Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Who is Stefani Carter Carrying Water For Now?

What do exotic animal ranches, North Texas' need for water, money, and politics all have in common? Give yourself 100 points if you guessed Richardson's state representative Stefani Carter was at the center of that unlikely Venn diagram.

After the jump, connecting the dots.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Departures (2008)

IMDB
Departures (2008): Japanese cellist gives up music to prepare dead for burial. A homecoming. A love story. Simple tale, beautifully told. A+












Monday, April 28, 2014

Lightning Strikes at School Board Candidates Forum

The League of Women Voters of Richardson and the Richardson ISD Council of PTAs jointly hosted a forum for school board candidates Thursday night at the RISD Administration Building.

The candidates for school board trustee are:
Place 6 - Justin Bono, Rachel Chumney.
Place 7 - Kristin Kuhne, Judy A. Yarbrough, Bonnie Abadie.

The election is May 10. Early voting begins April 28.

The full video of the forum is available on the LWV's website. Watch it. Or just read my take on what was most important, or entertaining, or both. It's your choice. It's a free country.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Separated by 6,060 Miles


Award yourself 100 points if you can correctly identify the countries in which these two photos were taken.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Review: Oh Myyy!

Oh Myyy!
Amazon
From Oh Myyy!, by George Takei
Open quote 

Fans (and the press) often wonder how a 75-year old actor who had his heyday in a science fiction series from the 1960s came to have some three million fans on Facebook. I honestly often wonder the same thing."

After the jump, my review.



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

12 Years a Slave (2013)

IMDB
12 Years a Slave (2013): Important history. Soul-deadening drama. Nothing redeeming about slavery, America's original sin, still with us. B+













Monday, April 21, 2014

Review: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Mr Penumbra
Amazon
From Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
Open quote 

I pushed the bookstore's glass door. It made a bell tinkle brightly up above, and I stepped slowly through. I did not realize at the time what an important threshold I had just crossed. Inside: imagine the shape and volume of a normal bookstore turned up on its side. This place was absurdly narrow and dizzyingly tall, and the shelves went all the way up -- three stories of books, maybe more."

This novel is the 2014 selection for "Richardson Reads One Book".

After the jump, my review.