Boulder Weekly 04.25.2024

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INACCESSIBLE WORLD

Many barriers affect wheelchair users when they’re out and about

BY JENN OCHS

Being a wheelchair user requires a lot of planning.

Any travel demands that I plan ahead.

I can’t swallow so I need to make sure I always have plenty of spit rags. I use towels to manage my secretions. I tend to have days where I’m especially full of secretions, so I refer

to myself as being juicy. One caregiver would lovingly call me juicy fruit.

Since I can’t swallow, I use a feeding tube that has been surgically attached to my stomach for all nutrition. I can’t take anything orally. In addition to spit towels, I must bring my food, water, feeding syringe and tube extension. I do a feed every four hours, so if I’m out all day, I need to take my feed stuff as appropriate.

I have extremely dry eyes that require constant eye drops. I always have to carry Refresh eye drops. They are not cheap, and when you live off disability payments, every cent matters. If I’m out for two hours, I know to bring 10 individual eye drop vials. One box of 70 vials cost $30.

I am unable to drive, so I rely on public transit, rideshare services and

the generosity of friends and family. To make plans to go out, I must ensure I have transportation organized, and I must make sure that wherever I am going is accessible. Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990, most places are not accessible 34 years later.

I spend a lot of time at our state capitol lobbying for disability rights. Every time I visit “The People’s House,” I’m appalled by how inaccessible the building is.

The only accessible bathrooms are in the basement of the four-story building. The place is full of stairs, and access to the House and Senate floors requires using a wheelchair lift that must be operated by a Sargent of Arms who is stationed up a flight of stairs. There’s no way for a wheelchair user to independently access

legislators. Add in the mobs of people who are competing for legislators, and it’s almost impossible for a wheelchair user to get any attention. Oh, and sessions are only active from 9 a.m. to noon January through May.

COMING AND GOING

Most power chairs need wheelchair accessible vehicles to handle their weight. Power chairs typically weigh about 300 pounds. That’s why you see wheelchair buses operated by AccessA-Ride or Via.

The problem is there are never enough drivers or buses to cater to the number of wheelchair users. To reserve a ride, I must book a week or at least a day ahead. With Access-ARide, I must be at my appointment for at least an hour, and the location must be three quarters of a mile from a fixed bus route stop. All rides are given a 30-minute pickup and drop-off window. If I’m not ready to go within five minutes after your pick-up time, the driver will leave without me. Access-A-Ride will combine passenger trips, which often makes me late because of the other riders.

The whole process is very time consuming. For a 15-minute haircut, I have to set aside at least three hours of my day.

This is why I own two power chairs. One I call “Big Bertha,” and the other is simply “the orange chair.”

“Big Bertha” is a seven-year-old power chair that weighs 300 lbs. I use her for public transportation and when I travel short distances using the sidewalk. “The orange chair” is a Fold & Go chair I bought online. The Fold & Go chair was designed by a female power chair user, weighs 60 pounds and folds up to fit any car trunk. It’s also water resistant with the battery built into the frame, so you can operate it in the rain without fear of electrocution.

Bottom line, it’s awesome. I use this chair when using Lyft or Uber and personal vehicles.

Why doesn’t every wheelchair user have a Fold & Go or something similar? Power chairs are expensive, typically costing somewhere between $2,000 and $17,000. Medicaid will pay for one chair every five years.

Wheelchairs are like shoes: A different type is required for different terrains.

OPINION

Plus, maneuvering a power chair in tight spaces usually causes lots of damage. I use a manual chair in my home as I have punched holes in the wall using power chairs.

UP IN THE AIR

Many wheelchair users refuse to travel by air because airlines are notorious for breaking or losing wheelchairs. Trying to get a wheelchair repaired or replaced will take at least two months. Wheelchairs are legs for some — a broken or missing chair causes one to be confined to a bed or a couch.

Boarding an airplane is a horrible experience for wheelchair users. Airline employees — with no training in handling people with disabilities — physically move the traveler to an aisle chair, which is slim enough to fit in between seats in the plane’s aisle. The aisle chairs have safety straps (that are often broken) to secure the traveler on the narrow chair. The airline employees push you down the aisle and then lift you into your seat.

Once seated on the plane, you are stranded. If you need to go to the restroom, hold it, because the airplane restrooms are inaccessible. I have

heard of wheelchair users dehydrating themselves in order to fly.

I recently booked a three-hour flight where I tried to pick a seat close to a bathroom to use the chair backs as railings to lean on while attempting to walk to the bathroom. The closest seats to the restroom were fire exit rows that require physical strength to reserve.

Airplane manufacturers are working on creating planes that accommodate a person’s wheelchair so you can board in your own chair and be secured in the plane. Unfortunately, the designs have not been finalized. This is needed now.

ROOM SERVICE

Before traveling, a wheelchair accessible hotel must be reserved and guaranteed. Unfortunately, trying to book online always requires a phone call to the hotel to secure an accessible room.

There is hope, thanks to the tireless efforts of disability advocates. AccessibleGo is a website that caters to individuals with disabilities and will guarantee accessible rooms.

Simply put, our world is not accessible for wheelchair users — which is why wheelchair users are rarely seen in

public. The necessary planning required for the simplest trip is so overwhelming that many wheelchair users do not leave their homes.

The best way to help the disability community regarding accessible travel starts with awareness and education. Tell everyone what you have learned from this column: Let’s make accessible travel a topic that everyone cares about.

This month, I am flying to Washington, D.C. to attend the Disability Policy Seminar. I’m nervous, as it will be my first plane ride with “the orange chair.” I’m also traveling on my own, so I’ll be at the mercy of assistance from strangers.

I refuse to stay in the comfort and safety of my own home. Wish me luck!

Jenn Ochs lives in Boulder and enjoys listening to music, podcasts and audiobooks while painting or drawing. She is a disability rights advocate and a graduate from Baylor University in Texas, which is where she realized that Boulder is the best place to live.

This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

When voters decided to give more money to the arts in Boulder, they did so enthusiastically: 75% approved 2023’s Ballot Issue 2A, surrendering half of a general sales tax and greatly increasing funding for arts and culture programs, organizations and initiatives.

But the City of Boulder plans to keep some of the tax revenue that supporters expected to flow directly to artists and venues, a move city leaders say is necessary to pay for essential services such as fire and police. While arts funding is still increasing by more than $1 million and the city says supporters were forewarned, many feel the promise of 2A has been broken.

“We assumed that when the people voted in favor of transformative arts funding, the city would respect the voter’s decision,” says musician, CEO of eTown and Create Boulder board member Nick Forster. “The decision to fold all funding into the dedicated tax is an abrogation of the city’s responsibilities and in direct contradiction of the will of the voters.

“It was our mistake to trust the City of Boulder.”

‘WE SHOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN THE BAIT’

It started with a petition. Create Boulder, a coalition of community leaders, artists and advocates, had long been unhappy with how little of the municipal budget went to the arts: less than half a percent each of the past four years.

They set their sights on an expiring sales tax, used to fund Boulder’s basic operations. After collecting the requisite signatures in short order, organizers won the legal right to ask voters to repurpose the tax, dedicating it to arts and culture.

It would create a stable, reliable and much bigger source of funding for the arts. But it would also take millions of dollars each year out of the city’s general fund, its largest source of discretionary funding. The general fund pays for critical services like police, fire, attorneys, tech and administrative functions. Without the tax, the fund would be overdrawn within a year, city finance staff projected.

“The city got nervous,” Forster says.

would cover internal city expenses such as salaries for the arts and culture staff and updating the 2015 Community Cultural Plan.

COMPROMISE AND CONSEQUENCE

Boulder arts groups feel duped by city budget sleight of hand

BY TONI TRESCA AND SHAY CASTLE

“That’s when the city manager mentioned they might be doing a competing ballot initiative to fund fire and police department infrastructure. It was essentially a fear-mongering counter-campaign. They were going to say, ‘Don’t starve our city services that are responsible for keeping us safe.’”

So city officials struck a bargain with petitioners: Drop your ballot measure, and we’ll split the tax revenue with you 50/50. Unsure of their chances at victory — especially if the city put a competing proposal on the ballot — Create Boulder agreed.

