12 11 14 boulder weekly

Boulder County’s True Independent Voice / FREE / www.boulderweekly.com / December 11-17, 2 0 1 4

Home for the 67999

$

Holidays

STUFFED FREE ANIMAL! 12-inch toy with purchase over $100 • 15-inch toy with purchase over $200 18-inch toy with purchase over $300 • 24-inch toy with purchase over $400

Converta Sofa

PAB139S

$

LG / 55LB5900 55" Class / 1080p 120Hz / LED HDTV

320

$

TURNS INTO A BED!

INSTANT SAVINGS!

UT!

SEO

Regular Price 999.99 $

Queen Sleeper

O CL

$

G-1004

Party Time Media Fireplace

$

422

129

$

2587-SET

Patchwork Side Chair

30" Metal Barstools

28

399

Sleeper Mattress Upgrade

50.8w x 34.8h x 20.8d

$

128

24" Metal Barstools

$

24

$

* Sold Separately - Price for queen size mattress.

48 24" Parsons Barstools $ 58

Sofa $299 • Loveseat $259 • Chair $229 • Full Sleeper $389 • Twin Sleeper $379

Genuine Italian All-Leather Sofa 3Z-4593S

SE

$

588

A CH

UR

P IAL

EC

SP 1D-165 YD-610BLK

YD-765BLK

2721-S24

Loveseat $528 • Chair $378 • Ottoman $198 3-Piece

Rocker Recliner

$

209

$

STOCKED IN BLUE, RED, BROWN OR GREEN

Bonded Leather Theater Sectional

Massage Chair

$

1069

540

STOCKED IN CREAM OR BLACK

C-2100

1A-A31

1G-995-3PC

Features cup holders for your favorite beverage and an adjustable headrest.

LIFESTYLE FURNITURE While Supplies Last

AFWonline.com Additional handling charges may apply to merchandise picked-up at showroom locations. See store for details.

FIRESTONE SUPERCENTER & WAREHOUSE

DOUGLAS CO. MEGASTORE & WAREHOUSE

COLORADO SPRINGS

AURORA

(303) 799-9044

(719) 633-4220

(303) 368-8555

I-25 & HWY 119 • Longmont/Firestone

UNIVERSITY

GRAND JUNCTION

(303) 795-0928

(970) 208-1920

2 minutes east of I-25 off E-470 & Peoria St.

THORNTON SUPERSTORE & WAREHOUSE I-25 & 84TH

(303) 289-4100

I-25 & FILLMORE - 2805 CHESTNUT ST.

PUEBLO

I-25 & EAGLERIDGE

(719) 542-5169

1700 S. ABILENE

S. UNIVERSITY & COUNTY LINE

(303) 684-2400 HWY 6 & 50

WESTMINSTER

94th & WADSWORTH

FORT COLLINS

I-25 AND HWY. 14

(303) 425-4359

(970) 221-1981

S.W. LAKEWOOD

GLENWOOD SPRINGS

(303) 933-3975

(970) 928-9422

5390 S. WADSWORTH BLVD.

3200 S. GLEN AVE.

GILBERT, AZ

4700 S Power Rd., Gilbert, AZ 85296 (202 (Santan Freeway) and S. Power Rd.)

480-500-4121

GLENDALE, AZ

101 & Bethany Home Rd. 5801 N. 99th Ave., Glendale, AZ 85305

602-422-8800

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Complete this holiday with help from your local, independent, natural grocery store. We have the food and quality standards to make your holiday experience carefree with the widest selection of organic produce, a completely organic juice bar, and organic produce in all our prepped foods. We label the Non-GMO Project Verified products on our shelves to make your shopping easier.

Bone-In Rib Roast

Crumb Top Apple Pie

Available plain or seasoned in-house with smoked salt and pepper, rosemary garlic, or frenched.

An organic apple filling with a buttery brown sugar and oat topping. No extra charge for gluten-free and/or vegan options!

Bone-In Beelers Ham

Lattice Top Apple Pie

13.99/lb plain or 14.99/lb seasoned Precooked, spiral cut half or whole ham.

4.99/lb

14.99 for a 9-inch pie (serves 6–8) 16.99 for a 9-inch pie (serves 6–8)

helping you make healthy choices.

BOULDER

B R O A D WAY & A R A PA H O E 720.420.8400

•

LOUISVILLE

S. BOULDER & CENTENNIAL 303.335.4200

IMMUNOe Research Centers is conducting a clinical research study to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and tolerability of an investigational chickenpox (varicella) vaccine.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE:

COST:

• Who have not received any dose of Chickenpox (varicella) vaccine, Measles, Mumps, or Rubella vaccines

• Volunteers may receive reimbursement for their time and travel

• Generally healthy children 12-23 months of age

• If qualified, all study related care will be provided, at no cost to you

• Must have no history of seizures of any kind • Must not have an egg or egg product allergy

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH & RESEARCH CENTERS

Contact IMMUNOe today to see if your child may qualify for this clinical research study

1925 West Mountain View Ave. Longmont, CO 80501

303.771.9000 303.776.8718

IMMUNOeResearch.com

Season’s Greetings from

We are currently recruiting for studies in: Atopic DermAtitis AsthmA

immune Deficiency peripherAl neuropAthy (ciDp) multiple sclerosis Autism rheumAtoiD Arthritis herpes lAbiAlis (colD sores) copD peDiAtric VAccine ADult VAccine peDiAtric milk Allergy

Locations in: longmont, DenVer, thornton, & centenniAl

Interested in Participating? Contact Us to See if You Qualify!

Qualified participants may receive compensation for time and travel.

immunoeresearch.com

303.771.9000

contents

ON THE COVER: Internal complaints

14

.......................................................................

NEWS: Oil and gas industry-

sponsored TV ad is fraught with obfuscation and half-truths

by Caitlin Rockett

20

.......................................................................

BOULDERGANIC: Planning for

population growth and water scarcity

by Taylor Winchell

23

.......................................................................

ADVENTURE: Artist Lisa Martin takes her paintings to new altitudes

by Amanda Moutinho

27

.......................................................................

BUZZLEAD: Ninth annual music

photography exhibit is all about that magic moment

by Josh Gross

33

.......................................................................

OVERTONES: The activism and

music of Peter, Paul and Mary are still pushing us forward

by Joel Dyer

37

Lafayette Marketplace 400 W South Boulder Rd • Lafayette Clearance Pricing Starts 12/4/2014

20% OFF EVERYTHING Valid On In-Stock Products Only - No Special Orders - Sale Pricing Based On Original Price - All Sales Final

Gifts and Home Furnishings

from a Longmont charter school raise questions of oversight

by Matt Cortina

STORES CLOSING

GOURMET KITCHEN, FOODS & CHEESE

Stoves, Fireplaces, Fireplace Inserts & Hearth Accessories

Gourmet Cheese

HeartH & Design

Suite 1700 • (303) 666-8187

Suite 1100 • (303) 666-8191

Suite 1600 • (303) 666-8196

G

a

l

l

e

r

y

@DPDough_BoulderSick Baby? Child Not Feeling Well?

We Can Help!

We offer a needle-free pediatric clinic with Soma Glick, world renowned Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM, New Mexico)

NEW PEDIATRIC PATIENTS $12

Must present coupon at time of treatment

Expires 4/18/15

Southwest Acupuncture College • 6630 Gunpark Drive • Boulder, CO

Call 303.581.9933 to make an appointment

Oriental Medicine has been used effectively by billions of people for thousands of years.

VOTED BEST OF BOULDER 2013

Ciatano Winery formerly at Rock n’ River Holiday Sale - up to 70% Off Sample our German Hot-Mulled Wine and take the recipe home for some holiday cheer 339B Main St, Lyons (next to Oskar Blues) Open Thursday through Sunday 1–6 pm 1622 Broadway St. Suite B. Boulder, CO 80302

.......................................................................

CUISINE: Everything you thought you knew about fat is wrong

by Ari LeVaux

57

.......................................................................

departments 7 L ETTERS: Shrink-wrapped denial; A relatable experience of noise versus sound 7 T HE HIGHROAD: The explosive greed of America’s 0.01-percenters 8 DANISH PLAN: Blacks, police and marijuana 38 OVERTONES: Lindsey Saunders takes road less traveled, kickstarts promising music career 41 ARTS & CULTURE: It’s the most wonderful time of the year at the Denver Center 43 BOULDER COUNTY EVENTS: What to do and where to go 50 FILM: CU brings ‘Bill, the Galactic Hero’ to the screen 51 SCREEN: ‘The Theory of Everything’ has good things 53 CUISINE REVIEW: Blackbelly Market proves there is life after reality TV 55 TIDBITES: Food happenings around Boulder County 59 BEER TOUR: Eighth edition of the ‘Beer Drinker’s Guide to Colorado’ has it all 65 ASTROLOGY: By Rob Brezsny 67 SAVAGE LOVE: Navigating gender-neutral friends 69 WEED BETWEEN THE LINES: Could there be an agency more inept than the DEA? Boulder Weekly

We Deliver Boulder’s Best CALZONE!

303 444-ZONE dpdough.com Chicken Tenders, Wings, Tots, Salads, Cheese Bread, Fresh Baked Cookies, Brownies, Ice Cream, Italian Ice December 11, 2014 5

ADHD? No Problem.

ADD

Now a diagnosis of ADHD doesn't have to mean prescription medication.

Do you or a member of your family have difficulty concentrating or focusing? Are you concerned about hyperactivity or impulsive behavior? Now there is a clinically proven alternative to medication.

ADHD

Research shows Neurotherapy to be an effective, safe, non-invasive way to work with children and adults—without resorting to psychoactive medication. Help you or your child utilize and train the brain to improve performance. neuroAgility provides diagnostic evaluations for AD/HD and Brain Injury. We offer state-of-the-art training that is respectful and nonstigmatizing; we build on your strengths leading to a sense of self mastery.

BRAIN INJURY ANXIETY

Kerri Honaker, M.S., LPC, BCIA, Clinic Director Earle Shugerman, MD

AUTISM SPECTRUM

2501 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80302

ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

Attention and Performance Psychology

We accept most major credit cards. Insurance coverage may apply

www.neuroAgility.com

303-417-1797

It’s a new day for depression treatment.

The Boulder Center for

TMS

may have the missing piece that can help you put your life back together We offer an advanced medical treatment, known as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), to alleviate depressive episodes that have failed to improve with the use of antidepressant medication.

• Comfortable Office Setting in Central Boulder • Treatments Are Well Tolerated and Do Not Interfere With Usual Daily Activities • Non-Invasive, FDA Approved Procedure • No Anesthesia or Sedation Required

Richard L. Suddath MD Earle Shugerman MD

2501 Walnut, Ste. 207, Boulder, CO www.bouldertms.com • 303.449.0318 6 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

staff

letters

Publisher, Stewart Sallo Editor, Joel Dyer Advertising Director, Jeff Cole Director of Operations/Controller, Benecia Beyer Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Managing Editor, Elizabeth Miller Associate Editor, Matt Cortina Arts & Entertainment Editor, Josh Gross Special Editions Editor, Caitlin Rockett Interns, Cassie Moore, Nadia Mishkin Contributing Writers, Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Cayte Bosler, Rob Brezsny, Chris Callaway, Michael J. Casey, Paul Danish, James Dziezynski, Amber Gabbey, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, Michael Krumholtz, Hudson Lindenberger, Dylan Owens, Brian Palmer, Adam Perry, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Greg Thorson, Ruth Tobias, Christine Vazquez, Tom Winter, Tate Zandstra, Gary Zeidner SALES & MARKETING Retail Sales Manager, Allen Carmichael Senior Account Executive, David Hasson Account Executive, Jalen Aquino, Julian Bourke, Althea Schelling Inside Sales Representative, Alex Valles Marketing Coordinator, Melissa Chua Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Production Manager, Dave Kirby Art Director, Susan France Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman Assistant to the Publisher Julia Sallo Office Manager/Advertising Assistant Andrea Neville CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama 14-Year-Old, Mia Rose Sallo

December 11, 2014 Volume XXII, Number 19 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 www.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 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Printed on 100% recycled paper with soy-based ink.

Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday.

No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2014 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.

Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@ boulderweekly.com) or the comments section of our website at www.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

Shrink-wrapped denial

Your recent article re: climate change denial [“The rise of the greentalking climate change deniers,” Dyer Times, Nov. 20] omitted one possible motivation for these persons, elected or not: futility. I wonder if a deep sense of fatalism might even have found its way into many psyches. For each person may realize that there is nothing the individual can really do to “stem the tide,” and each may be dimly aware that his/her

fate is absolutely intertwined with that of everyone else. It won’t only be rising sea level, catastrophic weather, record droughts and heat waves; there will be epidemics and conflict, too.

It would be interesting to see if all the world’s defense budgets might be applied toward certain “geoengineering” projects — e.g., drawing-board ideas in the Netherlands for floating greenhouses and towns — except for our propensity to shoot first and ask questions

the

Highroad The explosive greed of America’s 0.01-percenters

by Jim Hightower

I

n this season of mass commercialism, let’s pause to consider the plight of simple millionaires.

Astonishingly, they’re being abandoned by retailers that are now catering to the most lux of the luxury market. “Whether the product is yachts, diamonds, art, wine, or even handbags,” says Robert Frank, a chronicler of American wealth, “the strongest growth and biggest profits are now coming

from billionaires and nine-figure millionaires, rather than from mere millionaires.” What this reflects is not the wealth divide between the 1-percenters and the rest of us, but a stunning concentration of America’s total wealth in the vaults of the ever-richer 0.01-percenters.

They are an extravagant moneyed aristocracy, sitting so high above our society that they largely go unseen. This exclusive club includes only two-hundredths-of-one-percent of American families, with each holding fortunes of more than $110 million. The riches of these privileged ones keep snowballing — their outsized share of our national wealth has doubled since 2002, and their holdings are expanding twice as fast as other 1-percenters.

Their growing control of wealth is distorting high-end consumerism, including such goods as private jets.

later.

It appears the end of days will be more a whimper than a bang, then.

So eat, drink and be merry?

Gregory Iwan/Longmont

A relatable experience of noise versus sound

Really enjoyed your [Dec. 4] issue “Perspectives,” most of all the Buzz secsee LETTERS Page 8

For more information on Jim Hightower’s work — and to subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown — visit www.jimhightower.com.

Sales of your common millionaire-sized jets are down by two-thirds since the 2008 Wall Street crash. So, jet makers have shifted to the billionaire buyers, including some who are spending eyepopping levels of lucre to possess such pretties as their very own Boeing 777300 — which normally carries 400 passengers.

This extreme, obscene concentration of wealth is creating an intolerable inequality that will implode our economy and explode America’s essential, uniting sense of egalitarianism. It’s time to remember that money is like manure — it does no good unless you spread it all around.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

December 11, 2014 7

danish plan Blacks, police and marijuana

Really BAD Ideas

by Joel Dyer & Dave Kirby If Philip Anschutz restarts Rocky Mountain News (or buys The Denver Post)...

by Paul Danish

T

here are three simple things Third, he should throw the full President Barack Obama weight of his administration behind can do to reduce the sort of legislation like the bill sponsored by confrontations between cops Jared Polis in the last Congress that and young black men that would de-federalize marijuana policy occasionally get the latter killed and and leave it to the states. much more often get them arrested.

Together, these three acts would First, Obama should use the execuconstitute a decisive step toward distive power granted him by Congress mantling the most de facto racist instiunder the Controlled Substances Act tution remaining in American life — and elsewhere in federal law to delist the war on drugs and the war on marimarijuana as a controlled substance. juana in particular.

The act gives the president (or A June 2013 report prepared by the strictly speaking the attorney general American Civil Liberties Union (The and the Secretary of Health and War on Marijuana in Black and White) Human Services, documented the who serve at the overwhelmingly pleasure of the racist nature of the president) the war on marijuana power to add or and how it has USE remove drugs from entangled millions the list of drugs of black and MARIJUANA AT ROUGHLY regulated by the Hispanic men in THE SAME RATE, BUT act, or to move the criminal justice them among the system.

