An Affair to Remember

Get the dish on more than thirty of your favorite Denver restaurants at Westword’s Menu Affair, featuring complimentary food and wine samplings, seven open bars and live entertainment by the Ron Miles Group. Food Network personality Keegan Gerhard hosts as Goose Sorenson takes on James Mazzio in the Mile High…

One Day, Seven Seas

Avast, me hearties! Once again, it be time to strap on yer peg leg, dust off yer eye patch an’ practice yer sea walk, for today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the day when landlubbers channel their inner sea scoundrel. And the Sunken Bones Society — who talk…

Beetle Mania

From the slumping economy to the war in Iraq, there are plenty of reasons to grumble. However, if you live in or near the mountains, pine beetles and their red carnage are probably high on your list. Today starting at 10 a.m. on Main Street in Frisco, BeetleFest is your…

Convergence of Thought

Jim Kunstler keeps a blog called the Clusterfuck Nation Chronicle, and his latest book, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, depicts a startling post-cheap-fossil-fuel future in which the American way of life — suburbia — crumbles, along with our economy, as the world endures a…

Think Ink

I love tattoos. I got my first tattoo shortly after I turned eighteen, and I’ve since had it redesigned and re-inked, as well as added another, larger tattoo to my body. The only thing stopping me from getting a half-sleeve — the next ink addition on my wish list —…

River Art

Art is about individual vision, about seeing and interpreting similar objects in vastly different ways. It’s a reflection of our humanity that a group of artists can go to a specific location — like the Platte River — and come away with entirely different ideas as to what they witnessed…

Poetry in Motion

Within its dreamy, artsy framework, Patti Smith: Dream of Life is as much a film about the unseen director, Steven Sebring (who first began filming Smith more than ten years ago after meeting her during a Spin photo shoot), as it is about the rock poetess Patti Smith, coming across…

Short Stop

Comedian Martin Short, who steps into the spotlight tonight, makes most of his income from movie and television work. But if Shakespeare’s line about all the world being a stage were true, he’d be thrilled. “I like doing all three mediums, but I think my favorite has always been stage,”…

Greener Pastures

What’s new at the Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair? Growth, for one thing: The festival of everything renewable under the sun has become a great green behemoth and will move this year to a new outdoor location on twenty acres at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Center in Fort Collins. And…

Roll Out

There’s no denying that roller derby has experienced a revival, which explains why Denver is able to support two roller derby teams, one of which is headed to Colorado Springs today to participate in a double-header bout. The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls’ 5280 Fight Club will take on the Fort Collins…

Taking Debate

Who knew? Talk is powerful stuff, and conservative talk-show host Dennis Prager has a huge and enthusiastic clan of fans here in Colorado, many of whom meet on a regular basis to discuss the radio chatter’s syndicated program (heard locally on KNUS-AM 710). They’re so enthusiastic, in fact, that Colorado…

Up, Up and Away

Join the crew of Starship Troy tonight for the launch of the third and final season of Buntport’s live sci-fi sitcom. The critically lauded show follows the misadventures of the members of a garbage scow crew as they clean up space, one load at a time. Staffed by a motley…

Is Cindy McCain the Right Choice?

The political conventions are over and I think we can all agree the DNC was more successful than the RNC. Sure, we had fewer police/ protester confrontations and more respectful crowds than the RNC. But more importantly, we had way better celebrities than the Minnesotans had. And though I’m not…

IKEA comes to Denver… finally

There’s a lot happening in the news these days — the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout, the energy/housing crisis, the most exciting presidential race in my lifetime. But, really, there is only one piece of news that I care about — and that’s today’s announcement that IKEA, the Swedish retailer of…

Secondhand Sartorialism: Tips

It recently occurred to me that I need to devote some time to talking about how to shop for vintage clothing and not just encouraging our readers to do so or spotlighting stylish individuals who have devoted large portions of their wardrobe to vintage goods. While shopping for used goods…

The Dark Side

I have always been fascinated with Goth style. Now, I would never be able to wear black clothing everyday, but I really respect those who do! My best friend is what most would consider Goth, but her style is so much more interesting that just layers of black on black…

Punk Rock Fashion Show at Bender’s Tavern

Slide show Live music became fashionable Saturday at Bender’s Tavern. Models rocked on as they strutted in local designers’ labels; Broken by Jonny Applegate, Eropersona by Summer Jackson and Jackson Ink by Willy Jackson were all represented. And if the crowd liked what they saw, they could get all the…

This shop has a captive audience

It’s not easy to shop at my favorite store. It has no website, and takes no credit cards. It’s also almost 900 miles away – in Deer Lodge, Montana, which just happens to be home to the Montana State Prison. And that’s where the contents of this store come from…

Give me Liberty Boots or give me death

I am so all over Larimer Square this week. The whole street hopped during the DNC, and shows no sign of slowing down now that the excitement’s over. For starters, Wild West wear emporium Cry Baby Ranch will keep the block rockin’ when it presents its biannual Liberty Boots trunk…

Curls Night Out

I have struggled with how to cut and style my curly, fine hair my entire life. One stylist would tell me that a scrunching spray is the only way to go, but then the next would insist that I use a mousse or gel. I’ve tried every product out there…

Boy A: What happens when a child murderer grows up?

“So fuckin’ delicate, people…they die so easily,” says a supporting character to the titular Boy A, whose barely audible two-word reply — “She didn’t” — collapses his violent past into his remorseful present with offhand poignancy. Boy A knows that people don’t always die easily, but he’s haunted by firsthand…

Rumplestiltskin (Das Zaubermännchen)

We might think that with our modern sensibilities, horror movies and special effects, we’ve seen everything creepy and weird there is to see on the big screen. But we forget that fairy tales aren’t all Disney cartoons and catchy songs: The Little Mermaid experienced stabbing pain every time she took…