December 8,2021: Santa Fe Reporter

Judge Jason Lidyard works to keep people with addictions out of the criminal justice system rather than allow them to be swallowed up by it

Drug Court Vanguard B Y T E D A L C O R N , P . 13

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DECEMBER 8-14, 2021

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DECEMBER 8-14, 2021

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SFREPORTER.COM

DECEMBER 8-14, 2021 | Volume 48, Issue 49

NEWS

BANKING BUILT FOR

OUR COMMUNITY.

OPINION 5 NEWS 7 DAYS, CLAYTOONZ AND THIS MODERN WORLD 6 OMG, CRT! 9 Proposed changes to New Mexico social studies standards have whipped up fears, but adjustments are nothing new to Santa Fe teachers MONEY TO GROW 11 Cannabis microbusiness loan program aims to level inequity but people entering the industry say timing is terrible COVER STORY 12 DRUG COURT VANGUARD Judge Jason Lidyard works to keep people with addictions out of the criminal justice system rather than allow them to be swallowed up by it

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU The journalists at the Santa Fe Reporter are in overdrive to help our community stay connected. We plan to continue publishing a print edition and daily web updates. Can you help support our journalism mission? Learn more at sfreporter.com/friends

MAX MYERS, PRESIDENT/CEO

Century Bank is about more than just banking.

To me, it’s about community. I want to help our community members build and fortify their

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CULTURE

financial lives in a way that’s both positive EDITOR AND PUBLISHER JULIE ANN GRIMM

SFR PICKS 21 Make your own whiskey, get your own clay, buy local and embrace the tradish

ART DIRECTOR ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN CULTURE EDITOR ALEX DE VORE

3 QUESTIONS 24

NEWS EDITOR JEFF PROCTOR SENIOR CORRESPONDENT JULIA GOLDBERG STAFF WRITERS BELLA DAVIS WILLIAM MELHADO

A&C 29 WHAT’S IN A NAME? A couple of film weirdos opened a cinema

CULTURE WRITER RILEY GARDNER DIGITAL SERVICES MANAGER BRIANNA KIRKLAND

FOOD 31 SO YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A BREAKFAST BURRITO [VOL. 4] Baja Tacos and Sagche’s Coffee House for life!

MOVIES 32

DISPLAY/CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE ROBYN DESJARDINS CIRCULATION MANAGER ANDY BRAMBLE OWNERSHIP CITY OF ROSES NEWSPAPER CO.

WOLF REVIEW Plus a confused version of 1999 in Mixtape and some kind of creepy-ass hole in The Whole Truth

PRINTER THE NEW MEXICAN

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THE CALENDAR 22 WITH MUSICIAN/PROMOTER DYLAN BLANCHARD

and impactful for them and the community.

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SFREPORTER.COM • • DECEMBER DECEMBER8-14, 8-14,2021 2021 SFREPORTER.COM

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AVANGRID Has Delivered in New York and Connecticut With Reliable Power, Jobs and Partnership We have been working closely with AVANGRID and its parent company, Iberdrola, since 2008. We also have been following the proposed merger in New Mexico. What the lone opponent – New Energy Economy (NEE) – is saying about AVANGRID’s performance in the Northeast is taken out of context and is grossly inaccurate.

Another thing to consider is the differences in the storms in the Northeast compared with the storms in New Mexico. Because of climate change and the number of large trees, the storms in the Northeast have gotten more treacherous leading to trees falling, power lines coming down and resulting in power outages. Unfortunately, AVANGRID’s utilities have been impacted as have all the others. But in contrast to what is being reported on in New Mexico, the AVANGRID utilities have outperformed all its competitors in both response times and rates of getting power restored due to these severe storm outages.

NEE touts at every opportunity the fines charged to AVANGRID. But what isn’t shared is that after severe storm outages, fines are assessed to ALL utilities. The duration of outages and the fines paid by AVANGRID are dramatically less than every other utility in the region.

FOR EXAMPLE, RESPONSES TO HURRICANE ISAIAS POWER ISSUES IN THE SUMMER OF 2020 RESULTED IN: • AVANGRID’s Connecticut utility received a $1.2 million fine • AVANGRID’s New York utility received a $1.5 million fine COMPARE THOSE FINES WITH THE OTHER UTILITIES IN THE REGION: • • • •

Eversource Energy in Connecticut received a $28.5 million penalty Con Edison received a $75 million penalty Orange and Rockland Utilities received a $19 million penalty Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. received a $16 million penalty

The other thing people aren’t aware of is the leadership and investment AVANGRID is making in the states where they operate. In New York, AVANGRID’s five-year capital expenditure plan for NYSEG and RG&E calls for a $4.7 billion investment. That includes $490 million to deploy 1.9 million smart meters throughout the service territories and $1.3 billion to improve system reliability and meet resiliency goals and objectives.

AVANGRID continues to innovate while delivering beyond its original commitment to New Yorkers.

In Connecticut, when AVANGRID purchased UIL, the commitment was to add 150 jobs. In the six years since acquiring UIL, the actual job creation has been over 300 (more than double the original commitment).

When you consider the need for New Mexico to transition to an economy based on clean energy and protecting our natural resources for future generations, Iberdrola is truly a world leader and AVANGRID is a national leader. They have been on the national and international renewable energy stage for decades and are leaders in clean energy and wind development.

New Mexicans please don’t believe what is being said. We live and work in the Northeast and know first-hand the kind of company AVANGRID is.

Sincerely, George Pataki, Former New York Governor George Jepsen, Former Connecticut Attorney General Robert Klee, Former Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Paid Advertisement

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DECEMBER 8-14, 2021

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WILLIAM MELHADO

S F R EP ORT ER.COM / NEWS / LET T ERSTOT H E E DITOR

Mail letters to PO Box 4910, Santa Fe, NM 87502; or email them to editor@sfreporter. com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

NEWS, DEC. 1: “SEASONABLY WARM”

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NEWS, NOV. 24:

consent may help begin to standardize the healthy relationship lessons that are already a mandated part of sexual education. Currently, there is little guidance on how to teach such concepts—a recent study by UNM found that sex-ed is inconsistent across the state, with many schools being unaware of or ignoring regulations.

However, when taught successfully, such curriculum is one of the few proven preventative measures against IPV. Given the understandable reticence of victims to come forward, focus on prevention is vital. According to an analysis of The New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository, an estimated 54,401 women and 50,894 men were victims of physical and sexual domestic violence in 2019—nearly seven times more than were reported to the police.

Clearly, there is much work to be done to improve sexual/relationship safety.

Consequently, it is frustrating to see that the legislative fix of a small piece of the solution may take three or more sessions.

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RD.

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SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake: editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530.

ORT

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A crucial addition to sexual education would be affirmative consent, particularly in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV), where consent is often assumed due to being in a relationship, or there are repercussions for refusal. Requiring the inclusion of affirmative

AIRP

S OW EAD S. M

WORK TO BE DONE

SPECIALIZING IN:

LOS RD

C. MARTIN, FORMER RESIDENT OF SANTA FE, CURRENTLY OF ST. PAUL, MN

CERRIL

“BODY SOVEREIGNTY”

LETTERS

3909 Academy Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87507 | 473-3001

SANTA FE EAVESDROPPER

“My mother was a Stalinist, Betsy.”

—Overheard at a Hanukkah party

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S FREP ORTER.COM / FUN

STARLINK SATELLITE CHAIN VISIBLE OVER SANTA FE It’s not a UFO, but we know the truth is boring.

ROAD TO LOS ALAMOS BLOCKED BY MASSIVE ROCK SLIDE Or is it?

AMAZON WEB SERVICES OUTAGE SHROUDS INFO FOR MEDIA, SCHOOLS AND BUSINESSES When we say it broke the internet we really mean it this time.

LEGISLATIVE SESSION INCLUDES PLANS TO USE FED STIMULUS MONEY Please hold your applause until everyone abides by the separation of powers.

EASY-BAKE OVEN COMPETITIVE COOKING SHOW TO FILM IN NM We can’t wait to share our recipe for Melted Barbie Biscuits.

TV REPORTS CHRISTMAS TREES MIGHT BE MORE PRICEY THIS YEAR Too bad there aren’t thousands of acres of national forest around here where you can cut your own with a permit for $15.

WINTER HAS NOT OFFICIALLY STARTED YET Anyone else think it’s hard to be jolly when it’s too hot for sweaters?

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DECEMBER DECEMBER8-14, 8-14,2021 2021 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM

READ IT ON SFREPORTER.COM STILL IN SURGE COVID-19 cases continue to tax New Mexico hospitals. Officials continue to urge vaccine.

W E A R E WAY M O R E TH A N W E D N E S DAY H E R E A R E A CO UP LE O F O N LI N E E XC LUS I V E S :

UNINVESTED PROPS New Mexico educators call on fossil fuel industry to stop using their labor for oil and gas campaigns.

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the Reporter provides coverage that no one else can. And through that coverage we help readers parse between what’s really going on in the govA Letter from In May, just as schools were ernment, schools and everywrapping up the year, I met William Melhado where the public has a right to with educators all over New know.

Mexico, slogging to finish off Under the experienced what many recalled as the leadership of the Reporter’s most unpleasant year “in” news and culture editors, we classrooms. Students everysustain our appetite for acwhere, whether learning in countability off the crumbs person or remotely, struggled that fall from the table of to finish a year of uncertainelected officials and monied ty, anxiety and less-than-ideal influence. We stave off sleep to schooling conditions. report the pieces of information Hearing from students over that almost slipped through the cracks. in rural, northeastern New Mexico, on Working with the Reporter I’ve had the the Navajo Nation and right here in Santa Fe pleasure of tracking University of New clearly illuminated that, while online learnMexico’s graduate students’ effort to unioning is painful enough, not everyone has an ize, investigating small business owners equal access to a quality education they’re whose questionable practices left tens of entitled to. The discrepancies in our state’s contributors and advertisers in the dark and educational landscape were glaring, even a holding City Hall accountable for promises year into the pandemic. made to Santa Fe—and that’s all just in the We brought readers the story of New last month.

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Without it, how can we continue holding It’s our mission to listen to the voices of authority to account? How can we continour community and our state’s most vulnerue asking the begging questions that need able populations and to share their message answering? with our incredible readers who have the Like, how has the state addressed educaability to make the necessary changes. tional inequalities documented in the 2018 We funded that project, documenting Yazzie/Martinez case? Or, how did Santa New Mexico’s digital divide, by partnering Fe Public Schools spend the millions of dolwith the national educational media outlet, lars awarded to the districts by the federal The Hechinger Report. But we can’t congovernment? tinue to produce honest, influential, human The thanks and criticism that comes our reporting without the support of our comway makes this work all the more satisfying munity at home. to know that our readers engage with our I came to the Reporter after five years of work and it resonates with them. Please teaching in public and international schools help us continue doing the work we love for in New York City, Tanzania and Nepal. My our community by considering becoming a passion for education led me to New Mexico, Friend of the Reporter. where I’ve had the opportunity to report “We stave off sleep to report the pieces of information that almost slipped through the cracks.”

on schools, students and policy, locally and statewide.

In Santa Fe, we’re lucky to have multiple newsrooms covering the state capital, but

William Melhado Staff Writer Santa Fe Reporter

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VaccineNM.org/Kids 8

DECEMBER 8-14, 2021

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S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / N E WS

WILLIAM MELHADO

OMG, CRT!

Proposed changes to New Mexico social studies standards have whipped up fears, but adjustments are nothing new to Santa Fe teachers

Wendy Leighton leans on the words of Bayard Rustin, a civil rights and LGBTQ+ activist, when teaching social studies at Monte del Sol Charter School in Santa Fe.

BY WILLIAM MELHADO w i l l i a m @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

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he viral videos of school board members facing a tirade from screaming parents seem distant in the mostly-progressive bubble of Santa Fe, but the reexamination of a controversial topic ended that peace last month.

That’s when New Mexico education officials began the public comment period for the state’s social studies standards.

A frothy anger—built largely around the oversimplified myth that historically accurate education would equate to discrimination in the classroom—has made headway in other parts of the country in the form of laws aimed at limiting teacher’s ability to discuss racial inequities and white privilege with students. So far five states—Idaho, Texas,

Oklahoma, Iowa and Tennessee—have signed bills to ban what’s commonly called “critical race theory,” a framework studied at the university level that explains how systemic racism enforces racial inequalities.

New Mexico has not been spared the CRT-induced rage.

Hundreds of written and verbal comments aimed at the draft of the social studies standards poured in during a public comment period that ended mid-November.

Of the standards’ 64 authors, 30 have agreed to work on revisions based on the public’s input and will provide final edits to the state Public Education Department this week. The department plans to submit the final standards for adoption by January, according to a spokeswoman.

The current standards, which last saw a complete overhaul in 2001, “leave New

Mexico students with an incomplete understanding of the complex, multicultural world they live in,” according to a statement from the Public Education Department Secretary Designate Kurt Steinhaus.

Updates to the standards to address the lack of multicultural education aim to move the state toward compliance with the 2018 Yazzie/Martinez court order, which requires officials to provide all students with an adequate education. By adding ethnic, cultural and identity studies to the standards, PED hopes to provide education that is relevant to English language learners and Indigenous students.

As one of the standards authors’, Wendy Leighton says, the chance to participate in the process was a “once in a career opportunity.”

Leighton’s eagerness stemmed from her desire to create a social studies curriculum that speaks to all New Mexicans, including voices that history has traditionally left out.

This has been her goal while teaching social studies at Monte del Sol Charter School in Santa Fe for over two decades as one of the founding faculty.

Leighton knows other social studies educators who also approach the subject through a diverse, anti-oppression lens.

But it’s difficult to know how many, given that their approach isn’t enshrined in the standards.

But with the updates, the “Public Education Department is saying that tribal sovereignty, social justice and sustainable futures are important,” says Leighton.

“That’s a huge step forward for New Mexico.”

Leighton read and listened to practically every comment submitted, meticulously considering the feedback throughout the process—aside from the misformed statements associating the standards with CRT. Much of the national outrage over CRT, and other pandemic-related frustrations, has been directed at local school boards.

Kate Noble, Santa Fe’s school board president, says she and her colleagues on the board haven’t seen the same raw anger directed their way, in part, because the community has a clearer sense of who has final say over the social studies standards.

“In Santa Fe I think we have a savvy and a level of expertise around where these decisions are made, how they’re made, what the issues are,” Noble tells SFR. The board submitted written comments in favor of adopting the proposed standards.

Other school districts around New Mexico—Carlsbad and Alamogordo, to name two—requested additional time to review the standards given the immense workload facing educators and administrators during the pandemic.

NEWS

While Santa Fe saw little controversy over the standards, less than 60 miles to the southwest, a recent school board election in Rio Rancho showed how close misinformation about CRT came to reaching New Mexico students.

A candidate for a board seat there, Patrick Brenner, lost the District 1 race to former Rio Rancho Principal, Gary Tripp, with 46% of the votes earlier in November. Brenner, a vice president with the self-styled libertarian think tank Rio Grande Foundation, wrote on his campaign’s blog that CRT “is very present” in the Rio Rancho schools. Brenner offered quotes from the district’s mandatory training on implicit bias as evidence of his claim.

