Requiem for a Cat

I never thought I would ever read an obituary for a cat, much less cry because of an obituary for a cat, but I did.

Pablo, faithful feline friend to Ken the Stash Dauber, slipped the bonds of this mortal coil earlier in the week. I highly encourage you to read this remembrance. It says something about Pablo, but also about Ken, who I have found to be an exceptionally soulful person with a heart calibrated to the rhythms of the universe.

I am sorry for your loss, Ken.

Friday at The Wreck

Joined Ken and Kat at The Wreck last night to see Liquid Bounce and PPT.

As they say, PPT is kind of a big deal. They went big time last year when their song “Rowdy, Loud, and Proud” won a popular vote contest to become the Dallas Mavericks’ fight song. More recently, like this week recent, PPT won best hip-hop act at the Dallas Observer Music Awards. I don't see a lot of live hip hop, but I do like to see good live music, so the chance to drink a beer with Ken and see what the PPT was about was enough to get me off the couch at 10 on a Friday night.

And the PPT didn't disappoint. When you see band that's got "it", you just kind of know it. Some bands have that extra gear and PPT is one of those bands. Pikahso, Picnic and Fort Worth's own Tahiti rocked my ass. I put my hands in the air and I would have put my cell phone up, too, except people would just wonder why that guy was holding a walkie-talkie. And when PPT covered the old Romantics' song "Talking In Your Sleep," I was intrigued by the fact that everyone over age 30 seemed to know the words. They finished up with this guy I see at Starbucks join them on stage. Oh, yeah, that's Corey Watson from Black Tie Dynasty, another big winner at the DOMAs this week. A great night. My rating: A big hell ye-aahh. For Ken's take, check it out here. And that's Kat's picture above. See all of Friday's photos (and more) on her blog.

Other random observations: I liked the Liquid Bounce as well. Lead singer/sax/keyboard guy Kevin has some serious chops. ... Ken pretty much knows everybody. Ever thought about running for mayor?

Fort Worth News Items

Check out the Stash Dauber for the schedule of event before the Wreck Room rides off into history. Someone needs to get a camera crew together. There's a documentary in this a la Last Night at the Alamo

Ken also reminds us that Fred's is now open on Sunday and closed on Monday and Tuesday. So adjust your schedule accordingly.

A couple of things from the Panther City Boys: 1) A Labor Day Bike Ride is on the board so air up your tires. 2) There is a community meeting scheduled for Sept. 6 to discuss the impact of Barnett Shale drilling on the Trinity Trail. City staff and Chesapeake Energy reps will be there. And so should you.

Kevin reminds us that Lili's is still delicious.

The Fort Worthian points out that Texadelphia by TCU is no more. And Cafe Express is also no more.

Tammy Gomez got blurbed in the D(a)MN.

The Startlegram lists the contenders for Anna Mowery's old state house seat.

Random Thoughts

I've been a little busy at the office and haven't had time to get my blog on. So please bear with me while I take care of a little housekeeping:

Church of the Sub Genius (right): As if there wasn't enough conspicuous consumption to make me feel small and inadequate, the new must-have transportation gizmo for the ultrarich is a private submarine. Kind of makes your iPhone look like a piece of crap, doesn't it? For example, one sub maker's midsize model is the $25 million Seattle 1000, a three-story-tall vessel with five staterooms, five bathrooms, two kitchens, a gym, a wine cellar and a 30-foot-long by 15-foot-wide observation portal. It has a range of 3,000 nautical miles. Sheesh, where is a depth charge when you really need one?

But I have a plan: I will find and sink the secretive submarines of these wealthy fops the same way the Allies did it in WWII -- with my very own Enigma machine! There's one for sale now on eBay for a mere 10 large. Can someone write me a check?

Show Me The Money: This big project in the Startlegram today looked a little familiar. I wonder why.... Oh, yeah, now I remember - I wrote the same damn thing three months ago! That map kicks ass, though. I'll give you that.

Lili's Bistro: Kevin reminded me of a dining destination on Magnolia I had not yet experienced. Yes, you had me at Gorgonzola. Dropped in late Saturday night. Had the Asian crab cakes, grilled halloumi and mini cristos. Dessert was the Italian cream cake and chocolate almond torte. Not exactly health food, but plenty of yum. A little spensive (Entrees are $16-$18) but good food and a great vibe. Steve says check it.

