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Blue Agave History.
Northern Colorado’s most highly recommended dining attraction.
Blue Agave is familyowned and operated, bringing collectively over five decades of experience in the restaurant business, offering recipes that go back generations
It’s not just a set of chairs. It’s the place where you discuss life. It’s not just a dining table. It’s a place where you gather with friends. It’s not just a suitcase. It’s the gateway to your next adventure.
Located in Longmont, ReStore sells new and gently used low-cost home improvement goods to the public. Every dollar helps Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley
Armene Piper is a Boulder native who grew up on the outskirts of town; she can still remember when Arapahoe and 75th Street were dirt roads. Now she lives in Longmont with her husband, five children and four dogs. She is deeply committed to her clients and takes great pride in providing the best customer experience with unparalleled results.
that derive specifically from Jalisco, Mexico, and the Pacific coast.
Check out our Happy Hour, MonFriday 10a-5pm.
2030 Ken Pratt Blvd. Longmont 303-776-1747
www.blueagaverestaurant.net
build more homes in partnership with hardworking families. Whether you are looking for a lamp for your living room or tools for your new project, ReStore has you covered. Learn more and shop online www.stvrainhabitat.org/restore
St. Vrain Habitat ReStore
1351 Sherman Drive, Longmont 303-776-3334
www.stvrainhabitat.org/restore
Armene also works closely with the transgender community to help them feel more authentic in their own body’s. Armene offers Cryoskin slimming and toning, laser hair removal, vein treatments, sun and age spot treatments, toenail fungus treatments, as well as Boleyn stretch mark and scar camouflage. 1446 Hover Street, Longmont 303-551-4701
www.lefthandlaserstudio.com
12 NEWS: Boulder County calls for regulation of leaded aviation gas by Will Matuska
16 BUZZ: Indie-rock trio Blankslate sharpens their live sound on stage by Lauren Hill
19 BOOKS: The latest film by M. Night Shyamalan inspired by home-invasion novel with Aurora roots by Gregory Wakeman
31 NIBBLES: Don’t wait ’til spring to shop for local veggies and artisan foods by John Lehndorff
37 DRINK: Mountain Sun’s month-long celebration of the darkly complected brew is back by Caitlin Rockett
High on a mesa where everyone can see it, a trophy house is going up in the northern Colorado valley where I live. Some of my neighbors hear that the house will be as big as 15,000 square feet. Others say it will take three years to complete. Whether that is valley gossip or truth, the house is now the center of everybody’s attention.
Until this happened, my valley seemed to offer much of the best of what Colorado has to offer, including views of a snow-capped mountain range, and spread out below, irrigated hayfields with black cows on tan rangeland. But now, right in the center of the valley, will be one person acting out a lack of consideration for others.
BY RICHARD KNIGHTGigantic trophy houses seem to signal, “I built here to see, but also to be seen.” It’s a jarring reminder that we in the New West are remaking the Old West in our own image, a job that apparently requires a drastic redoing of topography. These big homes seem to follow a pattern of complicated rooflines, lots of windows that reflect the light and “ego gates” at the beginning of driveways.
Most of us in this valley delight in what we’ve been able to see from our front door: uninterrupted ridgelines, cliffs, and the rounded slopes that converge to make foothills, which then rise into mountains. Nature made these views, and we’ve been fortunate to have them in our lives every day.
But more and more, houses that resemble castles are sprouting on ridgelines and hilltops, here and all over the mountains. And sometimes it’s ordinary houses or trailers that get built on ridgelines, interrupting the natural flow of the land.
Where only a few years ago our eyes might find comfort in tracing a ridge’s backbone — wondering how it got to be named White Pine Mountain when no white pines grow there — now we look at manmade structures that irritate the eyes.
People who have lived in my valley for decades share a different style. Appreciating what a winter wind can do to steal warmth from inside a house, they looked for sheltered areas to build. They saw it
FEBRUARY 9, 2023
Volume XXX, Number 25
COVER: Mila Drake, Boulder High
PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski
CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Caitlin Rockett
ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray
GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER: Will Matuska
FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff
EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Joel Dyer
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Dave Anderson, Emma Athena, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Angela K. Evans, Mark Fearer, Kaylee Harter, Nick Hutchinson, Dave Kirby, Ari LeVaux, Adam Perry, Dan Savage, Bart Schaneman, Alan Sculley, Samuel Shaw, Toni Tresca, Gregory Wakeman, Colin Wrenn
SALES AND MARKETING
MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Matthew Fischer, Chris Allred
SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman
MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar
PRODUCTION
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen
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CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer
BUSINESS OFFICE
BOOKKEEPER: Emily Weinberg
FOUNDER/CEO: Stewart Sallo
As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holdsbarred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.
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made sense to build low, tucking a home against the south side of a hill or cliff.
Most yard lights were few and hard to see, as were their homes. But the new Western lifestyle broadcasts yard lights at night for all to see, just as the homes are conspicuously visible during the day.
In this newfangled West that has “ranched the view,” people apparently need to stand out to enjoy an amenity lifestyle. Will these new folk ever take time to appreciate the human and natural histories of the place they live in now, to show respect for the land and its natural beauty? Will they learn to be considerate of neighbors and not take away from the views that define where we live?
It’s shameful to think that just as we first moved into the West to exploit its valuable resources, we now exploit the last resource our region has to offer — its heart-stopping beauty.
There is some good news, because in many parts of the West we are learning how to sustainably
log, graze, divert water and develop energy. I hope it’s not too late for us to also realize the value of fitting into the land as residents, to keep intact our ridgelines, mesas, mountains and valley floors. Once a house caps a hilltop, however, that view is irretrievable, gone forever.
I hope we can learn how to value homes that blend with the land in shape, color and location. Maybe a new generation of home builders, architects and developers will lead the way in paying due respect to our region’s natural beauty.
But I’m afraid that it’s too late for our valley. The great writer Wallace Stegner told us that the task of Westerners was to build a society to match the scenery. From what I see, we’re not doing the job.
Richard Knight works at the intersection of land use and land health in the American West.
This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
As Americans, we should be angry and disgusted that our government, and now the Biden administration, has been engaged in the persecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Assange is a political prisoner. He has never endangered the lives of Americans, and there is no evidence otherwise. “He went to extraordinary lengths to anonymize the sources and protect the sources at the same time. He was extremely responsible in his journalistic approach to this,” says Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the U.K.’s Labour Party. When Wikileaks source Chelsey Manning was tried, she was acquitted of “aiding the enemy.” If she’s not guilty of it, how can Assange be?
Yet, the U.S. security-state crowd vengefully wants him punished — silenced. His “crime” has been to embarrass the powers that be by publishing accounts — confessions, really — voluntarily given to him by former U.S. military personnel (whistleblowers), who have committed war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. You don’t promote democracy, human rights and U.S. national security by using Black Ops death squads against innocent civilians. You don’t protect America by recklessly killing dozens of civilians in mistargeted and then covered-up drone strikes that make the locals hate us.
We, the people, in whose name and with whose tax dollars these wars are waged, have the right to know, the need to know. Through Wikileaks, Assange has helped the public learn about the dirty secrets, the crimes, of the powerful. His work has been heroic, as is the work of all responsible journalists who do the same things when they are truly doing their difficult job. That is why major newspapers around the world — the New York Times (U.S.), El País (Spain), The Guardian (U.K.), Le Monde (France) and Der Spiegel (Germany) — along with International PEN and
the presidents of several nations, have asked that these spurious charges against Assange be dropped.
A free and independent press is supposed to act as a Fourth Estate in a democracy, a watchdog of the three branches of government. For there to be real democracy, with real freedom of speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment, the press must be allowed to do its job. If that means embarrassing the powerful by exposing the truth about them and their policies, so be it. Democracy requires that. This agenda of suppressing free speech, of harassing and persecuting journalists, is a shameless catering to those whose real agenda is a national-security state, a place where democracy, dissent and a free press have been replaced by Orwellian repression, where people like Assange can be convicted in secret National Security courts. American presidents, including Obama, seem to feel the need to let dictators control their policies — afraid that if they don’t, they’ll be called weaklings and traitors, that perhaps, like JFK, they’ll end up dead. But the national-security-state mentality that’s behind the Assange prosecution isn’t about protecting the nation, it’s about crushing dissent and crippling democracy. We can’t let ourselves be intimidated by bullies. Around the world, the free press is under siege. News reporters are being jailed and murdered. Moving in the opposite direction is the right thing to do, the American thing to do. That means ending the persecution of Julian Assange and the war on journalism in general. Email the White House and your Congress people today.
Paul Dougan is a local writer and humanitarian activist.
This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
This week I submitted a complaint against Boulder police officers who appeared at the Jan. 19 City Council meeting, armed and in uniform, to oppose appointments to a board that is intended to provide oversight of the police on behalf of the community. Their conduct at this meeting was in clear violation of both Boulder Police Department (BPD) policies and procedures and the City’s Code of Conduct.
The BPD policies and procedures manual specifically states that police officers are not allowed to “identify themselves as being affiliated with the Boulder Police Department in order to ... [e]ndorse, support, oppose or contradict any social issue, [or] cause ...”. The need for independent oversight of the police to prevent abuses of power is a social issue of great importance.
The City created the Police Oversight Panel (POP) in response to community outrage after BPD officers’ acts while detaining Zayd Atkinson without probable cause or reasonable suspicion. One stated goal of the POP is fostering greater trust between the police and the community, particularly community members who belong to groups that are disproportionately more likely to be harmed by police officers. Armed police officers attempting to interfere with community groups’ nominees for a panel intended to oversee the police is contrary to that goal.
