This Way to Beer by Ballantine Communications

art entertainment food drink music nightlife Thursday, June 15, 2017

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BEER Seventeen stops await in our brewery guide to Southwest Colorado

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Also: Oddities abound at Durango museum, MJ prohibition and racism, the DIY scene in Shiprock, and how to make super-strong Rick Simpson oil

Donald Trump is ...

CHILD LECTURER!

A video series about what happens when you take Donald Trump’s exact words and make him sound like a child, set in a world of stop-motion animation.

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DGO Magazine

STAFF

What’s inside Volume 2 Number 34

June 15, 2017

Chief Executive Officer

8 Guns, baseballs, and Lincoln’s hair

Douglas Bennett V.P. of Advertising

You may not know you need to see pen pal letters between Titanic survivors, but you do, and you can, at the R.H. Crossland Foundation Museum in downtown Durango.

David Habrat V.P. of Marketing Kricket Lewis Founding Editors Amy Maestas David Holub Editor/ creative director

From the Editor

Love it or Hate it

Sound

Downtown Lowdown

David Holub dholub@bcimedia.com

17 Make Rick Simpson oil

375-4551 Staff writer Patty Templeton ptempleton@bcimedia.com Contributors Katie Cahill Katie Clancy

Patty Templeton/DGO

»» A document signed by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, dated 1495, at the R.H. Crossland Foundation Museum in Durango.

Christopher Gallagher Alexi Grojean Meggie J

Bryant Liggett

What my writer’s block taught me about breakfast “Write what you write, eat what you eat, and repeat. With enthusiasm even, maybe. Nourish your brain and your body, and maybe those clowns won’t feel so neurotic; maybe they’ll get curious and douse the dumpster.”

Jon E. Lynch 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.

The best of 2017 (or what I’ve listened to the most) Bryant Liggett can’t keep up with the abundance of releases. So in no particular order, he offers some of the ones he’s given the most ear-time to since January.

Tell us what you think! Got something on your mind? Have a joke or a story idea or just something that the world needs to know? Send everything to editor@dgomag.com

This week in Seeing Through the Smoke, we are going to jump directly into the deep end of cannabis concoctions to the most powerful medicinal preparation possible to make.

Album Reviews 7 Vintage Durango

10 Beer 16 Weed Elevated Discourse

Seeing Through the Smoke 17

18 Savage Love 19 DGO Deals 20 Happening 22 Horoscope/ puzzles

23 DIY scene report We talked to Anthony J. Lee, a 24-year-old musician and promoter, to get the lowdown on why we should be paying attention to his hometown, Shiprock, New Mexico.

22 Pages

/dgomag

/dgomag @dgo_mag

ON THE COVER Looking for where to go for beer around here? Seventeen stops make for a stellar Four Corners craft beer scene. David Holub/DGO

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

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@dg

[CTRL-A]

[ love it or hate it ]

David Holub |DGO editor

Pickups Love it

Sibling relationships are like no other, just ask my brother

n the late 1960s, population geneticist George Price developed a mathematical theory of altruism. The theory goes that in a species like ours, in which two parents reproduce, we’re more likely to show altruism to each other the more similar we are genetically, the most likely being parents, siblings, and children. I first heard about this theory listening to an episode of the podcast “Radiolab,” and it was explained like this: Imagine a family gathering full of siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins that has been overtaken by a flood. You have the choice, let’s say, between saving your brother and your first cousin. Since you share 1/2 of your genes with your brother and only 1/8 of your genes with your cousin, your instinct to save your brother is theoretically four times stronger. I was thinking about sibling relationships a lot this weekend with my brother in town from Denver, the bonds that tie us, and how those relationships are simply like no other. My brother and I share a lot of the same interests, talents, and perspectives. We’re both graphic designers, we share similar artistic and stylistic aesthetics (I chalk up many of mine to his influences early in life); we’re captivated with the natural world (thanks, Dad), and fascinated with the complexities of human relationships and interactions (thanks, Mom). Eddie is perceptive and observant and endlessly curious, asking of everything around him: How and why? Because of this, and because we’ve never known life without the other in it, we’ll never get bored of one another. After all, there isn’t anyone else I’d watch “Glengarry, Glen Ross” with for the 15th time. There’s no one else I have as many inside jokes with or whom I can make laugh harder. There isn’t anyone else I could spend six hours with playing cornhole at Lemon Reservoir, drinking beer, grilling and eating a whole pack of hot dogs, and steadily destroying a couple bags of chips. Over the weekend – walking the

town Friday, catching happy hour at Steamworks, attending an art opening, standing stage-side for a set of my friends playing music – I had a chance to introduce my brother to people I know. People’s faces lit up when I said, “This is my brother, Eddie,” in ways they wouldn’t have if I said, “This is my good friend, Eddie, from back East.” Because he’s my brother. Because we’ve experienced our entire lives together. Because we look unmistakably similar. Because they know he knows things about me no one else does. These people care about me, and because of the genetic makeup I share with Eddie, part of them cares about him that much more without knowing anything about him. I had a similar excitement in introducing him around as well. This is not only someone I think my friends would like, but because I am saying to them, essentially: This is me. The guy you know and like here in Durango? A lot of it has to do with this guy. I admire and respect my brother so much I want my friends to see the legend in person. The weekend wasn’t without its quarrels and tense discussions. Some of it was brotherly squabbling, some more serious and existential in nature and how we relate to one another and to other people in our lives. But such discussions are different with my brother. We engage because we care about the other, we are invested in the other’s short- and long-term well-being. We participate in conflict that would be so easy to walk away from if it were just a friend, because you can’t simply walk away from a sibling. I don’t know what could break that bond. I may have had friends over the years I felt closer to, or been in romantic relationships with people I knew more intimately or experienced life with more thoroughly on a day-to-day basis. But there’s nothing like my relationship with my brother. Perhaps it’s the half of our genes we share, the genes that tell us instinctively, “No matter what happens, I’ll always be here. I’m never going away.”

Michael J. Fox, you freakin’ Chuck Berry-riffin’ looker. The first time I noticed you, you were skitching behind a blue pickup truck in “Back to the Future.” Then, you offered to take sweet ol’ Jennifer camping in your dream car, a 1985 Toyota SR5 4x4. What can I say, I wanted you, but I wanted your pickup truck *more*. There’s no logical reason for me to want or need a pickup truck. I don’t go off-roading. I don’t do construction or anything else that would necessitate a big ol’ truck bed. But I do. Specifically, I want a yellow and black 1939 Ford Model A Roadster. Wait. No. I want a bright teal 1966 Chevy C/K 10 Series. WAIT! NO! How about a 1941 Chevrolet Half-ton Pickup in a navy almost as dark as night? Universe, if you give me even one of these, I will treat it with the glory and respect it deserves, which probably means driving it cross country, camping along the way, and making out in the truck bed under a starry, autumnal sky with The Sonics playing on the stereo. —— Patty Templeton

Hate it Let me qualify this first. I’m not talking about your Toyota Tacomas (the official vehicle of La Plata County) or your Nissan What-Have-Yous, or any pickup that is used in earnest for work or recreation. The pickups I hate (and, let us be honest, it’s the drivers of these pickups I am shaking my fist at), are of the large, loud, and dirty variety. I hate pickups that have negative, nasty, and aggressive stickers – cartoon characters urinating on this or that, or of the “Mean people kick ass” variety. I hate pickup trucks with genitalia hanging from the trailer hitch, as if this pickup being an extension of a man’s anatomy to cover for his crippling insecurity wasn’t obvious already. I hate pickups that dump unnecessary exhaust and are modified exclusively to be loud, annoying, and threatening. Sure, these traits exist in other types of vehicles and are reflections of the drivers, not the transportation. But as the old saying goes, “93 percent of pickup drivers give the rest a bad name.” —— David Holub

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[wellness]

