Boulder Weekly 08.03.2023

05 THE ANDERSON FILES: Boulder County wants to raise the minimum wage — but all its cities

ANDERSON

13 ENVIRONMENT: Colorado author chronicles climate change from her backyard BY WILL MATUSKA

19 ADVICE: Dear Whole Foods Daddy BY GABBY VERMEIRE

23 NIBBLES: Your 2023 guide to Boulder County’s roadside farm stands BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Go Out Local and Green

AUGUST 3, 2023

Volume 30, Number 50

COVER: Courtesy Ollin Farms

PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski

EDITORIAL

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Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Ari LeVaux, Dan Savage, Bart Schaneman, Alan Sculley, Toni Tresca, Gabby Vermeire, Colin Wrenn

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MONEY TALKS

THE ANDERSON FILES

Boulder County wants to raise the minimum wage — but all its cities have to get on board

BY DAVE ANDERSON

Denver went first. In 2020 — a year after the Colorado Legislature passed HB 19-1210, allowing municipalities to set a higher minimum wage than the state — the capital city gradually raised its base pay by nearly $4 an hour to the current $17.29.

Then nothing for three years.

Finally, this year, the City of Edgewater — 5,000 residents west of Denver — decided to take advantage of the amendment, doubling its mini-

mum wage over five years beginning in 2024.

And that’s it: Only Denver and Edgewater have raised pay above the state’s current $13.65 an hour (which is, thankfully, a far cry from the paltry $7.25 mandated at the federal level since 2009). But how about Boulder County? For decades, rightwingers have been all hot and bothered about how horribly progressive we are.

The Boulder County Commissioners supported HB 19-1210, but that’s

about all they could do. Because the legislation requires local governments to consult with surrounding jurisdictions and stakeholders before enacting a new minimum salary, the county would only be able to raise wages unilaterally for unincorporated areas. So the commissioners have started a formal process to enact a countywide minimum wage. This year, councils across the county have heard presentations from the Consortium of Cities (leadership from each muni in the county), local chambers of commerce and the Boulder Area Labor Council about the possibility.

“If anybody’s going to do this and make it work — any municipality — it’s going to have to be in concert with other municipalities,” Longmont council member Tim Waters said at a June 6 meeting. “There’s no way this works without it being a regional approach.”

Boulder Social Streets

Come meet on the street all summer long...

13th Street (between Canyon and Arapahoe)

This summer as part of the City of Boulder’s “Social Streets” initiative, the Downtown Boulder Partnership is hosting a series of FREE fun events / activities along 13th Street between Arapahoe Avenue and Canyon Boulevard. (There is no cost to attend the events and all members of the community and visitors near and far are invited to attend to participate or just enjoy as spectators!) So grab your family/neighbors/friends and come meet on the street to celebrate community and enjoy our vibrant downtown district!

Please visit the website for specific event times and additional details!

JULY 21

DANCING IN THE STREET

THE ANDERSON FILES

Councilors in Lafayette at a July 18 meeting indicated they would be interested in participating in analysis and discussions around a countywide minimum salary increase.

And the City of Boulder began its discussions around raising earnings back in late May, with a goal of reaching a $25-an-hour minimum wage by 2028. This target amount came from Geof Cahoon, the president of the Boulder Area Labor Council AFL-CIO, during a news conference in April.

JULY 30 PICNIC ON THE PAVEMENT

“We are going to base this on a self-sustaining wage to make sure that all workers live in dignity in Boulder County,” he said, “and are not scraping for table scraps.”

AUGUST 4 YAPPY HOUR

AUGUST 13

BOULDER STREET SOCCER CLASSIC

AUGUST 25

MELANIN FUNK FEST

SEPTEMBER 8

CU ATHLETICS MEET & GREET

SEPTEMBER 24

COMMUNITY ART DAY

with a preschooler and school-age child needs $99,411; and two adults with a preschooler and school-age child need $107,462.

“Note that the standard is ‘bare bones,’” the authors write, “with just enough allotted to meet basic needs, but no extras. For example, the food budget is only for groceries. It does not allow for any takeout or restaurant food, not even a pizza or an ice cream.”

Part of the City of Boulder’s “Social Streets” initiative.

BoulderSocialStreets.com

Cahoon was representing the Boulder County Self-Sufficiency Wage Coalition, which is made up of nonprofits, labor unions, community groups, faith-based organizations and policy experts. The coalition is basing its recommendations on the work of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, a Denver-based think-tank with a mission to “fight against poverty through research, legislation and legal advocacy.”

The Center uses the SelfSufficiency Standard as an indicator of need rather than the federal poverty line, which is based on USDA food budgets that meet minimal nutritional standards. By contrast, the SelfSufficiency Standard includes all basic necessities: food, housing, child and health care, transportation, taxes and other miscellaneous costs. To ensure consistent, up-to-date data, the Center on Law and Policy commissions the University of Washington’s Center for Women’s Welfare to produce regular reports on the SelfSufficiency Standard for all 64 Colorado counties.

The standard determines how much income a family within a given county has to earn to meet their basic needs without public or private assistance. It deals with variables such as family composition, ages of children and geographic differences.

The most recent report, authored by Annie Kucklick, Lisa Manzer and Alyssa Mast, says that one adult in Boulder County needs to make $41,058 a year; one adult with a preschooler needs $80,435; one adult

Armed with this data, Boulder’s Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) has pleaded with cities across the county “to address the urgent community need we are seeing” by implementing, “at a minimum, a 15% increase in the local minimum wage ... as well as develop a plan to meet or exceed Denver’s minimum wage by 2026.”

Established in 1918, EFAA is a crucial charity which offers short-term and transitional housing, food and emergency financial assistance to Boulder families, seniors and people with disabilities. However, the organization is overwhelmed these days, as the end of COVID-era programs have left individuals and nonprofits with less money while inflation has demanded even more. EFAA released a policy brief this year, noting the organization has “seen a dramatic increase in the number of households coming to EFAA for support.” The organization says one in three of those househands had never needed EFAA’s services in the past.

“Weekly EFAA food bank visits are twice the level pre-COVID,” the policy brief reads. “The rising costs of rent and utilities have increased housing insecurity, leading to pressures on EFAA for financial assistance to keep people housed and with the lights on. Even with this support, evictions have increased dramatically across Boulder County. The number of school children experiencing homelessness in the Boulder Valley School District has increased to over 800 this school year, from pre-COVID levels in the low 300s. EFAA is having to step in more frequently with emergency hotel stays to provide short-term shelter for families with children who have lost their housing.”

All of which adds to the urgency of increasing the minimum wage here in Boulder County. Grocery workers have had a front row seat as the price of food has increased — nearly 6% from last summer, according to the USDA. Employees at King Soopers, the state’s largest grocery store, went on strike in January 2022 after months of negotiations. Nearly two weeks later, the grocery chain inked a deal with workers, upping the average minimum salary by $2 an hour, with some employees seeing an increase of more than $5. Kroger, the parent company of King Soopers, agreed to take on a larger share of health costs, provide more protection of pension benefits and better safeguard staff from COVID-19 and violence within stores.

Conor Hall is a 27-year-old King Soopers employee at the Table Mesa store in Boulder. Masks were required during the pandemic, but there were unmasked customers who didn’t maintain social distancing. Some were belligerent with employees or other shoppers. Hall was instructed to ask patrons to wear masks but was hesitant since “you didn’t know how a particular person would react. People could be violent.”

Hall feels “pretty fortunate.” As a union member with a contract, he is more protected from arbitrary management decisions. He was on vacation on March 22, 2021 when a gunman came into the store and murdered 10 people.

But, like many grocery store workers, Hall can’t afford rent in Boulder. He lives with his mother in Berthoud, but is able to save money. Hall supports higher minimum wages because businesses are “stealing from the community”

if their employees can’t make ends meet.

Despite being careful, Hall did get COVID. He was an essential but expendable worker. He got a little extra “hero pay,” which abruptly ended in the middle of the pandemic. Remember the common good? An injury to one is an injury to all?

The pandemic offered us an opportunity to have national unity against a common foe: a deadly virus. Instead, the stupid culture wars continued, accompanied by truly suicidal rugged individualism.

But it’s not too late to address the problems the pandemic laid bare. The cities of Boulder County can promote the common good by supporting a minimum-wage increase. On July 31, the Colorado Fiscal Institute reported “positive results” from its three-year analysis of Denver’s higher base pay.

“Our analysis found Denver did better in three categories compared to the rest of the state: unemployment was lower; weekly earnings increased; and sales tax collections all outperformed the rest of Colorado — precisely the opposite of what opponents had predicted would happen,” wrote Chris Stiffler, senior economist for the Fiscal Institute, in a press release.

Faster job growth, higher earning and greater economic stability is what Boulder County stands to gain.

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

NOW YOU KNOW

This week’s news in Boulder County and beyond

BY WILL MATUSKA

BOULDER ROOTS IN THE 2023 CO SNOWSPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS

Each year, five Coloradans are inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Museum’s Hall of Fame for their contributions to the winter sports industry in the Centennial State.

