JACKSON HOLE’S ALTERNATIVE VOICE | PLANETJH.COM | AUGUST 3-9, 2016
THE HEAT IS ON
HOLE HEROES—HOW FIREFIGHTERS LAY IT ALL ON THE LINE. BY JAKE NICHOLS
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
2 | AUGUST 3, 2016
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HEY DUDE, WATCH YOUR TUBE
Attention Floaters
•
Per Town of Jackson municipal code:
No trespassing on private lands. Open alcohol containers are strictly prohibited on Flat Creek. Dogs are prohibited in public parks. No dogs at large. Public urination is prohibited.
•
Please respect private property at all times. Utilize designated public access locations when accessing Flat Creek. • Be considerate of neighbors and environment by limiting noise and disturbance to riparian habitat. • Respect wildlife. • Glass containers are prohibited. Please dispose of garbage in designated receptacles. • Float at your own risk – no safety personnel present. Dangerous and swift flowing cold water, low clearance bridges and shallow water occur in some locations. Respect our community! For additional information and maps of public access points the Town of Jackson or the Parks and Recreation Department: www.townofjackson.com or www.tetonparksandrec.org
JACKSON HOLE'S ALTERNATIVE VOICE
VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 30 | AUGUST 3-9, 2016
12 COVER STORY THE HEAT IS ON Hole heroes— how firefighters lay it all on the line.
Cover photo by John Slaughter/jsimagery.com.
4-6
24 CULTURE KLASH
OPINION
8-10 THE BUZZ
26 WELL, THAT...
20
MUSIC BOX
30 FOODIE FILES
22
CREATIVE PEAKS
38 SATIRE
Clarification For The Buzz: Gaining Elevation (July 27), there is no information available indicating Gary Falk had “broken protocol.” Falk also did not free fall for 17 seconds, as the original narrative inferred. He likely died after the first 100 feet of his fall.
THE PLANET TEAM PUBLISHER
Copperfield Publishing, John Saltas EDITOR
Robyn Vincent / editor@planetjh.com
ART DIRECTOR
STAFF REPORTERS
Cait Lee / art@planetjh.com
Meg Daly, Jake Nichols
SALES DIRECTOR
COPY EDITOR
Jen Tillotson / jen@planetjh.com SALES EXTRAORDINAIRE
Caroline LaRosa / caroline@planetjh.com
Rob Brezsny, Aaron Davis, Annie Fenn, MD, Carol Mann, Andrew Munz, Jake Nichols, Ted Scheffler, Chuck Shepherd, Tom Tomorrow, Jim Woodmencey
Jake Nichols CONTRIBUTORS
Craig Benjamin, Matt Berman, Mike Bressler,
MEMBER: National Newspaper Association, Alternative Weekly Network, Association of Alternative Newsmedia
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August 3, 2016 By Meteorologist Jim Woodmencey We have endured a rather smoky week in Jackson Hole, courtesy of some large forest fires to the south and east of us, with one other big fire in western Idaho. Temperature inversions in the mornings hold the smoke in the Hole. Breezes in the afternoon help to mix it up a little. When it gets this smoky, you should avoid strenuous exercise outside. My advice there is: If you can smell it, then back off from going too hard. If you can taste the smoke, stay indoors altogether.
SPONSORED BY GRAND TETON FLOOR & WINDOW COVERINGS
Average low temperatures this week are near 40-degrees, give or take a few degrees. While temperatures can dip close to 30-degrees, pretty much any week of the summer, the odds are good that they will stay above the freezing mark in early August. However, there was that day in 1995 when the temperature in town took a dive into the 20’s, with a morning low temperature of 26-degrees on August 9th, 1995.
On the same date, sixty-one years prior to that record low temperature of 26-degrees, we established our record high temperature for this week, of 95-degrees, way back on August 9th, 1934. That was part of the hottest summer ever here in Jackson. Hot is a relative term; here in Jackson it is, as they say, “a dry heat”. Relative humidity is often down in the 15 to 20-percent range during the heat of the day.
NORMAL HIGH NORMAL LOW RECORD HIGH IN 1934 RECORD LOW IN 1995
82 41 95 26
THIS MONTH AVERAGE PRECIPITATION: 1.2 inches RECORD PRECIPITATION: 3.8 inches (1945) AVERAGE SNOWFALL: 0 inches RECORD SNOWFALL: 0 inches
Carpet - Tile - Hardwood - Laminate Blinds - Shades - Drapery Mon - Fri 10am - 6pm Open Tuesdays until 8pm 1705 High School Rd Suite 120 Jackson, WY 307-200-4195 www.tetonfloors.com | www.tetonblinds.com
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 3
Jim has been forecasting the weather here for more than 20 years. You can find more Jackson Hole Weather information at www.mountainweather.com
WHAT’S COOL WHAT’S HOT
THIS WEEK
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
JH ALMANAC
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
4 | AUGUST 3, 2016
MEG DALY
FROM OUR READERS
The Cost of Keeping Silent
Sarah Ross was threatened with death after organizing a rally against racism.
COMMENTS@PLANETJH.COM We all know the famous judicial phrase that begins: “You have the right to remain silent…” We also have the moral duty to not remain silent when our conscience tells us so. On Thursday, July 21, on the town square, a gathering of people voiced their views on the political and racial state of affairs in our country. If I refer to The Planet’s reporting in The Buzz 2: “Anger Erupts Over Anti-Racism Rally,”(July 27), there were two main themes. The first was “Black Lives Matter,” and the second is the idea that white people who remain silent about the disproportionate amount of fatal violence against people of color are tacitly endorsing it. I have to assume that the local government authorized the demonstration. If you are of the fearful kind, you might feel threatened by a group, which states that people of their race have been too often on the wrong side of a gun barrel for no good reason. Personally, I do not feel threatened by BLM and I see the point of their stance. I am also deeply distressed by the horrifying senseless killings of law officers nationwide, which can only aggravate tensions among the population. The Planet reported that an older white man took umbrage at the crowd, pointing at
the veterans’ monument, in the center of the square, telling the rally’s young organizer that if she were to die, she should know where it was coming from. To threaten to take someone’s life is serious and it happened right here, in the center of Jackson. One could assume that the person was psychologically deranged. The other possibility, however, is that he was influenced by the rhetoric of a certain presidential candidate. Rhetoric that is alarmingly trickling down to members of the general populace and giving them license to champion threatening and hateful behaviors. What that person said is undeniably similar to what a Hitlerian thug would have told a German Jew in the 1930s. Let us not ever forget what happened then. This is the reason we cannot stay silent. In Teton County, where we pride ourselves on being open minded and tolerant of many subjects, it is our moral duty to rebuke that kind of behavior. Freedom of speech gives citizens the right to voice what they believe; on the other hand there are unquestionably no excuses to respond to someone’s views with deadly threats.
“What that person said is similar to what a Hitlerian thug would have told a German Jew in the 1930s.”
— Yves Desgouttes, a Teton County citizen who cannot keep silent
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 5
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
6 | AUGUST 3, 2016
GUEST OPINION Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs Blockin’ out the real issues, distractin’ my mind… BY CRAIG BENJAMIN COMMENTS@PLANETJH.COM @JHAlliance
T
hey’re back. At every major intersection. On fences across the valley. In front yards throughout town. And in every nook and cranny in-between. It’s that time of year: election time! Which means one thing here in Jackson Hole: political signs, everywhere. You’re probably wondering why; why on earth do we have to suffer through sign season? Why do so many local candidates for elected office seem obsessed with placing signs everywhere they can? I get it. We all want to show our support for our chosen candidates, it’s our right as Americans to do so, and signs are a fun and easy way to express this support. There’s nothing inherently wrong with political signs. Except, extensive research from across America shows signs have almost zero impact on how people vote, with even the most extensive sign-placement strategies having positive effects of one or two percentage points, at most. More importantly for those of us that care about the future of our community, outside of building name recognition, political signs don’t tell you anything about a candidate and his or her vision for the future. Nothing. At. All. Why does this matter? Well, as Thomas Jefferson once said, “An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight.” This means we must do more to fulfill our American responsibility to participate in our representative democracy than simply vote, which is necessary, but not sufficient. It means that if we care about the future of our
community, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves about how candidates for local elected office plan to address the big challenges we face, and their respective visions for the future of our community. And it means we as citizens have a responsibility to hold our elected representatives accountable for making decisions in the best long-term interest of our community. Look, local elected representatives literally shape the future of Jackson Hole. They decide how we address the housing emergency that’s destroying our middle class and threatening the fabric of our community; the traffic congestion tearing into our quality of life; the nearly 400 animals struck and killed on our roads every year; and how we will, as our Comprehensive Plan begins, “Preserve and protect the area's ecosystem in order to ensure a healthy environment, community and economy for current and future generations.” Signs don’t tell you anything about any of this. They don’t tell you how a candidate would deal with a development proposal that doesn’t align with the comp plan or our land use rules. Or how they feel about the ongoing region-wide effort to transfer control of our federal public lands to the states. Or what steps they believe our community should take to engage underrepresented communities in our civic affairs and decision making. Or what they plan to do about the dozens of other important issues facing our community. No, signs don’t tell you anything at all. So what really tells you something about a candidate and their vision for the future? Two things: Their words and their actions. Let’s start with their words. This may be so obvious it’s not worth saying, but let’s do it anyways. The best way to know how someone feels about an issue is to ask him or her directly. This is why the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance asked candidates for local elected office their views on a range of important community issues for all to read (available at JHAlliance.org/2016questions) and why The Planet will grill each candidate on a number of issues in its Primary Election issue on stands August 10.
This is why organizations like the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, League of Women Voters, Rotary, and others host candidate forums where you can learn about candidates’ respective visions for the future of our community. And this is why it’s so important that if you feel strongly about any particular issue, you ask candidates about it so the issue becomes part of the political conversation. By educating ourselves on candidates’ respective plans for the future of our community, we become those indispensible enlightened citizens Thomas Jefferson mentioned, and take an important first step toward the creation of a well-functioning local republic. We also help our candidates become better representatives of our interests by ensuring they are prepared to deal with the issues we care about when they enter elected office—because they have already thought them through. Here’s the thing, what candidates say is important. But we all know that actions speak louder than words. It’s what our elected representatives actually do regarding the issues we care about once they’re in office that really matters. This is why the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance will release a voter’s guide this fall that will provide you with both candidates’ unedited views regarding a range of important issues facing our community. It will also contain information on how encumbents voted on these issues. By educating ourselves on how our elected representatives responded to the issues we care about, we can take the critical second step toward the creation of a well-functioning local republic, because we’ll have the ability to exercise oversight. So this election season, please look beyond the signs that tell you nothing at all. Please do more to fulfill your American responsibility than simply voting in local elections. Please take a few minutes to educate yourself about both the words and actions of candidates for local elected office, and then vote. The future of our community depends on it. PJH
Political signs don’t tell you anything about a candidate and his or her vision for the future.
Craig Benjamin is the executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.
AUGUST 16, 2016 PRIMARY ELECTION ABSENTEE BALLOT NOTICE
OUT OF TOWN?
WORRIED ABOUT HAVING TO WAIT IN LINE? GOING HIKING, BIKING, OR CLIMBING ON ELECTION DAY? That’s okay, because whatever the reason, you can vote by absentee from July 1 to August 15, 2016! Stop in and vote at the absentee polling site located in the basement of the Teton County Administration Building at 200 S. Willow St., Jackson, Wyoming. You can also call or email us to request that a ballot be mailed to you | 307.733.4430 | elections@tetonwyo.org All absentee ballots must be received by 7:00 p.m. on August 16th, 2016.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
For all MEETING AGENDAS AND MINUTES WEEKLY CALENDAR JOB OPENINGS SOLICITATIONS FOR BIDS PUBLIC NOTICES AND OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION
Visit our website
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.
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 7
TetonWyo.org
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
8 | AUGUST 3, 2016
THE BUZZ Barred J Buckwagon Famed cowboy cookout raises hackles on 390. BY JAKE NICHOLS
T
BAR J CHUCKWAGON
he quaint cowboy cookout in Jackson Hole hosted by the Bar J Wranglers has hit a sour note of late, and the jubilee has been anything but since the Humphrey family began singing a different tune. After announcing their intent last summer to sell the 21-acre plot on Teton Village Road, where they have performed their dinner/concert chuckwagon show since the early 1980s, the range war over what may come next has developed into a “high noon” showdown this summer.
‘Heading from the home corral’ Developers representing the Humphrey family initially proposed 40 duplexes on the property in a deal that involved swapping latent development rights with neighboring Teton Pines. That plan in August 2015 was met with immediate pushback from Pines homeowners and chairman of the owners association there, Frank Christensen. The group sought to protect their property values in the posh country club. When that deal fell apart neighbors breathed a sigh of relief. It was short-lived. As this summer heated up, so again did Bar J fiddling. This time, Sotheby’s broker Steve Hancock turned up the pressure. He submitted a proposal to the county for 69 units—20 affordables and 49 at market rate. And again, neighbors balked. “The proposed Bar J development is not consistent with the neighborhood, is not what the residents voted for, and is nothing but a money grab by a few selfish people that have no interest in the future of Jackson Hole or the will of its residents,” Nelson Braddy said. He’s spearheaded an ad hoc group called Alliance 390, opposing development at the Bar J. “This doesn’t seem to be consistent with the neighborhood. It’s not that any of us are antidevelopment. I have a background in commercial development and construction, so I’m certainly not antidevelopment. I think the Humphreys have every right to either sell the property or develop the property as long as it does three things: adhere to the Comprehensive Plan, adhere to the LDRs, and adhere to current zoning on the property.” Braddy, who owns a home in the Pines, maintains density in that area runs counter to the comp plan. He also points to zoning, an issue he feels is being overlooked in the public discussion. “They are putting this information out to the public couching the residential development as a downzone. When in effect it is just the opposite. It is an upzone,” Braddy said. “And that’s the crux of the problem. If they want to develop over there, if they wanted to build six or seven houses, and put in two or three affordable houses, whatever, the opposition wouldn’t say anything. But they are going for something that really requires a complete abandonment of their master plan and a rezone. That’s where we have a problem because we don’t think what they are doing is consistent with anything.”
‘Yippi yi your troubles away’ Concerned neighbors were ruffled by the proposed density but after an email from county principal planner Roby Hurley to the developers surfaced, Alliance 390 lawyered up. The email, sent on April Fool’s Day, was sent to developers in
A 30-year-old Jackson institution, Bar J Chuckwagon wants to sell, but at what cost? response to their pre-application. In it, Hurley suggests developers could try for a rezone to a PUD. Braddy jumped on it immediately. “We read that and said, ‘what?’” Braddy said. “Because the last iteration of the LDRs prevented any more use of the PUD in the county. We went to the county and said wait a minute, this can’t be right. They said, ‘Oh yeah, this is what we are going to try to do. We said, ‘You can’t. It’s black and white in the LDRs: no new PUDs in the county.’” Meanwhile, Jim Lubing, representing the Bar J, insisted his clients never asked for nor wanted a PUD. How developers intended to get 69 units approved under the current zoning of the property, which is NC-SF (Neighborhood Conservation Single Family), is unclear. As of press time, Hancock had not returned phone calls for comment. Alliance 390 hired Matt Kim-Miller to file an appeal. That was dismissed last week when the county conceded that any amending of the Bar J master plan to a PUD would not be allowable. That satisfied Alliance 390 enough to back off from legal action but it remains to be seen where the full-page advertising feud goes from here.
