Merry Christmas!

(photo from Colorado Ski Country)

And after Christmas ... on Dec. 26, go to the Marquis (20th and Larimer) for an all-acoustic show with the Meese brothers, Chris from Epilogues, Randy from the Heyday and Danielle Ate the Sandwich. $5. 8 p.m. (all ages)

Friday specials: Think Indie offers free Elliott Smith track

There are so many reasons to love ThinkIndie, and now here's another: Today they're offering a FREE Elliott Smith download. It's the previously unreleased song "Cecilia/Amanda" recorded in 1997 and written by Smith's high school band.

ThinkIndie was started by a bunch of indie record store owners who wanted to offer digital downloads of indie artists. Twist and Shout works with them.

***

TONIGHT: Jiberish Clothing celebrates its grand opening tonight, 12/18, @ 1620 Platte. 7-11 p.m.

Or go to Andrew's on Lincoln for KTCL's Hometown for the Holidays. The Epilogues (mopey), The Heyday (poppy, bouncy, toe tappers) and Churchill (acoustic bluegrass) are competing starting at 8 p.m., 12/18, (11th and Lincoln). They each perform, and then the crowd decides who wins the $1,000 prize (and other stuff) for being the favorite local band. Remember, Flobots won Hometown for the Holidays a couple years ago so.... Check out Churchill

Tuba Christmas

Tubas and sousaphones in the makeshift amphitheatre of the clock tower and downtown buildings in Skyline Park

Weekend fun

Vail Snow Daze this weekend

Hot Congress on Saturday, 12/12

Tuba Christmas at Skyline Park, (16th and Arapahoe), 12/13, 1 p.m. Lots and lots of tubas playing in the park for free

HOT CONGRESS

Time to celebrate the new sampler from Hot Congress, Denver's favorite collective! The CD sampler has been floating around for a while, but Achille Lauro, Action Packed Thrill Ride, Fissure Mystic and Vitamins from the collective are playing a show a week from Saturday, 12/11, at the Oriental Theater (44th and Tennyson) to mark the official release. Fun starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are a measly $5. Want a FREE copy of the sampler before you head to the show? E-mail us. First in, first to win. Cheers!

Tracks:
1. Cardboard Divas – Achille Lauro
2. I Just Want to Get Out of this Body – Kissing Party
3. There’s No Id in City – Li’l Slugger
4. Sequined Dress – Vitamins
5. In this River – Action Packed Thrill Ride
6. Horny – The Jim Jims
7. Songbirds – The Pseudo Dates
8. Ageless – Breakfastes
9. Maggie – Ken Arkind
10. Aren’t You Scrumptious? – Action Friend
11. Young Psychedelic Flowers – Fissure Mystic

E-mail us for a copy!

Eating our way through Denver

Even though we cooked up a feast for Thanksgiving, we still managed to gorge ourselves on way too much restaurant dining during the week.

It wasn't all pricey though, because our first stop (not including a heaping scoop of Sleepless in Seattle ice cream from The Market) was The Walnut Room for CheapA$$ Wednesday. It was after 9 p.m., so we got $1 domestic drafts (Coors, Coors Light, PBR). The appetizers are already affordable, but it was half price, so we got pesto breadsticks (hit the spot) and wings, each for under $3.

For Thanksgiving, it was home-roasted duck, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peppers, pumpkin-cranberry bread and pecan tarts for dessert.

Next up was City O'City. The vegan pizzas there are good, but I'm not going to recommend anything else at the moment.

Sushi Sasa has gotten a lot of hype, but its sushi is pretty good. We also tried the mussels appetizer (with saffron, tomatoes, greens...very flavorful, and the sweet potato crisps on it add a bit of crunch) We'll probably have to order omakase at some point to get the full experience, but we instead splurged on dessert. What a treat. We tried wasabi tiramisu (all the textures you expect from tiramisu, with just a cool hint of wasabi flavor) and the pineapple-banana fritter, which was sugary and crispy. The place has a cool, crisp white design with light wood floors and furniture and mirrors to make the small room seem cozy but comfortable. The staff is attentive. The customers are trendy and hip, but the place is casual. There were fancy 40-somethings but we were sitting next to a guy in a football sweatshirt and baseball cap. His date was talking about calamari, tentacles and whether tentacles and testicles are the same thing. If the tables were further apart, we wouldn't have had to try so hard not to laugh.

We stopped at Parallel 17 for a fantastic brunch on the weekend. We tried our favorites, blueberry french toast and 2 eggs, and added the croque madam. The home fries were nicely seasoned and perfectly crisped, but the greens on the side were pretty limp. Thankfully there wasn't much dressing on them. The ham and cheese weren't too salty, and the open-faced style gave it a twist. Good service here. We left happy and overly stuffed.

We rolled into LaLa's Wine Bar and Pizzeria for Sunday supper (all-you-can-eat bruschetta, salad, spaghetti and pizza) and then crawled home with our stomachs dragging across Governor's Park. It tastes like there have been some substitutions to cut costs on the Sunday supper. The mushrooms tasted canned, not fresh. And now meatballs with your spaghetti will cost you a buck or two extra. However, the restaurant is still packing them in. If you want to eat around 7, you might have to wait a while for a table.

Free movie :: deals from Monolith

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Wanna see a free movie? If you are available to see a free screening of "Brothers" in Denver on Monday night, 11/30, at the Mayan, go here and enter the RSVP code 8T5Y14BPUH to get passes. (It's a free screening before the movie comes out, so you still have to get to the Mayan early to make sure you get a seat). "Brothers" stars Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal.

This Black Friday, you can help out the Monolith Festival by buying some merch at its store. Use the discount code MONOLITH30 to get 30 percent off.

Brunch at Parallel 17

Been resisting Parallel 17 and their $8 pho, but went there today for brunch and it was fantastic. K got 2 eggs (w/ fresh fruit, 2 baguette slices, perfectly crisped and spiced home fries w/ choice of bacon, sausage patties or ham). C had the blueberry stuffed french toast -- not soggy at all, nice crisp clean flavors. There was a nice walnut-coated type crust, w/ blueberries and ricotta, creme anglaise and sausage patties. Best French toast ever. K also had the bottomless mimosas for $12. She probably had about five glasses, so it was worth it. They also have two big-screen TVs here that were both turned on NFL games Sunday, so yes, you can go to Sunday brunch and still keep track of the fantasy football team. But back to the food. If A wants to go there this weekend, will be sure to get photos this time.

Monolith on the Ropes

The Monolith Festival at Red Rocks debuted three years ago with a stellar lineup, but it's in trouble unless it finds someone with some deep pockets. Organizers say the rainy, cold weather on the first day of the festival this year plus the economy has made things difficult heading into 2010. So now they're hunting for investors or a buyer. Read the full note

Raphael Saadiq: "Staying in Love"

s-a-t-u-r-d-a-y....NIGHT!

The Fabric Lab presents a trunk show with local fashion designers tonight, 11/14, at Mod Livin, 5327 E. Colfax. The show starts at 9 p.m., or come early for cocktails. $5 suggested donation at the door.

Houses :: EP release show! With The Knew and Action Packed Thrill Ride at Larimer Lounge tonight, 11/14. $8

The Colorado Ski and Snowboard Expo is still going on at the Colorado Convention Center. Read the tweets, win prizes. Free Wahoo Fish Taco coupons today at the Powderhorn booth.

Headlights

Headlights! At the Hi-Dive tonight, 11/5, $10.