For Adrian Sandoval, claims that CRT is embedded into the proposed framework are both false and distracting from the objective to revise the standards.

As a member of the advisory committee that provided recommendations to the standards’ authors, Sandoval wanted to ensure the overlooked aspects of history, the things lacking from textbooks that mirror gaps from his own experience teaching social studies, were discussed in New Mexico classrooms. Sandoval also directs the Center for the Education and Study of Diverse Populations at New Mexico Highlands University.

Sandoval says an emphasis on the “the notion of truth” should be the focus of social studies education statewide.

To do that, he explains, students need to hear a full range of perspectives—like the activism of the LGBTQ+ community during the AIDS epidemic or the role of women in World War I—because the whole spectrum of history isn’t contained in textbooks. Even teachers may not have learned these perspectives in their own education.

Esther Kovari, one of Leighton’s social studies colleagues at Monte del Sol Charter School, says she forgoes a textbook in her teaching of American history, which enables her to highlight the “muffled voices” that Sandoval worked to include in the new standards.

“I don’t think you can really understand what happened, subsequent to the Civil War, in this country, all the way up to today, without understanding how race was constructed as a concept,” Kovari tells SFR. While the new standards won’t require Kovari to completely overhaul her curriculum in an effort to highlight perspectives of marginalized voices, she says the changes will provide an impetus for all teachers to give a more accurate representation of the country’s shared past.

SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM • • DECEMBER DECEMBER8-14, 8-14,2021 2021

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DECEMBER 8-14, 2021

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S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / N E WS

Cannabis microbusiness loan program aims to level inequity but people entering the industry say timing is terrible B Y B E L L A D AV I S b e l l a @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

C

annabis microbusiness owners will soon be able to access a $5 million loan program from the New Mexico Finance Authority following approval by an interim legislative committee last week, and applicants whose communities were disproportionately impacted by prohibition or who are from rural areas will get first cracks at the cash.

But some business owners and community organizers say there’s still work to be done around social and economic equity in the growing industry. Plus, the first loans won’t be issued until March, just a month before recreational sales are set to begin, which is hampering businesses trying to get in on the ground floor.

Suggested efforts to further promote equity include funding for legal and technical assistance to help new owners apply for licenses and education programs for workers.

The upcoming legislative session may present an opportunity to tackle those initiatives, and there appears to be a clear need to do so.

A majority of respondents to a survey from the Cannabis Regulatory Advisory Committee said a lack of access to capital is

BELLA DAVIS

Money to Grow

the biggest barrier to entry into the industry, business, so we don’t have anywhere near along with a difficult licensing process and that kind of funding,” LeDuc tells SFR. Wheeed applied for a production license tough-to-navigate regulatory rules.

Business owners who spoke with SFR and has received provisional approval pending a lease on a location. LeDuc likely would agree.

“If you don’t give these interests—who have applied for a loan through the NMFA come into the marketplace with not the expe- program if it weren’t for the relatively slow rience or the resources to compete—financial rollout. Applications are expected to open assistance, grants, loans, education, some sort by Feb. 1, with the first loans going out in of infrastructure and support, they’re more March. Recreational cannabis sales are set likely to fail than not,” says Duke Rodriguez, to begin on April 1.

“The time frame of all this is getting realpresident and CEO of prominent cannabis ly, really tough and really tight,” LeDuc says. company Ultra Health.

After a failed attempt in October, the The program timeline “seems too far out for New Mexico Finance Authority Oversight what we’re looking at, especially if they’re Committee approved the microbusiness loan program last Tuesday.

Individual loans for start-up costs are capped at $250,000 with an expected average of $100,000, and terms will be limited to five years. All licensed microbusinesses—those growing no more than 2,000 mature plants—will be eligible but if demand exceeds the available funds, priority will be given to businesses that meet yet-to-be-determined criteria for who qualifies for equity assistance programs. The state Regulation and Licensing Department has until Jan. 1 to define that criteria.

The program recognizes that while licensing for microbusinesses is less costly—with an annual fee ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 compared to $7,500 for larger vertically integrated businesses— operating costs remain burdensome.

Jonathan LeDuc is a budtender at Fruit of the Earth Organics in Santa Fe who plans to open the first dispensary in Los Alamos, called Wheeed. He thinks local investors will be a quicker avenue for funding, rather than waiting to apply to the program.

Jonathan LeDuc stands behind the counter at Fruit of “If we had a million dollars, we’d the Earth Organics with the logo for his new cannabis probably already have our completed company Wheeed. application and license but we’re a small

NEWS

expecting people to have plants by April 1.”

NMFA is working with the Cannabis Control Division “to implement this program as quickly as possible” and needs to develop the application, loan documents and monitoring protocol before it’s ready to launch, the authority’s CEO Marquita Russel tells SFR. LeDuc and his partners have backgrounds in small business, banking and realty, and he tried unsuccessfully several years ago to obtain a medical cannabis production license.

He says he was more prepared than others, so he’s been offering guidance to prospective business owners.

Many have found the licensing application process daunting and were uneducated about what exactly a microbusiness is, LeDuc says. Some even believed they would be able to run their businesses out of their homes. (They can’t.)

The Cannabis Regulatory Advisory Committee heard a similar story at its meeting last week.

The committee hired Antionette Tellez-Humble, former state director of the national Drug Policy Alliance, to guide conversations about equity with community organizers and others.

Tellez-Humble reported that participants think the state should dedicate funding—possibly tax revenue, generated from cannabis sales—for programs like culturally competent technical assistance and job training, partly as a way to repair the drug war’s myriad harms.

“Seeing how they can make that jump from being ostracized and stigmatized because of the War on Drugs and now trying to find a space in the industry seems monumental in some cases,” Tellez-Humble said. “The bottom line was if there’s no money, how is this going to happen? So there continues to be a wonder, if not a worry, that this would be an unfunded effort.”

SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM •• DECEMBER DECEMBER 8-14, 8-14, 2021 2021

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12

DECEMBER 8-14, 2021

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SFREPORTER.COM

ADRIA MALCOLM FOR THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

Drug Court Vanguard Judge Jason Lidyard works to keep people with addictions out of the criminal justice system rather than allow them to be swallowed up by it

BY T E D A LCO R N t i p s @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

O

n a Friday afternoon in August in Española, Valdez Park was quiet but not deserted. A gaunt man in oversized clothes searched vainly in the waste bins and a group of teens sat chatting around a picnic table. The park is known as a place to score drugs, says area resident Kimber Romero, “so it’s kind of funny to me that we have drug court there.”

Judge Jason Lidyard was in the bleachers alongside the park’s small baseball diamond, leafing through his notes. Early in the pandemic after courthouses closed, he’d opted to hold these bimonthly sessions outdoors. At 40, he is among the youngest judges in the state, presiding over a district that stretches south to Santa Fe and north to the Colorado border, an area of nearly 8,000 square miles. Most of his criminal docket is linked to substance abuse: Rio Arriba County, where Española is located, has for decades reported overdose rates that are among the highest in the country.

A handful of people took turns descending to the bench the judge occupied. He returned their greetings and fist bumps, offered a face mask to anyone without one, then sat eye-toeye with each person and asked how they were doing.

The participants did most of the talking: confirming whether they had adhered to their treatment regimen the past couple of weeks and venting about everyday challenges. A few people who’d had trouble arranging transportation, including Romero, phoned in. Lidyard listened attentively and reciprocated with disarming candor.

When one man likened the judge to the father figure he wished he’d had in his early life, Lidyard told him, “I lost my father when I was young, too.”

Drug and alcohol treatment courts have existed for more than 30 years and are of-

ten heralded as the single most successful intervention for diverting people with addictions away from the criminal justice system. Nationwide, an estimated 150,000 people are enrolled in them at any given time. Participants are typically allowed to avoid jail if they plead guilty and then begin a regimen of drug or alcohol rehab involving regular attendance at court, random urinalysis and some combination of counseling and treatment.

The judge is there to coordinate, cajole and, when necessary, coerce: If participants continue using substances or flout the court’s mandates, the judge can sanction them, including through rearrest. If they run the gauntlet successfully, which can take years, the judge can reduce or dismiss the charges.

But the drug court model, once widely viewed as a progressive alternative to jail, is increasingly criticized for widening the net of social control. Individual judges have great leeway but almost all of them use the threat of jail to demand abstinence. And by their very existence, drug courts assert the implicit claim that addiction is a crime rather than a disease.

This is where Lidyard’s court diverges: He does not expect clients to abstain from using—in fact, he assumes the contrary.

“I don’t care if you’re high, so long as you show up here,” he tells one. And informed by childhood memories of his own father’s addiction, he refuses to use jail as a sanction.

“Only two things will get you kicked out,” he explains. “If you don’t show up, or if you commit new crimes.”

For 50 years, Northern New Mexico has been at the front lines of the war on drugs; now it may be the vanguard of change. Lidyard and others are leading the effort, determined to keep people with addictions out of the criminal justice system rather than allow them to be swallowed up by it.

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Drug Court Vanguard “Rio Arriba is my petri dish,” he says. “What if we could actually use the criminal justice system to better people’s lives?”

Lidyard’s first exposure to addiction was more than a thousand miles distant, in the wealthy Cleveland suburb where he grew up.

His parents were high school sweethearts and still young when they had their oldest child, Sara, followed by Jason two and a half years later.

His mother, Gail, was an extrovert who held a series of service-industry jobs while doing the bulk of the housework. His father, Chris, who worked for a time as a pipefitter and then at a family printing business, was more of a wallflower but had an adventur-

Rio Arriba is my petri dish. What if we could actually use the criminal justice system to better people’s lives?

-Judge Jason Lidyard

ADRIA MALCOLM FOR THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

Few perches provide a clearer view of the region’s challenges than the mobile unit of the Mountain Center, a nonprofit that crisscrosses Northern New Mexico doing what is called harm reduction: exchanging syringes and providing other services to minimize the adverse consequences of drug use.

On a recent morning the odometer of the white Nissan van read 164,000 miles when a crew of 20- to 30-somethings rolled out with 4,000 needles, a few dozen naloxone kits to reverse overdoses and strips to test for the presence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

They began on the west side of Española, tracing a path that has varied over time as clients enter recovery, fall off the wagon, or die.

Northern New Mexico has borne the heavy burden of addiction since long before drug overdoses were recognized as a national scourge. Using an anonymized system, the Mountain Center counts about 2,000 of Rio Arriba County’s 30,000 adult residents as clients of its syringe exchange—1 in 15. Phillip Fiuty, who directs the center’s harm-reduction program, estimates that when you include people dependent on alcohol or stimulants, the true prevalence of substance use disorders is two to three times higher.

The government has predominantly

responded to these problems through the criminal justice system. Regardless of party, New Mexico’s recent governors invariably positioned themselves as “tough on crime,” in the belief that harsher penalties would deter the redeemable and confine the rest to prison, making drug use the dominant focus of prosecutors and courts.

In Lidyard’s First Judicial District, possession of a controlled substance is the second most common charge after domestic violence, and attorneys and judges say more than half their caseload is drug-related. For decades, Rio Arriba County’s jail incarceration rate has exceeded the national rate by 50% or more.

Treatment options are also scarce: The county has never had a medical detox center, and the only two residential treatment programs that accept Medicaid are often short-staffed and forced to keep wait lists.

The Mountain Center has operated for almost two decades but for much of that time didn’t have its own physical office, loading its van from a storage facility 20 miles down the highway. That reflects how marginalized harm reduction was, says Fiuty: Police would confiscate medical supplies the organization had distributed; courts would disregard clients’ participation and charge them for possession of paraphernalia. “For years, we were seen as a sort of pariah.”

Lidyard proved a kindred spirit.

The Rio Arriba County Courthouse is located in the unincorporated community of Tierra Amarilla, population 784. In late 2020, after voters reelected Lidyard for his first full six-year term, he followed through on a campaign promise to move to the area.

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ous spirit. As a teenager, he’d hitchhiked out West, and he still displayed his cardboard sign, scrawled with “Colorado or bust,” on a wall in their home.

The family was poorer than their neighbors but could afford the area thanks to the beneficence of Gail’s parents, who rented them their home, paid tuition for the children’s Catholic schooling and were a constant presence in their lives. As young children, the siblings were very close; Sara recalls they both wanted to grow up to be Supreme Court justices.

Some weekends, Chris would head out to play cards with friends and come back late or not at all. When he did, he’d retreat to his room for hours to sleep it off. The kids could sometimes hear him retching upstairs. Gail began to suspect he had an addiction when she did the family’s accounts and money was short, but when she confronted Chris, he denied culpability.

Looking back now, the family believes Chris was on a long-term job in Detroit when a colleague introduced him to crack cocaine. Soon his erratic behavior began spilling into public view. Once Sara entered a local soda shop and the owner told her: “Your dad owes me money. You can’t get anything here.” But in their privileged community, where the family had generational roots, there was little risk he’d be arrested. “I babysat for the police chief’s kids,” Sara says.

Isolated and uncertain where to turn for help, Gail ultimately enlisted her teenage daughter. They searched the phone book for nearby rehab centers and pressured Chris into going once, but he never went back.

“I think he was very ashamed of his addiction,” Gail says.

Jason and his dad spoke openly about his substance use only once. Chris was 45 and depressed after the business where he’d been working had closed. He called Jason, who was at Ohio University a few hours away, the first in his immediate family to go to college. “Your father has a drug problem,” he told his son. “I’ve been using cocaine for a long time and your mom just told me that she’s gonna leave me.” With no understanding of addiction, Jason told his dad, “You just have to choose between that and us.”

Jason was back in his hometown one weekend that fall when his sister reached him by phone: Their dad had overdosed.

Sara rushed to pick up Jason, and they drove back to their parents’ house, where an ambulance was pulling out of the driveway, lights and sirens on. “We just get behind them and we follow them,” Jason recalls. “And then we get to this main intersection, like 10 minutes from the hospital,

A longtime prosecutor in the district, Angela “Spence” Pacheco was well into her first term as DA when Lidyard stepped into her office. She shrugs off the label “progressive”—“that’s what my enemies would call me”—but acknowledges her views are informed by her Hispanic heritage, her Catholicism and the years she spent as a social worker before pivoting to law. She had vetted hundreds of lawyers, but Lidyard was the only one she recalls arriving to the job interview in cowboy boots. “I was always on the lookout for individual thinkers who could challenge me on a constructive level,” she says. She hired him straightaway.

In Lidyard’s first years as an assistant district attorney, he distinguished himself through his diligence, but also his hardheadedness. Pacheco says he had a feverish work ethic but wasn’t a good listener and rarely admitted he was wrong. More often than not, though, he was right—and he got results.

ADRIA MALCOLM FOR THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

and the lights and sirens turn off.” When they arrived at the hospital and the paramedics unloaded the stretcher, the body was already shrouded.

Their father’s death brought the siblings closer. They spoke almost every day, as Jason tried to fill in the gaps in his childhood memories. Gail moved next door to her daughter, working several jobs and spending time with her grandchildren. The stigma clouding Chris’ death never dissipated for her. Nearly 20 years later, she still pauses before saying the word “cocaine” aloud, and then only in a whisper.

