POLICE OVERSIGHT PANEL UPDATES P.12
COLORADO QUEER COMEDY FESTIVAL P.19
City limits
Break out of the bubble to discover the best eateries, watering holes and more in East Boulder County
CONTENTS 10.26.2023
FALL BOOT SALE $10-$50 OFF
All boots included, even new arrivals!
10 10 FEATURE: Western states opposed tribal access to the
Colorado River 70 years ago — history is repeating itself BY MARK OLALDE AND ANNA V. SMITH
17
MUSIC: Radio-rock hitmakers Switchfoot celebrate two decades of a landmark LP BY ALAN SCULLEY
19 COMEDY: Colorado Queer Comedy Festival finds the funny
in the struggle for self-identity BY LILY FLETCHER
33
NIBBLES: Uncovering under-the-radar rellenos, musubi, sourdough loaves, gelato and cider in Boulder BY JOHN LEHNDORFF
DEPARTMENTS 03 THE
ANDERSON FILES:
The right wing loves insurance-company looting of Medicare
08 LETTERS:
Signed, sealed, delivered: your views
14 NEWS:
A new vehicle standard aims to clean up transportation emissions
15 ICYMI:
ASTROLOGY:
21 THEATER:
31 SAVAGE
‘Tina’ struggles to find its rhythm at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
22 EVENTS:
Halloween costume ideas for your star sign
LOVE:
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
Go Out Local and Green Now with offices in BOULDER and LARIMER Counties! • No Vaults (grave coverings, usually cement or plastic) • Only biodegradable caskets or shrouds • Ritual of hand-lowering • Natural care of the body Other green options include body composting (natural reduction) and water cremation (alkaline hydrolysis). We also offer flame cremation.
Happy Locktober
37 FLASH IN THE PAN:
Where to go and what to do
Make apple ‘shrunken heads’ for a spooky windowsill
29 FILM:
39 WEED:
‘Priscilla’ is a familiar story turned inside out BOULDER WEEKLY
30
Boulder adopts 2024 budget, new Police Oversight Panel ordinance
Comfortableshoes.com
FDA issues warning on ketamine use
720-515-2344 Boulder County 720-837-7224 Larimer County info@thenaturalfuneral.com TheNaturalFuneral.com OCTOBER 26, 2023
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Shop LOCAL Shop LONGMONT peak press juicery Thank you for voting us
Best Shoe Store!
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm • Sat 10am-5pm • Closed Sunday
1520 S. Hover St, Suite D, Longmont, CO (720) 680-0551 • www.wbu.com/longmont
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unpasteurized, so you get all the health-promoting vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, soluble fiber, and live enzymes so important to good health. Visit their store on weekends or place your order online at peakpressjuicery. com for pickup or convenient delivery.
ometimes it can be hard to get the recommended 9+ servings of fruit and vegetables each day. Doyle and Stephanie Leach, owners of the new Peak Press Juicery located at 1515 Main St, strive to make it easy and delicious. Every bottle of their 100% organic, coldpressed juice starts with over a pound of produce and provides 3-6 servings of fruit and/or veg per bottle. The juice is
peakpressjuicery.com
LONGMONT BAKERY
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baked goods 900 S. Hover Unit F Longmont 720-684-6884 www.longmontbakery.com
ur talented, dedicated staff strives to provide quality products and amazing customer service at a familyfriendly price. Whether you meeting friends for coffee and a pastry or picking up a cake for your special occasion, you’ll be sure to find a wide selection of freshly
461 MAIN STREET • LONGMONT, CO • 303-485-5020
www.rosaleespizzeria.com
WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED
L Come in for LunCh!
We now offer sandwiches on our fresh bakery bread!
Your home Town BakerY!
LIKE US ON
720-684-6884 • 900 S. Hover St. Unit F, Longmont CO
Longmont’s
Family-friendly brewery serving handcrafted lagers and ales Hours: Mon-Thurs 3-9pm • Fri 3-10pm • Sat 12-10pm • Sun 12-9m
6778 N. 79th St. Niwot, CO • 303-834-9123 fritzfamilybrewers.com
friendly products and recycled plastics. We source our unique gifts from Fair Trade companies and local artisans. We also have gift cards and last-minute gift ideas. Stop in and let us explain our mission to Save the Songbirds one backyard at a time! 1520 S. Hover Street, Suite D Longmont, CO 720-680-0551 www.wbu.com/longmont
ocally woman-owned and operated, Wild Birds Unlimited Specializes in bringing people and nature together through the hobby of backyard bird feeding. We offer a wide variety of naturerelated products and expert, local advice. Our store stocks the highest quality items made in the the USA with emphasis on eco-
1201 S. Sunset St. Longmont, CO 80501 303.776.6605
Open Monday - Saturday 9am-6pm Closed Sunday @frontrangemercantile
Over 90 dealers with new & used furniture, hOme decOr, & gifts
Longmont’s source for BEAUTIFUL QUALITY GLASS 341 MAIN ST. • LONGMONT, CO
303-827-3181
LIKE US! facebook.com/publicmon
Shop LOCAL Shop LONGMONT ozo coffee
o
ZO Coffee Company is a coffee roaster & retail operator based in Boulder, Colorado with Espresso Cafe locations in Boulder and Longmont, Colorado. Founded in 2007, OZO Coffee has based its growth on core
principles of service, quality, community, and sustainability. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our passion for coffee with you. JUSTIN HARTMAN, OZO FOUNDER 1232-A S. Hover St. www.ozocoffee.com
BOULDER COUNTY OWNED AND OPERATED
303-485-1730 • 247restoration.com
BROWN’S SHOE FIT COMPANY
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t Brown’s, we know feet. Our expert staff will measure your feet to ensure a proper, comfortable fit. With a broad range of widths and sizes, we can serve even hard-to-fit customers. We also understand most common foot ailments, such as plantar fasciitis, neuropathy, bunions,
diabetic feet, over pronation, and just plain tired feet! We’ll help you find the right shoes to make your feet happy. 373 Main Street, Longmont 303-776-2920 www.brownslongmont.com
WASHED UP CAR WASH
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e are crazy for clean cars!! We are a locallyowned and operated express tunnel car wash located at 1876 Hover Street in Longmont. Our state-of-the-art carwash system reclaims 70% of the water used, because we
care for your car and the environment. Our tunnel system uses a conveyor belt to avoid scratching your shiny rims. We also offer a mat washer system for those dirty floor mats. We would love the opportunity to help you get your car Washed Up! 1876 Hover Street, Longmont www.washedupcarwash.com 303-532-4365
ORGANIC, COLD-PRESSED FRESH JUICE | MYLKS | CLEANSES 1515 Main St, Unit B Longmont, CO 80501
PeakPressJuicery.com
Thank You Longmont! One of Boulder County’s Largest Selections of Natural Pet Food!
BEST PET STORE
Four Paws & Co
1225 Ken Pratt Blvd #108
(Between Le Peep & Breeze Thru Car Wash)
Longmont, CO • 303.485.1565 www.fourpawsandco.com
Dee-O-Gee - Loco
M
y name is Rachel Shannon, the owner of Dee-O-Gee in Longmont. I am originally from Montana and moved to Longmont in 2004. I was always very attracted to the local shops because I was raised in a Ma and Pa Grocery store and fell in love with the local community. Starting Dee-O-Gee, which is a small start up from Montana, was a no-brainer for me.
We are growing organically here at Dee-O-Gee and our Google reviews are proof that we are doing our best to get that local vibe. Our shop is owned and operated by my family and me. We offer you a unique one on one experience when you come in the door. We are certified pet nutritionists and we will help you find the perfect diet for your pet. Our services include grooming, day camp and do it yourself dog wash. 110 Emery Street, #A, Longmont, CO 970-629-6600 • www.longmont.dee-o-gee.com
Dee-o-Gee
is a one stop shop for Grooming, Daycamp, Do it yourself dog wash and retail focussing on the health of your pets. We sell Holistic pet food, supplements.
110 Emery St, # A Longmont, CO 970-629-6600 longmont.dee-o-gee.com
Repair Services for the Homeowner
303-477-1468 ApplewoodFixIt.com
Family-owned and operated for 50 years!
OPEN 6AM to 10PM 7 DAYS A WEEK
COMMENTARY OCTOBER 26, 2023 Volume 31, Number 10 PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski COVER: Tangerine in Longmont,
photo by Jacqueline Collins Photography 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: Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Ari LeVaux, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Toni Tresca,
SALES AND MARKETING
MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Chris Allred, Ryan Peterson 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
THE ANDERSON FILES
THE RIGHT WING LOVES INSURANCE-COMPANY LOOTING OF MEDICARE BY DAVE ANDERSON
W
e are inundated with countless TV commercials by private insurance companies saying their Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are so much better and more affordable than traditional Medicare. A Kaiser Family Foundation investigation found that TV ads for MA plans “comprised more than 85% of all airings for the open enrollment period for 2023.” The ads “often showed images of a government-issued Medicare card or 6
OCTOBER 26, 2023
urged viewers to call a ‘Medicare’ hotline other than the official 1-800-Medicare hotline.” Meanwhile, on Oct. 18, the mainstream media paid little or no attention to a U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing on MA plans. Almost a year before, in November 2022, the Finance Committee issued a report entitled “Deceptive Marketing Practices Flourish in Medicare Advantage.” “Every fall, Medicare eligible consumers are bombarded with mail-
ers, TV ads and phone calls rife with misleading and pernicious content,” Cobi Blumenfeld-Ganz, cofounder and CEO of Chapter, a Medicare advisory firm, told the Finance Committee during an oral testimony this year. “The bad actors are typically not local brokers who live in each community, rather, they’re lead generators operating as marketing middlemen who traffic in scare tactics, imitate government agencies and inaccurately advertise plan benefits.”
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. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly. com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO 80305 Phone: 303.494.5511, FAX: 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2023 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved. 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
THE ANDERSON FILES Medicare Advantage is a privatized version of the federal program created in 2003 by President George W. Bush. It is a scam where the government pays insurance companies to provide coverage. In his opening statement, Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), said insurers’ marketing expenses cost taxpayers $6 billion. Ryan Cooper reports in The American Prospect that “the government spends a truly stupendous amount of money, time and effort cooking up ultra-complicated systems and regulations to keep these insurance companies from ripping off the program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) keeps a continually updated database with the health characteristics of every single one of the 61 million Medicare enrollees, which is used to determine how much insurers are paid — yet the companies are always one step ahead.” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) shared a story of a constituent who cares for her 26-year-old son with a developmental disability who is eligible for Medicare. An MA agent called the son’s cell phone and talked him into switching to an inadequate plan
in a five-minute phone conversation. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) said he was hearing from hospitals across the state about MA denials and delays, including one hospital that had every claim from one MA plan denied. Now rightwingers, such as Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AK) and Steve Daines (R-MT), are accusing Joe Biden of favoring Medicare cuts. This is a clever lie. They are angry at the Biden administration’s moves to rein in the rampant fraud and abuse in MA plans. For example, the CMS issued a rule increasing auditing of MA plans and rejected some 300 MA television ads due to misleading messages. Unfortunately, the administration is dealing with a huge crime spree. The New York Times reports that most MA providers have been accused of fraud in court, and all but two have been cited for overbilling by the CMS inspector general. Becker’s Hospital Review outlines how many hospitals and health sys-
tems are dropping MA plans due to excessive denial rates, slow payments and billing fraud. A report published this month by Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) estimates that MA plans are overcharging taxpayers by
up to $140 billion per year. That money could be used to completely eliminate Medicare Part B premiums or fully fund Medicare’s prescription drug program. MAs have become quite popular because they cover some things not covered by traditional Medicare, such as vision and hearing. They more than compensate for the extra cost by ruthlessly “managing” nominally covered services, by targeting their marketing to relatively healthy seniors and by overcharging the government. At the end of this year, more than half of all of the people enrolled in Medicare will be in Medicare Advantage. MA plans are more profitable than other health industry products. After Republican attacks and intense industry lobbying, the Biden administration agreed to phase in its rule changes over a three-year period. We need to not only fight the creeping privatization but institute Expanded and Improved Medicare for All, which would cover everyone — with dental, vision and hearing care. No premiums, deductibles or coinsurance. This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
BOULDER WEEKLY
OCTOBER 26, 2023
7
LETTERS
Mural Art by Detour
RE: ‘WHY IS YOUR BALLOT YELLING AT YOU?’
