Somebody Somewhere (TV 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Somebody Somewhere (TV 2022): Breakout hit for Bridget Everett. Sitcom about a woman in a midlife crisis who returns home to Manhattan, Kansas. Show doesn't make the residents there the butt of the jokes. Instead, it's sweet, sensitive, and real. And sometimes funny, too. B+

All the Old Knives (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

All the Old Knives (2022): Spy thriller that lacks thrills. No gun fights, no car chases, no explosions. Still, it offers a satisfying, if implausible, mystery as Chris Pine searches for the mole inside the CIA and suspects his old flame, Thandiwe Newton. C+

CRT, Book Bans and Me: Annotated

Source: Wilshire Baptist Church.

Wilshire Baptist Church hosted a panel discussion April 19 on "CRT, Book Bans and Me." It was moderated by George Mason, senior pastor. Panelists were Rev. Charlie Johnson, Founder & ED for Pastors for Texas Children, Casey Boland, US History Teacher at LHHS, and Dr. Jeannie Stone, Richardson ISD Superintendent 2017-2021. After listening to too many members of the public excoriate school leaders at too many school board meetings, for me this panel discussion was like a welcome palate cleanser. It was like, as George Mason put it, "a return to the old days of civility."

You can read a straight news story about the discussion in Baptist News Global. Or watch a replay of the whole panel discussion. All I intend to do here is randomly annotate a few of the panelists' comments with thoughts that occurred to me as I listened.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022): An Asian-American woman with a strained family life and a failing laundromat has a midlife crisis. Then at an IRS audit she gets sucked into the multiverse. Another problem or her salvation? Weird, wonderful and an hour too long. B-

WAIW: Stop and Smell the Roses

Stop and Smell the Roses.

Where Am I Wednesday?

Fifty points to the first person to locate this photo.

Blocked on Twitter

I didn't use the candidates' responsiveness to voters' questions and feedback as a factor in The Wheel's 2022 Voters Guide. But if I had...

The Wheel's 2022 Voters Guide

Early voting for the 2022 Richardson ISD school board election starts Monday, April 25. So, too, for the Dallas College school board election, a new field for The Wheel to cover. RISD is electing trustees in three single-member districts (if you don't live in one of those districts, no RISD race will be on your ballot). Dallas College is electing trustees in two single-member districts, one of which includes [most of] RISD. Use Vote411.org to see your personalized ballot and to read how the candidates answered a questionnaire by the League of Women Voters.

There are some great candidates running. There are also some who are a risk to equity/diversity/inclusion, to social-emotional learning, to anti-racism policies, to prudent public health measures, and ultimately to effective education, which can't happen without supporting a safe and healthy environment for learning the three Rs. Use The Wheel's Voters Guide to learn one person's opinion about which candidates are which.