When Jason graduated from college, he decided he couldn’t face moving back to the Cleveland area bereft of his dad. Instead, he followed Chris’ old route to Colorado. There he fell into a job as a legislative staffer in Denver before going on to law school. Which is how in 2011 he found himself interviewing for a job with the district attorney of the First Judicial District of New Mexico.

First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Lidyard presides over a hearing at the Rio Arriba County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla on Aug. 31, 2021.

“He was a hell of a prosecutor,” says Morgan Wood, a public defender at that time. “I didn’t want to go to trial against him.”

Lidyard also showed an interest in lightening the criminal justice system’s touch.

Assigned to handle drug cases, he began noticing similarities between his defendants’ behavior and that of his father. “That got my attention and my interest,” he says, “because I’ve always been trying to understand my father and…what addictions are about and how people get there and why it’s so hard to get out.”

Seattle had recently established the country’s first Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, known as LEAD, in which participating police officers who pick up people for low-level drug crimes take them to community-based treatment and

support services instead of arresting them.

Pacheco asked Lidyard to help replicate the program in Santa Fe. The LEAD program launched in 2014, and an evaluation later found it significantly reduced participants’ rate of rearrest during their first six months in the program.

Because participants were detained fewer days and needed less emergency medical care, researchers estimated the program saved more than it cost.

Lidyard said his involvement in LEAD was critical to his own evolution, but working collaboratively on a task force did not come easy. “Trying to get other people to buy into a new philosophy, trying to get other agencies on board, was always such a struggle,” he says. He was discouraged that, after five years of tirelessly promoting the program, he had

made little headway winning over more officers or increasing the number of arrests they diverted. So, when a judgeship opened up, he decided to pursue it. Pacheco was skeptical, telling him, “No one knows you; you’re a kid from Ohio.” Still, she lent a friendly hand, advising his campaign. In June 2018 he beat an opponent in the Democratic primary, then won the general election unopposed.

He immediately looked for processes a judge could change wholly on their own authority. Drug court was one such opportunity.

As a prosecutor he’d observed how judges ran drug courts and thought that many were too punitive. If a person missed a counseling session or skipped a urinalysis, the judge might have them arrested and jailed as a form of deterrent. Lidyard thought back to ride-alongs he’d done with police officers when he was CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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ADRIA MALCOLM FOR THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

prosecuting drug cases. “We’d go into houses and every once in a while, you’d see a drug court diploma on the drug dealer’s bedroom wall.” He reasoned: “Lasting change doesn’t come from being scared straight.”

The drug court he has operated since 2018 is his philosophy put into practice. He refashioned the team working on the court, contracting with the Mountain Center, which he felt saw more eye-to-eye with the clients than the previous treatment provider.

Unlike many drug courts around the country that screen out clients with prior violent convictions or a pattern of habitual offending, Lidyard has no eligibility criteria. And although he still asks participants to undergo urinalysis, he never imposes a sanction for testing positive; he sees it merely as a monitoring tool to prompt the court and client to openly discuss what conditions they still need to fix. “He’s not using it as a punishment but more of a mirror,” says Fiuty of the Mountain Center.

In fact, Lidyard does not jail participants at all. In his view, someone stumbling in recovery is comparable to a diabetic failing to take steps to regulate their blood sugar: in need of more support, not more disruption.

Instead, he focuses on developing strong relationships with clients. “When I became a judge, I decided I’m not going to create that revolving door,” he says.

Lidyard is not the only judge in the country to accept drug use as a given, but until the past five years, it would have been astonishing to see a drug court operate with so

Kimber Romero (center) visits with her son Jameson Romero (right), 9, and his twin sister Layla Romero, 9, at their father’s home in Española on Oct. 13, 2021.

If it wasn’t for this program, I’d be dead.

-Kimber Romero

little coercion. The scientific basis for this approach is not new, says Shannon Carey, who has researched and evaluated hundreds of courts at the for-profit company she co-runs, NPC Research: “Since the time of Skinner and Pavlov, we’ve known that people and animals and even amoebas and rats all respond better to incentives than sanctions.”

Terrence Walton, chief operating officer of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, says drug courts around the country have been evolving away from punitive approaches. When he previously directed treatment for a large court in Washington, DC, it applied a graduated list of sanctions for participants who continued to use drugs, up to jailing them for several days. “We didn’t know better. We believed that being really certain in responding to drug use was the way to go,” Walton says. Enough drug court participants have told him jail was a necessary wake-up call that he still thinks there may be

some value in retaining it as a sanction.

Among the current participants in Valdez Park, and the larger group who have passed through Lidyard’s program, the answer isn’t clear-cut. Like many drug courts that provide a lot of individualized attention, the cohort is small—there are only 15 slots—and, given that recovery is a lifelong process, measuring outcomes is difficult.

Lidyard says that many have made enormous if ineffable progress in their personal lives, and only two people who seriously engaged in the program have been arrested for new felony crimes. Over time, some success stories invariably stumble, but others speak with boldfaced confidence in Lidyard’s approach.

“If it wasn’t for this program, I’d be dead,” says Romero. An aesthetician who had struggled with alcoholism and been in and out of jail for years, she wound up in front of the judge in 2019 after police found her in the middle of the road at the end of a night of binge drinking, her ankle broken, her body covered in blood. “In the beginning, I really didn’t want to deal with it,” says Romero, now 50. “I just wanted to pay my fines or do whatever I had to do and be done.” But she knew she needed a drastic change in her life, and the structure and support of the drug court program allowed her to make it.

Lidyard “recognizes when people are on a precipice of self-destruction or caged, they

need positivity and guidance,” she says.

Lidyard has refashioned other areas under his purview, too. When people are arrested for drug crimes and brought before him to be arraigned, instead of ordering them to pretrial supervision and urinalysis, which he believes compounds defendants’ problems and deters them from reappearing in court, he requires them to attend an introductory meeting with a treatment provider and obtain two doses of naloxone.

And for people who have long struggled to extricate themselves from probation, he’s created a program he calls peer-supported probation, in which defendants meet with a person with their own experience of addiction rather than an officer. It’s led by 37-yearold Sixto Aguirre, whose shaved head is as smooth as bone and who sports a silver skull ring on each hand. Several years ago, Lidyard sentenced Aguirre for drunken driving.

Aguirre still reports to his probation officer once a month—and this experience is crucial to the trust he’s built with his clients. “I’m on their level,” he says. “They like who I am, how I talk with them and that I don’t try to be something I’m not.”

Most of all, observers mention the attitude Lidyard displays toward his charges.

“He treats them with respect,” Pacheco says.

“He sees the person, not the addict.” Lidyard knows from personal experience that people

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Drug Court Vanguard who use drugs are still contributing to their families and society at large—and that jailing them could be hugely disruptive. “My father held a job his entire life despite his addiction and was such a loving, caring individual to me and my sister and my mother, despite what he was going through,” Lidyard says. “It reminds me that just because these people aren’t making all the decisions that we would want them to doesn’t mean that they don’t have value to other people.”

Over time, local clinics and hospitals also developed more sophisticated treatment programs and hired qualified staff. The Rio Arriba Community Health Council, whose task forces bring clinicians together with representatives of the justice and education systems, has slowly convinced and trained a once-reluctant police department to carry naloxone. After a multiyear effort, in 2020 the county also got authorization to bill Medicaid for helping patients undergo substance abuse treatment and providing other behavioral health services.

Between 2014 and 2019 there were indications it was working: The county’s rate of drug overdoses fell 36%, according to state Health Department data, even as statewide overdose deaths climbed. But then the progress stalled, due to forces beyond the county’s control. Fentanyl arrived in November 2019—the Mountain Center, which sporadically tests residue from drug paraphernalia it recovers, says by now it is present in nearly all the heroin the center encounters—with the COVID-19 pandemic on its heels. Lockdowns that have isolated people from one anoth-

ADRIA MALCOLM FOR THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

Although federal officials have warmed to harm reduction—Joe Biden is the first US president to prioritize it among his drug policies, and Congress made a small but symbolically significant appropriation of $30 million for such services as part of the economic stimulus package earlier this year—it is far from universally accepted. Syringe exchange programs are still prohibited in at least 11 states, and there has been a recent backlash against operations in states where they have long operated.

Lidyard has faced his own local detractors, too. Some prosecutors grumble that when

they present cases in his courtroom he is “the best defense attorney in the room.” In his early years on the bench he developed a reputation for dressing down attorneys whom he did not deem adequately prepared. “I hold police and the prosecutors to a high standard,” he says, “and it’s not even like a high beyond what’s reasonable; it’s what the law requires.”

Meanwhile, Lidyard’s reforms are only possible because of the growth of treatment options outside of the criminal justice system.

“The reason he is able to do that is because now there is a health-care infrastructure that will support it,” says Lauren Reichelt, who founded and has run Rio Arriba’s Health and Human Services Department since the 1990s.

“If he had tried to do this 10 years ago, there would have been nothing to refer anybody to.”

In 2017, the Mountain Center secured its first physical office space and has since built out a broad spectrum of services, offering medication-assisted treatment for addiction as well as full primary, mental health and reproductive care. In 2020 the center exchanged more than 2 million syringes, making it by far the largest such operation in the state.

Peer support worker Sixto Aguirre (left) meets with Judge Jason Lidyard at Valdez Park in Española on Aug. 27, 2021.

er and disrupted access to drug treatment and medical care preceded a 29% increase in drug overdose deaths nationwide. Still awaiting a final count from the state Health Department, Fiuty estimates overdoses in Rio Arriba may have rebounded to their peak rate of one death per every 1,000 residents.

In late 2020, after voters reelected Lidyard for his first full six-year term, he followed through on a campaign promise to relocate from Santa Fe to Rio Arriba’s remote county seat, the unincorporated community of Tierra Amarilla, population 784. Judges who previously held his position would come occasionally to hear cases, but to Lidyard’s knowledge, he is the first to make a point of living there. “If you don’t know what’s happening in the community, then how can you apply the law?” he says. The lonely landscape seems an apt pasture for his ferocious and solitary concentration, but could also be seen as a retreat. There are 94 judges in New Mexico’s district courts; the influence of any one of them is limited. Changing the way justice is delivered requires winning over colleagues across and beyond the justice system, and it must outlast the individuals involved.

The program Lidyard worked on as a prosecutor, LEAD, is a case in point. After Pacheco retired, the initiative lost steam; it was later rebranded as THRIVE, and the Santa Fe Police Department effectively ceased participating. Of hundreds of drug-related arrests Santa Fe police made in 2020, they diverted only four people. “The numbers are lower than they should be,” says Kyra Ochoa, director of the city’s Community Health and Safety Department.

Addiction is a problem of monumental scale, Pacheco says, and real solutions—putting money into education, job training, housing and health—will take generations.

“But that’s not what people want to hear,” she says. “They want to know how to fix it right now.” Peering through her turquoise-rimmed glasses, the retiree noted that Oregon had recently decriminalized all drugs by ballot initiative and wondered if that was a necessary step for New Mexico. “It’s far out—but you have to admit that what we’re doing doesn’t work.”

Critics say this would amount to admitting defeat and accepting drug use as a persistent part of our world. But people who have worked to address it for decades say this is merely realism. “Addiction will be with us forever,” Reichelt says. “But [it] doesn’t have to be completely crippling our society.”

In a sense, that is the provocative idea Lidyard poses whenever he works with a new defendant. “We think of success as: They never use substances again,” he says. “We need to look at it differently.”

A version of this story originally appeared in The Washington Post Magazine.

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THE GUSTAVE BAUMANN SALE

Lot 35: Gustave Baumann (German-American, 1881 - 1971) Talaya Peak, 1926/1931, color woodcut, edition 76 of 120 9 3/8 x 11 in. (23.81 x 27.94 cm.), Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000

Live Online Auction: December 11, 10:00 AM MST Exhibition of 60+ original woodblock prints and works on paper available online and at our Baca Railyard showroom Monday–Friday.

Register to bid at santafeartauction.com Download our Auction App

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932 Railfan Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505.954.5858 info@santafeartauction.com

CLAY IS BAE You know that feeling when you go to your friend’s house (that friend who’s got their stuff together), and in addition to your inadequate feelings you discover they’ve got all these hand-crafted pottery bowls charming up their cabinets? It’s one of the most universal and horrible feelings, and we’ve all been there, but Baca Street Pottery is ready to help us heal. At the upcoming holiday sale, local artisans bring their own spins to the old clay form. Not looking for kitchenware this season? No matter. Find sculptural clay works to make your home a bit artistique, as the French may or may not say. Deep down, we all want our friends to open our cabinets and feel the pang of unadulterated jealousy, and for us to reply something like, “Oh, Baca Street’s Holiday Sale. Sorry you missed it.” (RG) Baca Street Holiday Sale: 10 am-5 pm Saturday, Dec. 11. Free Baca Street Pottery, 730 Baca St. bacastreetpottery.com

S FR E P O RTE R .CO M /A RTS / S FR P I C KS COURTESY SANTA FE SPIRITS

COURTESY BACA STREET POTTERY

EVENT SAT/11

COURTESY STRING OF LIGHTS

EVENT SUN/12 STRING YOU ALONG With news of supply line delays and product shortages putting a damper on the upcoming gift-giving onslaught, Santa Feans of every stripe would do well to remember how easy it can be to keep it local. And when it comes to Christmas gifting, look no further than the 6th Annual String of Lights holiday market event. This year’s gathering of local artists, makers and vendors takes over the cavernous Tumbleroot space with more than 35 booths, food trucks, drink specials and an appearance from freaking Santa Claus. Good for kids, good for adults, good for the locals who make stuff you’ll care about much longer than some dumb shit from Best Buy or wherever.

(Alex De Vore) 6th Annual String of Lights: 1-6 pm, Sunday, Dec. 12 Free, but pay for items. Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St., (505) 393-5135

COURTESY ROB MARTINEZ / HISTORIC SANTA FE FOUNDATION

TALK/MUSIC MON/13 HISPANO’S HOMETOWN Santa Fe is a town where people love all things old, and occasionally even some of the people (jk, senior citizens, we love you). Imagine the bliss the history nerds will feel when in the centuries-old walls, listening to the history of the state’s music—it’s transformative stuff for us nerds. History haters can find solace in what certainly will be fantastic tunes, with state historian Rob Martinez guiding an audience through melodies developed by travelers, Native peoples and Hispanic populations, and how they blended. Music is a way of expressing strife, virtue and more from people long dead. Plus, how many other state historians will pull out a guitar and play you through the state’s musical history? (RG) Alabados, Alabanzas, Inditas and Corridos: The Enduring Hispanic Music of New Mexico: 5:30 pm, Monday, Dec. 13. $10. San Miguel Chapel 401 Old Santa Fe Trail. (505) 983-2567

WORKSHOP SAT/11

On a Malt Line Santa Fe Spirits (re)opens the floor for making your own whiskey blend Whiskey: the spirit most of us know well because the open bar at our college friend’s wedding was all about whiskey sours. Many of us can become so overwhelmed by the infinite whiskey varieties out there that we rush by it in the grocery store despite our curiosities. With those prices, who wants to choose wrong?

Thankfully, Santa Fe Spirits has your back and will hold your hand through the confusion that is whiskey flavor profiles.

