Kirk Johnson, the amiable and eccentric veep of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, is out this week with the ultimate road-trip book: “Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway.”
He and artist Ray Troll spent 10 years traveling 5,000 miles through the American West in a beat-up Ford F-250 pickup. They were looking for fossils for you.
“Everything from dinosaurs to plants to cheeseburgers to giant beavers,” Johnson says. “We cherry-picked the best fossil stories of the past 500 million years in the Rocky Mountains.”
It’s heavily illustrated, written for kids and grown-ups – anyone who’s interested in a different take on our land.
“It was a blast,” Johnson says.
Johnson and Troll are signing the book and talking the talk 7 p.m. Wednesday at the museum, 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Tattered Cover LoDo and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Denver Public Library Central Branch.
Weekend update
I hear Norm Clarke sang “Viva Las Vegas” at the Celebrity Waiter Dinner at Elway’s Friday – and it was so bad, the song is officially dead, buried and never to be performed again.
The entertainment was more on-tune at the High Hopes Dinner honoring Steve Farber Saturday night. Barbara and Nancy Davis flew in for the bash, which shoehorned more than 900 people into the ballroom at the Marriott City Center. George Lopez made fun of the emcee, Ch. 2’s Ernie Bjorkman. “We loved you in the ‘Six Million Dollar Man,”‘ Lopez said.
The entertainment that followed dinner included Katherine McPhee, Babyface and Smokey Robinson.
Lunch money
Who’s feeding the cast and crew of the Eddie Murphy movie “NowhereLand”? Chef Robért from Hollywood is in town with two trucks and a staff of five. Locals help out serving the gourmet grub.
Chef Robért was recently profiled on The Food Network in “Hollywood Eats.” And this is what he does – feed the moviemakers. Credits include “The Transformers,” “Because I Said So,” “The Prestige” and “Daddy Day Care.”
City spirit
“The Little Rock Nine: A Celebration of Courage” opens at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library 5:30-7:30 p.m. today. Carlotta Walls LaNier, a Denver businesswoman who was one of the nine, will be there to talk … “Dancing With the Stars” star Tom Bergeron is gliding into town Oct. 11 to emcee the 10th Annual Cable Hall of Fame Celebration … Al Roker was to host the Clinton Global Initiative Awards ceremony last Thursday at Carnegie Hall – but was called away. Boulder babe Jessica Biel took his place – and her parents got a shout-out from Bill Clinton for their charity work … With so much construction going on in Vail, Sweet Basil hosted a Cement Mixer in the street last week, serving up Screwdrivers and Rusty Nails … Sez who: “My mother was 88 years old. She never used glasses. Drank right out of the bottle.” Henny Youngman
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Husted also appears Tuesdays and Fridays on “Good Day Colorado” on Fox 31. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or at bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at .
