Saturday, August 30, 2014

Dave Felice at Polis Rally, Aug.28, 2014

Dave Felice in red shirt, front row
Presented by Dave Felice at the rally at the Boulder office of Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO2) on August 28.


We are supposed to have representative democracy. But when the people we elect do not represent us, we have an obligation to ask why.
When secret agreements are meant to defeat the democratic process, we must ask why.
We don't know what secret agreement Jared Polis and (Governor) John Hickenlooper reached "over dinner" to prevent us from voting on fracking.
Likewise, we don't know all of the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership. Fast Track is the way President Barack Obama and some members of Congress want to circumvent the democratic process and prevent full and open debate.

We also have to ask what's in it for us. How does TPP benefit ordinary working people?
Will we have more and better jobs? NO
Will we have better income? NO
Will we protect American jobs and products? NO
Will we continue to have free and open Internet? NO
Will we have lower-priced medicines? NO
Will we be able to prevent importation of unsafe food from totalitarian nations? NO
Will Colorado's agriculture be protected? NO
Will we be able to protect our environment? NO
Will American business be safe from investor state lawsuits in international courts? NO

We have seen that so-called "free trade" agreements do not work. American workers and consumers suffer these failures. We need vision in Congress and the administration for a new approach!

Senator Elizabeth Warren says if real people, whose jobs are at stake and small businesses who don't want to compete with overseas companies that dump their waste in rivers and hire workers for a dollar a day, knew what's in the TPP, they would be opposed. "If the people of this country are opposed to a particular trade agreement, then maybe that agreement should not happen."

Senator Warren is right. Real people are pushed out of TPP talks.
Jared Polis says he has read most of the TPP at least three times. He ought to know this treaty is a bad deal for the American people!
It is time for Jared Polis to get off the fence and stand up strongly for good-paying jobs, safe food, a healthy environment, and a free Internet for Colorado's working families.

A vote for Fast Track is a betrayal of representative democracy. A vote for Fast Track and the TPP is a vote for Wall Street profits and trans-national corporations that send jobs overseas and hurt working people in Boulder and beyond!


Whittier Alley Loop - $7000 for a "creative urban intervention" of paint (Updated)

Imagine what this will look like in 3 years.
Project: The Whittier Alley Loop
Grant: $7,000
Neighborhood: The project is designed to connect four alleyways in the historic Whittier neighborhood
Site: Four Alleyways between Williams, High and Race streets
About: The Whittier Alley Loop is a creative urban intervention, transforming under-used alleyways and connecting important places within the neighborhood, including the Ford-Warren Library, a Recreation Center, Madame CJ Walker Park, and local businesses. This project aims to create unique public spaces and demonstrate that alleyways can become creative neighborhood assets, instead of just utilitarian right-of-ways.
The Whittier Neighborhood Association represents a diverse community in Denver's rapidly changing urban core. WNA is committed to building upon the assets of the residents in the neighborhood.

Opinion by Gerald Trumbule
Pardon me, but I was under the impression that alleys were to provide access to the properties on that block, not shortcuts for pedestrians on their way to libraries, rec centers or local businesses. I thought that sidewalks were for this purpose. Painting this alley in this crude, linear, architectural way may "create unique public spaces and demonstrate that alleyways can become creative neighborhood assets", but I'm guessing that the project will attract additional spontaneous citizen input, also in the form of paint, as in spray-painted graffiti. It will be almost irresistible to the young creative artists. Unfortunately, they can be arrested and fined for that participation.

I note the name Radian on the rendering above, and I can't find much about them except that their Facebook pages have been taken down.

Update: Thanks to a reader - Radian website.




Thursday, August 28, 2014

NEW PROJECT ON YORK AT 17TH AVE

Denver Cityscape News and Updates:



8/26/14 - Shea Properties is planning a 198 unit apartment complex near City Park in Denver. The 5 story project will be located between 17th and 18th Avenues on the west side of York Street. The project is designed to appear like three separate buildings above a one story parking and residential podium. The project architect is Oz Architecture of Denver. Construction is proposed to begin in the spring of 2015. Here are a couple of renderings of the project:

 

