Late Winter in the Steger Garden (2015)

From Flowers

Review: The Goldfinch

Amazon

From The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt:

Whenever you see flies or insects in a still life -- a wilted petal, a black spot on the apple -- the painter is giving you a secret message. He's telling you that living things don't last -- it's all temporary. Death in life. That's why they're called natures mortes. Maybe you don't see it at first with all the beauty and bloom, the little speck of rot. But if you look closer -- there it is."

After the jump, my review.

What's Going on in Downtown Richardson?

Source: City of Richardson.

That area in orange is a sub-area of a tax increment financing district, TIF 1A. It's bordered by Main St, Central Expressway, Greer St, and the DART line.

Changes to the TIF were made at the February 9, 2015, Richardson City Council meeting. The previous plan had only retail as part of the TIF. An update to the plan adds what the city calls mixed-use, but you should probably read that as the addition of two large, single-purpose, multi-family buildings to the other nearby retail buildings.

Details after the jump.

Frozen (2013)

IMDB

Frozen (2013): Princess, vaguely Grinch-like, Frosty and a gospel of sacrificing one's life. Nice animation and songs anyway. B-

How Many Starbucks are Enough?

Source: Starbucks.

How many Starbucks are enough? The question arises because of the construction of a Starbucks on the southeast corner of Campbell and Coit. You may be asking, isn't there a Starbucks on that corner already? Well, yes, but the existing Starbucks will close when the new one opens. You may also be asking, isn't there another Starbucks in the Tom Thumb across Campbell? And another in the Target across Coit? Well, yes and yes. And another down Campbell to the east in the UT-Dallas student center? And yet another one on Campbell at Central? Well, yes and yes again. And another one here, there and seemingly everywhere. So, just how many are enough?

Who Owns Your Body?

Who said it?

Who Owns Your Body? If not you, then you are a slave. When your health depends on the sanctions permitted by your society and not your independent action, you have no right to your life and are thus a slave to the whims of others.

Source: Barbara Harless.

Barbara Harless said it. Who is Barbara Harless? If you guessed some left-wing spokeswoman for the pro-choice movement, you'd be wrong. She's a right-wing advocate for the anti-vaccination movement in North Texas. The unintended irony is rich. The unwitting hypocrisy is stunning. But that's what passes for reasoned discourse today.

Boyhood (2014)

IMDB

Boyhood (2014): Clever concept in service of an uncompelling story. Every character is more interesting than the boy. Please, no Oscar. B-

How to Succeed in Business at PHS

How to Succeed in Business at PHS: Great lighting, sound, voices and especially choreography in this old sexist musical. Learn from it kids.

Ill-suited Building

Peter Simek doesn't think much of a building under construction in Dallas. It reminded me of one in Richardson. See if you can identify each.

The very fact that the building sits right next to a DART station demonstrates that:
1) Our light rail system doesn't count as a real public transit, at least not in the eyes of decision makers at companies who want to work in the core. We need to improve public transportation desperately,
2) Market demand is still driving development that is ill-suited to the long range viability and potential of our urban neighborhoods.

Source: FrontBurner.

OTBR: A Multi-armed Saguaro in Arizona

Latitude: N 32° 20.196
Longitude: W 110° 24.588
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".