Keystone Hula Girls

Today, I went up to Breckenridge to see their Mardi Gras parade. I expected the parade to be similar to their rollicking, many floated, Ullr Parade. Man, was I wrong. Breck’s Fat Tuesday parade turned out to be a small, speedy, pathetic affair of five pickup trucks that zipped by at a fast clip with semi-costumed people in the back throwing out beads. That was it. It was very bizarre. After a few moments, the parade was over and the large crowd on both sides of the street went home (or to a bar to try to forget about it). Luckily, Keystone’s Fat Tuesday shindig was another matter entirely. Read on …

Opie In the House

Last night, I went to see Opie Gone Bad at the Little Bear in Evergreen. It was a good ‘ol time, with the atmosphere of the Little Bear (the discarded bras hanging up in the rafters from previous “girls gone wild” insanity, the license plates from everywhere (even the Great White North) hanging on the walls, and the rough hewn, wooden tables and chairs) giving a cozy, mountain home for the hard driving, funk machine of Opie Gone Bad. The lead singer, Jake Schroeder, his skull gleaming, hit the stage in black leather pants, and plunged immediately into the hard core funk for which the band is well known. Read on …

Buddhist Monks

I have been thinking about Sri Lanka lately. This was spurred on by a series of photos about the small island nation by John Stanmeyer, a founding member of the well known VII photo agency (www.viiphoto.com). I am also preparing to travel, and this process has brought up memories of a long ago trip to that small teardrop shaped island in the Indian Ocean. Read on …

Lipstick

Last night, I went up to the Bucksnort. It was good to get out of the city, drive up into the mountains, and go down that winding dirt road to the megalopolis of Sphinx Park, tucked away in narrow Elk Creek canyon. The Snort was empty of customers when I arrived around 7:30pm, but Joe Bye was strumming away on his amplified acoustic guitar. Eventually Roger Falter (who also plays with the Pat Travis Band) and his mandolin joined Joe onstage, the bar began to fill up, and the night began to rock in typical Bucksnort, mountain bar crazy style. Read on …

Surfing Safari

Spurred on by the recent arctic deep freeze in Denver, I have been preparing a road trip to Baja California. I plan to leave within a week or so, posting photos and text from the road as I go. Some friends of mine (Mike & Miriam) have already migrated south, crossing the border at Nogales and taking the ferry to Baja at Guaymas. They sent me an email the other day, saying the overnight ferry ride across the Gulf of California was a nightmare, with people puking over the side left and right. Read on …