Ten things you should know before you step out into one of this city’s 300 annual days of sunshine. 1) John Denver is not from Denver — so don’t blame us for “Rocky Mountain High.” In fact, the former Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. never even lived in Denver, although he…
When Colorado became the 38th state in the Union, in 1876, a New York newspaper wrote, “There is something repulsive in the idea that a few handfuls of miners and reckless bushwackers should have the same representation in the Senate as Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.” On the eve of…
Colorado makes more beer than any other state (23.4 million barrels), has the highest per capita number of craft breweries (92), and is home to both the biggest beer bash of the year (the Great American Beer Festival) and the largest single brewing facility in the nation (Coors). Oh, and…
Lots of states claim to be home to the mythical Springfield of Simpsons fame, but only Colorado can brag that it’s the site of that other great cartoon capital of the world: South Park, the setting of the subversively impertinent Comedy Central animated series of the same name. South Park’s…
As the folks at the Colorado Film Commission will tell you, our fair state offers an incredible variety of potential movie locations: mountains, deserts, farmland, big cities, little towns and so on. And even though we don’t offer Hollywood types — many of whom spend their leisure time at such…
Thinking of checking out Colorado’s gorgeous scenery this summer? Maybe some mountain lakes? Elk? A raging river or three? Go ahead. Have fun. That’s exactly the type of thing THEY want you to do. They being the pleasant little folk known as the CIA, the Illuminati, the corporate/alien overlords and/or…
The Sheriff of Gitmo on the Platte, Bill Lovingier The temporary detainment facility erected for the DNC – Gitmo on the Platte, as it has been dubbed – was opened up for members of the media this morning in a special tour led by Denver Undersheriff Bill Lovingier. As workers…
The Democratic National Convention is almost upon us, so Adam Cayton-Holland, Westword’s resident fake drunk cowboy, and his friends at Wrist Deep Productions, have put together a handy DNC Orientation Video. It should probably used by the city to help make conventioneers, GOP spies, and business-savvy strippers feel welcome. But…
Which song will electrify the crowd next Thursday? In a little more than a week, 75,000 lucky ticket-holders will head for Invesco Field, ready to usher in a new era of photos for their Facebook pages. They’ll walk through the closed (and possibly burning) streets of Denver, arriving hours early…
Another amusing/terrifying item I noticed in the amusing/terrifying Denver Auditor’s report I read after my amusing/terrifying experience getting chased by a black truck after taking unauthorized photos of Gitmo on the Platte: there’s a secret tunnel that leads outside the (once) secret DNC protester prison. It’ll be just like that…
Pepsi may get the glory during the Democratic National Convention when the Pepsi Center takes center stage, but Coke will be cleaning up The Can. Last week, Coca-Cola became the “Official Recycling Provider” for the DNC – which means the company will send its employees to Denver with stolen grocery…
The Denver Broncos took on the Dallas Cowboys at Invesco Field on Saturday. It was the second of four pre-season games. Not that it matters, but the Broncos won. More than 60,000 people were there (in spite of the rain), which is good for a game that doesn’t count. But…
As Ralph Nader continues his fifth campaign for the presidency, he joins an elite club of independent mainstays—Gus Hall for the U.S. Communist Party (4 runs), Howard Phillips for the Constitution Party (3 runs), Norman Thomas for the Socialist Party (6 runs). Nader’s message, like his rumpled suits, has changed…
And stay out! In an August 15 blog about my wife being rejected for Barack Obama acceptance-speech tickets despite having registered for them within fifteen minutes of former Denver mayor Federico Peña announcing, “It’s first come, first served,” I promised to eat some of my accusatory words if more positive…
Barack Obama in an image from Fox News (above) and his own website. During one of my regular surfing expeditions through the Internet, I came upon the photo of Barack Obama above, which appeared on a Fox News election page ranking the net’s list of the top eleven conventions in…
Land here, Dems. I just made a fast trip out of DIA, which has been spruced up in anticipation of the hordes of politicos and pundits heading to town this weekend. Acres of carpet have been replaced (and recycled in the greenest way possible), the gift stores are stocked with…
Rocky Mountain News editor/publisher/president John Temple. Rocky Mountain News editor/publisher/president John Temple’s August 16 column “8-word Gaffe Ripples Across the Web” is an apologia for a big botch reported about in this More Messages blog — an erroneous Rocky web piece that claimed Barack Obama holds joint citizenship with the…
An image from the Street’s Hope website. The hookers are coming. Get your prayer books ready. That’s the mantra of a local Christian group planning to help save sex workers during the Democratic National Convention. Streets Hope, a group dedicated to getting hookers off the streets, claims that “an estimated…
Steve Meyer. As noted in a recent Westword story, Denver is essentially ground zero for the growing international pedicab industry thanks to local pedicab designer/promoter Steve Meyer. Meyer had hoped his company, Main Street Pedicabs, would play a large role in the eco-focused Democratic National Convention, but his hopes were…
The green scene. As anyone who’s moseyed across the new Highland Bridge over I-25 can attest, the stretch of 16th Street right there is turning into one of the choicest locales around, thanks to its killer views of downtown and its connection between hopping Highlands and busy Platte Street. No…
“A little bit softer now, Hillary.” All dressed up for the DNC and nowhere to go? Fear not, since here’s the tentative list of the myriad shindigs, bashes and blow-outs planned throughout the city during the convention, August 23 to 28. As this schedule demonstrates, there’s ain’t no party like…
“Admit you? No way.” While watching the August 6 news conference at which the ticket giveaway plan for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s August 28 Invesco Field at Mile High acceptance speech was announced, I had a nagging sense that the sunny platitudes being dispensed by Denver National Convention…
