Planet JH 1.13.16

JACKSON HOLE’S ALTERNATIVE VOICE | PLANETJH.COM | JANUARY 13-19, 2016

SOBER LINES Struggling to kick the bottle in a resort town.

By Claudia Martin

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

2 | JANUARY 13, 2016

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JACKSON HOLE'S ALTERNATIVE VOICE

VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 1 | JANUARY 13-19, 2016

9 COVER STORY SOBER LINES Struggling to kick the bottle in a resort town.

Cover illustration by Cait Lee.

4 OPINION

18 GET OUT

6 THE BUZZ

20 WELL, THAT...

14 CREATIVE PEAKS

23 THE FOODIE FILES

16 MUSIC BOX

30 COSMIC CAFE

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SALES EXTRAORDINAIRE

Robyn Vincent / editor@planetjh.com

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ART DIRECTOR

COPY EDITOR

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CONTRIBUTORS

Jen Tillotson / jen@planetjh.com

Rob Brezsny, Aaron Davis, Kelsey Dayton, Annie

Copperfield Publishing, John Saltas GENERAL MANAGER

Andy Sutcliffe / asutcliffe@planetjh.com

Fenn, MD, Elizabeth Koutrelakos, Carol Mann, Claudia Martin, Dr. Mark Menolascino, Pete Muldoon, Andrew Munz, Jake Nichols, Scott Renshaw, Ted Scheffler, Chuck Shepherd, Tom Tomorrow, Steve Weiss, Jim Woodmencey

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January 13, 2016

By Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey

W

e will gain one minute of daylight each day this week, increasing the length of day by seven minutes by this time next week. We also gain one degree temperature-wise this week, over last week’s average temperatures, but not a degree per day. Average high temperatures this week are in the upper 20’s, average lows are in the upper single digits. Your actual temperatures may vary, and as you will see, they can vary a lot this time of year.

SPONSORED BY GRAND TETON FLOOR & WINDOW COVERINGS

The coldest day on record for this week is 37-degrees below zero, which happened on January 19, 1960. There is a colder temperature in the Jackson climate archives, which is somewhat questionable because it is so old, dating back to January 19, 1922, when a low of 42-degrees below zero was recorded.

Neither of these records, nor any other day in January matches the all-time January cold record of 50-below from January 1st, 1979.

Fifty-five degrees in mid-January sounds too warm to be true, but the fact is, it has occurred on a few different occasions in the Town of Jackson, dating as far back as 1925 and 1953. Also, during this same week in 1974 the thermometer tagged that magic number 55, on January 16th. Fiftyfive degrees is also our official high for the month of January, by the way. During the last 40 years, since 1974, the hottest it has been in January is 50-degrees.

AVERAGE PRECIPITATION: 1.5 inches RECORD PRECIPITATION: 4.9 inches (1969) AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 19 inches RECORD SNOWFALL: 56 inches (1969)

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JANUARY 13, 2016 | 3

Jim has been forecasting the weather here for more than 20 years. You can find more Jackson Hole Weather information at www.mountainweather.com

WHAT’S COOL WHAT’S HOT

NORMAL HIGH 28 NORMAL LOW 7 RECORD HIGH IN 1974 55 RECORD LOW IN 1960 -37

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

JH ALMANAC

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

4 | JANUARY 13, 2016

GUEST OPINION Repair the System Americans are demanding a political system that represents the people and Jackson is poised to follow suit.

BY PETE MULDOON “The most effective way to cope with change is to create it.” - L.W. Lynett “He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils, for time is the greatest innovator.” - Francis Bacon “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

- W. Edwards Deming

2

016 is shaping up to be an interesting year–a year in which I suspect we’ll want to keep these quotes in mind. Jackson Hole is approaching a fork in the road, and our country is as well. And if there is one theme that is emerging, it’s a rejection of the policies and politics of the past.

This might be the first presidential election cycle in which a generation that doesn’t really watch TV is eligible to vote, and in which millions more have begun getting their political news from sources other than cable news channels, which, on behalf of their corporate owners, have defined the boundaries of acceptable political action for decades.

To add to that dynamic, we are now far enough removed from the financial crisis of 2007-08 that people are no longer willing to allow establishment politicians to blame the failure of the economic system on crisis. They see quite clearly that the increasing insecurity of low- and middle-income people is not a bug, but rather a feature of our economic system.

They realize that while unfettered market capitalism

works for a few, it doesn’t work for them. They realize that if they don’t start questioning the conventional economic wisdom handed down from up high they will quickly run out of options. They know they must innovate or die.

If that line reads like it was ripped from a business management book, that’s because it was. And the introductory quotes are from an entrepreneurial website. Yet today they seem equally applicable to politics.

One of the more interesting things I encounter when writing about positive political action is the constant sniping from people who believe they have a monopoly on economic literacy and the politics of power. These are the same folks who dismiss people that use government to advance their goals. This may be effective as a means of propping up one’s self esteem, but it’s a poor analysis of reality.

Unlike those whose knee-jerk response to government action is “you can’t do that,” progressives and others on the left are the real innovators. We question the conventional wisdom. We’ve learned from those in power that you use the tools that are available to you. And in an economic system that has stripped us of capital, we’ve learned that collective action, often through government, is really the only tool we have left.

We’ve watched as the wealthy and politically powerful preach about the evils of government while stacking governments with their cronies, and making sure that no public decision that affects them is ever made without their voice being heard. We’ve learned that they really mean that government by us is evil.

We’ve learned too that what’s keeping us from creating the change we need are the quasi-religious beliefs handed down to us from the establishment through their economists, who – in their roles as high priests of theory – hypnotize us with demonstrably false myths such as the efficient market hypothesis and frighten us with impossible scenarios of national bankruptcy.

We’ve been told for decades now that we have to accept the fate the market delivers us, and that any attempt to reject

the god of the market will result in economic calamity.

But for many younger voters, free-market capitalism isn’t some unfinished project that will somehow lead us to utopia in the long run. They realize that in the long run we are all dead. They don’t know any other system, and its clear record of failure for them is blindingly obvious. There is a whole generation of voters who look at democratic socialism in Canada and Europe and many other parts of the world, and who not only ask why it can’t work here, but refuse to accept the answers supplied by those who do little more than babble religious/ economic dogma back at them.

It’s difficult, for example, to maintain the illusion that tax rates in the U.S. are too high when people can google historical tax rates and see that some of our nation’s highest growth rates came at a time when our top marginal income tax rate was over 90 percent. And it’s clear that calling someone a socialist is no longer an insult when examples of socialist countries that put the U.S. to shame are a web search away. There is a reason Bernie Sanders is surging nationally despite being ignored by the establishment media. In the age of social media and constant branding, people are becoming acutely aware of when they’re being patronized and pandered to. More and more voters care less and less about being made to feel good; they want someone who will tell it to them like it is, and who will ignore the naysayers and go out and get the job done.

I believe this political shift will greatly affect our local politics. Voters are realizing that the future of our community is in their hands, and that they aren’t bound by past policies that have proven unsuccessful. Establishment politicians and voices are no longer being given the benefit of the doubt.

The real question in this year’s election is whether we will take responsibility for our own fate, trust our own judgment, and reject the idea that nothing can be done because that’s the way it’s always been. I’d like to think I know the answer to that question, but maybe I should leave you with this quote instead: “Only a fool would make predictions—especially about the future” - Samuel Goldwyn. PJH

“There is a reason that Bernie Sanders is surging nationally despite being ignored by the establishment media.”

SNOW PACK REPORT

SPONSORED BY HEADWALL RECYCLE SPORTS

STEEP DECISIONS

T

hings are starting to mellow out a little, that is, if you completely disregard the persistent slab that lays on top of our weak, facet layer. Indeed, that layer will be haunting us all season.

At this point, the decisions you make out there should be based on your level of risk. Yes, we can start skiing the steep stuff and from what I have seen from many of your social media feeds, plenty of folks have been. But there is still risk.

The risk is having that huge slab break on you and the survival rate on that, according to my non-scientific calculations, is low. Is it worth it? It is the hardest question to answer.

In the hopes of finding some good snow, this weekend I got out to Grand Teton national park and skied something north-facing. Instead, what I got was a few inches of cold

smoke, due to the low night temperatures, sitting on top of a hard slab in the lower elevations. It didn’t ski well with a good amount of chunder under the new snow. I also skied the north side of Glory and it felt about the same with some wind loading of new snow and a two-inch slab underneath even in the sheltered areas. It felt good out there, safety-wise, except in any steep section, where you can really feel the thin wind slab that has formed.

Jim Woodmency is calling for eight inches of new snow this week, fingers crossed. It could end up being one hell of a weekend.

Stay safe out there friends, and pray for snow.

– Steve Weiss

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THE BUZZ Room and Board Has the lodging tax run its course?

BY JAKE NICHOLS

T

iming is everything.

More than two decades ago, as the final touches were being put on the 1994 Comprehensive Plan, valley voters had had it with tourists. The town and county were bursting at the seams through the 80s and early 90s, and the lodging tax – in place since 1986 – was a suitable fall guy.

The tariff was put to bed in the fall of ’94, soundly defeated at the polls. Attempts to resurrect it met with little traction in following years.

How soon we forget. Fast forward to 2010. With the local economy in the crapper and a pro-business mayor leading the way, the bed tax made a predictable appearance on the November ballot after a hasty August JIM meeting was called to test the waters. Again, the community was engaged in hammering out another Comp Plan but this time in the grips of a recession. The measure narrowly passed with 59.7 percent of the vote.

By 2014, with economic recovery on the verge of shifting into high gear, voters renewed the tax overwhelmingly – 76 to 22 percent. Last summer, the so-dubbed “tax you don’t pay” bit us in the ass. We paid. Dearly.

Taming the beast Can we make an ally out of our new nemesis? And is the bed tax solely to blame for our recent DEFCON-level summer from hell? As some elected officials ponder harnessing the tax for the valley’s housing and transportation needs, and less for vacation marketing, others aren’t convinced it will even be around after 2018, when it next appears on the ballot.

Commissioners Smokey Rhea and Mark Newcomb are among a few electeds who don’t want to leave any stone unturned when it comes to finding revenue sources for housing and transportation issues. Both have stated a desire to explore the lodging tax, as well as a possible real estate transfer tax, in addition to whichever way joint board

representatives from the town and county elect to go with the SPET versus General Sales Tax debate.

Tapping lodging tax dough wouldn’t exactly be hitting the lottery. The two percent tax currently generates about $5 million, annually. That money is split in a 60/30/10 formula with 60 percent ($3M) going toward the promotion of tourism in Jackson Hole, 30 percent ($1.5M) to mitigating those visitor impacts, and 10 percent ($500k) into the general funds of the town and county for use any way officials see fit.

Town and county leaders typically spend the 30 percent portion on cleaning restrooms, picking up trash, and pumping money into START Bus and Pathways. If electeds are looking to divert that money to, say, housing it might be a tough sell to the public. Besides, one-and-a-half-million bucks would put less than three affordable units on the ground, according to the Housing Authority’s historical calculations.

That leaves dipping into money earmarked for promoting Jackson Hole. County attorney Keith Gingery said a case might be made for making that fall within state mandates… but not a very strong one.

“Statute says it has to be used for promotion. That’s where there has been some discussion,” Gingery said. “The statute says that includes ‘promotional materials, television and radio, printed advertising, promotion of tours, and other specific tourism related objectives.’ It’s that ‘other’ part at the end that many think opens the door for quite a few things.”

Councilman Jim Stanford, who voted for the lodging tax in 2010 but against it in 2014, said tweaking the way Jackson Hole is touted might be a compromise worth considering.

“I favor using the promotional revenue from the lodging tax more creatively but that would likely require a legislation change,” Stanford said. “Seeing how quickly and sharply the economy has rebounded, I have reservations about [the lodging tax] and would vote against it again. Unless a broader or more creative definition of promotion were employed, like when we used some of that money to plow open Yellowstone.

Let’s not be timid. Let’s be bold.”

The Travel and Tourism Joint Powers Board (TTB) is the governing body charged with doling out the $3.5 million. By most metrics, the seven-member board has done an effective job of promoting the valley’s off seasons – spring and fall.

According to Chamber of Commerce president Jeff Golightly, hotel occupancy is up an average of 6.8 percent in spring

Blaming the tax for our tourism tipping point

Golightly doesn’t feel the lodging tax should be looked to as a source of funding the valley’s housing and transportation needs. “It strikes me as an odd place to look; there are more logical places than one statutorily earmarked for tourism,” he said.

Golightly also said the tax is not necessarily to blame for our recent summer of overindulgence.

“I think it’s easy to look at this growth and conclude it must be this lodging tax. The tax is being blamed for visitation in the summer even though we are not up as much as Zion, Rocky Mountain National Park or Yosemite over the last six years,” Golightly said. “The Park Service is spending an extraordinary amount of money and two dollar gas has reenergized the great American road trip. Macroeconomics is much more consequential than a lodging tax promoting winter, fall and spring.”

Local economist Jonathan Schechter thinks other forces are at work as well. Data analysis is unclear whether there is correlation or causation between tourism promotion and visitation growth, he said.

“Lodging tax advocates could not have timed their proposal better in 2010 because our taxable tax table had hit bottom in July of that year. If the election had been on the ballot this last November I suspect it would get voted down because I think it would be, accurately or not accurately, a convenient scapegoat like it was in the 1990s,” Schechter said. “Now there are a lot of other players out there. The state is promoting the parks and increasing visitors are coming from China. I don’t believe the Tourism Board is targeting any of those folks.”

Blaming the tax for housing and traffic

PAINTED BUFFALO INN

6 | JANUARY 13, 2016

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Before 2010, the county was required to spend 90 percent of lodging tax proceeds on the promotion of tourism. Teton County has since become the only county in the state to qualify for its current 60/40 split, allowing 40 percent of tax revenue to be spent on mitigating visitor impact.

over the last three years, and 14.6 percent in fall since 2013.

This compared to summer growth, where average occupancy rates have risen less than one percent over the past three summers.

TTB member Aaron Pruzan feels his board has done a good job boosting shoulder season tourism that helps get local employers through lulls that traditionally cause layoffs.

Pruzan has also been a longtime fan of marketing spring and fall events which can be enjoyed by locals as well as visitors.

But as the owner of a retail/service business in Jackson, Pruzan knows there is a point of diminishing return.

“There were times last summer at Rendezvous River Sports where I was like, whoa, we can’t even answer the phone right now,” Pruzan admitted. “I’m saying this as an individual, and I might get in trouble for saying this, but If we are selling a Wild West experience and we are not delivering on that; if you are leaving Teton Village, for instance, and the traffic is backed up to Snake River Ranch, then that’s not quite right. I’ve spent my life in customer service so the question of balancing the quality of the visitor experience with maintaining our assets and still having the community feel the way we all want to feel is a question I think we still don’t know the answer to.”

If the lodging tax is not playing a significant role in herding tourists to Jackson, it most certainly is partly to blame for exacerbating a housing shortage and traffic jams, right?

TTB coordinator Kate Sollitt and town administrator Bob McLaurin don’t think so. Independent planning consultant Melanie Rees, who studies Jackson Hole and other mountain resort communities, says that’s absurd.

“You can’t have more jobs and growth without more employees. The fact is we have so much job growth with near zero unemployment because we have had record setting visitation. That’s not a whim. It takes more and more people to serve more and more visitors, and the parallels between the number of jobs created and visitation are clearly there. I know [joint planner] Alex [Norton] would say new development is driving growth. But I’ve looked at all the statistics and it’s

clear in Teton County and across all the mountain towns I’m working with that a labor shortage since the rebound from the recession is caused by a demand for primary and secondary jobs associated with increased visitation.”

