Spend a buck at Redbox. Watch: Waiting for Superman.

I get my best video watching advice from my children. Everything from Alias to 24 to Man vs. Wild came from my kids' suggestions. Last night we watched, after a suggestion from Stephen, the documentary, Waiting for Superman.

Waiting For Superman is both a critique of our public education system and a presentation of some practical solutions. It is not a philosophical treatise on education. It is not politically oriented, unless you consider its excoriation of some school board bureaucracies and teacher's unions a political statement. The ax WFS has to grind is the reality that children are going down in flames while adults fiddle.

And they make their point clearly and repeatedly. There's little equivocation in this documentary. You will agree or disagree, but you won't have any doubt of their viewpoint.

It is a disturbing documentary sometimes, oftentimes, and occasionally inspirational, but Waiting also presents very practical, sensible ideas of what is working in some of the worst performing school districts in the nation.

It's worth watching. I appreciate the suggestion.

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The best bread in Fort Worth

I have mentioned this before, I mention it again because, yesterday, Marian and I stopped by our favorite bakery to pick-up a few loaves of bread. I am referring to Artisan Baking Company, on White Settlement Road.

It always strikes me when I get home and start slicing into the bread how fresh it looks, smells, feels, and tastes. It's just good bread. I can't recommend Gwin and Mark Grimes and their bakery highly enough. And the price is right, too. $4.50 for a healthy loaf of bread is inexpensive when you consider what you are getting in quality and quantity.

Of course, Artisan has the usual assortment of cookies, scones, and pastries. All good. Actually, the scones are in the great category.

If you can work Artisan Baking Company into your round of trips to the markets, you will not be disappointed.  My favorite: Breakfast bread, lightly toasted, with a little butter. You just can't beat it.

If you have a favorite, please comment.

Artisan Baking Company
4900 White Settlement Rd
Fort Worth, Texas

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It's springtime, and that means . . .

Baseball. . . the great game.

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At some point, every spring, when the heat rises to a certain level, and the smell of a freshly mown lawn blows my way, I think of baseball. That warm weather game of hope and skill and strategy and luck and endurance.

The game of failure.

The slow moving game interrupted with excitement -- like life itself.

I think of beer and hot dogs and mustard and peanuts. Of Col'beer here, Cooolers, and Hotdaaaawwgs, as the concessionaires used to say.

I think of the sound of a wood bat cracking a leather-skinned ball and seeing that connection before hearing it. I think of handsome Johnny Callison, Cookie Rojas, Tony Taylor, Richie Ashburn, Pete Incaviglia, Nolan Ryan, and "Julio-Julio" being sung-out from the stands. And Charlie Hough catching a smoke between innings back when an older pitcher could do such things.

I think of the red-capped Phillies, and Connie Mack stadium. I think of Willie Mays, the Say-Hey kid, and basket catches.

When summer hits, and the air is still, I'll hear a distant radio and a baritone-voiced announcer calling the game, and I will think of the nights at the ballpark with my family watching the Texas Rangers. And Pony League games, and hitting ground balls to the boys in the front yard, and . . .

Well, there's just no end to the good baseball memories.

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Texas Ranger's first game is Friday, April 1. Fort Worth Cats first game is Monday, May 9. Due to popular demand, Kincaid's is back selling hamburgers at the Cats' games this year.

First posted 2009. Revised.

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Have it your way ... somewhere else

Daniel Barry for The New York Times  

Want It Your Way? Purist Chefs Won't Have It.

That's the title of a New York Times article that goes on to explain why some chefs and restaurants in New York don't accommodate every customer demand -- and why they don't care who doesn't like it.

Think, Seinfeld's soup nazi episode applied to everything from bagels to coffee.

I kind of get this. You have to respect a guy who make's that kind of commitment to his craft and the product.

At one coffee shop in New York you can not get an espresso in a paper cup. At my favorite coffee shop back east they say, only half- jokingly, "the coffee is first, the customer second." If a restaurant owner is willing to give up a sale, it's his risk, his loss. His business.

Anyway, it's an interesting article on food industry attitudes.

The New York Times article is short and worth reading. HERE

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DFW gets a mention in Time Magazine's, 10 Ideas That Will Change the World

I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for lists.

So when I saw the link for Time Magazines, 10 Ideas That Will Change the World, I bit. The list is a kind of upbeat take on current trends, and each of the ten is written by a specialist in his field. There are the expected items, such as, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Case for Optimism, and the unexpected, Why Afghanistan is Far from Hopeless. And the predictable, such as, Twitter and Facebook are changing the way we live.

One hopeful item was that the US deficit can be resolved without ruining all of our lives. It may be a little too optimistic, but in general, I agree.

Beijing Capital International

DFW received a good report in the item, Think of Your Airport as a City but Nicer. The author had attended a weekend conference at DFW and he and the other conferencees never left the Airport area. Airports today not only have hotels, but malls, golf courses (DFW) and the usual assortment of restaurant and bars. And jobs: there 400,000 jobs in a 5 mile radius around DFW.

In the same article, the Dallas-Fort Worth area was recognized as the fastest growing metro area in the USA. Current population: 6 million.

One other world changing prediction: your job is going to China or India, and, also, your paycheck will be coming from a company based in one of those two countries. China and India are growing at breakneck speeds with no slow-down in sight. China is more widely known for its growth but many futurists expect India to surpass China. India's population will surpass China's at current rates of growth. China's population growth is controlled by the Orwellian one-child per couple policy.

Time Magazine's, 10 Ideas That Will Change the World. Link here.

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