Tom Skilling Retires!

Yesterday was Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling's last day at WGN Channel 9 in Chicago, retiring after 45 years. He started at the station back in 1978, when I was still living in Chicago, and thanks to the advent of cable television and WGN becoming what was then known as a Superstation, I was still able to continue watching the WGN News at 9 and Tom Skilling, not to mention all the White Sox and Cubs games, after I moved to Denver. Sadly, the days of WGN as a Superstation ended, as did baseball games on over-the-air television, but due to the rise of the internet, I have been able to continue watching the WGN news and Skilling's weather forecasts, as well as the White Sox and Cubs broadcasts (for a small fortune, I might add) on MLB.com. In any case, Tom will be missed, but he is, after all, pretty damn old (one year older than me, actually) and deserves to finally get a bit of leisure time. Have a happy retirement Tom!

Late Winter At The Zoo Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the Denver Zoo Monday afternoon to take a few photographs, and was hoping to get a snapshot of Siska, the baby orangutan born to mother Eirina and father Berani. I was not able to get a decent shot the last time I was there, and this time I only got a side view, as seen in the photograph on the left. Siska is now 6 months old, and yet still, its mother holds her in her arms 24/7, unlike the mother of the new orangutan baby, who I once saw hold out her newborn in front of zoo visitors for everyone to see. Now THAT is a proud mother. As for Siska, it took until the end of December for zoo caretakers to get close enough to get a hair sample for a paternity test. Evidently, there were two male orangutans who could have been the father, and it was none other than talk show host Maury Povich who announced the results of that test. Since he is involved, I imagine that there are probably lawsuits and controversies involved in all of this. Even orangutans have complicated lives these days.

As for the father, Berani, I took the photograph of him on the right hanging out in a hammock with who I assume is Cerah, now 5 years old and also fathered by Berani. Sadly, Cerah's mother died soon after she was born, and Berani took over the child raising duties, to the surprise of everyone, especially zoo caretakers, since this is unheard of in the wild. That is probably why she likes to hang out with her dad so much. In any case, it was a fun day at the zoo, sunny with temperatures in the 60s, although with a bit of wind. Yesterday, of course, there was a morning snowstorm, and it was cold as hell, so I believe all the orangutans were inside the ape house, keeping warm and watching Animal Planet on cable television. Do you think living at the zoo has spoiled these creatures? Nah. No way.

Late Winter At The Zoo

It was sunny and 65 degrees yesterday afternoon, and so I decided to head to the Denver Zoo to take a few photographs. The four bachelor lions were in the small compound at the back of Predator Ridge, where I took the photo on the left. That lion was looking me straight in the eye, but seemed to be licking its lips, which was a bit disconcerting. I hope they are still feeding these creatures. I know it costs a lot, but when the lions start drooling over zoo visitors, one has to wonder. After all, they have signs up all over the zoo stating that it takes 34 million dollars a year, or some such figure, to feed these animals. Which, lets face it, is a lot.

The tiger in the photograph on the right was pacing back and forth in its compound when I first arrived, but after coming back from checking out the other tiger next door, it was up on the catwalk surveying the zoo grounds, as seen in the photo on the right. The zoo recently welcomed Viktor, a 12-year-old Amur tiger from a zoo in North Dakota, after his incessant whining about the cold up there, and zoo officials hope it will mate with Nikita, a 13-year old female Amur tiger, producing cubs to help the species survive, and also bring crowds, and big bucks, to the zoo, hopefully earning enough to feed that damn lion and keep it from dreaming of having zoo visitors for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And no, I do not know if the lion in the photograph is Viktor or Nikita. Back when I was growing up in the South Side Brainerd of Chicago, we seldom saw tigers running around, and if we did, checking to see if it was male or female was often a very dangerous thing to do.

The monkey in the photograph on the left did not seem too dangerous, but did not look too friendly, either. Many of these creatures, serving life sentences without having committed a crime, seem to blame zoo visitors for their incarceration. I myself would be more than happy to see all these animals roam the length and breath of the zoo grounds at will. It could be one giant petting zoo. Of course, species that would tend to eat one other would have to be released on alternate days. And, of course, everyone would have to sign a waiver to not hold the zoo responsible if they themselves happened to be eaten. But that would be a small price to pay for a once in a lifetime experience. More cautious visitors could be driven around in golf carts, but then, of course, they would not experience the true wildlife experience. Face it - I really should be in charge of the Denver Zoo, right? I will send my resume to them today.

