City Weekly November 2, 2023

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UTAH' S INDEPENDENT NE WSPAPER

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Insiders look back on the 20-year evolution of Mormon cinema.

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CONTENTS

Cover Story

MORMONWOOD MAGIC Insiders look back on the 20-year evolution of Mormon cinema.

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By Nathan Smith Jones Cover design

by Sofia Cifuentes

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Seek First to Understand

Two books that I have read recently have helped me to examine my own intolerance. The first was Madeleine Albright’s The Mighty and the Almighty.

Drawing on her own extraordinary personal history and her broad international experience, Albright cautions that people with deeply held religious beliefs will not change them simply because an outsider tells them that they

are misguided. Instead, you have to take people as they are and seek to change them (if you feel you have to) by quiet reason and your personal example.

An example: After 9/11 and the global horror at what had happened, there was every chance of an international alliance to root out al-Qaida terrorism. But then, one of Bush’s speechwriters coined “the axis of evil,” and the potential alliance crumbled. The U.S. was once again portrayed as Islamophobic and bent on global domination— an egregious error with long-term consequences, and quite unnecessary.

The second book, which is probably far more contentious, was The 1619 Project. This is a series of scholarly essays examining the past 300 years of U.S. history from a Black perspective—and the portrait

is horrendous! The authors conclude that, in a nation founded by slaveholders, the resulting distortions have persisted in one form or another to the present day.

I am not a historian and cannot judge whether their conclusions are totally accurate (although they seem well-founded). What is important is that this may be a narrative with which a significant proportion of the population would agree (and which will probably be banned in Utah’s schools and libraries as encouraging the study of “critical race theory”).

Not everyone in Utah has a heroic “origin story” bound up with pushing handcarts across the plains.

But many may have come here with their own remarkable stories, which should receive equal respect.

So please, engage with your neighbors. And if possible engage

with them in person, not by tweets, likes or emojis. This wonderful city is full of interesting individuals, not stereotypes.

Since I retired here 20 years ago, I have heard a lot about the “Utah way.” Unfortunately, some of it seems to reflect the polarized divisiveness that is tearing the country apart, which may increase as tensions and the threat of wars in Ukraine and Palestine mount.

It is unlikely that the state will lose its Republican and Latter-day Saint dominance any time soon, but perhaps we could learn to “agree to disagree” and respect each other’s views a little more?

RICHARD MIDDLETON

Salt Lake City Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern? Write to comments@ cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!

THE WATER

COOLER Which bygone Utah restaurant do you most miss?

Pete Saltas

Aristo’s. The patio vibes combined with a frappe and an octopus appetizer was top notch.

Christa Zaro

Baci Trattoria!

Katharine Biele

Cinegrill—hands down. A victim of downtown growth, stupid parking meter laws and, finally, ridiculous liquor laws.

Cody Winget Big City Soup

Eric Granato Bill & Nada’s

Benjamin Wood

The Bay Leaf on Main! The hole it left in our late-night weekend food scene has yet to be properly filled.

Kelly Boyce

The J Dawgs on Main Street. Was always a solid lunch option for me.

Paula Saltas

Lamb’s Grill. It was like Cheers where everyone knew your name. Plus, their daily specials couldn’t be beat.

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Blame the Logs

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y grandmother was born in a log cabin in 1899 in Dry Fork, Utah. I was last there maybe 15 years ago or so, and the cabin was still standing.

Dry Fork is an area just up from Vernal. Besides being known as among the ancestral homes of my great-great grandfather and Mormon Battalion member Matthew Caldwell, it is also known for some very nice and well-preserved petroglyphs at the McConkie Ranch. I’ve been there, too, and yes, way cool.

I’ve mentioned all of these little facts in prior columns, in part to see who among the readers might also know of Dry Fork or of the petroglyphs. For others, we find out that although we’re on different political fences today, we were grazing the same grass in years past. Matthew Caldwell had five wives (making it entirely possible that the folks producing Five Wives Vodka at Ogden’s Own Distillery gained inspiration for the name via my family), and he left scads of offspring.

A fair number of them have reached out to me over the years, at times to 100 percent verify that’s it’s possible a “saint”—such as my great-grandfather is decreed—might be liable to some degree of DNA for a “sinner” such as me, so described on the single predicate that I am not a Saint.

Well, Caldwell boys and their cousins rambled with Butch and Sundance all over eastern and central Utah so, yeah, it’s entirely reasonable that not all “saints” are created equally.

And with all else going on in the world—people killing each other all over the globe—it seems best to nary quibble about who qualifies as a saint and who does not.

Thirteen years prior to my grandmother’s birth, in Gavalo-

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hori, Crete, the man who would later become her husband was born. I’ve visited his Cretan village a number of times and have eaten in the home he lived in for his first 20 years, leaving Crete for Utah in 1906. The home looks to me to be a sound structure, constructed of some combination of stone and mortar. I’m not sure if it could withstand a strong earthquake, both floors at least, and I do pray I never find out.

When my grandmother was born, Utah had barely been settled (stolen?) and was only three years into U.S. statehood. Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean Sea, Crete was over 200 years into its fight for freedom against the Ottoman Turks, who took control of Crete in 1669. Another 200 years before that, the rest of Greece had already fallen, which begat a 400-year war of resistance by the Greeks against the Ottoman occupation.

That’s what I always think about when I visit Greece, where I spent this past September. When Greece fell to the Ottomans, Christopher Columbus was yet to sail the ocean blue to leave his germs on you know who. The Minoan civilization on Crete dates back 4,000 years and in Gavalohori itself there remains Roman-era wells and Venetian architecture. Meanwhile, it wasn’t that long ago that my Utah relatives were born into log homes.

We Americans are mere pups when it comes to the world stage. Too many Americans, however, can’t find Crete on the map, nor even care to know where it is.

It’s not important to know geography or world history these days, I suppose. As Exhibit A, I submit former President Donald Trump, who on plural occasions was challenged by world maps or historical events. It is also true that many Cretans or Greeks can’t find Utah on a world map, so maybe they don’t do a bang-up job on world history, either.

I kinda doubt that a dumb Greek could ever rise to the

presidency of that country, however. Yet, at every level of American governance, I look around and find another dumb politician. Not all politicians are dumb—some are also conniving liars and opportunists. And but for the grace of whatever God or symbol you worship, a good many American politicians are fine, quality people, men and women who work for all of us and for our greater good.

But they seem to be rare, don’t they? I must be guilty of wearing my own rose-colored glasses, because it was only recently that I looked around to discover that the number of dumber and meaner politicians has at least quadrupled these past few decades. Somehow, we quit electing men and women predicated on the notion that they would work together on our behalf. We’re getting worse at elections.

Blame it on tribal politics. Blame it on one-hit wonders in Congress who come for the attention and go for the dough.

Blame it on the weather. Blame it on a populace that continues to slide downward on the scales of basic education.

But at some point there must be a reckoning that we are not the only people in the world with an exalted sense of what it means to be free, what it really means to fight for it—in this country and elsewhere.

Blame it on yourself for voting to elect the likes of Mike Lee, who as @basedmikelee spends more time being smartass against people with 20 followers than he does acting on behalf of his constituency on real matters.

Blame it on log cabins and the people, like me, who are just one generation removed from them. Or also blame it on immigrants and the people like me, who are just one generation removed from that as well. But, by all means, find someone or something to blame. That’s the new code. CW Send comments to john@cityweekly.net

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HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE |

@kathybiele

BY BRYANT HEATH

MISS: Underclassed Man

Before spouting off, state Rep. Trevor Lee might have considered actually reading the entire Deseret News article. Instead, the first-term Republican from Layton decided to evoke a favorite GOP dog whistle on political correctness. It was all about saving the terms “King” and “Queen” in homecoming ceremonies. Yes, it was. “Politically correct intellectual vacuity and the cultural Marxist war on the language marches on. This cannot go on forever. A point at which the bough breaks and down comes the woke baby will eventually be reached, the only question being just how ugly it’s going to get prior to that eventuality,” he said.

The truth is more about inclusion and awareness. “The ritual has been evolving for several decades out of a desire to get beyond the stereotypical selection of the most beautiful and popular students, and to recognize different types of achievement,” the News reported. No doubt Lee has lifelong regrets for not being named Homecoming King.

HIT: C is for Cracking

Common Cause no longer has a presence in Utah, but they’re still making an impression. The watchdog group just released national grades on redistricting, and the big surprise was that Utah earned a “C” instead of an “F.” If you know anything about how the Legislature gerrymanders your vote away through packing and cracking, then you might wonder. The people of Utah passed an initiative to create an independent redistricting commission to draw up fair voting districts.

The commission worked well and the public responded. Then the Legislature repealed the law and drew its own very rural and very Republican districts behind closed doors. It chopped up any glint of hope that urbanites and liberals might have a voice. So why is that a “C”? Maybe because good government groups are suing the Legislature, or maybe the state just got a good effort, participation award.

MISS: With Friends Like These Utahns continue to curiously support an attorney general who, despite a decade of interactions with anti-human trafficking activist Tim Ballard, denies knowing anything about the troubling sexual assault allegations against the man. For weeks, Utah A.G. Sean Reyes tried awkwardly to avoid questions from KUTV 2News about Operation Underground Railroad (OUR)—until he couldn’t. Then his answer was, gee, he just didn’t know about any of the bad stuff. The Salt Lake Tribune has since detailed many “mission partners” who claim they’ve never heard from Reyes’ Liberate All Value All nonprofit, even though they are named on its website.

As Utahns know, Reyes spends much of his time joining Utah to national partisan causes alongside his GOP counterparts. Some Utah legislators—and perhaps the governor himself—appear to be growing tired of Reyes. But because they can’t trust the Republican Party to police its own, lawmakers may try to change the law to appoint rather than elect the attorney general.

The view from atop the City & County Building in downtown SLC.

Time Flies W

BRYANT HEATH

salt lake

hether it was eating delicious food at the Living Traditions Festival, crossing the finish line at the SLC Marathon or regularly visiting the downtown library, I’ve been around the Salt Lake City & County Building more times than I can count. But, surprisingly, I’d never actually stepped foot inside of it.

That changed recently when I was asked to explore the building—from the offices to the attic spaces and everything in between—with none other than one of its current tenants, Mayor Erin Mendenhall, serving as my esteemed tour guide.

It was fascinating to hear her highlight interesting points about the building’s illustrious history that even a relatively old Salt Lake City transplant like myself was not aware of: The dueling constructions between it and the Salt Lake Temple; the few decades when it served as the Utah State Capitol; and the coincidental completion of seismic upgrades prior to the 2020 earthquake that likely spared it from significant damage.

But of all the history I learned from Mendenhall, the most surprising was how close the building came to demolition in the 1980s. Looking at old newspaper clippings from the time, the air was relatively contentious. Ultimately, by a razor thin margin, restoration (and its $30 million price tag) won out and, as they say, the rest is history.

Yes, some of the décor is dated and the interior is marked with a centuryplus of use, but the air of importance is undeniable. Portraits of past mayors— stretching all the way back to the city’s first, Jedediah Grant—don the corridors of the upper-level offices. Ornate chandeliers, period-specific restored furniture and an oversize painting of Brigham Young can be found in the formal council meeting room, making visitors feel like they opened up a time capsule to the city’s founding era when they walk through the doors.

