Open Season

I just finished reading Open Season, the latest Alex Delaware novel by Jonathan Kellerman. Kellerman is a psychologist, and his character, Alex Delaware, is a child psychologist who consults with the Los Angels Police Department. Years ago, I read a couple of these novels but stopped because the plots seemed to revolve around disturbed children, which did not really grab me. But after reading a new Kellerman novel from a different series featuring a character named Clay Edison, and liking it, I decided to give this latest Alex Delaware novel a try. And liked it. Open Season is much more of a police procedural than I remember from Kellerman's earlier books and starts out with Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis asking Delaware to help in the investigation of an aspiring actress found dead and dumped at the entrance to a hospital. While it turns out the woman died of a drug overdose, the suspect who they believed dumped her is found shot to death in his apartment, and ballistics shows that the rifle that was used to kill him is linked to several other murders. Soon Sturgis and Delaware are on the trail of a serial killer. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was exciting, fast paced, and kept my attention to the end. I definitely recommend picking up a copy from your local library.

Evergreen Elk - A Danger To All?

I drove up to Evergreen, Colorado from Denver yesterday afternoon and then continued up Upper Bear Creek Road for a few miles, too, where I took the photograph above of three elk chilling out in a field. To me they seemed pretty damn mellow, and they were more than happy to pose for a portrait. Upper Bear Creek Road does not have much room to pull over, and so I had to stop the car in the middle of the road and get out of the car to take that photo. Which in hindsight was kind of stupid, since as soon as I did a couple of cars approached from behind, and I had to high tail it out of there. In any case, when I got back to Dedisse Park, located along Evergreen Lake, I pulled into the parking lot and saw a sign warning that it was calving season and to stay far far away from the elk, who might attack at any moment. Granted, if there are calves around, the mother might become aggressive if you get too close, but I did not get the feeling that trio in the field next to Upper Bear Creek Road would cause any trouble. But who knows? I guess it was a good thing that I had nowhere to park. If I had, I might have headed over there and taken a selfie with that very attentive looking elk. Perhaps it would have cooperated, perhaps not. Perhaps I would not be here writing this. I guess we'll never know.

A Fabulous Fixer-Upper Find! In Boulder, No Less!

I discovered a fabulous fixer-upper just around the corner from downtown Boulder's Central Park as I was heading to the Boulder Creek Festival this past weekend. Shabby chic is big in Boulder, and if you are able to get hold of this little gem, as seen in the photograph above, you will be king of the hill in that department. Granted, it does need a few touchups, but nothing that a little elbow grease won't fix. A new door, a few new windows, a little bit of work on the interior, and you'll have yourself a 986 square foot, 3 bedroom, 1 bath place to call home. Granted, it is located on Arapahoe Avenue, which is a pretty busy street, and is right across from Boulder High School, but after all, it is all about location, location, location. Think of that view of the Flatirons! And living a 10-minute walk away from the Pearl Street Mall has to be priceless. And speaking of price, I see on Zillow that it is not for sale, but the estimated value is around $752,000. I am sure you could reduce that price significantly if you stress to the owner how much you love the place and will make it THE showplace of Boulder. And even if you can't get a price reduction, although it is only 986 square feet with just 1 bathroom, it does have 3 bedrooms, and so you could rent out 2 of them to University of Colorado students to help pay the mortgage. Sounds cozy, doesn't it? Be sure to make an offer on it today!

New Terrain Brewing Company - Love That View

New Terrain Brewing Company, located in Golden, Colorado right beneath North Table Mountain, is a wonderful place to have a beer and admire the view. And now that summer is coming, it is a great time to start taking advantage of that patio. But fair warning - the secret is out. This is an extremely popular destination when the weather turns nice, filled with families, kids, college students, retirees, you name it. And, of course, dogs. Lots and lots of dogs. On weekends and holidays, finding a parking space can be tough. You know you are in trouble when you start to see cars parked along both sides of Table Mountain Parkway blocks and blocks from that brewery. Weekdays are much less crowded, although even then the parking spots can be few and far between. But it is still worth it, even if you have to walk a bit to get there. As they used to say in the old Alka Seltzer commercials, "Try it, you'll like it!"

Attending The Gaylord Street Memorial Weekend Festival...

I drove over to Old South Gaylord Street, located just to the east of Denver's Washington Park, Sunday afternoon to check out their annual Memorial Weekend Festival. Old South Gaylord is a block-long business district in the heart of the Washington Park neighborhood, very popular thanks to its interesting shops and many restaurants. They have held this festival for as long as I can remember. It is much more of a neighborhood gathering than a city-wide event, but it is still a lot of fun. And I was happy to see that the patio at Reivers Bar and Grill, a local favorite, was packed with people as I passed by. Max Gill and Grill was doing a good business, too. Back when I first moved to Denver, this bar and restaurant was called Hemingway's and was a favorite of the University of Denver crowd. Then they were sued by the Hemingway Estate and were forced to change their name. Somehow it never seemed the same after that. But that's just me.

