Trinity Park Music Fest

Spotted this at the Border's in Arlington...

Modern at Midnight

Neat music stuff happin' here in Dub.

Rivercrest Yacht Club @ Lola's Oct. 2

Trying to remember if I've blogged the Rivercrest Yacht Club before. If not, they're pretty fun, they're from here, and they rap about the Urban Dictionary. They're playing at Lola's, this Thursday, October 2. If I wasn't scribing for the S-T, I'd be there.

Hulen St. Closure

Don't forget that Hulen Street is closed at Granbury this weekend... They're fixing up the railroad crossing there (finallly!). Closure starts Saturday afternoon and goes through Sunday evening.

McClatchy further dooms the Star-Telegram... (or how they disenfranchised a formerly loyal reader)

The Star-Telegram layoffs began in earnest on Monday, and they let go of some heavy hitters. The McClatchy hatchet men then started offering buyouts, adding that if enough Star-T employees didn't take the buyouts, there would be further layoffs. The Star-T and KERA report that 130 jobs will be lost at the Star-Telegram.

I used to be a loyal Star-Telegram reader. Heck, I used to be a subscriber with a gold PressPass and eagerly paid my subscription fee every year. What happened? They started cutting out my favorite sections. First to go was the extensive arts coverage. The Star-T used to have great concert reviews, music reviews, and information on the Arts in Fort Worth. Not just on Fridays, but most days of the week. Now it's been whittled down to a half-page if we're lucky, and 75% of that is wire report gossip on which actresses are driving drunk while holding Martian babies in their laps, i.e. they're now running National Enquirer style gossip stories. Dallas Morning News runs 4 pages of Arts coverage daily. Yeah, some of it dips into the gossipy realm, but there's some decent stuff there as well...

Like many people, I get a lot of my news from various sites on the 'Net. If I want more detail or analysis on a certain story, I'll pick it up in Time or Newsweek. But I love reading letters to the editor and editorials, especially the ones I don't agree with. I love knowing what people in the community are thinking. The Star-T Sunday editorial pages have been knocked back to 4 pages. Dallas Morning News has 6-8 editorial pages every Sunday, and run more letters to the editor on a variety of topics.

This last cutback was the final straw for me... I love Wednesday newspapers in general. Why? Because of the Food sections that usually run. They carry recipes, news about food in the area, and occasional restaurant news and reviews. Every Wednesday, I used to pick up The New York Times, Dallas Morning News and the Star-T and read every inch of the Food sections. But the Star-T scaled back their coverage and rolled Food into the Life section. Now, I don't even bother with the Star-T...

I'm now down to buying the Star-Telegram one day a week. Every Friday, I pick it up mainly for the Go! section. Dallas Morning News recently raised their newsstand prices, and I don't hesitate to pop an additional quarter into the machine for the daily paper, because I know there's more there that I want to read. Same goes for blowing 2 bucks on the Sunday paper.

Am I sad? Yes... I feel like my local paper has been hijacked. I've talked to many Star-T people, including some fairly high-ranking ones within the Star-T organization, and nobody there feels like they have any influence with McClatchy. If McClatchy is trying to drive the Star-T into the ground, they're doing a fine job of it. If we continue on this course, a Star-T issue in 2010 will consist of 2 pages of local news, followed by 56 pages of Cowboys coverage. Sorry gang, but that's not what a newspaper is about...

Blessings on a beautiful Sunday

I use my Netflix account to bring me movies that my friends would hate, which usually includes anything independent, artsy or foreign. I recently saw a 2004 film called "At Home at the End of the World." The movie, a glance at Gen-X bohemia, was decent enough, but one phrase uttered repeatedly by Colin Farrell made an impact on my life.

At one point, Farrell, whose character is a modern-day hippy, hands his best friend a beer and says, "Blessings on our day off." The catch-phrase continues throughout the film: "Blessings on a Friday," etc.

The hot weather is cranking up here in Fort Worth. Traffic is abysmal, our yards are about to turn to their summer brown, gas is expensive, vacations are being canceled. But we have it pretty good in our fair city. We have the zoo, the Rangers, great restaurants and a small-town atmosphere. We have parks and trails and golf courses where we can enjoy the nature God gave us.

So as you're going about your day, remember what we have. When you greet your family member or friend or significant other, forget your troubles and offer them words of happiness. It is the simple things that can make the biggest difference.

