So today I start using this as a forum to write about my experiences behind the bar.

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The wife and I took over responsibility for the building located at 2100 Larimer St., in the ballpark district of downtown Denver. Her mom got sick May, 2009 and someone needed to earn money for the building's finances. We stepped up and have been doing it since September, 2009.

I have quit my job teaching HS Math and now run the bar full-time. We do karaoke 2 nights a week, open mic comedy night, live music and also private parties. Its fun.
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We get all kinds of people down here and interesting experiences galore. I thought it might be fun to share them.

Hey all,

We are doing Karaoke on Thursday nights, starting at 8pm, at El Charrito (2100 Larimer St).
We'll have drink specials till 10pm, as well as cheap drinks all night!

Come on down, have a drink and sing a song...or three!  :)

This was an email I sent out to family and other people...

__

The below video captures my thoughts, and sentiments, regarding the state of affairs in our country.
http://www.dipdive.com/dip-politics/ywc/

I complain to Alaina about sending me these types of messages all the time but I feel very strongly about this upcoming election and wanted to send this out. Do what you will with it, but remember…every 4 years the choice becomes ours to decide what direction we want our country to go in. We could continue to go in the same direction of the last 8 years or we could decide to have change, hopefully for the better. Obama’s plans for education alone make me want to vote for him.

Don’t believe the hype…both parties will smear the other for their own gain. Read the issues for yourself. Learn what they both stand for and choose to have an educated vote.
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

It’s probably too late to change any preconceived notions you might have regarding the candidates. Many of you already know who you will vote for, regardless of what I write. Especially about Barack Obama.

Just remember…in an ever changing world, we should strive to be better. At everything! Why strive to be mediocre, broke, disillusioned, at war and left behind in the world. Know what you want and make your decision wisely.

I want change!

MattOrrin

This video goes out to sui_generis and all others who have hope and feel change is in the air.

Someone send this to Hillary! We want change!

--update-- here is the video

This article helps remind me why organized religion can be bad. Well, maybe not all religions...maybe just Christianity. Somewhere along the way, after years or indocrination, this guy believes that he should have heard from someone...I don't know, say Jesus...who would answer his prayers and make his life better.
They forget to mention that it doesn't work that way. So he shoots a bunch of people then himself. They could have at least taught him the proper order. Always start with yourself!

This is the part that got to me...

Interviews and Murray's Internet postings depict him as a disturbed young man who was bitter about being an outcast, turned against charismatic Christianity and dabbled in other beliefs.


I never heard the term 'charismatic christian' before. I looked up charismatic and was definitely surprised. I had no idea thats what the word is associated with.

I also like the part where it said he dabbled in other beliefs. Something funny about that. Probably witchcraft and satanism.

I don't know if I mentioned this already, but I am going to ComicCon this summer in San Diego. I am getting increasingly excited as the summer draws closer. There are some artists & writers that I am looking forward to seeing (especially Ed Brubaker, Keith Giffen, J.G. Jones and Bryan Hitch) but right now there isn't a huge draw for me. I hope there is some big Batman profile, especially with the new movie coming out. Or maybe a sneak preview into some BIG for next year! Gosh I'm giddy!!!

The only thing I am wondering about is whether or not to dress up! :)

I've been reading a lot of really cool graphic novels lately. Both Marvel and DC have some highly intelligent stuff out, although they are probably not too new.

The _Justice_ series from DC has been making me drool. It is a 3-part series where the world's super villians all have a common dream of saving the world from destruction. They do lots of good things but also take out the Justice League. Very suspenseful.

DC also had 52, which started out all amazing but then tapered a bit at the end. The first book or two had really neat story lines, interesting twists and good art work. I feel the story got a little convoluted near the end and I felt like it wa a bit disconnected. Still worth reading.

Which brings me to the best thing I have been reading as of late. Marvel has an event called CIVIL WAR. They have multiple comic series falling into this story line. There are a couple of Civil War only comics, but otherwise there are crossovers into the X-Men, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Thunderbolts and a bunch of others.

