Stop animation from BLU.

Royal Arch – Boulder

This Labor Day we hiked up the Royal Arch trail in Boulder. Rufus’ first hiking trip.

DNC Street Art

Here is a selection of the street art I have seen around town during the DNC. Mostly Shepard Fairey (who I had a chance to hang with and he autographed my Artist for Obama CHANGE print). Some of it is pretty powerful, some of it pretty funny, all of it really effective.

Manifest Hope Gallery highlights

Yesterday was media day at the Manifest Hope Gallery, here are a few highlights from Shepard Fairey, Sam Flores, Date Farmers, Ron English, David Choe, and Mac. A few others as well.

Manifest Hope Gallery

Our beloved Andenkin Gallery here in town has been transformed into the Manifest Hope Gallery for the convention. As of this morning, here is the new facade. My guess is that it will say “hope” on the roof (although it’s kind of fun having the giant HO sign across the street in the ghetto). Check out some progress images on the Andenkin blog. I went inside today and got a chance to meet Ron English, he made the cool facade in the photo. My lips are sealed about what I saw inside. Definitely don’t sleep on this one. Upper Playground is involved, a list of the featured artists are below. Finally, Denver is on the map.

Aaron Martin // Adrian Sanchez // Alexis McKenzie // Amy Martin // Amy Rice // Andy Howell // Alex Pardee // Cathie Bleck // Casey Ryder // Chanel Kennebrew // Chris Pastras // Chris Yates // Cydney Payton // Dan Monick // Date Farmers // David Choe // David Lanham // Deroy Peraza // Diederick Kraaijeveld // Eddie // Elizabeth Rosen // Emek // Evan Hecox // Frank Chimero // Franke // Gary Baseman // HVW8 // Irene Hardwicke Olivieri // Jason Alberto // Justin Alberto Garcia // Jason Giglio // Jeff Zimmerman // Jesselisa Moretti // Jude Buffum // Julie Adler // Justin Bua // Kate Luscher //Kay Tuttle // Keith Negley // Kofie // Leontine Greenberg // Lisa Anne Auerbach // Lisa Congdon // Lukas Ketner // MAC //Max Ginsburg // Maya Hayuk // Mear One // Mel Kadel // Melanie Reim // Morning Breath // Munk One // Nick Dewar // Pete Yahnke // Philip John Lumbang // Ray Noland aka CRO // Rebecca Berdel // Retna // Rick Griffith // Ron English // Ron Keas // Sam Flores // Sarah Hoskins // Scot Lefavor // Shannon Bonatakis and Josh Holland // Shepard Fairey // Cypher13 // Todd Lockwood // Tom Slaughter // Mike Moore (Tres Birds) // Van Taylor Monroe // Zara Gonzalez // Zina Saunders // Zoltron // Aaron Axelrod // Thomas Brodhal // Ginger Che // Catia Chien // Christopher Cox // Grotesk // Damon Locks // Zach McDonald // Tres Birds // Adrian Tucker // Arellano Harvath // Antar Dayal // Vincent Comparetto

More Rufus

Here are some more pics of Rufus.

On the road: NC/ VA border market.

First stop, farmers market.

Fresh produce, Rebel Raider firecrackers, Swamp Sauce, and a monster truck school bus.

Know when to say NO

I had to post this one, too funny. For any of you in the ad world, you will really appreciate it.

Click Here

Meet Rufus

Last weekend we added this little dude to the fam.

SXSW

A little slow getting stuff posted lately. Here are some pics from South By Southwest. Brisket, Okra, and Yams at Stubbs. Google waterfall. Crazy native in front of a call mural. Little girl in the Lego pile. Deer head with Oakley blades. That’s Texas folks.

Sonoma county excersion

I recently went to a golf resort in Sonoma for a client to check out there offering. Gloomy week, but I thought I would share some snapshots. Enjoy.

my crib

the clubhouse

the course

dave in the cart

in-n-out burger

Nuggets stomped out Kazaam

With a performance that rivaled his work in Kazaam, Shaq was basically non existent. he was getting handled by Eddy and Linus for gods sake. Nuggets stopped out the Suns, here is what it looked like from court side.