Halloween bonanza at the Wizard's Chest

The Wizard's Chest in Cherry Creek (on Fillmore, between 2nd and 3rd) was buzzing today with people looking for costumes. They've got all sorts of masks (Shrek, monsters, around $40), headbands with cat ears/bunny ears/antlers (about $9), wings ($8-$10-ish), glasses (including some like what LeVar Burton wore on Star Trek), Dr. Spock/ Big Lebowski / astronaut costumes, hula outfits, clown suspenders. Also costume kits, like a doctor for $15 or a pirate patch and earring for $3. You could also splurge on a wig (Dorothy Gale braids, a shag, Princess Leia buns, Jem and the Holograms pink wig, you get the idea) Nothing can be exchanged or returned if you get it from the second floor of the shop.

Langhorne Slim

******UPDATE******
The snow is keeping Langhorne Slim away! Show tonight is canceled. Listen to the clip below and console yourself with a hot drink

When we think of Langhorne Slim, we think Levi's, roots, unassuming leather boots, sipping Miller Lite on the patio at Rocky Flats Lounge overlooking the foothills. Langhorne Slim (Sean Scolnick) has yet another album out, "Be Set Free," and he'll be playing at the Hi-Dive tonight, 10/29, to promote it.

Listen to "I Love You But Goodbye"

October deals

Today only, (10/27), Piperlime says you can place an order and get a $25 gift certificate. One in every 100 orders will get a $100 gift certificate!

If you dress up as a Chipotle burrito or taco after 6 p.m. on Halloween, go in to Chipotle and they'll give you a free burrito

Now what...

Some Northwestern journalism students in famed investigative journalism professor David Protess' class have uncovered evidence that suggests a man may have wrongly spent the last 31 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. But a prosecutor is now turning her attention to the students and has subpoenaed their grades.

Chicago Tribune editorial on the matter

No shortage of wacky stories lately:

_ The sheriff says the parents who called 911 to say their 6-year-old son was floating away on a flying saucer was a hoax concocted by the couple, who met in acting school, appeared on "Wife Swap" twice and were trying to land another reality TV deal. (The saucer was actually a saucer-shaped helium balloon, whose flight was tracked by TV news helicopters, and the Colorado Army National Guard sent 2 helicopters up to try to help with rescue efforts. The thing landed in a field though with no one inside, and it turns out the kid was hiding the whole time) No arrests or charges yet. The couple is being represented by David Lane, the same lawyer who represented former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill after he came under fire for writing an essay that compared some 9/11 victims to a Nazi.

_ In North Dakota back on Aug. 31, a vehicle transporting intercontinental ballistic missile components overturned near Minot Air Force Base. It turns out the driver was distracted when an insect landed on his back.

Roasted veggies

Using A's recipe, we made roasted vegetables for a gathering to watch the CU Buffaloes get beat by the Texas Longhorns (and Cody Hawkins there for a bit.) It made watching the game Saturday night a little more enjoyable. We used orange and red peppers, 2 sweet potatoes, 3 white potatoes, 1/4 onion, rosemary, thyme and olive oil. Tasted good, even though we forgot to use balsamic vinegar.

So yesterday was take two, this time with butternut squash, orange and red peppers, asparagus, olive oil, rosemary, thyme and balsamic vinegar.



Stuck a piece of salmon on top, and that was dinner.

Also, on Saturday, for the CU fiasco, AK made a fabulous salad. Baby spinach, balsamic vinaigrette, gorgonzola cheese and cranberries.

Most of the ingredients came from Whole Foods. Has anyone else noticed that Whole Foods sells conventionally grown veggies? I haven't shopped there in a while, but have they always done that? Seems to defeat the purpose of their message, no? They were selling Hass avocadoes for 50 cents more than King Soopers. Conventional red peppers were for the same price as at King Soopers ($1 apiece)

Want a free lift ticket?

RT this on Twitter and you could win one from Vail Resorts: (just cut and paste. They pick winners on Monday, 10/12)
RT: Get your season pass while the prices are low http://bit.ly/18rpJB

You need to register if you want to buy postseason tickets for the Colorado Rockies.

The ski resorts are still making snow! Last year Arapahoe Basin and Loveland opened on Oct. 15. What day do you think they'll open this year?

And is Dan Hawkins gonna get canned from CU midseason? Or are fans just being too harsh?

In the news

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made it to Denver for an announcement Monday that Vail Resorts and the U.S. Forest Service were each pitching in $750,000 over three years to restore areas devastated by the Hayman fire in 2002. Kind of impressive. But then again, Vilsack does have a son who lives in Colorado. (Vilsack joked that guilt and a promise of a job wasn't enough to get his son back to Iowa. "We've lost him to Colorado forever," Vilsack said.)

The former Iowa governor and Democratic presidential candidate gave plenty of plugs to fellow Democrats. He said freshmen Sens. Bennet and Udall and Rep. Markey, all Colorado Dems, were working hard for their constituents. He even put in a plug for Gov. Bill Ritter, whom the GOP is confident they can push out of office next year. (Ritter has had to make unpopular cuts to shave millions of dollars from the state budget as tax revenues have fallen in the tough economy, and he's angered unions) "There is no harder time to be a governor," Vilsack said. He said you can't singlehandedly turn things around in a state or in a country but that hopefully the stimulus package was making that easier. He said Ritter is focused on job growth. "There are new jobs coming to the state, largely because of his commitment," Vilsack said.

So all in all, it was a green announcement for Vail Resorts (which is paying for its share of the Hayman restoration, by the way, by using the money it once used to buy wind energy credits. It's not going to be buying those anymore) But also a chance for some backscratching in a pep rally for Democrats.

***

The Colorado winter wheat harvest is way up this year from last year. Too bad sale prices are way down.

***
Have you been listening to the Postmarks' quirky retro cinema pop? It's like every song should be in the opening credits of a James Bond movie. Hear them live at the Hi-Dive this coming Monday, 10/5.

Hello Kavita's CD release show is 10/23 at the Hi-Dive! And get this... They play with Grand Archives at the Larimer Lounge 11/20!

Langhorne Slim will be at the Hi-Dive 10/29

Monolith Festival is here! With Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rahzel, Dandy Warhols, The Walkmen, OK Go, Method Man & Redman and lots more over two days, 9/12-9/13. Bundle up and bring rain gear today. Looks to be a bit better weather tomorrow. You can still get tickets at Red Rocks ($65 at entrance 2. Bring cash so you don't have to pay a service fee). You can also try Things That Glow before 5 p.m. on 9/12, but there will be a fee.

King Soopers is celebrating the new remodel for its store at 13th and Speer with lots of good deals and samples. We got a gallon of skim milk for 99 cents and T-bone steaks for $4.99 a pound. We also sampled some Boulder Sausage bratwurst, new fruit drinks with real fruit in them, and Caribou Coffee. If you sample the coffee (kind of near the milk area), pick up a coupon for $1 off.

Also this weekend, there's a fun 5K (and 10K) on 9/13 that will have you running on the warning track at Coors Field, across the floor of the Pepsi Center where the Nuggets play, and through Invesco Field at Mile High! The Fans on the Field walk/run raises money for the National Sports Center for the Disabled. There's a bbq at the end. $30 to enter, and enter the code "SUFF09" for $5 off. Although actually it may be too late to register online. Anyway, the money is for a good cause, a fun run and BBQ!

Labor Day in Denver...what to do?

