Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

There’s been a bit of bandying lately at RTD over whether or not the region’s mass-transit machine needs to apologize to its constituents, many of whom were left high and anything but dry during the recent succession of blizzards and their aftermath. Should we say “sorry,” they ask? Wasn’t it…

Heads or Tails

Coin collecting is known as the “Hobby of Kings,” while individuals who take the pastime to scientific levels are called “numismatists.” They study not only currency but also the intricacies of payment and debt throughout time. Judging by a recent police report, it’s unclear into which category the suspect it…

False Gold

The documentary Black Gold, which is touring the country and was shown in Denver and Boulder last month, fashions itself the Fast Food Nation of the coffee industry, contrasting the excesses of the western caffeine craze with the plight of Ethiopian coffee farmers to illustrate the inequities stirred into all…

More Messages: The Works

The latest Message column focuses on Try-Works, a blog whose mission includes bashing the bashers of firebrand CU professor Ward Churchill. In the beginning, the overseer of the page used the pseudonym “John Moredock” — but thanks to the efforts of anti-Churchill gadfly Grant Crowell (pictured), Moredock was recently revealed…

The Mouth That Roared

All of the couches in DC10 are white leather. But the couch in the middle of the nightclub is the only one shaped like a circle. Inside that circle sits a table, and on the last Wednesday of December, on that table sat some expensive champagne. Several Denver Nuggets were…

Try Again

“John Moredock,” the pseudonymous scribe behind Try-Works, a blog at TryWorks.org, never minced words when it came to slamming the media. Consider a November 29, 2006, post that lambasted a piece by the Rocky Mountain News’s editorial-page editor. Riffing on the item’s subtle title — “Fuck Vince Carroll” — Moredock…

On the Move

Living in Denver is suddenly hip, what with Allen Iverson, The Real World and the 2008 Democratic National Convention coming here. And now this city is the landing spot for an international supercouple: Danny de Zayas and Nina Barry. “We’re just excited to explore a new city,” Nina tells Westword…

Bus-ted

Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to frolic on city buses. Paleolithic paintings from the Lascaux cave in France clearly depict nomadic hunter-gatherers sitting in orderly rows on a giant stone slab the size of a bus, with the one in front wearing a wild boar as a…

Letters to the Editor

“The Pleasures of Your Company,” Jared Jacang Maher, January 11 Whose Pleasure, Dudes? Well, thanks for letting me know never to spend a dime at Pleasures, due to its association with Mike Wheeler. This poor excuse for a human being seems to have no other goal than the degradation of…

Saves the Day

From time to time, the space that we devote to a story in print just doesn’t do the subject justice. Such is the case with Drew Bixby’s piece this week focusing on Daytrotter.com, which is why we’ve opted to post the rest of his interview here in its entirety. When…

Hail to the Chef

In a Denver Post article published today, Representative Tom Tancredo’s decision to consider a presidential bid (symbolized by his plan to form an exploratory committee) was described as a “quixotic quest,” and that’s a nice way of putting it. Granted, Tancredo, whose announcement about the committee was overshadowed everywhere but…

Ice, Ice, Baby

At least the city doesn’t play favorites with snow removal — or lack thereof. The block of Fairfax Street that’s now home to the Hickenlooper family is a rutted mess. Ditto for the block of South Clarkson where Governor Bill Ritter is still in residence. The spokeswoman for the Department…

A Toast to Toast

Toast is the greatest breakfast bar in the world. Am I being a bit hyperbolic here? Yes. I know I shouldn’t say it’s the best in the world because I haven’t yet been everywhere in the world. I shouldn’t even say it’s the best in Colorado because it’s conceivable that…

Underdog Has His Day

There’s more than a few million bucks on the line when former federal auditor Bobby Maxwell (pictured) squares off against an Oklahoma energy giant in Denver’s federal courthouse this week. At stake is nothing less than the integrity of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the future of its…

More Messages: Nuggets Shooter

Since arriving in Denver, new Nugget Allen Iverson has been on his best behavior — but his bad-boy reputation remains intact, as the folks at Saturday Night Live understand. The venerable show’s January 13 edition opened in typical fashion — with a routine needling George W. Bush. Will Forte’s been…

No Tell Hotel

Welcome to the first installment of blog category #258, or, as it’s known to civilians, Done Got Burgled. It is here that we hope to dredge life from the Denver police blotter by reporting on crimes and arrests that shape our city — or at least malform it in some…

Nature Calls

Before delving into Episode 10, I have a bone to pick with AOL’s “TV Squad” blog. According to this entry, The Real World is eyeing Sydney for its first international outing since London in 1995. Wikipedia has already confirmed that Sydney will be the next city ravaged by reality television,…

Gorillas in the Mist

“It’s none of your fuckin’ business, asshole. What? You just walk up to strangers and start tellin’ them what to do? Is that it?” The setting: Morrison’s tiny Sinclair station early Sunday afternoon, by one of the four gas pumps. The speaker: a young tough with light stubble on his…

today

This photograph, snapped at 4:12 p.m. January 14 on the 4100 block of Navajo, captures a handyman pop-top making creative use of recycled billboard shrink-wrap plastic. The structure seems to be occupied, although it also seems to be in violation of about a dozen codes — a status that inspired…

Ride ’em, Cowboy!

Several friends of mine had plans to attend the Stock Show this evening but have chosen not to because of the bitter cold, opting for the warmth and comfort of their homes instead. Lame. If only the organizers of the National Western Stock Show were taking advantage of the bitter…

Chairman of the Board

What, you mean that you don’t have a reality show? Barely a week goes by here at the Westword office without our receiving a press-release alerting us to so-and-so’s hot reality show about life in the crazy world of, say, ride-pimping or labia-piercing. So we were surprised that we were…

Coming Up Short

President Dubya wants to send more troops to Iraq, but he doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to federal employees who say we need more boots on the ground right here –— specifically, more correctional officers in federal prisons, where the level of assaults is rising as staffing rosters…