[video 8602 w=400]

Spike Jonze X Maurice Sendak – Where the Wild Things Are Peek

Rumors have been circulating for a while that the Spike Jonze interpretation of Where The Wild Things Are has the folks at Warner Bros. a little unhappy. The release date has been pushed back to 2009 and it has been widely circulated that they are re-shooting portions of the film. Either way, the fact that he stayed away from the CGI overkill and the amount of pure nostalgia that is wrapped up in this story, I’m guaranteed for the price of admission. Here are a few stills and a link to what little test footage is out there. Enjoy, I’m really looking forward to this one. The clip can be found here.

GIJoe Stop Motion festival in Denver

Photographing action figures in real world settings. Sounds random. Making a movie starring all of the toys from your parents attic. This is starting to sound a little weird. Turns out there is a whole scene for this type of thing. A local Denver guy is the Cobra Commander of the movement. He has created Pond Patrol, an episodic web site that chronicles the story of some characters and their special ops adventures.  Their traveling animation fest is coming to Denver. Who’s in? This I gotta see.

Most of this applies to you

I came across this blog today and it is pretty hilarious. Things White people like.

The funny part is that for the most part they hit the nail on he head.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

Some highlights are

Arguments

Mos Def

Vintage

Expensive Sandwiches

Project Runway Season 4 Spoiler

I was shown a photo spread of the finalists’ collections as shown on the runway. Looks like Rami and Chris both show. If you are interested in seeing the collections…..

Check it out here.

NERD ALERT – I’m huge in Korea

I can only hope that nothing I said was too lost in translation, but a proud moment non the less. The firm was just profiled in a big Korean design mag translated as Websmedia. This the the design annual that features talent from around the world. We were the only USers to get a nod. Apparently I forgot how old I am – or perhaps that was content strategy.

Serious Scrawl

An infill developer in SoHo came across an old mural inside of a scrape when he removed parts of the kitchen. Turns out to be what is thought to be one of the original graffiti pieces ever. Fab5Freddy, Futura2000, and Basquiat can all be found on the wall. Obviously the fact that graffiti is so often covered up by other writers or property owners make this a particularly relevant find. Preservation attempts are under way and the buzz amongst curators is pretty high. Looks like somebody’s going to have a pretty cool kitchen.

Xmas idea for the recession-proof

Want to spruce up those floaters you plan to leave at the Christmas party? Here is the perfect gift for you!

Tobias Wong and Ju$t Another Rich Kid created the Gold Pill for you. It’s a pill dipped in gold and filled with 24-karat gold leaf. You’re supposed to eat it “to increase your self-worth.” That would be funny if it didn’t cost $425 for the joke. Supposedly an added benefit is that it will make your poop sparkle, but no one seems to have proven that part yet (and if you do, please don’t send us the pictures). This is either genius social commentary or a brilliant way to bilk rich people out of their money.

07 wrap up – the weddings

It’s been a while since I have had the chance to post anything on the blog, so I thought I would compile the big events into a series of posts and get it all out of the system. Almost everyone I know has gotten married up to this point, so I’m happy to report that my vacation time can now be used for vacations again. April was a biggie with my cousin Karen tying the knot in Princeton NJ. Next up was Leanne and Derek in DC. Mary went out to NJ again for Liz and Lindsay’s wedding (sorry I missed it guys). Then we rounded off the month with Brian and Charleen’s wedding at Red Rocks. We then went down to South Denver for Kim and Richards wedding (thanks for sparing us on the plane tickets). The final wedding this year came in October when we headed back to DC for Blake and Rachel’s wedding. I only have picks for this one ready to go, so enjoy them and will back fill the post later with a few others.

Wes Andersons most Wes Anderson movie since the Tennenbaums

Last night I was lucky enough to go to the advanced screening of the new Wes Anderson movie The Darjeeling Limited. Basically it’s the story of 3 brothers reunited for the first time since their fathers funeral embarking on a spiritual journey by train through India. It has all of the things we come to expect from Wes – the music is integral to the story, it is shot more like a play on a stage than it is a movie, the liberal use of odd camera angles; a comedy based on tragic characters brought together by a tragic situation.

