The Becker Situation

Meet Becker. The only springer spaniel in the world that doesn't like to walk. I have attempted to walk him three times and three times he has shot me down. We usually get about 500 feet into our walk when he sits down and refuses to budge. He looks up at me with those puppy eyes with a look that says "can we just go home and watch extreme home makeover." I spent the better part of the weekend obsessed with the "Becker situation." I have tried bribing him with organic home made dog treats, prodding him with a stick, pulling on his leash and pleading. I have even sat down next to him and told him what everything is that he is looking at. Apparently, all he thinks the outdoors is for is pissing and shitting PERIOD. So far its Becker 3 Pat 0.

Becker was hit by a car last June and I think he still carries some anxiety because of the incident. He seems to be scared of the World... with good reason. So, for now, it's me and the spaniel that won't walk.

The Dish

Let me start by saying this... I don’t believe in favorites. I think favorites are for five year olds. I don’t have a favorite movie. I don’t have a favorite band. I don’t have a favorite food. I have several likes and loves of the aforementioned categories, but I can never seem to commit to one favorite. That being said, if I had to pick a favorite restaurant in Denver it would be The Dish Bistro. Brunch, Dinner, Sunday night $5 small plates... it’s all great. Yesterday, I got some bad news. It came in the form of a text from Gail.. Simple, efficient, cold... THE DISH IS CLOSING. Clearly she can’t be right, I thought. Every time I go in there its busier than the last time. The brunch menu was just improved! Gail was right. It was confirmed in a little tiny article in the Westword. I am going to try to get there one more time before they close their doors early next month. Now the search begins for my new favorite restaurant.

drizzled honey cupcakes

Denver

Highlights of being tourists in our own city.




• Breakfast at Lucile’s
• Bike ride to REI
• Walk around Confluence Park
• Tour of Museum of Contemporary Art
• Played the board game Chutes and Ladders at the MCA

I first visited the MCA with my parents earlier this year. I really enjoyed the current exhibits. I have always loved miniature models of buildings, so I especially liked the David Adjaye exhibit of models of buildings that his architecture firm designed throughout the world. The other exhibit that I really liked was the Jasper De Beijer installation. Oddly, his work reminds me of the pictures from the book Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

Walk

Here are some pictures I took while walking Bailey last Thursday.


Blossoming tree in front of Emerson Plaza



Coffee shop close to my house. I love the coffee cup protruding cesarean section style from the building.



Pretty tree at Cheeseman Park



Oink



Pete's Kitchen

Bailey Withdrwal

Riding again

Ok, so I broke down and bought a new bicycle. It's a Trek 7.3FX. It's actualy similar to my old one, but the new one is a hybrid. The old one was damaged while I was riding it February 29th and was hit by a car. She drove off. I was left with a bleeding mouth, gashed helmet, scraped knew and a street full of stunned witness, none of who got her license plate numbers. The ambulance arrived within 2 minutes. I thought I was ok (which I was) but apparently I looked peaked, so they took me via ambulance to the emergency room. Dr. Ho stitched me up. I wanted so badly to inform her of her resemblance to Sandra Oh, and point out that Sandra plays a doctor on TV and how weird it is that if you transposed the letters in her last name (Ho) she would have the same last name as Sandra's (Oh)... but I didn't.

So, obviously, it has taken me a while to want to ride again. I am still a bit skiddish around traffic. I REALLY enjoyed riding again. It is a perfect day in Denver, Colorado. I am glad to be back on the bike seat.

Ouch!

UAL announced today a first quarter loss of $542 million.

Um, Hello... raise the fucking fares! Lets see... PRICE OF GAS + EMPLOYEE WAGES + ALL OTHER EXPENSES ÷ NUMBER OF SEATS ON AIRPLANE = AIRFARE.

This is just another episode in what is quickly becoming the most dramatic and turbulent years in modern aviation history.

Happy Passover

This information comes thanks from Ruth. I asked what sorts of foods would be served at Passover dinner. She mentioned brisket, matzo ball soup and kugel. However, apparently, it is not traditional to serve kugel with Passover dinner. I couldn't help myself. I had to google kugel (say it.) Ruth explained that kugel simply means casserole, but since I’m from Minnesota I am confined to calling it hot dish.

Something special in the air.

It happens a couple times a year. It seems everyone, all at once, high tails it out of town. It's that time of year I guess, and today is the day.


Sheri is in Harrisburg visiting her parents and her friend Val.


Daniel is in Orlando visiting his friend Aaron.


Kaiya is in Cancun at a Jewish retreat.


Matt & Mike are on their way to Shanghai to visit their friend Shirley.

It's quiet in Denver.

Google Street View part 2: Google map it!

part one

Deluxe

The ambiance was sexy. The lighting was more conducive to sleeping than reading. It was so dark in there it was actually hard to read the menu. I think we looked like a bunch of old codgers trying to catch some light onto the menu. We moved the menu left to right up then down out and in looking for the spot with the most light. We finally had success reading the menu. We started with oyster shooters, which were sublime, and dumplings, also very good. I had pork tenderloin with the best fricken coleslaw I have ever eaten.