At the festival there were all the usual booths selling food and drink, including Breckenridge Brewery, as well as live music. While I was there, Vince Converse and Big Brother were on stage, playing blues music, as seen in the photograph on the right, and they were actually quite good. And looking at the festival's website, I saw that Hazel Miller and the Collective were playing on Memorial Day. That is one of the few local musical groups I recognize. I fondly remember them from years ago when they played at some of the Friday night concerts on the 16th Street Mall, next to the Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant. And just why did they stop those concerts, anyway? And why did they stop A Taste of Colorado, one of the biggest and most popular festivals of the year, held in Civic Center Park over Labor Day weekend? Not to mention the People's Fair, which used to be the first big event of the summer. It is gone now too. But enough complaining. Best to just relax and enjoy what we have, right? What choice do we have?

It's Memorial Day Weekend! And That Means The Boulder Creek Festival Is Back!

After walking around the Denver Arts Festival this past Saturday, I drove up to Boulder to check out the Boulder Creek Festival, which is held every Memorial Day weekend, along with the Bolder Boulder, that city's famous 10K race. I would usually go on another day, but while weather forecasters said that rain would hold off until around 5:00 P.M. on Saturday, both Sunday and Monday would be quite stormy, and so I decided to play it safe and head up there Saturday afternoon. And from the photograph on the left, you can see that the weather forecasters were not kidding, as storm clouds began to form over the Flatirons.

Despite the threatening weather, the festival was well attended. It features 30 bands on 3 stages, over 200 artisans, and 30 restaurants. I decided to skip the bands and just walk around the festival, doing a bit of peoplewatching as I went. No better place to do that than in Boulder, let me tell you. It takes place along Boulder Creek in downtown's Central Park. I especially liked the fact that many of the booths are actually on the grass areas and under trees, making for a very laid-back vibe, as seen in the photograph on the right.

Boulder is, of course, the home of the University of Colorado, which gives the town a youthful feel, although its population is actually quite diverse, with Exhibit A being the senior citizens seen enjoying the festival in the photograph on the left. The big event for the weekend is, of course, the Bolder Boulder, which takes place every Memorial Day. It is the second largest 10K race in the country and the fifth largest road race in the world, with over 54,000 runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers. Which means it will be damned crowded up there today.

And as the name implies, Boulder Creek does indeed run through the middle of the festival. The headwaters of that creek are located along the Continental Divide, and it eventually flows past the mountain town of Nederland (where hippies settled during the sixties and never left) and through Boulder Canyon into the city. It is an extremely popular spot for outdoor activities such as tubing, fly fishing, and wading. And the good news is that the Boulder Creek Festival continues today until 5:00. You still have time to go! Just don't let those 54,000 runners up there stop you. It's definitely worth the search for a parking spot.

The Denver Arts Festival Is This Weekend!

I went to the Denver Arts Festival yesterday afternoon and really enjoyed walking around and looking at all that art. Years ago, this festival was held right downtown, centered around the Denver Pavilions dining, retail, and entertainment complex along the 16th Street Mall. Then, it was moved to the grassy area in front of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, which to me seemed a bit cramped, and finally it moved to Denver's Central Park Conservatory Green neighborhood, in the far northeast part of the city, where it is now held every Memorial Day Weekend. Don't get me wrong - it is a fine place for an art festival, but it does take a while to get there, and the atmosphere is much more suburban than downtown Denver.

There were artists from all over the country displaying their work, although I would say a majority were from Colorado. I was especially happy to see so many booths featuring photography, such as the one in the photograph on the right. The photographs displayed were mainly Colorado or Western landscapes, wildlife photos, and a few weird digital offerings (cartoon-like dogs wearing sunglasses, animals dressed up having cocktails, etc.), unlike at the annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which features photographers displaying portraits and scenes from around the world, but I still enjoyed looking at them.

One artist was even selling custom designed fountains, as seen in the photograph on the left. I thought these fountains were kind of cool, but I really don't think I would be able to install it on the balcony of my condo. Plus, if it every leaked, the HOA would be all over it, no doubt saddling me with a hefty fine, and so I didn't even bother to look at the prices. I did check the price of some of the larger paintings that might look good over my sofa, but many were in the $3,000 to $5,000 range, which to me seems a bit pricey. However, the web page for the festival points out, curiously enough, that Denver's Central Park neighborhood is in the top 1% of median income and education levels in the nation, and so I imagine the locals probably don't blink an eye at those kinds of prices. They probably consider them bargains. In any case, the Denver Arts Festival continues today until 5:00, so you still have time to head over there and take a look. Be sure to bring your checkbook.

The Pool Is Open!

