Pure Goldy

Evergreen author Diane Mott Davidson has offered plenty of entertainment for whodunit fans. But she’s also served up useful lessons about the challenges of contemporary society. Goldy Schulz, the star of the series that Davidson cooked up decades ago, had to battle her way out of an abusive marriage to…

Mining History

“A freeway sign at Exit 27 says this spot is the town of Ludlow, but there’s no town here, just a chain-link fence with an unlocked gate surrounding a white-walled meeting hall, a gazebo with picnic tables, and a monument that looks like an oversized Victorian grave marker.” That’s how…

Cedric the Vodka Drinker

I don’t know why seeing Cedric the Entertainer would make you want to drink vodka, but clearly the people who sell Ceren Vodka think it’s a great idea, because Cedric was at the Ceren launch party at the Mile High Station last week. When I asked Cedric for his favorite…

Cedric the Vodka Drinker

I don’t know why seeing Cedric the Entertainer would make you want to drink vodka, but clearly the people who sell Ceren Vodka think it’s a great idea, because Cedric was at the Ceren launch party at the Mile High Station last week. When I asked Cedric for his favorite…

Burn, Baby, Burn

Congressman Tom Tancredo’s fourth-place finish in last Saturday’s Iowa Straw Poll indicates that some people are actually taking him seriously as a candidate – and not just in this country. A few days earlier, protesters in Lahore, Pakistan, burned Tancredo in effigy, right alongside smoldering dummies of President George W…

Ceviche, and More Raw Data

I am spoiled. Most culinary adventurers would be happy to find one Peruvian restaurant in a town this size, but Denver has several, with more coming all the time. Early this year, Cebiche opened in the space once occupied by El Chalan, a Peruvian restaurant that pioneered this neighborhood more…

Ceviche, and More Raw Data

I am spoiled. Most culinary adventurers would be happy to find one Peruvian restaurant in a town this size, but Denver has several, with more coming all the time. Early this year, Cebiche opened in the space once occupied by El Chalan, a Peruvian restaurant that pioneered this neighborhood more…

Nobel Virtues

Yes, Ivan Suvanjieff has been nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. But he has a bigger concern right now. “I’m going to miss the White Stripes on this tour,” he laments. The artist/musician/former Ford factory-worker/current peace-pusher had tickets for Jack White’s New Mexico show in October, but it was…

Drink Up, Ladies!

This is not only something I can do as a United States citizen, this is something I believe I must do,” Steve Horner told Judge Brian Campbell. “This is Rosa Parksish. This is Martin Luther Kingish.” This is ludicrousish. On its surface, the concept of ladies’ nights might seem unfair…

Food for Thought

The most generous people in this town may well be restaurateurs and chefs, who are always volunteering their time, services and good food for good causes. Tonight’s Straight from the Farmer’s Market will benefit Gilda’s Club Denver, and the food will be very good indeed, since the five chefs making…

The Fire Next Time

Logging onto my computer, it almost hurt to type my password. For now, it is the name of a small town fifteen miles away from the Montana cabin where my family has spent every summer since 1970. The experts tell you not to choose a password that people might be…

Strip Search!

Kiwi International Hotel Auckland, New Zealand Boss, My sketchy travel mode had to catch up with me at some point, so I guess I’m glad it happened here instead of, say, Zambia. At any rate, I came into the Auckland airport kinda loopy as I finally got SOMEONE to take…

Stay in the Sticks

Sydney, Australia Hey Boss: I knew that in order to get my head right and tight down under this rock, I had to stay clear of the cities and concentrate my efforts on the small towns. I’m talking hamlets like Gin Gin, Bil Bil, Yeppon, win the hearts and minds…

I’ll Drink to That

The morning did not end well for Steve Horner. After Horner had spent several hours sorting through piles of paper and piling on the circuitous arguments to prove that he had been grievously injured by ladies’ nights ads in Westword, had been “humiliated over not being invited to the party…

Hey, Laaaaadies!

Steve Horner will have his day in court today, when his complaint filed against Westword for advertising ladies’ night deals goes before Judge Brian Campbell. The action is in Denver County Court,(courtroom 4 in the Adams Mark annex off Cleveland Place) but Horner has been all over the media –…

Balloon Payments

It’s not nice to string along a 106-year-old man. Last night, the Tonight show ran its piece on Denver — Mo Rocca’s advance look at the town in anticipation of 35,000 descending on it for the Democratic National Convention — but the promised bit on Jack A. Weil, founder of…

High Hopes

At over 10,000 feet, Leadville is the highest incorporated city in North America, which means the sky’s the limit for this weekend’s Boom Days — the 57th annual celebration of Leadville’s mining heritage. The food and crafts fair that opened yesterday will continue today, with such Boom Days mainstays as…

To ID or Not to ID

When I rolled up to the Division of Motor Vehicles this morning, I didn’t encounter any illicit ticket selling. No one induced me to reach the front of the line for a mere $50 — a practice, I’d heard, that has become increasingly common along the DMV’s unbearable wait times…

Bad Guy, Good Music

Yes, on the DIA train that’s now the voice of Denver mayor John Hickenlooper welcoming you to Denver. Pete Smythe and Reynelda Muse have also left the station, replaced by Alan Roach and Adele Arakawa. And sound artist Jim Green, who installed the original recordings fifteen years ago, didn’t stop…

Tacos the Town

My cell phone rang around one in the morning. For most people, this would be a harbinger of bad news — kid in jail, someone in the hospital. For me, it almost always means work: a debriefing, confession, eleventh-hour emergency like a restaurant on fire or, worse, dead cold on…

Tacos the Town

My cell phone rang around one in the morning. For most people, this would be a harbinger of bad news — kid in jail, someone in the hospital. For me, it almost always means work: a debriefing, confession, eleventh-hour emergency like a restaurant on fire or, worse, dead cold on…

A Blooming Shame

Big Beef. Tiny Tim. First Lady. Early Girl. Better Boy. Kenny Vetting laughs at the notion of “heirloom” tomatoes that are only fifty years old. But then, the seed business that his grandfather started is 87 years young. And sometime in early August, the Rocky Mountain Seed Company will finally…