The Åre Murders (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Åre Murders (TV 2025): Swedish. Police procedural. Two murders in the winter snow. Both solved by a visiting detective from Stockholm using her intuition and empathy. Some other shows drag out their seasons to fill 8 or 10 episodes, but this one flies by too soon. Two full stories are told in only five episodes. B-

Netflix

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, most diverse, dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are included in this ranking. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department. Only those visited last month are ranked here. Only the lowest scores are shown.

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

Note: This post is late. July's scores were not published on time. (My Bad).

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, most diverse, dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for July. Not all Richardson restaurants are included in this ranking. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department. Only those visited last month are ranked here. Only the lowest scores are shown.

Random Thoughts: Progressivism has a Conformity Problem

2025-08-05: "Progressivism — forgive me, left-wing readers — has a conformity problem. Even more than on the right, there are incredible social pressures in left-wing circles to not say anything objectionable. (On the right, by contrast, it seems that you get rewarded the more objectionable things you can say.)"
-- David Brooks.
I can't say he's wrong.

2025-08-08: Headline: "Texas GOP sics FBI on absent Democrats as Texas Senate panel advances gerrymandered congressional map."
I'm old enough to remember when the Texas GOP wanted nothing more than the feds to stay out of Texas's business. I guess it was never about states' rights at all.

POTD: Two Views of the Skyline of Rome

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken through a window of the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The window is old, which I think is why it is textured, rippled, and uneven. Or maybe the antique glass blower wanted it that way. I don't know.

In any case, after the jump is the same scene through a modern glass window.

POTD: Bigfoot

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Bigfoot, or rather a big foot because we're not in the forests of North America. We're in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

POTD: Not the Sistine Chapel

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Vatican Museums. It's plural because there is a seemingly endless number of interconnected galleries, each more marvelous than the last. They all lead to the Sistine Chapel, the most extraordinary of all. But they don't allow photographs to be taken inside the Sistine Chapel, so you'll have to be satisfied with my photo of a different gallery.

A panoramic photo is after the jump.

Too Much (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Too Much (TV 2025): A Lena Dunham sitcom full of dysfunctional relationship, starring Megan Stalter as a needy, high-maintenance, intense young woman surrounded by others just as dysfunctional. It's in the title - TMI for my taste, but I'm not the target audience, am I? C+

Netflix

Carousel Ride

Source: City of Richardson.

carousel (kar-uh-sel) noun.
1. An amusement ride where you go around and around and end up where you started
2. An hour's deliberation by the City Council about public art

The Richardson City Council spent almost an hour talking about a single proposed public art piece for the new City Hall plaza. They pitched to each other various alternative designs and placements, but ended up with six of the seven agreeing to support what the selection panel of experts recommended in the first place, a design called Carousel placed between the new City Hall and the existing fountain.

It reminded me of the quote attributed to Winston Churchill, "Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted."

Ever Rising Water Bills

Source: North Texas Municipal Water District.

On August 28, 2025, the Richardson City Council reviewed the proposed 2025-2026 budget. One subject frequently came up: our ever-rising water bills.