Random Thoughts: "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining."

Tweets from August, 2022:

• 2022-08-01: Richardson moved forward with the taking of park land for construction of a 5 million gallon water tank. The City Manager describes this loss of park land as a "win-win" situation. As the old saying goes, "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining."
• 2022-08-01: The applicant, anticipating another rejection, withdrew the application for student housing near UT-Dallas. I hate telling UT-Dallas students to hang on a little longer. It's obvious that housing for students is not a priority of this City Council.
• 2022-08-01: Irony. Kentucky Noah's Ark sues insurance company over damage caused by heavy rains - CBS News.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: Russians Win the Space Race to the Moon

Tweets from July, 2022:

• 2022-07-05: For All Mankind - S01 (TV 2019): Alternative history of NASA where Russians win the Space Race to the Moon. A few references to alternative facts that people familiar with history will appreciate, but also a lot of soap opera storylines and convenient plot developments. B-
• 2022-07-07: Review: Sea of Tranquility: A time travel story in which a glitch in time brings centuries together. And sends characters from earlier novels into alternate timelines. These stories slowly weave together into a mesmerizing whole. B+
• 2022-07-10: In a world of Jenna Ellises, be a Simone Biles.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: The Lincoln Lawyer

Tweets from June, 2022:

• 2022-06-01: The Lincoln Lawyer (TV 2022): A David E. Kelley courtroom drama fit for 1980's network television. The cast of characters has all the usual stereotypes. The plot is full of as many holes as twists. Whodunnit? Everyone. Watch Goliath instead. C+
• 2022-06-02: In gun-crazy Texas, Gov Abbott's idea is a good way to get shot.
• 2022-06-03: We Feed People (2022): Ron Howard doc about chef Jose Andres and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen. His focus? Feeding people, not raising money. It turns out that running a restaurant kitchen is good training for managing natural disasters. Inspiring. Watch, then donate. B+
• 2022-06-05: Today's Trump fundraising email: "BRAND NEW TRUMP GOLF BALLS." My suspicions are immediately raised. Has he been selling used golf balls in the past?
• 2022-06-05: Do you know what would show they really mean it? Withholding some of those "Big $" from GOP politicians until they pass common sense gun regulations.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: Holiday Pro-Tip for May Poles

Tweets from May, 2022:

• 2022-05-01: Holiday Pro-Tip: If, like me, you forgot to buy a May Pole again this year, repurpose that Festivus Pole in your attic. Only you will know the difference.
• 2022-05-02: RISD's Eron Linn (who won't see this because he's blocked me) is running a quiet campaign for re-election. He raised little money. Endorsements on his website haven't been updated since 2019. The last time an incumbent lost an election was Jim Herblin in 1995. Deja vu?
• 2022-05-03: The US Supreme Court is intent on returning women to a status of second-class citizens under the US Constitution, despite a hundred years of rulings gradually recognizing women's right to rights given to men. In 2022, they're about to lose the right to control their own bodies.
• 2022-05-04: Latest fundraising email from DJTjr has the subject: "My father does not care what they think. He never has and never will." On the contrary, there's never been a more thin-skinned politician than Donald Trump.
• 2022-05-05: Severance (TV 2022): Sci-fi mystery. Ever wish you could free your mind of work when you leave the office? With Lumon's mind chip you can. Four co-workers grow suspicious. Show is slow to reveal what's going on, even slower why, setting up Season 2. Equally devious and absurd. B-

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: 1950 Census Has Been Released!

Tweets from April, 2022:

• 2022-04-01: 1950 Census has been released! Woot for everyone over 72.
• 2022-04-02: "In 2019, Mike Tyson said on Joe Rogan's podcast that, ever since smoking toad, he's 'never been the same.' " If there's a straight line with more openings for a punchline than this one, I haven't seen it.
• 2022-04-04: The Bubble (2022): Judd Apatow comedy about making a movie in a pandemic quarantine. The bubble's isolation eventually cracks everyone. Pokes fun at actors, directors, producers, social media influencers, (crew escapes unscathed), all with characters immediately forgettable. C-
• 2022-04-04: I just got an email from Trump that I can't figure out. "Friend, This has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. As THE TOP donor, I've texted you 3000% more. Do you want to stay on top?" Then it says, "CONTRIBUTION STATUS: PENDING. DEADLINE: IMMEDIATELY."
  Is he losing it?
• 2022-04-04: Steve Brown has a job with DMN copy-and-pasting developers' press releases into the newspaper. Nice work if you can get it.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

POTD: The Sentinels

The Sentinels, by Carolyn Chilton Casas

How the trees have grown
around us,
with a surplus of winter
and spring rains.
...
The trees form a sacred den,
shelter us from external elemental ravages.
Sentinels of sentient existence,
wise keepers cradling
my spirit in their limbs.