GravityBrain | Katie Clancy

What my writer’s block taught me about breakfast

eing a writer, or maybe any kind of artist, feels like I’m entertaining riotous clowns in my brain – part of me wants to focus, steady the pen, and become coherent, while the other parts mock my juvenile ideas with fart jokes and risky skits. That’s all to say that I started with the intention to write about breakfast, and ended up playing with writer’s blocks. “What’s interesting to you about breakfast?” I asked my partner the other morning as we were sipping bulletproof coffee under a canopy of cottonwoods. I was fishing for inspiration. “Nothing at all,” he answered, and watched a stellar’s jay swallow a juniper berry. That, I thought, is breakfast. I secretly agreed with my partner and envied that jay, but felt badly for being bored with my chosen column topic. In my head, before I had started writing, I had imagined this to be such an easy write. People are stoked about breakfast, right? This IS what the people want, isn’t it? I rubbed my face and somewhere in a mental back-alley brain, the clown saboteurs lit a dumpster fire. Hey, it’s not that I don’t like breakfast. I do, especially when I don’t have to cook it, when I can sink into a pleather booth and enjoy farm-fresh feta omelets without having to do the dishes. The Gonzo astronaut Hunter Thompson called breakfast a “psychic anchor.” He, like many professional creatives, considered the breakfast table to be sacred; his just happened to involve serious news reading, a rasher of bacon, too many bloody marys, and cocaine for dessert. I suspect that it wasn’t so much what he was eating so long as it showed up and was a consistent tether for him no matter how weird the rest of the day got. Tethering matters with the Shaolin Monks in Japan, too. After waking at 4 a.m. and crawling up a sacred mountain on their hands and knees, they share the same soup every day. It’s called the Eight Treasures: plain water with eight different types of beans, grains and nuts – red beans, pine nuts, walnuts, peanuts, rice, hawthorns, Chinese red dates and millet. Yet, as much as I love delicious food, sometimes I wish I could push a button and not have to eat. I yearn

to be an efficient automaton with breakfast, finding the perfect fuel to keep me going on all cylinders without having to waste an ounce of energy deciding. You see boiled egg; I see giant food pill. On a certain recent morning, I didn’t eat anything, let alone the perfect combo of protein, fiber, and freshness. No matter, I thought, while my inner voice of a stern detention teacher threatened: Sit down RIGHT NOW and write! The circus hood rats danced around the roaring dumpster, snickering and darting into a dark corner. Instead, I scrubbed my kitchen floor with a toothbrush, planted corn, feigned dizziness in the hammock. I considered writing my editor and telling him sorry, I won’t make my deadline – my fingers just got bitten off by river sharks. Procrastination became a productive source of power and also a Alexi Grojean/ thorn in my side. Special to DGO Hey, they say to write what you know, right?

Why call a column “Gravity Brain” and ignore the soul-crushing wait? My most solid morning ritual, other than hot water with lemon upon waking, is writing Morning Pages, a technique developed by Julia Cameron that consists of writing three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness, done first thing in the morning. “Velocity is the enemy,” Cameron explains. “It takes longer to write by hand, and this slowness helps connect us to our emotional life.” I received her book, “The Artist’s Way,” 10 years ago, and since then, it has helped me get centered in the morning, work through complex emotional puzzles, and spark my creativity for the day. It’s a rare moment where I can clear the circus tent while the crazy clowns sleep like babies. By the way, your Morning Pages may not look like mine: you may choose to show up and process through meditation, movement, sound, instruments, or paints. Sitting around a fire later that night, I realized something: Breakfast is like Morning Pages – you have to respect yourself enough to do it, every day. In the morning, before the freaks wake up, because, well, the morning is holy. It is the foundation of everything to come. Like MPs, you don’t have to make it a big deal; steel cut oats with peanut butter and flax seeds will do you better than fancy griddle cakes. Don’t have to expect special food or special writing. Just: Write what you write, eat what you eat, and repeat. With enthusiasm even, maybe. Nourish your brain and your body, and maybe those clowns won’t feel so neurotic; maybe they’ll get curious and douse the dumpster. Dr. Thompson also said that writing is like sex in one huge way: Mostly fun for amateurs. Except for that Vegas book of his, arguably his best, which he said was more like “getting paid to kick Agnew in the balls.” Now, that’s tethering. Katie Clancy is the co-owner of Studio Soma, a therapeutic movement and bodywork sanctuary in Durango. She is also a freelance writer and dances with 20Moons Dance Theatre.

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[sound]

Downtown Lowdown | Bryant Liggett

The best of 2017 so far (or what I’ve listened to the most) Six months into 2017 and I’m losing the battle against the list of new music. I can’t keep up with the abundance of releases; garage rockers and the next big thing at the festival seem to be cranking out releases in full force. So in no particular order, here are some of the ones I’ve given the most ear-time to since January: The Buttertones, “Gravedigging” This is saxophone- and guitar-driven surf and garage rock, an appropriate descriptor for a Southern California-based band that is needed by your aging punks, skateboarders, or now 40-somethings reared on the The Faction or other thrasher skate rock bands. It’s a skate-rock album as much as it is a soundtrack for pulp film and fiction, the music that serves as the backdrop for drag races or a good old rumble. RIYL: The Cramps, Swami John Reis. Ty Segall,“Ty Segall” The prolific Segall will likely have name on three or four releases in 2017, and his hand on many more. It’s a punk, garage-rock album that hints of psychedelic and stoner rock, while having an underlying sound revealing a study of Brit-rock of the mid ’60s. I take Segall to be a student of all rock, capable of penning a song ripe for any genre or any era. RIYL: Ty Segall, The Kinks. Robby Grant & Jonathan Kirkscey,“Duets for Mellotron”

261325

Bryant’s Best Thursday (June 15): Newgrass with Run Boy Run, 5:30 p.m. No cover. Buckley Park, 12th St. and Main Ave. in downtown Durango. Information: 247-7657. Thursday (June 15): Rock music with Farmington Hill, 5:30 p.m. No cover. Ska Brewing, 225 Girard Street in Bodo Park. Information: 247-5792.

early releases that made you love the label, when most of the lineup was aging punk rockers exploring roots country and bluegrass. Shook is making degenerate country music, leaning more toward the influence of the Gun Club and away from that of Loretta Lynn. Lyrically, she hits on all the trailer-park hype of alcoholism and unfaithfulness, and does so via rowdy, classic country. RIYL: Lydia Loveless, Trailer Bride. Bash & Pop,“Anything Could Happen” It’s the first Bash & Pop album in almost a quarter century, and one revealing that Replacements’ Tommy Stinson still has an ear for rock ’n’ roll, albeit with a swagger that shows its age. This is bratty, hook-laden rock ’n’ roll songs that belong on that next Replacements record that still hasn’t happened. RIYL: The Replacements, Soft Boys. Valerie June,“The Order of Time”

The mellotron is a “tape-replay” keyboard, and this album – on which it’s the primary instrument – is an ambitious venture and a hardcore exercise in audio nerd-dom. This is not toe-tapping music, but more like atmospheric oddities of electronic sounds. I like the lounge feel amid a weird backdrop, while the whole thing screams “soundtrack for your experimental film project,” via long-time Memphis musicians who aren’t afraid to experiment. RIYL: Montefiori Cocktail, Moog Cookbook.

There’s a beautiful and laid-back draw that belongs to June, ensuring she’ll soon be a darling of the singer-songwriter world, thrust into a room with the Neko Cases and Gillian Welchs. She’s hitting all things that fall under roots music: blues, soul, and slight country that’s void of twang, coming in an uncomplicated package. There’s some raw emotion in her voice layered over pared-down arrangement, delivered via simple, down-tempo songs. RIYL: Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch.

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers,“Sidelong”

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

Via Bloodshot Records, reflective of its

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[sound] What’s new

Available: Friday, June 16, via Joyful Noise as a download on various formats: MP3 and WAV, compact disc, and standard black LP. Limited-edition Bone Vinyl available while supplies last. Join the Joyful Noise exclusive V.I.P Membership Club for a shot at *SUPER*-limited, one of 500 limited hand-numbered copies on “Dinosaur Green with White and Bronze splatter” vinyl. I’ll just go ahead and say it: Jason Loewenstein is something of indie rock royalty and a personality/character of damn-near legendary status. I first met

New at

June 16 Fleet Foxes,“Crack-Up”

Lorde,“Melodrama” I will never claim to be a member of the target market of musicians like Lorde, though admittedly her new

one has grabbed me. I am a sucker for pop music that isn’t saccharine (though this does have sickly sweet moments, looking at you “Green Light”), and from my initial impressions of “Melodrama,” I think Lorde is onto something good. The production is just murky enough, with horns rising out of nowhere on tracks like “Sober.” “Sober” also has an interesting bridge that almost reminds me of some older Michael Jackson songs, which is a comparison I never thought I would write. The album is chock-full of interesting design choices; most songs have whispered vocals in the background that you have to strain to hear, and it paints a picture of a maturing artist that isn’t floundering under the idea of the sophomore slump, and also isn’t afraid to take her sound to new heights and depths.

touring, barely believing a founding member of Sebadoh was now in THEIR band. He was a blur of energy and excitement that was both intoxicating and enamoring. His first LP since the 2002 Sub Pop/Domino release “At Sixes And Sevens” is much the same. Careening and insistent guitar work propels the record in a haze and similar blur. The

Laugh Amongst The Rotten” Carach Angren studied at the school of King Diamond, taking metal music as a storytelling device further than any band before. Each song is a horrifying saga about vampire queens, Ouija summonings gone wrong, haunted violins, and numerous other gothic terrors. Musically, Carach Angren make

SUMMER

HOURS

man has a ridiculous amount of talent and honed energy. As evident on this latest release, he can also write a hook with the best of them. Interestingly, it seems as though little time has passed and “Spooky Action” picks up perfectly where “At Sixes And Sevens” left off 15 years ago. In short, this is a fun record that begs repeated listens. Loewenstein himself sums it up pretty succinctly: “If you like music, you’re gonna love this record.” Recommended for fans of Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., Archers of Loaf, Jawbreaker, or classic ’90s indie rock. —— Jon E. Lynch KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu

epic black metal, with the requisite shrill vocals and triple-picked guitars. Adding in a healthy dose of strings and atmospherics and you have a recipe for something that I will love. If you, like me, cannot wait for the new Septicflesh album, this should serve as a proper placeholder.

