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art entertainment food drink music nightlife Thursday, May 10, 2018

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Also: Mixed beers: Creativity and customization or abomination?, mixing beers in Durango, singer/ songwriter Thom Chacon, and San Fernando Valley OG reviewed

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STAFF

What’s inside Volume 3 Number 29 Thursday, May 10, 2018

Editor Angelica Leicht aleicht@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer

Mint juleps and fancy hats DGO photo contributor Lucy Schaefer spent Cinco de Mayo at a Kentucky Derby party amidst mint juleps and fancy hats.

Jessie O’Brien jobrien@bcimedia.com Sales Liz Demko 375-4553 Contributors

Performing

Pages

Travel

Sound

Downtown Lowdown

Album Review 9 10 Drink

Katie Cahill

Christopher Gallagher

Beer

16 Weed

Lindsay Mattison

Check out the photos on Page 23 and many more at dgomag.com

Sean Moriarty

Lucy Schaefer/Special to DGO

18 Life Hax

Bryant Liggett Jon E. Lynch Brett Massé

Lucy Schaefer

10-11

Seeing Through 16 the Smoke Review 17-18

Cooper Stapleton

19 Happening

Robert Alan Wendeborn

20 DGO Deals

Editor-at-Large David Holub Design/layout Colossal Sanders Reader Services 375-4570 Chief Executive Officer

Songwriter Tom Chacon Call him a storyteller with a guitar, a gruff-voiced independent-folkie who Durango locals may know more as a fly-fishing guide than musician.

22 Horoscope/ puzzles

17 Strain review If all indicas are like San Fernando Valley OG, the subject of today’s strain review, you can just keep ‘em coming.

23 Pics

Douglas Bennett V.P. of Advertising David Habrat Founding Editors Amy Maestas David Holub

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.

10 Mixed beers

/dgomag

Creativity and customization or abomination? Blending two styles is a favorite practice for some beer drinkers. Brewers, on the other hand, have mixed feelings.

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

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ON THE COVER A completely random sample of album covers currently on sale at Southwest Sound. Colossal Sanders/DGO

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@dg

[performing]

MAMA’S BAR

»» Local artist John Thomas’ new musical focuses on booze, dementia, and life with his mama By Jessie O’Brien DGO STAFF WRITER

When you walk in John Thomas’ studio, tucked away off of 9th Avenue, one of the first things you’ll notice is a fireplace mantle that’s been converted into a bar top. The bar isn’t for personal use, though. It’s part of the set he built for the musical, “Mama’s Bar,” which he wrote with his mother while she was in Sunshine Gardens Country Home, a senior home for people with memory problems or dementia. Thomas, a painter, builder, and musician, is using the set in his work-home space as a lab to perfect the play, filled with love, delusions, and misunderstood chatter. John’s mom, Jill Holenbery Thomas, moved into Sunshine Gardens after her husband passed away. “The last two years I really figured it out,” Thomas said. “Before that, I was just guilty, and paranoid, and freaked out, and unhappy about the whole thing.” John said he felt guilty because he didn’t know how to relate to her. “I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I didn’t know how to talk to her anymore. She was sort of out of it.” But after those two years, John had a breakthrough when he was tasked with convincing his mom to take a shower, since she wouldn’t do it for the Sunshine Gardens staff. “She’s like a little kid, you know, she was so sweet,” John said. He put his arm around her and helped her into the shower. That day, John’s brother, Charlie, called to see how they both were doing. “I said, ‘Well, this is a real mindbender. There’s no manual.’” Charlie responded with a quip. “‘Well, maybe you should write one,” he said. Then, John’s mom, always quick with the humor, replied, “Yeah, maybe you should write about how to take care of your old mom. I’ll help you, but I may not be around for the last chapter.” From then on, John started being more playful with her. He’d play songs on his guitar and speak to her in poetry to stimulate her brain. The idea for “Mama’s Bar” came about one

Jessie O’Brien/DGO

»» Artist John Thomas at work in his studio. day when they were at the reception desk at the assisted living facility and his mom was having a delusion. John asked his mom – who’d worked in bars for many years – to pour him a drink of water on the desk. She asked him, “What are you having?” John played along and told her he wanted a beer, to which she responded, “I like you too, dear.” From there, they imagined a world where mama tended bar for her patrons at Sunshine Gardens. Conversations like that continued to pop up. “Once we’d get rolling and we’d start conversing in verse, it was all over. We would just get so far out there,” John said. When he began to write the musical, originally in straight dialogue, the words fell flat. “Having been a songwriter my entire life, my mind can formulate words better and get a better expression of what I want to say through rhythm,” he said. That idea gave birth to the facepaced, bouncing libretto of “Mama’s Bar,” with many of the words taken right out of John’s mother’s mouth. While the musical is an elaboration, John said the underlying purpose of the story is to pass along the insights from his mother about life and living,

which she passed along as they wrote this musical over the last two years of her life. The verses are filled with her dry humor and wizened ways of dealing with the overwhelming challenges of being “really old,” as she would say, and making light of her “condition.” Take, for instance, these lines, derived from what mama said after she and John had been speaking in verse, and he had to remind her they were working on a play. “So that’s why so many of our words are rhyming. I thought I was going crazy, it’s just lyrical timing,” she said. He said he was able to unearth new details about his mother’s life by interacting with her this way. He always knew his mother was an accomplished musician – she had played piano from the time she was 5 years old, and could play gigantic pieces of music, like Chopin and Bach. But what John didn’t know was that when she was a little girl, she used to play for her mother, who was an opera singer. His mother would use lyrics like this one to tell stories of her time with her own mother, the opera singer: “Before I was married, in the ’20s, long ago, my mother was a singer in

San Francisco. I played piano, mother sang “Mack The Knife,” the musicians would show up high as a kite!” His mama also had a knack for making light of the process of writing the musical with her son. “You mean this musical about John’s poor old mother compensating for her deteriorating capacity due to old age and the irreconcilable loss of her husband, to whom she was happily married for 65 years, and sometimes imagines seeing in the blurry persona of handsome men passing by?” she said. Along with uncovering details about his mother’s past, John also discovered how to cope with a parent with dementia. He said it’s more difficult for the caretakers and the family members to cope than it is for the person with delusions. “She doesn’t have to deal with it,” he said. At one point, he asked his mom what it was like to be old. She said, “I forgot I was old. I can’t see myself in the mirror, and I feel just like a teenager. We’re teenagers in decrepit bodies.” John said, “Yeah, with no sense of personal responsibility or long-term consequences?” They had a good laugh about it. The main purpose of the musical, John said, is to pass along the insights his mother was teaching him about life and living, and to teach others how to interact with their loved ones who have memory problems. “You gotta get down to the emotional level. If you’re uncomfortable with that because of your own feelings, it’s pretty hard to do,” he said. “So you just kind of dive in and swim with it. No matter how wacky it gets.” “Mama’s Bar” is the second play written by Thomas. In 2011, he produced “24 Pounds of Bullets and Steel” at the Durango Arts Center theater with Tammy Graham and director Teresa Carson. He is currently looking for a home for the play at a theater company that produces new musicals. He is also testing out rehearsals on the stage set of Mama’s Bar, which was built in his studio, with a live-video podcast hosted by Dave Simmon’s Mac Ranch.

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[pages]

[Odd Rot, by Patty Templeton]

A waking dream, hollow bunnies, the apocalypse British author Robert Rankin’s 33 novels are hard to categorize. He’s long described his work as “far-fetched fiction,” hoping to garner his own shelf in bookshops. (Usually though, you’ll find him shelved in science fiction.) Rankin’s a teller of tall tales, with fantastical plots and a distinctive, playful style.

White Rabbit book review: “The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse,” by Robert Rankin

His novel, “The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse,” is a gem. The reader is catapulted into a waking dream, in which 13-year-old Jack heads to the big city to seek his fortune. Toy City, though, isn’t what he’d anticipated. Sure, its inhabitants act like humans, but are, in fact, toys straight out of nursery rhymes. After meeting detective teddy bear Eddie, who is investigating the murder of

Humpty Dumpty, it’s clear that a serial killer is on the loose. The reader quickly realizes that the ensuing victims are based on historical figures, and curiosity propels you onward. What initially seems hokey unfolds as linguistic magic and carefully plotted comic fantasy that will leave you wanting more.

Of the same ilk as Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s series, but with a darker/edgier tone. If you’re a fan of Adams, or British humor in general, then you should definitely check this one out. —— Keena Kimmel Owner of White Rabbit Books and Curiosities

“Raw Power” Patty Templeton digs trading tunes. Hit her up with song links or music book recs on Twitter via @PattyTempleton or at www.instagram.com/ pattytempleton.

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Art In Durango

Last Durango Diarie of the season s !

[travel]

May 23 • 5:30 p.m. Powerhouse Science Center 1333 Camino del Rio Local voices. Local stories. Welcome to Durango Diaries.

For the final Durango Diaries of the season, four Durango artists will share stories of what inspires them, why they create and working in the craft of art.

Storytellers inlude: Lisa Pedolsky Lisa Pedolsky creates hand-built functional ceramics, 2D mixed media and hand-bound books.

Wikipedia

Sam Bridgham Sam Bridgham, aka the Lego Bomber leaves his discrete Lego creations in public spaces around Durango.

Rosemary Meza-DesPlas Rosemary Meza-DesPlas creates hand-sewn human hair drawings, watercolors and does on-site drawing installations.

Dan Groth Dan Groth is currently focusing on creating collages, painting freeform watercolors which get cutand-pasted into new creations with a sculptural feel.

Durang

Diaries

Presented By:

durangoherald.com/durangodiaries

FREE. Kid-friendly. Beer and wine available for purchase.

Rainbow Falls, a badass graffiti waterfall GET OUTTA TOWN Quirky & cool spots in the Four Corners and beyond Do you love your graffiti with a side of waterfall? Or your waterfall with a side of graffiti? Well, if you answered yes to either of those questions, you should consider checking out Rainbow Falls, which runs out of Fountain Creek in Manitou Springs. The natural waterfall is tucked under an imposing highway overpass, which makes it difficult to see, but if you do happen upon Rainbow Falls, you will not be disappointed. The natural rock formations that make up the waterfall have become a shrine to local street artists, with slogans, tagging names, and even (last time we checked) a giant

white marijuana leaf painted on the rocks. The folks in Manitou Springs have tried to stop the trend of street art being painted on the falls, but to no avail. It’s just a thing now, and covers about every square inch of the falls and underpass. But luckily, it’s a pretty cool thing, even if it’s not exactly sanctioned by the town itself. The graffiti is a bright addition to the reds and oranges of the rock formation, and it certainly helps fancy up the underpass that’s imposing on the waterfall. It’s city-meets-townmeets-hiking-trail, and somehow, it just works. It’s also a hidden, and happy, respite from the overcrowding at Manitou Springs. It’s kinda like your own private graffiti garden. Who could ask for more? —— Angelica Leicht

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[local yokels]

Tony Lemos on oil, watercolor, and rain on board As a young painter, Tony Lemos had an understanding of impermanence. He grew up in the homes of the elderly people his mother, a nurse, cared for. He spent much of his time with the aging – some with Alzheimer’s disease, some with Lou Gehrig’s disease – which helped him form a deep compassion and an understanding of how time is fleeting. This is why he uses water, the source of life, as a medium for his work. When did you start drawing and painting? Since I could pick up a pencil really. My mother, she was a (private) nurse her whole life, and she took care of this gentleman named Arthur King. (He painted) in his room. My mom has some work of mine from when I was 3 years old, of me copying his work. He was a Southwestern artist. He did Native portraits. I only learned about that probably, like, four years ago. My mom has eight kids, and so these kinds of things kind of just pop up here and there. So you lived in the homes of the people your mother was caring for? I grew up in 12 different convalescent homes, so there was a lot of shuffling going on. Private adult care in the state of Arizona wasn’t legal, so we would get kicked out of our homes and move to another house. What was that like for you? Like having lots of grandmothers and grandfathers around. They would eat with us and watch TV with us. I would feed them when they couldn’t feed themselves. I would change their bedpans when that needed to happen. By the time I was 14 years old, I was a full-on caregiver. It definitely had a massive, massive impact on my life. How does that influence your art?

Courtesy of Tony Lemos

Dramatically. I did do a show at the Durango Arts Center. A couple of pieces that were about impermanence. (Making my work) is an ephemeral process; it has to do with sacrifice, has to do with understanding that time is obviously fleeting. Do you think you would be a natural caregiver if you didn’t grow up in this environment? There’s definitely conditioning that happened there. When you’re dealing with people who can’t speak or communicate their needs, you have to learn how to understand their body language and figure out how to satisfy their dayto-day. You have to learn a different type of communication. I mean, it’s turned me into a very sensitive individual and a very empathic individual. It taught me compassion on a major, major level. That’s something that’s lacking in our society. The way we deal with our elders and the whole process of passing is tucked away. —— Jessie O’Brien

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[sound]

Downtown Lowdown | Bryant Liggett

Singer-songwriter Thom Chacon on stories, drifters, and melodies

inger-songwriter Thom Chacon likes a good story. He likes a good story so much that when writing songs he favors the tales of towns and drifters as much as instrumentation and melody. Call him a storyteller with a guitar, a gruff-voiced independent-folkie who Durango locals may know more as a fly-fishing guide than musician, as he spends more time fishing in local rivers than he does performing.

