POTD: Aloha to Big Sugar

From 2019 01 13 Maui

Aloha can be used for hello or goodbye. In this case, it's definitely goodbye. Today's photo-of-the-day is of an abandoned sugar mill in Maui. Many people think Hawaii and sugar are synonymous. But nothing is forever. Commercial sugar cultivation was introduced to Kauai in 1835. The last sugar plantation there closed in 2009. Maui held on a little longer. Maui's HC&S was Hawaii's last and largest sugarcane producer, ending operations in 2016.

Joker (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Joker (2019): Origin story for Joker, a mentally ill clown who is bullied and exploited until he snaps. First movie (or comic book or TV show) I've ever seen where Joker is a believable character. Explains a murdererer, doesn't glorify him. Give Joaquin Phoenix the Oscar now. A-

POTD: Nature's 3D Printer

From 2019 01 13 Maui

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Iao Valley State Park in Maui. It's a spider web. D'oh. It caught my eye. That's all I know.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Walk with the Mayor: Galatyn

From 2019 10 05 Galatyn Walk

Paul Voelker, mayor of Richardson, leads informal walking tours in Richardson every two weeks on Saturday mornings. October 5th's tour was of the Galatyn Woodland Preserve. Even though this tour featured a nature walk, the mayor likes to highlight public art on his tours, so this week's walk included a look inside the Eisemann Center at one of Richardson's hidden gems, the Mezzanine Gallery that showcases local and regional artists. Currently on display is Chris Miller's exhibit "Defining Edges."

Eight Richardson residents joined the mayor on a beautiful Saturday morning for this easy walk. Be on the lookout for future walks and take advantage of this opportunity to meet the mayor and see the best that Richardson has to offer.

More photos from the walk are after the jump.

Colin Allred Faces His Constituents

"What does it profit a man to change the trade deficit with China a little but allow human rights in Hong Kong to be strangled?" — Rep. Colin Allred



Representative Colin Allred (TX 32) held a townhall meeting at Yale Elementary School in Richardson Saturday morning, sponsored by Richardson Area Democrats. The crowd and the mood were decidedly different from former representative Pete Sessions' 2017 townhall meeting at Richardson High School. Then, an overflow crowd of about 1900 people dissented from most of Sessions' position. In contrast, the much smaller crowd of about 100 people Saturday gave Allred a warm welcome and greeted his answers to questions with polite applause and sounds of approval.