Review: Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

Amazon

From Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, by Salman Rushdie

This is the story of a jinnia, a great princess of the jinn, known as the Lightning Princess on account of her mastery over the thunderbolt, who loved a mortal man long ago, in the twelfth century, as we would say, and of her many descendants, and of her return to the world, after a long absence, to fall in love again, at least for a moment, and then to go to war."

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights. Count 'em up. That's 1001 nights. Consider this Salman Rushdie's attempt at fan fiction for "1001 Arabian Nights." How does it hold up?

After the jump, my review.

POTD: Mumtaz

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Agra Fort in India. A fort stood on this location for a thousand years, but the current fort dates to the Mughal Empire when Agra was the capital of India. Its most famous occupant was Shah Jahan, who built the nearby Taj Mahal as a tomb for his empress, Mumtaz. This photo of two beautiful Indian women was taken near the marble balcony where it is said that Shah Jahan died, gazing at the Taj Mahal where Mumtaz was buried.

Bonus photo after the jump.

The Big Short (2015)

IMDB

The Big Short (2015): Outsiders bet against housing market and win. Don't blame the poor. Wall Street is rigged. Too many stories here. B-

RISD's Horrible Clock Management

Football combines the two worst things about America: it is violence punctuated by committee meetings.

Source: George Will.

You know how you hate it when your favorite football team trails by two touchdowns late in the game and the team huddles with the clock running and then calls a running play that gains few yards and uses up even more precious time? The Richardson ISD is that team.

POTD: All the World's a Sunny Day

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. But instead of showing the classic photo of the main tomb building, which probably made Kodak shareholders rich in the day of film cameras, this photo shows one of the buildings that line the forecourt. India is a nation of colors. Even the architecture — white marble against blue sky framed by red sandstone — demands Kodachrome's "nice bright colors."

Spotlight (2015)

IMDB

Spotlight (2015): Based on true story. Principled. Important. Suspenseful. Maybe too tailored for Oscar notice, but it still delivers. A-

POTD: Bucket List

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Agra, India, where someone checked off a high-value item on her lifelong bucket list. The visit was every bit as delightful as she had hoped.

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

IMDB

Straight Outta Compton (2015): I still don't like gangster rap, but I love this movie. Back story of the music and of modern America. A-

Finally, Cracking Down on Payday Lending

Not the official campaign HQ of Rep. Pete Sessions

Payday lenders like CashAmerica and ACE Cash Express often make loans with annual percentage rates of 350 percent or more. They prey on the poor, trapping borrowers in debt they can never pay off. Sixty percent of borrowers are repeat borrowers who string together loan after loan, using the proceeds of the next loan to pay off the last.

But help is on the way. Finally.

POTD: Every Which Way

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from a street in Agra, India. The automobile hasn't taken over the streets in that country — yet. There's still room for auto-rickshaws, motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians, even cows. I wouldn't recommend it as an urban planning ideal, but neither do I recommend, say, Central Expressway as an urban planning ideal.

Castle Ruins

The City of Dallas has a problem with rental homes.

"Several of the occupied properties do not have running water, at times there has been open sewage, much of the wood subflooring in the properties is rotten, and makeshift supports seem to be all that are preventing two houses from collapsing into each other," [Dallas's first assistant city attorney Chris] Bowers said via email.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

There's so much about this Robert Wilonsky story that could and should be talked about. How individuals find themselves living like this. How a society as rich as ours ends up letting the poor live like this. Where, if we condemn and demolish these homes, the tenants are supposed to go. As one tenant who has been homeless before says, his house "is better than nothing." But, this being a Richardson blog and all, I'm drawn to talk about an issue that's been papered over here at home.

The "I" in Richardson ISD

The Richardson ISD is in a tough spot. Enrollment is growing in Lake Highlands. Schools are overcrowded. Expansion could make them unmanageably large. Land for new schools is expensive. Making the issue pressing is an upcoming bond election in less than two months. Money is set aside in the bond for dealing with this, but exactly how to spend it is not yet determined.

What to do? The RISD has established a "Lake Highlands Reflector Committee" made up of parents, staff members, community members and students to research, discuss and recommend options to the board of trustees. Others are freely offering their own advice as well. There's a Facebook group, "Lake Highlands Schools Plan 2030", that has offered a comprehensive long-range plan. And there's even a Dallas city council member, Adam McGough, who has offered his own plan.

