Monday Night Follies at City Hall

Random Thoughts: Hostilities Terminated

2026-05-04:
May 1: Trump declared Iran hostilities ‘terminated’ in letter to Congress.
May 4: U.S. and Iran exchange fire in strait as Trump attempts to open shipping lane.
Who are you going to believe, Trump or your own lying eyes?

Zombie Zoning in the Auto District

Source: ZF 26-08 (enhanced by ChatGPT).

A zombie is shambling in Richardson, this time in the form of Zoning File 26-08. The City has a "Car Lots and Repair Shops District" that it insists on calling the "Interurban District" despite the fact that the City Council approves what feels like every zoning application for that district with an automotive use. The latest zombie incarnation is a property with three lots formerly owned by Clay Cooley Volkswagen. In 2024, the City Council, by a 4-3 vote, gave a special permit to Clay Cooley to operate a car repair shop there ("Council Recap: Sell Out for a Mural"). The question now is, will the City Council award a permit to another zombie? After all, zombies are notoriously difficult to kill.

POTD: Khiva at Night

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Itchan Kala, the walled inner town of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan. At night, as the heat gives way to cool breezes, the outdoor spaces of the city come alive. Outdoor dining fills the squares that are empty of people by day.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Juma Mosque, Khiva

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Juma Mosque in Khiva, Uzbekistan. It dates to the tenth century and was rebuilt in 1788, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken from ancient structures. It looks unused today because it's undergoing reconstruction yet again.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

What Has Stefani Carter Been Up To?

2013: Ringing Opening Bell on NYSE (Stefani Carter on left)

You may remember Stefani Carter. The former Texas state representative for parts of Richardson swept into office in the 2010 tea party wave. The ambitious politician who attempted to climb to statewide office (Texas Railroad Commission) in 2014 only to discover that the moneyed interests had other candidates in mind. Who then scrambled back to her legislative race in north Texas but lost her seat when GOP voters abandoned her in the primary for Linda Koop. Who then got a cushy job on the board of directors of Monty Bennett's hotel chain. Monty Bennett himself, one of the biggest supporters of right-wing political causes in Texas. You might know of his "newspaper", The Dallas Express (use of scare quotes intentional).

The last time we checked in on Stefani Carter was 2024, when we reported on why shareholders were upset with Monty Bennett's board for how they were running the company. She's in the news again, this time for resigning "without dispute" from the board of directors. There's no indication if she was given a going-away party.

The Fifth Element (1997)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Fifth Element (1997): Over-the-top, campy sci-fi cult movie. There's not so much a plot as a series of pointlessly absurd scenes. It is timeless escapism that's going to be re-released in July, 2026. D+

Netflix

#VeryTardyReview

Fackham Hall (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Fackham Hall (2025): English comedy about the Davenports, an aristocratic family trying to arrange a marriage to keep the manor house in the family after the death of Lord Davenport. Like a satire of Downton Abbey or Agatha Christie and a bit like Airplane, it's 90 minutes of non-stop gags, puns, slapstick, and bathroom humor. C-

HBO

Imperfect Women (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Imperfect Women (TV 2026): Three women, best friends since college. Everything changes one night when one is murdered. Plot twists abound as hidden secrets are revealed. But the tonal shifts of the women strains credulity, going from victims to suspects episode to episode like a soap opera. B-

AppleTV+

What Do Richardson and Gilmer Have in Common?

It takes about two hours of driving on I-20 into east Texas to get from Richardson to Gilmer. What do they have in common? At first glance, maybe nothing. Taking a closer look, maybe a lot.

POTD: Rooftop Dining in Khiva

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Itchan Kala, walled inner town of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan. As the sun sets, the desert air cools, and dining on the rooftop is a pleasant way to spend an evening on the Silk Road.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Baking Naan in Khiva

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Itchan Kala, the walled inner town of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan. From round, clay ovens called tandirs comes an aroma of fresh naan. Bakers, faces protected from the heat of the ovens, press round loaves of bread onto the hot clay walls of the tandir, where the the bread puffs and blisters from the intense heat. From the landscape to the architecture to the people, Khiva reminded me of Tatooine from Star Wars. (I mean that as a compliment.)

Bonus photos are after the jump.