Stanford agrees.

I think they are connected. It’s not the soul source of that pressure and growth and shortage of housing, but it’s part of the equation,” Stanford said. “We are fanning the flames to the point where our economy is overheating while at the same time we are trying to cool it down.”

In the past, Golightly and others have advocated raising the lodging tax and potentially using a floating split system where more money is spent on advertising during lean years, and during boons more could be allocated toward alleviate the stress on the infrastructure. No one is talking about raising the tax now.

A lodging tax is collected in most Wyoming counties and municipalities. Across the region, Vail employs a 1.4 percent lodging tax, Aspen collects 2 percent, and Moab charges a 1.5

percent transient room tax.

Long shot funding source Some politicians have suggested enacting a real estate transfer tax, though it is thought to have little to no chance of passing at the state house. The measure would require a change to statute. Gingery, who spent more than a decade in the legislative body, said the idea has a better chance today than it did when he made the annual trip to Cheyenne.

“There has been some discussion about it. Someone would need to approach Ruth Ann [Petroff] or Leland [Christensen] or another representative about getting it on a bill,” Gingery said. “Most of the people that were opposed to it 10 years ago aren’t there anymore. It would be pretty much a bill of first impression. But I don’t think there is the strong opposition that there used to be.”

Still, a real estate transfer tax would be a long way off from generating actual revenue even if the appetite for it was there. “With this legislature I wouldn’t hold my breath,”

DUD e , WHere’s my Car? The Town of Jackson’s overnight parking ban has gone into effect.

SO, if you want to void all kinds of hassles, listen up!

Through April 15th, between 3:00am & 7:00am,

Additionally, we would like to remind people: Town residents are responsible for keeping sidewalks shoveled.

• The TOJ assists with snow removal in the downtown core and along Broadway.

• Residents should not put their garbage cans out the night before, but rather after 7:00am on garbage days.

• Please keep trash cans, cars, and other obstacles out of the streets and off of the curbs.

This saves your property and makes the streets more clear of drifts and snow.

• Residents are also encouraged to help keep fire hydrants clear of snow.

BROUGHT TO YOU

BY THE FRIENDLY FOLKS AT THE TOWN OF JACKSON

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 7

it is illegal to park overnight on Jackson streets, including public parking lots, regardless of weather (rain or shine, snow or bikini). Crews begin plowing at 3am. Parked cars on town streets make the job of keeping roads clear of snow more difficult.

Consequently, cars left on town streets between 3am & 7am will be ticketed and may be towed by Jackson police. To retrieve your car, contact Ron’s Towing at 733-8697, 1190 S. Hwy 89. Overnight parking is allowed in the public parking structure at W. Simpson Ave. and S. Millward St. but not on other town parking lots.

SHOVELING REQUIREMENTS

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

PARKING RESTRICTIONS

Stanford said. Sen. Leland Christensen said there has been some preliminary discussion in a broader sense about ways local governments in Wyoming can enjoy more flexibility and freedom in assessing taxes to suit their individual needs.

“We had a conversation last week and the outcome was maybe it’s time to work together with the County Commissioners Association, the County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Water and Sewer District, and all other districts to put together an interim community tools tax package that would allow local communities to come up with solutions to local problems especially during these troubling financial times,” Christensen said. “There would have to be a limit at the top because Wyoming continues to be a state very suspect about any additional taxing. But many of us are realizing there needs to be more tools available to local governments.”

Christensen said he would consider the idea of presenting something to a standing or ad hoc committee next month.

PJH

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

8 | JANUARY 13, 2016

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Fla., had described her missing gems, and McCray was questioned as someone with access to the woman’s room. 2. Joshua Jording, 26, in Latrobe, Pa., became the most recent burglary suspect caught on surveillance video during the crime wearing a shirt with his name on it (which was later found in Jording’s home, along with a stash from the Dec. 2 burglary).

WEIRD

1. A tractor-trailer driver with a load of bottled water tried to make it over a historic bridge in Paoli, Ind., on Christmas Day, with the obvious outcome when 35 tons of water starts across a limit-6-tons span. The driver told police she saw the 6-ton sign but did not know how that “translated” to pounds. 2. Among the activists denouncing a proposed solar-panel farm at a December Woodland, N.C., Town Council meeting were a husband and wife certain that vegetation near the panels would die because the panels would (the husband said) “suck up all the energy from the sun.” His wife (described as a “retired science teacher”) explained that the solar panels prevent photosynthesis (and also, of course, cause cancer). The council voted a moratorium on the panels.

Recent Recurring Themes

Paul Stenstrom of Tarpon Springs, Fla., is among the most recent Americans to have discovered the brightest side of federal bankruptcy law, having lived in his mortgaged home basically free of charge from 2002 until 2013 by using the law to stave off foreclosure. Even though none of his 15 petitions was ever approved, he followed each one immediately with another petition, and it was not until 2013 that one judge finally declared Stenstrom a “serially abusive filer,” barring further petitions for two years—at which point his bank was able to conclude the foreclosure. Upon expiration of the two-year period in September 2015, Stenstrom quickly filed another bankruptcy petition—to keep from being evicted from the townhouse on whose rent he is four months behind.

Bright Ideas

In October, once again, police (this time in Liyang in Eastern China) arrested a man whom they accused of stealing women’s underwear, prolifically, with a device likened to a fishing rod, enabling him to reach into windows and extract goodies. The suspect, 32, admitted to a three-year scheme, and in his van police found 285 bras and 185 panties. n In December, Carlos Aguilera, 27, became the most recent brain-surgery patient to assist doctors by remaining conscious during the 12-hour operation—and playing his saxophone to help assure surgeons that their removal of a tumor was not affecting his speech, hearing or movement. The operation, at Spain’s Malaga Regional Hospital, was supposedly Europe’s first, but News of the Weird has reported two in the United States, including on a guitar- strumming man in 2013 at UCLA Medical Center.

Least Competent Criminals

PIZZERIA CALDERA

OF THE

By CHUCK SHEPHERD

1. Nurse’s aide Candace McCray, 36, is the most recent theft suspect to have worn some of the purloined jewelry when meeting police detectives investigating the theft. An assisted-living resident in Palm Beach Gardens,

More Core Failings of Carjackers

1. Albert Luna, 19, was arrested in Coachella, Calif., in December and charged with swiping the keys while a Federal Express driver was unloading a package. The driver reported that Luna later walked away when he could not figure out how to drive the truck. (Bonus: The arrest report noted that during the entire episode, Luna was naked.) 2. Kyle Blair, 25, was arrested in Surrey, British Columbia, in November when he approached a car at an intersection and attempted to pull the driver out. For one thing, the two men in the car were later described as “big, burly” guys, but more important, they were plainclothes police officers on a stakeout.

Another Way to Tell If You’re Really, Really Drunk

Her passengers had run away, leaving Elena BartmanWallman, 23, behind the wheel but oblivious on a December afternoon in Aleknagik, Ala., and her car’s tires had started to smoke. She had lodged her foot against the accelerator, facing the wrong way on the road, with her wheels spinning continuously, and by the time police arrived (to discover Bartman-Wallman passed out), the front tires had melted down to the rims.

Almost No Longer Weird

1. When a woman leaped to her death on Dec. 12 from an apartment building in New York City, she of course landed on top of another woman, 71, who was left in critical condition. 2. In December, Russia’s independent RT news site, culling a story from the country’s rural far eastern coast, reported the most recent case of a “declared dead” man awakening in a morgue. After a harrowing few hours, the man returned to the site of the party—to find his friends “still drinking but (by) this time commemorating him.” n London’s Metropolitan Police called it the biggest case of voyeurism they had ever seen after a judge sent George Thomas, 38, to prison for four years in December for his six-year spree of furtively photographing women. Thomas, a former manager for the Ernst & Young accounting firm, filmed more than 3,500 people, including children and even babies, with cameras in his and others’ homes and the restrooms of coffee shops and workplaces. (And, of course, sooner or later, amidst the recovered stash, police found at least one shot of Thomas’ face, inadvertently captured as he was setting up one of the cameras.)

Thanks This Week to Rey Barry and Mark Lillicrap, and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.

SOBER LINES

By Claudia Martin “You name it, it happened: incarceration, fights, numerous destroyed friendships and relationships, crime, theft — sometimes from friends and good people who didn’t deserve it in order to get more,” Elliot said.

“Somehow I have the ability to black all of this out when I’m walking to the liquor store because my addicted brain only allows me to remember the euphoric rush of that first drink or hit.”

Elliot entered Alcoholics Anonymous at one point, but he didn’t make it very far. He could never get past the 20 minutes of 12-step reading and the rigidity of the program. “It’s like they think that by reading this book it’s going to change my outlook. It was written in the ’30s, and it seems to me to be a large connection of sob stories,” he said. “Programs are BS. They have you pay money, which is why I quit Curran-Seeley, because I couldn’t afford it. I’m sure they mean well, but this has to come from inside of me and I have to really want it. I just don’t feel inspired enough to quit.”

Indeed, while Elliot may be a critic of organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, others say their criticism stems from the discomfort they feel at the notion of getting sober rather than at the

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 9

’m just going downhill. I think I might be dying,” Elliot said as he paused from playing Grand Theft Auto. Elliott is in his mid-20s. He is snowboarder with a job at one of the resort’s bars with a weakness for Four Lokos and vodka. What does he have to say about his experience as an alcoholic? “Probably wouldn’t want to publish it. It’s all death and gloom.”

Elliott says he figured out he was an alcoholic when he was 21, even though he had been in and out of juvenile centers and rehab since the age of 14. “It really didn’t click that I couldn’t drink normally until I was 21,” he said.

How does Elliott know he’s an alcoholic? “I just keep drinking and my mind is consumed with the thought of the next drink and the effects that that produces for me.

Simple tasks seem impossible without that feeling,” he said.

He calls it a euphoric rush that goes away as soon as he feels he has it in his grasp, like “scraping heaven and never really getting there.” Instead he wakes up in a ditch or at a stranger’s house with no idea of how he got there, how he passed out or what he said or did.

How has addiction to drugs and alcohol changed Elliott’s life?

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

“I

Struggling to kick the bottle in a resort town.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

10 | JANUARY 13, 2016

organizations that provide support.

AA was dreamt up during a meeting between a businessman named Bill Wilson and a physician named Bob Smith in 1935 in Akron, Ohio. Bill W. and Dr. Bob, as they are known today, were alcoholics.

Wilson had attained sobriety largely through his affiliation with Christianity.

Smith, inspired by Wilson, stopped drinking after the two met. Determined to help other problem drinkers, the men soon published what has become known as “The Big Book,” which spelled out their philosophy, principles and methods, including the now famous 12-steps to sobriety.

“Alcoholics Anonymous” was the book’s official title and also became the name of the organization that grew from it.

In a recent Saturday Evening Post article, “Making the Case for AA,” Jack Alexander wrote, “There is no specious excuse for drinking which the troubleshooters of Alcoholics Anonymous have not heard or used themselves.” When people rationalize their drinking at a meeting, they are met with dozens of comparable rationales and experiences. A new member of AA may get upset or defensive. New members don’t want to feel interrogated or made to feel bad for their actions and any little thing perceived as negative can trigger their defenses. They might also feel suspicious at meetings, like their leg is being pulled by a troupe of actors.

Alexander wrote that AA members insist, “The program will not work with those who only ‘want to want to quit,’ or who want to quit because they are afraid of losing their families or their jobs. The effective desire must be based upon enlightened self-interest; the applicant must want to get away from liquor to head off incarceration or premature death.” They have to be fed up with their stark social loneliness and bungled lifestyle.

Too violent or poignant

In the introduction of his book “Nature, Man and Woman,” Alan Watts wrote, “We know that the peaceful rationality, the relaxed culture and the easy normality of civilized human life are a crust of habit repressing emotions too violent or poignant for most of us to stand.”

Maybe that’s why people often turn to the immediate gratification of an addictive substance to escape the emotions and mental conflicts occurring within or around them. It isn’t normal to be constantly happy, and yet messages promulgated by the media tell us otherwise.

So in order to attain a feeling of perfect happiness, some look for fulfillment from outside sources, whether that be skiing or illicit substances.

In a resort town, being happy reaches a whole new level. Reality becomes centered on finding the escape, and the escape, if not found in nature and adventure, is sometimes found in an addictive substance. The way of Tao, or simplicity without escape, is replaced

with the way of the substance — anything from liquor to methamphetamine — picking up where the Tao left off. Oftentimes activities such as hiking, backcountry skiing, mountain biking and climbing are directly followed by substance-focused soirees — wine sipping at art openings, beer drinking at community events or cocktails at your friends’ housewarming.

So how does someone seeking sobriety reconcile the devil-may-care freedom and nonchalant attitude of mountain town living with clean living?

Hushed desires

Michelle* is a language arts teacher at a local public school. She says sobriety changed her entire life and it’s something she struggles with daily.

“I first got sober when in Seattle. At the end of my drinking I’d get so drunk I’d black out every day or almost black out. Drinking was my reward for getting through the day. I was drinking through my anxiety and disappointment with myself because I hadn’t fulfilled my dreams for a great job or life,” she said.

When Michelle was laid off from her job in Seattle, things got worse. “That gave me the green light to drink all day, every day. I’d wake up, work out and go buy a box of wine,” she said. “It was so bad my mom flew out to get me.”

Michelle moved home to Jackson and lived with her parents again. She also got a teaching degree and began teaching in the public school system. She said she got sober by leaving her old stomping grounds.

“Getting sober where you used to drink a lot is really difficult,” she said. “I had to physically remove myself from the environment I was drinking in and the people I was drinking with.”

Six months ago, when Michelle had been sober for three years exactly, she made the decision enough time had passed. She thought she had gained enough control over her disease that she could start drinking again, that things would be different this time.

“In the back of my mind I knew I was an alcoholic and couldn’t have a couple glasses of wine,” she admitted.

“Basically I drank nonstop for 10 days. It was spring break, and I was so spun out and right back to where I was before, drinking wine and gin. I prioritized alcohol over everything and everyone else. After 10 days of doing that I realized I couldn’t live like this anymore. I thought, ‘If I don’t stop now, I really have the danger of never being able to stop.’

So she quit on a Sunday. “It was horrible. I had an anxiety attack. I took a shower and was with my boyfriend all day. I went to an AA meeting. It’s so difficult. Even now I want to drink every day. If I could do it without being caught or anyone knowing, I would want to go in a room by myself and drink. That’s my epitome of enjoyment and extreme ecstasy: being intoxicated. And that’s the reality.

I can’t do that. ... It’s hollow and a hollow life.”

Unlike some addicts, Michelle has to be very careful who she divulges her struggles to, which limits her support network. “Some people totally wear their alcoholism on their sleeve, but I don’t because I’m a professional and a teacher and there’s a total stigma with something like this.,” she said. “I’d be judged, and parents of the children I teach would be uncomfortable and not want me around their child. A lot of people know I don’t drink, but I don’t say why. It’s important for me to stay anonymous, and it’s really difficult to do that in a small town where someone might see you going to an AA meeting or talking to a friend.”

What should a friend or loved one living with an alcoholic do?

“You want to support and love them but the horrible reality of alcohol is that it’s the most important thing to that person,” Michelle said. “All I wanted to do with my

friends was drink. If it didn’t involve alcohol I wouldn’t even go to something. … So, for someone living with an alcoholic? You have to put yourself first. Remember to take care of yourself.”