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

A PARK THAT IS A ZOO by PHIL GOODSTEIN - NAYSAYER, SEPTEMBER 2014

Steel Panther, Chive Fest, Denver City Park
Since the 1960s, the Zoo has swallowed massive acreage in City Park as part of never-ending expansion programs. In the process, it has added massive slabs of asphalt for its ever encroaching parking lots. Additionally, it has essentially sealed the facility from the park, eliminating entries between the two.
Despite such devastation, in 2008 the Zoo was the foremost defender of City Park when it vetoed the highly controversial Mile High Music & Arts Fest. This was a proposed private, money-making venture of heavily amplified noise (supposed music). The racket, the Zoo explained, would be extremely painful for the animals.
The Zoo’s action was a stopgap. It has mostly been invisible against continued city policies. Far from treasuring City Park as a gem of open space, peace, dignity, and an escape from urban tensions,the department of parks and recreation has repeatedly sought to remodel the greenery as a commercial venture.
Noise has been a keynote of many City Park events. None have been worse than “ecology” festivals. While sponsors present themselves as most concerned about the earth, they think nothing about generating noise pollution. Nor do they reflect on the ecological costs of the noise-generating sound systems.
The promoters of virtually all outdoor events cannot conceive of them without heavy amplification. Illustrative is Big Wonderful. This is a trendy event on Saturday afternoons at Sustainability Park near 27th and Arapahoe streets. Primarily geared to people in their 20s and 30s, who are overwhelmingly white in an area that was long a bastion of black and Latino Denver, it projects itself as a “sustainable green event.” While stressing how committed it is to recycling, it sees no irony in draining electricity for noise pollution that is supposed to be music.
Most musicians have amazingly little understanding of their instruments and such a poor ability to sing and play that they cannot get on stage without an ear-blasting sound system. The result is anything but the beauty of their instruments and voices. On the contrary, it is a thoroughly debased experience embraced only by those who do not know the difference between noise and music. For that matter, it also assures there will be no interaction between the audience and performers. The latter simply spew out their product to passive consumers. This has been concomitant with ever greater musical illiteracy among performers, including a glaring lack of knowledge of the powerful protest anthems central to drives for labor recognition, civil rights, and the crusade for peace.
Precisely preventing any grasping of such music was at the heart of the Chive Fest in mid-August. It was the city’s great achievement in fencing off parts of City Park for a private promoter, complete with a sound system that could be heard nearly a mile away. The Michael Hancock administration justified it, pointing to the decisions of a hand-picked committee on admission-based events in parks. The body never considered that city parks must be oases against the chaos of everyday living. As such, they are not expected to turn a profit or reflect the crassness of corporate America. Opposed to this perspective, Chive Fest was the epitome of the worst of the music machine with eight bands producing an endless drone over the course of 10 hours.
The noise levels of Chive Fest were especially noticeable because of the sparseness of the crowds. This was obvious in the ready availability of street parking by the park, unlike the shortage of it as is often the case with free Sunday evening jazz concerts at the park pavilion. Particularly visible were the few cars in the overflow lots at East High School. But there is no connection between the public staying away from Chive Fest and city hall policies. By permitting the event, the department of parks and recreation showed it has a thorough contempt for residents who treasure the city parks. For that matter, as Mayor Hancock has made clear, city hall is nothing but an annex of the business community, complete with a willingness to rent out the police department and virtually all of its other services. Most of all, Chive Fest was a lot like the mayor: all flash and noise; zero substance, the ultimate result of a politician subservient to 17th Street while his administration endlessly treats all within listening distance with thorough disrespect.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

"Every move you make..."

Go to Google Location History and see what Google is doing with your cell phone.

My 30-day history - "Don't get around much, anymore."

INC Resolution on Revising Neighborhood Noise Ordinance



• WHEREAS, the City of Denver Noise Ordinance, Section 36 sets the limit for
sound in neighborhoods at 55 dB(A), and
• WHEREAS, Sec. 36-6(b) (17) gives an exemption to festivals and raises the
limit for sound to 80 dB(A), and
• WHEREAS, under the current ordinance definitions, only dB readings at (A)
levels are required which does not measure the different frequencies, and
• WHEREAS, low frequency sound waves dB(C) are long, can actually travel
through buildings and be heard and often can be felt, and
• WHEREAS, the current ordinance was promulgated some years ago before
the advent of the Admission Based Event policy and the significant
increase from a few hundred to more than 800 events a year in Denver,
including in Denver parks, and
• WHEREAS, at the time this ordinance was promulgated 80 dBs(A) was
interpreted to be an acceptable level for sound in residential area when
there were few permitted events in parks, and
• WHEREAS, the 80 dB(A) sound level associated with these frequent events
in parks has become the norm, has disrupted the quality of neighborhood
life on a regular basis and has created an ongoing and intolerable
condition.which the 55 dB level was intended to address, now therefore,
• BE IT RESOLVED, that INC calls upon the City of Denver to begin a
collaborative, thorough, and thoughtful public process in order to revise the
Noise Ordinance so that it is specified how sound pressure is measured,
by whom, and when during an event, and to state the maximum level of
sound pressure is 55 dB(A) & (C) in neighborhoods in order to maintain
and improve the quality of life for Denver's residents.

INC Resolution on Disturbance of the Public Peace in Parks



WHEREAS, Inter Neighborhood Cooperation adopted the Platform
for Denver Urban Parks in 2011, and
• WHEREAS, the Park Platform emphasizes protection of open green
space and community-based park use policies, and
• WHEREAS, Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR) is not to issue a
festival park permit in violation of the Denver City Municipal Code,
Sec. 39-12- Disturbance of the peace; and
• WHEREAS, under Sec. 39-12-Disturbance of the Peace, language
permitted for festival permits which is unseemly, profane, vulgar, or
obscene is not allowed and its usage in open public park space and
would result in a summons, and
• WHEREAS, Denver Parks and Recreation permitting has issued
permits for festival parks, in violation of Sec. 39-12 and the
Department's own published rules and regulations regarding
Disturbance/Noise, and is likely to do so in the future, and
• WHEREAS, A permit in in violation of Sec. 39-12, was recently
issued for the Chive Fest at which unseemly, profane, vulgar,
obscene, language was evident in open public parks space and
heard throughout nearby neighborhoods, now therefore,
• BE IT RESOLVED, that until community based policies and
procedures are in place to screen and to manage permitting of such
events and ensure that they are consistent with standards explicit in
the Denver City Municipal Code Sec. 39-12-Disturbance of the
Peace, INC respectfully requests Denver Parks and Recreation place
an immediate moratorium on all open park festival permitting.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Forget Technology; Denver Turns to Its Employees to Fix Problems

from Dave Felice - see his response at the bottom of the article.

BY:  | February 2014

In Denver city government, this is what an innovator looks like: White-haired, dressed in light blue scrubs and wearing a pair of sneakers, Tara Morse works as an animal care supervisor. Each day, she conducts about a dozen examinations of new dogs and cats that arrive at the Denver Animal Shelter. Not long ago, Morse came up with a simple idea to save her agency about $75,000 a year.
When pets get reclaimed by their owners, they’re usually collected in fewer than 15 days. After that, the owners rarely turn up. Yet city and county policy dictated that the agency hold animals for 30 days before trying to place them in another home. The longer they stayed, the more their health deteriorated. And as their health worsened, their chances of being adopted dropped as well. Morse recommended a new policy of 15 days. The result was just what Morse had predicted: cheaper, more effective care.
Morse was putting to use skills she learned at the Denver Peak Academy, a city-run training program, housed within the mayor’s budget office, that teaches municipal employees analytical methods to improve their daily work.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Denver's Water Saver Cars

from Dave Felice

Denver Water Board Members:
It is extremely disappointing and discouraging to see that Denver Water has purchased vehicles made in a foreign country by a foreign firm as its representative "Water Saver" cars.
As a government entity, Denver Water has an implicit responsibility to promote the domestic economy by purchasing American products and services.
There are many U.S. vehicles in the same size and price range as the KIA Soul (a/k/a "hamster car").  Your "eco-friendly" description of these cars is also questionable.  For example, several vehicles made in the U.S. in the same class have better gas mileage.  Or better, why not purchase a hybrid or electric vehicle?
Thanks for your attention.  I would appreciate the courtesy of a reply.

CHIVE Fest neighbors described the excessive noise

NOTES FROM INC PARC MEETING AUG. 19, 2014 via Dave Felice

"

CHIVE Fest neighbors described the excessive noise which topped the noise meter limits, and was not enforced.  “311” was not operating; police said there was nothing they could do.  The foul language loudly broadcast into the neighborhood was sexist, racist and obscene.  Trash littered the park and neighborhood, where residential lawns were used as bathrooms.  PARC discussed two drafts presented by the neighbors: “Neighborhood Noise Resolution” asking that the City revise the noise ordinance and measurement process, and “Resolution on Disturbance of the Public Peace in Parks” asking that a policy be created regarding festival permits for public parks that honors the intent of the Denver Municipal Code.  PARC voted to present the “Noise Resolution” draft, with some changes to be made by Kathleen Wells, to INC Sept. 14.  She also will work on the second Resolution above.  Events in public parks adjoining neighborhoods must have lower noise level limits, monitored accurately and continually, and police enforcement must be available for all unlawful activity."

Crisis at the Border & Immigration Reform

With Congressman Jared Polis, District Attorney Stan Garnet, Sheriff
Joe Pelle , Sonia Marquez, the Northern Colorado regional director for
CIRC (Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition) and other Democratic State
and Local Elected Officials.

There will be short presentations from our panelists and then open
discussion and dialogue. This is a time to hear from our local
community about their concerns and visions for moving these issues
forward. We will then close the evening with responses from elected
officials as to how they can address these matters in legislation or
reflect them in local administration. Finally we will consider how we,
the Democratic Party, can support them in doing so.

August 27 at 7:00 PM BoCo Dems Headquarters, 5735-A Arapahoe Ave., Boulder 
Co-sponsored by the BoCo Dems Platform Committee and BoCo Dems
Outreach and Inclusion Team.
For more information, email platform@bocodems.org

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Another excellent ad by the Romanoff team

Editor: Another excellent ad by the Romanoff team. As a filmmaker, I look at production qualities for original content, movement, effectiveness of message and connectedness. Andrew's got the goods.

AFTERMATH TO CHIVE FEST by Linda Drake

Is there an aftermath to Chive Fest?

