Boulder Weekly 9.16.21

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Dirtwire channels Ram Dass

by Dave Kirby

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Can resident-owned mobile home parks save manufactured housing communities?

by Angela K. Evans

As crisis consumes their homeland, Colorado is one of a handful of states working to provide sanctuary for Afghan refugees

by Karlie Huckels

17

buzz:

Dirtwire’s restless walkabout

by Dave Kirby

nibbles:

Boulder’s unique apple corps IDs heirloom trees, harvests backyard fruit, and turns fruit into hard cider

by John Lehndorff

30 33

beer:

Craft Brewers Conference returns when craft brewers need it most

by Michael J. Casey

departments 7 9 21 25 27 29 35 37 38

The Anerson Files: Creating alternative realities to justify forever wars and overthrowing democracy Letters: Signed, sealed, delivered, your views Events: What to do when there’s ‘nothing’ to do...

Astrology: by Rob Brezsny Film: Dispatches from the Telluride Film Festival Savage Love: Hands on Taste of the Week: Saddlebags @ The Buff Restaurant Cannabis Corner: Randolph Ware recounts the early days of brewing with cannabis Weed Between the Lines: Hound Labs says it has a reliable cannabis breathalyzer

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Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief, Brendan Joel Kelley Managing Editor, Caitlin Rockett News Editor, Will Brendza Food Editor, John Lehndorff Contributing Editor, Angela K. Evans Contributing Writers: Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Emma Athena, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Sara McCrea, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Katie Rhodes, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Christi Turner, Betsy Welch, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Carter Ferryman Advertising Coordinator, Corey Basciano Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer Cover, Lumis Memorie Photography, composite by Susan France September 16, 2021 Volume XXIX, Number 6 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-holds-barred 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.

690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2021 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.

Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@ boulderweekly.com) or the comments section of our website at www.boulderweekly.com. Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.

Creating alternative realities to justify forever wars and overthrowing democracy

by Dave Anderson

O

n the morning of September 11, 2001, I was a little late leaving for work. As I passed a motel on the 28th Street frontage road, a man ran out and yelled, “They hit the Pentagon, too!” I ignored him. Didn’t have time to deal with some nutcase. I hadn’t heard about the terrorist attacks.

As it turned out, the guy’s freakout was understandable. He was probably from out of town and I was the first person he could talk to. That discombobulated and horrific day provoked a vulnerability in all of us that morphed into a sort of national solidarity.

But soon the Bush administration would squander the public-spiritedness. Soon anybody who dissented from their policies was suspicious. “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,” Bush announced.

The mainstream news media fell in line and discordant political commentators were purged from cable networks.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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Pop culture, from TV to movies and music, suddenly became jingoistic.

Cultural historian Lynn Spigel notes, “It became unpatriotic to suggest that there was anything wrong with the United States.” A radio conglomerate sent out a memo to stations around the country with a long list of songs hosts should avoid.

We were enveloped in a fog of hubris and magical thinking. The U.S. was the only superpower on the planet and we could apparently ignore empirical reality.

In 2004, journalist Ron Suskind interviewed a top Bush aide, later identified as dirty trickster Karl Rove. He told Suskind that guys like him were in “the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.”

Rove said, “That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how see THE ANDERSON FILES Page 8

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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THE ANDERSON FILES from Page 7

things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

Let’s go back to 1992 when then-Senator Joe Biden, an influential and rather hawkish member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised alarms at a neo-conservative U.S. grand strategy put forth by the George H.W. Bush administration.

He denounced it as “literally a ‘Pax Americana.’ A global security system where threats to stability are suppressed or destroyed by U.S. military power.”

The strategy was promoted in 1997 by a newly created Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

The group published two letters in 1998 urging the Clinton administration and Congress to, among other things, “be prepared to use (military) force . . . to help remove (Iraqi President) Saddam (Hussein) from power.”

Clinton ignored them but when George W. Bush became president, the neo-conservative worldview dominated foreign policy, with PNAC members such as Dick Cheney (Vice President) and Donald Rumsfeld (Defense Secretary) taking charge.

Hardly five hours after the 9/11 attacks, Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq—even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.

Over and over, the Bush neo-conservatives made claims that Saddam was involved with al-Qaeda or even behind 9/11. That Saddam was reconstituting his weapons of mass destruction program. These were lies.

The neo-cons clashed with the U.S. intelligence community over this.

We were told that the forceful 8

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military might was necessary to stop another 9/11. But the wars grind on without peace or victory. The Costs of War project at Brown University recently released a report saying that the cost of the global “war on terror” stands at $8 trillion and 900,000 deaths.

Donald Trump came along and claimed the elites don’t allow the military to do what needs to be done.

He had the attitude of a ‘Soldier of Fortune’ T-shirt which said “Kill Them All And Let God Sort Them Out” (an unofficial slogan of U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan with Allah sorting them out).

Civilian deaths from airstrikes in Afghanistan increased drastically during the Trump era, according to the Costs of War project. The number of civilians killed rose about 330 percent from 2016, the last full year of the Obama administration to 2019.

Trump relaxed the rules of engagement for bombing.

Trump’s envoys signed a peace deal with the Taliban without the involvement of the Afghan government.

Some 5000 Taliban prisoners were released from prison. This was a signal that the game was over. Afghan tribal leaders cut their own deals with the Taliban. Military commanders surrendered to the Taliban. Is it surprising the regime collapsed so quickly?

In an alternative reality, the war comes home. The arrested January 6 insurrectionists are political prisoners.

Climate change is a hoax. The virus is like the flu. Every election is stolen if the Republican loses. Help!

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

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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WHO’S YOUR GOD NOW? Behind the concepts of there being an attentive God (or gods), following the Tao, or achieving Zen satori is that there is a sentient intelligence, a Higher Power in mankind, on Earth, and across the Universe, to which one may connect in order to lead an exemplary life. In today’s electronically connected world, such endeavors have largely been eclipsed by access to the Internet and the marvels held in hand on one’s Smart Phone. Another growing alternative is the rise of autocratic rulers and regimes forcefully laying down the precepts of behavior. However, there is yet little indication that true enlightenment can be attained by heeding the beckoning of one’s phone nor trusting the benevolence of the Higher Powers of government or technology.

Robert Porath/Boulder

Letters should include the author’s full name, address, and telephone number, and may be edited for length and clarity. If a submission is over 500 words, it will be considered as a guest opinion piece separate from Boulder Weekly’s letters section.

Please do not send attachments.

RITUAL SACRIFICE In 2020 and 2021, monotheism slid back to pagan polytheism.

Certain politicians, libertarian philosophers and evangelical sophists, in complicity with elements of our business class, have been secretly practicing human sacrifice.

Their sacrificial rites first took many of the elderly, and then many of the working class, including health care workers, food workers, and, more recently, teachers.

Now the pagans have turned their blood-thirsty habit on their own children and the children of neighbors.

The ancients asked a few willing ones to pay the ultimate price in order to obtain “mana,” or power, to extract the highest kind of return from the gods. This was often victory in battle, or political advantage over a rival.

Today’s version of the sacrifice purchases total individual freedom bordering on anarchy for our new sect of anti-vax heathens. The sacrifice is not one or a few, but many hundreds of thousands, and is decidedly not voluntary.

Kimball Shinkoskey/Woods Cross

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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The great experiment

Can resident-owned mobile home parks save manufactured housing communities?

story and photos by Angela K. Evans

A SUCCESS STORY: Residents of the Sans Souci Community, an 11-acre property of manufactured homes off Highway 93, purchased the park from corporate owners in June 2021. This resident-owned model is growing in popularity as the cost of living in mobile home parks becomes more and more unaffordable across the country.

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he Sans Souci Community is something of a manufactured housing success story, at least so far. In late June, the residents of the nearly11-acre property off Highway 93 in unincorporated Boulder County purchased the mobile home park from its corporate owners for $3.3 million. Sans Souci (“without worry” in French) is now completely resident-owned.

“The overarching goal is autonomy and security,” says Michael Pierce, Sans Souci resident and president of the co-op that just purchased the park south of Boulder.

“So to be autonomous, you need affordability and control over your living circumstances.”

Seen as the largest reserve of

unsubsidized affordable housing in the country, preserving manufactured home communities is a priority for state and local leaders grappling with unaffordability across the region. Bolstered by a new Colorado opportunity-to-purchase law and supported by a national nonprofit that specializes in resident-owned communities, Sans Souci has become a beacon of hope for other manufactured housing communities.

But some of the challenges of resident-owned communities are just starting to surface in Colorado, as there are only five such parks SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

across the state, all purchased by residents in the last two years. In order to secure financing for the park, Sans Souci residents chose to increase their rent by $150 a month. There may also be additional infrastructure costs to account for flood mitigation, replacing a self-contained water system, and updating its sewer plant, among other projects.

Already, other communities in the area are facing the realities of running their own parks, and some limitations in the new opportunity-to-purchase law, which requires mobile home park owners to notify residents of intended sale, allowing them 90 days to put together a purchase offer themselves. Residents at Table Mesa Village, just across the highway from Sans Souci, have submitted several offers to purchase their park, all of which have gone unanswered. And a community in Fort Collins recently failed to put together an offer to purchase their park.

“It is a huge challenge to achieve success under this new [opportunity-to-purchase] timeline,” says Andy Kadlec, program director for Thistle ROC, the Colorado affiliate of the national nonprofit ROC USA. “We’ve done it, but it’s a challenge.”

Getting priced out

The issues surrounding manufactured housing communities are well documented. It’s hard to talk to anyone working in the space and not hear about John Oliver’s 2019 segment exploring the predatory practices of some park owners.