The swimming pool at my Denver condo building opened for the year this past Monday, which is the earliest ever for this annual event. And although nobody stated the reason out loud at the time, I believe the building manager purposely kept the pool closed until after the end of the University of Denver's spring quarter in June. The building is right across the street from DU, and before the pandemic, the building was filled with DU students. One of the things some of those students liked to do was climb up the side of the building to one of the balconies, and dive into the pool to impress the coeds. The last incident that I know of, the student jumped off the balcony and hit his head on the bottom of the pool, breaking his collar bone. He evidently got out and wandered around in a daze until someone took him to the hospital. Hence the late opening each year to prevent a recurrence of such an event. Of course, during and after the pandemic, when rents went way the hell up here in Denver, a lot of older people, families, and regular working people looking for a cheaper place to live moved into the building, ending the place's reputation as just another DU dorm. And I am here to tell you, older people don't usually climb balconies and dive into swimming pools. I took the photograph above, by the way, from my balcony overlooking that pool, holding a photograph of my mother Mary, Grandmother Spillard, and myself next to the pool at the Sun Castle, back in August of 1963 in Pompano Beach, Florida, the last time I actually went into a swimming pool. I am still waiting for just the right conditions to head down there. Perhaps it will be this year! Or perhaps not.

The 16th Street Mall Project Is Almost Complete! At Last!

Denver's vibrant downtown has been undergoing hard times since the start of Covid restrictions in March of 2020. Even after those restrictions were lifted, many people did not return to the office, preferring to work from home, and as a result, office buildings stood practically empty and downtown Denver remained a ghost town. Even now, the vacancy rate is still a very scary 35.3%. Still worse, in 2022 the city began renovations on the 16th Street Mall, the heart and soul of downtown Denver, making it almost impossible to transverse. Needless to say, many retail shops, restaurants, and bars closed down, further depressing the downtown area. But just this week, Denver's Mayor Mike Johnson announced that the project is now 90% complete, and will be completed finished by the fall, with wider sidewalks, 20 new restaurant patios, lots of trees and many new businesses. And instead of the 16th Street Mall, it will once again be plain old 16th Street, but still restricted only to pedestrians and shuttle busses. Yesterday afternoon I took a walk down 16th, where I took the photograph on the left, and I must say, not only did it look good, but I actually saw people sitting on patios and walking along the sidewalks. On a weekday!

Not only did the 16th Street Mall begin renovations in 2022, but new owners also began renovations to 18 buildings at Larimer Square, another historic Denver hotspot and seen in the photograph on the right. This resulted in many of the shops and restaurants that had been there for years either going out of business or moving to new locations. That project is also now nearing completion, and I am happy to report that most of the previously vacant spaces are also now filled with new businesses. When I was there yesterday afternoon, there were actually people having lunch and drinks on the patios, and heading into the shops, a much different scene than last summer. It looks like downtown Denver is once again a great spot to bike to, and I definitely intend to do just that much more often this year. You should too.

Tottenham Wins The Europa League Final...

Yesterday afternoon I went with my friend Mark, seen in the photograph on the left, to watch the Tottenham Hotspur play Manchester United for the Europa League trophy at Ester's Pub in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver. Although we arrived early, the place was already filled with Tottenham fans, and we were lucky to get a seat on the patio with a view of the television. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) sponsors three tournaments during the soccer season, pitting the best teams in Europe against each other. The top league is the Champions League, the second the Europa, and the third is the Confederations League. Amazingly enough, Manchester United is in 16th place in England's Premier League, Tottenham 17th, while teams 18 through 20 are relegated to the lower-level Championship League. In other words, neither team is very good, but still beat all those other European teams to get to the final. And although Manchester United seemed to dominate the ball, Tottenham won the game 1-0.

Since Tottenham was only one spot above relegation, the Europa trophy would be their only chance at glory this year, which explained the large crowd at Esters cheering them on. And cheer them on they did. The hardcore fans at the bar were leading everyone in the singing of "When the Spurs Go Marching In" (to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In") at frequent intervals, not to mention shouting British expletives when things went wrong. Curiously, those hardcore fans would also pound on the bar once in a while and then shout "Yeats," which I have heard before and still don't understand. What do the Tottenham Hotspur have to do with an early 20th century Irish poet - did he write poems about the team, inspiring them to greatness? I asked Mark to head over to the bar during halftime and ask those guys what it all meant, but he forgot to do it.  And so, we'll sadly never know. In any case, when Tottenham won the game, the crowd went wild, cheering, waving their arms, and hugging each other. It was the first trophy Tottenham has won in 17 years. And it could be another 17 years before they win another, so everyone obviously wanted to take advantage of the moment while they could. Enjoy guys!

Summer Is Coming - Time To Hang Out On The Wynkoop's Patio After The Game!

It is getting warmer here in Denver, and one of the things I love to do after attending an afternoon Colorado Rockies baseball game is to have a beer on the Wynkoop Brewing Company's patio. It is just two blocks south of Coors Field, and you can sit, have a beer, and watch all the fans going past as they leave the ballpark, usually after another loss. This brewery was started by current Senator John Hickenlooper and his partners back in 1988 in what is now called LoDo (officially, the Lower Downtown Historic District), although back then instead of an entertainment district it was more like skid row. Then came Coors Field, dozens of bars and restaurants, lots of lofts (including directly above the Wynkoop), and all manner of hipsters ready to party. The Wynkoop is located in the J.S. Brown Mercantile Building, built in 1899, which thanks to its high ceilings and historic charm makes it the perfect place to brew and drink beer.

