Fort Worth's Population Growth . . .

There has been a lot of talk lately about Fort Worth's population growth, and the normal Dallas and Fort Worth comparisons. In the latest reports we grew a bunch and they didn't.

This Wednesday, columnist for the Star Telegram, Mitchell Schnurman, wrote a well reasoned piece on the subject. As much as I like to tweek Dallas and talk about the business that has moved eastward, the facts are that the Dallas area is not in any danger of losing its role as the big city of North Texas.

I'm not talking about quality of life or way of life, or future potential. Fort Worth annexed land in its far north border near Alliance airport and can grow within city borders for many years to come. Dallas is bound by well-established and big suburban cities like Plano, Carrollton, Coppell, and Garland.

But when you look the the numbers that Schnurman skillfully details, we ain't catchin' 'em anytime soon.

Good piece, worth reading.

Mitchell Schnurman Fort Worth Star telegram piece.

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Alias Talk

Marian and I are in the fortunate phase of life when our evenings are more or less free and we don't really have any interest in going anywhere. After thirty years of the salt mines by day and little league, ballet, school meetings, etc., by night -- we're tired -- and we have found, the television.

For whatever reason we prefer television series' to movies and have worked our way through every British BBC show, many American shows, and even some live-while-we-are-watching shows.

Lately, upon recommendation from my son, we have been watching the Alias series.

We're hooked.

If you haven't seen it, think 24 in a Lost plot. And a beautiful, female lead character instead of Jack Bauer. Jennifer Garner, Sydney, is good-looking and one tough motha.  Garner somehow pulls off the part as tough and vulnerable. Feminine -- but deadly if you're on the wrong side. It works for me because I can't handle the attractive, tough female who is not, well, feminine. She's both. I'm sounding like Oprah, sorry.

What Alias has that 24 doesn't have is a lasting romance that is a thread throughout the series, at least through year three. It's believable, and more or less wholesome. The one problem I had with Jack's girlfriends is that I knew that they would all end up dead because Jack was the "man of sorrows." And that they were always well endowed but kind of androgynous, too. I never really liked them. But with Garner -- you can't not like her.

She is the reluctant heroine who has found her home in the kindness of her father and her apparently loving but twisted mother -- and Vaughn, her once boyfriend, who at this point is married to Lauren, the wicked witch of the West. It's complex but satisfying.

As a whole, the acting is great. The strategy room scenes are a little stiff and over-orchestrated as they set the plot for that episode, but the comic figure of Mitchell, (think James Bond's "Q") is perfect.

Sloane is a tragic-hero of the modern sort, driven by love for his daughter, by fate via the Rombaldi prophecy, and by his own weakness for the "end-game." The Rombaldi thread gives Alias the Lost-like quality and keeps the viewer wanting the next episode.

It's a good show. Quentin Tarantino makes a couple cameos. He's great. Alias keeps the suspense up but backs off enough to give the viewer a break. For us it's got the right blend. The only part we do not like are the torture scenes, mild by today's standards, but more pain-infliction than we care to watch.

We're just starting year four, so no hints about the end, please.

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Jersey Mike's on Hulen.

Yesterday, I stopped by Jersey Mike's to try their Philly cheesesteak. I have Jersey/Philly street cred, having lived in both places, so keep in mind, I'm picky.

Conclusion: Just decent. 6 of 10.

Jersey Mike's is a 500 location company; it's not some guy who just moved to Texas with a passion for cheesesteaks. And a company of that size has to make some compromises in the price/quality equation.

Here's my opinion on their approach:

• The steak is authentic "chip steak" as used in Philly.
• The steak portion of the sandwich is on the light side. The cheese flavor overwhelmed the overall taste.
• The cheese itself is American (I think). And American cheese is what? Not much. I prefer provolone. I wasn't offered an option.
• Sandwich could have had twice the amount of fried peppers and onions.
• The roll is big, fluffy white bread. I prefer a denser roll with a slight bit of crust.

I'm not trying to be a cheesesteak snob. Jersey Mike's is a decent, if pretty generic, cheesesteak but I'm not putting an "authentic Philly" seal on it. 

Sorry.

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Jersey Mike's is next door to Five Guys Hamburgers on Hulen south of I-20. 

Website: Jersey Mike's.

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Foods I don't get. Part 2.

1. Overcooked, boiled vegetables. Can someone tell me what is enticing about cooking sliced carrots until they have no flavor and have the consistency of baby food? Same with any other vegetable.

2. Pho. The name itself puts me off for some reason, maybe because it's pronounced faux, as in fake, as in not really good food. Yes, I have tried it. My daughter likes it as do other people I know. I just don't get the rice noodle.

3. Rice pudding. Can we talk? Anything that looks as nasty as rice pudding or its cousin tapioca can not taste good. I don't care how you trick it up.

And the worst of them all one more time: chicken pot pie -- yes, I have talked about this before but I have to bring it up again because my wife just heated one up and I took a look inside. Gooey substance, green peas, carrots and an occasional piece of overcooked chicken. Unless I'm starving on some deserted island, there is no way I'm eating that.

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Carmel at Lightcatcher Winery & Bistro

Friends of ours are performing at Lightcatcher Winery & Bistro this Sunday. Lightcatcher features jazz musicians at their Bistro's bi-weekly, Jazz Sunday.

Carmel is performing Sunday, February 20. Carmel sings and plays a mixture of Soul, Blues, and original Jazz. Samples of their music can be found on their website here: Nightwork Jazz.

Details
-> Carmel at Lightcatcher Winery
-> Sunday, February 20, 2011
-> 4 pm - 7 pm

-> See Lightcatcher Winery & Bistro website for directions. It's 12 miles north and west of downtown

Lightcatcher website

Carmel on Facebook

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After attending comments: the music and setting were fantastic. Comments on the wine were mixed. The bistro's cheese-meat-crackers plate was good but for $20 it should be.


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