A Tattered Cover Bookstore Update

I ran across some photographs the other day of Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore that I took back when I worked there as the bookkeeper, including the one on the left I snapped out the window of the hallway that led to the event space at the chain's Lower Downtown (LoDo) location. That was back when the store was in a building on the 16th Street Mall and contained three stories worth of books. The rent and maintenance at that location was high even back then, and when the TC faced still another rent increase, the new owners, who took over from Joyce Meskis - the founder of the chain, who sold it due to health issues - closed the store and moved to a new location in nearby McGregor Square. Meskis faced a similar problem with the Highlands Ranch store years before. However, she made a deal with the landlord to keep the rent the same, and agreed to move to a new location once they found a new tenant, which was a win-win for all. It is a shame those new owners did not suggest the same deal to the landlord of the LoDo store, which is still vacant three years later.

The husband-and-wife team who purchased the chain from Joyce Meskis, facing bankruptcy after the pandemic, sold to an investor group, which filed for Chapter 11 in October of 2023. That group had tried to increase revenue by opening stores in Westminster and Colorado Springs, which merely increased the chain's debt, and helped lead to the Chapter 11 filing. In conjunction with that, the McGregor Square, Westminster, and Colorado Springs locations were closed. At the time of the Chapter 11 filing, it was reported the store owed 2.2 million in debts. but last month, new Tattered Cover bankruptcy proceedings showed that they actually owe $820,000 in secured and 3.2 million in unsecured claims. The TC also asked for a month's extension to file their proposed bankruptcy plan. Just last week, according to the Denver Business Journal, the TC asked the court for another extension. And will they survive? It will be hard, as the 2 delays in writing that bankruptcy plan show. And I am afraid the Tattered Cover will never be the same as it used to be, years ago, when their four-story Cherry Creek flagship store was considered the best bookstore in the country, and the three-story LoDo store, seen in the photograph on the right, was not far behind. Nonetheless, all of Denver is pulling for them.

Baseball Is Back! Spring Training Games Have Begun!

Baseball spring training games began this past Friday in Florida and Arizona. I was not able to watch the first spring training game between my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, and their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, live, but through the magic of MLB.com was able to watch a rebroadcast of it Friday night. The drawback is that unless you preset your preferences, you see the final score as you log on, and so I immediately knew that the Cubs had beaten the White Sox 8-1. Great - another long season to look forward to. But when I began to watch the game, it turned out that a single pitcher gave up 6 runs in the top of the first inning, and so nothing to worry about. Yet. The White Sox have almost 70 players in camp and are starting spring training by putting in a new pitcher each inning to see what they can do. And so the final score does not really matter. Which is why I am not excited that my adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, coming off their worst season ever, have won 2 of their first 3 spring training games. Big deal.

One major change for the White Sox, besides all the new front office executives, is that play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti has left to become the voice of the Detroit Tigers, which is sad, since he was a fellow Southsider and grew up a White Sox fan. He has been replaced by John Schriffen, seen in the photograph on the right along with longtime White Sox announcer Steve Stone. Hopefully during these spring broadcasts, they will begin to develop the kind of back-and-forth banter and chemistry that Benetti and Stone had over the years. And Steve is convinced the White Sox are on the right track, and will be much improved from their 61-101 record last season. I have to admit the White Sox at least seem to be trying, as opposed to the Colorado Rockies, who draw close to three million fans a year on the strength of their beautiful ballpark, and have no incentive to change anything, even after a 103-loss season last year. But still, it is spring, and hope springs eternal for every team. So who knows? Yeah, right.

Watching Leeds Play Leicester With The Leeds United Colorado Fan Club

My friend Mark - seen in the photograph on the left - and I watched Leeds United play Leicester (pronounced "Lester" for some reason - the British are weird) yesterday afternoon with the Leeds United Colorado fan club at the DNVR Bar, located at the corner of York and Colfax here in Denver. It was a very decent crowd for a weekday afternoon, and thanks to the Glendale Raptors playing a game in Argentina at the same time, the place was packed. Leeds looked very flat for the first 3/4 of the game, down 1-0, when they caught fire and scored two goals at the very end to win the match 3-1. The crowd went wild after each goal was scored, hugging everyone in sight, and one ex-pat from Leeds led the group in singing "Marching on Together," the Leeds United anthem.

It was an interesting group watching the game. There were ex-pats from Leeds, a few stay-at-home dads with their pre-school age kids (none of whom were allowed to go outside and play on Colfax Avenue, America's longest, wickedest street, thank God), some college kids, and a number of retired guys, among others, all very passionate about Leeds United. Which has a lot to gain if they wind up at the top of the Championship League this season. Leeds was relegated to the 2nd tier Championship League last year, and they now have a good shot at being one of the three teams promoted back up to the English Premier League, the top division in the UK. I enjoyed the soccer match, but did not join in singing "Marching on Together." I have not sung any songs at sporting events since we all used to sing "nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye" at White Sox games back at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Now THAT was an anthem.