Courtesy of Thom Chacon

The Sacramento native landed in Durango a dozen years ago, shortly after a stint in rock band Hollow Man, which he landed while working as a horseback guide around Los Angeles. Potential horseback guide work is what first brought Chacon to Durango, but he soon traded the saddle for the fly rod. Guiding fishing trips became – and remains – a large part of his livelihood. From the time Chacon was 3 years old, he was singing along to Glen Campbell songs, and he got his first guitar at 12 years old. He’s been writing songs since 16, and has kept music and songwriting close ever since. Hollow Man came and went, and he ditched the band life in exchange for the ease and – at times – financially reliable route of being a solo artist. That route has been good to him. Two of his records have featured drummer George Receli and bass player Tony Garnier, who has a fulltime gig playing with Bob Dylan. Garnier is also featured on Chacon’s newest album, “Blood in the U.S.A.” Over the last year, Chacon has also played several shows in Italy, where he’s secured an Italian concert promoter, and even found himself on the cover of Buscadero Magazine, an Italian music

publication. Chacon will play more in Italy than he will in Durango this year, but he’ll fish more in Colorado than he does in Italy. He wants his shows to be “events” and not just sets of music in a bar, and the handful of shows he plays here – and in Italy – are just that. He’s one of the many American folk musicians finding bigger audiences in Europe – audiences that love gritty folk music and the craft of songwriting. “I bring up Kris Kristofferson a lot. I look to him and have for many years, because I can relate to the fact that he’s an okay guitar player, and no one’s ever accused him of being a really wonderful singer, and I feel like I’ve fallen in those categories,” said Chacon. “What I really love about him more than anything is (that) he can write a song like no one else. That was always my goal. I can’t really sing that well, or play the guitar that well, but I think I can try, or die trying, to write one of those great songs like ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down.’” It’s all about finding that place where you’re at the center of your own universe, and you’ve invited a roomful of people to join you. He’s found that place with solo performance and his stories,

which are accompanied by subtle melodies and delicate instrumentation. “I think there’s a certain feeling that I’ve gotten used to over the years playing solo. You can really control the dynamics. And the venues I try and play are the listening rooms, and there’s nothing I love more than to go to zero, as we call it, during a song, and just really be in that moment. You can pluck the guitars strings as lightly as possible, and the story is now the feature of the song rather than the music,” said Chacon. “I spend so much (of the) song crafting the story and each word that the format that I use, solo acoustic, is really conducive to delivering that story. Hollow Man, we had nonsensical lyrics, and the harmonies, who cared what we were saying. But now it’s all about the story, so as a solo guy it’s a lot of fun for me to deliver. The acoustic guitar, for me, is just the vehicle to deliver the words to people.” Chacon’s next shows are June 15 and 16 at the Wildhorse Saloon, where he’ll be opening for Austin country rocker Aaron Einhouse. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.

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[sound] What’s new La Luz,“Floating Features” “Floating Features,” the third proper full-length album from Seattle-based quartet La Luz, sets a minor, relative tonal shift right from the get-go. The album opener, which doubles as the title track, is a two-minute instrumental ripper that eschews the surf noir for hard swirling, heavy-key laden neo-psychedelia. These are not totally unfamiliar sonics for the ladies – far from it – but it does indeed mark a shift. The foursome of singer/guitarist Shana Cleveland, drummer Marian Li Pino, keyboardist Alice Sandahl, and bassist Lena Simon have, with their

New at

May 11 Arctic Monkeys,“Tranquility Base and Casino” It has somehow already been five years since “AM,” a record that did its job to further cement the legacy of the English rock band Arctic Monkeys as one of the best and hardest working groups out there. Following in the footsteps of genre chameleons like John Lennon and David Bowie, the Arctic Monkeys have subverted any rock-based expectations that came from the wondrous “AM,” writing the majority of the songs with a piano as the centerpiece instead. The record has an almost sleazyjazz-lounge-meets-drugged-outsurf-rock vibe. Through the newness of the sound, the true colors of the Arctic Monkeys continue to shine, and their songwriting chops never slouch for a second, even while floating in the new sea of piano-based timbres. So, expect a good record, but that should be the extent of the preconceived notions brought to the party. This record will surprise you in a truly wonderful way. The Body,“I Have Fought Against It But I Can’t Any Longer” A few years ago, I went to the most intense concert I have ever been to with my dear friend and bandmate

third long player, delved deeper into the ’60s-inspired psychedelic territory. Fear not. Some of the best tracks on the album,” The Creature,” “My Golden One,” and “Greed Machine,” still lean heavily into whammy bar-bending surf, which is dipped in their distinct brand of clean, forthright indie-doo-wop-rock-n-soul. Clocking in at under 40 minutes, “Floating Features” is an essential summer album that deserves repeated spins at your forthcoming backyard hangout. An extensive summer-into-fall tour cycle, dubbed the Grueling Megatour, kicks off in San Francisco this very weekend. With

Evergreen. It was Southwest Terror Fest in Tuscon, AZ, and one of the higher-billed bands was one I had dabbled in for a while, but had never quite made it to the deep dive. That band was The Body, and I knew I was in for a treat when they wheeled out their drum set, which had floor toms that funneled the battering beats into the faces of the audience. The Body recently unveiled their seventh studio album ,“I Have Fought Against It But I Can’t Any Longer,” and it is a doozy. Imagine Edith Piaf worshipping at the altar of Southern Lord records, and gorgeous female vocals atop horrifying and beautiful soundscapes. If you are familiar with their work at all, most of the songs on “I Have Fought…” will not surprise you, but some moments, like “Blessed, Alone,” are absolutely paramount in their discography, and a wonderful indicator of where their sound will be going in the future.

“Floating Features” is available Friday, May 11, via Hardly Art Records on compact disc, cassette tape, and on an initial run of a mystery limited edition colorway vinyl LP. The vinyl, as is now customary, also comes with a digital download in your choice of various high-quality formats. In a strange turn, the cassette does NOT come with a digital download of the album.

two Colorado dates in May, try to support artists the most assured way you can in 2018: See them on tour and buy a little merch.

it is easy to fall asleep outside. This also allows vocalist Victoria Legrand to stand tall in the mix. In previous records, her voice tended to be so drowned in effects and the “dream” reverb of the dream-pop that, to me at least, most of the lyrics were fairly unintelligible. That is not the case

—— Jon E. Lynch KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu

on “7,” and the record is all the more powerful for it. Other new releases include albums from Ry Cooder, Charlie Puth, Sevendust, Skinless, Strung Out, Marian Hill, and more. —— Cooper Stapleton

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Beach House,“7” “7” is the most alive Beach House has ever sounded. On “7,” they brought their live drummer into the recording studio with them, in lieu of the drum machine-focused tracks from “Thank Your Lucky Stars.” But do not fret. Just because the sound is more alive doesn’t mean that the dream in Beach House’s dream pop has died. If anything, the more varied percussive backbone has let the band stretch their sound even further into the stratosphere. The guitar strums and synth whirls swirl in a psychedelic smorgasbord, perfect for these warm days where

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[beer]

MIXED BEERS: Creativity and customization or abomination? »» Blending two styles is a

favorite practice for some beer drinkers. Brewers have mixed feelings. By David Holub DGO EDITOR-AT-LARGE

n one hand, it’s like putting ketchup on a steak, a ruinous bastardization of beer that had been brewed with particular flavor and body profiles to be enjoyed in its purity. On the other, it is beer lovers customizing, getting creative and exploratory with beer, which is, after all, the spirit of craft brewing to begin with. Mixing beers, taking two beer styles – an IPA and a red, say – and blending them to make something new, is something that keeps it interesting and new for experimenting beer lovers. For some brewers of those beers it’s celebrated; for others, it’s frowned upon, offering a range of takes on the practice, from it being nothing new, to the customer is always right, to hemming and hawing and otherwise gritting their teeth when they see it. “If people want to mix, that’s fine. If they want to ruin a perfectly good beer, that’s fine, too,” said Ska Brewing Co. Head Brewer Kurt Randall. Brewers and bartenders in Durango say a lot of mixing starts with curious brewery employees before it is something customers begin asking for. Most have creative names – the Train Smoke at Steamworks, or the Silly Rabbit at Carver’s – and some with racy names breweries wouldn’t want in print. While the popularity of particular mixes comes and goes, people usually mix beers to get

