Four of the seven space-shuttle astronauts who serviced the Hubble Space Telescope in May paid a visit to Ball Aerospace & Technologies in Boulder, where a number of Hubble instruments were made.
Gov. Bill Ritter recognized the Hubble work by the astronauts and the Ball crew with a proclamation making Tuesday “Space Shuttle Mission STS-125 Day.” Small glitch — the visit was Wednesday.
During a question-and-answer session with space-camp students from Fort Collins, astronaut Michael Good said space travelers “grow” 2 inches and lose 10 pounds during missions, though “we have to give it all back” on returning to Earth.
Ritter perked up: “I would like to be 2 inches taller.” No mention if the guv also would like to lose 10 pounds.
No parking.
Media coverage of the astronauts’ visit to Ball angered one employee named “Jason,” who was so annoyed with where 9News parked its van, he sent an e-mail to the station with copies to other local news outlets complaining about the “incident.”
With the e-mail, Jason attached four photos of the offending van parked between two handicapped spaces in a spot marked with diagonal white lines, indicating it wasn’t a legit space.
He included a Google Earth picture to show that if naughty 9News had parked the van in the proper visitor parking, it would have been two blocks closer to the event.
Perhaps, but 9News was given permission to park where it did by media-relations director Roz Brown, who added there was no way to identify Jason because he used a Gmail account to send the e-mail.
“If we had thought this out, we could have had Scott Altman, commander of the recent space-shuttle mission, park the van,” Brown said. “If he can park a space shuttle right next to the Hubble, I guess he can park a news van.”
East meets West.
Elway’s Cherry Creek executive chef Tyler Wiard will share his kitchen with Nobu Matsuhisa Aspen executive sushi chef Philip Tanaka for a turf- meets-surf food pairing with Shochu, a distilled adult beverage native to Japan.
The tasting, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at Elway’s, with host Pat “Gabby Gourmet” Miller, features tender turf from Wiard and sweet surf from Tanaka.
The appetizers will be paired with tastes of Shochu, a hot new low-calorie vodkalike spirit that’s been showing up in local liquor stores and Japanese restaurants.
Tickets: $60 (not including tax and tip). Reservations: jennifer@ or 303-399-5353.
Hot Rod.
Rocker Rod Stewart isn’t a cloistered celebrity hiding in his hotel room during his Denver date.
The day before tonight’s Fiddler’s Green concert, Stewart was seen spreading some green of his own at Starbucks at Second and Fillmore, and at Elway’s in the Ritz-Carlton, his hotel of choice.
Eavesdropping.
A man to a woman during dinner at Restaurant Kevin Taylor before opening night for (the fabulous) “August: Osage County” at the Ellie Caulkins:
“I was having a fashion dilemma this evening. I was wondering if it’s OK to wear white bucks at night?”
“The fashion police have had to lay off a lot of people due to the economy, so you’re fine.”
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-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
