Boulder Weekly 06.08.2023

PRIDE AND JOY

‘OUT’ AND ABOUT IN BOCO P. 24

ANTI-LGBTQ VIEWS IN SCHOOLS P. 10

CELEBRATING QUEER RESILIENCE P. 6

10 NEWS: Use of a BVSD facility by controversial evangelical church The Well sparks concern BY SHAY CASTLE, BOULDER BEAT

19 MUSIC: Big Samir of globetrotting Colorado hip-hop duo The Reminders builds community across borders BY ADAM PERRY

21 VISUAL ART: Boulder’s only all-women arts nonprofit champions homegrown makers BY JEZY J. GRAY

33 NIBBLES: New documentary details the crises facing farmers as our cheap food system starts to crash BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

31

31 ASTROLOGY: Turn a liability into an asset, Leo

37 GOOD TASTE: Le French Café breathes life and rock ’n’ roll into classic French fare

38 WEED: Who sits on the enigmatic Natural Medicine Advisory Board?

Other green options include body composting (natural reduction)

water cremation (alkaline hydrolysis). We also offer flame cremation.

Courtesy: Elemental

COMMENTARY

JUNE 8, 2023

Volume 30, Number 42

Cover: Courtesy Out Boulder County

PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Caitlin Rockett

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER:

Will Matuska

FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Shay Castle, Adam Perry, Dan Savage, Toni Tresca, Colin Wrenn

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER:

Kellie Robinson

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE:

Matthew Fischer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Chris Allred

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER:

Carter Ferryman

MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER:

Mark Goodman

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn

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. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly. com. 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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THE ANDERSON FILES

The state of the Republican Party in Colorado is dire

BY DAVE ANDERSON

The Colorado Republican Party has suffered a big decline in contributions and currently has no paid staffers. The party recently elected a chair, Dave Williams, a 2020-election-denying, former threeterm state representative from Colorado Springs.

In 2022, Republicans lost every statewide office by big margins and now have the lowest share ever of the state legislature. Williams claims this is because the party isn’t right-wing enough. He promises to be a “wartime” leader. He asked Tina Peters to join the leadership. She’s the anklemonitor wearing former Mesa County clerk indicted for election crimes. A

number of prominent Republicans promptly announced they were leaving the party.

From 1968 to 2004, Colorado backed the Republican presidential nominees, except for Bill Clinton’s 1992 victory over then-president George H.W. Bush. Independent candidate Ross Perot won almost 24% of the Colorado vote.

Then, beginning in 2008 when Barack Obama ran, Democratic nominees won Colorado. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state in a 13.5-point landslide.

Colorado’s had a Democratic governor since 2006 after years of Republican dominance. Democrats

hold the two U.S. senate seats. MAGA-supporting U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert won re-election in 2022, but by a tiny margin.

In May, the Republican stronghold of Colorado Springs surprised many when independent candidate Yemi Mobolade was elected mayor in a runoff. He is a Nigerian immigrant who moved to the Springs in 2010 to help start a church. He also co-founded two local coffee houses. Mobolade is the city’s first elected Black mayor and the first who isn’t a Republican in four decades.

In April, a dozen candidates ran for mayor. Mobolade garnered the most votes, with Wayne Williams coming in

THE ANDERSON FILES

second. This Williams is a well-known figure in Colorado. He was elected secretary of state in 2014, after being an El Paso County commissioner and county clerk. He’s currently an at-large city councilmember for Colorado Springs.

Of the mayoral runoff election, Chase Woodruff of Colorado Newsline reported:

“Mobolade pitched himself to voters as a moderate who would make Colorado Springs an ‘inclusive, culturally rich, economically prosperous, safe and vibrant’ city. He struck broad notes of agreement with Williams and other conservatives when it came to tough approaches to issues of crime, policing and homelessness, and he rejected Williams’ claims that he supported collective bargaining rights for city employees.”

Heidi Beedle, who covers the city’s politics for the Colorado Springs Independent (a paper similar to Boulder Weekly) and the Colorado Times Recorder (an online progressive political outlet), criticizes “pundits and politicos across the country” who portray Mobolade’s win as a progressive victory. She notes that “Mobolade is not a Democrat and has a history of union-busting and wage theft as a business owner.”

She writes: “Much of the opposition

OPINION

against Wayne Williams came not from liberals or progressives, but the rabid faction of election-deniers and ‘RINO hunters’ who have supported Dave Williams and embattled El Paso County GOP Chair Vickie Tonkins. Wayne Williams’ ties to Runbeck Election Systems have made him, and his wife, El Paso County Commissioner Holly Williams, central figures in local election conspiracies and the target of perennial defamation lawsuit defendant Joe Oltmann, whose vocal support for fringe candidates like Tina Peters and Ron Hanks have proved disastrous for Colorado’s Republican Party.”

In recent years, the fights in the El Paso County Republican Party have been so fierce that the state GOP has intervened to mediate.

In 2022, Secretary of State Jena Griswold asked Wayne Williams if he would appear with her in a bipartisan public service TV ad. Williams was the secretary of state from 2015 until 2019, when Griswold, a Democrat, defeated him. They told the audience Colorado’s elections are secure and not subject to fraud. They warned voters to be alert to election disinformation.

This ad angered many Republicans.

Former Colorado GOP chair Dick Wadhams told Beedle that the El Paso County party “can be charitably called a dumpster fire for the last several

elections.” He said Mobolade’s victory was due more to unaffiliated voters than Democrats.

He said that all over the state, “unaffiliated voters cut against us in the last three election cycles because of their antipathy to Donald Trump.”

Unlike many Republicans these days, Wayne Williams conceded the election early and left his watch party to congratulate Mobolade in person.

This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

THIS PRIDE IS DIFFERENT

We

BY BRUCE PARKER, OUT BOULDER COUNTY

Iam finishing my first monthly column about LGBTQ life for Boulder Weekly on June 5, 2023, which is my 43rd birthday. It is also the first week of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month. I am proud. I am proud of being a queer man who has built a life and a career dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQ community,

my unique household, my family of origin and my chosen family, where I work (Out Boulder County) and where I live (Boulder), and to have the opportunity to write this column. I have known since I was 16 that I would not change my identity and my attractions if I could. My life is better because I am queer.

Continued on page 8

are resilient, but we shouldn’t have to be

Image courtesy Out Boulder County

June 14 The Long Run

Colorado’s Tribute to the Eagles

June 21 The Goonies

June 28 Hazel Miller and The Collective

July 5 Chimbangle

July 12 Chain Station

July 19 Sweet Lillies

July 26 JJ Brown’s Raw Soul Band

August 2 Mighty Mystic

PRESENTED BY:

SPONSORED BY:

Boulder

STEW SALLO author of The Deadhead Cyclist

OPINION

Continued from page 6

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The LGBTQ community in Boulder and beyond also has a lot to be proud of this year. It is easy to point toward our civic, economic, political and creative accomplishments. However, the truth is that we always deserve to be proud of who we are and who we love. The ability to be proud of ourselves and our community is a radical act of resistance in a world that has felt particularly dangerous for us over the past year. As Mardi Moore, executive director of Out Boulder County, has been saying, “This pride feels different.” It feels more urgent than at any point I can remember. When I last saw an official count, there had been 630 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation, many targeting trans people, introduced in legislatures across the country. Many of these bills are becoming laws. Hate crimes and discrimination are on the rise again. Our community is being used as a political tool by conservative candidates across the country.

I recently visited Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with my partner. During the week we spent there, I had the opportunity to meet some of the LGBTQ folks who were important to him and see a small part of the lives they had built in their community. I felt welcomed and embraced. Late night conversations, laughter and meals prepared to celebrate my visit proved once again that LGBTQ people recognize each other. Our shared identities and experiences bring us together. We are unique individuals, with our own expressions of gender and sexuality, and we are a part of a supportive, dynamic and resilient community.

In the weeks since we flew back to Boulder, I keep thinking about one of those nights in particular when a trans man shared the obstacles he faced to receiving gender-affirming medical care. He shared that those obstacles had multiplied as a result of legislation passed in West Virginia targeting trans people. He shared the difficulties of affording care and how that is exacerbated by needing to travel two hours out of state to get safe, quality care. After spending a few minutes brainstorming possible solutions, the group turned to reminiscing and I watched as these vibrant and creative LGBTQ

individuals found joy in each other’s company. I kept thinking that just because we are resilient doesn’t mean we should have to be.

West Virginia is not an outlier. Similar legislation has been introduced across the country, including in Colorado. After 20 years of working in LGBTQ support and advocacy, I know it is never strategic to sound the alarm unless the threat is real. Right now the threat to the lives and freedom of LGBTQ people across our country is real. Just because we live in Colorado doesn’t make us safe from the impacts of hate and bigotry. We are one bad election away from seeing these trends take hold here. Even if we are able to defeat anti-LGBTQ legislation, the rhetoric erodes our confidence and threatens our mental health. Don’t be confused: LGBTQ people are under attack. One of the more insidious realities of our current political climate is that our most vulnerable community members are the primary targets of the attacks — youth, trans people, and the intersection of these identities in people of color.

We need each other and we need our allies. The only way to successfully resist organized efforts to erase us lies in community. If you have ever told yourself that you would never sit by and watch the lives of an entire group of people be threatened because of who they are and who they love, now is the moment to get involved. Volunteer, donate, attend events, have difficult conversations with family and friends about LGBTQ issues, check on your LGBTQ loved ones and support pro-equality candidates.

LGBTQ people are proud. If we have survived to see this Pride Month, we have done so in the face of overwhelming odds against us. We deserve to celebrate ourselves, our identities and our histories. I hope you will join me and the rest of the Out Boulder County team in celebrating Pride Month by attending some (or all) of our many community events this month, including Boulder Pride on Sunday, June 11 and Longmont Pride on Friday, June 30. Allies are welcome.

This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

LETTERS

RE: RAYBACK AND THE WELL

I have two issues with Nicole Garcia’s comments in the “Risky Business” article (News, May 25, 2023). First, Nicole states, “It’s hard to know if this little Bible … is the exact word of God, or is it a place where we start…”. The problem with saying the Bible has been manipulated, even by accident, basically lets you ignore or read anything you want into the words of the text, effectively making the entire Bible irrelevant.

Second, [Shay Castle] states, “... what Garcia objects to is the infusion of The Well’s brand of Christianity into American law, which elevates one denomination’s views over others in violation of the separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution.” Here I think Nicole’s understanding of the First Amendment and our history is lacking.

States within the U.S. used to dictate religion, even when the First Amendment’s establishment clause was enacted. The establishment clause only prevented the federal government from dictating a specific religion for the people of the U.S., which left the states free to do so. Six states had established churches in 1789 (see Clarence Thomas’ concurrence in Town of Greece v. Galloway and Established Churches in America by John R. Vile).

Massachusetts was the last state to disestablish its church in 1833, well after the First Amendment was ratified in 1791. States were not bound by the First Amendment until 1941 when the Supreme Court decided it applied to states (in Everson v. Board of Education), where the court used the 14th Amendment (ratified in 1868) to say the Bill of Rights applied to the states. The Supreme Court continues to allow states and religious organizations to work together today, as they complement one another (e.g.: Fulton v. Philadelphia).

Regardless of U.S. history about religion’s intermingling with the law, a person’s views of what laws should be enacted is going to be directly related to their moral foundation. Those at The Well have a certain moral foundation based on their understanding of the Bible. That foun-

dation informs their morals, which then impacts what laws they would want passed. To want laws passed that are antithetical to their own beliefs likely means they don’t actually believe those things. This likely applies to Nicole or anyone else for that matter.

— James Wendel / Erie

BRIDGING THE CONFIDENCE GAP IN THE TECH MARKET

When most people think of tech jobs, they imagine young math and science whizzes working for big-name companies like Apple or IBM, or they think about the recent tech layoff headlines and assume the industry isn’t doing well. But a tech company isn’t the same as a tech job. And you don’t need to look like Mark Zuckerberg or live in Silicon Valley to work in tech. You can work in tech right here in Boulder.

In fact, the median tech wage in the surrounding Boulder area is estimated to be $107,254. The Boulder tech job market offers a wealth of opportunities and promising career paths for individuals; however, a significant barrier is keeping job seekers from even considering these positions. That barrier is the confidence gap, and it needs to be addressed to keep Boulder’s tech job market growing.

This confidence gap stems from real and perceived barriers by over 55% of job seekers. One of the most prominent perceived barriers is that many individuals assume they need a mastery of complex mathematical concepts or scientific principles to pursue a career in technology. The truth is that while these skills are valuable in specific tech roles, they are not essential for every position. In fact, some of the most in-demand IT skills have nothing to do with math or science.

The numbers don’t lie. Boulder is helping lead the tech job market, and now is the time for Boulder residents to consider a career in tech. Just because you don’t live in the Tech Capital, or thought you were “bad at math and science” in grade school, doesn’t mean tech isn’t for you.

— Hannah Johnson / Downers Grove, IL

SUNDAY SCHOOL

BY SHAY

CASTLE, BOULDER BEAT

Use of a BVSD facility by controversial evangelical church The Well sparks concern

This is Part 2 of a series on Boulderbased evangelical church The Well. Read Part 1, about its relationship with Rayback Collective: bit.ly/RaybackPart1

It was a walk that led Doug McKenna to The Well.

Strolling one evening near his North Boulder home, McKenna saw a sign, literally: “a sandwich board sign padlocked to a light pole,” he recalled, advertising worship services at nearby Foothills Elementary School.

McKenna wasn’t particularly religious, but he was curious as to how a government property could be used for religious purposes. So he attended.

Thus began years of research: attending and listening to sermons, contacting officials, filing open records requests. What McKenna found is common practice for schools all across the country. Among the dozens of clubs,

sports teams and summer camps renting classrooms, auditoriums and athletics fields from Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) are faith organizations holding worship services.

Broad First Amendment protections mean the leasing program that is indispensable to so many community groups also allows churches with views antithetical to BVSD’s values to rent there, sometimes for years — including The Well, a controversial evangelical church that has drawn community ire for its beliefs about sexuality, gender and the role of religion in politics.

The availability and affordability of school spaces helps a wide array of organizations operate, proponents argue, not just churches. Critics remain concerned about how such relationships subsidize hateful rhetoric and blur the line between church and state.

As for the schools themselves, their hands are largely tied: If they want to rent to anyone in the community, they have to rent to everyone.

‘THE KIDS HAVE NO IDEA’

Like many districts, Boulder Valley maintains a community use program, in which residents, businesses and nonprofits can rent school facilities during non-school hours at low costs.

In fiscal year 2022-2023, more than 120 groups took advantage of the program (not including those affiliated with BVSD, like parent-teacher associations, or local governments). Nearly every one of BVSD’s 56 schools was rented out at least once — to a day camp, a dance troupe or private residents in need of overflow parking for parties.

For all this, the district will collect just $782,116.70, according to documents acquired via an open records request.

BVSD charges between $10 and $44 per hour for classroom space, depending on who is renting it (private businesses and individuals pay more; student groups pay the least).

Price can be a factor in deciding to locate at a school, according to Matt Patrick, lead pastor of The Well.

Schools also have many of the things churches need, like auditoriums and separate classrooms for Bible study or other sub-groups within a congregation, as well as ample parking.

“Finding space in Boulder is very difficult for a church that does not have a building,” Patrick wrote in response to emailed questions. “Our churches do not have much money, and paying staff a living wage in Boulder dramatically affects how much you can spend on a facility.”

For The Well, Casey Middle School was chosen “because of its central

Boulder location,” Patrick said. The church rented there from April 2011 until mid-2020, when it moved to popular bar and food truck park Rayback.

BVSD has developed policies specifically for religious use of its school facilities. Two conditions apply to “religious activities”:

1. Church services and religious activities must be conducted at times when school is not in session.

2. Religious objects and symbols must be removed after each use. These rules are meant to keep churches, and other organizations, from soliciting students. The Well followed them, according to Patrick.

“Most of the time,” Patrick wrote, “the kids of the school have no idea that a church rents the space.”

Only two faith organizations currently lease space from BVSD, according to a review of records from the district: Adventure Rabbi, a monthly Hebrew

school; and Pinewood Church, which occupied Casey Middle School after The Well moved to Rayback. (A third, Community United Church of Christ, rents a strip of land from Bear Creek Elementary for solar panels.)

A dozen other churches, including The Well, rented space from 2011 to 2019 — among them, Resurrection Church, whose targeting of college students and “cult-like” operations were profiled in the Daily Camera and CU Independent

The Well recently found itself under scrutiny when McKenna penned an op-ed in the Camera on April 5 calling the organization “a divisive, misogynistic and, potentially, LGBTQ-hate group.”

The Well defended itself against McKenna’s op-ed, telling Boulder Weekly the church is simply teaching biblical principles. In their own printed response, pastors Patrick and Chase Davis wrote that they had been “taken out of context and falsely accused.”

McKenna, they wrote in the Daily Camera, “demeaned our congregation, encouraged intolerance of Bible believers and implied we should be denied the same opportunities to use public venues as all other community groups.”

“It is imperative that pastors hold the line,” Davis told right-wing media outlet The Daily Wire, “and that the pulpit function as a bulwark of truth in order to equip the church to stand fast.”

After an initial interview and followup questions answered via email, Patrick declined to comment further, calling the Boulder Weekly article a “hit job.” Officials for Pinewood did not respond to requests for comment.

ALLOWED, BUT NOT ENDORSED

McKenna is not the first to question The Well’s occupancy of Casey Middle School. Parents and nearby residents voiced their concerns to school officials

after Marty Combs, a deacon at The Well, publicly opposed Boulder’s 2018 assault weapons ban, according to an activist who supported the legislation. She spoke to Boulder Weekly on condition of anonymity.

Combs is now a church elder.

As school officials wrote in response to McKenna’s open records request, The Well followed the terms of their lease and committed no offense that would result in a violation.

“They have paid their invoices on time, they have picked up or cleaned up things as instructed and have been really good tenants,” a communications specialist wrote in regard to The Well and two other churches named in McKenna’s query.

A handful of churches raised red flags for McKenna, who spent $150 to pull records from BVSD and hours attending worship services. He made note of teachings on homosexuality, politics and traditional gender roles —

anything that fell under his self-imposed label of “fundamentalist evangelical.”

What disturbs McKenna almost as much as what the church leaders say, is where they’re saying it. He opposes “the use of our public school properties for the use of religious indoctrination.”

“When [The Well was] at Casey, they would relabel Casey facilities as their own,” McKenna said. For example: “‘We’re going to have a food event at The Well cafeteria.’ It’s part of their strategy to bring their religion and point of view to the public square,” blurring the lines between government and religion.

McKenna timed the publication of his Camera op-ed to run just prior to The Well’s annual Easter egg hunt on Boulder’s historic downtown courthouse lawn on April 8.

The courthouse has been designated an historic LGBTQ landmark, as the first American government office to issue a samesex marriage license in 1975. It’s an odd spot for a church which has repeatedly preached that marriage is between one man and one woman. But as a county spokesperson noted, the lawn is public space, and as such cannot discriminate based on religious views of parties who wish to utilize it.

“Any group may use the lawn or express their views there,” Gloria Handyside wrote in response to emailed questions, “including groups with viewpoints that are at odds with the views of the majority of county residents, the Boulder County government, or the county commissioners themselves.”

So, too, are BVSD’s values in conflict with those of many hardline Christians. The district has embraced its LGBTQ students, staff and faculty, supporting them with progressive policies — including detailed guidelines for non-gender conforming and transitioning individuals that grants equal access.

Multiple Supreme Court rulings have upheld the right of religious institutions to rent school space specifically, striking down attempts to restrict such uses.

Officials for BVSD initially agreed to an interview, but rescinded the offer

after Boulder Weekly published an article detailing The Well’s relationship with Rayback. A district spokesperson answered questions and sent the following statement via email:

“The Boulder Valley School District, like other school districts and governmental agencies that rent their facilities after hours, has established neutral access criteria for facility use. Public organizations are not permitted to discriminate against religious or political organizations that otherwise satisfy the criteria for facility use. We believe that the policy and practices in place in the Boulder Valley School District create a clear delineation between BVSD, its values and the values of its renters.”

Sundays. And Sunday school — a staple of many Christian worship services — were started as a way to teach working-class children to read.

“If you can teach them just a little enough of how to read the gospel, then you improve their lives in some very basic ways as well as expose them to a higher form of Christianity than they’re exposed to at home,” Barnes said. “Schools have been understood as the No. 1 vehicle of Christian evangelization across the centuries.”

That seems to be even more pronounced in the West, according to Barnes. In Arizona, “I’m not going to say every elementary school has a church in it on the weekends, but if you go past a bunch of them, typically one out of two,” he said.

In the past few decades, evangelizing shifted (somewhat) away from foreign missions and into America’s secular urban centers, explained Samuel Boyd, a professor of religious studies and biblical texts at CU Boulder.

The Well and their successors at Casey are church planters, a term for establishing a new congregation. Some church planters believe in the concept of “incarnationalism,” Boyd said, which could also help explain their frequent use of schools.

available in a community, rental to churches often involves what many of us consider taxpayer subsidy of congregations,” wrote The Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a treatise on church use of public schools.

“Start-up churches often take advantage of low school rental to establish themselves,” the foundation noted. “They obtain a prominent site for a new church, collect church donations on public property, and use their savings to eventually buy their own tax-free buildings.”

That schools are taxpayer funded is what keeps them open to all, said Rabbi Jamie Korngold. She rents space at Bear Creek Elementary for her monthly Hebrew school and occasionally at Summit Middle School for larger religious services through her synagogue, Adventure Rabbi. She calls herself “very passionate” about the program and the possibilities it presents.