Long-term funding for critical community needs No new taxes - No cuts in existing services Allocate 50% of tax revenue to arts and culture and 50% to the City’s General Fund
“Boulder Weekly knows the power and widespread impact of the arts, and we want to see this community, which is known for its art and culture, put its money where its mouth is and support these important organizations and artists.”- Boulder Weekly A Growing List of Community Endorsements Including:
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 8
OCTOBER 26, 2023
Thanks for publishing Kaylee Harter’s article, WHY IS YOUR BALLOT SHOUTING AT YOU? (News, ‘WHY IS YOUR BALLOT YELLING AT YOU?’ Oct. 19). The reason all-caps appear in legal documents is because lawyers think they are smarter than everyone else! It has been scientifically tested and proven — over and over again — that upper and lower case text (in serif fonts, by the way) is not only more legible than all-caps (and sans-serif), but also better understood by readers. I know this because I used to work in advertising, where my paycheck depended on results. But lawyers are convinced they’re smarter than all the rest of us, and think putting words in all-caps makes them appear more important. It doesn’t. What makes something more important is the content of the message, not the case of the characters. Many times, lawyers don’t want us to read and comprehend their words. It makes it easier for them to sell us nonsense and deceive us about their real agendas. So thanks, Kaylee Harter and Boulder Weekly, for speaking the truth and outing the nonsense that is lawyer-talk! — Tim Orr / Boulder
GOT A COMMENT?
SEND A LETTER! letters@boulderweekly.com
2A: GOOD FOR EVERYBODY, INCLUDING BOULDER’S CHILDREN
Boulder’s ballot measure 2A, part of which increases funding for the City’s arts and culture programs, would be a wonderful thing for all Boulder residents. But I think it would be especially beneficial to Boulder’s children. Community funds invested in the arts are like seeds planted that reap financial benefits many times over. This makes sense: Imagine people attend a play (from Boulder or outlying communities). Before going they decide to have dinner on the Pearl Street Mall. On the way there they pop into a store and make a purchase. This is all great. But the seeds planted that reap an even more meaningful harvest are the short and long-term benefits to our children. When I was growing up, my parents lived on a modest budget. However, thanks to opportunities allotted, I was able to attend performances and arts programs. My curiosity and love of learning were nurtured by these experiences. They also helped me develop confidence and a desire to try new things. Children today certainly face greater challenges than I did decades ago. No doubt they need all the positive experiences they can have to promote curiosity, learning, creativity and confidence — as well as feeling connected to their community. (And, certainly any time they are motivated to get off their phones is a good thing!) The Boulder Ballet, Parlando School of Musical Arts, Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance, and Studio Arts all offer wonderful youth programs. These and other organizations that focus on traditionally underresourced youth include Street Wise Youth, Mi Chantli, and the Boulder MUSE. A healthier arts and culture budget would allow organizations like these to continue to thrive as well as promote even more programs for children. Please join me: Vote “yes” on 2A and invest in Boulder’s children. — Mary Lynn Bruny / Boulder BOULDER WEEKLY
LETTERS SUPPORT JUNIE JOSEPH IN 2024
While I realize that election season can be a bit of a smack to the senses by being tedious and somewhat redundant as candidates clamor for your attention, I figured I would share some joy. One of the most galvanizing experiences of my advocacy career thus far came courtesy of Junie Joseph, who immediately sprung into action upon election to the House of Representatives. She listened to the cries of the unheard, she collaborated with stakeholders on both sides of the aisle, and she succeeded from introduction through signing into law of bills like HB23-1027 concerning Parent and Child Family Time, which grants meaningful contact between children and their parents. This law becomes legally enforceable in January and already I have been able to witness parents and children gain family time access, including a family that had endured 692 agonizing days apart. I share this memory to serve as a testament to Junie’s compassionate responsibility, balanced approach, and incredible determination. There are a lot of issues that still need tackling and Junie’s approachability, special attention to detail, and strong emphasis on social justice will best serve the community in delivering desired outcomes on those issues. Her stances are in clear support of our climate, protecting human rights, getting folks back to work and housed, as well as ensuring that our existing systems work for everybody. Our state needs leaders who are not afraid to say and do the things that need to be said and done and Junie does that Every. Single. Day. Junie is not merely occupying a seat; she is optimizing that seat. I emphatically endorse Junie Joseph for reelection to House District 10 and I cannot wait to see the things she will continue to accomplish in that role. — Martha Wilson / Boulder
BOULDER WEEKLY
VOTE RYAN SCHUCHARD
As a member of Boulder’s Environmental Advisory Board with a decade of work in climate change, I am pleased to endorse Ryan Schuchard for Boulder City Council. While I am speaking here as an individual, I wholeheartedly believe that Ryan’s vision and commitment to environmental sustainability make him an outstanding candidate for our City’s leadership. As a mother of a 2-year-old, I want to ensure Boulder is a safe, healthy, and resilient place for my son to grow old. Ryan’s comprehensive approach to tackling big issues like climate change and public safety aligns perfectly with the values and aspirations of all aspects of Boulder’s community interests. His track record of advocating for safe and climate-friendly transportation policies through his work on the Transportation Advisory Board is impressive. Ryan understands that addressing climate change requires more than just rhetoric; it demands informed policy decisions and proactive steps toward a more resilient future. Furthermore, Ryan Schuchard’s support for affordable housing, transit-oriented development, and preserving Boulder’s unique natural beauty while accommodating responsible growth demonstrates his balanced and pragmatic approach. It’s refreshing to see a candidate who understands the interconnectedness of environmental sustainability, economic development, and social equity. I believe that Ryan Schuchard’s passion for the environment, his experience in advocating for sustainable policies, and his dedication to community engagement make him the right choice for Boulder City Council. I encourage my fellow residents to join me in voting for Ryan. Learn more at www.ryanforboulder.com. — Hannah Davis / Boulder
• Gifts for any cook • Fun and colorful kitchenware • Specialty foods, local and imported • Gadgets, cookware, and kitchen essentials • Louisville’s one-of-a-kind kitchen shop 728 Main Street • Louisville • 720.484.6825 www.SingingCookStore.com
WANNA PLAY? WE'RE OPEN LIVE STREAMING VIDEOGRAPHY REHEARSALS doghousemusic.com • 303.664.1600 • Lafayette, CO
Tickets at Bouldertheater.com
OCTOBER 26, 2023
9
NEWS
NOT A DROP TO DRINK Western states opposed tribal access to the Colorado River 70 years ago — history is repeating itself BY MARK OLALDE, PROPUBLICA, AND ANNA V. SMITH, HIGH COUNTRY NEWS
I
n the 1950s, after quarreling for decades over the Colorado River, Arizona and California turned to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final resolution on the water that both states sought to sustain their postwar booms. The case, Arizona v. California, also offered Native American tribes a rare opportunity to claim their share of the river. But they were forced to rely on the U.S. Department of Justice for legal representation. A lawyer named T.F. Neighbors, who was special assistant to the U.S. attorney general, foresaw the likely outcome if the federal government failed to assert tribes’ claims to the river: States would consume the water and block tribes from ever acquiring their full share. In 1953, as Neighbors helped prepare the department’s legal strategy, he wrote in a memo to the assistant attorney general, “When an economy has grown up premised upon the use of Indian waters, the Indians are confronted with the virtual impossibility of having awarded to them the waters of which they had been illegally deprived.” As the case dragged on, it became clear the largest tribe in the region, the
Navajo Nation, would get no water from the proceedings. A lawyer for the tribe, Norman Littell, wrote then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 1961, warning of the dire future he saw if that were the outcome. “This grave loss to the tribe will preclude future development of the reservation and otherwise prevent the beneficial development of the reservation intended by the Congress,” Littell wrote. Both warnings, only recently rediscovered, proved prescient. States successfully opposed most tribes’ attempts to have their water rights recognized through the landmark case, and tribes have spent the decades that followed fighting to get what’s owed to them under a 1908 Supreme Court ruling and long-standing treaties. The possibility of this outcome was clear to attorneys and officials even at the time, according to thousands of pages of court files, correspondence, agency memos and other contemporary records unearthed and cataloged by University of Virginia history professor Christian McMillen, who shared them with ProPublica and High Country News. While Arizona and California’s fight was covered in the
press at the time, the documents, drawn from the National Archives, reveal telling details from the case, including startling similarities in the way states have rebuffed tribes’ attempts to access their water in the ensuing 70 years. Many of the 30 federally recognized tribes in the Colorado River Basin still have been unable to access water to which they’re entitled. And Arizona for years has taken a uniquely aggressive stance against tribes’ attempts to use their water, a recent ProPublica and High Country News investigation found. “It’s very much a repeat of the same problems we have today,” Andrew Curley, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Arizona and member of the Navajo Nation, said of the records. Tribes’ ambitions to access water are approached as “this fantastical apocalyptic scenario” that would hurt states’ economies, he said. Arizona sued California in 1952, asking the Supreme Court to determine how much Colorado River water each state deserved. The records show that, even as the states fought each other in court, Arizona led a coalition of states in jointly lobbying the U.S. attorney general to cease arguing for tribes’ water claims. The attorney general, bowing to the pressure, removed the strongest language in the petition, even as Department of Justice attorneys warned of the consequences. “Politics smothered the rights of the Indians,” one of the attorneys later wrote. The Supreme Court’s 1964 decree
in the case quantified the water rights of the Lower Basin states — California, Arizona and Nevada — and five tribes whose lands are adjacent to the river. While the ruling defended tribes’ right to water, it did little to help them access it. By excluding all other basin tribes from the case, the court missed an opportunity to settle their rights once and for all. The Navajo Nation — with a reservation spanning Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — was among those left out of the case. “Clearly, Native people up and down the Colorado River were overlooked. We need to get that fixed, and that is exactly what the Navajo Nation is trying to do,” said George Hardeen, a spokesperson for the Navajo Nation. Today, millions more people rely on a river diminished by a hotter climate. Between 1950 and 2020, Arizona’s population alone grew from about 750,000 to more than 7 million, bringing booming cities and thirsty industries. Meanwhile, the Navajo Nation is no closer to compelling the federal government to secure its water rights in Arizona. In June, the Supreme Court again ruled against the tribe, in a separate case, Arizona v. Navajo Nation. Justice Neil Gorsuch cited the earlier case in his dissent, arguing the conservative court majority ignored history when it declined to quantify the tribe’s water rights. McMillen agreed. The federal government “rejected that opportunity” in the 1950s and ’60s to more forcefully assert tribes’ water claims, he said. As a result, “Native people have been trying for the better part of a century now to get answers to these questions and have been thwarted in one way or another that entire time.”
