Boulder Weekly 10.19.2023

Page Turner At home with local poet Jade Lascelles P. 14

FIRST BITE IS BACK P. 25

WHY IS YOUR BALLOT YELLING AT YOU? P. 9

CONTENTS 10.19.2023

FALL BOOT SALE $10-$50 OFF

All boots included, even new arrivals!

7 Comfortableshoes.com

09 NEWS: Why is your ballot yelling at you? BY KAYLEE HARTER 13

MUSIC: Boulder Bach Festival moves to Dairy Arts Center for new season BY KELLY DEAN HANSEN

14 BOOKS: Poet Jade Lascelles seeks bright things in the dark

BY EMMA ATHENA

BOULDER On the Downtown Mall at 1425 Pearl St. 303-449-5260 & in The Village next to McGuckin 303-449-7440

DENVER Next to REI at 15th & Platte at 2368 15th St. 720-532-1084

In Store • Online • Curbside

25 NIBBLES: Find fresh flavors during First Bite Boulder

Boulder Weekly Market

DEPARTMENTS

Boulder County Restaurants up to 30% off

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

04 WRITERS

ON THE RANGE:

When a skunk goes after your garden

06 NEWS:

Residents can weigh in on the County’s new integrated weed management plan

11 MUSIC:

Julia Steiner of Ratboys on ‘making noise for the ones you love’

15 THEATER:

23 FILM:

16 EVENTS:

29 GOOD TASTE:

Longmont theater presents an immersive take on a macabre masterpiece

Where to go and what to do

20

ASTROLOGY:

Shrivel not, Taurus

21 SAVAGE LOVE:

Coping with sexual trauma BOULDER WEEKLY

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and the American story

Red Tops Rendezvous brings Detroit-style pie to Denver’s Jeff Park

31 WEED:

MDMA could get federal approval as a therapy treatment by 2024

bestofboulderdeals.kostizi.com Go to website to purchase OCTOBER 19, 2023

3

COMMENTARY OCTOBER 19, 2023 Volume 31, Number 9

COVER PHOTO: Jonas Leuenberger PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Caitlin Rockett ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Will Matuska FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff INTERN: Lily Fletcher CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Emma Athena, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Kelly Dean Hansen, Richard Rubin, Dan Savage, Toni Tresca, Colin Wrenn

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Chris Allred SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mark Goodman CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE

BOOKKEEPER: Emily Weinberg FOUNDER/CEO: Stewart Sallo

WRITERS ON THE RANGE

WHEN A SKUNK GOES AFTER YOUR GARDEN

BY RICHARD RUBIN

S

kunks love autumn as our backyard gardens fill up with ripe vegetables. But in my northern New Mexico corn patch, that meant a determined skunk chowing down on ears of corn every night.

What followed next was a conundrum: I wanted it gone but didn’t know how to make that happen.

My initial attempt, spreading coyote-urine crystals from the hardware store, failed to repel the raids. Then a Norteño gardener friend advised hanging mothballs in bags on the fence. Nope, no effect.

4

OCTOBER 19, 2023

My plumber friend said he got rid of a big skunk family that took up residence under his mother’s house by borrowing a trap from the county’s agriculture extension agent. He used cat food as bait — but all he caught was cats. Switching to fresh eggshells, he said he caught the entire skunk family, one striped marauder at a time.

A farmer neighbor’s advice was similar: “Get a Havahart trap.” I got one and the skunk ended up inside, but then what?

I called Taos County Animal Control. The agent said they don’t

handle skunks and gave me two options: a private critter-control outfit or dropping it off myself “somewhere in the mountains.” And oh yes, be sure to cover the trap with a tarp when you approach to block possible spray, and minimize alarming the animal because you know why.

Not wanting to release the skunk in the yard where it might spray my dogs, I recruited an agile friend to carry the cage about 400 yards away to a fallow field protected by a conservation easement. The cornchomper was back the next night.

As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holdsbarred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage.

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Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@boulderweekly. com). Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.

BOULDER WEEKLY

WRITERS ON THE RANGE

Tantric Sacred Sexuality Exploration & Education • In Person Workshops • Virtual and In Person Private Coaching For more information: 720-333-7978

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Then I read on the Havahart company website that skunks should be released at least 10 miles away.

Somebody said that skunks had been dumped west of me across the Rio Grande Gorge, in an area colloquially known as “La Otra Banda,” a mix of private and public land.

This turned out to be a terrible idea. When I floated that alternative with a Facebook Taos Farm and Garden group, I quickly learned that dumping a skunk across the gorge was anything but welcome. “Not near my backyard!” was the reaction.

The idea of dumping the skunk also led to accusations of animal cruelty because I’d be removing the animal “from his family and home range.” A few people had an easy solution, though not one I liked: “Just shoot it.”

What seemed doable was that early suggestion to drop off the skunk “somewhere” in the mountains, and I knew of some Bureau of Land Management (BLM) territory that included a National Conservation Area for wildlife.

But first I called the Taos BLM office to check. The clerk commiserated with my garden losses, said they have no policy on this issue, and directed me to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. The main office in Santa Fe verified that trapping a skunk was legal on my own property and referred me to the local Taos game wardens.

BOULDER WEEKLY

They said because skunks aren’t regulated as “non-game animals,” they could be moved to public lands where the BLM and the Forest Service have no restrictions on freeing trapped skunks. A solution at last.

So, wrapping the cage in a tarp, I drove the skunk 10 miles away to its new home, gave it time to adjust, and then opened the trap door. Out it bolted, taking off at a fast waddle across the sagebrush field. I hoped to never see it — or any member of its family — again.

Out of an abundance of caution, though, I set the trap again, because skunks are often seen at night traveling along the dry acequias (irrigation ditches) in my neighborhood. I learned that skunks have competitors for sardine bait — this one a tabby housecat without a collar.

I let the cat go, and a week later, we’re eating corn without competition. Our trap still sits in the corn patch, unbaited but ready, just in case, though I know what to do now: Que sera, sera.

Richard Rubin is a contributor to Writers on the Range, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West.

Rubin writes in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, where he’s a volunteer steward of the historic Aldo and Estella Leopold house, managed by the Forest Service.

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

Vote by Nov 7

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Equitable, community-led government Pursue safe cities agenda guided by evidence Invest in community/bussiness spaces that stimulate collaboration Expedite efforts to reduce carbon emissions

SELECT ENDORSEMENTS (visit website for full list) Junie Joseph Marta Loachamin Aaron Brockett Nicole Speer Lauren Folkerts

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Paid for and authorized by Friends of Taishya Adams OCTOBER 19, 2023

5

NEWS

USE IT OR LOSE IT

DEAL ON NEW ACUTE CARE FACILITY NEARLY DONE

COMING UP

Residents can weigh in on the County’s new integrated weed management plan

BY WILL MATUSKA

W

hether you consider weed management titillating or not, the control of noxious weeds has been a point of tension in Boulder County for decades, particularly the use of herbicides and, more recently, helicopters to perform aerial sprays.

Earlier this month, the County released the first draft of a new integrated weed management plan to guide its policies for more than 50,000 acres of the nearly 115,000 Boulder County Parks and Open Space is tasked with overseeing.

Following the new plan is a public engagement period featuring surveys, tours and Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee (POSAC) meetings until the Boulder County Commissioner’s final vote on Feb. 15.

The last time the County’s weed management plan went through a similar public process was in 2004.

“Our goal with the integrated weed management plan is to have a healthy ecosystem, and protect the health and safety of the people who live, work and recreate in Boulder County,” says Therese Glowacki, director of Boulder County Parks and Open Space.

But Mark Guttridge, founder of Ollin Farms, was “pretty disturbed” to see the plan include aerial spray options via drone and helicopter, and continued herbicide use.

“I’d like to see really no herbicide use at all,” he says, “but I know that we have to find a middle ground and I’m trying to do everything we can to provide alternatives for Open Space to really meet us halfway.”

Ollin Farms uses regenerative agriculture principles to “produce top-quality farm products while continuing to increase the diversity and health of ecosystems around us,” and doesn’t use pesticides or herbicides.

Guttenridge is concerned that spraying herbicides, especially aerially, 6

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Courtesy Boulder County

could have unintended consequences.

“None of [the County’s herbicides] pass the test of, ‘We should be spraying this from the fricken air,’” he says. “The herbicides should only be hitting the exact plant you need to hit at that time.”

The County has used Milestone, Hardball, Telar, Quinstar and Method herbicides in the last month, according to the county’s website, but it paused aerial herbicide applications earlier this year until the integrated weed management plan is updated and a decision on

BY THE NUMBERS:

The County treats nearly 50,000 acres for noxious weed. Below is a breakdown of management acres by treatment method so far in 2023.

• Mowing: 1,215 ACRES • Manual (hand-pulling): 4,447 ACRES • Total herbicide spot application:

1,980 ACRES *

• Total herbicide broadcast application:

300 ACRES *

• The County hasn’t completed any aerial applications this year.

* Noxious weeds often do not make up the

entirety of a treatment area, meaning the actual number of acres treated is lower than the total application acres (spot application: 123; broadcast application: 73.5).

whether to resume aerial applications is made. The last time aerial spray was used by Boulder County was on Nov. 1, 2022 via helicopter at Hall Ranch, which faced scrutiny from some community members.

Glowacki says the County “rarely” uses broadcast spray methods, which include backpack sprayers and truck, tractor, helicopter and drone applications.

The new plan says “broadcast spraying is often the most effective and costeffective method to control large noxious weed infestations because of size, type of infestation and nature of topography.”

Earlier this year, the County used 2,4-D to treat curly dock at Heil Valley Ranch. The Natural Resources Defense Council says a growing body of research indicates 2,4-D “poses a danger to both human health and the environment.” The method of application on the County’s website isn’t clear.

The drafted weed management plan combines the previous two plans — one for Parks and Open Space and the other for the overall county — and includes decision processes and strategies to minimize noxious weed problems.