‘Gold mine in the sky’ During the legal tussle, things became volatile between developers representing Bar J and those in opposition. Alliance members cried foul over a full-page ad in the News&Guide that introduced a survey, asking the public to choose between, what Braddy claims, was “two false options.” Basically the ad stated the community could have it one of two ways: A nice residential area with plenty of affordable housing for firemen, or a threat to ramp up their cowboy concert operation with breakfast, lunch, and dinner shows. “They put out this phony baloney ad,” Braddy said. “For one, that survey has zero credibility since it offered an opportunity to win $1,000 by participating. It drew responses from people living in Ecuador, Canada—they just wanted to win a thousand dollars. Secondly, the proposed commercial option, which is not permitted on the Bar J, was so outrageous as to be laughable. The only thing missing in the plan was a roller coaster.”
‘Don’t fence me in’ Bar J’s master plan dates back to 1977. It was amended in 1988. Throughout the decades the zoning is referred to as
residential NC-SF with a commercial component allowing for the chuckwagon show and other Western amenities. Developers would presumably have to wiggle out from under that zoning somehow. First, though, they attempted to skirt the required EA (Environmental Analysis). That request was denied by planning director Tyler Sinclair. Braddy said, “The county made them do an environmental analysis after developers tried to get an exemption. That told me a few things about their intent. The county then went to the state and asked for their opinion.” The state’s opinion, in the form of a letter from Game and Fish, stated that the Bar J property was adjacent to crucial moose winter range and the tenth-of-a-mile stretch of highway in front of it was the highest moose-vehicle collision area in the county. “Additional development in this area may exacerbate moose-human conflicts,” wrote G&F. The property also falls under a “Bear Conflict Priority 1” zone, and is home to wolves, bears, and other large predators.
‘The last roundup’
While the recent legal battle may be cooled for now, fallout from the ad war has created permanent scars and hurt feelings. Mean-spirited advertisements launched by the Humphrey family didn’t win them many friends as their marketing campaign escalated to name-calling. The latest iteration referred to those in opposition to development as entitled “West Bank Brats” who were primarily “lock and leave” second homeowners. Carla Watsabaugh, for one, took exception at the shot, which Braddy said was a play on his last name. She penned a scathing letter to the editor. “It smacks of a certain desperation when you paint all of us who live on or around 390 as rich, uppity, selfish, second homeowners,” Watsabaugh wrote. “We ‘West Bank Brats,’ as you refer to us, have viable concerns and they go beyond ‘not in our backyard.’ Frankly, our backyard is full. Traffic [is] often bumper-to-bumper on 390. Why would we want to exacerbate this condition in a wildlife corridor? Certainly not to put money in your pocket. “You, Mr. Hancock, and those who support this project, are not about to be part of the solution to affordable housing and the heinous traffic situations we are currently facing. Don’t pretend you are. You spewed propaganda. You may have erred publishing that pathetic, insulting ad. I believe the fight is on.” PJH
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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
10 | AUGUST 3, 2016
THE BUZZ 2 Equality State Warriors Teton County delegates stand up for progressive values at the Democratic National Convention. BY MEG DALY COMMENTS@PLANETJH.COM @MegDaly1
W
yoming made history last week, all the way in Philadelphia. The Cowboy State sent 15 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and on Tuesday, July 26, those delegates wore coordinated T-shirts that put the Equality State on the map in a whole new way. Their black T-shirts were printed with the statement: “Black lives matter in the Equality State.” And in smaller lettering: “Stay progressive, my friends.” “We wore the shirts because we knew Mothers of the Movement were speaking that night,” Teton County delegate Shelby Read explained. “It just so happened that Tuesday was roll call night. We did not think of that ahead of time.” Roll call night is a big night for delegates, when they are acknowledged publicly. All across the nation, viewers did a double take: Wyoming is standing up for what? It’s not news that Wyoming has one of the smallest populations of African Americans in the nation. According to Read, the T-shirts turned a lot of heads. “Delegates from all over and of all colors thanked us for wearing these shirts,” she said. The T-shirt was inspired by Mothers of the Movement, a group of mothers of black sons and daughters who have been killed by police and gun violence. The group has endorsed Hillary Clinton and spoke in support of her. The black community has not always had an easy relationship with Clinton. Many young black people today fault her for supporting her husband Bill Clinton’s ‘Tough on Crime’ legislation of the 90s that unfairly penalized black people. Read, who happens to be black, says that Hillary Clinton has been working for racial justice all along. She cites Clinton’s work on a national health care system and on children’s health care initiatives. She says Hillary
Teton County delegates Jessica Sell Chambers (left) and Shelby Read helped send the nation a new message about Wyoming. has spoken with regret about the damage caused by the criminal justice policies of the past. “I see that she has true and sincere relationships with people in the black community,” Read said. Read has been a strong supporter of Clinton since the beginning of the campaign. She traveled to Philadelphia with fellow Teton County delegate Jessica Chambers, an outspoken Bernie Sanders supporter. Just as the Wyoming delegation found unity in support of BLM, so too did they eventually arrive at unity in support of Clinton. “In the big picture this was a small defeat,” Chambers said about Sanders giving way to Clinton. “But a narcissistic sociopath as the leader of our country … would be an irreconcilable defeat, sure to make the most vulnerable among us suffer extremely.” Amy Rathke said the delegation’s unity was part and parcel of being a Democrat in Wyoming. Rathke lives in Lander and traveled with the delegation as a page. “Being a Democrat in Wyoming already pulls you together in solidarity,” Rathke said. “If we don’t stand together—blues in a red state—we are all islands.”
“All across the nation, viewers did a double take: Wyoming is standing up for what?”
According to Rathke, the Wyoming delegation quickly saw that its goal was unifying the Democratic effort in Wyoming without letting presidential politics get in the way. Read said there were difficult discussions regarding Clinton versus Sanders, but, in the end, they came together. “There were a lot of talks and tears,” Read said. “Our delegation understood the broader perspective that not supporting Hillary could have implications for the whole system.” When it finally came time for the official nomination, Read, Rathke, and Chambers said they experienced a range of emotions. “I did not realize what it would mean to see a woman nominated,” Rathke said. “I grew up with this idea that I could do anything, but I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized how real glass ceilings are. To be there for the historic moment was different than rationally knowing it could happen. It was powerful.” Because she had been pulling for Sanders for so long, Chambers says she hadn’t let herself imagine what it would feel like to see the first woman ever be nominated as a presidential candidate. “Sometime in the lead-up to the convention I started to feel excited for my fellow women and myself” Chambers said. “‘I’m with her’ feels pretty cool to say when you think about all it means. But I also think we should hang onto ‘not her, us’ as a reminder of all that’s at stake.” The overall experience shifted Read’s
views of the Democratic party. “I went in viewing the DNC as these power players—an elite group of people. I left knowing and seeing that the DNC is thousands of people who are doing phenomenal work in their communities,” she said. Regardless of a person’s party affiliation or lack thereof, Read encourages other people to get involved in local and state politics, and to try to become a delegate. “There’s something about the power of being able to see it happen and to voice your opinion.” Locally she is directing her enthusiasm toward working for two campaigns: Mike Gireau for House District 16, and encumbent Natalia Macker for Teton County commissioner. Rathke says she’s also energized from the convention. “I’m excited for the next 100 days to see what we can do here in Wyoming,” she said. For Chambers, who is running for Jackson’s town council, being in a room of politicians at every level—local, state and national—was affirming. “My favorite part was realizing as I sat and listened to many of the speakers that I am embarking on their journey,” she said. “It personalized things for me because I was able to relate to the beginnings in politics and the life struggles; the inspiration, motivation, and sense of duty derived from the people who entrust their stories with me.” PJH
Trompe l’Oeil Jungle
NEWS
By CHUCK SHEPHERD
OF THE
A conservation biologist at Australia’s University of New South Wales said in July that his team was headed to Botswana to paint eyeballs on cows’ rear ends. It’s a solution to the problem of farmers who are now forced to kill endangered lions to keep them away from their cows. However, the researchers hypothesize, since lions hunt by stealth and tend to pass up kills if the prey spots them, painting on eyeballs might trick the lions to choose other prey. (For the same reason, woodcutters in India wear masks painted with faces—backward—for protection against tigers.)
comprehending them (or even reading them), though most judges routinely assume the user to have consented to be bound by them. In a controlled-test report released in July, researchers from York University and University of Connecticut found that 74 percent skipped the privacy policy altogether, but, of the “readers,” the average time spent was 73 seconds (for wordage that should have taken 30 minutes), and time “reading” terms of service was 51 seconds when it should have taken 16 minutes. (If users had read closely, they might have noticed that they had agreed to share all their personal data with the National Security Agency and that terms of service included giving up their first-born child.)
“Big Porn” Gives Back
Leading Economic Indicators
WEIRD
In June, the online mega-website Pornhub announced a program to help blind pornography consumers by adding 50 “described videos” to its catalog, with a narrator doing play-by-play of the setting, the actors, clothing (if any) and the action. Said a Pornhub vice president, “It’s our way of giving back.” n Later in June, another pornography website (with a frisky name—see bit.ly/29O4G9UURL) inaugurated a plan to donate a penny to women’s health or abuse prevention organizations every time a user reached a successful “ending” while viewing its videos (maximum two per person per day). Its first day’s haul was $39, or $13 for each of three charities (including the Mariska Hargitay-supported Joyful Heart Foundation).
Can’t Possibly Be True
A motorist in Regina, Saskatchewan, was issued a $175 traffic ticket on June 8 after he pulled over to ask if he could assist a homeless beggar on the sidewalk. According to the police report cited by CTV News, the “beggar” was actually a cop on stakeout looking for drivers not wearing seat belts (who would thus pay the city $175). Driver Dane Rusk said he had unbuckled his belt to lean over in the seat to give the “beggar” $3—and moments later, the cop’s partner stopped Rusk (thus earning Regina a total of $178!).
What Goes Around, Comes Around
In May, the Times of India reported the death of a man known only as Urjaram, in Rajasthan, India, when, while hosting a party, he forgot that while he was enjoying himself, he had left his camel in the sun all day (during a historic heat wave) with its legs tied together. When Urjaram finally went outside, the enraged camel “lifted him by the neck,” “threw him to the ground” and “chewed on his body,” severing his head.
Suspicions Confirmed
Many website and app users are suspected of “agreeing” to privacy policies and “terms of service” without
People With Issues
Joshua Long, 26, was arrested in Carlisle, Pa., in June for possession of a suspected-stolen human brain (which he allegedly kept in a shopping bag under the porch at his aunt’s trailer home). Police believe that the brain had been a medical teaching aid, but that Long was lacing his marijuana with the brain’s embalming fluid. (Long and a former resident of the trailer home called the brain “Freddy.”)
The Passing Parade
Large-schnozzed people from all over Europe squared off in June for the World Nose Championship in Langenbruck, Germany (held every five years since 1961). After judges applied precision calipers (adding length plus width), Hans Roest was declared the winner. (Also reported: Contestants believe snuff tobacco and beer to be size-enhancing substances.) n An unnamed man, 55, and woman, 40, were arrested near Joplin, Mo., in July, after being spotted riding a stolen lawn mower at 8:45 a.m.—naked. They told police that someone had stolen their clothes while they were skinny-dipping and that the mower was their best option to make it home.
Thanks this week to Caroline Lawler, Rob Zimmer, Larry Kanter, Gary Goldberg, Mark Hiester, Ivan Katz, Chuck Hamilton, Neb Rodgers, Eddie Earles and Stan Kaplan, and to the News of the Weird Board of Editorial Advisors.
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 11
n The thief who ransacked a community greenhouse in County Durham, England, in July got away, but, according to residents, among his bounty was a bottle of rum that is usually offered only as a constipation remedy, in that it contained a heavy dose of the aggressive laxative “lactulose.” Said one resident, “Maybe (the thief has) left a trail” for the police.
n Farmers high in Nepal’s Himalayas are heavily dependent on harvesting a fungus which, when consumed by humans, supposedly produces effects similar to Viagra’s—but the region’s rising temperatures and diminished rainfall (thought to result from global climate change) threaten the output, according to a June New York Times dispatch. Wealthy Chinese men in Hong Kong and Shanghai may pay the equivalent of $50,000 a pound for the “caterpillar fungus,” and about a million Nepalese are involved in the industry, producing about 135 tons a year. (The fungus is from the head of ghost moth larvae living in soil at altitudes of more than 10,000 feet.)
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
n One of America’s major concerns, according to a U.S. congressman, should be the risk that if an apocalyptic event occurs and we are forced to abandon Earth with only a few species to provide for humanity’s survival, NASA might unwisely populate the space “ark” with same-sex couples instead of procreative male-female pairs. This warning was conveyed during the U.S. House session on May 26 by Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert (who seemed not to be aware that gay males might contribute sperm to lesbians for species-continuation).