OTBR: Perpendicular Point in New South Wales

Latitude: S 31° 38.508
Longitude: E 152° 50.700

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 last month that are "off the blue roads".

Will the RISD Bond Pass?

Someone asked me if the Richardson ISD bond will pass in the May 7 election. Well, that's not a question of fact. It's a matter of speculation. We're all entitled to offer an answer that can't be proven wrong, at least for another month. What follows was my off-the-cuff answer.

Repeat Tweets: Ride the Atomic Bomb Down

Repeat tweets from March, 2016:

• Mar 1 2016: Trump supporter: "I might as well be like Slim Pickens and just ride the atomic bomb down and see what happens." washingtonpost.com
  
• Mar 2 2016: If Clinton picks Julian Castro for veep, this Dallas segregation story will get the public attention it deserves. dallasobserver.com
  
• Mar 2 2016: "Obama has a soft spot for homosexuals because of the years he spent as a male prostitute." -- likely SBOE member Mary Lou Bruner. texastribune.org
  

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

POTD: Tempting Symbol Squarely in My Path

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah in Agra, India. On the lawn just outside of the tomb was the scene in this photo. I smiled, walked on, and said nothing.

RISD Bond Community Information Meeting #1

Oslo Davis

Monday evening, the Richardson ISD held the first of four community information meetings about the upcoming bond election. This meeting was at Prestonwood Elementary School. If you missed it, no matter. Three more meetings, at other high school feeder schools, will be held in April. And you can learn everything you need to know about the bond on the district's website.

Here, I don't want to focus on the information about the bond that was shared Monday evening. The district administrators did that and you can find it all on the website. Some misinformation did appear in some of the questions, which does interest me. Much of this seems impervious to education, which probably holds a lesson about the challenges to public schooling in general, but that's a much broader topic than I wish to cover here.

POTD: Woman's Work

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah in Agra, India. The wall surrounding the tomb grounds is being remodeled. By women. A brick surface is being laboriously chipped off. By hand. And carried away. In baskets. On their heads. I was impressed by their diligence.

Review: Purity

Amazon

From Purity, by Jonathan Franzen

When Pip was very young, vague stories had satisfied her, but by the time she was eleven her questions had grown so insistent that her mother agreed to tell her the 'full' story. Once upon a time, she said, she'd had a different name and a different life, in a state that wasn't California, and she'd married a man who — as she discovered only after Pip was born — had a propensity to violence."

This is the story of Pip (Purity) Tyler, a young adult with huge student loan debt and unpromising career prospects, and her search for who she is. It's also the story of her mother, a reclusive, fragile free spirit. It's the story of Andreas Wolf, an East German who finds his life-calling as a trafficker of state secrets after the fall of the Berlin Wall leaves him adrift in the world. It's the story of Tom Aberant, a middle-aged American who married young and became a journalist instead of a writer. It takes a long time to give each character his full due. In other words, it's a long novel. Is it a good novel?

After the jump, my review.

POTD: Agra Food Cart

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Agra, India. Food carts are ubiquitous in India. This one didn't have any food, but I still found it photogenic.

Joe Garagiola, RIP

The news came yesterday that baseball great Joe Garagiolo had died at age 90. He had a middling career as a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s and 1950s and a long career as a baseball broadcaster. My personal memory of Joe Garagiola was his broadcast of Game One of the 1988 World Series between the Oakland A's and the Los Angeles Dodgers. That photo of Kirk Gibson above is the reason I'll always remember that game and Joe Garagiola.

POTD: My Delhi Peeps

From 2016 02 04 New Delhi

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Delhi's Qutub Minar, the tallest brick minaret in the world. I was sightseeing when a man asked if he could take a picture of his son with me. I readily agreed. After the photo, other kids crowded in, wanting their photos taken, too. Before I knew it, I was the centerpiece of what looked like a class photo. (I'm the one in the middle on one knee...heck, no one needs help picking me out of that good-looking lineup.) Good times.

Who Cares About Urban Trees?

That's the question asked by The Atlantic Cities. The story focuses on a small effort, tree identification classes in Brooklyn, that tries to foster urban tree stewardship. The story lists all the reasons why we should care about urban trees. Everything from cleaner air, cooler temperatures, even decreases in stress and depression in people surrounded by trees. I used to think that we in Richardson knew all that.