The document outlines the use of a variety of tools, including cultural, mechanical and biological control. When it comes to chemicals, Glowacki says the County uses “the lowest toxicity herbicides in the smallest amounts to be effective at controlling weeds” and wants to “keep all of those tools in the toolbox.”

The budget for herbicide use, including aerial spraying, will be presented at the Dec. 5 POSAC meeting.

While Glowacki says the County takes careful considerations when applying herbicides by following product labels to not impact water or air quality, Guttenridge isn’t sure that matters.

“They’ll give directions on labels like how to do it and recommended setbacks [from waterways], but on the very same level that’s telling you this stuff is toxic,” he says.

A survey asking the public for feedback on the plan closed on Oct. 18, but there are multiple opportunities for residents to attend POSAC or other public meetings to provide comments on the drafted plan before the commissioners’ final vote.

POSAC REGULAR MEETING

6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St. Registration is required for those who want to comment: bit.ly/_POSAC_ registration

Mental Health Partners (MHP) is expecting to close on a 45,000-square-foot facility in Louisville at the end of November to serve as its new acute care facility.

Details are still being hashed out, but here’s what we know: • The purchase was made possible by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds awarded to MHP by the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, specifically designated for acquiring a facility to increase access to recovery and health resources.

Very little needs to be done to accommodate the building to MHP’s needs, according to Kristina Hernández Schostak, the nonprofit’s director of business development.

• Schostak expects the shift of services to happen in the first half of 2024, which will host MHP’s acute care teams including crisis, withdrawal management, medicationassisted treatment, substance use disorder intensive outpatient program, transitional residential treatment, and a new psychiatric urgent care team.

• The Ryan Wellness Center at 1000 Alpine Ave., Boulder will continue operations. If the building purchase goes through in November, MHP would transition its acute care services from its location at 3180 Airport Road, Boulder, to the new facility, located at 1107 West Century Drive, Louisville.

BOULDER WEEKLY

NEWS

8thAnnual

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT WOLVES FROM OREGON SELECTED FOR REINTRODUCTION

Colorado will reintroduce wolves back to the state by the end of the year. Earlier this month, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced in a press release that up to 10 wolves will come from Oregon. Here are some quick facts on the reintroduction process: • It’s been nearly 80 years since wolves roamed freely in the Centennial State after they were extirpated by shooting, trapping and poisoning in the mid-1940s, but a voter-approved ballot initiative (Proposition 114) in 2020 mandated reintroduction of the species by Dec. 31, 2023.

CPW identified six congregating wolves in 2020 and 2021, but the agency says this doesn’t present a definitive number in the state.

• The final wolf restoration and management plan was approved in May this year, with the goal of maintaining a “viable, self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado, while concurrently working to minimize wolfrelated conflicts with domestic animals, other wildlife and people.”

• Over the next three to five years, 30-50 wolves will be relocated to the center of the state (west of the Continental Divide and a minimum of 60 miles from bordering state lines). When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s, the canines moved an average of 50 miles from their release points in the following months.

• Wolves are apex predators known to influence the way prey species use their landscape, like how or when they feed, which could have hyper-local and nuanced impacts on the broader ecosystem.

Saturday October 21 Pearl Street Mall 11 am – 1 pm Los Bohemios (Latin jazz band) 2:00 – 3:30 pm Sing-along Singing songs from The Beatles to Taylor Swift

ric e ly s • Freooklet up b show st • Ju nd sing g a tin omotal r P • en m alth he

NEW CLIMBING GYM IN LONGMONT

The Climbing Collective is strengthening its foothold in east Boulder County with the Oct. 19 opening of a new 24,000-square-foot facility in Longmont.

• The gym, located at 115 Pinnacle St., will feature walls for lead and top rope climbing with auto belays, along with bouldering. Other features include a youth climbing zone, taproom, fitness equipment, yoga studio and sauna. It is replacing the current gym on 33 S. Pratt Parkway.

• The new space will also have outdoor climbing walls, including a certified Olympic speed wall and one for dry tooling, a method using iceclimbing equipment to scale surfaces without ice. The outdoor area will be dual-purposed as an event center for music and community festivals.

• Outside of Longmont, The Climbing Collective has gyms in Loveland and Greeley.

BOULDER WEEKLY

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OCTOBER 19, 2023

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COEXISTENCE

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WORLD SINGING DAY

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Supported by:

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Stephen Fenberg, President, Colorado Senate Judy Amabile, State Representative -Junie Joseph, State Representative and City Council - Rollie Heath, Former State Senator - Edie Hooton, Former State Representative Aaron Brockett, City of Boulder Mayor - Matt Benjamin, Boulder City Council Tara Winer, Boulder City Council Bob Yates, Boulder City Council - Jan Burton, Former City Council - Angelique Espinoza, Former City Council Allyn Feinberg, Former City Council- Steve Pomerance, Former City Council - Linda Shoemaker, Former CU Boulder Regent- Lesley Smith, CU Regent at-Large Laurie Albright, Former President BVSD Board of Education

2AFORALL.COM Paid for by Yes on 2A. Major Funding Provided by Create Boulder, BETC & Parlando School of Musical Arts

NEWS VOTE GUIDE RECAP COLORADO BALLOT ISSUES PROPOSITION HH: Reduce property taxes and retain state revenue Yes/For PROPOSITION II: Retain nicotine tax revenue in excess of blue book estimate Yes/For

BOULDER COUNTY BALLOT ISSUES BALLOT ISSUE 1A: Open space tax extension and revenue change Yes/For BALLOT ISSUE 1B: Affordable and attainable tax extension and revenue change Yes/For BALLOT ISSUE 6A: Nederland ecopass extension Yes/For

BOULDER CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES BOULDER MAYOR (RANKED CHOICE): 1. Aaron Brockett 2. Nicole Speer 3. Bob Yates 4. Paul Tweedlie BOULDER CITY COUNCIL: Silas Atkins Ryan Schuchard Tara Winer Taishya Adams

BOULDER BALLOT ISSUES BALLOT ISSUE 2A: Tax extension For the measure

LONGMONT CITY COUNCIL: Sean McCoy (At-Large, incumbent) Nia Wassink (Ward 1) Susie Hidalgo-Fahring (Ward 3, incumbent)

LONGMONT BALLOT ISSUES BALLOT ISSUE 3C: Construction of a new library branch Yes/For BALLOT ISSUE 3D: Funding for a performing arts center Yes/For BALLOT ISSUE 3E: Rec centers and land swap Yes/For

TOWN OF ERIE BALLOT QUESTION 3A: Adopting a home rule charter Yes/For BALLOT QUESTION 3B: Compensation of mayor and council members Yes/For

LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES Tim Barnes (incumbent) JD Mangat (incumbent) Eric Ryant David Fridland

LOUISVILLE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES MAYOR Chris Leh (incumbent) CITY COUNCIL: WARD 1 Caleb Dickinson (incumbent) WARD 2 Deborah Fahey

BALLOT QUESTION 2B: Elections administrative charter cleanup For the measure

WARD 3 (VOTE FOR TWO) Barbara Hamlington Dietrich Hoefner

BALLOT QUESTION 302: Safe Zones 4 Kids Against the measure

LOUISVILLE BALLOT ISSUES

BOULDER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION DISTRICT A Jason Unger DISTRICT C Alex Medler DISTRICT D Andrew Brandt DISTRICT G Jorge Chávez

LONGMONT CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES LONGMONT MAYOR Joan Peck (incumbent)

BOULDER WEEKLY

BALLOT ISSUE 2C: PARKS AND OPEN SPACE FUNDING Yes/For

TOWN OF SUPERIOR BALLOT QUESTION 301: Home rule charter commission Yes/For SUPERIOR HOME RULE CHARTER COMMISSION CANDIDATES (VOTE FOR NINE) Dalton Valette Heather Cracraft Ryan Hitchler Claire Dixon Ryan Welch Sean Maday Clint Folsom Mike Foster Chris Hanson

WHY IS YOUR BALLOT YELLING AT YOU? A brief explanation on all-caps ballot issues

BY KAYLEE HARTER

Y

OUR BALLOT WILL BE ARRIVING IN THE MAIL SOON, AND YOU MAY NOTICE THAT A HANDFUL OF ISSUES ARE WRITTEN LIKE THIS — IN ALL CAPS. If it feels like your ballot is yelling at you, that’s by design. But that design may not be serving its purpose.

The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), a state constitutional amendment approved by Colorado voters in 1992, includes a provision requiring the title of issues involving tax and debt increases appear on the ballot in all caps. That provision is also codified in state statute.

Not all tax-related measures appear in all caps. On this and previous years’ ballots, only the measures dealing with increases and extensions appear in capital letters, while those that involve a decrease or a change in how tax dollars are invested, like in the cases of propositions HH and II, appear in sentence case.

Douglas Bruce, the conservative activist, ex-attorney and former legislator who authored TABOR, says he added the capitalization requirement for emphasis.

“I’m trying to shout at people as best you can in a ballot title,” he says.

While the intent may have been to call attention to tax increases for voters, many organizations specializing in accessibility and design say all caps can make text more difficult to read.

In fact, in the American Institute of Graphic Art’s Design for Democracy Report on behalf of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the number one election design guideline is to use lowercase letters, which the authors say improves legibility.

Whitney Quesenbery, executive director at the Center for Civic Design, says sentence case, a mix of lowercase and capital letters, is easiest for people to

read because it’s what we’re used to.

Plus, she says that modifications to text used for emphasis — like bold, italics or caps — lose their value when the entire block of text is emphasized.

While capitalization may seem like a relatively small issue, Quesenbery says seemingly minor design choices add up.

“When you get into one of those things like a ballot question that is all caps, it’s a little hard to read because maybe the text size is a little small, and maybe the language isn’t that easy to [understand] — essentially, the weight of those little tiny barriers adds up to people just skipping it,” she says.