It’s just a matter of a few sips.

Founded in 2010 by Colin Keegan, Santa Fe Spirits’ crew loves their craft so much they’re willing to give you free recipes, plus specifics on the distillation processes of Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey, a 6-row malt smoked with Mesquite and the flagship product at the heart of the brand’s new(ish) whiskey blending courses. “[The Colkegan] is like the Southwest in a bottle,” sales director Leif West tells SFR. “This is one of our passions, near and dear to our hearts. We really wanted to share that with people.”

You might be wondering: Isn’t whiskey just whiskey? Not so, beautiful reader. Not so.

“You get various tones based on the barrels,” West explains. “Choosing a whis-

key distilled in a New American Oak barrel adds a toasted woodiness, for example.

Other options give you smokier tones, or even sweeter tones. The class allows people to really see what they like.”

During said class, you’ll be led through a tasting of the Colkegan before you set about creating your own personal blend.

That’s right—you may very well end up with a whiskey that is yours and yours alone, and you’ll at least have a better frame of reference for your next trip to the liquor store.

The class runs $125—a pretty good deal considering it comes with a whiskey tasting flight and a 750ml bottle of your own special blend. Plus, in addition to a personal tour of the distillery, there’s a discount on anything in the onsite store that day. Learn the whiskey profiles you love (or despise), compare with spirits enthusiasts or fellow novices and you also take home a custom label for your custom blend. You better get that framed.

(Riley Gardner) WHISKEY BLENDING EXPERIENCE 5:30-8:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 11. $125 Santa Fe Spirits Distillery and Tasting Room 7505 Mallard Way Ste. 1, (505) 467-8892

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THE CALENDAR We’d love to hear from you.

Send notices via email to calendar@sfreporter.com.

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ONGOING ART 2021 ABSTRACT INTERNATIONAL Nüart Gallery 670 Canyon Road (505) 988-3888 Put your eyes on the abstract.

Works from champs like Beverly Kedzoir, Emilio Lobato, Joseph Ostraff, and Willy Bo Richardson.

All day, free ANIMAL PORTRAITS: THE OTHER WORLD photo-eye Gallery 1300 Rufina Circle, Ste. A3 (505) 988-5152 x202 Brad Wilson’s astonishing animal photographs and all their thrilling details.

10 am-5:30 pm, Mon-Sat, free CELEBRATION OF COLOR FANTASY Placitas Community Library 453 Hwy. 165, Placitas (505) 867-3355 Presented by Bead Society of New Mexico (which is real, we checked). We’re talking bead embroidery, Japanese braiding techniques, bracelets, earrings and beyond.

10 am-5 pm, Wed, Thurs, Sat 10 am-7 pm, Tues 1 pm-4 pm, Sun, free HELEN PASHGIAN: PRESENCES SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-1199 A tribute to the Light and Space artistic movement.

10 am-4 pm, Thurs, Sat and Sun 10 am-7 pm Fri, free

Dance artist Emmaly Wiederholt’s new show TB or Not TB, Dec. 10 and 11 at the Railyard Performance Center.

ILONA PACHLER: UNRAVELED 5. Gallery 2351 Fox Road, Ste. 700 (505) 257-8417 A female interpretation of classical Greek mythologies and monsters, told through paintings and abstract sculpture.

Noon-5 pm, Thurs-Sat, free MARIETTA PATRICIA LEIS: SENSE MEMORIES Center For Contemporary Arts 1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 982-1338 Informed by her journeys and imbued with a sense of place, the work of Leis is situated in the vortex of light, color, minimalism and expression.

11 am-5 pm, Fri-Sun, $10 MIND THE GAP Strata Gallery 418 Cerrillos Road, Ste. 1C (505) 780-5403 Works by David Olivant and Jennifer Van. Olivant’s Retrogylphs reinvents characters and imagery from his earlier sculptures, while Van’s photography centers on emotional expression and the human form.

10 am-5 pm, Tues-Sat, free MOUNTAINS & SKY TAI Modern 1601 Paseo de Peralta (505) 984-1387 Paying homage to the high desert landscape with Japanese and American vessel makers, painters and sculptors that evoke elements of the natural world.

10 am-5 pm, Mon-Sat, free NATIVE AMERICAN NACIMIENTOS Adobe Gallery 221 Canyon Road (505) 955-0550 "Nacimiento" is the Spanish word for nativity scene or crèche, and Indigenous communities have been making them their own for decades.

Check out the collections on display from various pueblos and individual Native artists.

10 am-5 pm, Mon-Sat, free NO SHADE FOR THE SHADOW Kouri + Corrao Gallery 3213 Calle Marie (505) 820-1888 Thomas Christopher Haag's ethereal symbolism and vibrant color palette examine the push and pull of the "shadow" on the human condition. The results are retro-style, thought-provoking abstract works.

Noon-5 pm, Tues-Sat, free

Santa Fe’s Choice for High Quality Medical Cannabis 403 W. Cordova Road | (505) 962-2161 | RGREENLEAF.COM 22

DECEMBER DECEMBER 8-14, 8-14, 2021 2021 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM

EN T ER EV ENTS AT SFREPORTER.COM/CAL

REEMERGENCE 2021 Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery at IAIA 83 Avan Nu Po Road (505) 424-2300 Senior student exhibition examining a wide range of concepts spanning from identity to the effects of COVID-19 and a deep individual reflection of practices and mediums.

10 am-4 pm, Mon-Fri, free RESURGENCE: PORTRAITS FROM E.I. COUSE’S PUEBLO PHOTOS Couse-Sharp Historic Site 138 Kit Carson Road, Taos (575) 751-0369 A series based on EI Couse’s photographs of life in Taos Pueblo.

Noon-4 pm, Tues-Sat, free SMALL WORKS Susan Eddings Pérez Galley 717 Canyon Road (505) 477-4ART A vast canvas of multiple layers of color with broad brush strokes and sweeping plaster applications mixed with a elements like gold leaf.

10 am-5 pm, Mon-Sat Noon-5 pm, Sun, free THE BEDROOM PICTURES | THE SOURCE Keep Contemporary 142 Lincoln Ave. (505) 557-9574 Works of Danish-American representational oil painter Zienna Brunsted Stewart and Bulgarian-born painter Simona Ruscheva, with a deep focus on the female body.

11 am-5 pm, Wed-Sat Noon-5 pm, Sun, free THREE ON THE TREE | PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES Smoke the Moon 101 Marcy St., Ste. 23 Solo show by sculptor and painter Matthew Rosenquist and a group show celebrating all the cool things about transportation. Local and international artists featured.

Yes, come celebrate the passage of the infrastructure bill here, my friends, but quietly and to yourself.

Noon-4 pm, Wed-Sun, free WINTER SCENE Kay Contemporary Art 600 Canyon Road (505) 365-3992 Rick Stevens is a Santa Fe artist who draws his inspiration from the beautiful New Mexico winter landscape. It is more than just cold, apparently.

10 am-5 pm, Tues-Sat Noon-4 pm, Sun and Mon, free SEASONS OF CEREMONIES: RITES AND RITUALS IN GUATEMALA AND MEXICO Peyton Wright Gallery 237 E Palace Ave. (505) 989-9888 William Frej’s photography of Central American Indigenous communities and their unique rituals throughout the year.

9 am-5 pm, Mon-Sat, free

THE CALENDAR

EVENTS IAIA 2021 HOLIDAY ART MARKET Online bit.ly/31fcWeR Virtual participating artists include Ishkoten Dougi (Navajo/Jicarilla Apache), Lorraine Lewis (Laguna Pueblo/Taos/Hopi), Adrian Wall (Jemez Pueblo), Jennifer Powless (Oneida/Navajo) and many more talented folks.

All day, free

WED/8 ART PORTRAIT DRAWING Alas de Agua Art Collective 1520 Center Drive, Ste. 2 alasdeagua.com Bring a self portrait (or a portrait of whoever) and let this class help you find your “art line.” No experience necessary, plus it’s free! Come make art and feel good.

5:30 pm, free

BOOKS/LECTURES NMSA WINTER LITERARY GALA Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse 202 Galisteo St. (505) 988-4226 Join students from New Mexico School for the Arts' Creative Writing and Literature Department for the first Winter Literary Gala. The evening features exceptional works of poetry, prose and drama.

6 pm, free THE ASSASSINATION OF FRED HAMPTON: HOW THE FBI AND THE CHICAGO POLICE MURDERED A BLACK PANTHER Online bit.ly/3GcL9dU Civil rights attorney, author and local Santa Fean Jeffrey Haas discusses his memoir about successfully suing the federal government, the city of Chicago and Cook County on behalf of those killed and injured in the 1969 police raid that killed Hampton and another Black Panther member.

7 pm, free

EVENTS GEEKS WHO DRINK Second Street Brewery (Railyard) 1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-3278 Trivia night. Drink or don't, have fun and be sure to prep with a random Wikipedia binge.

8 pm, free HOTLINE BINGO Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery 112 W San Francisco St., Ste. 307 (505) 983-0134 Bingo your heart out, kids. $2 buy-in per round. Prizes and cash jackpot. We know it’s thrilling, but behave yourselves.

7 pm, $2-$10

SANTA FE TRANS, NONBINARY AND GENDER NONCONFORMING SUPPORT GROUPS Online bit.ly/2ZStngP A peer-led support group for all trans, gender nonconforming, questioning, agender and gender fluid peoples to ask questions, express troubles and feel some joys. Open to significant others, friends, family and allies too.

7-8:30 pm, free

MUSIC DYLAN EARL AND WILLI CARLISLE Leaf & Hive Brew Lab 1208 Mercantile Road, Ste. A (505) 699-3055 Americana singer-songwriters, plus openers Tony Hannah of California and Natural Lite of Taos. Honky-tonk plus Americana plus country. It’s that kind of night, friends.

7-10:30 pm, $12 THE SHINERS CLUB JAZZ BAND La Reina at El Rey Court 1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931 The Shiners are the musical background to our lives here in town, and man if they don't pair well with a bunch of spirits and beers.

8-10 pm, free THEO KUTSKO Social Kitchen & Bar 725 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-5952 Pianist and vocalist Theo Kutsko plays a mix of ‘70s rock, Broadway tunes and more.

Bonus points if they play Cats.

6-9 pm, free

THU/9 EVENTS NURSING JOB FAIR Christus St. Vincent 455 St. Michael's Drive (505) 820-5202 If you've been hiding away for the past two years—or for the entire history of humanity— we're always in need of more smart medical people to keep us alive and in minimal pain, and occasionally to remove that pesky and pointless organ (hear that, stupid appendix?).

10 am-2 pm, free SECOND THURSDAY SOCIAL RIDE Railyard Plaza Watertower Market and Alcaldesa Streets (505) 982-3373 Bike around town with other bike-minded friends. 5-8 miles of a delightful social pace.

Finish up back at Second Street in the Railyard for some more socializing about whatever bike people like to talk about. Wear reflective stuff, it's dark in these late-fall times.

7-9 pm, free

Explore three Scandinavian dress traditions—Swedish folkdräkt, Norwegian bunad, and Sámi gákti—and trace their development during two centuries of social and political change across northern Europe.

public OPENING

Sunday, DECEMBER 12 · 1:00–4:00 pm free admission all day!

1:30 pm Santa Lucia Procession 2:00 – 3:00 pm Exhibition Book Signing 2:00 – 4:00 pm Refreshments hosted by the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico 2:30 – 3:30 pm Swedish Fiddling with Karina Wilson

public Lecture

Friday, DECEMBER 10 · 3:00 pm Camilla Rossing, Director of the Norwegian Institute for Bunad and Folk Costume, presents a talk on how traditional dress in Norway continues to change and evolve within a multicultural population.

On Museum Hill in Santa Fe InternationalFolkArt.org · (505) 476-1200 Dressing with Purpose is generously funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Swedish Council of America, the International Folk Art Foundation, and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.

photo: Jenni Laiti in gákti she made to raise awareness of contemporary issues facing Sámi communities. Photo © Carl-Johan Utsi.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

SFREPORTER.COM •• DECEMBER DECEMBER 8-14, 8-14, 2021 2021 SFREPORTER.COM

23

La Emi Dec 27-30 7:30PM

BRANDON SODER

AT THE BENITEZ CABARET AT THE LODGE AT SANTA FE

With Musician/Promoter Dylan Blanchard

DOORS 6:45PM | TICKETS $20-$50

TWO SHOWS NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH CHAMPAGNE TOAST

Dec 31 6:30PM & 9:30PM DOORS 6PM & 9PM TICKETS $40-$100

WITH SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCES BY

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WITH GABRIEL LAUTARO OSUNA JAVIER SAUME MAZZEI | OLIVIA ROJAS CARLOS MENCHACA | DANIEL PEREGRINO

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT

HHANDR.COM/ENTERTAINMENT 505-660-9122

Now that Second Street Brewery can once again host eclectic live music at its original and Rufina Street locations, things are kind of looking up for people who missed rocking. Before the pandemic, Matron Records founder and leader of post-punk act Future Scars, Eliza Lutz, ran the show at Rufina, but with Lutz focusing more on label, arts and personal projects these days, bandmate Dylan Blanchard has heeded the call and taken the reins. An accomplished solo musician as well, Blanchard is uniquely aligned to bringing a variety of styles to each venue. We gave him a ring to talk about his plans, his jamz and the lay of the land. Catch the Korvin Balkan Brass Orkestar with Los Klezmerados de Santa Fe this Friday, Dec. 10 at the Second Street Rufina Taproom (8 pm.

Free. 2920 Rufina St., (505) 954-1068) (Alex De Vore) Before we get to the new job, how’s your solo stuff going?

I have my debut full length LP coming out next year. I spent a lot of work on the record and the pandemic gave me a push to finish this thing that had been 80% done for a long time. 70% is me multi-tracking most of the instruments. I would do a lot multitrack, and bouncing ideas off collaborators; making records is really what I like to do. If I could have free rein over a studio, I’d make records al the time.

[The EP is] called Kind of a Bummer, and it’s pretty dark material. It’s definitely not a happy record, even if some of the music sounds happy. Eliza [Lutz] is helping me put it out on Matron in, I think, February or March, I don’t know yet.

You’ve come out of the gate swinging with a lot of shows lined up, and they all seem very different. Is keeping things varied an active goal?

I personally have a really wide taste in music, and I know there’s a huge appetite for all different kinds of music in this city. As small as Santa Fe is, there’s a lot of variety, and I wanted to reflect that. I didn’t want it to be like, ‘This is where you go for rock

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shows, that is where you go for Americana shows,’ and I’m trying not to book things based exclusively on my taste. Really, there’s so much enthusiasm for music right now, it’s mostly a matter of making time for everybody who wants to play.

Second Street has been super cool and super supportive about it. We were able to talk through what shows needed to look like, and...we essentially agreed as long as they’re not looking at show nights where we’re hemorrhaging money, they think show nights are cool. I’ll try to stick toward the weekend, but I’m trying to do shows with out-of-town bands, and sometimes they only have Tuesdays available. At the original location, music is only on Fridays. That’s a good spot for your more jazz and Americana stuff—quieter stuff.

