The Last Shoemaker

art entertainment food drink music nightlife Thursday, July 12, 2018

DGO

THE LAST SHOEMAKER Mervin Stilson is part of a dying breed of quality producers

Also: Ukulele madness, farmers markets, and a review of Wonder Monkey

dgomag.com

FREE!

Don’t miss out on Durango’s largest women’s expo.

Book your booth today!

La Plata County Fairgrounds November 10, 2018 10am – 4pm

Contact Abby Feldman | 970-375-4599 | afeldman@bcimedia.com

DGO Magazine

STAFF

What’s inside Volume 3 Number 38 Thursday, July 12, 2018

Editor Angelica Leicht aleicht@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer Jessie O’Brien jobrien@bcimedia.com Sales Liz Demko 375-4553 Contributors Katie Cahill Christopher Gallagher Bryant Liggett

The sole of a shoemaker

4

Life Hax

5

Eat

Mervin Stilson represents a dying breed of makers. His priesthood is the value of quality, repairable goods, which he loves fixing in a world that is fooled by fashionable junk.

6

Sound

7

Travel

8

Sound

Downtown Lowdown

8

Album Review 9 10 Eat 11 Beer

Jon E. Lynch

16 Weed

Lindsay Mattison

Reviews 16-17

Seeing Through 18 the Smoke

Robert Alan Wendeborn Editor-at-large

David Holub/DGO

David Holub

19 Happening

Design/layout Colossal Sanders Reader Services

7

Nobody wants to eat on a moving airplane. The seats are crowded and the in-flight meal selection leaves much to be desired. But everyone wants to eat on a stationary plane that’s been converted into a restaurant, right?

375-4570 Chief Executive Officer Douglas Bennett V.P. of Advertising David Habrat Founding Editors Amy Maestas

11 Beware of the booze

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.

23 Great outdoor singles

Flyin’ high food

There’s nothing better than drinking delicious beers while sitting with really good friends. Consuming alcohol is a great hobby, but it’s the most dangerous hobby a person can have.

This week, we have two singles who love to be active and revel in the great outdoors. Maybe you guys can go on a raging river-rafting, spear-throwing, mountain lion-fighting outdoor adventure together.

20 DGO Deals 22 Horoscope/ puzzles 23 Single life

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ON THE COVER 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

Shoemaker Mervin Stilson at Landis Shoe Shop.

Colossal Sanders/DGO

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

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[advice]

Life Hax | Carolyn Hax

My husband refuses to get a driver’s license My husband does not drive. He’s had his learner’s permit multiple times over the years, but always let it lapse. He’s taken exactly one driving test, which he failed. He told me he would have his license before we got married ... oh whoops, wedding plans overwhelmed him but he’ll TOTALLY get it after the honeymoon ... oh whoops, work overwhelmed him but he’ll TOTALLY ... etc.

ting a license. She was a lousy driver – timid and nervous. She had several accidents, and she would have had more if it hadn’t been for the good sense of other drivers. I really think she was better off the road. We managed fine – my father was occasionally resentful but mostly just got on with it. A network of friends collected me in a pinch and even rural 1970s Long Island had taxis.

swer really besides the two of you talking about it.

I don’t want to have children with someone who can’t drive them to the doctor in an emergency. I don’t want to stay married to someone I don’t see as a competent co-parent.

I would talk to him more about WHY he’s so reluctant to get a license. This might be a dealbraker for you, but if he’s like my mum, you probably don’t want him driving your children around. It would not be safe.

But getting the feelings out there will give you both a chance to anticipate them in your planning. Maybe choose a job with an eye to health benefits and flexibility versus size of the paycheck. Maybe he can take on more household responsibilities so that his retirement benefits you both. Maybe his free time will allow him to plan more elaborately and include you in many of his activities. Maybe talking about it now will make him mindful of your feelings when the time comes so that he doesn’t unwittingly rub his freedom in your face.

He finally booked another driving test last night – after I prodded him and he saw the look on my face when he tried to brush me off – and I’m telling myself to hold on till I see the results. But I’m fed up.

I know he’s struggling with severe anxiety over this and that’s mostly what’s holding him back, but he’s also not doing anything to address his anxiety because he has a severe mistrust of therapists and doesn’t see the value in self-help books or self-directed treatment workbooks or ... anything except just not doing anything. I don’t want to divorce him, but at some point I might have to do it anyway. But when do I hit that point?

Dealbreaker?

This is much bigger than a license. A parent needs to do what a parent needs to do – and sometimes it’s uncomfortable or unwelcome or targeted straight at a person’s biggest vulnerability. But a parent needs to get it done anyway. In a way, parents are first-responders writ small, and they need to barrel through their own needs and fears and reservations to do what their kids need sometimes.

For non-drivers, there are multiple options. For people too unyielding or paralyzed to address their own health, there are almost no options. Parents owe it to their kids – and co-parents – to find ways to manage their emotional health well enough for it not to become a major obstacle to the family’s ability to function.

So I suggest you make that the topic of your talk with your husband. Not, “It’s time to discuss getting your license,” but instead, “It’s time to talk about your emotional health, and what you’re willing to do to manage it.” I feel for your husband. If his answer to this query doesn’t improve on “just not doing anything,” though, then that’s your crossroads: Stay or go.

Re: License: My father basically bullied my mother into get-

Anonymous Excellent – thanks especially for “dealbraker.”

What does it mean when a man won’t admit his feelings for a woman to others?

M. What does it say about the man, you mean? I don’t know. It could be that he’s a man of few words or a man of many secrets. Or a bunch of things in between.

What it means for the woman is that if she places a high value on a man’s willingness to express his feelings for her openly, then he’s not the man for her.

My husband is hardworking and also a caring and loving husband. Our relationship is absolutely wonderful. However, there is something I fear may soon destroy all this happiness. He is going to retire in a couple of years, several years before me. He is very much looking forward to fun activities like traveling, skiing, hiking, hobbies, and things of this nature. He deserves all that as he has been working long hours for many years.

However, I am afraid I will quickly become resentful of having to go to the office every day while he enjoys a never-ending vacation. I know I should not think this way, and I am sure a lot of women married to older husbands somehow find ways to accept this kind of arrangement, but what if I can’t?

My job is fairly boring but pays well, so I will have to stick with it, especially when he retires and is no longer covered by insurance. I have considered changing my field of work to find something more enjoyable, but anything I would like will bring much less money, fewer benefits, and also it would require retraining. How do I handle all this?

Have to Stick With It I don’t think there’s any magic answer, or any an-

The answers you can come to from here aren’t necessarily great; what is he supposed to do, stay home and do nothing so you’re both bored? Structure his will so he can finance your retirement in return? Then what – you can go off skiing during your post-work years without anyone else’s feelings to consider?

Or, maybe just hearing yourself say them out loud will help you see that your feelings aren’t worth acting on beyond getting them off your chest. He will have his time and you will have yours, health permitting for both, and the happiest way to handle that is to treat it as a foreseeable misalignment, versus any kind of injustice.

Re: Retirement: My father retired several years before my mother.

He took advantage of the time by indulging his love of cooking, and made my mom a lovely meal every night. Also, dad drove her to the Metro station every morning and picked up every evening. She felt a little pampered.

Anonymous Lovely, thanks.

Re: Retirement: My dad was planning to retire, my mom was fretting about it, and then my dad suddenly died. Be grateful he is there and has a plan for his time that will make him happy. The alternatives are much worse.

Not to Be a Total Downer Needed to be said, thank you.

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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[eat]

What the Fork | Lindsay Mattison

The incredible, edible pea shoot is where it’s at

W

hen I suggested that we plant pea shoots in our garden this year, my husband was shocked. “But you hate peas!” he exclaimed.

It’s true: I do hate peas. I’ll eat the occasional spring pea, with their snappy texture that pops with fresh flavor as you bite into it. But, I won’t go out of my way to get them, and peas the rest of the year can f@%$ right off. There’s absolutely nothing appetizing about starchy old peas that have lingered in this world too long, resigned to the sad fate of life in the freezer. Honestly, what could be worse than digging into a comforting bowl of shepherd’s pie and finding mushy, godforsaken frozen peas? Ugh, and that smell? Thank you, but I’ll take a hard pass.

And yet, I wanted to plant pea shoots. I had them at a friend’s farm in April and was blown away. They taste just like peas, but without that troublesome texture issue. I took one bite and couldn’t contain my excitement.