BLACKS ARE 3.73 five regulatory catAmong other TIMES MORE LIKELY egories (or things, it found “Schedules”) under that, nationwide, TO BE ARRESTED FOR which drugs covblacks and whites MARIJUANA POSSESSION use marijuana at ered by the act are listed. roughly the same THAN WHITES. Marijuana is rate, but blacks are currently listed as a 3.73 times more Schedule One likely to be arrested Controlled for marijuana posSubstance, the session than strictest category. De-listing marijuana whites. In states with the worst disparialtogether would put marijuana in ties, blacks were on average over six essentially the same category as alcohol times more likely than whites to be and tobacco, which are not covered by arrested for possession. In the worst the act (and which are much more dan- offending counties, blacks were “over gerous than pot).

10, 15, or even 30 times more likely to Second, Obama should announce be arrested than white residents in the that he will veto any attempt by the same county.” incoming Congress to nullify the mariIn Washington, D.C., a city whose juana legalization initiative approved by population is roughly 50 percent black, 70 percent of District of Columbia vot- 91 percent of the arrests for marijuana ers in November. possession were of blacks, the report The measure, Initiative 71, provides found. A black Washingtonian is eight that adults can possess up to two ounctimes more likely to be arrested for es of marijuana for personal use and marijuana possession than a white one. cultivate up to six plants. Sales are proIt doesn’t take a genius to grasp the hibited. Under Washington, D.C.’s implications of these racially biased home rule charter, Congress can nullify arrest rates. any ordinance the District’s city council The ACLU points out that these or voters adopt within 30 days of its include limited employment opportunipassage. Several Republican House ties, housing opportunities and adverse members have already announced they child custody determinations — all of will introduce a nullification resolution. see DANISH PLAN Page 10

BLACKS AND WHITES

8 December 11, 2014

letters LETTERS from Page 7

tion, which reminded me of a couple of rock n’ roll related noise incidents that folks might find entertaining and funny.

Back in the ’80s (or so), I was in a band called Wild Cargo. We lived in a small house near the corner of Folsom and Spruce. Over the course of a few evenings’ practice, we received three visits from a friendly policeman, who was responding to noise complaints from people around us. He was kind enough to point out to us that all of the calls came from different people, and to inform us that if a second call came from any of the same people, the fine would be a few hundred dollars. Guess they don’t build ’em like that anymore.

When we first arrived in Boulder, from Chicago, we were staying at the Habitat apartments out near Gunbarrel.

The birthday of our bass player came on the same day we were having to move out. He liked to celebrate with a large meal, and copious amounts of tequila (not necessarily in that order), and he was unconscious by the time we had to leave. We loaded him into the van like a piece of furniture, and put him into his new room, all without him knowing it had happened. In the morning he awoke to a new house, having no clue as to how he got there. Along with a truly major hangover, he was greeted by an overwhelming smell of varnish from the living room floor, and the ear-blistering sound of a pair of jackhammers tearing up the driveway right outside his room.

Truly, they were louder than we’d ever

been, and it was at 6:30 in the morning.

We asked them to stop, at least until after breakfast. They wouldn’t, and in response we put a microphone in the driveway near them, and one in the band room, cranked our amps to 11, and taped a little thing that we called “Jam Concrete,” terrifying them while drowning them out completely.

Somehow neither side was cited, noise being always acceptable in the pursuit of progress, I guess.

Thanks for your wonderful paper that I always look forward to.

Michael E Mondore/Boulder

Calls for body cameras should be answered

The massive public reaction to the tragic deaths of three black teens at the hand of white police officers has led to a national call for use of body cameras to record and prevent any future mistreatment of suspects.

There is ample precedent. Animal protection activists have used body cameras to document egregious atrocities and safety violations by workers in the meat, dairy, and egg industries. The resulting videos have led to a number of corrective actions, as well as felony convictions, meat recalls and even a $500 million civil settlement.

How ironic then that agribusiness interests in seven states (Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North see LETTERS Page 10

Boulder Weekly

Boulder’s Premier Eyewear Destination

20% OFF

Come in and spend your Flex Dollars before December 31st

sunglasses

we’ll be seeing you.

Expires January 31st, 2015 some exclusions apply

in the Village at 2525 ARAPAHOE

❘

303.4 47.0210 ❘ www.aspene y e w ear.com

DON’T GET STUCK OUT IN THE COLD THIS WINTER!

SPECIALIZING IN HYUNDAI. SERVICING ALL MAKES AND MODELS.

Michael Twist

Service Consultant and Volunteer Fire Fighter

OUR V.I.P. PROGRAM

OUR V.I.P. PROGRAM

OIL CHANGE

TIRE ROTATION

V.I.P Program Offers Discounts on Service, Wash and Vacuum.

Winterize Now!

$

24

95

FOR ALL MAKES AND MODELS. THE ENTIRE TIME YOU OWN THE VEHICLE. CALL TODAY FOR MORE INFO ON V.I.P CLUB *Excludes Synthetic Oils and Diesels Expires - Never with V.I.P. Membership

Winterize Now!

$

14

95

INCLUDES BRAKE CHECK, WIPER BLADE INSPECTION, TIRE PRESSURE CHECK, AND COOLING SYSTEM EVALUATION Hurry! Offers ends soon! Expires 12/29/14

Hurry! Offers end January 2nd.

Locally Owned & Operated

Boulder Hyundai 2555 30th Street • Boulder, CO 80301

1-866-347-0650 www.BoulderHyundai.com

Present this ad for $250 trade-in booster! Can be used towards the purchase of all new or used vehicles when you trade in your old car.

Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 9

Boulder’s Online Deals Marketplace

Holiday Guests in Town?

Take Someone to a

Nuggets Game!

5

December Games to choose from at

50% OFF (Must pre-purchase from BestOfBoulderDeals.com)

Visit BestofBoulderDeals.com to sign up for weekly discounts.

Annual Punch Card SALE 5 visits for $25 Ends December 15

T I L T E G GETURFFAIVOTRITE BAR YO

DANISH PLAN from Page 8

which have contributed to the destruction of the black family.

Moreover, “the targeted enforcement of marijuana laws against people of color, and the unsettling, if not humiliating, experience such enforcement entails, creates community mistrust of the police, reduces police-community cooperation, and damages public safety.” You think?

Marijuana may not be a gateway drug, as pot prohibitionists claim, but a marijuana arrest is often a gateway crime, one that introduces an otherwise honest person to both the criminal underworld and the criminal justice system — and to the sort of encounters with the cops that sometimes turn fatal.

The modern incarnation of the drug war began with the Nixon administration. It was launched deliberately to target Nixon’s enemies, including especially blacks and the young.

Confirmation of this comes from no less a source than Nixon’s White House counsel (and Watergate conspirator) John Erlichman, a member of Nixon’s inner circle and one of his most influential advisers.

During an interview with investigative author Dan Baum, he unburdened himself of the following admission, which was included in Baum’s 1995

book Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure: “Look, we understood we couldn’t make it illegal to be young or poor or black in the United States, but we could criminalize their common pleasure. We understood that drugs were not the health problem we were making them out to be, but it was such a perfect issue for the Nixon White House that we couldn’t resist it.”

As a tool of racist repression, the War on Drugs succeeded beyond its creator’s wildest dreams. Arguably, it has socially and culturally criminalized a generation of black Americans. It is the real “root cause” of many of the social pathologies of black America.

Black America’s toxic relations with the police will not improve until it is ended.

Obama does not have the power to end the drug war unilaterally. But he does have the power — explicitly given to him by Congress and the Constitution — to de-escalate it dramatically — and his failure to do so up to now is pretty contemptible considering the faith black America and young America placed in him.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

LETTERS from Page 8

Cards expire 4/20/2015

AT

Grand Prize: 6-Months membership for 2 PLUS-4 Pack Personal Training and consolation prizes

The more you use – the higher your chances to WIN!

555 30th Street (behind Rodeway/Broker Inn)

303.494.5000

www.mountainsedgefitness.com 10 December 11, 2014

Dakota and Utah) have now enacted “ag-gag” laws imposing severe penalties for using body cameras in their agricultural facilities. The language is typically drafted by the anti-consumer American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Let’s hope that other vested interests do not impose similar restrictions on the use of body cameras by law enforcement officers.

Rudolph Helman/Boulder

Make a strong choice for Secretary of Defense

President Obama has never enjoyed being commander-in-chief. He finds it difficult to even believe that the U.S. military can play a positive role in world affairs. Therefore, we must have a Secretary of Defense whose strengths will offset the president’s weaknesses.

The Senate must be sure that the new Secretary, the man on whom the president relies for military advice, will speak truthfully when it requires citing facts which the president does not want to hear. He must be willing to pass on the best military judgment of the Joint Chiefs. If the national security of the United States requires a greater military

commitment — even “boots on the ground” — he must tell the president. If the defense budget needs to be increased rather than cut, he must tell the president. If promising a swift withdrawal by a certain date will hand the enemy a strategic advantage, he must tell the president.

He must also remind the president of the need to obtain the approval of Congress before going to war. A debate and vote by Congress should be seen not only as obedience to the Constitution, but also as an opportunity to educate the public and win its support.

Peter J. Thomas/Warrenton, Va., Chairman of Americans for Constitutional Liberty/The Conservative Caucus

Three mortal men

The safety of millions of Americans who live, work, or play, within a mile of tracks where Bakken oil trains run, and the emotional state of family and friends who know these millions, are in the hands of three mortal men.

Unfortunately, these men make up the see LETTERS Page 11

Boulder Weekly

LETTERS from Page 8

North Dakota Industrial Commission.

Myron Goforth, president of Dew Point Control LLC, in Sugarland, Texas, says, “It’s a little like the Wild West up in the Bakken, where everybody gets to do what they want to do.

In the Eagle Ford [Texas shale play], you’ve got to play by the rules, which forces the oil companies to treat it [crude] differently.” — Reuters Six years after the first massive Bakken oil train explosion, outside of Luther, Okla., and seven months since the last, in downtown Lynchburg, Va., where a quirk of physics turned the exploding tanker cars towards the river, which served to spare many people and buildings; North Dakota oil regulators are feeling pressure to require the Bakken oil producers to render the trains non-explosive. Yes, it’s been possible all along. It seems that politicians in some states don’t want their citizens, or towns, incinerated, or wish to watch property values drop in the meantime.

Will they? Spoiler alert!

No. The Bakken crude needs to be “stabilized,” to remove all of the explosive “natural gas liquids” (NGL’s), such as ethane, propane and butane, which will require billions of dollars in additional equipment and infrastructure, and the oil companies don’t want to pay for it.

So, there you have it. Stabilizing would remove a totally unnecessary risk, and the preparation would provide a nice further boost to the North Dakota economy, but hey.

The commission is going to sell a different process called “conditioning,” which the oil companies have been doing all along, and doesn’t do the job; unless towering fireballs, mushroom clouds, charred buildings and graves are the objective.

Railway Age explains the difference well: “This conditioning lowers the ignition temperature of crude oil — but not by much. It leaves in solution most of the culprit gases, including butane and propane.

“Even the industry itself says conditioning would not make Bakken crude meaningfully safer for transportation, though it would make the state’s crude more consistent from one well to another.

“The only solution for safety is stabilization, which evaporates and re-liquefies nearly all of the petroleum gases for separate delivery to refiners.

Stabilization is voluntarily and uniformly practiced in the Eagle Ford formation in Texas...” — Railway Age And, right on cue, on Thursday Nov. 13, Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms presented the Boulder Weekly

North Dakota Industrial Commission with proposed new standards (there never were any old standards) to “condition” the Bakken crude, supposedly for the purpose of making the Bakken oil trains non-explosive, somewhat less explosive, kinda not explosive, get the height of the fireballs down into double digits... I don’t know.

But, if the goal is to render the Bakken oil trains non-explosive, the proposal to “condition” the crude isn’t going to cut it.

I repeat; the producers have always “conditioned” the crude, but, evidently, now they’re going to be “forced” by the North Dakota Industrial Commission to turn the knob a few notches to the right, and everything will be peachy.

If it were that simple, perhaps they should have done that before dozens of people got killed... maybe some time shortly after the first Bakken oil train derailed and blew sky high in 2008.

Commission Chair and North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple has so much faith in “conditioning” that his own emergency exercise of a Bakken oil train derailment and explosion estimated 60 casualties in Bismarck or Fargo, both medium-sized cities in North Dakota. One can only guess the number of deaths if a Bakken train were to jump the rails in Minneapolis or Chicago.

Furthermore; taxpayers are footing the bill for billions to outfit, equip and train firefighters and emergency personnel to deal with a Bakken oil derailment and explosion. Quebec is on the hook for the $2.7 billion Lac-Megantic disaster... a village of 6,000.

How much will it cost your community if tragedy strikes? Will North Dakota pay?

But, there is a bright side. When the next, or the next, or the next Bakken oil train disaster kills more people, and decimates a section of Albany, or Sacramento, or Missoula, or Perham, North Dakota can quit worrying about how to spend all of the money piling up in the Bank of North Dakota. It will be gone to the survivors and a long list of stakeholders, due to willful negligence, disinterest, or incompetence, on the part of three men.

“It took ‘more than 1,000 firefighters from 80 different municipalities in Quebec, and from six counties in the state of Maine’ to help with evacuations and fire-fighting efforts in the small town [Lac-Megantic] of only a few thousand people.” — Transportation Safety Board of Canada Ron Schalow/Fargo, N.D., The Coalition For Bakken Crude Oil Stabilization

Boulder County’s Premier Destination for Ladies Consignment Shopping

24/7 Card Key Access

20% - 40% DISCOUNTS DAILY WE CARRY QUALITY BRANDS Free People • St. John • Cosabella Betsey Johnson • Cabi • and More!

Everything for your workout except the scene Located in the North Boulder Holiday Neighborhood

(On Broadway next to Proto’s Pizza)

303.539.9334

Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm • Sunday 11am - 4pm

901 FRONT STREET • SUITE 110 • LOUISVILLE 720.379.5572 SWITCHBOUTIQUELOUISVILLE.COM

4660 N. Broadway

ironworksfitness.net

PROUDLY

• Prompt Service, Denver & Surrounding Areas Servicing all of your • Family Owned and Operated garage door needs • Spring Replacement Specialist with over • Rollers & Cables 19 YEARS OF • Openers & Remotes EXPERIENCE! • Panels Replaced When you mention Boulder, Broomfield, this ad!

• New Replacement Doors Denver and surrounding areas

10% OFF

Free Estimates! 303-920-2267 www.abettergaragedoorinc.com abgdinc@yahoo.com

Personal Checks accepted

December 11, 2014 11

Celebrating 5 Years

As a Locally Grown Business

Claw and Talon Tattoo

W

21+ Counter Now Open 2897 Mapleton Ave. Ste 800 • 303.539.6525 Across From The Mapleton Ballfields

@14erBoulder

elcome to Claw and Talon Tattoo!

In addition to providing artistic excellence, we are also committed to making your experience as comfortable as it can be. We will listen to your ideas and work with you to create an artwork that you can be proud of.

We are conveniently located at 1695 Folsom St., directly across from McGuckin Hardware.

Please visit our website to view our artist’s portfolios and give us a call to set up a free consultation!

You are also always welcome to drop in.

Support these

local businesses

PROFILES

We would also like to welcome guest artist, Sam Parker, from Oct. 28-Nov 4. Please visit our website for images of his work.

We look forward to working with you! www.clawandtalontattoo.com • (720) 379-6577

Rancho Grande Restaurant

E

very city has a few hidden gems, culinary secrets, and restaurants that focus on traditional food—the product of recipes handed down over generations by word of mouth. Rancho Grande Mexican Restaurant on 29th and Valmont is one of these hidden gems in the city of Boulder.

Lorenzo Ramirez and his family, who own and manage Rancho Grande, have asserted their dominance as the go-to traditional taqueria in Boulder. This is the place to experience the classics, made the way your Abuelita intended them to be. Whether it’s Huevos Rancheros or Chilaquiles for breakfast, classic street tacos for lunch, or their famed Chimichanga for dinner, you can’t go wrong with

whatever you choose at Rancho Grande. And with a massive whiteboard-style menu that’s constantly evolving to showcase new specials and traditional eats, you would be hard-pressed to find something that doesn’t suit your pallet. Catch a $3 Margarita from 3-6pm, and follow up the next morning with some Menudo to cure the hangover.