There is more information out there, and much of it I got from attending the INC PARC meeting Tuesday night (INC is a consortium of all the City’s Representative Neighborhood Orgs; PARC is their Parks & Rec Committee): 
  1. Decibel Measurements during Chive FestSeveral citizens from PARC and local RNOs measured decibel levels in different parts of City Park and in the neighborhoods, along both A and C frequencies, which provide different readings. The City, when it measures, uses A frequencies - unless it’s measuring at Red Rocks, and it uses the C frequency there because the people in Morrison complained. The C frequency includes the bass, and the A does not.
 Festivals in the City were historically capped at 55dB, until 1999 when an exception was made for one festival to go to 80dB, which then set a precedent; successive festivals have increasingly requested and been granted variances until 80dB is the current accepted level by Parks & Rec. All Phases, Chive Fest producers, told us on the July 30th community meeting that they would voluntarily keep the noise at 55dB at Park boundaries.

The decibel readers came up with varied results, some volunteers reading that the concert exceeded 80dB on both  A & C frequencies on the South City Park boundary; another reader believed that they stayed at or under  80dB on the A frequency, but consistently exceeded that on the C-band reading, up to 90dB.   A resident of South City Park said that she measured 86dB in her back yard, and that when Steel Panther came on at 7:15, “four blocks of SCP could hear every filthy word, and so could all the children in the neighborhood; plus the racist and sexist jokes."

West City Park registered in the high 70s for four blocks after Joshephine, and North City Park registered in the high 60s.

In reaction to my 8/17 article http://denverdirect.blogspot.com/2014/08/chive-fest-show-your-boobies.html, one Park Hill person on Ash described the music as “very, very loud” on Ash Street; on Eudora St, neighbors heard nothing. A South City Park resident wrote,” [My husband] and I were walking to the park earlier in the evening and we could hear the foul language coming from the band. Kids were playing right over on the playground and I remarked that this was the wrong venue for this kind of event.”
B. Public Nuisance

A resident of SCP cited the usual over-parking in South City Park and noted people peeing in and throwing trash on her yard. She tried to file a complaint about that and the noise with 311 on Saturday, but the line was down, and she was directed to call the police instead about disturbances. The District 2 Police reportedly responded, when asked by the resident to enforce City Code against public profanity and disturbance of the peace, “They have a permit.” It sounds like Parks and Rec has the ability to supersede City Laws as far as the police are concerned, alleviating them of any duty to enforce the laws. A PARC Committee member points out that Chive Fest repeatedly violated peoples right to Quiet Enjoyment of their homes, Quiet Enjoyment being a real estate concept and likely the foundation for the laws around peace and order that the City is so resistant to enforce.

Two of the people measuring the dB levels had a gentleman urinate right in front of them on 17th.

One groups pre-planned day was ruined. Having obtained a permit last October from the City to host an event at the Pavilions on the 16th, women from Friendship Baptist Church had their long-awaited event drowned out by inappropriate noise from Chive Fest. Evidently Parks and Rec failed to check out all the permits issued for the day in the Park, and the group ended up angry and disappointed.

C. Intergenerational Schism?
While the actual issue is about City mismanagement and ignoring any neighborhood concerns involving use of Park lands, there was a group of under-40 individuals on Facebook Park Hill Neighborhood groups who defended the benefits of Chive Fest - and would likely fight to the keyboard for their right to party. Here are some of their rationale:

“- People are rude and litter all the time, not just because there's a concert in the park.

- It was great! The performers I cared about seeing (Talib Kweli, Cold War Kids, and Edward Sharpe) were awesome and put on great sets. The beer and bathroom lines were never very long (the food truck lines did get crazy) and the crowd was friendly. It's too bad people are spending so much time being up in arms about a band that's pretty much intended to get people up in arms when there was so much good music to be enjoyed.

-Wow, the hatred for just one band in this lineup abounds. I'm sure they weren't the only band that cussed, and bands have been yelling for girls to show their goods since.. Rock n roll was invented??

-I have a four year old and a seven year old. Do I want them to hear some of the words tossed around on this thread? Nope. However, it was a single day a year. People KNEW the festival was happening. People knew what the festival was about. If you don't want your ears offended then stay home that ONE day.

More importantly, City Park is a public space. People in public spaces use language we all don't agree with. That is life. Pussy Riot was arrested in Russia and it was a huge headline all over the world without the band name being censored.

-…there’s no freedom greater than my freedom from your sense of the acceptable. Where would it end?

-I’m tired of the vocal minority controlling the decision making process that affects myself and others. I'm hoping others feel the same way and get involved as well.

In their world, freedom of speech seems to trump all other rights. And a little racism, sexism, homophobia? Like the City managers, if it’s just a small part of a ten-hour Saturday and only a few children are impacted, it really doesn’t matter, does it? ...South City Park? They either loved the free concert or don’t live there. The larger issue of use of the Park, owned by all the people, for an event that many would eschew, with language that travels well beyond a five-acre venue - not a concern - just people exercising their freedom of speech.

In my increasingly-jaundiced view of life, I would say that Steel Panther is all about making money for themselves, as is The Chive and All Phases. They paid for five acres, and that’s where all their sick sentiments should stay.