Doing away with the all-caps requirement would call for legislative change, and Quesenbery says that’s unlikely to happen for a single code revision.

Grouping several pieces of the statute to change at once is often more effective. She also says it’s important to test changes to ballot design with voters.

For Quesenbery, changes to ballot design provisions are “absolutely, positively worth it.”

“Every time someone has trouble understanding what to do, or what they’re being asked to vote on, their well of confidence is diminished by a drop or two,” she says. “And eventually, you drain that well of confidence.”

OCTOBER 19, 2023

9

presents the 2023

BIODYNAMIC FOOD & WINE Saturday, November 11 • 12 - 6pm S H O W C A S E The Westin Hotel, Westminster, CO th

Enjoy the largest tasting of biodynamic wines, beverages, cheeses and delicious food ever assembled in the United States! Featuring health and wellness products, produce, fiber, farm and garden supplies, and local artisan products- you won’t want to miss this event.

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Buy tickets online or at the door.

Visit BiodynamicConference.com for information about the National Biodynamic Conference.

Join us Saturday evening to enjoy dinner with the amazing biodynamic farmers and enthusiasts attending the National Biodynamic Conference, followed by community folk dancing with a live band and caller. Dinner tickets must be purchased in advance.

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$ Commemorative wine glass Wine tasting from biodynamic producers from across the globe Samples of biodynamic products (from cheeses to skincare!)

Live music all day from Ross James, Andy Thorn, Jack Cloonan and more!

Annual membership to the Biodynamic Demeter Alliance (includes digital subscription to Biodynamics Journal) The opportunity to connect with the greatest minds in biodynamics and regenerative agriculture

Stick around after the Showcase!

Dinner, live music & community folk dancing

MUSIC

ALL TOGETHER NOW Julia Steiner of Ratboys on growing up, looking back and ‘making noise for the ones you love’

BY JEZY J. GRAY

I

f something feels familiar about the latest from Chicago indie darlings Ratboys, that’s partly by design. Since its release in late August, The Window — the breakout new LP from the rising band fronted by singer-songwriter Julia Steiner — has thumped the long-running outfit into a new critical orbit with its lived-in blend of emo, power-pop and country-rock holding fresh ideas and time-tested comforts under each arm.

“When you meet someone who’s open-hearted and easy to talk to, it’s like you’ve known them for a long time. I’ve felt that way about certain albums … you listen to it, and it just feels like an old friend somehow,” Steiner told Boulder Weekly shortly after the group’s latest was brought into the world via Topshelf Records.

“It’s nice to think our music might have that sort of relationship with anyone.”

Despite greeting listeners with the warm welcome of a trusted trailhead, The Window is at the height of its powers when it goes off the map. Take the effervescent side-one standout “Morning Zoo,” a rootsy jangle-pop earworm that would have likely been scaled back on past efforts, which becomes denser and more delicious with blooming fiddle saws and honkytonk piano that color the edges of the frame in exciting new hues.

“We just had so much time to really let the songs cook — and even with the details after the studio session, like the packaging and thinking about how we wanted to roll it out. We could just be a little bit more intentional,” says the 31-year-old vocalist and guitarist originally from Louisville, Kentucky.

“So this record definitely feels like the most complete artistic statement we’ve made so far, the most realized. It’s like a new chapter for us.”

BOULDER WEEKLY

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

But there’s more behind Ratboys’ headstrong leap into new sonic territory than the luxury of time. It’s also their first album to be written and recorded as a quartet, adding drummer Marcus Nuccio and bass player Left to right: Dave Sagan, Sean Neumann, Julia Steiner and Marcus Nuccio of the band Ratboys. Photo by Alexa-Viscius.

Sean Neumann 24-day stint with Walla at the Hall of write lyrics that were actually quite to double the band’s size from its preJustice studio in his native Seattle. open-ended, so anyone can sort of go vious duo of co-founders Steiner and “He’s also just a complete wizard in on that journey or view their lives Dave Sagan. More cooks in the kitchthe studio who knows how to work all through that lens.” en put gas to the flame on cuts like these old-school tape machines and But on the album’s tearjerker title “Black Earth, WI,” a reflective rock track, Steiner tests the limits of her number that explodes into a sprawling, outboard equipment like the back of his hand. He was an awesome mix of open-ended lyrics with perhaps the arena-ready guitar jam of epic propora music philosopher who we admire, most personal and bruising song of tions. but also someone who knows how to her career. Unspooling a memory of “I had been working on that tune for execute the ideas he’s dreaming up.” sharing final moments with her dying a couple years by myself, and it kind of grandmother through an open window stalled out after a certain point. I just felt at the height of lockdown-era restriclike I couldn’t really get much more out ‘MAKING NOISE FOR THE tions, she sings from the perspective of it on my own,” Steiner says of the ONES YOU LOVE’ of her surviving grandfather as he song featured in the latest installment While lineup changes and studio time looks back on the life and love they of the Rock Band video game series. may have given the music new wings, shared: Sue, you’ll always be my girl.

“When we played as a group, the the beating heart of The Window lies in “Even though it does deal with grief, potential for it to be a longer, more Steiner’s subtle but searing lyricism. If loss and saying goodbye, it genuinely meandering jam became possible. That there’s a throughline connecting the feels less like an absence and more wasn’t really a thing when I was playing songwriter’s deceptively breezy turns of like a presence of her on stage with it alone.” phrase, it’s a gnawing sense of the pasTo give this new group effort its richsage of time — looking back as your life me,” Steiner says. “When we play the song, I feel very close to her memory. est studio expression, the band enlistchanges, and considering it as a whole.

It’s just so amazing and powerful how ed superstar producer and former That much is clear off the jump with a music can do that — kind of bring Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris simple bar from the album opener, someone back, briefly.”

Walla. Steiner says working with the “Making Noise for the Ones You Love”: DIY veteran helped the band unlock I get sad / when I look back / at all the new sonic ideas through a heady mix time / we thought we had. of curiosity and adventurousness that “It’s kind of the thesis statement for ON THE BILL: Ratboys with brought the album’s 11 songs into that whole idea: taking stock of these Another Michael. Saturday, sharp new relief. important relationships and kind of Oct. 21, 8 p.m. Globe Hall, “I think he saw that we were willing zooming out and witnessing them in 4483 Logan St., Denver. $20 to go there with him,” she says of the totality,” she says. “The goal was to OCTOBER 19, 2023

11

JUST ANNOUNCED

JUST ANNOUNCED

NOV 24 ...................................................................................... STRAWBERRY GIRLS MAR 8 ...................................................................................................... HUSBANDS MAR 16 .......................................................................... G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE

JAN 13 ............................................................................... THE RECORD COMPANY FEB 17 .............................................................................................. SARAH JAROSZ

THU. OCT 19

CU MUSIC INDUSTRY CLUB BIG TABLE RECORDS SHOWCASE FRI. OCT 20

ENTOURAGE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: “GET BURNT” SAT. OCT 21

STEELY DEAD

FRI. OCT 20 MESSY AF

PHOEBE ROBINSON SAT. OCT 21

PAULA POUNDSTONE WED. OCT 25

TETON GRAVITY RESEARCH: FLYING HIGH AGAIN FRI. OCT 27

THE MOSS

SLACKER UNIVERSITY’S FRIGHT FEST

THU. OCT 26

KBCO, ROOSTER, & AVERY PRESENT

WED. OCT 25

WILDERMISS

THUNDERBOOGIE

SAT. OCT 28

THE MOTET

PEOPLE IN BETWEEN, CELLAR SMELLAR

SUN. OCT 29

SAT. OCT 28

COLORADO’S ELUSIVE INGREDIENT & OUT BOULDER COUNTY PRESENT

RANDOM RAB SUGAR NOVA, TLOOP SUN. OCT 29 WESTWORD PRESENTS

CHRISTIAN LÖFFLER HAMMER HYPE

WWW.FOXTHEATRE.COM

1135 13TH STREET BOULDER 720.645.2467

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW LIVE SHADOWCAST PERFORMANCE

MON. OCT 30

MORE FUN TRAILS • Volunteer to build/maintain trail • Meet up for a Group Ride • Come out for a Skills Clinic Connect with the Boulder mountain bike community Join (BMA membership) to support our programs Join BMA today and access social events and group rides--

bouldermountainbike.org

THE COLO SOUND PRESENTS

STOP MAKING SENSE (MOVIE) BE YOUR BEST BYRNE COSTUME PARTY

WWW.BOULDERTHEATER.COM 2032 14TH STREET BOULDER 303.786.7030

bouldermountainbike.org

MUSIC

BACH TO BOULDER Festival moves to Dairy Arts Center for four-concert season

BY KELLY DEAN HANSEN

T

he slogan “Across Time Across Cultures” has been a theme of the Boulder Bach Festival for much of Zachary Carrettin’s 10-year run as music director, but it takes on more significance during his upcoming 11th season. It now serves as the title of a new adult education series, with one event offered in tandem with each of four diverse concert programs running through next spring at the Dairy Arts Center.

Carrettin says the education series is the most exciting new element coming to the festival, where change has been a constant since its founding in 1981.

And while venue and programming strategy have fluctuated from year to

year — including several concerts in Longmont — this season’s offerings are centralized at the downtown multidisciplinary arts center in Boulder.

With all four concerts and their corresponding education programs at one location, Carrettin hopes to make this season more audience friendly. That includes a uniform 4 p.m. start time, meant to avoid conflicts with other organizations. (“It’s important to us that our audience does not have to decide,” Carrettin says.) The education presentations take place at 6 p.m., and all eight events will be about 75 minutes with no intermission.

