Friday, January 22, 2016

Frida (2002)

IMDB
Frida (2002): Mexico in the 1920s. Biopic of Frida Kahlo. Art, politics, and volatile marriage to Diego Rivera. Leaves you wanting more. A-











Thursday, January 21, 2016

POTD: A Helping Hand

From 2015 11 13 Caribbean Cruise
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the cruise ship Liberty of the Seas. The photo shows an unknown passenger learning to ride the onboard FlowRider® surf simulator with help from an attentive crew member. Everything is better when someone's got your back.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Ex Machina (2015)

IMDB
Ex Machina (2015): SciFi. Explores what it means to be human. Creepy rich eccentric builds an AI robot. Is it conscious or itself creepy? B-











Tuesday, January 19, 2016

POTD: Idle Oil Rigs

From 2015 11 13 Caribbean Cruise
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Galveston, Texas. It shows idle oil rigs in the Galveston Channel. Now I don't know anything about the oil industry, but I know that gasoline prices are below $2/gallon, the lowest they've been in a decade. That can't be good for the oil industry. I wouldn't be surprised if these rigs stand idle for a while longer.

Monday, January 18, 2016

The Sad State of Suburban Office Parks

In a story titled, "The Sad State of Suburban Office Parks", CityLab sounds a warning that ought to resonate in Richardson.
So-called Class A office space is in transit-oriented areas that are at least close to highways. These offices don't need to be in walkable, urban neighborhoods -- though that's ideal. At the very least, today's workers want to get lunch or maybe even a workout without firing up an engine.
...
There are models that developers are using to transform older office parks throughout the country, to measured success. They mostly involve turning definitely-suburban office parks into urban-like, albeit still isolated, office “cities.” (It is worth noting that many of these projects involve extensive rezoning efforts.)
Source: CityLab.