The Wheel: 2026

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on the street in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, where a pile of old binoculars and cameras was spread carelessly on a table. I wondered about all the images that appeared through their lenses in the years and decades gone by. And whose eyes had framed those images.

"A faded minaret—
the tourist who framed the shot
has faded as well."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, July 11, 2026

POTD: Bolo Hauz Mosque

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Bolo Hauz Mosque in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. According to Asian Historical Architecture, the mosque "stands opposite the Ark Fortress... Its name means 'above the pool', referring to the octagonal hauz, or artificial pond, located directly in front of it Begun in 1712, early in the reign of Abu'l-Faiz Khan (r. 1711-47), it is one of the last and finest of Bukhara's major buildings prior to the modern era."

"Pool mirrors the sky.
Carved wooden columns shimmer.
Ark watches silently."
— h/t ChatGPT

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

The Beast in Me (TV 2026)

The Beast in Me (TV 2026): Psychological thriller. Author with emotional scars gets a new neighbor, a billionaire who just might be a sociopathic murderer. Claire Danes is excellent trying to figure out what makes him tick. Matthew Rhys is excellent at keeping his secrets just out of reach. A-

Netflix

Monday, July 6, 2026

Council Recap: Public Money for Private Property

Source: City of Richardson.

The Richardson City Council met June 22, 2026. One of the topics reviewed was the "FY27 Matching Fund Beautification Project Requests". According to the city, citizens, businesses, civic groups, and HOAs may partner with COR to improve the landscape on public property. COR matches partner group funds 100%. COR maintains the landscape after project completion. Improvements often are made in parks, on medians, and at neighborhood entry points. So far, so good. So what was the City Manager asking City Council to provide direction on?

POTD: Kalyan Minaret

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The minaret was built in 1127. According to Wikipedia, "About a hundred years after its construction, legend has it that the tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when all around was destroyed by his men." The Mongols likely spared it because its height made it an incredibly valuable watchtower. "It is also known as the Tower of Death, because until as recently as the early twentieth century criminals were executed by being thrown from the top."

"Genghis spared the bricks.
Nine hundred years later on,
The story survives."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, July 4, 2026

POTD: A Living City on the Silk Road

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in central Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The domed bazaars are centuries old, yet vendors still sell goods beneath them. Covered markets provide shade. Thick masonry walls provide insulation from the sun. Narrow openings minimize direct sunlight. They are well adapted to a hot, dry, environment.

"Ancient market domes,
Children crossing sunlit square.
Centuries see all.
— h/t ChatGPT

Thursday, July 2, 2026

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.

Random Thoughts: Another Industry Wrecked by Trump

2026-06-01: Another industry wrecked by Trump.
Alt National Park Service: "The U.S. just had its worst year for international tourism since the pandemic and it wasn’t even close. While the rest of the world broke records in 2025, America was the only country out of 184 to see a drop in foreign visitor spending."
bsky.app/profile/altnps.bsky.s...

Voicemails for Isabelle (2026)

Voicemails for Isabelle (2026): Meet-cute rom-com. Mixup in phones leads to a man getting a stranger's voicemails. He falls for her, stalks her, and wins her heart. Implausible but watchable. B-

Netflix

Monday, June 29, 2026

Council Recap: 2036 Is Fast Approaching

Source: NTMWD.

The Richardson City Council met June 22, 2026, and heard a presentation by the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD), which supplies all of Richardson's water. One particular exchange highlighted a question NTMWD did not answer.

POTD: Heart of Bukhara

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in the heart of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, where historic spaces formed by centuries of trade and daily life come together by the Lyab-i Hauz, a broad stone-edged pond shaded by trees.

"Desert city rests,
Gathered around precious water
As it has for years."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, June 27, 2026

POTD: Food Truck in Bukhara

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. I don't know the story of this food truck. No one was minding it. I'm not going to make up a story. Instead, it's just an intriguing photo.

"Someone left in haste,
More likely just stepped away.
The photo won't tell."
— h/t ChatGPT

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Spider-Noir (TV 2026)

Spider-Noir (TV 2026): Mashup of superhero and gum-shoe detective genres. A Spider-Man origin story, the result of an evil WWII medical experiment. Nicholas Cage is more victim than hero. The look and feel is as dark as the story. B-

Prime

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Council Recap: Classic Transportation Conflict

"You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."
— attributed to Abraham Lincoln

The Richardson City Council met June 15, 2026, and reviewed the FY 2026-2027 Transportation and Mobility Work Plan. In my blog post ("Council Recap: Less is More"), I quoted Mayor Pro Tem Ken Hutchenrider, who expressed concern about bike club riding in northeast Richardson, where he lives. I didn't find his statement to be particularly productive. I found it repetitive and lacking in constructive suggestions. But I didn't have anything brilliant to contribute, either, so I decided to ask ChatGPT. Here is our condensed conversation.

Council Recap: Less is More

The Richardson City Council met June 15, 2026, and reviewed the FY 2026-2027 Transportation and Mobility Work Plan. I'm not going to review that here. If you are interested (and you should be), you can watch the whole discussion online. Here's what two of the council members had to say.

POTD: Ark of Bukhara

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Ark of Bukhara. According to Wikipedia, it's "a massive fortress located in the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, that was built in the 5th century CE. The Ark's current structure began to develop during the 16th century under the Shaybanid Uzbek dynasty, while all of its existing buildings were constructed in the last three centuries."