THREE MISSING WORDS
As Arizona prepared to take California to court in the early 1950s, the federal government faced a delicate choice. It represented a host of interests along the river that would be affected by the outcome: tribes, dams and reservoirs and national parks. How should it balance their needs? The Supreme Court had ruled in 1908 that tribes with reservations had an inherent right to water, but neither 10
OCTOBER 26, 2023
BOULDER WEEKLY
NEWS
Congress nor the courts had defined it. The 1922 Colorado River Compact, which first allocated the river’s water, also didn’t settle tribal claims. In the decades that followed the signing of the compact, the federal government constructed massive projects — including the Hoover, Parker and Imperial dams — to harness the river. Federal policy at the time was generally hostile to tribes, as Congress passed laws eroding the United States’ treaty-based obligations. Over a 15-year period, the country dissolved its relationships with more than 100 tribes, stripping them of land and diminishing their political power. “It was a very threatening time for tribes,” Curley said of what would be known as the Termination Era. So it was a shock to states when, in November 1953, Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. and the Department of Justice moved to intervene in the states’ water fight and aggressively staked a claim on behalf of tribes. Tribal water rights were “prior and superior” to all other water users in the basin, even states, the federal government argued. Western states were apoplectic. Arizona Gov. John Howard Pyle quickly called a meeting with Brownell to complain, and Western politicians hurried to Washington, D.C. Under political pressure, the Department of Justice removed the document four days after filing it. When Pyle wrote to thank the attorney general, he requested that federal solicitors work with the BOULDER WEEKLY
state on an amended version. “To have left it as it was would have been calamitous,” Pyle said. The federal government refiled its petition a month later. It no longer asserted that tribes’ water rights were “prior and superior.” When details of the states’ meeting with the attorney general emerged in court three years later, Littell, the Navajo Nation’s attorney, berated the Department of Justice for its “equivocating, pussy-footing” defense of tribes’ water rights. “It is rather a shocking situation, and the Attorney General of the United States is responsible for it,” he said during court hearings. Arizona’s legal representative balked at discussing the meeting in open court, calling it “improper.” Experts told ProPublica and High Country News that it’s impossible to quantify the impact of the federal government’s failure to fully defend tribes’ water rights. Reservations might have flourished if they’d secured water access that remains elusive today. Or, perhaps basin tribes would have been worse off if they had been given only small amounts of water. Amid the overt racism of that era, the government didn’t consider tribes capable of extensive development. Jay Weiner, an attorney who represents several tribes’ water claims in Arizona, said the important truth the documents reveal is the federal government’s willingness to bow to states instead of defending tribes. Pulling back from its argument that tribes’
rights are “prior and superior” was but one example. “It’s not so much the three words,” Weiner said. “It’s really the vigor with which they would have chosen to litigate.” Because states succeeded in spiking “prior and superior,” they also won an argument over how to account for tribes’ water use. Instead of counting it directly against the flow of the river, before dealing with other users’ needs, it now comes out of states’ allocations. As a result, tribes and states compete for the scarce resource in this adversarial system, most vehemently in Arizona, which must navigate the water claims of 22 federally recognized tribes. In 1956, W.H. Flanery, the associate solicitor of Indian Affairs, wrote to an Interior Department official that Arizona and California “are the Indians’ enemies and they will be united in their efforts to defeat any superior or prior right which we may seek to establish on behalf of the Indians. They have spared and will continue to spare no expense in their efforts to defeat the claims of the Indians.”
WESTERN STATES BATTLE TRIBAL WATER CLAIMS
As arguments in the case continued through the 1950s, an Arizona water agency moved to block a major farming project on the Colorado River Indian Tribes’ reservation until the case was resolved, the newly uncovered documents show. Decades later, the state similarly used unresolved water rights
as a bargaining chip, asking tribes to agree not to pursue the main method of expanding their reservations in exchange for settling their water claims. Highlighting the state’s prevailing sentiment toward tribes back then, a lawyer named J.A. Riggins Jr. addressed the river’s policymakers in 1956 at the Colorado River Water Users Association’s annual conference. He represented the Salt River Project — a nontribal public utility that manages water and electricity for much of Phoenix and nearby farming communities — and issued a warning in a speech titled, “The Indian threat to our water rights.” “I urge that each of you evaluate your ‘Indian Problem’ (you all have at least one), and start NOW to protect your areas,” Riggins said, according to the text of his remarks that he mailed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Riggins, who on multiple occasions warned of “‘Indian raids’ on western non-Indian water rights,” later lobbied Congress on Arizona’s behalf to authorize a canal to transport Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson. He also litigated Salt River Project cases as co-counsel with Jon Kyl, who later served as a U.S. senator. (Kyl, who was an architect of Arizona’s tribal water rights strategy, told ProPublica and High Country News that he wasn’t aware of Riggins’ speech and that his work on tribal water rights was “based on my responsibility to represent all of the people of Arizona to the best of my ability, which, of course, frequently OCTOBER 26, 2023
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NEWS required balancing competing interests.”) While Arizona led the opposition to tribes’ water claims, other states supported its stance. “We thought the allegation of prior and superior rights for Indians was erroneous,” said Northcutt Ely, California’s lead lawyer in the proceedings, according to court transcripts. If the attorney general tried to argue that in court, “we were going to meet him head on,” Ely said. When Arizona drafted a legal agreement to exclude tribes from the case, while promising to protect their undefined rights, other states and the Department of the Interior signed on. It was only rejected in response to pressure from tribes’ attorneys and the Department of Justice. McMillen, the historian who compiled the documents reviewed by ProPublica and High Country News, said they show Department of Justice staff went the furthest to protect tribal water rights. The agency built novel legal theories, pushed for more funding to hire respected experts and did extensive research. Still, McMillen said, the department found itself “flying the plane and building it at the same time.” Tribal leaders feared this would result in the federal government arguing a weak case on their behalf. The formation of the Indian Claims Commission — which heard complaints brought by tribes against the government, typically on land dispossession — also meant the federal government had a potential conflict of interest in representing tribes. Basin tribes coordinated a response and asked the court to appoint a special counsel to represent them, but the request was denied. So too was the Navajo Nation’s later request that it be allowed to represent itself in the case.
ARIZONA V. NAVAJO NATION
More than 60 years after Littell made his plea to Kennedy, the Navajo Nation’s water rights in Arizona still haven’t been determined, as he predicted. The decision to exclude the Navajo Nation from Arizona v. 12
OCTOBER 26, 2023
California influenced this summer’s Supreme Court ruling in Arizona v. Navajo Nation, in which the tribe asked the federal government to identify its water rights in Arizona. Despite the U.S. insisting it could adequately represent the Navajo Nation’s water claims in the earlier case, federal attorneys this year argued the U.S. has no enforceable responsibility to protect the tribe’s claims. It was a “complete 180 on the U.S.’ part,” said Michelle BrownYazzie, assistant attorney general for the Navajo Nation Department of Justice’s Water Rights Unit and an enrolled member of the tribe. In both cases, the federal government chose to “abdicate or to otherwise downplay their trust responsibility,” said Joe M. Tenorio, a senior staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund and a member of the Santo Domingo Pueblo. “The United States took steps to deny tribal intervention in Arizona v. California and doubled down their effort in Arizona vs. Navajo Nation.” In June, a majority of Supreme Court justices accepted the federal government’s argument that Congress, not the courts, should resolve the Navajo Nation’s lingering water rights. In his dissenting opinion, Gorsuch wrote, “The government’s constant refrain is that the Navajo can have all they ask for; they just need to go somewhere else and do something else first.” At this point, he added, “the Navajo have tried it all.” As a result, a third of homes on the Navajo Nation still don’t have access to clean water, which has led to costly water hauling and, according to the Navajo Nation, has increased tribal members’ risk of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight tribal nations have yet to reach any agreement over how much water they’re owed in Arizona. The state’s new Democratic governor has pledged to address unresolved tribal water rights, and the Navajo Nation and state are restarting negotiations this month. But tribes and their representatives wonder if the state will bring a new approach. “It’s not clear to me Arizona’s changed a whole lot since the 1950s,” Weiner, the lawyer, said. BOULDER WEEKLY
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
CITY COUNCIL:
BOULDER WEEKLY
Together,
WARD 1 Caleb Dickinson (incumbent)
we thrive.
WARD 2 Deborah Fahey
LOUISVILLE BALLOT ISSUES
LONGMONT MAYOR Joan Peck (incumbent)
Vote by Nov 7
MAYOR Chris Leh (incumbent)
BALLOT QUESTION 302: Safe Zones 4 Kids Against the measure
LONGMONT CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES
Open 7 days a week
LOUISVILLE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES
WARD 3 (VOTE FOR TWO) Barbara Hamlington Dietrich Hoefner
DISTRICT A Jason Unger DISTRICT C Alex Medler DISTRICT D Andrew Brandt DISTRICT G Jorge Chávez
959 Walnut St. Boulder, CO 303.443.2850
Tim Barnes (incumbent) JD Mangat (incumbent) Eric Ryant David Fridland
BALLOT QUESTION 2B: Elections administrative charter cleanup For the measure
BOULDER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION
Clothing. Costumes. FUN.
