POTD: Logs and Lumber on the Dock

"Lumber on the dock,
Tauranga's tale unfolds here,
Shipped dreams but which way?"
—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 03 09 Tauranga

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the port of Tauranga, New Zealand. According to IBIS World, online retail, IT security, and sports administration are among some of the growth industries tipped to boom over the next five years in New Zealand. But forestry is more photogenic, so the photo you get is of lumber stacked up on the docks waiting to be shipped overseas. Or, maybe that's wrong. Maybe the lumber is waiting to be picked up and delivered to New Zealand's construction industry to be turned into homes. You see, I heard that New Zealand exports logs and imports lumber. Why they don't cut the logs in New Zealand I'm sure can be somehow explained by David Ricardo's economic law of comparative advantage, but I'm sure I've lost you now, so let's drop it. I was just struck by the pretty picture of logs and lumber on the dock.

POTD: Genealogy in New Zealand

"On Tauranga's shore,
Ellen, kin reunited,
Photobombed by fate."
—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 03 09 Tauranga

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Tauranga, New Zealand. Ellen poses with her DNA cousin and her husband. From DNA results, they know they are distantly related, but try as they might they have been unable to find a common ancestor. They suspect it's someone in Scotland, maybe in the 1700s. As I was taking this photograph, Mother Nature, as she is wont to do, serendipitously photobombed it with a young woman heavy with child, preggers as they might say in New Zealand (and if they don't say that, I apologize).

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023): Based on a true-crime nonfiction book, this is a multi-faceted story, as large as the Osage murders themselves and as intimate as the marriage between Ernest (Leo DeCaprio) and Mollie (Lily Gladstone). Scorsese succeeds in it all. A-

Council Recap: Kayla Walker Lawsuit

Coming out of an executive session during the November 6, 2023, Richardson City Council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Arefin made this motion: "I move that the City Manager be authorized to execute a mutually satisfactory settlement agreement in Walker at al. v City of Richardson, Texas, et al. civil action on 3:22-CV-01164-X pending in the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division and any documents related thereto." Seconded by Councilmember Joe Corcoran and approved unanimously without comment, this motion at 10:59pm closed the book on a sorry story of Richardson's history.

Council Recap: Public Engagement

On the agenda for the November 6, 2023, Richardson City Council meeting was this item: "REVIEW AND DISCUSS STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND INVOLVEMENT." This is less than two months when they idea of a community engagement board was raised in the Council's goal-setting meeting, and less than a month since the Council first deliberated on this matter in open session (October 16). Then I was pleased to see the Council quickly tackle this need, but I was not as pleased with the scattershot ideas the Council had. Now I hoped that maybe this month they'd be focused and align on effective approaches.

Council Recap: Tactics

At the November 6, 2023, Richardson City Council meeting, the Council adopted its tactics for the 2023-2025 term. According to City Manager Don Magner, these were developed with direction from the City Council and inputs from Boards and Commissions, residents and businesses. But let's face it, they were essentially drawn up by Magner. They read like a (long) scorecard by which his performance will be able to be graded.

Let me say, up front, that I very much like the comprehensiveness of this list. It shows just how much is going on at City Hall. There's no comparison to the (relatively) meager list of tactics brainstormed by the City Council at its Saturday morning unrecorded meeting on September 16. But given that the City Council's list might indicate just what they think is important, let's compare it with what the City Manager presented Monday night.

Council Recap: Naming of Parks

At the November 6, 2023, Richardson City Council meeting, one agenda item struck me as curious. It was listed as "REVIEW, DISCUSS, AND UPDATE ON THE 2021 BOND PROGRAM PARKS CAPITAL PROJECTS AND PROPOSED NAMES." That 2021 bond included $7.5 million for parks. You'd think the Council would keep a close eye on how that money is being spent. Good governance. Keep your eye on the ball and all that. Well, you'd think wrong. Instead, in Monday's update, the seven councilmembers were easily distracted by the unimportant part of that agenda item, the "AND PROPOSED NAMES."

POTD: Auckland's SkyWalk

From 2023 03 07 Auckland

"High above the streets,
Sky Tower stands bold and proud.
Courage in the wind."

—h/t ChatGPT

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand. If you are not afraid of heights, you can take a SkyWalk and pose for a photo of a friend pushing you off (or an enemy — your choice). There is nothing below you but the street, 629 feet down.

A photo of the Sky Tower from the ground is after the jump.

POTD: Auckland Shopping Arcade

From 2023 03 07 Auckland

"Strand Arcade beckons,
Amidst the grandeur of old,
History preserved."
—h/t ChatGPT

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Strand Arcade in Auckland, New Zealand. Dating to 1900 (rebuilt in 1910 after a fire), it's one of the grandest surviving shopping arcades in New Zealand. Being a Sunday, foot traffic was light.

A Man Called Otto (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

A Man Called Otto (2022): English-language remake of the 2015 Swedish film "A Man Called Uve," this time with Tom Hanks. Local curmudgeon and how he became one. He eventually becomes, not likable, but a little less unlikable. B-