The compromise is what ultimately went to voters. Organizers felt it was a win: The arts would see an infusion of cash, and the city would be able to maintain the financial solvency of its most important pot of money.

“It was a guarantee that our initiative would pass and that we’d have a substantial increase in funding for the economy in Boulder,” Forster says. “This $3.6 million from 2A was going to be a transformative increase in the amount of funds available to arts organizations and artists in the City of Boulder. We presumed, wrongly, that arts funding would still get a percentage of the general fund.

“In hindsight,” he says, “we shouldn’t have taken the bait.”

‘CUT IN HALF’

During a meeting early this year with Matt Chasansky, manager of Boulder’s Office of Arts and Culture, Create Boulder learned that the city planned to stop putting any general fund dollars into arts and culture: The funds from 2A

“The previous [arts] budget [from the general fund] was about $1.8 million. Roughly half went to the community, about $900,000, through grants and expenditures, and the other half paid for the city’s internal expenditures,” Forster explains. “If things had stayed the same, arts funding would have increased from $900,000 to $3.6 million, which is still less than 1% of the city budget. Instead, the city manager and budget office decided that the $1.8 million that was previously allocated [from] the general fund would be redirected.

“That $3.6 million, which was going to have a significant impact, has been effectively cut in half.”

In response to this news, Create Boulder sent a letter on March 4 to Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde, Boulder’s city manager, signed by 38 Boulder arts and culture organizations. The letter urges city officials to listen to “the will of the voters” and maintain the Office of Arts and Culture’s general fund support at the level it has in previous years.

“I wouldn’t have minded so much if the council, in the middle of their budgeting process later in the year, said, ‘Well, we’re struggling to find money, so can we dig into the arts?’ That would be one thing, but Nuria just initiated this,” says Jan Burton, a Create Boulder board member and former city councilwoman. “That is really out of line with the intent of the petitioner and the voters.”

Nothing in the ballot language mandated the tax revenue be added to current spending; it only specified that the money brought in by the sales tax be split evenly between “arts, culture and heritage purposes” and general fund purposes.

It was never definitively stated whether the sales tax revenue would be added to the existing arts budget or would replace general fund revenue as the sole arts funding mechanism. The official position — shared with the press and the public — was that final funding was to be decided.

“I had very clear conversations with Create Boulder” during last year’s

Boulder’s Paint the Pavement is one of many programs and organizations that will be funded from the estimated $3.6 million a dedicated sales tax is expected to bring in, rather than the $5.4 million the arts community expected to receive from the city. Courtesy: City of Boulder

negotiations and budgeting process, Rivera-Vandermyde says. Mayor Aaron Brockett and three other council members contacted for this story concurred.

“We told them at the time there can’t be a binding process” for allocating general fund revenue, Brockett says. “I very strongly heard that hope [from] the advocates, but I also heard the city say, ‘Hey, we can’t promise, so it could be less. That decision would be made in the future.’”

Councilmember Lauren Folkerts agrees with those recollections. “The arts organizations did make a clear request,” she says, “but in our communication about putting that item on the ballot and the compromise we struck with them, we were clear that was not a promise. There will be a future council that will make that decision.”

That’s still the case, RiveraVandermyde says. City council can ask for more funding for the arts.

“If they want us to do something differently, we will find a way,” she says. But, “we will have to make other cuts. There are consequences.”

Rivera-Vandermyde says the previous council — six members of which are still serving — operated with the knowledge that continued general fund allocation to the arts could mean cuts to other services or, at the very least, limits on new programs or spending.

Budget projections presented to council last year showed that splitting 2A with the arts put the general fund at

a deficit in 2025 and 2027, and those estimates were based on a scenario in which 2A was the sole source of arts funding. Those underlying budget assumptions were shared publicly at an Aug. 3, 2023 city council meeting, in response to a question from Councilman Mark Wallach.

“Are you assuming that the base funding … that is currently received by the arts community remains, or that the … funding that will occur from the initiative will be covering it all?” Wallach asked.

“We were assuming with the current arts and culture budget being a part of that 50%” sales tax split, then-budget officer Mark Woulf responded. “Half of that … tax would be inclusive of current funding and new funding.”

The exchange was the only public indication that the city intended to discontinue general fund contributions to the arts. That could account for the confusion among arts organizations and members of the public, Boulder’s director of communication and engagement Sarah Huntley says.

“Some of the foundational conversation, maybe some stuff was being talked in shorthand [or] had occurred in a different setting,” Huntley says. “The nuance might have been lost on folks who were not part of those conversations.”

POLITICS AS USUAL

City arts spending hasn’t changed yet

“It

— the existing sales tax doesn’t expire until the end of this year, and the split with arts doesn’t happen until 2025.

If 2A remains the lone government spending on arts, the 2025 budget will be an estimated $3.6 million, double 2024’s base budget. But it’s about $1.8 million less than what arts organizations expected. And, in an April 15 meeting with the city, Create Boulder learned that 16.7% of the sales tax revenue will be put in an emergency reserve fund, roughly $600,00 per year.

“Every fund has a reserve for emergencies,” Huntley explains. “Say we have another pandemic. If the council wants to offset what artists are facing, they can tap into the arts, culture and heritage reserve for that. That does reduce the funds to do planned programming around, but it’s a nice safety net for the community that the tax was passed to support.”

While the reserve must be used for arts and culture purposes, this leaves organizations with about $2.4 million less each year than they hoped to receive once 2A was passed.

“$3.6 million would have been transformational if you had given it primarily to nonprofits, in addition to the $1.8 million from the general fund,” Burton says. “But now it just means a little increase for a lot of organizations.”

Organizers from Create Boulder argue this is a continuation of the city’s practice of using the arts to score political points while failing to provide tangible support. As Burton notes, local nonprofits did all of the campaigning for 2A, even though half of the money goes into the city’s general fund.

“By working with city council over the years, things got a little better, but at some point we realized the arts were always going to be the last to be funded and the first to be cut,” Forster says. “It’s just not a priority for the council, and it’s especially not a priority for the city budget office. This is a city that has a $513.5 million budget. Not all of it is discretionary, but it’s still a big number, so to spend under a million dollars on grants for the community on an annual basis is embarrassing for the city.”

City officials balk at the suggestion that they have millions of dollars to distribute at will. In 2024, 68% of the city’s revenue was tied to specific departments or programs; 54% of sales tax was. The roughly $196 million general fund is technically discretionary, but it’s already overtaxed because so many of the city’s critical functions rely on it.

“I cannot find other money,” RiveraVandermyde says. “Arts are important, but so are basic needs [like] rental assistance, housing and human services and so forth. We have to squeeze every dime we can, maximize every

was our mistake to trust the City of Boulder,” says Nick Forster, CEO of eTown, pictured here performing with Jaime Wyatt on Feb. 25. Credit: Lauren Hartmann

Danielle DeRoberts works on a piece for the 2024 Street Wise mural festival. Street Wise is one of the 38 local organizations asking Boulder to restore city funding for arts and culture. Credit: Tyler Dittlo

Keep Going

One day at a time

Un día a la vez

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Mayo es el Mes de la Toma de Conciencia de la Salud Mental.

Únase a Mental Health Partners y otras organizaciones locales que ofrecen capacitación, eventos y recursos gratuitos de salud mental en los condados de Boulder y Broomfield.

Junie Joseph

State Representative for House District 10

cent we have so that we’re putting every dollar to good use.

“The need is great. The resources are finite.”

City staff contend that 2A doesn’t capture Boulder’s complete contribution to arts and culture.

Communication and engagement projects often include artist contracts, and city facilities are used to house organizations such as BMoCA.

$3 million in 2023 and 2024. Our per capita arts funding is 53 cents, putting us in the bottom three states for government arts spending.

“Folks behind the 2A initiative, people like Jan Burton and Nick Forster, have the right to be incredibly upset by this,” says Mark Ragan, managing director at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC), which was one of the 38 organizations that signed Create Boulder’s letter to the city manager. “We had 75% of the citizens tell the city to take that money and put it behind the arts.

