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April 08
April 30, 2008
I would love to be the guy who decided to challenge the 80-some-year ban on absinthe in the United States, because believe you me, he is raking it in. Our laws concerning it were never cut-and-dry, and given the resurgence of absinthe in Europe in the ’90s, it was pretty easy to get by mail, anyway. But the American drinker is now suddenly confronted with a legendary spirit, and it’s safe to say that most of us will want to try it.
It’s showing up in bars with lightning speed, too—I’m told that eight bars have it in downtown alone now, and I’m sure that number will grow, given the liquor distributors’ concerted push and the public’s desire to have it. There are two brands I’ve seen, Lucid, from France, and Kübler, from Switzerland, and I’ve had the latter. ‘Salright. Neither will make you hallucinate or go insane, I can promise.
As a beverage, it’s almost mythic, so it’d be a good idea to acquaint yourself with it. HuffPost provided a link to this article on absinthe today, and you can also watch the following vid, which is worth watching if only for the narrator’s central casting French accent.
Posted by: Aaron Retka in Food and Drink | Permalink 4 Comments
April 30, 2008
Just a heads up for those of you who are looking for fun proletarian Mayday fun. Friends of the paper are hosting an alleycat race and get-together tomorrow. Bobby G of WeUsOur informs us that registration for the race begins at 9 a.m. in the Prospect Lake parking lot. The race starts at 10 a.m., with four or five checkpoints and will end up at Blunt Park (25th and Vermijo).
Festivities continue at Blunt Park from noon to sunset, with vegan food, kickball, an acoustic set by the Haunted Windchimes and something called Blood Bowl, which judging by this picture from a previous Bowl, involves putting on football pads and beating the shit out of each other.
All of this is weather permitting. The backup location in case of rain or snow or hurricanes is 232 N. Walnut. Go ahead and give Bobby a call at 719/227-5548 with any questions. Hope to see you there!
Posted by: Aaron Retka in Things To Do in COS | Permalink 6 Comments
April 30, 2008
Colorado Confidential has a piece discussing how former Vail mayor and Salzburg, Austria native Ludwig Kurz wants to see “European-style” ski trains connecting Denver to the mountain resort towns.
“It’s funny to walk along the streets in Innsbruck any day of the winter and see people with ski boots on and skis over their shoulders, and you think, ‘Where the heck are they going?’” Kurz said of the city of about 120,000 in western Austria. “It would be like walking down the 16th Street Mall and seeing someone with goggles on and fully ready to ski. In Europe you would think, ‘Of course, he’s going skiing.’”
Congestion on I-70 and soaring fuel costs have conspired to give renewed impetus for some sort of mass transit system along the corridor that connects Denver and the entire Front Range to Colorado’s most popular mountain resorts. Previous efforts to pursue mountain rail in the state have been shot down by voters.
Wow, what a great idea! But, um …
CAN WE GET THE FUCKING LIGHT-RAIL FIRST?
Seriously, can we extend that handy-dandy line aaaaaall the way down I-25 before we start building more tracks willy-nilly? Let’s extend the convenience and Mother Earth love to all of the front range (yes, even Pueblo) before building boutique lines. Sure, traffic on I-70 is often horrible, but no worse that I-25 on a Broncos game day.
“The major difference between Europe and here is that that Europeans have grown up with trains and we haven’t necessarily grown up with trains here. Beyond that, it obviously works very well in Europe,” Kurz said.
That’s great for you and great for Europe, Uter, but southern Colorado needs some of that love first. Versteht?
Posted by: Aaron Retka in COSsip | Permalink 6 Comments
April 30, 2008
As many, myself included, have been predicting for some time, a daily newspaper has finally turned off the print faucet for all but one day a week and will be going online exclusively. The New York Times reported yesterday that the Capital Times in Madison, WI is shirking its daily print edition while continuing to print two weekly supplements that will get distributed in the other local daily that will continue to print. While it’s terrifying for those of us in journalism to watch, the transition is inevitable and I predict that more big city papers will only print their Sunday editions (or move toward a free weekly model with online daily content) in the coming decade. The demand for local news is never going to go away, so once the print faucet is cut off, online ad rates will start to bring more respectable revenue that will complement the savings of eliminating the print and distribution costs and, eventually, a new equilibrium will be found. I doubt that journalism will be a safe career path again anytime soon, but it’s not going to go away. Obviously the switchover won’t happen over night, but at some point these papers are going to have to force the issue. Watch for the dominoes to start toppling if the Capital Times is successful.
Posted by: darksandal in Mediacrity | Permalink Comments
April 29, 2008
My friend Kit has started a blog that I consider to be one of the shining examples of what blogs can be beyond notification and opinion boards. It’s called Leaning in With Drinks and is devoted to “EXAMINING THE TENDENCY OF LEANING TO ONE SIDE AS SOMEONE TAKES A PHOTOGRAPH WHEN ONE HAS RECENTLY BEEN OR IS CURRENTLY DRINKING SOMETHING”.
Pictures like this:
Examine them for yourself. It’s a truly rewarding and insightful way of feeling even more absurd than you likely do already!
Posted by: darksandal in Vast Phil Collins Conspiracy | Permalink 9 Comments
April 28, 2008
Hillary Clinton has the bright idea to suspend the gas tax. The average consumer stands to save — hold onto your horses — 30 motherfucking dollars over the summer! OMFG I just blew a huge wad in my pants! I can’t wait!
Will someone please pie her in the face? With a five-year old fruitcake? (Actually, don’t. That would possibly get you shot by the Secret Service.)
For the complete list of previous worst ideas, click here.
