Joyful noise

These guys came to visit us in City Park - Fort Collins:
The guy with the Rockies shirt is from the park district and the other guy is from the Fort Collins Police department.

They were here to tell us that we (Fort Collins premiere Samba band, "Bloco em Foco") were possibly in violation of the local noise ordinance in that we were creating U.N. or "unreasonable noise". Section 20-21 , article II of the FoCo Noise Ordinance states that "U.N. shall mean any sound of such level and duration as to be or tend to be injurious to human health or welfare, or which would unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property throughout the city or in any portions thereof".

Apparently between the hours of 7a.m. and 8p.m., the sound from our band cannot carry over to the nearest property line with a sound pressure level greater than 85 dB.

We let them take their dB meter and walk over to the nearest property line and take some measurements while we played a few measures of "Gutchaka!" So, across a field, tennis courts and the street they measured 95 dB !

Wow! Our samba band can injure and/or interfere with the enjoyment of life or property! Cool!

Political Activism in Fort Collins, Part 1A

Who writes letters these days? I actually get hand-written notes infrequently from people I know and funny postcards come in the mail once in a while, but it is rare these days. Who has time to get out a pen and paper to write? Electronic mail works just great, it's here to stay! Save a tree, why don't 'cha?

<Andy Rooney>Then there's those idiots who place leaflets on your car windshield for one reason or the other. 99% of the time they are useless (one time I was invited to a focus group to talk about the car I drive; I got $100 cash for one hour talking about VW's!) "Don't you just hate those jerks?"</Andy Rooney>

And, speaking of cars; You park your car someplace and do whatever it is you planned on doing... some shopping, get some lunch, whatever. You get to your car and on your windshield is a hand-written note! A HAND-WRITTEN NOTE!! Holy Cow! Somebody dinged my car!!!!

But no! Not this time. Someone took the time to sum-up the political ideology of the owners of our car based on (as far as I can tell) :

1) Is the car you drive a hybrid vehicle of foreign manufacture?

2) Do you have at least one bumper sticker promoting a political candidate?

If you answered yes to both of these questions, then it is important that you be properly informed in some way or the other. I'm sure you have access to the internet and you know what a Google Video is, because, I mean, who doesn't these days?

But, I don't know your email; but hot-damn THIS IS IMPORTANT! I gotta rip out a piece of paper right this minute and write you this message now before it's too late!

Anyhoo, here's the note:

The Hand Written Note

Somehow I believe for sure that Mulder and Scully have the answer and it may be possible that even this guy (or gal?) knows the THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.

Extra stuff folder

Here are some pictures in the "Extra Stuff" folder I haven't figured what to do with yet:

The Liberty statue in City Park, Fort Collins

Sage and Richard at drum practice in City Park, Fort Collins

Turtles at Troutman Park, Fort Collins

Surplus @ Larimer County!

This Saturday at the Ranch:

You can bid on the kitchen sink

... or a CDOT road maintenance truck!

Plenty of late model cars to chose from

lots of them!

Champion 6WD Road Graders

Cushman utility vehicles

Giant snow blowers!

and a few garbage trucks!

So, we're looking for something to replace the old VW fairly soon, but don't know what to buy. We would want it to be a fun ride like the convertible is, but maybe something a little more versatile on snowy roads. Maybe like a smaller ragtop road grader. It was worth a look. Maybe someday the Windsor secret service will get rid of their Aston Martin DBS Volante?

Stargazing

@ the Observatory!

East of where we live they have this domed building

Well, it is the international year of astronomy and I did say I was going to look up in the sky from time to time. We stopped by one evening to look at Jupiter and Uranis and a few star clusters that just happened to be overhead.

Celestron C-14 optical tube and Bisque Paramount ME mount

We've been inside Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin and although this was much smaller, it seemed cozy in a way, if that's proper for an observatory.

Stargazing via computerized tracking!

We found out that there was an even larger telescope in Berthoud, so it looks like we get to go to Berthoud (again!) and take a look at the heavens via a different eyepiece.

1/2 a block south: Saturn!

Saturn was not viewable that night, but there is a park nearby that has planets strewn around on the ground. (I didn't check to see if somebody took off with Pluto)

Sustainability

The Fair in Fort Collins:

Here's a place I can get recycled materials to build another banjo!

and over here I can make my own wind generator!

Here's an H+ powered Humvee!

and an electric motor bike!

Eat local ('cept when you want a real pizza)

Rodrigo Rio's movable feast

Duncan and I rode our bicycles to the fair and checked the place out. We made some good connections and will get back to some of these folks in the future and work on a few projects.

