Home > Get Out! > Archives > Around town category
Around town
June 30, 2008
Just doing my part to Keep Austin Weird
It was a day where collecting sideways stares from your peers garnered respect and mutual appreciation. The more zany, bizarre and weird — the more at home you might have felt since the idea was to be different.
If you’ve ever had the most random urge to run 3.1 miles downtown in an unruly Speedo as passersby marvel at your mullet and pale underbelly that’s never seen the light of day, then the Keep Austin Weird 5K was definitely your type of fun.
Logic would suggest that the Keep Austin Weird Fest was an event I could safely afford to attend, considering I always wanted to run downtown in a urinal cake costume.
It was an opportunity to revel in a collaborative fission of individualism that celebrates the essence of Austin. The rich diversity of costumes, eclectic characters and randomness seemed to flow cohesively as runners spilled into the street at the start line.
The race began at 6 p.m., but calling it a slow jogging parade draws from varying degrees of accuracy since the scorching sun was beating down, baking and punishing all those who weren’t wearing a Speedo, making the run challenging.
It’s safe to say that it was the most entertaining and wacky race since the old reality TV show “Man vs. Animal.” There was a collective of Dr. Seuss characters, a robot did the electric boogie on skates across the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge and a SCUBA diver ran beside me.
As we turned onto Cesar Chavez Street, I had already begun panting like some asthmatic dog and needed water. But in lieu of a water stand I saw an Amy’s Ice Cream stand, of course. So I stopped and fueled up, realizing it was better than water.
The heat and the non-serious nature of the race meant I might finish it in just under one hour, which would be a deplorable feat on any given day. But I could care less.
On the final stretch I saw a man on stilts, people rowing in a cardboard canoe and two women running with walkers.
While music from What Made Milwaukee Famous and Alejandro Escovedo entertained families and racers were looking to cool down, I looked around and realized why I enjoy Austin so much.
How often do you get to take part in an all-musical, all-entertaining, all-weird run of unbridled strangeness? Well, if you call Austin home, more often than you think — and that’s why I love this city.
Click here to view photos from the Keep Austin Weird 5K.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment Categories: Around town
May 28, 2008
Time's ticking for 'Amazing Race'
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend auditions for “The Amazing Race” that were sponsored by CBS 42 and took place at RunTex.
For those of you unfamiliar with “The Amazing Race,” teams comprised of two people related by birth, marriage or other accidental acquaintance race against each other using various methods to arrive at destinations worldwide in order to win a large cash prize. It is a reality show inasmuch as the people competing are ostensibly not robots, although some legitimate arguments could be made on that point.
One after the other, as if hoping to be the representative duo selected for Noah’s Ark, eager couples advertised their suitability for a reality game show that in no way represents the actual reality of their lives. I asked several people why they wanted to compete on a show that seems to showcase the disintegration of human relationships in less-than-subtle ways. A sampling:
“Well, we watch the show, so…”
“My partner follows the show.”
“I love ‘The Amazing Race’ and I bribed this hobo to come audition with me!”
Take note, post-graduate psych students: If you want to make the case that watching television influences behavior, you need look no further! So, if watching the show causes people to want to be on the show — even if that means the estrangement of their closest relationships — let’s see what the producers are looking for. Here are some of the questions on the application:
How many times have you been divorced?
What communication issues do you have with your partner that you would want to address on the show?
What is your biggest pet peeve about your partner?
How could the show change the status of your relationship?
What most scares you about traveling?
Do you have any phobias?
Have you been treated for or experienced any mental illness within the last 10 years? Please describe in detail.
Are there any outstanding warrants for your arrest?
How do you blow off steam?
It is nice to know that if I blow off steam by getting arrested while popping Xanax to treat my kinesophobia, there’s no indication this would actually disqualify me. Luckily, most of the people filling out applications at the RunTex seemed fairly normal — or at least as normal as any cross-section of the Austin population.
Couple No. 22, a boyfriend/girlfriend combo I dubbed “The Pretty Kids” declared that they were, in themselves, “amazing”. “And so, like, we’d be perfect for ‘The Amazing Race’,” said the girlfriend while her boyfriend wiped his face with his shirt to show off his abs.
Two women who worked together comprised Couple No. 23. “We don’t know each other all that well, so it will be interesting to see how we handle it,” said one. Her co-worker rejoined with, “I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a catfight.”
