RTD To The Rescue

As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, someone recently sideswiped my car, which was sitting at the time in its spot in the parking lot of my condo building, requiring me to take it to an auto body shop to replace the front bumper. And so, being without a car for almost a week, I have been depending on the RTD, aka the Regional Transportation District, which operates Denver's buses and light rail trains, to get around town. In my opinion, RTD has done a lot to improve public transportation in Denver over the years, especially with its light rail system. And living in a condo building just a few doors down from the train station, as seen in the photograph on the left, it makes it very easy to get around the city. While my car has been in the shop, I have been able to attend Oktoberfest in the Ballpark neighborhood, as well as the last Rockies home game of the season via a 20-minute train ride. There have been complaints about the lack of policing of the trains and light rail stations, as well as the delay in completing the light rail system promised in a voter approved "FasTracks" plan, but it seems to me RTD has done everything possible to deal with these issues.

The system's biggest critic, ironically enough, is a former chairman of RTD, Jon Caldara. Caldara hosts a current event's show on KBDI-TV PBS 12 here in Denver called Devil's Advocate with Jon Caldara. I remember watching this show when he stated that if he was ever chairman of RTD again, he would immediately close down the entire light rail system and mothball the trains. A system that people, especially those who cannot afford a car, depend on every day. And keep in mind that when Denver was experiencing tremendous growth, the city was encouraging transit-oriented developments (TODs), which resulted in many planned use developments around these light rail stations, giving people an easy commute to work. Can you imagine the chaos if someone came in and just eliminated light rail service to these TODs? And more importantly, how the hell would people who don't own cars or don't want to hassle with parking get to the ballpark? Not to mention Denver Bronco games. Talk about chaos.

The Chicago White Sox (Not To Mention The Chicago Cubs) Are In The Playoffs!

I watched the final game of the regular season on Rockies.TV yesterday afternoon with my friend Mark, a contest between my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, and the Colorado Rockies. It was played at Rate Field in Chicago, as seen in the photograph above. The White Sox won the game 4-2. It was fun to watch, but lacked the drama I was hoping for, since the Sox lost to the Rockies 9-6 the previous day, ending their chance to win the American League Central Division. If they had won that game as well as yesterday's, they would have finished in first place, since the Cleveland Guardians lost to Kansas City Sunday. But no matter - the White Sox still made the playoffs and will play the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Series, which starts on Tuesday. If the Sox win that series, they will play the Cleveland Guardians, the team that beat them by just 1 game to win the AL Central, in the American League Division Series. As for their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, they will face the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday. If they win that series, they will face the Milwaukee Brewers, who won the NL Central by 14 games over the Cubs. And how far will the White Sox and Cubs go in the playoffs? I myself think that the Sox will beat Houston and have an even chance of beating the Guardians. If they make it to the American League Championship Series, I will be thrilled. Getting that far would be a tremendous achievement for a team that lost a record 121 games only two years ago. Thank you, Pope Leo! As for the Cubs, they are pretty evenly matched with the San Diego Padres, and could very well beat them, but their next opponent would be the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished with the best record in the Major Leagues this year with 103 wins. Good luck with that, North Siders.

A Tale Of Two Oktoberfests

I really wanted to go to Breckenridge Oktoberfest this year, which is taking place this weekend up in Breckenridge, Colorado, but my car is in the shop having the front bumper replaced after it was sideswiped, and so I have been limited to where Denver's public transportation will take me. Which yesterday turned out to be Weekend Two of Denver Oktoberfest. Which is all well and good, of course. I must say, the crowd was much larger than last week, and the event was very lively. But there is something about being up in the mountains, with all the leaves turning to gold and so many people in traditional German folk costumes strolling up and down the street that makes the experience very special, like actually being in Bavaria. But it was still fun to walk around at Denver Oktoberfest, do a bit of peoplewatching and see everyone having fun, as seen in the photograph on the left.