Dutch's Burgers N Beer: Grady Spears' newest venture occupies the old Jon's Grille space on the TCU drag. Bernie's already given his take, so once again, I'm playing catch-up (no pun intended). Grady makes a mean burger -- a big fat patty and a fresh baked bun. The onion rings are awesome but the fries had an unexpected fishy taste. WTF? The frito pie made me care a little less about the fries -- it's a little more upscale than the heartburn-inducing versions I usually prefer, but plenty good and I'll be back for it again. As for the vibe -- well, no one will confuse it with Fred's. It's a little more tassled-loafer than I would prefer. I like a little raunch with my burger -- my inner redneck, I guess. And spensive yes. Terry Chandler, you don't got nuthin to worry bout, Brutha. Still, can Grady make it? My wife and her co-workers were wondering the same thing. Their conclusion -- nope. My conclusion -- as long as you can drag the TCU kids and their fat wallets in -- you'll be fine.

Not Wrecked: Stash reminds us that the Wreck Room is not closed. Brian ... that fella can hang on.

Birthday Greetings: Speaking of Stash, as we discussed on Sunday, July is a good month to get older. Ken wrote this touching birthday greeting to his oldest daughter and reminded me of two things: 1) Daughters are awesome. 2) Ken really isn't a blogger, he's a poet. Good on ya.

Cindy has left the building: Miss Cindy from the Fine Line now calls San Antone home. Wahh!

Good news / bad news for newspapers: Good news: The Audit Bureau is adding "audience engagement" (read: Web site visitors) to its measurements which will make dismal circulation numbers a little less dismal. Bad news: It's earnings report week for the industry. Let the bloodletting begin ... er, continue.

PSA from our robot overlords Bret and Jemaine: "The humans are dead!"

Facing The Nation

Ken isn't the only old Fort Worth guy getting headlines for his musical ability, turns out Bob Schieffer has a sort-of country music band called Honky Tonk Confidential that The New York Times described as "Johnny Cash meets Rex Harrison." And though Ken likes the wifebeater, Bob is sporting a TCU football jersey and shades. Not bad for a 70-year-old. Something new to shoot for Ken.

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Ken

I missed the 50th Birthday Party for my man Ken the Stash Dauber at The Wreck this past Saturday. But that doesn't mean I don't care. Has anyone ever made 50 look so young? Check out Ken and his Stoogeaphilia mates playing "I Wanna Be Your Dog." Ken's rocking the wife beater. Peace out!

So I Met The Stash Dauber

As my man The Stash Dauber has already chronicled (BTW, don't you EVER sleep man!) I had the honor and good fortune to tip a few with the man live and in person at the Wreck last night. We had quite a bit to talk about, but most of it revolved around the topic: what is the nature of "a scene."

I really kind of hate the word "scene" anyway because it sounds kind of pretentious. And I guess in a way it is supposed to be pretentious and exclusionary. But the word I like better is Stash's word: community. And when you talk about community, it becomes easier to talk not just about the people -- the scenesters if you will -- you can talk about the place and the places. And that's my favorite topic -- what gives Fort Worth its sense of place.

When all of the Apple Stores and all the high-end condos are finished, will Fort Worth lose something? As Stash pointed out last night, the artistic, creative types are harder to stamp out than cockroaches. They find a way to survive. And in Fort Worth, unlike Deep Ellum, the "scene" isn't ghettoized. It's all over town.

But I think it is still a question worth asking. As we build all these new buildings and swim in sea of money from the Barnett Shale, are we losing some of that old Cowtown character?

Also, Stash and I talked about my new pet project: a zine mining all of the old 80s punk rock tales from the D and the FW -- the Axis, the Hop, the Twilite Room. I've already told Stash that he's drafted. Mike, Russ, Sean and Joel -- you guys are next. And anyone else who wants to hop on board -- drop me a line on the gmail at the (dot) caravan[dot] of [dot) dreams.

By the way, Stash, thanks for the books!

Three Old Favorites, Continued

As I mentioned previously, The Stash Dauber has weighed in with his Three Old Favorites. Now Stash’s Philly friend Andrew from Headlock Harmony answers the bell with his list.

Three Old Favorites

My new blog friend Walnuts (who I imagine looking like the Sopranos guy) tasked me with the following endeavor: The Little-Known Favorites. Rules: List and describe three of your favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. Then tag five people. I've been tagged. So here I go.

Schoolboy Johnson by John R. Tunis. I read this 1958 book when I was a kid back in the 1970s, which probably had something to do with the beginnings of my love of all-things Mid-Century. Schoolboy is a pitcher for the Dodgers who overcomes his travails and masters the change-up under the wise and steady influence of the old veteran Speedy. And as the bookjacket says, "But it took even more than the change-up Speedy taught him, to turn the Schoolboy into a winning pitcher, and a man." Uh, OK. I know how that sounds, but I swear to God it doesn't end up like The History Boys. Anyway, flash forward from fourth grade to college. One of my great professors at Texas, Bill Stott said in passing that the works of John R. Tunis would make a great master's thesis for someone. I decided to be that person, then promptly forgot about it. Sorry, Bill. But, years later, I found this copy of the book at the flea market in Canton, helping me formulate my estate saling thesis that sometimes you find things and sometimes things find you.