_ Free music and jostling of elbows atTaste of Colorado
_ Sniagrab / Ski Rex for cheap lift tix and passes
_ Pick your own veggies for $15 at Miller Farms in Platteville
_ Rockies host the Reds, 1:10 p.m.
_ The Autumn Film plays the early show ($6) at the Hi-Dive, before Rock Star Karaoke.
_ Down in Pueblo, 3OH3! plays the Colorado State Fair, 8 p.m.

Ski deals ... and other Labor Day weekend stuff

Found some $30 snowboard boots and a $65 helmet (was originally marked at $120) at SkiRex today, at the Colorado Ski & Golf store in Aurora. You have 7 days to return most merchandise, or a month to bring it back for store credit, so you can buy stuff and still return it if you find something better at Sniagrab, which is this weekend at the sports castle. The customers have been camped out _ like with tents and stuff _ since Monday waiting for the sale to start.

Also available at SkiRex (and Sniagrab, I imagine): three days at Eldora for $79 (nontransferrable), four days at Loveland for $109 (that's $10 off). A four-pack to Keystone and A-Basin is $139. Colorado Pass, Summit Pass and Epic Pass also on sale.

"Slumdog Millionaire" playing free tonight, 9/4, 8 p.m. at Auraria campus, between Tivoli and the Plaza.

Taste of Colorado this weekend. Civic Center Park, Denver.

Telluride Film Festival this weekend.

Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Festival with Black Eyed Peas, Drive By Truckers, et al. Playing loose with the term jazz

Pete Yorn at the Ogden, Denver

Pete Yorn played a mix of old stuff ("Strange Condition," "Life on a Chain," "Crystal Village") and stuff from the new album "Back and Fourth" that just came out this summer ("Paradise Cove," "Don't Wanna Cry"). Guitarist Jonny Polonsky rocked the red jeans, Scott Siever of Denver was on drums, Joe Kennedy on piano, Mark, sorry missing someone else, but also Max!, the most rock-n-roll tambourine man ever throwing the tambourine in the air, and hitting it like his arm was a windmill.



YouTube hit Zee Avi opened, and Max wasn't available to play tambourine for one of her songs, but a woman in the crowd volunteered. So she got on stage for one song to play, ha. Zee Avi played songs on guitar and ukulele, including one in Malay and English

Snow white tomato harvest

We've got our first harvest of snow white tomatoes from the Delicatessen balcony garden. Sweet! And a little tangy. We put them with London broil, spinach and white rice. Looks like we'll get a few more handfuls this summer.

101.5 fm ... is moving ...

We're disappointed that 101.5 FM in Denver has decided to shift genres from "awesome" to "just another radio station." But. Soon you will be able to listen online at Indie303.com

Paper Route in Denver

Fantastic show by Paper Route at the Marquis Theatre last night! Fantastic!

Audrye Sessions opened with a really short set. Ryan and Mike were friendly, stopping to chat with people after.

Then it was Paper Route. They did great on "Carousel" and all the others, but the treat came at the end, when the audience started chanting for them to play one more. It was already right up against curfew on a Sunday night, so the band said they'd pack up their stuff from the club and meet people outside at their trailer and play an acoustic set in the parking lot. And they came through! Standing inside the trailer with fans singing along in a semicircle around the back, they played "Are We All Forgotten" with acoustic guitar, harmonica, xylophone, accordion, snare. It was just drums and acoustic guitar for "Second Chances," (a request from a megafan), because the other band members had to finish packing up all their equipment from the club and getting it out the door to their van. The megafans sang along, including the solo female vocal part. Sounded beautiful.

Things to do this weekend

_ The Denver Post's Underground Music Festival going on all weekend. $20 for 4 days of bands, including El Ten Eleven at the Hi-Dive on Saturday. Come on.

_ Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. FREE! Sloans Lake.

_ The Rockies could pull away from San Francisco in the NL wild card race with a series against the Giants this weekend.

_ Free jazz in City Park on Sunday, 6-8 p.m.

_ Paper Route (and Audrye Sessions) at the Marquis downtown, Sunday, 7/26.

Then get ready for Greg Laswell at The Walnut Room on Tues., 7/28, and Black Francis, same venue, 7/29, with The Wheel opening.

WOXY.com moving to Austin

WOXY.com just announced this morning that it's leaving Cincinnati. It will start broadcasting from Austin, Texas, in September. They say the move will let them take advantage of all the bands that roll through town and broadcast more live Lounge Act sessions. More from Cincinnati Enquirer

Friday in Denver: classical by day, rock at night

The Colorado Symphony is performing works from four emerging composers at a FREE concert Friday, 7/17, at Boettcher Concert Hall, 10 a.m.

Then at night, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit plays at the Larimer Lounge for $16. Isbell is formerly of Drive-By Truckers.

Angela Yeung on Food Network

Angela Yeung is one of the contestants on the Food Network Challenge that airs Sunday, 7/12, at 6 p.m. MDT. She was a pastry chef at Luca D'Italia but left about two years ago to become a food stylist.

We put her on the hot seat and asked her to recommend good-looking yummies for different occasions. Here are her quickfire suggestions for:

_ FIRST DATE: Take something light, pretty and colorful, flowers with different color leaves, different color vegetables. Make the food look as delicious as possible. Go with what you feel comfortable making

_ MOM: How about a fabulous dessert, with whipped cream and really pretty pinks.

_ DAD: Chocolate cake, or individual cupcakes with blue sprinkles.

_ A HANGOVER: Sausage and eggs, with all the yolks broken and ooey gooey

UPDATE: Angela won! In a very, very close competition. Congratulations!

****

FASHION DENVER

This Saturday, 7/11, Fashion Denver holds its summer market at City Hall, the beautiful new space that Regas Christou has been trying to launch at 1144 Broadway. It has a great sunken courtyard hidden from street level. Noon to 7 p.m. $5

Paper Route contest

Paper Route is coming back to the Marquis Theatre in Denver, 7/26, as part of their tour with Audrye Sessions. The Nashville band is busy promoting the new album "Absence."

We're picking two people to win this poster from the band. Just e-mail us before Wednesday, 7/8, at deli_magazine@yahoo.com with the address of where you'd like us to send the poster if you win. We don't spam, we don't save your info, so no worries. We're just trying to send you free stuff, you dig?


Tour dates:
Jul 6 Southgate House - Newport, Kentucky
Jul 7 The Garden Bowl @ Magic Stick - Detroit, Michigan
Jul 8 Grog Shop - Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Jul 9 The Basement - Columbus, Ohio
Jul 10 Mohawk Place - Buffalo, New York
Jul 11 Jerky’s Live Music Hall - Providence, Rhode Island
Jul 12 Middle East Upstairs - Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jul 14 The Mercury Lounge - New York, New York
Jul 15 DC9 - Washington D.C., Washington DC
Jul 16 Maxwell’s - Hoboken, New Jersey
Jul 17 Kungfu Necktie - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 18 The Mod Club - Toronto, Ontario
Jul 19 Garfield Artworks - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jul 20 Underground Café- South Bend, Indiana
Jul 21 The Intersection - Front Lounge - Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jul 22 Schubas Tavern - Chicago, Illinois
Jul 23 Firebird - St. Louis, Missouri
Jul 24 Mojo’s - Columbia, Missouri
Jul 25 Box Awesome - Lincoln, Nebraska
Jul 26 Marquis Theatre - Denver, Colorado
Jul 27 Club Vegas - Salt Lake City, Utah

The Colorado Symphony plays free tonight in City Park. 7/3, 7 p.m. They're also playing at Red Rocks on Sunday, 7/5.

