Why We Need Public Radio

art entertainment food drink music nightlife Thursday, February 16, 2017

DGO WHY WE NEED PUBLIC RADIO It highlights diverse voices.

It values unbiased information over clicks and ad dollars. And it’s under threat.

Plus: KDUR’s Cover Night returns, honoring Aretha Franklin

dgomag.com

Also: Merely Players and DAC present “God of Carnage,”“Cover Girl” dance theater, and Cyle Talley debuts a new column, “First Person”

FREE!

SAVE SPOT your

MAY 18, 2017 Fashion Fusion-Style in Motion is an exciting, fast paced runwaystyle competition between local businesses with garments created out of non-traditional materials. This year’s Style in Motion theme will challenge designers to incorporate motion into their outfit or runway presentation. It’s a fun night outclassy, sassy and family-friendly!

To become a sponsor, model or business participant, contact Cindy at (970) 375-4599 or CFisher@bcimedia.com.

For more event info visit www.FourCornersExpos.com Benefiting:

DGO Magazine

STAFF

What’s inside Volume 2 Number 17

February 16, 2017

Chief Executive Officer

15 Cover Night is back

Douglas Bennett

KDUR’s fundraiser honors soul powerhouse Aretha Franklin.

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

4

From the Editor

4

Love it or Hate it

7

Vintage Durango

8

Sound

David Habrat

17 New column: Yes

and Know

V.P. of Marketing Kricket Lewis

Durangoan Jennifer Knight writes about the marijuana issues facing Colorado, both light and heavy. With cartoons by Roldo (left). Up first, some questions about the educational “Good to Know Colorado” pamphlet.

Founding Editors Amy Maestas David Holub Editor/ creative director David Holub dholub@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer Patty Templeton 375-4546 Katie Cahill Christopher Gallagher Alexi Grojean Jennifer Knight Bryant Liggett Jon E. Lynch Roldo Cooper Stapleton Cyle Talley

5

‘Uncomfortably relevant’ “God of Carnage” is a joint production of the Durango Arts Center Theatre and Merely Players in which you enter a living room where, for 90 nonstop minutes, two sets of parents want to solve their sons’ disagreement, only to see the situation devolve.

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.

8

Album Reviews 9 10 Beer 16 Weed

Seeing Through 16 the Smoke

Yes and Know 17

18 Savage Love

ptempleton@bcimedia.com Contributors

Downtown Lowdown

6 Dancing the psyche onstage Choreographed by Durango’s Malinda LaVelle and performed by Emmaly Wiederholt, “Cover Girl” is a solo showcase of dance theater that explores the idea of the authentic self.

Tell us what you think!

23 Cyle Talley debuts

‘First Person’ column Cyle Talley is on the lookout for interesting people with interesting stories, telling their tales in their own words. This week, he talks to Kale Casasanto-Zimmermann about farming, the value of work and the importance of money.

19 Happening 20 DGO Deals 22 Horoscope/ puzzles 22 Pages 23 First Person

/dgomag

/dgomag @dgo_mag

ON THE COVER Facts, truth, and a free, uncompromised press are integral to a functioning democracy, dammit.

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

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 3

@dg

dg

[CTRL-A]

[ love it or hate it ]

David Holub |DGO editor

Cringing at ‘Airplane!,’ I have to ask: Just how racist is this movie?

B

y virtually every account, the movie “Airplane!” is one of the funniest movies ever made, ranking No. 10 on American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 funniest movies of American cinema.

Released in 1980 and starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Airplane!” was a seminal comedy of my childhood, always watchable and ever quotable – “Surely, you can’t be serious.” “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley” was 79th on AFI’s list of the 100 best all-time movie quotes.

Last weekend, the ladyfriend and I were looking for something light and silly to watch, so we popped in “Airplane!” – neither of us having seen it in years. Not long into the movie, we began looking at each other hesitantly with big eyes of exaggerated disbelief. We had to pause the movie and discuss: Was “Airplane!” always this racist, inappropriate and laden with stereotypes?

Here’s a much-abbreviated rundown: »» There are the two black men on the plane speaking “jive” with so much slang and broken English that subtitles are required: “Shiiiiit, maaaaan. That honky muf’ be messin’ mah old lady ... got to be runnin’ cold upside down his head, you know? (Subtitle: “Golly, that white fellow should stay away from my wife or I will punch him.”) »» There’s the flamboyant character of Johnny, whose only role in the movie is to prance around mission control making sassy non sequiturs. »» There’s the long line of passengers and crew waiting in line for their turn to shake and slap (and worse) a woman who needs to calm down and get ahold of herself.

Now, being a heterosexual, white male, I realize there are few groups I have culturally-approved, politically-correct license to speak about – positive or negative – beyond anything pertaining to straight white guys.

That disclaimer aside, I have two main questions: Was the movie made during a time where such racism, misogyny, and stereotyping were more acceptable to broad, mainstream audiences? Or have we

become overly PC, where jokes can still offend but they better not offend when it comes to race, gender, or sexuality? I had to wonder: If “Airplane!” were made today, what would it look like and what would be left of it?

Take the two men speaking jive. What is intended to be funny here and who or what are we laughing at? With a predominantly white cast, white filmmakers, and presumably white-majority audiences, was the joke simply at the expense of black culture as a whole? Was the joke mainly about needing subtitles to decipher English, and “jive” happened to be within the cultural lexicon, yet still exotic enough?

What would this joke look like if written in 2017? Is there a group that uses colloquialisms and broken English that is culturally acceptable to laugh at? How about lower class whites, aka hillbillies? Is there a subculture that is acceptable to exploit for its exoticism? What if one of the men was a fetishist trying to talk through a ball gag?

Being just a babe when this movie was released, I don’t know how it was viewed by audiences then. My bet is that, for the majority watching, it was not considered racist or otherwise inappropriate beyond the raunchiness (with a PG rating, no less). And while certain jokes are undoubtedly racist in retrospect, I do not think the filmmakers are racists or were consciously being racist when they made the film. But if all this is true, at what point did the film – or at least parts – become uncouth to mainstream audiences, and what prompted its uncouthness?

Admittedly, I don’t have clear answers to these questions yet, though my guess is, like everything, they are likely found somewhere in the middle. Yes, we have come a long way culturally in terms of sensitivity, respect, and kindness toward minority, underrepresented, and historically disparaged groups. And at the same time, the things we are no longer allowed to laugh at (or with?) seem to be growing.

Before you get all sanctimonious, I offer one more question: Who or what currently is the culturally-approved target of our jokes, that, 40 years from now, we’ll pop in a movie and say, “Wow, that is offensive!”?

Grocery stores Love it In rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, the past is used to talk about blame or settling scores. The present is used for bonding, coming together or falling apart. The future is about choice. The same applies to food. And if the bathroom is about food in the past and a restaurant about food in the present, a grocery store is about food in the future.

This is why I love the grocery store. For anyone who loves to cook, grocery shopping is not only where you get your art supplies, it’s a place of endless inspiration. It’s a place representative of the greatest in human achievement, where sustenance meets gluttony meets choice. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a good cook or if the meals you’ll ultimately make come out even decent. In your mind in the grocery store, everything you will make and ultimately eat is amazing.

The grocery store is also the place of the best kind of impulse buys. Sure, you may ultimately regret tossing the Red Velvet Little Debbie snack cakes into your cart because why not, but in that moment, and every moment of every bite, they make life worth living. Thanks, grocery store.

— David Holub

Hate it Let’s talk about all the ways in which grocery shopping is an absolute crap-in-a-can experience. We can start with the fact that I, like everyone, can be a garbage human being. My trash-ass 14-year-old comes out when thinking about the grocery store. Like, no ma’am, I do not want to meal-plan. I don’t want to carve out time to think about a week’s worth of budget-friendly, healthy dinners that make good leftovers. I also don’t like confronting that all my jackass self wants to eat is posh cheese, salt-n-vinegar chips, and sour cream doughnut holes. Thank you, grocery store, for antagonizing my (very American) relationship with food.

Next up, grocery store: I hate your lighting. Your fluorescent pallor makes the food look corpse-y. When you aren’t morgue-ish, you are a freaky warm glow that makes me feel like you’re lulling me into a trap. Which you are. You’re set up in a way that 90 percent of the food inside you wants to kill me. Everything in the damn middle of the store, rather than on your fruity-veggie perimeter, will make me fat, sick, and eventually dead.

Say I get my grown-up pants on, I can only go to you in the middle of the night because I loathe being in grocery aisles that feel cattle-packed. And, really, do you have to play the saddest effing Adele song every time I am there? Like every time? Are you trying to make me buy the big container of doughnuts? You are. Thanks, for that.

Jerk-store.

—— Patty Templeton

4 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[stage]

‘Uncomfortably relevant’

»» Political climate makes Merely Players, DAC collaboration on ‘God of Carnage’ ever impactful Patty Templeton DGO STAFF WRITER

It’s a lovely day at the playground.