Work hard, play hard, party hard

Matt Stech is a substance abuse and mental health counselor. He’s worked for Apex Substance Abuse Counseling and in prevention management organizations and suicide prevention programs. He’s currently involved with a coalition on substance abuse and “Healthy Teton County,” which focuses on youth alcohol use and changes to local ordinances involving alcoholism in the community.

Stech believes that binge drinking is high among youth in Teton County because of the number of young adults who come here to work seasonal jobs, ski and party. A large population of young adults and older teens intersect at the mountain, and “the young adults party atmosphere strongly influences youth.” The way our community is structured creates confusing mixed feelings for people, Stech added. While there are a lot of outdoor activities there are also a lot of drinking-related activities. “Work hard, play hard, party hard” is the mentality and it’s hard to untangle that from the social scene and the prevalence of alcohol.

Stech sees a pattern in Jackson. Many healthy 40-somethings with moderate to no substance use enjoy normal lives, while other people of the same age who haven’t learned to moderate their drinking are paying the price in different parts of their lives, especially their health starting in their 30s and progressing into their 40s.

“At Apex the stereotypical client profile is late 20s to early 30s with one or two DUIs, and suddenly the kid is thinking, ‘Whoa, wait a second.’ Suddenly going from recreation to treatment he or she has a kind of existential crisis. The system is saying, ‘This isn’t working out for you.’ So suddenly your whole lifestyle has to be examined,” he said.

When a person goes from partying every day at 23 to racking up problems with the law, money, jobs and relationships and taking weekly drug and alcohol tests at 29, then there is an intense feeling of vulnerability and of shame, failure and discomfort. So that’s when a choice has to be made. Continue along a path that isn’t working out or change? One in four of the people in this situation make the appropriate changes, Stech said. It’s not a vacation or another escape, but it can be a respite from hell.

There’s no such thing as bad enough

David* is a 25-year old student and thespian. A recovering alcoholic and narcotics user, he’s been sober for six years.

He started getting sober when he was 18 and was bumped off to rehab by his parents for being a suicidal drug-addicted teen.

He said he started young, getting “fucked up” and trying to “figure it out.”

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 11

The culture of intoxication has long been accepted by mainstream society, barring that pesky time from 1919 to 1933 called Prohibition.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Battling the brain

Trudy Funk is the executive director of CurranSeeley, a local outpatient program. She emphasizes that substance abuse affects not only clients but also the people around them.

Funk recommends roommates, partners and family members seek support at Al-Anon and encourages addicts to find life skills that can be long-lasting, enjoyable alternatives to the escape alcohol momentarily provides.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

An example of the medallions some chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous give to thier members when they reach certain milestones of sobriety.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

“I’ve been in AA since then. I’ve been around all different kinds of programs between Jesus freaks and agnostics, had people relapse and die, and relapse and be fine. I feel like I’ve gotten to see a lot in the eight years I’ve been banging around these rooms,” he said.

David thinks the hardest thing for anyone is admitting you’re an alcoholic. And by admission, he doesn’t mean just realizing and knowing you’re addicted to alcohol, but also recognizing that you can’t live a normal life if you drink.

“There is no such thing as bad enough. It’s only wherever one chooses to stop. That’s the bottom.

Because it can only get better from there,” he said.

How did David identify as an alcoholic who needed AA? “I walked into my first AA meeting and they made you introduce yourself as an alcoholic and made me raise my hand and say it was my first time at a meeting.

I wanted to burn everything down. I was sitting there fuming and panicking, and the room was filled with Hells Angels bikers. And some scary guy, with I can only assume Vietnam or bar brawl scars, raised his hand and spoke. The words coming out of his mouth were all of the things that I thought in my brain. Uncontrollable fear of people, self hatred, feeling like I can’t live without drinking, being scared at night of being alone with myself, not knowing what to do with my hands at home or at a bar or with friends or with family. [Feeling] happy, sad, angry, loved or any state of being without handling it by either drinking in the moment or immediately after, or days or months later just thinking about the event that made me need to drink it away.”

That old, white, sunburned dude in a leather jacket with leather skin sounded, thought and spoke exactly like David. That was the first step for him. Seeing other people who he could identify with and who self-identified as alcoholics, and seeing what those people did that made them miraculously happy through this “antiquated, draconic 12-step system.”

So to get sober, David went into therapy, a lot of therapy. “And I cried a lot. And I had a lot of people hold me. And more importantly, I actually let people hold me.

I was never able to do that. I still have trouble with it now but I’m trying,” he said.

“I wrote a gratitude list and put it on my mirror. I also burned it several times because I thought it was f*cking stupid.

“I made my bed every morning. And when I got home even after my whole day was a horrible, anxious, shaking mess I still had done one thing right that day. I walked through my thoughts on situations concerning everything with other people — whether to quit a job, how to resolve an argument with my parents, even if I thought it was OK to be angry or sad about something.

Because I’d been drinking for so long I hadn’t grown emotionally, and I was a stunted angry teenager even at 23.

David said he began to find joy in daily activities such as cooking and reading, but he says the most important thing he did was acknowledge his very real problem.

“There’s no such thing as will power. Not for an alcoholic.

The moment that I drink I lose anything that I’m trying to do for myself. I’m not me. I’m something else. I’m David plus alcohol. Normal drinkers aren’t like that.”

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

12 | JANUARY 13, 2016

“Not being able to simply be happy and in the moment is probably the dearest thing to me that addiction has taken away and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

The first step of recovery is not using, she said. The second is changing the habits, behavior and thought patterns that cause substance abuse. “Working around” addiction is almost impossible. And it’s tough to give up a familiar lifestyle — the familiar friends, the excitement, she said.

Think about how many New Year’s resolutions are made. People stick with them for one week, maybe one month. Multiply that by 100 and you’re dealing with an addiction. Instead of changing one or two daily habits, cutting out an addiction requires a full change in your brain chemistry. “It’s battling with your brain to change your lifestyle,” Funk said. It’s something you can’t do on your own.

Teton County has Apex and Curran-Seeley to provide support. It also offers several AA meetings a day and three Al-Anon meetings per week.

In a town like Jackson, Funk says it’s really hard to find a function that doesn’t include alcohol. A lot of people come here to party for vacation or for the season. They’re here to ski and after they ski they go to Nick Wilson’s and have a beer. It’s a party town, and people here like to escape responsibility, to escape their feelings and to escape sobriety.

Quitting alcohol when it’s something that surrounds you takes strength and immense will power, Funk says.

“To say ‘I don’t want it, I don’t need it,’ that’s a skill set,” she said.

To say no usually involves battling social anxiety or depression. What caused alcoholism in the first place?

What is the substance for you? How do you combat it?

These are things that outpatient programs and AA can help answer. And these are the questions that friends and family members need to learn to ask addicts to help them without drowning in their manipulations, justifications and defenses.

“Every addict needs a good enabler,” Funk said. “If people stop supporting them they suddenly have to take a

look at themselves. They might be angry, but they will be faced with, ‘Wow, that happened because of my alcohol use.’”

Sobriety or comfort?

Elliott returned for a second interview. He’d been thinking a lot about the possibility of returning to AA and getting sober. “I guess part of me doesn’t want to get sober and get my life on track,” he said. He feared the withdrawal and says he doesn’t want to go through two weeks of hell only to relapse again.

He says he wants to continue experiencing feelings of euphoria and freedom, but has found them more challenging to earn and easier to lose as novel “experiences” such as homelessness become a longterm reality. Elliott is also worried about losing himself.

“I think I’ve abused so many drugs and damaged so many receptors up there that any positive mood I may have, or flash of inspiration, I’m extremely suspicious of and know it’s only temporary,” Elliott said. “There just isn’t enough good in the world for me to see this life as worth living for and being happy all the time. Alcohol doesn’t make me happy but it makes me care less about the situation.”

Elliott thinks that the possibility of getting sober is better in a mountain town like Jackson. He believes that there are a lot more positive and vibrant young people here than elsewhere. He also believes there’s an element of adventure being in the mountains with your friends that will never be topped by any generic sensation created by drugs and alcohol. He thinks addicts are drawn to towns like Vail, Taos and Jackson because many of them are thrill seekers and sensitive, intelligent people looking for an escape from their mental and emotional battles.

Claudia Black is a psychotherapist, a renowned

addictions and codependency expert and the best-selling author of “It Will Never Happen to Me,” a book about growing up in an alcoholic household.

Black maintains what Elliott says is valid. She believes that, like many addicts, he is seeking an intense lifestyle as a way to distract himself from pain. But Black isn’t sure that necessarily makes small mountain towns like Jackson a positive or a negative on the road to recovery.

“The culture is more one of escape,” Black said.

“Addicts don’t go to Jackson Hole to meditate. They often are hiding out from other responsibilities and fueling their addictions.” However, the area is filled with opportunities for daring outdoor adventures that don’t preclude sober living. In reality, Black believes, it doesn’t matter if you live in Chicago or Jackson, in a city, in the suburbs or off the grid. People can find recovery wherever they are if they’re motivated to do so.

She says that while you should leave if you are unable to find the right support for sobriety where you’re living — and very seldom are you going to be able to keep up with the same friends who shared and enabled your addictions — you transport your fears, mood swings, habits and addictions with you when you move.

Still, Elliot hopes the valley can help to save him.

“There’s so much other stuff to do [in Jackson],” he said, “that if you really wanted to get sober and work on your life there’s an abundant wealth of resources and ways to stay active and people to meet seeking adventure without substances. That might be why I’m here. Not being able to simply be happy and in the moment is probably the dearest thing to me that addiction has taken away and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” PJH *The subject has requested his or her name to be changed.

THIS WEEK: January 13-19, 2016

WEDNESDAY JAN. 13

n Chess Club: Grades K to 12 3:30pm, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 x118 n Snowflakes 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $40.00, 307-733-6379 n Apres with Maw Band 4:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Winter Wonderland: Ice Skating on Town Square 4:30pm, Town Square, Free n Wyoming Business Resource Network Presentation 5:30pm, Jackson Hole Real Estate Associates, Free, 307690-1803 n Evening Yoga 6:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Great Until Late 6:00pm, Local Businesses, Free, 307-201-2294 n Barbara Trentham Life Drawing 6:00pm, Drawing, Painting + Printmaking Studio, $10.00, 307-733-6379 n Book Signing Event: The Spiral to Now with SoLaMeé Heneage 6:00pm, Medicine Wheel Wellness, Free, 307-699-7480 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-9025 n Salsa at Dancers’ Workshop 7:00pm, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n STACKHOUSE 7:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Tavern Trivia 7:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-3886 n Mountain Story Keynote: The Adventure of Filmmaking, Sender Films 7:00pm, Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Oneness Deeksha Meditation 7:30pm, Akasha Yoga, $5.00, 307-413-3965 n Songwriter’s Alley 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n KHOL Presents: Vinyl Night 9:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500 n Brad O’Brien 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-3886

THURSDAY JAN. 14

n Kettlebells 7:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n New Year, New You! Tips, Savings & Specials for a Healthy New Year 7:00am, Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe, Free, 307-733-0450 n Zumba at Dancers’ Workshop 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, Free, 307-733-6398 n Yoga 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Intermediate/Advanced Ballet @ Dancers’ Workshop 9:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Tech Tutor 10:00am, Teton County Library, Free, 733-2164 ext. 218 n Curious Kids 10:15am, Jackson Hole Children’s Museum, $8.00, 206733-3996 n Storytime 10:30am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n “22 in 21: The State of Our Community” 10:30am, Spring Creek Ranch, $50.00 n Storytime 11:00am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 12:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-9025 n Public Skating 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Events Center, $6.00 - $8.00, 307-201-1633 n Adult Intro to Skate Skiing Lessons 12:00pm, JH Middle School/ Summit High School Ski Track, $60.00/ 4 classes, 307-7399025 n Photo Opportunity with Puddles the Blue Goose 2:00pm, Jackson Hole & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center, Free n Freestyle Skating 3:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Writing Workshop: Plot vs.

Structure 3:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 13

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 15

Compiled by Caroline Zieleniewski

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

n Boot Camp 7:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Pilates Mat Classes at Dancers’ Workshop 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Toddler Gym 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $0.00 - $2.50, 307-7399025 n Yoga 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Toddler Gym 10:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $0.00 - $2.50, 307-7399025 n Tech Tutor 10:00am, Teton County Library, Free, 733-2164 ext. 218 n Story TIme - Victor 10:00am, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Open Hockey 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Fables, Feathers, and Fur 10:30am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, 307-733-5771 n Lap Sit 11:00am, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Jackson Hole Chapter Women’s Business Roundtable 11:45am, Jackson Town Hall, Council Chamber, Free, 512277-5047 n Public Skating 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Events Center, $6.00 - $8.00, 307-201-1633 n Adult Classic Ski Lessons at Wilson Centennial Trail 12:00pm, Wilson Centennial Trail/Stilson, $30/two lessons , 307-739-9025 n Total Fitness 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Ranger-led Snowshoe Hike 1:30pm, Grand Teton National Park, Free, 307-739-3399 n Freestyle Skating 3:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Mountain Story: Writing Workshop: The Adventure Essay, Frederick Reimers 3:00pm, Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

14 | JANUARY 13, 2016

CREATIVE PEAKS Feathery Finesse Artist uses watercolors and feathers to explore the natural world and our relation to place.

BY KELSEY DAYTON @Kelsey_Dayton

DALY PROJECTS

A

few years ago Camille Davis discovered several woodpecker feathers while out on a hike.

Their beauty struck the artist who immediately wanted to study them and capture their likeness in paint.

From there Davis started painting any feather she could find — owls, hawks, crows or pigeons. At first the paintings were naturalistic studies, almost a form of preservation and documentation. But in the last year her work has evolved, and the feather paintings have assumed more meaning and structure.

Davis still paints the feathers in their natural state, but she puts them in specific forms like rows, circles or crosses based on Native American beliefs about the birds and on what the feathers mean to her.

Her latest feather paintings make up a new exhibit at Daly Projects, “Oak Savanna,” named after a region in northern California where Davis now lives. The show opens with a reception Thursday evening.

Daly Projects owner Meg Daly initially slated the show as the gallery’s first of 2016 because it fit her schedule, but she also found it to be the perfect way to start the year.

“Her work is light and ephemeral,” Daly said. “It captures that fresh and quiet feeling that feels right for January.”

The show will feature about 30 paintings ranging in size and price, starting at about $200.

Davis is an artist distinguished by her excellent craftsmanship, Daly said.

Her portfolio includes impressionistic oil portraits as well as watercolor studies of feathers and other natural objects. The watercolor work is representational on a white background.

“They are just simply lovely,” Daly said.

Davis uses silver point to make the details in her paintings pop. She is skilled at blending color together in her watercolor work.

While her oil paintings are looser and more impressionistic, her watercolors are precise — an unusual divergence of styles for a painter.

‘Never Dies’ by Camille Davis hangs as part of her new show debuting at Daly projects Thursday.

“She’s just a really excellent artist,” Daly said.

Whatever medium Davis works in, symbolism, as well as her feelings, influence her paintings.

“There is sort of this immediacy of the artist’s heart or spirit there,” Daly said. “As opposed to painting from an analytical place, she comes much more from the heart.”

The Daly Projects show features all watercolors and almost all feathers.

Watercolor is the perfect medium to depict feathers. The paint and the subject are light and delicate, Davis said.

Davis, who grew up in Jackson, started working in watercolor while in middle school. It’s been her medium of choice for the last year.

“I love it because it very much has a life of its own,” she said. “I can control where it goes on the paper, but enjoy letting the colors bleed and swirl how they will.”

The natural world has always informed Davis’ work. She has painted flowers, landscapes and people. She never distorts or manipulates her subject, but captures what it represents in how she sees it.

