Denver News Blog

On innumerable occasions, I've tried to enjoy baklava and managed not to do so, always finding it too sweet or too sticky or too spiked with rosewater, too goopy or too stiff. Finally, I'd gotten to the point where I'd assumed baklava was just not to my taste -- like celery, roasted eggplant and pad thai -- and had simply stopped ordering it. But then I tasted this baklava...

That's an excerpt from my review of Ya Hala, the Syrian restaurant (pictured above) that's inspired a new obsession that has me rolling out at all hours, cruising the mean street of South Colorado looking for my fix of honey, walnuts and phylo. My counters are now crowded with empty take-out boxes, my fingers sticky with sugar. My name is Jason Sheehan, and I am a baklava addict.

You can check out the rest of the Ya Hala -- plus a pretty cool Bite Me column in which I compare Julia Roberts' acting career to a dead chicken) --- in this week's issue, coming soon to a newsstand (or computer) near you. -- Jason Sheehan

Hugh Grant wears a cape, and Cat knew immediately that she would cotton to anyone who wears a cape. But then she got the director of the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art on the phone, and now she has a bit of an intellectual crush on him. He's smart, he's a music historian, he's on the board of Opera Colorado, he wrote a ballet for Colorado Ballet that won an Emmy, and he wears a cape. A very storied cape. A cape that Vance Kirkland himself once wore. What's not to love?

"It was made by Winifred Leahy, who you wouldn't know unless you're about eighty," says Grant, laughing. "She was well known in the '40s and '50s in Denver, and she was the director of the fittings department for Montaldo's department store and Denver Dry Goods Co. in Cherry Creek. She became a friend of Robert Weaver, who was the manager of the big classical music store, Music For All, for 25 years, and he wanted something to wear to the opening of the Denver Symphony. So Winifred made him this gorgeous cape. It's not something you'd rent in a Halloween store. It's this incredible navy blue wool flannel material, and it has a plum satin lining with a collar."

How did it get passed down to Grant so that he could continue the tradition of dapper, cultured men sporting a cape? There's some beautiful symmetry to the story.

It felt traitorous to vote early. I'd never done so before, partly because it always seemed rather undignified to fill out a ballot at the same place I'd buy broccoli, but also because I was loyal to my old polling place, located in a rehab center where the residents considered election day a major holiday. And November 2, 2004, was better than Christmas, what with an hours-long line of would-be voters stretching up and down the fluorescent hall, past the physical therapy rooms and the dining areas serving up Jell-O.

A dozen years ago, when I moved to the edge of Highland, the first people I got to know were those who voted early -- and by that I mean 7 a.m. on election day, not exactly eight days before the polling places officially close.

The Prestige, a Christopher Nolan-directed flick about turn-of-the-century magicians that stars Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, has received generally positive reviews from critics at area publications, including Westword; to read Scott Foundas' take, click here. Somehow, though, such scribes have only made passing reference to the large chunk of the action that takes place in Colorado Springs. Likewise, they haven't contrasted the fictionalized version of scientist Nikola Tesla, portrayed by David Bowie, with the genuine item, who actually lived in the Springs during the period dramatized in the film. Getting too specific about the plot will cause the yarn to snag. But suffice it to say that Jackman's character, who holds a grudge against a rival magic man played by Bale, travels from England to Colorado Springs. There he asks Tesla, who's been working on assorted electrical experiments, to create a machine for a trick known as the "transporting man." At first, Tesla's contraption seems like a flop -- but the magician subsequently discovers that it works far better than anyone could have expected. The device catapults him to fame even as it sets into motion the deadly consequences that conclude the tale.

The scenery in the Colorado sequences looks authentic for a reason. As revealed in this April article from the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, segments were shot near the Redstone Castle and assorted locations near the community of Marble. Likewise, a scene in which Tesla causes lamps spread across a field to suddenly illuminate without the assistance of wires was inspired by an actual event.

The sky continues to be the limit for Captain Energy Dan Mayer (pictured), the energy-drink guru-cum-reviewer-cum-designer whose August profile in Westword can be found here. The Associated Press recently penned a piece about the rise in popularity of energy drinks and their potential danger to youngsters who suck the sugary swill down by the caseful -- and who else but Dan the Man should appear in the article, discussing the trend and offering up drink reviews of the sort that can be found on his website. The Denver Post printed the article on the front of the Monday, October 30th issue -- complete with a picture of Dan on an inside page -- and the Rocky ran a truncated version of report as well. But by far the biggest exposure Dan received from the AP piece was Yahoo! picking it up and making it one of the top six stories on its site the previous day. Millions around the world logged on to check their e-mail Sunday night only to be greeted by Dan Mayer, arguably one of the top energy drink experts in the world.