The scene at the Jan. 19 meeting was intimidating as police officers stood silently with guns and tasers in support of a speaker who was trying to reduce oversight of police. These officers’ behavior should be highly scrutinized due to the potential that these types of policy violations have to dampen or prevent future participation in public meetings regarding police oversight or misconduct. The risk is especially heightened for community members who have already had negative encounters with police — a key segment of the population that needs to be engaged with the police oversight panel’s work if the city is to meet its stated goals for the panel.
We count on our police officers to keep our community safe, but when we instead feel their presence as intimidating and we see them actively
opposing effective police oversight work, the goals of both policing and police oversight are rendered unachievable.
Jane Hummer/Boulder
On Groundhog Day, every Republican U.S. Representative (and most Democrats) voted in unison to proclaim: “We Are All Individuals!” They marched in lockstep to publicly denounce the “Horrors of Socialism.” While there is an element of truth behind House Concurrent Resolution 9, the resolution itself was absurd for several reasons.
1) False equivalence: By denouncing “socialism in all its forms,” House Concurrent Resolution 9 falsely equates the brutal totalitarian communist regimes of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot with the democratic socialism of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This nonsensical extreme right-wing posturing equates social welfare programs with mass murder. A sane person could only vote NO on the resolution. Yet the U.S. House of Representatives passed it 328 to 86.
2) Hypocrisy: Yes, communist regimes and communist revolutionary movements have been responsible for the deaths of at least tens of millions of people. However, the U.S. Congress has no moral standing to condemn the brutality of totalitarian communism while extolling the virtues of American “individualism.” U.S. military imperialism since the end of World War II has been responsible for the deaths of an estimated 20 to 30 million people in dozens of victim nations. The United States was built on a foundation of genocide, slavery, colonialism and white supremacy.
3) Slavery: House Concurrent Resolution 9 falsely proclaims that “the United States of America was founded on the belief in the sanctity of the individual.”
The U.S. Constitution was designed in secret by a handful of rich white men, predominantly slaveholders, to preserve their own wealth and power. A nation founded on slavery and genocide is not a nation founded on a “belief in the sanctity of the individual.”
Gary Swing/BoulderTHURSDAY, MARCH 2Nd
Trout Steak Revival (Free Show)
friday, MARCH 3rd
The Infamous Stringdusters • Kitchen Dwellers
The Lone Bellow • Daniel Rodriguez
Pickin’ on the Dead • AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Pixie & The PartyGrass Boys • Pick & Howl
Old Town Pickers • Saints & Liars
SATURday, MARCH 4th
Leftover Salmon • Paul Cauthen
Neal Francis • Linsday Lou & Kyle Tuttle
Tenth Mountain Division • AJ Lee • Buffalo Commons
Sicard Hollow • WinterWonderWomen
RiverWonderGrass All-Stars • The Fretliners
SUNDAY, MARCH 5th
Greensky Bluegrass (2 Sets) • The Lil Smokies
Big Richard • Pickin' on the Dead Tray Wellington • Mama Magnolia • Saints & Liars
Walk Out Super Jam • Clay Street Unit
The Boulder County Commissioners voted on Jan. 17 to support an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finding that could create regulatory standards for lead emissions from aircraft engines. The EPA’s “endangerment finding,” released in October 2022, says that lead emissions from some aircrafts cause or contribute to lead air pollution, which can “reasonably be antici-
gas (avgas) nationwide by the end of 2025.
“We regularly hear from residents about air pollution from aviation and its dangerous impact on our community and specifically children’s health,” Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann said in a press release. “We applaud this move by the EPA and ask that they move quickly to regulate and ultimately phase out the use of leaded gas in
FAA will phase out these fuels by the end of 2030.
The majority of aircrafts that use leaded avgas are piston-engine aircrafts — the kind that typically carry two to 10 passengers. The EPA says these are the largest single source of lead emissions to the air in the U.S. Larger jets used for commercial transportation don’t use leaded fuel.
There are a handful of airports in and adjacent to Boulder County that use these smaller piston-engine aircrafts, like the Boulder Municipal Airport, Vance Brand Municipal Airport in Longmont, and Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield.
According to the EPA, “lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body.” Children and pregnant
regulatory efforts to remove lead from motor vehicle gasoline.
Avgas is the last remaining leaded transportation fuel in the U.S. Leaded fuel is used for these specific engines because it improves efficiency, performance and engine safety.
Bill Hayes, air quality program coordinator at Boulder County Public Health, says the county, state and feds don’t monitor for airborne lead in Colorado; 2015 was the last year there was any air monitoring for lead in Colorado for a regulatory purpose, which stopped because of low concentrations.
In 2014, the National Emissions Inventory reported lead emissions from the Centennial Airport were 0.77 tons per year, which was below the threshold (1 ton per year) for continued monitoring of the site.
Now, Hayes says his concern about airborne lead emissions is low.
“Not to say it isn’t happening, but we’re not aware of issues of elevated blood levels due to inhalation of air-
Hayes’ primary concern is children who live in close proximity to these air-
According to the EPA, children’s exposure to lead can cause “irreversible and life-long health effects.” There’s no safe blood lead level in children, who can experience negative side effects to IQ and academic achievement from even low levels of lead.
In 2010, the EPA estimated that “up to 16 million people reside and 3 million children attend school in close proximity to airport facilities servicing piston-engine aircraft that are operating on leaded avgas.” The EPA and FAA have estimated that leaded avgas is used by between 170,000 and 220,000 piston-engine aircraft at 20,000 airports across the country.
Hayes says it’s also an environmental justice issue, with lower income residents typically living closer to these
In Hayes’ estimation, it’s time to move to lead-free aviation fuel.
“Since it is avoidable and unnecessary,” he says, “we want to support the EPA’s efforts to get rid of lead in all
States in the Colorado River Basin have missed another federal deadline to make significant cuts to water usage
BY WILL MATUSKAThe seven Colorado River Basin states missed a Jan. 31 federal deadline to come up with a plan to reduce their use of the Colorado River. Six of the states came up with a proposal, but California did not join.
The near-consensus isn’t enough — California has rights to 4.4 million acre-feet, the most in the basin.
According to the Associated Press, the six states’ plan would result in 2 million acre-feet of cuts in the Lower Basin (Arizona, California, Nevada), with smaller cuts in the Upper Basin (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming). California has yet to release a plan, but developed a proposal last October to cut 400,000 acre-feet.
The request from the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the river, asked states to voluntarily cut usage by 2 to 4 million acrefeet in response to the ongoing drought and historically low water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs. An acre-foot is roughly as much water as two households use in a year.
Because California’s water rights are considered “senior” to Arizona’s, the Golden State interprets the law to mean Arizona should cut its supply before California. Officials in Arizona say cuts should be shared. The Upper Basin states have said the Lower Basin states should receive the most cuts.
Now, without agreement, the federal government could be responsible for enforcing cuts.
Water management has been a point of focus for
President Biden, with $8.3 million allocated to address water and drought challenges through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The allocation includes $300 million to implement the Colorado River Basin Drought Contingency Plan.
This is the second federal deadline the Colorado River Basin states have missed, the first being in August 2022.
Lake Powell and Lake Meade, the country’s largest reservoirs, are nearly 75% empty. As levels continue to decrease, stakeholders raise concern about “dead pool” levels as soon as 2025.
“We are in a crisis,” Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, told the Los Angeles Times. “Both lakes could be two years away from either dead pool or so close to dead pool that the flow out of those dams is going to be a horribly small number. And it just keeps getting worse.”
Dead pool levels mean the dam can no longer release water downstream.
Gary Wockner, co-founder of Colorado-based Save the Colorado, says our state isn’t stepping up to the plate.
“Colorado is all over the board,” he says. “They’re not committing to any consequential cuts at all. And they’re not just proposing more dams, they are actually building more dams to take more water out of Colorado.”
One of those projects is Denver Water’s expansion of Gross Reservoir, west of Boulder. The expansion will more than double the
reservoir’s capacity. Additionally,
Northern Water is building a new reservoir, Chimney Hollow, near Berthoud. Northern Water says the reservoir will supply 30,000 acre-feet of water.
Proponents say these expansions will help meet future water demand for the expanding population in the Front Range.
But Wockner is focused on environmental outcomes, which means opposing new dam expansions that draw from the Colorado River supply.
“The State of Colorado wants to stop every drop of water they think they legally own at the state line rather than running it downstream,” he says.
The Bureau of Reclamation is set to release a proposal on how to operate the Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs and their adjacent dams (Glen Canyon and Hoover) in March, with the goal of finalizing it by midAugust.
The Boulder County Board of Commissioners allocated funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to expand or create mental health and behavioral health support in seven nonprofits and two school districts in Boulder County.
“These ARPA funds will go toward programs and services that strengthen system transformation for communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring that any door is the right door to get mental health support,” Marnie Huffman-Green, manager of the ARPA mental health and social resilience project, said in a press release.
Boulder County was allocated $11 million for mental health and social resilience programs in March 2021 through ARPA and is now in its “project implementation” phase. The grantees are El Centro AMISTAD, Emergency Family Assistance Association, OUR Center, Out Boulder County, Rise Against Suicide, TGTHR, and the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts. Nonprofit grantees work with primarily underserved populations and have programs that focus on issues like financial assistance, food distribution and equity. The school districts will expand services for mental health.
Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting is considering a change
to the Land Use Code to allow farms in unincorporated Boulder County to source composting materials from the public, then use the finished compost on site or sell it back to the public.
Community members have argued the current code restricts a circular economy, especially with people practicing regenerative farming.
