Tickets are still available for comedian Dave Chappelle’s Birthday Extravaganza, featuring hip-hop artist Common, beginning at 9 tonight (doors open at 8) at the Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder. 

Tickets are $37.50 general admission plus applicable service charges and are available at www.BoulderTheater.com and the Boulder Theater box office.

(Comedy Central photo)

Eavesdropping on a husband and wife talking about a homeless person leaving his belongings in a grate on their condo building property: “Why would a homeless person leave his stuff like that?”

“Homeless people have storage issues, too.”

The City of Denver could become one big farmer’s market after the City Council recently approved a law that allows Denver residents to sell from their homes fresh produce they have grown themselves and cottage foods such as jams and honey they have made in their home kitchens.

“Denver has always been known as a city that appreciates ‘farm-to-table’ and using fresh produce and locally sourced foods, but this new law creates a whole new level of urban farming that will allow the city to become one big farmer’s market,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver.

Under the new law, which takes effect today (Friday), Denver residents will have to purchase a permit, but then will be able to sell from their home raw and uncut fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs that were grown by the seller either on site or in a community garden.

They will also be able to sell whole eggs produced by chickens or ducks kept by the seller at home, or “cottage foods,” which are low-risk, unrefrigerated food products made on-site such as spices, teas, honey, jams and certain baked goods. People can sell from inside or outside their home from 8 a.m. to dusk and can sell up to $5,000 of goods a year.

“Denver has become a leader in urban farming,” Scharf said, noting that two years ago the Colorado Convention Center opened the Blue Bear Farm on the grounds of the Convention Center and is now growing 5,000 pounds of fresh fruits, vegetables and spices used in the convention center’s kitchens.  “Many city restaurants have already put in their own gardens and farms, and now they will be able to buy vegetables, eggs, jams, and fruits grown right in the neighborhood.”

For more information, including how to secure a permit, a list of permissible cottage foods and tips for your home garden, visit www.denvergov.org/homebusiness. The sale of marijuana or marijuana-infused products is not allowed.

Additional resources are also available at the Colorado State University Denver Extension Office, which provides resources on soil testing as well as classes on urban farming, cottage foods and food safety. Visit www.denverext.colostate.edu for more information.

For more activities in Denver go to www.visitdenver.com.

Arts Brookfield will launch its free outdoor concert series, Summer on the Plaza, from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday (July 23) with the Garrett Sayers Trio performing at the 1801 California plaza. The series features rising stars of Denver’s music scene along with happy hour specials at Guard and Grace, adjacent to the plaza.

The following musicians are scheduled to perform.
* July 23 – Garrett Sayers Trio
* July 30 – Ark Life with Patrick Dethlefs
* Aug. 6 – SHEL
* Aug. 13 – Megan Burtt

Arts Brookfield presents cultural experiences to hundreds of thousands of people for free each year at Brookfield Office Properties, which include 1801 California and Republic Plaza in downtown Denver.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our free arts programming in the Denver community with Brookfield’s recent transformation of 1801 California,” said Debra Simon, vice president and artistic director of Arts Brookfield. “In addition to Arts Brookfield’s ongoing (exhibits) inside the building, we look forward to offering an opportunity for people to enjoy live music by local musicians in a beautiful outdoor, urban and lively setting.”

For more information on the concert series, visit the website (www.artsbrookfield.com/denver or follow Arts Brookfield on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (@ArtsBrookfield), YouTube, Pinterest, or Vine. Follow the hashtag #ArtsBrookfield for photos and tweets about Summer on the Plaza.

(Photo courtesy of MeganBurtt.com)

Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery, a refined casual American grill with a global influence, opened Thursday in Denver’s East Colfax neighborhood at 4990 E. Colfax. The fast-casual concept combines quick service for a casual market that strives to serve the freshest ingredients, highest standards and inventive techniques.

Customers can enjoy a quick healthy and local lunch or dinner to go, and also a comfortable space for patrons to linger for a tap beer or pour of keg wine.

Owner and executive chef Clint Wangsnes (former top toque at Zengo) brings a diverse blend of his coastal trainings in Florida, California, Oregon and Hawaii, combined with Asian and Mexican influences from nearly a decade with famed chef and restaurateur Richard Sandoval.

“Chop Shop has been a true labor of love and the result of an idea I had three years ago after my daughter, Luella was born,” Wangsnes said. “The addition of my son helped propel the need for seriously good protein and sides of a high-end steakhouse, but in a relaxed and price-appropriate manner.”

The Chop Shop menu is seasonally crafted and prepared by chefs with a focus on clean and healthy eating, with an expansive kids menu. The steakhouse concept heavily influences the menu selections, but not the price. Chop Shop also has a certified sous-vide program. 

