Planet JH 5.18.16

JACKSON HOLE’S ALTERNATIVE VOICE | PLANETJH.COM | MAY 18-24, 2016

Come Out, An Icelandic drag queen inspires a Jackson Hole identity check.

By Andrew Munz @AndrewMunz

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

2 | MAY 18, 2016

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JACKSON HOLE'S ALTERNATIVE VOICE

VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 19 | MAY 18-24, 2016

10 COVER STORY COME OUT, COME OUT An Icelandic drag queen inspires a Jackson Hole identity check.

Cover photo illustration by Cait Lee.

4 OPINION

16 MUSIC BOX

6 THE BUZZ

18 CREATIVE PEAKS

7

20 WELL, THAT...

THEM ON US

30 SATIRE

8 THE BUZZ 2

CORRECTION: A recent editor’s note in the April 27 cover story, Voices of Choice, was remiss in not acknowledging Dr. Brent Blue. An abortion provider who has stood strong even when Right to Life protesters have continuously made him a target, Blue is not reluctant to speak about women’s reproductive rights in Jackson Hole. The Planet regrets the error.

THE PLANET TEAM

ART DIRECTOR

COPY EDITOR

Cait Lee / art@planetjh.com

Jake Nichols

PUBLISHER

SALES DIRECTOR

CONTRIBUTORS

Jen Tillotson / jen@planetjh.com

Mike Bressler, Rob Brezsny, Patrick Chadwick, Meg Daly, Elizabeth Koutrelakos, Carol Mann, Pete Muldoon, Andrew Munz, Jake Nichols, Scott

Copperfield Publishing, John Saltas EDITOR

Robyn Vincent / editor@planetjh.com

SALES EXTRAORDINAIRE

Caroline Zieleniewski / caroline@planetjh.com

Renshaw, Ted Scheffler, Chuck Shepherd, Tom Tomorrow, Jim Woodmencey

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May 18, 2016

By Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey

D

uring the first half of May 2016 we experienced our first 70-degree day of the year, we also had near record low temperatures in the teens. We had snow, heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms. Some exciting weather the past couple of weeks in Jackson Hole. Typically, May will see some pretty good extremes of weather, which can make it a tough month to plan your outdoor activities very far ahead of time. Bottom-line is: be ready for just about anything in May.

SPONSORED BY GRAND TETON FLOOR & WINDOW COVERINGS

Seventeen degrees was the “coolest” thing about this May. We hit that mark for a morning low temperature on two days last week.

Not quite as cold as the record low temperatures on those dates, which are the same as this week’s record low. The record low temperature in town during this third week of May is 13-degrees. It plunged to that level twice in the past, once on May 23rd, 1986 and also on May 21st, 1975.

The average high temperature this week is 65-degrees, which is perfect for doing just about anything outside. Not too hot, not too cool. Already this month we have seen a high temperature as warm as 73-degrees on May 5th, and a high temperature as cool as 51-degrees on May 11th. This week should get warmer again, but probably nowhere near as hot as the record high temperature of 85-degrees that we had in town on May 23rd, 1934.

NORMAL HIGH NORMAL LOW RECORD HIGH IN 1934 RECORD LOW IN 1986

65 32 85 13

THIS MONTH AVERAGE PRECIPITATION: 1.8 inches RECORD PRECIPITATION: 4.8 inches (1967) AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 1 inch RECORD SNOWFALL: 14.5 inches (1942)

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MAY 18, 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

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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

JH ALMANAC

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4 | MAY 18, 2016

GUEST OPINION Jackson’s Homeless Need Help Government leaders should reconsider allowing camping in town as a temporary means to house displaced workers.

BY PETE MULDOON

O

n Monday, Jackson Town Council briefly took up the idea of providing some short-term relief to the problem of homelessness by designating camping areas in town. With the exception of Jim Stanford, no one else on the council was interested in even having the discussion.

I sent a proposal to the council last Friday outlining some ideas on how this could be implemented. I proposed that the town allow camping in cars, campers, or RVs at the Home Ranch Lot between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. It would be by permit only, and permits would only be available to employees of local businesses. Local businesses would have to sponsor the permits, and pay their full cost. They would not be allowed to pass the cost on to employees. The permits would range from $600 to $1,000 for the summer season. Additional permits could be issued for local residents who are deemed “At Risk.”

Mobile bathrooms and shower facilities would be provided, as would sanitation and security—all paid for through the permit fees. All current municipal ordinances regarding disturbance of the peace, public intoxication, and open containers would continue to be enforced. There would be campground rules and enforcement.

I’ll try to summarize the arguments against allowing camping as best I can; some of these were made by council members and some are from the general public.

This is not a long-term solution. Of course it isn’t, and no one has suggested it should be.

No one wants to have a tent city in Miller Park with

campfires. No one has proposed that we do this. Planning staff was asked to identify all possible camping locations, and they did. Miller Park was included, as were a number of other completely undesirable locations. No one has seriously proposed allowing campfires.

It’s not the government’s job to house the employees of private businesses. No, it’s not. But government does have a responsibility to provide for the general welfare and safety of the community, and it has failed to do so by allowing unfettered growth without addressing the predictable shortage of housing. It now has a chance to provide real relief to community members who are currently homeless. And my proposal requires that private businesses that want to use the program pay its full cost.

The Home Ranch Lot belongs to parking guests of downtown Jackson.

No, it absolutely does not. It belongs to every resident of the Town of Jackson.

It’s ours to do with as we like. It does not belong to visitors, and it certainly doesn’t belong to downtown businesses.

Requiring campers to leave each morning by 9 a.m. is more than enough of a concession to tourists.

The backseat of a car is nowhere for a family to live. It certainly isn’t. But allowing seasonal workers to camp will free up rental units that are appropriate for families.

We can’t have camping near neighborhoods. First of all, homeless people aren’t more dangerous than anyone else.

They’re just people that don’t have a place to live. It could happen to you, too. Second, the Home Ranch isn’t near neighborhoods and will be policed. Third, there are homeless people living in their cars right now—outside your home and on the street. I’m not sure how providing them with showers and bathrooms is going to make anyone less safe. According to the staff report: “Police would not be as concerned, as (paying) campers tend to be more responsible.”

It’s not safe for young women. Being in a permitted downtown area with security is probably going to be a lot safer for pretty much anyone than, say, sleeping in your car down by the river. And that’s the alternative for people who would utilize this program.

It’ll look terrible. Well, yes it will. I don’t really have a rebuttal to this argument. If you think optics are more

important than the reality of homeless people, I can’t argue with you. Just know that there will still be homeless people camping; they’ll just be camping in much crappier and more unsanitary conditions, and they’ll be disturbing the wildlife in Curtis Canyon. Their environmental and traffic impacts will be much higher, and their quality of life, lower; but at least you won’t have to see them.

It’ll be bad for business. Maybe so.

Tourists may not like seeing how their vacation sausage is made. But they also won’t like waiting an hour before an unbathed server can get to their table because the restaurant is shortstaffed. More importantly, we should remember that Jackson is a community, not a business. Businesses are an important part of this community, but at the end of the day we shouldn’t measure the quality of this town by how much money it makes. We can hide the homeless and practice denial, or we can embrace them and find solutions.

I know that camping is not a popular option. No one wants to see their pristine views of the Home Ranch Lot ruined by the working class who help make this town run. But while camping can seem like a poor option to those who have never struggled with homelessness, I can tell you this: I lost my home in 2009 but was lucky enough to have a 1993 Tioga RV to camp in. And I would have been ecstatic to find a safe place to park it that didn’t require me to drive out to Curtis Canyon every night.

No one, least of all me, is advocating for camping because they think it’s ideal. It’s appalling that we’ve made so little progress towards either slowing commercial development or providing the workforce housing it requires. But we haven’t.

And it seems that the people who complain the most about these last-resort solutions we’re left with are the ones who’ve fought the hardest against real solutions that might have avoided this situation in the first place.

The reality is that there are homeless members of our community sleeping in cars and tents tonight who need our help. And we’re awfully short on better options. This is a discussion the council needs to have. PJH

“There are homeless people living in their cars right now. I’m not sure how providing them with showers and bathrooms is going to make anyone less safe.”

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MAY 18, 2016 | 5

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6 | MAY 18, 2016

THE BUZZ Gender Battle MONTANA FAMILY FOUNDATION

Wyoming reacts to Washington mandate to accommodate and protect transgender students.

BY JAKE NICHOLS

P

resident Barack Obama’s parting shot before leaving the presidency may well be the appointment of a moderate liberal Supreme Court Justice. But before that he’s taking on an issue in schools that has provoked a flurry of protest: His administration’s directive on the use of school bathrooms by transgender students.

Last Friday’s joint letter from the Departments of Education and Justice (DOE, DOJ) further clarified Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting discrimination based on sex. To help public schools move the decades-old law into the modern age, the federal government explained that ascertaining gender isn’t as easy as checking a birth certificate or looking under the hood.

It’s more than bathrooms. “Schools must provide sex-segregated activities and facilities, and allow transgender students to participate in such activities and access such facilities consistent with their gender identity,” reads the letter from DOE/DOJ. The letter was addressed to all schools that receive federal funding, including 16,500 school districts and 7,000 colleges, universities and trade schools. It also threatened the loss of federal funding should a state choose to not comply.

“There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in a prepared statement. “This guidance gives administrators, teachers, and parents the tools they need to protect transgender students from peer harassment and to identify and address unjust school policies.”

Pushback has ranged from fear that pedophiles could exploit restroom facilities to the possibility that a tall, muscular, athletic boy identifying as a girl could take the girl’s basketball team all the way to state.

North Carolina’s House Bill 2 has that state embroiled in a standoff with the feds. The reaction in Texas to last week’s joint department mandate was predictably audacious. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised a fight, tweeting: “Obama can’t rewrite the Civil Rights Act. He’s not a king.” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the directive “social engineering” and objected to the use of what he said amounted to blackmail. One district superintendent said he threw the letter in the trash.

The ruling has pleased most in the LGBTQ community.

Wyoming Equality, an advocacy group fighting for the rights of transgender people, as well as gays, lesbians and bisexuals, heralded it.

“The directive from the Obama administration was welcome and necessary. Personally, I cried tears I hadn’t even realized I was holding in when I read the news,” said Sara Burlingame, Wyoming Equality’s public education coordinator. “If more people were aware of what our transgender kids face every day—how physically unsafe, how unprotected and violating their experience is—I believe they would, as Jesus asked, ‘mourn with those that mourn.’”

How it plays in Wyoming Wyoming has a long history of defiance. It began even before statehood, really. When Congress threatened to keep Wyoming from joining the Union in 1890 unless the fledgling territory rescinded its two-decade-old constitution allowing women the right to vote, the response back to Washington

A universal transgender bathroom sign now represents a battle between the feds and states like Wyoming, where the governor and school superintendents are up in arms over a mandate focused on the rights of transgender students. via telegram was short and sharp: “We will remain out of the Union one hundred years rather than come in without the women,” read the response from Wyoming delegates.

Wyoming prevailed in the standoff. Congress blinked and the Equality State became the 44th star on the flag.

More recently, Wyoming lawmakers have made numerous attempts to nullify Obama’s healthcare act and gun control measures. State officials have bristled at federal wildlife management of endangered species like grizzlies and wolves.

And the governor’s office has taken every opportunity to blast DC feds with lawsuits—the state is involved in more than 30 to date—on numerous issues from wild horses to marijuana to fracking.

When the letter from DC arrived in the Cowboy State it was Wyoming’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow who fired the first return volley at Washington within hours of the official directive. While Balow is as yet admittedly unclear as to what legal ramifications the state might face in defying the federal mandate to public schools to prepare to accommodate transgender students, she is sure about one thing: she doesn’t like to be told what to do by federal agencies 2,000 miles removed from her classrooms.

“Public schools do need to be a place where it is safe for all students to learn. But we don’t think a sweeping federal mandate will help with that,” Balow told The Planet. “At this point, we’ve all lived with this information for less than 72 hours.

For many of us it will take a little time to sink in. It’s a bit too early to speculate. One clear winner in all of this is attorneys [sic], because this is bound for the courts.”

Late Monday, the governor’s office weighed in as well.

Gov. Matt Mead said in a press release that the state does not appreciate the veiled threat of withholding federal funding.

“The threat of losing federal funds does not sit well with us in Wyoming. Education is rightly controlled by our local school districts and they deal everyday with matters that affect student safety and privacy,” Mead said. “The Administration’s letter, which is flawed, includes deeply divisive analysis and policy guidance that is not helpful. We will continue to honor local control and we will resist this latest action by the Administration.”

Wyoming Equality was disappointed by a failed equality bill introduced in the 2014 Legislative session. They viewed it as a chance for Wyoming to step out of the shadows of the 1998 Matthew Shepard murder and emerge as a state truly interested in living up to its moniker.

“At Wyoming Equality, we’d love for legislators and educators to embrace the ethic that has always characterized our great state, namely: ‘We don’t care where you go pee, we care about your character,’” Burlingame said. “We have a severe energy and economic crisis in our state, it can and should demand our full attention. We should let other states engage in culture wars that revolve around checking people’s genitalia. We have real work to do.”

Whether it’s Common Core or No Child Left Behind, Balow insists education decisions are best left at the state level—district by district, school by school—as close to the desks of students as can be.

“Our districts are well ahead of this edict and as a state we need to defer to the districts. It’s a much better way to craft school policy,” Balow said. “This is not something that should be leveraged as a political game piece in any way. We have to keep it focused on the kids and the students.”

Albany County School District No. 1 superintendent Jubal Yennie told the Laramie Boomerang, “I think at the national [level] the sides are continuing to be drawn and the issue’s probably no longer about students … it’s about the national political scene trying to clean out their issues on this thing.”

