It Was Bad...But Not All Bad

art entertainment food drink music nightlife Thursday, December 29, 2016

IT WAS BAD...

DGO

FREE!

... BUT NOT ALL BAD

Pros in art, beer, life in Durango, food, LGBTQ, movies, music and weed discuss the bright spots in their fields for the year Also: Top New Year’s Eve shows, the best books, albums, TV shows, and movies of 2016, and Billy Graham meets Johnny Cash

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DGO Magazine

STAFF

What’s inside Volume 2 Number 10

December 29, 2016

Chief Executive Officer

8/9 All about Champagne

Douglas Bennett

Get Smart’s Cyle Talley and Put A Cork In It owner Alan Cuenca discuss the basics of bubbly, while First Draughts columnist Robert Alan Wendeborn tastes a bunch of sparkling wine and gives you the lowdown.

V.P. of Finance and Operations Bob Ganley V.P. of Advertising David Habrat V.P. of Marketing Kricket Lewis Founding Editors

4

From the Editor

4

Love it or Hate it

5

Sound

Downtown Lowdown

Amy Maestas

9

David Holub

17 Movies

Editor/ creative director

10 Gotta-buy books

of 2016

David Holub dholub@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer Patty Templeton ptempleton@bcimedia.com 375-4546 Contributors Katie Cahill

6

Christopher Gallagher

Anticipating 2017’s albums Durango man about music and Southwest Sound shopkeep, Cooper Stapleton, discloses the upcoming albums that excite him so.

Bryant Liggett Jon E. Lynch Heather Narwid Cooper Stapleton 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.

7

Albums you missed in ’16 Radio albums are all fine and good.

But seriously, sometimes don’t you wanna find music that you can get sexed-out-psycho-trashed to, the deep cuts barely anyone’s ever heard before? We’ve found the standout albums of 2016 that got lost along the way and still need to be heard.

Tell us what you think!

5

Album Reviews 6 Beer

18 Weed

The bright light that pours outta an open book is reason enough to have a sit-down in a comfy chair and turn some pages. To help wade through the ba-zillions of books published this past year, we talked to the perfictionists at Maria’s Bookshop.

Seeing Through the Smoke 18

19 Vintage Durango 20 Savage Love 21 Happening 23 Horoscope/ puzzles/ Bizarro 23 Pages

19 Vintage Durango Billy Graham, meet Johnny Cash.

/dgomag

/dgomag

@dgo_mag

ON THE COVER 2016 sure inspired some toilet-themed imagery.

It’s time to flush and start again.

Illustration by David Holub/DGO

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

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

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[ love it or hate it ]

David Holub |DGO editor

‘Love It or Hate It’ is literary sport, not a zero-sum game

“U

h-uh-uh-uh! We don’t hate!”

I don’t know how many times I heard that phrase from my mom’s mouth growing up. I’d hear it whenever I would come home from school or in from outside playing or from the barbershop after receiving a fourthgrade assessment of a really bad haircut and exclaim that I hated my teacher, or a neighborhood kid, or a barber.

You can dislike people within reason or dislike their actions, she’d say. But the line for Mom was at hate.

It’s ironic because of the feature I developed for this magazine over there to the right (unless you’re online, and then it’s just a search away) wherein every week we here at DGO square off loving and hating something, things like laundry or the desert, stout or celebrity culture. Ironic even more that I have developed a bit of a reputation among friends and strangers alike for hating more than I love. Once, a colleague told me that a friend had asked her just how angry of a person I was in real life.

I had a sneaking suspicion that I indeed “hated” more than I “loved,” so I did the math. Of the 59 “Love It or Hate Its” I’ve participated in, I have hated 34 times for a 58 percent record of hate.

Being such a “hateful” person, I thought I’d explain, considering that I think of myself as a generally positive, thoughtful and, most of the time, a downright jovial person. I also want to explain the feature and why, even when we’re “hating” things, it’s a valuable exercise in persuasive writing, critical thinking, and life itself. And I think it’s working, “LIHI,” being the thing in the magazine I get the most personal feedback on.

Yes, I’ve been putting “hate” in quotes for a reason, as anything I have “hated” for LIHI I don’t truly hate.

Not entirely, at least. After all, I’ve “hated” the likes of “The ’80s,” “Poetry,” “Color,” Yer Mom,” and “Space,” when, in fact, I am a scientifically-cu-

rious, graphic-designing happy-child of the ’80s, occasional teacher of poetry who loves his mom to pieces.

Loving something for LIHI isn’t hard at all, and usually comes from an entirely genuine place, even if that love is a bit exaggerated. It’s easy to spew positivity, even if the subject is Jell-O or Facebook. Hating is a bit different. Hating in LIHI is more of a dislike or annoyance, and then, only in part. For instance, when I hated “hipsters” or “gear,” I was really hating the snobbiness I’ve experienced with both entities. For those two subjects, and any of the topics we’ve covered, I could have found plenty to love.

This is exactly what I love about LIHI, it being a vehicle to examine something critically, often with humor and tongue in cheek, sometimes with faux-outrage. The points we make in LIHI are often snippets of a larger issue, then magnified and amplified for their rhetorical value. LIHI is literary sport, and boy, can it be fun.

Constitutionally, I am positive and curious. But I’m also a part-skeptic, nay-saying contrarian. This is what makes life interesting to me, looking at something in its entirety and parsing out which characteristics or realities deserve gentle ridicule and which deserve celebration. Exploring ironies and contradictions within the same topic is not only fun, but necessary. The complexity of life is often found in the gray areas and seldom is anything entirely true or false, all good or all bad. And when we are convinced of a zero-sum approach to anything – taste, aesthetic, belief, faith – it sets us up for didactic, dismissive, judgmental, herd- or even cult-mentality. I find these concepts and practices easier to explore and exercise when the subject is “whales” or “candy corn.”

For now, I’ll part with this: May your 2017 be filled with authenticity, peace, curiosity, critical thinking, genuine understanding, and, most of all, love.

New Year’s resolutions Love It In his “Works and Days,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Similarly, over 100 years later, William Elliott Whitmore sang, “Write this down, and don’t forget – that the best of times ain’t happened yet.” And I damn well believe both of them.

Life is a melee of deliberately molding yourself into being rather than allowing mass media to engineer your search for self. It is in this sense of knowing that every day is precious and that every day is a battle to be the person I want to be, not the one that corporations want to mold me into being, that I make New Year’s resolutions.

I am an absolute sap for New Year’s resolutions. I make resolutions not only at the New Year, but on my birthday. I know that in my get-shit-done process, accountability – even if it is a scrawly page in my journal – is important. I organize my brain in lists. My wants. My future. The days may be slow, but the years go fast. Resolutions are a way for me to make sure the me I want to be, gets put front and center. That if I can think of a fabulous goal, there’s no reason I can’t reach for it and possibly put purchase on it.

— Patty Templeton

Hate it You porked out on cookies and gravy-centric meals for a month, and now you’ve made a resolution to lose weight.

Seems like a good idea. So what could there possibly be to hate about people taking inventory of their lives and determining what is and isn’t working, how they’d like to improve, habits that would make them healthier, actions that would make the world better? It’s easy. Because New Year’s resolutions make a failure out of virtually everyone who attempts them.

Just over 50 percent of us make New Year’s resolutions, but only 8 percent will actually follow through and maintain their aspirations. According to one survey, a quarter of all resolutionists don’t even make it past the first week.

NY’s resolutions make us do silly things, like buy expensive gym memberships, often a year’s worth at a time, thinking the stupid-high price tag on the membership will motivate us to actually use it. According to the podcast “Planet Money,” a branch of the gym franchise Planet Fitness (and others, presumably) sold 6,000 gym memberships, even though it only had capacity for 300 exercisers. Apparently, according to “Planet Money,” half of all Planet Fitness members never use their membership once. That’s their business model.

All the research out there says the biggest enemies are resolutions that are too lofty and/or too vague. So instead of saying you want to simply lose weight, a better resolution would be to lose 5 pounds in two months.

Keep in mind, it takes about 66 days to form a new habit, according to a study by the University of London. So make those resolutions – see if I care – just don’t set yourself up to fail. That I would hate.

