The 47th Anniversary Of The Fall Of Saigon

Today is the 47th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, ending once and for all American involvement in Vietnam. The war started when I was attending Fort Dearborn Elementary School in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, and was still going strong when I rushed to the IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Bookstore after class to pick up a copy of the Chicago Daily News one day to see what my draft lottery number was, which would determine if I would get a much closer look at Vietnam than I wanted at the time. My number was over 300, thank God, but thousands of others were not so lucky. Over 58,000 Americans died during the war, and total deaths, including civilians, were over 1.3 million, not including the psychological damage to many thousands more. And in the end, all for nothing. So sad.

Week 3 Of Photography And Self

Today I am attending the 3rd session of Photography and Self, a class sponsored by the Denver Public Library and the University of Denver. It is an intergenerational group, half DU photography students and half senior citizens, and focuses on taking self-portraits (selfies) with your smart phone. Last week Roddy, the DU photography professor, introduced the class to various photo apps that can be used to enhance your selfies, one of which - Grunge Photo Editor - I used to modify the above self-portrait. Of course, I have no idea what "grunge" is - a style of music from Seattle, perhaps? And just what makes the above photograph grunge?  Definitely a question to ask the class. And as for smartphones and photography, I have to admit that I still miss those old rotary dial phones. Does that make me an old fogey? Don't answer that.

Slough House

I just finished reading Slough House, Mick Herron's latest "Slow Horses" spy thriller. I really like this series, which is about British MI5 spies that have screwed up so badly that they are sent to Slough House, where under the control of the eccentric, vulgar, but brilliant Jackson Lamb, they are given mind-numbing desk assignments to keep them out of trouble. Of course, this never works, and they always seem to be in the middle of every major operation. Although I enjoy reading these books, and recommend the series, I am somewhat surprised that Herron kills off one of his main characters in what seems like every book, always replaced by a new screw-up banished to Slough House. What's the deal with that? However, it does make his books more exciting to read, since unlike other mystery series, you know one of the team is a goner. In any case, this time, both current and ex-Slough House spies are being targeted for death as revenge for an MI5 hit on a Russian spy. It is an exciting and often humorous read, and I recommend picking up a copy from your local library. I also am looking forward to reading Bad Actors, Herron's next book, scheduled to be released in May. I just hope he doesn't wind up killing one of the characters I like.

Golden Reflections

I took the above photograph of the reflections in a store window when I was up in Golden, Colorado the other day. Photographs of window reflections are considered kind of lowbrow by art photographers. I remember years ago there was an exhibition of photographs at the Denver Art Museum by a local photographer, some of which featured store reflections, and the art community was aghast, saying his photos were unworthy of being exhibited at the DAM. Of course, right now there is a photography exhibit at the Denver Art Museum called Curious Visions: Toward Abstract Photography, which features photographs that are completely unidentifiable, but no doubt "artsy." I myself prefer traditional photographs, including window reflections, especially when you can see Table Mesa featured prominently in that window. And despite this, I still feel like an "artiste."

Walking Around Golden

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, my sister Susan and I visited the old mining towns of Central City and Blackhawk on Sunday. We followed up that adventure by walking around the city of Golden yesterday afternoon. Golden was founded back in 1859, and served as a supply center for Central City and Blackhawk back in the 19th century. Golden was also the capital of the Colorado Territory until 1867, when the fast-growing city of Denver became the territorial capital. Today, Golden is a suburb of Denver, but because it is sheltered from the rest of the metropolitan area by Table Mesa, it has retained its small-town atmosphere and is a popular tourist destination. 

Golden still has many Victorian era buildings, including the Astor House, built in 1867 and Colorado's oldest hotel (actually a rooming house, but when you get right down to it, what's the difference?). There are quite a few beautiful 19th century homes in the city, too, especially in the 12th Street Historic District, where the house in the photograph on the right is located. Many of these homes are from the 1860s and 1870s, close to downtown, including one that has the Golden City Brewery located in its backyard. Talk about a neighborhood amenity!

Perhaps the nicest thing about Golden, besides its location right up against the foothills, is that it is located along Clear Creek, seen in the photograph on the left, with Table Mesa in the background. There is an historic park, with some original pioneer cabins and a one room schoolhouse, located along its banks, as well as walking trails that lead into the nearby mountains. The river is popular with tubers during the summer months, but probably is most famous for being the water source for the Coors Brewery, located just downstream, and which has been around since 1873. Recently, Coors announced that it is restarting its brewery tours, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. However, they now charge $20 for this tour, while the smaller craft breweries around the Denver area charge nothing. Let me think - pay $20 for a Coors Brewery tour and get a sample of Coors beer afterwards, or get a free tour of a craft brewery, buy a couple of pints, and have money left in your pocket? Decisions, decisions. 

A Visit To Central City

My sister Susan and I, along with her dog Blackberry, drove up to Central City yesterday afternoon. Central City and Blackhawk were both gold mining towns established in 1859, and located 35 miles west of Denver by way of Clear Creek Canyon. Gambling was legalized in those two communities back in the 1990s, which resulted in Black Hawk becoming a mini–Las Vegas, while Central City, due to zoning restrictions in its historic district, was not able to attract the larger casinos, and thus able to retain much of its 19th Century charm. The Teller House (on the right in the photograph on the left), and the Central City Opera House are two of the city's most historic buildings.

Happily, Central City still has some very nice Victorian era homes, and feels like a small, old-time mountain community. Black Hawk, on the other hand, also has some historic structures, but most are squeezed between huge modern casinos, detracting from the ambiance. While we were there, cars were lined up to get into the casino parking garages, while in Central City, the streets were mostly empty, with just a few people walking around, checking out the downtown shops. Of course, by then it was starting to snow, and pretty cold, too, which is always a negative to visiting tourists.

After touring Central City, we were planning on driving north on the Peak to Peak highway to Nederland, which was a popular town for hippies back in the 1960s (they are all still there, by the way, but much older). However, the higher we went, the harder the snow fell. After about 5 miles, the roads became snow packed, and so we decided to head back down to Golden, where it was much warmer, with no snow in sight. It is just amazing that Denver is suffering a major drought and has had virtually no snow in April, while just to the west, it has been snowing like crazy. That is the joy of living in Colorado, I guess.

Watching Tottenham Play Brentford With Mark

I watched the soccer match between Tottenham and Brentford yesterday morning with my friend Mark, seen in the photograph above wearing his Tottenham jersey. Mark, as regular blog readers know, works at the University of Denver's Anderson Academic Commons, otherwise known as the library. When what used to be known as Penrose Library was remodeled, the administration was not planning to put hardly any books back there (nasty things), but the faculty put up such a fuss that they agreed to return half of what was originally there - in the basement, of course, on those lovely bookshelves that can be cranked into a corner. But as usual, I digress. The game finished in a 0-0 draw, which was bad news for Tottenham, which is a fairly good team trying to move up in the standings, while Brentford, as far as I can tell, stinks. I suspect Tottenham is trying to become the Chicago Cubs of the English Premier League, "lovable losers" who choke when the chips are down. But that is just my opinion. The correct one, of course, but I am too modest to say so.