A great Fort Worth Destination

Even though I live in the Forth Worth area, I never grow tired of visiting the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards. It's a fun place to visit for out-of-state travelers, especially in the fall or spring.

Spring and fall up north, I know because I've lived in several northern states, can stay wintry but are terrific seasons to see the Stockyards. A visit to the website (http://www.fwssr.com/) lists events, recurring events, shopping, dining, lodging and dining.

Booking a room at one of the hotels provides a great opportunity to poke around the shops; schedule a trip on the Tarantula Steam Train and ride to Grapevine and back; and you won't miss the daily long-horn cattle drive at 4 p.m.

Dining is a treat, from Riscky's Barbecue to the Lonesome Dove to the Cattlemen's Steakhouse. No one should miss Billy Bob's Texas Bar B Q, famous for the star western bands who perform on a regular basis.

Anyone living in northern states should consider the Fort Worth Stockyards. Yeee! Haaa!

FINALLY, An Original MovieThe Book of Eli

I yearn and yearn for something original, refreshing and engaging out of Hollywood. I don't think it's too much to ask.

The movie needs to come out of a mind that pays no attention to plots that have gone before. The OVER USE of computer animation has become boring and does not in the lest lend anything to character development except when a human morphs into another being. A movie needs to provide entertainment for me and I am not entertained when I perceive a thinly-veiled political statement heavy on the liberal side.

Over the years, there have been plenty of life-after-world-wide-catastrophe movies. The Book of Eli is a life-after-a-world-wide-catastrophe movie and has none-of-the-above elements. There is a natural progression of character development unaided or hampered by any obvious computer animation. At no time was I disappointed with plot aspects borrowed from past movies because there were none; neither was the experience marred with liberal political statements.

Denzel Washington not only makes the character Eli live on the screen, I cared immediately and to the bitter-sweet end. I saw the movie in a small-town theater. At the conclusion, there was applause.

I hope to see more of Gary Whitta's work, writer of The Book of Eli . No one should miss this movie.