Installation began today on artist Cliff Garten’s “Avenue of Light” sculptures along Lancaster Avenue. Here are a few pics, courtesy of Alida and Anne at Fort Worth Public Art.
Everyone’s favorite beer bar will be hosting a beer dinner/tasting this Thursday, February 26th, featuring the Lagunitas Brewing Company. Petaluma, California-based Lagunitas has been tearing up the beer world with their unabashedly over-the-top beers, and they’re bringing a nice selection of seasonal brews to the Fort Worth Flying Saucer for a beer/food pairing.
They’re keeping the crowd small to make it an intimate affair and to ensure that everyone has a chance to soak up the knowledge dropped by Lagunitas’ co-founder and “Head Beer Weasel”, Ron Lindenbusch.
Tickets are $40 for the riff-raff and $35 for UFO club members. (UFO club membership is $14. With it you get a free t-shirt, a card to track the beers you try, and you’re exempted from cover charges on the weekends. Once you’ve done 200 different beers, you get a platter with your name and a pithy slogan on it (look for mine on the patio), and a party thrown in your honor with a $100 bar tab to help pay for it.)
A busy weekend, and I’d like to call attention to a few things.
First, tonight is Near Southside First Friday on the Green at Magnolia Green Park. Bring your friends and family, along with blankets and chairs, for the second in Fort Worth South’s new series of live music events. Tonight’s First Friday will feature the Josh Weathers Band and JZ & Dirty Pool. The great Chadra Mezza & Grill will be providing food, which is always a big plus.
Magnolia Green is the mixed-use development bounded by Magnolia, Alston, Rosedale, and Hemphill. Magnolia Green Park itself is located on Lipscomb in the heart of the development, across the street from the Magnolia Green Townhomes by Village Homes.
I hope to see a lot of you there – I’ll be in attendance taking photos. Near Southside First Friday on the Green runs from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Admission is free but you can bring a pet toy for the Humane Society.
Secondly, another First Friday – this time, it’s First Fridays at the Modern. Live music and cocktails at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in the Cultural District along with later hours for Cafe Modern. A docent-led, 20-minute tour of the galleries is available at 6:30 PM. The tour is free for Modern members and Star-Telegram Press Pass holders. Dinner at Cafe Modern will be served from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM and reservations are recommended. Music at tonight’s First Fridays at the Modern will be provided by the Sam Walker Trio.
Finally, I’ve added another venue to the list of places that will be covered in Curtain Call – Embargo in South Downtown (SoDo) is now on the list! Embargo is near the Convention Center on East 8th Street.
Scat Jazz Lounge | Map
Closed for private event. – Friday
Red Young Organ Trio – Saturday – 9:00 PM
Trio Cubano – Sunday – 8:30 PM
Click below for more great shows!
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Jack is a 6 month old coonhound pup in need of a loving family and a place to call home. He’s neutered and ready to go to his new family today! Come and visit with Jack at:
The Humane Society of North Texas 817-332-4768
On the recommendation of a friend, I finally stopped into Simply Fondue in downtown last night. After a quiet opening a month or two ago, the place has been refining and tweaking things, and last night marked the official opening.
Simply Fondue is located in the basement of the Woolworth Building at 4th & Houston. The Woolworth Building is also home to the Scat Jazz Lounge, the downtown Jos. A. Bank, and the Milan Gallery. Enter the doors on 4th Street and take the stairs down to the restaurant, following the handy signage along the way. [Read more]
Q Cinema is presenting film fest favorite “Pageant” as the last film in their fall series.
From the press release:
The Miss Gay America Pageant has more talent and drama than the Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants combined. To be crowned Miss Gay America is being honored as the most beautiful and fiercely talented female impersonator in the country.
“Pageant” follows five everyday men and their families as they strive for one extraordinary dream. And you’ll hear from the men as well as from those in their entourage: husbands, mothers, sons and little brothers.
“Pageant” runs 95 minutes, and is being screened Wednesday, October 29th at the Four Day Weekend Theater. Tickets are $10, and are available online or at the venue.
Here are a few pictures I took at the Fall Beer Festival put on by the Flying Saucer on Saturday. This year was a great success, according to “Captain” Keith Schlabs, the Food and Beverage Director at Eight-O management, the Flying Saucer’s parent company. He told me that they had already sold 30% more tastings this year than last by about 8:30, with another two and a half hours to go!
I came to the Pacific Northwest a day early to tour the Fort Worth Central City – Trinity River scale hydrology model before its dismantling at the conclusion of testing later this year.
(Note from Kevin: The Fort Worth Central City Hydrology Model is a 40:1 scale model of the Trinity River after reconfiguration by the Trinity River Vision, which allows water flow testing of the bypass channel, town lake, and other aspects of the design. It is in Richmond, BC near the Vancouver Airport. Joel’s tour guide is Ken Christison of Northwest Hydraulic Consultants. The video is in two parts and hosted by Vimeo.)
Fort Worth Central City Hydrology Model tour – Pt 1 from Joel Burns on Vimeo.
Just after the news of the Pour House planning to close and leave their now-XTO-owned building comes news that XTO is planning a new building on downtown’s east side. The building would replace the vacant lot at 7th & Calhoun the company was planning on using for parking for their Binyon O’Keefe Warehouse restoration across the street. If you’re curious, I’ve got more at sister site Fort Worthology.
If you’re a fan of the Pour House in downtown, better enjoy it while you can – the Star-Telegram is reporting that the long-running bar will be closing December 31st.
The 13-year-old Pour House, a well-worn second-story space that Eric Tschetter transformed into a downtown institution some called Fort Worth’s own Cheers, will close Dec. 31 after fighting lawsuits over nearly four years with two successive landlords.
Tschetter said Wednesday that he and the latest owner, XTO Energy, agreed to withdraw their respective suits this summer.
XTO bought the building a while ago, and the primary ground-floor tenant – Mikado Sushi – has been shuttered for some time. I’m not sure what XTO intends to do with the building in the immediate future. I know from various sources that the energy company has a plan drawn up to demolish the Pour House building and the (ghastly) 600 Houston Mall (aka parking garage) and build a new office building that wraps around the historic Petroleum Building occupying the southwest corner of the block, but I don’t expect to be seeing that happening any time soon.
There aren’t an awful lot of these old inlaid street names in the city (ditto for the old blue & white tile street names on the curbs). This lovely example is at 8th & Houston downtown, next to the W. T. Waggoner Building.
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