Austin Christmas: A Holiday in Lights

Love-A-Bull, Texas-Sized Pittie Pride Event

Midtown Mutt-Minster Dog Show

Before the competitions begin, obstacle courses are open to the public. A dog and it's owner are escorted through the course with an APA! volunteer, receiving tips on training and guiding the dog.

The melodies of harmonious, and somewhat chaotic, woofs creep into the auditory range as approaching Brush Square Park in downtown Austin. Slowly, the scene of a canine crowd and fellow human comes into the personal viewfinder. Pooches are donned in their Sunday-best collars, bandanas, costumes and, of course, colorful fur dye.

Reigning Mighty Mutt champ, Skip, is held by his owner after walking for the category "My Dog Most Resembles..." This year, Skip's owner says he most resembles "Puff the Magic Dragon" (explaining his choice of fur color). Skip was Mighty Mutt 2011 when he most resembled a zebra.

 The gathering is simultaneously fascinating and amusingly entertaining.  A passerby may assume the assembly of dog, human and all around animal-enthusiast is a pre-Halloween pet festival. However, that assumption would not be quite correct. Stop for a minute or two, and it’s apparent that the occasion is the Midtown Mutt-Minster Dog Show.

The show consists of fun and goofy categories and appropriate participants to go along with such contest categories. The show includes the categories of: Most Unidentifiable Breed, My Dog Most Resembles, Too Cute for Words, Funkiest Features, Best Champ, I’m Too Sexy for my Collar, Most Heart Warming Rescue Story, and the overall Mighty Mutt category.

Guthrie, first place in the "My Dog Most Resembles..." category, presents himself as a lion while walking for the show's judges. A shih tzu/yorkie mutt, Guthrie became a big hit throughout the day among the crowd. 

Although the show is an overall silly and fun event, there are a few aspects that have a deeper meaning. For Ellan Warren, a connection with the show’s deeper meaning is evident. The Mutt-Minster Dog Show benefits the non-profit organization, Austin Pets Alive! (APA!), which is an organization Warren has volunteered with in the past.

“I’ve fostered dogs a couple of times. I had to let go of some pit-bull foster puppies early because they got ringworm…” says Warren, “it was sad because I love dogs and helping them and people.”

Warren smiles with her dog, Heath, after Heath walks for the judges. 

Warren’s dog, Heath, participated in the “My Dog Most Resembles…” category. Of course, Heath most resembles a Heath chocolate bar. Warren explained that Heath is a big part of her life. She expressed interest in possibly fostering more dogs, but reassured that Heath keeps her plenty busy.

Heath does a final round of walking for the judges, along with the other contestants, for the "My Dog Most Resembles..." category. 

Along with benefitting a good cause, some participants manage to tug at the crowd’s heart. The day’s strongest example of this, and a crowd favorite, comes from Lucy. Lucy, a deaf and blind dog, participated in the “Most Heart Warming Rescue Story” category. Lucy was found with her deaf and blind brother, Charlie, near a railroad track barely alive. After being found, it was discovered that Lucy’s jaw was broken, which lead to it being wired shut for recovery.  

Deaf and blind, Lucy awaits a nudge or touch by her owner so that she knows when to walk forward for her showing in the "Most Heart Warming Rescue Story" category. 

Despite these hardships and although a little timid, Lucy carries herself as happily as the other dogs at the event. Keeping close to her owner’s side and waiting for a touch to the nose to signal the next command (Lucy is trained by touch), Lucy presents herself as a sweet, loving and appreciative pup. As the judges deliberate over the category’s winner, the crowd chants Lucy’s name and she is pronounced winner of the  “Most Heart Warming Rescue Story” category.

Guthrie looks on as Lucy sits alongside her owner during the "Mighty Mutt" category of the show. 

Lucy has an amazing story as well as a great personality to go along with that story, but she is not the only dog with a remarkable background. Sully, dubbed as the “tripawd” dog, took the title for the “Best Champ” category. Sully acquired his “tripawd” status in a devastating way. Sully was shot in his front right leg and left to die. Although he could not keep his leg, his owner helped keep and save his life.

Tripawd dog, Sully, watches as other contestants walk in the contest for the "Best Champ" category.

Like most “tripawd” dogs, Sully is now fully accustomed to walking and standing with only three legs. His missing leg has not stopped him from being a fun-loving, outgoing dog.

Following Sully’s and Lucy’s categories, along with the others, is a final showdown for the best of the best mutts, the winners of each category compete for the title of “Mighty Mutt.” Two names are continuously shouted from the crowd as the judges attempt to pick the winner. Sully’s name can be heard through the crowd, but Lucy’s name overpowers all others. From the sound of the crowd, the odds are in Lucy’s favor. However, as the judges finalize their decision and the MC begins to introduce the Mighty Mutt, it becomes more obvious that the winner is “tripawd” dog, Sully.

Despite a surprise from the crowd, it still roars with approval for the newly crowned Sully as Mighty Mutt of the Midtown-Mutt Minster Dog Show. As his owner smiles with excitement, Sully jumps up to embrace her and accepts his crown and trophy.

The crowd cheers as Sully jumps up to lick his owner's face from the excitement of winning Mighty Mutt 2012.