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
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JUST & JOYOUS COMMUNITY
HABITAT FOR ALL Integrate housing, land use, and transportation Prioritize affordable living initiatives Restore biodiversity and revitalize water infrastructure
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
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NEWS
CLEAR THE AIR
COVID-19 SNAPSHOT
A new vehicle standard aims to clean up transportation emissions BY WILL MATUSKA
C
olorado is making progress to clean emissions spewing from its roads and high-
ways. The Colorado Clean Car standard, adopted on Oct. 20 by the Air Quality Control Commission, aims to expand low- and zero-emission lightduty vehicles like passenger cars, SUVs and trucks to “improve air quality, save Coloradans money and address climate change.” The new standard strengthens the previous clean vehicle standard. “Colorado is already among the states with the highest concentration of electric vehicles, and we don’t plan on hitting the brakes any time soon,” said Michael Ogletree, director of the state’s Air Pollution Control Division, in a press release. “Coloradans want low- and zeroemissions vehicles because they help them get where they’re going while breathing cleaner air and saving money. This standard will make
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OCTOBER 26, 2023
clean vehicles more accessible across the state and improve air quality in local communities overburdened by pollution from busy roadways.” The standard directs vehicle manufacturers to make more zero-emission light duty vehicles (battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell electric) beginning with 2027 models and increasing every year through 2032, and to ensure 82% of light duty vehicles sold in the state are electric by 2032. It also creates more “proactive” emissions standards. A fact sheet developed by the Sierra Club, National Resource Defense Council and Water
Resource Advocates found the health, climate and economic benefits of the standard total to $74.5 billion, but the Sierra Club said in a press release it advocated for stronger standards. Transportation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. The goal, set in 2018 by the state, is to have nearly one million EVs on the road by 2030 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The standard will reduce exposure to tailpipe emissions in communities disproportionately impacted by pollution, many of which are located near busy roadways, according to the state. The upward trend of electric vehicle purchases is continuing to rise, a report from the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association says. The association’s October report found that through the first nine months of the year, battery electric vehicles accounted for 11.2% of the new car market, up from 7.8% last year. Data compiled by the association also showed purchases of electric, hybrid and plug-in-hybrid have been on the rise since 2020. The state’s top selling electric vehicle from the last three months, Tesla Model Y, costs nearly $50,000 according to Kelley Blue Book. The federal government has a clean vehicle tax credit for qualified buyers up to $7,500, and Colorado taxpayers can be eligible for a $5,000 tax credit for the purchase of a new EV.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise, according to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) data. During the week of Oct. 15, the state saw more than 200 COVID-related hospitalizations, more than double the number from two months ago when hospitalizations began trending upwards. That’s slightly more than the number of hospitalizations at this time last year, but still far less than numbers during peak times in December 2020 (~1,800) and January 2022 (~1,600). There were more than 2,800 recorded cases during the week of Oct. 8, the most recent week of data at the time of publication. During the same week last year, there were 4,230 cases of the virus reported. Despite these increases, COVID-19 hospitalizations remain low, CDPHE said in an email, and hospitalizations for flu and RSV typically start to increase in October and peak between now and February before dropping off in the spring. State health officials urge Coloradans to protect themselves and others by getting their seasonal vaccines. In Boulder County, just over 80% of the population has completed the primary vaccine series, compared to about 70% at the state level. More than half of Boulder County has received one booster, and just under a third of the population has received two or more boosters. To date, there have been 93,911 cases and 813 deaths due to COVID-19 in Boulder County, according to the CDPHE data.
BOULDER WEEKLY
NEWS
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT POLICE OVERSIGHT PANEL ORDINANCE OVERHAULED, CO-CHAIR RESIGNS
Nearly three years after Boulder City Council approved the initial ordinance creating a Police Oversight Panel to review internal investigations and make recommendations on handling of complaints, Council last week unanimously approved an emergency ordinance changing a number of rules governing the volunteer group. Here are a few of those changes: • The city manager will appoint members and form an advisory committee to assist with selection. The advisory committee is not required for the two student positions, which are one-year terms. Previously, panelists were recommended by a selection committee and approved by City Council. • The panel can review “critical incidents” and “incidents of serious bodily injury” even if no complaint has been filed. Previously, the panel could only review internal investigations after a complaint was filed. • The previous ordinance’s ban on any “real or perceived bias” was replaced with a requirement for panelists to have the “ability to be fair-minded, objective, and impartial.” Changes to the ordinance were drafted by a working group consisting of current and former panel members, representatives from Centro Amistad, the NAACP, the city attorney and the Boulder Police Department. Following last week’s approval, POP co-chair Daniel Leonard resigned, citing disappointment in the feedback process during the creation of the new ordinance. Changes went into effect immediately after approval, ending the group’s pause on work that began in May. — Kaylee Harter
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BOULDER ADOPTS 2024 BUDGET
The Boulder City Council officially adopted a 2024 budget on Oct. 19. • The total approved budget is $515.3M. The City estimates this number is nearly 5% higher than the 2023 budget in terms of operating expenses, but the number appears lower due to changes in bond proceeds practices. • The general fund, where the City has flexibility in how it spends its dollars, is $196.1M, a 4.2% increase from 2023. • City Council made minimal changes to the recommended budget (“Now you know,” Sept. 21, 2023) that added funds to staff’s proposed budget: • Three one-time funding changes were added to the transportation and general fund (totaling $613,000), and one ongoing funding addition for underpass lighting ($30,000). • Despite the budget being adopted, uncertainty remains. If ballot measure 2A is passed, the 0.15% sales and use tax that generates about $7 million annually to the City’s general fund will be split in half to support the arts. That would leave $500,000 in additional annual revenue total over the next five years to allocate to other programs. — Will Matuska
BOULDER WEEKLY
OCTOBER 26, 2023
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MUSIC
DARE YOU TO MOVE
SoCal alt-rock outfit Switchfoot comes to Ogden Theatre in Denver on Nov. 2, with support from local emo act A Place for Owls. Photo by Erick Frost.
Radio-rock hitmakers Switchfoot celebrate two decades of ‘The Beautiful Letdown’ BY ALAN SCULLEY
T
wenty years ago, an up-andcoming SoCal alt-rock outfit called Switchfoot took a gut punch. The band had just turned in The Beautiful Letdown, which was set to release as their major label debut on Columbia Records. Instead, upon hearing the album, the label rejected it and dropped Switchfoot from the artist roster, shuffling the act to its smaller Red Ink subsidiary and essentially leaving them to figure out where to go from there. “It was mainly the person at the very top of Sony Records at the time,” singer and primary songwriter Jon Foreman recalls. “When someone in that position says you guys have no hits and I want to drop you, you second guess yourself. You think, ‘Man, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe these songs aren’t what I think they are.’ “But then a week later, after coming together and really talking it through, we came to the conclusion: We don’t care what anyone else thinks,” the 47-year-old musician continues. “We think these songs need to be heard. BOULDER WEEKLY
We believe in them and don’t care what the man at the top of the building says about them. We’re going to put them out anyway.” So The Beautiful Letdown saw the light of day in February 2003 — and seemingly against all odds, a pair of singles, “Meant to Live” and “Dare You to Move,” broke through the radio airwaves and the album became a double-platinum hit. Now, two decades later, there’s another chapter to the band’s landmark album. In May, Switchfoot released a newly re-recorded version called The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version). September saw the release of a deluxe edition, adding a second disc with contributions from artists like the Jonas Brothers, Owl City, Ryan Tedder and Jon Bellion — each recording their own version of a song from the original LP. “I mean, what a gift,” Foreman says. “More than a Grammy or those kinds of awards, to have your peers, people that you look up to and really respect, singing your songs, it’s a high honor.”
The deluxe edition of The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version) by Switchfoot was released Sept. 15 via Sparrow Records / Universal Music.
‘EMBRACING THE UNKNOWN’
The original Beautiful Letdown stands as a pivotal album in Switchfoot’s career. At the time, the band had made an impact on the Christian music scene with a string of records that sold in respectable numbers. But original members Foreman, his brother Tim on bass and Chad Butler on drums were reaching a time when they had to choose between music and other paths in life. “Our drummer just got married. My brother and I had dropped out of school to try and chase this thing down, but we’re at this point [in our] mid-20s …
having those conversations about getting married, and playing in a band that sells 150 tickets somewhere doesn’t really give much inspiration for starting a family,” Foreman says. “It was really this thing where we’re at a crossroads. We thought, ‘OK, this will probably be our last album. We’ll make the record and then break up and get real jobs.’” But that didn’t happen. A double-platinum album later, Switchfoot were making plans for a future in music. Their 2005 follow-up Nothing Is Sound went gold, and the band continued to build a following through touring and more than half a dozen additional studio efforts, securing a place as one of the most successful Christian rock crossovers of the 21st century. Revisiting that first big breakthrough on The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version), the songs largely stick to the original arrangements. But the outside artists who recorded the tracks for the deluxe edition frequently take these familiar favorites to new places. Bellion’s version of the hit single “Meant to Live” is reimagined as a string-driven ballad, while Dayglow puts a poppier spin on the rocker “Adding to the Noise” with a playful beat and synths in place of the driving guitars. With the deluxe version now available, the third piece of the 20th anniversary celebration of The Beautiful Letdown is underway with a tour coming to Denver’s Ogden Theatre on Nov. 2. Featuring support from local emo-rock outfit A Place for Owls, the band will perform the album front to back alongside a smattering of additional songs. “This is the first time we’ve ever done a tour where we will stick to the set list. That’s the way the album is,” Foreman says. “So we’ll find other ways to make the changes, I suppose, along the way. I mean, that’s what I love about live music: embracing the unknown and the chaos.”
ON THE BILL: Switchfoot: The Beautiful Letdown Anniversary Tour with A Place for Owls. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Resale: $65+
OCTOBER 26, 2023
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COMEDY the LGBTQ community often excluded, tokenized or misrepColorado Queer resented at larger Comedy Festival comedy events. at Junkyard Social Lead organizer Club in Boulder, Dawe says an allOct. 27 and 28. queer festival allows Photo by Kenny queer narratives to Thompson. flourish in front of audiences of all sexual orientations and gender identities. The two-day event is designed to be lighthearted and illuminating, while also functioning as a backdoor form of activism for the embattled community. Dawe kicked off their comedy career in a smoky Atlanta venue filled with a dozen other comics and a small crowd. The comedians who took the stage before them boasted sexist and transphobic jokes, not realizing Dawe’s identity as a cis-passing trans person. Fearful of what might follow their performance, they opened with a simple line: “Hi y’all, my name is Ren, and I’m trans. Which means I was born a woman, and now people ask me if I have a dick all the time.” The crowd roared with laughter, and a sense of control and pride overcame Dawe. Suddenly the audience seemed interested in the reality of trans life and understood there was what Dawe calls “good humor” in it all along. “How could it be that five minutes ago all these people were verified transphobes, and now they were entreating me to be a friend and ally,” Dawe says. “It’s because laughter creates a sense of alliance, because humor is a social lubricant, “Laughter creates a sense of alliance … we all want to be and because we all want to in on the joke,” says Colorado Queer Comedy Festival lead be in on the joke.” organizer Ren Q. Dawe. Photo by Dude, IDK Studios. Cara Leoni coheadlines the
LAUGH UNTIL IT HURTS
Colorado Queer Comedy Festival finds the funny in the struggle for self-identity BY LILY FLETCHER
W
hen it comes to the culture of stand-up comedy, many people in the trans community are sadly more accustomed to being the butt of the joke rather than the one telling it. When comedian Ren Q. Dawe watched popular comics take low stabs at people like themself, they knew they deserved better, and so did their peers. “The irony was that my daily life felt absolutely absurd, and truly joke-worthy — not because I was worthy of being eradicated, but because society had such a warped view of binary constructs,” they say. “We all have been brainwashed into wildly outdated and truly hilarious gender schemes our entire lives.” Finding the funny in this struggle for self-identity is the mission behind the Colorado Queer Comedy Festival, presented by local nonprofit Out Boulder County Oct. 27 and 28 at the Junkyard Social Club. Billed as Boulder’s first allqueer comedy festival, the event is designed to provide a safe space for
BOULDER WEEKLY
SPREADING QUEER JOY
Out Boulder County was inspired by other LGBTQ comedy festivals across the country in putting together the historic all-queer lineup, but the organization built its Front Range festival from scratch. Featuring dozens of queer comedic standouts, with half identifying as trans, the performers at the Colorado Queer Comedy Festival come to the stage with a variety of perspectives and strategies. For headliner Cara Leoni, the hope is to inspire happiness, joy and laughter in her community through comedy. Denver-based comic Shanel Hughes will also headline, accompanied by Israel Avila, who centers his stand-up around his experience as an immigrant and day-to-day struggles of his community on the Front Range. The rest of the lineup includes Armaan Singh, Liv Carter, Julia Foodman and more. “At a typical comedy show, you would be lucky to have one queer comedian. Here you know that you are going to hear jokes about your life that relate to you and everyone around you in the crowd,” Leoni says. “It’s an incredible privilege to get to be a part of an event whose only goals are to spark laughter and spread queer joy.” But it’s not just the LGBTQ community who stands to benefit from the upcoming festival. Leoni says queer comedy can be a vessel for educating straight people while making them laugh at the same time. “My straight friends refer to my queer comedy bits as ‘gay education,’ because they are both laughing and learning about a niche community,” she says. “I don’t think people are afraid to laugh; I think it is possible that sometimes queer comedy involves deep cuts that the straight community isn’t keeping up with, and therefore may miss the best part of the joke.”
