There are a lot of stereotypes about Boulder. It’s a college town with a reputation for partying. It’s home to a Buddhist-based university, Naropa, started in part by Allen Ginsberg. Its people are some of the healthiest, in one of the healthiest states in the country. And, of course, there’s the “granola crunch” factor, encapsulating the intersection of once-dominant hippiedom and alternative eating practices. Exactly how Boulder gained that last reputation isn’t an easy question to answer. To my mind, though, one of the biggest factors comes in terms of tea. And if we’re talking... Read More

Ask someone exactly how long one second is, and you’re likely to get a smirk. If pressed, many might rely on the “one-Mississippi” trick from their hide-and-seek days. Others might claim an innate sense of it, as though they’re a minor—if punctual—X-Men style mutant. But, honestly, most would look at their smartphone. Ask the right scientist that question, though, and they’ll tell you with confidence: it’s a matter of 9,192,631,770. Boulder is home to NIST, which, among its distinctions, is the keeper of official civilian time in the United States. That moniker comes as a direct... Read More

Conditioning, in the Ivan Pavlov sense, is a strange thing. As people we’re able to think our way in or out of most anything, yet we’re no less subject to the process. This was on display last weekend at the annual Boulder Creek Festival, which saw the return of the Rubber Duck Race. If unfamiliar, here’s the score: literally thousands of caution-yellow rubber ducks are released into Boulder Creek en masse; the first to cross the finish line is the champ, and the “sponsor” of that duck wins a grand prize. It’s a quirky but fun tradition, and all proceeds go to the EXPAND program. Win-win. Due... Read More

Among other things, cities are amalgams—a mix of geography, history, economics, and trends. Most of the time this blending is fairly subtle. Neighborhoods come and go, like the people that live in and define them. Businesses pop up, shut down. The baseline for life, or the signs thereof, have a fluidity to them that’s easy to miss. Boulder, of course, is no exception. In many ways, it’s more of an amalgam than most. But that’s hard to pin down. Sometimes, though, you can step into a space that wears its Frankenstein-like mish-mash on its sleeve, and in doing so, get a glimpse of wider ranging... Read More

The Boulder area is known for weirdness, however you choose to define that. To political conservatives, it’s because of our liberal-infused policies. For those interested in culture, it’s because of a “San Francisco of the Rockies” label applied in the 1960s and 70s, or for pre-legalization 4/20 celebrations that left the Norlin Quad blanketed in weed smoke. To others, it’s more a feeling that can’t be quantified, but is nonetheless there. The thing is, much like those defunct 4/20 gatherings, there’s more smoke than fire nowadays. Don’t misunderstand, we still have our claims to... Read More

There’s an old saying-slash-cliché that goes, “everything old is new again.” We’ve all heard this, and have likely experienced it firsthand. Nostalgia is a powerful mechanism, particularly when coupled with irony. Some resurgences, however, though they might start that way, end up finding life of their own. In Boulder—both the city and county—we’re seeing one such situation. Despite our region of the Front Range becoming increasingly known for start-ups, particularly of the high tech variety, low tech has its place too. Here, I’m talking about the unassuming pastime of times past:... Read More

This time of year tends to breed reflection. Sometimes it takes the form of thinking about the meaning of holidays, friendship, and family. Sometimes it’s less specific, as if the season is a point against which measurements of the past, present, and future are made. And all of this, of course, comes with a backdrop of work shuffling and travel schedules, jumbles together in a rush of logistics. Then, inevitably, there’s a shift. Maybe it’s seeing someone you haven’t for too long. Maybe a loved one waits to share news until you’re face to face. Arguments come about over mashed potatoes;... Read More

There is an incredible range of quality work being done on TV these days. Despite Hollywood doldrums, at least a handful of genuinely great films are released every year. More music is being made and released than ever; the Internet is always coming up with more ways to enrage, distract, and entertain us. In short, the media landscape is as vast as it is varied. Of all those forms, though, books have a special place in my heart. In fact, I am an irredeemable book junky. As much as I love high-quality TV series or movies, there is something about a story being told in my mind, via words and sentences... Read More

Let’s look at 1978 for a moment. The Camp David Accords were signed, Japanese car imports soared in reaction to petroleum shortages, and the comic strip Garfield debuted to a world bereft of lasagna-scarfing cats. Another debut, of a TV sitcom called Mork & Mindy, came a few months later. And for Boulder, this hit much closer to home. Mork & Mindy was a spin-off of the 1950s-themed Happy Days. In one episode Mork (played by Robin Williams), an alien from the planet Ork, visited Milwaukee to obtain a human specimen for study. Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) would’ve been that specimen,... Read More

It’s hard to say what makes a business catch on. There’s strange calculus, even alchemy involved. Often it’s about selection, catering to a niche, or comes down to price. On rare occasions, though, a business survives because it becomes part of the community in which it was created. These days, brick-and-mortar stores not only struggle against each other, but against virtual retail. Anything can be found online, and purchased with a mouse click. Where once towns centered on the local drug store, for example, now that idea seems quant. As a result, even mega-chains have problems. Many local... Read More