Source: The Sentinels.

Random Thoughts: Gov. Greg Abbott Hates Kids

Tweets from March, 2022:

• 2022-03-01: Gov. Greg Abbott hates kids.
• 2022-03-03: Email from Trump: "While the Radical Left and Lamestream Media are working overtime to turn the Nation against me, it's important that you know that I've never cared what they think. I only care what you think, Friend." How do I tell him that I think the same?
• 2022-03-03: The Kings Man (2021): A prequel no one needed. WWI fan fiction. British aristocratic spy puts himself in the center of every important event of WWI. Really bad history. Over the top, but not in a knowing, wink-wink way. Probably baffling to many. A waste of time. C-
• 2022-03-04: The Courier (2021): Cold War spy movie. Benedict Cumberbatch is a businessman recruited to smuggle secrets out of USSR. Game gets riskier as his friendship with a Russian spy grows. Not a James Bond action movie. Instead it's based on real life, meaning the stakes are real. B+
• 2022-03-05: We have at least one candidate for Richardson ISD school board trustee running on that claim.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

POTD: Living Solar Panels

Living Solar Panels, by Ash Gardner

Trees can live for five thousand years.
The oldest ones saw the birth of Cleopatra.
The astronauts, the moon landings.
They are living solar panels.

No-one can speak to the sun.
We can't understand what it is saying.
It speaks in wavelengths we can't interpret.
But trees and corals will translate it for everyone.

Source: Living Solar Panels.

POTD: The Swing

The Swing, by Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,
   Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
   Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
   Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
   Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,
   Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
   Up in the air and down!

Source: The Swing.

Random Thoughts: Tom Brady's Retirement

Tweets from February, 2022:

• 2022-02-01: Local New York City TV station news announces Tom Brady's retirement. How a news story can be true but still slanted at the same time.
• 2022-02-01: One of my several daily emails from Donald Trump: "I have something important to tell you but you CANNOT share this with anyone." DON'T tell TFG, but I'm going to share. I can buy a lottery ticket for a lunch at Mar-a-Lago. Do any of these lotteries ever award anything to anyone?
• 2022-02-01: Gov. Abbott in nice weather and Gov. Abbott staring at a winter storm. Different stories then and now.
• 2022-02-02: Munich: The Edge of War (2022): Dramatization of Munich Conference on eve of WWII. Fictional characters and events turn it into a thriller and add suspense. Neville Chamberlain gets an overdue sympathetic treatment. Hitler is still a monster. Good acting throughout. B+
• 2022-02-02: Fact check: Quote tweeted by GOP congressman came from neo-Nazi convicted for child porn, not Voltaire. Uh oh. Pro-tip: If a quote from a famous historical figure sounds like it's perfect to make your point, it's probably fake.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: Just a Ploy for More Money

Tweets from January, 2022:

• 2022-01-01: "Dallas recorded a 13% drop in homicides in 2021." Wait, what? Didn't the National Fraternal Order of Police just scream about "SKYROCKETING MURDER RATES." You don't think it was just a ploy for more money, do you?
• 2022-01-02: Guys, ask yourselves, "Have I told my wife even once this year, I love you?"
• 2022-01-03: RT: "Donald Trump releases a statement endorsing Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán for re-election, saying he 'truly loves his Country.'". A good pairing to my blog post about Anne Applebaum's article in The Atlantic: "The Bad Guys are Winning."
• 2022-01-04: Don't Look Up (2021): Two astronomers detect a comet headed towards Earth and can't convince anyone to care. Of course, half of America consider it Fake News. A satire that doesn't quite land because today's reality is satire. If it hits, we'll deserve it. Loaded with stars. B-
• 2022-01-05: The Matrix Resurrections (2021): Tired franchise resurrected with nothing new to add. Lots of dialog about how dead characters are alive again. Token "bullet time" fights. Overstuffed with world-building. No chemistry between Neo and Trinity. Keanu Reeves's hair is still good. C+

