Hacks (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Hacks (2021): Jean Smart plays an aging standup comic in Vegas forced to hire a young TV writer to punch up her stale set. Predictable oil and water relationship. Show improves as defenses break down and jokes are left behind. Maybe it'll hit its stride in Season 2. B-

Paved A Way: Redlining

Amazon I don't know when I became aware of the notion of "redlining." High school maybe. I do know that I learned it was a racial injustice. And I thought it was a thing of the past, like segregation. Or was it? I'm reading "Paved A Way: Infrastructure, Policy and Racism in an American City" by Collin Yarbrough. The city is Dallas, Texas. I'm blogging as I go, using whatever parts of the book catch my attention. Today, Yarbrough introduces us to redlining and its long-term impact in Dallas.

Update on That Land North of UTD

Speaking of the outdated 2009 Comprehensive Plan for the City of Richardson, there's one corner of the City where that Comprehensive Plan is a killer obstacle for a development that would be good for Richardson. I'm talking about the land north of UT-Dallas.

Joji (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Joji (2021): India. Inspired by Macbeth, loosely. Stern family patriarch suffers a stroke and a family fight ensues. Son's greed for an early inheritance leads to a spiral of worsening consequences. No witches, no prophecies, but in the end, that fatal flaw leads to tragedy. B-

Paved A Way: The Battle of Village Creek

Amazon If you have studied the history of Richardson, Texas, you have probably come across this marker in McKamy Spring Park in Brick Row: The Yoiuane tribe of the Caddo group of Indians lived here as early as 1690 to 1840. They hunted buffalo and deer on the prairie. They used McKamy Spring as a watering place. It was from these friendly Tejas Indians that Texas got her name. McKamy Spring Historical Marker Something about that statement should trigger a question in your mind. What happened in 1840 that caused these friendly Tejas Indians to leave the area? I doubt that it was something like "There's a job opportunity in Oklahoma too good to pass up." I'm reading "Paved A Way: Infrastructure, Policy and Racism in an American City" by Collin Yarbrough. The city is Dallas, Texas. I'm blogging as I go, using whatever parts of the book catch my attention. Yarbrough doesn't discuss Richardson or McKamy Spring, but he has the answer to my question anyway. And, no, it had nothing to do with the local job market.

Goals for our New City Council

Richardson has a new City Council. Three new members were elected in May, taking seats alongside two others who were elected in 2019. That leaves only two members with more than one term of service (Bob Dubey, with two prior terms, and Paul Voelker, with four). Early in each council's term, it's traditional for them to set goals for their own term. I have a suggestion. ;-)

A Father's Day Meditation on Abraham, Isaac, Kierkegaard, and Donald Trump

Thinking about the inherent conflict between American individualism and Christian selflessness, and how some people can comfortably hold both in their heads simultaneously, I found some paragraphs from a Kierkegaard biography relevant. They are about true faith. They also made me think of Donald Trump.