Find Rancho Grande at 2966 Valmont Rd. Boulder, CO 80301.

Open every day 8:00am - 8:00pm, or give them a call (303) 442-1266 for delivery or take-out. You can also head over to ranchograndeboulder.com <http://ranchograndeboulder.com> to check daily and weekly specials.

Peaceful Tree Massage Therapy Want happy pets with Fresh Breath?

Anesthesia-Free Teeth Cleaning

For info on locations call 303-654-0560 Or visit the event calendar at

w w w.WellAnimalInstitute.com

N

eed a little R&R? Visit Peaceful Tree Massage Therapy located in South Boulder! Established in August 2014, Peaceful Tree offers a variety of massage therapies with a relaxing spa-like atmosphere. The owner Janelle graduated from the Denver School of Massage Therapy and has gained experience by working at mountain resorts, massage clinics, and local day spas.

Janelle is trained in different massage techniques including Swedish, Deep Tissue, Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Hot Stone, Sports, and Prenatal.

After earning her degree in Hospitality, Janelle traveled and became mesmerized by the peaceful

and iconic Redwoods in northern California. Inspiration struck during her trip and she decided to pursue her dream of opening her very own Massage Therapy business.

Located off 29th and Baseline in South Boulder, Peaceful Tree Massage shares a suite with Birch Skin Studio so that the two businesses may provide professional spa services in one convenient location! If you’re interested in services, prices, or booking an appointment, please visit www.peacefultreemassage.com and remember – “Your Greatest Wealth is Your Health!” - Virgil.

For more information call 720-514-2306 2935 Baseline Rd #300, Boulder, CO, 80303

Free Your Natural State of Mind

NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR TASTING ROOM

TATTOO 2850 Iris Ave unit 1-2 303-549-9248

www.ironbettetattoo.com

WHITE DOG MOONSHINE

RECENT SILVER MEDAL WINNER AT THE AMERICAN CRAFT DISTILLERS CONVENTION! COME IN AND TRY IT TODAY! 4196 Ute Highway (66), Lyons, CO 303-823-5696 www.spirthounds.com

Brain Training with Neuroptimal® Neurofeedback Self-Awareness Holistic Technology

Relaxation, Mindfulness, Performance • increase self-regulation, focus and attention • support both relaxed and alert brain states

• enable access to inherent skills and resources • promote calm, balance and self-confidence

• decrease reactivity and distractibility • decrease social and performance anxiety

“I am far more mindful, clear and connected.” J. Ford

Introductory 2 for 1 offer Home units available Contact Joy Om M.A. Healing Arts practitioner for over 30 years www.mindbodyneurofeedback.com • 303.449.8664 Neuroptimal Neurofeedback • For Learning, for Fun, for Life

Free Motion Dance Center

F

ree Motion Dance Center is a fun and dynamic movement center located in Boulder, Colorado. It’s where dancers, artists, musicians, lecturers and creative enthusiasts of all kinds and ages come together to offer programs for the community. We have developed inspiring classes, workshops and entrepreneurial coaching for creative types. Free Motion Boulder also sponsors events, performances and afterschool programs for young people. We all share the belief that freedom through movement is one of the most essential human experiences. We conduct research about the beneficial physical, emotional and transportive healing effects of movement, dance and music emphasizing ecstatic, freeform and expression.

Rather than thinking about movement and dance as simply exercise or perfecting moves, we come to the dance floor to re-awaken our bodies, refresh our purpose and visions and align with our inner source individually and as a group. Through rediscovering who we are at our most authentic, our very best, we uncover our innate feeling of radiant aliveness and uncover our individual magnetic power. All of Free Motion’s fun, varied and transformative offerings are designed to provide opportunities that encourage our students and ever-expanding community to explore their edges physically, emotionally, mentally and soulfully in a beautiful, bright space in downtown Boulder that is supportive, non-competitive and fun.

2126 Pearl St, Boulder, CO 80302. Call 720-379-8299

Mind Body Neuro

N

eurofeedback allows you to re-train your brain for optimal learning, performance and well-being. This evolved form of brainwave neurofeedback can actually help liberate you from trauma, self-imposed limitations and negative habit patterns. You can eliminate stress and suffering by changing how the mind and brain receive and filter information.

During brainwave training, the brain hears realtime feedback allowing it to recognize immediately when it is out of balance. Then, rather than choosing an old reactive, ineffective or even addictive pattern, the brain will automatically choose a more functional and creative pathway, giving it options for new feelings and behaviors. The nervous system relaxes into its more natural state and symptoms begin to release and resolve.

Neuoroptimal neurofeedback has proven effective with:

Healthy Food, Treats and Toys for Cats and Dogs

4593 N. Broadway Boulder

Across the street from Amante Coffee in North Boulder

* Anxiety and depression * Peak Performance * ADD and learning issues * Mood regulation * Focus and concentration * Greater awareness * PTSD, trauma release, TBI * Better sleep * Anger, addictions, social insecurity With neurofeedback training, the brain learns to fluidly self-regulate, supporting mindfulness and insight. Clients report that emotions stabilize and mental acuity increases.

You actually experience yourself in the world as relaxed, clear, confident and aware. Come and see for yourself! For more information call Joy 303-449-8664

We Deliver!

720-502-4869

$2.00 Off

Mon-Fri: 11:00 am to 7:00 pm Sat: 11:00 am to 6:00 pm or more Sun: 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm s of $10 on purchase

One coupon per transaction. Expires 12/31/14

www.bvcu.org Multiple Convenient Locations In Boulder County

14er 14er Holistics has spent the last five thing they do. Community means everything to 14er and they prove years proving how a local canit every year with their annual nabis business can and should be. food drive and athlete sponsorFounded by CU grads in 2009, 14er ships across Boulder. 14er Holistics Holistics has put down deep roots is Boulder’s premier example that in this city. For five years (in Februbeing local and responsible are ary), 14er has helped define the the only approaches acceptable state of the art in cannabis breedfor a cannabis business. ing, cultivation and patient eduThe 14er Family has always opercation, while striving to accomated with the goal of bringing plish this in the most efficient and the patients of Boulder the finest environmentally responsible way flowers and solventless extracpossible. From offsetting all power tions available anywhere and used in production, sourcing now materials from as close to home as 2897 possible and Mapleton Ave they Ste are 800available to all customers over 21 years old. Come find out what everyone’s been a container recycling program, 14er proves their 303.539.6525 @14erBoulder talking about! commitment to a true triple bottom line in every-

21+ Counter Now Open

Special $45 Introductory Swedish Massage for 60 minutes

2935 Baseline Rd., #300 • Boulder, CO 80303 • 720.514.2306 www.peacefultreemassage.com • peacfultreemassage@gmail.com

BOULDER, COLORADO • DESIGNS BY KATE MARIE

LOVE TO SHOP Now you have an even better reason to feel good about it!

When you shop at locally owned & independent businesses, up to 68% of your purchase stays within the local economy.

BIBA encourages residents to buy, bank, & eat locally – it boosts the economy, creates more jobs, & offers a more unique shopping experience. Small businesses create 7 out of every 10 new jobs. Let’s help keep them going.

Shop, bank, & eat local. Your community will thank you.

BUY LOCAL. BUILD COMMUNITY. WWW.BOULDERIBA.ORG

I

SHOP

$ BANK 720-565-3854

Handmade Sterling Silver and Gemstone Jewelry by Kate Marie. Rings, Earrings, Necklaces, Bracelets, etc.! *Fashion jewelry, birthstone jewelry, everyday jewelry and special occasion jewelry.

Using natural stones: Opal, Amethyst, Moonstone, Turquoise, Tiger’s Eye, Garnet, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Peridot, Aquamarine, Topaz, Tourmaline, Tanzanite!

Contact me if you are interested in creating a piece or recreating a similar piece.

WWW.CATCHONJEWELRY.COM WWW.ETSY.COM/SHOP/CATCHONJEWELRY

303.442.8850

Peaceful Tree Massage Therapy

CATCH ON JEWELRY E AT

coup with this

COUPON

“Truly Authentic” Open Monday - Sunday 8:00am - 8:00pm

2966 Valmont Rd. Boulder, CO 303-442-1266 www.ranchograndeboulder.com

news

I

Learning, the hard way INTERNAL COMPLAINTS FROM A LONGMONT CHARTER SCHOOL RAISE QUESTIONS OF OVERSIGHT

n the past year and a half, Flagstaff Academy Charter School in Longmont has undergone some major changes.

Changes that have caused some teachers and administrators to quit, some parents to complain and remove their children from the school, and some former employees and board members to voice concerns about the direction of the school.

The school, which was founded in 2005 and focuses on teaching science and technology, has undoubtedly given and continues to give hundreds of K-8 students a good education and unique opportunities.

But Boulder Weekly decided to take a look into the school after hearing of the mini exodus of administrators, teachers and families within the last year and after reading the comments of concerned parents on a school message board, both of which indicated at least an appearance of impropriety. What we uncovered was a drastic shift in administrative structure and personnel that may have contributed to some of the issues that have been brought to light. What we also found was a major hole in the state and district oversight of charter schools, which are funded by taxpayers — Flagstaff, for instance, has an annual budget of about $6 million.

To get a sense of the issues that parents are noticing, take a look at some of these concerns from anonymous Flagstaff parents on the school message board GreatSchools.org within the last few months: “Over the past year the school has gone through many changes that have not been for the best. [The] administration has been unable to effectively handle and minimize problems, which has lead to at least six families leaving mid-year within a few weeks. In addition to poor communication and lack of honesty from the school, the academics have fallen below what one would expect from Flagstaff. Unable to replace teachers with experienced teachers. Many other schools in the area are getting much better results and have many additional resources available — no longer a top choice in the area.” – Parent, Nov. 8, 2014.

“The school is degrading compared to what it was five years ago. Leadership is really bad now — care 14 December 11, 2014

by Matt Cortina

about their career only.” – Parent, May 1, 2014.

“My son has experienced a high turnover of teachers. Why won’t the board listen to the parents? The principal and the board are inept!” – Parent, April 26, 2014.

“I no longer have children [at] Flagstaff as of this year and I am amazed that things could seemingly be worse now [than they] were a year ago.” – Parent, May 7, 2014.

Let’s go back a year and see how Flagstaff got to where they are today.

In early 2013, Flagstaff Principal Andrew Moore notified the school that he was leaving his post in favor of the same job at Lyons Elementary for personal reasons. Moore had been at the school for four years and had seen the school roughly double in size to 900 students by the time of his departure. Moore recently told BW, “I left, simply, to move to a smaller school environment.”

Due to the same growth that Moore says caused him to exit, Flagstaff decided to reconsider its administrative structure in order to better serve a larger student body.

So the Flagstaff board of directors created the Organizational Design Advisory Committee (ODAC) to first implement an interim administrative structure for the school and, later, decide the permanent administrative structure.

According to board member Linda D’Evelyn (who outlined the timeline of events to the board) as well as posted board minutes, then-board Vice President Wayne Granger was voted the chair of the organizational design committee on May 6, 2013. On June 3, Granger proposed to the board an interim administrative structure that called for one interim executive director to lead while the vice principals of the middle school and elementary school were given more responsibilities. The board approved the structure. It

also approved another proposal from the committee that determined the financial compensation for the interim executive director.

The committee then selected members for a different, more specific committee that would search for, interview and recommend a candidate to fill the newly created interim executive director position. But one week later, Granger resigned from the organization design committee and threw his name into the ring for interim executive director. (Note that Granger’s term on the board of directors had expired during the summer.)

Granger was a “founding family” of Flagstaff, meaning his and other families had helped form the charter school back in 2005. He had also served as a board member for four years and was in the process of earning a master’s degree in leadership from the University of Denver. That’s the end of Granger’s experience in academia. He served as a Commerce City police officer for 18 years and also runs an event management business.

When asked to clarify if Granger had resigned from the police force, he said “I left,” and cited his love of charter school administration.

“I found my passion,” Granger says. “I love charter school leadership. I love the people I’m working for. I love Flagstaff Academy.

“This is not an unusual path. You find your passion, you find your love.

“I’m really sorry that you’re being contacted, trying to make this more than it is than that. This is what I love to do. I am extremely fortunate. If someone else thinks there’s some other ulterior motive or something else, I’m sorry. The flat truth is this is what I love to do.”

Granger ended up being selected as one of two finalists for the interim executive director position.

The committee had narrowed down from 42 candidates over several months using the criteria of leadership, non-profit experience, fundraising, ability to work with parents, Flagstaff culture, attitude, communication skills and education level.

The final candidate Granger was competing against was Sue Ann Highland, an educator since Boulder Weekly

1994 who had been principal at three elementary schools; a district coordinator in Fort Lupton; the director of federal programs, curriculum and instruction in Weld County; and had a master’s degree in educational leadership.

The Flagstaff board of directors, of which Granger had very recently been a member, interviewed both candidates and Granger was unanimously approved as the interim executive director.

However, there was some immediate concern from within the Flagstaff community.

According to board minutes, two parents separately voiced concerns that the interim executive director salary (which Granger proposed) was too high (suggested salary: $40,000-$60,000; approved salary: up to $75,000). Moreover, board member D’Evelyn (who ultimately voted for Granger’s approval) said at the time “Granger could be perceived as having inappropriately using [sic] his position as the vice president of the Flagstaff board of directors to create a position for himself.”

It should be noted that even those board members and parents who expressed concern over the route Granger took to the position did not in any way object to Granger as a person or candidate at this point.

Current Flagstaff Board President Neal Enssle, who was on the board during the hiring process and who moderated the candidates’ interviews, said Granger passed enough metrics in the hiring process to win the job regardless of his affiliation with the school and familiarity with the board of directors he left only months prior.

“Mr. Granger competed in two separate, robust hiring processes … against more than 40 applicants for the role of interim executive director,” Enssle says.

“The [hiring committee] requested and received input from the Flagstaff community, including an unsolicited letter signed by over two-thirds of staff strongly supporting Mr. Granger.

“I believe that Mr. Granger’s hiring was, in short, an open, fair, public, and very transparent process.”

Still, former board member Sandra Weckerly wrote the board after “receiving a very large number of calls from other parents,” and claimed that “several IEDHC [interim executive director hiring committee members] were actively interested in seeing that Wayne Granger obtain the position.”

To illustrate Weckerly’s point, when board vice president and organizational design committee member Sterling Backus resigned immediately following Granger’s approval, Enssle (who, again, served on the Interim Executive Director Hiring Committee and interviewed the candidates), was nominated for and approved as vice president of the board.

At the same time, another organizational design committee member and elementary school Vice Principal Terri Long resigned from the committee and began work in the new, elevated assistant principal role that Granger and the committee had put before the board.

And following Granger’s appointment, just days Boulder Weekly

before the start of the school year, Flagstaff ’s business administrator, Margaret Cummings, resigned after six and a half years on the job. This not only raised eyebrows, but left a major operational void. And to fill it, the board approved a company called Abstract Insights, where two former board members were executives. The two were Linda Arnold, a former Flagstaff board president who worked several years on the board with Granger, and Patty Cragg, former board president and chair of the organizational design committee that was involved in filling the administrative void. The new contract was for roughly $7,500 per month, a cost that ended up being about $25,000 higher annually than was being previously expended on the business manager position, and nearly three times higher than what is being spent by Twin Peaks Charter School, which is of similar size, for their financial administration.

“I heard rumors of that after we made the selection but nothing was ever voiced in advance and so no,” Granger says of people’s concern over the connection to Abstract Insights. “No one from Abstract Insights or even related to them was involved in that process. All I can say is it was handled completely with integrity, objectivity and what was best for this school.”

Even though Granger says the business management is moving in house, the school still renewed a contract with the company to handle their ongoing “CFO work.”

But even before the Abstract Insights arrangement, there was controversy regarding the board and the business management position. In fact, that’s part of why Granger says he became so active with the board and sought the interim executive director position.

Granger says that when the former business administrator was fired, before he was on the board, Cummings, then a board member, “immediately replaced her without a hiring process while also remaining on the Board.”

Cummings declined to comment on multiple occasions regarding this story.