SUNDAY 12 PM-9 PM BAR & KITCHEN

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MON & THURS $3.25 PINTS $2.50 DRAWS

Com Truise,“Iteration” One of my favorite recent music trends has been the revival of the synthesizer, and embracing the cheesy sounds of the ’80s all wrapped up in a new genre referred to by some as “Outrun” and by others as “Synthwave.” Some artists in the genre go for the driving power of these beat machines, while others, like Com Truise, embrace the floaty, heady tones to build cloudy atmospheres as melodies slowly build and evolve along with the instruments. “Iteration” is Com Truise’s first album in over six years, but his vibe hasn’t changed much in that time. This is another great summer record, perfect for smoking in a too-hot living room at 3 in the morning. Carach Angren,“Dance and

—— Cooper Stapleton

BAR KITCHEN MON - THUR 3 PM-12 AM MON - THUR 3 PM -10 PM FRI & SAT 12 PM-2 AM FRI & SAT 12 PM-11PM

Happy Hour

Leading up to release of their first record in over five years, on paper “Crack-Up” seems like it should be very much up my alley. An indie folk band that has often tiptoed around melancholic themes, occasionally embracing the uncertain times we are in and writing a record that shows all of those emotions. I was excited, even. You know I love me some melancholy. And then this piece of hot pretentious hoopla comes across my ears. Remember everything good I said about Mountain Goats’ new album a couple weeks ago? Imagine if everything went wrong, every emotion fell flat, and something that is supposed to be touching and intimate came across as horribly manufactured. There are some interesting moments, to be fair. The middle of “Third of May/ Odaigahara” has an interesting bit of synthesizer or heavily fx’d guitar that woke me from my coma long enough to notice something had changed before I listed lazily back into the clouded nothingness that is way more thrilling than this record. If you like their other stuff, you’ll probably like this album. It just isn’t for me.

the multi-instrumentalist as a full-time touring member of brother-sister duo Fiery Furnaces around the time they released Bitter Tea in 2006. I was initially there to interview the band of siblings when I realized who they had recruited to play bass. The interview ended up a hilarious back and forth amongst the four of us, as they were just as excited to have him

Jason Loewenstein, “Spooky Action”

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[history]

»» A baseball signed by the 1922 New York Yankees, including Babe Ruth; An 1880 Colt 45 once owned by Wyatt Earp, and the Aug. 14, 1945, edition of The Ephrata Ensign announcing the end of WWII at the R.H. Crossland Foundation Museum .

Guns, baseballs, and Lincoln’s hair O D D I T I E S A B O U N D AT T H E R . H . C R O S S L A N D M U S E U M »» Who knew

Clyde’s death, a 1787 doc signed by Benjamin Franklin, or Sitting Bull’s autograph will revivify you. Also present, Wyatt Earp’s Colt 45, vintage Western comics, a confederate Civil War drum, personal letters from Patsy Cline from two years before she died – and, speaking of letters! – ever wonder Patty Templeton what George Washington’s DGO STAFF WRITER handwriting looked like? You can see it in PERSON. You may not know you The museum has a letter need to see pen pal letters written by the first frikkin between Titanic survivors, president of these United but you do, and you can, at States. ::brain ’splode:: the R.H. Crossland FoundaAnd all of these wonders? tion Museum. FREE! The R.H. Crossland downtown Durango This Foundation Museum is tostorefront (835 Main Ave. Photos by Patty Templeton/DGO #108) is crammed fulla tally free and you don’t need »» Snippets of Abraham Lincoln’s hair displayed at the R.H. Crossland Foundation Museum in Durango. yesteryear treasures. I shit some fancy-pants appointyou not – your jaw will drop. ment to see the antiquities If you’re a history dork, like me, you can easily it holds. It’s open Monday through Friday from 9 For more photos from the R.H. Crossland spend an entire afternoon here and leave with a.m. to 4 p.m. If it’s locked, give a knock. If there’s no Museum, go to dgomag.com heart palpitations. answer, give a call. The museum caretaker also runs This dude, Rusty Crossland, has an enormous an insurance office out of the back and might not collection of Indiana Jones-esque artifacts. What do have heard you. Sound weird? It is. Just go with it. blue in 1492. I mean? I mean, you can see a clipping of Abe LinEveryone’s nice who works there. This place has balls. Seriously. There’s a metric Author Robert Penn Warren said, “History canf-ton of baseball memorabilia. A Ty Cobb letter? coln’s hair, which had been presented to a surgeon Yep. A baseball signed by Babe Ruth and other New not give us a program for the future, but it can give who attended his deathbed. To take that to an exYork Yankees from 1922, yup. us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our treme, that means you can stand in front of hair that Or, hey, keep walkin’ and find a piece of famed was present when the Emancipation Proclamation common humanity so that we can better face the outlaw Jesse James’ coffin and the vintage newspafuture.” The R.H. Crossland Foundation Museum was signed. So effin epic. provides the opportunity to witness and personalize What’s more than a half-century old and in Duper illustrating his grave. history through rare objects. rango? A document signed by Queen Isabella and of this has you hot and history-bothered? None It’s effing awesome. It’s free. What are you waiting King Ferdinand of Spain from 1495, i.e. the royals Well, you might be dead inside. Maybe standing in for? front of a 1934 newspaper headlining Bonnie and that sent Christopher Columbus to sail the ocean

Durango had a world-class collection of historical memorabilia?

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[Vintage Durango]

»» Advertisement from the Aug. 16, 1992, Durango Herald

Raditude from the ’90s This ad is everything good that happened to kids in 1992. It’s missing Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” and “Psalm 69,” by Ministry, but outside of that, are you kidding me? Spot on. “Super Mario 3” for Gameboy was da bomb. Who the hell wouldn’t want to be a fat, tanuki-costumed plumber kickin’ turtles? Add in a Walkman to listen to that sweet mix tape your own personal Princess Peach made you? That’s a damn fine day. And the movies? Everything here is killer – OK, OK. Maybe not “One Good Cop.” It’s definitely a paycheck filler for Keaton, who sandwiched that shit show between badass “Beetlejuice” and Batman movies. But have you seen the best of all Arnold Schwarzenegger movies? “Terminator 2,” oddly enough, still holds up. And yes, that is the now-former-governor of California playing a sentimental cyborg. On a down note, Robin Williams, a phenomenal 20th century comedian now passed on, slays it in “Hook,” the best adaption of Peter Pan that’s met cinema so far. Bonus detail: Skrillex got the term “Bangarang” from this flick. Which leaves us with “Wayne’s World,” a comedy classic about two metal kids with their own public access show. See, back in the day, there was no YouTube and the only way to get famous was on TV ... —— Patty Templeton DGO Staff Writer

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[beer]

First Draughts | Robert Alan Wendeborn

Durango reminded me that I’m a regular. Cheers to that

isiting Durango last week for River Days was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long while. Making it through Santa Rita unscathed was definitely a highlight, but visiting all the bars and restaurants that I love reminded me of all the things I miss about Durango. It’s so homey, so cozy, it really felt like I never left (I even had an awkward interaction with an ex-girlfriend, so yeah, it’s exactly the same). How close and tight-knit the service industry and brewing community is blows me away. It really feels like “Cheers,” the ’80s and ’90s sitcom set in a basement bar in Boston, where everybody knows your name. I felt like I was a character in Cheers at numerous bars in Durango. This past weekend, I saw all of my

favorite bartenders and servers: Andrew, Lucas, Sara, Elias, Jess, Greg, Angie, Aisha, Rocket, and god I know I’m forgetting so many

others. There’s just so much joy when you can walk into the back bar of Carvers on a Saturday or Sunday, and see Greg, starting to mix me that bloody mary with the bacon in it before I even sit down. Or being greeted with a hug at El Moro by the service staff, and know that I’m going to get a lesson in booze by the bar staff. You can drink on the deck at The Balcony for hours and soak up all the excellent tunes and all the tequila and all the sun you can handle. Out of all the places I’ve lived and all the bars and coffee shops where I felt like a regular, most of them are in Durango. I have had other regular spots. Beulahland in Portland, Oregon, was a good one. They opened at 8 a.m. and served breakfast and coffee everyday. They were a regular bar on weeknights and would turn into a dance club on Friday and Saturday nights. On Sundays they had Video Request Live, which would Continued on Page 11

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[beer] From Page 10

play your requested music videos on numerous projected big screens. I never really got to know the bar staff, but my fellow patrons were great. There were a lot of poets and artists who would sit outside, drink coffee or booze and watch cars try and parallel park on the street. In Southern New Mexico there was El Patio, a divey bar on the square in Mesilla, a small little colonial town outside of Las Cruces. The adobe walls inside were decorated with chipping murals of Apaches on horseback and Puebloan dancers in full regalia. The evening and weekend bar staff knew me by name and so did the regulars, but I was still an outsider in Mesilla; I was not a Mesillero. I was still a tourist, a gringo, a guero, even though I lived just a block away, in my own little adobe, for three years. I’m sure it would take decades to earn the title.