"A tremendously exciting painting"

Number 12, 1952

"A tremendously exciting painting." That's what one critic called Jackson Pollock's "Number 12, 1952" when it was first exhibited more than a half century ago. We just had to see it and everything else in the Dallas Museum of Art's exhibit "Blind Spots" before it closed on March 20. The exhibit is claimed to be "the largest survey of Jackson Pollock's black paintings ever assembled." I learned that I prefer his color works. And, if the signs accompanying the exhibit are to be believed, so did the public and the critics. Luckily for us, the exhibit contained plenty of both Pollock's black and color paintings.

Amy (2015)

IMDB

Amy (2015): Documentary of Amy Winehouse. I knew the druggie tabloid fodder, not the genius jazz artist. My loss. Time to rectify that. A-

POTD: Qutub Minar

From 2016 02 04 New Delhi

Today's photo-of-the-day is from India's Qutub Minar, the tallest brick minaret in the world. It stands 73 meters (240 feet) tall. It dates back to the 1190s, when its construction was commissioned by the founder of the Delhi Sultanate.

Except this photo is not of that minaret. This photo is of the base of the accompanying Alai Minar, which was intended to be twice the height of Qutub Minar. Construction was halted upon the death of the Sultan who commissioned it, when the Alai Minar was only 24.5 meters (80 feet) tall. That's how it has stood for over 600 years.

P.S. Faithful readers of The Wheel might remember an earlier mention of Qutub Minar, a stop on my Singapore-to-London travels in 1977. The only thing that has changed in the intervening years is that tourists can no longer climb the tower. :-(

Tangerines (2013)

IMDB

Tangerines (2013): Fruit farmer in Caucasus carves out separate peace between two wounded soldiers. Implausible, sad and uplifting. B+

POTD: Chandni Chowk - cont.

From 2016 02 04 New Delhi

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Chandni Chowk, "one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, India." Take a bicycle rickshaw ride through the narrow lanes, variously devoted to silver, stationery, books, fabrics, hardware, whatnot. The alleys are unbelievably congested. The air is dusty and smoky. The curbs are littered with garbage (made much worse by a municipal workers strike). But the energy is palpable. It may not be for everyone, but it was clearly one of my highlights of India.

Residential Uses Not Allowed in Mixed-Use

"Residential uses of any kind are not presently allowed elsewhere in PD."

It will take a zoning change to build residences in Richardson's crown jewel of "mixed-use" development, CityLine. OK, maybe the tract in question is not officially part of CityLine (the boundaries are kind of vague). The tract could be called CityLine Southeast. Or Somewhere Close But Technically Just Outside CityLine. In any case, it's a 2.44 acre tract within all that ongoing development between Renner Rd and the Bush Tollway. And the current zoning doesn't allow people to live there. So much for mixed-use.

POTD: Chandni Chowk, Delhi

From 2016 02 04 New Delhi

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the narrow streets of Chandni Chowk, "one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, India." Bicycle rickshaws, hand-pulled carts, and foot traffic are the means of transportation here. Businesses seem to be thriving, getting along just fine without the cars...or zoning code parking minimums. Maybe there's a connection.

Spectre (2015)

IMDB

Spectre (2015): You watch 007 for exotic locations and action, not plot or characters. On those low expectations, Spectre delivers. C+

POTD: Jama Masjid, Delhi

From 2016 02 04 New Delhi

Delhi's Jama Masjid is one of the largest mosques in India (maybe the largest, but who knows? Wikipedia says "one of the largest" so that's what I'm going with). The previous two photos-of-the-day were taken outside this 350-year-old landmark, so it's only fair that today's photo takes us inside.

OTBR: A Swanky RV Resort in Arizona

Latitude: N 32° 40.134
Longitude: W 114° 31.938

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 last month that are "off the blue roads".

RISD Bond Chatter

What are people saying about the RISD bond election? Not much, from what I can tell. I've seen no formal activity (yet) by any "Vote YES" or "Vote NO" committees -- no yard signs, no emails or direct mail, no robo-calls (thank goodness). Social media has the usual chatter, but not a whole lot compared to recent controversies. Opposition to the bond, what there is, seems to fall into several categories.

Abortion

Usually, I don't cover hot-button issues like abortion. So much has been said on the subject, there's nothing new I can add. And I'm a man so I don't feel empowered to impose my beliefs on others who might personally face this situation. Nevertheless, The Dallas Morning News's Jeffrey Weiss's always thoughtful Facebook feed suckered me in. To preserve my thoughts (which might be of interest to a distant future me, if no one else), here's what I had to say on the subject. I'm not including the context that prompted me to jump in, but I think what I say can stand alone.