more personally suitable flavors or alcohol levels. “If something’s too hoppy or too malty, you could blend it together,” said Steamworks bartender Ryder Okumura. “Or if the Prescribed Burn (chili beer) is too spicy, they can do some more Kolsch and tone that down a little bit.” Carver’s bartender Liz Murphy sees something similar. “I think some people who are typically IPA drinkers won’t necessarily want to drink an entire raspberry wheat, but they love the flavor so they like a little of that raspberry flavor to their IPA,” she said. “Plus, it’s fun.” While some brewers take varying degrees of issue with the practice, they definitely take note. If they see people putting two beers together, why not listen to that and give people what they want? “That’s the thing about craft beer – customers will be like, ‘We like this and we like this,’ and then we get creative and try to mimic that,” said Durango Brewing Co. brewer Troy Sliter. Added Steamworks’ Chad Quinn: “If you like the red but want a more hoppy red. Now people are just brewing Imperial reds, which is kind of that same idea, right?” Brewers might tolerate mixing, but they put their feet down on some combinations – no imperials with sessions, no nitros mixed with CO2s, no sweet beers with hoppy beers. Those would just be abominations. Or would they?

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»» Ska’s Decablonde – 50 percent True Blonde Ale and 50 percent Decadent Imperial IPA.

»» Carver’s Silly Rabbit – 80-85 percent Jack Rabbit Pale Ale and 15-20 percent Raspberry Wheat Ale.

»» Steamworks’ Train Smoke – 60 percent Conductor and 40 percent Backside Stout.

»» Durango Brewing’s mix of 60 percent Irish Red and 40 percent India Pale Ale.

BEER BLENDING:

What’s out there and what do brewers think? Every brewery we visited in Durango had a number of mixed beers customers regularly ask for. We had to try some while seeing what the brewers had to say of the practice. Ska Brewing Co.

ner Creek Lager or Raspberry Wheat Ale

Sampled mix: Decablonde – 50 percent True Blonde Ale (ABV: 5.3 percent; IBUs: 20) and 50 percent Decadent Imperial IPA (ABV: 10 percent; IBUs: 80). Notes: Hops up the Blonde while lessening the ABV of the Decadent. Reminds of the True Blonde Dubbel, an 8 percent ABV Belgian strong pale ale.

Brewer’s take: “[I’m OK with] certain ones, some combinations – people have been doing that forever: Black and Tan – come on, classic mix right there. Or the Priest Collar, which is cider and stout. I don’t know. Some of them I’m not a fan of – double IPA and anything. For me, if I’m going to drink a double IPA, I want to taste a double IPA. I don’t need fruity beer in there. If I want a fruit beer, I’ll drink a fruit beer or mix that with the stout. I don’t like big, hoppy beers with other beers in general.” – Head Brewer Patrick Jose

Other mixed incarnations: Decadent double IPA with Mexican Logger; Sexy Mexi (half True Blonde, half Mexican Logger) Brewer’s take: [Pauses] “You know, I couldn’t say one way or the other. Me personally, I just like beer. I like to try different beers that are brewed, like one-offs or different flavors mixed in.” – Head Brewer Kurt Randall

Carver Brewing Co. Sampled mix: Silly Rabbit – 80-85 percent Jack Rabbit Pale Ale (ABV: 5.7 percent; IBUs: 33) and 15-20 percent Raspberry Wheat Ale (ABV: 5.2 percent; IBUs: 20). Notes: If you’re a steady Jackrabbit drinker, a splash of raspberry is a refreshing treat. However, the ratio is important, with no less than 80 percent Jackrabbit. “You’re just drinking a raspberry otherwise,” said beertender Brendan Lantzy. Other mixed incarnations: Bikelberry (Big Bike Double IPA with Raspberry Wheat Ale); stout with Light-

Steamworks Brewing Co. Sampled mix: Train Smoke – 60 percent Conductor (ABV: 8.9 percent; IBUs: 81.8) and 40 percent Backside Stout (ABV: 6.2 percent; IBUs: 28). Notes: Perfect if you’re after a tasty combo of hops and malt. The gasses have to be consistent, both should be nitro or CO2, but not one of each. Other mixed incarnations: Red Eye (Third Eye P.A. and Lizard Head Red); Chili Stout (Backside Stout and Prescribed Burn) Brewer’s take: “The whole idea of our beers as brewers is that it’s supposed to be our representation. So whether it’s on the verge of that style, or whether it’s what a lot of American brewers are doing, creating new styles. We here at Steamworks are a little more

traditional. We don’t get pulled into trends, like hazy IPAs, we’re not going to do that. Some of that is directed by the consumer. A lot of people are demanding it. So we try to stick true to our styles and not blend – I don’t want to say ‘bastardize styles,’ but that’s kind of what it is, a deprecation of what the true origin should be.” – Brewer Chad Quinn

Durango Brewing Co. Sampled mix: 60 percent Irish Red (ABV: 4.8 percent; IBUs: unavailable) and 40 percent India Pale Ale (ABV: 7.3 percent; IBUs: unavailable). Notes: A perfect blend. In fact, the layperson would be hard-pressed to even tell they were mixed. Other mixed incarnations: Black and Blue (Blueberry Wheat and Dark Lager); Douchebag (Derail Ale and Blueberry Wheat) Brewer’s take: “Nowadays, they’re going crazy – barrel-aging, blending. But customers at the bar doing it, it’s an interesting one. I don’t mind it, honestly. If they want to do it, they can. The customer can do whatever they want. We definitely don’t design them to be mixed ... It’s one of those things where the community controls it more than us. I think the more open to change we are, the better. That’s craft brewing in America: Be innovative.” – Brewer Troy Sliter —— David Holub

�� Thursday, May 10, 2018 | 11

»» It’s been a damn honor

to have you in our town, Southwest Sound By Patty Templeton SPECIAL TO DGO

record store is more than sturdy walls and wax tracks. It’s a breathing beast that noses you to new experiences and grants free-entry access to a sonic sanctuary.

GOODBYE TO A HARMONIC HAVEN

»» Manager Cooper Stapleton and owner Robert Stapleton, at Southwest Sound.

A world of music is a few key clacks away – until the power goes out or a corporation screws with your tunes. Owning music matters. Having that music on a forever-accessible format like vinyl matters. A streaming service can’t obscure or oust a band from your playlist if it’s on your shelf, and it’ll take a sci-fi future before algorithms turn into artificial intelligence that can answer, “What should I listen to if I like the political disruption of the MC5 at the ’68 Democratic National Convention but want a Burroughs-meets-Rimbaud vibe?” Who can answer that? The folks at Southwest Sound. They’d play you Patti Smith and chat about how the gonzo rock critic Lester Bangs said she created a “new Romanticism built upon the universal language of rock’n’roll.” Someone else might pop into the shop, see the “Horses” album in your hand, and mention there’s a new Steven Sebring documentary on the 40th anniversary tour of that same album, which could lead into a joint convo about philosophically toned or generally uplifting music docs. Record stores matter. The community they provide matters. Regrettably for Durango, its harmonic haven is closing. Southwest Sound will shutter up come mid-summer. Southwest Sound owner Robert Stapleton has been in the music retail biz for 50 years. He started at Tower Records when he was 14, and continued on with Southwest Sound when he moved to Durango. “We’re looking at a couple months from now,” Robert said. “Probably end of June or July, if we’re lucky.” The shop’s impending closure is due to the usual causes. “People’s buying habits have changed and so has the retail market,” said Robert. He noted that even big box stores are giving up on selling music. “Back in February, Best Buy and Target, who account for about a third to half of all CD sales in America, announced they will no longer be selling CDs or, in Target’s case, only on a consignment basis,” Robert said. “It seems like music no longer has a value to people,” said Robert. “Everyone wants to stream music, to have it for free, but there’s no ownership there. Streaming to me is high-tech radio.” “It’s time. Our lease was up. Cooper (Stapleton) was moving,” he said. “Business is not what it used to be. My Continued on Page 14

