Cameraperson (2016)

IMDB

Cameraperson (2016): Decades of outtakes from documentaries all shot by one person. Like watching 10 movies at once. Oddly compelling. C+

Pete Sessions Faces His Constituents

Representative Pete Sessions (TX 32) held a townhall meeting at Richardson High School Saturday afternoon. It was a full house. The mood was decidedly different from his townhall meetings of 2009 and 2010.

In 2009, the mood was decidedly Tea Party. Attendees ranged from the young man with a "John Galt" name tag to an old man marching down the center aisle with a sign reading, "Euthanize Obama 'Care' Not Our Seniors". The earnest woman at the microphone who said, "I don't have health insurance" was met with a shout from the audience, "Get a job."

In 2010, it was Pete Sessions himself who provided most of the Tea Party positions. His take on the Affordable Care Act was that "the legislation was designed to inflict as much damage as needed to kill the free enterprise system," and "America's days as a superpower are over." Sessions's opposition to ACA was greeted with cheers.

In March, 2017, the mood is angry again, but this time angry with Pete Sessions, not Barack Obama. Angry with him for his support for repealing Obamacare, for his neglect in investigating President Trump's ties to Russia, for his support for cutting a range of federal programs, for this and more. Signs were everywhere, almost all in opposition to Pete Sessions.

A Man Called Ove (2015)

IMDB

A Man Called Ove (2015): Local curmudgeon and how he became one. Swedish tale of loneliness and grief. Humor and pathos. Saab or Volvo? B-

POTD: Palais des congrès de Montréal

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Palais des congrès de Montréal. And with it we bid a colorful and fond adieu to Canada.

Bonus photos after the jump.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

IMDB

Kong: Skull Island (2017): No Empire State Bldg. No Beauty & the Beast. More like "Kong: Apocalypse Now." Lots of CGI monsters. No heart. C+

POTD: Leave Nothing But Footprints

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. It appears lots of people took literally the old hiking rules: Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints.

Angie Chen Button Back Stabs the Blue

From Facebook

There were a couple of curious Facebook posts last week by the Richardson Police Officers' Association FOP Lodge 105. The first, since deleted:

This is a Bill filed today by our very own State Rep Angie Chen Button. It is a direct attack against us and every other Police and Fire Association in Texas. She asked for, and received, both ours and the Richardson Fire Associations support in her last election. This is how we are thanked. We weren't even consulted about this bill. We are very disappointed to say the least.

Source: Facebook.

Angie Chen Button is the Republican state representative for parts of Richardson and Garland. The bill referred to is HB 3540, relating to "financial reporting requirements for certain labor organizations; creating new criminal offenses; imposing an administrative penalty."

Life, Animated (2016)

IMDB

Life, Animated (2016): Doc. of autistic boy who finds his voice in Disney movies. Matures to independent life. Sad & joyous at same time. B-

Miss Sharon Jones! (2016)

IMDB

Miss Sharon Jones! (2016): Documentary of soul singer (whom I didn't know) and her fight with cancer. Open, revealing, fun, fearless. B-

Tower (2016)

IMDB

Tower (2016): 1st person accounts of UT tower shooting. Victims. Heroes. Witnesses. Gripping. Best part? No time devoted to the killer. B-

POTD: Le Village Gai

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today's photo-of-the-day is also of Rue Sainte-Catherine in Montreal, but miles farther to the east than yesterday's POTD. If Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest isn't more than enough riches for one city, the east end of the street is home to "Le Village," the largest gay village in North America in terms of area.

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today's photo-of-the-day looks down Rue Sainte-Catherine, the main shopping street of downtown Montreal. What you see in this photo is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. "The street runs parallel to the largest segments of Montreal's underground city. The series of interconnected office tower basements and shopping complexes that make up this main thoroughfare lie immediately north of the street."

OTBR: Woomagarma

Latitude: S 35° 52.830
Longitude: E 147° 15.114

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".

POTD: Fresh Fruit

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Place Jacques-Cartier, a great public square in a great North American city, Montreal. The selection of fresh fruit poses a delicious dilemma for this young girl, much like the opportunities abounding in this walkable city pose a delightful dilemma for every tourist.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Repeat Tweets: Vouchers Arise out of White Resistance

Repeat tweets from February, 2017:

• Feb 3 2017: "Vouchers arise out of white resistance to school desegregation, and these movements thrive in biracial districts." lakehighlands.advocatemag.com
• Feb 8 2017: Fences (2016): Denzel Washington in a Willy Loman role, raising questions about what it means to be a husband, father, man. Oscar-worthy. A+
• Feb 8 2017: MT @RichardsonToday: "A portion of the State of the City Address focused on how Richardson is in a strong financial position." Please link to a YouTube clip showing the portion of State of the City address that focused on Richardson's neighborhoods. If you can.
• Feb 9 2017: Gleason (2016) Documentary of former NFL player with ALS. Raw and relentless as real life, clichéd as movie. Needs more of wife's story. C+

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

POTD: The Pulpit

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today is Ash Wednesday. Appropriate for this religious day, today's photo-of-the-day is of the pulpit in the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Now Kindness is a Dirty Word, Too

The Richardson ISD celebrated "Kindness Day" Friday, February 24. It was the brainchild of the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council. By most accounts, it was a rousing success. Most accounts. According to some, "Kindness Day" is a leftist plot.

