Metro-area scooter boosters have one last chance to buzz through town en masse on their shiny Vespas, Lambrettas and Aprilias: This year's Mile High Mayhem event, titled Eight Is Enough, will be the last. That said, the gathering conceivably could get downright weepy, were it not for all the great activities planned, beginning with tonight's meet-and-greet kickoff, 7 p.m. at Nallen's Irish Pub, 1429 Market Street. Tomorrow, wheel-borne bargain-hunters will putt-putt away on a shopping ride (leaving from Mod Livin', 5327 East Colfax Avenue, at 1:30 p.m.), and those with higher-powered scooters can zoom up to the high country on Saturday for a mountain ride. Saturday night features the Magic 8 Ball Prom, 7 p.m. at the Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut Street, with burlesque performances as well as music by the Orangu-Tones. Events, interspersed with group rides throughout the weekend, wrap up Sunday with a slow race, gymkhana, raffle and karaoke fun, while scootering hotshots get ready for Monday's Scooter Racing Nationals at IMI Racetrack in Erie. For information, go to www.milehighmayhem.com.
Ever wonder where little skateparks come from? There's no stork involved: Companies such as Skatewave, touted as one of the nation's leading designers of modular community skateparks, truck in a load of quarter-pipes, ramps, ledges and obstacles, put them all together, and -- voilà! -- a park is born. Local boarders of all ages and abilities will learn more about the process when the Skatewave Demo Tour, which shows off the latest modular equipment, flips into the South Suburban Parks and Recreation Family Sports Dome, 6959 South Peoria Street in Centennial, offering test runs, demonstrations and information today from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free, but don't forget your helmets; call 303-754-0541 or log on to www.sspr.org for details.
Friday, July 29
Because the Boulder-based community radio station KGNU needs a financial boost to help keep its 1390 AM Denver expansion afloat on the airwaves, faithful volunteers recently rolled out a series of high-profile fundraising events featuring live music. The second leg of that KGNU Benefit Concert Series, the R&B, Funk and Blues Dance for Democracy, has a terrific lineup: New Orleans swamp bluesman Mem Shannon and the Membership, HomeSlice, Grandpa Mojo and comedian Tina Tomasicio, the Unlikely Activist. The night starts shaking at 8 p.m. at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton Street. Tickets, $13.90 ($10 for KGNU members), are available at 303-449-4885 or at the door; go to www.kgnu.org for information.
Saturday, July 30
Fine-art collectors Lee and Jennifer Ballentine will offer a wealth of prints, paintings and drawings by historic Colorado and regional artists, as well as Victoriana, decorative pieces and a few surprises, at the fifth annual Gallup House Fine Art Legendary Summer Sale, a gussied-up public garage sale stationed in the Ballentine "car barn exhibit space," 2050 South St. Paul Street, near the University of Denver campus. Browse the elegant stash today beginning at 10 a.m.; for details, call 303-756-5222 or go to www.gallup-house.com. And not far away, the bidding will be hot and heavy today and tomorrow at Bruhns Auction Gallery, 50 West Arizona Avenue, where a major Historic Antique Architectural Auction, with pieces from around the world, gets under way each day at 11 a.m. Catch a glimpse of the booty, a massive cache of everything from ornate cast-iron gates to Victorian chandeliers, beginning at 9 a.m. daily; after that, be very careful where you raise your pinkie. Call 303-744-6505 or visit www.bruhnsauction.com
Sunday, July 31
It's a joke begging to be told, but here goes, anyway: The Denver Municipal Jazz Band could very well wake the dead at its annual Colorado Day Concert. It takes place, after all, on the steps of the Fairmount Community Mausoleum at Fairmount Cemetery, 430 South Quebec Street, an odd but bucolic setting for an evening family concert celebrating Colorado's entry into statehood more than 100 years ago. Kinky? Not a bit: The gates open for picnickers at 5 p.m. for the 6:30 p.m. show; admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Call 303-399-0692, ext. 173.
Monday, August 1
The metro area's little slice of the big-time golf world, the PGA International Golf Tournament, returns to Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock for its twentieth year this week, beginning with today's Pro-Junior Challenge and pro-am tournaments, as well as the Youth Day at the International event. There will be clinics, demonstrations, free pizza and other kid-friendly delights free to children ages twelve and under attending with a paying adult. After a day of practice rounds and a second pro-am event Wednesday, the International tees off with Round One Thursday morning and continues through Sunday, August 7. Although the outrageously popular Tiger Woods, still fresh off his British Open victory, isn't likely to show, the tournament field will include such PGA heroes as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, along with a bevy of young guns led by Luke Donald and Aaron Baddeley, and returning 2004 champ Rodney Pampling of Australia. May the best man win. Castle Pines is at 1000 Hummingbird Drive in Castle Rock; for ticket information, call 303-660-8000 or go to www.golfintl.com.
Tuesday, August 2
Speed-producing is the latest in filmmaking, it seems, and contests are popping up everywhere: This time around, it's the 48 Hour Film Project, a Washington, D.C.-based national phenomenon that made its debut this past weekend in Denver, with nineteen local teams racing against the clock to create seven-minute films in a 48-hour time frame. The hook? Each team drew a genre -- along with a character, prop and word to be used in the film -- out of a hat just minutes before the competition began; they then had 48 hours to conceive, shoot, edit and finish their work. Catch the resulting masterpieces at public screenings today and tomorrow at 7 and 9 p.m. at the Starz FilmCenter, 900 Auraria Parkway (two separate programs will show daily). An ongoing wrap party follows each night at Forest Room 5, 2532 15th Street; the $10 screening tickets also entitle film-goers to a drink. For information, log on to www.48hourfilm.com.
New York science writer Alan Burdick's astonishing new book, Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion, is as creepy as it is fascinating: The tome follows Burdick in the field on a trip through the unknown wilds of biodiversity, a state in which far-traveling alien species, from the zebra mussel to the tamarisk shrub, threaten the established ecosystems they invade. Burdick presents the book and all its oddities tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Cherry Creek, 2955 East First Avenue; call 303-322-7727 for details.
Wednesday, August 3
The great outdoors, the roar of the river in the background and -- the big screen? It's all yours at the Greenway Foundation's River Flicks, the latest in the outdoor-film frenzy sweeping the region this summer. This one, an urban affair at the historic downtown junction of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River in Confluence Park, kicks off tonight at dusk with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and continues on Wednesdays through August 24; future family-friendly flicks include The Princess Bride, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Shrek. Call 303-455-7109 or visit www.greenwayfoundation.org.