Lucy Schaefer/Special to DGO

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�� Thursday, May 10, 2018 | 13

Lucy Schaefer/Special to DGO

From Page 13

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ing. That came in and I had never heard of it and the cover grabbed me. It’s a dude in a letterman sweater

heart, but it is a sad thing,” said Robert. “What we’ve heard from a lot of people is that people don’t want to live in a town without a record store. People aren’t going to move, but it does leave a void. We would love to pass this on to somebody, and I would definitely entertain someone wanting to buy it. If not buying this specific shop, I would love to see somebody step up to open another store after we’re gone.” “If you want to keep cultural places like this shop, or the next record shop, alive, come in and talk to us about the music you love, make sure we know you want it, and when you make sure we bring it in, you come back and buy it,” Cooper said. “That money helps us, it helps the artists you love, the town you live in, all of that. It’s all interconnected.” Southwest Sound is more than bricks and glass housing wax. It’s an auditory anchorage that has armored hearts with song and stoked the fire of human connectivity in a digital age. It’s been a damn honor to have you in our town, Southwest Sound.

FRONTAGE ROAD

• • • • •

learn something and be exposed to music you might not be exposed to otherwise.” Robert said that’s been one of the greatest parts of Southwest Sound. “That’s one of the best things about this store. Being able to turn people onto music they’ve never heard before and vice versa,” Robert said. “Our customers constantly turn me onto music I’ve never heard of.” Southwest Sound has a philosophy of treating customers like more than walking stacks of greenbacks. Don’t have a credit card to order a rare album on Amazon or Discogs.com yourself ? Southwest Sound would order it into the store for you. Or, perhaps you’re just a local who comes in often. “If I know you’re in here twice a week, once a week, or every two weeks when you get paid, I’m going to reward you because I know you. You’re a regular,” said Robert. “That’s the coolest thing that we’ve had the ability to do, connecting people to music that they love, that they’ve been searching for forever, for a fair price,” Robert said. “I understand the hunt of collecting records and finding that one album in the thrift store or bin that you’ve been searching for your entire life. The Holy Grail. I’m going to miss seeing

Lucy Schaefer/Special to DGO

staring darkly at the photographer in black and white. It’s a mix of dub, European hardcore, and ambient music,” Robert said. You weren’t only going to be staggered by bin-digging at Southwest Sound. The joint had celebrities consistently pop through. Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Charlie “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” Daniels, country star Marty Stuart, ska legends Fishbone, and dang near almost every musician that passed through the Community Concert Hall or Animas City Theatre stopped by. Or, perhaps like Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. The who happened to pop into the shop one day after a show. “I was lurking in the back when he came in,” said Cooper. “My coworker Travis had to deny RZA’s American Express Black Card because we didn’t take American Express at the time. He paid with a big ol’ wad of cash from his take from the show the night before instead.” So what happens when a small town loses its only record store? “I don’t want to get into soul and

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daughter is graduating from the Fort and everything pointed to this being the time.” Cooper Stapleton, Robert’s son and manager of Southwest Sound, agreed. “It’s hard to live in Durango now. It isn’t affordable,” Cooper said. “I don’t blame people for not being able to spend money on extras that are not essential to daily life.” Southwest Sound’s closing ain’t marked with doom and gloom, though. The shop brought hella joy to those on both sides of the counter. “The store enabled me to live and raise my children in a great community and have a lifestyle I enjoyed,” Robert said. “I got to come play in my garage every day and talk about the thing I love the most, outside of my wife and children. Music.” “I got to see and work with my son every day. This was really not like a real job. It was coming to work with great people and great customers and interacting over a common love of music. That is success,” Robert said. Cooper added that his dad’s knowledge of music was a valuable commodity alongside those vinyls. “My dad has a billion stories and I’ve heard only about a tenth of them. I was able to learn something from

him every day,” Cooper said. “He’s been in the record industry since the late ’60s, and his father, my grandpa, worked for Capitol Records. Being able to talk to my dad about why we do this and what we both get out of it has been really valuable.” For Cooper, that value was a combination of learning the physical, collectable side of music, and the business that surrounds it. “Being able to absorb so much music every day, that’s special,” Cooper said. “Being able to talk about it.” “Even music I was not personally passionate about, I continually met someone who was, and I learned from those sorts of conversations,” Cooper said. Southwest Sound isn’t the sort of record store you walk into where a pretentious clerk arbitrates your musical taste. It has been a storefront dedicated to conversation and community building. “I’ve always thought about us as not just a place to go and buy things,” said Cooper. “So many of our best customers come in to hangout and chitchat for sometimes five minutes, and sometimes a couple hours. Half the time, they don’t buy anything and that’s fine. We enjoy the act of talking about music. I’ve always hoped we were a place where you could go to

and helping people on that search.” Southwest Sound has seen a fair share of epic records. “Probably one of the coolest albums I’ve come across in the shop was a German David Bowie ‘Heroes’ album that had an exclusive version of ‘Heroes’ sung in German. A woman brought us a bunch of French, German, and Italian rock records and that was one,” Robert Stapleton said. The record went to a local Bowie fan even more obsessed than Robert. “I knew he would go nuts for it, and he did. That’s the beauty of being a small business. You can cater to people and know what your customers like who come through,” Robert said. For Cooper, a Bob Dylan record is what conjures up the nostalgia. “We had a sealed ‘Bob Dylan’ (self-titled) album come in. The trick with those old Dylan records is that he was on Columbia and they had different center labels for each pressing. We got a sealed ‘Bob Dylan’ in and we knew it was old and we had to open it to see what pressing it was. I would love to sell a first, sealed “Bob Dylan” album no matter what pressing it was, but our curiosity got the best of us, so we put gloves on and very carefully slit the side with this tiny knife that we have in the back office and pulled out the record,” Cooper said. “Thankfully, the record was sealed inside, as well. I had never seen that before. It had a perforated top that you could rip off, but it was clear packaging and we saw that the record was a second pressing.” “My personal Holy Grail, I actually had and I sold,” Robert said. “That was David Bowie, ‘Man Who Sold the World,’ original English copy, which is what they call the ‘Dress Cover,’ where he is wearing a dress and lounging on a daybed and he looks like Lauren Bacall. The reissue from nowadays looks like that exact same cover, but the first pressing is a highly prized album, and I found it back in the day. At the time, I needed money so I sold it for $100, and now it is worth probably $1,000, maybe $1,500, and I would never pay that for it. But maybe someday it will turn up again.” A haggard, UK first-pressing of “London Calling” and “If You’re Into It, I’m Out Of It,” by Christoph de Babalon are several prized finds for Cooper. “That (de Babalon) album is amaz-

LIGHT

�� Thursday, May 10, 2018 | 15

Lucy Schaefer/Special to DGO

From Page 13

OPENING DAY!

