"Let the Game Begin!," Joel Warner, January 7
I'm playing tourist in Denver and read "Let the Game Begin!" while I was eating some tacos in Morrison. Great article. I think I'm gonna go out and buy some LEGOs this week.
Dr. David W. Powers
Surfside Beach, South Carolina
It appears that history does repeat itself, for anyone who can remember that LEGOs (the building blocks, that is) were manufactured right here in Colorado. This was done under a joint agreement between Godfred Kirk Christainsen of LEGO and King Shwayder of the Shwayder Bros. Trunk Company, which was founded in Denver in 1910 by Jesse Shwayder. The LEGO sets were manufactured in a 50,000-square-foot facility that was opened in 1965 in Loveland, and marketed as "LEGO System by Samsonite." Yes, Colorado's own Samsonite company, and this lasted until the early 1970s.
Today LEGO sets are manufactured in Denmark, of course, and in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico and, yes, China. Apparently LEGO forgot about U.S. production capabilities. And now LEGO returns to a Colorado company to develop a video game. Why not the actual LEGO sets? The same toys that taught earlier generations of children to not only imagine, but build and create three-dimensional toys. Toys that helped in the development of spatial thinking, manual dexterity and other skills, that later helped in the creation of the young minds that became engineers, architects, machinists, doctors and rocket scientists, among other professions requiring skills.
Today children are being induced to create a virtual, mind-numbing idea in the two-dimensional space of a video or computer game. So what's next: Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and Erector Sets as computerized versions of toys, which are assembled via a mouse or keyboard? There are enough computer and video games on the market today that affect both children and adults, removing them from the real world and losing them in cyberspace. Why not have the actual toys? Why not manufacture these items here? Again, for anyone who remembers playing with toy trains, would it be the same if Lionel train sets were a virtual-reality computer game?
Taras S. Hamaliia
Denver
"Community," Juliet Wittman, January 14
Kitchen Magician
It was so nice to read Juliet Wittman's literary review of the Kitchen in Boulder. Imagine a restaurant review that actually reviews the restaurant without forcing the reader first through a loaded garbage can of wasted words and curses! Such a delight.
I just knew that if I stood by, shuddering and cringing through the offal that resulted from Jason's perpetual navel-gazing, I would outlast him. I'm vindicated at last. Seattle can have him in all his self-important glory.
Diane Kimsey
Wheat Ridge
Juliet Wittman writing restaurant reviews is great, but I've noticed there hasn't been a theater review in a while. We've lost one major paper and reviewer this year. Please don't marginalize another.
As for the Off Limits item on the Cell: The Cell is pure propaganda. Not one word, not even the slightest mention of state-sponsored terrorism in the whole place. When you finish the tour, besides thinking every person is out to get you (and that it is your DUTY as a 'murican to stop them), you're bound to think that only Muslims and the occasional crazy McVeigh or Unabomber are capable of terrorism. No WAY that an Apache helicopter or drone plane could be deliberately causing harm for political reasons! If they're looking for another expert, get someone willing to at least discuss the matter. Hell, I'll do it for the small fee of refunding my ticket price.
Evan Weissman
Denver
Editor's note: As the season picks up, Juliet Wittman is back on theater-reviewer duty (see page 25). She's helping to fill in on Cafe while we look for Jason Sheehan's replacement.