UPDATE: Red Rocks was full to capacity last night to hear the symphony play. The overture to "Russlan and Ludmilla," "An Outdoor Overture," by Copland and the Overture to "The Barber of Seville" and the Finale of Sibelius' Symphony No. 2 were on the program. Good stuff! Plus popular stuff like 1812 Overture, Copland's "Hoedown" (the conductor turned around and said, "Beef. It's what's for dinner. ... I just wanted to help out those people who were thinking, 'Where do I know that song.'") and Air on the G String from Orchestral Suite No. 3, from Bach (The conductor called the G string the naughty string. He was pretty goofy all night. He even turned around and took a picture of everyone sitting in the audience at Red Rocks _ all 9,000+ of us. He said, OK, could everyone on the sides just move in to the center... ) Sponsors handed out free granola bars, lip balm and bug spray. Big night of free. There's more to come: On Friday, 7/17, at 10 a.m. at Boettcher Concert Hall downtown, there will be performances of new works from emerging composers. Then on Thursday, 7/23, the symphony will play for free at Cheesman Park. Looks like they're playing the overture to Russlan and Ludmilla again but also Dvorak's Slavonic Dances and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36.

There's a candlelight vigil tonight, 7/3, for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the journalists imprisoned in North Korea. The vigil starts at 8:30 p.m. at Civic Center Park, on the side near the Denver Art Museum.

Fireworks tonight and tomorrow over Coors Field for July 4, after the Rockies games.

UPDATE: The Rockies lost the game, but the fireworks show was great. People in the Rockpile got the best deal of the night: They sat in center field for $4, but at the end of the game, people in center and left field got to move down ONTO THE GRASS! to watch the fireworks being set off behind the scoreboard! PC says it's the best lawn he's ever sat on. TP took his shoes off to enjoy it. It was a long show, set to music, with 48,000 or so people in the stadium watching.

Kevin Bacon

Actor Kevin Bacon, his older brother Michael, his sister-in-law and nephew hiked to the top of Pikes Peak last weekend, 6/27, with 95 people hiking to the top to raise money for the rock-n-roll cancer charity, the Love Hope Strength Foundation. Cy Curnin of The Fixx played for the hikers as they set out early, early, early for the 12.5 mile hike. Even though Kevin Bacon's flight had gotten to Colorado later than expected the night before, (his plane got diverted to Texas because of thunderstorms in Denver), the actor was among the first people to get to the top of 14,000+ ft. Pikes Peak. "He beat me, the bastard," Cy Curnin said. At the top, Kevin and Michael Bacon played three tunes.



Then they headed back down from Colorado Springs to Denver to play at the Hard Rock Cafe in an after party for hikers. The White Buffalo played a great set, then Cy took the stage, then The Bacon Brothers.



"It was a long day, but it was a good day," Michael Bacon said. "So if it's a good day, you want it to be longer."

Cy says Pikes Peak wasn't as tough as Everest but was still tough.

Kevin Bacon said there's still a stigma with cancer, but by associating it with music and something cool, Love Hope Strength is doing some good. The foundation has held fundraising concerts at Machu Picchu and the base of Mt. Everest and is trying to expand the bone marrow registry, especially with donors of mixed races.

Paper Bird (album release and a FREE show)

Paper Bird release their EP tonight, 6/24, at the Hi-Dive! Fun starts at 9 p.m. $10

If you can't make it, they're going to be playing this Friday, 6/26, at Twist and Shout for FREE. The performance will be recorded too.

Balcony garden

The Delicatessen garden (which is to say a planter with a snow tomato plant and a pepper plant in it) is potted and ready to see if it can survive a summer of novice care and un-green thumbs on a Capitol Hill balcony. We got our plants, soil, organic fertilizer and a lot of good advice from Urban Roots on 10th and Acoma. The planter came from K-mart, which has potting soil on sale right now, by the way.

Ben Lee at Red Rocks

The film at Red Rocks this week is South Park, and the opening music act this week is ... Ben Lee! Ben effin' Lee. $10 for the whole shebang if you get your ticket early (go to King Soopers). The music starts around 6:45 p.m. Movie starts at dusk

FREE stuff this weekend

It's FREE to visit a bunch of national parks and monuments this weekend!

Juneteenth festival in Five Points today, 6/20.

Free jazz in City Park on Sunday night, but watch for T-storms.

The Big Lebowski is the movie playing at Red Rocks tonight, with The Wheel and Rob Drabkin playing music beforehand. What could be better! (well, as long as there's no storms.)

Weekend in Denver in photos!

It's the Italian chalk art festival (La Piazza dell Arte)! Centered on Larimer Square, but it stretches down 14th Street. Just one of the free events in the streets of Denver this weekend. It continues today, 6/7 ...





Just down the street, The Heyday et al played on a stage set up at 14th and Curtis for the Denver Day of Rock (which included a fundraising concert by the Flobots at the Fillmore.) Also free, but donations were accepted for Concerts for Kids. There was a balloon artist and a guy walking around on stilts plus free samples of Mike's Hard Lemonade.



Still going on today, the People's Fair, in Civic Center Park. And tonight, free jazz in City Park. Let's hope the weather holds.

Colorado Film Commission is becoming a state agency

Gov. Ritter signed a bill today moving the Colorado Film Commission under the state office of economic development. So instead of operating as a public-private nonprofit, it will be a state agency. Some of the legislators who backed the bill have ties to the film/TV/multimedia industry. Sen. Nancy Spence's son works for HBO. Former Rep. Anne McGihon has done commercials. "I just want to be a stunt man in my next life," Sen. Dan Gibbs said. The film folks are still working on legislation to boost incentives for productions that spend a majority of their money in Colorado or on Colorado talent.

Denver this weekend

The Wheel and Porlolo are at the Hi-Dive Thursday night, 6/4.

The People's Fair takes over Civic Center Park, across from the state Capitol, this weekend. FREE entry and live music. Bring money for snacks, drinks or if you want to buy something from the booths. Starts 10 a.m. Saturday, 6/6.

Also free this is the weekend when artists make elaborate chalk drawings at Larimer Square. It's Italian chalk art at Larimer Square. Starts 10 a.m. Saturday, 6/6.

The Heyday, The Epilogues, Roe play FREE at 14th and Curtis on Saturday, 6/6. The fun starts at 1:30 p.m. (Or noon if you want to see Savage Henry too). Bela Karoli plays FREE at Fillmore and 2nd in Cherry Creek at 3 p.m.

Nuggets, Nuggets, Nuggets!

Game 6 tonight, 5/29. 7 p.m.

Kenyon and Carmelo warming up before Game 3:



Besides the usual suspects, the new Mini Bar (2nd and Columbine, look down) in Cherry Creek will have the game on before their launch party starts at 9 p.m. Blake Street Vault (on Blake, between 15th and 16th, roughly across from the Rio) will also have it. Drinks are a little pricey there, but you have a good shot at getting a booth, and if you get there before 6, you can get free happy hour snacks with a drink.

Music news

The Westword Music Showcase is fast approaching June 13, with Built to Spill headlining, plus Meese, for a measly $9.33. Plus Cursive, Fluid and A Place to Bury Strangers and tons of local bands. Buy the ticket now, because it's $20 the day of the showcase.

Meiko was at The Walnut Room in Denver last week as part of her headlining tour, and she'll be back June 7 opening for Eric Hutchinson at the Bluebird. The lyrics are relatable, the voice capable, and she's got the VH1 look and sound down. The Denver performance was good since she apparently had friends in the audience, and it was an intimate enough setting. Would be great to see her play at the Meadowlark's outdoor stage sometime. Middle-of-the-road sounding stuff for fans of Colbie Caillat.

Nuggets vs. Lakers tonight. Game 5.

Economic woes in the music world

The teaser on this alone ... from the Wall Street Journal: The recession is cramping the style of hip-hop artists _ many of whom are finding it hard to afford the diamond-encrusted pendants and gold chains long used to project an aura of wealth.

Joshua Bell in Denver

Joshua Bell was in Denver this week for one night only with the Colorado Symphony and he managed to nearly fill Boettcher Concert Hall on Thursday night. It's been sparse at some symphony concerts this year what with the economy, but it was so full Thursday that the CSO CEO said, "Where have you been all year?" to the audience before the concert started. Some of Bell's Indiana University alums were there, plus a group from University of Denver. It was an all Mendelssohn program, and from the first notes Bell played of the Violin Concerto in E Minor, Bell's talent was clear. All the technical prowess was there but made to sound effortless, light and easy. The bow moved smoothly across the strings for a beautifully buttery sound, and yes, he's playing a Stradivarius, but the control of the bow hand made for silky sound. For an encore, he played variations on the Yankee Doodle theme, which made the audience laugh: Yankee Doodle in harmonics, double stops, furious pizzicato. Alas, after that, Bell was done.

The Colorado Symphony has more great concerts lined up for next season, with Yo-Yo Ma and Lang Lang on the schedule.

Also coming up this summer, free concerts on July 3 (@City Park) and July 5 (@t Red Rocks). The July 5 concert includes the overture to "Russlan and Ludmilla" by Glinka!

Ice Palace, Say Hi and Cloud Cult drew a big crowd to the Bluebird last night. Ice Palace seems much edgier live. They got the crowd amped with the energetic "Thoughts/Facts." Cloud Cult drummer Arlen got on stage with them to play tambourine and sing.

Say Hi (Eric Elbogen has a curly mini-fro and beard now!) played songs new ("Maurine," after someone kept shouting it out over and over!) and old ("Northwestern Girls.") A tiny group was moshing down next to drummer Alex Westcoat, who was thrashing on his kit even in the steamy room.

Cloud Cult put on a show. They've built up quite a following here after playing at Monolith Festival and some associated shows, and the crowd was singing along. Images were projected on a movie screen overhead, and the two painters started working on their canvases early while the music played. As is custom, the paintings were up for bid at the end of the show. Last I heard, bids for Connie's painting (melancholy portrait in pastels of two people with downcast eyes) were in the $200 range and bids for Scott West's blue and green figure with flaming red hair was about $500ish. So glad they played "Take Your Medicine."

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Meiko playing tonight 5/20 at the Walnut Room

It's getting to be the last day for you to enter our Cloud Cult contest. Enter now!

Tuesday is shaping up to be Minnesota day in Denver. We've got Cloud Cult and Ice Palace (w/ Say Hi) at the Bluebird, and One For the Team at the Hi-Dive, both on 5/19.

Meiko plays at the Walnut Room on 5/20.

And just a random note. If you want to take a cab from Denver to Northglenn and have it wait there to take you back to Denver once you're done talking to whoever you need to talk to, the bill's going to be $66.

Cloud Cult contest

Who wants to see Cloud Cult / Say Hi / Ice Palace FREE at the Bluebird 5/19?

We're giving away a prize package with:

*The new album from Ice Palace: Wonder Subtly Crushing Us

*The DVD No One Said It Would Be Easy from Cloud Cult

*Spots on the guest list for you and a friend to see the show 5/19 FREE!

One person wins all three. Here's what you have to do enter: Before May 16, send us an e-mail at deli_magazine@yahoo.com with your name and address (so we know where to send the loot), and we'll choose a name at random from all the entries to win the prize package. Easy. If you don't win, tix to the show are only $13.50 (plus convenience charges, if you buy online).

Listen to Ice Palace, and have a look at their lovely faces! They're from Minnesota. Ice Palace has a new lineup supporting lead singer Adam Sorensen than it did on the first album. The new album is out on Earthology Records, the eco-friendly label Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa founded.

GREYCOATS at the Meadowlark

Greycoats play at the Meadowlark this Friday, 5/1 (with everyone's friends, Popwreck, et al.) To listen to Greycoats' lyrics is to hear of struggle, manipulation, disillusionment with a thought-rock backdrop of philosophers, authors and world politics. Take the song "That Great and Terrible Day," inspired by Burma. Two years ago was the so-called Saffron revolution, when thousands of monks and others protested against the military government. Reports said security forces cracking down on the protesters ended up beating and arresting dozens of monks. Jon Reine went to Burma years earlier but says he still feels influenced by that trip. Jon Reine e-mailed with us from the road:

What was your first instrument and how old were you when you learned to play?

Jon: I started taking piano lessons when I was six years old

What took you to Burma? What are some of the lasting memories from being there and how has it influenced you?

Jon: I was helping to coordinate a few youth camps in Hong Kong and Rangoon
in 2000. Burma took my breath away. I returned later that year to visit two
Karan refugee camps on the Thai/Burmese border, teaching and playing music.
The people in these camps had been forced to relocate again and again high
into the hills to keep the soldiers from crossing the border and attacking
them at night. People were much more free here to talk a little bit about
their political situation and their experiences. Inside Burma are too many
informants; refugees have nothing left to lose. How does one respond to the
scars of a soldier's machete? I was only there for a few weeks, but nine
years later I'm still haunted by these hills.

So what's up with the propaganda on your Web page?

Propaganda polarizes and demonizes. People become puppets. We want to pull
the strings.

Any idea what theme your next album will take on?

I spent a bit of time this winter with the Dust Bowl, Gatsby, Jack London,
and some mythology....we'll see where that leads. Survival in the Golden
Age. I like the idea of our Berlin Wall falling beneath the weight of the
dollar.

*******

Wanna hear a treat? Tune in to our favorite FM station, 101.5 in Denver, at 9 a.m. MDT Friday, 5/1.

New music from Paper Route :: Ben Folds :: Metric

Finally, finally! Paper Route's album Absence is out today, and you can listen to the whole thing on MySpace (scroll down for the player). The Nashville band's mix of laptops and real instruments makes for full-sounding arrangements that are warmer than using machines alone. Absence opens with "Enemy Among Us," showcasing the trademark vocals done an octave apart, synth and samplers. There's also "Carousel," which has been lurking in the background of MTV's "The City" as a soundtrack to heartache, dreams, angst or restlessness. "Are We All Forgotten" fits that bill too, with lyrics like "Don't you break my heart / Don't you break my heart again." Paper Route will be in Denver very, very soon, 5/5, at the Marquis Theatre. $10 day of show.

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Barbershop quartets and Sweet Adelines abound, but in college, it's all about a cappella groups and the pop songs they inevitably cover. After noticing that more than a few liked covering his songs, Ben Folds decided to put together a greatest hits album of sorts with university a cappella groups covering them. Groups submitted 250 YouTube videos, and Folds whittled that down to 14 for Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella. Then he, his wife and an engineer traveled around the country for two months to record the tracks.

The University of Colorado's CU Buffoons made it on to the album with their version of "Landed." The group's music director Misha Levental says a Buffoon alum told the group know about Folds' a cappella competition, and it wasn't too hard to decide to enter the competition since the group already had a YouTube video of it from a fall 2008 concert. Levental, a Denver School of the Arts grad now studying finance at CU, arranged the song for the group. "When I first joined the Buffoons, I realized that there was really no contemporary music (2000s +) in the repertoire. I decided to take it upon myself to arrange "Landed," a Ben Folds piece that I thought would lend itself great to a cappella for its melodies, harmonies and popularity," he said in an e-mail.

The Buffoons were getting ready to post a new video of the song when they got an e-mail that said it was from Ben Folds himself about his new album. The group ended up submitting a video for the contest and was among 18 groups chosen to record a song for Folds, who offered Levental some input on the arrangement. "He said to tone down the first verse so that it could really open up into the chorus. Before, the verse had some melodic parts that synced up with the solo. Folds wanted to change it to simple chords. Otherwise, he told me to leave the arrangement the way it was," Levental said.
The Buffoons recorded 10 takes at Landed at Coupe Studios in Boulder. Of the 18 groups that recorded, only 14 made it on the final album, including the Buffoons.

Folds did his own a cappella tracks _ of "Boxing" and "Effington" _ for the album. 5th Elements from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is on here too singing "Fair," and their arrangement completely captures the spirit of the original. There's also a high school group from Newton, Mass. The recording captures how the group would sound live, not under heavy production, so you might hear a couple off notes. Some tracks were recorded in studios, but the University of Chicago's Voices In Your Head recorded in a living room. Some groups recorded in recital halls on their campuses.

Here's a YouTube video of the CU Buffoons performing "Landed."



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Check out Metric's new album too. Here's the single, "Help I'm Alive."

Doors Open Denver, where you can get a free look at some of Denver's architectural gems, is this weekend.

Hot Congress is in session! What's Hot Congress? Ten Denver bands who got together and formed a collective to support each other and get the word out. Eight of them are playing this weekend at the Larimer Lounge and The Meadowlark right around the corner tonight, 4/18, for $8, so you can run around and see all of them in one night. You've seen some of these bands together before ... Vitamins, Pseudo Dates, Achille Lauro, Action Packed Thrill Ride, et al

Paste and Oskar Blues Brewery are teaming up in a deal where Dale's Pale Ale gets all sorts of mentions on a Web site offering free downloads of music from artists featured in Paste.

InDenverTimes, the online news effort from former staffers at the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News is trucking along. The original plan was to sign up 50,000 subscribers, and if they met the goal by April 23, they'd launch in May, with paid staffers and fuller, interactive content and features available only to subscribers. Well, judging by the specials they've been offering to get people to get their friends to become subscribers, there may not be that many people _ yet _ willing to pay close to $60 a year for content from a staff that's a sliver of what the Rocky Mountain News had when you can get all kinds of Denver news free from The Denver Post and the TV channel sites. Plus, InDenverTimes has been offering a lot of content, including chats, for free from a volunteer "staff" working without pay. So don't be surprised if InDenverTimes decides to wait a while before charging people for content, at least until they can build up more of an audience.

Another good one from The Wall Street Journal. This one's about Comic Sans

PEELANDER-Z! REVIEW!

Craaaaaaaaaa-zy Peelander-Z show last night! These should be the rules for P-Z shows:
1. Bring friends
2. Drink a beer or three before they take the stage (why not) cuz you'll want to keep your hands free during the show
3. Moshers in front, jumpers and fist pumpers in back
4. Be ready to LIM-BO!
5. And jump rope! With the band!
6. And play the band's instruments!
7. And dance around Peelander-Green when the drumkit goes from the stage to the flo' (that means floor!)
Wheeeeeeee!!!
Oh, if you missed them at the Hi-Dive too bad. But they're playing more dates

Eulogies :: Bad Veins :: and new music!

The four bearded LA guys of Eulogies rocked! At the Larimer Lounge last night. A tight set with sweet harmonies from all the guys, lots of tambourine and some old-time photos playing from the slide projector onto the drum kit. Guitarist Garrett Deloian, in full shaggy mountain man mode, went to school in Colorado, and his parents and brothers and ol' Colorado buddies turned out for the show after dark on a weeknight. The beginning of the set went by so fast. The band was playing through song after song with no breaks but finally talked a bit with the audience toward the end. Their new album "Here Anonymous" (includes the song "Two Can Play" with guest vocals from Nikki of Silversun Pickups) came out this past Tuesday. The Eulogies were in Denver not so long ago, and now, after being on the road for a while, they sound really crisp live. Next up for them is a tour with the Dears (with Great Northern too!) but looks like that one will skip Denver.

Also at the LL last night, Bad Veins out of Cincinnati. Seeing them live is a trip, since it's just Sebastien (drums) and Benjamin (vocals, guitar) onstage. In fact, you get the sense Benjamin would perform solo if he could. But the pounding Sebastien does on the drums brings so much to the live show. They've rigged up a contraption to play all the various instruments in the background that the two of them wouldn't be able to do on their own live (string plucking on "The Lie," brass, piano, etc). Their first album is about to come out soon

Doves' new album came out Tuesday. They'll be in Denver 5/26. You can listen to the album now on MySpace.

Sara Watkins, 1/3 of Nickel Creek, has a solo album out too. More on that later. Just know that the production is spare to let put her vocals and violin playing front and center. Kind of like you're at the campfire, listening in as Watkins and friends play some originals and covers for you.

Also, while Peelander-Z is playing at the Hi-Dive on Friday, 4/10, Popwreck will be at the Larimer Lounge. Choose wisely

Black Kids are in town 4/15 at the Oriental Theater. With Mates of State.

Peelander-Z

Smash! Bam! Pow!

Japanese action comic punk band Peelander-Z lands at the Hi-Dive on Friday night. Their mission: to get smiles from the audience.

Denver doesn't know what it's in for. ... Keep reading

Fire Drills (with members of Red Cloud West, The Omens, D. Biddle et al) is one of the openers.

The endorsement

The heels on my favorite boots were wore down, and I didn't really want to buy all new boots. So I dropped them off yesterday at Cobbler's Corner, down on 17th St. between Champa and Stout. Today I got them back, with new heels, and they were shined and buffed up, for a total $8. A+. Note: they don't do large bags or suitcases here because they don't have much storage space. You can try your luck on smaller items and see if they're feeling in the mood, but mostly it's shoes here. Right now, there's a half-off sale on Red Wing boots, if you need those.

Random notes

UMX is still going on today, 3/29, at Bender's Tavern (on 13th between Grant and Logan in Denver) where they'll be picking bands and musicians to play at the People's Fair.

The International Association of Culinary Professionals is hosting its annual conference in Denver this week. Dan Barber (Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns Center) and Armandino and Marilyn Batali (Salumi) are among the highlights. But how big will the crowd be this year? They've opened up sessions to the public, if they're willing to pay. And quite a few items from the original agenda have been cancelled, according to the Web site. Convention attendance has been down for other organizations too.

Ski Scavenger Hunt at Loveland! New Belgium is sponsoring this 4/4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants will be looking for objects, stationary and moving. $10 to play, and lift tickets are only $35 for participants. The $10 goes toward supporting sustainability. Earlier scavenger hunts were held at Taos and Telluride.

Wynton Marsalis continues the publicity push for his new album "He and She." The Wall Street Journal did a video piece with him, you can listen to the whole album on iLike, and he's going to be the commencement speaker at Northwestern University.

