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!

Today Is The First Day Of Fall

Today is the first day of fall, the Autumnal Equinox, which begins at 6:04 P.M. here in Denver. It has been unseasonably hot here until just recently, and so as you can see from the photograph on the left that I recently took at Washington Park, as of yet there are no signs of fall around Denver. However, all the local weather forecasters are saying that in the mountains, the leaves will be changing much earlier than usual this year due to the severe drought conditions we have been experiencing. And so, to check this out, yesterday afternoon I drove from Denver up to relatively nearby Echo Lake on Mount Blue Sky to see if this was true.

At lower elevations, the leaves were just starting to turn, but when I passed Echo Lake, which sits at an altitude of 10,600 feet (the road to the summit, at an altitude of 14,271 feet, is closed between Labor Day and Memorial Day) the aspens seemed to be close to peak colors, as seen in the photograph on the right. The most popular spot to see the fall colors around here is Guanella Pass, located above Georgetown, Colorado, which rises to an altitude of 11,669 feet. It is so popular that on weekends it is often bumper-to-bumper traffic the entire way, and people who park on the side of the road to take photographs or walk among the aspens are ticketed or towed, which is why I have never taken that drive during "leaf peeping" season.

My favorite spot to view the aspens in the fall is Boreas Pass, located above Breckenridge, Colorado, one of my favorite mountain towns. It is a former wagon road which was later converted to the site of a railroad connecting the towns of Como and Breckenridge. It is now an unpaved road for cars that reaches an altitude of 11,481 feet. The thing I like about this pass is that there are plenty of places to pull to the side of the road and walk around taking photographs, and although there are a fair number of cars on this road, it is not overwhelming. The aspens there are spectacular, with views across the valley to the tall peaks beyond. The photograph on the left, which I also took on Mount Blue Sky yesterday afternoon, reminds me of those views. This year I will not be able to head to Boreas Pass until early next week. Hopefully there will still be leaves on the trees when I get there. And if not, on the bright side, you can always head back to Breckenridge, walk around town, and then have a pint in one of the local bars. A win-win situation.

The 2026 Colorado English Motoring Conclave

My friend Mark is a member of the Rocky Mountain Jaguar Club. And no, he does not own a Jaguar. He just likes the cars, and his favorite event is the annual Colorado English Motoring Conclave, which takes place each year at Oak Park in Arvada, Colorado, just to the northwest of Denver and where enthusiasts display over 500 British cars and motorcycles. My sister Susan and I decided to join Mark at this year's event, which seemed to take many hours to get to, due to Interstate 70, the main route to the park, being closed for repairs. We had to take a roundabout way to get there, but get there we did, and I was very impressed with the festival. Mark introduced us to his fellow Jaguar Club members, some of whom can be seen in the photograph on the left. They were all very friendly, and interesting to talk with, and after a lunch under their tent we walked around looking at the cars.

We started with the Jaguars, two of which can be seen in the photograph on the right. Models ranged from the 1920s through the present. Mark has always wanted to own a Jaguar but has actually been warned off buying one by some of the club members themselves, citing mechanical issues, the difficulty with obtaining parts, and high insurance rates. And, of course, Jaguars in good condition are very expensive. The alternative is buying a car in poor condition and restoring it, which would take a lot of time and experience in restoring old cars. I myself am not much of a car person. I mainly just want a vehicle that can reliably take me from point A to Point B. I do remember once going to the Chicago Automobile Show years ago with my parents and admiring an XKE Jaguar. The sticker on the window said the suggested retail price was $6,000, and we all wondered who could possibly afford to pay that much for a car. Of course, that was MANY years ago.

After the Jaguars, we looked at all the other British cars, including MGs, Austin-Healeys, Triumphs, Bentleys, Aston Martins, Morrises, Rolls Royces, you name it. In my opinion, the best were the older models, such as the one in the photograph on the left. I was amazed at how perfect most of these older models looked. It must take a lot of work to get them into that condition. And a garage to make sure they stay that way. All in all, it was a very enjoyable afternoon, and the weather was perfect for the event - sunny with temperatures in the 70s. And I actually made it back home in less than 3 hours. What could be better than that?

Denver Oktoberfest Is Here!

Yesterday afternoon my sister Susan and I visited Denver Oktoberfest, which takes place on Upper Larimer Street in the Ballpark neighborhood, just a few blocks from Coors Field. This neighborhood is hipster central, and so there is always a huge turnout of 20-somethings for this event, most of them carrying huge steins of beer with them. This festival features stein hoisting, keg bowling, music, and, of course, lots of food and drink. There were two stages, one at the festival's entrance on 20th Street, where a stein hosting contest was going on, and the other at the upper end of the festival at 22nd Street, which was featuring music. Rap music, to be precise. One would expect traditional German music at Oktoberfest, but then again, considering the younger crowd in attendance, I suppose festival organizers felt rap music would be better suited to hipsters than accordion music.

While we were there, a stein hoisting contest was taking place with a group that were all wearing Lederhosen and those funky looking German hats, as seen in the photograph on the right. The MC kept telling everyone that if you dropped your steins, you would have to clean up the mess yourself. I had to wonder if there might have been some ugly stein hoisting incident the previous evening or something. There were a surprising number of people walking around together wearing Lederhosen and Dirndls, and I saw one group dressed like the ones in the photograph trying to get into Scruffy Murphy's Irish Pub with full steins of beer. The bouncer told them the steins had to be empty to enter the bar, and so one of them suggested having a chugging contest at the entrance so they could get in. We didn't wait around to see who the winner was.

And yes, there was indeed a stand selling that hallmark of traditional German cuisine, Das Turkey Legs. I like to joke that all the unsold turkey legs from the previous year are defrosted in the spring and then refroze and defrosted throughout the summer for each festival, ending the cycle during the various Oktoberfests, with the remainder refrozen until next year. Of course, I know they really wouldn't do that, right? Right? In any case, it was fun to walk around, do some peoplewatching, and take in the festival. And for all of you Oktoberfest fans out there, the Denver Oktoberfest continues today through 6:00 P.M. and next Friday through Sunday, too. Be there or be square, as we hipsters say.