by Mark Smiley | Jun 23, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
by Amy Springer
In a lot of ways, many mornings it feels as if our fine country has lost its collective mind. Between the name calling, the satirical “beheading” of the president (which was about as unfunny as the caricatures of Obama being lynched) and the Chinese Fire Drill at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it has become increasingly more difficult to maintain one’s sanity.
And so it was, on Memorial Day 2017, that the Internet lost its collective mind when an artist in New York decided to create a rudimentary dog and place it symbolically peeing on the leg of a statue in New York City.
To understand this reaction, context is required. After the stock market collapse of 1987, an artist named Arturo DiModica created a massive, shiny Charging Bull sculpture and placed it in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Although it was initially removed, the city later reinstalled it near Wall Street in the Financial District. If you’ve visited the city, it’s hard to miss the 11 foot, three-ton monument, and it has withstood the test of time to become a landmark in its own right.
On March 7 of this year, the four-foot “Fearless Girl” statue was placed defiantly in front of Charging Bull, purportedly as an homage to “International Women’s Day.” Kristen Visbal was the artist who created the girl, but it was commissioned by State Street Global Advisors, a massive, multi-trillion-dollar asset management company. Unlike Charging Bull, Fearless Girl was not merely the expression of its artist, but rather instead the brainchild of State Street’s own advertising agency.
The placement of Fearless Girl drew the ire of Mr. DiModica who claimed to the New York Post that its placement made him “sick.” He immediately announced plans to sue State Street Global Advisors for trademark and copyright infringement. As reported by the New York Post on April 12, 2017, Mr. DiModica’s attorneys asserted during a press conference that “the placement of the statue of the young girl in opposition to ‘Charging Bull’ has undermined the integrity [of] and modified the ‘Charging Bull’ … The ‘Charging Bull’ no longer carries a positive optimistic message. Rather it has been transformed into a negative force and a threat.”
Enter Alex Gardega, a New York artist and now cause celebre who decided
to take
matters into his own hands on Memorial Day and, gasp, create an ugly dog sculpture to be placed peeing on the leg of Fearless Girl. Quelle Horreur! Alex called the dog “Sketchy Dog,” admitting that it was not intended to be a thing of beauty, but rather a statement of artistic expression.
In the interest of full disclosure, Alex Gardega is a personal friend of the family and we own many of his works. We know him as a quirky starving artist, but incredibly adept at self-promotion. Exhibit A: Alex’s dog sculpture quickly made both the national news (CBS, NBC, New York
Times, Washington Post, Daily Best, etc.) and international news (Daily Mail UK). It was featured prominently on blogs and social media, and Alex used the exposure to make a point about political sensitivity and artistic expression, both of which I believe bear repeating here. Most of Alex’s actions speak louder than his words, so in some ways I may be ascribing unintended motives to Mr. Gardega, but knowing hi
m as I do, I’m sure he’d be ok indulging me.
First, as one commentator deftly noted on social media, if Fearless Girl can “bogart” Charging Bull, then “Sketchy Dog” can surely “bogart” Fearless Girl. Following that lead, Bill Bramhall’s May 31 cartoon for the New York Daily News portrayed a “Kicking Granny” sculpture lining up on Sketchy Dog which, in turn, is peeing on Fearless Girl while she is staring down Charging Bull. In terms of publicity, one can only think, “well-played Mr. Gardega.” Alex claimed that he was motivated primarily by the plight of Mr. DiModica, presently suffering from cancer, and from this perspective, it’s hard not to appreciate Mr. Gardega bringing this issue to the public’s attention.
The second, more sticky issue involves the conclusion many have drawn that by placing the dog at the feet of Fearless Girl, Alex must be a misogynist and afraid of women. It is frankly shocking to google Mr. Gardega and observe the venom that has been publicly spewed on him on account of Sketchy Dog. I think it simultaneously exceeded his wildest expectations and scared the crap out of him. He recently acknowledged to me his dismay in receiving hate mail, including letters up three pages in length “as if I could read all that.”