What have you seen in the trenches of live music lately? Are audiences being cool and does it still feel good to host a packed show?

First off, I think I have to admit I hadn’t much been on the frontlines of music until I took this job. I hadn’t really been to shows as an audience member in a while. I don’t want it to be that way going forward. I don’t want to only be at people’s shows if I’m setting them up, it doesn’t feel right. It’s complicated, though, and I was looking at the news yesterday and had that question again: ‘Is this good? Should this be the thing I’m doing?’ I keep falling on the idea that I’m having to trust people’s judgment for better or worse when it comes to doing live music again.

People are largely good about masks, though it is hit and miss a little, and certainly the fact that if you’re eating or drinking you don’t have to wear a mask makes it a gray area. At shows as it gets later, it’s not uncommon to see people without masks.

I don’t know where the cutoff lies, but it feels like if people are getting vaccinated and taking their precautions, if everyone is doing that, I think we’ll be OK taking care of ourselves. We can’t all know who’s doing what—we just have to trust it for now. It seems slightly easier to do that here in Santa Fe than in other parts of the country, but there’s this inherent underlying risk to gathering in public. It was there before COVID, but COVID made it very apparent and immediate. I’m trying to get back to some semblance of normal, and I guess we’re accepting this risk of live music because we need it.

It’s harder and harder to draw the line as COVID moves into the reality we live with and not a reactionary, unprecedented event.

When it was unprecedented, it was easier to put things on hold. Now that it’s getting closer to two years, it’s more like this is the new reality. How do we live with that? Doing shows is part of it. And some people don’t have other ways of making money. I struggle with it, but I’ve decided to do live music and let time tell.

E NTE R E V E N TS AT SFREPORTER.COM/CAL

FOOD WARM MEAL DISTRIBUTION DeVargas Park 302 W DeVargas St. bit.ly/3Gfxq66 It's getting cold as the holidays creep up on us, and it’s a time to remember those without. Give food to people who really need it. Arrive at 4:15 pm to help set up.

4:30-6:30 pm, free

MUSIC LISA MORALES Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St. (505) 303-3808 Mexican-American singersongwriter Morales sings Tejanoinspired tunes about the power of loving each other as a mother does, and speaking up when we see injustices.

7:30-9:30 pm, $27 MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM JOSÉ JAMES Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W San Francisco St. (505) 988-1234 A New Mexico Jazz Festival event: A soulful sound for the wintertime holidays, like a blast from the jazzy past.

7:30 pm, $21-$49 NOSOTROS Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Ever had a glass of wine at a Nosotros concert? We certainly haven’t, but now that the option is open...

6:30 pm, free

THEATER FORCES OF NATURE: AN EVENING OF ONE-ACT PLAYS The Lab Theater 1213 Parkway Drive justsayittheater.com Two one-act plays: Avalanche! by Leslie Dillen and Sworn to Water by Dale Dunn, both exploring the ways nature affects us, how we think, how we live our lives and even how we face our inevitable end.

7 pm, $15-$25

#UNDERTHEINFLUENCE Santa Fe Playhouse 142 E De Vargas St. (505) 988-4262 Check out Kristin Goodman’s play, a dark comedy exploring modern digital culture, social media and the search for meaning. Please bring your parents so they can stop sharing stuff on Facebook no one reads.

7:30-9 pm, $15-$25

FRI/10 ART BLAST FROM THE PAST Southwest Annex at Midtown Campus 1600 St. Michael's Drive A celebration of Warehouse 21's 25th anniversary. A time to reminisce in an archive of photographs of young people manifesting their art in all its forms. Live music from Brian Hardgroove, DJ Wizdumb and more.

5-9 pm, free CLAY BY EIGHT Santa Fe Spirits Distillery 7505 Mallard Way, Ste. 1 (505) 467-8892 Eight local ceramic artists plus you with a cocktail.

3-7 pm, free RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW: IMAGES AND WORDS IN REAL TIME (OPENING) El Zaguán 545 Canyon Road (505) 982-0016 A combination of Jack Stark Dudzik's bold landscapes with Sarah Stark’s simple line drawings and narrative verse.

5-7 pm, free THE CREATIVE CURE FOR ANXIOUS TIMES Online bit.ly/3EyQhIU Join artist Julie Claire for a complimentary group session to release anxiety, relax your mind and tune into your creative spirit. All you need is a computer with Wi-Fi, a pencil and paper, and pastels, paint or anything else you want to play with.

10-11:30 am, free

DANCE TB OR NOT TB Railyard Performance Center 1611 Paseo de Peralta bit.ly/3EmHoT1 Dance performance looking at New Mexico’s past sanitarium industry and the peoples within.

Tickets are limited, FYI. 7:30 pm, free (pls RSVP)

EVENTS SITE SCHOLARS INAUGURATION SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-1199 A program honoring creative college and graduate students in Northern New Mexico.

6 pm, free

MUSIC ROBAG WRUHME WITH NUMBTRON, SPOOLIUS AND ERIN E Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St. (505) 303-3808 Team Everything and AMP Concerts are teaming up again to bring techno darling Robag Wruhme to Santa Fe, with enthusiastic support from hometown heroes Numbtron, Spoolius and DJ Erin E. 8 pm, $20-$25 AL ROGERS Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 He’s got Al the piano tunes in the world, just for us.

6:30 pm, free BILL HEARNE Second Street Brewery (Original) 1814 Second St. (505) 982-3030 Live country music from a Santa Fe legend. Plus locally brewed beer, of course.

6-9 pm, free GLEB IVANOV IN RECITAL Taos Center for the Arts 133 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte (575) 758-2052 Solo piano works by Domenico Scarlatti, Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn.

5:30 pm, $20-$25

KEYS N KRATES Meow Wolf 1352 Rufina Circle (505) 395-6369 A bass-centric, sampledriven sound. A live performance that's not a typical dance show.

9 pm, $19 MELDING AS ONE: OUR ROOTS, OUR VOICES AND OUR VISIONS Loretto Chapel 207 Old Santa Fe Trail (505) 982-0092 Music from the 11th century and onward. That's right, the Santa Fe Women's Ensemble is really taking you back. Advanced tickets only, no tickets sold at the door.

6:30 pm, $40 RING IN THE SEASON Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W. San Francisco St. (505) 988-1234 The New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus annual holiday concert.

7:30 pm, $20-$45 TGIF CONCERT First Presbyterian Church 208 Grant Ave. (505) 982-8544 Music by eSSO, with tunes by our main boy J. S. Bach and Arcangelo Corelli. Carol of the Bells, Christmas Concerto and more.

5:30 pm, free

THEATER A MUSICAL PIÑATA FOR CHRISTMAS Teatro Paraguas 3205 Calle Marie (505) 424-1601 Traditional and modern carols, songs and short plays by Mark Harvey Levine, Alix Hudson and Paola Vengoechea. Prep the kiddos, Santa will be there too.

7 pm, free (but please donate) FORCES OF NATURE: AN EVENING OF ONE-ACT PLAYS The Lab Theater 1213 Parkway Drive justsayittheater.com Experimental theater for us uncultured plebs.

7 pm, $15-$25

#UNDERTHEINFLUENCE Santa Fe Playhouse 142 E De Vargas St. (505) 988-4262 At least it’ll be kinda funny about how messed up all our notification-geared brains are.

7:30-9 pm, $15-$25

WORKSHOP MEDITATION AND MODERN BUDDHISM: LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST Santa Fe Community Yoga Center 826 Camino de Monte Rey (505) 282-5293 Contemplate Buddha’s teachings and overcome discontent. Meditate to deeply understand the value of your life and appreciate the meaning of each moment.

10-11:15 am, $10

THE CALENDAR SOURCE PROCESS TRANSFORMATION (OPENING) Pie Projects 924B Shoofly St. (505) 372-7681 An exploration into how artist Judy Tuwaletstiwa’s memories and personal experiences create a complex web of inspiration that invites materials to find an unexpected voice in her art.

3-5 pm, free

DANCE

ART

BLUES AND SWING DANCE Dance Station 947-B W Alameda St. (505) 989-9788 7 pm lesson followed by an open dance at 8 pm. Vax proof required.

7 pm, $5 TB OR NOT TB Railyard Performance Center 1611 Paseo de Peralta bit.ly/3EmHoT1 History-themed dance show.

7:30 pm, free (pls RSVP)

8TH ANNUAL GUADALUPE GROUP ART SHOW Eye on the Mountain Art Gallery 614 Agua Fría St. (928) 308-0319 Art from Eye on the Mountain Galley's prized artists. Someone will be playing an electric harp, which sounds even more rad.

5-9 pm, free ART AND WINE NIGHT Cake's Corner Cafe 228 Old Santa Fe Trail (505) 989-1904 Art, wine and snacks. You'll get some supples and instructions as you get to that good place.

7-9 pm, $35 MANDELA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL CRAFT FAIR Mandela International Magnet School 1604 Agua Fría St. (505) 467-1901 An opportunity for artists from all over Santa Fe to showcase and sell their art, with all profits from art sold going to the artists themselves. Email scraftfair2021@gmail.com with any inquiries.

10 am-1 pm, free

BACA STREET HOLIDAY SALE Baca Street Pottery 730 Baca St. (505) 204-6346 Pottery, pottery and a dash of more pottery. (see SFR picks, page 21) 10 am-5 pm, free CITY OF SANTA FE RAPID HIRE EVENT Genoveva Chavez Community Center 3221 W Rodeo Road (505) 955-4000 Bring proof of education, a valid driver's license and your vax card.

9 am-2 pm, free COMMUNITY CLEANUP DAY SWAN Park Jaguar Drive and Hwy. 599 Picking up trash can actually be super satisfying. Get that satisfaction from the SWAN Park's open space: Volunteers should arrive at the park with plenty of water, work clothes and a pair of work gloves.

9 am, free

SAT/11

EVENTS

CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

Schola

Cantorum of Santa Fe Santa Fe’s sacred music ensemble

Loretto Chapel Christmas concerts December 8th and December 14th Tickets: www.schola-sf.org SFREPORTER.COM •• DECEMBER DECEMBER 8-14, 8-14, 2021 2021 SFREPORTER.COM

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THU

DEC

7:30

Celebrate the holidays at the Coe Saturday, Dec. 11 from 1-4 pm

FREE

Nani Chacon’s mural unveiling —wear your warm coat...

• Festive hot cider • Holiday cookies • Tour the Coe collection • James Kivetoruk Moses exhibition opens

ME RRY CHRIS TM A S FROM

JOSÉ JAMES LENSIC .ORG NONPROFIT, COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED

Masks and proof of vaccination with I.D. required.

Coe Center 1590 B Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 info@coeartscenter.org • (505) 983-6372 26

DECEMBER 8-14, 2021

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5 0 5 - 9 8 8 -1 2 3 4 SERVICE CHARGES APPLY AT ALL POINTS OF PURCHASE

EVENT SPONSORS

SEASON MEDIA SPONSORS

LENSIC PRESENTS SUPPORT

E NTE R E V E N TS AT SFREPORTER.COM/CAL

FOOD WHISKEY BLENDING EXPERIENCE Santa Fe Spirits Distillery 7505 Mallard Way, Ste. 1 (505) 467-8892 Choose from three hand selected barrels and create your own custom blend of single malt whiskey. It’s cool because you can pretend you’re a witch brewing a potion to exact revenge on a local farmer who’s threatening to expose your powers, you know? (see SFR picks, page 21) 5:30-8:30 pm, $125

MUSIC AL ROGERS Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Rumor has it Rogers can play so well it’ll cure all of your problems, including that weird thing with your mother-in-law.

Plus there’s wine.

6:30 pm, free HOLIDAY CONCERTS WITH GLEB IVANOV Taos Center for the Arts 133 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte (575) 758-2052 Pianist Gleb Ivanov joins violinist LP How, cellist Sally Guenther and flutist Nancy Laupheimer.

5:30 pm, $20-$25 MAXINE THÉVENOT St. Francis Auditorium at NM Museum of Art 107 W Palace Ave. bit.ly/3xR6czS A celebrated organist performs a holiday-themed concert on the recently restored Frederick R. Haas Pipe Organ.

5 pm, $7-$15 MELDING AS ONE: OUR ROOTS, OUR VOICES AND OUR VISIONS First Presbyterian Church 208 Grant Ave. (505) 982-8544 Old music, new music, pleasant voices and a festival atmosphere in a delightfully ancient building.

Remember: advanced tickets only, no tickets sold at the door.

3 pm, $10-$25 AUDIO SKIES DIGITAL DEMONSTRATION Lucky Dog Hifi 2047 Galisteo St. (505) 675-4736 Sound experts on hand to demonstrate the best digital sound translation equipment available. Formal presentations at 2 pm and 4 pm.

Noon-6 pm, free

THEATER

FILM

A MUSICAL PIÑATA FOR CHRISTMAS Teatro Paraguas 3205 Calle Marie (505) 424-1601 Holiday-themed showcase of songs, dramas and more.

3 pm, free (please donate) FORCES OF NATURE: AN EVENING OF ONE-ACT PLAYS The Lab Theater 1213 Parkway Drive justsayittheater.com The kind of show where you nod silently to yourself and say “yes... yes... I see the themes.”

7 pm, $15-$25 #UNDERTHEINFLUENCE Santa Fe Playhouse 142 E De Vargas St. (505) 988-4262 A dark comedy that’s probably less embarrassing that whatever song lyrics you posted in high school to get your crush to pay attention to you.

7:30-9 pm, $15-$25

MAN OF MANY COLORS Center For Contemporary Arts 1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 982-1338 Special screening of this doc, where a Native American artist from Taos Pueblo discovers his heritage and true identity only after a the Bureau of Indian Affairs displaces him to the urban sprawl of California. Get tickets in advance, as seating is limited.

1 pm, $15

WORKSHOP DEMYSTIFYING NFTS AND CRYPTOART: A WORKSHOP WITH JOSE ANDRES Currents 826 826 Canyon Road (505) 772-0953 This workshop serves as a primer for artists and collectors hoping to learn about this burgeoning art space. And before you ask, no, we don’t know what NFTs are either. We may very well see you there, sharing in that digital confusion.

4 pm, free GRAND REVEAL: LIFE DRAWING AT CCA Center For Contemporary Arts 1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 982-1338 Come with dry materials and get down to focus on that perfect bicep (or whatever).

10 am-1pm, $10

SUN/12 EVENTS WINTER WONDERLAND AT EL REY El Rey Court 1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931 Explore holiday lights, enjoy an ornament making station and holiday photo ops, s’mores kits available for purchase to toast fireside and hot chocolate for purchase from La Reina.

3-7 pm, free 6TH ANNUAL STRING OF LIGHTS Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St. (505) 303-3808 35+ local craft makers. Food, drink, holiday cheer, Santa and all the works. And yes, we’re expecting Christmas lights too. (see SFR picks, page 21) 1-6 pm, free

MUSIC CHRISTMAS TREASURES Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W. San Francisco St. (505) 988-1234 Enjoy holiday favorites such as excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Suite from The Nutcracker, Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” Berlin’s “White Christmas” and beyond.

4 pm, $22-$80 DOUG MONTGOMERY Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Let Montgomery craddle you with his big musical arms, rocking you to a metaphorical sleep with his dreamy piano tunes.