Granger says that same board also awarded a marketing contract to the board vice president’s wife’s company without a bid process. That lack of transparency is what Granger says compelled him into administration, saying that situation was “largely the impetus for becoming involved in the school’s leadership and board as a whole, and why our board and school now operate with such transparency and integrity.”

•••• So Granger took over as interim executive director in fall 2013 and shortly thereafter, the board of directors voted to approve a permanent administrative structure going forward: An executive director would be hired to handle the organization of the school, a chief academic officer to handle the academic issues, and the two assistant principals, Long and Charlie Warren would continue operating the elementary and middle schools, respectively. The structure was recommended after internal research by a consultant hired

for $4,800, Ken Schuetz of Aligned Influence.

The board then approved another special committee — the Administrative Hiring Committee — to find and hire the permanent executive director and chief academic officer.

The new committee said it would not prioritize master’s degrees or specific educational experience over the general qualifications that the board had defined in its search for the interim executive director.

The committee included two board members, five faculty members and four parents, one of whom left the committee during the process and was not replaced.

After a national search, the committee whittled 72 applicants down to four. Two applicants dropped out (one, according to board minutes, because of the committee’s process). One of the two remaining candidates was Rob Clemens, a 13-year school administrator with a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Business School, and who was the Denver Public Schools business and operations manager and the former New Vision Charter School business manager. The other candidate was Granger, the former police officer.

The board of directors convened to approve one of the two men as executive director. According to board minutes, Board Vice President Enssle led the charge in support of Granger, citing the Administrative Hiring Committee’s 6-4 vote in favor of him. Enssle called for a vote, but board member Craig Norman said he wasn’t ready, adding that “it is dangerous to endorse Wayne Granger based on experience” and asked the board to “dissociate personality from role.”

Board member D’Evelyn asked her fellow board members to “look at what has not been accomplished” in Granger’s time as interim executive director, “in terms of grant writing, sponsorships and representing Flagstaff to the outside community,” qualities, she said, that the other candidate had in abundance.

Enssle again called for a vote and the board approved Granger as the executive director by a vote of 4-2. Two of those Granger supporters on the board immediately left the board following the vote and Enssle was voted board president.

Going back to previous concerns, Enssle says there is no reason other than coincidence to attribute his ascent to board president as Granger rose to executive director.

“I feel my ‘rise’ on the board has been due to nothing more than my dedication, commitment and substantial contributions of time and energy to the school,” Enssle says. “Mr. Granger’s rise to the role of [executive director] and my rise to the role of president is, I feel, a coincidence of timing.

“I will say that Mr. Granger and I share many of the same goals for the school, have developed a great deal of mutual respect for each other over the past 16 months, and that we do work effectively together.”

Looking back over a period of months that saw him go from board member to the school’s highestSee CHARTER Page 16

December 11, 2014 15

CHARTER from Page 15

ranking administrator, Granger doesn’t categorize the shift in administrative structure as a massive overhaul, nor does he think any perception of seat trading in the upper staff is accurate.

“The big thing was that when Andrew Moore was hired, we were just over 400 students and when he left we were approaching 900 students, so the school had made a drastic change in terms of what it was the day he was hired to when he was leaving,” Granger says.

“The board decided at the time that we were very fortunate we were not in scandal, that we were not in a situation where we didn’t have solid leadership in place. It was a smart thing to do after eight years of operation, tremendous periods of growth to step back and say ‘What is the proper structure for Flagstaff Academy going forward?’”

•••• Asking yourself, as a school, “What is the best administrative structure going forward?” is certainly a smart thing to do. To act on whatever findings you uncover, even better. But this is sort of where the issues start to bubble over. Whether your persuasion is to call Granger’s rise nepotism or bureaucracy or common sense is almost irrelevant if all the ends justify the means.

But there is reason to believe, according to those within the Flagstaff community, that the ends may be too weak to justify the means.

The first indication of such comes from the departure of the first-ever chief academic officer just four months after she was hired. (As she searches for a new job, the woman who served as Flagstaff ’s first chief academic officer asked that we do not use her full name and so we’ll refer to her as Dr. A.) Dr. A had been in educational leadership positions since 2000 when she got the job at Flagstaff in May 2014. She specializes in curriculum development, review and alignment and owns a doctorate in education.

But after taking the job at Flagstaff, Dr. A says she quickly found that the position of chief academic officer was a completely token role with few responsibilities and little respect garnered amongst the administration.

The position, as defined by the board of directors, called for the chief academic officer to, among other things, “develop and lead assistant principals,” and “evaluate program effectiveness and acquire appropriate program resources.” Dr. A says she wasn’t allowed to do either.

“As the school year started, it was perfectly clear to me that I was not allowed to supervise either of the principals. By the way, they were no longer in the eyes of the executive director [Granger] assistant principals; he wanted to make them principals. Okay, whatever, semantics. But we would be in meetings and I would say, ‘You know what I think the direction we probably need to head in science, in terms of curriculum development and curriculum review,’ and I’d be overridden by the executive director [Granger] who’d say, ‘No, that’s not the direction we’re going to be heading.’ So again it was very, very clear that I was not supervising. I was not doing the things I was hired to do,” Dr. A says.

Enssle and Granger declined to comment to this and all other claims in this story that were made by Dr. A citing that her departure is “a personnel matter 16 December 11, 2014

and her privacy is protected by law,” (Enssle) and “I will not be responding to any comments that [Dr. A] has made out of compliance with employment law requirements and respecting the privacy of [Dr. A]” (Granger).

If true, the fact that the chief academic officer claims she was unable to manage the principals or change the curriculum as she was hired to do appears to be in direct contradiction to the job responsibilities laid out, again, by the board of directors. The executive director’s role is to be “responsible for facility and program operations, personnel, communications, finance, and human resources staff and functions,” and operate the budget.

Enssle clarified the role of the executive director: “It is worth noting that charter schools are different than traditional public schools in that charters must handle many tasks internally compared to traditional public schools, which have a district to take care of operations, facility issues, etc.,” Enssle says. “This makes the role of a charter school executive director much different than that of a traditional school principal. Traditional school principals are focused on academics while charter school executive directors act like a mini-superintendent. … It’s not uncommon at a larger charter school such as Flagstaff to have an executive director who acts more as a CEO, and under that person have principals who focus on academics.”

And if that structure and those roles were in place and scrupulously exacted, Dr. A says, then there would be no issue. But that wasn’t her experience, she says.

“One of the things that eventually came out towards the end when I was there was that Wayne [Granger] said to me, ‘You know what? Just forget your job description. We’re just going to do something else,’” Dr. A says. “I said ‘Whoa, ... Contractually I signed this job description; I have a contract to perform this role.’ ‘Oh well, you know, don’t worry about that. We’re going to have to reevaluate, we’re going to have to create our own lanes.’ That was the verbiage used time and time again — we’re going to create our own lanes. That was a part of the grievance — you don’t sign a contract and then change the job.”

Again, Granger declined to comment on this allegation, citing personnel law.

The grievance Dr. A mentioned was filed with the board to address the work environment, she says, which not only included a change in stated roles, but allegations of gender-based discrimination from Granger and middle school principal Warren.

“In one instance I was shocked at how [Warren] was talking to me in the midst of a leadership meeting and afterwards I called him out on it, I said, ‘Charlie, you know, hey, if you’ve got a problem, you’ve got to come and talk to me directly, not be so overly aggressive in these meetings.’ Well he approached the executive director [Granger] and the executive director took him out for a beer and later said to me when I approached him about it, I said, ‘Did you take Charlie out for a beer?’ [and Granger] said, ‘Yeah, I felt like he needed to talk man-to-man.’”

Again, Granger declined to respond to this and all comments made by Dr. A. When Dr. A went to the board with the grievance, says she found no ally in Board President Enssle.

“When I met with them ... they came back and they said, ‘We do find some merit to the fact that obviously there was some concerns about job descriptions and not aligning with what you were doing on the ground, but we don’t find any need to pursue any further around the discrimination.’ So that’s where I was just livid. They said there was not a preponderance of evidence to support it,” Dr. A says.

Enssle declined to comment on this but did say that the board of directors has “created a strong plan to hire for this position that will include a job description aligned to Flagstaff ’s strategic plan and the evolving needs of the school.”

The whole situation left Dr. A, who has two children at the school, wondering if her position was a waste of money. That is, if the current administration was going to do what they wanted without consulting her expertise, she says, why make taxpayers pay for that position?

“I felt like I was not able to do the job that I wanted to do and every day felt as if ‘Why the hell am I here? Why is this school wasting $90,000 to have this position? It’s ridiculous.’ And being a parent at the school I’m like ‘Wait a second, that’s money that could be going toward my kids’ education in a different way if I’m not being utilized as effectively as possible,’” Dr. A says.

Indeed, Dr. A says she was shocked to find the state of academic affairs in Flagstaff when she arrived — and the fact that she says she was getting locked out from helping the situation frustrated her.

There are other metrics to judge the school’s academic performance besides Dr. A’s personal experience. Two major school ranking websites downgraded Flagstaff Academy this year, and the school did not receive a John Irwin Award, which is given to exceptional schools in Colorado and which the school had won regularly in years past. Those rankings included a downgrade from an A to a C+ in the elementary school in one school year from the independent source Colorado School Grades, as well as a percentage point drop in performance from the Colorado Department of Education.

Enssle acknowledged the drop in rankings but clarified that the school is still outperforming the vast majority of Colorado schools.

“I have a great deal of confidence in Flagstaff ’s overall academic program. Flagstaff ’s middle school is ranked number 12 in the state on Colorado School Grades, with an A grade,” Enssle says. “True, our elementary school received a C+ from that same website.

But it is worth pointing out that in 2014, Flagstaff ’s elementary school ranked better than 90.2 percent of elementary schools in Colorado, according to SchoolDigger.com.

“The main strength of charter schools is that we have the ability to make swift adjustments internally and are doing just that to ensure that our elementary and middle schools continuously improve their academic growth performance moving forward.”

But that same ability to be flexible in academic pursuits was also the culprit of a disjointed curriculum, says Dr. A, that did not meet adequate standards.

“First of all, there’s no science curriculum,” she says. “I was floored when I came on board. They were following some of the things off of the common core, they were following the core knowledge sequence for Boulder Weekly

news reading and math but they were making stuff up as they went along for science.

And being a science and technology school, that floored me.

“The reading was very weak, very little instructional direction in how it sequenced. Case in point, the fifth grade did their novel-based curriculum but it has nothing tied to core knowledge, they used core knowledge books but the sequencing was all off. The common core is not tied to it at all.

None of the other grades do novelbased curriculum, so why would they be the only ones doing this? It was just very misaligned.”

Enssle, speaking generally, disagrees that the entire school is weak in reading and sciences.

“Comparing our students versus the statewide average in both math and reading proficiency, our third graders were 20 percentage points ahead, our fifth graders were a solid 15 points ahead, and our eighth graders were again more than 20 points ahead. Last year our students were number one in reading in the district, and we significantly exceeded our growth targets in math in multiple grades,” Enssle says.

So at this point it’s a bit of he said, she said. You have one outside curriculum expert who came into the school and saw such academic turmoil that she quit when she wasn’t allowed to fix it, versus a board president who is passionate about the school and whose own kids attend the school. Parents are divided. Rankings and statistics do indicate a downturn in performance, but the school is relatively still very high-achieving.

But what concerns some in the Flagstaff community is that if there were academic areas in need of attention, there is waning confidence that the administration is equipped to handle it, and that based on Dr. A’s experience, the administration might be unlikely to give the next person they hire in that role the ability to fix it.

And according to Dr. A, Granger’s administration is not only taking from academic areas that need attention, but allocating funds to superfluous expenses.

“I’m just shocked that there’s no sense of foresight in the budget around the academics,” Dr. A says. “Case in point, right now a lot of the social studies books are going to be out of date because the publisher is not going to be printing this particular social studies book, but there was nothing that I was able to pick up on after talking about this with Wayne. ‘What are we going do about this because now we’re going Boulder Weekly

to have to look at really a big chunk of money next year going toward a text?

Particularly in social studies, that is not cheap.’ ‘Well we really didn’t put that in,’ [Granger said]. I said ‘Jesus, that’s going to be big!’ You’ve got to have that foresight.”

Instead, Dr. A says the decision to buy Google Chromebooks for the entire middle school all at once was “a big fiasco” and that ideally that purchase would have been phased over several years.

In all of her years of experience, Dr. A says she’s never been in a position like hers, or seen someone in a position like hers, that does not have access to the school’s budget. But at Flagstaff, she did not see where money that was allocated to academic expenses was going.

This is particularly interesting because the fund allotment at Flagstaff stands out when compared to other similarly sized charter schools in the area. For instance, in the 2013-14 school year and the first bit of this school year — about a year and a half (and the time Granger has been in charge) — Flagstaff has spent $15,526 on food and leisure expenditures. Not school lunches. Just a bunch of expenditures like $95 at Truffles in Paradise, regular trips to Jimmy John’s, a monthly $350 affair at Santiago’s, $149.78 at Rock Bottom Brewery and $65 at Waxing the City.

Compare that to $4,469 in the same time period at Twin Peaks Charter Academy, which is bigger than Flagstaff Academy and has a high school.

“Internally we do have some staff incentives,” Granger says of the expenses. “At the same time the hiring committees that were running the CAO [chief academic officer] as well as my position when they would have weekend meetings they would bring in lunches for the volunteers. We run things like ‘Pizza with the Principals’ as incentives for the students. The majority is Flagstaff Rising expenditures because it’s going to show up as an expense if you don’t look at the revenue coming in.”

Flagstaff Rising was a 2013 fundraiser for flood relief and Granger says the event “significantly” inflated the total expenditure number, but that the event was cost-neutral — the event earned about $8,912 but expended $8,580 upon initial review, Granger told the board at the time (It rained a lot on the day of the event, which he says hindered turnout). Regardless, the See CHARTER Page 18

December 11, 2014 17

CHARTER from Page 17

Massage and Skin Care Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Collagen Induction Therapy: Skin rejuvenation using your own cells In Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy, a small amount of your own blood is drawn and spun down in a centrifuge; separating the plasma and other elements of the blood. The concentrated heavy Platelets that release growth factors and activate stem cells are extracted to form a serum (Platelet Rich Plasma) and then are applied to the skin and driven in by micro needling with the .

When activated, these cells will grow new, younger-looking skin. Skin will continue to improve up to 6 months after the last session.

Reduction of Fine lines and Wrinkles, Acne Scars, Surgical Scars, Stretch Marks (1hr & 45 min. session) $245 for Collagen Induction Therapy (3-6 treatments recommended)

$595 for Collagen Induction Therapy with PRP (2-3 treatments recommended) *Uses an Organic Numbing Cream, Vegan Hyaluronic acid, your own Platelet Rich Plasma, along with a single disposable needle cartridge that contains 12 tiny stainless steel 33 gauge needles. Includes face, neck and décolletage .

To see videos on this treatment visit www.bouldermassageandskincare.com

BEST SKIN CARE

Nora Keahon L.M.T / L.E / Certified Dermapen Clinician & Phlebotomist www.divineresonance.com 1634 Walnut St., Ste. 111, Boulder • 720-432-1108 www.bouldermassageandskincare.com

BEST Consignment

BEST Antique Dealer

BEST Home Furnishings

Antiques • Furniture • Home Decor • Jewerly • Art 4919 N. Broadway, Boulder, CO 303.447.0417 • wwwtheamazinggaragesale.com

The Cleaning Fairies We give you your weekends back!

Specializing In: Residential, Construction, Move Out & Move in, and Commercial Cleans.

AP

ERF

ECT H O L I DAY GI

FT

Gift Certificates Now Available

Let the Fairies do your pre or post Celebration Clean!

720v565v3411 • boulderfairies@gmail.com www.cleaningfairies.com 18 December 11, 2014

only line items for the event included in the tabulation of the $15,526 for food and leisure expenditures was $800 spent at Sam’s Club a few days ahead of the event.

It’s also worth noting that Granger’s event management company Marquee Event Solutions was a partner in the Flagstaff Rising event, but did not receive “any pecuniary benefit” from the event, Granger says.

“The only benefit I received was knowing that I served my community and my school by volunteering my unique talents and partnerships to help the community in need,” Granger says.

