A Dangerous Man

I just finished reading A Dangerous Man, the latest Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel.  I really enjoy this series, and this book is just as good as the others.  The stories feature Elvis Cole, a Los Angeles private eye, and his silent partner Joe Pike, a mysterious former L.A. policeman and mercenary who you would always want to be on your team.  This time Cole and Pike try to find a young woman who has been kidnapped for unknown reasons, but which seems to involve the Mafia.  I really enjoyed this story, and finished reading it in just 3 days, which for me is pretty damn quick.  Pick up a copy today.

More Thanksgiving Nostalgia!

I have no idea if the above photograph of my mother Mary, sister Susan, and brother-in-law George was taken on Thanksgiving Day or not, but I do know it was taken in the dining room of Susan and George's townhouse up in Fort Collins, and that it was the occasion of some such festive event.  Whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or some other holiday, we were all together and happy, and that's what really counts.  Yesterday, it was just Susan and I - along with her two dogs, Tutu and Blackberry - having Thanksgiving dinner at my condo in Denver, and we were truly grateful to still have each other.  I would have taken a photo, but Susan refuses to let me photograph her these days.  And the fact that she is often holding a sharp knife in her hand when she tells me not to photograph her makes me think she might really mean it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sometimes I don't know what holidays my family are celebrating in old photographs, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that the photograph above of my sister Susan, brother-in-law George, and mother Mary was taken on Thanksgiving Day.  It was definitely a bright, sunny, and warm Thanksgiving, not the cold and snowy holiday we are celebrating today. Colorado can have a lot of extreme weather in just a few hours time, thanks to its elevation.  During the winter, it can approach 70 degrees one day, and the next be below zero.  Some years there can be almost no snow at all, and other years we get dumped on.  I hate to say it, but I think we are probably in for a nasty winter this year, based on the weather so far.  Which of course will not stop Coloradans from wearing shorts the entire time.  It must be the altitude that makes them crazy.

The Big Snowstorm

The weather forecasters predicted we would be getting a major snowstorm here in Colorado Monday night and Tuesday, and for once they were right. I drove up to Fort Collins Monday afternoon to take my sister Susan around on her errands, and the snow started up there around 1:00 in the afternoon.  By the time Susan and I went out to get food to bring back, the streets were snow-packed and slippery. I decided to stay over in Fort Collins to avoid a dangerous drive home, and when I woke up the next morning, the patio was covered in 16 inches of snow, as seen in the photograph on the left.

I shoveled the driveway a little bit at a time, cleared off the car, and went back inside to watch the weather reports.   The snow finally stopped, and the sun came out in the afternoon. I took Susan's dog Blackberry out on a walk (the first time in two days she was willing to go outside) and then headed home to start defrosting my Thanksgiving turkey. The roads were snow packed, but traffic was light and I got home in a timely fashion.  The only sour note is that my building does not plow the individual parking spaces, which put me in a "fowl" mood.  And yes, that is indeed a joke.  You get what you pay for.

Going Postal While Hiking The Highline Canal

A few Fridays ago I drove to Greenwood Village, a suburb about 20 minutes south of Denver, and hiked the Highline Canal trail, seen in the photograph on the left.  Greenwood Village is a pretty expensive community, with most if not all of the homes valued at well over a million dollars.  Several times, years ago, when I worked for the Highlands Ranch Post Office, they would send me to Greenwood Village to substitute for the regular rural carrier.  And I must tell you, it was never a pleasant experience.  It was a very complicated route, and it took over half the day just to sort the mail.  Then  I would head out to deliver that mail knowing it would take well into the evening to finish.  The route was more or less divided into three areas - huge homes with large pastures for horses; a woodsy area with homes set back in the trees; and a rather new area with homes that were absolutely enormous.  What do they do with all that space?  Rent rooms to students? Keep their horses in there?

