The Westword.com blog shortcut, January 30 edition

The weekend is so close you can practically smell it. Or maybe that’s your aftershave. Today in Backbeat Online: • The Normal Ones really aren’t. • Sneak peek: 3 the Hardway’s new album, Set in Stone. • Talking during shows: another fan’s perspective. Today in Cafe Society: • SPAM on…

Is KOOL 105’s loss Cruisin’ Oldies’ gain?

Arbitron has released the final numbers for the fall radio-ratings book in Denver — the first for KRWZ/950 AM since switching to the Cruisin’ Oldies format described in the September 2 blog “Oldies Radio Set to Make Comeback on KRWZ” and the September 24 followup “Cruisin’ Oldies 950 Brings Back…

The Rocky Mountain News throws one heck of a migil

The mood at last night’s Rocky Mountain News candlelight migil (half march, half vigil — so coined, in the tradition of the Martin Luther King Day Marade, by someone cleverer than me) was light. Although the details of the event hinted at the possibility of theatrics, the actual gathering felt…

Those cards weren’t giveaways, Belmar attendees

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. this past Wednesday, The Lab at Belmar hosted opening-night festivities in honor of new exhibitions entitled “The Astounding Problem of Andrew Novick” and “Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics.” Unfortunately, some valuable items walked away along with the attendees after the bash…

Shmuck: Dave Schultheis

Eighty Latinos died in traffic accidents in Colorado in 2008, or roughly one quarter of the total number of people who were killed in car crashes. Of the eighty, 59 were unbuckled. So it made sense for the Colorado Department of Transportation to — for the first time ever –…

Advice to American journalists looking for work: Learn to speak German

Andrew Bulkeley is a Littleton native who attended journalism school at Colorado State University with an eye toward working in the media. Little did he know that he’d find his greatest success only after leaving the United States. Today, Bulkeley is a Berlin-based correspondent for TheDeal.com, a New York-based news…

Is Jay Cutler the reincarnation of Jeff George?

Given that former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer has a Paul Bunyon-size ax to grind, it’s no surprise that his criticism of former coach Mike Shanahan is sharp in “Shanny Firing Was ‘Past Due,'” a Mike Klis piece in today’s Denver Post. But arguably more interesting than the Snake’s sense that…

Three businesses expanding operations in Denver. Really…

Reading business coverage these days is a lot like watching Dawn of the Dead; corpses are everywhere, whether they’re laying down or not. So credit the folks at the Denver Business Journal with finding a tiny glimmer of positive news. Granted, none of the developments featured in “Three Denver Companies…

Speechifying at the Rocky Mountain News candelight rally

In the January 23 blog “Details About Next Week’s Candlelight Rally for the Rocky Mountain News,” reporter John Ensslin, one of the event’s organizers, said, “There’ll be no speechifying. It’ll be just a silent, dignified, elegant way to express our concern, affection and support for the paper.” Judging by the…

The Westword.com blog shortcut, January 29 edition

Scared yet? Today in Backbeat Online: • Flier of the week: Minor Authority at the Gothic. • Talking during shows: the musicians’ perspective — Eric Shiveley. • Talking during shows: the musicians’ perspective — Kurt Ottaway. • Talking during shows: the musicians’ perspective — John Common. • Talking during shows:…

Denver Blogs: You’re off the hook, chubbies

A daily stroll through the Mile High Web. Send tips. RIP, Anti-Gym, the home of “no chubbies.” (Denver Egotist, via 5280) If you’ve been counting the days until diving into a career as an oil-shale developer, slow down. The man in the big hat isn’t so sure about all that…

Africa dances tonight at the Colfax Event Center

An arm of Urban Skye, a local collective seeking to help “revitalize the urban soul” by hosting cultural and spiritual salons and forums and fostering service projects, the Worldview Film Series meets on the last Thursday of every month with the goal of opening eyes to global issues through film…

Denver circa 1984, when Ernie Bjorkman was king and Reagan was cool

Ah, remember Denver in the ’80s? This television clip from November 1984 should jog your memory: Right-wing amendments, Ernie Bjorkman ruling the airways on Channel 2, college students favoring Reagan over Mondale, voters considering bringing casinos to Colorado, families eating corn on the cob at Wyatt’s Cafeterias, and car dealers…

Phil Anschutz closing Baltimore Examiner

Westword’s December feature article about the Rocky Mountain News being put up for sale by E.W. Scripps featured a comment by Jim Monaghan, a spokesman for Denver gazillionaire Phil Anschutz, who’s in the newspaper game by dint of his assorted Examiner properties. After Monaghan told reporters that his boss wasn’t…

Cara DeGette on leaving the Colorado Independent

The Colorado Independent, a progressive online news operation, didn’t have much time to bask in the glow of last fall’s Democratic victories here and beyond. The November 11 blog “The Colorado Independent is Downsizing But Not Disappearing” noted that six CI staffers had been pink-slipped at the behest of the…

The Rocky Mountain News headline of the day

Remember the hullabaloo stirred up by a Rocky Mountain News reporter’s mega-awkward attempt to Twitter at a three-year old’s funeral? Reporter Lynn Bartels certainly does. Earlier today, she posted an item to the Rocky’s Live From the Legislature blog about state senator Dave Schultheis getting into the Twitter trend. The…

The Birdman is flying high. (No, not like that…)

Derailed Ink, the T-shirt-design crew behind “What Would Jay Cutler Do?” and “Eddie Royale with Cheese,” has unveiled a new shirt. And while it may pay tribute to a fairly marginal player in the Denver sports paradigm — coke-head-turned-role-player Chris “Birdman” Andersen — it’s their most wearable design yet. Click…

Could MediaNews Group furlough program come to the Denver Post?

Even as a Denver Post statement branded a Rocky Mountain News story about troubles at the broadsheet inaccurate, another memo associated with MediaNews Group, the Post’s owner, was turning heads on the left coast. The document, first published at Jim Romenesko’s Poynter Online address, revealed that employees at the nine…