The sun’s shining on birds chirping cheerful songs. Then WHACK, my kid hits your kid in the face. A stick to the GD mouth. There’s plenty of blood and that kinda looks like teeth on the ground. Well, shit. What do we do? We reconvene after everyone’s cleaned up and try to talk out the situation like grown-ass adults, that’s what we do.

This is the basis of “God of Carnage,” a play by French writer and actress Yasmina Reza. “God of Carnage” is a joint production of the Durango Arts Center Theatre and Merely Players and will be shown at DAC the last two weekends in February. In “God of Carnage,” you enter a living room where, for 90 nonstop minutes, two sets of parents start off with good intentions. They want to solve their sons’ disagreement. Unfortunately for them, the situation devolves.

Fortunately for us, that devolution is hysterical. It is almost schadenfreude – you are laughing at the misery that they Brett Masse/Durango Arts Center find themselves in ... until you realize »» From left: Jill Davis, Geoff Johnson, Jason Lythgoe, and Theresa Carson rehearse in “God of Carnage.” the conflicts they face are also your own.

Once a season for the past five years, Merely Players and DAC have joined Go! forces to create intense, immersive art. “God of Carbut underneath you’re asking, ‘Is this funny? Should “God of Carnage” presented by the I be laughing?’ It’s an exciting contradiction.” nage” is the latest example of two brilliant theater Merely Players and DAC Theatre If you are looking for a simple play, “God of Carcompanies that are “really committed to the idea of not wanting to be competitive companies,” said nage” is not it. The alliances between characters When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17-18 and Feb. 23-25; 2 p.m.

Mona Wood-Patterson, director of Merely Players. constantly shift. No one is the bad guy. Or maybe Feb. 26 “We want to enhance each other’s work.” everyone is the bad guy. You may root for Carson’s Where: Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave. Theresa Carson, artistic director and manager of character as she stands up for moral responsibility, Cost: $20 DAC members, $23 general DAC Theatre who also plays one of the mothers in only to realize that you completely disagree with the play added, “It’s a collaboration. We are supporther next opinion. “There’s a line I say,” Carson said, Information: http://durangoarts.org/god-of“‘We as individuals have to have a moral concepive of one another and share resources.” carnage/ “God of Carnage” is a mega-popular modern tion of the world. To live up to that conception as »»Special rates available for groups 12+ play that garnered crap-tons of Tony nominations moral citizens.’ And of course, then I revert into an »»Merely Players season ticket holders should reand wins when it starred Jeff Daniels on Broadway. animalistic creature.” There are no perfect people serve your seats directly with Merely Players.

Though it premiered in 2006, its prominence continhere, which is what makes “God of Carnage” so powerful. ues because the main theme – might vs. right – is a Even the title is brutal. “God of Carnage.” What conversation that will never go off trend. universal know when you enter a room where other people does that mean? It comes from a line of the play said “God of Carnage” is an excruciating portrait of how stand. You want to handle that civilly, but everyone

by Alan, “You see, Veronica, I believe in the god of people treat each other when they disagree. Given is a little on edge with all those feelings right under carnage. He has ruled, uninterruptedly, since the the current national climate, a play like “God of the surface.” dawn of time.” To that, Wood-Patterson added, “It’s Carnage” is on point. Carson noted, “We are finding “It’s not, ‘Hey, ho! Let’s go to the theater and fornot that he is promoting violence. He is saying that a lot of parallels between the political arena today there is a top dog and people will always resort to and issues that are being discussed in the play.” get all our troubles,’” said Wood-Patterson. “Theater whatever gets them to being the top dog.” The au“It is uncomfortably relevant,” Wood-Patterson has different purposes. Sometimes it is just going added. “Underneath the veneer of civility lies the to be entertained. And sometimes it is to provoke dience is not given an answer on what is more powtruth of instinct ... All the tension between these two thought and have moments of recognition.” But erful, might versus right. Instead, they’re given an couples bring two different viewpoints in a room. introspection aside, “It is a comedy. It is very funny,” outrageous, cathartic experience of what happens Now we’re all in that situation politically. You don’t said Carson. “I love that element of you’re laughing when people release the reins of decorum. ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 5

[ stage ]

Dancing the psyche onstage »» Project Thrust’s ‘Cover Girl’ is dance theater that explores the idea of the authentic self Virginia Woolf in her experimental novel “The Waves,” said, “I am not one and simple but complex and many.” This is all of us. We slip on projections of ourselves like jackets, depending on who is or isn’t around. You aren’t the same you at your telemarketing job as you are on a first date. These facets are normal, but is one version of yourself more real than others?

When do you feel most like you – when you are alone or when you are being watched?

“Cover Girl” is a 75-minute solo showcase of dance theater that explores the idea of the authentic self. ChoreoLaVelle graphed by Durango’s Malinda LaVelle and performed by Emmaly Wiederholt, “Cover Girl” is a collection of four vignettes centered on a single person. Each scene begins with the declaration of, “This is Me,” and each expression of self is progressively outlandish. It turns into a heartbreaking, yet hilarious narrative of how we shape ourselves to fit our ambitions and the world around us.

DGO spoke to LaVelle and Widerholt on the making and meaning of “Cover Girl.”

Tell us more about “Cover Girl.”

Wiederholt: Sometimes, we edit the events in our lives or the feelings that we’d rather not revisit and relive.

I feel there is a big theme of self-narrative and playing with different identities. The show is composed of four characters. Each becomes more exaggerated and each new woman is a permutation of the last one.

LaVelle: “Cover Girl” looks at questions about identity, how we are seeing ourselves, how we are perceived by others, and how that influences our actions from the inside out ... This idea that there are different facades we put on for others and how we create our own realities about how people perceive us.

This is a female-dominant production.

What would you say to (not woke) folks who think this is theater only for women?

LaVelle: I think that whenever I’m creating something from a place that feels very personally relevant – there’s always a universal theme that anybody can latch

Courtesy of Project Thrust

»» Emmaly Wiederholt performs in the dance theater production of “Cover Girl,” choreographed by Durango’s Malinda LaVelle.

Go!

that much of.

Malinda LaVelle’s Project Thrust presents “Cover Girl”

What do you think people will get out of this show?

When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 and 18 (Friday and Saturday)

Wiederholt: I think it can be a source of reflection: “Yeah I’ve totally thought that or said that and now I’m thinking about it through a new lens.” If anything, it could lead to more reflection about the identities that each of us take on. When we feel most authentic or least authentic in our lives.

Where: Vallecito Room (Room 103), Fort Lewis College Student Union, 1000 Rim Drive Cost: Suggested $15 but purchased on a sliding scale from $10-$25.

Information: projectthrust.com Ages 13+ onto. The personal becomes universal. While, yes, it is a female on stage, and it was choreographed by a female, and the name is “Cover Girl,” there is so much in this that is just human. It is human experience not female experience. It is creating your own reality and how we try to make other people love us. Everybody can relate to that because it is an inherent human trait – wanting to be noticed.

What does it feel like to have the weight of a show on your shoulders?

Wiederholt: I have done several solos within several of Malinda’s former pieces, but I have never done a whole solo show. I’ve always sort of enjoyed being the only person on stage. I’m a total ham; I’ll be the first to admit it. But there’s always an entrance and an exit energy. You knew someone was going to come on and carry that energy after you. In this show, it’s me and it’s really exhausting. The energy output is enormous. That being said, it’s not a negative. It felt really exciting to be asked

That sounds heavy. Is this show a downer?

LaVelle: You definitely will not be bored. It’s not an abstract show. It latches onto some really concrete ideas ...

“Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps,” is one of my favorite quotes in the show. It gets to this idea that comic relief can be heart-wrenching. I think that feels so human.

That kind of contradiction of funny and sad at the same time ... And Emmaly’s hilarious. She has comic timing and plays this amazing, heartbreaking, hilarious character.

How is watching “Cover Girl” going to be different than seeing any other art this weekend?

LaVelle: I think that every form of creative expression is unique, but dance, to me, feels incredibly intimate and personal because our instrument is our body. It’s not something that is outside of us like a canvas or a video camera – it’s me.

It’s impossible to separate yourself – the person - from the art. That’s how dance can become a very vulnerable thing. It is bare-naked-you out there for everyone to see.

—— Patty Templeton DGO Staff Writer

6 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[Vintage Durango]

»» Red Seal Potato Chips ad in the Jan. 9, 1958, Durango Herald.

Potato chips as health food

DGO Staff Writer

Not a member? Sign up today!

We Love Our Locals

$99/Ounce on Tuesday the 24th Thank you for being patient with us while we were undergoing technical difficulties last week. We offer you this specialty for the day as we never want to inconvenience you, our loyal local customers.

Light up your day!

10% OFF EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT 9-NOON EVERYDAY HAPPY HOUR DISCOUNT 4:20PM TO 6:20PM Over 40 Strains available

E. SEcond AvE. SteamworkS

N

AllEy GraSSburGer DuranGo Coffee Co.

MAin AvE.

E. 7th St.

—— Patty Templeton

$79 OZ SPECIALS FOR OUR MEDICAL MEMBERS.

E. 8th St.

Eat! All! The! Chips! According to this completely factual advertisement not crossing any ethical-GD-liar lines, Red Seal Potato Chips were a “healthy and delicious” snack.