Wall Street Journal on Vie de Merde haha

Lala's Wine Bar

If you haven't tried Lala's Wine Bar + Pizzeria yet (on 7th between Logan and Pennsylvania), head over for Sunday supper. It's just about the classiest all-you-can-eat deal I've ever seen. You get all the pizza, pasta and salad we could eat for $9.95 per person, and there's no buffet: The servers bring out plate after plate, and you just ask for more of whatever you'd like. First came the bruschetta plate. Then a basic salad with croutons and a sprinkle of cheese and dressing. I'd say skip the pasta, unless you request the vegetarian version. It was much better with just the sauce and cheese. Next came the pizza -- thin crust, with some slices having olives, some with mushrooms, and then some with mushrooms, pepperoni and olives. My favorites all night were the pizza and bruschetta. If you don't save room though, you might fill up on the doughy pasta and rid yourself of the chance to taste the great pizza. The wine list has choices of glasses, bottles and 1/3 bottles (a good option if you want more than a glass of one wine). During happy hour (there's two each night), glasses are as low as $5.

This restaurant formerly held Sparrow and Sacre Bleu. Cozy restaurant with bar and open kitchen, with bar-style chairs available right where you can see the cooks working. There's also a patio outside, with heaters when it gets chilly. Sundays are understandably busy with the specials, but the place starts to clear out toward 9:30, even though they're open til midnight. There's plenty more on the menu here, but the Sunday supper is a nice introduction to this relaxed spot.

Another viral video

Did you like the Elmo and Gervais video?
Here's another you might like. Check out the rapping flight attendant!

Ricky Gervais and Elmo : AP interview outtakes!

The National, Built to Spill, Yo La Tengo, The Walkmen and more are playing Pitchfork Music Festival this year! July 17-19 at Union Park in Chicago.

Here in Denver, The Broken West head to the Hi-Dive on Wednesday, 3/11. And Bad Weather California is at the Hi-Dive 3/14, with LoveLikeFire as one of the openers. $6 in advance or $8 at the door

Meese

Meese played their new album the whole way through at the Larimer Lounge Tuesday night for about 200 people and invited everyone to stick around and introduce themselves afterward. DJ Hot to Death (Monolith Festival co-founder Matt Fecher) was spinning to warm up the crowd. We saw Meese get a sold-out crowd dancing at the Bluebird last year, and they've played at Red Rocks too. So in the tiny LL, it might have been nice to hear them play unplugged, but that's just a quibble. We heard songs like "Count Me Out" (originally sort of dark but now with MORE POP! whiz bang) and "The Start of It." Patrick Meese said one of the songs that will be on the new album was written after the band was asked to write a song for the "Twilight" soundtrack. They had two days to write it. Then it got chopped. Boo! But it's on the new album. The album will be Meese's first for Atlantic Records.

Jimmy Eat World in Denver

(photo from Jimmy Eat World's Twitter!")

It was a sold-out crowd tonight in Denver for Jimmy Eat World at the Ogden, one of the 10 stops the band is making on the Clarity Tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the album. They played the whole album. So as lead singer Jim Adkins said, no surprises. But then they came back out for a lengthy encore, which included songs from Futures (including "23" and "Work") and of course (from the Bleed American album) "The Middle" and "Sweetness."

Scott Campbell of the Larimer Lounge booked this show, which is funny, because he also booked the band's Denver show on the original Clarity tour.

An Horse

Get out of the house Sunday night. Come see An Horse at The Walnut Room, 3/1. 8 p.m. These Aussies are a boy+girl duo but somehow remind me of Tegan&Sara. See for yourself.

And don't forget, MEESE is playing at the Larimer Lounge Tuesday, 3/3, before their new album comes out! They'll be playing their whole album, starting around 10 p.m. Maybe a bit earlier. A measly $5

Denver Restaurant Week, week #2

Dozens of restaurants agreed to extend Denver Restaurant Week by another week. Why, we can't figure, but we'll take it! Today we went to the Denver ChopHouse and Brewery, since entrees there can typically run for about the same price you'd pay for one of their prix fixe meals. By the way, if you're wondering, I saw a guy come in wearing a fleece vest and jeans, but there also was a woman who came in wearing high heel slingbacks and a fur coat. So wear whatever you feel comfortable with wearing in LoDo. Started out with a cup of tomato fennel bisque _ spicy! Definitely a kick. We tried both entree choices. The salmon with hollandaise sauce was quite tasty. I liked it way more than I thought I would. I could've done without the rice pilaf. Then the grilled buffalo and the pan-seared porcini crusted beef were both tasty, tender (cut it with a butter knife) and we had it medium rare, so it was quite juicy. With tasty white cheddar mashed potatoes. Both dishes came with sauteed asparagus. For dessert, an espresso walnut tort with maple crème frieche ice cream and a warm caramel sauce underneath. Yummy. The filling had that cooked brown sugar, egg mix. Mmm. We took an early seating, so it wasn't super busy. I prefer more of the neighborhood Denver places, but I'm glad I got to try this hot spot because the food tasted GREAT.

Top Chef

Hosea of Boulder was in the Top Chef finale tonight!

Denver Restaurant Week :: Duo

So where are YOU going for Denver Restaurant Week? A foodie friend was in town so tonight a group of us ended up going to Duo Restaurant, across from Pasquini's on 32nd and Zuni. It's a great place to try, since the pastry chef is a Beard award nominee this year. Duo is offering a special, three-course prix fixe menu, with choices of appetizer, entree and dessert, but it also offered two specials (flatiron steak from the regular menu and a salad special). Surprisingly, Duo also had a few special offers on wine from the drink menu, so a glass of those wines was just under six bucks (the other wines are listed at around $9 and up per glass). Our group of six all ordered from the prix fixe. So among the apps, the fritto misto was lovely. I ordered the braised pork entree _ the meat was so tender! But I think I may have liked the cod entree even better. It was tasty, light, perfectly cooked. The chicken entree was a bit dry. The other option is curried cauliflower. The dessert options are very different from each other but both amazing. I tried the toffee pudding with pecans, which comes in a very decadent, delicious sauce. The other option is a lemon and caramel "tart," which is light and spring-like. Typically, Denver Restaurant Week can be a bear for staff, who are just shoveling out food for a never-ending stream of customers, but our server was cool and collected, and we weren't rushed out the door. In fact, we stayed about 2.5 hours. Just one snafu, with a wrong beer that was delivered, but a minor quibble. Also, if you get there early, Duo still does a happy hour at the bar, so beers are $2, wells are $3. Anyway. There's still two more weeks to try Denver Restaurant Week spots. I'm eyeing Baur's Ristorante...

Chevy Chase @ Boulder International Film Festival

Chevy Chase, his wife, and his daughter Cydney were in Boulder on Saturday for Chevy Chase to accept an award for excellence in comedy at the Boulder International Film Festival and take part in a Q+A. He wore a pink shirt with a blue tie with white dogs on it for the occasion.

We learned a few things:

_ He'll be on a few episodes of "Chuck" on NBC in April
_ There might be another "Fletch" (no details)

He had the audience guffawing with his deadpan humor from the time he took the stage to accept his award:

"I can't think of anything more flattering, given that I did maybe four good movies," he said. He said he was glad to make people laugh. "That's what I want to do. That's what I've enjoyed doing over the years." He said he was here with his wife and one of his daughters, Cydney. "The other two hate me," he quipped. "No! They were busy."

