Walk with the Mayor: Spring Creek Nature Area

From 2020 02 22 Spring Creek Nature Area

Paul Voelker, mayor of Richardson, leads informal walking tours in Richardson on an irregular basis. February 22's tour was of the Spring Creek Nature Area, including a side tour of two small historic cemeteries in the area, including the burial place of Jacob Routh, the settler who once owned the land.

Fifteen Richardson residents joined the mayor on a beautiful Saturday afternoon for this easy walk. Be on the lookout for future walks and take advantage of this opportunity to meet the mayor and see the best that Richardson has to offer.

More photos from the walk are after the jump.

POTD: Raqch'i Women

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Raqchi, Peru. Like I've said before, the women of Peru have the best hats in the world.

After the jump, a bonus photo of another hat style.

Honey Boy (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Honey Boy (2019): Personal story of Shia LeBeouf from child star to rehab. Raised by a bullying, alcoholic father, the surprise is not that "Otis" ends up a young adult in rehab himself but that he functioned as a child star at all. Powerful, but relentlessly depressing. B-

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (2020): A mobster seeking a missing diamond and others with grievances against Harley Quinn get her in big trouble. Full of violence, mostly cartoonish, it's a silly and fun look at female empowerment. Margot Robbie is a likable antihero. B-

Willful Ignorance Runs in the Family

This site is not usually used for national politics, but I learned something about the GOP primary in north Texas that brings back memories of one of my first elections in Texas. So bear with me as I remember Jim Collins.

POTD: Temple of Wiracocha at Raqch'i

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Raqchi, Peru. It shows the ruins of the Temple of Wiracocha (destroyed during the Spanish Conquest, of course). At 100 yards long and 60 feet high, it's believed to have held the largest gable roof in the Inca Empire.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Student and Teacher in Peru

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from an elementary school in Peru in a small town on the highway between Cuzco and Puno.

Photo of teacher after the jump.

POTD: Elementary School in Peru

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from an elementary school in Peru in a small town on the highway between Cuzco and Puno. Ellen soon made friends and easily slipped into teacher mode despite the language barrier.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Dancing Two Miles High

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. Ellen was taken to the dance floor by...some kind of masked creatures. Ellen had fun and did a great job of dancing, even though afterwards she complained that there's not enough oxygen at 11,200 feet for such nonsense.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Review: Men Without Women: Stories

Amazon

From Men Without Women: Stories, by Haruki Murakami:


The call came in after one a.m. and woke me up. Phones ringing in the middle of the night always sound harsh and grating, like some savage metal tool out to destroy the world."

So begins the title story of Haruki Murakami's collection of short stories. Murakami is one of my favorite authors, whether writing epic tales or short stories. These stories are about men and women, men with women, and especially in a deeper way, the impact on men being without women.

Grade Shift Coming to RISD

When Richardson ISD shifted ninth-graders from junior high to high school over a decade ago, there was much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth over the perceived lack of readiness for these children to survive the rough and tumble environment with older kids in high school. But it happened anyway and no one I know is advocating we should move the ninth-graders back to the junior high. Now, a decade later, RISD seems likely to finish the job by shifting sixth-graders to the junior highs, now to be called middle schools. It makes a lot of sense, and not just for the reasons RISD is willing to talk about.

POTD: Standoff with a Llama

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. You'll have to ask Ellen what the standoff was over. And who won.

POTD: Saqsaywaman

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. It shows the ruins of Saqsaywaman (sort of rhymes with Sexy Woman, the other subject of the photo). The ruins date back to about 1100, that is before the Inca Empire. It's usually described as a fortress, but its large plaza also appears to have been a site for ceremonial activities.

POTD: Thoreau in Peru

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. It shows one of my favorite quotations, this one by Henry David Thoreau, carved into a slice of tree trunk. I hope ironically.

POTD: Plaza de Armas de Cusco

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco, Peru. Big churches, basilicas and cathedrals dominate the plaza, signaling the Spanish conquest. Today, four centuries later, they stand in easy relationship with a statue of Pachacuti in the center of the plaza. Pachacuti was the ninth ruler of the Kingdom of Cusco who expanded the Inca Empire to a big part of western South America.

POTD: Tex-Mex in Peru

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. Peruvians might still have a fondness for guinea pig on special occasions. And Peruvian cuisine might be making a name for itself in world gastronomy circles. But don't count out Tex-Mex.

