Second-Best Political Message 2004 | From Leesa Sale to Tracy Baker | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Second-Best Political Message

From Leesa Sale to Tracy Baker

"Get your ass in here."

Days after Tracy Baker was recalled, Chief Deputy Assistant Leesa Sale was put on administrative leave from the clerk's office.

Best Scandal -- Business

My Twinn

The My Twinn phone lines were still connected in late March -- even to the Doll Hospital extensions! -- but no human voices were answering. Which wasn't surprising, because on January 29, involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings had been filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court against the Lifelike Company of Englewood, maker of the My Twinn dolls. Say what you will -- and everyone says plenty -- about the transgressions of the telecommunication giants, the pain they inflicted was squat compared with the trauma caused by a firm that kept wee tots waiting in vain for their cherubic doll-clones. Last year, more than 700 complaints were filed with the Colorado Attorney General by My Twinn stiffees who'd ponied up between $80 and $150 for their own special dolls and accessories. An apologetic open letter on the My Twinn website (last updated January 17) offered a variety of reasons why the firm had to shut down its nine-year-old, money-losing operation. But all was not yet lost: The website promised that all dolls in the Doll Hospital would be discharged. Of course, their plastic wounds would mend faster than the broken human hearts that litter the nation's Twinn-less landscape.

Best Scandal -- Business

My Twinn

The My Twinn phone lines were still connected in late March -- even to the Doll Hospital extensions! -- but no human voices were answering. Which wasn't surprising, because on January 29, involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings had been filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court against the Lifelike Company of Englewood, maker of the My Twinn dolls. Say what you will -- and everyone says plenty -- about the transgressions of the telecommunication giants, the pain they inflicted was squat compared with the trauma caused by a firm that kept wee tots waiting in vain for their cherubic doll-clones. Last year, more than 700 complaints were filed with the Colorado Attorney General by My Twinn stiffees who'd ponied up between $80 and $150 for their own special dolls and accessories. An apologetic open letter on the My Twinn website (last updated January 17) offered a variety of reasons why the firm had to shut down its nine-year-old, money-losing operation. But all was not yet lost: The website promised that all dolls in the Doll Hospital would be discharged. Of course, their plastic wounds would mend faster than the broken human hearts that litter the nation's Twinn-less landscape.

Best Scandal -- Media

G. Brown pays homage one time too many

Until last fall, G. Brown was the city's most prominent music critic -- a staple in the Denver Post since the days when Boz Scaggs was a hitmaker, not a trivia question, and Yusuf Islam was still known as Cat Stevens. Not even an early-'90s suspension from the Post for essentially lifting the lead for a Keith Richards review from an item in Rolling Stone could knock him off his perch. Then, last October, Brown wrote a preview of a Simon & Garfunkel appearance so littered with appropriations from other sources that a Post investigation didn't even find them all. Brown characterized these borrowings as boo-boos, not chronic plagiarism, but resigned anyway in favor of a DJ gig at KCUV. The station's website, www.kcuvradio.com, includes a section called "What Can G. Brown Do For You?" that's loaded with past Brown articles, none of which are attributed to the Post or any other publication. 'Cause they can't make him resign again.

Best Scandal -- Media

G. Brown pays homage one time too many

Until last fall, G. Brown was the city's most prominent music critic -- a staple in the Denver Post since the days when Boz Scaggs was a hitmaker, not a trivia question, and Yusuf Islam was still known as Cat Stevens. Not even an early-'90s suspension from the Post for essentially lifting the lead for a Keith Richards review from an item in Rolling Stone could knock him off his perch. Then, last October, Brown wrote a preview of a Simon & Garfunkel appearance so littered with appropriations from other sources that a Post investigation didn't even find them all. Brown characterized these borrowings as boo-boos, not chronic plagiarism, but resigned anyway in favor of a DJ gig at KCUV. The station's website, www.kcuvradio.com, includes a section called "What Can G. Brown Do For You?" that's loaded with past Brown articles, none of which are attributed to the Post or any other publication. 'Cause they can't make him resign again.

Best Scandal Magnet for the Media

The Kobe Bryant experience

When Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant checked into the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards last June, he had no idea that his visit would create a cottage industry. A Cordillera employee claimed that Bryant sexually assaulted her during his stay, and the legal maneuvering that followed the filing of charges has attracted so many reporters, photographers and crew members to the area that the temporary media tents erected near the Eagle County courthouse might as well be made permanent. Bryant's visits have become the equivalent of rugby scrums, with members of the press doing their best to confirm every negative stereotype about them -- but they're certainly keeping Eagle restaurateurs and hoteliers happy. Although the alleged crime is bad, it's been very, very good for business.

Best Scandal Magnet for the Media

The Kobe Bryant experience

When Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant checked into the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards last June, he had no idea that his visit would create a cottage industry. A Cordillera employee claimed that Bryant sexually assaulted her during his stay, and the legal maneuvering that followed the filing of charges has attracted so many reporters, photographers and crew members to the area that the temporary media tents erected near the Eagle County courthouse might as well be made permanent. Bryant's visits have become the equivalent of rugby scrums, with members of the press doing their best to confirm every negative stereotype about them -- but they're certainly keeping Eagle restaurateurs and hoteliers happy. Although the alleged crime is bad, it's been very, very good for business.

Best Description of Denver by a National Writer -- Current

Hope Hamashige, New York Post

In a February travel story titled "On Mile High Alert," Hope Hamashige regaled New Yorkers with this description of what they might see in the Mile High City: "The cowboys, miners and hunters who founded Denver, and who have witnessed the long, slow decline of the city's honky-tonk bars and taxidermy shops, have ceded ground to nature-loving hippies, oil barons, Harley-riding Hells Angels -- and more."

Best Description of Denver by a National Writer -- Current

Hope Hamashige, New York Post

In a February travel story titled "On Mile High Alert," Hope Hamashige regaled New Yorkers with this description of what they might see in the Mile High City: "The cowboys, miners and hunters who founded Denver, and who have witnessed the long, slow decline of the city's honky-tonk bars and taxidermy shops, have ceded ground to nature-loving hippies, oil barons, Harley-riding Hells Angels -- and more."

Second-Best Description of Denver by a National Writer -- Current

Linda Hayes, Hemispheres Magazine

The March issue of United Airlines' in-flight magazine, Hemispheres, serves up "Three Perfect Days in Denver," starting with this: "Long out-glammed by glittery ski towns to the west and saddled with outdated reputations (frontier outpost, mining camp, cow town), Denver has pulled itself up by the bootstraps. Thanks to a proliferation of top-notch cultural and sporting venues, revitalization of the historic lower downtown district called LoDo, and the efforts of a contemporary new mayor, the Mile High City is showing considerable depth -- and breadth." So far, so good -- but then writer Linda Hayes sends readers out of town for one of those perfect days. Admittedly, Winter Park is still a Denver mountain park, and the Winter Park Ski Train is one of this city's greatest amenities (as well as a multiple Best of Denver award winner). Still, couldn't Hayes have kept it a little closer to home?

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