"Festivals count so much for younger people who are trying to explore their abilities in filmmaking. I know it helps to have some big shot here," he said. "But. It means a great deal to me. (pause) Because I'm a narcissist." (More laughs from the crowd)
Before he took the stage, the film festival showed a montage of clips from his career. Chase said he rarely looks back at his old clips. "I just keep going. I'll be dead in a year anyway." (audience laughs) But looking at the clips the festival showed, "It reminds me how little I've been paid." (more laughs)

During a rather lengthy Q+A with a moderator and time for questions for the audience, Chase talked about his comedy career.

On what he was like as a kid:

Chase said he was never the class clown but more of the subversive _ the one the teacher never knew was behind the hijinks. He had a very, very funny dad, he said. "His influence on me, his perspective, that had a great effect on me."

On comedy:

He poked fun at President Ford and others on "Saturday Night Live." But he wasn't about so much making fun of people. He said he couldn't look at social taboos without some sense of 'why.'

"That's the easy part, making fun of people who can't defend themselves. I don't think I fell into that category. It was more, can you imagine if this took place within this social taboo."

"I really believe comedy is physical in every sense ... the way you say things, lift an eyebrow. ... Comedy is physical. It's somewhat athletic, and it is a surprise."

On his start:

He went to LA to be a comedy writer and was writing for the Smothers Brothers. One night there was a midnight showing of Monty Python's Holy Grail. There was a long line and Chase was making remarks. At the time, Lorne Michaels was looking for people for "Saturday Night." He asked Rob Reiner somewhere in line who Chase was. Of Lorne, Chase said, "We hit it off like brothers. Afterward he gave me fellatio .." (ah, more deadpan humor!)

On the new 'SNL':

Chase said people's reference points change, the casts change, the early generation gets older. "I've never said anything negative about the next generation of SNL. I've always been very deferential to casts that come up" because of that reason (changing environment). "I can't say I laughed at every year after." But he said the first cast joined the show thinking they'd be the show would be around a year or less. "I was there to parody television. I had done a lot of writing the Smothers Brothers wouldn't touch. We were very relaxed because we didn't think we'd make it a year." Yet somehow, Chase and others went on to become stars after being on the show. He feels today, the cast feels some sort of desperation and more pressure to "make it."

After SNL

He was handed two scripts. One was Animal House and the other was Foul Play. (murmur from the audience) "Yeah, I made a lot of good choices," he said to loud laughter. "Do you think I'd be here if I chose Animal House?" He said he felt like he had lived Animal House, and he really wanted to meet Goldie Hawn, so he chose Foul Play.


Caddyshack:
"I don't play golf. I think golf is kind of boring actually. I'm a tennis player."

Vacation:

We tried to come up with the ugliest station wagon, the ugliest green, ugliest window position. Then get the ugliest guy to sell it _ Eugene Levy. Then the stupidest guy to buy it.

On Al Franken in his senatorial election:

(With a smile) "I just want it to be sooo difficult for him,"

On roles he was offered but turned down

Forrest Gump, American Beauty. But he said he was glad Tom Hanks did the part because he didn't know if he would've been able to do it. Also, scripts that come to him may be quite different than what ends up on screen because it can change with the actor and who's attached to it.

On other comedians:

He said he's a hard person to make laugh. He really likes Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin...

He talked of missing John Belushi, Gilda Radner. Of course, others from his generation also have died. "We smoked pot. We snorted coke. ... I'm a survivor of that,"

"I love the new cast of SNL. They're so different from us. They all drink water." (audience laughs) "And work really hard."

The evening ended with a question from his wife, Jayni. She asked him to play When I Fall in Love, for her, since it was Valentine's Day. So he walked over to the piano and played.

New Heartless Bastards album out today. Listen to "The Mountain," which is the first song on the album by the same name.

Also available today is the new album from The BPA (The Brighton Port Authority), side project of Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim). Well, the album was already available from amazon.com, but now you can get an actual CD in the U.S.

Bonnaroo tickets on sale this Saturday, 2/7. This year's lineup includes Bruce Springsteen, Phish, the Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, TV on the Radio, Wilco, Al Green, David Byrne, Snoop Dogg, Merle Haggard, Animal Collective, Lucinda Williams, and Rodrigo y Gabriela

***Action Packed Thrill Ride just got added to The Little Ones' show at the Hi-Dive Feb. 13. So now there's no excuse not to go to the Hi-Dive a week from Friday!

Henry Cho

Henry Cho is performing at the Comedy Works in Greenwood Village Feb. 5-7. Check out this interview

Clothes swap @ the Hi-Dive

Girls, go through your closets and gather up all the stuff you want to give away or don't wear anymore. Then haul it over to the Hi-Dive tomorrow, 1/31, where you can leave your stuff and pick out want you want to take home from what everybody else brought. 2:30-6 p.m. That's green shopping

Single File

The full-length debut of Colorado's Single File comes out April 7. After that, they go on tour with Alkaline Trio and Anberlin and once again returning to the Vans Warped Tour.

KTCL in Denver gave them a boost by playing "Zombies Ate My Neighbors" on the air, and the band's new single "Girlfriends" will be playing on Denver radio beginning in March before it goes out to the rest of the country.

A new day

Check out this slide show of front pages from around the world the day after Obama's inauguration

Would be remiss if we didn't tell you that you can see Action Packed Thrill Ride @ Bender's Tavern tonight, 1/17, for a mere $5

Meese DJs @ Larimer Lounge Monday, 1/19. (free)

Farewell to Bush Bash @ the Hi-Dive Tuesday, 1/20, with the Swayback.

Young Coyotes with The Wheel, @ the Hi-Dive 1/23

The Little Ones are coming back! To the Hi-Dive! Feb. 13. Ten bucks.

New Lady Sovereign

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80s kiddies might get a kick out of "So Human"

The Forecast

This weekend, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra is playing along with "The Wizard of Oz." The classic movie will play on big screens, with the orchestra playing the soundtrack! Live! What fun. Friday, 1/9, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, 1/10, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, 1/13, it's the CSO's free annual Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert. Tickets required. Pick them up free from the central downtown library or the Blair-Caldwell branch. 7:30 p.m.

Also, beginning 1/13, you can see Yang Fudong’s 6-minute video "City Light" at MCA Denver. The contemporary art museum is hosting a public reception that Friday, 1/16, 6-10 p.m. Yang was born in Beijing but now lives in Shanghai. "City Light" (2000) looks at an office worker and his doppelganger, or perhaps you could view the doppelganger as his alter ego or his private self. The exhibition runs until May 10.

Musical chairs

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra is getting a new president and CEO beginning March 9. The CSO said today that James W. Palermo, who served 14 seasons as the artistic and general director of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, has accepted the appointment. Palermo comes on board as CSO looks for a new music director to replace Jeffrey Kahane, who said in July he would leave after the 2009-'10 season following a bout with hypertension. Also in July, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra announced it was naming then- CSO Pres/CEO Doug Adams as its new president. Kevin Duncan has been serving as interim pres/CEO for the CSO.

Speaking of management changes, Chipotle Mexican Grill founder and CEO Steve Ells is going to be sharing his CEO role with Monty Moran, promoted from COO and President. The fast-casual chain, known for hefty burritos, is getting its first chief marketing officer, Mark Crumpacker, who's from the consulting firm that has been doing branding/creative work for them since the beginning. Bill Niman (Niman Ranch founder) was named Sustainable Agriculture Adviser, which seems like a move aimed at giving some cred and more attention to Chipotle's efforts to use more local foods, free-range meat, etc. Oh, and Chipotle wants to expand into Europe this year. London!