The bar area at the Wynkoop is indeed a very cozy place to sit, but when the weather turns nice, the patio is definitely the place to hang out and is where I took the photograph on the right of my sister Susan, seen enjoying a pint. In addition to the brewery, Hickenlooper also renovated the upper floors into 15 lofts, one of which was owned at one time by Joyce Meskis, who made the Tattered Cover Bookstore into a one of the largest bookstores in the country at the time. Years ago, there was an annual LoDo loft tour every October, and one of the lofts open to the public was her loft, which I myself got to tour. A very fun experience. And I was so overwhelmed by that experience, I had to immediately head downstairs for a beer. Very handy indeed.

Catching A Crosstown Baseball Game Between the White Sox And Cubs

This past Sunday afternoon I watched my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, play their hated North Side Rivals, the Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley Field on MLB.com. It was a 1-1 tie until the 6th inning, when the wheels fell off for the White Sox, and the Cubs won the game 6-2 for a 3-game series sweep. The Cubs actually have a pretty good team this year, and are expected to make the playoffs, while the Sox are coming off a 121-loss season last year, and so the outcome was not a big surprise. And I must say, the White Sox do look better than last year, but not that much better. However, they are at least better than my adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, who appear to be working hard to beat that White Sox record from last year. Just yesterday, the White Sox lost to the Seattle Mariners 5-1, leaving them with a 14-34 win-loss record, the Rockies lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3, leaving them with a major league worst record of 8 wins and 39 losses, and even the Cubs, in first place with a 28-20 record, lost to the Miami Marlins 8-7, leading me to believe it will be a long, long summer.

Watching A Newcastle - Arsenal Soccer Match With Mark And The Mile High Magpies

I drove down to the Celtic on Market Street in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) yesterday morning with my friend Mark, seen in the photograph above, to watch a soccer match between Newcastle United and Arsenal with the Mile High Magpies, the local Newcastle supporters' group. Mark is a big Newcastle fan and wanted to catch a game with the Magpies before the season ends this coming weekend. The last time we were at the Celtic, we watched the Newcastle game in a room in the basement, which I was not impressed with, but this time, since both the Newcastle and Arsenal supporter's groups were there to watch the game, we were all able to sit together in the main room upstairs, which was actually pretty nice. The place was packed, and everyone seemed to be very much into the game. Arsenal, which is a London team, won the game 1-0, but I am happy to report that no fights broke out between the two groups. At least this time.

Remembering A May 2024 Midwest Road Trip

A year ago this month, my sister Susan, cousins John and Annette, and I took a road trip to visit the 40 acres I own south of Herbster, Wisconsin, which was purchased by our Grandfather Hoyt back in 1918 and which my father Nelson gave me, on the condition I paid the taxes on it every year. At the time I thought it was a great deal. I picked up John at the airport in Des Moines, Iowa, and we drove north to Clear Lake, Iowa, where the Hoyt family comes from. Our Great Great Grandfather, Alexander Nelson, owned two houses there, a block or two from the lake, but sadly, although we found the neighborhood, as seen in the photograph on the left, we could not find those houses. Plus, we looked in the Clear Lake Cemetary, and located the gravesites, but there were no headstones on the 5 graves: Alexander Nelson, his wife Imogene, his daughter Sophie, Sophie's daughter Violet, and an infant, all unmarked. Not a trace of the family left in Clear Lake. Kind of sad, isn't it?

The next day we were going to pick up Annette, John's sister, at the Minneapolis airport, but due to stormy weather, the flight was canceled, and we headed directly up to Duluth, where we checked into the hotel in nearby Superior, Wisconsin. We then headed to the Tavern on the Hill, seen in the photograph on the right, which is located across from the University of Minnesota Duluth, to celebrate John's birthday. This is a lively spot, made even nicer by the fact that to get there you drive along Lake Superior and then head up a hill filled with beautiful old Victorians overlooking the lake.

The next day, Annette arrived in Minneapolis and rented a car, joining us in Duluth. That afternoon we drove east about 45 miles to Herbster, headed south down dirt roads to a snowmobile trail that leads to my 40 acres, and hiked in. Susan stayed in the car while the three of us headed to the property. Although that trail is perfectly fine for snowmobiles during the winter, in the spring it was filled with huge, water-filled holes, which we had to circle, brushing against the vegetation as we did. After about a mile and a half we arrived at the property line, where I took the photograph of John and Annette on the left, standing next to the orange property marker on the tree. Sadly, the woods were impenetrable, there was no sign of the cabin that was once there, and when we got back to the car, we were all covered in ticks. Not a very successful trip, I'm afraid. On the other hand, that was the first time I ever actually set foot on the property, and so that has to count for something, right?