“Maybe if I grew up in a city I would be painting abstract man-made structures.

Who knows? But I have a great awareness and respect for the wild that comes from living alongside it,” she said.

Davis tries to use different feathers and

to change compositions to make each piece she creates unique for the viewer and a new challenge for herself as an artist.

Her work is an exploration of the ways birds and feathers are perceived in different cultures — how they possess supernatural powers offering the ability to influence a person with certain attributes and traits, she said.

For example, a heron feather symbolizes patience, grace and confidence in some cultures, while a turkey feather might denote abundance, pride and fertility.

Davis moved to northern California this year and started exploring the oak savanna and redwood forests of the region. She still paints the feathers and natural objects she finds. The land, like that in Wyoming, is wild, beautiful and inspiring.

“It is a very magical place,” she said.

The feathers she paints represent the special places where she finds them. They are meant to evoke the feelings of that place and represent natural cycles of the environment.

They are a way of sharing the deeper essence of the birds and of the forests where they live and leave their feathers.

“I agree that feathers are gifts,” Davis said.

“And this is my way of honoring the birds.”

PJH Camille Davis, “Oak Savanna,” a watercolor exhibition, reception 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday at Daly Projects, 125 E. Pearl Street.

FRIDAY JAN. 15

n Boot Camp 7:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n New Year, New You! Tips, Savings & Specials for a Healthy New Year 7:00am, Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe, Free, 307-733-0450 n Toddler Gym 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $0.00 - $2.50, 307-7399025 n bootybarre® at Dancers’ Workshop 9:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Yoga 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Portrait Drawing Club 9:00am, Drawing, Painting + Printmaking Studio, $10.00, 307-733-6379 n Celebrating Safety Month with TCSAR 9:00am, Top of Bridger Gondola, Free, 307-733-2292 n Ballet Workout at Dancers’ Workshop 9:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Zumba at Dancers’ Workshop 10:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Toddler Gym 10:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $0.00 - $2.50, 307-7399025 n Open Hockey 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Curious Kids 10:15am, Jackson Hole Children’s Museum, $8.00, 206733-3996

n Quantum Shiatsu with Yana Salomon 11:00am, Spirit, $25.00, 307733-3382 n Yoga 12:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Public Skating 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Events Center, $6.00 - $8.00, 307-201-1633 n Adult Skate Ski Lessons at Wilson Centennial Trail 12:00pm, Wilson Centennial Trail/Stilson, $60/4 lessons, 307-739-9025 n Feathered Friday 12:00pm, Jackson Hole & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center, Free, 307-201-5433 n Total Fitness 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Ranger-led Snowshoe Hike 1:30pm, Grand Teton National Park, Free, 307-739-3399 n Freestyle Skating 3:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Snowflakes 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $40.00, 307-733-6379 n Pica’s Margarita Cup 3:30pm, Snow King Resort, 307-733-6433 n Winter Wonderland: Ice Skating on Town Square 4:30pm, Town Square, Free n Friday Night Meditation 6:00pm, Zendler Chiropractic, Free, 307-699-8300 n Great Until Late 6:00pm, Local Businesses, Free, 307-201-2294 n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-0925 n Pam Drews Phillips Plays Jazz 7:00pm, The Granary at Spring Creek Ranch, Free, 307-7338833 n An Evening with Luther Dickinson, Rich Robinson, Ivan Neville and Robert Randolph 7:00pm, Center for the Arts, $69.00 - $79.00, 307-733-4900 n Three Rivers Rock ‘n’ Country 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Free Public Stargazing 7:30pm, Center for the Arts, Free, 3074134779 n Jackson Hole Moose Hockey 7:30pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $10.00, 307-201-1633

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 15

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 20

n Mountain Story: Radical Simplicity, Mark Sundeen Ordway Auditorium 7:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 n JH Community Band Rehearsal 7:00pm, Center for the Arts Performing Arts Wing, Free, 307-200-9463 n Major Zephyr 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Salsa Night 9:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500 n Disco Night 10:00pm, Stagecoach Bar, Free, 307-733-4407 n BOGDOG 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-3886

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

n Snowflakes 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $40.00, 307-7336379 n Culture through Clay 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $150.00, 307733-6379 n Apres with Stack and the Attack 4:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Yoga 4:15pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Winter Wonderland: Ice Skating on Town Square 4:30pm, Town Square, Free n Spark JH Happy Hour 4:30pm, Spark JH, Free n Center for the Arts Chamber Mixer 5:00pm, Center for the Arts, Free, 307-201-2309 n Jazzercise 5:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $10.00, 307-739-9025 n Total Fitness 5:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Health Insurance Marketplace Assistance 5:45pm, Teton County Library Computer Lab, Free, 307-7332164 n The Three Major Roadblocks to Weight Loss 6:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $65.00, 307-200-6155 n Great Until Late 6:00pm, Local Businesses, Free, 307-201-2294 n Teton Literacy Center’s Sponsor a Reader Annual Fundraising Dinner 6:00pm, Hotel Terra, $150.00 $1,200.00, 307-733-9242 n Beginning Throwing Hustle 6:00pm, Art Association of JH, $225.00, 307-733-6379 n Silversmithing: Projects & Stone Setting 6:00pm, Art Association of JH, $65.00, 307-733-6379 n Italian Cuisine- Making Pasta By Hand 6:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $65.00, 307-200-6155 n Mix’d Media 6:00pm, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, 307-733-5771 n Armchair Adventures: Scottish Highlands and Hebrides 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $5.00, 3077399025 n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-0925

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

16 | JANUARY 13, 2016

MUSIC BOX Standout Synergy Musical luminaries come together for a onetime performance that promises to be one of the most memorable shows this year.

BY AARON DAVIS @ScreenDoorPorch

I

t’s audacious to call this Friday’s concert—billed as an evening with Luther Dickinson, Rich Robinson, Ivan Neville and Robert Randolph—as a standout of the year.

It’s only mid-January, and there are 11 and a half months left to go. But when you take into consideration the Dickinson-led North Mississippi Osborne set at the recent Fireman’s Ball, or Randolph’s crushing set at JacksonHoleLive, or better yet, the fact that this is a rare one-off collaboration of high-caliber musicians who have never shared the same stage as a unit, you realize that statement isn’t so crazy.

Don’t assume the typical concert experience, either. Much of the magic will be made on the spot with reciprocating vibes determining the next variation.

“Shannon [McCormick, programming director at Center for the Arts] saw Southern Soul Assembly—which is JJ Grey, Marc Broussard, Anders Osborne and myself—which actually inspired this show we’re doing in Jackson Hole,” explained Dickinson. “So Shannon and I got to talking, and he was like, ‘Man, let’s do something like that.’ So we kept poking around to get the right lineup. I’ve played with all of the cats on this bill in different incarnations but never together. So with this type of scene everybody takes turns playing their tunes, so different cats might fill-in or might not. It’s not like a full band.

“What I’ve found with Southern Soul Assembly is that you can practice and prepare and teach each other songs, but soon as the show gets going it all goes out the window. The domino effect sort of determines the flow of the show. You

Luther Dickinson (left), joins Robert Randolph (right), along with Rich Robinson and Ivan Neville for a historic performance Friday at Center for the Arts. might think you know what you’re going to do, but once you have to follow the other guy and follow the mood, change the mood, react to the mood … it’s a fun interactive type of format. I try to stay in the moment. I don’t even like making setlists before the day of the show. It’s awkward to me to predetermine what the show’s going to be before you feel out how it’s going to roll, see what the venue is like, or what dinner was like, or what the crowd’s like.”

Dickinson has been active outside of the North Mississippi Allstars (which earned a Grammy nomination in 2000) in recent years, including a stint with The Black Crowes, The Word and the South Memphis String Band. It’s his solo career, however, that has really come into focus of late, including 2014’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Blues” and his fifth studio album, which is on deck for release early next month, the double-LP “Blues & Ballads, A Folksinger’s Songbook: Volumes I & II.” On stage with Dickinson will be guitarist/singer-songwriter Rich Robinson, who is the brother of Chris Robinson and a founding member of The Black Crowes. Before and

after the latest Crowes’ breakup, Robinson took singing lessons, built a home studio and released “The Ceaseless Sight” (2014), which is described by David Fricke, of Rolling Stone, as “the bull’s-eye, so rich in textures and assured in the writing that it sounds like a true debut.”

Like Dickinson, keyboardist/vocalist Ivan Neville — part of the famous musical Neville family — will be flying into Jackson fresh off the 14th Annual Jam Cruise. Masterful pedal steel player and multi-instrumentalist Robert Randolph rounds out the group, appearing just days before touring the East Coast later this month with his band.

This show could be one for the ages.

An Evening with Luther Dickinson, Rich Robinson, Ivan Neville and Robert Randolph, 7 p.m. Friday at the Center Theater. $71-$81. JHCenterForTheArts.org, 733-1500. PJH

Aaron Davis is a songwriting troubadour, multi-instrumentalist, founding member of Screen Door Porch and Boondocks, and host of Songwriter’s Alley.

MUSIC BOX 2 Eleven is for Expression JH Snowboarder Magazine’s 11th annual party features Blackalicious, Phutureprimitive.

BY AARON DAVIS @ScreenDoorPorch

“N

Kelly Halpin’s dreamy, chromatic art graces the cover of this year’s Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine. comfort zone, I am most indebted to snowboarding for the people I’ve met along the way.”

Headlining the dance vibe at this year’s magazine release party will be Blackalicious, Phutureprimitive, Lateef the Truthspeaker and Jumbo from the Lifesavas.

Blackalicious is the classic, timeless hip-hop duo of multisyllabic technician Gift of Gab with DJ sidekick Chief Xcel, high school friends who met in a home economics class arguing over which emcee was more dope: Ice-T or Too Short.

Take one listen to their classic single, “Make You Feel That Way,” and you’ll quickly realize that the Sacramento pair are on the flip side of their gangsta heroes, instead favoring the positive tip, even pulling the heart strings. “Make You Feel That Way” was created in a Houston garage for 2002’s seminal release, “Blazing Arrow,” which featured psychedelic-soul production and positioned the group on the fringes of a genre that was about to change dramatically. Some were calling it “alternative rap.” Around the time gangsta rap seized in 2005, Blackalicious released sophomore album “The Craft” before going the artists went their separate ways into solo careers.

“The group has been doing a lot since we last did an album together,” Chief Xcel told Consciousness Magazine in October.

“We have been touring, creating and building our brand.

Gift of Gab and I have done numerous solo albums. We have matured. We are grown men. We came into the music scene during our high school and into our college years and are now at the Ph.D., post-graduate level of our creativity.”

Blackalicious played the Pink Garter in 2013, preceding

Blackalicious brings the hip-hop for 2016 followed by a dance party care of Phutureprimitve.

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 17

the release of its first album in more than a decade, last year’s “Imani, Vol. 1.” The album has a theme of connection, with nostalgic mentions of the past and seemingly life-coaching lines like those in its opener: “Never let life’s troubles block your flow/Have faith and get where you’re trying to go.” The theme of being inspired by relationships and embracing the goodness around one’s peripheral is apropos when considering the underlying reason for this party, this sport.

Phutureprimitive’s 2011 “Kinetik” remained on the iTunes Top 100 releases for a whopping three years after its release. A moniker of Bay Area producer and songwriter Rain, Phutureprimitive creates downbeat “psychill” compositions, often textured with female vocals. With the second installment of a pair of EPs, “Searching for Beauty in the Darkest of Places Pt. 2” released last fall, the solo artist puts listeners in a trance-like state utilizing classical routes, tribal vocals and dark, danceable, bass-heavy electronic beats.

DJ Cut la Whut will step away from the turntables for this soiree to lay down stunning creative visuals as BANGIN!, and a silent auction teeming with gear and a massive selection of snowboards from Never Summer, Lib Tech, Gnu and Franco SnowShapes happens from 7 to 10 p.m. A portion of the auction proceeds will go to the JH Ski and Snowboard Club.

Of course, let’s not forget about the labor of love that is this year’s Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine. Check out the current issue at JHSnowboarder.com or pick one up at the party.

The magazine is sectioned into art, photography, gear, features and bios while digging into the characters who inhabit and keep the pulse of our local snow culture. The vibrant, bio-surrealistic cover of Jackson rippers slaying a cowboy-powdered snow wave spilling out of the tram is courtesy of artist Kelly Halpin. Beyond the opening conversation with Halpin, Travis Rice sounds off on his art baby, Asymbol Gallery, there’s an ode to Darrell Miller and Storm Show Studios’ 15 flicks, a shout to young pow warriors, a cool “Where Are They Now” article by Jeff Moran on Cam FitzPatrick, and a piece on one of the top progressive freestyle riders of his era, Bryan Iguchi, on the best and worst of times.

In the article, Guch remembers Jackson feeling free and wild compared to other places he had visited before moving here in 1996. Here’s to the wild and free mentality 20 years later. Let’s ride. PJH JH Snowboarder Magazine party–featuring Blackalicious and Phutureprimitive, auction begins at 7 p.m., music at 8 p.m with DJ Grand Canyon followed by a special DJ set with Jumbo– Friday at the Pink Garter Theatre. Video mapping visuals by BANGIN! and a colossal silent auction of snowboards and gear.

21 and over. $25-$45.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

o snowboards allowed!”

The more those words become a faint recollection in the history of snow sports, the less obvious it is that snowboarding is still a progressive subculture, an underground microcosm of radical and a proud community that has risen with an international as well as local voice that is heard around the world. Like the steadfast anticipation of Christmas Day 50 years ago in Muskegon, Michigan, when Sherman Poppen invented the predecessor of the snowboard — the snurfer — obsessed riders await the far-reaching podium that is Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine, edition No. 11.

After 10 sold-out magazine release parties marked by epic performances from Yelawolf, Zion I, last year’s Talib Kweli with Immortal Technique, even a Justin Timberlake impromptu beat-boxing show with Brother Ali in 2013, it’s apparent that every year is an attempt to outdo the last. Go bigger, right? But just like rationalizing a gnarly line that holds imminent danger with the desire to outdo another is weak, going bigger would be a shortsighted justification when considering the underlying reason for a release party in the first place—the magnetization of like-minded people celebrating a lifestyle and a means into the mountains.

Jackson Hole Snowboarder Magazine’s editor Robyn Vincent wittily compares snowboarding to her teenage raver days in her editor’s note, which opens the magazine: “In the rave scene, there is the anthem, ‘Last night a DJ saved my life.’ Today, I can’t help but say this about snowboarding and I bet in some way or another you can, too. I traded dialing the rave line after sunset for dialing the snow phone before sunrise. I went from lingering in smoky midnight queues that wrapped around warehouses to waiting in a sunny tram line that snaked up to the Bridger center. I became more mindful of what I put into my body and how it might affect my ability to climb a mountain or revel in the relentless rhythms of a bell-to-bell powder day.” Vincent also takes note of one of snowboarding’s greatest virtues: “Beyond the self-improvement that inevitably occurs when you wriggle away from your

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

18 | JANUARY 13, 2016

DIRT MYTH PHOTOGRAPHY

GET OUT

New Heights Celebrate our amazing ability to adapt this weekend.

BY ELIZABETH KOUTRELAKOS

F

For all MEETING AGENDAS AND MINUTES WEEKLY CALENDAR JOB OPENINGS SOLICITATIONS FOR BIDS PUBLIC NOTICES AND OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION

Visit our website

TetonWyo.org The public meeting agendas and minutes for the Board of County Commissioners and Planning Commission can also be found in the Public Notices section of the JH News and Guide.

or those looking for a different ski scene this weekend, the Teton Adaptive Sports Annual Adaptive Awareness Day followed by the Après Soirée FUNdraiser is the perfect double hitter to ensure fun with a purpose. Adaptive Awareness Day— held Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort — can fill you in on what this program is all about. After the riding is done, the family-friendly evening Après Soirée will be conveniently held in the Hotel Terra Ballroom at the base of the mountain.