One scene in particular took on a weird twist when Owen Wilson (who’s character is bandaged from a severe intentional head wound) removes his bandages and contemplates the repercussions of his actions. Couldn’t help but associate it with the real world.

Highly recommended , very entertaining.

It’s on

The first real snow fell today in the Summit. Loveland will begin blowing on Wednesday.

inappropriate souvenir

from Jmascis.com

———-

After a blistering set last night in Brooklyn, NY the band awoke this morning to find that the their trailer had been broken into and all of the gear has been taken.

J’s Amma guitar, the mountain man guitar, Lou’s Rickenbacker… EVERYTHING IS GONE. They are still taking inventory to see what else is gone but they were pretty much wiped out.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! Spread the word to everyone you know, every music store, pawn shop, club… anywhere you can think they may show up.

If you have ANY information let us know – management@jmascis.com

Thank you.The band is driving to Amherst to see if they can get enough gear together to play the scheduled show @ Toads in New Haven, CT but it may have to be cancelled.

edit: I just added this to digg to help bring awareness – please digg it so we can get the news out there!!!! – digg.com/music/Dinosaur_Jr_Gear_Stolen_Brooklyn_NY. Thanks for you help!

listed below is a list of gear that was stolen out of the Dinosaur Jr trailer last night (Tuesday 8.29.06) outside of their hotel in Long Island City, NY. We would appreciate spreading the word and passing this list around in hopes of recovering their gear. Please notify and alert your local guitar shops, pawn shops, music and web stores etc. to keep an eye out for this gear. Feel free to send this list to any and all band, tour and production managers, guitar freaks, touring personnel, venues, musicians and or thieves that you think could help us.
If anyone has any information about this gear, please call Brian Schwartz at the number below or on his cell at 303.956.9671 or Bart Dahl at 212.777.0922 or on his cell at 720.331.1836. Thanks and Best, Brian

• Guitars:
  • 1959 Fender Jazzmaster SN# 38927.-decal coming off. cracked headstock at top near low E peg. color black with purple/bluish sparkle coming through. adonized pick guard gold metal. tuneomatic bridge gold, tuning pegs gold.
  • 1961-3 Fender Jazzmaster SN# 62012.-purple sparkle, black pickup covers. headstock repaired, a whole new piece of wood was glued on for the top part of the headstock under the tuners and up a 1/2” , along the whole top of the headstock. gold tuneomatic bridge, gold tuners
  • 1964-5 Fender Jazzmaster SN# L21581.-orange, white pearl pickguard, stickers we’re all over it, original tuners.
  • Fender Purple Jazzmaster new SN# R074329.-purple sparkle with matching headstock gold adonized guard tuneomatic bridge.
  • Rory Gallagher Stratocaster new SN# R25507.-has a big gold grover tuning peg on low E Rickenbacker 197? Fireglo Bass SN# 4001. -checker-board binding.
  • B.C. Rich Warlock Bass SN# 4242413
  • Custom pedal board with custom audio electronics RS-10 foot controller, Teese RNC2 wah pedal, boss stage tuner, mute box, and cables.
• Cymbals:
  • [1] Paiste 20″ 2002 medium
  • [1] Paiste 20″ giant beat
  • [1] Paiste 20″ 2002 crash
  • [2] Paiste 19″ 2002 crash
  • [2] Paiste 15″ 2002 sound edge top hi-hats
  • [1] 15″ 2002 sound edge bottom hi-hats

Blake9 is a Street Legend

The people spoke. After 4 months of voting, Blake 9 was selected as Vision Street Wears first Street Legend. Check it out here, or better yet go over to Blake’s site and buy some music.

Another tip of the hat – Flash Forward

Fresh off of the heels of an FWA award, Vision Street Wear has been nominated in the TYPOGRAPHY category of Flash Forward this year.

For those of you who don’t know, Flash Forward is pretty much top nod in the Flash Dev world.

