Party Time

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FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY

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PARTY TIME!

PARTY TIME!

Photo by Matthew Murphy

J E N N I F E R

B O V E E

Welcome to the Valentine’s edition of Night & Day. Today thru Wed, Feb 14, there are many ideas to consider. Here are some choices for every day of the week.

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Since Tina left Ike right here in North Texas, it’s Wednesday apropos that we get a stop on the tour of TINA: The Tina Turner Musical. The life story of the

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In honor of Galentine’s Day, gather up the ladies and hit the Make & Take Thursday Workshop at Board & Brush (4620 Bryant Irvin Rd, Ste 524, Fort Worth, 817-953-0933) 6pm-7pm. Choose from various projects and colors to create a unique gift or a new piece for your home.

Drinks, snacks, and vendors are included.

Registration is $20 at BoardandBrush.com/ FortWorth.

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Friday night doesn’t seem to be as love-oriented as Saturday, but I was still Friday able to find a couple of interesting choices. For starters, if things

Eric Eaton brings Valentine’s Eve Magic for Adults to Hyena’s Comedy Night Club Tue, Feb 13.

aren’t going well for you and your better/ worse half, there’s always the free marriage conference hosted by Crossroads Church.

For info on Love on Cloud Nine Simulcast Fri-Sat, visit Facebook.com/CrossroadsTX. As for fun Friday events, artisans will turn hot glass into art at a Glass Blowing Demonstration at the February Open Studio Night at SiNaCa Studios (1013 W Magnolia Av, Fort Worth, 817-899-0024) 6pm-9pm. Attending is free, but you must reserve a spot on Eventbrite.com.

Or you could attend the Love of Yoga & Chocolate at Urban Yoga (1706 8th Av, Fort Worth, 817-908-3569) 6pm-9pm for $60 per person at WellnessLiving.com and enjoy a chocolate tasting and some downward dog and cobra and half-bow and … just do it!

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With the actual holiday falling on a Wednesday, this Saturday is when the most Saturday Valentine-related festivities are happening. There are so many that we’re putting them in their own separate, notheart-shaped box, because nothing says “I love you!” properly than when you’re saying it shoulder-to-shoulder in a crowd.

Cour tesy MGM Studios

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The Princess Bride screens at Arlington Music Hall Mon, Feb 12.

Cowtown Coliseum (121 E Exchange Av, Fort Worth, 817-625-1025) invites you Sunday to bring your love to the Mexico en la Sangre (Mexico in Our Blood) fiesta. This celebration captures the art of charreria (Mexican rodeo), caballos bailadores (dressage or dancing horses), folklorico, and live music. Festivities begin with a special parade at 11:30am, followed by a show at 2pm. Tickets are $35 at CowtownColiseum.com.

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When I asked my husband if we could go to tonight’s 7pm screening of The Princess Monday Bride at Arlington Music Hall (224 N Center St, Arlington, 817-2264400) as part of the Winter Movie Series, he

simply said, “As you wish.” If you know, you know. After all, we used the wedding vows from this movie for our own. How could he refuse? Love. Twue love. Tickets are $5 on Eventbrite.com.

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Back in town with his adults-only act, Eric Eaton brings Valentine’s Tuesday Eve Magic for Adults to Hyena’s Comedy Night Club (425 Commerce St, Fort Worth, 817-877-5233) 8pm. (Eaton’s name may be familiar. He was on the TV show Masters of Illusion.) Tickets start at $25 at Prekindle.com.

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Today is the day. I have two final suggestions for those Wednesday in love and one for those saying “nope.” Take a walk, enjoy the blooms, and have a picnic 8am5pm today or any day at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden (3220 Botanic Garden Blvd, 817-463-4160). The garden’s on-site restaurant, Rock Springs Cafe, has baskets starting at $25 per couple. Order yours at least 24 hours in advance by emailing RockSpringsCatering@gmail.com. Garden admission is $12 per person.