Usually it was daylight when I delivered the mail to the homes with the horses, some of whom can be seen in the photograph on the right, but when I got to the homes in the woods, the sun was beginning to set, and I knew it would be a long night.  By the time I got to the neighborhood with the gigantic homes, called The Preserve, it was pitch black, and I still had a long way to go.  One time I remember having to get out of that subdivision to buy gas (out of my own pocket, by the way), since the tank was almost empty. I then had to return to finish delivering the mail.  It wasn't until after midnight when I finished, and keep in mind that you don't get paid by the hour, but by the route.  You get the same amount of money whether it takes you 2 hours or 12.  In short, the scenery and the weather were both very pleasant that recent Friday, but I spent the entire time thinking about how much I hated that damn job.  In that regard, I suppose this is more of a rant than a reminiscence.  Oh well.

The Anti Genius League

On a recent walk down Colfax Avenue here in Denver, I ran across the meeting place for the Anti Genius League, as seen in the photograph above.  I looked down the alley, half expecting to see a group of people standing in a circle, passing around a bottle, but was sadly disappointed. When I got home, I googled the Anti Genius League on my computer, hoping to see if I could find their meeting times (I was thinking I could make room in my schedule), but amazingly enough, nothing turned up.  I think this is the first time this has ever happened.  Until now, I have always believed Google knew everything. Still another one of my cherished beliefs destroyed. Sad, as Donald Trump likes to say.

A DU Kind Of Sunset

I took the above photograph of the sun setting over the University of Denver's Ritchie Center the other day from the balcony of my condo here in Denver.  The sky was a spectacular color, and the television weather forecasters, who feature sunset photographs on their nightly reports, say that it is the low angle of the sun that causes such dramatic results.  I guess that is one benefit of such short daylight hours, but happily, in less than a month the winter solstice will occur (get ready, all you Druids out there), and slowly but surely the days will begin to get longer.  Can't wait - no wonder the winter solstice was such a big deal back in pagan times.

A Stroll Across The DU Campus

I walked across the University of Denver campus - where I worked for almost 30 years as the Finance Manager of the DU Bookstore - this past week.  It's oldest building, University Hall, can be seen in the photograph on the left.  University Hall was built in 1890, but in the mid 1990s it was renovated and modernized, which took away it's interior Victorian charm, but did allow for such luxuries as electricity, heat, air conditioning, etc. People who worked  in that building were soft, not like our pioneer ancestors, but that's just my opinion.

On the way home, I took a photograph of the new student center being constructed, as seen in the photo on the right. This building is replacing the north side of the Driscoll Center, which was built in 1984, the year I started working at DU, and which housed a cafeteria, pub, student offices, and a new ballroom.  The old ballroom, located across the street in the south side of the Driscoll Center, was converted into the DU Bookstore, where I put in my time during those 30 years. My question is whether the name of the student center will be changed when construction is completed.  That is what happened when what was then called DU's CWC campus in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver was sold to Johnson and Wales University, and the Lowell Thomas Law Building, located on that campus and named after the famous broadcaster, was closed.  To the dismay of the Thomas family, the new building on the main campus was named the Frank H. Ricketson Jr. Law Building, and now houses the Sturm College of Law.  Another case of what have you done - or given money for -  lately?  The way of the world these days, it seems.

The Night Fire

I just finished reading The Night Fire, the latest detective novel by Michael Connelly.  Once again long time Los Angeles detective Harry Bosch teams up with Renee Ballard, an L.A. police detective who works the night shift out of the Hollywood division.  Bosch is now retired, and working cold cases in his spare time, and Ballard, with access to the resources of the police department, helps him out. In The Night Fire, Bosch is working both a cold case and a recent murder of a judge, while Ballard is helping with the cold case and also investigating the murder of a homeless man.  Connelly is a very good writer, who always tells a good story, and this book is no exception.  I would still be on the waiting list at the library for it, but Peter, my friend and former office mate at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, gave me an advanced reading copy, for which I am very grateful.  As for the rest of you, you better put your name on the waiting list now. Thanks Peter!

