Voicemails for Isabelle (2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

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

From 2025 09 19 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

POTD: Food Truck in Bukhara

From 2025 09 19 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

Spider-Noir (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

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

From 2025 09 19 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

From 2025 09 19 Bukhara

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.

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

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)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

Greenland 2: Migration (2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

POTD: Child Labor

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

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

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

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

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

Greenland (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

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)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

POTD: Public Art on the Silk Road

From 2025 09 17 Khiva

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

From 2025 09 17 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)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

The Boroughs (TV 2026)

Rotten Tomatoes

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

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.

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.