— David Holub

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[sound]

Downtown Lowdown | Bryant Liggett

New Year’s may be amateur night, but these bands sure aren’t

N

“lawless,” which led the police ew Year’s Eve is department to think Durango more than just a hippies would misbehave and holiday bloated make a mess. That would actuwith hype and crowded with amateurs. It’s ally happen on Fourth of July a ceremonious ending of one in 2016 by a bunch of Durango year, and nervous anticiteenagers. What Kiefer meant pation for the beginning of was that it’s easy to have a another, a romantic notion good time in Silverton on New of saying goodbye to the past Year’s; with the small confines and hello to the future. Or of the town, and most people it’s just another night. staying within stumbling distance to the bars, your interNow, I know people are wishaction with authorities would, ing to bid 2016 adieu because and should be, minimal. Unless it’s a year that took so many beloved musicians: Bowie, Shayou’re a moron. I assured the ron Jones, Government Issues police all would behave and my John Stabb, Prince, Merle Hagword was good for at least one more day. gard, Phife Dawg, Leon Russell, Silverton this year will feaLeonard Cohen, and more I’m forgetting. As we’re getting ture local rock band Farmingolder and the second generaton Hill playing at the Grand tion of rock ’n’ rollers are getImperial Hotel. Farmington ting older, I’m afraid 2017 may Hill is getting difficult to inCourtesy of Farmington Hill have more tragedy in store. terview. The last time they »» Durango rock band Farmington Hill will play at the Grand Imperial Hotel in Silverton on New Year’s Eve. allowed press into their band If you do so choose to go out into the world on Saturday, meeting, held conveniently at you’ll have some choice events, more than the three Steamworks, my questions were met with good-naBryant’s best noted below; I may be a curmudgeon, but I’ll never tured sarcasm along with baffling quotes. I opted Saturday: Rock music with Farmington Hill, 9 back down from a good event that will have me, out for that kind of abuse this time around, and simp.m. $10. Grand Imperial Hotel, 1219 Greene St., whether it’s a concert happening at the end of the ply emailed them one question.

I was met with the Silverton. Information: 387-5527. year or an invitation to drink Fireball on a Wednessame kind of heckling, only in digital form.

Saturday: Hip-hop with Nappy Roots, 9 p.m. $35 day afternoon.

What information I did get was that bass player advance/$40 day of show. Animas City Theatre, Mary Hess had dumped peanuts on the floor, and »» The Balcony Backstage will feature local funk, 128 E. College Drive. Information: 799-2281. they’re all ga-ga over new drummer Ted Moore’s rock and jam-band Elder Grown. With a growing “stunning blue-eyes.” He comes to the Durango via fan-base, they’ve been killing it all over and SatSan Diego, Boulder and Annapolis, and brings with urday night will be no different, as Elder Grown’s him some punk-rock chops to add to their brand of Hoffman brothers and the rest zip you into a twirlcow-punk. This will be Farmington Hill’s first contwang. The last time I wrote about a New Year’s Eve ing and whirling frenzy. event in Silverton, I received a concerned phone call cert with Moore. »» The Animas City Theatre will feature hip-hop from the authorities. It was 2007, and local band AfLater 2016, its time to party like a Wednesday. band Nappy Roots. Kudos to the ACT for landing the now 21-year-old hip-hop group out of Bowling tergrass was playing Silverton, like they had many Green, Kentucky. times before. In said column, drummer Eric Kiefer Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station »» Silverton is for aging punk rockers now bent on was quoted as saying New Year’s in Silverton was manager. liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.

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[sound]

Cooper Stapleton’s most-anticipated releases of 2017

What’s new The Darts,“The Darts” Available: Jan. 17 via a partnership with Dirty Water Records (UK) and Atomic A Go Go Records (Phoenix) presumably on digital formats, compact disc, and standard black vinyl.

Dirty Water Records has a knack for sending out great releases as the year comes to a close. In late 2015/early 2016, they sent out a release from Cleveland voodoo organ punks Archie and the Bunkers, and this winter it’s The Darts

1. Mastodon,“TBA”

Mastodon is easily one of my favorite bands, and they have consistently put out brilliant albums that range from progressive rock opuses to weird takes on angry surf rock. The band is reuniting with producer BrenStapleton dan O’Brien, who worked on said prog rock opus “Crack The Skye” (which in my time as 4. Gorillaz,“TBA” a student I wrote a lengthy thesis on), After releasing a series of cryptic and the band themselves have said images on Instagram earlier this year, they are going back to the concept alDamon Albarn will finally return with bum way of framing a record. Nothing the first new Gorillaz material in six has been released as of yet, and a lot years (if you include “The Fall,” which of people have become skeptical of most people don’t seem to know the band’s ability to focus lately (the exists). Confession time. When I was collective members are involved in in high school, I hated Gorillaz. Didn’t five other projects at the time of this see the appeal at all, until a dear friend writing), but I have faith in Mastodon showed me “Demon Days Live at the to deliver something special.

Manchester Opera House.” And then it 2. Run The Jewels,“RTJ3” all clicked, and I was obsessed. Though In what can only be described as (in I wasn’t the biggest fan of “Plastic their own words) “a Christmas [effing] Beach,” I am still very excited to see Miracle,” Killer Mike and El-P surwhat multi-instrumentalist wonderboy prise-dropped the free digital version Damon Albarn brings to the table with of RTJ3 on Christmas Day on their this new record. website. So go and grab that and then 5. The Jesus and Mary Chain, come back and we’ll talk about it. Back?

“Damage and Joy” OK. Upon first listen, I was a little

The Darts play straight forward rock ’n’ roll. Sure, it veers into ’60s garage, punk, and a bevy of other musical monikers, but it is still simply, rock ’n’ roll.

The fact that they are four girls kicking out the jams is relatively irrelevant, though singer/keyboardist Nicole Laurenne does make mention that she “always wanted to be in an all-girl band, with bad ass girls that are awesome.”

The band formed in 2016 after “watching each other’s bands on the sidelines for years.” Laurenne and bassist/singer Christina Nunez have played in a handful of Arizona bands over those years, including but not limited to, The Love Me Nots, Motobunny, and The Madcaps. The two then recruited drummer/singer Rikki Styx (Thee Outta Sites, The Dollyrots, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and guitarist/ singer Michelle Balderramma (Brainspoon) and The Darts were rounded out.

Nothing here is treading on new ground but that, too, is irrelevant. The music is catchy as all-get-out, fun, and a perfect combination of pop and Farfisa fueled lo-fi garage and scuzzy aggression.

The Darts will be hitting the road in early 2017 with duo the Steel Cranes before heading to Europe in May. Recommended for fans of The Kills, The Dead Weather, The Murder City Devils, Pretty Girls Make Graves, or The Gore Gore Girls.

—— Jon E. Lynch KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu

gdol Tutor of the Month: Bryan Ba ion:

o, CO 81301 , Suite 5 Dura ngac e.

Av n ai M hing.com 50 37 co DACC rangoacademic 970.779.8480 • du

a chance to hear those tracks. QOTSA is an enigma of rock music, at times soft and gentle, at times more raucous than some of the craziest metal that I listen to. This will be one to watch, and in the meantime, familiarize yourself with the band’s absolutely brilliant back catalog.

underwhelmed. But after bumping it in the car for a few days, I can say that starting the new year off with RTJ3 will make it hard for Kanye and Jay-Z (who also have albums slated for release in 2017) to keep up. Plus, it has a Danny Brown feature, and I love me some Danny Brown.

Educat from Masters in Teaching iana Southeastern Louis glish University, BA in En Current Job: Woodshop teacher, hool Escalante Middle Sc

3. Queens of the Stone Age, “TBA”

tutor? of witnessing Why do I like to nts. The experience de stu th wi n tio ec nn rd work.

The one-on-one co e blooms through ha nc de nfi co en wh ing success and watch toring: nning my next When I’m not tu cking a mandolin, pla plu rt, se de d an s ain Playing in the mount adventure. d help you learning style an er-College. ur yo to r te ca nd e Ki W ect areas from improve in subj one tutoring, group classes, We offer one on and ACT & SAT prep. s, Spanish classe 245961

OK, time to get real for a second.

QOTSA’s last album, “Like Clockwork,” may be the greatest rock album of all time. I said it. It’s out there. Come fight me. In interviews from around its release, frontman Joshua Homme said that they thought about making “Like Clockwork” a double album, but decided to trim it down and let the songs breathe a bit. Fans have been waiting patiently to hear the second half of this supposed double album for a long time, and this year we may finally have

After the year that we have had, the world needs a new Jesus and Mary Chain album. Always somehow depressing and uplifting, this will be the first JaMC in almost a decade, and features the return of quintessential siblings Jim and William Reid. The single they released a week or so ago sounds like their classic take on alternative rock (back when that genre tag actually meant something), and after seeing them on their return tour a year or so ago, I am very excited about the possibilities this new record provides.

Seems they are on the top of their game again.

Other notables with albums coming out this year (hopefully): Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beck, Ryan Adams, Bjork, Missy Elliot, Black Hippy, Pissed Jeans and a whole lot more!

—— Cooper Stapleton

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[sound]

Best 2016 albums you didn’t hear

»» Fork that money over to lesser-known musicians Radio albums are all fine and good. But seriously, sometimes don’t you wanna find music that you can get sexed-outpsycho-trashed to, the deep cuts barely anyone’s ever heard before? We’ve found the standout albums of 2016 that got lost along the way and still need to be heard. It’s your choice how to hear them. You could listen to them on your laptop ... but we suggest LaCroix Sparkling Water, baby oil, high-end speakers, a stuffed alligator, and an RV with Victorian, embossed wallpaper for the hear-it party.

Blaqk Audio, “Material”

Mattress in a Huggy Bear Motel”

DANCEPANTS! Here’s the record you can synth-out to in an alley on a starry midnight, stomping on broken glass and kickin’ garbage cans.

Dad Horse Ottn sings gospel tunes to scumbags and forlorn folk to lonelyhearts with a thick German accent and a deep heart.

Covenant,“The Blinding Dark” A dark dance album that feels expansive, atmospheric and as if it could appropriately convey the end of the world – whether that happened by fire, ice, or A.I. The Dad Horse Experience,“Eating Meatballs on a Blood-Stained

The Interrupters, “Say It Out Loud” Simple lyrics that tell big stories and a bouncing, ’90s ska sound. If you don’t end up singing along to this album, you might be dead inside.

Adam Lee, “Sincerely, Me” With restless lyrics and a guitar, rockabilly-tinged Adam Lee is what you should listen to when yer

out night-walkin’, thinking that the world is somehow both lonesome and kind.

Deadly Lo-fi,“Home Sweet Homicide” Need a soundtrack for a sex party at a pawn shop that only buys and sells doughnuts and vintage horror comics? Boom.

Deadly Lo-fi.

The Monsters,“M” Trash rock straight from Switzerland off of Voodoo Rhythm Records. Twist it out, scream and shout, primitive rock ’n’ roll.

Rock Bottom String Band,“Home Ain’t Where I’m From” Dive-bar bluegrass at its

goddamned best. Perfect Sunday afternoon, porchdrinkin’, yard dancing tunes.

Adia Victoria, “Beyond the Bloodhounds” This album is like if Flannery O’Connor rolled outta the dirt, socially woke further through convos with Michelle Alexander, then wrote a gothic blues album.

Saul Williams,“MartyrLoserKing” Goddamn. Saul Williams embodies deep poetics and activism. This is the driving, forceful sound of much-needed revolution.

—— Patty Templeton DGO STAFF WRITER

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[Expert Advice on Trivial Affairs]

Get Smart | Cyle Talley

On Champagne Don your black ties or dresses (or pantsuits or whatever) and let Alan Cuenca, owner of Put A Cork In It, tell you a bit about bubbly.

Let’s talk about Champagne.

grapes, and ultimately getting better quality. My desert island wine is Champagne. If I could only drink one wine for the rest of my life, it’d be true Champagne. Hands down. It’s the most elegant, fresh, refreshing, long-finish wine in the world, in my opinion.

Do you mean Champagne or sparkling wine?

There’s a difference?

Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wines are Champagne.

OK ...

Champagne is a region in France where they are making the world’s greatest sparkling wines, largely in part due to weather and soil. Champagne sits on a thousand-foot layer of chalk – essentially limestone – and that creates wines of incredible finesse, acidity, and minerality. That’s not to say that there aren’t outstanding sparkling wines from around the world. In terms of quality, hands down Champagne is number one, but you’re also paying for it. Champagne starts at about $40 and goes to the ceiling. You can get great Californian sparkling wines in the $20 to $70 range, great Prosecco and Cava in the $10 to $20 range.

What’s so different about the weather and soil of Champagne that gives it such quality yields?

Different soils have different nutrients, as well as lack of nutrients. This sounds a little silly, but imagine chewing on gravel. In some still, white wines from the region, you can literally taste the rocks and soil. It’s interesting because there is always a fruit component to the wine, but when there is a high mineral content, they’re appealing because they’re not super fruity, because there’s some complexity there. Some people find it interesting and pleasurable, while others find it austere and offensive. Everyone’s palette is different. We like what we like, and there is nothing wrong with what anyone likes.

Cuenca

How do the bubbles get in?

Wine gets fermented into a still white wine. From there, a little bit of sugar and yeast is added into the bottle and then put a temporary cap on it. What happens is when yeast eats sugar, it creates two things: alcohol content and carbon dioxide. So, if that carbon dioxide can’t escape, then the CO2 will stay in the wine, hence the bubbles. When the temporary cap is removed, the lees are pulled out – essentially the dead yeast cells – and at that point, they’ll add Liqueur de Torrage, which is a little bit of wine with a little bit of sugar in it, which gives the wine its final level of sweetness. An extra brut Champagne has no sugar added, so it’s bone bone dry. Most Champagnes are brats, so they’re dry, but there’s a little bit of sweetness to soften the acidity. An extra brut is puckeringly bone dry.

When people come in asking for Champagne, do you immediately correct them?

No. I’ll just ask for more clarification while simultaneously giving a sliver of information. My shop and my schtick is education. Ideally, I want people to walk out with just a little bit more information than they walked in with. If someone comes in and says, “I need a cheap Champagne for mimosas!” Well, clearly, they don’t want true Champagne for mimosas because first of all, it’d be a sin to adulterate true Champagne with orange juice. [laughs] Secondly, it’d be too expensive.

For mimosas, I always recommend a Cava. They’re bone dry, clean, crisp, refreshing, and, because the Spanish wine industry is subsidized by the EU, they’re incredible values.

How about an affordable sparkling wine for the New Year’s party?

The venue always dictates what wine is appropriate.

If it’s a big party, don’t bring something really expensive. It’ll just get lost in translation. The bigger the party, the less expensive the wine. The more intimate the party, the more justified the expense. Then the wine becomes part of the evening. It’s going to be discussed, and will get its proper due.

Cyle Talley wishes you and yours the very best in 2017.

May we all be grateful, gracious, and good to one anotherespecially when we don’t feel like it. If there’s something you’d like to GET SMART about, email him at: cyle@ cyletalley.com

Is there an affordable true Champagne?

My starting point is $50. There’re some decent true Champagnes at $30 to $40 and they’re good, but if you want true champagne, go the extra little bit to get something that’s really amazing. At that price point, we look to Grower Champagnes, which are small producers that are growing their own grapes and fermenting and bottling their own Champagnes. This is opposed to the industrialized Champagne makers who are just buying anything they can from the region, and there’s very little quality control. As the saying goes, “Wine is made in the vineyard, not in the winery.”

When you buy from Grower Champagnes, you’re working directly with the people who grew the

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[beer]

First Draughts | Robert Alan Wendeborn

The best bubbly for every weird New Year’s Eve scenario

I

’ll probably never forget my first New Year in Durango.

It involved a wonderfully extravagant home-cooked meal, some bottles of bubbly, a crew of people down to party late, and a very crazy roommate who nearly ruined everything. The roommate was an overly philosophical Durangbro – you know the type of dude who smokes a bowl and suddenly thinks he’s Aristotle? Well, he committed one of the greatest party sins: opening another person’s bottle of bubbly. He didn’t just open it without permission, he wrestled it away from the owner, and then opened it. I honestly still can’t believe it. It was horrifying.

Opening another person’s bubbly is just ... an unparalleled level of party foul.

Why do we take bubbly so serious-

ly though? Why is it so special? Is it the super-satisfying POP!? Is it the constant effervescence? And what is the difference between all the different types of sparkling wine? Why is Champagne the be all, end all?

Made in a special region of France (Champagne, duh), using a very special technique (méthode champenoise: fully bottle-conditioned, naturally carbonated, unfiltered), from particular grapes (pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay), Champagne is a sparkling wine that sells for a huge premium over other types of sparkling wine. If another winery follows the technique, uses the right grapes, but makes it even a few miles from Champagne, it’s not Champagne, and thus it’s less expensive.

I generally don’t buy into the hype or prestige of a product just for the sake of the product (the phrase is

“trappings of the petit-bourgeoise”), but I did try an actual Champagne for the purpose of this column (you’re welcome), and GH Mumm is a little funky, almost sulfuric, yellow-ish Champagne with all the bubbles you could ask for (it bubbled through an entire meal). There’s also a pretty gnarly bitter bite at the back of the tongue when you take a big, working-class swig, but it does have a nice dry finish with some great floral notes in the flavor. This would be a perfect bottle to go with a group of douchey friends talking about their recent trip to Vegas and quoting from their favorite episodes of “The Apprentice.”

Being free of the geographic boundaries, wineries producing sparkling wine outside Champagne are also free to use any technique they wish, which also decreases the cost of production. Prosecco is an Italian variety of sparkling wine that, like Champagne, refers to its own grape varietals (Glera grapes are the primary grape, but also include a handful of others), appellation (Prosecco, duh), and uses a different method: The Charmat method, or tank method. The tank method used to produce the characteristic bubbles, differs from méthode champenoise in that the wine is naturally carbonated and conditioned in a stainless steel vessel before bottling.

