Market Street's Oak Tavern and 24K on Friday, October 16, 2009. Photos by Aaron Thackeray.

Casselman's Bar and Venue (2620 Walnut St.) threw a grand-opening party on Friday, October 16, 2009. Photos by Eric Gruneisen.

When Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey teamed up with the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC), it was a match made in heaven. Stranahan's, a local micro distillery that bottles their unique whiskey by hand in small batches, invited the group of gals to be a part of packaging batch #46, which turned out over 3,000 bottles. Everything from the handwritten labels, to the corking, to the perfect placing of the signature silver cap is done with care by volunteers whenever a batch is ready to debut.

This week at westword.com/restaurants, Jason Sheehan discovers the charm of Silver Creek Diner. Photos by Mark Manger. Read more food news every day on the Cafe Society blog.

In this week's Westword, Joel Warner reports on the feds' case against restaurant owner Dan Tang, who's been linked to a major marijuana growing operation. Here, photos obtained by Warner show various points from multiple raids.

From Balloon Boy to Zach Galifianakis's character Alan Garner in The Hangover to a literal douchebag, here're the best costumes we found around the country this year.

Monroe Hodder and Michael Clapper Through October 31, William Havu Gallery, 1040 Cherokee Street, 303-893-2360, www.williamhavugallery.com. Barnaby Furnas Through January 10, MCA Denver, 1485 Delgany Street, 303-298-7554, www.mcadenver.org.

Mastadon and Dethklok played the Fillmore on Saturday, October 10, 2009. Photos by Aaron Thackeray. See a review of the show on the Backbeat blog.

The Used and the Almost played the Fillmore on Sunday, August 11, 2009. Photos by Aaron Thackeray. See more concert photos and reviews on the Backbeat blog.

Top-100 DJ Mark Knight spun Denver's Beta on Thursday, October 8, 2009. Photos by Aaron Thackeray. Read reviews and see more photos from the Denver music scene on the Backbeat blog.

Is there a better time of year to get drunk at a sports bar? Aaron Thackeray hit the Sports Column on Thursday, October 8, 2009. Read reviews and see more photos from the Denver music scene on the Backbeat blog.

Loveland Ski Area opened the 2009 season on Wednesday, October 7, 2009. Photographer Soren McCarty was there.