POTD: Street Scenes in Barcelona

From 2022 10 21 Barcelona

This photo-of-the-day is from Barcelona, Spain. It shows a selection of souvenirs at a shop on a city street. Is the chimp embarrassed?

After the jump, a bonus photo of my favorite street sign.

Correction: Party Politics in Richardson Elections

In relaying my thoughts on the 2023 Richardson City Council election, I said something that is both factually incorrect and personally embarrassing. I said:

Despite the backing of the Richardson Coalition PAC, [Stephen] Springs couldn't overcome [Dan] Barrios's support of his own from the Richardson Area Democrats PAC. Even though the RC spent money on a mailer endorsing Springs and the RAD only used its Facebook presence and word-of-mouth to promote Barrios, it wasn't enough to get Springs across the line.

Source: The Wheel.

I should have said, "the RAD also spent money on a mailer endorsing Barrios." Then I should have expressed my displeasure with their action.

I regret the error.

H/T to Andrew Laska for catching my mistake.

[Update: July 21, 2023: The Richardson Area Democrats PAC's semiannual report shows a $100 contribution to Dan Barrios's campaign.]

Dewey Defeats Truman, Richardson Edition

Source: DFW NBC5.

There are good reasons not to get your news from local television stations, not least of which is reporting this bad. It's not "Dewey Defeats Truman" bad, but it's still pretty bad. And here it is a week after the election and DFW's NBC5 television still has this up on its website of election news.

Looking at NBC5's vote totals, you can see where NBC5 went wrong. The votes are exactly the totals reported by Collin County. The problem for DFW NBC5 is that the City of Richardson is spread over two counties. Adding in the Dallas County votes, you'd get the true totals: Dubey 4,909; DePuy 4,609.

Remember, if you want the best in local news, news you can trust, look no farther than The Wheel.

POTD: Basilica de la Sagrada Familia

From 2022 10 21 Barcelona

This photo-of-the-day is from Barcelona, Spain. It shows the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. According to Wikipedia, "it is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Designed by architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), his work on Sagrada Família is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On 7 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church and proclaimed it a minor basilica." We exposed more film here than anywhere. Of course, we shoot digitally. We haven't shot film in two decades. But this basilica would have been worth the film if we had.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Loose Ends from City Council Election

The City Council election is over. Congratulations to all the elected council members. Congratulations to Bob Dubey, our new mayor. But before we close the books on the election, I need to mention some loose ends that really should be tied up, before we move on and they are lost to memory.

WAIW: Traffic Stopper

Where Am I Wednesday!

Fifty points to the first person to identify where this photo was taken.

America's "Third Places"

It's odd how something that you notice for the first time suddenly seems to be everywhere. How did I ever miss it? One example is the word "chocolaty". I noticed the package for Girl Scout Tagalongs® cookies (by the way, the best Girl Scout cookie) describes them as "Crispy cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolaty coating." I wondered why they didn't say "chocolate coating". Looking at the ingredients, I realized the answer is because the cookies don't contain any chocolate. They use various chemicals that taste "chocolaty." Once I was aware of this, I now see "chocolaty" on lots of products that I previously would have called "chocolate."

Likewise, I had never heard the term "third place" until a week ago. (Actually I had, but it had a different meaning. I'll get to that in a postscript). Then I heard "third place" three times in a week.

My Thoughts on the Recent Election

The Wheel followed seven contests in the local elections this year. All were settled on election night with no runoffs. Of the seven, voters' choices matched my recommendations in four of the races. I take no satisfaction in that's a majority. I think it's more an indication that voters and I are on slightly different wavelengths. Oh well. On to my first impressions of the results.

CoR and RISD Election Results

Final unofficial election results for the contests The Wheel was following this year for City of Richardson and Richardson ISD.

I'll have thoughts about this in the blog tomorrow.

POTD: Madrid's Plaza Mayor

From 2022 10 19 Madrid

This photo-of-the-day is from Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain. According to Google, "Cafes & restaurants line the arches of this stately square with Philip III's statue in the center." It's a great place to start exploring Madrid in any direction.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

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Looking out from Plaza Mayor through one of the square's arched entrances towards the streets of old Madrid.

From 2022 10 19 Madrid