ON THE BILL: Colorado Queer Comedy Festival. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27-28, Junkyard Social Club, 2525 Frontier Ave., Suite A, Boulder. $20 per night / $35 festival pass
OCTOBER 26, 2023
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THEATER
SOUR NOTE ‘Tina’ struggles to find its rhythm at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts BY TONI TRESCA
I
n the glitzy world of jukebox musicals, the rhythm of legendary lives often finds harmony on stage. But in the touring production of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, which wraps its run at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts this weekend, the story of the celebrated artist’s life and music falls surprisingly flat. Though brimming with potential, the production fails to do justice to the famed singer, leaving audiences yearning for the spark that lit up her beloved discography. Based on the life of the late performer, the musical chronicles Turner’s journey from her humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her rise to fame alongside her abusive husband and musical partner, Ike Turner. The story follows her escape from Ike, her struggle to rebuild her career and her eventual emergence as a global superstar. Ari Groover, who shares the role of Tina Turner with Parris Lewis and portrayed the character on opening night at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, gave a wildly inconsistent performance at the heart of this underwhelming production. Groover’s portrayal reduced Turner, a multifaceted force of nature, to a one-dimensional victim who rises above her circumstances. The complexities of the character, which are crucial to understanding Turner’s incredible journey, were conspicuously absent, disconnecting the audience from the icon they expected to see. Groover also struggled to match Turner’s vocal prowess. Monster hits like “What’s Love Got to Do With It” were rendered with all the fervor of a lackluster karaoke performance, leaving theatergoers longing for the soul-stirring renditions that once shook arenas around the world. The disjointed nature of the performance was exacerbated
BOULDER WEEKLY
Ari Groover in the DCPA production of ‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,’ running through Oct. 29 at the Buell Theatre. Photo by Matthew Murphy.
by Phyllida Lloyd’s directorial choices. The opening sequence, “EtherlandSound of Mystic Law,” was a rare bright spot, offering a promising ode to Turner’s spiritual and ancestral connection. This abstract and imaginative sequence, replete with metaphors and symbolism, sparked excitement for what was to come. This promise, however, quickly faded as the production settled into a standard, unimaginative rhythm, with the majority of the musical numbers staged naturally. The transition from abstract to realistic scenes was sloppy, giving viewers a disjointed experience.
‘WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?’
Further marring the experience was the inexplicable reliance on over-the-top stage violence, which elicited uncomfortable laughter from the audience. Turner’s turbulent past certainly merits acknowledgment, but the lack of subtlety in its portrayal left a sense of crassness, detracting from the overall narrative’s emotional impact. The visual aspects of the production were equally wanting. Jeff Sugg’s uninspired set design — a wall of projec-
tions — filled the stage with cheesy graphics that failed to evoke the grandeur and creativity expected from a production celebrating a musical titan. Compounding this visual disappointment was scenic designer Mark Thompson’s decision to shrink the stage via a false proscenium, relegating the production to a smaller scale than one would anticipate at the Buell Theatre. Thompson, also responsible for the costume design, managed to salvage a glimmer of authenticity through skilled recreations of Turner’s unforgettable concert looks. Yet, these moments of visual brilliance were few and far between, failing to compensate for the otherwise lacking designs that dominated the stage. Thompson squandered the opportunity to visually tell the decades-spanning story through clothing, instead outfitting the ensemble in bland, interchangeable pieces. With all this working against the show, Tina struggles to carve out its own identity in a landscape saturated with jukebox musicals. At a time when audiences crave innovative storytelling and immersive experiences, this production falls short, leaving viewers with
a sense of missed opportunity and unfulfilled potential. This disappointment is heightened by the recent passing of Tina Turner, a legend who deserved a memorial fit for the fervor and passion she brought to her work. In light of this unfortunate misfire, I recommend theater enthusiasts seek out a different musical experience. Despite being a work of fiction, Dreamgirls, performed by a local cast at the Lone Tree Arts Center and masterfully directed by the talented Kenny Moten, loosely adapts the Supremes’ lives and crafts a narrative that resonates far more deeply than Tina. Also running through Oct. 29, Lone Tree’s production promises a theatrical journey that captures the essence of musical greatness with a finesse that this touring Tina Turner tribute sorely lacks.
ON STAGE: Tina: The Tina
Turner Musical. Various times through Oct. 29, Denver Center for the Performing Arts - Buell Theatre, 1350 Curtis St., Denver. $35-$120
OCTOBER 26, 2023
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EVENTS EVERY WEDNESDAY - 7:00PM
FREE BouldER BluEgRass JaM
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) MON. 10/30 - 6:30PM
oPEN Mic w/ stEVE KoPPE
TUE. 10/31 - 8:00PM
26-28
DARK SIDE OF THE RAINBOW LASER SHOW
8:30-9:30 p.m. Oct. 26-28, Fiske Planetarium, 2414 Regent Drive, Boulder. $10 The Fiske Planetarium presents the classic film Wizard of Oz synchronized to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon for a limited Halloween run. Pop an edible and sit back for a trippy good time as the planetarium’s laser engineers dazzle during this classic cerebral mash-up.
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NIGHTMARE ON MAIN STREET 9 p.m.-midnight. Friday, Oct. 27, various locations, Main St., Louisville. $13
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LAFAYETTE FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL AND MARKET
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, N. Harrison St., Lafayette. Free
Don’t miss the spookiest night of the year on Louisville’s Main Street. Dress in your best spooky season attire and enjoy an evening in the courtyard with live DJ 12Gage. This spine-tingling dance party is the perfect way to kick off your Halloween weekend.
Stroll through an autumnal marketplace filled with fresh produce and handcrafted artisan foods like honey, pastries and more. The event will feature a petting zoo, live music and a costumed pet parade to benefit the organization RezDawg.
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octoBER 31st hallowEEN PaRty FEat. dylaN KishNER BaNd, Mightly hollER & tuRNt cREw FRI. 11/3 - 8:00PM
aRi MEliNgER cohEN alBuM RElEasE SAT. 11/4 - 8:00PM
good Music MEdiciNE SUN. 11/5 - NOON
school oF RocK BRooMFilEld - Mid sEasoN shows
FRI. 11/10 - 8:00PM
JERRy gaRcia BluEgRass Night
Purchase Tickets at
RMPtix.com RootsMusicProject.org 4747 Pearl Suite V3A 22
OCTOBER 26, 2023
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JOURNEY WITHIN: TAROT, MEDITATION AND CONNECTION 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, Terracotta, 2005 Pearl St., Boulder. $45
Experience an enlightening workshop from Urja, a gifted spiritual practitioner in tarot, palmistry, Reiki and hypnotherapy. This event will dive deep into the “journey within” as Urja guides you through meditation and sets the tone for internal exploration.
WHAAAT!? FESTIVAL 2023
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, ATLAS Institute, 1125 18th St., Boulder. $15 Get experimental at the ATLAS Institutes sixth annual community celebration. Visitors will attend talks and participate in workshops to learn about weird games and alternate interfaces. When you are done exploring, wrap up your day at the allyou-can-eat cereal bar.
DOG HALLOWEEN PARTY & ADOPTION EVENT
1-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, Rocky Mountain Tap & Garden, 1071 Courtesy Road, Louisville. Free All dogs are welcome to strut their stuff this weekend at this Rocky Mountain Tap & Garden event. On top of a costume contest with spooktacular prizes, the event will also have an onsite adoption station for those looking to add one more heartbeat to their home. BOULDER WEEKLY
EVENTS
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3-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, Apex Center, 13150 W. 72nd Ave., Arvada. $5
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, Lyons Classic Pinball, 339 W. Main St., Lyons. $20
5:30-8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, Lafayette YMCA, 2800 Dagny Way. Free
SPOOKY SKATE
5TH SUNDAY PINBALL CLASSIC
HALLOWEEN PARTY AT THE Y
Friday
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CT 27t
O show timme 8:00p
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Strap on your skates and dress in your best Halloween attire for this family-friendly event at the Apex Center in Arvada. Show up in costume for free admission to this spooky display of costumes on wheels. No pre-registration required.
Reserve your spots in advance for this pinball tournament featuring classic machines only. Each round will have a four-player match up on one machine until the top 16 are left to advance to the finals. Entry fees will be pooled for the winning prize.
Party at the Lafayette YMCA during this Halloween-themed evening with games, a haunted house, music, candy and more. Guests of all ages are encouraged to attend and enjoy the dance party, “friendly graveyard” and seasonal arts and crafts.
Saturd
8th
OCT 2
show timme 9:00p
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9th
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show timme 8:00p
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7-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, Dickens Opera House, 300 Main St., Longmont. $15
7-11 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $10
6:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, Yoga Pearl, 900 Pearl St., Suite 4, Boulder. $27
CATRINA BALL
‘STOP MAKING SENSE’
HALLOWEEN FUNFLOW
BOULDER WEEKLY
Come dressed in your best yogathemed costume for this all-levels, flow-driven Halloween class. This spooky yoga session at Yoga Pearl in Boulder will help you unwind and reset before an eventful Halloween night.
The Yawpers
The Good Kind
Halloween Show by:
Liver Down The river
$6 + $4
service charge
$20 + $4
service charge
$15 + $4
service charge
$10
Rooster Magazine Presents:
Pearl Street Comedy Show
Many Mountains In the Bar
Balthvs with The $12 Only Smith + $4
service charge
Los Cheesies: Day of the dead
$13 + $4
service charge
Sunday
ay
Considered one of the greatest concerts of all time, Stop Making Sense returns to the big screen for its 40th anniversary. This “Be Your Best Byrne” costume party encourages movie-goers to dress up as Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and experience the film like never before.
In the Bar
th Nov 5 Delta Sonics Duo show timme In the Bar 0 9:0 p
Thursd
Roots Restaurant and the Dickens Opera House invite you to honor your late loved ones with song and dance in downtown Longmont. Come dressed as a Catrina or Catrin and get your face painted before dancing the night away during this Día de Los Muertos event.