FREE Plants to the first 50 moms

Saturday, May 12th 8am - Noon

COME SEE WHAT’S FRESH AND NEW! • • • • •

Over 30 Local Farms This Year! Live Music Every Weekend Local Food And Drink Hand Crafted Art Community Groups

Visit DurangoFarmersMarket.com for more details W 8th St. across from the Post Office

Lucy Schaefer/Special to DGO

ing. That came in and I had never heard of it and the cover grabbed me. It’s a dude in a letterman sweater

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e are living in an era in which social justice has returned to the forefront of the political scene. The Internet, which has replaced traditional forms of media as the primary source of information, along with its ability to unite great numbers of people around movements that they find meaningful, is a primary factor in this change. Blame (or credit) the current administration and their (often bumbling) public commentary, especially when combined with the unbridgeable gap created by our outdated two-party system. Recognize that the politically correct mindset has changed what is acceptable in both national and international discussion. There are three vexatious components of cannabis prohibition. This trio is woven deeply into the fabric of cannabis law. Alone, each is adequate reason for consideration by all living under the Stars and Bars and in this era of American global dominance, but their grouping under the banner of a failing “War on Drugs” (a.k.a. “What We Don’t Like To Call A War on People”), begs for reform. I am going to start with the most reprehensible of the three: privatized, for-profit prisons. Take a minute to think about this core concept. These institutions, in order to function and make money, need to be full of prisoners, many of whom are there as a result of drug charges. I am going to let the Corrections Corporation of America’s 2014 Annual Report stand on its own as an explanation of where they stand: “The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to

drugs and controlled substances.” It sounds like they were – a mere four years ago – behind the times with legalization and the proper way to treat human beings. That’s not even counting the outrageous amounts of money they have spent opposing changes to cannabis laws, which only cements them in that bass-ackwards place. Racism, as we have seen here, has always been part and parcel of prohibition. That has not changed. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, of the 8 million cannabis arrests between 2001 and 2010, black people were charged 3.73 times more often than white people. This is the case EVEN THOUGH both groups use cannabis at nearly the same rate. Then we have the Drug Enforcement Administration’s asset forfeiture program, under which the agency may take cash and property without charging its owner with a crime. This one is near and dear to my heart. When they came down my street without a warrant in 2012, they had been told that I was in possession of $200,000 cash. That was not the case, and the case was turned over to the local authorities. I still get a chuckle over what must have been a terrible afternoon for the agent, who had to explain to his superior that they would not be entering a couple hundred grand into evidence, but a couple grand instead. This little game they play may be coming to a timely end, as members of both parties in both houses of Congress have proposed bills that would end the unconstitutional practice. To paraphrase the great Robert Hunter, it is reasons like this, one way or another, the darkness surrounding the failed prohibition of cannabis has got to give. Christopher Gallagher lives with his wife and their four dogs and two horses. Life is pretty darn good. Contact him at chrstphrgallagher@gmail.com.

16 | Thursday, May 10, 2018 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[review]

San Fernando Valley OG will leave you as light as a cloud Seems like we’re on an indica kick these days, you guys. But to be honest, if all indicas are like San Fernando Valley OG, the subject of today’s strain review, you can just keep ‘em coming. Known as SFV OG, San Fernando Valley OG is an interesting strain. It’s a member of the OG Kush family, and hails from – you guessed it – San Fernando Valley in California. The smell of this strain isn’t super heavy – it’s a bit like smelling damp, sour, lemon-y earth – and neither are the effects. Twas a good ride indeed. Here’s what happened. As is par for the course these days, I grabbed the SFV OG on a Monday night and lit up a small-ish bowl. And by small I mean very large. (Don’t judge me. It’s already been a long month.) The buds are small, dense, and super green, with tiny red hairs throughout. Given its overall unassuming nature, I was surprised at how bitter the smoke from the tiny buds was. I suppose I just wasn’t expecting such a harsh hit after the relatively pleasant smell of the strain, but there it was. A mouth full of bitterness. Worry not, though, friends. The taste of SFV OG wasn’t overwhelming or super unpleasant. It’s just noticeable pretty quickly in, especially when you’re comparing it to some of the other strains we’ve reviewed recently. The effects, though, are anything but bitter. Unlike some of the other indicas and indica-heavy hybrid strains, San Fernando Valley OG doesn’t leave you with a heavy couch-lock feeling. Even if you smoke a massive bowl. Or two massive bowls. Or... you get the idea. My arms worked, my legs worked, and even my brain worked. It wasn’t super easy to creep on social media – my attention span is regularly that of a gnat, but it is especially after this strain – but I didn’t feel super out of it or useless. In fact, in a weird way, I felt awake. I’d started out this review process while super dragging ass – again, it’s been a long month – but by the time the bowl was cashed, I was high, but in a very calm, aware manner. I had half-expected to be sleepy and done with life after that bowl, but I wasn’t. I was just... well... chill.

Details Where to find San Fernando Valley OG: Prohibition Herb, 1185 Camino Del Rio, 970-3858622, prohibitionherb.com Price: Currently for recreational and medical; available on recreational on the Fire shelf for $45.50 an eighth or $13 a gram Caveats: Prohibition Herb provided this sample for review purposes, but kept out of our review biz. They always do. The high from SFV OG stayed chill the entire time, too. It vacillated from a head high to a body high, rocking back and forth in calm waves, but at no point did it feel harsh or overwhelming. Things were good. Life was good. This month... still sucked, but not as much. This strain would be perfect for a daytime indica buzz, especially on a stressful or overwhelming day. You won’t be hyper-alert and focused a’la some sativas, but you won’t be glued to your seat, either. I’m pretty sure this would be a solid strain to help with the ol’ anxiety issues. I ended up feeling like I was a cloud – shit wasn’t heavy, and I didn’t have a care in the world. Well, other than the fact that I’d exhausted my cookie stash. That was a worry when the munchies kicked in, but if you make sure your snack supply is replenished before you light up, you should be right solid. —— DGO Pufnstuf

�� Thursday, May 10, 2018 | 17

[advice]

[review]

Very good idea: Pagosa Springs and a bowl of Great White Shark You ever do something that makes you feel a bit like Lil Wayne? If the answer to that question is no, you should really consider a road trip to Pagosa Springs. Why, you ask? Well, do we have an answer for you. Until last week, we were relatively unfamiliar with the dispensary scene in Pagosa. After all, we have a thriving cannabis community in Durango, and Pagosa Springs, while badass, isn’t exactly the closest place to snag some weed. Things changed, though, when we got a call from Good Earth Meds, a recreational dispensary in Pagosa Springs. The owner, Bill Delany, suggested that we try out one of their strains – a foreboding cannabis strain called Great White Shark – while hanging out in the hot springs, those natural hot water pools Pagosa is known for. How on Good Earth could we pass that up? Needless to say, we didn’t. We took Bill up on his offer – try out Great White Shark while being all fancy and mineralish in the hot springs, and then let us know what you think – and after a short jaunt over to Pagosa (about an hour away), we quickly found ourselves relishing in the warmth of the hot springs while high as a damn kite. Turns out there isn’t much that’s as relaxing or rap-star-ish as sitting in a hot tub of mineral water post-session while looking out at the river in the middle of Pagosa Springs. Sure, it’s not quite at “official” Lil Wayne status unless you add in a couple bottles of champagne, some diamonds, and 2Chainz, but our stoned excursion to Pagosa Springs still made us feel like we were living that good, good life. Perhaps that was in part because of Great White Shark, though. Rap life aside, that is an interesting strain. Also known as the Peacemaker, Great White Shark is a hybrid known for a wicked, fast-acting body high. Good Earth grows only in organic soil, and the GWS buds are this awesome crystalline white. The color differentiation is evident when held up against other strains. And the scent emitted from this strain? Well, holy shit. You can’t NOT

