Sears Redevelopment

Social media has a long thread about the meeting last week at the Richardson Civic Center about the Richardson Square Sears site. Everyone was drooling about the names of the potential tenants that the developer dropped as bait, among them Trader Joe's and Sprouts (he's good at public relations). Correction: there was one naysayer, but even he cared only about the tenants: "I say NO! to Jersey Mike's. I hate their sandwiches, 70% bread."

MIB International (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

MIB International (2019): There's no reason to make this sequel but if you liked the first three, you might like this one. Tessa Thompson (best) plays a spirited new hire to MIB. Chris Hemsworth (worst) plays a goof-off. Kumail Nanjiani (cute, fun) is here mainly to sell toys. C+

POTD: Assumption Cathedral and Eternal Flame

From 2018 08 18 Yaroslavl

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Yaroslavl, Russia, one of the Golden Ring cities northeast of Moscow. In the background is Assumption Cathedral, rebuilt in 2010 after the original was destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1937. But it's the eternal flame in the foreground that strikes me most. Russia suffered unimaginable losses during World War II. Estimates of the dead, military and civilian, are 20 million people, or even higher.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Frisco's 2,500-acre Fields Development

According to Steve Brown of The Dallas Morning News, "Frisco officials have gotten a first look at plans for the city's biggest pending development, the more than 2,500-acre Fields development on the Dallas North Tollway...The massive development will have more than 10,000 homes and up to 18 million square feet of commercial space."

Late Night (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Late Night (2019): Dramedy packed with workplace topics, maybe too many: diversity hiring, being the new hire, sexism, growing old, #MeToo, all centered on a talk show's writers' room. Mindy Kaling brings her deft touch to a straightforward story. Emma Thompson is great. B-

POTD: Yaroslavl Market

From 2018 08 18 Yaroslavl

Today's photo-of-the-day is of one of the stalls in the old Yaroslavl market in the heart of Yaroslavl, Russia. Food looked appetizing, samples were delicious, and vendors were all friendly.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Review: Exhalation: Stories

Amazon

From Exhalation: Stories, by Ted Chiang:

Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either, only know them more fully. My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything, and I understood that it could not have been otherwise. If our lives are tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as the players, and it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons."

Nine science fiction stories of all kinds: time travel, entropy, artificial intelligence, alternate universes, free will, robotic childcare, total recall, SETI, and creationism. Most of the stories have been published elsewhere, but they are new to me — the stories anyway, not the ideas. The ideas aren't fresh, but I suppose the value of sci-fi is telling stories to make hard-to-grasp scientific concepts accessible to the non-scientist.

POTD: Rybinsk Lock

From 2018 08 18 Yaroslavl

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Rybinsk Lock on the Volga River in Russia. The Rybinsk Reservoir was once the largest reservoir in the world. It's part of the extensive Baltic-Volga Waterway.

Abstract canal art after the jump.

POTD: Mother Volga

From 2018 08 18 Yaroslavl

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Volga River in Russia. The Volga is the longest river in Europe (2,292 miles). It's the source of life for Russia. It flows into the Caspian Sea, but with dams and canals, it's also connected to the Baltic Sea at St. Petersburg. At the locks that form the entrance to the Rybinsk Reservoir stands a 236 feet tall statue of Mother Volga. This photo-of-the-day has symbolic significance today, as today is the day I bury my own mother, who at 98 years old was every bit the life blood of her large family as Mother Volga is to Russia.

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Always Be My Maybe (2019): Rom-com with more rom than com. Childhood sweethearts grow up only to meet again in adulthood with predictable results. Keanu Reeves steals the movie with a zany scene as the rival love interest. Do I still need to say it has an Asian-American cast? C+