This year’s athletes, including two who have called Boulder home, will be honored on Aug. 27 at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail.

“Every class of inductees is different, and this year we celebrate individuals who have dedicated their lives to educating, inspiring and preserving snow sports in Colorado,” said Jennifer Mason, executive director of the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame, in a press release. “Each person represents a unique area of Colorado and illustrates the fact that Colorado as a whole leads the way in snow sports.”

Inductee Seth Masia received his master’s degree from CU Boulder and raised a family in town. He was a key editor and writer for SKI Magazine starting in the ’70s and served as president of the International Skiing History Association.

“It’s gratifying to know that people enjoyed reading my stuff over the 50 years that I’ve been doing this,” he

says. “Journalists don’t often get a lot of direct positive feedback.”

Some of Masia’s recent writing looks at the turning point of alpine skiing in 1928, when two innovations, steeledged skis and locked-down heels, “completely changed the sport,” doubling downhill speeds, and launching skiing into the global arena at the 1936 Olympics in Germany.

Throughout his career, Masia got to witness more recent snowsport history in real time.

“The first snowboard Jake Burton gave me … was just a blank piece of plywood with an interesting shape to it, but it didn’t have steel edges and it didn’t have a plastic bottom,” Masia says. “It didn’t turn very well and it was useless on hard snow because it didn’t have steel edges. It wasn’t until Jake adopted some real ski technology that snowboards became practical and usable.”

Burton went on to create one of the premiere snowboarding brands in the world.

Joining the 2023 class with Masia is the late Sandy Hildner, who died of cancer in 2019. Hildner trained with the CU Boulder men’s ski team before there was a women’s team. Her accomplishments include winning the U.S. National Slalom Championship in

1963 at age 18, winning Aspen’s 1967 Roch Cup and becoming the first woman Olympian from CU Boulder.

“Sandy Hildner’s legacy is amazing as she made a life-long commitment to our sport and was clearly a difference maker,” said Olympian and former U.S. ski team president Bill Marolt in a press release. “I wholeheartedly support her nomination and induction into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame.”

Nominations are made by a 140-member panel composed of current Hall of Fame members, snow sports industry representatives, winter resorts and the Hall’s board of directors. More than 200 people have been inducted into the Snowsports Hall of Fame since 1977.

Other inductees this year are Cheryl Jensen, founder of the Vail Veterans Program, John Norton, an employee at ski resorts in Crested Butte and Aspen, and Hilaree Nelson, one of the most accomplished ski mountaineers and aplinists in the world, who died skiing a Nepalese mountain in 2022.

CHANGES TO RTD FARES

RTD is lowering the cost of riding across the district.

The company’s board of directors approved new fare structures, policies and programs on July 25 after a yearlong review that included an equity analysis and a system-wide fare study.

“RTD is removing barriers to transit access and reconciling longstanding concerns from customers and the community regarding the high cost and complexity of fares currently in place,”

said Debra Johnson, RTD CEO, in a press release.

Approved changes include lowering fares for three-hour, day-long and monthly passes, expanding the LiVE program’s income-eligibility and creating a Zero Fare for Youth year-long pilot program allowing people ages 19 and under to ride for free.

Fares continue to be free through August as part of the Zero Fare for Better Air initiative.

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR JIM SWAEBY PEACE AWARD

The Boulder Rotary Club is seeking nominations for the fifth annual Jim Swaeby Peace Award.

The award commemorates Swaeby and his involvement with community organizations like the Rotary Club, Historic Boulder and the Boulder Museum of History. The recipient must be an individual who lives or works in Boulder County, is making a significant contribution to building a culture of peace ,and exemplifies the life of Jim Swaeby and the Rotary’s commitment to peace.

Swaeby grew up in Boulder and attended CU for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Soon after, he traveled to the Kingdom of Tonga as a Peace Corps volunteer. Nine months into his service, he was the first Peace Corps volunteer drafted into Vietnam. His life’s mission was to “do an unexpected act of kindness or generosity for someone less privileged,” according to the Rotary Club.

The deadline for nominations is Aug. 25.

If you could see Colorado’s air, you would want to improve it.

Ground-level ozone is invisible and the Front Range’s biggest air quality issue. Created from pollutants like car exhaust, ozone is a leading cause of respiratory problems.

Improving our air quality takes all of us, and there are many ways to help.

We encourage you to #JustSkipTwo car trips a week, mow your lawn after 5 p.m., don’t idle your car, telework a few days each week, and take the bus, bike, or walk.

Sign up for air quality alerts and learn more about the simple steps you can do to help.

SimpleStepsBetterAir.org

NEWS BRIEF PAC IT UP

CU athletics continues building momentum with conference change

BY WILL MATUSKA

The University of Colorado has found its seat in the current game of musical chairs between colleges and conferences in the NCAA.

After 13 years in the Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12) and hot off the heels of hiring fan-favorite Coach Deion “Prime Time” Sanders, the school announced on July 27 it will transition back to the Big 12.

“[This is] a great win for the University of Colorado,” CU Athletic Director Rick George said at a press conference.

It’s not a dramatic break-up, rather a move CU administrators say will bring more stability and recognition to both athletics and the entire school.

The Buffs will finish the upcoming 2023-24 season in the Pac-12 and make the transition at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. Jesse

Mahoney, head volleyball coach, says the Pac-12 has been a great home for the volleyball program, but the Big 12 will keep the program moving in a positive direction.

“I’m excited to see what [the Big 12] holds,” Mahoney says. “It’s a Power Five conference with a lot of storied traditions in their sports. We’re gonna go in and look to compete right away, and we’ll play whoever is on the other side of the net.”

The decision, made unanimously by the CU Board of Regents, comes at a time when universities across the nation are engaging in “conference realignment,” as sports experts are calling it. Hallmark schools with rich athletic traditions, like UCLA, University of Texas (UT), University of Oklahoma (OU) and University of Southern California (USC), will all join new conferences by 2024.

Conference hopping is normal for college athletic programs. Admins at CU Boulder say re-joining the Big 12 (which the university withdrew from in 2011) will bring more money to the program and expand the school’s reach to new areas of the country.

“After careful thought and consideration, it was determined that a switch in conference would give CU Boulder the stability, resources and exposure necessary for long-term future success in a college athletics environment that is constantly evolving,” said Chancellor Philip DiStefano and athletic director George in a joint statement. “The Big 12’s national reach across three time zones, as well as our shared creative vision for the future, we feel makes it an excellent fit for CU Boulder, our students, faculty and alumni.”

Money is a significant factor. Last fall, the Big 12 secured a $2.3 billion media rights deal with Fox and ESPN through the 2030-31 athletic season. Teams in the conference, including Colorado when the realignment is finalized, will earn nearly $32 million annually from the networks as part of the deal.

NEWS BRIEF

That also means more airtime for the Buffs. Meanwhile, the Pac-12 hasn’t secured a media deal past 2024.

Student-athletes also stand to gain financially. More exposure can mean more money in the hands of collegiate athletes now that the NCAA allows compensation for an athlete’s name, image and likeness (NIL).

But George said the decision is about more than money: Aligning with the Big 12 will be good for studentathletes in numerous way.

“We’ve done our analysis and they’ll be traveling less in the Big 12, playing in more favorable time slots where we believe they can get greater national exposure and return to Boulder after away games at earlier times,” he said at the press conference.

CU isn’t the only school leaving the Pac-12. Last summer, UCLA and USC announced they will shift to the Big Ten in 2024. Both schools were in the Pac-12 for nearly a century.

In response to UT and OU leaving the Big 12 next year, the association added four new members this year — Brigham Young University, University of Cincinnati, University of Houston and the University of Central Florida. When CU joins next year, the Big 12 will have 13 members.

Critics of the conference realignment frenzy say it dismantles college rivalries — a reality Buff fans know well after CU and Nebraska, a rivalry dating back to 1898, split from the Big 12 in 2011. The rivalry between OU and Oklahoma State is another example.

“It’s all about money,” said Michael Veley, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, in an interview with Fortune. “The student-athletes and the fan bases are the victims of this takeover. There’s no regional sensibility anymore.”

Danney Sanchez, head soccer coach at CU, says while the Pac-12 is at the “pinnacle” of women’s soccer at the Division One level, he’s excited to shift to the Big 12 — what he calls a “great soccer conference.”

“As the landscape changes, and we can see everything that’s going on with the conferences, [the administration] made a great decision to go to the Big 12.”

BEARING WITNESS

Colorado author chronicles climate change from her backyard in new memoir

BY WILL MATUSKA

Astocky Western bluebird makes his home in a nest box. The tenant’s glimmering blue suit, interrupted by a rusted vest, catches Mary Young’s attention, as such wonders have again and again for decades.

Year after year, the trained zoologist and nature writer observes the flock that roosts on her parcel of land a few miles west of Trinidad. Some seasons bring lots of younglings. Other years, whether because of drought, scarce food or predation, adults won’t nest or Young will find hatchlings scattered motionless on the ground.

