"Animal spirits,
Trapped within the shining glass,
Recycled, reborn."
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| From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 2 |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the glass-blowing factory Ngwenya Glass in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). Tourists can watch being made, and later buy, drinking glasses, vases, and ornamental African animals, all handmade from recycled glass.
A bonus photo is after the jump.
"A table stands still.
Warning sign keeps it open.
White rhinos nearby."
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| From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 2 |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park in eastern South Africa. It was the first of many national parks we toured in southern Africa. It's the oldest nature reserve in Africa. "Thanks to conservation efforts, the park now has one of the largest populations of white rhinoceros in the world, although this population remains severely threatened by the poaching of hundreds of rhinos every year in the park."
The photo was taken at a picnic area in the park. The warning sign is probably what keeps the picnic table open. Click for a bonus photo closeup of another warning sign.
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Netflix
#VeryTardyReview
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Prime
Part 2 of an important topic.
Part 1: "Council
Recap: Comp Plan Update"
In the August 12, 2024, review of progress on the City of Richardson's update of its Comprehensive Plan, City Manager Don Magner and Mayor Bob Dubey laid out competing models of how development works in Richardson. Neither view was laid out in detail. I'm not sure either person has given the matter enough thought to do that. I'm not sure either one even sees the conflict between the two models. Going by what little they did say, conflict there is, and both models should raise warning flags.
On August 12, 2024, the Richardson City Council and City Plan Commission (CPC) received an update on the development of a new Comprehensive Plan for the City. The emphasis was on land use with focus on allowed secondary uses, missing middle housing, and identified redevelopment zones. City staff plan to finish the Comp Plan and present it to the City Council for adoption in December, 2024.
My hopes for this update to the Comp Plan, the first since 2009, have steadily fallen during the year-long effort to produce it. Here's why.
"From prison’s deep shade,
To City Hall’s bright parade,
A new dawn was made."
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| From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1 |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Robben Island, off the coast of South Africa at Cape Town. "Political activist and lawyer Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on the island for 18 of the 27 years of his imprisonment before the fall of apartheid and introduction of full, multi-racial democracy. He was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was elected in 1994 as President of South Africa, becoming the country's first black president."
Click for a bonus photo.
"At Africa's edge,
Mountain shadows kiss the sea.
Cape Town's sentinel."
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| From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1 |
Today's photo-of-the-day is the view from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Full disclosure: We took the cableway to the top. We didn't hike or climb.
Click for a bonus photo.
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Hulu
#VeryTardyReview
On August 12, 2024, the Richardson City Council deliberated an application by Clay Cooley VW to add a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot on their property in the Interurban District. Clay Cooley VW's vision is for a car-centric business located along a busy freeway. The City's vision for the district is at odds with that. There's already a major mixed-use development underway just south of this site, Belt+Main, for which Clay Cooley VW's dealership will act as a blockade against extension of that mixed-use neighborhood to the north.
Spoiler alert. After ninety minutes of deliberation, the City Council continued the hearing until September 23 to give the applicant time to...to do what, exactly? Mayor Bob Dubey punted that question to City Manager Don Magner, saying, "Don, would you please tell the applicant what we're asking him here?" And Magner punted that question to tomorrow morning, saying, "I think if it'd be okay with the applicant, I can follow up tomorrow, and we can put our thoughts together and give you some clear direction."