Denver virgin, fixing that in 2011

emayess · Post by **emayess** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:11 pm

Hey all,

I'm Matt, live in Denver and decided I'm finally gonna get my azz to the Playa for 2011. I've been to the Colorado regional burn (Apogaea) many times, as well as tons of other local mountain festivals/parties, so while I may be new to BM, I'm not new to burns. Looking forward to meeting some of you, getting advice, and having a great time.

Cheers!

bluesbob · Post by **bluesbob** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:28 pm

If you are in a store and see the fugliest piece of clothing you have ever seen in your life...put it on layaway.

Post by **Elderberry** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:31 pm

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

JK

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:55 pm

Hey, Matt! Buffalo Exchange at 14th and Grant has a good selection of clothes'n'shit. You might do very well there.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:01 pm

Welcome to the eplaya Matt! Glad to have another new face around here!

Tin Halo wrote:Hey, Matt! Buffalo Exchange at 14th and Grant has a good selection of clothes'n'shit. You might do very well there.

I was just down by there an hour ago and wondered about that place. Now I'll have to go check it out.

emayess · Post by **emayess** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:25 pm

Nice to meet you all as well too. Thanks for the advice on clothes and costumes. I have a good stash and a designer friend that is making something special for me, but you can never have too many crazy clothes!

Are any of you going to be at the Decomp party on Oct 9? It will be an awesome time. I'm hoping to be able to help/volunteer so I can contribute to the cause and also get to know more people community.

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 3:00 pm

decided to head back into the mountains, the regionals here dont like me much... something about using my flamethrower in seven mile canyon near boulder... they were really mad

illy dilly · Post by **illy dilly** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 3:56 pm

emayess, welcome to eplaya!
Good to hear the CO numbers are still growing!

The best places in town to get gear are obviously the army surplus on Broadway and old Hampden, and the one up off HW 36 and Pecos. Never been to the one in Arvada, but its probably pretty good too.

Start keeping an eye out for the perfect pair of goggles now. Try on different styles at different places tell you find the ones that are right for you. Two burns now, and I still haven't found goggles I like.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:00 pm

spectabillis wrote:decided to head back into the mountains, the regionals here dont like me much... something about using my flamethrower in seven mile canyon near boulder... they were really mad

It's so damn dry up here in Evergreen it's a miracle we haven't had a lot more fires than we have. But now we know who's to blame for all the spot fires that keeps the news helicopters so busy of late covering them.

SB, being serious for a bit, do you have an opinion about the Denver regional? Good, bad, anything?

Edit: I like the Army Surplus in Olde Town Arvada. Good people, no attitude, packed with stuff. It's always fun to go into...highly recommended!

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 5:30 pm

Amen/No shit. That place kicks some major ass.
It's tied for my 'favorite' status, between it and the South Broadway place.

However, I was not aware of one at 36 and Pecos, until just now.

Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 6:48 pm

Tin Halo wrote:Amen/No shit. That place kicks some major ass.
It's tied for my 'favorite' status, between it and the South Broadway place.

However, I was not aware of one at 36 and Pecos, until just now.

Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

Would you report back on what you think about the 36th & Pecos place? If it's good I'll head over there and check it out.

I'm still finding cool places to check out here. KC I know like few others but Denver is still relatively unexplored territory. So if you or anyone else has recommendations on everything from electronics supplies to fabric places to the best place to get Oxy/Acetylene bottles filled, I'm paying attention!

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:17 pm

Yeah, I'm like that with Indianapolis.... know all the great stores for this stuff. Used to be an awesome, barely advertised army surplus store on the NW side, about 71st or 75th and Michigan Road.

For fabrics: Denver Fabrics, down on Belleview, west of Santa Fe (almost directly across from Home Depot, north side of Belleview). Gi-fucking-gantic selection, plus the awe-didly-awesome surplus tables.

For electronics: Call me biased 'cause I just started working there on Fridays, but JB Saunders in Boulder will have you wetting yourself. Fistell's, downtown Denver at 10th and Bannock, is pretty good but I can tell you you won't get to see 90% of the skidmarking stuff; when I was at Channel 7, I needed something that I could only identify when I saw it, and the clerk let me go upstairs to the second floor... oh... my...hell. It was all I could do to keep from crying. Public generally denied.
In Colorado Springs, there's OEM Electronics. They were at one location, then moved to an abandoned King Soopers, where they became fucking enormous, then lost the lease on the KS location and ended up not only back at their original location, but only in about half of the space they'd originally had. To put it mildly, it's damn near impossible to move around in there. They do have a ton'o'shit, but you gotta really want or need to get down there, though.