Update: News of the Weird reported in 2007 and 2014 that, despite the abundant desert, Middle East developers were buying plenty of beach sand from around the world (because the massive concrete construction in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, among other places, requires coarser sand than the desert grains tempered for centuries by sun and wind). The need has now grown such that London’s The Independent reported in June that black market gangs, some violent, are stealing beach sand—and that two dozen entire islands in Indonesia have virtually disappeared since 2005 because of sand-mining.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
12 | AUGUST 3, 2016
THE HEAT IS ON HOLE HEROES—HOW FIREFIGHTERS LAY IT ALL ON THE LINE. BY JAKE NICHOLS
H
college semesters, to the shrewd deployment of resources and gutsy backburn orders given by high command. Every firefighter eats smoke for breakfast and sleeps when the fire sleeps—a few short hours in the dead of night, when both inferno and infantry rest to make another run in the morning. And yes, it’s still dangerous to fight fires. Better communications, more accurate forecasting models, and improved technology and techniques keep firefighters safer than ever before. And yet they die— 13 in all last year. Nineteen at once on one Arizona fire in 2013. One of the deadliest fires ever claimed 15 lives in 1937 on the very forest aflame now near Dubois. Wind shifts, downslope air funnels, uphill runs, and spotting for more than a mile can bring flames on a crew with little notice. Burnovers, rollovers, snags (the loose tree limbs hung up on other tree limbs that firefighters sometimes call widowmakers), and firenados (or fire whirls, and, yes, they’re exactly what they sound like) are just some of the dangers lurking in every wildland blaze. The West has
never been more combustible. The numbers bear evidence of decades-long, ill-advised practices of managing forest fires (we used to try to put them out). As Western States become more and more populated, wildland-urban expansion puts an increasing number of people and homes at risk. Prolonged drought, reduced snowpack from climate warming, and longer summers are also to blame for the trend toward larger and more complex forest fires. And the latest nemesis—the pine beetle—has left Rocky Mountain woodlands ripe for incandescent regeneration. Last year was quiet for Wyoming, but the nation burned like never before. A record 10.1 million acres was torched. It took an astronomical $2.1 billion to manage the 68,151 fires in 2015. A hot, dry spring/ summer has the Cowboy State feeling the scorch this season. Two significant incidents are threatening major corridors into Jackson Hole—Cliff Creek fire to the south and the Lava Mountain fire at the north end of the valley. To date, neither blaze has claimed a life, or so much as one structure. Considering the challenging conditions facing both interagency teams on these fires, it’s nothing short of a Hollywood movie script—heroism in the Hole.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 13
JAYSON COIL
eroism doesn’t always look like you’d expect it to. Blame Hollywood for creating a swashbuckling example of a shining knight who saves the day. On the line of a raging forest fire, in the heat of a battle against Mother Nature’s fury, bravery is measured in the hundreds of boots on the ground. These soot-faced men and women risk their lives and everything their future might hold to defend drainages with names they’ll struggle to remember next summer and will likely never see again. Make no mistake; there are gallant efforts. A bone-weary hotshot returns to spike camp without the strength to lift his Pulaski—only to eat, sleep, and do it again. It’s 16-hour days, 14 on, two off, then headed for the next forest afire. Smokejumpers parachuting and rappelling into the heat of battle, their yellow Nomax shirts blackened with grime, and the intense heat of nearby torching firs melting anything on their body made of plastic. Trail crews hiking miles to a perimeter, clearing understory until their backs and knees give out while a constant drone of aerial support pounds the countryside with water and retardant (scoop, circle, drop; scoop, circle, drop) for hours until their fuel gives out. From the inglorious toiling of grunts between
JOHN SLAUGHTER JOHN SLAUGHTER
The Cliff Creek and Lava Mountain fires were both lightning caused and discovered on the same weekend. Though each has behaved differently, they’ve now consumed a combined 66 square miles of Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton and Shoshone national forests, keeping nearly 2,000 people busy battling the pair of wildfires situated less than 30 miles from each other as the crow flies. “Could they connect?” some have asked on Facebook. In a word: no. There’s something called the Continental Divide between the two events. But they are close enough that resources have been shared between the two conflagrations. When Lava was pressing on ranches near Highway 26, it was two super scoopers (Bombardier 415s) based in Pinedale to the rescue with their payload of 1,620 gallons of water. The wildfires are reminiscent of past blazes that threatened both Wilson and Dubois. In 2001, the Green Knoll fire elicited an unprecedented air attack that was made available largely at the reported request of then-Vice President Dick Cheney. The flames were halted short of the town of Wilson after weeks of overhead bombardment filled the valley with smoke and ash. A monument to the efforts of firefighters stands in downtown Wilson commemorating the incident. In Dubois, residents lived in fear of the massive Purdy Fire that funneled through the Gros Ventre Range toward the small mountain community until a Type 2 team led by Marc Mullinix, now deceased, was able to hold off the wildfire. Mullinix was a promising incident commander under the tutelage of the legendary Kim Masters who now is in command of the Type 1 team battling the Lava Mountain fire.
Cliff Creek Fire
JAKE NICHOLS
ACRES BURNED: 29,429. PERSONNEL: 692. CONTAINMENT: 84%. COST TO DATE: $11.1M.
JAKE NICHOLS
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
14 | AUGUST 3, 2016
Tale of two torchers
Top to bottom: Kyle Johnson, helitack manager on the Cliff Creek fire; Tony DeMasters, IC on Cliff Creek; ranch manager of Triangle C Jim Moulton and Kim Martin, IC on the Lava Mountain fire.
The Cliff Creek fire didn’t start first but it started fast. Reports came in around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 17 of a fire in Cliff Creek. Before local Sublette County fire responders could even get rolling the flames had shot across Highway 189/191 and were skirting Bondurant. The highway was closed and remained so for days. “Pray for our home and our neighbors. Pray for a miracle,” Nicole Uhl posted on her Facebook page that fateful Sunday. “We are all evacuated on the north end of Bondurant. Will keep you all posted throughout the day. Thank you to all the brave men and women fighting this fire. You guys are incredible people.” High winds, low humidity, and a blistering hot day pushed the fire into erratic behavior. It marched toward uninhabited wilderness area in Shoal and Dell creeks, but it also took a course toward popular Granite Creek where numerous summer homes and the hot springs area were at risk. A Type 2 incident team was called in. Tony DeMasters and his Great Basin 7 unit took control of the fire and began immediate aerial bombardment of the ridge shielding the Granite from the advancing inferno. If the fire got in the drainage there would be no stopping it. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for all Granite Creek residents. One homeowner, George Warren, told a local TV crew, “Mother Nature’s pretty tough sometimes. You grab your tennis shoes and fishing rods and get the hell out. And let me tell you something, these firefighters out here, local [and] federal … they go to work. When they tell you something, you do it. You don’t question them.” “We wanted the keep the fireline on the ridge above Granite Creek,” DeMasters said. “But with the amount of snags in that country, and the rough terrain, we couldn’t risk putting hand crews in there.”
With the ready availability of water from Granite Creek, aviation was able to cycle and reload quickly. They soaked the ridge with a barrage of bucket drops. “We were doing two- to three-minute turnarounds in there early on when we were dipping from Granite,” Kyle Johnson said. He manages the helitack team on the Cliff Creek fire. “We just cycled like that doing salvo drops for two-and-a-half hour shifts until we had to refuel.” When team meteorologist Mark Loeffelbein forecasted lighter winds for a few days, DeMasters went for broke. He ordered a backburn, a risky controlled fire that the 30year veteran commander hoped would create a defensible space between where the fire was and where it could not be allowed to go. “We are probably six weeks ahead of schedule for when things like to typically burn in this area. Fuels are very dry. We knew that with burning conditions, it was eventually going to start easing its way into Granite Creek so we needed to come up with a plan to be on the offensive side of things and fight the fire on our terms,” DeMasters said. “We had an opportunity to go direct, to bring the fire up out of the headwaters of Granite Creek and down to the southwest.” The gamble worked. For seven straight days, Great Basin 7 intentionally lit fires with helitorches and aerial ignitions plastic devices. Slowly, carefully, firefighters blackened tinder dry forest, creating a 10-mile barrier between the main fire and the dozens of structures in Granite Creek. “We put fire on the landscape in a very slow, methodical fashion so that way we were in control of it. We had patience. We just didn’t throw fire on the hillside and let it go,” DeMasters said. “The folks in there and all the overhead resources did an absolutely wonderful job. Granite Creek itself was a great success story.” Not only was DeMasters able to save the drainage, he was thoughtful enough to consider homeowners. “We really wanted to concentrate on the watershed and the view above all those homes. We didn’t want to just slick it off and make it just hard black,” DeMasters said. “So we used tactics in the sense of we wanted to keep the aesthetic view so the homeowners didn’t have just a blackened hill to look at. Granted, there will be some black; there will be some dead trees, but it’s the best we could do under the given circumstances.” As containment reached 84 percent earlier this week, DeMasters shifted efforts toward the east at a place he called Elbow Draw. It was a brazen attempt to coax the fire north into the Gros Ventre Wilderness where it would eventually run out of available fuel as it approached Tosi and Hodges peaks. “Elbow Draw is kind of the bottleneck where if we don’t do something in there this thing had the ability to keep marching its way east into the headwaters of Jack Creek,” DeMasters said. “If it got in there it would be a gamechanger. There is no other control point for miles where we could safely engage the fire. We would have to back off a considerable distance and think about what lies out in front of this thing several miles away until it got into private lands again.” The efforts of Great Basin 7 have kept the Cliff Creek fire in check. Despite red flag warning days last week and more forecasted for this week, DeMasters was able to control the fire enough to hand it off to Russel Bird’s Great Basin 5 as his squad demobilizes for their next assignments. Right now the big concern is not letting up. “We’re starting to turn the corner on this thing,” the incident commander said during a 6 a.m. briefing on July 30. “Watch out for ankle biters. Keep your head on a swivel. Don’t let your guard down now.”
MIKE MOYER
Cliff Creek and Lava Mountain fires from outerspace.
NASA
Hotshots return to spike camp after a long day.
INCIWEB
A hand crew stationed in Granite Creek to protect private homes.
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 15
INCIWEB
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
Grayback Forestry crew mugs for the camera after a day on the line.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
16 | AUGUST 3, 2016
JAYSON COIL
Slurry bombing over ranches along the Wind River saved the day.
Lava Mountain Fire ACRES BURNED: 14,339. PERSONNEL: 817. CONTAINMENT: 50%. COST TO DATE: $16M. A thunderstorm on July 11 sparked a small fire near Lava Mountain on Togwotee Pass just east of the Continental Divide. Initially, forest rangers searched for the fire but couldn’t find it. Shoshone Forest supervisor Joe Alexander said, “We pounded the ground for six days, looking for that thing.” “We knew they were looking for it but that’s a large complex in there,” said Triangle C Ranch manager Jim Moulton. “Then, two Saturdays ago, we were sitting here out on the deck having lunch and we saw the smoke on the hill. That’s when I called it in. The ranger I spoke to asked what color the smoke was. I said, ‘black.’ He said, ‘That’s not good.’” By the end of the day, walls of flame were barreling down the mountain and straight for the ranch. Moulton said he felt confident the fire wouldn’t be able to jump the Wind River but he wasn’t so sure when the blaze came within 50 yards of a guest cabin and the helicopters and fixed-wing bombers showed up. “We tried to function as a dude ranch but the smoke got so bad most of the guests left,” Moulton said. Then, on a day the fire quadrupled in size, driven by 40 mph wind gusts, life at Triangle C became more than just a smoky hassle. “The fire is really close now,” Jessica Camilla O’Neal said in a Facebook video posted July 20. O’Neal is the daughter of ranch owner Vickie Garnick, who also owns and operates the Jackson Hole Playhouse. “Firefighters seem to think the ranch is really well-prepared for whatever is going to happen. We are hanging in there. Lava [Mountain Ranch] is hanging in there. We got all that’s important. The dogs, the horses, the little humans—and that’s all we’ll probably leave here with if things go down.” And down things went. First the cell towers. Then word the ranch would have to bug out. “I watched a guy walk up the drive in his little fire suit.
He strode with a purpose, with intent. ‘It’s time you guys go,’ was all he said,” Moulton recalled. “That was it. There were seven or eight engines here later and we evacuated. Employees were able to return to the ranch on July 24 but Moulton fears the season is lost for him, economically. He’s had to lay off some of the staff as cancellations piled up. Still, he can’t help but feel fortunate, and his gratitude for the fire suppression efforts he witnessed is enormous. “My hat’s off to Fremont County fire, Craig Haslam and that bunch were amazing. Their professionalism, the way they treated the property and dealt with us, the care they took with what was important to us … and the fact that they have not lost a structure in this sucker. I mean the stuff they did down in MacKenzie Highland was, whoa, that’s a story right there.” As flames neared the Highway 26 corridor and were literally at the backdoor of several ranches on the Winds including MacKenzie, the decision was made at the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center in Denver to bring in the big guns. Kim Martin’s Great Basin 2 team—one of the best in the country—assumed control of the fire on July 27. The fire was, and still is, considered the state’s top priority incident. As Martin was briefed, the fire made another dangerous run toward Union Pass and more than 300 private homes in that area. The race was on. Martin ordered immediate slurry bombers to protect Teton Valley Ranch and others on the front lines. The retrofitted DC10s are in high demand across the country. Martin says he’s been able to secure pretty much everything he has needed on the Lava Mountain fire so far. After feeling confident the perimeter at the highway corridor was fairly secure, Martin knew everything depended on holding the line at Warm Springs Creek. If the fire spotted out ahead of the northeast flank there, it would gobble up everything in Union Pass. After evacuations of Union Pass and Porcupine subdivisions were complete, Martin gave the go-ahead for burnout operations at Warm Springs. “Yesterday we used a PSD (plastic sphere dispenser) machine from helicopter,” Martin told The Planet Saturday. The PSD method of firing uses spheres that look
like ping-pong balls, filled with 3.0 grams of potassium permanganate. It’s considered safer than heli-torching or drip-torching by ground crews. “That was real successful because the winds were in our favor and the fuels were just right. We had a real expert in the helicopter supervising that operation.” The burnouts have helped perimeter crews get a fireline established along the northeast flank. Combined with dozer and trail work, the line is holding enough to let some homeowners back in this week. At a town meeting in Dubois last Saturday, evacuated residents wanted to know when they could return to their homes. PIO Brandon Hampton pleaded with them to be patient. He explained the rigorous process firefighters employ before they declare a private property safe for reentry. “We have 20 guys form a chain link and go over your property, literally on their hands and knees, feeling the ground with the back of their hand for potential hotspots,” Hampton said. “We are also using new palm IRs (the latest in thermal imaging camera technology) to assist with this process. We will let you in when I feel safe enough that I would let my own family back in.” Hampton also told Dubois residents who have been asking how they can help out to please fill out cards for the firefighters. He promised he would get every one of them into the boxed lunches firefighters take with them each day. He shared a story of one such card he received a few months ago while fighting a fire near Boise. “I got a card from this six-year-old named Abby. She drew a picture of what looked like a deer, and it was on fire. ‘Please protect the animals,’ it read, and ‘thank you.’ I carry it with me now on every fire.” Both Martin and DeMasters, who fought the Teepee Springs Fire (Idaho) last season—a 95,709-acre monster that defied firefighters for two months until the first snows fell—say they have “turned the corner” on their incidents and are expecting to deploy elsewhere soon as their fires near full containment.
INCIWEB
The Lava Mountain fire surrounded some homes and ranches, but firefighters held it off and never lost a structure.
A Pike Hotshot looks up at the Lava fire.
A GFP Enterprises initial attack team member lines up for dinner.
A heavy helicopter works a helitorch on the Lava Mountain fire.
