The Police at Red Rocks

Last night I had the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane. It was back to a time when I cruised around my small Ohio town in a 1974 forest green Beetle that had been outfitted with a high tech Sony Cassette system that fed tunes to the monster woofers in the back (supported on a home built plywood panel) and small Boston Acoustics cut and placed into the side boards. The stereo probably cost as much as the car which I had bought in Baltimore while living one of many summers eating Chesapeake Blue Crabs smother in Old Bay, Phillips Harborplace Oysters, and sliced fresh tomatoes with a touch of salt and pepper. But I needed great tunes in that car for it’s 8 hour drive back to Ohio. And one of the mixed tapes that surely be playing on that road trip would have included classic Elvis Costello and the Police, along with a myriad of other artists of that time.

So last night when, with the beautiful backdrop of the Red Rocks peaks, Elvis Costello started out singing many of his classic tunes I could feel the memories come back full force. I have heard that Elvis, in other recent concerts, had played sets of almost entirely his recent song list. Not for this show. Perhaps it was a homage to the feeling of the event, which was purely the classic Police tunes revived for the first time in many years. Whatever the reason, it was a most excellent time. The star moment in the Elvis opening act was when Sting joined in on for a duet of “Alison”. While I am an Elvis fan, you could tell who this crowd considered their star as they all jumped to their feet.

When the Police did come out they did it with style. They were true to their fans playing one great tune after another. The guys might be older, but they sure weren’t acting like it. While Sting was certainly incredible to watch and captivated the audience throughout, Stewart Copeland was perhaps the attention getter whenever you got a glimpse of the energy he was throwing into each song. I think he missed this… a lot. Well they gave us our money’s worth. With an average length set the band returned for not one, not two, but three encores. While I heard their top hits such as “Roxanne” and “Every Breath you take”, I was surprised that I never heard “Synchronicity”. No matter, the show was incredible. The cruise down memory lane was just what I needed and the weather even held out.

If you get a chance to see such a show I highly recommend it. But then again, I am biased because old memories certainly push up the appeal.

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Now I doubt my late request will be met, but since I have more than a few nights in their computer history I am hoping that a few reservations might remain for the locals. If it’s not available I will simply try other spots such as the no reservation taking Potager that we love any night of the week.

What I found interesting about my Dinner dilemma was the conversation it created while out to dinner with friends (at Potager of course) last week. After sharing my foolishness in not thinking about reservations during this coveted week earlier I found a very clear split of emotion among my dining companions. What was most interesting was that the opinions were totally opposite. Half of the group would prefer to do what I was attempting, to be out and about in the heart of the energy of the event for Dinner plans. The other half was going to hit the grocery store well in advance and spend each night cooking, safe and secure within the shelter of their loft or bungalow. There was no middle ground. The folks who were going out were doing it big or not at all.

Interesting… So what are you doing for dinner?
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Today at 11 am EST a new domain name .me extension was launched. Just like sitting in a room full of economists predicting the market, the world of internet forecasters has been arguing just how hot this domain name extension will be. It has been argued that this domain name extension will become the most popular site for personal expression. That could mean your own blog, your site as an artist, a writer, or business resume. It has also spawned a flock of people trying to capture the most creative spin on the .me name. Such sought after names include aweso.me an hug.me or the more (ahem) business oriented names as threeso.me and bite.me.

But the catch is that godaddy, who got the nod to handle the launch, had more than a few hiccups. Apparently multiple people were awarded the same domain name as the system went into overload or the deal failed after folks tried for more than an hour to complete one transaction. Rumor has it that some of these over purchased domain names are now being put out by godaddy in an auction format to resolve the issue (doesn’t that stink for whomever really got their first).

There has not been much of a frenzy about other domain names launched in the past. The domain name is actually owned by the country of Montenegro which in 2006 declared it’s independence from Serbia. I don’t know what happened between that time and now but the domain name has been launched with some serious marketing savvy. And the awarding of a company like godaddy to do the launch is similar to a stock offering. Whatever firm handles it makes a ton of profit. But if there are problems, it can also be a lot of bad PR. Check out the comments on this blog about registration comments.

http://mashable.com/2008/07/17/godaddy-offers-me-domain-names-it%E2%80%99s-a-big-fail-so-far/

I thought you should know. It’s rare people can actually have their own name and it is doubtful the opportunity will come up again anytime soon.

Well I take that back. It will come up soon but maybe it won’t be a domain name extension that people will actually use. This has been compared to the a land rush, limited inventory and a product that will last the test of time. Of course, time will be the only judge in that prediction.

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I gotta admit that I love the whole ZOMBIE genre. Whether it is the classic Night of the Living Dead or the more modern 28 Days the stories are classic. Who knows what the magical attraction is for the whole zombie culture but in terms of total books and movies they seem to be edging out Vampires and Werewolves in the horror popularity contest. But who doesn’t love a script riddled with characters whose only lines are “Brains… need brains”.  The Zombie culture has been around for a long, long time.  While most of the original stories about how Zombies are created centered around Voodoo myths that the dead could be reanimated with black magic most of the past few decades have given the cause of Zombie outbreaks as government experiments gone bad or the occasional meteorite from space.  It seems our culture finds it more likely that the Science will be the bad guy over some spiritual cause.  I am sure you are not surprised that a top secret government screw up is still one of the top causes.  Maybe it makes the movie that much more believable.  Whether Zombies are real or not, the undead or now here in Denver, on the screen that is.

This week marked the beginning of “7 weeks of undead horror” with the Dead of Summer Zombie Film Event at the Starz theatre. The lineup includes a total of seven films. Four are classic zombie movies that have been spawned from the original Romero creation. The remaining three are going to be premiers for our Denver theater that appear to be from local creators. Go Denver

The first film in the sequence has already started playing and will continue today and tomorrow. I wouldn’t worry about this one being the scariest as it looks to be a major spoof on the Zombie idea. Titled Poultrygeist this storyline tells of the consequences of located your fast food business on an Indian Burial Ground. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and I haven’t seen it so don’t look to me for a review.

This Friday the real scares will start with the 1979 Italian take on Zombies in Lucio Fulci’s Zombie. Here is the description from the Startz Website.

After a New York harbor patrolman is murdered at the hands of a flesh-hungry ghoul aboard what was believed to be an abandoned yacht, the daughter of the ship’s missing owner teams up with a newspaper reporter named for a private investigation. With the help of a pair of sightseers, they travel to the secluded Caribbean island of Matul, where Anne’s father was last seen conducting medical research. There, they meet his colleague who frantically attempts to find a scientific explanation for a phenomenon that has plagued the island; it seems as if the dead refuse to stay dead. The locals believe a voodoo curse is at work as scores of animated corpses rise from their graves to hungrily seek out live flesh. Fulci’s zombie classic was originally intended as a sequel to Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead and is released that way abroad.

I am not sure that I will make it to see them all unless I can rally a group to make it fun.  If you are a Zombie genre fan now might be the time to join the Denver Film Society (Anytime is a good time to join this by the way) as each film is roughly $9.00 but members get the whole Zombie film event for $20.  This will also set you up for the next Denver Film Festival November 13th through the 23rd.  It will also give you some great exposure to some wonderful, and let’s face it not so wonderful but hopefully original, films that are not in the mainstream market.  With the large influx of summer box office feature films even the common few Independent films that usually make it to the big theaters are having trouble getting a spot.

Maybe I’ll see you at the movies.  :)

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Anyway, I have to get moving. Happy pedaling today!

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In this case the irony involved a post from roughly a month ago about Helicopters flying low and fast around Riverfront Park. My top 10 reasons for the fly by events included at #6 “Homeland Security practice drills”. These reasons were not meant to be realistic, more of a David Letterman tribute.  For example another reason was “The city doing an analysis of rezoning Commons’ park for a Wal Mart”.  But now that I think about it, real estate is getting pretty valuable.

