OTBR: The Devil's Bread in the Czech Republic

Latitude: N 49° 06.066
Longitude: E 015° 13.356

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Columbia River Gorge

From 2014 11 08 Columbia Gorge

I knew the Columbia was a major river between Oregon and Washington. I knew gorge meant canyon, but probably smaller. That's really all I knew of the Columbia River Gorge. Planning to visit Portland, I Googled it. That turned up some photos, pretty but nothing a must-see. Or so I thought. Then I visited. Seeing the Columbia River Gorge in person is so much better than the pictures. The Historic Columbia River Highway threads through forests and around cliffs and past waterfalls. The 620-foot high Multnomah Falls is spectacular. So, in short, yes, the Columbia River Gorge is a must-see.

More photos after the jump.

Repeat Tweets: Stefani Carter Says Goodbye

Repeat tweets from November, 2014:

• Nov 2 2014: "I lost my seat, partly because my consultants encouraged me to run for higher office." Stefani Carter, taking ownership for poor decisions.
  
• Nov 10 2014: Shouldn't Dallas Morning News say somewhere that Richardson Real Heroes is a product of a political action committee? yourrichardson.dallasnews.com
  
• Nov 10 2014: "Are The Concerns About Water Fluoridation Legit?" Short answer: No. fivethirtyeight.com
  
• Nov 10 2014: Headline: "The Chicago Bears are dead. The Green Bay Packers killed them." Almost as satisfying as a Super Bowl win. ftw.usatoday.com
  

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Fort Worth Parade of Lights

From 2014 11 28 Fort Worth Parade of Lights

After enjoying the Fort Worth Water Gardens, we wandered up Main Street to the Tarrant County Courthouse, then back to Sundance Square where we had a sandwich before the parade. We took our seats just as the parade reached our spot on the parade route. The Parade of Lights is a notch above Richardson's Christmas Parade, but not as big a notch as you might expect. It's the lights that create the illusion of a bigger show. My favorite moment was when the lighted and decorated fire truck from Haslet, Texas, went by and someone behind us said, "I didn't even know we had a fire truck." Still, Fort Worth's Parade of Lights is fun to attend as is Richardson's Christmas Parade (Saturday, December 6, 9:00 am, Plano Rd). Now I can check Fort Worth's Parade of Lights off my bucket list and I didn't even know it was on the list in the first place.

More photos after the jump.

Fort Worth Water Gardens in Autumn

From 2014 11 28 Fort Worth Water Gardens

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday for some. For us, on the spur of the moment, we decided to go to Fort Worth to see the annual Parade of Lights. To beat the last minute traffic and parking jams, we arrived in plenty of time to stroll around downtown, starting with Philip Johnson's Fort Worth Water Gardens. It's been years since we were there. It's still impressive. I still think of it as the futuristic city in the science fiction film Logan's Run, which was filmed there in 1975.

More photos after the jump.

Now is Good (2012)

IMDB

Now is Good (2012): Girl with cancer and a bucket list touches lives despite her hard exterior. Formulaic. Checks every tear-jerker box. C+

Review: The Worst Hard Time

Amazon

From The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan:

Ike Osteen's life spans the flu epidemic of 1918, the worst depression in American history, and a world war that ripped apart the globe. Nothing compares to the black dusters of the 1930s, he says, a time when the simplest thing in life -- taking a breath -- was a threat."

After the jump, my review.

High School Basketball Tips Off

From 2014 11 25 Coppell vs Berkner

Now that the last notes of Gridiron Echoes have faded away, it's time for basketball. The Berkner Rams boys basketball team has a growing reputation to live up to. Last season, they had an overall record of 24-8, were District 9-5A co-champions and had a deep run in the state tournament. There were about 250 Class 5A schools in Texas in 2013-2014. Berkner made it to the final sixteen. Sweet!

Now it's a new season, a new district, a new roster, and new challenges. After the jump, the Berkner Rams take on the Coppell Cowboys in a non-district game.

Burt's Buzz (2013)

IMDB

Burt's Buzz (2013): Man behind the lip balm. Unambitious man lives alone in the woods. Icon not tycoon. Movie never gets below surface. C+

Eastside Gives Up on Mixed-Use

Eastside Gives Up on Mixed-Use. That's not what Steve Brown says, but it would be an accurate headline for his story in The Dallas Morning News, despite his own characterization of plans at Eastside as "mixed-use":

Developers in Richardson have disclosed details of the first phase of a prominent new mixed-use development on North Central Expressway.
The planned apartment and office project is part of the Eastside development located near the southeast corner of North Central and Campbell Road.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

After the jump, why the Eastside expansion is not mixed-use.