We had dinner in Bayfield, Wisconsin, 30 miles to the east of Herbster. Bayfield in a really nice town, situated on a hill overlooking Lake Superior, filled with Victorian homes and an artsy downtown, as seen in the photograph on the right. We dined at the Bayfield Inn, but having to continuously pick off the ticks kind of put a damper on the evening. When we got back to Duluth, we did a late-night washing to get rid of the damn things, and I spent part of the next day spraying the hell out of my car to get rid of the ones still in there. And did I mention that I have received over a dozen offers to buy the north half of that property? Probably people wanting to get into the tick farming business.

The next day was pretty stormy during the morning, which is when I took the photograph on the left of someone walking along the waves with their surfboard. Evidently waves like this are not unusual up there (remember the Edmund Fitzgerald), and so to him it was probably just another pleasant day along the water. The weather eventually cleared up, and we toured the Glensheen Mansion, a local historical landmark, and had lunch at Grandma's Saloon and Grill in the Canal Park entertainment district. That is a pretty lively area, and we had dinner there, too. The next day John and Annette headed to the Minneapolis airport and Susan and I drove back to Denver, hopefully all of us tick free. 

It's High School Graduation Time - The Horror, The Horror...

It is high school graduation time, and when you live across the street from the University of Denver's Ritchie Center, that means many days of traffic, crowds, and noise, since the Ritchie Center hosts 2 or 3 graduation ceremonies per day for two weeks straight. The first two graduation ceremonies took place yesterday, and they will continue through May 30th. And in addition to all those other issues, many of the graduates, their families, and friends like to park in your parking space when they attend the event, since the ceremony is right across the street and they avoid the $10 fee DU charges at its lots. There is a sign at the entrance to my building's parking lot that says no event parking, but I suspect many of these attendees either can't read or just don't give a damn. You can have a car towed, of course, but I myself am always afraid that if you do, the person whose car was towed will inflict as much damage as they can on the car that replaced it. Some condo buildings in the area actually have volunteers at the entrances to their parking lots checking for proof of residence, but that has never been tried at my condo. I would suggest it at the next homeowners meeting, but I know the response would be that since it's your idea, you do it. Best to just stay quiet and perhaps buy a traffic cone to put in your space, hoping the interlopers will just park in your neighbor's spot instead. You do what you have to do, right?

A Much Too Early In The Season Trip To Breckenridge

My sister Susan and I decided to drive up to Breckenridge from Denver yesterday afternoon. It was sunny and 69 degrees in Denver, although a bit on the windy side, and so what could go wrong, right? It was a very pleasant drive all the way up to the Eisenhower Tunnel, but when we came out on the other side and headed down into Summit County and the Blue River Valley, the skies began to look ominous. When we got off the interstate at Frisco and headed toward Breckenridge, it began to snow fairly heavily. Susan suggested we turn around, but after driving for an hour and a half I had no intention of turning around just 7 miles from our destination. After all, the temperature was still above freezing, and so it was unlikely road conditions would deteriorate. Which is important, because here in Colorado, if you don't have snow tires or chains and you get stuck in the middle of the interstate and block traffic, the state police have the right to shoot you. Which is harsh, but delaying traffic is harsher still.

Once we got near Breckenridge, the snow stopped, and the sun came out. But due to a detour, it took a while to get to the downtown area, and by the time we did, the snow had returned. And surprise! Not a soul on the streets enjoying the mid-30-degree temperatures. Definitely not a good day to walk through the historic district or sit outside having a cold one on the patio, and so we headed back to Denver, where it was still 69 degrees and sunny. That's "Springtime in the Rockies" for you. Perhaps we'll head back to Breckenridge (aka Breck) in July. Perhaps.

A Return To The DAM

Tuesday was a free day at the Denver Art Museum (the DAM), as seen on the left side of the photograph, and so my sister Susan and I headed downtown in the afternoon to check out what was on display. This was the first time I have visited the place since I let my membership lapse, and so I was interested in seeing what was new there. The answer - basically nothing. The emphasis at the DAM these days is on contemporary art, both with the permanent collections and current exhibitions. And many of the contemporary paintings look exactly the same, no matter how many times they rotate the artwork. As Susan, who years ago took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago, looked at these paintings, she kept saying how much she regretted giving up art, since she could paint far better than what was on display and would probably have made a fortune if she stuck to it.

It was, after all, a weekday, and so not too many people were in the galleries. Years ago, my favorite time to visit the museum was on Final Fridays, which took place the last Friday evening of every month. There was a free buffet table, and if you wanted, you could purchase beer or wine. Plus, there were all kinds of tours and activities during the evening, including a comedy team that dressed like the two characters from the painting Self-Portrait with Swimming Coach Charlie Sava, and put on a show using the freight elevator as a stage. It was actually a lot of fun. There was also another comedy team who would guide you on a tour of the contemporary art exhibitions and give you their interpretation of the meaning of those works, which was hilarious. Eventually, the buffet table was eliminated when the North Building underwent restoration, and Final Fridays became a quarterly event called Untitled: Artist Takeover. The comedy teams were eliminated, and all the events seemed to revolve around serious social issues. No food, no drink, and no fun.