Just like last week, traditional German folk music was not being played at Denver Oktoberfest. There was not an accordion in sight. However, this week, instead of rap music, the Denver Dolls were performing. This is a group that has been around Denver for a long time, mostly singing songs from back in the 1940s. I remember seeing them perform once at Denver's Mercury Cafe dressed as WACs like The Andrews Sisters, singing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," which was a lot of fun. It was good to hear them again, and at least they were wearing traditional German dirndls. Perhaps next year one of them could learn to play the accordion. 

However, up in Breckenridge, they have nothing but traditional German music, as seen in the photograph on the left that I took last year. And I must add that although a lot of people do dress up in lederhosen and dirndls at the Denver Oktoberfest, most of them are 20 something hipster types that live in the surrounding area. Up in Breckenridge, it seems like people of all ages dress up in traditional folk costumes, which really adds to the ambience. And for those of you whose car has not been sideswiped and the bumper detached, the last day of the 30th annual Breckenridge Oktoberfest takes place today from 11:00 until 5:00 on historic Main Street. And best of all, Those Austrian Guys will be performing at 11:30, 1:00, and 3:00 today. And I am willing to bet that it won't be rap music.

Private Rome

I just finished reading Private Rome, James Patterson's latest book with co-author Adam Hamdy. At least I think it is Patterson's latest book. It is copyrighted 2016, but Patterson has so many books out there written with various co-writers that I can't be sure. And does he actually write these books, or does he just edit the co-writer's work? I have no idea, but frankly don't care, since all I care about is the story itself. In any case, a while back I read Private #1 Suspect, which had been sitting on my bookshelf for years. It was okay, nothing extra, but I saw Private Rome featured at the library in Stuart, Florida and decided to give it a try. And it is actually pretty good. Jack Morgan, the head of an international private investigation firm, flies to Rome for the opening of his company's latest office. At the firm's opening party, the person he selected to run the office, Matteo Ricci, is found standing over the body of a dead priest with the murder weapon in his hand. Ricci claims not to remember anything, and Morgan starts an investigation into the killing. He soon learns that eight Vatican priests have died in the last few months, allegedly through natural causes, and that the latest death is connected to the others. Soon his team from the home office in LA arrives to investigate what appears to be a major scandal involving murdered priests, laundered money, and corruption at the Vatican Bank. I really enjoyed reading this novel and can recommend it to anyone looking for an absorbing international thriller. Pick up a copy at your local library today.

The Colorado Rockies Final Home Game Of The Season

I went to the Colorado Rockies final home game of the season at Coors Field yesterday afternoon with my sister Susan and friend Mark, seen in the photograph on the left. It was a bit of an inauspicious start for Colorado, with the Arizona Diamondbacks scoring 6 runs in the first inning and leading the Rockies by a score of 12 to 1 by the top of the 6th. But then the Rockies attempted a comeback, scoring 7 unanswered runs in the last 4 innings for a final score of 12 to 8. Not a victory, but the Rockies put up a fight and didn't quit, which I found quite impressive. The Rockies have lost 102 games so far this season and are now the fifth team in major league history to lose 100 games in a season four or more years in a row, the last team being the New York Mets from 1962 to 1965, an expansion team to replace the Dodgers and the Giants, who moved to California. The bright side is that the Rockies have improved significantly since last season, and the farm system is producing some promising rookies. It is just a matter of time until they become competitive again. How much time is anyone's guess.

The thing I like best about the Rockies final home game of the season is that after the last out, the entire team walks around Coors Field to thank the fans for their support, as seen in the photograph on the right. They started this tradition after the final home game in their first season back in 1993, the year they attracted 4,483,350 fans to the old Mile High Stadium. This year attendance at Coors Field was 2,222,915, thanks to a very nice ballpark and so many transplants from other cities here in Denver wanting to see their hometown teams. When the Cubs or the Dodgers come to Coors Field, virtually everyone in the ballpark is rooting for the opposing team.

