Reader: Has Phil Bender faced the future by putting up a Facebook page?

Phil Bender was a famous artist long before he won the Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts this fall -- even if he was the one who hung himself with the "Famous Artist" tag. So is it possible that the Piratical, tech-phobic Bender put up the Phill Bender Facebook...

By Patricia Calhoun

January 18, 2012

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Phil Bender was a famous artist long before he won the Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts this fall -- even if he was the one who hung himself with the "Famous Artist" tag.

So is it possible that the Piratical, tech-phobic Bender put up the Phill Bender Facebook page that suddenly appeared on January 12 as a work of art? Or is there a fake (and misspelled) Phil out there? It's a masterpiece of a mystery. Says Katie:

I think it's better if it stays a weird mystery, like the Tooth Fairy.

Says Lauri Lynnxe Murphy:

Even though I spoke to him last week and he assured me he had nothing to do with it, I'm not fully convinced he didn't engineer this in some way. We are, after all, talking about a guy who used to have "Famous Artist" emblazoned on his business cards. He is eating this up with gravy on top! Gotta love that Phil.

By the way, the Phill misspelling has been fixed -- by the real Bender? Or an imposter? Or the Tooth Fairy? Join the Follow us on Twitter! Like us on Facebook!" target="_blank">conversation already under way here.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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