D. City Response: Nada to date

We have 13 City Council members. Denver Direct posted the letter that I sent to them:

Councilman Brooks thanked me for my letter, said that he thought Chive Fest during the day went well and that he would check with Parks and Rec. He did not present as horrified in the least about the contents of Steel Panther. I have heard no more from him.

Doug Linkhart, City Manager of Environmental Health, responded, “From this and the other reports I've heard, the noise wasn't bad in quantity, just in quality.” No biggie.

No one else in the City even bothered to respond. If they ignore people pointing out how wrong their policies are, maybe we’ll go away. Just a bunch of NIMBY naysayers.
Well I don’t think that’s what people who care for appropriate Park usage are, but we may be in an extreme minority, living in a City with a ***sucking Council and a ***ing Mayor (free speech, right Guys?) with p***sy-clamoring young people who are taking over the Parks, the world, and the City. But I’m just saying, before I check out of this one, it’s WRONG! It makes for a very ugly, mean City and completely undermines our quality of life.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

WHAT ABOUT THIS SECTION OF A64?

I don't see much action of this part of A64, which seems to allow one person to "assist" any number of other people in the production/consumption of marijuana. Please comment if you have any information on this part of A64 (Sec 16 (3).

"I think I see my 100 friends coming over to check on their 600 plants with which I am assisting."


And these acts are:

Monday, August 18, 2014

"YOU ARE UNLAWFULLY ASSEMBLED" LIVE STREAMING FROM TIM POOL, VICE, IN FERGUSON

DENVER CHIVE FEST RAW (WARNING: WHATEVER)

Editor: I thought about strapping on my helmet cam with the live streaming rig and going to the Denver Chive Fest, but I was too lazy and I knew I could rely on the hundreds of cellphone videographers to do it for me. Here we go!

DISTURBANCE OF THE PEACE: ANDREA MERIDA CITES DENVER MUNICIPAL CODE

Editor: Seems that Chive Fest in Denver's City Park may have been illegal. Great find by Andrea Merida, former Denver School Board member, current activist and band member. Mayor Hancock and DPR will have to learn to play by the rules.

... from the Denver Municipal Code: Sec. 39-12. DISTURBANCE OF THE PEACE

(a)
It shall be unlawful for any person within any park, parkway, mountain park or other recreational facility to disturb the peace of others by violent, tumultuous, offensive or obstreperous conduct, or by loud or unusual noises, or by unseemly, profane, vulgar, obscene, or offensive language calculated to provoke a breach of the peace, or to assault, strike or fight another, or to in any other way breach the peace.
(b)
It shall be unlawful for any person within any park, mountain park or other recreational facility to use any sound amplification system in such a manner as to breach the peace and quiet of said park, mountain park or other recreational facility.
(Ord. No. 446-12, § 1, 9-10-12)

DENVER CHIVE FEST: ASSORTED PHOTOS

From the seemingly endless supply here:

















CHIVE FEST: ATROCIOUS USE OF PARKS


Dear Council President Herndon and Councilmembers:

I believe that I observed, in the following article, what may happen when City Council gives it’s power away to the Mayor, as it did somewhere in 2009/2010 regarding control over Parks & Rec. I understand why the Mayor’s Office might want to bypass the messy Democratic process of public input, but I still don’t comprehend why Council would voluntarily do such a thing. I perceive you to be the representatives of the people, and without you, we citizens really have no governmental voice. Our voices need to emerge somewhere, hence the genesis of my article.

There were clearly no checks and balances operating when Chive Fest was given the green light to run in City Park. My guess is that one person in the Administration thought it would be “cool.” Parts of it were, I’m sure. But please read my article in Denver Direct to understand why Chive Fest was an atrocious use of parks' land.

http://denverdirect.blogspot.com

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Linda Drake
Park Hill

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Tim Pool back on the job, live-streaming from Ferguson


Watch live streaming video from civilianmediatv at livestream.com

Go to TheRundownLive.com and you can select from 4 live streams. Turn the sound off on all except the one you want to follow.