But by far the best part of the tour was climbing up the M.C. Escheresque stairways to the building’s two observation decks: one at the roofline where you can see up close the newly designed city and state flags waving beautifully in the breeze; the other just below the majestic statue of Columbia at the apex of the building.

From these historic perches, the rising of the Astra and Worthington towers nearby—a 21st century analog to the construction race between the temple and City Hall—can be seen. You can’t help but get a strong sense of not only where we’ve been as a city, but where we’re going. CW

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TRUE TV The Worst TV Spinoffs Ever TV sequel shows are a great idea—except when they aren’t.

BY BILL FROST comments@cityweekly.net

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The cast of CSI: Cyber normal format in season 2, taking on sea monsters, vampires and parallel universes. How could a Baywatch spinoff with no beach babes possibly fail?

The Golden Palace (1992; Hulu): Golden Girls Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan) and Sophia (Estelle Getty) buy a Miami hotel (conveniently named The Golden Palace), only to find that it’s financially in the red and only has two employees (Don Cheadle and Cheech Marin).

If you’re wondering “How does The Golden Girls work without Bea Arthur’s Dorothy?,” the answer is that it didn’t. The Golden Palace was quickly canceled, but eventually paved the way for the animated Golden Girls 3033 (yes, it’s real).

Living Dolls (1989; YouTube): Wildly popular 1980s sitcom Who’s the Boss? had a spinoff you’ve never heard of, starring Halle Berry and Leah Remini—how is that possible? First, the backdoor-piloted Living Dolls had nothing to do with Who’s

the Boss aside from a couple of guest appearances by Alyssa Milano. Second, Berry (5’5”) and Remini (5’3”) played aspiring models, which requires a suspension of height disbelief on the level of buying a beach lifeguard moonlighting as a detective/alien hunter.

Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–1988; YouTube): Of all the actors to spin off into their own series from the celebrated cop show Hill Street Blues, future Deadwood creator David Milch went with Dennis Franz.

Sure, Franz went on to greatness as Sipowicz on NYPD Blue in the ’90s, but handing him a headlining gig was Milch’s lousiest notion prior to John From Cincinnati (I see you, TV nerds—stand down). Beverly Hills Buntz managed to be both an unfunny comedy and an unexciting cop drama, which is a hell of a trick.

Three’s a Crowd (1984; Pluto TV, Tubi): After eight seasons of Three’s Company, ABC decided that Jack Tripper (John Ritter)

CBS

hile there are plenty of TV spinoff series that have worked—like the new Gen V from The Boys, Better Caul Saul from Breaking Bad, Gutfeld! From Mein Kampf, etc.—not every show is worthy of a 2.0 knockoff. For every Frasier, there’s, well, Frasier 2023. Here are a few of the most embarrassing continuations in TV history, most of which are barely streamable (and with just cause).

CSI: Cyber (2015–2016; YouTube): The unnecessary 2021 CSI: Vegas reboot is spared from being the worst series of the forensics franchise thanks to the existence of CSI: Cyber. The two-season series is almost impossible to find, with good reason: it’s more tech-challenged than your grandparents with a new universal remote. FBI psychologist Avery Ryan (Patricia Arquette) leads a team of hackers who bust cyber-criminals who commit atrocities like … setting wifi-connected printers on fire. Two seasons, huh?

Baywatch Nights (1995–1998; YouTube): Lifeguard Mitch Buchanan (David Hasselhoff) joins up with Baywatch cop Garner Ellerbee (Gregory Allen Williams) to start a private detective agency with an office above Lou Rawls’ nightclub. No cocaine was involved with that TV studio pitch, not at all. Even dumber, Baywatch Nights switched to an X-Files-esque para-

could carry his own show. The cleverlytitled Three’s a Crowd gave Jack a girlfriend (Mary Cadorette) and her disapproving rich father (Robert Mandan) … and that’s it. The network even turned down Three’s Company expat Suzanne Somers’ offer to play Jack’s girlfriend in the spinoff—that show would have been a hit. Even better, they could have played private detectives!

Genius.

Archie Bunker’s Place (1979–1983; YouTube): Around the ninth season of All in the Family in 1978, star Jean Stapleton and show creator Norman Lear wanted to end the series because they thought it was creatively spent. CBS countered with, “But, money!” Carroll O’Connor relented and agreed to soldier on with Archie Bunker’s Place, wherein he ran his own bar in Queens and continued to spout his patented rage and TV-friendly racism. Thankfully, Old White Guy Grievance Syndrome was totally cured in the ’80s. CW

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Maria Bamford

ROBYN VON SWANK

Sometimes, a reference to a performer’s “comedic voice” has to do with their unique perspective and sensibility; occasionally, it refers to the literal sound of their voice. In the case of veteran comedian Maria Bamford, however, it’s fair to say it means both: the topics and style of her comedy are uniquely her own, and she delivers them with the skills of a gifted vocal performer.

That combination was probably offered in its most distilled form in the sadly-short-lived Netflix series Lady Dynamite, a semi-autobiographical series in which the same-named character played by Bamford deals with trying to rebuild her show-biz career after taking an extended sabbatical for mental-health treatment. It’s a subject she’s never been shy about bringing to her standup comedy act as well, as she did in a Comedy Central special when describing her psychiatric ward intake interview in a way that also conveys her distinctive sense for self-deprecation. When she describes telling the psychiatrist about her occupation, and he subsequently searches for her on YouTube, he explains that he has done it to make sure that she was who she said she was, and wasn’t experiencing a “grandiose delusion.” “It’s not like I said I was Richard Pryor,” Bamford continues.

“And if I had claimed to be one of the best comedians of this past century—and a Black man, and deceased, at that--… well, how wonderful would that have been.”

Maria Bamford visits Wiseguys Gateway location (190 S. 400 West) on Thursday, Nov. 2 for two shows, at 6:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $35; visit wiseguyscomedy.com to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

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Pygmalion Theatre Company: The Half-Life of Marie Curie Since its inception, Pygmalion Theatre Company has centered stories about women, and often about historical women.

That’s part of why Lauren Gunderson’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie—following the friendship between the Nobel Prizewinning scientist and engineer Hertha Ayrton circa 1912, as Curie deals with the scandalous fallout of her extramarital affair—grabbed director Fran Pruyn. “It astounds me sometimes how little people know about history,” Pruyn says. “These monumental accomplishments sometimes just get buried in pop culture. And it’s so great to celebrate the accomplishments of tremendous scientists, who happen to be women, at a time when it wasn’t easy.”

This production also offered a chance for Pruyn to work with two local actors—Stephanie Howell as Marie Curie, and April Fossen as Hertha Ayrton—she considered perfect for the roles. “Stephanie’s not only an incredible actor, [but] she’s physically perfect. She’s so small, and there are a lot of references to Marie not being healthy, because she’s carrying radium around in her body all the time. … One of the under-utilized things about April is that she’s very funny. She [often] plays huge roles that are very serious, but she can land the timing of a joke. … I’d like to think that I direct collaboratively, but it’s more thrilling to direct so collaboratively with two experienced, thoughtful actors.”

The Half-Life of Marie Curie runs Nov. 3 – 18 at the Rose Wagner Center Black Box Theatre, with performances Thursday – Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $22.50; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

TK

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Ballet West: Firebird

While ballet programming often focuses on classic works—like the William Christensen choreography of Stravinsky’s Firebird and George Balanchine’s patriotic celebration of Sousa music in Stars and Stripes that are part of this month’s Ballet West program—it’s still a discipline that celebrates new work as well. Ballet West makes its case with the world-premiere Fever Dream by former company demi-soloist Joshua Whitehead (pictured, center).

Whitehead describes the piece as a sequel of sorts to his 2023 production Whispers of the Sandman, with the same protagonist confronting subconscious fears and desires. And Whitehead serves not just as choreographer for Fever Dream, but also as its composer. That process was an active one throughout the staging of the piece, according to Whitehead: “I had an idea or a theme of music for the very opening of the piece, but then that changed after watching the dancer’s movement. For the duet specifically, I allowed the steps and hand motions to dictate the tempo and rhythm of the music.”

White head also noted that the transition from dancer to choreographer involves working different creative muscles. “A choreographer must also develop skills beyond just the physical execution of steps,” he says “They must acquire a deeper understanding of dance composition, musicality, staging and overall artistic direction.”

Ballet West’s program of Fever Dream, Firebird and Stars and Stripes runs Nov. 3 – 11 at the Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South), with performances Nov. 3, 4, 9 and 11 at 7:30 p.m., plus a 2 p.m. Nov. 11 matinee. Tickets begin at $29; visit arttix.org for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

BEAU PEARSON

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SKI OR SNOWBOARD TUNE-UPS

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BY NATHAN SMITH JONES | comments@cityweekly.net

In the Beginning Did the Mormon cinema era occur due to a movie that just happened to break out for an LDS audience?

Dutcher says it was no accident.

“It was absolutely intentional,” he said. “And I had zero doubts that it was gonna take off.”

For the Latter-Day Saint Christian faithful, it was a pleasant surprise to see a movie in theaters telling a decidedly LDS story. To budding LDS filmmakers, it was an absolute revelation.

“I remember seeing a poster for God’s Army hanging up in Jordan Commons,” recalls Daryn Tufts (My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend). “I was shocked to see a movie poster with LDS missionaries on it. It was shocking to see that in the real world. And then I found out it wasn’t a studio film. It was an independent

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of Queer and African-American cinema had achieved during the previous decade. After evangelizing this vision for roughly the same amount of time, a young LDS elder serves a mission, he realized it in the form of his marquee drama, the story of a Mormon missionary in Los Angeles.

Think of it as a spiritual version of what Charlie Sheen’s character endured in Platoon (1986), only funnier. What followed was such a surge of LDS-themed movies in such a short amount of time that—as a comedian at the time— I thought it was ripe for parody in my own film The Work and The Story, which was released in 2003.

Because it’s been 20 years since my movie reached Northern Utah cinemas, I wanted to look at this fun, exhilarating and strange moment in Latter-day Saint cultural history—its beginnings, its behind-the-scenes drama of the middling years and its evolution since then. To do this, I interviewed four filmmakers who were also there:

movie that somebody made. And so I knew I wanted to find out more about it and try to support it.”

Garrett Batty (The Saratov Approach) also remembered the moment well. “Richard Dutcher’s God’s Army … helped me make the realization that for the right budget and the right tone of film, these [movies] could do very well.”

What attracted Batty to LDS cinema was not a love of cinema and lifelong dream to direct and make his own films. What drew him specifically to LDS Christian cinema was that “within this genre,” he said, “we had a very active and receptive audience and sort of the full resources for writing, producing, directing and releasing films that could be profitable.”

Dutcher remembers when the vision that led to God’s Army struck him. He had been living in Los Angeles and one day, on his apartment’s little patio—barbecuing hamburgers on a small grill as he read the Los Angeles Times’ film reviews—he wondered, why can’t Mormons have their own films?

