What’s going on in Dulce, New Mexico? by Ballantine Communications

art entertainment food drink music nightlife February 28-March 13, 2019

DGO

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Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going on in Dulce, New Mexico? A government cover-up, an underground alien-human military base, or conspiracy theories run amok?

Also: The Lost Cajun, Confucius Kush, and St. Pattyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day drinks

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DGO Magazine

STAFF

What’s inside Volume 4 Number 14 Thursday, February 28, 2019

Editor

Check out them puppies

Angelica Leicht aleicht@bcimedia.com 375-4551

Innings Festival in Tempe, AZ, may be a 1990s music haven, but if Eddie Vedder ain’t yo’ thing, maybe copious amounts of hot dogs are. You can tell us. We won’t judge.

Staff writer Amanda Push apush@bcimedia.com Sales Liz Demko 375-4553 Contributors Katie Burford Katie Cahill Jon E. Lynch

From the Blog

Drink

St. Patty’s Day drinks

Eat

The Lost Cajun

Sound

Innings Fest

7 8

Album Reviews 9 10 Body Art

Lindsay Mattison

11 Travel

Design/layout

16 Weed

Colossal Sanders

Courtesy of Innings Festival

Reader Services

Reviews 16-18

375-4570

19 Politics

Chief Executive Officer

20 Film review

Douglas Bennett

St. Patty’s partaaaaay The Four Corners might not be Chicago or New Orleans when it comes to hot-mess St. Patrick’s Day partying, but we still drink like Irish-lovin’ mofos.

V.P. of Advertising David Habrat

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

22 Acid trips and college parties The keg of beer had already been flowing for several hours when a friend pulled me and several others aside and asked if we wanted to drop acid. Was that the key to unlocking the mind?

The Lost Cajun: Found One of the most alluring things about New Orleans (aside from the copious amounts of booze) is the glorious food, and we’ve found our NOLA in Pagosa Springs.

22 Rocky Road 23 Horoscopes/ puzzles

/dgomag /dgomag

@dgo_mag

ON THE COVER Sanitized cow mutilation. Definitely not the work of aliens.

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

Colossal Sanders for DGO

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@dg

[bar listings] Durango

516-1998, lounginlizardcortez.com

Balcony Bar & Grill, 600 Main Ave., Suite 210, 970-422-8008, balconybarandgrill.com

Main Street Brewery & Restaurant, 21 E. Main Street, 970-564-9112, mainstreetbrewerycortez.com

The Billy Goat Saloon, 39848 US-160, Gem Village, 970-884-9155, thebillygoatsaloon.com The Bookcase and Barber, 601 E. Second Ave., Suite B, 970-764-4123, bookcaseandbarber.com Brew Pub & Kitchen, 117 W. College Drive, 970-259-5959 brewpubkitchen.com Colorado Pongas, 121 W. Eighth Street, 970-382-8554 Derailed Pour House, 725 Main Ave., 970247-5440, derailedpourhouse.com Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 970-247-4331, strater.com/diamond-belle-saloon Durango Craft Spirits, 1120 Main Ave. #2, 970-247-1919, durangospirits.com El Rancho Tavern, 975 Main Ave., 970259-8111, elranchotavern.com Eno Cocktail Lounge and Wine Bar, 723 E. Second Ave., 970-385-0105, enodurango. com The Irish Embassy Pub, 900 Main Ave., 970-403-1200, theirishembassypub.com J. Bo Pizza & Rib Co, 1301 Florida Road, 970-259-0010, jbosdurango.com Joel’s Bar, 119 W. Eighth Street The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave., 970-375-7260, strater.com/dining/the-office-spiritorium

WildEdge Brewing Collective, 111 N. Market Street, 970-565-9445, wildedgebrewing. com

Dolores River Brewery, 100 S. Fourth Street, 970-882-4677, doloresriverbrewery.com Riverfront Bar & Grill, 1319 Railroad Ave., 970-882-9998 T Lazy T Orchard / Teal Cider, 17999 Road 23, 970-247-3430

Farmington, NM Clancy’s Pub an Irish Cantina, 2701 E. 20th Street, 505-325-8176, clancys.net Club B Lounge, 600 E. Broadway Ave., 505325-2288

Distil, 5920 E. Main Street, 505-327-2382 No Worries Sports Bar & Grill, 1298 W. Navajo Street, 505-436-2657, noworriessportsbaarandgrill.com St. Clair Winery & Bistro, 5150 E. Main Street #101, 505-325-0711, stclairwinery.com

Quiet Lady Tavern at Palace, 505 Main Ave., 970-247-2018, palacedurango.com/the-quiet-lady-tavern

Three Rivers Tap & Game Room, 111 E. Main Street, 505-325-6605

Wild Horse Saloon, 601 E. Second Ave. #C, 970-375-2568, durangowildhorsesaloon.com

traegersbar.com

Columbine Bar, 123 Grand Ave., 970-5337397 Fenceline Cider, 141 S. Main Street, 970533-4005, outliercellars.com

The Lost Parrot, 104 N. Main Street, 505320-8516

Pagosa Springs

72 Suttle St. Unit B Bodo Park Durango 7 Days a Week

Boss Hogg’s Restaurant & Saloon, 157 Navajo Trail Drive, 970-731-2626 Coyote Moon Bar and Grill, 120 Piedra Road, 970-507-8696, coyotemoonco.co Kip’s Grill, 121 E. Pagosa Street, 970-2643663, kipsgrill.com

Cortez

Riff Raff Brewing Company, 274 Pagosa Street, 970-264-4677, riffraffbrewing.com Riff Raff on the Rio, 356 E. Pagosa Street

Blondie’s Trophy Room, 45 E. Main Street, 970-565-4015

River Sports Bar & Grill, 358 Pagosa Street, 970-264-5505

J. Fargo’s Family Dining & Micro Brewery, 109 E. Main Street, 970-564-0242, jfargos.com

Shooters & Shenanigans, 23 Pike Drive, 970-507-8700

970-264-6274, riffraffbrewing.com

The Western Slope Break Room Bar and Grill, 2151 Eagle Drive, 970-731-0566

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Angel’s End Zone Sports Bar, 309 N. Broadway, 970-565-4022

The area’s best selection of vaping products

72 SHUTTLE STREET UNIT B

Pagosa Brewing & Grill, 118 N. Pagosa Blvd., 970-731-2739, pagosabrewing.com

SOUTHWEST VAPOR FRONTAGE ROAD

Pagosa Bar, 460 Pagosa Street, 970-264-5798

The Rusty Shovel Saloon, 18044 Co Rd 501, 970-884-2964, therustyshovelsaloon.com

Loungin’ Lizard, 2 W. Main Street, 970-

Find us at:

HWY 550 (CAMINO DEL RIO)

Bottom Shelf Brewery, 118 E. Mill Street, 970-884-2442, bottomshelfbrewery.com

CHECK OUT ALL THE HAPPENINGS AT THEBILLYGOATSALOON.COM

Mancos

Mancos Brewing Co., 484 Hwy 160 E. Frontage Road, 970-533-9761, mancosbrewingcompany.com

Bayfield

(970) 884-9155 · 39848 Hwy 160, Gem Village, CO

Traegers, 5170 College Blvd., 505-278-8568

550 Brewing, 119 E. Chuska Street, 550brewing.com

Wooden Nickel, 900 W. Broadway Ave., 505-632-2457

Friday Nights

KB Dillon’s, 101 W. Broadway, 505-325-0222

Three Rivers Eatery & Brewhouse, 101 E. Main Street, 505-324-2187

Bloomfield, NM

“Come get the hair of the Goat”

Dino’s Hideaway & Lounge, 405 Co Rd 390, 505-632-5132

Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave., 970-2599018

Aztec, NM

$1 PBR (SAT & SUN)

Crackers’ Sports Bar, 3704 E. Main Street, 505-325-1857

Sun Ray Bar & Grill, 39 Road 5568, 505566-1231

11th Street Station, 1101 Main Ave., 970422-8482, 11thstreetstation.com

Saturdays & Sundays ALL Day

Dolores

Orio’s Roadhouse, 652 Main Ave., 970259-6120

8th Ave.Tavern, 509 E. Eighth Street, 970259-8801

Free Pool!

