DEN: Will Smith,Quantum, Bolt and Twilight

After spending a few days between Tulsa, OK, Springfield, MO, San Jose, CA and San Francisco this week, it's off to the movies for me!

First, several of us went to dinner at La Sandia with the best chicken mole in Denver and fabulous tequila bar. Robert Sandoval has a couple restaurants nationwide, including http://www.modernmexican.com/mm.press.lasandiaparkmeadows.htm. It seems he is a good friend of Plácido Domingo who came to the grand opening to listen to the latin guitarists a few weeks ago.

While attending the Quantum of Solace movie at the Colorado 9 UA theaters in Denver, there was an honest to goodness "not associated with the Democratic National Convention Red Carpet event" at the theater! Will Smith was in Denver, at MY theater promoting his new movie - with real red carpet! He was there with a couple Denver Broncos football players, after giving away 300 Thanksgiving Turkeys and stopping at a kids hospital in Denver. Oh - and I LOVED the most recent Bond film, really liked it. Bond was back and was smooth and sophisticated in Quantum of Solace.

I went to see Bolt and liked it. If you like animals, you have to like Bolt. I loved the pigeons the most I think :) Then it was off to Twilight Twilight Official Trailer tonight. I read all four books and lost a week of my life reading them, including lost sleep in hotel rooms on the road and saw the movie tonight. My friend and I went with three twentysomethings and my girlfriend and I loved the movie. The twentysomethings had varying views. The guy thought there was too much romance, but he loved the baseball scenes. One of the girls read the books not once or twice, but three times and was disappointed in the movie.

As for Stephanie Meyer the author, I read "The Host". If you think you aren't really a fan of "Sci Fi" this is a perfect book to get you hooked. I found the book was interesting, an adult read with a little intrigue. http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost.html. I'm looking forward to the sequels...

MAZ, DEN - Sea Turtles and Zengo

While in Mazatlan, we got to release baby sea turtles which I had never done. Quite a nice event late afternoon. We were told about the history of sea turtles and how they go to the sea and imprint on the beach they are released in, coming back to the beach if they survive their first year in the ocean. We each had to name our sea turtles. Mine was absolutely adorable and swept me off my feet, thus his name was Don Juan DeMarco, in honor of Juan for Mexico and Johnny Depp my favorite actor. We watched the turtles trail off into the sunset, and hope to see them next year!

Back in Denver, my friends and I went to dinner at Zengo, created by Chef Richard Sandoval, for some latin asian mexican cuisine. The restaurant group could be considered an upscale "chain" for those of you searching for unique chains as you travel. I would have to recommend La Sandia next time you are in Denver, which is near Park Meadows mall. Yes, we did celebrate my birthday with a fabulous chocolate creation including a sparkler for a candle.

http://www.modernmexican.com/mm.thechef.htm

MAZ: Shrines

Paul Newman was honored in several shrines as was Audrey Hepburn.

What’s on the Altar, and Why?
The picture of the deceased serves to help the soul’s departure from purgatory, if it resides there, or simply to honor the deceased.
Candles represent the element of fire, one of the four elements that should be present on an altar.
A glass of water is used for the soul to wet its lips, dry from the long journey from beyond the grave. Water is one of the four elements.
Fruits and nuts represent the earth element.
Paper flags (papel picado) represent the element of wind and help guide the soul to the altar.
Sugar skulls represent death, an inescapable part of life.
Liquor represents joyful events of the person’s life and encourages the soul to visit its family again.
Copal incense cleanses the surroundings of evil spirits, enabling the soul to enter the home or place without danger.
Different foods are placed on the altar so that the departed may delight in their aroma.
Flowers provide decoration and perfume so that when it is time for the souls to leave they will do so, content with having shared this moment with their relatives.

MAZ - Dia de los Muertos

Alas, an update to the blog! I will update you with stories in random order since the last update 8/28/08. For now, to get me motivated to blog again and keep the masses from cursing me and sending hateblogmail, here we go! I'll need to warm up on the writing again, so hang in there!

I spent 10 days in Mazatlan, Mexico on vacation. I love the annual Dia de los Muertos celebrations. On Saturday November 1, in Mechado Plaza. The center of this area is the Plaza Mechado (Machado Square). On the north side of the plaza is a line of restaurants. Starting from the east end of the block, is Pedro & Lola's, which is an incredible restaurant with live music most nights. The restaurant is named after two famous musicians from Mazatlán. Next is Altazor ars café, which has the best coffee to be found in Mazatlán and offers live music. Finally, at the far end of the block is Café Pacifico which is the oldest bar in the area with atmosphere, a good selection of tequilla, and free pool and popcorn. Pictures below are from the parade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead

Just off the corner of the Plaza Machado is the Teatro Angela Peralta, built in 1865 as the Teatro Rubio. It is now fully restored after five years of work. Angela Peralta was a much admired opera star from the 19th century who, after giving her only Mazatlán performance, died of yellow fever in the hotel Iturbides, next door to the theater. Her remains now lie in the Rotunda de Hombres Ilustres in Mexico City. Next year, the opera!

Stay tuned for more vacation shots as I remember where I was yesterday on my travels later today to Chicago!