In Jackson, Teton County School District No. 1 superintendent Dr. Gillian Chapman said her district is well ahead of the issue and she has not seen any indication intervention from Washington is necessary.

“We recognize that the state is considering this issue in light of the guidance from the federal government. Our board reviewed our policies in the fall and determined that our current policies were appropriate and reflect one of the board’s core values of respect for all,” Chapman said.

“Building administrators and staff work closely with students and families to reasonably accommodate individual needs and will continue to do so.”

Still, Burlingame says issues have cropped up in Wyoming.

“A young trans woman at Central High [Cheyenne] posted on her Facebook wall: ‘The federal government most certainly has the authority to protect people’s rights. Accommodations given in Wyoming schools are humiliating, dehumanizing, and wrong. One of the things I’m most excited about with graduating is never being forced into the school faculty restrooms again. At UW, I can finally be treated as an equal among my peers. Separate but equal treatment is anything but equal.

It’s shameful that our district, and state administrators, can’t recognize that,’” Burlingame relayed.

Balow has been in contact with the governor’s office and the state attorney general Peter Michael. She is confident Wyoming is handling its transgender students in a respectable way.

“This does take the focus off what I think is most important, which is our kids,” Balow said. “We have a number of schools that have adapted and accommodated transgender kids in a welcoming and appropriate way. This doesn’t change that, and hopefully doesn’t make it worse by shining a spotlight on it. It certainly doesn’t make it better.”

Mead is also hopeful the Equality State will lead the way, its own way, toward education issues in the 21st Century. “I have confidence Wyoming schools will find a way forward that is respectful of all students,” he said. PJH

THEM ON US

Yellowstoned

condemning statements like: “ignorant and narcissistic,” “attention whores,” and “Grade A certified idiots.”

“We would like to apologize to our community … [we] made the unfortunate error of leaving the pathway. We did not respect the protected environment we were exploring.

Because we have disappointed people with our actions, we have taken down the footage filmed off of the boardwalk at Yellowstone.

We have realized that what we did was not okay, and we want others to learn from our mistake. We got over zealous in our enthusiasm for this wonderful place…We realize that now…we managed to screw up,” the apology statement read.

The tourist bros added that they would donate $5,000 to the park as recompense for their actions. In addition to their unholy walk on the spring, one member is filmed running naked out onto the surface of a frozen Yellowstone lake where he is promptly warned by a park ranger to knock it off.

The news event went viral in cyberspace and was carried by local outlets including the Bozeman Chronicle and by the likes of national media including USA Today and Good Morning America. Both cases are still under investigation by park law enforcement.

Wyoming stoned In another unrelated stoner move, USA Today has egg on its face after publishing a story on the very real concern of pot smuggling from the state of Colorado into nearby states. The issue is real; the supporting graphic image used by the national newspaper wasn’t.

USA Today included an erroneous map of the U.S., which clearly showed Wyoming as the state where marijuana is being illegally

The rookies came out to play for opening weekend at Yellowstone National Park and not without major repercussion.

the latest happenings in jackson hole

pjhcalendar.com

exported from, rather than Colorado.

We especially enjoyed Huffington Post’s coverage. Their headline read: “Holy Smokes!

USA Today Doesn’t Know Where Colorado Is.” The lede was equally classic. “Weed recommend USA Today grab a map,” wrote HP’s Trends editor Jenna Amatulli.

“Geography is obviously VERY HARD for the Folks at USA Today,” wrote online poster Smart Dog.

Grizzly resurrection Todd Wilkinson’s headline for National Geographic was a magnificent eye-catcher.

“Famous Grizzly Bear ‘Back From the Dead’—With a New Cub,” Nat Geo wrote for Wilkinson’s coverage on bear 399 observed with one white-faced cub in tow by several photographers recently.

Bear 399 became an instant celebrity in 2006 when she appeared with her three cubs along the road in Grand Teton National Park. A year later, the famous sow was nearly destroyed by park officials after she and her triplets mauled a hiker. Officials spared the griz, deeming the bear behavior was excusable as a natural reaction of protecting her cubs and their food source.

The popular grizzly was immortalized by Jackson photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen in his coffee table book, Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek. “Every year she’s still with us is a miracle,” Mangelsen told Wilkinson. “This could be the last cub she ever has because she’s pretty old in bear years. Most bears don’t reach that age.” PJH

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

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on in the nation’s first national park?

Celebrating 100 years of Yellowstone has started off with a bang. Already visitors have been observed approaching wildlife, petting wildlife and, finally, abducting wildlife. At what point has the park’s message—do not touch or involve yourself in any manner with the wild ecosystem—become unclear?

Last week’s rescue mission carried out by a father-son team from out of country on behalf of a “freezing” bison calf took the cake. Numerous national outlets picked up on the story thanks to a photo posted on the Facebook account of Karen Richardson of Victor, Idaho that showed a newborn bison being transported in the back of an SUV. It became an Internet sensation.

The story turned tragic when park officials made the decision to euthanize the animal after attempts to reintroduce it into the wild were unsuccessful. That launched a new set of social media outrage and additional national attention. Reaction posts mainly reflected disbelief in the “touron” behavior of the international visitors. Some came to the defense of the pair pointing out they honestly thought they were aiding a suffering animal.

Fresh from that obvious park violation came more news that yahoos from a Canadian travel and adventure group took it upon themselves to recreate Jesus’ walk on water by scooting across the Grand Prismatic Spring’s crust in order to selfie video themselves for Facebook, Instagram and YouTube posts.

Members of the group—Alexey Lyakh, Ryker Gamble, Justis Cooper and Parker Heuser—issued a formal apology Tuesday for their behavior after violent response included

By JAKE NICHOLS

Visit our website

TetonWyo.org

MAY 18, 2016 | 7

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.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

8 | MAY 18, 2016

THE BUZZ 2 Democratic Contender Can a 33-year-old Rock Springs native end the 40-year drought for Wyoming Dems?

RYAN GREENE CAMPAIGN

BY MEG DALY @MegDaly1

A

Democrat in the lone congressional seat in Republicandominated Wyoming has long been far from this Cowboy State’s reality. But a first-time politician from Rock Springs has local and state Democratic leaders hopeful.

Ryan Greene, a businessman born and raised in Rock Springs, has thrown his hat in the ring as a Democratic candidate. He is the sole Democratic in a field of 12 seeking to fill U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis’ seat.

If elected, Greene will be the first member of his party to win the seat in 40 years.

Greene will speak Monday at a meet-and-greet event in Jackson.

“Ryan has a fresh set of eyes and is willing to work with both sides of the aisle,” said Ana Cuprill, chair of the Wyoming Democrats. “We need someone who is willing to find consensus.”

Greene asserts he can represent all of Wyoming’s interests and values. “It’s crucial that Democrats and Republicans work together to get things done,” he told The Planet. “Democrats may be outnumbered seven to three in the state, but we are 45 percent of Congress. Wyoming pays the price if we can’t work with Democrats.”

A Dem from the oil fields Thirty-three-year-old Greene was born and raised in Rock Springs, where he lives with his wife and two children. A former roustabout and pipe welder, he is now the operations director of his family’s business, Greene’s Energy Services, a leading integrated service provider to the oil and gas industry.

But according to Greene’s campaign manager, Max Weiss, the family business doesn’t just work with natural gas and coal businesses. They’re also installing solar panels and wind turbines. With the downturn of the energy industry, Greene’s Energy Services has kept people employed by using oil trucks for hauling agricultural products, too, Weiss said.

Greene is very much a “Wyoming Democrat.” He supports the oil, gas, and coal industries as well as renewables. “Coal is not going away,” he said.

He also supports the controversial practice of fracking for natural gas and oil. “It’s part of our life and culture here,” Greene said. “The practices in natural gas fields are getting better. It gets cleaner every year.”

But he is still managing to win the approval of environmentalists. Noted conservation leader and chair of Teton County Democrats Luther Propst spoke highly of the Rock Springs resident. “Ryan Greene understands Wyoming—and Wyoming values—better than the leading candidate on the Republican side by a long shot,” he said.

Though he didn’t name her, Propst was likely referring to presumptive front-runner Liz Cheney (R-Wilson), who bungled her last attempt at Wyoming office two years ago. Few in her own party supported her in her bid for Mike Enzi’s seat, not least because she only claimed residency in the state the year before her campaign.

Wyoming Congressional candidate Ryan Greene is the sole Democrat vying for Rep. Cynthia Lummis’ seat. Greene will attend a meetand-greet Monday in Jackson.

However, this year hasn’t exactly gotten to a down-home Wyoming start for Cheney, even though she does own a home in Teton County. She announced her campaign on Facebook—posting from her other home in Virginia.

Cheney, the elder daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is an attorney and commentator for Fox News. She served in the State Department under George W. Bush.

Greene’s second key competitor also calls Teton County home. Long-time Alta, Wyoming resident and state senator Leland Christensen (R-Alta) hopes to fill Lummis’ seat.

Currently Chairman of the Wyoming Senate Judiciary Committee, Christensen is a fifth generation Wyoming native. He grew up in Alta and worked for 20 years in the Teton County and Lincoln County Sheriff’s offices. His staunch Republican platform focuses on limited government, Second Amendment rights, and fighting abortion rights. He positions himself as a friend of working people and traditional Wyoming industries.

Both Cheney and Christensen have issued hyperbolic clarion calls for rolling back environmental regulations of the coal industry.

“The War on Coal is devastating our economy, hurting every community in Wyoming, and putting thousands of our neighbors out of work,” Cheney writes on her campaign website.

“To win the war on coal,” Christensen states on his website, “We’ll need to push back on the heavy hand of the E.P.A. and work to reverse many of the disastrous policies we’ve experienced during President Obama’s tenure.”

According to Cuprill, we won’t hear that kind of rhetoric from Greene. “He’s not just going to make statements that people in Wyoming want to hear,” she said. “Those things are not working. People have been voting for statements that make us feel good, but that’s not realistic. Those tactics haven’t worked. Wyoming is still in a boom and bust cycle.”

“It’s just not true that if we roll back regulations everyone will go back to work,” Greene said. “What we need to do is look at the market.”

Greene says Wyoming cannot afford to ignore global initiatives like RE100, for which 58 of the world’s largest companies have pledged to switch to 100 percent renewable energy.

The companies include Starbucks, Nike, Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola. Some of those companies have set the year 2020 as their goal.

“We have candidates saying they are going to tell WalMart where it will get its energy,” Greene said. “That’s not going to happen. We have to give the market what it wants.”

Public lands, affordable healthcare

Dems say they are also hopeful of Greene’s vow to protect private lands. “[He] is not beholden to far right wing interests that want to transfer our public lands to private ownership,” Propst said.

“We need to make sure people understand federal versus state issue,” Greene explained to The Planet. “It’s popular to say ‘get the government out,’ but Wyoming doesn’t have funds to maintain these lands. State control is a step toward privatizing land.”

By contrast, he says the federal government will ensure that diverse users can have access. “On state lands you can’t have a fire for camping, or drive your ATV,” Greene said.

Unsurprisingly, Greene differs from Republican frontrunners on health care issues as well. Both Cheney and Christensen would continue Republican Party efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Greene says he would work to improve it.

“It’s not a perfect system,” Greene said. “Let’s look into ways to improve it.” He cited cheaper prescription drugs and a wider health insurance marketplace as options he’d like to pursue.

Unlike Christensen, who continues to vote against Medicaid expansion for Wyoming, Greene says he supports the measure, which could help more than 17,000 low income residents.

When it comes to abortion rights, Greene says he respects both sides of the issue but that he is solidly pro-choice.

“Bureaucrats shouldn’t make that choice for women.”

Meet-and-greet

Greene will be speaking Monday at the home of Teton County chair to the Democratic Convention, Jessica Chambers.

“A lot of new, interested voters were brought to the Democratic Party here in Teton County by Senator Sanders’ nomination bid,” Chambers said. “Many wanted to know what they could do next after the caucus. I’m hoping Sanders supporters will come out to talk with Mr. Greene and share some of their concerns, questions, and ideas with him, and also get a taste for what’s going on elsewhere in the state.”

As it happens, Greene caucused for Sanders.

“Bernie is looking forward,” Greene said. “Wyoming needs to do the same.” PJH Ryan Greene meet-and-greet, 5 to 7 p.m., Monday, May 23 at 425 Flat Creek Drive in Jackson. Call Jessica at 718-913-9975 for more information.

NEWS OF THE

WEIRD

By CHUCK SHEPHERD

Google Sees the Future

Google filed a U.S. Patent Office application on April 28 for a vision-improvement device in liquid form that, once inserted (i.e., injected directly into the eyeball!), solidifies into not only a lens replacement for the eye but an instrument that carries its own storage, radio and wireless power supply. The idea, according to inventor Andrew Jason Conrad, is to better focus light onto the retina. (The patent process does not assure that the device will ever come to fruition, but it might indicate that Google’s parent, Alphabet, is concerned that other inventors might be doing similar work.)

The Entrepreneurial Spirit!

Before new parents ruin their baby daughter’s chances of future success by giving her “weak” names (such as Polly), they should consult one of several services that recommend more powerful ones (such as Elizabeth). A New York City woman offers personalized naming research for fees starting at several hundred dollars, but a Swiss agency whose primary work is helping to name product brands now offers parents suggestions on their offspring’s “brand” (for corporate-like fees beginning at around $29,000). (Parents in South Korea and India traditionally seek baby-naming recommendations from priests, who review religious text, culture and astrology—in exchange for modest offerings.) n Entrepreneur.com reported in April the surprising success of “Ship Your Enemies Glitter,” in which, for about $10, the startup sends an envelope full of glitter that, when opened, scatters, irritating (or enraging) the recipient. The concept was an overnight sensation, but quickly petered out and was seemingly worthless—until a prescient businessman offered $85,000 for its two assets: 1. a valuable list of customers who might buy similar pranks (such as a cupcake that’s really horse manure) and 2. an opportunity at additional waves of customers newly discovering the original glitter product. The $85,000 purchaser now reports sales “in the high six figures.”