Where I am now, I have a bar down the street, Radio Bar. I know all the bartenders; they all know me. The beer is cold, the drinks are well made, and the patio with a ping-pong table and palm trees is great. I’m friends with a lot of the patrons. In a very conservative state that regularly tries to deny the bodily autonomy of women and imposes incredibly stiff penalties for drug offenders, the people of like-mind usually stick together. Radio Bar is where we congregate and commiserate. Even though I found a small nook in the city where everyone knows my name, it’s still a far cry from Durango, where I feel welcome, where I feel like family, where we know each other’s names.

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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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[ democracy ]

The Alternative Resource durangoorganics.com

Putin up the wahoo

facebook.com/durangoorganics 260203

»» Even A.G. Jeff Sessions has ties to Russia FROM THE FILES OF

NOT NORMAL

News you need to know

to fire James Comey, the director of the FBI, after he wouldn’t stop investigating Russia’s election interference.

A stream of high-level advisors and appointees of President Trump had contact with Russia during his presidential campaign.

It’s not normal for Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, to not disclose conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Why this is not normal It’s not normal for CIA officials to brief congressional leaders more than a month before a presidential election on the probability of Russian interference for a candidate. It’s not normal for Michael Flynn, Trump’s appointee for national security advisor, to resign in disgrace three weeks into his tenure due to lying about Russian connections. It’s not normal for Trump to ask the FBI to “let go” of its investigation on Flynn and Trump-Russia ties. It’s not normal for President Trump

It’s not normal for Sessions, Comey’s boss and the attorney general, to not disclose multiple encounters with Kislyak when applying for security clearance. It’s not normal to have an enormous investigation of a president take up the first four months they’re in office. To quote Dan Rather, “We are shifting the goalposts for our democracy. We are failing to be outraged by the outrageous because there is something even more outrageous that always seems to hit the news cycle.” Do not stop seeing that Russia interfered with the election. Do not stop seeing that Trump benefited from, and his campaign possibly knew about, that interference. —— Patty Templeton DGO Magazine

Kim Crawford New Zealand Sauv Blanc

12-Bottle price:

1444 each

milagro reposado tequila 750ml

1999

EvEryday Low PricEs comE on down for thE bEst dEaLs around!

970-247-2258 1485 Florida Rd., Bld C, Ste. 100 HOURS: MON - THURS: 9-10, FRI & SAT: 9-10:30, SUN: 10-7 www.starLiquorsdurango.com

260260

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Pssst! Help us keep these listings up to date

All brewery information is current as of June 2017. If you are a business and have a change you’d like to request to your listing online, please email ptempleton@bcimedia.com

“A

cross the troubled maelstrom of time, people always need a beer,” wrote fantasy novelist Ellen Kushner. You’re damn right they do. Beer can make a dumpster fire life taste less calamitous. Beer can provide a gold star to a C-minus potluck. Beer can be a community builder, artisan creation, and a way to vacay around your corner of the universe. The Western Slope is fulla beer masters busting out suds worth your mouthtime. Here’s your guide to breweries in Southwestern Colorado.

DURANGO Animas Brewing Co. 1560 East Second Ave., 403-8850, www.animasbrewing.com »»Happy hour: none Why aren’t you sitting on the patio at the Animas Brewing Co.? You could be a sashay away from the river with a Boxcar Red Ale in hand, or a Class VI IPA if you’re feelin’ hoppy. ABC’s industrial rustic interior is smaller, but they have long tables good for big groups. What you want to do is have their handmade pasties, which come in savory and dessert flavors, and holy crow, the Peaches and Cream one is to freakin’ die for.

BREW Pub & Kitchen 117 W. College Drive, 259-5959, brewpubkitchen.com Alexi Grojean/Special to DGO

BREWERY GUIDE TO SOUTHWEST COLORADO » » SEVENTEEN

STOPS MAKE FOR A STELLAR FOUR CORNERS CRAFT BEER SCENE

Happy Hour: 3-6 p.m., Monday-Friday BREWtine Fries, YES, PLEASE! Who wouldn’t want potato sticks smothered in gravy (with a vegetarian option handy). But you can’t go wrong with BREW’s seasonally-shifting gastropub menu featuring ethically-sourced ingredients. It’s all phenomenal. Ditto that for their small-batch, craft beers. Whether you’re just getting off the D&SNG train or just want a gorgeous view of the General Palmer Hotel against twilight mountains, hit up BREW. Bonus: They have fried pickles. Fried pickles!

Carver Brewing Co. 1022 Main Ave., 259-2545, carverbrewing.com Happy hour: 3-6 p.m., daily

Carver’s is known for having some of the best dang burgers in Durango, which ain’t surprising considering their executive chef has been on the Food Network. Wash a Rodeo Burger down with a flagship brew like the Lightner Creek Lager, a 2016 Great American Beer Fest silver medal winner. Save room for one of their many seasonal styles. You might even be drinking a beer that the Wall Street Journal featured.

Durango Brewing Co. 3000 Main Ave., 247-3396, www. durangobrewing.com Happy hour: 2-5 p.m., daily Enter ye into a cozy brewery sporting 12 taps and an interior that shouts out to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Comfort food, like the Brewers Burger (stacked with a tower of beer-battered onion rings), is served at a U-shaped bar and indoor (and patio, when it’s warm) tables. Their Durango Dark Lager has won medals at the Great American Beer Festival, the Colorado State Fair Foamfest, and the World Beer Cup.

Ska Brewing Co. 225 Girard St., 247-5792, skabrewing.com Happy hour: None. Instead, they have reoccurring daily specials Ska’s tall ceilings, 2-tone music, and comic book wall art make you feel (a) cooler and (b) like you’re in a movie. Sit down at the bar and you’re gonna bump into rockers, tourists, and regulars, all of ’em nice. While yer munchin’ on fresh, local food from the Container Restaurant, you better have a hella famous Modus Hoperandi IPA or the award-winning Mexican Continued on Page 14

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[brewery guide] From Page 13

Logger. In fact, Ska has won so many awards, like the 2017 Best Brewery in the Rockies, that we’ve lost track.

Steamworks Brewing Co. 801 East Second Ave., 2599200, steamworksbrewing. com Happy hour: None. Instead, they have reoccurring daily specials If you got a big ol’ group, Steamworks is a spacious, bustling brewery to bounce to. OMG, you want the Blue Cheese Kettle Chips, or if you’re mega hungry, their famous Cajun Boil. The seafood is sourced sustainably and meat raised regionally. And dang, son, Steamworks has won 14 Great American Beer Fest awards, four Beer Cup awards, and a plethora of other prizes. Overwhelmed by their lengthy choice? Try their hella popular, award-winning Steam Engine Lager or Backside Stout.

HOME OF THE COOLEST MARGARITAS IN TOWN! HAPPY HOUR

Monday - Friday 2:30pm - 6pm 948 Main Ave · Durango, Co 970.259.7655 257403

Bottom Shelf Brewery

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BAYFIELD

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118 E. Mill St., Bayfield, (970) 884-2442, www.facebook. com/BSBBrewery Happy hour: 3-6 p.m., Monday-Friday The makings of a good night: beer-battered fish and chips on Bottom Shelf’s patio while sipping a Broken Bridge IPA. If you happen to be there on trivia night, even better. Good if you want a humble, happening spot where the game’s always on and the beer’s made local.

WHEEL

WEDNESDAY SPIN THE WHEEL & WIN A PRIZE!