That is the timing of Bach’s longest keyboard work, the Goldberg

AT A GLANCE

Mark these dates for Boulder Bach Festival, 2023-24 ● The season opens OCT. 21 with a single keyboard masterwork

by Johann Sebastian Bach. The connected education program on OCT. 19 is presented by guitarist Keith Barnhart, who explores variation from Bach to The Beatles. ● A holiday concert on DEC. 17 is built around the Christmas section of Handel’s Messiah. A vocal quartet of fellowship artists performs holiday music from across time and cultures during the associated education program on DEC. 14. ● The event on FEB. 24 is the most adventurous, with Zachary Carrettin and Mina Gajić, presenting new music from four Icelandic composers for violin and piano. For the ancillary event on FEB. 7, Carrettin and Gajić will present a discussion of the music with projections and examples. ● The season closes with a Bach-centric international program on the composer’s birthday, MARCH 21. The program includes Bach’s A-minor Violin Concerto and his Concerto for Two Violins. The ancient form of the passacaglia will be explored and contrasted in pieces by modern Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and Bohemian baroque composer Heinrich Biber. The MARCH 18 companion event will feature side-byside comparisons of period and modern instruments.

BOULDER WEEKLY

Variations, which will be performed during the Oct. 21 opener by Boulder’s resident superstar pianist, CU’s David Korevaar.

“This is the second most requested work by our patrons, and this will only be the second time we have done it in 15 years,” Carrettin says.

Korevaar recorded the work in 2006, and says that he has reflected since then. “When I learned it, I was looking

‘BEYOND THE SHACKLES OF TIME’

Iceland is an isolated country with a small population that one might not immediately associate with a vibrant classical concert scene, but Carrettin says that much of the most interesting and beautiful music being composed today comes from the far-flung volcanic island.

That includes a portion of the music on the Feb. 24 program, which was composed specifically for Carrettin and his wife, BBF Artistic and Executive Director Mina Gajić, who perform as a duo under the stage name Mystery Sonata.

Carrettin will perform a work for solo violin by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, who has created new sonic landscapes and acoustic phenomena that challenge instrumentalists and singers. “She has developed ways of notating sounds that have never been produced before,” he says.

The 2023-24 Boulder Bach Festival runs through A piece composed for the duo March 21 with a closing performance by violinist

by María Huld Markan Vadim Gluzman. Photo courtesy the artist.

Sigfúsdóttir is written without at it as this immortal monument, at the meter. “There is a lack of pulse, as if great profundity and emotional depth,” the melodic line is free beyond the the local pianist says. “But I think I shackles of time,” Carrettin says. Each missed some of the humor and playfulof the modern Icelandic pieces will be ness in the way it is written.” preceded by a Bach prelude as a “palBach knew how good he was, ate cleanser.” according to Korevaar, who says the Closing out this year’s programming balancing of dark and serious variaon March 21 is Ukrainian-born Israeli tions with lighter and playful ones was violinist Vadim Gluzman, who perintentional. Every third variation is a formed a solo recital last season. “canon,” with round-like imitation, and Carrettin says patrons were moved by even within those, there is a huge vari- the performance from Gluzman, “a ety in character and many inside spectacular force as a musician,” who jokes. He plans to take the repeats of expressed an interest to return and both halves in all 30 variations. The work with BBF artists. concert is expected to sell out.

“It turned out that the best day for Rounding out 2023 for this year’s both Vadim and the Dairy was Bach’s festival is a Dec. 17 holiday program birthday,” he says. built around the Christmas section of Handel’s Messiah. Carrettin says the concert will feature a more traditional ON THE BILL: Boulder approach to the excerpt, with a Bach Festival season opener: 16-voice chorus and a small baroque The Goldberg Variations orchestra, but he hopes the open with David Korevaar. 4 p.m.

Dairy space will provide more physical Saturday, Oct. 21, Dairy Arts possibilities for the singers. The eveCenter - Gordon Gamm ning also includes Bach chorales cenTheater, 2590 Walnut St. tered on Epiphany and a short concer$30-$65 to by Vivaldi.

OCTOBER 19, 2023

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BOOKS

THIS IS GOING TO HURT

Life in Boulder County is no exception. Reports of domestic abuse and emergency room visits In ‘Violence Beside,’ poet Jade Lascelles for sexual assault have seeks bright things in the dark increased since 2019, according to the District Attorney’s office and

BY EMMA ATHENA MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault, a coun“Because the violent ty-wide sexual violence ocal poet Jade Lascelles doesn’t contains the violet,” resource center with shrink from what she describes she writes in “The offices in Lafayette), as as “the collapsed moment, the has use of MESA’s 24-7 moment of a brutality.” She approaches Morning of The Funeral.” Lascelles help hotline (303-443it, tries to make sense of it — tentativearranges her anger 7300). The recent ly, of course, as a dancer might in lisalongside empathy, series of high-profile tening to a foreign piece of music. sexual-assault cases But Lascelles is no masochist, only a pairs confusion with confidence, stillness involving CU Boulder realist and an artist. As she estabwith movement, yearnand BVSD student athlished in her first collection of prose ing with guidance — letes underscores how poems, The Inevitable, violence is deeply rooted and perwoven into our social fabric: It’s impos- holding together paradoxes with a sense of vasive violence is sible to escape, no matter how hard calm. The author has against women. And we try. accepted the presence Boulder County is far In her newly released collection, of violence in the from alone: The Violence Beside, Lascelles looks world, yet is not broAmerican Journal of deeper into life under such grim condiken by it.

Emergency Medicine tions, and her poems are sharper for reports domestic vioit. They reflect back an array of lence cases around the terrors, but also a wealth of guidworld have increased ance and goodness we must wit“to unprecedented levness “despite how loud the vioels” in the last three lences may rasp.”

Boulder writer, musician and artist Jade Lascelles years.

“In a way, I think all of my work is celebrates her new poetry collection ‘Violence Beside’ at Lascelles’ new poems a recursive attempt at making East Window on Oct. 27. Photo by Jonas Leuenberger. claim space beside what sense of how to sit beside contrawe must, at least for now, accept as diction and ugliness,” she says Inevitable. After a series of murinevitable. “We are trying to tell you from her home in Boulder. “I’m not ders and a spate of violence that we can never be fully erased,” she trying to further add violence into against women in Lascelles’ life concludes in “This Is Why We Are the experience of my readers. and in the news, the fear of Afraid.” “The original blue colors we Writing these poems, for me, was becoming the next headline see running beneath our pale skin can trying to create this softer, safer about a missing woman rose to be restored well after they turned red, container for myself to come into a new pitch. She did not want then rusted, then washed away.” contact with these really hard hers to be the next drop of blood Violence may be impossible to conthings.” glowing blue beneath a UV light tain, but through art and poetry “it can Lascelles, an MFA graduate of “with confirmation of what once be sectioned off into these bite-sized Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac spilled out,” as she writes in chunks to make it more accessible,” School of Disembodied Poetics, “This Is Why We Are Afraid.”

Lascelles says. It’s one way to move has gathered her most personal So Lascelles turned to her toward healing. poems yet in Violence Beside. craft to help process her fear.

‘Violence Beside,’ the latest poetry collection by local Jade Much of her work defies easy cateWriting poetry “was a coping Lascelles, was released Oct. 1 via Essay Press. gorization. Like The Inevitable, mechanism for myself, trying to many poems in Violence Beside write through what I was experiON THE PAGE: Violence can stand alone; others build upon one encing,” she says. “I was at a point Beside book launch with ‘WE CAN NEVER BE another as the book progresses; some where I was trying to figure out how to Jade Lascelles. 7-9 p.m.

FULLY ERASED’ read more like creative prose. The colexist in such a violent world without it Friday, Oct. 27, East Window, The three-dozen or so pieces in lection emphasizes Lascelles’ personal totally destroying me, because there’s 4550 Broadway, C-3B2, Violence Beside were born from the commitment to seeking bright things no not really a choice of existing in a nonBoulder. Free same creative flush that delivered matter the dark. violent world right now.”

Lascelles the contents of The

L

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OCTOBER 19, 2023

BOULDER WEEKLY

THEATER

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP Longmont’s Unitiive Theatre presents an immersive take on a macabre masterpiece

BY TONI TRESCA

B

y now, you might think you know Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

But with the dead rising from all sides, Unitiive Theatre’s immersive production of the horror-musical mainstay puts visitors to the roughly 60-seat Longmont venue right in the middle of the mayhem with its thrust stage setup.

“It is very obvious there is an audience there, so we play that up,” says Kirk Slingluff, who also stage manages and performs stagehand duties in addition to directing the show. “Our version combines elements from interactive experiences, such as haunted houses and immersive theater, with the traditional musical theater form. It allows for some frights while also fostering a sense of community and tenderness.”

Based on the chilling pages of a 19th-century penny dreadful, The String of Pearls, the celebrated musical adaptation by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler takes the audience on a macabre musical journey through the foggy streets of London in 1785.

The familiar story revolves around a barber who, after spending years falsely imprisoned, decides to return to London to exact revenge on the dishonest judge who destroyed his life. Upon arriving in the city, Sweeney befriends Mrs. Lovett, who owns the pie shop below where he used to live. Together, they go on a murderous rampage, with Sweeney killing victims as he shaves them and Mrs. Lovett turning the dead into meat pies for her customers.

“When Unitiive’s management team realized they had an open slot during Halloween time, this spooky show just felt like the way to go,” Slingluff says.

“It’s our first Sondheim piece, and we knew it would come with difficulties, but we really wanted to go after it.”

But for Slingluff and the rest of the team at Unitiive Theatre, founded last

BOULDER WEEKLY

year with a focus on education and intimate stagings of big-time shows, that meant turning down some of the play’s more over-the-top elements.

“In musical theater, you normally have a lot of lines to create these sharp, flat stage pictures. I can’t do that because the space is so tight and that would cut off visibility for the audience,” Slingluff says. “We have been focusing on black-box naturalism and how to make it feel as real as possible. The actors are too close to the audience to exaggerate anything without it becoming farcical.”