The Denver Advantage Plan - Year Six

I took a stroll across the University of Denver campus the other day and walked through the Community Commons Building (seen in the photograph on the left), which along with a first-year dorm and a new career center were supposed to be the first three buildings of what the Denver Post described back in 2018 as DU's massive construction project called the Denver Advantage Campus Framework Plan. The Post article said the project would also add restaurants, retail and a hotel within 10 years. Those first three buildings have now been completed, but there has not been a word from DU about the rest of the project. I suspect that it will not be completed on time during the next 4 years, which is a shame, since that hotel was supposed to be built right across the street from my condo. I was looking forward to walking across the street and meeting the chancellor at the hotel bar to discuss, over beers, my ideas for the university. Building that hotel is still a pretty important goal, since DU has a Hotel and Restaurant Management School, and most other universities with a program like that, including the University of Colorado at Denver, have hotels where their students can work and learn the business, a massive competitive advantage over DU. 

When the Advantage Plan came out in 2018, it showed a grand entrance to the campus from the north, with many new buildings. It looked quite impressive, but I have to wonder now if it was all just some sort of pie in the sky dream, and that the three buildings that were actually built were all that the university really expected to be completed, at least in our lifetimes. I remember when I first bought my condo back in 2000, there were plans by the university to build a skyscraper on the corner where they now plan to build (perhaps) that hotel, but after a year or so, the project was never again mentioned. DU also talked about starting a medical school to address the shortage of general practitioners, which I personally was hoping would go through. I planned to use my employee tuition waiver (I was the Finance Manager at the DU Bookstore at the time), take one class a quarter, and obtain my medical degree (I was thinking brain surgeon) by the time I was 70. Sadly, it was pointed out to DU that the reason for the shortage of GPs was due to the need for medical students to specialize in order to earn enough money to pay off their student loans, not a lack of medical schools, and the idea was dropped. Reality is such a bummer. I wonder now if I will ever have those beers across the street with the chancellor. A shame, since I am sure he would have been thrilled with my ideas for the school.

Robert B. Parker's Broken Trust

I just finished reading Robert B. Parker's Broken Trust, written by Mike Lupica, and really enjoyed it. Robert B. Parker, who passed away in 2010, wrote 40 wildly popular novels featuring Spenser, a Boston private detective. After his death, his widow hired Ace Atkins to continue the series, and I believe he did a good job doing it. After 10 more Spenser novels, Atkins decided to turn his attention to other projects, and Mike Lupica was hired to carry on the series, starting with Broken Trust. And I think he did an excellent job recreating the characters, not to mention telling a pretty good story, which finds Spenser being hired by the wife of a famous businessman and philanthropist to discover what has turned him secretive, paranoid, and given to violent outbursts, the exact opposite of his usual personality. As soon as Spenser begins his investigation, his client is murdered, and things turn very dangerous. I especially like how Lupica has retained Spenser's humorous personality, which is what I have always enjoyed most about these novels, and I strongly recommend everyone pick up a copy today. And I mean right now!

Urban Cowboy Is Coming To Denver!

Urban Cowboy, a hotel, restaurant, and bar, will be opening "soonish" in Denver's Uptown neighborhood, in the George Schleier Mansion, built in 1887 and seen in the photograph on the left. It will have an 18-room hotel, The Parlor Bar by the downstairs lobby, and a public house they hope will become a "neighborhood watering hole" inside the two-story carriage house. I originally read about this place in a Denver Post article back in 2022, which said it would be open in the first half of 2023, and so I have been checking on the progress of this project for over a year now. I am glad to hear it will be open "soonish." That certainly narrows it down. Urban Cowboy began as a B and B in Brooklyn, New York, the brainchild of the husband-and-wife team of Lyon Porter and Jersey Banks. They then opened a hotel in the Catskills, then in Nashville, and now Denver. Banks grew up in Denver's Highlands Neighborhood, and so considers this kind of a coming home for her, although they still live in Brooklyn, and have turned their B and B back into a family home. I can't blame them for that. I would hate to have strangers in my house, always lurking about, touching things, constantly wanting you to change the bedding and clean the bathroom. What a nightmare. I just hope I will be able to head over to that carriage house for an IPA soonish rather than later.

Sorry Denver - Conde Nast Says That Berlin And L.A. Are Where It's At

I just finished reading the March issue (Yes! March!) of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine yesterday afternoon, and it featured articles on both Berlin and Los Angeles, which seem to imply that those two cities are the hippest in the world. Evidently, in L.A., "chefs, hoteliers, and entrepreneurs," as well as a very vibrant art scene, are creating a new "Golden Age" there. The author of that article stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel and The Georgian (a fancy boutique hotel in Santa Monica), and dined at some of the top restaurants in the city. Of course, I assume Conde Nast picked up the tab, and so I wonder how much his itinerary would have changed if he was traveling on his own dime. As for Berlin, the author does paint an intriguing portrait of a city that has added a cutting-edge art vibe to its underground music scene and funky but trendy neighborhoods, but this guy was also on an expense account, although the article did mention that you could get a room at the Wilmina, famous for its subtropical courtyard garden and located in the high-end neighborhood of Charlottenburg, starting at $172 per night. Those are not exactly Motel 6 rates, but not bad for a single night's stay at a top hotel. And by the way, I took the photograph above this past Sunday afternoon of the beer garden at Improper City, located in Denver's River North (RiNo) neighborhood, a hipster hotspot. Those poor souls are probably sitting there, crying into their IPAs, dreaming of Berlin. Eat your hearts out, guys.

