Welcome to Cole: Jezebel's Juke Joint and Brothel

So there I was tonight at the dog park, braving mud and sleet and snow to get my dog a little activity, and I learned from a friend that there was a new blues bar in Cole. Nope, no kidding--A  Blues Bar!

So I rushed right over to the former Marco's place at 39th and High Street, to find Jezebel's Juke Joint and Brothel.

I almost fell out of my car I was so stunned. I rushed inside, soaking wet and muddy, to get a glimpse. I was greeted warmly by a man and woman (the owners, I'm guessing) and a cute little pit puppy named Diesel. The place is really cool inside--Very authentic, old, and inviting.

This place is very promising. Great happy hour from 4-7 M-F, and live music! In Cole! And not Salsa!

I had to leave without having a drink, but I'll be back tomorrow night for their live music.

Colians, let's get out there and support these folks. At least at first glance, they look like a very cool addition to the neighborhood.

Farewell Jerry

It's a pretty regular occurrence to see an ambulance pull up to a certain house on our block. Two of the sons  living there are extreme alcoholics, and the daughter has a drug problem. One of them pretty regularly overdoes it, and call in the ambulance. The mother, an elderly woman with her own issues, has needed assistance from time-to-time as well. Since they have no car, they call 911 whenever they have a problem.

So last night I wondered who had overindulged when I saw an ambulance roll up in front of their house yet again. I expected the Detox van to be close behind. It didn't take me long to realize things were more serious this time, as I saw someone getting CPR on the porch. The daughter was hysterical and running up and down the block. I couldn't make out who it was as they were taking away in the ambulance. All I could see was a pair of feet--Skinny legs, white tube socks poking out from denim jeans. Could it be Jerry?

Unfortunately, I just learned that it was, and he died last night. I don't know the causes, but I know he wasn't well for some time and didn't take very good care of himself.

Jerry has been a friend of ours since we first moved to Cole and he shouted across the street as we walked our dogs: "Is they spaded?". He and his family had lived on the block for over 50 years. According to Jerry, his granddad built several homes on the block, including ours. He used to tell me about how he remembered our block in the good days, when it was shady and tree-lined, and when the residents all got along and often had block parties. He had been witness to a lot of Cole's history.

He fought in Vietnam and the French Foreign Legion before becoming a hydrology engineer or something similar. He had a property in sunny, quiet California, a place that would have been a lot better for his health than Cole, yet he stayed out of love for his elderly mother. He shared our love of the Rottweiler breed, of James Brown, and of fresh air. And he was an amazing artist. He often shared poems and pictures he had created, and I was consistently shocked at how the partier across the street was so talented.
He had a drinking problem and hung out with a lot of the old-timer riff-raff on the block, but was a good man. In a way, he was trapped in limbo. He was a throwback to the seedier days of Cole, and experienced that side of things every day with members of his own family. But while he stayed friendly with the old-timers he also embraced changes to the neighborhood as a positive thing. He frequently told us how much he loved us, and that we were good people, even though his sister was convinced we had it in for her and that any time the police showed up it was because we had called them. That didn't bother Jerry. He cared about everyone--old and new--in the neighborhood. And he had come to peace with a lot of the bad things he'd done, as he frequently told me. But he had really cleaned up his act, except for the drinking.

The last few years he's been hobbled, because his drunk brother had thrown him down a flight of stairs and severely broken his ankle in a drunken disagreement. Along with his COPD and his drinking, he had his good days and bad days the last couple years.

I'll never forget how he would go sit on the street corner with the old-timers and drink for hours--He was frequently drunk--But he was courteous to the police officers that often came and cited him for public intoxication. He couldn't change his habit, but he was very realistic about it and the consequences. He also called out other guys on the block when they got too drunk and got into trouble, not allowing them to play the victim card. He's also the only person I ever loaned money to on the block more than once--Because he always paid me back before I had to ask. He was all about personal responsibility. But bottom line, drunk or sober, no matter what was going on, he was a super-friendly man with a huge heart and a great sense of humor.

Jerry loved spicy food--I always shared my garden-grown jalapenos and habaneros and home-made green chili. We'd often chat over our fences about this and that--We didn't have much in common, but you couldn't tell. I remember when my wife bought me a "stingy brim" (fedora) hat, and when Jerry saw me in it, he complimented me on it. The next day he handed me three of his own, really nice ones, from the 60's. Jerry was a great, if unorthodox friend.

I just told Jerry last weekend that I wanted to sit down with him one afternoon with a bottle of his favorite Kentucky Deluxe and document some of the history of the neighborhood he always talked about. I had also always wanted to talk to him about the war, as it was clear he was deeply affected by it. I'm deeply sorry I missed that opportunity.

Some might look at one fewer drunk on the streets as a good thing. I might too, if I didn't know Jerry. But he truly was a bridge between old and new--Between black and white, and young and old. A lot of Cole's history--Good and bad--died last night. I've already caught myself looking for him up the block when I go out and get my morning paper.

We'll miss you Jerry.