Next, the UTA Planetarium (700 Planetarium Pl, Arlington, 817-272-1183) presents its annual Romancing the Stars event in which you spend an evening beneath giant, mostly dead balls of flaming gas lightyears away 6pm-8pm Fri-Sat or today.

Tickets are $40 at UTA.edu/planetarium and include a pre-show reception with appetizers in the atrium at 5pm. A cash bar is available.

If you said “nope,” this last one’s for you. Fort Brewery (2737 Tillar St, Fort Worth, 817-923-8000) hosts its inaugural Anti-Valentine’s Day Bash 6pm-9pm.

Enjoy $5 beer and seltzers, half-price glasses of wine, and “broken heart” pizzas while burning memories of your ex in the Fort Fire Pit.

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“Queen of Rock” set to a soundtrack of her favorite hits runs today thru Sun at Bass Performance Hall (555 Commerce St, Fort Worth, 817-212-4280). The show is recommended for ages 14 and up. Tickets start at $82.50 at BassHall.com/Tina.

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What’s Love Got to Do With It? Everything!

FFOORRTT W WOORRTTHH W WEEEEKKLLYY

Ari Groover stars in TINA: The Tina Turner Musical at Bass Hall thru Sunday.

Cour tesy Magic of Eric Eaton

NIGHT&DAY

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Luckomotives

Both Super Bowl teams are annoying, but when they win, maybe we all do.

FFOORRTT W WOORRTTHH W WEEEEKKLLYY

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A N T H O N Y

M A R I A N I

Let’s go, Chiefs! I loathe them, but I loathe whiny conservatives even more, and based mostly on a bunch of noise outside the locker rooms, apparently a win for Kansas City is a win for empathetic, vaccinated, Bud Light-drinking, billionaire-popstar-loving non-assholes everywhere. Being super-petty is a choice I’ll never pass on.

There’s another, perhaps even more ridiculous reason I’m rooting for this smug, lucky team I despise. They’re not the San Francisco 49ers.

The Petty Express of which I am Chief Engineer Supreme and King Baby Emeritus winds from the Bay Area through the Heartland to the place of my birth and my aimless, crappy youth and also the location of my favorite sports franchise, the perennially terrible, dreadful, painful-to-watch Pittsburgh Steelers, who are in possession of only one more Lombardi Trophy than San Fran. For me and all my fellow Stillers lovers, a Niner victory on Sunday would be outrageous, egregious, and preposterous because unlike the fallen-off-a-cliff New England Patriots, who have also won the big game six times, this 49ers group is talented, deep, and young enough to win six more championships over the next six seasons, sending my whole pathetic identity that I’ve built up over the decades crashing down.

You have to understand. Some of us GenXers are driven by shame. As kids, we were never good enough for our parents, who were always (unintentionally or not) choosing work over us, or for the teachers and coaches raining down blows on us every day, and now the smallest knock against us or our social avatars, like our favorite sports teams, renders us small. And when you feel small, you feel powerless, and when you feel powerless, you may lash out. I’ve never punched a hole in a wall or smashed a flatscreen after a major sportsball loss, but I am 100% simpatico with all those who have and am choosing which bandwagon to jump on accordingly.

Another excuse for voting against the Niners is that they’re almost — almost — as lucky as the Chiefs. I watch a lot of football, college and pro, and I’m not even talking about all the calls and no-calls that go San Fran’s and KC’s ways, and there’s a ton of

Anthony Mariani

PARTY TIME!

STUFF

A taste of home will help this Super Bowl go down nicely.

