Halloween Weekend All Over Downtown!

The snow on the streets of Boulder is melting just in time for an assortment of weekend events. With warmer weather than we've had all week, it's time for fall football festivities and downtown Halloween parties.

The weekend will kick off tonight with a CU's Homecoming Stampede, complete with CU's Golden Buffalo Marching Band, Chip, athletes, coaching staff and Grand Marshall, Top Chef NY winner Hosea Rosenberg from Jax Fish House.

Need some spooky fun to get you in the the mood for the scariest night of the year? Tonight, the Hotel Boulderado will host a Murder Mystery and Historic Boulder will be sponsoring a Ghost Walk Ghost Talk, with stops at Hotel Boulderado, the Carnegie Library, Boulder Masonic Lodge and the Willard Building. The b.side Lounge will also be hosting their Snow Themed Halloween Party benefiting Ovarian Cancer. If you have never heard of DeVotchKa, tonight is the night to check them out at the Boulder Theater!

On Halloween, DeVotchKa is playing a second show to a sold out crowd at the Boulder Theater. The Lazy Dog, b.side Lounge, Fox Theater, Laughing Goat Coffeehouse, Boulder Draft House, Conor O’Neills and Tahona (just to name a few) all have great events going on as well.

On Sunday, small ghosts and goblins will hit the bricks for Munchkin Masquerade starting at 1 p.m. (rescheduled from Thursday). Then, Jax Fish House will be kicking off their week-long 15th anniversary celebration.

"CU in Hollywood" - Top Chef winner grand marshals CU's Homecoming

This year, 1997 engineering physics alumnus (and Top Chef NY champion) Hosea Rosenberg will serve as the Grand Marshal for CU Boulder's Homecoming festivities. On Friday (Oct. 30) following a 5:15 p.m. pardade on the Hill, Rosenberg et al will head to Downtown Boulder for a pep rally held in conjuction with the Pearl Street Stampede on the bricks in front of the Boulder County Courthouse.

Joining Rosenberg (head chef at Jax Fish House Boulder on Pearl Street's West End) at the pep rally / Stampede will be Coach Hawkins, athletes, the Golden Buffalo Marching Band, cheerleaders and Chip (CU's mascot). The Pearl Street Stampedes are quickly becoming a popular tradition and a perfect opportunity for the local community and visitors alike to show their pride and support for CU! (Following this Friday's event, the final Stampede of the season will take place on November 6.) To learn more about all activities related to Homecoming visit, CUHomecoming.com. GO BUFFS!

Rosenberg is currently on a five-month sabbatical from Jax Fish House Boulder. On October 1, he and Jax Fish House launched WhereIsHosea.com. The Web site traces Rosenberg's travels and includes his personal blog, slideshows, cooking tips, demos and more! In addition to his blog, you can find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter!

Our Twitter-Verse

Every month Eli adds a few more Downtown Boulder twitter feeds. Some will blow up, others abandoned. However, attempts are being made and every day the tool becomes slightly more ubiquitous. Twitter users in Boulder are surely among the most virtually connected real community around. Yet, the most unique thing about Boulder's twitter users is the quality of both messages and interaction.

There seem to be three unique demographics tweeting in Boulder, originally stemming from the prevalent tech and PR crowd. That, and users can connect with such a variety of users; from the Boulder Bookstore to the T-Bar, Pharmaca to Liquor Mart. There is no commonality, except geography for any Twitter users listed at BoulderDowntown.com. Also, these represent only the tip of the iceberg in Boulder. Twitter regulars such as @andrewhyde, @doylealbee and @pugofwar keep the Boulder twittersphere full of personality. Whether updating daily, or an emerging presence anyone can enjoy a piece of the conversation using this unique medium.

Boulder is unique in their civic adoption of Twitter, and this deserves significant attention. Boulder Parking, Boulder Police, Boulder Parks and Rec., and Go Boulder all maintain a twitter presence. Just following these users will give a great idea of what is going on in the cities government. And of course, for the latest news from Downtown Boulder just follow Downtown Boulder and we'll aggregate the latest and greatest news from all the downtown businesses who have jumped on the twitter bandwagon.


-Ian

Last Wednesday Night Farmer's Market!

I love winter in Boulder, and as summer events wind down I always get a little giddy with anticipation, however watching fall flicker away is always bittersweet. If you're reminiscing for summer on this warm fall day head over to the Farmer's Market for their last Wednesday night of the season. Cool fall evenings provide a unique ambiance for the market as the sun sets over the Flatirons. The next few days may get cold and wet so grab some vegetables, locally raised beef and create a stew to come home to; a couple pumpkins for the front porch and some tea from Dushanbe Tea House will keep you warm until you get there.

The market is now the only local farmers' markets to be owned by the participating growers. The market does everything they can to make sure vendors sell produce grown in Boulder County and there is nothing sold that is grown or produced outside of Colorado. The Farmer's Market has been operating on 13th st. adjacent to Central Park for over 20 years. With city and state support, students from CU's President Leadership Program researched other markets and helped make the present site selection. It has since become a Boulder tradition, a fabulous venue for fresh produce and a great place to mingle with friends and neighbors.

In two weeks, on October 17, the last arts event will be held in conjunction with the market though market itself will continue on Saturday mornings until November 7th.

- Ian

BOCO, Dine out, Geek out, Rock out

Although I missed out on the dining out and unfortunately rocking out at BOCO, I can attest the event geeked out as hard as any of Andrew Hyde's other events. Speakers included Boulder locals, such as Brad Feld and Ari Newman as well as various guests from around the country. Unlike previous events based at one venue, BOCO guests were welcomed to breakouts around town. A tab was kept open at Trident, and will surely migrate as the event heads into the evening. Afternoon speakers and breakout sessions will be followed by a performance by local Boulder artists, Paper Bird who will perform at the Boulder Theater.

Sessions on cyborg anthropology were followed up by presentations on lifehacks for balancing work and play in typical Boulder fashion. Twitter was alight with #boco hashtags throughout the event as foodies and geeks mingled in realtime. Following the tradition of Ignite Boulder events, presentations were limited to 10 minutes resulting in an informal and fast paced download of the latest happenings in tech, music and food. Morning sessions focused on the inspirations of food and music, while things got more techy in the second session. After lunch the focus will shift back to more food business and blogging. At three this afternoon the group will be released, breaking out to local coffee shops, followed by happy hour and dinner.

Andrew Hyde's events are not to be missed and a great addition to this town's tech culture. It is nice to see these events encouraging the traditional Boulder mentality, extending into the coffee shops, bars and masses of stragglers on Pearl Street also not "working" on another perfect fall day in Boulder. Beyond the cutting edge of social media and tech culture, entrepreneurs in this town are anxious and able to communicate the implications of their new technologies.

Extra kudos for offering students free admission to the event!

- Ian (the new intern)