POTD: Qorikancha

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. It shows the courtyard of the Church of Santo Domingo, built on the site of an Inca temple called Qorikancha. In Peru as everywhere, the victors try to erase the vanquished.

POTD: Peruvian Cuisine

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. If television can be believed, Peruvian cuisine is making a name for itself in world gastronomy. If our own meal here is an indication, that growing reputation is deserved (Peruvians' fondness for guinea pig notwithstanding).

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Cemetery Mural

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. Someone recently said they'd like to see more public murals in Richardson, Texas. Up your game, Richardson. This mural is on a cemetery wall in Cuzco.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Cuzco Woman

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. Like I've said before, in my judgment, the women of Peru have the best hats of anyone in the world.

POTD: Cuzco Market

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. The fruits and vegetables and breads were deliciously appealing.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Shaman

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. While there, a shaman blessed us. That's all I have to say about that.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Random Thoughts: Two Very Different Men

Tweets from January, 2020:

• 2020-01-02: The Two Popes (2019): Conversations between Benedict and Francis when Benedict decided to retire. Two very different men, with different philosophies, portrayed by two great actors. Only action comes from flashbacks to Francis's early career, which deserve their own movie. B+
• 2020-01-03: If you ever want to know what Trump is guilty of, look at what he accuses others of.
• 2020-01-03: Cats (2019): The costumes/makeup/CGI is distracting. The comic relief doesn't work (dancing cockroaches?). The plot is thin. But so? Cats is what it is, a musical made from a book of poetry about cats. It's always been about the singing and dancing. Critics hate it. I like it. B+
• 2020-01-05: Headline: "Iranian state TV reports Iran will no longer abide by any limits of its 2015 nuclear deal."
  I'm old enough to remember when tensions in the Persian Gulf were down. There were no rocket attacks against U.S. forces. No attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Iran's nuclear program was verifiably locked down. And, oh yeah, Obama was President.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

POTD: Cuzco

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Cuzco, Peru, a city in southern Peru with an elevation of 11,200 feet. It's not much to look at from the surrounding mountains. It's brown and dusty. But...it was once the capital of the Inca empire and the Spanish conquest after that. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So, don't let the birds-eye view turn you off. It's a great city to visit.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Back at Aguas Calientes

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Aguas Calientes after visiting Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes is itself a picturesque town in the canyon below Machu Picchu.

Click to see a bonus photo.

Just Mercy (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Just Mercy (2020): Racist legal system. This time in Alabama, where black men are guilty from the moment they are born. Sheriff, DA, judge send innocent man to death row because they care more for convictions than justice. Brutal and predictable, which makes it tough to watch. B+

POTD: Machu Picchu

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Made it. Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Machu Picchu. Whether you get there via a four day hike along the ancient Inca Trail, or like us, by a two hour train ride to Aguas Calientes, followed by an hour long bus ride on a switchback road up a mountain, when you get there your breath is taken away, and not just by the altitude. It's beautiful.

Bonus photos after the jump.

The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures

The Academy Awards will be given out February 9, 2020. I've seen all the nominees for Best Picture. That means my opinion means something. Right?

2019 had a diverse set of movies. I'm not in complete agreement with the Academy's choices, but overall, I'm not complaining with the nominees they've given me to vote on (even though they haven't actually, you know, given me a vote on anything). If I expanded the field of nominees, I would include three of the four movies I considered snubs.

My ranking of the Oscar nominees is based on the grades I gave the movies immediately after seeing them. In case of ties, I ordered them by my considered judgment today. Note this is not my prediction of which movie will win, but which I would vote for, had I a vote.

The envelope please. The winner of "The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures" goes to...

POTD: Road to Machu Picchu

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on the switchback road up the mountain to Machu Picchu in Peru, looking back towards Aguas Calientes, the jumping off point at the end of the rail line. The eye can't make out any details, but that's Aguas Calientes at the bottom of the canyon. Machu Picchu is still out of sight over the mountain ridge behind me.

POTD: Peru Rail

From 2019 08 20 Machu Picchu

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Urubamba River in Peru. It was taken from a train heading to Aguas Calientes, the jumping off point for the climb to Machu Picchu by bus.

Bonus photo after the jump.