LIGHT

�� Thursday, February 28, 2019 | 5

[news]

FROM THE BLOG »» News from the perch of DGO’s online lookout you may have missed Snownado, now with no sharks

Who wants a boring, regular old snowman, anyway?

As if these mountains of snow dumping on the Southwest weren’t bad enough, a small snow tornado, or “snownado,” as one ABC 7 reporter called it, was spotted and filmed in New Mexico a few days ago, at one point appearing to touch the ground.

Last month, Wolfard constructed an 8-foot-tall Batman in his front yard as well. What, we ask, will he think of next? Perhaps a 10-foot-tall Captain Marvel? Hint, hint. The infamy of the Infamous Stringdusters

“Oh my goodness, look, there’s a twister!” someone in the video says as the eerie white vortex makes it way across the New Mexico plains. “It’s getting bigger. I think it’s just picking up a lot of snow.”

After performing in Durango and in a sold-out show at Santa Fe’s Meow Wolf, The Infamous Stringdusters went on their merry way to Frisco, Aspen, and Steamboat Springs here in snowy Colorado. A show Feb. 21 in Telluride was canceled due to weather.

The video was posted on Feb. 17 by Antonio Chiquito of Tinian, N.M., to his Facebook page. The snow tornado is, »» Infamous Stringdusters instead of a dust devil, a whirlwind that picks up snow, »»April 20 – USANA Amphitheatre in according to CNN’s Morning Express Salt Lake City, Utah with Robin Meade. Parts of New Mex»»April 20 – Drai’s in Las Vegas ico were under winter storm warnings This is the sixth annual tour of the at the time the video was shot. Wellness Retreat. What’s his mother, mother Come crawl with us, friends! name? There are few things that get our office as excited as Snoop Dogg announcing that he’ll be performing relatively close by, but if you throw in a little Warren G on top of Snoop to regulate, that might do it. Snoop Dogg, MERRY JANE, and Uncle Snoop’s Army are joining forces once more to bring us the 2019 420 Wellness Retreat Tour. Snoop Doggy Dog will be gracing the cities of Denver, Oakland, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas with his presence in a four-city tour to remind us how great cannabis and music are, as if we ever forgot. Fellow artists Ice Cube, Warren G, Too Short, E40 are among the performers who will be joining Snoop on his tour. The tour will hit the cities on the following dates: »»April 18 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Col. »»April 19 – Oracle Arena in Oakland, Cali.

If you’re looking out your window, it certainly doesn’t look like it, but if you’re an optimist – a SUPER optimist – then you’ll recognize spring is just around the corner. That means so is our Second Annual Cannabis Crawl, sponsored by Sweet CO2 Oil. If you forgot what that is or somehow missed it last year, let us refresh your memory. On April 6, all you stoners will be able to take advantage of some badass deals offered by some of Durango’s pot shops. So far, those shops are: »»Prohibition Herb »»Santé »»Durango Organics »»Durango Rec Room »»Colorado Grow Company »»Rocky Mountain High »»The Greenery »»Acme Healing Center »»Durango Cannabis Discovery Center

»»Cloud 9 Headshop »»The Homestead »»VAPE Durango To get involved, participants can grab a Cannabis Crawl map at any of participating businesses the day of the event or a paper from one of the DGO Mag blue boxes on Main Street. The maps will include all the businesses involved and each of the deals they’re offering. As you visit each of the shops, get your map stamped. Then, once you’ve finished, drop it off by 7:45 p.m. at our after party – sponsored by Prohibition Herb – at 11th Street Station to be entered to win tickets to the 4/20 Eve on the Rocks. The winner of the tickets – sponsored by The Green House – will be announced at 8 p.m. during the after party. Super dad, super snow As Mother Nature continues to pummel the Southwest with snowfall after snowfall, a New Mexico man is making the best of it by sculpting superheroes out of snow in his front yard, according to Albuquerque’s KRQE. Bloomfield resident Alan Wolfard is building a 9-foot-tall Wonder Woman at the behest of his daughter. Sure, it’s early in 2019, but it’s time to award this guy Dad of the Year, if you ask us.

In May, the Grammy-winning band will be back in Colorado, performing at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison. If you haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity to watch these guys yet, you’re really missing out. The Nashville-based folk band, who won a 2018 Grammy for their “Laws of Gravity” bluegrass album, has been selling out many of their shows on their tour, and for good reason. This fire-breathing five-piece combo’s relentless determination to dust damn near every town in the country helped them hone their live show into one of the most reliably “hot” tickets on the thriving jam-band circuit. “Every set is a high-flying adventure,” wrote Chris Naugle for Grateful Web when the band visited Eugene, Ore., in January. “They have a freewheeling spirit and tons of fun on that stage that the crowd always taps into,” wrote Joshua Huver for The Bay Bridged about their performance in San Francisco. Basically, if you have the time and capability to make it to their last Colorado show in May, you should. To check out more of our exclusive online content, visit DGOmag.com.

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[drink]

What you should be drinking on St. Patrick’s Day The Four Corners might not be Chicago or New Orleans when it comes to hot-mess St. Patrick’s Day partying, but we still drink like Irish-lovin’ mofos. So, if you’re hurtin’ for something to drink this upcoming St. Patty’s Day instead of just a six-pack with green clovers on the cans, make a note of these on-message Irish-y drinks. We can already smell the sickening amount of booze you’re probably going to be drinking from here.

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Beer (obviously) OK, fine. You can have your beer. Maybe sugar-fueled shots aren’t for you, but we want it on record that you’re boring. Just make sure to go super Irish and get a pint from Murphy’s or a classic like Guinness. You can’t get much more Irish than that. Stouts, ales, and lagers are probably going to be your best beer bets. A little Shamrock Juice never hurt anyone With some gin, vodka, rum, tequila, blue caracao, and orange juice, you’re gonna be set to paint the town green this St. Patrick’s Day. A quick warning: this drink will knock you on your ass and make you wish you’d never been born, but we think it’ll be worth it. Lucky Charms, but for adults

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These are definitely the “if you’re hosting a party, make these” kind of shots, because we sure as hell don’t know of a bartender who’s going to crush up cereal and rim your shot glass with it on a night as busy as St. Patrick’s Day. But maybe you do. In any case, to make these at home, soak some Lucky Charms cereal into your milk to infuse the milk with the flavor. Go ahead and take the cereal out of the milk (preferably by eating it) and mix the milk with some Bailey’s. Crush the cereal, dip the shot glass into it, and pour yo’self a well-earned shot, because that was a lot of work. Irish Coffee (another duh)

72 Suttle St. Suites J&K · Durango, CO (970) 259-2663 · Cannabuddies.com

Irish is literally in the name of this one, so skip out on this drink at your own peril. Irish whiskey and coffee are really all you technically need for this one, but everyone knows that Irish cream

»» Irish Flag shot makes this drink. Actually, you might want to save this one for your post-St. Patrick’s Day hangover. Trust us, you’ll need it. Salute the Irish Flag This funky-looking cocktail is layered to look like the Irish flag, its namesake. So, there’s really no better way to pretend like you’re Irish. For this cocktail, layer up Green Creme de Menthe, Licor 42, and Baileys Irish Cream, and you’ve got yourself an Irish flag to knock back. Be warned, though: layering shots is not as easy as it looks. Some Irish Floats for dessert This Irish delight is more dessert and sugar than an actual alcoholic drink, but we feel that it’s the perfect way to wrap up a day of drinking like the Irish. This float includes vanilla ice cream, Guinness, Baileys, and hot fudge. Please drink this responsibly. — Amanda Push

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[eat]