It is worth noting that right after the election last November, mainstream outlets such as Politico published articles to the effect that “the left” a/k/a liberals, “Created Trump.” Per Rob Hoffman’s November 20, 2016 article for Politico: “The general attitude to the left was: Disagree with us? You’re probably racist, xenophobic, sexist, bigoted or all of the above.” It was the clarion call of Yale University one year earlier when “outraged” students rallied against what they termed “offensive” Halloween costumes that some students found “culturally unaware and insensitive.” This prompted one faculty member to express her frustration, questioning why costumes could not be obnoxious, inappropriate or even progressive.
The backlash was swift, with hundreds in the fragile student body condemning the Yale teacher’s argument that free speech usurped the objective of protecting students from hurt feelings or personal offense. It was, in a word, ridiculous. When I was a kid trick-or treating in Denver, if it was warm I was a belly-dancer and if it was cold, I was a gypsy (a/k/a belly-dancer with a turtleneck). I shudder to think of the uproar this would have created today.
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that this over-sensitivity and downright self-righteousness that is often affiliated with “liberalism” set in motion the forces leading to the election of Donald J. Trump and the overall view that liberals are elitist, unable to take a joke and overly judgmental. Mr. Gardega’s Sketchy Dog peeing on the leg of Fearless Girl keeps this cautionary tale alive.
I hate to blow the ending, but Alex is neither a misogynIST nor anti-feminIST. He is an artIST and a friend, trying to make a living and call attention to his craft. Love him or hate him, this type of hysterical vilification evidences that lessons still have not been learned, and that mistakes in judgment will likely continue, even with the knowledge of how catastrophic and disastrous the result.
by Mark Smiley | May 26, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
by Richard Colaizzi
If you haven’t noticed, craft beer is a big thing in Colorado, and the nation. You may be new to this movement, or you might be a longtime connoisseur of craft beer, or could care less about it all together. What you probably don’t know is that there is battle going on in America right now between the craft beer owner and ABInBev who is the largest owner/operator of big beer in the world (aka Budweiser).
Colorado felt this first hand in 2015 when local brewery Breckenridge Brewery sold to ABInBev. This sent a shockwave into the craft beer industry, locally and nationwide. This was not the first nor the last community craft beer to be gobbled up by the global power ABInBev. It was the first that was close to home for many Colorado craft beer drinkers and owners.
Here we are more than a
year later and ABInBev strikes again! On May 3, the North Carolina brewery Wicked Weed posted to their Facebook page that they would be selling to ABInBev. The social fallout was immediate. The comments that followed on the post were overwhelmingly negative to the decision. Many expressed the disappointment in selling out to the big bad beer monster.
Wicked Weed explained that while the growth of the brewery had been good, to get to the next level and keep (and grow) the staff, the move to go with ABInBev would help them maintain that growth and help the brand become a more nationally distributed beer. This is a topic that is debated many times in every brewery, blog, and podcast that involves beer. (By the way Brewski-Reviewski is a great beer podcast you want to check out!)
One local brewery had been collaborating with Wicked Weed and released a statement following the announcement. James and Sarah Howat 
of Black Project: Spontaneous & Wild Ales on South Broadway explained in the post saying “For us the choice is clear. At this stage, we don’t feel we are able to have a business relationship with Wicked Weed because that connection, ultimately, is one with ABInbev. Unfortunately, we don’t feel that having any connection with ABInBev is something we can do while still maintaining our mission, values, and core beliefs. We wish the best to everyone at Wicked Weed and we are happy for their success. We know they will continue to make great beers and we hope to remain personal friends in the future.”
That was just one of many in the craft beer scene to voice their disapproval of the move. While I write this and I have made many comments on air about moves like these, I believe this must be one of the toughest decisions a growing craft beer owner would make. To have a company come in and tell you they are offering you millions of dollars to buy your product and still let you be a part of the creative process makes for a difficult decision.