‘EXPLORE THE HORROR’

Slingluff closely studied the original Broadway cast album in preparation for directing the musical; however, he refused to watch any versions of the story because he didn’t want any other

minus the three that don’t die, is in dead makeup. The entire program is, in essence, a horrifying recounting of how these corpses died by the people who were killed and did the killing.”

Once these corpses have been brought back to life, they surround the audience to complete the eerie atmosphere of 18th-century London. Patrons can choose to interact or place a card on their table indicating they’d rather be left alone. Additionally, there is designated “splash zone” seating where brave theatergoers can get up close

Unitiive Theatre’s immersive production of ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ includes a splash zone for brave theatergoers. Photo by Kirk Slingluff.

interpretations to influence his artistic vision for the piece. Rather than staging a replica production, Slingluff drew inspiration from the Viennese, Germanlanguage musical Elisabeth, about a woman obsessed with death.

“That show has the dead coming back to tell a story, and that’s what my concept is based on,” he explains. “In the introduction, we’re in an asylum, watching these bodies come back to life from death, so our entire cast,

and personal with the bloodshed in their provided custom ponchos.

“Table seating opens up the audience and breaks the barriers that rows of seating can put up,” Slingluff says.

“In addition to the immersive elements, our biggest challenge was figuring out how we fit a show that requires so many sets into the space. We have the stage broken up into quadrants; the core quadrants are Sweeney’s barber shop up-right on a platform, down-right

is the pie shop, up-left is where the oven is for those scenes, and down-left is Mrs. Lovett’s outside eating area, among other things.”

The set had to accommodate both the adult cast and the teen cast, who will be performing on select dates throughout the run. This is Unitiive’s first attempt at double-casting a production with young performers, and they have found that the junior company gives the story a fresh perspective.

“Although they do have some cuts that the adults don’t have, they are doing a fairly faithful version of Sweeney Todd,” Slingluff says. “I have added some little things to help the teens lean into the show’s comedy, while I’ve directed the adults to explore the horror in the musical.”

As the dead awaken and the living watch, Sweeney Todd at Unitiive Theatre delivers two interpretations of Sondheim’s dark odyssey about retribution in an interactive setting. By staging a well-known musical in an immersive environment, Slingluff hopes to demonstrate to audiences that theater does not always have to be a passive, complacent experience. Instead, this new production argues, it can be one that engages, excites and evolves.

ON STAGE: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Various times through Oct. 31, The Unitiive Theatre, 800 S. Hover Road, Suite 30, Longmont. $15-$28

OCTOBER 19, 2023

15

EVENTS EVERY WEDNESDAY

BouldeR BluegRass JaM FRI. 10/20 - 8:00PM

shadow woRk-Jazz Roots/dReaM Rock IndIe 102.3. PIck of the Month SAT. 10/21 - 7:00PM

an evenIng w/ hazel MIlleR

SUN. 10/22 - 8:00PM

cRIstIna vane

TUE. 10/24 - 6:30PM

Paul sodeRan and the ogs w/sPecIal guest: the dReaM teaM

19

GUT-C PRESENTS ‘BODY PARTS’

21

7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, Roser ATLAS Center 100, University of Colorado, 1125 18th St., Boulder. Free

20

CU’s queer/trans/non-binary/BIPOC/ women filmmakers collective, GUT-C (Give Us The F-ing Camera!), presents Body Parts, the 2022 documentary exposing the reality behind Hollywood’s iconic sex scenes. Stick around after the screening for a Q&A with director Kristy GuevaraFlanagan.

7-8:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, Louisville Historical Museum Courtyard, 1001 Main St. Free

STORIES IN THE DARK

The Boulder Valley Spellbinders and the Louisville Historical Museum present a night of spooky local stories under the stars. This event is for those ages 6 and up, and audiences are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets.

CULINARY FIELD TRIP & COOKING DEMO

8 a.m.-noon Saturday, Oct. 21, Boulder Farmers Market, 13th St. $10 Ever wonder how a chef shops?

Chef Daniel Asher of Working Title Food Group invites you on a field trip through the Boulder Farmers Market where he’ll select the freshest and finest ingredients for a public cooking demo at the First Bite booth.

THU. 10/26 - 9:00PM

no Rush w/sPecIal guest: on the dot

FRI. 10/27 - 7:45PM

dIxon’s vIolIn lIve

SAT. 10/28 - 7:00PM

Motown haunted PRoM (a halloween dance PaRty) Purchase Tickets at

RMPtix.com RootsMusicProject.org 4747 Pearl Suite V3A 16

OCTOBER 19, 2023

20

20

21

THE TUNE UP TAVERN COMEDY SHOW

Q BBQ FEST BOULDER

VAMPIRES VS. WEREWOLVES: A DRAG SHOW 8-10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, DV8 Distillery, 2480 49th St., Boulder. Free

7:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, Full Cycle Bikes & Colorado Multisport, 2355 30th St., Boulder. $5

The Q BBQ Festival brings one of the largest BBQ showcases to Boulder with expert pitmasters from across the country. Enjoy live music, food and beverages, and live BBQ demonstrations on Boulder’s iconic Folsom Field.

Join host Mo Whoremoans at DV8 Distillery for a Halloween-themed drag show with performers Void Phlux, Wizic, Comet Sans, Maldicion and Calder Goodlay. They’ll give “slay” a new meaning in an update on the classic rivalry between vampires and werewolves.

Life is funnier on two wheels, so grab your bike and head to the newly renovated Full Cycle Bikes & Colorado Multisport for a night of comedy. Whether you’re a diehard cyclist or just a fan of stand-up, you won’t want to miss this night of food, drinks and laughs.

10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21, Folsom Field, 2400 Colorado Ave., Boulder. $20

BOULDER WEEKLY

EVENTS

day

Wednes

th

Lionel Young Duo In the Bar

1st

Cass Clayton Band

OCT 18

show timme 9:00p

ay

Saturd

OCT 2

21-22

MOLLIE MCGEE’S ANNUAL FALL CRAFT MARKET

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 & Sunday, Oct. 22, Boulder County Fairgrounds, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont. $5 If you’re looking to get a jump on holiday shopping or find that one-ofa-kind piece to complete your home decor, you’ll find items from 150 local vendors at Mollie McGee’s annual craft showcase and sale.

Ticket cost includes entry to both days of the market.

22

CIDER SERENADE

3-8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. $10 The Colorado Association of Music Therapy presents a fundraiser to help further their mission to “educate community members and fellow healthcare professionals about the benefits of music therapy.” Local cider, live music and silent auctions are just a taste of what’s on the menu.

24

SKA-LLOWEEN PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST

6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, William Oliver’s Lafayette, 201 North Public Road, Unit C. $12 Show off your pumpkin carving skills while sipping on a Ska Oktoberfest at William Oliver’s in Lafayette. Prize categories include scariest, funniest and most original pumpkin. One beer, one pumpkin and carving materials are provided with your ticket.

show timme 9:00p

Sunday

2nd

OCT 2

show timme 8:00p

day

Wednes

5th

OCT 2

show timme 9:00p

ay

Thursd

6th

OCT 2

show timme 9:00p

Friday

7th

OCT 2

show timme 8:00p

ay

Saturd

8th

OCT 2

show timme 9:00p

21

23

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 22, Left Hand Brewing Company, 1245 Boston Ave., Longmont. $20

6-7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, City of Longmont Public Library, 409 4th Ave. Free

LEFTOWEEN

Join Left Hand Brewing Company for carnival games, live music, oracle readings and more during this Halloween-themed event in The Garden. Strut your stuff to take home top costume while enjoying food truck fare and plenty of craft libations. Ages 12 and under get in free.

BOULDER WEEKLY

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE OF LOCAL POLITICS

The BIPOC Alliance partners with Colorado 50/50 and support from Boulder Young Democrats to bring a non-partisan panel of local elected officials to the Longmont Public Library, where they will discuss their journey in local politics and how to reform the system at the local level.

25

Sunday

h

CT 29t

O show timme 8:00p

with Dechen hawk

$15 + $4

service charge

$12

Rooster Magazine Presents:

Pearl Street Comedy

DJ Goodie In the Bar

The Yawpers

The Good Kind

$6 + $4

service charge

$20 + $4

service charge

$15

Halloween Show by:

Liver Down The river

+ $4

service charge

$12

Rooster Magazine Presents:

Pearl Street Comedy

SOUNDBATH CONCERT

6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, The StarHouse, 3476 Sunshine Canyon Drive, Boulder. $45 Local Musician Tommy Dill hosts this 360 degree spatial live healing audio experience in collaboration with Blackrose and The StarHouse. The sound healing journey will last around 90 minutes. Yoga mats, cushions, and blankets will be provided.

day

Wednes

t

Nov 1s

show timme 9:00p

ay

Thursd

Nov

show timme 9:00p

Many Mountains

In the Bar

$12

+ Balthvs with The Only $4 service charge Smith

OCTOBER 19, 2023

17

LIVE MUSIC T HU R S D AY, OCT. 1 9 DOMI EDSON TRIO. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

BLACK TIGER SEX MACHINE. 6 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $75

ON THE BILL

WILCO WITH NINA NASTASIA. 7:30 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $60

JOE TEICHMAN. 5 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder.

Free

NATION OF LANGUAGE WITH MISS GRIT. 8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $30

OVERDOSE WITH CLUSTERFUX AND TOTAL CULT. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15

M ON DAY, OC T. 23

MYSTERY SKULLS WITH PORTAIR. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $20 ABOVE & BEYOND WITH KASABLANCA AND ANAME (NIGHT 1). 6 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $75

FR I D AY, O CT. 2 0 SHADOW WORK WITH VANIMAL KINGDOM. 8 p.m.

Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. Free.