The Lost Cajun in Pagosa ain’t Nola,

BUT IT’S CLOSE ENOUGH New Orleans holds a special place in my heart. As a native Texan, I spent decades living about 4.5 hours from the city by car, and I took advantage of that fact ... often. One of the most alluring things about that city (aside from the copious amounts of booze) is the glorious food. Stand in the French Quarter or the Garden District and throw a stone – or beignet – and you’ll hit a restaurant worth visiting. It’s that easy. It ain’t that easy here, though. Not when it comes to Cajun food, anyway. Sure, there’s a small Cajun store in the Main Mall in Durango, but there isn’t an oyster bar where you can drown your sorrows or toast the good life with milk punch, à la Bourbon House, nor is there a place where you can choke on copious amounts of powdered sugar like you can – and will – at Cafe Du Monde. That lack of Cajun food (that you don’t have to prepare in your own kitchen) is precisely why I was so stoked to find out there was a Cajun restaurant in Pagosa Springs, a town we cover on the regular. That restaurant, The Lost Cajun, is situated right on the main drag next to the town’s boutiques and hot springs, but for some reason, we’d hadn’t seen it on our many, many trips to Pagosa. I sure am glad we found it this time, though. One of the (few) things I miss about living in a major metro area is the food – especially when it comes to slightly more obscure options like, well, Cajun food. It was apparent from the moment we sat down in The Lost Cajun, though, that I could cross that off my list, because this place was legit. The first thing our server asked us after we sat down at a table with long wooden benches was whether we’d dined with them before. Nope, we hadn’t, we said ... an answer I assumed would lead us to a quick overview of the menu options. At The Lost Cajun, though, they take that overview to another level. You know how you get a wooden paddle with tasters when you order a flight of beer? Well, at this place, if you’re new to their restaurant, you get a flight of gumbo. Yes, a flight of gumbo. Well, a flight with gumbo, red beans and rice, and lobster bisque, to be exact. Our server returned quickly with our drinks – a house-made lemonade for me and an Abita, a true

their shape, but without a hint of unwanted crunch. I had a hard time choosing between the two, but ultimately gave in to the chicken and sausage gumbo and an order of hush puppies, my kryptonite. My dining partner eschewed the gumbos, étouffées, and bisques and went with an off-the-wall choice instead: the alfredo pasta, which is topped with a creamy Cajun alfredo sauce with fried chicken. I was surprised by her choice, but impressed when the dishes arrived. Louisiana beer, for my dining partner – and those samples, and boy, were they delicious. Well, the ones I could eat, anyway. I’m allergic to shellfish, which meant my tasting was limited. But the other ones looked delicious. Any proper Cajun restaurant knows how to do two things: they know how to make chicken and sausage gumbo, a staple in Louisiana, and they know how to throw down some red beans and rice. Those were the two I dug into immediately, and both were exactly what I was hoping for. The chicken and sausage gumbo was the perfect mix of shredded chicken, sausage, and spices, and had just enough kick to remind me of why I love that deep brown roux so much. The red beans and rice was cooked to perfection too, and the red beans were just the right texture. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s pretty easy to overcook those red beans, making that entire dish a mound of mush. (I’m speaking from experience here.) The ones at The Lost Cajun, though, were the Louisiana version of al dente – just firm enough to keep

Both plates were piled high with our respective choices, and my bowl of gumbo had the perfect rice-to-gumbo ratio, making it easy to tackle but still quite filling. Both dishes also came with a side of french bread, a necessity for sopping up the last bits of gumbo and alfredo. We hardly spoke as we dug into our dishes, and it wasn’t long before both plates had been wiped clean. We only conquered about half of those hush puppies, but fear not: they didn’t go to waste. We threw them in a to-go container and shoveled them into our mouths on the way back to Durango. They were fantastic, even at room temperature. I know Pagosa Springs is no replacement for the grit and glory of New Orleans, but it’s a close second, and it’s a heck of a lot closer. In this case, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with runner up, especially when it comes to chicken and sausage gumbo. I have a feeling we’ll be stopping by this place as often as possible on our trips to Pagosa. It’s just too good to pass up.

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�� Thursday, February 28, 2019 | 7

[travel]

March

Ryan Chrys & The Roughcuts

March

MAIN SQUEEZE EVANOFF

KDUR COVER NIGHT 16 TALKING HEADS

March

Courtesy of inningsfestival.com

March

MOON HOOCH ARAMBOA

March

Alya Nereo Elijah Ray & amber Lily

March

Zach Deputy Tone Ranger

Trivia Factory Tuesdays @ 6:30 ›› Great Apps ‹‹ ›› Prime Rib ‹‹ ›› BBQ Ribs ‹‹

For Tickets visit:

Cuckoos or Animas Trading Co Online @ AnimasCityTheatre.com

»» The concert stage at the 2018 Innings Festival in Tempe, AZ.

Get out of town and go somewhere warm, like

INNINGS FEST IN TEMPE I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get away. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving all the snow we’ve been getting recently, but I am just a little over it at this point. As wild as I am about keeping up on snow-related small talk, all my speed-dial lines are getting a little stale: “Oh my gosh, I’m not complaining, we totally need this; Have you seen the lines at City Market recently, they’re insane; Are you following Durango Snow Lovers on Facebook yet? He knows more than the NWS!” Plus, my brain hurts from trying to figure out where to put the next 5-foot tall pile, and my back is even more annoyed that I haven’t bought a snow plow by now. Yes, winter is great – no doubt – but it’s supposed to be 75 degrees and sunny in Tempe this weekend, and I am STOKED. It’s not just a random get-out-of-town trip, either. It’s the Innings Festival, Arizona’s spring training celebration for music. You can catch a Cactus League game before heading over to the event, or skip baseball altogether and just get involved with the festival’s baseball-related events. They’re interviewing famous MLB players like Roger Clemens, Ryan Dempster, and Jake Peavy, but there will also be batting cages, base-stealing competitions, and the opportunity to dive into a padded pit to catch a fly ball. And, of course, it’s not just baseball. It’s basically a lineup of your favorite ’90s bands: Incubus. Eddie Vedder. Sheryl Crow. Liz Phair. Cake. Blues Traveler. Guster. Jimmy Eat World. Band of Horses. I’ve been listening to the Spotify playlist nonstop, and I just can’t even. Plus, there’s supposed to be some pretty killer food at this thing. Steamed bao buns? Tasty churros? Hoss Doggies? Arepas and gourmet quesadillas and all the tacos? Fork yeah! And while I’m not sure how I feel about food truck sushi, I

»» The Ultimate Burger Battle at the 2018 Innings Festival. just have to check out a truck that calls itself Pokitrition – they have a sushi burrito on the menu, which is definitely speaking my language. So ... what are you doing March 2-3? Your answer should be heading to Tempe. It’s not too late to get your bandwagon on and go somewhere warm. As of this moment, tickets are still available. Plus, if you’re crazy enough to drive (like we are), there’s a Costco on the way. I won’t miss an opportunity to stock up on the essentials (and I may or may not need to replace my husband’s giant bag of Trail Mix that is, by now, nothing but peanuts and raisins ... no, I would never pick through it and only eat the cashews and M&Ms). —— Lindsay Mattison

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[sound]

Fri. Feb. 15th 3-6pm (Bodo location)

The loss of Durango’s video store is sad but not unexpected

As winter turns to spring, the region will be losing yet another bastion of the physical entertainment medium. This time it’s our local video store, Louisa’s Movie House. As of the time I am writing this piece, no specific time frame has been set for its closing. Still, its closing is indeed a sad, but not unexpected, outcome. I suppose there is a small – incomprehensibly small, mind you – chance that some last minute buyer with piles of money to burn will come through and save the video store, but I’m not holding my breath. For me, there have been others: Applause Video, Main Street Movies, and the behemoth that was Video Station. In many cases, as time wore on, you would see those now-defunct record stores expand into selling DVDs (and before that, VHS tapes), and it bridged the gap between my intermingling love of film and music. I’d love to say that combining the two mediums can make sense and happen again(!), but I think the ”conveniences” afforded by Internet streaming platforms (both in music and television/film), coupled with ridiculously astronomical local rent, have cemented our fate. This is a total drag. Just as it was with your local record store clerk, your local video store clerk was a wealth of knowledge, con-

versation, and suggestion. If you love movies A, B, and C, chances are that your trusty video store clerk could – and would – recommend movie D that was sure align with your sensibilities. I don’t care that the algorithm on your streaming platform of choice will ALSO give you suggestions and recommendations. It still cannot, and will not, beat those of the clerk across the counter. There is also something to be said for having older classic options all in one place. As streaming services become more and more compartmentalized, you aren’t actually given acrossthe-board recommendations, but a smattering of tangential proprietary choices that put a little money into the mega-conglomerate machine instead. It’s a sad, sad day, and rest assured, this isn’t the last time I’ll mention it.