Compelling Explanations

Peter Jensen of Athol, Idaho, filed a lawsuit against the state transportation department in April after his driving privileges were revoked because his car had no license plate. For the inconvenience, he believes he deserves $5.6 million in damages (gold and silver only, please) because, for example, there is nothing about “license plates” in the Ten Commandments.

Simple As That

n Scout Hodge, 20, angry at his mother, was charged with arson in Austin, Texas, in January for setting fire to her rug. He told police he did it as a “political” statement (unexplained) and to prove he isn’t a “loser.”

Modern Problems

Sophia Sanchez, 27, was charged with intentionally crashing her car into her boyfriend’s vehicle in April in Riverside, Ill. According to police, the couple had been arguing the night before, and Sanchez said she felt she had to disable his car so that he would talk to her.

Leading Economic Indicators

As China’s real estate construction boom fades, tempers have flared, and according to a local government officer in Hebei province, two companies’ officials angling for a contract wildly dueled each other in their bulldozers in

Least Competent Cops

Motorist Rebecca Musarra was stopped for speeding in October 2015 by state troopers in New Jersey, and dutifully handed over her license, insurance and registration, but declined to answer the troopers’ “do you know why we stopped you” questions. Annoyed at her silence, troopers Matthew Stazzone and Demetric Gosa threatened several times, with increasing aggressiveness (according to dashboard video obtained by NJ Advance Media), to arrest Musarra for “obstruction.” Musarra pointed out that—as nearly every American knows—she has the right to remain silent. The troopers nonetheless arrested her (then recited, of course, her “right to remain silent”). After nearly two hours back at the station, a supervisor offered a weak apology and released her.

Musarra, an attorney, unsurprisingly has filed a federal lawsuit.

Cavalcade of Weird Animals

The species Acanthonus armatus first showed up in waters near Vancouver, British Columbia, 10 years ago, generating ichthyological excitement—in that it is widely known as the assfish. The Royal BC Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, put one on display in January with its bulbous head and flabby skin resembling a “glorified tadpole,” said a museum curator, who declined to guess at the origin of the assfish name (bypassing a chance to link it to the fish’s large mouth and tiny brain).

Cliches Come to Life

The British broadcast censor Ofcom declined to punish a January edition of “The Jeremy Kyle Show” on which a guest used a “well-known swear word”— because the speaker has a Scottish accent and, Ofcom said, probably no more than two or three people thus comprehended what he was saying. n The body of Peter (“Petey Crack”) Martinez, 28, who had a long rap sheet, washed up on a beach in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 2—with his feet encased (up to his shins) in a bucket of hardened cement. It was the first time veteran New York detectives could ever recall seeing actual “cement shoes” (though they have, of course, been icons of true crime stories for decades).

Chutzpah!

New York City police rounded up 39 people on April 26 suspected as part of a massive credit-card-scamming operation targeted at customers of high-end retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue—and whose members are affiliated with the rap-music group Pop Out Boyz, which makes reference to the scams in its songs. (One number, “For a Scammer,” features the lyric, “you see it, you want it, you have it,” while another voice repeatedly brags, “I’m cracking cards cause I’m a scammer.” A New York Post report describes “cracking cards” as a scheme paying a bank customer a fee to accept a phony deposit into his account to be later withdrawn—but the scammer removes much more money than the phony deposit.) n Ricardo Ruiz, 26, was arrested in March on complaints from women that he had groped them at parks in Davie and Cooper City, Florida, but the case got easier afterward when police were tipped to a YouTube video that they believe is of Ruiz, addressing the camera while driving a car and extolling his groping habit. “Man, today was a good … day, touching ass,” he says. “If you don’t touch ass, you’re crazy. That’s all I got to say.”

Thanks this week to Richard Zehr and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.

MAY 18, 2016 | 9

n William Timothy Thomas, 25, was arrested for vandalizing a home in Largo, Fla., in April. He told police he needed to go “destroy” stuff because he “listened to too much music and masturbated too much.” (Bonus: Three first names! Special police surveillance warranted!)

n Italy’s top appeals court ruled in April that a homeless man stealing cheese and sausage from a grocery story in Genoa, and who received a six-month jail term for it, was actually not guilty of criminal behavior at all. The court set him free using a traditional Italian legal principle that no one is required to do the impossible—which, the court surmised, would be to allow himself to starve.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

Bingham County (Idaho) Sheriff Craig Rowland told reporters in March that the state’s legislature had no reason to improve the statewide administration of “rape kit” evidence because the majority of local rape accusations are, he is certain, consensual sex.

an incident captured on video. The losing driver was seen running from his toppled machine.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

10 | MAY 18, 2016

Come Out, An Icelandic drag queen inspires a Jackson Hole identity check.

By Andrew Munz @AndrewMunz

S

itting in front of the mirror, Málfriður Markan, Neskaupstaður’s most eccentric resident, places the finishing touches on her makeup and pops her lips. She arranges her breasts, steps into her heels, and walks out into the front yard. The six-foot-tall elderly widow steps over to her garden, and begins her morning duties. A car drives by her yard and nearly veers off the road at the sight of her.

Dressed in her mini skirt and flamboyant top, Frú (Mrs.) Markan is certainly a sight to behold in this little town. And her keeper, Hákon Guðröðarson knows it full well. “I’ve told the hospital that I want 15 percent of all head injuries for all the car crashes she’s caused,” he said.

Frú Markan is Hákon’s drag persona. She’s a big-hearted grandmother with a penchant for cake decorating and a mouth like a sailor. And when she walks the streets in this

quiet Icelandic town of 1,500 people, she stands out like a sore thumb.

But this isn’t just an act for entertainment. Hákon’s grandmother was the puppeteer of his childhood; she introduced and encouraged everything from knitting to baking to offering inappropriate sex advice to unwilling ears. And that grandmotherly part of Hákon is just as alive as his boyish masculinity.

Frú Markan fascinated me. I’d heard stories of her exploits, but didn’t get a chance to meet her until very recently, when she showed up at my work while I was slicing up racks of lamb. Utterly star struck, I pulled off my gloves and apron, and sat the celebrity down to learn about her life.

That interview quickly transformed into two interviews with two completely different people. I met the troublesome socialite Frú Markan as she sipped away, chin high, at a mojito.

And then, without changing the venue or subject, I met Hákon, 28, a hotel manager, who offered his own perspective.

Seeing this transformation, I was enthralled. How could a well-to-do member of the community like Hákon get away with dressing like a woman in such a tiny Icelandic town? Surely there would be nasty whispers and a sense of bafflement among the town’s more conservative citizens. After conversing for an hour, the dialogue got me wondering if a character like Frú Markan could ever survive 3,700-plus miles away in Jackson Hole, Wyoming—my hometown.

What I learned from the two of them sparked questions about personal identity. What parts of ourselves do we keep hidden from others? And does the friendly community of Jackson Hole have a strong enough appetite for people like Frú and some of the more colorful members of the LGBT community?

The Socialite

Hákon’s family is fairly well known around town thanks to their deep roots in the community. Hákon himself is a born-and-raised Neskaupstaður native.

After spending some time in Reykjavík, as well as abroad, he returned home to start up the Hildibrand Hotel with his family. The Hildibrand is a highend apartment hotel with a regionally renowned restaurant, and hosts thousands of tourists each year.

And yet, few of those tourists have any idea that this ambitious Icelandic entrepreneur possesses a grandmotherly drag persona. “[Frú Markan] is a channel for me because I have a masculine boyishness about me, and I also have this old lady inside,” Hákon said. “I always loved baking and doing things guys my age would not be thinking about.

For a two-year period, I was almost as much her as I was me. And at some points I was way more her than I was me. I took her to some extremes and went morning until night without breaking character. I felt like I released a demon.”

Hákon’s social life in Reykjavík was far more active, as was Frú Markan’s.

“She gets invited to so many cooler parties than me,” he said. “She would have her own weekends. Whatever she would do, she would just do. And way different men would flirt with her.”

He explained that despite Frú Markan being “so fucking unsexy,” men of all types would gravitate towards her, some men who, Hákon said he would have no chance with. There were plenty of guys with “mommy issues” and others who just wanted to let loose around her. Seeing Hákon being so comfortable in his drag persona in a bar or club made strangers flock towards him. Restraint or discomfort was

thrown to the wind.

“People thought, ‘I can go even further and express myself even further. I can share secrets with her that are forgotten by Monday,’” he said. “She’s definitely seen her fair share of celebrity titties.”

When Hákon returned to Neskaupstaður, Frú Markan was also yanked away from her life as a socialite. But Hákon said she’s still the queen of the party even in rural Iceland. She now appears at various club gatherings and women’s parties, offering baking advice and sex tips to even the more older, traditional women of the area.

“I’ve been trying to teach her English,” Hákon said. “I’m really good at English, but she’s bad. Her vocabulary and mine are not the same. She speaks like an old Icelandic woman and can be very witty with sexual undertones. The ladies love her because she’s allowed to say things to women that I would never be allowed to say. Just now I was dirty-mouthing with women with an average age of 55, and they loved it.”

When I asked Hákon if he knew what other people in the town said about his dual life, he took a sip from his vaping pen and laughed through a cloud of smoke.

“I don’t give a fuck what people say about me,” he said. “Part of the drive, especially when I toured the country giving blowjob lessons, part of that was me trying to break out of this community. Separate yourself like a rebellion. The best review I ever got was from an old professor who said, ‘She’s exactly what the countryside needs. It’s the shock factor.’”

“I went morning until night without breaking character, I felt like I released a demon.”

Hand in Hand

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

MAY 18, 2016 | 11

Gurri (Hákon’s father), Þóra (Hákon’s mom) and Hákon Guðröðarson.

Jackson Hole’s community isn’t too far off from that of Neskaupstaður. While 10 thousand residents versus 1,500 may seem like a massive difference, a town like Neskaupstaður in Iceland is basically on the same scale as Jackson is to the rest of Wyoming.

Everyone knows just about everyone, and there’s plenty of majestic beauty, tourism, and outdoor activities to go around.

But I couldn’t help but wonder if Jackson’s community culture was strong enough to support someone in the vein of Hákon and Frú Markan. To glean perspective on the current state of Jackson’s acceptance of the LGBT community, I turned to Jacksonites.

Former JH resident Anne Marie Wells identifies as queer, a word she describes as “all-encompassing not straight.” Even though she’s had relationships with men and women, she doesn’t identify with the words “lesbian” or “bisexual,” because she says they can be limiting.

She is an avid travel blogger and is currently planning out a month-long trip through Iceland that she will document and write about. Whether or not she’ll cross paths with Frú Markan on this adventure is uncertain. During her time in Jackson she regularly volunteered with the Conservation Alliance and Hole Food Rescue, as well as directed Riot Act, Inc.’s “The Vagina Monologues” in 2015.

As far as being openly queer in Jackson, she says

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

12 | MAY 18, 2016

Some Dirty Advice From Frú Markan • Every marriage should have two simple rules: 1.) The woman is always right. 2.) If she is not right, see rule number 1.

• Don’t aspire to be anything less than what you’re worth. For example, I don’t aspire to be an elderly porn star. I aspire to have my own empire of elderly porn stars.

• If you mess up a cake, don’t panic. Just mash it up with some instant pudding and make a new cake. Or just forget the cake and get drunk.

• Men are very simple tools, but they’re impossible to sharpen.

• Women are like diesel engines.

Sometimes it can take us a while to get started, but when we’re heated up, we can run as long as you want us to so long as we’re lubricated.

• Don’t make grand announcements. Follow your heart, show up somewhere, stay, leave in a hurry, but always remain mysterious.

Frú Markan is a source of inspiration to folks living in small towns that are struggling with their identities and issues of acceptance. that it’s a struggle. She believes that Jackson should be far more progressive than it currently is. “I’ve been harassed in the street while walking holding hands with a partner,” she said. “Most people are accepting or tolerant, but it can be nerve-wracking to not be sure if a prominent member of the community is accepting or not. Since the town is so small and connected, if someone or some group is anti-gay, you can feel like it will negatively impact your life.”

Wells currently makes her home in Boulder, CO, but ventures up to Jackson often. But she says even in Colorado she worries about running into “skier bros” who are less than accepting of queer women.

“They try to seem accepting by saying things like ‘lesbians are so hot.’ That’s not accepting,” she said. “That is sexualizing my relationship for their pleasure. It’s gross and uncomfortable.”

Wells says that non-LGBT members of our community should be more open and outward with their support to make Jackson a gay-friendly place. “If someone says something homophobic or transphobic, don’t let it go to be polite,” she suggested. “We too need to be accepting of others’ identities and also accepting of change. It’ll help people be more open and help people who feel like they have to be closeted to protect themselves; instead they could maybe feel more confident to be who they are without reservation.”

Full Throttle Ever the adventurer, Zoë Taylor is a queer trans woman who currently lives out of her car as a result of the Jackson housing crisis. She had the task of

transitioning from male to female while living in a town famous for its “skier bro” culture, and, much like Hákon in Iceland, she didn’t let anyone’s perceptions get in the way of her happiness.

“At the beginning of my transition it was kind of difficult, as a lot of people, especially those outside of my core friend group knew me as the hyper-masculine guy I was struggling to portray when I moved here,” she said. “Dating is still next to impossible, but I don’t have any issues when I’m out and about, except from 90-day wonders that don’t know anything about me, and the occasional outof-towner.”