My take is that kindness day is clearly a (attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors...strongly tied to SEL) program that indoctrinates kids...that students are to avoid saying anything "intolerant" that might offend the diversity and inclusion snowflake crowd. Kindness day is the subtle way for K-12 to impose the sort of leftist speech codes that we observe on college campuses.

Source: Facebook comment by Bill Ames.

So, add kindness to the list of motherhood and apple pie virtues that I used to think were non-controversial. Virtues like tolerance and compromise and civility all have come under attack from conservatives. What I thought made American democracy great is being surely dismantled, virtuous brick by virtuous brick.

The Great Wall (2016)

IMDB

The Great Wall (2016): Mercenaries fight monsters less scary than a horde of roaches. Western greed vs Chinese trust. Stunning visuals. C+

The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures

The Academy Awards will be given out Sunday evening. This will be the first time in history that I've seen all the nominees for Best Picture before the Oscar is awarded. That means my opinion means something. Right? All in all, 2016 had a good crop of movies, better than the choices in 2015. "La La Land" is the heavy favorite for Best Picture, but four or even five of the movies deserve consideration.

My ranking 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.

Jackie (2016)

IMDB

Jackie (2016): Partly gut-wrenching, partly ghoulish. I remember 1963. I remember her dignity. For me it will always be too soon. A-

POTD: Happily Ever After

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. The happy couple is unidentified.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Arrival (2016)

IMDB

Arrival (2016): Talking to aliens is hard. So is talking to each other. But Amy Adams has a gift. Non-linear thinking is key, somehow. ?? B-

Candidates in Upcoming Local Elections

The deadline has passed for filing to run for Richardson City Council. The deadline has passed for filing to run for two of the three seats on the RISD school board up for election this year. The third seat, an open seat to fill the remaining term of Kris Oliver, has a deadline to file of March 6. So the races are (mostly) set for the May 6, 2017, election. So far, things have played out as expected.

Late Winter in the Steger Garden (2017)

From Flowers

Review: The Oddfits

Amazon

From The Oddfits, by Tiffany Tsao:

The boy was clearly and unmistakably oddfitting. Oddfittingness emanated from his every pore; it enveloped him like a cloud; it hung on him and exceeded him as if it were a baggy, oversized T-shirt that came all the way down to his scrawny little ankles."

An odd boy must decide whether to abandon his home and go on a Quest to explore an odd fantasy world. Easy. Short. Odd.

After the jump, my review.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

IMDB

Hacksaw Ridge (2016): Every war movie cliché in the genre, including slow-motion combat porn. But Desmond Doss was a real-life hero. B-

POTD: Cultivating Her Garden

From 2016 09 09 Quebec City

"We must cultivate our garden," Candide said in reaction to scenes of human cruelty in Voltaire's famous novel. Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Rue du Petit Champlain in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, where a nun appears to take Voltaire to heart.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Lion (2016)

IMDB

Lion (2016): Boy in India gets lost, raised in Australia, yearns for home. Boy, man, India, Australia, both families, all real & moving. A+

CAFR: Those Pesky "Deferred Outflows"

For city finance wonks, Christmas comes twice a year: once in August when the city budget is set and again in February when the city financial audit is published. The budget specifies the city's cash flow (its planned revenues and expenses). The financial audit details the city's assets (the value of city property, bank accounts, etc.) and its liabilities (outstanding debt, pension obligations, etc.).

Consider this a layman's adventure into the netherworld of municipal accounting, otherwise known as the CAFR. Fun fact: CAFR happens to be the abbreviation of a Latin phrase that means, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." (Warning: I have the same lack of training in Latin as in accounting). Open the door and you'll be lured into a spider's web of terms and numbers that will bring you down and overwhelm you and smother you. Last warning: run away!

After the jump, the descent begins into this year's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the City of Richardson.

Review: Welcome to Braggsville

Amazon

From Welcome to Braggsville, by T. Geronimo Johnson:

It's not that the Davenports had never had black people around their house before, or even a Chinese guy once, but never a Malaysian who looked Chinese to some and Indian to others, fancied himself black at times, and wanted to be the next Lenny Bruce Lee; a preppy black football player who sounded like the president and read Plato in Latin; and a white woman who occasionally claimed to be Native American. They were like an overconstructed novel, each representative of some cul-de-sac of idiolect and stereotype, missing only a handicapped person — No! At Berkeley we say handi-capable person — and a Jew and a Hispanic, and an Asian not of the subcontinent, Louis always said."

Those four diverse characters are the self-identified "Four Little Indians." They meet at UC-Berkeley and travel together to rural Georgia on school break. An "incident" there changes all their lives.

After the jump, my review.