Should the Coach Get a New Contract?

Source: AP Photo.

The season is coming to an end for the team. The coach's contract is expiring. The coach was gifted good enough game plans, but he couldn't deliver on the reason he was hired, which was to bring a championship to the city. When it came time to decide if the team should extend him a new contract for another season, the team decided to go in a different direction. Most fans thought it was the right decision.

That might sound like I'm talking about the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Mike McCarthy, but if you guessed I was really talking about the mayor of Richardson, Bob "Coach" Dubey, I can't say you're wrong. The City of Richardson's "Coach" is in the same boat that McCarthy was. Having a long career on the sidelines can result in enough friendships to win you the job in the first place, but that won't save your job if you don't win championships. Too often, Coach Dubey went with his gut, throwing out good game plans on the fly, and ending up with a string of losses. Sooner or later, a coach trading on his longevity needs to be thanked for his service and replaced. Let's look at the results on the field this term to decide if that time is now.

The Gorge (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Gorge (2025): Two sharpshooters in watchtowers face each other across an isolated gorge. Sci-fi, Cold War, post-apocalyptic thriller zombie movie? Also it's a romance, released on Valentine's Day. WTF? Contrived and incoherent. Bad, but not so bad to be unwatchable. C+

AppleTV+

Book Review: Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love

From Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love", by Julie Sedivy:

Amazon

"At that time, Italian was to me a bewitching confusion, boiling and streaming in all directions. Its connection to the actual world was tenuous and constantly shifting. It was only now and then that I caught a word with my mind; words were like fish, solid things making sudden, unexpected appearances, flashes of substance and meaning in the liquidity of language flowing all around me. You had to be quick to snatch them before they were lost in the fast-moving stream."

Say Nothing (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Say Nothing (TV 2024): Dramatized history of IRA terrorism in Northern Ireland. Focuses on the involvement (or not) of a young Irish woman in the disappearance of an innocent (or not) young mother. This TV series changed my mind about the IRA and the violence used as a political weapon to unify Ireland. A-

Hulu

Mayor Dubey Explains Taxes

Tax Bites with Poonam.

On November 19, 2024, Mayor Bob Dubey was interviewed by Poonam Sandhu, CPA, on her podcast "Tax Bites with Poonam." In the introduction, Mayor Dubey said, "I really don't consider myself a politician. I'd like to say I'm a statesman." A politician calling himself a statesman is like a used car salesman calling himself a "Transportation Solutions Consultant." But Poonam politely let Mayor Dubey's self-aggrandizement slide. Luckily for him, she wasn't in a fact-checking mood. I guess she left that to the listeners. I listened.

POTD: The Chapel of Frederiksborg Castle

"Vaulted ceiling rises
Above stained glass saints and kings.
Crown and cross entwined."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 01 Copenhagen

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Denmark's Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød, Denmark. "It was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century...Frederiksborg Castle was the first Danish castle to be built inland. All previous castles had been on the coast or close to ports as the sea had traditionally been the principal means of travel. It was also the first to be built for purely recreational purposes rather than for defence."

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, most diverse, dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are included in this ranking. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department. Only those visited last month are ranked here. Only the bottom ten are shown.

POTD: Kronborg Castle

"There are more things
in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of
in your philosophy."

— Hamlet

From 2024 07 01 Copenhagen

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Helsingør, Denmark. It shows Kronborg Castle, much better known as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. "Rendered as 'Elsinore,' it's actually the anglicised name of the surrounding town of Helsingør."

"The castle's story dates back to a stronghold, Krogen, built by King Eric VII in the 1420s. The castle is situated on the extreme northeastern tip of the island of Zealand at the narrowest point of the Øresund, the sound between present Denmark and the provinces of present Sweden." The narrowness of the sound leads to "the strategic importance of maintaining a coastal fortification at this location commanding one of the few outlets of the Baltic Sea."

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Random Thoughts: Luka Doncic Trade

2025-02-02: Musing on the Luka Doncic trade...maybe Miriam Adelson, Las Vegas real estate player and new owner of the Mavs, is trying to replicate Jerry Jones's results with the Cowboys. Don't win championships, win real estate deals and increase the value of the franchise. Maybe Adelson wants to take the money that would have gone to Luka and invest it in a casino, once Texas leg opens the door to that possibility.

2025-02-05: I am not a conspiracy theorist but if there were something that might just make me one, it could be the Luca Doncic trade.

2025-02-07: There's a major free-speech battle being fought right here in Richardson, Texas. Student editorial control of student journalism is at stake.
Inside UT-Dallas’ fight over the student press
dallasnews.com/news/education/...

Here (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Here (2024): Heartwarming story about generations of families who lived in a single house. Story keeps jumping around in time. Some families get short shrift. Too much story telescoped into short scenes to feel the emotional pull of any. Feels like a gimmick. C-

Netflix