The premise is after a major catastrophe, which involved hundreds of people (including many kids) getting blown up, a Superhero Registration Act is made into a law which requires all "capes" to register with the government and become part of Shield operations. Some heroes (such as Iron Man) support it while others (such as Captain America) vehemently oppose it. This creates an environment of superheroes fighting each other and the Pro-registration heroes having to capture and incarcerate heros that AREN'T registered.

This has to be one of the most intelligent, thought-provoking, story lines I have ever read in a graphic novel. Sure, there is some fluff but the connections to how things are going in our OWN country are astounding. The arguments, and discussions, of the implications regarding a law such as this are very inviting. I can't put this down when I get a new book.

Has anyone read any of this? I would LOVE to discuss this comic and all the happenings in it.
Things like...
- Are these things happening already in our country?
- Would people really allow a law like this if we had superheroes in our world? Why or why not?

Please feel free to discuss

I know its been a while but this has been one crazy year!! Between work, school, my budding relationship and WoW I just havent found the time, nor the inclination, to post here. Well that is (hopefully) gonna change. As of 6:47pm MST today, I have officially completed all the necessary Competencies to obtain my Masters degree. Sure, I have one more class to go to on Saturday but that is merely a technicality. You may now call me Master. Woohoo!!
If you want to see my portfolio, check out http://www.squidnet.com/orrin/portfolio/
It shows the work that I have done in the program...not ALL of it, but the ones that count. What a relief!

On another note, my GF and I will be gracing NYC with our presences in December. We fly in December 13, and plan on staying in the city till Saturday morning. We have a room at the Grand Central Hyatt (thanks Seth!!) and I plan on seeing friends on Friday night. So, if you want to hang out on Friday (plans not yet determined) then hit me up. I will only have that night to hang out with people so please please plan in advance. :)

Things with the GF are going well. We've mostly been spending time on the weekends, especially with our schedules and my lack of car. We take full advantage of that time though, which is cool. We also take advantage of holidays. She will be meeting the family...cousins, etc...during our NY visit. I'm not worried, she is.

Was watching ComiCon on the G4 channel. Lots of exciting things on the horizon...Iron Man movie, Rob Zombie's Halloween, Watchmen announcements (they won't say who this guy is playing but he is in the movie)...and the Dark Knight teaser.

someone give me the strength to make it to Summer 08 to see this movie.

I'll tell you, it could suck. It could be the best movie ever made. And you nay sayers could be as negative as you want about it (Christian Bale has a lisp, Jack was the best Joker, Heath Ledger is too brokeback, etc...) but I am extremely excited about it!

They just showed a still of Joker with Rachel Dawes (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) and it looked like Joker's smile is scarred raised skin...not really sure. However, they had audio in the trailer and he sounded pretty good. Part of a laugh.
I got hard just listening to it all.

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In less exciting news, they are making an Iron Man movie. Robert Downey jr. as the man himself...i'll remain open minded. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury though, which could be pretty sweet.

All of this shit happening with our government, including the Supreme Court, is starting to really scare me. It doesn't take much to get my conspiracy theory juices flowing as it is, but with these people in power my juices are flooding!

- The Supreme court almost effectively overturned Brown v. Board of Ed. This in itself isn't the bad part. The fact is that the conservative majority of the Supreme Court is interpreting the law through their own ideology. This should not be happening.

- Cheney, after claiming Executive privelage to avoid giving up information, is now claiming that he isn't part of the Executive branch but rather the Legislative branch allowing him to avoid giving up other information.

- Bush spits in the face of the law, and jury of the Libby trial, and removes the "prison" sentence given to Libby.

the list goes on...


My predictions for next year as a result of things that have happened in the last 7 years...

- We will have an attack on US soil during the Summer of 2008, or into September, that will lead our current leadership to take full control over our country in a State of Emergency. This will be done by either Bush, or Cheney...depending on whether or not Cheney wants the top spot bad enough.

- There will be NO presidential election next year as a result of all of this. Our leadership will say it is not prudent right now and that we need to come together to fight the "evils" of foreigners attacking us on our soil.

It is the first set of steps toward a full on police state with a relative dictator. I wouldn't be surprised if Rupert Murdoch was put in charge of spreading information through the numerous media outlets he owns.

I hope I am wrong about all of this and just paranoid. I guess we'll see in a year.