The Legend of Tarzan

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I loved Tarzan movies when I was young.  So, I knew I'd go to see this latest film in the Tarzan saga even though my hopes for it were not high.

I'm very glad I did.  I enjoyed the movie quite a bit.  It never bored me, I liked much of the storytelling, and from start to finish I had a good time.

That said, I have to warn you that the movie requires you to suspend your disbelief in so many ways I stopped counting them, though the real history of the Belgian Congo is certainly one of the key areas you must not think about as you watch.  You also have to accept the overuse of Margot Robbie as the damsel in distress, though it does at least make token nods toward her having her own agency.  In addition, as pretty and as cut as Alexander Skarsgard is--I sure hope he got to eat some ice cream after this one--he utterly lacks charisma.

None of the film's many weaknesses stopped me from having a good time.  The others who went with me also agreed they had enjoyed it--despite its flaws.

This new Tarzan is not going to win any awards, and it does not cry out for a sequel, but it is a fun summer film.  Check it out if you're in the mood for such a light treat.

Stupidity and the art of airplane maintenance

Today, I lost a valuable hour of work time in the DFW airport due to a maintenance issue with our airplane.  I hate delays as much as the next person, maybe even more, but if my plane has a problem, I'm happy to wait while the airline fixes whatever is wrong.

Other passengers aren't always so willing.  The guy sitting next to me in the gate area, for example, declared from his perch, "This isn't a maintenance problem, it's a management problem.  They should just let us get on the damn plane and go."

Fine thinking, that, yet he's not the only one I heard saying we should board the plane, maintenance problem or not, and fly away.

I won't be doing that.  I'm amazed that any people want to do it.  At times, listening to them bitch and bellow, a bad part of me wants the airline to grant their wish and let them give it a go.

I, of course, would watch from the safety of the terminal.

None of us likes situations such as this one, but I continue to hope we can all behave civilly.  Some days, like today, that hope proves to be in vain.

One of the more annoying sensations

I've felt recently is my big toe being strangled all day by the hole in my right sock.  This blasted thing managed to grow quickly from a small weak area in the sock to a hole big enough to slide down to the base of my toe--and then its growth stopped, as it relentlessly attacked my toe.

Said sock is now in my hotel-room trash can.

In the morning, all too early, I head home.

Please watch this short but important video

It's the first in PT's Women Coding for Change series.  I wrote about it last week when I also showed the trailer for the series.  This video will give you a sense of just how big the gender disparity issue in STEM is, and what this problem is costing us all.



We really are hurting all of us by letting this problem persist.  PT's site offers a little more data and a few ways you can help, but you can easily find a great deal more information with only a little web searching.

I'm proud of the team that created this series.  I hope it will help encourage people to get involved and work to address this issue.

COUNTER 3 . FIVE . VII remains the best restaurant in Austin

We headed there for dinner tonight and again tried the seven-course menu.  As before, every single dish was delicious, inventive, and beautiful.  Not another restaurant in town--and few in most cities--operates at the level of Counter.  It's truly a world-class restaurant.

They've been open a year, so I hope the Beard nominations start flowing in soon.

How good do I think this place is?

We're going back tomorrow with a friend/client to eat the five-course menu.

It's really that good.

Go there, and learn for yourself just what this amazing team can do.

An odd and pleasant treat

Walking down the street to dinner tonight, I heard a drumming sound that took me a few seconds to place.  I looked to the left, and there, on the footsteps of the courthouse, were two Chinese dragons performing for a couple.

You have to click the image and look closely to see the dragons.  The drummers are barely visible at the bottom of the steps.

What a lovely treat.

As happy coincidence would have it, my dinner destination was the Wu Chow restaurant.  Among its many delicious Chinese dishes, the soup dumplings

and the twice-cooked pork belly

stood out as particularly flavorful and excellent.

For fresh and authentic Chinese fare, I definitely recommend Wu Chow.

Contrasts in meat

On the first flight today, I was lucky enough to get an upgrade.  The shoulder room alone made that a great deal, but it also came with a bonus:  lunch on the plane.

That proved to be a very tiny bonus indeed.  I choose the salad, which was almost entirely lettuce.  It came with a protein, this first cousin of the chicken of sadness:

Click an image to see a larger version.

This sad piece, the chicken of regret, had managed to hold onto the tiniest bit of the moisture of its youth, but only just.

Fortunately, the lettuce in the salad was fresh enough and filling enough that I was fine with it.

Dinner, by contrast, found us at Cooper's in downtown Austin, where we shared (and were once again unable to finish) this wonderful spread:

Succulent, flavorful, and incredibly tasty, every bite of meat here was fantastic.

Suffice to say, dinner beat the heck out of lunch.