At most mobile home parks, property owners lease lots to l

residents, charge rent, and, in some cases, draw water utilities off a single meter. For years, mom-and-pop owners around the country have increased rents incrementally, perhaps more in certain years to cover infrastructure costs. Whether to keep prices low or due to mismanagement, many parks have delayed maintenance of key infrastructure like water pipes, roads, electrical lines, and more. While this is catching up to a lot of parks, it has kept them affordable for a lot of homeowners, many whose mobile homes depreciate in value each year, unlike most other real estate investments.

Increasingly, local park owners are retiring, making way for investors and corporate owners to institute new park policies and restrictions and raise lot rents to market rate, forcing many long-term residents out. Despite common nomenclature, mobile homes are not really mobile, costing anywhere from $8,000 to $22,000 to relocate.

In essence, despite owning their homes, residents feel powerless when up against the forces of park owners.

With inflated real estate prices and a lack of affordable housing, Colorado—Boulder County in particular—is all too familiar with these issues. In many cases, the high cost of living exacerbates them.

Preserving and expanding manufactured housing opportunities is part of the long-term strategy of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. And it’s a priority for the City of Boulder, which first changed its zoning laws in 1985 to prevent the rezoning and redevelopment of mobile home parks.

“It is a different type of a sense of community that is really important to the folks who live there and really important to us as Boulder,” says Brenda Ritenhour, neighborhood liaison for the City of Boulder. “I think it strengthens our diversity in the city.”

Several years ago, the city started convening the Coalition of Manufactured-home Owners in Boulder, or CMOB, which has served as an important resource for

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

many residents of the area’s manufactured housing communities (the group has no regulatory or policy-making authority).

It was at a CMOB meeting Boulder where Representative Edie Hooton first heard about the issues in mobile home parks.

“The people who own mobile homes . . . It is their primary asset. It’s their retirement, it’s their home, but they are beholden to basically the whims of a park owner, on frequency of raising lot rent, on maintenance of the property . . . What they can get away with in respect to utility billing . . . and who’s RISING COSTS: Table Mesa Village in Boulder has no amenities, overseeing the metering,” residents came home to a notice Hooton says. saying the park had been sold.

In collaboration with “When the heavy-handed CMOB, park residents, the management practices came in, City and County of Boulder, everybody came out and said, ‘Well, and the Sustainable Comwe’ve gotta do something about munity Development Clinic this,’” Pierce says. at CU Boulder, Hooton spearheaded efforts in the Pierce has been in the park since 1995, when state legislature to address issues facing mobile he began working in the philosophy department home owners. This led to a series of new laws in at CU Boulder. Several residents have been there the last few years, most notably updates to the even longer. Historic rent increases were rarely Mobile Home Park Act, including a robust dispute more than 3 percent a year, and typically under 2 resolution mechanism monitored by the state percent, he says. But just before the park sold, rents through the Department of Local Affairs, as well increased by about 12 percent, a hike that continas the opportunity for the homeowners to purchase ued under the corporate owners. land.

In 2019, several residents, including Pierce, “This has always been my end game—homehelped CMOB and others draft new legislation, owners own their own community, that they have even though they didn’t expect their park to go up a homeowners association that works together on for sale anytime soon. responsibilities for private property maintenance, “That kind of dropped out of the sky unexcommunity property maintenance, they just make pectedly,” Pierce says. “Weirdly, we had worked on all the decisions the park owners do without ulteri- getting this legislation going and ended up being or motives and a reasonable lot rent that will cover one of the first parks to be able to take advantage the costs of maintaining a community,” Hooton of the new law.” says. “And they work on that together.”

Modeled off other state statutes and national standards, Colorado’s 2019 opportunity-to-purchase law is not a first right of refusal for residents.

For years, Sans Souci was a local mom-and-pop Rather, it’s intended to increase transparency in the operation whose owners more or less left residents process of a park’s sale, and provide an opportunity alone barring a serious issue, says Pierce. to residents to purchase their park with a competi“There was a saying in the park: ‘The best thing tive market-rate offer. about our owners is they don’t do much. And the “It’s all about the market,” says Mike Bullard, worst thing about our ownership, they don’t do marketing and communications manager for ROC much,’” he says. “All of that changed when corpoUSA. “These communities are investments for rate owners took over.” commercial owners, and we understand that. But The 2018 sale caught park residents by surwe don’t want them to continue to be. It’s getting prise. Previously, some residents expressed interest people’s homes out of the speculative real estate in purchasing the park, but the owners had told market.” residents they weren’t interested in selling. Then ROC USA launched in 2008—born out of a

previously successful model operating in New Hampshire since 1984—offering limited-equity loans to co-ops purchasing manufactured housing communities.

Nowadays, about a third of all mobile home parks in New Hampshire are organized resident-owned communities, Bullard says, and ROC operates in 20 states, supporting 278 communities, representing 19,000 homes.

Under the ROC model, residents of a park vote to form a co-op that then appeals to lenders in order to make an offer. ROC USA works closely with its subsidiary ROC USA Capital in financing such purchases, offering a limited-equity loan up to 110 percent of the purchase price that includes pre-development funds for the community to hire experts like engineers and attorneys to ensure due diligence. If a deal falls through, the pre-development loan is forgivable. If it’s successful, that cost rolls over into the acquisition loan.

“Sometimes this seems too good to be true, but this is what we do,” Bullard says. And compared to traditional commercial loans, where park residents would have to come up with a 20-to-25 percent down payment, it might be.

In ROC’s limited-equity co-op model, “The profit margin is taken out of the equation,” Bullard says.

In order to work with ROC USA, the maximum one-time member share is $1,000, but each community sets its own price, Bullard says. Almost all the communities in partnership with ROC USA have rates between $100 and $250.

“That’s the extent of people’s personal financial skin in the game,” he says.

If a resident moves, the fee is returned to them and the next person who moves in will then pay the one-time fee. Homeowners still pay lot rents, but instead of paying to a landlord, that money goes toward paying off the loan, property taxes on the park, operating costs, insurance, utilities, and other expenses.

To date, all resident-owned communities in the ROC model are successful, with no defaults or reversion back to private ownership.

Although initially some residents see a cost increase in the first few years of community ownership, like Sans Souci, it eventually stabilizes, Bullard says.

“What we found is that within five years of resident ownership, all but one community was back

Preserve and stabilize

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

see MOBILE HOMES Page 12 l

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MOBILE HOMES from Page 11

down to market level rents or below,” he says. One community even had rents that were 22 percent below market rate, he adds.

On average, resident-owned communities raise site rents about 0.9 percent annually. The average rent increase in commercially owned communities is 3.9 percent, according to the Manufactured Housing Institute.

And although affordability is important, the ROC model is about more than the cost, adds Kadlec, with Thistle ROC. “It’s about preservation and it’s about control and power,” he says. “We’re giving these residents the opportunity to really have some self-determination and some decision making in the way their communities are owned and operated for the first time probably ever. The numbers always speak the strongest, but I think it’s always important to remember that this is more than just tomorrow—it’s for the rest of their lives, that decision to preserve and stabilize.”

There are some limitations to the ROC model, however. First and foremost, the sale of a community to a co-op depends on both a willing seller and buy-in from residents. Securing financing, especially in the 90-day window allotted by the Colorado law, can also be a challenge.

the community, it was pretty exciting,” former co-op president Mike King told ROC USA at the time. “We own it and are able to set the lot rent based upon an actual budget.”

In general, however, park owners around the state were resistant to opportunity-to-purchase and similar manufactured housing legislation, according to Hooton. The law was seen as an abdication of their authority as a property owner, she says.

“Even though we’re not asking them to give up all authority . . . They maintain their rights as property owners to basically raise lot rents and decide who they want to sell their property to like any other private property owner,” she says. “So what’s the beef ? If they’re asking for $20 million for their park and the homeowners put up $20

‘What’s the beef?’

In states without an opportunity-to-purchase law, Bullard says the organization focuses its efforts on building relationships with park owners and brokers more than homeowners, so that when they’re ready to sell, the controlling entities turn first to the residents and the ROC model.

“We only work in communities where the owner is willing to sell to the homeowners, because if they’re not, there’s no opportunity, period,” he says.

In 2019, the 36 residents of the Longmont Mobile Home Community, with help from Thistle and the City of Longmont, were able to purchase their park for about $3.2 million by forming the LMP Co-op.

LMP became the second resident-owned community in the state, and because the sale went through prior to the new law taking effect, the key to its success was a willing seller.

“It was really helpful to have an owner engaged in the process and wanting to work with us,” Kadlec says. “He wanted to sell to the residents and wanted to leave a legacy.”

The residents almost unanimously agreed to raise their own lot rents in order to purchase the park—about $100 to $125 each, according to Kadlec. Now they pay roughly $700 a month.

“When the opportunity came up for us to buy 12

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the opportunity-to-purchase law, inspired by the success of LMP. So when Blackmer notified residents of his intent to sell in 2020, Gibson says it was fairly easy to organize the group into a co-op and, with the help of Thistle, submit an offer. However, Blackmer did not respond to the group’s initial offer, so they made him two more offers, each time raising the price, with no response.

“We just don’t know what to do,” Gibson says.

“There’s nothing we can do to make him accept any offers from us at this point.”

When reached for comment, Blackmer declined.

Gibson says the offer was more than double what Sans Souci was eventually purchased for.

“The cost of the trailer park should be based on the number of lots and the amenities,” she says. “We have zero amenities. There’s no playground here. There’s no swimming pool here.

