Most likely you have heard of South by Southwest (SXSW). SXSW is a massive music conference held annually in Austin. This festival brings out the likes R.E.M., Van Morrison, NOFX, Old 97's, and many more to various open air venues in the city. Denton currently does not host any music festival and even if it did the liklihood of bringing names like that to Denton would be difficult. That being said, March 2009 will mark the end of that. At least to the extent that Denton no longer has a music conference. Que North by 35 (NX35).

Due to the desperation I have in finding adequate means of thoroughly exercising my 7 month old weimaraner, I ventured to the Denton dog park for the first time over the weekend. "Wiggly Field Dog Park" is located on the south side of Denton, 1400 Ryan Road. Although, admittedly, my expectations of the park were low, I was surprised at not only the facilities but the number of dogs that were enjoying the great weather.

The park is an off leash, fenced area that is partitioned into separate areas for large dogs and small dogs. There is also a medium sized partition for "activities", which I assume is for training or fetching or something. Though, because it remained empty I used it to give my dogs a break from all the action/excitement. Not only is there 3 partitions, there is an open area behind the fences which includes wooded terrain including a small pond which the retrieving breeds were enjoying a swim. I was pleasently surprised by the large, mature oak trees which provided shade for the dogs and their owners. Also, unexpectedly, there was not one fight between dog inside the park. However, there was an incident which made me quite nervous outside the park.

While leaving the park a large breed dog (not leashed) ran up to my dogs (leashed). My dogs immediately became very nervous by this larger breed overpowering their space. I hear a faint holler, "Will you grab him for me?" Yeah, I am just going to reach out and grab you overbearing dog who looks like it wouldn't hestitate a second to bite my hand off. Sure, I will grab him.

As she approached her dog she said, "Thank you, I just got him a month ago and he doesn't really know his name yet."

In response, "What kind of dog do you think he is?"

"I am pretty sure he is a pitbull-mastiff mix. Have a good day."

Wait a minute, you have a pit mix that doesn't know his name about to enter a park of unleashed dogs? Do us all a favor and process your actions before putting every dog and human at risk.

Anyways, other than that, the park was quite nice and proved to be a great outlet to my weim's energy. If you have a dog (and it knows its name) "Wiggly Field" is a great place to take them for a couple of hours.

Forgive me for the delay in this posting. I kept awaiting for the awards to be posted on the thin line film fest website. However, it doesn't appear that the awards will be announced.

I was able to take in two separate viewings over the weekend. The first, "Short Compilations," was on Friday night at the Fine Arts Theatre on the Square. The experience was made not by the films alone but by being able to sit in the 100 year old building and view a film. I wish the building would be renovated to bring back the charm that is hidden under years of disrepair. There was eight films shown which ranged from 6-15 minutes in length. I can appreciate the difficulty in expressing your point with such a small time constraint and with that perspective I thought each film did well. However, there was a standout: "Go Geocache." Although the title, if you are familiar with geocaching, might lead you to believe it to be a boring film; the creators did a great job being both informative as well as entertaining. You can see the trailer on youtube.

On Saturday, I took in a feature film and the historic Campus Theater. The Campus Theater is, unlike the Fine Arts Theatre, an active theater for local plays. The feature film was "Weiner Takes All: A Dogumentary." This film was about 100 minutes long and though some bias exists because I am a proud owner of a dachshund, I thought it was extremely well done. Though it clearly didn't have the funding like that of "Supersize Me," this film was extremely well filmed and written. The film follows 5 dachshunds in their pursuit for the national championship of wiener dog racing. However, throughout the film, the creators highlight the hidden world of dachshunds, from dog shows to middle America "mutrimony" ceremonies between two wiener dogs. The film did make me feel sad and did make me laugh out loud. In fact, I would recommend buying the DVD when it comes out if you enjoy good documentaries.

Overall, I was impressed with the coordination and production by the Thin Line group and I am excited to see what film makers bring back to Denton next year.