A Blockhouse Two Football Fields Long

Source: Planned Development Main Street Form Based Code.

On February 10, 2025, the Richardson City Council is scheduled to hear a zoning application to build a 275 unit apartment building smack dab in the middle of downtown. Some people might be opposed to this because it's yet another apartment building. Not me. I'm OK with the use. It's the form of the apartment building that I think is a disaster for future development of downtown.

Richardson Now Has a Three-Way Race for Mayor

Source: Ketomed.com.

Richardson will elect a new Mayor and City Council on May 3, 2025. The mayor's race will have three candidates on the ballot: incumbent Mayor Bob Dubey, former City Councilmember Amir Omar, and outsider Alan North.

Charter Review: Articles 1,2,17,18

Artist: John Trumbull.

On January 30, 2025, the Richardson Charter Review Commission started their review of the Richardson City Charter, article by article, beginning with Articles 1, 2, 17, and 18. (Only the five visitors in attendance saw what happened. Maybe someday, someone will invent something that could record government meetings for the convenience of people who can't attend in person.)

The Commission was looking for changes to the Charter to suggest to the City Council to put before voters in November. The City Council has the last word about what goes on the ballot. The citizens, at the ballot box, have the last word about what goes in the Charter. In three hours of deliberation, there was only one substantive change that was deliberated.

POTD: Street Life in Izmir

"Street food delights.
Dress shop filled with modern flair.
Sweet Danger Menu."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 19 Ephesus and Izmir

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in a shopping district of Izmir, Turkey, "a city on the west coast of Anatolia, the third most populous city in Turkey, and the largest urban agglomeration on the Aegean Sea."

Bonus photos after the jump.

Random Thoughts: My CFP Bingo Card

2025-01-01: On my CFP bingo card I didn't have Ohio State blowing out Oregon and Arizona taking Texas to two overtimes. Crazy day of football.

2025-01-03: Georgia lost to Notre Dame by 13 points. National reaction: Notre Dame is good.
Indiana lost to Notre Dame by 10 points. National reaction: Indiana is bad.

POTD: Walkable Ephesus

"Columns line the way.
Gentle slope and stone beneath
Worn by countless feet."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 05 19 Ephesus and Izmir

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in the ancient Roman city of Ephesus, Turkey. It shows Curetes Street, which is "one of the three main streets of Ephesus. It runs between the Hercules Gate and the Celsus Library. The street was an archaic Processional Way, an important sacred route that lead to the Temple of Artemis. Therefore, it takes its name from the priests that would walk the street during religious ceremonies."

One Hundred Years of Solitude (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

One Hundred Years of Solitude (TV 2024): Spanish. Adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez's classic, multi-generational, 1967 novel (or at least part one). The magical realism makes it surreal. The family stories make it a soap opera. The revolution makes it a war movie. All together, it's an epic. B+

Netflix

Lonely Planet (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Lonely Planet (2024): Romance at a writers' retreat between an unlikely couple. The Morocco setting drew me to this movie, but the plot put me off. Laura Dern isn't given enough to work with. And if Liam Hemsworth was cast for anything other than his looks, he never shows it. A trifle. C+

Netflix

No Good Deed (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

No Good Deed (TV 2024): Couple wants to sell their house. Audience first wonders what's wrong with the house, then what's wrong with the couple? Show morphs into an absurd black comedy murder mystery that eventually finds its way to a more or less satisfactory ending. C+

Netflix

The Brutalist (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Brutalist (2024): Hungarian architect who is a traumatized Holocaust survivor rebuilds his life in America. He gets a major commission for a community center. Are we seeing an immigrant success story? Or a story of an arrogant, obsessed, artistic genius? Deeper study reveals it may really be a love story. A-

In theaters