Dutcher said he recalled an article he had read in which former LDS church leader Spencer W. Kimball asked of Mormonism: Where are our Shakespeares?”

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Sounds dramatic, no? Well, that’s almost as dramatic as the LDS faithful and budding LDS filmmakers saw Mormon cinema when the first LDS-Christian stories began showing up at the same movie houses where Latter-day Saints watched standard Hollywood fare.

If someone were to ask me how I know this, I’d reply with overthe-top drama: “I was there!” I was living in Los Angeles at the time, one of many hopefuls seeking fame and fortune with movie star and screenwriter dreams.

Like many of us in the Los Angeles First Ward (a “singles ward” or young adult congregation), I was inspired by Richard Dutcher’s film God’s Army (2000).

Yet to call us “inspired” is akin to saying Leonardo da Vinci was a guy who could draw well. Every LDS ward—especially in Los Angeles— was buzzing about it.

Richard Dutcher had a vision in the late 1990s that LDS stories could find a cinematic home, just as those

Garret Batty (The Saratov Approach, 2013; Freetown, 2015; Out of Liberty, 2019), John Moyer (The Singles Ward, 2002; Mobsters & Mormons, 2004), Daryn Tufts (My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, 2010; We Love You, Sally Carmichael, 2017) and Richard Dutcher (God’s Army, 2000; States of Grace, 2005).

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A

nd it came to pass that yea, verily, the earth cooled. And then the dinosaurs roamed, and then America was “discovered.” And then yes, the colonies broke away from England and lots of other stuff, and then The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began in 1830. And then yes, lots of other stuff, and then … Mormon cinema dawned in the year of our Lord 2000.

c i g Ma

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Insiders look back on the 20-year evolution of Mormon cinema.

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“It’s like every other community has their own films.

And it just hit me like a freight train,” Dutcher said. “And then my mind just started clicking.”

Richard Dutcher was Mormon cinema’s Joseph Smith and Steven Spielberg all rolled into one, and we—those interested in a career in film—were his apostles, whether or not any of us would have characterized it that way at the time.

To us, we were not only chasing our dreams. As Dutcher stated, we were fulfilling President Kimball’s prophecy and petition that we as a people have our Shakespeares and Tolstoys, our Truffauts and Tarkovskys—artists who could tell our stories truthfully.

In the Middling …

The stories about the making of the films that flooded this brand new LDS movie market were great stories unto themselves, and their cultural reaction only underscored how many different “types” of Mormons there always have been. The challenge of finding money and the pain of independent filmmaking is common to every filmmaker— Mormon or not—including my experience making my own movie, the first Mormon “mockumentary” (cue the momentous-sounding French horns).

And it makes sense that once a movement gets big enough, the personalities involved can also get big enough that conflict and drama is inevitable.

I’d been trying to break into comedy in LA since 1998. It took more than a year for the seed of Dutcher’s film to blossom in my head as the notion to make my own film, but I found myself thinking about what story I could tell.

One day, when visiting a self-important acquaintance I’d known at the University of Utah on the set of his lowbudget vampire film, I was struck by how many people were helping with his “vision.” He kept using the word “vision,” and his small gaggle of volunteers with a beatific, cultish

Freetown (2015) gleam in their eyes also kept talking about his “vision.” I tried not to laugh in his face. It wasn’t easy.

Suddenly, the main character of my movie (Peter, who I play) was forming in my head. I knew I could make my own Spinal Tap or Waiting for Guffman, but focused on LDS filmmakers. Soon, I had my own vision (there’s that word again) that I could spoof small town, small-budget filmmaking by way of Mormon cinema and poke fun at LDS self-seriousness through a comedic faux-documentary, a la The Office.

I wrote the screenplay, but I would say what ended up on film was half of what I wrote. The other half was donated by the funniest guys in Utah (Quinton Casperson, Scott Christopher, Kirby Heybourne, Christopher R. Miller, Andrew Munoz and even Dutcher himself, to name a few).

I cold called Dutcher and introduced myself. He was pleasant and accessible, but it took a while to convince him to play himself in my movie, as he shot down every idea I had for the main plot.

Finally, after weeks, I sat down in his office, and said with resigned numbness, “Maybe you’ll hate this one, too, but what if you’re missing and presumed dead, and there’s a race to replace you as the next ‘Mormon Spielberg.’”

Dutcher gave a reserved smile. He liked it.

Production wasn’t absolutely smooth sailing (is it ever?), but the critics loved Richard’s willingness to have fun with the genre/movement, and his place in it.

Some gave me advice that I go straight to video, but I discounted it, because in my mind, an LDS film goes to theaters—period. Sadly, I found out too late that making Mormon cinema’s first mockumentary was not the most lucrative of choices.

I started to get the sinking feeling at the premiere that despite all my efforts, despite the debt I was in, this movie would underperform. And underperform it did. It opened on five screens in Utah with a box office gross of $2,200. I was crushed.

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The Saratov Approach (2013)

Out of Liberty (2019)

The Singles Ward (2002)

The Arizona critics (in 2004) liked my movie a lot more than the Utah critics. At least Scott Renshaw at City Weekly gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars (thank you again, Scott). And Eric D. Snider of the Provo Herald referred to my movie’s egg scene as “nearly genius.” It gained a small cult following on video.

Off-screen Drama

I had called Richard Dutcher out on some of his words and actions between 2003 and 2006, assuming we had become friends since he’d been in my movie. I was wrong, so I backed off. Luckily, we buried the proverbial hatchet (and AR-15s) a few years later.

However, the biggest drama in my opinion was between the person who created the first successful Mormon drama vs. those who created the first successful Mormon romantic comedy.

Because Dutcher had started this movement of popular LDS movies shown theatrically, Kurt Hale (director of The Singles Ward) had asked Dutcher to give his crew feedback not only on the script, but on the rough cut of the film as well. “I took it seriously,” Dutcher said, “writing all these notes.”

Dutcher said he flagged a number of potential problems he saw and suggested a few days of reshooting for the benefit of the film. When he watched the finished film later, none of his advice had been heeded.

Dutcher was angry and spoke to the film’s producer, asking why the team had ignored his advice. The man’s response, Dutcher said, is burned into his brain.

“I would swear before God that he said this—he said, ‘Richard, we could crap on a paper plate, and the audience would eat it up.’” Dutcher said. “And I was so offended by that … my jaw just hit the floor.”

When the movie made money, Dutcher had at first kept his true feelings about the general quality of Singles Ward to

Mobsters & Mormons (2005)

Mormon cinema has drastically changed because both Mormons and cinema have drastically changed.

All four of the filmmakers I spoke to mentioned the differences in how LDS films are both perceived and the forms

Asked what he thought about Tufts’ assertion that LDS cinema hasn’t disappeared, Dutcher questioned where these supposed films are that deeply investigate the Latterday Saint experience.

“Show me a movie from the Mormon community that delves deeply into faith, and I’d be happy to agree,” Dutcher said. “But I haven’t seen it.”

And yet, perhaps the most glaring evidence to the assertion that LDS cinema has indeed evolved in complex ways lies in Dutcher’s current film project—the true story of an LDS missionary who converts to evangelical Christianity while on his mission. In Dutcher’s mind, the movie (called Jesus Is Enough) puts him back on track to exploring faith through film.

“This is the first time since God’s Army that I’ve had a project that I just got the same feeling where it’s like: This is gonna work,” he said.

Dutcher acknowledged that the movie likely will be very controversial to LDS audiences. When asked about the faithful Latter-day Saints inspired by films like God’s Army, Dutcher said he hoped they’d recognize that he’s still asking the hard questions.

“They may think I’m off on the wrong track, but God is still the most important thing to me,” Dutcher said. “God and movies are still the most important thing.”

And when Richard said that he no longer has any “bitter” feelings toward his peer Mormon filmmakers like he did back in the day, it became clear that he also holds no bitter feelings toward Mormonism itself.

“It made me who I am,” Dutcher said.

Nathan Smith Jones is a doctor of media and education. A long time secondary English teacher, he also teaches at Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College. He has spent many years writing and producing films, novels and novellas. Find Jones’ work, including additional excerpts from his interviews with LDS Christian filmmakers, at nathansmithjones.com/lds

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Not an End, an Evolution …

they currently take. Some are more broadly faith-based, while some are specific to the LDS faith. Some go to theaters, most don’t. Some are about LDS people, some aren’t stories of LDS Christians at all—they’re simply stories that LDS filmmakers want to tell. And, as Moyer said, “we’re also competing with 14-year-olds making Tik Tok videos.”

As the entire film industry has changed in the past 20 years to this digital Brave New World, where grabbing eyeballs is the lifeblood of both Hollywood and Big Tech, so too have the sensibilities behind Mormon eyeballs.

“It’s a different church now,” Moyer said.

And he’s right—the church and its culture are different.

Church membership has declined, and even those who have clung tightly (and culturally) to the iron rod of the LDS faith are not homogenized.

Some Mormons have become more secular (30% openly admit to drinking coffee, something unheard of 20 or 30 years ago), while some faithful members have circled their wagons even tighter against Holly wood films and the perceived evils of the world.

And all along, the filmmakers have changed. Of the four interviewed, two—Batty and Tufts—still actively participate in the church, but all shared similar views of the status of Mormon cinema.

Garrett Batty unapologetically continues to make LDS “faith-based” films, believing that the demand for these films will increase once more. Tufts sees it as a spectrum, believing the sub-genre has simply (and complexly) evolved. “It never left,” Tufts says.

John Moyer remarked on the fickle nature of the LDS audience: the claims of what they want despite the reality of where they spend their entertainment money. Meanwhile, Dutcher himself laments the promise of what Mormon cinema might have been: An LDS dramatic arts renaissance wherein LDS films would push boundaries to explore Latter-day Saint lives, doctrines, histories and meanings, with the faithful lauding said artistic exploration.

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himself. But after his interaction with the producer, he “let loose,” posting a review of Singles Ward to an email group of roughly 60 people and tearing the movie apart.

“I made forever enemies. I was persona non grata to them,” Dutcher said. “It was so bad that, years later, I tried to apologize. I said, ‘I meant all those things, but I apologized for the way I said them.’ And he was just not having it at all.”

Dutcher emphasized that today, he has zero hard feelings toward any of the Mormon filmmakers.

“We were all younger, and we were trying to figure things out,” he said. “I don’t want to come across as angry or stir up old animosities that shouldn’t have happened in the first place … I have no bitterness toward any of that anymore. I have a little bit of bitterness about what happened to Mormon cinema—because it was so important to me, you know?—but yeah.”

Singles Ward writer John Moyer said recently that the film’s producer caught wind (through these interviews) that Dutcher had no hard feelings. He said the producer wanted to make it clear that “they gladly accept his apology.” Good to know that now, all is settled.

But there were other types of drama, according to Moyer, like one incident publicly shared by the producer of Singles Ward and other LDS films in which an investor called up irate after misunderstanding what he read about a film’s box office receipts in a national newspaper. “You had a guy calling up [the filmmakers], giving death threats if he doesn’t get his money,” Moyer said. “Stuff like that.”