"It started last night and the traffic has been through the roof," Mayer says of the recent buzz. "I've got five times the normal traffic on my website right now. I'm actually afraid to go to my server because I don't want to even give it one more hit to deal with."

And as for a planned collaboration with Damon Lawner, a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur willing to back an energy drink of Dan's invention?

"We've talked a little more about it and we've actually come up with the angle of trying to make it the first community-designed energy drink," Mayer notes. "We want to have web-users give us feedback on flavors, the logo, all that stuff. The idea is still floating around, but ideally we would like to have something going by next summer."

Float on, Dan, float on. -- Adam Cayton-Holland

It can be tricky, running the toughest prison in the entire country, but it's hardly ever dull. One day you're getting blasted by lawmakers because security is too lax and convicted terrorists are managing to send letters out to new recruits. The next you're in the doghouse with a federal judge because your efforts to keep certain mail from coming in are considered unconstitutional.

Lose some, lose some.

Things seem to be heading downhill at the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum, better known as ADX. Home to some of the nation's most infamous prisoners — including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski (pictured), Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols, terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui and Colombian hit man Dandenis Munoz Mosquera — the federal supermax outside of Florence has been a magnet for controversy ever since its 1994 debut. But many of its most recent problems appear to be related to a single cause: shortsighted staff cuts, in the mailroom and elsewhere, that have exposed security gaps and sent buck-passers in the Bush administration scurrying for cover.

The staff shortages have sparked union protests and town meetings organized by state representative Buffie McFadyen (her Internet home page can be accessed here), who's made supermax security a rallying point for Fremont County residents. The cuts may have contributed to two inmate homicides last year, the first such deaths in ADX's history. And they've led to declining searches and made it easy for prison gang leaders and terrorists to send coded (or simply untranslated) messages to miscreants in the outside world. Yet the Bush administration has denied several BOP requests for additional security funding since the 9-11 attacks, even though more and more terrorists are being housed there. That prompted a recent letter from Senator Ken Salazar to President Bush urging that he intervene in the matter.

When you're short on guards, one way to deal with the mail is to ban everything potentially subversive coming in and out -- which is what ADX basically tried to do after 9-11. Prisoners couldn't receive publications that reported on prisons (including Westword), couldn't contribute articles to radical publications or receive those publications in the mail. That led to a series of court battles with prison writer Mark Jordan, who recently scored a modest victory in Denver's federal court, allowing him to receive a copy of a publication entitled (appropriately enough) "Justice Denied." Jordan, who's serving time for a bank robbery and a 1999 murder at another prison, will need the reading material; he's not due to be released for another 32 years.

To learn more about Mark Jordan, how the Aryan Brotherhood leadership operated within ADX, why Munoz Mosquera is serving ten life sentences in total isolation, and more, check out our Crime and Punishment archive. -- Alan Prendergast

In a March 2003 article, the Columbia Journalism Review declared Denver Post owner Dean Singleton to be a "newspaper surgeon" because of the trims he's made at properties acquired under the auspices of MediaNews Group, the sprawling company he heads. Some of these procedures have saved patients such as the Oakland Tribune, while others only delayed the inevitable demise of the Houston Post, etc. Nevertheless, Singleton continues to wield his scalpel, with one incision breaking the skin near the heart of his empire.

The evidence can be found in the October 29 edition of the Post. A few pages after a piece lauding Singleton for winning the "2006 Volunteers of America Humanitarian Award for his support of local charities" came an effort with a far less cheerful headline: "Newspaper Agency to Cut Up to 5% of Workers." The offering reveals that the Denver Newspaper Agency, which handles business operations for the Post and the Rocky Mountain News under a joint operating agreement, will reduce its workforce by as many as 94 employees working in various capacities, including "finance, human resources, advertising, information technology, operations and circulation." The overwhelming majority of these folks will be gone by November 13.

Granted, Singleton didn't personally eliminate these positions, but MediaNews' stake in the DNA means he had to sign off on them -- and his fingerprints are on another big slash, too. As noted in this Denver Business Journal report, MediaNews recently announced its intention to ax 101 toilers at the well-regarded San Jose Mercury News mere months after Singleton said "he would not be laying off staff or cutting health benefits."

