The Reivers: I Keep Some Words Here In My Pocket for Such a Rainy Day

For a few moments at The Reivers reunion show at The Parish in Austin last night, it was 1985 again.

The kids who used to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee at Quacks or Les Amis, who used to hunt for records at Sound Exchange on the Drag, who used to queue up outside the Liberty Lunch were there. Most are a little thicker around the middle and maybe showing a little -- or a lot of -- gray. Or a receding hairline. Some of them brought their kids.

But they were there, pulling on a Shiner or a Lone Star, shelving middle age anxieties for a couple of hours to remember what life was like before mortgage payments and Blackberries. One woman -- in true Michael Stipe fashion -- was rocking her FFA jacket. A couple even wore their old-school Reivers' t-shirts.

And it was a good night and a good show.

The Reivers -- John Croslin, Kim Longacre, Cindy Toth and Garrett Williams -- were one of the biggest deals in the Austin scene in the mid-1980s. They never made the splash that Stevie Ray Vaughan did. Hell, they never made the splash Timbuk 3 made. But the two sold out shows over the weekend tell you that even though this band broke up in 1991 without reaching the same heights as other Austin acts, it still has a special place in the hearts of many a current and former Austin resident.

If you are looking for a good overview of who The Reivers were, or maybe you just need a little refresher course, go no further than Michael Corcoran's excellent remembrance on the Austin 360 Web site. He pretty much nailed it, and he was there to know. Below is a video of how they did it back in the day:



Last night, in the second of their two shows, The Reivers sounded like a band that hadn't played together in over 15 years -- not especially tight and they missed a few notes early on. And I'm sad to say that Longacre -- who could make the hair on the back of my neck stand up back in the 80's -- doesn't quite have the pipes she used to.

But these are mere quibbles. The Reivers still rocked and their got better as the night wore on. Longacre jumps around on stage pretty good for a middle-aged mom. Her harmonies with Croslin still evoke the same magic. Toth is still enigmatic. Williams plays the fuck out of his drum kit.



To provide a little more context for those of you in the 817, the Reivers emerged from the Austin scene in mid-1980s as a band called Zeitgeist. You can see them above on MTV's Cutting Edge, circa 1985, along with Daniel Johnston. Cut from the mold of the jangly R.E.M.-influenced bands of the time, they released an excellent album called Translate Slowly, a moody album perfectly calibrated for my brooding teen-age soul. As much as I loved all the songs on that album, what really struck me was two covers: Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "The 4Country Reporter Theme." These guys could rock, but they knew Texas. They were people like me. They loved Willie and Bob Phillips. They even ripped off the Texas Rangers logo of the baseball wearing the cowboy hat for their very own.

I listened to Translate Slowly approximately 150,000 times. I used to look at the back of the album sleeve at the black and white photograph of the band members sitting around a table, playing cards and drinking bottles of Shiner Bock and cans of Bud. I remember thinking, 'Man, Austin's a place I need to get to.'

Back then, that was the music of the future, the siren song of impending adulthood. And Austin called out as a good place get life started.

And I got to Austin. By the time I arrived, a lawsuit from another band with the same name prompted a name change to The Reivers, but I saw them and Joe Ely and the True Believers and a bunch of other great bands play during my time there. And I smoked cigarettes and drank Shiner, played spades and hung out with my friends just like those kids on the album sleeve. I even met my first Austin girlfriend at a Reivers' album release party on a cold, blustry winter day in the parking lot of the old Waterloo Records location.

And though the girlfriend wasn't around much longer than an album side, one cut off of that record, The End of the Day, I still carry around with me to this day. It was the next-to-last song they played last night, "Star-Telegram." It's still my favorite song ever about Fort Worth -- a beautiful piece of 1980s nostalgia for growing up in the early 1970s.

And that's where everything turns around. As I listened to that song last night, I was very aware that it was not a part of the soundtrack of my future, but rather my past. Now, when I put those old albums on and thoughts of Austin spin above my record player, I'm in Fort Worth. I've got a kid of my own who wears t-shirts and listens to rock music. Funny how that happened so quickly.

But, I'm lucky. Sure, time goes by all too fast, and many of the kids I enjoyed those Austin days with are now scattered all over the globe -- from Brazil to Ireland to Australia. But I still have some good old friends around who remember those days. And from time to time, just like yesterday afternoon, we can sit under a towering oak tree on South Congress in the long shadows of afternoon and share a drink and a laugh and listen to a little music.

That's really what I took away from last night at The Parish. -- for me, Austin is like Hemingway's Paris -- it's really a moveable feast. There's never any end to it. No matter how much you change or it changes, you can still return to it. And it's always worth it.

To Kim, John, Cindy and Garrett, thanks for the reminder. Thanks to Russ and Shannon for a good trip.

Thanks to jbeckham for the photo.

UPDATE: Read the Austin 360 review here.

Bemstar Wants a Hug

I love Godzilla kitsch. So does this guy. Check out his Totally Awesome Flickr Set of Japanese monster toys. Thanks, Boing-Boing!

What's The Best Kind of Bear?

Dwight Schrute once asked one of the fundamental questions of our time. OK, actually it was Jim Halpert pretending to be Dwight Schrute, but an important question it is -- what is the best kind of bear?

Jim said black bear. I wish to offer an alternative.

What's the best kind of bear? I say a beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking, mortar-shell carrying bear who fights Nazis. That kind of bear is Voytek the Soldier Bear. And Voytek kicks ass.

This story has been a topic of discussion in my house for several days. According to the BBC, who presumably thoroughly fact-check this kind of thing, Voytek was a bear that Polish soldiers found wandering in the hills of Iran in 1943. Apparently a docile creature, the bear became the unit's mascot and was trained to carry heavy mortar rounds. Which he did during the Battle of Monte Cassino.

"He was just like a dog - nobody was scared of him," said Polish veteran Augustyn Karolewski. "He liked a cigarette, he liked a bottle of beer - he drank a bottle of beer like any man."

When the troops were demobilised, Voytek spent his last days at Edinburgh Zoo where he died in 1963, presumably of lung cancer. Now, the good people of Edinburgh and Polish veterans are trying to get a memorial built for Voytek. Here's hoping they do it. You can send a letter of support to the The Scotsman in Edinburgh.

Exhibit B: If you need more evidence that bears kick ass, allow me to point you to The Bible, by way of Cracked magazine. Yes, we are sinking that low. The topic is 9 Most Badass Bible Verses. The subject is Number 8: II Kings 2: 23-24. "From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths." See -- even God knows that bears are awesome. And who hasn't wished they could summon up some bears to deal with wisecracking juvenile delinquents? Think about that the next time you're at Hulen Mall.

A Word About My Man PeteG

My good friend and West and Clear blogging colleague PeteG really gobsmacks me with his talent. Case in point -- the image above. I love the composition, but what really get me is the quality of the color -- the sky, the wall, the sand. The color is exquisite. And that's when Pete would say, "It's the light, man. It's all about the light."

In a word, awesomez.

Once

The Oscar nominations are out this morning and even though I don't get out to the movies quite like I used to, my first thought was ... wow, what an odd, highbrow year. Just when you think that American civilization has completely bottomed out, Cormac McCarthy and Upton Sinclair are in the running for Best Picture.

But the biggest, most pleasant surprise of the morning was from the most unexpected, moving film I have seen in quite some time. Among the nominations for Best Original Song -- "Falling Slowly" from the film "Once," by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. You can see the video above.

It's a beautiful song and beautiful film. I can't say enough about it. In a film landscape when everything seems to be an onslaught of robotic violence, serial killers and trite fantasies for the Bratz generation, along comes this quiet little realistic Irish film that is sweet and touching. It's just a simple story of two people sort of falling for each other and making music. And we find -- not surprisingly -- that people's lives are complicated things.

But unlike many music films, the story doesn't take a backseat to the music or vice versa. Hansard and Irglova are two very capable musicians who can also act. The music doesn't feel like a departure from the narrative thread -- it moves it forward.

Do yourself a favor and see this movie. And tell a friend. You'll be glad you did.

UPDATE: The Onion AV Club interview with Glen Hansard.

What's the Deal with Steve?

I feel normal. Why do you ask?

Actually, that's my cat, Bucky. I need something to get the .38 Special thing lower on the page. And, I kind of like that picture.

But I have been getting that question a lot lately. For those of you who may not know it, I've been spending a lot more time at my other blog, West and Clear. I've actually been quite busy. Drop by and check it out.

But that leads in to my thoughts for today. Over the past several months since the beginning of West and Clear, my blogging has been a little schizophrenic. Do I post something on the Caravan? On West and Clear? On both? And that doesn't get into my other other blog.

In short, I have three blogs, and given the demands of my life, it seems that any one of them can be good at any one moment. I'm trying to change that, but you can only spend so many hours a day behind a keyboard.

And to call West and Clear "my" blog is not the whole truth. I am a proud papa, but West and Clear has four other fathers. Bernie, Kevin, PeteG and PeteW joined our mighty blogging powers because we wished to be the kings of all media in Fort Worth and crush all those who sought steal that mantle from us.

Actually, I kid.

We came together as a bunch of blogging SuperFriends because we love Fort Worth and want to tell its stories. So far, it's working. Together, I believe we are better bloggers collectively than we are individually. We feed off off the group energy. We like each other. We enjoy our work.

