When RTD’s “Dumb Ways to Die” ad campaign got a little too real — it’s tough to laugh at little Edward-Gorey-meets-balloon-animals when there are people actually dying on the tracks — the signs on many of the trains were switched to a new concept: Don’t Be Jimmy.
Two things are happening this week: one, a House committee will debate HB17-1226, which is a bipartisan attempt to normalize the clocks in Colorado and stay on Daylight Saving Time permanently. And two, having just suffered through another spring forward weekend, everyone is going to be pretty damn cranky.
March is a tricky bitch, especially here in Denver. Sure, other parts of the country will see significant swings in weather in the month of March, and Colorado is known for a seriously random weather element almost any time of the year — but March is notorious for alternating between snow, springtime and snow again. Rain, snow, ice, sun, shorts weather one day, parkas and plows the next. Anything goes in Denver in March.
It was a good year for geeks, 1977. Dungeons and Dragons was just hitting the mainstream (and starting to be attacked as evil…which, of course, only fueled its popularity). The Atari 2600 was released, and that was pretty much it for going outside to play for the next decade. And a little kids’ movie called Star Wars was just about to change the world. And in the middle of it all, GenghisCon was born here in Denver. Forty years later, here are ten reasons to celebrate GhenghisCon.
A recent spate of tire-slashing incidents in the Stapleton area prompted someone to start a GoFundMe campaign to (somehow) help reimburse those affected by the vandalism. While this seems nice on the surface — and we’re sure the initial impetus was positive — it also seems remarkably insular and insensitive, even coming from Stapleton.
Sunday is the Super Bowl, as most of us know…and many football fans in Denver just can’t muster up the desire to see the spectacle this year. (If you’re one of the few Falcons fans in town, good luck on Sunday. If you’re one of the ever fewer local Patriots fans…well, what does it feel like to embrace the Dark Side?) Let’s just agree up front that there’s no shame in skipping a game that’s being played by one team you don’t care much about, and another that you actively despise. So what else is there to do this Sunday, to take advantage of the smaller crowds? Lots of things — but let’s start with these seven.
It’s good that February is the shortest month of the year. If you think about it, were you given the choice of any of the months to limit to just four short weeks, you’d probably choose it anyway: it’s freezing outside, all the holidays are a good month in the rear-view, and the only “occasion” for the month is Valentine’s Day—which, let’s face it, is something of a racket. So here are ten things you should keep in mind, here at Mile-High, for the month of February. Stay warm, and stay classy, Denver.
So the Broncos missed the playoffs, and to add insult to injury, the Patriots (and Denver persona-non-grata Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and roster-destroyer Josh McDaniels) are favored to win it. That means that as a Denver fan, you’re probably not all that jazzed about seeing the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. Sure, you feel a responsibility to watch—it’s the Super Bowl, and you’re no fair-weather fan. But still…it’s gonna be tough.In the spirit of still showing up for the Super Bowl and its related festivities, here’s a list of ideas that could help get you through Super Bowl Sunday—after which, remember, this last season is just a bad memory. Here’s to muddling through!
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper just returned from an international gathering in Davos, Switzerland, and rumors are swirling that he’s considering a 2020 run for president.
The Women’s March on Denver broke through the glass ceiling of all attendance expectations on Saturday, January 21, drawing huge crowds that wound up tripling the initial estimates of 40,000 attendees (and the count could grow). One day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, which itself disappointed in terms of numbers, the American people were clearly determined to make a statement. What that statement was, of course, varied from person to person and sign to sign. Some were traditional, some were profane, some were poignant — and some were beautifully geeky. After all, while you’re speaking your mind and participating in the democratic process, you might as well let your freak flags fly, too. In that spirit, here are the top ten nerd-tastic signs we saw at the Women’s March on Denver.
Starting this week, the Cherry Creek Shopping Center will begin charging for parking — not just in the structure, but in the outlying lots as well. (Sorry, Safeway.) Sure, the first hour is free, but who goes to the mall for less than an hour? The entire concept of a mall (and the ’80s) is based on sticking around and making a day of it. You might think that a dying concept like an indoor mall actually charging more would be a bad idea. And in that, you would be right. It’s like SeaWorld raising ticket prices. It’s like the rates for landlines going up. It’s like…well, like a very bad idea. In the spirit of what Cherry Creek laughingly refers to as “Smart Parking,” here are eight other very unwise charges that the mall could institute in order to increase revenue.
