Five keys to guarding a woman in pick-up basketball

“Thanks for the game, little man.” “Finally I get to guard someone who’s shorter than me!” — the Chick Who Shut Me Down in Pick-Up Basketball the Other Day If you’re anything like me – that is, built like Dakota Fanning – you know the travails of being small. Aside…

John McCain schedules KHOW appearance

John McCain dressed like Joe the Plumber. The morning after Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s final (thank goodness) presidential “debate” against Democratic standard-bearer Barack Obama, KHOW/630 AM is running promos announcing that McCain will appear tomorrow, October 17, during the afternoon-drive show helmed by Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman. This…

Buttoned Up: Don’t cry, Pat Schroeder!

Couldn’t she have at least looked at the camera? Editor’s note: To get you in the mood for ballot-casting, The Latest Word is kicking off each weekday between now and the November 4 election with Buttoned Up, a look at a political button from my family’s extensive collection… Denver’s own…

From the week of October 16, 2008

“In the Bag,” Adam Cayton-Holland, October 9 Bag Man I’ve found myself, recently, turning first to Ask a Mexican, then Adam Cayton-Holland’s column — and then I might read more of the paper if time permits. (And if I need more time on the crapper.) With “In the Bag,” the…

The Peak is forced to pull up its tent stakes on Block 162

The prominent mega-tent that has occupied much of the once-blighted Block 162 at the corner of 15th and California streets since June is coming down much earlier than expected. Known as the Peak, the fifty-foot-high, 20,000-square-foot carpeted and air-conditioned venue hosted movie premiers, concerts and the unofficial post-presidential acceptance-speech party…

How Adam Cayton-Holland survived a cougar attack!

From my many interactions with readers, it’s quite clear that I’m a working-class hero. “Let me buy you a drink, What’s So Funny,” they all say, often in unison or song. “You’re a hell of a swell guy, goddamnit, and you put into words what I’m feeling. It makes me…

Ryan Frazier puts his job on the line with Amendment 47

Ryan Frazier is in fine spirits, all things considered. He’s at ease here, glad-handing and flashing warm smiles, at the clubhouse of the Heritage Eagle Bend 55-plus gated subdivision in southeast Aurora, where the grass is country-club green and the folks are Republican red. It’s as if he hadn’t read…

The Westword.com blog shortcut, October 15 edition

A sign of the times. It’s a new concept to help you find all of our fresh Westword.com content quickly and easily: blog bullets! Today in Cafe Society: • A Wynkoop Brewing Co. essay contest, timed to commemorate the joint’s twentieth anniversary. • Oskar Blues’ Obama-centric poster for Dale’s Pale…

Top ten worst Denver graffiti crew names

In this week’s Off Limits we note our excitement at discovering that the Metro Area Graffiti Task Force has posted a comprehensive list of every known gang and graffiti crew in the region. Now graffiti laymen can discover just what the scrawled tags across the city actually mean. According to…

The Tiger Lovers behind Ryan Frazier’s Right to Work Crusade

Amendment 47 has the eye of the tiger. While “Ryan Frazier Puts His Job on the Line With Amendment 47,” this week’s cover story, focuses on Ryan Frazier, the 31-year-old Aurora city councilman who’s backing the aforementioned amendment — an issue on the November ballot that would prohibit mandatory dues…

Ethiopians for Obama: A new political voice in Denver

A logo from the Ethiopians for Obama website. This fall, Tsilat Petros will vote in her first American presidential election. She’s 29 and has lived in the United States since she was a young girl but only became a citizen three years ago. Now she’s one of dozens of Ethiopian…

Denver-born director David Fincher’s new ad is among Nike’s best

Denver-born director David Fincher. I just stumbled on the perfect excuse to share the new Nike ad that’s been buzzing around the sports world since it ran during Sunday football last weekend. Turns out the Nike spot, called “Fate,” was directed by Denver-born filmmaker David Fincher, heretofore known for directing…

KUNC experiments with a one-day fund drive

KUNC comes up with a listener-friendly fundraising method. There are few things more depressing for public-radio fans than tuning in a station and hearing a fundraising pitch, as I did today when dialing to KCFR, Colorado Public Radio’s news arm. After all, that probably means the rest of the week’s…

A Carmelo Anthony sighting in fan-made T.I. video

Carmelo gets name-checked by Lil’ Wayne. One of the many great things about YouTube is the ease with which fans can create their own music videos. A prime example is the clip below for “Swagga Like Us,” from the massive new T.I. album Paper Trail, which comes complete with a…

Q&A with Sarah Vowell

Sarah Vowell. Photo by Bennett Miller. Sarah Vowell, who visits the LoDo Tattered Cover on Monday, October 20 (click here for more details), has one of the more eclectic résumés around. National Public Radio essayist. Voice of Violet Parr, the emerging teen powerhouse in the 2004 Pixar animated favorite The…

Nine-year-old author doesn’t know s*#t about talking to girls

A real player would have gone home with Ellen. digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/arts_culture/Nine_Year_Old_Boy_Writes_Book_on_How_to_Talk_to_Girls’; You may have read recently that HarpersCollins has signed a deal to publish Castle Rock fourth-grader Alec Greven’s manuscript, How to Talk to Girls, which began as a class project at Greven’s Soaring Hawk Elementary. And if you’re…

The Westword.com blog shortcut, October 14 edition

Conan O’Brien and the Flobots’ Andy Guerrero share a fashionable moment. Blogs away! Backbeat Online entertains and informs about stuff like the Flobots’ appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Also on display: a preview of Roe’s new recording, news about free tracks by Hello Kavita and a look at…