But even when the nearby pond dries up and “it seems like it’s all over with,” Young says the bluebirds come back the following year.

“I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve witnessed that [resilience],” Young says. “You have too. We all have, if we pay attention.”

Young filled her journal with observations of the birds, plants, invertebrates and mammals on her land. It started out of curiosity, fueled by a desire to feel closer to the land. But when she looked back on nearly 30 years of notes, Young saw changes in seasonal patterns that seemed to impact what species came back, and when.

It turns out her diary told a bigger story than the fluctuations of species like Western bluebirds. She had chronicled the growing evidence of climate change.

“This is the story to tell; this is the story that had to be told,” she says. Young’s book, Bluebird Seasons:

Witnessing Climate Change in My Piece of the Wild, is the story of three decades of observations on nearly 40 acres in southern Colorado.

It’s her way of showing readers that climate change isn’t only occurring in faraway places like Antarctica, or tucked inside hundreds of pages of scientific data, but right in our own backyards — if we have the patience to see it.

SHIFTING PATTERNS

Young’s family is from Loveland, but her dad’s Army career meant she grew up all over the country.

Every summer she’d visit her grandparents’ cabin on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, seeding her fascination for all things living.

“I can remember watching hummingbirds buzzing around, making nectar with my grandmother and filling the feeders and putting them out,” Young says. “The chipmunks were everywhere around us and there were mule deer that would basically peek in the window. Those are the memories that set the path for my entire life.”

She draws on these recollections in her book, blending science with memoir.

Because of those summers in Estes, the Centennial State has always felt like home to Young. She says easy access to trails and open space nurtures her spirit and that she would be lost without it. When she was scouting for land to purchase in the mid-’90s, she’d tour properties looking for signs of animal activity, like elk droppings.

Young found land only a few miles north of the New Mexico border, where

gently sloped hills are broken by sharp canyon walls, grassy meadows and piñon-juniper woodland — a perfect place to survey a variety of critters.

Bluebird Seasons pays particular attention to yearly changes in visitors to her property.

Young documented roadrunners and scaled quail, species known for hanging out at lower elevations than where her land sits around 6,500 feet. Those observations are corroborated by the Audubon Society, which predicts these two birds will move further north into Colorado as the climate warms.

The memoir also registers shifting patterns in bear, elk and hummingbirds, in addition to changes in water sources and wildfire frequency.

In spite of these revelations, Young maintains a hopeful outlook. She sees energy in a rising youth-activism movement, and says humans can overcome “huge obstacles and challenges once we really decide to do it.” She wants people to share their personal climate stories to help build an understanding of what’s happening, to eventually fix what’s been altered.

“This is your future, life and world — you gotta be fighting for it,” she says.

ON THE SHELF: Mary Taylor Young. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. $5.

Western bluebird (top) populations are fluctuating in some areas of seemingly suitable habitat, such as Mary Young’s property (bottom) in Southern Colorado. Photos courtesy Mary Young.

“You’re just trying to make something that moves you,” singerguitarist Matt Quinn says of his work with the LA-based quintet Mt. Joy.

such a spiritual element to being there. You really connect with the earth and this larger level of [existence]. … Orange Blood came from this idea that the sun and the light is sort of the blood of the universe.”

‘THE BLOOD OF THE UNIVERSE’

Mt. Joy bring their expanded psych-folk sound to Red Rocks

BY ALAN SCULLEY

Once critics think they’ve got a band figured out, it can be a tough spell to break. Just ask Mt. Joy, the LA-based quintet that crashed onto the scene with their selftitled debut in 2018. The album’s lead single “Silver Lining,” which became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard adult alternative charts, led to a quick typecast of the band as a straight-ahead folk rock act in the mold of Colorado’s own Lumineers — a comparison that, for better or worse, has stuck.

“I get where it came from and everything, but I think it’s a bit lazy … if you go back and listen to the first record, the other songs were pretty different,” says singer-guitarist Matt Quinn. “I don’t know if our whole goal is to avoid comparisons, but it is nice to start to feel like we’re coming into our own, and the music we’re making fits the music we want to be making.”

Here Quinn refers to the band’s latest LP, Orange Blood, which has gone a long way in changing perceptions about Mt. Joy since its release last summer via Island Records. There is still a folk scaffolding beneath songs like “Roly Poly,” “Don’t It Feel Good” and the title track, but they come with gauzy atmospherics, synthetic beats and otherworldly guitar tones that push these songs into bold new territory.

Elsewhere, the band gets even more adventurous. The distorted lead guitar of “Johnson Song” gives the tune a freaky edge, while “Lemon Tree” serves up a Beatlesesque psychedelic pop experience.

“Evergreen,” meanwhile, is a catchy, nervy rocker with shimmering guitars and a driving beat. But what stands out even more than the production are the inviting melodies spun up by Quinn and his bandmates across the record’s 34-minute runtime.

Despite this new and broader sonic palette, comparisons to the Centennial State’s biggest folk-rock act didn’t come out of nowhere. In fact, Quinn got started writing for Orange Blood soon after a tour opening for the Lumineers wrapped in March 2020.

“I was stuck in a studio apartment [during the pandemic] and actually my girlfriend had a kind of busted acoustic guitar, but I didn’t even have my guitar,” Quinn says. “But I had [her] guitar, and [songwriting] was all there was to do. We were quarantined and genuinely terrified of interacting with people. So we were making music, and it was freeing in a way to have an outlet like that. I feel really, really fortunate that was my job.”

‘MAKE SOMETHING THAT MOVES YOU’

Quinn and his girlfriend didn’t stay in New York City for long. With the pandemic raging, they moved to Quinn’s former home town of Philadelphia. Eventually, they felt things had calmed down enough to safely travel to LA to grab Quinn’s things from his apartment there. That’s when Quinn began to get his head around the kind of album he was starting to make.

“On the way back to Philadelphia, we stopped in Joshua Tree … I think the intentions for the record, and what we were trying to do with the music, were really built there,” he says. “There’s

After that, Quinn and his Mt. Joy songwriting partner and guitarist Sam Cooper rented a small barn near Philadelphia and started convening for near-daily writing and recording sessions. Most of the new record was written there, and then it was time to hit the studio. So Quinn and Cooper joined the rest of the band — keyboardist Jackie Miclau, bassist Michael Byrnes and drummer Sotoris Eliopoulos — alongside producer Caleb Nelson in LA to craft their next offering.

“For us, it was definitely intentional. I think each record is an opportunity to do something different and to take a step in a new direction,” Quinn says. “It feels like each record you get a little more space and time in the studio to experiment, to try to make sounds … I think the most simple explanation is you’re just trying to make something that moves you.”

Quinn says the new Mt. Joy songs translate well to the live stage, which Front Range concertgoers will experience for themselves when the band comes to Red Rocks on Aug. 17. He also says the Orange Blood material is bringing Mt. Joy closer to achieving the kind of live experience the band has been reaching for all along.

“One of the real amazing things about the new album is it’s really allowed our sets to be more diverse,” Quinn says. “We [wanted] to become a band that plays unique shows, and our new album has really allowed that to happen. It’s set up some cool jams. It’s really made the live show more dynamic.”

ON THE BILL: Mt. Joy with Flipturn. 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Aug. 17 and 18, Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. Sold out – resale only: $140+

‘Orange Blood,’ the third LP from Mt. Joy, was released June 17, 2022, via Island Records.

Photo by Andrew Keyser.

PUNCHING OUT

Workplace tragi-comedy ‘Reptile Logic’ slithers onstage at Vintage Theatre

BY TONI TRESCA

It was a labor dispute that first sparked the idea for the award-winning new play from Denver-based writer Matt Wexler. While he was attending school at the University of Colorado in the early 2000s, Wexler worked at a corporate big-box warehouse store in a nearby town where he witnessed the coordinated harassment of a coworker who dared to inquire about unionizing.

“She asked the question innocently enough … [but] for the next two months, before she was forced to quit, I saw her get harassed, bullied, joked on, and [management] changed her schedule,” he says. “I knew a story was there; I just didn’t know how to write it yet.”

Wexler was troubled by the episode, which would stick with him over the next two decades. It wasn’t until the height of the pandemic in 2020, when

the playwright had time off from teaching stand-up at the Denver Improv, that he decided to revisit the experience. The result would become Reptile Logic: A Corporate Dismemberment, which had its world premiere performance on July 28 at Aurora’s Vintage Theatre.

“It took me about six months to write the first draft of Reptile Logic,” Wexler says of the play running through Aug. 13. “The fact that this is a play makes it different from writing movies or TV scripts. You still need some resources, but they are not as vast as in those projects; with plays, you can produce them yourself with a team you trust.”

Since penning the script for Reptile Logic, billed as an “exploitative tragedy wrapped in the veil of a workplace comedy,” Wexler’s work has received writing awards from Script Awards Los Angeles, Oxford Scripts and a number

of other organizations across the country.

“The subject matter is important and becomes more relevant every day,” says director and producer Mike Langworthy. “Reptile Logic deals with how corporate America is increasingly squeezing the individual and what that does to people’s psyches. There are three different levels of employees in the play. Each one finds themselves in extremis because of an industrial accident that causes a work stoppage, threatening the livelihoods of all three characters in the play.”

‘ANIMALISTIC SURVIVAL’

When a faceless megacorporation is confronted with a list of demands from its employees, the plant manager, Mike Stevens (Colin Martin), and his obedient assistant, Iris (Corinne Landy), go to war with an ex-con spokeswoman, Jacky (Gin Walker). The idea behind the play’s title, Reptile Logic: A Corporate Dismemberment, is that our work environments frequently transform decent, logical people into reptilian-like creatures fighting for survival.

“I want audiences to think about the positions that businesses put [employees] in,” Wexler says. “When you mess with people’s jobs, you revert

them to a sense of animalistic survival. Seeing people act [like animals] is a little bit funny but [it’s] also pretty alarming that this has become normalized behavior in the office. Reptile Logic may not be as glamorous as the new Transformers or Barbie, but this real-life workplace story is still important.”

To give local audiences the opportunity to see this nationally recognized production first with a Colorado-centric cast and crew, Wexler is renting the Bond-Trimble Theatre from Vintage and producing the play through his company, The Wounded Cobra Theatre. The Denver creative team behind Reptile Logic includes directorproducer Langworthy, writer-producer Wexler, producer KQ and production stage manager-assistant director Rachael Lessard.

“When I was putting together a crew, I thought about who I trust around town,” Wexler says. “I knew Mike from stand-up circles in Denver and was struck by his comedy and extensive career as a writer. We met at a booth at Sam’s No. 3, and I asked him if he wanted to direct this. After reading the script, he said yes. Mike brought KQ on the project, who put us in touch with tech people and suggested we look into booking space at Vintage Theatre.”

Langworthy was struck by the play’s contemporary themes, as organized union workers in various industries strike for better working conditions. He compares the writing style to that of Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller.

“As I read Reptile Logic, it seemed to tap into the great American playwriting tradition of portraying the underbelly of modern society,” Langworthy says. “[It] strips away the sophistication that many plays put on in order to portray working-class people in complex relationships in a very direct way.”

ON STAGE: ‘Reptile Logic: A Corporate Dismemberment’ by The Wounded Cobra Theatre. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Aug. 13. Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora. $30

Left to right: Colin Martin, Corinne Landy and Gin Walker in Reptile Logic: A Corporate Dismemberment, running through Aug. 13 at the Vintage Theatre in Aurora. Photo by Lindsey Alexander.

HOT LINKS

Why Rachel King set her award-winning story collection in a Boulder County sausage factory

BY BART SCHANEMAN

Short story collections with a shared narrative thread are having a moment in the Colorado literary world.

With Rachel King’s Bratwurst Haven winning the 2023 Colorado Book Award in the Literary Fiction category this summer, that makes two in a row for linked collections. Her recent win follows Wendy J. Fox’s What If We Were Somewhere Else, which took home the same award last year.

“As a reader, it’s nice to read something where the story stands alone, and you can set down the book,” King says. “But then you can come back to the same world, which is something people really like about novels. It has the best of both worlds.”

King’s book follows a string of char-

acters connected to a sausage factory set in a fictional Boulder County town. Most of them are down on their luck and operating in tough circumstances, but that’s not to say the stories don’t have an uplifting quality.

King lived in Colorado from 2012 to 2016, working for Perseus Books Group in Boulder, and living in Lafayette and Louisville. Her boyfriend, now husband, had worked in sausage factories and would come home and talk about his job. That’s how King started setting her stories in that world.

The author soon began to broaden the scope and sketch out other characters, like the bartender Cynthia, who develop relationships with the workers in Bratwurst Haven. But wherever her writerly eye wanders, King explores

fundamental issues related to labor, capital and solidarity.

“A lot of these characters have not chosen to do the work that they’re doing; they’ve more fallen into it,” King said in an interview with Boulder Weekly earlier this year. “And a lot of it is lowwage work, but they’re not necessarily people who have always worked for low wages. Something I was exploring specifically was, ‘How do people in lowwage jobs support one another, or not support one another?’”

HOW THE SAUSAGE GETS MADE

In the title story, the daughter of the factory owner decides to try her hand at starting a food truck selling sausages. She intended to call the business Bratwurst Heaven, but the sign painter mistakenly wrote Bratwurst Haven.

“The title is indicative of the collection in the sense that some of these people work at the sausage factory. Some of them don’t; they just live in Boulder County,” King says. “They sometimes use work as a place to escape things, but also a place to meet new people and have a refuge.”

The food truck thread of the story came partially from King’s own struggle trying to make it as a freelance writer

after moving back to Oregon and working part time at a library.

“Some of my trying-to-start-a-business type of feelings, I put in that story,” she says. King now works as the editorial production coordinator of a membership magazine for infusion nurses.

The publisher of Bratwurst Haven, West Virginia University Press, tends to gravitate toward books focused on a specific place. The differences between regions is something King has thought a lot about over the years. When she moved to Colorado, she found some similarities to her upbringing in Oregon.

“There was something about the culture that felt like I was coming home. And I kept trying to figure out what it was because I grew up in Western Oregon and the landscape’s very different on the Front Range,” she says.

To interrogate that idea, King asked herself: Does being a Western American mean anything? “Some days I think it does,” she says. “Some days I think it doesn’t.”

Despite that ambivalence, King sees some key differences between Coloradans and Oregonians. In her estimation, people in Colorado are more outgoing. King pointed out that there’s differences even within Boulder County, “which is something that I explored in my collection, because it’s definitely not about people you would think of when you think of Boulder nowadays.”

The next project for King is a historical novel about a traveling women’s basketball team in the 1930s, the All American Red Heads.

In the meantime, she’s still basking in the glow of her recent honor.

“It means a lot to me to win the Colorado Book Award,” King says. “I’m a harsh critic of myself, of my own work, and other people’s work. To know other people who are harsh critics thought it was good, that means so much to me. And to have it represent Colorado and the people I got to know in my time there, that means a lot, too.”

ON THE PAGE: Bratwurst Haven by Rachel King is available now via West Virginia University Press.

Fiction writer Rachel King lived in Colorado from 2012 to 2016, where she worked for Perseus Books Group in Boulder. Photo courtesy the author.

Bratwurst Haven, a linked story collection set in a fictional Boulder County town, is the winner of the 2023 Colorado Book Award for literary fiction.

DEAR WHOLE FOODS DADDY

Your burning Boulder questions, asked and answered

BY GABBY VERMEIRE AKA WHOLE FOODS DADDY

We all have questions and need advice, but sometimes the pseudo therapy in the Instagram stories of astrology girls doesn’t cut it. Or maybe the gate-keeping culture of adventure bros has you fearing the judgment that comes with revealing yourself as a newbie at anything. This advice column exists to hold space for you and your Boulder queries (especially the uncool ones).

How do I best embrace “Boulder casual” (think work clothes)?

Looking through the Amazon rainforest of house plants growing in the offices on West Pearl, you’ll see far fewer work pants than padded-ass cyclist shorts behind the standing desks.

A shorthand for knowing if you’re pulling off Boulder casual is to ask yourself, “Would my midwestern/east coast mother be deeply ashamed of this ’fit?” If she’s going to make you change out of your sportsbra-as-top before dinner, you’ve nailed it.

How do I become a cyclist daddy? What does it mean to be a daddy?

I’m just a guy.

Is it the way their slight frame looks under layers of helmet, sunnies and Rapha-branded bib-and-shorts? The Europhilia? Or is it the intensity that bubbles beneath the surface, drawing you in for all the

wrong reasons, which can only be exorcized through grueling rides up to Gold Hill?

While many cyclist daddies possess these traits, none alone does a daddy make. What makes a daddy is being imbued with a casual and authoritative sensuality, and almost always a marked resemblance to a geeky middle school biology teacher from your sexually formative years.

dog owners have convinced themselves that their dogs happen to like exactly the same things as they do. Oh, you’re a jock?

“Bodhi” is clearly just as stoked on those Strava stats as you are. You’re paleo now, bro? And your goodboy “Rogan” (wtf?) is also on that primal dog food kick? Quelle coincidence! Sorry, but just because you feel like you and pup are totallyaligned homies, his heaven doesn’t involve an eternity of being an extension of your personality.

um, I mean you — can do is incorporate her personality into yours. Turn smelling like tea tree oil into your thing: “Oh, you didn’t know that I use veggie scraps to make broth for soup? Yeah, it’s kinda my *thing*.” Laughs and bites my turmeric-stained thumb mischievously, because that’s also my thing now.

Do Boulder doggies go to human heaven?

Like a vegan happily watching their captive partner force a smile as they choke down something that sounds suspiciously like “Satan,” Boulder’s

How do I move on from the esoteric Boulder woman I met in undergrad?

Can you still remember how magical it felt to lay naked on her mattress with the cigarette burns as Velvet Underground played from her turntable? Do you still see her turmericstained fingers in your mind’s eye skillfully rolling a joint, like a muse dreamed up by Zach Braff after he attended a Naropa house party?

Like your favorite sticker-covered water bottle you left at a trailhead, there is no moving on from an esoteric Boulder woman. The best we —

How can I have an outdoorsy dating profile without all the bland first-date conversations about climbing, skiing and hiking?

You may paste the following into your dating app profile bio: Hello, feel free to notice and swipe right on my shredded deltoids. While I am proud of this fit bod and the 14-er I summited in my third picture, I am so much more than this outdoorsy hotness. Let’s have a bland first date conversation about coffee, or Barbenheimer, or dear God anything but climbing. Please respect my boundaries.

Got a burning Boulder question or conundrum? DM @wholefoods_ daddy on Instagram, or email letters@boulderweekly.com with the subject line “Dear Whole Foods Daddy.”

THU. 8/3 - 8:00PM

MADELINE HAWTHORNE

FRI. 8/4 - 8:00PM

OLD TOBY WITH COPPERTAIL EVERY WEDNSDAY BOULDER BLUEGRASS JAM

SAT. 8/5 - 8:30PM

JEFF CROSBY

FRI. 8/11 - 8:00PM

PETER KARP BAND

SAT. 8/12 - 7:00PM

PINE TOP PERKINS BENEFIT WITH BOB MARGOLIN

MON. 8/14 - 8:00PM MY SON THE HURRICANE

TUE. 8/15 - 8:00PM WILL EVANS (OF BAREFOOT TRUTH)

SAT. 8/19 - 9:00PM

SQUEAKY FEET

SUN. 8/20 - 7:00PM

GARRETT LEBEAU, JAY STILES AKA CRYSTAL FINGER: SOUTH AUSTIN BLUES REVUE

THU. 8/24 - 7:00PM

CLAY ROSE SINGER SONGWRITER

FRI. 8/25 - 8:00PM

TERESA STORCH BAND WITH MACKENZIE RAE

THU. 9/14 - 8:00PM

ANTONIO LOPEZ BAND & LAURIE DAMERON

SAT. 9/16 - 6:00PM

K9’S, COWBOYS & COCKTAILS FUNDRAISER

TUE. 9/19 - 6:30PM

MOJOMAMMA LIVE BROADCAST ON 88.5 KGNU

Purchase Tickets at RMPtix.com

RootsMusicProject.org

4747 Pearl Suite V3A

4

MURDER MYSTERY AT THE BLUEBIRD LODGE

7-10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, Gold Hill Inn, 301 Main St. $145

MENTAL HEALTH PARTNERS’ 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

4-6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, Ryan Wellness Center, 1000 Alpine Ave., Boulder. Free

Celebrate more than half a century of Boulder County’s comprehensive community health center on Aug. 3 with a free open house and self-care ice cream social featuring comfort dogs and massage stations, plus tasty offerings from Nothing Bundt Cakes and Häagen-Dazs. 3 – 6

LOCAL ARTIST POP-UP SHOP

11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun., Aug. 3-6, Boulder

Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St. Through Aug. 6. Free

Drop by the museum shop at BMoCA for one-of-a-kind items by nine Colorado artists. This limited time popup shop includes prints, apparel, ceramics, soft sculptures and more from artists representing Boulder, Longmont, Fort Collins and points in between.

The year is 1941, and death is on the menu — but whodunit? Til’ Death Do Us Party Productions welcomes you to a murder mystery event at the historic Gold Hill Inn, where you’ll solve the case with a three-course meal.

4

FIZZ & SPICE: THE ART OF FERMENTATION

6-7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St. $70

From beer to veggies and more, fermentation is one of cuisine’s greatest natural phenomena. BMoCA hosts fermentation queen Chef Mara King for a hands-on demonstration of the process, where you’ll leave with everything you need to do your own fermenting at home.

4

NOBO FIRST FRIDAY

6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, NoBo Art District, 4895 Broadway, Boulder. Free

Everyone’s favorite monthly art bash is back. NoBo First Friday, one of the city’s most anticipated regular community events, returns with studio tours, live music, food trucks, pop-up performances and exhibitions at Bus Stop Gallery and NoBo Arts Center.

4 – 6

BOOGIE ON THE HILL 2023

5 p.m.-midnight. Fri.-Sun., Aug. 4-6, 849 Blue Mountain Trail, Lyons. $45

Each year, Travis and Lisa Dennis host a quirky music festival at their 35-acre plot of land on Blue Mountain near Lyons. Camping, live tunes, yoga and tubing are in store this weekend, all with an amazing view.

5

NIWOT FLOWERFEST

10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, Cottonwood Square and 2nd Avenue, Niwot. Free

Ten businesses lining downtown Niwot open their doors on Saturday for FlowerFest, a colorful celebration featuring flower farm booths, music, flower crowns and a visit from the Flower Fairy. The first 75 visitors will get a punch card for free flowers to take home. 5

SALSA DANCE: JUNKYARD SOCIAL CLUB

7-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, Junkyard Social Club, 2525 Frontier Ave., Boulder. $10

Dance instructor Marcela Lay brings her grooves to Junkyard Social Club for a course on salsa-ton: a mixture of Latin music combining forms like salsa, bachata, merengue and reggaeton. This dance party includes a bar and snacks in a kid-friendly environment.

5

ADVENTURE FOR ALL: COMMUNITY FILM PREMIERE

2-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, Rayback Collective, 2775 Valmont Road, Boulder. Free

Head to Rayback Collective on Saturday for a premiere of three inspiring adventure-sport films about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, presented by Adventure for All to “advocate for a better future that offers everyone equal opportunities to face life’s challenges.”

8 – 11

FAIRYTALE FOREST ART CAMP

1-4 p.m. Tues.-Fri., Aug. 8-11, The New Local, 741 Pearl St., Boulder. $230 (includes all materials)

The New Local hosts a Fairytale Forest Art Camp for ages 5-10 during this four-day workshop that’ll have your kiddo’s imagination running wild. Resident art faerie and gallery director Lynette Errante will lead the little ones in crafting magic wands, ceramic toadstool jars and more.

7

COFFEE WITH KINGS

7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 7, January Coffee, 1886 30th St., Suite B, Boulder. $8

You’re familiar with drag queens, but what about drag kings? Now’s your chance to experience a showstopping performance of the time-honored artform at January Coffee with raffle prizes and shows from three featured performers and two emerging kings.

9

BAD ART PARTY FOR ADULTS

6-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9, Grossen Bart Brewery, 1025 Delaware Ave., Suite C, Longmont. $30

K. Stein Creations and Grossen Bart Brewery invite you to a freestyle crafting event featuring off-the-wall materials for your creative pleasure. Bad Art Party is about creating memories, and maybe even walking home with the “Best of the Worst” or the “Too Good to be Bad” award.

All

having claims against the above-named estate are required to present

to the Personal Representative or to the District Court of Boulder County, Colorado on or before November 23, 2023, or said claims may be forever barred.

LIVE MUSIC

THURSDAY, AUGUST 3

WEEN 7:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $65

GRACE POTTER WITH THE BAND OF HEATHENS AND ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N. 8:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $50

ETHAN FRANK TRIO. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

MARK DIAMOND WITH KEITH WATERS JAZZ DUO 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $5

STOYER 5 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

PETER STONE 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

DENNY DRISCOLL 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

WEAPONIZER WITH ABHORIA AND BELHOR 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15

JAIME WYATT WITH AMY MARTIN AND DEREK DAMES OHL. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver.

$16

FRIDAY, AUGUST 4

ANDREW BIRD WITH UWADE. 7:30 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $50

BW Pick of the Week

KT TUNSTALL 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. Free

THE FRONT BOTTOMS WITH SAY ANYTHING AND KEVIN DEVINE.

8 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $40

OLD TOBY WITH COPPERTAIL.

8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $15

DJ WILLIAMS. 5:30 p.m. Steinbaugh Pavilion, 824 Front St., Louisville. Free

RICHARD SMITH 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $30

ON THE BILL

Musical polymath

Andrew Bird comes to Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder for a two-night stint with special guest Uwade, Aug. 4 and 5. With more than a dozen albums and a Grammy nod under his belt, the critically lauded multiinstrumentalist, singersongwriter and actor has become a fixture of indie rock in the 21st century through a steady output of contemporary classics like last year’s Inside Problems, out now via Loma Vista. See listing for details

ZELLA DAY WITH OKEY DOKEY AND STONE JACKALS 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $22

MONDAY, AUGUST 7

GOV’T MULE WITH JASON

BONHAM 7 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $50

TUESDAY,

AUGUST

8

AMOS LEE. 7:30 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $60

HIPPIE SABOTAGE WITH IZZY BIZU. 7 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $75

JACKSON MALONEY. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

PRETTY LIGHTS. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. Resale: $350

BELZEBONG WITH GREENBEARD, VOIDEATER AND BURN UNIT

8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

ARKANSAUCE WITH MEADOWS & FIELD AND DAKOTA GRAY BAND

8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $16

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5

ANDREW BIRD WITH UWADE

7:30 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $50

BOYGENIUS WITH ILLUMINATI HOTTIES. 8 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $65

FOREST SUN. 5:30 p.m. Stone Cottage Studios, 3091 7th St., Boulder. $30

JEFF CROSBY. 8:30 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $12

ANDREW ELWOOD QUARTET

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

MARY LOUISE LEE BAND.

8 p.m. Louisville Underground, 640 Main St. $20

ANNA CUTLER 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

PRETTY LIGHTS 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $250

CASEY JAMES, PRESTWOOD, HORSEBITCH AND SHAWN HESS. 9 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15

SUNDAY, AUGUST 6

JOSHUA BELL 6:30 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $18

JOE BONAMASSA 8 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $60

JORMA KAUKONEN 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $40

FELONIUS SMITH TRIO 4 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

PRETTY LIGHTS. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. Resale: $225

JAMES MCMURTRY 7 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $30

THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9

SATSANG 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20

MAGGIE ROGERS WITH ALVVAYS 7:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $65

GIPSY KINGS WITH NICOLAS REYES 7:30 p.m. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $75

TALL TALL TREES WITH BUFFALO ROSE. 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $14

THE THING WITH THE RED SCARE AND JESUS CHRIST TAXI DRIVER. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.

Photo credit: David Black

CHASING INCLUSION

Denver’s only LGBTQ film festival returns

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

From Aug. 10-13, the CinemaQ Film Festival — Denver’s only LGBTQ movie event — returns to the Sie Film Center for four days of screenings, discussion panels, drag parties and special guests. If you’ve felt that this has been a rather bland and rote summer at the Cineplex, then, reader, you are in for a treat.

Some titles to note: Bottoms (7 p.m. Aug. 10) reteams Shiva Baby actor Rachel Sennott and director Emma Seligman for another round of cringe comedy. The incomparable Udo Kier pays Denver a visit with two restorations from the Warhol Factory, Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula, plus a conversation with Kier and Scream Screen programmer and host Theresa Mercado (6 p.m. Aug. 12). And writer-director-star Julio Torres closes out CinemaQ with Problemista, his surrealistic debut feature co-starring Tilda Swinton (5 p.m. Aug. 13). All are worth your time. Just make sure you clear your schedule for Chasing Chasing Amy (2:30 p.m. Aug. 13).

For those who don’t recognize the title within the title, Chasing Amy is a queer rom-com written and directed by Kevin Smith about a straight guy (Ben Affleck) falling for a gay gal (Joey Lauren Adams). Released by Miramax in 1997 to a fair amount of commercial and critical success, Chasing Amy quickly became a cult classic for the indie crowd but has since been dismissed as “problematic” — partly because of Smith’s perspective as a straight, cisgender man, and partly because of the depictions of queerness on screen.

Not that any of that mattered to 12-year-old Sav Rodgers. Not yet out, Chasing Amy was literally a life-

saving discovery for the filmmaker. At one point, Rodgers watched Amy once a day every day for an entire month. As one of the film’s interviewees says, “Problematic can still be significant in your development.”

That makes Chasing Chasing Amy a fascinating work of film criticism and personal discovery. Rodgers’ infatuation with Amy, with Smith, with the actors, even with the film’s New Jersey locations runs so deep you know some reconciliation with Chasing Amy is in order if Rodgers is going to move beyond this obsession. And for that, the filmmaker weaves a second story into the documentary — one of becoming — that could not be if Amy did not exist. “It’s not the movie I set out to make,” Rodgers admits in the final moments.

“But it’s the movie we have.”

There’s a lot to unpack in Chasing Chasing Amy, particularly the Adams interview — which provides a very different perspective than Rodgers expected — but those discoveries are best left to the documentary. Rodgers will be on hand following CinemaQ’s screening for a Q&A, which is bound to be as lively, funny and personal as the movie.

ON SCREEN: 2023

CinemaQ Film Festival.

Aug. 10-13, Denver Film Center, 2510 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Pricing and schedule at denverfilm.org

Filmmaker Sav Rodgers (above) will be on hand for a Q&A following the CinemaQ screening of Chasing Amy at Denver Film Center. Photo courtesy Professional Amatuer Productions.

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Emotions are not inconvenient distractions from reason and logic. They are key to the rigorous functioning of our rational minds. Neurologist Antonio Damasio proved this conclusively in his book Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. The French philosopher’s famous formula — “I think, therefore I am” — offers an inadequate suggestion about how our intelligence works best. This is always true, but it will be especially crucial for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. Here’s your mantra, courtesy of another French philosopher, Blaise Pascal: “The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.”

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): The famous Taurus TV star Jay Leno once did a good deed for me. I was driving my Honda Accord on a freeway in Los Angeles when he drove up beside me in his classic Lamborghini. Using hand signals, he conveyed to me the fact that my trunk was open, and stuff was flying out. I waved in a gesture of thanks and pulled over onto the shoulder. I found that two books and a sweater were missing, but my laptop and briefcase remained. Hooray for Jay! In that spirit, Taurus, and in accordance with current astrological omens, I invite you to go out of your way to help and support strangers and friends alike. I believe it will lead to unexpected benefits.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): “Did you learn how to think or how to believe?” When my friend Amelie was nine years old, her father teased her with this query upon her return home from a day at school. It was a pivotal moment in her life. She began to develop an eagerness to question all she was told and taught. She cultivated a rebellious curiosity that kept her in a chronic state of delighted fascination. Being bored became virtually impossible. The whole world was her classroom. Can you guess her sign? Gemini! I invite you to make her your role model in the coming weeks.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): In the coming weeks, I advise you not to wear garments like a transparent Gianfranco Ferre black mesh shirt with a faux-tiger fur vest and a coral-snake jacket that shimmers with bright harlequin hues. Why? Because you will have most success by being down-to-earth, straightforward, and in service to the fundamentals. I’m not implying you should be demure and reserved, however. On the contrary: I hope you will be bold and vivid as you present yourself with simple grace and lucid authenticity.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): In 1811, Leo scientist Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856) formulated a previously unknown principle about the properties of molecules. Unfortunately, his revolutionary idea wasn’t acknowledged and implemented until 1911, 100 years later. Today his well-proven theory is called Avogadro’s law. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Leo, you will experience your equivalent of his 1911 event in the coming months. You will receive your proper due. Your potential contributions will no longer be mere potential. Congratulations in advance!

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Israeli poet Yona Wallach mourned the fact that her soul felt far too big for her, as if she were always wearing the clothes of a giant on her small body. I suspect you may be experiencing a comparable feeling right now, Virgo. If so, what can you do about it? The solution is NOT to shrink your soul. Instead, I hope you will expand your sense of who you are so your soul fits better. How might you do that? Here’s a suggestion to get you started: Spend time summoning memories from throughout your past. Watch the story of your life unfurl like a movie.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): Nineteenthcentury Libran physician James Salisbury had strong ideas about the proper ingredients of a healthy diet. Vegetables were toxic, he believed. He created Salisbury steak, a dish made of ground beef and onions, and advised

everyone to eat it three times a day. Best to wash it down with copious amounts of hot water and coffee, he said. I bring his kooky ideas to your attention in hopes of inspiring you to purge all bunkum and nonsense from your life—not just in relation to health issues, but everything. It’s a favorable time to find out what’s genuinely good and true for you. Do the necessary research and investigation.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): “I’m amazed that anyone gets along!” marvels selfhelp author Sark. She says it’s astonishing that love ever works at all, given our “idiosyncrasies, unconscious projections, re-stimulations from the past, and the relationship history of our partners.” I share her wonderment. On the other hand, I am optimistic about your chances to cultivate interesting intimacy during the coming months. From an astrological perspective, you are primed to be extra wise and lucky about togetherness. If you send out a big welcome for the lessons of affection, collaboration, and synergy, those lessons will come in abundance.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Please don’t make any of the following statements in the next three weeks: 1. “I took a shower with my clothes on.” 2. “I prefer to work on solving a trivial little problem rather than an interesting dilemma that means a lot to me.” 3. “I regard melancholy as a noble emotion that inspires my best work.” On the other hand, Sagittarius, I invite you to make declarations like the following: 1. “I will not run away from the prospect of greater intimacy — even if it’s scary to get closer to a person I care for.” 2. “I will have fun exploring the possibilities of achieving more liberty and justice for myself.” 3. “I will seek to learn interesting new truths about life from people who are unlike me.”

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Champions of the capitalist faith celebrate the fact that we consumers have over 100,000 brand names we can purchase. They say it’s proof of our marvelous freedom of choice. Here’s how I respond to their cheerleading: Yeah, I guess we should be glad we have the privilege of deciding which of 50 kinds of shampoo is best for us. But I also want to suggest that the profusion of these relatively inconsequential options may distract us from the fact that certain of our other choices are more limited. In the coming weeks, Capricorn, I invite you to ruminate about how you can expand your array of more important choices.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): My best friend in college was an Aquarius, as is my favorite cousin. Two ex-girlfriends are Aquarians, and so was my dad. The talented singer with whom I sang duets for years was an Aquarius. So I have intimate knowledge of the Aquarian nature. And in honor of your unbirthday — the time halfway between your last birthday and your next — I will tell you what I love most about you. No human is totally comfortable with change, but you are more so than others. To my delight, you are inclined to ignore the rule books and think differently. Is anyone better than you at coordinating your energies with a group’s? I don’t think so. And you’re eager to see the big picture, which means you’re less likely to get distracted by minor imperfections and transitory frustrations. Finally, you have a knack for seeing patterns that others find hard to discern. I adore you!

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Is the first sip always the best? Do you inevitably draw the most vivid enjoyment from the initial swig of coffee or beer? Similarly, are the first few bites of food the most delectable, and after that your taste buds get diminishing returns? Maybe these descriptions are often accurate, but I believe they will be less so for you in the coming weeks. There’s a good chance that flavors will be best later in the drink or the meal. And that is a good metaphor for other activities, as well. The further you go into every experience, the greater the pleasure and satisfaction will be — and the more interesting the learning.

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE

DEAR DAN: I had back surgery (my third) in 2022, and I’ve been on an antiinflammatory drug ever since to help deal with the pain. I’m a gay man, and I’m ready to start having sex again. But when I looked into starting up on PrEP, I learned that there is a potential for a drug interaction impacting the kidneys if you combine PrEP with the anti-inflammatory drugs I’ve been prescribed. So, they will not permit me to take these two drugs together. I know that the anti-inflammatory drug really does help ease the pain, so I’ve decided to remain on that medication. My question is how to deal with the issue of PrEP on online dating sites. Do I leave that question blank and let the other person guess or should I add an explanation? I was thinking of something like, “Can’t take PrEP due to potential negative drug interaction with medication I’m taking for back issues. Would if I could and I hope you are!” Anxious to hear your thoughts.

— Pain In The Back

DEAR PITB: PrEP is a daily medication that HIV-negative gay and bi men can take — it’s a daily medication the Centers for Disease Control urges all sexually-active gay and bi men to take — that significantly reduces the risk of HIV infection. PrEP doesn’t protect against other sexually transmitted infections (syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, etc.), and gay and bi men should consider using condoms with casual sex partners — particularly now. Rates of syphilis are way up among gay and bi men, and there’s a nationwide shortage of the drug used to treat syphilis. So, guys… it’s time to stop

Send

considering using condoms and actually start using them, at least until the drug shortage is resolved.

While PrEP isn’t a vaccine, the principles of herd immunity — which are usually discussed in relationship to vaccination campaigns — more than apply. When everyone who can get vaccinated does, people who can’t get vaccinated for legitimate reasons (life-threatening allergies, currently undergoing chemotherapy, etc.) are protected from the disease. So, even though you can’t take PrEP, PITB, it’s a good idea for you to seek out partners who are on PrEP, and putting a line that explaining that you’re not on PrEP and why — and indicating that you would be on PrEP if you could be on PrEP — helps to normalize the use of PrEP and that makes everyone safer, yourself included. (Look at me, normalizing PrEP by using it six times in one sentence!)

PRIME PRODUCE TIME

Immerse yourself in local flavors at Boulder County’s roadside farm stands

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Immersive is the style du jour, from Denver’s psychedelic Meow Wolf or beguiling Van Gogh exhibit, to the “liquid sky” music shows at Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium. Even the Barbie movie and the reopened Casa Bonita restaurant are being billed with the ubiquitous term.

For food lovers and cooks, summer and fall have always been fully engrossing experiences. If you are passionate about savoring the fleeting flavors of fresh, locally grown produce, the place to embrace the season is at a roadside farm stand.

Farmers markets are convenient, but they’re really just a tease for

the real thing taking place every day along the dusty backroads of Boulder County. When you stop at a stand, you can see the crops growing and smell the soil, meet the farmers and escape into the vegetable multiverse.

With the prime of the harvest ahead, many stands have just reopened, including Red Wagon Farm in Lafayette and Boulder’s Munson Farms.

While the season is at its peak, use the following alphabetical directory to find Boulder County farm stands. Let us know what we missed: Nibbles@ BoulderWeekly.com

2023 BOULDER COUNTY ROADSIDE FARM STAND GUIDE

ASPEN MOON FARM

7927 Hygiene Road, Hygiene

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Thurs.

aspenmoonfarm.com

Owners Erin Dreistadt and Jason Griffith operate this certified organic farm. The Aspen Moon stand offers an array of vegetables plus raspberries, salad greens, flowers, popcorn and food from local producers.

THE BEE HUGGER FARM

12590 Ute Highway, Longmont

8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily

thebeehuggerfarm.com

The Bee Hugger is a charming farm experience and opportunity for kids to hang out with pigs, goats, horses, a donkey and sheep. The self-serve stand offers raw and flavored local honeys, eggs and a u-pick sunflower field.

BENEVOLENCE ORCHARD & GARDENS

6712 Jay Road, Boulder

10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily

benevolenceorchard.com

This farm and heirloom fruit orchard offers a self-service stand stocking fresh herbs, greens, vegetables and fruits as well as farm-made apple cider vinegar, raw honey, fresh mushrooms, mushroom tinctures and pick-your-own flower bouquets.

BLACK CAT FARM STORE

4975 Jay Road, Boulder 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. blackcatboulder.com

Some of the vegetables, grains and heirloom meats produced on Boulder’s Black Cat Farm go to chef/farmer Erik Skokan’s Bramble & Hare restaurant. The rest is available in a year-round farm store stocked with bread, prepared frozen foods from Skokan’s kitchens, as well as other locally produced foods. Don’t miss the farm’s late season communal vegetable u-pick events.

BOULDER LAVENDER FARM

Arapahoe Avenue at Willow Creek Drive east of 95th Street, Boulder

This small honor-system cart overlooking a very fragrant field offers lavender bouquets and products, eggs, honey and kombucha.

BUCKNER FAMILY FARM

10075 N. 75th St., Longmont bucknerfamilyfarm.com

The Buckner family raises beef, pork and lamb served at the state’s top restaurants. About once a month the ranch offers a meat sale for folks signed up on the farm’s email list. The frozen offerings often include meat cuts as well as German, smoked, banger and breakfast sausages, hot dogs, bacon and chorizo.

CURE ORGANIC FARM

7450 Valmont Road, Boulder

Noon-5 p.m. daily cureorganicfarm.com

Farmer Anne Cure’s busy stand showcases certified organic vegetables, greens and herbs including a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes. Also on the shelves are eggs, local beef, Western Slope fruit, honey and sourdough loaves.

FARM STAND

On 73rd Street just north of Niwot Road Look for the sign offering eggs, vegetables and jam.

FARM TRAILER

On the southwest side of 95th Street, south of Valmont Road, Boulder Find fresh veggies and grains here.

GROWING GARDENS

1630 Hawthorn Ave., Boulder

3:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday growinggardens.org

This agricultural learning organization fills its farm stand with lettuce mix, hakurei turnips, local mushrooms, pasta, baked goods and meats.

LET IT BEE HONEY & MORE STORE

4689 Ute Highway, Lyons

Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. bit.ly/LetItBeeHoney

Totally bee-focused establishment selling bulk raw honey, pollen, beeswax, candles, royal jelly and candy.

MASA SEED FOUNDATION

FARM AND GARDENS

1367 75th St., Boulder

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. masaseedfoundation.org

MASA is a unique facility featuring a repository full of locally adapted seeds, plants and vegetables.

MONTGOMERY HOMESTEAD FARM STAND

10286 Isabelle Road, Lafayette (1/2 mile west of U.S. 287)

8 a.m.-noon Saturday; 3-6 p.m. Wednesday facebook.com/MontgomeryHomestead

In its 160th year as a family farm, the Montgomery Homestead Farm stand offers a diversity of crops including green beans, peppers, tomatillos, kohlrabi, cukes, eggplant, rose hips and squash.

Cure Organic Farm

7th Generation Farm

MUNSON FARMS

7355 Valmont Road, Boulder

11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily munsonfarms.com

Generations of locals have scored countless freshly picked ears of sweet corn at Munson Farm in the late summer. The stand also offers squash, flowers, tomatoes and Western Slope fruit.

OFF BEET FARM

Near 3700 North 63rd St., Boulder instagram.com/offbeetfarmcolorado

This small self-service roadside stand offers a limited selection of fresh vegetables and flowers.

OLLIN FARMS

8627 N. 95th St., Longmont

11 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday ollinfarms.com

Ollin Farms extends a welcoming experience including a stand well-stocked with vegetables, greens, herbs, flowers and an array of local food products. The stand also hosts booths from other small farms.

RED WAGON FARM STORE

1640 Baseline Road, Lafayette Noon-6 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

weekends

redwagonfarmboulder.com

Long a supplier of produce to notable bistros and cafes, Red Wagon is now at home in the spacious barn just west of U.S. 287 on Lafayette’s Thomas Open Space. Besides its beautiful cherry tomatoes, leeks, squash, potatoes, greens and flowers, the store stocks foods from other local producers.