County staff are seeking public input during a Feb. 16 community meeting at the St. Vrain Community Hub (515 Coffman St., Longmont) from 6-8 p.m.
On Feb. 2, the Boulder City Council voted to support the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by signing a proclamation presented by the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. The City joins Denver, Longmont and 70 other municipalities and states that have passed resolutions supporting the treaty. More than 80 countries have signed the treaty, but none of the nuclear nations have signed, including the U.S.
The City of Boulder is looking for community feedback to inform the
negotiations of its non-exclusive cable franchise agreement with Comcast, which is up for renewal on April 30, 2025. The agreement gives Comcast access to city rightof-way for cable infrastructure, but doesn’t give the company exclusive rights in providing cable in Boulder. In exchange, Boulder gets a franchise fee of approximately $900,000 per year. The City also collects 50 cents from each subscriber to pay for capital costs for three public channels: the City’s Channel 8, Boulder Valley School District’s Channel 22 and the University of Colorado’s Channel 63.
The City hopes to negotiate for better reliability and improved customer service. Negotiations could start as early as May this year.
There’s a bill proposed in the Colorado State Senate that would increase transparency for drivers who connect with consumers through digital platforms, like Lyft, Uber and DoorDash. Sponsored by Sen. Robert Rodriguez (SD-32) and Reps. Jennifer Bacon (HD-7) and Stephanie Vigil (HD-16), the Gig Work Transparency bill (SB23-089) would require companies to share information with drivers and consumers about consumer payments and driver payments. The legislation, introduced to the Senate on Jan. 30, could lead to an adoption of rules that require transparency in both these payment disclosures and procedures surrounding driver termination and anti-discrimination.
Fresh off the release of their debut album, Front Range indie-rock trio Blankslate looks to sharpen their live sound on stage
BY LAUREN HILLIf Denver-based band Blankslate entered last year with a real blank slate, they left an indelible mark on the canvas with the October release of their debut LP Summer on a Salt Flat. Marrying elements of anthemic indie-rock with tight pop structures and a measured dose of wistful lyricism, the 12-song offering is a coming-of-age record containing as many stripped-down, heartfelt confessions as sonically expansive breakdowns.
From the twists and turns of restless opener “little love (i, ii, iii)” to the complicated longing of nostalgia trip “Aptos,” the album imitates the volatility coursing through the transitional period of life explored across its 55-minute runtime. The band is still navigating this stage themselves, after blossoming out of a dorm room at the University of Denver in 2018 when vocalist Em Troughton, bassist and guitarist Rylee Dunn and keyboardist and drummer Tess Condron transferred to the school. Summer on a Salt Flat encompasses all the emotions each member was feeling during the changes that followed as they left college and entered the real world.
“It spans the full spectrum of goofy to the most sincere and profound intentional message,” says Troughton. “It’s cool that we have space with this album to connect with our audience through all of the different emotions.”
Capturing this range with Summer on a Salt Flat was a process that took 14 months to complete. During that time, the band was playing shows all over Denver, perfecting their live sound in tandem with the yet-to-bereleased recorded versions. Despite recommendations from friends in the
music industry, they intentionally seek to differentiate their live sound from the studio recordings. Dunn credits Brooklyn-based indie band The Antlers, who get a shoutout on the aforementioned “Aptos,” with inspiring Blankslate’s approach on that score: Keep the ethos of a song intact, while taking advantage of the unique set of tools a live experience provides.
“We really pride ourselves on reinterpreting our songs live,” says Dunn. “We play things as medleys that aren’t structured like that on the album. We change different structures to make them hit harder live.”
After months of performing songs that would eventually be released on their album, and debuting their first single on Denver’s Indie 102.3, Blankslate celebrated the release of Summer on a Salt Flat with an Oct. 27 show at Goosetown Tavern — a blowout described by the band as a sort of graduation party. Parallel to the themes covered in the album, friends and family came from all over to support the group as they, and their debut LP, were released into the world.
“It felt like a culmination of an end, and then [like] a beginning,” says Troughton. “It’s so cool to see all of these people we’ve known for so long, and all these people who don’t know these people we’ve known a long time. They’re just all in this room. And it’s really sweaty.”
Now, months after the album’s release last fall, keyboardist and drummer Condron says the band is planning on getting back in the studio
to start on new music, but they’re in no rush to do so. Instead, Blankslate is basking in the afterglow of their new record by doing what they do best: playing as many gigs as they can, while preparing for a yet-to-beannounced summer tour.
“We really just want to write and play songs live,” says Dunn. “To me, that is rock and roll. We’re really excited to rock out again.”
That excitement tips over into Blankslate’s shared love for the Denver music scene, a common throughline since the band’s conception. But the local layout hasn’t been without its challenges for the young trio, who often feel forced into the restrictive “girl band” label.
“We play with a lot of dudes who ended up on stage way more easily than we did,” says Troughton. “There’s like a refining process that we as musicians are expected to go through because we’re not cis men.”
Despite the challenges, like getting screwed out of payment for gigs and dealing with peers who question their musicianship, Blankslate has found and cultivated a vibrant community in the Denver scene. The band’s support network mostly consists of other musicians, bookers and technicians who share or are supportive of their
queer, female and gender non-conforming identities.
“I’m really glad we have people [who] have shared similar experiences and are able to show us the ropes, and show us what’s down the line, and how to handle that,” says Dunn. “I don’t know where we’d be without those people.”
Right now, Blankslate’s future is still being written. Summer tour plans are in the works, and there isn’t any new music currently slated for release. However, one thing’s for certain: Dunn, Troughton and Condron will continue to give back to the community of live music lovers that has consistently supported them.
“A big part of being a band is enjoying the gigs for all that they are and not just when you’re on stage,” says Condron. “Talking to the bartenders, talking to the other bands, talking to the fans, promoting other people, and existing in the community instead of just hoping the community benefits you.”
ON THE BILL: Blankslate with Paulo’s Flood and Ugly Summer. 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, Broadway Roxy, 554 S. Broadway, Denver. $12 advance.
Fort Collins native Stelth Ulvang captured lightning in a bottle when he co-founded the nowlegendary Colorado band Dovekins in 2009. Merging sea shanties with the quirkiness of Paul Simon’s Graceland and the energy of early Arcade Fire shows, the quintet soon carved a name for itself on the Front Range and beyond.
It’s hard to hold on to lightning, though, and by 2012 Dovekins was defunct and Ulvang was a full-time member of a fledgling indie-folk band called the Lumineers. He moved from bass to piano, and accordion, and now joyfully describes himself as not only the Lumineers’ pianist but also its “hype man.”
“Look, NWA has members that are known very well for their lyrics and members that are known for just a good fucking voice,” Ulvang says. “It’s good to be a hype man and I think I’m starting to feel more pride about that being a talent as opposed to an insecurity … which has taken 10 years.”
Ulvang, now a husband and father, is currently balancing a life playing big
Finding balance with Lumineers
multi-instrumentalist and Fort Collins native Stelth Ulvang
BY ADAM PERRY
venues around the world with the Lumineers and expressing himself more personally with his solo work and the band Heavy Gus — a more rocking, Built to Spill-inspired project he formed in 2019 with his wife, Dorota Szuta.
Highlighting Szuta’s gorgeous vocals, Notions by Heavy Gus was released last year, and the group has been hitting the road in between Lumineers tours. Meanwhile, Ulvang says he’s written more than 150 songs since the pandemic started, and he’s slowly trickling his recordings out to the public. His latest release is the eight-song Take Time, marked by a lo-fi quality and personal lyrics.
While Heavy Gus will perform at Macky Auditorium on April 29 as part of the Bluebird Music Festival — alongside marquee roots music outfits like Watchhouse and Shovels and Rope — Ulvang will play a sold-out solo show at Chautauqua’s tiny Community House on Sunday, Feb. 12. He says he’s not sure what to tell folks to expect.
“I haven’t played solo in Colorado in years,” he says. “I want to try to get as many instruments on stage as I can, and try to play all of them. I’m a little more rambly alone — stories and da-da-da-da. I like to make it immersive. Hopefully it’s not only music. I also have all these new songs.”
Asked whether he has the perfect kind of fame — playing blissful arena shows with the Lumineers for thousands of people who might approach frontman Wesley Schulz on the street, for instance, but not the group’s pianist and “hype man” — Ulvang points to a time-tested cliché: “The grass is always greener.” But ultimately the Grammy-nominated musician says he’s happy where he’s at.
“Sometimes I wish I was a little more famous, but I’m also in a sweet spot and I don’t have to deal with as much business and anxiety. But I have that with my own music — I have anxieties and fears and insecurities … that doesn’t go away once you’re a bigger musician,” he says. “We opened for U2 and I don’t think
Bono is insecure about his stats, but he might be the only one, and that might just be a Bono thing.”
Insecurities aside, Ulvang’s “sweet spot” holds space for the past and the future of his career as a celebrated songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. At a Dovekins reunion show in 2020, just a few weeks before the pandemic began, he conjured the old days by swinging from the rafters of the Mercury Lounge in Denver. With the same Lost Boys gall he had when Dovekins was born out of a failed boat trip from Hawaii to Seattle, Ulvang vows to swing from the rafters once again during his much-anticipated Colorado homecoming.
ON THE BILL: Stelth Ulvang. 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, Chautauqua Community House, 301 Morning Glory Drive, Boulder. Sold out. Heavy Gus with Watchhouse and Shovels & Rope. 6 p.m. Saturday, April 29, Bluebird Festival at Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. $49
Novelist Paul G. Tremblay was on a flight home to New England when the idea for his 2018 novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, first emerged in his mind. It started as a “random doodle,” but soon sparked a bigger idea about the kind of story he would tell.