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Steamworks Brewing Company

Alley Grassburger

Durango Coffee Co

Main Ave Strater Hotel

J. Fargo’s Family Dining and Micro Brewery 1209 E. Main St., Cortez, (970) 564-0242, http://jfargos.com Happy hour: 3-6 p.m., daily Casual family dining meets micro brew beer at J. Fargo’s. If you’re feeling indecisive, you can try a flight of four in-house beers for $3.75. You gotta watch the time on this joint – even the extended summer hours are only till 10 p.m. Hit up a Wednesday night though and you can get $1.50 micro brews from 4 p.m. till close. Boo and yah.

Main Street Brewery and Restaurant 21 E. Main St., Cortez, (970) 564-9112, www.mainstreetbrewerycortez.com Happy hour: None Where do you go for prime rib in Cortez? Main Street Brewery. Then you tip back a Honey Raspberry Wheat Beer and look at the oddball Alice-in-Wonderland-meets-naked-lady-meets-oceanic-adventure mural above the bar. Plentiful booth seating makes a cozy dining experience in a space that feels more restaurant than brew pub.

WildEdge Brewing Collective 111 N. Market St., Cortez, (970) 565-9445, www.wildedgebrewing.com Happy hour: None WildEdge opened in 2017 and is already taking Cortez by storm. They strive to use seasonal, local ingredients on a small menu that ranges from savory pies to stupidly-good, in-housemade soft pretzels. If you’re sipping on a WildMaker Coffee Stout or one of their ever-rotating, delicious IPAs and look around for a TV, you won’t find one. This joint is all about talking to whoever’s around you, and they’ll always be friendly.

DOLORES Dolores River Brewery 100 Fourth St., Dolores, (970) 882-4677, http://doloresriverbrewery.com Happy hour: None In Dolores, DRB is the music scene. And heck yeah, there’s wood-fired pizzas and calzones to go with the live music in this quirky, rustic, locals’ bar. If you don’t save room for their handcrafted desserts, you better make room for a Snaggletooth IPA on their spacious patio.

MANCOS Mancos Brewing Co. 484 E. Frontage Rd., Mancos, Continued on Page 15

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[brewery guide] From Page 14

(970) 533-9761, www.mancosbrewingcompany.com Happy hour: None Phrasing themselves as a “nano brewery,” Mancos Brewing Co. hosts live music in a small but friendly setting. Even if seating can be hard to grab, the big sky views are epic and the beer damn tasty. The Pagan Porter was a chocolatey favorite of ours, second favorite went to the Dizzy Blonde Ale. It’s better to go for the beer, not food, because though MBC has munchies, it’s a small menu of three to eight items.

SILVERTON Avalanche Brewing Co.

PAGOSA SPRINGS Pagosa Brewing Co. and Grill 118 N. Pagosa Blvd., (970) 731-2739, https://twitter. com/pagosabrewingco Happy hour: 3-6 p.m., Monday-Friday You feel like you’re walking into a retro, wood lodge, stepping into Pagosa Brewing Co., which is rad. There’s a big ol’ beer garden where you can play cornhole and, if you’re up to the challenge, the taste flight is basically an entire server’s tray fulla beer.

Riff Raff Brewing Co.

1067 Notorious Blair St., Silverton, (970) 387-5282, www.avalanchebrewing. com

274 Pagosa St., Pagosa Springs, (970) 264-4677, http://riffraffbrewing.com

Happy hour: None

You want music in Pagosa? You go to Riff Raff. You want a damn fine IPA? Sip on the Hopgoblin. Try their flagship El Duende Green Chili Ale and it’s the exact southwestern flavor profile you want outta a Four Corners vacay. Not to mention, they’re continuously winning All Colorado Beer Fest awards. You’re literally gonna be drinkin’ in a cozy pub made outta an old time Victorian house whose brewery runs on spring-fed geothermal energy – meaning: this place is effing awesome.

Located in what once was Silverton’s red light district, Avalanche Brewing Co. is fulla colorful character, starting with its bright blue exterior. They’ve won the Taste of Silverton four years in a row and Best of Fest at the 2016 Blues and Brews of Telluride. They’re off the main drag, ridiculously friendly, and you’re not going to want just one beer to go with your artisan-crafted pizza. (Like the Thai Pie or the Mojo Pork Pie, so frikkin good.)

DGO tonight?

Happy hour: 3-6 p.m., daily

Golden Block Brewery

Wolfe Brewing Co.

1227 Greene St., Silverton, (970) 387-5962, http://goldenblockbrewery.com

2045 Eagle Dr., Pagosa Springs, (970) 731-9653, www.wolfebrewingco.com

Happy hour: 4-6 p.m., daily, on PBR only

Happy hour: 3-6 p.m., daily

Founded in 2014, Golden Block is killin’ it, already. Their Whoop Arse Scottish Ale swigs down easier than’s good for us. Then again, so does the Blind Lode IPA. The only way to cook in the joint is through their brick oven and the paninis and pizzas are slap-your-mama good. They gotta silver, tin ceiling, shining, old-time ambiance and a small stage kickin’ out the jams.

Where should we

The vast beer garden fulla patio tables and big mountain views is where you want to be at Wolfe Brewing. Swallow those views whole, along with a Yippee-ki-yay IPA or a Taxi Dog Red Amber Ale. Wolfe is a grab-friends-watch-thegame kinda bar with plenty of wings to go splitsies on. If the game ain’t on, live music is.

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

+ Add an Event

to the DGO calendar with

—— Patty Templeton DGO Staff Writer

�� Thursday, June 15, 2017 | 15

[review]

[ weed ]

Super Lemon Haze

Elevated Discourse Meggie J

What is it?

Prohibition, racism linked in U.S. history

ccording to analysis by the ACLU, cannabis arrests now account for over half of all drug arrests in the United States, 88 percent for possession only. The report also revealed a disturbing racial prejudice: despite roughly equal usage rates, blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for cannabis-related offenses. To better understand how we ended up with such a racial bias, let’s take a step back in time and look at our culture and its desire to vilify “outsiders.” Although one may argue the laws enacted by our government regarding cannabis prohibition were meant to protect its citizens, the original motives may have been directed by a more sinister narrative that has contributed, in part, to the ongoing systemic racism that exists in America today. This deep-seeded history of bias goes back to the Spanish-American War, when William Randolph Hearst, owner of the largest U.S. newspaper chain, began to let loose slurs of racial condemnation on people of Mexican descent. Headlines dominated his newspapers describing “marihuana,” the obscure Mexican slang word for cannabis, as an evil drug, used by so-called miscreants. Hearst’s vilification of the “other” continued throughout the ’20s and ’30s, finding a home with the Jim Crow laws that plagued our nation from the end of the Civil War until the onset of 20th century civil rights movements. Numerous press reports described people of color who were arrested for smoking marijuana, which had purportedly caused them to commit such acts as looking at a white woman, or stepping on a white man’s shadow. In 1909, Congress passed the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act, which was the first federal regulation placed on a mind-altering substance, effectively starting the “War on Drugs.” It is interesting to note that the 1909 Opium Act was aimed only at opium that was prepared to smoke, which was popular in the Chinese immigrant community. This as opposed to opium sold through pharmacies to white consumers in the form of morphine or heroine. The end of the Boxer Rebellion had sent a huge wave of Chinese immigrants into the United States, and Hearst’s newspapers fanned the flames of fear of the “other,” again showing that connecting minorities to drug abuse – a threat to the American way of life – was a winning formula for fighting the war on drugs. In 1930, Harry Anslinger was appointed as the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics after working in the Department of Prohibition. Pushing his anti-marijuana agenda, Anslinger did radio shows and toured the country touting the dangers marijuana posed to the good white people of our country. With the help of Hearst, Anslinger’s message of fear spread across the country. In his testimony to Congress for the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, Anslinger would refer to what he called his “gore files”: Newspaper clippings and

stories that painted horror stories of young men who had smoked marijuana and gone on psychotic rages. These cases proved to be fabrications and false equivalences. Ansliger also had a file called “marijuana and musicians.” He hoped to be able to coordinate a sting on jazz musicians and perceived marijuana use, clearing out a supposed scourge of society. When the La Guardia Committee released its in-depth five-year study on the effects of smoking marijuana in 1944, Anslinger was so livid that it did not support his claims that marijuana caused insanity that he engaged the American Medical Association to issue a conflicting report, which they did, in less than a year. In 1972, this report was finally retracted as being unscientific and biased. In the tumultuous years that followed, the FNB went through several departmental changes, finally taking the form of the Drug Enforcement Administration. During the Nixon years, harsher penalties were set forth for marijuana offenses. In a 2016 interview with Dan Baum of Harper’s Magazine, John Ehrlichman, one of Richard Nixon’s closest aides, explains Nixon’s motives: “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities, we could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” Many of these claims have been collaborated by Nixon’s own tapes. By the mid-’80s, the War on Drugs was in full swing. Studies released by the Human Rights Watch and the ACLU confirm an alarming statistic: The overwhelming majority of people arrested for possession of illegal drugs, including marijuana in the United States, are people of color, specifically African Americans. Perhaps this would make sense if only people of color smoked marijuana, but studies show that its use is fairly even across all ethnicities. The racial bias that exists currently in our failing war on drugs is obvious and blatant, and has its roots in our country’s history of yellow journalism, racial prejudice, and the emotional provocation of fear of the “other.” Decriminalization, and releasing from incarceration non-violent, cannabis offenders, can be one avenue for our country to make its way out of the systemic racism that has plagued our nation throughout its history. Meggie J is a published poet and freelance writer living in the Four Corners. She is an avid reader, rafter, and connoisseur of cannabis. She can be reached at coxwell.meggiej@gmail.com.