We feasted all week, noshing on them straight out of the bin, turning them into pesto and pea oil, and tossing a handful of shoots into everything from our breakfast scrambles to our dinner salads. Those tiny leaves with their delicate tendrils were absolutely bursting with pea flavor, and when they were gone I got a little depressed. I’ve never seen pea shoots in the grocery store, and I didn’t want to wait an entire year to enjoy these tender greens again.

So, I went down a mini-rabbit hole and submerged myself in all things pea shoots. I found out that they’re most abundant in the spring because farmers plant them as a cover crop.

Peas are cold-hearty and can withstand the long winter without withering and dying.

Planted in the fall, they’ll establish roots that protect the soil while also feeding the ground with nitrogen (which is super important for organic farmers because it helps summer crops establish root systems and promote healthy shoot growth). For years, farmers simply tilled the pea shoots into the ground or fed them to the pigs. Recently, many have discovered that their CSA members are inter-

ested in these sweet, slightly grassy-flavored leaves that quickly transform into full-on pea flavor as you chew. Not only that, but they’re also nutrient-dense, filled with vitamins A and C, along with antioxidants and folic acid.

During my research, I discovered one incredible fact: These shoots might be THE most forgiving crop on the planet. They can grow in large garden plots, but they also do well indoors in tiny trays. Since

Colossal Sanders for DGO; images via Adobe Stock

they produce their own nitrogen, they don’t require any fertilizer at all – just a quick watering each day to keep the soil moist. You’ll find success growing them outside in full or partial sun, or they’ll thrive inside next to a sunny window. Pea shoots not only tolerate cold weather, but they can also withstand Durango’s extreme June heat. All in all, I’m pretty sure they’ll grow whether you have a green thumb or a black thumb, so what do you have to lose?

Here’s the deal: Find yourself a packet of field peas or shoot seeds. I’ve heard rumors that you can buy dried peas at the grocery store and they’ll work, but I bought my seeds from Johnny Seed and was pretty happy with the results. Soak them for 8- to 24-hours to help them germinate while you get your growing area ready. If you’re an indoor gardener, you can buy an open-style tray with drainage slots (or, repurpose an old fruit tray from the farmers market by poking a bunch of holes in the bottom). Fill it up with compost or indoor potting soil and sprinkle the drained, soaked seeds on top of the soil. Since you’re not actually growing peas, you don’t need much space in between each seed – maybe 1/4-inch at the most.

Gently push them into the soil until they’re just covered, and water the mix until it’s moist to the touch. That’s it.

Water them every day, and three to four weeks later, your pea shoots will be a foot tall and ready to harvest. Take a pair of scissors and give your shoots a haircut, cutting them off about an inch above the soil. Then, eat them whole – the young stems are sweet and tender enough to eat, so very little prep is involved. Sometimes I’ll chop them into three pieces to make them easier to work with, but if I’m making pesto, they just get washed and tossed into the food processor.

They’re an excellent addition to almost any dish, adding a burst of fresh flavor to every bite. Try adding them to leafy green salads or tossing them into pasta dishes, curries, or rice bowls. The possibilities are endless with the incredible, edible pea shoot, so what are you waiting for?

Lindsay D. Mattison is a professional chef and food writer living in Durango. She enjoys long walks in the woods, the simplicity of New York-style cheese pizza, and she’s completely addicted to Chapstick. Contact her at lindsaymattisonwriter@gmail.com.

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[sound]

A little insight on a little instrument The Fourth Annual Rocky Mountain UkeFest is for experts and beginners alike Those who don’t play music tend to be intimidated by the complexity of it, like learning a foreign language or physics. But, unlike the guitar, the unassuming four-string ukulele is approachable.

large-scale festivals in Reno, Nevada, and Port Townsend, Washington, Leslie thought Durango, being a smaller community with an interest in bluegrass and Americana, would be the appropriate setting for the festival.

“If you just want to learn something, in 5 minutes you will be playing a song, and it’s inexpensive,” said Denise Leslie, director of Rocky Mountain UkeFest, an annual event celebrating the little lute instrument.

The event starts with a free performance on Thursday, July 12. The UkeFest All-Star Band, consisting of the festival presenters, will play Concert in the Park at Buckley Park. While there will be jam sessions throughout the weekend, UkeFest centers more on education than performance. A variety of workshops will be held throughout the weekend. The festival is open to anyone, even those who don’t know how to spell ukulele. There is space for 75 attendees.

Simplicity and the low price tag are why Leslie was drawn to it.

“My story, I love to tell because it’s important to know that music is used for healing and stress relief. I call it my therapy,” she said.

As a self-employed entrepreneur, Leslie wanted to learn to play something – anything – with strings. A music store employee suggested the ukulele.

“I picked it up and walked out with it, and 7 years later, I am addicted to it,” Leslie said. So addicted, she started selling Ohana ukuleles, teaching lessons, and launched UkeFest four years ago. After being overwhelmed at

Leslie said the instrument originated in Portugal, and it’s an adaptation of the machete, a small, four-string guitar. Immigrants took boats over to Hawaii to work in the sugarcane fields.

The king of Hawaii fell in love with the sound and made the ukulele the island’s official instrument. The ukulele made its way to the mainland in the 1900s through the World’s Fair. Due

BCI Media file

»» Lynn Nauman of Durango, gets some one on one instruction playing her ukulele from Austin Nicholsen of the band The Leftover Cuties in Buckley Park during the 2016 Rocky Mountain Ukefest.

to its affordable price, the uke gained popularity during the Great Depression, when most couldn’t purchase instruments. (Leslie suggests looking up George Formby’s “When I’m Cleaning Windows.”).

Today, Leslie said many of the UkeFest attendees are over the age of 50, but she is seeing more millennials interested in the instrument. She credits pop culture, such as “America’s Got Talent,” along with musicians like Jason Mraz, and an old viral video of Jake Shimabukuro playing a rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” for the ukulele gaining popularity with the younger generation.

June 21st – August 4th

The Shimabukuro video is an example of how the simple instrument can be equally complex when played at an expert level. One of the presenters at UkeFest, Daniel Ward, is a classical guitar player who plays ukulele in a similar fashion. He will be teaching rhythm, Flamenco-style playing, breaking bad habits, and uke loops workshops at the festival. It is not uncommon to see ukulele players, like Ward, with long thumb and pointer fingernails on their prominent hand for picking.

Lions Wilderness Amphitheater | Visit: FarmingtonNM.org/OST

Leslie said it is uncommon for ukulele players to use picks. If they do,

GO! Register for the Rocky Mountain UkeFest at rockymountainukefest. com The event takes place July 12–15 at Fort Lewis College. All access passes are $225. they use felt picks for a mellow sound, and so the uke doesn’t sound like a toy guitar. There are also leather and rubber picks.

Just as diverse as the picking style and tools are the styles of music one can play with a ukulele. Other presenters are blues-heavy, pop, or other genres. Leslie said whenever she gets together to jam with fellow uke players, they’ll play everything from Doris Day’s “Tea for Two,” to Prince’s ‘Purple Rain,” to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” Leslie said the instrument is so much more than the Tiny Tim’s strange lady voice in “Tiptoe through the Tulips.”

“I am really excited about people hearing the ukulele in a different way,” she said. “(The ukulele) can sound beautiful and complicated, as well as simple and elegant.”

—— Jessie O’Brien

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[travel]

[Odd Rot, by Patty Templeton]

The Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs GET OUTTA TOWN Quirky & cool spots in the Four Corners and beyond Nobody wants to eat on a moving airplane. The seats are crowded, the smells are...not appetizing, and the in-flight meal selection leaves so much to be desired. But everyone wants to eat on a stationary plane that’s been converted into a restaurant, right? It’s the perfect spot to drag your airline-obsessed better halves. Or, your airline-obsessed selves. We don’t judge around here.

We’re talking about taking a visit to The Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs, a restaurant that is exactly what it sounds like. The establishment is housed in a converted Boeing KC-97, one of the largest piston aircraft ever built by Boeing. The plane is parked outside a Radisson, and while you won’t have to eat while strapped in next to a stranger, you will be VERY close to your dining partner, because, well, it’s a converted plane, for Christ’s sake.

This place is rad, and it’s made for airplane fanatics of all ages. Much of the plane has been preserved – not the seats, of course – making it look like this aircraft could prepare for liftoff at any point. There’s even a proper cockpit still intact. But, if you want to eat in the plane, you’ll have to be in parties of two, because with the space

restrictions of a plane-cum-restaurant, there are only a handful of two-person booths available to sit in. (Converting that plane didn’t widen the damn thing.)

