Around Town Yesterday

Last night, AV and I took in the opening performance of the Town Hall Arts Center's Footloose! Yes, we went to a show. I'm continually making good on my promise to see only musicals that my brother is performing in. If you scroll down on the link you'll see the production photos (and some stonewashed jeans). His performance as Ren McCormack has busted the metaphysics of the six-degrees game. I am screamingly proud of him, and last night as I was watching him swing his partner about during the closing number I was immediately grateful for all of the swing nights I dragged him to during college. But what we saw last night was all him, and it was fantastic. I did have some roberto cavalli-related flashbacks last night as I was rudely bumped by many ladies in horrid fur coats.

Yesterday I also answered phones at KUVO, and there I learned that the major public radio outlet in Colorado has outsourced all their fundraising drive functions. As if recorded local information wasn't enough, when you call to pledge funds to Colorado Public Radio, you speak to someone in Iowa or elsewhere who they've contracted to answer the phones. Basically, CPR has us all over a barrel. That's too bad. However, it also drives home the importance (at least to me) of the work KUVO does, not only in their format choices, but in their symbiotic relationship to the community. If you've not connected with KUVO yet, you really should. And I'm not just saying that because I give time and energy (and funds) ... it's a real gem in a sea of absolute rocks.

Earlier this week I learned that Wild Oats has been bought out by Whole Foods. This is bad news for a variety of reasons, but like other Wild Oats customers, I have two concerns. The first (and most major) having to do with the potential closing of stores. The Capitol Hill Wild Oats (aka our Giant Refrigerator) is excellent in terms of customer service and quality of meat and produce. I go there almost every other day to get fresh food stuffs for our evening meals, and if this went away it would change the character of our neighborhood. Also, I would be really upset. The second has to do with the quality of product and customer service once Wild Oats gets brought under the behemoth's umbrella. There's a reason (or a variety of them, really) that Wild Oats customers shop there and not at Whole Foods (sorry Mom -- I know you like the olives and cheese). As a fellow KUVO volunteer and down-the-street neighbor said yesterday, "They ask you for ID when you're shopping in Cherry Creek." We're all crossing our fingers that the Whole Foods aura won't infect our neighborhood grocery, and in this age of big-box stores and wacky rules about lobsters and foie gras, the Cap Hill Wild Oats is really the closest thing we've got to that concept.

Not in town: dooce's insightful and, frankly profound, commentary on the Britney Spears situation. We were remarking last week that the media and public that cares about this particular tragedy are the ones that built her up and now she's suffering at their mercy. Heather Armstrong contends that it may be evidence of postpartum depression which only adds to the tragedy and to the marked severity of the situation.

Also found yesterday: and disgusting, is this tidbit from a Greenwich Village Taco Bell/KFC (it just sounds like a bad idea, doesn't it?): here's some YouTube of rats on parade. Disgusting. According to one report, the Taco Bell/KFC where these rats were running wild was open to customers and serving food just the previous day.