A President's Day Flashback

Today is President's Day, and each year on this holiday I always think back to my time at Fort Dearborn Grammar School, which I attended when growing up in Chicago's South Side Brainerd neighborhood. What I remember most is that I hated going to school, and welcomed every chance for a break. Back then, before President's Day was established, that meant getting both Washington and Lincoln's birthday off. Washington's birthday was a Federal holiday, and Lincoln's a State holiday, but I didn't care - a day off was a day off. Eventually, the Chicago Public Schools eliminated Lincoln's birthday as a holiday, choosing to celebrate it along with Washington's on President's Day. If I were a student when that happened, I would have arranged a city-wide walkout, which I am sure would have been enthusiastically embraced by students, teachers, and staff, although not so much by parents. The photograph above, by the way, I took of my teacher Mrs. McCormick during class one day at Fort Dearborn. I got chewed out for it, too, but was still allowed to keep both camera and film. All the classrooms there were more or less the same, and so that photograph is a perfect historical record of life at Fort Dearborn, for better or worse. Of course, these days, if there is a snow day, a lot of school districts switch to online classes, which must be a depressing thought to students everywhere. If CPS ever decides to do that, I strongly recommend students consider that city-wide walkout option. I will certainly cheer you on.

Bad News For The St. Lucie River - Again!

I ran across the photograph on the left of my ex-wife Lisa posing with a pod of pelicans (and yes - that is what you call a group of them) waiting for castoffs from a fisherman down in Stuart, Florida back in August of 1986. And it reminded me that the Army Corps of Engineers started discharging water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River yesterday. They do this to lower the lake level when it gets too high, but the problem is that this water causes great harm to the St. Lucie and the Indian River Lagoon. Besides the fact that the fresh water mixes with sea water, which is harmful to the environment, the water is also polluted from the runoff of chemicals from sugar plantations in the center of the state, often resulting in algae blooms along the shoreline. 

These plantations are owned by wealthy individuals who donate big money to politicians to make sure they are not forced to actually stop polluting the waterways. After a severe algae bloom around Stuart a few years ago that received national attention, the state promised to take action, including building a huge retention pond to capture this tainted water and avoid sending it downriver. I don't know the status of this project, but year after year they still continue releasing this polluted water into the St. Lucie, causing great harm to the ecosystem. Not a surprise, from what I know about Florida politicians. I have only been back to Stuart a few times after renting out our condo there for the past 15 years, but I have to wonder if those pelicans still hang out along the St. Lucie River like they used to, and if they do, what harm it is doing to them. It is way past time to take action and solve this problem.

The February Issue Of Chicago Magazine Has Arrived

I went through the February issue of Chicago Magazine the other day, and was kind of surprised to read in "The 312" section that the South Side neighborhood of Woodlawn is being gentrified, all because the Obama Presidential Center is set to open in Jackson Park next year. Back when I lived in Chicago, Woodlawn was filled with abandoned buildings and vacant lots, with a very high crime rate. I am glad to see that things are looking up for that part of Chicago just south of Hyde Park. There was also an article on how Chicago's St. Valentine's Day Massacre inspired the first move toward gun control by banning machine guns favored by gangsters, another article about a University of Chicago professor put under house arrest in Iran, and a piece about the birth of "Fast-Fancy" in Chicago, which has to do with high-end restaurants trying to cut down on the high cost of labor by operating with limited staff. Evidently Chicago, like Denver, is now requiring a "living wage" for restaurant workers, resulting in much higher labor costs. One of my favorite restaurants here in Denver, Piccolo's, specializing in Italian and Mexican dishes, closed last year due to the high minimum wage. For years they hired students and part-time workers just looking for extra money, and now that door has been closed to them. The bottom line - fewer restaurants and higher costs in both Chicago and Denver. As for the cover story, "The 20 Best Cocktails in Town," do the readers of Chicago Magazine really care about such things? Evidently yes. Scary. 

Missing High Tea At The Brown

Last week, I walked past Denver's Brown Palace Hotel, the reflection of which can be seen in the photograph above, under the UMB Bank sign, and thought about how I have now missed High Tea with the National Western Stock Show's Grand Champion Steer, along with the runner-up, twice in a row. Last year, I had a previous engagement, and arrived at the Brown Palace, Denver's most prestigious hotel, just as they were loading the steers into the trailer to take them back to the stock show. This year, I just plain forgot. However, I have to admit that two years ago, when I actually did attend this event, it was a bit of a letdown. This annual rite began in 1945 when a rancher sold two bulls for $50,000 each - a record at the time - and paraded them through the lobby of the Brown to celebrate. And so the tradition began. However, I was very disappointed to find that the two steers were not seated at a big table with various stock show luminaries, but kept in separate pens off to the side. That made for a much less impressive photo. And so, as I walked past the hotel, my final thought on the subject was "to hell with it." Which I am saying to myself more and more these days.

