Binge Watching the RISD School Board

After the sturm und drang of school politics in 2021, I was looking for things to settle down in 2022. So I thought it was time to check in on a Richardson ISD school board meeting. Here are my random observations of the first three hours of the February 15th meeting. Yeah, it was a long meeting. Watching it felt a little like binge-watching a not-particularly-compelling season of a TV show on Netflix.

Death on the Nile (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Death on the Nile (2022): Kenneth Branagh's homage to Agatha Christie. An old time whodunnit with no emotional stakes. Look elsewhere for an anti-colonialist message film. This is just a romp in 1937 Egypt with a bunch of rich foreigners played by a cast of rich celebrities. B+

The Book of Boba Fett (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Book of Boba Fett (TV 2021): Was a bounty hunter, now a crime boss on Tatooine, or maybe a frontier sheriff. We're never sure. Then we switch to the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. Battle tactics are laughable. Plot is there to justify screen time for old Star Wars characters. C+

Drive My Car (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Drive My Car (2021): Japanese. Wife of stage actor/director dies suddenly. Husband deals with unanswered questions with help of a Chekhov play, fellow actors, and a young woman assigned to be his driver. The action is in their heads. Layers of symbolism. Sad. Wise. Powerful. A-

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021): Too many monsters/villains. Too many battles where no one wins, no one dies. Best part is the banter, at times sounding like a parody. Electro: "There's gotta be a Black Spider-Man out there somewhere." Needs more banter. Needs Miles Morales? B-

POTD: Wall Carvings in the Tomb of Rameses III

From 2019 11 22 Valley of the Kings

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It was taken inside the tomb of Rameses III. The tomb is richly decorated with wall carvings and paintings. "During his long tenure [1186 to 1155 BCE] in the midst of the surrounding political chaos of the Late Bronze Age collapse, Egypt was beset by foreign invaders and experienced the beginnings of increasing economic difficulties and internal strife which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Twentieth Dynasty."

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: The Main Draw in the Valley of the Kings

From 2019 11 22 Valley of the Kings

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. It was taken at the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun ("King Tut"). This tomb is the only one of the several dozen tombs in the valley that was discovered intact by modern archaeologists, in 1922. All the others had been looted long ago. Of course, the modern archaeologists emptied Tut's tomb as well (we no longer say looted), all but for one item, Tut's mummy. I had to admit that the boy king looked pretty good for being 3,351 years old.

Bonus photo of the king himself after the jump.

Fargo - S01 (TV 2014)

Rotten Tomatoes

Fargo - S01 (TV 2014): Winter in Bemidji, Minnesota, where a mousy insurance salesman accidentally hires a hit man. Dead bodies pile up as things go from bad to worse. Engrossing black comedy with a large cast of quirky characters. I can't think of a thing to improve it. A+

#VeryTardyReview

Sweet Jesus, $47 Million? Partial Payment Request

The weekly Richardson City Council agendas are a rich source for conspiracy theories. An especially rich vein are the descriptions of the topics to be discussed in the secret Executive Sessions. Monday's agenda has this tantalizing nugget: "Consultation with City Attorney regarding JP — KBS Holdings, LLC Payment Request".

Parallels to Richardson in "The Accommodation"

"The Accommodation," Jim Schutze's classic 1986 history of race relations in Dallas, was reviewed here yesterday. Richardson is only mentioned a few times in the book, peripherally. Still, several paragraphs from the book reminded me of Richardson.