What the heck is Teton Adaptive Sports all about, you ask? For the curious, more information can be found below.

Outdoor activities for all abilities Teton Adaptive Sports is a nonprofit that formed in Teton County in 2005. This comprehensive program supports outdoor activities for people of all ages with any form of disability, providing access to a variety of sports ranging from whitewater rafting, hiking and paddleboarding in the summer to one-on-one ski and snowboard lessons in the winter. Unlike most private instruction available in the valley, these lessons are subsidized by Teton Adaptive Sports to make them affordable for all people in the community. The organization also provides a wide array of specialized equipment designed to accommodate all sorts of physical abilities.

People make the program work A variety of people work to ensure these recreational opportunities are available all year round. Lead players Jason Malczyk and Kurt Henry run the winter show, while

Odie Pierce enjoys some air with a little help from the Teton Adaptive Sports program.

Cherene Vanian has taken over coordination of summer activities. The resulting programs are rewarding for both athletes and instructors.

Pete Bartlett recounted the past seven years of his involvement with Teton Adaptive Sports. “This job is the greatest job on the hill hands down,” he said. “I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to share something they love so much with people who have been told, ‘No’ or ‘Sorry you’re going to have to stay here while the rest of us go ______.’”

Long-time adaptive instructor Andy Gable added to this, explaining what drew him to be involved. “I wanted to help people realize their own human potential,” he said. “This organization is important to the community because it provides people with disabilities the opportunities to learn athletic skills, gain confidence for new experiences and have fun with others.”

Teton Adaptive Sports’ motto is one that inspires. “It’s not a disability, it’s a possibility.” Having been a part of the organization for the past five years, I have heard and witnessed many of these inspirational stories.

Don Carr, who is entering his 31st year of adaptive instruction, reflected, “I’d have to say that my coolest experience was guiding a man with two prosthetic eyes from the top of Rendezvous Bowl and working with the mountain patrol in assisting a skier with no use of his legs into Corbett’s.”

These moments often happen with passersby not even noticing.

A few weekends ago, I hopped on the gondola with a snowboarder who was blind. We had just cruised down Gros Ventre and, with a little verbal guidance, the student stuck his first jump. A local gentleman joined us on the lift and conversed with the boarder, saying, “You crushed that air! Did you see the people after you totally eat it?” The kid replied jokingly, “No, man, I’m blind.”

In all seriousness, the Adaptive Sports Program pushes people to believe in themselves and achieve their own personal goals despite obstacles they may encounter. The keyword in this program is “adaptive”

meaning there is no absolute right way for people to participate in outdoor sports.

Hence, the program focuses on the strengths of the individual, keeping in mind that safety and fun are high priorities.

If you are having a hard time wrapping your head around the equipment used by the adaptive program and want to learn more about it, come out to the Adaptive Awareness Day. The event is free and open to the public, so people can truly feel what it’s like to use a bi-ski, a three-track (one-legged ski) or even ski blind. I must say the equipment offers a pretty insane workout and trying it out can help you understand how much effort and skill is involved in using the gear. After training days with the adaptive equipment, I’m often sore in spots I never knew existed.

Après for a good cause

After the lifts shut down, head over to the Après Soirée. This event is a great opportunity to support a cause that reaches people of all ages. A $20 ticket allows you to socialize, indulge in catered delicacies and take advantage of a cash bar. It’s a family-friendly event with live music care of the Canyon Kids, a raffle, silent auction and games for children.

The raffle offers sweet prizes. You could win a pair of custom Igneous skis, a 10-day Jackson Hole Mountain Resort pass or a full pass to Grand Targhee Resort. The best part about this raffle is that you do not need to be present to win, because Teton Adaptive Sports really does adapt even if you can’t make it! PJH

More Information on Après Soirée

When: 3:30-7 p.m., Saturday Where: Hotel Terra Ballroom located in Teton Village Cost: $20 provides entry to event, one raffle ticket and free food. (The Après Soirée is free for kids 8 and younger.)

What: Music, food, silent auction and live raffle (need not be present to win.)

Raffle tickets: Available through any Teton Adaptive Sports instructor or through info@tetonadaptivesports.com

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 19

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

20 | JANUARY 13, 2016

n JH Snowboarder Magazine Party featuring Blackalicious & Phutureprimitive 8:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre, $20.00 - $45.00, 307-733-1500 n Alex Blackwelder 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-1500

SATURDAY JAN. 16

n New Year, New You! Tips, Savings & Specials for a Healthy New Year 7:00am, Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe, Free, 307-733-0450 n Photography Composition & Visualization 8:00am, Art Association of JH, $65.00, 307-733-6379 n Zumba at Dancers’ Workshop 9:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Celebrating Safety Month with TCSAR 9:00am, Top of Bridger Gondola, Free, 307-733-2292 n Teton Valley Winter Farmer’s Market 10:00am, MD Nursery, Free, 208-354-8816 n Health Insurance Marketplace Assistance 10:00am, Teton County Library Computer Lab, Free, 307-7332164 n Experimenting with Collage 10:00am, Art Association of JH, $45.00, 307-733-6379 n Open Hockey 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Powder 8’s Local’s Qualifier 10:30am, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, $100.00, 307733-2292 n Tram Jam 11:00am, Base of the Bridger Gondola, Free n Quantum Shiatsu with Yana Salomon 11:00am, Spirit, $25.00, 307733-3382 n Spotlight on Mo Willems: Hand Puppet Craft 11:00am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n 5th Annual Adaptive Demonstration Booth 11:00am, Teewinot Lift, Free, 307-733-2292 n Winter Wonderland: Ice Skating on Town Square 12:00pm, Town Square, Free

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 22

n National Elk Refuge Birding Excursion 1:00pm, Jackson Hole & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center, Free n Ranger-led Snowshoe Hike 1:30pm, Grand Teton National Park, Free, 307-739-3399 n Raptor Encounters 2:00pm, Teton Raptor Center, $10.00 - $12.00, 307-203-2551 n Teton Adaptive Sports Après Soirée 3:30pm, Hotel Terra, $20.00, 307-699-3554 n Snowflakes 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $40.00, 307-733-6379 n Chanman Solo in the K BAR at the Teton Mountain Lodge and Spa 4:00pm, K BAR, Free, 307-4131348 n Laff Staff Improv Comedy in Victor 6:00pm, Wildwood Room, $10.00, 208-787-2667 n Great Until Late 6:00pm, Local Businesses, Free, 307-201-2294 n Open Gym - Adult Soccer 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-0925 n Three Rivers Rock ‘n’ Country 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Jackson Hole Moose Hockey 7:30pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $5.00 - $10.00, 307-201-1633 n The Miller Sisters 8:00pm, Knotty Pine, Free, 208-787-2866 n DJ Simotaneous 9:00pm, Mangy Moose, 307733-4913 n John Adams Smith Band 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, 307-733-3886 n Jameson Music Series Presents John Wayne’s World 10:30pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500

SUNDAY JAN. 17

n New Year, New You! Tips, Savings & Specials for a Healthy New Year 7:00am, Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe, Free, 307-733-0450 n Celebrating Safety Month with TCSAR 11:00am, Top of Bridger Gondola, Free, 307-733-2292 n Jackson Reads 12:00pm, KHOL Radio Show, 307-733-2164

n Winter Wonderland: Ice Skating on Town Square 12:00pm, Town Square, Free n Short Interpretive Walks 1:00pm, Jackson Hole & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center, Free n Snowflakes 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $40.00, 307-733-6379 n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 4:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-9025 n Apres with Major Zephyr 4:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Stagecoach Band 6:00pm, Stagecoach, Free, 307-733-4407 n Taize 6:00pm, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Free, 307-733-2603 n Great Until Late 6:00pm, Local Businesses, Free, 307-201-2294 n Hospitality Night 9:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500 n Uncle Stackhouse 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-3886

MONDAY JAN. 18

n Boot Camp 7:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Pilates Mat Classes at Dancers’ Workshop 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Toddler Gym 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $0.00 - $2.50, 307-7399025 n Jazzercise 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $10.00, 307-739-9025 n Zumba at Dancers’ Workshop 9:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Kindercreations 9:30am, Art Association of JH, $85.00, 307-733-6379 n Toddler Gym 10:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $0.00 - $2.50, 307-7399025 n Open Hockey 10:15am, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Little Hands, Little Feet 11:00am, Art Association of JH, $85.00, 307-733-6379 n Public Skating 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Events Center, $6.00 - $8.00, 307-201-1633

PALLOSKAR.IS

WELL, THAT HAPPENED

Explosions in the Sky Icelanders put a Jackson Hole New Year’s Eve to shame.

BY BY AARON DAVIS @AndrewMunz

C

ulture was only a four-hour drive away and I couldn’t wait to get out of our little fjord town to experience it. After an intense five-week Christmas celebration, including three consecutive days of nonstop eating, a handful of the Hildibrand Hotel employees (myself included) decided to rent a car and drive 200 plus miles to the closest big city, Akureyri. Driving north from Neskaupstaður brings you through one of the most desolate areas of Iceland, the only part of the Ring Road that veers near the treacherous interior.

Akureyri is often dubbed the “capital of the north,” although it is neither a capital nor the northernmost Icelandic settlement.

But with 17,000 people living in the city and the surrounding area, its size is very similar to Jackson. When I was a whale-watching guide in 2014, Akureyri was my home base, which meant I was very familiar with the best spots for nightlife. It had been recited to me time and time again that New Year’s Eve was the biggest party night in Iceland. You hear that and you don’t really take it too much to heart. Surely the parties I experienced during the Iceland Airwaves music festival were comparable.

Gods was I wrong.

Unlike in Jackson, fireworks are easily purchased and can be launched from just about anywhere in Iceland. There’s no danger of burning down National Forests (or any forests, really) or of scaring wintering wildlife.

You just buy your boom sticks and blow that shit up. I was told that Icelandic families can spend upwards of a few thousand dollars just on New Year’s fireworks alone, which, to me, seemed like an overestimation.

My friend Lína’s father was a captain of a

Páll Oskar, Iceland’s most beloved DJ.

large fishing boat that was docked in the harbor, and I was lucky to be invited to view the fireworks from the top of the ship. Climbing the snowy ladders was difficult enough while the boat was stationary, so I can’t imagine how those sailors keep their balance out on the open sea. But I digress.

What I saw looking out over the Akureyri cityscape was mind-numbingly beautiful. All across the city fireworks erupted in gigantic, constant explosions. These Icelanders didn’t just dish out cash for sparklers and Roman candles; each location had more firepower than a Snow King New Year’s and Fourth of July combined. Like some Middle Eastern war zone, the whizzing rockets and explosions lasted over half an hour, as if there was some competition to see who had the most fireworks to launch. Also all of the rescue flares expire at the end of each year, so the sky was full of soaring red flares shot off by the sailors.

“What do you think?” Lína asked. Her boyfriend Valdi just smirked, waiting for my response.

“Uh,” I said with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure there are more fireworks here than I’ve seen in my entire lifetime.”

Afterwards we got ourselves dressied up (travel tip: if you plan on partying in Iceland on the weekend, girls wear heels and guys wear blazers and ties) and went to the biggest party in Akureyri: Pallaball. Iceland’s most famous (and most flamboyant) DJ, Páll Óskar, is famous for hosting the craziest dance parties in the country, and we were lucky to have him choose to spend his New Year’s Eve in Akureyri. The details of the night are vague, but I do remember smoking outside with a fellow who seemed unfazed by the bleeding gash he’d somehow acquired above his eye.

“It’ll heal next year,” he said.

I’ve had my fair share of memorable (or not so memorable) Pink Garter nights, but it’s clear that Icelanders know how to throw down better than the rest of ’em.

Quentin Tarantino also has celebrated New Year’s in Iceland and famously told Conan O’Brien: “I’m in a room of supermodels who are drunk out of their minds, standing up on a table, [shouting] ‘GET THE PARTY STARTED, LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED!’” It doesn’t get more cultural than that. PJH

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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 21

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

22 | JANUARY 13, 2016

n Total Fitness 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Ranger-led Snowshoe Hike 1:30pm, Grand Teton National Park, Free, 307-739-3399 n Freestyle Skating 3:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Snowflakes 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $40.00, 307-733-6379 n Handbuilding Clay with Mixed Media Additions 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $195.00, 307-733-6379 n After School Kidzart Club 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $195.00, 307-733-6379 n Apres with Tucker Smith 3-piece band 4:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Missoula Children’s Theater “Aladdin”: Book Giveaways 4:00pm, Teton County Library Youth Desk, Free, 307-733-2164 n Barre Fusion at Dancers’ Workshop 5:30pm, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Hootenanny at Dornans 6:00pm, Dornans, Free, 307733-2415 n Monday Sitting Group 6:00pm, Chiropractic and Sports Injury Center, 307-7337584 n Evening Yoga 6:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Great Until Late 6:00pm, Local Businesses, Free, 307-201-2294 n Printmaking 101 6:00pm, Art Association of JH, $145.00, 307-733-6379 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-9025 n How to Detox & Cleanse with Dr. Mark Meno 6:30pm, Jackson Whole Grocer & Cafe, Free, 307-733-0450

TUESDAY JAN. 19

n Kettlebells 7:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Free Day in Grand Teton National Park 8:00am, Grand Teton National Park, Free n Youth Mental Health First Aid Training 8:00am, St. John’s Medical Center, 307-733-2046

n Zumba at Dancers’ Workshop 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, Free, 307-733-6398 n Yoga 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n The Sustainable Events Workshop 9:00am, The Wort Hotel, Free, 307-690-3316 n Outside In 9:00am, Art Association of JH, $10.00, 307-733-6379 n Ballet Workout at Dancers’ Workshop 9:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Job Help with Work Force Services 10:00am, Teton County Library Computer Lab, Free, 307-7332164 n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library, Free, 733-2164 ext. 118 n Open Gym - Adult Basketball 12:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-9025 n Public Skating 12:00pm, Snow King Sports & Events Center, $6.00 - $8.00, 307-201-1633 n Adult Intro to Skate Skiing Lessons 12:00pm, JH Middle School/ Summit High School Ski Track, $60/4 lessions, 307-739-9025 n Words on Wellness: Radon and You 12:00pm, Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n MELT at Dancers’ Workshop 12:10pm, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Spin 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Freestyle Skating 3:00pm, Snow King Sports & Event Center, $10.00, 307-2011633 n Photo Editing & Uploading 3:00pm, Teton County Library Computer Lab, Free, 307-7332164 n Winter Wonderland 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $40.00, 307-73-6379 n Snowflakes 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $40.00, 307-733-6379 n Afterschool Monthly Workshops - All Sessions 3:30pm, Art Association of JH, $180.00, 307-733-6379 n Apres with Fresh Roy and the Winch Cats 4:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913

n White Lightning Open Mic Night 4:00pm, The Trap Bar & Grill, Free, 307-353-2300 x 1360 n InDesign Fundamentals: Brochure, Flyer and Book Layout 4:00pm, Art Association of JH, $130.00, 307-733-6379 n Ribbon Cutting for the New Scale House 4:00pm, Teton County Trash Transfer Station, Free, 307-7337678 n Yoga 4:15pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Winter Wonderland: Ice Skating on Town Square 4:30pm, Town Square, Free n Jazzercise 5:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $10.00, 307-739-9025 n Total Fitness 5:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Great Until Late 6:00pm, Local Businesses, Free, 307-201-2294 n Fat Bike Demo 6:00pm, Summit High School/ Middle School Ski Track, Free, 307-739-9025 n Beginning Throwing Hustle 6:00pm, Art Association of JH, $225.00, 307-733-6379 n Screenwriting 6:00pm, Art Association of JH, $160.00, 307-733-6379 n Geologists of JH: Sensitivity of Mountain Snowpacks: Taking the Pulse of a Warming Landscape 6:00pm, Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Scholarship Application Help Nights 6:00pm, Teton County Library Computer Lab, Free, 307-7332164 n Open Gym - Adult Volleyball 6:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $3.75, 307-739-9025 n Hip Hop at Dancers’ Workshop 7:00pm, Dancers’ Workshop, $12.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Language Exchange Night 7:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n One Ton Pig 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Steam Powered Airplane 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-3886

FOR COMPLETE EVENT DETAILS VISIT PJHCALENDAR.COM

CINEMA A Critic’s Choice Why I want no part in the ‘Oscars conversation.’