There’s barely any trees here. So we actually should be less per lot than a trailer park like Sans Souci, which at least has a playground.”

With each unanswered offer, Gibson says support for the idea waned as the cost per resident increased. The last offer they submitted would have increased monthly rents to just over $1,100. But the residents say they still have never heard from Blackmer, and the property is no longer listed for sale.

COMMUNITY EFFORT: Michael

The dilemma of displacement

million to purchase the park, One of the largest challenges to Pierce is a resident of the Sans why does it matter who they the ROC model is not just getting Souci Community, and the president of the mobile home park’s sell to?” the financing together, but doing it co-op, which purchased the park Susan Gibson has lived in a way that keeps parks affordable in June 2021. in her home in Table Mesa for residents. Like other forms of Village, just south of Boulreal estate, it’s reliant on and given to der off Highway 93 in unwhims of market forces. Purchasing incorporated Boulder County, for 25 years. When the parks at market rate inevitably raises lot rents she first moved in, her lot rent was $235, she says, two or three years in advance to be competitive, which was great considering she’s never worked for Pierce says, at least for most parks. For Sans Souci, much more than minimum wage. that means lot fees just went up to $750 from $605 Rent only went up about $10 or so a year, usuin the beginning of September. In the coming ally—one year it was $15 to pay for an infrastrucmonths, they may increase again to $800 and then ture project—so five years ago she was paying $475 $856 before stabilizing to an average increase of a month. “Which was why most of us old-timers about 1 percent a year to account for cost of living moved here, because we thought this is a place we increases. can live, where we can afford to live on whatever “We knew that that was going to be tough and our low income is. Or some people just choose to that the market rate wasn’t going to be sustainable be creative instead of hustling or whatever,” Gibson for many of the residents,” he says. says.

The additional cost of capital improvement Then the property sold to a new owner, Zane projects—beyond the acquisition price—accounts Blackmer, in 2016, with little warning to the for some of the rent increase, however. And there is residents. Now rent is $800, Gibson says. Since the a chance, Pierce says, that with additional funding sale, Gibson and other residents organized into an the Sans Souci co-op will be able to keep prices informal HOA, began attending CMOB meetbelow $800. In early August, the co-op received ings, and testified at the state capitol in support of a $1 million grant from the State Housing Board

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

that should help, and perhaps allow the co-op to set up a rent relief fund for the lowest income residents.

“Just about every park right now that can take advantage of the opportunity-to-purchase law is facing this dilemma that they can stabilize their prices, but they can’t stabilize them at a place where we’re preventing major displacement. And so there’s gotta be a way for other funds to be made available,” he says.

Additional support and partnerships are often necessary to make the financing for resident-owned communities to work. In Colorado, the state has awarded $3.4 million in grants or zero-interest cash flow loans in the five deals that have been successful. Local foundations and nonprofits have contributed as well, bringing funds to purchase as well as reduce the financing to help with down payments.

But resident-owned communities are relatively new, especially in Colorado, and because of that, Pierce says, finding additional funders has been challenging. Ultimately, he attributes this to differing models addressing affordability in the region. While most municipalities are focused on new developments, affordable rentals, or deed-restricted housing for people making a certain percentage of AMI, residents in manufactured homes bought into their communities with the understanding that their home came without such restrictions. For example, Pierce says, Boulder County Housing has expressed interest in helping Sans Souci with possible funding for years, “and have consistently gotten nowhere productive.”

Any funding from the county, he continues, would come with conditions that wouldn’t necessarily work for Sans Souci residents, like deed-restricting the homes, and could even cause riffs and factions to form within the community.

“That’s the model the county is operating under, and it works in a different context but not in ours,” he says. “They really need to think about how to prevent displacement for mobile home park people without basically having to extract a pound of flesh.”

Speaking as a steering committee member for the Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership (RHP), Kurt Firnhaber, director of the City of Boulder Housing and Human Services Department, writes in an email, “With the main source of funding for housing authorities coming from Low Income Housing Tax Credits, they do not currently have resources that can be applied to manufacturing housing communities. However, the RHP has looked at other sources of funding to support such communities, as well as state level legisBOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

lation that benefits and protects residents of these communities,” he says.

At the state level, Hooton is working with other legislators to address some of the funding shortfalls. She proposes a revolving low-interest loan fund for mobile home communities where the residents want to purchase their park. She says the financing could potentially come from funds earmarked for affordable housing under the new federal transportation bill, although nothing has been decided.

financially the better option for anybody who plans to be around for more than three years.”

Thistle, Kadlec says, generally requires about 75 percent engagement from an individual community to feel comfortable assisting them with a purchase, even though the state law only requires a simple majority of 51 percent.

“When we’re looking at a community that may have a really big rent increase,” she says, “we want to see more engagement because . . . it’s something that can create a lot of animosity [or can] create unity in the community.”

Recently in Fort Collins, an effort by a resident Although Sans Souci residents strongly supported co-op of Hickory Village Mobile Home Park to the idea of purchasing the park at first, some grew purchase its park failed. Now, the private real estate frustrated by the increasing price tag as the numbers investment group Havenpark Communities— from ROC USA Capital came in. It felt, Pierce says, which has a history of pricing out residents—is set to purchase the park for $23 million.

Initially the current owner announced the sale in March, and the residents offered $23.1 million for the park, securing support from enough homeowners. However, according to a complaint filed with the state, the seller ignored the co-op’s offer.

In response, the park owner initiated a new 90-day period for the co-op to submit an offer in late June. But this time there wasn’t enough resident support.

Even if a community is ultimately successful in purchasing its park from a single owner, in the co-op model park rules and policies have to be decided— and enforced—by fellow residents, which can get tricky. At Sans Souci, Pierce says, residents are just starting to voice differing opinions about living habits AN OFFER MET WITH SILENCE: like pets and cleanliness. There can also Susan Gibson has lived in Table that there was still a large be long-held interpersonal conflicts and Mesa Village for 25 years. Her player dictating major exother frustrations, as everyone is expected penses, and fear that in the to contribute to running the community. end residents would still new owner purchased the property Plus, running a park takes a lot of time, get saddled with a substaneffort, and skill, which can overburden the tial cost. all-volunteer endeavor, Pierce says.

“The other part that “Sometimes it can be a little more makes a lot of people work,” Kadlec says. “Democracy is messy squeamish about going sometimes, but I think it’s one of the better this route is that a co-op ways that we can do it.” and HOA are really close Whether or not residents succeed in to the same thing,” Pierce says. “They’re just slightly purchasing their park, there are inherent benefits to different business models. But they’re close enough trying, Kadlec says. Residents become leaders in their that the scare stories about HOAs affect residents. own communities, learning to speak up for themAnd so a lot of them would say, ‘No, I don’t want to selves in public meetings, advocating for assistance be part of an HOA. Those are nightmares.’” (Read: and preservation. (un)affordable: “Pressure Points,” Boulder Weekly, June “We’re creating community and we’re bringing 17, 2021). people together, we’re introducing neighbors to each In the end, the co-op was still able to garner other and making those connections,” Kadlec says. enough support for the purchase to succeed, although “And that’s just going to make the community stronit was not unanimous. ger, whether they buy or not.”

“We had a choice between corporate owners or This story is a part of Boulder Weekly’s the ROC USA model,” Pierce says. (un)affordable series, funded in part by a grant from “And despite the unhappiness of the price tag, the Solutions Journalism Network. even with the flood mitigation reserve, it was still

Democracy is messy

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

How many Afghan refugees will come to Colorado?

No one knows, but the state stands ready

As crisis consumes their homeland, Colorado is one of a handful of states working to provide sanctuary for Afghan refugees

by Karlie Huckels

P

resident Joe Biden declared at the end of August that he was not going to extend the war in Afghanistan after the last U.S. troops were withdrawn from the country. As of September 9, evacuation flights resumed for U.S. citizens—but these flights are leaving people behind. At-risk Afghans are still waiting for permission to board evacuation flights, as well as those whose visas were approved but couldn’t get stamped at the U.S. Embassy, which remains shut down.

There are still fears that the Biden administration might abandon a large number of Afghan allies.

“We will continue these efforts to facilitate the safe and orderly travel of American citizens, lawful permanent residents, and Afghans who worked for us and wish to leave Afghanistan,” National Security Council’s Emily Horne said in a statement about the evacuation flights. “Because there is an ongoing terrorist threat to operations of this nature, we will not be sharing details of these efforts before people are safely out of the country.”

As the world is waiting and watching to see what happens next, Colorado cities and officials are calling for action. Many Colorado officials, including Governor Jared Polis, Boulder Mayor Sam Weaver, and Denver City Council President Stacie Gilmore, signed a letter calling on the Biden administration to “prioritize restoring our nation’s refugee resettlement infrastructure as quickly as possible and to fulfill [the] pledge to admit 125,000 refugees in Fiscal Year 2022.” The form is open to signatures until September 17.

Organizations in Denver have already started implementing plans to shelter refugees, helping them get

through the legal immigration process and trying to ensure individuals’ family members get into the country.

Four congressmen are urging the Department of Homeland Security to establish Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for these refugees, including Joe Neguse (D-Colorado) and Tom Malinowski (D-New Jersey).

Neguse is a child of African refugees, and Malinowski immigrat-

are already here from deportation,” Congressman Malinowski wrote.

“TPS would ensure that we don’t force any Afghans back into a situation where their life would be at risk under Taliban rule.”