For random collection of awesome stuff and stuff you didn't even think you needed until you saw it: Surplus Tools, on Alameda, west of I-25. Just a few blocks... it's on your right-hand side; pay attention or you'll have to circle around again. And you know what Alameda's like.

A contender for the best damned Goodwill in town is the one on South Broadway, north of Alameda (can't remember the cross street). Don't miss the basement.

On a related note: I scored big time at a Wal-Mart dumpster about a mile from my house, the other night: FIVE led strip lights.

They daisy chain to each other... and they all work.
Talk about First-World excess... the shit WM is throwing away is stunning. This morning there were a couple guys getting about $150 worth of scrap metal out of it. So, yeah I'm a little addicted to piloting the Explorer up there a couple times a day.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:40 pm

Surplus Tools on Alameda...I heard about that place strangely enough from Home Depot when they referred me there for some oddball tools I needed. If you're working on a Burning Man project...it's like putting a 2 year old in a candy store. My fiancee was like take the debit card not the credit card in with you....didn't help much.

The fabric store info is something I seriously needed. And I've only made it up to Boulder maybe 4x at the most, and that was when I was coming down from Nederland. Now I have a reason to go exploring up there.

Again thanks for the info. It's really going to help me out with several projects.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:42 pm

Surplus Tools on Alameda...I heard about that place strangely enough from Home Depot when they referred me there for some oddball tools I needed. If you're working on a Burning Man project...it's like putting a 2 year old in a candy store. My fiancee was like take the debit card not the credit card in with you....didn't help much.

The fabric store info is something I seriously needed. And I've only made it up to Boulder maybe 4x at the most, and that was when I was coming down from Nederland. Now I have a reason to go exploring up there.

Again thanks for the info. It's really going to help me out with several projects.

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 7:00 am

Saunders is easy to get to. We're on Foothills Parkway, on the frontage road, in between Pearl and Valmont. Don't even hafta venture into Boulder if you don't wanna (but why not?

)

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 7:13 am

OH, and I almost forgot...
Hotel Liquidators, on 104th ave, about a mile east of I-25, next to Total Beverage. These guys travel around the country buying the contents of closed/closing hotels, and sell most of it back to you dirt cheap. (Some things are overpriced, in my opinion, but that's me.) Overall, I'd expect some of it is limited for our purposes, but you never know; back in '04, I found a huge, round dining booth that seated about 10-12 people. We ended up using that as the basis for the back of the art car... chopped it up a little to make it fit, repainted it, kinda redesigned the structure of the car around it. Great place for bedsheets and pillows, though. Super-cheap, and you don't mind getting them dirtied up.

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:36 am

Just looked on the web... armysurplus4less is the cool place on South Broadway and Hampden, the HWY 36 and Pecos store is simply the north location of same. As I don't have any pressing need, I'll skip going there today.

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:00 am

Jeez, more stuff I forgot...

Altitude Steel is the best, most kick-ass place to get ANY kind of steel you might need. Their scrap/leftover stuff is .50 a pound, and the selection is amazing. They are in that rough industrial area south of Colfax and immediately east of I-25. You have to go south of Colfax by a couple of blocks, then head west a couple of blocks, then double back; they end up being almost under the Colfax overpass.

K&K Surplus is another place similar to Altitude. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard good things about them. They're up in Commerce City, at 8381 Brighton Road.

Alreco Aluminum Surplus, 11299 Brighton Road.
Holy shit. I.... I can't even begin to describe what you'll find at Alreco. It's jaw-dropping. Given current prices of aluminum, the guy is probably housing 7-8 million dollars' worth of inventory. If you can't find what you're looking for in aluminum, at Alreco, you need to re-think your project. Seriously.

Cold War Remarketing. About 3-4 miles south of Chatfield Reservoir, on 85 (when you get done at Denver Fabrics, might as well head on down Santa Fe until you hit it). Not been there, yet, but I do know they have lots of surplus and are one of the nation's top resellers of Pinzgauer military vehicles.

And I kind of hate to mention this, but Club Workshop, 999 Vallejo (a little south of Altitude Steel).
It's a DIY workshop. There's a full woodworking shop, full metalworking shop, auto bays, sandblasting, engine washer, sewing center, large-format printer, banner printer, signmaking, laser etcher, CAD/CAM stations, etc. I say I kinda hate to mention it, because I used to work there. The owner is a rich, arrogant, egotistical asshole who left corporate life to start this, but never left corporate mindset behind. Thinks he's god's gift to inventors. He does know a lot, granted, but he's insufferable to work for. That said, it should not stop you from considering a membership there. It is an incredible resource for doing a Burning Man project. If you buy a year-long membership, it's about $80 a month; they're open 7 days a week, from 8a-10p M-F, 7a-10p S-S.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 10:00 am

Tin Halo wrote:Altitude Steel is the best, most kick-ass place to get ANY kind of steel you might need. Their scrap/leftover stuff is .50 a pound, and the selection is amazing. They are in that rough industrial area south of Colfax and immediately east of I-25. You have to go south of Colfax by a couple of blocks, then head west a couple of blocks, then double back; they end up being almost under the Colfax overpass.