CHIVE FEST: SHOW YOUR BOOBIES

by Linda Drake



Please note: the following observations and impressions are purely my own, and thus fallible. I do the best I can using a single brain.
Chive Fest ran from 12pm to 10 pm Saturday night, August 16th, on the East Meadow of City Park. I walked around the Park from 1 - 2pm, and only noted sound around the meadow area. The Chive Fest crowd was light at that time, maybe several hundred people.
I returned between seven and eight p.m. on my bicycle, riding around City Park and environs to see how All Phases, the producer of ChiveFest, was doing. My conclusion: pretty well. Now there were probably a few thousand people in the crowd. There were plenty of porta-potties, lots of security, festivities were confined, civil, and organized. I saw several park rangers. Parking spaces abounded, even on 17th Avenue. The sound level was OK and there was no detectable sound to my ears - relative to traffic - in North City Park, West City Park, and Park Hill.  South City Park was on the noisy side, but it wasn’t too bad, and probably not more than a Sunday evening at Jazz Fest. About four blocks between Garfield and Cook seemed to take the noise from the speakers and funnel it to within about a half a block north of Colfax. The zoo animals had to put up with moderate noise, but I guess it was only for one evening.
Steel Panther came on around 7:30, so I stopped near a few small groups of people between Ferril Lake and the west fence around Chive Fest to listen. Steel Panther is billed as a caricature of 80s Heavy metal Bands. They dress wildly in keeping with that genre. I googled  “heavy metal bands of the 1980s” and the top five listed were Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Tesla, and Skid Row. I read up on Heavy Metal bands so that I could better understand how Steel Panther caricatures them. As far as I can figure, it’s through the dress - tough and scary-looking with wild colors. 1980s metal bands dealt with death, alienation, partying, and sex. Steel Panther focuses on the latter two topics. 
I was able to hear well from my position, as were nearby people of varying ages standing and walking through the area. There were still plenty of children in the Park; I had just ridden by about ten eight year-old soccer players and their friends and parents. Chive Fest, which had been rocking along innocuously to the casual observer, at that point became a live wet dream for young white guys nostalgic for adolescence, as far as I can figure. Nothing was sacred, especially for anyone who wasn’t a white guy. 
The band leader’s patter as he was warming up the crowd consisted of combinations of “fucking, fuck, motherfucker, cocksucker” pretty much two to three times every sentence.
He talked about fucking his whore all afternoon in the hotel room. Asked if everyone was high yet. (Cheers.) “I fucking LOVE Colorado. Cocaine is legal in Colorado.”  He defined Oklahoma pussy for us. (You don’t want to know.) Thank you, Mayor Hancock, for providing beautiful City Park for a backdrop for this monologue.
“Show your boobies!” he would encourage the crowd at frequent intervals. 
The band leader observed that he saw a lot of black people in the crowd, then crowed “yo, yo, yo, yo…” rapper style. A few black hands waved rhythmically above the crowd. Next: “You know why black men come to hear a heavy metal band? … To fuck white pussy!!” A few cheers. Thank you, Mayor Hancock.
Next up: Mexican pussy, who the band leader described as really hot. He said he loves Mexican girls because they fuck you all night, then clean your room up in the morning. “They just can’t help themselves.” Thank you, Mayor Hancock.
He introduced one of the band members, riffing that people think he’s gay, but he’s not really. He landed in jail once and was forced to suck cock. Obviously being gay is not OK in the pussy-loving crowd. Again, thanks for offering up City Park for these nature-lovers, Mayor Hancock.
The music’s pretty good; I can’t be equally laudatory about the lyrics. Listen for yourself, and get an idea of the followers’ thoughts here
From “Party All Day (Fuck All Night)”
Wo-oh-oh, hey, hey, hey. Fuck all night and party all day. 
Smoke and drink and screw; that’s all I want to do.
Sang a song about an Asian Hooker. Lyrics available hereWouldn’t this be more appropriate for Red Rocks instead of a public park peopled by kids and families??
Wow. Yeah, it’s really funny. Maybe if you’re a twenty-something white guy lacking social development, or one of their groupies. “Show your boobies!” 
Im sure there was so much more, if I had only stuck around until ten o'clock.
As I continued around the lake, past Duck Pond and Dustin Redd Playground, I saw several wasted men, stumbling and oblivious. 
It was a fascinating tour of the Park. I was surprised because, coming from the post-60s generation of Woodstock fame, counterculture activity seems to me to be part and parcel of being young. I was expecting to be fine with the music. However Chive Fest counterculture messaging strikes me as group masturbation for an in-crowd that excludes minorities, women, and larger-world concepts. I left the park very saddened that the vision of these young people is so narrow and self-indulgent, and that Denver’s Mayor rents City Park - serenely verdant and outrageously beautiful - to propagate such tripe. 
And you wouldn’t want me to show my boobies. 
(What a moronic term!)


Friday, August 15, 2014

GUMBO LE FUNQUE CD RELEASE PARTY - SUNDAY 8-24-2014



Many of you have been along for the ride, watching me as a loud-mouthed activist, then an elected official with the same volume-control issues (lol) and now reinventing myself yet again as a musician.

Jason and I began this band in 2011, not without a little trepidation and skittishness.  After all, even though we have been playing music with decades of combined experience, it was a little worrisome to step forward with a group of people that are considered long in the tooth by some.  Right now, our youngest member is in his mid-30s, and the frontman's 40s are waning quickly.  As for me, a lady never reveals her age.  :)

We were never supposed to be relevant or cool or "make it."

But combined with your support, a lot of hard work and some venues and festivals that believe that 40-somethings still have something to say, we have been graced by a lot of success.  Good music, socializing and enjoying life to the fullest isn't just for the younger people, and there is life after politics.

This CD release means a lot to us.  It is self-funded, self-produced and self-promoted.  It was recorded by a local Denver recording studio, by a Colorado engineer.  We don't have a record deal, nor do we seek one.  We believe in independently-produced, local music, and we hope you do too.