A two-time Cannabis Cup winner, Super Lemon Haze is a sativa-dominant hybrid, running at about 80 percent sativa and 20 percent indica. Lineage is Lemon Skunk crossed with Super Silver Haze, which together create this powerfully euphoric lemon flavor strain with a THC content at 24.7 percent. The effects Uplifting and happy, Super Lemon Haze is a fantastic strain for creative enDetails: deavors, stress relief, and to elevate $17 a gram, $50 the mind from the an eighth, $230 an doldrums of life. ounce at Telluride It is quite a hapGreen Room, py little high, not 250 South Fir in overly strong, but it Telluride. (970) does creep up a bit, 728-7999. so be prepared. The immediate onset is energetic with a slight up-tick in heart rate, followed by a feeling of euphoria wrapped up in a cup of lemonade. The smell Can you say lemon? Fresh, ripe, sweet lemons. There is also a faint, yet palatable scent of powdered lemonade, sugary and sweet. Strong, yet subtle, you can almost taste the summertime as you sniff these little nuggets of joy. The look Super Lemon Haze, like its parent Super Silver Haze, is covered in layers of tiny trichromes, creating a haze across its dark green buds wrapped in bright orange hairs. The taste High sweet notes reminiscent of powdered sugar drip down around a shy fresh lemon. It tastes like porch swings, blue summer skies, and fresh cold lemonade, made from real lemons squeezed in grandma’s kitchen. Light bright taste best achieved via vaporizer. Other forms of smoking resulted in a deeper citrus flavor without the sugar. The final verdict Maybe it’s the sunshine, but this feels like special occasion weed. It is such a lovely, joyful high full of Limonene terpenes, which produce an uplifting mood. It raises the heart rate a bit, so those with anxiety or paranoia tendencies should not over-indulge. This is a get-outside-and-be-happy weed, a summertime, sit-with-friends-on-aback-porch-and-pass-it-around kind of high. —— Meggie J

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[ weed ] Seeing Through the Smoke Christopher Gallagher

Here’s how to make mega-potent Rick Simpson Oil

his week in Seeing Through the Smoke, we are going to jump directly into the deep end of cannabis concoctions to the most powerful medicinal preparation possible to make. This is the use of your 2017 crop that has been shown to be effective for treating a remarkable range of conditions, including chronic pain, sleeplessness, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, asthma, migraines, and some of the medical big baddies whose treatment in mainstream medical protocols can be nearly as damaging as the conditions themselves: HIV/AIDS, leukemia, mutated cells, and cancer. We’re talking Rick Simpson Oil, aka RSO. RSO is to regular prepared bud as a Harley-Davidson is to a tricycle. Clocking in at a cool 90-plus percent THC, this stuff is the really, really real real (this sentence could have seven to 10 more permutations of “real” and still slightly understate the potency of RSO). RSO can be used “recreationally,” I suppose, and it can be dabbed, but my best overall advice would include the following caveats: »» It is not for taking before brunch on the town or a Broncos game. »» It is not for taking before an important phone call. »» Do not take it with plans to drive anywhere for the following half day, at least. »» If you are prone to sunburn, make sure that you’re covered after taking it because you may find yourself waking in a puddle of drool outside some hours later. The starting dose for ingesting RSO is one half a grain of rice (go to the cabinet, open up your container of rice, and take out one grain of rice; a piece of RSO that size is way too much; think about that for a minute). But, if you need a powerful medicine to combat the conditions listed above (or the others being discovered daily as cannabis research expands

worldwide) or you decide to take some time to commune at a deep level with the Green Goddess (and you will experience the equivalent of “tripping” on THC should you choose to ingest more than a grain of rice-sized hunk without slowly building up a tolerance), this is your method. One ounce of primo dried flower will make approximately one-eighth of oil. You will also need a food-grade plastic bucket or large glass bowl, two mason jars, a wooden spoon-type utensil, a strainer, a funnel, a few coffee filters, and approximately one liter of grain alcohol to be used as a solvent. There is a wide range of solvents that can be used, but Everclear is widely available, inexpensive, and relatively safe (though not without a risk of flammability); at least one fan; a cooking pot, a rice cooker, a little bit of water, and, for the final step, a small glass Pyrex bowl. First, roughly rip up your dried bud and place into the bucket or bowl. Lightly wet the bud with the solvent and pummel it well with your utensil. This will begin the process of removing the trichromes (where the THC resides) from the plant material. If large chunks remain, rip them up with your hands. Submerge and soak the plant material in the solvent for about 15 minutes, agitating it occasionally (not much agitation is necessary; the solvent does the work). Next, pour the liquid through the strainer and funnel into the first mason jar, then through the funnel and a coffee filter into the next mason jar. This is the liquid that you will then cook down in your pot at low heat. When cooking, create bubbles but do not be in a rush, as this will take at least a couple hours. Have plenty of ventilation and at least one fan blowing over and around the process at all times until the solution begins to take on a more viscous consistency – think “soup to stew.” This is where the rice cooker comes in. Once the liquid has been reduced by approximately three-quarters,

pour the liquid from the pan into the rice cooker, as it is a safer option and will not burn your oil – the chemistry at play will continue to thicken the oil toward its final state. Like before, be certain the fan continues to provide ventilation (I run the rice cooker outside on the back porch to provide maximum ventilation). The rice cooker allows for an immediate removal from heat should the bubbling accelerate rapidly. There is a short window of about 10 minutes toward the end of the process when the oil has left a liquid state and become a thick, gooey semisolid. When this happens, add a few drops of water, stir constantly and don’t be afraid to slow things down by lowering or removing the oil from the heat.

To finish the process, pour the almost-complete oil into the small glass bowl and place it in an open oven at 180 to 200 degrees. This will allow the last bit of water to evaporate from the surface and the oil to finish decarboxylation. The remnant oil from the pot and the rice cooker can be warmed into olive or coconut oil for later use. Voila! You now possess your own superpotent cannabis oil. Store it in the same glass bowl or transfer to a silicon container. Use it wisely, my friends. Christopher Gallagher lives with his wife and their four dogs and two horses. Life is pretty darn good. Contact him at chrstphrgallagher@gmail.com.

�� Thursday, June 15, 2017 | 17

[love and sex]

Savage Love | Dan Savage

I’m overweight, disabled, and scarred. How to find love? I’m almost 30 and I’m a virgin. I’m an overweight, straight-ish guy (I’m attracted to a few men, but those cases are exceedingly rare). I’ve also gone through an absolute hell life thus far, losing a testicle to cancer and having an abusive father who threatened the teenage me into celibacy by invoking the phrase “penile lobotomy” should I have sex with any girlfriends. I’ve barely dated in 10 years, and while I’m free from my father and the aforementioned mortal dick terror, I’m also INCREDIBLY scared about putting myself out there. I’m disabled, I’m not conventionally attractive by most standards, my whole zone down there is scarred up from surgeries, and, to top it all off, I’m on the small side. The last time I had the opportunity for sex, I went for it, but I was so terrified that I couldn’t keep it up. The woman I was with said something to the effect of “Well, I can’t do anything with that, now can I?” after which I asked her to leave because, seriously, that’s kind of an asshole thing to say. I’m notionally on Tinder and Bumble, but I really don’t know what I’m doing – and more often than not, I feel like the right thing for any theoretical partners would be for me to just stay in hiding and not inflict my grotesque presence on them. I’m scared of another humiliation, as that’s most definitely not my kink, and I’m at an age where my complete lack of experience and physical deformity are (I would have to imagine) major issues for anyone I might encounter. I truly want romance, sexuality, and companionship in my life. I haven’t fought through poverty, disability, physical and emotional abuse, and my genitalia trying to kill me to stay entombed in my office alone and unloved. I just do not know where to even begin. The Virgin Who’s Been [Forked] A Whole Lot Just Never In The Good Way Off the top of my head ...

Hire a sex worker. It will allow you to separate your anxieties about finding romance and companionship from your anxieties about being sexually inexperienced. A kind, indulgent, competent sex worker can relieve you of your virginity and help restore – or instill – confidence in your dick’s ability to get and stay hard in the presence of another human being. Be totally honest about your inexperience and your concerns. If you get the sense during negotiations – which should be brief and to the point – that the woman you’re talking to is impatient or uncaring, thank her for her time and start over. There are kind, caring, compassionate sex workers out there. Presumably you’ve got a computer in your office, TVWBFAWLJNITGW. Use it to find one. Get out of the house. Go places, do things – as much as your disability and budget allow. Even if you have to go alone, go. Even if the things you want to do are unlikely to put you in front of many/any women, do those things. You’re likelier to meet someone if you’re out of the house and moving through the world. Even if you don’t meet someone right away, you’ll feel less isolated and less alone. Even if you never meet someone (I’m not sugarcoating things – some people don’t), going places and doing things means you’ll have a rich and full and active life regardless. You’re not alone. OK, you’re alone – but you’re not alone alone. Meaning, there are women (and men) out there who feel just as paralyzed as you do – because they’re 30-year-old-or-older virgins, because they’re not conventionally attractive, because their first/only sexual experiences were just as humiliating, because they had traumatic childhoods and bear emotional scars. You want a woman to come into your life who is patient and accepting and kind and willing to look past your disability and your inexperience and your difficult history. Be patient, accept-

ing, kind, and similarly willing. Get over those scars. I had a boyfriend a long time ago who had significant scarring on his balls and taint. He was a farm boy (sigh), and he fell on a piece of farm machinery and wound up straddling a scalding-hot pipe. I don’t know how that worked exactly, because I don’t know from farm machinery, but the pipe burned through his jeans and left third-degree burns on his balls, taint, and upper-upper thigh. Ten years later, we started going out – and guess what? I didn’t notice his scars. And not for want of opportunity: He was my first serious boyfriend, and I spent the better part of three months with my face in his crotch. The scars that were so obvious to him and left him feeling self-conscious about his genitals? They were invisible to me until he needlessly apologized for them. Genitals are a jumble of flesh and folds and hairs and colors and bits and pieces and sometimes scars, TVWBFAWLJNITGW. If you’re worried your scarring is noticeable, mention that you’re a cancer survivor and lost a ball but gained a sick (as in cool) scar. Good luck, TVWBFAWLJNITGW. We’re rooting for you. Your a faggot. Women Obsess Real Men Your new here, WORM, aren’t you? I’m a straight woman, and I’ve been dating my boyfriend for about eight months. We have a wonderful relationship and amazing sex. There’s one thing he does in the bedroom, however, that I find off-putting and I was hoping you might be able to provide some insight. About 25 percent of the time after he ejaculates, he briefly licks some of his come off his fingers. This kind of creeps me out. I’ve been with more than a few dudes, so I obviously understand

that a woman eating their come is a common turn-on, but this is my first experience with this particular incarnation. At first I was worried my aversion might be rooted in some deeply buried homophobic beliefs, but we’ve discussed the idea of me pegging him, and that I can get behind. I think it’s more that this smacks of a certain egotism I find frivolous. Like, I wouldn’t go around shoving my fingers inside my pussy and rubbing the results all over my face. Typically we’re able to discuss any kind of conflict or confusion that arises between us, but this one seems tough to broach for me. Three questions: How common is this? Do I need to just get over it or should I try to talk to him about it? Would most guys suck their own dick if they were able? Yearning Understanding Concerning Kink 1. It’s not common, YUCK, but it’s not unheard of, either. Maybe your boyfriend grew up with sex-phobic parents who blew up at the sight of a crusty sock – so he opted to destroy the evidence by eating it and developed a taste for it. Maybe he thinks his semen contains powerful woo-hoo-y masculine energy and wishes to retain some of it. Maybe he had a girlfriend who thought it was hot to see him eat his come and he (wrongly) assumes it’s a turn-on for you, too. 2. Yes, you need to get over it and, yes, you should ask him about it. The former almost certainly requires the latter. 3. Every man on earth tries, a select few succeed, and we all would if we could. Even my new friend WORM. 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, June 15, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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[happening]

DGO’s weekend picks in or near Durango Get weird at the Olde Schoolhouse

The spirit of all things at Studio &

Glitter Wizard is going to kick out m-effin magical mystery psych rock at the Olde Schoolhouse, 46778 U.S. Highway 550, on Saturday, June 17. Heavy riffs and party jams will abound. If you ain’t riveted by this San Francisco mutant child of Hawkwind, you ain’t breathing.

You can always count on Studio &, 1027 Main Ave., to have an affordable, gorgeous show going on. This Friday, June 16, marks the opening of Totem, a sculptural show by Mike Brieger and Deborah Gorton. The artists examine how our dreams, memories, and collective consciousness infuse into the animate and inanimate objects around us.

Rad-ass local bands Long Con and God Awful open. $5 donation at the door. Music starts at 10 p.m. There’s $2 PRB all night, and if you want pizza, you better call in an order before 9 p.m.

Juneteenth freedom celebration Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the emancipation of African-American slaves in the Confederate South. The first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday was Texas, in 1980. This year, celebrate Juneteenth on Sunday, June 18, at the Durango Community Recreation Center, 2700 Main Ave. Highlights include DJ Mowgli, dancer Celestea Deanes, and an open mic. Free events roll from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Details: www.durangopeaceandjustice.org

day, June 21, for Warped Tour. Gates open at 11 a.m. and music goes all day long. Bands include Sick of It All, The Dickies, Hatebreed, CKY, Hawthorne Heights, Save Ferris, and Alestorm – plus, like, a million more. Tickets will run you $37.50 (plus fees) for a day of rivet belts, mohawks, kickass tunes, rudies, and, probably, a sunburn. Info at http://vanswarpedtour.com

Free opening reception from 5 to 9 p.m.

Get that good medicine

Reggae, psycho blues at the ACT

The Good Medicine Confluence showcases empowering methods to heal your body and the world. 2017’s theme, “The Art of Healing, the Savoring of Life,” is explored through over 80 classes covering cannabis science and cultivation, traditional medicine, botanical perfumes, plant dyes, basketry, locavore cuisine, transgender therapeutics, and much more.

The roots reggae band, SEE-I, featuring members of the Thievery Corporation, passes through the Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, on Friday, June 16. This heartfelt party band blends hip-hop, dancehall, funk and rock. Dragondeer, a psychedelic blues band out of Denver, opens. Doors 8:30 p.m. and show at 9. Tix are $25 advance/$28 day of.

When the kids are united

From Wednesday, June 14 to June 18, you can quest for methods of empowerment in settings like concerts, walks, and classes, with a home base of Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Dr. Tickets range from $99 to $399.

Punk rockers take over Balloon Fiesta Park, 5000 Balloon Fiesta Parkway, in Albuquerque on Wednes-

More info (and locals discount code for online tickets) at www.planthealer.org/intro.html

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20 | Thursday, June 15, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[happening] Thursday

Friday

Sunday

Southwest summer storytelling series, 1 p.m., Delaney Library, Center of South-

Lacey Black, 5 p.m., Serious Texas BBQ,

Veterans Breakfast, 9 a.m., $7, Durango

west Studies, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive, www.fortlewis.edu.

Pete Giuliani Band, 5-9:30 p.m., Balcony

Dance for Balance, 3 p.m., Absolute Physical Therapy and Wellness, 277 East Eighth Ave., 764-4094.

Hello, Dollface tour-kickoff party, 7 p.m.,

Elks Lodge, 901 East Second Ave., 247-2296. T-Rex Express, 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m.,

$24-$32, Railroad Depot, 479 Main Ave., 8724607.

Moe’s Starlite Lounge, 937 Main Ave., 2599018.

Yoga with Kelli, 10 a.m., $8, Absolute Phys-

ical Therapy and Wellness, 277 East Eighth Ave., 764-4094.

Nature Trail, 978 East Sixth Ave., 259-4682.

Saturday

Ben Gibson Duo, 5 p.m., Animas River

Durango Motor Expo, all-day event, Main

Wednesday

Bakery and Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave., 2477700.

Burger and Band Night with The Assortment, 5 p.m., $20, James Ranch Terraces,

Durango Farmers Market, 8 a.m., Du-

Ukulele jam, 4 p.m., Magpies Newsstand

rango Farmers Market, 259 W. Ninth St., www. durangofarmersmarket.com.

Cafe, 707 Main Ave., 259-1159.

Kirk James, 5-9 p.m., Balcony Bar and Grill,

600 Main Ave., 422-8008.

Bayfield Roadside Park, U.S. Highway 160, 884-9544.

Free concert in the park: Run Boy Run, 5:30 p.m., Buckley Park, 1200 Main Ave.,

T-Rex Express, 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m.,

www.durangoconcerts.com.

$24-$32, Railroad Depot, 479 Main Ave., 8724607.

Lisa Blue, 5:30 p.m., Kennebec Cafe, 4

Henry Stoy piano, 11 a.m., Jean Pierre

County Road 124, Hesperus, 749-6475. Adam Swanson, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle

Bakery and Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave., 2477700.

Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Black Velvet Duo, 5 p.m., Animas River

LunaFest short-film fundraiser, 6

Cafe, DoubleTree Hotel, 501 Camino del Rio, 259-6580.

p.m., $25, The Peaks @ Durango Community Recreation Center, 2700 Main Ave., (303) 9158600. Durango Investment Club, 6 p.m., La

Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave., 382-6468.

Black Velvet Duo, 4 p.m., Wines of the San

Children’s story time, 10 a.m., James Ranch Terraces, 33846 U.S. Highway 550, www.jamesranch.net.

Juan, 259 Highway 511, Blanco, N.M., 6320879.

Tammi Hartung book- and gardenherb-walk event, 5:30 p.m., Ohana Kulea-

Monday

na Community Garden, 564 E. 30th St., http:// bit.ly/2rYnHy6.

Solo jazz guitar, 6 p.m., Cyprus Cafe, 725 East Second Ave., 385-6884.

Adult song-a-day workshop, 6 p.m., $125, Iam Music Institute, 1315 Main Ave., 799-7450.

Introduction to digital marketing,

Little River Band, 7 p.m., $25-$35, Sky Ute

Casino Resort, 14324 Highway 172, 563-7777.

6 p.m., $45, Durango Space, 1221 Main Ave., 828-1340.

Submissions

Adult song-a-day workshop, 6 p.m., $125, Iam Music Institute, 1315 Main Ave., 799-7450.

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

Tuesday

“Zilker Barking” pet-portrait-charity event, 7:30 p.m., $30, Ska Brewing Co.,

Master’s Men Colorado, 6:30 a.m., DoubleTree Hotel, 501 Camino del Rio, 259-6580.

225 Girard St., 247-5792.

$125, Iam Music Institute, 1315 Main Ave., 799-7450.

Henry Stoy piano, 11 a.m., Jean Pierre

Avenue, www.durangomotorexpo.com.

Bayfield Farmers Market, 8:30 a.m.,

Main Ave., 403-1200. Adult song-a-day workshop, 6 p.m.,

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

Cafe, DoubleTree Hotel, 501 Camino del Rio, 259-6580.

33846 U.S. Highway 550, www.jamesranch.net.

Tuesday jam, 6 p.m., Steaming Bean, 900

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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Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19) It’s easy to feel depressed or fall into worry mode this week. Remember: Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere. This will pass quickly. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) This is a poor week to have important discussions about finances because you will be shot down. Postpone this kind of discussion for another week when you’re in a better frame of mind. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) This week, the Sun is in your sign, opposed by Saturn. This is not an ideal week for having discussions with partners and close friends because you feel emotionally isolated. CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Bizarro

Do not ask bosses, parents or VIPs for

permission or approval this week. When at work, just keep your head down and your powder dry. LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) Children might become a source of increased responsibility this week. This is not a good week for social events because these events will be restrained and lackluster. VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) Relationships with older family members are strained this week. In fact, someone might disapprove of you or criticize you. Don’t take this personally. LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) You might feel cut off from others this week. You also might doubt yourself or feel that you are not up to something. (Relax – this is just a temporary dark cloud on your horizon.)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) When you consider your financial scene this week, you might be discouraged. Join the club – we number in the millions. This feeling will pass. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) Relationships with others are strained and discouraging this week. Do not take this personally because many people feel the same way this week. It’s just in the stars. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) Do not attempt anything flashy at work this week – and definitely do not ask for permission or approval from a boss. His or her answer will be “talk to the hand.” AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) Romance might be in the toilet this week

– it just is what it is. This really is a discouraging week. Don’t take it seriously. PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Relationships with bosses and parents will be strained this week because people’s feelings are at stake. Because their glasses are half-empty, they see only the reasons why things cannot be done. BORN THIS WEEK You are a gifted, talented communicator. Your friends are important to you. Because this is a year of growth, construction and building, it is a time to organize your daily world in a practical way. Responsibilities will increase, magnifying the effort needed to maintain your life. Reduce your debt and strengthen your financial position because you are building for your future! © 2017 King Features Syndicate Inc.

weekly bestsellers June 4-10 »»All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr (Paperback) »»The Metabolic Approach to Cancer, by Dr. Nasha Winters & Jess Higgins Kelley, MNT (Hardcover) »»Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, by Al Franken (Hardcover) »»The Trials of Apollo, Book Two: The Dark Prophecy, by Rick Riordan (Hardcover) »»Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur (Paperback) »»Cinnamon and Gunpowder, by Eli Brown (Paperback) »»The Girls, by Emma Cline (Paperback) »»Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon (Paperback) »»The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (Paperback) »»Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming,

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22 | Thursday, June 15, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[outskirts]

SHIPROCK’S DIY SCENE REPORT

»» Anthony J. Lee,

aka Larigot, on music, community, and the economics of Shiprock

Shiprock’s a closer drive than Santa Fe or Albuquerque – only about two hours – and yet, Durango folks tend to forget about it as a cultural touchstone. It’s more than a big rock in the wild or a drivethrough. There’s a thriving community of artists and activists who, though they’ve had some setbacks, strive on. Anthony J. Lee, also known as Larigot, is a 24-year-old musician, promoter, and sophomore studying web development through Full Sail University. Recently, his DIY venue, Asterix, shut down. We talked to Lee to get the lowdown on who he is and the scene in Shiprock. Who are you? I’m a facilitator. I can’t say I run everything around here. I just connect people, bring them together. Courtesy of Nate Lemuel/Darklisted Photography

I started out as a musician and it’s turned into promoting. I am in a band (Heart Museum), but nobody would book my band. When I started, there were only three bands in the area and they were the first ones to start throwing shows. Back then, if you wanted to go to a show, you had to know somebody.

out of my own pocket if I had to. Even if there’s no money involved, I would try and give a band a place to stay, or something to eat, or treat ’em good.

Post hardcore. We’re still experimenting.

Like a house show?

What’s the music scene in Shiprock like?

Yeah, exactly. Nobody ever really invited me [laughs].

There’s a ton of great bands. Because there’s not a lot of jobs, not a lot to do. People get creative. I’ve met so many artists and musicians. A lot of hip-hop, some metal, and some really great indie and punk bands.

We are in a prime spot. You can go to Flagstaff, Denver, Salt Lake, Albuquerque, Durango. Bands will come through here anyways and most bands would rather play than drive through.

So you wanted to open up the scene a bit? Yeah. Nobody would book my band so I started putting together my own things. Then I started meeting people and getting bands from different areas wanting me to arrange shows. I kept at it. How did that turn into you opening Asterix? We would always book at this place called the MOD. It became the norm, but nobody ever wanted to go there because there was no bathroom, there was no heater, usually there was like a hole in the roof. We had toyed with the idea of getting our own space, even being just kids. War Party Productions books a lot of the shows in Shiprock. Are you War Party Productions? War Party Productions was supposed to be a team effort but ended up being me. It’s hard to find a reputable promoter. One thing I’m known for, up until (the loss of the venue), is not canceling shows. I would always follow through, pay

»» Shiprock musician and promoter Anthony J. Lee, also known as Larigot.

How many people come out to shows? Anywhere from 10 to 90 people. It all depends on the promoter and the band and how much work is put into it. I’ve had great bands come through and play in front of only other bands. And that sucks because they came to me expecting a huge show, but I’ve also had huge shows for small bands because they put in the effort to promote. Any shout-outs to bands we should know? TyRant started making a name for himself. He just started playing and he’s already toured to Los Angeles. Already being asked to play all these place. He’s a hip-hop artist. The Ferrets. You can sense influences for pop punk and hardcore ... I think they’re still finding their sound and going in a great direction. Lo Cash Ninjas just came back from tour. They’re punk and ska. They’re coming up on their 10-year anniversary, which is crazy. My band, Heart Museum. We’re melodic hardcore.

Why should bands coming through care about Shiprock?

What’s up next now that Asterix is closed? A little before the place closed, we were talking about creating a community building because that’s what it was turning into. Making it a nonprofit space. How do you think an economic rise can happen for Shiprock? My big philosophy is that I personally feel that people who live here have a shared interest. Reach out and get involved. Be as involved as you want to be but don’t take on anything you don’t want to do. We need a network. To come together. We have a bunch of trades. A bunch of skills. There’s just not a lot of money here. Because of that, everything is DIY. Everybody knows how to build something. Everybody knows how to fix something. The money will come. We’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out as a community with a volunteer base. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. —— Patty Templeton

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