I can tell the DNC is almost here. Yesterday at the corner of 16th and Little Raven I noticed the post signs with Denver 2008 boldly displayed in plain typeface just seconds before a small group of Jehovah witnesses handing me a brochure. They were very polite and non intrusive in how they approached me which may be better manners than we can expect very shortly. The signs, both literal and figurative, are showing us that the excitement is almost upon us.

The news agencies are discussing the strength of our police and emergency support. Demonstrators are complaining that they will be too far away from the real action. Residents are wondering what life in Denver will be like that week. I was simply preparing for the one night out we do have planned during the DNC with a dinner at the Capital Grill so I thought I would stop in and grab a bite last night.

To begin with, I cannot stress that I have yet to find anyplace in Denver that consistently prepares a martini to the quality level of Capital Grill. Back when I went out a bit more you might find me enjoying a couple of these when dining there. The recipe is simple, Ketel One dirty with blue cheese stuffed olives. What is not simple is the execution. For those of you who appreciate a good olive you know that most restaurants or bars either don’t offer the blue cheese stuffed olive or use an inferior blue cheese. Bad blue cheese in an olive is simply disappointing. But whatever your martini selection, the Capital Grill has one of the best. Now in the spirit of the upcoming power suit lobbyist and political spectacle we should help those visiting our city by letting them know where the best martini is. What is your vote.

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This has become one a more pressing question lately. You see, we totally forgot to make any dinner reservations for the few nights of the DNC. I called yesterday to try and get a reservation at the Capital Grill for any of the three main nights during the convention. My logic was simple. I am excited to see and experience the energy of the Democratic National Convention. Since I won’t be attending, at least not that I have worked out yet, I thought maybe a nice dinner during the frenzy would give me a nice viewpoint. And if I figured one place would be knee deep in the lobbyists, political powerhouses, and media superstars I thought the Capital Grill on Larimer would be it. I’ll just have to wait until Monday to find out if I can get us in because a designated person is managing reservations for these few days and they haven’t gotten back to me yet.

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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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. [Read more →]

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So yesterday I posted about the slap that oil gave our economy. I have a different question for Denver today. Fortunately, the Denver economy has been stronger than many parts of the country (hey, we rock).

That being said, there are still some things that affect us. How many of you are cutting back, if at all, and what things do you pick to cut back on? I am genuinely curious. Do we keep our dinners out and cut back on gas? Do we stop shopping but still drive? Do we cancel our vacations or do we splurge and not worry because it’s all cyclical? You tell me. I don’t need to remind everyone that by stopping our spending we hurt the economy. Easier said than done.

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Oh, and here are a few links

• 8 Ways to Cut Back Without Sacrificing
• Save Money on Utilities
• Daily Fuel Economy Tip

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I just spent a few days in New York City for some general rest and relaxation plus a healthy dose of NY culture. While there I had a few famous people sightings… 14 members of the New York Giant’s offensive line was heading into Smith & Wollensky for a team dinner while I was there, Rob Lowe was cruising into the Ritz Carlton spa when I was strolling around Central Park, I sat next to Robert Horay at Rue 57 for lunch (nice guy) and then walked by the Writer’s Guild strike where I saw Michael Moore and my favorite… Tina Fey.

You have to understand the irony of me seeing Tina on this trip to New York. I was only recently introduced to 30 rock and was instantly hooked. The show is witty with smart humor and great characters. It has been a LONG time since I found something this hilarious and I admit I am hooked on the pretty, smart and funny Tina Fey who co-produces, writes and stars in her 30 Rock show. After checking out the online episodes from this season I filled my Netflix queue with the past season.

Just the week before some colleagues joked and were a bit surprised that Tina was in my top 5. Imagine their shock on finding out I got a chance to meet her. What an awesome profession, making people laugh. I admire her and what she does writing for 30 Rock. You just need to believe and follow your dreams… hmmmmm, maybe meeting her was a sign.

The talented Mrs. Fey was, as you would expect, very nice. I met her at the site of Columbus Circle where the writers strike line had just ended. She was with Rachel Dratch talking and preparing to head out when I introduced myself, shook her hand, and asked her how the strike was going. Her eyes sparkled, she smiled, and shared with me that she thought it would be over soon.

Tina, i certainly hope so. Good luck guys!

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Since I walk to work I usually miss out on all the drama of traffic, weather, and general human foolishness…. but my friend’s story I had to share.

Now I know we got some snow last night. Let’s face it, last night rocked. After taking my very happy Alaskan Malamute for a snow romp we went to grab dinner at the Avenue Grill and watch the snow fall through the big glass windows. Cab’s both ways saved us from driving, but the wait to get the return cab was a bit long.

But nevermind that, I’m off topic from my friend’s trip into the office today.

First let me set the stage for you. She works downtown and lives in Highlands Ranch. That’s a long enough hike on a normal day but with the weather today… ouch. Her husband sets out for his day much earlier and gave her a warning call just before she left “I’m still not to the office yet” he let her know. This means close to two hours on the road.

So she quickly changed her plans and decided to take the light rail. Her usual 7 minute trip to the light rail station took her 30 minutes. No telling what a trip all the way downtown would have been. She missed her first train because apparently it was High School trip day and the machines were clogged with fun loving teens experimenting with their freedom and trying to learn how to use the system for the first time (this I actually find funny) and she catches the next train with no major issues. She thought about jumping on the train that was just sitting there and that she eventually missed waiting for the high school students to wrap up their purchases but didn’t want to risk getting ticketed.