And the readers of Fort Worth have responded. Many of you are already West and Clear readers and some of you even take the time to leave your comments. Thank you. We've met you out in the community and you've encouraged us to keep writing. One frequent comment we hear goes like this: "I finally feel like I know what's going on in Fort Worth."

Again, thank you. I'm flattered, but I haven't drank that much of the KoolAid yet. However, I do believe that West and Clear fills a need.

So, you may be wondering, what does that have to do with The Caravan of Dreams?

A lot.

I'm tired of double-posting or trying to figure out what goes where. And, I believe some of my readers are confused, too. So I am adopting a new policy.

Effective immediately, those of you who are looking for my musings on urban gas drilling, local politics, local media, local music, local arts coverage or any other Fort Worth topic, head over to West and Clear. It's all there. However, those of you who are looking for the occasional musings on God, Godzilla, books and any other cosmic questions that are rattling around in my attic, you'll find that nonsense right here.

I know most of my readers are interested in the Fort Worth topics, and I enjoy writing about them. But The Caravan of Dreams is still pretty special to me and I hope y'all will continue reading here, too. I started blogging a few years ago as a way to make sense of my life after my father died. I don't know what I was expecting to find, if I was trying to write my way to some sort of answer of what life is about. If that was what I was looking for, I didn't find it. I'm just as clueless as before.

But I did find that writing stories helps. It's therapeutic. I grew up avidly listening to stories and I always hoped that I would be able to one day tell stories of my own. Honestly, I don't think I'm very good at it, but I enjoy the hell out of it. I enjoy the hell out of my life and living in Fort Worth. And, above all, I am not short of observations. So this blog will continue to be the old shoebox filled with the trading cards, paperclips, wheat pennies and bottlecaps of imagination.

So, read me at West and Clear, but read me here, too. I promise interesting reading at both sites. And two out of three ain't bad.

Panther City Bikes on YouTube

Bernie over at Panther City Bikes just posted this little promo video on the PCB blog. In his post about the video he writes: "Behold the raw power of what Jason likes to call my ".38 Special" 'stache!"

Is this indeed a .38 Special mustache? Watch the video and then judge.

As for me, I'm already convinced. Jason, you nailed it. I offer you Exhibit A, the guy on the left:


BTW, you can actually vote on whether on not Bernie should grow his stash back. Visit the PCB blog to cast your vote. But hurry up, because only two days remain.

Los Noviembres at Embargo Tonight

Looking for something to do on a Wednesday night? Head over to Embargo and check out Los Noviembres, the electrojazzblues cocktail mixed by Paul Boll and Angie Cassada. Think bossa novas and jazz standards. Astrud Gilberto. That kind of cool. Show starts at 10.

Goodbye, Wendy. Hello, Joel.

Wendy Davis said goodbye to the City Council last night. Joel Burns took his seat as the new District 9 representative. Was there drama?

Oh, you bet. This is District 9 after all. Read the whole story at West and Clear.

Kimberly Gordon at Scat Jazz Lounge

This just in from mi amigo maximo Ricki Derek -- Chicago jazz singer Kimberly Gordon will perform two shows next week at Ricki's Scat Jazz Lounge.

Gordon has been a part of the national jazz scene for 10 years, playing top venues and receiving high acclaim from critics and musicians. During her four-year stint in New York City, Gordon sang at The Village Vanguard, Bradley's and Sweet Basil and appeared regularly at Smalls and Cleopatra's Needle.

She shared the stage with jazz greats including Roy Hargrove, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Wynton Marsalis and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Betty Carter, Marcus Roberts, Captain Jack McDuff, Von Freeman, and others.

Gordon plays at 9 p.m., on Friday, Jan. 11, and Saturday, Jan. 12. Tickets are only available the night of the show at the door for $8. Table reservations for four or more are only accepted for reservations before 10 p.m. and only held for 15 minutes. 21 and up only.

Open Letter to Gary Wortel

Welcome to Fort Worth and congratulations on your new position as publisher of Fort Worth's only daily newspaper. I know you are really busy right now, so I'm going to cut straight to the chase. I'm kind of an anomaly among those in online Fort Worth -- I actually subscribe to the newspaper. That's right. Sometime in the small hours of the morning, a real person inserts a real newspaper in a real plastic baggy and leaves it somewhere in the vicinity of my front porch.

That makes me kind of a Luddite because most of my friends don't subscribe to or even read the paper. Maybe they look at it online. And I know that is one of the problems you are trying to solve. So I'm here to offer some advice.

You see, I believe in newspapers in general and your newspaper in particular. I believe that a free press and education are two of the essential ingredients of American democracy and for most of our history, the newspaper has both informed and educated. I worked there for almost 10 years, and I believe the Star-Telegram is an essential part of this community. It's like Ol South Pancake House, except without a smoking section. Yeah, the Startlegram is that important.