BW Pick of the Week INGRID AVISON BAND. 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free ALEJANDRO FALCON WITH CUBADENTRO. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20 BRAVE, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL. 5:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 1455 Coal Creek Drive, Unit T, Lafayette. $50 BAD DOG. 6 p.m. The Rock Garden, 338 W. Main St., Lyons. Free START MAKING SENSE: TALKING HEADS TRIBUTE. 7 p.m. The Caribou Room, 55 Indian Peaks Drive, Nederland. $25 JUNIPER WIND QUINTET. 7:30 p.m.

Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1241 Ceres Drive, Lafayette. $12 SEXTILE WITH N8NOFACE. 9 p.m.

Marquis Theatre, 2009 Larimer St., Denver. $20 ABOVE & BEYOND WITH SIMON DOTY, DURANTE AND HANA (NIGHT 2). 6 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $40 18

OCTOBER 19, 2023

JERVIS CAMPBELL WITH NATHAN COLBERG. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $15

Denver art-rock trio Shadow Work bring their psychedelic sound to Roots Music Project in Boulder for a free show with fellow locals Vanimal Kingdom on Oct. 20. The Front Range act comes to the People’s Republic on the heels of their new EP, Imago, out now on major streaming services. See listing for details.

LUDACRIS WITH DJ INFAMOUS. Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 N. Clarkson St., Denver. $75

SATUR DAY, OC T. 21 STEELY DEAD. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $10 CASS CLAYTON BAND. 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $19 HAZEL MILLER WITH ANDY WALLS AND THE DISRUPTORS. 7 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $20 STRANGEBYRDS. 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $25 MACKENZIE RAE. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder.

Free HOLLY AND THE HUSBANDS. 6 p.m.

South Boulder Speakeasy, 623 S. Broadway, Boulder. Free ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE WITH STARGAZER LILIES AND NIGHT FISHING. 9 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $25

RATBOYS WITH ANOTHER MICHAEL. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $20 Story on p. 11

THE DEAR HUNTER WITH DELTA SLEEP AND ALL GET OUT. 7 p.m.

Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $28 MEN I TRUST WITH TOPS. 7 p.m.

Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 N. Clarkson St., Denver. $40

TUE S DAY, OC T. 24 THIS IS THE KIT WITH ROZI PLAIN. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $20

LIQUID STRANGER WITH TVBOO, RAVENSCOON, CANNABLISS AND DRINKURWATER. 6 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $60

GRYFFIN WITH LOST FREQUENCIES, BUNT. AND LIZZY JANE (NIGHT 1).

6:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $28

THIEVERY CORPORATION WITH DJ SHADOW. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $45

WE DN E S DAY, OC T. 25

SUN D AY, OC T. 22 MARILYN WALKER WITH JOYFUL RUCKUS. 6 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $15 LAURENCE HOBGOOD SOLO/TRIO. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $25 CW AND TWENTY HANDS HIGH. 7 p.m. Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road. Free IDONTKNOWJEFFERY WITH BLACK SMURF. 9 p.m. Marquis Theatre, 2009 Larimer St., Denver. $20

THE MOSS WITH WILDERMISS. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20 JOHN MCEUEN WITH THE CIRCLE BAND. 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $35 HENRY KELDER. 7:30 p.m. Chamber Hall, 1020 18th St., Boulder. Free GRYFFIN WITH LOST FREQUENCIES, BUNT. AND LIZZY JANE (NIGHT 2).

6:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison. $75 Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.

BOULDER WEEKLY

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ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): JooHee Yoon is an illustrator and designer. She says, “So much of artmaking is getting to know yourself through the creative process, of making mistakes and going down rabbit holes of research and experimentation that sometimes work out — and sometimes don’t.”

She adds, “The failures are just as important as the successes.” I would extend this wisdom, applying it to how we create our personalities and lives. I hope you will keep it in mind as you improvise, experiment with, and transform yourself in the coming weeks.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Sometimes, we droop and shrivel in the face of a challenge that dares us to grow stronger and smarter. Sometimes, we try our best to handle a pivotal riddle with aplomb but fall short. Neither of these two scenarios will be in play for you during the coming months. I believe you will tap into reserves of hidden power you didn’t realize you had access to.

You will summon bold, innovative responses to tantalizing mysteries. I predict you will accomplish creative triumphs that may have once seemed beyond your capacities.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Gemini novelist Meg Wolitzer suggests that “one of the goals of life is to be comfortable in your own skin and in your own bed and on your own land.” I suspect you won’t achieve that goal in the coming weeks, but you will lay the foundation for achieving that goal. You will figure out precisely what you need in order to feel at home in the world, and you will formulate plans to make that happen. Be patient with yourself, dear Gemini. Be extra tender, kind, and accommodating. Your golden hour will come.

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CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Some astrologers say you Crabs are averse to adventure, preferring to loll in your comfort zones and entertain dreamy fantasies. As evidence that this is not always true, I direct your attention to a great Cancerian adventurer, the traveling chef Anthony Bourdain. In the coming weeks, I hope you will be inspired by these Bourdain quotes: 1. “If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” 2. “What a great way to live, if you could always do things that interest you, and do them with people who interest you.” 3.

“The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough — to know there is no final resting place of the mind.” 4. “Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Author Iain S. Thomas writes, “The universe is desperately trying to move you into the only spot that truly belongs to you — a space that only you can stand in. It is up to you to decide every day whether you are moving towards or away from that spot.” His ideas overlap with principles I expound in my book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings. There I propose that life often works to help dissolve your ignorance and liberate you from your suffering. I hypothesize that you are continually being given opportunities to grow smarter and wilder and kinder.

In the coming weeks, everything I’ve described here will be especially apropos to you. All of creation will be maneuvering you in the direction of feeling intensely at home with your best self. Cooperate, please!

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): “Never do anything that others can do for you,” said Virgo novelist Agatha Christie.

That’s not a very Virgo-like attitude, is it?

Many astrologers would say that of all the zodiac’s signs, your tribe is the most eager to serve others but not aggressively seek the service of others on your behalf. But I suspect this dynamic could change in the coming weeks. Amazingly, cosmic rhythms will conspire to bring you more help and support than you’re accustomed to. My advice: Welcome it.

Gather it in with gusto.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): I’m not enamored of Shakespeare’s work. Though I enjoy his creative use of language, his worldview isn’t appealing or interesting. The people in his stories don’t resonate with me, and their problems don’t feel realistic. If I want to commune with multi-faceted characters dealing with fascinating dilemmas, I turn to French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799– 1850). I feel a kinship with his complex, nuanced understanding of human nature.

Please note I am not asserting that Shakespeare is bad and Balzac is good. I’m merely stating the nature of my subjective personal tastes. Now I invite you to do what I have done here: In the coming weeks, stand up unflinchingly for your subjective personal tastes.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): As much as I love logic and champion rational thinking, I’m granting you an exemption from their iron-grip supremacy in the coming weeks. To understand what’s transpiring and to respond with intelligence, you must partly transcend logic and reason. They will not be sufficient guides as you wrestle with the Great Riddles that will be visiting. In a few weeks, you will be justified in quoting ancient Roman author Tertullian, who said the following about his religion, Christianity: “It is true because it is impossible.”

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): As a Sun-conjunct-Uranus person, I am fond of hyperbole and outrageousness. “Outlandish” is one of my middle names. My Burning Man moniker is “Friendly Shocker,” and in my pagan community, I’m known as Irreverend Robbie. So take that into consideration when I suggest you meditate on Oscar Wilde’s assertions that “all great ideas are dangerous” and “an idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea.” Oscar and I don’t mean that interesting possibilities must be a risk to one’s health or safety. Rather, we’re suggesting they are probably inconvenient for one’s dogmas, habits, and comfort zones. I hope you will favor such disruptors in the coming days.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Some people might feel they have achieved the peak of luxury if they find themselves sipping Moët & Chandon Imperial Vintage Champagne while lounging on a leather and diamond-encrusted PlumeBlanche sofa on a hand-knotted Agra wool rug aboard a 130-foot-long Sunseeker yacht. But I suspect you will be thoroughly pleased with the subtler forms of luxury that are possible for you these days. Like what? Like surges of appreciation and acknowledgment for your good work. Like growing connections with influences that will interest you and help you in the future. Like the emotional riches that come from acting with integrity and excellence.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): There are over 20 solutions to the riddle your higher mind is now contemplating.

Several of them are smart intellectually but not emotionally intelligent. Others make sense from a selfish perspective but would be less than a blessing for some people in your life. Then there are a few solutions that might technically be effective but wouldn’t be much fun. I estimate there may only be two or three answers that would be intellectually and emotionally intelligent, would be of service not only to you but also to others, and would generate productive fun.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Naturalist John Muir didn’t like the word “hiking.”

He believed people ought to saunter through the wilderness, not hike. “Hiking” implies straight-ahead, no-nonsense, purposeful movement, whereas “sauntering” is about wandering around, being reverent towards one’s surroundings, and getting willingly distracted by where one’s curiosity leads. I suggest you favor the sauntering approach in the coming weeks — not just in nature but in every area of your life. You’re best suited for exploring, gallivanting, and meandering.

BOULDER WEEKLY

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE DEAR DAN: I’ve been carrying a lot of guilt and shame for a long time.

(Content warning: sexual abuse.) I am a victim of childhood sexual abuse. My abuser forced me to watch zoophilia porn while they abused me again and again. This left me with an addiction to this kind of porn. I hate it and I hate myself for watching it. I want to know how to stop watching it as it physically hurts me every time I do, but I was conditioned to enjoy it by an evil person. This porn goes against all of my values, and I am so scared of anyone ever finding out. I’m still very young — not even 25 — and I want to know if there is any hope for breaking this habit and healing from this. I’m sick of feeling like a horrible person.

— Abuse Wounds Fucking Up Life DEAR AWFUL: I shared your question with an expert who has done extensive research into sexual abuse and trauma. This expert wished to remain anonymous to avoid having Google searches lead to my sex column. Their request to remain anonymous was about me, AWFUL, it wasn’t about you.