As every journalism-scene observer knows, newspapers are facing nasty times right now, and Singleton is far from the only print entrepreneur doing the downsizing shuffle. And while this news was terrible for the individuals losing their gigs mere weeks before the holiday season kickoff, at least MediaNews hasn't mandated layoffs among the Post's editorialists after too few of them accepted a buyout package put forward earlier this year. (This Message column and a subsequent followup provide more details.) Nevertheless, the bad times aren't over, and no one will be surprised if the Post newsroom is subjected to more surgery after the first of the year.

Especially considering who's in charge of the emergency room. -- Michael Roberts

But you're going to be cold, you say, in a strapless cocktail dress. Or maybe you need something a little edgier for that Halloween party than what The Cat's Pajamas offered below. Problems solved: Just throw one of Lynne Bruning's Wookie coats over your shoulders, and you'll be ten feet tall and bullet proof. Cat speaks from experience: She had the good fortune to borrow a Wookie one evening, and it made her taller and smarter. How can you not be when you're wearing a giant, hot pink Chewbacca?

A few words of advice, however: Expect people to pet you...without...asking. If you don't like to be touched, you'll have to steel yourself before wearing a Wookie. Also, people will stare, but the Wookie gives you the power of royalty to stride through crowds with impervious abandon. The best part? You can wear them year round; no need to wait for Halloween to break out this fantasy self.

The Cat's Pajamas has always hated Halloween. She never liked having to dress up in some stupid-ass Tiger or Princess or Cheerleader costume. She was never much of one for make-believe, so the whole effort just somehow seemed pointless, even if candy was involved. There was this one time, however, that she got talked into being Sport Spice Mermaid for the annual Coney Island Mermaid Day Parade. That was fun, minus walking two miles in sky-high platforms and spangly polyester.

Cat's always been happy to help other people outfit themselves for the evening — that part is always insanely crazy and creative — but the question always remained: What does she wear out with her freaky friends? So Cat has been on the look out for an ensemble that could take her from the Masquerade Ball at the Oriental on Saturday night to "Secret of the Abyss," the sci-fi-themed party at Jax the same night. Or even any of the soirees at Rise and the Church happening all weekend. But it had to be something that didn't involve slutting herself out as a nurse or wearing someone else's stanky rented hippo gear.

What The Cat's Pajamas decided is that All Hallow's Eve is an excellent time to take some fashion risks, to try out some things you wouldn't wear in every-day life. To not be somebody — or something — else for the night, but to be a better, more flamboyant version of yourself.

For a sleek and elegant look, she chose a red strapless cocktail dress that she already had in her closet (nothing wrong with starting with what you've got) and then added a hand-crafted mask from Apocalypse Boutique (108 South Broadway, 303-777-3218). Owner Mike Romoth has been making these beauties for three years, and they are a perfect accoutrement for those masked balls where you want to look more gorgeous than outlandish. Plus, you'll look cool when you hit an after-party later and everyone else's makeup has sweated off and their outfits are half-undone.

Mike has a whole slew of masks in varying styles and colors, but Cat went with a basic black to start, and matched it with a pair of killer black stilettos and a giant cocktail ring. With a piece like this, you want all attention focused on it, so don't muddle the outfit with unnecessary earrings or necklaces. Just a light dusting of bronzer or sparkling powder over the collar bone will be more than enough. (Note: Photo is not of Cat; a special thanks to The Cat's Pajamas' special model.)

After Rocky Mountain News photog Todd Heisler (pictured) won a Pulitzer Prize this year for his work on "Final Salute," a sprawling piece that also earned a Pulitzer for reporter Jim Sheeler, there was no doubt that other publications would look to hire him. The only question, then, involved whether or not he would be receptive to their entreaties. Turns out the answer is "yes." As noted on Jim Romenesko's indispensable media-news page, Heisler has taken a position at a little ol' paper called the New York Times.

An October 27 e-mail in which Rocky editor/publisher/president John Temple informed his staff about this development is brief and to the point. "In his five years here Todd has done a range of extraordinary work," Temple wrote. "We will miss him." Readers here will, too -- but untold thousands more across the country will now have an opportunity to enjoy the work of a photog as talented as any who's worked in this town. -- Michael Roberts

We've got to figure that The Milagro Beanfield War -- a story as rare, joyful, mysterious and full of life as a Truchas sunset -- was a real no-brainer pick by Mayor Hick as this year's One Book One Denver read. But because the Southwest classic by John Nichols (pictured) has been gathering dust on the shelf for more than a few years, perhaps some of us need to brush up before we're ready to engage in intelligent discussion about it.

