Review: How the Mind Works

Amazon

From How the Mind Works, by Steven Pinker:

The complex structure of the mind is the subject of this book. Its key idea can be captured in a sentence: The mind is a system of organs of computation, designed by natural selection to solve the kinds of problems our ancestors faced in their foraging way of life, in particular, understanding and outmaneuvering objects, animals, plants, and other people."

That's the gist of this 20-year-old best-selling work of popular science. It's what attracted me. After the jump, whether it succeeded.

POTD: Little Boxes in Galveston

From 2017 12 01 Galveston

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Seawall Boulevard in Galveston, Texas. I'd name the condominium complex, but they all look just the same.

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

Source: Malvina Reynolds.

The song is from 1963. It must have made quite an impression on my 12-year-old mind, for it comes to mind automatically anytime I'm presented with a scene like this.

The Shape of Water (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Shape of Water (2017): "Beauty and the Beast" meets "Creature from the Black Lagoon." In a heist movie with Russian spies. The premise is preposterous but it works. A love story with something for everyone. A-

She's Gotta Have It (TV 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

She's Gotta Have It (TV): Smart young independent brash black female artist in Brooklyn and her friends, who talk mostly about sex and race. An exotic world (for me) but still shallow, even if Nola is deeper here than in the 1986 movie. Saw 3 of 10 episodes. C-

The Beguiled (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Beguiled (2017): Wounded Union soldier takes shelter in southern girls' school. Repressed social norms dominate, leaving movie disappointingly bloodless for subject matter. But everything and everyone look great. C+

The Vietnam War (TV 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Vietnam War (TV): Ken Burns documentary. All the battles, lies, protests, it's all here. It tore our country apart. The war is now being lost to history, but the wounds never really healed. Even at 17 hours, the memories resurrected here fly by too fast. A+

Alias Grace (TV 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Alias Grace (TV): Real-life mystery. Maid is convicted of murdering her employer in 1843 Canada. Mystery is explored through sessions with her doctor and flashbacks. Murderess or victim? Strong acting that lets us see into her soul but only so far. A-

POTD: Greetings from Galveston

From 2017 12 01 Galveston

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Saengerfest Park on the Strand in Galveston, site of the annual December festival, "Dickens on the Strand."

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Disaster Artist (2017): A biopic about a real-life wacky auteur and the making of his bad cult movie, "The Room." No matter what they might say, it's more Hollywood insiders mocking him than embracing him. The result is a failed movie for different reasons. C-

Godless (TV 2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Godless (TV): Old West town where all the men died in a mine accident is now terrorized by an outlaw and his gang. Dark mood and look. Scenes allowed to linger on senses. Rich subplots with religion, race, gender and sex. B+

POTD: Supermoon over a Pleasure Pier

From 2017 12 01 Galveston

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the last supermoon of 2017 over the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier.

POTD: Supermoon over Galveston

From 2017 12 01 Galveston

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the last supermoon of 2017 rising over a Victorian-era London bobby on Galveston's Strand, site of the annual "Dickens on the Strand" festival.

The Role of the Council

The City Council of Richardson agreed on its 2017-2019 Statement of Goals and, not surprisingly (given it's me and all), I have a bone to pick, starting with the very first sentence.

The role of the Council is to be positive and resourceful advocates of the City.

Source: City of Richardson.

No, the role of the council is to represent the people of Richardson. Being positive is also good. Being resourceful is also good. Being advocates of "the City" is also good, unless that interferes with being advocates for the people of Richardson. First, last, and always, the Richardson City Council needs to represent the people of Richardson.

Wonder (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wonder (2017): Self-conscious boy born with facial deformity starts school, deals with bullying. Well-crafted, sensitive, uplifting family drama. Hits all the right notes to bring tears. Although unrealistically optimistic, still a lesson for all. #ChooseKind A-

OTBR: Abandoned Chateau in Czech Republic

Latitude: N 49° 04.158
Longitude: E 015° 18.312

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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".

Repeat Tweets: 25 Conservatives to Follow on Twitter

Repeat tweets from November, 2017:

• Nov 1 2017: Salon recommended 25 conservatives to follow on Twitter. One was @JayCaruso of DMN. I'm from Dallas, so I thought, great.
• Nov 1 2017: It turns out, on Twitter, @JayCaruso doesn't offer facts and logic. His tweets start and end with assertions and insults.
• Nov 1 2017: Maybe on editorial team, @JayCaruso's partisan viewpoint is helpful to craft a balanced editorial. On Twitter, not so much. Unfollow.
• Nov 1 2017: How about some sensible gun regulations to reduce the 30,000 deaths by guns in this country annually that are not terror related?
  