Are you a resident of Boulder House District 10?

State Representative for House District 10

Are you looking for answers on these topics/issues?

Are you looking for answers on these topics/issues?

“I get [that] the arts community has felt they have not gotten their fair share,” Rivera-Vandermyde says. At the same time, “it’s not fair to compare this community with others in the region. This community has made decisions on where to spend their money: open space, as an example,” which in 2024 accounted for 9% of the entire city budget. (The open space department does not receive any general fund money; it is funded by dedicated sales tax revenue.)

“The city wants to eliminate the funding from the general fund and the spirit of the agreement that was negotiated between Create Boulder and the city, and that feels like a double cross to me.”

PREPARING TO FIGHT

2024 Introduced Bills

2024 Introduced Bills

Are you a resident of Boulder House District 10?

*HB24-1077, Lodged Wills * HB24-1031, Accessibility for Children in Child Welfare * HB24-1009, Bilingual Child Care Licensing Resources * HB24-1115 Prescription Drug Acecibility * HB24-1118, Authority of the Attorney General to Operate a District Attorney’s Office * SB24-078

Boulder is not unique in Colorado. The state’s spending on arts and culture ranks among the lowest in the United States, according to the National Assembly of State Art Agencies.

While states like Missouri and Minnesota contribute tens of millions of dollars, Colorado set aside just over

Boulder’s budget won’t be finalized until early December. But the conversations that form the bulk of the city’s spending plan are happening now. City council’s first look at next year’s finances is a May 9 study session. The main discussion will center around 2023’s year-end revenue and a financial forecast from CU Boulder, but city staff say they are prepared for the possibility of 2A coming up.

*HB24-1077, Lodged Wills * HB24-1031, Accessibility for Children in Child Welfare * HB24-1009, Bilingual Child Care Licensing Resources * HB24-1115 Prescription Drug Acecibility * HB24-1118, Authority of the Attorney General to Operate a District Attorney’s Office * SB24-078

Representative Junie Joseph

Reach out to Representative Junie Joseph

Any other issues etc. Cel: 720-432-6009

Mayor Brockett says arts organizers have been in touch with him regarding the 2025 allocation; three other council members contacted for this story said they haven’t been lobbied yet but are aware of the concern in the community. While Brockett says he is “interested in some additional general fund support” for the arts, other elected officials echo city staff’s concerns about a constrained budget.

“It will be really hard to allocate additional funding beyond that when we’re going to see budget cuts in other areas,” councilwoman Folkerts says. “Especially as the federal COVID relief funding goes away. We have a lot of unfunded housing and human services [needs].”

Those in the art world are hoping they can turn things around.

Following what Forster describes a “contentious” discussion with RiveraVandermyde that “ended amicably” on March 26, Create Boulder plans to try this decision in the court of public opinion.

To protest the potential elimination of general fund spending for the arts, they intend to gather supporters and organizations who are prepared to call the city, write letters to the council and newspapers and attend council meetings.

ARTIST GRAVEYARD

Forster believes the current level of philanthropic and government support will not sustain the art scene as it exists today in Boulder. That’s why Create Boulder was formed, he says: To use collective action to keep the arts ecosystem from collapsing.

“It was to stay the tide of a mass exodus of artists from Boulder,” Forster says. “Our strategy was twofold: Get Boulder to spend more money, because city funding has been woefully inadequate for years, and encourage private philanthropy.”

“The financial pressure is really intense,” agrees Marie-Juliette Bird, founder of The New Local, a nonprofit gallery and collective for women-identifying artists that opened in November 2022.

“Some days I’m up at 3 a.m. thinking about how I’m going to pay rent.

Bird sees the passage of 2A as two steps forward and the city’s plan to eliminate general fund spending as a step back. “Some days I feel really encouraged; we have positive things happening, and some days I feel really discouraged — it’s not a linear path.”

A longtime Boulderite, Bird has seen many artists come and go. She thinks the new wave of energy and organizing could be the thing to turn the tide, but lingering in the back of her mind is the city’s reputation not as a birthplace of creativity, but as a graveyard.

Note: This online questionnaire pertains to seven high-level areas of spending, rather than detailed or department-level funding questions.

“I think it’s important for people to understand [that] if they want a vibrant arts community downtown, the community needs to step up and support it.”

Sitting in her not-quite twoyear-old gallery on West Pearl, she offers a grim assessment: “People say Boulder is where creatives come to die.” Editor’s

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A DIFFERENT BEAST

Aaron Heard of Jesus Piece on fatherhood, ADHD and the shifting landscape of hardcore

BY JEREMY DUKE

Jesus Piece vocalist Aaron Heard acknowledges that times have changed. On the Philadelphiabased metalcore band’s current tour supporting 2023’s …So Unknown, the frontman told Boulder Weekly he doesn’t expect to see mosh pit antics quite like those from his youth.

“Back when I was coming up, them dudes were a different kind of beast. Beating the shit out of their best buds. Things were flying across the room,” he says. “There were fewer cameras then, so people were just doing crazy shit, and hardcore was still for crazy people.”

But Heard, himself referred to as an “Olympic-level” mosher by Colin Young on the Hardlore Podcast, seems goodnatured about the evolving state of hardcore and his own band’s expanding fanbase.

“We have a lot of new fans, a lot of younger fans. So I understand,” he says. “It’s cool to get all kinds of people into the band as opposed to just the moshers.”

Fans new and old will have a chance to hear Jesus Piece’s brand of frenetic, thundering metalcore when the band appears at Denver’s Gothic Theatre on May 2 with support from Sanguisugabogg, GAG and PeelingFlesh.

Heard says he hopes Jesus Piece audiences have a multifaceted experience during their shows.

“I want people to feel scared but intrigued. I think that’s how you get stuck into this shit,” he says. “You’re like ‘I don’t know what the hell is going on. But I’m scared. But I like it?’ And then you’re there every weekend for the next 10 years.”

‘SHIFT AND FLOW’

Jesus Piece drummer Luis Aponte and guitarists David Updike and John DiStefano have been creating that atmosphere by delivering churning,

metallic riffs arranged with explosive breakdowns ever since the band’s formation in 2015. Heard’s vocals guide the action as he barks, roars and launches call-and-response chants to cull insight from the grim realities of life.

Since the band’s prior release Only Self in 2018, 31-year-old Heard has experienced personal transformation as well.

“Becoming a father changed me,” he says. “I think I just made a conscious effort to be nicer to myself. I tried to start talking to myself better. Because, at that time, I was really self destructive. It’s good to have that responsibility to help you shift and flow into where you need to be.

“This lifestyle, when you’re touring, is pretty lawless,” he continues. “You don’t have a schedule. You don’t have many responsibilities. Having a kid makes me think about home, and that’s way more grounding.”

Heard reflects this perspective with surprising tenderness on …So Unknown’s “Silver Lining”: “Nothing I won’t do for you / You’re my foundation / Center of my universe / It’s us against the world.””

NEW PERSPECTIVE

Heard’s journey has also been defined by his diagnosis with ADHD several years into Jesus Piece’s steady rise in popularity. He says this development helped bring clarity to some longtime struggles.

“I definitely knew I was thrown off, I just didn’t know what the fuck it was,” he says. “In a song like ‘Neuroprison,’ I’m singing about having these racing thoughts. I was like, ‘I don’t know what the hell’s going on with me.’ Now I’m like, ‘Oh. It’s a mental condition.’

“It answered a lot of questions, but it also made me think, ‘Mad people got ADHD. I’m acting like it’s all philosophical or something,’” he continues. “It

made me feel more humanized for sure.”

Heard is finding value in this new perspective and the skills he has developed in response, as Jesus Piece stirs up crowds from coast to coast on their current U.S. tour and prepares to support Brazilian metal icons Sepultura on European dates this fall.

“It’s good to know because it makes it easier to combat executive dysfunction and meltdowns,” he says. “I’ve learned to keep track of myself, set reminders for things. It’s helped me be a lot more organized, now that I’m aware of what’s going on. I think the band definitely appreciates it.”