Mountains of snow, plenty of sunshine. We have the rest. Stop in today!

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Fantastic albums are being released each and every week. Do me, and yourself, a favor and go directly to the band or label to check out the following releases. Unless, of course, you are lucky enough to have the option of heading over to your favorite local, independent record store to peruse and pick these albums up. On Friday, March 1, Durand Jones & The Indications release “American Love Call,” a highly anticipated follow-up of neo soul and funk on the Dead Ocean record label. Atlanta, Georgia trio The Coathangers are releasing an album of biting garage punk via Suicide Squeeze with “The Devil You Know,” on Friday, March 8. The Faint return to their roots, and the Saddle Creek label, on March 15 with “Egowerk.” The core foursome meld punk, electro, dance and new wave noise, and I look forward to hearing their first album since 2014’s “Doom Abuse.” Also on March 15, check out Dirty Water Records artist from France, Weird Omen, on “Surrealistic Feast,” which melds all the best elements of dark garage and Morphine-inspired sax skronk. As always, I urge you to reach out. What’s grinding your gears? What records are you looking forward to? Email KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu with questions, comments, and criticisms. —— Jon E. Lynch

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When Southwest Sound, the last of Durango’s local independent record stores, closed its doors on Saturday, July 14, 2018, I made mention of it, but did my very best not to harp or dwell on the personal devastation, sadness, anger, disgust, and dissatisfaction I felt, week after week after week. Leading up to the store’s closing – what many considered an eventuality – I used the platform of this very column to urge readers to support their local, independent record store, no matter where they lived. I did this long before I knew Southwest Sound was closing. I did so because stores such as these were so important – so vital to my upbringing and identity, musical and otherwise – and I had hoped to help in some minute way to preserve that for other like-minded individuals and for the area youth contingent.

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[ink]

»» Beau Duran, right, was the winner of DGO Mag’s Bad Tattoo Contest, earning him a cover-up by Robert Smith, left, owner of Black Mountain Tattoo in Cortez. After Duran got the original tattoo in a friend’s garage, he got a infection, leaving him with a scar. Next, Smith will fill in the cover-up with color. Amanda Push/DGO Mag

TERRIBLE ICP INK NO MORE: BAD TATTOO CONTEST UPDATE Back in November, we here at DGO Mag decided to offer up the opportunity for a few poor souls to right the wrongs of the terrible tattoos that were once inked into their skin.

though, and was actually in the midst of saving up for a badass cover-up when DGO named him the winner of the bad tattoo contest. A few days ago, we were able to swing by Black Mountain Tattoo in Cortez and watch Robert Smith, the owner, give Beau one helluvah cover-up.

We worked with Black Mountain Tattoo in Cortez to snag one winner a free cover-up and Durango Dermatology to get another winner a free consultation and three free laser removal sessions.

Now, instead of an outline of ICP’s hatchet man, Beau can show off a beautiful piece of art that Robert designed to cover his old tattoo. It’s badass, and we’re super psyched we were able to hook Beau up with the help of Black Mountain.

We called for submissions, and, boy, there are a lot of baaaaad tattoos out there. We really wanted to be able to help out everyone. Truly, we did. Unfortunately, we could only pick those two winners. Fortunately, one of those very deserving winners was Beau Duran. A while back, Beau had gotten an ICP tattoo on his arm in a friend’s garage. Because the tattooer wasn’t using clean equipment, however, Beau ended up with a terrible infection. Beau has since learned the error of his ways,

Courtesy of Beau Duran ; Amanda Push/DGO Mag

»» (Left) The before photo of Beau Duran’s ICP tattoo gone terribly wrong. (RIGHT) Beau Duran’s tattoo cover up.

If we’ve learned anything from this it’s that tattoos are permanent, and you can easily end up with the incorrect spelling, some squiggly lines, or a fish that looks like genitalia, but if you find the right artist, you can sure make it seem like that bad ink didn’t exist in the first place. —— Amanda Push

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[travel]

Jim Bowen/Flickr Creative Commons

»» Sandia Peak

Climb Sandia Peak to pay your respect to the TWA Flight 260 crash GET OUTTA TOWN Quirky & cool spots in the Four Corners and beyond It’s a little weird that people would climb a mountain to look at the site of a plane crash from 64 years ago, but we get it. Tragedy always seems to accompany morbid curiosity. As history goes, on February 19, 1955, TWA Flight 260 was on its way from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, but the 40-passenger plane and its occupants unfortunately never made it. After just 10 minutes in the air, the Martin 4-0-4 instead crashed into Sandia Peak in the Sandia Mountains, an area located just east of Albuquerque. All 13 of its passengers and three crew members were killed in the impact. The victims were recovered by the New Mexico Mountain Club and New Mexico State Police. On a more positive note, this rescue led to the creation of the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council that still operates today. The National Transportation Safety Board initially determined that the crash was due to pilot error as the pilot had deviated from the flight path. The pilots, Ivan Spong and James Creason, were initially blamed for intentionally crashing into the peak, according to the Civil Aeronautics Board’s first report. However, “unknown” was later slapped onto the cause, as other factors to the

crash could not be ruled out. And, with the third revised report on the crash, the Civil Aeronautics Board released this statement: “The Board recognizes that the theory of the fluxgate compass error advanced by the Air Line Pilots Association can not be disproven. Such error may account for the initial directional error of the flight heading the aircraft toward the Sandia Mountains. However, it can not account for the continued flight long past time the crew should have noticed the error.” So, there’s really no known cause of the crash, or even whether or not it was intentional. A little eerie, right? If you want to see TWA Canyon for yourself and pay homage, you can do just that. You have two choices to view the wreckage.

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The most convenient way to see TWA Canyon is by taking the Sandia Peak Tramway. The cable car goes over the site, so if you’re not in the mood, you don’t have to trek up the mountain. If you are in the mood for a moderately difficult hike, you can climb a 3.5mile trail through the Cibola National Forest. Be warned though: the trail can be difficult to follow, so be sure to have some solid directions prepared. Once you reach the site, a sign with a list of the victims’ names and hometowns and the wreckage from the plane are all that’s left to remember the deadly crash. —— Amanda Push

(970) 565-2345 doobiesistersco.com MONDAY-SUNDAY 9am to 8pm 695 North Broadway, Cortez, CO 81321

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UNDERGROUND ALIENS AND CATTLE CATASTROPHES

» Dulce, New Mexico has long been the site of conspiracy theories,

but is there really a secret military base hidden in Archuleta Mesa? By Amanda Push DGO STAFF WRITER

efore the gory cattle mutilations, break-ins, and threatening phone calls, Dulce, New Mexico was a safe and peaceful place for R. Edmund Gomez and his family. It wasn’t a place where you locked your doors or were wary of your neighbors, Edmund said. He and his family worked their ranch then – a ranch that had been in the family for 100 years. Then, in 1976, they began to find their cattle dead, having been horribly mutilated and left without ears or other anatomy, across their ranch in Dulce. “Financially, emotionally, and probably physically, we were probably the family that was most affected by this whole situation,” Edmund said. “We lost 23 head of cows that were mutilated, two bulls, and a yearling filly during that time period. ... It was a cloak and dagger situation there.” It was the beginning of what turned out to be a nightmare for the Gomez family – an ordeal that would cost them their peace of mind and livelihood.

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Welcome to Dulce For decades, Dulce, the tribal headquarters for the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, has served as a kind of beacon for an amalgam of strange activities, stories, and theories, like UFOs and Bigfoot. The explanations run the gamut from a government cover-up to supernatural portals. One of the most well-known theories, though, is that an alien and human operated military base is supposedly located underground in Archuleta Mesa, just seven miles outside of Dulce on the Colorado-New Mexico border. That theory is one of the first results that comes up when you Google “Dulce, New Mexico.” According to a story told in 1979 by Albuquerque businessman Paul Bennewitz, Bennewitz believed he was receiving electronic communications from UFOs outside Albuquerque. In the 1980s, he claimed he discovered the location of a jointly-operated human-alien base that was hidden underground near Dulce. Eventually, government explosives engineer Philip Schneider also claimed that in 1979 he helped to build the underground base in Dulce, according to the Huffington Post. Schneider claimed to have witnessed a battle that occurred in the underground base and left 60 humans dead.

Though the stories seemed a bit outlandish, they spread through the UFO community, leading to investigations into the claims. From there, the story was picked up by publications and TV shows like the History Channel’s now-defunct “UFO Hunters,” which concluded the conspiracy “could be one of the darkest and most sinister secrets in the entire field of UFO investigation.” Dulce is small, boasting a population of about 2,700 residents, according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau. It’s hard to imagine such an intense scenario playing out in secret there, but onlookers and investigators still travel to see the supposed base for themselves. There are figures in the world of UFO research who don’t give credence to Bennewitz’s or Schneider’s claims, though. Norio Hayakawa, who runs the blog site Civilian Intelligence News Service, has been researching Dulce since 1988. He’s even been to the top of Archuleta Mesa, and says with confidence that there is no underground military base in the mesa. “It’s a beautiful place, but, unfortunately, there’s no evidence of any physical base there, despite the fact that local people have been telling that they have seen some strange activities, including Continued on Page 14

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UNDERGROUND ALIENS AND CATTLE CATASTROPHES

»» Dulce, New Mexico has long been the site of conspiracy theories,

but is there really a secret military base hidden in Archuleta Mesa? By Amanda Push DGO STAFF WRITER

�� Thursday, February 28, 2019 | 13

Norio Hayakawa

»» Norio Hayakawa leads a group of researchers to Archuleta Mesa near Dulce, New Mexico. From Page 13

sightings of military helicopters and witnessing strange phenomenon,” Hayakawa said. The researcher, who lives and works in Rio Rancho, N.M., and was one of the speakers at the 2018 Dulce Base UFO Conference, is scientific in his approach to investigations. “I have to, because you have to put your two feet on the ground while doing all this research into the weirdness of this entire thing,” Hayakawa said. Still, even he concedes that there are some pretty strange occurrences in Dulce, and doesn’t feel that he can discount the experiences of others, as he was not was there to witness them. “I cannot debunk any of these claims because I wasn’t there when these things were happening. I personally haven’t seen anything unusual at all

in Dulce, but that’s because, probably, I am there during the daytime,” Hayakawa said. Both Hayakawa and Edmund said the community is split on their opinions as to the cause of the strange activities. “We have the Native American community and we have the very old traditional Hispanic community that believe in a lot of things,” Edmund said. “They’re very religious, in a certain way, but they also believe in witchcraft and the supernatural. ... People see things and they assume that they’re something else. They see a craft flying or they see something in the air or wherever, and, if they don’t know, they assume (things), in my opinion.”

The Gomez ranch The cattle mutilations at the Gomez family ranch started in the mid-1970s when Edmund was 21 years old. The family began to find their cattle dead and,

even more concerning, missing different body parts. According to copies of a police report found in declassified FBI files about the cattle mutilations, Manuel Gomez reported that on April 24, 1978, the family found an 11-month-old bull that had been mutilated. The report reads: “Investigation showed that this eleven month old bull was dropped by some type of aircraft north of Mr. Gomez’s ranch house. ... The rectum and sex organs had been removed with a sharp and precise instrument.” The liver and heart of the bull were subsequently removed by the reporting officer. The heart was sent to the Los Alamos Medical Laboratory, and the liver was taken to three different private labs for examination. The liver was checked against healthy livers, and the comparison showed a difference in chemicals in the mutilated bull’s liver. According to

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the report, the mutilated bull’s liver contained no copper and four times the amount of phosphorous, zinc, and potassium as the healthy liver. “No explanation for this condition is available at the present time,” the report stated. Blood, which came off the nose, was also examined by the lab. It was found to be light pink in color. “A probable explanation for the pinkish blood is a control type of radiation used to kill the animal, according to radiation experts. ... It is believed that this type of radiation is not harmful to humans, although approximately 7 people who visited the mutilation site complained of nausea and headaches.” After the Gomez family began collecting evidence about the strange occurrences, Edmund said people began breaking into their home to steal the evidence. Edmund’s mother received menacing phone calls, he said, with the voice on the other end threatening harm to her children. The family began to fear for their safety, and Edmund started following his younger brother’s school bus after it picked him up, just in case anything were to happen to him along the way. “We weren’t used to that. We grew up on the ranch. Nobody ever locked the doors, and there was very little crime in the area,” Edmund said. “And then, after a while, when we were getting the threatening phone calls and we’re getting the break-ins. You’re always looking over your back. You are always uneasy. You never knew what to expect. When you go out to the ranch by yourself to fix the fence or to check on the cattle or whatever, you didn’t know what you were going to find out there. It was a pretty scary situation, very uneasy.” The Gomez family were not the only ranchers to experience these bizarre mutilations at the time, either. Reports from the declassified FBI files state that across the Midwest and Western part of the country, including Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Minnesota, other ranchers were finding their cattle horribly maimed. These reports can be found in the The Vault, the FBI’s digital FOIA library containing 6,700 documents. One of the documents’ memorandums states that in 1975, Colorado Sen. Floyd K. Haskell asked that the FBI investigate the 130 grotesque mutilations that had been reported to Colorado officials. The 1975 memorandum states: “Senator Haskell indicated his concern for a situation occurring in the western states where cattle have been discovered mutilated. The Bizarre (sic) mutilations involve loss of left ear, left eye, sex organ, and the blood drained from the carcass with no traces of blood left on the ground and no footprints.” The Director of the FBI at the time, Clarence M. Kelley, responded to Haskell, stating that, “I regret to inform you that these actions do not constitute a violation of Federal law coming within the FBI’s investigative jurisdiction.” In a 1976 memorandum to the director of the FBI from Springfield, Ill., Sheriff Russell Crews of Mar-

“

We weren’t used to that. We grew up on the ranch. Nobody ever locked the doors, and there was very little crime in the area. And then, after a while, when we were getting the threatening phone calls and we’re getting the breakins. You’re always looking over your back. You are always uneasy. You never knew what to expect. When you go out to the ranch by yourself to fix the fence or to check on the cattle or whatever you didn’t know what you were going to find out there. It was a pretty scary situation, very uneasy. — Edmund Gomez

”

shall County, Ill., reported widespread incidents of cattle mutilations. The memorandum concluded on this chilling note: “This is furnished to the Bureau in view of numerous references in this article to Federal investigative agencies and also theories that these mutilations of cattle are only a forerunner of later mutilations of human beings.” Edmund said he and his family also worried that whatever was happening to their cattle wouldn’t stop with the animals. “I was wondering, are they going to do humans next?” Edmund said. Edmund believes that the government is responsible for what happened to his family’s ranch. The cattle mutilations, he believes, are related to Project Gasbuggy. In 1967, the Atomic Energy Commission detonated a nuclear device near Dulce. The name of the project was Project Gasbuggy, which was meant to ease the flow of natural gas in the Dulce area and the Northwest area of Dulce. “But on the other hand, that governmental project may have created some kind of a disaster in the sense that radiation leakage started happening in the late 1970s, and that’s coincidentally when a lot of cows in that area were affected – not only cows, but sheep and other animals. And coincidentally, in the late 1970s, there have been many cattle mutilation cases in that Dulce area and southern Colorado and so on,” Hayakawa said. In 2013, author Greg Valdez published his father’s investigations into the cattle mutilations in Dulce. He laid out a theory in his book, “Dulce Base The Truth and Evidence from the Case Files of Gabe

Valdez,” that the government was monitoring the radiation effects on specific local cattle and was trying to do research on the tissue of cows in the area. The government, according to Valdez, was trying to avoid scaring people or reveal that they had made a mistake and leaked radiation. Gabe, who was a New Mexico state trooper stationed in Dulce, believed the government clandestinely chose cattle and took them by helicopter for testing. Edmund said several police officers even spotted a strange aircraft hovering over his family’s cattle ranch one night. “If radiations leakage happened because of Project Gasbuggy, it’s a big issue health-wise,” Hayakawa said.