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 17
INCIWEB
JAYSON COIL
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
Ex-wildland firefighter-turned-comedian Drew Miller made some spot-on observations for a piece in Cracked a couple years ago. “The planes and helicopters you see on the news dropping water or chemicals? As bitchin’ as it sounds, they aren’t trying to kill a fire by bombing it to death. They’re just trying to buy the folks on the ground some time so they can light most of the landscape on fire before the real fire gets there,” he wrote. True. Today’s wildfires are simply too big and too costly to put out. Fire managers merely attempt to control them and coax them into areas that are OK to burn. Every once in a while, given enough money and resources, they can and do actually defend structures or save a town. But for the most part, they carve out sections of public land that have been identified by land administrators as ‘deirable’ to burn so that regeneration can take place and a future fire might meet up with large pockets of fire-scarred forest and stop itself. And while aviation firefighting has become the preferred method of tackling tough burners in nasty terrain, some question whether the practice isn’t costprohibitive and hazardous. Heavy-duty helicopter tankers cost in the neighborhood of $6,000 an hour to operate. And that red slurry? It averages about two bucks a gallon, and the Forest Service used a reported 9 million gallons of it in 2014. Safety is an issue as well. Ground crews are often passed over as an option when conditions are too risky to put them on a fire, but flying is no picnic. Thirty-seven pilots were killed in action over the past decade. Fighting forest fires is really just coming to a shaky truce with a natural disaster long enough to let winter chill it out. When started organically, many blazes provide benefits to the landscape as fire managers have learned since the epic 1988 fire season. “Overall, this fire has been very good from a management basis,” DeMasters said of the Cliff Creek fire. “It’s gotten rid of a lot of dead and down. It’s burned in a patchy, mosaic pattern and the regeneration and general health of the forest will reap the benefits from this.” PJH
INCIWEB
The strategy of fighting fires
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
18 | AUGUST 3, 2016
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THIS WEEK: August 3-9, 2016
Compiled by Caroline LaRosa
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3
n Free Solar Astronomy Program 4:00pm, JH People’s Market at the Base of Snow King, Free, 307-413-4779 n Climb Wyoming Information Event 4:00pm, Climb Office, Free, 307-733-4088 n Tween Metalsmithing 4:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $22.00, 307-7336379 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Alive@5: Teton Raptor Center 5:00pm, Teton Village Commons, Free, 307-733-5898 n Teton County Access to Justice divorce and child custody legal aid clinic 5:00pm, Teton County Access to Justice, Free, 307-734-9023 n Bar J Chuckwagon Supper 5:30pm, Bar J, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3370 n Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group 6:00pm, St. John’s Medical Center Eagle Classroom, Free, 307-690-5419 n Barbara Trentham Life Drawing 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307-7336379 n JH Shootout 6:00pm, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316 n Wednesday Community Dinner 6:00pm, Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole, Free, 307-7340388 n Byron’s Guitar at Jenny Lake Lodge 6:00pm, Jenny Lake Lodge, Free, 307-733-4647 n Bluegrass Wednesday with PTO 6:00pm, Cafe Genevieve, Free, 307-732-1910 n Autism Series: Celebrating Neuro-Diversity 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Cribbage 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Wednesday Evening Conditioning Hike - Taggart Lake/Beaver Creek Loop 6:00pm, Bradley-Taggart Trailhead Parking Lot, Free
n Adult Writer’s Workshop Victor 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Primary Election Candidate Forums 6:00pm, Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n The Ballad of Cat Ballou 6:30pm, JH Playhouse, $35.00 $65.00, 307-733-6994 n The HOF BAND plays POLKA! 6:30pm, The Alpenhof Bistro, Free, 307-413-1348 n GTMF Presents: Jens Lindemann 7:00pm, Walk Festival Hall, $30.00, 307-733-1128 n JH Rodeo 8:00pm, Fairgrounds, $15.00 $35.00, 307-733-7927 n KHOL Presents: Vinyl Night 8:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500 n Isaac Hayden 8:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Songwriter’s Alley Open Mic 8:00pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n The Center Presents Martin Sexton with special guest Matt Andersen 8:00pm, The Center Theater, $49.00 - $59.00, 307-733-4900 n Jenn Thornton 9:00pm, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, $5.00, 307-733-2207
n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 7:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Coffee with a Ranger 7:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n Yoga 7:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n American Indian Guest Artist 8:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n Toddler Gym 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $4.00, 307-739-9025 n Art for Exhibition 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $235.00 $285.00, 307-733-6379 n Historic Miller Ranch Tour 10:00am, National Elk Refuge, Free, 307-733-9212 n Story TIme 10:00am, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Storytime 10:00am, Valley of the Tetons Library Victor, Free, 208-7872201 n Darkroom Photography 10:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $170.00 $200.00, 307-733-6379 n Walking Tour of Jackson 10:30am, Center of Town Square, Free, 307-733-2141 n Lap Sit 11:00am, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Total Fitness 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Open Build 1:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-354-5522 n Movie Afternoon: “Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” 2:00pm, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Murie Center Ranch Tour 2:30pm, Murie Center, Free, 307-739-2246 n JH People’s Market 4:00pm, The Base of Snow King, Free n Book Bike: Phill Baux Park 4:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164
SEE CALENDAR PAGE 23
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4
n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 7:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Coffee with a Ranger 7:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n Business Over Breakfast: Housing Development Options in Teton County 7:30am, American Legion, $16.00 - $25.00, 307-201-2309 n American Indian Guest Artist 8:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n Yoga 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Elevated Yoga on the Deck 9:00am, Top of Bridger Gondola, $25.00 - $30.00, 307733-2292
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 19
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
20 | AUGUST 3, 2016
MUSIC BOX
Complex Seeds The Appleseed Collective double stops, McMurtry MOMs again, and music pupils camp out. BY AARON DAVIS @ScreenDoorPorch
I
f apple seeds could cultivate the type of string band that is The Appleseed Collective, they’d be worth a pretty penny. At a glance, you’ll see an upright bass, guitar, fiddle/mandolin, and a washboard percussion rig adorned with bells, whistles and cymbal splashes. But this Ann Arbor, Michigan, quartet is a melting pot of diverse influences that figures into some sort of American roots math equation—Bill Monroe
A sundry group of musicians who sew together jazz, swing, classical and Americana comprise The Appleseed Collective (left). With his harmonica in tow and engaging stage presence, John Craigie (right) opens up for James McMurtry at Music on Main Thursday. bluegrass meets Django swing, quirky Americana, classical and jazz improvisation, Tom Waits-esque rambles, and a theatrical stage show to boot. The band has a few releases including Baby to Beast (2012), Live at the Ark (2014), and Tour Tapes EP (2016). The live show is where the magic happens, and you’ll have two chances to indulge. The Appleseed Collective, 10 p.m. Friday at Town Square Tavern (free), and Pinedale Fine Arts Council’s SoundCheck Music Series, 5 p.m. Saturday at American Legion Park in Pinedale (free, all-ages). AppleseedCollective.com.
McMurtry returns to MOM James McMurtry is the type of songwriter that can be compared to a close friend that isn’t scared to tell you the truth, rough edges and all. His songs are often statements
rather than jaunts, and on his latest effort, Complicated Game, the adventurous, character-driven set gives more weight to the story of the song than intricate music textures. And that’s not as common as it once was. As Jason Isbell has said, “McMurtry is one of my very few favorite songwriters on earth. He has that rare gift of being able to make a listener laugh out loud at one line and choke up at the next. I don’t think anybody writes better lyrics.” Portland singer-songwriter John Craigie will open the show. He’s a John Prine, Dylan and Todd Snider type of writer—engaging, conversational, witty, in-the-present moment, and adorned with a harmonica. Get there early. James McMurtry with John Craigie, 6 p.m. Thursday, August 4 at Music on Main in Victor City Park. All-ages. Free, donations encouraged. TetonValleyFoundation.org.
WEDNESDAY Martin Sexton (Center Theater); Jens Lindemann (Walk Festival Hall); Songwriter’s Alley Open Mic (Silver Dollar) THURSDAY Sista Otis (Q Roadhouse); One Ton Pig (Knotty Pine) FRIDAY DJ Fiesta Bob (The Rose); Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra (Walk Festival Hall) SATURDAY Jameson Black Barrel Music Series presents Bo Elledge (The Rose); Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra (Walk Festival Hall) Hogan and Moss lay down a lesson in scorch folk at the Silver Dollar Friday and Saturday.
Renaissance duo
World-class music camp
They call it “scorch folk.” Hogan and Moss take pages out of many playbooks—original songs with old souls, Appalachian trad, Delta soul, gypsy swing, 1930s vintage valentine, and gospel blues. And yep, they are from the quirky artist oasis in west Texas that is Marfa. Jon Hogan and Maria Moss are renaissance musicians. Sometimes as a duo, a trio, or a full-band dance lineup, their existence spans all original shows—from tributes to Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, and The Carter Family, to a folk-punk sound that references old weird America. Whatever the lineup, you may just get a history lesson too. Hogan & Moss, 7:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, August 6 and 7 at the Silver Dollar Showroom. Free. 732-3939.
Targhee Music Camp (Aug. 8 to 11) was once geared towards bluegrass pickers. And while that’s a thread that still runs through the camp, take a gander at any one of the bands on the Targhee Bluegrass Festival lineup and you’ll quickly realize that few of them are strictly a traditional bluegrass outfit. Most, if not all, of those players are well versed in swing, folk, blues, jazz, Western swing and beyond. Instrument categories for the camp include guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, singing, and songwriting (led by Mary Gauthier), while the band-in-residence is none other than The Infamous Stringdusters. For a complete list of instructors and to register, visit TargheeMusicCamp.com. PJH
Teton Valley, Idaho
MONDAY The Minor Keys (Jackson Lake Lodge); JH Hootenanny (Dornan’s) TUESDAY Center for the Arts annual benefit concert featuring Brandi Carlile (Center Theater)
THIS WEEK: THURSDAY, AUGUST 4
on main
DOORS OPEN @ 5:30PM
SURVEY NIGHT: WIN A FREE BIKE! James McMurtry w/John Craigie NEXT WEEK AUGUST 11 – MONOPHONICS W/THE BRIAN MAW BAND
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 21
SPONSORS
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
music
Richard & Claire generously present Teton Valley Foundation’s
SUNDAY Analog Son with Sonny Knight and the Lakers (Village Commons); Richard Brown Orchestra (Center Theater)
Whole Fragments Artist installs work that examines the small pieces that comprise larger ideas. BY MEG DALY @MegDaly1
Honey, I Shrunk the Art A new show celebrates the challenges of creating works for small spaces. BY MEG DALY @MegDaly1
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or three Wednesdays in August, the Tiny Art Show will take up residence in Jackson Hole Public Art’s Mobile Design Studio at the People’s Market. Inside, the walls will host 10 artists’ interpretations of tiny art. Curated by Alissa Davies and this column’s author, the Tiny Art Show was envisioned as a fun way to activate the space of the Mobile Studio. Jackson Hole Public Art director Carrie Geraci invited Davies and yours truly to curate a show as a way of exploring possibilities for the studio “Our approach was playful,” Davies said. “I think the idea of walking into an unusual space inspires curiosity.” The Mobile Design Studio is essentially a simple trailer that has been outfitted to allow for hanging art and for community engagement. The small dimensions seemed to call for
ROBYN VINCENT
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wo shows opening this week explore the notion of scale, both micro and macro, in wildly different ways. Center for the Arts hosts an opening for Claudia Bueno who has been hard at work for weeks installing “Fractalife” in the courtyard at the Center. The exhibition opens Friday and runs until January. Bueno is a previous visiting artist at Teton Artlab. A light and shadow artist, she is from Venezuela and currently lives in Joshua Tree, California. She was invited to create an installation for the rectangular courtyard space on the Glenwood side of the Center that currently serves as a breezeway and a home for a truckload of stones. Various artists have enlivened the space with art over the years. Fractalife promises to be the most encompassing installation yet, filling the space top to bottom, night and day. Simply defined, fractals are geometric shapes that have the same pattern as a larger whole. (Think ice crystals, pinecone seeds, romanesco broccoli.) Bueno, who has a mind both for the spiritual and the mathematical, decided a project based in fractals would be an interesting way to inhabit the courtyard space. By manipulating white-painted chicken wire, Bueno has created a hanging structure that looks like an ethereal seaweed forest. Or is it a bundle of nerves? A distillation of air bubbles? The map of your DNA? “The fractal idea is an ode to life in all its scale,” she said. “If you look at this network at first glance, it looks like a web. When you look closer you see zones that have different colonies of shapes that create patterns. As a whole, Fractalife is
Artist Claudia Bueno hard at work Monday installing Fractalife at the Center for the Arts courtyard. The Venezuelan artist’s show contains a light component that will illuminate the installation during its Friday evening premiere. one whole living organism or cosmic web. When we zoom in, we see the same kind of inclusive web.” The August 5 opening of Fractalife starts at 8 p.m. so that viewers can experience the totality of Bueno’s vision. As daylight fades, a light system Bueno designed will begin to pulse in a heartbeat sequence, starting at the center of the piece and radiating out along its tendrils. “The light is essential,” Bueno explained. “The light gives it a more enhanced sense of living.” The light component of the installation will continue all evenings throughout Fractalife’s five-month stay at the Center. Special to Friday night’s opening is a performance by dancer Cady Cox, with music by her husband Kyle Fleming. Cox will dance on top of a tall white box that she says will function like a root. “I don’t think I’ll really move my feet at all,” Cox said. Her improvisational movement will express the concept of what comes up and out of something. She says she has
small art. “Being asked to create for small space lends itself to thinking differently that can be exciting and challenging,” Davies said. Artist Jenny Dowd will present a tiny flower stand, complete with tiny ceramic flowers and vases for sale. “I like working on a tiny scale because tiny is actually really big,” Dowd said. “Big art makes people move around and interact with the space. Similarly, small art can cause people to lean in close, slow their breathing and movements.” Designer Lisa Walker created several small wall hangings from fabric scraps. The miniature banners or flags are like miniature coats of arms for the design savvy. For Walker, working at a small scale allowed her to create a prototype for a bigger idea. “My challenge was working to make something that would be just decorative versus something that was functional,” she said. “These wall hangings are something I’ve wanted to do and trying them out at a smaller size was the perfect way to prototype my idea.” Encaustic painter Pamela Gibson created numerous fourby four-inch paintings, a departure from the four- or fivefoot boards she normally works on. “The thought that kept running through my head is that each of these paintings was its own tiny universe,” Gibson said. “Everything essential was there, but there was no room for anything that was not essential.” In all, 10 local artists are featured in the Tiny Art Show. In addition to Dowd, Walker and Gibson, the show includes Walt Gerald, Andy Kincaid, Bronwyn Minton, Virginia Moore,
been thinking about molecular details like cells and DNA in preparation. “It’s about the insides of us, and feeling that,” she said. “I’ll try to feel the movement inside myself—blood, air, cells—and see how I can exaggerate those movements with my body.” Fleming says his music will also be improvisational, inspired by the theme of fractals. “Being an electronic looper, it gives me a lot of room to make things evolve and repeat. I’ll start with one thing and keep that underlying pattern evident while I take it to something bigger.” Fleming and Cox have created dance and music based on visual art before, and they say the exchange is like having a conversation with another artist across disciplines. “It’s like Claudia spoke first, then we are going to come with our response,” Fleming said. PJH Fractalife by Claudia Bueno opening, 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, August 5 at Center for the Arts. Performance by Cady Cox and Kyle Fleming.