‘THERE FOR YOU TO TAKE’

Over the last decade, Jesus Piece have honed their belligerent sound and

reputation for ferocious live sets to earn a place among a proud lineage of Pennsylvania hardcore and alternative bands. Heard says it’s a badge they wear with honor.

“Over the years, Pennsylvania has pumped out some of the most influential bands to the younger generation: Title Fight, Balance and Composure, Tigers Jaw. They all had their time when they were absolutely crushing the scene,” he says. “It was all kind of happening around us and we were seeing that it’s possible to make music and get people to notice. It’s all there for you to take, you’ve just got to get it there.”

According to Heard, inclusion in this community has helped shape Jesus Piece into a heavy music force that frightens and intrigues a loyal and growing audience.

“Pride in the musicians from your state can be such a driving force,” he says. “Plus, expectations are out there now, you know? Raising the bar shows you what’s possible. It fires me up when I see people who are close to me win.”

ON THE BILL: Jesus Piece with Sanguisugabogg, GAG, and PeelingFlesh.

7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $25

Jesus Piece brings their blistering brand of metalcore to Denver’s Gothic Theatre on May 2. Credit: Kayla Menze

...So Unknown by Jesus Piece was released April 14, 2023. Courtesy: Century Media

‘TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD’

Dispatch from the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

It was 30 years ago this April that Turner Classic Movies (TCM) first signed on the air. Truly, it wasn’t that big of a deal then: AMC still stood for American Movie Classics, public broadcasting stations re-ran old movies either in the public domain (or close) and VHS was commonplace.

But TCM proved to be different. From the outset, its dedication to televising films uncut and commercial-free, complete with host introductions and a bevy of interstitials — trailers, archival interviews, shorts and original productions — added the missing component, the thing that made TCM viewers into fullfledged fans: context. You didn’t just watch a movie on TCM; you learned the story of who made it, how they made it, when they made it and under what conditions. It made you hungry to see more, to learn more. TCM isn’t just a TV channel; it’s a theater, classroom and personal friend all rolled into one.

“We’re a special tribe who loves movies,” film scholar, author and professor Jeanine Basinger said at the

2024 TCM Classic Film Festival. “We willingly come into the darkness. And sit down in the darkness. And trust the darkness. And wait for the light to come to us, up on the screen. And when it comes, we embrace it, and we learn from it. We grow from it. We cry, we laugh. We find out things about people we don’t know about. Hopefully, we grow and gain better understanding. And these movies, that are entertainment, are our best opportunities to learn and grow. To build a better world together.”

For Basinger, the road to that realization began as a young usher at the two movie theaters in her hometown of Brookings, South Dakota. She sought to understand the power of movies and their hold over a mass audience. That led her to seek out the talent on and off screen, to understand their tactics and to teach future generations their utility over six decades at Wesleyan University, where they’ve since named a wing of their cinema studies department after her.

Basinger was honored at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival — which played the movie palaces of yore in Hollywood April 18-21 — with The Robert Osborne Award. Previous recipients include Martin Scorsese, Kevin Brownlow, Leonard Maltin and Donald Bogle.

It seemed like every movie that played this year’s festival honored Basinger’s desire that movies could build a better world together. Whether it was 1951’s Westward the Women, with Robert Taylor guiding a wagon train of volunteer brides out to 19th century California to find eligible bachelors,

1930’s The Big House, which dramatically documents the shortcomings of the prison system, or the 1962 masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia, where a military expert dreams of unification in a land torn apart by tribalism.

But if ever there was hope that movies could bring us together to build a better world, then let the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger — the writers, producers and directors known collectively as the Archers — be exhibit A. Martin Scorsese, a lifelong acolyte of the Archers, pays tribute to the duo and their films in the documentary Made in England, which enjoyed its U.S. premiere at the festival. The film is no simple assembly of Powell’s and Pressburger’s greatest hits. The documentary — more freeform essay than chronological reportage — shows how a movie-mad boy was transformed by the filmmakers’ creative prowess, not just in style but in substance. As Scorsese says of the Archer’s 1943 elegy, A Canterbury Tale: “If you are quiet and listen closely, you can hear the voices of the past helping you to understand the present.”

And so the whispers of the past once again wriggled free from the screen at the 15th TCM Classic Film Festival — as they do day in and day out on TCM. The questions may change, but the answers never do. And they’re there for you, waiting in the darkness, if only you take a moment to listen.

Narrated by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, the documentary Made in England — which premiered at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival — pays tribute to the work of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Courtesy: Film Limited / British Broadcasting Corporation

Film scholar, author and professor Jeanine Basinger at the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival. Courtesy: Turner Classic Movies, Inc.

THEATER

NEXT STAGE

New leadership at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company on their first year and the season ahead

BY TONI TRESCA

As the curtain rises on a new season for the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC), producing artistic director Jessica Robblee finds herself caught up in the whirlwind that comes with leading one of Boulder’s flagship cultural institutions.

“There has not been much time for reflection,” she says. “It has been one of those things where you are just kind of thrown together with a deadline and everyone is helping make everything happen.”

Alongside managing director Mark Ragan, Robblee is spearheading an ambitious second season. BETC’s fiveshow lineup, split between the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder and The Savoy in Denver, aims to captivate audiences while also strengthening community connections.

“We quickly sold out almost everything we’ve done, which was a complete surprise to me,” Ragan says. “BETC is different than a lot of other theaters because we have an 18-year history and ticket buyers who go back nearly two decades. They value having a local theater company.”

TRANSITION AND TRIUMPH

The previous season marked a poignant transition for BETC as founders Rebecca Remaly and Stephen Weitz passed the torch to Robblee and Ragan. Under the duo, BETC became a staple of the Boulder arts scene, celebrated for its thoughtful productions and community engagement.

The former leaders’ final season featured a spellbinding production of The Royale, which won nine Henry Awards and set a high standard for the incoming team. Robblee and Ragan’s inaugural season at BETC was themed around the Emily Dickinson quote, “I dwell in possibility.”

This north star proved prophetic as

Points neighborhoods are starting to get to know us.”

they broadened the company’s geographic reach and diversified its offerings. The classic play, The Belle of Amherst, as well as the Colorado premieres of Coal Country and What the Constitution Means to Me, reengaged longtime audiences while attracting new ones.

Although the new leaders changed the company’s name back to Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company last fall (from its 2021 rebrand to Butterfly Effect Theatre Company), BETC now splits its time between Boulder and Denver. Ragan attributes this to the Dairy’s rental restrictions — implemented during the pandemic — limiting organizations to 16 weeks per year, as well as the scarcity of alternative, affordable theaters in Boulder.

“We wanted to build our reputation beyond Boulder, and we have a very robust season; it’s difficult to have a robust season if you’re limited to 16 weeks,” he says. “The old BETC, under Stephen and Rebecca, had 26 weeks at the Dairy: 26 to 16 is a huge difference, so we needed to search for another venue. The Savoy has been a tremendous venue and partner; audiences in the Curtis Park and Five

He admits that selling tickets in Denver is tougher than in Boulder, but he hopes that changes over time. Ragan says their upcoming run of What the Constitution Means to Me at the Dairy, May 3 through 19, which closes out BETC’s 2023-2024 season, sold out two and a half weeks before opening night.

“We saw a huge bump in audience members from locals at [the Denver production of] What The Constitution Means To Me in January, but it didn’t sell out like at the Dairy,” Ragan says. “We sold about 70% of the available tickets for Constitution at Savoy, so we did well, but it was a more difficult challenge to sell out The Savoy than the Dairy due to BETC’s 18-year track record at the Dairy.”

A NEW CHAPTER

Robblee and Ragan intend to expand BETC’s educational initiatives and deepen community engagement. Since taking over, they have partnered with Boulder’s Family Learning Center and Boulder Housing Partners, offering free tickets and sponsoring an improv class to low- and moderate-income residents. Ragan also noted that BETC is collaborating with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and Boulder Ballet to create a free membership program for all three organizations’ performances.