Cowtown Moderne by Judith Singer Cohen. This book is a love letter to Fort Worth if there ever was one. My city is blessed with a rich architectural heritage (which you can find out more about here) and some of my favorite buildings are from the 1920s and 1930s -- the Art Deco or Moderne period. Open these pages, and you can find out the detailed history of some of Fort Worth's Art Deco gems like the Kress Building and the Sinclair Building. I first learned about this book during my UT days thanks to Jeff Meikle in the American Studies Department. I loved it and made it my mission to procure my own copy, which wasn't easy because it seems only about five were printed. I found my copy at the old Barber's Books in downtown Fort Worth. Barber's was an old Art Deco-style bookstore that was bought out by Larry McMurtry in the mid- to late-nineties. Larry moved all of the books to his book-o-plex in Archer City, but he didn't get this one. It cost me $75 in 1991, which was about 40 percent of my weekly paycheck, so you know I wanted this book REALLY bad. And I've never regretted buying it. It's a priceless resource.

Slightly Out of Focus by Robert Capa. This is an amazing book by one of the great photographers of the 20th Century. Capa, a Hungarian Jew who fled the rise of Fascism in Europe. Capa tells us about his World War II with a light tone, always displaying humor and humility. It's quite a stunning achievement for someone who was not a native English speaker. Did he have help? A ghost writer? I don't want to know. The narrative flows so easily that I imagine it being told in Capa's heavily accented English. For me, there is another, more personal reason for loving this book. My old family friend, Marcus O. Stevenson, pops up from time to time in the story -- in North Africa, in Sicily, in Normandy. Stevenson lived most of his postwar life in Dallas selling construction equipment. But during the war, he was aide-de-camp to Teddy Roosevelt Jr. and was by his side when the General won the Medal of Honor on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. Later had the distinction of being Ernest Hemingway's chaperon during the liberation of Paris. On page 166, you find Hemingway, Capa and Stevenson tear-assing around Normandy in captured Mercedes-Benz with full ration of scotch and enough weapons to arm a full platoon. They soon found themselves caught in the middle of a German ambush that very nearly moved Papa's expiration date forward by 17 years. You want adventure? You want name-dropping? This book is full of great stories like that.

But Slightly Out of Focus is more than a gripping narrative, it's a collection of photos that capture the moments, big and small, of a war. You are there when the Americans storm Omaha Beach, but you also see a little boy sitting on top of a tank during the celebration accompanying the liberation of Paris. The full range of human emotions are there but mostly you find images of life at its most raw. Joy, happiness and exultation. Hate, fear and malice. It's all there.

Thanks for letting me play, Walnuts. Now to tag other people.

UPDATE: The Stash Dauber picks up the gantlet! Good on ya!

Stash Dauber Theater

A couple of cool video are posted over on Stash Dauber's blog:

Cat Head Theatre: Don't ask. Just go watch it.

Ramones videos: In honor of the late Joey Ramone's birthday.

Dallas Theft City

As the Stash Dauber has already established, it's getting kind of tough for local musicians to hang on to their gear, and it's not because their amp is down at the pawn shop so they can pay the landlord. Bands are getting their stuff boosted on an all-too-regular-basis. Now Unfair Park states that Big D is getting a rep for this kind of thing. The result: a lot of musicians feel about Dallas the way I feel about Arlington.

You Learn Something New Every Day

Well, at least I do. I'm still unraveling this Fort Worth music scene thing. Case in point: Goodwin. I caught Tony Diaz and Daniel Gomez at the Hecho en Tejas deal a couple stormy days back, and I thought those guys were the shit. I'm going to try and catch them Friday night at The Moon.

And now Cindy by way of Stash hipped me to Tony and Daniel's previous gig, Bindle. It's frightening how much I don't know about what's going on around here. But at least I know where to look. Sometimes.

The Week That Was in Cowtown

Enjoyed a great dinner with a dear old friend, Rick Poss and his lovely wife, Marianne, at Benito's on Magnolia last night. Rick is pretty well known in Austin music circles for his guitar work with Jimmy LaFave, Alejandro Escovedo and others. Now he has his solo CD coming out in July. I got a first listen last night and I LOVE IT!