I do not believe this is something that many who comment, voicing their outrage and comments saying “How could you?” and “Never, I would never sell out!” have stopped to think about the magnitude that a choice like this would be. You have worked hard and built your brand but know there isn’t a whole lot you could do to keep the brewery moving forward unless you get the financial backing to do so.
I understand why Wicked Weed made this move and know they felt this was best for them. I do know that if you are in that position at some point in your career, in any field you are involved with, “Congrats you have done something right!” Now, while I understand why Wicked Weed made the choice to go with the big financial backing, I do not believe you can’t have your cake and eat it too. I find it funny that when these moves are made, the shock by the brewery that sold is surprised at the backlash they receive from the craft beer community. Especially when you sell to ABInBev.
Here is where I side with the craft beer community, I cannot and will not support ABInBev. They have done too many business dealings to try and corner the market and affect the distribution of the small beer maker. “See U.S. Justice Department in probing allegations that ABInBev seeking to curb competition in the beer market by buying distributors, making it harder for fast growing craft brewers to get their products on store shelves.” (Reuters Oct 12, 2015) I believe this will be the battle for the soul of the craft beer movement.
I wish the likes of Breckenridge and Wicked Weed the best moving forward, but since Breckenridge sold I have not, and will not, purchase their or Wicked Weed’s beer again. This is what is great about the business of beer. They have the 
right to sell the company any way they like, but I as a craft beer drinker will take my hard-earned dollar to other local breweries. See, I work twice a month at Launch Pad Brewing in Aurora serving beer and talking to this great craft beer community. I believe the craft beer community is a throwback to the all-American neighborhood pub where people go to meet, grab a beer and be part of their community. Not an all-night drunkfest that the bar has become today.
The problem of ABInbev is not going away anytime soon; at what point do we recognize the monopoly is already there? The great thing about beer in America is we have a choice on where to drink our beer, and for this beer drinker I will continue to drink at the little guy’s place and take my money there. You can always find me every other Saturday at Launch Pad (with its rocket-themed taproom) smiling and enjoying a wonderful craft beer. Launch Pad is located at 884 S. Buckley Rd. in Aurora.
I can also be found at festivals volunteering and po
uring craft beer for guests. One of the next festivals to look forward to is Denver’s Summer Brew Fest set for July 28 and 29, 2017. Visit www.denverbrewfest .com/summer for more information and until the next time, raise your glass.
Casey Bloyer is the Executive Producer of The Peter Boyles Show and The Dan Caplis Show. He is also host of The Bloyer Effect Sunday nights 8-11 p.m. on 710 KNUS. He is the co-host of Brewski-Reviewski with Connor Shreve, news reporter at 850 KOA. Brewski-Reviewski is a bi-monthly podcast talking about all things craft beer in Colorado. Twitter @Breviewski; Facebook www.facebook.com/ craftbeerradio; email brcraftbeer@gmail.com.
by Mark Smiley | Apr 28, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
Footers Catering’s Heather Carr Carves Out Win In Food Network’s Pressure Cooker Cooking Competition
by Glen Richardson
Footers Catering Executive Sous Chef Heather Carr took home the $10,000 grand prize in the March 21 episode of the hit Food Network TV show Chopped. The 25-year-old standout Culinary Arts grad from Denver’s Johnson & Wales University beat out three other contestants for the prize. The competition consists of an appetizer, dinner and dessert. The last Colorado contestant to win the cooking competition was chef Chris Royster of Boulder’s Flagstaff House restaurant.
Footers threw a Chopped TV show viewing party for friends, family and clients at Mile High Station on March 21 to cheer her on without knowing the outcome. In the seven months between taping and airing television spots, Carr couldn’t reveal she was the winner due to an ironclad nondisclosure agreement. Footers owners, Anthony and April Lambatos, their entire catering team and the crowd were gleefully surprised and happy.