In doing research (god I love writing this column), I tasted La Marca Prosecco. LaMarca has this really awesome clarity with a subtle slate-like color that compliments the wet stone aroma. It’s not quite as effervescent as I normally like a bottle of bubbly, but had great melon and honeysuckle sweetness that balances its earthiness. This bottle would go perfectly with toast-

ing the new year alone with your cat while you watch Ryan Seacrest’s fake tan and radioactive smile pretend that 2016 wasn’t a massive garbage fire.

Sparkling wines also come in various levels of sweetness, with the most popular being Brut, or British export dryness, which is one of the driest. It’s also available in a semisec, demisec, etc., and it means it’s off-dry, or ever-so-slightly sweet (you can also get dulce, which means sweet, and I’m assuming, gross). To further research the category of sparkling wines I tried, not only a semiseco, but a Cava.

Mistinguett is a Cava, a Spanish variety of sparkling wine that comes with its own appellation (Catalonia) but uses the méthod champenoise, and most of the traditional Champagne grapes. In fact, it was called “Spanish Champagne” until the EU stepped in. Mistinguett is slightly off-clear to yellow, has a subtle flora aroma, with hints of wet leaves, but really smells like a fresh-cut pear. The sweetness is also very subtle, but balances out any of the tartness or tannic earthiness of a Brut. This is the perfect bottle to get white-girl drunk and yell things like, “I’m the Queen of 2017, BITCHES!!!”.

But really, if you want to feel like a baller and pop bottles all night, the best bang for your buck will always, always, always, be André. But if you want to venture out a little bit and drink something that is technically in a rap song (“... got the rolly on my arm and I’m pouring”), Chandon makes a line of American bubbly out of Napa that is quite affordable.

Technically, Snoop Dogg was talking about Moet and Chandon, a $40-plus bottle of Champagne, this is the same French owner with the same level of quality and it says “Chandon” on the label, so everyone will know you know your bubbly.

Happy New Year, everybody, and pour one out for your absent homie?

Robert Alan Wendeborn is a former cellar operator at Ska Brewing and current lead cellar operator at Tin Roof Brewing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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[pages]

Gotta-buy books »» The best books of

the year, according to Maria’s Bookshop

It ain’t always easy to find time in a day to read. But man, the bright light that pours outta an open book is reason enough to have a sit-down in a comfy chair and turn some pages. To help wade through the ba-zillions of books published this past year, we talked to the perfictionists at Maria’s Bookshop.

“The Girls,”

by Emma Cline

“The Soul of an Octopus,”

by Sy Montgomery

“A Gentleman in Moscow,”

by Amor Towles

Picked By: Jeanne

Picked by: Clint

Picked by: Suzy

“‘The Girls’” is Cline’s debut novel.

It’s a fictionalized character in the periphery of the Manson Family event. The main character is 14. It’s the beginning of the women’s revolution ... The female voices in here – they have an unfulfilled longing and a vulnerability toward a sense of being seen. It is first person from the girl, but it goes from now to casting back in time. It was a pretty quick read, I thought, but has some complexity in the sense of the era.”

“This is the kind of book I appreciate because it shows us how amazing animals really are. That they are not these underlings that are lesser than us in regard to intelligence or emotional complexity.

This author interned at a New England Aquarium. She didn’t know anything about the octopus ... She found that this octopus built a relationship with her ...

Some people the octopus didn’t like and it would squirt water at them . Others the octopus would come right to the surface and reach out a tentacle to have contact ... It’s an unexpectedly enlightening read.”

“This book is the history of Russia through the eyes of an imperialist who has been under house arrest in a really fancy hotel in Moscow ... It starts in the 1920s and ends in the 1960s. It’s the history of Russia as people come through the doors of this grand hotel. I dogeared so many pages ... It’s kind of slow, but it is really lush. There were paragraphs that were so stunning ... The character is seeing the people that come into this grand hotel. He eavesdrops on Stalin and other Soviet leaders ... It’s a grand Russian style that is such a beautiful read.”

“The Underground Railroad,”

by Colson Whitehead

“The Tsar of Love and Techno,”

by Anthony Marra

“Morning Star,”

by Pierce Brown

Picked by: Roger

Picked by: Caleb

Picked by: Meaghan

“Colson Whitehead’s ‘The Underground Railroad’ is one of the most cleverly written books I’ve read in my life. It’s pre-Civil War. Slaves are escaping through a real underground railroad with actual conductors and stops. Each stop, there is something going on in the state or community that is a representation of the fears that slaves had or it’s an analogy for something that actually happens in the future in regard to race ... It is riveting.”

“This is a friendship story between brothers ... It’s the duality between a good kid and a not-there-yet one. It goes from communist Russia to present day Russia ... Each chapter is a different story but they each connect to each other ... It’s one of those books that you can stop at the end of a chapter, come back to it a week later, and still remember what’s in there. People that are into kind of depressing books that don’t necessarily have a happy ending will like this.”

“Morning Star” is the third book in the Red Rising trilogy ... It’s ‘Star Wars’ meets ‘Hunger Games.’ People are separated in society by color – not skin color – basically a class system. Golds are the highest class. Everyone lives on Mars ... The main character [is] part of the Reds, which are the slaves. They live underground. Reds think that they are preparing Mars to be terraformed and the main character finds out that higher classes have been living on Mars for centuries ... There are these elements of examining democracy and when it fails. It looks at the idea of only a small amount of people being able to be happy in a given society.”

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of 2016 “To the Bright Edge of the World,” by Eowyn Ivey Picked by: Andrea “Eowyn Ivey lives in Alaska and she does historical fiction with this mythological, sometimes mystical realism twist. This one happens to be about a woman who was one of the first photographers. She photographed birds ... The character follows her husband who is leading an expedition to the Alaskan territories ... The landscape that she describes makes me want to go travel. It’s one of those books that makes you want to go find out more ... It was lovely as an audiobook, as well.”

“The Trespasser,” by Tana French Picked by: Molly “The Trespasser” involves a detective team, a man and a woman who have been in other books. It’s about a young woman who is found dead in her apartment ... The author’s sense of setting and character development is unreal ... One thing she’s good at is shades of gray within her characters.

On the surface they are one person and then underneath they have secrets that they don’t even admit to themselves. It goes from the cops trying to figure out what happened to the victim to the storyline of who the victim is. All of French’s books are page-turners; this is definitely one of the more suspenseful ones for sure.”

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“The Mechanical Horse,” by Margaret Guroff Picked by: Peter “I really enjoyed learning about how cutting edge technology of the time built what are now these antique bicycles…To see how they were embraced by the society to varying degrees and how it started off as an affluent activity…Who would’ve thought that the original high-wheeler would try to replace the world of a horse as a means of travel?”

This interview has been edited and condensed for space and clarity.

— Patty Templeton DGO Staff Writer

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Follow us on Instagram for 10% OFF @acmedurango NEW HOURS 8AM-7PM • 7 DAYS A WEEK 1644 CTY RD 203 - OLD SWEENEYS BLDG (970) 247-2190 • ACMEHEALINGCENTER.COM

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[2016] Art

Food

“I think locally some of the really nice things that have happened are public art projects. The one that comes to mind is the piece by Dr. Chip Thomas up at Fort Lewis College. It was dedicated on their first Indigenous Peoples’ Day. I think that’s a really beautiful piece. We have all of this conflict around the [Dakota Access] pipeline. I think it’s good to see our local university celebrating the beauty of Indigenous peoples’ life and culture ... Also, I think we’ve seen a growing trend in support and participation for Durango art. We had over a thousand more people attend our Autumn Arts Festival. The city itself is doing a comprehensive study about the impact of arts and culture on Durango. I think that is a huge positive, to see culture within the city’s planning.”

“We originally started out in ’94. We are celebrating 22 years and that’s a great positive for us, considering the national trend is an 18-month restaurant life. Over the course of our 22 years, we have changed our menu all the time. But back then, we couldn’t find people who were local producers that could keep up with our demand.

Now, we’re at a point where we get most of our food from within 60 miles. Sustainability is certainly a much better trend than it has been. There is an overall market support for the local, whether that is for farmers and ranchers, craft brewers, craft distiller, or restaurants. A positive is keeping it local, fresh, and craft-orientated.”

Peter Hay, Durango Arts Center exhibits director

Beer “The Brewers Association, which is our parent trade organization that helps to promote and protect craft breweries across the country, announced that we have hit a record high of 5,000-plus breweries nationwide in 2016.

It’s exciting to continue to see that kind of growth and interest in our industry and craft beer in general, however it is a bit daunting as well because that means there is inevitably increased competition.

In order to stay relevant breweries must up their game and continue to produce new and exciting beers as well as maintain the highest quality possible ... It is always great when you can use local ingredients.

We see a lot of farm-to-table-style restaurants, more farmers markets and more hyper-local trends. People want to support their community. We try to do as much as we can locally in Durango and regionally. We do a beer called Hop Ivy Ale. We released it in draft at the end of 2015 and in 2016 we released it in cans. It is made with all Colorado ingredients including the hops, malt, yeast, water, and even the can. It was one of the first all-Colorado ales that had wide distribution across Colorado. We feel it is important to support the community that supports us, and that includes the hop farmers and malters across the state, too.”

Kristen Muraro, marketing director at Ska Brewing Co.

Proof that the world wasn’t a total dumpster fire in 2016, at least when it comes to art, beer, Durango life, food, LGBTQ, movies, music, outdoors and weed

2016 IT WASN’T ALL SH*T 2016 was a harsh mistress. She gave everyone the kind of pounding that is usually reserved for gritty quickies in Albuquerque truck stops. We were all left feeling vaguely ashamed and mildly sore.

Even so, 2016 wasn’t all bad.

We here at DGO are optimists. Bitching and moaning is easy. Finding what to crow contentedly about is the harder job. In the spirit of leaving 2016 on an up note and dragging those good vibes into the New Year, we talked to lively folks in fascinating fields to pinpoint the moments that totally rocked it in 2016.

Durango Life “I saw the approval of the Rocket Drive-In project ... [it means] apartments coming to Durango. Housing, or lack of, is the most important issue to me for 2016. Without housing, Durango cannot attract new businesses or keep young families here. The Rocket Project has been in limbo for years and now

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it is moving forward. Housing projects like Twin Buttes are moving forward.

Three Springs is moving on the Village Two project. Housing is the key to Durango.”

Karen Barger, owner of Seasons Rotisserie & Grill

LGBTQ “We’re dialoguing about diversity of experiences for people around gender ... The gender binary is not a binary at all. There’s a much greater diversity of gender expression than we’ve ever talked about before, as a general public. There has also been more advocacy for transgender individuals than ever before. I guess we’ve seen some things emerge like the series, “Transparent.” ... But it’s also through people like Janet Mock. She wrote a book called “Redefining Realness.” She is a transgender woman. She became famous through an interview she did with Piers Morgan. She had her own show for a while.

It is a start. We are visually seeing a wider expression of gender and sexuality in culture and that is a positive.”

Dr. Keri Brandt, associate professor of sociology and gender and women’s studies, Fort Lewis College

Movies “The thing that is most exciting about 2016 to me is that we still have a video store that’s in business. I think we’re becoming cool and retro, at this point. The interesting thing, from my perspective, is to see how company’s like Netflix are becoming production companies. They are becoming less about how people watch movies. So, if you don’t go to the theater, how are you going to watch a movie?

With Netflix and Amazon starting to focus on production, they are not focusing as much on delivery and distribution. That creates an environment that still supports the independent

Sweetie Marbury, city councilor Continued on Page 14

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[2016] From Page 13

video store ... Netflix and Amazon are really promoting their own movies and in-house productions. Which are good, but I think that people are missing a lot of other offerings if they just get content by streaming. But, it ends up being a positive trend that supports the video store model, which is a human experience. We emphasize human interaction. You aren’t interacting with a kiosk or a screen. You have the opportunity to walk in to a three-dimensional building, hold a title, and talk to a human being about it.”

Ericka Curlee, co-owner of Louisa’s Movie House

show and I did the top albums of the year. I decided I was going to write down all the albums that stuck in my mind. That list ended up being 75 albums and that was just in heavy metal music. It was an incredible year for music. So much good art was put out by so many diverse people.

It’s really cool to see. People talk about the state of modern music being deplorable and that really couldn’t be further from the truth.

You just have to dig a little further to find the good stuff.”

Cooper Stapleton, host of “The Heaviest Matter in the Universe,” on KDUR

Outdoor Adventure “I’d say one positive thing is more and more people are hitting the trails in what are being called the silent sports: hiking, biking, trail running. You could call it nature’s medicine, because the $646 billion annually outdoor industry dwarfs the $331 billion pharmaceutical industry. It’s not just dirt bags and college kids. Getting outside is big business. For every one dollar spent on outdoor gear and equipment, four more are spent on travel and related expenses. That’s mucho dinero.”

Brandon Mathis, editor of “Adventure Pro”

Weed

Music “Kicking the year off with David Bowie passing away was awful, but it also gave us this swan song – that’s one of the most pure expressions of art that I can even think of. Being able to write your own funerary dirge is something that every artist would embrace. To be able to sign themselves off with something so grand and so epic and wonderful ... that was the indicator that all this good music is going to come out the rest of the year ... Pretty much everybody that put something out was on point. I do a radio

“There is an openness. People are starting to feel comfortable about cannabis. They are coming in daily with success stories when it comes to being off of prescription medications and other types of products that help them with pain. People are so excited to get off of prescription medications. That’s what we’re seeing on a daily basis ... We can only say it helps. We aren’t diagnosing, but I’ll tell you some success stories we’ve heard.

We have people who can’t have surgery, and they take cannabis and they say that their tumors have gotten smaller so that surgery is possible. We have people who haven’t slept and have dealt with insomnia for years.

They’ve dealt with prescription medications for this – then they take a small amount of cannabis and find the issue remedied. I have even had someone call me in a panic that their dog ate marijuana by accident and we have a product that can counter-react that immediately and save them thousands from the vet. I think that the cannabis taboo is less now. I have dentists who send their people here. Doctors that send their patients here.”

Tracy Robinette, manager of Santé Medical and Recreational Dispensary — Patty Templeton DGO STAFF WRITER

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[New Year’s Eve]

Get yer party on

DURANGO ELKS LODGE

»» The where-to and how-much of NYE events It’s time. Put on your good shoes, mama, and stomp the damned dust off ’em. There’s a sparklin’ fresh new year to strut into. Get 2017 going by kicking up a lovely ruckus at one of these badass parties around Durango.

Hello, Dollface presents Interstellar

Where: Animas City Theatre (128 E. College Drive)

When: 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Nappy Roots, a Southern rap collective, is gonna kick the Animas City Theatre’s ass. Then y’all will ask for more. Expect lyrical innovation and hella swagger.

21+ over. You’ll shell out $35 in advance or $40 day-of.

Where: Henry Strater Theatre (699 Main Ave.) If you wanna turn your NYE into an otherworldly experience, check out the Strater Theatre for Hello, Dollface’s annual tradition. The night will start with a vintage vinyl set by BadGoatDisco. Hello, Dollface takes the stage next, featuring robotic tech, dancers, performance art, projection mapping, and future soul. Tix are $20 in advance and $25 at the door ($30/$35 for VIP).

Buy early. This show tends to sell out every year.

Purgatory’s everything for everyone When: 2:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Where: Purgy’s (1 Skier Pl.) You can start NYE getting drunk at Purgy’s listening to the Kirk James Band, which plays from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. for free. When dusk hits (about 6 p.m.), there’s a torchlight parade down the mountain. Then – PA-POW – fireworks. The Kirk James Band goes back on at Purgy’s, playing from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., for a late-night set of ragtime, funky groove tunes, and Texas shuffles. Or, hit up the Durango Mountain Club for the progressive Americana of the PG Band from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Funk rock at Balcony Backstage Where: Balcony Bar and Grill – Backstage (600 Main Ave.) When: 8 p.m. to 1:40 a.m.

For 5 bucks you can get your funkalicious PMA on with Elder Grown.

Get boozey at Balcony Backstage and dance to Hendrix-inspired rock-nroots.

A Nappy Roots NYE When: 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

DJ spinning and open bar When: 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Where: Cerda 7 Cantina y Comida (639 Main Ave.) Did you say open bar? Yes, yes, we did.

For $50, you get hors d’oeuvres from 9 p.m. to 10, an open bar from 9 p.m. to midnight, and a champagne toast. DJ Dollabill will be spinning. If you wanna highroll it, private tables run from $250 to $500.

Get swanky at Derailed When: 3 p.m. – 2 a.m.

Where: Derailed Pour House (725 Main Ave.) Get yer flapper gear, fedoras, and Charleston ready. Derailed Pour House is ringing in 2017 Prohibition-style, 25 greenbacks in advance and $35 at the door. There’ll be music

by Rob Webster, a champagne toast, balloon drop, 1920s party favors, and a $100 gift card drawing. If you wanna be a big cheese, a guaranteed table, food, and drinks will be 300 clams – with a $400 option for VIP treatment.

HOOPSHOOT FREE THROW SHOOTING CONTEST CALLING ALL BOYS & GIRLS AGES 8-13 DURANGO · BAYFIELD · IGNACIO · PAGOSA SPRINGS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7TH 9:00AM - 12:00PM ESCALANTE MIDDLE SCHOOL GYMNASIUM PRIZES FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS REGISTRATION 9:00AM - 10:00AM CONTEST STARTS AT 10:00AM WINNERS RECEIVE A TROPHY & A CHANCE TO COMPETE AT THE DISTRICT COMPETITION

Rock out at Wild Horse When: 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Where: Wild Horse Saloon (601 E. 2nd Ave. #C) The Wild Horse Saloon has your buckin’ good time. For $10, you get live music by MD 20/20, snacks, a champagne toast, and over $1,000 given away in gift cards, cash, and merch. 18 to enter but 21+ to drink.

—— Patty Templeton

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL VIC ROMANO 970-903-2125 OR GINA ROMANO 970-7493392

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[TV]

The 10 best TV shows of 2016 I’ve never had a more difficult time trying to narrow my yearly picks down to just 10. For as long as it lasts, here’s to “peak TV” and its seemingly limitless offerings.

—— Hank Stuever | The Washington Post

1

2

“O.J.: Made in America” (ESPN) A remarkable work of research and synthesis, Ezra Edelman’s 7 ½-hour documentary is a powerfully persuasive essay on the subject of justice in America as it pertains to race. After 20 years of throwing up our hands at the mere mention of the O.J. Simpson trial and verdict (whether in exasperation or exultation), Edelman’s masterful handling of fact and context was the best thing on TV this year, notable for its deliberate, almost haunting sense of calm in a culture consumed by injustice.

3.“The Americans” (FX)

4.“Transparent” (Amazon)

Five seasons in (and with a new showrunner, too) it was easy to assume that this viciously sharp political comedy wouldn’t be able to compete with 2016’s real-life freak show of a presidential campaign.

But “Veep” went for broke, plunging Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her brief presidency into a fullblown electoral college crisis, which made for the show’s funniest and most poignant moments so far – and a true companion piece to the times we live in.

The pivotal fourth season of this Reagan-era drama about a married pair of Soviet spies living in Northern Virginia (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) seemed intent on leaving viewers with no fingernails left to bite. Now that the show officially has two seasons left (and has finally gained the attention of more viewers), the anxiety level can only get worse as the FBI gets closer and closer to discovering our anti-heroes.

The accolades for Jill Soloway’s flawless dramedy are mainly for the journey of its main character, Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor), as she explores life as a woman. But Season 3 broadened “Transparent’s” ambitious themes of identity within the Pfefferman family, dating to Maura’s parents’ escape from the Holocaust. This is no longer just a show about being transgender. It is also a profound, beautifully told story about the American Jewish experience.

6

7

5.“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (FX) Who would’ve believed a year ago that two of the best TV shows of 2016 would have been about the 1994-1995 O.J. Simpson trial? Not me. But “People v. O.J.” instantly overcame viewers’ appetite for Ryan Murphy-style camp (John Travolta as Robert Shapiro?) and instead delivered an addictive work of thoughtfully structured re-enactment.

This Week’s Events Happy Holidays from The Balcony !

SATURDAY 12/31

NEW YEAR’S EVE!

Elder Grown - 8pm - $5 at the door

WEDNESDAY 1/11

American Aquarium - 8pm - $7

THURSDAY 1/26

Grant Farm - 8pm - $7 at the door

THURSDAY 2/2 SNOWDOWN!

The Nth Power - 9:30pm - $15 Give the Gift of Music! holdmyticket.com 600 Main Ave, Suite 210, Durango, CO 970-422-8008

248115

BOOK YOUR NEXT PARTY HERE!

email: allison@balconybarandgrill.com

4

“Veep” (HBO)

5

$7 Lunch Special Mon-Fri · 11am-4pm Football Brunch Sat & Sun · 10am-2pm

3

8

6.“Atlanta” (FX)

7.“Quarry” (Cinemax)

Donald Glover’s dreamlike dramedy has an experimental and laid-back vibe; it can be wildly tangential and seem never quite finished. In a predominantly black Atlanta suburb, we follow Earn (Glover) as he attempts to manage the burgeoning rap career of his cousin and help provide for the child he has with his on-again/off-again lover. “Atlanta” isn’t quite the sharply focused work of social commentary that some viewers may have expected, but it’s far more impressive as an intricate mural of a community.

This violent and morally ambiguous 1970s crime drama seemed at first like so much else in cableville, but “Quarry” is so masterfully crafted – and so rich in characters and memorable scenes – that it deserved a whole lot more eyeballs and attention than it got. Logan Marshall-Green won me over as Mac, a Marine who returns from Vietnam to his home town of Memphis and winds up working as a hit man. “Quarry’s” eight episodes build out an absorbing story, rivetingly told.

9

10

8.“The Night Of” (HBO)

9.“The Crown” (Netflix)

10.“Billions”(Showtime)

A worthy answer to the question of what a typical episode of a court procedural (such as “Law & Order”) would look like if things were slowed to the relative speed of the real world’s justice system, giving viewers a chance to ruminate not only on the trial process, but also the utterly human dimensions of a murder case seen from all sides. “The Night Of” displays a refreshing directness (no subtextual riddles to solve or philosophical clues to debate here) and a measured sense of suspense.

Lavish and engrossing, Peter Morgan’s 10-episode introduction to the young life of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (acting somewhat as a prequel to Morgan’s 2006 screenplay for “The Queen”) is an Anglophilic TV watcher’s dream come true. Claire Foy and Matt Smith are excellent as the newlywed royals, but they’re no match for John Lithgow’s brilliant and belligerent ride as Winston Churchill, a lion in winter if there ever was one.

The ads for this show made it look like one more tedious exercise in the “greedis-good” genre of Wall Street-based dramas, but “Billions” came loaded with surprises, including dialogue that was densely, elegantly packed. It doesn’t hurt that half of it was being performed with great, gravelly expertise by Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades, a U.S. attorney who is an Ahab obsessed with harpooning a hedge-fund billionaire named Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis).

16 | Thursday, December 29, 2016 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[Movies]

Welcome to 2017!

2016’s 5 best

MOVIES

1.“Moonlight”

Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s original story about a young man coming of age on the streets of Liberty City in Miami pulsed with life, observant drama and deep emotion. Jenkins’s elegant visual approach provided a flawless frame for some of the most indelible performances of the year, including by Mahershala Ali as an improbably tender drug dealer and Andre Holland as a highly evolved diner cook.

2

2.“Manchester by the Sea” In case you didn’t cry enough during “Moonlight,” writer-director Kenneth Lonergan had you covered with this beautifully crafted drama about a man coming to terms with his tragic past.

Written with Lonergan’s distinctive mix of observant humor and melancholy, the film starred Casey Affleck in a performance all the more breathtaking for its subtlety and stillness.

3.“Hell or High Water” A contemporary Western about a couple of bank robbers eluding a crafty sheriff on the rawboned plains of Texas.

Just what the world needs, right? But just as I was preparing a snippy tweet invoking “No Country For Old Men,” I saw the dang thing and it turned out to be terrific: Brilliantly written by

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4.“The Confirmation” This might be the best movie you didn’t see in 2016, if only because it had a blink-and-you’ll-miss it theatrical run before being shown on Netflix. No matter, there’s still time to enjoy this affecting funny-sad drama (are you detecting a theme?) about a flawed divorced dad spending a pivotal weekend with his son, who’s about to be confirmed. Written and directed by Bob Nelson, this quiet gem has the scruffy, rough-edged charm of Nelson’s previous script, for “Nebraska,” made all the more lovable by a cast that includes Clive Owen, Maria Bello and Patton Oswalt. Never has irreverence been made so reverent.

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5.“O.J.: Made in America” Ezra Edelman’s epic documentary about O.J. Simpson defied expectations that it would only rehash what we already knew about the idolized athlete-turned-notorious murder suspect.

Instead, Edelman created a sprawling yet meticulous portrait not just of the man, but of Los Angeles, collegiate and professional sports, celebrity, race and American culture.

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Taylor Sheridan, perfectly executed by director David Mackenzie and featuring stunning performances from Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster and Chris Pine, this alternately funny and sober-minded cat-and-mouse tale entertained and evoked present-day economic realities with sensitivity and smarts.

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—— Ann Hornaday | The Washington Post

New Year’s Day only!

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This year has been particularly gratifying, if only for its sheer diversity - not only in terms of gender and ethnic representation in front of and behind the camera (Oscars won’t be nearly So White in 2017), but in terms of categories and platforms, with filmmakers reinvigorating classic genres with imagination, brio and unbridled love for a medium that felt vibrant and new, whether taking the form of big-screen spectacle or a streaming visual album. Here’s a highly personal list of this year’s best movies:

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[ weed ] Seeing Through the Smoke Christopher Gallagher

Don’t go crazy this winter. Try some CBD-heavy strains

I

t’s winter now. We are entering the season when balance is most important. The freezing-in effect of this time of year when most of nature itself crawls to a stop can have similar consequences for us if we are not mindful. This is both the “Wake me when spring comes” and the “Shining”-crazed “Heeeeeere’s Johnny” phase of our annual cycle around the sun, when seasonal depression and cabin fever creep like snowdrifts, threatening to engulf us within their smothering mass.

There are, thankfully, ways around the less-pleasant elements of our hemisphere’s dormant phase, activities and tools to keep us level and content as we wait for the green to return.

It’s easy to be active, happy, and high in the summertime; everyone wants to be outside – hiking, camping, swimming, some 3-on-3 down at the park, the farmers market, street fairs, taking your friend’s new puppy for a walk. There’s almost no limit »» Jack Nicholson in “The Shining.” to the shenanigans. A joint as you embark head, rising like steam as you panic amid thoughts and you’re as content as that meandering of hypothermia and pray to a god – who is obviously stream the puppy splashes in as you cross it in the hibernating – that the wind hasn’t filled the tracks forest. Summer is the time to be thankful for tetrathat should lead you, Hansel and Gretel-style, back hydrocannabinol and the breeders and growers of to civilization. the last generations who have given us the bounty Life during the colder months can be tough, but of strains that run into the 20-plus THC percentage cannabis blesses us with an ally against the lack of range. light, the physical discomfort, and the general malAdd six months to that scenario and you may find yourself carrying that puppy because the aise. It’s called cannabidiol (aka CBD), a non-psychest-high snow drove it to a state of refusal-to-conchoactive component of cannabis that has powerful tinue as you cope with one wet boot from when you anti-seizure, anti-anxiety, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects that make it very useful in medical broke through the stream, which you could not applications. The first time I smoked a CBD-domisee under its winter blanket; all the sudden, you nant strain, three things happened: I felt as if one wish you hadn’t smoked that joint because it’s not hair on the crown of my head was being gently – but doing much to help you think your way out of this frosty fiasco and is, in fact, contributing to your definitely – pulled upward, all the physical pain that rapidly-elevating blood pressure which manifests in usually plagues me was instantly relieved, and a the pitch of the scream filling every corner of your general sense of well-being settled over me. It was

not the usual marijuana high; there was no real sense of being carried away to a state of exhilaration, but rather a simple gentleness like the experience of a really good hug. Imagine cannabis as a dualistic goddess – THC is the belly dancer and CBD is the Earth Mother.

Take some time during this intraholiday week to head down to the Olde Weede Shoppe and grab yourself a supply of CBD, found in strains like Charlotte’s Web, Harlequin, and Cannatonic, and see how it hits you; you can also blend it with your favorite high-THC strains to feel a gentler effect than you’re used to. We’ll continue here next week with a discussion of the wonders of cannabidiol; be well til then.

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, December 29, 2016 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[Vintage Durango]

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»» Advertisement in the June 6, 1966, issue of The Durango Herald.

God in a box If you’re gonna get some God in ya, you might as well have young Johnny Cash shove it in there. The Man in Black, along with the lovely June Carter Cash, joined Billy Graham’s Western Carolina Crusade – fully televised, of course, back in the ’70s. Graham’s TV crusades and radio appearances garnered him a lifetime audience of 2.2 billion people – 3.2 million of those having supposedly accepted Jeebus as their own person savior.

Random note: “Hymns by Johnny Cash” is a jaunty collection of God-love.

Forty-five years later, he put out “My Mother’s Songbook.” Less jaunty, deeper feeling. All of it good for a Sunday of porch bourbon, friends, and singing along.

Cheers to another great year!

Thank you!

Happy New Year!

Holiday Hours: December 31st 9am – 6pm • January 1st 11am – 8pm

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[love and sex]

Savage Love | Dan Savage

Lovecast quickies: Savage takes audience’s rapid-fire questions Earlier this month, we recorded our Savage Lovecast Christmas Spectacular live at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon. The audience submitted questions on tiny cards before the show, which allowed questioners to remain anonymous and forced them to be succinct.

More questions were submitted than my guests and I could get to, so I promised the crowd I would answer as many of their unanswered questions as I could in this week’s column. Here we go ...

I’ve heard so many horror stories and seen countless X-rays online. Any tips for making sure I don’t lose any objects in my ass?

humiliate/control you, it’s a problem and it’s unacceptable.

You know what you never see in those X-rays? Butt plugs and other toys designed for butt play. Stick to butt plugs with flared bases, dildos with bases that look like balls, orange traffic cones, etc., and you’ll be fine.

How do white people talk to black people about Donald Trump?

How common is it really for women to squirt? I get conflicting reports.

This answer, courtesy of the Kinsey Institute, isn’t likely to satisfy you: “Somewhere from 10 to 54 percent of women experience some type of fluid expulsion in tandem with sexual arousal and orgasm.”

Maybe the incoming Trump administration can put the scientists they’re pulling off climate change onto female ejaculation and we’ll have better numbers before the 2018 midterm elections.

Fifty-eight percent of white people voted for Trump, and 8 percent of black people voted for Trump. So yeah, maybe instead of talking to black people about Trump, white people should shut up and listen to black people instead?

“Hall passes” don’t work for many women because they can’t orgasm when having random sex once with a random guy. What alternative would you recommend?

Where is it written on your hall pass – or anyone else’s – that it can be used only with complete strangers? Nowhere, that’s where.

How do I get my partner – who says he’s into it – to top me “properly,” i.e., work me into a sub space instead of him just melting into an ooey-gooey love ball?

How do you propose a foursome with your longtime friends without freaking them out or ruining the friendship?

There are lots of terrific pro doms in Portland, Oregon. Hire one who’s up for showing your partner what proper topping looks like.

Not proposing the foursome is the only way to avoid potentially freaking your friends out and ruining the friendship.

Trans man and cis female, happily married, planning to get pregnant in the next five months. How do we break it to my wife’s family? Half of them don’t know I’m trans and will be carrying, and we don’t want to lie, but also we don’t want them to see us as anything other than just a couple.

How do you decide who wins an argument in a same-sex relationship?

Telling your partner’s family you’re trans isn’t going to decouple you. You’ll still be “just a couple,” it’s just that one of you is trans. Since you’re not going to be able to hide which one of you is pregnant—not in the Twitter/Instagram/Facebook era—the sooner you tell them, the sooner they’ll have their freak-outs, and the sooner they’ll return to seeing you as the couple you always were and still are.

My partner/husband of 40 years says I still embarrass him. Is this unusual?

If he says it affectionately and occasionally, it’s not a problem and it’s not unusual. If he says it to degrade/

A sudden-death round of Golden Girls trivia.

All straight guys want to put it in your butt, but when you suggest eating it first, they run for the hills. How can I bridge this gap and get my ass eaten?

Date gay guys.

How do I avoid lesbian bed death?

Date gay guys.

I’m in a FMF poly triad, and I’m looking to incorporate another guy into the mix. I’d look online, but I’m a public school teacher in a small town. How do I find someone without outing myself and risking my career?

Ask your partners to do the headhunting.

If you’re married and in an open relationship, do you need to include that info in your Tinder profile?

Or can you wait until later?

You should include/disclose that info in your profile (best practice), but many similarly situated men choose to wait until later (understandable practice, considering the stigma). But the existence of a spouse must be disclosed sometime between the end of the first text exchange and the start of the first blowjob.

My wife goes on long runs with her girlfriend. I’m sure they are having sex in the woods. I’m jealous because I’m not getting enough. What should I do?

Get your own “running” partner.

I’m four months pregnant. My husband won’t stop talking about how excited he is to taste my breast milk. I said he could try it from a bottle, but he wants it from the source. I want to be GGG, but this weirds me out.

Tell your husband you’re going to table this topic for the time being. It’s possible you’ll be less weirded out by the idea once you’re actually breast-feeding, or the opposite is also a possibility. But pestering you about it for the next five months isn’t going to increase his chances of getting it from the source – quite the opposite. (And for the record: You can be GGG and still have hard limits/absolutely nots.)

I’m a 25-year-old gay man who doesn’t resonate with hookup culture. If I’m not comfortable f-ing right away, how can I compete/find a partner?

I get your question all the time – which means you’re not alone. Be up front about what you are willing to do (F after a getting-to-know-you date or two) and what you are not willing to do (F after a “sup?” or two), and you’ll scare off the wrong-for-you boys and attract the right-for-you boys.