The Exchange

I just finished reading John Grisham's The Exchange, the sequel to The Firm, the book that launched Grisham's career. Since I had never even perused The Firm, I checked it out and read it while I was on the waiting list for The Exchange at the Denver Public Library. It told the story of Mitch McDeere, who took a job at a small Memphis law firm after graduating from Harvard Law School, with salary and benefits too good to be true. He and his wife Abby soon find out he is working for a firm owned by the Mafia, whose real purpose was to launder money. Lots of money. The FBI forces McDeere to copy and produce the firm's incriminating files, making for a very tense finale. The Exchange takes place 15 years later, after the repercussions from the events in Memphis die down, and Mitch is currently a partner at a New York law firm that is the largest in the world. He agrees to take a case involving civil litigation by a Turkish company against the government of Libya. After arriving there on a fact-finding trip, his fellow attorney is kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists, setting off a desperate effort to free her. I actually enjoyed this novel far more than The Firm, and recommend putting your name in for it at the library. Although if you order it from the Denver Public Library (DPL), expect about a 6 month wait. 

Spring Training 2024 Starts Today!

Pitchers and catchers report to their spring training camps in Florida and Arizona today, marking the start of the 2024 Major League Baseball season. Of course, today is also both Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday, but I can't discuss all three in one blog post, and so had to choose the most important one - baseball. And hopes run high for baseball fans this time of year, although I heard on the WGN News at 9:00 the other night that fans of the Chicago White Sox, my South Side heroes, do not seem very optimistic this year, after the team lost over 100 games last season. New management, however, feels the team will be improved through subtraction, which is an interesting concept, to say the least. My adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, had the worst season in franchise history last year, although attendance at Coors Field actually increased. The Rockies draw almost 3 million fans a year no matter how the team plays, simply because people love the ballpark. And so, of course, the owner has no interest in improving the team. Which is okay with Colorado fans as long as they are at the ballpark. However, in a telling statistic, only the Oakland Athletics and Miami Marlins have fewer television viewers than the Rockies. Fun is fun, but having to watch them lose on television? Forget it! As for the Chicago Cubs, the crosstown rivals of the White Sox, they have the best shot of the three to make the playoffs. Although they are, after all, the Cubs, and so there is no hope for them, either. Let's play ball!

Fat Tuesday 2024!

Today is Fat Tuesday, the finale to Mardi Gras. The celebrations are particularly festive in Rio de Janeiro, Venice, Italy, and New Orleans, although, as I remember, there were a number of shootings in the Big Easy on Fat Tuesday last year, which somehow put a bit of a damper on the festivities. In any case, the celebrations seem to be few and far between here in Denver. No big parades or partying in the streets, like in those other cities. However, last year I remember attending the 7th Annual Mardi Gras Party and World's Tiniest Mardi Gras Parade at Call to Arms Brewing Company, in Denver's Berkeley neighborhood, on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday. It was indeed a lot of fun, and I took the photograph above during that parade down the block and back. This year, I did not see any mention of it in the newspapers, on the internet, or even on the Call to Arms website itself. Was the 8th annual parade canceled? And if so, why? A lot of people participated in last year's event, and so perhaps it became a victim of its own success. Too disruptive for that now upscale neighborhood? Or maybe it was just held on the QT, to avoid those disruptive aspects of the event. And yes, I am indeed taking it personally. Was I really that disruptive? I only wanted to take a few - all right, a few hundred, or thousand - photographs for my blog. What is wrong with that? Not a damn thing! Next year, I intend to head to Rio, where I am sure they will understand.

Watching Newcastle Play Nottingham Forest With Mark

I watched an English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle and Nottingham Forest this past Saturday morning with my friend Mark, who works at the University of Denver's Anderson Academic Commons (what used to be called a library back in my day). It was actually a pretty exciting game, with Newcastle edging Nottingham Forest by a score of 3-2. This despite Nottingham Forest being the soccer team supported by Robin Hood and his Merry Men. I must once again state that soccer fans are a crazy bunch. The game was played in Nottingham, in the UK, in February, and for some reason a lot of the fans were watching the game shirtless. No wonder they lost their empire. In any case, the match was held at The City Ground, along the banks of the River Trent, where Nottingham Forest has played since 1898. The photograph above is of Mark, wearing his Newcastle jersey and standing in front of that stadium, which I took after we beamed down for the game. And no, that soccer field does not look like it was built in 1898. The only original part of the place is probably a storage room in the basement, and God knows what has been stored in there for the past 126 years. My guess is Giant Turkey Legs, available for sale at every game. Enjoy!