• Nov 1 2017: @JayCaruso mocks Jimmy Kimmel for blaming the "gun nuts". Who else is responsible for the lack of sensible gun regulation than the people who keep electing politicians endorsed by the NRA?

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017): Bitter mother searches for her daughter's murderer. Black comic elements. Mildly uplifting. No heroes or villains, just broken people. Frances McDormand rules. A-

Constructing the Building Plans in RISD

The new RISD strategic plan contains six strategies, one of which is "We will ensure that our facilities and infrastructure adapt to support our mission." That's a tautology, but that just gives the action team working this strategy more freedom to come up with plans of their own devices. I've got some advice.

Thinking Strategically About Schools

First and foremost, I am encouraged by the Richardson ISD's outreach efforts to get community input into the district's planning process.

On October 2, district trustees voted to adopt a revised RISD strategic plan, and stakeholders are encouraged to take part in the process by applying to be on one of the six action teams that will develop the specific steps and goals to support the six district strategies:

• We will ensure that we have diverse and engaging programs and learning opportunities to meet the unique needs of all our students.
• We will guarantee that all students will perform at or above grade level.
• We will recruit, retain, and reward quality personnel.
• We will ensure that ALL families, businesses, and community partners are fully engaged in the mission of our district.
• We will actively pursue creative funding sources and responsibly manage current resources to support our mission.
• We will ensure that our facilities and infrastructure adapt to support our mission.

Source: RISD.

Six teams of 35 to 50 community members have been formed. If all goes well, these teams will ensure community support as the RISD makes difficult strategic decisions in the future.

Where All Students Connect, Learn, Grow and Succeed

"Where All Students Connect, Learn, Grow and Succeed." That's the new mission statement for the Richardson ISD. Fifty points if you know what the old mission statement was. It used to be "Where All Students Learn, Grow and Succeed." See the difference?

I'm no marketing genius (my wife always said that if I worked in marketing, our family would starve), but in my opinion, the RISD just weakened a good slogan. Good things come in threes, not fours:

• Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
• Of the people, by the people, for the people.
• Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
• Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe

"Learn, Grow and Succeed." Not "Connect, Learn, Grow and Succeed." Not only is it discordant, it's the literal definition of mission creep, which has acquired a well-deserved reputation for ending in "final, often catastrophic, failure." I've got nothing against students connecting, but RISD ought to be careful not to overburden its priorities, lest nothing is a priority.

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017): Documentary. Old photos, movies, interviews and readings. The precise chronicler found the dark side of life to be "Gold". This movie is...silver. B-

Read my review of Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking".

POTD: Turkey Day Down Under

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the beach of Apollo Bay on the Southern Ocean of Australia. The photo was taken on Thanksgiving weekend of 1976. Thanksgiving dinner was cooked over a campfire in Great Otway National Park.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Mudbound (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mudbound (2017): White farm family in Mississippi in 1940s facing poverty, floods, illness. Black family with same burdens. Plus racism. Script shows same events from different perspectives. Quiet but strong performances. Lessons for today. A-

Lady Bird (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Lady Bird (2017): A girl's struggles with best friend, boy friends, school and most of all, mother. Very believable and real look at coming of age in Sacramento. Saoirse Ronan nails it. B+

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

Murder on the Orient Express (2017): Luxurious, campy whodunnit. No reason for this remake but good fun anyway. All-Star cast all get their chance to chew the scenery. "Why the abundance of evidence?" B-

LBJ (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes

LBJ (2017): More an earnest history lesson than great drama. Covers 1960 election, JFK assassination, and civil rights. A sympathetic portrait of what LBJ's legacy would have been without Vietnam. Woody Harrelson succeeds. B+

POTD: Branding the Brazos

From 2017 09 18 Waco

Today's photo-of-the-day comes from the shore of the Brazos River in Waco, Texas.

[The artwork] pays tribute to Waco’s 19th-century days as a stop on the Chisholm Trail cattle drives from South Texas to Kansas. It features three cowboys — one white, one Hispanic and one black — driving 25 head of longhorn cattle to the western approach to the Waco Suspension Bridge.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald.

The bridge itself was built to support the major industry in Texas at the time, the cattle business.

The twin double-towers that anchored the span were considered to be a marvel of engineering at the time, containing nearly 3 million bricks, which were produced locally. The bridge collected its first toll on January 1, 1870. Its 475-foot (145 m) span made it the first major suspension bridge in Texas. The bridge was wide enough for stagecoaches to pass each other, or for cattle to cross one side of the bridge, and humans to cross the other side. Being the only bridge to cross the Brazos at the time, the cost of building the bridge, which was estimated to be $141,000 was quickly paid back. Tolls were 5 cents per head of cattle that crossed, along with a charge for pedestrian traffic.

Source: Wikipedia.