“It’s not uncommon for child sexual abuse survivors to have some sort of additional exposure related to abuse or harm,” our highly credentialed expert (HCE) said.

“Whether nonconsensual pornographic content or environmental exposures (like substances) or zoophilia, people who harm children often use conditioning techniques such as the ones AWFUL describes, especially taboo or shameful things, as that makes it even more difficult for the victim to disclose the abuse.”

It is not uncommon for someone who is being sexually abused or assaulted to become physically aroused. This kind of arousal is an involuntary bodily response; it is not a sign the victim has consented or is experiencing pleasure. The body is acting in self-defense to prevent additional injuries. Even though this

response is involuntary and not a sign of pleasure, repeated acts of abuse can create a powerful association.

“For people like AWFUL, sexual arousal can come with compulsive sexual experiences linked to these contents and exposures — and quite a bit of shame,” HCE said.

“Those feelings of shame, anxiety, and depression keep people isolated and away from people that can support them and help them heal.”

And with support, AWFUL, you can heal.

“There are several evidencebased therapeutic approaches that use cognitive and trauma-based approaches that can not only reduce feelings of shame, but also help to process emotions and trauma experiences,” said HCE. “These approaches help the brain process information and make new pathways for healthier intimacy experiences.”

A good therapist can help you unearth your own authentic desires.

“I want to assure AWFUL that both trauma and sex therapists are knowledgeable about the behaviors of people who commit harm against children, such as unwanted sexual content exposure — and trauma and sex therapists understand the impact conditioning and exposure might have on arousal responses and compulsive/addictive behaviors,” said HCE. “AWFUL should look for a therapist that has experience in both trauma and sex therapy modalities. Someone trained in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) would be a good place to start.”

You are not a terrible person — something terrible was done to you. You deserve help and sympathy and if you reach out to the right professionals, you’ll find it. AASECT is a good place to start your search: aasect.org/referral-directory.

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OCTOBER 19, 2023

21

FILM yourself too much.” Until now, there is no indication that the first man knows who’s behind the murders.

But that line says it all. He knows. He’s always known. And so does everyone else.

The rest of the killings are equally brazen and very unsettling. Here is a movie populated by repugnant men too dumb to lie about their motivations.

Many murders are discussed in public, and carried out with little concern for discovery. One hit man is told to shoot his victim in the forehead so that it looks like a suicide — never mind that most gunshot suicides are via the side of the head. Not that it matters; he still shoots his victim in the back, execution-style, and takes the gun with him, eradicating any possibility that it might have been anything other than murder.

Why do these men behave the way they do? Because they are white and their victims are not. In many of Scorsese’s movies, the empathy available to audiences comes from the understanding that the cure to their monstrosity is just out of reach. They are addicts, mentally ill or in too deep to climb out. They resign themselves to their demons. Not here. Here, the monsters show little remorse and even less comprehension that their actions are wrong. Even worse, Killers of the Flower Moon ends with a reminder that it’s not just those who pulled the trigger that don’t comprehend the horror that transpired here, but the rest of America as well.

Courtesy: Paramount Pictures

ORIGINAL SIN ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and the American story

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

E

very April, tiny flowers spread like confetti across the blackjack hills of Oklahoma. This is Osage Territory — land carved out and granted to the Osage Nation in the 19th century after they were forced out of Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas. Here they settled on a chunk of northern Oklahoma deemed worthless to the U.S. government. But, in 1870, oil was discovered all over the territory, giving the Osage leasing rights to every drop of black gold pouring from the earth. By 1920, the Osage were the richest population per capita in the world. Then they started dying.

In May, a second crop sprouts along those blackjack hills. These plants are taller and blot out the sun, strangling the water from the soil. The smaller flowers die off as the taller ones thrive, and since this coincides with the glow of a full moon, the Osage refer to this period as the “time of the flower-killing moon.”

It’s a powerful metaphor, one author David Grann seizes in the opening of his 2017 nonfiction history Killers of the BOULDER WEEKLY

Flower Moon, which filmmaker Martin Scorsese brings to the big screen in his cinematic adaptation of the same name.

The moon has not yet peaked when Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) arrives in the bustling city of Fairfax, Oklahoma, on Osage territory, but it’s on the rise. The Great War is over, and Ernest calls on his wealthy uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), for work.

Hale, whom everyone, including Ernest, calls “King,” has found the only plot of Osage land that doesn’t have oil under it and built a big-daddy cattle ranch.

Hale is about as embedded in a town as one can get. He is friends with the Osage, communicates with them in their language and is gregarious with his wealth and resources. Many Osage love him, but one of the Brown sisters, Mollie (Lily Gladstone), doesn’t trust him. There’s something about Hale she finds off-putting even though she can’t see it. The audience can: His face falls when others turn their backs, his steely eyes always calculating something. His choice of words when he speaks, the paternalism in his voice — even his

round wire-framed glasses seem to scream snake in the grass. Then again, when was the last time you saw a movie with a sympathetic cattle baron?

THE MEANING OF MONSTERS

Scorsese has made a career exploring the limits of empathy. His movies are pocked with monsters, often in the leading role. But these films have an underlying humanity, a call to understand what makes the monster. Maybe even a way to coexist with and prevent future monsters from arising. Frankly, it’s backfired a lot on Scorsese, and his movies, particularly the overt masculinity and violence they capture, have entertained more than they have disgusted. A filmmaker can only control what’s inside the frame, not how the audience chooses to see it.

But with Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorsese and his collaborators conspire to construe and condemn. Killers throws out the honor among thieves, codes of the outlaw or the romantic notion that what transpired across these United States is anything but cruel. And everyone’s in on the take. After a particularly gruesome murder, one reputable resident of Fairfax turns to another and casually says, “You’re pronouncing

ON SCREEN: Killers of the Flower Moon opens in theaters Oct. 20.

Editor’s Note: Boulder Weekly goes Hollywood! BW’s own arts and culture editor, Jezy J. Gray, plays Hale’s secretary in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’

OCTOBER 19, 2023

23

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BITE BACK Find fresh flavors and new eateries during Boulder’s trademark celebration of local food

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Y

pumpkin panna cotta for $85, while our friends and family have Postino WineCafe offers small plates noticed that you only eat out at and a bottle of wine to share for $25. six or seven restaurants.

Dishes on these menus run the gasHonestly, three of those are pizzerias. tronomic gamut, from The Boulder What happened to that adventurous Cork’s famous sake salmon, to short rib diner who lived to sample new tastes in ravioli at Sforno Trattoria Romana, to new eateries? You may need a dining River and Woods’ tableside s’mores. intervention.

Each food stall at Boulder’s Rosetta The 18th Annual First Bite is back Hall will offer a dish using fresh apples, Oct. 20-29 to rescue your taste buds such as Korean-style apple bulgogi ribs from the doldrums and give you an at Shangai Moon, to Petite Fleur bakexcuse to try new places. ery’s autumn bake sale showcasing a Don’t feel bad if your dining life has full counter of apple-centered desserts. gotten boring. Even the producer of First Bite finds that her own Boulderbased family gets stuck on a narrow group of restaurants. “I’m excited to go out and try the new places, and familiar restaurants that are serving something new,” says Jessica Benjamin, owner of Savor Productions, the food-focused organization that presents First Bite and its sister event, First Sip. This year’s First Bite restaurants range from the Michelin-honored Basta to the uber-casual Hungry Toad. There are places like the Greenbriar Inn, which has participated for 18 years, and recently opened eateries such as Masas Boulder and Pasta Press.

This annual celebration of Boulder’s dining scene features 10 days of special meals and culinary events for every hungry mood.

“Some nights, you are a fine diner, maybe it’s a birthday or an anniversary,” Benjamin says. “Tuesday night, you just need to go pick up dinner for the kids.”

Bohemian Biergarten. Photo by Colleen O’Toole.

First Bite has evolved to include brunch and a wider range of restaurants from the original one-price-fits-all, LAGER BEER AND A WURST multi-course dinner model. The CASE SCENARIO Greenbriar Inn’s five-course menu “We’ve always encouraged the restauincludes smoked duck roulade, seared rants to lean into whatever they do Skuna Bay salmon, and chai and best,” Benjamin says. “A good example BOULDER WEEKLY

Ahi tuna at Swaylo’s. Photo by Colleen O’Toole.

is the Bohemian Biergarten. Its First Bite offer is quintessentially the way we dine there, sharing food and beer.”

The Bohemian Biergarten’s Oktoberfest platter brings together the eatery’s best-loved dishes. “It includes our scratch-made spaetzle noodles, red cabbage and our sauerkraut with bratwurst and other sausages made for us locally,” says Angelie Timm, coowner of the Bohemian Biergarten.

The sharing platter also includes house-made mustards and a big soft pretzel with beer cheese, all made to pair with tall German lagers.

“First Bite brings people into the restaurant for the first time who would never have tried our food otherwise,” Timm says.

LONGMONT: LOCO MOCO AND GRILLED ARTICHOKES

This year’s First Bite also expands into Longmont with a four-course dinner offering at Sugarbeet. The threecourse menu at Swaylo’s Tiki includes Hawaiian dishes like ahi poke wontons, a plate of loco moco (white rice topped with a hamburger, a fried egg and brown gravy) and a slice of haupia pie (rich chocolate and coconut milk) with cocktail pairings available.

Other Boulder County participants

Smokin’ Dave’s. Photo by Colleen O’Toole.

include Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ in Lyons and Cimmini’s in Niwot. Grilled artichokes, shrimp and scallops, and cherry pie, are on the bill of fare at Louisville’s 740 Front.

FROM COOKING DEMOS TO A DOCUMENTARY FILM

First Bite is also launching a handful of one-off culinary experiences. “We have some new special events this year like Saturday’s Farmers Market behind-thescenes tour, and a cooking lesson with chef Daniel Asher,” Benjamin says.

