Boulder Colorado Part 3: Music and Entertainment

Just in case hiking and biking and the great outdoors were not enough fun, Erin and Keri and Jim and crew made sure that there was lots more going on.  Again, I'll organize by theme rather than by date.

For music, it appears that everyone in Colorado plays in a band, mostly Bluegrass (although I suspect Erin was biasing the sample in an attempt to lure me out here on a more permanent basis).  We saw members of the Yonder Mountain String Band twice, once in Lyons at a late-night show with just two of the band members, and then a second time at the Gold Hill Inn, which was just barely spared by the Fourmile Canyon fire a few weeks ago.  The Gold Hill Inn gathering was a last minute community benefit concert involving everyone who was in the area, and the entire neighborhood showed up in this tiny backyard pavilion to listen to music and check in with neighbors they haven't seen since before the fire, including those who lost their homes.  Here's a picture of everyone on stage, and another shot of Erin grooving to the music.

This jam session included Nick and Helen Forester, the hosts of E-Town, the awesome music show on NPR.  Earlier in the week we saw a live taping of E-Town with Cyndi Lauper and Charlie Musselwhite.  I didn't realize that a lot of the music played on E-Town is actually Nick Forester playing and singing.  He switches instruments while singing during a set change.  It's pretty impressive!  We also caught some local live music at a place in Denver called the Cheeky Monk - Angie Stevens sang a full set of songs that were just phenomenal. 

For sports entertainment, I put on all my purple clothes and we went to a Rockies game!  Sadly, Rockies lost in what had to be just about the quickest game ever.  It was so quick that it was still getting dark when the game ended and several of the East Coast games weren't over yet!  But I got my ball park frank and got to hang out with my friend Ari!

Also sort of in the sports entertainment category (sport for me, entertainment for anyone watching), Erin took me to a kickboxing class at her gym.  Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I have a very bad sense of rhythm. So imagine me trying to "and jump and kick and punch and turn, and jump and kick and punch and turn" in line with 15 other people.  Now further imagine that halfway through the routine I bump my hand and reopen a cut (from repairing a toilet) and promptly start dripping blood... "jump and kick and punch and OOOPS! I think I just dripped on the floor!"  After dancing around with my thumb in my mouth for a few minutes (skipping the "and punch" moves) I finally gave up, ran out the side door and found a bathroom to clean up.  And after class, I cleaned up the drips....  I guess kickboxing is not for me.