The meals focus around a protein served as a side, and sides as the centerpieces such as a 48-hour slow-cooked short rib with grilled baby carrots and whipped potatoes in a three-peppercorn hoisin demi glace. Additionally, there is a selection of craft beer, wine and a seasonal cocktail as well as all natural cane sodas.

Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery is open daily from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Online ordering and take out is available.

For more information, visit: www.coloradochopshop.com, Facebook: Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery or Twitter: @CoChopShop or call 720-550-7665.

(Photo courtesy of Chop Shop Facebook page)

Local photographer Dick Nosbisch’s work has been accepted for exhibition in The Fotogram Art Studio in Belgrade, Serbia, a juried exhibition Beauty of Face & Body - Second International Biennial of Projected Photographic Image.

The Contest was open to all photographers worldwide. Works accepted in the exhibit are from around the world including: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, only four U.S. photographers were accepted in the category of Nude from the United States.

Nosbisch’s work titled: “Sky Shell Nude” was one of the four of 127 in exhibition out of 432 sent-in entries.

Nosbisch’s photograph is from his recent series of work, “Nature’s Projected Images”, a study in utilizing nature’s bounty – rocks, river stones, raindrops, ocean tides, seashore sand, seashells, flowers, buds, trees, twigs, bark, leaves, trunks, weeds and reeds upon the human nude form of skin, hair, sinew and bone. “I’ve captured and transformed from nature, but she ultimately tells the story for the viewer to find in each image,” Nosbisch said.

The accepted entries will be exhibited in the on-line publication “The Photogram” – an Internet magazine as well as published in the contest catalog.

Nosbisch’s photography career started back in the ‘60s in Buffalo, NY. He moved to Denver in 1977 and helped form the Art Institute of Colorado’s Photography Department, spearheading the Colorado Photographic Arts Center as president from 1977-1982. Nosbisch has exhibited work in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Buenos Aires, Switzerland and Denver.

His work is in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts in New York and the Colorado Photographic Arts Center. Additional work of Nosbisch can be viewed on his website at www.dwnphoto.com.

Dick Nosbisch’s ‘Sky Shell Nude.’ (Courtesy of Dick Nosbisch)

Eavesdropping on a woman: “A couple walked in with those T-shirts that say, ‘I’m With Him/I’m With Her.’ I tell my ex hubby, ‘Maybe we’d still be married if we wore those shirts.’ He said we were too mature for that.”

Thrillist.com, the snarky online “in the know” food blog, compiled a list of the “Best Patios in 11 Denver ‘Hoods.”

And as long as you can time “happy hour,” lunch or dinner to avoid Denver’s daily deluge, you’ll find these snappy spots for al fresco drinking and dining.

The Thrillist top 11 are:

* Downtown – Tamayo, 1400 Larimer St.

* LoDo – ViewHouse, 2015 Market St.

* Uptown – Ace, 501 E. 17th Ave.

* SoBo (South Broadway) – Illegal Pete’s, 270 S. Broadway.

* Glendale – Hi Jax, 650 S. Colorado Blvd.

* Wash Park – Agave Tacos, 2217 Mississippi Ave.

* Wash Park West – Vert Kitchen, 704 S. Pearl St.

* RiNo – Matchbox, 2625 Larimer St.

* Platt Park – Fourteen Seventy-Two, 1472 S. Pearl St.

* Highland – Linger, 2030 W. 30th Ave.

* Lower Highland – Denver BeerCo., 1695 Platte St.

Read more about each one at www.thrillist.com/eat/denver/best-outdoor-bars-and-restaurants-by-neighborhood-in-denver.

The Denver Art Museum will celebrate Cathey McClain Finlon’s four decades of outstanding leadership and dedicated service to the Denver Art Museum at its 34th annual Collectors’ Choice fundraising gala on December 11. The elegant event is one of the museum’s largest fundraisers. This year’s funds will support the museum’s fall exhibition, “Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century”.

As one of Denver’s visionary thinkers, McClain Finlon has brought her brand of insight to the Denver Art Museum board of trustees for the past 20 years, most recently leading the charge to unite the museum’s campus with a transformative new administrative building. McClain Finlon’s relationship with the museum started when she served as its first development director. She proceeded to build one of the top 50 advertising agencies in the country and returned as the museum’s president from 2009 to 2013 to guide a successful leadership transition.

McClain Finlon’s philanthropy extends beyond the museum to many community organizations where she has served on leadership boards including Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Denver Public Schools Foundation, Junior Achievement, University of Denver Daniels College of Business, Colorado Outward Bound School and American Association of Advertising Agencies. In recognition of her tremendous contributions to the Denver community and business sectors, Cathey was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame and received the prestigious Leader Award from the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts.

Event co-chairs are Jane and Fred Hamilton and Ann and Kevin Reidy. Gala tables start at $10,000 and pairs of seats start at $2,500. Interested parties should contact Gravely Wilson at gwilson@denverartmuseum.org or at 720-913-0034.

Communications Coordinator
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck