Sunday sights in Denver

The Iowa delegates to the Democratic National Convention are staying in the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Denver.  It’s located on the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall.  This is the view to your left, as you walk outside the hotel.  The clock tower has a night-time cabaret show according to my male friends who noticed the adverts on the building as we walked by in the daylight hours.

The pedetrian mall was crowded today, as news accounts indicate about a thousand anti-war protestors showed up to, um, protest.

One fellow who was beating his drum in front of the Starbucks that’s next door to the Iowa delegation’s hotel was chanting, but forgot how the chant went in the middle of one of the verses.  Folks sitting on the sidewalk patio at Starbucks laughed.  Many pedestrians were taking pictures.

There are cops walking.  There are cops riding bikes.  There are cops riding horses. All amid the common franchise stores we see on streets in every city in America. 

I took these pictures as I walked down 16th to the Sheraton, where media credentials were handed out today.  The media bags had some interesting items, including a small folder with a golden cover — "Dale Carnegie’s Golden Book" — with helpful tips on how to become a friendlier person and how to prevent fatigue, among many others.  "Put enthusiasm in your work" was followed by "Don’t worry about insomnia" on the preventing fatigue list. I’ll keep that in mind this week, especially as I type this at 11:13 p.m. central/10:13 mountain time.

There were also a couple of bottles of "Joint Juice."  Folks, it’s a liquid product apparently being marketed to Boomers who are invited to "join the movement for a better, more flexible you."

A nice bifold from www.ecodrivingusa.com offered five tips on how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  Number three was check your tire pressure monthly.  There’s no time stamp on the thing, so I don’t know if it wss printed before or after Obama’s tire gauge advice.  The EcoDriver piece came courtesy of the Auto Alliance, which includes BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Misubishi, Porsche, Toyota and VW.

Another item in the bag was something from the Center for Empowered Living and Learning (CELL).  It was titled "Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere:  Understanding the Threat of Terrorism."  There’s a CELL exhibit in Denver’s Civic Center.