Taylor believes that the town’s acceptance of her can be attributed to her athletic pursuits, which, like many Jackson locals, have a predominant hold on her daily life. She refused to tone down that side of her to fit a gender role stereotype.

“To anyone here in this place struggling to be yourself and live a life you desire, know that there are resources and kind people in Jackson,” she said.

“When you encounter someone that treats you like a second- or third-class citizen, it’s simply fear that has a hold on them. Shine. Do not let anyone make you feel like you don’t belong as [a] part of this beautiful and complex community. Stand up for yourself and move forward in your truth.”

She also thinks that being true to yourself is the key to happiness, and having a good group of friends in Jackson was integral to her successful transition. She said it’s important to inform those close to you of your true self, no matter how hidden, and to not be afraid to lean on people when things get overwhelming.

Native Brew

Kook-sexual

acquaintances. Today Daly lives with a male partner.

“It’s been completely unproblematic for me to live my life openly in Jackson,” she said.

The LGBT community can be notorious for rolling eyes in the direction of bisexual individuals, and Daly has been accused of basking in “straight privilege.” But thanks to her friends in Jackson, she says she feels included and respected.

“LGBT friends here seem to accept that I’m kind of one of them,” she said. “Or maybe they simply acknowledge that I’m kind of a kook, which I am.

Can I change my identification to kook-sexual?

That’s what I’d really prefer.”

Overall, she’s confident that the Jackson community is welcoming to LGBT individuals, and that, in general, people are more accepting. In her eyes, LGBT people have nothing to fear and should feel unashamed to come out in this community.

“LGBT people have this wonderful opportunity to be leaders and models of being true to oneself, and being oneself in the world,” she said. “Because really, everyone, regardless of gender or sexual orientation has something they are hiding, something they feel ashamed about, something about themselves that they think makes them weird or unacceptable.”

Daly thinks that acceptance of sex as a whole is just as important as sexual identity, and disapproved of Christian abstinence advocate Shelly Donahue’s visit last month.

“When it comes to sex, Jackson in general is under siege by a moneyed group of evangelical wing-nuts who want to police everyone’s sex lives,” she said. “I think straight people are suffering as much as queer people in Jackson right now because of a hateful minority who would like us to feel ashamed of being sexual beings and ever having sex at all.”

The nationwide legalization of gay marriage in June 2015 was a step in the right direction, Daly believes, but she acknowledges the country still has many miles to go.

“Of course the next obvious step,” Daly said, “is to pass strong, thorough anti-discrimination laws so that LGBT people are protected at work and in life.”

Inequality State Wyoming has had some trouble living up to its “Equality State” nickname in modern times. Once a territory famous for laying the groundwork for women’s voting rights, Wyoming is now considered to be the most conservative state in the Union, according to a February 2016 Gallup poll. When it comes to anti-discrimination rights, Wyoming lags behind the rest of the country on a variety of issues.

And with the raincloud of Matthew Shepard’s 1998 murder in Laramie still looming, it’s no wonder why LGBT members are hesitant to come out into the open, even in a town as liberal as Jackson.

MAY 18, 2016 | 13

Artistic powerhouse and Planet scribe Meg Daly identifies as bisexual and has had an admittedly positive experience living in Jackson Hole. Born and raised in Jackson, after stints living in San Francisco and Portland, she moved back to Jackson in 2007 with a blue-mowhawked female partner. She recalls being embraced by neighbors, family, and

Frú Markan bestows the author with special advice and delicate company.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

James DuPont is one of few out and open LGBT members that was born and raised in Jackson.

While his job with Epic Brewing, Utah’s first brewing company, has sent him to Raleigh, North Carolina, DuPont is now on a journey back to the Rocky Mountains. Like many Jackson natives, he’s an outdoorsman that loves skiing, climbing, hiking, and naturally, drinking beer. But growing up gay in Jackson certainly had its potholes, and his experiences at Jackson Hole High School were difficult, to say the least.

“In high school, I took drama classes, mainly hung out with girls, and was called gay for doing so,” he said. “Calling someone ‘gay,’ or saying, ‘don’t be such a fag’ was common slang among homies. Being raised Catholic did not help the situation either.”

DuPont ultimately decided he couldn’t come out as gay in Jackson because of the pressure he felt to be accepted by his peers. He said that one of the hardest experiences was having friends stand up for him when he was bullied.

“I felt terrible,” he admitted. “I felt as though I was lying to them because, at the time, I wasn’t out, or even sure if I was gay, and they were going out of their way to defend me. It happened enough that when it did, I lied, and would get pissed at whoever called me gay, or, my favorite: ‘that gay kid.’”

As a result, it wasn’t until after high school that DuPont was comfortable enough to make his sexuality public. When it happened, the support from his family and friends was overwhelmingly positive.

“Now when I am back home visiting family, I have no problem living my life openly because of this support,” he said. “I know now that even if I said I was gay [in high school], my friends would have still stood up for me and that’s all that matters.”

As far as the level of LGBT support in Jackson, DuPont thinks Jackson is in a good place, all things considered.

“Jackson is still a part of Wyoming, and I know many ideals held by some members of the community are less than progressive, but I have found there are far more individuals in Jackson who support equality and the LGBT community,” he said.

DuPont’s experience makes it clear that growing up gay in Wyoming, like in any conservative state, can have its levels of fear and uncertainty. But with such a strong support group at his back, the weight of having to hide his sexuality has been lifted.

“As my wonderful mother has told me on many occasions, ‘At the end of the day, it’s just you and your happiness, and that’s all that matters. Do not let someone else define your happiness,’” he said.

“So many feel the need to define and point out one’s sexuality, but these people should realize there is more to that person than who they choose to love.”

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

14 | MAY 18, 2016

Last February, an anti-discrimination bill, Senate File 115, was shot down by state Republicans. The bill would have added the verbiage “sexual orientation or gender identity” to state laws that protect people regardless of their creed, race, age, pregnancy, disability, or otherwise. Wyoming is among 29 states that does not have laws designed to protect folks from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Currently, Cowboy State employers are free to discriminate against their LGBT employees, and landlords may freely choose to deny housing to LGBT renters. Hotel owners even have the ability to turn away paying LGBT guests seeking accommodation.

In 2009, Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expand the 1969 federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The bill provides federal financial aid to law enforcement agencies to help cover the costs associated with the investigation and/or prosecution of a hate crime.

However, if a state doesn’t recognize and thereby indict accused parties with hate crimes, the funding is less than helpful.

Today, Wyoming is one of five states without hate crime laws on the state level; the others are Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, and South Carolina. Locally, the Jackson Town Council passed a resolution in 2015 that condemns discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.

It’s clear that if Wyoming wants to live up to its

state nickname and its state seal, which features a banner proclaiming “Equal Rights,” there is much that still needs to be done. Especially in light of the latest news—that Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and state school officials say they reject the idea of a new federal mandate handed down by President Barack Obama that would protect the rights of transgender students in school.

However, if a town like Jackson, with all its influence, can set the standard for acceptance and equality, then perhaps one day the rest of Wyoming will follow suit.

Finishing Touches Sitting in front of me sipping her mojito, Frú Markan batted her lashes behind her oversized glasses.

Just being in the presence of someone as unabashed and open as Frú Markan was refreshing.

“What do you do with your life?” I asked.

“I’m an ambassador. A special ambassador,” she replied.

“Of what?”

“Of being special, dammit.”

Her quips and comments about life and how to please a man without compromising your womanhood had me rolling with laughter, and I knew the community, especially one as small as Neskaupstaður, was richer for having a character like Frú Markan around.

Frú Markan and I spoke for more than an hour, and by the end of the interview, as her heels clacked across the wooden floors of my apartment and out the front door, I was bewildered, inspired, utterly motivated to get the word out about this wonder of a human being.

I went to the balcony to watch Frú Markan as she precariously wandered down the sidewalk. She passed a group of teenage boys, and for a moment I feared that they would poke fun at the bespectacled, boozy madam.

“Góða kvöldið [Good evening],” Frú Markan sang. “…kvöldið,” one boy replied, perplexed.

The boys glanced over their shoulders at her and then continued chatting away, unfazed.

She turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

Before departing, Frú Markan left me with these words of wisdom: “Your hand is your best tool. Don’t let other people do something for you that you can do better,” she said with a wink.

Hákon also left me with some words to live by: “Accept who you are before you allow other people to,” he said. “Do absolutely whatever you want to do. It’s OK to be way different. We are way bigger people than whoever we are in everyday normal life.

Be that fun playful thing that lives inside you. It’s your creativity; it’s your outlook.

“And if people can’t accept you for all of you, you should give them none of you.” PJH

THIS WEEK: May 18-24, 2016

Compiled by Caroline Zieleniewski

Friday, 5:30pm at Tayloe Piggott Gallery

Performance Art Installation and Summer Season Kick-Off with Dancers’ Workshop: DW and Tayloe Piggott Gallery join together to celebrate the beginning of a fabulous summer season.

WEDNESDAY MAY. 18

THURSDAY MAY. 19

n Navigating High-Stakes Conversations 8:30am, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, $20.00, 307-739-1026 n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Wilderness First Responder 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $725.00, 307-733-7425 n Tech Tutor 10:00am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 ext. 218 n Silver Projects: Stone & Elk Ivory Setting 10:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $60.00 - $70.00, 307-733-6379 n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Private Intuitive Readings 10:30am, Spirit, $125.00, 307733-3382 n Teton Toastmasters 12:00pm, Teton County Commissioners Chambers, Free, n The Center Presents Big Year of Weird 12:00pm, The Center Theater Gallery, Free, 307-733-4900 n Cribbage 1:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Driggs, Free, 208-354-5522 n Growing Through Grief 1:00pm, St. John’s Medical Center, Free, 307-739-7482 n Cancer Support Group for Patients and Survivors 3:00pm, St. John’s Medical Center Chapel, Free, 307-7396195

MAY 18, 2016 | 15

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 18

n Self-Reflective Video 4:15pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $115.00 $138.00, 307-733-6379 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Jackson JR’s Community Golf Clinic 4:30pm, Snake River Sporting Club, $15.00, 307-200-3092 n Covered Wagon Cookout 5:30pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Neuromovement: Get Your Groove Back 5:30pm, Medicine Wheel Wellness, $18.00 - $60.00, 307699-7480 n Great Reads for Girls Book Club 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library Victor, Free, 208-7872201 n Barbara Trentham Life Drawing 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307-7336379 n Cribbage Club 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library Driggs, Free, 208-3545522 n Teton Raptor Center Presents ‘An Evening with Owls’ 6:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 n Storm Spotter Training 6:00pm, Teton County EOC, Free, n Songwriter’s Alley 7:00pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n KHOL Presents: Vinyl Night 8:00pm, Pink Garter Theatre, Free, 307-733-1500

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Strollercize 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $10.00, 307-739-9025 n Wilderness First Responder 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $725.00, 307-733-7425 n Story TIme 10:00am, Valley of the Tetons Library Victor, Free, 208-7872201 n Tech Tutor 10:00am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 ext. 218 n Teton Village Spring Clean Up 10:00am, Teton Village, Free, 307-733-5898 n Beginning Throwing Daytime 11:00am, Ceramics Studio, $165.00 - $198.00, 307-7336379 n Open Build 1:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Chess Club 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library - Driggs, Free, 208-3545522 n Chess Club: Grades K to 12 3:30pm, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 x118 n Drawing to Paint 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $50.00 - $60.00, 307-733-6379 n English Riding Lessons 4:00pm, Heritage Arena, $65.00, 307-699-4136

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

16 | MAY 18, 2016

MUSIC BOX

A Music Shop in the Amazon Age Jackson Hole Music places community at the forefront of its business model.

BY PATRICK CHADWICK @PatrickChadwick

E

ven as a musician who supports the “buy local” ethos, I have frequently been guilty of buying my music gear online. Comprehensive ecommerce sites like Amazon, Musician’s Friend and Sweetwater pose a definite challenge to developing a lasting independent music shop. As Jackson’s only dedicated music store, Jackson Hole Music is built to thrive by focusing on what those sites can’t offer: community,

Dave Rice (left) is the insprired force behind Jackson Hole Music, the valley’s sole brick-and-mortar music shop. Right: Pinedale duo Birdhunters bring early blues, soul, folk and electronic sensibilities to this week’s Songwriters Alley. in-depth knowledge, and a curated selection of instruments and gear.

Jackson Hole Music was launched last year by local musician and sound engineer David Rice, who purchased the remaining inventory of Melody Creek Guitars after the owners left the area to be closer to family. Knowing that a modern music shop is unlikely to survive on retail sales alone, Rice has made his personalized music lessons a major focus, recently moving his store to a larger adjacent space at 975 Alpine Lane, No. 5 in order to accommodate a practice area.

“Without lessons there would be no store,” Rice said. “A local music shop should be trying to do more than crazy amounts of sales on the Internet.”

Having taught guitar, bass and drums in Jackson Hole for a decade, Rice has seen firsthand how music can become a lifelong hobby, career, or at the very least an engaging summertime activity for local students. He instructed Otto Wieters and Dan Sanford of Jackson’s popular electronic/ percussion duo Head to Head when they were still in middle

school, and he continues to encourage and foster budding talent at his store. Earlier this month, Rice watched as one of his nine-year-old students sat mouth agape. The young music pupil had happened upon the end of a spontaneous lesson given by Nikki Glaspie, Beyoncé’s former drummer and a current Nth Power member.

“I want the store to bring musicians together for projects … to kind of make it more of a hub,” Rice noted. “Give out free coffee … have people hang out.”

