A long, heady trip through Denver’s pop-culture wasteland

Run, children! It’s Blinky the Clown! Along with being the world’s number-one source on all things geeky, the widely read blog Boing Boing clearly has a soft spot for Denver, courtesy of blog co-editor Mark Frauenfelder, who grew up around here and who's apparently been feeling a bit nostalgic lately...

By Michael Roberts

September 11, 2008

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Run, children! It’s Blinky the Clown!

Along with being the world’s number-one source on all things geeky, the widely read blog Boing Boing clearly has a soft spot for Denver, courtesy of blog co-editor Mark Frauenfelder, who grew up around here and who's apparently been feeling a bit nostalgic lately. On Monday he posted a lengthy travelogue of a recent visit to Casa Bonita, and then followed that up on Tuesday by launching, of all things, an open conversation on Denver pop culture.

So began an epic thread even by Boing Boing’s high-traffic standards – as of earlier this morning, 197 comments have been posted, reminiscing about all the great stuff Denver childhoods are made of, from Celebrity Sports Center to Teletunes to Cinderella City to the Yum Yum Tree to Wax Trax to Rainbow Music Hall to Ferrell's Ice Cream Parlor to Funtastic Nathans… we could go on, but our heads might explode in a profusion of Jolly Ranchers, sopapillas and Betamaxes of Blinky’s Fun Club birthday parties. (Learn more about Blinky in a piece about a documentary profile of him, accessible here.) Westword even gets a few shout-outs. (We remember you, too, “S2StewS2” and “DeuceMojo”! Never forget what we had!).

Check out the nutty trip down memory lane – and while you’re at it, pop your Warlock Pinchers cassette into your ghetto blaster and crank that motherfucker up. -- Joel Warner

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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