Someone Inconvenienced by President's Visit to City

Local resident [insert name] was inconvenienced yesterday when the President of the United States visited the city for a [pick one: vacation/fundraiser/official event]. Traffic was [pick one: congested/gridlocked/detoured]. Local resident [insert name]'s [pick one: wedding/birthday/bar mitzvah] had to be [pick one: moved/delayed/rescheduled/canceled]. Said another local resident [insert name], who may or may not have had anything to do with the affected event, "This just goes to show that the President is [pick one: insensitive/incompetent/a Kenyan Muslim socialist atheist]".

[Note to editors: There, I just wrote the template for your go-to story whenever the President leaves the White House on an otherwise slow news day. You're welcome.]

[Note to readers: You don't need a template to take to Facebook/Twitter to vent about the President. You're very good at doing that on your own. Don't count to ten. Don't think it over. Don't sleep on it. Just log onto Facebook now, now, now, and post away. Your Facebook friends will thank you for it. Trust me.]

Review: Gone Girl

Amazon

From Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn:

A long exhale. 'What about Amy?' That is what I didn't take long enough to consider. I simply assumed I would bundle up my New York wife with her New York interests, her New York pride, and remove her from her New York parents -- leave the frantic, thrilling futureland of Manhattan behind -- and transplant her to a little town on the river in Missouri, and all would be fine."

After the jump, my review.

Frank (2014)

IMDB

Frank (2014): Band led by eccentric with large fake head goes to SXSW. Quirky as it sounds. Unlikable characters but ultimately touching. C+

Review: The Book of Strange New Things

Amazon

From The Book of Strange New Things, by Michel Faber:

He closed the book. His hands were trembling. He knew that there was quite a decent chance that he would die in the next thirty days, or that, even if he survived the journey, he would never return. This was his Gethsemane moment. He clenched his eyes shut and prayed to God to tell him what He wanted him to do."

After the jump, my review.

Print the Legend (2014)

IMDB

Print the Legend (2014): Documentary of startups in 3D printing. The dream, growing pains, falling out, competition, lawsuits. Well told. B-

Review: Lila

Amazon

From Lila, by Marilynne Robinson:

The child was just there on the stoop in the dark, hugging herself against the cold, all cried out and nearly sleeping. She couldn't holler anymore and they didn't hear her anyway, or they might and that would make things worse. Somebody had shouted, Shut that thing up or I’ll do it! and then a woman grabbed her out from under the table by her arm and pushed her out onto the stoop and shut the door and the cats went under the house."

After the jump, my review.

Altman (2014)

IMDB

Altman (2014): Documentary of the genre-busting director who reinvented film making. Hit or flop, an Altman film was always must see. B-

The World's End (2013)

IMDB

The World's End (2013): Think a cross between The Hangover and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But good. Craziest pub crawl ever. B-

No Room at the Inn in Richardson

NIMBYism rears its head again. The latest manifestation of this all too common human weakness is over group homes for people recovering from chemical dependency.

There are 22 such group homes in Richardson. Does the number surprise you? Perhaps that's because nothing much is going on in these homes that affects the rest of the neighborhood, at least not in a bad way. As Richardson Police Chief Jim Spivey told The Dallas Morning News, group homes "generate no more calls than single-family residences." One could argue that supporting recovering alcoholics affects the neighborhood and the whole community in a good way, but that's not how NIMBYism works.

After the jump, why this is an issue now.

Fruitvale Station (2013)

IMDB

Fruitvale Station (2013): Unarmed black man shot by cop. Based on a true story, but politics aside, it's the drama that's compelling. A-