DJ Goodie
th
Nov 9
show timme 9:00p
Friday
th
Nov 10
show timme 9:00p
Augustus with boot gun
Pert near sandstone with henhouse prowlers
$10 + $4
service charge
$20 + $4
service charge
OCTOBER 26, 2023
23
LIVE MUSIC T HU R S D AY, OCT. 2 6
SCOTT VON ROOTS DUO. 4 p.m. Left Hand Brewing Company, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free
THUNDERBOOGIE WITH PEOPLE IN BETWEEN AND CELLAR SMELLAR. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15
DEATHCHANT WITH EAGLEWING AND FAST N LOOSE. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18
THE YAWPERS. 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $6
M ON DAY, OC T. 30
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE WITH OF MICE & MEN AND VENDED. 7:30 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40 NO RUSH. 9 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl, Suite V3A, Boulder. $12 THE BASEMENT BLUES PROJECT (NIGHT 1). 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free TOO MUCH FUN. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free MUSECYCLES OPEN JAM. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $10 DAVE CORBUS ESSENCE. 7 p.m. R Gallery + Wine Bar, 2027 Broadway, Boulder. Free DJ DRAKE. 9 p.m. Bounce Empire, 1380 S. Public Road, Lafayette. $24 STUCK WITH FORTY FEET TALL AND DRY ICE. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18 BW Pick of the Week
FR I D AY, O CT. 2 7 THE BASEMENT BLUES PROJECT (NIGHT 2). 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free QUINLAN VALDEZ. 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free FOX TRACKS STUDIO BAND WITH NATALIA J. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20 CLAYTON STEPHENSON. 7:30 p.m. Center for Musical Arts, 200 E. Baseline Road, Lafayette. $25 24
OCTOBER 26, 2023
LOTUS (NIGHT 1). 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20
ON THE BILL
LP WITH VERITE. 7:30 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40 Credit: Vanessa Valadez
Chicago post-punk quartet Stuck bring their singular brand of riled-up, anticapitalist ruckus to Denver’s Hi-Dive on Oct. 26 with support from Forty Feet Tall and Dry Ice. The band comes to the Front Range on the heels of their latest LP, Freak Frequency, out now via Born Yesterday Records. See listing for details.
THE GOOD KIND. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $20 DIXON’S VIOLIN. 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl, Suite V3A, Boulder. $20 AOIFE O’DONOVAN WITH ALLISON DE GROOT AND TATIANA HARGREAVES. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $23
LIVER DOWN THE RIVER. 9 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $15 BOULDER SYMPHONY CURIOSITY CONCERT. 3 p.m. Grace Commons, 1820 15th St., Boulder. Free THE DUCKHUNTERS. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
FALSTAFF (NIGHT 1). 7:30 p.m. Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. $15
5280S BAND. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 132 Pratt St., Longmont. Free
JULIAN ST. NIGHTMARE WITH HEX CASSETTE, TEAM NONEXISTENT AND SELL FARM. 9 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15
DON BROCO & THE HOME TEAM WITH SKYLER ACORD AND THE COLOR. 8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $33
SATUR DAY, OC T. 28
SUN D AY, OC T. 29
RANDOM RAB WITH SUGAR NOVA. 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20
CHRISTIAN LOFFLER. 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20
SHAKEDOWN STREET. 7 p.m. Caribou Room, 55 Indian Peaks Drive, Nederland. $25
FALSTAFF (NIGHT 2). 2 p.m. Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. $15 ELI COOK. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20
PHILLIP PHILLIPS WITH JONAH KAGEN. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $25
TUE S DAY, OC T. 31 LOTUS (NIGHT 2). 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20 MATRODA WITH KANDY SHOP. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $28 DYLAN KISHNER HAND WITH MIGHTY HOLLER. 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $12 NITROGEN WITH NIQ V, APHOTICA AND KILGORE. 9 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. Free RL GRIME WITH JAWNS AND 33 BELOW. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $50 DURAND JONES WITH BUSMAN’S HOLIDAY AND KAITLYN WILLIAMS. 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $25
Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code. BOULDER WEEKLY
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ON STAGE
A&C EVENTS
ON VIEW
ON THE PAGE Join author Jennifer Nicole Bacon for a reading from her new children’s book, I Am an Anti-Racist Superhero, Oct. 28 at Tattered Cover - Aspen Grove. The story follows a young boy who decides to change the world after hearing about the murder of George Floyd, with the help of historical figures like Rosa Parks and James Baldwin. See listing for details.
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OCTOBER 26, 2023
Making its local debut this weekend at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Butterfly Effect Theatre of Colorado (BETC) season opener Coal Country is a suspenseful play by Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank inspired by interviews with survivors of a mine explosion in West Virginia and set to the music of country-rock legend Steve Earle. See listing for details.
COAL COUNTRY. Oct. 26-Nov. 19, BETC - Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $40 BW Pick of the Week
SWEENEY TODD - ADULT CAST. Through Oct. 31, The Unitiive Theatre and Performing Arts School, 800 S. Hover St., Longmont. $15 ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM BEING A ZOMBIE. Through Oct. 29, Chautauqua Park, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $21
FALSTAFF. Oct. 27-29, CU Boulder College of Music Eklund Opera Program - Macky Auditorium Concert Hall, 1595 Pleasant St. $10
TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. Through Oct. 29, Denver Center for the Performing Arts - Buell Theatre, 1101 13th St. $35. Review on p. 21
THE LEGACY OF BAKER STREET. Oct. 27-Nov. 11, Coal Creek Theater Louisville Center for the Arts, 801 Grant Ave. $25
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (LIVE RADIO PLAY). Oct. 26-Nov. 5, Upstart Crow - Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. $24
Landscapes, portraits and domestic scenes make up the spellbinding exhibition Squinting Grief by photographer John Lake. Travel with the artist from rural upstate New York through the midwest of his childhood in this BMoCA show running at Macky Auditorium through Nov. 12. See listing for details.
SPOOKY CABARET. Oct. 28, The Arts HUB, 420 Courtney Way, Lafayette. $10
DÍA DE MUERTOS EXHIBITION. Through Nov. 5, Longmont Museum - Swan Atrium, 400 Quail Road. Free FLAT SPACE: WHITMAN LINDSTROM. Through Nov. 12 (extended), Dairy Arts Center - Caruso Lounge, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free
BW Pick of the Week
JOHN LAKE: SQUINTING GRIEF. Through Nov. 12, BMoCA at Macky, CU Boulder 1595 Pleasant St., Unit 104. Free NEURON FOREST: KATIE CARON. Through Nov. 11, McMahon Gallery - Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free
CARIBBEAN PALEO BY ALTHEA BROWN. 6 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 26, Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Free
5TH ANNUAL CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL. 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. Free
100 WAYS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE BY LIZ MOODY. 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Free
COMMODITIES (FOOD OF MY PEOPLE): ZIG JACKSON AKA RISING BUFFALO. Through Nov. 5, East Window Gallery, 4550 Broadway, Suite C-3B2, Boulder. Free (by appointment) MEDIALIVE: TECHNOLOGY AS HEALING. Through Jan. 14, BMoCA, 1750 13th St., Boulder. $2 SOLO EXHIBITIONS: DIEGO FLOREZ ARROYO, GRACE GUTIERREZ AND RAYMUNDO MUÑOZ. Through Nov. 11, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free
I AM AN ANTIRACIST SUPERHERO BY JENNIFER NICOLE BACON. 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, Tattered Cover - Aspen Grove, 7301 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton. Free BW Pick of the Week MOUNTAIN BIKING THE COLORADO TRAIL BY MICHAEL HENRY. 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. Free HARDWIRED FOR HAPPINESS BY ASHISH KOTHARI. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. $5
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FILM Cailee Spaeny in Priscilla. Courtesy: A24
CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE ‘Priscilla’ is a familiar story turned inside out BY MICHAEL J. CASEY
I
t’s the early 1960s, and Priscilla Ann Beaulieu is just 14 years old. She doesn’t have any friends or hobbies, just the day-in, day-out monotony of living on a U.S. Army Base in West Germany. But you know who else is stationed on this base? Elvis Presley. Elvis was drafted into the service in 1958, but by the time he and Priscilla cross paths, it seems his rank is head entertainer to the officers. Not bad work if you can get it, and certainly the sort of thing a young girl like Priscilla would want to be part of. Priscilla, the latest from writer-director Sofia Coppola, is a story of deflation. Or rather, it’s an all-American love story Coppola is constantly trying to deflate. It’s understandable why Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny, outstanding) would be enchanted and attracted to Elvis (Jacob Elordi, just as good) despite their 10-year age difference. Not only is he tall, dark and handsome, he’s Elvis goddamn Presley, the
BOULDER WEEKLY
King of Rock ’n’ Roll, and there is nothing else to do on this base. Here is where expectations begin to deflate: 24-year-old Elvis courts the young Priscilla, but he’s more interested in popping pills and going to sleep next to her than sleeping with her. It’s a letdown for Priscilla — the first of many. A couple of years pass, and Elvis returns to Graceland in Tennessee and requests the presence of Priscilla. She goes, thrilled to finally be away from Germany and out from under her parents. But if she was hoping for wild parties with celebrities and passionate nights with the King, she quickly realizes that Elvis spends most of his days with his boys, the Memphis Mafia, and his nights living a chaste life — at least with her. Deflation again.
‘ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT?’
Elvis flies off to Hollywood to make movies and Priscilla reads about his
rotating affairs in the tabloids. He comes home, denies the rumors and continues not to sleep with her, distracted by the boys, the pills, the desire to make better movies and a growing interest in pop spirituality. All the while, Priscilla — with her jetblack hair and fashionable outfits — wanders the empty rooms of Graceland. She is growing older, but Coppola and her hair and makeup team continue to make Spaeny look childlike. She is a kept woman, the kind Elvis desires, and Priscilla goes along with it because she loves him, trusts him and can’t believe he will betray that trust. Working from Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, Coppola opts not for the history lesson and instead turns the narrative inside out and focuses on the romance. When Elvis leaves to shoot movies in Hollywood, the camera stays in Tennessee with Priscilla. When Elvis goes out with the boys for a pill-poppin’ gun-shootin’ good time, the camera stays with Priscilla in the empty sitting rooms of Graceland. Where so many filmmakers before have been enchanted by Elvis that they stick to
him like glue, Coppola eschews the King for quiet time with his sequestered Queen. Priscilla is an itchy kind of movie. The pacing is languid and often restless. Elvis’ temper is violent and sudden, and his approach to marriage is as conservative as his music is radical. But he is a handsome fellow, and even though Elordi doesn’t exactly look like Elvis, his mannerisms, confidence and vocal inflections paint a picture of what so many found charming about the King. Elvis holds the frame even when Coppola and cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd train their camera on Priscilla. It’s as if they are saying you have to look to see her. And in a way, maybe she can’t even see herself. But when she does, Priscilla finally takes the action the story has been calling for, and the movie’s narrative snaps into perfect clarity.
ON SCREEN: Priscilla
opens in limited release Oct. 27 and expands Nov. 3.