Posted by: admin in Election '08, Hi, I'm a Moron! | Permalink 2 Comments
April 28, 2008
Ever since a trip to Italy and other parts of Europe in ‘00, I’ve been enamored with the tiny two-seater Smart. At that time it was virtually impossible/pointless to even attempt to import one to the States, because they had not been certified by American agencies, and Smart, seeing plenty of success in Europe, saw no point in bending over to accommodate stupid Americans who’d rather drive 2-ton SUVs anyway.
How times have changed! In recent years the Smart was imported in extremely limited quantities as a “gray market” car. For the consumer, this basically meant that you’d pay through the ass for the novelty of owning a true European Smart (with no warranty, of course).
As most of you probably know, it was announced that Smarts would officially go on the market in the US in ‘08. To build up enthusiasm (”passion” in the Smart lexicon, as this is the name of one of the editions of their fortwo model), there was a road show last summer (where Yours Truly got to drive one), and also a reservation program.
The ol’ battle ax and I signed up for the reservation program, wherein for a small fee (which will later be credited toward your purchase price), you get first dibs on a custom-ordered Smart. If you choose to back out, no biggie — you get your reservation deposit back in full. It’s a pretty sweet deal.
So we’ve been waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And finally the day is almost here. Now we just need to tell them the exact way we want our car, wait for the dealer to contact us once it arrives from the factory in France, and then decide if we can swing the cash. It’s all moving pretty fast now, with the deadline for placing our order on May 7. I should say that there are a lot of financial and practical considerations standing in the way of our purchase, so it’s by no means a done deal. But, hell, we’ve made it this far, so why not string the dealer out a little longer?
Anyway, I was thinking of asking them for a “hyabusa” engine, less the douche-baggy jock nu-metal. Check it:
Posted by: admin in Gay for ... | Permalink 7 Comments
April 28, 2008
So last night I was channel-surfing and ended up watching and getting completely engrossed in three episode of PBS’ Carrier. I have no idea how long the show has been on the air, but it’s really pretty fascinating.
It’s the story of a six-month deployment aboard the USS Nimitz, as it travels west from San Diego to the Persian Gulf, and the filmmakers got pretty unprecedented access to the ship and its 5,000 inhabitants. Everyone is sort of brutally honest, from the E1 Culinary Specialist who wishes aloud that she had never joined to Navy to the Airman who says, “This war’s just all about oil.”
The thing that quite struck me, because I’m a gigantic dork—is how similar the structure of the Nimitz is to depictions elsewhere, like, say, aboard the Galactica. There’s the horde of blue-collar folks commanded by the chiefs, the disciplinarian XO and the hard-partying, sort of privileged pilot class. Of course, in the this case, the Cylons would be Iraqis. Lousy skin-jobs!
The bad news: the show is done by Icon, which is Mel Gibson’s vanity production company. This means that the show is infused with a great deal of sis-boom-bah-ing and shots of American flags rippling in the righteous breeze of Freedom and Liberty and Stuff.
The good news: there’s plenty of ambivalence injected into the show. It’s a show about people, not about war. Plus, the hydraulic catapult that launches fighter planes is wicked. I recommend you check it out.
Posted by: Aaron Retka in Television | Permalink 2 Comments
April 26, 2008
No film to date has depicted so perfectly the complete ineptitude, bigotry, and moral bankruptcy of the Department of Homeland Security. Containing copious amounts of full-frontal nudity (the requisite for any worthwhile comedy), a hilarious scene where H&K enjoy a cocaine-lace joint with George W., and more Doogie Howser psycho-sex-madness than any one movie should contain, Round 2 of the H&K adventure is the sickest, boldest, funniest flick you’ll see this year.
Posted by: Klayton Elliot Kendall in Film | Permalink 1 Comment
April 26, 2008
I have a friend who is fond of asking me, "Why do you hate America?"
My standard reply is this: because it’s so damned easy.
I have to state that I really do feel fortunate to live in this country, and although I see so much that could be changed for the better (foreign policy, education reform, healthcare, NASCAR*), I enjoy indoor toilets, grocery stores that keep a ready supply of Count Chocula, and the ability to walk downtown without being shot at. (Wait, scratch that last item.) But I do feel lucky to live in such a great community, with terrific life-long friends, ungodly beautiful scenery, and a thriving freakscene which I am able to regularly witness.
And so I come to my point: Although I am accused of hating America, I must state with a defiant tone that I do not hate this country, land of my fathers, land of the General Mills corporation, etc. I actually *cough cough* LOVE America. It’s just that I hate Americans.
Again, I feel like I should qualify this statement. What I mean to say is, I hate the "Ugly American." To put a wiki-fine point on it, let’s define "Ugly American": "Ugly American is an epithet used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless behaviors of American citizens at home, but mainly abroad." -from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_American
Nothing infuriates me more than the stupid, thoughtless people that vote for the stupid, arrogant motherfuckers who actually run this country (oops, I think Klayton may confirm this, but it’s possible that multi-national corporations run this country (and most others)). I also can’t stand bigots, "-phobes" of any kind, and rude people. Oh, and speed thee to hell, all ye drivers who do not utilize directional indicators.
Well, that’s a little bit about me. I have a bowl of sugary cereal calling my name.
Thanks to Aaron and Noel for giving me this platform to squeal from. I swear I’ll try to write something positive.
* NASCAR would be vastly improved by eliminating all rules and conventions, and additionally including a passenger armed with a General Electric Mini-Gun. Ta-dahhhhh!
Posted by: Kevin J. in Hi, I'm a Moron! | Permalink 5 Comments
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