Usually, heavy snows in the mountains are good for ski areas, but this last week has proven that even when it comes to snowfalls and skiing, there can be too much of a good thing. A-Basin shut down on January 10 because of heavy snows and avalanche danger. A-Basin’s responsible decision-making (not only did it close on Tuesday, but it was only open for “limited skiing services” on Wednesday) raises the specter of avalanche danger in our state. It’s one of those things that no one likes to talk about, but that we sort of have to, to prevent disasters like the ones below, and do everything we can to ensure no more lives are lost.
Last week we offered seven resolutions for Frontier Airlines in 2017. Apparently Frontier has already added an eighth: lighten the load, by clearing out some of its executives.
Be prepared. Take avalanche warnings seriously. Wear a helmet.
The national elections of 2016 taught us two very stark lessons: that one, people will vote against their own interests and their own espoused values if they feel desperate enough. And two, that politicians as a group are now the most reviled people in the country. It wasn’t so much about who won the election: it was about what lost, and what lost was politics as usual. So yes, we all make resolutions every year, and politicians both local and national clearly need to take a long and hard look at who they are and what they stand for—and what positive steps they can take in either party to improve the nation as a whole and Colorado in the specific.
Getting from home to work and back again — and running errands in your off time — is something of a challenge in larger metropolitan areas, and Denver is no exception. Last year, we covered rules for driving, biking, mass-transit, even walking — and now, in 2017, there are some commitments that we can all swear to honor anew, for the betterment of the roads and everyone on them. To that end, here are seven resolutions for all of us that use (and sometimes abuse) the Denver roads and sidewalks upon which we so regularly depend.
Denver’s faltering A-Line has been an albatross around the neck of the otherwise helpful, if limited, mass transit rail system connecting the Mile High City.
Living well is the best revenge we can have on 2016.
With tourists heading for the hills, there are plenty of things that tick off the good people of Aspen. Vail’s been inundated, too, and in addition to hordes of skiers, this weekend the town will attract many New Year’s Eve revelers. Built strategically along I-70 (it’s no mistake that the only main roads going into and out of Vail are I-70 exits) in the not-so-distant past, Vail is like a Disney model of a ski town — only you can actually go there and ski. Still, despite the practiced and mandatory smiles of the employees who work the resort town (and probably have to live in other parts of Eagle County), there are somethings that ruffle the feathers of Vail residents. Let’s start with these eight.
Officially, Aspen sits in Colorado’s Pitkin County, but in reality it sits in a little reality of its own creation, where modest homes go for pornographically immodest prices, where celebrities live but tend not to be seen, where money flows like melting snow, but definitely doesn’t tend to trickle down to the person waiting on your table or pouring your beer. Aspen does not fit into Colorado, not really. Colorado fits around Aspen. Colorado is Aspen’s venue. Aspen is, always, the star.But as we know, stars can be bitchy. What makes the good folks of Aspen grumble? Well, for starters, the universal truth that money can’t buy happiness. But aside from that? These eight.
There’s an old Chinese curse (or so it’s said) that goes like this: “May you live in interesting times.” The saying is apocryphal, of course, and, like chop suey and fortune cookies, may not be authentically Asian in origin. But the point stands: 2016 was too damn interesting for words. Traditionally, we make resolutions for the betterment of ourselves and our lives in the coming year: lose weight, stop smoking, eat more vegetables, make America great again, stop the rise of authoritarianism, whatever. This year, there are things that we in Colorado can resolve to do that will make everything — our state, our neighborhoods and our quality of life — better. Happy New Year, and here’s to 2017 being refreshingly unremarkable. Or at least remarkable for all the right reasons. Here are our top ten resolutions to help make it so.
The holiday season can be overwhelming and stressful. Nothing — not church or the TV specials or the holiday episodes of our favorite sitcoms — can solve everything that pops up and threatens our jolliness. But follow these rules and you might actually survive Christmas and make the season that much…