Then on the way across Colfax WHAMMO a car collided with her light rail train. I guess the hit was pretty hard (and loud) with passengers on the train screaming and jolted from their peaceful trip. And what does the idiot who hit the train do… they run away. Can you imagine someone thinking they can get away with a hit and run on the light rail. Apparently no less than 50 people got their license plate numbers. I am just fascinated with how people think, or don’t think, sometimes. I can’t even imagine what will happen to that fool. My guess is the person wasn’t on the way to their job as a rocket scientist or molecular genetic engineer, but I’ve been wrong before.

The train announcer was a bit confused. Ordinarily the train needs to sit and wait to swap information with the other car but since the driver did a hit and run there was no one to swap info with. Good news for those train passengers as the train went back on its path. After finally arriving to downtown she decided to make a pit stop at the bank at Lawrence with the intention of taking the 16th street shuttle the rest of the way. That, of course with Murphy’s law, turned out to be a big mistake as the shuttles were only running one way… for her the wrong way. And of course this means the last leg of her trip was on foot slipping and sliding every step of the way.

If anyone has a better trip into work story for today… bring it.

I didn’t really think our snow was that bad last night but it sure seems to have the ability to grind our streets to a halt. Good thing we all have a sense of humor (or at least most of us).

Photo credit from CBS website.

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I was recently walking into lodo for a little dinner when I passed by the above pictured memorial on Market street. The memorial was for the man killed and possibly the 7 wounded from the shooting at 2 am on the morning of Sunday November 4th.

It was emotional to see the memorial, perhaps it made it more real in comparison to reading it in the newspaper or watching TV.

It is just so senseless, so sad, and a rare and tragic event for Denver. What are our solutions to fighting crime and violence in this wonderful city? In my opinion the growth in the number of urban dwellers downtown will certainly help contribute to this. More eyes on the street is one helpful item, but more than that the increased density of folks living downtown will promote the number of people working to protect the peace whether by ideas or tax dollars for our police force. I’m no criminologist and this isn’t my forte so I hope others out there have some good ideas. The key is to make sure discussions are happening to get those ideas presented and find solutions.

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Wow, what a great night. I had jumped online a week ago and managed to secure 4 tickets to last nights Rockies / Phillies game at face value off the Colorado Rockies website. We were in the nose bleeders, section U311 but we were in the park. After quickly calling a few friends to join me I also thought dinner might be a good idea and grabbed a reservation at the Keg for 6:15 pm.

It couldn’t have worked out better. We chilled out and got the celebration started with a round of cocktails (dirty martini, blue cheese stuffed olives please) and then relaxed over laughter, stories, and catching up while enjoying steaks (baseball sirloin for this day of course) and some great red wine. Our boys night out dinner carried us past the first pitch (which we did want to see) but we got there just in time for the blackout. In fact we timed it so close the folks behind us joked that we caused it.

First of all, let me tell you that the crowd last night was amazing. The energy, the rockies flag waving, the cheers, the jeers, and everything else was like a live current. Someone who watched the game at home said it was boring. I don’t know what they were watching but from my seat it was a nail biter with the close score and then the tie up keeping us all on the edge of our seats (or standing) as we celebrated every strike and out that kept the Phillies from moving ahead. That is to say that the comfort zone when we were 1 - 0 disappeared as we watched their one run homer put us neck to neck.

Somewhere around the 6th inning a few incidents started happening around us. Drunk guy falls down stairs (ouch), another drunk guy (doofus) tries to start the wave on his own with beer in hand and sprays the crowd (many apologies did follow), and the last drunk guy (yes, we see you) tries to start his own cheer leading section. There are always those interesting characters.

But what a finish. When, in the bottom of the 8th, the Rockies scored the needed run to put us up 2 to 1 the crowd went nuts. And then for every pitch, out, catch and moment through the top of the 9th the Rockies put the final touches on the SWEEP of the Phillies.

That moment, on the last out, was magic. Friends yelled with joy and high fives all around. Smiles EVERYWHERE filled every face and goodwill flowed. It was AWESOME. How cool to be there and share it with not just my friends but with 70,000 other fans.

The post game party in the streets and bars around the ballpark was just as exciting and with just as much energy. With laughter in the air, the smell of beer in the air, and traffic crawling through the streets we leisurely walked through Denver to find a spot for one more beer and some quality time to revel in the day. Cheers Denver, the Rockies did it!!

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I set off for Tokyo on Monday morning to see another part of the world. Tokyo has always been one on my list of places to see, and certainly to eat. I even held off on Sushi for a week beforehand just to get ready (Tokyo Training). I had saved up some points on my United Mileage plus to save me some bucks and with a little schedule adjustments found dates for a week of exploring.

My early morning flight out of DIA took off a little after 8 am. With little sleep from the night before, either from nervousness or excitement, it was an easy crash on the plane. I slept the entire way to my midway stop in Vancouver. [Read more →]

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Out to dinner on Friday night I saw the famous “Free Hugs” sign that got incredible exposure online from a video and movement that was sweeping the country. I did get my own hug but noticed that the majority of folks out that night went running away rather than get hugged. Hmmmmm, I thought Denver was a bit more huggy.

Maybe they should come back to Larimer at 2 am?

If you don’t know about the Free Hugs Campaign here is a link to learn more.

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