POTD: Peterhof Gilt Ballroom

From 2018 08 14 Peterhof

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Peterhof, the St. Petersburg palace built by Peter the Great of Russia. Originally intended as a summer retreat, Peter the Great happened to visit the French royal court in 1717 and came home with ideas to rival Versailles. The result? Peterhof.

Vanity Fair (TV 2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Vanity Fair (TV 2018): Modern adaptation of Thackeray's satire of Victorian London. Ambitious social climber Becky Sharp is a charming knave who looks directly at the camera and winks as she schemes and betrays. Makes me want to read the original. B+

It's All Partisan Now

Much has been made in Richardson's City Council election about the presence of party politics in a supposedly non-partisan election. The subject took up way too much space in my own latest blog article. So why am I devoting an entire blog article to it? Because I think what's happening in Plano puts the issue to bed in Richardson once and for all. Like it or not, once the governor of Texas jumps into the fray, the field is open for all.

More Impressions of City Council Candidates

The candidates for Richardson City Council answered questions from the public at a forum sponsored by the JJ Pearce, Canyon Creek, and Reservation neighborhood associations. The forum was held at Mohawk Elementary School. About fifty people attended. Everyone was civil. (That last point should go without saying, but in today's political climate, you never know.)

Rather than provide a question-by-question account of the evening, I am going to present only the highlights that I found provocative.

(As for my first impressions of the candidates, from an earlier forum, they can be read elsewhere.)

POTD: Cossack Dancers

From 2018 08 13 St Petersburg

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Cossack dancers in St. Petersburg, Russia. I could tell you of the military tradition of the Cossacks, of how they allied with the tsars of Russia to conquer and colonize the length of the Volga and beyond the Urals to Siberia. Buy nyah. All anyone really wants to see today are those amazing dancers.

A bonus photo after the jump.