Halloween in Fort Worth. Food, entertainment, costumes and candy.

Here are a few of the Halloween-themed parties and events I have noticed this year. If you have one you particularly like, let me know. The indented quotes are from the respective websites.  Please confirm the dates and times.

Chipotle
Adults
October 31 / Halloween

"Come in after 6pm this Halloween dressed as a horrifying processed food product and we'll give you a burrito, bowl, salad, or an order of tacos filled with freshly cooked, naturally raised ingredients for only $2."

Central Market
Children -- Saturday, Oct. 30 – 2:30-5 p.m.
Adults -- Saturday Oct. 30 7:30 p.m.

"Bring your little ghosts and goblins down to Central Market Fort Worth for a cauldron-full of fun! Grab a scavenger hunt map and start out at the main entrance. You'll wind your way through the store, stopping at each Scavenger Hunt station to figure out a trick – and get a treat! Once you've visited all 7 stations, make your way out to the patio for our Bean Bag Toss, Cookie Decorating, Cake Walk and Costume Parade. We'll have treats galore and tons of fun for the kids at Central Market's annual Halloween Carnival.

Moms and Dads will want to hang around for our last night of live music on the patio of the 2010 season, featuring original rockin’ blues from Dave Millsap, 7-9:30 p.m."

Uncle Julio's
Adults and children
Oct. 22 - Oct. 31

"Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food has something for everyone this Halloween. Adults can enjoy limited-time Halloween Margaritas from Friday, October 22 through Sunday, October 31, while kids (12 and under) can compete in Uncle Julio's costume contest. The judging takes place at 5 p.m. on Halloween Day and the winner will take home a $100 Uncle Julio's gift card. In addition to showing off their scary outfits that day, kids in costume will receive a free kid's meal with purchase of a regular entrée after 4 p.m. Guests can also enjoy Uncle Julio’s famous pumpkin flan ($5.25), only available through Monday, November 29."

Fort Worth Zoo
Adults and Children
Oct. 25 - Oct 30

"Spiders won't be the only animals crawling around the Fort Worth Zoo. Bring the entire family out for some not-too-scary fun at Boo at the Zoo Thursday, October 25 through Tuesday October 30, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Children are welcome to wear Halloween costumes and enjoy of night of safe, fun-filled activities. This year's Boo at the Zoo features more than 10 treat stations, live animal presentations, a hay maze, live musical acts and much more!"

Sundance Square / Scat Jazz Lounge
Adults
Oct. 30

"Last year's 20's theme was a hit, so Scat Jazz Lounge is doing it again! And, they're upping the ante by bringing in the Sinapore Slingers Orchestra - THE band for this era! Costume contest, flapper girls, mobsters, and no prohibition. Scat becomes the Speakeasy it's really always been for this one-of-a-kind Halloween party. The fun gets underway at 9 p.m."

Artisan Baking -- In the baked goods category, Artisan Baking is baking Halloween cookies.

 ". . . we're keeping it simple with our all-natural decorated sugar cookies in holiday shapes like cats, bats, ghosts, pumpkins and leaves. They not only taste great, all the colors are naturally derived from vegetables, so no artificial colors or flavors are used."

To see the Artisan Baking October newsletter and for information on their Thanksgiving Day breads and desserts, go here: Artisan Newsletter

T.G.I. Friday's
Adults

October 29 - 31

Halloween is the perfect excuse for any adult to bring out their inner child. Donning a scary mask or flirty outfit is the new normal for adults of all ages. To kick off the Halloween weekend celebrations, customers can stop by their local T.G.I. Friday’s on 10/29 for a costume party and a free appetizer. To accompany the free food, special Halloween drinks like the Venom Crush  and the Red Bull Bite will be available for $5 and $6, respectively.

Steak-Out Char-Broiled Delivery / Buy One, Get One Free Halloween special

"Through November 1^st, to help treat families to an affordable and convenient meal, Steak-Out Char-Broiled Delivery of Fort Worth, located at 2209 W Berry St, is offering customers a free kids meal with the purchase of one dinner entrée."

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My Failed Job Interviews

Image: Psychology Today

If human resources departments gave grades for job interviews I would be given an F. That's right, an F for Failed, or another word that begins with the same letter.

I'm just no good at it.

I guess I have been fortunate. I had never needed to do a serious job interview until I was near fifty, then for whatever reason, I decided I needed to get a real job, the kind where you have to take tests, and answer scientifically chosen questions about yourself and your knowledge of the business.

And then to be interviewed, which was to become my stumbling block.

"Why do you want to work here at Schmedly and Sons?"

This is a tricky one. "Because I'm looking for a job you stupid SOB," is not the right answer.