One of my favorite paintings at the DAM is Modigliani's Portrait de Femme, which for some reason has not been on display for years. I finally filled out request asking why and was told that it was out on loan for a special exhibition. That was several years ago, too, and still no Modigliani. For that matter, it has been years since I have seen Joan Brown's Self-Portrait with Swimming Coach Charlie Sava hanging in the gallery, either. Instead, they have videos such as Salt Transfer Cycle, featuring a naked man crawling across salt flats, getting covered in salt, and having elk licking it off. Yesterday they had Lorna Simpson's video titled Easy to Remember playing, which features 15 mouths humming that Rodgers and Hart tune in unison, which is supposed to be "a subtle comment on racial difference," and seen in the photograph on the left, with Susan taking it all in. To me, it is just stupid. But that's just me. After all, I am old.

The April And May Issues Of Chicago Magazine

After returning to Denver from Stuart, Florida, I was finally able to go through the April and May issues of Chicago Magazine. The April issue's cover story is titled "The Best New Restaurants: 11 Sizzling Spots Making Their Mark on the City's Dining Scene." And I must say, most of the entrees featured by these restaurants did sound pretty good. However, although the editor wrote an introduction stating that most of these new hot spots represented the middle ground between casual and fine dining, to me they sounded expensive as hell ($195 for this, $125 for that is NOT the middle ground!). What I found more interesting was an interview with Will Venable, the new manager of the Chicago White Sox, and a review of a new book titled "Justice Batted Last: Ernie Banks, Minnie Minoso, and the Unheralded Players Who Intergrated Chicago's Major League Teams." I found this article fascinating. After all, I actually watched both Banks and Minoso play. Which means, of course, I am old.

The cover story for the May issue of Chicago Magazine is titled "The L In Crisis: Why Our Train Is In Trouble And Why It's Worth Saving." As someone who took the "L" a lot when I lived in Chicago, I found this article very interesting and informative. Many of the problems with Chicago's "L" are the same as the Light Rail here in Denver: lower ridership since the pandemic, drug use on trains, not enough security to protect riders, budget problems, long delays, and a lack of personnel, among others. But in Chicago, a big reason preventing the solving of these problems is the fact that there are four agencies that control mass transportation in Chicago: The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra (which runs the commuter trains), and Pace (which runs suburban buses). And as usual, attempts to combine these agencies is hindered by politics. Another interesting article concerns a new book about the history of Chicago's Wrigley Building. Did you know that during the 20th Century, Studio 12 was located on the second floor of that iconic structure, and musicians like Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee, Cab Calloway, Gebe Krupa, and Big Bill Broonzy made recordings for Columbia Records there? Fascinating, right? Finally, there was a feature called Shades of Boredom - Everyday Life in Chicago 35 Years ago, featuring excellent photographs by Mark Steinmetz. Which gave me pause - 35 years ago, I had already been gone from Chicago for 9 years. Time sure does fly.

Springtime In Boulder

Springtime is in full swing up in Boulder, Colorado, as I discovered this past Saturday afternoon while visiting that wonderful and fun city. Chatauqua Park, seen in the photograph on the left, was packed, with large numbers of hikers heading up the Flatirons, resembling nothing so much as an invading army. Chatauqua, by the way, is the home of the Chatauqua Auditorium, built in 1898, where numerous music acts and cultural events take place each summer. And just down the hill from there is the Chatauqua Dining Hall, with an outside patio with wonderful views. Sunday brunch is especially nice, although lots of luck finding a parking spot. 

Meanwhile, down on the Pearl Street Mall, as seen in the photograph on the right, people were out and about, lunching at outdoor patios, window shopping, or just enjoying the warm sunny weather. In my opinion, the best time to visit the mall is on Saturday nights, when it is filled with visitors, the restaurants are packed, and everywhere you look there are street performers, interacting with the audience and cajoling them for tips. And even though spring semester at the University of Colorado has ended, there are still a lot of students out and about, no doubt preferring to stay in Boulder over the summer than head back to North Dakota or wherever they come from. Can't say I blame them for that.

The May Mutt Of The Month

I took the photograph on the left of the May Mutt of the Month on the rocky outcropping next to the House of Refuge in Stuart, Florida, the only remaining life-saving station of 12 that lined Florida's Atlantic coast. It was operated by the United States Life-Saving Service, a predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard, and built in 1876, the oldest building in Martin County. It is now a museum. And the location is really spectacular, especially when waves are crashing against the rocks. However, as far as I can tell, neither that dog nor its owner is impressed with the scenery. The owner seems far more interested in his smartphone than anything else - surprise! - while the dog is just happy to pose for a photo before they move on down the beach. For which I am grateful. Thanks, guy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day, a day to celebrate mothers everywhere, especially your own, and also the day it is considered safe to start gardening here in Denver. And in honor of this day, I am posting a photograph of my mother Mary, taken many years ago in the backyard of our house in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago. My mother told me that this was her favorite photograph of herself. It brings back a lot of happy memories, and I am very glad to still have it. I miss my mother, but am happy that she lived to the age of 93 and really enjoyed her life, especially after she and my father Nelson moved to Stuart, Florida back in 1976. In any case, I hope everyone out there has a Happy Mother's Day, either with your mother or remembering all the happy times with her.

