Today in Downtown Boulder

Take two minutes to read this blog then turn off your computer and make your way to Downtown Boulder today! The weather is amazing. People are relaxing and enjoying delicious foods and beverages on various outdoor patios. Buskers are performing all along the Pearl Street Mall, hundreds of tulips are in full bloom and perhaps best of all…the Boulder County Farmers’ Market starts their Wednesday season this afternoon from 4 – 8 p.m.!

What’s new this season at the wildly popular Boulder County Farmers’ Market? Specialty organic chocolate and an organic bread baker to name just a few! Over the last year, 20 new farms have begun participating in the market. This means you can expect to find more eggs, pasteurized cow and goat milk, a variety of cheeses, more starter plants to help you grow your own and unique products such as crayfish. Many of the returning vendors are also adding new products to their mix. The market is located just off the Bricks (Pearl Street Mall) next to Central Park on 13th Street between Canyon Boulevard and Arapahoe Avenue.

Later this evening in Downtown Boulder, elephantjournal.com’s “Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis” will take place at the historic Boulder Theater. The show is honored to host Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg, famous yoga teacher John Friend, Titans of New Tech including Gwen Bell, Jeffrey Kalmikoff of Threadless, Brad Feld, Micah Baldwin of Lijit and music by Paper Bird. The event will include an eco-expo, before and after party, music and much more entertainment with the highlight of the evening being an eco-fashion show courtesy of prAna with makeup by top makeup artist, Jen Murphy. Showcased on all of the models will be the bio-active, organic make-up line, Afterglow Cosmetics. Click here for ticket information.

In Downtown Boulder there is something to see and do every day of the week. To find out about other happenings in the heart of the city, visit BoulderDowntown.com.

Ignite Boulder 4: How Not to Suck

Well, I survived my first Ignite Boulder intact and without combusting too much (though it was dang hot it that chem lab). Last night, 430 techies and their better halves made the trek up from the pre-party in b.side lounge's back room where they had quickly emptied three kegs of Dechutes Brewing's frothy nectar.

Up at CU, the evenings' presentations began with a bang - starting with: My Mom Just Joined Facebook. Now What? by Ryan Wanger which got the crowd off to rollicking start. I learned 20 slides at 15 seconds each goes by quickly, perfect for our Gen X/Y attention span. Wagner's graph showing that the phrase "mom joining Facebook" just outpaced "is there a god" summed it all up nicely.

The two screens in CU's Chem 140 allowed us to see both the presenting PowerPoint and a britekite wall of cyber heckling (cyeckling? Tweckeling?) which reached its apex about midway through the night, with an earnest young lady's rather impassioned deck on Peak Oil.

Perhaps it was the lack of fermented bevies, but the brightkite wall of heckling was better then the audience shouts for the most part. All in all though, the event was full of wit and wonder, from the hula hoop/copywriter's treatise on how not to suck, the dance ninja's booty shaking lesson (though she shoulda jumped on the table to coach us through those fly moves), to an inspiring trip on bike through New Zealand and the finale: a re-imaging of The Fresh Prince's theme song in ye olde english (oh that we had some Old E ourselves...).

Sure, they need a better venue, one where the beer coincides with presentations and the sound system is intelligible, but for my first foray into techie/startup/meetup culture, I have to say, I was impressed. As the gang trickled back down the hill to take in Hapa's happy hour on the bricks, I was glad I lived in Boulder, where else could I find all this?

- Eli