Late last week Rob Reynolds mentioned on Twitter that Google wanted to install fiber optics in selected cities across the nation and we thought it would be great if Topeka was one of the chosen cities!
Early this week Jared Starkey started a Facebook Group page to help support the cause. Alissa and I jumped on board to offer our help. We invited all our Topeka friends to the group and help startup a website to educate the public. The URL is ThinkBigTopeka.com, we strongly urge everyone in Topeka to check the group or site out and click this Google link to help nominate Topeka for Google Fiber.
If you are on Facebook, join this group and invite all your Topeka friends. We all want faster internet, why not let Google pay to lay the infrastructure?
If you have a camera you can make a YouTube video like John Ary did here.
Imagine Topeka as an a technology hot spot. A place where citizens, schools and businesses have unparalleled access to an internet connection so powerful they’re able to make daily life more efficient, just by residing here. Where, instead of waiting minutes or hours for a file to download or a video to load, it would occur in seconds, allowing technology to take us places we’ve never even imagined before. With Google’s Fiber Experiment, this is all completely possible.
Brandon SheleycloseAuthor: Brandon SheleyName: Brandon Sheley Email: admin@vbulletinsetup.com Site:http://brandonsheley.org About: I'm the "webmaster" as some have said. I've been playing with sites online for the past 6 years. I maintain and host the TransformTopeka website as well offer my input on what can make Topeka better in the tech area.See Authors Posts (9)
This weekend Aaron and I had the pleasure of attending a show at the Topeka Civic Theatre. Neither of us had been there before (shame on us). Topeka Civic Theatre was founded in 1936 and is the oldest continuously running community dinner theatre in the country. In July of 1999, it moved to its current location on 8th street inside the former Gage Elementary School.
We went to the show called Laughing Matters. This show is a “fast-paced improvisational comedy” that reminded me of the TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway starring Drew Carey. The host of the show leads the sketches (sometimes participating). The audience assigns roles to some of the actors which results in a very hilarious show. From the Newlywed Game, where the audience assigned roles to the men and the women had to guess what roles their “spouse” was playing to the game Hitchhiker, where the audience assigned roles to 5 actors and the driver had to guess what role their “hitchhiker” was playing, the troupe keeps the audiences attention and keeps them laughing. My favorite was the game of gibberish telephone that was played. The audience had to assign a situation (similar to the game of Clue): who was killed, where they were killed, and how they were killed. Only 1 actor was aware of what the audience had assigned. He had to communicate it to the next actor in 1 minute with charades and gibberish. The 2nd actor had to communicate what the first actor communicated to him/her to the next actor in 45 seconds. The 3rd actor communicates it to the 4th actor in 30 seconds, and the 4th actor communicates to the 5th actor in 15 seconds. At the end of it, the message was very messed up and the results had the audience laughing. I laughed throughout the entire show and hadn’t laughed this hard since watching the movie, The Hangover.
The show lasts approximately two hours. The cost of each ticket is $10 (movies are around $9) and then you pay for your drinks, dessert, and tip. It was a very entertaining evening and we will definitely be returning.
For the second year, TransformTopeka will be adopting families for Christmas from the United Way’s Christmas Bureau, and we’d like your help! With all of the hustle and bustle this time of year, we understand that it’s difficult to get all of your own Christmas shopping taken care of – let alone coordinating and purchasing items to donate to another family. We’re here to make it as easy as possible for you to make a difference in the lives of your fellow Topekans this holiday season!
As a group, TransformTopeka will collect money from anyone that’s interested in helping, contact the adopted families to get confirm their wish list, go shopping, do the wrapping and coordinate delivery of all presents and meals in time for everyone to have a Merry Christmas. And, to be as transparent as possible, we’ll blog and Facebook our progress all along the way.
So how can you help? Make a donation to our PayPal account by clicking the link below. When you get to the page to review your payment, add “Christmas Bureau” in the area for special instructions for the seller. You can also mail a check to: TransformTopeka, 1324 SE Monroe, Topeka, KS 66612 or hand it to any one of our board members. We’ll accept funds up through Tuesday, December 1, before determining how many families we’re be able to help.
Want to check our progress? Visit our website frequently as we’ll be updating our collection total on a regular basis.
Next time you are in the 21st & Topeka Blvd area, take a slight detour over to SW 20th & Western (just west of the fairgrounds) and check out The Great Topeka Mural Wall, a very cool collection of murals that honors the cultural history and ongoing spirit of Topekans. It is very unexpected, and interesting.
The mural wall started as a project of the Chesney Park NIA in 2006. They took a blank wall that surrounds a former city water reservoir in their neighborhood and turned it into a work of art. With a lot of community involvement since 2006, they have covered about a third of the 900 lineal feet of wall, adding new panels each year. They plan to continue to add panels each year until they have covered the entire wall. This is a great example of the creativity and pride many people in Topeka have, and I would like to thank and applaud all those that have had a part in making the mural wall to date. Donations to help continue the wall can be made through the Topeka Community Foundation. I look forward to next spring and summer when I can go by and see what panel they are adding next!
Topeka is fortunate to have a local attraction such as the Topeka Zoo. This past weekend, I was reacquainted with it after at least 15 years. My company had a picnic at the zoo, and Aaron and I were able to take in the zoo for 3 hours on Saturday.
I have been to three other zoo’s in my lifetime: Kansas City, St. Louis, and San Diego. For the price of admission at the Topeka Zoo (while much smaller) it is a very attractive and a great value. Read the rest of this entry »
