The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures

Oscar night is five months gone. "Birdman" was the Academy's pick for "Best Picture." I couldn't say at the time that it would be my pick for "best" movie of 2014 because I hadn't seen it yet. I hadn't seen most of the nominees at that time. Well, now that it's summer, I can finally say I've seen all of the Oscar nominees for "Best Picture" of 2014 and I can pick a winner. Can I get a drum roll?

Repeat Tweets: Instilling My Religious Liberty

Repeat tweets from July, 2015:

• Jul 1 2015: "We are not issuing them because I am instilling my religious liberty in this office." Hood County Clerk Katie Lang star-telegram.com
• Jul 2 2015: "3 reasons the American Revolution was a mistake." History you probably weren't taught in schools. vox.com
• Jul 4 2015: Into the Woods (2014): Musical mashup of fairy tales. By the numbers. Who is target audience? Kids? Adults? Maybe Stephen Sondheim fans. C-
• Jul 8 2015: "What we learn [from Greece] is that fiscal austerity plus hard money is a deeply toxic mix." krugman.blogs.nytimes.com
• Jul 9 2015: Meanwhile, on Tea Party planet, @PeteSessions is "too willing to compromise on critical issues." trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

POTD: Tonle Sap Lake

From 2015 03 20 Tonle Sap Lake

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the waterway northwest of Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. In the rainy season, the lake floods all of this surrounding land. In the dry season, the channel has to be dredged to reach the lake. Navigating the channels is a challenge. Good times, if you're a passenger on one of the boats.
;-)

Hybrid, Urbanized-Suburbs

I've long promoted growth in Richardson that's walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented. To me, that's more Uptown/Bishop Arts/Oak Lawn than anything in Richardson, whether it's old like Richardson Heights or new like CityLine. Now Peter Simek in FrontBurner gives me something to think about.

As we have seen in places like Addison and Legacy Town Center in Plano, the suburbs now offer a kind of hybrid, urbanized-suburban situation that can satisfy millennials loves of hikes and bikes and coffee shops without having to give up the suburban conveniences of larger dwellings at more affordable prices.

Source: Peter Simek.

POTD: Rural Cambodia

From 2015 03 20 Tonle Sap Lake

Today's photo-of-the-day is from rural Cambodia, outside Siem Reap, near Angkor Wat. Good times.

American Sniper (2014)

IMDB

American Sniper (2014): Hawkish tale of unreflective man with simple sense of duty with a soul deadened more by war. Selective history. B-

Remembering Rodger Jones

According to CultureMap Dallas, soon some big names will be leaving The Dallas Morning News in an employee buyout of the newsroom. The purpose, according to top editor Mike Wilson, is to convert the newspaper into "a website which delivers vital information to North Texas quickly and also curates and produces a great city newspaper." For that, the News is "going to need new skill sets, which are now mostly print and need to be mostly digital." In short, the old guys with ink-stained fingers need to be encouraged to retire.

POTD: Angkor Wat

From 2015 03 19 Angkor Wat

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Angkor Wat, a 12th century temple in Cambodia. "It was originally founded as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century." You can see the process of that transformation to this day, as carvings of Hindu gods were chiseled into carvings of the Buddha. Sound familiar? Today, the whole complex of temples is more a world heritage historic site than a center of religious activity.

Q&A: Strategizing in Secret

I read somewhere that the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) had agreed to discuss the method used to determine how much member cities pay for water. Then I read that the Richardson City Council went into closed session to consult with the city attorney to discuss the "1988 North Texas Municipal Water District Regional Water Supply Facilities Amendatory Contract."

Question: Are those two things related? And why would consultation with the city attorney on a water issue not just be done in open session?

POTD: Ta Prohm

From 2015 03 19 Angkor Wat

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Technically, it's from Ta Prohm, a 12th century temple about a mile from Angkor Wat, the main temple in the area. What's unusual about Ta Prohm is that it hasn't been restored (much), meaning that the jungle still encroaches and tree roots still climb over the temple buildings. Here I am obliged to say that Ta Prohm was used as a location for the filming of the 2001 action movie Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. Good times -- the temple, not the movie.