Since 2014, a total of 34,500 Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) have been allocated for Afghan principal applicants. This year an additional 8,000 were added under the Emergency Security SuppleTRENT INNESS mental Appropriations Act. With the State Department’s authority under the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009, they will continue to issue SIVs until they run out.

In preparation for more Afghan evacuees entering Colorado, organizations like Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains (LFSRM) are emphasizing the need for volunteers and donations.

Colorado communities ed to the U.S. as a child. In a letter are showing an outpouring of support, to Homeland Security Secretary but more resources are still needed.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the congressDona Dalton, director of marketing men asked for protection for Afghan and communications for LFSRM, parolees and those in the U.S. on says agencies across the country are student and visitor visas. The TPS working together to help support, designation would ensure Afghans inform, and provide basic supply who are currently in the U.S. would essentials to refugees as they resettle not be forced to return to Afghaniinto their new communities. stan under Taliban rule.

“We have limited storage and “The United States has long been do not know at this time how many a beacon of hope to refugees, it’s individuals will arrive,” Dalton says. critical we maintain that position of “These families often arrive with few moral authority at this consequenbelongings and need housing, food, tial moment,” Congressman Neguse home goods, and other basics as they said in the letter. “Offering TPS to get on their feet.”

Afghans at risk will provide safety and In Boulder, organizations like Colstability and remove barriers for those orado Sanctuary are assisting agencies still in Afghanistan who need a safe working directly with refugees. Gregg place to land.”

Eisenberg is the executive director of “We still need to facilitate the the volunteer organization. His goal transfer of vulnerable Afghans to is to help organizations acquire the the U.S. and protect Afghans that funding they need to continue helping

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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refugees enter the country. The Denver chapter of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is the most recent organization he has set up fundraising events for.

“We’ve hit a flashpoint on the subject of immigration and refugees.

I think this is the beginning of the refugee crisis worldwide,” Eisenberg says. “More people will be displaced as time goes on, and Colorado is going to be a sanctuary.”

For many years, Colorado has welcomed Afghan refugees as well as refugees from other countries. Colorado Department of Human Services Deputy Director of Communication Madlynn Ruble says cross-agency partnerships led by the Office of New Americans, the Division of Emergency Management, and the Colorado Refugee Services Program are standing by to help.

“Colorado is always ready and willing to resettle those in need based on resources available,” Ruble says.

“Our main focus right now is to bolster the ability of refugee resettlement agencies and their partners to meet the needs of newcomers, including through housing and employment assistance, to ensure that Afghan families are able to find safety, sanctuary, and opportunity here in Colorado.”

Governor Jared Polis has sent two letters this year to the Biden administration urging the president to expedite solutions and act quickly to help Afghans who face increased threats and unsafe conditions.

“In Colorado, our state and local communities are proud partners in global humanitarian and refugee resettlement efforts, and Colorado has long partnered with the federal government to play our part. Our veteran community knows the value of the role these Afghans played overseas, and our greater Colorado community shares with you American values of humanitarianism and compassion,” Governor Polis wrote in the most recent letter.

“Colorado stands ready.”

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BOULDER WEEKLY GIVEAWAYS

LUMIS MEMORIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Dirtwire’s restless walkabout

The Oakland-based experimental world music trio on channeling the blues, the challenges of ambient, owning the space at festivals, and adding a drum kit to the mix

by Dave Kirby

T

he thing starts a little ominously, the nervous whine of an arpeggio picked across a Telecaster with heavy reverb, a loping tempo behind it, maybe evoking some imaginary Western with tumbleweeds and horses and distant sandstone buttes. Slide guitar comes in, veins across the Tele’s tonal body. see DIRTWIRE Page 18

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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LUMIS MEMORIE PHOTOGRAPHY

October 8-17, 2021

DIRTWIRE from Page 17

And then comes the voice of the late Ram Dass, recounting a particularly intense LSD jaunt he took in a hotel room in Kansas, of all places; an occasionally chuckling audience punctuating his narrative. He recounts seeing all the world’s suffering, embracing humanity, and eventually and revelation into a perfectly reductionistic epiphany of self—all this sometime after he (wisely) stopped himself from running naked to the front desk to beg for an ambulance.

Events like the one that he describes are indisput-

It's Time to Make

Reservations

Celebrating Boulder County Restaurants

firstbiteboulder.com 18

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

ON THE BILL: DIRTWIRE WITH GONE GONE BEYOND AND BLOSSOMN. 8 p.m. ber 23, Boulder Street, Boulder.

in the retelling, though. Kind of a you-had-to-be-there sort of thing: With the spoken word alone, and especially for those not-necessarily-devotees of Ram Dass and his work, one may be left with no more than the irony that one of the most renowned psycho-spiritual teachers of the late 20th century bagged the Nature of Everything in a Kansas motel.

But the soundtrack embraces it as something—if not profound, at least dramatic and vivid and owning its own space. Cooked up and released a couple of months ago by California ethnotronica trio Dirtwire, Mid-American Hotel leans into the group’s bluesy, Americana vibe, one of the stanchions of the Oakland-based trio’s many

links to audio of 10-minute to half-hour talks. We went through and listened to them and sort of sampled one that we were inspired by.

“And then we took a jam that we had started before that, it was really just this progression that Mark (Reveley) had come up with, and then we built it out, did some Since its inception in 2012 (originally as a duo with David Satori, who is also found-

ngoni, lap steel guitar meets kalimba. Cigar box guitar, zabumba, toy piano, whamola. l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

At turns mesmerizing, confounding and yet eerily familiar, what on paper should sound a team of sound craftsmen coaxing aural images and teasing melodic phraseology from carefully measured and mediated instrumentation, pieces that challenge the listener always there.

Autumn’s Here!

KEEP UP TO DATE

on all the autumn festivals and events at

Crux

American heritage as well as the rest of the

And yet, earlier this year came Hjärta,

more different from each other.

I DON’T THINK YOU EVER REALLY KNOW IF SOMETHING WILL WORK UNTIL YOU’VE DONE IT.

ed in the form will tell you, is a lot harder to get right than it may sound.

that resolutely evades easy categorization or pigeonholing, in an artistic process where work?

stuff. We do spend a lot of time on what will work live. We give a lot more leeway to the

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

E VENTS

ARTMIX: Opening Reception

EVENTS

6 p.m. Friday, September 17, Boulder Museum Of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets: $40 Experience more than 100 artists in a group exhibition, bid on artwork, and enjoy light fare by Cured and complimentary beverages. Tickets to the Opening Reception include exhibition and auction access for the duration of ARTMIX, both on-site and online. More information at bmoca.org

If your organization is planning an event of any kind, please email the managing editor at crockett@boulderweekly.com

Bee Boulder Family Festival

10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, September 18, Central Park, 1236 Canyon Boulevard, Boulder The Bee Boulder Family

Lightshine Radler Ride, presented by Bicycle Longmont

3-10 p.m. Saturday, September 18, Wibby Brewing, 209 Emery Street, Longmont. Tickets are $0-$75, radlerride.org Join Wibby Brewing Company and Bicycle Longmont for a day of bicycle-related activities, a BMX show, Pedalpalooza, a cruiser ride, and a post-ride concert with more than 1,500 other cyclists of all ages, types, and abilities.

activities, live music, face painting, prizes and more—a fun-packed day of celebrating all the worker bees of the natural world. There will even be a special performance by Jeff & Paige. Visit beeboulder.org for more events.

Second Annual Roasted Green Chiles Festival Noon-4 p.m. Saturday, September 18, Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Avenue, Longmont The Roasted Green Chiles Festival will feature music, including both a DJ and a mariachi band, and Left Hand Brewing has brewed two green chile beers just for the occasion. Zia Chiles of Hatch, New Mexico, will be roasting chiles for sale throughout the festival. In addition, there will be a food truck offering green chile burgers and other food items.

Comedy Underground featuring Rion Evans

8 p.m. Friday, September 17, The Louisville Underground, 640 Main Street, Louisville. Tickets: $15-$20 Rion Evans is a native of Chicago, Illinois, but his comedic career began on the West Coast in the comedy-rich Los Angeles circuit.

While DJing for one of California’s top comedy clubs, The Comedy Union, Evans became a student of comas Kevin Hart, Leslie Jones, Tony Roberts, and Rodney Perry, Rion’s comedic talents are described as natural and unique.

Out Boulder County presents The GAYLA: Out of the Woods and onto the Terrace, featuring Margaret Cho

Chili Bowl 2021

4:30 p.m. Saturday, September 18, St Julien Hotel, 900 Walnut Street, Boulder. Price: Range of prices based on ticket type. Virtual Event URL: outboulder.org/gayla Out Boulder County invites you to The GAYLA, a fundraising event featuring live and silent auctions and comedy from the incomparable Margaret Cho. Those who join in-person will mingle on the terrace for a beautiful evening in the fresh air. A virtual option is available to folks who prefer to attend the GAYLA from home.

