Ah, Boulder

[quasigeostrophy]

Just got home from 7 full days out there. Too brain dead for a long write-up, so here are some bullet points:

• I got a good mountain fix, but the more I see them (particularly the Flatirons), the more I want to see them regularly. I got a couple of nice prints of the Flatirons at an arts co-op on Pearl Street, because I have yet to be satisfied with any of my own shots of them. The best lighting was this morning, and of course the camera was packed and I was on my way to the airport.
  
• On every trip to Pearl Street Mall, I encountered at least one street musician doing a rendition of "Big Yellow Taxi". Not surprised.
  
• Speaking of music, I found a decent Denver radio station I could leave on in the rental car: KIMN "Mix 100". Pretty funny morning show duo ("Dom and Jane"), and a decent mix of older stuff I like and not annoying new stuff. There may have been even better stations, but I didn't search after landing on KIMN.
  
• Speaking of radio, the time- and space-varying electromagnetic interference in the area drove me crazy with cell phone service interruptions. At first I thought it was the interior of the NCAR building my class was in, but I started having intermittent trouble with service all around town. It's not like the mountains were blocking me during most of the trouble times. Then yesterday, I remembered that not only were NCAR and NOAA there, but so is NIST. And I drove by the Table Mountain Field Site and Radio Quiet Zone. That and the presence of NIST could account for cell phone weirdness.
  
• Found a good beginner didgeridoo with a CD of instructional videos from a couple that plays on Pearl Street Mall. lightning_rose introduced me to them when I was out there 2 years ago, but I hadn't decided to pick it up then. Still didn't buy it, though, because I had enough stuff to hassle getting home on my flight today. Price was $30, but I'm also going to look around online to see if I can't find something similar.
  
• One hopefully positive effect of this visit was a less than subtle kick in my own ass about getting back in shape, at least to bike ride. Getting a chance to see how well the community provides for bicyclists and the beautiful areas in which to ride was inspirational. Tomorrow, between catch-up chores, must get on exercise bike.
  
• Last Sunday, I went down to the Colorado Irish Festival in Littleton, to catch a show by Eileen Ivers. She was awesome as usual. Got a CD signed and a pic with her.
  
• Learned more than I expected at the WRF model users Basic Tutorial at NCAR. I'll need to make changes to the software for my Ph.D. work. This may involve working closely with some of the folks at NCAR that I met during class.
  
• Toni and I have talked about Boulder being an area high on our possible relocation list. There's a major NOAA lab and several spin-off weather-related corporations all in the area. Getting on at NCAR is tough, but they do have a program that might just make it easier. To do some of the close-knit work with folks out there, I can try to get a long-term visitation grant (anywhere from 3 to 12 months). Actually, the way it works is that I would have my advisor contact the appropriate NCAR staff person to submit an application.
  
• Just over a week quasi-alone (I was out there for class with my office mate and 80 other attendees) was nice in a way, but I missed Toni more than I expected. Probably because it had been so long since I'd been away for any significant length of time without her. This doesn't mean we couldn't make an extended NCAR visit work. She could come out and even work from my residence there.
  
• I have pics from Boulder (and 2 previous trips, Massachusetts and Minnesota) still to post. I hope to work on those starting tomorrow.

Comments

[elmegil.livejournal.com]

Boulder is pretty high on our list, though we're somewhat waiting on my parents.....

[lightning-rose.livejournal.com]

I apologize for not trying to contact you, even though I knew you were in town; but my life is chaos at the moment and I'm unable to do much.

This is probably the didge DVD Per and Eileen were selling. Regardless, it's the one you want. The website is owned by Grahm Doe, the guy on the DVD.

http://www.didgeridoostore.com/didgeridoo_dvd.htm

And this is a good didge to learn on, and it's nearly indestructible so it's a good one to have handy so you can take it anywhere:

http://www.didgeridoostore.com/didgeridoo_modern1.htm

You can also find them on eBay, but these are probably the best prices.


Here's Per & Eileen on the mall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNzvETbaZI8

And this is their youTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/logrhythm

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

No worries - I didn't try to contact you, either, as I thought you were in chaos. I'm sure whether we move there in a few years or not, I'll be back. :-)

Thanks for all the didge links! I figured you'd have some helpful resources.