Through a combination of nostalgia and legend, some pieces of Boulder never fully disappear. Maybe the best example was an ordinary building in the middle of the Hill known as Tulagi. On walking inside, you were hit with the smell of decades of beer being poured, consumed, and spilled. Past the Tiki-ish foyer, you were deposited into the venue, with an open dance floor as simple as the stage at its head. On either side were raised sitting areas with built-in benches and stacked-stone walls, under-lit to give the feel of a cavern-come-club. Surrounding was a mural with various scenes—all sun-drenched... Read More

The history of rock climbing and bouldering had its genesis with mountaineering and alpinism in the late 18th century, although climbing rocks had been a feat accomplished long before. In the 14th century, a Native American tribe called the Anasazi drilled holes and carved stairs into rock cliffs in Chaco Canyon, but it wasn’t until 1786 with the first ascent of Mont Blanc, that the ‘modern era’ of climbing truly came into being. The history of Boulder’s rock climbing and bouldering history began a little over one hundred years later in 1896 when a group of Boulder Hikers formed the Rocky... Read More

Most of the West was divided up into straight-edged, boxy regions and subdivisions (take a look at poor Yuma County). Boulder County escapes the purely rectangular form of other counties in Colorado, and today we will tell you why. Plus, we will tell you why it’s named Boulder (but we bet you can guess). The need for Colorado to become a territory coincided with the secession of several southern states from the Union in 1861. Colorado applied for statehood that year, and offered the Union secure access to precious mineral deposits. Boulder County was one of the original 17 counties of... Read More

Meet Jenna I found Jenna sitting outside of Lolita’s on a nice sunny afternoon. She was in an in depth conversation with an older man who seemed to be passing on some good advice. “After I left work today, I knew I needed to gather wisdom from an elder. I ended up talking to this man who was walking by Lolita’s. He ended up teaching me a valuable piece of knowledge when I needed it most. He gave me some general guidance and pointed me in the right direction. We talked for about 15 minutes. He walked away and thought about what I said and came back half an hour later with the advice I needed.... Read More

Josephine Antoine This fair Boulderite was beloved for her incredible rise to fame as a Metropolitan Opera star. After completing her education in Boulder, Antoine went on to earn a Master’s at the Julliard School of Music in NYC. Before her first national appearance, she received a telegram from the mayor of Boulder reading: “Every citizen sends you love and good wishes for your performance tomorrow.” She was a success, and sang the lead in 14 Metropolitan Opera productions. Her singing was featured on national radio stations, and she returned to Boulder to perform at the Colorado... Read More

Students and professors at the University of Colorado, Boulder have been studying the effects of black carbon on ice and snow in ecosystems around the world. Black carbon is the byproduct of fossil fuels and wildfires and can be carried long distances via atmospheric transport. Researchers use molecular analysis and have so far proved that Greenland’s ice sheet has been effected by wildfires burning all the way in the Canadian Arctic. Wildfires are predicted to increase in the future, threatening to negatively impact other ice sheets across the globe. According to Scientific America, climate... Read More

Meet Jade! Jade is from Lyons, Colorado but is living in Boulder while earning his Art and Japanese degrees.  Jade says that his degrees are very complimentary because he can use his knowledge and technique from Japanese to enhance his art and vice versa!  Jade’s focus in art is mainly painting and drawing and uses watercolors to achieve his Japanese inspired aesthetic.  His work is arranged in a style much like comic books, however excludes dialog to leave room for interpretation. The main themes Jade uses are existentialism as well as introspection to show the wide range of human thought.  Read More

One of the most common pieces of advice a Boulderite will give to a new resident is “Go check out the Dushanbe Teahouse,” but what’s so special about a teahouse? Well, ours was handcrafted in Tajikistan during the Cold War, and kindly shipped by our sister city of Dushanbe. The rebuilding of the teahouse in Boulder was an awesome accomplishment which nearly did not happen. The idea of a sister city or twin town developed from the Cold War following WWII. The point was to form legal and social bonds between disparate cultures, and even promote relationships between former enemies.... Read More

Have you ever looked at the Hill and thought “I would totally ride a giant slip and slide down that.” Well you are’t the only one. Is 1000 feet going to be long enough for you? That’s 3 football fields. July 18, 2015, a Guinness World-Record holding waterslide comes to Boulder, and will carry thousands of sliders down the landmark Hill. The slide will be placed on 13th street and will open at 9am. Sliders are organized into waves due to the sheer number of them—23,000 people are “Going,” according to Facebook. Unfortunately for those just hearing about it, the event is sold out, but... Read More

