Lost City of Z (2016)

IMDB

Lost City of Z (2016): True life drama of English explorer in the Amazon 1906-25. Percy Fawcett's motivations are a hash, never adequately explored. Would have been better as fiction. C+

POTD: The Uncola

From 2017 09 18 Waco

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas. Dr Pepper acquired 7 Up in 1988 and today, the Dr Pepper Museum affords equal space, or more, to 7 Up.

The "Uncola" ad campaign has been described as "the most psychedelic, LSD-friendly ad campaign of all time." That psychedelic 7 Up found a home in Waco, Texas, is still one of history's least-likely facts.

Bonus photo after the jump.

The Retail Apocalypse and Richardson

I have long been a fan of mixed-use development, even though I have had criticism about how it's been done in Richardson. Except for the single two block stretch of State Street in CityLine that is walkable, Richardson's so-called mixed-use developments have been mostly the same-old 1980s model of apartments and strip shopping centers. Instead, I wanted to stuff ground-floor retail in all those new apartment developments. And upper-story apartments in all those new restaurants. Now, changes in the retail environment might mean I have to rethink my enthusiasm for mixed-use.

Victoria & Abdul (2017)

IMDB

Victoria & Abdul (2017): Lonely queen befriends Indian servant, scandalizes court. Great fun as Dame Judi Dench puts down stuffy English. B+

POTD: Waco: Where It All Began

From 2017 09 18 Waco

Waco: where it all began. If by "all" you mean Dr Pepper. Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas, the city where it all began in the late 1800s. Dr Pepper didn't acquire 7 Up until much later, in 1988. I have no idea where it began. You could look it up. Me? I'm going to have a Dr Pepper.

Baby Driver (2017)

IMDB

Baby Driver (2017): Getaway driver with thing for music and a sweet girlfriend. Chase scenes that get better as movie goes over the top. B+

Review: A Place of Greater Safety

Amazon

From A Place of Greater Safety, by Hilary Mantel:

Fifteen years from now, on the day the Bastille falls, the price of bread in Paris will be at its highest in sixty years. Twenty years from now (when it is all over), a woman of the capital will say: 'Under Robespierre, blood flowed, but the people had bread. Perhaps in order to have bread, it is necessary to spill a little blood.' "

This quarter-century-old historical novel attracted me for two reasons. First, it's by Hilary Mantel. I greatly enjoyed her two novels about Thomas Cromwell and the court of Henry VIII ("Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies"). Second, it's about the French Revolution, a messy event that any history of the modern world has to account for.

OTBR: Great Melbourne Telescope

Latitude: S 35° 17.952
Longitude: E 148° 55.278
A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously (not actually) last month that are "off the blue roads".

POTD: Magnolia Market

From 2017 09 18 Waco

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas. It's owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines, the brains and talent behind the HGTV home renovation series "Fixer Upper." Peopla have a love it or hate it kind of relationship here. Some feel Chip and Joanna are using faux rustic design (think "shiplap" everywhere) to make every renovated house in Waco look like a farmhouse. Others welcome the business that all the attention is bringing Waco and its largely vacant downtown.

Judging by the looks of the two gentlemen on the left in the photo, Magnolia Market is not just for the ladies. We had to see it. We enjoyed the market, the food truck park, and a couple of other tourist attractions in Waco.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Magnolia Beauty

From 2017 09 18 Waco

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas. The beauty comes from Richardson.

Repeat Tweets: Trump's War on Football

Repeat tweets from October, 2017:

• Oct 1 2017:
  1/ Trump started a war on the NFL. His base called for a boycott. Now, Rush Limbaugh has made an abrupt U-turn.
  2/ Limbaugh says it's really the *Left* that's against the NFL. Why? Because of football's masculinity.
  3/3 Rush's U-turn may be a sign that the boycott isn't working. Let them express themselves. #TakeAKnee #1A
• Oct 1 2017: RT @BudKennedy: "Dallas ISD's Joyce Foreman on school names (she's OK with just 'Stonewall Elementary')."
  Can someone explain this woman's thinking to me?
• Oct 1 2017: "Anti-monopoly candidates are testing a new politics in the midterms." @Lillian_Salerno takes on Pete Sessions.

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

The Eagle Huntress (2016)

IMDB

Eagle Huntress (2016): Documentary of Kazakh girl learning to hunt with eagles. Girl power. Beautiful scenery. Intimate family scenes. B+

Lessons from Jeffrey Weiss

Jeffrey Weiss, longtime staff writer at The Dallas Morning News, died October 25, 2017 from glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. He wrote about his journey to the egress, as he put it, with realism and good spirit. But I don't want to speak of his illness. It's his writing that inspired me. I said upon his death that Jeffrey Weiss was the best thing that ever happened to Facebook. What I meant is that where most (reasonable) people steered away from the closed-minded, interminable arguments with (crazy) people, he saw an opportunity to engage everyone, taking their opinions and beliefs seriously and gently probing those beliefs in hopes of achieving some level of mutual understanding. He promoted what he called civil dialog, or "civilogue". He influenced no less than the New York Times to change their practices regarding online comments. I admired his approach, and although I sometimes sought to emulate Weiss, I all too often resorted to snark, sarcasm, and satire. Reading Weiss made me uncomfortable doing so.

