POTD: View from the Top

"At Africa's edge,
Mountain shadows kiss the sea.
Cape Town's sentinel."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

Today's photo-of-the-day is the view from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Full disclosure: We took the cableway to the top. We didn't hike or climb.

Click for a bonus photo.

Feud: Bette and Joan (TV 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Feud: Bette and Joan (TV 2017): Voyeuristic look at two fading movie stars working (and feuding) on and off a movie set. Watching this felt like slowing down to gawk at a traffic accident. Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon are great, maybe because they know what it is to be fading movie stars. B-

Hulu

#VeryTardyReview

Council Recap: Interurban at the Crossroads

On August 12, 2024, the Richardson City Council deliberated an application by Clay Cooley VW to add a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot on their property in the Interurban District. Clay Cooley VW's vision is for a car-centric business located along a busy freeway. The City's vision for the district is at odds with that. There's already a major mixed-use development underway just south of this site, Belt+Main, for which Clay Cooley VW's dealership will act as a blockade against extension of that mixed-use neighborhood to the north.

Spoiler alert. After ninety minutes of deliberation, the City Council continued the hearing until September 23 to give the applicant time to...to do what, exactly? Mayor Bob Dubey punted that question to City Manager Don Magner, saying, "Don, would you please tell the applicant what we're asking him here?" And Magner punted that question to tomorrow morning, saying, "I think if it'd be okay with the applicant, I can follow up tomorrow, and we can put our thoughts together and give you some clear direction."

Council Recap: Imagine the Sky Full of Signs

On August 12, 2024, the Richardson City Council unanimously approved a variance from the existing sign control ordinance that limits sign heights to 20 feet. Clay Cooley VW wants its pole sign to be raised to 39' 7". In July, in a meeting that lasted only 5 minutes from gavel to gavel, a recommendation to approve the request was passed unanimously by the Sign Control Board (an oxymoronic name).

My Lady Jane (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

My Lady Jane (TV 2024): Henry VIII's kids (Edward, Mary, Elizabeth, and cousin Lady Jane Grey) vie for the throne. Alternate history that doesn't take itself seriously. Instead of religious war, there are Ethians (animal/human shape-shifters) vs Verities (normal humans). It took time to figure it all out, but when I did, it was a fun watch. B+

Prime

Council Recap: Budget Workshop

The Richardson City Council held two days of meetings to hear City Manager Don Magner present his recommendations for the 2024-2025 City budget. Highlights taken from the City's own slides:

• Property tax rate reduction of $.01877 to $0.542180
• Senior Tax Exemption increase of $15,000 to $145,000
• 3.95% increase in Streets, Alleys, Facilities and Parks Maintenance Programs
• 3.95% increase in the Economic Development Fund to $2,076,659; an increase in Economic Development Department funding of $78,434 to $1,280,818 (does not include the marketing position reassigned to the Communications Department)
• $1.9M for Home Improvement Incentive Program tax rebates
• $3.84 million in funding for pay-as-you-go capital replacements and $1.56 million for the IT replacement fund
• 3.0% merit-based market pay plan adjustment for all employees
• An increase the minimum starting salary for full-time and permanent part-time positions to $19.45
• Continued investment in public safety via 5.0% public safety steps, capital equipment replacement, mental health programs, expanded community programming, etc.
• Funding for Richardson Replants, ADA Transition Plan, Housing Needs Assessment, Citizen (CARES/CPA/CFA) and Neighborhood Association Programs, Network/Counseling Place support, Culturally Diverse Programming and Events
• 3.0% water and sewer rate increase
• $2.00 (+tax) per month rate increase to the residential solid waste rate
• $1.00 per month increase to the residential drainage fee to $5.25 per month
• Commercial drainage fee increase from $0.119 per 100 square feet of impervious area to $0.147 per 100 square feet
• Annual Arts Grants funding increased to $375,000
• Several fee adjustments to better position Sherrill Park to cover operational costs, equipment needs and fund a capital maintenance reserve
• Implementation of Phase 2 & 3 of Sherrill Park Master Plan via $6.0 million Certificates of Obligation

If I Were in Charge of the Olympics

I don't know a damned thing about gymnastics, and even less about scoring gymnastics, but there are some basic principles that any sport should adhere to, imo.

1. If judges take several minutes to compute a score, the athlete should be given at least as long to review the judges' work.
2. If the athlete is given only one minute to protest the scoring, the judges should be given no more than one minute to declare the protest came too late.
3. If the athlete is given only one minute to protest the scoring, another athlete shouldn't be given a whole day to protest that the first athlete's protest came too late to be considered.
4. If the athlete is given only one minute to protest the scoring, the governing body shouldn't be given five days to decide the original protest came too late to be considered.
5. Someone with a sense of fairness should be given however long it takes to realize that if the original scoring was, in fact, wrong, then correcting *that* mistake should carry more weight than correcting the mistake of accepting a protest that was submitted a few seconds too late.
6. Judges shouldn't be allowed to ruin what had been up to then a beautiful Olympics.

POTD: Art Against Apartheid

"Spiral staircase winds,
Apartheid’s dark turns to light,
Freedom's fervent fight."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town, South Africa. I'm providing two photos. The first is an interior staircase, which I consider to be a work of art itself. The second, the bonus photo after the jump, is artwork from the long struggle against Apartheid. The museum has a large collection of such artwork.

Click for a bonus photo.

POTD: V&A Waterfront

"Sunset paints the pier,
Alfred's legacy is here,
Past and present cheer."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the V&A Waterfront (Victoria and Alfred Waterfront) in Cape Town, South Africa. It's "a mixed-use destination located in the oldest working harbour in the Southern Hemisphere. With Table Mountain as its backdrop, the neighborhood contains art, entrepreneurs, and sustainable design." If you know your history, you know that Queen Victoria's consort was named Prince Albert, not Alfred. So what's with the name, Victoria and Alfred? It's named after Queen Victoria and her son Prince Alfred. "Alfred, while serving in the British Royal Navy, visited Cape Town and ordered construction of a new harbour for the colony."

Ken Hutchenrider Defends Himself

The Richardson City Council held two days of meetings to hear City Manager Don Magner present his recommendations for the 2024-2025 City budget. I've had concerns about what impact a recent collapse in sales tax revenues and the cleanup costs from the May storm might have on the City's financial outlook. Magner listed high interest rates and lingering price increases from past inflation as additional concerns. Still, Magner pronounced, "I think it's a very good budget considering all of the factors that are working against us." I'll add, Whew! We escaped a budget catastrophe.