BY SCOTT RENSHAW @scottrenshaw

R

ight around the time the print issue of this paper hits the streets on Jan. 14, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce nominees for the 88th Academy Awards. I’m quite comfortable with the idea that those nominees have nothing to do with me.

I risk treading into territory that’s pretty inside-baseball for most movie fans, and territory I’ve covered previously over the years.

I’ve made peace with the Oscars as a part of the movie world that, if they’re ever actually about greatness, are about it incidentally. The correlation between Oscar nominees and my own favorites inspires a shrug more than a grumble.

But in 2015, the matter became personal again. For several years, I’ve been a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which selects the Critics’ Choice Awards. This year, members’ nominating ballots were due in early December, before any media would see the much anticipated “Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens.” When critics finally did see the movie, and it was generally well-received, BFCA leadership considered adding “The Force Awakens” to its already-announced list of 10 Best Picture nominees. The question posed to members, verbatim: “If you had seen ‘The Force Awakens’ before casting your Critics’ Choice Awards ballot, would you have included it in your five choices for Best Picture?”

On Dec. 22, the BFCA announced that ‘The Force Awakens’ had been added as a Best Picture nominee. A few hours later, I resigned.

That decision didn’t come impulsively. For a while, I’d been amibivalent about membership in the BFCA, partly as a result of expanded awards categories that felt designed more to draw eyeballs to an awards broadcast than to recognize greatness. Then the BFCA leadership sent out an email to members in December, attempting to address potential confusion over performances that could be identified either as Lead or as Supporting.

While the message did offer common-sense suggestions like Rooney Mara as Lead rather than Supporting in “Carol”—she actually has more screen time than Cate Blanchett—it also said, “Traditionally, BFCA respects category assignments made by the studio.”

Here’s the problem with that sentiment: The studios are often playing a game with category assignments, designed to improve the odds of getting a nomination or win.

BFCA members are, at least nominally, journalists. And the notion that those members would “respect category assignments made by the studio” even when they’re patently idiotic and self-serving—as happened when

Let’s trade the Oscar talk for some discussion about the films themselves.

Rooney Mara was placed by the BFCA in the Supporting category anyway for “Carol”— suggests either an icky coziness with the studio marketing system, or a lazy unwillingness to figure out what “Lead” and “Supporting” actually mean.

This idea came further into focus when Variety writer Kris Tapley reported on communication he’d received from BFCA publicists, which focused on the Critics’ Choice Awards historical correlation to eventual Oscar nominees. The upshot of the information was that the Critics’ Choice Awards are important because they help predict Oscar picks. And that, dear friends, is where I head for the door.

There’s nothing inherently compromised about movie critics’ groups giving out awards.

Those groups often draw attention to movies that would otherwise be outside the typical awards conversation, as the Utah Film Critics Association—where I’m also a voting member—did when they awarded Best Supporting Actress to Rose Byrne in “Spy.” They serve readers and movie-lovers by saying, “This is what we think excellence in cinema looks like.” That is all they should serve.

While it may seem fair on the surface to allow a back door for a movie that couldn’t be seen by pre-set deadlines—and apparently had been allowed once previously, for “Cast Away,” in a year prior to my membership—the phrasing of the question to BFCA members stacked the deck in a bizarre way, since no other film was required to be on a true majority of ballots in order to become a nominee. If a majority of BFCA members voted to include “The Force Awakens,” only one of three things could be true: 1. A majority of members actually thought “The Force Awakens” was one of the five best movies of the entire year; 2. They misunderstood the question; 3. They deliberately lied in order to make sure the year’s most popular film was nominated—and Star Wars fans might be more likely to watch.

I really don’t want to believe that the latter is true, but the accumulated actions and statements of the BFCA and on its behalf suggested an interest in something besides journalistic integrity. They suggested a desire to be part of the bigger Oscars conversation, in a way that would increase its value as a brand. It should never be forgotten that the Academy Awards are recognitions that an industry gives to itself, and as such are about showing the world a very specific image of that industry. There’s a difference—or there should be—between supporting the art of film, and supporting the film industry.

So yeah, I’m okay with those who snicker at the idea that talk of “integrity” has any place in a conversation about picking a Best Picture. This critic’s choice happened to be ducking out of any attempt to be part of the “Oscars conversation.” Critics’ time, in general, might be better spent on conversations about movies themselves. PJH

THE FOODIE FILES Distinctive Desires KENDRA ALLESANDRO

Here in Jackson Hole, we like to create our own culinary trends.

BY ANNIE FENN, M.D. @jacksonfoodie

O

Vegetables in the center of the plate

Chef Joel Hammond credits Chef René Stein at The Rose for inspiring local chefs to pay more attention to the art of presentation. “René went out on a limb at The Rose when he came here (from New York) by making each plate as beautiful as possible.” Stein turned driftwood into serving pieces, cut wood into plates and designed his own dinnerware (with artist Jenny Dowd). Now Hammond is inspired to do the same. He is creating his own line of custom plates that will mesh with his style of cooking. Look for more gorgeous plating in 2016 as chefs express their individual artistic styles.

Locavorism goes mainstream Every chef I spoke with thought 2015 was a great year for building and strengthening relationships with local farmers and ranchers. Ten years ago it was novel to be a locavore; now it’s just the way the best restaurants are run. Awareness of sourcing local food has become huge in Jackson thanks to our busy and engaged Slow in the Tetons organization, a wildly popular farmers market culture and a new interest in growing our own food (Hello Vertical Harvest!). Looking ahead to 2016, I hope to see farmers determining more of what we see on restaurant menus. Instead of chefs telling the farmer what they want, the farmer will be telling the chef, “Here’s what I have this week.” What’s the local trend we hope to say goodbye to in 2016? Faux-local: “wild” meat served in restaurants (let’s just admit that these animals come from a farm), and trying to piggy-back on the popularity of locavorism by offering a token local carrot on a plate.

Mixologists in the kitchen 2015 was a thrilling year to be a bartender, according to mixologist Meagan Schmoll of The Rose. “We are starting to work with the kitchen for our ingredients. This year we saw a lot of pumpkin, beets and savory ingredients like celery, dill and herbaceous gin,” she said. People are into having an after dinner digestive, and “Fermet and Amaro requests are continually on the rise in Jackson,” Schmoll added. What’s in store for drinking in 2016? Hometown distilleries making spirits from local ingredients, more microbreweries offering limited edition, small-release “nanobrews” and more vegetables in our cocktails.

Year-round farmers market shares When Cosmic Apple Gardens debuted its community-supported agriculture program in 1996, not many around here had ever heard of a CSA. Nor did anyone understand the logic of paying for produce six months before the first baby lettuce was harvested. Sales were slow. Now Cosmic Apple Gardens routinely sells out of its more than 200 shares per year, and there are numerous CSAs available from many of our local farms. For the first time, 2015 saw a year-round market for farmers market goods in the form of CSA for everything from pickles and jams (Roots Kitchen and Cannery), to fermented foods (Daily Roots) to art (CSA Jackson Hole, a Community Art

A trend that will perhaps never die: the delicious comfort of chocolate bread pudding at Rendezvous Bistro.

Project). We can only hope that in 2016 we will see more CSA offerings or even a centralized food hub facility to hold yearround farmers markets.

Comforting, nostalgic desserts What’s trending on dessert menus in Jackson Hole?

Executive pastry chef Chad Horton, who creates all of the desserts for Fine Dining Restaurant Group’s restaurants and catering, says that Jackson diners don’t go for trendy sweets.

Arguably the busiest pastry chef in Jackson Hole, Horton dreams up new desserts while he sleeps. He has an eye on all the dessert trends and keeps those he thinks are interesting and that would fit with what locals love. Last year he saw mini desserts, savory donuts, asymmetrical plating, cones as food, black garlic in dessert and a long run of the popularity of salty with sweet. (I loved it when he put caramel corn in his crème brûlée). Although he likes to debut a new dessert menu each season, there are some things locals demand year round — like the chocolate bread pudding at Rendezvous Bistro. “If I take it off the menu, diners write me notes in crayon on the tables begging to bring it back,” Horton said. What is he excited about in 2016? “Homey, nostalgic, old-fashioned cakes” that take him back to his Ohio childhood with visions of June Cleaver in the kitchen baking a cake. “My grandmother’s name was actually June,” he said, “and I love making down-homey, imperfect cakes that take us back to a simpler time.” Horton sees 2016 as the year of the “messy dessert,” the “nostalgic dessert” and another big year for ice cream. “Even when it’s 20 below, people here love eating ice cream,” he noted. That’s especially true when the ice cream is Horton’s signature ice cream sandwich. Horton and Fine Dining will soon launch Cream + Sugar, a new artisan ice cream company. “That ice cream sandwich — it will be my legacy,” Horton said.

The year of the neighborhood butcher shop All of this interest in local food is finally changing the way we choose to buy meat. Aspens Market purchased Pearl St. Market in 2015 and is coordinating both stores’ butcher shops to provide whole animal butchery and more meat sourced from Wyoming and Idaho ranches. The chefs over at Trio, An American Bistro, and Local Restaurant opened Local Butcher last month to continue their tradition of offering the local meats served in their restaurants. Butcher Nick Phillips, of Sweet Cheeks Meats, a wildly popular fixture at the farmers markets, plans to open a neighborhood butcher shop in Jackson early in 2016. And Fine Dining exectuive chef Joel Tate has honed his charcuterie and butchering skills to create an entire line of meats now offered for sale in the market of the Bodega at Teton Village. This year it will be possible to buy truly exceptional meat products, easily traced back to the animal and farm of origin, from a score of butchers who will have no problem telling you exactly what’s in that sausage you are about to eat. Let’s hope that’s a trend that is here to stay. PJH

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 23

This may be a meat and potatoes town at heart, but vegetable-forward dishes are nudging their way onto menus. The first time I tried the Snake River Grill’s cauliflower steak (served in a pool of Indian-spiced sauce), it became my new favorite dish.

Jackson chefs are excited about creating satisfying entrees using vegetables, and they want us non-vegan, non-vegetarian diners to break out of our meat-centric routine. The partnership between chefs and farmers is stronger than ever, enabling restaurants to source incredibly good products from our neighbors who grow vegetables. What vegetables were hot in 2015? Jackson diners gobbled up Romanesco, Brussels sprouts, kale and kalettes (a kale/Brussels sprouts hybrid), all vegetables we hope to see more of in 2016.

Artful plating

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

ne of the things I love most about living in Jackson is that our town is not trendy at all. Most locals don’t pay much attention to what’s in style outside of our cozy mountain bubble, where a puffy jacket thrown over jeans and a T-shirt is almost always appropriate dinner attire.

But when it comes to food and drink, even the most antitrendy mountain dweller appreciates an infusion of new flavors — a twist on a classic cocktail to mix up after a day of skiing, a novel ingredient to throw into the elk stew or the next seasonal menu from a favorite chef.

Fine Dining Restaurant Group owner Gavin Fine agrees that our food scene is not about keeping up with the latest national trend. “Nothing we do is trendy,” he said. Urban dining trends that are hatched in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago can take years to reach us out here in the Mountain West. Or not. Some trends — like the national obsession with cupcakes — die out before they even get to Jackson. Luckily, we never had to endure the opening (and closing) of a cupcake shop in our town.

Yet like it or not, many of the food trends that have already cycled through those urban food meccas are influencing our restaurant menus and what we cook at home. The difference?

Our local chefs are filtering out the trends that don’t serve us well and translating the ones that work into the mountain-style comfort foods we love.

Chef Joel Hammond, of the Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse, puts it this way, “Jackson is a traditional town.

People get put off if you serve them food that is too different.

The trick is to not jump into trends too fast.” When Hammond makes his beef bourguignon for the Cowboy menu, he knows the diner is expecting a familiar plate of comfort food. But he switches it up by using modernist techniques and ingredients such as beef cheeks (not chuck) cooked sous-vide that turn out perfectly medium rare despite being braised for 72 hours, and adding baby turnips instead of carrot chunks for an interesting, but not too weird twist.

In an attempt to define the food trends of a non-trendy town, I spoke with some of the leading culinary minds in our community — the chefs, grocers, restauranteurs, butchers, farmers, mixologists and food enthusiasts who pay attention to what we eat and drink. 2015 was a great year for eating in Jackson Hole. Based on what these local food luminaries are predicting, 2016 is poised to be even better.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

24 | JANUARY 13, 2016

BEER, WINE & SPIRITS

Carménère is Calling A smoky, earthy wine for a cold and snowy night.

BY TED SCHEFFLER @critic1

S

troll the Chilean wine isle of your local wine shop, and you’ll find a wine variety there that you won’t see in most of the other sections of the store: Carménère.

Although it’s considered one of the six original red grape varieties of Bordeaux, France— along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot— Carménère is now a rarity in France. Not so in Chile, which today produces the vast majority of Carménère available on the wine market.

A while back, I picked up bottle of Glen Carlou Grand Classique ($17.95) from South Africa, not really knowing much about it but always on the lookout for an interesting wine bargain. When I opened it up, it surprised me. Remember Deep Purple’s Smoke

on the Water? This wine, I thought, is made for barbecues. It had a smoky fragrance and flavor that would seem to be a match made in heaven for smoked meats, poultry and fish.

However, the Glen Carlou I drank is not considered Carménère.

That’s why I was taken aback by the smokiness of the Glen Carlou Grand Classique: I’ve come to associate smoky flavors in wines mostly with the Carménère grape. And yet, there was no Carménère listed in the winemaker’s notes for the Glen Carlou, which is a blend of the aforementioned Bordeaux red grapes, minus Carménère. So, I was surprised not to find any Carménère in this smoky wine.

Having said that, I’d estimate that something like one third to one half of all “big” red wine descriptions from wine writers say that the wine “contains a hint of smokiness,” or something along those lines (I’m guilty too; mea culpa). There’s also typically a mention of spice, but that’s another story.

Well, with many of the bigger and bolder reds, you certainly can detect a hint of smoke. But nowhere will you find it more up-front-and-center than with wine made from Carménère.

The Carménère grape looks and tastes much like Merlot. And in Chile, the latter is often mistaken for the former. In fact, a DNA study of Chilean Merlot which was completed in 1998 determined that some 50 percent

IMBIBE of what was thought to be a Merlot clone going into Chile’s Merlot wines was actually Carménère. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that’s what happened with the Glen Carlou Grand Classique—perhaps some of the “Merlot” in it is actually Carménère?