them. I mean other teams’ defenses mysteriously breaking down at crucial moments, allowing jerks in red to run all over the field like maniacs busting out of prison — either streaking down sidelines unmolested for yards and yards or catching passes over the middle without any defenders even in the same ZIP code. Ever see the beginning of The Sound of Music? When Julie Andrews frolics in an open field by herself without a single soul for miles around, singing, “The hiiiillllls are aliiiive …!”? That’s basically Travis Kelce and Deebo Samuel at least twice a game every game, standing all by themselves on patches of grass stretching to the horizon as ultimately a delightful football spirals right toward their numbers. How does this keep happening? A comparison: With the exception of the occasional close-your-eyes-and-heave-it bomb, my Steelers can’t complete a pass longer than five yards in the air, and when they do, it’s like all 11 players from the other side, their spouses, their children, and their children’s friends are contesting the ball. Fans of real teams like the 49ers and the Chiefs — and the Cowboys and the Bills and the Ravens and the Dolphins and, basically, the whole rest of the league except maybe the Panthers and Cardinals — have no idea how good they have it. None. Am I full of crap? Even if it’s in the teens, take the over on any Steeler game next season — I dare you. You will be poorer.

It’s a terrific shame because there’s nothing like good football, and as annoying as both Super Bowl LVIII teams are, they’re both decent defensively and creative on O, which should make for a pleasant evening of passive entertainment. Maybe it’s the Steeler diehard in me, but seeing a QB like Patrick Mahomes or Brock Purdy line up in the shotgun on first down and throw a dart to make it second and short like both have done a few times this playoff season is … well, I’d fork over my measly but precious paycheck every two weeks until OTAs to see Pittsburgh do that once next season. Just once. It happens 20 times a game when you watch the Niners or the Chiefs, or even the Cowboys or the Bills. I mean, you see it in DIII ball. If I didn’t want to puke every time I came across some other teams’ colors, especially that soporific silver and blue yinz love so much, I’d switch allegiances right now.

You could say “good football” means “lots of points and big plays,” and I’m not going to pretend that that’s not what I’m interested in.

Don’t get me wrong. I love defense — I played

edge in high school and college. I love when the Steelers’ defense is suffocating. (Sorry.

“Was” suffocating. We rarely get off the field on third down anymore.) As an observer whose interests this Sunday are not civic but borderline spiritual, I do not want to see stuffed sweeps into the boundary or ridiculous lateral passes that never go anywhere. I’ve sat through enough AFC North-ball over the years. For the love of the Rodgers & Hammerstein, please spare me any more of that dumb, slow, grinding, unwatchable bullsh. Please give me diving catches and 30-second scrambles and the occasional explosive run. Other than a rare pick-six or scoop-and-score, I’m tuning in Sunday to witness two quality quarterbacks, maybe the two best on the planet, lead their sides to the end zone repeatedly. Gluttony. I’m in it to gorge on multiple TD Griddys and pigskin.

And grilled corned beef. I’ll be digging into some of that, too, with melted provolone, vinegar slaw, fries, fresh tomato, and a fried egg between two slices of Italian bread.

Almost as tasty as the real Primanti’s sandwiches back in the ’Burgh! We make ’em at home every Super Bowl.

And home is where I’ll be watching.

As the last mainstream football action for a while, the Super Bowl always makes for great family time, as loosely as the term can be defined with me absent-mindedly knocking back N/A beers and watching ruefully while bitter-texting with my friends and with my wife watching and putzing and my 12-year-old sitting in the same room with us but iPadding. He’s more of a baseball and hoops guy, anyway, probably because of us, his mom and dad. We’ve seen what too many bonks on the head have done to me.

We don’t want our baby boy going through that nonsense, too.

For a prediction, just look back at the past couple of games. I see both teams starting slow, like a few winners have done recently, before erupting in the second half.

It will be close, but I think the Niners pull away 34-23. They have too many offensive weapons, and as fantastic as Mahomes is, his skillset and improv techniques can be neutralized. Purdy is just getting started, and he’s a stone-cold killer.

To know why I’m all Chiefs Kingdom despite my prediction and the -2.5 line, we need to pile onto the Petty Express and ride that bad boy to its final stop, Fakebookland, where I know three “friends” on either side of the Super Bowl LVIII divide. One is Shane.

Shane, you’re a great dude, but you’re also the sorest winner I’ve ever met. Advantage: Chiefs. And Ken, while you’ve been a KC fan long before Paddy Mahomes came along and have suffered through decades of downright pitiful “football” (including steady dosages of the Schottenheimer R2P2: run twice, pass, punt), you’re also not exactly gracious when your a-hole team wins. Advantage: San Fran.