6:30 pm, free HOLIDAY CONCERTS WITH GLEB IVANOV Taos Center for the Arts 133 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos (575) 758-2052 More Ivanov, more Taos, more holiday feelz.

5:30 pm, $20-$25

THEATER A MUSICAL PIÑATA FOR CHRISTMAS Teatro Paraguas 3205 Calle Marie (505) 424-1601 Old fashioned Christmas showcase. Get festive, laugh a bit, sing a bit, or just sit there and be happy. That’s okay too.

3 pm, free (please donate) CONSIDER THIS...

Santa Fe Improv 1202 Parkway Drive, Ste. A santafeimprov.com The history of buffoonery, told through a 45-minute romp.

2 pm, $10-$15 FORCES OF NATURE: AN EVENING OF ONE-ACT PLAYS The Lab Theater 1213 Parkway Drive justsayittheater.com It’s in the afternoon, sure, but it always feels like an evening in the world the thee-ay-tar.

2 pm, $15-$25 #UNDERTHEINFLUENCE Santa Fe Playhouse 142 E De Vargas St. (505) 988-4262 Hopefully full of references to the Myspace days. We’re so sorry for all those cringe bulletins we posted, it just felt right, you know?

2-3:30 pm, $15-$25

MON/13 BOOKS/LECTURES 13TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY PLAYERS Online bit.ly/3DmWiaj Alan Arkin, Ali MacGraw, Bob Martin and others share their favorite stories and poems.

6 pm, free AUTHOR TALK: NATALIE GOLDBERG Online bit.ly/3prAHIN Writing exercises with Goldberg herself, author of Writing Down the Bones.

6 pm, free

DANCE SANTA FE SWING Odd Fellows Hall 1125 Cerrillos Road Classes start at 7 pm, open dance at 8 pm. Bring vax proof.

7 pm, $3-$8

EVENTS QUEER NIGHT La Reina at El Rey Court 1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931 Queer solidarity, plus drinks.

5-11 pm, free

MUSIC ALABADOS, ALABANZAS, INDITAS AND CORRIDOS: THE ENDURING HISPANIC MUSIC OF NEW MEXICO San Miguel Chapel 401 Old Santa Fe Trail (505) 983-2567 Join state historian Rob Martinez as he takes a journey through New Mexico’s rich cultural tapestry with music. (see SFR picks, page 21) 5:30 pm, $10 DOUG MONTGOMERY Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Maybe he’ll teach us how to Dougie.

6:30 pm, free

TUE/14 BOOKS/LECTURES KEN LAYNE Jean Cocteau Cinema 418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528 Popular podcast host of The Desert Oracle Radio (and its accompanying periodical) stop by to talk all things weird at about the desert Southwest.

7 pm, $25

MUSIC CAROLS & CHORUSES Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi 131 Cathedral Place (505) 982-5619 Enjoy the angelic voices of The Symphony Chorus, led by Choral Director Carmen Flórez-Mansi.

Sing along to the most beloved Christmas carols of all time (if that's your thing).

7 pm, free (donate for karma)

MUSEUMS COURTESY MUSEUM OF ENCAUSTIC ART

SANTA FE ARTISTS MARKET The West Casitas 1612 Alcaldesa St. (505) 310-8766 Art for sale. Ya’ll know the drill.

9 am-2 pm, free SANTA FE FARMERS MARKET Farmers Market Pavilion 1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 983-7726 Taste the difference and for the love of God wear a mask.

8 am-1 pm, free

THE CALENDAR

“Resilience” by Priya Tambe, on view at the Museum of Encaustic Art.

IAIA MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ARTS 108 Cathedral Place (505) 983-8900 Experimental exPRESSion: Printmaking at IAIA, 1963– 1980. Exposure: Native Art and Political Ecology. IAIA BFA Exhibition: We Went Wild.

10 am-4 pm, Wed-Sat, Mon 11 am-4 pm, Sun, $5-$10 GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM 217 Johnson St. (505) 946-1000 Abstract Nature. Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico.

10 am-5 pm, Thurs-Mon $20 MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS AND CULTURE 706 Camino Lejo (505) 476-1200 Curator H.P. Mera’s Trip to Navajo Country in 1932; A Place in Clay.

10 am-5 pm, Tues-Sun, $3-$9

MUSEUM OF INTERNATIONAL FOLK ART 706 Camino Lejo (505) 476-1200 Yokai: Ghosts and Demons of Japan. #mask: Creative Responses to the Global Pandemic. Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico.

10 am-5 pm, Tues-Sun, $3-$12 MUSEUM OF ENCAUSTIC ART 18 Co Road 55A, Los Cerrillos (505) 424-6487 Museum of Encaustic Art Exhibition.

By appointment, $10 NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART 107 W Palace Ave. (505) 476-5052 Storytellers: Narrative Art and the West. Poetic Justice: Judith F. Baca, Mildred Howard and Jaune Quick-To See-Smith.

10 am-5 pm, Tues-Sun, $7-$12

MUSEUM OF SPANISH COLONIAL ART 750 Camino Lejo (505) 982-2226 Trails, Rails and Highways: How Trade Transformed the Art of Spanish New Mexico.

1-4 pm, Wed-Fri, $6 NEW MEXICO MILITARY MUSEUM 1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 474-1670 New Mexico’s Civil War. 10 am-3 pm, Mon-Fri, free) POEH CULTURAL CENTER 78 Cities of Gold Road (505) 455-5041 Di Wae Powa: A Partnership With the Smithsonian.

9 am-5 pm, Tues-Sun, $7-$10 WHEELWRIGHT MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 704 Camino Lejo (505) 982-4636 Indigenous Women: Border Matters (Traveling).

10 am-4 pm, Tues-Sat, $8

SFREPORTER.COM •• DECEMBER DECEMBER 8-14, 8-14, 2021 2021 SFREPORTER.COM

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christmas treasures

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12—4:00 PM @ The Lensic

Tickets from $20!

Maestro Guillermo Figueroa leads The Santa Fe Symphony’s annual Christmas Pops concert featuring excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Suite from The Nutcracker, Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, Berlin’s White Christmas and much more! Plus, the Santa Fe Youth Symphony with Conductor William Waag joins them again for a special side-by-side performance.

Don’t miss it! Tickets start as low a $22. No children under 6 years of age admitted.

MANY THANKS TO CONCERT SPONSORS-IN-PART CENTURY BANK AND KAY & NEEL STORR

Call

Holiday Sale December 11 & 12, 10 am–4 pm

Shop our Museum Store for arts and crafts by local artisans, jewelry, books, toys, kitchen and household goods and lots of stocking stuffers. Special refreshments and entertainment, including stories with beloved Santa Fe icon Joe Hayes on Saturday, December 12 at 11 and 1.

All Las Golondrinas Members get 20% off. Not a member yet? Join at the sale!

PARTIALLY FUNDED BY THE CITY OF SANTA FE ARTS COMMISSION AND THE 1% LODGERS’ TAX, COUNTY OF SANTA FE LODGERS’ TAX, AND NEW MEXICO ARTS

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What’s in a Name? ing in Michigan, and the nearest place I could move to was a college town. Bloomington [Indiana] had a small punk scene, and I was living a pretty impoverished lifestyle, but I happened across free screenings of films by Stan Brakhage and Vivienne Dick—stuff I didn’t know existed. When Ben and I talked [about founding No Name Cinema], it was ‘I wish this kind of thing was shown here,’ and ‘where in the Southwest can you see these?’”

Unsurprisingly, the answer to that question is very few places. Albuquerque’s been known to host more experimental offerings (tip your hat to Basement Films and The Guild) than Santa Fe, and though we have myriad theaters per capita (seriously, we have so many for the size of the town), spaces that lean into nontraditional, non-narrative or otherwise non-mainstream—or even the more indie indies—have been conspicuously absent. Rhody and Kujawski chalk at least some of this up to for-profit and nonprofit spaces. Commercial theaters’ money lust is apparent; even nonprofit spaces are beholden to boards and overhead and the whims of audiences. At No Name Cinema, the audi-

No Name Cinema’s anti-profit/pro-film ethos puts art first

BY ALEX DE VORE a l e x @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

I didn’t get into underground, experimental and punk films for the money.

-Justin Rhody

ALEX DE VORE

A

t the convergence of two dead-end streets in Midtown, Santa Fe’s newest DIY art space has slowly but surely formed inside a warehouse from an idea forged in the early days of the pandemic. Its seed goes back much further than that, to plans that bubbled for years and, more recently, a Twitch channel, but if film fans and filmmakers Justin Rhody and Ben Kujawski realized anything during the dark days of lockdown, it’s that sometimes if the thing you want doesn’t exist, you’ve simply got to do it yourself, particularly if you have a vision.

As of November, Rhody and Kujawski’s progressive anti-profit arthouse theater flared into existence, and after weeks of painting, small build-outs, cleanup and logistics, No Name Cinema is open for audiences with a glut of upcoming programming. The way we hear it, too, the inaugural evening of films—including a short from local artist JC Gonzo—reached standing-room-only status.

In no uncertain terms, Santa Fe was clearly thirsting for something like an ultra-indie cinema.

“I’d wanted to have a space like this, and had been hoping to for years,” Rhody tells SFR. “Coming from the Bay Area, there’s a huge world of...warehouse punk spaces putting on film programs. Very quickly, the dream actualized beyond the scope of what we thought it could be.”

Rhody and Kujawski are both relative newcomers to Santa Fe and met through mutual friends. With time between them spent in the Midwest, NYC, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and elsewhere, each came to underground, experimental and lesser-known film honestly; young folks with limited means will often wander into DIY spaces for their affordability and accessibility or in search of a supportive network of like-minded people, and some folks just wanna make movies. It’s a shared set of ideals for No Name’s founders, and both have worked in film through a variety of means, from writing and directing to shooting, producing and scoring. It goes back, Kujawski says, “longer than I can remember.”

“I was definitely the nerd punk,” Rhody adds. “I was lucky to escape where I was liv-

ence is almost secondary, which is to say its proprietors tell SFR they’re more interested in playing what they want to play and fully expect to have sparsely attended screenings.

Still, what’s that old saying about reaching even one person?

“Under capitalism, everyone can be held back,” Rhody points out. “Here, there’s no profit or even likelihood of covering our costs, and part of the general attitude we have is that it’ll be free admission, people can donate if they like and that way [people don’t avoid screenings] because of financial reasons.”

“And our setup is pretty simple, so just the two of us can run it,” Kujawski adds.

A&C

As we speak, No Name is gearing up for a night of films that examine the moral ambiguity of the American West—an oftromanticized subject. At the screening, however, a pair of films by Kujawski ought to set a more grounded tone. In the longer of two shorts, the mysterious Do You Think Jesus Liked Hardboiled Eggs?, Kujawski glimpses into ideas of faith, independence and reliance for a film that feels as subtly humorous as it does hauntingly sad. For the über-short Misery Machine, a blink-and-miss-it series of shots played under a banjo accompaniment almost feels like a narrative-free micro-documentary on car culture, and Kujawski will provide live musical accompaniment during its screening. Rounding out the night is 1975 noveau-Western Rancho Deluxe, a sort of maximalist Butch Cassidy-esque thing featuring Sam Watterson and Jeff Bridges and presumably aimed at a rebellious ’70s youth set from the post-Summer of Love era.

There’s a helicopter in it.

“I think one of the the benefits of our model is that...we can play what’s interesting to us and we don’t have to worry so much about what’s going to pay the bills,” Kujawski explains.

“Yeah,” Rhody adds. “I didn’t get into underground experimental and punk films for the money.”

“Also,” Kujawski notes, “I think Santa Fe has a reputation for being a town for older people, and there’s a lot of things that cater to that. I don’t think we need to do that.”

With that in mind, Rhody and Kujawksi have already started reaching out to filmmakers and similar cinemas about future screenings, rare print exchanges and in-person visits and talks. No Name Cinema has programming lined up through the middle of March at least, with more announcements coming soon; ideally, it can become a regularly operating community resource. There’s even a possibility for an event this March featuring low-budget UFO documentaries.

Fingers crossed on that one.

“The stuff we’re showing? How much does it have to do with a Marvel movie? It’s something completely different, but we will destroy them,” Rhody tells SFR with a laugh.

“Our screenings will be free!”

“A lot of people say to me that New Mexico, Santa Fe, Albuquerque—these are film towns, but it’s such a different thing than what people like Justin and I are involved with,” Kujawski says. “We know there are filmmakers here, and I think No Name could be something that brings filmmakers together and forms a community.”

Find ’em on Instagram: @noname.cinema

No Name Cinema’s Ben Kujawski (right) and Justin Rhody would like to show you something you’ve probably never seen before.

NO NAME CINEMA SCREENING: 7:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 11. Free. No Name Cinema, 2013 Piñon St., nonamecinema.org

SFREPORTER.COM •• DECEMBER DECEMBER 8-14, 8-14, 2021 2021 SFREPORTER.COM

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S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / FO O D

So You’re Looking For a Breakfast Burrito [Vol. 4] Baja Tacos and Sagche’s Coffee House

BY ALEX DE VORE a l e x @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

N

ow that SFR’s offices are located in Midtown after a million years on Marcy Street, staffers are becoming mainstays at numerous Midtown eateries.

This is a good thing. Nay—it’s a great thing, particularly for those of us who need to eat fast over our desks like animals and are looking for nearby places that serve with speed.

As I write this, we’re knee-deep in the super-fun realities of Amazon Web Services having gone down, too, which means your favorite local alt.weekly struggled to get this issue out along with countless other papers and outlets across the land. That means there was even less time for a bite, and I did the only thing I ever think to do during times of crisis: I got some breakfast burritos.

Baja Tacos 2018 Cerrillos Road, (505) 471-8762; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner daily The kind of place the term “staple” was invented for, Baja Tacos has been serving up killer tacos, burritos, burgers and more since 1968. Originally, old-timers might recall, Baja operated a small space and drive-thru on Cerrillos Road that was honestly lit-

tle more than a shack, but a 2019 move to the former Wendy’s inside the College Plaza Shopping Center has meant a larger customer base, at least if the line at the drive-thru is any indication.

And why not, huh? Baja Tacos might just have the best breakfast burrito in town. We can hear folks clutching their pearls and fainting over that statement, and maybe it’s more apt to say that it has one of the top 10 breakfast burritos around, but as it clocks in at just $5, we have to take affordability into account, right? Right. Baja’s delicious handheld burrito comes packed with eggs and crispy hashbrowns. Crispy is the operative word here, as it doesn’t matter how many potato shreds you cram inside a tortilla if they’re floppy and listless. Additionally, the beloved local institution might just have the highest egg-to-potato ratio anywhere, with so much of that proteiny goodness packed into each burrito that it was literally bursting out the sides. Toss in some green chile that’s flavorful and just the right level of spicy, and it’s a quick, cheap, crammed testament to why burritos themselves could just be the smartest food in the world.

