Garden & Gun

When my family was young, we used to play a game when we were driving on cross-country car trips. The game was called "McDonald's or Burger King?" I wasn't asking where we should stop to eat. Instead, I'd point out a store name and we'd discuss how good of a name it was for a business. For example, which name is better for selling burgers? Burger King is a great name for that. Which name is better if a burger place wanted to expand into, say, selling sausage biscuits for breakfast? The name Burger King was a handicap for that. McDonald's was the unanimous choice for almost any kind of business expansion we could imagine. Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc., were all so limiting. But McDonald's is a nondescript name that could work with any business the company might want to get into, anywhere in the world. It doesn't even have to be fast food.

The Vast of Night (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Vast of Night (2020): New Mexico, 1959. Switchboard operator and radio DJ investigate mysterious staticky humming. Movie doesn't bring anything new to 1950s sci-fi, but it has the look and feel of that era down cold, even including a Twilight Zone vibe. Love the dialog. C+

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Da 5 Bloods (2020): Spike Lee. Four war vets return to Vietnam to retrieve the remains of their fallen leader...and gold. Part history lesson, part action movie, and part study of PTSD. Implausible plot. Characters either stereotypes or cartoons. MAGA? Too much going on here. B-

"Prejudice and Privilege Exist in Richardson"

The best local statement on recent events was made by Bill Sproull, Chairman/CEO of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce. Here is an excerpt.

We are horrified by the murder of George Floyd specifically and send our condolences to his family.
We support peaceful protesters and absolutely believe #BlackLivesMatter
Prejudice and privilege exist in Richardson. It absolutely does.

Source: Richardson Chamber of Commerce.

It's short and to the point.
He names the victim.
He calls murder, murder.
He supports peaceful protest.
He says the three simple words, "Black Lives Matter."
He admits racism still exists in Richardson.

That's how it should be done. And it comes from the Chamber of Commerce.

Book Review: Disappearing Earth

From Disappearing Earth, by Julia Phillips:

Zavoyko was kilometers past all that, making it the last district of their city, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the last bit of land before sea. “It was at the edge of the cliff where the ocean meets the bay.””
	Amazon

A whodunnit about the disappearance of two girls in Kamchatka. But more a collection of vignettes of women of Kamchatka. Each character is fully fleshed out and not just someone to advance the plot. It's also the story of a place previously foreign to me.