Check it out: http://www.flashforwardconference.com/finalists

Park City Rally Meeting

I spent yesterday in Park City presenting touch screen technology to a group of brokers in the area. I was only there for about 10 hours total. The weather was amazing, the annual art walk was wrapping up, I saw some pretty amazing stuff. No pics, but my driver was awesome. He was a 400 pound Polynesian guy who does personal security during Sundance. I heard some pretty wild stories about the Park City “Underground” during the fest. Apparently Tom from Myspace, Nick Cannon, and Ice Cube really know how to do Utah. Anyway, weak entry I know.

Grand Lake Wake Skate

This weekend I headed up to Grand Lake with the work crew and tried wake skating and wake surfing. It was really fun.

Click the link to see me on the wake skate  matt_wakeskate_2.avi

Aloha – Hawaii roundup

This week I went out to O’ahu on a business trip. It was my first trip to Hawaii, and a great time. We were treated great, first class travel, great digs, and a personalized view of the area and culture from some very informed and qualified people. Here are a few pics of the trip:

1. view over open water

2. the Ihilani resort

3. Hammer Head!

4.View from the pool deck

5. The Lagoon

6. The FL2 Army!

Special message from Rapheal De La Ghetto High.

I came across this yesterday and was pretty blown away.

Equal parts educational video and social commentary.

Cat-A-Tac

Friend, fellow Virginia transplant, and rocker Connor Bailey’s band Cat-A-Tac has the cover feature on this weeks Westword. Their new album “Past Lies and Former Lives” broke in to the CMJ top 50. Things are looking good. For me, they are a trip in time back to the 90′s. Some say sounds like My Bloody Valentine. Some say sounds like Jesus and Mary Chain. Either way, they are playing the Westword Music Showcase this Saturday along side Lucero and Dinosaur Jr. Check out the article, check out the show.

Here’s one of my favorite tracks: credit-whore

….and another: Devil

R.I.P. big ‘Nook 93-07

Well after almost 15 great years, Chinook the wild woman has moved on to greener pastures. I could go on forever about all of the great memories; like shooting the rapids in the New river, the great Beaver battle, and generally owning any dog that crossed her path, but I’m going to keep those for myself. For those of you who knew her (who would read my blog that didn’t know Chinook?) remember her well. She truely was one of a kind.

Dinosaur Jr next month

Dinosaur Jr will be headlining the Westword music festival on June 16th. They are sharing the stage with Lucero. After Dino’s reunion tour last year, this one is must. I’m sure they will be playing plenty off of the new album Beyond, which is an instant classic. The Meat Pups and Dinosaur in less than a month, seems more like 87 than 07.

Meat Puppets on tour again

One of my favorite bands of all times, and one of the most covered, the Meat Puppets are back after a 10 year hiatus. First Primus, then Dinosaur, now the Pups. 90′s nostalgia is in full swing. Cris Kirkwood, one half of the Kirkwood Brothers duo is back after getting shot and spending a few years behind bars. Brother Kirk has written a bunch of new songs and recruited Tim “herb” Alexander of Primus fame to man the drums. A new album is on the way, but for a few lucky cities, a sneak peek is just around the corner. Here are the dates:

May 2007
15 – West Hollywood, CA – The Troubadour
16 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
18 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
19 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile Lounge
21 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
23 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre

Pandora Rocks

Today, while reading up on some of the best examples of web 2.0, I was turned on to Pandora. There have been plenty of attempts at internet radio, but this is by far the most comprehensive, community based format to date. I have just begun to explore the options, but you can skip tracks you don’t like, vote on tracks, create your own stations, and get podcasts! All for free. I searched “Denver” and found over 2300 stations people have created and can listen to their set ups too. Like I said, I haven’t fully explored it, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

my new whip

i just got my hands on a Volvo s60. For those of you familiar with the blog, my jeep was jacked in September and I finally replaced it.

Black on Black, leather, 2.5 turbo AWD. Werd.

Note to Volvo:

In your marketing materials, please throw in a couple of shots of men driving your cars.