PAMELA GIBSON
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
22 | AUGUST 3, 2016
CREATIVE PEAKS
Pamela Gibson veered from her normal large scale encaustics to create tiny abstract landscapes like this painting. Aude-Noelle Nevius, and Ben Roth. The artists represent a diverse blend of style, media, and background. PJH
The Tiny Art Show in the Jackson Hole Public Art Mobile Studio at the People’s Market, 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, August 3, 10, and 17.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5
n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 7:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n American Indian Guest Artist 8:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594
n Toddler Gym 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $4.00, 307-739-9025 n Portrait Drawing Club 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $10.00, 307-7336379 n Yoga 9:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Art for Exhibition 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $235.00 $285.00, 307-733-6379 n Historic Miller Ranch Tour 10:00am, National Elk Refuge, Free, 307-733-9212 n Festival Orchestra: Open Rehearsal 10:00am, Walk Festival Hall, $10.00, 307-733-1128 n Distilling Wild Plants for Health and Wellbeing 10:00am, Barn Healing Center, Free, 781-259-9819 n Zumba 12:00pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Total Fitness 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Murie Center Ranch Tour 2:30pm, Murie Center, Free, 307-739-2246 n Star Wars Festival: “Return of the Jedi” 3:00pm, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Electronics/Tech 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Free Friday Tasting 4:00pm, Jackson Whole Grocer, Free, 307-733-0450 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Alive@5: Wild Things of Wyoming 5:00pm, Teton Village Commons, Free, 307-733-5898 n ART WALK in Driggs 5:00pm, Downtown, Free n Friday Night Bikes 5:00pm, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, $10.00, 307-7332292 n Bar J Chuckwagon Supper 5:30pm, Bar J, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3370 n Music at the Chuckwagon 5:30pm, Dornan’s, Free, 307733-2415 n Friday Night Meditation 6:00pm, Zendler Chiropractic, Free, 307-699-8300 n Whiskey Experience 6:00pm, VOM FASS Jackson Hole, Free, 307-734-1535
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 23
SEE CALENDAR PAGE 24
n Whiskey Experience 6:00pm, VOM FASS Jackson Hole, Free, 307-734-1535 n JH Shootout 6:00pm, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316 n James McMurtry w/ opener John Craigie 6:00pm, Music on Main, Free, 208-201-5356 n Byron’s Guitar at Jenny Lake Lodge 6:00pm, Jenny Lake Lodge, Free, 307-733-4647 n Great Books Discussion: “A Lady with a Dog” by Anton Chekhov 6:00pm, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n The Season 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Primary Election Candidate Forums 6:00pm, Teton County Library Ordway Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n The Ballad of Cat Ballou 6:30pm, JH Playhouse, $35.00 $65.00, 307-733-6994 n TGR Outdoor Bike In Movie Night 7:00pm, TGR Headquarters, Free, 307-734-8192 n Major Zephyr 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Summer Workshop Series 7:30pm, Riot Act, $5.00, 307203-9067 n Ian McIver 8:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Chamber Music: Modern Masterpieces 8:00pm, Walk Festival Hall, $25.00, 307-733-1128 n Salsa Night 9:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307733-1500 n Jenn Thornton 9:00pm, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, $5.00, 307-733-2207 n BOGDOG 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, n One Ton Pig 10:00pm, Knotty Pine, $5.00, 208-787-2866
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
n Art for Exhibition 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $235.00 $285.00, 307-733-6379 n Historic Miller Ranch Tour 10:00am, National Elk Refuge, Free, 307-733-9212 n Yoga on the Trail 10:00am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, 307-733-5771 n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Walking Tour of Jackson 10:30am, Center of Town Square, Free, 307-733-2141 n Storytime 10:30am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Free Family Concert with Jens Lindemann 10:30am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-1128 n Teton Toastmasters 12:00pm, Teton County Commissioners Chambers, Free, n Lunchtime Learning: Modern Cataract Surgery - A Fountain of Youth for Your Vision 12:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-739-7466 n Spin 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Cupcake Decorating 2:00pm, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Murie Center Ranch Tour 2:30pm, Murie Center, Free, 307-739-2246 n City Kids Impact Tour 4:00pm, Broken Arrow Ranch, Free, 307-739-0859 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Alive@5: Tunes on Thursday 5:00pm, Teton Village Commons, Free, 307-733-5898 n Raptors at the King 5:00pm, Snow King Mountain, Free, 307-201-5464 n Journeys To Tibet Artist Reception 5:00pm, Trailside Galleries, Free, 307-200-1622 n REFIT® 5:15pm, First Baptist Church, Free, 307-690-6539 n Bar J Chuckwagon Supper 5:30pm, Bar J, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3370 n Zumba 5:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
24 | AUGUST 3, 2016
n JH Shootout 6:00pm, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316 n Byron’s Guitar at Jenny Lake Lodge 6:00pm, Jenny Lake Lodge, Free, 307-733-4647 n Papa Chan and Johnny C Note 6:00pm, Teton Pines Country Club, Free, 307413-1348 n Swingin’ Sabbath with the Richard Brown Orchestra 6:00pm, Scher Residence, Free, 307-734-1999 n The Ballad of Cat Ballou 6:30pm, JH Playhouse, $35.00 - $65.00, 307733-6994 n Pam Drews Phillips Plays Jazz 7:00pm, The Granary at Spring Creek Ranch, Free, 307-733-8833 n Art Opening: Take Me Anywhere By Joseph Toney 7:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307-733-1500 n Hogan & Moss 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307733-2190 n JH Rodeo 8:00pm, Fairgrounds, $15.00 - $35.00, 307-7337927 n Festival Orchestra: Dances and Daydreams 8:00pm, Walk Festival Hall, $25.00 - $55.00, 307-733-1128 n Opening Reception Celebration Fractalife by Claudia Bueno 8:00pm, The Center Courtyard, Free, 307-7334900 n Jenn Thornton 9:00pm, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, $5.00, 307-733-2207 n Free Public Stargazing 9:30pm, Rendezvous Park, Free, 307-413-4779 n Maw Band 9:30pm, Mangy Moose, $5.00, 307-733-4913 n Friday Night DJ Featuring: DJ Fiesta 10:00pm, The Rose, Free, 307-733-1500 n Appleseed Collective 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, 307-733-3886
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6
n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 7:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Pierre’s Hole 50/100 Bike Race 7:00am, Grand Targhee Resort, $70.00 $185.00, 307-353-2300 n JH Farmers Market 8:00am, Town Square, Free, 307-413-6323 n American Indian Guest Artist 8:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307739-3594 n Rendezvous Mountain Hillclimb 8:00am, Rendezvous Mountain Hillclimb, $45.00, 307-733-2292 n REFIT® 9:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $20.00, 307-733-6398 n Wildlife Friendlier Fence Project 9:00am, Crystal Creek in Gros Ventre, Free, 307-739-0968 n Jackalope Ride for Special Olypics 9:00am, Snow King Event Center Parking Lot, Free, 303-818-9910
SEE CALENDAR PAGE 27
CULTURE KLASH
Brutality and Rebirth A thought provoking performance art piece invites Jackson audiences into new territories. BY MEG DALY @MegDaly1
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layed skin. Wail of metal against metal. A self-surgery. A two-part performance and exhibition by internationally recognized artists exposes the viscera of beauty and demise, asking viewers to look at their own participation in destructive forces. Fine art consultant Camille Obering and acclaimed artist Matthew Day Jackson teamed up to bring the performance art piece, “Rural Violence III (Rebirth)” to Jackson Hole. The performance was written and directed by Brandon Stosuy, the director of editorial operations at Pitchfork and a music curator for MoMA/PS1. “We use the term “rural violence,” but not only in the sense of small-town crime, packs of skinheads, the KKK,” Stosuy explained. “It’s the violence of nature and the natural world. Things that happen, and that seem brutal, but are part of the cycle of things: the moment after salmon spawn, and their corpses pile up in the shallows of a river. It’s eerie, but gorgeous, and also mundane.” According to Obering, Rural Violence III was written specifically for Jackson Hole. She says it will explore issues of destruction versus creation and animalistic instincts such as dominance, submission, and proliferation. “Just by virtue of living we are used to a lot of luxury,” Obering said. “People don’t like to look at steps along the way of, say, how our food gets to us. Just having more of an awareness of that is a good thing.” While death is a theme running through the work, Obering says the subtitle implies that death is part of a cycle. “There’s this idea of death moving to life, a second
Left: Matthew Day Jackson, Andy Kincaid and Camille Obering prepare the performance site. Right: The ear rune is the rune of the grave. This is the shape of a concrete structure used in the performance. The shape is likely derived from a single tree yoke used to harness animals and also butcher animals. skin. Shedding off old and starting a new beginning.” Michael Day Jackson invited Obering to see an iteration of Rural Violence while visiting New York City last year. She was taken with the piece and reached out to Stosuy to see if he would consider bringing the work to Jackson Hole. He said he would, if they could make a piece specifically for this locale. Obering says “Rural Violence II,” which was performed at artist Matthew Barney’s loft, had a spiritual component to it. “When I was experiencing the piece there was a lot of tension between an angelic voice and a metal artist,” she said. “It was seductive and repelling. These things that can be contradicting forces, like pleasure or pain, pain and elation, but they are what makes us beings.” The duality between contradicting forces remains a theme in the current version of Rural Violence. Stosuy said there is a ritualistic approach to the work. “We are looking at moments that feel violent, but also maybe beautiful, and then we’re suspending and zooming in.” Obering says the piece is more intense than anything she has eyed for Jackson in the past. “But I’ve been saying for a long time that people in Jackson are intelligent and sophisticated and they want this kind of stuff,” she said. “They want to be pushed.” On Friday night, viewers will experience “Invocation/Remnant,” presented as a companion to Rural Violence III. Curated by Obering and Andy Kincaid of Holiday Forever, Invocation/Remnant includes works of art by Barney, Jackson and Lionel Maunz. In case you need a primer on these artists, Jackson is a recent transplant to Wilson, with his family. “His work is a rigorously considered grappling with history through icon and material and imagery that’s made him one of the art world’s most ambitious talents,” writes The New York Times. Barney is perhaps best known for his Cremaster films, which are a sensual, visceral, creepy, horrifying delight. Among his honors, he won the prestigious Europa 2000 prize at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1996. He was also the first recipient of the Guggenheim Museum’s Hugo Boss Award.
Interview magazine described Maunz’s iron sculptures and pencil drawings as “a raw, profound pain expressed in such a delicate and measured manner so as to avoid staid aspirations of idealism or cynicism.” These three artists are all in their own way concerned with the corporeal, and they turn towards—instead of away from—the grotesque. Viscera attracts them. At Holiday Forever, Barney will exhibit a video of himself excising an ingrown hair. A drawing of a boy holding a wolf by Barney will also be shown. Maunz presents a drawing of a young boy with a skin ailment. Jackson will show a sculpture based on Michelangelo’s painting of St. Bartholomew in The Last Judgment. Holiday Forever’s gallery space is in Kincaid’s home. “It can make things feel more relatably urgent,” he explained of the intimate space. Curating shows that take place outside of traditional galleries is one of Obering’s key interests. “You’re taking down the walls that can be intimidating,” she said. “People can be more open to what they are experiencing.” Obering said she and Jackson want artists to have a nurturing environment in Jackson Hole, a place to spread their wings. “This is a place that isn’t going to be about collectors and prices. Instead it’s more about going back to what art should be about, which is the ideas that artists are coming forward wit how they are communicating those ideas. Hopefully this piece can be a catalyst for doing more things like it in Jackson.” PJH
Exhibition opening for Invocation/ Remnant, 7 to 9 p.m. with a performance at 8 p.m. Friday, August 5. The show runs through September 1 at Holiday Forever, 10 East Simpson Ave. The gallery is open by appointment. Contact info@holidayforever.org.
Rural Violence III (Rebirth), doors at 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m. performance by musician Angel Deradoorian, artist Lionel Maunz, actor John Shahnazarian (The Machinist, Saving Private Ryan), and singer Dana Wachs, Saturday, August 6. RSVP required: theguesthousejh@ gmail.com. Location will be disclosed upon RSVP.
JH JEWISH C OM M UNITY P R E S E NT S
Book Talk by Cliff Sobin, author of The Pivotal Years – Israel and the Arab World - 1966-1977
MONDAY, AUGUST 8 AT 7:30 P.M. JHJC CENTER 610 W. BROADWAY IN THE CENTENNIAL BLDG FREE MORE INFORMATION AT INFO@JHEWISHCOMMUNITY.ORG
Cliff will be speaking about the eleven-year journey from Israel’s confrontation with an Arab world bent on her destruction to a fragile peace that offered hope for compromise rather than conflict. He will discuss why the main events of those eleven years – the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition, Jordan’s war with the PLO, the Yom Kippur War, and the rise of the PLO and the Settler movement – were interrelated and why understanding what happened during those eleven years, is a necessary foundation for forming opinions concerning the peace process today.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 25
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
26 | AUGUST 3, 2016
WELL, THAT HAPPENED 10:30am - 3:00pm Bottomless Mimosas & Bloody Marys $15
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1/2 Off Drinks Daily 5-7pm
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the latest happenings in jackson hole
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Buffalokémon A Pokémon hunt at the Teton County Fair reveals more than just Paras. BY ANDREW MUNZ @AndrewMunz
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he Greater Yellowstone ecosystem is known for championing a tremendous amount of variety when it comes to wildlife. But along with the wide range of large mammals, plenty of bird species and countless insects, there has been a recent epidemic of Pokémon that has invaded Jackson Hole’s quiet township, just begging to be caught, captured, raised and battled. These Japanese-bred monsters, both cute and creepy, have been loitering around various parts of the valley. I feel no shame in admitting that my obsession with Pokémon began in fifth grade when I first received “Pokémon Red” for my Game Boy (first generation, bitches). My younger stepbrother Caelan got “Pokémon Blue,” an alternate version of the game that boasted 11 kinds of Pokémon that my Red version didn’t have. The only way to “Catch ‘Em All” was to pair up Game Boys with a link cable and trade species back and forth. My love for the game transitioned into my love for the trading card game, which then carried on to my love for the “Pokémon Trading Card Game” for Game Boy Color. It was a vicious cycle. After plenty of pre-teen rehab, which involved incessant teasing, name-calling and unrelated sexual confusion, I managed to wean myself off Pokémon and enter my teens more or less unscathed. Even after all these years, my knowledge of Pokémon evolution type effectiveness still burrowed out unnecessary space in my memory. I still know which starting Pokémon can learn HM05 (Bulbasaur) and where to find the infamous Missingno (outside Viridian City). Who knew that my ability to name all 151 original Pokémon (I’m single, FYI) would suddenly come in handy when the new “Pokémon Go” app took over the world? I was hesitant to download it at first, especially after hearing that the application mined your phone for personal information. Not only that, the app led a young girl to accidentally stumble upon a dead body in Riverton, Wyo., and in Bosnia, the government issued a warning that hunting Pokémon might lead people into areas with active land mines. Fun stuff! But after downloading “Pokémon Go,” I was hooked. My childhood surged back to me in full force. I even got a new pimple on my forehead. Hunting Pokémon throughout Jackson was a trip, for sure. The app uses a GPS system for wherever you’re operating it and randomly assigns various businesses and locations as “Gyms” or “Pokestops,” where
ANDREW MUNZ
SATURDAY & SUNDAY BRUNCH
After braving the fairgrounds in 90-degree heat, the author failed to capture a rare Brazilian Zebu. Instead he stumbled upon a caged young bison in the flesh. players can train their captured Pokémon or collect items such as lures and extra Pokéballs. Places like parks, museums and churches have a higher chance of providing more items and can also attract more rare and powerful Pokémon. Since the Teton County Fair was going on last weekend, I figured I might find some interesting Pokémon in the area. Unfortunately, I found nothing but a bunch of Paras and yet another Drowzee (they’re all over Jackson). Nothing like the Pikachu I spotted near Bud’s Liquor Store and the Eevee I caught at the Wilson Pearl St. Bagels two weeks ago. I checked out the petting zoo first and was surprised that one of the most aggressive non-Pokémon in the area was already captured. A juvenile male North American bison was roped up and caged within the petting
zoo. The man supervising the tent told me it was born in captivity and wasn’t aggressive. However, as children approached the animal to pet its head, the bison rammed the gate with its horns, causing one girl donned in a painted face to erupt into tears. I could fill an entire column commenting on the irony and questionable thinking involved with showcasing a bison in a petting zoo 20 minutes from where a wild, grass-fed, free-range bison could pummel you into oblivion. I will forever remain mystified by the choice to cage in a petting zoo such a powerful creature that symbolizes the American West and wildness. As for my Pokémon search, the fairgrounds were a bust. The only unique, docile animal I spotted was a horned Brazilian Zebu, which unfortunately was already captured by the zoo supervisor. I guess I’ll have to keep searching. PJH
ON STANDS
NOW
YOUR ALL-INCLUSIVE RESOURCE TO THIS SUMMER’S EVENTS. Concerts on the Commons 5 p.m. Sunday in the Village Commons at Teton Village, free.