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: House of Gucci

Tweets from December, 2021:

• 2021-12-02: House of Gucci (2021): More or less true story of business troubles of Gucci brand brought on by family infighting (and some tax evasion). Part satire, part camp. More than a little over-the-top acting. Jared Leto goes too far. Adam Driver not far enough. Lady Gaga is perfect. B+
• 2021-12-03: The Power of the Dog (2021): Set on a remote ranch in 1925 Montana owned by two brothers, one a bully, the other with a new wife and a bookish son. Like a kettle on a hot stove, the tension slowly builds to a climactic boil. The mystery at heart is what drives the characters. B+
• 2021-12-05: In the 1996 election campaign, Bob Dole expressed his frustration that his campaign's attempt to paint Bill Clinton as a randy snake gained no traction. Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign succeeded in painting Dole as an out-of-touch old man. In hindsight, the voters were stupid.
• 2021-12-06: The Curse of Von Dutch (TV 2021): Documentary of a clothing brand that became wildly popular in the early 2000s, then flamed out. The people behind it were an odd assortment of losers, crazies, double-crossers, and even a killer or two. All get to tell their side here. C-

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: Every Strategy All At Once

Tweets from November, 2021:

• 2021-11-01: I expected this under Trump. I didn't expect his influence to last this long. "U.S. is now running an uncontrolled experiment with every strategy all at once. COVID-19 policies differ wildly by state, county, university, workplace, and school district."
• 2021-11-01: Greg Abbott's dance. Move far to the right to compete with DeSantis nationally and to fend off primary challenges in Texas. But don't move so batshit crazy right that moderate Texans shift to Beto. It's a careful dance. And he's doing it all from a wheel chair.
• 2021-11-01: "What we're teaching our kids to do is quit." — Coach Gary Patterson of TCU in 2018, not in 2021, when he ...well...quit.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: A Look at Redistricting

Tweets from October, 2021:

• 2021-10-01: A look at redistricting...102 Ana Marie Ramos is safely D. (Richardson south of Belt Line). 112 Angie Chen Button leans R. (Richardson Dallas Co. north of Belt Line). 33 Justin Holland is safely R. (east Richardson Collin Co).
• 2021-10-02: An overtime thriller, Berkner over Pearce 34-32. Three, four, five overtimes, any way you count it, a thriller.
• 2021-10-02: Technically, I guess it was five overtimes. Whew! Tell the kids that's what all the August conditioning is for.
• 2021-10-02: Headline: "An American tragedy: US COVID death toll tops 700,000." I can't work up any sympathy for anti-vaxers and anti-maskers. I'm all out.
• 2021-10-02: Recent Covid-19 deaths. There's a vaccine that saves lives. Get it.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: History Has a Way of Creating Coincidences

Tweets from September, 2021:

• 2021-09-02: History has a way of creating coincidences that no fiction writer would dare. On August 31, America abandoned Afghanistan women to the Taliban. The very next day, the US Supreme Court abandoned American women to the Texas Taliban.
• 2021-09-02: President Trump taught us that he could do anything without consequence because no one would stop him. SCOTUS learned it can do anything because no one will stop them. Congress won't, even though Dems have power to. So, blame GOP for all this, but Dems share a bit for letting them.
• 2021-09-03: Starstruck (TV 2021): Romcom. Jessie, a struggling working woman in London, meets Tom, a movie star. Opposites attract. Instant chemistry. But she can't let herself be happy. Jessie is high maintenance. How you react to the series depends on your reaction to Rose Matafeo. B-
• 2021-09-03: Texas GOP used to operate on the theory that too many people were suing for anything and everything. "Texans for Lawsuit Reform" bought themselves a legislature to end that. Now GOP has decided that radically expanding who can sue is actually a good thing.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: When Myth and History Merge

Tweets from August, 2021:

