CLASP (Cowtown Loves Animal Shelter Pets) members from across Fort Worth will be attending the City Council meeting this Tuesday night to show their support for the construction of an adoption center at the Fort Worth animal shelter.

The original plans for the city Animal Shelter included an adoption center, but the adoption center was dropped due to cost overruns. Since then, the adoption center has never been re-addressed or even reconsidered.

As you may know, I adopted a dog from the animal shelter. He’s turned out to be a wonderful companion, and I can’t imagine my life without him. Shelter dogs and cats don’t choose to be there. They wind up there because of careless pet owners who either lose track of them or don’t have their pets spayed or neutered and allow them to be born in the first place. Every animal that winds up in the shelter deserves the best opportunity to find a new family that will take good care of them, and an adoption center is be the best way to meet that goal.

Please, come out to City Council chambers on Tuesday night at 7PM and show your support for this worthy cause.

As I’ve said before, one of my favorite restaurants on the Near South Side is Chadra Mezza and Grill. The food is terrific, but it’s the wonderful people that keep me going back. Heck, my wife and I have even been known to pick up a bartending shift or two at the restaurant… we enjoy being there that much!

Nehme and Christina Elbitar recently added outdoor seating behind their Park Place eatery, so every Wednesday night they are inviting folks to bring their dogs to enjoy a night out on the patio. Dogs get a bowl of water and a treat, while their people can enjoy a full bar and selections from the Lebanese/Greek/Italian menu.

Chadra Mezza & Grill

Lebanese/Greek/Italian/817-924-2372/1622 Park Place Avenue/$$/Reservations advisable on Friday Night/11AM-3PM Mon and Tues; 11AM-10PM Wed-Sat
http://www.chadramezza.com/

While Fort Worth has made great steps forward on heavier rail systems, first with the Trinity Railway Express and now with the upcoming Southwest-to-Northeast Line, those systems are primarily concerned with moving across longer city-to-city type distances. What’s been missing is a proposal to do something greater for central city urban mobility, something beyond The T’s little-used (and in some ways rather lackluster) bus system.

Until now.

For several months now, a proposal has been working its way through the city’s ether to bring back Fort Worth’s streetcar system, silenced long ago and replaced with the bus. Decades ago, Fort Worth had one of the finest streetcar systems in the entire country, with routes linking downtown to many dense, walkable “streetcar suburbs” like the Magnolia/Fairmount/Ryan Place area, the west side, and places like the Stockyards. Now, with Fort Worth witnessing the success that modern streetcar systems are having in places like Portland, work is underway on returning these central city circulator vehicles to the neighborhoods around downtown.

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As you may remember from last year, Sundance Square played host to a series of outdoor movie screenings in the Chisholm Trail parking lot. They set up a giant screen, invited some concessionaires, and slapped a movie on a giant-ass screen for all the world to see.

Well, they’re starting things up again this year on the 12th of June (a Thursday). The first movie will be “Hairspray.” After that, they’ll be showing another family-friendly movie every Thursday until the 10th of July.

Grab your kiddos and head downtown for some free entertainment under the stars! Movies start at dusk.

This week Fort Worth plays host to the 10th annual QCinema Festival.

Todd Camp and his crew (including friend of W&C James Johnston) have put together 10 days worth of activities highlighting the incredible work coming out of the gay and lesbian film scene.

And before you say “That’s not for me, I’m not gay!” You don’t have to be gay to enjoy these films. (I know, that point was kind of obvious, but bear with me.) From reading through the descriptions of the films being programmed, they all deal with the same things that everyone deals with; life, death, love and relationships, family, kids, etc. etc. The only difference is that the male/female ratio among the cast members is not even close to even.

When I take people who’ve never been to Spiral Diner there for lunch or dinner, I tell them not to get too wrapped up in the whole “vegan thing.” It’s just a meal; the only difference is that instead of meat on your sandwich (or in your taco salad) you’re getting a plant-based product that’s finagled to look and sorta taste like meat. It’s still lunch, just with a different presentation.

This theory also applies to “gay cinema.” Don’t get all flustered by the “gay” aspect of it. The stories are just like “mainstream cinema,” except that you get two hunky male love interests instead of just one. It’s the same thing, just with a slightly different presentation.

Take a look at the schedule — events run for 10 days starting yesterday (oops!), and during the week they’re scheduled conveniently for us worker bees to make it to the screenings in time. Get out there and broaden your horizons and support one of the longest running film festivals in our city!

If you’re not going to Wendy Davis’ birthday party tonight, I highly encourage all of you to join me tonight at La Grave Field to watch the Cats take on the Sioux Falls Canaries on Opening Day.

The game starts at 7:05, and there will be fireworks after the game.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the Cats are the best value in family entertainment in the city, and possibly the entire Metroplex. Tickets start at $4, and the most expensive seats in the house are only $12. You can’t even park at Whatever-the-hell-it’s-called-now Park in Arlington that cheaply, I don’t think. I know $4 won’t even buy a beer there. (Of course it won’t at La Grave, either, but it’s still cheaper.)

Seriously — drag the clan out on a school night for the festivities, you won’t be disappointed.

In the last few weeks Fort Worth has played host to Main Street Arts Fest, PrairieFest, Fred’s Fest, and Mayfest.

So, if you’ve had your fill of the -fests, you should try something different this weekend: The Fairmount Home Tour. (Of course, if you’re not tired of -fests, then you should make your way over to the Fairmount Home Fest instead. It’s way cooler.)

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Okay, so I actually don’t have any proof to back up the headline… but how else do you explain the fact that the Arlington City Council is actually considering passing a very forward-thinking law?

It’s the largest city in the U.S. with no public transportation system. It gives huge handouts to rich folks who want to build stadiums. And let’s not forget our very own Steve-o’s personal jihad against Arlington. And these guys want to pass a law that’s good for the environment? A law that started in, [gasp], San Francisco? 

To be fair to the council, the death of mass transit and the gifts to Jerry Jones were moves given the stamp of approval by Arlington voters in elections. I hope the council can pass the plastic bag ban without having to put it on the ballot!

And if the ban is enacted, I hope Fort Worth is brave enough to follow in Arlington’s footsteps. (That has to be number one on my all-time list of things I never thought I’d say.)

So, who’s the bad guy in this whole Eighth Avenue debacle?

Is it Chesapeake Energy? Sure, they’re easy targets. They’ve been blamed for every bad thing that’s happened in Fort Worth since 1846. And why not? These Oklahoma carpetbaggers come in here and brainwash our children, shoot poison into the earth with their injection wells, pollute our television screens with bad infomercials and build a hellish zombie-beast to run for City Council to advance their devious pro-drilling agenda.

OK, just kidding about the hellish pro-drilling zombie-beast on the city council. Although … a question for all of you … if that did happen, how could we tell the difference between said hell-beast and Carter Burdette? Maybe tie a pink ribbon around the left arm of one of them? Can we go ahead and clear this up by city ordinance just in case?

But would it rock your world if I told you that maybe Chesapeake wasn’t to blame for this bit of gas drilling brinksmanship on the South Side? Well, get ready to hang on to your top hats.
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…only this time its your kids they’re after.

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