A boon for local musicians currently living in their cars, the new practice space at Jackson Hole Music is also available for rent to bands, and Rice has extended the store’s services by renting out PA equipment and running sound for local gigs and events. Recognizing that area musicians tend to gravitate toward acoustic instruments, Jackson Hole Music has been selective in procuring an inventory of lesser-known yet higher-quality acoustic brands like Breedlove, Bedell, and Cordoba, in addition to classics like Guild and Weber.

Rice’s smart community focus will hopefully ensure that

WEDNESDAY KHOL Vinyl Night (The Rose) THURSDAY Major Zephyr (Silver Dollar); Salsa Night (The Rose) FRIDAY June Brothers (Silver Dollar); Jazz Night with Pam Drew Phillips (The Granary) Salt Lake City sends up vocal and instrumental harmonies care of the five-piece June Brothers this weekend at the Silver Dollar.

Jackson Hole Music never has to compete directly with online behemoths to stay afloat, but, regardless, the store matches Internet prices on all its brands’ products except for guitar strings. Not to mention, Amazon isn’t going to fix the action on your vintage acoustic guitar.

Bluesy soul at Songwriter’s Alley An open mic sponsored by Jackson Hole Music and occasionally hosted by Rice himself, Songwriter’s Alley is back for the spring with a new time: 7 to 10 p.m. every Wednesday at the Silver Dollar Bar. This week boasts a featured set from vocalist/ukulele player Samantha Rise and drummer/ keyboardist Ryan Ptasnik, a duo from Pinedale dubbed Birdhunters that blends soul, folk and early blues with electronic instruments.

Sign-up starts at 6 p.m., and all participating performers receive 50 percent off their food bill and a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Jackson Hole Music.

Songwriter’s Alley with featured artist Birdhunters, 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Silver Dollar Showroom. Free.

SLC-branded folk rock Usually we Jacksonites are the ones traveling to Salt Lake City to catch a good show. This weekend, however, the SLCbased June Brothers will bring their brand of folk rock and Americana to the Hole. The band’s warm vocal and instrumental harmonies helped it earn an honorable mention for best local album of 2014 from The Planet’s sister publication, Salt Lake City Weekly.

A five-piece act fronted by singer-songwriter Spencer Oberle, the June Brothers’ woodsy vibe is backed by Southernrock-inspired instrumentation, making for a couple danceable nights at the Silver Dollar Showroom.

June Brothers, 7:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Silver Dollar Showroom. Free. 732-3939. PJH

A lover of sad songs in our happy valley, Patrick Chadwick is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and a content writer for local businesses.

Please support keeping abortion safe and legal.

Choice Take away a woman’s right to choose and she’s left to take matters into her own hands.

Paid for by the KCR Coalition for Pro-Choice Kristyne Crane Rupert | www.naral.org.

MONDAY The Jackson Hole Hootenanny (Dornan’s)

MAY 18, 2016 | 17

IT’S PRO-CHOICE OR NO-CHOICE.

SUNDAY Stagecoach Band (Stagecoach)

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

PR

732-3939.

SATURDAY June Brothers (Silver Dollar)

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

18 | MAY 18, 2016

FRIDAY MAY. 20

n The Habits of Highly Effective Organizations 8:30am, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, $20.00, 307-739-1026 n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 20

A New Groove Steven Glass confronts his ‘Big Year of Weird’ in a solo show at The Center.

BY MEG DALY @MegDaly1

A

new art exhibit at the Center Theater Gallery explores the question of how we define ourselves in times of dramatic personal change.

“The Big Year of Weird” features 20 paintings by Victor, Idaho artist Steven Glass.

“The universe didn’t like the groove I was wearing on my record,” Glass writes in his artist statement for the show. “So it skipped it with the force of an earthquake and razed my existence back down to dirt, scorching the earth and everything I knew in the process.”

At the same time Glass was undergoing significant changes in his personal life, a friend handed him a simple panel of melamine board. Knowing the artist’s penchant for painting on glass, the friend thought Glass might like the similarly smooth, unfettered surface of melamine.

The metaphorical blank slate proved to be his “talisman.”

“The melamine board was smooth like glass, but I didn’t have to put as much paint on it,” Glass said.

The artist uses graffiti-style media such as spray paint and paint sticks. Working on melamine, vinyl, and wood board, he has created a series of compelling motifs in the new work. A featureless face reappears in many paintings, with a paint streak for eyes, nose, or mouth—or many times, all three.

Other motifs include a chain link fence, eyeglasses, and dots.

The artist’s concise, candy-colored palette (pink, robin’s egg blue, charcoal, gold) serves a few purposes. The smeared, bright colors keep the images from being macabre, and they also accentuate the blankness of the surrounding smooth white surface.

A painting of a series of streaked, abstract faces entitled “Man in the Arena,” references Theodore Roosevelt’s famous speech, “Citizenship in a Republic”: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end

STEVEN GLASS

n Weight Management Support Group 4:00pm, Boardroom, St. John’s Medical Center, Free, 307-739-7634 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 - $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Get to know Mountain Bike the Tetons at Snake River Brewing 5:00pm, Snake River Brewing - Upstairs, Free, 307-413-1998 n Local Love Event 5:00pm, Roam JH, Free, 307-733-7096 n REFIT® 5:15pm, First Baptist Church, Free, 307-6906539 n Friends of the Library Meeting 5:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library,Free, 208354-5522 n Covered Wagon Cookout 5:30pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 - $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Mental Health Support Group 6:00pm, Board Room of St. John’s Medical Center, Free, 307-732-1161 n Bacchus & Brushes 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $45.00, 307-733-6379 n Whiskey Experience 6:00pm, VOM FASS Jackson Hole, Free, 307734-1535 n Improv Class for Adults and Teens 6:00pm, Black Box Theater, $200.00, 307-7333021 n Intermediate Throwing 6:00pm, Art Association, $170.00 - $204.00, 307-733-6379 n Stained Glass - Design with Light 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $160.00 - $190.00, 307-733-6379 n Outdoor Bootcamp 6:00pm, Mike Yokel Park, $18.00, 404-610-2932 n Chi Running 6:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $15.00, 307739-9025 n You Can be FREE From Pain & Stress 6:45pm, Medicine Wheel Wellness, $5.00, 307699-7480 n JH Community Band Rehearsal 7:00pm, Center for the Arts Performing Arts Wing, Free, 307-200-9463 n Spanish for Fun, Work & Travel 7:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $105.00, 307-733-7425 n Anam Thubten Public Talk on Meditation 7:00pm, Old Wilson School, $10.00 - $15.00, n Major Zephyr 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307732-3939 n Joint Replacement Class 8:00pm, Moose Wapiti Classroom in basement of St. John’s, Free, 307-739-6199 n Salsa Night 9:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307-733-1500

CREATIVE PEAKS

Steven Glass’ ‘Man in the Arena’ (left) references Theodore Roosevelt’s famous speech ‘Citizenship in a Republic.’ Right: In the piece ‘Public Speaking,’ an abstract head or stop sign vibrates in space. the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Though Glass prefers not to share specifics of the dramatic shifts in his Big Year of Weird, he is confident that viewers can relate to the experience of how outside forces can impact our lives.

“After the universe tires of being polite, of gently tapping you on the shoulder and quietly suggesting you alter your course of direction, it finally relents and slaps you with a thunderclap,” he says in his artist’s statement.

With an MFA in Creative Writing, Glass often includes text in his work, but there are no words found in these new paintings.

The Center’s Art in Public Spaces coordinator, Carrie Richer, appreciates the mystery that Glass evokes in his show. She says he created a “cliff-hanger” within his artist statement. “I think it adds another dimension to his exhibition, creating a bit of a throughline as well as providing a type of character sketch to the many featured faces that make up the exhibition.”

On Thursday, Glass will give a lunchtime Artist Talk from noon to 1 p.m. in the Theater Gallery. With the Art in Public Spaces program, Richer says The Center hopes to deepen the public’s experience of art. “We want to facilitate good conversation and include the artist’s creative process and perspective.”

Like many artists, Glass becomes absorbed in exploring his materials when creating a body of work. “I got interested in painting on a white surface,” he said. “I had never been attracted to it, but then suddenly I was.”

Glass says he applies “a lot of paint” to a surface and then works at taking it off. “I’ll spray Windex on it while it’s fresh and then move it around to get a distorted affect,” he said. “Whenever I have a body of work, I don’t know what I’m doing until it’s done and I have time to process it.”

During his year of weird, Glass got a new job in Jackson and began commuting from Victor. This meant contending with construction on Teton Pass and long, stopand-go lines of traffic. “I started liking the construction,” he said. “I found myself in the moment.”

He would pull out his camera and take photos of the construction, particularly the individuals positioned to hold the stop sign for cars.

“It was like a metaphor,” Glass said. “I was forced to deal with it, to watch it. As if the person with the stop sign was saying, ‘be patient everything is under construction.’”

The construction worker found a way into Glass’s work in the form of an abstract face on a sign. The face on the sign could be seen as a skull, or perhaps a clay sculpture head still in progress. A multicolored dot background creates a 3-D effect, so the image appears to be in transition.

Now that the Big Year of Weird has passed, Glass has happy new beginnings to celebrate. He and his wife are expecting a baby— right around the time of Glass’s art opening.

“When things happen, they can define you or destroy you,” Glass said.

It’s no mystery that Glass responded to change by creating hopeful new lines of definition. PJH The Big Year of Weird opening reception 5:30 to 7 p.m., Friday at the Center Theater Gallery. Free. Jhcenterforthearts.org.

GET OUT

Ode to Odie How one adaptive athlete serves as inspiration for knocking down life’s obstacles.

BY ELIZABETH KOUTRELAKOS @EKoutrelakos

Y

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Adaptive athlete Odie Pierce and his support team embody the strength of both individual and collective determination. competition for some, teamwork is integral to a strong finish.

“It didn’t matter what team you were on, everyone was helping everyone,” Vanian said. “It was wonderful to see the comradery in this event, especially because in Jackson so much of the culture is this personal pursuit to challenge yourself in the outdoors.

“In the Ultimate Towner those personal pursuits are second to the accomplishment of the team. It was absolutely essential for our adaptive team to work together, but all teams were doing the same kind of support for one another.”

People may fear the idea of participating in extreme races in Jackson, but what is often overlooked is the amount of support there is for people of myriad backgrounds to get out there and try. This mud season obstacle course combined with Teton Adaptive Sports’ athletes and program coordinators injected inspiration into the event.

A common catch phrase of Teton Adaptive Sports is, “It’s not a disability, it’s a possibility.” The creators of the Ultimate Towner crafted a venue to explore those possibilities, while shifting the mentality of Jackson athletes who often focus on individualistic pursuits.

For those of you still shocked by Odie Pierce, I have more info to share. Unlike many “extreme athletes,” Pierce actually has to work and has a job as a small engine mechanic at Valley Lumber in Victor. So, in addition to working hard, he earns his fun time… hardcore. PJH For more information on Teton Adaptive Sports and summer opportunities for adaptive athletes, visit tetonadaptivesports.com/ summer/

scotti.wright0556@gmail.com

OR CALL/TEXT: 412-397-8291

MAY 18, 2016 | 19

big accomplishment, but it just shows anyone can do it if you have a good support team.”

Pierce began with a hill climb straight up the bottom quarter of Snow King, using a trail rider. This piece of equipment consists of a bucket seat and has two handles in the front and back. Volunteers assisted in pushing and pulling him up the mountain, as this piece of equipment is not interactive for adaptive athletes. Pierce reported this as the most difficult mental component of the course. “Personally, the part where I couldn’t help, riding in the trail rider, was one of the hardest mentally,” he said. “I felt like I had no control over what was happening.”

For the rest of the course, Pierce selfmanned a three-wheeled mountain bike, also known as the one off. With this equipment, Pierce could steer, propel and stop under his own control. The wall climbs seemed like the most interesting obstacles for this technique.

Ultimate Towner organizers innovatively created anchor points on the wall. A static line was then dropped down the wall to allow Pierce to go hand-over-hand to get to the top.

From here, the support team helped him get his legs over the top of the wall so he could hand-over-hand back down the other side.

Have you ever tried to climb a static rope without the help of lower extremities? Pierce not only succeeded, but armed himself with positive vibes and determination to successfully finish the entire course.

Pierce reported the most difficult physical obstacle entailed getting off his bike to crawl through water. During this portion, the course traced a creek and went under a bridge. Despite the fearful and slightly unpleasant nature of these obstacles, Pierce made it through and did not finish last. While the Ultimate Towner could be an individual

Full time & part time.

Flexible hours, insurance & benefits.

APPLY AT

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

ou might have spotted this guy whizzing by during the winter, slashing powder turns on the slopes. Last week 22-year-old Odie Pierce became the first athlete to complete the Ultimate Towner in a wheelchair. For this event, Pierce had to be a little more creative than the typical Jackson competitor. But for Pierce, being a person born with a disability hasn’t stopped him from doing what he wants to do.

“I’ve never known different,” he said. “I’ve only learned how to do things one way, and that’s from a chair. That’s what gives me the biggest advantage to doing adaptive sports in general.”

Pierce took part in the event as an adaptive athlete with a dedicated support team comprised of Pat Wright, Nate Fuller and Brent Tyc, and with help from members of Teton Adaptive Sports, a nonprofit that supports, promotes and develops outdoor sports and recreation opportunities for people with disabilities. Cherene Vanian, Teton Adaptive Sports coordinator, reported that Adaptive volunteers could be found all over UT, at the informational booth and in professional cheer squads.

The “Jackson vibe” tends to underestimate a person’s physical feats, but what Pierce accomplished was truly incredible.