Details Where to find Great White Shark: Good Earth Meds, 600 Cloman Blvd. #1, Pagosa Springs, 970-7313202, goodearthmeds.com Price: Good Earth Meds is a rec dispensary but gives a 10 percent discount to Colorado card holders and has a reduced price on grams. GWS is on sale for $15/gram for rec; $12 plus 10 percent discount for med card holders. Caveats: Good Earth Meds provided Great White Shark for review purposes, but didn’t fill the bag with money or a bribe. They never do. smell it. The scent is all skunk, and is very, very strong. Given the unique qualities of this strain, you will probably not be surprised that while this batch of Good Earth Meds’ Great White buds tested at 26 percent THC, according to Bill, other batches have tested as high as 32 percent. In other words, this strain is no freakin’ joke. It will get you high as uh, that quote from “Friday.” That “high as a scene from ‘Friday’” was okay in this situation, though. We purposely made the trip to Pagosa for this little experiment on a weekend, when there wasn’t the looming pressure of deadlines or phone calls to distract us. Not to mention, we knew the stories surrounding Great White Shark and weren’t sold we could hack it during a work day. As soon as we immersed ourselves in the boiling lava-water of the hot springs, those stories proved true. Our bodies, already riding the wave of a serious body high, just melted into the water, and with it, any thoughts of work or real life were washed away. If you haven’t gotten high and gone to the hot springs, please do. Your entire body will thank you. If you have any desire to spend a day while stoned at the hot springs, we seriously recommend doing so with a side of Great White Shark. That’s just as good as it gets. —— DGO Pufnstuf

Life Hax | Carolyn Hax

Ex wants the “real” reasons for a breakup. It gets creepy My best friend broke up with her boyfriend. They hadn’t been together very long – I think she realized she didn’t have the same feelings for him as he did for her, and he was always really busy with work. Well, he didn’t believe her on the reason for the breakup and is doing everything he can to make it work. Including emailing me for “advice.” My friend made it clear (I thought) that she didn’t feel strongly enough about him to continue the relationship. She also asked that I respond to him, reiterating this point. How do I do that nicely? Concerned Best Buddy Nicely?! He “didn’t believe her” – there’s nothing nice about that. It’s creepy. Don’t “reiterate this point.” Your friend is the one who has to have the clear last word: “Respect my decision, and stop contacting me and my friends. Thank you.” No one responds from then on. I was recently out to dinner to celebrate with a close friend who has been treated for breast cancer and has received a clean bill of health. She included her live-in boyfriend in the celebration. I noticed he was bumping my leg. I simply moved out of way the first and second times. After the third bump, I realized he was intentionally rubbing my leg. I had to move about five times. I have socialized with the two of them on many occasions and frankly do not have a good impression of him in general. I believe my friend deserves better, but have kept my mouth shut because it’s not up to me to comment on her choice of a partner. If it works for her, then I

respect that. But his behavior with me at dinner was personal and therefore has crossed a line with me. I want to tell my friend what happened, but not after she’s gone through such a traumatic experience. But I feel keeping silent is a tacit way of protecting him. Should I tell my friend what happened? J. That’s what you say. Out loud, at the table, in front of your friend. No time travel necessary; if he’s as bad as you say, then he’ll do this or something like it again next time you see them. The beauty is that “Please stop rubbing my leg” bypasses the whole mental back and forth about your responsibility with respect to your friend’s choices – because “Please stop rubbing my leg” is about your body right now, that’s it, and is entirely your responsibility. You also don’t “ha[ve] to move about five times” to help conceal anyone’s bad behavior, for anyone. Your friend beat cancer; she’ll manage this. If he responds by feigning ignorance or blaming you, then you stand your ground quietly, calmly and without apology. “Say what you will. I just want you to stop rubbing my leg.” Simply leaving also makes a powerful statement. It just so happens that doing what you need for you will give your friend all the information she needs to make her own decisions – but that’s the bonus, not the point. Carolyn Hax is a syndicated advice columnist for The Washington Post. She started her advice column in 1997, after five years as a copy editor and news editor in Style and none as a therapist. Email her at tellme@washpost.com.

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[happening]

DGO’s picks in and around Durango Gypsy punks

Curation tours, 2 p.m., Anasazi Heritage Center, 27501 Highway 184, Dolores, 882-5600.

Conversational American Sign Language, 5:30 p.m., Pine River Li-

brary, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield, 884-2222. Preservation Plan update open house, 5:30 p.m., Durango Public Li-

brary, 1900 East Third Ave. Man of La Mancha, 7 p.m., $26, Du-

rango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 259-2606. Space between Shadows, 7 p.m.,

Fresh paint

11th Street Station, 1101 Main Ave. International Ocean film tour,

Art lovers, unite. You can enjoy the warm air and sweet new art at Durango’s Spring Gallery Walk, hosted by the Durango Gallery Association. Stop by Studio & for contemporary works, Sorrel Sky for Southwestern style, Earthen Vessel for rustic ceramics, and other galleries – Azul; Diane West Jewelry and Art; Durango Arts Center; Karyn Gabaldon Arts; Scenic Aperture; Toh-Atin Gallery; and Wildshots Gallery. – not only to see what’s new this season, but perhaps snag a fancy piece of art (or two).

9 p.m., $12, Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, 799-2281.

Friday Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival, 6 a.m., Cortez Cultural

Center, 25 N. Market St., Cortez, 5651151. Preschool story time, 10:30 a.m.,

Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave. STEAM Lab, 3:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

Details: May 11, free, 5 p.m., various locations, durangogalleries.com

One-Man Show with Edward Aldrich opening reception, 5 p.m.,

Young professionals

Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., 2473555.

Local artist Mariah Kaminsky’s “The Tomorrow Show” will be opening at Animas Chocolate Company. Her paintings depict children in professions such as doctors, vets, or police officers. They serve as a reminder that today’s kids will be tomorrow’s heroes.

Spring Gallery Walk, 5 p.m., Karyn

Black Velvet Trio, 7 p.m., Derailed

The power of plants is an awesome thing. You can learn about their healing powers at the Good Medicine Confluence, where there will be specialty classes, such as the art of herbalism, cultivation, and sex and herbs, among many others. There will also be plant healers and specialists, along with Qigong (gentle breathing exercise) classes. Details: May 16-20, starting at $159 for a single day pass, $379 for a week pass, 10:30 a.m., Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive, planthealer.org

Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431. Trout Unlimited spring banquet,

5:30 p.m., $45-$80, Fort Lewis College, Student Union, Ballroom, 1000 Rim Drive, 247-7010. Man of La Mancha, 7 p.m., $26, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 259-2606. Songs of the Frontier spring concert, 7 p.m., First United Methodist

Church of Cortez, 515 N. Park St., Cortez. Dan Levenson, 7 p.m., $10-$20, Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave. Kevin Carroll and Friends ukulele concert, 7 p.m., Pine River Library,

395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield, 8842222.

