POTD: Alleyways of Chania

From 2022 11 01 Chania

This photo-of-the-day is from Chania, Crete, Greece. It shows a random door in a random alleyway. The old city is a delight to wander.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: Relaxing in Chania

From 2022 11 01 Chania

This photo-of-the-day is from the Greek port of Chania in Crete. Chania is sometimes called a Venetian port, not because of any canals or anything, but because the walls date back to the Venetians, who bought Crete for 100 silver marks in 1252. The site itself has been occupied since Neolithic times, too far back to document (7000 BCE). Now you can count us among the many, many people who have come through Chania, Crete, in its unimaginably long history. I doubt any had a more relaxing time than we did sitting on a bench in the old harbor.

65 (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

65 (2023): Survival tale in a jungle with dinosaurs. Astronaut and child crash land on Earth 65m yrs ago. Gee, what happens next? Unimaginative and predictable. Only astronaut speaks English, so all action, not dialog. A Quiet Place did that better. A waste of Adam Driver. C-

Transatlantic (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Transatlantic (TV 2023): True WWII story. A non-profit in southern France in 1940 works to get Jews to America. Opponents everywhere: Gestapo, Vichy France police, and even the American consul. Low budget (it shows). Too many characters. And, I'm afraid to say, too few Nazis. B-

#NoCasablanca

Council Recap: Food Truck, Police Radios, Massage

The Richardson City Council held a five hour marathon session Monday night. The first 90 minutes of it were taken up by a topic not even on the agenda: a possible NRA move to Richardson. I've covered that in "Richardson, Guns, and the NRA". Here I want to focus on the intended agenda, presentations, and Councilmembers' questions, comments, and policy suggestions. Oh, and one important fact check at the end.

Richardson, Guns, and the NRA

The Richardson City Council held a 5 hour marathon session Monday night. The first 90 minutes of it were taken up by a topic not even on the agenda: a possible NRA move to Richardson. That story was exaggerated in one direction before the meeting (that the NRA is coming to Richardson) and then exaggerated in the other direction afterwards (that the NRA is not coming to Richardson). In fact, according to the NRA itself, "Texas remains a preferred choice for a future HQ. That said, the NRA Board of Directors has not made any decision." For its part, State Farm issued a statement saying that they "are not actively marketing space for sublease at City Line." So, is the NRA coming to Richardson? Probably not, but nothing said by anyone rules out the possibility that it could still happen.

Sharper (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Sharper (2023): A caper movie where every time a new character is introduced, the caper changes, with a new villain and a new mark. By the end, it's anyone's guess who is going to come out on top. Plot gets more and more implausible, but it's a fun ride anyway. B-

How Richardson's New City Hall Went Wrong

U of Wis Humanities Building

The City of Richardson is in process of getting public input that will shape the design of a new City Hall. I'm here to report on lessons-learned from another building, new in 1969, from a university campus a thousand miles away that I always think of when I think about Richardson's own municipal campus. That building is the UW Humanities building on the campus of the University of Wisconsin—Madison. There are lessons for Richardson to learn from that building if you don't want to see a headline like the above sometime in the future.

POTD: Sicilian Ceramic Heads

From 2022 10 30 Mt Etna and Taormina

This photo-of-the-day shows typical Sicilian ceramic heads in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

According to legend, "there was a beautiful girl who loved to take care of flowers in her balcony. One day, while she was watering the flowers, a young Moor, who was walking in the street, saw her and fell in love at first sight...She didn’t know he was married...When she discovered the painful truth, in a rage, she cut off his head and used it as [an] ornamental vase for her balcony." (I know, legends often are very dark.)

Taormina is the setting for the second season of White Lotus. Fans of that show definitely should add Taormina to their bucket list of places to travel to. Its history goes back to ancient Greece.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: The Tallest Volcano in Europe

From 2022 10 30 Mt Etna and Taormina

This photo-of-the-day shows Mount Etna. It's an active volcano, by far the largest and tallest volcano in Italy. Its height varies from eruption to eruption, the last of which was in 2017. It's in Sicily, an island and a world apart from Italy.

A bonus photo is after the jump.