Denver's Central Platte Valley

I took the bus to Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore on East Colfax Avenue the other day, and from there walked downtown, finishing up at the light rail station in Denver's Central Platte Valley, seen in the photograph above.  When I first moved to Denver back in 1981, this area consisted of railroad yards and factories.  And now, virtually the entire area has been developed into pricey apartments, restaurants, bars, and retail.  I read in the Denver Post that the latest apartment tower, The Pullman (named after the Pullman car, no doubt), is about to open, with monthly rents starting at $2,785 per month.  Are there really enough people moving to Denver who can afford rents like that?  There are a lot of people already living here who can't afford to buy or rent even more moderately priced residences, and are either moving out of state or to other places in Colorado.  Perhaps everyone in the Central Platte Valley has 10 or 12 roommates to help pay the rent, like my old DU Bookstore co-worker Aziz had when he lived in Paris.  Sounds cozy.

Remembering The Hatch's Bookstore Gang

As long as I featured a 2005 college of my friends and coworkers at the University of Denver Bookstore yesterday, I thought I would follow up with a photograph of some of the Hatch's Bookstore gang, taken in the early 1980s.  Hatch's was a local Denver bookstore chain, and also had stores in Craig, Colorado, and Lawrence, Kansas.  I was the manager of the Hatch's in University Hills Mall, moving to Denver from Chicago in 1981 to take that position. Like many bookstore chains, Hatch's no longer exists, but it was a fun place to work while it lasted.  Going clockwise from the upper left in the photograph is Bruce, who later got a job as an archaeologist with the Wyoming Highway Department; Stuart, wearing Groucho glasses and who astute blog readers will recognize from Monday's post; Carie, who later worked as an editor for Random House and HarperCollins in New York; my ex-wife Lisa (I met here while working at the store), who is now a music teacher at an elementary school in San Francisco; and Maggie, who the last I heard was head of the Colorado Center for the Book.  I googled Carie Freimuth's name to find out which publishers she worked for, and was shocked to find that she passed away from a rare form of cancer last year at the age of 55.  Her obituary stated that she got an MBA from Columbia University, and that as an editor, she had worked with Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. What a career. And how sad to pass away at such a relatively young age.  It definitely puts things into perspective.

The Infamous Denver CowParade / DU Bookstore Collage

After I posted a blog last week about Denver's CowParade back in 2005, I remembered that I had done a collage that year featuring both cows from that event and the staff of the University of Denver Bookstore, where I worked as the Finance Manager for almost 30 years.  It only took a few days for me to remember this, since a copy of the photograph is sitting on one of my living room bookshelfs.  I also once did a Christmas collage featuring the staff, but God only knows where that photograph is stored. In any case, it is both fun and frightening to look at that collage, seen in all it's glory on the left. It is fun to remember those times and the people I worked with, but frightening to see how much younger we all looked back then.  Was there really a time when my mustache wasn't all white?  Hard to believe.  In any case, this collage was done before my friends and former co-workers Valarie and Bill, among others, started working at the store.  However, I later did a "Blurb book" called The Book on the DU Bookstore, which features portraits of them and the others as well.  Be sure to check it out at https://www.blurb.com/b/1230340-the-book-on-the-du-bookstore.

Dining At Mannie And Bo's With Stuart

I had dinner with my friend Stuart at Mannie and Bo's Pizzeria, located on South Golden Road in - you guessed it - Golden, Colorado.  We have been there before, and they serve excellent Chicago style, thin crust pizza, which is what we had last night.  Mannie and Bo's is a small, family run business, with a relaxed, neighborhood feel to the place.  It has lots of humorous, but corny signs on the walls, such as the ones Stuart is posing in front of in the above photograph.  Stuart and I have been there in the past to watch the Chicago Cubs play during the post-season.  It is definitely good to know where Chicagoans hang out in Golden, even if they are north siders.

The Most Haunted Building In Denver?