Nothing could be more restorative to your vim and vigor than flakes of fried potato covered in salt. Oh, 1950s advertising.

Though you can try to convince yourself that potatoes are excellent for bone health and B6, their oil and crunch is more bad than good. Chips are a low-nutrient, high-calorie food.

The cartoon family in this ad died with clogged arteries and high blood pressure after a likely diet of potato chip omelets, casseroles topped in crisps, and potato chip pie for dessert.

Strater Hotel

Medicinal 18+ Open Everyday 9am-8pm Recreational 21+ Open Everyday Sunday - Wednesday 9am - 8:30pm · Thursday - Saturday 9am - 9:45pm

742 ½ Main Ave., Durango • 970-375-2837

251491

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 7

[sound]

Downtown Lowdown | Bryant Liggett

‘GOD MIGHT HAVE THE BEST TUNES BUT

THE DEVIL HAS BETTER LYRICS’ »» James Hunter Six adds gospel roots to rock ’n’ roll attitude

Bryant’s best

“H

old On!” is a kick-ass record.

The 2016 Daptone release by The James Hunter Six ended up on my Top 10 list for the year, a collection of cuts that nods to rock ’n’ roll via rhythm and blues and gospel. It’s a loose homage to early roots music, like Sam Cooke fronting a horn-infused New Rhythm and Blues Quartet, a throw-back to the kind of music that concerned parents of the late 1950s and early ’60s.

It scared the squares and hopefully inspired some sinning along with some hip-shaking.

The James Hunter Six will perform in Durango on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.

As a kid, Hunter figured out how to dig into the cool music.

Ignoring the pop charts isn’t a 21st century novelty; fans should »» James Hunter move past the teeny bopper music enough to find someone you really like. In a pre-internet world, you would have to look through the record collection of your older sibling, the dude you bought weed from, or the record store clerk. You’d find out who influenced your then-favorite, and dive in.

“I’m surprised I got into music at all, becoming aware of it as I did in England in the late ’60s, when the pop charts seemed to consist entirely of what sounded like children’s records. Some of it was embarrassing, even for a seven year old to hear,” said

Friday: Pagosa Springs rock band Ragwater, 9 p.m. No cover. The Balcony Backstage, 600 Main Ave. upstairs. Information: 422-8008.

Tuesday: Soul and R&B with The James Hunter Six, Hello, Dollface opens, 7:30 p.m. $28/$38. Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive. Information: 247-7657.

Courtesy photo

Hunter, via email. “It was much later on that I found out Elvis hadn’t always been an actor in travelogues, and that he had once posed a threat to the fabric of society as we know it. That’s when I got into music and started listening to the people who had influenced him to undermine our morals in such a delightful way, such as Clyde McPhatter and Ray Charles.”

“Hold On!” found the band signing with the U.S.based Daptone Records, the home of a modern funk

and R&B revival notable for being the label of the late Sharon Jones. It’s a label with bands that have the eye of the youngsters while serving up a throwback vibe to people who dug that style of music the first time around.

“One day we might be in a theatre full of ravers with their baseball caps on back-to-front, the next we’ll be playing on a lawn to old ladies in deck chairs with rugs over their knees doing their knitting,” Hunter said.

Following the lineage of Hunter’s influences will take you through some familiar names, some not-so familiar names, and somehow you’ll end up at the music of the lord. Early rock music has this double-edged sword, a “Saturday Satan, Sunday Saint” dichotomy that kept musicians’ souls clean. Play the upbeat music of the devil in questionable environs, misbehave, chase girls, shake your hips, take a drink and a toke, and honor the music of the church to have those sins washed away. The James Hunter Six influences may all be dead and gone, and the family tree stops at gospel music.

“All our influences are old ones, I guess,” Hunter said. “If I trace back through the people who influenced me to those who influenced them and so on, it usually ends up at gospel, which usually brings me to conclude God might have the best tunes but the Devil has better lyrics.”

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

BEST PRICES! BEST SELECTION!

NO ONE DEALS LIKE NISSAN OF DURANGO NO ONE!! WE’LL BETTER ANY DEAL ON ANY NEW NISSAN BY AT LEAST $500 GUARANTEED!!

2017 Nissan Rogue AWD only $199 a month* 20704 HIGHWAY 160 W DURANGO · CO · 81303

970-259-3940 nissanofdurango.com

Tough new 2017 Nissan Titan 4x4’s just $299 a month*

*2 at this price Rogue knmat2mv9hp516115

*2 at this price Titan 1n6aa1ej5n503009 *With approved credit, 36 month lease $2999 due at signing, no security deposit plus TT&L

OVER 100 NEW NISSAN’S AVAILABLE

252027

0% FINANCING FOR 72 MONTHS

8 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[sound] What’s new

Feb. 17

POW!,“Crack An Egg”

1. Big Sean,“I Decided”

Available: Now via Castle Face Records or at your favorite local independent record store on compact disc and standard black vinyl.

While supplies last, you can order direct from the label a very limited Over Easy Edition vinyl (white with a slight splatter of yellow and bright orange center ... get it?), which includes a bonus flexi disc of album standout track “Castle of Faith” remixed by Mikey Young.

Castle Face Records is a Bay Area-based record label owned and operated by Thee Oh Sees/Coachwhips/ Damaged Bug mastermind John Dwyer. The label has been home to a bevy of artists in the interwoven realms of punk, garage, experimental, noise, and straight as an arrow rock ’n’ roll. Whenever an album lands on my desk and I see that it’s from the label, I will go out of my way to give it a listen, or at the very least make note to check it in the future.

I remember listening to a record from San Francisco synthpunks POW! a few years back and while good, it didn’t leave a lasting impression. I heard potential, potential that appears to have been fully realized in their latest album. The record seems so full, dense, that it’s hard to comprehend that this is a downsized version of the band. The two main players, Byron Blum and Melissa Blue, have made a fierce, up-tempo, pummeling, punk rock record that seems more and more relevant with each passing listen. Tracks such as “Back On The Grid,” “Cyberattack #3,” “Color The System,” and “Energy In Motion” embed themselves into your brain and beg for repeated listens.

Recommended for fans of Suicide, Devo, The Bondage Fairies, Gary Numan, The Faint, or !!! (Chk Chk Chk) — Jon E. Lynch KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu

Big Sean finally returns (to those of us without Tidal) for the first time since Feb. 2015’s “Dark Sky Paradise,” and he has a hell of a record. “I Decided” is a concept album centering on the ideas of sacrifice, growth and rebirth. Big Sean is an enigma of the “Billboard rap” scene, inexplicably the constant underdog while sharing New at beats with the likes of Eminem and getting production from Rick Rubin. Sometimes the themes are contrary to the content of the album. It’s hard to take raps about sacrifice seriously when there is no real perspective of loss, but I think that’s more a fault of the genre’s braggadocio than of Big Sean himself.

2. Grails,“Chalice Hymnal” No one else sounds like Grails. Imagine the soundtrack to Dracula on acid, or the fuzzedout sounds of that porno channel you can just barely get reception on. There’s a heady dose of synthesizers mixed with languid hiphop production that flows like molasses on a summer Sunday. Horns burst in, layered under oppressive amounts of reverb, sounding simultaneously jarring and comfortable. Overall there is a lightness, a trimming of the fat that doesn’t let “Chalice Hymnal” bog the listener down, but envelops them in its ambiance. This will challenge your perceptions and your ears, but is one of the more rewarding listens I’ve had this year.

3. Ryan Adams,“Prisoner” And here I thought the man lost it after he spent actual time and effort covering the entirety of Taylor Swift’s “1989.” Ryan Adams has put out his greatest album since 2000’s “Heartbreaker.” “Prisoner” is a quintessential break-up album at its very core, simultaneously pulling from all of music history and the fu-

the

Silhouette Series

OF PERFORMING ARTS AT SAN JUAN COLLEGE PRESENTS

Thursday, March 2, 7 p.m.

Henderson Performance Hall Tickets: $22 adults, $15 seniors, $18 students and $12 children 12 and under

$

ture of the “rock” genre. Seriously, put on the lead single “Do You Still Love Me?” and tell me it doesn’t sound straight out of one of those collections of glam-rock ballads that we all saw commercials for, or a lost Tom Petty great.

Seriously, I am blown away by this album. If you think good music ceased to be 30 years ago, punch yourself in the mouth and then buy “Prisoner” on vinyl and cry.

4. Alison Krauss, “Windy City” Tribute/standards albums are very hit or miss for me. Bob Dylan, for example, keeps releasing standards albums and he needs to stop.

It’s interesting then that after nearly 20 years since her last solo outing, Alison Krauss returns with a covers album. It helps that they aren’t songs I was familiar with, but beyond them being covers, Krauss brings eclectic instrumentation and lush production to these old country ballads done by folks like Willie Nelson, John Hartford, Glen Campbell, and two Brenda Lee songs. The songs sometimes even seem more genuine than their original versions.