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, September 18 and Sunday, September 19, Studio Arts Boulder, 1010 Aurora Avenue, Boulder. Price: Free The Sixth Annual Chili Bowl fundraiser and fall pottery sale will include artist demonstrations, handmade pottery, and live (but background) music on both days. Every chili bowl purchase includes a pint of chili made by restaurant

see EVENTS Page 22

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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EVENTS from Page 21

Motus Theater presents ‘Boundless Truth: Women’s Stories of Freedom and Incarceration’ JUST ANNOUNCED

JUST ANNOUNCED

DEC 3 ......................................................................... BOWREGARD + WE BANJO 3 DEC 17 .......................................................................................................... MORSEL MAR 12 .............................................................................. ALASKA THUNDERF**K

DEC 17 ................................................... TOM HAMILTON + HOLLY BOWLING FEB 2 ................................................................................................. STEVE VAI FEB 3 .................................................................................................. SON VOLT

THU. SEP 16

THU. SEP 16

ROOSTER PRESENTS

88.5 KGNU & UPSLOPE BREWING COMPANY PRESENT

MERSIV

SMOAKLAND, SUPERAVE., MEDUSO FRI. SEP 17

CHRISTIAN FRENCH SARAH BARRIOS

CIRCLES AROUND THE SUN FRANK LOCRASTO SAT. SEP 18 97.3 KBCO & BOULDER BOOK STORE PRESENT: AN EVENING WITH

RICKIE LEE JONES

2 and 5 p.m. Sunday, September 19, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder. Tickets: $15-$50. Virtual Event URL: motustheater.org Boundless Truth: Women’s Stories of Freedom and Incarceration. In Boundless Truth, Black women leaders who were formerly incarcerated tell autobiographical stories of the racism, biases, and injustices within the criminal legal system.

THU. SEP 23

SAT. SEP 18

88.5 KGNU & PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENT

ROOSTER, PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS & TERRAPIN CARE STATION PRESENT

YHETI (EXTENDED 2 HOUR SET) TERNION SOUND, HONEYBEE WED. SEP 22 105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

ANDY SHAUF + SON LITTLE FRI. SEP 24 PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

ARDALAN

DIRTWIRE

GONE GONE BEYOND, BLOSSOMN

a cappella social justice singers, and a special performative response from IWADE, the Intergenerational Woman’s African Drum and Dance Ensemble.

FRI. SEP 24 COMEDY WORKS PRESENTS: THE HOPE YOU GET RICH OUR

RONNY CHIENG THU. SEP 30

Bike to Work Day

6:30-9 a.m. Wednesday, September 22, throughout Boulder.

TETON GRAVITY RESEARCH PRESENTS: STOKE THE FIRE FRI. OCT 1

HARVE, GANO

ROOSTER & PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENT: DAYMAKER TOUR

SAT. SEP 25

FLAMINGOSIS

THE GOOD KIND

SAT. OCT 2

FISTS OF THE PROLETARIAT SUN. SEP 26

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO THE GREEN HOUSE BAND THU. SEP 30 ROOSTER & PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENT

IAN EWING

PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: TRAILBLAZER TOUR

TSURUDA + CHEE + ESSEKS MON. OCT 4 DISTORTION AND BLUE HEARTS!

BOB MOULD BAND SLOW CAVES

THU. OCT 7

A-TRAK KAEGI

PAT METHENY SIDE-EYE W/ JAMES FRANCIES & JOE DYSON

FRI. OCT 1

THU. OCT 14

GREAT DIVIDE BREWING CO PRESENTS

MIPSO

ROOSTER & PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENT

MALAA

MON. OCT 18

ANNA TIVEL

Mapleton Hill PorchFest

1-4:30 p.m. Sunday, September 19, Mapleton Hill Historic District, Boulder. Price: Free Mapleton Hill PorchFest returns with dozens of bands on the leafy streets and welcoming porches of Mapleton Hill. Local food vendors will provide tasty snacks and meals. Ride your bike, bring your lawn chairs, kids, dogs, and a little cash to tip the musicians.

Colorado Guitar Festival

2-7 p.m. Sunday, September 19, Willow Farm, 11898 N. 75th Street, Longmont. Tickets: $20 in advance, $15 seniors and students ($25 and $18 day of) via Eventbrite

107.9 KBPI PRESENTS: THE HUN TOUR

SAT. OCT 2

THE MARIAS SUN. OCT 3 88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

JULIAN LAGE

THE HU THE HAUNT

TUE. OCT 19 THE CELTIC CONNECTION, 88.5 KGNU & BOULDER WEEKLY PRESENT: THE HOME FROM HOME TOUR

THE HIGH KINGS

WED. OCT 6

SAT. OCT 23

88.5 KGNU PRESENTS

97.3 KBCO PRESENTS

BRASSTRACKS TOBI

JOHN HIATT & THE JERRY DOUGLAS BAND

SAT. OCT 9

SUN. OCT 24

PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

THE SPONGES & MUZZY BEARR SUN. OCT 10

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS

DAR WILLIAMS HEATHER MALONEY TUE. OCT 26 97.3 KBCO PRESENTS

SHOVELS & ROPE “THE BARE BONES TOUR” FRI. OCT 15

THE DEL MCCOURY BAND OCT 29 .................................................................................................. GETTER OCT 30 ........................................................................................... THE MOTET OCT 31 ............................................................................................. WHETHAN NOV 2 ......................................................................................... YUNG GRAVY NOV 6 ................................................................................BOOMBOX CARTEL

instruments.

Local Lab 2021: ‘Say My Name’

6 p.m. Sunday, September 19, The Loft Theater, 261 University Theater Building, CU Boulder. Tickets are $10 via Eventbrite.

Say My Name i haunted by ghosts day and night asking her to release their souls while she ghosts were pioneer women immigrants who made a contribution to Asian American history but were not recognized as American citizens.

PARTY GURU PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events

SHLUMP PASHMONIX

OCT 16 OCT 19 OCT 21 OCT 22 OCT 23

22

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

EVENTS

CONCERTS CHRISTIAN FRENCH

Thursday, September 16

BuffStreet on the Hill (various bands). 6 p.m. Hill Parking Lot at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Boulder. Free.

Punch Brothers with special guests Aoife O’Donovan, Hawktail.

6 p.m. Planet Bluegrass Ranch, 500 W. Main Street, Lyons. Tickets are $60.

The Silver Cars, Scott Martin with Sheryl Renee (jazz). 7 p.m. 637R S. Broadway Street, Boulder.

Felonius Smith Trio (jazz). 8 p.m. The Louisville Underground, 640 Main Street, Louisville. Tickets are $10-$60.

Friday, September 17

Rogue 2 (acoustic rock). 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt Street, Longmont. Free.

Boulder School of Rock. 6:30 p.m. Twin Peaks Golf Course, 1200 Cornell Drive, Longmont. Free Live Music Fridays. 6:30 p.m. The Tune Up, 2355 30th Street, Boulder.

Free.

Steep Canyon Rangers with Jon Stickley Trio (bluegrass). 7:30 p.m.

Chautauqua Auditorium, 198 Morning Glory Drive, Boulder. Tickets are $23$38.

Christian French with Sarah Barrios (electro pop). 8 p.m. Fox Theatre,1135 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $16-$18.

Forever Man (Eric Clapton cover band). 8 p.m. Dickens Opera House, 300 Main Street, Longmont. Tickets are $16.

Clay Rose with Adam Perry (Americana/rock). 6 p.m. Spirit Hound Distillers, 4196 Ute Highway, Lyons.

Open Range Competition Teams Summer Day Camps Classes & Private Lessons

Target & Hunting Full Service Retail Pro Shop & Service Recurve & Compound

High Altitude Archery 455 Weaver Park Rd #500 Longmont, CO 80501 720-491-3309

see CONCERTS Page 24

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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23

EVENTS

CONCERTS from Page 23

CONCERTS RICKIE LEE JONES

Saturday, September 18

Rent Online or In-Store Free Local Delivery

3101 28th St, Tebo Plaza, Boulder

303.449.0516

hbwoodsongs.com

Deborah Stafford and the State of Affairs (funky blues and soul). 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt Street, Longmont. Free.

Jazz Cabaret featuring Shirley Delta Blow. 6 p.m. Center for Musical Arts, 200 E. Baseline Road, Lafayette. Tickets are $25.

An Evening with Phil Lesh & Friends. 7 p.m. Planet Bluegrass Ranch, 500 W. Main Street, Lyons. SOLD OUT. Ten Years Gone (Led Zeppelin cover band), The Strange Parade (The Doors cover band).

7:30 p.m. Dickens Opera House, 300 Main Street, Longmont. Tickets are $16 online / $18 at door.

An Evening with Rickie Lee Jones (pop). 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $35-$45.

Ancient Echoes (psychedelic rock). 8 p.m. The Louisville Underground, 640 Main Street, Louisville. Tickets are $18-$23.

Yheti with Ternion Sound, HoneyBee (dance). 8:30 p.m. Fox Theatre,1135 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $20-$25.

TAYLOR SHAE

Sunday, September 19

eTown presents Hippie Bluegrass Church. 10:30 a.m. Huntington Bandshell, 1212 Canyon Boulevard, Boulder. Tickets are $10.

Taylor Shae (folk-singer/songwriter). 5 p.m. The Wheel House, 101 Second Avenue, Niwot. Free.

Little Tree Acoustic House Concerts presents Tom Prasada-Rao. 4 p.m. potluck, 5:30 p.m. music.

Advanced reservations are required.

Email info@LittleTreeAcoustic.com or call 303-620-6634.

Wednesday, September 22

George Nelson (jazz). 5 p.m. Hotel Boulderado, 2115 13th Street, Boulder.

Free.