My Brazilian friend Rodrigo was there; As it turns out, he had to move his operation because the FoCo rules say he has to have a bathroom on the premises! Somehow I knew this would happen; I hope he can find some loophole and be back cooking in town soon!

Ragbrai Left Handed Banjo 'Tubes

Banjo playin' on the old RAGRRAI:

At the Peanut Butter Jam: Tom and Jim (The Roadside Boys)

Banjo Only

Estes Parade

at the Longs Peak Highland Games:

The parade: Pipers piping, kilts, plumed bonnets! The largest of its kind in the North America. Included: Dogs indigenous to the British Isles!

City Park Geyser

While at Samba practice in City Park:

Not quite the stuff in Wyoming

A close up of the water

Apparently the city's sprinkler system main had broken Sunday afternoon. Too bad it was not too hot a day or it would have been a lot more fun!

Looking Back, Part 3rd

We had seen the movie "Taking Woodstock" last week and it really did not sink in until I found this while I was cleaning the basement:

It's an invitation to our Woodstock 20th reunion party!

We were living in this house at the time and realized that we still had an ample supply of black lights and lava lamps and felt it was time for some kind of hippie shindig! On the back of the invite was this:

The list for the party's "mixtape"

We were in the process of remodeling our bathroom, so we invited anyone who visited the bathroom to draw or write anything they wanted on the walls and fixtures in day-glow colors. Groovy it was, to be sure!

Mystery Dog Park

On the north side of town:

It's a corgi corral!

It says it's a DOG PARK!

The location is 40 36 25 N 105 05 09 W. There were no dogs there when I visited. Dog owners within half a mile of this park do not know where it is or if it really exsists! I had heard of it, and it took me about three months to find it. ...another mystery solved.

Dueling Tubas

Near the CSU-UCA back door:

Martin Mull would like this

FYI: CSU faculty Robert Brewer performs tuba music composed by fellow Coloradoans as part of the Colorado Composer Project on September 21, 2009 at 7:30PM at the Organ Recital Hall, UCA.

Agogo Solo, et alia

At an outdoor festival:

Levada Solos!

Bloco em' now have matching shirts and have been seen performing in public. Breaking out some solos even! We even have some gigs lined up! We are an offical Fort Collins Samba band!

They don't play banjo in Samba bands, so I have decided to play the agogo; it's easy to carry and can fit into a pocket just like the shakre.

Beleza!

Fat Tour!

A sample of some pictures from the Tour de Fat:









I took pictures while riding. I held a still camera to take pictures in front of me and I had a video camera recording during the entire parade in back of me. I also recorded the audio form the Loyd Family Player's Samba band. Here's a sample:

New Belgium's Parade

It's that time of year again:

To get your doggie ready for yet another parade!

Duncan Madog's special car was outfitted with a digital video camera (at the top of car). We will have to see what kind of data we got, but not today!

Hirsute Child or What?... You be the judge!

We figured on some kind of carnival theme this year. Duncan wouldn't mind if we used him as a circus freak during the Tour de Fat Parade!

Jeanne and Duncan in costume!

Duncan is wearing a cute little red stripped shirt. We also had a pair of overalls for him, but we thought that it would be too hot for him to wear for the 2 hour parade.

...and this guy too!

Now to sift through the video and stills for the right moments of this year's Tour de Fat! This might take a while!

Horsetooth Reservoir revisited via canoe

Summer is almost over and we didn't go to the reservoir!

Until now!

So let's get the canoe in the water before Labor Day weekend and avoid all the big power boats! Hooray! We did it!

Breathless in Berthoud!

Roadside Mysteries must be getting soft; Here's another post about Berthoud!

Border Morris Dancers

Calling themselves "Breathless in Berthoud", they are Colorado's Border Morris Team! They practice the art of Border Morris Dance every Thursday in the studio above Jones Plumbing and Heating in beautiful downtown Berthoud, Colorado. Sticks are generally used in the dance, but some variations exist as in The Ladies of the Rollin Pin !

Brazil, A Taste of

Right here in Fort Collins:

Another Roadside Attraction

It's a little Brazilian kitchen in a trailer! If you bike on Mason Streets between Harmony and Horsetooth, you can smell something good cooking somewhere between the pawn shops and car dealerships.

Authentic Brazilian Food!

The place is called A Taste of Brazil. If you find it, you will meet Brazilian chef Rodrigo Rios. Ask about the daily specials!

Chef Rodrigo

Here Rodrigo is pointing to the daily specials. Besides the daily specials, he makes some kind of pastry called a "Pastel" which I have yet to try (prolly because the name reminds me of art class!) .