East Colfax is a little slice of Southern California in the heart of Denver. Funky signage and 1960’s architecture grace this gently-gentrifying stretch of businesses offering a heady mix of liquor, loans and lounges. While visiting my sister on an early Saturday morning I grabbed my camera and headed down the street under a deep blue Colorado sky. Of course, now I have to go back and shoot all of them again when they’re lit up at night.

It’s obviously the bet seak in town.

PS: I love you.

Rawr!

This place had not only the most beautiful signage, it had the most beautiful name.

Yes, it is a drive-thru.

This place was all lit up and ready to go at 8am.

Not sure when the sign dates to, but this theater was built in 1913.

More photos of Colfax’s Googie signage and some awesome handpainted signs.

Two of the smartest writers in town, Virginia Postrel and Kate Coe, are now collaborating on Deep Glamour, a blog that explores glamour “in its many manifestations, from movies, fashion, and advertising to real estate, politics, and sports.” You might remember from reading Postrel’s blog Dynamist that the author of The Substance of Style is working on a new book about glamour, and as part of her research for that, she’s also written some absolutely fantastic stories about the search for authentic glamour in contemporary culture. (One of my favorites is a profile of Julius Shulman, which I gave a shout out to when I was at UnBeige.) Kate was once my compatriot in crime at mediabistro.com—she eviscerated egos at FishbowlLA while I was at UnBeige, but she always had a blossoming design blogger inside her.

What I love about the topic of glamour—other than the fact that no one out there covers it, or talks about it much these days at all, for that matter—is that it certainly covers all the things I love, like design and architecture and fashion and food and travel and even tech, but only the very best parts, when its creators are truly trying to evoke this very specific, emotional response. It’s not an easy thing to do, but you’ll always recognize glamour instantly the moment you see it. And then, of course, you’ll want it.

There will also be lots of guest bloggers on board this glamour train and one of the first is another very smart local writer I know named Kate Hahn, who has written an absolutely hilarious book called Forgotten Fashion: An Illustrated Faux History Of Outrageous Trends And Their Untimely Demise. Kate graciously sent me an advance copy of this summer and I would turn to it when I needed to remember to be funny as I was pounding away at the keys/pavement. If you’re looking for a guffaw or two out of your usually-humorless fashionista friend this holiday season, buy them a copy of this book. I promise they’ll enjoy laughing at themselves.

Among my favorite pieces to write are the Space Shot stories for Fast Company, in which I get to infiltrate some corporate headquarters and get the lowdown on a company’s quirky work culture. For this particular assignment to visit Oakley’s headquarters, however, I especially felt like an undercover operative. I started contacting them a year ago for a tour, only to be gently but firmly rebuffed by their gatekeepers. Turns out they were in the midst of a gigantic, $2.1 billion buyout by Luxottica, the Italian eyewear company that manufactures their biggest competition, Ray Ban. When the sale was complete, I was granted access, and a few weeks later, I stepped into the room you see to your the right. Yep, that’s where the super-tan, super-friendly Oakley employees get to, like, go hang out every day.

And you can go there, too. Along with a retail store, there’s a customer service center located in this hall (behind blast door #2, of course). If you’re looking for a more intense immersion, take the tour, which begins with a totally extreme video in a theater that looks like it was salvaged from the set of Star Wars, and then winds through an Oakley museum, where you’ll see the infamous fluorescent “blades” you’ll remember from the 80’s. I thought their ads were so cool back then, I used to cut them out of SKI Magazine and plaster them to my closet wall.

You can read my story about “Oakley’s Optical Illusion” in this month’s Fast Company. And be sure check out the slideshow of fantastic photos by Dwight Eschliman, who has managed to shoot the space with all the drama of a sci-fi action flick. It’s Battlestar Galactica: Orange County.

I’ve been lax in reporting on the goings-on behind-the-scenes at DnA since I felt so far removed from the scene for so long. But there is some very exciting design and architecture news happening over at KCRW, not the least of which is that my dear friend Clive Wilkinson, the George Clooney of the local architecture community, was picked to design KCRW’s new station. A tip of the martini to Clive!

On today’s show, Frances talks to the architects behind a few other cultural behemoths which open or re-open next month:  The Mark Taper Forum downtown (right) and The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. I’m probably most excited for the Mark Taper Forum revamp by Rios Clementi Hale because the 1967 building is by one of my favorite LA architects, Welton Becket, who you’ll know from such hits as the Capitol Records Building, the Theme Building at LAX and the Cinerama Dome. The brand-new Broad Stage, on the other hand, is, like every other new cultural building in LA lately, named after the deep-pocketed Eli Broad, who also seems to have a thing with architects named Renzo (Piano did BCAM, Zecchetto did The Broad Stage). If you want to hear more about Broad’s quest for citywide domination, read the ever-delightful Jade Chang’s piece on the philanthropist in Metropolis, where she says he “wields his vast fortune like a blunt instrument.” Careful!

Also on today’s show: Talking about the future of production design with Alex McDowell, who is responsible for the look of tons of movies including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Corpse Bridge, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Fight Club and anything else that freaked you out in the last 15 years or so. We also have the lovely Elena Manferdini, who I previously captured during her show at SCI-Arc, and the British design writer Liz Farrelly talking about her favorite fake vs. real architectural experience in LA.

But that’s not all! Perhaps the biggest news for DnA this month is that we now have a blog! Frances has been doing an amazing job recounting her design adventures, even all the way from Denver where she’s currently reporting from the Democratic convention for To The Point. I’ll be contributing, too, as well as doing some event coverage. So along with your listings for design events to add to the DnA calendar, be sure to point me towards the next design party! I’m sure I won’t need much pointing.

I’m looking for a new place to live for the first time in four years. And boy, do I have a lot to learn. I’m exceptionally puzzled by these new-fangled terms used to hype apartments. Any idea what they could mean? More importantly, do I want to pay extra for them?

“Freeway-close”

“Very quite street”

“Old world”

“Jaquzzi”

“Completely gutted”

“Remolded townhouse”

“Almost new stove”

“Stainless steal”

“Dinning room”

“Located in beautiful micro-elite Atwater Village”

“Eccentric urban arts slash funky retro café scene slash boogie night life”

“Privacy assured, yet friendly”

“The duplex evokes tranquility”

“The apartment is 53 feet long”

“IT HAS HARD DECO TYLE”