The Other Two - S01 (TV 2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Other Two - S01 (TV 2019): Boy becomes pop star. Jealous older brother and sister's careers struggle. Ambitious mom exploits her son's success. All snobs. Sitcom that isn't funny, doesn't go anywhere, and is a struggle to finish S01. No interest in S02. C-

Richardson City Council 2021-23 Tactics

"City Council Tactics". That's the title of the presentation made by City staff to the Richardson City Council. But they aren't tactics for the City Council. They are tactics for City staff, who developed them themselves. There are a lot of them, 73 by my count. Much of the list reads like things that were probably on the City staff's to-do list for months or years, just like the goals and strategies they are based on are mostly recycled from previous years. I suspect City staff was careful to avoid making them too ambitious, risky, or binding (or, for that matter, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based — you know S.M.A.R.T.). It's entirely understandable for employees to not want to promise their bosses too much. So words like "Explore," "Review," "Evaluate" are commonly used. One tactic starts with "Develop a strategy to...", not "Just Do It." I thought the Council had delegated the tactics to staff, not the job of developing more strategies.

Let's look at what's still missing, and then assess the City Council's own participation in the process of developing and shaping these tactics, maybe awarding some medals in the process.

RISD: Night of the Long Knives, Part II

Word

Monday evening, the Richardson ISD Board of Trustees had a special called meeting with a single item on the agenda: a closed meeting for "Superintendent's Evaluation."

Long story short, we still don't know the end of this story. The school board met in closed session for over five hours and adjourned without returning to open session, taking any votes, or making any announcements. But don't let that stop me from speculation.

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020): Adaptation of Dickens. Not melodrama, but is it a comedy? Everyone has loads of fun, with just enough earnestness to keep from collapsing into camp. Colorblind casting makes Victorian England the most diverse place in history. B-

The Curse of Von Dutch (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Curse of Von Dutch (TV 2021): Documentary of a clothing brand that became wildly popular in the early 2000s, then flamed out. The people behind it were an odd assortment of losers, crazies, double-crossers, and even a killer or two. All get to tell their side here. C-

Merry Krampus Nacht!

"Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure in Central and Eastern Alpine folklore who, during the Christmas season, scares children who have misbehaved. Assisting Saint Nicholas, the pair visit children on the night of the 5th December, with Saint Nicholas rewarding the well-behaved children with modest gifts such as oranges, dried fruit, walnuts and chocolate, whilst the badly behaved ones only receive punishment from Krampus with birch rods." — Wikipedia

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Power of the Dog (2021): Set on a remote ranch in 1925 Montana owned by two brothers, one a bully, the other with a new wife and a bookish son. Like a kettle on a hot stove, the tension slowly builds to a climactic boil. The mystery at heart is what drives the characters. B+

Ethics Reform is Coming to City Council*

* Dallas City Council.

Regular readers will know how I've been recommending that Richardson's Code of Ethics get strengthened since the embarrassment of the tenure of Mayor Laura Maczka, convicted of bribery and tax fraud and awaiting sentencing. OK, I've been screaming for it, although the City Council, in its infinite wisdom, has taken a status quo ante attitude that there's no trouble here in River City.

I was pleased to see that the City of Dallas, with even greater problems than Richardson, is taking an important step to combatting public corruption. D Magazine has the details.

House of Gucci (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

House of Gucci (2021): More or less true story of business troubles of Gucci brand brought on by family infighting (and some tax evasion). Part satire, part camp. More than a little over-the-top acting. Jared Leto goes too far. Adam Driver not far enough. Lady Gaga is perfect. B+

Random Thoughts: Every Strategy All At Once

Tweets from November, 2021:

• 2021-11-01: I expected this under Trump. I didn't expect his influence to last this long. "U.S. is now running an uncontrolled experiment with every strategy all at once. COVID-19 policies differ wildly by state, county, university, workplace, and school district."
• 2021-11-01: Greg Abbott's dance. Move far to the right to compete with DeSantis nationally and to fend off primary challenges in Texas. But don't move so batshit crazy right that moderate Texans shift to Beto. It's a careful dance. And he's doing it all from a wheel chair.
• 2021-11-01: "What we're teaching our kids to do is quit." — Coach Gary Patterson of TCU in 2018, not in 2021, when he ...well...quit.

After the jump, more random thoughts.