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Stop! State Border

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken along the banks of the Amu Darya, historically known as the Oxus River. It is the largest river in Central Asia, flowing through Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The oddest thing about the river (to me) is that it doesn't flow anywhere. Not to the ocean. Not even to an inland sea. Because of global warming and, even more, because of insatiable human demand for water for agriculture, today the Amu Darya just peters out in western Uzbekistan. Its mouth is in a dried-up area of what was once the Aral Sea.

This photo shows the desert the Amu Darya flows through. On this side is Uzbekistan. On the far side is Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan welcomes tourists. Turkmenistan, not so much. Signs warn visitors to stay on your side. Such has been life in Central Asia for millennia.

"Ancient Oxus flows,
Carrying mountains to dust.
No sea waits below."
— h/t ChatGPT

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Council Recap: Comply Narrowly or Surrender Broadly

Source: h/t ChatGPT.

The Richardson City Council met June 15, 2026, with an agenda that did not presage anything particularly comment-worthy. But public comments spurred discussion that proved me wrong. One was about water rates. One was about an unwelcome business in the neighborhood. And another was about the state overriding local control on zoning matters. Much of the night's deliberations turned on the same question: when Austin tells Richardson what it can no longer regulate, should the city comply narrowly or surrender broadly?

Money Heist (TV 2017)

Money Heist (TV 2017): Spain. Parts 1&2. The "Professor" recruits a team to rob the Royal Mint of 1 Billion Euros. It's more a melodramatic telenovela than a proper heist movie, and the police miss every opportunity to foil the plot, but that just keeps this fun story going. B+

Netflix

#VeryTardyReview

Monday, June 15, 2026

Greenland 2: Migration (2026)

Greenland 2: Migration (2026): Five years after the planet-killing comet, more disasters force our heroes out of their bunker and on a journey to a rumored paradise in France. Of course there are gun battles all along the way. No coherent plot, just a series of close escapes. C-

HBO Max

Sunday, June 14, 2026

POTD: Child Labor

Today's photo-of-the-day is of a child with a chisel cutting into a board in a courtyard in Khiva, Uzbekistan. So many questions. Shouldn't he be in school? How many hours a day does he do this work? How much does his finished work sell for in the market? I feel bad that I know so little about this. A short search with Google suggests that child labor during the cotton harvest used to be a significant problem, but by 2022, the international "Cotton Campaign" coalition announced it was ending its global boycott of Uzbek cotton after concluding that state-imposed forced labor in the cotton sector had largely been eliminated. Of course that is not what my photo is all about. It's about one child in a city making a wooden craft.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Cosplay in Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is of a passing parade of locals cosplaying Khiva nobility in Khiva, Uzbekistan.

"Gold embroidery
Glitters beneath smartphone screens.
Centuries collide."
— h/t ChatGPT

Thursday, June 11, 2026

Greenland (2020)

Greenland (2020): Disaster movie. Planet-killing meteor is headed towards Earth. A family embarks on a journey to Greenland seeking shelter in a government bunker for nuclear war. Civilization falls apart quickly. Nothing new here, but it does old perfectly well. B-

HBO Max

#VeryTardyReview

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Council Recap: The Car Repair Shop Lives

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

On June 8, 2026, the Richardson City Council approved a special development plan and special permits for the motor vehicle body shop and motor vehicle storage lot in the Interurban District, including all City Plan Commission conditions such as fence screening so vehicles are not visible from public view and completion of required improvements within 180 days of the ordinance's effective date. The vote was unanimous.

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

"I wish I knew how to quit you" — Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) to Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain.

Years and Years (TV 2019)

Years and Years (TV 2019): Set beginning in 2019, this drama follows an extended British family through the dystopian 2020s. It's part family drama, part political thriller, part sci-fi. Watching it in 2026 (midway through its fictional setting) shows how it got some things right, and how we can still fulfill its misses. B+

HBO

#VeryTardyReview

Sunday, June 7, 2026

POTD: Public Art on the Silk Road

Today's photo-of-the-day is of a sculpture in Khiva, Uzbekistan. It shows a camel train on the ancient Silk Road.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Minarets in Khiva

Today's photo-of-the-day is a selection of minarets in Khiva, Uzbekistan. The largest is unfinished. The ruler of Khiva, Muhammad Amin Khan, ordered construction of the minaret in 1852. He wanted it to be the tallest minaret in Central Asia, possibly 70-80 meters. Muhammad Amin Khan was killed in 1855 during a military campaign, and construction stopped. The political turmoil that followed meant nobody resumed the expensive project.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

Solos (TV 2021)

Solos (TV 2021): Sci-fi anthology series. Not a drama as much as character studies of seven compelling people each in their own world. The premise of each episode is set up, but nothing much happens after that. B-

Prime

#VeryTardyReview

Thursday, June 4, 2026

The Boroughs (TV 2026)

The Boroughs (TV 2026): Sci-fi. A group of residents in a senior-living community have to investigate what's behind a string of deaths. It's like Stranger Things except instead of kids, its senior citizens who are the heroes. The story doesn't quite make sense, but that's not the point in these stories. B+

Netflix

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

Monday Night Follies at City Hall

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

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

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)

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

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Fackham Hall (2025)

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

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Imperfect Women (TV 2026)

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+

Monday, May 25, 2026

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

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

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)

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, May 18, 2026

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)