Ballin’ in the dirty

The 11 seed VCU Rams whipped up on Duke last night. Enough said. Sure it was a 2 point win, but Eric Maynor took the game over single handedly and beat the Blue Devils all by himself. This is the first time VCU has advanced to the 2nd round in over 20 years, I think it was ’85 the last time they did it. I used to frequent Rams games at the Coliseum with the fam back in those days. It was  a battle on and off the court. A couple of VCU fans were removed from the arena for threatening officials with bodily harm during the game, and two of Dukes players left the court with bloody faces. Now thats the Richmond I know.

The Spiders advanced in the tourney last year, the Rams this year. Dirty Rich is turning out some decent hoops lately.

Beyond Sample

Here is a select track from Beyond.
Pick Me Up

New Dinosaur JR Album – BEYOND

The first set of fresh chops in a long time from Dinosaur Jr will be released in May. Riding the collective energy from the reunion tour last year, the original line up headed back into the studio. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of it, and it rocks. Hit me up if you want to take a listen.

Seeing (RED)

By now I’m sure you are all familiar with the (RED) campaign. Hyped by all of the celebrities, taking priority placement in all of the store fronts and consumer magazines. Well, according to this article from Advertising Age, the $100 Million campaign has managed to raise only $18 Million in funds for Aids in Africa.

We all know that hindsight is 20/20, but really, this is kind of stupid. The obvious is that Gap, Apple and Sprint (among the many others) could have simply donated the money they paid for the campaign directly to the charity if they really wanted to make an immediate impact. Or that the ad campaign could have been a true sign of unity and the ad space would have been donated.  In the current set up, these companies are only donating a percentage of the PROFIT of these items to prevent aids in Africa. Mind you, this is only on the (RED) items. I will pick on Apple here for a sec. Say 2% of all ipods sold are (red) why can’t you donate the entire profit from those sold? In reality, it seems like this is just a huge ad campaign for these companies with the by-product being a small portion of money donated to a cause.  They actually inflate the price of the (red) products before they hit the shelves too. Gross. The real kicker here is that the average consumer in the US feel like now, by having a red Razr, ipod, and Gap shirt; they are making a difference and can go back to ignoring the rest of the worlds problems. The reality is that such a small fraction of that purchase is actually going anywhere. Meanwhile, the companies supporting the cause stay top of mind as compassionate corporations and increase sales in all of those other non (RED) items. Typically, I don’t rant on the blog, but this one just seems so ridiculous to me.

Taxco | Part 3

The Wedding. That’s what we went for after all. It was amazing.

Here are a few pics of the entertainment, the couple, and of coarse our hosts.

Thanks to Raul and Sonja for letting us stay at your house.

Skate Stoppers = Ridiculous

I came across this site the other day, “skatestoppers”

My favorite quote is……”The compact, low-profile design allows you to deter skaters without adversely affecting the appearance or functionality of the treated surface. Made from construction grade, non-rusting aluminum, these sleekly designed aluminum parts provide the most effective deterrent due to superior durability and longevity. The architectural series (AS) enhances the look of your property–for those applications in which design is as important as function.

…without adversely affecting the appearance or functionality of the treated surface. Ha. Here are a few examples of the “architectural series”

Taxco | Part 2

Normally you wouldn’t associate going on safari with Mexico. But the saying “whatever you want in Taxco” holds true once again. About 20 miles outside of town is this unique place called “zoofari.” At zoofari all of the normal rules when dealing with wild animals are thrown out of the window. Not only are the animals allowed to co-mingle between species (zebras hanging out with llamas, monkey’s in the gator pond etc.) but you are actually encouraged to feed them by hand (apparently all species of land mammals like Alpo.) Here are

some choice shots from the trip….

Yeah, we’re holding a savage predator. I bet your saying, it must be tame or its sedated, right. this guy and this poor girl have both been killed in the days since this photo was taken. Yikes.

Taxco | Part 1

Thursday Mary and I left for Mexico to attend the wedding of Fernado Pineda Reyes and Tracy Mendoza in the town of Taxco.

In addition to the wedding itself, which was a 12 hour affair held on Fernando’s fathers farm outside of town, we went to a Mexican zoo (yeah- crazy) and lived it up in town for a few days.

I will write some posts about them as well, but for now, here is Taxco.