But, as life proves to be ironic, reason #6 turned out to be true as part of the preparation for the DNC. Read about it in the 9 News article “Helicopters to keep flying over downtown for terrorist training“. I knew I should have made that item #1.

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I am having trouble avoiding interruption.

I first began not simply noticing this, but focusing on this over the past week. I realized that I was spending far too much of my day checking email or performing some other technology tool task. While out walking my dog, I am checking email. When I first wake up I check email. While writing or working I am checking email. I find it is more than a bit distracting. Maybe it is the nature of my career over the many years where things were always moving so quickly. Or, as those of you who have been reading this blog for some time remember me posting, it is because my iphone or whatever technology toy it might be makes it so easy. At that time it was me singing praises to my iphone for all it allowed me to do and how easily it allowed me to do it.  Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.  Now my habit of welcoming interruption is becoming too much.  And it is something I want to change. A lifestyle that promotes focus without interruption can be a very good thing.

My first steps took place this past winter with the revolutionary idea of not taking my cell phone. For a few peaceful hours I didn’t keep checking my messages or answering my phone. Meanwhile this was the typical discussion I heard around me…

PHONE: “Ring Ring” (actually it was probably some song but this is easier)

PERSON ON SKI LIFT WRESTLES WITH THEIR GLOVES, THEN THEIR COAT POCKET, TRYING TO REACH THEIR PHONE

PHONE: “Ring Ring”

PERSON ON SKI LIFT: “Hello…. Hey dude…. Yeah I am skiing in Vail… I am just riding the lift up…. Yes its great up here today”

PERSON ON SKI LIFT’S FINGERS ARE STARTING TO FROSTBITE AS THEY TALK

PERSON ON SKI LIFT: “I am not sure what we are doing this weekend, lets totally grab a beer on Saturday… No I didn’t hear if Sue was going…. really….. she was looking good on Tuesday man…. Okay….. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha….. um yeah I love that show…. Okay later”

PERSON ON SKI LIFT PUTS PHONE AWAY WITH CRAMPED, FROZEN HANDS AND THEN GOES BACK TO LOOKING AT THE PRETTY SNOW

Of course this is the simpler version. The funniest is the person in the act of skiing who stops to take the call. Not only does this throw off their rhythm but it totally stops whatever Zen moment with nature they might have been having. I respect this works for some. It is just not the choice for me.

So now I am trying to bring this philosophy off the slopes.

The New York Times had an article this past week “Lost in Email, Tech Firms Face Self Made Beast” discussing the new trend for technology companies to be building tools to combat the “beast” of their own creation. I thought this was an especially interesting quote…

“A typical information worker who sits at a computer all day turns to his e-mail program more than 50 times and uses instant messaging 77 times, according to one measure by RescueTime, a company that analyzes computer habits. The company, which draws its data from 40,000 people who have tracking software on their computers, found that on average the worker also stops at 40 Web sites over the course of the day.

The fractured attention comes at a cost. In the United States, more than $650 billion a year in productivity is lost because of unnecessary interruptions, predominately mundane matters, according to Basex. The firm says that a big chunk of that cost comes from the time it takes people to recover from an interruption and get back to work.”

Now I am not sure how this translates to me personally, but I believe my habits ensure some greater level of productivity loss in what is most important to me. And I certainly don’t want to miss any of the company or scenery around me during something as simple and nice as an early morning dog walk.

