Review: Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Amazon

From Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James:

The child is dead. There is nothing left to know. I hear there is a queen in the south who kills the man who brings her bad news. So when I give word of the boy’s death, do I write my own death with it? Truth eats lies just as the crocodile eats the moon, and yet my witness is the same today as it will be tomorrow. No, I did not kill him."

Black Leopard, Red Wolf is an epic African fantasy. It's been described as an African "Game of Thrones." Don't believe it.

POTD: Battle of Chesme

From 2018 08 14 Peterhof

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Peterhof, the St. Petersburg palace built by Peter the Great of Russia. It's a roomful of paintings, one of many such rooms in the many palaces of St. Petersburg. The particular painting that caught my eye is in the upper right of this photo. I noticed it because we had done some homework before our visit to Russia. The Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774) played a part in a Russian television drama, Ekaterina, about the life of Catherine the Great. The painting shows the destruction of the Turkish fleet during the naval Battle of Chesme on 5-7 July 1770. The artist, Jakob Philipp Hackert, who was commissioned to commemorate the great Russian victory in a painting, was not present during the battle so in order that he could imagine the scene a Russian ship was exploded in the port of Livorno, Italy, for him to witness and paint from. Could that make this the most expensive painting ever commissioned?

Building Trust: The Candidates Speak

This Q&A was originally published on the "Richardson Living" website. The candidates’ answers were untouched, minus a few minor grammatical changes for clarity and readability.

Richardson's former mayor Laura Maczka (now Jordan) was convicted of bribery over the Palisades land development. That development now appears to be stalled, with apartments built but retail and offices nowhere on the horizon, despite a hot commercial real estate market in Richardson. All of this leaves the City with a black eye. Where do we go from here? The candidates for Richardson City Council answer two questions.

The Wheel's City Council Voters Guide

Election day for Richardson City Council is Saturday, May 4, 2019. Early voting runs from Monday, April 22, 2019, until Tuesday, April 30, 2019. I attended candidate forums so you didn't have to (you're welcome). I've kept an open mind, but now I have to decide how to fill out my own ballot. It wasn't an easy decision. Pros and cons were unusually balanced this year. You may disagree with my decisions. That's OK. But if I got wrong any of the facts that informed my decisions, that's not OK. I want to hear about factual errors so I can correct things. The only decision that really matters is the one I make when I enter the voting booth.

For those without the patience to read the reasoning that informed my opinions, here's the bottom line.

• Place 1: Jason Clarke
• Place 2: Uncontested
• Place 3: Janet DePuy
• Place 4: Kyle Kepner
• Place 5: Ken Hutchenrider
• Place 6: Uncontested
• Mayor: Uncontested

Place 3 Forum @ The Forum

A meet-and-greet was held Friday afternoon for the Richardson Place 3 City Council candidates at The Forum Club on the upper level of the Shops at Promenade. Dan Barrios, Franklin Byrd, and Janet DePuy met and mingled with about 30 people in this Cheers-like neighborhood bar. Raymond De Guzman, Sr., and Mauri Long also made appearances.

Of Bimbos, Dicks, and Pieces of Shit

The above two tweets were made by two candidates for Richardson's upcoming City Council election. I consider the tweets disqualifying in themselves, but especially so given the responses made by these two candidates after the recent embarrassment the City suffered over a City Council member's own use of social media.

Final Impressions of City Council Candidates

The League of Women Voters of Richardson held a forum for Richardson City Council candidates Wednesday evening at the Richardson Civic Center. About 200 people turned out to hear the candidates answer questions from voters. The threat of storms might have kept some people away, but the off-chance of fireworks on stage might have limited the no-shows. It turned out that the storms stayed away and the fireworks show turned into more of a comedy club as most candidates made a confession of their own run-in with Richardson Code Enforcement. I won't spoil their material. The video from the forum is available on the City's website. You can just watch their comedy sets yourselves. Let me just say that all the candidates seemed genuinely friendly with each other.

Once again, rather than provide a question-by-question account of the evening, I am going to present only the highlights, both roses and thorns, for each candidate.

(As for my earlier impressions of the candidates, from an earlier forum, they can be read elsewhere.)

Shirkers (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Shirkers (2018): Documentary about making of a movie in Singapore in '92 by young filmmakers and a charismatic mentor who disappears with the raw footage. Their youthful passion comes through 25 years later in this engrossing detective story about a cult movie that never was. B+

POTD: Self Portrait

From 2018 08 14 Peterhof

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Peterhof, the St. Petersburg palace built by Peter the Great of Russia. It's a self portrait taken by Ellen. That's the two of us entangled in the candle holders of the gilt mirror frame. We could only imagine the effect at night in the 1700s when the gilt ballroom was lined with such mirrors and all the candles were lit and a royal ball was in progress. Oh, and our reflections would still be present of course.

POTD: Peterhof Gilt Ballroom

From 2018 08 14 Peterhof

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Peterhof, the St. Petersburg palace built by Peter the Great of Russia. Originally intended as a summer retreat, Peter the Great happened to visit the French royal court in 1717 and came home with ideas to rival Versailles. The result? Peterhof.