“I love the idea, on so many different levels, that we’re using [facilities] when the schools aren’t using them,” Korngold said. “There’s so many wonderful reasons the community should be using these buildings.”

She has been renting from BVSD since her son was in preschool. He’s now in college.

One paragraph in the policy bears the weighty task of deflecting criticism from the district over thorny issues arising from its religious renters:

“Permission for use of District facilities does not constitute District endorsement of any organization, the beliefs of an organization or group, nor the expression of any opinion regarding the nomination, retention, election, or defeat of any candidate, nor the expression of any opinion as to the passage or defeat of any ballot issue.”

PART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD

The overlap of schools and churches has a long history, said Andrew Barnes, a professor at Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.

Schools are the first thing built by overseas Christian missionaries; the buildings then double as churches on

“They say we want to look like the neighborhood where we are,” Boyd said. “They’d rather have a church enmeshed in your neighborhood, so the next time you have anything they can help out with, they’re already in the neighborhood.”

“Most church plants that I’m aware of are mostly trying to incarnate with their communities.”

Evangelicals don’t tend to think of public space as somehow being separate from religious space, according to Barnes.

“It’s impossible to think from the evangelical point of view of a space that is walled off from the gospel. The distinction between public and religion does not exist in that context.”

OPEN TO ALL?

To the non-religious, that can feel like an affront to the separation of church and state, a Constitutional principle.

“Since public school districts often have the least expensive rental rates

“Renting a large building seemed ridiculous, because we don’t meet that often,” Korngold said. “We probably would find a way to do it without it, but it’s been really wonderful to us.”

Korngold acknowledges the confusion and hurt of residents, upset to see harmful messages about LGBTQ people and women emanating from what should be safe spaces for children. She challenges people to reconcile with the reality of what it means to keep community spaces truly open to all.

“If we’re open to everybody, if there’s space for everybody, if everyone should be able to believe what they want to believe … If you follow that out all the way, you also have to have space for people who are homophobic and people that hate Jews,” she said. “That’s everybody. To me, that’s the crux of the problem. Do we really want to be open to everybody?”

Shay Castle is the founder of Boulder Beat, an online news site dedicated to deep-dive journalism on local issues.

It’s impossible to think from the evangelical point of view of a space that is walled off from the gospel. The distinction between public and religion does not exist in that context.”

— ANDREW BARNES AZ STATE UNIVERSITY

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LIVING WITH FIRE

Documentary coming to Nederland fuels wildfire discussion as local resilience plans are underway

BY WILL MATUSKA

It starts in flames.

Traffic is bumper to bumper as Michelle Simmons and her kids make their way out of Paradise, California. It’s the middle of the day, but the smoke is so thick you can’t see the sun. You can almost feel the heat as Simmons drives fearfully close to the approaching inferno.

Another scene shows the charred and smoldering neighborhoods following the Marshall Fire — an eerily quiet contrast to the panic and disarray of the California fire.

Despite what its opening moments may suggest, Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire is not all destruction and darkness. Rather, the documentary combines captivating visuals with the voices of experts and people impacted by wildfire to help show solutions and tangible steps forward.

“This film allowed me to really reimagine how we think about fire, and how we can live with more fire on the landscape without these catastrophic losses of communities,” says Ralph Bloemers, executive producer of the film and a graduate of CU Boulder.

While there are plenty of discussions about different schools of thought in wildfire mitigation, Elemental focuses on the combination of home-hardening and controlled burns as the most efficient way to protect communities as wildfires become more common and severe across the West due to climate change.

But, critics say this approach doesn’t consider the whole picture.

With a June 13 digital release on Apple TV and a TBA screening planned for Nederland in July, the film comes right as Boulder County, the city of Boulder, and the Mountain View Fire Protection District are all developing new Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP). These plans offer residents the opportunity to identify proj-

ects and needs across the county, from solutions like home hardening and grazing to forest thinning.

THE RETURN OF FIRE

Before starting on a film that would take him five years to finish, Bloemers felt like the dominant narrative was “fire destroys the forest, kills wildlife, and can and must be controlled by man.”

He didn’t think that told the whole story, and took it upon himself to prove it.

Countless hours of footage from burned forests revealed what emerges after a wildfire — a regenerated ecosystem thriving with biodiversity, from abundant wildflowers to sturdy elk.

While inspired by nature, the film ultimately focuses on avoiding human catastrophes.

“My goal is to help make our communities safe from fire and to ensure that we have a better understanding of the choices in front of us — both personally and at all levels of government spending — as we try to meet the challenge,”

Bloemers said in a Q&A about the film.

Elemental starts with the limits of fire suppression. As bigger fires surpass firefighting capabilities, especially those that coincide with extreme weather such as high winds, it becomes nearly impossible to protect every home in the path of the blaze.

Then there’s forest treatments: prescribed burns, hand and mechanical thinning, slash-pile burning. It’s a common practice for land managers, but new research featured in the film shows its impact is limited. Tania Schoennagel, a researcher at CU Boulder, found that out of all the recent treatments conducted in Western forests, only 1% of them encounter fire. She says even if treatment efforts are doubled or tripled, it won’t have a significant impact on wildfire.

It can also be hard to measure success of forest treatments because they are dependent on a variety of factors like weather, terrain and slope. For example, an analysis of one fire in the film showed severity increased where land was managed. But when the 2022 Boulder NCAR Fire ran into fuel treatments, firefighters reported it increased their probability of success.

These findings ultimately led to turning fire mitigation’s gaze away from the forests, where there’s unpredictability, and toward hardening homes and communities — solutions with more predictability.

RETRAINING OUR VISION

Fritz Koch with Boulder County Fire Fighters Association has worked in fire mitigation since 1996. He watched the film.

“I think it did a good job of capturing, and hopefully increasing awareness to, the need to refocus from the forest to the home,” he says.

More fire specialists like Koch are starting to shift their focus from fuels reduction in the forest to home-hardening (News, “Slow burn,” May 3, 2023), something Koch says was less valued in the past.

“Instead of standing there looking at the forest going, ‘What happens when fire comes through the forest?’ turn around and look at the house and say, ‘What happens when there’s an ember on this house?’” Koch says. “That’s where we really need to retrain our vision.”

Greg Aplet, director of special projects at the Wilderness Society, says that shift doesn’t necessarily mean avoiding work in the forest.

“People are not going to be accepting of fire in the wilderness until they feel safe in their homes, and we ought to be working on community protection,” Aplet says. “I don’t think it means that’s the only thing we ought to be doing. There are other resources out there.”

Koch uses the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy’s

Credit: Ryan Walsh

“three-legged stool” of fire mitigation to guide how he addresses his work. The legs — fire-adapted communities, resilient landscapes, and safe and effective wildfire response — are meant to be given equal priority.

Some say Elemental wasn’t as balanced.

“While solid points are made by experts in the field, some topics are erroneously conflated with others and key pieces to the full story are left out,” the Association for Fire Ecology’s (AFE) wrote in response to the film.

One of AFE’s critiques include “doubt-casting” the effectiveness of fuel treatments when they have been scientifically shown to reduce wildfire intensity. While few treated areas have encountered wildfires, as shown in Schoennagel’s research, AFE writes that could be a reason to scale up those practices rather than a flaw.

Boulder County employees Stefan Reinold and Jim Webster both pointed to the AFE response to sum up their views on the film.

Aplet says homeowners should take steps to lower the probability of home ignition, but fire mitigation doesn’t stop there.

“We also have this need for more fire in fire-dependent forests, and we need to figure out how to get that fire back into the forest, or we’ll end up conceivably with protected homes and no forests,” Aplet says, adding that thinning can help reintroduce fire into forests.

Reintroduction of fire isn’t a new concept, but how we get there isn’t totally clear.

One of the most common wildfire mitigation techniques is thinning,

mechanically removing built up trees and brush to better emulate historical forest structure, rather than the more dense structure found today. With less fuel to burn, lowerseverity fires foster ecosystem benefits like lower tree mortality, especially if thinning is followed up by controlled burns. This is the concept many land managers use in Boulder County.

Others say thinning isn’t as important, especially in wildlands, because high-severity fire has always been part of these ecosystems, so resources should be focused on preventing communities from burning (News, “Slow burn,” May 3, 2023).

Aplet says humans should try and intervene in the forest.

“I think it really boils down to how much trust do you have in the Forest Service and the management agencies to intervene in a way that will actually leave the forest in better condition,” he says, acknowledging that while the Forest Service is incentivized to cut timber, logging in the Front Range is “almost zero.”

While Koch has a more holistic approach to mitigation, he also says “we need to pick a problem and focus on that.” While preventing community fire destruction was Elemental’s focus, he says that’s just one facet.

Depending on the goal of mitigation, from saving lives and structures to protecting ecosystems, strategies can change.

Maybe cutting trees won’t save his house, says Koch, but forest treatments might be worth it “if that saves the quality or condition of that forest for future years.”

THE WILDFIRE PLAN

Communities in Boulder County have the chance to influence what local fire mitigation looks like through the CWPP a document that establishes priorities and action items related to wildfire risk reduction and resilience.

While drafting a CWPP doesn’t launch projects, having these plans in place gives the community a leg up when applying for grants.

Both the city and county’s current plans are more than 10 years old. Meg Halford with Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting says there’s a lot more collaboration, partnering and community engagement this time compared to the county’s first CWPP in 2011.

“It’s all hands on deck because our challenges have increased,” she says.

The first community engagement event is on Saturday, June 10 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Superior Community Center. Its focus is on Superior, Louisville, Marshall and Eldorado Springs. Similar events, public surveys and a CWPP-dedicated website will fol-

low throughout the year-long updating process.

The new CWPP risk assessments, all expected to be completed by SWCA Environmental Consultants, are taking a closer look at areas previously thought to have little to no wildfire risk, including urban areas and prairies, especially in East Boulder County, in addition to forested areas in West Boulder County. In Boulder’s 2007 CWPP, agricultural land was labeled as unburnable.

Kerry Webster, wildland fire senior program manager with the city of Boulder, expects both home hardening and ecosystem management projects to come from the new CWPP.

“I think it is going to have to be a little bit of a switch in mentality, that we are in a partnership altogether,” she says. “We need to work on our own properties and our own structures, and then have our land management be our partners in that and do their work on their land.”

Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire helps unpack the risks of living in fire-adapted ecosystems, and empowers people to act. Rather than thinking of wildfire as a problem that should be suppressed, it suggests communities learn to live with fire.

“That’s the definition of a fire-adapted community,” Koch says. “It’s not just structure hardening. It’s awareness. It’s getting people to communicate, getting people to prepare.”

Courtesy: Elemental

Credit: Trip Jennings

AROUND THE WORLD

Big Samir of globetrotting Colorado hip-hop duo The Reminders builds community across borders

BY ADAM PERRY

There’s a whole world in the sound of Colorado Springs hiphop duo The Reminders. Not unlike The Clash’s outlook in the early 1980s, the husband-wife team of Big Samir and Aja Black take inspiration from the music and culture encountered in their travels around the globe, adding it dash by dash to their bubbling musical cauldron here on the Front Range.

The couple’s international bent isn’t just from their travels, though. Black — a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist — was born in Queens, New York, and after her father enlisted in the military, grew up everywhere from Portugal to England. Samir was born in Brussels, Belgium, and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His stepfather was eventually stationed in Colorado, which he learned to call home. As fate would have it, Black’s father was stationed here the same exact summer.

“She globed her whole childhood [and] got acclimated to all these different spaces,” Samir says. “So we had this mutual feeling when we got here, like we’ve been all around the world and … here we are.”

Colorado Springs was far from a cultural hub when serendipity brought the pair together in the late ’90s, but Black and Samir made do by sharing songs and experiences. Stitched together by these common threads, the two kept in touch when Black went off to college in Florida.

“When she finally came back and was done with school and we just started hanging out every day, she mentioned she had never really been to a concert,” Samir says. “She’d been to concerts when she was younger, like Whitney Houston, but we started going to Reggae on the Rocks. We started going to watch Steel Pulse

whenever they were around … every weekend we were going to a concert, and eventually our love for music and also being artists individually, it just grew. We formed a bond that was just so powerful.”

only hip-hop groups, alongside Fusion of Syllables (F.O.S.) featuring celebrated local emcee Black Pegasus, back when accessible stages for such local artists were few and far between.

“We pretty much formed the hip-hop scene here,” Samir says. “We would go to different bars and clubs and ask if we could have a night. There was no hip-hop night. They didn’t want anything to do with hip-hop. A club called The Underground downtown gave us the basement to do whatever we wanted on Monday nights, which is an odd night. That’s probably why they gave it to us, but we turned it out.”

but as “cultural diplomacy” educators in places like Morocco, Uganda, China and beyond.

“We do a lot of residencies where we will go into a town for three days. We’ll have a performance on Friday or Saturday, but then the days leading to it we’ll lead workshops or we’ll go into schools and do a performance for the kids who can’t necessarily afford, you know, a 15, 20-dollar ticket to go to a concert,” Samir says. “[It’s] something we do everywhere we go. We try to make sure we connect with that community instead of just, ‘Hey, I’m in your town; I’ll play a show and leave.’ We’ll connect with that community, and it makes a difference. You have an impact, and these people remember you.”

That sense of community shines through on The Reminders’ latest album Unstoppable (2019), mixing conscious hip-hop with elements of New Orleans and Latin music, desert blues and more. But while the duo has released a smattering of singles over the last few years, Black and Samir seem more focused on performing and community work than a new album. It’s that impact that matters most, says Samir.

EMCEES WITHOUT BORDERS

Before they knew it, Samir and Black had formed a band that would eventually become The Reminders — plus a marriage, and then a family. But the couple made more than a life for themselves and their three children in the city they call home; they also helped create a scene.

On that score, Samir’s first musical offering to the Springs came in the way of an early project with his sister’s ex-husband. It was one of the city’s

From there, the scene began to flourish, and The Reminders surfed the new wave with the duo’s 2008 debut, Recollect. Bursting with poetry, beats, diverse influences and sharp intellect, the album served as the first showcase for The Reminders’ international brand of “conscious hip-hop,” a politically charged and communityminded subgenre pioneered by legends like KRS-One and Public Enemy. It’s a tradition The Reminders carry on today: balancing music with activism, touring not just as musicians

“I tell people all the time, ‘Yeah, I was born in Belgium, but I was raised in the Congo. … And now, to be where I am — I’m a world-renowned artist, and there are times where I’ll perform at a school in southeast Denver, where there are little Congolese kids, and by the time I tell them I’m from Congo, they’re so excited,” he says. “They’re like, ‘Wait, and you’re on a stage and you’re singing and I can see you on YouTube?’ It means something to them and it gives them this confidence that they can be that as well. That’s my purpose — to light that fire in people.”

ON THE BILL: Motus Theater Immigrant Heritage Month Performance with The Reminders. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 10, Dairy Arts Center, Gordon Gamm Theater, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free

The Reminders bring their international sound to the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder on Saturday, June 10.

Photo by Jason Sinn.

JOYFUL NOISE

is really helpful for getting in touch with something divine.”

This terrifying encounter with divinity is a cornerstone of the Agriculture project. Calling black metal “the only kind of spiritual music that isn’t really corny,” before quickly acknowledging the schmaltz of certain theistic Satanist tropes within the subculture, MeyerO’Keeffe and his bandmates leverage the extremity and excess of the music into something that feels like a harrowing brush with holiness.

BY JEZY J. GRAY

Ecstasy may not be the first emotion that springs to mind when beholding the ghoulish dirge of black metal, but that’s what sets apart the Southern California quartet known as Agriculture. While embracing the Norweigan-born subgenre’s overall toomuchness, the L.A. outfit’s upcoming self-titled debut carves a lane beyond the typical bounds of an extreme heavy-metal mutation known for corpse paint, scorched churches and infamous cases of real-life killings. Instead of dwelling in the darkest corners of human suffering, Agriculture sets out to spark an overwhelm of joy.

“Extremely good feelings are just as intense and just as important as extremely bad ones,” co-founding guitarist and vocalist Daniel MeyerO’Keeffe, fresh off a silent retreat at the Zen Center of Los Angeles, says on a video call with his three bandmates and scruffy dog Shiloh. “Black metal has a lot of baggage, and the history is focused on the darker side of things, but the template is actually very helpful for expressing really cool shit as well. The goal [for Agriculture] is to augment happiness, with the recognition that happiness is a very intense thing, and incorporate some kind of acknowledgement of suffering.”

Joy and suffering go hand-in-hand on the band’s debut LP, out July 21 via cultfavorite “dark music” record label The Flenser. Left-field elements like pedal steel, saxophone and the poetry of

Dylan Thomas dovetail with traditional black metal staples of breakneck blast beats, soaring tremolo-picked guitars and glass-busting shrieks, all delivered with the good-natured spirit of a slogan minted on the band’s merch-table bumper stickers: Keep honkin’ — I’m listening to the spiritual sound of ecstatic black metal by the band Agriculture

“One of the things that’s fun about metal is that we get to sort of hypercategorize ourselves. It’s so funny that there’s a difference between ‘funeral doom’ and just ‘doom,’ or ‘depressivesuicidal black metal’ versus ‘atmospheric black metal,’” Meyer-O’Keeffe says. “So I think on the one hand, it’s useful to frame what we’re doing, but it’s also something you can have a little bit of fun with.”

To that end, bassist and vocalist

Leah B. Levinson jokes that the band consider themselves “evangelists” of their ecstatic brand of extremity. “When we perform at non-metal shows, people will come up to us and be like, ‘I don’t really listen to a lot of music like this, but that was incredible,’” she says.

“Even though they don’t know what to call it, they come away very moved. We’re interested in making this extreme music accessible by allowing people to be more receptive to it, rather than keeping people out.”

‘THE GLORY OF THE OCEAN’ But where does all that ecstasy come from? Considering the band’s sunny

SoCal surroundings, a far cry from the gnarly alpine peaks and glacial fjords of black metal’s Scandinavian roots, it stands to reason that the singular music of Agriculture is woven with the

According to percussionist Kern Haug, who co-founded the band with Meyer-O’Keeffe after the pair met at a noise show in the early pre-pandemic days of 2020, the music’s transporting effect — to the depths of the Pacific Ocean, or the threshold of spiritual bliss — is by design. “That’s the thing I’m always interested in,” he says. “I like music that can act as an access point to a broader world that’s usually a little less accessible.”

And while the elevating spirit of Agriculture’s ecstatic sound is baked into the band’s thrilling first studio album, poised to make waves among discerning metalheads and curious outsiders upon next month’s release, it’s on stage where the quartet’s joyful mission reaches its true amplitude. For a historical analogue to what concertgoers can expect from the band’s upcoming tour in support of the new record with labelmates Drowse and Sprain, guitarist Richard Chowenhill points to an unlikely musical figure: Renaissance lutenist Francesco da Milano of the 16th century.

awesome power and beauty of the Pacific Ocean.

“I’ve never lived anywhere that didn’t have easy access to a coastline, and I think it would be really weird for me not to be close to an ocean,” MeyerO’Keeffe says. “The ocean has this kind of sublime power. It’s this sort of natural play palace … and swimming is fun or whatever, but if you go out into it a little bit, suddenly the vibe changes entirely. You get into these really wonderful and sometimes frightening positions of powerlessness. I think that combination of awe and play

“There are all these primary source reports of people being overcome with ecstasy because this guy was just so fucking good at playing the lute,” Chowenhill says. “He had all these licks and was able to improvise over and over again [with] overwhelming feeling. For us, that’s a big thing, too — the ecstasy comes across in the performance.”

ON THE BILL: Drowse with Agriculture, Sprain and Palehorse Palerider. 7 p.m. Monday, June 12, Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15

The debut self-titled LP by L.A.-based quartet Agriculture is out July 21 via The Flenser.

Left to right: Kern Haug, Daniel Meyer-O’Keeffe, Leah B. Levinson and Richard Chowenhill of ‘ecstatic black metal’ band Agriculture. Photo by Milan Aguirre.

L.A. quartet Agriculture converts skeptics with ‘the spiritual sound of ecstatic black metal’

HOLDING SPACE

Boulder’s only all-women arts nonprofit champions homegrown makers

BY JEZY J. GRAY

Boulder has the country’s thirdhighest concentration of professional artists per capita, according to a frequently touted National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) study released last year. But spend any time strolling through major cultural arteries like Pearl Street, heavy on high-end dining and corporate outdoor gear retailers but light on art galleries and studios, and you might never know.

“There’s this disparity between the quality of the artists and the support for the arts,” says Marie-Juliette Bird, founder and executive director of the recently opened nonprofit arts center The New Local at 741 Pearl St. “So we’re trying to bridge that gap and create an elevated place for artists downtown where they can show their work to people who visit Boulder, so we can represent the city: Yes, we have amazing food here. We have trails; we have athletes — we also have a lot of really talented artists.”

Operating out of a late 19th-century Queen Anne Victorian home — the Arnett-Montgomery House, allegedly haunted by a friendly 10-year-old boy who died in 1902 — The New Local offers more than gallery and retail opportunities for local women-identifying creatives at its warm and welcoming West Pearl headquarters. It also provides discounted artist studio space, workshops and education-focused programs for makers of all ages.

“A lot of our classes are sliding scale and by donation, because we really want to create accessible, exceptional art education for everybody,” Bird says. “And then we also have affordable art spaces. We have studio artists upstairs and downstairs, and also in the annex [inside] another historic building down the street. … It’s a way to empower artists by providing a studio space where they can work, while also building bridges with the community.”