Lastly, there’s Kevin. Kevy-Kev, I don’t think I’d really mind your Niners finally claiming that sixth Lombardi because you’re a swell guy and, as far as I know, you don’t gloat when your squad is on top, but I’m still a little miffed that you started your new indie-rock band Hotel Satellite without playing your first show in my backyard at a godly hour on a weekend, so, sorry. Total advantage: Chiefs.

(But don’t take that spread.) l

PARTY TIME!

It’s Party Time, Y’all!

price plus a complimentary 2-liter of soda 11am-2am Fri-Sun. 4.) Oscar’s Pub (6323 Camp Bowie Blvd, Ste 125, Fort Worth, 817-732-3833) will host a Super Bowl party 2pm Sun with ribs prepared by Chris Pritchard. There is no cover, so save your door money for football squares.

With the Super Bowl on Sunday, you may need to beg off work Monday to able to enjoy Fat Tuesday on, well, Tuesday. Try to convince your boss that National Football Hangover Day (a real thing) is an actual federal holiday.

Now that your recovery time is planned, here are some ideas for before and after.

3.) It’s a party all weekend at Dough Bro’s Italian Kitchen (1601 Airport Fwy, Bedford, 817-438-8026). In celebration of National Pizza Day on Friday and the big game on Sunday — the single largest pizza delivery day of the year — order a large specialty pizza and receive an additional pie at half

Cour tesy DJ Sof t Cherr y

DJ Soft Cherry will spin T-Swift tunes at the Super Bowl Party: Taylor’s Version at Gustos Sunday.

7.) Now thru Tuesday, Razzoo’s Cajun Cafe is celebrating Mardi Gras at all its North Texas locations with an all-day happy hour. Drink specials include $5 frozen cocktails, $5 wine, $2/$4 domestic draft beers, and $3/$5 on all other drafts. Food specials include $7 Fire Mouth Wings or Cajun Fondue and $5 snacks like Canal Street Shrimp, boudin balls, shrimp and grits, Rat Toes, and more. For info on the location nearest you, visit Razzoos.com/Locations.

8.) Being a non-drinker, I can take it or leave it when it comes to booze during Super Bowl Sunday, Fat Tuesday, or Crap-TuesdayIs-Deadline Day. For those trying to live a sober life, this weekend will be one big trigger. As the inner webs are always accurate, I took to Google for some tips. Here are the top seven for your consideration: Know your triggers; eat and stay hydrated; bring a sober buddy with you; set a limit; hold a nonalcoholic drink in your hand; have an exit plan; and host a sober party of your own. You’ve got this!

By Jennifer Bovee

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6.) It’s time for the annual Mardi Gras on Morton celebration at Bar 2909 (2909 Morton St, Fort Worth, 817-332-2909) 6:30pm-11pm Tue. There will be beads, live music, and Hurricane specials along with all-you-can-eat crawfish. As of press time, the cost of the event is still unclear. Keep an eye on the event page at Facebook.com/ BAR2909 for updates.

2.) While Brix Barbecue (1012 S Main St, Fort Worth, 817-386-4694) is closed for a private event on Sunday evening, party packages can be picked up for the game by 3pm Sun if ordered by noon Fri at BrixBarbecue.com. Options include whole briskets, whole racks of ribs, smoked or fried wings, and Wagyu burnt ends.

FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY

1.) DJ Soft Cherry, 2023 Weekly Music Awards winner for best DJ, will spin tunes at the Super Bowl Party: Taylor’s Version at Gustos Burger Bar (1229 7th Av, Fort Worth, 682-250-6926) 4pm Sun. Admission is free.

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5.) The Trinity River Bears, a local LGBTQIA+ social organization focused on cuddly, bearded men, will celebrate Mardi Gras on game day with a Gumbo & Jambalaya Cook-Off at Club Reflection (604 S Jennings Av, Fort Worth, 817-870-8867) 4pm-6pm Sun. Groups or individuals can enter the contest for free. Setup time is 3:30pm. Awards will be given for best taste, crowd favorite, and most original. There will be Hurricane specials and complimentary food samples.