In a $6 million annual budget, $15,000 on student incentives, hiring committees and the like could be legitimately excused, but it does bring up questions about how the school decides to spend money.

Granger says the school has acted with complete financial responsiblity and all contracts and expenses, including the contract with Abstract Insights (the business management firm where two former board members are executives mentioned earlier) are done transparently.

“As we sit right now, we are in a very strong financial position, we are complying with all the financial transparency laws that exist out there. I can’t comment as to was there some other thing going on, was there this or that…

All I can tell you is absolutely not, everything was done with the law, transparently approved by the board of directors which is a group of seven people,” Granger says.

•••• Now that’s another issue entirely: if a board of directors and an administration are cohesively purchasing things that some people think are superfluous or if they’re not providing an adequate curriculum for its students or if they’re just not utilizing taxpayer money effectively in the eyes of parents and community members, at what point would the district step in?

“I’d have to talk to our district attorneys to find out what point the district would have to step in,” says John Poynton, executive director of organizational development and communications at St. Vrain Valley School District.

When asked about the issues mentioned in this article, Poynton says, “I don’t keep track of their activities. It’s a charter school and they’re very independent, so I don’t know about those things and there’s no reason why I would know because I’m not involved and none of us are involved in any of those activities.

“That’s why they’re a charter school,

so they can have that independent voice and how they operate and I’m sure their board will respond accordingly.”

And if there are concerns that the board hasn’t removed itself far enough from the administration it is supposed to be managing?

“That would be an issue for their board and their parents,” Poynton says.

Actually, the only recourse parents or community members have if they have concerns over the way a charter school is managed is to first contact the board, then the district that authorized the charter (in Flagstaff ’s case, the St. Vrain Valley School District). The Colorado Department of Education does not “oversee the operation of charter schools within the state,” and does not respond to complaints.

Dr. A says she saw firsthand how a board that she and others view as too close to the administration might cause issues for the school.

“The thing that was obvious when I was attending board meetings is that Wayne [Granger] was speaking at it from ‘I remember this when I was president of the board.’ It was like ‘Whoa, wow, you’re not in this role anymore.’

You can’t come at it from ‘This is what the board should be doing.’ They’re your boss now and that line was very weird. So yes, they’re very, very tight.

However, what I find interesting out of that whole thing is that his approval to be the executive director was split and some of those people are no longer on the board but that speaks to something in my mind. What it is I don’t know,” Dr. A says.

•••• Perhaps the most convincing evidence that there may indeed be an issue at Flagstaff is that parents are removing their kids and teachers are leaving.

In the past year, in addition to Dr. A and the business administrator resigning, two teachers left the middle school, one left fourth grade and one mid-level administrator was reassigned late in the summer. Dr. A says she’s never seen such turnover, especially at the beginning of the school year. She contributes the exodus in part to academic leadership.

“The teachers are expecting more and the teachers are expecting that things could be better,” Dr. A says.

“When we were doing the curriculum review teams for science and reading and social studies, the teachers were all saying, ‘This is what we needed. We needed to all come together and we needed to have this camaraderie around our curriculum.’ They want more and I think they expect better and I think they’re all just sort of hunkering down.”

Boulder Weekly

news But Dr. A also contributes the exodus to disciplinary and administrative leadership.

Recently, an incident concerning the way a teacher was treated by administration in response to a classroom incident resulted in that teacher and another leaving the school, alleges Dr. A. The way that incident was handled by the administration (which is confidential due to personnel laws) rubbed teachers and parents the wrong way, Dr. A claims, and that led to a potential overreaction from administration during another incident involving two fourth graders in October.

According to the Longmont police, there was an incident in a fourth grade classroom that involved “possible sexual contact,” but that “much of the behavior may have been appropriate for the age level” and that it was certainly “not a criminal event,” according to Longmont police spokesman Jeff Satur.

“It was not communicated well,” Dr. A says of the school’s reaction to the fourth grade event. “Do I think it could have been handled in a different way had the teacher situation been handled differently? Absolutely. I think that ... the teacher situation was handled so poorly that it just left everyone on edge.

I think it was an overreaction to [the prior teacher incident].”

Satur says Granger called in the fourth grade sex event personally to the police department and that the school “did everything appropriately.”

Parents have also said (on anonymous web forums, bear in mind) that they’re concerned with an increase in bullying that oddly coincides with an alleged inconsistent discipline policy, that Dr. A calls “Draconian.”

The policy (which, although discipline is under the purview of the chief academic officer, was given to Kevin Pugh, who was on the executive director hiring committee that hired Granger) is called restorative justice and is an overarching credo that doesn’t accurately reflect the way discipline is administered in the school, Dr. A says.

“It’s just this sort of attitude of ‘Screw you, kid,’” Dr. A alleges.

“Particularly in middle school you have to play this respect game. You have to be firm but respectful. It’s an incredibly Draconian kind of feel to discipline, particularly in the middle school. In the elementary school it’s interesting to me that it either has this harsh tone or nothing at all. There’s never this consistency, which is what kids really need in discipline.”

Granger says the system was put in place by the former principal but that he’s seen “first-hand how great it works” Boulder Weekly

at the school.

•••• All things aside, Flagstaff is moving forward with Granger as executive director. Dr. A alleges he isn’t qualified for the position he currently has and says she believes it is to the detriment of the school.

“He was not qualified for this position in any way, shape or form. It is abundantly clear to me,” Dr. A says of Granger. “I’m working for someone that cannot see the big picture. Someone who does not know how to turn a ship.

I think he just does not have the personality or the skills or the experience to be in that position right now.”

Board President Enssle disagrees: “I continue to strongly support Mr. Granger based on his background, qualifications and his outstanding performance in the job over the past 16 months. Mr. Granger was hired to be an impactful strategic and operational leader who gets the most out of our staff and provides the very best environment for our students, and for my part, I believe he has been enormously successful in doing exactly that during his tenure.”

The board will now hire a new chief academic officer to replace Dr. A, but it is anyone’s guess how much influence that person will have over the academics. If it is any indication, the majority of the committee that will hire the next chief academic officer is made up of a lot of familiar faces: Granger, Enssle, Warren, elementary school Vice Principal Terri Long, registrar/secretary Sheila Strukel and board member Angela Groeninger have served together in the school for several years now.

It has also been speculated by a source that a current or former board member may be throwing his or hat into the ring for the chief academic officer position. In response to that, Enssle says; “No former or current board members, administrators, or teachers have submitted an application at this point.

I’ll note that the hiring committee is really just getting started, and has not yet put out a call for applications. We are open to finding the best candidate whoever that may be, and I seriously doubt that our hiring committee would reject anyone’s application out of hand, so yes, I think current or former members of the Flagstaff community would be welcome to apply if they felt qualified and interested in serving.”

Either way, you wonder if Dr. A is speaking just of her former position when she says, “I’m worried about the next person who comes in because they’re being set up to fail.”

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

Joy to the Bargain Hunter

12/15 - 12/19: Last Minute Shopping Spree 20% Off Everything

Open 7 days a week | 303-604-5353 | TruCare.org/boulder-thrift-shop Open 10 am-5:30 pm | 5565 Arapahoe Ave. Wednesdays, Senior Discount 20% Off 55+

Stress-free Giving!

Buy 3 $79 Gift Cards & get 1 FREE! Living Arts Center 3825 Iris • 303.413.1992 Whole Foods 2905 Pearl • 303.545.6611

Downtown 1100 Spruce • 303.440.1992

bodyworkbistro.com

December 11, 2014 19

news Who’s getting whose goat?

Oil and gas industry-sponsored TV ad is fraught with obfuscation and half-truths

by Caitlin Rockett

J

Courtesy of Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development/YouTube

ust because we’re on the the Smiths’ mineral interest in other side of election seaGarfield County in order to directly son doesn’t mean the speak to the surface owners and resadvertisements stop. You’ve idents who are actually being probably seen it by now: a impacted by oil and gas operations “Front Range” “organic” farmer tellin the area, but Smith declined to ing us that people should support reveal her minerals location saying fracking because it helps farmers like she’d “rather not disclose that.” her pay for healthcare and their kids’ Tresi Houpt, a former Garfield education. But, like many of the County commissioner, was instruindustry’s ads, that’s not the whole mental in a push more than a decade ago to determine exactly story. The ad forgot to mention that what kind of emissions are coming the organic farmer makes her primafrom oil and gas operations. Houpt ry income working in the oil and gas found then, in 2002, there simply industry and that while she’s breathing clean Elbert County air at her were no local, state or federal studies “organic” farm, free of wells, the royon what was in the air near wells. alty income she’s touting as so “The difficulty with obtaining important to her farm is coming health data is that you have to have from mineral interests she owns governments that are committed to hundreds of miles away in heavily doing a long term study,” Houpt Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development released a television commercial featuring drilled and polluted Garfield says. “When we first made the deciMichelle Smith, an organic-based farmer from Elbert, Colorado, who says she relies on income County. sion to conduct a health study in from oil and natural gas development to help sustain her family farming operations.

In the bucolic landscape of Garfield County we know it would Elbert County, just off County Road be a long process. After I was no 61, Michelle Smith and her husband sion ad campaign to promote hydraulic my goat.” longer on the commission they operate a small organic-based farm — fracturing in Colorado. But Smith’s Puns aside, Smith’s message zeros in decided it was too politically charged Nubian goats, free-range chickens and narrative gives rise to more questions on the rights of mineral owners without and they didn’t want to move forward. grass-fed cows provide milk, eggs and than answers — can Coloradans trust ever directly acknowledging concerns “I know there were people in meat. the veracity of claims made by someone many Coloradans have about the effect Garfield County during the [oil and “We have never used pesticides, so deeply entrenched in the industry in fracking has on the environment and gas] boom time when there were chemicals, those kinds of things — we an advertisement sponsored by the public health. Smith’s title in the ad as thousands of trucks on dirt roads and don’t use any ‘weed and seed,’” Smith industry? an “organic farmer” — as opposed to pads active everywhere — people told Boulder Weekly in a phone inter“Mineral rights make all the differsaying she’s primarily employed by the were waking up coughing up blood, view. “I’m a huge gardener also, and ence to our small organic based farm,” oil and gas industry — is designed to fainting when they smelled natural those types of things have always been Smith says in the advertisement, which imply that fracking is a clean practice. gas,” Houpt says. “I know there are environmentally conscious [choices for is sponsored by Coloradans for But how could an organic farmer on people who are more sensitive to us]. Two years ago we made the deciResponsible Energy Development. only 40 acres be so welcoming to fumes and the chemicals used, but regulators have a difficult time… I sion to begin upgrading as much feed CRED was formed by oil industry dirty, air-polluting wells on such a tiny don’t know if they don’t believe these as possible to organic for the livestock.” giants Anadarko Petroleum acreage? There is an answer. people or if they rationalize not putBut farming isn’t Smith’s full-time Corporation and Nobel Energy.

Smith and her husband own two ting stricter regulations in place job. Smith is a 30-year veteran of the The ad continues, “Like many seperate mineral estates: 100 percent of because we don’t have concrete data oil and gas industry. She’s been with Colorado farm-to-table businesses, if the minerals underneath the 40 acres on it.” oil and gas investment business Quiat we can’t offset operating costs with their farm and home sit on in Elbert And while there is still a desperate Companies since 1992 as a land manour minerals, then we’re out of busiCounty, and a portion of the minerals ager, focusing on acquisitions, divestiness,” Smith narrates over sun-dappled contained within an 80-acre tract in need for “concrete” data, there is a shots of her Elbert County farm, a Garfield County, Colo. tures and coordination of joint drilling growing body of research implicating smattering of goats ambling out of They have leased the minerals in ventures. She’s the president of the oil and gas operations in numerous their pens, a medium shot of hands Garfield County multiple times, National Association of Royalty health problems. A 2012 study led by pulling forward a tray of sprouted baraccording to Smith, but have yet to Owners’ Rockies chapter, a board Lisa McKenzie of the Colorado School ley. “Organic operations are expensive. ever lease the minerals where they live member of the energy-promotion of Public Health examined three years People like us rely on those payments and breathe in Elbert County. Smith group Vital Colorado and a member of of data and found found elevated risks claims she has received an offer to the American Association of Petroleum for their family’s healthcare or their of cancer and non-cancer health probLandmen. kids’ education. An attack on fracking lease the Elbert minerals and that she is lems — eye irritation, headaches, sore It makes sense, then, that organicis essentially an attack on landowners currently reviewing the offer. throat and difficulty breathing — among based farmer Smith is also the newest like us. Those who would ban fracking It was the intention of Boulder people living within a half-mile of wells. face in the oil and gas industry’s televiignore our rights, and that just gets Weekly to obtain the exact location of A Yale study from this year backs up the 20 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

YOLK

IT UP AT BIG DADDY BAGELS Courtesy of Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development/YouTube

McKenzie study with data showfounded on freedom,” Smith says ing people living within 1 kilomewhen asked what prompted her ter of a natural gas well have up to to be in the advertisement. “In twice the rate of respiratory and Canada a small portion of the skin conditions as those living farpopulation owns a few mineral ther away. Susan Nagel led a rights, [but] basically [the U.S. is] University of Missouri study earlier the only country in world where this year that found greater levels citizens can own mineral rights. of hormone-disrupting chemicals And that is a right that has to be in water located near fracking sites advocated for and protected. So than in areas without drilling. Of I’m very passionate about standthe water samples Nagel took back ing up and defending the right to to her lab in Missouri, a number have our minerals developed.” were from water sources near heavSmith maintains that there is ily fracked areas in Garfield no sufficient evidence to indicate County. And finally, a Garfield that fracking is harmful at all.

Elbert County farmer and oil and gas industry veteran Michelle Smith owns minerals in both Elbert County and county study was done to deter“I believe we have enough Garfield County — while she says that she is mine air quality near wells. It was history with fracking to prove negotiating an offer to lease her minerals in Elbert County, thus far she’s only leased the minerals she determined that more than 40 that it’s safe,” she says. “With any owns in Garfield County. chemicals used in oil and gas industry there is always some extraction were in the air and impact, as with any kind of therefore presumably creating exposure each hour. So-called VOCs contribute industrial process. But people focusing to those living near wells. to ground-level ozone pollution, which, on fracking… if they would take the Garfield, for the record, is the secat high levels, can harm people’s lungs time to do the research that is easily ond most heavily drilled county in and damage plants — and that’s just available, especially on the Internet, the Colorado. Of the more than 52,000 science. evidence is there — there have been no active oil and gas wells in the state, The Environmental Protection proven cases of any harm caused by Garfield contains just south of 11,000.

Agency believed it had identified three fracking.”

Elbert, by comparison, has only 71 areas with significant groundwater conWhen asked if she has seen Smith’s active wells, according to a Dec. 2 tamination from fracking: Pavilion, Wyo., advertisements, Houpt responds with a sigh. report for the Colorado Oil and Gas Dimock, Penn., and Parker County, “I have,” she says.

Conservation Commission.

Texas. After years of research and just “It’s not just that particular adverSo, some 250 miles tisement but the ad away from Garfield campaign as a whole County, it makes sense that makes the natural that when asked if she gas industry [look like] THAT PEOPLE NEED TO RECwas concerned about people’s friend and a OGNIZE THAT YOU DON’T GET THE WHOLE STORY how fracking and drillviable clean resource ing could impact her that’s misleading,” WHEN YOU’RE WATCHING TV AND A COMMERCIAL health, Michelle Smith Houpt adds. “I think COMES ON. WE CAN’T BE COMPLACENT ABOUT responded with an people in their everyday unqualified no, adding life are very busy. The THIS — IT’S TOO IMPORTANT.” — TRESI HOUPT, that she herself is a whole conversation in FORMER GARFIELD COUNTY COMMISSIONER cancer survivor. the development of oil “In fact, actually and gas is very complex working in the oil and … for the industry to gas sector has increased put out an advertisemy confidence in the safety ment that sends a mesof fracking because I know all the facts before turning over its findings for peer sage that oil and gas development is surrounding fracking,” Smith says. review, the Obama administration pulled even safe for organic farmers is just “Because it’s a one-time operation, done the plug on the EPA’s work and declared absolutely wrong. at a minimum, in Colorado, of 7,000 its plan to use natural gas as a “bridge “I wish the other side had enough feet below the ground, it is extremely fuel” to combat climate change. money to put out a commercial that safe. In addition, [the U.S. has] now There are also hudreds of cases that really talked about the potential impact fracked over 2 million wells without have been documented wherein oil and of development close to homes and one case of contaminating any groundgas companies were sued for contaminat- close to other business and close to wild water.” ing well water but out-of-court settleand scenic areas,” Houpt says. “I just But Smith’s claims concerning ments were reached in exchange for non- think that people need to recognize that groundwater contamination are overdisclosure agreements. This is not the you don’t get the whole story when stated. A University of Colorado same as not contaminating well water. you’re watching TV and a commercial Boulder study from May found that oil “I believe that we live in the greatest comes on. We can’t be complacent and natural gas wells emit upwards of country in the world and the reason about this — it’s too important.”

13 tons of volatile organic compounds Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com that is is because our country was

“I JUST THINK

Boulder Weekly

FREE

cup oF coFFEE with any bREakFast bagEl Expires 12/31/14

Authentic NYC BAGELS in Colorado GOLDEN on Route 93 303.279.1481 BOULDER at Meadows Shopping Center 303.554.0193

LAFAYETTE 489 US Highway 287 303.665.5918 LONGMONT Prospect Village 1940 Ionosphere, Ste. D 303.834.8237

THURSDAY DECEMBER 11

7:00 PM COLORADO SKIES: THE FUTURE OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT 9:00 PM LASER: THE DOORS

FRIDAY DECEMBER 12

7:00 PM ABOVE & BEYOND: COSMIC CONVERSATIONS 9:00 PM LIQUID SKY MUSIC SHOW 10:30 PM LASER: OUTKAST 11:59 PM LASER: LADY GAGA

SATURDAY DECEMBER 13

10:00 AM MOONS AND LASERS 11:30 AM LASER: HOLIDAY MAGIC 1:00 PM PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA 2:30 PM LASER: HOLIDAY MAGIC 9:00 PM SUPER VOLCANOES 10:30 PM LASER: SKRILLSTEP 11:59 PM LIQUID SKY MUSIC SHOW

SUNDAY DECEMBER 14 1:00 PM LASER: HOLIDAY MAGIC 2:30 PM LIFE OF TREES 4:00 PM DYNAMIC EARTH

Fiske Planetarium - Regent Drive

(Next to Coors Event Center, main campus CU Boulder)

www. fiske.colorado.edu 303-492-5002 December 11, 2014 21

REJUVENATE YOUR BODY! AGE WITH GRACE. I am

68

Charley Cropley, N.D. Naturopathic Physician VOTED

I WILL TEACH YOU TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH BY: • WHOLESOME NUTRITION & FASTING • STRENGTHENING EXERCISE & DEEP REST • RIGHT USE OF YOUR MIND • NO MEDICINES. NO PILLS.

BEST OF BOULDER

ALTERNATIVE HEALTH 2010 ‘11 ‘12 CARE PRACTITIONER

scan for testimonials

Call for a 303.442.6161 FREE 20 minute consultation: charleycropley.com

ASSESSMENT OF YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

If you are aged between 45 and 65 years, and interested in participating in a study designed to determine the influence of body composition, exercise and vitamin C on the cardiovascular system,

PLEASE CONTACT US !

PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE •Physician supervised treadmill tests •Complete blood cholesterol analysis •Body fat and bone density analysis •Aerobic fitness determination •Dietary analysis by dietitian •Analysis of arterial function

REQUIREMENTS • Males and females age 45-65 years • Postmenopausal women (not on HRT) • Non-smoker • No history of heart disease • Not taking prescription medication • Not exercising regularly

if you are interested in participating,

Please contact Jared Greiner at (303) 735-4955 E-mail: jared.greiner@colorado.edu

Integrative Vascular Biology Laboratory Department of Integrative Physiology University of Colorado at Boulder 22 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

boulderganic Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Wikimedia Commons

Filling the gap

Planning for population growth and water scarcity

by Taylor Winchell

W

In 2009, California stopped distributing water to irrigation ditches in an effort to keep rivers from running dry.

e are booming,” says Jorge Figueroa, water policy analyst for Western Resource Advocates. In population, that is. But there’s a problem, he says: “You can’t have growth if you don’t

ND

A SP

30

03

LN WA

. B O U L D E R , C O LO R A UT ST DO

803

01

72

0.4

84

sustainable cities, and viable and productive agriculture.”

Achieving this goal will require addressing the ever-present disparity in the West between water supply and water demand.

“There is going to be a gap between projections of [water] demand and projections of supply,” says Joseph Kasprzyk, University of Colorado Boulder professor and water resources specialist.

During times of drought, obviously, that gap can grow even larger. In California, some water users are facing the consequences of a serious drought and few options for recourse. According to a 2014 report from the California Department of Water Resources on the current extreme drought in California, water allocations to State Water Project users have been decreased to zero. This includes cutting off water to approximately 750,000 acres of irrigable farmland. One of the most productive agricultural regions in the world has been left in the dust to fend for itself.

Is it possible, however, that the West can adapt to avoid having to make these sorts of harsh water alloSee WATER Page 24

.6

BA

9

R

66

A

have water.”

According to a 2014 report by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the population of Colorado is expected to see an additional 2.5 million people by 2040. For the drought-plagued West, population growth presents a challenge, but some water advocates argue that the gap between the water available and the water that will be demanded by future growth can be closed with increased preparation efforts, including conservation.

Throughout much of the West, even a subtle mention of “drought” can spark looks of fear and talks of impending doom. While drought is certainly a cause of concern for the growing West, it is also something for which we can prepare and which we’ve survived before. For as far back as scientists know, drought has been a part of the makeup of the West.

“The West has been experiencing drought on and off for as long as we have information about rainfall,”

says Sally Thompson, University of California at Berkeley professor and hydrologist. This, as it turns out, is a long time. Through a detailed study of the oldest living trees in California, scientists have analyzed drought records that date back almost 5,000 years. Supplementing this study are thousands of additional precipitation data sets collected with modern meteorology equipment.

“Every data source we have suggests that droughts are a natural part of the climate of the Western USA,” Thompson says.

Water advocates are working to adapt the way we use water to better prepare for inevitable future droughts.

“Drought is also going to compel us to make those changes even if we are not willing to,” Figueroa says.

In Colorado, the timing to implement change couldn’t be more perfect. The state is developing its first state water plan, which became available online on Dec. 10. According to the Colorado Water Plan website, the plan hopes to “provide a path forward for providing Coloradans with the water we need while supporting healthy watersheds and the environment, robust recreation and tourism economies, vibrant and

IL

W

SOMEONE WANTS YOU TO HAVE SOME.

NA

AL

JL W.

OU

NGE

E NA TUR

W

good. clean. fun.�

OM

J LO U N G

S PA . C

TO:

FROM: S PA . C

OM

J LO U N G BA R

A

NGE

JLOUNGE NATURAL NAIL BAR & SPA 03

WA

LNU

T S T. B RAD O U L D E R , C O LO

03 O 8

01

72

0.4

W 84

.6

11001

30

9

IL

SP A

66

NA

come lounge with us

W

AL

W. JL

OU

TUR E NA

SERVICE OR AMOUNT | EXP. DATE:

ND

celebrate yourself, your friends, and the holidays while relaxing at jlounge!

The perfect gift of wellness, natural nails, skin care, facials, massage, and beauty in a retreat-like setting.

A day spa where friends meet, relax, and catch up. Book your holiday gathering today! Come lounge with us!

GIVE THE GIFT OF jlounge!! Purchase gift certificates online at jloungespa.com MONDAY 11A-5P :: TUESDAY-FRIDAY 9A-7P :: SATURDAY 9A-6P :: SUNDAY 11A-5P :: 3003 WALNUT STREET :: BOULDER, COLORADO 80301 :: 720.484.6669

Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 23

Six Persimmons Apothecary Gifts of Health & Beauty

• Highest-quality skin, body & hair care • Boulder's best facials & massages!

• Nutritional supplements • Chinese herbal formulas & homeopathic remedies • World-class Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine with David Scrimgeour, L.Ac. www.davidscrimgeour.com • Classical Homeopathic consultations with Kathy Thorpe, CHom

Makers of famous Cold Nip, Supreme Immune Tonic

,

s

Gift Certificates plus $10 off a massage or facial w/ad!

840 Pearl St. Boulder 303.583.0179 www.sixpersimmons.com Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine & Homeopathy 303.413.9596

SELECT BOOTS 20+ Styles Taos, Merrell, UGG & More All Slippers & Wool Clogs also on Sale!

UP TO

50% OFF comfortableshoes.com ON THE DOWNTOWN MALL at 1425 Pearl St. 303-449-5260 & IN THE VILLAGE next to McGuckin 303-449-7440

Open House - December 13th - 10-4pm 1580 Canyon Blvd. Boulder, CO • 303-444-1307 • www.thepaintedfurniturecompany.com 24 December 11, 2014

boulderganic A 2012 FILLING THE GAP report released by

Western Resource Advocates in collaboration with Trout Unlimited and the Colorado Environmental Coalition states that “voluntary and compensated ag/ urban cooperative water sharing arrangements can provide 129,000 acre-feet of new supply for the Front Range annually by 2050 without permanently drying irrigated acreage.”

WATER from Page 23

cation decisions? Figueroa remains optimistic.

“If you do smart water infrastructure projects, if you do [agriculture]-urban cooperation … if you maximize reuse and conservation, you would not only fill the gap for the Front Range but you would have water in excess,” he says.

“Conservation is the fastest, cheapest way that you can help cities deal with drought and with climate change.”

River conservation activists have raised concerns about the consideration of any new infrastructure projects in Colorado, which could include dams, reservoirs, diversions and pipelines. The draft of Colorado’s Water Plan makes mention of several of those, including the Northern Integrated Supply Project, Windy Gap Firming Project and Moffat Project, as well as mention of another possible major trans-mountain diversion.

“We have serious concerns about the process and product of this Draft Colorado Water Plan,” Gary Wockner, director of the river protection groups Save The Poudre and Save The Colorado, said in a press release.

Colorado’s rivers are already severely depleted and oversubscribed, and this Draft Plan would make them all worse.

Governor Hickenlooper needs to change course and focus on collaborative solutions that do not pit stakeholders against each other and would not launch multi-decade court battles and water wars over dam and river destruction projects.”

He advocates for investments in water conservation, efficiency, reuse and recycling in addition to growth management and water-sharing agreements with farmers.

Household conservation can include such methods as installing low-flow showerheads and toilets, replacing lawns with native vegetation and being increasingly conscious about everyday water use. In the search for water, every small saving makes a difference.

Extending beyond the household to

the grand regional scale, the West can focus its attention to its thriving agricultural industry. According to a 2010 report by the Statewide Water Supply Initiative, 86 percent of Colorado’s water goes to agriculture.

“One part of it is making irrigation more efficient, but then there’s the whole other question from a systems perspective of what crops are we growing and what crops should we be growing,” Kasprzyk says.

Small improvements in irrigation efficiency integrated with smart crop management can have substantial impacts on regional water conservation.

As the population grows and cities begin to expand, new opportunities arise to facilitate water cooperation between the agricultural and urban sectors. Cooperative agreements encourage sharing unused water instead of wasting it. A 2012 Filling the Gap report released by Western Resource Advocates in collaboration with Trout Unlimited and the Colorado Environmental Coalition states that “voluntary and compensated ag/urban cooperative water sharing arrangements can provide 129,000 acre-feet of new supply for the Front Range annually by 2050 without permanently drying irrigated acreage.”

Water reuse presents another method to prevent wasting usable water. The same report projects that through maximizing opportunities for water reuse the “Front Range will have approximately 246,000 acre-feet of reuse water available annually in 2050.”

What is necessary to make these changes come to fruition?

“A good beginning would be funding,” Figueroa says.

Preparing for growth through adaptive water management will require a commitment from a diverse group of contributors, Kaspryzk says, adding, “This is an integrated problem that requires a lot of people to collaborate to find solutions.”

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly

Come Visit Our Winter Wonderland Great Selection of Christmas Trees Set Up and Delivery Available Deck the Halls with Custom Wreaths, Swags and Centerpieces Created by Our Designers

JUST FOR YOU

Weekdays 8am-6pm, Sat 8am-5pm, Sun 10am-5pm

2851 Valmont, Boulder â&#x20AC;˘ 303.442.6663

www.sturtzandcopeland.com

gift cards available online!

give the gift that keeps on giving... $40 off relax package

*regularly $138, only $98 with this offer! includes 60 - minute signature massage and signature facial

spavia offers: massage facials waxing body wraps & scrubs mineral make up

spa boutique menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treatments spa packages events wellness memberships

available at our spavia boulder location only. must present this ad at time of purchase. expires december 24th, 2014. cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions.

www.spaviadayspa.com

spavia boulder 1810 twenty ninth street|720.523.0180 Boulder Weekly

twenty ninth street mall second level above the starbucks

December 11, 2014 25

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 Cambria, Green Vest since 2010.

12:00 - 2:00 • Make-Your-Own Menorahs • Latkes with Jim Cohen from The Empire Lounge & Restaurant and Pizzeria da Lupo • Home Brewing Book Signing by Charlie Papazian • Pinewood Springs Firefighters Visit mcguckin.com/events for more information.

FREE PARKING: Available on all four sides in the Village at Arapahoe & Canyon

STORE HOURS: Mon – Fri: 7:30 am – 8:00 pm Saturday: 8:00 am – 7:00 pm Sunday: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

PUBLIC TRANSIT: RTD stops on Folsom, Arapahoe, & Canyon

VISIT US: 2525 Arapahoe Ave. Boulder, CO 80302 GIVE US A RING: (303) 443-1822 OR CHECK US OUT ONLINE: MCGUCKIN.COM

26 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

adventure

Robert Mascarnes

Why take a picture when you can paint one?

Artist Lisa Martin takes her paintings to new altitudes

by Amanda Moutinho Lisa Martin on the summit of Mount Sneffels, which has been her favorite 14er so far.

R

eaching the summit of a 14,000 foot moment.” mountain, a 14er, fills people with a sense Martin grew up in Fruita, in western Colorado, of accomplisment — the fresh air, the where she was never very interested in hiking or the beautiful view, the aching muscles. To outdoors. Her interest in art was sparked in second have a token for their hard work, most grade when she attended an art festival and saw a people take a snapshot, but artist Lisa Martin paints vivid painting of a cat standing on a wooden plank. a picture instead. Martin That day she went home is on a mission to climb and started drawing and paint pictures of all cats, and since then she the 14ers in Colorado. says she knew she want“The painting tells ed to be an artist. the story about my expeAt the University of rience of going up and Denver, she majored in finding the view that I studio arts with an think is most beautiful,” emphasis in ceramics.

Martin says. “You see She sculpted mainly what the mountains look Martin’s painting from the top of Mount Lincoln looking large-scale animals, and toward Quandary Peak. like in the distance and even a life-size cow. She what they look like in didn’t really focus on the foreground. You don’t really notice that when painting because, for one, she wanted to keep her you’re not painting them. There are subtle things I artistic freedom. rp.boulder.weekly.holiday.2014.pdf 11/14/14 10:59 “I AM didn’t necessarily like people telling me what to would have never noticed. It forces you to 1be in

Boulder Weekly

paint,” she says. “I wanted painting to be something fun and enjoyable for me.”

Her 14er adventures started in 2011 because of Albert Bierstadt. When her friend asked her to climb Mount Bierstadt, Martin was excited to join because he’s one of her favorite painters. She wasn’t really a hiker, saying she never really cared for it. She had also just gotten back from sea level, so it wasn’t a very fun excursion for her.

“I didn’t particularly enjoy it because it was my first one and I wasn’t prepared,” Martin says. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”

After the hike, she made a 50-inch oil painting of the summit from a photo she took. She says she was inspired by the history behind the mountains and artists.

