Grooving again

At the Foothills Drum Circle:

The Bugman leading the group with conga drums

Facilitating drum circles is not new. I used to do it in Palatine for years. I thought that I would be doing it in Colorado too, and apparently I am. It's the second and fourth Tusedays of the month at 7:30 pm at the Foothills UU church. I didn't come up with the name "Foothills Drum Circle" but it looks like the name was not used anywhere before, so it is officially the "Foothills Drum Circle™ " and since the "Foothills" could mean a fairly large area of Northern Colorado, this could get out of hand.

Bloggers blog Blog

At the Comfort Inn off Interstate 25:

It's a meeting of Bloggers!

The local Fort Collins bloggers had a meeting through their Meetup group so I decided to join in and see what's what. The topic of the day: "Content is King"; Hot Damn!

Lacking content for today's post, this is it.

It was a fairly orderly meeting. About half of those attending were first-time bloggers who wanted to learn more about being a part of the blogosphere. I think that’s a good thing; I probably could have used some encouragement before I started out. Now it’s too late!
The content discussion quickly turned to ways to increase readership and then it seemed to border on increasing revenue. If I look at the very first posting made nearly two years ago, I said “Hey! We've got a road trip coming up, and so why not keep a blog about it so that we can go back later and use it to figure out what we have done!”. That sort of keeps the content to “whatever” and limits the readership to only two people. Haven’t figured out how to make any money doing it yet. Maybe I’ll go to some more of those meetings!

ESL at the Fort

On the west side of where the original 'Fort Collins' parade grounds were located:

Reading and writing comprehension for ESL students are taught.

I couldn't help but notice this copy of an illustrated version of Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' in the ESL library. I looked but did not find a copy of Don Marquis' 'Archy & Mehitabel' ; I would think that that would be a better title for someone's English as a second language attempt. However

Can anyone say 'Kafkaesque Illustrations'?

Those of you who may have come across a Mad Magazine once or twice in your life might recognize the work of Peter Kuper, who is responsible for the cartoon illustrations in 'SPY vs. SPY'.

"Gregor! Get Up! You're going to be late for work!"

I've got to get a copy for our guest bathroom. It takes only minutes to read and as Kafka himself once said, "A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us". Attaboy Franz!

There is a video selection as well!

I noticed right away that they have a copy of the 1968 American comedy film 'The Producers' written and directed by Mel Brooks. Hell, just thinking of Zero and Gene and Dick makes me laugh! Did you know that Dustin Hoffman was originally cast to play Franz Liebkind in the film? ... and one of the manuscripts that Max Bialystock dismissed as being 'Too good' was none other than Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis'?

FOCO-MOCA Simplexity

This month (and next) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Fort Collins:

"Balancing Plasmas Generated by Magnetic Field Pressure"

Or something of that nature. It's part of the new exhibit at the FoCo-MoCa called "The Mind and All it Creates" by artist Todd Siler.

There's a "Lithium Blanket" in there somewhere!

"Whereas conventional solid plasma-facing materials for a magnetic fusion blanket’s first wall restrict maximum power density and require frequent replacement, a liquid has no crystal structure to be damaged by thermal stress or neutron bombardment. To advance objectives of higher power density and reduced maintenance, thick liquid flowing walls blanket concepts eliminate solid plasma-facing materials and instead present a liquid free-surface directly to the plasma with no intervening solid material. One thick liquid concept is the Electromagnetically Restrained (EMR) Lithium Blanket, in which an approximately one meter thick shell of liquid lithium metal almost completely surrounds a fusioning tokamak’s toroidal plasma discharge, absorbing plasma particles, neutrons and other radiations while breeding tritium and collecting high temperature heat for power generation."1

I believe "Lithium Blanket" would make a great name for a rock band. (It's also interesting that a guy named "Woolley" came up with the idea). Dr. Siler will be back in town for the next "First Friday" gallery walks to help answer some of my questions I should think.

1 Woolley, et al.

Extended coverage of FoCo-MoCa continues:

In the utility room of FoCo-MoCa

Levels and Hammers!

Just like I have at home. Apparently they don't use those Laser Picture Level gadgets to hang artwork.

Tribal Drums

At the Catalyst Tap Room:

Candid Drum Photo

On the First and Third Wednesday there is a crowd of drummers at the Catalyst Tap Room. I placed my Minolta DiMAGE Z1 digital camera on the head of my djembe drum to take this picture.

Alley Art, Volume 1

UTILITY BOXES

Transformer Cabinet

There are seveal themes here and I would assume it's by the same artist. There is a certain 'blue aura' that suggests spirituality, religious emotion or perhaps latent schizophrenia. The enclosure hinges are painted to look like crayons that follows the theme above and is continued in the example below.

Communication Utility

From a distance it looked like a caterpiller; that is probably why I was drawn to it.

The MLK "Parch"

In Fort Collins, not Denver:

Not a parade, not a march...

In Denver they call it a "Marade" the combination of the words March and Parade. All the newscasters are calling it a Marade, so Marade it must be.

Lots of people were there

Including Duncan Madog and his friend Ken

The Mystiq is Gone!

in Old Town Fort Collins:

After 10 years, the Mystiq is moving out

But it's more like a transition sort of thing... The former martini bar wants to attract an older crowd. "We will be bringing country back to downtown Fort Collins," says owner Tony Campana whatever that means. It looks like they will also have rock 'n' roll, reggae and salsa as well.