He humbly reflected, “It was definitely a

SATURDAY & SUNDAY BRUNCH

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

20 | MAY 18, 2016

n Portrait Drawing Club 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307-733-6379 n Strollercize 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $10.00, 307739-9025 n Wilderness First Responder 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $725.00, 307-733-7425 n 2016 Yoga Asana National Championship 10:00am, Center for the Arts, $10.00 - $50.00, 310-401-3039 n Snow King Mountain Summer 2016 Opening Day 10:00am, Snow King Mountain, Free, 307-201KING n Multi-Generational Music 10:30am, Old Wilson Schoolhouse, Free, 307413-9507 n Sneak Peek: Yellowstone National Park Through the Lens of Time 11:30am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, 307-733-5771 n Free Open Rehearsal - Contemporary Dance Wyoming 12:00pm, Dancers’ Workshop, Free, 307-7336398 n Clay and Sculpture 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $190.00 - $228.00, 307-733-6379 n Electronics/Tech 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-354-5522 n Free Wine Tasting 4:00pm, The Liquor Store & Wine Loft, Free, 307-733-4466 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 - $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Covered Wagon Cookout 5:30pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 - $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Performance Art Installation and Summer Season Kick-Off with Dancers’ Workshop 5:30pm, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Free, 307-7336398 n The Center Presents Big Year of Weird 5:30pm, The Center Theater Gallery, Free, 307-733-4900 n Friday Night Meditation 6:00pm, Zendler Chiropractic, Free, 307-6998300 n Whiskey Experience 6:00pm, VOM FASS Jackson Hole, Free, 307734-1535 n Pam Drews Phillips Plays Jazz 7:00pm, The Granary at Spring Creek Ranch, Free, 307-733-8833 n Love Letters by A.R. Gurney 7:00pm, Black Box Theater at the Center for the Arts, $15.00, 307-733-3021 n Triggers & Slips 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307732-3939 n 2nd Annual Smasher’s Ball: A Fundraiser for Jackson Hole Moose Rugby 8:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-7333886

SATURDAY MAY. 21

n ElkFest 8:00am, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 21

WELL, THAT HAPPENED

Mountain Masquerade No More Cover story author on coming out and thriving in a small community.

BY ANDREW MUNZ @AndrewMunz

I

’ve done drag a few times (notably on Halloween), but never felt the impulse to make it a regular experience. Unlike Hákon in this week’s cover story “Come Out, Come Out,” I don’t have a grandmotherly persona living inside me who gives blowjob advice. Sadly. In fact, growing up as a closeted gay kid in Jackson, I would have been horrified to even remotely identify with Hákon, or the other folks I interview in the story, like James DuPont or Zoë Taylor.

I was so ashamed of my sexuality that I smashed it deep into a corner of my mind, convinced that I was sick or handicapped.

I even tried praying the gay away with a Christian pastor, who promised it was possible, and Jesus would be so much happier for it. I was a naïve freshman at Jackson Hole High School. I wanted to have nothing to do with the LGBT community, and that venomous attitude continued until I finally came out of the closet when I was 21.

But even then, I lacked any sense of pride.

This week’s cover story, ‘Come Out, Come Out,’ is a reminder of the quiet battles facing some Jackson residents.

I would never tell anyone outright that I was gay, saying that it was none of his or her business to begin with. I’ll just let them assume I’m straight, I thought, and things will be OK. As the Laff Staff took off, I started to become a recognizable member of the community, and I became so scared that everyone was going to know that I was gay and think differently of me. And sure there were the people who said, “Oh, I always knew you were gay,” but none of them ever stepped forward to offer support before I came out. I didn’t have anyone come out and say, “Hey, I’m just letting you know that, whatever’s going on, I’m here for you.”

It wasn’t until after all that pain and depression that I realized that the support group was in fact there, my safety net of accepting friends had been right beneath me this entire time. All I had to do was jump. The problem was that I didn’t know it was there to begin with.

In doing the interviews for this week’s cover story, I received some amazing words of encouragement for closeted members of our community. Anne Marie Wells was blunt.

“We need you,” she said, recalling a story about a high school student who felt comfortable to come out to her because he saw how Wells didn’t care what other people thought.

“It’s weird and shocking for the pioneers, but after a while, it doesn’t become news,” she said.

I’ll never be able to take back the years I lived in gay-shaming regret and it’s something that sticks with me even to this day.

When I moved to Chicago in 2012 for two years, I was out, open and happy, and even had an active dating life. Admittedly, Jackson

is a difficult place to taste the fruits of the LGBT dating world, as Taylor mentioned in the cover story.

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I’ve had a few people in Jackson tell me that they wish they could be out and open about their sexuality, but are unable to because of social and cultural norms. Others stay in the closet because their family and friends are ultra conservative.

I agree with Wells that straight allies of the LGBT community should be more vocal about their support, especially with those closest to them. The stronger the safety net, the more likely people are to jump into it.

After backing down from a full ordinance, Jackson Town Council passed a resolution condemning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Decemeber. It’s a start at least. But if our community rallied behind more equality and anti-discrimination efforts, Jackson would be that much more of a special place.

I’m so thankful for the people in my life who have been supportive of my path and have given me a sense of belonging that I always thought I lacked.

And while I don’t have a constant impulse to dress in drag, I’ve learned how important it is to be public about every aspect of your being. This week’s cover story is a proclamation that, yes, Jackson is ready to catch you. I am ready to catch you. You just have to close your eyes, trust your gut, and take the leap.

PJH

n ElkFest 8:00am, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316

SEE CALENDAR PAGE 22

n Handbuilding Plus!

3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $150.00 $180.00, 307-733-6379 n English Riding Lessons 4:00pm, Heritage Arena, $65.00, 307-699-4136 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Library Book Club: “Our Souls at Night” by Kent Haruf 5:30pm, Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Covered Wagon Cookout 5:30pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n ThinkWY Gathering “Challenges and Opportunities in Latino Education” 5:30pm, The Wort Hotel Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307699-2680 n Stride Strong, Pedal with Power Workshop: Running 6:00pm, Jackson Hole High School Track, $15.00, 307-7399025 n Hootenanny 6:00pm, Dornan’s, Free, 307733-2415 n Spanish for Fun, Work & Travel 7:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $105.00, 307-733-7425

JH

GOLFER MAGAZINE

Join this year’s roster of distinguished advertisers.

MONDAY MAY. 23

n Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone 8:00am, Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Station 1 Training Room, $50.00, 307-733-2110 n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Wilderness First Responder 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $725.00, 307-733-7425 n Mountain Man Rendezvous and Traders Row 9:00am, Fairgrounds, Free, 307-733-3316 n Kindercreations 9:30am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $85.00 - $102.00, 307-733-6379 n Little Hands, Little Feet 11:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $85.00 - $102.00, 307-733-6379 n Maker Monday’s 3:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library Victor, Free, 208-7872201 n After School Kidzart Club 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $195.00 $234.00, 307-733-6379

TUESDAY MAY. 24

n Community School Senior Symposium 8:00am, Jackson Hole Community School, Free, 307-733-5427 n Assessing Wildfire Hazards in the Home Ignition Zone 8:00am, Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Station 1 Training Room, $50.00, 307-733-2110 n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Wilderness First Responder 9:00am, CWC-Jackson, $725.00, 307-733-7425 n Mountain Man Rendezvous and Traders Row 9:00am, Fairgrounds, Free, 307-733-3316 n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library, Free, 733-2164 ext. 118 n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164

Coming out June 2016

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MAY 18, 2016 | 21

SUNDAY MAY. 22

n Adult Intro to River Kayaking Course 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, 307-739-9025 n Adult Introduction to River Kayaking Course 9:00am, Rendezvous River Sports, $300.00, 307-739-9025 n Mountain Man Rendezvous and Traders Row 9:00am, Fairgrounds, Free, 307-733-3316 n Environmental Portraiture 10:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $275.00, 307733-6379 n 2016 Yoga Asana National Championship 10:00am, Center for the Arts, $10.00 - $50.00, 310-401-3039 n Fourteenth Annual Jackson Hole High Noon Chili CookOff 12:00pm, Town Square, $5.00, 307-733-3316 n Teton Co. Republican Party - US House of Representatives Candidate Forum (Tentative) 5:30pm, Teton County Fairgrounds n Taize 6:00pm, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Free, 307-733-2603 n Stagecoach Band 6:00pm, Stagecoach, Free, 307-733-4407

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Adult Intro to River Kayaking Course 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, 307-739-9025 n Wyoming Backcountry Adventure Workshop 9:00am, Teton County Search & Rescue Hanger, $30.00, 307690-2156 n Adult Introduction to River Kayaking Course 9:00am, Rendezvous River Sports, $300.00, 307-739-9025 n Mountain Man Rendezvous and Traders Row 9:00am, Fairgrounds, Free, 307-733-3316 n Environmental Portraiture 10:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $275.00, 307733-6379 n Perennial Plant Exchange 10:00am, Teton Recreation Center, Free, 307-739-9025 n Annual Elk Antler Auction 10:00am, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316 n 2016 Yoga Asana National Championship 10:00am, Center for the Arts, $10.00 - $50.00, 310-401-3039 n Private Intuitive Readings 10:30am, Spirit, $125.00, 307733-3382 n Jackson Hole Mini Maker Faire 12:00pm, Jackson Campus of Teton Science Schools in, Free, 307-734-3758 n Community Lunch and Open House 12:00pm, Teton County Search and Rescue, Free, 307-690-2156 n Raptor Encounters 2:00pm, Teton Raptor Center, $10.00 - $12.00, 307-203-2551 n Jeremy Vanderloop 3:00pm, Chapel At River Crossing, n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Covered Wagon Cookout 5:30pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Whiskey Experience 6:00pm, VOM FASS Jackson Hole, Free, 307-734-1535 n Triggers & Slips 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

22 | MAY 18, 2016

n Suicide Prevention Training 12:00pm, St. John’s Medical Center Moose Room, Free, 307-264-1536 n Spin 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307733-5056 n Video Editing & Uploading 3:00pm, Teton County Library Computer Lab, Free, 307-733-2164 n Afterschool Monthly Workshops - All Sessions 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $180.00 - $216.00, 307-733-6379 n Animals in Art 3:30pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $50.00, 307-733-6379 n Writer 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-354-5522 n Defensive Mindset & Unarmed Personal Defense Workshop for Women 4:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $40.00, 307-733-7425 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 - $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Group in Spanish 5:00pm, Moose-Wapiti Classroom, St. John’s Medical Center, Free, 307-739-7678 n REFIT® 5:15pm, First Baptist Church, Free, 307-6906539 n Covered Wagon Cookout 5:30pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 - $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Intro to Relief Printing 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $195.00, 307-733-6379 n The Clay Surface: Color & Pattern 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $115.00, 307-733-6379 n Video Expression 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $195.00, 307-733-6379 n Language Exchange 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library Driggs, Free, 208-354-5522 n Playwright’s Collaborative for Adults 6:00pm, Black Box Theater, $300.00, 307-7333021 n Canine Good Citizen Class 6:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $125.00, 307-733-7425 n Native and Non-Native Plants in the Garden 6:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-7332164 n Outdoor Bootcamp 6:00pm, Mike Yokel Park, $18.00, 404-610-2932 n Alliance Summer Speaker Series | Reducing Wildfire Losses to Communities and Ecosystems!

6:00pm, Old Wilson Schoolhouse, Free, 307733-9417 n This is YOUR BRAIN on MUSIC 6:45pm, Medicine Wheel Wellness, $5.00, 307699-7480 n Bootleg Flyer 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307733-2190

FOR COMPLETE EVENT DETAILS VISIT PJHCALENDAR.COM

CINEMA Surprise Party The Nice Guys shows off Shane Black’s gift for keeping us on our toes.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW @scottrenshaw

M

any things are rare in contemporary movie-making—decent roles for anyone who isn’t a white guy; stories that aren’t built around the assumption of becoming a franchise—but among the rarest is the element of surprise. The culture of Hollywood marketing is to give people exactly what they expect, then create four or five trailers to show them all the things they should expect, so that an opening weekend CinemaScore will prove that the audience was happy by getting exactly what they expected.

Shane Black is that rare oddball who has made a successful decades-long career out of zigging when every script note says you should zag. In 1993, he co-wrote the screenplay for The Last Action Hero, a blockbuster action movie that made fun of the conventions in blockbuster action movies. He packed his buddy-detective-thriller Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with tidbits like a frustrated attempt to preserve a severed finger, and a spin of the Russian roulette cylinder gone awry. Even Black’s foray into the carefully controlled Marvel Cinematic Universe in Iron Man 3 found him keeping the superhero in street clothes for much of the movie, and upending the idea of the super-villain. A new Shane Black movie offers the giddy-making prospect of something that can catch you completely off guard.

The Nice Guys finds him returning to that buddy-detective-thriller milieu he’s been working ever since his very first produced script, for the original Lethal Weapon. In 1977 Los Angeles, private detective Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is searching for a missing girl named Amelia (Margaret Qualley); tough guy Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe) has been hired by Amelia to make sure that people who are searching for her don’t find her. But after Healey’s first visit to March results in a little extreme arm-twisting, Healey starts to realize

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys. that some of the people looking for Amelia are more dangerous than others, and teams up with March in an attempt to find her first.

From the old-school Warner Bros. logo that opens the movie, leading into a panoramic view of Los Angeles through a crumbling “Hollywood” sign, Black revels in the grunginess of his 1970s period setting. Sure, he makes maximum use of a delightful soundtrack packed with funk and disco classics, but he’s more interested in a specifically Southern Californian world of seedy porn theaters, overthe-top Hollywood parties, gas-station lines and an omnipresent blanket of brown smog.

Throw in a plot based on a very particular kind of conspiracy, and you’ve got something as specific in its 1970s-by-way-of-2010s California as Chinatown was in its 1930s-by-way-of-1970s California.