Andy Shauf (singer/songwriter), Son Little (R&B). 8 p.m. Fox Theatre,1135 13th Street, Boulder. Tickets are $25-$28.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES

LIBRA

what you already have inside you,” wrote author Carlos Zafòn Ruiz. Let’s take that a step further: “Other people are mirrors: You only see in them what you already have inside you.” And even further. “The whole world is a mirror: You only see in it what you already have inside you.” Have fun playing with these meditations, Aries. The coming weeks will be a fertile time to explore how thoroughly your experiences reflect the activity transpiring in your own brain.

who will love a bitch and a fake?” Libra author Graham Greene wrote that in his novel The End of the Affair. Here’s my extrapolation: I believe that every one of us, including me, is a bitch and a fake now and then. We all go through periods when we are not at our best, when we fail to live up to our own high standards. Is it possible that you have recently flirted with such a phase? If so, the cosmos has authorized me to absolve you. You are free to reclaim your full exquisite beauty. And if you haven’t been a bitch and a fake, congratulations. It means you have weathered a gnarly storm.

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: “Books are mirrors: You only see in them

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20: Some spiritual teachers say things like

“I am not my body” or “This body is not me.” I don’t understand that. It’s an insult and disparagement. It’s dismissive of our bodies’ sublime beauty and our bodies’ inspired role in educating our souls. I agree that we are not ONLY our bodies. I agree that a part of us is eternal, not confined to flesh and blood. But hell yes, I am my body. You are your body. It’s a glorious aspect of who we are. It’s a miraculous creation that has taken millions of years to evolve into the masterpiece it is. So yes, you are your body, and yes, this body is you. I hope you love your body. Are in awe of it. Are pleased to be inside it. If anything is lacking in this department, now is an excellent time to make corrections.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: “I know someone who kisses the way a flower opens,” wrote poet Mary Oliver. I’d love for you Geminis to have that experience. The astrological omens suggest it’s more likely than usual to occur sometime soon. Other experiences with a better-than-average chance of unfolding in the coming days: allies who speak of intimate subjects in ways that resemble a flower opening; partners who co-create with you in ways that resemble a flower opening; spiritual helpers who offer guidance and help in ways that resemble a flower opening.

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: “I lie to myself all the time, but I never believe me,” writes Cancerian author S. E. Hinton. Ha! As a Cancerian myself, I confess to the same crime. But I am looking forward to a shift in the coming weeks. I suspect we Crabs will be inspired to cut way back on the fibs we try to get away with. You know what that means, right? We’ll be more inclined to trust ourselves, since we’ll be more likely to tell ourselves the truth. Our decisions will be shrewd, and our self-care will be rigorous. Hallelujah!

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22: My object in this horoscope is to stim-

ulate your imagination in ways nobody else in your life will. You need an influence like me, from outside your inner circle, to administer friendly, playful shocks to jolt you out of habitual ways of thinking. Here we go. 1.

If you were to stow seven parts of your soul in seven objects, what objects would they be? 2. If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be? 3.

If you were a character in a fairy tale or a movie, who would you be? 4. If you could travel to a place that would teach you what you most need to know, where would it be? 5. If you had a magical animal as your special ally, what animal would it be? 6. If you could sing a song with uncanny healing power for someone you care about, what song would it be? 7. If you could improve your relationship with some part of your body, what would it be?

VIRGO

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: “There’s nothing wrong with reading a book

you love over and over,” writes Virgo author Gail Carson Levine. Adding to that encouragement, I offer you the following authorizations: There’s nothing wrong with seeking a pleasure you love over and over; or doing a necessary task you love over and over; or performing an energizing ritual you love over and over; or expressing key truths you love over and over. And these permissions will be especially crucial for you to exult in during the coming weeks, dear Virgo: because it’s a time when mindful repetition will be one of your strengths and a key to stimulating the deepening experiences you need.

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: “If I’m a bitch and a fake, is there nobody

Call 720.253.4710 All credit cards accepted No text messages

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: Poet Yves Olade writes, “I’ve started thinking of people as wounds that don’t heal.” To me, that idea is idiotically cynical. Moreover, I think it’s wrong for most of us. The truth is, humans have a natural instinct for healing. They are predisposed to attract experiences that might aid their recovery from difficulties—that might teach them the healing lessons they need. I believe this will be especially true for you in the coming weeks. (PS: Dr. Andrew Weil writes, “Any level of biological organization that we examine, from DNA up to the most complex body systems, shows the capacity for self-diagnosis, for removal of damaged structure, and for regeneration of new structure.”)

SAGITTARIUS

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: Research suggests that most people think everyone else has more fun than they do. But I’m guessing that only a small percentage of Sagittarians feel that way.

You tend to be extra alert for fun, and you have intuitive skill at tracking down fun. In addition, you often take the initiative to precipitate fun. You understand you have a responsibility to generate fun, and you have a talent for generating it. All these capacities will serve you well in the coming weeks. I recommend you raise your mastery of the art and science of having fun to a new level. Be the Champion of Fun and Games for your entire circle.

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: I’m not engaging in empty flattery when I

Now Sharing a Single Vision

say that you are unlike anyone else who has ever lived in the history of the world. Your absolute uniqueness is a fundamental fact. Maybe you don’t reflect on this truth very often. Perhaps you feel that it’s not helpful to think about or that it’s irrelevant to your daily decision-making. But I propose that in the next three weeks, you give it a central place in your understanding of your destiny. Allow it to influence everything you do. Make it a major factor in your decision-making.

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: Welcome back from the underworld,

Aquarius. I hope your time wandering through the mazelike twilight brought you as many fascinating mysteries as confusing questions. I trust you took advantage of the smoky riddles and arresting dilemmas to fortify your soul’s wisdom. I suspect that although your travels may have at times seemed hard to fathom, they have provided you with a superb education that will serve you well in the immediate future.

PISCES

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: In Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of

Dorian Gray, the lead character says to a friend, “You filled me with a wild desire to know everything about life.”

Is there a person who might inspire you like that, Pisces?

Maybe a person from your past with whom you’ve fallen out of touch? Or is there a person hovering on the outskirts of your life who could stimulate you to have such feelings?

Now is a favorable time to seek these influences. I advise you to be bold in your quest to associate with allies who will stimulate your lust for life and teach you crucial lessons.

(PS: For extra credit, make abundant use of another theme from Wilde’s book: “The search for beauty is the real secret of life.”)

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

T

he Koreans call it holojok—a portmanteau of holo (alone) and jok (together)—a growing phenomenon of young adults choosing to live alone in single-family homes. By some estimates, one-third of the total homes in Seoul are occupied by holojok.

Aloners, the debut feature from writer/director Hong Seong-eun, follows the lives of a half-dozen or so holojok. From Jina (Gong Seung-yeon), who lives in an impersonal high rise and works at a credit card call center, to a next-door neighbor who dies one night and nobody seems to notice. There’s also Jina’s father (Park Jeong-hak), newly widowed, and Sujin (Jung Da-eun), a recent graduate who’s moved to the big city to start her life.

Hong made Aloners in 2019, back when holojok was still something of a curiosity. Today, scores of souls living in isolation and accessing the world through screens rather than human contact no longer seems curious.

It’s a wonder that Hong can present characters this isolated and a story ‘THE POWER OF THE DOG’ COURTESY TIFF this bleak and not make Aloners feel crushing. It’s not an uplifting movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn’t leave you feeling despondent either.

And when it played the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this past weekend, Aloners felt perfect for the moment. Screening in-person and virtually through September 18, TIFF presents over 150 features and shorts with conversations, events, and award ceremonies.

Many of the movies at TIFF are premieres, promises of things to come. But, like Aloners, many movies, small and international, were

Alone, together

Dispatches from the 46th Toronto International Film Festival

by Michael J. Casey ON THE BILL: THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL continues through September 18, with limited tickets available at tiff.net

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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cancellations and shifting release dates. Violet, the debut from Justine Bateman, was supposed to premiere at the 2020 South By Southwest Film Festival, but you can probably guess what happened there.

Like Aloners, the delay has only given Violet resonance. The drama centers on Violet Calder (Olivia Munn), an early-30s production company executive struggling with anxiety and fear-based decision making. Everywhere she goes, everything she does, everyone she meets, is undermined by The Voice (Justin Theroux)—an antagonistic force reverberating in her head. The Voice convinces Violet she’s worthless and weak and might as well sabotage whatever good she has.

But The Voice is not the only perspective Violet contends with. There is another, The Script: terpoint to Violet’s verbal and physical communication. It’s a poignant synthesis of performance So is The Power of the Dog cade-long hiatus. Adapted from Thomas Savage’s western novel of the same name, Power follows two brothers running a Montana cattle ranch: Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons). Their approaches to life couldn’t be more different, and George lobs a grenade in the middle when he goes and surreptitiously marries Rose (Kirsten Dunst), a widow who brings her teenage son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), to live on the ranch.

The Power of the Dog revolves around a central mystery of isolated characters too proud to connect the way they want to. And Campion loads her movie with so much sexual tension and seething emotions that you don’t even know you’re watching The Power of the Dog scheduled for release later this fall, but with its stunning landscape photography and powerful performances, hopefully one of the area theaters gives it a proper presentation.

For more coverage from the Toronto International Film Festival, tune to Metro Arts on KGNU, Fridays at 3 p.m., and visit michaeljcinema.com

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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BY DAN SAVAGE Dear Dan: I’m a 35-year-old straight woman living in the Midwest. I was seeing a massage therapist for three years and we became very close friends. I referred my friends to him and helped him grow his business. He eventually disclosed to me that he had developed feelings for me. I went into instant shock and said that I had no idea and I thought we were only growing in our friendship. He told me that he had to tell me and wanted to leave it up to me if I felt comfortable continuing to see him. I was really numb from my shock and thought I was felt. I never went back to him. I found out that he closed report him to his ethics board?

—Really Upset By Bewildering Erotic Disclosure Dear RUBBED: No. This guy was initially your massage therapist, RUBBED, but you eventually became very close friends.

