Bryan Lopez

When Yoga Rocks the Park started rocking a few years ago, the idea was to bring yoga and music together in a setting that just made sense: outside, in the sunshine. And not only would the event make you feel good, it would help you do good, raising money for good causes. Initially proceeds went to the yoga community; this year's beneficiaries include the Give Back Yoga Foundation plus Urban Peak, Project Angel Heart and more local do-gooders. And there's more money to give, because Yoga Rocks the Park has been such an amazing success that it's expanded to twelve more cities -- including Boulder.

See also:
- I'm addicted to yoga. What are you on?
- Ana Forrest on Fierce Medicine and her journey through yoga
- Friday Night Yoga Club launches at Kindness Yoga

More »

All photos by Kate Gibbons.

Theology on Tap MCs pose with Reverend John Riley.

A priest walks into a bar.

This isn't beginning of a joke. On Monday night, Reverend John Riley walked into Katie Mullen's Irish Restaurant and Pub for the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver's monthly Theology on Tap gathering.

On loan from the Archdiocese of Arlington, Virginia, Reverend Riley, a Guinness drinker, opened with a prayer as the people in the packed bar bowed their heads. The crowd, mostly in their twenties and early thirties, and presumably Catholic, had gathered to listen to Riley address the night's topic "Confessions From the Other Side of the Screen." In the middle of the Lenten season, it was an appropriate topic.

See also:
- Katie Mullen's crew takes over former Rockstar Bar
- Wanna keep track of your Catholic Lenten guilt? There's an app for that.
- Guess where I'm drinking...with Catholics?

More »

Even if the year the world was supposed to end is barely out of sight, people still don't know much about Mesoamerican mythology and the workings of the Mayan calendar, or what that heritage means to us in modern times.

But Westsider Tony Shearer did. The late activist, poet and storyteller espoused the gospel of ancient Mayan spirituality to Denver's Chicano community for decades. New-agey or not, Shearer influenced those around him with his gift for passing on old stories; he's now the subject of a documentary film by Daniel Salazar.

See also:
- Mixed Doubles
- Daniel Salazar: Colorado artist needs help to film a mystery with 400 year old roots
- Macho Man

More »

Richard Melnick

Richard Melnick was diagnosed with cancer a dozen years ago. While fighting a life-threatening illness and facing what could have been a premature death sentence, though, he discovered a new way of viewing the world.

One of the subjects he often pondered while in medical limbo was parenting, which he writes extensively about in his book Parents Who Don't Do Dishes. And while Melnick certainly covers his fair share of paternal methodologies, a large part of Parents Who Don't Do Dishes is devoted to examining life's simplest philosophies, told in memoir form with a healthy balance of pop-culture references and humor as decoration.

In advance of Melnick's book hitting the shelves at the Tattered Cover this week, Westword caught up with the first-time author to discuss why parents shouldn't do dishes, living in the moment and other random personal philosophies.

See also:
- The great debate: Andrew Orvedahl and Jef Otte settle their parenting differences like men
- Bad parenting, a school massacre and its aftermath in 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'
- U2's 'The Joshua Tree' turns 25

More »

A page from Tarot Life Cards

The Tarot is often seen as an obscure art, but Tarot Life Cards: Using Your Birthday to Chart Your Course, by Connie Lehman and Irene Clurman, makes it more accessible. Lehman has been drawing, sculpting, embroidering and curating in Colorado for decades. In 2004 she began illustrating Tarot cards for the book, which helps readers identify their Life card and figure out what that means. "From the first time I ever saw Tarot cards, I was very interested in the visuality of it," Lehman says. Then she saw a deck by artist Rachel Pollock. "She did a deck that was very contemporary, and until very recently -- until a lot of us came along that don't follow the rules -- nobody did decks that didn't follow the originals."

See also:
- The Zombie Tarot will give you insight...and nightmares]
- Q&A with Steampunk Tarot's Barbara Moore
- Colorado politics 2010 tarot deck

More »

"I believe that ancient Jews built boats and sailed to America/I am a Mormon, and a Mormon just believes," sings Elder Price in Matt Stone and Trey Parker's iconic musical, The Book of Mormon. And while the theological irreverence of a song like "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream," or the existential send-up of self imposed ignorance in "Turn It Off," may seem gut-bustingly revolutionary, Parker and Stone are building on a tradition of god-mocking that is as old as belief itself. From Chaucer and Voltaire, to Kevin Smith and Bill Maher, comedians have continued to pull from the bottomless well of religious satire, which never seems to run dry. And while we could spend all day sifting through the vast libraries of chuckles-at-god's-expense, here's instead a microwaved version of what's been going on in the world of spiritual sarcasm in just the last forty years.

See also:
-An atheist visits The Thorn Passion Play
-Reader: The Book of Mormon is twisted and fabulous!
-The Book of Mormon really is that good

More »

All photos by Chris Morgan for Westword

On the calendar of nerd holidays, May 4 is certainly below Comic Con but at least a few pegs above the pirate convention that takes place each year near the airport. Yes, "May the 4th be with you," is a day every Star Wars fan can get behind obnoxiously -- and 100 percent. One such nerd is Dan Landes, owner of meatless restaurant City O' City, who organized the party there on Friday. Below are a few photos, but sadly for you nerds, there were no Slave Leia's to be found.

More »

Sure, we all have our ideas about the so-called Mayan prophecy predicting the end of the world this December, and the ongoing debate has inspired everything from satirical to scientific discussions.

This week Mayan elder Miguel Chiquin and Genaro Jucinto-Calel of the Mayan Nation of Guatemala are in town to set us straight, during a Mayan New Year residency at the Metropolitan State College Department of Chicano/a Studies on the Auraria campus.

More »