The cake came from Mulberry's Bakery on South Pearl. It was good, but I wouldn't cry in the night for it.



I think Baily has figured out that his parents went to Shanghai without him. He is very depressed. Nothing a bone and a walk can't cure... right boy?

Ellen is 30

Happy Birthday Dr. Lola

We are going to Deluxe for dinner.

9.8 miles

Bailey and I went on a 9.8 mile walk on Monday. I was figuring it was around 7 miles, but when I plotted our path on Google Earth I discovered we had trekked just under 10 miles. WOWSA! Part of the walk included a stroll down 16th Street Mall, Denver's dumpy version of the Champs Elysees. Then again... the real Champs Elysees is kind of dumpy. I noticed a lot of shops and restaurants that had either closed or were in the processes of closing down. It looks kind of sad down there. Downtown Denver has that recession feel to it. This is not good. The DNC is less then 6 months away. I hope Denver can appear to have a lively and vibrant downtown scene for the democrats. After seeing the sad perils of downtown I much prefer the cusp of the city center. Capital Hill, Uptown, Highlands, Golden Triangle and Washington Park are all much more alive, vibrant and distinct compared to the core of downtown. Denver reminds me of a toilet. You want to keep the rim clean, but flush whats in the middle.

Matt and Mike departed for Shanghai today, so I have Bailey-sitting duties for the next week. YAY! I love me some brown lab dog. He is so good. He is sleeping next to me on the floor as I write this.

NWA & Delta announce plans to wed

Let the merger mania begin!
This means the Northwest name will cease to exist as part of the U.S. aviation industry. 2008 has, thus far, been one of the most interesting years for the airline industries. The merger was announced a mere 5 hours ago and already analysts are predicting an announcement from UAL/Continental camp about a proposed merger.

Google street view

View Larger Map

My brother sent me an email today with this link. It would seem Google added Emerson street in their new street view feature. My old periwinkle Crown Vic is the third car on the left. In the movie "The Jerk" Steve Martin became very excited when he discovered he was listed in the phone book. "I'm somebody now" he proclaimed. Google street view kinda makes me feel like that... I am somebody now.

Goodmorning, What!?!?

Frontier Airlines filed for chapter 11 last night. I know all the gloom and doomers on airliners.net were predicting this, but I always blow them off as gloom and doomers. This is scary.

3:48pm Update
Today, at work, customers had my employer very confused with the local airline that filed bankruptcy.. "My flight would not be delayed if you weren't bankrupt" said one unhappy customer. Actually, I thought, I bet it still would. Another customer asked how we were recovering from the MD80's "you guys" grounded. I said we were doing great. UA does not have any MD80's, so the grounding went quite swell.

Twitter explained

"W" Sewage Facility

A sewage plant in San Francisco will be named after our fair president. According to "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" visitors to the facility will watch impurities be removed from water. The water will then flow into a large tank with a sign on it that says mission accomplished.

Snow

They forecasted it & yet we doubted them.






Bundt Cake #2. Not as good as the first, but still pretty good. The top crust stuck to the pan. I guess I will butter a little better next time.

Denver and the convention

And what convention am I referring to? Why the Libertarian Party convention. Hello? Didn't anyone tell these people that Denver.. has like.. reached its political convention quota for the year? Ah, what the hell it will bring in some money for the city. The convention is May 22 through the 26th at the Denver Adams Mark Hotel. Who knew Denver was such a political convention hot spot.

And now about the other convention... I am trying to convince Micheal and Matt to move into my 453 square foot condo for the week of the DNC. People are making a small fortune for renting their homes out for the convention. The Denver Post is estimating 50,000 visitors to the DNC. Yep, its going to be 3 gay men, a chocolate lab and one Epilady.

Charlie The Unicorn

I don't remember where I first saw this... perhaps on Note This? This shit is funny.

Airline Graveyard

This has been a rough week for the airline industry. Count them
1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. airlines have gone under in 1 week. This is some scary shit!


Aloha Airlines 1946-2008

This is by far the saddest airline shut down in recent history. Aloha flew for 62 years. I never flew on Aloha. There is a great last trip report found here... Made me shed a tear.


American Trans Air 1973-2008


Champion Air 1987-2008

This closure is a bit of a surprise, but Hello! 727 + year 2008 gas prices ≠ profits. United used to ground handle some of Champions spring break Mexican flights out of Minneapolis. I have fond memories of seat assignment stickers used for boarding passes. I thought is was so old fashioned, but nobody ever got the same seat. Ahhhhh memories of 727 loads of drunk UofM kids going to Cancun.


Skybus 2004-2008

This one is hot off the presses. Skybus, from what I have read and heard, was terrible. I wish UA would buy their fleet. They need some more airplanes.

London

UAL started daily nonstop service Denver to London on Sunday. I did not know this until the speeches were given at the inaugural celebration, but UA has been trying to obtain this route for 15 years. The route was only made possible by the open skies agreement passed into law last year. I cannot wait to jump on this flight! Here are some pictures from the inagural celebration.