Yet most people I know or observe are busy scrawling on their electronic devices while out at dinner with friends, enjoying happy hour with their team, or simply in a public and social setting. I can’t complain, I do it too. Now I am trying to stop, slow down, smell the roses along the way and save my email catchup for a specific time and place. So here are a few tricks I am trying to break my interruption habit:

1. First, I turned off my email accounts (yep, not just one) on my iphone. I can always turn them back on when I go out of town but do I really need updated email every fifteen minutes, twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty five days of the year. This is probably the single biggest change.
2. Next is to break the habit of constantly checking my phone. I am periodically leaving my iphone (this is going to sound like blasphemy to some) hidden away charging versus having it on me or right next to me. I want to focus on the task at hand without interruption, or temptation of interruption. Barring an expected call I need to wait for there is no reason to not create some “quiet time”. That goes equally for a non phone zone while joining friends for dinner, or taking my dog for a walk, or many other brief tasks. I know that there is the risk of an emergency. Fortunately, everyone around me will have a phone I can borrow. And this doesn’t have to be a long term strategy, just long enough to break the habit of constantly checking my device. But I think being out of touch for a couple hours at a time will still allow the world to keep turning. I can barely remember, but I am pretty sure I lived without a cell phone at one time.
3. I am turning off that little flag that tells me every time I have a new email on my computer/laptop. The darn thing goes off every 30 seconds it seems, and they are never critical. But of course…. it might be really important so I have to stop what I am doing to check it. Enough!

Do you have any other suggestions for how you prevent interruptions? Or do you have a pro argument for the virtues of an interruption rich life. That has been my habit for quite some time.

What about your habits? Here is a poll to ask that question and see how the populations checks in on this one. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

By the way, in the few minutes it took to write this my email box is showing a red alert flag that I have three new messages. I better hurry and check them!

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Congratulations to Cline and her entire Fashion Show team on putting on what may be the best fashion show yet. The weather was perfect and fortunately our hurricane style winds from earlier that day stopped. I just thought I’d share a few picks of the fashion and the models cruising the runway. The event carried on at Slim 7 (the official after hours) and Zengo (the unofficial one) after the music was turned off and the crews started doing the cleanup.

And from what I saw, quite a few people will be a little unproductive today… if they make it out of bed.

Click on thumbnail images to enlarge and see entire pic.

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The above “Walk Score” is for the address of 1610 Little Raven Street, Denver Colorado 80202, the home of Zengo Restaurant and the heart of the plaza in Riverfront. The score (at least today when writing the post) is 83 or “Very Walkable”. How cool is this tool!!! 8-)

Walk Score calculates, on a scale to 100, how pedestrian friendly (walkable) your address is. If you are looking for a new home or just want to check out your existing home give it a shot. It calculates the score by looking at what surrounds it. Are there restaurants, parks, shopping, bars, etc. All the fun stuff. Here is what Walk Score says the scores mean:

• 90 - 100 = Walkers’ Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
• 70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It’s possible to get by without owning a car.
• 50 - 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
• 25 - 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
• 0 - 25 = Driving Only: Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car

Now they do concede that their are still some things they are working to figure out. Here is what they say doesn’t work yet:

” There are a number of factors that contribute to walkability that are not part of our algorithm:

• Street width and block length: Narrow streets slow down traffic. Short blocks make it easier to navigate the grid.
• Safety: How much crime is in the neighborhood? How many traffic accidents are there? Are crosswalks well marked and streets well lit?
• Pedestrian-friendly design: Are there walking paths? Are buildings close to the sidewalk with parking in back? Are sidewalks shaded by trees?
• Topography: Hills can make walking difficult, especially if you’re carrying groceries.
• Public transit: Good public transit is important for walkable neighborhoods.
• Freeways and bodies of water: Freeways can divide neighborhoods. Swimming is harder than walking.
• Weather: In some places it’s just too hot or cold to walk regularly.

As MarlonBain said, “You should use the Web 3.0 app called going outside and investigating the world for yourself” before deciding whether a neighborhood is walkable!”

What a great tool for house hunting and evaluating the pedestrian friendly nature of any neighborhood.  I don’t know about you, but I am trying to move further up the Walk Score with every change of residence I make.  So hopefully this helps out those relocating to Denver or those of you contemplating a move.

Please comment back and let everyone know how your address rates.

How did you score?

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