DNC - In Search of Red Carpet and Uniforms

On my way from the Denver airport tonight about 5:15pm, I decided to take a "right" and wandered west on Colfax toward downtown Denver to see how far I could get and what might be going on in the city filled with celebrities, politicians and protesters. (I was in Eugene, OR for meetings, demos, preview of the Ducks season inclusive of a viewing of the Beavers football team arriving at the Eugene airport to fly off to play Stanford this weekend.)
I was on the phone with Marjorie and advised I believed Denver had truly become the NEW Hollywood with all the red carpet, signage, spotlights and such I was seeing - even on East Colfax! I wished Carey were available to coach me on how best to handle this situation and get great pictures!
Hanging up on Marjorie, I jumped out of my car and ran to take a peek at a local establishment next to the Bluebird Cafe. I'm sure someone is having an after party tonight in this area, maybe Sean Penn who was at the Denver Library today with a cast of others discussing Oxfam and Katrina (as Gustav approaches....) (Reports indicate he looked much like the Joker from the recent summer movie. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/08/party_time_08_sean_penn_to_rel.html?hpid=artslot; or maybe Ben Affleck will be having a late night poker game here tonight, or maybe Susan Sarandon having a discussion with a billboard person. Ben was in town to play poker and do something for Food Bank of the Rockies. My friend sent this picture she took - too bad I was in Eugene today, I would have been there!

I moved the car closer to downtown, found a lovely parking spot one block off Civic Center park between the City and County Building and the Capitol. (Hope no riots happen in next couple hours or pepper spray events.) I walked toward the music, which turned out to be the Ginger Ninjas, the band who powers their music by riding bicycles to power their musical instruments. http://www.pleasantrevolution.net/

I spotted a small groups of protesters wanting grass fed cows, I think, you name it, they protest it. Collected in a huddle were about 20 SWAT team members. As I walked closer, they seemed to work like a synchronized Olympic swimming team, splitting into threes, then twos then threes and rotating around this park. It was quite humorous.

Continuing on, I went another 3 blocks to the 16th Street Mall created by I.M.Pei. Here are a couple snap shots of Secret Service (were these two getting a hair cut at Sheer Productions???, same suit, pins, ear piece and ties), bike patrol cops, SWAT team combat cops and who knows what else. Every 15 minutes, the sirens would start, 100 SWAT team members would literally run down the mall, and a team of cars and vans would fly at a high rate of speed toward the Pepsi Center. I'm SURE someone really important was in the vans :)

The best viewing was in terms of the variety of Tshirts and Pins I saw. Apparently they were sold out of the Shawn Johnson Pledge of Allegiance pin, the Bruce Springsteen pins, and the Jennifer Hudson sings the National Anthem were still available but going fast....Here are a few shots to flavor the evening.

I have no idea why I can't get this TShirt and "shoes" pin to view itself correctly, so stretch your neck a bit and look.

DNC - The Weekend in Denver

The blog traveled around to a few scattered places since last post, took a few days off for canoe trips, river weekends and biking. That information will be updated as time permits. Finally the DNC is here in Denver and so am I (at least for part of the week).

Getting in on the action on Friday night, arriving home from Charlotte, NC business trip, I saw this celebrity (in red) and her entourage at airport and offered them directions. Later this celebrity was seen being interviewed by Extra! outside Mezcal restaurant on East Colfax in Denver http://www.mezcal-restaurant.com/where Sunday evening the celebrities gathered for some local flavor. Who is she Carey???

On Saturday, on my return from Fort Collins to mountain bike, I went to my local downtown REI store, where I noted various out of town shoppers. I figured this was my last trip near downtown Denver in a car for a couple weeks. I was talking to my friend Paul who works at REI. He indicated every FBI staff in the West and every bomb squad tech had been hanging out looking for something to do. I did see several of them in the bike section, and advised two of them where to ride on a nice hill climb on Sunday morning. REI is a pretty nice area, at the confluence of two rivers/creeks in Denver, and the junction of many bike paths with a clear view of the Pepsi Center and downtown Denver.

On Sunday late morning, I rode my bike downtown, along the Cherry Creek Bike Path to check out the scene, knowing a Rockies Baseball game was in town that afternoon, along with various protesters, most notably the "Recreate-68" group (they are getting alot of press and rather boring to date)http://recreate68.com/?p=94. I notice they are having some music in Civic Center Park tonight, so maybe another bike ride downtown to see what I can see...

My best celebrity sighting was Tom Brokaw, fresh from Beijing, walking down the 16th Street Mall. No one noticed him as the crowds were watching the bus loads of the FBI, Denver Police and Bomb Squads offload a bus with all their gear! He just walked through, ignoring the buses and I wondered why he wasn't interesting, then I realized who he was! Very nice catch!!!


Sunday evening, I volunteered as an "On Call" volunteer, showing up for my shift and free TShirt, from 5pm to 10pm at the Tabor Center (attached to The Westin downtown where Obama is confirmed to be staying. My job and crew were to finish stuffing "goody bags" and transport them to the press boxes at the Pepsi Center. I did get a glimpse inside the Pepsi Center, but wasn't allowed past the elevator due to security. No cameras or cell phones either :)

I also found out that Oprah Winfrey will be staying about 1 mile from me in an empty house right off Washington Park. My confirmed source is a barista at Starbucks who is doing part of the catering. You better believe I'm going to be biking around the park every free moment I have this week :)


View Larger Map

DEN - $2 after 2pm

Think of all the money I am going to save through September 2! This should get that stock price back in great position and on the uphill climb :) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26031245