POTD: Van Gogh and the Olive Groves

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the exhibit "Van Gogh and the Olive Groves" at the Dallas Museum of Art. It includes a series of paintings made between June and December, 1889, while Van Gogh was a patient at the asylum of Saint-Rémy. The man was clearly on a roll in the last year of his life. One Van Gogh painting (not in this exhibit) sold at auction in 2017 for $81 million dollars. Going by that, this one small room in the DMA contains perhaps a billion dollars worth of art. The exhibit has a letter from Van Gogh to his brother on display in which Van Gogh said he was working on a series of of paintings of olive groves with a hope of selling them for "ornamentation for bourgeoisie homes." That's some decoration!

Click for a bonus photo.

The French Dispatch (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The French Dispatch (2021): Stories from a mid-20th century American journal in Ennui-sur-Blase, France. Quirky look, quirky stories, quirky acting. Packed full of top-tier actors. If you love Wes Anderson, you'll understand. Others will leave theatre scratching their heads. B-

RISD School Board Goes To School

The trustees of the Richardson ISD school board held a three hour training session Tuesday night on team-building. You might think this was well-timed, given recent events, but it's been on the board calendar all year. Texas State law requires team-building training every year. This week was RISD's turn. The trainer was Kay Douglas from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). She was excellent. She is knowledgeable, experienced, and generous with sharing her learned wisdom.

Only Murders in the Building (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Only Murders in the Building (TV 2021): Three true crime aficionados living in the same building make a podcast to investigate a murder. More silly comedy than serious mystery. Best work by Steve Martin and Martin Short since Three Amigos. Selena Gomez balances the silly. B+

Reservation Dogs (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Reservation Dogs (TV 2021): Comedy set in a small town in Oklahoma where four indigenous teens with no prospects dream of escaping to California. At times funny, poignant, irreverent, despairing, and quirky, it always feels authentic. Paradoxically, it made me like Oklahoma. B+

Random Thoughts: A Look at Redistricting

Tweets from October, 2021:

• 2021-10-01: A look at redistricting...102 Ana Marie Ramos is safely D. (Richardson south of Belt Line). 112 Angie Chen Button leans R. (Richardson Dallas Co. north of Belt Line). 33 Justin Holland is safely R. (east Richardson Collin Co).
• 2021-10-02: An overtime thriller, Berkner over Pearce 34-32. Three, four, five overtimes, any way you count it, a thriller.
• 2021-10-02: Technically, I guess it was five overtimes. Whew! Tell the kids that's what all the August conditioning is for.
• 2021-10-02: Headline: "An American tragedy: US COVID death toll tops 700,000." I can't work up any sympathy for anti-vaxers and anti-maskers. I'm all out.
• 2021-10-02: Recent Covid-19 deaths. There's a vaccine that saves lives. Get it.

After the jump, more random thoughts.

Public Health vs Personal Liberty

There's a gaping divide in politics today, and nowhere is it on show more than in schools across the country. Richardson ISD is no exception, where the school board president abruptly resigned, in part no doubt because of public invective hurled at her and in part perhaps because of a split on the school board on how to deal with a pandemic.