5. Jidenna,“Chief” I, like a lot of Jidenna’s fans, was blindsided by the eerie beat that begins the track “Long Live the Chief” in Netflix’s “Luke Cage.” What followed was a three-minute burst of hiphop majesty that takes the aforementioned braggadocio to a different level than most rappers, channeling class, traditional fashion, and his ivy league education, into a scathing analysis of the hip-hop genre as a whole. His bites at the genre remind me of KRS-One, while his delivery brings to mind the big ones of the current scene, like Kendrick and Killer Mike. He falls into the genre pitfalls of sing-rapping a bit much for my taste, but this dude has the potential to blow up big, so you best be listening.

—— Cooper Stapleton

7 Grams

7 gram joints

AND $

Purchase tickets on the web at www.sanjuancollege.edu/silhouette

SAN JUAN COLLEGE Success Matters

The Cultural Beacon of the Four Corners

Box Office: 505-566-3430 I www.sanjuancollege.edu/silhouette San Juan College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, genetics or veterans’ status, or on the basis of any other category protected under federal or state law, in regard to admissions, employment, programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policy of San Juan College: Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator, 505-566-3215.

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

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 9

[beer]

First Draughts | Robert Alan Wendeborn

What to do when you encounter that unfamiliar beer

O

ne thing that always scares me about ordering a beer of a style that’s unfamiliar: What if it tastes like shit? I mean, there’s a lot of styles that most people haven’t heard of, like Sahti, Gruit, or Chicha, and styles that aren’t as rare but aren’t always made in very traditional ways such as Roggenbier or Rauchbier, so there’s room for breweries to make them better or worse. And some beers, just by their official judging guidelines, sound terrible (from the German Helles Exportbier: “A slight sulfury note at the start that dissipates is not a fault, neither is a low background note of DMS.” So a little bit of green bean and freshly struck match in your beer? No thanks ...).

So what’s a casual beer nerd to do when confronted with the possibility of trying something new, but doesn’t want to get a master’s degree in food and beverage history to know what he’s ordering? First, trust your bartender. If a bar or brewery is brave enough to serve a medieval throwback beer or rustic Andean concoction, they should be into training their bartenders well enough to explain the style, describe the beer, and walk a customer through the experience of drinking it.

Also, don’t be afraid to consult your smartphone. A quick Google can shed light on whatever beer is being poured. This doesn’t just end at crazy weird styles; this can go to different types of hops, malts, or yeast that you may be unfamiliar with. Maybe you’ve never heard of

Waimea hops, but a quick search tells you that Waimea hops are “dual purpose,” meaning they’re good for bittering as well as flavor and aroma, and they have a good tropical and citrus profile.

Even when all your efforts at knowledge-before-experience fail, just go for it with an open mind. Think of it like confronting a piece of fine art you’ve never seen, or watching a foreign sport you’ve never watched. How does it work? What could be different or better or worse? What do you actually like about it? You don’t necessarily have to have a prescription for what the beer will be like; you can rely on your own description of the beer – beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Continued on Page 11

10 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[beer] From Page 10

yeah? So even if it’s absolutely terrible, you can get some kind of enjoyment or sense of accomplishment out of it. Just like how bad sex is still sex, bad beer is still beer.

Honestly, the most fun I have when drinking new beer is not in the actual drinking but in the description of the beer. A good way to get in the mood of describing beer is performing a dramatic reading of the beer description on the bottle (based on the words on the side of most beer bottles, brewers must often think of themselves as poets) or the reviews from Ratebeer.com (beer reviewers definitely think they’re poets). If you do this in rounds, making sure everyone gets a turn reading their beer description/review, it can get really fun by the third or fourth round, as your subtly-slurred speech begins to sound like a public performance of Shakespeare’s sonnets (if Shakespeare had been a broish, hop-enthused beer nerd).

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

A good way to get in the mood of describing beer is performing a dramatic reading of the beer description on the bottle (based on the words on the side of most beer bottles, brewers must often think of themselves as poets) or the reviews from Ratebeer.com (beer reviewers definitely think they’re poets).

Alexi Grojean/Special to DGO

EVERYTHING

EXTRAVAGANZA FRIDAY

FEB. 24 9AM -6PM

SATURDAY

FEB. 25 9AM -6PM

SUNDAY

FEB. 26 10AM -3PM

L A P L A T A C O U N T Y FA I R G R O U N D S E X H I B I T H A L L

BEST DEALS ON CURRENT SEASON CLOTHING!

WINTER

FOOTWEAR & CLOTHING

252007

88TH ANNIVERSARY

20% - TO 75% OFF

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 11

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC RADIO »» It highlights diverse voices. It values

unbiased information over clicks and ad dollars. And it’s under threat.

casting to start thinking more creatively about how to raise money and develop content.”

Dependable, in-depth reporting

Patty Templeton In this new age of alternative facts, it is more important than ever to have organizations dedicated to unbiased reporting. A democracy needs accurate information to survive. Public radio’s mission is to create a more informed public. “I believe public media is a trusted voice, a trusted news resource. That is the role that we should play and continue to play as the media landscape becomes more and more splintered with social media,” said Jeff Pope, executive director of KSJD in Cortez.

“When you can get your news – any kind of news that you want to have, anywhere you want it, in only one opinion, depending on what source we choose, it is my hope that public media helps people hear other voices. I think we still have a place.

In fact, I think we have a place more than ever. People turn to public media and say, ‘I can trust you. You don’t have an angle and you’re working hard not to.’”

America is a society that values entertainment. This has led our news organizations to turn toward sensationalism.

Hype, brevity, and conflict sell. They get the adrenaline up. They’re easy to digest. They’re easy to report. Public radio reaches for something more than sensationalism. It reaches for narratives that connect and educate on a deeper level.

Diverse content is the center of public radio and this diversity keeps the public from hearing a “single story,” meaning repeatedly being told one narrative about people or place. It is incomplete information that can lead to creating stereotypes rather than understanding.

For example, if every night the news only covers young black men committing crimes, the person watching may internalize that all young black men commit crimes. “The consequence of the single story is that it robs people of dignity. It

DGO STAFF WRITER

“A

merican taxpayers do not want their hardearned dollars funding superfluous government programs ...,” said Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn. The superfluous program in question is public media – a budget line Lamborn has repeatedly tried to cut.

“Congressman Lamborn has introduced similar legislation twice before,” Mark Duggan, programming and news director for KSUT Four Corners Public Radio, said via email. “It failed both times because of fairly widespread support for public broadcasting in Congress, especially among rural Republican lawmakers in the West. This year’s version arrives in a different political climate, needless to say.

And Lamborn’s efforts come even as the Trump Administration will reportedly eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities in its new budget.”

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) receives $445 million in federal funding. That is 0.01 percent of the $3.899 trillion federal budget. Put simply, Lamborn must think that $1.35 per person a year is too much money to spend on keeping an informed citizenry. “The Congressional coalition may be able to stave off funding threats for a bit,” said Duggan.

“And the funding is already allocated for the next two years. But the threats will continue, and they could be successful soon. Now is the time for public broad-

Continued on Page 14 David Holub/DGO; images via Shutterstock

12 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 13

[radio] From Page 13

HOME OF THE COOLEST MARGARITAS IN TOWN HAPPY HOUR

Monday-Friday 2:30pm-6pm 948 Main Ave • Durango, CO 970.259.7655

250692

Winter Clearance Sale!

This weekend save 20-50% off select styles including knit wear, cozy sweaters, dresses, and much more! (not alternative facts) Think global, Shop local for the free spirit in you.

5 1 0 1 5 M a i n A v e . • D u r a n g o, C O • 9 7 0. 3 8 5.4 2 6

Experience the dodifference!

GREAT STRAIN SELECTION • HASH & CONCENTRATE • EDIBLES • SEEDS • CLONES PIPES SMOKING ACCESSORIES • APPAREL • MJ LITERATURE & CONSULTING • ATM ON SITE RECREATIONAL 9am-7:45pm • MEDICAL 9am-6:45pm • 72 SUTTLE ST. UNITS F & G 970.259.3674 • 7 DAYS A WEEK

The Alternative Resource durangoorganics.com

facebook.com/durangoorganics 250649

makes our recognition of equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar,” said Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her viral Ted Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story.”

The danger of a single story isn’t just what is played on the radio but who puts those stories on the radio.

“I believe there’s intention in public media around the diversity of story,” said Pope. “Some of that begins with getting storytellers who look different than yesterday’s generation of public media people: Storytellers, story-getters, interviewers, and others. Public Media’s hiring. It’s being intentional about diversity on boards of directors.”

Public service over profits Whereas much of mainstream media has a bottom line of clicks, commercials, and commerce, public radio is on a mission of public service.

Durango community radio station KDUR prides itself on the fact that anyone a can apply to become a DJ and they “don’t tell DJs what to play,” said Jon Lynch, director of KDUR programming. “The only caveat I give at DJ application meetings is ‘If I can hear it on another radio station in Durango, I don’t want to hear it on KDUR.’” This open attitude brings next level ideas and a sonic, storytelling edge to smaller communities. The only thing public radio is interested in selling you is a wider view of the world.

Lamborn has said that he thinks public media can survive without federal funding. Well, sort of. Large swaths of smaller stations would die or be eaten by larger news groups. If NPR and CPB lost federal funding, “you would see cuts ranging 5 percent in large stations to 30 percent in smaller stations,” Pope said. “I can’t imagine that that wouldn’t impact each station in its own way and in a significant way ... I think you’re talking staff cuts. I think you’re talking about some stations just going away.” A show like “Fresh Air” will not have the same feel or purpose with six minutes of commercials for every half hour. The point of “Fresh Air” would no longer be to introduce citizens to compelling interviews

but to introduce citizens to advertisements that keep those (shortened) compelling interviews on the air. It becomes a sell-to-stay-alive culture. Instead of getting to hear about phenomenal unknowns or lesser-knowns, Terry Gross only gets to interview celebrities who will curate the largest crowd lined up for commercials.

Everyone deserves a voice Much of today’s media-scape is about talking heads projecting opinions as truths. The level of yelling and rude dialogue is worrisome, but the decline of the press is borrowed worry so long as outlets like public media exist. Public radio searches for deep truth told from varied points of view. Its near 40 million listeners prove that the public still craves a respectful give and take of highly-vetted information.

Let’s dissect that big audience for a moment. Sometimes, a local audience is more important than a national audience. NPR has more than 900 affiliate stations nationwide. Then there’s community, college, and other independent radio stations. All of these independent stations are able to focus on local populations and local issues that get ignored by larger news outlets.

“Every month, more than 170 million Americans use public media – over the air, online, or in person,” Pope said. “And in rural America, where there are fewer choices of media – because the broadband infrastructure is weaker than in urban environments – people depend on public media even more.” Public media focuses on the values of the community rather than the wants of advertisers.

Public media ends up becoming an electronic town hall where everyone can have a voice.

George Orwell surmised that the corrosion of language is a step toward the corruption of democracy. In “1984” it was the Ministry of Truth destroying records and re-writing history. In 2017, it is the debasement of fact that is damaging democracy. America doesn’t have to live in a “post-truth” society so long as there are content creators, like public media, who endeavor to supply citizens with reliable stories that temper a republic rather than tear it apart.

14 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[sound]

Chain, chain, chain – chain of tunes »» KDUR Cover Night is back, this year honoring Aretha Franklin Patty Templeton DGO STAFF WRITER

GO! KDUR Cover Night When: 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 18 Where: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive Cost: $10 18+ show Artwork by Tim Kapustka

With 44 Grammy nominations and 18 wins, Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul, an empress of eleganza, and best known for the Otis Redding-written, civil-rights anthem “Respect.”

Franklin has the kind of pipes that carry the heft and splendor of history.

She’s also the subject of KDUR’s Cover Night fundraiser.

KDUR Cover Night (Saturday, Feb. 18) is an annual institution where amateur and professional bands play cover versions of a famed musician’s songs.

This year, Franklin beat out Dolly Parton, Joan Jett, Blondie, and Stevie Nicks as the featured artist through an online poll.

It’s going to take a steel spine to cover a musician like Franklin, who has a four-octave range and has performed at the inaugurations of three presidents (Carter, Clinton, and Obama). About 10 local bands and musicians have set themselves to the task, working their way through Aretha’s oeuvre, including The Outskirts, the Jade Robbins Band, Farmington Hill, Lawn Chair Kings, Bob’s Yr Uncle, and Dirty Faces, each allotted 10 minutes on stage.

One of the trickier parts of covering Franklin is that her music runs a gamut of styles. She is arguably the best vocalist of all time, and yes, she is a tricky singer to emulate,” says Erik Nordstrom, guitarist and vocalist with Lawn Chair Kings and Farmington Hill.

“I’ve had to remind myself and other musicians that it is nearly impossible to mimic Aretha’s vocal acrobatics ... it’s helpful to just be yourself and interpret her music in a style that is comfortable.

That’s a cool thing about cover nights: hearing different interpretations of

songs that can be quite different and unique.” Franklin wasn’t a prolific songwriter so much as a profound performer.

Musicians covering her can choose soft ballads like “Say a Little Prayer,” feminist anthems like “Respect” or “Think,” and powerhouse broken-relationship songs like “Chain, Chain, Chain.”

(Bonus bit: The dude who wrote “Chain, Chain, Chain” – Don Covay – was Little Richard’s chauffer and sometimes opening act.)

“We try not to have a whole bunch of people repeat songs,” said Bryant Liggett, DGO music columnist and KDUR station manager. “It keeps it so you aren’t hearing 10 versions of the same song. Otherwise, there aren’t any rules.”

Which means you may run into a black metal version of “Son of a Preacher Man” and a speed-bluegrass “Freeway of Love” isn’t out of the realm of possibility. It all depends on how creative and radtastically out-of-control the bands get.

KDUR Cover Night sells out almost every year, so it’s best to grab your $10 tix early. (If you are a student and flash your FLC ID, tickets are only $5.) Proceeds go to funding KDUR Community Radio.

Funding public and community radio is getting more and more important.

Your 5 to 10 bucks can support 10 minutes of drinking at the bar or it can be the lifeblood of a radio station. Stations like KDUR are important because they aren’t owned by larger corporations and with nothing more the help of volunteers, a smidge of federal funding, and donations, KDUR fills the wants and needs of Durango without having to please big-wig suits who don’t live anywhere close to Colorado.

“We are giving voice to the community,” Liggett said. “Anyone can come and train and be on KDUR. You can’t do that at a Clear Channel-owned radio station.

People listen to KDUR and other little radio stations like ours because we really are reflections of what goes on in the community. That’s important. Having a voice is important.”

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 15

[ weed ]

[democracy] Ivanka’s clothing brand

Seeing Through the Smoke Christopher Gallagher

News you need to know After seeing a steady decline in sales from mid-2016, Nordstrom made a business decision to drop Ivanka Trump’s madein-China fashion line. On Feb. 8, President Trump tweeted out his displeasure, saying, “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person – always pushing me to do the right thing!

FROM THE Terrible!”

FILES OF

NOT NORMAL

The next day, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, was on “Fox and Friends.” During this appearance she said, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff, is what I would tell you. It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully – I’m going to just, I’m going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”

Why this is not normal This is a two-parter to unpack.

Party of the first part: Conway is a federal employee.

Conway endorsed Ivanka’s brand on national TV. This was in direct conflict with federal ethics rules that say that folks who work for the executive branch can’t use their office for personal gain or to hype products for friends and family. These rules are what stop high-level employees and politicians from (blatant) profiteering and spamming the American public with biased product reviews.

Conway exposed that she either A) didn’t know about federal ethics rules or B) thought she was above them. Neither is an honorable, trustworthy chair to sit in.

Party of the second part: Back to President Trump. We can all agree that a president should foremost be concerned about the welfare of the American public. President Trump’s Nordstrom tweet was the latest example of what is on his mind – himself, his family, and whatever impacts their income stream. For the better part of a day, his leading concern was that a portion of his millionaire daughter’s near $100 million brand would disappear.

Where are his tweets about improving the lives of small-business owners? Where are his tweets about working in a bipartisan way to create a better Affordable Health Care Act? What about the tweets about income and gender inequality? In fact, why is the president compulsively tweeting in the first place? We all know what happens to working-class folks who get caught with their phones on the job. Reprimands or getting canned. Why? Because when you are on your phone, you are not paying attention to your job. President Trump, there are over 318 million people in America who *it is your job* to take care of.

—— Patty Templeton

NFL’s medical cannabis rules leave players in pain

A

s the eyes of a nation tuned in to watch ol’ Tom Brady tear his fifth Super Bowl ring right off the Falcons’ fingers (and even more tuned in to see Gaga dive off the roof of NRG Stadium), the rest of the NFL sat home recouping from what can reasonably be referred to as half a year of brutality. Their bodies unwind, relax, making David Holub/DGO the turn toward the arc of another season of the same treatment, the microcosmic “wars” (complete with military flyovers and other patriotic displays bought and paid for by the Department of Defense) played every Sunday for our amusement.

It’s a tough life for these athletes. For every retired player selected to pull on a gold Hall of Fame blazer during Super Bowl weekend, there are dozens of pros whose dreams fizzle at the end of a string of relatively minor injuries that never get right enough for them to compete effectively at the highest level. Or they see their careers blow out with a knee on a bad cut in the turf. Then there are the thousands – myself included – who never get near the pinnacle of the sport, but, for the rest of their days, carry the reminder that the gridiron is a place where brute force reigns and the cost of doing business is measured in damage to tissue and tendon and bone.

(And let’s keep in mind here that, while, yes,

some of them do make millions putting their bodies on the line, it is the league owners who take home billions while watching games from the elevated luxury boxes of their publicly-financed coliseums.)

Medical cannabis has shown excellent results in alleviating muscle spasms, pain, post-concussion syndrome, and difficulty sleeping, to name a few. Bruce Smith, former Bills and Redskins great, and one of thousands of plaintiffs in lawsuits against the NFL concerning concussions and the comprehensive cover-up by the league over its long-term effects is quoted in a 2008 interview with the Buffalo News saying, “Not a day goes by that I’m not in pain ... I forget a lot of things sometimes.”

