Magical Mystery

Some novels take a while to get going, and some give you an immortal dwarf, a time-traveling corpse and an alchemical mystery before the end of the first chapter, like City of Lost Dreams does. The followup to the best-selling City of Dark Magic finds protagonist Sarah Weston in an…

Star Power

Describing the “personality” of a neighborhood without sounding like a pompous academic can be tricky. But for local artist Robert Bell and the folks at MegaFauna art and clothing store, the temptation to articulate what makes our city’s streets so vibrant and eclectic was too tempting. “In the Denver landscape,…

How the West Was Fun

One of the worst parts of being a grownup is that nobody reads to you anymore — at least not anything fun or interesting. “I’ve really come to believe that we never stop enjoying being read to,” says Anthony Powell of Stories on Stage. “I still remember Papa doing Treasure…

Be the Change

The idea of the poster as a call to action isn’t new; the concept of using graphics to foster social change is as old as revolution itself. Smart design — with its bold shapes and provocative politicized images — lends itself to the notion of change, and that’s the subject…

Pattern Pending

Gildar Gallery’s Adam Gildar has been a fan of Colorado painter Clark Richert for a long time: Richert is a fascinating artist with a fascinating history that includes a stint at the Drop City commune near Trinidad in the late 1960s, where his interest in the theories of Buckminster Fuller…

Word Play

“Slam was created essentially to give the audience power,” notes Piper Mullins, slam-mistress at the weekly Sunday poetry slams at the Mercury Cafe. “That’s why it’s a competition: Whatever the poet is doing, it should be relevant to the audience.” The early success of the Denver slam scene (reaching the…

Playing Paris

Return to Paris is the last opportunity to experience the Colorado Symphony’s musical companion program to the Denver Art Museum’s Passport to Paris exhibition. The concert, conducted by Jeffrey Kahane, features an homage to Baroque composer François Couperin, with music by Maurice Ravel and Thomas Adès. Accompanied by the orchestra,…

Through the Woods

The largest show of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region, the International Sportsmen’s Exposition, which opens today at the convention center, is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream. Hundreds of vendors and merchants presenting the latest in hunting, fishing and camping technology and services will converge under one roof for a…

Rhyme and Reason

Cowboy poetry has long existed outside the confines of any venue or formal setting, with ranchers telling stories in kitchens and around campfires. Now in its 25th year, the Colorado Cowboy Gathering offers a space for cattlemen and -women to indulge in poetry, music and performances related to life on…

New Year, New Art

The concept of new beginnings in a new year follows form at local art galleries, too, particularly at the co-ops, where early January brings out celebratory group shows as well as solos with a special twist. For several years now, Denver’s oldest cooperative, Spark Gallery, has been opening the year…

A Good Ride

Similar to the stories of the many African-Americans who fought in WWII, the role of black cowboys and cowgirls in the American West has been largely whitewashed from history. Today this tradition has been not only unearthed, but preserved, in the Martin Luther King Jr. African-American Heritage Rodeo, taking place…

Doggone Good

Super Dogs, in performance today and tomorrow at the National Western Stock Show, is a twenty-dog ensemble that elevates jumping and retrieving — not to mention tunnel relays and maze mastery — to completely new levels. “They have Frisbee dogs and choreograph things with music,” explains National Western spokeswoman Karen…

Not Simply Divine

Better known as his drag-wearing persona Divine than as a multifaceted actor, the late Harris Glenn Milstead spent the latter half of his short but notorious career trying to prove that he was more than just a queen. That effort is chronicled in I Am Divine, a documentary showcasing Milstead’s…

Up Beat

Before Allen Ginsberg became the famous Beat Generation icon who founded the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, he was a young poet and student at Columbia University. In Kill Your Darlings, which opens today in Boulder, Daniel Radcliffe stars as a young Ginsberg interacting with other future…

Song of the South

Evita, the famous story of Eva Perón, is a timeless tale about the First Lady of Argentina; it takes viewers from her life as a girl from a poor rural family through her rise as a political figure and spokeswoman for the underprivileged. Though Perón died at the age of…

It’s Alive

Cutting-edge technology has always allowed National Geographic to take viewers deep into unreachable areas of the globe. Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D — starting its IMAX theater run today at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science — goes a step further: Instead of exploring the vast expanse of…

A Matter of Degrees

Named for some of the most pleasant weather on the Western Slope, Banana Belt Days in Buena Vista kicks off this morning with an invitation to experience what the town has to offer, even in the colder months. “We’re typically a summer tourist town, but we have some wonderful winter…

Kitsch and Tell

There’s a retro bug in all of us that never tires of things from the pop culture of the past. And for some, it’s a real memory, while younger folks are simply amused by the phenomenon of how people used to live in the decades before they were born. Both…

Fifty things we learned from the 2013 year in movies

One of the best performances of the year was from the tiny lifeboat in Captain Phillips.On Thursday, this year’s Oscar nominations will be announced, also known as national Gah! What Were Those Idiot Voters Thinking Day. We can’t wait, so in the meantime, we give you this: 1. Marvel Films…

Womenswear Wednesdays: Selma, a paralegal, on her professional look

As the winter winds chill the Denver streets, many people are breaking out their favorite cold-weather fashions. One example is Selma, a paralegal who we spotted along the 16th Street Mall wearing furry earmuffs with a business get-up. Read here to find out her favorite color, accessory, and style mantra…