Council Recap: Key to the City

Source: City of Richardson.

I've already covered the Richardson City Council's deliberation on applying for grants from CDBG and creating a UDC ("Council Recap: CDBG and UDC Spell PROGRESS").

The agenda also had an item for how to honor individuals or organizations. There were two parts. The first is awarding a "Key to the City." The second is namiing a City asset like a building after a person. At the time, I said I'd cover these when a final draft policy came back before council in a week or two for approval. But I don't expect the final policy to differ much from the draft policy we saw. The design of the "Key to the City", on the other hand,...

Council Recap: CDBG and UDC Spell PROGRESS

Let's celebrate. For the first time in a while, every substantive agenda item deliberated by the Richardson City Council had an outcome I liked. And I'm not easy to please, I know. The three topics were CDBG, UDC, and Naming Things. The first two will take a long time to implement. I'll cover those in this week's council recap. The third will be decided when it comes back to council in a week or two. I'll cover it at that time.

Rooster (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Rooster (TV 2026): Steve Carrell sitcom where he plays a professor at a small college where his daughter and his ex-wife also teach. Good ensemble cast. Nothing new in the formula. It's just a feel-good, throw-back sitcom trying to appeal to a wide audience. B+

HBO

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

Finally, progress on addressing housing needs in Richardson for Low and Middle Income families and on getting our Comprehensive Zoning Code aligned with the Envision Richardson Plan we spent so much effort on. It's about time. Two home runs.

Young Sherlock (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Young Sherlock (TV 2026): Definitely not canon. Hoped for more sleuthing and more exploration of Sherlock's early relationship with Mycroft and Moriarty, but if you ignore that this is a Sherlock Holmes story, you might like it just as a family-based crime/mystery story. B-

Prime

POTD: Itchan Kala

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Itchan Kala. According to Wikipedia, "Itchan Kala is the walled inner town of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan. Since 1990, it has been protected as a World Heritage Site. The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, dating primarily from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries."

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Ulli Hovli

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Ulli Hovli ("Big Yard"), a restored 17th-century Turkmen fortress-settlement located in Uzbekistan’s Khorezm region. Originally built by the Khan of Khiva as a fortified outpost to protect trade caravans, it has been transformed into a living museum and popular tourist complex. We stopped for lunch...and camel rides.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

Council Recap: Greenwood Park PD

The Undercurrents Beneath a Unanimous Yes

The Richardson City Council approved the Greenwood Park Planned Development (ZF 26-02) application. It will raze a nursing home and build 40 single-family detached homes. The City received 5 statements in support of the request and 3 that were neutral. No one spoke in person for or against. That sounds like a nothingburger matter for a city council. And in the end, it was a unanimous yes vote, but one that several council members seemed less than completely happy with.

Flock Cameras are Watching Us

Flock Safety is a growing surveillance company. They are growing by selling their mass surveillance camera system to cities around the country. The sales pitch on their website entices cities with, "Join the Largest Fixed LPR [License Plate Reader] Network. With billions of monthly plate reads, Flock connects communities, businesses and law enforcement in a shared network built to stop crime." LPR is a bit of a misleading term. The technology does a lot more than read license plates. Elsewhere in the sales pitch, it says, "No Plate? No Problem. Capture more detail with Vehicle Fingerprint® and Flock FreeForm®. Turn images into actionable evidence — no plate required." Flock's website even includes a helpful webinar: "How to Speak to City Councils: Meeting the Moment with Confidence." That gives me a sinking feeling that cities across America stand little chance against Flock's smooth-talking salesmen. You see, fighting crime is a higher priority for voters than protecting privacy. Because council members have to, in turn, sell the systems to voters, they end up talking like Flock salesmen themselves and maybe even believing the sales pitch wholesale.

Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026): A warm-hearted story of an aging woman, a broke young man, and an aquarium octopus, all trapped in sad circumances in life. A series of lucky coincidences lead them all to help each other. Adapted from the 2023 selection of "Richardson Reads One Book." B+

Netflix

Halftime Score from City Hall

Source: City of Richardson.

