With the hustle and bustle of its shops and restaurants all lit up by holiday lights, Old South Pearl Street is a beautiful stretch to walk along any evening this time of year. But for holiday cheer that fairly oozes onto the street and sidewalks, Winterfest is the time to…
Music cuts to the core of what makes us similar — and human. “It’s a direct channel to the heart,” says Shaul Gabbay, director of the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East. “I think that art in general speaks to part of us as human beings…
What’s it like watching Santa, Mrs. Claus and one of their special elves fly into Aurora via helicopter? “It’s like a mob scene,” says Pam Wilson, executive director of the Northern Aurora Business Association. “Once Santa gets out of the helicopter, all the kids run up to him and they…
Think your holiday sweater is more ridiculous than my holiday sweater? Put your money where your mouth is! Pull yours on and head down to Lakewood’s Belmar for Dated Holiday Sweater Night, an evening of ice-skating, contests and a warm-clothing drive to benefit the Jeffco Action Center. “Everyone can relate…
We’re all familiar with the concept of re-gifting, which in this day and age of creeping recession has begun to make more sense than ever. But this afternoon’s Holiday Eco-Barter Market at the Mercury Cafe takes the idea of giving gifts that are new to the recipient, if not the…
Westword readers have long been familiar with local-band-makes-good the Fray. Music editor Dave Herrera gave its first full-length album, Reason, a positive review back in 2003, when the group was with an independent record label and still struggling to get local stations to play its singles. Now a new single,…
Last year, my wife wanted to stay at a downtown hotel with our kids to watch the annual Parade of Lights, so she looked for an overnight package deal. She never found one, so we ended up creating our own fun by packing hot chocolate (with Baileys for the adults),…
Ever wonder why Santa’s sleigh is pulled by reindeer instead of, say, polar bears? There’s no real way to tell, but Jungian analyst Linda Leonard thinks the reindeer symbol might tie into certain Arctic-area tribes and their reindeer goddess. “These people believe that they were put on Earth to take…
Forget the hype: The AFC West deciding meeting between the underachieving Broncos and Chargers is likely to be disappointing no matter who wins. The real season-ending match-up to get excited about is tonight’s Rocky Mountain Rollergirls vs. the San Diego Derby Dolls bout. An all-star team made up of members…
Habitat for Humanity is all about putting a roof over the heads of folks who might not otherwise enjoy that luxury; so is a man-made birdhouse, albeit on a much tinier level. As if to top off that metaphorical comparison with a story that’s almost too good to be true,…
Most pet lovers have heard of the bestselling novel by journalist John Grogan, Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. Hollywood couldn’t wait to get its hands on the story: A mere three years after the book was published, 20th Century Fox is releasing the film…
Colorado — and its prominent place in romantic notions about the Old West — has achieved celebrity status. It’s one of the reasons we’re invaded year-round by armies of scenic paparazzi seeking to hunt down picturesque landscapes and take candid photos of them. It might be an embarrassment to some,…
An O. Henry Christmas. Amid the cascade of Christmas Carol remounts, Hallmark Card family shows and limp holiday parodies, this musical arrangement of two O. Henry short stories — “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi,” created by Peter Ekstrom — is a refreshing option. “The Gift of…
Siren. Icon. Muse. You can apply any or all of those labels to Catherine Deneuve, but trying to make any one of them stick is trickier than lighting a match in a rainstorm. Ask her about her five-decade career in movies, and she will pointedly deny ever thinking in terms…
You don’t have to have been raised on colonial Brit Lit, classic melodramas, Westerns or war movies, or Gone With the Wind to figure out the likely outcome of Baz Luhrmann’s Australia within its first fifteen minutes, but any or all of the above will help. Tightly wound and corseted…
Sometimes I don’t understand the decision-making at Germinal Stage Denver. I’ve had some of the most stimulating evenings of my life in this homey, cozy, unchanging little theater where — as the website blurb assures us — the actors are never more than thirty feet from your nose. I’ve seen…
To brand, then dismiss, Four Christmases as a disappointment would be giving it too much credit — never, for a second, did this New Line Cinema cast-off scream or even whisper decent in the run-up to its opening. The story of couple Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) —…
Gus Van Sant has never been what you’d call a risk-averse filmmaker, but he directs his Harvey Milk biopic so carefully, there might be a Ming vase balanced on his head. Van Sant’s steps are deliberate, his posture is straight, his attitude is responsible, and his eyes are fixed firmly…
Earlier this summer, a project that was dedicated as “finished” in 2006 was finally completed. It’s the 16th Street Pedestrian Bridge, by Carter & Burgess, that crosses I-25 and connects the trendy Highland neighborhood to the ultra-trendy Platte Valley. The white-painted steel bridge is handsome enough, even if it’s hardly…
Adam Helms. This solo in the MCA’s Paper Works Gallery is the New York artist’s first museum show anywhere. In his works on paper and in a monumental sculpture that conjures up a shooting blind, Helms explores political themes, especially armed struggle. He takes images of different radical and extremist…
If you like your holiday shows with a liberal dose of fabulousness, then you’re going to just love tonight’s third annual Holy Shit It’s Christmas program, dahling. “It’s just a typical drag show,” demurs diva Jasmine Rice — who, along with the Ladies of the Lake and other assorted special…
It’s no secret: I love independent retailers. They’re what make a neighborhood a neighborhood — and besides, they’re a gritty and practical-minded bunch with a collective creative streak and an empathetic nose for what makes their customers tick. Their shops and boutiques, sprinkled throughout the city on cheerful, small-time commercial…