I drove past the Croke-Patterson-Campbell mansion the other day, located in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood, and stopped to take a photograph of it, since it is reputed to be one of Denver's most haunted buildings.  It was built in 1891, and was owned by a variety of different people until it became the Patterson Inn, a boutique hotel.  During renovations to turn it into a hotel, workers reported seeing the ghostly figures of children running around the place.  There have been other sightings of ghosts there, too. I have to say it certainly looks haunted.

Another haunted building was the Arapaho County Court House on Denver's 16th Street. During the summer of 1900, it was reported that the elevator doors would open up in the basement and ghosts would wander out and walk among the guards on duty there at night.  There was also reported to be unnatural lights and the smell of brimstone, leading to the conclusion that these were the very gates of hell. The building was eventually torn down, and later became the site of a hyperbolic paraboloid designed by architect I.M. Pei, marking the entrance to a department store.  Years later the building was converted into a hotel, which is now the Sheraton Denver Downtown, seen in the photograph on the right.  There have been no reports about seeing the gates of hell since the courthouse was torn down, but that building is now undergoing still another renovation.  Hopefully they won't be doing any remodeling in the basement.  It might awaken those damn (or should I say damned) spirits.

The Christmas Season Has Arrived. And Way Too Early, I Might Add...

The Christmas tree has gone up at Denver's Union Station, which in recent years has been remodeled into a collection of upscale bars, restaurants, and shops, including a branch of the Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I used to work as the bookkeeper. And therefore, at least here in Denver, the Christmas season has officially arrived - way earlier than ever before, at least as far as my faulty memory can tell. As can be seen in the photograph above, the tree is located in front of the Terminal Bar, which is named after a famous bar of the same name, which was located just down the street, and is now - sadly - the home of Jax Fish House. The old Terminal Bar, by the way, was a favorite hangout of beat generation author and poet Jack Kerouac, who I am sure would be horrified at the price of beer at it's recent incarnation.  I feel your pain, Jack. Believe me. And as for the early start of the Christmas season, it just means more time to be jolly, right?  Right?

Remembering Denver's CowParade

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I recently took a walk around downtown Denver, and eventually headed down 14th Street toward Civic Center Park.  As I was passing Territory Kitchen and Bar, located in the downtown Hilton Garden Inn, I noticed two cow sculptures on their patio, left over from Denver's CowParade back in 2005.  That was an event in which local artists painted those cows, which were then placed all over town, and afterwards auctioned off to raise money for charity.  I thought it was really a lot of fun, and the very next year, when I went to Florence, Italy, experienced the CowParade there, too.  Out of curiosity, I googled this event and found out that it is still taking place in cities around the world, this year in Salvador, Brasil. Good for them.  Check out the CowParade website at http://www.cowparade.com/.

The Blue Bear

I went for a walk around downtown Denver the other day, and decided to take the above photograph of the city's famous blue bear, an artwork by Lawrence Argent titled "I see what you mean." I have featured it before on this blog, but figured what the heck, why not do it again since I was passing by. The bear is located in front of Denver's convention center, and is wildly popular.  We even used to sell models of it (and maybe they still do) at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I used to work as the bookkeeper.  Sadly, Argent, a former University of Denver art teacher, passed away several years ago at the age of 60 after a liposuction procedure.  Call me old fashioned, but as far as I am concerned, undergoing any kind of elective surgery, especially plastic surgery, is just tempting fate.  My sister had a friend back in Chicago who died  in her 20s from an aneurysm during rhinoplasty (a nose job); a friend of mine's eyesight has never been the same after lasik eye surgery in Montreal; and my neighbor down the hall, who was perfectly healthy, died during a routine colonoscopy (they punctured something). Scary stuff.  And on that cheery note, have a nice day.

Fort Collins In The Snow

I  recently drove up during a snowstorm to my sister Susan's townhouse in Fort Collins, and decided to stay over for the night to avoid having to deal with the slick roads on the way back. The next morning I took Susan's dog Blackberry out for a walk.  It was a sunny and much more pleasant day, and we wound up walking all over the place, including the former farm next to Susan's complex.  I believe the couple who live there retired from farming, but kept a large track of land on which their home and outbuildings sit.  I took the above photograph of the entrance to their land.  Blackberry wanted to go full steam ahead, but I decided we should turn back before the two of us were arrested for trespassing.  Better safe than sorry is my philosophy, although I suspect Blackberry's is just the opposite.

The November Mutt of The Month

This month's Mutt of the Month has appeared on this blog before.  Whenever I walk the neighborhood and wind up on Denver's Old South Gaylord Street, this dog is usually lying in front of Reiver's, a restaurant and bar that has been at this location since I moved here back in 1981.  Either the dog belongs to someone who works there, or else to an extremely loyal customer.  It is obviously bored at having to stay there all day, and so any interruption - such as having it's photograph taken - is welcome.  It is nice to have such a willing subject. I only wish my sister Susan's two dogs Tutu and Blackberry were as willing to pose as this dog. Perhaps someday.  Dream on, as I always say.

Veterans Day!

Today is Veterans Day, which honors all who have served their country in the United States Armed Forces. In other countries this holiday is known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, and commemorates the end of World War I. That particularly horrible war ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month back in 1918.  My father Nelson was drafted in (I think)1944 at the ripe old age of 35 and served as a dentist on Okinawa.  He can be seen in the photograph above standing in front of an air force plane named Star Eyes.  This photo was taken when he visited my Uncle Jack (my mother Mary's brother), who was serving in the air force in the Philippines.  In addition to visiting Uncle Jack, my father also was trying to find out what happened to his first cousin, Adam Boysen, who was captured by the Japanese and forced to endure the Bataan Death March.  It turned out that Adam survived the death march, was put on a ship to Japan, along with other prisoners, and killed, along with most of the others, when it was torpedoed by an American submarine.  I think they call that friendly fire these days. Let's face it - war is horrible, even necessary ones.

Still More Nostalgia

I took the photograph on the left back when my parents and I were living in Country Club Hills, a suburb south of Chicago that had neither country clubs, hills, or even trees.  I suspect we were having a get-together for Peggy, my mother's best friend, who was visiting from Connecticut.  In the photo from left to right are Margaret White, my mother Mary, and Peggy.  The three of them grew up together in the south side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, and remained friends throughout their lives.  My mother always got a kick out of this photo because of the way she was looking at Peggy.  I believe it was taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s, before my parents moved to Stuart Florida.

The photograph on the right shows my mother (on the left) and Peggy at the beach back in the late 1930s.  I am not sure if it was Rainbow Beach on Chicago's south side or along the Indiana dunes, which was a popular spot for Chicagoan's to visit back then.  In any case, I did NOT take this photograph (how the hell old do you think I am?), and I am not sure who did, but am glad to have it.

Getting Together With Mark And Wally At Spanky's

I got together with my friends Mark (on the left in the photo) and Wally (on the right) last night at Spanky's, an "urban roadhouse" located just to the west of the University of Denver campus.  Wally, as regular blog readers know, was the Operations Manager at the University of Denver Bookstore before it was outsourced to Follett Higher Education Group, and Mark works at DU's Anderson Academic Commons (i.e. the library).  Wally, who says he hates to travel, has been traveling a lot lately - to Holland, Michigan to visit his brother and sister, to Washington D.C. for the annual Churchill Society conference, and will soon be heading to Montana to visit his friend and fellow woodworker up at his ranch.

Spanky's, by the way, was originally opened by Denver real estate developer David French, who I talked to once while taking real estate classes at the University of Denver, working on a class project concerning possible uses for Denver's old convention center.  He sold Spanky's many years ago, but it has remained a fixture in the DU area to this day, with one of the more reasonably priced happy hours ($4.99 burgers and $3.75 beers).  Not that I am a cheapskate or anything, but as far as I am concerned, this is my first choice for get-togethers.  Of course, it's the ambiance, not the price, that wins me over.  Yeah. Right.