The Lost Coast

I just finished reading The Lost Coast, the latest Clay Edison thriller by father and son team Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman. Years ago, I read a couple of books in the Alex Delaware series, written by the senior Kellerman, but never heard of his Clay Edison novels before seeing one in the new book section at the Blake Library in Stuart, Florida. It turns out it is the fifth book in the series, and it is actually quite good. It features Clay Edison, a former Bay Area deputy coroner turned private eye, who is hired by a man named Chris Villareal to investigate a series of mysterious payments, totaling close to $50,000, made by his grandmother that he discovered while executing her will. The investigation soon reveals a real estate scam involving the sale of properties located in what is called The Lost Coast, a very remote area on the North Coast of California. Finding several other victims of this fraud, Edison decides to drive up to the town, and finds that something far more sinister is going on there, too. I really enjoyed this book, and plan on going back and reading the first four books in the series. You should too.

Watching The Rockies Play The Tigers With Mark And Susan

I went to my first Colorado Rockies game of the season yesterday afternoon with my friend Mark and sister Susan, seen in the photograph above, at Coors Field here in Denver. The Rockies, who currently are the worst team in baseball, were playing the Detroit Tigers, who right now have the second-best record in the major leagues. However, the weather was great, the seats were good, and Kyle Freeland, a long-time Rockies ace pitcher, was on the mound. How bad could it get? Very bad, actually. By the end of the third inning, the Rockies were behind 9-0, and Detroit won the game by a final score of 10-2. Because Tuesday's game was rained out, the make-up game was played right after yesterday's regularly scheduled contest. And it was a true doubleheader - not one of those day-night affairs where the fans are herded out the gates and a separate paying crowd replaces them in the evening. I didn't think those kinds of doubleheaders even existed anymore. Although we could have watched two baseball games for the price of one, we decided not to stay, and I later saw that the Tigers won the second game 11-1. As the sportscasters said later in the evening, a new low point in the season. I suspect there might be a lot more of those in the near future.

DU Bookstore News! Follett Is Out! Barnes And Noble Is In!

As regular blog readers know, I worked at the University of Denver Bookstore for almost 30 years, most of that time as the Finance Manager of the store. And so, I was very interested to learn that DU announced on April 28th that the DU Bookstore will transition this June from management by Follett Higher Education Group to Barnes and Noble College. The announcement, made by Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business Affairs Mark V. DeLorenzo, included "a very special thank you to Follett for their service to the DU community in managing the bookstore since 2012." In my opinion, it was more like running it into the ground since 2012. That was the year the University of Denver outsourced the store to Follett, laying off the entire staff, including me, instead of offering them alternative employment at the university. Bookstore employees were guaranteed a minimum of one year working for Follett with the same salary and benefits, but it will come as no surprise that many of us were gone exactly one year to the day. And will Barnes and Noble College do a better job than Follett? These companies are chains, and their number one priority is making a profit. When the store was institutionally owned, it made a profit but was much more customer service oriented, very much dedicated to serving students and staff as best as possible. And so, the short answer is no. The photograph above, by the way, was taken by me back in February of 2010 while the store was still operated by the University of Denver. The good old days. Another example of things getting worse instead of better.

Lunch With Stuart At Old Chicago

I had a late lunch with my friend Stuart, seen in the photograph on the left, at the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom in Lakewood, Colorado Monday afternoon. The bar area at the Old Chicago there is nice, but as for Lakewood itself, not so much. The heart and soul of that suburb is West Colfax Avenue. Drive down that street end to end along its Lakewood stretch, and you will never want to see Lakewood again. Stuart likes it there, but then again, he grew up in the suburbs, and so he sets a low bar. In any case, we caught up on my adventures in Florida, and what he has been up to lately, but I was surprised to learn that he has not been following the Cubs this season, even though he is a Cubs fan who grew up in the Northside suburbs of Chicago. He says he has been too busy, but in my opinion, it is because of the fatalistic attitude Cub fans have, knowing that no matter how good the team is now, they will blow it in the end. In any case, the Cubs are currently in first place in the National League Central, with a .595 winning percentage. 

On the other hand, my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, are currently the second worst team in baseball, which is not a surprise, since they set a major league record for most losses last year. These days we current and former Southsiders just want to see them win an occasional game or two. Our expectations are low, as always. Meanwhile, our adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, currently have the worst record in all of baseball, which is not a surprise, either, since the owners prefer to have the team run by relatives and pals instead of people who know anything about baseball. But Coors Field, where the Rockies play, is a great place to watch baseball, and many people here are originally from someplace else and like to go to the park and root for their old hometown teams. And so, attendance is still close to 3 million fans a year, which explains why ownership does not seem to care about wins and losses. And by the way, the photograph on the right is of the Comiskey Park scoreboard back in 1980, with Bill Veeck superimposed onto the photo.  Veeck, the legendary owner of the Chicago White Sox, was selling the team to Jerry Reinsdorf, who unfortunately still owns the team, and fans were saluting Veeck that day for everything he has contributed to baseball. If Reinsdorf ever sells the team, I doubt he will get a similar tribute.

The 32nd Annual Furry Scurry

The 32nd Annual Furry Scurry took place this past Saturday morning in Denver's Washington Park. This event is put on to raise money for Humane Colorado, formerly known as the Dumb Friends League (which I prefer much more, although nobody asked my opinion before the name was changed). The Furry Scurry is a festival and two-mile dog walk attended by what seems like every dog and dog owner in the state. Even though I was a little late getting to the starting line Saturday morning, there were still hundreds if not thousands of people and their dogs still going through the starting line, as seen in the photograph above. What surprised me the most was how many people were pushing their dogs in baby carriages or carrying them in baby slings or backpacks. Which reinforces my belief that a great many pet owners, in some way or another, are just plain crazy.

Cinco de Mayo 2025

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a day that celebrates Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is celebrated in the city of Puebla with festivals, but is a much more popular holiday in the United States than in Mexico. It became popular in the U.S. in the 1980s thanks to major advertising campaigns by beer, wine, and tequila companies, and is now considered a celebration of Mexican-American culture. Here in Denver, it was celebrated this past weekend at Civic Center Park in downtown Denver, where I took the photograph on the left.

This festival had three stages featuring traditional dances and both traditional and modern music. Perhaps too modern, after watching a performance by Micky Ricon, known for his "urban Latin rhythms," which to me sounded like Mexican rap. In any case, the group in the photograph on the right are part of Folklorico de Colores, an organization that teaches traditional Mexican folk dance to youths age 4 to 13. This was much more suited to my taste. As far as I am concerned, when you go to a festival like this, you want to see and hear traditional music and dance, not rap, whatever language it happens to be in.

And, of course, Denver's Cinco de Mayo festival featured booths selling all kinds of goods, as well as all kinds of Mexican food, including that traditional Mexican favorite, Giant Turkey Legs, as seen in the photograph on the left. Of course, they sell Giant Turkey Legs at other festivals around here, too, such as the Denver Chalk Festival, Denver Oktoberfest, and Breckenridge Oktoberfest. I sometimes wonder if they just simply freeze the leftovers at the end of each of these events and reheat them at the next festival. What doesn't sell at Oktoberfest in September will show up next May at Cinco de Mayo. Yum. They also had Chihuahua Races at the festival, which I think would have been fun to see, but which I unfortunately arrived too late to witness. Of course, there is always next year, as Chicago Cubs fans are fond of saying. 

The 151st Kentucky Derby

Yesterday the 151st Kentucky Derby took place. It was won by Sovereignty, with 7-1 odds, beating the 3 to 1 favorite Journalism in an exciting finish at a very muddy Churchill Downs. I have always enjoyed watching the Kentucky Derby each year, probably because I fondly remember my parents having other family members over each year to watch the race, with everyone betting a few dollars on the event. My father would cut the names of the horses out of the newspaper, put them in a hat, and then let each person draw, without looking, a couple of horses. It made for a fun experience. Also, I always think of Hunter Thompson on Derby Day, too. A native of Louisville, he was sent to cover the horse race in 1970 by Scanlan's Monthly. He and illustrator Ralph Steadman focused on the revelry surrounding the event and weren't even able to see the race from where they were standing. Faced with a deadline, Thompson torn pages from his notebook, numbered them, and sent them to the magazine, along with Steadman's drawings. Then he waited for the resulting shitstorm and the end of his career. Instead, with his manic first-person narrative of the event, he was hailed as a genius and the inventor of gonzo journalism. His career as a writer was launched. Unfortunately, he wound up having to live up to the character he created. Journalist Bob Greene, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, once wrote on how he was there for many of the events that Thompson described in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. Greene said Thompson acted very professional back then and made up all the crazy things he described in that book. But by then he was typecast and had to play the character he created for the rest of his life. A high price to pay for fame and fortune.

From Endless Summer To Springtime In The Rockies

It felt like summer the entire time my sister Susan and I were in Florida, and so arriving back to a place where there are actual seasons was a shock. We arrived in Denver to heavy rain and cold temperatures, but happily, the next day was in the 60s and sunny, and signs of spring were all over. May snowfall in Denver is rare, but not in the mountains. In fact, more snow is predicted up there this coming week, adding to the amounts already on Mount Evans, as seen in the photograph above. Years ago, I remember hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park on Memorial Day with Susan, her late husband George, and my then wife Lisa. We hiked a trail where the snow got deeper and deeper the higher we went, and soon it started to get foggy, too. Lisa finally said enough is enough, and George, who was leading the way, reluctantly agreed to turn around, and we headed back to a brewpub Estes Park for a beer. I personally think that was George's plan all along, and it worked.