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PARTY TIME!

Six for Saturday E L A I N E

W I L D E R

With Valentine’s Day falling on a Wednesday this year, the Saturday prior is primetime. (This weekend — yikes!) For ideas on dinner reservations, check out last week’s ATE DAY8 column in the Calendar drop-down on FWWeekly.com. For other ideas beyond a simple dinner, here are six more things happening Sat, Feb 10, for your consideration.

Cour tesy Canva

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PARTY TIME!

Valentine's Ideas

1.) The Woman’s Club of Fort Worth (1316 Pennsylvania Av, 817-335-3525) is this year’s venue for the Sixth Annual Bleeding Hearts Ball, with proceeds benefiting a nonprofit dedicated to training service animals. There will be a costume contest and a midnight waltz, along with food and drinks.

Tickets for The Dark Kiss: A Regency Era Vampire Ball, as it’s called this year, start at $20 on Eventbrite.com. Doors open at 6pm.

The Dark Kiss: A Regency Era Vampire Ball will raise money to train service dogs.

2.) How about taking your main squeeze boot scootin’? The Stagecoach Ballroom (2516 E Belknap St, Fort Worth, 817-8312261) invites you to a Valentine’s Dance featuring Jamie Richards 7pm-1am. His new album, The Real Deal, promises everything from ballads to bar songs that fans of ’90s country will love. Tickets are $20 at StagecoachBallroom.com.

3.) If you’d like Jesus to take the wheel, the Cowboy Church of Tarrant County (1685

4.) Seeking a special dinner? Make your meal more meaningful by raising funds for a worthy cause. The Seventh Annual Taste the Love Valentine’s Dinner & Fundraiser is at Taste Community Restaurant (1200 S Main St, Fort Worth, 817-759-9045) at 6pm.

All sales benefit the Taste Project’s mission of feeding, educating, and serving the community. This five-course meal is BYOB and features burrata cheese paired with figs and prosciutto; cauliflower steak salad (grilled cauliflower with sultana agrodolce and ricotta salata); lobster ravioli; osso bucco (braised beef shanks with polenta, mushrooms, and herbs); and chocolate almond cake with Amarena cherries. Tickets are $300 per couple on Eventbrite.com.

5.) Local artists and other creatives will sell gift items at the Galentine’s Pop-Up Shop at WineHaus (1628 Park Pl Ave, Fort Worth, 817-887-9101) 4-7pm. Vendors include Bug-n-Bloom, Elegant Arrangements, Handmade Hello Card Co., link x Lou, Stitchy Woman Embroidery, Stumpy & Lily Crochet, Texas Bath Works Candles, and more.

6.) Meat Fight, the event “fighting MS with the best BBQ in DFW,” has a Valentine’s deal for you. What started as a backyard competition among friends is now a nonprofit that

Cour tesy Meat Fight

Lacy Dr, Fort Worth, 817-716-9940) also has a Valentine’s Dance 6pm-8pm. Kids are also welcome at this night of music, fun, and snacks. There is no cost to attend.

Pick up a Meat Fight Valentine’s Box and join the fight against MS.

has raised over $2 million for the National MS Society. If you’d like to join the fight and grab a great gift for that someone special in your life, order a Meat Fight Valentine’s Box for $145 via Prekindle.com and pick it up at Community Beer Company (3110 Commonwealth Dr, Dallas, 214-751-7921) 2pm-5pm. The box will include snack-sized portions of “meats, sweets, and treats from Dallas businesses.” It feeds two (or more) people. l

GIOVANNI’S I TA L I A N K I T C H E N

5733 crowley rd • fort worth tx 76134

817.551.3713 | GIOVANNISFW.COM

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Opening at 4pm on Valentine’s Day

FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY

Complimentary roses on wednesday the 14 th

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Come see Mamma and Pappa for Valentine’s Day

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