But where Chinatown was purely dramatic pulp fiction, The Nice Guys is pure comedy— and that comedy is almost always built on something coming at you from out of left field.

Black is brilliant at using the backgrounds, edges and light-revealed darkness of his frame to catch an audience off-guard with a hilarious bit of business. He undercuts the tough-guy expectations of his plot by making Gosling’s March in particular an often-bumbling scaredy-cat, whether fighting with a bathroom stall door to keep a gun trained on someone, squealing like a girl when danger erupts, or doing his best gasping imitation of Lou Costello when paralyzed with fear. It’s a movie full of

visual and verbal punch lines too delicious to spoil, because the joy of them comes from the fact that you just never saw them coming.

It’s kind of a shame that Crowe and Gosling never quite develop the same crackling chemistry that Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer found in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, turning that movie into an instant classic. Crowe’s taciturn straight-man provides a far less interesting foil for March than March’s own 13-year-old daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), who generally seems more competent at the whole detective thing than her drunken dad. Black may play around with the idea that both of his protagonists are on some sort of quest for redemption, but The Nice Guys’ true pleasures come from watching a filmmaker shred the world of hard-boiled detective fiction and turn it into big laughs. There are few things more surprising at the movies than something you don’t expect will ever be turned into a franchise, but you kind of wish it would.

THE NICE GUYS BBB.5 Russell Crowe Ryan Gosling Angourie Rice Rated R

TRY THESE Chinatown (1974) Jack Nicholson Faye Dunaway Rated R

Lethal Weapon (1987) Mel Gibson Danny Glover Rated R

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) Robert Downey Jr. Val Kilmer Rated R

Iron Man 3 (2013) Robert Downey Jr. Guy Pearce Rated PG-13

Who’s up for a road trip? There’s plenty to do down south in Salt Lake City next weekend.

Whether your interests lie in music, theater and the arts—or something a bit more downto-earth—here’s what’s going on in the Beehive State. (Visit cityweekly.net/events for complete listings.) So hit the road! But be sure and bring a snack—because, now and then, everybody craves something salty.

WEEKEND OF MAY. 20

n The Count of Monte Cristo Fri, Sat, Sat Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East, Salt Lake City, 8:00pm n Golden Gloves National Tournament of Champions Fri - Sat Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 S West Temple, Salt Lake City n Innovations 2016 Fri - Sat Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City, 7:30pm, $95.00 - $115.00, 801-869-6900 n TECH N9NE Fri The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City, 7:00pm, $34.00 n Paul Simon Sun Maverik Center, 3200 Decker Lake Dr, Salt Lake City, 7:30pm, $64.50 - $144.50

WEEKEND OF MAY. 27

n Innovations 2016 Fri, Sat, Sat Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City, 7:30pm, $95.00 - $115.00, 801-869-6900 n con·temp·POE·rar·y Sat, Sat, Sun Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City, 8:00pm, $20.00

n con·temp·POE·rar·y Fri, Sat, Sat, Sun Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City, 8:00am, $20.00

WEEKEND OF JUN. 10

MAY 18, 2016 | 23

n Abstract Expressions Fri - Sat Evolutionary Healthcare, 461 E. 200 South, Salt Lake City, Free n Bells on Temple Square: “Dancing with Bells” Fri Tabernacle, 15 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, 7:30pm n Bonanza Campout Fri, Sat River’s Edge at Deer Park, 7000 Old HWY 40, Heber City, 1:00pm, $75.00 - $125.00, 801-913-9231 n Breakers Fri The Urban Lounge, 241 S 500 E, Salt Lake City, 8:00pm n Brian Snapp: House of My Brother/House of My Sister Fri Art Barn/Finch Lane Gallery, 1340 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City, Free

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

WEEKEND OF JUN. 3

n Cinders Fri D&R Spirits, Ogden, 8:00pm n con·temp·POE·rar·y Fri, Sat, Sat, Sun Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City, 8:00am, $20.00 n The Curious Savage Fri CenterPoint Legacy Theatre, 525 N. 400 West, Centerville, 7:00pm n Dj Nate Lowpass Fri Fort Buenaventura, 2450 A Avenue, Ogden, 7:00pm n Downy Doxey-Marshall: /klTH/ Fri Alice Gallery, 617 E South Temple, Salt Lake City, 8:00am, Free, 801-245-7272 n Drips, Splashes & Puddles: Paintings by James Haymond Fri - Sat Anderson Foothill Library, 1135 S. 2100 East, Salt Lake City, Free n Erin’s Night Out Fri University Park Marriott, 480 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, 5:00pm, $5.00 n EvenflO Fri Fort Buenaventura, 2450 A Avenue, Ogden, 7:00pm n Ginger Wallace: A Retrospective Fri - Sat Weber State University Shaw Gallery, 3964 W. Campus Drive, Ogden, Free n James Adomian & Anthony Atamanuik: Trump Vs Bernie Fri Wiseguys Downtown, 194 S. 400 West, Salt Lake City, 7:30pm, $20.00 n Jennet Thomas: The Unspeakable Freedom Device Fri - Sat Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, 20 S West Temple, Salt Lake City n Jennifer Seely: Supporting Elements Fri - Sat Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, 20 S West Temple, Salt Lake City, Free n Jim Jacobs: Append Fri Art Barn/Finch Lane Gallery, 1340 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City, Free n Joan Zone Fri - Sun Art at the Main, 210 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City, 6:30pm, Free, 801-363-4088 n Kevin Morby, Jaye Bartell Fri Kilby Court, 741 Kilby Court, Salt Lake City, 7:00pm, $10.00 n Kutt Calhoun Fri Metro Bar, 615 100 S, Salt Lake City, 8:30pm, $12.00 - $15.00 n Laughing Stock Improv Fri - Sat The Off Broadway Theatre, 272 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, 10:00pm, $8.00 - $16.00 n Lewis J. Crawford: Constructs Fri Art Barn/Finch Lane Gallery, 1340 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City, Free n Lucy Peterson Watkins: Textures of the Wasatch Fri - Sun Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, 9:00am, $7.00 - $12.00 n Marcus Fri, Sat, Sat Wiseguys Salt Lake City, 194 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, 9:30pm, $15.00 n Maryann Webster: Narrative Works Fri Art Barn/Finch Lane Gallery, 1340 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City, Free n Michael Swearngin Fri - Sat Modern West Fine Art, 177 E. 200 South, Salt Lake City, Free n Modern Baseball Fri The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City, 7:00pm, $19.00 n Newsies Fri, Sat, Sat, Sun Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City, 8:00pm

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

24 | MAY 18, 2016

BEER, WINE & SPIRITS

Be Kind to Your Wine Storage dos and don’ts for that precious vino.

BY TED SCHEFFLER @critic1

I

still rue the day I opened a prized bottle of French Burgundy I’d been saving for a couple decades. Not too surprisingly, when the bottle was open, I discovered that the wine was closer to Port in flavor and texture than fine Burgundy.

I say “not too surprisingly” not because French Burgundy doesn’t age well—it does—but because in my earlier days as a wine consumer, I didn’t really know anything about wine storage. Before I opened the bottle, I recalled that it had sat for a year or so on a metal wine rack in my Manhattan apartment, right next to a hot water pipe in the kitchen. Yikes!

You’d think common sense would have told me not to store wine next to a heat source. But, such is the foolishness of youth

and the nature of crowded New York studio apartments.

So that you don’t make the same expensive mistake, here are some tips about basic wine storage that may be useful.

Wine is a living thing. It develops in the bottle both before and after you purchase it.

So how you keep or store your wine affects its development. The more expensive the wine, the better care you’ll want to give it.

That might seem obvious. But the reason you want to treat expensive wines with kid gloves (aside from the mere fact that they’re expensive) is that more costly wines are usually intended to age longer than inexpensive wines, which are mostly consumed at a young age.

A fairly consistent temperature is the single most important storage factor for wine. That temperature can range from 50 degrees Fahrenheit to about 59 degrees.

The key is to avoid sudden fluctuations in temperatures, like leaving your wine in a hot car on a warm summer day and then placing it in the fridge. Slow, gradual temperature changes don’t do much to harm wine, but quick ones do.

You’ll notice that in most wine cellars, red wines are kept on the top racks of the cellar, and white wines near the bottom. Heat rises, and so in any given space, the top will usually be warmer than the bottom. White wines and Rosés are served and stored at cooler

IMBIBE temperatures than red wines, hence their placement in wine cellars. The top of the refrigerator in the kitchen (a warm room to begin with) is not an ideal location for wine storage.

Light can harm wine in bottles, so you’ll want to store wines in a relatively dark location, certainly away from direct sunlight. You also want to give them stability—they shouldn’t be moved around a lot or subjected to vibration. So, don’t store your wine near a washing machine, and keep bottles off the floor if you live near railroad tracks.

Probably t he single most common mistake people make when storing wine is storing the bottles standing up.

As artificial corks become more and more popular, this may become unimportant.

But wines with wood corks need to be stored on their sides, which keeps the cork in contact with the wine. Otherwise, the cork may dry out and begin to shrivel, which ultimately can lead to air seeping into the bottle, causing oxidation and ruining the wine.

Be nice to your wines and they’ll be nice to you, whether you live in a Manhattan w a l k-up or a 12-room Wilson starter castle. PJH

50% off entrees and sandwiches, through May 27th. *bring ad for discount

BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER 7:30-9PM 307.733.3242 | TETON VILLAGE

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!

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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.

THAI ME UP

CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE TODAY TO LEARN MORE

SALES@PLANETJH.COM OR 307.732.0299

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.

Local is a modern American steakhouse and bar located on Jackson’s historic town square.

Serving locally raised beef and, regional game, fresh seafood and seasonally inspired food, Local offers the perfect setting for lunch, drinks or dinner.

Lunch 11:30am Monday-Saturday Dinner 5:30pm Nightly

HAPPY HOUR Daily 4-6:00pm

307.201.1717 | LOCALJH.COM ON THE TOWN SQUARE

CONTINENTAL ALPENHOF Serving authentic Swiss cuisine, the Alpenhof features European style breakfast entrées and alpine lunch fare. Dine in the Bistro for a casual meal or join us in the Alpenrose dining room for a relaxed dinner experience. Breakfast 7:30am-10am. Coffee & pastry 10am-11:30am.

Lunch 11:30am-3pm. Aprés 3pm-5:30pm.

Dinner 6pm-9pm. For reservations at the Bistro or Alpenrose, call 307-733-3242.

THE BLUE LION EARLY BIRD SPECIAL

20%OFF ENTIRE BILL

Good between 5:30-6pm • Open nightly at 5:30pm Closed Tuesdays.

160 N. Millward

Make your reservation online at bluelionrestaurant.com

CAFE GENEVIEVE THE LOCALS

FAVORITE PIZZA 2012, 2013 & 2014 •••••••••

$7

SPECIAL Slice, salad & soda

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

TV Sports Packages and 7 Screens

Under the Pink Garter Theatre (307) 734-PINK • www.pinkygs.com

45 S. Glenwood Available for private events & catering For reservations please call 734-8038

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 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.

MAY 18, 2016 | 25

$4 Well Drink Specials

LUNCH

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.

Dinner Nightly at 5:30pm

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

733-3912

A Jackson Hole favorite for 38 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. Early Bird Special: 20% off entire bill between 5:30-6:0pm, Open nightly at 5:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Reservations recommended, walk-ins welcome. 160 N. Millward, (307) 733-3912, bluelionrestaurant. com.

Trio is located just off the town square in downtown Jackson, and is owned & operated by local chefs with a passion for good food.

Our menu features contemporary American dishes inspired by classic bistro cuisine. Daily specials feature wild game, fish and meats.

Enjoy a glass of wine at the bar in front of the wood-burning oven and watch the chefs perform in the open kitchen.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

26 | MAY 18, 2016

Napolitana-style Pizza, panini, pasta, salad, beer wine. Order online at PizzeriaCaldera.com FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT 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

11am - 9:30pm daily 20 W. Broadway 307.201.1472

FULL STEAM SUBS

TRIO

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.

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.

LOCAL

ITALIAN

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 locally-sourced 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.

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.

MANGY MOOSE

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.

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

www.mangymoose.com

Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

••••••••• Open daily at 8am serving breakfast, lunch & dinner.

145 N. Glenwood • (307) 734-0882 WWW.TETONLOTUSCAFE.COM

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®

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

@

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) 7333553. sweetwaterjackson.com.

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.

Connecting the Past and Present What remote viewing can teach us about human capabilities.

BY CAROL MANN

D

The specific techniques in RV do not require psychic ability and can be learned by virtually anyone. A person trained in the specific protocol for remote viewing is entirely awake the whole time. They also have no idea what the target is they are being given. The target is presented to them as a series of numbers and/or letters. Often the experiments are double blind, meaning the researcher is also unaware of the target.

What the person is meant to view could be located in the next room, across the country, around the world, under the ocean, underground, or in outer space. A remote viewer is also capable of accurately perceiving and describing a target in the present, past or future, because using the protocol, human consciousness can transcend both time and space.

“As much as 98 percent of our brain’s perceptions are estimated to be unconscious.”

A Scientific Method Remote viewing is a scientific method of tapping into the “universal mind/the unified field of consciousness,” transcending time and space, and bringing the unconscious functions of our intelligence into conscious awareness. The technique allows information from normally inaccessible levels of our unconscious to come into conscious awareness. As much as 98 percent of our brain’s perceptions are estimated to be unconscious, operating below the horizons of our everyday awareness.

Practical Uses Remote viewing is currently being widely taught to regular people. If you are interested, be sure to research credible training programs taught by qualified remote viewers. Some practical applications of RV include: finding missing objects and treasures, locating missing persons, medical diagnosis, problem solving and research for work or at home, information regarding events in the past, present or future.