Well, miracles do happen overnight. Stories on Stage is rushing in with an event that will put you on the right path -- a marathon power read of the book, scheduled from 1 to 6 p.m. on October 28 in the lounge at Belmar's Laboratory of Art and Ideas, 404 S. Upham Street, in Lakewood. There, a host of voices, including Tony Garcia of El Centro Su Teatro, Lab director Adam Lerner, and CU-Denver's Mark Heckler and Gillian Silverman, will join audience members in a gratis cover-to-cover reading of the book, which is better than the movie. What a fine way to revisit a fine yarn.

Admission is free, and coffee and pastries will be served; call 303-934-1777 or go to Belmarlab.org for more details. -- Susan Froyd

A Message column published last month focused on Albert Manzi (pictured above), the new publisher of the Boulder Daily Camera, as well as the president and CEO of Prairie Mountain Publishing, a joint MediaNews Group-E.W. Scripps enterprise that oversees a slew of local publications, including the venerable Colorado Daily. In an interview for the piece, Manzi made it clear that he wasn't afraid of change, and that's a good thing -- because in recent weeks, folks at or near the top of the editorial department ladder at the Camera and the Daily have declared their intention to move on.

As noted in this article, Sue Deans (pictured below) says that on November 17 she'll step down as editor of the Camera, a position she's held since 2003. Meanwhile, as this item documents, Daily managing editor Bronson Hilliard, who's overseen day-to-day operation of the paper's newsroom since 2001, has been named the director of media relations at CU-Boulder -- a job he'll start on November 6.

There's no evidence that either of these moves took place at Manzi's behest. Deans, whose husband died in December, has stated publically that she wants to focus on writing; she'll continue to pen a weekly column for the Camera, and serve on the broadsheet's editorial board. As for Hilliard (a personal friend of yours truly), he is going home in a sense, having handled media chores for the CU president from 1996 to 2000. His reputation for shooting straight is exemplified by a quote that appeared in Editor & Publisher, a journalism-industry trade publication. The offering, which came out less than a week before his new gig was announced, focused upon CU journalism professor Michael Tracey and the ethics of his interactions with JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect John Mark Karr. Rather than making excuses for Tracey's behavior, Hilliard said, "Personally I was uncomfortable about someone who teaches in a journalism school doing what he did."

Daily longtimer Oakland Childers has already been named that paper's interim managing editor, and odds are strong he'll hang onto the title. However, Deans' chair has not yet been filled, and this opening gives Manzi an opportunity to truly put his stamp on the publication. What happens next will help determine if Manzi and the Camera really click. -- Michael Roberts

Since we went public this week with Westword's myspace/myrace pages for the six Colorado gubernatorial candidates, much action has occured on the profiles we created on myspace.com. Both Bill Ritter and Bob Beauprez have gotten hundreds of page views in the past few days, but Democrat Ritter (who also has an official myspace page) has pulled ahead with five Colorado residents requesting to be his friend. Next up is Libertarian Dawn Winkler with four friends, followed by Beauprez, the Republican nominee, with three friends. Candidates Chuck Sylvester, Clyde Harkins and Paul Fiorino have yet to log any friend requests.

Some sage advice overheard at Moontime:

"These girls wear $500 shoes and $300 bags into a bar and then get mad when some guy spills a beer on them. I tell them, "Then don't wear $800 worth of accessories into a bar.'"

The Cat's Pajamas couldn't agree more. Because if she'd spent $880 on this pair of Givenchy boots she covets, she sure as hell wouldn't wear them into any nightclub in LoDo. Heck, she won't even wear her classic Frye motorcycle boots there. No, those are saved for safe places, like Bar Bar. You know it may be a little sticky, but there is a much lower percentage of drunk assholes wielding beer bottles and overflowing cocktail glasses.

Then again, if Cat somehow lost her mind and spent $880 on a pair of boots — or even the $528 for them at Bluefly.com — she probably wouldn't wear them anywhere. She'd build a shrine and keep them encased in a temperature-controlled, hermetically sealed box.

In the current edition of Westword, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford (pictured) talks about his new novel, The Lay of the Land; that item, along with information about two booksigning events, can be eyeballed by clicking here. But there was much more to the conversation than could be squeezed onto a single page. Ford, speaking from Alberta, Canada, where he had just spent the day bird-hunting with his wife, Kristina Hensley, and a friend, spoke in detail about Land, the third novel focusing upon sportswriter-turned-real estate salesman Frank Bascombe. Topics included the difficult time he had capturing Mike Mahoney, Frank's Tibetan sales associate, the question of whether any plot point is absurd, and the decision-making process he applied to the question of whether Frank should live on even though Ford's already decided not to write another novel about him. (There's a minor spoiler near the conversation's end.) But Ford also talks about his years in New Orleans, where his wife once worked as a city official, not to mention 9/11, the nature of grief and the reason why Bascombe, who's also at the center of two other Ford books (The Sportswriter and Independence Day), isn't an autobiographical character.