But if you’re visiting with more than two guests, or are slightly claustrophobic but still want to hang out in an airplane-themed restaurant, there is hope. This restaurant is also on land, so you can opt for the main dining room, which is an actual brick and mortar restaurant. The main dining room has a ton of vintage aviation memorabilia, which means airplane fanatics can still get their jollies without having to ever step foot in the plane. And, you know, the main dining room is where the bar is, too. You might need the close proximity to booze if you have kids in tow.

The More You Ignore Me Patty Templeton digs drawing to the crackle of a Woodwick candle while sipping Happy ‘710! BOGO on Shatter & Wax Tues. July 7thw brown rice tea. Find her randomry on Twitter via @PattyTempleton or atinstagram. com/pattytempleton.

Wherever you sit, you’ll drown in this restaurant’s airplane-themed kitsch. Not only is part of the restaurant an old plane, and the main dining room filled with plane goodies, but the food menu is also centered around plane references. Take, for example, the Reuben von Crashed or the Philly Flyer, two options on the lunch menu.

Oh, and the bar menu is, too.

You can choose from drinks like the Arctic B-52 or Canadian Bomber, two booze-laden, airplane-themed options, to be served as your in-flight beverage, making the entire visit complete, and completely cheesy. We love it.

—— Angelica Leicht

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[sound]

Downtown Lowdown | Bryant Liggett

Dance and do some good with the Summer Concert Series

I

t’s no secret that Durango is a rock solid community, chock full of people ready to lend a helping hand to their neighbors, or kick in some cash to its many non-profits when the need arises. The recent 416 Fire disaster revealed, yet again, that when your neighbors are in trouble, temporarily displaced from their homes, or in need of some items they left behind due to a quick evacuation, others will help out.

In a town that boasts multiple nonprofits, the need to financially assist these organizations comes about plenty of times throughout the year. Hell, there’s even a nonprofit association, whose mission is to help nonprofit associations! That nonprofit is the

Community Foundation of Southwest Colorado, a local group that helps nonprofits with professional development, capacity building, and seeking out grant opportunities.

They also organize a concert series every summer. It’s an event that assists local organizations on a financial level by recruiting bands, selecting local nonprofits to receive support, hosting the show, and raising funds along the way.

Nonprofits supported this summer by the concert series are SASO, Durango Nature Studies, Women’s Resource Center, iAM Music, Durango Education Foundation, Mountain Studies Institute, Durango Adult Education Center, La Plata Youth Services, and the Durango Arts Center.

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People gathering for the sake of hearing live music is a cultural function that has been happening since the dawn of time. It’s ultimately an act that serves the overall common good by building friendship, fostering relationships, and aiding community. If it also does some good for local organizations, then we all benefit.

This year, these shows will take place in the Secret Garden, a gem of a venue. Tucked away on the south side of the Rochester Hotel, the Secret Garden is a shaded and cozy space just ripe for hanging. Before the days of the Rochester hosting these shows in conjunction with the Community Foundation of S.W. Colorado, the hotel hosted shows on its own, at times drawing crowds too large for the space, resulting in a lack of seats and general mayhem. Turning the event into one where the shows will benefit local organizations has returned some meaning to the performances. It’s one thing to host a show, but hosting a show that does some local good on more than an entertainment level is an added bonus.

The bands performing during the weekly events highlight the diversity of musicians that call Durango home.

Aging punk rockers, bluegrass and old-time, laid-back funk, classical, and salsa are all represented. Anyone that says this town has a weak music scene is a Bieber-seeking fool.

Next week, the series will feature a performance in partnership with Music in the Mountains, and the Julius Quartet Chamber Ensemble will be taking the stage.

Other bands performing throughout the summer, which runs through August 29, include the soul and funk band J. Calvin’s Funk Express, a band made up of instructors from iAM Music; bluegrass bands La La

Courtesy of www.jcalvinmusic.com

Go! Wednesdays through the summer: Local bands play the Secret Garden Concert Series, 5:30 p.m., $10. Secret Garden at the Rochester Hotel, 762 E. 2nd Avenue, Information: 375-5807.

Bones and Stillhouse Junkies; postmath rock and old-time band Six Dollar String Band; and rock band Lawn Chair Kings. New this year is Durango Orquesta de Salsa, Durango’s salsa band known for their beautiful concoction of swinging dance music.

It’s all part of adding in a variety to the mix, and having a broad representation of the talent that makes up Durango. This year, there are actually more bands willing to get in on the event than there are Wednesdays on the summer schedule to have them play.

“We do try to have a variety of music. This year, for the first time ever, we have a salsa band. There’s only a couple bands coming back from last year,” said Briggen Wrinkle, executive director of the Community Foundation of Southwest Colorado.

“It’s a great mix. We send this email out and we see who comes in. Usually about 20 bands say they are available, and we look at what we offered before.

We give new bands a chance, and we spread out the genres.”

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

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[sound] What’s new While shuffling through the ever-dwindling bin of physical albums sent for weekly consideration, I set aside a package from the Brooklyn and London-based Partisan Records.

Partisan has had a run of agreeable releases from the likes of Deer Tick, The Black Angels, Heartless Bastards, and Bombino, in addition to many others. A quick peruse and I learned that Partisan is reissuing Goon’s last two EPs in advance of a debut full-length for the label, which is expected in early 2019.

Thought little more of it until the first bars of opener “Dizzy” rang through, and my ears, and attention, perked up.

Scrambling, I learned that Goon is an LA-based quartet fronted by main songwriter Kenny Becker. They have a healthy, if not cult-like, following in the City of Angels. Further listens confirmed why. There’s a raw, lo-fi (yet exceptionally catchy) scuzz to the first set of songs (side A is “Dusk of Punk,” originally released in 2016), with the highlights being “Gay Rage,” the aforementioned “Dizzy,” and previously unreleased “Enter Bethel Admissions.” The B side begins with “Chaka,” denoting a shift and maturation in both the sound and complexity of the songwriting. This also marks the beginning of the 2017 EP, “Happy Omen,” and a lushness and nuance that can only come from progressing as a songwriter and band. Re-releasing the EPs as one LP was a brilliant move on the label’s part. It not only isolates and represents the sonic arc of the band, but very much whets the appetite of the listener. I now have the first release I am eagerly anticipating in 2019.

“Dusk of Punk/Happy Omen” is available Friday, July 13, via Partisan Records on vinyl only, in a standard black colorway. A digital download of the album comes with each vinyl purchase.

Limited-edition bundles are available direct from the label while supplies last, and include the LP (with download card), a free Goon pin (limited to first 50 orders), and a limited-edition handdyed 100 percent organic cotton t-shirt featuring a design based on the original “Dusk of Punk” EP artwork.

Recommended for fans of ’90s-inspired indie rock, and moments of bands such as Built to Spill and Jawbreaker, in addition to more recent, contemporary bands like Car Seat Headrest and (Sandy) Alex G. Jon E. Lynch KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu

The best concerts coming soon and near Associated Press file

»» The String Cheese Incident headlines the RIDE Fest in Telluride this weekend.

The Dandy Warhols, July 12

Moon, July 15

Can you think of a band more Portland-ish than The Dandy Warhols? Trick question, because there isn’t one. These guys started out playing the bar circuit in Portland, quickly becoming infamous for their love of naked concerts. We can dig it, and so should you. They are, after all, the ones who brought you “Bohemian Like You,” your early-aughts jam, man. They’ve been busy making music ever since, and you can catch them doing just that at Ophelia’s in Denver this Thursday. Just keep your clothes on. Nudity is for Warhols only.

Have you ever wondered if that rumor about Jared Leto wearing a severed ear around his neck is true? Join the club. And join the chaos at Leto and friends’ Denver show with Walk the Moon. That’s right, put one foot in front of the other and head over to Fiddler’s Green to get your upclose-and-personal view of Jordan Catalano, who hasn’t aged a bit since his emo acting days. It’ll be a kamikaze, at least during Walk the Moon’s set, anyway.

Details: Ophelia’s, 1215 20th Street, Denver, Tickets start at $22, ticketfly.com

A$AP Ferg, July 13 With IDK, Buddy We know you’re tempted to go check out the Trap Lord himself, Mr. A$AP Ferg, and we want to tip that temptation into action. Drag your ass over to the Ogden Theatre in Denver to take in what may be the rowdiest show you’ll see all summer. A$AP Ferg knows how to entertain, which you’ll realize as the room suddenly gets amped up to an 11 when he takes the stage. You’ll be dope walkin’ before you know it.