• 2021-08-02: The Green Knight (2021): Adaptation of middle English Arthurian epic about Sir Gawain's quest. True to spirit of poem if not the details. A fantasy whose sets, lighting, pacing, and feel make the legends seem real and not just a CGI recreation. When myth and history merge. B+
• 2021-08-04: Katla (TV 2021): Iceland. Volcanic eruption leads to strange things on a glacier. Dead people and clones come to life. What's going on? A sci-fi mystery and a study of loss and grief. It's bleak, gritty, and slow. In the end, it all comes together in a satisfactory resolution. B-
• 2021-08-04: Review: Paved A Way: Freedman's Cemetery, Deep Ellum, Little Mexico, Tenth Street, Fair Park. The history of Dallas through highway development, urban renewal, and their destructive effects on communities of color. An essential read to know why the city is the way it is. B+
• 2021-08-05: Palm Springs (2021): A bit of a nihilist (Andy Samberg) is trapped in a time loop. Then another guest at the wedding (Cristin Milioti) gets trapped. To surprise of both, romance blooms. Not original but it's fresh and fun. A worthy successor to Groundhog Day and Russian Doll. B+
• 2021-08-05: Governor Andrew Cuomo's big political mistake was not being a Republican. If he were, he'd be a hero partying at Mar-a-Lago right now.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: Highs in the 80s in Texas in July

Tweets from July, 2021:

• 2021-07-01: I agree, Pete Delkus. Highs in the 80s in Texas in July are pretty amazing. Now say something about global warming. Be sure to mention that Portland, Oregon, now has a hotter all-time high temperature than Dallas, Texas.
• 2021-07-02: Headline: "Olympic sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson suspended one month after marijuana test." I didn't know marijuana was a performance enhancing drug. If it is, all the warnings about it when I was in school were a big fat lie.
• 2021-07-02: Gary Slagel has filed to run for Congress against Colin Allred. Expect Richardson to suffer a black eye as Slagel's history gets rehashed: CapitalSoft and StarTech, Richardson's bridge to Fossil Watch, Slagel's donation to Ill. Gov Rod Blagojevich before winning a govt. contract.
• 2021-07-03: No Sudden Move (2021): A heist movie set in Detroit in 1954. The object is engineering drawings. Or a mobster's code book. It doesn't matter. Neither do the plot twists. Just try to figure out who the bad guys are. The film noir feel more than makes up for a convoluted plot. B+
• 2021-07-05: I used to think American democracy was resilient. To survive 245 years, there had to be a stable super-majority who believed in democracy. I no longer have faith in that. I now believe close to half of Americans would trade democracy for autocracy to get their way in politics.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Random Thoughts: Failings of Just in Time Manufacturing

Tweets from June, 2021:

• 2021-06-01: "Global Shortages During Coronavirus Reveal Failings of Just in Time Manufacturing." The business revolution of the 20th Century came by concentrating risk in supply chains. We've reached the natural end state: "It all cascades. It's just a mess."
• 2021-06-02: Mare of Easttown (TV 2021): Outstanding whodunit. Plenty of suspects, all kept in the game until the last episode. But more, it's a story of unresolved grief that comes between Mare (Kate Winslet) and her ex-husband, her daughter, her daughter-in-law and her job. Emmy worthy. A-
• 2021-06-02: I care less about where donations come from than who they come from. That a non-profit for developing leaders in education equity thinks highly enough of Amanda Clair to donate just affirms my decision to support her. Chris Poteet attacking her for it is disappointing.
• 2021-06-03: I am proud of Lake Highlands valedictorian Paxton Smith speaking up for women's rights, and proud of RISD for allowing her the freedom to speak.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Action Required: Email Subscription Change

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Random Thoughts: Look Beyond Dallas County to Know Who Won

Tweets from May, 2021:

• 2021-05-02: Look beyond the Dallas County vote to know who won the election (or made the run-off anyway). Daniel Burdette beat Marilyn Frederick in Dallas County, but it was the reverse in Collin County, so Frederick will face Arefin Shamsul in a run-off for Richardson City Council.
• 2021-05-03: There's something deeply wrong with an American political party that tolerates collusion with Russian interference in US elections, but wants nothing to do with vaccination against a pandemic disease.
• 2021-05-04: Trying to shoehorn English into the rules of Latin makes no more sense than the Star Wars nerds who try to speak English with the speech patterns of Yoda of Dagobah: "Backward run sentences 'til reels the mind."

After the jump, more random thoughts.