OCTOBER 26, 2023
29
ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Shadow work is a psychological practice that has been deeply healing for me. It involves exploring the dark places in my soul and being in intimate contact with my unripe and wounded aspects. Engaging in this hard labor ensures that my less beautiful qualities never take control of me and never spill out into toxic interactions with people. I bring this up, Aries, because the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to do shadow work. Halloween costume suggestion: Be your shadow, demon, or unripe self. TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): The country where I live, the US, has banned over 2,500 books in recent years. I’m appalled by the ignorance that fuels this idiotic despotism. But there has been an amusing consequence, which I am pleased to report: Banning the books has sometimes hiked their sales. Gender Queer by Maia Kolbabe had a 130 percent increase. Art Spiegelman’s Maus I and Maus II jumped 50 percent. Let this scenario serve as an inspirational metaphor for you in the coming weeks. If any person or institution tries to repress, deny, or resist you, do what you’re doing even bigger and better. Use their opposition as a power boost. Halloween costume suggestion: rebel, dissident, or protestor. GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Do you ever feel you are treated unfairly at your job? Is your workplace sometimes detrimental to your health? Is it possible that a few small changes could add up to a big improvement in how you feel while you’re earning a living? There’s rarely a perfect moment to address these concerns, but the coming weeks will be a more favorable time than usual. If you decide to seek shifts, devise a strategy that’s as foolproof as possible. Resolve to be calm, poised, and unflusterable. Halloween costume suggestion: a worker doing your ideal job CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Cancerian comedian Dave Barry says that as he grows older, he looks forward to “continued immaturity.” That sentiment is probably based on the fact that his humor is often juvenile and silly. (I like it, though!) I’m guessing it’s also because he aspires to remain youthful and innocent and surprisable as he ages. I mention this, fellow Cancerian, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to celebrate and honor the parts of you that are still blooming but not yet in full blossom. Be grateful you have not become a jaded know-it-all. Would you consider revisiting joys you loved as a child and teenager? Halloween costume suggestion: your younger self.
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OCTOBER 26, 2023
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Horseshoes have symbolized good luck in many cultures. A common usage is to hang them over front doors. But there’s disagreement about the best way to generate the good fortune. Some people say the open end of the horseshoe should point upward, since that collects the luck. Others insist it’s best for the horseshoe to point down, as that showers luck on those who enter and leave the house. If you experiment with this fun myth, I advise you to point the open end up. It’s time for you to gather blessings, help, and fortuity. Halloween costume accessories: good luck charms like a four-leaf clover, acorn, cat’s eye gemstone, ankh, dragon, laughing Buddha, Ganesh statue, and horseshoe. VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): There would be no life on earth if it weren’t for the sun. Our home star’s energy is the central force at work in the creation and sustenance of all humans, animals, and plants. Yet we must be sure not to get extravagant amounts of our good thing. An overabundance of solar heat and radiance can cause failed crops, dehydration, droughts, skin cancer, and wildfires. Are other factors at work in your sphere that are also nourishing in moderate amounts but unhealthy in excess? And do you know when just right becomes too much? Now is a favorable time to ruminate on these matters. Halloween costume suggestion: Goldilocks, Lady Justice with her scales, or a body suit adorned with a giant yin and yang symbol.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): The earliest known human settlement is Göbekli Tepe, in what’s now the country of Turkey. When archaeologists first excavated it in 1994, they realized it was built over 11,000 years ago. This was shocking news, since it dramatically contradicted previous estimates of how long people have lived in villages. I’m predicting a comparable shift in your understanding of your own past, Libra. The full effect may not be apparent for months, but there will be interesting jolts soon. Halloween costume suggestion: archaeologist, time traveler, or yourself in a past life. SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Scorpio author Ófeigur Sigurðsson writes, “You should never do what’s expected of you; there’s always another path through life than the one before you.” I wouldn’t recommend his approach to any other zodiac sign but Scorpio. And I would only advocate it for maybe 40 percent of Scorpios 10 percent of the time. The coming weeks will be one of those 10-percent times. So if you are among the 40 percent who would thrive on this demanding but potentially exhilarating counsel, get ready to be as original and imaginative in living your life as you have ever been. Halloween costume suggestion: unicorn, dragon, or phoenix. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Only two items appear more often in the world’s landfills than disposable diapers. They seem to be among the least ecologically sound products. Or maybe not. Japanese researchers at the University of Kitakyushu have made building materials out of them in combination with gravel, sand, and cement. (Read more: tinyurl.com/BetterWaste). In the spirit of this potentially glorious alchemical transmutation, and in accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to ruminate on how you might convert wasted stuff into usable valuables in your own sphere. Halloween costume suggestion: A janitor or maid wearing a gold crown and pearls. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Of all the ideas propounded by major religions, the saddest is the Christian assertion that all of us are born sinful—that we come into this world with a corruption that renders us fundamentally flawed: tainted, soiled, guilty, foul. I reject this stupid nonsense. In my spiritual philosophy, we are all born gorgeous, loving geniuses. Tough experiences may diminish our radiance and make it a challenge to be our best, but we never lose the gorgeous, loving genius at our core. In accordance with astrological mandates, your task in the coming weeks is to get into close touch with this pure source. Halloween costume suggestion: your gorgeous, loving genius. AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): According to my meticulous analysis of the astrological omens, you now have a sacred right to expand your ego at least one full size. Even two sizes will probably be fine. Your guardian angel is lobbying for you to strut and swagger, and so are your muses, your ancestors, and God Herself. I hope you will overcome any shyness you feel about expressing your talents, your intelligence, and your unique understanding of the world. Halloween costume suggestion: a charming braggart, charismatic egomaniac, or beautiful narcissist. PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): “The secret for harvesting the greatest fruitfulness and enjoyment is to live dangerously!” Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said that. “Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius!” he added. “Send your ships into uncharted seas!” As for you in the coming weeks, Pisces, I don’t recommend you live dangerously, but I do suggest you live adventurously. Surpass your limits, if you dare! Transcend your expectations and explore the frontiers. Those activities will be a good use of your life energy and are likely to be rewarded. Halloween costume suggestions: daredevil, swashbuckler, gambler, fortune-hunter, or knight-errant.
BOULDER WEEKLY
SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE
DEAR DAN: It’s Locktober and I’ve
been keeping a man locked up! I got him a T-shirt that has a chastity lock on it and reads, “Life Is Hard. I Shouldn’t Be.” I want to support his kink, you know? I saw another shirt by the same designer with a kind of a “Superman of Chastity” design. I’m going to get that one for him too! He’s that sweet! Shined the light of his kindness and service upon me in a moment of great need. I was recovering from shoulder surgery and he took care of my libido. I don’t mind having tender feelings for him. I can handle that. But what I can’t figure out is this: What do I call him? He calls me “Boss,” which is great because I am a top outside of my primary relationship and I like how “Boss” sounds. But what’s the counterpart? Daddy, son. Sir, boy. Master, slave. Boss… what? I tried calling him “Buddy” but that sounded so dumb. So what is the sub called when the Dom is called Boss? Does it even matter? He wants me to call the shots. But I am at a creative loss for this one. — Newly Promoted Boss
DEAR NPB: It does not matter.
I mean, it matters to you — and it should — and it may matter to him. But it’s not like the dirty talk police are gonna kick down your door if you use the “wrong” sub counterpart to the Dom honorific “Boss.”
You’re not this man’s actual boss, NPB, and unless this wonderful guy has a fetish for office politics — which no one does — he doesn’t mean “boss” in any literal sense. He’s invoking a general authority figure, someone with power over him, which you currently possess because he’s granted that power to you. So, you’re not the literal boss of him, NPB, you’re merely the boss of his dick. And seeing as boys, sons, slaves, and subs also get bossed around, it seems to me that one or all of those terms would serve as counterparts. But if you wanted to call him something related to “boss” in the workplace sense of the term — and I don’t know why you would wanna do that — you could go with “intern,” “trainee,” and, “Employee of the Month.” But terms for actual subordinates in our actual workplaces aren’t very sexy… and that’s probably for the best… which brings us back to the usual suspects: boy, son, slave. You could also ask him what he prefers. You said you like the sound of “Boss.” What does he like the sound of? But if he wants you calling the shots, he will probably prefer (read: get harder hearing) a term you picked for him than one he picked for himself. Which means whatever term you ultimately pick, NPB, you can’t possibly go wrong. P.S. Recovering from shoulder surgery here myself here — it’s a long and painful slog. And if this boy really helped you get through it, I don’t think Locktober is reward enough. So why not keep his cock caged through until after “No Nut November” and “Don’t Touch Your Member December” are over?
Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love. Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love! BOULDER WEEKLY
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NIBBLES
TASTE OF THE NEW Uncovering under-the-radar rellenos, musubi, sourdough loaves, gelato and cider in Boulder BY JOHN LEHNDORFF
I
may be a food critic, but that doesn’t mean I love going to new restaurants and tasting new dishes and cuisines. Different is scary, potentially pricey and might taste yucky. I like my favorite dishes at my favorite Boulder restaurants where servers know me and, yes, I even have favorite booths. Luckily, curiosity and my profession force me — kicking and twitching — out the door to yet another new bakery, cafe, bistro or farmstand. Here are some of the best things I’ve tasted lately at new places in Boulder County.
STUFFED CHILES @ COMA MEXICAN GRILL
“Coma” is a conjugation of the Spanish verb comer — “to eat.” I was wicked hungry when I grabbed Saturday brunch at Coma Mexican Grill (4800 Baseline Road, Unit E-105, Boulder), hidden in plain sight in the Meadows Shopping Center. Free fresh corn chips with thick salsa, plus a big side of chunky guacamole, tided me over while checking out weekend breakfast selections like chilaquiles and menudo. The chile relleno called to me: a lightly fried, house-roasted Anaheim pepper filled with cheese and smothered in meatless green chile sauce. Sidekicks
Coma Mexican Grill. Credit: John Lehndorff
BOULDER WEEKLY
included cheese-topped refried pintos, Mexican rice, lettuce, tomato and warm tortillas. Coma also offers freshly fried sopapillas, a full bar of margaritas, Mexican beers and tequilas, plus cinnamon-y horchata and Jarritos sodas.
SPAM MUSUBI AND KATSU @ L&L HAWAIIAN BBQ
Having gotten hip to L&L Hawaiian BBQ in Aurora, I made a beeline when Boulder’s shop recently opened (2323 30th St.) dishing the comfy fare I remember. The SPAM and eggs musubi — sizzled meat with seaweedwrapped rice and sauce — is a great meal by itself if you can overcome your Monty Python misconceptions. The chicken katsu plate covers crispy, schnitzel-like chicken thighs with a mild curry gravy, then pairs it with steamed rice and a mayo-centric macaroni salad. While I was there, devotees streamed in for poke, saimin (ramen), Kalua pork, short ribs, fried shrimp and grilled mahi.
SOURDOUGH LOAVES @ DAILY GRAINS
From a home kitchen in Lafayette, welcome newcomer Daily Grains is turning out exceptional sourdough loaves using
specializing in scratch-made flavors using mostly organic ingredients, with diet-friendly options and excellent coffee drinks. The business has expanded as Heaven Creamery, opening recently at 2525 Arapahoe Ave. I sampled ice creams, gelatos and vegan sorbets using small metal tasting spoons — so superior to plastic. I settled on a spectacular pistachio gelato — naturally light brown instead of artificial green. The moderately sweet, super-creamy treat was infused with tons of nut flavor. For a change of pace, the sweet corn gelato was like a summer picnic — ice cream off the cob. The menu features an astonishing range of flavors including activated charcoal, St. Vrain Cidery beers and guanabana. Gingerbread. Credit: Coming soon: Genuine St. Vrain Cidery hearty Turkish coffee.
freshly milled heirloom grain. Wife and husband Ashley Overstreet and Paul Bonneville craft exceptional oatmeal raisin cookies, and their crusty, not-toosweet chocolate cherry sourdough loaf makes outstanding toast. Daily Grains currently sells at the Cure Organic Farm roadside stand on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but the owners expect to break ground soon on a new Lafayette bakery.