He is far from alone dealing with these issues caused by the game he loves. Fellow league alums including Ricky Williams, Jim McMahon, Jake Plummer, and Eugene Monroe have become vocal advocates for the use of cannabis to assist players in recovery.

However, though a majority of NFL players reside in states with medical programs, the league has done nothing of note to show that they are in step with the medical recommendations concerning cannabanoids, preferring to continue its traditional path of having team doctors prescribe opiate medications to players looking for relief from the on-field damage Continued on Page 17

16 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[Yes and Know]

Health claims against marijuana?

EVIDENCE, PLEASE!

By Jennifer F. Knight DGO COLUMNIST

D

o you require honest proof supported by scientific evidence before choosing to believe secondhand cannabis smoke causes firsthand cancer?

Something like two years ago, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment launched an aggressive public service campaign called “Good to Know Colorado” with the goal of educating retail marijuana consumers on safe, legal, and responsible use.

A news article about “Good to Know Colorado” published by USA Today, says that Jonathan Singer, Democratic House Representative in Colorado’s District 11 and substance abuse counselor, wanted to find an appropriate balance between education and acknowledgment surrounding Colorado’s new laws. Singer also encouraged the comprehensive tracking of marijuana use and public perception.

I had some questions, and Singer seemed an appropriate source: Mr. Singer, [I wanted] ... to discuss the current state of affairs with Good to Know Colorado and the work you’re doing there. My focus is on education and perception. I would also like to discuss your background as a former substance abuse counselor and more specifically how that experience affects your views on legalization here in Colorado and across the country.

Jennifer Knight My original interest stemmed

from a tiny section of the “Good to Know” brochure, with a header that reads: “Secondhand smoke IS NO JOKE.” The brochure then says: “Marijuana smoke has many of the same cancer-causing chemicals as tobacco smoke, so be considerate. Don’t smoke around children, women who are pregnant, or anyone who doesn’t want to be exposed.”

I’m inclined to agree with the obvious mission of the paragraph as it relates to basic human courtesy and acceptable social use, but I was baffled entirely by the claim that marijuana smoke causes cancer. I am perfectly aware this is not what the organization said verbatim. The brochure did not say secondhand marijuana smoke causes firsthand cancer, not in so many words, but was it not implied?

“... anyone who doesn’t want to be exposed.” to what? Cancer?

Cancer. Or secondhand cannabis smoke that causes cancer that “Good to Know” purports as fact in its lead statement.

C’mon, folks. Maybe we should make a big public service announcement about the safe and responsible adult use of rhetoric. I mean, it’s very powerful stuff, high potential for abuse.

In lieu of an expedient response from Mr. Singer’s office, I reached out to another valuable source for some scientific answers to the secondhand smoke question, Dr. Tim McGettigan at the Institute of Cannabis Research.

McGettigan, a Fulbright Fellow and Professor of Sociology at Colorado State University, played a substantial role in the creation and launch of the Institute of Cannabis Research at CSU-Pueblo, which is the first multidisciplinary academic and scientific research-based approach to cannabis studies in the nation.

Professor Tim, I’m wondering if you can offer a bit of wisdom, some insight on a recent public statement made by the fine folks over at Good to Know Colorado about cannabis smoke and how it contains many of the same cancer-causing chemicals as tobacco smoke.

Jennifer

His response was almost immediate: “The simple and honest answer to the secondhand smoke question is unknown. As is typical with cannabis, there is a lot of hysteria in the media.

We don’t have sufficient scientific research to conclude that secondhand cannabis smoke is better or worse than tobacco [smoke].”

I don’t mean to discount the work of “Good to Know Colorado.” In fact, the only thing that alerted me to investigate further was the loosely worded paragraph about secondhand cannabis smoke and cancer. Until I hear back from the organization itself, I choose trust the professor’s statement. The answer will remain “unknown” until somebody provides the public with hard scientific evidence.

Jennifer Knight is a freelance writer, thanks in no small part to her day job at Durango Solar Works. (jenn@bathtubjenn.com) Roldo is an ink-slinging angel, an investor of true talent.

$7 Lunch Special Mon-Fri · 11am-4pm Brunch Sat & Sun · 10am-2pm Happy Hour Mon-Thurs 3-7pm BOGO Cheeseburger Tacos $2.50 Cans, $3 Wells

This Week’s Events FRIDAY 2/17 La La Bones - 5:30pm Ragwater - 9:30pm

SATURDAY 2/18 Sky Pilot - 9pm

TUESDAY 2/21

Salsa Dancing - 8pm $2.50 Tacos & $5 Margs

WEDNESDAY 2/22 From Page 16

caused by years of collisions.

Worse still, Commissioner Roger Goodell and his crew at the league offices made the decision in December to suspend current Bills defensive lineman Seantrell Henderson for 10 games without pay for his use of

cannabis to treat Crohn’s disease; Henderson not only lives in New York, a legal medical state, but also had had two-and-a-half feet of his intestines removed due to the effects of his condition.

Football players are far from alone in being denied reasonable medical care involving cannabis. Next week,

we will investigate the plight of our military personnel and veterans who are denied access to medicine because of bureaucratic ignorance.

Christopher Gallagher lives with his wife and their four dogs and two horses. Life is pretty darn good. Contact him at chrstphrgallagher@gmail.com.

Open Mic Night - 8pm $1 Off Well & Drafts

THURSDAY 3/2 Sneaky Pete & the Secret Weapons - 8pm

600 Main Ave, Suite 210, Durango, CO 970-422-8008

252176

BOOK YOUR NEXT PARTY HERE!

email: allison@balconybarandgrill.com

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 17

[love and sex]

Savage Love | Dan Savage

If you have to take one for the team, find a new team I’ve been reading your advice column in The Coast in Halifax for a while, and it seems that most solutions to relationship problems revolve around sex. Everyone wants it or needs it, we should [eff] before dinner, or we can spice up our sex life in this certain way to be happy. What about someone who doesn’t want to have sex, ever? I’ve asked other people for advice, and the answer is usually “take one for the team,” have sex to keep them happy. Is that the only way I could find happiness in a relationship? It’s not something I want to do – but at this point, I don’t see any other options.

All Alone Ace I’m a sex-advice columnist. Consequently, AAA, people tend to write me when sex (needing it, wanting it, getting it but not the kind you want, etc.) is the problem, and sex (in some new and improved form) is often-but-not-always the solution.

I also get and respond to questions from asexuals, and I’ve urged sexuals not to regard asexuals as defective – or, for that matter, to view committed-but-sexless relationships as defective. So long as both people in the relationship are content and happy, it’s a good and healthy and functional relationship, whether the sex is vanilla or spicy or nonexistent.

Strictly companionate marriages can be good marriages.

As for “taking one for the team,” that’s not advice given only to asexuals. A woman who’s married to a foot fetishist, for instance, may be advised to “take one for the team” and let her husband perv on her feet. A vanilla guy married to a woman corrupted by “Fifty Shades of Grey” (it’s baaaaaack) may be advised to “take one for the team” and tie the wife up once in a while. And while there are certainly lots of asexuals out there taking one for the team – having sex to please/ keep/shut up their partners (or allowing their partners to seek sex elsewhere) – you know who doesn’t

have to take one for the team, ever?

Asexuals with other asexuals.

Dating another asexual is the other option, the obvious option, and may be the best option for you, AAA. (Don’t want to take one for the team, ever?

Don’t draft anyone onto your team who wants one, ever.) A quick Google search brings up several asexual dating sites: Asexualitic.com, AsexualMatch. com, Ace-Book.net, AsexualPals.com.

You can also choose to identify as asexual – and search for other asexuals – on mainstream dating sites like OkCupid and Match.

I can already hear you composing your response, AAA: Asexuals are just 1 percent of the population. There are 400,000 people in Halifax, which means there are 3,999 other asexuals.

Sounds like a lot, but most will be too young, too old, or unappealing for political or personal reasons (loves Kevin O’Leary, hasn’t seen “Moonlight,” picks their nose with an oyster fork). And a significant chunk of that number may not be aware – yet – that they’re asexual. So realistically, AAA, your local dating pool is much smaller than 3,999.

But! Good news! There are 7.5 billion people on the planet! And 75 million of them are asexual!

I have a good friend with a unique array of kinks – a crazy, specific, and rare constellation of kinks – and he cast a wide net on kink dating apps.

After he met someone on the other side of the world with all the same kinks and they hit it off via Skype and the guy provided my friend with references (put my friend in touch with friends who could vouch for him), my friend flew to the other side of the world to go on a first date. Two months later, he went back, stayed for a few months, and then moved abroad to be with Mr. Kink Match On The Other Side Of The World. My friend did things people are typically advised against – who gets on a 12-hour flight to go on a first date? – because he knew there weren’t many lids out there for his particular pot.

Asexuality isn’t a kink, I realize, but you can and should cast a wide net, AAA, like my kinky expat friend.