“We are so unbelievably proud of you for taking this huge risk and going out of your comfort zone to prove to the world how passionate you are about your culinary career,” the owners declared. “Your poise and creativity inspire us every single day and we are so lucky to have you as a part of the Footers team. Thank you for always leading by example and bringing your positive energy into everything you do,” they concluded.
Adds Jorge de la Torre, Dean of Culinary Education at John
son & Wales University, “We’re incredibly proud of Heather’s win on Chopped! Just like she did when she was in her culinary labs on campus, she brought her A-game to the show and we’re thrilled to see her take the title.”
A Career Appetizer
“Winning Chopped is a career highlight for sure,” Carr says, “but it’s just a cooking competition. It’s just one day in many, and it’s about the luck of what you are given. It’s not everything about who I am. To me, speaking at Catersource, being an IC
AEF scholarship winner — twice — and mentoring other chefs is of more value.”
Carr is someone who takes advantage of every opportunity that comes her way, and is sure enough to be herself in every situation — her shaved hairstyle and tattoo sleeve of vegetables tell you that even before talking to her. And that’s what it is about for this 25-year-old that is making her a winner in the catering industry.
After attending Johnson & Wales, she moved to Los Angeles where she worked for a boutique-catering firm and won her first ICAEF Scholarship. This enabled her to attend Catersource where she heard great things about Footers. She set her sights on moving back to Denver and working for them, which of course she does. Once again, she won the ICAEF Scholarship (applicants can win a maximum of two tim
es).
Keith Lord, executive chef of Wild Thyme in San Diego, and this year’s winner of the International Caterers Assn. Chef of the Year Award mentored her the second time at Catersource. Less than a year thereafter, Carr and Lord presented together at the Art of Catering Food in Washington, D.C., on upcycling and the ability to use discarded food to create a meal.
Cooking Game Plan
The New Hampshire native began cooking in college. As a senior lacrosse player at Pinkerton Academy — the state’s largest high school — Carr scored 15 goals and added 51 assists and was named All-New Hampshire Division 1. Carr went on to play lacrosse at the University of New Hampshire before attending Johnson & Wales in Denver.
Due to the combination of classes and lacrosse practice she never seemed to have time to buy groceries. She made a deal with her roommates that if they bought the groceries, she’d cook. Laughing, she recalled, “I was pretty bad at first. I got better and never stopped. I’ve been cooking professionally for the entire six years since.”
As someone who learned cooking to pay her rent, Carr wants others who enter the field to understand the foundation of the cooking process and how something as simple as emulsification of a vinaigrette, for instance, 
translates to many other cooking techniques. “I want to mentor others and teach them all the things I wished I had learned when I began,” she adds.
Flame Of Creativity
By reinterpreting old ways, Carr and young chefs like her are foraging into the fields and coming up with truly personal styles of cooking. Her unstructured thinking, doing and cooking is the flame of creativity that can spark caterers, restaurants and residents to fan experimentation that will light new ways of thinking about food.
By pushing ambitions and lowering pretensions, they may finally eliminate kitchens driven by luxury but without heart or soul, doing away with old and new palaces of haute cuisine where everything is too formal or this-is-how-we’ve-always-done-things tradition have been driving catering and dining for too long.
Her win is a win for us all. A fresh breeze is blowing through the Valley as a generation of upstart chefs, artisans and food lovers begin taking Cherry Creek back to its roots — and into a bold new future. You can check on the growing movement at Footers Catering. Information: 303-762-1410.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 24, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
Spring Flings And Easter Things Such As To Dye For Eggs And Scrumptious Spring Lamb
On Easter Sunday, April 16, something unusual is happening once again as two Easters are being observed on the same Sunday. In most years Western Protestants and Catholics celebrate Easter on one Sunday and the Eastern Orthodox Churches including Denver’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Glendale celebrate about a week later.