Of course, as I say, it gets busy in the drive-thru over at Baja Tacos, so take the chance to park and hit the lobby where service feels just a little bit quicker and where the same staff that’s been there forever greets guests with kindness. As an added pro tip, you should know the burritos are incredibly hot for some time after ordering. Do yourselves a favor and wait just 10-15 minutes after you receive bounty. This not only brings the burrito to an optimal temperature, it gives the chile and molten cheese time to release flavor throughout the entirety of this most excellent flavor tube.

Sagche’s Coffee House 730 St. Michael’s Drive, (505) 780-5263; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner daily It’s been easy to be something of a Sagche’s hound of late. The Midtown coffee spot and restaurant just kind of appeared one day beside Kinko’s in the Plaza Del Sol strip mall on St. Mike’s, and despite its unassuming interior and decided lack of pomp, it has become a go-to for midweek lunches between buds for months now.

And before we get into the whole breakfast burrito thing, know this: Sagche’s coffee itself, which is roasted through Albuquerque’s Odacrem Coffee and available near the register, is now my athome brew of choice. I appreciate that there’s a roast date right on the bag, and I’ve been practically addicted to the light roasted Guatemalan variety for weeks. It’s bright and flavorful, but rich without tasting burnt. In a nutshell? You need this.

FOOD

As for the burrito, I enlisted help from SFR Culture Writer Riley Gardner in the taste test department. See, I’ve gotten a few emails about this ongoing series that say things about how not eating meat limits me from talking turkey as it were, and since Riley’s from Texas—which means he’s legally obligated to love meat—I plopped a bacon-filled breakfast burrito on his desk, smothered X-mas.

Right off the bat, Riley says this thing is stuffed and rolled so well that the best comparison might be a top-tier cigar. With well-cooked hashbrowns filling the burrito alongside a generous serving of fluffy egg, the chile is reportedly excellent, though, he says, came with the surprise of a red chile spicier than its green.

Think more saucelike than the thicker reds of other Santa Fe joints and with a kick that appears suddenly then retreats a tad between bites. The green chile, served chopped and melding with the gooey cheese across the top, was packed with flavor, according to my guinea pig, and a side of black beans, while not the most common thing you’ll see with Santa Fe breakfasts, somehow seemed obvious once it was part of the equation.

Sagche’s breakfast burrito clocks in at a more-than-reasonable $6.99, and for it to become a standout on a menu that includes a peerless egg sandwich ($6) and a waffle with fruit ($9.25) that still beckons me months after I first had it is no small feat. So here’s to you, brothers Walfre and Erwin Sagche—I can’t even tell you how pumped I am you moved here from Guatemala to create the kind of local spot of which we can all be proud.

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RATINGS BEST MOVIE EVER

10

Wolf Review Bark at the moon

9

BY RILEY GARDNER r i l e y @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

8

Jacob (George MacKay, 1917) has species dysphoria in writer/director Nathalie Biancheri’s Wolf.

He believes, in fact, that he’s a wolf trapped in a human body. Sent to an institution by his family in an effort to cure him, Jacob crosses paths with a girl called Wildcat (Lily-Rose Depp), a German Shepard boy (Fionn O’Shea) and a Darwinist master-of-the-house called The Zookeeper (Paddy Considine) who is, as psych institute movies seem to require, a little insane. Nevertheless, Jacob sees more existential truth when in his wolf form, so he and Wildcat hatch a plan to escape.

MacKay’s career has already shown an intense dedication to roles that might be boring in another actor’s hands. Here, he particularly shines. As Jacob, his body somehow moves like a wolf, joints turning in unnatural directions and body twisted in ways about which a yoga master might only fantasize. In tandem is fantastic, eerie lighting that highlights the shadowed contortions of MacKay’s body in a way that would be lost in any standard way of shooting.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 WORST MOVIE EVER

MIXTAPE

4

+ KILLER SONGS; NICK THUNE - DOESN’T UNDERSTAND ITS INSPIRATIONS

Oh, joy! We’ve hit the time in pop culture wherein kids who weren’t around or very young during the 1990s are gonna start getting movies about what a time it was. Lo, those 20-ish-plus years ago

7 + MACKAY IS DEDICATED

- CLUMSY THEMES

But are MacKay’s protruding joints enough to carry an entire film? Maybe, as some of us are more than happy to see semi-clothed good-looking actors crawl around the floor. Biancheri (Nocturnal) has a marvelous eye in her second feature and knows how to isolate characters in the frame to create a haunted house atmosphere. Yet, with such a dismal tone, we have to ask: Is this the right way to frame this story?

The whys of Wolf never come close to getting answers, but there’s a hint of a metaphor about gender identity and/or conversion therapy.

were indeed a time, but when it comes to the new Netflix movie Mixtape from director Valerie Weiss (Prodigal Son), any legitimate nostalgia takes a backseat to cutesy storytelling and the type of bubblegum romanticism that reduces entire sub-cultures into one-dimensional caricatures drawn by people who maybe don’t quite get what they’re attempting to lovingly mock.

In Mixtape, young Beverly (Gemma Brooke

Mixtape proves that its punk is forever. Find it on Netflix. Or don’t. Actually, just don’t.

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Binancheri doesn’t fully commit, though. Instead, Wolf is far more fascinated with its own premise than anything else it might offer—so much so that you might be left wondering if this is just a sick circus-like glimpse into Jacob’s world. It’s worth a watch for MacKay howling at the moon.

Allen) lives with her grandmother (Modern Family alum Julie Bowen, who presumably ran over a witch with her car and was cursed to take such a meaningless role) in the year of our lord 1999.

Bev’s folks—punk fans, we’re told through photographic evidence—died in a car crash when she was a toddler, and since Grandma ain’t spilling the details about what kind of people they were, Bev’s forced to feel connected to her ghost parents through a mixtape she discovers in the basement.

Tragically, that mixtape is unspooled by a shoddy Walkman during the very first song (a banger from UK post-punkers Girls At Our Best), but rather than ask someone how to fix that or simply grabbing a pencil to work it out her damn self, Bev IDs the tape as dead and heads to her local record store where owner Anti (Nick Thune) starts selling her songs from the tape one at a time. The setup, for what it’s worth, is actually kind of adorable and interesting. The execution, however, feels too precious for any adults who’d feel tape nostalgia and too niche for any kids who might trip out over the thought of cassettes and vinyl.

Allen’s turn as the precocious Beverly feels fine and all, but it seems that every obstacle she faces is solved immediately. Don’t really know how to do the internet or Napster, Bev? Not to worry—a girl your age just moved in next door and is a computer whiz! Can’t find that rare track from The Quick?

No big, Bev—you’ll notice that seemingly mean girl at your school is wearing their shirt on the very same day the problem came to light! Found a photo of your mom with some local singer? Good news—his band’s playing in a couple days, and the record store owner is totally down to drive you and

WOLF Directed by Biancheri With Mackay, Depp and O’Shea Violet Crown, R, 98 min

your middle schooler buds despite how inherently fucking weird that is! Huzzah!

The absurdity only serves to highlight newbie-caliber performances from Bev’s burgeoning buddies Ellen (Audrey Hsieh) and Nicky (Olga Petsa)—and that’s not even getting into Bowen’s wish-I-weren’t-here tackling of the grandma character. Thune would be OK if it weren’t for a series of jokes about how people who like punk and rock and stuff loathe the pop music set. It’s lazy and tired and a Gen-X lite kind of joke that feels written by people who never felt accepted at the record stores of their youths, though likely because of their own hang-ups.

The soundtrack does slap, though, and probably ate up most of the budget. Perhaps that’s why everything else feels like a lesser Degrassi movie (with all due respect to the timeless Canadian classic) and why it’s so hard to figure out to whom this movie is supposed to appeal. (Alex De Vore) Netflix, TV-PG, 93 min.

THE WHOLE TRUTH

5

+ ENDING IS KIND OF UNEXPECTED; SOME CREEPS

- SILLY PERFORMANCES; TOO FAMILIAR

Thai director Wisit Sasanatieng helms Netflix’s newest horror offering The Whole Truth, a mashup of ideas from films like The Grudge and The Ring and The Sixth Sense and The Orphanage, but with enough tension and scares to stand on its own despite a few notably robotic performances and an ending that just won’t stop ending.

MOVIES

FO R M OR E R EV IEWS , V I S I T S FREP ORTER.COM /M OV I ES

Hours after accepting a new role at work, young mother Mai (Nicole Theriault) is hit by a drunk driver and lands in a coma with a 50% chance of waking. Her father (Sompob Benjathikul) steps in to care for her kids Pim (Punpun Sutatta Udomsilp) and Putt (Mac Nattapat Nimjirawat), but when the pair discovers a hole drilled into the living room wall at grandpa’s house, horrifying past secrets threaten to reveal themselves and creepy ghost girls with stringy black hair come out to play.

Nobody else can see the hole, even that smarmy kid from school who took video of Pim in the locker room shower, but as Pim and Putt become increasingly unable to quit staring into the damn thing, things seem to get worse. No spoilers here, but it’s the age-old conundrum of the scary thing deflating the more you learn about it; almost no payoff would keep the scares going, really, or even be as satisfying as one would hope.

Udomsilp and Nimjirawat are meant to carry the film, but over-emotive physical performances wrest away any chance for subtlety. Someplace between their frantic eye movements and poorly delivered lines, things begin to border on the cartoonish, as does pretty much every choice from Koi Tarika Thidathit, who plays their grandmother Wan. Elsewhere, good ol’ grandpa might have a penchant for taking the law into his own hands and nobody is sure where Latte the cat went.

Is it a wormhole? A ghost hole? A glimpse into the future? Whatever it is, it sucks hard in that other room, and when the truth spills out in a quick succession of tense strings, shoddy CGI and terrible revelations, it’ll ultimately feel familiar. Still, you’ve got to hand it to Sasanatieng and writer Abishek J. Bajaj for sneaking in a twist or two that ultimately save The Whole Truth from feeling completely lifted. (ADV) Netflix, NR, 125 min

THE POWER OF THE DOG

8

+ SO GOOD; MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES AND IMAGERY

- PAYOFFS MIGHT BE UNSATISFACTORY

One viewing of The Power of the Dog and you’ll know you have to see it a second time to catch everything—if you can stomach it.

Rose (Kirsten Dunst) is a struggling widow living in rural Montana’s isolation with her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). He isn’t like the other boys, though, and often faces mockery for his more feminine characteristics. When Rose suddenly elopes with George (played by Dunst’s real-life beau Jesse Plemons of Breaking Bad), she

and Peter move onto her new husband’s ranch, where they soon find themselves tormented by George’s stone-hearted brother Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch). Phil, it turns out, has plenty of his own secrets to hide, but still—he takes Peter under his wing for grooming.

Director Jane Campion’s newest is all about sexual repression, and it is not subtle in that regard, nor is it trying to be. The number of phallic symbols alone are enough to make the ancient Greeks blush, and everything from fence posts to saddles to blades of grass let you know what’s happening in Phil’s head. Campion’s first film in 12 years is a slow burn, too, and it expertly stokes the embers of tension. As such, it’s a hard film to watch for the character humiliations alone, let alone for the psychotic messes Cumberbatch’s Phil continually unleashes on Peter and the others.

Campion is a master director and knows exactly what she wants and how to get it (check out her 1993 knockout The Piano as another example) while making every frame useful to character psychology and development.

When stacked against the modern Western of the last few decades, wherein grittiness seems to have become the de facto stand-in for old Ford romanticism and wherein violence for its own sake is meant to be enough, Campion doesn’t shy from the realities of rural life. Instead, Power of the Dog harkens back to a cornerstone of Western film theory: How does isolation affect the soul? Mix in pent-up desire and questions of masculinity and you’ve got a classic cinematic formula, only this is a little more gay. It doesn’t sparkle with energy, but why should it? This is Montana, by God. (RG) CCA, Violet Crown, Netflix. R, 126 min

TICK, TICK... BOOM!

7

+ WE DON’T DESERVE ANDREW GARFIELD; LARSON’S MUSIC

- ESOTERIC; GENERIC ARTIST WOES

If you’ve ever sat at a table with musical theater nerds and not had a clue what they were talking about, you’ve met the target audience for tick, tick....

BOOM!’s. It’ll be a film with legs in the years to come, particularly with the drama kids, but chances are it will struggle in its initial release, even with someone like Lin-Manual Miranda (who created a little show called Hamilton) in his directorial debut.

In this biopic-lite/musical, we meet a pre-Rent Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) who hasn’t yet crafted the 1994 Broadway smash hit. Larson is living in Manhattan squalor trying to put together a rock-opera retelling of 1984, and his inner-circle conCONTINUED ON PAGE 35

The Whole Truth: It’s never a good plan to go around looking in holes.

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sists of 1980s NYC underground communities rather than posh Broadway elites. By the time we catch up with him, Larson’s determination to reinvent musical theater has become a dangerous obsession.

At its best, Miranda finds a touching tribute to the late playwright; at its worst, tick, tick...BOOM! becomes an insufferable tribute to the archetypical starving artist that seems aimed solely at white boy coastal types. The romanticization of suffering is tiresome, and the celebratory manner in which the film showcases Larson’s very real obsessive behaviors feels wrong. We don’t—or shouldn’t—want to be like him, but the film wants us to admire his dedication even as it ruins lives.

But hey, the music is banging, and Miranda’s directorial style translates well to film, even if his inspirations are familiar. The frenetic energy is fantastic and he knows what to capture within the frame; the rough edges reflect a rough world, and anyone familiar with movie musicals—looking at you, drama geeks—will note the repetitive staging decisions and numbers lifted from big hitters like Chicago and Hedwig and the Angry Itch. tick tick… BOOM!’s anchor is Garfield, who is here at the height of his prowess and an actor who can take on the most obscure, bizarre projects and bring such life to them that it’s hard not to recall the likes of Marlon Brando or Montgomery Clift. Even so, the general public will likely find the film a little too insider baseball. Those who’ve not been lulled by Broadway and musical culture will find Larson’s short life fascinating if frustrating. (RG) Netflix, PG-13, 121 min

BELFAST

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+ PERSONAL AND OFTEN MOVING - MID-POINT SAG; MISGUIDED CREATIVE CHOICES

We can call it now that a good chunk of the audience won’t go for Belfast. Kenneth Branagh’s newest is far too wholesome for those who like their cinema dark, an insufferably long monologue about universal life truths. For those very reasons, however, it will surely be adored in other circles.

As The Troubles take off in Northern Ireland in 1969, young Buddy (Jude Hill) is far more interested in his school crush than he is in the increasinglyfrequent riots which, from the film’s get-go, go down in his neighborhood. The religious lines are drawn, and Buddy’s parents (a powerful Caitríona Balfe and a strong Jamie Dornan) debate whether to travel abroad to protect their family from the chaos, or to keep them in the world they know.

Belfast comes with a number of irks. Its visual language isn’t coherent, there’s entirely too much reliance on late-1960s tunes to set the mood and the melodrama feels bloated. It scores in the deeper

questions it raises, though, namely, how to raise a morally upright family when everyone else is willing to blow someone’s head off—or at least considering that. Seeing civil unrest from a child’s perspective brings a different kind of richness to the experience, especially as Buddy relates to the violence through his only known source of the stuff—American Westerns. Sadly, that also means certain complexities get lost in the shuffle.

For those who respond to more philosophic styles, Belfast will likely seem a deeply moving remembrance from one who was there. Even so, it is too limited in scope to be considered an epic, and far more a memoir from Branagh’s own childhood experiences as a Belfast native. This can make the storytelling feel a bit too dependent on Branagh’s recollections to fully dedicate itself to deeper concepts, thus Belfast lingers in a confused and confusing state between the sweet romanticism of the past and the realities of the historic epoch in which it’s embedded.

No, Branagh’s opus might not rank amongst the cinema greats or contempo-classics, but it’s a shoo-in as the year’s tearjerking awards-contender and the kind of film that could unfurl more meaning upon further viewings. Still, the imperfect introduction gets the job done. (RG) Violet Crown, NR, 97 min

PASSING

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+ TIGHTLY CRAFTED; NEGGA SOARS - -SUBTLETIES WON’T REACH EVERYONE

Director Rebecca Hall’s first feature film is one told primarily through glances: Ruth Negga’s (Loving) quivering face and Tessa Thompson’s (Westworld) inability to keep her eyes steady. It would be hard to note anything lacking purpose here, honestly, which highlights the rarity of a first-time filmmaker entering the industry with plenty of confidence—and rightly so.

Based on Nella Larson’s 1929 novel of the same name, Irene (Thompson) and her husband Brian (André Holland) are content in the Black upper-middle class of Harlem. They pretend to be, anyway, and Irene goes “passing” every now again, a phenomenon whereby a Black person’s skin is perceived as white and they briefly glimpse a life without discrimination. During one such experience, Irene stumbles across an old friend, Clare (Negga), who’s passing full-time. But Clare misses her old world, and as she returns and infiltrates her family, Irene grows paranoid.

In its more unique aspects, Passing contrasts escapism with a desire for inclusion. Negga’s Clare leans on the uncertainty of her choices, her total disdain for—and yet dependence on—her secret identity. Irene, the psychological counterpoint to

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: Benedict Cumberbatch should only play dicks.

Clare, is more conventional in her choices, reflecting the unspecial middle-class life and a longing for something more; Thompson’s firm delivery questions whether one should hide from the world or embrace its pains. Who are we to tell her she’s wrong?

Here, crisp black and white cinematography feels purposeful, and Passing represents its most effective use in recent memory. Shot in high contrast with only a slight exposure, a sharp yet murky picture emerges, both intoxicating and clear in its old world charms yet repulsive and fake in its sterility. If we saw the story in color, we’d lose the point entirely.

At Passing’s heart are tough questions about human agency. Much of it feels overt, but the film’s true heart beats just beneath the surface. Hall’s film requires focus as well as knowledge on race and identity—but it’s up to the viewer to do the homework beforehand if they want the most out of the film.

Passing wasn’t crafted to educate. It was crafted so we don’t forget. (RG) Netflix, NR, 99 min

THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN

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+ THE ART AND CATS; PRETTY - FORCED QUIRKINESS; LONG AS HELL

Any cat fan worth their salt surely knows all about Victorian-era British artist Louis Wain and his work in normalizing felines as house pets. What they might not know, however, is that an entirely too-precious biopic has arrived from Amazon Studios.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the titular Wain, the only man in a family of women who, in late

1800-something, is trapped within the social constructs of the day: Men do the work, women get married—nobody’s allowed to love anyone they actually love because of, like, society, man.

In his youth, Wain illustrated for some prestigious London newspaper. He also met one Emily Richardson (here played by Claire Foy), a governess hired for his sisters for whom Wain fell hard and married. This was apparently unheard of at the time because Richardson was poor and 10 years Wain’s senior. Still, they fell in love, got married and spent a bunch of happy years hanging out with their cat Peter. Sad stuff happens later, but we don’t need to spoil it.

Where writer and director Will Sharpe (Giri/ Haji) succeeds in style, ambiance and tone, he falters in Electrical Life’s almost unbearable levels of quirk. Cumberbatch’s turn as the eccentric Wain particularly stupefies and succeeds only in consistently reminding us we’re watching an actor act. This guy’s a champ at playing dicks but, as Wain, he feels like an actor who read about weirdos and did a little fidgeting. Against Foy, who perhaps represents the only real charm in the film, the performance feels exhausting.

Oh, but it’s not all bad. Wain’s art was truly bizarre and hysterical, and one could hardly hate a film that so prominently casts such handsome cats. Still, Electrical Life is niche and tedious and ultimately becomes another funny-lite British period piece for anglophiles and any captive people in their lives. Shoutout to Utopia’s Adeel Akhtar and his small role, though. He rules.

(Alex De Vore) Amazon, PG-13, 118 min.

DECEMBER 2ND — DECEMBER 19TH A dark comedy which explores the modern digital culture of social media, reality TV, and our innate search for meaning.

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47 Like two structures that map out the same way 1 When they’re low, insurance 52 30 Seconds to Mars companies are more singer Jared profitable 53 Like the pronouns he, she, 11 Trans Am that talks and they, grammatically 15 Central, with “of” 5 4 Rosy assertion 16 “I Am Not My Hair” singer 55 St. Vincent’s backup group?

India.___ 56 Kitten’s scruff 17 Sap 18 Haynes with the documenta- 57 The act of not paying attention, old-style ry “The Velvet Underground” 58 “House” actor Omar 19 Musical work featuring his 59 Ferrari model torical figures, often 20 Indigo dye DOWN 21 Second-hand, alternately 1 Cruise liner decks with pools 22 Costar of Thora and Wes in 2 Head of a bowling team?

“American Beauty” 3 Monk known as “the 23 Canadian actress Cooper of Venerable” Apple TV+’s “See” 4 Counties overseas 24 Circumvents 5 Do some boot repair 6 Title ship in a 1997 26 He played Tobias Funke Spielberg movie 30 Puff ___ (venomous critter) 7 Solution strength, in 35 Race a motor chemistry 36 Unilever laundry soap brand 8 “Do ___ to eat a peach?” that’s over 100 years old (Eliot) 37 Basis of the name of a short- 9 Rome’s port in the lived, short-form streaming Punic Wars platform 10 Like some hams, at this time of year?

40 Detach from the dock 41 “In ___ called malice, yeah” 11 ___ Damacy (Playstation game with a ball that picks (The Jam lyric that’s almost up everything in its path) the proper title) 12 Like some T-shirt art 4 6 “L&O: SVU” costar 13 Spruce quality?

14 Show with the Season 1 episode “Biscuits” 25 “Be Kind, Rewind” device 27 Billy Zane’s character in the Netflix miniseries “True Story” 28 Heeler healer?

29 Japanese light novel series “___ Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level” 30 Like an eagle’s beak 31 Outdated headgear for a poor student 32 Children’s cold medicine brand 33 Boundaries between biomes 34 “Citizen Kane” studio 38 “C’mon, let’s do this!”

39 Municipality in the province of Padua (and not a Japanese send-off) 42 Supposed occupation of Joe Coulombe, founder of a grocery chain 43 Cigar brand whose name means “best” in Spanish 4 4 Gets petulant 45 Sue Ann ___, Betty White’s role on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” 4 8 “An Impeccable Spy: Richard ___, Stalin’s Master Agent” (2019 Owen Matthews book) 49 Future indicators 50 North Dakota State Fair city 51 Wicker basket used in jai alai

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SFR CLASSIFIEDS MIND BODY SPIRIT PSCYHICS Rob Brezsny

Week of December 8th

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932–1986) was experimental and innovative and influential. His imagery was often dreamlike, and his themes were metaphysical. He felt that the most crucial aspect of his creative process was his faith. If he could genuinely believe in the work he was doing, he was sure he’d succeed at even the most improbable projects. But that was a challenge for him. “There is nothing more difficult to achieve than a passionate, sincere, quiet faith,” he said. In accordance with your astrological omens during the next 12 months, Aries, I suggest you draw inspiration from his approach. Cultivating a passionate, sincere, quiet faith will be more attainable than it has ever been.

Soon after sending his handiwork to executive producers, Libran co-creator Trey Parker decided it was a terrible show that would wreck his career. He begged for it to be withheld from broadcast. But the producers ignored his pleas. That turned out to be a lucky break.

The episode ultimately won an Emmy Award and became popular with fans. I foresee the possibility of comparable events in your life, Libra. Don’t be too sure you know which of your efforts will work best.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Nobel Prize-winning Scorpio author André Gide (1869–1951) had an unusual relationship with his wife Madeline Rondeaux. Although married for 43 years, they never had sex. As long as she TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “All journeys have secret was alive, he never mentioned her in his extensive writdestinations of which the traveler is unaware,” said phiings. But after she died, he wrote a book about their losopher Martin Buber. How true! I would add that the traveler is wise to prepare for the challenges and oppor- complex relationship. Here’s the best thing he ever said about her: “I believe it was through her that I drew the tunities of those secret destinations . . . and be alert for them if they appear . . . and treat them with welcome and need for truthfulness and sincerity.” I’d love for you to be lit up by an influence like Madeline Rondeaux, Scorpio. respect, not resistance and avoidance. When travelers I’d be excited for you to cultivate a bond with a person follow those protocols, they are far more likely to be who will inspire your longing to be disarmingly candid delightfully surprised than disappointingly surprised. and refreshingly genuine. If there are no such characters Everything I just said will apply to you in the coming in your life, go looking for them. If there are, deepen your weeks, Taurus. connection.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini sleight-of-hand artSAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A fashion company ist Apollo Robinson may be the best and most famous pickpocket in the world. Fortunately, he uses his skill for called Tibi sells a silver mini dress that features thouentertainment purposes only. He doesn’t steal strangers’ sands of sequins. It’s also available in gold. I wonder if money and valuables from their pockets and purses and the designers were inspired by poet Mark Doty’s line: “No such thing, the queen said, as too many sequins.” In jackets. On one occasion, while in the company of formy astrological estimation, the coming weeks will be a mer US President Jimmy Carter, he pilfered multiple fun time to make this one of your mottoes. You will have items from a secret service agent assigned to protect a poetic license to be flashy, shiny, bold, swanky, glittery, Carter. He gave the items back, of course. It was an splashy, sparkling, and extravagant. If expressing such amusing and humbling lesson that inspired many themes in the way you dress isn’t appealing, embody law-enforcement officials to seek him out as a consulmore metaphorical versions. tant. I suspect that in the coming weeks, you may have comparable abilities to trick, fool, beguile, and enchant. I hope you will use your superpowers exclusively to carry CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I have pasts inside me I did not bury properly,” writes Nigerian poet Ijeoma out good deeds and attract inviting possibilities.

Umebinyuo. Isn’t that true for each of us? Don’t we all carry around painful memories as if they were still fresh CANCER (June 21-July 22): Many sportswriters regard Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player ever. He and current? With a little work, we could depotentize at was the Most Valuable Player five times and had a higher least some of them and consign them to a final resting place where they wouldn’t nag and sting us anymore. scoring average than anyone else who has ever played.

The good news, Capricorn, is that the coming weeks will And yet he confesses, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. And I be an excellent time to do just that: bury any pasts that you have not properly buried before now. have failed over and over and over again in my life.” He says the keys to his success are his familiarity with bungles and his determination to keep going despite his bun- AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In February 1967, the gles. I invite you to meditate on Jordan’s example in the Beatles recorded their album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts coming days.

Club Band in London. A man claiming to be Jesus Christ convinced Paul McCartney to let him weasel his way LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In his poem “Song of Poplars,” into the studio. McCartney later said that he was pretty Leo author Aldous Huxley speaks to a stand of poplar sure it wasn’t the real Jesus. But if by some remote trees. He asks them if they are an “agony of undefined chance it was, he said, he didn’t want to make a big misdesires.” Now I will pose the same question to you, Leo. take. I bring this to your attention, Aquarius, because I Are you an agony of undefined desires? Or are you a suspect that comparable events may be brewing in your treasury of well-defined desires? I hope it’s the latter. But vicinity. My advice: Don’t assume you already know who if it’s not, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to your teachers and helpers are. Here’s the relevant verse fix the problem. Learning to be precise about the nature from the Bible: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to of your longings is your growing edge, your frontier. Find strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained out more about what you want, please. angels without knowing it.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Black is your lucky color for the foreseeable future. I invite you to delve further than PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): According to Professor of ever before into its mysteries and meanings and powers. I Classics Anne Carson, ancient Greek author Homer “sugencourage you to celebrate blackness and honor blackgested we stand in time with our backs to the future, face ness and nurture blackness in every way you can imagine. to the past.” And why would we do that? To “search for For inspiration, meditate on how, in art, black is the pres- the meaning of the present—scanning history and myth ence of all colors. In printing, black is a color needed to for a precedent.” I bring this to your attention, Pisces, produce other colors. In mythology, blackness is the pribecause I think you should avoid such an approach in the mal source of all life and possibility. In psychology, black- coming months. In my view, the next chapter of your life ness symbolizes the rich unconscious core from which all story will be so new, so unpredicted, that it will have no vitality emerges. antecedents, no precursory roots that might illuminate its plot and meaning. Your future is unprecedented.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the first season of the animated TV series South Park, its two creators produced Homework: Send your predictions for the new year— an episode called “Make Love, Not Warcraft.” The story both for yourself and the world. lovingly mocked nerds and the culture of online gaming. https://Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes and Daily Text Message Horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700. © CO P Y R I G H T 2 0 2 1 R O B B R E Z S N Y 38

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STATE OF NEW MEXICO COUNTY OF SANTA FE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT IN THE MATTER OF A PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF MABEL ROYBAL, AKA MABEL SANDOVAL, AKA MABEL ARAGON Case No.: D-101CV-2021-02483 NOTICE OF CHANGE OF NAME TAKE NOTICE that in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 40-8-1 through Sec. 40-8-3 NMSA 1978, et seq. The Petitioner Mabel Roybal, AKA Mabel Sandoval, AKA Mable Aragon will apply to the Honorable Kathleen McGarry, District Judge of the First Judicial District at the Santa Fe Judicial Complex, 225 Montezuma Ave., in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at 9:00 a.m on the 4th day of January, 2022

SFR CLASSIFIEDS for an ORDER FOR CHANGE OF NAME from Mabel Roybal, AKA Mabel Sandoval, AKA Mable Aragon to Mabel Aragon.

KATHLEEN VIGIL, District Court Clerk By: Faith A Griego Deputy Court Clerk Submitted by: Mabel Roybal, AKA Mabel Sandoval, AKA Mable Aragon Petitioner, Pro Se STATE OF NEW MEXICO IN THE PROBATE COURT SANTA FE COUNTY IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF Joseph Edward Ortiz, DECEASED. No. 2021-0230 NOTICE OF CREDITORS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned has been appointed personal representative of the estate of the decedent.

All persons having claims against the estate of the decedent are required to present their claims within four (4) months after the date of the first publication of any published notice to creditors or sixty (60) days after the date of mailing or other delivery of this notice, whichever is later, or the claims will be forever barred.

Claims must be presented either to the undersigned personal representative at the address listed below, or filed with the Probate Court of Santa Fe County, New Mexico, located at the following address: P.O. Box 1985 Santa Fe, NM 87504 Dated: November 1, 2021. /s/ Pauline Laumbach Pauline Laumbach PO Box 17 Rainsville, NM 87736

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