Bring Hooters To Cole

So who knew that I’d stir such controversy by simply stating the fact that the overtly gay theme of the new “Swallows Video Lounge” would likely not appeal to a significant percentage of the Cole Neighborhood’s residents?
A commenter was so offended with my commments, that she made it clear she would boycott the Cole Neighborhood Association. Not sure why she'd get such a knee-jerk reaction from one guy stating his opinion. Jeez, folks, what do I have to do to make it clear that I don’t speak for the CNA? Heck, I haven’t been to a single meeting in over a year. Not to mention the fact that I frequently get negative comments on my blog from CNA members. I just voice my opinions here. If you don't like it, no problem, flame away and/or stop reading it. But don't try to make any sort of generalization about a group I don't even belong to.
Now this commenter, a lesbian, practiced the ole’ reverse stereotype by assuming that because I didn’t find a bar that had sexual euphemisms abound about swallowing bodily fluids my cup of tea (or other liquid) that I of course must have wanted a Hooters there instead.

Initially, this bothered me. But the more I thought about it, what would make a clearly racist, sexist, homophobic gun-toting redneck like I me feel more at home in Cole than a Hooters? Heck, I do love me some chicken wings, and I also love me some sexy thrice-divorced aspiring reality TV stars in 70’s running shorts. So, guilty as charged! I’d rather have a Hooters in Cole than Swallows. At least it’s a proven business model that will likely last longer than six months. And if anyone won’t support the local Hooters, they’re clearly heterophobes. How shallow-minded. Then I’d have to boycott the CNA, too.

It got me to thinking—What other establishments might I like to see in the old Tosh’s Hacienda/Kiva Restaurant/Club Dynasty/Blackberries Bar and Grill building? Hmmm… the possibilities are endless:

• First off, as a homophobe, I must be a hard-core bible thumper, so of course I’d like to see a Catholic church there. Nothing would help me fight off those evil homosexuals like a stack of bibles the size of Jenny’s Market. Plus pews offer a lot of pass-out space for the regulars in the neighborhood.

• How about a shooting range? Everyone knows any self-respecting gun toting Republican NRA member would like to have a shooting range in their neighborhood. They could make Wednesdays "gangsters under 12 to shoot free" night (as long as they’ve got their homework done, of course).

• A Nascar video lounge. Boy, nothing gets my blood pumping more than the smell of motor oil and putting on my old number 6 Dale Earnhardt jumpsuit to go watch Daytona 500 re-runs on The Ocho.

• A Bass Pro Shop Outlet. Of course, Cole is a utopia for outdoorsmen. Whether it’s hunting squirrels, fishing at nearby City Park Lake, or bird watching the ghetto pidgeons that crap down the side of St. Martins Plaza, no doubt outdoorsmen like me would like to see our need for blaze orange camouflage and 12 gauge shotgun shells met within staggering range of our houses. It’s such a sketchy drive all the way over to Stapleton after a 24 pack of Natural Light, let me tell you.

• Oh! Monster Trucks! Yes! By golly, that’s a winner. Now although the space in the Kiva building is expansive, I know it may be a stretch to fit an entire monster truck course in there. But I think they could do it. I was at the Pepsi Center for a Thuggets game a few weeks ago and couldn’t even imagine where they put all the dirt and sweet jumps with all those rows of seats in the way. They may have to move the aquarium, but I think it could happen.

• And finally, I think the neighborhood could benefit from a professional wrestling ring. And none of that culturally-sensitive Lucha Libre, either. I’m talking good old, heterosexual white males on steroids wearing red speedos in a choreographed mock battle to the death. Nothing would signal the new, peaceful future of Cole like two 300 pound high school drop-outs beating each other with folding chairs.

So there you have it. There are so many other establishments that the mainstream Cole residents like me would rather have in the old Kiva building than Swallows Video Lounge. Thanks must go out to MSH, the poster that got me thinking about this topic. Without her help, I think I just would have settled for a laid-back, casual, come-as-you-are neighborhood bar and restaurant.

Cole Neighborhood Plan Meeting--Tomorrow, Thursday, March 11th at EXDO

Have an opinion about what Cole's neighborhood plan should look like? Just want to be in the loop? Don't miss this meeting tomorrow night at EXDO.

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Hello, my name is Courtland Hyser, and I’m the City of Denver’s project manager for a new small area plan called the Northeast Downtown Neighborhoods Plan. You are receiving this e-mail because you have either requested to be on the mailing list, or because you were already on the mailing list for one or more of the following recent planning efforts: the Downtown Area Plan, the Arapahoe Square Blight Study, the Central Corridor Extension Environmental Evaluation, or the 38th & Blake Station Area Plan.
The first public meeting for the Northeast Downtown Neighborhoods Plan will be held on Thursday, March 11th at the EXDO Event Center, 1399 35th St., from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The focus of this first meeting will be on identifying challenges, opportunities, and existing conditions within the study area. There is a map of the study area on the attached meeting flier. You can also learn more about the plan by visiting the project’s website at www.denvergov.org/northeastdowntown. If you have additional questions, you can reach me at courtland.hyser@denvergov.org or 720-865-2924.

Courtland Hyser, AICP

Senior City PlannerDenver Community Planning and Development201 West Colfax Ave, Dept 205Denver, CO 80202Phone: (720) 865-2924Website: www.denvergov.org/planning

Cole Chronicles

Cole-ites: (Colians? Hmm....)

If you haven't checked out the Cole Chronicles, a much better-written and more constructive blog about the neighborhood, I highly recommend you check it out.

The author just posted a very funny (and insightful) post about progress in the neighborhood:

http://denver.yourhub.com/Denver/Blogs/Your-Voice/Blog~743280.aspx

As always, thanks for reading, and for caring about our little 'hood.