Details: Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax, Denver, Tickets at the door are $35, axs.com/events

RIDE Fest, July 14 & 15 With Sheryl Crow, Grace Potter, String Cheese Incident, etc.

Who wants to see String Cheese Incident, Grace Potter, Sheryl Crow, and a million other acts take the stage in Telluride this weekend? Please raise your hands. Well, you can do just that at RIDE Fest, which has managed to bring you everyone you’d like to see this summer, all on one ticket.

Just dig around in those couch cushions to find a few extra bucks for the ticket and you’re golden.

Details: Telluride Town Park, 500 E. Colorado Ave., Telluride, Tickets starting at $200, ridefestival.com

Thirty Seconds to Mars & Walk The

Details: Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater, 6350 Greenwood Plaza Blvd., Englewood, CO, Tickets start at $53, ticketmaster.com

Sylvan Esso, July 18 With Hippo Campus Hey mamis (and papis; we don’t discriminate). Do you like the funky electronic duo Sylvan Esso? Great, so do we.

Producer Nick Sanborn and singer Amelia Meath, who you might recognize from Mountain Man, are the madmen who make up the duo. They’re the bees knees, as is their breakout debut single, “Hey Mami,” which clearly inspired our intro. Two albums later, and these Grammy-nominated artists will make sure you’ll dance your friggin’ heart out at their show. And, uh, so will we, because we can’t turn down a chance to show off our sweet moves.

Details: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 W Alameda Parkway, Morrison, CO, Tickets start at $43.75, axs.com/events

Counting Crows & Live, July 18 Earlier today, we had someone tell us they’d never heard anything by the Counting Crows. Millennials are hurting our old-people souls. If you haven’t discovered the brilliance of Adam Duritz and Co. (which, we’re not sure how you haven’t...wasn’t “August and Everything After” one of the biggest albums of the ’90s?), you need to remedy that. Duritz does sweet and sad so well, and we just love him. Go to this show, or it’s one more day up in the canyons for you. It’s worth the drive to Denver, and all the feels while you’re there.

Details: Pepsi Center, 901 Auraria Parkway, Denver, Tickets start at $29.50, altitudetickets.com —— Angelica Leicht

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[eat]

Fresh goat cheese & crispy snap peas »» Where to find those sweet local farmers markets Durango Farmers Market

Saturday. That part is up to you. The market will provide the rest.

Do you live for the high-food life, and love to indulge in things like artisan cheeses, straight from the farm mushrooms and spinach, and lovingly-raised beef, chicken, and pork? Well, then you’re probably already familiar with Durango Farmers Market, where you can gather all the fresh ingredients to fill that belly with happiness.

But for those of you who aren’t, here’s the thing: Durango Farmers Market is where it’s at. You can get fresh goat cheese from the Herd Share Program, fresh (and dry!) herbs, fresh-cut flowers, crunchy veggies, and just about everything else, provided you drag your ass out of bed before 8 a.m. on a

And, as an added bonus, the market participates in the SNAP program, because everyone should have access to delicious, healthy food, whatever their budget. A win all around.

Life needs little indulgences. And sometimes those indulgences come in the form of crisp snap peas and fancy artisan products. Everyone needs goat milk lotion and locally-raised pork, which means everyone needs to head to one of these nearby farmers markets to make it happen. Bring us back some beets, please and thanks.

Details: Saturdays from May 12 to October 27, 8 a.m. to noon (9 a.m. starting in October), First National Bank of Durango parking lot, 259 West 9th Street, Durango, durangofarmersmarket.com

The Farmers Market at Three Springs Do you need more than one farmers market in your life? Of course you do, and lucky you, you can get that, cause Durango has not one, but TWO farmers markets that run through the summer.

The Farmers Market at Three Springs is a new addition to the community, and what a good addition it is. This farmers market has community partners like Turtle Lake Refuge, All Seasons Farm, and Long Table Farm out of Hesperus and Durango, along with plenty of vendors. You can swing by there on Thursday evenings after work to stock up on all the fresh things you’ve ever needed, and catch some live music, because this farmers market coincides with the Three Springs summer concert series.

Details: Thursdays from mid-June to mid-October, 4 to 8 p.m., 175 Mercado Street, Durango, farmersmarket3springs. com

Bayfield Downtown Farmers Market Awww, yeah. A farmers market just across the cement pond (i.e. the highway) for our friends in Bayfield.

And what a great farmers market it is. The Bayfield Downtown Farmers Market is a community project that aims to support local farming, agriculture, artisans, and musicians, many of whom you can catch strumming a tune while you shop on Thursday evenings in the summer. What can you shop for, you ask? Well, try things like tomatoes, seasonal veggies, baked goods, frozen

Jerry McBride/BCI Media file

»» Reid Smith of Adobe Farms sells produce at the Durango Farmers Market in 2017. broiler chickens, lettuce, honey, farmfresh eggs, and a ton of other artisan and handmade products. Prepare to get farmer fancy.

Details: Thursdays from June 21 to September 27, 4:30 to 7 p.m., located inside the Bayfield Block Party on July 19, Joe Stephenson Park all other times, bayfielddowntownfarmersmarket.org

Cortez Farmers Market Oh, hey. Hi. Here’s a list of things that are fresh this week at the Cortez Farmers Market: apricots, artichokes, beets, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery stems, cucumbers, currants, garlic, green beans, green onions, greens, herbs, kohlrabi, lettuce, live plants, micro greens, okra, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, summer squash, tomatoes, and turnips.

Do we have your attention now? Great.

Go get all of the things at the Cortez Farmers Market this Saturday. Sure, it’s a drive... but nothing good (or delicious) comes easy.

Details: Saturdays from June 2 to October 27, from 7:30 a.m. to sellout, Montezuma County Courthouse parking lot at Main and Elm, Cortez, cortezfarmmarket.com

Mancos Farmers Market If you want to get your veggie-shopping on and listen to live music, Mancos Farmers Market is the place to be. You can snag some super fresh eggs, beets (yum!), meat, sausage(!), fresh flowers, and just about any other farm or ranchbred product you can imagine. Plus you get to hang out in artsy Mancos, and if you’re smart, you can detour to the cidery to snag some fermented local apples in the form of booze. That’s kind of like a secondary farmers market, right?

Details: Thursdays from June 16 through September, 4 to 7 p.m., Boyle Park, facebook.com/mancosfarmersmarket —— Angelica Leicht

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[beer]

First Draughts | Robert Alan Wendeborn

Consuming alcohol is a great, but dangerous, hobby

O

ne of the funny things about beer is the very real limit to how many you can drink. If you want to drink water, you can pretty much drink as much as you want before any terrible side effects start to occur. Same goes for coffee, tea, soda, La Croix Pamplemousse (it’s so good), and pretty much all non-alcoholic beverages. With light American lagers, you can drink a lot of them, but eventually you will start getting drunk. Drink a craft beer with an alcohol content over 5 percent and you’ll start feeling it in the first hour (depending on your size and tolerance, of course). As the percentage goes up, your body’s ability to metabolize the alcohol goes down. Craft beer has definitely seen the ABV (alcohol by volume) start to creep up. It’s not uncommon to see an 8 percent IPA or a 10 percent double IPA in a 16-ounce can, which obviously suggests that is the single serving size for a beer.

Surprise! It’s not! The serving size for beer is 12 ounces for 5 percent ABV.

Even a 16-ounce, 7.5 percent beer is double the single serving size. A 16ounce, 10 percent beer is almost three times the single serving size for an alcoholic beverage. Drinking a 16-ounce, 11.5 percent beer is the equivalent of drinking three shots of 80 proof hard liquor. It’s really a matter of larger format (more ounces) and higher alcohol content.

My first experience with a really big beer was Chicken Killer Barley Wine, a 10 percent ABV barley-winestyle ale from Sante Fe Brewing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was at a bottle share that mostly featured winewine, like from grapes. At the fancy wine party, I was the lone heathen to bring the brew of the barbarian hordes of the north, and deigned to call it “wine.” Because it was a bottle share, and because we were in wine drinking mode (smaller pours, slower drinking), intoxication was minimal.

Even though my first really big beer experience went well, I have had times where the total volume of alcohol has caught up to me.

In grad school, there was a sports bar that had drink specials on Tuesdays, and I went with colleagues for just a few beers. I had three. I think they were Alien Amber Ale, a 5.2 percent amber ale from Sierra Blanca Brewing Co. in Moriarty, New Mexico. We ate food and drank water, and I

was probably there for a couple hours.

Should have been fine, right? I probably would have been, but the beers on special were 25-ounce pours, more than double the recommended serving size for a beer of that ABV. Even though I only had three beers, I drank the equivalent of a six pack of beer. I ended up walking around the campus for almost an hour, just to feel sober enough to drive home.

I’m not writing this to be a teetotaler or shame everyone who drinks to excess. On the contrary, I love drinking to excess. It’s one of my favorite hobbies. There’s nothing better than drinking four or five really delicious beers while sitting with really good friends and strangers. I like to do it so much that I intentionally live within

walking distance of a good bar so I don’t have to drive to the bar ever.

I’m writing this as a small critique of the bar industry (it’s messed up to serve beers in that size of a vessel on a casual night), a small critique of the beer industry (quit putting big beers in packages that encourage overconsumption), and as a critique for ourselves: Let’s pay attention to how much we drink and be safe when we drink too much. Consuming alcohol is a great hobby, but it’s definitely the most dangerous hobby a person can have.

Robbie Wendeborn is the head brewer at Svendæle Brewing in Millerton, New York.

He is also a former beer plumber at Ska Brewing.

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Mervin Stilson values quality in a world fooled by junk

WALKTHISWAY M

By Jessie O’Brien DGO STAFF WRITER

ervin Stilson’s basement studio space is warm in the summertime. A humming fan barely cools the muggy air. The cracking walls expose the stone foundation, like an Old World building in Prague. Stilson works among other artists, their tools, material, and artwork, including a portrait of himself in fishing gear. At his station, a Artisan post machine sits in front of a wall of cobbler tools. A rack is full of handmade leather boots, loafers, sandals, and moccasins. He wears a pair of strappy sandals to go with casual clothes, his cigarette, and beer in a plastic cup. His hands still have the day’s work on them.

“I have a really bad addiction to footwear,” Stilson said.

Stilson represents a dying breed of makers and handymen. His priesthood is the value of quality, repairable goods, unlike the paper and plastic “toy shoes” that have to be carried through the doors of Landis Shoe Shop, a shoe repair store where he works full-time. “(His story) sounded like a fable,” said Tim Kapustka, a founding member of Studio & Gallery and Stilson’s close friend and fishing buddy.

It turns out Stilson’s life story is a sort of parable.

Starting with a last name that is fitting for a boot brand, an undeniable series of events lead Stilson toward shoe making. His story starts at an industrial orphanage in Troy, New York.

“I was 3 years old when they placed me in the orphanage with 400 other kids,” Stilson said. “I can see that day. I can see my hands gripping the door-jamb, them peeling my fingers off of that, and them carrying me into that place.”

It was in the orphanage that Stilson started sewing. He’d create Halloween costumes for other kids who would come to him with Frankenstein and mummy requests.

“I’ve always been into making stuff. That was an outlet of mine,” Stilson said. “It has to do with self-worth. If I can be of help to my fellow human beings, I feel good about myself. “ Stilson doesn’t have a distinct memory of when his interest in shoes began. In the orphanage, he wore cheap Ked sneakers and oxfords. He always asked for a pair of cowboy boots for Christmas, and one year, he finally got a black pair with white typing and a red eagle. He also got a sled. Stilson broke his arm on the

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Jessie O’Brien/DGO

sled the first day, and the bulky cast prevented him from pulling the boots up. By the time his arm healed, the boots no longer fit.

“There’s all kinds of crap that makes up who we are and what we are, and I’m sure that has something to do with my (trajectory),” Stilson said.

He was also influenced by what he saw on TV. “There was a series called “The Scarecrow” on Walt Disney, and one of the main characters wore these really neat English Continued on Page 14

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Jessie O’Brien/DGO

From Page 13

riding boots. That’s the clearest (moment) I can point out,” he said.

As Stilson grew, so did his fascination with boots.

He was later inspired by The Beatles’ tight-fitting version of the Chelsea, the Beatle boot. Around that time, operations at the orphanage began to change.

He said it was run more like a juvenile detention center. He was a well-behaved boy who was being treated like a delinquent. A forced high-and-tight haircut pushed him and a friend, who was born without an ear, to escape the abusive environment. “(Plastic surgeons) were doing work on it,” Stilson said. “This was before you could grow an ear on a mouse.”

Stilson said the ear covered in scar tissue was always leaking a bright pink fluid, so the kid wanted to grow his hair long to conceal it.

“They held us down and shaved our heads,” Stilson said. “They were going to do that again, and that was the straw, so we took off.”

They took hitchhiked across the country to San Francisco. It was sometime in the early-’70s, when Stilson was only 15 years old, and he quickly realized he was in no position to be on his own. The orphanage was unwilling to accept him back, but little did he know, a caseworker who was fond of Stilson was already in the process of trying to become his

Jessie O’Brien/DGO

»» Mervin Stilson, as painted by Durango artist Elizabeth Kinahan.

foster mother. Her name was Blair Nare.

“She was strong and beautiful,” Stilson said.

Nare was a politically active anti-war activist, and

was concerned her political views would interfere with fostering him, so she hadn’t told Stilson her plans. Upon his return, he moved in with her, and that’s when his life took off. His foster father had a leather shop where he sold fringe vests, belts, and other “hippie stuff.”

“I liked working with leather, but there were so many shops that made the same thing,” Stilson said.

What he really wanted to do was learn to make shoes. At 19, he moved to Massachusetts to go to shoe-making school. He had to live in Boston for a year first so he could receive in-state tuition, but once the year was over, it was too late. The school closed due to lack of interest. He was the only person who applied. He found out what books the courses used and started teaching himself. He got an apprenticeship at a repair store through a government program available to orphans, where he finally had access to machines.

“I’d make uppers at home and bring them to work. During my lunch hour, I’d put soles and heels on them,” Stilson said.

His foster father encouraged him to apply at a custom hiking boot store, Peter Limmer and Sons, in Intervale, New Hampshire. Uncertain of his chances, Stilson told the owners he would work there for free for a month to show them his capabilities and dedication.

“You’re standing at the (work) bench and look-

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David Holub/DGO

»» Mervin Stilson shows the stitching he had just sewn into a boot; Stilson’s momentos at Landis Shoe Shop. ing out at the Saco River and Mount Washington – The customers honored those people. It’s so romantic to me,” Stilson said.

Limmer boots were built to withstand the rough terrain of the Appalachian mountains and rugged treks around the globe.

“That is one of the things that I so admired about the Limmers – they made their boots to last. They made them so they can be repaired, and they made them at a price that people can afford. They didn’t try to become millionaires,” Stilson said.

Peter Limmer and Sons is still around, and has an 18-month backlog for the one style of custom-fit boots they make. Pete Limmer, the current owner, is the fifth generation of boot-makers in the family. They both started working in the business around the same time. Stilson said he learned everything he knows at L&S, but Limmer said he already had a lot of skills when he came to the shop.

“He switched over from shoes to boots. The difference is the muscle it takes to pull the leather over a foot model,” Limmer said. “The long and the short of it is anybody can (make boots), but not everybody sticks around. It’s a matter of love.”

Limmer said Stilson was addicted to making boots.

After about six years, Stilson’s wife wanted to go to school, so Stilson, then 23 years old, left Limmer and Sons.

For three years, Stilson owned his own store, Stilson’s Boot Limited, with a couple of business partners.

The Limmers sold him the machinery for the shop and also sent customers his way. A black and white photo-

graph of the storefront is on the refrigerator at his studio.

He eventually followed his second wife out to Durango 20 years ago.

Stilson said there were boot shops all over town, but he couldn’t get a job.

He applied at a cowboy outfitter, The Bounty Hunter, in Telluride, where the owner challenged him to make a leather coat in a day.

“I went to Walmart and got a singer pattern and retrofitted it to his drawing and made a coat,” Stilson said. “Richie Havens bought that coat.”

He went from leather coats to leather gloves, but longed to be working on shoes again. That’s when he got the job at Landis.

Stilson said he is often frustrated with work. He rarely gets to repair the custom European shoes that get him excited “I do not feel good when someone brings in a pair of crappy shoes that they bought for very little money, and they want me to fix it for the price of work that I put in that is worth more than the shoe,” Stilson said.

