Classic stars, on a sliver screen, under a golden moon

Some movies are at their best when they are shown on the silver screen. That's why I don't mind when local cinemas feature classics like Gone with the Wind, or newer classics like Jurrasic Park. Drive-in theaters may seem like a thing of the past, but Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In is bringing the past to the present.

I had never been to a drive-in before, and I was super excited when I found out that Austin had one. We loaded up the car with bags of popcorn, candy and of course a bottle of wine. The double-feature playing that night just happened to be two of my favorite movies, Grease and Dazed and Confused. I mean what other movie could be better to watch in a drive-in other than Grease?

Blue Starlite brought the fun of decades before by playing old convienient stand advertisements, and they also offered old silver window speakers. Most people blew up thier vehicle speakers with the movie's audio streaming on an FM radio channel. Sitting in the back of my friend's car gave the movie watching experience an awesome surround sound effect.


In general I think movie theaters are a magical place where you can get lost in someone else's life and forget about your own for a couple of hours. At the drive-in the atmosphere and environment is even more dazzling. I feel it's how movie's were meant to be seen, with people interacting with each other and singing out loud to "Summer Lovin'" with neighboring cars or clinking beer cans, or wine glasses, with complete strangers.

Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In is fun for the whole family, a date night or a girls/bros night out. You can't go wrong sitting under the big and bright Texas stars watching one of your all-time favorite movies.

Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In
Date Night featuring True Lies
8:30p., Thu, May 23
$25-$35
Old Airport
1901 E. 51st St
www.bluestarlitedrivein.com

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We Danced. We Walked. We Danced-Walked!

Dancing. Urban Dictionary defines this terms as,"the act of elaboratly flailing around your apendages in an attempt to impress or entertain someone or a group of people." Well that's exactly what went down in downtown this past Saturday. This local-group discovery is possibly the coolest thing I have done thus far in the city. Where I met them? meetup.com. Who are they? Dance Walk! Austin.

A couple of awesome ladies, Sarah Wright and Meaghan Hurley, started up the group after watching the YouTube video posted above. Basically, Dance Walking is exactly what it sounds like. There are jams blasting from a speaker in a backpack and a group of dancing queens and kings shaking their thangs.

Every two weeks the group meets up at a different location in the city. Dance Walk! Austin's first meet up had dance-walkers busting moves down South Congress Avenue, and two weeks later the group hit up the streets of downtown. I made it to the downtown get-down and had a blast. The great thing about Dance Walk is everyone who shows up is stoked to dance like a fool and have a good time doing it.

Dance-walkers, from a range of ages, walked for about an hour and got a ton of encouragement from cars driving by. We even wrangled a couple of people to dance with us. Sadly the speaker gave out on us, but that didn't stop the dance party. Our little crowd continued to dance and sang songs aloud. At one point we were dancing along with the music from the Pubcrawlers found in downtown.
Word has it that a new speaker will be joining the group at its next meet-up. The upcoming dance-walk will be over the South Congress Bridge while the bats fly out for the night. Batty-apparel is encouraged, which I am more than sure dance-walkers will be dressed in their best and most eye-catching dance-walking wear. Dance-walk is not only a great way to get your workout on, but it's an even better way to dance the streets of the city with some pretty fun peeps without feeling like a complete weirdo.
 
Dance Walk! Goes Batty on the Bridge
7p., Thu. May, 16
Ego's Bar
510 S Congress Ave

www.meetup.com/Dance-Walk-Austin

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Wieners, the fastest are in Texas

Wieners' ready? On your mark! Get set! Go! That's not something you hear everyday, but every last weekend in April the race is on for Dachshund dogs. The Buda, TX wiener dog races attract over hundreds of adorable wiener dogs who race for $500 and, of course, ultimate doggy glory.

These pups, though they are little, are fierce competitors. Owners of the racing wieners spend all year training their lean mean racing canines for race day. Each dog is put in their own lane-box and enthusiastically wait for their gates to open. It seems that bribery is the trick to get dogs running like the wind. Owners bust out their pets' favorite treats, toys and doggy sweet talking to pump-up their pups to dash to the finish line.

There are two days of racing that lead up to the final six fastest wieners. This year, the champion wiener was back-to-back champ Boomer. His owners, Brad Lawson and Jennifer Candeloria, went home with a pretty impressive trophy. Yet, it was a well earned win with all the tough competition out on the racing track. Some dogs get so excited they end up running into their competitors lane and basically tackle them out of the race.

Tons of other breeds of dogs cheer on their racing friends along with their owners. Each year the Buda Lions Club, who sponsor the wiener races, pick a unique theme for the annual event. This year's theme was called Les Wienerables after the play “Les Misérables.” Most people dress up their pets according to the theme. Past themes have included Teenage Mutant Ninja Wieners, Lord of the Wieners and Gone With the Wieners.
The wiener races may be no Kentucky derby, but it's a fun way to get into the competitive-racing mood and maybe try your luck on betting on a couple of wieners.

Buda Annual Wiener Dog Races
$3, Kids FREE
Buda, TX
www.budalions.com

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