The mystery continues without answers Eventually, the Gomez family couldn’t keep up with the cattle losses and in 1985 had to sell the ranch, which had been in their family for 100 years. “My dad and I were leasing the ranch from my grandfather,” Edmund said. “We would run the cows for him, but we were responsible for any deaths. So we have to replace say, if there was 100 head of cows, we had to give him 100 head of cows, and then whatever the percentage of the calves to keep it going. Our intention at that time was to purchase the ranch from my grandfather. Well, because of the financial situation there, we took a beating, and eventually we couldn’t come up with the cash to purchase the ranch when the family decided to sell it.” When asked whether he thought his family would ever receive compensation, answers, or closure for what happened to them, Edmund said he gave up on that idea long ago. “I had hoped that we would at this time, but I don’t see it happening,” Edmund said. “We can’t afford to sue the government. We don’t have the financial resources to do so. And the other part of it is, the government has to give permission to be able to sue them anyway. So, we were stuck with the bill.” Though Edmund also saw a strange aircraft hovering next to his school bus while he was in sixth grade, he doesn’t believe that aliens are responsible for his family’s hardships, and believes that only hard evidence is going to give people the answers they’re looking for. “There’s things that I’ve seen. I can’t explain them, but I’m sure there’s got to be an explanation for them. But, the only thing that I know is that the evidence that has been left behind all points toward the government, toward humans. I’m not saying that there aren’t extraterrestrial aliens that have been visiting, or that we haven’t inter-dimensional worlds that come and go. ... I haven’t seen that,” Edmund said. “We don’t have the evidence to (support) that. I think people are thinking, ‘Well, since I can’t explain it, I’ll make up a hypothesis and try to try to figure it out.’ So, I can only go with what is concrete data that we have to support what we’ve seen. Everything points to humans and points to the government.”

�� Thursday, February 28, 2019 | 15

[weed]

Deadpool 2, the vacuum, and a whole lotta JCDLS What’s better than regular ol’ Jedi Sun and Cherry Diesel flower? Well, nothing really, but what’s different and just as great as those two strains? Uh, Jedi Cherry Diesel Live Sugar from Harmony Extracts, that’s what. That live sugar is what we’re reviewing this week for Prohibition Herb, and let me tell you fools, this little jar of sugar is pure gold. In case you didn’t catch it above, this stuff is made from two of Prohibition’s premium strains – Jedi Sun and Cherry Diesel. The two strains go through an extraction process and are turned into thousands of delicious, tiny THC-A crystals and syrupy terpenes. I dipped into this jar on a Friday night with a friend in the midst of the snowpocalypse, and it was a very good choice. We decided to test it out with a regular ol’ vape pen because it’s easy, and the snow had made us particularly lazy that day. We’re talking watching “Deadpool 2” lazy because neither of us cared to find the remote. This live sugar is a potent concoction, from the aroma to the THC content

– this particular batch contains 87.79 percent THC – so all it took was a minute amount to kick both of us dead in our asses.

the vacuum, I sat back on my clean couch and let the dreamy high from the Jedi Sun properties in the sugar take over.

I only took a handful of hits, but nevertheless, I morphed into a stoned cleaning machine. I’d been dreading the task of tackling a massive pile of laundry that was sitting on top of my dryer (even though I was down to the reject clothes in my closet), but holy hell, did I tackle those jeans. I was like a laundry whiz, whirring around while my eyes were still somehow glued to “Deadpool.”

Don’t believe me? Here are some notes as proof.

I then proceeded to dig out the vacuum to tackle those annoying tumbleweeds of dog hair that live in the corners of every room, and I even wiped down the leather couch for the first time in like a solid six months. My living room has never been cleaner. But before you turn your nose up at this cleanliness-inducing live sugar, you should know that it was hardly all work and no play because that makes Jack and DGO Pufnstuf a dull boy. After I’d exhausted the work I could do with

1. My eyes feel fluffy. (Don’t know but I dig it.) 2. My last name is spelled so weirdly. It’s said even weirder. (And it is! Stoned, motivated me was correct.) 3. Oh man. I just got real stoned, like it hit me in the face. I also felt it necessary to note one last thing: 4. I love Cher. Listen. It’s OK to like Cher and it’s OK to clean like a maniac every once in a while. But, if you’re for some reason staunchly anti-Cher, just make sure you don’t flip on “Deadpool” or its badass soundtrack and you should be solid. The Jedi Cherry Diesel live sugar will make sure of it.

Details Where to find Jedi Cherry Diesel live sugar (dang, that’s a mouthful): Prohibition Herb, 1185 Camino del Rio, 970-385-8622, prohibitionherb. com Price: $54 a gram Caveats: Prohibition didn’t bribe us for a good review. Our opinions are all our own.

—— DGO Pufnstuf

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[weed]

Like the real Reba, Reba flower is fancy and won’t let you down I have a theory that Pagosa Therapeutics is trying to see juuuuust how high they can get Sir Blaze Ridcully and me. Is there a contest or a bet going on, you guys? Cause y’all have conquered that task efficiently, time and time again. This week, we tackled a flower strain called Reba, which we picked up from the dispensary during a break in the snowpocalypse. No ditches for us, thanks! Reba is a bit of a mystery to me – I’d never heard of it, never smoked it, and I’m not even sure of its origins. I know, I know ... slacker. What did you expect from a chronic pothead?! But while I don’t really know much about this strain of flower, what I DO know is that despite this babe being around 17 percent THC, it kicked my ass. It kicked my ass so hard. (Do their strains ever do anything otherwise?) It also kicked Blaze’s ass ... which, to be fair, isn’t really that hard. But still. I recently misplaced my dry herb vape (probably while smoking one of Pagosa’s deadly strains), so we had to go old school on this one and smoke it out of a freaking pipe like plebs. It had been so long since I’d smoked out of a regular ass glass pipe that it was almost like having to relearn the process. And Sir Blaze, who got so high off of like, three hits of Reba that they couldn’t figure out how to use the freaking lighter. I was dying inside AND outside because I was laughing so hard. Some people are the best-worst, and Blaze is one of them. So, in the midst of trying to take notes for this review and smoke the bowl, I also had to light Blaze’s bowls. Does that tell you where we’re going with this? E’rybody in the garage gettin’ tipsy ... erh, stoned. Super stoned. I don’t have many notes from the beginning of this Reba journey because I had to hand-hold someone who couldn’t use a lighter, but my notes from the post-garage time frame are brilliant. Wanna see? Sure you do. Here goes: 1. “That feeling when you hit exit on the remote instead of enter. Insert two crying emojis here.” 2. My legs are getting high.

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Details Where to find Reba: Pagosa Therapeutics, 235 Bastille Drive, Pagosa Springs. Find them at 970-7314420 or pagosatherapeutics.com Price: $18 a gram 3. “My head just got real high and Blaze can barely talk. Blaze is singing instead.” 4. I can hear myself chewing. 5. I wonder why I hear the drums so prominently every time I’m stoned. 6. “Frère Jacques bullshit.” Insert two laughing emojis. 7. “Time goes so slow. I’m going to send everyone “Schitt’s Creek” gifs. So, as you can tell, I was only borderline coherent after Reba, which was fine by me. I was so over driving in the snow, and watching the snow, and trudging through the snow, and cursing the snow ... Reba sending me into stoned oblivion was a welcome refuge, even with my apparent overuse of note-emojis. I’d ask Blaze their thoughts on this strain, but I’m like 85 percent sure there is no recollection of that time frame for them. So I’ll skip the dual review on this one and just go with what I learned, which was that Reba and its mystery origins is awesome. I don’t really care where this strain came from cause it’s great. Anything that gets me outer space-stoned and turns Blaze into a human puddle is just fine by me. —— DGO Pufnstuf

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[weed]

Confucius Kush say ... two nugs in the hand is worth one in the jar Confucius say ... confession is good for the soul, but bad for your career. Perhaps that faux Confucius quote is a mantra I should live by. It probably won’t happen though, and I’ll still confess to you every other week my weed-related sins for your voyeuristic pleasure. But while I don’t plan to stop confessing, even for the sake of my career, what I DO plan to do is tell you about Confucius Kush, a strain of cannabis flower I smoked for this here review. Nice segue, right? Anywho, as you may have gathered, we’re reviewing Confucius Kush, a strain of flower that we got from our friendly budtenders at Chronic Therapy in Cortez. I don’t really have much background information on this strain (surprise! I’m unprepared), but I do know it’s an indica, and I also know it knocked me into 500 B.C., when the real Confucius was around and actually imparting wisdom on people. Here’s what happened.