Anyway, much of the Carménère you see today— it all but disappeared in France during the 1800s due to phylloxera—does comes from Chile, where it’s been correctly identified. According to Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s U.S. Marketing Manager Bebe Hutter, “Chile is trying to make of it [Carménère] what New Zealand did with Sauvignon Blanc and Argentina did with Malbec.”

So, Chile is the best place to get a handle on smoky, earthy, dark Carménère. It’s not a wine for the timid. If you’re interested in trying some Carménère to see if you like it, the good news is that it can be fairly inexpensive. For $9.99 you can snag a bottle of Concha Y Toro’s

Carménère Casillero del Diablo, and Chilean winery Santa Rita has a Carménère called “120” that sells for $12.99. I’m a fan of Anderra Carménère ($10.99), and really love Montes Alpha Carménère ($22.95).

But bewa re, because while good, ripe Carménère has that tinge of smoke that pairs so well with barbecue, underripe Carménère sort of has an icky vegetal green pepper flavor that’s not so appealing. I suggest trolling your Chilean wine aisle and picking up a couple different Carménère to try out side-by-side. PJH

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Featuring dining destinations from buffets and rooms with a view to mom and pop joints, chic cuisine and some of our dining critic’s faves!

ASIAN & CHINESE TETON THAI Serving the world’s most exciting cuisine.

Teton Thai offers a splendid array of flavors: sweet, hot, sour, salt and bitter. All balanced and blended perfectly, satisfying the most discriminating palate. Open daily. 7432 Granite Loop Road in Teton Village, (307) 7330022 and in Driggs, (208) 787-8424, tetonthai. com.

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Make your reservation online at bluelionrestaurant.com

Kazumi is a family-owned and operated restaurant serving unique sushi rolls, fresh sashimi and nigiri, and off-the-charts specialty items. Located near the Town Square, we also feature hot noodle soups and the spiciest rolls in town! Open Monday through Saturday at 11 a.m - 9:30 p.m. 265 West Broadway, 307-7339168, jacksonholesushi.com.

KIM’S CORNER Best ski food in the area! Korean and American style, from breakfast sandwiches, burgers, chicken tenders, Philly cheese steaks to rice bowls and noodles. Something for everyone!

Open Tuesday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. At base of Snow King between the ski patrol room and the ice rink. 100 E. Snow King Ave. Order ahead (307) 200-6544, facebook. com/Kimscornercafe.

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Mangy Moose Restaurant, with locally sourced, seasonally FRESH FOOD at reasonable prices, is a always a FUN PLACE to go with family or friends for a unique dining experience. The personable staff will make you feel RIGHT AT HOME and the funky western decor will keep you entertained throughout your entire visit.

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(at Snow King Mtn between Ski Patrol & Ice Rink)

307.200.6544

THE BLUE LION A Jackson Hole favorite for 37 years. Join us in the charming atmosphere of a historic home. Ask a local about our rack of lamb.

Serving fresh fish, elk, poultry, steaks, and vegetarian entrées. Live acoustic guitar music most nights. Open at 5:30 p.m. Off Season Special: 2 for 1 Entrees. Good all night. Must mention ad. Reservations recommended, walkins welcome. 160 N. Millward, (307) 733-3912, bluelionrestaurant.com

CAFE GENEVIEVE Serving inspired home cooked classics in a historic log cabin. Enjoy brunch daily at 8 a.m., dinner nightly at 5 p.m., and happy hour daily 3-5:30 p.m. featuring $5 glasses of wine, $5 specialty drinks, $3 bottled beer. 135 E. Broadway, (307) 732-1910, genevievejh.com.

ELEANOR’S Enjoy all the perks of fine dining, minus the dress code at Eleanor’s, serving rich, saucy dishes in a warm and friendly setting. Eleanor’s

1110 W. Broadway • Jackson, WY Open daily 5:00am to midnight • Free Wi-Fi

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 25

BREAKFAST & LUNCH BURGERS • FRIES RICE BOWLS • NOODLES

CONTINENTAL

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Reservations at (307) 733-4913 3295 Village Drive • Teton Village, WY

Home of Melvin Brewing Co. Freshly remodeled offering modern Thai cuisine in a relaxed setting. New tap system with 20 craft beers. New $8 wine list and extensive bottled beer menu. Open daily for dinner at 5pm.

Downtown at 75 East Pearl Street. View our tap list at thaijh.com/brews. 307-733-0005.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

26 | JANUARY 13, 2016

®

Large Specialty Pizza ADD: Wings (8 pc)

Medium Pizza (1 topping) Stuffed Cheesy Bread

$ 13 99

for an extra $5.99/each

(307) 733-0330 520 S. Hwy. 89 • Jackson, WY

is a primo brunch spot on Sunday afternoons. Its bar alone is an attraction, thanks to reasonably priced drinks and a loyal crowd. Come get a belly-full of our two-time gold medal wings.

Open at 11 a.m. daily. 832 W. Broadway, (307) 733-7901.

FULL STEAM SUBS The deli that’ll rock your belly. Jackson’s newest sub shop serves steamed subs, reubens, gyros, delicious all beef hot dogs, soups and salads. We offer Chicago style hot dogs done just the way they do in the windy city. Open daily11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Located just a short block north of the Town Square at 180 N. Center Street, (307) 733-3448.

LOCAL Local, a modern American steakhouse and bar, is located on Jackson’s historic town square. Our menu features both classic and specialty cuts of locally-ranched meats and wild game alongside fresh seafood, shellfish, house-ground burgers, and seasonally-inspired food. We offer an extensive wine list and an abundance of locallysourced products. Offering a casual and vibrant bar atmosphere with 12 beers on tap as well as a relaxed dining room, Local is the perfect spot to grab a burger for lunch or to have drinks and dinner with friends. Lunch Mon-Sat 11:30am.

Dinner Nightly 5:30pm. 55 North Cache, (307) 201-1717, localjh.com.

Take-out just got easier!

Order online at PizzeriaCaldera.com or via our app for iOS or Android.

11am - 9:30pm daily 20 W Broadway 307 - 201 - 1472

LOTUS CAFE Serving organic, freshly-made world cuisine while catering to all eating styles. Endless organic and natural meat, vegetarian, vegan and glutenfree choices. Offering super smoothies, fresh extracted juices, espresso and tea. Full bar and house-infused botanical spirits. Open daily 8am for breakfast lunch and dinner. 145 N. Glenwood St., (307) 734-0882, tetonlotuscafe.com.

POLKA NIGHT FEATURING THE

HOF POLKA BAND THURSDAY, 8PM-11PM GERMAN BEER AND FOOD 307.733.3242 | TETON VILLAGE

MANGY MOOSE

Breakfast Lunch & Dinner ••••••••• Open daily 8am 145 N. Glenwood (307) 734-0882

WWW.TETONLOTUSCAFE.COM

FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT

Steamed Subs Hot Dogs Soups & Salads

The Deli That’ll Rock Your Belly 307-733-3448

Sun-Wed 11am-4pm, Thur-Sat 11am-8pm 180 N. Center St. | 1 block n. of Town Square Next to Home Ranch Parking Lot

PIZZAS, PASTAS & MORE HOUSEMADE BREAD & DESSERTS FRESH, LOCALLY SOURCED OFFERINGS TAKE OUT AVAILABLE Dining room and bar open nightly at 5:00pm (307) 733-2460 • 2560 Moose Wilson Road • Wilson, WY

A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965

Mangy Moose Restaurant, with locally sourced, seasonally fresh food at reasonable prices, is a always a fun place to go with family or friends for a unique dining experience. The personable staff will make you feel right at home and the funky western decor will keep you entertained throughout your entire visit. Teton Village, (307) 733-4913, mangymoose.com.

SNAKE RIVER BREWERY & RESTAURANT America’s most award-winning microbrewery is serving lunch and dinner. Take in the atmosphere while enjoying wood-fired pizzas, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts. $9 lunch menu. Happy hour 4 to 6 p.m., including tasty hot wings. The freshest beer in the valley, right from the source! Free WiFi. Open 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. 265 S. Millward. (307) 739-2337, snakeriverbrewing.com.

SWEETWATER Satisfying locals for lunch and dinner for over 36 years with deliciously affordable comfort food.

Extensive local and regional beer list. Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. features blackened trout salad, elk melt, wild west chili and vegetarian specialties. Dinner 5:30 to 9 p.m. including potato-crusted trout, 16 ounce ribeye, vegan and wild game. Reservations welcome. (307)

733-3553. sweetwaterjackson.com.

TRIO Owned and operated by Chefs with a passion for good food, Trio is located right off the Town square in downtown Jackson. Featuring a variety of cuisines in a relaxed atmosphere, Trio is famous for its wood-oven pizzas, specialty cocktails and waffle fries with bleu cheese fondue. Dinner nightly at 5:30 p.m. Reservations. (307) 734-8038 or bistrotrio.com.

ITALIAN CALICO A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965, the Calico continues to be one of the most popular restaurants in the Valley. The Calico offers the right combination of really good food, (much of which is grown in our own gardens in the summer), friendly staff; a reasonably priced menu and a large selection of wine. Our bar scene is eclectic with a welcoming vibe. Open nightly at 5 p.m. 2560 Moose Wilson Rd., (307) 733-2460.

MEXICAN EL ABUELITO Serving authentic Mexican cuisine and appetizers in a unique Mexican atmosphere. Home of the original Jumbo Margarita. Featuring a full bar with a large selection of authentic Mexican beers. Lunch served weekdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Nightly dinner specials. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. 385 W. Broadway, (307) 733-1207.

PIZZA DOMINO’S PIZZA Hot and delicious delivered to your door. Handtossed, deep dish, crunchy thin, Brooklyn style and artisan pizzas; bread bowl pastas, and oven baked sandwiches; chicken wings, cheesy breads and desserts. Delivery. 520 S. Hwy. 89 in Kmart Plaza, (307) 733-0330.

PINKY G’S The locals favorite! Voted Best Pizza in Jackson Hole 2012, 2013 and 2014. Seek out this hidden gem under the Pink Garter Theatre for NY pizza by the slice, salads, stromboli’s, calzones and many appetizers to choose from. Try the $7 ‘Triple S’ lunch special.Happy hours 10 p.m. - 12 a.m. Sun.- Thu. Text PINK to 71441 for discounts.

Delivery and take-out. Open daily 11a.m. to 2 a.m. 50 W. Broadway, (307) 734-PINK.

PIZZERIA CALDERA Jackson Hole’s only dedicated stone-hearth oven pizzeria, serving Napolitana-style pies using the freshest ingredients in traditional and creative combinations. Five local micro-brews on tap, a great selection of red and white wines by the glass and bottle, and one of the best views of the Town Square from our upstairs deck. Daily lunch special includes slice, salad or soup, any two for $8. Happy hour: half off drinks by the glass from 4 - 6 daily. Dine in or carry out. Or order online at PizzeriaCaldera.com, or download our app for iOS or Android. Open from 11am - 9:30pm daily at 20 West Broadway.

307-201-1472.

DR. MARK’S MEDICINE CABINET Gut Feelings What the brain under your belt might be trying to tell you.

BY DR. MARK MENOLASCINO

D

id you know that phrases like “gut wrenching emotions” and “I felt that in the pit of my stomach” are not just figures of speech? These come from very real neural signals that originate in the gut. You won’t get these neurons to compose orchestras or parse complex thoughts into words, but your belly contains a neural messaging system boasting greater processing capacity than either the peripheral nervous system or spinal cord.

For years, some scientists have been calling this enteric nervous system “the second brain” but recent studies suggest that, from a flow of information perspective, the enteric system may be even higher on the neural totem pole than the more famous, skull-based nerve center. This understanding explains why the food we eat is directly related to our mental state, our overall vitality and our susceptibility to disease.

Our digestive tract is a 30-foot-long tube through which we absorb nutrition from our food. The walls of this tube are embedded with a dense web of neurons that pass information through the vagal nerve (also known as the ‘wandering nerve’), which connects numerous organs to the brain. We like to think of our brain directing our organs, but 90 percent of the messages that travel along the vagal nerve move from the gut to the brain rather than the other way around. This begs the question: is our gut telling our brain what to do?

This brain under our belt is also heavyweight champion of the immune system with as much as 80 percent of the body’s immune function located in the gut. The vagal nerve can modulate this immune system, which explains many of the mysteries of food sensitivities and also promises future breakthroughs in autoimmune disease treatment.

This is why immune dysfunction affects us not only physiologically, but neurologically as well. This connection is supported by data showing the same nutrition and lifestyle risk factors for heart disease are also risk factors for dementia.

And aside from full-blown disease, the enteric nervous system plays a big role in food sensitivities and mood.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and hormone related to mood and more than 90 percent of the body’s serotonin is produced in the digestive tract. It doesn’t stop there. We’ve long suspected that the flora in the gut directly affects hormones, but a recent study by Caltech confirms the theory; mice without gut bacteria produce 60 percent less serotonin, and even more interestingly, adding bacteria back into these animals’ digestive tracts largely restores the serotonin production. There seems little doubt that food and mood are closely intertwined.

The brain under your belt also explains why gluten is so detrimental to so many people. The red-hot gluten-free diet trend isn’t just a fad – it’s a reaction to a very real nutrient sensitivity. Gluten guru Tom O’Bryan told me recently that he believes gluten, in people sensitive to it, behaves as a neurotoxin. This would explain symptoms of gluten intolerance that include dizziness and numbness in the hands and feet as well as neuropathy that occurs in people with gluten sensitivity who do not limit their gluten intake. Studies support O’Bryan’s theory: removing gluten from the diet reduces the symptoms of neuropathy while continued gluten

consumption causes further deterioration.

The brain in the head is protected, to some degree, from environmental insults by the blood-brain barrier, provided the network of capillaries that makes up the blood brain barrier is in good condition. The brain under the belt also has a protective barrier, the endothelium of the intestines. When working properly, this endothelium lets in the good stuff and keeps out the bad. When the endothelium is compromised, as in the case of inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis or nutrient sensitivities, the endothelium initiates an inflammatory, protective response that causes more harm than good. Among other things, this causes the intestines to become more permeable, allowing bacteria, partially digested food, and other unwanted elements to pass the endothelium and trigger additional inflammatory immune response as the body attempts to rid itself of the invaders. The inflammation alters the physiology of the neurons of the enteric nervous system, spreading the message of inflammation far from its point of origin This adds up to an increased understanding of the damage done to other parts of the body when the brain under our belt is compromised. Long known as ‘leaky gut,’ this concept of intestinal permeability shows us how damage from antibiotics, food intolerances and infections can cause the enteric nervous system to become inflamed and ‘confused.’ This confusion leads to chronic damage to other parts of the body through ‘molecular mimicry’ where innocuous food particles can become nuclear warheads to other parts of the body.

So next time somebody suggests a junk food meal, you can reply, “The brain under my belt really doesn’t like that idea.” PJH Dr. Mark Menolascino is a board certified internal medicine specialist and found of the Meno Clinic in Wilson, WY.

Reporter Wanted Have a knack for storytelling and the smarts to dissect and distill the valley’s issues du jour, from breaking news to thoughtful arts coverage?

WE SERVICE THEM ALL …

Now is your chance to join the small, energized team that comprises The Planet – Jackson Hole’s alternative voice and Wyoming’s only alt weekly.

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Email a cover letter, resume and writing samples to editor@planetjh.com

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RABBIT ROW REPAIR

Looking for flexible hours, the freedom to work independently and the opportunity to be an important voice in the community?

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SUDOKU

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.

