Outdoor Cinema

If there’s one thing I learned as I’ve gotten older, it’s that it becomes harder and harder to entertain yourself. Even though I’ve only lived here for 11 months, the bar scene is growing tired. Television isn’t an option (unless it’s via Netflix) and I haven’t had a date since the winter so my love life is a bit dry. Still – every so often – you end up doing something that is truly unique, fun, and renews that faith that you can do something new and exciting without leaving your home.

Outdoor Cinema! A 858 tradition, this is my first time ever being a part of it. While the set up isn’t amazing, and the technology a bit lax (that is a sheet hanging from a wire) – it still was an amazing way to spend a Saturday night.

Vanessa and Bill did some stand up comedy. Some was funny. Some wasn’t. But – it was a good stage to test material and for Vanessa, marked her debut in front of a live audience. Her parents were even there – and let it be known that if you can tell a blow job joke in front of your parents, you can overcome any stage fright.

Overall, the night was great. I’m looking forward to the next time we get a do something like this.

i, Robot

If this could improve the efficiency of our warehouses – then I say “Do it!”

Live from Red Rocks

Kez, Chris, and I went to Red Rocks. It was my first non-concert visit to America’s best venue – and it didn’t disappoint. There’s something profoundly holy about the place. It’s something that can’t be captured in picture, or described in words. The reverberation of the countless concerts mix with the natural aura of the setting – to create something out of this world. Listening to Chris play his guitar while the natural acoustics of the place amplified the sound was a beautiful experience.

Dino Flip’s Visit

Ker’s friend Chris came through Boulder on his way to Portland. Last night, we just chilled at home, had some good laughs, and enjoyed a nice chill night in Boulder. Chris, a kindred spirit moving to Portland on a “whim,” played some original songs that we all enjoyed. If you know people in the Portland area, let me know so we can help Chris get settled….

I can relate…

Great daily comic from Shane Johnson. My recent fave below:

I think I’d be a lot smarter if I didn’t have 24 passwords to remember….

Cities & Names 5: Irene

Irene is the city visible when you lean out from the edge of the plateau at the hour when the lights come on, and in the limpid air, the pink of the settlement can be discerned spreadout in the distance below: where the windows are more concentrated, where it thins out in dimly lighted alleys, where it collects the shadows of gardens, where it raises towers with signal fires; and if the evening is misty, a hazy glow swells like a milky sponge at the food of the gulleys.

Travelers on the plateau, shepherds shifting their flocks, bird catchers watching their nets, hermits gathering greens: all look down and speak of Irene. At times, the wind brings a music of bass drums and trumpets, the bang of firecrackers in the light-display of a festival; at times the rattle of guns, the explosion of a powder magazine in the sky yellow with the fires of Civil War. Those that look down from the heights conjecture about what is happening in the city; they wonder if it would be pleasant or unpleasant to be in Irene that evening. Not that they have any intention of going there (in any case, the roads winding down to the valley are bad) but Irene is a magnet for the eys and thoughts of those who stay up above.

At this point, Kublai Khan expects Marco to speak of Irene as it is seen from within. But Marco cannot do this: he has not succeeded in discovering which is the city that those on the plateau call Irene. For that matter, it is of slight importance: if you saw it, standing in its midst, it would be a different city; Irene is a name for the city in the distance, and if you approach, it changes.

For those who pass it without entering, the city is one thing; it is another for those who are trapped by it and never leave. There is a city where you arrive for the first time and there is another city which you leave never to return. Each deserves a different name; perhaps I have already spoken of Irene under other names; perhaps I have spoken only of Irene.

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Finding the Pearl

Sitting outside the Bookend Cafe on Pearl Street, I can’t help but think about my arrival here in Boulder – about 11 months ago. It’s crazy how fast time has flown – I still remember vividly my first feelings and the awe that Boulder inspired. I haven’t sat at the Bookend in a long time – afternoons on Pearl Street weren’t common during the Winter and the last few months of work have left little time for me to actually motivate myself to come down here.

But here I am and that same sense of awe is here. I am surrounded by Boulderites – Buskers and Businessmen, Musicians, Mexicans, and Milfs, and entire alphabet of alliteration that seems built for my world as an observer. I wonder why I don’t come down here more often. I take a sip from my chai and remember – BLURGH! That’s awful! C’est la vie – I’m more here for the shaded tables and prime people watching location.

A lot has happened in a year. I have a great job that I love. I have some good friends that I can’t imagine my life without. I’ve started to get into shape. I’ve been playing basketball four days a week and softball two. And while my social life isn’t up to the par that it was in Syracuse – I’m happier. In fact, I love the fact that my life no longer revolves around the next time I’m going to get drunk and that my social activities usually involve physical or mental activity – and not the stagnant pull of a night at Coleman’s.

I do wonder when my awe will end. Even when I take something for granted (Like the weather – I stayed inside all day on an 80 degree day recently) – I proactively try to enjoy all of my surroundings. I haven’t even ventured off to the wonderful things that exist right outside of the bubble – but perhaps those are journeys that await me as the start of my second year here approaches…

UMass revokes Mugabe’s honorary degree

Ex Roomie JS helped make this newsworthy event:
The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees this morning revoked an honorary degree awarded to President Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe dictator whose brutal crackdown against political opponents and systematic human rights abuses have made him an international pariah.
Nice when a days work makes headlines….

Don’t Call it a Comeback

Vinyl, it appears, has caught its second (third?) wind…

As someone who owns a good number of Vinyl LPs, I have a few hypothesis on why this is occurring:
The type of bands that still produce vinyl LPs are the types that would attract the niche market that are vinyl collectors.

As music moves to the more portable, digital medium – there is still a yearning for a physical connection with the music. More than any current medium – Cassette, CD, MP3 – a vinyl record involves active listening. You queue the record up, turn it yourself, and have a more intimate relationship with the product.

The artwork – while existent in CD/Cassettes – is blown up; bigger, brighter – causing a more visceral reaction and connecting with the listeners senses in a similar way the physical connection does.

They are cool. duh.

Often LPs are coming with companion digital downloads – meaning you can get the high quality digital download along with the physical record. This is the best of both worlds.

LP sales are often a way for Independent stores to provide a niche that the Best Buy Big Chain stores wouldn’t. This may change now that the market’s opening up – but, buying vinyl, was often a sign that you were in the in crowd.

My vinyl purchasing has waned for the most part in the past year – as memories of me carting 1/3 of my record collection cross country still haunt me (Toughest.Thing.Ever). Still – I love my collection and will occasionally get my records out, put them on, and swim in a sea of Vinyl. No matter how hard an iPod tries – it can never give me that….

Freewheelin’

Suze Rotolo’s new book “A Freewheelin’ Time” is out. I perused it over while at Barnes and Noble. It looks pretty interesting. It’s nice to see a book written by an insider that isn’t a tell-all. It didn’t seem sordid. It didn’t seem full of gossip. It just seemed like a former friend, reminiscing about the good times. Remembering – through that false recorder we carry with us always – and enjoying a young love affair…

I can’t wait to read it.