When I initially popped open the lid of the gram of Confucius Kush, I was genuinely impressed with how fat these nugs were. I wasn’t really expecting to see such dense, thicc buds sitting there, but alas, that is what I found. I lit up a bowl with a friend in the garage – screw smoking outside in 12-degree weather – and got to chatting. First inhale, I knew this was going to knock my friend on their proverbial ass. I’m a jerk, though, and I think inadvertent mega-inhales are hilarious, so I didn’t say anything, and just giggled uncontrollably as I watched their first inhale instead. As expected, there was a huge gasp, a deep choke, and then a super pissed off glare thrown my way. Don’t worry, though. Karma got me back the next round, when Confucius’ mega-smoke knocked me down. It was like inhaling chalk dust, you guys. So very heavy. You shouldn’t let that deter you, though. What goes hand in hand with that super heavy smoke? Uh, a su-

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per heavy high ... just what I needed after one very terse Monday. As you may have gathered, it didn’t take very much at all for me to be launched into the clouds, my head full of fuzz and my throat full of smoke. My friend, on the other hand, tried to make up for their smoking faux pas by trying to be Billy Badass, and they just kept going for it, hit after hit, well after I’d tapped out. I was impressed, but please don’t tell them that. Anyway, as I said, I became super freaking high after a few hits, and it was definitely that heavy indica high that trickles through every appendage and into your brain like a seeping pipe. In other words, it was killer. My head was high, my limbs were high (mostly my legs), and even my eyeballs were high, according to my notes. I puddle-rolled inside like Alex Mack (anyone else remember that show?) and threw myself on the couch dramatically, where I stayed until I passed out. But, before passing out, I specifically remember sinking into the couch so deeply that I felt one with the cushion. Call it my zen Confucius moment. Those are probably different ideologies, but just go with it. I remember time dragging – commercials, especially that Hurry Cane infomercial, felt like they were the length of a Mel Gibson movie – and while I was super amused with it, it wasn’t that giggle-bitch

Details Where to find Confucius Kush: Chronic Therapy, 1020 S. Broadway, Cortez, chronictherapy.co. type of amusement. I was more mesmerized, really. And, at one point, I wrote in my notes the following: “Super indica. Back when Trump was elected, Gawker still existed.” While those were definitely the words of one very high stoner, I stand by them this morning. Confucius Kush is most certainly a “super indica,” and it will knock you sideways into your couch, just like you (presumably) like it. I also stand by my Gawker lament. #RIP Gawker.com, the former reining king of snark. We may have lost you, but at least we’ll always have copious amounts of very good weed like Confucius Kush – and bad puns – to amuse us. It’s a fine consolation prize indeed. —— DGO Pufnstuf

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More information at FourCornersExpos.com 18 | Thursday, February 28, 2019 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[politics]

IS VOTING FOR CITY COUNCIL

THE ULTIMATE ‘SUPPORT LOCAL’ MOVE? When Marcos Wisner told me he was running for City Council, I was surprised. Not in a bad way – as a Durango native and the co-owner of Ernie’s 11th Street Station, I knew this small business owner was smart enough to hold his own on the council. No, what surprised me was that he was going for it in the first place. I mean, we’re roughly the same age, and running for a position on City Council felt like something ... okay, I’ll just say it. It felt like something that older people get involved in. Not old people, mind you – just people who are older than Wisner me. I’d never even considered that someone from my generation would take the time to be a part of local government. Marcos laughed and told me I wasn’t alone: a lot of younger people don’t think about City Council at all. In fact, he hadn’t really considered running either until two seats opened up in the upcoming election. After talking with some community members, he realized a lot of people agreed with his opinions, and if he gave it a go, he might even inspire young people to get out and exercise their voice. After all, if someone in a younger generation would stand up and fight for them, wouldn’t they be inspired to speak up for what they need? And really, that’s exactly what he hopes to accomplish: getting more involved in the process and becoming a voice for the community – especially those who feel their voices are not heard. The more we talked, the more my eyes opened. I’m a member of this community – I live here, work here, and pay taxes here. Shouldn’t I have a stake in what goes on in my town and how my

money is being spent to improve it? And, of course I care – enough to make disgruntled comments on a newspaper’s Facebook page anyway, and certainly enough to troll perfect strangers on those same comment threads (drunken Facebook should NOT be allowed, just saying). It’s easy to stand up when one is mostly anonymous, but our points of view are so easily skewed in print. Complaints become an invitation for more hate, and it’s way too easy to gang up on each other. No, social media is not the best place to exercise my voice because it’s not actually being heard by the people who matter. So, how do we mend the disconnect? Wouldn’t it be great if we had a way to stand up, get in-

volved, inject our voices into the process, and bring fresh ideas to the table? Ahem, there is a way – City Council – and someone in my generation feels so strongly about getting involved in it that he’s willing to give up his time to do it. Shouldn’t I also rise to the occasion? Each one of us can make a huge impact by simply voting for the people who sit on the council. In fact, you can have more impact at a local level than any other form of government. It’s hard to see the ripple effect when participating in federal and state elections, but ballot measures and elections at the local level can be separated out by a mere handful of votes. And, while it’s not the sexiest way to spend your Tuesday night, showing up to the meetings is another way to get involved. Maybe you own a business and are upset about restrictions, or perhaps you’re a citizen who’s unhappy about the way the city is maintaining the budget, its infrastructure, or the homeless situation. You might be perfectly happy with everything about this town except the ability to find affordable housing. Guess what? Our City Council hears all of these issues, and all you have to do is show up and speak your mind (intelligently, I hope). Nothing happens overnight, especially not in politics, but we can choose to be a part of the change we’d like to see in the world. How great would it feel to look back one day and say, “Hey, I had an impact on this!” We’re doing it by shopping local and buying produce at the farmer’s market instead of the grocery store or choosing craft beer over big beer. If we’re investing in the future of our local economy with how we spend our hard-earned dollars, why couldn’t we make participating in our local government the ultimate “support local” move? I think we can, and I don’t think it will be that hard, either. Ballots go out on March 16, and the City Council election is April 2. Better yet, they hold regular meetings on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm. It might seem boring, but once you get involved, it could easily become something you’ll get excited about. — Lindsay Mattison

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[movies]

Farrelly’s Green Book: One of 2018’s most polarizing films As the chaos of the 2018 awards season comes to an end next week, let us revisit one of the more polarizing and divisive films of last year: Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book.” A light-hearted biopic about the real-life friendship between pianist Donald Shirley (played by Mahershala Ali) and club bouncer/occasional driver Frank Vallelonga, or his public moniker, “Tony Lip” (Viggo Mortensen). I should mention right away that just because the film is directed by one of the Farrelly brothers of “Dumb and Dumber” (1994) and “Me, Myself and Irene” (2000) fame, the characterizations of the men in “Green Book” are not a complete joke. That’s not why some people are turned off by the film. But it is a lot like “Driving Ms. Daisy” (1989), the popular period piece where two very strong lead performances compete in a film that’s basically a fluff piece. There’s also the argument that Ali – who is now the front runner for Best Supporting Actor – is clearly a co-lead that’s currently a product of category fraud. So, on to the plot of “Green Book.” Tony Lip is out of a job in 1962 New York and looking for easy work before Christmas, and Dr. Don Shirley is in need of a driver for a two-month long tour of the South. Despite their personal differences and Tony’s casual racial prejudice, the two come together for the sake of their careers. Don and Tony start to get along with each other while on the road for eight weeks, and Don even helps Tony write love letters to his wife Dolores (Linda Cardellini) back home. Tony also gets firsthand knowledge of the racism Don regularly experiences for being black (such as being handed a green book filled with motel options when hotels are white only), and in turn, Don sees Tony mocked for being Italian-American. The thing about “Green Book” is that there are some genuinely good scenes, particularly early on when Don and Tony are getting to know each other,