And I must add that it is a really nice tradition for the players to walk around the park and shake hands with the fans and wave to them on the final home game of the season, but some players really go out of their way to thank the fans. For many years, Charlie Blackmon, a four-time All-Star who played for the Rockies from 2011 until his retirement in 2025, would be the last player to circle the ballpark, signing autographs, shaking hands and talking with the fans, taking his time to meet every fan he could. I thought that was just great. And now, this year, Hunter Goodman, a catcher who made his debut in 2023 with the Rockies and is a two-time All-Star, appears to be carrying on that tradition, as seen in the photograph on the left. He is arguably the best player on the team these days and yesterday I noticed that he too was greeting each fan, shaking hands, signing autographs, baseballs, hats, you name it, as seen in the photograph on the left. It is nice to see that there are players like that still around. And the Colorado Rockies next opponent? They will finish the season playing my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox are one game behind the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central, and this series against the Rockies at Rate Field in Chicago and the Guardians series against the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City will determine who finishes the season in first place. But it is not the drama I had been expecting. Yesterday the White Sox clinched a playoff spot no matter who finishes first in the AL Central and are the first team in major league history to go to the playoffs after consecutive 100 loss seasons. Holy Cow! Let the playoffs begin!

Walking The Historic Buchtel Boulevard Trail At Prairie Park

Someone sideswiped my car when I was in Florida, knocking off part of the front driver's side bumper, requiring me to drop it off yesterday morning to be repaired. Since the car repair shop is only a mile or so away, I walked back to my condo along the Historic Buchtel Boulevard Trail at Prairie Park, as seen in the photograph above. Which always reminds me of Diana Helper, who was a resident of Denver's University Park neighborhood for 60 years, a community activist, and wrote a monthly column titled "University Park News and Views" for the Washington Park Profile. She spent 30 years working to establish this park, which preserves a bit of the long-gone prairie along Buchtel Boulevard between Colorado and University Boulevards. Helper always attended the monthly University of Denver "Good Neighbors" meetings, which I began to attend as DU began planning a major development across the street from my condo building. As long-suffering blog readers know, I was the Finance Manager at the University of Denver Bookstore and worked there for almost 30 years before the store was outsourced. Each month store managers would meet with the Vice Chancellor for Business and Financial Affairs, and I couldn't help but notice that there was a huge map of the campus on the wall of his office, and right where my condo building is located was a light rail station and parking garage. DU's plans evidently included moving the station to where my building is located so that people getting off the train would have a dramatic view of DU and a gateway to the campus. I contacted Diana Helper, and she reassured me that no way would that ever happen, despite what DU wanted. Sadly, she is gone now, as is the Washington Park Profile, and the dramatic vision for that part of campus across the street has been significantly revised. Not surprising, since last year DU was $30 million under budget and has undergone a lot of budget cuts and layoffs as a result. In any case, Diana Helper did a lot for the University Park neighborhood and the City of Denver, and it is important to keep her memory alive.

Creepies And The Other 49

I read an article on the internet that listed the top 50 restaurants in the country the other day, and I took special note of 4 of them: Creepies in Chicago, Heretik and Milpero in Denver, and Leo's in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I checked each of their websites and confirmed what I already suspected: very weird food. Creepies menu offers beef tartare with mimolette gaufrettes and green garlic, corn crepe with chanterelles lovage and pecorino and other such items, which you can wash down with an elderflower bitter orange saison. I have no idea what most of these things even are. In Denver, Heretik offers hokkaido uni 'pan con tomate' as well as rotisserie chicken croqeutas with tobiko and perilla. And no beer on the menu. Can you bring your own, like Norm of Cheers fame did at a fancy art gallery opening in an old beer commercial? Let's hope. Milpero, also in Denver, offers an 18-course tasting menu that "stays true to the Mexican tradition," with "deep respect for masa." Eight guests are allowed at a time, the evening lasts 3 hours, and costs $225 per person, with beverage selection ranging from $125 to $500. Leo's, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a Thai and Malay inspired restaurant and bar with curated spirits and "low intervention" wines. They have items on the menu that I actually recognize, such as fried chicken and pork bellied bar steak, but state that most dishes rely on ingredients such as fish sauce and shrimp paste. Yum! And so, for all of you out there who live in Chicago, Denver, or Santa Fe, you now know where to dine tonight. No thanks necessary!