Council Recap: Sell Out for a Mural

At the September 23, 2024, meeting, the Richardson City Council approved by a vote of 4-3 a request by Clay Cooley Volkswagen to add a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot on their property in the Interurban District. This is the district Richardson once envisioned as an "edgy, mixed-use district built upon the existing bones of the district, focusing on adaptive reuse of existing buildings and targeted infill development." We are now faced with admitting that the Interurban District would have been better named the "Car Lots and Repair Shops District."

Beetlejuice (1988)

Rotten Tomatoes

Beetlejuice (1988): To prepare to watch the 2024 sequel, it's time I watched the 1988 original for the first time. It holds up as a silly horror movie, more surreal than scary. Seeing a cast full of big movie stars early in their careers is a treat. B-

Max

#VeryTardyReview

Sunny (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Sunny (TV 2024): Japanese. Is this sci-fi, a study in grief, a crime story? Yes??? American woman living in Japan loses husband and son in a plane crash. Suspicions grow. She receives an AI homebot as compensation, her mother-in-law seems determined to go to prison, and yakuza search her home. C+

AppleTV+

POTD: Dinner in the Bush

"Dinner in the bush,
Stars above and beasts below,
Wild eyes watch, unseen."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 11 04 Zimbabwe

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Zimbabwe. It's at a dinner in the bush just outside Zambezi National Park. There's really nothing separating us from the wildlife, so I guess either 1) the animals are more afraid of us than we are of them, or 2) the animals are well fed and see no need to challenge humans, or 3) the people in charge of safaris and bush dinners don't value tourists' lives. You decide. On the drive back to our resort after dinner, we were driving down a dark, dirt track when we suddenly came across two male elephants facing off. Our vehicle driver quickly stopped, reversed course and took another route, saying that it's a really bad idea to get anywhere close to elephants fighting.

POTD: Happy Hour in the Bush

"At the water hole,
Safari pauses for cheers,
A toast to wild ways."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 11 04 Zimbabwe

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Zimbabwe. After a safari ride in the bush of Zambezi National Park, our safari driver stopped our vehicle at a watering hole, got out and set up a bar on a shelf attached to the front of the vehicle. Time for a sunset Happy Hour in the wild.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Civil War (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Civil War (2024): Four journalists determined to get the story head to Washington during the climax of a future civil war in America. Apolitical. Too much by the numbers. Watch the much better A Private War instead. C+

Max

To The Wonder (TV 2024)

IMDB

To The Wonder (TV 2024): Chinese. Han girl dreams of being a writer in a big city, but returns to her remote Xinjiang village when she fails. A simple, heartfelt tale with beautiful scenes and rare insight into nomadic life in rural China. Only watched 2 of 8 episodes but want to watch more. B-

Inflight

Atlas (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Atlas (2024): Jennifer Lopez in a star vehicle sci-fi movie whose problem isn't her acting, but the script. Advertised as runaway AI, the robots' threat comes from their super strength, not their brains. Using a neural link to combine a still loyal robot's strength and knowledge database with J-Lo's ingenuity saves the world. C-

Netflix

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024): Kevin Costner sets the American Western back 75 years. Indians are the bad guys. Cavalry are noble. Ruthless gunmen run the place. Too many undeveloped characters. Three hours of plodding subplots, and this is just chapter 1. C+

Max

POTD: Into the Bush

"Bushland, river, sky,
Each new path holds wild wonders,
Eyes wide, hearts alive."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 11 04 Zimbabwe

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Zimbabwe. It's a track through the bush of Zambezi National Park. We took a half dozen rides of several hours through such bush, sometimes thick like this, sometimes open grassland, sometimes along a river, sometimes through wooded land. Sometimes we took to the water in boats, looking for hippos, crocodiles, or even elephants crossing the Zambezi River. We did this in South Africa, in Zimbabwe, and in Botswana. Watching for wildlife never got old.