My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (2010)

Richard Dutcher on the set of States of Grace (2005)

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God’s Army (2000)

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Rewind Volume 11: 1994 to 1995 years of

salt lake

CITY WEEKLY

BY WES LONG wlong@cityweekly.net

C

ulture wars and violent turmoil were recurring themes in the news of 1994 and 1995. Abortion clinics were targeted with terrorism, corporate backlashes against environmentalists proliferated and particularly nasty electoral campaigns were waged under the shadow of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh.

A militia movement brewed in Box Elder County, a nude painting was the center of controversy at the Anderson-Foothill Library, and the poor found themselves not wealthy enough to live in low-income housing. Coupled with stories on the 2002 Olympic bid and Lynn Packer’s ongoing series on the Deedee Corradini/Bonneville scandal, this made for a busy year.

But not all was gloom and despair. The South Downtown Alliance fought against Sinclair Oil’s push for a blight study, Food Not Bombs worked to feed the needy, and bisexual Utahns spoke of their fraught positions within gay and straight communities.

“When we go outside the perceived boundaries on occasion,” wrote then-editor Tom Walsh, “we hopefully gain your trust, because then you know we can’t be bought or told what to print.”

Remembering Vol. 11: In the ditch

“To the first-time visitor, the Utah Salt Flats are a brilliant, shimmering white blanket— so flat you can actually see the curve of the earth,” wrote Stacy Steck for the Sept. 14, 1994, issue.

Straddling Interstate 80 at the Utah-Nevada border, the Salt Flats had been host to annual races since the 1930s. But on Aug. 21, 1994, Steck reported, “a terse note at the end of the salt flats access road read simply, ‘Speed Week Canceled Due to Salt.’”

Racers and environmentalists blamed Reilly Industries Inc., a potash and magnesium outfit leasing land from the BLM. The company was responsible for hundreds of evaporation ditches stretching across the desert, extracting chemicals from brine water and discarding the dry salt.

“Between Mother Nature and the mining industry,” Steck observed, “nearly 1.5 mil-

lion tons of salt each year are eroded. An area once spanning 33,000 acres now covers only about 19,000 acres.”

The flats had already obtained landmark status and were designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. But in the absence of proactive monitoring, the deterioration was continuing.

While Reilly and the Save the Salt Foundation were in talks for a potential re-salinization project, the BLM was holding back on collaborating until a long-gestating study provided more answers. “This might be a story about achieving compromise,” concluded Steck, “but it’s a story without an ending. … Thus far, it’s the story of three factions, all with their own agendas, poised on the threshold of cooperation.”

In the years since, potash mining continues its work on the flats, the BLM has considered funding another study and “Speed Week” was again canceled in 2022.

In the ads

“Congratulations to all of us for surviving the Great Heat Wave Summer of ‘94,” declared an ad for Great Harvest Bread Co. on Aug. 31. For 71 days that summer, the area experienced temperatures above 90 degrees—including 21 days in triple-digits.

Appearing in the Oct. 12 issue was a notice for a televised debate between U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and his opponent Patrick Shea.

Moderated by columnist Jack Anderson (1922-2005), the debate was put on by the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, with Private Eye’s Tom Walsh taking a lead in organizing the event.

“Fax, drop-in, or mail the question you would ask either Orrin Hatch or Pat Shea,” the ad stated.

In a single quote

“You may not think you need a Dick Tracy decoder to figure out where your news comes from, but at times you do. Next time you read a story in the Tribune or Deseret News and find the phrase ‘local weekly tabloid,’ or any similar derisive and nonspecific attribution, it’s in all likelihood a

reference to the Private Eye Weekly. After all, we don’t exist, and they don’t like to give credit. As often as not though, even a negative disclaimer doesn’t appear, leaving the impression that those newshounds are really breaking all the news. They’re not.” (Best of Utah issue, March 2, 1995)

In the game

For the “Vibes ’95” insert of the April 27 issue, Ben Fulton found a uniquely tonguein-cheek manner to guide readers through the local music scene: a board game, titled “Don’t You Play Cover Tunes?”

“This game is a lot easier if you’d just give up your idealistic dream of being a rock star and stick to covers of ‘Louie, Louie,’ ‘Brown Eyed Girl,’ and ‘YMCA,’” Fulton warned.

The object of the game was to be the first original band to put Salt Lake City on the music map. Starting in the “rehearsal room hell” space, players rolled the dice hoping to land on a “Big Fat Lucky Break” and to avoid the “Original Sin” sections. The latter spaces could potentially send players back to the beginning and signified “no one short of your pet dog is interested in hearing ‘original’ music,” Fulton clarified.

The following are a sampling the spaces to land on through the course of the game: Space 2: “Band’s guitarist accidentally puts two effects pedals together to create something that sounds like a chainsaw and beehive. Everyone is inspired, and the band’s first song is born. Advance 3 squares.”

Space 3: “In order to buy a decent P.A. system, the entire band sells plasma for 4 months straight. Your bones are sore. Advance 2 squares.”

Space 15: “The band gets a write-up in SLUG. The article is written by a loser with a cryptic pseudonym, and like a fool, you take it seriously. No one cares, and besides, you’re not cool by their next issue. Not even the GRID will touch you now.”

Space 20: “Your national debut LP We’re a Utah Band and We Want to Die goes platinum, and you’re invited to play at Bob Dole’s inaugural Ball. Your left-wing friends hate you, but after band video airs on 120 Minutes, you’ll be richer than Jon Huntsman.”

In the world wide web

By the time of Bill Dunford’s cover story in the April 20, 1995, issue, that “electronic vine” called the internet was propagating a “tangle of trunks and branches linking a global community teeming with more than 25 million men, women and children.”

This new cyber ecosystem facilitated the exchange of research papers, viewing recent satellite photos or even taking a virtual tour of the White House. But there were other parts of the “electronic undergrowth” as easily accessible to visitors: Holocaust-denying bulletin boards; repositories for tasteless jokes; bomb-building instructions; and of course, pornography.

“For now,” Dunford wrote, “the electronic communication network is a relatively lawless frontier, full of openness, raucous debate and hyper-weirdness. ...

“What you can and can’t do in cyberspace is about to become the next conflagration in the culture wars.”

An estimated 25 million people were online in those days and yet, it remained in Dunford’s words, “dimly lit and chaotic.” There was no central control and no borders—qualities that its boosters never tired of extolling.

John Ellsworth, an investment broker who ran the Utah-based online bulletin board Lower Lights, noted the benefit of this form of communication, binding those of similar interests in an (ideally) lessjudgmental fashion: “Anyone can greatly expand his or her circle of friends.” But Lower Lights had also experienced other issues, such as flame wars, sexual harassment and stalking. “Yes, those things happen,” Ellsworth said.

The controversy over whether to censor cyberspace was already in full force. The people whom Dunford interviewed preferred a hands-off approach to “flamers and hate-mongers” of all stripes.

For his part, Dunford surveyed the terrain well when he observed that “the law is probably still some time away from being able to control the electronic jungles.

Whether or not it ever does, when you enter cyberspace, watch your step.”CW

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West Jordan’s V Burger adds Venezuelan flair to traditional burgers.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

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V BURGER 1669 W. 9000 South 801-347-3511 Instagram: @vburger.utah

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tra protein helping of your choice—think pollo asado, pernil or carne mechada.

When it arrives, it’s got some torta vibes, with the fillings already starting to drip over the side of the golden brown arepa that serves as its delivery system.

One bite makes you realize how truly vast the sandwich spectrum is. Sure, it looks like a sandwich you’ve perhaps had before, but when you get a hit of that crispy fried arepa with the salty mortadella and creamy mozzarella, your boundaries of what sandwiches can be start to get a little fuzzy.

The menu at V Burger is excellent, featuring plenty of traditional favorites with a burger roster that is absolutely killing it. I also appreciated the vibes here; it’s a fast casual spot for sure, but the owners like to get out and circulate among the diners to see how things are going. I know I’ve said this before, but the Venezuelan perspective on food is endlessly fascinating. Taking ideas as conceptually simple as a burger or sandwich and weaving them into such complex tapestries of flavors and textures is pure magic—and that’s what you get at V Burger. CW

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an arepa, you’ll understand where the foundation of the V Burger comes from.

It’s the sauce and mozzarella cheese, which combine to form a nice creamy contrast to the richness of the burger.

From a textural standpoint, the shoestring potatoes do a world of good; this is a burger with no shortage of creamy condiments, and those little crispy potatoes offer a perfect crunch that complements the whole experience.

When most of us get a hankering for a burger, we’re actually craving a very specific blend of rich, savory flavors with some kind of contrast—a freshly sliced tomato, some crunchy Fritos or some acidic pickles. The V Burger understands this craving from top to bottom, and it’s an absolute delight to eat. I will need to visit a few more times to make this official, but it might have just edged its way into my all-time top five local burgers list.

In addition to some traditional Venezuelan eats like stuffed arepas ($7.48) and cheesy corn cachapas ($9.98), V Burger also boasts a few different variations of tumbarrancho: the tradicional ($6.48) and the especial ($7.98). Its basic construction is similar to that of the arepa, though the crisp-yet-tender arepa is sliced in half to make extra space for the mortadella, mozzarella, cabbage, tomato and creamy house sauce. The especial includes an ex-

Burgers so good they’ll blow your mind!

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hile we’ve been so distracted by all these fried-chicken restaurants that have started popping up all over the valley, something interesting has been happening with our local burger culture: Culinary fusionists from Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina have started to apply their regional grilling chops to the humble hamburger, and they’ve created something quite special. My first foray into this brave new world was with Loco Burger, whose torta-style approach to burgers had my head spinning. So, I recently checked out V Burger to see how they do things in Venezuela.

I’ve already built up a healthy respect for all of the Venezuelan food that I’ve had the privilege of trying. There’s a reckless abandon to the composition of dishes like arepas and cachapas, but there’s also a note of chaotic brilliance—there’s much more to these dishes than a holy union of meats, cheeses and starch. Based on my meager experience with these Venezuelan classics, I was curious to see how that style would be interpreted as a burger.

V Burger has set up shop in the Asian City supermarket area of West Jordan—fun fact, I worked at the GameStop in that shopping center while I was in college. It’s a newlyrenovated space, and they’ve tricked the inside out with plenty of Venezuelan flair.

Though it’s a fast-casual concept, the menu is diverse enough that you’ll likely need a few minutes for perusal.

The great menu features a variety of traditional Venezuelan dishes, but you can’t go to V Burger without ordering the V Burger ($9.48), so let’s start there.

In size and dimension, it’s one of those burgers that lets you see each of its components stacked on top of one another—a tall boi, in other words. The lettuce, tomato and herbaceous house sauce chill on the bottom with a pile of fried shoestring potatoes. You’d think the flavors and textures of this layer would just blend together, but those crispy potatoes keep things interesting. On top of that is your burger, a lovely beef patty that has been grilled to perfection. It wears an appropriately thick disc of mozzarella cheese that melts luxuriously as you eat. The bun itself is fantastic—impossibly soft, yet manages to avoid getting soggy while keeping all this good stuff together.

