Quinceañera at Dallas Blooms

From 2014 03 11 Dallas Blooms

The weather was perfect -- 81 degrees and sunny. The smiling girls were out in their formal evening dresses to have their portraits taken with a backdrop of flowers. And what better backdrop of flowers can you arrange than Dallas Blooms? The girls' quinceañera birthday party itself is still to come, but for today, the whole world could share the girls' joy.

The Square (2013)

IMDB

The Square (2013): Documentary of Arab Spring in Egypt. Exhilaration. Disappointment. Perseverance. Which way does arc of universe bend? A+

Goodbye, Tom Thumb

Goodbye, Tom Thumb. Oh, the name might remain, but big changes are coming to the traditional supermarket, no matter what name is above the door.

The private equity company Cerberus Capital Management announced that it was acquiring Safeway. Cerberus already owns Albertsons. Safeway already owns Tom Thumb. With all of these under one ownership, you can bet changes will come in order to compete. Whether or not the name Tom Thumb stays or goes is only a minor matter.

After the jump, what to expect from the new Tom Thumb overlords.

S2L77: London - II

From 1977 05 10 England

1977 was the year of the Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee. When I visited in May, the capital of the British Empire was already decked out and large events were already in rehearsal for the June celebration. The queen has since celebrated her golden jubilee (2002) and even her diamond jubilee (2012), but that silver jubilee still stands out.

More photos after the jump.

Changing My Mind About Freeways - ctd

Yesterday, I wrote about how I am forced to rethink freeways, to at least consider the possibility that freeways through cities aren't some Frankenstein's monster, the unintended consequences of legislative sausage-making. I am forced to consider the possibility that freeways through cities were a deliberate attempt to solve a problem that was already apparent to urban planners of 1939 -- that America's cities were becoming clogged by automobile traffic.

After the jump, what does all this have to do with Richardson? Or Dallas?