Santa's Village Needs a Train

Richardson's Santa's Village is an annual holiday tradition for families. It's a tiny town of holiday buildings offering children fun activities and a community stage offering the whole family live performances of song and dance. But there's something missing.

Dallas to Suburbs: Seriously, Drop Dead

In October, the Dallas city council voted unanimously on a resolution that did not include the Cotton Belt line as one of its transit priorities. I reported it then as "Dallas to Suburbs: Drop Dead." The DART board backed the Cotton Belt anyway, voting on a 20 year financial plan that included the Cotton Belt in the plan. I reported the reaction in Dallas as "Dallas to Suburbs: Drop Dead, Still." Last week, Dallas showed they are serious in their opposition to the Cotton Belt by naming Patrick Kennedy to the DART board. According to The Dallas Observer's Stephen Young, Kennedy wants "DART to focus on two major projects, the D2 subway in downtown and reforming DART's bus system rather than suburb-friendly projects like the Cotton Belt."

Berkner Symphony Orchestra goes to Midwest

The Berkner Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Craig Needham and Jason Schayot, is performing at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago December 15, 2016.

After the jump, the high honor this is.

RISD Finds its Leader

Dr. Jeannie Stone, who has been serving as Richardson ISD's Interim Superintendent since June, has been named the Lone Finalist for the permanent position by the RISD Board of Trustees. My congratulations. She's well-regarded inside and outside RISD. Given the no-win nature of the job, I'm impressed that she's managed to keep even some reflexive RISD critics open-minded about her personally.

POTD: Charlottetown Seaport, 2016

From 2016 09 07 Charlottetown

Today's photo-of-the-day is from historic Charlottetown seaport, Prince Edward Island, Canada. For us, 2016 will go down as one of the best of years, and one of the worst. But for this POTD series, let's stay positive, shall we? Prince Edward Island in September, 2016, was great in all respects.

Know A Neighborhood: Richardson Heights

"Know A Neighborhood" is a series that offers neighborhood leaders in Richardson the opportunity to answer questions that might be of general interest to Richardson residents (or at least to me).

Today: Richard Dotson, Richardson Heights NA President, answers a question posed by The Wheel.

POTD: Cape Breton Island Shoreline

From 2016 09 06 Sydney

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the shoreline of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It probably looks a little more arctic there in December, but it was green and pleasant in September as we bid the island a fond farewell.

Tracks (2013)

IMDB

Tracks (2013): Woman walks across Australia just to be alone. Does she purge her demons? Dunno, but her journey is worth it. cf. "Wild". B+

POTD: Gateway to French Canada

From 2016 09 06 Sydney

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the 18th century French Fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. In the mid-1740s, Louisbourg was a major commercial port and the fortress one of the most extensive European fortifications constructed in North America. It was the gateway to French Canada.

OTBR: A Pond at Latrobe University

Latitude: S 37° 43.308
Longitude: E 145° 02.754

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".