< PREVIOUS ] [ 1993 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
The calendar just rolled over again, which means that columnist tradition (that is, there's nothing else to write about during this time of year, since everyone important is on vacation) demands that we take stock of the best and worst of 1992.
Worst advertising: Keystone. I think that Loveland Basin
actually commissioned and purchased the obnoxious TV ads.
Loveland's clever idea was to make you think If we were
to drive through the Eisenhower Tunnel some weekend, we
might meet that Keystone geek. Better not take that risk,
so we'll ski on this side of the mountains.
Best Colorado politician: Wellington Webb. When he was elected, I figured Denver was in for a series of bush-league crony and nepotism scandals in the mayor's office, since that's what distinguished Webb's tenure as city auditor. But from my remote vantage, he's run the city quite capably, and he will stand up and lead. Maybe he'll run for governor.
Worst phrase: You just don't get it.
What this
really means is I'm a superior creature who doesn't have
to bother explaining anything, especially to redneck
infidels like you who persist in questioning the
suitability of Ste. Anita for the first vacancy in the Holy
Trinity.
Such attitudes produce neither converts nor
public enlightenment.
Best book: The Garlic Testament, by Stanley Crawford.
Like Wendell Berry, Crawford both writes and farms. Berry,
though, is an arrogant holier-than-thou, a holistic green
ayatollah. Crawford, who lives in northern New Mexico,
faces the many ambiguities of life in the Rockies with
insight and wit. Consider this market exchange he reports:
Is your garlic organic?
Are you organic?
Now
go buy a copy while you can -- the shelf life of the modern
book is, alas, generally shorter than that of garlic.
Second-best book: Cities of Gold, by Douglas Preston. On horseback, he retraces Coronado's route into the heart of the continent and discovers, among other things, that the area is less populated now than it was in 1540. Preston is somewhat New Age PC (probably the pernicious influence of Santa Fe, where he lives), which often makes him too predictable. But it's still a book well worth reading.
Best album: Johnnie B. Bad, by Johnnie Johnson. Okay,
they don't make record albums any more, and this actually
came out in 1991. But I didn't find it till 1992, and if
it's not an album,
what are we supposed to call a
recording that could be on type I, II, or IV cassette tape,
CD, DCC, DAT or some new acronym that will require
purchasing more expensive but temperamental machinery?
Anyway, Johnnie Johnson was a pianist with his own trio in 1952. The saxophonist was sick one night, and so a guitar player named Chuck Berry filled in. The rest is history, but Johnnie Johnson missed out on some deserved fame until this album. It's good music and it's fun; what more do you need?
Worst Case of Media Overkill: The Amendment 2 aftermath was a strong contender, but at least it concerned something important. The recent firing of Dan Reeves inspired more ink and airtime, and it's not about anything that will matter next week.
Best Performance by a Member of the Cultural Elite: Linda Chavez, who appeared at the Headwaters III conference in Gunnison last fall. At such gatherings, the high-rollers usually flee back to civilization the instant that their speech is over. But she stuck around for two days and even chatted casually with the proletarian rabble. Whatever her politics, there is a place in Heaven for her on that account alone.
< PREVIOUS ] [ 1993 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >