Piecing Together 40 Years

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Piecing together

40 years

Also: Loving and hating Space, Get Smart about #vanlife, Velvet Underground “Cover Night� and FLC and Merely Players open plays

dgomag.com

New show at Studio & features five local artists whose lives and art have converged in Durango

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

GREEN LIGHT - SEASON 2

DGO Magazine

Staff

What’s inside Volume 1 Number 16

February 18, 2016

Chief Executive Officer

9 First Draughts

Douglas Bennett

Ever wake up and find your pants in the freezer? Try to find beauty in those puzzling drinking-night stories.

V.P. of Finance and Operations Bob Ganley V.P. of Advertising

10 ‘Little Prince’ to open

at FLC

Kricket Lewis Founding Editors Amy Maestas

“The Little Prince” has been adapted countless times; into films, television, ballet, operatic works and, of course, stage plays. Now it’s the Fort Lewis College theater program’s turn beginning Friday.

David Holub Katie Klingsporn Editor/ designer/ art director David Holub dholub@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer

375-4546

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Get Smart about #vanlife From the looks of Instagram, Matt Foley isn’t the only guy livin’ in a van by the river. Let Rex Winchester, flyfishing guide with San Juan Angler, tell you what #vanlife is all about.

Contributors Kirbie Bennett Katie Cahill Christopher Gallagher Bryant Liggett Jon E. Lynch Heather Narwid Cyle Talley Robert Alan Wendeborn Advertising 247-3504 Reader Services 375-4570

DGO is a free weekly publication distributed by Ballantine Communications, Inc., and is available for one copy per person. Taking more than five copies of an edition from a distribution location is illegal and is punishable by law according to Colorado Revised Statute 18-9-314.

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Love it or Hate it

6

Sound

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‘Cover Night’ is back KDUR’s “Cover Nights” have become a rallying point, an opportunity for local musicians to come together and celebrate the work of a significant band or artist. This year, on Saturday night, it’s Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground (selected by a poll on the KDUR website).

Tell us what you think!

Got something on your mind? Have a joke or a story idea or just something that the world needs to know?

Send everything to editor@dgomag.com

11 A new production

from Merely Players

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Album Review 8 9

Beer

16 Movies 17 Pages 18 Weed

Seeing Through the Smoke 18

Review 19

Anya Jaremko-Greenwold anya@bcimedia.com

From the Editor

Downtown Lowdown

David Habrat V.P. of Marketing

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Netflix and chill ‑ 420 edition 19

20 Savage Love

The Merely Players’ latest contemporary production, which begins Friday, is “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” a comedy about resentment, guilt, regret and the older generation battling the younger.

/dgomag

21 Happening 23 Horoscope/ puzzles/ Bizarro

/dgomag @dgo_mag

On the cover Each having graduated high school in 1994 in different parts of the country, five Durango artists and friends look back at what it means to be 40 in a new multimedia show at Studio & Illustrations by Tim Kapustka

DGO Magazine is published by Ballantine Communications Inc., P.O. Drawer A, Durango, CO 81302

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[CTRL-A] [ love it or hate it ] David Holub |DGO editor

‘Anomalisa’ and those divine voices we hear as song

I

t was the last time I ever saw her, the woman I spent 11 years of my life with. We were at a Bank of America in Manchester, Connecticut, dissolving the bank accounts we shared, just as we’d seen our relationship and the life we’d built do the same in the previous months.

I hadn’t seen her in five weeks, and I remember her eyes filled with anger, disgust and pain. But more so, I remember her voice. When she spoke to the bank associate she was pleasant, cheerful, using the voice I knew. But as if flipping a switch, as if her voice had been commandeered by someone else, anything uttered to me was lacking. It was subtle and may not have been noticeable to anyone else, but its joyous energy and playfulness had heartbreakingly evaporated.

I began to wonder that day about how pain and anger manifests in one’s voice. How does love – when it grows, when it stagnates, when it ends – physically affect one’s vocal chords? What tangible transformations are taking place physiologically, cellularly, molecularly? Perhaps these are the things that will serve as evidence – scientific proof – of heartache and love lost.

I was reminded of this experience Sunday after seeing the new stop-motion animation puppet film “Anomalisa” at Animas City Theatre, written and co-directed by Charlie Kaufman, the greatest living writer, according to me. Three movies in my top five were written by Kaufman, “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation” and “Eternal Sunshine.” I walked away from each of his movies transformed intellectually and emotionally, thinking about the world in a different way.

“Anomalisa” was no different.

The film follows sad sack Michael Stone, a beloved author and customer service guru visiting Cincinnati to give a lecture. It’s clear from the opening scene that something is peculiar with every other character’s voice. It doesn’t matter who Michael talks to –

man or woman, young or old, the cab driver, his wife, an ex-flame, his young son – they all sound the same, these soft, gentle, masculine voices (all, in fact, voiced by actor Tom Noonan).

That is except for one person, Lisa.

Voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lisa is a blushing Michael Stone fan staying at the same hotel to attend his lecture who can’t believe her luck in running into the superstar in her profession. There’s nothing particularly striking about Lisa. She’s not terribly remarkable or interesting, a bit pedestrian. She lacks self-confidence and doesn’t think she’s terribly smart. She admits to not having been intimate with anyone in eight years and is embarrassed about her body and selfconscious about a scar on her face.

But when she speaks, Michael hears song. He is smitten and giddy, her voice electrifying to him, a voice that pulls him from his own darkness.

Lisa’s melancholy a capella rendition of the song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” brings him to tears and left me in awe, transfixed. He revels in her light for as long as he can.

It all made me think about what it is about those whose paths we cross who unexpectedly stand apart from everyone else – anomalies – people whose energy we devour, whose voices we hear as song, where a remarkable aura exists and you just want to harness it, to bask in it.

I wonder what is happening physiologically in this science of attraction.

What is it that draws us to another?

Maybe it’s their mannerisms, the way they look down and to the side when they laugh, or the level of empathy we see in their eyes. Maybe it’s their words and ideas or maybe it’s just something residing inside their voice, ethereal waves, something in the timbres and tones that we can’t quite define.

At some point, emotions get pushed through our bloodstream and nervous system, vocal chords vibrate, ear drums buzz and somehow, through it all, we connect.

Space Love it Space: It’s the Final Frontier. It encapsulates every possibility; alien life forms, black holes that suck every bit of light and sound inside of them (badass), distant planets that might have way better Wi-Fi than we do, the overwhelming concept of infinity, or even more frightening, the chance that space does, in fact, have an expiration somewhere. But if it ends, what’s beyond that ending point?

Sure, you might feel insignificant looking up into the vast black mass of stars and planets, but isn’t that insignificance comforting? You can do whatever you want with your life; it probably doesn’t ultimately matter. Any mistakes you make don’t compare to oblivion.

You’re free and unencumbered. Plus, other than the deep places in the ocean, we’ve explored much of this planet already – it’s tapped out. There’s no real adventure left. There are McDonald’s everywhere. In outer space, though, you can find true exploration. You can fly for hundreds of light years, to distant galaxies, to discover things that are far beyond our wildest, limited, human imaginations.

There could be unknown horrors out there in the universe, extraterrestrial beings who want to overtake and colonize us as Columbus did to the Native Americans. Or we might be utterly alone, and we’ll never make contact with some entity larger or smarter than ourselves. Either way, it’s exciting.

Plus, we’re all here (arguably) because of the Big Bang. Things exploding and colliding and expanding out in space. So thank you, Space.

— Anya Jaremko-Greenwold

Hate it OK let’s start with the name: Space. You’d think with that name there would tons of room to do stuff with: To put neighborhoods and highways and football stadiums and high-rise apartments. But have you heard about the actual space in Space? It’s useless! Cold, dark, desolate, lacking gases humans can breathe, inhospitable, uninhabitable, unaccommodating. Rude!

And just when you think Space is this passive entity that has no bearing on our lives short of some kind of “nearby” red giant or yellow dwarf (or some other combination of color + size) exploding and destroying everything in a gazillion-light-mile radius, you look up at the night sky and see all those pesky stars, wondering if there are Earth-like planets orbiting them, wondering if someone like you is staring back, wondering if the light you see twinkling is from a ghost star, dead since all but forever. And there are just so many stars – too many if you ask me – a reminder of how vast the universe is, how we’re just a speck on a speck on a grain of sand on the largest beach in the universe and it’s clear how insignificant I am, how my problems are laughable comparatively, how this life is a blip of a millisecond in the grand scheme, how nothing we are all. I mean, I was really starting get into this groove of self-pity and self-importance and now it all doesn’t matter. Why? Because I chose to look up at night. Thanks, Space. Idiot.

— David Holub

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[Get Smart: Expert Advice on Trivial Affairs]

Cyle Talley

#vanlife

From the looks of Instagram, Matt Foley isn’t the only guy livin’ in a van by the river. Let Rex Winchester, fly-fishing guide with San Juan Angler, tell you what #vanlife is all about.

How’d you get into this?

It’s a practical means to solve a problem – the Durango housing market is insane.

We got pre-approved for a loan and did everything we could to jump on a place if it came available, but nothing did.

We?!

It’s me, my wife and our 90-pound Lab, Murphy.

What’s your rig?

I scoured the Internet to see what other people were doing and, on the way back from a climbing trip, we passed this big Dodge dealer and pulled over to get some measurements. Everything fell into place, and we drove off the lot with a 6-mile-old Dodge Promaster. Ours has the 170-inch wheelbase because we knew we were going to take it places. It’s gone down Old Lime Creek Road! We took out a personal loan to build it all out and finished it in 2½ months. There’re no straight lines on this thing, so we had to get creative in the building process.

What’s it got in it?

I figured if we’re going to live in a van, I wanted it to be really nice inside – not some creepy rape van. Full kitchen, Playstation, flat screen, solar, water, propane and a full-sized bed. We’re both just short enough to stretch out in it. It’s all self-contained with the exception of a bathroom. There’re tons of options – composting toilets, backpacker bags – but we decided to prioritize other things. I’ve become that dad who’s always turning around, “Everybody used the bathroom? Claire?

Murphy? OK, let’s lock ’er down!”

What’s to love about van life?

There’s no barrier to adventure. At the drop of a hat, we go. And I never forget anything at home! We’re going to Idaho tomorrow for three days to fish – it’s going to cost us $200. We also save a ton of money. After insurance, phone, van payment and food; between my job as a guide, and my wife working as

Courtesy of Rex Winchester

»» Claire and Rex Winchester and their dog Murphy hang out with their home/van. a teacher, we’re packing away $1,000 a month. In Durango.

What’s tough?

Early on, I would think, ‘Do people think I’m homeless? What do my parents think? Can I handle someone knocking on my door and telling me that I can’t park somewhere?’ I had this huge fear early on of breaking the law, of getting in trouble. There’re little loopholes where I potentially could get a DUI for just having alcohol in the van.

Is it harder for your wife because she has a “professional” job?

We have a membership at the rock gym and that’s our shower, but it can be three to four days between them.

She was nervous about it at first, but

it’s turned out that all of her teacher friends are intrigued by it. ‘How’s the van? What’s it like?’

What are the unintended benefits?

In the summer, when I can’t get the van cool enough, I have to go do stuff.

Opposite when it gets cold. We’ve got to be in the van and it’s going to be me, my wife and the dog. There isn’t enough solar to watch a movie because it’s been snowing, and we don’t have enough data to stream Netflix. So we’ve got six hours of talking to each other, or playing games, or reading. It’s ultimate intimacy.

The lack of space imposes minimalism, how does that look for you?

I’m hyper-analytical, so our budget is

crazy specific – like broken down to what we are allowed to spend per day, which is usually right around $5. So, if I want something, I think ‘Is it worth the only $5 I have today?’ and most of the time, it’s not. You constantly think, ‘Where would I put it? How would I use it?’ If you’re a hoarder, if you have a lot of attachments, it’d be tough.

What would you say to someone who wants to, but is on the fence?

DO it. You cannot prepare enough; you can’t imagine what it’s going to be like. We’ve become different – better – people because of the van.

Cyle Talley recommends you watch the old SNL Matt Foley sketch. If you have anything you’d like to Get Smart about, email him at cyle@cyletalley.com.

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Downtown Lowdown | Bryant Liggett

Gritty and angsty, bluegrass is as American as it gets

S

ome people say there’s too much bluegrass in this town. Others will say not enough.

It’s a healthy debate, with staunch supporters and opposition as bullheaded as politicos on the far left and right. The supporters could probably stand to listen to some metal once in a while, and the opposition is missing out on a genre that, when true to the originators, contains fast tempos and lyrical exploration celebrating jealousy, addiction, anger and other pure acts of personal wrongdoing, retold in beautiful song.

Bluegrass from La Plata and Montezuma counties will be showcased this weekend, with a double bill of Durango’s Badly Bent and Dolores’s Last Nickel playing Friday at the Henry Strater Theatre, and again on Saturday at the Sunflower Theatre in Cortez.

The Badly Bent remains a beloved local band, hitting a new

stride since picking up two new players last spring – Fred Hoeffler (vocals mandolin) and Jim Stanley (vocals, bass) – joining Cindi Trautmann (vocals, fiddle), Patrick Dressen (vocals, guitar) and Mark Epstein (vocals, banjo).

Last Nickel’s current lineup (Bobby Wintringham, mandolin; Nikki Sargent, bass fiddle; Chris Bouton, lead guitar; John Chmelir, rhythm guitar; and Andy Hutchinson, banjo) came together in 2013, with their sets digging into the well of traditional bluegrass, original compositions and covers that could be anything from Springsteen to The Flaming Lips.

Bluegrass continues to have an enduring relationship with its players and fans nationwide, perhaps because of its social appeal and accessibility.

“You can be any place at any time and play it,” said Mark Epstein, banjo player from The Badly Bent.

“You don’t have to be plugged in someplace, and you don’t have to have a whole lot of equipment to play it.”

Bryant’s best Friday: Bluegrass with The Badly Bent and Last Nickel, 6:30 p.m. $10/$12 Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave. Information: 375-7160.

Saturday: KDUR Cover Night, local bands playing the music of Lou Reed/Velvet Underground, 8 p.m. $5. Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive. Information: 799-2281.

That’s not the only reason. Curiosity toward bluegrass will open a door to lifetime pursuit of sounds that will enhance your record collection and the way you listen to music. Bands like The Sadies were reared on bluegrass. The Flying Burrito Brothers, Elvis Presley and Split Lip Rayfield have all been touched by the genre. Fans of technical guitar playing should bow down to Doc Watson and Tony Rice, and fans of musical history need to recognize Bill Monroe as an important of a musical figure as Miles Davis or Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson or Chuck Berry.

Monroe’s name, like the aforementioned, is

singularly tied to a genre of music with worldwide influence and recognition.

Forget the hippie-dippy stuff that gives people a reason to hate bluegrass, because at its core is solid musicianship and lyrical angst growing out of the fertile soil of American and music history.

There’s also the social aspect; it’s safe to say that after Guns N’ Roses reunites and plays a mediocre set to a bunch of disinterested, selfietaking and social media whores at Coachella, Slash won’t be wandering through the parking lot looking to play more music at 2 a.m. Bluegrass appeals because the music is constant; mainstage performers end up right beside you playing songs and drinking your beer into the wee hours of the morning whether at a festival or a concert in downtown Durango.

“People at the top of their game are also part of the crowd,” Epstein said. “The music is so in touch, it’s so communicable. The people into it are all part of the same thing.”

Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. liggett_b@ fortlewis.edu.

Courtesy of The Badly Bent

»» From left, Mark Epstein, Fred Hoeffler, Cindi Trautmann, Jim Stanley and Patrick Dressen make up The Badly Bent.

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[sound]

Covering Velvet Underground »» Bands to converge for KDUR’s “Cover Night” – a celebration of camaraderie in local music Anya Jaremko-Greenwold DGO Staff Writer

KDUR Community Radio started doing “cover nights” to fundraise in the late ’90s. The idea was to think of artists with recognizable pieces of music everybody would know. It’s since become a rallying point, an opportunity for local musicians to come together and celebrate the work of a significant band or artist. This year it’s Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground (selected by a poll on the KDUR website). “It really helps people dig into the back catalog of these artists – you’re not just hearing their most well-known songs,” said Bryant Liggett, KDUR station manager and DGO music columnist.

It’s not like an open mic night, either; these are all established musicians, not random people who can sort of carry a tune. This year’s event features local acts like the Lawnchair Kings, the Crags, Farmington Hill, Papa Otis, Caitlin Cannon and the Cannondolls and Bob’s Your Uncle.

So what’s interesting about Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground?

“The stuff they wrote was catchy, dark, interesting, and cutting edge,” Liggett said. They’ve influenced myriad genres of music and musicians; classic rock, rock ’n’ roll, folk music, punk rock. It’s music that was representative of New York City at the time, a gritty and dangerous place. “It’s drug-music, seedy, waiting for your man on the street corner to show up with the heroin,” Liggett describes. The Velvet Underground was only around for a handful of years, though Lou Reed had a longer career as a solo artist, from around the mid-’70s up until his death in 2013.

Even if you’re not a fan, you are bound to recognize quite a few of their bestknown tunes: “Walk on the Wild Side,” “Sweet Jane,” “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “Perfect Day,” which plays when Ewan McGregor overdoses in the film “Trainspotting.”

The Lawn Chair Kings have been together on the Durango music scene since 2000; their self-described musical genre is “western garage.” Erik Nordstrom plays guitar and sings in both LCK and Farmington Hill, another local band. The Kings have a longstanding tradition of playing in KDUR

»» So what’s interesting about Lou Reed (shown) and the Velvet Underground? “The stuff they wrote was catchy, dark, interesting, and cutting edge,” said Bryant Liggett, KDUR station manager. cover nights; we spoke with Nordstrom about the importance of Lou Reed and the inspiration behind cover nights like these. KDUR’s Cover Night presents Lou Reed & Velvet Underground is happening Saturday, Feb. 20th. Doors open at 7 p.m., music begins at 8 p.m. at Animas City Theatre.

Your band has done a lot of cover nights. What’s great about them?

The original idea was to have local musicians uniting in some fashion.

We thought of Neil Diamond night, the first one. We wanted it to be genreneutral, so bands of every kind of genre could come play, bluegrass or punk or whatever. On the one hand, you’re celebrating the artist – but the larger thing that’s happening is the music community coming together in a way that they typically wouldn’t.

Whatever artist we’re covering is just a medium for us to all get together and do something in common. We wanted to give the money we’d generate to KDUR, a radio station that does such a good job supporting local musi-

cians. I was directly involved with the first five cover nights, but all along I was trying to get KDUR to be increasingly part of the management of things. The first five I remember were Neil Diamond, Prince, Kiss, Madonna and the Rolling Stones. It does give you a new appreciation of the artists’ influence. Going back and listening to the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed, I realized how they’ve been an influence on me.

Why are the Velvet Underground or Lou Reed important artists to consider within the history of music?

Some people describe VU as one of the proto-punk bands that pioneered the punk or art rock movement. I like them as somebody who gets into country rock – I think they have a little bit of a country twang to them, which is funny, because they’re all from New York. They dealt with the underbelly of NYC culture, heroin and sexual deviancies. It’s progressive music, and it’s interesting to revisit. When I think of indie or alternative rock, my ears

definitely hear their influence in a lot of modern music, like Pavement and Yo La Tengo. And David Bowie! Some of the best covers I’ve heard over the years are ones that play around with the interpretation of the music. It’s more about how these musicians want to interact with the music than about the actual artists – that makes it different from a strict tribute night.

Any favorite cover night moments over the years?

On Neil Diamond night, this little girl came up on stage and did “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and sang, “like Neil Diamond in the sky.” That was one of the best moments. One Hit Wonder night was great; there was this band Warrior, featuring Dan Groth on toy guitar, and they did “The Final Countdown.” There was an allgirl band, I don’t remember the name, that covered “Big Balls” during AC/ DC night. That sticks out in my mind.

I always get wowed by something – I never knew that person could sing like that, or play guitar like that. So many good memories.

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[Sartorial over-enthusiasm with Heather of Sideshow]

What’s new So Pitted “neo” Available: Feb. 19th via Sub Pop as a download, CD, LP and in very limited Loseredition white vinyl.

Style Fetish | Heather Narwid

To be upfront from the onset, this particular record isn’t going to be for everyone. I suppose that should go without saying given that we all have our own personal tastes.

Likes. Dislikes. The debut full-length from the Kent, Washington, trio is heavy, loud, discordant and uses abrasive, off-tempo time signatures. This is all done quite purposefully and has even morphed into the band’s defacto mission statement. Nathan Rodriguez expounds on this, explaining their approach “is to embrace nonlinear songwriting and avoid repeating itself. A lot of our band is a reaction to music as a whole,” says Rodriguez. “What we’re attracted to the most [is] the freedom of ... doing anything that we want to do, instead of feeling forced to do it the way we should do it.”

Street style: The rail worker

Rodriguez, along with band members Liam Downey and Jeannine Koewler bonded over a shared love of ’90s and early oughts alternative rock such as Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and At The Drive In, along with new wave acts such as Devo and Cocteau Twins. These influences culminate in their own brand of self-described Neo Wave and are offered up here in “neo.”

The D&SNG issues traditionallystyled uniforms to their workers: Key brand overalls (which began in Kansas in 1908), chambray shirts and their choice of either hickory engineer or Pay Day hat. Wearing mood-killing modern baseball hats while working on the train is (thankfully) forbidden.

Recommended if you are a fan of The Jesus Lizard, Butthole Surfers, METZ, Big Black or Scratch Acid —— Jon E. Lynch KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu

New at Southwest Sound Feb. 19 »»Mavis Staples, “Living on a High Note” »»Animal Collective, “Painting With” »»Wolfmother, “Victorious” »»Lake Street Dive, “Side Pony” »»Ra Ra Riot, “Need Your Light”

I encountered Chase Bond on the streets this week and had to ask “What are you wearing?” Chase is a rail worker, and I should have known right away by the purposeful and utilitarian look of his old-style outfit. He shared some of his knowledge of vintage and antique rail worker accessories and enlightened me on some of the more esoteric elements of a railroader uniform.

Chase works on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad as a firefighter in summer and does coach maintenance in winter. He enjoys wearing the vintage railroader style for work and is interested in raising the level of authenticity of the D&SNG experience.

Chase explained rail worker hats to me. The so-called “hickory” blue and white pinstripe traditional engineers cap, with its pleated sides and fuller top, were less aerodynamic, more prone to fly off and were worn on slower trains. The other style, that Chase is wearing, is a vintage 1940s Penney’s Pay Day “balloon” hat. Its bubble-topped ball-shape holds air, is streamlined and the downward brim protects eyes from wind and sparks. It is a perfect design where form followed function. This aerodynamic hat was better used on faster trains. Black or dark blue are the preferred colors so as not to show soot. This style was also designed and made by George Kromer (also responsible for the classic wool plaid earflap hunters hat), and the

Shutterstock

»» The so-called “hickory” blue and white pinstripe traditional engineers cap.

bicycling cap.

Chase volunteers for the Winter Photographers Night Shoot hosted by the D&SNG and brings antique props like an oil can or kerosene torch and wears his most traditional uniform to up the historic ambiance for the photographers.

He also likes to wear vintage clothing when he is off the clock, and is currently looking for a vintage wide-brim 1940s fedora and a 1940s-style suit.

Heather Narwid/DGO

Thank you, Chase Bond, for speaking with me and sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm on the history and finer points of railroad-wear.

»» Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad worker Chase Bond shows off his Key brand overalls, chambray shirt and Pay Day balloon hat.

shape was so useful that this style morphed into common use as the modern welders cap and also road-

Heather Narwid owns Sideshow Emporium, a vintage clothing shop soon to be moving (again) from downtown to a permanent location at 32nd St. and County Road 250. She heard you have a truck and wants you to know that you look particularly nice today.

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[beer]

First Draughts | Robert Alan Wendeborn

Finding beauty in those drinking-night

W

hen staring off into the starry night, it’s often at the actual stars themselves that we stare at, or the moon, or the clouds. Sometimes we stare at stillness of the sky hoping for one of the stars to fall for one of our wishes. Sometimes it’s full of thought. Sometimes wonder. Sometimes it’s empty-minded blankness. Rarely do we look at the blackness that separates the stars from each other, but to astronomers,

that’s often where the good stuff happens. At the center of spiral galaxies, there’s a black hole, a dense mass that releases no energy, reflects no light, nothing.

And that is the exciting part: the story is in the lack of a story.

Anyone who drinks heavily with any regularity knows and fears this same feeling, the lack of a story, the mystery, the black out.

Maybe you wake up with no pants on because they’re in your freezer.

Maybe you smeared tacos all over the inside of your car. Maybe you fell asleep in the laundry room of your friend’s apartment building.

Maybe you wake up in your neighbor’s bushes and can’t move your arm because you slept on it wrong and pinched a nerve, which will require months of extensive physical therapy. Maybe your mouth is stuffed with towels and you’re missing 1.5 teeth. Maybe you ordered sexy underwear to your old address while you were on a vacation to Iceland and when you got back the person who moved into your old place asks you who the lingerie is for.

Maybe you booked a one-way ticket to Japan. Maybe you passed out

30 Pack of PBR $16.99 Everyday price!

stories made of missing pieces at 3 p.m., woke up at 3 a.m. and went to the bar and was utterly confused why it would be closed so early.

Maybe you did this. Maybe not.

And the mystery is even compounded by the particulars. What’s in your pockets. What’s left in the microwave. Why your underwear is on crooked or upside down or inside out or floating in your toilet. Why your toothbrush is in an empty beer can in your kitchen sink. Why your wallet is sitting next to your computer with five tabs open to amazon.com pages featuring different Harry Potter replica wands. Why you thought it was a good idea to watch “Barbarella” on Netflix and eat a frozen waffle with peanut butter without cooking the waffle or using utensils and how that has to be a fact because it is the only thing that explains why there’s peanut butter in your beard, on your pillows, and how peanut butter got all over the keypad of your computer and why there are right now at this very moment mushy formerly-frozen waffles next to your bed.

And in the end, you’ll never know exactly what happened. You can check your timeline to see how many terrible photos you posted. You can check your messages to see who

you accidentally texted on purpose because you wanted sex or to vent a breakup or a ride or all of the above.

You can check your bank account to see where you went or where you possibly left your debit card. You can have a good banter with your roommates in the morning over brunch discussing exactly what happened.

But, no matter what you do, it will still just be pieces – you’ll never get the whole. You’ll only be able to observe the effects, the detritus, the ruin, the wake of what actually happened.

And then you’ll ask the inevitable question: Why do we do this to ourselves? And the answer is really just, no reason. There is no reason, other than it happens sometimes on the way past a good time. The only thing that keeps you tied to the ground, the only thing that makes it worth losing that time and space is that banter with friends, the telling of a story that is made of nothing but missing pieces.

Robert Alan Wendeborn puts the bubbles in the beer at Ska Brewing Co. His first book of poetry, The Blank Target, was published this past spring by The Lettered Streets Press and is available at Maria’s Bookshop. robbie@skabrewing.com

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[stage]

Beloved ‘The Little Prince’ comes to life at FLC

3 Great Children’s Book Adaptations

You’ve probably heard of The Little Prince. It’s one of the most beloved works of children’s literature ever written; but it’s more of an adult fable than a kids’ story. The fanciful French tale was written by poet and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and it’s about the loss of childhood innocence and the pain and beauty of growing up. In the book, a young prince (nothing more than a little boy with superior wisdom) meets a pilot who has crash-landed in a desert on Earth.

The prince himself hails from another planet – asteroid B-612, to be exact – and tells the aviator all about his recent intergalactic adventures. The aviator narrates the story in past-tense recollection, lamenting the lack of creative understanding and imagination exhibited by most adults – but recognizing how the mysterious little prince helped him, reminding the aviator to look at the world with a child’s sense of wonder. The Little Prince has been adapted countless times; into films, television, ballet, operatic works, and of course, stage plays.

Maurice Sendak’s weird and wonderful picture book is only 338 words long, but managed to tell a memorable tale through vivid illustrations. A little boy named Max is sent to bed without his supper, only to find his bedroom transformed into a wild jungle. He soon meets the “Wild Things,” fearsome creatures who romp with him, then crown Max their king. Spike Jonze adapted the book into a feature-film in 2009, crafting the epic beasts as a blend of computer-generated animation and performers in oversized, hairy costumes. The result was exciting and innovative.

Genoa Martin, a sophomore at Fort Lewis College, will be playing the lead in the Theatre Department’s production of “The Little Prince,” adapted for the stage by Rick Cummins and John Scoullar, and directed by Ginny Davis, FLC Associate Professor of Theatre. A technical theater major, Martin was also in “Spring Awakening” last semester; but other than that, she’s a college theater novice. We spoke about the unique challenges of adapting “The Little Prince” for the stage, and why adults will love it.

“The Little Prince” shows at Fort Lewis College MainStage Theatre on Feb. 19, 20, 21, 25, 26 and 27; all shows start at 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday performances at 3 p.m.

“The Little Prince” seems like a hard book to adapt. Have you read the original? Are there any changes made?

“Where the Wild Things Are”

“Wicked”

Jerry McBride/BCI Media

»» Genoa Martin, as the Little Prince, and Wyatt Grice, as the Aviator rehearse for “The Little Prince” at Fort Lewis College.

I have; it’s one of my favorite books. In the book version, there’s a couple characters who aren’t in the play, like the drunk guy. It’s a children’s play, obviously.

Is the Little Prince role always played by a girl in the theater version?

No, it’s just something we’re doing. It’s usually an 8- to 12-year-old boy, or sometimes a girl. But I happened to be there. I have to wear a wig and a chest binder, and I have to contour my jaw to make me look more like a 10-year-old boy.

snake puppet – even if you don’t like anything else, you’ll probably enjoy the light-up snake puppet.

How do you convey the visual, illustrated parts of the book, like when the narrator draws a sheep or the elephant inside a snake?

We have a projection screen, so as the aviator is drawing, the projections are being drawn behind him. That’s really cool.

What do you love about this play?

What were the challenges of the role?

It’s so sweet. “Spring Awakening” was really heavy, emotional, where everything is terrible and everyone dies.

This is light-hearted; you can bring your kids to come see it. Both parents and kids will get something out of it. It’s meaningful to everyone who sees it or reads it, there’s something for everyone.

Being a little kid. It’s hard. I slip back into the things I do, which aren’t necessarily what a 10-year-old boy would do.

I have to jump around, get impatient, make noises, wiggle.

Finding those mannerisms, and always running around and keeping that energy waaaaay above where it needs to be, was really hard. I get tired.

Why do you think adults will like it?

There’s a lot of hidden symbolism. It’s about an aviator who crashes, and the Little Prince is there to help him rediscover his inner child. A lot of grownups lose that. And when they bring their kids to see this, they’re like “awwww.”

They get that lost feeling back. Plus, the show is visually stimulating; our tech, the lights, costumes. There’s a 7-yard

What’s your favorite part about the role?

I get to laugh a lot. It’s not something I have to take seriously or internalize the emotions and really “feel” it, you know? I don’t have to hold a skull. I can just kind of giggle and run around and be goofy. I don’t really get to be goofy a lot anymore.

The novel by Gregory Maguire is technically a young adult book, inspired by the characters and themes of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz (definitely a children’s classic). But Maguire’s novel is considerably darker and more adult than the original; instead of following Dorothy, the story’s heroine is the Wicked Witch of the West, a woman not nearly as wicked as she seems. She’s actually a complex and tragic figure. Stephen Schwartz’s 2003 smash hit Broadway musical adaptation of “Wicked” starred Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel and has been running on Broadway for 5,000 performances.

“Marry Poppins” Everyone knows the 1964 Walt Disney musical starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke; Andrews won an Oscar for Best Actress for the film, and iconic song numbers like “Chim Chim Cheree” (during which the characters dance with chimney sweeps on rooftops), “A Spoonful of Sugar” and, of course, the unpronounceable “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” have become cultural staples. But far fewer people have read the original “Mary Poppins” books; eight in all, written by P.L. Travers, published from 1934 to 1988. The series follows an English nanny who cares for the Banks children in London. She’s magical, and leads the kids on strange adventures – although she’s meaner and more aloof in the books.

— Anya Jaremko-Greenwold DGO Staff Writer

—— Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, DGO Staff Writer

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[stage]

Making theater fun »» The Merely Players’ latest contemporary production is “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” Anton Chekhov, a Russian playwright, isn’t exactly known for churning out “fun” productions. (Russians rarely do or write anything with the primary intention of “fun.”) Chekhov’s work – short stories and four plays in particular – is highly esteemed, but blends tragedy and comedy with intense and often harrowing results. So contemporary playwright Christopher Durang stole character names, themes and inspiration from Chekhov’s classics and updated them for the modern age. He wrote a loose adaptation rendering Chekhov’s material laugh-out-loud funny; this play is called “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.”

The Merely Players, a Durango-based theater company founded by Mona Wood-Patterson and Charles Ford (formerly the theater directors at Durango High School), are ever-mindful of their prospective audience. They selected Durang’s play for their February production so people could have fun at the theater. The group puts on three to four productions a year, and this month’s Tony Awardwinning show, a collaboration with the Durango Arts Center, is a comedy about resentment, guilt, regret and the older generation battling the changes enacted by the younger. We spoke with Wood-Patterson about the play and Durango’s thriving thespian community.

“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” will be showing Feb. 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. at Durango Arts Center.

Tell me about the play.

Christopher Durang wrote it; he’s mostly an absurdist writer, so this is a little bit of a turn for him, because it’s a realistic setting. He studied the plays of Chekhov, who is famous for writing “The Three Sisters,” “The Cherry Orchard,” “Uncle Vanya” and “The Seagull” – and took characters and themes out of those, put them in a blender, then set it in contemporary Pennsylvania. There’s three siblings, Vanya, Sonia and Masha, all played by actors in their 50s – and then Spike is the young boytoy. He’s hilarious. It’s a witty script that creates an endearing and sometimes profound theater experience. If you do know Chekhov’s work, you’ll get some of the inside jokes. But you’ll be totally fine without knowing, too. And Spike spends most of the play in his underwear!

hotel swimming pool, with the water drained out, and in a warehouse. It’s important that the play matches the atmosphere. We always do the big musical at the Arts Center, but other than that, we’re roving and homeless. It’s creatively challenging and inspiring and also really difficult. You go into a space and you have to bring your own lighting, sound system and find chairs. For rehearsing, we have to find places to rent. It’s constantly knocking on doors, asking “Can we use the space?” One audience member made a comment: “being a Merely Players fan is like going on a scavenger hunt! Where are they gonna be next?” So we’re always looking for new spaces. We’d love for people to reach out to us and offer.

Young people are often less interested in theater than in, say, live music. How can we get more millennials to see plays?

Jerry McBride/BCI Media

»» Mona Wood-Paterson directs the Merely Players in the play “Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike” on Tuesday at the Durango Arts Center.

How do you cast actors in your productions?

I generally don’t do auditions. This time, I called actors I knew and thought would fit the role. I knew Spike had to be hot.

I was the theater director at Durango High School for over 20 years, and during that time, I had the privilege of working with a lot of people, and Matt Welbourn (playing Spike) was my student. I was wondering what happened to him, thinking he’d be perfect, then two days later we went out to dinner and he was our waiter.

What hole in the Durango theater community were you trying to fill by starting the Merely Players?

My husband and I already had Merely Players as a company we developed in 1995, but we were only doing an occasional show. So we launched into it full-time when we left the high school.

We wanted to bring contemporary, topical, smart theater to this town, and give adult actors the chance to practice and a venue. Then the DAC put together a theater program, so now there’s two of

us; Jack Llewellyn, who works for the Chamber of Commerce, calls it “coopetition.” We work together, we can share resources, and the better they are, the better we are. When an actor works with both of us, they’ll be stronger.

You’re a “found space” company – what does that mean?

You find a space that ordinarily doesn’t have theater in it, and do a play there.

“Much Ado About Nothing” was done at James Ranch. We’ve done plays in a

Live theater is a group of people having a shared, collective experience. It’s not like watching a movie that will be the same every time; every night is different. There’s always the possibility that something will change. Live theater has been around since the Greeks in 5000 B.C. I saw a meme that said “3D movies have been around for thousands of years – it’s called theater.” We’re pretty good at keeping prices down, too; we know it’s expensive.

And as far as “Vanya” goes, millennials should know it’s a play about the disparity between young and old. With the older generation saying, “I don’t want to change!” and Vanya railing against texting and emailing. And then a line from Spike is, “Time marches on, dude.”

—— Anya Jaremko-Greenwold DGO Staff Writer

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Converging creative journeys »» Each having graduated high school in 1994 in different parts of the country, five Durango

artists and friends look back at what it means to be 40 in new multimedia show at Studio &

Dan Garner: I am now able to let go of the process more these days, especially in drafting. When it comes to hand engraving, I certainly have better skills than when I first picked up a burin, burnisher and stylus. What hasn’t really changed all that much is my love of small things. I still think of my art as something that one has to get close – very close – to see and appreciate. When one has to break the barriers of personal space to interact with art, we’ve transcended the forces of isolation, a small miracle.

By David Holub DGO editor

»» Tom Kipp’s painting representing the year 2015, the Year of the Goat in the Chinese zodiac and the year he turned 40. The painting will be featured in the Studio & show “So Far: Reconstructing 40 Years.”

Courtesy of Tom Kipp

Durango is a town heavy with transplants: people who come here for school and stay, those who vacation here and return, people lured by their thirst for the outdoors, or beckoned by the gravitational pull of serendipity.

For so many of us, Durango is a place we’ve found, or did it find us?

That is the story of five Durango artists – Tim Kapustka, Dan Garner, Dan Groth, Shay Lopez and Tom Kipp. They found this place, found friends in each other and have seen their art flourish here. Additionally, they all graduated high school in 1994 and either turned 40 late last year or will sometime soon.

The convergence is the basis of a new show, “So Far: Reconstructing 40 Years.” The show was derived with loose parameters, but the impetus was for each artist to take a look back, to think about what it means to turn 40, to reflect on where they’ve come as people and artists, to think about how their work has changed and evolved and how the cultural zeitgeist and coming of age in the mid-’90s has influenced their lives and work. Then, they would curate and cultivate art to reflect this.

“So Far” opens Friday with an opening reception from 5 to 9 p.m. at Studio & (1027 Main Ave.) and runs through Feb. 28.

DGO asked the artists to speak about their process in preparing for the show and how their art has changed in the last 20-plus years. Their experiences in the context of their art reflect personal growth, technological advancements, refining and mastering technique and vision, and artistic and intellectual maturation, all of it documentable through the tangibility and physicality of art.

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Back in ’94 or ’95, my art was very, very minute. I would be able to fill a postage stamp with a little scene or an abstract line drawing, or some tiny psychedelia. These days, I have greater confidence in my line quality and no longer have to use minute scale to hide deficiencies. I still adore the minute, however. The beauty is in the details.

Another thing that has changed is my sense of subject matter. I graduated from high school with the keen sense that I really did not know all that much about anything.

From college and beyond I took it upon myself to educate myself about just about everything: taxonomy, horticulture, wooden instrument construction, celestial navigation, small engine repair and on and on. I am still intensely curious, way more so than I ever was in high school and the wonder and curiosity shows up in my art more these days than it ever did in ’94 or ’95.

Courtesy of Tim Kapustka

»» Tim Kapustka’s vector illustration of O.J. Simpson representing the year 1994, which will be featured in the Studio & show “So Far: Reconstructing 40 Years.”

How has your art changed in the last 20 years and what influenced these changes?

Tim Kapustka: My art has changed mightily. First off, 20 years ago, I didn’t even know how to do what I am doing today. Literally. I didn’t know anything about using a computer as a tool. Now it is my main tool. So that is a pretty black-andwhite example. Another one I can think of is that it took me a good long time to develop the courage and vulnerability to finally admit I was an artist and that is what I wanted to be. A long time, decades. And now that has happened, the growth that I’ve been able to show is quite drastic. So the ability for me to get better at what I do is something that has been unleashed.

In the last 20 years, my art has gone from drawing caricatures of my friends to doing what I do now. What influenced this? Everything. But some things specifically: The Internet, the 1984 Detroit Tigers, the color brown, rivers, oak trees, Canada, Alf, Magnum PI, music, potato salad, Scrabble.

Shay Lopez: I’ve come to feel much more free in my pursuit of experience. I’ve learned that as an artist, it’s not necessarily my job to execute a learned skill or even to follow and adhere to a certain technique or medium. It’s my job to explore, to develop skills and techniques and grapple with the oftentimes difficult adventure of discovery.

Tom Kipp: My art has changed completely in the past 20 years. Back then, art was more fun. I could just sketch out some bullshit and not think twice about it. I was learning art fundamentals and wasn’t worried about a final product. I would do a simple, small, ballpoint pen sketch in the middle of a page of a sketchbook, call that page finished, then move on to the next page. There was nearly no emotion for the art I was making. It was just to pass the time and to have fun. In a way, I miss those days.

Now, however, I look at things much more differently. I struggle over getting angles and perspectives correct, drawing things two or three times until they look right. I will put a lot of thought into a piece before I even begin sketching, sometimes to the point of getting stressed. The emotional payoff, however, is much more significant now than it was when I was 18. There is a delightful feeling that comes with nailing a watercolor fade, or achieving just the right balance of black and white on an illustration. It can be

»» Tim Kapustka

»» Dan Garner

»» Shay Lopez

»» Tom Kipp

»» Dan Groth

Continued on Page 14

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Reflecting on 40 and the power of journaling

By Dan Groth Special to DGO

When I moved back to Durango as a 35-year-old, I got yet another job in the food service industry, where I worked with mostly college students. I vowed to myself that I would be done with food service by 40 (which I just turned). I remain a part-time cook, but over the past few months I had quite the revelation in how I perceive my life: Art is now my career, while food service (or retail, or whatever) is just my job. To get to this point, I expended much time and effort into making and showing my art, but I recently made a big leap in reorienting my life toward deeper expression, most notably with a concerted effort to come to terms with my past through the means of artistic expression (be it visual, music or acting), to discern what kind of stories I tell about myself and how they affect my everyday existence, and how to honor my past (good and bad) while letting go of things I no longer need.

As I’ve approach this art show, the key point of reference that ties everything together is that I began my lifelong practice of journaling on Jan. 7, 1994. As I entered that year, I was embracing my funkiness, finding a new identity as a more free-spirited outdoorsy creative type, and rejecting my previous TV-watching, Nintendo-playing, sports-guy life in a liberating sort of way. My journal started off with the mere recording of daily events, and sometimes trying to recall for posterity events that occurred before my start date. It began to expand my consciousness in ways I didn’t recognize at the time. Within a week or two of finishing my first journal, I read it front to back and continued to develop a notion of my own story.

It was a wonderful time to be writing, with developing friendships with women, but the effect of my journaling, which had quickly become an integral part of my life, surely enhanced my perception of how good those times were. Looking back 22 years, I see that my budding outdoorsman/environmentalist identity at the time was part of a larger cultural zeitgeist – especially living in uber-outdoorsy Boulder County – and some of my zaniness can be attributed to the “freak flag” nature of ’90s alt-culture, which I’d embraced in my own way. But such is the nature of cultural evolution: We all participate in our own way, some more fully than others.

I am not as consistent with daily writing as I was when I started, but journaling continues to remain a crucial part of my life, and will be so until I pass on. I have read all of my journals, many of them more than once, but an epiphany occurred this summer after I “confronted” a journal that I’d been avoiding. It was from exactly 10 years before, recording a time that had left a bit of a scar on my life. While reading it, I wrote commentary in a separate journal. It was emotionally taxing and I became concerned that I was dragging myself down into that terrible space. I was able to snap out of it with the help of friends, but it was a tough time. I am currently re-reading my first two journals – they are much lighter, joyful accounts – but as I see my budding sense of self-storytelling in those 22-year-old pages, I also recognize how much the story I developed in 1994 influenced how I came into dark times in 2005. There

From Page 13

mildly euphoric, but I didn’t understand that when I was a teenager.

Those changes have been influenced by drawing almost daily during the past 17 years as a professional tattooer.

That’s a lot of time and a lot of practice.

Another huge difference now compared to then is how I view process and product. At 18, I was all about the (finished) product because I didn’t understand process. I could breeze through a museum and just look for images that struck me as appealing. Now, it is the opposite. I creep through museums and galleries at a snail’s pace wondering, “HOW did he DO this?”

Dan Groth: As I move forward in my art career, it is helpful to look back and see my evolution from the early/ mid ’90s incipiency of my creative ethos to the present time. Toward the end of my high school years, my sketchbook output reached a level of spontaneously controlled chaos. Outside the classroom setting, I was at the height of my game – unselfconsciously creating crazy postmodern conceptual art with paper and a pencil. My “official” art, even into college, was rather stilted and forced. I matured as the years went on and grew to excel in numerous genres of art. After college, I had a bit of a slump that was resurrected, again, by sketchbook art. I think I ended up veering toward pen-and-ink as my preferred media as a way of putting my sketchbook art into a more permanent/respectable representation. When I decided to focus on actually becoming a Capital-A “Artist,” I doubled-down on pen-and-ink, even as I yearned to use color and to recapture the flow and spontaneity of watercolor. Pen-and-ink was a solitary, contemplative mode of production that led me to some success, but since 2013 I’ve been branching out into different media while keeping the aspect of pen-and-ink, which connected the micro- with the macrocosm.

What was your approach to this show?

Courtesy of Dan Groth

»» Examples of Dan Groth’s previous pen and ink drawings, “Grand Bird and the Cliff Dweller” (top) and “Hominid.”

isn’t a straight line between 1994 and the present time, but I remain the same person with similar tendencies. We all have stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves, but sometimes we need to revise our stories, and that requires coming to terms with the more troublesome times in our lives, something journaling has allowed me to do.

Kapustka: For this show, I decided to do an illustration for every year of my life. They are all vector illustrations and depict a wide variety of things from over the past 40 years. I plan to hang these pieces in chronological order, forming a bit of a timeline for my existence. Sounds heavy, when I put it that way.

Garner: My approach has mainly been Continued on Page 15

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Courtesy of Dan Garner

»» A mixed-media piece by Dan Garner to be featured in the Studio & show “So Far: Reconstructing 40 Years.”

BEST MARGARITAS IN TOWN HAPPY HOUR Monday-Friday 2:30pm-6pm one of musing on the narratives that have From Page 14

shaped me, whether they be stories from my childhood, those that enchanted me as a young man, the ones I tell my own kids or the meta-narratives that seem to run like a vein through them all.

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Lopez: As I tend to work in a lot of different media, I took it upon myself – perhaps a bit overambitiously – to put my diversity on display. The core of my work for this show is the written word, contained within five different handcrafted books. Each book is an essay or grouping of essays which loosely fit a theme: Friends, Music, Home, and one book is a collection of sketches. To accompany the literary component are different visual pieces, one a sculpture, one a painting, another a photo and finally a video.

Kipp: I am focusing on two distinct periods of time: when I was 18, and now.

When I was 18, photography was my art of choice. I thought I was going to pursue photography as a career. I have chosen to show photos I took and printed when I was 18 years old, all shot on film and printed in a darkroom. None of these photographs have ever been displayed, and few people have ever seen them. I am also including four new paintings made for this show, specifically.

Groth: I have been experimenting with a new medium of art recently that involves cutting up watercolors and then pasting them into completely different, fully-realized works of art. I have been increasingly fascinated with the concept of collage, both in visual and musical art forms, and the idea of creating raw material for the express purpose of collage-ing

HOME OF THE COOLEST MARGARITAS IN TOWN

Courtesy of Dan Groth

»» A collage by Dan Groth to be featured in the Studio & show “So Far: Reconstructing 40 Years.”

was intriguing to me. I have fully immersed myself in this art form, which requires me to destroy that which I have created in order to make something better. In the process, I have had to re-recognize the fact that life is ever-evolving and that sometimes one needs to break more fully with one’s past.

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[ movies ]

Risen Playing at Stadium 9 Rating: PG-13 Genre: Drama, action &

adventure Directed by: Kevin Reyn-

olds Written by: Kevin Reynolds,

Paul Aiello Runtime: 1 hr. 47 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: Not available Synopsis: The first 40 days

after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is told through the eyes of an agnostic Roman Centurion charged by Pontius Pilate to investigate rumors of a risen Jewish Messiah and locate the missing deceased body of Jesus of Nazareth in order to subdue an imminent uprising in Jerusalem. During Centurion’s mission, his doubts of such a supernatural occurrence peel away as he encounters the Apostles and other historic biblical characters and bears witness to the legendary storied events that followed the Resurrection. A great mystery unfolds during Centurion’s quest to find the body and he is deeply affected by his first-person investigation, as his previous beliefs on the matter are forever altered based on what he’s now witnessed.

Starring Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth and Cliff Curtis.

Thibault Grabherr/Focus Features via AP

»» Stephan James is Jesse Owens in the new movie “Race.”

A long way from greatness

By Richard Roeper The Chicago Sun-Times

The list of truly memorable movies about track and field is a short one, including “Chariots of Fire,” “Personal Best,” “Saint Ralph,” “Without Limits” and a handful of others.

Maybe it’s because you can only do so much cinematically with many of the disciplines. While the long jump and the hurdles and the pole vault and the marathon can be exciting to watch in person or on TV, how do you create intense drama from these events?

“Race” tells the story of a brave and gifted and determined man who accomplished great feats during a pivotal moment in world history – but it’s a by-thenumbers sports biopic with little nuance and a penchant for saccharine-soaked dramatic moments.

Probably the best thing about the film is Stephan James’ performance as Jesse Owens, the legendary sprinter and long jumper who began gaining national acclaim as a high school athlete. “Race” concentrates primarily on the years 1935 and 1936, when Owens was at Ohio State University and then, of course, starring for the U.S. at the Berlin Olympics of 1936 – much to the disgust of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Race Playing at Stadium 9 Rating: PG-13 Genre: Drama Directed by: Stephen Hopkins Written by: Anna Waterhouse, Joe

Shrapnel Runtime: 2 hr. 14 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: Not available

Unfortunately, the casting of Jason Sudeikis as Ohio State track and field coach Larry Snyder is a major misstep.

There’s a certain lightweight quality to this performance that doesn’t seem to jell with the complexities of Snyder. The coach is a raging alcoholic, but he’s also a wonderful mentor to Jesse and a fierce defender of equal rights at a time when blacks weren’t allowed to even try out for the Ohio State football team. This is a rich, complex character – or at least it should be.

Director Stephen Hopkins pulls out all the stops to get us invested in Owens’ greatest moments, e.g., a Big Ten meet in 1935 in Ann Arbor, when Owens set three world records and tied a fourth within a 45-minute period.

The music swells. James does a fine

job of mimicking Owens’ running and jumping styles. It’s all quite competent – just not very involving. A man jumping into a sand pit, followed by officials using a tape measure to ascertain just how far he’s leapt, simply isn’t in the same dramatic league as a boxing match or a football game.

When we move on to the Olympics, the relatively simplistic storytelling continues. We get an unnecessary sequence with Judge Jeremiah Mahoney (William Hurt), president of the Amateur Athletic Union, calling for a U.S. boycott of the Games, with American Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage (Jeremy Irons) arguing in favor of American participation. We know the U.S. participated, so what’s the point?

Occasionally “Race” delivers, especially in a late scene reminding us that when Owens returned to the states with four gold medals and the great honor of having humiliated Hitler, he not only didn’t get a hero’s welcome, he was often treated like a second-class citizen.

There’s a memorable movie to be made about the amazing, inspirational and controversial life of Jesse Owens.

This is not a bad film and it’s a decent history lesson for those who don’t know the story of Owens and the ’36 Games, but it’s a long, long way from greatness.

16 | Thursday, February 18, 2016 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[pages] This week’s Maria’s staff pick Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, by Sunil Yapa During the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, the Spanish anarchist Buenaventura Durruti, responding to a comment about the futility of the revolution, exclaimed: “We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.” Although the revolution was short-lived, it painted a portrait of the possibility of another world. It is with such radical fervor and hope that the Sri Lankan author Sunil Yapa offers his debut novel, Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist to a world spinning with fear and chaos.

Delivered with gripping, fiery prose, Yapa’s novel takes place during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. The narration shifts among a diverse cast of characters, such as Victor, a jaded 19-year-old runaway who wanders into the protests trying to sell weed to anyone as desperate and disillusioned as him; Chief Bishop, the estranged father of the runaway, trying to maintain law and order not just among protesters but also among his police department; as well as a lineup of officers and activists, all of whom struggle

to understand their purpose as they confront the flaws and conundrums in one another.

Most unique of all is the subplot of the character Dr. Charles Wickramsinghe, a delegate from Sri Lanka, pinning the future of his country onto these WTO meetings, wondering how to make sense of the anger of protesters in the streets while questioning his own ability to bring positive change in luxurious, elite conferences.

Yapa effectively places the reader in the middle of the events – one becomes immersed in the confusion, pessimism and optimism among the characters; true believers who at times question what they believe, yet they keep taking those leaps of faith. And, thanks to the author’s talent for crafting a richly-layered story, empathy is evoked for the novel’s well-developed, complex cast. Throughout my reading of the book, a whirlwind of emotions was surging through me as this group of men and women persevered through teargas, beatings and lingering despair. All of this exemplifies Yapa’s natural ability to connect the personal to the political. He brings to life the importance of intersectionality in the struggle for justice.

in 1999. Yet the impact of those protests echo in today’s social movements. And as neoliberalism continues to expand, weakening the autonomy of developing countries, especially with the recent signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Yapa’s novel of protest and solidarity is a powerful, timely release.

If you’re suffering from the Ted Cruz

Blues; from the Endless Empire Blues, Yapa’s bold debut novel is the cure for you. His words are arrows to the chest, bricks crashing through the windows of institutions spreading fear and chaos.

Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist sings the power of “faith without end, love without border.”

—— Kirbie Bennett

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»»1. I Hold the Stone and the Stone Holds Me, by Joel Jones (Paperback)

»»6. We Are Called to Rise, by Laura McBride (Paperback)

»»2. Cold Smoke: Skiing the Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, by Andrew Klotz (Paperback)

»»7. How to Relax, by Thich Nhat Hanh (Paperback)

»»3. Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson (Hardcover)

»»8. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo (Hardcover)

»»4. Morning Star, by Pierce Brown (Hardcover)

»»9. State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett (Paperback)

»»5. When Breath Becomes Air, by

»»10. The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz (Paperback)

221176

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 18, 2016 | 17

[ weed ] Seeing Through the Smoke Christopher Gallagher

Miracle on the horizon? Using cannabis to fight cancer

W

elcome, class. Today in Weed 101, we’re going to take a comprehensive look at cannabis as a medicine and see if we can arm ourselves with some important knowledge to carry forward.

First of all, a bit of review: Yes, this is, without a doubt, a “real thing,” not some sort of shenanigans perpetuated by stoners in an attempt to take their beloved wacky weed from illegal back-alley status to respectability.

The fact is, cannabis happens to be a plant that promotes overall human wellness and contains chemical compounds that treat certain diseases and maladies more effectively than any other substances known to medical science. Two of the primary chemicals found in cannabis, THC and CBD, are being shown, through research, to be highly effective medicines and they loom large in the treatment of ailments from pain and nausea to cancer and seizure disorders.

When Richard Nixon decided to classify cannabis to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Schedule I, he halted domestic research on a substance that has a record going back millennia as being one of the most consistently effective folk remedies in human history. Combined

with the international Single Convention Treaty, an anti-drug measure that took hold in 1975, research into potential medical avenues of use for cannabis was effectively stalled out for a quarter century.

OK, now that we’ve assimilated all of that weed history, let’s get a look at where we are today when it comes to medical marijuana and try to bend our gazes around the corners of the future to see where this might take us.

In the following decades, when cannabis was forced underground, amazing advances were somewhat unwittingly made by illegal breeders worldwide that have become important factors in the development of the plant as a base for important medical advances. With all research effectively halted, breeders of marijuana were left with only one avenue to distribute their plant: recreational use by illegal channels. As a result, plants were selectively bred for higher content of delta-9 tetrohydracannabinoid

or THC, the psychoactive chemical compound present at more moderate levels in all cannabis plants. The THC content of plants from the 1970s, according to a University of Mississippi study, averaged 1.37 percent; in the ’80s, it had risen to 3.59 percent, and by 2008, this longitudinal study showed an average of 8.49 percent; in 2015, any one of us can walk down to the neighborhood weed shop and grab a strain with THC levels above 20 percent; the winner of the Mile High Cannabis Cup, a strain called Chem D.O.G. bred

by Next Harvest, measured 32.13 percent THC content. A Colorado breeder who goes by the moniker RB-26 recently provided a sample of Gorilla Glue #4 that tested a dozen consecutive times between 30 to 33.5 percent in potency at multiple laboratories.

The offshoot of this selective breeding three decades down the line is that THC has been discovered to be one of the potentially best substances available for the treatment of cancer.

Laboratory testing has shown that THC has the ability to cause cancer cell death without negatively affecting other nearby cells, an advantage over all preceding cancer treatments. This is the status of medical cannabis in the laboratory.

In the real world, there are people who have claimed to have been cured of cancer by using an extremely concentrated whole-plant cannabis extract. Rick Simpson is the leading advocate of this use of the plant and if it is a topic that interests you, I suggest reading his account of how cannabis saved his life.

The use of cannabis to cure cancer is among the most amazing and headline-worthy claims forwarded by this wonderful plant’s proponents, but it is far from the only one. In the next couple weeks we’ll take a look at its efficacy with treating seizure disorders and its amazing success rate with certain juvenile conditions and the laws that have changed as a result and at the overall uses of marijuana as a health tonic. Until then, have a great week, do a bit of reading on the topic (because you never know when it might be you who is next to be helped), and be well, DGO. Christopher Gallagher lives with his wife and their four dogs and two horses. Life is pretty darn good. Contact him at chrstphrgallagher@gmail.com

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18 | Thursday, February 18, 2016 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[ weed review ]

[ netflix and chill — 420 edition ]

The Drops

by Canyon Cultivation

Don Hertzfeldt’s ‘World of Tomorrow’

What is it?

Cannabis tincture is made by dissolving its constituents in alcohol. I’m not usually a fan of tinctures, but this little powerhouse has definitely changed my mind. The 100 milligrams of THC is suspended in an all natural, no GMO, gluten free, Co2-extracted alcoholbased liquid and flavored with essential plant oils like peppermint, tangerine and cinnamon. And, it’s all packed in a bottle smaller than an eyedropper.

The effects Each drop delivers 1.3 milligrams of THC. Eight drops is a recommended dose. Unlike edibles, these powerpacked drops seem to hit your brain in only a few minutes. The high is intense and seems to give you an instant case of the giggles. After about 30 minutes, the body buzz settles in nicely and lasts for about an hour to an hour and a half.

The smell The essential oil smell is very potent and seems to overpower any cannabis smell.

The look The bottle is tiny and stealth, and the oil is almost clear with just a hint of green.

The taste It’s super clean tasting, and seems to reflect the pure qualities of all the ingredients.

The final verdict This is the coolest tincture I’ve ever seen. It’s 10 full doses of extremely well made cannabis extract in a great package that definitely does the trick.

Most tinctures are full of alcohol or sugary-flavored syrup that tastes awful. They’re usually inconsistent in their effects, but this one definitely hits the mark. It’s very strong, so don’t blame me when just a few drops causes extreme happiness.

— Patrick Dalton Durango Recroom

“World of Tomorrow” (2015) is an animated science fiction short film written and directed by Don Hertzfeldt.

It’s a melancholy movie, but a beautiful one – and only 16 minutes long, so why not give it a shot? It’s up for best short at the Oscars. The story follows a sweet stick-figure toddler named Emily, who receives a phone call from her future self. This “self” is actually a clone (also a stick-figure), calling from 227 years ahead; and she’s the third copy who has been made from Emily, possessing all of the little girl’s memories in a copy-pasted brain.

The rest consists of tender dialogue between the two Emilys, as they wander through the vast “outernet,” a virtual reality where everyone in the future lives and communicates. It’s comprised of geometric shapes and lines, layers that intersect, overlap and pulsate with colors. Clone Emily tells original Emily about the dystopian future in a flat monotone; she doesn’t seem human, but she definitely has a consciousness and expresses feelings of intermittent sadness and hope. The film asks: If we generate clones or “backups” of ourselves, are they individual entities with their own cognizance or merely continuations of us? In this sci-fi future, the apocalypse is imminent, so humans clone themselves and then upload their memories into the clones, in desperate bids to live forever. But maybe it’s cruel to craft beings who have a diminished understanding of their purpose on Earth.

“World of Tomorrow” features complex philosophizing –

but it’s also funny, especially the interaction between little Emily, who doesn’t understand a thing, and clone Emily, who is attempting to impart serious information to her.

One girl is carefree, the other filled with all the pain and knowledge of the ages. Much of the humor is black; clone Emily explains how people who can’t clone themselves allow their dead faces to be stretched over animatronic machines, so they can still be part of their loved ones’ lives.

This flick is good for a cerebral high, preferably from a sativa strain. It’s filled with questions about mortality and life in the digital age; and these are things you should be pondering, preferably while stoned, because what better time is there to confront broad questions about the universe?

—— Anya Jaremko-Greenwold | DGO staff writer

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[love and sex]

Savage Love | Dan Savage

Where Sherman Alexie steps in to help answer a question My husband is Native American. I’m white. We’ve been together 16 years, raising a couple of kids. We love each other very much, so this isn’t a deal breaker. I’ve got a thing for his long black hair. He’s a drop-dead gorgeous man, and while I gave up asking that he wear leggings or a breechcloth once in a while, I wish he would grow out his hair. I’m willing to wear (and do) anything he asks. He’s somewhere to the left of Sherman Alexie when it comes to this stuff, but could you tell me why I’m so wrong? He keeps his hair short, and the one time I made enough of a fuss, he grew it out and never washed it just to spite me. A long time ago, he participated in a sun dance, and he looked incredible.

So I guess that makes me a blasphemous pervert, but really? Is asking for a couple of braids really so wrong?

Whitey McWhite Wife I forwarded your email to Sherman Alexie, the award-winning poet, novelist, essayist and filmmaker. Your question must have touched a nerve, WMW, because Alexie’s response arrived while my computer was still making that woooosh-sending-email sound. Now I’m going to step aside and let Alexie answer your question ...

“What does ‘to the left of Sherman Alexie’ mean in this context? I doubt there are very many Native dudes more leftist than me! And long hair on Indian men is more conservative and more tribal, anyway – more ceremonial. More of a peacock thing, really. And a lot of work! My Native wife certainly misses my long hair. But I don’t miss the upkeep and I don’t miss answering questions about my hair. I mean, I cut my hair 13 years ago (more than 25 percent of my life ago), and some people still ask me about it!

Thirteen years! Also, Native men tend to cut their hair as they age. Long hair is generally a young Indian man’s gig, culturally speaking.

“I would venture that Native dude

is tired of being romanticized, ethnocized, objectified. We Indians get enough of that shit in the outside world. Maybe this dude doesn’t want that in bed. Or maybe he just likes the way he looks with shorter hair. Because I am getting so gray, long hair would make me look like a warlock having a mid-life crisis. Maybe this Indian dude is just sick of all the sociopolitical shit that comes with long hair. Maybe it kills his boner. Talking about it has certainly killed my boner.”

I had to.” “That’s gross.” “Yeah, I totally hated it.”) But cuckolding is almost always the husband’s fantasy – it’s rare for the wife to initiate cuckolding scenes/relationships – so odds are good that your girlfriend is telling you the truth about those other men being her ex-husband’s idea/fantasy and not hers.

My new girlfriend blurted out that she had a cuckolding past with her ex-husband. She says her ex badgered her into arranging “dates” with strangers and that he picked the guys. Her ex would then watch her having sex with a guy in a hotel room. The ex only watched and didn’t take part. I am really bothered by her past. She says she did it only because her ex pressured her into it and she wanted to save her marriage, so she agreed. But I suspect she may have enjoyed it and may have been testing me to see if I wanted to be a cuck. What should I do? I am really torn by my feelings toward her.

What should you do? If you can’t let this go, if you can’t get over the sex your girlfriend had with her ex-husband and those other men, if you can’t hope she had a good time regardless of whose idea it was, if you can’t take “I’m not interested in cuckolding you!” for an answer – if you can’t do all of that – then do your girlfriend a favor and break up with her. She just got out from under a shitty husband who pressured her into “cheating.” The last thing she needs now is a shitty boyfriend who shames her for “cheating.”

Confused In NOVA

Why would you call blumkins “sexist”? Are you excluding the idea that gay, bi and trans people might participate? There are many sexual practices that are degrading. If the partner consents, how is it “sexist”?

Lastly, have you considered that a heterosexual female may want a blumkin of her own? I’m a heterosexual male, and I have no idea how you could defecate and remain erect – but to each his own! Your answer was irrational and sexist!

You suspect she may have enjoyed [bleep]ing those other men?

I hope she enjoyed [bleep]ing those other men – and you should too, CINOVA. Because even if cuckolding wasn’t her fantasy, even if she [bleep]ed those other men only to delight her shitty exhusband, anyone who cares about this woman – and you do care about her, right? – should hope the experiences she had with those other men weren’t overwhelmingly negative, completely traumatizing or utterly joyless.

And, yes, people will sometimes broach the subject of their own sexual interests/fantasies using the passive voice or a negative frame because they’re afraid of rejection or they want an easy out or both. (“My ex was into this kinda extreme thing, and I did it because I felt

As for whether she’s testing you: That’s a pretty easy test to fail, CINOVA. Open your mouth and say, “Cuckolding isn’t something I would ever want to do. The thought of you with another man isn’t a turn-on for me. Not at all.” It’s an easy F.

The Problem Isn’t Always Sexism Go to Urban Dictionary and read every definition for “blumkin,” TPIAS. There are nine of them. We’ll wait.

While almost all of the proposed definitions – including the top one – are gendered (“Taking a nice shit while

your woman is sucking your cock”), even definitions that aren’t gendered (“Getting a blowjob while taking a stinky shit”) include examples of usage that are gendered (“Anthony really enjoyed it when Christy gave him a blumkin last night”). While a gay dude could suck his man’s cock while he was taking a stinky shit, and while a trans man could go eat his cis girlfriend’s pussy while she was dropping a deuce, the whole conversation about blumkins – and because blumkins are mythical, TPIAS, the convo is all we’ve got – isn’t about consensual degrading sex play. It’s about the symbolic degradation of women.

And that’s sexist.

It’s like gerbiling: Everyone has a butthole, anyone can walk into a pet store and buy a gerbil, paper-towel tubes are everywhere. But gerbiling is always described as a gay sex act. The fact that straight, bi, asexual or even deceased people could theoretically have their asses gerbiled doesn’t make joking about gerbiling not homophobic. The anatomical technicality doesn’t exonerate gerbiling. Same goes for blumkins.

So my ruling is final: Joking about gerbiling is homophobic (but funny if done right), just as joking about blumkins is sexist (ditto).

It’s always a little frustrating to read columns where we hear only one side of the story. Maybe you could solicit letters from both partners? A couple would agree in advance what the problem was and both send in a letter, but they should not read each other’s letters. Keep up the great work!

Just An Idea I love this idea, JAI. Any game couples out there? Throuples welcome, too!

Dan Savage is a nationally syndicated sex advice columnist writing for The Stranger in Seattle. Contact him at mail@savagelove.net or @fakedansavage on Twitter and listen to his podcast every week at savagelovecast.com

20 | Thursday, February 18, 2016 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[happening]

Terri Clark to countrify Concert Hall For those of you who like your live music a little country, head up to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College on Tuesday night to check out Canadian country music star Terri Clark.

Clark, originally from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, made her way down to Nashville, Tennessee, where, according to her website, she played for tips at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, just across the way from the “Mother Church of Country Music” the Ryman Auditorium. Eventually, she signed with Mercury Courtesy of Terri Clark »» Canadian country music star Terri Clark will be playing the Community Concert Hall at records and came into her Fort Lewis College on Tuesday night. own – setting herself apart by not only being able sing, but killing it on guitar as well. She’s toured with country stars Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire and George Strait.

And she’s an eight-time Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year; a five-time CCMA Female Vocalist of the Year winner; has had six No. 1 hits in Canada and the U.S.; has sold more than 5 million records and headlines sold-out tours across Canada.

Oh, and she’s the only Canadian female artist to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Clark will take the stage at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $29/$39 and are available at www.durangocnoncerts.com.

For more information, call 247-7654.

Thursday Tim Sullivan, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Sa-

loon, 699 Main Ave. Ace Revel, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699

Main Ave. Adonis Puentes and the Voice of Cuba Orchestra, 7 p.m., $24/$34, Commu-

nity Concert Hall, FLC. Beer Bingo, 8 p.m., Moe’s, 937 Main Ave.,

259-9018.

Karaoke with DJ Crazy Charlie, 9 p.m.,

Wild Horse Saloon, 601 East Second Ave., 3752568.

Karaoke, 9 p.m., 8th Avenue Tavern, 509

Spike,” 7:30 p.m., $20/$23, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., www.DurangoArts.tix.com or call 259-2606, ext. 19.

Backstage.

Live music and dancing, 9 p.m., Moe’s,

937 Main Ave., 259-9018.

ria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.

Blue Ramblers, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

Friday

Kirtan chant, 6-8 p.m., $10, Smiley Build-

Can Dolls, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon,

699 Main Ave. Jose Villareal, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium,

699 Main Ave. Kirk James solo, 7 p.m., Vallecito Lake.

Benefit concert, 7 p.m., $5, Balcony Back-

stage, 600 Main Ave. “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and

Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. ing.

Greg Ryder, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699

Main Ave. Benefit concert, 7 p.m., $5, Balcony Bar,

600 Main Ave. “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” 7:30 p.m., $20/23, Durango Arts Cen-

ter, 802 East Second Ave., www.DurangoArts. tix.com or call 259-2606, ext. 19.

4 Feb 2 d IGHT e N W T IN TT AL P

E BENN D BAN N A M ONE 0pm

ECI A SP TOM with

25th b e F Fri

@1

lface l o D Hello

975 Main Ave Downtown Durango /elranchotavern @elranchotavern 221129

NEW SEASON - FEBRUARY 2ND

BREAKING POINT Steep & deep, ice or snow…

Breaking Point is back!

Irish music jam session, 12:30 p.m.,

Irish Embassy Pub, 900 Main Ave., 403-1200, www.theirishembassypub.com.

Robbie Overfield, 5:30 p.m., Diamond

e h t & r Mille Sinners Other th @ 6pm

eb Sat F

Sunday

Family Stories Series: Marikay Shellmann – Gulliver’s Babies, 11 .am., Ma-

Pub, Purgatory.

10pm @ h t 20

Jade Robbins Band, 8-9 p.m., Balcony Live music and dancing, 9 p.m., Moe’s,

Kirk James Band, 2:30-5:30 p.m., Purgy’s

ul A o S J D

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

Saturday

EEK’ W S I TH 10pm @ h t eb 19 Fri F tomic

Karaoke, 8 p.m., 8th Avenue Tavern, 509

Karaoke, 8 p.m., 8th Avenue Tavern, 509

937 Main Ave., 259-9018.

.. nch. a R e at th k c CIALS Ba S SPE hile

w Mean

Jazz church (experienced musician drop-in session), 6 p.m., Derailed Pour

House, 725 Main Ave., 247-5440, www.derailedpourhouse.com.

Joel Racheff, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699

Main Ave. Backcountry Film Festival, 7 - 9 p.m., $10/12, Durango Arts Center, www.durangonaturestudies.org

Tune in online for adventure sport videos from the area.

Only on 4CornersTV.com

Karaoke, 8 p.m., 8th Avenue Tavern, 509

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

Continued on Page 22

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[happening] From funk to reggae to electrofusion, all to benefit Stillwater Foundation If you’ve ever been to a musical performance and gotten goose bumps from a voice or guitar or drum, or have been so moved by a song or album you’ve played it again and again and again, you have music teachers to thank. And here in Durango, we have a program that is providing some pretty cool musiceducation opportunities for both kids and adults. But running a program to help teach people to become musicians ain’t cheap.

Where should we

DGO tonight?

And this is where you come in.

On Friday and Saturday night, there will be a local music showcase at the Balcony Backstage to benefit music education organization The Stillwater Foundation. You’ll see all kinds of genres represented: from the rock/Latin/funk of the Groove Casters to Magi Nation’s reggae to the electrofusionfunk-jam of Sky Pilot.

Friday night’s lineup includes: DJ Mateo, Oblee, Magi Nation, Sky Pilot and DJ Mateo. On Saturday, you can catch DJ Mateo, Jade Robbins Project,

Latin music night, 8 p.m., Moe’s, 937

Main Ave., 259-9018.

Open studio figure drawing, 6:30-8:30 p.m., $15/$10, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., www.durangoarts.org.

Monday

Two-step and cha-cha dance lessons, 6:30-7:30 p.m., $10, Wild Horse Saloon,

91.9/93.9 FM, www.kdur.org.

Brewing Co., 225 Girard St., yoga and a pint of beer for $10, www.skabrewing.com.

Joel Racheff, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Rob Webster, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699

601 East Second Ave., 799-8832.

Geeks Who Drink trivia, 6:30 p.m.,

BREW Pub & Kitchen, 117 W. College Drive, 259-5959.

Pub quiz, 6:30 p.m., Irish Embassy Pub, 900 Main Ave., 403-1200.

Terry Rickard, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium,

699 Main Ave.

Main Ave.

Ping Pong and Poker Tournaments,

Tuesday

Karaoke with DJ Crazy Charlie, 9 p.m.,

Terry Rickard, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle

Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Super Ted’s Super Trivia, 6:12 p.m., free,

Ska Brewing Co., 225 Girard St., 247-5792.

8 p.m., Moe’s, 937 Main Ave., 259-9018.

Wild Horse Saloon, 601 East Second Ave., 3752568.

Ongoing

Terri Clark, country, 7 p.m., $39/$34/$29,

Site Unseen: Anna Hepler, Jan. 22-Feb. 19, Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday, fortlewis.edu/art-design/ ArtGallery.aspx.

Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, durangoconcerts.com.

Submissions

Tim Sullivan, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium,

699 Main Ave.

Open Mic Night, 8 p.m., Moe’s, 937 Main

Ave., 259-9018.

to the DGO calendar with

Advance tickets are available at Katzin Music and Southwest Sound – $10 gets you a weekend pass.

tail Lounge, 723 East Second Ave., 385-0105.

Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Ska

+ Add an Event

Both nights will run from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

From Page 21

Four Corners Arts Forum, 9 a.m., KDUR

Your #1 source for what’s going on around Durango dgomag.com/calendar

Groove Casters and the Durango Funk Allstars (Stillwater faculty).

Wednesday Greg Ryder, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave. Ace Revel, 6-8 p.m., Eno Wine Bar and Cock-

To submit listings for publication in DGO and dgomag.com, go to www.

swscene.com and click “Add Your Event,” fill out the form with all your event info and submit.

Listings at swscene.com will appear both at dgomag.com and in our weekly print edition.

Posting events at swscene.com is free and takes about one business day to process.

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Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Avoid domestic arguments, especially late in the day. Power struggles with authority figures probably will cause regrets. It’s best to zip thy lip.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) This is an accident-prone day, especially later in the day, so do be careful. Pay attention to everything you say and do.

Avoid angry outbursts with others.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Keep an eye on your money scene because something unexpected might affect your earnings or your money in the bank, or possibly something you own. Avoid quarrels about money.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Bizarro

Today the Moon is in your sign at odds with Uranus and Pluto. Yikes!

This means arguments with author-

ity figures, partners and close friends are likely, especially late in the day.

Patience is your best ally.

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) Something happening behind the scenes might upset you today. Whatever happens, avoid a confrontation with others because that will make things worse.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) Be patient with friends today, especially a female acquaintance, because a sudden power struggle might take place.

Don’t waste energy trying to win something that is not worth fighting about.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) Do not go up against authority figures today because you will regret it. Just bide your time. Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21)

This is an accident-prone day for your sign, so be careful. Avoid controversial subjects like politics, religion and racial issues in order to keep the peace.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) Disputes about shared property, taxes, debt, insurance matters or anything that you owe to someone else might arise today. This is a poor day for these discussions.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19)

actions, which could lead to arguments.

Remember that you have to work with these people down the road.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) This is an accident-prone day for your kids, so be vigilant. Sports events and social occasions might suddenly be canceled, rescheduled or changed. This could be a bumpy day for romance as well.

BORN TODAY

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18)

You like to see the whole picture. You also like to enliven your world with bright ideas and innovations. This year others will benefit you, which is why your success lies with interacting with others. Therefore, make friends and join clubs and organizations. If you help others, you also will be helping yourself.

Be patient with co-workers today. In particular, guard against knee-jerk re-

© 2016 King Features Syndicate Inc.

You will have to compromise with others today. Just accept this fact. Avoid arguments because they will achieve nothing. Postpone important discussions until tomorrow.

[dream interpretations] The holy Bernie Sanders rally I was with a group of friends, and we were at a Bernie Sanders rally taking place in a cathedral. He had a pet praying mantis that kept attacking people. But it was cool, because it wasn’t that dangerous – mainly just irritating.

— Concerned Sanders Supporter The cathedral setting indicates religion; I’m guessing you are a lapsed Catholic, or at the very least, you are experiencing intense spiritual guilt.

You might be at a Bernie Sanders rally, but you probably secretly prefer Trump/Cruz/any other GOP candidate because you suspect that church and state should not be separated.

Even the bug attacking you is a “praying” mantis – ring any church bells?

Female praying mantises sometimes practice sexual cannibalism, aka they eat their mates post-coitus. Occasionally, they don’t even wait, and decapitate the male during the act itself. You might need therapy.

Got a dream you want interpreted?

Summarize it in 100 words or fewer and send it to editor@dgomag.com

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