani Carter appeared to be short of friends and money. Enough so that she decided to drop her bid for Railroad Commissioner and come back to Richardson to try to keep her District 102 House seat.

After the jump, a new look look at Carter's friend list.