Dumplin' (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Dumplin' (2018): Plus-sized daughter tries to please former beauty queen mom. Plays out pretty much as expected but, spoiler, I was surprised that a small Texas town could have five drag queen Dolly Partons. Cardboard characters, script, acting, but some great new Dolly songs. C+

POTD: Bike Share in Jakarta

From 2018 03 31 Jakarta

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Fatahillah Square in Jakarta, Indonesia. The building in the background is the original Stadhuis (city hall) of Batavia, built in 1710 by the Dutch. Today it's a museum. But it was the bike-share program that caught my eye. The bright pink and blue bicycles can be rented by the hour for touring this historic district.

Mowgli (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mowgli (2018): Live/CGI adaptation of "The Jungle Book." Darker and more violent than Disney; no cute animals, no songs. Beautiful imagery. 1st half is predictable boy-raised-by-wolves story. 2nd half is a serious coming-of-age story. Adults, don't be ashamed to watch alone. C+

POTD: Jakarta Skyline

From 2018 03 31 Jakarta

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the skyline of Jakarta, Indonesia, from the Gran Meliá Hotel. Jakarta is a monstrously big, modern city. It has equally big growing pains. Jakarta could learn a lot from American cities. On the other hand, American cities could learn a lot from Jakarta. All cities have the same basic needs and face the same pressures. No one has it all figured out.

Observe. Ask. Do. Repeat.

After the Richardson ISD tax ratification election (TRE), I listed five recommendations for areas RISD to focus on now that the divisive election was behind us. One of the suggestions was to focus on improving community outreach. I recommended making permanent those strategic planning teams that were put together for the "Strategic Plan 2017." I also recommended holding more town hall meetings and reforming the "open mic" portions of board meetings to get more back-and-forth dialog going. What else?

Today, I'm recommending considering the advice of Charles Marohn of "Strong Towns" in an article titled "Most Public Engagement is Worthless". I think that's hyperbolic, but Marohn is still on to something.