“In the 1800s, artists were also explorers and they were a big reason for western expansion,” Martin says. “So I fell in love with the idea of painting these mountains that explorers/artists, who I really looked PAINTING 14ERS from Page 28

December 11 , 2014 27

Lisa Martin

Martin’s plein air painting of Mt. Elbert. Martin realized that to complete paintings of all of Colorado’s 53 14ers in her lifetime, she’d need to paint faster, so last winter she practiced 30-minute en plein air painting.

PAINTING 14ERS from Page 27 Robert Mascarnes

up to, were painting. I made it a goal to en plein air painting, which means “in paint all of them.” open air.”

She did the same process with the “I painted my entire life, but not second 14er, hiking then painting a with much formal training,” Martin picture afterward, and it took her a says. “I set a timer and had to start and year to complete. Since finish. It was definitely a it was taking so long, brain exercise. Having she knew she had to to think about the ON THE BILL: Lisa Martin figure out a solution. beginning, the middle will be giving a talk about her work at 8 p.m. on Dec. “I realized that it and the end is a lot 18 at Neptune was a big project that different than being Mountaineering, 633 S. Broadway, Boulder, I wasn’t going to get able to look at some303-499-8866. done in my lifetime if thing over a few I was doing one a days.” year,” she says. “I had This July, she did to come up with a way to paint them her first 14er en plein air on Mount quickly. Then I thought, wouldn’t it be Evans, selected because she could drive fun to paint them at the summit? I’d to the top and see if her plan would finish right then and there and I would work. Martin had several questions have this experience and memory in a about how the paint would react with painting.” temperature and altitude, but in the So she spent this past winter pracsee PAINTING 14ERS Page 30 ticing 30-minute paintings to attempt

Martin’s painting from the summit of Pyramid Peak looking at the Maroon Bells.

20% OFF SALE

ALL BIKES AND ACCESSORIES Now through the end of December 303-443-1132 • BoulderBikeSmith.com • Open 10am-5pm every day WE HAVE MOVED TO 1668 30TH STREET, BOULDER 28 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

1441_KSBLC

easy ENTERTAINING

ORDER ONLINE

PARTY PLATTERS

This year, let us handle the party platters so you can spend more time with your family.

KINGSOOPERS.COM/ORDERONLINE RWED03

CALL 1-877-894-3707 or SEE DELI ASSOCIATE

Chrissi Meredith

Monday - Friday: 10:00AM - 7:00PM Saturday: 10:00AM - 4:00PM Sunday: 10:00AM - 4:00PM

Monday - Friday: 10:00AM - 7:00PM Saturday: 10:00AM - 4:00PM

*Offer valid for first visit only. Initial visit includes consultation, exam and adjustment.

Please present offer at time of redemption. ©2012 The Joint Corp

Though she was not a hiker when she undertook this project, Martin has now hiked to the summit of and painted 13 of Colorado’s 53 14ers.

PAINTING 14ERS from Page 28

end it worked out fine. Her biggest insight was about her unstable subject.

“It made me realize how quickly the weather changes up there in terms of lighting,” she says. “You can be looking at the summit and painting it and in 30 seconds it’ll look night and day opposite, because at that altitude the sun changes in a snap. So you have to improvise, and you have to remember what you want to paint.”

Funny enough, Martin never wanted to be a landscape artist or a plein air painter. But now she’s both, she says with a laugh.

Before embarking, Martin researches the summits so she can mix out the colors she’ll be needing. She brings a lightweight 1-by-2-foot wooden board, small tubes of acrylic paints in every color on the color wheel, a bottle of water to rinse out her brushes and paint markers, which help paint unique details like buildings on top of Pikes Peak. She says it’s a little bit of extra weight, but not too much to handle.

There is no deadline for Martin when she’s painting a summit. She has spent up to an hour and 15 minutes, and down to just 10 minutes on Mount Yale when it was snowing heavily. She wishes she spent more time up there, but she says being on the summit longer for more than 30 minutes can be cold and miserable. So instead of concentrating on the time, Martin focuses on her feeling.

“I like to tune the world out and just go,” she says. “The more you learn about mountains, the more you get a deep connection when you’re on top of them.”

With plein air painting, there’s not a lot of time for perfection. So Martin says she has to work with her errors 30 December 11 , 2014

and embrace, what Bob Ross calls, “happy mistakes.” There’s no time to analyze or process, she says, so you just have to take the results, good or bad.

“Every time I paint one of these and I come home, and I don’t even take it out of my pack because I already hate it,” she says. “I don’t want to look at them for at least a week because I think, ‘Oh I could have done that or that, or should have done this.’

“Sometimes it still irks me, and I just want to go back and paint over it. I am a perfectionist. I always have little bit of a panic attack halfway through painting them, worrying that I’m going to ruin it because I don’t have much time left.”

Her biggest regret with her time constraint is a lack of fine-tuning of her pieces, Martin says, but the time limit can also be helpful.

“I love details. I wish I could put every ridge and tree, and every single highlight and shadow and reflection and make the clouds complete,” Martin says. “So it’s like making myself let go, which is probably a good thing.”

There’s a lot of buzz around Martin’s paintings. She’s gotten several inquiries from people who want to buy them. She says everyone seems to have a specific mountain that they’re attached to.

“It has to do with your experience of going up them, who you went with, the weather, how you felt that day, your energy level — all those things combine to whether you like that mountain or not,” she says. “Some mountains aren’t necessarily the most beautiful, but there’s a lot of personal attachment to it.”

So far, her favorite mountain she’s painted is Mount Sneffels, where the Boulder Weekly

adventure Upcoming Events Robbie Sproule/Wikimedia Commons

Community Cycles teaches workshops for all levels of cyclists.

This week’s beginner/intermediate clinics cover how derallieurs work — and how to work on the rest of your bike’s shifting components — as well as lateral and radial wheel truing.

Community Cycles is at 2805 Wilderness Place, Suite 1000, Boulder. Registration is required to attend.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11 All Things Shifting — Workshop. 6:30 p.m. Community Cycles, 2805 Wilderness Place, Suite 1000, Boulder, 720-565-6019.

Registration required.

Susitna 100: First Steps Toward the Arctic — Jorge Latre on racing 100 miles across Alaska in February. 8 p.m. Neptune Mountaineering, 633 South Broadway, Boulder, 303-499-8866.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 Bicycle Village Saturday Group Rides. 9 a.m. Bicycle Village Boulder, 2100 28th St., Boulder, www.bouldercyclingclub. org.

Birds of Prey Driving Tour.

10 a.m. With Boulder County volunteer naturalists. Location provided at registration. 303-678-6214.

Dasher 5K. 10:30 a.m. kids run, 11 a.m. 5K start. Downtown Estes Park, http://epmarathon.org.

climb was pleasant, yet challenging.

The San Juan Mountains are unlike other ranges in Colorado, she says, and have unique angles and lines for painting. She went in the autumn, so the colors of the leaves and lakes were all very vivid.

It used to be Martin’s goal to be a full-time artist, and it might be in the future, but right now she’s going back to school for mechanical engineering.

“I’ve noticed that I actually enjoy doing artwork more when my brain is occupied with something else,” she says. “Now it’s like I get to do this, instead of I have to do this. I have painted more these last couple years of not doing art as school or art as a career than I ever have.”

If you’ve got your eye on one of Martin’s paintings, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. She doesn’t plan on selling Boulder Weekly

Shop Orientation. 10 a.m.

Community Cycles, 2805 Wilderness Place, Suite 1000, Boulder, 720-565-6019. Registration required.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 The Superior Stocking Run 5K. 9 a.m. Purple Park, Rock Creek Parkway, Superior, 303-6427917.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16 Snowshoeing Basics. 6:30 p.m.

REI Store, 1789 28th St., Boulder, 303-583-9970.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17 Wheel Truing. 6:30 p.m.

Community Cycles, 2805 Wilderness Place, Suite 1000, Boulder, 720-565-6019. Registration required.

To list your event, send information to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. attn: “Adventure.”

them until she’s finished all of them and can display them together. She’s done 13 of the 53 14ers in Colorado, and her loose goal for the project is to finish it when she graduates, in the next two or three years. She says she hopes to take the next summer off and finish a large chunk of them.

Through the process she says she’s grown to love hiking and has gained a real appreciation for the mountains.

“True plein air painting captures something different than a photo can,” Martin says. “You can add different elements and different angles in to show the overall feelings of the mountain. I was really concerned when I started the project that they would all look the same at the top. But when I put the paintings all next to each other, they all look so surprisingly different.”

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

901 Front Street old town louiSville n 303-666-7864 www.theFuzzyantler.com mon-Fri 10am-6pm n Sat 10am-5pm n Sun 11am-4pm December 11, 2014 31

A TRIBUTE A TRIBUTE TO BJORK

THURS, MARCH 13 with • 8CASEY PM COLLINS, ERIK DEUTSCH, L

The Onion Presents

Free with valid CU ID

with CASEY COLLINS, ERIK DEUTSCH, LIZA, SONYA VALLET, NICK URATA and more www.BoulderTheater.com

www.BoulderTheater.com

14TH & PEARL • BOULDER

303.786.7030

JUST ANNOUNCED

JUST ANNOUNCED

JAN 24 ....................................................................................... ALVIN RISK FEB 8 .................................................................................. BRETT DENNEN FEB 24 ............................................................................ SISTER SPARROW APR 2 .................................................................................... GEORGE EZRA MAR 7 ....................................................................................... BLEACHERS MAR 28 ........................................................ HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF

JAN 9 ................................................................... BIG MOUNTAIN ENDURO FEB 16 .......................................................... JOE RUSSO’S ALMOST DEAD FEB 24 & 25 ............................................................. BANFF FILM FESTIVAL MAR 3 .................................................................................... BO BURNHAM MAR 26 - 28 ........................................................ DARK STAR ORCHESTRA

THURS. DEC 11 8:30 PM

THE CHRISTMAS REVELS AN IRISH CELEBRATION OF WINTER SOLSTICE

ROOSTER MAGAZINE, RADIO 1190 & AWESOME FACTORY PRESENT

HOW THE GROUCH STOLE CHRISTMAS FEAT THE GROUCH & ELIGH CUNNINLYNGUISTS, DJ ABILITIES, DJ FRESH & SCARUB SAT. DEC 13 8:30 PM COLORADO DAILY & AWESOME FACTORY PRESENT

RYAN HEMSWORTH

DINOSAURUS REX & DEPTH CONNECTION SUN. DEC 14 12:00 PM

DOGHOUSE MUSC SHOWCASE COAL, EPHINIJIS, CYOTE JUNCTION, KILL THE IMPOSTER & WICHITA RUN FRI. DEC 19 8:30 PM COLORADO DAILY PRESENTS

GIPSY MOON’S HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA

SPECIAL GUESTS VINCE HERMAN (OF LEFTOVER SALMON) & BRIDGET LAW (OF ELEPHANT REVIVAL) CHAIN STATION WED. DEC 31 8:30 PM WESTWORD, RADIO 1190 & ILLEGAL PETE’S PRESENT

WEST WATER OUTLAWS PARANOID NEW YEAR’S EVE THE YAWPERS & IN THE WHALE

SUN. DEC 14 1 PM & 6 PM

FRI. DEC 19 7:00 PM KUNC & WESTWORD PRESENT

TRACE BUNDY’S 6TH ANNUAL ACOUSTIC HOLIDAY KATIE HERZIG

SAT. DEC 20 1 PM & 6 PM

THE CHRISTMAS REVELS AN IRISH CELEBRATION OF WINTER SOLSTICE WED. DEC 31 - SAT. JAN 3 8:00 PM 97.3 KBCO, WESTWORD & BOULDER WEEKLY PRESENT

YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

1/1: JOHN POPPER & SHAWN CAMP WITH JOEY PORTER & DAVE WATTS OF THE MOTET 1/2: JEN HARTSWICK & NATALIE CRESSMAN (OF THE TREY ANASTASIO BAND) 1/3: ANDY HALL & ANDY FALCO (OF THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS)

THURS. JAN 8 7:30 PM

SUN. JAN 4 6:30 PM

WESTWORD & RADIO 1190 PRESENT

97.3 KBCO & BOULDER WEEKLY PRESENT

MAC MILLER

SAT. JAN 10 8:30 PM 88.9 KRFC, CO DAILY, ILLEGAL PETE’S AND TWIST & SHOUT PRESENT

MARCH FOURTH MARCHING BAND THURS. JAN 15 8:30 PM

ELECTRON

FEAT MARC BROWNSTEIN & AARON MAGNER (OF THE DISCO BISCUITS), TOMMY HAMILTON (OF BROTHERS PAST) & MIKE GREENFIELD (OF LOTUS) THE MAGIC BEANS FRI. JAN 16 8:30 PM DAILY CAMERA PRESENTS

PINK TALKING FISH PRESENTS DARK SIDE OF THE MOON THE RECOVERY ACT PERFORMS STEVIE WONDER THURS. JAN 22 7:30 PM

JEFF COFFIN & THE MU’TET

AN EVENING WITH

KEB’ MO’ BAND WED. JAN 14 6:30 PM BOULDER WEEKLY & ROOSTER MAGAZINE PRESENT

RALPHIE MAY

THURS. JAN 15 7:00 PM BOULDER WEEKLY FILM SERIES PRESENT

THE BIG LEBOWSKI FRI. JAN 23 7:00 PM BOULDER WEEKLY FILM SERIES PRESENT

THE MOVIE PREMIERE OF

THE FIRST WALTZ ROCKUMENTARY

FEAT HARD WORKING AMERICANS FRI. JAN 30 7:00 PM COLORADO DAILY & ROOSTER MAGAZINE PRESENT

SECOND CITY HITS HOME TUES. FEB 7 7:30 PM

FEAT FELIX PASTORIUS, BILL FANNING, CHRIS WALTERS & ROY “FUTUREMAN” WOOTEN (OF BELA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES)

G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE

FRI. JAN 23 8:30 PM

TUES. FEB 10 7:30 PM

DAILY CAMERA PRESENTS

97.3 KBCO & WESTWORD PRESENT

COLD RIVER CITY

ALL CHIEFS, NATURAL MOTIVES & FOCAL POINT SUN. JAN 25 8:30 PM BOULDER WEEKLY PRESENTS

PARTICLE

THURS. JAN 29 8:30 PM COLORADO DAILY PRESENTS

SLOW MAGIC FRI. JAN 30 8:30 PM COLORADO DAILY & ROOSTER MAGAZINE PRESENT

NA’AN STOP

JAN 31 .......................................................................... EMINENCE ENSEMBLE FEB 4 .................................................................... THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS FEB 5 ......................................................................................................... MOE. FEB 7 ................................................................................. JEFF AUSTIN BAND FEB 10 ............................................................................................... BORGORE FEB 12 ............................................... GIANT PANDA GUERILLA DUB SQUAD FEB 15 .................................................... TURKUAZ & ROWDY SHADEHOUSE FEB 17 ............................................................. PAA KOW & POLYRHYTHMICS

32 December 11, 2014

14TH &

97.3 KBCO & DAILY CAMERA PRESENT

MATT COSTA

ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES SEAN ROWE

WED. FEB 11 7:00 PM

DIRTY HEADS THURS. FEB 12 6:30 PM CHANNEL 93.3 & COLORADO DAILY PRESENT

REEL BIG FISH & LESS THAN JAKE AUTHORITY ZERO

FEB 20 .......................................................................... THE WOOD BROTHERS FEB 22 .................................................................................................. ODESZA FEB 27 ....................................................................................... THE NEW DEAL MAR 1 ...................................................................................... ELVIS COSTELLO MAR 9 & 10 ......................................................................... YOUNG THE GIANT MAR 11 .................................................................................... WAILIN’ JENNYS MAR 20 .................................... CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE & JOHN HAMMOND MAR 21 ................................................................................... MARTIN SEXTON

Boulder Weekly

buzz

Lisa Siciliano

ZZ Top has beards and they know how to use them.

Lisa Siciliano

Flavor Flav tries out the flavor of the microphone.

Lisa Siciliano

If you’ll just send $25 to Janet Jackson, then you will be guaranteed salvation.

Lisa Siciliano

Worth a t housand riffs Ninth annual ‘Rockin’ in a Winter Wonderland’ music photography exhibit is all about that magic moment

by Josh Gross

L

If you just send $25 to Janet Jackson, you’ll be gauranteed salvation from evil Roger Waters.