WELLNESS COMMUNITY WITH A ONE YEAR COMMITMENT: • 1 SQUARE = $15 cash OR $30 trade per week PLUS you’ll receive a free Budget web ad (300 x 120) • 2 SQUARES = $29 cash OR $50 trade per week PLUS you’ll receive a free Skyline web ad (160 x 600)

AD RESERVATION DEADLINE: FRIDAYS BY 4PM CONTACT SALES@PLANETJH.COM OR 732.0299

L.A.TIMES “SH!” By Joseph Groat

SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2016

ACROSS

10 Wine holders 50 Taxco title: Abbr.

90 Beat but bad 14 Crib cries 19 Apple variety 20 Sleuth with numbered offspring 21 Olympic champion on a 1939 Time cover 22 Dancer Castle 23 Score for Hawkeye’s team?

25 With 70-Across, clothing magnate David posing with a bass?

27 Space program event 29 Open the door for 30 Bowling initials 31 Address 34 Longfellow’s bell town 36 One climbing the walls 37 Mai __ 38 Row dividers 39 Convenient snack?

43 Sales rep’s goals: Abbr.

44 __ diem 45 ’50s British prime minister 46 Regret 47 Great-grandfather of David, in the Bible 48 Want very much 50 Funny Bombeck 52 Cut 56 Octane Booster brand 57 They’re often attached 59 Works with a Singer 61 Sushi bar soup 62 Dept. with a sun on its seal 64 Bygone birds 66 Right-minded 68 Samsung Galaxy competitor 70 See 25-Across 73 Take the chance 74 Many beatniks wore them 76 Mississippi’s __ City 77 Amateur who won the 1968

US Open 78 Net __ 79 Goes bad 82 Puts more film in 84 Like some balances 87 “Yeah, sure” 89 “Not so fast!”

91 Turbaned Punjabis 92 Healthy drink 93 Italian counterpart of the BBC 95 Mystique 97 “The Good Wife” figs.

98 Making fun of 99 Money for fast-food fries?

104 Fast movement 105 Kenan’s comedy partner 106 Prussian pronoun 107 Tragic fate 108 Two-time U.S. Women’s Open winner Patty 109 Therapeutic pack filler 110 Cold cuts qty.

112 Space cadet’s world 115 Outback outlaw?

118 Self-cleaning laundry?

122 Old Apple laptop 123 Patronize, in a way 124 DVR pioneer 125 Stage number 126 Beatles trademark 127 Firewood measure 128 Meeting of Cong.

129 Golfer’s putting woes, with “the”

DOWN

10 Dandy guy?

20 Actress Thurman 30 __-guzzler 40 Mushy quality 50 Slides (over), as on a bench 60 Safari park critter 70 Summer colors 80 Lit. compilation 90 “Are you kidding me?!”

10 Synagogue lang.

11 Routine components 12 Wet tract 13 Carbohydrate used in jellies 14 Bacchus, to the Greeks 15 Sea extension 16 Argue 17 Kingdom member 18 Deem appropriate 24 Facebook attention-getters 26 Mississippi, e.g.

28 Western treaty gp.

31 Autos from Trollhättan 32 Crochet loop 33 Avoid diner dishes?

35 Tease 39 40-Down neighbor 40 39-Down neighbor 41 “That’s __”: “My bad” 42 “‘Come to my arms, my __ boy!’”: “Jabberwocky” 44 Spanish preposition 48 Lifetime dedication 49 Lingerie item 51 Stun 53 Spell?

54 Morales of “Caprica” 55 Simpleton 57 Wilder in films 58 To this point 60 Treasured strings 63 Uncertain 65 Evaluates, with “up” 67 Not a good reception 68 “House,” in Inuit 69 Bear in a red shirt 71 Cones and spheres 72 What the Wonderland caterpillar smokes 75 Farm female 80 Like Singha beer 81 Nightly news

snippet 83 Sighs of relief 85 Range that includes Kings Peak 86 Push 88 Places to put your feet up 90 Ship of Greek myth 92 Indy 500 town, aptly 94 Autobiography featuring Ike 96 Altar attendant 98 “__ you clever!”

99 Overalls on the slopes 100 Trojan War queen 101 “Little House” antagonist Nellie __ 102 Popular pieces 103 Physicians’ org.

104 Alexandria lighthouse that’s one of the Seven Wonders 108 Serbs and Croats 111 Future J.D.’s exam 113 D-Day fleet 114 Parisian honey 116 Biker’s wheels 117 __ es Salaam 119 Jackie’s second 120 Taste 121 Exhibits, as nerve

WELLNESS COMMUNITY

These businesses provide health or wellness services for the Jackson Hole community and its visitors.

ENO CLINIC®

CENTER FOR ADVANCED MEDICINE

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MD, MS, ABIHM, ABAARM, IFMCP

Anti-Aging from the Inside-Out & the Outside-In Deep Tissue Sports Massage Thai Massage Myofascial Release Cupping

Oliver Tripp, NCTM Massage Therapist Nationally Certified

253-381-2838

180 N Center St, Unit 8 Jackson, WY 83001

Thyroid Imbalance Adrenal Fatigue Food Sensitivities Hormone Imbalances Supplements Hyberbarics Wrinkle Reduction Skin Tightening Hair Removal Skin Care Products & More

732-1039

MenoClinic.com | Wilson, WY

Professional and Individualized Treatments • Sports/Ortho Rehab • Neck and Back Rehab • Rehabilitative Pilates • Incontinence Training • Pelvic Pain Rehab • Lymphedema Treatments Norene Christensen PT, DSc, OCS, CLT Rebekah Donley PT, DPT, CPI Mark Schultheis PT, CSCS Kim Armington PTA, CPI No physician referral required.

(307) 733-5577•1090 S Hwy 89

www.fourpinespt.com

2 weeks of unlimited classes for $30.

View our class schedule online.

120 W PEARL AVENUE • MWWJH.COM • 307.699.7480

TO ADVERTISE IN THE WELLNESS DIRECTORY, CONTACT JEN AT PLANET JACKSON HOLE AT 307-732-0299 OR SALES@PLANETJH.COM

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 29

New Member Intro Special

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Offering integrated health and wellness services for a healthy body, happy mind, & balanced spirit

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

30 | JANUARY 13, 2016

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You love autonomy. You specialize in getting the freedom and sovereignty you require. You are naturally skilled at securing your independence from influences that might constrain your imagination and limit your self-expression.

But here’s a sticking point: If you want the power to help shape group processes, you must give up some of your autonomy. In order to motivate allies to work toward shared goals, you need to practice the art of interdependence. The next test of your ability to do this is coming right up.

“If I could kiss all day, I would. I can’t stop thinking about kissing. I like kissing more than sex because there’s no end to it. You can kiss forever. You can kiss yourself into oblivion. You can kiss all over the body. You can kiss yourself to sleep.” I invite you to temporarily adopt this expansive obsession, Libra. The astrological omens suggest that you need more sweet, slippery, sensual, tender interaction than usual. Why? Because it will unleash sweet, slippery, sensual, tender emotions and sweet, slippery, sensual, tender thoughts—all of which will awaken a surge of dormant creativity, which you also need very much.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Nothing is really work unless you’d rather be doing something else.” So said Taurus writer James M. Barrie (18601937), who created the Peter Pan stories. Your challenge and invitation in the coming months is to increase the amount of time you spend that does not qualify as work.

In fact, why don’t you see how much and how often you can indulge in outright play? There’ll be no better way to attract grace and generate good fortune.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Everything has been said before,” said French author André Gide, “but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.” I am happy to inform you that you’re about to be temporarily exempt from this cynical formulation. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be able to drive home certain points that you have been trying to make over and over again for quite a while. The people who most need to hear them will finally be able to register your meaning.

(P.S. This breakthrough will generate optimal results if you don’t gloat. Be grateful and understated.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Here’s my proposal: Get in touch with your madness. And don’t tell me you have no madness. We all do. But listen: When I use the word “madness,” I don’t mean howling rage, hurtful lunacy or out-of-control misbehavior. I’m calling on the experimental part of you that isn’t always polite and reasonable; the exuberant rebel who is attracted to wild truths rather than calming lies; the imaginative seeker who pines for adventures on the frontiers of your understanding. Now is an excellent time to tap into your inner maverick.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Here’s an excerpt from Dorianne Laux’s poem “Antilamentation”: “Regret nothing. Not the cruel novels you read to the end just to find out who killed the cook.

Not the insipid movies that made you cry in the dark. Not the lover you left quivering in a hotel parking lot. Not the nights you called god names and cursed your mother, sunk like a dog in the living room couch, chewing your nails.” I’m giving you a good dose of Laux’s purifying rant in the hope that it will incite you to unleash your own. The time is favorable to summon an expanded appreciation for the twists and tweaks of your past, even those that seemed torturous in the moment. Laux doesn’t regret the TV set she threw out the upstairs window or the stuck onion rings she had to sweep off the dirty restaurant floor, and I hope you will be that inclusive.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Modesty is the art of drawing attention to whatever it is you’re being humble about,” said Alfred E. Neuman, the fictitious absurdist whose likeness often appears on the cover of Mad magazine. I’m here to tell you, Leo, that now is an excellent time to embody this aphorism. You are in a perfect position to launch a charm offensive by being outrageously unassuming. The less you brag about yourself and the more you praise other people, the better able you will be to get exactly what you want. Being unegotistical and non-narcissistic is an excellent strategy for serving your selfish needs.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s,” says a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. I don’t agree with that idea 100 percent of the time. Sometimes our wrong ideas are so delusional that we’re better off getting interrupted and redirected by the wiser insights of others. But for the near future, Virgo, I recommend Dostoyevsky’s prescription for your use. One of your key principles will be to brandish your unique perspectives. Even if they’re not entirely right and reasonable, they will lead you to what you need to learn next.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I love kissing,” testifies singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Do you want more money, Sagittarius? Are there treasures you wish you could have, but you can’t afford them? Do any exciting experiences and life-enhancing adventures remain off-limits because of limited resources? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, now would be an excellent time to formulate plans and take action to gather increased wealth. I don’t guarantee total success if you do, but I promise that your chance to make progress will be higher than usual. Cosmic tendencies are leaning in the direction of you getting richer quicker, and if you collaborate with those tendencies, financial magic could materialize.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “It’s a terrible thing to wait until you’re ready,” proclaims actor Hugh Laurie. He goes even further: “No one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready.” His counsel is too extreme for my tastes. I believe that proper preparation is often essential. We’ve got to get educated about the challenges we want to take on. We need to develop at least some skills to help us master our beloved goals. On the other hand, it’s impossible to ever be perfectly prepared and educated and skilled. If you postpone your quantum leaps of faith until every contingency has been accounted for, you’ll never leap. Right now, Capricorn, Laurie’s view is good advice.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Fate has transformed a part of your life that you didn’t feel ready to have transformed. I won’t offer my condolences, though, because I’ve guessed a secret that you don’t know about yet. The mythic fact, as I see it, is that whatever you imagine you have had to let go of will ultimately come back to you in a revised and revivified form—maybe sooner than you think. Endings and beginnings are weaving their mysteries together in unforeseen ways. Be receptive to enigmatic surprises.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Good news: Your eagerness to think big is one of your superpowers. Bad news: It’s also one of your liabilities.

Although it enables you to see how everything fits together, it may cause you to overlook details about what’s undermining you. Good news: Your capacity for intense empathy is a healing balm for both others and yourself. At least potentially, it means you can be a genius of intimacy.

Bad news: Your intense empathy can make you fall prey to the emotional manipulation of people with whom you empathize. Good news: Your willingness to explore darkness is what makes your intelligence so profound. Bad news: But that’s also why you have to wrestle so fiercely with fear. Good news: In the next four weeks, the positive aspects of all the above qualities will be ascendant.

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.

Soul vs. Ego To become more evolved and self-aware, you need to listen to your heart not your mind.

B

ecoming a more evolved, more awake and more self-aware human being requires knowing that our egos and our souls function very differently from each other and take us to different places when it comes to happiness, fulfillment and inner peace. With practice you can discern whether you are being guided by your ego or your soul, and when you consciously choose which one to follow in any given circumstance, you are truly in the driver’s seat of your life.

Limitations of the ego Ego is neither good nor bad, it just is itself. You cannot get rid of it. It is not designed to change, and though it will try to run your life, it is optional to allow this.

One of the unique opportunities of our current world reality is developing and defining a sense of self. Ego creates the experience of being separate and in doing so it gives us that sense of self — of being a separate and unique individual with specific tastes, talents, challenges, sense of humor, values, viewpoints, perceptions, misperceptions and idiosyncrasies.

At the same time, the ego view of life is very limited. It is actually trying to protect us, but it only knows how to do that by being reactive and fear-based. The ego is the part of us that takes everything personally. Ego is constantly in the business of comparing and contrasting itself to everyone and attacking and/or defending itself. The ego also judges everyone and everything it encounters.

These attributes foster internal discontent, struggles, battles and emotional drama. Living only from ego is something like having an out-of-control 2-year-old running your life and telling you what to do.

Soul sensibilities Our soul is our link up to the higher intelligence and unconditional love of creation. This is why soul is the intended driver of our lives. Ego is best suited and actually far more comfortable being in the passenger seat.

Soul is about interconnection and synergy rather than separation and conflict.

It also does not take things personally and does not judge. What it perceives and discerns and what it knows is always in your higher, greater good.

In the human experience, the heart is what connects us to the soul and vice versa. What the soul knows bypasses the mind and the ego. It is the inner voice, the blind flash of the obvious, the ah-ha moment, the sudden inspiration and the direct knowing of what is true.

Choosing the high road of the soul is empowering and evolutionary. It includes large doses of compassion and the desire to share, to serve, to collaborate and to benefit the greater good.

The difference between ego and soul Simply stated, you know it is ego talking and guiding you when your inner voice is needy, demanding, complaining, whiney or super critical. The ego is the voice always looking for something outside itself to blame or to make it happier or it is simply never satisfied.

How do you know when it is the wisdom of your soul guiding your choices?

The soul knows truth directly. It does not need to consult the ego or the mind.

Therefore, the way you know your soul is guiding you to a particular life choice is… you just know.

Author D.H. Lawrence wrote humorously about how ego and soul perceive what’s true. He used the analogy of roosters and hens in a barnyard. In the barnyard, he wrote, the roosters (egos) think that because they cock-a-doodle-do the sun rises each morning. The roosters also think because they cock-a-doodle-do in the evening, the sun sets. But the hens know.

Living more of your heart/soul’s wisdom and retiring from the ego-driven life is the essence of the new world paradigm.

PJH

Carol Mann is a longtime Jackson resident, radio personality, former Grand Targhee Resort owner, author, and clairvoyant.

Got a Cosmic Question? Email carol@yourcosmiccafe.com

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

JANUARY 13, 2016 | 31

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

32 | JANUARY 13, 2016

FRIDAY, JANUARY 22 Snowscapes Snow Stomping Backcountry Film Festival

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23 Skijoring Competition Snowplane Rally & Exhibition Spud Chase Nordic Race Avalanche Awareness Clinic Cowboys, Sledheads, & Skibums

SUNDAY, JANUARY 24 Skijoring Competition Fat Bike Clinic & Demos Ice Skating Kotler Arena

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 Backcountry Skiing 101 Nordic & Skate XC Ski Clinic Snowscapes Snow Sculpting

SATURDAY, JANUARY 30

January 22nd-31st 2016

Snowscapes Viewing & Awards Eukanuba Stage Stop Sled Dog Race Backcountry Skiing 101 Snowball V

Teton Valley, Idaho

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31

TETONVALLEYFOUNDATION.ORG/GREATSNOWFEST 208-201-5356 • INFO@TETONVALLEYFOUNDATION.ORG

Snowscapes Viewing XC Wildlife Ecology Tour Snow Tubing & S’mores Women’s Skate Ski Clinic