Many people are unaware of the low quality of the shoes that they’ve purchased, to boot.

“They’re Harley Davidson boots; how can they be crappy?” Stilson said.

“The problem that I see is its friggin’ capitalism. (Companies) just went the American way: Crank ’em out. Sell a lot of them.”

People often balk at the idea of affording a $400 or $500 pair of shoes.

“But they can afford six pairs of $200 boots, so it’s really a choice,” Stilson said.

It’s a sort of epic irony for Stilson, a man who loves repairing quality

shoes in a world that is fooled by fashionable junk.

“This is a microcosm of what is happening in our society,” Kapustka.

“I don’t think he is literally the last shoemaker, but it’s in that vein.”

Kapustka has had Stilson repair multiple pairs of boots covered in dog teeth gnaw marks. Stilson taught him that if you don’t take care of step

one – buying quality, repairable goods – then all the steps that follow are pointless. People do the right thing by wanting to repair their shoes, but they missed the first step.

But what happens when people like Mervin Stilson go away, Kapustka said. We can take care of step one, but then who is there to take care of step two?

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[weed]

Wonder Monkey is a funky little weed strain I have a soft spot for gingers. Yes, I know they have no soul, but I still kinda like them. Perhaps that’s part of why I really liked Wonder Monkey, the strain we’re reviewing this week.

This bud is a hybrid that leans on the sativa side, and it’s a chunky monkey, with lighter green buds that are thick in the thighs and layered with bright orange, ginger-lovin’ hairs. It smells good, like sweet pine needles and grass, which is odd because it’s a cross between Grease Monkey x Icarus, the former of which is known to be pretty stinkin’ skunky.

It’s also interesting that this strain is more of a sativa than an indica; Grease Monkey is an indica hybrid, and it’s one of those strains that straight puts you to sleep. Wonder Monkey should have taken on SOME of those traits, but unless that’s where the rampant case of the munchies came from, it didn’t.

But I digress. Let me start from the beginning. I lit up this strain at about 6 p.m. one evening, and despite it being clearly labeled a sativa, I figured, given its genetics, that it would knock me out. That

did not happen. In fact, I was wide awake for way longer than I anticipated, and I didn’t even smoke that much. This stuff is apparently pretty potent.

I got pretty stoned pretty quickly – probably just a few hits in – and had dry mouth like a son of a bitch. I don’t really mind cottonmouth, mostly because I am that person who refuses to drink water (or anything but caffeine) most of the day, so I figure if I’m chugging glasses of water while stoned, it makes up for my bad habits. If you’re one of those people who cannot stand cottonmouth, take this as fair warning. Smoke Wonder Monkey and your mouth will be the friggin’ Sahara Desert.

But, you know, nothing good comes easy, and in return for the cottonmouth will be a really great, mellow head and body high about an hour after you smoke.

The first hour, though? You’ll likely be in the clouds. That time frame looked like this, per these observations, taken directly from my notes: 1.) “Whoa. I just looked up and felt like I was down an Internet rabbit hole for an eternity.”

I love Internet-ing while slightly stoned, but this was one of those highs where you kinda lose track of time, and when you snap back into it, you feel like you were gone for hours.

2.) “Why do my arms always get so hyper-sensitive when I’m stoned and then end up feeling like they’re made of cement?”

Can anyone tell me the answer to this?

For real? My appendages do not like to cooperate with my penchant for smoking weed.

3.) “I get so wonksy(wonky)-eyed and am then convinced my contacts are clouding up.”

True story. I can use ALL the lubricating eye drops and nothing helps. It’s just my eyes.

And then, finally: 4.) Eased into an easy high.

So, if you have a penchant for red heads, – i.e. bud with bright orange tones – or you just like to be up in the clouds and then gently swoop back down to reality, you’ll like Wonder Monkey. Unlike South Park would have you believe, this ginger definitely has a soul.

—— DGO Pufnstuf

Details Where to find Wonder Monkey: Prohibition Herb, 1185 Camino Del Rio, 970-385-8622, prohibitionherb.com Availability: Available on recreational at $8 a gram or $25 an eighth Caveats: I refrained from any Brass Monkey jokes, and Prohibition refrained from bribing us for a good review. Win-win?

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Dense, Soil-Grown Flower 600 Cloman Blvd. #1 Pagosa Springs, Colorado 81147 GoodEarthMeds.com · 970-731-3202 16 | Thursday, July 12, 2018 • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[weed]

Moon Rocks will send you into outer space (sorry) There is nothing chill about Kaviar’s Moon Rocks. Nothing. Nada. Finito. No chill. These wretched, beautiful little things are an amalgam of every cannabis product known to man: They are a Sour Diesel nug that’s been dipped in hash oil and then completely coated in kief. That’s right; they’re deadly.

Or, if not deadly, very, very strong. I was warned to only smoke a rice-grain sized amount, and I’ll tell you right now that was the right move.

Portion size aside, these moon rocks are interesting little creatures. When I opened up the tiny glass container, I was immediately knocked back by the smell.

For such a tiny nugget, moon rocks sure are dank. It also looks like a moon rock, if moon rocks were green-flecked and covered in pollen.

I tried my little hunk out on a dab rig – grinding the “caviar” to smoke will cause you to lose all that good kief – and I needed the heat from the rig to properly vaporize the oil and kief. It was a messy idea. Unlike straight wax or shatter, the flower part of the moon rock turned black

from the heat, and it left a sticky residue on my nail. But, that’s what sinks are for, I guess.

way to go. I cannot imagine what would have happened had I smoked a couple of rounds back to back.

Messy or not, the method was effective. Once I tossed that caviar onto the nail, it immediately turned to cool white vapor. Pretty rad.

And, after the initial dizziness subsided, I found myself beyond stoned. Perhaps that’s because moon rocks contain somewhere around – or at times over – 50 percent THC. That could be why. It was a euphoric high, one that encompassed my entire body, from my head to my toes.

It infiltrated my brain, making it nearly impossible to continue reading the reddit thread I’d been on prior, but that’s what cartoons are for, right?

One of the other cool things about moon rocks is the taste. The mixture of herb, oil, and kief yields an earthy, pleasant taste, and because it’s so light, you have to avoid the temptation of smoking more than a small amount at a time. Overdoing it on this caviar would not be good.

I mean that. Even good ol’ smokey veteran Snoop Dogg damn near had his face in his lap (and what I mean by that is he nearly fell over on himself, but the Dre reference sounded better) after smoking some. I am not Snoop, but after one hit, I was so dizzy that I wasn’t sure I wanted to get up to get ice cream. I risked it, of course, because I can’t resist the temptation of snacks, but it probably wasn’t the safest idea. Going from zero to stoned kinda throws off your equilibrium, and stumbling around the kitchen is not the

It wasn’t too long before I passed out in a haze, arm over my eyes to block out the midday sun. I woke up a few hours later, still stoned, and hungry as hell. Good times.

Listen, I like these moon rocks, but they are not for new smokers or the faint of heart. They’re also not for the people who procrastinate on getting pre-stoned snacks from the kitchen. Things could turn out quite badly. Everyone else? Have at it.

Details Where to find Kaviar Moon Rocks: Good Earth Meds, 600 Cloman Blvd. #1, Pagosa Springs, 970-731-3202, goodearthmeds.com

—— DGO Pufnstuf

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[ weed ] Seeing Through the Smoke Christopher Gallagher

Colossal Sanders for DGO

How to roll a joint like a G

T

here are a lot of ways to get your rolling done: rolling like a cowboy, rolling on the river (with Tina or Creedence), or without the G like Fred Durst. You can roll down the hill, roll in dough, roll the ball out, roll like a stone, or roll away the dew (for 9:50). You can even roll a drunk, roll bones, or roll face if that’s your thing, but today we are going to focus on rolling up your weed.

There was a time – back when I was smoking but not yet shaving very often – when the only option for “building a joint” (as our Jamaican friends would say) was to use basic, conventional papers like the ones we grew up watching Clint Eastwood and the rest of the cowpokes spin in the movies, right before they would cook a dinner of beans on the campfire and fart all night to keep warm. There were Zig Zags and there were EZ Widers.

The upside to the old lack of paper options: There was not much thought to waste while standing in the gas station, either already blazed or itching to be so. Those were the only brands available, and there were, like, two sizes per brand. The downside: They were the two smallest sizes, and therefore the most difficult, and least forgiving, of the dozens of options we have available to us today.

Fast forward three decades or so and the game has changed considerably. A 0.41-second Google

search for “cannabis rolling papers” reveals about 4,290,000 results, including High Times’ “10 Best Rolling Papers of 2017,” flavored papes, foot-longs, 100 mg THC infused papes (Yoooooo!!!), and, for reasons that are beyond the reach of my imagination, a 24-karat gold version, which has a website that includes a product statement translated from English, to Swahili, to Danish, to Algonquin, to Catalan Spanish (or maybe Basque), to Ancient Sanskrit, all before being rendered back to English and posted.

And, it is not just rolling papers that folks are loading with their (very, very, very, very well broken-up) bud as we begin our cruise through the second half of 2018. Blunts, prepared from actual cigars that are sliced open and their guts dumped out the old school way, or from prepackaged tobacco leaf wraps (in nearly infinite flavors) that eliminate the need for a blade or sharp thumbnails. There are also cones, both self-built and store bought – nifty little tubes that you pour your bud into to produce a half-ready-made joint – are also among the rolling options to play around with.

I am going to roll up this article with a joint-rolling tutorial I put together a couple years back, and a few of the pertinent bits of advice I can wrangle on the topic of rolling anything for you and yours.

1. Fucking break the fucking bud the fuck up! No! More! Nooo! Mooore! More! More! OK. Blunt wraps

are the most forgiving of weak efforts in the grinding/tearing realm, and thin papers are the least so, as they will rip, usually punctured from the inside by a stem overlooked by the individual, who is too sloppy, lazy, or high to do their job properly. Don’t be that individual.

2. When rolling a blunt, make a small (approximately ¼ inch) tear on the top edge (the one that will be licked to seal the deal). This will allow you to seal the blunt in two parts. Do the end that will be smoked first, and then overlap the end that is to be lit. This will make a piece that is slightly wider in the middle than it is at both ends, and will make your efforts consistently better.

3. When rolling a joint, take a minute to wad up the paper between your thumbs and forefingers, and tussle and squeeze it until it is no longer slick, but instead has dozens of tiny little creases. This trick, more than any other I can think of, will improve your joints.

4. Eat the roach. My Uncle Dan-o always does and he is right. It is decarboxylized and soaked in rich resinous goodness.

Most of all, enjoy! (And practice…a bunch).

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

18 | Thursday, July 12, 2018 • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[happening] DGO picks in and around Durango

Thursday Qi gong and tai chi by the Animas with Tyler VanGemert, 10 a.m., $10

suggested donation., White Rabbit Books and Curiosities, 128 W. 14th.

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

Teen Time, 1 p.m., Durango Public Library,

Free Concert at the Park: Rocky Mountain UkeFest All-Star Band,

5:30 p.m., Buckley Park, 1250 Main Ave. Music in the Mountains: Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham, 5:30 p.m., $5,

Fort Lewis College, Community Concert Hall, 1000 Rim Drive.

Details: July 12, $20, 5 p.m., James Ranch, 33846 Highway 550, jamesranch.net/ events

3 p.m., White Rabbit Books and Curiosities, 128 W. 14th St.

Music in the Mountains: Through the Looking Glass, 7

Terraces, 33846 U.S. Highway 550.

See, hear, and taste, but don’t touch any strangers at the James Ranch Burger and a Band Summer Series. Catch a live show by local musicians and snag your choice of a beef or veggie burger from Harvest Grill and Greens. This week, StillHouse Junkies take the stage.

Adult coloring and afternoon tea,

Black Velvet Trio, 4 p.m., Balcony Bar

Burger and a Band Night: StillHouse Junkies, 5 p.m., $20, James Ranch

Meaty music

Veterans breakfast, 9 a.m., $7, Durango Elks Lodge, 901 East Second Ave.

rango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

Courtesy of Stillhouse Junkies

tory Ski Resort, 1 Skier Place.

Concert in the Plaza: Kirk James Blues Band, 6 p.m., Three Springs Plaza,

175 Mercado St., 764-6000.

Leah Orlikowski, 6:30 p.m., 11th Street

Station, 1101 Main Ave.

and Grill, 600 Main Ave., 422-8088.

p.m., $25-$56, Purgatory Resort, 1 Skier Place, 247-9000.

Monday Summer grief program for kids, 9

a.m., $200, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., 259-2606.

Social dance lessons, 6 p.m., $10-$12,

Red Scarf Studio, 121 W. 32nd St.

Tuesday Roll e-bike demo days, 10 a.m., Lake

Nighthorse, 1795 County Road 210.

Summer Reading Performance,

10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

Friday

Baby story time, 2 p.m., Durango Public

Leadership La Plata 30th anniversary party, 5 a.m., $10-$15, Purgatory Re-

Music in the Mountains: The Bear,

sort, Hoody’s Basecamp Lodge, 1 Skier Place.

United Way and Rotary Club golf tournament, 8:30 a.m., $150, Dalton

Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

7 p.m., $22-$42, First United Methodist Church, 2917 Aspen Drive.

Fiber feast

Ranch Golf Club, 589 County Road 252.

Wednesday

Learn about the wild food growing around you on a plant walk with Katrina Blair, founder of the environmental nonprofit Turtle Lake Refuge. After learning about edible plants, you can forage yourself, enjoy a wild food dinner, wine and apple cider bar, and live music.

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

rango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

Story hour, 10 a.m., James Ranch Terraces, 33846 U.S. Highway 550.

Details: July 13, $45, 5:30 p.m., Turtle Lake Refuge, 848 East 3rd Ave., turtlelakerefuge.org

Kids Club, 1 p.m., Durango Public Library,

1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

Screen-free playtime in the garden, 2 p.m., White Rabbit Books and Curi-

osities, 128 W. 14th St.

Fry fest

Lacey Black, 5 p.m., Serious Texas Bar-

Sound design group Unify Mountain Soundz will be hosting Fryday the Thirteenth party with music by Squoze, Teknique, Dancing Arrow, Krunkle Tom, and more. Your head might explode from the heavy sounds, or from the delicious tacos at San Marcos Mexican restaurant.

Kirk James Band, 5 p.m., Rusty Shovel

Details: July 13, 9 p.m., donations accepted, San Marcos Mexican Restaurant, 21382 Highway 160, unifymtnsoundz.com

Joy RIDE This weekend marks the 7th Annual RIDE Festival, a rock ‘n’ roll fest where the musicians have the challenge of competing against the stunning views of Telluride for the festival spotlight. Jam band The String Cheese Incident headlines both nights, with performances by Sheryl Crow, Grace Potter, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, and others taking the stage at the Telluride Town Park.

Details: July 14-15, various times, tickets starting at $200, Telluride Town Park, Fred Shellman Memorial Stage, 500 E. Colorado Ave., Telluride, ridefestival.com

Walk and wine Women of Colorado will be hosting Durango Hike Now, Wine Later, a casual after work hike at Falls Creek, which will be rewarded with a wine tasting picnic and snacks. Meet other women who are interested in the outdoors (and booze) and the desire for self-improvement. There is limited space, so register beforehand.

Details: July 18, 5:15 p.m., free, tentative location at Falls Creek, womenofcolorado.co

B-Q, 650 S. Camino del Rio. Saloon, 18044 County Road 501, Vallecito.

Rocky Mountain UkeFest reception and jam, 5 p.m., Rochester Hotel, 726 East

Second Ave. Friday Nights: The Cannondolls, 6

p.m., Fox Fire Farms, 5513 County Road 321, Ignacio.

Early literacy play date, 10:30 a.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave. Story time, 11 a.m., White Rabbit Books and Curiosities, 128 W. 14th St. Old Fort Farm Stand, 1 p.m., Fort

Lewis College, Student Union, 1000 Rim Drive.

Community Concert in the Secret Garden: Music in the Mountains Julius Quartet Chamber Music Ensemble in Residence, 5 p.m., $10,

Rochester Hotel, 726 East Second Ave., 3851920.

Music in the Mountains: Sleeping Beauty, 7 p.m., $22-$42, Cascade Village,

50827 U.S. Highway 550.

Music in the Mountains: Fairy Tales, 7 p.m., $25-$56, Purgatory Resort, 1

Ongoing

Skier Place, 247-9000.

Henry Stoy plays piano at 11 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday at Jean-Pierre Bakery and Wine Bar,

Saturday Scott Enduro Cup, 8 a.m., $175, Purga-

tory Ski Resort, 1 Skier Place.

