Monday, December 9, 2024

Council Recap: Charter Review Commission

On December 2, 2024, the Richardson City Council appointed eleven members to a Charter Review Commission, as required by law every ten years. Details on the 2014 amendments can be read in "Charter Amendments: Vote Yes AND No".

Let's examine the new ommission members for 2024.

Sunday, December 8, 2024

POTD: Hattusa "Wish Stone"

"Temples in ruins
in the Anatolian sun.
Stone's secret persists."


— h/t ChatGPT
From 2024 05 10 Hattusha

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the ruins of Hattusa, in central Turkey. Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age (c. 3300 — c. 1200 BCE). The remains of at least thirty-one temples survive at Hattusa. The Green Stone is a roughly cubic block of nephrite standing in the remains of the Great Temple. It is believed to have had some religious use or purpose, but what that may have been is unknown. The local inhabitants call the stone a "wish stone" and attribute to it magical wish-granting properties. It's amazing to me how little information remains of one of the world's largest empires of antiquity. And how people, even today, use magic to explain phenomena they don't understand.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Saturday, December 7, 2024

POTD: Anitkabir

"Ascend marble steps
To Atatürk's resting place,
Eternal repose."


— h/t ChatGPT
From 2024 05 09 Ankara

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Anitkabir, the mausoleum complex in Ankara, Turkey, containing the final resting place of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Friday, December 6, 2024

La Maison (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

La Maison (TV 2024): French. Fashion design house faces existential threats: scandal, succession, and a takeover attempt by a rival. Competition is less on the runway and more in the boardroom and the bedroom. It's soap opera, not prestige drama. C+

AppleTV+

Thursday, December 5, 2024

Wicked (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Wicked (2024): Didn't live up to expectations. Last 45 minutes of action, music, and storytelling were great, but first 90 minutes (Shiz University) was more "where is this going?" I buy Elphaba's back story of being discriminated against because she's green, but Glinda as a sheltered and privileged airhead? No way. B-

In theaters