Taxco is a town of 200,000 in the mountains above Cuernavaca (BTW – Denver’s sister city).

A Spanish colonial silver mining town, Taxco has managed to survive the Revoltion and remain more or less untouched.

I have a ton more pics but here are a few choice ones.

These photos are taken from a few different overlooks outside of town.

Jobs speaks out on DRM

I guess Steve Jobs is tired of being blamed for the pain in the ass that Digital Rights has become when using ipods and itunes music store.

Interesting read

Shameless plug- SXSW

So the award season is rolling in and we have once again been honored to be on the short list of a major one. Earlier this year we placed third at the American Design Awards for the Glass house site. Normally this would be seen as a shameful Bronze, but considering we only came in behind Casino Royal and 2advanced, it’s not too shabby.

Anyway, we are finalists in two categories at South by Southwest for www.lefthandbrewing.com and www.cultivatorads.com

Please vote daily for us at http://sxsw.com/peoples_choice/

The Blizzard of OZ

Wow. We have been in a disaster zone for the last 10 days. The details are typical: shoveling, digging, gasing up, grocery mobs. Really it wasn’t all that bad. Of course, I had no Jeep (still in and out of the shop from the theft). The real pain in the ass was the holiday travel. My flight was cancelled. A new one booked for xmas day. The airport lots were a disaster zone all to themselves. The United check in line was remeniscent of a line for a new roller coaster. Layover in Philly, atleast the Eagles Dallas game was on at the airport. Arrived in Richmond at 8pm xmas day. In Va for a total of 30 hours. Saw the fam, and some friends. Back through Philly. Last night the next blizzard rolled in. It should stop Saturday, just in time to go back to the airport and get Mary.

The straw has been drawn…

….and East West | Continuum, or shall I say Union Station Neighborhood Co., got the nod for the Union Station redevelopment plan. While I may be a bit biased in all of this, I truely believe it’s the best move for the city. The next few years will be very exiting for everyone in the Front Range to watch this unfold. I’m proud to have been involved, in my own little humble way, and it will be a time I remember each time I walk through the area for years to come. If you want to learn more or sign up for more info click here.

Yo Mama’s on Crack Rock

The Dogs – Your Mama’s On Crack Rock

Ah- ’91 the Golden Era of hiphop.

2 days- 5 runs

That says it all. I have managed to get 2 days in on the mountain so far, and I wasn’t the only one with the itch. Last Saturday I went to Abasin with the work crew. 3 hours, 2 runs. The lines were ridiculous. We headed to the pass, thinking we would earn our turns, but what do you know-state troopers up top towing cars. I’ve never seen anything like it. Fast forward to today-same crew-Keystone-3hours-3 runs. I guess its getting better. Snowed all day, got some speed up. It actually felt like a day on the slopes. Anyway- Breck opens Friday. I think Im gonna sit this one out. No more snowboard posts until there is something good to report.

Union Station

The union station redevelopment race is still in full swing, and as a home owner in the area, it’s something that I am watching closely.

In my humble opinion, the East West | Continnum Plan makes the most sense both financially and aesthetically. It’s a pretty big deal, not too often that a city gets to develop multiple blocks in the downtown corridor. See for yourself here

For right or wrong

Last night I was invited to the Premier of the new Burton Film “For right or wrong” at the Ogden Theater. Good flick, some amazing 1000FPS shots that really magnified the grace and danger of riding. The focus of this flick was more on the riders themselves and the experiences they have living such a crazy life. Still plenty of nasty riding, including the worlds biggest air in Norway (187 ft), Jeremy Jones hitting the sickest rail of all time,  and heli boarding in Russia.

A big shout goes to Jimmy Fay for not only getting me VIP status (free tacos!!!) but more importantly getting some shine in the credits. Good job Jimmy, camera assistant to the stars.