“Collaboration is a matter of survival. Arts organizations have to stand up for one another,” Ragan says. “BETC is the chief sponsor of this summer’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival and is contributing to the Boulder Ballet, Boulder Philharmonic and the Dairy Arts Center. There is no better marketing idea than sponsoring organizations that appeal to people who should be seeing BETC productions. It has this wonderful two-pronged advance of benefiting both organizations.”

The Ragan family had previously donated to these organizations, but after taking over BETC, they decided it

MARK THESE DATES FOR THE BETC 2024-2025 SEASON

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE

BY HENRIK IBSEN

Sept. 26-Oct. 13 (The Savoy)

Nov. 8-17 (Dairy Arts Center)

Adapted by Mark Ragan, this 1882 Norwegian play explores truth, democracy and social tension.

THE BALLOT OF PAOLA AGUILAR

BY BERNARDO CUBRÍA

Oct. 17-Nov. 3 (Dairy Arts Center)

A comic take on identity politics about a consultant group’s attempt to win the Latino vote through one woman who needs an in vitro fertilization procedure.

LITTLE WOMEN

BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

December 5-29 (Dairy Arts Center)

For something different from the typical Christmas play, BETC stages this family-friendly story filled with holiday spirit in an adaptation by Jessica Robblee.

HOPE AND GRAVITY

BY MICHAEL HOLLINGER

Jan. 23-Feb. 16 (The Savoy)

A major-city elevator accident connects nine disparate lives in this 2018 play.

THE WHITE CHIP

BY SEAN

DANIELS

April 10-May 4 (Dairy Arts Center)

A darkly comic autobiographical play about alcoholism.

“made more sense” to give funds in the theater’s name.

While last season’s financial success laid a solid foundation, the challenges of funding the arts persist. Ragan estimates that about 25% of the company’s budget comes from ticket sales, so the other 75% has to come from sponsors, donors and grants. As BETC navigates its future, both leaders are adapting and planning more robust seasons.

“We’re excited to get things bit by bit more secure with each production,” Robblee says. “We just had our general auditions, so we are working on casting right now, among other things — we are constantly working to make things better each time.”

Artistic director Jessica Robblee and managing director Mark Ragan are gearing up for their second season at the helm of Boulder Ensemble Theater Company. Courtesy: BETC

CURTAIN CALLS

Three local stage productions to catch or skip

BY TONI TRESCA

As snow fell unexpectedly in late April, what better refuge from the chill than the warm embrace of the theater? The cold weather provided an excellent excuse to stay indoors and enjoy a variety of productions in Denver, Lafayette and Johnstown. Here’s what worked — and what needed work.

DELIGHTFULLY DISHEVELED

Kate Hamill’s Emma is a vibrant adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel by the same name, presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company.

Directed by Meredith McDonough, this production uses contemporary music and lively choreography by Emily Michaels King to create a Regency setting that feels distinctively modern — think Bridgerton meets Clueless

The play follows the misguided matchmaking efforts of Emma Woodhouse (Amelia Pedlow), a wealthy and clever young woman in early 19th-century England. Despite her confidence in her abilities, Emma’s actions lead to romantic misadventures, ultimately teaching her lessons about love.

Pedlow excels as Emma, mastering the balance of likability and meddlesome behavior. Her relationship with George Knightley (Carman Lacivita) is friendly but never convincingly romantic. The supporting cast, including Samantha Steinmetz as delightfully naïve Harriet and Annie Barbour in dual roles as the misunderstood Jane Fairfax and elderly Mrs. Bates, add their singular spark to the ensemble’s chemistry. Lex Liang’s smart and functional scenic design, a light-up frame angled over the play’s action with a picturesque country background behind, gives the impression that everything is about to fall apart.

Even when Hamill’s script overindulges in meta-theatrical humor and repeti-

tive gags, McDonough adeptly manages the tempo of this screwball comedy, making Emma an energetic, albeit slightly uneven, modern update of Austen’s work.

ON STAGE: Emma.

Through May 5, Wolf Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1101 13th St., $40-$103

CONTENT OVERLOAD

Theater Company of Lafayette presents a modern adaptation of Molière’s The Misanthrope, reimagining the classic satire for the social media age. Director Brett Landis’ adaptation, while intriguing, stumbles in execution. The play stars Alceste (Omar Garces Alcala), who despises the superficiality of social media interactions yet finds himself in love with Célimène (Miranda Vargas), a

popular social media influencer.

Hannah Richards’ costumes strike a balance between modern chic and classic sophistication, while Frank Landis’ scenic design incorporates elements of French Rococo into a contemporary setting. Although visually appealing, the combination feels more disjointed than cohesive, with the bright, simplistic set pieces taking away from the deeper thematic content.

The use of Richard Wilbur’s translation in this modern setting is a doubleedged sword; while it preserves the lyrical quality of Molière’s verse, it frequently clashes with the setting, making the dialogue seem out of place. While the vision reflects our digital age, The Misanthrope falls short of its ambitious concept.

ON STAGE: The

Misanthrope. Through May 5, Theater Company of Lafayette, 300 E. Simpson. $25

NEW BLOOMS

The Secret Garden at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse is a touching, transformative journey through grief and redemption. Directed with a delicate yet

THEATER

commanding hand by Shelly Gaza, who recently helmed the charming A Midsummer’s Night Dream, this production emphasizes the classic’s themes of loss and healing.

Based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel, The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox (Alianna Glorioso/Elinor Rodgers), a young girl sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven (Patric Case), in a secluded manor in Yorkshire after the death of her parents. When Mary discovers a neglected garden on the estate, she and her sickly cousin Colin (Oliver Harrelson/Gus Gaza) embark on a journey guided by the garden’s magical spirits from Mary’s past.

Casey Kearns’ masterful set design uses layers and textures to visually narrate the unfolding emotional landscapes, with Vance McKenzie’s lighting playing a crucial role in enhancing the magical elements of the garden. Deb Faber’s costumes are meticulously crafted, and Katie Hughes’ musical direction ensures that Lucy Simon’s score envelops the audience with the sounds of eight polished live musicians and 19 cast members.

The performances are uniformly strong. Case offers a poignant portrayal as he mourns his dead wife, Lily (MaryAnn Laurie). While Laurie is mostly hidden behind a shadowy scrim — Gaza stages the spirits that haunt the characters behind a screen upstage, just out of reach — her lovely voice carries, and Laurie’s chemistry with Case is palpable.

The only questionable sequence comes in the second act, when choreographer Adria Maria directs the cast to perform an “Indian healing spell” in “Come Spirit, Come Charm,” which is scripted but culturally incoherent. Aside from this minor misstep, The Secret Garden at the Candlelight is a triumph, melding heartache with hope in a visually stunning and emotionally resonant performance. ON

The Secret Garden runs through June 16 at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown. Credit: The Creative Agency

EVENTS

25

TGTHR YOUTH VOICE & ART SHOWCASE

6

Boulder. $100

Support local young people experiencing homelessness during this spring fundraiser and art exhibition featuring food, drinks and an eye-popping showcase of paintings, ceramics, jewelry and more

26

PASSWORD: COMEDY

7:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, The Speakeasy, 301 Main St., Longmont. $10

Don’t miss one of BoCo’s longest-running comedy showcases at The Speakeasy in Longmont. Held on the last Friday of the month, this regular laugh riot is sure to leave you in stitches with bar access all night and a post-standup DJ.

26 – 28

FREQUENT FLYERS: ENÉRGEIA

Various times. Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28, the Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $30

The latest production from local aerial dance company Frequent Flyers features Boulder’s own Issac Endo. Enérgeia leverages the artist’s background in circus, performance art and film for a dazzling production you won’t want to miss.

27

NATURE MINDFULNESS HIKE

10 a.m. Saturday, April 27, Heil Valley Ranch, 1188 Geer Canyon Road, Boulder. Free

Spring is all about awakenings, so head to Heil Valley Ranch for this mindfulness hike to greet the coming season. Volunteer naturalists Janet, Jill and Mary will be your guides as you start your new growth cycle in the great outdoors.