“I was sitting on the plane and actually zoned out,” Tremblay says. “I noticed I’d drawn a little cabin. That made me think of the home-invasion subgenre.”
This was a problem for the 51-yearold author of novels like Survivor Song and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock “It’s probably my least favorite subgenre. Mainly because I find it really scary and it’s too realistic for me,” he says. “When I saw the picture, though, it made me think to myself, ‘OK, Mr. Big Mouth. How would you write a home invasion story that you’d want to sit through?’ It really did start out as a thought experiment.”
Little did Tremblay know that the task he set for himself at 30,000 feet would result in M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie, Knock at the Cabin. Like Tremblay’s book, the film starring Dave Bautista and Jonathan Groff revolves around a family of three vacationing in a remote cabin, who are suddenly held hostage by four strang-
ers demanding a human sacrifice to stop the apocalypse.
The rights for The Cabin at the End of the World were initially bought by FilmNation in early 2018, six months before it was actually published. A different director and writer tried to adapt the novel, before Shyamalan became attached. But while he was delighted by his potential involvement, Tremblay tried to keep his excitement to a minimum, just in case Shyamalan had to drop out for some reason.
“At the very beginning, it was a little bit disbelieving. Especially because they were trying to bring him on as a producer, not necessarily as a director,” he says. “Then, in the fall of 2020, I realized it might actually happen, because he had a deal with Universal. Once he finished Old, he said he’d make it. Fast forward to November 2021, then I knew it was definitely happening.”
Tremblay’s journey to seeing one of his novels being made into a movie has been rather unconventional, and it started right here on the Front Range. Born in Aurora, he only spent a year of his life in the Centennial State before moving to New England, as his father worked in the Air Force and was stationed in Denver for around four years.
But Tremblay makes it back out to
Colorado regularly these days. For the last five years, he’s been invited to take part in the Telluride Horror Show Film Festival, which is held every October.
It was while he was studying for his master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Vermont that Tremblay’s passion for writing first began to bloom. “I fell in love with reading, weirdly, when I went away to grad school,” he says. “My girlfriend, who is now my wife, bought me Stephen King’s The Stand for my 22nd birthday.”
A couple years later, while Tremblay was teaching high school math, he decided to write a story in an attempt to find a new creative outlet.
“I was able to use a different side of my brain. That’s why my approach to writing might be a little bit more analytical than most,” he says. “I’m not somebody who can just write it all out and edit later. I have to move in small increments and edit as I go. I meticulously plan things out.”
Despite being a self-described “scaredy-cat,” Tremblay found himself attracted to the horror, dark fantasy, and science-fiction genres. He believes that’s because he’s always had a “terrified relationship with art,” stemming from his earliest memories
of watching Godzilla and horror movies.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had scary horror dreams,” he says. “I’ve had this weird attraction to horror stories.”
Even though he was only able to stop working as a teacher at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, Tremblay has been enjoying success as a writer since 2009. His 2015 novel A Head Full Of Ghosts — one of nine he’s published so far in his career — was the first to be optioned by producers. They just so happened to be mega-star Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey.
“I’ve had four books optioned at this point. I’ve worked with producers who have been fantastic. They are really hard working,” he says. “With A Head Full of Ghosts, we had some really close calls. We would have filmed in the summer of 2020, but the pandemic stopped that.”
Even though Tremblay says his involvement with Knock at the Cabin didn’t get much further than a conversation with Shyamalan, he’s understandably still delighted to see it turned into a major feature film.
“He had some very nice things to say about my book,” he says. “I appreciated how upfront he was about the changes he was going to make. It was a very cool, very nice conversation.”
Tremblay hopes to dip his toes into “more Hollywood stuff” in the future, as he’s trying to write a screenplay of his short stories. Ultimately, though, he insists it’s all about the basics.
“I’ll always be a novelist,” he says. “I just try to keep level-headed about it all.”
PAGE TO SCREEN: Knock at the Cabin is currently screening in wide release. The Cabin at the End of the World is available now via William Morrow/HarperCollins.
When Jeff Campbell, founder and executive director of Emancipation Theater Company, was approached by Denver City Councilmember Candi CdeBaca in 2021 about creating a play on the history of the Rossonian Hotel, he knew the story was worth developing. But he had no interest in a typical production recycling wellworn ideas about the city’s legendary jazz lounge in the heart of its historic Black neighborhood.
“The story’s been told a lot, and for people who have an interest in jazz and Five Points, it’s nothing new,” Campbell says. “The history is well documented, so the trick is to make it interesting for folks who already know the story, as well as for folks for whom this may not be the type of story they would necessarily be interested in or drawn to.”
CdeBaca’s pitch laid the groundwork for In the Pocket: The Ballad of Bobby Trombone, a sold-out collaboration between Theatre Artibus and Emancipation Theater Company running Feb. 9-25 at The Savoy Denver The play depicts a fictionalized account of Black life at midcentury in the renowned jazz hotspot, told through the eyes of three Rossonian staff members — including the hotel’s head concierge, Bobby Trombone, played by Campbell.
The script was initially developed as a series of radio plays in partnership with KUVO and University of Denver student William Dewey under the title Back Room at the Rossonian in 2015 Campbell was tapped to act in the production, but it was delayed due to a number of issues, including the death of actor and founding member of the Black Actors Guild, Corin Chavez.
After Chavez’s passing, Dewey passed the script along to Campbell. It remained dormant until Campbell’s conversation with CdeBaca inspired him to revisit the script. Once he reread the play, he felt now was the right time to produce it, so he created a funding proposal for the project through the City and County of Denver Arts & Venues agency and got to work revising the text.
“The characters from the original radio play are mostly intact,” Campbell says. “I switched one character from being an elder bellhop to an aspiring trombone artist to bring in the jazz element. [Dewey] had done some really good research on the neighborhood and the time itself. The historical element was already there; I brought jazz into the play.”
For research on the music, Campbell watched documentaries about the neighborhood’s jazz legacy, studied books like Laura M. Mauck’s Five Points Neighborhood of Denver and interviewed several documentarians to add anecdotes about the era into the show. Campbell worked closely with collaborators Meghan Frank and Buba Basishvili of Theatre Artibus, with whom he had previously collaborated as co-producers of Recipe, a play about the history of food in Five Points, to identify areas in the script where they could further develop the plot.
To get feedback on the story from local audiences, the team held a staged reading at Savoy Denver in June 2020. Campbell incorporated audience reactions as he fleshed out the supporting plots and love story, as well protagonist Bobby Trombone.
“Bobby is an archetype of a disgruntled musician past his time,” Campbell says. “He works at the Rossonian, encounters the greatest jazz musicians of all time and is looking for his opportunity to catch their attention. I’ve seen this person all my life, and, in a lot of ways, I am Bobby Trombone myself. I identify with the emotions and memories Bobby embodies about having to work hard to be noticed and taken seriously in the music industry.”
To help put a unique spin on the music Bobby would have experienced at the hotel, Campbell called on local veteran hip-hop producer Akil to create original tracks for the production.
“The music has a jazzy hip-hop style,” Campbell says. “Instead of having a band, I wanted to make stuff in the studio so it would feel more like the vintage era of television, where you’d create these recorded tracks and the vocalist would sing the lead live. So, I recruited [Akil] to make these tracks that combine jazz and hip-hop to create this beautiful pastmeets-future vibe.”
Campbell is happy to perform the piece at Savoy Denver because the space has an out-of-time feeling that complements the play. “Not only is it a beautiful venue, but it’s also very reflective of that jazz era,” he says. “The Savoy was the perfect place to tell the story; it’s in Five Points, has the right architecture and look to it, so it just made perfect sense.”
Suggesting a robust public appetite for the project, the upcoming run of In the Pocket: The Ballad of Bobby Trombone is currently sold out. But for those lucky enough to have snatched their tickets, Campbell hopes to instill a deeper appreciation and understanding of suppressed Black histories like the one animating this remarkable slice of Denver’s storied musical past.
“Come if you love jazz or want to support stories that are being prohibited in classrooms,” he says. “I hope folks gain the value of storytelling as well as empathy for people that go unrecognized.”
ON STAGE: In the Pocket: The Ballad of Bobby Trombone by Jeff Campbell. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. through Feb. 9-25, Savoy Denver, 2700 Arapahoe St. Sold out.
We love our local arts scene here in Boulder County — but with so much going on, it can be hard to keep up. That’s why Boulder Weekly is launching our new regular round-up of goings-on in the world of performing and visual arts, film, music and more. Here’s a snapshot of what’s happening locally, so you won’t miss a beat.
Leading landscape photographer donates life’s work to History Colorado
Fifty years of Centennial State landscape photography now belong to the public, as premier nature photographer John Fielder donates his entire archive to History Colorado. The state-run historical society is now the steward of more than 5,000 images of breathtaking views of every county in the state, collected from the artist’s storied career that began in 1973.
Launched last fall, the program is designed to teach disadvantaged young people how to sing or play an instrument through intensive one-onone instruction.
“Jared Music Foundation is proud to be a partner of Boulder Symphony & Music Academy to be able to help so many underprivileged students gain exposure to and experience with music,” president and founder Renae Dihaya said in a press release from the nonprofit, named after the founders’ son who died in a motorcycle accident six years ago. “By providing these 22 full scholarships, and hopefully many more, we can continue the drum beat in honor of Jared.”