The 2024 Chicago Auto Show

I learned from both Chicago Magazine and the WGN News at Nine that the 2024 Chicago Auto Show begins this weekend and runs through February 19th. When I was a kid, I just loved going to this show. I was never much of a car person, so I am not sure why. Perhaps it was just an event I could attend every year with my parents, where we could experience sticker shock seeing that an XKE Jaguar was selling for the outrageous sum of $6,000. The article in Chicago Magazine featured only electric cars, which I assume is what the average Chicago Magazine reader is interested in buying. Even though sales of electric vehicles are going down. Due to their limited usefulness and high cost, they were marketed to wealthy individuals as a second car - electric for around town and gas powered for extended trips. But for people of modest means, electric cars just aren't an option. And amazingly enough, this seems to be a surprise to car manufacturers who are now beginning to reduce the number of electric cars they produce. The photograph above, by the way, I took of my parents Nelson and Mary back in February of 1962 as we were leaving McCormick Place after a day at the auto show. Without a new XKE Jaguar.

The February Mutt Of The Month

I took the photograph above of the February Mutt of the Month in Denver's Washington Park, which has been getting a lot of visitors lately thanks to the sunny and mild (for the most part) temperatures. Astute blog readers will have noticed that there was no January Mutt of the Month, the reason being that I had the photograph on my laptop when it stopped working. This after only 3 years, damn it. I'll never buy that brand of computer again, even if my life depends on it. But I digress. The repair people said a motherboard needed to be replaced, which would not cause my files to be deleted. And so I waited, and waited, and waited for the repair to completed, only to be told that due to a complication, Microsoft Windows, Gestapo Edition, had to be reinstalled, and I would lose all my files anyway. So to hell with the January Mutt of the Month. But at least there is a February. And possibly even a March, if the damn laptop lasts that long. And I am not the least bit bitter about the whole thing, as I am sure you can tell.

A New Ballpark For The Chicago White Sox? One Can Only Hope...

There is no doubt the Chicago White Sox made a huge mistake when owner Jerry Reinsdorf more or less forced the State of Illinois to build a new stadium for his team, replacing historic Comiskey Park. It was built one year before Camden Yards opened in Baltimore, which ushered in a wave of new, retro, fan friendly ballparks, which Chicago's new stadium definitely wasn't. What was originally called The New Comiskey Park is considered the worst ballpark in baseball, seen in the photo on the left back when it was called U.S. Cellular Field. The first row of seats in the upper deck at what is now called Guaranteed Rate Field are farther away from the field than the last row of seats at the old Comiskey Park.

And now, at last, there is talk of building a new ballpark in the South Loop, along the Chicago River just south of Roosevelt Road, in a new neighborhood that will be called "The 78." If built, the White Sox will be leaving the Bridgeport neighborhood, their home since 1910, but they will at least still be on the South Side. Ironically, Richard M. Daley, the mayor of Chicago from 1989 to 2011, also moved from Bridgeport to the South Loop during his tenure, and took a lot of heat for it. But I digress. The big question is whether that new ballpark will become a reality and be ready for baseball in 2030. It all depends on financing, and who pays for what. It sounds to me like it will be a long, dragged out, contentious battle. And whatever the result, I personally believe that new ballpark will never be as nice as the original Comiskey Park, as seen in the photograph on the right, taken when it opened in 1910. But not by me. I'm old but not that old.

Black Mass Blood Ritual

Last week I finally had time to take the RTD bus down University Boulevard here in Denver, get off at Colfax (once called America's longest, wickedest street by Hugh Hefner), and then walk downtown along 17th Street to Union Station and the light rail train home. Colfax is no longer the wickedest street in America, as you will be happy to hear, but despite a lot of gentrification, it still seems to attract a lot of questionable types. Which is why I usually take 17th Street, once referred to as restaurant row, and now has been taken over by hipsters. Hipsters on 17th Street, and the homeless and shady types on Colfax. Only two blocks apart and their paths never cross. In any case, during my walk, I ran across the doorway in the photograph on the left with a sign on the window next to it advertising Black Mass Blood Ritual, but only through January 2024. Was this some kind of Satanic Cult performing their unspeakable rituals? That storefront is only two doors down from the Vine Street Pub, which never reopened after the pandemic, but appears to be still brewing beer (or doing something) in the back for their sister pubs. I can imagine what that must have been like when that cult was performing their Black Mass Blood Rituals. Taking a break in the alley must have been pretty hair-raising. Each time after seeing a new headless corpse back there (and what were they doing with those heads, anyway?), I imagine the brew crew would need to open up still another keg of Double IPA to settle their nerves, if that was even possible. Just another day in Denver's Uptown neighborhood, I guess.