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, December 29, 2016 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[happening] Thursday

Pierre Bakery, 601 Main Ave., 385-0122.

Irish music jam session, 12:30

Snow sculptures, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.,

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

Purgatory Mountain Resort, 1 Skier Pl, www.purgatoryresort.com.

Karaoke with DJ Crazy Charlie, 9 p.m., Wild Horse Saloon, 601

Jazz church experienced musician session, 6 p.m., Derailed Pour

East Second Ave., 375-2568.

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

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

509 East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

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

Friday

509 East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

Alcohol tastings at Mac’s Liquor, 3-6:30 p.m., Mac’s Liquor

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

Store, 3124 Main Ave., 247-0939.

KDUR 91.9/93.9 FM, www.kdur.org.

Open Mic, 7-11 p.m., Steaming

Bean, downstairs at the Irish Embassy Pub, 900 Main Ave., 403-1200, www. thebean.com.

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

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

Spoken Word, 7-9 p.m., Steaming

Ska Brewing Co., 225 Girard St., www. skabrewing.com.

Bean, downstairs at the Irish Embassy Pub, 900 Main Ave., 403-1200, www. thebean.com.

509 East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

The High Rollers Band, 8:30-

11 p.m., Wild Horse Saloon, 601 East Second Ave., 799-8832.

Tuesday

Saturday

Acoustic jam, 6-8 p.m., Strater Hotel,

Custom ornament fundraiser, all-day event, Healthy Hounds and

Open Mic, 8 p.m., Moe’s Starlite

Fat Cats, 21738 U.S. Highway 160 West, 375-9700, www.healthyhoundsandfatcats.com.

Super Ted’s Super Trivia, 6:12

699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Lounge, 937 Main Ave., 259-9018. p.m., Ska Brewing Co., 225 Girard St., 247-5792, www.facebook.com/supertedstriviaatskabrewing.

Henry Stoy piano, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.,

Jean-Pierre Bakery, 601 Main Ave., 385-0122.

Useless Knowledge Bowl Trivia+, 7 p.m., Durango Brewing Co., 3000

Prohibition-style New Year’s Eve party, 3-11:59 p.m., Derailed

Main Ave., 247-3396.

Pour House, 725 Main Ave., 2475440, www.derailedpourhouse.com.

Wednesday

New Year’s Eve at Purgatory,

Bird walk, 10:30 a.m., Rotary Park, 1565 East Second Ave.

5:30-11:59 p.m., Purgatory Mountain Resort, 1 Skier Pl, www.purgatoryresort.com.

Acoustic jam, 6-8 p.m., Irish Embassy

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

The High Rollers Band, 6-11:59

p.m., Sky Ute Casino, 14324 U.S. Highway 172, www.skyutecasino.com.

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

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

The Million Dollar Hwy Band,

7-11:59 p.m., Rusty Shovel Saloon, Vallecito Lake, 18044 County Road 501, 884-2964.

New Year’s Eve at The Lake House, 7-11:59 p.m, The Lake House

Courtesy

»» Ring in 2017 with a punk show at The Everynight.

at Vallecito, 17460 County Road 501, 884-9150.

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

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

New Year’s Eve with Elder Grown,

8-11:59 p.m., Balcony Backstage, 600 Main Ave., 422-8008.

Masquerade ball, 9-11:59 p.m., Cerda 7

Cantina y Comida, 639 Main Ave., 764-4723.

Nappy Roots, 8:30 p.m.-2 a.m., Animas City

Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, 799-2281.

Interstellar New Year’s Eve party with Hello, Dollface, 9-11:59 p.m., Henry

Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave., 247-8395.

Sunday New Year’s Day brunch train, 9:45

a.m.-2:45 p.m., Train Depot, 479 Main Ave., 1 (888) 872-4607.

Henry Stoy piano, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Jean-

Ring in the new year at The Everynight If you’ve just about had it with 2016, send it screaming into the dust heap of history with a good swift kick in the ass and a New Year’s Eve punk show.

It’ll be out with the old, in with the new, courtesy of bands Long Con, Beauty Sleep, Moist, God Awful and Dirty Faces at The Everynight (next to the Everyday Gas Station, 799 E. College Drive).

The show starts at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, check out https://www.facebook. com/events/395402644137069/.

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

Pingpong and poker tournament, 8 p.m., Moe’s Starlite Lounge, 937

Main Ave., 259-9018.

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

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

Two-step and waltz lessons, 6:30-7:30

p.m., $10, Wild Horse Saloon, 601 East Second Ave., 799-8832.

Submissions To submit listings for publication in DGO and www.dgomag.com, visit www. swscene.com, click “Add Your Event,” enter the event info into the form, and submit.

Listings at www.swscene.com will appear on www.dgomag.com and in our weekly print edition. Posting an event on www. swscene.com is free and takes one day to process.

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[happening]

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December Commuter of the Month Erin Taylor chooses Durango Transit to get to work at Vantiv and to get around town on the weekend.

Erin says: “Some people can’t believe I don’t drive my car, but for me Durango Transit is convenient and services all the places I need to get to. Riding the bus gives me the chance to catch up on podcasts and music. Durango Transit keeps getting better and easier – the new covered transit stop near my apartment keeps me out of the weather.”

Not your family’s boring home movies “Gather round, kiddies, and let’s watch these home movies!” Fortunately for you people, Something Wild Film Fest’s first-ever “Home Movies Adventure: Sports Edition” has something a little more exciting planned for you.

Got some cool trick footage or a short adventure film of your own you’d like people other than your parents to see? Something Wild is looking for your stuff.

Submission will be accepted between now and up to Saturday, Dec. 31. Those selected will be notified Tuesday, Jan. 3. Selected filmmakers get to attend the event for free plus one guest.

Make sure you title your film when submitting it in the subject line, then include your name, phone number and email address in the message section and include your name when paying the submission fee of $5.

Name must match submission fee.

The show starts at 6 p.m. Jan. 6 at the Durango Public Library.

Admission is 5 bucks, cash only, the day of the event.

Join the Way to Go! Club at GetAroundDurango.com Sign up. Log Trips. Earn Rewards.

22 | Thursday, December 29, 2016 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19)

living well is the best revenge.)

At this time, you will meet bosses from your past or relatives you have not been in touch with for a while. It’s like the past is coming back to find you.

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22)

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Travel delays and changes in your travel plans are likely now. However, the good news is this is a great time to finish school projects and write important papers.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Wrap up loose details about inheritances, insurance issues, taxes and debt or shared property because old business can be finished. Focus on what is not yet done.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Bizarro

Many of you will run into ex-partners at this time because Mercury retrograde is opposite your sign. (Look good because

There’s no question that Mercury retrograde is hassling your work routine. This is why there are delays, goofy mistakes and misunderstandings. Be patient with yourself and others.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) Old flames from your past will cross your path now because of the energy of Mercury retrograde. You will especially notice this because Mercury is your ruler.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) Expect to hear from family you haven’t seen in a while. In fact, you might have relatives sleeping on your sofa and eating you out of house and home.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21)

Just grin and bear it as you deal with transportation delays, car breakdowns, confused communication and silly errors.

This is only temporary.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) This is a good time to finish old financial business and wrap up what is already on your plate. You might also want to revisit or resurrect old moneymaking ideas.

because you find it easy to go into the past, study history and seek out answers and solutions.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Friends from the past are back in your world again. Consider this an opportunity to touch base and enjoy the company of others.

BORN THIS WEEK

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18)

You are eloquent, attractive and charming; and extremely hardworking. Justice and fair play are important to you. The next three years is a time of culmination, success and financial accumulation. That’s why it is wise to start to settle your debts. The year 2017 will be a social year. It will also deal with the results of the changes that took place this year.

While others suffer from the delays of Mercury retrograde, you can benefit

© 2016 King Features Syndicate Inc.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) Because Mercury is retrograde in your sign, you will suffer from silly mistakes and mixed-up communications. Your efficiency is challenged, which is why you misplace or lose things.

weekly bestsellers Dec. 18 – 24 »»1. A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman (Paperback) »»2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay, by JK Rowling (Hardcover)

»»3. The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Explanation into the Wonder of Consciousness, by Sy

Montgomery (Paperback) »»4. The Emerald Mile, by Kevin Fedarko (Paperback) »»5. The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben (Hardcover) »»6. The Little Paris Bookshop, by Nina George (Paperback) »»7. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams (Hardcover) »»8. Santa is Coming to Durango,

by Steve Smallman (Hardcover) »»9. Ladies of the Canyons: A League of Extraordinary Women and Their Adventures in the American Southwest, by Leslie

Poling-Kempes (Paperback) »»10. Maker Lab: 28 Super Cool Projects, by Jack Challoner (Hardcover) ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Thursday, December 29, 2016 | 23