Boulder Theater turns it up to 11 with new sound system
Z2 Entertainment has announced a “serious upgrade” to the sound system at the iconic Boulder Theater
The new rig — which made its premiere last weekend with performances from Al Di Meola and Shakedown Street — includes K3 loudspeakers and a P1 processor from L-Acoustics, along with an Avid S6L audio mixer. What does all this mean in plain English? “[It allows] us to tune the sound system to work in perfect harmony with the room,” Vice President of Production Edward Link III wrote in a press release announcing the upgrade on Feb. 1. “This allows for complete stereo coverage of the entire room, meaning there isn’t a bad seat in the house.”
Pearl Street gets makeover from local student artists
“What brings you joy?” With this simple prompt, young artists from Columbine Elementary School, Casey Middle School and Boulder High School got to work creating 42 new lamp pole banners to be installed along Pearl Street as part of the 2023 Student Banner Project. Now in its 11th year, the public art initiative bringing a blush of youth to our city streets is presented in collaboration between Boulder Arts Week and the Downtown Boulder Partnership
These eye-popping works by tomorrow’s leading artists will be on display through the upcoming 10th annual Boulder Arts Week, which returns April 7-15 for another large-scale, community-wide art bash featuring gallery shows, live music, workshops, film screenings and more. In the meantime, you can check out the complete Student Banner Project map at bit.ly/ BannerMap, or scan the accompanying QR code above.
“My goal was always to reveal and preserve the essence of the place that I think is the most beautiful on Earth: Colorado,” the artist said in a History Colorado press release on Jan. 25. “I am humbled that these photos have inspired others and spurred the passage of numerous environmental protection projects and laws across this beautiful state that I love and cherish.”
New CU Boulder center exalts Black creativity on campus
Scholarship program connects underprivileged students with Boulder Symphony training
Through its partnership with the Boulder Symphony & Music Academy, the local Jared Music Foundation announced last week it will be awarding 22 full scholarships valued at $33,000 for underresourced Boulder County students to receive a year of private training from Boulder Symphony musicians.
CU Boulder Center for African & African American Studies (CAAS) opened its brand new co-curricular space last week, designed to “research, promote, preserve, interpret and disseminate knowledge about the histories, cultures and arts of Africa, African Americans and the wider world of the African diaspora.” Visual and performing arts are one of the new center’s three major program areas. Upcoming CAASpresented events include Black History Month screenings of The Photograph (Feb. 15), Till (Feb. 23) and The Woman King (March 1) as part of the CU Boulder International Film Series, running through May 2.
Got local art news? Email BW culture editor Jezy J. Gray at jgray@boulderweekly.com
8:30-9:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, Fiske Planetarium, 2414 Regent Drive, Boulder.
Let the Rocket Man take you to space at the Fiske Planetarium with this mesmerizing, laser-engineered light show. Visitors will be immersed in vibrant colors and fog and as they through the universe accompanied by Elton’s best jams.
8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 through Sunday Feb. 12, The Spark Theater, 4847 Pearl Street #B4, Boulder. $20
Boulder Burlesque, a dance troupe bringing together the art of burlesque with contemporary dance and theater, is back with its Valentine’s Showcase featuring its Beginner Troupe performers. This annual performance celebrates self-love and body positivity.
3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway.
Get up close and personal with one of Black history’s most iconic figures during this living-history portrayal at the Museum of Boulder. Presented in partnership with Colorado Humanities, this local stop on the statewide 2023 Black History Live Tour features a Q&A with world-renowned performing artist and activist Josephine Baker, portrayed by scholar/actor Becky Stone.
Various times Saturday, Feb. 11 and Tuesday, Feb. 14, Colorado Glass Works, 1500 Pearl St., Suite D, Boulder. $214
Get creative with your special loved one with Colorado Glass Works artist and founder Meggy Wilm in this Valentines-themed stained glass workshop. Tools and materials are included in the price of this 1.5-hour class.
2-4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, location provided when registering, near Lafayette. Registration required
ning of dynamic flavors during this sweet and boozy event. Along with local craft whiskey, Moksha Chocolate will feature four single-origin chocolates from around the world, handcrafted right here in Boulder.
4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, Stewart Auditorium, 400 S. Quail Road, Longmont.
The Boulder Bach Festival continues with a recital from Vadim Gluzman and Janice Carissa. Ukrainian-born violinist Gluzman, called “a Paganini of our time,” joins acclaimed pianist Carissa for this afternoon performance. The recital at Stewart Auditorium will feature works from both the Baroque and Romantic eras, with a composition by composer Lera Auerbach.
If you’ve ever been curious how animals celebrate the season of love, Boulder County Parks & Open Space has the event for you. Volunteer naturalists will talk about how the birds and the bees find their mates, build their homes and raise their young during this Valentine’s Day wildlife event.
5:30-7 p.m. or 7:30-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, Boulder Spirits, 5311 Western Ave., Suite 180, Boulder. $30
Peas and carrots, peanut butter and jelly … whiskey and chocolate? Head to the tasting room at Vapor Distillery, home of Boulder Spirits, for an eve-
9 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, Friday Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18, Longmont Library, 409 Fourth Ave., Longmont
Ready to find your next favorite book at a bargain? Head to Longmont for the annual book sale fundraiser hosted by Friends of the Longmont Library. Teachers can fill a grocery bag full of books for $5 on Friday, Feb. 17, and the general public gets the same deal on Saturday, Feb. 18. Happy reading!
What’s in Boulder’s headphones?
Rejoice, music freaks — we’re back with your regular round-up of the latest bestsellers at Paradise Found Records & Music (1646 Pearl St.) This week’s Top 10 includes a strong first-place showing from Ohio deathmetal outfit Sanguisugabogg — say that five times fast — alongside classic reissues from The Cure and Velvet Underground, the latest from Glasgow indie-pop mainstays Belle and Sebastian, and more.
1. SANGUISUGABOGG Homicidal Ecstasy
2. DONALD BYRD At The Half Note Cafe, Vol. 1 (Reissue)
3. MUMFORD & SONS Babel (Reissue)
4. OSCAR PETERSON Night Train (Reissue)
5. THE CURE Wish (Reissue)
6. BELLE AND SEBASTIAN Late Developers
7. TROPICAL FUCK STORM Submersive Behaviour
8. BOB DYLAN Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997)
9. RIKKI ILILONGA Zambia (Reissue)
10. VELVET UNDERGROUND Loaded (Reissue)
Black excellence takes center stage in Black Futures: We’re Not Just History, a new group exhibition curated by Lafayette artist and gallery owner Adderly GrantLord. The ongoing show at Dairy Arts Center is presented by the NAACP Boulder County Branch in partnership with the Executive Committee, African American Cultural Events, Boulder County, as part of the Boulder County Black History Month 2023 Celebration. More details below.
ERIN HYUNHEE KANG: A HOME IN BETWEEN. BMoCA: Union Works Gallery, 1750 13th St., Boulder. Through Feb. 19. $2
NATASCHA SEIDENECK: OUTLANDISH REDUX. Caruso Lounge, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Through Feb. 23. Free
HER BRUSH: JAPANESE WOMEN ARTISTS FROM THE FONG-JOHNSTONE COLLECTION. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway. Through May 13. $12-$19
RUGGED BEAUTY. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway. Through May 28. $15
CHAUTAUQUA: 125 YEARS AT THE HEART OF BOULDER. Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway. Through April 2. $10
JERRIE HURD: BEYOND THE MALE GAZE. BMoCA at Macky, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. Through May 26.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS. CU Art Museum, 1085 18th St., Boulder. Through June 2023. Free
ONWARD AND UPWARD: SHARK’S INK. CU Art Museum, 1085 18th St., Boulder. Through July 2023. Free
Four authors with homespun short story collections present Women Writing Colorado, a twoday panel on the “unique texture of experiences in Colorado” at Boulder Book Store on Feb. 9 and Tattered Cover in Denver on Feb. 10. Writers include Rachel King, Claire Boyles, Wendy J. Fox, and Jenny Shank. Learn more in the listings below.
WOMEN WRITING COLORADO PANEL FEAT. RACHEL KING, CLAIRE BOYLES, WENDY J. FOX, AND JENNY SHANK (NIGHT 1). 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. $5
JAMES ROLLINS: THE CRADLE OF ICE. 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. $5
WOMEN WRITING COLORADO PANEL FEAT. RACHEL KING, CLAIRE BOYLES, WENDY J. FOX, AND JENNY SHANK (NIGHT 2). 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Free
SIMON VAN BOOY: THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. $5
NAZLI KOCA: THE APPLICANT BOOK LAUNCH. 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Free
STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES IN CONVERSATION WITH ERIKA T. WURTH: DON’T FEAR THE REAPER. Wednesday, Feb. 15, Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $30 (includes book)
ON THE BILL: Head to the historic Colorado Chautauqua Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 11, for a “haunted Valentine’s Prom” featuring Denverbased slowcore artist Allison Lorenzen and self-described “Heaven metal” outfit Midwife. Wear your best spooky prom attire and pucker up at the onsite kissing booth during this night of experimental music in the heart of Boulder. See listing for details.
DR. JIM’S ONE-MAN BAND.