I know you are buried under opinions about how to move the Star-Telegram forward in 2008. So I figured I would throw a few on the pile. Here goes:

It's about the local: The people I talk to want to read local news but they don't feel like they are getting it from the Star-Telegram. If you tell this to your editors, they will tell you that what I just said is a bunch of bullshit ... there's plenty of local news. But that's how a lot of people feel. So who's right? I think the people are. If so, where is the disconnect?

Call out the liars: OK, I do have an idea about the disconnect. I wish I could take credit for this one, but credit goes to the Online Journalism Review. Lemme read a little. I highlighted a few of my favorite parts: "How do you distinguish yourself among all this information competition? Don't rely on the value of and goodwill toward your publications "brand." If that was gonna bail you out, it would have already. No, news publishers need to provide information that is more timely, more accurate, and above all, more useful and rewarding to their readers in order to claim a larger share of what might be in 2008 a shrinking ad revenue pie. Readers today are drowning in lies ... The news sites that prosper in 2008 and beyond will be the ones that do not leave their readers hanging with 'he said, she said' coverage, but that report aggressively to reveal to readers who's lying and who is telling the truth. The online medium is changing journalism. But not just to make it a 24/7, global, clickable and interactive. By unleashing fresh competition on the field, it is pressuring established newsrooms to wake up from their lazy practice of stenography-as-journalism, and start calling out the liars again." There's a pretty good roadmap right there. In a sort-of-related topic, a step in the right direction would be disclosing the terms of the gas drilling lease that the Star-Telegram signed a gas drilling lease agreement with Chesapeake Energy. If the S-T has a business arrangement worth a lot of money with one of the most controversial companies doing business in Fort Worth, the public has a right to know of a potential conflict of interest. It's the right thing to do.

Make the paper smaller: I know, I know. I've read the stories in the paper. People love the redesign. But the people I talk with think that there is too much clutter to find what is really important. Be respectful of readers' time. You aren't just competing against other news sources, you are competing against the Mavericks game, YouTube, IM, 30 Rock, dinner, sleep ... just about everything. You are the filter. Make it more efficient for readers to go through you than gathering news on their own.

Give me a Web site worth clicking on: The paper was redesigned last April. We are still waiting for the new Web site. Why? If anything, the Web site is even more important because that's where the future of newspapers is headed. If you'd like some very specific ideas about how to fix it, please read my post from last summer. I know the Wall Street Journal recently enthused about McClatchy phasing in Yahoo services in 2008, citing that early tests in Fort Worth produced a 4 percent traffic increase the first month. Imagine what those numbers could be with a clickable, searchable, truly interactive Web site?

Moderate the comments: The comments I find on your Web site make me shudder. For some reason, it draws out the bottom feeders who dispense the most vile tripe but don't add any value to the great conversation of Fort Worth. OK, that's pretty esoteric. Lemme break it down another way. It prevents your Web site from building affinity with its readers. I think that's how they say it in newspaperspeak. Look at it this way: its the online equivalent of a bunch of teenagers hanging out in front of the store. It drives people away.

A little link love, please: I blog a lot about what is written in the Star-Telegram and I follow Fair Use guidelines -- paraphrase a little, provide proper attribution and insert a hyperlink (BTW, permalinks, please.) And I do this with any other blog or news site I refer to. It's proper netiquette and really not that different from what your reporters do every day. However, that hasn't proved to be a two-way street. When your reporters find out about things from my blog or aother local blogs, there's no mention of where this insight came from. It is passed off as original reporting. I know the ethics of blogging have still not fully gelled, but I think this is wrong. If I reporter finds out about a story from a local blog, a little attribution would be nice. There are lots of bloggers in Fort Worth who work hard to record the world as they see it around them. Give them a little recognition.

That's enough to start with. Good luck with the new job, Gary. I'm rooting for you.

Trinity Trees Come Down

I was expecting something a little more dramatic as I walked down the Trinity Trail near the Rogers Avenue bridge. Bulldozers. Chainsaws. Contractors from Blackwater.

A friend sent me an e-mail this afternoon that the Trinity Trees were coming down. I guess I expected it to be a work in progress. But it was a done deal.

What I found was an open area where Chesapeake Energy's pad site will be, along with blue sky and silence. No one was there. The only noise came from the Union Pacific yards next door.

After months of meetings, petitions, letter writing and lawsuits, the Trinity Trees controversy was over. I guess spokesperson Julie Wilson is still polishing the press release that says, "Hey, we just cut down a bunch of trees."

I had hoped against hope that some Capra-esque miracle would transpire. Maybe like Claude Rains at the end of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Chesapeake Vice President Tom Price would go sprinting down the Trinity Trail, racked with guilt while tearing off his Men's Warehouse suit and screaming, "I was wrong! Global warming does exist! These trees must be SAVED!"

