Main Street/Central Expressway Study

Source: City of Richardson.

The time for study is over. Now it's time for recommendations and implementation. The result of the Main Street/Central Expressway Study was presented to the Richardson City Council Monday night. It's full of nice pictures of street layouts and glass and steel office buildings all bordered by row after row of trees. Beyond that? It looks to this observer like the presentation could have been created by an advanced team of college students from a university in, say, Oregon or Massachusetts who were assigned a theoretical exercise in urban planning and given Google Maps and a drawing app. I see SimCity, not Richardson.

After the jump, a look at just the ideas for the heart of Richardson.

Review: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Amazon

From Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain:

Look! Look! Check out the Jumbotron! And there on the screen loom the eight operational Bravos literally bigger than life, plus Albert, who's smiling like a proud new papa. Small pockets of applause spark off here and there. The Bravos assume postures of masculine nonchalance. Mainly they're trying not to stare at themselves on the screen, but so pumped with the moment is Sykes that he starts mouthing off and flashing gangsta signs. To a man Bravo tells him to shut the fuck up, but after a moment the screen cuts to a flags-waving, bombs-bursting cartoon graphic against a background of starry outer space, and from within these inky depths enormous white letters suddenly zoom to the fore AMERICA'S TEAM PROUDLY HONORS AMERICAN HEROES."

After the jump, my review.

10 Lessons From Creationist School Books

On its website, PBS has a story, "10 Interesting Lessons from Creationist-Inspired School Books," inspired by The Revisionaries, a documentary film about conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education and their drive to introduce creationism into the school curriculum. The documentary airs this week at various times on KERA 13. According to PBS, "Don McLeroy, a dentist, Sunday school teacher, and avowed young-earth creationist, leads the Religious Right charge." McLeroy was defeated in 2010 in his bid for re-election to the SBOE, but that hasn't kept him from continuing to lead the charge for creationism.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know what I think of Don McLeroy. I think he's still enough of a threat to good public education in Texas to warrant keeping an eye on him. After the jump, what's McLeroy up to now?

South Pacific at Lake Highlands HS

Oddly, a drama that's both dated yet at the same time still has something important to say about the world today. All-state choir voices. Flawless sound, lighting and sets. Excellent production.

S2L77: Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Nepal
February 21-27, 1977

I met a guy at the Kathmandu airport. I shared a taxi into the city and then a hotel room for 40 rupees. Kathmandu is quite a change from Bangkok. It's a step back in time hundreds of years. There are narrow little streets with carts and animals and people who could be from the 1800s ... or the 1200s. I spent the day suffering from a bad cold. Kathmandu nights can be very cold.

Source: Personal travel notes.

From 1977 02 21 Nepal

In the 1970s, Kathmandu was the ultimate counter-culture destination. For hippies, mountain trekkers, Buddhist pilgrims, and me (who was none of the former), Kathmandu was an irresistible magnet. To get in the mood for the following photos, first listen to this 1980 performance of Katmandu by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Good times.

More photos after the jump.