T H E H O L E C A L E N D A R .CO M
This week: Analog Son and Sonny Knight and the Lakers Mid-last year Minneapolis based Sonny Knight, a 68-year-old retired truck driver, and his band of 20-something to 30-something musicians released a live double album, Sonny Knight And The Lakers Do It Live. The record is a loving return to the height of live rhythm and blues with Knight and his band perfectly capturing the uproarious energy and rebellious musicianship of an era long gone.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7
n American Indian Guest Artist 8:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n First Sundays 9:00am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Free, 307-743-5424 n Historic Miller Ranch Tour 10:00am, National Elk Refuge, Free, 307-733-9212 n Forging Metal, Body & Spirit: Yoga & Silversmith Workshop 11:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $95.00, 307-7336379 n From the Back of the Stacks: Why We Love Plotless Fiction 12:00pm, ON KHOL 89.1, Free n Whiskey Mornin’ Duo 4:30pm, The Deck at Piste, Free, 307-733-2292 n Sunday Summer BBQ 5:00pm, Q Roadhouse & Brewing Co., Free, 307-739-0700
n Concert on the Commons 5:00pm, Teton Village Commons, Free, 307-733-5457 n Bar J Chuckwagon Supper 5:30pm, Bar J, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3370 n Music at the Chuckwagon 5:30pm, Dornan’s, Free, 307733-2415 n Stagecoach Band 6:00pm, Stagecoach, Free, 307-733-4407 n GTMF Presents: Big Band Classics with the Richard Brown Orchestra 7:00pm, Center for the Arts, $30.00, 307-733-1128 n Open Mic 9:00pm, Pinky G’s Pizzeria, Free, 307-734-7465
MONDAY, AUGUST 8 n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 7:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398 n Coffee with a Ranger 7:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n Yoga 7:00am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n American Indian Guest Artist 8:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n 11th Annual Targhee Music Camp 8:00am, Grand Targhee Resort, 307-413-1947 n Toddler Gym 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $4.00, 307-739-9025
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 27
SEE CALENDAR PAGE 28
n JH Rodeo 8:00pm, Fairgrounds, $15.00 $35.00, 307-733-7927 n Jenn Thornton 9:00pm, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, $5.00, 307-733-2207 n WYOBASS 10:00pm, Town Square Tavern, Free, 307-733-3886 n Black Barrel Music Series Presents Bo Elledge 10:30pm, Pink Garter Theatre, Free, 307-733-1500
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
n Historic Miller Ranch Tour 10:00am, National Elk Refuge, Free, 307-733-9212 n Collage 10:00am, Art Assocciation of Jackson Hole, $45.00, 307-7336379 n Magic Show 11:00am, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-2164 n Pass Bash 11:00am, Stagecoach Bar, Free, info@tetonfreedomriders.org n Pre-Symphony Buffet 4:00pm, Alpenhof, 307-7333242 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Bar J Chuckwagon Supper 5:30pm, Bar J, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3370 n Music at the Chuckwagon 5:30pm, Dornan’s, Free, 307733-2415 n Whiskey Experience 6:00pm, VOM FASS Jackson Hole, Free, 307-734-1535 n JH Shootout 6:00pm, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316 n Writer’s Workshop Series 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Festival Orchestra: Dances and Daydreams 6:00pm, Walk Festival Hall, $25.00 - $55.00, 307-733-1128 n The Ballad of Cat Ballou 6:30pm, JH Playhouse, $35.00 $65.00, 307-733-6994 n Hogan & Moss 7:30pm, Wort Hotel, Free, 307733-2190
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
28 | AUGUST 3, 2016
TUESDAY, AUGUST 9 n Fitness & Dance Classes All Day! 7:00am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $16.00, 307-733-6398
n Coffee with a Ranger 7:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n American Indian Guest Artist 8:00am, Colter Bay Visitor Center, Free, 307-739-3594 n 11th Annual Targhee Music Camp 8:00am, Grand Targhee Resort, 307-413-1947 n REFIT® 8:30am, Dancers’ Workshop, $10.00 - $20.00, 307-733-6398 n Yoga 8:30am, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Teton Plein Air Painters 9:00am, Outside, Free, 307733-6379 n Nature Speaks Photo Journaling 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $260.00, 307733-6379 n Historic Miller Ranch Tour 10:00am, National Elk Refuge, Free, 307-733-9212 n Plein Air Painting + Drawing 10:00am, National Museum of Wildlife Art, $150.00, n Photography Explorations 10:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $250.00, 307733-6379 n Toddler Time 10:05am, Teton County Library Youth Auditorium, Free, 307733-2164 n Walking Tour of Jackson 10:30am, Center of Town Square, Free, 307-733-2141 n Chamber/Rotary Candidate Forum 12:00pm, Snow King Resort Grand Ballroom, $20.00, 307733-3316 n Spin 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n InDesign Fundamentals: Flyer and Poster Layout 2:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $130.00, 307733-6379 n Murie Center Ranch Tour 2:30pm, Murie Center, Free, 307-739-2246 n Writer 3:30pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Game Hunting 101 4:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $150.00, 307-733-7425 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Zumba 4:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025
n Alive@5: Second Nature 5:00pm, Teton Village Commons, Free, 307-733-5898 n KOLLABS: New Works Opening Reception 5:00pm, The Tram Club, Free, 307-733-0905 n REFIT® 5:15pm, First Baptist Church, Free, 307-690-6539 n Bar J Chuckwagon Supper 5:30pm, Bar J, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3370 n Total Fitness 5:30pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n JH Shootout 6:00pm, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316 n Town Pump Bouldering Series 6:00pm, Teton Boulder Park n Teton Trail Runners 6:00pm, Location Varies Check Schedule, Free n Byron’s Guitar at Jenny Lake Lodge 6:00pm, Jenny Lake Lodge, Free, 307-733-4647 n Cribbage 6:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library, Free, 208-787-2201 n Summer Speaker Series Embere Hall 6:00pm, Teton County Library, Free, 307-733-9417 n The Ballad of Cat Ballou 6:30pm, JH Playhouse, $35.00 $65.00, 307-733-6994 n Inside the Music: From Tin Pan Alley to the Tetons 7:00pm, Walk Festival Hall, Free, 307-733-1128 n Bluegrass Tuesdays featuring One Ton Pig 7:30pm, Silver Dollar Showroom, Free, 307-732-3939 n Stackhouse 8:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n The Center Presents Our Annual Benefit Concert with Brandi Carlile 8:00pm, The Center Theater, $195.00 - $395.00, 307-7334900 n Jenn Thornton 9:00pm, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, $5.00, 307-733-2207 n The Center’s 2016 Benefit After Party 10:00pm, The Center Theater Lobby, Free, 307-733-49000
FOR COMPLETE EVENT DETAILS VISIT PJHCALENDAR.COM
MATT BERMAN
n Nature Speaks Photo Journaling 9:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $260.00, 307733-6379 n Pottery for Preschoolers 9:30am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $100.00, 307733-6379 n Historic Miller Ranch Tour 10:00am, National Elk Refuge, Free, 307-733-9212 n Photography Explorations 10:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $250.00, 307733-6379 n Kinderclay 11:00am, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $100.00, 307733-6379 n Total Fitness 12:10pm, Teton Recreation Center, $8.00, 307-739-9025 n Murie Center Ranch Tour 2:30pm, Murie Center, Free, 307-739-2246 n Maker Monday’s 3:00pm, Valley of the Tetons Library Victor, Free, 208-7872201 n Game Hunting 101 4:00pm, CWC-Jackson, $150.00, 307-733-7425 n Covered Wagon Cookout 4:15pm, Bar T 5, $37.00 $45.00, 307-733-5386 n Bar J Chuckwagon Supper 5:30pm, Bar J, $25.00 - $35.00, 307-733-3370 n JH Shootout 6:00pm, Town Square, Free, 307-733-3316 n Hootenanny 6:00pm, Dornan’s, Free, 307733-2415 n Analog Photography Basics 6:00pm, Art Association of Jackson Hole, $195.00, 307733-6379 n The Ballad of Cat Ballou 6:30pm, JH Playhouse, $35.00 $65.00, 307-733-6994 n David Cattani Duo 7:00pm, Mangy Moose, Free, 307-733-4913 n Book Talk by Cliff Sobin, author of The Pivotal Years – Israel and the Arab World – 1966-1977 7:30pm, JH Jewish Community Center, Free, 307-734-1999 n Jenn Thornton 9:00pm, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, $5.00, 307-733-2207
GET OUT
Delicious Adventuring Cream Puff Peak is for the every day mountain man and woman. BY MATT BERMAN
F
or some, the words “cream puff” conjure sweet thoughts of guilty indulgence. If you like to play in the mountains, however, these words are also fitting to describe the easily hiked mountain south of Hoback Junction. If you don’t have the time, energy, or backcountry partners for a foray in the Tetons, Cream Puff Peak, located in the Gros Ventre, might be a good option. The hike is still challenging, too. In seven miles, you’ll gain more than three thousand feet of elevation. However, hikers should take caution during prolonged exertion in the area due to smoke from forest fires. Less than an hour from town and easily conquered by high-energy dog companions, Cream Puff’s lack of fame is surprising. This is perhaps because, like many of its Gros Ventre neighbors, it is overshadowed by the Teton Range. It is also partly due to its somewhat mysterious locale—the trailhead sits at the end of a completely unmarked gravel road. But you’ve driven past it every time you’ve visited Granite Hot Springs or ventured into the Wind River Range. The greatest part about that unmarked road: it’s only a few hundred yards long, not 10 miles like the next road to the south.
Grand, lush views from the summit of Cream Puff Peak.
So you’ll be there soon. (You could be there in an hour from this very moment.) And since the road has no sign, you won’t see one-tenth of the people you’d see at other trailheads. That’s a good thing considering there’s only one-tenth of the parking. But before we get too carried away talking about how easy this peak is to walk up, remember we are using the term “easy,” relative to other hikes in the area. It’s still seven miles and more than three thousand feet to the top, making for a 14-mile round trip hike that will leave you satisfied and tired. So while this hike is for those who don’t want to take too much risk, wake up before sunrise, or carry their body weight in climbing gear, it can still be a solid workout. And while it may not be the Grand Teton, you can definitely admire Grand views from the top, as well as many other peaks in the area. One word sticks out when I think about the summit of Cream Puff: Colorful. The chunky rocks at the top are bright pink and grey dotted with green lichen. The distant mountains are blue and green. Wildflowers of all colors line the trail. So this peak is colorful in several ways. Webster’s Dictionary defines “colorful” as “interesting,” “exciting,” and “full of interest.” And it’s also literally colorful, especially when the wildflowers are in bloom and the sky is not engulfed in a massive plume of forest fire smoke. So the next time you’re thinking about torturing yourself in pursuit of adventure and mountain views, consider a walk up Cream Puff Peak. Even if you tend toward long and grueling Teton adventures, Cream Puff promises a workout, great views and the leisures of sleeping in. PJH
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| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
BE AN IMPORTANT VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY WHILE SHARPENING YOUR STORYTELLING SKILLS.
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 29
EMAIL CLIPS TO EDITOR@PLANETJH.COM
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
30 | AUGUST 3, 2016
ANNIE FENN, MD
THE FOODIE FILES
How I Huckleberry Finding time to forage and preserve with small batch canning. BY ANNIE FENN, MD @jacksonfoodie
T
he problem with the huckleberry season around here is that it arrives in the middle of summer. As soon as I get wind that those wild little berries are in, I make grand plans to head out to the hills and fill my buckets. My intention is always to gather enough huckleberries to keep my family rolling in huckleberry pancakes, pies, and jam all winter long. Inevitably, the reality of midsummer sets in. I may spend a few afternoons plucking away at a wall of bushes in a Zenlike state, dreaming of that jam I’ll be putting up. But when it comes right down to it, I’m still too busy soaking up all the other summer options—you know: mountain biking, fishing, paddling pristine lakes, and hiking. Even if I were to gather enough huckleberries to preserve a decent batch of jam, I’m still not quite ready to retire to the cool comfort of my kitchen for an afternoon devoted to canning. For me, preserving is a September thing. So this summer I am embracing the concept of small batch canning: putting up a few half pints of something seasonal and delicious in under 30 minutes. Instead of carving out a day for a big kitchen project, I am making jam on the fly. All I need is at least three cups of huckleberries, my quick jam recipe, and a handful of ingredients I already have in the pantry. After just a half hour in the kitchen, usually while making lunch or dinner, I can whip up a few jars of huckleberry jam to stash in the fridge or freezer.