Consider the following the equivalent of a special feature on a deluxe DVD -- added value for Ford fans, or anyone who enjoys peeking into the mind of a thoughtful, self-deprecating and thoroughly engaging scribe.

"We're the loudest ones here! YEEAAAHHH!" a red-faced guy shouted at his buddies a few minutes before Bob Dylan's October 24 appearance at the Fillmore Auditorium. And, for my money, he was right. This quartet of middle-aged yahoos could have given even the most obnoxiously sozzled Parrothead a run for his Margarita -- or, in this case, his whiskey, since the pack's ringleader snuck in a bottle of hooch and was offering anyone and everyone a snort. Nothing spells par-tay like a Bob Dylan show, eh?

Granted, these lugs didn't exemplify the sold-out crowd at the Fillmore. The mix was surprisingly diverse age-wise, with a smattering of teens and a sizable number of twenty- and thirty-somethings joining the touch-of-gray crowd and grizzled Zimmy vets. And no wonder, since Dylan long ago moved beyond the status of mere concert attraction. People don't buy tickets to see him play because he's good live (and he's not -- or at least not by anyone's standards but his). They go because he's an American original who won't be around much longer, and they want to be able to tell their children and grandchildren that they saw him once upon a time. In this sense, he's like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Everyone knows it's gonna fall down someday, so why not stop by before it does?

Sometimes these weekly missives are about time and the progression through it of a menu, a chef, an address. Sometimes they're about history, which isn't the same as time, because time is smooth and steady, and history is, well, bumpy. History is the story of peaks and jags in time, and food often captures these chronological features quite handily.

Sometimes they're about an event. Most often they're about me, because I am afflicted somewhat with egomaniacal leanings and enjoy being the highly opinionated filter through which these many meals slip. And sometimes -- although rarely, I must admit -- they're even about the food....

This week is all about the food.

Don't believe it? Then pick up the October 26 issue -- or come back to this website later today -- to read my complete review of Venice Ristorante in LoDo. And then offer up your own views as a comment on this blog.— Jason Sheehan

The city is ready to roll out its new Colfax street-design study. I did my own study on Sunday.

The sun was shining as I passed by Colfax and Sherman. Popping a squat on the green bench on the north side of the street, where people sit and wait for the bus, was a large woman in sweatpants and a coat too warm for such a nice day. Below her, a pool started to form. At first it looked like someone had spilled a drink, but there was no empy cup. The pool grew larger under the woman's shadow. After another minute or so, she stood up, looked left and right as casually as she could, and pulled her pants back up over her booty.

And then she sat back down on the bench, careful not to put her feet in the puddle below.

Later that night, a mile further east at the new Twist & Shout, 400 people packed the place. Some had brought guitars, some CDs, some pictures. One person had even brought an industrial-size bottle of mustard. All for the man of the hour's autograph.

Trey Anastasio.

"It's hidden far away, but some day I may tell, the tale of metal tangle when into your world I fell," he sang as he strummed his acoustic. "Without you now I wander soaking, secretly afraid, 'cause in your grasp the fears don't last and some of them have stayed."

It was kind of Trey to stick mostly to old Phish tunes for the eight or so songs. He was the lead guitarist of Phish for more than twenty years, and has been doing solo gigs since Phish broke up in 2004. Still, most of us wished the rest of Phish was onstage alongside Trey — and with luck, maybe that day will come.

But in the meantime, Twist & Shout has created great memories, and also given me high hopes for this great local record shop with high ceilings, soft lighting for onstage performances and incredible acoustics. If this is the direction in which Colfax is headed, it's going my way. — Luke Turf

It's official: Denver has reached the top. The good people of Wolford — the Netherlands-based company best known for sexy legwear that can va va voom up any outfit — also have a line of body-conscious tops named after famous places worldwide, such as "Arizona," "Long Island," "Jakarta," " New York," "Lisbon" and "Berlin." Here's what Wolford America's director of PR had to say about the Denver String Body: "We named the top this because of the soft luxurious fabric, like velvety snow, and because of the sloping neckline, which made us think of mountains and skiing."