If you’ve had the pleasure of enjoying

ALEX SPRINGER

W

Level Crossing Brewing Co., POST 550 So. 300 West #100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: Philly Fruit Bat

A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week

BEER + PIZZA = <3

SUN-THU: 11am - 10pm • FRI-SAT: 11am - 11pm

2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com On Tap: Midnight Especial- Dark Mexican Lager Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com On Tap: Festbier Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

TWO LOCATIONS 550 S. 300 W. SUITE 100 SLC 2496 S. WEST TEMPLE, SLC LEVELCROSSINGBREWING.COM @LEVELCROSSINGBREWING

Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale Chappell Brewing 2285 S Main Street, Salt Lake City, chappell.beer On Tap: Harvest - Fresh Hop Collaboration with TableX Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC craftbyproper.com On Tap: Purple Rain - Marionberry Helles

Desert Edge Brewery 273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com On Tap: La Playa-Mexican Style lager Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com On Tap: Festdevious, a fall celebration Fisher Brewing Co. 320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com On Tap: A rotation of up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com On Tap: Cask Nitro CO2 Helper Beer 159 N Main Street, Helper, UT helperbeer.com Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com On Tap: Hopkins IPA Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

24 | NOVEMBER 2, 2023

JUICY IPA 7.2%

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Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: In The Pines Nitro

FAMILY-FRIENDLY BREWPUB • BEER STORE OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

UTOGBrewing.com

2331 Grant Ave, Ogden

@UTOGBrewingCo

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com On Tap: Golden Sproket Wit Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com On Tap: RasPerry - Raspberry Cider honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Portions of proceeds to build awareness for BCAM Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/ On Tap: DOPO IPA Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com On Tap: Octoberfest Marzen Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com On Tap: Whispers from Krakatoa - Helles Lager with Habanero and Mango

Proper Burger: Sour Ranger Blackberry and Lemon Sour Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191 Moab, Utah 84532 On Tap: Angus McCloud- Scottish Ale Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com On Tap: Gypsy Scratch Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com On Tap: Munich Dunkel

Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Rosemary’s Bae-Bee. - 7.1% ABV

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek https://secondsummitcider.com On Tap: Pear Pink Peppercorn & Tarragon Cider Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Foggy Goggle, Winter Lager Live Music: Thursdays

Red Rock Kimball Junction Redrockbrewing.com 1640 Redstone Center On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

Shades On State 366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com On Tap: Hellion Blond Ale, an ode to Ellie, manager at Shades on State Karaoke: Wednesdays

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com On Tap: Tactical Fanny Pack Double Hazy IPA

Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com

Roosters Brewing Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com On Tap: Identity Crisis Session West Coast Hazy Cold IPA – the name says it all!

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Tap: Deep Dive Series - Rice Lager Draft Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com On Tap: Oktoberfest Vienna Lager

Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co. 147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/squatters On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co’s Bronze Age India Pale Lager Squatters and Wasatch Brewery 1763 So 300 West Utahbeers.com On Tap: Squatters & Kiitos Collab: Ginger Rye Lime Sour, 5% Stratford Proper 1588 Stratford Ave., SLC stratfordproper.com On Tap: Yacht Rock Juice Box Juicy IPA

Strap Tank Brewery, Lehi 3661 Outlet Pkwy, Lehi, UT Strap Tank Brewery, Springville 596 S 1750 W, Springville, UT StrapTankBrewery.com On Tap for both locations: Three on the Tree’ Hoppy Lager Collaboration with Proximity Malt and Roy Farms Hops.

TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Oktoberfest Märzen Lager Talisman Brewing Co. 1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Witches Brew Uinta Brewing 1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer UTOG 2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: Golden Grant 5% ABV. Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com Wasatch Brewery 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/wasatch On Tap: Wasatch Pumpkin Ale Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com Zolupez 205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

Br

ew i n g C o m

pa

@ HopkinsBrewingCo Tuesdays 7-9pm

1048 E 2100 S Sugar House JAZZ JAM Wednesdays 8-11pm

LIVE MUSIC Mon, Thurs, & Sat

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ns

.com ny

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NOVEMBER 2, 2023 | 25

roper - Hop Vs Hop (Simcoe-Comet): The beer poured a nearly crystal-clear, pale straw yellow color. A frothy, finger-tall, bright white crown topped the liquid and fell to a thin collar.

Streaky lacing trickled down the glass after the first few sips, and later turned into spotty dots.

The aroma was fruity and bright, and really transformed throughout the session. Tropical fruit notes dominated initially, with mango and papaya most apparent. Some juicy citrus came through as well—tangerine and clementine, perhaps, plus a bit of lemon peel. Then, as the beer sat, big herbal hop notes appeared and soon took over. Later, grapefruit was noticeable. By the beer’s end, the tropical fruit notes reappeared.

The flavor was also really hoppy and bright, with that big citrus presence featuring loads of juicy orange, tangerine and clementine. Some grassy hops were noticeable in the center, while orange peel appeared on the back end. There’s a good amount of sweetnes,s too. The beer finished with just a touch of rindlike pith and a subtle bitterness. Like the nose, grapefruit notes came forth later, intensifying by the session’s end; some pineapple and tart lemon notes were also apparent. You get a creamy, smooth mouthfeel, medium-bodied for the style. A larger-bubbled yet soft and subtle carbonation turned frothy, slick and smooth on the palate.

Verdict: Bright with Simcoe and Comet hops, this is an enjoyable 8.2 percent DIPA that combines bright citrus and ripe tropical fruit notes with a pleasant herbaceousness. Like all the beers in the Hop Vs Hop series, this one showcases

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P

ki

Two hops, two beers, too much happiness

a nice melding of both old-school and new-school aspects of the style.

TF - Zoigl Series (Pressure Drop): This “west coast-style Pilsner” is a collaboration with Pressure Drop Brewing out of London, England. It’s a malty West Coast-style lager made with North American Vista and New Zealand Motueka hops.

An unfiltered golden Pilsner, it has the typical look of a TF lager, with a huge, frothy head that has the staying power you’ve come to expect. The nose displays some of the most desirable elements of the hops involved, that much is certain. Motueka and Vista are two hops with very dissimilar parentage, yet they have some common aims in use, both in terms of aroma and flavor. Whatever it is, one thing’s for sure: This is a very nice smelling brew!

On the tongue, this has a lot of chewy, dank and grassy hoppiness, melding notes of light tropical fruit cocktail with some bright citrus and herbal elements. Pineapple-like intensity combines with lime, tangerine, passion fruit and mango. There’s kind of a chalkiness mid-palate that gets a bit indefinite here and there, but I really like the complex hop elements up front and in the finish. I don’t initially get much of the 6.7 percent ABV either, but as it warms, it starts to become a little bit more apparent. Mouthfeel is on the medium-heavy side, riding a dense wave of hoppy goodness until the end of each sip. I wish this were a little bit crisper, but it really does drink pretty nicely for its ABV, and it brings out the Motueka and Vista in a balanced, representative manner.

Verdict: TF has never really let me down with lagers, and this is one of the more un-lager-like lagers I’ve had in a while—a complete joy to drink. I hope lagers like this can make it more into the mainstream.

Both of these are damn fresh right now, and perfect for the autumn weather. Their citrus and herbaceous qualities make these highly drinkable and worth your time. As always, cheers! CW

Hop

MIKE RIEDEL

Double Trouble

MIKE RIEDEL

NERD

BEER

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26 | NOVEMBER 2, 2023

the

BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER |

@captainspringer

Cache Valley Creamery Showdown

Fans of local cheese and competitive cooking will want to check out the Cache Valley Creamery showdown this week. Hosted by Salt Lake Culinary Education (2233 S. 300 East), this cheesy competition brings local chefs together and challenges them to make a holiday-themed meal inspired by our favorite dairy product. Attendees will not only be privy to an epic culinary showdown, but they’ll also get cheese and charcuterie board, plenty of appetizers and the chance to taste the chefs’ dishes. On top of all this cheese-based awesomeness, all proceeds from the event will be donated to the Utah Food Bank. It’s happening on Nov. 2 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and tickets are available via EventBrite.

Citizens Bar Opens

The recently christened Citizens (33 S. 300 East, slccitizens.com) has officially transitioned from soft opening mode with a grand opening held last weekend. Citizens is the newest project from restaurateur Dave Morris, who also operates Piper Down and Ice Haus. Their current menu of craft cocktails includes some riffs on traditional favorites like the Citizens Old Fashioned—which features both bourbon and rye with a trifecta of citrusy bitters—and the basic bitch in me is pretty excited to try the Pumpkin Buttered Bourbon, as we have a few more weeks of pumpkin-spiced fall before we get into winter. Citizens also has a kitchen, so diners can definitely enjoy some tasty bites with their craft cocktails.

Matcha Cafe Kyoto Opens

I’ve been a bit slow to adopt the matcha trend; truth be told, I just don’t like how it tastes. But, upon scrolling through the Instagram feed of the recently-opened Matcha Cafe Kyoto (2223 S. Highland Drive, Ste. E5, Instagram: @matchacafecyoto), I might be ready to change my mind. For starters, this cozy dessert cafe works with the good stuff: organic, ceremonial grade matcha, to be exact.

Then they add the good stuff to soft serve, which admittedly has my attention. I’m also seeing that they offer soft serve made from the purple sweet potato known as ube, and that you can get a matcha/ube twist cone. It’s time to challenge my matcha baggage in the name of soft serve, friends.

Quote of the Week: “Cheese is the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth.” –Pierre Androuët

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coppercommon.com • 111 E. Broadway, Suite 190, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Open 7 days a week at 5pm. Sunday brunch from 10:30am-3:00pm

FILM

Callie Spaeny and Jacob Elordi in Priscilla

REVIEW American History 101

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

I

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events are there, and they’re all generally interesting. What’s missing is that ineffable thing that makes you so glad you watched this artist’s interpretation, rather than simply reading Priscilla’s memoir.

The film ends abruptly, if aptly, with Priscilla’s separation from Elvis in 1972, driving out of Graceland to find out what life on her own looks like. As she does so, we hear another slightly anachronistic song play: Dolly Parton’s original 1974 version of “I Will Always Love You.” It’s a bit surprisingly on-the-nose as an emotional underscore, but it also feels somehow indicative that Coppola reaches into the future for her song choice, but only by a couple of years. We’ve seen the evidence of how dynamic she can be when she reaches just a little bit farther. CW

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at hand, whether it’s feeling the eyes of others on her as her proximity to fame becomes known to schoolmates, or responding with confusion to Elvis’s insistence that they shouldn’t have intercourse. Coppola’s narrative arc is all about someone whose life never feels within her own control—from the requirements of her family to her treatment at the hands of Elvis, who often treats her like a dress-up doll when deciding on her clothes and even the color of her hair—and it would have been easy for that to result in a performance that feels too passive. Spaeny grasps how to make Priscilla both someone who feels unable to guide her own life and someone who clearly wants to.

Yet there is still the disappointment that Priscilla doesn’t unfold with more snap, more filmmaking personality. For every occasional flash of creativity—like a montage of Elvis and Priscilla spending days together in bed, marked only by the Graceland servants bringing and removing food trays— there’s a bit of tiptoeing around the edges of the story, like showing Elvis introducing Priscilla to pill-popping without ever really indicating any consequences. All of the key

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the same time 24-year-old Elvis was stationed there. To Coppola’s credit, she opts against what would have been a completely understandable contemporary perspective of making their initial encounter seem creepy and predatory, focusing instead on the perspective of a starstruck girl living out a fantasy. From there, however, the narrative mostly moves at a fairly deliberate pace through key bullet points in the evolution of their relationship: a long-distance phase once Elvis moves back to the states; her eventual relocation to Memphis while still in high school; the early, happier days of their marriage; the gradual disintegration of that marriage through rumored affairs with his movie co-stars and his increasing drug use at the dawn of his Vegas years.

Priscilla does always center Priscilla, though, and that’s what allows the filmmaker to find the strongest material in her lead actor. Spaeny turns in quite a remarkable physical performance, capturing the way a young teenager would have responded to this improbable encounter with celebrity. Her eyes and her body language always feel perfect for the moment

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f you’re a fan of director Sofia Coppola’s oeuvre—most specifically, of her 2006 Marie Antoinette—your ears had to perk up a little during the opening credits of Priscilla. The song that plays over the introductory moments of Coppola’s latest feature, based on the memoir of Priscilla Presley, is the Ramones’ 1980 cover of The Ronettes’ “Baby, I Love You,” a choice that evokes the funky 1980s newwave soundtrack that Coppola opted for in portraying the 18th-century French monarchy. Perhaps this movie—perhaps not coincidentally, one that’s also about what it’s like to be the wife of The King—would inject a similar energy into the formulas of the cinematic biopic.

Then Priscilla turned out to be … fine.

It’s good, even, mostly thanks to Cailee Spaeny’s performance as Priscilla. But I kept looking for the fingerprints of this particular filmmaker on this story, featuring an oft-chronicled famous American whose own story was told in a movie just last year. And as the narrative moved through Priscilla Presley’s Elvis years, I really couldn’t find those fingerprints.

Part of it comes from the dutifully chronological structure, beginning in 1959 with the then-14-year-old Priscilla Bealieu meeting Elvis (Jacob Elordi) while she was living with her mother and stepfather on an American military base in Germany at

CREDIT

Priscilla’s great central performance helps make up for a lack of distinctive filmmaking spark.

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30 | NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Melanie “Mel Soul” Lewis talks about turning pain into music.

BY EMILEE ATKINSON eatkinson@cityweekly.net @emileelovesvinyl

M

usic can be a massive comfort for listeners and writers of music alike.

There’s nothing quite like being wrapped in the warm embrace of your favorite music, or putting your feelings out into the world through song for others to relate to. Creating music has been just that for SLC singer/ songwriter Mel Soul, who has spent years cutting her teeth in the local scene, creating great hits and memories on the way.

Melanie Lewis, AKA Mel Soul, is coming up on about a decade of writing and recording music. After years of attending open mics and earning a positive reception from the community, she decided it was time to make her songs more widely accessible.

Today, you can find an extensive library from Lewis, with plenty of originals with a good number of covers mixed in. “Cover songs are a lot of fun. I think one of the cool things I learned from really understanding covers is how to write songs better,” she said. “Some covers, I was able to learn just with the chords; I was able to make some of my best songs.”

Soon, Lewis was heading to Nashville to try to take her career to a new level.

Things didn’t go as planned, so she ended up coming home to SLC. Fortunately for the local scene, this fueled a ton of new writing from the singer/songwriter.

“I just got out of a really bad relationship, and I had to come back home,” she said. “When I was coming back home, I

MUSIC

to get this energy out so that it doesn’t stay inside of me forever. I thought about how everybody harasses Taylor Swift for writing all these songs about her ex-boyfriends. It is kind of funny and a cliché, but at the same time, those songs will be out there forever, and it’s like, that’s where her power is at. And I thought, you know what? I want some of that power too.”

Music is great for many reasons, but one of the most important may be that writers and listeners alike are able to find beauty in pain. Lewis has been able to channel her thoughts and feelings into these songs for the community to hear, and we listen and relate or find different meanings in the words and music that lull us into a com-

forting embrace.

One would think that playing songs based on hard times might be difficult, but Lewis says it’s the opposite. “There’s a songwriter named Mary Gauthier, who is a highly respected songwriter in Nashville, and she also does songwriting workshops throughout the state or the country, and she does say that once you write a song, no matter how dramatic it is, it doesn’t become you anymore, it just becomes a story. It really is like releasing energy that doesn’t have to be inside of me.”

If you’re in your feelings, going through a bad breakup, or just want to experience some new, heartfelt music. Mel Soul’s music is a good place to start. CW

ROBIN PENDERGRAST

Baring Her Soul

really started my career back again. I do miss Nashville, but when I think about that experience, I think about how the world was telling me, ‘If you’re going to make the leap, make the giant leap now,’ but it was more than a leap. That was almost like a dive over the ocean.”

Lewis explained that the scene in Nashville is very different from the SLC scene, and that she didn’t realize how much she loved and missed the latter until she was gone. “I did feel like a failure [coming home] though, because I wasn’t sure where my career was going to go after that. But there’s just this warmth and the sense of connecting with people here compared to different areas in the south that I didn’t realize it’d be such a huge deal for me,” she said.

These hardships made Lewis reflect a lot, but they also fueled her songwriting.

Having more experience to draw from, she started writing some of her best work. One of her most recent tracks, “Desperation,” was inspired by a complicated and difficult breakup that happened in Nashville.

The song was written and recorded in a few days, but it doesn’t feel rushed. In fact, the opposite is true when you listen. The song takes you on a slow, yet profoundly meaningful journey that will have you hoping it won’t end. It features Lewis and an acoustic guitar with some effects in the background, and the combination is sublime. Heartbreak for songwriters equals incredible listening experiences for the audience.

“I was just really impressed with the work that [my producer] did,” Lewis said.

“We only worked on it for two days. He worked on it more, but as far as recording time and making the music video, we only worked on it for two days, and I was just really impressed. Once I put it out there, my friends were just astounded with what it sounded like.”

Another of Lewis’ most recent singles was written in the same vein: “Bad Guy,” a breakup track that Taylor Swift herself would be envious of. “I really did that song out of spite,” Lewis said. “I just needed

THURSDAYS

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 DJ NO FILTER

SHARK SUNDAYS

POOL TOURNEY HOSTED

BY JARED AND TANNER

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LIVE MUSIC

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4

WEDNESDAYS

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 | 31

165 E 200 S SLC 801.746.3334

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KARAOKE

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32 | NOVEMBER 2, 2023

MARGARITA MONDAYS

TEQUILA TUESDAYS

$4 MARGARITA

$3 TEQUILA $2.50 TECATE

WHISKEY WEDNEDSAYS

By Emilee Atkinson

ALL DAY KARAOKE THURSDAYS DJ KIKI

$3 WHISKEY $2.50 HIGHLIFE

Ekali @ Sky SLC 11/2

ALL DAY

@ 9 PM

SUNDAY FUNDAY

EVERYDAY FUN

ADULT TRIVIA

Ekali

JACOB CRAWFORD

GRAPEFRUIT OR PINEAPPLE

MUSIC PICKS

$5 TALL BOYS EVERYDAY

15 FLATSCREENS BEST PATIO

Therapy Thursdays are run by the EDM production company, V2 Presents, which showcases both local talent and the top EDM producers in the industry. This week, SLC-based DJ duo Z & Z opens for Ekali, setting the tone for the expected high-energy show. The Canadian EDM producer/DJ, Ekali, aka Nathan Shaw, started out in the music industry as a violinist, then as a bassist for the Vancouver-based indie rock band Said the Whale in 2011. He transitioned into the local Vancouver underground music scene around 2013, and has been active as an EDM producer for a decade. What sets Ekali apart is his wide range of music, alternating between heavy trap bangers and sadboy future bass. The classic collaboration with EDM producer Illenium from 2020, “Hard to Say Goodbye,” evokes sorrow with lyrics “I tell myself I’m fine here with you / Just for one more night / You make it hard to say goodbye.” While this song is sure to bring listeners to tears, Shaw’s newest 2023 EP Alinea is a complete contrast as a trap song that acts as a bridge between EDM and hip-hop. Shaw’s unique journey through classical, indie and electronic music has solidified him as a fluid musician, and as someone who is unafraid to experiment with his sound and style. Ekali performs at Sky SLC on Thursday, Nov. 2. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $25 at skyslc.com (Arica Roberts)

@ 7PM

GREAT FOOD

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UPCOMING SHOWS 11/2

Echo Point

11/3

Leisure Hour

11/4

Puppet & Essenger

11/9

Octopoulpe

11/10

Fighting The Phoenix

11/11

An Evening With Mating Ritual

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Enjoy Fall on the Valley’s Best Patio!

Live Music

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Lead Software Engineer @ Finicity Corporation (Salt Lake City, UT) F/T Own cmplx prblms hvng depndncy across srvices and facilitate crss-fnctionl team interactns to drive resolutn.

Write code to build and enhnce applicatns/ srvices and promote code-reviews, code scanning, and other stndard dvlpmnt practics to dliver high-qualty artifcts to productn.

Reqs a Master’s deg, or frgn equiv, in Comp Sci, Comp Engg, Info Systms or rltd, & 3 yrs of exp in job offrd, or as an Enginr, or rltd tchncl fld. Altrntivly, emplyr will accpt a Bachelor’s deg, or frgn equiv, & 6 yrs of prgrssvly rspnsbl exp. Exp must inclde 1 yrs w/ each: Gathering business requirements and turning them into technical tasks for a team to execute. Driving prioritization decisions and trade-offs while working with product partners. Identifying opportunities to enhance the technical code base, including technical debt. Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML. Secure coding standards and vulnerabilities (SonarQube, Veracode, Fortify tool, Code Compare). Data movement and data structures/schemas/ models. Relational Database (SQL or MySQL).

Web Servers, Load Balancers/Round Robin and web technologies. Document and coach team on the development practices and coding guidelines. Technical review of code across applications and their dependencies to look for anti-patterns and promoate continuous refactoring. Rate of pay: $137,000 $213,000. Emplyr will accept any suitbl combo of edu, training, or exprnc. Option to wfhbased office exists. Telecommutng prmitted 3 days per week. Mst rside within Salt Lake City, UT Metropolitan area. Send resume to Luz Lara, Luz.Lara@mastercard.com, 434 Ascension Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84123.

Reference MC77-2023.

THURSDAY, NOV. 2

FRIDAY, NOV. 3

TJ GURN

REGGAE THURSDAY SUN DIVIDE

ERIC HEIDEMAN

SATURDAY, NOV. 4

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 8

THURSDAY, NOV. 9

TRIGGERS & SLIPS

CHIP JENKINS

DARK CHIKIN

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November 4th | 10am-2pm 9275 S. 1300 W.