Pitchers And Catchers Report One Week From Today!

It's true! Baseball spring training begins one week from today in Florida and Arizona! And the big news this off-season is that the Boston Red Sox have hired their ex-GM, Theo Epstein, as an advisor. Epstein is the baseball genius who won World Series titles for both the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. Yes! The Chicago Cubs! And so to me, Boston fans have something to be really optimistic about. But they are still whining, because this means the team will be going through a rebuilding process while Epstein builds a winner. But at least they can look forward to a winner. Here in Denver, the Colorado Rockies front office hasn't a clue about how to build a winner, and the team owner does not seem to care as long as the Rockies continue to draw almost three million fans each year, despite being a last place team. As for back in my old hometown, my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, are also in a rebuilding mode, after imploding in 2023, and I have no idea how long it will take them to recover. Is new management there competent? Beats me, but there is always hope. Their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, actually made a run at the playoffs last year, and so look like they might actually be competitive, although it is, after all, the Cubs, and they seem to have a bad habit of losing every single game after the 1st of September. Just sayin'.

A Paris Flashback, Circa June 2004

I recently had to reinstall files after my laptop was repaired, and in the process ran across a file containing photographs of my first trip to Europe, a five-day visit to Paris back in 2004. I really enjoyed that trip - it was June, but not crowded at all. Things have certainly changed a lot in 20 years. Go figure. I decided to take that trip more or less on the spur of the moment, after watching many episodes of Rick Steves Europe on PBS. The first day, I walked along the Seine, past all the bookstalls, to Notre Dame, but to me the most surreal experience was the following day, when I visited the Eiffel Tower. Going up the tower's elevator, I couldn't believe I was actually there. And at that time, you could simply walk through the Champ de Mars, go right up to the window, and buy a ticket. No security barriers like there are today. The good old days for sure.

The thing I remember most was that Annie Hall was visiting the Eiffel Tower the same day I was, as seen in the photograph on the right. I did not approach her for an autograph, however. Being in Europe for the first time, I did not want to come across as the archetypical ugly American, although I have heard that we have now been replaced by the ugly Japanese and their selfie sticks.

By the time I headed back to my hotel, it was dark, and I took the photograph on the left using my tripod, which I remember hauling around with me most of the time, which must have been a hassle. These days, with the full-frame DSLRs now available (if you can spare a couple of thousand) you can skip the tripod and shoot in low light without one. Or so I hear (I intend to set up a GoFundMe page soon). In any case, I have returned to Paris several times, the last being in 2019, and the lines getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower were horrendous, as were the crowds in the Louvre, Versailles, and other top tourist attractions. I think perhaps the best time to visit Europe these days is in the dead of winter. Just be sure to bring your coat.

One Day After Predictions For An Early Spring, A Snowstorm!

One day after both Punxsutawney Phil and Boulder's Flatiron Freddy did not see their shadows - and so predicted an early spring - Colorado was hit with a snowstorm. Of course, Flatiron Freddy could be excused, since he is stuffed. Yes! Stuffed, as in dead. It is just another way Mother Nature teaches us all a valuable lesson - do not trust groundhogs. Of course, here in Denver, we had only about 5 inches of snow, if that, although surrounding areas got a lot more. I took the photograph on the left as I was driving past the Historic Buchtel Boulevard Trail at Prairie Park during the storm this past Saturday morning. And what makes this strip of parkland so historic? Good question. There were once railroad tracks that went through there, and even ran in front of my condo years ago, on which ran an historic railway, although I have no idea which one, where it went, or even why. And I have a sneaking suspicion that if I went ahead and did research on the subject, the details would prove to be pretty dull indeed.

But I digress. The next day the sun came out, the temperatures rose to the 40s, with the 50s not far behind, and all was well with the world again, as seen in the photograph on the right that I took at Red Rocks Park yesterday afternoon. It is said that Denver averages 300 days of sunshine a year, although nobody knows who came up with that statistic, or even if it is true. But more times than not, the sun comes right back out after such storms. Which of course was no comfort to the people Saturday night trying to get home to suburbs in the foothills such as Evergreen and Bergen Park. Due to accidents and dangerous conditions, Interstate 70 was closed west of Golden, leaving those commuters no choice but to wait it out in their cars until the highway reopened. Of course, many commuting to those tony suburbs probably just turned around and stayed the night at their "in-town" place, bless their hearts. Hopefully the concierge was able to get the refrigerator and the bar stocked on such short notice.

Dancing In The Streets No More

Back in the day, my sister Susan and I would visit our mother Mary down in Stuart, Florida two or three times a year, and one of those visits was always in August. Many people consider that a bad time to be in Florida, but it is great beach weather, you don't need to worry about reservations at restaurants, and if you dine by the water, it stays light long enough to enjoy the view. Plus, there is much less traffic (at least back then). And another great thing about August was "Dancin' In The Streets," an annual festival held on a Saturday night in August in downtown Stuart (now known as Old Town Stuart to allow higher rents to be charged). Susan can be seen in the photograph on the left posing in front of a poster advertising that event sometime in the 1990s (I think).