It's not exactly a great shirt in and of itself for skiing — bare skin+cold snow=much cursing — but the Denver is pretty sexy. And it definitely beats the pants off of Arizona's uptight look, which is tres odd, considering that state's sultry weather. But Cat isn't complaining about one-upping our neighbor to the south. Besides, Arizona looks better than the New Jersey -- which looks like, well, New Jersey.

Although even supporters of Tom Tancredo and Marilyn Musgrave would agree that they don't rock, the twosome wound up in the current issue of Rolling Stone anyhow, albeit for unflattering reasons.

The Matt Taibbi-penned cover story of the November 2 issue is headlined "The Worst Congress Ever: How Our National Legislature Has Become a Stable of Thieves and Perverts -- in Five Easy Steps." This piece is accompanied by a sidebar introducing readers to "the 10 Worst Congressmen," and -- whoo-hoo! -- Colorado is one of only two states (California is the other) to land a pair of lawmakers on this disreputable roster. The Tancredo item dubs the Republican longtimer "Mr. Bigotry" for "unbridled looniness," among other sins, and notes that the National Review recently reached the conclusion that "Tom Tancredo is an idiot." As for Musgrave, she earns a pair of monikers. In the online offering, she's labeled "The Christian Soldier," while the print effort deems her "The Queen of Gay Bashing." However, both versions include the following quote from Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank: "If you're going to have someone who's a hater, it's best that she's not very bright. I appeared with her in a couple of forums to debate her bill [to outlaw gay marriage], but she's totally incapable of even explaining what it says."

Such negativity might seem damaging mere weeks prior to an election, but not in these instances. Tancredo, a former Westword profile subject, is so certain of reelection that his only televised campaign commercial to date appears to have been made on a budget of about $8.95. (In it, a teacher praises him for his work to fight genocide in Darfur -- probably the only issue on which his opponents would give him high marks.) Musgrave's spots, meanwhile, don't highlight a single positive contribution she's made since entering office. Rather, they relentlessly assault the character of opponent Angie Paccione, with one ad even accusing the Dem of running "a negative campaign." Guess Musgrave's minions don't want anyone treading on their turf, which they seem to be holding: The Pink Lady is way ahead in the polls.

In this climate, Tancredo and Musgrave can afford to shrug off the invective from Rolling Stone. When you're winning, it's easy to ignore bad reviews. -- Michael Roberts

Years before the goofy pen-pal relationship between CU journalism professor Michael Tracey and phony confessor John Mark Karr blossomed into headlines of the sort explored in a recent Westword cover story, Tracey was pushing the theory that someone like Karr was responsible for the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey. The groundwork was laid in Tracey's second Ramsey documentary, Who Killed the Pageant Queen?, which airs on the Women's Entertainment network tonight at 8 p.m. MST (Comcast cable channel 502 in Denver).

The program, first aired in the United Kingdom in 2002, takes viewers on a tour of the Ramsey house with investigator Lou Smit, who explains how an intruder might have slipped into the house, zapped the six-year-old sleeping beauty queen with a stun gun, strangled her in the basement and fled. (And left behind the baffling ransom note, but that's another issue.) Our expose of Tracey's dubious documentaries and his collaboration with Karr calls the flick "as balanced as a fatwa."

You can see why tonight; then check out the original script for the program here. The program airs again at 11 p.m., followed by a WE staple, Secret Lives of Women: Married to Cross Dressers. And no, that's not the upcoming Tracey documentary about Karr. -- Alan Prendergast

Boys, The Cat's Pajamas tried. She really, really did. She went to The 400's Shoe Shine sneaker competition at Andenken on Saturday night in hopes of bringing you a tasty treat of edgy menswear. But Cat was sadly disappointed: The boys did not bring their A-game. Yes, it was a sneaker freak, a chance to show off your best kicks, but that doesn't mean you neglect the top 98 percent of your persona; the ladies sure as hell didn't. Repeat after me, gentlemen: "I will not wear a baseball cap or track suit when I'm going out on the town. I will make an effort, if only as additional bait for my wedding tackle."

Cat's not talking about having to wear suits and ties. She gets that sweats are all "urban flava," but since she can't co-sign them as appropriate date attire for your better halves, she sure as hell isn't going to okay them for you. (Now, if they'd actually had some flava, then Cat might have had some sympathy, because in the case of true personal style, any fashion edict can be trumped.)

Still, those shoes were amazing -- shaming Cat's favorite pink Pumas -- and the ladies were smoking, especially Eno Ocansex. Love the boots, love the hair, love the earrings, love everything. (Cat. Must. Have. The. Boots.) Eno proves you don't have to be all vamped out to be gorgeous; she just looks radiant and confident in herself -- and there's no greater compliment in fashion.