I’m going to assume this was a consensual friendship— meaning, your former massage therapist didn’t force his friendship on you—and that you welcomed his friendship.

So, while you may have gotten to know him in a unique professional setting, you wound up in a kind of two-track relationship with him: he was your massage therapist and also your friend. It’s not uncommon for friends to catch feelings for each other and it would seem to be in that capacity—in his capacity as your friend—that your massage therapist caught feelings for you.

Given that he developed feelings for you, I don’t see how he could avoid making this disclosure. Indeed, keeping these feelings to himself while continuing to see you as a client—or dropping you as a client without explanation (an explanation that you, as a friend, would have felt entitled to)—would have constituted an ethical violation.

“What he did was borderline, but not unethical,” said a physical medicine practitioner that I shared your question with. “That he brought up the fact that she could/should consider no longer seeing him keeps it just in bounds. The most correct thing would’ve been to

A massage therapist I shared your email with told me that your former massage therapist handled this the way he was trained to handle similar situations in the professional ethics courses he was required to take to get his license: disclose and discontinue the professional relationship.

Another massage therapist I spoke to did think your former massage therapist was guilty of an ethical lapse.

He referred me to the professional code of conduct published by his professional association—the College of Massage Therapists of British Columbia—which bars entering into a “close personal relationship” with a client.

He felt the friendship was an ethical violation; if your massage therapist had done the right thing and kept your relationship strictly professional, he wouldn’t have caught feelings for you the way he did. And if he hadn’t caught feelings for you the way he did, RUBBED, he wouldn’t have put himself in the position of having to disclose those feelings to you. Or put you in the position of having to listen to him make that discomforting disclosure.

So, some of the massage therapists I spoke with felt you should report him, but the majority did not—and I’m going to stick with my advice not to report him. But you get to make your own call.

Dear Dan: I’m a healthy and active 72-year-old man with my new mate I have the most active and satisfying sex life I’ve ever known. My question is this: During nearI chanced upon writings about Tantric lovemaking practices and was fascinated by them. I began to practice witha state of perpetual desire for my partner and this lovely hum of continual sexual energy between us. But after almost impossible to come at the time of my choosing. It is almost as if my inner Tantric Shaman has taken hold of the controls. The wonderful woman in my life consis-

place.”

like to have more control over my orgasms. Do you have any suggestions?

—Wanting A Direction Dear WAD: Men who practice orgasm denial— whether they’re withholding their own orgasms or being denied orgasms by their dominant partners—often report existing in a pleasantly buzzy state of perpetual horniness. Doms who lock their lover’s cocks up in chastity devices (instead of relying on them to refrain climaxing or jacking off) often report that their perpetually horny partners are more attentive. And while those are attractive perks, I’ve never been tempted to go the orgasm denial route myself. First and foremost, I enjoy coming too much to give it up. And coming in a close second, multiple studies have shown a link between frequent ejaculation and a lower incidence of prostate cancer. Maybe at 72 you’re not worried about prostate cancer—seeing you haven’t gotten it by now—but guys who don’t want to risk prostate cancer should err on the side of busting those nuts (which is not to be confused with busting those balls).

As for your problem, WAD, if withholding orgasms is considering how much pleasure you get out of withholding them—that buzz, those spectacular orgasms when you do come—maybe unpredictable orgasms are a price you’re willing to pay. It’s also possible that age caught up with you and your orgasms became a little less reliable at the same time you took up Tantric sex practices. (For the record: Tantra is a nearly two-millennia old tradition/ body of wisdom that originated in India and is typically practiced by Hindus and Buddhists. While sex is a part of tantra, sex isn’t the only thing tantra is about.) on Twitter @fakedansavage. Check out Dan’s new website at Savage.Love!

Now Offering: • Virtual Classes • Virtual and In Person Private Coaching For more information: 720-333-7978 BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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BOULDER APPLE TREE PROJECT

Core values

Boulder’s unique apple corps IDs heirloom trees, harvests backyard fruit, and turns fruit into hard cider

by John Lehndorff

IF

you haven’t noticed it yet in the heat and haze of our AN APPLE TREE in prolonged summer, Boulder’s apple trees are in their Boulder, bough-bent ninth month. They are limb-breaking-ly heavy with with the weight of this season’s fruit and the black bears are loving it. bountiful fruit Early rain, prolonged heat and lack of a killer freeze means an epic year for apples, and this is the big apple week in Boulder.

This week, the Boulder Apple Tree Project is tagging hundreds of historic heirloom trees while Community Fruit Rescue is harvesting backyard trees to supply food banks, and if you bring your home-harvested apples to BOCO Cider, they’ll transform them into delicious hard cider. You could also bake a pie.

How did Boulder end up so overloaded with apple trees?

That simple question inspired Katharine Suding—a University of Colorado professor and scientist—to form a multi-disciplinary team to answer it, says Amy Dunbar-Wallace, project coordinator for the Boulder Apple Tree Project.

Basically, if you now live in a neighborhood from North Boulder to south of Table Mesa, your front lawn used to be a fruit orchard. In the late 1800s, Colorado was famous for apples—not corn, melon, or peaches. The Depression, Prohibition, drought, disease, and development leveled most of the trees, but tough, old, gnarly survivors are still growing in plain sight all over town.

“We just took students to a couple of trees hidden behind a building on campus with tons of sweet apples on it,” Dunbar-Wallace says. “The students said, ‘I didn’t realize these were here.’ Sometimes people don’t look up into the tree canopy to see what’s there.”

Those are the kind of trees the Boulder Apple Tree Project wants to hear about, literally, today.

“Our goal is to identify and preserve these trees from the early days of Boulder orchards,” Dunbar-Wallace says. “Trees only live about 80 to 100 years here, and many are coming to the end of their natural life.” About 10 percent die of old age every year, he says. varieties to young rootstock to propagate them.

“One reason we propagate these trees is that they seem to do better against diseases. They’ve demonstrated the ability to survive in pretty rough conditions,” Dunbar-Wallace says.

The group has found numerous varieties, including examples of the original Delicious apple trees. “Unlike the commercial version, it’s one of the tastiest apples I’ve ever had. Not as red, but very juicy and not mealy,” she says.

These grizzled trees hang over ditches in North Boulder neighborhoods, on Open Space land, and along many trails.

“There are great trees particularly on South Mesa trails and on Marshall Mesa.

Taste the apples,” Dunbar-Wallace says. respecting the ones on private property. “There’s some really fascinating trees in Columbia Cemetery, including three by the grave of Eben G. Fine (of park fame) near the irrigation ditch he helped dig,” she says, adding a word of caution: “Bears seem to really enjoy those trees, so watch out.”

So far, the Boulder Apple Tree Project has tagged more than 700 trees in Boulder County, a small fraction of what’s out there.

Property owners can report their old trees now. The Project’s Apple Blitz on Sep-

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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tember 25 brings together students and community volunteers to tag and map as many as possible.

While the Project doesn’t harvest apples, it works hand-in-hand with Boulder’s

appletreeproject.org tree harvested, contact

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home-harvested apples in bococider.com Tree Project’s new longing three heritage apple trees in Boulder, Long-

says one huge perk to her research has been the

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Local food news

Words to chew on

Radio Nibbles, John Lehndorff’s 25-year-old food news radio show, airs Thursdays at 8:24 a.m. on KGNU (88.5 FM, kgnu.org). Comments: Nibbles@BoulderWeekly.com

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MICHAEL J. CASEY

‘Everyone is not here.’

CBC returns when craft brewers need it most

W

hy beer?”

That’s the question Dr. J. Jackson-Beckham, the Brewers Association’s

by Michael J. Casey of our business.” bear that out. Earlier that week-

at the 2021 Craft Brewers Conference tion. The stats were sobering but

to, your heart to—why beer?” she Jackson-Beckham’s answers

Precious medals in Boulder County

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everyone.

“But I want you to take a look to not here.” in the room, though the lack was

gory while neighboring 12Degree Brewing took

less in the Bellco Theatre when Jackson-Beckham took the stage.

“Beer is one of the most successful engines of social interaction that of your labors are some of the most

Ale.

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

JOHN LEHNDORFF

bY JOHN LEHNDORFF

TASTE OF THE WEEK:

Saddlebags @ The Buff Restaurant

S

ince 1995, The Buff Restaurant has been one of Boulder’s iconic breakfast and brunch spots, but it had been a while since my last visit.

Perused over a cup of good Ozo Coffee, The Buff’s menu features the traditional skillets, benedicts, tacos, and specialties ranging from an omelet

topped with Hollandaise, to gluten- and dairy-free fried chicken and French toast with real maple syrup.

The Saddlebags, two plate-sized pancakes with chopped bacon or sausage mixed in, along with over-easy eggs, butter, and syrup, called my name. It’s that does it. Note: You can order a half Saddlebag with one pancake and one egg.

Weekends at The Buff are jammed since the eatery pours 99 cent mimosas, bloody Marys and Tequila Sunrises—limit three per entrée.

The family-owned Buff Restaurant originally opened nearby in the Golden Buff Lodge. The current location was formerly the Original Pancake House and before that, a Black Eyed Pea.

What to do with too many potatoes

I

t’s one of those aha! moments in a food lover’s life when they taste fresh local potatoes Three of the area’s oldest family farm stands for the first time. It’s like realizing there are are collaborating on the first-ever Boulder County breads other than white and mushrooms other Farm Stand Fall Tour, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. than button.

