Retired Boulder businessman Rob Ober makes eBay his business. Through his company , he puts vintage and valuable guitars on the consumer website and takes a 20 percent commission off the sale price.
Last week, he was sealing a deal to sell a 1973 Martin D-41 guitar when the woman he was negotiating with started asking questions.
“She says her client is interested in this particular year and make on a Martin guitar,” Ober said. “She kept asking, ‘Is the guitar ready to come out of the case and go into the studio?’ My sense was that she was working with a celebrity.”
The woman, it turned out, works for “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central. During a recent episode, the show’s host, Stephen Colbert, joined actor/comedian Steve Martin in a guitar-banjo duet, but Colbert remarked to staff afterward that he wasn’t pleased with his instrument. Colbert staffer Tanya Bracco found the Martin guitar on eBay and contacted Ober, who shipped the guitar overnight so the Colbert team could present it to their boss as a surprise birthday present last Thursday.
TAG, you’re it.
Denver chef Troy Guard (whose initials are TAG) opened the latest restaurant jewel in the Larimer Square crown Monday.
TAG, named after the chef and his pet bulldog, is a hipster eatery that I’m sure will be the new see-and-be-seen spot for foodie folks who like to make the scene.
The Eurasian-style cuisine I sampled Sunday was delish! Troy’s wife, Leigh Sullivan, says to expect the menu to change monthly. “It depends on what kind of whim he has,” she said.
Reservations for dinner only: 303-996-9985 or .
Back to back.
Frontier Airlines employees will be handing out free back scratchers to the public from 10:30 a.m. to noon today at 15th and Larimer streets to promote the Colorado Club, which will reward Colorado residents for referring friends to fly on Frontier.
Cover boy.
In the midst of playoff madness, Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony took a break from competition Sunday for about four hours at the Hotel Teatro to pose for a photo shoot for DT Magazine, a fashion and lifestyle ‘zine with 40,000 subscribers in 14 predominantly Latin countries and the U.S.
Melo’s mug will grace the cover as well as a six-page spread inside.
Eavesdropping on a man during an event at the Seawell Ballroom: “Let’s sit down. I’ve exhausted my politeness.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