On October 20, Twist & Shout invited the public to inspect its new headquarters -- at the Lowenstein Center, 2508 East Colfax Avenue, across the sidewalk from the Tattered Cover's new main-branch home. Longtime fans of the store no doubt had high hopes for the space, and if any of them left disappointed, they should be rushed to a psychiatric institution, stat. Simply put, the outlet is an instant classic, providing everything a fan of music and pop culture could want, and more.

It's no surprise that the CD stockpile is staggering. But there's also an impressive library of new and used DVDs featuring familiar and obscure titles alike; stack upon stack of twelve-inch singles assembled with DJs and dance mavens in mind; tons (literally) of collectible vinyl, much of it recently pried from owner Paul Epstein's own archives; lotsa bizarre curios, including Pee-wee Herman action figures that were officially withdrawn from the market over a decade ago; and an array of gold records, posters and other memorabilia that turns the joint into a de facto rock-and-roll museum.

As a result, today's Twist & Shout is among the truly great music shops in the nation -- and a credible argument can be made for ranking it atop this particular chart. Now the question is whether Denver consumers will keep it afloat for the long haul. As we all know, the digital revolution is killing mom-and-pop outlets and even major chains like Tower Records, which recently filed for bankruptcy. And while the photo here shows that there was quite a throng present when the doors opened on day one, the number of browsers circulating around 6 p.m., when yours truly visited, was relatively modest. The place was far from empty, but it wasn't as packed as it deserved to be under the circumstances despite the fact that free mimosas were offered to everyone of drinking age who dropped by.

Then again, if any record store can survive and prosper, it's this one. It'll make you wanna Shout. -- Michael Roberts

This More Messages blog from last week chides the Rocky Mountain News for avoiding mention of the Denver Post at all cost -- even when doing so means telling readers an incomplete story. But today, the Rocky made the right decision in regard to citing the Post, resulting in a piece that places accuracy above rivalry.

"Duel Over Database Vote," the Rocky article in question, concerns the continuing brouhaha over the use of information from the National Crime Information Center in ads touting Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez. Since NCIC data is only supposed to be accessible to law enforcement, campaign staffers for Democrat Bill Ritter charged the Beauprez minions with breaking the law. Beauprez's current (and probably doomed) strategy involves championing the leaker as a whistleblowing hero. But earlier, he tried to ameliorate the situation by ducking and dodging, even telling the Denver Post that he didn't even know that the NCIC had a database. However, the aforementioned Rocky piece, penned by scribes Lynn Bartels and M.E. Sprengelmeyer, reveals Beauprez "voted in Congress to strengthen protections" against abusing that very repository.

Perhaps it would have been possible to leave the Post out of this tale by using a generic term like "in a previous interview." Fortunately, though, Bartels and Sprengelmeyer didn't head down that path. Instead, they were clear and straightforward, writing that "the Denver Post reported last week that Beauprez said until the controversy over his ad erupted, he was unaware of the existence of the database."

Now, that wasn't so hard, was it? -- Michael Roberts

I checked out Buenos Aires Grill (see "Grill of My Dreams," September 21) again on Wednesday -- this time for lunch, which I'd somehow missed during my first whirlwind tour through owner Francis Carrera's beautifully appointed Argentine fine- dining restaurant. And while almost everything I loved at dinner (bacalao and sweet potato fries, blood sausage and the pimp who looked like Willie Nelson) was AWOL at lunch, the staff was kind enough to dig a couple of morcilla sausages out of the cooler and throw them on the grill for me and my friends.

Here's the "it" fashion accessory of the season. Available at a convenience store near you.

Please pardon Cat while she hacks up a hairball.

For a look at a true fashionista, take in Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, which opens next Friday. Sure, all of the reviewers agree that the movie falls apart once Francis Ford's daughter strays from frippery to history (including our own J. Hoberman, whose review can be found here), but the fashions are worth the price of admission. And how ironic that the movie is opening tonight — just a week (and lots of years) after the "teen Queen" was beheaded on October 16, 1793. For an insightful look at Antoinette, her true nature and her courtier styles, check out Judith Thurman's excellent (but long) piece in the New Yorker.

For those of you who just read for the pictures, here are some advance snaps from the press kit.

As reported last March in Night & Day, Denverite and soft-hearted artist Nira Duvan left on a six-month foot journey down the Appalachian Trail, partly out of the spirit of adventure, partly to raise money for The Other Side Arts, an arts collective that keeps gallery/studio/community spaces running on a shoestring in Aurora and the Central Platte Valley.