The Sink’s 100th anniversary celebration continues with an Oct. 23 bigscreen showing of the eatery’s documentary film at the Dairy Arts Center.

The gathering includes a nostalgic talkback session afterwards with tastes of some Sink menu classics.

Lamb fans will flock to Gemini on the Pearl Street Mall for an Oct. 25 dinner with the Colorado-based American Lamb Board.

Other participating eateries include Dagabi, Organic Sandwich Company, Roadhouse Boulder Depot, Sforno Trattoria, Jill’s Restaurant and Japango.

Complete list of First Bite restaurants and events at: firstbiteboulder.com.

There is a specific Boulder reason why this dining extravaganza is happening right now. “It’s the Coach Prime effect,” Benjamin says. “These are the only 10 [consecutive] days in this entire fall where there was no CU football.”

OCTOBER 19, 2023

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Meanwhile, Boulder has become an epicenter of the craft brew renaissance in the United States, largely because Charlie Papazian and like-minded folks decided to live here. There should be a historic plaque or a bronze statue noting his oft-stated mantra: “Relax. Don’t worry. Have a homebrew.”

• Boulder’s Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) needs volunteers to help stock shelves and assist food bank participants. Apply: efaa.org • Coming soon: Louisville will get a Home Cookin’ Cafe, and Boulder Baked will set up a second outpost in downtown Superior.

TASTE OF THE WEEK: TRULY ERIE SANDWICHES

I stopped by Stacey’s Kitchen, a cool little sandwich and pastry shop, open in downtown Erie. You can’t miss the colorful dessert-oriented mural painted on the outside wall.

I sat on the patio and appreciated Stacey’s cold pastrami sandwich loaded with high-quality ingredients. Pumpernickel was layered thickly with freshly cut meat and Swiss cheese slices, plus spicy mustard, pickles, onions and mayo. I appreciated the fact that the sandwich was a substantial handful made with high-quality ingredients.

Don’t miss Stacey’s hand pies, scones, cupcakes and apple pie cinnamon rolls and savory specials including stromboli and quiche.

WORDS TO CHEW ON: HAPPINESS DEFINED

“There’s no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box on your lap.”

— Actor Kevin James

John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles and Kitchen Table Talk on KGNU: bit.ly/RadioNibbles. Comments: nibbles@boulderweekly.com

www.lulus-bbq.com

26

OCTOBER 19, 2023

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HIP TO BE SQUARE Red Tops Rendezvous introduces travel-worthy, Detroit-style pie to Denver’s Jefferson Park

BY COLIN WRENN

W

hen guests enter Red Top Rendezvous, they are greeted by a hulking mural of the Fisher Building. From there, the walls are covered in sleek wallpaper with images of endless stacks of vinyl.

Upstairs, Motown records from owner Kevin Eddy’s personal collection are available to play at listeners’ leisure.

The place is all Detroit.

Eddy grew up in Livonia, a Motor City suburb where his grandfather was known to cook weekly meals for the whole neighborhood. His youth was filled with visits to Buddy’s Pizza, a spot known by all as the uncontested birthplace of the Detroit-style pie. Legend has it that in 1946, Buddy’s founder Gus Guerra borrowed a square pan from the Ford Motor Plant and made pizza history.

Eddy took his childhood love of food and community and turned it into a career. In 2000, Eddy moved to Denver from Chicago to open the second outpost of The Tin Lizzie, which grew to be a popular downtown dive. In 2010, he was one of the founding members of Highland Tap and Burger. He’s since gone on to become the chief development officer for The Culinary Creative

Group, the folks behind some of Denver’s hottest locales including Mister Oso, Bar Dough and A5 Steakhouse.

As long as Eddy has been opening restaurants, he’s wanted to create a place that reminds him of home. “It was always in the back of my mind,” he says, but the dream took a backseat while Tap and Burger and Bar Dough rose to prominence.

This year, Eddy finally brought the dream to life.

At the core of Red Top’s menu is the crust, developed and perfected by opening chef Alan Youngerman. “The perfect bite has crunch on the bottom, is soft on the inside, has caramelized cheese on the side and just a touch of burnt cheese on the top,” says Eddy.

The family-style restaurant is built for bustle, its 144 seats sprawling across two well-spaced floors. TVs line the walls, an intentional nod to the tailgate crowd from nearby Empower Field who have already started packing the place on game days.

“To me, pizza was square,” says Eddy, who took great care in making sure everything about Red Tops’ crust remained true to the source material.

“Authentic Detroit-style is more like Wonder Bread.”

The seasonal menu is composed of snacks, salads, entrées and pizzas.

Some pies, like the namesake Red Tops — with a brick cheese blend, Bianco DiNapoli tomato sauce and Parmesan — will remain indefinitely, with others, like the Millions of Peaches — with Palisade peaches, shishito peppers and red onion — getting switched out during quarterly overhauls. Current chef Jacob Grant will roll out a new fall menu toward the end of this month.

Despite the pies being some of the best this side of Michigan, some of Red Tops’ most exquisite dishes are not actually pizza. The shrimp scampi — with roasted prawns, rigatoni and a thick sauce of garlic, butter and white wine — is a must, as is ricotta gnocchi with roasted cauliflower, pesto, pickled red onion and parmesan. But the crowning achievement may be the

Coney Knots, which wrap Nathan’s beef franks in house pizza dough, slather them in yellow mustard and serve them with a side of Coney Chili.

It’s here the restaurant is at its most quintessential, a pure ode to the most devilishly unique aspects of Detroit cooking. The plate is meant to be shared, though ordering a few for the table is the only surefire way to keep folks from getting greedy.

As with other Culinary Creative concepts, the bar menu has been carefully honed. The Red Pop — with Espolon blanco, mezcal, pomegranate, lime and bitters — is a good pregame porch pounder, while the Eight Mile High Club — with Michter’s US1 bourbon, Nonino, Aperol, lemon and hot honey — acts as a robust pairing for any of the dense pies.

Red Tops Rendezvous is a brilliant ode to Eddy’s palpable love for his hometown.

Photo by Coleen O’Toole

Dine-in or orDer on-line for Take-ouT

phocafelafayette.com

1085 S Public Rd. Lafayette (303) 665-0666 Hours: Tues-Sun: 11a-8:30p Closed Monday

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Thank You for Voting us Best Asian Fusion Restaurant for 8 years!

OCTOBER 19, 2023

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JOB FAIR Eldora Mountain Resort, Nederland CO, Indian Peaks Lodge snow makers!

10.19.23 10AM-2PM

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WEED BETWEEN THE LINES

RELIEF MAPS MDMA is expected to get federal approval as a therapy treatment by 2024

BY WILL BRENDZA

P

ost Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects roughly 5% of U.S. adults every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). That number is likely low, as many who suffer from it go undiagnosed.

PTSD can be a debilitating condition. People get stuck in negative thought loops, feeling impulsive, sometimes explosive anger, and experiencing uncontrollable bouts of fear, guilt and shame. Many who suffer from PTSD lose interest in things they love, and those with severe cases often deal with long-term insomnia, anxiety, and paranoia.

The condition wasn’t officially recognized as a disorder until 1980, according to the National Center for PTSD. And six years later, Dr. Rick Doblin founded the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to researching the healing potential of MDMA and other psychedelics. Doblin, having experimented with MDMA personally, recognized its unique potential as a therapy drug — particularly for PTSD and other forms of trauma.

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The research MAPS spearheaded, funded and otherwise supported in the decades since has helped move the needle on this substance. The latest MAPS-funded study, published in Nature Medicine, is a landmark piece of research that seems to justify everything the organization has worked toward over the last 37 years.

It was an 18-week, phase-three clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD among a racially diverse set of 52 patients.

Nearly 30% of participants suffered from moderate PTSD and the other 73.1% suffered from severe PTSD. More than 80% had a lifetime history of suicidal ideation. A “substantial portion of participants,” the researchers wrote, dealt with simultaneous conditions like depression, multiple sources of trauma and dissociative PTSD, which are all associated with treatment resistance.

For the study, patients underwent three 90-minute sober sessions with a two-person therapy team for preparation. They were then randomized to

receive either MDMA treatment or a placebo, with therapy once a month for three months. Every treatment period consisted of three eight-hour dosing sessions in conjunction with therapy with a MAPS-trained, state-licensed therapist.

The study’s results were clear.

“Notably, 45 of 52 (86.5%) participants treated with MDMA-AT achieved a clinically meaningful benefit, and 37 of 52 (71.2%) participants no longer met criteria for PTSD by study end,” the study reads. “Given the diverse population and degree of participant complexity, the replication of efficacy is particularly notable.”

MDMA induces prosocial feelings and softens responses to emotionally jolting and fearful stimuli. That makes it an ideal drug in conjunction with therapy for addressing deep-seated trauma.

This study not only strongly shows that, but also proves the treatment is safe.

No deaths, illnesses or other adverse effects were reported by any of the patients who received MDMA treatment.

This successful trial is a big step.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently considering MDMA for approval as a therapy drug, and this successful trial tips the scales heavily in MDMA’s favor because it backs up findings from previous MAPS-funded research.

“Thanks to the combined efforts of dozens of therapists, hundreds of participants who volunteered in MAPSsponsored trials, and many thousands of generous donors, MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD is on track to be considered for approval by the FDA,” Doblin said in a press release about the Nature Medicine study.

Should MDMA get FDA approval, federal rescheduling, decriminalization, or outright legalization could be right around the corner. And Colorado is already locked in to legalize the substance in accordance.

In June 2022, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill to legalize MDMA approvals pending federal approval.

Rick Doblin is ready for that moment. He’s been waiting for it since 1986.

“We hope that MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD will be approved by the FDA next year, and that our open science, open books principle will inspire researchers to make this just the first of many psychedelic-assisted therapies to be validated through diligent research,” Doblin said.

OCTOBER 19, 2023

31

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