This story begins, like many radical Boulder tales, on Pearl Street. Outside of the Into The Wind toy store on Saturdays you can find several young men spinning colorful toys at mind-boggling speed. This is the BoCo Yoyo Club, founded in 2014 by Steve Knabe and Hunter Momberger. The club has met every possible Saturday for more than a year now. They gather on Pearl Street, and rock everything from yoyos and kendamas to spin-tops. If you haven’t heard of these toys, check out the club for some free and unique entertainment. Wanting more than their Saturday meet-ups, Hunter and Steve decided... Read More

As you may have heard, Boulder County’s most recent emergency warning systems test was Monday evening. Boulder’s flood season stretches from April through August, and that means the emergency warning systems need to be tested regularly. Flash floods are no joke, but neither are the 30+ sirens of Boulder County’s outdoor warning system. Following World War II most cities and towns in the United States incorporated siren alarm systems for civil defense. These were originally intended to warn civilians of impending air raids, hence the colloquial term “air raid sirens”.... Read More

I often hear Boulder being hailed, and sometimes scorned, as a place of liberal thinking. But many fail to acknowledge the influence of Eastern ideology on the culture of Boulder. The Buddhist culture in Boulder is quiet, perhaps due to its dynamic history. It began with the exile of the Dalai Lama after the failed uprising of Tibet against the People’s Republic of China in 1950. Following the failed revolt, China issued the 14th Dalai Lama, and therefore Tibet, an agreement called the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. This document cemented Tibet as a permanent... Read More

What on earth are we talking about today? Only the coolest festival in Colorado. Every year thousands gather in Nederland to celebrate our state’s most famous frozen grandpa with games, beer, music, and coffin races! Did we mention most events are free? A little backstory first: Back in 1993 it was discovered that Trygve Bauge and his mother Aud were storing Trygve’s grandfather with dry ice in the shed behind their unfinished house in Nederland. They wanted the body cryonically frozen in the hopes that someday grandpa would be resurrected by future technologies (nanobots, etc.). The... Read More

You can find the same business models in all major cities, but the real interests of a community can only be unearthed by digging through their non-profit and/or nongovernmental organizations. Here are a few of Boulder’s which we felt touched on some key interests of this city as a whole. Boulder’s BCycle AboutBoulder has a 3 year history with BCycle, and for good reason. This NGO brought “bikeshare” to Boulder. They now have 39 stations around the city with a fleet of 275 bikes. Simply buy a pass and you’ll get access to unlimited 30-minute bike rental sessions until the pass expires.... Read More

Boulder County commissioners have approved the use of unmanned flying aircraft aka “drones” over Boulder County’s open spaces. What does this mean for you? Boulder County has approved the use of unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS for short, on/above Boulder County property. The craft may take off, fly, and land on city-owned public lands. But not just anyone can fly their own craft over Boulder. Only UAS working on pre-approved agricultural and scientific research projects will be permitted. The hope for the UAS is that they will improve the yield of locally grown crops. Agricultural... Read More

With warmer weather gracing us after a deeply cold winter we are sure Boulder residents are ready to get outside. Let’s take a look at a relatively new sport Boulderites are practicing, and where you can do it in Boulder. Slacklining is a sport invented at Camp 4 in Yosemite back in the 1980s. It is similar to tightrope walking but, instead of a rope, the person balances on a piece of flat, tubular webbing. In warmer weather it is a fairly common site at local Boulder parks and on the University campus. Usually a group of people will be gathered around a rope, which is suspended between two... Read More

Did you know one of the best ways to run a pirate radio station was devised right here in Boulder? Brace yourselves for a tale of determination, censorship, gestapo tactics, and global inspiration. The founder of KBFR (Boulder Free Radio) was a man who called himself “Monk”. He had purchased a load of Low Power FM radio broadcasting equipment in 2000, with the expectation that the Federal Communications Commission would grant him a license. He soon found out that changes to FCC regulations meant that no one in the Boulder area would be given licenses for radio broadcasting. Monk had... Read More

A religious survey conducted in any major city around the US will generally reflect the religious inclination of the state in which they are located. But what about a notable lack of religious affiliation amongst residents? Today we will skim the surface of Boulder’s relationship to religion, and how the prevalence of nature might be an alternative to religious fulfillment. According to a gallup-poll released in 2013, Boulder was just shy of the least religious city/metropolitan area in the US. It was bested only by Burlington-South Burlington, VT. Both cities had 17% of their populations... Read More

In light of the recent tragedy in Colorado Springs, we would like to discuss some shootings that took place in Boulder County.  Then we will share some thoughts on why shootings explode into social consciousness and then, just as quickly, expire. Despite it’s consistently high rankings on “best places to live” lists around the country Boulder is not free from violent crimes, nor from shootings associated with them. Whether it is the police pulling the trigger or regular citizens the effect on the community is the same. There is no time to brace for a bullet. There is no consolation... Read More