May 11, 2026, marks one year since the current Richardson City Council was sworn in. That's the halfway mark of the 2025-2027 term. It's time to look at how this City Council is working. So, I asked ChatGPT to analyze the votes taken by the council, looking for coalitions and opposing factions. There were only nine contested votes all year. That's a small sample. Any analysis is subject to swings on the very next vote. Nevertheless, I found ChatGPT's interpretation of the voting results to be worthy of consideration. The following was written by ChatGPT.

POTD: Ruins of Toprak-Kala

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the ruins of Toprak-Kala (1st-5th century CE). A thousand years before Marco Polo journeyed the Silk Road, ancient cities like Toprak-Kala flourished. Wikipedia calls it "an ancient palace city and the capital of Chorasmia in the 2nd/3rd century CE, where wall paintings, coins and archives were discovered." The city was built from sun-dried mud bricks (adobe).

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Mass Transit in Tashkent

From 2025 09 15 Tashkent

Today's photo-of-the-day is from an underground train station in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The trains are clean, frequent, and fast, one of the good legacies of Soviet times.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

Wuthering Heights (2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wuthering Heights (2026): Not Barbie meets Frankenstein. Instead, a passionate love/hate relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff on the foggy, rainy moor. All of the characters are unlikable. The 19th century story was loaded with sex for a 21st century audience. C+

HBO

Book Review: The Trouble with Heroes

From The Trouble with Heroes, by Kate Messner:

Amazon

"I’ve had plenty of mean teachers, the kind who just want you to shut up while they drink coffee and wait to retire, and I can deal with that just fine. It’s the nice ones you have to watch out for."

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best and most diverse dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores from inspections last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are inspected each and every month. Only those inspected last month are ranked here. Only the lowest scores are shown.

Traffic Snarl in North Texas (Government)

If you think traffic gets snarled, you should see the snarl developing in the alphabet soup of local government bodies intended to solve those problems. It's hard to say just what caused this current snarl in government, just like it is for many traffic snarls. But here is what I can see from my position way back here on the road.

POTD: Tashkent Luncheon

From 2025 09 15 Tashkent

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the kitchen at a luncheon in Tashkent at a Hilol-house, a Tashkent-based "Eastern house" offering traditional Uzbek cuisine, as well as master culinary workshops for national dishes.

---

"Saffron rice glows bright,
Tender lamb and carrots sweet,
Plov, the food of kings."
— h/t ChatGPT

POTD: Nuts and Fruits and Meat and Plov

From 2025 09 15 Tashkent

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It has everything. Nuts, and fruits and vegetables, meats, bread, and plov, Uzbekistan's legendary national dish.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

Random Thoughts: When Are We Going to Move On?

2026-04-01: Jason Kidd responds to Mark Cuban's comments on Luka Doncic trade: “When are we going to move on?”
Apparently not before Kidd himself moves on to another job. Why is he still in Dallas anyway?
dallasnews.com/sports/maverick...

Big Mistakes (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Big Mistakes (TV 2026): Family crime comedy. A dysfunctional, barely competent family falls into the clutches of the mob and every attempt to escape just leads to more trouble. Dan Levy stars as a closeted gay minister, with a stellar supporting cast. B+

Netflix

BAIT (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

BAIT (TV 2026): Six episode look at a struggling actor who bluffs his way into an audition to be the next James Bond. His self doubt leads to his life spiraling downwards. A satiric look at the price of fame. B-

Prime

Vladimir (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Vladimir (TV 2026): Drama/comedy about faculty sex and academic politics. John Slattery faces a disclipinary hearing for his me-too transgressions, while his wife Rachel Weisz is a professor with erotic fantasies about the younger new professor. Show avoids saying anything serious. C+

Netflix

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

May is Bike Month in Richardson!

Council working hard towards achieving silver-level bike-friendly designation while leveraging pedestrian and bike investments

Resident Alien (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Resident Alien (TV 2021): Alan Tudyk stars as an extraterrestrial who crash lands in a Colorado town and has to disguise himself as a human until he can repair his spacecraft. All of the humor relies on his awkward interactions with people in town. Mork did it better. B-

Netflix

#VeryTardyReview

POTD: Chorsu Bazaar

From 2025 09 15 Tashkent

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. According to Wikipedia, "it's a traditional bazaar located in the center of the old town. Under its blue-colored domed building, all daily necessities are sold. The modern building and the characteristic blue dome were designed in 1980, as a late example of Soviet Modernism style."

