Q&A with Rakim

The November 8 Rough Mixes piece on Rakim was taken from the following Q&A. James Mayo spoke with the legendary framer just prior to his performance at Las Vegas’ Vegoose festival about his new record, his aborted project with Dr. Dre and some of the rhyming techniques he’s utilized to…

Q&A With Swell Season and Once Star Glen Hansard

Preparing for an interview is generally a prerequisite for an enlightening and wide-ranging conversation – except in this case. My chat with Frames and Swell Season-performer-turned-Once co-star Glen Hansard, who’s at the center of a November 8 Westword profile, happened on the spur of the moment; I received a call…

The Nuggets’ Fight of Fancy

At the opening tip-off of tonight’s basketball game at Madison Square Garden, don’t be surprised if you hear the ding of a bell instead of the blow of a whistle. The Denver Thuggetz vs. the New York Knickerboxers. This time it’s personal…

The Strike Heard ‘Round the World

It’s déjà vu all over again. In March 1988, Hollywood writers went on strike, and stayed on the picket line until August of that year. The issue then was pretty much the same issue as it is now in 2007, though dressed up in high-tech clothes. In ’88 it was…

Icon Burger Gets Smashed

When I was talking with Tom Ryan for my review of Smashburger, he told me that Icon Burger — the classic burger joint at 2755 Dagny Way in Lafayette that was the first burger property picked up by Cervantes Capital — will soon be shut down and turned into a…

Icon Burger Gets Smashed

When I was talking with Tom Ryan for my review of Smashburger, he told me that Icon Burger — the classic burger joint at 2755 Dagny Way in Lafayette that was the first burger property picked up by Cervantes Capital — will soon be shut down and turned into a…

New Piece Up at the CIA Wall

View a larger image of the full wall. As always, it’s back to the CIA wall where RTD honcho ACEE, HOME from BTR crew and Double from GuerillaGarden have sprayed down an homage to the Dave Chappelle character Sir Smoke-A-Lot, from the 1998 cult classic, Half Baked. It’s the little…

New Piece Up at the CIA Wall

View a larger image of the full wall. As always, it’s back to the CIA wall where RTD honcho ACEE, HOME from BTR crew and Double from GuerillaGarden have sprayed down an homage to the Dave Chappelle character Sir Smoke-A-Lot, from the 1998 cult classic, Half Baked. It’s the little…

Get Ready to Frock Out… Just Not Yet

It was a clothes call. On November 5, followers of local fashion were supposed to get a look at what some of Denver’s favorite independent designers are up to. On that day, Frock Out Denver: Independent Designers Challenge, a collaboration between the Denver Public Library and the Fabric Lab, was…

Up All Night At Mama’s Café

Across from me, a man is talking movies with his obviously hung-over, obviously completely disinterested girlfriend. He’s talking almost exclusively about the oeuvre of John Cusack — from his early work with Savage Steve Holland (whom this man incorrectly identifies as John Hughes) to his later work in movies like…

Up All Night At Mama’s Café

Across from me, a man is talking movies with his obviously hung-over, obviously completely disinterested girlfriend. He’s talking almost exclusively about the oeuvre of John Cusack — from his early work with Savage Steve Holland (whom this man incorrectly identifies as John Hughes) to his later work in movies like…

Charting Graf: New Piece Up at CIA Wall

View a larger image of the full wall. As always, it’s back to the CIA wall where RTD honcho ACEE, HOME from BTR crew and Double from GuerillaGarden have sprayed down an homage to the Dave Chappelle character Sir Smoke-A-Lot, from the 1998 cult classic, Half Baked. It’s the little…

Beyond Playlist: Foo Fighters and More

Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (RCA) Dave Grohl has become a reliable professional, a performer who consistently releases product that’s steady and well-crafted. But if he’s never put out a less-than-good album during his decade-plus as a frontman, neither has he issued the sort of next-level mind-blower that…

Delegating Denver #16 of 56: Idaho

View larger image. Idaho Total Number of Delegates: 23 Pledged: 18 Unpledged: 5 How to Recognize an Idaho Delegate: Strangeness happens all over the world, but it seems to concentrate in Idaho. Just google the phrase “strange + Idaho” and prepare to get busy reading stories about straight senators seeking…

Another Shooting Case Closed

Almost two years after the shooting that first paralyzed their son, Richard Velarde, and then eventually claimed his life, Richard’s parents, Jody and Butch, finally have a small sense of closure. On Thursday, November 1, Michael Rollie, the man who’d been accused of shooting Richard (pictured here and profiled in…

Lowdown on the LoDo Shooting

Like so many others, my friends and I wanted to take advantage of the extra hour of drinking Saturday night (and into Sunday morning) after the clocks turned back. A close friend was moving out of the country, and we headed to LoDo so that we could send him off…

Soldiering Through the WGA Writer’s Strike

The writers’ strike started in Hollywood today. Hasn’t been one since 1988, when a five-month strike kept TV in reruns, and may have eventually brought about the rise of reality television. So what can we, the viewers, do without our favorite shows? Here are real-life ways to still enjoy ten…

Gogol Bordello’s Acid-Spiked Vodka and Other Assorted Goodies

Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice Media empire: My interest in Gogol Bordello is officially increased by a thousand percent after reading this review that compares the singer to Cousin Balki, from the ‘80s show Perfect Strangers, on a liter…

This Weekend: Widowers, Astrophagus, Dualistics, d. biddle @ hi-dive

Widowers, Astrophagus, Dualistics, d. biddle November 2, 2007 hi-dive Better than: Dodging golf shirts on Santa Fe during yet another First Friday Lately, I’ve been puzzled by the sequencing of artists in shows at the hi-dive. For example, when 3OH!3 played the club back in August, the duo – riding…

Bill Ritter Blasted in Page One Denver Post Editorial

The editorial writers at the Denver Post didn’t soft-peddle their displeasure with Colorado Governor Bill Ritter for issuing a November 2 executive order effectively allowing unions to organize bargaining units for state workers — a move that bypassed the legislature, which is presently dominated by his fellow Democrats. In a…

The Onion Peels the Colorado Rockies

Plenty of words were written in these parts and beyond about the Colorado Rockies’ inexplicable stretch-run success and all-too-explicable World Series collapse — but few publications proved as insightful as The Onion, whose slogan — “America’s Finest News Source” — seems less satirical with each passing day. The paper’s sterling…

Life Without Parole: The Sentencing of Michael Tate

Michael Tate (profiled in the September 20 feature “Killer Instinct)” was only sixteen when he murdered Steve Fitzgerald, but the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office filed charges in adult court, where Tate was found guilty of felony murder — a crime that carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole…