Why I’m Ready to Kiss 2007 Goodbye

First-place Winner Broken-hearted by Chris Burns In the spring, I wasn’t feeling well. I imagined a doctor saying, “Well, you need to start taking better care of yourself. Get some exercise, be more careful with your diet, and let’s slow down on the drinking. Here’s something to help you sleep.”…

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

Tired of hanging out on the slopes? There are a million things to do in this fine state without suiting up and freezing your tail off! Why bother when you can enjoy a relaxing weekend at a fabulous spa and resort? How about a nice, healing hot spring? Ease those…

Talking Shop

Running late is a bitch. It’s worse when you’re under-dressed and a tad sweaty, which was my dilemma last week. There’s a point when late turns from fashionable and sexy to stood-up, and my mark for reasonably behind schedule is 25 minutes. Racing down Larimer, I realized I had a…

Lights, Camera, Action!

The best part about karaoke is pretending to be a rock star for the duration of a song — or an entire evening, depending on how brave you are. And whether you’re getting down to “Billie Jean” for the first or thousandth time, there comes a moment when you’re hitting…

Hope for the Holidays

The annual Function as Fashion fundraiser will shine brightly tonight, with cancer survivors illuminating the catwalk in yoga-inspired athletic wear from lululemon athletica. The Boulder boutique is featuring the cancer fighters and their triumphant stories to launch the official countdown to LUNAFEST 2008 (a national short-film festival coming in January)…

Sugar High

With a French name, it’s only fitting that Denver’s Amélie advertising company would have a fondness for food. So when charged with planning a five-year anniversary celebration, Anita Ashfield-Salter thought cupcakes. She wanted to pull together Denver’s best pastry chefs to generate the same kind of trendy cupcake buzz happening…

Naughty, Not Nice

Take a break from the onslaught of sickly sweet and sentimental Christmas music with Babushka’s Naughty XXXmas Carols tonight at Cricket on the Hill, 1209 East 13th Avenue. Sing along with twisted tunes such as “Hark, Satanic Santas Sing” and “Oh, Drive All Ye Drunkards” while Babushka’s partner in crime,…

City Sights

I’m that rarity, a native Denverite, and fascinated by my cowtown’s historic layers, many of which I’ve watched overlay the old ones with my very own eyes. Okay, so it’s not really a cowtown anymore, but I’ve been here long enough to remember when it was one — or at…

Monster Mash

Katie Taft’s work is all about plaster and papier-mâché, creatures and cameras: First she creates her creatures, quite solid “Imaginary Friends,” then reinterprets them in more amorphous photographs. To date, the figures have been small, like toys, but for Friendzilla — a new exhibit at PlatteForum Gallery of work by…

Little Stars

Putting together a group show for last week’s massive Art Miami gallery expo — an international fete offering first-class exposure to artists and gallerists alike — can’t be an easy job for a curator in Denver. But for Ivar Zeile, the brains behind the forward-facing Plus Gallery, limiting himself was…

Sound System

Grab a boombox or some speakers for your MP3 player and join in the performance of Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night tonight in Boulder. Here’s how it works: Participants will meet at 7:30 p.m. at the corner of 15th and Pearl Streets in Boulder with a portable sound system in tow…

Holiday Hotness

Put down that boring glass of eggnog and enjoy a smokin’ night of holiday fun at A RED HOT Burlesque Christmas, tonight at 9 p.m. at the 4th and Main Night Club, 380 Main Street in Longmont. The high-energy show will feature ’70s-infused dance rock performed by 8TraC, a funky,…

Project Holiday

Is stodgy style at the superstores getting you down? Ditch the humdrum of the departments and dart over to today’s frosty Freeze fete, where the trends are cool and the couture is haute. DJs Japadapta, Uplifter and Bobby Collins will help ignite your passion for fashion as you peruse the…

Good for All

The press has an uncircumcised hard-on for the comedic music duo Good for the Jews — think a Jewish Flight of the Conchords — who play the Soiled Dove Underground tonight as part of their “Putting the Ha! in Hanukkah” tour. In fact, Blender would shower them with an infinity…

Viva Zapata

There are no shortage of flicks about dead singers these days — but The Gits, which debuts tonight, is a documentary with a difference. The movie, directed by Kerri O’Kane, tells the story of the Seattle-based title group, which was on the cusp of breaking nationally when charismatic lead singer…

Red Letter Day

There are many good reasons to miss being in school: summer vacation, lunch breaks with friends and even those occasional classes with inspirational teachers. But no one in his right mind misses homework. Rest assured that Buntport Theater’s Teacher’s Pet series, which takes place every other month and does include…

Swinging Christmas

John Pizzarelli, who sits in with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra tonight, is a jazz guitarist with an impressive pedigree; he’s the son of Bucky Pizzarelli, a gifted string-bender in his own right. That’s not what pays the bills, though: Pizzarelli is also a vocalist, and he’ll join the CSO to…

Waiting for Butoh

Naropa University guest artist Katsura Kan is a master Butoh artist and ranks among Japan’s first generation of Butoh. The Kyoto native studied at the Kongo School, formed his own multinational dance troupe and has toured and performed around the world, so he’s well-versed in the range of techniques and…

All Aboard!

Is your toddlin’ tyke all “Thomas” this and “Thomas” that, chugging around in an engineer’s cap and blowing the whistle every five minutes? Then have we got a Christmas gift idea for you. Southern Colorado’s Rio Grande Scenic Railroad took a cue this year from the Durango-Silverton narrow-gauge line (which…

Stellar Luna

The moon is in its first quarter tonight, which means the stars are aligning and the time is auspicious for Keystone’s tenth annual Luna Chase Snowshoe Race. Participants will travel atop the Peak to Peak Trail, at more than two miles above sea level, for this adventure race suitable for…

Forget Jingle Bells

“By performing holiday pieces you haven’t heard before mixed with more familiar pieces arranged in a way you haven’t experienced, we’re bringing a fresh perspective to traditional holiday music,” says Tom Morgan, artistic director of Ars Nova (or “New Art” in Latin). In other words, if you’re looking for a…

King of the Mountains

Let’s face it: With the onset of winter and the arrival of snow, there are more competition-and-music combination platters in the high country than you can shake a ski pole at. But this year, Telluride’s Jeep King of the Mountain and BaseCamp Music Experience is arguably the best of the…