POTD: Uzbek Fashion

From 2025 09 15 Tashkent

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Hazrati Imam complex in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In one of the courtyards of a madrasa were a couple of racks of clothes, where a colorful, reversible jacket caught Ellen's eye.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Merrily We Roll Along (2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Merrily We Roll Along (2026): Sondheim musical filmed on stage. It flopped in 1981 but then won a Tony in 2024 for Best Revival. 30 year timeline that plays out backwards spoils the story. Music bridges the eras of classic 1950s musicals and modern tastes. B-

Netflix

"Some Concerns" about Drones

"The Richardson delivery system, which began at the end of last year, stirred some concerns about noise by attendees at a City Council meeting last month. At the event, Sam Bailey, senior manager at Amazon, said the company has been making adjustments to address concerns." — Brian Womack, Staff Writer, The Dallas Morning News.

That's what The Dallas Morning News said about the controversy over drones in Richardson as part of a new story about Amazon working to expand drone delivery in DFW.

Deadloch (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Deadloch (TV 2023): A serial killer terrorizes a small town in Tasmania. It's a whodunnit mystery mashed with film noir black comedy. At one point, the state police accuse every woman in town of being conspirators, leaving it up to the town's female senior sergeant to keep sleuthing. B+

Prime

#VeryTardyReview

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2024): Good movie, better novel. A man receives word that an old business acquaintance is dying, inspiring him to walk 500 miles to heal his friend, and he ends up healing himself. Quiet, earnest, warm-hearted tale. B+

Netflix

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

Project Hail Mary (2026): A sci-fi, save-the-world adventure. Also, a heartwarming, buddy comedy. A Ryan Gosling star vehicle. Maybe about 20 minutes too long, but overall, it's a fun watch with thought-provoking ideas about science and the nature of heroism. B+

In theatres

POTD: Hazrati Imam Complex

From 2025 09 15 Tashkent

Come with us as we walk through the doorway. This photo-of-the-day is from the Hazrati Imam complex in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It consists of a mosque, a couple of madrasas, and a mausoleum. The complex dates back to the 16th century. It houses the Caliph Usman Quran. Written on deerskin, it's one of the oldest Qurans in the world, maybe the oldest.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Traveling the Silk Road

From 2025 09 15 Tashkent

This first photo-of-the-day from a new destination is of the tourist information desk in the Tashkent, Uzbekistan, airport. Flying into Uzbekistan might sound like the end of a long trip, but it was nothing compared to the travels of Marco Polo in the 13th Century. He traveled the Silk Road of central Asia on his epic journey lasting 24 years. And to think he did it without once coming across a tourist information desk.

The Wheel's Voters Guide (May, 2026)

Early voting for the 2026 local elections in Texas begins April 20. Election Day is Saturday, May 2. Richardson voters will find their ballots to be long — 50 City Charter amendments and 5 City bonds. Richardson ISD voters will have a choice of trustees for at-large Richardson ISD Place 6, and for RISD voters in single-member District 3, another choice for trustee. Use Vote411.org to see your personalized ballot and nonpartisan information about each ballot item. Here exclusively, read on to learn how to vote.

TRON: Ares (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

TRON: Ares (2025): 1982's AI in a video game doesn't work in 2026. AI is so much different today. Here, the humanlike AI program escapes the digital world and is on the hunt in the real world. Plot is a mess. Characters are one-dimensional. I guess the CGI is good. C-

Disney+

Euan, Me & LSD

Euan, Me & ISD

Euan Blackman, candidate for Richardson ISD trustee, opposed the district's $750 million school bond election in 2021. Joining him in opposition was Lynn Strawn Davenport (LSD), herself a candidate for trustee in 2017. She lost. Despite their efforts, the district's voters passed the school bonds. In a 2022 article ("Forever InDEBTed"), LSD wrote, "My friend Euan Blackman and I have made the rounds speaking out against the big business of school bonds." In return, Blackman hosted LSD on his own podcast ("Euan, Me & ISD"), which went pretty much like you'd expect — a mutual admiration society meeting.

Monday Night Follies at City Hall