But that hope died even before the ink was dry on Melissa Kohout's lawsuit.

The realistic view was best articulated by Jim Marshall. A few months back, Jim told me that in spite of everything, there were positives to come out of this:

Chesapeake altered its plans.

Chesapeake secured permission from Union Pacific to locate part of its drilling equipment on Union Pacific property. The alternative plan proposed by the Trinity Trees group was to relocate the entire drilling site to UP property.

Current plans call for the pad site to be reduced from 2.5 to 1.4 acres, saving an additional 1.1 acres of the 8.33 acre tree grove.

The perimeter tree planting surrounding the pad site is being enhanced following a revised landscape plan with 268 new trees ranging from 5 to 14 feet in height.

Chesapeake has committed to donate $500,000 to the City tree farm.

Saving over an acre of old growth trees ain't nothing. Getting Chesapeake to part with $500,000 for trees ain't nothing, either.

And I was thinking about that while I walked the Trinity Trees site this afternoon. It's a perfect example of what Lyndon Johnson called "half-loaf" politics -- a half a loaf of bread is better than no loaf at all. It's compromise. Everybody wins.

Well, there certainly were some winners.

Someday soon, a drilling rig will reach to the sky alongside the old oaks on the banks of the Trinity. And someday not long after that, the money will flow into the coffers of Chesapeake Energy, Union Pacific and Colonial Country Club.

But what about the rest of us here in Fort Worth. You know, the people who are concerned about keeping our neighborhoods safe, maintaining our natural environment and other little things like that. What about us? Did we get a half a loaf out of this? Because doesn't seem like it.

Then I remembered something that someone said to me recently. "Why is it that whenever there is some sneaky shit going on with gas drilling, Chesapeake's name is on it?"

Um, I dunno? Maybe because of the Trinity Trees, injection wells, the proposed Eighth Avenue drilling site, signing a drilling lease with the Star-Telegram.

And that's when it clicked for me.

Like a rebellious teenager, Chesapeake pushes the limits to see what it can get away with. Maybe Fort Worth will say no to a few things, they figure, but who knows what that town will say yes to.

But no matter how many billboards Chesapeake buys, the people of Fort Worth have started to notice this pattern of behavior. They are judging Chesapeake on their deeds, not their dollars. And those deeds may have already cost the company some dollars.

I believe the Trinity Trees issue hurt Chesapeake in lease negotiations in Mistletoe Heights and Ryan Place. I also believe that the Trinity Trees helped get the gas drilling ordinance back on the table. Who knows, maybe we'll end up with an ordinance that does more to protect our interests, not the gas drillers.

If that's the half of the loaf we got, Fort Worth, that ain't nothing.

Joel Burns Sworn In

As I mentioned earlier today, Joel Burns took the oath of office as City Council representative for District 9 yesterday. Burns took the oath of office at a small ceremony attended by family and friends. Justice John Hill administered the oath.

Burns told the Star-Telegram yesterday that he learned from Fort Worth city attorneys that because the runoff election results were canvassed last Thursday, making them official, he could be sworn in any time.

“I’m honored and truly blessed to serve District 9 and am ready to get to work for our great city and the neighborhoods I represent,” said Burns. “I can’t think of a better way to start the New Year.”

Who Derailed Wendy Davis?

Is Wendy Davis going to get to run against Kim Brimer for the State Senate District 10 seat?

Obviously, Davis wants to -- she announced that back in August. Everything seemed like smooth sailing until Monday afternoon when three Fort Worth firefighters waltzed into Tarrant County Democratic Party headquarters with a letter for local party poobah Art Brender. According to the Star-Telegram, the letter calls on the party to disqualify Davis from running because she is still a Fort Worth City Council member. Seems there is a little conflict between state and local law.

State law forbids sitting council members from running for the Legislature, but local law requires her to keep her seat until a successor is sworn in. Joel Burns, who won the special election runoff Dec. 18 to replace Davis, is scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 8.

Brender has asked the secretary of state for a formal opinion on the issue, but there is a sense of urgency to the matter -- the deadline to file for the election is 5 p.m. tomorrow. Very interesting timing. Brender and Davis don't have a lot of time to figure this out.

So, I'm curious.

According to the Startlegram, the letter was sent by Cullen Cox, Rickey Turner and Javier Cerda, three firefighters who support the Democratic Party, according to Rob Gibson, second vice president of the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association. If these guys truly support the Democratic Party, why would they derail a candidate who looked to have an excellent opportunity to unseat a very vulnerable and disliked Republican?