A Mellow Day At The Denver Zoo

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I went to the Denver Zoo this past Tuesday afternoon to photograph Tatu, the new lion cub, and afterwards walked around to take a look at some of the other animals.  It was a very mellow day, sunny and 60 degrees, and not crowded at all.  Most of the people there were mothers with young children, although were also a surprising number of older people with young children, too.  Are the grandparents minding the children while the parents work, helping their kids to avoid paying for expensive childcare, or have they taken over raising their grandchildren because their kids can't or won't?  I was thinking of taking a survey, but I want to avoid a lifelong ban from the Denver Zoo, at least for now.

As usual, the leopard in the photograph on the right was staring out at the world again, no doubt wishing it could run free.  I have said it before and I will say it again - the Denver Zoo should find a large outdoor compound for this poor animal to run in, or else send it to a zoo that will.  Both the lions and tigers at the Denver Zoo have a relatively large space to roam, so I don't see why this panther shouldn't be given this same opportunity, too.

The cheetah in the photograph on the left does have a fairly large compound to run around in- or in the case of this animal, pace - but on this day it just seemed happy to sit on a high point, enjoy the sun, and survey it's area, which of course included me.  I have not seen this cheetah during my past few visits - I assume because it was either too hot or too cold for it to be outside. Fortunately, today was just right.  I just hope we continue to have days like these, at least from now through February or March.  Dream on, McDuff.

The Baby Lion Cub Leaves The Maternity Den!

I went to the Denver Zoo this past Tuesday afternoon and was pleased to see that the new baby lion cub at the zoo, along with the rest of his extended family, are no longer confined to what one zoo volunteer referred to as the maternity den, and are now roaming Predator Ridge, the main lion compound.  This is a good thing, because thanks to the angle of the sun, it was very hard to see (and more importantly, photograph) that lion cub. And happily, the cub (recently named Tatu) was more than happy to pose for the camera, as seen in the photograph on the left.

And just like in the maternity den, Tatu seems to have strongly bonded with his father, Tobias, and follows him around everywhere, as can be seen in the photograph on the right.  At first I thought the Denver Zoo had named the cub after that character from Fantasy Island, whose signature shout was "Da Plane!, Da plane!," but in point of fact that guy's name was actually Tattoo.  I still say zoo visitors should be allowed in to the compound to interact with this lion family, but of course, nobody ever listens to me. I wonder why?

Crucible

I just finished reading Crucible, the latest Sigma Force novel by James Rollins.  This time, a non-profit organization headquartered in Spain has invented a computer with artificial intelligence so advanced that it would revolutionize the world.  And of course, all the most evil organizations known to man want to get their hands on it.  Several family members of Sigma Force agents are kidnapped and threatened with torture and death unless this computer program is turned over to them, and the story proceeds from there.  I enjoyed reading Crucible, and recommend that you pick up a copy at your local library.  However, just like his friend and fellow adventure novelist Steve Berry did with his most recent book, Rollins makes extremist right wing Catholics the villains in this story. What's the deal with that?  How about making extremist right wing Californians the bad guys for once?  I'm just sayin.'

Another Weird Self Portrait

My sister Susan and I attended Bohemian Nights at New West Fest (Yes! - that is it's real name) in Old Town Fort Collins a few months back, where I took the self-portrait (a "selfie" in today's language) seen on the left.  The festival featured a number of music stages with very loud and frankly annoying bands, but was well attended, and also had many booths featuring various products that most people would never ever want or need.  After walking around the festival for half an hour or so, we walked back to my car, passing a Tibetan imports store on College Avenue, which displayed the statue in the photo out front.  While I was busy taking just the right image, Susan remarked that I am one truly weird individual. That is very much like the pot calling the kettle black, but not a surprise after all these years.

