"Food-Only Project". That's what The Dallas Morning News called the construction of a row of up to seven restaurants on Central Expressway just north of Spring Valley Rd. There was no hint whether or not that was meant ironically.
The original vision for this property was a mixed-use environment with ground floor retail and office with residential uses above, perhaps including a boutique hotel. Instead of that, developer Kirk Hermansen told The Dallas Morning News what we're really getting: "We’re all restaurants, no retail by design."
Who deserves the credit/blame for this?
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
POTD: Ellen and Her Vietnamese Peeps
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from central Hanoi. It shows five college women who saw Ellen and me sitting on a park bench by the lake and decided that we looked like a good couple they could practice their English on. We ended up spending an hour chatting with them. A great way to wind up our stay in Vietnam.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Muscle Shoals (2013)
IMDB |
Thursday, November 19, 2015
POTD: Hanoi Street Food
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the old quarter of Hanoi where all kinds of commerce is transacted, including the sale of food from the backs of bicycles.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Manakamana (2013)
IMDB |
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
POTD: Hanoi Street Cafe
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from central Hanoi. It shows the lunch crowd at the Cong Caphe, a popular coffee shop across the street from St. Joseph Cathedral. Richardson needs this.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Civics Class in the School of Hard Knocks
Let's say that this Facebook lament is about the Richardson city council voting to approve a rezoning request for the Palisades development despite vocal opposition from neighbors in Canyon Creek. Otherwise, the rest of this might not make sense.I was told to get involved. I did. I and others worked hard to be heard. We weren't. We were told the city didn't agree-I didn't know agreement was part of the deal? My civics classes and theirs vary.
Source: Facebook.
Three things about this Facebook lament.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Love and Mercy (2014)
IMDB |
Friday, November 13, 2015
POTD: Hanoi Girls
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day -- two girls, cute, curious, friendly -- could have been taken anywhere, but happens to be from a village west of Hanoi. Children are everywhere in Vietnam, which isn't really newsworthy, but it is hopeful and promising, in Hanoi as everywhere.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
POTD: Hanoi Woman
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from a village west of Hanoi. It shows a woman sitting in the courtyard of her home. Her posture, her gaze, her patience, were striking. I'm sure there are stories she can tell, but the language barrier limited my side of the conversation to a smile and a nod of the head. She never broke her gaze.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
5,171 Texas Poppies
"The Richland College 'Poppy Project' is one major component of the college's 2015 Arts Fest. The 5,171 poppies are symbolic of the 5,171 Texas veterans who died during World War I."
"The Blood of Heroes Never Dies"
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
POTD: Healthy Black Smile
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from a village west of Hanoi. It shows a Vietnamese woman with blackened teeth. The methods used to blacken teeth and the reasons for doing it are varied, so I won't try to explain the practice in general, but at least for this woman, it's both deliberate and a source of pride.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Are Richardson's Goals SMART?
There's a common philosophy in management that goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. There's even an acronym for it: S.M.A.R.T.
Let's evaluate the "2015-2017 Goals" set by the Richardson City Council according to the S.M.A.R.T. standard. On second thought, let's not. You know, don't you, that they are going to come up short. And they do. Because the goals are pretty much the same as two years ago, let's just review what I wrote then, "The 'Wow Factor' of Richardson's Goals", when the city council of that time published its "2013-2015 Goals". Go ahead. Go off and reread it, then come back. I'll be here.
Let's evaluate the "2015-2017 Goals" set by the Richardson City Council according to the S.M.A.R.T. standard. On second thought, let's not. You know, don't you, that they are going to come up short. And they do. Because the goals are pretty much the same as two years ago, let's just review what I wrote then, "The 'Wow Factor' of Richardson's Goals", when the city council of that time published its "2013-2015 Goals". Go ahead. Go off and reread it, then come back. I'll be here.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
OTBR: Saguaro with a Helping Hand
Longitude: W 111° 11.736
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".
Saturday, November 7, 2015
POTD: Hanoi Elder - II
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Hanoi. It shows another Vietnamese elder at Thay Pagoda, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Vietnam, dating back to the 11th century. He kindly served hot tea to us Western visitors. This temple is also the ancient home of water puppetry, which for centuries has been performed in a pavilion on a lake adjacent to the temple.
