POTD: The Chapel of Frederiksborg Castle

"Vaulted ceiling rises
Above stained glass saints and kings.
Crown and cross entwined."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 01 Copenhagen

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Denmark's Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød, Denmark. "It was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century...Frederiksborg Castle was the first Danish castle to be built inland. All previous castles had been on the coast or close to ports as the sea had traditionally been the principal means of travel. It was also the first to be built for purely recreational purposes rather than for defence."

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, most diverse, dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are included in this ranking. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department. Only those visited last month are ranked here. Only the bottom ten are shown.

POTD: Kronborg Castle

"There are more things
in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of
in your philosophy."

— Hamlet

From 2024 07 01 Copenhagen

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Helsingør, Denmark. It shows Kronborg Castle, much better known as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. "Rendered as 'Elsinore,' it's actually the anglicised name of the surrounding town of Helsingør."

"The castle's story dates back to a stronghold, Krogen, built by King Eric VII in the 1420s. The castle is situated on the extreme northeastern tip of the island of Zealand at the narrowest point of the Øresund, the sound between present Denmark and the provinces of present Sweden." The narrowness of the sound leads to "the strategic importance of maintaining a coastal fortification at this location commanding one of the few outlets of the Baltic Sea."

A bonus photo is after the jump.

Random Thoughts: Luka Doncic Trade

2025-02-02: Musing on the Luka Doncic trade...maybe Miriam Adelson, Las Vegas real estate player and new owner of the Mavs, is trying to replicate Jerry Jones's results with the Cowboys. Don't win championships, win real estate deals and increase the value of the franchise. Maybe Adelson wants to take the money that would have gone to Luka and invest it in a casino, once Texas leg opens the door to that possibility.

2025-02-05: I am not a conspiracy theorist but if there were something that might just make me one, it could be the Luca Doncic trade.

2025-02-07: There's a major free-speech battle being fought right here in Richardson, Texas. Student editorial control of student journalism is at stake.
Inside UT-Dallas’ fight over the student press
dallasnews.com/news/education/...

Here (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Here (2024): Heartwarming story about generations of families who lived in a single house. Story keeps jumping around in time. Some families get short shrift. Too much story telescoped into short scenes to feel the emotional pull of any. Feels like a gimmick. C-

Netflix

A Catalyst, Just Not the One Imagined

Source: Google Street View.

Staycation Coffee's current home

Catalyst: "a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction"

Example usage: "I'll be honest, I think this is a catalyst type project that will spur on to bigger, better things." — Mayor Bob Dubey, speaking of Polk Street Apartments.

City leaders have a fondness for the term "catalyst project." It's a buzzword that makes them sound knowledgable about the future. Do they ever go back and measure the performance of past catalyst projects?

The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures

Source: DALL-E.

The Academy Awards will be given out Sunday, March 2, 2025. I've seen all the nominees for Best Picture. That means my opinion means something. Right? Regardless, I've ranked the movies in order of my preference for "Best Picture."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science uses ranked choice voting (RCV) to ensure that the winner has broad support throughout the Academy members. I wish US political elections used something similar (see proportional voting). But that's for another post.

My personal ranked choice of the Oscar nominees is based on the grades I gave the movies immediately after seeing them. In case of ties, I ordered them by my judgment today. Note this is not my prediction of which movie will win (Anora) but how I would vote, if I had a vote.

The envelope please. The winner of "The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures" goes to...

Oscar Snubs

The 2025 Oscar nominations snub some worthy movies, as always. This year, the lowest grade The Wheel gave to a "Best Picture" nomination was a "B-". Eight movies received a better grade than that but weren't nominated for "Best Picture." The list of Oscar snubs of 2025 are...

Charter Review: Articles 5, 14

Artist: John Trumbull.

On February 20, 2025, the Richardson Charter Review Commission continued their review of the Richardson Charter, covering Articles 5 (Recall) and 14 (Initiative and Referendum).

(Still no video by the City to link you to. Mayor Bob Dubey slammed the door on that, saying, "Initially, I'll be honest, I said I don't think we even really need to discuss that." Forced to discuss it, and vote on it, he supplied the tie-breaking vote to reject video recording.)

POTD: 19th Century Tivoli Gardens

"Rollercoasters climb,
Music from a bye-gone era,
Tivoli still sings."

— h/t ChatGPT

	From 2024 07 01 Copenhagen

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, an "amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world."

A bonus photo is after the jump.