10 things to do for $10 this weekend, July 1-4, 2011

This 4th of July weekend, no one should be left watching the tube, sitting on the couch and drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon all by themselves. No sir. There are plenty of things to do on this three-day weekend, and not all of them require patriotism (though a healthy dose…

One chapter book reviews: The Fried Twinkie Manifesto

Though I’ve never been in Nebraska for more than about six hours at a time, most of which has generally involved driving and possibly having lunch, I have some pretty distinct impressions of that state: the plains, the sky, the wind. Nebraska, it seems to me, is a place of…

Let out your chickens! Here comes the Denver County Fair!

Maybe you’ve heard about it: The buzz has been slowly growing over time. But what exactly is this Denver County Fair people are clucking and waving around their feathers about? Well, that’s not an easy question to answer, since chances are pretty good there’s never been anything quite like it…

Tips for gardening in small spaces from Gayla Trail

Gardening writer Gayla Trail says that one of the strangest places she’s seen a plant growing was corn coming up out of a crack in the pavement in an alley. Trail will use this, and other examples, to help inspire gardeners to grow their own plants even in the smallest,…

Canada Day, shmanada day: Why the 4th of July is better

With Canada Day (tomorrow, although celebrations are starting today) and the 4th of July (Monday) so close together, it’s important to do what Americans do best: compare our independence day to that of our neighbors and observe that once again, our shit kicks way more ass than other countries’ shit…

I’m winning at Facebook. Here’s how you can too.

As it stands, my social networking career came to fruition and subsequently peaked with Myspace. For this reason, I use as much room in this weekly column talking about the rotting News Corp carcass as I can, constantly reliving my heyday as a late-blooming web queen. Of course I have…

How the Dodgers can escape bankruptcy

This week the Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy amid accusations of mismanagement by owner Frank McCourt, who evidently learned nothing from his childhood of poverty and hunger in the slums of Limerick. Wait, different Frank McCourt. The author’s deceased; the desperate businessman who borrowed against the team until they…

Reader: What a pity Jimi had to live among them, and die by them

Yesterday, we brought you the long and strange story of Michael Fairchild, whose labyrinthine research we stumbled across when we were looking into the seemingly random slew of asteroid movies of the late ’90s. Fairchild’s theories — which involve Jimi Hendrix, extrasensory perception, Microsoft and a hyper-secret cabal of world…

Jack Was Here: Showing you the places Jack Kerouac once was

Jack Kerouac was here. He came here and wrote about it in On the Road, his most enduring work, and fell in love with Denver to the extent that, at one point, he actually bought a house in Lakewood. Yes, Kerouac was indeed here, but one thing that will not…

Art with a Plan

Samuel Schimek and Rob Mack are local artists with a commercial streak, and they’ve ingeniously wrapped their collaborative installation, Microclimates, into a kind of artsy business plan, with its own website and social-media persona. It started out early this year with a successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign, which has now segued…

Let Freedom Run

Uncle Sam wants you to make a run for it at the family-friendly Liberty Run 4 Mile Run/Walk, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Washington Park, 1000 South Downing Street, where patriotic costumes have become as integral to the annual event as the race itself. “We really try to make it…

O’er the Land of the Free

On July 4, 1911, less than two months after the Colorado National Monument received its official designation as the newest feather in the cap of the National Park Service, park superintendent John Otto climbed 450 feet to the top of the canyon’s most iconic sandstone monolith and – planting an…

Bird Watch

Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon has not only been cited as one of the greatest films of all time, but it’s also considered one of the first major works of film noir and the movie that made Humphrey Bogart a star. With its dark shadows,…

Double Image

Simultaneously preparing for two different art shows can’t be easy, but that’s what artist Joseph Findeiss did to get ready for the openings of Repetitious and Repro Redux, both of which feature different art in entirely different mediums. Repetitious will include Findeiss’s three-dimensional assemblage woodwork and art. These handcrafted works…

Rally Round the Flag

Four Mile Historic Park goes all out in Civil War style today for the Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Festival, a celebration of independence and Western American tradition. A real-life Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Uncle Sam will join the site’s usual cadre of costumed settlers for a day of wagon…

The Bombs Bursting in Air

For the biggest display of patriotic pyrotechnics in the state, don’t miss the Colorado Rapids 4thFest show at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, 6000 Victory Way in Commerce City, where relatively lax noise and air-space restrictions and a partnership with Zambelli Fireworks Internationale make for an explosive combination. The Rapids (Major…

The Drama inside the Drama

In its time, Gone with the Wind was the most elaborate spectacle ever put to film (which is impressive, considering that the most elaborate spectacles we have going these days are Michael Bay flicks), but you don’t pull off that kind of technical and theatrical feat with just a wink…

Let It Grow

Growing plants in a Denver apartment can seem like an impossible task — but it doesn’t have to be. Writer Gayla Trail visits the Denver Botanic Gardens today to talk about creating a garden in even the tiniest living quarters with tips from her new book, Grow Great Grub: Organic…

Of Ink and Art

Adam Rose and his tattoo shop, Fallen Owl Tattoo in Lakewood, have been involved with several Colorado charities over the years — and 2011 is no different. The guys and gals at Fallen Owl are teaming up with nine other tattoos shops around the metro area to raise money for…