"All the Beachfront on Renner"

Earlier, I looked at the GreenVUE apartment complex under construction at Greenville Ave. and Collins Blvd. and was disappointed in its failings as transit-oriented development. Today, I look north to another apartment complex under construction "just south of State Farm and the CityLine mixed-use development at Plano and Renner roads". It doesn't have a name yet that I know.

After the jump, you guessed it, another opportunity lost.

Repeat Tweets: Really Dumb Column

Repeat tweets from March, 2014:

• Mar 2 2014: "Some really smart people have praised this really dumb idea." But not Steve Blow. Really dumb column. dallasnews.com
  
• Mar 2 2014: .@DMNSteveBlow, really dumb column. You say really smart people have praised this idea, but you don't address any of their arguments.
  
• Mar 3 2014: "Blow doesn't understand how traffic works." A good explanation for Steve Blow's really dumb column. frontburner.dmagazine.com
  
• Mar 3 2014: Blow to conventional wisdom: Texas "taxes the middle class at rates as high or higher than in California." washingtonmonthly.com
  
• Mar 3 2014: Blow to conventional wisdom: "Except NY, every major state has lower total effective business tax rate than Texas." washingtonmonthly.com
  
• Mar 3 2014: Blow to conventional wisdom: "Smaller share of people in Texas own their own business than in all but four states." washingtonmonthly.com
  
• Mar 3 2014: No surprise: Texas' "Robin-Hood-in-reverse system gives Texas the fifth-most-regressive tax structure in the nation." washingtonmonthly.com
  

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

What Makes GreenVUE Transit-Oriented?

San Antonio development firm Embrey Partners Ltd. has started work on a luxury, transit-oriented multifamily development on Greenville Avenue in Richardson near the DART rail line.

Source: Dallas Business Journal.

What makes the GreenVUE apartments under construction at Greenville Ave. and Collins Blvd. transit-oriented development? Beats me. Other than maybe because it's somewhat near a DART station. More likely, just because the developer uses the description when plugging it.

After the jump, the GreenVUE impostor.

ADEC at the Eisemann

The Richardson Community Band performed a concert, "A Kaleidoscope of Color," at the Eisemann Center Sunday afternoon featuring the RISD All-District Elementary Choir (ADEC). The band was conducted by George W. Jones, with the RISD's Director of Fine Arts Brian Britt as guest conductor. The choir was directed by Lindy Perez. As usual, the band was enjoyable and the choir delightful.

Spring in the Steger Garden (2014)

From Flowers

S2L77: Windsor

Windsor Castle
May 21, 1977
We took a train out to Windsor Castle. "Too many tourists."

Source: Personal travel notes.

Funny how I remember the grand settings in Windsor Castle, the quaint village of Eton, the picturesque River Thames running between them, but I don't remember the tourists. Maybe I should have snapped a photo. ;-)

From 1977 05 10 England

More photos after the jump.

World War Z (2013)

IMDB

World War Z (2013): Brad Pitt fights sudden worldwide outbreak of running zombies. Even more clichés than zombies. What's not to dislike? C-

Econ 101

I'm not totally wedded to these particular numbers, but let's say for the sake of argument that the right policy is two years of fiscal expansion amounting to 3 percent of GDP each year, plus a permanent rise in the inflation target to 4 percent. These wouldn't be radical moves in terms of Econ 101 -- they are in fact pretty much what textbook models would suggest make sense given what we have learned about macroeconomic vulnerabilities. But they are completely outside the bounds of respectable discussion.

That's the sense in which we are "doomed" to long-term stagnation. We have met the enemy, and it's not the economic fundamentals, it's us.

Source: Paul Krugman.

Does it bug you that the tea party's hold on politics makes it politically incorrect to apply basic knowledge ("Econ 101") to our economic problems? It does me. It's the anti-science attitude that denies evolution and global warming carried over to economics. Except that in the former two fields, the know-nothing attitude is still being challenged. In economics, the know-nothing attitude is so dominant that "Econ 101" is "outside the bounds of respectable discussion."

By the way, if there's anyone who knows Econ 101, it's Paul Krugman. He wrote the book on it, literally.

LSWO Pre-UIL Concert Band Festival

Seventeen bands from all eight junior high schools in the Richardson ISD performed Monday at the Eisemann Center in an 8.5 hour marathon pre-UIL concert sponsored by the Lone Star Wind Orchestra. It was a pleasure seeing and hearing these talented and disciplined young musicians put on an outstanding show. Be sure to catch one of their concerts when they play again in their local schools.

The RISD owes a big thanks to the LSWO for its support of the music programs in the RISD. It is a credit to the RISD that the district maintains one of the best music programs in the state despite the budget cuts imposed on public school systems by Texas legislators.

P.S. 50 points to anyone who can name the band shown in the photo above.

Review: Naked

Amazon

From Naked, by David Sedaris:

I'm also used to pulling my pants above my navel and tightening my belt to diminish my gut. Jangling the keys in my pocket, thoughtlessly gnawing at the collars of my shirts: these things are lost to me now. It feels dangerous to drink a cup of hot coffee, and twice in the last hour I've hopped up to brush glowing cigarette ash off what I once considered to be my private parts."

That's David Sedaris describing life in a nudist camp. After the jump, my review.