This drive to foster connection in the local art scene was forged in part through Bird’s personal experience as a creative abroad. Studying in London under David Courts, the multidisciplinary artist responsible for creating Keith Richards’ famous skull ring, Bird — whose own jewelry line Blackbird and the Snow is featured in the gallery — found herself seeking a creative support system upon returning to her native Boulder. That’s where her family was, where she cut her teeth as a young musician before moving away to attend Juilliard, so why couldn’t her art practice find a home here too?

“I felt like you’ve just got to build it where you are,” Bird says. “If you feel like this isn’t the most thriving creative community, you just have to build it.”

WOMEN TO THE FRONT

Of course, as the oft-cited NEA study suggests, The New Local isn’t creating this art-forward energy out of thin air. Instead, its leadership team says the goal is to harness the kinetic creative power that currently exists right here in Boulder.

“It’s not about creating something new — [the artists] already have a community; they already have each other,” says Lynette Errante, director of operations. “We want to give them space to do what they’re already doing — a beautiful space, with access to more teachers.”

When it comes to the works on display and for sale in the gallery, visitors can expect to encounter discipline-spanning works by Boulder and Colorado artists, rotating with all-new pieces every six months. Whether it’s The New Local’s education programming, gallery displays, in-studio artists or community events, Bird says the idea is to break down notions of hierarchy in the creative sphere.

“It’s really important to me to have a lot of different disciplines alongside one another, as opposed to fine art being here and crafts here,” Bird says. “These are all creative professions; they

all deserve to be alongside one another in an elevated space. We have people making bath salts with flowers that grow in the garden next to painters who have shown in museums. The main criteria is that it’s interesting, and you can see the maker’s hand in the work.”

But as the city’s first homegrown arts nonprofit run entirely by women, there’s a deeper guiding mission that touches each part of the young center’s growing operation. In addition to supporting creatives across disciplines through exhibitions, studio work and educational opportunities in a city hungry for all three, The New Local is ultimately bending its energy toward the uplift of women-identifying artists, designers and makers.

“There are so many women who don’t get a chance to share what they do best, as something so highly regarded,” Errante says. “I think women have a different way of reaching each other. I mean, anyone can take our classes [or enjoy our galleries] — men, boys, whatever. But there’s just something so nurturing about women being together in this space, and being able to share their gifts.”

ON VIEW: The New Local gallery opening reception: TNL Term II 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 15, The New Local, 741 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

Boulder native Marie-Juliette Bird, founder and executive director of the recently opened nonprofit arts center The New Local. Photo by Jezy J. Gray.

Originally opened as a holiday pop-up shop in a former janitorial supply store, The New Local opened at its 741 Pearl St. location in November 2022. Photo by Bridget Dorr.

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Regional premiere of ‘Charity: Part III of a Mexican Trilogy’ smashes cultural barriers in Colorado

BY TONI TRESCA

According to local actor David Carrasco, persuading Colorado audiences to turn out for shows that include Spanish dialogue has always been a tall order.

“I have had so many actor friends tell me they don’t come out to see performances at Su Teatro [Cultural & Performing Arts Center] because of the language barrier,” Carrasco says. “They are so worried about not understanding every word that they don’t show up. One thing I always found funny about that is that when operas are produced, audiences are willing to sit through four hours of French or Italian and not understand a word of it. What is the difference with Spanish?”

Denver’s Firehouse Theater Company has been having these types of conversations ever since Debra Gallegos, a well-known Latina performer with nearly 50 years of theater and music experience, recently joined the

group’s board of directors. Despite the challenges of staging a work in Spanish, the team agreed they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stage the regional premiere of Charity: Part III of a Mexican Trilogy by Evelina Fernández.

“Debra knows the playwright and suggested we read some of her work,” says Helen Hand, Firehouse Theater’s board president and executive producer. “After we read the entire trilogy, we decided the third play would be the easiest to stage in the space. Charity is the culmination of this family’s story, and it was actually where Evelina began when she wrote the original trilogy. We decided to do Charity because Debra was enthusiastic about directing it, and the play reflects our desire to produce meaningful theater that doesn’t make you want to slit your wrists.”

Charity is the final play in Fernández’s sprawling epic following

the Moraleses, a multigenerational Mexican-American family. The play takes place shortly after the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and juxtaposes his passing with the family’s own tragedies.

Esperanza (Yolanda Ortega), the family’s elderly matriarch, lives with Gina (Magally Luna) and Rudy (Phil Luna), whose son recently died in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As Esperanza works to keep the family together, the spirits of deceased family members, including her husband and her late great-grandson, visit her with advice.

‘ANOTHER STEP CLOSER’

Since Charity was different from anything Firehouse Theater had programmed in the past, they hosted script readings of the entire trilogy ahead of auditions. “We wanted to introduce our patrons to the play and reach out to the Latino community,” Hand says. About half of the actors who were cast participated in these initial readings, which gave them the opportunity to read various roles and decide whether or not they wanted to be a part of the project.

“The story really resonated with me,” says Ortega, one of the actors involved with the show since its initial script readings at Firehouse. “I grew up in a military family, so I saw a lot of young

men who went to war, especially in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, and what it did to them. Esperanza’s character is so multi-faceted and takes you on this rollercoaster ride. She gets emotional, is funny as heck and is also very real.”

When Firehouse Theater hosted the initial readings, one of the questions that Gallegos posed to the audience was whether or not the play should include subtitles. Though the majority of the script is in English, the creative team was concerned that without translation, audiences would miss out on things like jokes that only work in Spanish.

“We asked the audience, and pretty much everyone said, ‘Don’t do it,” Gallegos says. “I read some reviews of a production in L.A. that did have subtitles, and it sounded like it was more distracting than helpful. I wanted people to be able to connect with the characters without constantly looking away to read word-for-word what they were saying. Beki Pineda is our assistant director, and she helps by [letting us know] when something is not clear to an English speaker. If something doesn’t make sense, the actors add gestures or use a different inflection to clarify what they are saying.”

To that end, audiences at Firehouse Theater are urged to lean in and accept the fact that they might not fully grasp each and every nuance of what is being said on stage.

“Don’t be afraid of us as Mexican Americans,” Carrasco says. “Historically, Colorado audiences have been uncomfortable with our language … [but] I have seen a good response to this show online, and I am hoping that translates to butts in seats. It’s important to attend performances like Charity because it’s not the norm to see these stories reflected on stage. I appreciate Firehouse for taking a chance on a project like this, and I hope it’s another step closer to allowing people of color access to theater.”

ON STAGE: Charity: Part III of a Mexican Trilogy Various times through July 1, Firehouse Theater Company, 7653 E. First Place, Denver. $25

Magally Luna, Kinari Rima and Adriana Gonzales in Firehouse Theater Company’s regional premiere of Charity: Part III of a Mexican Trilogy.

Photo by Meghan Ralph / Soular Radiant Photography.

EVENTS

8

LISA SICILIANO ‘IN BLOOM’ ROCK ART SHOW AND SALE

6 p.m. Thursday, June 8, Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl, Suite V3A, Boulder. Free

Lisa Siciliano, one of Colorado’s most renowned rock ‘n’ roll photographers, is hosting her first-ever summertime art show and sale, featuring a slew of her famous black and white photos, taken on 35mm film, as well as a musical performance by the George Nelson Band and others.

9-10

ANNUAL LSO GUILD GARDEN TOUR

9 a.m.-3 p.m. June 9-10, various locations, Longmont. $20

The city of Longmont is brimming with vibrant blooms. For its annual fundraiser, Longmont Symphony Orchestra invites you to lace up your walking shoes for a self-guided stroll through five breathtaking local gardens, filled with flowers, wildlife and more.

9

JAZZ FROM AROUND THE WORLD WITH VICTOR MESTAS

7-9 p.m. Friday, June 9, Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Free

Venezuelan-born Victor Mestas toured with musicians like Soledad Bravo, Cheo Feliciano and Julio Iglesias before moving to Boulder to teach jazz studies. At this Cultural Caravan, Mestas will lead you on a funk-inspired program spanning his global sounds, in collaboration with the city’s most promising up-and-coming jazz artists.

9-11

26TH ANNUAL BALLOON LAUNCH

6-8 a.m. June 9-11, Collier’s Hill Community Park, CR5 & Colliers Parkway, Erie. Free

The sky will be filled with the colors of the rainbow as Erie’s Hot Air Balloon Festival takes flight against the majestic backdrop of the Front Range. Come in person between 6 and 8 a.m. June 9 through 11 and watch the balloons inflate and hit the skies, weather permitting.

9

BUSTING WITH PRIDE

7-9 p.m. Friday, June 9, DV8 Distillery, 2480 49th St., Unit E, Boulder. $15

Blue Dime Cabaret invites you to DV8 Distillery for “a lowbrow, avant-garde smorgasbord of ludicrous acts and bawdy characters.” Enjoy drag performances, acrobatics, burlesque, songs and more.

10

‘AGRICULTURE: ART INSPIRED BY THE LAND’ OPENING RECEPTION

5-8 p.m. Saturday, June 10, BMoCA, 1750 13th St., Boulder. Free

Blankets of golden wheat and picturesque homesteads, as well as the farming world’s connection to climate change, water rights, ancestral lands, local history and more will be presented across a variety of mediums and locations — museum and farm — and it all kicks off with an opening reception at BMoCA to celebrate the showcase of these visual works.

IMMIGRANT HERITAGE MONTH PERFORMANCE

7:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 10, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free

To celebrate Immigrant Heritage month, Motus Theater is taking to the stage for a night of powerful autobiographical monologues by “DACAmented” leaders, with a goal of bringing awareness to challenges the undocumented community faces. The night will also feature a musical performance by the talented regional hip-hop/ soul duo The Reminders. 10

COLORADO VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE SHOW

8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 10, Old Town Erie, 604 Holbrook St., Erie. Free

Hundreds of vintage motorcycles will line the streets of Old Town Erie June 10 for a show displaying the best in hog history. Go as an enthusiast or as a casual spectator and behold the coolest rides on two wheels.

BOULDER PRIDE FESTIVAL

11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, June 11, Boulder Central Park, 1212 Canyon Blvd., Boulder. Free

June marks pride month nationwide, and in Boulder, it’s time for one of the city’s most exciting festivals. Boulder Pride Fest is jam-packed with performers, giveaways, activities and a full-fledged celebration of love and acceptance, as well as delicious food from local vendors like Eats & Sweets, Abo’s Pizza, McDevitt Taco Supply and more.

ZIMBABWEAN-STYLE MARIMBA MUSIC WORKSHOP

1-3 p.m. Tuesday, June 13, Lafayette Public Library, 775 W. Baseline Road, Lafayette. Free

“If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance.” This is a Zimbabwean proverb, and the mission behind Lafayette Public Library’s upcoming marimba workshop. Come collaborate, make music and experience community.

12-16

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL DJS SUMMER CAMP

9 a.m.-noon. June 12-16, Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway, Boulder. $330

Providing youth with an entryway into the arts is the M.O. for the Young Professional DJs Summer Camp, with morning and afternoon sessions about equipment, mixing, sampling and scratching. The camp will conclude with a rooftop showcase.

THE SINK’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY MOVIE

PREMIERE

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder. $15

The history of Boulder couldn’t be told without mention of the historic eatery on University Hill, The Sink. The story of its genesis, growth and importance to our community is coming to the big screen, and you can be one of the first to watch the documentary on the landmark establishment at Boulder Theater.

LIVE MUSIC

THURSDAY, JUNE 8

ROCK STEADY FREDDIE WITH JAMES VAUGHN 7 p.m. R Gallery + Wine Bar, 2027 Broadway, Boulder. Free

MARCUS REZAK. 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 16th St., Boulder. $13

BOULDER OLD-TIME JAM 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

ASTRAL TOMB WITH CRONOS COMPULSION, SLUDGEBROKER AND MONUMENT. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $12

POSSESSED BY PAUL JAMES WITH THE RED TACK 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

HOWLING COYOTE. 5 p.m. Rayback Collective, 2275 Valmont Road, Boulder. Free

FRIDAY, JUNE 9

ARMCHAIR BOOGIE WITH GHOST TOWN DRIFTERS 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 16th St., Boulder. $16

FUNK YOU WITH ISAAC TEEL. 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $20

THE SISTERS OF MERCY 7 p.m. Fillmore Auditorium, 1501 N. Clarkson St., Denver. $50

MICHAEL CLEVELAND. 8 p.m. Cervantes Other Side, 2637 Welton St., Denver. $30

CIRCLES AROUND THE SUN 10 p.m. Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St., Denver.

$50

HEATED BONES WITH BOOT GUN AND WET NIGHTS. 9 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15

TREY ANASTASIO TRIO WITH DEZRON DOUGLAS AND JON FISHMAN 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $75

ON THE BILL

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

THE SUITCASE JUNKET WITH THOM LAFOND 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $20

THE BASEMENT BLUES PROJECT. 6 p.m. Rocky Mountain Tap and Garden, 1071 Courtesy Road, Louisville. Free

LEADVILLE CHEROKEE WITH DYLAN KISHNER BAND AND THE DIABOLICS 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15

BABY ROSE AND Q. 7 p.m. Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St., Denver. $22

LARRY JUNE 7 p.m. Summit, 1902 Blake St., Denver. $60

KANE BROWN 7 p.m. Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, 6350 Greenwood Blvd., Greenwood Village. $50-$110

BIG HEAD TODD & THE MONSTERS. 7 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $60

OREBOLO 7 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $45-$85 BW Pick of the Week

SAVE FERRIS WITH FIVE IRON FRENZY, YOUNGER THAN NEIL AND SORRY SWEETHEART 8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $25

JEROMES DREAM WITH ELIZABETH COLOUR WHEEL AND ONLY ECHOES 9 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

THE REMINDERS AT MOTUS THEATER’S IMMIGRANT HERITAGE EVENT. 7:30 p.m. Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free Story on p. 19

TREY ANASTASIO TRIO WITH DEZRON DOUGLAS AND JON FISHMAN 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $75

SUNDAY, JUNE 11

BIRDS OF PLAY. 7 p.m. Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St., Boulder. Free

CURB SURFER 7:30 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

OREBOLO. 7 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $100

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA 7:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $80

CHATHAM COUNTY LINE WITH RYAN DART. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $13

TREY ANASTASIO TRIO WITH DEZRON DOUGLAS AND JON FISHMAN 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $75

MONDAY, JUNE 12

BOULDER CONCERT BAND 7 p.m. East Palo Park, 4340 Corriente Drive, Boulder. Free

DROWSE WITH AGRICULTURE, SPRAIN AND PALEHORSE PALERIDER. 7 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15 Story on p. 20

DEL AMITRI 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $56

TUESDAY, JUNE 13

BARENAKED LADIES. 7 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $75

GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY 8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $35

EARTH WITH BURNING SISTER. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $23

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14

MOORHEAD, GOODE, CHURCH TRIO. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

WHISKEY MYERS 6:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $75

BILLIE MARTEN WITH OLIVIA KAPLAN. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver.

$23

For Rick Mitarotonda, Peter Anspach and Jeff Arevalo, three-fifths of emerging jam institution Goose, the side project Orebolo is a chance to explore acoustic renditions of the Connecticut band’s growing catalog. Don’t miss back-to-back performances from the trio at Boulder’s historic Chautauqua Auditorium this weekend, July 10 and 11. See listing for further details. (Photo by Adam M. Berta)

ON STAGE

As a part of its farewell season, BDT Stage presents its most requested title of the last decade: The Sound of Music. “It’s a classic and something the whole family can enjoy,” says producing artistic director Seamus McDonough. Scan the QR code for a Boulder Weekly feature on the local company’s production of the last project for the legendary writing team of Rodgers and Hammerstein See listing for details. (Photo by The Creative Agency)

ON VIEW

Art, craft and design collide in Crafted: Subverting the Frame, an exhibition of works by Layl McDill, Mary Robinson and Andrea Alonge on display at the Firehouse Art Center in Longmont, June 10 through July 23, for a show that “blurs the border between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art, while also breaking free from the confines of the rectangular ‘canvas.’” See listing for details.

OUTDOOR THEATER SERIES: PRIDE OF THE FARM Metzger Farm Open Space, 12080 Lowell Blvd., Westminster. Through June 25. $25 Story at boulderweekly.com

THE SOUND OF MUSIC. BDT Stage, 5501 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Through Aug. 19. $75 BW Pick of the Week

A SUPERHERO TALE PRESENTED BY ARTS IN THE OPEN Chautauqua Park, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. Through July 2. $25

LA MIRADA POSIBLE Ana’s Art Gallery, 1101 Spruce St., Suite 101, Boulder. Through June 19. Free.

EXPLORATIONS OF RESILIENCE AND RESISTANCE / OUR BACKS HOLD OUR STORIES 4550 Broadway, Suite C-3B2, Boulder. Through June 28. Free (appointment only)

ONWARD AND UPWARD: SHARK’S INK

CU Art Museum, 1085 18th St., Boulder. Through July 2023. Free

AGRICULTURE: ART INSPIRED BY THE LAND BMoCA, 1750 13th St., Boulder; and The Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road. Through Oct. 1 (BMoCA) and June 10-Jan. 7 (Longmont Museum). $2 / $8

WILLY WONKA Jester’s Dinner Theatre, 224 Main St., Longmont. Through Aug. 6. $30

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING & KING LEAR PRESENTED BY COLORADO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre, Broadway Street & College Avenue, Boulder. Through Aug. 13. $25

MISS RHYTHM: THE LEGEND OF RUTH BROWN. Denver Center for the Performing Arts (Garner Galleria Theatre), 1101 13th St. Through Oct. 15. $46

SOMNA STUDIOS GRAND

OPENING. Somna Studios, 2907 55th St., #2, Boulder. 5-8 p.m. Friday, June 9. Free

CRAFTED: SUBVERTING THE FRAME Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Ave., Longmont. June 10July 23. Free BW Pick of the Week

THE NEW LOCAL OPENING RECEPTION: TNL TERM II 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 15, The New Local, 741 Pearl St., Boulder. Free Story on p. 21

CU professor and author

Julie Carr traces her family tree to illuminate a dark American story in Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics and Spiritualism in the American West. A poet by training, Carr uses rhythm, repetition and metaphor to weave history and autobiography into a rhapsodic snapshot of American populism as it emerges in the wake of the Gilded Age. Read a Boulder Weekly feature on the author by scanning the QR code. See listing for details

MUD, BLOOD, AND GHOSTS: POPULISM, EUGENICS, AND SPIRITUALISM IN THE AMERICAN WEST BY JULIE CARR 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 8, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder. $5

BRIDGING WORLDS: A SHERPA’S STORY BY PEMBA SHERPA AND CO-AUTHOR JIM MCVEY

7-8:30 p.m. Friday, June 9, Fiske Planetarium and Science Center, 2414 Regent Drive, Boulder. $12

UNFORTUNATELY YOURS: A NOVEL BY TESSA BAILEY (IN CONVERSATION WITH MEGHAN QUINN). 6 p.m.

Friday, June 9, Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $35 (includes signed copy of book)

BITSY BAT, SCHOOL STAR BY KAZ WINDNESS. 11 a.m.

Saturday, June 10, Longmont Public Library, 409 Fourth Ave., Longmont. Free

OVERCOMING ALL ODDS: MY STORY OF ADVERSITY, TRAGEDY, PERSISTENCE, SURVIVAL AND TRIUMPH BY CAROL ANN WILSON.

2-5 p.m. Saturday, June 10, Used Book Emporium, 346 Main St., Longmont. Free

PAWS TO READ BY THE ALLIANCE OF THERAPY DOGS 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 11, Lafayette Public Library, 775 W. Baseline Road, Lafayette. Free

NOTHING’S GONNA CHANGE MY WORLD’

Between canon and choice in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

Peter Parker was just another kid in New York City when he was bitten by a radioactive spider, bringing physical gifts (and a simultaneous curse) beyond his wildest dreams. He may have a heightened sixth sense and strength hundreds of times that of a normal man, but at the end of the day, he is just that: a man. And a man cannot save everyone, try as he might. That’s what led to poor old Uncle Ben’s demise, a canonical event in the Spider-Man story, teaching Peter that with great power comes great responsibility.

But what if Uncle Ben didn’t have to die? What if Spider-Man could save a busload of children and Mary Jane at the same time? There’s a saying that if not for the darkness, we would never appreciate the light. But do we really need the darkness to see the light?

That’s one of many questions swirling around the dizzying and delightful Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Stuffed to the gills with philosophical quandaries, plot and more Spider men, women and children than you can count, Across the Spider-Verse is a blockbuster with a lot on its mind, both about pop culture and loftier things.

Picking up a few years after 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, the new animated feature takes Brooklyn’s one and only Spider-Man, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), and isolates him from the Spideys on other Earths, specifically Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), who is missing Miles as much as he is missing her.

But Gwen isn’t on her own the way Miles is: She’s part of an elite SpiderTeam tasked by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) to travel across dimensions to right a wrong that threatens to snap the connecting threads of the SpiderVerse. The connections binding these universes together are the shared moments that forage Spider-Man out of the loss of Uncle Ben, or Captain Stacy, or you name it. Disrupt the origin, and you disrupt the outcome.

ent franchise: You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. It’s a flip of Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces summation, “Where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves.”

Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Dave Callaham and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, Across the Spider-Verse is a winning combination of heart and humor backed by some of the most engrossing and hypnotic artwork you’re likely to see in theaters. Continuing the theme established in Into the SpiderVerse, the new film changes animation styles with giddy aplomb and emotional expression. One scene involving a heart-to-heart between Gwen and her father (Shea Whigham) washes out the setting of their New York apartment in favor of popping abstract colors worthy of Stan Brakhage.

What are they talking about? Loneliness. What she has to do conflicts with what he has to do, and their actions isolate them from each other. So it goes in the Spider-Verse — with great power comes insurmountable loss. These are the Old Testament rules that rest in Miguel’s icy claws. Even the movie’s now-yousee-him-now-you-don’t villain, Spot (Jason Schwartzman), who can create portals in space and across dimensions, is just looking for recognition and validation.

