SAT, 10/23 In 1987, only 248 mountain gorillas remained in the wild, in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Subject to decades of civil war in the regions they inhabited, as well as the spread of dangerous diseases, poaching and the devastating consequences of increased habitat loss, the…

I have never donated my bra to anything. Not even to the Village Idiot, my friends’ New York honky-tonk with a time-honored tradition of demanding bras in exchange for the honor of dancing on the bar. And I danced on that bar a lot. I saw no reason to part…

Fifteen years into his standup comedy career, Mitch Hedberg is experiencing a span of pseudo-fame that rock bands who make it big must pine for: enjoying full venues and critical acclaim, but without the burden of MTV stardom; being adored by hipsters at the record store, but going unrecognized on…

THURS, 10/14 When John Patrick Shanley’s play Dirty Story debuted in New York in 2003, the playwright chose to forgo the standard playbill biography. Rather than mention Shanley’s Oscar for the Moonstruck screenplay or numerous other accolades, the profile read, “John resides on Earth, in America, a country where the…

THURS, 10/14 Photographer Subhanker Banerjee’s two-year, 4,000-mile odyssey across Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge began in 2001 and yielded 200 photographs. The Indian-born naturalist undertook the journey on foot as well as by kayak, raft and snowmobile in his quest to capture vivid scenes of creatures living in the refuge…

Though the date is the subject of debate, most agree that it was October 7, 1955, when six relatively unknown poets headed to Six Gallery in San Francisco to participate in a showcase of promising up-and-comers. One of the bards, an upstart by the name of Jack Kerouac, opted not…

SAT, 10/9 Anyone itching to launch a pumpkin 4,000 feet might still qualify for the Punkin Chunkin world championship in Delaware next month. But locally, the entry deadline for today’s sixth annual Jack-O-Launch in Aurora has passed, so most fans of pumpkin-projecting must merely watch. Still, the sight of pounds…

FRI, 10/8 From Harry Potter to Sabrina, the practice of witchcraft has been ripped off, exploited and corrupted over the past few years. Hmm…kind of like the United States presidency. The Mercury Motley Players will help set straight both injustices tonight during its presentation of The Allied Witches’ Presidential Election…

TUES, 10/5 Composer Tan Dun unites sounds from Western classical music, nature and the East in Water Passion After St. Matthew. The acclaimed composer’s composition will fill Gates Concert Hall at the University of Denver at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Dun, who won multiple awards for the score of Crouching Tiger,…

FRI, 10/1 As a kid, I hated, hated Lakeside Amusement Park. It probably had something to do with the early trauma of riding that godforsaken roller coaster known as the Chipmunk. And even though my grandfather took me on the Cyclone every year on Samsonite Day — promising me that…

“I’m the meanest guy in Denver,” confesses professional stand-up comedian Chuck Roy. “Being known as mean is cutting in on the amount of ass I get, so I have to make someone else out to be the biggest jerk in town.” That ceremonial transfer of power will take place tonight…

MON, 9/27 In his most recent online column, “Durst Case Scenario,” comedian Will Durst offers an Onion-like article under the headline “‘Stupid People Love Bush’ New Study Proves.” Quoting a fictional think-tank member, Durst writes, “It has to do with intellectual curiosity. Folks see Bush in front of a stream…

WED, 9/29 Rebels Remembered, a compelling chronicle of the civil-rights movement in Denver, overflows with heroes and heartbreak. The third installment, Our Neighborhood Schools, screens today at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library. In a telling bit of footage from the latest chapter, Wilfred Keyes, an African-American chiropractor who was…

“I saw the incredible creative potential of people in my age group and realized that, for the most part, we weren’t using it for social change,” says 26-year-old Jamie Laurie. “I wanted to change that.” Thus was born VoterCrews, a group whose agenda is best described through its unofficial mantra,…

FRI, 9/17 Strolling the Pearl Street Mall in the early 1980s, it wasn’t uncommon to come across groups of jugglers performing mind-boggling feats. Those were the golden years of busking, before outside influences intruded, when it was juggling for juggling’s sake, pure and true. But diamonds in the rough can…

MON, 9/20 The lure of geocaching is not merely that of finding a stack of moldy CDs. Rather, the challenge is to discover hidden stuff using a Global Positioning System, better known as “GPS.” “It’s a high-techie scavenger hunt,” says Evergreen’s Mike Dyer, who recently penned the how-to book Essential…

MON, 9/20 “Whether it’s good or bad, it’s always entertaining,” notes Lion’s Lair bartender Dermot Carroll about the bar’s Monday open-mike comedy nights. Dermot has been serving drinks at the Lair, at 2022 East Colfax Avenue, since the first open-mike event, and he’ll serve them again tonight for the Lion’s…

SAT, 9/11 It’s a time-proven formula: Pop plus dumb equals ka-ching. So how did Burt Bacharach, one of the most successful pop composers of the twentieth century, end up with a body of sophisticated, intelligent hits? Maybe it’s because his songs — including dozens of classics such as “Walk on…

FRI, 9/10 Denver artist Tracy Weil is a fun-loving guy, and his River North neighborhood gallery/studio/house, weilworks, is just the place to have fun. “It’s my Barbie Dream House,” Weil says without irony. Sure — if Barbie’s house was a quirky, neo-modern space with an exhibition tower and a see-through…

FRI, 9/10 Kids love to journey back to that colorful age when mummies, animal gods and pyramids were part of a kingdom along the Nile — and for many, the appeal of those ancient times doesn’t fade away with adulthood. With today’s arrival of The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of…

FRI, 9/3 Eddie Brill has one of the most coveted jobs in the comedy world; yet it’s also one of the hardest. Brill is not only is the talent coordinator for comics appearing on the Late Show With David Letterman — a job that requires enormous dedication to stand-up –…

FRI, 9/3 If the title New World My Eye sounds a tad polemical, don’t be daunted: The group exhibit debuting today at the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council may cast a critical Chicano eye on the dominant American culture, but it’s intended to educate rather than to incite conflict. With…