Left: The huckleberry is prized for its tartness, which comes from the 10 tiny seeds encased in its flesh. Right: An ideal summer breakfast of huckleberries, granola and quark. My precious huckleberries, along with lemon juice, lemon zest, and maple syrup, are simmered in a small saucepan until their delicate skins begin to burst, which should only take a few minutes. Then I take my favorite wooden spoon and mash them to release their juices. I cook this down over low heat for another five to 10 minutes until it gets all jammy. I take it off the heat and let it cool down just enough so I won’t burn my tongue as I taste to assess the sweetness, adding more maple syrup if needed. The best part of this recipe, besides the fact that it requires no sweetener other than a splash of maple syrup, is that one of my favorite superfoods provides the binding that turns the berries into jam: chia seeds. You are probably familiar with these darlings of the nutrition world. High in omega-3 fatty acids and a good source of plant-based protein and calcium, chia seeds often find their way into puddings and smoothies. They also give yogurt a healthy crunch. Like tapioca pearls, chia seeds absorb liquid, getting all plump and chewy as they take on the flavor of their soaking medium. Once my huckleberry jam has been cooled and corrected for sweetness, I stir in a small amount of chia seeds. After another minute or so warmed on the stove, the seeds plump up and soften, turning my huckleberry stew into a fast and nutritious jam—no pectin required. At this point I have only been dealing with the huckleberry jam for about 25 minutes. I gather two to three clean mason jars, pour the warm jam up to the rim, and seal with a clean lid. Depending on your berries, your technique, and how much maple syrup you use, you should get two half pint jars of Huckleberry Chia Seed Jam. Stash one in the fridge to eat up within a few weeks. The other jar can be gifted to someone you really like, or squirreled away in the freezer to be discovered in November when you’re rummaging for an accoutrement for your toast. Since I’ve adjusted my own self-imposed foraging expectations down a notch, I find I am able to relax and enjoy my brief huckleberry gathering excursions. How many gallons I bring home doesn’t matter as much as my time spent in the
woods, observant and immersed in the task of berry picking, savoring the sound of the drop, drop, drop of the berries in the bucket.
Recipe: Huckleberry Chia Seed Jam (Adapted from Bon Appétit) Yield: 2 half pints of jam 3 cups fresh huckleberries 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest ¼ cup fresh lemon juice 3 Tbsp. (or more) pure maple syrup ¼ cup chia seeds
Bring huckleberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, and maple syrup to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst, about five minutes. Use a spoon to mash the berries into a jammy paste, being sure to keep some whole. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by about half. Remove jam from the heat. Let it cool down just enough so you don’t burn your tongue while tasting for sweetness. Add more maple syrup, little by little, until the jam is sweet enough for your liking. Return the jam to the stove and bring to a boil. Add the chia seeds and cook for about a minute, or until the seeds have softened. Spoon into clean mason jars up to the rim. Cover and let cool completely. Keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months. PJH
After delivering babies and practicing gynecology for 20 years in Jackson, Annie Fenn traded her life as a doctor to pursue her other passion: writing about food, health, sustainability and the local food scene. Follow her snippets of mountain life, with recipes, at jacksonholefoodie.com and on Instagram @jacksonholefoodie.
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 31
ANNIE FENN, MD
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
Small batch canning is a quick method to whip up huckleberry chia seed jam. Find the recipe on the opposite page and then serve it up with fresh apricots and buttered toast.
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
32 | AUGUST 3, 2016
Moët Majesty A visit to the sparkling wine mecca reveals plenty of bubbly knowledge. BY TED SCHEFFLER @critic1
O
ne of the highlights of my recent visit to France’s Champagne region was spending the better part of a day at the glamorous house of Moët & Chandon, also known simply as Moët. The day began with selfies of the missus and me with the statue of Dom Pérignon, which welcomes visitors to the cellars, and ended with a tasting of various vintages hosted by the house sommelier. Days like that don’t suck. Located in Épernay, Moët is France’s largest sparkling wine producer, first established by wine trader Claude Moët in 1743 as Moët et Cie (Moët & Co.). His grandson, JeanRémy, transformed the company into Moët & Chandon toward the end of the 18th century and introduced the world to Champagne, helping to create global appeal for French
IMBIBE bubbly that thrives to this day. You learn a lot about Champagne in general—and this winery in particular—when you spend the day with Moët’s superviseur visites, Marie-Filomène Martins. For example, the tradition of Grand Prix and Formula 1 race drivers spraying Champagne to celebrate a victory dates back to the celebrations of the winners of the 24-hour Le Mans race in 1967. That’s when driver Dan Gurney was handed the Jeroboam of Moët, and used the bottle like a firehose to spray the nearby guests and fellow drivers. Today, the man considered by many to be the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer, is Moët’s brand ambassador—a class act if ever there was one. And such was her love of Moët & Chandon that the Marquise de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XIV of France, declared, “Champagne is the only wine in the world that makes every woman beautiful.” Visiting these cellars is simply breathtaking. Spanning some 17.5 miles and situated 30 to 100 feet below ground, the labyrinthine subterranean cellar tunnels take visitors past new and non-vintage Champagnes, as well as vintage offerings, including the much-heralded Dom Pérignon. I won’t go into all the minutiae of Champagne-making here, since I’ve done so previously, but suffice it to say that over the past 270-plus years of bottling bubbly, this winery has it nailed. The best-seller and most well-known in
TED SCHEFFLER
BEER, WINE & SPIRITS
Statue of Dom Pérignon outside Moët & Chandon headquarters on Avenue de Champagne. Moët’s lineup is Moët Impérial Brut ($49.99), a unique style of non-vintage created in 1869. The house’s flagship Champagne owes its name to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, and some historians say that the art of sabering open bottles with a sword is also credited to Napoleon—his way of celebrating victories. Impérial’s classic blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay is the signature house style—a wine that is both elegant and subtle, while simultaneously offering sumptuous white-fruit flavors of pear, apple and peach. For some fun fizz on a hot summer day, give Moët Ice Impérial ($59.99) a try. It’s designed to be served over ice, with bright
flavors of tropical fruits, stone fruits and hints of raspberry and ginger. As regular readers of this column probably know, I’m a big fan of rosés, both still and sparkling. During our visit, we got a sneak peek (or sip) of Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Rosé 2008 ($69.99), which has just been released. Its delicate bouquet is followed by succulent strawberry notes on the palate—a spectacular vintage that you could drink now or cellar for a special occasion. More affordable, but also enticing, is Moët & Chandon Rosé Imperial ($55), a gorgeous and versatile wine that pairs well with foods from sushi to paella. Santé! PJH
SCOOP UP THESE SAVINGS
1/16TH COLOR AD 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
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.
Dinner Nightly at 5:30pm
HAPPY HOUR Daily 4-6:00pm
45 S. Glenwood
307.201.1717 | LOCALJH.COM ON THE TOWN SQUARE
Available for private events & catering For reservations please call 734-8038
• FREE PRINT LISTING (50-75 WORDS) • FREE ONLINE LISTING ON PLANETJH.COM • 6 MONTH MINIMUM COMMITMENT • $25 A WEEK CASH OR $40 A WEEK TRADE ON HALF OFF JH
CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE TODAY TO LEARN MORE
SALES@PLANETJH.COM OR 307.732.0299
®
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
Featuring dining destinations from buffets and rooms with a view to mom and pop joints, chic cuisine and some of our dining critic’s faves!
ASIAN & CHINESE KIM’S CORNER Korean and American style, from breakfast sandwiches, burgers, chicken tenders, Philly cheese steaks to rice bowls and noodles. Something for everyone! Open Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. At base of Snow King between the ski patrol room and the ice rink. 100 E. Snow King Ave. Take out and Delivery: (307) 200-6544.
TETON THAI
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL
20%OFF ENTIRE BILL
Good between 5:30-6pm • Open nightly at 5:30pm
733-3912 160 N. Millward
Make your reservation online at bluelionrestaurant.com
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 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.
cool ways
to PERK
UP
CONTINENTAL ALPENHOF
BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER 7:30-9PM
THE BLUE LION
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
307.733.3242 TETON VILLAGE
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.
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. Reservations recommended, walk-ins welcome. 160 N. Millward, (307) 733-3912, bluelionrestaurant.com.
CAFE GENEVIEVE ••••••••• Open daily at 8am serving breakfast, lunch & dinner.
BYOB
145 N. Glenwood • (307) 734-0882 WWW.TETONLOTUSCAFE.COM
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.
1110 W. Broadway • Jackson, WY Open daily 5:00am to midnight • Free Wi-Fi
AUGUST 3, 2016 | 33
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
34 | AUGUST 3, 2016
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.
FULL STEAM SUBS The deli that’ll rock your belly. Jackson’s newest sub shop serves steamed subs, reubens, gyros, delicious all beef hot dogs, soups and salads. We offer Chicago style hot dogs done just the way they do in the windy city. Open daily11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Located just a short block north of the Town Square at 180 N. Center Street, (307) 733-3448.
Napolitana-style Pizza, panini, pasta, salad, beer wine. Order online at PizzeriaCaldera.com
LOCAL @ SNow King
Cafe
RICE BOWLS NOODLES BURGERS 11am - 9:30pm daily 20 W. Broadway 307.201.1472
NOW OPEN
Take Out and Delivery 307.200.6544 Mon thru Sat 10:30am - 4:00pm 100 E. Snowking Ave. (between Ski Patrol & Ice Rink)
MANGY MOOSE
PIZZAS, PASTAS & MORE
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.
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
SNAKE RIVER BREWERY & RESTAURANT
THE LOCALS
FAVORITE PIZZA
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2012, 2013 & 2014 •••••••••
$ 7 LUNCH
SPECIAL Slice, salad & soda
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
TV Sports Packages and 7 Screens
Under the Pink Garter Theatre (307) 734-PINK • www.pinkygs.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.
FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT
$4 Well Drink Specials
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.
@
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.
TRIO Owned and operated by Chefs with a passion for good food, Trio is located right off the Town square in downtown Jackson. Featuring a variety of cuisines in a relaxed atmosphere, Trio is famous for its wood-oven pizzas, specialty cocktails and waffle fries with bleu cheese fondue. Dinner nightly at 5:30 p.m. Reservations. (307) 734-8038 or bistrotrio.com.
ITALIAN CALICO A Jackson Hole favorite since 1965, the Calico continues to be one of the most popular restaurants in the Valley. The Calico offers the right combination of really good food, (much of which is grown in our own gardens in the summer), friendly staff; a reasonably priced menu and a large selection of wine. Our bar scene is eclectic with a welcoming vibe. Open nightly at 5 p.m. 2560 Moose Wilson Rd., (307) 733-2460.
MEXICAN EL ABUELITO Serving authentic Mexican cuisine and appetizers in a unique Mexican atmosphere. Home of the original Jumbo Margarita. Featuring a full bar with a large selection of authentic Mexican beers. Lunch served weekdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nightly dinner specials. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. 385 W. Broadway, (307) 733-1207.
PIZZA DOMINO’S PIZZA Hot and delicious delivered to your door. Handtossed, deep dish, crunchy thin, Brooklyn style and artisan pizzas; bread bowl pastas, and oven baked sandwiches; chicken wings, cheesy breads and desserts. Delivery. 520 S. Hwy. 89 in Kmart Plaza, (307) 733-0330.
PINKY G’S The locals favorite! Voted Best Pizza in Jackson Hole 2012, 2013 and 2014. Seek out this hidden gem under the Pink Garter Theatre for NY pizza by the slice, salads, stromboli’s, calzones and many appetizers to choose from. Try the $7 ‘Triple S’ lunch special.Happy hours 10 p.m. - 12 a.m. Sun.- Thu. Text PINK to 71441 for discounts. Delivery and take-out. Open daily 11a.m. to 2 a.m. 50 W. Broadway, (307) 734-PINK.
PIZZERIA CALDERA Jackson Hole’s only dedicated stone-hearth oven pizzeria, serving Napolitana-style pies using the freshest ingredients in traditional and creative combinations. Five local micro-brews on tap, a great selection of red and white wines by the glass and bottle, and one of the best views of the Town Square from our upstairs deck. Daily lunch special includes slice, salad or soup, any two for $8. Happy hour: half off drinks by the glass from 4 - 6 daily. Dine in or carry out. Or order online at PizzeriaCaldera.com, or download our app for iOS or Android. Open from 11am - 9:30pm daily at 20 West Broadway. 307-201-1472.
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.
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L.A.TIMES “A FEE FOR VICTORY” By Donna S. Levin & Bruce Venzke
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2016
ACROSS
77 Kingdom 79 Make a fool of 81 Place of honor 83 Really impress the critics 84 __ Lama 86 41-Across, e.g. 88 Color like aqua 90 Information company co-founder Charles 93 Shoulder decoration 95 Good for the heart and lungs 98 “Gadzooks!” 100 Complete 101 Stink 102 Easy to use, in adspeak 103 Completely 104 Arrived from above 106 Best Actress between Cher and Jessica 109 Strike zone? 110 Transmit 111 Maintain 113 Opposite of 83-Across 115 Benefit 118 Hairy Addams cousin 119 Outdo 120 Avignon agreement 121 ’60s quartet adjective
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90 Vets-to-be 10 Cozy 11 Having a heck of a winning streak 12 Pastures 13 Disguised, briefly 14 Driver’s aid 15 Meathead’s wife in ’70s TV 16 Cause of playtime sadness? 17 Act like a wolf 18 Pound sound 24 Rouen’s region 25 Elizabethan neckwear 30 One of the Allman Brothers 32 Scarpia’s killer, in a Puccini opera 34 Errant 35 Him and her 39 WWII cost-stabilizing agcy. 40 The “A” often seen in 49-Across 41 Wood-damaging insect 42 “Stormy Weather” singer 43 Place with a serpent problem 47 Handcuffs 49 Atkins no-no 50 Kind of test 51 Brother-and-sister biathlon training regimen? 52 Powerful campaign force 54 Humdrum routine 55 Bravo preceder 57 Geishas’ sashes 60 Sections of the brain 62 “Snowy” wader 65 It may be taken in the afternoon 66 Battery terminal 67 “Sorry, lad” 69 Kansas-born playwright 71 H2SO4, e.g. 74 Stepped 76 Gruesome
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
82 Potential benefit 10 “Ring Around the Rosie” word 83 Editor’s “Let it be” 84 Spy-fi villain in a Nehru jacket 60 Belts 85 Quadratic formula course 11 Drop 87 “I’m not afraid of __; I just 15 Firefly emanation don’t want to be there when it 19 Regatta racer happens”: Woody Allen 20 Bacon in a parlor game 89 Mucinex relative 21 Rare state bird 91 Neighbor of Leb. 22 Apple’s apple, e.g. 92 Biryani base 23 Municipal tennis court? 94 Senator Bail Organa’s 26 Nobel Peace Center home adopted daughter 27 Jackson ejector 96 Written guffaw 28 Goes bad 97 Taken over 29 Father __ Sarducci: “SNL” 99 Animal always without a character home? 30 “Good __!” 105 Adversary 31 Artist Mondrian 106 Eldest Bennet daughter in 33 Rudely awaken “Pride and Prejudice” 36 Throat trouble? 107 __ Soleil: 17th-/18th-century 37 __ Tin Tin royal 38 Crowded dorm symptom? 108 On Vine St., say 41 Bayer that might cause a 110 Spaniard’s “L’chaim!” headache? 112 Chased from the closet 44 Après-ski option 114 Ices 45 “Jurassic Park” threat 116 Business card abbr. 46 Cause of a municipal alert 117 Not odd at all 48 Online ref. since 2000 118 Request at the poultry farm? 49 Radiographer’s tests 122 Geeky sort 53 Guadalajara gal pal 123 Wedding cake layer 56 WWI French battle site 58 “La donna è mobile,” for one 124 Detroit’s Joe __ Arena 125 Holmes of “The Kennedys” 59 In a proper manner 61 Francis of “What’s My Line?” 126 Temperance advocates 127 Head of France? 63 Conk 128 DeMille specialties 64 Massage 129 Wood that sinks in water 65 Feature of ths clue 66 Embellishment on Arabic DOWN calligraphy? 10 Music rights gp. 68 Contradict 20 Old Roman name for Ireland 70 Israeli statesman Abba 30 Large ’90s-’00s SUV 72 Buster? 40 Boston’s Liberty Tree was one 73 Like __: probably Disparage 50 75 Last log entry? 60 Bunny slope conveyance 78 Otherwise 70 Scuba gear 80 Show one’s humanity 80 Brown, for one 81 “Aw, fudge!”