SQUEAK AND SQUAWK FARM

7798 N. 83rd St., Longmont (near the Diagonal Highway)

9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday facebook.com/squeakandsquawkfarm

Squeak and Squawk provides vegetables, baked goods, honey and homemade preserves such as ploughman’s pickles, southwestern corn relish, sriracha cauliflower and pickled beets.

7TH GENERATION FARM

1536 Courtesy Road (95th Street), Louisville

Noon-5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday

7thgenerationfarm.com

Steps away from downtown Louisville, this Open Space farm is a rural escape featuring a small store selling meats, produce and honey. In the fall the farm hosts a pumpkin patch and family festival.

SHADOW BUTTE LAKE RANCH

Valmont Road near 70th Street

A small, self-service trailer parked by the side of the road is packed with a surprising variety of farm-grown vegetables, multi-colored eggs and preserves.

STALK MARKET AT THE YELLOW BARN

9417 N. Foothills Highway (U.S. 36), Boulder

11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sun. stalkmarketfoods.com

Dedicated to local, sustainable, zero-waste products, a membership fee (similar to a CSA) is required to shop at the stand.

SUMMER DOG FARM

8716 Arapahoe Road, Boulder

11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday summerdog.com

This charming stand sells folk art, vegetables, honey and jam.

SUNBEAM FARM

1005 Cherryvale Road, Boulder sunbeamfarm.com

This self-serve stand is stocked with fresh eggs and some greens and vegetables.

TABOR ACRES FARM

3918 N. 119th St., Lafayette

7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, except Thursday taboracresfarm.com

The 30-acre Tabor property mainly grows flowers but also supplies farm eggs and honey.

YA YA FARM AND ORCHARD

6914 Ute Highway, Longmont

10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday yayafarmandorchard.com

The varieties of heirloom apples ripen one after another as the harvest season progresses. Many are sold fresh (or selfpicked by visitors). Some end up in the stand’s famous apple cider and doughnuts. Kids can visit with the many animals.

Shadow Butte Lake Ranch

RAMEN ROMANCE

Use up that garden bounty with homemade noodle soup

BY ARI LEVAUX

When summer’s bounty comes at you faster than you can handle, veggies start to pile up. That’s why we need recipes capable of incorporating the myriad produce of the garden, farmers market, generous neighbors and CSAs. The season requires the kind of evergreen dish that isn’t rattled when you swap a tomato for a turnip, or opt for dandelions over mushrooms. We need recipes that always work no matter what you add.

When I was growing up, stir-fry was the veggie-disposal method of choice in my family. These days I prefer to use a packet of quality ramen noodles, especially in summer, when extra hydration is crucial. And if the broth is spicy, you’ll find yourself coated in a refreshing layer of sweat.

The last time I made ramen, I started with a pack of hot and spicy Mamabrand noodles and added zucchini, fresh garlic, snap peas, shelling peas, bacon and egg, garnished with fresh basil, all from the farmers market. I could have added spinach, radish, kale, peppers, pea greens, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and herbs, like cilantro or chives. I would be hard pressed to think of something that wouldn’t go in ramen. It’s more a question of when.

As with a stir-fry, the order in which you add the vegetables to ramen is crucial. Fragile herbs should go last, while durable ingredients like zucchini need more time in the soup, and should go in sooner. The same rule applies to proteins. Some, like meat or tofu, can go in sooner. The egg goes later, just before the delicate ingredients. Sure, you’ve added egg to ramen before. Maybe it was your go-to move in college. But there are levels to this game, and getting the egg right is one of the trickiest parts of cooking ramen. In my opinion, the egg should be cooked to the point where the white is solid but the yolk still runs. I lay the egg gently atop a raft of noodles, where it steams until the noodles absorb enough water that they sink, along with the egg, into the savory drink, where it lightly poaches before I turn off the heat.

The crux of this operation centers around keeping that frisky raw egg on top of the noodles, because it desperately wants to slide off and take a swim. Once the egg falls into the broth, it hides under the noodles on the floor of the pot, where it’s hard to monitor and manage, and will probably overcook.

As the egg steams, add the herbs and other delicate vegetables such as pea greens or radish slices. Assemble your condiments like jalapeño pepper slices (or some other form of heat), hoisin sauce or mayo.

• 2 slices of bacon

• 1 medium zucchini, cut into rounds

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 packet instant ramen (I use spicy flavor)

• 1 egg

• Handful of snap peas, chopped coarsely

• Peas from a handful of shelling peas

• Handful of basil

Fry the bacon, either in strips or in pieces. When it’s browned, add the zucchini rounds and fry until brown on at least one side. Add the water, noodles and flavorings. Turn the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Flip the noodles so the soft side faces up.

ZUCCHINI RAMEN

This recipe is meant to be an example of how you can add seasonal produce to ramen. As long as the vegetables are fresh, the soup will be great. The instant ramen that you cook it with should be high quality, such as Mama, Nonghsim or Sapporo Ichiban brands.

Crack your egg into a small bowl (soufflé-dish sized). This allows you to add the egg one-handed with a quick pour, and eliminates the possibility of a broken yolk. Dump it with a flick of the wrist. As the egg lands on the noodles, go to any length necessary to keep the egg on top of its raft. Use the spatula, tongs, chopsticks or some other tool to tip the noodles this way and that to keep the egg on top. If you can keep it up there long enough, the white will solidify around the softening ramen, and the egg will quit trying to run. As the egg cooks, add the peas. Gently transfer the ramen to a bowl. Garnish with basil and serve.

FUNGUS AMONGUS

Lion’s mane and psilocybin mushrooms show promising neurological health benefits

BY WILL BRENDZA

Lion’s mane mushroom has been used in Eastern medicine since antiquity. An edible member of the tooth fungus group, it has been revered in China for its alleged benefits surrounding gut and spleen health, cancer prevention and more. Buddhist monks in Japan called it yamabushitake and took it to increase focus for meditation.

In the last decade, numerous studies have shown lion’s mane can improve a person’s memory, neural health and brain function. Some evidence even suggests it can help fight off neural degeneration diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia by regrowing nerve endings.

Lion’s mane is not psychedelic. But it does have a lot of similarities to psilocybin fungi when it comes to neurological health. As research is starting to show, both of these fungi have similar properties in that regard. They may even enhance one another’s benefits when taken together, according to Paul Stamets, one of the world’s leading mycologists and psychedelic advocates.

“[Lion’s mane] is very likely going to come right to the forefront, in terms of preserving mental agility,” Stamets says.

Stamets has been studying mushrooms his entire adult life. He took psilocybin mushrooms for the first time when he was 18, and ate more than he’d intended to; he ended up climbing a tree and tripping through a thunder-

mycological revolution in biomedicine,” Stamets says.

Among numerous scientific studies published on lion’s mane, one from 2013 was a landmark. Appearing in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, this study examined the neurotrophic effects of lion’s mane on the human brain. Specifically, it looked at how the fungi affected the neural growth factors (NGF) of a specific brain cell, neuroblastoma-glioma cell NG10815. It concluded that lion’s mane “can induce NGF synthesis in nerve cells” and “had neurotrophic but not neuroprotective activities.”

Similarly, recent research has shown that psilocybin mushrooms promote structural and functional neural plasticity in humans. That 2018 study, published in the journal Neuroscience, says “serotonergic psychedelics are capable of robustly increasing neuritogenesis and/or spinogenesis.” The researchers observed that those changes in neuronal structure were also accompanied by increased synapse number and function.

Stamets believes that by “stacking” lion’s mane, psilocybin and niacin (vitamin B3) it’s possible to increase the potential health and wellness benefits of both mushrooms. According to Stamets, the niacin helps to more effectively distribute lion’s mane and psilocybin into the brain and enhances their neurogenic effects.

storm for hours. He says it was a profound experience that sparked a lifelong passion and curiosity in mushrooms of all kinds.

A guest speaker at Denver’s recent Psychedelic Science Conference 2023, Stamets believes “stacking” lion’s mane with vitamin B3 and psychedelic mushrooms can actually increase psilocybin’s depression- and anxiety-treating effects.

“We’re at the very beginning of a

A more recent study published in January 2023 in the Journal of Neurochemistry found that mice fed with lion’s mane extract “exhibited increased neurotrophin expression and downstream signaling, resulting in significantly enhanced hippocampal memory. [Lion’s mane], therefore, acts through a novel pan-neurotrophic signaling pathway, leading to improved cognitive performance.”

Dose-wise, Stamets recommends taking .1-.2 grams of psilocybin, 500-1000 mg of lion’s mane powder, and 25-50 mg of niacin for four days consecutively, followed by three days of no supplements. This regiment has become known as the “Stamets stack” and is used widely throughout the micro-dosing community.

He likens lion’s mane supplements to a vitamin for your brain — taken daily, on its own, he says it has notable benefits for health, wellness and mood. But adding a microdose of psilocybin and niacin takes those benefits to another level, according to Stamets. He believes that combination has the potential to initiate the “next quantum leap in human consciousness.”