Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Our New City Council Discusses Water

NTMWD

The City of Richardson's new City Council held their first substantive meeting June 5, 2024. The agenda was packed with meaty subjects (water, wastewater, new city hall, Texas legislature). It was a refreshing change from the usual diet of considering whether to approve a new drive-through chicken restaurant (spoiler: it's always yes). All that and a new City Council still finding their place on the dais. Let's focus on that new City Council and how they reacted to the topic of long-range water supply planning.

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023): Ant-Man and the Wasp (or is it two Wasps, Hope and Janet?) fight Kang the Conqueror in the Quantum Realm. Too many characters. No dramatic arc, just constant fighting. A pointless mess. Ants can't act, neither can Michael Douglas. D+

Monday, June 5, 2023

Mapping the Making of a Mayor

On May 6, 2023, the City of Richardson elected Bob Dubey as Mayor. Dubey received 4,910 votes (51.6%) to Janet DePuy's 4,610 votes (48.4%).

That's what happened. But how and why are different questions. There's an old political saying, which John F. Kennedy put this way: "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan." Almost any tale we tell about how this close race was won could have some truth to it. So I'm going to tell you a tale. Mine is based on a single map. Numbers don't lie, amirite?

Sunday, June 4, 2023

POTD: Mona Lisa Can Dab

From 2022 10 26 Pisa

This photo-of-the-day is from Pisa, Italy. It was taken at a souvenir stand in the Square of Miracles, where tourists flock to see the Leaning Tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistry. The Mona Lisa isn't here. She isn't even in Italy. She's in Paris at the Louvre, but the T-shirt in the lower right of this photo shows that the iconic lady can dab.

Saturday, June 3, 2023

POTD: Amazing Acoustics of Pisa Baptistery

From 2022 10 26 Pisa

This photo-of-the-day is from Pisa, Italy. It was taken in the Baptistry, one of the three magnificent buildings in the Square of Miracles. Everyone is instantly familiar with one: The Leaning Tower of Pisa. But if you're lucky enough to visit Pisa, be sure to go into a different architectural gem — the Baptistry — and do it at one of the times a volunteer gives a demonstration of the building's acoustics. With the echos, one voice can sound like a choir.

Bonus photo after the jump.