Please come and celebrate with us.  The CD release party details are as follow:

Sunday, August 24, 2014
Jazz at Jack's, Downtown Denver
Show begins at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $15, which includes a limited-edition copy of the CD that will not be sold anywhere else.  It will only be available to attendees of the event. If you bring a friend, use the coupon code "couples" and get $5 off the total price.  Click here to get your tickets. You could get tickets at the door, but purchasing in advance assures you'll have a CD waiting for you without waiting for the mail.

We sincerely hope to see you on the 24th.  Thanks for all your support since 2011.  And please share/forward this email!

Your friend,

Andrea and Gumbo le Funque

Please avoid parking in neighborhood areas near the park - or Chive On

via Dave Felice


or ride your horse
From ChiveFest.com:Parking near City Park is limited and patrons are granted access on a first come first serve basis. Chive Fest attendees are strongly encouraged to use alternate forms of transportation to the Park. Please avoid parking in neighborhood areas near the park. There are a couple of parking options available in City Park. Surface lots are available at the Denver Zoo and The Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Patrons can park at the Museum or the Zoo after 5pm. Ferril Lake will also have Chive Fest spots available. In addition, Chive Fest lots are located at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, Messiah Denver Lutheran Church and in the west and southwest lots at East High School near City Park. Look for signs that indicate Chive Fest Parking. - Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church: 1980 Dahlia St, Denver, CO 80220. - Messiah Denver Lutheran Church: 1750 Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO 80220. - East High School: 1600 City Park Esplanade, Denver, CO 80206.

Personal Comment:

I find it incredibly disgusting and insulting that so-called Christian houses of worship would rent their parking lots to an organization of questionable and manipulative ethics and whose primary reason for existence is hedonism, self-gratification, intoxication, and exploitation of women.  These churches should be ashamed of themselves!
These churches show themselves to be bad neighbors by participating in an event that disturbs the community.  
Furthermore, Montview Presbyterian Church is at roughly three-quarters of a mile away from the venue.
If you'd like to express concern, Montview is 303-355-1651.  Messiah is 303-355-4471.
Personal cell for Kelsey Brown at AllPhases is 303-910-6106.  "Chive Liaison" is 303-681-7833.  Denver city 3-1-1 direct is 720-913-1311.  Police non-emergency is 720-913-2000.

I would not expect a positive or satisfactory response from any of these people. 


From: Messiah Community Church <info@messiahdenver.org>
To: gelato321 <gelato321@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Aug 15, 2014 4:51 pm
Subject: Your complaint


I wasn't totally aware of what the event was when I initially agreed. However, after seeing the controversy, I am still going to rent out our lots. This isn't an event that we are "hanging out hat on." (I have a contract that says they will be out by midnight or I start towing, and collect trash, and they are going to patrol.) Think of it this way, this thing is going to happen regardless of your objections, and I am at least keeping 100 cars in one area and from clogging the neighboring streets, and keeping probably 200 people from walking in your neighborhood and throwing trash in your front yards!
 
Seems to me we are taking one for the neighborhood and deserve some thanks! If I try to prevent this, two things will happen: 1) they will use them anyway and unless I pay a uniformed officer money to chase people away or sit there in my own car all night with a gun or a cop, you've got the same problem and no recourse with the promoters because I have no contact with them; 2) there will be all of those cars that could be corralled in our lot now driving up and down 19th, Montview, Ash, Bellaire parking in front of Park Hill houses and then walking back later. That seems far worse.
 
There are no activities that I would endorse or promote at this event, but complaining to me isn't going to make it go away. You've got bigger problems than cars in our lot, at least we are trying to help deal with the situation.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

I Smoked POT in the RAT CAGE to SHOW Dr. WOLK what we think of AD Campaign

(Editor: I was wondering what kind of street theater would overtake this mistaken Hickenlooper campaign. Now we know - Facebook to the rescue.)

COLORADO CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE ACTION ALERT: 
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED, like NEVER BEFORE, PLEASE......

Who's wants to Smoke Pot in the RAT Cage?
As a POLITICAL PROTEST, USE YOUR 1st Amendment Rights to Express your Displeasure with the 'REEFER MADNESS' Campaign being waged on our YOUTH!!

YES, DR. WOLK, That's How YOU make US FEEL AS PATIENTS!
There is a way we can FRAME the Question. Sir?

PLEASE POST PICTURES OF YOU SMOKING POT IN THE RAT CAGE. PROTEST EARLY, and OFTEN!! PLEASE UNDERSTAND, you MAY be Approached by members of Denver Police
Department, at which Point, you should be CLAIMING 1st Amendment Protections, while IN THE RAT CAGE!!
We will be submitting those pictures of ADULTS MEDICATING in the RAT CAGE, AS A PROTEST to the C.D.P.H.E. MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGISTRY and BOARD OF HEALTH.

DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON AD CAMPAIGNS which CONTINUE a FAILED DRUG WAR MENTALITY and 'REEFER MADNESS' disruptions of our legal therapy with disqust over being
told we are, essentially, RATS in a CAGE with MARIJUANA, huh?