5 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
PAUL MURIN AND BRIAN ADAMS (OF DEADPHISH ORCHESTRA). 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free
JANE & MATTHEWS, MR. MOTA AND ALPENGLOW. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15
DAKOTA BLONDE. 8 p.m. Daniels Hall, Swallow Hill Music, 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver. $31
TOAD IN THE HOLE. 8 p.m. Tuft Theatre, Swallow Hill Music, 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver. $28
J.I.D & SMINO. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $46
MAGIC CITY HIPPIES. 9 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax, Denver. $23
BRANFORD MARSALIS QUARTET. 7:30 p.m. Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. $24
LA COTORRISA. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $60
DARK STAR ORCHESTRA. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $33
ALLISON LORENZEN WITH MIDWIFE. 8 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $20
SHOVELIN STONE WITH SUGAR BRITCHES AND GRAHAM GOOD. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 483 Logan St., Denver. $15
RUBBLEBUCKET. 9 p.m. Gothic Theater, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $25
THE 502s 9 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $20
TWINSICK WITH BRUINS, SNAKOZ B2B TODD BANKS. 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15
THE CHARLATANS UK WITH RIDE. 9 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax, Denver. $35
SUNDAY, FEB. 12
EMILY BARNES. 4 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
MONDAY, FEB. 13
JACQUELINE NOVAK: GET ON YOUR KNEES (NIGHT 1). 7 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $35
TUESDAY, FEB. 14
JACQUELINE NOVAK: GET ON YOUR KNEES (NIGHT 2). 7 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $35
ANNA MIEKE. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 483 Logan St., Denver. $16
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15
NALADA ENSEMBLE. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20
SAM GRISMAN PROJECT PRESENTS THE MUSIC OF GARCIA/GRISMAN. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $20
THURSDAY, FEB. 16
TIRESHOE WITH BRIDGE DOWN AND ANIKA ERICKSON. 6 p.m. Globe Hall, 483 Logan St., Denver. $12
KYLE HOLLINGSWORTH BAND & JOEL CUMMINS WITH SPECIAL GUEST MORSEL. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20
JERRY HARRISON AND ADRIAN BELEW: REMAIN IN LIGHT. 8 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax, Denver. $43
Phasics Corporation, Boulder, CO seeks Field Application Engineer Manager to support optics and photonics activities. Telecommuting Permitted. Full-time. Travel required up to 20% of the time to client sites. Salary range: $115,000 to $135,000. Email resume to Mr. Priol at priol@phasics.com
Estate of Dennis J Joyce, Deceased Case No.: 2022PR645 All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to present them to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Boulder County, Colorado on or before June 9, 2023, or said claims may be forever barred.
ERIN JOYCE, Personal Representative 306 Casper Dr. Lafayette, Colorado 80026
James Baldwin and his books have enjoyed varying degrees of attention and praise since the late literary icon burst onto the scene in 1953, but they’ve undergone a renaissance of sorts in recent years. That’s thanks in no small part to Raoul Peck’s masterful documentary, I Am Not Your Negro (2016), Barry Jenkin’s lush adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk (2019) and a renewed interest in Black voices following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Today, Baldwin’s works are found in just about every bookstore and library — his The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985, is finally available in paperback — documentaries from long ago are now available on streaming, and a handful of his more famous quotes routinely appear in work email signatures.
That could drive one to cynicism, but the beauty of Baldwin is that the words still pulse. Pull The Devil Finds Work (1976) off the shelf, and you will discover film criticism prac-
ticed at a high level. Watch Baldwin on screen, and you’ll see a thinker in complete control of language and thought. And you can, thanks to The Criterion Channel’s new program, available starting Feb. 13: James Baldwin On-Screen, three features and three shorts that will engage and challenge you in ways you didn’t think possible.
Headlining the program is Go Tell It on the Mountain, a 1985 American Playhouse adaptation of Baldwin’s first novel, featuring performances from Ving Rhames, Giancarlo Esposito and Alfre Woodard, each bringing everything to the table. Director Stan Lathan is faithful to Baldwin’s prose, and though the film bears the usual production signs of a made-for-TV movie, there is an undeniable quality in the writing and performances that is captivating.
There’s a feeling of autobiography in Go Tell It on the Mountain — it permeates all of Baldwin’s books — which is sussed out in the featurelength documentary, James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket (1989). Made
just after the writer’s death, The Price of the Ticket assembles friends, lovers, biographers and admirers in an informative talkingheads doc. But the real draw here is the copious amount of archival footage of Baldwin giving lectures, appearing on TV and in public debate.
That theme continues through the three short subjects: Baldwin’s Ni**er (1968), Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970) and James Baldwin: From Another Place (1973). But it resonates most powerfully in I Am Not Your Negro, Peck’s synthesis of Baldwin’s prose that attempts to reconstruct the book Baldwin never wrote: Remember This House, which would have told the story of America through the lives of three murdered civil rights leaders and friends of Baldwin — Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
With style reminiscent of Marlon Riggs, Peck pulls together literature, cinema and history for a featurelength visual essay of Baldwin’s
beliefs and the forces that shaped those beliefs. Samuel L. Jackson narrates, Alexei Aigui’s score ties the themes together, and Baldwin’s prowess comes to the forefront. Michael Ondaatje once likened Baldwin to an “artist-saint.” I Am Not Your Negro is the proof.
Back to those quotes: There is real power in Baldwin’s words. Whether spoken or read, his sentences thunder. Watch the five documentaries in the program and notice how often the filmmakers use Baldwin’s proclamations as punctuation. Maybe that explains the allure of regurgitating his words, even if the speaker isn’t clear on Baldwin’s intent. Thankfully we have the books, interviews and speeches to discover and understand what is really being said. And when we do, the words come to life all over again.
ON SCREEN: James Baldwin On-Screen, streaming on The Criterion Channel starting Feb. 13.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries director Francis Ford Coppola was asked to name the year’s worst movie. The question didn’t interest him, he said. He listed his favorite films, then declared, “Movies are hard to make, so I’d say, all the other ones were fine!” Coppola’s comments remind me of author Dave Eggers’: “Do not dismiss a book until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them.” In accordance with astrological omens, Aries, your assignment is to explore and embody these perspectives. Refrain from judging efforts about which you have no personal knowledge. Be as open-minded and generous as you can. Doing so will give you fuller access to half-dormant aspects of your own potential.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Artist Andy Warhol said, only half in jest, “Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art, and working is art, and good business is the best art.” More than any other sign, Tauruses embody this attitude with flair. When you are at your best, you’re not a greedy materialist who places a higher value on money than everything else. Instead, you approach the gathering of necessary resources, including money, as a fun art project that you perform with love and creativity. I invite you to ascend to an even higher octave of this talent.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You are gliding into the Season of Maximum Volition, Autonomy, and Liberty. Now is a favorable time to explore and expand the pleasures of personal sovereignty. You will be at the peak of your power to declare your independence from influences that hinder and limit you. To prepare, try two experiments. 1. Act as if free will is an illusion. It doesn’t exist. There’s no such thing. Then visualize what your destiny would be like. 2. Act as if free will is real. Imagine that in the coming months you can have more of it at your disposal than ever before. What will your destiny be like?
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The ethereal, dreamy side of your nature must continually find ways to express itself beautifully and playfully. And I do mean “continually.” If you’re not always allowing your imagination to roam and romp around in Wonderland, your imagination may lapse into spinning out crabby delusions. Luckily, I don’t think you will have any problems attending to this necessary luxury in the coming weeks. From what I can tell, you will be highly motivated to generate fluidic fun by rambling through fantasy realms. Bonus! I suspect this will generate practical benefits.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Don’t treat your allies or yourself with neglect and insensitivity. For the sake of your mental and physical health, you need to do the exact opposite. I’m not exaggerating! To enhance your wellbeing, be almost ridiculously positive. Be vigorously nice and rigorously kind. Bestow blessings and dole out compliments, both to others and yourself. See the best and expect the best in both others and yourself.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Is there a bug in the sanctuary of love? A parasite or saboteur? If so, banish it. Is there a cranky monster grumbling in the basement or attic or closet? Feed that creature chunks of raw cookie dough imbued with a crushed-up valium pill. Do you have a stuffed animal or holy statue to whom you can spill your deep, dark, delicious secrets? If not, get one. Have you been spending quality time rumbling around in your fantasy world in quest of spectacular healings? If not, get busy. Those healings are ready for you to pluck them.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): There’s a weird magic operating in your vicinity these days — a curious, uncanny kind of luck. So while my counsel here might sound counter-intuitive, I think it’s true. Here are four affirmations to chant regularly: 1. “I will attract and
acquire what I want by acting as if I don’t care if I get what I want.” 2. “I will become grounded and relaxed with the help of beautiful messes and rowdy fun.” 3. “My worries and fears will subside as I make fun of them and joke about them.” 4. “I will activate my deeper ambition by giving myself permission to be lazy.”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): How many people would fight for their country? Below I list the countries where my horoscopes are published and the percentage of their populations ready and willing to take up arms against their nations’ enemies: 11%in Japan; Netherlands, 15%; Italy, 20%; France, 29%; Canada, 30%; US, 44%. So I surmise that Japanese readers are most likely to welcome my advice here, which is threefold: 1. The coming months will be a good time to cultivate your love for your country’s land, people, and culture, but not for your country’s government and armed forces. 2. Minimize your aggressiveness unless you invoke it to improve your personal life — in which case, pump it up and harness them. 3. Don’t get riled up about vague abstractions and fear-based fantasies. But do wield your constructive militancy in behalf of intimate, practical improvements.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): By the time she was 33, Sagittarian actor Jane Fonda was famous and popular. She had already won many awards, including an Oscar. Then she became an outspoken opponent of America’s war in Vietnam. Some of her less-liberal fans were outraged. For a few years, her success in films waned. Offers didn’t come easily to her. She later explained that while the industry had not completely “blacklisted” her, she had been “greylisted.” Despite the setback, she kept working — and never diluted her political activism. By the time she was in her forties, her career and reputation had fully recovered. Today, at age 84, she is busy with creative projects. In accordance with astrological rhythms, I propose we make her your role model in the coming months. May she inspire you to be true to your principles even if some people disapprove. Be loyal to what you know is right.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Charles V (1500–1558) had more than 20 titles, including Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Lord of the Netherlands. He was also a patron of the arts and architecture. Once, while visiting the renowned Italian painter Titian to have his portrait done, he did something no monarch had ever done. When Titian dropped his paintbrush on the floor, Charles humbly picked it up and gave it to him. I foresee a different but equally interesting switcheroo in your vicinity during the coming weeks. Maybe you will be aided by a big shot or get a blessing from someone you consider out of your league. Perhaps you will earn a status boost or will benefit from a shift in a hierarchy.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Some people I respect regard the Bible as a great work of literature. I don’t share that view. Like psychologist Valerie Tarico, I believe the so-called good book is filled with “repetition, awkward constructions, inconsistent voice, weak character development, boring tangents, and passages where nobody can tell what the writer meant to convey.” I bring this to your attention, Aquarius, because I believe now is a good time to rebel against conventional wisdom, escape from experts’ opinions, and formulate your own unique perspectives about pretty much everything. Be like Valerie Tarico and me.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I suspect that arrivederci and au revoir and sayōnara will overlap with birth cries and welcomes and initiations in the coming days. Are you beginning or ending? Leaving or arriving? Letting go or hanging on? Here’s what I think: You will be beginning and ending; leaving and arriving; letting go and hanging on. That could be confusing, but it could also be fun. The mix of emotions will be rich and soulful.
Dear Dan: I am a 27-year-old man in an open marriage with a wonderful partner. They’re my best friend, I smile whenever they walk into the room, and we have a ton in common. We don’t, however, have that much sex. I’m currently seeing someone else, and our sex is great. We’ve explored some light BDSM and pegging, and I’m finding myself really enjoying being a sub. I’m kind of terrified that, as a man, I might accidentally violate someone’s boundaries. I’m also autistic, which makes navigating cues from partners rather difficult. Completely submitting to someone else weirdly makes me feel totally safe and free for the first time. The problem is, my spouse is also pretty subby. When they do try to initiate sex, it’s often so subtle that I totally miss the signals. In the past month, I’ve had sex with my spouse maybe once, compared to four or five times with my other partner. My question is this: Have you seen examples of people in open marriages who essentially fulfill their sexual needs with secondary partners, while still maintaining a happy companionable partnership with their primary?
— Sexually Understanding Butt-Boy
BY DAN SAVAGE
I’m away this week. Please enjoy this column from July of 2019.
—Dan
Dear SUBB: I’ve known people in loving, happy, sexless marriages who aren’t leading sexless lives; their marriages are happy and companionate, and both partners find sexual fulfillment with their secondary, tertiary, quaternary, etc., partners. But companionate open marriages only work when it’s what both partners want… and your partner’s feelings are conspicuously absent from your letter. How do they feel about being in a sexless or nearly sexless marriage? Your spouse seems to wanna have sex with you — they occasionally try to initiate — but perhaps your spouse is just going through the motions because they think it’s what you want. So, you’re gonna have to talk with your spouse about your sex lives. If you’ve found being told what to do in unsubtle ways by your Dom second partner to be sexually liberating, SUBB, you could ask your spouse to be a little less subtle and more demanding when they initiate — or, better yet, ask them not to be subtle at all. Nowhere is it written that subs have to be subtle or sly when they initiate; nor do subs have to stand there waiting for others to initiate. “I’m horny and we’re having sex tonight” is something a pushy/bratty sub can say to another sub or a Dom.
It’s one of those Boulder seasonal rituals, like lighting the star on Flagstaff Mountain.
Every autumn — when the Boulder County Farmers Market and local roadside farm stands close up shop, we traditionally forget about local food until the coming of spring.
After all, there’s nothing growing here in the middle of the winter, right?
For decades I’ve wished Boulder had a winter farmers market, a place for cooks to find regional ingredients during the frozen season. Under the radar and right under our noses, a strictly local farm store has been open and growing since 2020.
Out of dire necessity, the Boulder County Farmers Market birthed its online market at the beginning of the pandemic.
“Local farmers with crops already planted were suddenly without a way to sell their produce, meats and products. We made it possible for them to connect with consumers,” says Mackenzie Sehlke, the market’s executive director.
Since then, locals have been able to order year-round at bcfm.org with curbside pickup in Boulder, Longmont, Lafayette and Denver.
That’s how I found myself on an ice-slicked Lafayette side street late one gray weekday picking up my boxes. Granted, the excursion lacked the gregarious charm of the Wednesday and Saturday summer markets, but it was also minus the time commitment, lines, contagious crowds and parking challenges.
Obviously, the fresh local produce selection right now is limited compared to what it will be in August, but the dozens of items stocking the Boulder digital shelves right now really impressed me.
My winter online market selections have turned into various kinds of fine meals.
A box of Pastificio zucca dry pasta (Boulder) and some Il Porcellino cacciatore salami (Denver) combined with sliced onions and sweet peppers in a great one-pot supper.
I peeled and cut beta carotene-rich, deep purple carrots from Hoffman Farms in Greeley, tossed them with multi-color organic baby potatoes, olive oil spray and smoked salt and air fried them. Roasted, the carrots were like sweet carrot jerky, the little spuds a perfect mouthful. Dessert was airfried, cinnamon-dusted wedges of First Fruits Organic Farms’ (Paonia, CO) organic Granny Smith apples.
Naturally, my Spark + Honey (Boulder) lightly toasted wild blueberry vanilla granola got enhanced by densely creamy Five Freedoms Dairy (Galeton, CO) Greek yogurt and a rare sweetness, Ela Farms (Hotchkiss, CO) pear jam. A brunch featured SkyPilot Farm’s (Longmont) excellent chorizo pork sausage.
I still have a package of frozen Buckner Ranch (Longmont) beef soup bones to transform into rich bone broth and truly local beef and vegetable stew.
Topping my online order was a rare commodity: a dozen natural large brown eggs from Wisdom’s Natural Poultry (Haxtun, CO), fresh and perfect for morning scrambles and hardboiled egg salad.
“It’s a classic example of why investing in local farms year-round really pays off in times of scarcity. Supply chain shortages during the pandemic helped spark a surge in interest in supporting local sustainable agriculture,” Sehlke says.
“The farmers are driving their eggs to us from Haxtun (southeast of Boulder), not Wisconsin,” she adds.
The BCFM Online Market produce selection is also stocked now with locally grown daikon radishes, lettuce, squash, microgreens and mushrooms along with meats, grains and specialty food products like Colorado Sun Tofu.
Best of all, the BCFM roster includes favorite ready-to-eat goodies such as tamales, pupusas, John Hinman’s pies (Arvada), gluten-free Havenly Baked Goods (Boulder) cupcakes, lemon ice cream and salted honey caramels plus coffee, chai and tea. The selection changes weekly.
According to Sehlke, roughly 10,000 individuals and families used the online market in 2022. Currently a few hundred families a week are taking advantage of the online market and pickup at the four locations.
In summer, the vegetable, fruit and flower offerings blossom as the list of farmers grows to more than 50. In August, cantaloupe, corn and peaches always hog the spotlight.
“I’m a big fan of the winter online market because there are certain special foods we have in Colorado that don’t always get prime billing, like dried heirloom beans. They are so delicious and they are a dryland crop requiring less water to grow well here,” Sehlke says.
Anyone who shops at farmers markets and stands knows that the price tag there is generally higher than it is at mainstream markets. For some shoppers, the higher quality and great flavor make it worthwhile.
“It reflects the cost of keeping those farmers working in our community,” Sehlke says.
It’s worth it because it’s not anonymous food — it’s grown in the community by locals. Your money stays here and isn’t shipped off to the corporate home office in another state.
The market in all its forms makes it easier for local farmers to compete and the online store is a financial lifeline for farmers and culinary artisans during the offseason when they don’t have an affordable sales outlet.
Looking ahead, the in-person Boulder County Farmers Market in Boulder and Longmont will open on April 1 with some new young farmers and new, diverse food court offerings, Sehlke says.
Louisville’s coffee culture received a boost with the opening of Lucca Coffee & Eatery, 765 E. South Boulder Road. The sunny Europeanstyle cafe features espresso drinks, chai, tea and a limited but tasty menu. On a recent visit we enjoyed a good muffaletta, a crispy bun loaded
with ham, soppressata and fontina cheese with lots of olive salad, as well as house-baked artichoke focaccia loaded with mozzarella, garlic and pesto. For sweets, a densely satisfying buttery blondie bar with chocolate chips.
● The Old Barrel Tea Company is open at 1647 Pearl St., Boulder.
● Pupusas 2 is dishing Salvadoran fare at 2525 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, former site of Yellowbelly Chicken.
● Coming soon: Heaven Artisan Creamery, 2525 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder; Postino WineCafe, 1468 Pearl St., Boulder; Avant Garden Bistro, 1002 Walnut St., Boulder; and Shopey’s Pizza, 585 E. South Boulder Road, Louisville
● Plan ahead: The inaugural Colorado Bock Festival, March 4, Paonia, paoniaunitedbrew.com
WORDS TO CHEW ON: GUILT FOR DINNER
“In America, we feel guilty about eating. We call a cake ‘sinfully delicious.’ We’re so bombarded with processed foods we’ve gotten away from the pleasure of food.” —Patricia
WellsJohn Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles Thursdays on KGNU, (88.5 FM, 1390 AM, 99.1 FM in Denver, and kgnu.org).
There is much to adore about avocados. They are as creamy as mayonnaise, with a mild nutty flavor, and full of nutrients, all of which helps explain why avocado consumption in the U.S. has increased five-fold in the last 25 years. This acceleration is all the more amazing given that Americans mostly use them for guacamole and avocado toast.
Avocados are technically berries, aka fruit. As such, avocados are the fattiest, most protein-rich fruit on the planet. The Aztecs, who were the first people to eat avocados, named them āhuacatl, which means testicles, as they hang in pairs from the tree. More recently the fruit has been nicknamed the alligator pear, based on its shape and the color and texture of its skin.
Avocados are prized for the moisturizing glow they impart to human skin when used topically. As a food, avocados are full of vitamins, and high in fiber, potassium and folate. They have anti-inflammatory properties and lower the risk of heart disease.
Americans go through about 100 million pounds of avocados during Super Bowl Sunday, which makes
February the time of peak demand. But last year at this time, avocados were in short supply, thanks to some happenings in Mexico, the world’s largest producer. The Mexican harvest was uncharacteristically light. And to make matters worse, Mexican imports were banned by the U.S. after a Department of Agriculture inspector received a threatening phone call from a Mexican cartel member. The avocado ban lasted almost a week, during which avocado prices rose to a 24-year high.
Thirty percent of the world’s avocados are grown in the Mexican state of Michoacán, thanks to rich volcanic soils, climate and mountainous topography that enable avocado trees at different elevations to bloom and produce fruit year-round. Michoacán is also a center for narcotrafficking, and was heavily impacted by the war on drugs, which forced many cartels to explore new income streams. Avocados became known as “green gold,” and became a focus of cartel activities. The criminal gangs got involved in all levels of the avocado industry, including cultivation, market-
ing and transport. These activities include threatening, taxing, extorting and killing farmers, and sometimes taking their land.
In addition to benefiting organized crime, there is an environmental cost to avocados as well. A single avocado requires 37 gallons of water. And the avocado boom has led to deforestation, including a third of Michoacán’s oak and pine forests, where the monarch butterfly, an endangered species, spends the winter.
The fact that one of our favorite foods can have negative environmental and social consequences is a dilemma. But it doesn’t mean we should quit avocados altogether. Many avocado growers are small farmers who depend on the fruit for income. And those being harassed by narcos aren’t helped by consumers refusing to buy their avocados. A growing number of certifications, such as Fairtrade, allow consumers to use their dollars to leverage the cultivation of avocados in ways that are socially beneficial and environmentally friendly. So far, Fairtrade avocados amount to only about 3 million pounds annually, but the number of participating farmers and organizations is growing.
So, look for Fairtrade avocados, and explore some new ways to prepare them, like this chocolate avocado mouse.
With no offense intended to the taste of an avocado, a selling point of this mousse is that it doesn’t taste like avocado. It’s as thick as truffle ganache, and tastes like pure chocolate. Valentine’s Day lands two days after the Super Bowl this year. So if you are looking to hit both holidays, stock up on some alligator pears. If the pudding is too rich for your taste, add more milk and serve it as a milkshake.
2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup or sugar
Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Scoop out of the blender, making sure to lick all utensils, and serve. (Serves 2)
February just hasn’t been the same in Boulder County without Stout Month, Mountain Sun Pubs and Breweries’ month-long celebration of the dark, top-fermented style of beer.
After a two-year hiatus, the party is back on, with nearly 30 stouts pouring across Kevin Daly’s four sister pubs (Vine Street Pub in Denver is still closed). And this year, it’s all Mountain Sun-brewed stouts, with no guest taps.
“It’s such a distinct style,” says Mountain Sun head brewer John Fiorilli. “We’ve tried in the past to do IPA month or a Belgian month, but nothing really gives the variety that you can give people with stouts.”
Fiorilli, who has been with Mountain Sun for 23 years, says stouts are a “more approachable beer than people think.” A number of the offerings on the Stout Month menu are around or even under 5% ABV — on par with the alcohol content of many pilsners — and “very light bodied.”
“The key ingredient that really makes a stout is roasted barley, and roasted barley has flavors that lean right into chocolate and coffee, which are flavors a lot of people really like
already,” Fiorilli says. “If you enjoy coffee, I bet I can find a stout that you like, even one of the ones that doesn’t have coffee in it.”
For those looking to learn a bit more about how beers develop specific flavor profiles, Fiorilli has provided in-depth descriptions of each brew on the menu, including the hops, malts, barley and adjunct ingredients. Patrons of Stout Month will also notice an “original gravity” for each beer, which measures the sugar content in the beer before fermentation.
“The higher the original gravity, the higher the sugar content, which means more sugar is available to ferment into alcohol,” Fiorilli says, which equates to how much potential alcohol will be in a finished beer.
Here are a few stouts you need to try this month.
“It has always been one of our favorite beers,” Fiorilli says of the 2010 World Beer Cup silver medal-winning brew. Brewed with java from Salto coffeehouse in Nederland (as are all of Mountain Sun’s coffee-based
beers, like the beloved Java Porter), Addiction Imperial Coffee also offers flavors of chocolate, dark fruit and caramel, clocking in at 9.3% ABV. Chinook and Crystal hops impart earthy, green and subtly pine-like flavors to this rich and complex beer.
This is the second time Fiorilli has brewed this “citrus-forward” brew with milk and dark chocolates and tangerine puree. “It’s kind of a fun balance of a little sweetness from the chocolate and end tartness from the citrus purees,” Fiorilli says. With a 6.5% ABV, Chocwork is brewed with Amarillo hops, which adds to the floral-like citrus flavor and aroma.
Infused with fresh — not extract — organic coconut, milk and dark choco-
late, and a full pound per barrel of Tahitian vanilla bean, Fiorilli used to wait until Valentine’s Day to tap this “perennial favorite,” but “we stopped doing set release dates on beers because we don’t want people to wait to drink these,” he says with a laugh. This smooth and creamy stout registers a 10.1% ABV, so make sure and savor this one slowly and see if you think the black malt it’s brewed with tastes more like currants, blackberries or golden raisins.
This one’s for the malt heads. Light on hops, with very low bitterness, this medium- to full-bodied beer uses seven types of malt, including dark crystal malts. “So it has a little bit of that toffee character,” Fiorilli says. You can also roll this one across the palette to look for notes of burned sugar, raisin, cherry and plum.
The last 14 months have been the longest sustained downturn for Colorado’s cannabis industry since state-licensed retail sales started in 2014.
According to numbers released in January by the Colorado Department of Revenue, cannabis sales for November 2022 had topped out at $130 million. That’s down from $158 million in November 2021. And the trend is even more severe when you look at medical marijuana sales specifically, which were down 39% from a year prior.
This downturn not only affects cannabis businesses, it affects every public program in Colorado that receives cannabis tax dollars. In 2022, the state made $325 million dollars in cannabis tax revenue — down from $423 million in 2021.
“I certainly think $100 million is a significant number even in [the context of] Colorado’s budget,” Truman Bradley, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group (MIG), says. “When you cut 25%, approximately, of state and local marijuana tax revenues, you are going to have to look to other funding sources.”
Four main variables are driving this
downturn on the recreational side, according to Bradley. The first has to do with the tapering off of COVID-19. People were buying more cannabis in part because of the stress of the situation, in part because they were home more often, and in part because they had limited substitutes like bars or concerts. As the pandemic waned, buying patterns changed. And the cannabis industry’s seemingly unstoppable revenue was throttled.
“We are victims of our own success,” Bradley says.
As other states have legalized cannabis, Bradley says, a portion of Colorado cannabis tourism dollars have left the state.
“Now you don’t see people coming over the border to buy legal cannabis here when they can just get it at their dispensary in Tucson or Albuquerque or Scottsdale.”
Finally, he says, there’s the issue of surplus. Both the 2021 and 2022 harvests were some of the best Colorado has ever had. There was almost no loss to hail, early freezing or rampant disease, which seemed like a boon
with the ever-ascending COVID-times cannabis sales. When those sales slowed, however, many cultivators were left with a surplus of flower, driving prices down.
“Some businesses didn’t realize that the COVID bubble was just that,” Bradley says. “They planted probably more than they should have.”
On the medical side of the industry, this sustained downturn has more to do with state legislation, specifically HB-1317 (Weed Between the Lines, “Concentrated regulation,” July 1, 2021). That bill, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2022, passed on the fear that 18-year-old medical marijuana patients were buying concentrates and selling them to their younger peers.
than a few days of their medicine at any one time, Bradley says.
He references one medical patient he knows who served in Vietnam and lost both legs; a senior citizen who requires a special modified van.
“For him to get in his car and have to physically go down to the dispensary in order to buy enough medical marijuana to last him three days and then he has to do it again, that’s absurd,” Bradley says.
Which has forced many medical patients back to the illicit market, where they can buy all the medicine they need in a single purchase — and where purchases are always tax free.
Shortly after the bill passed, the registry of medical cannabis patients dropped. “When you look at where the numbers are today, it’s the lowest we’ve seen the medical marijuana patient registry in many years,” Bradley says.
The validity of that concern has been hotly debated. Regardless, the resulting bill made access to cannabis much harder for the people who need it most: the medical patients. It made it more expensive to get a medical license, and severely restricted medical purchases. Now it’s hard for a patient to buy more
All of this has culminated in the sustained downturn the cannabis industry has seen over the last 14 months, which in turn has resulted in $100 million less for public programs focusing on mental health, housing and education. Bradley points to Denver’s policy dedicating 2% of every cannabis sale to affordable housing — which raised $9,990,334 in 2021. Or the Pueblo County measure that allows for 50% of the county’s annual marijuana excise sales tax funds to go to scholarship-granting organizations.
“That means less scholarship dollars for kids graduating high school down there,” he says. “This is real.”