Prizes include: • Toys (for kids) • Gift Cards (for adults) • Raffle tickets (for the grand prize)

Activities include: • Pumpkin rolling • Pumpkin bowling • Pumpkin tossing • Pumpkin T-ball • Scavenger hunt • Labyrinth • Mini golf

Food Truck offerings: • Freshly made mini-donuts • Your choice of topping • Warm beverages • Fresh Lemonade

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Admission: • Non-expired food items • $ donation in any amount All proceeds go to Utah Food Bank

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WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1

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MUSIC PICKS

Deer Tick

Deer Tick @ Commonwealth Room 11/3

CJ HARVEY

By Emilee Atkinson

Nearly 10 albums in, folk rock luminaries Deer Tick have consistently made great records, but their latest chapter (their first new project in six years!), Emotional Contracts, may be their best yet. Produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Sleater-Kinney, MGMT) and released earlier this summer via ATO records, the 10-song 40-minute long play comes across the same at shows— raucous, a little sloppy and mostly fun. Clearly, Deer Tick is in “Dylan” mode. “I think the biggest difference is obviously that we have so much more experience under the wheels,” guitarist Ian O’Neil told Inside Hook in June. “So I think that has given us an opportunity to write better songs.

I think Bob Dylan’s best songs came after he was 30, you know what I mean? I think that kind of experience and just knowing what you’ve done wrong in the past with music or with your career or whatever, it just lends itself to a brighter future. So I think we’re just getting better.” I actually like a good amount of the “rowdier” tunes, and the closing track “The Real Thing” is extraordinary songwriting. These guys are fantastic live, and this is easily their most polished, accessible album to date. Abby Hamilton opens. Catch these acts at the Commonwealth Room on Friday, Nov. 3. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show range from $58 for reserved platform to $31 for general admission, and can be found at axs.com (Mark Dago)

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MUSIC PICKS

LOVELOUD @ Delta Center 11/3

Making its triumphant return to SLC on Nov. 3, the LOVELOUD concert series has a heavy focus on bringing communities together to ignite vital conversations about what it means to love our LGBTQ+ friends and family. “LOVELOUD offers hope to people, letting them know they’re not alone and encouraging acceptance in the home and community. It all begins with talking, sharing and showing the realities of what LGBTQ+ individuals face daily,” their site says. LOVELOUD travels to different cities around the country, but the show holds a special place in Utah’s heart.

The very first LOVELOUD festival took place in 2017 at UVU, with 17,000 attendees. Since then, the festival has continued to grow, minus a couple of years because of COVID. The festival has brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities including The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Gender Spectrum, Flourish Therapy, The Utah AIDS Foundation and several others. At this year’s SLC show you can catch Lauv, Mother Mother, Tegan & Sara, David Archuleta, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds, Tyler Glenn and several more. LOVELOUD is one of SLC’s biggest and most meaningful shows, so don’t miss your chance to be part of the loving crowd. LOVELOUD visits the Delta Center on Friday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show range from $50 to $150, and can be found at loveloudfest.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

Anime Girlfriend, Sydney Rian, No Shooting Friends Joseph @ Kilby Court 11/4

If you’re the type who wears their heart on their sleeve and likes to sink into some nostalgic midwestern emo sounds, you might want to head to this show. This is a release party show for Anime Girlfriend to unveil their debut EP and share their brand of “”Mountain West emo, as they’ve branded themselves. So far, the group has released two singles leading up to the full EP release, “plath daddy” and “thoreau.” Inspired by the emo genre, the uncertainty of the world and some classic literature, the group has created a sound that’s mellow yet exciting, new yet familiar, something entirely their own. You’ll have to head out to the show to see the rest of the songs for the EP unveiled. Joining the bill is fellow emo-influenced group No Shooting Friends, Joseph. While Anime Girlfriend and NSFJ feature emo vibes in their music, NSFJ take a heavier and otherworldly approach to their sound. You can find heavy guitar, rad electronic elements and ethereal vibes that will fly you to space through your headphones. Last but not least, Sydney Rian joins the fray with a new EP of her own. There’s a good chance you’ll hear tracks from her latest release Cranium. Don’t miss this trio of incredible local musicians on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Kilby Court. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10 at 24tix.com. (EA)

John Mayer

John Mayer @ Delta Center 11/5

A shift in sound has never been a problem as far as John Mayer’s career has been concerned. Where some artists may leave their fans and followers bewildered by even the slightest change in direction, Mayer’s managed to make dramatic transitions without alienating anyone in the process. If anything, he’s gained added respect. Still, it does seem somewhat surprising that an artist with an early pop pedigree—as evidenced by his confectionary charttoppers “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and “Why Georgia Why”— could do an about-face by burrowing into the blues, engaging in Americana and then finally emerging as a guitar hero and member of the resuscitated Grateful Dead known as Dead & Company. On the other hand, with seven Grammys to his credit, 12 additional nominations, several American Music Awards, and top VHI and MTV awards among his many honors, it’s not just acceptance, but sheer adulation that’s come his way. He’s known for other things as well: his philanthropy, his proficiency on social media, occasional acting roles, frequent media appearances, collecting watches and, naturally enough, the fact that he dates some beautiful women.

Nevertheless, having turned his back on partying and substance abuse, he’s quite clear-headed as far as his musical mission is concerned. His current tour finds him equally unencumbered, performing solo and on acoustic guitar, which, in fact, are the only additives needed to get the most out of Mayer. John Mayer performs solo at the Delta Center at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5. Tickets cost $56 at seatgeek.com. (Lee Zimmerman)

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free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

“Our bodies sometimes serve as the symbolic ground where order and disorder fight for supremacy,” writes storyteller Caroline Kettlewell. Here’s good news, Aries: For you, order will triumph over disorder in the coming weeks. In part through your willpower and in part through life’s grace, you will tame the forces of chaos and enjoy a phase when most everything makes sense.

I don’t mean you will have zero problems, but I suspect you will have an enhanced power to solve problems.

Your mind and heart will coordinate their efforts with exceptional flair.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

I recently endured a three-hour root canal. Terrible and unfortunate, right? No! Because it brought profound joy. The endodontist gave me nitrous oxide, and the resulting euphoria unleashed a wild epiphany. For the duration of the surgery, I had vivid visions of all the people in my life who love me. I felt their care. I was overwhelmed with the kindness they felt for me. Never before had I been blessed with such a blissful gift. Now, in accordance with your astrological omens, I invite you to induce a similar experience—no nitrous oxide needed. It’s a perfect time to meditate on how well you are appreciated and needed and cherished.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Sagittarian novelist Shirley Jackson wrote, “No live organism can continue for long to exist under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids dream.”

Since she wrote that, scientists have gathered evidence that almost all animals dream and that dreaming originated 300 million years ago. With that as our inspiration and in accordance with astrological omens, I urge you to enjoy an intense period of tapping into your dreams.

To do so will help you escape from absolute reality. It will also improve your physical and mental health and give you unexpected clues about how to solve problems.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Capricorn writer Kahlil Gibran believed an essential longing is to be revealed. We all want the light in us to be taken out of its hiding place and shown. If his idea is true about you, you will experience major cascades of gratification in the coming months. I believe you will be extra expressive. And you will encounter more people than ever before who are interested in knowing what you have to express. To prepare for the probable breakthroughs, investigate whether you harbor any fears or inhibitions about being revealed—and dissolve them.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

November is Build Up Your Confidence Month. You are authorized to snag easy victories as you bolster your courage to seek bigger triumphs. As much as possible, put yourself in the vicinity of people who respect you and like you. If you suspect you have secret admirers, encourage them to be less secretive. Do you have plaques, medals or trophies? Display them prominently.

Or visit a trophy store and have new awards made for you to commemorate your unique skills—like thinking wild thoughts, pulling off one-of-a-kind adventures and inspiring your friends to rebel against their habits.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

I’m glad we have teachers helping us learn how to be here now—to focus on the present moment with gratitude and grace. I love the fact that books on mindfulness are now almost as common as books about cats and cooking. But I also want to advocate for letting our minds wander freely. We need to celebrate the power of not always being zeroed in on the here and now. We can’t make intelligent decisions unless we ruminate about what has happened in the past and what might occur in the future. Meandering in fantasyland is key to discovering new insights. Imaginative ruminating is central to the creative process.

Go to realastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes.

Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.

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How many glowworms would have to gather in one location to make a light as bright as the sun? Probably over a trillion. And how many ants would be required to carry away a 15-pound basket of food? I’m guessing over 90,000. Luckily for you, the cumulative small efforts you need to perform so as to accomplish big breakthroughs won’t be nearly that high a number. For instance, you may be able to take a quantum leap after just six baby steps.

Who would have guessed that elephants can play the drums really well? On a trip to Thailand, Scorpio musician Dave Soldier discovered that if given sticks and drums, some elephants kept a steadier beat than humans. A few were so talented that Soldier recorded their rhythms and played them for a music critic who couldn’t tell they were created by animals. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose that you Scorpios seek out comparable amazements. You now have the potential to make unprecedented discoveries.

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“Everything in the world has a hidden meaning,” wrote Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis. Did he really mean everything? Your dream last night, your taste in shoes, your favorite TV show, the way you laugh? As a fun experiment, let’s say that yes, everything has a hidden meaning. Let’s also hypothesize that the current astrological omens suggest you now have a special talent for discerning veiled and camouflaged truths. We will further propose that you have an extraordinary power to penetrate beyond surface appearances and home in on previously unknown and invisible realities. Do you have the courage and determination to go deeper than you have ever dared? I believe you do.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

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Cancerian singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega has had a modest but sustained career. With nine albums, she has sold more than 3 million records, but is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has said, “I always thought that if I were popular, I must be doing something wrong.”

I interpret that to mean she has sought to remain faithful to her idiosyncratic creativity and not pay homage to formulaic success. But here’s the good news for you in the coming months, fellow Cancerian: You can be more appreciated than ever before simply by being true to your soul’s inclinations and urges.

In the 17th century, John Milton wrote a long narrative poem titled Paradise Lost. I’ve never read it and am conflicted about the prospect of doing so. On one hand, I feel I should engage with a work that has had such a potent influence on Western philosophy and literature.

On the other hand, I’m barely interested in Milton’s story, which includes boring conversations between God and Satan and the dreary tale of how God cruelly exiled humans from paradise because the first man, Adam, was mildly rebellious. So what should I do? I’ve decided to read the Cliffs Notes study guide about Paradise Lost, a brief summary of the story. In accordance with astrological omens, I suggest you call on similar shortcuts, Libra. Here’s your motto: If you can’t do the completely right thing, try the partially right thing.

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Unless you are very unusual, you don’t sew your clothes or grow your food. You didn’t build your house, make your furniture or forge your cooking utensils. Like most of us, you know little about how water and electricity arrive for your use. Do you have any notion of what your grandparents were doing when they were your age? Have you said a prayer of gratitude recently for the people who have given you so much? I don’t mean to put you on the spot with my questions, Gemini. I’m merely hoping to inspire you to get into closer connection with everything that nourishes and sustains you.

