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Have you ever laughed so hard that you were practically in tears? The Around Dublin Team visited Bunjo's Comedy Club on a recent Saturday night to watch nationally recognized comedian Johnny Steele perform and was laughing hysterically within the first minute of his show.

Bunjo's is a brand new comedy club located in Downtown Dublin at the Willow Tree Restaurant offering Friday open mic nights, Saturday night stand-up with nationally recognized comedians, and special events like fundraisers, roasts, and parties.

Bunjo's has recently teamed up with Around Dublin to offer Around Dublin readers complimentary tickets to their upcoming July Saturday night shows ($15/ticket value):

• July 11th - Anthony Hill
• July 18th - Conor Kellicutt
• July 25th - "Chicago" Steve Barkley

To get your free ticket, please visit Bunjo's website and enter the promotional code of "AROUNDDUBLIN" when ordering your ticket (nominal convenience fee applies). Please present your ID when you arrive for the show. One complimentary ticket can be ordered per person.

Please contact Bunjo's Chief Executive Comic John DeKoven for more details at 925-264-4413 or info@bunjoscomedy.com.

The City of Dublin recently announced their 2009 Summer Concert Series. Concerts will be held at the Civic Center (100 Civic Plaza) fountain plaza from July 10th to August 7th on Friday nights starting at 7pm and going until 9pm. This year's performers will be:

• July 10th - The Groove Kings: popular rock n' roll to R&B
• July 17th - Threshold: classic rock n' roll
• July 24th - Tom Rigney & Flambeau: cajun and zydeco
• July 31st - Fred McCarty: bluegrass and country
• August 7th - Lava: latin jazz, cha-cha-cha, latin rock, latin funk, and salsa

These concerts are wildly popular and well-attended. Please mark your calendars today and plan to arrive early to get parking and spots in the fountain plaza area.

Please click here for more information about this fantastic FREE concert series. You can also call the Dublin Parks and Community Services department at 925-556-4500 for more information.

What are some of the commonalities shared by the best high schools in America? As a follow-up to our article "What Makes a Great High School?", the Around Dublin Team sifted through data provided by School Evaluation Services to identify some of the themes of the gold and silver medal high schools in America.

Perhaps the most compelling finding is that charter high schools represent 18% of the Top 100 gold medal schools - although they represent a small fraction of all high schools in America. Additionally, nearly half of the gold medal high schools have selective admissions criteria and a full 68% of the gold and silver medal schools are located in affluent areas. Arguably this creates a self-selection bias where these schools perform well because they attract the high achievement oriented parents and students.

Another major finding is that high school enrollment numbers did not determine performance. While the #1 high school in America has an enrollment of 1,802 students, the #6 school in America has an enrollment of 148 students. The average enrollment for the Top 10 high schools in America (4 are in California) is a surprisingly low 681 students. This is a revelation given that the common belief has been that high schools require a minimum of 2,000 students to provide kids with the breadth and depth of courses necessary to achieve academic success.

Please visit U.S. News & World Report for more information about the best high schools in America.

Blush Dublin is rolling out the red carpet for customers on Wednesday July 1 from 2-6pm to thank all of the loyal customers that have supported Blush over the past year by giving away one free small organic frozen yogurt with two toppings to each customer.

Which flavors will be offered? Here's where it gets fun. Blush will offer the Original and Blush fro-yo and then Blush's Facebook fans will be able to select the other two flavor options. Do you have a passion for pineapple or a mania for mango? This is your chance to let other Blush fans know your Top Two Blush flavors.

Blush Dublin's customer appreciation day also provides the perfect opportunity to submit an entry for the My Blush Creation Photo Contest for your chance to win an amazing prize package. It's easy to enter - just take a picture of your fro-yo, upload to Around Dublin, give your masterpiece a creative name, and ask your friends to vote for your Blush Creation.

Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti recently signed a letter of support to join Pleasanton and Stockton in a pilot program that will increase energy efficiency and reduce waste for 500+ older homes. The Davis Energy Group is coordinating the Large Scale Energy Retrofit Program with the goal of designing cost-saving energy reduction retrofit strategies for residential homeowners through buying products in bulk.

This program seeks to provide residential homeowners with the same energy saving opportunities that commercial building owners throughout California have benefitted from for years. Most of the $4.6M pilot program costs will be borne by the U.S. Department of Energy, PG&E, and homeowners that choose to participate in the pilot program. The City of Dublin will not have any costs associated with this pilot program.

The stakes for the pilot program are high. A successful pilot should have a statewide ripple effect that will yield enormous benefits:

• Less energy - 7.8% reduction in residential energy consumption.
• Fewer rolling blackouts - 10.7% reduction in peak demand usage.
• Reduced carbon footprint - annual CO2 emissions reduced by 2.4M metric tons.

Dublin's commitment to this pilot program will help to unlock enormous energy savings throughout the State of California. Please click here for more examples of Dublin's commitment to sustainability.

Diablo Magazine just released their 2009 Best of the East Bay guide to good living. After tabulating more than 10,000 votes, Diablo Magazine's readers identified two of Dublin's finest businesses as the Best of the East Bay:

• Edge Gymnastics Training Center (Best Kids Gymnastics) - Edge Gymnastics provides training for kids of all ages, hosts regional gymnastics meets, runs a summer camp, and offers birthday party planning and facility rental services.
• Buffalo Wild Wings (Best "Man Cave") - although only in its first year of operation, B-Dubs has won the hearts and minds of East Bay residents as a sports fans paradise with 36 televisions (including eight 119" projection screens), incredible wings and sauces, over 40 beers, and an electric atmosphere on game days and nights.

Congratulations to Edge Gymnastics and Buffalo Wild Wings for being the Best of the East Bay.