Twenty Feet From Stardom (2013)

IMDB

Twenty Feet From Stardom (2013): Oscar-winning look at anonymous backup singers behind the hits. A+ music. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. B-

Bait and Switch in Southwest Richardson

The bait was appealing when dangled in front of stakeholders in southwest Richardson four years ago when community meetings were held on redevelopment of the West Spring Valley Corridor:

Source: City of Richardson.

The future vision for this collection of properties includes a new mixed-use environment on the full block. Building faces could be established on James Drive, Floyd Road and US 75, giving the development a distinct, unified architectural character on all visible frontages. The land use mix of the new development could include ground floor retail and office with residential uses above.

Source: City of Richardson.

That was the bait. After the jump, the switch.

Stories We Tell (2012)

IMDB

Stories We Tell (2012): Daughter interviews her siblings, father and dead mother's possible lovers. A complex but very functional family. B-

Mitt (2014)

IMDB

Mitt (2014): Behind the scenes look at candidate and family in 2008 and 2012. Public Mitt is no act. Private Mitt doesn't get it, either. B-

Review: Double Down

Amazon

From Double Down, by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann:

On election night, when Mitt called the president to concede, he had congratulated Obama for his side's turnout efforts -- specifically expressing his own team's astonishment at the numbers in Cleveland and Milwaukee, where African American participation was off the charts. When Obama related Romney's comment to Axelrod, Messina, and Plouffe, they all had the same bemused reaction. What Boston was saying, in effect, was, Holy cow, where did all these mysterious minorities come from?"

"Big Boy [Chris Christie]'s sense of where the real fault lay was crystal clear: with the clowns on Commercial Street. On the phone with Ryan two days after the election, Christie listened while Fishconsin [Ryan] talked about how he, too, had been certain that he and Mitt were headed for the White House. 'On election morning,' Ryan said, 'they told me and my wife we were going to win.' 'Well, that just shows how shitty they were,' Christie harrumphed."

After the jump, my review.

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

IMDB

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): '60s folk singer's life and career going nowhere. Character-driven movie by Coen Bros succeeds. Great songs. B+

Raytheon. Mixed-Use? By What Definition?

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

This is what Richardson Mayor Laura Maczka said when Raytheon announced plans to build a 490,000-square-foot office campus near the Bush Turnpike DART station:

We are also excited about this addition to KDC's CityLine project, which is poised to become one of the region's premier mixed-use developments, anchored by outstanding corporate citizens.

Source: Mayor Laura Maczka.

After the jump, questioning the mayor.

Final Four Block Party

From 2014 04 04 Final Four

The NCAA Final Four basketball tournament this year is being held in North Texas (specifically, AT&T Stadium in Arlington). The City of Dallas hosted a block party downtown on the site of the old, long gone, Reunion Arena. The main attraction was a March Madness Music Festival sponsored by AT&T. A lot of people came out for the music, but it wasn't hard to spot the people who were in Dallas this weekend for basketball.

More photos after the jump.

S2L77: North Atlantic

From 1977 05 10 England

After the jump, the end of the road.

OTBR: Morning Mood near Joehlingen, Germany

Latitude: N 49° 02.724
Longitude: E 008° 33.942

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".