After the jump, two maxims from Jeffrey Weiss.

POTD: Illumination Sensation

From 2017 10 05 State Fair

The lights are big and bright when the sun goes down on the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the evening show featuring fireworks, lasers, dancing waters, and live dancers on the 700-foot-long reflecting pool that is the Esplanade of Fair Park.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Horses at the Fair

From 2017 10 05 State Fair

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the State Fair of Texas. What's more Texan than a horse? Here's a whole carousel of horses.

POTD: Yeehaw! SFOT

From 2017 10 05 State Fair

It's October and that means the State Fair of Texas. Today's photo-of-the-day shows this Texan institution at its best. What's more Texan than a Mexican cowboy with a lasso on the back of a horse?

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: NBA Basketball Returns

The 2017-2018 NBA season began last week. Not a day too soon. Today's photo-of-the-day honors the return of basketball by showing the sad, neglected state of the game over the summer.

Hold Your Nose and Vote YES for DCS

This November's election might seem to be a snooze, with only a few things on the ballot, none of them named Donald J. Trump. But there are some heavy hitters trying to ensure one of the ballot items is voted down. That's Proposition A, which will determine whether Dallas County Schools (DCS) is abolished. DCS is the organization that provides school buses for Dallas ISD and seven suburban school districts in Dallas County, including the Richardson ISD.

In one of the oddities of this election, a "no" vote, which in most elections means a vote for the status quo, is actually a vote for change. The "yes" vote means keep the status quo. The change, namely abolishing the agency that provided schools with bus transportation, needs a "no" vote on the status quo to happen. Confused? Maybe the confusion is deliberate. Read on.

A Broken System in Garland

With a 6-3 vote, the Garland City Council approved a motion to demolish a National Guard armory to build a dog and skate park. Mayor Douglas Athas was on the losing side of that vote and afterward announced his intention to resign. If you believe the mayor, it was all about a failure of process, a breakdown in how things are supposed to happen in government.

"We have checks and balances in our system. Professionals on staff make recommendations, we have peer review and then it comes to council for final decisions," he said. "When you skip that, when a council comes up with its own ideas and suddenly starts doing it without professionals, without peer reviews, then you have a system that's broken and extremely dangerous."

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

POTD: Sunset Over the Gulf

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. It also brings an end to the photos-of-the-day from our cruise of the Western Caribbean out of Galveston. Big sigh.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

IMDB

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017): Surprisingly modern threesome in 1920s. At times creepy but mostly normal. Deftly handled. B+

POTD: Jamaica Highlands

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Jamaica highlands south of the port of Falmouth. Jamaica is big and so much more than beaches. Our destination was the Good Hope plantation and great house, once a sugar plantation owned by John Tharp, the island's largest slaveowner. Now it's a place where tourists can enjoy afternoon tea without being discomfited by any of that unpleasant history. </sarcasm>

Bonus photos after the jump.

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)

IMDB

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017): Three adults deal with ailing father and each other. All star cast. Great characters. Real but still fun. B-

POTD: Falmouth Port Taxi Service Rate Sheet

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Royal Caribbean cruise ship port in Falmouth, Jamaica. There's nothing special about the rate sheet, other than the fact that I had a hard time finding this information before visiting Jamaica myself. In the end, we booked a bus ride to Montego Bay onboard our ship. But if this post helps someone else get around the island from Falmouth without booking through the cruise line, then everything cook and curry. Let me know.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

IMDB

Blade Runner 2049 (2017): Long and oppressive. Gratuitous nudity. A touch of woo woo. Rain, snow and smog in LA create great atmosphere. C+

POTD: Catch of the Day

From 2017 01 29 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the sea shore in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. It's next door to a restaurant on the shore that features the catch on display here.

Not to get all philosophical here, but this POTD follows the previous POTD from Dolphin Discovery. I didn't feel at all uncomfortable seeing a table full of dead fish, unlike my guilty conscience seeing a pond (lagoon? pool? tank?) full of captive seemingly healthy, active dolphins. Why is that?

Bonus photo after the jump.

Journey to Greenland (2016)

IMDB

Journey to Greenland (2016): French. Two Frenchmen visit an Inuit village. Great setting. Would work better as documentary than drama. C-