Friday, November 6, 2015
POTD: Hanoi Elder
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Hanoi. It shows a Vietnamese elder at Thay Pagoda, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Vietnam, dating back to the 11th century. He kindly served hot tea to us Western visitors. This temple is also the ancient home of water puppetry, which for centuries has been performed in a pavilion on a lake adjacent to the temple.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Seven Takeaways from the Charter Election
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
What's a Non-Traditional High School?
What's a non-traditional high school? Talk to three people and you'll probably get six different answers. One frequent answer is wrong. It's the one thing a non-traditional high school is not. So, before we get into Richardson ISD's decision to build a non-traditional high school, let's start by asking just what a non-traditional high school is and isn't.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Repeat Tweets: World's Top Research University
Repeat tweets from October, 2015:
- Oct 1 2015: "The world's top research university? It's Caltech -- again." That's good but US needs to invest more in research. latimes.com
- Oct 1 2015: What we're doing (following NRA's policy prescriptions) isn't working. It's time for a change.
- Oct 1 2015: "Rules Chairman Running for Whip: 'Process is Broken.'" That's @PeteSessions, hiding a hammer behind his back. myajc.com
- Oct 2 2015: Final. Mesquite 28, Lake Highlands 63. #txhsfb
- Oct 3 2015: @Rangers, I'm not getting back on your bandwagon until you get the third out in the ninth inning of the clinching game of the World Series.
After the jump, more repeat tweets.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Richardson Charter Amendments - How to Vote
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Bat Boy: The Musical at RHS
From 2015 00 00 Miscellaneous |
Bat Boy The Musical at RHS: Halloween treat. Quirky update on age-old story of being different, a freak. B&W. Great voices and production.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
GOP Debate: Bad Questions, Bad Answers
There has been a lot of commentary on the recent GOP presidential debate on CNBC. The Wheel doesn't usually do national politics, but we make an exception for this remarkable television show. First, let's look at the questions. Then, the answers. Then, the fallout.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Qualified Voter vs Registered Voter
Qualified voter vs registered voter. Is there a difference? Does it matter? It matters because Proposition No. 50 in the upcoming Richardson city charter amendment election changes the requirements for a person to serve as mayor or council member. The current charter requires a person to be a "registered" voter. The amended charter calls for a person to be a "qualified" voter.
One person in social media complained that the change "waters down" the requirements. Another (and by another I mean me) said the change, if anything, toughens the requirements. Who is right?
One person in social media complained that the change "waters down" the requirements. Another (and by another I mean me) said the change, if anything, toughens the requirements. Who is right?
Thursday, October 29, 2015
POTD: Hanoi Tube Houses
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Hanoi. It shows typical houses in central Hanoi, called tube houses. The explanation is that street frontage is expensive, encouraging homeowners to build deep rather than wide, tall rather than sprawl.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Review: Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh
Amazon |
Eggs were such a rare treat that the old women had to show us how to peel them first. Clumsily we peeled away the shells, only to find feathery little chicks inside. They chirped when we bit into them, and they bled. When we stopped eating, the old women took switches to us and demanded that we keep eating. We did."
Yikes! Reading these short stories, the reader quickly realizes that we're not in Kansas anymore. We're in China at the hands of one of China's most acclaimed authors, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Mo Yan.
After the jump, my review.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
POTD: Ethnology
From 2015 03 28 Hanoi |
Monday, October 26, 2015
A Strong Mayor for Richardson
Jim Schutze of the Dallas Observer thinks he knows why the City of Dallas can't get big things done. It's the weak mayor.
Given that Richardson's council-manager form of government (a.k.a. weak mayor) is similar to that in Dallas (originally, our city charter was based on Dallas's of the time), and given that Richardson voters are about to decide whether to amend our city charter, it's probably worth a moment of our time to think about Schutze's thesis.By tightly husbanding control of the city in the office of city manager -- a person hired, not elected -- the city fathers here have maintained their own access while effectively shutting off access for the larger electorate. It's not that voters can't ever get anything done, but they can only get little things done, on the scale of new stop signs and storm sewer repairs.
To get big things done, like a grand public vision for the river, we would have to have what Houston has -- a strong mayor system. To accomplish a great dream, a city needs someone at the helm who can steer a course but who also can be kicked off the ship if he steers a course the public doesn't want.
Source: Dallas Observer.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Leviathan (2014)
IMDB |
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Texas Prop 6: The Right to Hunt
The Wheel hasn't made recommendations for the Texas State Constitutional amendments on the November 3rd ballot. But there is one recommendation we read that is too good not to pass on. Besides telling you how to vote (or not), it explains the time wasted by the Texas legislature pandering to the base.
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