This year, however, the Eastern Orthodox Easter coincides with the Western Protestant/Catholic Easter. The rare occasion is due to the alignment of the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Next year (2018), for example, Easter Sunday is April 1 for Western Christianity — Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion and Protestant Churches — but 
not until April 8 for Orthodox Christianity and Eastern Orthodox Churches
The theological inconsistency of two Easters has remained a thorny problem for Christian Churches. Eastern Orthodox Churches apply a formula so that Easter always falls after Passover, since the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ took place after he entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. In Western Church, however, Easter sometimes precedes Passover by weeks.
Relation To Passover
Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is the holiday commemorating the Hebrews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. It lasts seven days in Israel and among Reform Jews, and eight days elsewhere around the world. It begins on the 15th day of Nisan, which is the seventh month in the Jewish calendar.
The frequent overlapping of Easter and Passover — the Christian Holy Week with the eight-day celebration of Passover — merits attention. Unlike the yoking of Christmas and Hanukkah, Easter and Passover are festivals of equal gravity. Side by side they bring to light the deep structures of both religions. Both celebrate spring and hope, though there are major differences between them.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, a proposal to change Easter to a fixed holiday rather than a movable one has been widely circulated, and in 1963 the Second Vatican Council agreed, provided a consensus could be reached among Christian churches. The second Sunday in April has been suggested as the most likely date.
Easter Services
Cathedral Basilica
Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church. Located at the corner of Logan St. and Colfax in the North Capitol Hill neighborhood it is the m
other church for the Catholic community and the Archdiocese of Denver. On Aug. 13-14, 1993 (for World Youth Day), Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at the cathedral — one of only a few cathedrals in the U.S. so honored. Holy Saturday is April 15 with a blessing of Easter Food at 9 a.m. Easter Sunday Mass times are 7, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. and again at 12:15 p.m. There won’t be a 5 p.m. Youth Mass. Information: 303-831-7010.
Central Christian Church
Founded along the banks of the Platte River in 1873, the Central Christian Church 
of Denver is one of Colorado’s oldest congregations. The church has been housed in four different locations, moving to the current site in the Polo Club neighborhood on Cherry Creek South Dr. in 1971. Palm Sunday service is April 9 at 8:30 a.m. and again at 10:45 a.m. Adding to the community’s holiday enjoyment, on Wednesday April 12 there is a special appearance at the church by the Ugandan Kids Choir, 5:30 p.m. Good Friday service will be at noon on April 14. On Easter Sunday, April 16 there is an Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt at 9:15 a.m. followed by worship service at 10:45 a.m. Information: 303-744-1015.
Red Rocks Sunrise Service
Despite cancellation due to snow last year, the 70th Red Rocks Easter Sunrise Service in Morrison, is set for April 16, 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Father Michael Nicosia, Vicar of the Presiding Bishop to the Rocky Mountain Region of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, will open the worship service with a flute meditation. This year’s speaker is Bishop Jim Gonia of the Rocky Mountain Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. From 1998 to 2009 he was the associate pastor of Atonement Lutheran Church in Denver. Prior to his election as bishop, he served the ELCA’s churchwide ministries as Global Mission Area Program Director for West Africa.
St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church
The cornerstone of the present church was laid on June 13, 1891. Families celebrated the most recent renovation of the iconic building at 13th and Vine St. last November. Easter Sunday Services are at 7:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. An Easter Egg Hunt follows the 9:30 service. There will be coffee, treats and tours of the church beginning at 11 a.m. Information: 303-388-6469.
Trinity United Methodist Church
Built in 1887, this historic church located downtown at E. 18th Ave. and Broadway will feature the Trinity’s Chancel Choir at 9 a.m. followed by the 11 a.m. Easter services. There is also a Pancake Breakfast being served by the youth in the Trinity Café from 8-11 a.m. Highlight for kids is a Children’s Eggstravaganza from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (ages two and up). Youngsters will celebrate Easter morning hearing the Easter story, making crafts, enjoying an egg hunt, playing games and eating special snacks. Information: 303-839-1493.