Summer pickers circle on the river, 3 p.m., White Rabbit Books and Curi-

osities, 128 W. 14th St. Music in the Mountains: The Nightowls, 7 p.m., $22-$42, Purgatory Resort, 1

Skier Place, 247-9000.

Black Velvet Trio, 8 p.m., Derailed Pour

House, 725 Main Ave., 247-5440.

Sunday Scott Enduro Cup, 8 a.m., $175, Purga-

601 Main Ave. Old west stage shows are held at 5:30 p.m. nightly throughout the summer at Bar D Chuckwagon,

8080 County Road 250. Cost is $12-$38 and reservations are preferred. To reserve, visit www.bardchuckwagon.com.

Submissions Submit events for the next week online by noon Monday at www. swscene.com. DGO publishes events online and in print every Thursday.

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Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Steer clear of power struggles with authority figures in the family this week; they will not resolve anything.

Stay low-key, and be patient. (It’s a challenge, I know.)

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Arguments with siblings and relatives might occur this week. They could be about a daily event, or they could be about politics, religion or racial issues.

Relax. Don’t even go there.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Avoid disputes about money and possessions this week. This is just a contest of wills – a power struggle.

Lighten up.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Bizarro

This week, the Sun is in your sign, opposing big daddy Pluto. This means it’s easy to argue with partners and close

friends. But why? Why be at odds with your loved ones? What do you gain?

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) You might be doing a slow simmer behind the scenes about something because you are angry. Just let it go because your anger is hurting only you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) Try to find a common goal or common ground with a friend or a member of a group this week instead of focusing on differences. After all, we are all more alike than we are not. We all want to be happy.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) Avoid arguments with bosses, parents and VIPs this week because they could get nasty. These are power struggles that resolve nothing.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21)

Steer clear of controversial subjects like politics, religion and racial issues.

This week is the wrong week for these topics. For sure!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) Disputes about inheritances or shared property might get violent this week.

Therefore, don’t even go there. This is not a good week to solve these problems. Postpone them for another week.

or improvements. This also applies if you are trying to improve your health.

Lighten up.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Parents need to be patient with kids this week. Likewise, romantic partners need to be patient with each other.

People are too ready to oppose each other. (Not cool.)

BORN THIS WEEK

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18)

You are ambitious, determined and confident. You like a serene, calm environment; nevertheless, you’ll be glad to learn you’re entering a fun-loving, social year. It’s time to live life fully! Start by appreciating the happiness and beauty around you. Be grateful for who you are and what you have. Heightened popularity and warm friendships will bless you this year.

Don’t get pushy at work this week if you’re trying to introduce reforms

© 2018 King Features Syndicate Inc.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) Difficulty with partners and close friends is likely this week. However, if you let these difficulties go, the rest of the week is surprisingly easy. Who knew?

Made for walkin’ Bitchy boots “These Boots are Made for Walking,” Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 hit, has been heard in countless movies and karaoke bars.

Pitchfork selected the tune as one of the best songs of the ’60s, and writer Tom Breihan described “Boots” as “maybe the finest bitchy kiss-off in pop history.”

Hot feet The red sole on Louboutin shoes was inspired by Andy Warhol’s “Flowers” drawing, according to The New Yorker.

The designer was not satisfied with the prototype, but then saw an assistant painting her nails bright red. He took the polish and painted the bottom of the shoe.

Ode to a Grecian boot According to encyclopedia.com, the highly-fashionable ancient Greek people of Minoan Crete were some of the first recorded boot wearers. Dating from 3000 to 1400 BC, the Minoans developed shoe making into a trade, as well as fine art.

Poser shoes Cowboy boots are notorious for being uncomfortable, mostly because they were made for men who sit in a saddle all day. Today, the pointy-heeled boots are more of a fashion accessory, and most people who wear them will never sit on a horse.

22 | Thursday, July 12, 2018 • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[single life]

SWIPE RIGHT

This week, we have two singles who love to be active and revel in the great outdoors. See? You already have something in common. Don’t be shy, guys. If you like them, reach out at dgohotsingles@ dgomag.com and tell us about yourself. Maybe you and our single can go on a raging river-rafting, spear-throwing, mountain lion-fighting outdoor adventure together. Maybe you will get caught in a rainstorm and have to survive by body heat. That sounds pretty passionate to us.

If you want to be featured or know somebody who is single and ready for romance, hit us up.

Sam Lindsay

Christy Curd

Age: 26

Age: 27

Occupation: Freelance graphic designer

Occupation: Program coordinator for an environmental nonprofit

Sign: Scorpio

Sign: Taurus (“That shit is irrelevant to me.”)

How long have you lived here in Durango?

Why are you putting yourself out there?

One year. Eleven months.

I think this concept is hilarious and I don’t actually expect anything to come of it. That would be really weird if it did, but I’m open to it also. I fly by the seat of my pants.

What kind of qualities do you look for in someone?

Confidence, beauty, patience, and an ability to go with the flow or roll with the punches, as they say. So you may call that resilience. Not get too stressed out over trivial things.

If your friends were to describe you, what would they say?

I think they would say Sam is a genuine guy who is funny and has his shit together, for the most part, while he is still trying to figure it out, but he pays the bills. My roommates would say that, hopefully. Reliable. He’s a reliable friend and he’s fun, but serious when he needs to be.

Do you have Peter Pan syndrome?

I want to grow up but on my own terms. … But I hope I can always say, “When I grow up…” even when I’m 50. So I like to stay young in my mind, but I still like to always feel like I’m making progress in the game of life.

I understand the need to get things together, keep things organized, be smart about and think about the future, and set myself up for success in the future. And I don’t think I’m avoiding a committed relationship either. I’m over all that sleeping around

and stuff, so… I’m pretty good without somebody, but hopefully good with somebody, too.

What do you enjoy doing?

I really like going mountain biking in the summer, and I really like to go snowboarding in the winter. I learned how to ski this winter. Hoping to do that some more. But (a) good weekend is – go out and do something fun like that, get super tired and exhausted, and then come home, take a shower, go eat good food, drink a beer, and then watch a movie. Boom.

Done. Best day. Solid day. But some multi-day excursions are good, too.

Tell us something about you that you want to improve on?

I’d like to improve on – man this feels like a job interview now. Shit.

We are all looking for the emotional answers here, I assume, because I want to get better at mountain biking, but that is probably not the answer we are looking for here. I want to improve on everything that I’m passionate about.

DATE NIGHT DISTILLERY

Why are you still single?

I am not really all that interested in the Durango dating scene. It doesn’t seem to offer what I’m looking for, so I really haven’t put too much effort into looking for it. I’m also very picky and very independent, and I’m not willing to waste my time on anybody who doesn’t seem worth it.

own thing and be cool with having an independent woman in their life.

Honesty is also big. Someone who is not your one-dimensional Durango male. I need somebody who can take me country dancing at a dive bar and also go out to nice restaurants, go backpacking, and do extreme shit…. and also read books. Things like that.

Have you ever been ghosted, or has someone ghosted you?

What is something about you that’s different?

I am sure I have. I have probably been ghosted. I’ve probably ghosted.

Oops! I don’t really cling on to those sorts of memories. But generally I am more the type of person to go out on a date with a guy to tell him that I’m not interested in dating in person, because I just don’t want to do it over the phone or even through text message. I’m a very open, honest communicator.

What qualities do you look for in a person?

Adventurous comes to mind, but probably more important is (someone who is) willing to let me do my

Why did your last relationship end?

We were both in the seasonal jobs and that took us to different places.

What is your favorite thing to cook for others?

I am really good at baking scones.

Pour Me a Stiff One !

at the

RELAX ON THE PATIO LIVE MUSIC FRIDAY NIGHTS

I’m a really excellent parallel parker and I’m from Montana. Nobody from Montana is good at parallel parking because there is no reason to do that.

But actually being from Montana, that’s something I identify strongly with. That’s why I’m independent and won’t settle. Montanans have a strong identity.

Soiled Doves Vodka and Cinder Dick Bourbon will surely spark some easy conversation for your next date !

FREE TASTING EXPIRES AUGUST 5TH 2018

120 MAIN AVENUE SUITE 2 • DURANGO CO 81301 • 970-247-1919 • MON-THURS 1PM-9PM • FRI & SAT 1PM-10PM • SUN 1PM-6PM �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, July 12, 2018 | 23