For one reason or another, we never did attend Dancin' in the Streets during our visits back then. My mother was reluctant to go out after dinner, or it was pouring down rain, or we would be gone on the day it was being held. After our mother passed away, I sometimes went down to Stuart to get the place ready to rent out to a new tenant, and in 2015 made sure I would be there in time for Dancin' in the Streets. I had coffee that morning at the local McDonald's, and everyone in the place seemed to be excited about the street fair that evening. To avoid what would be a parking nightmare, I walked the mile and a half to Old Town, and had a great time, which is when I took the photograph on the right. Each year afterwards, I would check the Stuart News to see what day Dancin' in the Streets would be held, and then one day there was no mention of it at all. I e-mailed Stuart Mainstreet, which sponsored the event, and was told it was discontinued due to a lack of interest in the event. Looking at that photograph, do you really believe interest in the event would drop off that much after all those years? I do know that a lot of merchants in Old Town Stuart did not like Dancin' in the Streets because it disrupted their businesses, one year forcing the event to be held in a park down the street, which was not a popular move. I am guessing they finally were able to kill it, all so they would not lose any business on a single Saturday in the month of August, the slowest time of the year. Sad, as local hero Donald Trump likes to say. 

AFAR Magazine

I just finished perusing the latest issue of AFAR, a quarterly travel magazine. It is chock full of interesting articles on places to visit throughout the world. The cover story of this latest edition is titled "Where to Go in 2024: 25 places to Visit Next." I have to admit that there are a number of places they feature that I would not want to visit, with Exhibit A being the Texas Hill Country, but many of them do sound worth exploring. I subscribed to this magazine years ago, which is how I found out about the Outer Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco, which I eventually visited and walked through, as the fog got increasingly thicker, and fog horns sounded in the distance. Eventually, I found The Riptide, a bar a block from the ocean, which the magazine recommended and where I had a hamburger and a beer. It was a fun and evocative experience, and I believe reading this magazine will lead to many more fun adventures. Years ago, when it came time to renew, it was a little too expensive for me, and I let it lapse, but I recently received a special offer in the mail, and resubscribed. And am glad I did. Although I still have no intention of ever going anywhere near the Texas Hill Country.

Is This One Weird Groundhog Day Tradition Or What?

The City of Boulder has been famously described as "14 square miles surrounded by reality," which of course is an exaggeration. I think. In any case, this morning at 8:00 A.M. Boulder celebrates Groundhog Day with an appearance from Flatiron Freddy, a stuffed yellow-bellied marmot. Yes! A stuffed marmot! This takes place at the Chautauqua Ranger Station in Boulder's Chautauqua Park. The article in the Denver Post said that Freddy "will come out of his burrow to make his weather prediction for the rangers to interpret." Of course, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the city holds a very famous festival featuring a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, who comes out of his burrow, and if he sees his shadow, predicts there will be six more weeks of winter. But Phil is actually alive, and has the ability to see its shadow (assuming, of course, that a groundhog would actually do this). But Flatiron Freddy is stuffed! How can it make a prediction if he is dead? Is this some sort of New Age mysticism, unique to Boulder, that makes people believe a dead marmot can make predictions? It just boggles the mind. And no - I did not take the photograph of Flatiron Freddy on the left. I am not going to get up early in the morning and drive to Boulder to take a photograph of a stuffed marmot. I do have some standards, after all.

Thoughts On The Clements Historic District

Recently I drove through the Clements Historic District, which is located just to the northeast of downtown Denver, where I took the photograph above of The Kingston Row, built in 1890 in the Queen Anne style. I assume these were originally apartments, but are now completely renovated townhomes. Just around the corner, facing Benedict Fountain Park, is the Queen Anne Urban Bed and Breakfast, which consists of two side by side Victorian houses, built in 1879 and 1886. This area is filled with many beautiful and historic homes, and I was amazed when I heard that back in the 1970s, when Denver was awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics, this entire area was scheduled to be demolished to make room for various Olympic venues. Back then, Denver demolished many historic buildings, thanks to the urban renewal craze, most notably many historic structures on Larimer Street. At the time, Larimer Street was Denver's skid row, and the thinking was that if all the buildings were torn down, the winos and transients who inhabited the area would disappear. For some reason they could not figure out that those winos and transients would simply move further up the street. But happily for what is now the Clements Historic District, there was a movement to prevent the Olympics from taking place in Colorado, supported by future governor Richard Lamm, and they succeeded in canceling the games here. Almost makes you forgive Governor Lamm for his remark that the elderly, if they are terminally ill, have a duty to die. Almost.