That has got to be one of the all time coolest names of a retail concern. Can I have someone buy me a few pounds of scrap, just so I can have a reciept to frame and put on my wall?

Tin Halo wrote:Cold War Remarketing. About 3-4 miles south of Chatfield Reservoir, on 85 (when you get done at Denver Fabrics, might as well head on down Santa Fe until you hit it). Not been there, yet, but I do know they have lots of surplus and are one of the nation's top resellers of Pinzgauer military vehicles.

Oh, crap. I think Apok might have to make a field trip and I might have to go with. Or maybe someone will just bring me a business card...

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 10:01 am

Oh, fuck it. I thought it was "Attitude Steel." My whole language approach to learning fools me again. In my next life I'll go with phonics.

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 3:20 pm

Yeah, the logo's nothing to look at. In fact, the website is so poorly done it's amazing. I mean, it really looks like someone read the first five pages of a Dummies manual, then decided they had it all figured out. Giant photos at full res... takes forever to load, even on broadband.

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 3:21 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:
Tin Halo wrote:Cold War Remarketing. About 3-4 miles south of Chatfield Reservoir, on 85 (when you get done at Denver Fabrics, might as well head on down Santa Fe until you hit it). Not been there, yet, but I do know they have lots of surplus and are one of the nation's top resellers of Pinzgauer military vehicles.
Oh, crap. I think Apok might have to make a field trip and I might have to go with. Or maybe someone will just bring me a business card...

Well, I might very well be down there this week, so if I am, I'll pick up a bizcard for you.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 4:01 pm

Tin Halo...I can't thank you enough for that info. Every bit of it is stuff I can use.

davem · Post by **davem** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:04 pm

Hello Matt & other CO burners.

I'm Dave and I'll be heading to BRC in 2011 for my first burn. I actually was pretty close to attending back in 2001... but then life, business, children, etc sort of happened. Now it's ten years later and time for me to make the trip that was missed.

I just downloaded Lee Burridge's 3-hour set from Robot Heart and it's got me looking forward to the dust.

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:27 am

I'm starting to get a little concerned about the number of guys named 'Dave' appearing on my radar. Being one, myself, I'm wondering if I'm not being clued in as to the beginnings of some sort of revolution...

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 8:56 am

Tin Halo wrote:I'm starting to get a little concerned about the number of guys named 'Dave' appearing on my radar. Being one, myself, I'm wondering if I'm not being clued in as to the beginnings of some sort of revolution...

I wouldn't worry about that, Dave. The gods knew that there needed to be background players in real peoples lives (a sort of "red shirt" phenomena) so they populated the world with generics using various names that appear to be common. Dave is one of those. So, no revolution at all, just the stinging realization that you are simply an advanced form of scenery.

Teo del Fuego · Post by **Teo del Fuego** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 11:02 am

Hey all you Denver and Colorado Freaks! I'm in charge of rounding up art for the Decompression this October 9th. Our space is going to be great. It would be awesome of you guys had some visual project to share with the rest of us. Not looking for paintings so much as interactive Burner-friendly art. If any of you have something you would like to share with us to make Decomp more visually stunning, please drop me a line at [email protected].

Also get thee on the Colorado Yahoo BM discussion list!

And thanks for all the great tips on store locations! I live a few blocks from the Broadway Goodwill and Surplus Tools, both really fun places

davem · Post by **davem** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 11:51 am

Will the Intersection Art be there? It looked awesome.

[youtube][/youtube]

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:56 pm

Teo, do you ever go to the Monday night potlucks that Calamity sends out emails about? I'm tempted to skip MNF and go check it out yet I'm kinda hesitant....if someone's been and can tell me what to expect that would help.

Tin Halo · Post by **Tin Halo** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:01 pm

davem wrote:Will the Intersection Art be there? It looked awesome.

[youtube][/youtube]

Well, I certainly fucking hope so. I contributed my voice to that project; no one from the project has gotten back to me to tell me if it was even out there. So, I guess it made it.

EDIT: WHOOHOO! I just heard my voice track! Heh.
That was weird.