Hollywood has had a field day with these kinds of hopscotching multiverse stories thanks to a bottomless offering of franchises that reboot, rebrand and remake. Storylines get tangled, fans draw allegiances to certain incarnations, and the IP machine starts collapsing everything into one supergroup where anyone who’s donned the mask shows up for a whiz-bang spectacular.

Across the Spider-Verse plays in that sandbox but digs a little deeper. As Miles tries to defy his fate, he learns the same lesson another masked superhero learned in a differ-

And then there’s Miles, missing his uncle and hiding his true identity from his loving father (Brian Tyree Henry) and mother (Luna Lauren Velez). He’s hoping that one day the whole Spider-Verse will show up and help him not feel so alone. That day will come because, as Campbell concludes, “where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world.”

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Photo courtesy Sony Pictures Entertainment.

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves,” said psychologist Carl Jung. What was he implying? That we may sometimes engage in the same behavior that bothers us about others? And we should examine whether we are similarly annoying? That’s one possible explanation, and I encourage you to meditate on it. Here’s a second theory: When people irritate us, it may signify that we are at risk of being hurt or violated by them — and we should take measures to protect ourselves. Maybe there are other theories you could come up with, as well, Aries. Here’s your assignment: Identify two people who irritate you. What lessons or blessings could you garner from your relationships with them?

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): In 1886, a wealthy woman named Sarah Winchester moved into a two-story, eight-room farmhouse in San Jose, California. She was an amateur architect. During the next 20 years, she oversaw continuous reconstruction of her property, adding new elements and revising existing structures. At one point, the house had 500 rooms. Her workers built and then tore down a seven-story tower on 16 occasions. When she died at age 83, her beloved domicile had 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, and six kitchens. While Sarah Winchester was extreme in her devotion to endless transformation, I do recommend a more measured version of her strategy for you — especially in the coming months. Continual creative growth and rearrangement will be healthy and fun!

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): “All the things I wanted to do and didn’t do took so long. It was years of not doing.” So writes Gemini poet Lee Upton in her book Undid in the Land of Undone. Most of us could make a similar statement. But I have good news for you, Gemini. I suspect that during the rest of 2023, you will find the willpower and the means to finally accomplish intentions that have been long postponed or unfeasible. I’m excited for you! To prepare the way, decide which two undone things you would most love to dive into and complete.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Cancerian author Denis Johnson had a rough life in his 20s. He was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Years later, he wrote a poem expressing gratitude to the people who didn’t abandon him. “You saw me when I was invisible,” he wrote, “you spoke to me when I was deaf, you thanked me when I was a secret.” Now would be an excellent time for you to deliver similar appreciation to those who have steadfastly beheld and supported your beauty when you were going through hard times.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Don’t make a wish upon a star. Instead, make a wish upon a scar. By that I mean, visualize in vivid detail how you might summon dormant reserves of ingenuity to heal one of your wounds. Come up with a brilliant plan to at least partially heal the wound. And then use that same creative energy to launch a new dream or relaunch a stalled old dream. In other words, Leo, figure out how to turn a liability into an asset. Capitalize on a loss to engender a gain. Convert sadness into power and disappointment into joy.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): At age nine, I was distraught when my parents told me we were moving away from the small town in Michigan where I had grown up. I felt devastated to lose the wonderful friends I had made and leave the land I loved. But in retrospect, I am glad I got uprooted. It was the beginning of a new destiny that taught me how to thrive on change. It was my introduction to the pleasures of knowing a wide variety of people from many different backgrounds. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because I think the next 12 months will be full of comparable opportunities

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

for you. You don’t have to relocate to take advantage, of course. There are numerous ways to expand and diversify your world. Your homework right now is to identify three.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): Most of us continuously absorb information that is of little or questionable value. We are awash in an endless tsunami of trivia and babble. But in accordance with current astrological omens, I invite you to remove yourself from this blather as much as possible during the next three weeks. Focus on exposing yourself to fine thinkers, deep feelers, and exquisite art and music. Nurture yourself with the wit and wisdom of compassionate geniuses and brilliant servants of the greater good. Treat yourself to a break from the blahblah-blah and immerse yourself in the smartest joie de vivre you can find.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Over 25 countries have created coats of arms that feature an eagle. Why is that? Maybe it’s because the Roman Empire, the foundation of so much culture in the Western world, regarded the eagle as the ruler of the skies. It’s a symbol of courage, strength, and alertness. When associated with people, it also denotes high spirits, ingenuity, and sharp wits. In astrology, the eagle is the emblem of the ripe Scorpio: someone who bravely transmutes suffering and strives to develop a sublimely soulful perspective. With these thoughts in mind, and in accordance with current astrological omens, I invite you Scorpios to draw extra intense influence from your eaglelike aspects in the coming weeks.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): “When I paint, my goal is to show what I found, not what I was looking for,” said artist Pablo Picasso. I recommend you adopt some version of that as your motto in the coming weeks. Yours could be, “When I make love, my goal is to rejoice in what I find, not what I am looking for.” Or perhaps, “When I do the work I care about, my goal is to celebrate what I find, not what I am looking for.” Or maybe, “When I decide to transform myself, my goal is to be alert for what I find, not what I am looking for.”

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Vincent van Gogh painted Wheatfield with a Reaper, showing a man harvesting lush yellow grain under a glowing sun. Van Gogh said the figure was “fighting like the devil in the midst of the heat to get to the end of his task.” And yet, this was also true: “The sun was flooding everything with a light of pure gold.” I see your life in the coming weeks as resonating with this scene, Capricorn. Though you may grapple with challenging tasks, you will be surrounded by beauty and vitality.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): I suspect that your homing signals will be extra strong and clear during the next 12 months. Everywhere you go, in everything you do, you will receive clues about where you truly belong and how to fully inhabit the situations where you truly belong. From all directions, life will offer you revelations about how to love yourself for who you are and be at peace with your destiny. Start tuning in immediately, dear Aquarius. The hints are already trickling in.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): The renowned Mexican painter Diego Rivera told this story about himself: When he was born, he was so frail and ill that the midwife gave up on him, casting him into a bucket of dung. Rivera’s grandmother would not accept the situation so easily. She caught and killed some pigeons and wrapped her newborn grandson in the birds’ guts. The seemingly crazy fix worked. Rivera survived and lived for many decades, creating an epic body of artistic work. I bring this wild tale to your attention, Pisces, with the hope that it will inspire you to keep going and be persistent in the face of a problematic beginning or challenging birth pang. Don’t give up!

DEAR DAN: My boyfriend and I have struggled to connect sexually more or less since the beginning of our long-distance relationship more than a year and a half ago. First the issue seemed to be condoms, which he couldn’t stand, but now that I’ve gotten an IUD his desire for sex has completely plummeted. He says “this usually happens” to him after about a year but he wants to stay together and work through it. In all honesty, he seems unbothered by the lack of sex. I started snooping I am aware that is super problematic — and learned he had recently watched porn featuring exclusively Asian women and then found out he has been contacting random Chinese women via a social platform and asking to meet IRL so he could “learn more about Chinese language, culture and food.” I’m not anti-porn and I understand we all have types, but I’m weirded out by the possible fetishization and lack of transparency on his end. Big red flag?

— Perplexed And Sadly Sexless

DEAR PASS: That red flag is so big you can’t see the other red flags behind it. You’ve wasted a year and a half on this guy, PASS, and you shouldn’t waste another minute on him. And if it took a little snooping for you to figure that out — if it took snooping for you to see that your boyfriend has been lying to you from the start and that he was prepared to tell you (and other women) bigger and worse lies — you don’t have to waste any time feeling bad about the snooping. DTMFA.

DEAR DAN: I’m a cis woman who loves to go to sex clubs to try new things. The last event I went to, someone put his penis and balls inside of my pussy, which was such a great experience. But now I am thinking this was a mistake on my end because although he wore a condom on his penis, there isn’t a

BY DAN SAVAGE

“ball condom,” at least so far as I know. I want to try this again, but I also want to do it in a low-risk way to keep myself and my other partners safe. Is this considered a risky sexual practice? I know that balls normally are uncovered, but normally there isn’t nearly so much contact as having them inside of me.

— Somewhat Apprehensive Concerning Kink’s Estimated Danger

DEAR SACKED: A stranger’s balls slapping against your vulva (or your taint, or your asshole or your chin) while he fucks you while wearing a condom on his dick vs. a stranger’s balls inserted into your pussy while he’s fucking you while wearing a condom on his dick doesn’t make an enormous difference where the risks of STI transmission are concerned. Viruses such as HPV, herpes, or mpox can be transmitted via skin-toskin contact regardless of whether his balls are inside your vagina or being pressed up against your vulva.

The location of infection can make an STI harder to spot, harder to treat and more painful to endure. If the dude shoving his dick and balls into you has a small wart or sore from syphilis, herpes or mpox tucked away under his balls, you may not realize that it’s there. And a genital wart inside your vaginal canal may go unnoticed at first, thereby delaying treatment, whereas you or one of your other partners are likely to spot one on your labia right away.

In the final accounting, SACKED, letting someone put his balls inside you elevates your risk of contracting STIs that are passed through skinto-skin contact — but these are STIs you’re already at risk of contracting during casual sex even when using condoms and, depending on how often you frequent sex clubs, STIs you have probably been exposed to before.

Consider using a female/insertable condom next time.

Whether the sun is shining or snow is falling, our little corner of Pearl Street is the perfect place to soak up winter in beautiful Boulder! Feast alongside the jellyfish, sink into a lounge or take a seat at one of our lively bars.

Prefer the great outdoors? Our fireside patios are the coziest place to savor those mild winter days.

When your own couch is calling, all of your favorites are available for curbside pickup too.

No matter how you choose to dine don’t miss our ever-evolving specials, delicious seasonal cocktails, and latest rare whiskey!

THE NEW FOOD PATRIOTISM

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

The last thing on Ruth Reichl’s mind as the pandemic began in 2020 was to make a food documentary. Like the rest of us, she just wanted groceries.

“I went to our supermarket and the shelves were empty. It was shocking,” Reichl says. “I came home and told my husband: ‘I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. Maybe this is the moment when Americans stop taking food for granted.’”

Reichl is one of America’s foremost food writers. The former chef, dining critic and magazine editor is a best-selling author and winner of six James Beard Foundation Awards.

Facing those empty supermarket shelves, Reichl wondered how the thousands of independent farmers, ranchers and fishermen — and the restaurants and markets they supply — would survive.

“Would we end up with a completely industrialized food system?” she says. “I wanted to bear witness to it, so I started calling people without knowing how it’s going to end up on the other side. I wanted a record of what happened.”

Reichl says she eventually talked to more than 170 people, including folks who work farms, ranches and waters across the United States.

“I learned how resilient farmers were,” she says. “They all had operating loans they were afraid they weren’t going to be able to pay off. They’re always on the edge of disaster. A rancher in the film told me: ‘Every year I go to the bank and borrow $8 million. I work 100 hours a week. I work three jobs and, in a good year, I take home $50,000. You think I want my children

to live like this? You Americans — you count on the fact that we love our work, that we’re dedicated to it to keep farming for you.’”

The result of her research has come together in Food and Country, a celebrated new documentary screening June 14 at Chautauqua Auditorium. Reichl teamed with film director Laura Gabbert, who produced City of Gold, a documentary about lauded LA food critic Jonathan Gold.

FARM WARS: A NEW HOPE

Food and Country is not preachy; it’s personal.

“The farmers and the people we choose to focus on have come up with wonderful solutions on their own,” Reichl says.

“I didn’t want to talk to one of the young, hippie, New Age farmers. The average age of the farmer in America is 64,” she adds. “These are people who’ve been farming their whole lives and [in their family] for many generations. If younger farmers don’t take over from them, all of those farms will either be consolidated or turned into tract homes.”

One organic farmer featured in the film saw his neighbor’s farm fail and be sold to a solar panel corporation. They were set to spray Roundup on the weeds, which would have drifted to the organic farmer’s fields.

Instead, the farm’s sheep are now used to control the weeds, and the farmer is able to raise more sheep.

“There are practical ideas for regenerative agriculture and keeping family farmers alive that could be funded by local, state or federal government,” Reichl says.

IT’S POLICY CHANGE, NOT ORGANIC ASPARAGUS

To know how we got here, you need to look back at government policy after the end of World War II.

“We would fight communism by having the cheapest, most abundant food on Earth,” Reichl says. “The result of these policies has been a disaster to our health, to our environment and to our communities.”

It has resulted in a change of focus for Reichl.

“I used to give these impassioned speeches about our food, insisting that we can change the system, that as consumers we can vote with our dollars,” she says. “My big takeaway now is that’s nonsense. We need to completely change the government policy. For us to feel like we’re changing the world by buying organic food from local farmers is wrong.”

Our responsibility, as with so many pressing issues, is to get involved in the icky business of politics, she says.

“You must ask the people who are running for election in your communities, states and nationally where they stand on these issues. If we are going to help farmers, read up on the farm bill, find out what’s in there and get involved.”

Courtesy Ruth Reichl

Courtesy Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl’s new documentary details the crises facing farmers as our cheap food system starts to crash

THE DEVASTATING COSTS OF CHEAP FOOD

Globally, climate and water shortages are already playing havoc with farming, Reichl says.

“If we don’t deal with climate change, we’re not going to be able to grow enough food anywhere in the world. When another crisis comes along — and it is going to come along — we really should be able to feed ourselves using local food sheds.”

Food may be a more pressing national security problem than missile defense systems.

“Currently, we don’t grow enough food in this country to feed ourselves because we grow commodity crops, which are mostly animal food,” she says.

Tantric Sacred Sexuality Exploration & Education

Ultimately, according to Reichl, the real cost of cheap crops is apparent in a nation where about six in 10 Americans have food-related chronic diseases.

“Do you want to spend your money at the supermarket or the doctor’s office? Maybe you don’t need that third pair of sneakers. Maybe you should spend more on your food,” she says.

“We ended up making this movie because I really do believe that these are life or death issues for us.”

Food and Country screens June 14 at Chautauqua Auditorium. Tickets: chautauqua.com. John Lehndorff will moderate an audience Q&A with Ruth Reichl following the screening.

LOCAL FOOD NEWS: MUSHROOMS TO BURGUNDY

● The colorful food history of Boulder is explored in a documentary about The Sink’s 100 years of burgers and beer, screening June 14 at Boulder Theater.

● Elephant Fusion Cafe and Turkish bakery has closed at 4800 Baseline Road.

● La Vita Bella restaurant, 471 Main St. in Longmont, closes June 23.

● Plan ahead: Telluride Mushroom Festival, Aug. 16-20; Ned Jazz and Wine Festival, Nederland, Aug. 26; Denver Food and Wine Festival, Sept. 6-9; Boulder Burgundy Festival, Oct. 20-22.

WORDS TO CHEW ON: WHAT RUTH ATE

“I made clam pasta last night that was a very simple, but really satisfying meal. All I added was garlic, parsley, steamed clams, and a little bit of wine. Gather all that clam liquid and cook the pasta in the juice from the clams. Clams are one of the best things you can eat because they’re filter feeders which improve the water they live in.”

— Ruth Reichl

John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles Thursday mornings on KGNU. Podcasts: bit.ly/RadioNibbles

This is an early menu from The Sink. Now you know how it got its name.

GOOD TASTE MERCI BEAUCOUP

Le French Café breathes life and rock ’n’ roll into classic French fare

BY COLIN WRENN

He’s the magician and I’m the bubbly, happy front,” says a beaming Agnes Garrigou. She’s talking about her husband Quentin, who just stepped out for a cigarette from the kitchen he runs at their shared restaurant, Le French Café (2525 Araphoe Ave).

Quentin grew up in the Loire Valley, the idyllic stretch of central France known for its fabulous vouvray and sancerre wines. First enamored by watching his grandmother cook — he and Agnes still use many of her recipes to this day — the emerging chef cut his teeth working in kitchens, beginning as a dishwasher, then moving across the line in cookeries and bakehouses throughout France, finally landing in Miami where he and Agnes operated cafes. “Quentin has a passion and loves to feed people,” Agnes says.

Agnes had her youth in HauteSavoie, a region of the Alps perhaps most famous for its nearly 40 ski resorts. She also grew up in a cooking family and knows her way around the staples.

Prior to meeting, the two were often semi-nomadic, working seasonally with six months on the mountain and anoth-

er six by the sea. “We met each other in the Pyrénées,” she says.

“I was a waitress and he was a cook. After a year together we decided to try the American life.”

That new life began once again by the sea, and stayed there for a decade. But in 2017, the duo moved to Boulder to open Le French Café. “After 10 years in Florida, it was time for us to come back to the mountain,” she says.

WHITE TABLE CLOTHS BE DAMNED

Each day, Wednesday through Sunday, around 8 a.m., folks in the Goss Grove neighborhood awaken to the smell of fresh pastry. Of course, there’s croissants and plenty of them. The chocolate-almond variety is the most tasty. On the savory side, there’s quiche, crepes and croque — monsieur, jambon and veggie alike. There are also lovely omelets and a dozen baguette sandwiches.

The scene is welcoming, but even at the crack of nine when the place

opens, you can hear the likes of The Strokes at near full volume. The menu reads: “French people are so hardcore they eat ‘pain’ for breakfast.” Though starting the day with any one of the breads is anything but excruciating.

“The restaurant was inspired by our love for food and humans,” says Agnes. “Quentin loves to cook for people and I love to help serve them. We have always been a team and always dreamt since we met each other to have a restaurant.”

Recently, the duo introduced dinner two nights a week, serving from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. There’s raclette, France and Switzerland’s even more decadent answer to fondue, that comes with house potatoes and is best enjoyed with the supplemental ratatouille. For

those less decadent, French onion soup and charcuterie are a good way to start, with mains like duck breast, salmon steak and boeuf bourguignon all hitting the table as robust tributes to the fatherland of fine dining. But the fare is decidedly unstuffy. White table cloths be damned.

“We call them casual dinners because it’s good family-style food served in a casual ambiance,” Agnes says. “We want people to be able to come as they are.”

While the duo seem satisfied serving French cafe food to the good people of Boulder, they’ve also suggested the possibility of a food truck or a second restaurant in the mountains. Whatever happens, Agnes says they’re ready for the ride: “We will see where life brings us.”

Courtesy Le French Cafe’s Facebook page

BETWEEN THE LINES

MEET COLORADO’S NATURAL MEDICINE ADVISORY BOARD

The influential group was appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate. But who are they?

BY WILL BRENDZA

The Colorado Natural Medicine Advisory Board was appointed on Jan. 17 by Gov. Jared Polis. More than 225 people submitted applications. Only 15 of those candidates were chosen.

The panel is a diverse assortment of clinical psychologists, psychoanalysts, medical researchers, lawyers, poets, mental fitness coaches and professions in between. The governor’s office has expressly denied press interviews with appointees.

The board’s purpose is to guide the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) in crafting the rules surrounding adult use of the five natural psychedelics Colorado recently legalized.

The board must submit recommendations to DORA by Sept. 30, 2023.

Here are the members, in the order described by the governor’s office.

William Dunn, NRP, FP-C is the chief clinical officer at Eagle County Paramedic Services. He will be “a representative of emergency medical services and services provided by the first responder.”

Billy Wynne, J.D. is a mindfulness teacher and founder of D.C.-based Impact Health, a health policy and advocacy firm. Wynne will “serve as a representative of health care insurance and health care policy and public health, drug policy and harm reduction.”

Sofia Chavez, Ph.D. is a board-certified doctor of natural medicine, master herbalist, and minister. She will “serve as a representative of traditional and indigenous use and religious use of natural medicine.”

Bradley Conner, Ph.D. is a CSU psychology professor and director of the addiction counseling program. He will “serve as a representative of natural medicine therapy, medicine, and research.”

Wendy Buxton-Andrade is a county commissioner from Prowers County, with a background in marketing. She

will “serve as a representative of levels and disparities in access to health care services among different communities.”

Skippy Upton Mesirow is a mental health coach for elected officials and public servants and a past Aspen City Council member. Mesirow will “serve as a representative of permitted organization criteria.”

Ernestine Gonzales, Ph.D., M.A., M.S. We could find no publicly available background on Gonzalez, but she will “serve as a representative of mental health and behavioral health providers and disparities in access to health care services among different communities.”

Heather Lundy Nelson, M.A. is a licensed mental health clinician who did her orientation at Highlands Church in

“serve as a representative of mycology and natural medicine cultivation.”

Katina Banks, J.D. is a Denver attorney with expertise in intellectual property, technology transactions and corporate law. She will “serve as a representative of permitted organization criteria.”

Ricardo Baca is the CEO and founder of Grasslands P.R. and was the marijuana editor at the Denver Post for three years prior to that. Baca will “serve as a representative of traditional indigenous use and public health, drug policy and harm reduction.”

Alisa Hannum, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System who has extensive background working with PTSD victims. Her role on the advisory board will be to “serve as a representative of mental and behavioral health providers and issues confronting veterans.”

Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D. is a poet and a Jungian psychoanalyst. She will “serve as a representative of traditional indigenous use and religious use.”

Denver. She will “serve as a representative of mental health and behavioral health providers and disparities in access to health care services among different communities.”

Suzanne Sisley, Ph.D. is the executive director of the Scottsdale Research Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona. She will

Joshua Goodwin, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Operation True North Colorado, a behavioral health services organization. He will “serve as a representative of issues confronting veterans.”

Sheriff David Lucero of Pueblo is a 22-year law enforcement veteran. He will “serve as a representative of past criminal justice reform in Colorado.”