Second Acts

She comes in colors - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Today’s blog entry will be a pastiche of things -- also maybe just some catching up. Yesterday, sun-baked Dallas had a merciful light rain and the temperature dropped down to 83 degrees. We’ve been having a furnace-hot September, the hottest on record. My lawn has dead patches and my new landscape is sweltering .. I may have to spring for a new sprinkler system in the next year. The whole city was alive with bustling sidewalk cafes and action-packed parks -- cool weather brings Dallasites outdoors.

I walked with my friend Joe along the Katie Trail into downtown Dallas. We walked through Kyle Warren Park and I must say I was impressed. It offered live jazz music, food trucks, dancing water fountains and a children’s park to the hundreds of people there. We walked further into Dallas’ downtown which is greatly improved since my last visit (probably 10 years ago). Downtown Dallas still lacks the entertainment element -- friendly bars and sidewalk cafes, which humanize Fort Worth and Austin. We may get there; Kyle Warren Park is certainly a first step.

Alas, on our way back I was trusting Joe’s sense of direction. We ended up dodging cars on Harry Hines Boulevard! We took a wrong turn near AA Center which caused us to do a tour of Uptown on foot. We finally asked for directions and got our bearings. Two guys in their 50’s don’t need to be playing Frogger cross a 6-lane expressway.

IN THE NEWS

I’m glad that we at least temporarily avoided a war in Syria. I don’t care about a “line in the sand” -- the American lives that would be lost in a needless war are far more important than diplomatic props. Here domestically, I’m dismayed that the House GOP, led by Ted Cruz, is threatening to shut down government funding over Obamacare. Note that Republicans are being visually branded with this -- they were gloating triumphantly on the front of today’s paper. None other than Karl Rove pointed out that this could turn independent voters against the GOP in 2014 and 2016.

IPHONE 5C AND 5S

I looked at the write-up of the new iPhones (5S and 5C) just released this week. I have to say, “that’s nice..” in a voice that trails off into narcoleptic boredom. The phones have some pretty new colors, a faster processor and a controversial thumb-scan security mechanism. None of this is game-changing or earth-shaking. Come on Jonathan Ive -- I want a floating TV image or something exciting. You can’t help but wonder if Jobs were alive, would we have had another Steve-quake by now. He turned the entire music, entertainment and publishing business on its head in half a decade so that’s probably a hard act to follow.

NON-CONCLUSION

I’ve run out of things to talk about. I watched an excellent indie movie today, Disconnect with Jason Bateman. It interweaved 3 plots that showed how actions that are variously cruel or thoughtless can create a terrible karma. It was “free” on Netflix and well worth the price of admission.

Starbucks has the a/c on full blast and I can see my breath in here. Must be 48 degrees.. Before I catch cold, I better pack it up here and leave.

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