Thursday, December 25, 2014

"Christmas in the Park" Denver helps homeless

DENVER - Feeling the holiday spirit? Many had it this Christmas Day in Downtown Denver as volunteers brought tables to Civic Center Park and laid out items to hand out free to the homeless.

Coats, hats, gloves, socks, blankets, sleeping bags, backpacks, unmentionables, toiletries and food were among the unexpected gifts given to about 650 grateful people who lined up smiling with glee whilst carrying blue bags filled with the much-needed loot.

I hope these Denver grassroots events will grow in popularity in the future. Volunteering is amazing, no matter what your faith. All was good. Merry Christmas.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

1980s Aurora, Colorado

I grew up in Aurora, Colorado in the early 1980s. Near my house at Iliff Ave and Buckley Rd there was a "Movies on Call" video store.

LeMans, a coin-op arcade by Albertson's grocer, was where I classically became one with the Force and mastered the original Atari "Star Wars" wireframe arcade game as well as the game "Tron." Peter Piper Pizza. Their zucchini sticks were the best I ever had.

Aurora ... Buckingham Square Mall... The memories. Those memories float up to me.

The hydrotubes. Yes! Many fond youth memories do I have at Buckingham Square Mall, one of them being the 2 green tube waterslides placed upon the roof of the old Safeway store. They were the HydroTubes!

I spent countless hours climbing up the yellow metal stairs listening to “Drive” by The Cars before sliding in a loop-de-loop whilst banging my head on the sides of the tubes and plummeting semi-conscious into the filthy brown-green pool below. It is a fond childhood concussive adventure in which I really traveled in tubes. The waterslide stayed open for less than a year.

There was Mile High Comics at that mall also. Sweet Mile High Comics… And God Fathers Pizza if I recall. And wonderful Christmas decorations.

The mall demolition ceremony was Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 1306 South Havana Aurora, Colorado 80012. The mayor of Aurora, Ed Tauer, was there. So was I.

Lamb

Cooking

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The Blues

I have been listening to a lot of blues music lately. 

Good Blues. Old school Blues. Blues the likes of:

Mississippi John Hurt, RL Burnside, Little Willie John, Big Walter Horton, Etta James, Charlie Musselwhite, Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton, BB King, Blind Willie McTell, Leadbelly, Taj Mahal, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Skip James, Lonnie Johnson, Little Walter, Son House, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Rev. Gary Davis, James Cotton, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and Albert King.

That's some Blues. Heck yeah!