Watching The Broncos At Old Chicago With Stuart

My friend Stuart and I took a few laps around Denver's Washington Park yesterday afternoon before heading to the Old Chicago Restaurant and Taproom on Colorado Boulevard to have dinner and watch the end of the Broncos football game.  And - amazingly enough - the Broncos actually won, doing so with a quarterback who was making his first start in the NFL.  Of course, they were playing the Cleveland Browns, an equally horrible team, but a win is a win.  No doubt Broncos fans will start talking Superbowl once again this week. Never underestimate the optimism (or gullibility) of the Colorado sports fan.

A Night At The Museums With Mark

Last night was Denver's annual Night at the Museums, when from 5:00 P.M. until 10:00 in the evening almost all of the city's museums are open to the public, free of charge.  Since most of these places charge around $12 or so for admission, this is a real deal.  My friend Mark and I took full advantage of this by visiting the Molly Brown House, built in 1887 and home of the "unsinkable Molly Brown" of Titanic fame; the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Arts, which honors artist Vance Kirkland, who for many years was head of the University of Denver's Art Department; and last but not least, the Forney Transportation Museum, which is currently featuring an exhibit of classic Jaguars (the cars, not the animals).  Mark is a big fan of Jaguars, and belongs to the Rocky Mountain Jaguar Club.  I took the photograph on the left of him posing in front of his dream car, a Jaguar model something something something (as you can tell, I am something of a car buff myself).

I mentioned to Mark that this was the very same car driven by Inspector Morse, the title character in that British crime drama that takes place in Oxford, England.  And when I looked at the license plate on the back of the car, I saw that this fact was also known to it's owner, as seen in the photo on the right.  I like Morse because he was grumpy, and always insisted to Detective Lewis, his assistant, that they needed to head to a local pub for a pint or two, in order to help their thinking. This series was based on the novels of Colin Dexter, and Dexter felt that John Thaw, who played the role of Chief Inspector Morse, was the perfect personification of his character, so much so that when it became known that Thaw was dying, Dexter killed off Morse in his book The Death of Morse. Thaw himself starred in that final episode of the Inspector Morse series.  A truly great tribute to Thaw.

The First Friday Of November Art Walk

I went to the First Friday Art Walk on Santa Fe Drive here in Denver last night, and this month's event definitely had a Day of the Dead theme to it, especially at the Museo de las Americas, which is located in the heart of the district.  There were lots people walking around with faces painted like skulls, and many were elaborately dressed like La Calavera Catrina, who has become an iconic symbol of that festival.  There were even Aztecs performing at the event, such as the two in the photograph on the left. I understand that the Aztecs were very fond of decorating with skulls, and so it is only fitting that they were represented, too.

As for the art, there was some good photography to see this month, especially the photographs by Suzi Moore McGregor, currently on display at the Spark Gallery.  The photographs she took in India were especially good, and I really liked her artist statement that basically said that she wants to keep exploring the world and take photographs of it until she dies.  That would be my ideal retirement goal, too.  Be sure to check out her web site at http://www.suzimcgregor.com/).  There was also other good photography on display, too, but to be honest, it was so damn cold that whenever I went into a gallery, I was more interested in warming up than contemplating art.  At my age, heat trumps art every time.  Is it finally time to move down to my sister Susan and my condo in Stuart, Florida, at least during the winter?  And give up all that rent we our getting from our tenants?  I'm thinking, I'm thinking.

All Saint's And All Soul's Day

Yesterday was All Hallow's Eve (Halloween), today is All Saint's Day, and tomorrow is All Soul's Day, three Christian holidays that in Mexico are celebrated as a multi-day holiday called the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).  To me, seeing people dressed up as skeletons to celebrate Dia de los Muertos seems a bit macabre, but a day of remembrance for those who have departed, which is what All Soul's Day is about, makes perfect sense.  Plus, I get to use some of the cemetery photographs I have taken over the years. Sounds like a "win win" to me.