100 Octane Club

I guess that means the the ethanol will be a better grade than before. It makes sense. Us older types demand it!

The Truth About Sex

Yet another Science Cafe

with Dr. Gerald Callahan

This evening it was CSU Professor Jerry Callahan from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology & sometimes the English department.

Jerry with some hand-outs

"When it comes to sex, it's not all black and white." The evening hand-outs were illustrations from this artical taken from the New England Journal of Medicine. WARNING! They are a bit graphic, so be warned!

The lecture was at Dempsey's in Old Town Fort Collins which has been a mystery to us because whenever we pass by Dempsey's at night, the place looks dead. We usually see just the bartender talking to the kitchen help and NO CUSTOMERS! The Science Cafe packed them in, but when the lecture was over, the place was vacant! Very strange.

Bas Bleu behind the scenery

On stage at the Bas Bleu:

Set Building Time!

It was time for Jeanne and I to help out with the local Bas Bleu Theater group and build some scenery. The work was for a play called "The Moving of Lilla Barton" which we have scheduled our newcomers group to see February 7th.

The Tree is Gone!

Our first 9 footer:

Blurry picture of leaning tree

Tree on top of car

We picked up this dandy tree at Bath early December and had friends over to help decorate it.

It leaned a little toward the kitchen, so we attached a wire from the top of the tree to one of the window shade brackets. It was a nice tree. It didn't dry out too fast and it had a nice shape.

Today the Boy Scouts came and took the tree away!

First Friday Gallery Walk

Bloco em Foco was playing on Oak Street Plaza, but at the Art Lab:

Northern Colorado Harpist - Mary Ellen Holmes

She was playing her harp at the Art Lab gallery which became part of Fort Collins' First Friday Gallery Walk.

As seen from the Art Lab front window.

If you want live music for your wedding, anniversary or whatever, and you might think a samba band may be a bit too loud, why not contact our friend Mary Ellen of Harp Accents.

Wall Art

At Brave New Wheel in Fort Collins:

It's a bicycle shop

but no bicycles are represented in the wall art.

At last count there were 17 specialty bike shops in town! I've only been to a few: There's Lee's of course, Pelotone, Road 34, The Cycologist and Spring Creek Recumbent. I did some riding this year already and it looks like the temps will be in the mid-50's next week so the snow will be gone!

The Year 2009 in Review

Who cares really, but you know how all those programs on TV and articles in magazines like to sum up the year! Well here's what I got as far as this blog is concerned; Sure, it's just a lousy clip show for this post, but what the hey? Everybody does it! So, of the 127 or so posts made on this blog in 2009, here's what may be the best (or not):

Where any publicity is good publicity:

Of course the biggest news story was this one; It put Fort Collins on the map fer Christ's sake! Not much to say here. Did we look stupid? You bet! But we are better off for it. Nobody got hurt really. Life goes on... That being said:

The best pace to hide in Fort Collins:

No! It's not in a cardboard box in the garage you idiot! But I bet they wouldn't find you if you hid in this thing. It's the last place anyone would look for you.

The last important celebrity to visit Fort Collins:

In my opinion it was this guy. It was a long time ago so I believe we are due for someone special. I'm sure it will be great; I just hope The Coloradoan does a half way decent job reporting it.

The Best Place for Non-humans to Hang Out:

It didn't take long living in Fort Collins before he moved into our home. And of course he had to take part in this, and that, and even this here! It's getting out of hand. He's got more than 10 times the number of Facebook friends than I have already!

Proof that All the Real Asses Live in Loveland:

Oh, about nine miles South of Fort Collins you could find this place. I still get into Loveland about once a week, so there will be more to come from out that a way.

Why there's no Reason to Review Restaurants on this Blog:

I liked this place and mentioned it in this blog and now it's gone! ... and this past December I was passing though Iowa and just wanted to stop over at this place for some of the best Cajun food around and guess what!? It's gone too! This blog could be a restaurant curse; Hmmmm, that gives me an idea.

Why You Still Shouldn't Trust Wikipedia Articles:

You shouldn't trust this blog either, but what they say about Timnath, Colorado is not quite true. This post is mentioned because it was the most researched piece of all the 127 entries for 2009. Nothing like it will ever appear in this blog again!

And of course Fort Collins is the Best Place to Bike Because:

They have events like this and that. You can bike in the North-South direction without breaking a sweat; Just go a little bit West of town, and look out!

So here's to 2010! I imagine there will be reports from this event in the future and more retreats like this one in the Spring. Just know that if there are any mysteries on the roadside, there's a good chance that I'll miss them completely.

Good Night!

Lab Ratz

It's the Art Lab house band:

Kevin Cripe, Larry Dolgin, Tommy Campbell and Steven Johnson

Nice drum head logo!

Ringing in the New Year!

It's 'Bloco em Foco' in Old Town Fort Collins:

The Surdo line

This worked out well. We were outside, and a whole lot of music fans needed something to do before midnight. New Years and samba bands seem to go together! Beleza!

Paul leading the band

It started with a little bit of marching samba to the Art Lab for a 30 minute gig. Then some more marching around Old Town for a bit. Finally ending near the 'Transcend' statue for the fireworks display.