Okay, back then we all probably thought she was a little bit nuts to take on such an unbusinesslike quest in the 21st century, but by God if she didn't make it work. Duvan (who now goes by the moniker of "42," a reference she explains in her online trail journal) completed the 2,000-mile trek in September and is back in town, resting her feet, paying bills, looking for work, taking hot showers every day and, somehow, continuing to collect pledges for TOSA.

Of her journey, she reports in an e-mail that it was "more amazing, ridiculous, difficult, frustrating, exciting, inspiring, tedious, gorgeous, exhausting, eye-opening, etc., than I ever could have ever imagined." We don't doubt it for a minute. If you'd like to read all the deets, go to www.trailjournals.com/nira. And to make a donation for TOSA in her name, go to www.theothersidearts.com or mail a check with Duvan's name on it to "TOSA" at 1644 Platte Street, Denver, Coloardo, 80202. -- Susan Froyd

Nira Duvan at her first state-border crossing.

Mark Shanstrom of Old South Frame and Gallery has an appearance scheduled at Shotgun Willie's, and he couldn't be more pleased about it. And no, he won't be peeling down to nothing onstage — that will still be left up to the usual Shotgun Willie's suspects, if you know what I mean. But Shanstrom will be there as a knowing advocate for classic Vargas-style pin-up art, an extensive exhibit of which he's had up on his gallery walls since last March (when we first ran a Night & Day profile in conjunction with the opening). The show's been so popular that Shanstrom's extended it at least through the end of the year, and, he notes, many of the most faithful aficionados dropping by have been nostalgic WWII-era women who still wistfully recall the way things were.

But I digress. Shanstrom says it was serendipity that hooked him up with folks at Shotgun Willie's on the eve of their 2007 calendar release Salute to the Pin-Up Girl features live girls photographed in dead-on Vargas-style poses that are really quite tasteful and lovely. And along with Shanstrom the art expert, the thirteen calendar models will be there in (meaning mostly out of) period costume from 7 to 11 p.m. on October 26. Shanstrom will speak on the calendar girl genre, while the leggy ladies flounce about, autographing calendars and looking innocently fetching.

"It's a great thing able to get together to raise the interest level in these classic illustrators," Shanstrom says. But on the other hand, you might be too meek to show up on Shotgun Willie's doorstep for a copy of the calendar. Never fear: Shanstrom promises he'll keep a few copies discreetly behind the counter. Happy holidays!

Shotgun Willie's is at 490 South Colorado Boulevard; call 303-388-9601. View Classic American Pin-up Art through December 31 at Old South Frame and Gallery, 1588 South Pearl Street; call 303-715-3828. -- Susan Froyd

This week, the Denver Post launched its newly redesigned website. The project has been in the works for months, as Mark Cardwell, the paper's managing editor for digital media, confirmed in this August Message column. He noted that the site was being reworked to accomodate today's larger computer screens, and to fulfill the goals stated in a memo credited to an internal Post task force charged with taking the paper into the future: "the capacity to offer news to handhelds, feeds from web cams, searchable calendars and databases, more slide shows, live chats, faster updates and, especially, the capacity for users to individualize their DPO [Denver Post Online] experience."

That's all good and well -- but how does the new site look and work on a basic level? Visually, it's very clean and uncluttered, with plenty of white space. As such, it pretty much conforms to what's become the new standard for newspaper websites; there's very little that seems unique. However, the buttons for news, business, entertainment and so on are easy to use, the flashing animation isn't overwhelming, and the paper's emphasis on interactivity is underscored by a "Conversations+Comments+Blogs" box placed in a prominent position on the right side of the screen. In it, surfers will find a selection of recent posts on numerous topics -- and by putting some of them on the home page, the Post will likely inspire more participation.

The main drawback, then, is the time it takes to load pages. I went to a slew of different sections and articles, and in most cases, load time was between eight and twelve seconds. That's not horrendous, but neither is it a noticeable improvement. The Rocky Mountain News site loaded in pretty much the same time range, but the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and, yes, Westword were all considerably speedier, typically loading in six seconds or less.

The page devoted to readers' opinions about the Post redesign includes some flat-out kudos -- "I very much like the new look!" -- and lots of gripes -- "The new format is terrible! I cannot find a thing I normally read, such as Bronco News and other news updates." But the scope of the changes has more to do with the bitching than does the redesign itself. Overall, the work done by Cardwell and company seems solid, and readers should get used to it quickly. If only the pages loaded as fast... -- Michael Roberts