The Eagle Huntress (2016)

IMDB

Eagle Huntress (2016): Documentary of Kazakh girl learning to hunt with eagles. Girl power. Beautiful scenery. Intimate family scenes. B+

Lessons from Jeffrey Weiss

Jeffrey Weiss, longtime staff writer at The Dallas Morning News, died October 25, 2017 from glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. He wrote about his journey to the egress, as he put it, with realism and good spirit. But I don't want to speak of his illness. It's his writing that inspired me. I said upon his death that Jeffrey Weiss was the best thing that ever happened to Facebook. What I meant is that where most (reasonable) people steered away from the closed-minded, interminable arguments with (crazy) people, he saw an opportunity to engage everyone, taking their opinions and beliefs seriously and gently probing those beliefs in hopes of achieving some level of mutual understanding. He promoted what he called civil dialog, or "civilogue". He influenced no less than the New York Times to change their practices regarding online comments. I admired his approach, and although I sometimes sought to emulate Weiss, I all too often resorted to snark, sarcasm, and satire. Reading Weiss made me uncomfortable doing so.

After the jump, two maxims from Jeffrey Weiss.

POTD: Illumination Sensation

From 2017 10 05 State Fair

The lights are big and bright when the sun goes down on the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the evening show featuring fireworks, lasers, dancing waters, and live dancers on the 700-foot-long reflecting pool that is the Esplanade of Fair Park.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Horses at the Fair

From 2017 10 05 State Fair

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the State Fair of Texas. What's more Texan than a horse? Here's a whole carousel of horses.

POTD: Yeehaw! SFOT

From 2017 10 05 State Fair

It's October and that means the State Fair of Texas. Today's photo-of-the-day shows this Texan institution at its best. What's more Texan than a Mexican cowboy with a lasso on the back of a horse?

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: NBA Basketball Returns

The 2017-2018 NBA season began last week. Not a day too soon. Today's photo-of-the-day honors the return of basketball by showing the sad, neglected state of the game over the summer.

Hold Your Nose and Vote YES for DCS

This November's election might seem to be a snooze, with only a few things on the ballot, none of them named Donald J. Trump. But there are some heavy hitters trying to ensure one of the ballot items is voted down. That's Proposition A, which will determine whether Dallas County Schools (DCS) is abolished. DCS is the organization that provides school buses for Dallas ISD and seven suburban school districts in Dallas County, including the Richardson ISD.

In one of the oddities of this election, a "no" vote, which in most elections means a vote for the status quo, is actually a vote for change. The "yes" vote means keep the status quo. The change, namely abolishing the agency that provided schools with bus transportation, needs a "no" vote on the status quo to happen. Confused? Maybe the confusion is deliberate. Read on.

A Broken System in Garland

With a 6-3 vote, the Garland City Council approved a motion to demolish a National Guard armory to build a dog and skate park. Mayor Douglas Athas was on the losing side of that vote and afterward announced his intention to resign. If you believe the mayor, it was all about a failure of process, a breakdown in how things are supposed to happen in government.

"We have checks and balances in our system. Professionals on staff make recommendations, we have peer review and then it comes to council for final decisions," he said. "When you skip that, when a council comes up with its own ideas and suddenly starts doing it without professionals, without peer reviews, then you have a system that's broken and extremely dangerous."

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

POTD: Sunset Over the Gulf

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. It also brings an end to the photos-of-the-day from our cruise of the Western Caribbean out of Galveston. Big sigh.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

IMDB

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017): Surprisingly modern threesome in 1920s. At times creepy but mostly normal. Deftly handled. B+