27

GOAT YOGA

10 a.m. Saturday, April 27, Growing Gardens, 1630 Hawthorn Ave., Boulder. $35

You may be the GOAT when it comes to that low lunge, but Growing Gardens has something different in mind. Join one of the center’s local instructors for a one-hour vinyasa yoga class with four-legged helpers in the shadow of the Flatirons.

27

LEFT HAND ARTIST GROUP 10TH ANNIVERSARY LABEL SHOW

2 p.m. Saturday, April 27, Wibby Brewing, 209 Emery St., Longmont. Free

Wibby Brewing hosts this art-forward beer bash at their Longmont location. Festivities include a showcase of label illustrations by Left Hand Artist Group, plus a silent auction and live music by Ten Buck Sixer and Parchment Doll.

EVENTS

27

MUSIC FIRST SPRING

FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER

5-9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27, Longmont Elks Lodge, 303 Coffman St. $20

Bust out your dancing shoes for a night of live music with locals Whiskey Starship and the Nalani Effect featuring Adam and Regi Wooten, along with special guests including Hazel Miller. All proceeds support local nonprofit Music First, with the goal of securing a music venue in downtown Longmont.

27

MASQUERADE BALL

9-11 p.m. Saturday, April 27, 300 Suns Brewing, 335 1st Ave., Longmont. Free

Save face at 300 Suns Brewing in Longmont during this after-hours masked ball. The light-dimmed evening will include live music by Front Range band Card Catalog and food from the kitchen until 10 p.m.

28

CITY NATURE CHALLENGE

10 a.m. to noon. Sunday, April 28, Louisville Community Park, 955 Bella Vista Drive, Louisville. Free

Get up close and personal with the natural world during this hike where you’ll identify plants and wildlife around Coal Creek Trail. The event is part of the City Nature Challenge, a friendly international competition to see which town can report the most species.

28

TULIP FAIRY AND ELF FESTIVAL

1-5 p.m. Sunday, April 28, Pearl Street Mall, Boulder. Free

Spring is springing in downtown Boulder, which means one thing: It’s tulip time, baby! The city’s resplendent Tulip Fairy once again graces Pearl Street with her pint-sized fairies and elves during this beloved seasonal tradition featuring live performances, kids activities and more than 15,000 colorful blooms.

28

COMMUNITY PLANT SWAP

3-5 p.m. Sunday, April 28, Terracotta, 2005 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

Bring a plant, get a plant (or two, or three) — it’s that easy at Terracotta’s social exchange featuring drinks, snacks and the opportunity to connect with fellow leaf lovers. This free event is open to all ages, so don’t hesitate to bring your little sprouts along.

30

DASH & DINE 5K

6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, Boulder Reservoir, 5100 51st St. $30-$40

This annual tune-up run series returns Tuesday nights through May 21 for a family-friendly 5K out-and-back at the beautiful Boulder Reservoir. Admission includes a hearty dinner provided by local food partners, along with a postrun sunset hang with giveaways.

LIVE MUSIC

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

CUSTOM SHOP BAND. 5 p.m. Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free

KAREN FINCH 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

DANIEL VIGIL 6 p.m. 300 Suns Brewing, 335 1st Ave., Unit C, Longmont. Free

FOXFEATHER 7 p.m. Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont. Free

CHUCK SITERO WITH DYLAN

KOBER 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free

HUNTER HAYES WITH BLÜ EYES

8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $35

ARMCHAIR BOOGIE WITH PERT NEAR SANDSTONE. 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $15

PRIMUS WITH PUSCIFER AND A PERFECT CIRCLE 8 p.m. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

DENNY DRISCOLL Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

LAUREN FRIHAUF 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

DIVINO BETSATORI. 6 p.m. Trident Booksellers and Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

MARY FLOWER AND SAM BROUSSARD 6:30 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $25

FARRELL LOWE 4TET 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

CHAIN STATION WITH WOOD BELLY (NIGHT 1). 7 p.m. The Caribou Room, 55 Indian Peaks Drive, Nederland. $23

REID GENAUER (NIGHT 1). 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $35

LIONEL YOUNG DUO 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free

2000S PARTY 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $30

TONEWOOD 9 p.m. Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

FREE RANGE MARMOT 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

TOM PAKELE WITH STEVE GUITAR GLOTZER. 6:30 p.m. Abbott & Wallace Distillery, 350 Terry St., Suite 120, Longmont. Free

TINSLEY ELLIS 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $25

CHAIN STATION WITH WOOD BELLY (NIGHT 2) 7 p.m. The Caribou Room, 55 Indian Peaks Drive, Nederland. $23

SNEAKI BANDIT 7 p.m. Rayback Collective, 2775 Valmont Road, Boulder. Free

BOULDER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA WITH FRANCISCO FULLANA 7 p.m. Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. $22

REID GENAUER (NIGHT 2) 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $35

DEADPHISH ORCHESTRA. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $22

CAROLINE ROSE WITH IAN SWEET 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $25

BW PICK OF THE WEEK

MASQUERADE BALL WITH CARD

CATALOG. 9 p.m. 300 Suns Brewing, 335 1st Ave., Unit C, Longmont. Free

THE CROOKED RUGS WITH WEEP WAVE AND IN PLAIN AIR. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $12

LIVE MUSIC

ON THE BILL

Austin singer-songwriter Caroline Rose heads to Boulder’s Fox Theatre on April 27 in support of her Grammy-nominated fifth LP, The Art of Forgetting, out now via New West Records. Get there early for opening act Ian Sweet, the long-running project of L.A.-based indie rock musician Jilian Medford See listing for details

SUNDAY, APRIL 28

SWEET SUNDAY SWING BAND 3 p.m. Spirit Hound Distillers, 4196 Ute Highway, Lyons. Free

THE BELOVED INVADERS. 4 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

REID GENAUER (NIGHT 3) 7 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $35

MATT WERTZ. 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $25

THE PINK STONES WITH JESH YANCEY 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $19

THE STRUMBELLAS WITH CECE COAKLEY. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $25

CINDY LEE WITH FREAK HEAT WAVES AND PINK LADY MONSTER 7 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15

Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.

MONDAY, APRIL 29

HOT MULLIGAN WITH FREE THROW, JUST FRIENDS AND CHARMER 7 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $35

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1

DAVID LAWRENCE & THE SPOONFUL 6 p.m. Rosalee’s Pizzeria, 461 Main St., Longmont. Free

VIC DILLAHAY 7 p.m. Dry Land Distillers, 519 Main St., Longmont. Free

YAIMA. 7:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $25

MANY MOUNTAINS 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free

SOFT BLUE SHIMMER WITH KEEP, TREMBLER AND VIEWFINDER

8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15

ALIEN ANT FARM WITH THE FRICKASHINAS AND THE TRUJILLO COMPANY 8 p.m.

Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St., Denver. $35

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Have you ever gotten your mind, heart and soul in sweet alignment with the spiritual beauty of money? An opportunity to do that is available. During the next four weeks, you can cultivate an almost mystical communion with the archetype of well-earned wealth. What does that mean? Well, you could be the beneficiary of novel insights and hot tips about how best to conduct your finances. You might get intuitions about actions you could take to bring more riches into your life. Be alert for help from unexpected sources. You may notice that the more generous you are, the more the world’s generosity will flow your way.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Bordering the Pacific Ocean for a thousand miles, Chile’s Atacama Desert is a place of stark and startling beauty. Unfortunately, its pristine landscape is also a dumping ground for vast amounts of discarded clothes that people bought cheaply, wore out quickly and didn’t want anymore. Is there any other place on earth that more poignantly symbolizes the overlap of sacred and profane? In the coming weeks, Taurus, you will possess a special aptitude for succeeding in situations with metaphorical resemblances to the Atacama. You will have an enhanced power to inject ingenious changes wherever messiness is mixed with elegance, wherever blemished beauty requires redemption and wherever lyrical truths need to be rescued from careless duplicity or pretense.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): My Gemini friend Alicia thrives on having a quick, acute, whirling-dervish-like intelligence. It’s one of her strong points now, but it wasn’t always. She says she used to be hyperactive. She thought of serenity as boring, “like some wan, bland floral tea.” But after years of therapy, she is joyous to have discovered “a kind of serenity that’s like sweet, frothy hot chocolate spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.” I’m guessing that many of you Geminis have been evolving in a similar direction in recent months and will climax this excellent period of relaxing growth in the coming weeks.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): All Cancerians who read this oracle are automatically included on the Primal Prayer Power List. During the next 13 days, my team of 13 Prayer Warriors and I will sing incantations to nurture your vigor, sovereignty and clarity of purpose. We will envision your dormant potentials ripening. We will call on both human and divine allies to guide you in receiving and bestowing the love that gives your life supreme meaning. How should you prepare for this flood of blessings? Start by having a long talk with yourself in which you describe exactly why you deserve these gifts.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): In my astrological opinion, you are entering a period when you can turn any potential breakdown into a breakthrough. If a spiritual emergency arises, I predict you will use it to rouse wisdom that sparks your emergence from numbness and apathy. Darkness will be your ally because it will be the best place to access hidden strength and untapped resources. And here’s the best news of all: Unripe and wounded parts of your psyche will get healing upgrades as you navigate your way through the intriguing mysteries.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): According to my astrological perspective, you are entering a phase when you could dramatically refine how relationships function in your life. To capitalize on the potential, you must figure out how to have fun while doing the hard work that such an effort will take. Here are three questions to get you started. 1.) What can you do to foster a graceful balance between being too self-centered and giving too much of yourself? 2.) Are there any stale patterns in your deep psyche that tend to undermine your love life? If so, how could you transform or dissolve them? 3.) Given the fact that any close relationship inevitably provokes the dark sides of both allies, how can you cultivate healthy ways to deal with that?

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): I feel sad when I see my friends tangling with mediocre problems. The uninspiring dilemmas aren’t very interesting and don’t provoke much personal growth. They use up psychic energy that could be better allocated. Thankfully, I don’t expect you to suffer this bland fate in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. You will entertain high-quality quandaries. They will call forth the best in you. They will stimulate your creativity and make you smarter and kinder and wilder. Congratulations on working diligently to drum up such rich challenges!

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): In 1894, a modest Agave ferox plant began its life at a botanical garden in Oxford, England. By 1994, a hundred years later, it had grown to be six feet tall but had never bloomed. Then one December day, the greenhouse temperature accidentally climbed above 68 degrees F. During the next two weeks, the plant grew twice as tall. Six months later, it bloomed bright yellow flowers for the first time. I suspect metaphorically comparable events will soon occur for you, Capricorn. They may already be underway.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): A meme on Instagram said, “The day I stopped worrying about what other people think of me was the day I became free.” This sentiment provokes mixed feelings in me. I agree it’s liberating not to be obsessed with what people think of us. On the other hand, I believe we should indeed care about how we affect others. We are wise to learn from them about how we can be our best selves. Our “freedom” includes the discernment to know which ideas people have about us are worth paying attention to and which are best forgotten and ignored. In my opinion, Leo, these are important themes for you to ruminate on right now.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): The city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia is a holy place for Islam. Jerusalem is the equivalent for Judaism, and the Vatican is for Catholicism. Other spiritual traditions regard natural areas as numinous and exalting. For instance, the Yoruba people of Nigeria cherish Osun-Osogbo, a sacred grove of trees along the Osun River. I’d love it if there were equivalent sanctuaries for you, Virgo, where you could go to heal and recharge whenever you need to. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to identify power spots like these. If there are no such havens for you, find or create some.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): Have you felt a longing to be nurtured? Have you fantasized about asking for support and encouragement and mentoring? If so, wonderful: Your intuition is working well. My astrological analysis suggests you would dramatically benefit from basking in the care and influence of people who can elevate and champion you, who can cherish and exalt you, who can feed and inspire you. My advice is to pursue the blessings of such helpers without inhibition or apology. You need and deserve to be treated like a vibrant treasure.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): In his book Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception, Thom Hartmann theorizes that distractibility may have been an asset for our ancestors. Having a short attention span meant they were ever alert for possible dangers and opportunities in their environment. If they were out walking at night, being lost in thought could prevent them from tuning into warning signals from the bushes. Likewise, while hunting, they would benefit from being ultra-receptive to fleeting phenomena and ready to make snap decisions. I encourage you to be like a hunter in the coming weeks, Pisces. Not for wild animals, but for wild clues, wild signs and wild help.

I’m a cis gay man in Canada. Other than my supportive nonbinary partner of five years and a few close friends, most people in my life don’t know that I’m a fetish content creator.

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE

My stuff delves into the foot porn/macrophilia (love of giants) space. I don’t make enough to live off, but it’s a good side hustle. Plus, creating this content has resulted in meeting people with the same paraphilias and fantasies that I have.

I do all of this faceless. Save for the handful of times I’ve posted a glimpse of my face on my OnlyFans account, I’ve never shown my face on public platforms. I am selfemployed, so I don’t have to worry about my boss finding out and firing me. But the “internet is forever,” and I fear repercussions if I change careers in the future. How best to navigate this?

— Fearful About Coming Employment Situation

“The internet is forever,” says Aaron, a 30-year-old gay man and BDSM content creator. “I see news articles every week about people losing their jobs after someone sent their OnlyFans account to their employer.” Which is why Aaron and his fiancé John, a 25-year-old gay man who shares his love of bondage, both wear masks in the videos they post on their joint JustForFans account.

“Until we live in a world where no one is shamed for their sexual interests and what they choose to do in our free time,” says Aaron, “showing our faces is not worth the risk to our careers or to our relationships with friends and family.”

The couple had been posting short bondage clips on Twitter before the pandemic hit and then — like a lot of people stuck at home during lockdowns — they decided to get on OnlyFans.

“At the time we figured, ‘Why not?’” says Aaron. “People seemed to like the stuff we enjoyed posting, and we might make some money doing what we love.” Aaron and John promised each other that they would stop if creating content started to overwhelm their sex life. “But four years later, we’re still sharing our kinky faceless content, and it has not only broadened our exploration in the world of kink, but — just like FACES — creating and sharing fetish content has led to many wonderful IRL connections.”

Some fans have begged Aaron and John to show their faces — a few have offered to pay them more if they remove their masks — but their reasons for remaining anonymous are sound, FACES, and may resonate with you.

“The extra money is a huge perk. We earn between two and three thousand dollars per month, but it’s not consistent money,” says Aaron. “For example, our original OnlyFans account was pretty short-lived. The company’s stance on porn changed one day, and suddenly all our content was banned for being ‘extreme.’ We’ve also been suspended from Twitter after posts got reported as ‘violence’ by people who don’t understand consensual BDSM.

“Unless FACES has some other means of support besides his foot porn and macrophilia content, putting his face out there for the sake of a little extra cash that may or may not be there next month probably isn’t worth it.”

Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

a taste of modern Japan in the heart of beautiful Boulder DRINK

an unmatched selection of rare whiskey, sake, and craft cocktails

ENJOY

the scenery on one of our 3 fireside patios, a feast alongside the jellyfish, or a front row seat at a lively bar

UNDER THE RADAR

Surprising tastes, majestic views await diners at airport eateries along the Front Range

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

No other Longmont restaurant has a view that can beat the panoramic sights at the Flight Deck Grill. Far from Broomfield’s retail districts, the Blue Sky Bistro boasts wood-smoked ribs and unimpeded foothills vistas. Brunch comes with a side order of Rocky Mountain scenery, F-18s and biscuits and gravy at Englewood’s The Perfect Landing.

If you’ve never heard of any of these eateries, don’t feel too bad. These food destinations at small Front Range airports are mainly known to pilots from all over the region who fly in for fun, business and lunch, and parents whose kids are captivated by the takeoffs and landings.

Denver International Airport may win national kudos for the quality and diversity of dining offerings, but you won’t need to go through a body scanner to get an Italian sub at these highflying spots.

BURRITO WITH A VIEW

When I visited the Flight Deck Grill, it became obvious immediately why so few diners have discovered it. “Off the beaten path” doesn’t quite nail it. A long, narrow dirt road into Longmont’s Vance Brand Airport leads past high fences, unidentified metal buildings and empty lots. I would have turned around if not for the many colorful signs urging me on.