After Sully’s win and as the dog show comes to a close, the judges shed some light on the event and the benefits it provides. All three judges work and volunteer with APA! and expressed the extremely difficult decision of choosing a winner.

“When it came down to it, we had to go with the tripawd dog,” remarks one judge.

“We all obviously love dogs and helping those who have had a tough time,” another judge says, “it’s all about rescuing dogs and the good that comes out of it.”

As the event winds down, dogs and their owners begin to leave, still happy even without a winning title.

At the end of the day, the dog show was a success with a large turn out of people and canines. Laughs, cheers and countless “aw’s” filled the atmosphere of the Midtown Mutt-Minster Dog Show down in Brush Square Park. A number of remarkable and deserving dogs competed in the day’s events, but more importantly, extraordinary stories of rescue and pure devotion stuck with dog owners and onlookers alike. 

Student Voting

According to today’s college students, young people are freethinking and rather opinionated individuals, but some doubts do remain among young voters, doubts that one vote cannot make a difference. However, among various UT students, and young people in general, the idea of having a voice is overriding those doubts.

A common voting ideal among college students is having a unique, educated “voice,” especially when an individual wants some sort of change or improvement in the societal issues they experience each day.  After all, today’s “college kids” are the next generation, the generation that will eventually lead the country and will ultimately decide on the solutions for the nation as a whole.

Recently, the youth voter registration organization, Rock the Vote, released a video encouraging young people to vote with the slogan “We Will.” The video emphasizes the idea that many college aged students come to question: Will our vote matter? Will we make a difference?

“We will be counted, we will matter…stand our ground. We will vote because we matter,” the organization encourages in the video geared towards the diverse, “Millennial Generation.”

“Standing ground” for Justin Murphy, a UT junior, means making a difference, having a duty for making his country a better place. Murphy is relatively open about his political views and explained his vote can help fix the current issues our nation holds.

“I did my part in fighting against Obamination!” Murphy said while joking about the matter and his views.

Although he has strong Republican beliefs, Murphy stated that whether a person is a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, everyone should do his or her part by voting, but for a good, genuine reason. Like most of the students interviewed, Murphy expressed the importance of being educated about a candidate and not just checking a name on a ballet without thoroughly knowing why that person is the best possible choice.

Cherie Bugtong, also a UT junior, has a more liberal stance in contrast to Murphy, but similarly shared the importance of voting. Bugtong discussed the benefits we, as Americans, have in this country. She believes it would be a waste if a person did nothing by not voicing his or her ideas, especially when people in other nations do not even have such an opportunity.

Bugtong explained how some students openly express their political feelings and disgusts, but do not put in the effort to fix the very issues they speak against. Quite simply, Bugtong explains if a person does not put their voice into the public, whether it is through a vote or demonstration, there cannot be a remarkable amount of change.

“Giving up means letting other people make your decision,” stated a representative for the university group, UT Votes.

She continued on to voice that a lot is at stake for young people as well as minorities and women, so the group does their part in encouraging fellow students to register and vote in November. On September 22, the group posted voter registration fliers around numerous West Campus apartments in preparation for National Voter Registration Day (September 25). The organization hosts a “Voterama” to encourage fellow students to vote. The all-night event takes place in the West Mall of the UT campus. 

“An individual votes, but a group of individuals collectively choose,” UT Votes expressed in a final statement.

They believe in the idea that an individual vote cannot make a difference in such a large, diverse nation. The group continues to work to boost voting confidence and help spread the message that a group of young individuals can, in fact, have an impact on the nation.  

About Miriam

Miriam is a photojournalism student at the University of Texas in Austin. She was born in Houston, but has lived in several different places due to her father being in the Army. She has lived in Houston, Virginia, Killeen and now resides in Austin. Before coming to Austin, Miriam was a student at Ellison High School in Killeen, Texas. She was apart of Ellison’s Leadership Academy program, which lead her to working on a project involving local Autistic children during her senior year.

Miriam has strong interests in art and music, but is passionate about photography and writing. Her interest in photography began while she was a sophomore in high school, but became stronger when she got her first DSLR camera the following year. Because of this passion for photography, Miriam looked for creative outlets among school and friends. Several of her friends were also photographers, but her high school did not have any kind of photography class or program. The summer before her senior year, she began planning a possible club for her school. That fall, the Ellison Film & Photography Club had been created and participated in different kinds of projects. After graduation, Miriam continued on with her interest in photography. After seeing a post on Facebook from the reggae/hip-hop star, Matisyahu, Miriam sent in a brief portfolio of her work to the Matisyahu team and was selected to photograph the musician at his 2011 summer show in Houston. The opportunity completely surprised Miriam since her photography had only been a self-taught hobby before that moment. The following fall, Miriam began her first semester at UT, where she took her first photography class with professor, Dennis Darling. The class aided Miriam’s raw photography skills with new technical aspects of the art that not only improved her photography work, but also allowed Miriam to realize her possible future as a photojournalist, not just a photographer.

Aside from photography, Miriam has dabbled in film/audio work. The club she created in high school did incorporate some filming. In addition, Miriam’s older brother graduated from UT with Film & Rhetoric Writing degrees, so she often assisted with his personal and school related projects. During the fall of 2011, Miriam helped her brother by filming a portion of a small town event in Mart, Texas for the Mart Community Project.