Wednesday, October 2, 2013

OTBR: Kunnati Bay, Saarema Island, Estonia

Latitude: N 58° 22.944
Longitude: E 022° 57.546

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".

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Welcome Back, The Dallas Morning News

October 1. The government shut down. Obamacare exchanges opened for business. And The Dallas Morning News removed its paywall. "Its news content will once again be free to all web visitors." Once again I can read the bad news, the good news, all the news, in the News.

Long ago, I gave up my print subscription to The Dallas Morning News. And when the online product was locked behind a paywall, I largely gave up reading The Dallas Morning News online as well. I quit clicking on links to The Dallas Morning News stories because most of the time, I'd get the first paragraph, then a paywall notice telling me that the rest of the article was for paying customers only.

Now I can go back to clicking on links to The Dallas Morning News. That's good, right? After the jump, the downside of free.

Repeat Tweets: Time for Washington to Listen

Repeat tweets from Septemter, 2013:

  • 1 Sep 2013: MT @SenTedCruz: "It's time for Washington to listen to the people!" Yeah, that 2012 Presidential election was like so 10 months ago. #wacko
  • 2 Sep 2013: MT @SenTedCruz: "Right to vote is fundamental building block of our democratic process." Making it easier to buy guns than to vote is #wacko
  • 2 Sep 2013: Headline: "CBS, Time Warner Cable Agreement Reached." w00t! I've been having withdrawal symptoms without @CraigyFerg. www.huffingtonpost.com
  • 5 Sep 2013: The Butler (2013): Civil rights movement seen through prism of White House black butler's family. Works as both history & drama. Moving. A+
  • 5 Sep 2013: The Master (2012): Acting A+. Depiction of mentality behind cults B+. Overall, empty and depressing. Characters, scenes don't connect. C+
  • 5 Sep 2013: MT @SenTedCruz: "Voter ID protects election integrity. Despite AG Holder's claims, in GA minority turnout INCREASED." Minorities are pissed.
  • 5 Sep 2013: Amour (2012): Elderly man cares for his invalid wife. What do you do when nothing can be done? Heartbreaking. Oscar-worthy performances. B+

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Breaking Bad

Walter White
Source: Breaking Bad.
No spoilers here. :-)

This blog post is not for Breaking Bad fans. It's for those who missed out. Maybe because a story about dying of cancer and cooking meth and dealing with drug gangs sounds like nothing you'd ever like. Or maybe because you didn't hear of this television series until season 2 or 3 and felt it's too hard to catch up. Maybe you didn't hear of it until a week ago when it won the Emmy for best drama, only a week before the series finale aired.

After the jump, it's never too late.

Who Is The Council Dealing With Now?

The Richardson City Council has a full plate on its September 30 meeting agenda, most of which will be conducted out of sight of the public.

In compliance with Section 551.087(1) and (2) of the Texas Government Code, Council will convene into a closed session to discuss the following:
  • Deliberation Regarding Economic Development Negotiations
    • Commercial Development -- President George Bush Turnpike/Plano Rd., U.S. 75/Campbell Rd., and Collins Blvd./International Pkwy. Areas
After the jump, let's speculate on what's going on.