Hip-hop fashion mogul Marc Ecko has enraged Denver’s political establishment, drop-kicked the beehive of ornery neighborhood groups, and flipped the bird to Denver Partners Against Graffiti. But Denver City Council president Rosemary Rodriquez and her gaggle of property owners — who hoisted pickets reading things like “No tagging, no graffiti,…
Russell Enloe first brought his aesthetic proclivities to South Broadway when he opened American Aces Vintage Clothing in 1991. Back then, the block of small storefronts was dilapidated and struggling with a high number of vacancies, but the cheap rent and off-the-grid locale made it a perfect place for fringe…
For years, industrious snowboarders have built makeshift terrain parks at St. Mary’s Glacier. But if 24-year-old Michael Coors has his way, riders won’t have to make their own fun on that rock-filled ice flow in order to catch a little air. In December, Coors announced plans to reopen an old…
Doug Donovan hadn’t been sleeping much lately. It was 3:30 a.m. on a day in early February — the darkest, coldest time of the night during the darkest, coldest time of the year. The ground was frozen, the air subzero, and his hands were snowballs with icicle fingers. He wondered…
Steve Schalk knows exactly where the true essence of the Ogden Theatre lay: in its carpet. Decades of beer and sneaker grime had been ground into the quarter-inch matting, like sedimentary layers of musical memories. Nasty, reeking, puke-stained memories. The carpet was one of the first things that Schalk, a…
Gary Haney likes things big. Big portions, big tits, big money. Big ideas, too. To be the Larry Flynt of the Rocky Mountains — that was his big dream. But right now, Gary Haney’s in big trouble. On December 9, 2005, the Denver District Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for…
The siren song of illegally copied Japanese anime DVDs is a hard call to resist, even among the most honorable devotees. Staying on top of the animation niche known for saucer-eyed hot chicks and cyberpunk samurai is an expensive hobby, with movies averaging $30 to $50 and specialty items going…
For some reason, Michael has taken his shoes off. He rubs his toes against the cold linoleum floor and giggles. “Are you going to mellow out, or are you going to be crazy like this all day?” “Crazy,” the six-year-old answers, turning up the end of the word like he’s…
Prepare to get snowed, Keystone, because Marc Frank Montoya is headed your way. On November 1, the Denver homeboy-turned-professional-snowboarder and his business partner (and brother-in-law) Liko S. Smith finalized an agreement to purchase the 58-room Arapahoe Inn from Chicago businessman Roman Kowalewitz for $4.2 million. They plan to spend another…
“Do you guys have any weapons or drugs or anything I should know about?” For Marc Frank Montoya, denial comes instinctively when confronted by law enforcement. He shakes his head. “Nah,” he replies. “Nah, we don’t got nothin’ like that.” “I can smell marijuana,” says the officer. “Do you have…
Answer this: How are aspiring white supremacist Hal Haterman, ultra-right-wing operative Drake Sutherland, Christian headbanger Chad Sin-No-More and teen abstinence educator Quentin Smalls connected to each other? Sorry, it’s a trick question: There is no connection. They are not in any way some of the fake personas that Harmon Leon…
You recognize their stiff shuffle, their coated eyes. The oozing and groaning. You’re paralyzed by the realization that you are in lower downtown — and it’s after last call! You begin to sweat, searching for an escape. But it’s too late. They lurch out from the doorways of Polly Esther’s,…
FRI, 10/21 It’s like a dropkick to your chakra, the feeling of your skateboard snapping off the concrete, locking into a long grind down a metal handrail and then riding away smooth. Hear your friends cheering? That’s what was buzzing through Glen Gillingham’s solar plexus when he jumped up from…
MON, 10/24 Though most everyone who cares knows perfectly well that Daniel Handler is Lemony Snicket, the prolific author of the popular A Series of Unfortunate Events books for kids, he still tries to pretend that he and Snicket aren’t one and the same. But no matter how bad a…
“I at least thought we were going to get a couple of down votes,” says Eric Rieken, one of hundreds of residents who packed a Westminster City Council meeting to protest a proposed 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter. “But they pretty much discounted everything we said.” Like many newcomers to Colorado, Rieken…
Perhaps you’ve noticed “Land of the Lost Scooters,” the newest art installation along Speer Boulevard. If not, just follow Erik Koskinen and the small taillights of his 1979 Vespa with the black and blue paint job. After many years in the working world, Koskinen is getting a degree in dentistry…
“I said, “Are you gonna let me take a spin on your ride?'” a teenage youth shouts to a security guard riding by on a Segway. Sporting tattoos and a Carmelo Anthony jersey, the teen cocks his head and pauses, as if he actually expects the guard to let him…
FRI, 8/26 “It’s really hard to categorize,” says Andenken curator Ryan Riss, who is struggling to come up with a moniker to classify the five nationally recognized artists he’s assembled for MyMyHeyHey, an exhibit that opens tonight and runs until September 23. “I don’t want to say ‘street culture,'” he…
I figured I was up for some experimentation. I’m secure in my own identity and all, but I’m also a young guy in his prime. So why not try something a little risqué? Truth be told, I was malt-curious. And the Nob Hill Inn on East Colfax Avenue seemed like…
Session two of Project Igloo is scheduled to begin any minute. My designated driver and I push through the wide glass doors of the Courtyard by Marriott in Superior at exactly 7:30 p.m. Although it could be from the chlorine wafting in from the hotel pool, we can already feel…
FRI, 8/5 “You don’t need twenty thousand dollars to start an art collection with one piece,” says Charmain Schuh of Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Arts. “If you can’t afford the original paintings, like with Warhol, you can always have them in your collection through the print media. Printmaking is…
It’s been one long, sweltering summer. But while it was 105 degrees outside, the temperature was even higher inside when we announced our citywide canvass for the hottest service employees in town. We quickly received dozens of tips on beautiful baristas, cute chefs, virile valets, haute hairstylists and pretty-boy pizza-delivery…