GINGERBREAD @ ST. VRAIN CIDERY
My taste buds were preset for sweet with a side order of spicy heat when I took a sip of St. Vrain Cidery’s (350 Terry St., Unit 130, Longmont) Gingerbread. Instead, the drink offers a semi-sweet, yeasty first taste with ginger, cinnamon and clove emerging, but not overwhelming. A little brown sugar and molasses add earthiness without being syrupy. The final flavor is the essence of the season, no pumpkin required.
PISTACHIO GELATO @ HEAVEN CREAMERY I stumbled on Kiwi International Delights & Coffee in Avon and went in because the name was so odd. It turned out to be a firstclass ice cream shop
L&L Hawaiian BBQ. Credit: John Lehndorff
Heaven Creamery. Credit: John Lehndorff
Daily Grains. Credit: Daily Grains
OCTOBER 26, 2023
33
NIBBLES LOCAL FOOD NEWS: MAINE SHACK DEBUTS
9/9/23 - 1/13/24
THE
FINAL PERFORMANCE AT
● To the joy of expatriate New Englanders like me, Maine Shack’s Boulder location will finally open Nov. 3 dishing lobster rolls, fried clam bellies and blueberry hand pies at 2010 16th St. ● Alice & Rose, the new Alice in Wonderland-themed cafe on the Hill, now serves high tea (and coffee and cocktails and breakfast and more) at 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., Boulder. ● The Juicy Seafood restaurant has opened at 2341 Clover Basin Drive in Longmont. Nearby, Spitz Mediterranean Restaurant is serving at 1230 S. Hover St. ● Plan ahead: Taste of the Town, Nov. 12 at the Dickens Opera House, features 12 Longmont chefs; The Boulder Farmers Market Winter Market is December 2-3 at the Boulder County Fairgrounds (9595 Nelson Road) in Longmont. ● Attention keto dieters: Hippo’s Mexican Burgers in Broomfield is offering a free 8-pound burger — but only to diners who can eat the whole thing in one sitting.
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According to candystore.com’s data, Reese’s Cups, M&M’s, Hot Tamales, Skittles, Starburst, candy corn and Snickers are among the top 10 most popular Halloween candies in America. The list does not include Milky Way, the lame, bland candy that is apparently the most popular bar in Colorado. Postino WineCafe. Credit: Who did they survey? Certainly not kids! Brandon Amato Just because you’re a sophisticated wine drinker, doesn’t mean you don’t also love candy. Brent Karlicek, beverage director at Postino WineCafe, took on the challenge of pairing Halloween favorites with appropriate vintages. For instance, he likes fake-fruity Skittles with Hi-Rise Sauvignon Blanc, a wine he describes as a “fresh, focused and zippy with a hint of lime.” His other pairings include Starburst with Fiore Moscato D’Asti, caramel apples with Holly’s Way chardonnay and Twizzlers (strawberry, not licorice) with Mary Taylor Cabernet Franc. Meanwhile, this month’s issue of Culture, a cheese magazine, offers tongue-in-cheek candy and cheese pairings including candy corn matched with Mimolette, a creamy, mild soft-ripened cheese which produces “caramel toffee” in your mouth.
WORDS TO CHEW ON: SIGN OF THE PIE
“The vampire leaned forward, tapping a scimitar claw, and asked: ‘Is that a lion with horns and a pitchfork?’ ‘Yep.’ ‘Is he carrying a moon on his pitchfork?’ ‘No, it’s a pie.’” — From the novel Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
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John Lehndorff is the former dining critic for the Rocky Mountain News. Dining suggestions to: nibbles@boulderweekly.com
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FLASH IN THE PAN
HOW ’BOUT THEM APPLES Make shrunken heads for a spooky windowsill BY ARI LEVAUX
B
ig sugar co-opted Halloween in the 1950s, but the roots of the spooky holiday date back much further to the Celtic tradition of Samhain, which honors that moment when fall blows in each year. Samhain’s founding observers saw it as a time when the boundaries between the living and spirit worlds became porous, allowing the spirits to come knock on your door like neighborhood trick-ortreaters. As time passed, Samhain absorbed other holidays that reflected the characteristics of the season, including harvest, death, wind and the abundance of sweet fruits dangling from trees. Appropriately enough, after the Celts were conquered by the Romans, Samhain merged with Pomona, a celebration of the Roman goddess of the harvest. Today, as the wind blows spookily and nature’s candy dangles from trees like a real-life fable, we spend more than $9 billion each year on plastic sacks of sugar. The same way Samhain
opens the door to the world of the dead, candy opens the floodgates for evil sugar spirits to enter the bodies of children. The sweetness of an apple, by contrast, doesn’t turn kids into little poltergeists, and the fruit has long been used as a barometer of hunger. Growing up, folks of certain generations were told, “If you aren’t hungry enough to eat an
apple, you aren’t really hungry.” While I’m not suggesting people give out apples for Halloween, such words have never been said about a Twix bar. I have an apple tree that produces McIntosh-like apples, blushing dark red with a piercing flavor that’s like an arms race between sweet and tart. Most of the apples
go through the cider press, but I try to save a few boxes of the biggest, most beautiful individuals to eat the old fashioned way. I’ve been thinking a lot about that apple hunger test, and noticing that when I’m hungry enough to eat an apple, the fruit’s characteristics become extra vivid. The perfume, sharpness and sweetness become all the more enticing. When you slice an apple, it becomes more edible. I don’t know why, but it’s true. One night not too long ago, I kept slicing apples and the kids kept eating them. Before we knew it, everyone was full. And don’t forget pie. My mother-in-law makes hers with tapioca for extra body. So many apples, so little time. And at this exact time of year, the absolute best thing to do with apples is carve them into jack-o’-lanterns. They look like preserved heads from a cannibal’s trophy case. Apple is softer and more forgiving than pumpkin, and you can snack on the bits that you carve away as you go. When it’s done, enjoy the shrunken apple’s shriveled beauty for a week or two, and then, if you wish, eat it like the dried apple it is.
APPLE JACK-O’-LANTERNS If you live in a sunny climate, you can shrink apple heads on a windowsill in about a week. You can also use an oven on the lowest setting, or rest the apples next to a heater. However, a dehydrator with shelving you can space widely enough to accommodate an entire apple is the device of choice for making these sweet and sassy skulls.
INGREDIENTS
• Apples, the bigger the better • Lime or lemon juice INSTRUCTIONS
Peel the apple, going around its “equator,” while leaving a bit of peel around the stem end and its opposite “pole.” When peeled, look at the apple and decide where the face should be. Place the apple on the bottom or “blossom” end, and see how it rests. If it sits at a tilt, then you’ll want the face on the side tilting up. Well, at least I do. But wherever you decide the face should be, sketch it lightly with the point of a knife. Use a coring spoon to scoop out the middle of the apple from the opposite side of the face, leaving a big hole in the back of the shrunken head. Scooping the insides allows the apple jack-o’-lanterns to dry more quickly. Next, carve the mouth. Otherwise you might not have enough room below the eyes and nose. That is the extent of any artistic advice I should be giving, other than to make sure the nose is smaller than the eyes. Rub the carved apple with lemon or lime juice and place in the center of a dehydrator, with the temperature at 135, for about 12 hours, until they have shrunk to your liking. If using an oven, set it on the lowest setting, with convection on if you’ve got it, and keep a watchful eye on the apples for about 2-6 hours.
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WEED BETWEEN THE LINES
SPECIAL K EDUCATION The FDA issues a warning on ketamine use, highlighting the need for standardized psychedelicassisted therapy training programs BY WILL BRENDZA
T
herapy clinics offering treatment with ketamine, a dissociative drug used in medical settings for more than 50 years, have started opening up across the U.S., despite there being no nationally approved training, guidelines or curriculum for the therapists that run them, and despite the legal gray area such operations exist in. That’s why the FDA issued a warning about the misuse of ketamine on Oct. 10. It reminded both patients and healthcare providers that ketamine therapy for depression is not approved by the FDA, that the use of these drugs without a trained healthcare professional present could put patients at serious risk, and that there is no “evidence to suggest that it is safer, more effective, or works faster than” antidepressants that have already been approved by the FDA. The warning concludes, “Patients and healthcare providers should be aware that FDA has identified potential safety concerns associated with the use of compounded ketamine products from compounders and telemedicine platforms, including abuse and misuse,
BOULDER WEEKLY
psychiatric events, increases in blood pressure, respiratory depression, and lower urinary tract and bladder symptoms.” But ketamine has been used medically for decades. It was first approved for use in the U.S. in 1970 and was employed extensively in the Vietnam War for surgical anesthesia. To this day, ketamine is used by medics in war zones and by paramedics and doctors here in the U.S. for acute pain treatment and anesthesia. It’s even on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. Taken in sub-anesthesia doses, ketamine produces psychedelic effects. It isn’t a classic psychedelic like magic mushrooms or LSD. Rather, ketamine is a dissociative derived from the same substance as “Angel Dust.” This specific class of psychoactive drug is characterized by a state of detachment from one’s body and the external world — a state known as depersonalization or derealization. Ketamine can be a dangerous drug. Too high of a dose and a patient might enter an unresponsive state known as
a “K-hole.” An overdose can be lethal. But the drug has proven so effective at treating depression in clinical trials that in 2019 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a ketamine-based intranasal antidepressant called “esketamine.” However, the federal bureau has not approved ketamine itself for the treatment of any psychiatric disorder. “Essentially [the FDA] is warning or notifying the public that there’s still a lot that is not understood about ketamine and how it may be [used], or whether it is useful for particular indications or offlabel indications,” says Ingmar Gorman,
the co-founder and chief executive officer of Fluence, a psychedelic education company training mental health professionals in psychedelic therapies (Weed Between the Lines, “Training psychedelic therapists,” Jan. 12, 2023). Gorman says the message from the FDA is important to make sure mental health professionals are educated
about what we don’t know. Fluence came to be because of the widespread off-label use of ketamine to treat different psychiatric issues. The clinics administering the therapy were neglecting the fact that their patients were having subjective experiences. “Those experiences can be blissful or really validating or spiritual, in which case, maybe there’s not that much support that’s needed,” Gorman says. “But then there are also some people who might have very anxious, potentially even traumatic experiences. They might experience intense dissociation, they might feel a sense of loss of control. And then it’s an adverse psychological reaction. But many therapists aren’t trained and don’t know how to deal with it.” Today, Fluence offers training programs for therapists interested in MDMA, ketamine and psilocybinassisted therapy. The company was selected in 2022 by the state of Oregon to be one of the statelicensed facilitators of psychedelicassisted therapy training. Its curriculum received approval from the Oregon Health Authority and has been licensed by the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission. And it already has plans to expand to Colorado. “It’s imperative that practitioners are well-trained and informed,” Gorman said of the recent FDA warning about ketamine. “Ensuring adherence to best practices will not only guarantee patient safety but also establish trust and credibility in this rapidly evolving sector.”
OCTOBER 26, 2023
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