As one local Democrat told me this morning, the dots seem pretty easy to connect. The political consultant for the Fort Worth Firefighters is Republican political consultant Bryan Eppstein. The political consultant for Kim Brimer is -- you guessed it -- Republican political consultant Bryan Eppstein.

And just when you thought that firefighters spent all their off time studying arcane aspects of state and local law.

Still Davis potentially has time to recover. And as Machiavelli once said, never do your opponent a small wound. Why did the letter arrive in Brender's hands on Monday? Why not tomorrow? Or Thursday?

But if Davis is done, who steps in? I think Davis would have been a tough opponent for Brimer. She was popular enough -- and liberal enough -- to play well in South and West Fort Worth. And she was conservative enough to appeal to voters in the suburban part of District 10 like Colleyville, Mansfield and the suburbs south of Fort Worth. So, Art, who is waiting in the wings?

UPDATE, 6 p.m.: Is everything falling into place for Wendy Davis? The S-T reports that Joel Burns was sworn in at a ceremony in his Ryan Place home this afternoon, apparently clearing the way for Davis' State Senate bid. This afternoon, Art Brender told a New Year's Day gathering at Fort Worth Democratic Party headquarters that he is unsure whether this means if Davis will need to withdraw her earlier filing for the Senate seat and submit a new filing tomorrow.

What Was That Fire in the Sky?

Christmas lights? A scene from Blade Runner? What was that thing burning at I-30 and Beach Street on Saturday night?

Welcome to another aspect of Barnett Shale gas drilling that you may not be aware of: flaring. According to Earthworks, a non-profit organization of scientists and engineers with a history of helping mining industries clean up their practices, flaring is the practice of burning gas that is deemed uneconomical to collect and sell. The practice is also used to burn gases that would otherwise present a safety problem.

The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District in California has estimated that the following air pollutants may be released from natural gas flares: benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, including naphthalene), acetaldehyde, acrolein, propylene, toluene, xylenes, ethyl benzene and hexane. Researchers in Canada (Leahey, Douglas M., Preston, Katherine and Strosher, Mel. 2001. "Theoretical and Observational Assessments of Flare Efficiencies, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association. Volume 51. p.1614) have measured more than 60 air pollutants downwind of natural gas flares.

Are any of those pollutants in this or any other Barnett Shale flaring? Who knows? No one in Texas is exactly going out of their way to keep an eye on things. The Denton-Record Chronicle reported in 2006 that although "both the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission are empowered to monitor industry emissions, Ramona Nye, spokesperson for the railroad commission, said that monitoring is really up to the environmental commission." But the TCEQ doesn't actually go to a site when there is a flare and measure what's going on, the agency only monitors it from its fixed-site air quality stations.

We are looking at thousands of potential gas wells being drilling in the Fort Worth area. Because the Fort Worth-Dallas area is already struggling to meet clean air standards by 2010, it would be in the best interest of those of us who live in Fort Worth to understand the impact of flaring on our air quality. After all, this isn't just about air we breathe -- which is pretty dang important. It also hits us in the pocketbook. The Fort Worth-Dallas area faces the loss of federal highway funds and other economic sanctions for failing to meet clean air standards.

Even without flaring, we have enough to deal with. Why throw another log on the fire?

Fortunately, there is something we can do -- ask the City and the Gas Drilling Task Force to conduct an environmental impact study so we can know what we are dealing with. Contact the Mayor and your city council representative today. BTW, thanks to Don Young for the photo.

On the Front Line

When I saw the headline "Bhutto Assassinated," my heart sank. As if things we're going bad enough in an unstable country full of Islamic militants and nuclear weapons. Then I saw the photo of the blast above by my old UT classmate John Moore who I have written about before. My God, the danger.

John's a father and a husband, an all-around great guy who happens to have a job that takes him into harm's way on a regular basis so we Americans can see what is going on in the world. Thanks for your work, John. Please be safe.

UPDATE, 12.28.07: Listen to an interview with John on the NYT Web site.

My Favorite Tunes, 2007

I have a love-hate relationship with year-end best-of lists. I like to see what other people are listening to or want you to think they are listening to. However, I don't really get the opportunity to listen to enough new material to offer an authoritative list.

My Top 10 Songs
1. Peter Bjorn and John, “Young Folks” – This song made whistling cool again. Not that whistling was ever uncool.
2. Spoon, “I Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” – If I ever got drunk, this would be the song I would listen to 73 times in a row. I am speaking theoretically, mind you. Plus, they look cool in the library (see above).
3. Stars, “Bitches in Tokyo” – Stars > Arcade Fire.
4. RJD2, “A Beautiful Mine” – The theme song to AMC's Mad Men is actually a 2006 song. But who cares?
5. Salim Nourallah, “I Miss You” – Salim makes sadness sound sooo good.
6. Feist, “1234” – Yeah, she's everywhere. But I loves me some Leslie Feist.
7. Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black” – Stay tuned for the flameout, but Winehouse recorded 1965's best album in 2007.
8. John Doe, “The Golden State” – Best X song of the year. Kathleen Edwards reminded me that I'm not over Exeen yet.
9. Flight of the Conchords, “Business Time” – Team Building Exercise '99!
10. The Shins, “Australia” – I think people kind of forgot about this album. Too bad. It's good bubblegum.