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
36 | AUGUST 3, 2016
Leafy Mystery Getting to the root of the extraordinary lives of trees.
I
love when teachings of science and wisdom intersect, and when new scientific discoveries confirm long held wisdom traditions. Now it’s time for trees to enjoy that intersection. The tree story continues to reveal how all life is sentient and part of a vast, intelligent, interactive, ever-changing and always-communicating matrix. Decades ago, mind-expanding discoveries about the intelligence of plants was scientific news. Researchers found that plants not only communicate with each other, they’re also telepathic, they have memory, they experience feelings, and more.
be released in English early September. Citing his 30-year experience managing forests and the latest scientific findings, Wohlleben documents the complex and rich lives of trees that include caring for each other and the ability to count. “They can count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors; warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the ‘Wood Wide Web’—and, for reasons unknown, keep the ancient stumps of long-felled companions alive for centuries by feeding them a sugar solution through their roots,” Wohlleben writes. Pointing to two trees, he noted, “These trees are friends. You see how the thick branches point away from each other? That’s so they don’t block their buddy’s light. Sometimes, pairs like this are so interconnected at the roots that when one tree dies, the other one dies, too.”
In awe of trees
The most ancient cross-cultural symbol is the World Tree, or the Tree of Life, which in global esoteric traditions represents the construction of the universe. Versions of the Tree of Life appear in many traditions, from Ancient Egyptian and Sumerian, to JudeoChristian, Buddhist, Hindu and Norse. Tree spirits also play a significant role in many ancient cultures around the world. The understanding has always been that elemental beings inhabit trees, amplifying the tree’s intelligence and interacting with humans. These tree spirits are always considered to be benevolent. In some cultures when a tree is cut down offerings are made to the tree and to the tree spirit. Many churches were intentionally built in or near groves of sacred trees. With their roots in the earth, and their branches and leaves in the sky, trees are always a symbol of being connected to the earth and to the cosmos. There must also have been some awareness that groups of trees have a more powerful, positive synergy of energies.
The Heart Math Institute in California (heartmath.org) is known for documenting and teaching how the heart is command central in the human experience. Recently it launched new research projects exploring the interconnectivity of all life on earth. Given the millennia long history of peoples’ sacred and practical connections to trees, researchers here are exploring quantifiable answers to questions like: Why are we so in awe of the old oak and the ancient redwood tree? Why does sitting beneath a spreading sycamore feel like a spiritual experience? How do trees uplift humans? How can we learn from what ancient trees have witnessed? Can trees predict earthquakes? Just a few of the things research has already measured include that individual trees and different kinds of trees have overall different electric voltage patterns, and that, similar to humans, trees have circadian (day-night) rhythms. After all, tree roots are deeply connected to and responsive to subtle and not so subtle changes in the electromagnetic currents of the planet. And trees communicate to each other about many things, via a planetary worldwide web.
A key element to survival
Exciting possibilities
Trees and metaphysical traditions
At the basic level of survival, we are of course alive due to a special relationship with trees. After all, trees produce the oxygen we breathe and we give off the carbon dioxide they rely on. Forests and jungles are considered the lungs of the living earth. Peter Wohlleben is a German forester and best-selling author. His renowned book, “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries From a Secret World” will
Whether or not we can consciously pick up on what trees are broadcasting and sharing with us, we are exposed to the information they communicate all the time. How appropriate to honor trees for being more than an unintelligent, unfeeling lumber source. And how timely to enter into communication and partnership with these ancient beings who, like humans, are connected to both the earth and to the cosmos. PJH
Carol Mann is a longtime Jackson resident, radio personality, former Grand Targhee Resort owner, author, and clairvoyant. Got a Cosmic Question? Email carol@yourcosmiccafe.com
TO ADVERTISE IN THE WELLNESS DIRECTORY, CONTACT JEN AT PLANET JACKSON HOLE AT 307-732-0299 OR SALES@PLANETJH.COM
Enjoy
TM
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Transcendental Meditation Center of Jackson Hole Introduction - Instruction Refreshers - Advanced Programs
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38 | AUGUST 3, 2016
REDNECK PERSPECTIVE SATIRE
Love Trumps Hate When political engagement brings people ‘together.’ BY CLYDE THORNHILL
M
y Republican lover Alice, assistant to the media chair for the Teton County Trump campaign, stopped by my trailer last week. She was in an agitated state. “There was a Black Lives Matter rally in the square,” she raged. “They better enjoy it while they can. After November 8, the only protests allowed will be for ‘Make America Great Again.’ It’s Trump’s America now and he believes in freedom!” Rage brings out the fire, passion and lusty hunger in good ole Alice. I was looking forward to an entertaining evening with her and her favorite toys: black lace, hydrated oil, electrode prods, and Tabasco (don’t ask). “Sure, unarmed black people are killed by the police at a much greater proportion than white people, but so what?” she seethed. “According to a report released by the GOP— but suppressed by the press—heart attack victims in Trump Tower’s Luxury Suites are almost three times as likely to be white. Yet you don’t hear old, rich, white people bitching about racism.” Alice had a way of explaining things that could simplify any subject. After the evening’s titillating adventures, Alice headed for party headquarters to check the latest Trump tweets while I struggled with my conscience. I had attended the Black
Lives Matter event on the square. My feelings of guilt over the obvious duplicity were quelled somewhat by the fact that, being from Hog Island, I did not have a clear understanding of the word “duplicity” and honestly shouldn’t even be using it. I had arrived just as the Black Lives Matter rally was starting. I remembered what Susie, my Healthy Being organic juice girl once told me: “Offer your desires to the universe and she will respond.” I noticed a cute blonde with a low-cut Columbia tank top, shorts, and a “Feel the Bern!” pin (thank you universe). I worked my way next to her then slipped on a bracelet I had made from an old shoelace. “I vow to not remove this bracelet until America sees racial equality!” I yelled. She looked at me and said, “You’re so brave. And you’re right. You can be anti-racist, but no one knows unless you’re out here. It’s like having a new Patagonia pullover and not going to the bagel shop.” I nodded in agreement as she continued. “I graduated with an inner-city cultural and race anthropology degree from Columbia. I know I can effect change and increase awareness using community initiatives, promoting visibility, and advocating for cultural proficiency to empower the disenfranchised.” Not to be outdone, I replied, “I dream of a world where there is no racism, no discrepancy between rich and poor. Where greed is replaced by compassion, and every morning neighbors gather to sing and share a breakfast of organic juice, whole grains, and yogurt. Where children are given instruction in visual and performing arts, in pottery making, and learn how to create a heart design with the steamed foam of a latte.” Her eyes teared up. “Do you want to share a moment of freedom in my apartment?” I love divisive politics. PJH
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19) I apologize in advance for the seemingly excessive abundance of good news I’m about to report. If you find it hard to believe, I won’t hold your skepticism against you. But I do want you to know that every prediction is warranted by the astrological omens. Ready for the onslaught? 1. In the coming weeks, you could fall forever out of love with a wasteful obsession. 2. You might also start falling in love with a healthy obsession. 3. You can half-accidentally snag a blessing you have been half-afraid to want. 4. You could recall a catalytic truth whose absence has been causing you a problem ever since you forgot it. 5. You could reclaim the mojo that you squandered when you pushed yourself too hard a few months ago. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) August is Adopt-a-Taurus month. It’s for all of your tribe, not just the orphans and exiles and disowned rebels. Even if you have exemplary parents, the current astrological omens suggest that you require additional support and guidance from wise elders. So I urge you to be audacious in rounding up trustworthy guardians and benefactors. Go in search of mentors and fairy godmothers. Ask for advice from heroes who are further along the path that you’d like to follow. You are ready to receive teachings and direction you weren’t receptive to before. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) When a parasite or other irritant slips inside an oyster’s shell, the mollusk’s immune system besieges the intruder with successive layers of calcium carbonate. Eventually, a pearl may form. I suspect that this is a useful metaphor for you to contemplate in the coming days as you deal with the salt in your wound or the splinter in your skin. Before you jump to any conclusions, though, let me clarify. This is not a case of the platitude, “Whatever doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” Keep in mind that the pearl is a symbol of beauty and value, not strength.
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.
BY ROB BREZSNY
diverted you from a more pleasurable treasure. Hallelujah!
CANCER (June 21-July 22) It’s your lucky day! Spiritual counsel comparable to what you’re reading here usually sells for $99.95. But because you’re showing signs that you’re primed to outwit bad habits, I’m offering it at no cost. I want to encourage you! Below are my ideas for what you should focus on. (But keep in mind that I don’t expect you to achieve absolute perfection.) 1. Wean yourself from indulging in self-pity and romanticized pessimism. 2. Withdraw from connections with people who harbor negative images of you. 3. Transcend low expectations wherever you see them in play. 4. Don’t give your precious life energy to demoralizing ideas and sour opinions.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Could it be true that the way out is the same as the way in? And that the so-called “wrong” answer is almost indistinguishable from the right answer? And that success, at least the kind of success that really matters, can only happen if you adopt an upside-down, inside-out perspective? In my opinion, the righteous answer to all these questions is “YESSS???!!!”—at least for now. I suspect that the most helpful approach will never be as simple or as hard as you might be inclined to believe.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You’re not doing a baby chick a favor by helping it hatch. For the sake of its well-being, the bird needs to peck its way out of the egg. It’s got to exert all of its vigor and willpower in starting its new life. That’s a good metaphor for you to meditate on. As you escape from your comfortable wombjail and launch yourself toward inspiration, it’s best to rely as much as possible on your own instincts. Friendly people who would like to provide assistance may inadvertently cloud your access to your primal wisdom. Trust yourself deeply and wildly. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) I hear you’re growing weary of wrestling with ghosts. Is that true? I hope so. The moment you give up the fruitless struggle, you’ll become eligible for a unique kind of freedom that you have not previously imagined. Here’s another rumor I’ve caught wind of: You’re getting bored with an old source of sadness that you’ve used to motivate yourself for a long time. I hope that’s true, too. As soon as you shed your allegiance to the sadness, you will awaken to a sparkling font of comfort you’ve been blind to. Here’s one more story I’ve picked up through the grapevine: You’re close to realizing that your attention to a mediocre treasure has
PRIMARY ELECTION TUESDAY, AUGUST 16 , 2016
in the coming weeks. You might get a glimpse of a solution to a nagging problem while you’re petting a donkey or paying your bills or waiting in a long line at the bank. Catch my drift, Capricorn? I may or may not be speaking metaphorically here. You could meditate up a perfect storm as you devour a doughnut. While flying high over the earth in a dream, you might spy a treasure hidden in a pile of trash down below. If I were going to give your immediate future a mythic title, it might be “Finding the Sacred in the Midst of the Profane.”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Your strength seems to make some people uncomfortable. I don’t want that to become a problem for you. Maybe you could get away with toning down your potency at other times, but not now. It would be sinful to act as if you’re not as competent and committed to excellence as you are. But having said that, I also urge you to monitor your behavior for excess pride. Some of the resistance you face when you express your true glory may be due to the shadows cast by your true glory. You could be tempted to believe that your honorable intentions excuse secretive manipulations. So please work on wielding your clout with maximum compassion and responsibility.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) I’ve worked hard for many years to dismantle my prejudices. To my credit, I have even managed to cultivate compassion for people I previously demonized, like evangelical Christians, drunken jocks, arrogant gurus, and career politicians. But I must confess that there’s still one group toward which I’m bigoted: super-rich bankers. I wish I could extend to them at least a modicum of amiable impartiality. How about you, Aquarius? Do you harbor any hidebound biases that shrink your ability to see life as it truly is? Have you so thoroughly rationalized certain narrow-minded perspectives and judgmental preconceptions that your mind is permanently closed? If so, now is a favorable time to dissolve the barriers and stretch your imagination way beyond its previous limits.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Did you honestly imagine that there would eventually come a future when you’d have your loved ones fully “trained”? Did you fantasize that sooner or later you could get them under control, purged of their imperfections and telepathically responsive to your every mood? If so, now is a good time to face the fact that those longings will never be fulfilled. You finally have the equanimity to accept your loved ones exactly as they are. Uncoincidentally, this adjustment will make you smarter about how to stir up soulful joy in your intimate relationships.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Are you lingering at the crux of the crossroads, restless to move on but unsure of which direction will lead you to your sweet destiny? Are there too many theories swimming around in your brain, clogging up your intuition? Have you absorbed the opinions of so many “experts” that you’ve lost contact with your own core values? It’s time to change all that. You’re ready to quietly explode in a calm burst of practical lucidity. First steps: Tune out all the noise. Shed all the rationalizations. Purge all the worries. Ask yourself, “What is the path with heart?”
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You may experience a divine visitation as you clean a toilet
The County Clerk’s office would like to remind you that the polling sites have changed this year. There will be six vote centers open on Election Day, and you may vote at ANY one of those locations, regardless of where you live in Teton County! All Vote Centers will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.
If these locations are not convenient for you, you may vote now at the absentee polling site in the County Administration Building at 200 S. Willow St., Jackson, Wyoming until 5:00 p.m. on August 15th . Or, you can request that a ballot be sent to you. Please remember that all absentee ballots must be received by the Clerk’s office by 7:00 p.m. on August 16th , 2016 to be counted.
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE: TETONWYO.ORG/CC | ELECTIONS@TETONWYO.ORG | 307.733.4430
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |
Vote Center locations: TETON COUNTY LIBRARY 125 Virginian Ln, Jackson, WY, TETON COUNTY/JACKSON RECREATION CENTER 155 E. Gill Ave., Jackson, WY, OLD WILSON SCHOOLHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTER 5655 Main St., Wilson, WY, TETON COUNTY WEED & PEST BUILDING 7575 US-89, Jackson, WY, ALTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 15 Alta School Rd., Alta, WY, MORAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 501 Moran Ct., Moran, WY.
40 | AUGUST 3, 2016
| PLANET JACKSON HOLE |