Passover Seder
Denver’s largest Jewish congregation Temple Emanuel, located on Grape St. in the Park Hill neighborhood, is holding a First Night Community Seder conducted by Rabbi Joe Black and catered by A Perfect Pear on April 10, 5:30 p.m. Information: 303-388-4013.
Chabad/Bais Menachem on South Holly is having an Intermediate Day Passover Seder on April 15, 10:30 a.m. Information: 303-329-0213.
The Congregational Seder at Denver’s Temple Sinai at E. Hampden Ave. and Glencoe St. is April 11, 5:30 p.m. Information: 303-759-1827.
Baskets & Bunnies
Bunny Trail
It’s one of the finest fun festivals in town allowing the kids to hippity hop into spring. 
This year’s Bunny Trail — the annual Children’s Museum event on the Marsico Campus — is April 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. It is filled with all kinds of blossoming fun including springtime art projects, face painting, tasty Teaching Kitchen samples plus meet and greets with Truffles the Big Bunny. Information: 303-561-0101.
Easter Eggstravaganza
Look for the Easter Bunny to be hopping around Glendale’s Infinity Park Sports Field (4599 E. Tennessee Ave.) again this year as the free family-friendly event returns April 15, 10 a.m. sharp! There will again be three special prize eggs including the big prize Golden Egg. Families will be able to take pictures with the Easter Bunny. In case of inclement weather the event will be in the Glendale Sports Center. Information: 303-639-4711.
CHUN Egg Hunt
Hundreds of kids from Capitol Hill neighborhoods get to hunt Easter eggs and sweet treats at the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Easter Egg Hunt. This year’s fun begins at 1 p.m. at the Tears-McFarlane House (1290 Williams St.) April 15, 1 p.m. In addition to the Easter Egg Hunt, there are refreshments, games with prizes and a chance to meet the Easter Bunny in person. Families are asked to bring their children’s Easter baskets to collect the eggs. Information: 303-830-1651.
Bunny Express
Let the rock of the rails transport you and the kids into spring at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden April 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The whole family can hop on the train, featuring the 1880s vintage passenger coach, and experience what it was like to travel 100 years ago. The Easter Bunny and Spike the Railyard Hound will be handing out candy. Information: 303-279-4591.
Bunny Bolt
You and the kids can work off those extra packages of peeps during the Kids 1k Rabbit Rush, plus a 5k & 10k for adults during this year’s Bunny Bolt in City Park April 15, 8:30-1p.m. Event includes a huge Easter Egg Hunt, free yoga classes for kids and adults, face painting and balloon artists. Word on the street is the Easter Bunny will also be making an appearance. Information: 303-358-8896.
Easter Eating
Monaco Inn Restaurant
It’s an ancient tradition, stretching back through time immemorial. Easter without Colorado spring lamb slowly roasted outside on rotisseries at the Monaco Inn Restaurant on Easter is hard to imagine. Savoring the fresh, roasted lamb with a glass of wine has become a Cherry Creek Valley tradition.
In Greece, Easter is the biggest
holiday and most everyone roasts a whole lamb on a “Souvla” which is a large spit. In Greece the feast of Pascha — known in the Western World as Easter — actually translates to “Passover.” The Greeks also refer to Pascha as “Lambri,” which translates directly to “brightness,” thereby referring to the sunny arrival of a new spring and new life.
The family-run eatery that serves traditional Greek fare plus American and Mexican specialties will serve the traditional rotisserie Colorado Spring Lamb April 16 from 12 to 8 p.m. The meal is served with roasted oven Greek potatoes, plus Greek salad or Avgolemono soup. Because the two Easters are on the same day this year, reservations are recommended. Information: 303-320-1104.
Inn At Cherry Creek
Easter Sunday is being celebrated in spirited and mouth-watering fashion at the Inn at Cherry Creek in Cherry Creek North Aug. 16, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Enjoy out-of-this-world Stuffed French Toast and Garden Eggs Benedict. Of course the chef’s menu also includes delectable holiday favorites like Rack of Lamb, Grilled Salmon and Glazed Ham and much more. Information: 303-377-8577.
Brunch Bunch
Brio Tuscan Grille
The Italian eatery in Cherry Creek Shopping Center opens early serving a special Easter brunch until 3 p.m. Information: 303-329-0222.
Capital Grill
The Executive Chef at the Larimer Square steakhouse is serving a prix fixe brunch including dishes such as Shrimp and Grits. Information: 303-539-2500.
Edge Restaurant
Restaurant in The Four Seasons Hotel downtown is serving brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Entrees include Eggs Benedict, Bagel & Lox, Pancakes plus Prime Rib and Pork Loin. Information: 303-389-3343.
Fire
The restaurant inside the Art Hotel in the Golden Triangle is serving a brunch buffet with carving stations, a seafood display and desserts. Information: 303-572-8000.
Ship Rock Grille
The eatery in the Red Rocks Visitor Center offers an Easter Sunday Brunch Buffet, 9 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Information: 303-697-4939.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 1, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
by Megan Carthel
On Dahlia Street between Mexico and East Colorado Avenue, sits a house built in 1954. The architecture fits the rest of the neighborhood except for one obvious thing — the house is blue, very blue.
James Reyes, the blue home’s owner, has lived there since 1996. When he purchased the home, it was white with a salmon-pink trim, something he needed to change right away to suit his style. The self-described old hippie painted the outside of his new house back in the ’90s a bright, light blue with a darker and brighter blue trim.
“When it snows, and it’s all white it looks really good,” Reyes said.
Even the porch swing is matching blue, and the two vehicles parked in the driveway are blue. He calls the color of his car a “pearlized blue.” The only part of the exterior of the house that is not blue is the concrete walkway that leads up to the light and dark matching blue door. It looks like no other house on the block or for that matter, in all of Denver.
The inside has just as much blue. A bright blue and green finish covers the walls. The couch has a blue cover with blue pillows. The kitchen table has blue, denim placemats and a blue glass of water. His shelves are lined with blue trinkets, from blue cats and vases, to a blue Frosty the Snowman. Even his reusable grocery bags and lunchbox are, of course, blue.
“Lots of guys like blue,” Reyes said.
The bedroom is a light blue with a blue bed cover and pillows with blue art on the walls. His office is a little different with a hint of yellow on the walls that are covered with Reyes’ other collection — magnets. He loves to travel and picks up a magnet everywhere he’s gone. In fact, his last state to visit will be Alaska this summer — even the cruise he’s going on is having a “blue party.” The ceiling in his office is painted like the sky, blue with clouds.
“I see blue in the sky and the clouds, and that’s where I see a lot of beauty is in the sky and clouds,” Reyes said. “That’s a test to how you are in your mind. Do you look up at a cloud and see beauty or do you just see nothing?”
For him, blue is calming, comforting and sets his soul on “fire.”
“There’s no sadness in my blue. It’s happiness. In that color when you look at it, there’s a deep beauty in it. It lights my soul on fire,” Reyes said.
His garment rack is full of blue shirts, and his bike is blue. However, Reyes said he’s been toning it down now that he’s older. When his partner moved in 18 years ago, Reyes said he noticed just how blue he really was.
“There was so much blue that when Charle
s moved in he was like ‘what’s wrong with your dryer?’” Reyes said. “It was completely blue on the inside from all of the blue clothes. It [the clothes] had made it blue on the inside and I was like oh my God you’re right!”
So Reyes recently repainted his kitchen to a metal-red, but the blue is not lost with a blue kitchen appliance on the counter and blue knick-knacks dotted throughout. His basement was never blue, but he does have a blue strobe light and accessories.
Reyes said his affinity with blue got started when he moved to Colorado in 1986. As a kid, he never remembers loving blue as much as he does today. At 21, Reyes moved from Wyoming to Denver, bringing with him the only thing he can think that might have ignited his passion for blue — an Austin Powers-esque round, blue velvet bed. The next blue purchase he made was a blue vehicle, and the rest is history. For one brief point when he was younger, Reyes even had blue hair. He said all the blue is just a part of who he is.
“I think it’s me, and I don’t care if people don’t like it because life is 18 holes of golf and you don’t get any do-overs so it doesn’t matter what other people think. Just do what you want, but in reason of course,” Reyes s
aid.
While Reyes loves every shade of blue, lapis blue has a particular look to it that Reyes just can’t ignore.
“When I feel blue, I feel this,” Reyes said as he opened up a wooden box in his office to show off a stone necklace and ring that best represent the deep, rounded and bright shade of blue.
“When you look at that blue do you feel beauty? More so than my light blue. This blue, like cobalt blue, this blue lights the heart on fire. It lights the soul,” Reyes said.
Blue brings Reyes happiness, comfort and anything but sadness.
“I don’t feel blue. I’m a doer. I’m a shaker,” Reyes said. “It’s just me, and I’m not afraid to shove it in people’s face.”
by Mark Smiley | Jan 30, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
by Mark Smiley
The phony private investigator from Tennessee, Charles Johnson, who apparently works in some capacity for the Denver Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was issued a formal Cease and Desist Order from Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies prohibiting him from engaging in certain illegal actions in Colorado. The Order is seen as a slap in the face of the Denver FBI who apparently hired him to harass individuals who had been given negative comments in local newspapers about Mohammad Ali Kheirkhahi and M.A.K. Investments LLC (M.A.K.) regarding their plans to build a skyscraper high-density apartment house on Colorado Boulevard.
Johnson was charged with a crime of attempting to act as a private investigator in Colorado without a license. At the time of his arrest Johnson was caught with current driver’s licenses from three different states which could be subject to potential additional criminal charges along with various other complaints of criminal harassment, including one from Glendale’s City Clerk whose apartment complex Johnson attempted to gain access to.
It was widely assumed that Johnson worked for Kheirkhahi, M.A.K. or their agents. He told the Glendale Police that he was working for an “individual female writer/journalist in the area” who he refused to disclose. The description appeared to fit M.A.K. advocate Jeanne Price, but she adamantly denied she had hired him as did M.A.K. Shockingly the Denver FBI, prior to Johnson’s first court appearance, demanded that Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler dismiss all charges and quash all warrants against Johnson for “reasons that could not be disclosed.”
D.A. Brauchler refused to do so unless given a letter on FBI letterhead signed by the Agent in Charge of the Denver Office Thomas P. Ravenelle. Brauchler quickly made the letter public by attaching it to the “Motion to Quash Outstanding Warrants” and the letter was published in the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle’s June 2016 edition to the apparent consternation of Ravenelle. The Denver FBI has a badly tarnished reputation in Colorado concerning its use of agent provocateurs engaging in criminal conduct while under the office’s pay control, including Scott Lee Kimball who tortured and murdered as many as 17 women in Colorado.
Ravenelle already had a lurid public persona as the result of a civil case against FBI Director James Comey for gross sexual misconduct and harassment by Ravenelle and others filed by female FBI agent Danielle Marks. Ravenelle was removed from his position as Agent in Charge in Denver and given a clerical job in Washington, D.C., in July of last year. FBI head Comey himself is under Department of Justice investigation concerning his role in allegedly unlawfully interfering in the 2016 Presidential Election.
DORA was apparently not cowed by the FBI claims of immunity for criminal state actions in Colorado and the State Director defiantly issued the Cease and Desist Order notwithstanding any pressure the FBI may have brought to bear. The FBI refused to answer whether it would in fact obey the DORA order and cause its employee and/ or contractor Johnson to follow the laws of the State of Colorado regarding its licensing provisions or otherwise.