Fort Worth BBQ: Let the sauce wars commence!

Want to start an argument in the south? Declare a certain BBQ place the best. Texas Monthly must be trying to start a war... The 2008 edition of Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ joints is out. The only Fort Worth BBQ joint to make the cut? Cousin's!

Now, I love me some Cousin's brisket, but for ribs I head to Railhead. So let the wars begin here on Fort Worthian... Who has the best BBQ in Fort Worth?

Does the Magnolia at the Modern get any love?

Spent Sunday at the Modern enjoying the latest offering from David Gordon Green (Who I believe to have roots in Richardson). It was bleak. It was pretty good. It was called Snow Angels.



Sure, it was a Sunday, but no one was there. I only rarely catch Magnolia at the Modern movies. Are they always this poorly attended? Also, the movie was wicked bleak and about winter. That could be it. We went and played tennis afterward.

A traffic ticket leads to some good BBQ...

Okay, true confession time here on Fort Worthian... I got a traffic citation last week. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, with the temp in the mid 70s, and work was done for the day and I was in a great mood. Had the stellar new Black Crowes disc in the CD player with one of my favorite songs cranked... Let's face it, I was enjoying life, so much that I really wasn't paying much attention to the speedometer. Long story short, the officer caught me going 40 in a 30 mph zone. I don't know whether it was my conciliatory manner or the officer was just enjoying the day as much as I was, but he let me go with a warning on the speeding and gave me a ticket for not having a current insurance card with me.

So I paid a visit to downtown Fort Worth yesterday to show that, Yes, I do have insurance, and I have not yet joined the criminal underworld driving around without insurance. (Maybe that should be an option in the new Grand Theft Auto? "Muahahaha! I'm driving without insurance! I'm such a scofflaw!") So I drive past the Municipal Court building at 1000 Throckmorton, looking for cheap parking, and head down Taylor Street.

Now, I've lived in Fort Worth 17.5 years. I've visited and explored downtown on many occasions, and have had mucho fun there. But turning onto Taylor Street, I saw the little red shack for Bailey's Bar-B-Q, and I'm fairly certain I've never seen it before yesterday. I mean, it's pretty memorable having this little shack tucked between an office building and a parking garage... Have I never been down this street before?

I found a metered space on Taylor and parked, and as soon as I got out of the car, that lovely aroma of smoked meat hit me and any other lunch ideas were suddenly cast aside. Business first, so I took care of my traffic ticket and then I hit Bailey's for lunch.

First impression: This place is tiny! There was a line and I couldn't get into the door. There are a few tables scattered around inside, with a few outside between the building and the parking garage next door. Second impression: The smoked meat smell is much more concentrated inside, more than any BBQ joint I've ever visited. It was nice, but might be overwhelming for some folks.

When I saw the line, I thought it might take a while. But these people are fast! The service is quicker than any fast food joint. They've got one person slicing the meat and making the sandwiches, another person doing saucing and bagging, and the third taking orders and running the register. You know those credit card commercials where everything is moving like clockwork until someone tries to pay cash? That's this place, except they only take cash.

I had the Thursday special, which has a sliced beef sandwich, chips and a canned soft drink for $4.75. Nice deal! I grabbed a seat near the counter and just watched the operation while I ate.

Is it the best BBQ I've had in Fort Worth? No, that distinction still goes to Railhead, especially for ribs and a nice frosty schooner of Shiner where the foam gets those tasty little ice crystals... Mmm... But Bailey's is a fantastic spot for downtown folks, and it's one of those rare quick lunch places that actually tastes good. Plus there's the charm of eating in a little red shack downtown...

(817)335-7469
826 Taylor Street

Six. A Number. A Design Show. Mostly A Number.

My buddy Ky Lewis (pictured above, with Shiner Bock) is graduating from TCU's graphic design program, and we're very happy for him. He's a swell guy with a good disposition. His best stuff will be featured with all the other graduates at this year's design show.

It's called "Six," and the show will be at TCU this Monday, and, aw, hell, rather than me telling you all about it, why don't you just go to their awesomely-fun-designed Web site and check it out. The cards twirl. Oh, and the show ... I will be there, you should too.

Oh, yeah, and my fantasy baseball team (The Fillmore Jives) is dying. I need pitching. Suggestions?