It’s a prime chance to grab fresh produce, eggs A good crop of spuds is coming in at farmers markets and farm stands. The following fun recipe from the Colorado Potato people JOHN LEHNDORFF works best if you use mashing potatoes like Russets, fingerlings, and Yukon Golds.

Creamy Colorado Potato Fudge 3 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/3 cup warm mashed, unseasoned Colorado potatoes 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 pound powdered sugar, sifted 1/2 cup chopped walnuts Melt chocolate and butter on top of a double boiler. Remove from heat. Add potatoes, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Blend in sugar and mix thoroughly. Add nuts and knead until smooth. Press into a buttered 8-inch square pan. Cool in the refrigerator before cutting.

Be sure to have guests taste the fudge before revealing the secret ingredient.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Culinary calendar

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and more on a country roads tour from Boulder’s Cure Organic Farm to Ollin Farms in Longmont and Hygiene’s Aspen Moon Farm. Be sure to tell the farmers you’re a stand tourist and get more tomatoes than you think you can eat. You won’t regret it.

• Cure Organic Farm, 7416 Valmont Road, Boulder, noon-5 p.m. daily • Ollin Farms, 8627 N. 95th Street, Longmont,11 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday • Aspen Moon Farm, 7927 Hygiene Road, Hygiene, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday.

Get your reservations—especially weekend ones—ASAP for First Bite Boulder’s Restaurant Week. The event is back once again October 8 to 17 with unique dining opportunities at participating eateries including Ash’Kara, Brasserie Boulder, Centro, Chimera, Dagabi, Dry Storage, Fringe, Japango, Sugarbeet, Empire Lounge, and Zucca. Reservations and menus: firstbiteboulder. com . . . Ribs, brisket, sausage and sides are on parade September 17-19 at the Denver BBQ Festival at Empower Field. Info: denverbbqfest.com Send information about local food events, classes, festivals and tastings to: nibbles@boulderweekly.com

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Is America ready for Laughing Beer?

common practice,” Ware explains. “[The nitrous] didn’t exactly conform to the project we were working on, but it was not much of an expenditure, so we just did it.”

Lo and behold, the bottle arrived, and Ware and Thermostat got to work.

“I remember opening the valve on the nitrous oxide bottle, whoosh, right into the keg,” Ware says. “And then we started pulling the beer off it. It was still warm,

Randolph Ware recounts the early days of brewing with cannabis

by Michael J. Casey

R

andolph Ware is one of the founding fathers of Boulder County brewing. Along with David Hummer, Ware—“Stick” to family and friends—started Boulder Brewing back in 1979: The first brewery in the county. And, like practically every other commercial brewer, Ware was a homebrewer first. And, like practically every other homebrewer out there, no ingredient was off-limits. When I interviewed Ware for my book, Boulder County Beer—a firsthand account of the county’s rich brewing history—in 2019, he recounted a story of his homebrewing days when he was a CU-Boulder nuclear physics grad student. Space dictated that the story had to be cut, which was a pity—especially since Ware’s story of Laughing Beer has not been told in print. Well, a book’s loss is the paper’s gain. Enjoy.

“The physics department would have picnics, and they would have a keg,” Ware begins. “They didn’t really drink a lot of the beer, so the keg would end up in the physics lab after the weekend.

One summer afternoon, Ware and a fellow grad student—a Swede nicknamed sitting around the lab.

“Both of us seem to have simultaneously thought: ‘Gee, I wonder what the solubility of nitrous oxide is in water?’”

The answer: Two-thirds the solubility of carbon dioxide.

“So, that was very interesting,” Ware continues.

“I foraged an interdepartmental memo” asking for a lecture bottle of nitrous oxide from chemistry stores.

“We had to buy things all the time, so it was

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

psychoactive alkaloids. The beer alkaloids are different from marijuana, but they’re in the realm of CBD, THC.”

when he and Thermostat found another abandoned keg in the lab.

“And I got the nitrous again, and we got sinsemilla (marijuana without seeds), which, of course, was highly illegal at that time,” Ware says. “And we dry-hopped [the beer].”

The giggles were still there, but Ware estimates that the addition of the marijuana kept them from overindulging.

“Maybe the memory of what happened before COURTESY BOULDER BEER CO helped, but it turned out to be a really, really superb drink,” Ware says. “We called it ‘Laughing Beer.’”

Years rushed by, Ware started the brewery, navigated it through ups and downs, and then, in 1986, he went to Boulder Brewing’s Board of Directors and said: “Is America ready for Laughing Beer?”

“And the answer was very clear: No,” Ware says with a chuckle. “Reagan was in the White House at the time, and ‘Just say

but it had a nice head on it. So we started to taste, swill it a little bit. And it was really curious.”

First came the giggles, then came “some different sensations in your legs,” Ware recalls. “All very pleasant and very jovial . . . It was so curious, three of us They barely survived the hangover the next day, but “Later on, I discovered that in the hop family, there are two members of that family of plants: There’s hops, and there’s cannabis,” he explains. “And they both have

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At the time, using marijuana was the biggest challenge, but with marijuana legalized in Colorado, that obstacle is gone.

“The nitrous oxide is regulated, to some extent, but somebody’s going to come out with that [beer], and it’s going to be a hit . . . If the word gets out, people will figure out how to do it, and the law will eventually catch up.

“It’s really a superb drink, and you can imagine all the different nuances of different types of weed, different types of hop—it’s just going to be overwhelming . . . I’ve been spreading the word for a long time, trying to get homebrewers or somebody else to go after it. I don’t know if anybody has. The cannabis is easier to get now. The nitrous is a little harder.”

Michael J. Casey is the author of Boulder County Beer and a regular contributor to Boulder Weekly.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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37

Windows of impairment and detection

There is currently no reliable roadside test for cannabis impairment—while some experts believe we’re still a long way off, Hound Labs says the time is now

by Will Brendza

D

riving high is illegal, no matter what state you’re

(or accident) is still a complicated proposition—for a number of reasons. Chief among them is the simple fact that THC affects almost every single user differently.

“Unlike with alcohol, there is not a linear relationship between cannabis in someone’s system and impairment,” cannabis breathalyzer company, says.

Different people have different tolerance levels based on their frequency of use, she explains, and cannabis is metabolized either very rapidly or very slowly depending on how it’s consumed. Traces of THC can stay stored in fat and hair for weeks, and it can show up in blood samples days after consumption—even though the actual high only lasts a few hours.

“In many states, employees have the legal right to use recreational cannabis,” Lynn says. “Someone could smoke at a barbecue on a Saturday, and risk testing positive [for THC in their blood] on Monday morning.” And their urine and hair would test positive for weeks.

Lynn, along with her partner Dr. Mike Lynn, believe they may have developed a solution to that problem, though. The new Hound Labs cannabis breathalyzer, which is commercially launching next year, is as sensitive as a dog’s nose, she says; and it only detects cannabis on a person’s breath, within the impairment window of three to four hours.

“The technology we created is one billion times more sensitive than an alcohol breathalyzer,” Lynn says.

However, Marilyn Huestis, a toxicologist and adjunct ventive Medicine at University of Maryland, doesn’t buy it.

She hasn’t seen Hound Labs’ research, but she asserts

38

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that chronic users can actually retain THC in their tal abstinence, and can still exhibit cognitive impairment for up to three weeks.

“We’ve proven that,” Huestis claims.

She describes one

quent cannabis users were kept in her “closed research unit” and deprived of weed for a full 30 days. Some of the study subjects left, she says, because they started “going into cannabis withdrawal.”

Those who stayed had their hair, blood, urine, sweat, cognitive function, psychomotor performance, and more tested regularly for the month. Over which time, Huestis says, cannabis never left their system.

“When we did this work on chronic frequent cannabis users, I could still measure THC in low levels in the blood . . . 30 days after last use,” she says. “I want to be frank, I was surprised.”

In the same study, they tested “critical tracking” and “divided attention”—two areas “that are very important for driving performance,” Huestis says. “We showed users . . . at one week, two weeks, and three weeks after last access to the drug.”

Does that mean cannabis users should avoid driving for three weeks after each use?

But the Lynns, of Hound Labs, say that we do. They claim to have developed a cannabis breathalyzer that can detect picograms (measured in the parts per trillion) of tell you how high a person is, it will tell you if they’ve used cannabis in the last few hours, and how many nanograms of THC are still on their breath. This development could ing high is a serious crime but there is no reliable method for testing. able and consistent way,” Lynn says.

She explains that in order to determine if a person is nology to determine when the person might have used it. Because THC degrades so quickly on the breath, and because it appears in such tiny amounts, Hound Labs breath.

“We have done over a thousand tests with humans nology based on the results,” she says. When someone breathes into one of their breathalyzers, the breath is directed into two separate chambers: one that produces an immediate result, and another that can be saved for evidentiary purposes.” “[Hound Labs] has been saying for more than a year that they have a product ready to go,” Huestis says.

“What we scientists say is, ‘Great. Show us the data.

nal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. The analysis, titled “Determining the magnitude and duration of acute

window of detection?’”

Lynn simply points to a study published in Clinical Chemistry, titled “Correlation of Breath and Blood

review,” concluded that the window of impairment for THC is somewhere between three and 10 hours.

Kinetics Following Controlled Administration of Smoked Cannabis.”

That study—which used the Hound Labs breathalyzer device in their experiments—concludes: “THC can be reliably detected throughout the

aspects of driving performance and demonstrate that the magnitude and duration of this impairment depends on the dose provided, route of administration and frequency with which cannabis is used,” the study determined. lieve that we have any “window of detection that matches closely with the window of impairment.”

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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