Before the after

1886, a big year no doubt. Coca cola is invented, Karl Benz patents the gasoline powered car, Mt Etna erupts, and this humble little Denver square is built. From the looks of these pictures, not much had changed between now and then. Sam, the contractor in charge of redeveloping this beauty came by the other night and dropped of a disc of images he snapped during the renovation. Not only is this a rare chance for me to remember the times when we were just working on “vision”, but is also a testiment to his craftsmanship. What contractor in their right mind would distribute images of a shotty job in progress? Anyway, I will post some pics of the finished product soon.

A-basin is open

Thats right, Colorado snowboarding has officially kicked off. I dont plan to ride the white ribbon of death on Friday the 13th, but soon enough…soon enough.

Jeffrey Sebelia Fashion Week Collection

courtesy of NYmag

TOUCH ME

IF you are down in the Larimer Square area between the hours of 7am and midnite ( thats reasonable), head over to the Riverfront Park sales gallery and check out the touch window we developed at work. Full on minority report. The drag state is really what sets it apart from the rest. We will be adding some video content soon, for updates check out http://touchwindow.fl-2.com.

 

BTW- If you want one, call me.

 

Hot DAM

This weekend was the grand opening of the new Denver Art Museum. They held a weekend long celebration that spanned 35 hours straight starting at 10am saturday. I was suprised to see how many people showed up for it, including national press. Our tickets were for 11pm Saturday, and the place was packed. I have to say, the museum in itself is awesome, and the collections inside don’t let down either. No suprise here, but the temporary collection of the Logan’s modern selections was by far my favorite exhibit in the gallery. Go check it out.

Beer Fest

The 25th Aniversary GABF came to town this weekend, and as usual, it was a great time. I went to all 4 sessions. 1600 beers were available to sample, and I just may have had them all. Geoff Lively came out again and kept the streak alive pulling down 1 Gold for the Racoon Red and a Bronze for the Terrepin Alt. Congratulations Geoff, job well done!

The Block is Hot

Sunday, the day of rest. The day where you just sit around the house and do nothing. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR CAR IS JACKED! That’s right, I woke up Sunday morning to find the Jeep was indeed stolen. An hour later a few of Denver’s finest showed up to file a report. No CSI investigation, not even a dustng for prints. They told me that here in Denver, recovery is the primary focus.

Fast forward a few hours. I get the call that my car has in fact been recovered. Good work coppers. Apparently, it was abandoned on I25 in Thornton with all the tires blown and the doors wide open. After scooping up my totally awesome Pontiac G6 rental, myself and a friend went up to the impound lot to scope the damage. Here is the quick list of the cosmetics…. mangled rims, 3 blown tires, smashed windshield, broken rear window, broken passenger door lock, mangled steering column, no stereo, torn seats. The tire that survived the super sweet romp is as bald as Kojak.

The claims inspector will be here Thursday to scope the damage and tell me whether i get a check or a new whip.

More to come….

dust on the slopes

It’s official. 7 inches reported on the pass this morning. Here’s a snap shot from Beaver Creek as of 9am this morning.

IT’S NICE, I LIKE!

Last night I went to the prescreening of “Borat- Cultural Learnings for Make Benefit in Kazakhstan”. The movie has a release date of 11/3, but I went to the test screening/ focus group here in Denver. For those of you who dont know about Borat, he is the creation of Sasha Baron Cohen (AKA ALI G). I wont give up too much about it, but this movie is hilarious and horribly offensive to almost all demographics. His native minister of information sends Borat on a trip to America to learn about things such as dating, politics, and almost every aspect of American culture. It is a semi-reality TV format, where he prey’s on the unexpecting and has only a few scripted scenes. It’s more like an exercise in controlled chaos. Borat’s number one target is the American south, a place I’m very familiar with. Anyway, check out the trailer and some hilarious footage for it here.

The twins

Here’s a quick pic of the girls

Photo Booth

So I got a Macbook Pro and it’s pretty much a work machine. Then I found the special effects on photo booth. Here’s a sneek peek at some of the awesome  shots.

