Dog Days of Summer

In my experience, most people can’t identify a pit bull to save their lives. I say this because my dog (pictured) is mistaken for a pit bull constantly. He is a large bull-breed (a Victorian bulldog, if you’re interested), but most certainly not a pit bull. Yet, when he approaches…

Q&A With Comedian Todd Barry

Photo by Matthew Rodgers Todd Barry’s twenty years in the comedy scene and far-ranging television credentials (Wonder Showzen, Sesame Street, Chappelle’s Show, Sex and the City, Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay — plus one of his more recent stints on the tube, the insane bongo-player who nearly breaks…

Q&A With Director Alex Gibney

Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind such documentary hits as Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Who Killed the Electric Car? has finished up his latest project, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, which will be released in selected…

Ray of Light

Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave for the past few years, you’ll know about The Secret, that phenomenon of a film that discusses the Law of Attraction — basically, your life is your responsibility; you manifest your problems as well as your solutions. Now, I don’t necessarily buy into…

Sweet Cherry Arts

I love arts festivals. In my daydreams, I have unlimited cash in hand and time off work to peruse every last one within driving distance. But those dreams haven’t come true yet, and I can only make it to one or two fests throughout the summer. The one that’s always…

Green-Ring Circus

This year’s 3-Ring Weekend at Copper Mountain will be a little different from those of previous years. The biggest change: It’s all green. “We’ve put a whole new eco-emphasis on the weekend,” notes Copper’s David Roth. So on top of the free live music by mountain favorites Rusted Root, you’ll…

Modern Classics

Classic art is classic for a reason: It’s awesome. And lowbrow art is increasing in popularity every day for the same reason: also awesome. And if you could combine the two somehow, in a classic-lowbrow mash-up of extreme proportions, the results would be, well, beyond quantifiable. Want to see what…

A Block of Fresh Air

How much cooler can East Colfax Avenue get? We can’t guess; all we know is that this neighborhood just keeps getting sweeter. See for yourself at the Super Fresh Block Party organized by Fabric Lab/Shoppe mastermind Tran Wills. “I’m totally community-oriented,” explains Wills, “and we wanted the whole neighborhood involved.”…

Puzzling On

Anyone who knows me well will tell you without hesitation that I’m a puzzle freak. My boyfriend sighs when he sees me walk in the door with a new book of logic problems; it means he won’t be able to talk to me for at least a couple of days…

Sideshow Spectacle

Andrew Goldfarb — aka the Slow Poisoner — is unlike any one-man vaudevillian musical act you’ve ever seen. First of all, he gets his inspiration from B horror movies, absinthe-induced hallucinations, dreams, nightmares and the mutterings of San Francisco’s homeless schizophrenic population. Second, he’s got a miracle tonic available only…

Over the Weekend…Widespread Panic @ Red Rocks

Photo by Soren McCarty. Widespread Panic Friday, June 27, 2008 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Better than: Listening from the Red Rocks parking lots. I’ll just say this straight up, and all you Spreadheads can hate me if you will (and you probably will): I don’t like jam bands. More specifically, I…

Show Your Pussy

Want to be a millionaire? Who doesn’t? Well, do you own a cat? More importantly, can you think like your cat? And why are we asking these seemingly inane questions? To determine your eligibility for the Meow Mix Game Show, that’s why…

Q&A With Rayo Casablanca

Rayo Casablanca is the author of the inventive new thriller 6 Sick Hipsters, his debut novel. And just in time for a Friday, June 27, appearance at the LoDo Tattered Cover (click here to learn more), he sat down with Westword for a conversation captured in the Q&A below. Spoiler…

Summer Lovin’

The longest day of the year may have passed a week ago, but that’s no reason to pass up a celebration. Estes Park’s Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is a traditional festival of light, flowers, food and music; the history of this tradition dates back to pre-Christianity, when people gathered midsummer plants…

So Hip It Hurts

“It seems as though all the new authors, the hip ones with the big book deals and best agents, have exotic names and exotic backgrounds.” So says a character in Denver author Rayo Casablanca’s debut novel, 6 Sick Hipsters. We don’t know much about Casablanca’s background, his book deal or…

Take a Little Trip

The 1975 War song “Low Rider” is so popular that it’s been covered by dozens of musicians, including Blues Traveler, George Clinton, Korn, Cypress Hill, Phish and Barry White. It was Eric and Donna’s song in That ’70s Show. George Lopez has even dubbed it the “Chicano National Anthem.” Why…

Cruise Control

When I was in high school, my friends and I would hang out on the patio of our local coffee shop on weekends, drinking our lattes and watching the boys cruise by in their beat-up, junky cars. We would sip and sip, and they would loop and loop, and our…

Nia Nights

Nia (formerly known as non-impact aerobics and neuromuscular integrative action) is a form of aerobic exercise incorporating three dance arts (Isadora Duncan, modern and jazz dance), three martial arts (aikido, tae kwon do and tai chi) and three healing arts (Alexander Technique, yoga and Feldenkrais). The women of Little Fish…

Suddenly Sedaris

Have you ever had to ask a loved one to pop a pimple or lance a boil located on a part of your body where the sun doesn’t shine? Or sucked on a lozenge and found it falling from your mouth into the lap of a total stranger? Or had…

Raise the Roof

Decades ago, the gold miners who frequented the Gold Coin Saloon, 120 Main Street in Central City, would throw coins at the wooden-plank ceiling. Those were the days before life insurance, and miners knew that the coins that stuck in the ceiling’s cracks would be used to help support their…

Gaia Film Festival

The idea behind the Gaia Film Festival is that simple choices can inspire us to make a difference, thus changing the world, one choice at a time. That’s why you’ll find films such as the Colorado premiere of Saida Medvedeva’s Water, which examines the secrets of the most common substance…