I spoke with Dominic and Ron while they were waiting to audition. (They ended up leaving before they were called up, although they planned still to send in an audition video.) I asked Dominic why they wanted to be on the show. He said he and Ron had known each other for 11 years and that Ron, a fan of the show, had asked him to audition. “I didn’t have anything better to do, so here I am.” Ron, himself a radio producer, joked that he didn’t have any friends and didn’t want any, so it wouldn’t matter what happened between them. They possessed a genuine good humor about the whole spectacle that raised my spirits. If they end up on the show, I might even have to watch an episode.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Around town
January 10, 2008
Wildflower Center offering free admission
I recently decided to try out an event I saw on my Big Weekend Calendar: the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has free admission for the whole month of January.
I knew it would be something my mom would enjoy and thought it would be a good chance for us to spend some quality time together. I looked up directions on how to get there and was really excited because, unbeknownst to me, it was practically in my backyard. Just one mile down the road from my apartment complex is this whole other outdoor world I had no idea about.
As you pull in, there is a very popular bike trail that I am now looking forward to trying. A little further down is the center. We pulled up and there were not too many people there — as I had expected — but I was a little unprepared for what was to come. I probably should have known better, but I guess I forgot what Texas weather does to plants this time of year. It kills them. I guess because the weather was so beautiful this past weekend I had expected a little something, but no.
Going along with the whole spending-quality-time-with-mom thing, we proceeded to enter the Wildflower Center. It was very nice with a kids’ area, which was closed for the winter; a gift shop and darling cafe — also closed; and the Lady Bird Johnson museum. Yep, you guessed it. That was closed, too.
We made our way, looking at branches, cacti, and dirt when — out of nowhere — we came upon the lone flower! It was beautiful: bright yellow and about half an inch big. By now, you might think our trip was a waste of time, but that’s not so. Despite the lack of color and the abundance of brown, there were still a few parts that made it worth our while. There are a few trails on the perimeters of the center that we really enjoyed. We felt especially daring and brave once we had conquered them since signs warned of mountain lions. The Restoration Research Trail was especially exhilarating because we appeared lost for a while and neither one of us had our cell phones.
In all seriousness, there’s a reason admission is free this time of year. Besides the lone flower, there were a few trees with red berries and the rest consisted of cacti and dirt. I imagine the Wildflower Center is lovely during the appropriate seasons and I look forward to going back.
Permalink | | Categories: Around town
January 9, 2008
Coming soon: FitCity, the store
Downtown workers will soon have one less excuse to skip a workout.
The folks behind RunTex plan to open a shop offering athletic apparel at City Hall later this year, in the spot once occupied by the Austin City Store.
The store’s name? FitCity.
Gee, that sure sounds familiar. Anyway …
Statesman City Hall reporter Kate Alexander has more on FitCity in the City Beat blog.
Permalink | | Categories: Around town
December 24, 2007
Are you an idiot?
If you ventured out Saturday, Dec. 8, you may have seen a giant posse of Santa Clauses parading around Sixth Street. Swamping bars, street corners and neighborhood clubs with a penchant for the wacky and a healthy helping of holiday cheer, these self-proclaimed “costumed idiots” were taking part in Santa Rampage, the Austin manifestation of what has become a nationwide phenomenon of good-natured, costumed tomfoolery, marking the true start of the holiday season.
Plenty of bystanders who were caught unawares remarked at how much they’d wished for a chance to participate. While Santa Rampage is unfortunately gone until Christmastime 2008, Austinites wide and weird will again have the chance to take part in some lunacy on Saturday, Jan. 12, when those same costumed nuts will play host to Austin’s first-ever edition of the Idiotarod, a nationwide race that turns the fabled Alaskan wilderness sled dog race on its head.
Much like the actual Iditarod, the Idiotarod calls for teams of mushers and sled dogs to complete a challenging race to the finish line, using a team of pack animals to pull along a rickety, crickety sled. However, in this case, the sled dogs are people, the sled is a borrowed shopping cart, and instead of the snowy pine forests, this race will take place on the streets and sidewalks of Austin’s fair environs.
Teams of five - four dogs and a musher - will follow a course to be disclosed on race day. Racers and teams are encouraged to dress up thematically — and knowing Austin, some will go all out — in order to enhance the atmosphere. A search on MySpace revealed one veteran of the New York edition’s favorite memory of Idiotarods past: “Barreling down the Brooklyn Bridge, squirting ketchup at the other teams as I pushed the cart and 3 other people rode inside.” Good times, indeed.
For events like this, either you’re in or you’re out. To some folks, this sounds like a perfect Saturday afternoon. To others, it’s their version of the seventh circle of hell. I’m one of the former. See you there.
Permalink | | Categories: Around town