My Top 5 Albums
1. Salim Nourallah – Snowing in My Heart. Salim and Rhett Miller both want to be Ray Davies when they grow up. Salim's already got it nailed down.
2. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
3. Feist – The Reminder. As I mentioned earlier, Feist is ubiquitous, yet not overhyped. She's that good.
4. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black. Who woulda thought a trainwreck could sound this good?
5. Peter Bjorn and John – Writer’s Block. Everyone knows "Young Folks," but this album has several great songs on it.

8 Albums I Wish I Had Listened To
Stuff I’ve heard bits of and liked but didn’t get a listen in ’07. And, no, I couldn't think of 10:
1. Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin
2. The National – Boxer
3. Patty Griffin – Children Running Through
4. Polyphonic Spree – The Fragile Army
5. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
6. The New Pornographers – Challengers
7. The Killers – Sawdust
8. Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger

The Best Paragraph Written about Music This Year
A few weeks ago, Robert Christgau wrote on Slate about Journey's improbable comeback. He set the record straight:
"Let's get this party started quickly. Journey sucks. They sucked in 1981, they'll suck in 2033, and they suck now. Who gives a fuck what Tony Soprano thinks? What I love about Tony Soprano when he's not killing people (and sometimes when he is) is that he prevails with his brain but isn't above bringing his body into the contest. That's very rock 'n' roll. But does it mean that I want to eat at Artie Bucco's (the diner, maybe, no onion rings please), or live in that McMansion (unless he installs a lot of bookcases)? Uh-uh. Of course he likes hyperemotional arena rock from his flaming youth. In 10 years, he'll be ordering up Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On.'"

In a word, boo-yah.

Saturday with Santa, Solstice and Star Wars

My family -- we get around the Fort. We didn't get to Brave Combo on Friday as we originally planned -- thanks to an incredibly late night with the Chesapeake Ad Decoder, who I am pleased to report is safe, happy and living in a base camp safely ensconced underneath millions of gallons of Rahr Stormcloud IPA.

However, we did make up for it with a long, quite festive Saturday night, starting in Arlington Heights with a holiday party invitation to join our friends Jurgen and Barbara for their annual holiday open house, where the only rule is you must show up or we will talk about you. With that in mind, how can you not show up?

But that wasn't the only reason. It was a great opportunity to get to meet the parents of my daughter's friends outside of a PTA or Auction committee meeting for a change. And for the kids to have flashlight wars. And to eat tamales.

One nice bit of serendipity was running into my old friend June Naylor again. You probably know her from her excellent food reportage for the Star-Telegram. I hadn't seen her in a few years, so it was nice to get a chance to chat again.

Of course, the evening was just getting started. We left about 9 to meet Kevin from FortWorthology at Don Young's Winter Solstice celebration in East Fort Worth.

The Solstice celebration is kind of an annual thing for Don, but this is first one I have attended. This year, Fort Worth sculptor Deran Wright crafted a dragon from vegetables and straw to preside over the heart of the campfire. That's my daughter -- who I adopted from the planet Vulcan -- with her new, soon-to-be-immolated friend.


It's traditional that everyone bring something to burn in the fire. This can be firewood, an old chair, a discarded cello or a scrap of paper engraved with a secret wish for the new year. I scribbled a wish from a page in my notebook and tucked it safely in the straw before the blaze.

There is something primal and transfixing about a bonfire. The warmth against the chill of the evening is part of it, but there is also something kind of peaceful and unifying about it. For more photos, a full photo essay is available at West and Clear.


I also had a chance to meet Herb Levy and have a long talk with him about music and the future of Fort Worth. He is a very interesting guy and I plan to offer an interview with him in the near future.

Of course, the evening was not over yet. Kevin offered to screen the legendary Star Wars Holiday Special and we just could not say no. I don't know what the opposite of a holiday classic is, but the Star Wars Holiday Special is definitely that. It is an indescribable horror that I am still traumatized by. To call it bad would be an insult to bad things everywhere. It is two hours of indescribable awfulness.

Carrie Fisher is coked out of her mind, Mark Hamill is wearing enough makeup to make him look like Jessica Simpson, Bea Arthur sings and Art Carney walks around with his shirt unbuttoned to his navel.