Sunday Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival, 6 a.m., Cortez Cultural

Center, 25 N. Market St., Cortez, 5651151. Dan Levenson music workshop,

10:30 a.m., $25, Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave. Man of La Mancha, 1 p.m., $26, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 259-2606.

Monday Thrive! Living Wage Coalition meeting, 5:30 p.m., Commons Building,

701 Camino del Rio.

Baby story time, 2 p.m., Durango

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

»» TOP: Jewelry by Crystal Hartman that will be on display at Studio & for the Spring Gallery Walk May 11. »» ABOVE: From Barbara Dixon Drewa’s exhibit, “The Art of Trompe L’oeil,” in the Durango Arts Center’s Friends of the Arts Library. for the Spring Gallery Walk.

Black Velvet, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle

The Aloha Club, 6 p.m., Mancos Brew-

Man of La Mancha, 7 p.m., $26, Du-

Courtesy of Crystal Hartman; DAC

Man of La Mancha, 1 p.m., $26, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 259-2606.

Tuesday

Wear the Love kickoff, 6 p.m., Durango Welcome Center, 802 Main Ave.

Flying circus

dor Golf Course, 2018 N. Dolores Road, Cortez.

Gabaldon Fine Arts, 680 Main Ave., 2479018. ing Co., 484 East Frontage Road, Mancos.

Details: May 11, free, 5 p.m., Animas Chocolate Company, 920 Main Ave., mariahkaminsky.com

Plant power

rango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave.

5 p.m., Ska Brewing Co., 225 Girard St., 247-5792.

Details: May 10, free, 5 p.m., Ska Brewing, 255 Girard St., animasriverdays.com

Details: May 12, $25, 6 p.m., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, daaacircus.com

Toddler story time, 10:30 a.m., Du-

Animas River Days fundraiser,

Do you love beer? And punk music? And more beer? Great, because Animas River Days will be hosting their annual fundraiser and silent auction with music from Carute Roma at Ska Brewing. Carute Roma is a band that mixes traditional Roma music, punk, and the accordion, trumpet, and harmonies, which are sung in six different languages, to create a mix of sheer awesomeness.

Want to hang out with the Mad Hatter? Well, Durango Ariel Arts and Acrobats will be presenting “Circus in Wonderland,” a high-flying adaptation of the classic story “Alice In Wonderland,” with aerial silks, ropes, trapeze acts, and hoops, so you may be able to do just that. If you get there early, you can bid on items from local businesses in a silent auction.

Thursday

Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 3753380. Americana Band Dirtwire, 9 p.m.,

$15, Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, 799-2281.

Wednesday

Pour House, 725 Main Ave., 247-5440.

T(w)een Time, 4 p.m., Durango Public

Songs of the Frontier spring concert, 7 p.m., First United Methodist

Jeff Solon, 5 p.m., Rochester Hotel, 726

Library, 1900 East Third Ave.

Church of Cortez, 515 N. Park St., Cortez.

East Second Ave., 385-1920.

Saturday

Leadership La Plata spring social, 5 p.m., Rochester Hotel, 726 East

Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival, 6 a.m., Cortez Cultural

Center, 25 N. Market St., Cortez, 5651151. Durango Farmers Market, 8 a.m.,

First National Bank of Durango, 259 W. Ninth St. Community yard sale, 9 a.m., South-

ern Ute Multi Purpose, 256 Ute Road, Ignacio. Henry Stoy piano, 11 a.m., Jean Pierre

Bakery and Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave. “Bogey Down” Hospice Golf Tournament, noon, $40, Conquista-

Second Ave., 385-1920. Ruby Force, 6:30 p.m., 11th Street Sta-

tion, 1101 Main Ave.

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

“Add Your Event,” enter the event info into the form and submit. Listings at www.swscene.com will appear on www. dgomag.com and in our weekly print edition. Posting an event on www. swscene.com is free and takes one day to process.

�� Thursday, May 10, 2018 | 19

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Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19) This is another feel-good week! Something going on behind the scenes reassures you and makes you confident both this week and for your future. It feels good to trust your future, which you can do. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) This week, you are leader of the pack! Enjoy relationships with friends as well as all your contacts with groups, clubs and organizations. This week, you will rally the troops! GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You make a fabulous impression on bosses, parents and VIPs this week. In particular, you will be successful when dealing with other cultures and different countries. You also are open to new and different ideas.

Bizarro

CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Travel will delight you this week because you want to broaden your horizons. You will enjoy learning something new. Discussions about religion, politics, philosophy and even astrology will intrigue you. LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) Keep your pockets open because this week you can benefit from the wealth and resources of others. You might receive gifts, cash or favors. Just say, “Thank you!” VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) This week, the Moon is opposite your sign, which means you have to go more than halfway when dealing with others. This requires a little patience and tolerance, which you have. Be confident about this. LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) Work-related travel is likely this week. You also will enjoy contact with others, especially in meetings with groups. Don’t hesitate to speak up

because others will listen to you. SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) This is a party week! Enjoy flirtations, fun dates, sports events, the arts and playful activities with children. Treat someone to a good time! SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) Family discussions will go well this week because people are positive and upbeat. There’s a feeling of mutual generosity, which always promotes family solidarity: “I’ve got your back.” CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) This week, you feel the power of positive thinking. Because you’re thinking like a winner, you will be one! Speak up and share your ideas. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) Trust your moneymaking ideas this

week because they can be profitable. In particular, they will impress bosses and VIPs. PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) This week, the Moon is in your sign dancing with lucky, moneybags Jupiter. This is a great week for business. It also promotes domestic peace and happiness. BORN THIS WEEK You are loving and caring and can be offended by rudeness. Personally, you have shifting moods and you need your privacy. This year is a power year: big decisions and major achievements. Think success, power and money! It’s time to reap the benefits of the past decade. Expect to attain aspects of power and leadership in all your relationships with others. Activity is key! © 2018 King Features Syndicate Inc.

Vinyl grooves Color collision Apparently your turntable is much smarter than it seems. It tracks color vinyl much differently than black vinyl – and while those limited edition opaque orange records may seem cool, they can have issues with skipping that the black vinyl version of the same record won’t have. On the market The first vinyl LP – as in the 33 1/3 rpm, or the ones we use to this very day – was introduced to the world back in 1948. Pricey picks In case you were wondering, one of the expensive records ever sold was a Velvet Underground record, with a price tag of $25,000. That $25k was for an album that contained early versions of songs that were LATER RELEASED ON ANOTHER RECORD. Innovative ideas A Japanese company has invented a laser turntable that can read records without ever touching them. Snag one and we bet your audiophile friends will finally let you borrow their prized possessions.

22 | Thursday, May 10, 2018 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[pics]

Mint juleps and fancy hats DGO photo contributor Lucy Schaefer spent Cinco de Mayo at a Kentucky Derby party amidst mint juleps and fancy hats, and the Dandelion Festival at Rotary Park. For more photos, go to dgomag.com �� Thursday, May 10, 2018 | 23