ARE YOU A RAT? SO, BE AN ACTIVIST, GET YOUR PICTURE SMOKING POT IN THE RAT CAGE TODAY, and SUBMIT IT HERE TOMORROW!!!

Visit our Facebook Page and POST your picture in the RAT CAGE as a protest!
I Smoked POT in the RAT CAGE to SHOW Dr. WOLK what we think of AD Campaign
https://www.facebook.com/RATCAGEPROTEST

DISGUSTED, DISAPPOINTED & DIS-RESPECTED by the C.D.P.H.E. As a PROTECTED CLASS OF CITIZEN, I FEEL THIS AD CAMPAIGN IS VIOLATING ME, ISOLATING ME in THE
POPULATION, AND SEGREGATING ME IN SOCIETY. Don't YOU feel that way?

PLEASE, BE RESPECTFUL, DO NOT CONFRONT LAW ENFORCEMENT!! It Doesn't have to be LIT to have a Picture in the RAT CAGE or NEAR.
GET THE SHOT, and BE AN ACTIVIST FOR POSITIVE CHANGE, END PROHIBITION NOW~~!! BRING OUT FAILED DRUG WAR PRISONERS HOME!!!
WE ARE PATIENTS, WE ARE NOT RATS!! SHOW RESPONSE TO YOUR DISPLEASURE AND INSULT TODAY!! THANKS & ONE LOVE

THE REASON FOR THIS EFFORT-----
Vandals Don’t Take Long To Hit Rat Cages Used In Anti-Pot Ad Campaign

http://cbsloc.al/1lVn8bP
 (4 photos)

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Colorado's first mental health crisis hotline opens

Callers to the Colorado Crisis and Support Line will be able to speak with mental health professionals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 844-493-TALK (8255).

Friday, August 8, 2014

CHIVE FEST ON

via Facebook by Seth Willey


Chive update. Permit issued. More info below.

"The Chive Fest permit has been issued as of Thursday evening. The event organizers have paid their permit costs in full at this time.
While this is just a pretty standard permit/invoice document, here is what the organizers of the Chive Fest have agreed to in receiving this permit:
The organizers have made the following commitments:
* Parking - DPR asked the organizers to ensure that additional parking agreements were obtained as part of their overall parking and transportation plan - event officials estimate that the majority of their attendees will arrive between 4 and 6 p.m.
0. Chive Fest has received permission to direct users to two additional church facilities (200 spaces)
1. Chive Fest attendees will also have the ability to use the East High School parking lot, located directly across 17th Ave., from City Park
2. Received permission to access Zoo and Museum surface lots after 5:00pm (740 spots) and DMNS garage after 6:00pm (710 spots)
3. Existing parking spaces within the park will be available on a first come/first served basis
* Noise - City Ordinance allows music events/festivals to have a maximum noise level of 80 decibels
0. A Denver Environmental Health Noise Inspector will monitor noise levels four different times throughout the day from three different locations within and near the venue. Those results will be posted to the DPR Facebook page;
1. The event promoter has agreed, in writing, to lower the volume if sound levels exceed 80 decibels at any time. Additionally, the promoter will have a dedicated sound consultant/community liaison assigned to assist in sound mitigation and monitoring
* Trash - Event organizers are working with a third-party event group that will specifically manage recycling and trash handling for the event
0. Training will be provided for vendors regarding how/what to recycle versus put into the trash stream
1. Vendors will be directed to the appropriate products and materials that can be purchased through a restaurant supply company that offer the best and easiest benefits for recycling
2. Large trash receptacles will be brought in to handle trash for the event
3. Six contract staffers will be dedicated solely to trash and recycling services for the duration of the event.
* Emergency Services Plan
0. Not required but they have provided an emergency plan to address a severe weather event
* Port-a-lets - Per their permit, the event organizers are required to provide a total of 50 portable restrooms
0. They will supply 66 Deluxe Restrooms and five ADA-accessible restrooms; a certain number will be outside the boundaries of the event to offer services for any park visitors who are drawn by the music but choose to use an area of the park that is not closed-off to the event
* Security - The event organizer is supplying double the amount of police officers required by permit
0. DPD will supply one Supervisor and six officers from 12-11 p.m., and an additional four officers from 3-11 p.m. (10 total DPD officers)
1. Although it is not required per their permit, the Chive Fest promoter will also supply 54 private security officers from Argus on site during the event
2. Organizers are also paying for 4 extra DPR Park Rangers to monitor the park and event
* Costs -
0. The cost of the permit is approximately $10,000
1. In addition, the city will receive a total of 15 percent of gross ticket sales from taxes and fees collected.
* Organizers available for contact on the day of the event
0. The promoter's Community Liaison will be available for contact during the event at 303.681.7333. They have shared this information with local residents and neighborhood leaders
* Alcohol -
0. Alcohol sales will cease at 9:00 pm; the event ends at 10 p.m. and the park closes at 11 p.m.