[ Waiting for lunch ]

Somehow Jim and I managed to be first to arrive at lunch on the second day. Jim looks like he's ready for things to get started.


[ Jenga building ]

I went for a walk around on the second afternoon (only 31 degrees!) to get a better look at what I ended up calling the Jenga building. (This is what happens when you take pieces out of the bottom and put them at the top.)


[ Fort Worth's main street ]

Main Street in downtown Fort Worth has red brick paving and some nice older buildings, like this courthouse.


[ Dinner in the garden ]

CCI hosted the main dinner event of the conference that night: a Mexican meal at what seemed to be the biggest restaurant in town (Joe T Garcia's). We were led all the way to the back to the "garden."


[ Jim and Sue at the fountain ]

There was a fountain, and booze, at the garden.


[ Toronto Star people and a CCI person ]

Toronto Star people schmooze with CCI people.


[ Entering Billy Bob's ]

After dinner, it was back on the buses for a ride over to Billy Bob's, which bills itself as the world's largest honky tonk.


[ Glitter saddle on the dance floor ]

In place of a glitter ball, they had a sequined saddle turning slowly over the dance floor.


[ Famous hands at Billy Bob's ]

Apparently Billy Bob's is a big venue for country/western musicians.


[ Photos with ]

We had just missed a show by the Randy Rogers Band, but we saw the giant lineup of fans wanting autographs and photos with the band.


[ At the dance floor ]

Michael Taylor, a transplanted Texan at the Washington Post, was steering people onto the dance floor, in between swigs of beer. And yes, his colleague Stacey (also a transplanted Texan at the Post) was able to guide me through an embarassing approximation of the Texas Two-Step without anyone requiring hospitalization. Barely.


[ Pool boys ]

My attention was directed more to the pool tables, however, where a bunch of us played numerous challenges against a mix of newspaper people squaring off against (or in some cases allied with) a mix of CCI people. Here we see a rare display of camaraderie between Star and CCI staff.


[ Pool girls ]

Our pool table had a built-in hazard: These girls kept goosing anyone who got too close to them, which made making shots from that end of the table a lot more difficult.


[ Bullseye at the gift shop ]

A stern warning against riding "Bullseye" at the door to the gift shop. I got the "What happens at Billy Bob's stays at Billy Bob's" t-shirt.


[ Y'All Come Back ]

The fun couldn't last all night.






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