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/

Rumor has it that the Rahr & Sons Brewing folks will be hosting a pub crawl on the Near South Side this Friday night.

I’ve been told that they’ll be starting at Chadra Mezza and Grill at 5PM, so be sure you leave work early to get there in time.

Also, for those of you living on the South Side, Chris Cole has challenged you to either walk or ride your bike to Chadra and the on for the rest of the pub crawl. From Chadra I’m guessing they’ll probably go to Finn MacCool’s, then up to Magnolia for a few stops up there. That’s the typical route. Easy to do on a bike!

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!

I don’t think I’m going to be watching any Tommy Lee Jones movies any time soon. Instead, I think I’m going to go see a film that has a more positive local impact.

The Fort Worth Mountain Bikers’ Association is having a benefit screening of Seasons, an action-packed new mountain biking film from The Collective, Saturday June 7th (which I’m guessing technically means 12:00 a.m. Sunday morning, June 8 ) at Rave Motion Pictures in Hurst.

Seasons is a film that follows 7 of the world’s top mountain bikers through the course of 4 seasons of one year, exploring what it means to make a full-time job out of a sport you’re passionate about. Tickets are $10, and the proceeds will go directly into club activities including building and maintenance of new mountain biking trails. If you’ve enjoyed the new challenges of the trails at Marion Sansom Park, then FWMBA deserves your support.

It’s also a rare opportunity to see this film on the big screen, where I guarantee you the action sequences will have greater impact. This is the only screening in Texas, so don’t miss it. Don’t wait for your buddy to buy the DVD… it won’t be as good.

Memorial Day - The dictionary in Mac OS X defines a memorial as “something, esp. a structure, established to remind people of a person or event.” Memorial Day is obviously more than just a structure. It’s rarefied privilege to have an entire day set aside for something. Too often holidays in the United States become sort of meaningless; looked forward to more for the government-sanctioned day away from work (and endless opportunities for retail sales!) than for the stated focus of the day.

That’s really too bad for Memorial Day. Probably not since WWII has our country been so militarized and military-focused, yet how many people really pause to reflect on the real reason we take this day off work?

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View from the Trinity Trail toward Colonial Country Club near Rogers Rd./Trinity Trees area.

I’m not going to be able to go, cause I’m pretty busy next week with things like starting my new job, but I understand there’s this big deal of a golf tournament going on. Apparently the course is so difficult that even the best players on the PGA Tour avoid playing there.

Anyway, if you’re going out to the tournament, save yourself the headache and hassle of trying to find parking, and take the Trinity Trails! Colonial Country Club, together with Streams and Valleys, is working to encourage tournament attendees to lessen their impact on the environment by walking, kayaking, or riding your bike to the Tournament. For every fan that does and checks in at the Streams and Valleys tent, Colonial will donate $10 to Streams and Valleys.

If you are one of the winners of our haiku contest, and I haven’t contacted you, please send me an email directly.

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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…only this time its your kids they’re after.

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