Resources One of the most comprehensive nonprofit research and educational organizations dedicated to remote viewing since 1995 is The Farsight Institute. Their website includes a library of information, studies, and experiments, most of which are free to view. Dr. Courtney Brown is the Farsight Institute founder and director. “New research indicates that alternate futures actually do exist,” Brown said, “and that the past exists simultaneously with the present.”

If all this intrigues you, enjoy researching remote viewing and discovering more about the frontiers of our remarkable human consciousness. PJH

MAY 18, 2016 | 27

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 |

uring the cold war era more than 50 years ago, both American Intelligence and Russian Intel developed and practiced a method of espionage under various secret programs, which required no technology and no need for a spy to travel. The scientifically designed protocol used only the expanded abilities of our consciousness and mental powers.

The technique now called remote viewing was a term coined by noted researcher and psychic Ingo Swann, who worked on the government programs. Swann correctly remote viewed that the planet Jupiter has rings, a fact later confirmed by space probes. Swann called remote viewing a “form of virtual reality traveling” brought under conscious control. Remote viewing was eventually declassified in the 1980s.

A Remote Viewer

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

28 | MAY 18, 2016

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)

ACTUAL AD SIZE

• 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 “HOLDING OUT” By Gail Grabowski

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2016

ACROSS

10 Hyde Park carriage 50 One with ropelike tresses 10 Enjoys King and Queen 15 Water carrier 19 Seat of Allen County, Kansas 20 __ Bell: Emily Brontë pen name 21 Run the show 22 Morales of “Jericho” 23 Mongolian for “waterless place” 24 Half a Yale cheer 25 Order to attack 26 Reason to ban a book 27 Exertion while getting up?

30 Crystallized mist 32 Shows some spunk 33 Leather piercers 34 Aspirant 35 Take under one’s wing 38 Tel __ 39 Had a row?

40 Many August births 41 Angry reaction to insolent trick-or-treaters?

45 Short deli order?

48 Russian retreat 50 Pressure source 51 Completed with one stroke 52 Really come down 53 Member of college music’s Whiffenpoofs 54 Long Island airport town 56 Shock source 58 __ pants 59 Bug-loving org.

60 Pickup shtick that needs refinement?

62 Attacked without warning 63 Somewhat soft, as a sound 65 Ref’s call 66 Capital east of the Black Hills 68 Spa treatment 70 Place for perjurers?

72 MD associates 75 Three-time Olympics host country 76 They may be emotional 78 Express disdain (at) 79 Cioppino cooker 80 Curious to a fault 81 Steinbeck surname 82 Some light beers 83 Cyberjotting 85 Ambulance VIP 86 Ship’s secure containers?

90 Salinger title teen 91 Collectors’ items?

92 Go on 93 Too violent, perhaps 95 Split the tab 98 Fourth down play 99 Bit of ugly politics 101 Extremely 102 Wing for rugby’s Wallabies?

107 Retina feature 108 “Invisible Man” author Ellison 110 Chan portrayer 111 Supply-and-demand sci.

112 Rock band famous for face paint 113 Often-bricked surface 114 King creation 115 Northern terminus of I-79 116 Some Neruda poems 117 Old will?

118 Noisy fliers 119 Peace Nobelist Cassin

DOWN

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Fairy tale trio Underlying cause Goya’s “Duchess of __” It often includes sides Second coming How writers usually work Plods (through) Scrabble piece Without obligation

10 Work out 11 Qatari bigwigs 12 Part of IRA: Abbr.

13 Wood finish?

14 Like parts of the Great Plains 15 Count (on) 16 D.C. location, familiarly 17 Chocolate substitute 18 Hint 28 Court figs.

29 Texter’s “Just sayin’” 31 Site for techies 34 Nilla product 35 Pilgrim John 36 They can make good impressions 37 Gregarious play group?

38 Hebrew opener 39 First word of “The Raven” 42 Distinctive mark 43 “Gone With the Wind” actress 44 Assuage 45 Blog entry about garden edging?

46 Winter Games vehicle 47 Walked (on) 49 United route 52 Two of a kind 55 It covers a lot of ground 56 Maori carvings 57 Like many an Internet troll: Abbr.

58 Wine order 61 Interstellar dist.

62 Navigation hazard 64 Slick 66 Cincy-based consumer products giant 67 Like Oscar Wilde 68 “Whatever floats your boat” 69 Energy source 70 “This Gun for Hire” actor

71 Astronaut’s garb 73 Innocent words 74 Mount to mount 76 Word in two state names 77 Soup aisle array 81 Department of Labor training program 82 “Hang in there” 84 Not-too-potent potable 86 Gets in the pool, maybe 87 Seasonal pharmacy offering 88 Frantic monologue 89 Potter’s pedal 91 Arm-twisting 94 Took off 95 Tropical lizard 96 Like jellybeans 97 Like urban population 98 One learning the ropes 99 Toil (away) 100 Bores for ore 102 Wasatch Mountains resort 103 Burn remedy 104 Spread measurement 105 Mint product 106 Often-skinned spot 109 Fan reaction?

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or centuries, scientists, philosophers, and theologians have struggled to answer the basic questions that plagued mankind since creation: Why are we here? Where did we come from? Will the Bronco’s repeat, and what will they do for a quarterback?

Biologists are in agreement that life began in the oceans. Recent scholars suggest that millions of years ago, somewhere, perhaps in what is present day Georgia, someone cooked up some barbeque. After millions of years of sushi and seaweed, the aroma was too much to resist and people left the water to eat pork ribs and brisket. After a while it began to rain so people moved into caves. Sensing opportunity, the first Sotheby’s Realty set up shop at the base of cliffs offering convenient locations to mammoth migrations and the best of rustic luxury cave dwelling with exceptional, unique, one-of-a-kind spectacular views.

Modern evolutionary biology was created during the journey of the HMS Beagle, which sailed out of Colter Bay with an unknown Church of England minister named Charles Darwin. After a tumultuousness crossing of Jackson Lake, the ship headed down the Snake River unaware it was about to change the way people perceive themselves and the world.

The Beagle sailed past John Dodge, Wilderness and ot her

outstanding properties, as well as several estates and at least one legacy parcel.

Accompanying overland exploration parties, Darwin experienced Sudachi Sushi and the Wilson Bagel Shop and, as recorded in his famous “Origin of Hipness,” engaged in actual conversations with some of the indigenous population (recently relocated from New York) on the subjects of wine, nannies, and the environment.

While Darwin was impressed with the level of sophistication displayed by Westbankers, as he named the inhabitants of the area, his vision of natural selection didn’t consolidate until he sailed downstream, past Hog Island, Hoback Junction and, finally, Star Valley. The further downstream Darwin traveled the more primitive the life forms became. “It is apparent,” he wrote, “that the higher life forms in the Westbank evolved from Hog Island residents who drink Bud Lite and drive pickups.”

The Darwinian Theory, as it became known, immediately met with controversy. Realizing they were evolving upward, Hog Islanders began demanding bike paths, while Hobackers insisted their bridge get finished. In Star Valley, they briefly considered installing actual classrooms for high school education instead of just having a football field. But nowhere was the controversy more ferocious than on the Westbank.

Westbankers were offended and many feared real estate prices would drop. In the famous Aspens Hog Trial, a Wilson teacher was removed from subsidized housing after she taught the theory to her class. Even in The Pines, where bored housewives have enjoyed the pleasure of beer bellied Hog Islanders for years, there was disgust. The words of one Wilson mom seem to sum up the Westbank attitude.

“My dear, descended from the Hog Islanders! Let us hope it is not true,” she wrote, but if it is, let us pray that it will not become generally known.” PJH

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19) “An oar moves a boat by entering what lies outside it,” writes poet Jane Hirshfield. You can’t use the paddle inside the boat! It’s of no value to you unless you thrust it into the drink and move it around vigorously. And that’s an excellent metaphor for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks, my friend. If you want to reach your next destination, you must have intimate and continual interaction with the mysterious depths that lie outside your known world.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) The short attention span is now enshrined as the default mode of awareness. “We skim rather than absorb,” says author James Lough. “We read Sappho or Shakespeare the same way we glance over a tweet or a text message, scanning for the gist, impatient to move on.” There’s a problem with that approach, however. “You can’t skim Shakespeare,” says Lough. I propose that we make that your epigram to live by in the coming weeks, Taurus: You can’t skim Shakespeare. According to my analysis, you’re going to be offered a rich array of Shakespeare-level information and insights. To get the most out of these blessings, you must penetrate and marinate and ruminate.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) “There are situations in life when it is wisdom not to be too wise,” said Friedrich Schiller. The coming days may be one of those times for you. I therefore advise you to dodge any tendency you might have to be impressed with your sophisticated intelligence. Be suspicious of egotism masquerading as cleverness. You are most likely to make good decisions if you insist on honoring your raw instincts. Simple solutions and uncomplicated actions will give you access to beautiful truths and truthful beauty, especially if you anchor yourself in innocent compassion.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) To prepare you for the coming weeks, I have gathered three quotes from the Bulgarian writer Elias Canetti.

These gems, along with my commentary, will serve you well if you use them as seeds for your ongoing meditations. Seed #1: “He would like to start from scratch.

Where is scratch?” Here’s my addendum: No later than your birthday, you’ll be ready to start from scratch. In the meantime, your task is to find out where scratch is, and clear a path to it. Seed #2: “All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams.” My addendum: Monitor your dreams closely. They will offer clues about what you need to remember. Seed #3: “Relearn astonishment, stop grasping for knowledge, lose the habit of the past.” My addendum: Go in search of the miraculous.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) “Here’s how every love letter can be summarized,” says Russell Dillon in his poem “Past-Perfect-Impersonal”: “What is it you’re unable to surrender and please may I have that?” I bring this tease to your attention because it may serve as a helpful riddle in the coming weeks. You’re entering a phase when you will have an enhanced ability to tinker with and refine and even revolutionize your best intimate relationships. I’m hoping Dillon’s provocation will unleash a series of inquiries that will inspire you as you imagine how you could supercharge togetherness and reinvent the ways you collaborate.

WINDSHIELDS

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Fifth-century Christian theologian St. Jerome wrote that “it requires infinite discretion to look for gold in the midst of dirt.” Ancient Roman poet Virgil on one occasion testified that he was “searching for gold in dung.” While addressing the angels, nineteenth-century French poet Charles Baudelaire bragged, “From each thing I extracted its quintessence. You gave me your mud, and I made gold out of it.” From what I can tell, Caprciorn, you have been engaged in similar work lately. The climax of your toil should come in the next two weeks. (Thanks to Michael Gilleland for the inspiration: tinyurl.com/mudgold.)

S (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) “At this time in my life,” says singer Joni Mitchell, “I’ve confronted a lot of my devils. A lot of them were pretty silly, but they were incredibly real at the time.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, Aquarius, you are due to enjoy a similar grace period. It may be a humbling grace period, because you’ll be invited to decisively banish worn-out delusions that have filled you with needless fear. And it may be a grace period that requires you to make strenuous adjustments, since you’ll have to revise some of your old stories about who you are and how you got here. But it will also be a sweet grace period, because you’ll be blessed again and again with a visceral sense of liberation.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) More than halfway through her prose poem “A Settlement,” Mary Oliver abruptly stops her meandering meditation on the poignant joys of spring’s soft awakening. Suddenly she’s brave and forceful: “Therefore, dark past, I’m about to do it. I’m about to forgive you for everything.” Now would be a perfect moment to draw inspiration from her, Pisces. I dare you to say it. I dare you to mean it. Speak these words: “Therefore, dark past, I’m about to do it. I’m about to forgive you for everything.”

Go to RealAstrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) “Perfection is a stick with which to beat the possible,” says author Rebecca Solnit. She is of course implying that it might be better not to beat the possible, but rather to protect and nurture the possible as a viable option—especially if perfection ultimately proves to have no value other than as a stick. This is always a truth worth honoring, but it will be crucial for you in the weeks to come. I hope you will cultivate a reverence and devotion to the possible. As messy or maddening as it might be, it will also groom your powers as a maker.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) “How prompt we are to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our bodies; how slow to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our souls!” Henry David Thoreau wrote that, and now I’m passing it on to you just in time for a special phase of your long-term cycle. During this upcoming interlude, your main duty is to FEED YOUR SOUL in every way you can imagine. So please stuff it with unpredictable beauty and reverent emotions. Cram it with mysterious adventures and rambling treks in the frontier. Gorge it with intimate unpredictability and playful love and fierce devotions in behalf of your most crucial dreams. Warning: You will not be able to rely solely on the soul food that has sustained you in the past. Be eager to discover new forms of nourishment.

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) “There are friendships like circuses, waterfalls, libraries,” said writer Vladimir Nabokov. I hope you have at least one of each, Leo. And if you don’t, I encourage you to go out and look for some. It would be great if you could also get access to alliances that resemble dancing lessons, colorful sanctuaries, lion whisperers, prayer flags, and the northern lights. Right now you especially need the stimulation that synergistic collaborations can provide. The next chapter of your life story requires abundant contact with interesting people who have the power to surprise you and teach you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) An invigorating challenge is headed your way. To prepare you, I offer the wisdom of French author André Gide.

“Through loyalty to the past,” he wrote, “our mind refuses to realize that tomorrow’s joy is possible only if today’s joy makes way for it.” What this means, Libra, is that you will probably have to surrender your attachment to a well-honed delight if you want to make yourself available for a bright new delight that’s hovering on the frontier. An educational blessing will come your way if and only if you clear space for its arrival. As Gide concludes, “Each wave owes the beauty of its line only to the withdrawal of the preceding wave.”

32 | MAY 18, 2016

| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |