Cumulative Voting Coming to RISD

Former Richardson ISD school board trustee David Tyson, Jr., has sued the RISD, alleging its at-large election system is a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. There are two ways this lawsuit could play out. One, the RISD could engage in a long and expensive fight in court and win, leaving the status quo in place. Or two, the RISD could lose the lawsuit and have to adopt a court-imposed solution. (There's a third outcome, a negotiated out-of-court agreement, but that is more or less equivalent to outcome two, losing the lawsuit.) There's no betting line on this, but if there were, I suspect outcome two would be the betting favorite.

Lady Macbeth (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Lady Macbeth (2017): Starts as a sexist bodice-ripper, turns steadily darker. A character study of innocent victim turned evil ogress. Brush up on your Shakespeare, but this movie feels more like bleak Russian literature than the bard's tragedy. C+

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Call Me by Your Name (2017): Sensitive, coming-of-age love story. Forbidden love. Beautiful Italian settings and scenery. But come on, the subject matter is child molestation, even if consensual, dragging down grade a lot. That and the fruit porn. C-

Review: Sing, Unburied, Sing

Amazon

From Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward:

They perch like birds, but look as people. They speak with their eyes: He raped me and suffocated me until I died I put my hands up and he shot me eight times she locked me in the shed and starved me to death while I listened to my babies playing with her in the yard they came in my cell in the middle of the night and they hung me they found I could read and they dragged me out to the barn and gouged my eyes before they beat me still I was sick and he said I was an abomination and Jesus say suffer little children so let her go and he put me under the water and I couldn’t breathe."

Jesmyn Ward is the winner of two National Book Awards for Fiction: Salvage the Bones (2011, also reviewed here) and Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017). This latest novel is a heart-wrenching story that starts in a bad place, takes us steadily to darker places, and then ends in a kind a truce with death.

Phantom Thread (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Phantom Thread (2017): A study in codependency. He's a dress designer, a standoffish fussy genius. She's his model, hopelessly in love. They're cuckoo for each other. Or maybe just cuckoo. Very slow. Very arty. B+

Single Member Districts Coming to RISD

Former Richardson ISD school board trustee David Tyson, Jr., wants to change the RISD's at-large election system. He wants it enough that he has sued the RISD, alleging its at-large election system is a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. One possible solution (not the only one) is for RISD to adopt single member districts.

POTD: Steampunk the Dickens out of Galveston

From 2017 12 01 Galveston

Today's photo-of-the-day is from December's "Dickens on the Strand" festival in Galveston, Texas. Three clothing styles dominate the Strand during the festival: Victorian fashion, pirate costumes, and steampunk fashion. Oddly, they don't clash; they compliment each other.

Repeat Tweets: Here Lies Mark

Repeat tweets from January, 2018:

• Jan 1 2018: RT @azalben: "How about we use predictive text to write our own epitaphs? Write 'Here lies [YOUR NAME]. [preferred pronoun] was...' and let your phone finish the rest."
  Here lies Mark. He was going to be so awkward.
• Jan 1 2018: RT @EmilyRCWilson: "My Odyssey translation is ... $3.99 RIGHT NOW ON KINDLE."
  If your New Year resolutions involve supporting scholarship in the humanities, this is a no-brainer (and they should, d'oh).
• Jan 1 2018: RT @jaketapper: "Trump's first 2018 tweet: Pakistan has 'given us nothing but lies & deceit'".
  Trump is a textbook case of psychological projection.

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

POTD: Ice Bar

From 2017 12 01 Galveston

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Ice Bar in Ice Land at Moody Gardens in Galveston. The temperature is kept at 9 degrees Fahrenheit. The tables and chairs are made of ice. Cold hands. Warm heart.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Personal Shopper (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Personal Shopper (2017): Three movies in one. Ghost story that doesn't go anywhere. Crime thriller that comes and goes quickly. And a study in grief that maybe explains all the rest (or not). Kristen Stewart's portrayal of grief is the best thing here. D+