4 NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 11 TESTING THE WATERS For Tez Steinberg, no ocean is too big to cross for a cause. BY STEPHEN SINGULAR 18 MAKE ’EM LAUGH Meet Eeland Stribling, winner of the Comedy Works New Faces competition. BY JOHN FLATHMAN 21 COOL BEANS Remembering Café Nepenthes and the city’s ’70s coffeehouse roots. BY PETER JONAS 25 HIGH ON MUSIC The storied past of Denver’s hi-dive. BY JULIANNA O’CLAIR 6 News 18 Culture 21 Cafe 25 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 28 34 Marijuana TOKE OF THE TOWN ................................ 34 ASK A STONER ......................................... 36 STRAIN GANG .......................................... 38 VOLUME 47 NUMBER 14 NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2023 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. 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Peri- odicals postage paid in Denver. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $100/year or $50/six months. Postmaster: Send address changes to Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 5970, Denver, CO 80217 Street address: 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO 80203 For retail or classifi ed advertising, call: 303-296-7744 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] “THE ART OF THE STEAL,” PATRICIA CALHOUN, NOVEMBER 23 P L A Y I N G T H E T R U M P C A R D Westword’s editor should be giving thanks that she’s going to have Donald Trump to kick around for another four years after he’s elected in 2024. Joe Parrish Denver Congratulations to the Denver judge who made it offi cial: Donald Trump incited the actions on January 6, 2021. Let’s hope the federal court in D.C. recognizes that, too. Lilith Armor Denver So world peace and American prosper- ity were much worse than a brain dead comatose crooked puppet president, tanked economy, two hot wars and 100,000 fentanyl deaths a year from a wide open border? You Marxists are a twisted lot. I would vote for Nosferatu over this piece of shit that has destroyed our country and is a Chinese operative. Women should have never been allowed to vote. You are a shining example. Brian Brock Denver “PAYING THE PRICE,” STEPHEN SINGULAR, NOVEMBER 16 P R I V A T E E Y E F U L Wanted to pass my praise to author Stephen Singular for “Paying the Price.” Knowing nothing about the subject, I was drawn in by the detailed reporting and engaging in- terview. I read the whole article at Leevers Locavore while waiting for my snow tires to be mounted. Thanks for the great read! (Good way to pass the time.) Jamie Miller Denver It was my privilege to work with Ellis Armistead and many of the investigators he trained and mentored over the course of my forty years as a criminal defense lawyer. If I had the unhappy prospect of facing a serious criminal accusation personally, I would pri- oritize hiring a great investigator over a great lawyer. Good facts make good lawyers…Ellis and his minions were/are great investigators and were instrumental in securing acquittals for several innocent clients of mine. And numerous not-so-innocent. Ben Colkitt Denver “WHAT’S IN A NAME?” PATRICIA CALHOUN, NOVEMBER 9 F A M E I S T H E N A M E O F T H E G A M E Whazzup? Well, “What’s in a Name?” should be answered straight for worldwide Westword readership and news media con- sumption. What’s in a name is everything, es- pecially Hugh Hefner’s Playboy! Hef would tell you it’s everything! Leslie Twarogowski’s grandfather, Jerry Friedland, owning the Playboy Lounge in yesteryear and doing business with Hef’s Playboy Enterprises is fascinating American business history. For three magnifi cent years during the 1960s, billionaire J. Paul Getty, at that time the richest man in America, was Playboy magazine’s fi nancial editor. Back then, Playboy Press published two of his books, How to Be Rich and How to Be a Suc- cessful Executive. The Playboy nexus allows Lion’s Lair co- partner Demi Merritt to think and hustle. Let me suggest that the Lion’s Lair invite Aspenite Barbi Benton and her husband down anytime on comp. Do the same for Aspen movie stars Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. Remember Ms. Barbi Benton was a long-time Hugh Hefner fl ame. Let’s put the Playboy, Hollywood and Bev- erly Hills spotlights on the sidewalk in front of the Lion’s Lair as they search the night sky for more twinkling stars as the crowds pack the joint. Ka-ching on the money! Have more Playboy, Beverly Hills and Hollywood action on Colfax Avenue in Denver. Playboy still has platinum cachet in the 21st century in the entertainment and music business! Emzy Veazy III Denver and Aspen ON THE COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF UNITEDWORLDCHALLENGE.ORG. LETTERS T O T H E E D I T O R YOU CAN COMMENT ON ANY STORY AT WESTWORD.COM; SEND LETTERS TO [email protected] Don’t miss a word! The stories in this print edition are just a fraction of the pieces we publish every week on westword.com. For a cheat sheet on all that content, subscribe to our daily newsletter at westword.com/profi le. You can also follow @denverwestword on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. And it’s all free! GETTY IMAGES/WESTWORD ILLUSTRATION