Taxco Mexico

The tickets are booked. We are headed to Mexico. So what’s the big deal, right? Well we aren’t going to the usual haunts. Cancun, Acapulco, TJ. Thats pretty run of the mill. My good friends Fernando and Tracy are getting married in his home village of Taxco. It’s a small mountain town between Mexico City and Acapulco known for its silver mines and craftsmen. About 100,000 people live there, almost all of which are somehow tied to the silver trade.
We are lucky enough to be staying with of our friends Raul and Sonya. They are moving back to Taxco (where he grew up too) this month and into a house his family owns. It will be a exiting to live amongst the locals and really dig in to the flavor of the town.
They timed the wedding to correspond with the great Monarch butterfly hatch. 65 million butterflies hatch and begin the migration up through N America. The wedding is in Febuary, so I have some time to polish my espanol. More to come…

THROW DOWN YOUR ARMS

Anyone who listens to reggae has heard of Sly and Robbie. These two have been mixing down and producing some of the best dub and reggae classics since the 80′s. If I didnt see their name all over it, I might not have even given it a chance. Classic roots tracks from rockers like Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and Black Uhuru have been remixed and get this- Sinead O Connor handles all of the vocals.

Her infamous Pope tearing incident on SNL back in the day came on the heels of an accapella version of Bob’s War. Yes, it’s on here too. But the title track and her rendition of Downpressor Man are the true gems. Since I picked this one up, it’s been in constant rotation. Give it a listen.

delicious foot wraps and plastic treats

You’d think you stepped through the worm hole from SoHo and landed in Denver. Two of my most random obsessions recently got a little easier to indulge in. No more ebay and side trips necessary, we got a bon-a-fied sneak boutique. Kudos to Randy and Chris for steppin’ up and bringing us the 400. Whether you’re buying your Pops some classic PF Flyers or you are getting the latest ridiculous Cadbury colorway Dunks ready for Easter Sunday, they got you dialed. Seriously sick shoes. It’s not all about the shoes though. These guys pull of the best kept first Friday secret. They always have great artists, and a mean Sangria (on the house, too). Go check ‘em out. 10th and Bannock. If you cant make it that far, hit up the site www.the400.net

They are having a block party soon for charity. Booze, Illegal Pete’s, music and live art. Check the flyer if you are interested. I went last year and it was awesome.

I was also exited to stumble across the Plastic Chapel awhile back too. Not that I’m overboard for the vinyl craze sweeping all of the hipster bookshelves on both coasts, but hey, it’s cool.  Fact is, toy shops have been sprouting up here and there on the Front Range all year. Plastic Chapel comes off as the most authentic, and I love that you can walk out with a cool little Japanese doo dad for under $10. Getting some Kaws One figure for $500 that you’re scared to break out of the box is also an option, but this place FEELS like a toy store, not a gallery.

Countdown to 2011

I’ve been travelling quite a bit lately, and I have to tell you, it always feels good to get home. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t get enough of Colorado. The airport seems to be a little nicer than the one you took off from, although the drive home sucks. More on that in a sec, so anyway…big sky, low humidity, mountains, music, food, fit people; face it it rocks here. I know I’m preaching to the choir, so I’ll get to the point. Colorado has a ton going for it, but there are definatly some areas for improvement. Fortunately for us, a lot of people are doing just that. Uber architect Daniel Libeskind unveiled his plans for the new Civic Center Park a few nights ago, and I like what I saw. I mean, I know plenty of people are going to think that Denver is in the midst of an identity crisis, but really, between Chicago and San Fran, you dont see much in the way of modern urban planning. A little advice Danny, keep it well let and open, or that will be one huge bum-bath.

I was also lucky enough to have been invited to go down to the Paramount Theater last Thursday and see the 2 Master Development plans for the new Union Center. Although both were solid concepts, I really thought it was smart (and a bit balsy) for East West Partners to leave the Lite Rail at-grade and save us tax payers some serious dough. Not to mention that this would have the transportation aspect of the plan fully operational by 2011 ( the same year as the new Civic Center Park). No matter what happens, it is so rare for a city to have the chance to develop 6-8 new blocks in the downtown corridor. Imagine taking the train from DIA or Boulder straight to a new downtown skyline. I can’t wait to watch it happen.

So there you have it, a few of the many plans to get Dtown a little closer to the front of the pack.

Blog on.

I’ve officially thrown my name (well sort of) in the hat.