Events Upcoming

We Fort Worthians are proud of our Zoo. It's easily the best in the DFW area, arguably the best in the state, and ranks fairly well nationally.
If you like to run and you like the zoo, consider joining about 1,000 others for the Fort Worth Zoo Run, 5k and 10k. It's a good event for a good cause. If you don't run but would like to get involved they do need volunteers.

April 19 / Fort Worth Zoo Run / $25
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Baseball is back. Today in Arlington.

Today, Tuesday is opening day at the Ballpark in Arlington. And for food lovers (quantity, not quality) the Ballpark now has "all you can eat" seats. How many trays of nachos with jalapenos can you eat?

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Merle Haggard / Bass Hall / April 9.

If I could choose a singing voice with the right blend of timber and soul it might be Merle Haggard's. Besides his voice, I think he has a song or two that approaches real beauty. Merle's coming to Bass Hall, Wednesday, April 9. Merle Haggard is described by Rolling Stone magazine as "the greatest country artist of our time." I happen to agree.

On a Lighter Note . . .

Yesterday marked the 78th year since the invention of the Hostess Twinkie. Why does that strike me as funny?

Today, 500 million Twinkies are produced every year. That's about 2 Twinkies for every man, woman and child in the country. You can have my two, I don't really like them. I do like some of the other Hostess products which include Ho-Ho's, Ding-Dongs, Cup-Cakes and Sno-Balls. Now there's a wholesome treat, coconut-covered, strawberry Sno-Balls. That strikes me as funny, too. I'd like to meet the guy who came up with the name Ding-Dong and Ho-Ho. "Let's see it's a chocolate-covered, vanilla cake mix in a round format, hmmm... I know, we'll call it a Ding-Dong, yea sounds about right. And the tubular ones we'll call Ho-Ho. Perfect."

You can often tell where someone was raised by the pre-packaged snack food they like. I'm from the mid-Atlantic northeast, home of TastyKake. From my first day of high school until my last, everyday, I had the following: two sandwiches made with Pepperidge Farm bread, ham and cheese, an orange, a bag of potato chips, and a TastyKake, usually Butterscotch Krimpets. I'm not sure what a Krimpet is but that is what they are called. If I had a dollar or so, which I usually did, I added to that, a soft pretzel, a pint of chocolate milk and a Coke from the school Cafeteria. If that sounds pretty specific for being over 30 years ago, remember, I had the same thing everyday for 4 years, and in case you are wondering, I had barely an ounce of fat on me.

Back to the prepackage snacks. In the Fort Worth area, I often hear people talk about Little Debbies and fried pies. I'm not sure if Twinkies were big here or not and I don't see them on the shelves but I'm not looking for them either. I know TastyKake doesn't go much further south than Maryland.

If you were born in Fort Worth, am I right about the fried pies? Any southern Californians, what about you? I think the Midwest is Twinkie land.

3rd Sunday in Easter / Walking to Emmaus

Fritz von Uhde / Walking to Emmaus / 1891

From The Gospel of Saint Luke

“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;

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Description from the Bible and Art

Atmospheric painting by Von Uhde. Every detail is dedicated to portraying the earnest attention paid by the men to the stranger who accompanies them on their way to Emmaus – a mere blot in the distance. See the heads bowed in concentration and the small steps, emphasizing how the men are taking their time listening to what is being said.

Note that the landscape is a little greener than is usual in the Middle East. Uhde tended to situate biblical scenes in contemporary country settings.