Honor the sources of your energy. Pay homage to your foundations.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

© 2023

RED

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

DOWN

1. Figure around which Pluto orbits?

2. Clinton said he didn’t do it 3. Successfully lure 4. What one of the Olympic rings represents: Abbr.

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5. Played (with) 6. “The Pit and the Pendulum” author, in brief 7. A little off 8. Mao ____-tung 9. End of a figurative journey 10. Church leader 11. One of 52 whites and 36 blacks 12. Still below the horizon 13. Utensils for potatoes 18. Tear gas weapon 22. Ultimatum words 25. Falco of “The Sopranos” 27. Women’s ____ 31. Mythological maidens 32. “Trust your ____” 33. With minimal effort 34. Like constitutional amendments 35. Destiny’s Child, e.g.

36. Archaeologist’s place 37. Dolce’s partner in fashion 38. Entangled by 42. “Sure, if that’s how you feel ...”

44. Loves to bits 45. Country bumpkins 46. Had trouble with, as icy roads 48. Tech giant that joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2009 49. Heep of “David Copperfield” 50. Gregor of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” 51. TV sports awards 57. Jiffy 58. Back muscle, informally

Last week’s answers

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

1. 1986-2001 Earth orbiter 4. Really bothered 9. Enliven 14. Suffix with labyrinth 15. Froths 16. QB protectors, collectively 17. 1990 Warrant hit 19. “Go ahead, ____ you!”

20. Hindu goddess of power 21. Canon SLR camera 22. Soccer score after the first goal 23. Oliver’s lover in “Call Me by Your Name” 24. 2000 Sting hit 26. Film in which Streisand plays a yeshiva boy 28. ____ Haaland, Biden’s Secretary of the Interior 29. Plop or plunk preceder 30. The “G” in a G&T 32. Apt name of one of the characters on the animated show “Bubble Guppies” 33. Chick tenders 34. 1967 Rolling Stones hit 37. FBI agent, informally 39. 1980s TV star whose haircut was inspired by Mandinka warriors 40. “A” in German 101?

41. River islet 42. Big name in nail polish 43. Sydney salutations 47. 1977 Commodores hit 52. Fanzine figure 53. Is suitable for 54. Coll. dorm figures 55. He steals the Tesseract in “Avengers: Endgame” 56. “Revenge is ____ best served cold” 57. “Holding Back the Years” band ... and this puzzle’s theme 59. Sofia Coppola, to Talia Shire 60. GPA booster 61. “Do Ya” rock grp.

62. “____ the seventh day ...”

63. Longtime New Yorker cartoonist Roz 64. Nine-digit ID

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CROSSWORD PUZZLE

t’s that time of year when the big holidays are looming ahead, along with the prospect of a snowy season in northern Utah.

Many folks start thinking about what they can do to help the economically challenged, unsheltered and rent burdened as the cold approaches.

Whether it’s donating to the mail carrier’s food drive or dropping off gently used clothes at the local Deseret Industries, some try to make a difference, no matter how small a gesture.

It’s simple to create a food drive at your office. The Utah Food Bank will accept canned goods, but they also will accept fresh breads and bakery items (not home cooked), fresh produce, commercially packaged eggs, personal care items, household cleaning products and packaging supplies like ziplock bags, trash bags, etc.

What they don’t want are foods in damaged packaging, unlabeled food, any home-cooked foods or homecanned food, foods with freezer burn, foods with alcohol in them, herbal supplements, energy drinks or foods past their sell-by dates.

I also read a great article about one woman’s suggestions for donating to your local food bank or pantry that gives a personal twist on what’s needed and why. “Everyone donates Mac ’n’ Cheese in a box but that needs milk and butter, which might cost too much or needs to be refrigerated. If you’re donating a box of canned goods, throw in a can opener? Cooking oil is a luxury item not usually donated, as is salt and pepper. Hamburger Helper is great but without protein it’s not great. Peanut butter and jelly are in demand but donate fresh bread to go with it? Laundry soap and dish detergent are expensive but greatly appreciated as are feminine hygiene products of all kinds. Diapers are so costly and desperately needed along with formula (dried or liquid in a can). You may not like canned meats in your pantry such as whole cooked chickens, hams, beef but these proteins are terrific in stews, enchiladas, pot pies and such.”

There are food banks/pantries in virtually every county in Utah (find one at utahfoodbank.org/find-a-pantry). You can also make a monetary donation on the site if you don’t want to do a can drive with your neighborhood or office.

Many schools now offer a food pantry of sorts, often with other supplies like gently used clothing, backpacks, pens, paper, etc. And the Utah Food Bank is asking for frozen turkeys and hams. So pack a cooler with ice, drop in your donation to keep chilled and get thee to a local food bank.

You can also volunteer at the shelter by helping to stock and organize or load/unload groceries. Kick the can of hunger this season! Helping the needy has never been easier, and remember your good karma will return tenfold.

Getting help is just as easy—check out the website! n Content is prepared expressly for Community and is not endorsed by City Weekly staff.

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NEWS of the WEIRD

We sell homes to all saints, sinners, sisterwives and...

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Recurring Theme

It’s happened again. On Oct. 15, as an EasyJet flight prepared to travel from the Spanish island of Tenerife to London after a three-hour delay, the pilot announced that the flight would depart in about 20 minutes. “And that’s when the incident happened with the defecation,” said passenger Aaran Gedhu, according to CNN Travel.

Gedhu saw two people visit the forward restroom before an unpleasant odor permeated the cabin and word spread that someone had pooped on the bathroom floor.

“Obviously, the plane was in an unsanitary state. So they had to get external cleaners out from the airport to clean it,” Gedhu said. After the cleaning was complete, the pilot announced that passengers would have to disembark—which took another 30 minutes. Another passenger, Kitty Streek, said: “We obviously can’t prove whether the person simply had an accident or if they had done this out of anger for the delayed flight ... but nobody wants to be stranded in another country.” And yet, they were: Gedhu was lodged in a hotel overnight before taking a “rescue” flight the next day.

If It Ain’t Broke ...?

That Bugs Me!

As Volaris flight 221 prepared to leave Guadalajara International Airport on Oct. 6, passengers and crew were delayed by an infestation of mosquitoes in the cabin, ABC7-TV reported. The flight was headed to Mexico City, and crew members and passengers tried for two hours to eradicate the pests, swatting them and spraying bug repellent. Finally, passenger Elizabeth Corona said, the insects settled down when the cabin lights were turned off.

Fox News reported on Oct. 17 that Rowan Sturgill of Lexington, Kentucky, has documented her mother, Beth’s, obsession with Diet Coke on TikTok: “This isn’t even half of it, I’m not kidding,” Rowan captioned her video. Beth’s decor includes a soap dispenser labeled with Diet Coke and a wall full of images related to the no-calorie drink. Her Christmas ornaments are dominated by the soda, and an entire wall of her home is dedicated to a shrine of sorts comprised of bottles and cans of various sizes and shapes. One friend posted that it’s like being in an “alternate reality” when they’re at the Sturgills’ house.

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Least Competent Criminals

Three Florida men were arrested on Oct. 14 in Pompano Beach, Florida, after a hapless kidnapping attempt, KMOV-TV reported. Raymond Gomez and brothers Jonathan Arista and Jeffry Arista grabbed a man outside his apartment in Plantation, Florida, and drove him to a home nearby—but then realized they had the wrong guy, police said. They threatened him with an electric drill and a firearm and attempted to waterboard him before deciding he might be able to lure their intended victim to them. The kidnappers drove him to his place of business, where the other man was, but the original victim phoned in a bomb threat (to get an immediate response), and the suspects were arrested. They face life in prison.

Bright Idea

Japanese milk producer Seki Milk has devised an entertaining solution to a growing problem, Oddity Central reported on Oct. 11. The company did research showing that 65% of students weren’t finishing their milk at lunch, so it partnered with a manga studio to produce an original comic series and print it in white on its glass milk bottles. As they drink, kids are compelled to finish the beverage so the artwork is revealed. The company says Milk Manga encourages healthy behavior and reading, and gets kids thinking about food loss.

It’s a Dirty Job

Ryan Smith, 41, who transports bodies for a funeral company in Omaha, Nebraska, was arrested on Oct. 6 after he broke into the home of a deceased person he had moved, The Smoking Gun reported. Investigators said that when Smith initially went to the apartment, there was a “very real life size” sex doll on the bed near the body. Later, Smith called the property manager and said the sheriff had asked him to remove the doll “to collect swabs for biopsy.” The property manager denied Smith entry to the home, but he later suspected Smith was inside the unit, which had been secured with a deadbolt and chain. The manager watched as Smith left with his shirt untucked and trousers in “disarray,” then called police. The sex doll showed evidence of recent use, and she was confiscated for DNA testing. Ryan was relieved of his job.

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

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Adorchita Di Perno of Calgary, Alberta, was proud of finishing her 22nd marathon in Chicago on Oct. 8, so she decided to have her medal engraved on the back, Running magazine reported. She also had the 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden sign the back in Sharpie. When she picked up the medal from the engraver, though, she saw that not only was her time wrong on the back, but the F-word was engraved above it. “This is my medal, but this is not my time or name,” she said. “And I did not ask for the F-word.” Later that day, store employees figured out that her medal had been confused with another runner’s, who, oddly, did want the F-word engraved on the back—but declined to say why. Di Perno said she was upset about the mix-up at the time, but now she’s laughing about it. Probably helps that she qualified for the Boston race.

People in London have been perplexed by a bale of hay hanging from the Millennium Bridge, a modern structure that spans the River Thames, Sky News reported on Oct. 18. The bridge is undergoing maintenance that will reduce its headroom. When social media lit up with questions, the City Bridge Foundation, a charity that benefits crossings over the Thames, came to the rescue: “In accordance with ancient tradition (and the Port of London Thames Byelaws), a bundle of straw is dangled from the Millennium Bridge to warn shipping of work under the bridge (we’re not making this up, honest).” At night, workers hang a white light to warn ships. Work is expected to be completed by Nov. 5.

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It’s a Mystery

News You Can Use

Babs De Lay

TURKEY LOVERS!

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My Strange Obsession

On Oct. 15, as a child stood near a canal in Cape Coral, Florida, a Dodge Challenger left the roadway nearby at a high rate of speed and plunged into the canal nose first, NBC2-TV reported—fortunately, just missing the child. “I can only imagine how he’s feeling,” said Lorraine Holder, who lives near the canal and had a home security camera trained on the water at the time, which captured footage of the incident. The car’s airbags deployed, which made it difficult to get the driver out, but a Good Samaritan helped him escape before it sank completely.

No injuries were reported.

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A restaurant in Tokyo, Abe-chan, recently revealed the secret behind its popular pork skewers, Oddity Central reported. The skewers are dipped in a sauce jar that hasn’t been cleaned in more than 60 years and is covered on the outside with a hardened goo. Each day, cooks pour new sauce over the previous day’s sauce, as they have throughout three generations of owners—a practice they say contributes to its rich flavor. Experts said as long as the concoction is heated, there shouldn’t be any bacterial growth.

The Passing Parade

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40 | NOVEMBER 2, 2023

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801-972-2525

k with us luc !

C

SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN

*special events may vary

41 2 W 6 0 0 N | S LC 2 1 + | Fu l l L i q u o r | Tu e s - S at | $5 Cove r *

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@clucktruckutah

We Cater!