POTD: Smoke Break

From 2016 02 04 New Delhi

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the outside Delhi's Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India. It's a photo of a man taking a smoke break. I don't know if it's the nicotine, the religion, or just his temperament, but he seems very much at ease, which is saying something given the hustle and bustle of Delhi's streets all around.

After the jump, exhale...

Steve Jobs (2015)

IMDB

Steve Jobs (2015): Even more an asshole in this one. Even his design skill is more egotistical fetish than genius here. Needs a reboot. C+

POTD: Would You Buy a Whip From This Man?

From 2016 02 04 New Delhi

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the outside Delhi's Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India. It's a photo of a man selling whips to tourists. At least I think that's his target market, because I never saw any Indians using whips. Come to think of it, I've never seen any Americans use whips, either, at least not in some kind of show. Anyway, I guess all this is an explanation why I didn't buy a whip.

Repeat Tweets: UIL Realignment

Repeat tweets from February, 2016:

• Feb 1 2016: New District 9-6A for 2016-2018: Coppell, Jesuit, Skyline, WT White, Richardson, Berkner, Lake Highlands, Pearce.
• Feb 5 2016: Tangerine (2015): Christmas Eve on LA streets with trans prostitutes. Gritty, explicit and alien to this old straight guy. Great acting. A-
• Feb 8 2016: Thomas Becket: History of rise and fall of a "Warrior, Priest, Rebel" 900 years ago. A great man (not perfect) by his actions not birth. A-

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Catching Up on the Cotton Belt

It's been a while since I've written about the Cotton Belt rail line, that dream of east-west mass transit through Richardson, connecting everything from Wylie to D/FW Airport. That's because the Cotton Belt line remains more dream than reality.

The Martian (2015)

IMDB

The Martian (2015): Too far-fetched for serious drama, but mostly fun in a sciency, good way. Spoiler alert: of course he's saved. B-

Room (2015)

IMDB

Room (2015): Woman and son locked in backyard shed for years. Horrific premise, delicately treated. Faithful to novel, if more detached. B+

POTD: Chichen Itza

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Chichen Itza on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Whereas Dzibanche is still far enough off the beaten path for the few tourists who make it there to still be allowed to climb all over the ruins, in Chichen Itza that's no longer the case. It's been ten years since tourists have been allowed to climb to the top of the pyramid for an awesome view. Still, the view from the ground is awesome enough and worth the trip.

Bridge of Spies (2015)

IMDB

Bridge of Spies (2015): Cold War prisoner exchange. Well-done, paint-by-numbers movie. Tom Hanks in what used to be a Gregory Peck role. B-

Vote YES on the RISD Bond

It seems like it took forever, but the Richardson ISD school board finally approved a bond package to go to the voters in the May 7 election. Public engagement began way back in November with a series of meetings in a so-called listening tour.

I was originally skeptical. There were gaps, there were frills, there were areas not thought out yet. But the RISD administrators were up front with the public. They said they deliberately asked for public feedback early in the process to give the public maximum opportunity to shape the final package. And it looks like that's just what happened. The "listening tour" was, in fact, really truly, a listening tour. The RISD listened and adapted the bond package accordingly. Kudos to the RISD.

The End of the Tour (2015)

IMDB

The End of the Tour (2015): Five days with David Foster Wallace, brilliant, self-conscious, troubled author. All talk. Shallow. Flat. C+

The Propaganda Game (2015)

IMDB

The Propaganda Game (2015): Look inside North Korea and its brainwashed people. Can't help wondering if I'm not a little brainwashed too. B-

POTD: Above the Treetops

From 2015 11 13 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from deep in the forests and swampland on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. It's of the archaeological ruins of Dzibanche, an abandoned major Mayan city. It's still relatively off the beaten path, so I'm torn between feeling glad to have seen it before the path gets beaten and feeling sad for beating my own path there.

Inside Out (2015)

IMDB

Inside Out (2015): Children's quest movie, all inside young girl's psyche with cartoon emotions in the lead. For kids, B+. For adults, C+

POTD: Grand Cayman's Green Iguanas

From 2015 11 13 Caribbean Cruise

Today's photo-of-the-day is from George Town, Grand Cayman, where the green iguana is a tourist favorite, but according to the National Geographic, to the locals "this invasive species has long outstayed its welcome." Introduced in the 1980s and once protected, its spread now a threat to the native blue iguanas.