Friday, July 29, 2011

I Heart Hipsters

From AP

Jul 29, 5:34 AM EDT

Denver bets on a county fair, aiming at hipsters

By KRISTEN WYATT

Associated Press

 

DENVER (AP) -- Denver has an ambitious plan to revive the county fair: blend throwback chic with urban grit to draw crowds celebrating everything weird and crafty. Mix funnel cakes with drag queens, add a dash of old-time quilting and newly hip knitting, and the recipe could produce what organizers hope is a new flavor of county fair.

Fair staples like funnel cakes and cotton candy, animal exhibits and 4-H competitions are on proud display at the Denver County Fair; there's even a Ferris wheel in the parking lot.

But there's no mistaking this event for a traditional country fair. All the contestants in Saturday's Miss Denver County Fair pageant are drag queens. There's a speed text-messaging contest, and the highlight staple of a Western fair, a rodeo, has been replaced with a bicycle rodeo and a troupe of performing pigs.

"This is so cool," said 13-year-old Brian Torres of Denver, a first-time fairgoer who saw his first alpaca and planned to check out the carnival rides, just past a "freak show" highlighted by a bearded lady and a man lying on a bed of nails.

Read more here.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Monday, July 25, 2011

10 great places for city cycling

From USA Today online

10 great places for city cycling

Expensive gas isn't the only reason to switch from four wheels to two. Bicycles offer a great way to get to know an urban area, says Elizabeth Cutler , co-founder of SoulCycle, a New York-based chain of cycling workout studios. "It's fun. It's an easy way to see a city in a different way, to slow down a bit and look at the architecture and the landscape," she says. More urban areas are adding bike lanes, and most have rentals for visitors to hit the trails. She shares some favorite cities for biking, with Larry Bleiberg  for USA TODAY.

Read on here.