Apparently the fun starts at dusk each Thursday, and everyone’s welcome to bring lawn chairs, blankets, and picnics.

The upcoming showings are:

July 24 The Devil Wears Prada
July 31 The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl in 3-D, brought to you by The Children’s Hospital
August 7 The Great Muppet Caper, brought to you by The Children’s Hospital
August 14 Transformers
August 21 Wag the Dog

Here’s the full list of stores closing in the Denver area.

Is your local Starbucks safe?

If you weren’t able to make it today and have old electronics you need to get rid of, the event’s website links to this handy Recycling Directory. This site gives the low down on how to recycle anything from old tvs to batteries to tennis shoes to propane tanks to vegetable oil.

Happy Recycling!

Is there a right answer?

I vote for the “whine” pronunciation. Otherwise the wine store Wines Off Wynkoop doesn’t have a very clever name.

I moved here about six months ago from Washington, DC (ranking at number 4). Shortly after my arrival, I had dinner with a couple from Boulder who also used to live in DC and they joked that while the question in DC is “Where do you work?” the question here is “What’s your sport?” I met someone else who moved here from New York City (number 9 on the list) and she said that people thought she was a professional athlete for making it to the gym more than three times a year. I’ve moved around a fair amount and Denver feels like one of the fittest, most active places I’ve ever lived. It’s hard for me to even drive by Wash Park on a nice day without wanting to pull over and start jogging or join in a Volleyball game.

Oh, well. I guess we’ll just have to start training twice as hard and maybe we’ll make the list next year.

Five dollars $2.50 gets you in the door, and tickets to ride the rides are 50 cents each (most rides cost 2-3 tickets). I think there is the option of getting a wristband for unlimited rides, but, in my case, five dollars worth of tickets was more than enough.

We rode one roller coaster when we first got there – the wild chipmunk. I’ve always been a roller coaster person, but this tested my limits. There was no seatbelt, no safety bar, it was rickety (according to Wikipedia it’s been open since 1955!), it had to be operated manually, and had a series of quick, sharp turns that left my head spinning. After that, we pretty much stuck to the easy rides. There is a train that goes around the lake and the park lights up at night making the views from the Ferris wheel kind of cool. We got glares from staff when we asked if they served beer, but we did eat some funnel cake that was pretty good. The highlight of the night, however, was that we were all able to master the arcade game with the joystick and the claw that grabs for stuffed animals. After years of being traumatized and feeding millions of quarters into those things to no avail, I was vindicated! I went home with a little stuffed chick and so did each of my friends.

We debated whether this would be a good first date place (like in the movies, boy wins girl giant teddy bear for feat of strength, etc.) and ultimately settled on “No.” But, if you’re up for a so-lame-it’s-cool experience for around $10 a person, it’s not a bad option for four chicks out on the town.