PICTURE a typical peaceful afternoon on Denver’s 16th Street Mall.
The sun is shining, pedestrians are entering and leaving shops and eateries, shuttles are making their way up and down the shade-dappled thoroughfare.
And then . . .
Something happens . . .
It wouldn’t really be fair to reveal precisely what it was that happens on that fictional Denver afternoon, for the element of surprise is crucial to its effect.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 August 2010 13:23 )
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IMAGINE you are dead. Family and friends make condolence calls at your home, casually observing the artifacts of your life: books, photographs, clothes, dried cans of paint, furniture, kitsch.
Now pretend that your home is actually an airtight tomb that archaeologists stumble over 2,500 years later. All your possessions are meticulously preserved — including your body.
“Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs,” on exhibit at the Denver Art Museum through Jan. 9, 2011, is a voyeur’s paradise.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 August 2010 13:24 )
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ONE of the first things you notice at Ganja Gourmet on South Broadway is an iconic portrait hanging to the right of the bar.
It’s a faithful reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci’s 16th-century masterpiece, the Mona Lisa — the all-knowing eyes, the enigmatic smile, the black veiled costume — with a countercultural twist.
Instead of folding her pristine arms, this Mona holds a very large marijuana joint in her right hand. A leafy marijuana plant sprouts in the background, and a brightly hued peace symbol anchors the lower corner.
But this store is neither a “head shop” (an outlet for drug paraphernalia) nor a clandestine gathering place for recreational users of the substance known as pot, dope, weed, Mary Jane.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 July 2010 06:43 )
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IF you listen carefully, you might hear new and curious sounds emanating from the Denver Jewish community.
Such as a rake drawing its tines through freshly turned earth.
Or a hoe chucking its way through clods and weeds.
Or the hushed plinks of water drops falling from hoses to dirt.
Or, perhaps, even the barely perceptible whisper of a young plant springing forth from a seed in search of sunlight.
Gardens and small farms are appearing in the city in all sorts of unlikely places, including Jewish places — in the shadow of a synagogue, on newly-acquired land that might one day become a Jewish high school, on an empty lot amidst the hustle-bustle of downtown itself.
JERRY Katz stands at the intersection of recreation and home improvement.
The double duty subject? Gardening and landscaping.
Katz learned the multiple benefits of working in the garden or yard to make things grow during his high octane career as a trial lawyer. Katz found that working in his garden after a long day in court was a pleasant antidote to the stress inherent in his line of work.
Katz came to enjoy his gardening so much that he decided to retire from the legal profession and open his own organic landscaping company, Jerry’s Wildflowers.
Last Updated ( Friday, 28 May 2010 07:49 )
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