Don’t let geography limit you in your search. You may not be able to afford to do what my friend did – fly halfway around the world for a first date – but you can get your ass to the next province over if you hit it off with an asexual in New Brunswick or Quebec.

Good luck.

I’m a 22-year-old lesbian living in Utah. I’m finally going back to college this fall. I have autism (high functioning), and I couldn’t handle going to school full-time while working.

Thus, I will be stuck living at my parents’ house, as I couldn’t afford rent and living expenses on my own.

The problem is, my parents are super Republican and religious. While I live at home, I can’t date (they are against me being gay), I can’t drink, and I can’t watch movies with swears. They also force me to participate in daily scripture study, which I hate. I don’t know what to do. I can’t be myself or have any fun while I live at home because I’m afraid my parents will kick me out. But I can’t afford to move out, either. I’m shy and socially nervous, so I don’t have any friends who could help me out, and I can’t see living with roommates who are strangers.

I’ll be 29 by the time I graduate, and I don’t want to live like this for that long. Any advice? Maybe I could work something out with my parents, but they are set in their ways and I don’t want to hurt them.

Under Their Authoritarian Homophobia If they were just enforcing “their rules” about booze in their house, that would be one thing. But requiring your adult daughter not to date anyone, or not to be a lesbian at all, is just mean.

(A lot of insane religious people believe homosexuality is an act, not an identity, so someone who isn’t currently having gay or lesbian sex isn’t actually gay

or lesbian. By that standard, I haven’t been gay for hours.) And leveraging their daughter’s autism and social isolation and economic dependence against her in order to control her?

Meaner still.

You say you don’t want to hurt your parents – you’re a good daughter – but it’s clear your shitty parents don’t care if they hurt you.

Typically, my advice would be to tell your mean and shitty parents what they want to hear – to feel free to lie to them under duress – and then lean on your friends, do your own thing outside of the house, and be careful not to get caught. But that’s not an option for you.

So you’ll have to ask yourself what you value more: freedom now or getting your degree sooner rather than later. If it’s your freedom, move out, get a job, go to community college, and take your time getting that degree. If it’s getting your degree before turning 30, knuckle under, spend a lot of late nights “studying in the library,” and go to the student resource center on your campus and ask if there are any campus services/support groups for students with autism or Asperger’s syndrome. Who knows? You might meet some people who you could see yourself living with, as roommates and friends, and be able to get out of your parents’ house sooner rather than later.

P.S. You’re in Utah, UTAH. If there’s an LGBT student group on your campus, go to the meetings and share your story. You might meet a gay Mormon boy with parents like yours – shitty and mean – who could use a fake girlfriend until he graduates, and you could use a fake boyfriend until you move out of Mom and Dad’s.

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.

18 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[happening] Listen in or get lyrical at the Steaming Bean Award-winning novelist N.K. Jemisin said, “So here is why I write what I do: we all have futures. We all have pasts. We all have stories. And we all, every single one of us, no matter who we are and no matter what’s been taken from us or what poison we’ve internalized or how hard we’ve had to work to expel it – we all get to dream.”

It it more important than ever that diverse dreams, essays, stories, poems, and art reach the page and the stage. Speak your piece at The Sounds of Blackness, an open mic dedicated to honoring black history, black future, and black present from 7-10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20. Presented by the FLC Black Student Union, this evening of spoken word focused on black excellence is a free, all-ages event located at The Steaming Bean (in the basement of the Irish Embassy Pub, 900 Main Ave.).

Thursday DJs Posh Josh, Spark Madden and Bad Goat bring “Disco Rancho,” a

weekly House music party. El Rancho Tavern, 975 Main Ave., 10 p.m.-1 a.m. No cover. www. facebook.com/badgoatdisco.

Pete Giuliani Trio, 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing

Center, Fort Lewis College, www.fortlewis.edu.

Durango Nature Studies’ snowpack and watershed workshop, 10 a.m.-

noon, Haviland Lake, Haviland Lake Road, 7699377, andrea@durangonaturestudies.org.

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

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

Giving ‘Voice’ to a good cause Manna Soup Kitchen serves more than 65,000 meals a year to hungry folks in Durango. When they aren’t tending a garden that yields over a 1,000 pounds of produce for their kitchen, Manna provides support services and job training for those in need. All that doesn’t come cheap. It takes a lot of volunteers, donations, and time.

You can help and have a helluva good time! Hit up the 2nd Annual Durango Voice Fundraiser at the Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave. On Saturday, Feb. 25, pre-selected contestants will sing before a live audience and a band of judges. Judges will select 12 final contestants who will go on to the finale to take place April 1. Doors are at 6:30 and the show starts at 7 p.m for this all-ages performance.

Tickets are $35 for Feb. 25’s performance or $65 for both Feb. 25 and the April 1 finale. All proceeds from both performances support the Manna Soup Kitchen. For more details, stop by http://mannasoupkitchen.org.

Blue Moon Ramblers, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Tim Sullivan, 7-11 p.m., The Office Spirito-

Jazz church experienced musician session, 6 p.m., Derailed Pour House, 725

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

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

Joel Racheff, 7-11 p.m., The Office Spiritori-

um, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

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

Galloping Goose winter train, 10:10

Tim Sullivan, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle

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

Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

a.m., Train Depot, 479 Main Ave., www.durangotrain.com.

Synthetic Biology Forum, 6-7:30 p.m.,

Silverton Skijoring, noon-3 p.m., Blair

Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio.

Street, Silverton, www.silvertonskijoring.com.

Monday

Kirk James Band, 3:30 p.m., Purgatory Re-

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

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

Robin Davis, 7-11 p.m., The Office Spiritori-

sort, 1 Skier Place, www.purgatoryresort.com.

91.9/93.9 FM, www.kdur.org.

um, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Terry Rickard, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond

People’s Practice in the Park, 12:30

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

Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

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

Black Velvet Trio, 7 p.m., Derailed Pour

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

Greg Ryder, 7-11 p.m., The Office Spiritori-

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

House, 725 Main Ave., 247-5440. um, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Friday

“Cover Girl,” 7:30-9 p.m., Student Union, Fort Lewis College, www.fortlewis.edu.

Unchain My Heart, 4:30-7 p.m., Durango

“God of Carnage,” 7:3-9:30 p.m., Duran-

Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 259-2606.

Joel Racheff, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle

go Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 2592606.

Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

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

Dustin Burley, 7-11 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Comedy night, 8 p.m.-midnight, Henry

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

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

Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

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

Sky Pilot, 9 p.m., Balcony Backstage, 600

Main Ave., 422-8008.

p.m., Buckley Park, 247-8395, www.turtlelakerefuge.org.

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

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

Joel Racheff, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle

Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

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

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

Rob Webster, 7-11 p.m., The Office Spirito-

rium, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Super Ted’s Super Trivia, 6:12 p.m., Ska Brewing Co., 225 Girard St., 247-5792, www.facebook.com/supertedstriviaatskabrewing.

Saturday Discovery festival, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Student Life

Street, Silverton, www.silvertonskijoring.com.

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

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

Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

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

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

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, www.theirishembassypub.com.

Two-step lessons, 6:30-7:30 p.m., $10, Wild Horse Saloon, 601 East Second Ave., 7998832.

Terry Rickard, 7-11 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Pingpong and poker tournament, 8

p.m., Moe’s, 937 Main Ave., 259-9018.

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

Submissions

Henry Stoy piano, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., JeanSilverton Skijoring, noon-3 p.m., Blair

East Second Ave., www.durangogov.org.

Greg Ryder, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle

Acoustic jam, 6-9 p.m., Steaming Bean,

“God of Carnage,” 7:3-9:30 p.m., Durango

East Eighth Ave., 259-8801.

Bird Walk, 9-10:30 a.m., Rotary Park, 1565

Terry Rickard, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

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

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

Wednesday

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

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

259-9018.

Tuesday

“Cover Girl,” 7:30-9 p.m., Student Union, Fort Lewis College, www.fortlewis.edu.

Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 259-2606.

rium, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Useless Knowledge Bowl Trivia+, 7 p.m., Durango Brewing Co., 3000 Main Ave., 247-3396.

To ubmit 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.

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 19

DEALS

Local, in-plant cleaning of fine area rugs.

IICRC Certified Rug Cleaners

Call Today! 970-385-5777

Rug Cleaning Special!

Free Pick-up & Delivery within 20 miles of Durango – or – 20% off Pre-paid Drop off orders.

Expiration Date: 2/28/17 Limited time offer. One coupon per household. Coupon must be present and cannot be combined with other offers.

February Carpet Cleaning Special!

•Carpet Cleaning •Tile & Stone •Water Damage Restoration •Mold Remediation •Fire & Smoke Cleanup •Wood Floor Cleaning – Much More! –

970-385-8444 or 970-759-2395 24 hours a day • ultrasteamcleaning.com

250103

Every 3rd Room Cleaned for FREE! (rooms measured largest to smallest)

Expiration Date: 2/28/17 Limited time offer. One coupon per household. Coupon must be present and cannot be combined with other offers.

250101

$2.00 OFF

D G O

CLASSES $10.00.