Once I got there, I understood the wow factor. The Flight Deck Grill is a food truck parked outside Longmont’s barely there terminal building. The patio tables are located feet from the runways. Beyond that is a full expanse of the Rockies under a perfect blue sky.

While I enjoyed a burrito with a nicely edgy green chile, huge National Guard helicopters took off as well as small prop planes and business jets. It was ear-splittingly loud.

The limited hours, wind and decibels don’t dampen the enthusiasm of the young and old airplane nerds who stop by for a bite and talk to the pilots.

“We get a lot of people who fly in from all over,” says owner Alexa Coder. “On weekends, the airport gets busier with sky divers and gliders.”

Coder bought the 16-year-old business over a year ago. “I’d been in Longmont most of my life, and I had no idea that Flight Deck Grill existed.”

Breakfasts range from fresh biscuits and black pepper cream sausage gravy to pancake tacos and a chipotle chorizo quesadilla. Worth-a-flight lunch options include a scratch-made shredded roasted chicken salad sandwich and Coder’s cool chopped sandwich — like a chopped salad, except the minced meats, cheese, veggies and dressing fill a big roll. On weekends, Coder says her dad breaks out the smoker to serve brisket and pulled pork with coleslaw.

FLIGHT DECK GRILL

Vance Brand Airport, 229

Airport Road, Longmont

Open 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Wednesday through Sunday, typically later on weekends

FREE FLY-BY ENTERTAINMENT

Broomfield’s Blue Sky Bistro isn’t nearly as tucked away as the Flight Deck Grill, but it’s still largely undiscovered by locals. The fast-casual eatery inside the terminal at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport dishes breakfast and lunch. Whether sitting inside at second-floor tables or out on the spacious patio, you really notice the view and the fact that this is a rather large “small” airport. Commercial passenger jets are parked and taking off regularly, along with Cessnas and traffic helicopters. This is where many CU Boulder and visiting sports teams arrive and depart.

My guest and I enjoyed a wellsmoked beef brisket sandwich with a bright BBQ sauce and pickles, and a great daily special: a Hawaiian lunch plate loaded with teriyaki chicken thighs, mac salad and steamed rice. The menu includes breakfast bagels, oversized Monte Cristo sandwiches, salads and soups.

BLUE SKY BISTRO

Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, 11755 Airport Way, Broomfield

Open 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday through Friday

F-18S AND A MUFFIN

The Perfect Landing is not an underthe-radar restaurant. Locals and visitors long ago discovered the secondfloor eatery with huge windows and a bird’s-eye view of traffic helicopters and business jets at one of the nation’s busiest civil aviation airports.

F-18s and other military aircraft have been known to use Centennial Airport in Englewood, especially on weekends. That’s why brunch reservations are recommended to secure window-side seats and warm blueberry muffins.

On a typically clear day, diners can see from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. Sunsets are naturally spectacular here, paired well with a good wine list, oysters on the half shell and beef Wellington.

THE PERFECT LANDING

Centennial Airport, 7625 S. Peoria St., Englewood

Open 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday and Monday; 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

MORE AIR FARE: Other options include dining inside a 1953 Boeing KC-97 at The Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs and at the Barn Stormer restaurant at Greeley-Weld County Airport. While you can eat and watch small planes at Boulder Municipal Airport, you have to bring your own lunch.

Flight Deck Grill at Vance Brand Airport in Longmont. Credit: John Lehndorff

View from Blue Sky Bistro at Rocky Mountain Airport in Broomfield. Credit: John Lehndorff

NIBBLES

CULINARY CALENDAR

The relaxing Wednesday evening Boulder Farmers Market opens for the season May 1 on 13th Street between Canyon and Arapahoe with fresh produce, live music, food carts and adult beverages.

The team behind Gemini restaurant has opened High Country next door at 1117 Pearl St., longtime home of Hapa Sushi before it moved to 1048 Pearl St. Executive Chef Brian Pierce’s lunch and dinner menu features burgers, salads and super-crispy hand-cut fries.

Whistling Boar, Longmont’s farm-to-table caterer, has opened Whistling Boar Provisions at 6315 Lookout Road in Gunbarrel. The restaurant and event space with a huge rooftop patio is serving dinner and will offer a Mother’s Day brunch buffet.

We lift a well-earned toast to the late Linda White. She and her husband, Lymon White, launched Boulder County’s first cheese importing company, Willow River, in 1976. The family continues the fromage tradition at Longmont’s Cheese Importers Warehouse

Somehow, we’re not that surprised to find that home customers of Longmont’s Royal Crest Dairy can now have Teahouse Chai delivered along with fresh local milk in glass bottles. That’s the same spiced chai brewed and served at the Boulder Dushanbe

Teahouse

Coming soon: Cafe Fritz, 7502 Hygiene Road, Hygiene

WORDS TO CHEW ON: R U A FOODIE?

“Whenever I was called a ‘gourmet,’ I suspected I was being accused of something at least slightly unpleasant. But that was before I heard the term ‘foodie.’ I am still not sure that a ‘gourmet’ is a good thing to be, but it must be better than a ‘foodie.’”

— Food writer Mark Kurlansky

Credit: Kirsten Boyer Photography

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THE NEUROPROTECTOR

Cannabinoid shows promise against diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

BY WILL BRENDZA

There are more than 600 known neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Over 50 million Americans suffer from them every year, according to the National Institute of Health. Alzheimer’s alone is estimated to cost $100 billion annually in health care and lost opportunities — a figure that doesn’t even touch the emotional cost to affected individuals and their families.

Pharmaceutical researchers have been searching for treatments and cures for these diseases for decades. And they may have just found one of the most promising chemical compounds yet in cannabis.

Cannabinol, or CBN, is one of more than 100 phytocannabinoids naturally present in cannabis sativa. It was the first cannabis compound to be isolated from cannabis extract in the late 1800s. It is a non-psychoactive compound that has recently been singled out for its potential to help improve sleep.

It may be an effective treatment for far more than sleeplessness and insomnia. Findings published in Redux Biology in March indicate that this chemical compound might be a capable “neuroprotector” against what the

researchers call the “oxytosis/ferroptosis cell death pathway.”

“Several years ago, we tested a number of different cannabinoids for protection against the oxytosis/ferroptosis cell death pathway and found CBN to be one of the most effective,” says Pamela Maher, a research professor and senior author of the recent study.

During Maher’s previous research, she observed that CBN protected the brain’s neurons by preventing mitochondrial dysfunction. She notes that THC and CBD also showed neuroprotective qualities. But when she returned to pursue the research further, her team chose to examine non-psychoactive cannabinoids.

individually and in combinations with different modifications. Those were then tested on mouse and human nerve cell cultures for neuroprotective activity.

“Since we are interested in maintaining brain function in the context of aging and disease,” Maher says, “we thought that a psychoactive compound could be problematic.”

Maher’s team identified the key active part of CBN, divided the structure into three parts, and tested them

The researchers also tested the CBN analogs in fruit flies. That was when they noticed something interesting, Maher says.

The analog, CP1, demonstrated potent neuroprotective qualities in the fruit flies, producing the highest survival rate after condition onset. Maher says

that she and her colleagues were surprised that only one of the analogs was effective in the fruit flies and that the differences only showed in the fly model and not in the animal cell cultures.

These findings are promising on several levels to Maher. She talks about how a CBN analog could someday be given to a football player before a game or a car accident survivor when they get to the hospital to help protect their brains’ neurons from degeneration following traumatic brain injury. It could also be given to someone who is experiencing Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

Maher is particularly excited by the research opportunities the study presents. With so many neurological disorders and so many people affected by them, research on CBN and the other 100+ cannabinoids in the cannabis sativa plant offers hope.

“The CBN analog that was most effective in the fly model might be useful as a new drug candidate, but can also serve as the basis for the development of additional CBN analogs based on its structure,” Maher says. “This structure had significant promise for further in vivo studies and possibly further development as a drug candidate.”