Not to sound like a broken record, but I want to encourage everyone in District 9 to get out and vote for Bernie Scheffler. He's an important candidate that we need on the city council. Bernie e-mailed the other day to tell me they will be walking neighborhoods on Sunday, starting at 4 p.m. Visit his blog for more info. If you can't do anything else, do these two things: 1) Vote early at these locations. 2) Send an e-mail to everybody you know in Fort Worth, and ask them to vote in this city election. There were a total of 1349 votes in the last District 9 election. It is not a cliche to say every vote counts. Also, if you are so inclined, grab a Bernie yard sign or print your own Bernie flyers.

The Stash Dauber knows the real reason Willie's picnic isn't coming back to Cowtown.

There's an old joke that goes everybody talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it. Not true for Tammy Gomez. I talk about it, but she turns it into art. She also had another fantastic poem this week on one of my favorite topics: what does it mean to be a Texan.

Once again on the weather, I'd like to thank Pete at Cowtown Chronicles for confirming that our weather this week was typhoon-like in its intensity. Hope your power's back on, Pete. Mine is.

Check out Big D little d for a bad-ass podcast featuring, among others, The Theater Fire, Midlake, and Bosque Brown. It's got 20 hard-to-find, rare or otherwise obscure tracks total from local artists.

My New Favorite South Park Character

THEY'VE KILLED KENNY! Actually not. But I found this likeness of the Stash Man at the Fine Line, along with news that Black Tie Dynasty and PPT will be playing at the Wreck Room this Friday night. You can probably also wish Jill and Brian happy wedding

Catching Up On The Weekend

Haven't been on top of my blogging game the last couple of days. Maybe it's just spring fever. It seems I've been one step behind this weekend.

I missed a chance for block walking with Bernie Scheffler on Sunday. I'm seriously bummed because I really believe that Bernie is the kind of candidate we need in Fort Worth: a young, energetic business person who is not an "establishment politician."

I also missed the PrairieFest because I was busy working with my daughter on her history project. I just thought my days of homework were over.

I missed a nice read from the Stash Dauber on his parents. But do you really miss anything on the Internet?

Final FredsFest Lineup

The Stash Dauber has the final FredsFest lineup. Bottom line is reserve the 3-5 slot on Sunday afternoon, May 6, for serious rocking.

Cowtown: The Week That Was

There are plenty of odds and ends around Cowtown that I've been meaning to catch up on from fellow bloggers in the Panther City:

Bernie over at Cowtown Chronicles got us up to speed on the doings at the Rahr Brewery and their new German-style IPA, “Stormcloud.” Also, Rahr's got its own blog that's pretty good, so check it out.

Over at Stash Dauber-land, Ken's got an update about WRECK ROOM STORIES: True Tales from the Home of Rock 'n' Roll in Fort Worth As Told By the People Who Were There, which will be for sale at the Woodeye/Daddy's Soul Donut show this Saturday (4.21.2007) at the Wreck. And, just for you Paul, there is a cool post on Japanese Rock that you need to check out.

At Fort Worthology, I think we need to give a nod to Kevin's general excellence keeping us posted on all the new development going on. I'm quite shocked by just how much new stuff is getting built. In five years' time, the downtown skyline is going to be radically different. Hell, the 7th Street corridor and the whole Fort Worth South area will be different.

General Rumor-mongering: I heard that the old Black Dog was going to be re-born at the old 7th Haven space on West 7th. ... Also, during the latest round of layoffs at Radio Shack, supposedly someone had a heart attack when they got their pink slip. (Ouch!) Don't forget to pay you're COBRA premiums.

FRED'S UPDATE: I went to Fred's Thursday night and did not have a positive dining experience. I ordered my all-time favorite Fred's meal, the Chipotle-butter ribeye, and to make a long story short, I left an hour later with an empty stomach, a refund and a surly attitude. So I sent an e-mail to Terry Chandler and this is the response I got: "Friend Steve, Terry Chandler from Freds here. I am flabbergasted to say the least. Please do not let this affect your opinion about Freds Cafe. I know its hard to swallow but if you would come back I'll buy you a steak." THAT is customer service. All is forgiven. You had me at 'Friend.'

Am I Turning In To Stash Dauber?

OK, last night I am chilling at the Wreck Room West, shooting the breeze and drinking a couple of Shiners with my friend Dominick, and I’m thinking this good post material. But then I see this morning that Mr. Stash already has a Wreck Room West post. And a Vonnegut post. And a Hecho in Texas post. So am I turning into Stash Dauber, or is he turning in to me?

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut

The above image is from the Wilco Web site. I can think of worse quotes to go out on. In the interest of full disclosure, I have never read anything by Kurt Vonnegut, but I did see him on Bill Maher once and thought he had cool hair. I may have to join the Stash Dauber reading challenge and put Slaughterhouse Five on my list right after Ulysses.

Tentative FredsFest Lineup

Stash Dauber has the skinny on who's playing the FredsFest! I will be there with bells on. And probably a hat.