and there was a lot of potential for this to be an ode to a talented but overlooked musician from the mid-20th century. Instead, the film feels much like a race-swapped, gender-swapped “Driving Ms. Daisy” or a much less depressing “Philadelphia” (1993). The acting is great and the friendship feels real and puts a smile on your face, but as the movie goes on, the portrayal gets a little fairytale-ish, with Tony quickly becoming the only “good” white guy in a sea of bigoted Southerners. This is a trope we’ve seen many times in classics, like “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) and “In the Heat of the Night” (1967). The difference is, though, that as overdrawn as that cliché has become on screen, the older movies still hold up because they care about the characters and story and are taking them seriously. And while “Green Book” does take Shirley and Lip seriously, and Ali and Mortensen have a ton of naturally flowing chemistry, you can easily tell that the film is co-written and co-produced by Frank’s son, Nick Vallelonga, just about the time the overwhelmingly sympathetic qualities of Tony take over in the middle of the second act. The biggest missed opportunity is the final scene, which should have been a nice, subtle send-off. We get the typical saccharine, sweeping encore that is common in family pieces or romcoms instead. Green Book has been getting way too many Best Film and Best Screenplay awards this past six weeks – and is in no way better than say, “Roma” or “The Favourite.” But, like a lot of my fellow film critics, I’m still going to recommend it, primarily on how strong the performances are. —— Megan Bianco

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[advice]

Rocky Road | Katie Burford

Acid trips and college furniture: Are psychedelic drugs the key to unlocking the mind? Late spring of my sophomore year in college, my friends and I decided to have a house-warming party. The small liberal arts school I attended required students to live on campus for two years. Having completed my dorm duty, I was moving into a dilapidated mid-century clapboard house with two friends. It was the first time I would be paying my own rent. The party encompassed our house and the house next door, where more friends were living. The keg of beer had already been flowing for several hours when a friend pulled me and several others aside and asked if we wanted to drop acid. “Sure!” we said. The next thing I remember with clarity was taking a shower the next morning to try to make myself presentable before my mom got into town. Problem was, as I rinsed my hair, I felt myself being dissolved by the water and washed down the drain. “Pull yourself together,” I thought. My mom had driven several hours to help me pick out some furniture for my new room. I was so strung out and exhausted, I told her I wanted the first bed I laid my eyes on. Turns out it was horribly uncomfortable and squeaked worse than a rusty weather vane. I was cursed with it the rest of my college career. I hated that bed, and I partially blamed acid, which I never took again, though I confess to dalliances with other mind-altering compounds. I’ve had cause to recall that last LSD trip, however, as I’ve been reading Michael Pollan’s “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.” Pollan, famous for his books on food, could have shortened his subtitle to “What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Everything,” because his premise is that just about every human endeavor could probably benefit by

at least a small dose of mind-expanding drugs. “I’ve begun to wonder if perhaps these remarkable molecules might be wasted on the young, that they may have more to offer us later in life, after the cement of our mental habits and everyday behaviors has set. Carl Jung once wrote that it is not the young but people in middle age who need to have an ‘experience of the numinous’ to help them negotiate the second half of their lives.” He alludes to the theory that psychedelic plants may have been what spurred cavemen to develop language and argues that similar compounds could be used today to generate ideas grandiose enough to pull us back from the brink of climatological and socio-political disaster. Also, he exposits how they can alleviate mental illness and help so-called healthy normals live more satisfying, transcendent lives. “Was it possible that a single psychedelic experience—something that turned on nothing more than the ingestion of a pill or square of blotter paper—could … shift how one thought about mortality? Actually change one’s mind in enduring ways? The idea took hold of me,” he wrote. Pollan’s powers of persuasion are formidable — I remember choking down handfuls of plain walnuts after reading his treatise on whole foods back in 2006 — but several hundred pages of his homage to tripping still left me uncertain. Yes, under the most generous interpretation, I could have cast my sensation of being washed down the drain as my ego filtering through the bowels of Mother Earth. But it was more curious than enlightening. Were I to relay my experience to Pollan, he would probably say the problem was the “set and setting” of my trip, which have been found to have an outsized impact on the experience of the tripper. “Compared with other drugs, psychedelics seldom affect people the same way twice, because they tend to magnify whatever’s already going on both inside and outside one’s head.” This being the case, I would probably say

that an earlier experience I had with LSD was more representative of its potential. That time, I was tripping on campus with some friends, who decided they wanted to go to a party. I was leery of having to act normal around others so I told them I was going back to my dorm room instead. Once I got there, and the walls started whispering about what a pathetic loner I was, I started to rue my decision. Just then, my friends came pouring in the room. I’d never been so happy to see them. They told me the party didn’t matter. Had I harkened to the lesson of that experience, I would have seen that avoidance of perceived judgment drove me to isolation, where my loneliness made me miserable. In seeking to avoid emotional suffering, I ran right into its embrace. Sadly, I would continue making this mistake well into adulthood, even as I grew to see the maladaptiveness of it. It’s an axiom of human behavior that insight does not always — or even often — lead to change. In this I see the flaw in Pollan’s assertions about psychedelics. Even if they allow us to glimpse other worlds, we still have to live in this one. Just as he asserted in his previous books that there is no shortcut to healthy eating, I would argue that there is no elevator to enlightened well-being. Rather, you set out each day making mindful choices, and, if you’re lucky, end the day having stayed on that path. Author’s Note: Regular readers of this column may have noticed that I am not dispensing advice this week. In collaboration with DGO editors, I have decided to drop that format. From now on, Rocky Road will be a column dedicated to the mind and human behavior. I am still eager to hear your thoughts. You can reach me at rockyroad@ dgomag.com. —— Katie Burford Katie Burford has worked as a social worker, journalist, university instructor, nanny and barista. These days, she’s a mom, professional ice cream maker and writer.

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Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19) You will be powerful this week when talking to parents, bosses and the police. When you speak, others will listen because you believe in yourself. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You feel charged up this week about political, racial and religious issues, which is why you won’t hesitate to speak your mind. You also might be excited about a future trip. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You will stand your ground this week in disputes about shared property, inheritances and insurance matters. This is because you believe you are right, which gives you the courage to defend yourself. CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Bizarro

You might attract someone to you this week who is bold and forthright. In

fact, this person might set you back on your heels; nevertheless, it will be interesting! LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) You have lots of energy to work out this week, which is why you will be productive. You are concerned about the welfare of co-workers, for which they will be grateful. VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) This is a creative week for you! You feel friendly and eager to socialize with others. Sports events and playful activities plus the arts will appeal to you. Enjoy this week! LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) This week, you have the energy to make improvements at home. This will please you because you like your home to look attractive, not just to impress others, but because you like to be in

nice surroundings. SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) If you are in sales, marketing, acting, teaching or writing, you will be effective this week. Others will be persuaded by what you have to say. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) Respect your moneymaking ideas this week because this is a good week for business and commerce. You know what you want to accomplish when it comes to money matters.

Keep your ear to the ground because something is taking place behind the scenes. If you suspect something is percolating on the back burner, it is! PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) This is a wonderful week to schmooze with others, especially with groups, clubs and organizations. People will love your energy and emotional flair!

This week, the moon is in your sign getting a blast of energy from Mars. This will help you take advantage of whatever presents itself to you.

BORN THIS WEEK You are sensitive and emotional and will help those who are suffering. Take care of yourself this year so you are a strong resource to others. Nurture relationships you value. Focus on your personal responsibilities to family as well as yourself because service to others is important this year. Explore the arts; enroll in a class. Personalize your home with treasures that have meaning.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19)

Unidentified flying facts Government guffaw Believe it or not, it wasn’t terribly long ago that the government admitted to taking reports of UFOs and aliens seriously. So seriously that they funneled $22 million in “black money” from the Department of Defense’s budget into researching UFOs. Abduction accounts One of the first documented reports of a UFO abduction came from Betty and Barney Hill in 1961, and included stories about “grays” with big, saucer-like eyes and a medical exam and crude pregnancy test. The Hills’ account has long been cited by UFOlogists as proof that aliens exist. Mating mess Like the Hills, Brazilian farmer Antonio Villas Boas reported in 1957 that he was abducted not by grays, but by barking aliens who covered him in gel and mated with him, according to Discover Magazine. Yikes.

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