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, based in Missouri, found that Boulder Colorado had the highest density of start-up companies per capita in the United States. Most of these sprouting businesses are technology-based, and many start and eventually settle in the city. But what is it about Boulder which makes it a breeding ground for new business? First of all, Boulder’s culture spans the distance between nature-loving outdoorsy people and highly-educated tech creators. To the west are the glorious Flatirons and innumerable natural wonders, meanwhile the university is researching more... Read More

You will learn how Boulder’s iconic Flatirons formed. Turns out, Boulder was once beachfront property. The Flatirons are Boulder’s favorite portion of the Fountain Formation, a geological formation of mostly red sandstone. This sandstone, more appropriately called “arkose” gets its color from the pinkish feldspar contained it it. This red rock makes up the Red Rocks of Morrison and the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The Fountain Formation stretches from Colorado Springs all the way to Wyoming. The reddish color is due to the concentration of feldspar in the sandstone,... Read More

We can’t say for sure if being in Boulder makes you a better or more successful person, but these celebrities from our fair city lend some credibility to the notion. And since we aren’t a gossip site, these won’t all be film and TV stars. We are showing you real people from Boulder who did, and are doing, interesting and popular things with their lives. 3OH!3 Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte make up the electronica group 3OH!3, which received national success with their song “Don’t Trust Me”. They gained even more attention when they collaborated with Ke$ha... Read More

When oddly specific things become public problems, local legislation steps in to help. Today we will look at a few odds and ends Boulder city laws had to smooth out over the years. Hopefully we will boost today’s water cooler conversations. Nobody Owns Fifi Dogs in Boulder do not have “owners” according to any public ordinances. You can only be the “guardian” of a dog. This law requiring all public signage to call dog owners “guardians” is the result of animal rights activist calling for reform in the rhetoric surrounding pet relationships. It’s... Read More

“I’m on Pearl to promote my massage business doing chair massages. I’m licensed and my whole family is in healthcare professions. We have massage therapists and chiropractors so it’s been around me my whole life.” Thanks Anjaneya!        Read More

Some of you have heard that Boulder is “25 square miles surrounded by reality”. Which is one way to say that the character of the city of Boulder is extremely different from other nearby cities. Today we will discuss how intellectualism has helped to create this unique reputation. There is a huge focus on anti-intellectualism in the United States. Many folks, especially politicians, discredit Education, Literature, Philosophy, Art, and Science as pursuits which are mostly impractical. None of these subjects seem vital for the “common man” to know. None of them will help... Read More

In a recent study in Boulder, it was found that the city is leading the nation on gender equity. Currently, the national average for women’s wages are 84% of what men make. In Boulder the average is 88%. Boulder is obviously a special city, leading the nation in multiple avenues from preventative measures for climate change to progressive gender equality. This got me thinking about famous women in Boulder and the steps they have taken to catalyze change in their city and nation. If you were lucky enough to visit the Pioneers: Women Artists in Boulder exhibit at the Art Museum at the University,... Read More

The incredible warm winds lately got us thinking about how weird Boulder County’s weather can be. So here are a few examples of weather events gone rogue in our county, and some facts about why they occur. Tornadoes Though they might seem like more of an Eastern Colorado problem, tornadoes do occasionally appear in Boulder County. Unlike their eastern cousins, they are typically much less powerful and only rear their heads every few years. The most recent tornado touchdown in Boulder County was in June, 2015. Several homes in the 15300 block of highway 287 took damage, but no injuries... Read More

If you’ve spent an evening in Boulder since November 11, then you have noticed the giant, lighted star outline on the western face of the Flatirons. What you might not know is how one simple holiday tradition became a hotly contested issue for Boulder citizens, and a medium of political commentary. The Flagstaff Star was originally displayed in 1947 but the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, who still own the start to this day. It was meant as a simply Christmas decoration aimed at uniting Boulder in the spirit of the holiday. The next year, the star began to transform. Shifting between a Christmas... Read More

Recently, walking around Boulder and taking in the sites, I’ve noticed an ample amount of street art, most notably drawn/painted/stenciled by SMiLE, an anonymous Boulder artist. SMiLE’s repertoire ranges from portraits of Jack Kerouac and Brad Pitt, to a menagerie of animals, most especially cats. A little less than a year ago SMiLE had an exhibition in Boulder titled ‘Streets to Canvas’, and made a profound statement on the website promoting the event. SMiLE states, “Art has always been in the vanguard of the worlds changing consciousness, and Street Art is the contemporary form of this... Read More

The long established rivalry between the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State has, and will continue to be, a relevant one. I present an unbiased and comprehensive list as to why, once and for all, CU is on top. Our mascot would win in a fight The view, of course Campus is modeled after Tuscany The city of Boulder itself We have a stadium that is actually on campus CU has a designated college area (the Hill) Popular bands want to stop in Boulder CU is ranked 182nd out of all world universities…CSU is ranked 441st. (top universities.com) You get what you pay for Our parties... Read More