WITH COUPON!

Expiration Date: 02/28/2017

Must present coupon at time of class. Not valid with any other offer.

Salsa Class Ballet Stretching & Wednesday 8-9 Strengthening Class @ Cerda 7 Cantina w/ Margaret w/ Cheo, Wednesday 10 am The Dance Patrol 2980 North Main Avenue | thedancespotdgo.com

Breakdance Class Monday 7-8 pm @ The Dance Spot

Funky Freestyle Flow w/ Dre Tuesday & Friday 9am

Children’s Ballet w/ Maria Friday 4:30

Studio Space Available to Rent

Put down the scissors!

Print, Text & Share all the great deals online from your PC or smartphone.

DurangoCOUPONS.com To advertise in DGO Deals contact us at 970-247-3504

250513

Dog & Cat Food & Supplies Grooming & Dog Wash • Boarding Day Care

FREE tooth brushing and a FREE Zukes® Z-Bone

with your pet’s grooming appointment.

21738 Hwy 160W, Durango

(While supplies last. Please call for appointment)

970.375.9700

healthyhoundsandfatcats.com

Limit one per customers. Must present this coupon.

Not valid with any other offers. No rain checks. Expires 02/28/17.

Cliffrose

GARDEN CENTER & GIFTS 27885 Highway 160 Cortez, Co 81321

970.565.8994

249986

15% OFF

-Seed Starting Soil -Blooming Potted Plants -Garden Books & Magazines

Expiration Date: 02/28/17 Must present coupon at time of purchase.

Not valid with any other offer.

D G O

February is Pet Dental Month

February Grooming Special!

Logo

249727

HERCULES

RENTAL & SALES

STORAGE CONTAINERS | MODIFICATIONS

970-385-8597 · HERCULESCONTAINERS.COM · 95% Gluten Free · Largest Vegetarian Options · Vegan Dishes Available Lunch Everyday 11AM-2:30PM Friday & Saturday Dinner 5PM-10PM Sunday - Thursday Dinner 5PM-9:30PM

970-259-0956 992 Main Ave. Durango, CO 81301

1 MONTH FREE on container rental with a minimum 3 month rental for new customers.

Expiration Date: 02/28/2017 Must present or mention coupon at time of purchase. Not good with any other offer. Delivery fees apply.

249983

FREE DINNER

Buy Two Entrées Get Third Entrée Free! *Equal or Lesser Value

Expiration Date: 02/28/17 *Not Valid for buffet. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Must present coupon at time of purchase. One coupon per table per order.

To advertise in DGO Deals contact us at 970-247-3504

247687

DEALS

Do you need on-site storage for your home or business? Call Hercules Storage Containers!

Hercules is a company that rents weather tight, portable, steel containers; whether you’re looking to store your tools, office supplies or personal belongings. Hercules Containers has a variety of container sizes that can accommodate any need.

Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Talk to groups or classes this week, especially with younger people. This also is a good week to do some goal setting for the future.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You are mentally energetic this week, which is why you will make a good impression talking to bosses, parents and VIPs. Don’t hesitate to share your ideas!

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) It is easy to study this week or learn anything new. You also will love to make travel plans and have discussions about philosophy, religion, politics and metaphysics.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Bizarro

This is a good week to discuss shared property, inheritances, taxes and debt.

You have the mental energy to plow through a lot of red-tape details.

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) Discussions with partners and close friends will be lively and dynamic this week. Everyone is full of bright ideas, and of course, you are quick to see the bottom line and grasp the big picture.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) This will be a productive week at work because you can communicate well with others. In addition, you have the energy to work with your hands and accomplish something.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) You are creative this week. Get busy working in the arts, the entertainment world, the hospitality industry or anything to do with sports or children.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21)

This is an excellent week to tackle home repairs. It’s also a great week for family discussions because you have a desire to communicate.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) Writers, salespeople, actors and teachers are empowered this week.

You are keen to communicate and you have great ideas. This is because your mental energy is strong.

to others. You have ideas and dreams, and you want to enlighten others by sharing these ideas.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Research of any kind will go well this week because you have the motivation, stamina and the attention to detail that is needed. Yes! BORN THIS WEEK

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18)

You are creative and imaginative. You like life to flow quickly with adventure. People are attracted to you, even though you are sometimes very blunt.

You have an amazing eye for detail. A new nine-year cycle is beginning for you. This opens up many possibilities.

You might start a new business activity or change residences. Open any door because your future is in your hands.

Mercury is in your sign now, which is why you are so keen to communicate

© 2017 King Features Syndicate Inc.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) You’re full of moneymaking ideas this week. It’s a good idea to write them down in case you want to act on one of them later. (It’s not every day that we have bright ideas.)

weekly bestsellers Feb. 5-11 »»1. Apocalyptic Planet, by Craig Childs (Paperback) »»2. The Unsettlers, by Mark Sundeen (Hardcover) »»3. Atlas Obscura, by Joshua Foer (Hardcover) »»4. Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (Hardcover) »»5. 1984, by George Orwell (Paperback) »»6. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (Paperback) »»7. Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur (Paperback) »»8. Dog Man Unleashed (Dog Man #2), by Dav Pilkey (Hardcover) »»9. Finders Keepers, by Craig Childs (Paperback) »»10. Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down, by Haemin Sunim (Hardcover)

22 | Thursday, February 16, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[Durango’s stories, told in their own words]

First Person | Cyle Talley

‘Don’t let money rule your life’ I’ve been scouring Craigslist for a month to find a Tacoma. When I find one – with a manual transmission, no less! – in town at a decent price, I waste no time asking to meet up and take it for a test drive. Kale Casasanto-Zimmermann and I meet in the Bread parking lot. He wears a dirty baseball cap, has a hedge-thick beard down to his collar bone, and speaks with an unmistakable Midwestern accent.

He hands me the keys, and we go for a drive.

As I shift the fourbanger down CR 250, Kale tells me about farming, the value of work and the importance of money. I relay his story here, in his words.

“I went back home to Michigan this summer to make some money so that I could spend the winter snowboarding, living, getting ready for next growing season. I made the most money I’ve ever made in my life. I’m 23, so that’s not saying a whole heck of a lot, but still. I’d have $800 days for a five-, six-hour shift. It was cranking. Me and another bartender.

Good vibe. It’s a boat dock bar called the Red Dock. People could pull their boats up right up. It was a really fun experience, throwing drinks around, but I didn’t get along with my boss the best and blah blah blah.

I think it’s really important, especially for my generation, to gain a sense of involvement, of community.

My major was environmental studies.

I really enjoyed it and I liked what I learned, but it was really depressing. What I got out of my major was, ‘You have to become a politician and change government views and change stipends for environment causes—’ It seemed insurmountable to help, to do any good. Then I started thinking that I could make my daily life small bits of good. I think it’s really important to be a steward of the land, to do hard work.

It’s being lost in my generation. People do things all day long, but nothing that they can point to. That’s the big draw for me about farming. There’s something humbling about getting down and dirty. Knowing your local soil, your community.

Bartending, I was making monetary compensation that wasn’t really

material things make you feel. I think it’s more important to live for something that makes you feel good as a person. A more holistic way of living. It’s scary to me that people are walking around in front of a screen, not interacting with each other.

Especially little kids. It’s pretty funny to see parents just hand their kids a screen and go, ‘OK, here you go. Don’t bother me.’

I feel like there’s some changes going on that are separating us from how we’re supposed to feel as humans.

Ultimately, I want to be able to support myself in any way, David Holub/DGO shape, or form. Food, heating, pretty much any resource that I might need, being able to get it myself. meaningful to me.

Cutting out the middle man. Being able I’d rather work to get it from my local circle, or from really hard and some action that I’ve taken. Fix a truck, feel the way that I plow some land, build a house, you feel after a day of know? I’m young, so I have these big farming whether goals and dreams. What would it be like I got paid a cent to walk into a house that’s mine, and or not. I don’t to fix anything that goes wrong with really care about it? But how the hell do I achieve that? money too much.

CasasantoZimmermann Because you have to have money to do I realize that you it. You have to work hard to get money have to have it to buy the land, the house, all that. So in order to live, but I have conversaI guess you do have to give a shit about tions with people a lot like, ‘Don’t let money. Eventually, I want to get to the rule your life, and don’t blah money point where I have everything I need blah blah—’ My mom said to me at so that I don’t have to have money anyChristmas, ‘Well, you have to have more.” money to live. You can’t say you don’t give a shit about money.’ I was trying to say that I don’t think you should Cyle Talley bought a truck, and is very hapget caught up in the game of money; py about it. Email him at cyle@cyletalley. how having it makes you feel, and how com

HONDA PRESIDENT’S DAY — SALES EVENT — 6 DAYS ONLY! FEB. 15-20

★★★★

UT CO AZ NM

Your Four Corners Honda Dealer Since 1991

5301 E. MAIN ST · FARMINGTON, NM 877-737-3528 · hansonhonda.com SALES MON - FRI: 9AM-7PM · SAT: 9AM-6PM SALES SUN: CLOSED

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 16, 2017 | 23