"Tell me a weakness you have as it relates to business." 

If I know that I am supposed to say, "I work too much and expect too little in compensation because that's the way my depression-era parents raised me," shouldn't I assume that he knows I am going to say it and that it's not true.

Once, when applying for a sales position, I was asked why I considered myself a good salesman. My answer was that I must not be a good salesman because if I was a good salesman I wouldn't be looking for a job. Wrong answer. I didn't get the job.

On another interview I was asked to talk about myself and my experience. I hate talking about myself, so I asked her if she had read my resume. She replied, yes, curtly, and asked me to talk about myself anyway. I said, read the resume, that's what they are for. Wrong attitude. She ended the interview.

The weirdest HR guy I ever met didn't say much of anything. He just smiled, nodded, and said, "go on," like a priest in the confessional. I soon ran out of things to talk about and by the third, "go on," I think I was rambling on about my kids and camping or some such nonsense.

Needless to say, I wasn't offered the job.

I do think it's about time for a more human approach to the hiring process, but even then, I doubt if I will be very good at it.

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Texas Rangers Win American League Pennant.

Star-Telegram/Ron Jenkins

 The Texas Rangers win the American League pennant. Amazing. I was so excited I could hardly sleep.

One of the oddest and most enjoyable statistics for this series: the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees had the greatest player salary disparity in baseball playoff history. New York Yankees: $206 million. Texas Rangers: $55 million.

If the Phillies could somehow win two in a row and meet the Rangers in the World Series, all would be right in heaven. Besides could you imagine a Lee / Halladay match-up?

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Eataly. NYC. An appraisal.

Eataly, New York City

"Is Eataly a menace (so big and corporate) or an answered prayer (OMG, they sell Barilla bucatini)? Does it represent a step forward for Italian food at the upper end of the economic spectrum of New York, or is it simply a mass-market retail play that capitalizes on the fame of its most visible partners, Mario Batali . . .?"

That's how New York Time's reviewer, Sam Sifton, begins his appraisal of New York's new Italian food market. For me, I don't care if it's a food lover's step forward or a corporate move backwards, I just want to go.

For food and market lovers it's an article worth reading. Great pictures, too.

Eataly Offers Italy by the Ounce
New York Times
Sam Sifton
October 19, 2010

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5 things I don't understand that others do understand. Or seem to.

Weddings. I definitely do not understand the modern wedding with its event-like atmosphere. And I wonder,   "Is the male a necessary or accidental component in a wedding? I mean if the girls could have a wedding without the guy, would they?

NASCAR. I like cars and I like driving fast, but I do not get the interest in this particular event. There's a big concrete circle, cars that look all the same except the color, and hairy man-fans with a man-crush on a driver. No thanks. 

Chicken and dumplings. It's bland, it's gooey, it doesn't smell very good, it looks worse, and it would taste a lot better if the components were left separate.

Chewing tobacco. How does this habit start?

Hair frosting for men. Look, if you're a guy and you've had your hair frosted, it's nothing personal, but is it really worth sitting in one of those beauty parlors with aluminum foil on your head to get the hair you want? I mean . . . dude, man-up a little.

That's it. You can go back to what you were doing . . .

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University Park's Barnes & Noble Closing? Say it ain't so . . .

The Agora in Athens.

Athens had its Agora, Rome its Forum, London its markets and pubs. And South Philly ... the corner deli. They are all much the same. A place to meet, shop, eat & drink, gossip, and let the kids run around a little with friends. Now, air-conditioning and automobiles later, we have malls, plazas, and stores the size of the Colosseum, but our places are not so much different than the places of ancient Greece.

Which brings me to the not so happy point ---

On December 31, we will lose a big part of the unofficial meeting place for many Fort Worthians, the Barnes & Noble in University Village Park. And everyone I talk to has the same reaction to its closing, something like, "Now where are we going to go?"

It has become, in the ten years at that location, a "get-a-way" from the job or the kids, a meeting place for joggers, bikers, dog-walkers, and cigar smokers. It is our "public house," as it were, where we grab a cup of coffee, meet a friend to chat, or just sit down with a book and a cappuccino. Couples like it, shoppers like it, husbands like it, children like it. It's the starting point for walking, talking, shopping, and coffee drinking, and it just kind of works.

And we all hate to hear it's going away.

There are the stated or public reasons for the closing. The lease is up and Barnes and Noble doesn't want to pay the high rates of that commercial space. The shopping center people can't be blamed for asking the rate the market will bear. And B&N is looking to cut costs. The company itself is up for sale. It's share of the book business is steadily declining, suffering from a two sided attack: Amazon and online sales of printed books, and the new e-book sales for readers like the Kindle, Nook, and iPad. That doesn't leave much room for growth for the old bookstore.

Well, chin up. Something will take its place. I hear the Starbucks' Store is staying, which is some consolation.

But to the Barnes & Noble folks. Thank you. You have a great store, friendly staff, and you make everyone feel welcome. It won't be the same without you.

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Rangers Win! Rangers Win!

Baseball is unlike other American sports. It is not only something we play or watch being played, it is a part of who we are.

The giants of the game, the individual players and the teams, are a part of our folklore and mythology -- in both victory and defeat. Describing the American story without the game of baseball is just not possible.

The Texas Rangers are relative newcomers to this tale. But in our forty years of competition we have become accustomed to the defeat part of the baseball equation. We have flirted with success but never attained it.

Until last night.

Something happened during this recent put-the-team-up-for-sale fiasco. Nolan Ryan was given more responsibility, Jon Daniels became an experienced general manager, Ron Washington was hired and retained.

Maybe we didn't notice the stars align and good players being signed. We actually went looking for good pitching -- and found it -- and the found remained good even after they took the mound here. We're not used to that.

The Texas Rangers' win last night and the chance to win the American League pennant is one of those rare moments of baseball triumph, and we are all enjoying it. It is one of the highlights of my baseball enjoying life. A baseball equivalent to Surprised by Joy.

What is particularly satisfying for me is Ron Washington's old-school baseball strategy: solid pitching, aggressive base running, sacrifice at-bats. And the end of the steroids-era home run derby baseball.

So, to all the Texas Rangers' baseball people: office, coaches, players -- thank you, this city will enjoy your accomplishment for a long time.

It took us a few years to get there, but in baseball's way of the cross, that's just about right.

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Barktoberfest. Saturday, October 9, 2010

Fort Woof park is hosting its 7th annual Barktoberfest, Saturday, October 9, 2010. From their website:

Barktoberfest is a fall festival for four-legged friends and their families. We’ll have a dog halloween costume contest, performing dogs, pet vendors, rescue adoptions and more. Admission is free (suggested $1 donation) and there are over 25 dog-friendly vendors and rescue groups.

Barktoberfest is sponsored by 1310 AM The Ticket, the Fort Worth Dog Park Association and CLASP. Proceeds go to offset City budget cuts for Fort Woof Dog Park and improvements for the Fort Worth Animal Shelter.

Details:
Date: October 9, 2010
10am-2pm
FREE - $1 suggested donation
For more information:

Barktoberfest website

1310 AM The Ticket

Fort Woof Dog park

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MusicArte, 2010

By Jerrell Sustaita, local artist showing at MusicArte

This weekend Fort Worth hosts the popular MusicArte. The festival highlights music, food, and art of Latinos and is enjoyed by one and all. It starts Friday, October 8, and runs through Saturday night.

Since this is a food blog, here are the highlights from the Sabor page of the MusicArte website.

Sabor! If you think you know Latin cuisine, think again and come to MúsicArte de Fort Worth for a taste of the Americas.

Enjoy the programs and activities our new Culinary Tent, where our first ever Chef's Challenge will take place at 3:00 PM on Saturday! Chefs from Cantina Laredo, the M Crowd (Mi Cocina) and one more surprise chef will take the challenge and will create a featured dish for judging. Wine tasting sessions and culinary demonstrations will take place throughout the weekend as well as tequila tasting each evening.

Feast at our new Pueblo de las Americas, a gastronomical feast near the Sundance Square Stage. Fine wines and beer, seafood with a Latin accent, and native as well as European influences are among many unexpected pleasures Músicarte de Fort Worth holds for the gourmand. Have your fill, then visit Mercado Central and take home the wonderful art of many fine artists.

The chefs at Ocho Rios Jamaican and Caribbean Grill and embargo will serve up great tastes for Músicarte de Fort Worth, preparing familiar as well as unexpected pleasures for a public hungry for Latin fare. And new this year, the families of St. George Catholic Church will prepare their signature tamales for MúsicArte

Details:
October 8 & 9, 2010

Noon - 10:30 PM 

MúsicArte spans 6 blocks in downtown Fort Worth, centered in Sundance Square

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Christine O'Donnell ad. Opinions, anyone . . . anyone . . .Bueller. . . Bueller . . .

I love advertising of all kinds, and since I worked in political advertising for most of my adult life, I am always looking for good political ads. 

From a purely political advertisement point of view, I like this spot. 

I'd be curious to know why a black theme was chosen and the white ghost-like image in the background. Then the pearls, I don't know about the pearls. But she has a winning smile and connects well through the camera. Most importantly, it seems genuine to me.

Any other opinions?

Christine O' Donnell Ad - I'm Not A Witch @ Yahoo! Video