Ice, Ice, Baby

At least the city doesn’t play favorites with snow removal — or lack thereof. The block of Fairfax Street that’s now home to the Hickenlooper family is a rutted mess. Ditto for the block of South Clarkson where Governor Bill Ritter is still in residence. The spokeswoman for the Department…

A Toast to Toast

Toast is the greatest breakfast bar in the world. Am I being a bit hyperbolic here? Yes. I know I shouldn’t say it’s the best in the world because I haven’t yet been everywhere in the world. I shouldn’t even say it’s the best in Colorado because it’s conceivable that…

A Toast to Toast

Toast is the greatest breakfast bar in the world. Am I being a bit hyperbolic here? Yes. I know I shouldn’t say it’s the best in the world because I haven’t yet been everywhere in the world. I shouldn’t even say it’s the best in Colorado because it’s conceivable that…

Underdog Has His Day

There’s more than a few million bucks on the line when former federal auditor Bobby Maxwell (pictured) squares off against an Oklahoma energy giant in Denver’s federal courthouse this week. At stake is nothing less than the integrity of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the future of its…

More Messages: Nuggets Shooter

Since arriving in Denver, new Nugget Allen Iverson has been on his best behavior — but his bad-boy reputation remains intact, as the folks at Saturday Night Live understand. The venerable show’s January 13 edition opened in typical fashion — with a routine needling George W. Bush. Will Forte’s been…

No Tell Hotel

Welcome to the first installment of blog category #258, or, as it’s known to civilians, Done Got Burgled. It is here that we hope to dredge life from the Denver police blotter by reporting on crimes and arrests that shape our city — or at least malform it in some…

Nature Calls

Before delving into Episode 10, I have a bone to pick with AOL’s “TV Squad” blog. According to this entry, The Real World is eyeing Sydney for its first international outing since London in 1995. Wikipedia has already confirmed that Sydney will be the next city ravaged by reality television,…

Gorillas in the Mist

“It’s none of your fuckin’ business, asshole. What? You just walk up to strangers and start tellin’ them what to do? Is that it?” The setting: Morrison’s tiny Sinclair station early Sunday afternoon, by one of the four gas pumps. The speaker: a young tough with light stubble on his…

today

This photograph, snapped at 4:12 p.m. January 14 on the 4100 block of Navajo, captures a handyman pop-top making creative use of recycled billboard shrink-wrap plastic. The structure seems to be occupied, although it also seems to be in violation of about a dozen codes — a status that inspired…

Ride ’em, Cowboy!

Several friends of mine had plans to attend the Stock Show this evening but have chosen not to because of the bitter cold, opting for the warmth and comfort of their homes instead. Lame. If only the organizers of the National Western Stock Show were taking advantage of the bitter…

Chairman of the Board

What, you mean that you don’t have a reality show? Barely a week goes by here at the Westword office without our receiving a press-release alerting us to so-and-so’s hot reality show about life in the crazy world of, say, ride-pimping or labia-piercing. So we were surprised that we were…

Coming Up Short

President Dubya wants to send more troops to Iraq, but he doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to federal employees who say we need more boots on the ground right here –— specifically, more correctional officers in federal prisons, where the level of assaults is rising as staffing rosters…

Mass Media

Over the past few months, there have been religious riots, killer floods, a full-scale war, a government overthrown, U.S. bombing and more religious riots in the Horn of Africa. Don’t feel too bad if you’ve been too distracted by news about The Real World: Denver and the iPhone to pay…

Forward Into the Past

While perusing the many booths at the National Western Stock show, my girlfriend and I stumbled upon a pellet-sized treat that we had not encountered since our teenage years, inspiring this zen-twister: Dippin’ Dots were once the ice cream of the future . . . now treat of the past?…

Do the Dude

Mike Wheeler, one-half of the Pleasures Dudes, knows what women want and what men need. This week’s feature story on the late-night scuz jockeys contained enough Wheeler wisdom to fill a chap book. Not all quotes made the cut, though, so here, for your reading pleasure, are Wheeler’s reflections on…

More Messages: The Don of Denver Radio

As noted in this week’s Message column, Don Howe could be the most aggressive radio executive in recent Denver broadcasting history — and as a result, he’s made plenty of enemies over the years. Among them is radio longtimer J.J. McKay, who co-hosted the morning show on rock-oldies outlet KOOL…

More Messages: Fryar’s Club

It’s not often when journalists go out of their way to praise scribes at rival publications. But today, Lynn Bartels (pictured), a consistently outstanding and refreshingly funny reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, did just that this morning, when she sent yours truly the following note: The best reporter at…

Absent Foxx

Actor/comic/singer Jamie Foxx’s appearance at the Colorado Convention Center, previewed in this week’s Backbeat section, has been put on hold. The show was originally supposed to happen on Saturday, January 13, but it’s now scheduled for Wednesday, April 4. Why? According to a press release sent out by Another Planet…

The Tree and Me

After being greeted by this same scene outside my door in northwest Denver for the third morning in a row, I was inspired to compose the following: I followed the rules But the tree man won’t cometh. Help me, 311! — Joel Warner…

Crock Block

Memo to Crocs Inc.: The Shoe Goddess wants her cut. Back in 2005, when Westword was trying to explain the surging global sales of hideous, crayon-hued plastic shoes designed in Niwot, we availed ourselves of the professional insights of the Shoe Goddess, a clog connoisseur who was on a vain…

More Messages: Changing the Scripps

After the Rocky Mountain News entered into a joint-operating agreement with the Denver Post several years ago, many newspaper-business observers predicted that, figuratively speaking, the Rocky would soon go from wrapping fishes to sleeping with them. Instead, the tabloid has stayed above water thanks in large part to the steadfast…

A Civic Mess — And It’s Not Snow

The results are in for the Daniel Libeskind-proposed redesign of Civic Center, and the public’s responses are being unveiled tonight at the Denver Parks & Recreation Advisory Board hearing. But you wouldn’t know that from the city’s website. There’s nothing on the city’s homepage, and if you click over to…