The only thing that made it watchable was the Rifftrax commentary by former MST3K hosts Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy. Without this, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Even with it, watching it is a dicey proposition.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a joyful Saturday night. Merry Christmas and Happy Solsticing!

Where Do You Get Good Cajun Food?

I'm really at a loss as to where to find it in Fort Worth. And, no, Pappadeaux's really doesn't cut it. Not that the food is bad -- it's quite tasty -- it's just I never have an exceptional dining experience there. I feel overfed and overcharged.

Anyway, I bring this up because I did experience a total Cajun foodgasm today ... in Dallas. The place in question is Dodie's on Greenville Ave.

I ended up there because no good deed goes unpunished. Like two years ago, I did some design work for my friend, Lee Roth. Lee's a very accomplished landscape architect. I won't name-drop his clients, but most of them are nine and ten-figure net-worth types. Yeah, I know how many zeros that is.

Anyway, I did a little favor for Lee and he says, how much? I say, don't worry about it. He says, I'll take you to lunch. Deal.

Now, Lee is from New Orleans, so I know he knows good Cajun. So I say, hook me up, brutha. And then a lot of time passes.

So today, Lee calls me and says, you got lunch plans? I do now. And that's how I ended up at Dodie's.

Basically, I don't even need to look at a menu -- Lee just orders. We start off with Abita Amber. Now, I don't know about you, but there's something about drinking beer at lunch when you are really supposed to be working that just kicks ass. Maybe it's the beer part.

Well, if you follow that up with some really great food, it gets better.

For starters, there was this cole slaw -- vinegary, not creamy -- with loads garlic. Now, I hate cole slaw and I ate the whole bowl.

Then we moved on to chicken and sausage gumbo. I've been leaning toward this a little more when I eat at home, except I like to put a little duck in there when I can get it. But I digress, the gumbo was superb. The roux was actually a little on the light green side -- not the thick, dark brown to which I'm accustomed. Again, I ate the whole bowl.

That was followed up with Cajun tamales, which are these chili peppers stuffed with this -- I dunno? -- crawfish sausage? -- then deep fried. Wowza.

We are just now getting to the entree -- crawfish etouffee. Again, this was a little different than I'm used to -- the roux was red with a hint of tomato. And the best part was the crawfish were fresh. Excellent.

Because this wasn't enough food, I sampled with red beans and rice. Lee believes that great red beans need to be thoroughly soaked -- which few people will do. These were soaked and served with grilled andouille sausage. I'm going to order this next time.

So we ate, talked about some of his projects, bamboo for my yard, LSU football and kids. And as you can imagine, I wasn't worth a shit at work all afternoon. Is Christmas here yet?

Anyway, thanks, Lee. You are a rock star. And if anyone knows where to find good Cajun in the Fort, lemme know.

Scenes from a Victory Party

The crowd parted and a murmur rippled through the room. "What the hell?" was the rhetorical question of the moment.

On a night when the not-very-large Sapristi Bistro in Park Hill played host to current Mayor Mike Moncrief, former Mayor Kenneth Barr, outgoing District 9 city councilwoman Wendy Davis and State House rep Marc Veasey, the most surprising and noteworthy guest crossed the room to congratulate the newly-minted District 9 City Councilman Joel Burns on his victory.

That man was Chuck Silcox. Yes, you heard me. The man who uttered the most infamous gaffe of the District 9 race was there -- Bluetooth headset firmly in place -- to say welcome aboard the City Council.

It was a touching moment. Really.

When I asked Joel later about what happened, he said, "I gave him a hug."

Yeah, and from what I saw, it didn't look like the most comfortable moment of Chuck's life.

"He said we need to talk."

Wouldn't you love to be in the room for that conversation?

It was a bizarre end to a truly bizarre race.

But, as I try to put this race into context, as I consider what this means for Fort Worth, I offer you a quote from one of the revelers there last night.

"This really means a lot to me," he said. "It's like a validation. It's like we are more open-minded here in Fort Worth than some people think. We're not a bunch of hicks. We're not that conservative."

And while it is worth noting that having an openly gay man elected to the city council is sign that Fort Worth is firmly rooted in the 21st Century, I don't think that was the most interesting development to come out of this race.

I believe that Joel Burns won this election because he was the candidate that a majority of voters in this district wanted, not because he was the gay candidate. With the exception of Silcox's unfortunate comment, Burns' sexual orientation was not an issue. He had to run this election based on his position on development, gas drilling, neighborhoods and growth. Those were the issues, not his personal life.

And that -- I think -- is progress.

So congratulations, Joel. Enjoy the moment, but remember, there is work to be done. I am hoping that you will be a strong advocate for the neighborhoods for District 9. I hope you will be a strong advocate on the gas drilling issue, as Wendy Davis has been. Good luck. We're counting on you.