All For Maczka In Place 4

Karl Voigtsberger owns the distinction of being the first contestant voted off this season's Richardson Idol. Has anything changed since that long ago first episode for the judges to regret that decision? (And by judges I mean, of course, me.)

Laura Maczka, on the other hand, probably holds the distinction of serving up the fewest targets for satire of any of the candidates during the six-week run of Richardson Idol. If it weren't for her funny name, she might not have earned a mention at all (and even that was only in contrast to another candidate who always points out his own "funny name"). Is it good or bad to be satire-proof?

After the jump, a final look at Place 4.

Place 7: Challengers Never Had It

The Richardson Idol viewers made their choice (and by viewers I mean, of course, me) for Richardson's Place 7 City Council seat. They picked Amir Omar by a wide margin.

After the jump, has anything changed since the final show to question the judges' decision?

The Steger Garden on Mother's Day (2011)

From Flowers

OTBR: At the End of Runway 33L

Latitude: 39.1631 N
Longitude: 76.6619 W

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Five Things I Learned About Place 5

The Richardson Idol viewers already made their choice (and by viewers I mean, of course, me). They picked Dennis Stewart over Kendal Hartley. Why? Who knows. You can read their reasons here, but be warned. Viewers of TV reality shows are fickle. There are no rules they have to follow. Sometimes they are influenced by what the candidates say on stage. Sometimes they are influenced by off stage behavior. There's no requirement that they actually do any ... research or anything hard like that. So, you have to make allowances for some of their decisions (that is, *my* decisions, if you're following along).

After the jump, five things I learned about Place 5 that might make me change my mind.