Boulder Weekly

isa Siciliano didn’t set out to be a rock and roll photographer.

In fact, after she graduated college in 1991 and moved to Boulder, she didn’t really set out to be anything.

“I was waitressing at the Fox [Theatre] and I had no direction whatsoever in my life,” she says.

Then two threads in her life combined: Her husband was in a band that needed photos and her neighbor was selling a camera.

“So I bought the camera and brought it to the Fox one night, and took a few shots,” she says. “And I was like, ‘That was kind of cool.’”

It got cooler when her mother-in-law, an East Coast music journalist, asked Siciliano to fill in for another photographer shooting a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young concert, and after that, shooting Metallica at Mile High Stadium.

“I took this great Metallica shot that came out amazing, and I sent it see MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY Page 34

December 11, 2014 33

MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY from Page 33

A GOOD NIGHT

Official Sponsor of the Naughty List

SHOPMAYBEE.COM Located at 28th Street and Glenwood

34 December 11, 2014

to the guy at Red Rocks,” she says. “He All the photos are shot on black and called me down and didn’t know that I white film, the chiaroscuro as much a didn’t have a whole portfolio to support character as their subjects. it. I showed him a few things from the “I try to create prints so that it Fox and he said, ‘OK, sign these doesn’t matter if you love that band,” papers.’” she says. “Like, if you had that Trent And just like that, Siciliano ended picture, I think it’s a cool picture even if up as the in-house photographer for you’re not like ‘NIN is my favorite band Red Rocks for the next eight years, in the whole world.’” photographing the best Lisa Siciliano of the best and learning on the job as If you’re listening Santa, B.B. King would really quickly as she could. like a pony for Many of the photos Christmas this year. from her time at Red Rocks, as well as shots taken at other local venues, are on display this month at George’s Food and Drink (attached to the Boulder Theater) for the ninth annual Rockin’ in a Winter Wonderland rock and roll photography show.

“It started out as seconds, things that had little marks on them, things that I couldn’t sell for full price — like a darkroom clearance,” she says. “And my friend said, ‘Why don’t we do it at Christmas? People will buy them as gifts.

We can do it at my house.’ So it started down on Pine Street at a house for the first two years.”

How far things have come since then.

For example, one photo in the colSiciliano still has a discount table of lection is of Siciliano’s daughter playing slightly flawed prints, but her once with School of Rock at Red Rocks, the house-gallery show is now a monthcrowd stretching into the sky behind long exhibition with an official opening the monitor speakers and her face event on Saturday, Dec. 13 that will adorned with a practiced, “Mom, you feature performances from seven bands. are soooooo lame,” look — only 12 The tiny collection she sold at the start years old and already acing the role of a now stretches across the walls of rock star.

George’s, with giant, first-rate photos of “I was definitely being like ‘Look at everyone from Buddy Guy to Bono, me, look at me, look at me’ in my some in traditional prints and others brain,” says Siciliano. “She finally using more artistic techniques like cyaturned around.” notype, a time-intensive process that Unless your record collection is gives the photo the look of an oil paint- extremely dubious, the motley crue of ing. A backlit Trent Reznor of Nine tweens is definitely not one of your Inch Nails with his arms spread out favorite bands in the world, but the way into a cross lords over one wall and a the photo practically bleeds a fully moody, Nosferatu-esque picture of The imagined storyline captured in a single Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan rules moment could appeal to anyone. another. Nick Urata from Devotchka Another — one of Siciliano’s favorgives an Elvis lip-curl and the beards of ites — is of blues legend B.B. King, his ZZ Top hang low. There is even one of head down in prayer as if she actually Marilyn Manson printed onto steel — captured the moment before King metal on metal. rushed into a burning building to save

his guitar. Bluesophile or not, it’s a single moment with the weight of a full character study.

One that is particularly striking but that Siciliano says doesn’t seem to sell well is of Janet Jackson, her arm and teeth bared as a light flares in the background like a burning star. With her head-mounted “Garth Brooks” mic, Jackson looks almost positively evangelical.

“I sold one Janet Jackson to my hairdresser, but I thought that one would be a bigger seller,” she says.

“She’s so famous. She’s rare. Like you don’t really see Janet Jackson much.”

But engaging as the collection is, perhaps the most surprising thing about it is that while a general strategy of photography is to take a lot of photos knowing a few of them will work out, Siciliano does the opposite.

“I feel like I shoot much better when I have a limited amount of shots at my disposal,” she says. “For most shows, we only get to shoot one to three songs. ... Generally I shoot a roll a song.”

Siciliano says that on the rare occasions she’s allowed to shoot the whole show, she might shoot six rolls, but that still isn’t much considering the striking nature of the final product. Siciliano says it’s all about being tactical.

“When you really think about it, there aren’t that many moments that really stand out among others during a song,” she says. “Most moments are standard stuff we have all seen a million times. While that is happening, I just wait. But when B.B. [King] bows his head in prayer, that’s my shot; Iggy turns the mic into a penis, that’s my shot; Trent stretch his arms out in silhouette… Well, you catch my drift.”

The images Siciliano captures feel as large and vibrant as the music itself, a rarity in the Instagram-era of music photography.

“Everything has become so thumbnail,” she says. “I want to keep it big and artistic.”

Mission accomplished.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly

The Christmas Revels An Irish Celebration of the Winter Solstice

This year’s Christmas

Revels is set in 1907, as

1201 S. Sunset St. Longmont, CO 80501 303.776.6605 Open M, W, F, Sa: 9am-6pm • Tu & Th: 9am-7:30pm frontrangefleamarket026@gmail.com

Irish emigrants prepare for a new life in a new land.

Boulder Theater December 14, 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

December 20, 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

Tickets 303-786-7030 www.BoulderTheater.com

y p p a H

s y a d i l Ho Think Green for Christmas

OVER 90+ DEALERS! Items & Gifts for Ages 0-99 FURNITURE • GIFTS NEW & USED HOME DECOR

150 Vendors

Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 35

Gifts for Musicians* *

HB *Woodsongs * * St, Bldr 3101 28th hbwoodsongs.com 303.449.0516

*

*

*

*

**

*

GLASS PIPES

OIL RIGS

SCALES

We will match or beat anyone’s price... guaranteed!

5290 ARAPAHOE AVE, UNIT H BOULDER, CO 80303 NEXT TO THE GREENEST GREEN 303.954.0386 • WWW.COLORADOGLASSGALLERY.COM

PANTONE 356 C

PANTONE 368 C

MOKE 36 December 11, 2014

VAPORIZERS Mention this ad for

15% OFF

Production Glass all medical patients receive

20% OFF

http://instagram.com/coloradoglassgallery https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoGlassGallery

PANTONE 382 C

SHOP Boulder Weekly

overtones Fifty years and counting

ON THE BILL: Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame will be singing, speaking and signing his new book at this event hosted by Boulder Book Store. 7:30 p.m. First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St., Boulder, 303-447-2074.

The activism and music of Peter, Paul and Mary are still pushing us forward

by Joel Dyer

L

Wikimedia Commons

“This is a terrible ike millions of time for democracy.

Americans There’s too many lobbywho lived ists and too much money through the that’s annihilative to the 1960s, my democratic process. We home was filled with have terrible things like Walter Cronkite’s the Roberts decision. nightly narration of the events of the day. It And this makes it hard to seemed the struggle for fix things like climate change where we have a civil rights was at the very small window. center of every newscast “I have never seen so only to be replaced at much mean-spiritedness times by the bloody in society.” coverage of the That’s quite a stateVietnam War and the ment coming from a man growing anti-war who spent his teenage movement here in the years living in the world states.

Behind this world of Joseph McCarthy and of young American solseeing his own musical A new book on Peter, Paul and Mary charts their work to promote causes from civil rights to gay rights. Peter Yarrow diers lying dead or mentors blacklisted, (right) will sing and speak about his book in Boulder on Dec. 15. wounded in the rice their careers destroyed paddies of Southeast over their progressive Asia; the campus protests; African popular to do so. They made sure that objective, that is the antidote to feeling political views and speech. The thought Americans being beaten by police, injustices such as the murder of overwhelmed.” that things are worse today should get attacked by dogs, sprayed by fire hoses; Mathew Sheppard did not go unnoAnd Yarrow has clearly never our attention. and the multitude of political marches, ticed and would never be forgotten. stopped marching in over five decades.

But Yarrow isn’t giving up. He there was a soundtrack. And the music They have been tireless advocates for Today his march is driven by his clearly doesn’t know what that means. that could be heard above the cries for the environment, warning each new passion for kids. He founded Operation Today’s challenges, both political and justice included that of Peter Yarrow, generation of the perils of global warm- Respect, a nonprofit whose mission is cultural, are just the next battle in a never-ending war he feels compelled to (Noel) Paul Stookey and Mary Travers, ing. And today, the dangers posed by to “assure each child and youth a always be fighting. better known as Peter, Paul and Mary. fracking have been added to the mix. respectful, safe and compassionate cliHe says that the real safeguard to These three friends and folk singers In a recent phone call, I asked Peter mate of learning where their academic, preventing cultural catastrophes is to were the real deal. Cut from the same Yarrow how he does it, how he’s mansocial and emotional development can create hearts that are caring in people, cloth as The Weavers, Pete Seeger and aged to work so long and so hard on so take place free of bullying, ridicule and especially children.

“We need empaWoody Guthrie, their music and their many important issues without losing violence.” thy,” he says.

“If we don’t have that, activism were and are inseparable. hope or growing weary.

About his organization he says, “our message is, don’t fall into materialism While reading their newly released “It takes a little skill to juggle all we won’t care about healthcare, book — Peter, Paul and Mary: Fifty these balls,” he says. “Today I don’t have and mean-spiritedness because that income disparity, survival, fairness.

Years In Music and Life — I found it the stamina I used to have so I must be only intensifies animosity and hatred.”

We’ll be left with only our own egoHis passion for kids is just another exhausting just contemplating what more judicious. Pete Seeger once told centric selves. element in his quest to make the these folks have accomplished. They me, ‘You know the most important “We have to gather our spirits were there, marching and singing thing is to take care of yourself, because world a better place. He recognizes together. In every generation we are that children are our secret weapons alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. at his we need you for 30 or 40 more years.’” going to have to do this. In each age to a brighter future.

“I Have a Dream” speech. They played Seeger was clearly a little shortand each generation there are struggles. sighted when it came to Yarrow and his “It’s 20 times more difficult today hundreds of dates a year, each night Certain injustices and certain realities because of mean-spiritedness. Reality risking their livelihoods to speak out on collaborators. It’s been 50 years and will be eradicated but it will never be controversial issues including civil rights counting for Yarrow and Stookey and it shows that spirit infects children; it’s perfect.” certainly would have been for Travers as why we have bullying. It’s the same reaand their opposition to the Vietnam So what is Yarrow’s recipe for fightwell had she not passed away in 2009. son we have gridlock in Congress.

War. They were vocal in support of the ing injustice and never giving up? I “It use to be [in Congress] there I suspect his real secret to sustaining women’s movement. Later they leant should have seen it coming. were opposite points of view, but still the fight for a better world came in the their voices and their influence to the “Singing together,” he says. “Every civility. Now the goal is to injure your anti-nuke movement. They began their next thing Yarrow said: “When you are time I sing, I become optimistic.” opponent and eliminate dialogue. fight for gay rights long before it was in the process of marching toward an Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 37

overtones

A gathering place Family ties for great food, drinks Lindsey Saunders takes road less trav& entertainment eled, kickstarts promising music career Buy Tickets: www.nissis.com Upcoming Events & Entertainment Thursday Dec 11

HAZEL MILLER’S HOLIDAY GROOVE SHOW Friday Dec 12

GIRLS ON TOP! 3RD ANNUAL “NAUGHTY ELVES” SHOW “Dance/R&B”

Saturday Dec 13

SYNDICATE “Dance/R&B”

Sunday Dec 14

COLORADO CAROLING COMPANY PRESENTS

WHITE CHRISTMAS Wednesday Dec 17

NELSON RANGELL HOLIDAY SHOW “Contemporary Jazz”

Thursday Dec 18

“ALL I GOT WAS THE BLUES FOR CHRISTMAS” SHOW FEATURING

JOHNNY O BAND Free admission

Friday Dec 19

NEW SENSATION “80s Dance Party”

Saturday Dec 20

SOUL SACRIFICE

“Tribute To Santana, War, and more”

Sunday Dec 21

COLCANNON

“Traditional Celtic Christmas”

Give the Gift of a Great Night Out!

Nissi’s Gift Cards available @ nissis.com BOOK YOUR NEXT PRIVATE EVENT AT NISSI’S Have your next business meeting, celebration, Benefit, or wedding at Nissis. Award winning Cuisine & service and world class sound in a beautiful and artistic setting

www.nissis.com/events 2675 NORTH PARK DRIVE (SE Corner of 95th & Arapahoe)

LAFAYETTE, CO 303.665.2757 38 December 11, 2014

ON THE BILL: Lindsey Saunders. 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec.13, Odd 13 Brewing, 301 East Simpson St., Lafayette, 303-997-4164, 21 and older, free.

by Brian Palmer

T

Sheila Rose

he arts, and more specifically music, is sort of a family business for Lindsey Saunders.

“My dad plays guitar, and taught me how to play,” she says. “Basically everyone on my dad’s side is a musician.

One aunt is an opera and jazz singer, another is a music teacher, and then both my dad and his twin brother grew up playing music, so it runs in the family, I guess.”

The local singer-songwriter’s father must have been a very good teacher, because she is already getting a solid footing in the music world despite being only a few years removed from high school.

Her debut EP, Nothing Normal, was released at the end of 2012 and this led to her performing across the country, including at SXSW, the CMJ Music Marathon and some showcase slots at Lindsey Saunders has a lot to smile about these days. the Sundance Film Festival.

And back in May, Taylor Guitars made her a member of their Artist Partnership Program. Not pop [songs], and not my instrumental bad for a first time around the block. work, but I have been writing a lot of Normal showcased Saunders’ chops instrumentals. She heard some stuff on the guitar on folk pop tracks like I’d written for friends for fun, and “Change My Mind” and the countryasked if I’d be interested in writing tinged “Take Me Out,” and rock and music for a modern dance piece she soul numbers like “Make or Break Us” was working on. I was definitely will— as well as “On Your Way,” a song ing to do that.” she posted a video of to her Facebook And thus, the seeds were planted page a few years ago — proof she’s got for what would ultimately become some powerful pipes as well. So when Miles Before Sleep. The four-song EP the time came to record a follow-up, — which Saunders released in she did what any genuine artist would October and has been touring on since do: She threw everybody a curve ball — acts as a companion piece to Tiso’s and recorded an instrumental EP of work “Paths Diverge,” which draws its tracks to be used in conjunction with inspiration from the classic Robert a piece that a modern dance troupe in Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken.”

Chicago would be performing.

“Task” starts off with a brisk, driving “My cousin [Catherine Tiso] is a electric guitar to accentuate the feelmodern dance choreographer and she ing of having a task placed before you knows I make music,” Saunders says. and diving into it with excitement and “Most people only know about my energy, and then “Decision” uses an

up-and-down pace, complex chords and lush guitar to mirror the moments of fear, uncertainty and ultimately nervous energy that come from making a decision. Somber notes and a more introspective tone guide “Questioning” before the EP culminates with the calm, aptly titled finale “Acceptance.” The writing process was different for Saunders this time around because the parameters and her mindset had to be completely different, but she proved to be up for the challenge.

“Any time you’re doing an instrumental piece, you have a lot more freedom to do whatever you like, creatively,” says Saunders. “Most of the time when I write music for myself, it’s pop music and there’s a lot of structure to that, a lot of rules that maybe you can break but probably shouldn’t break.

So in that respect, [writing Miles Before Sleep] was a lot different and a lot more fun.”

So while Saunders seems to have enjoyed making this EP a lot, she has learned a lot about herself too.

“I think I am a little more resilient than I first thought I was,” Saunders says and laughs. “That goes back to the concept of the EP: It’s about choosing more of a nontraditional way of life, versus something that everybody else is doing. You’re taking the road less traveled by. Making the EP was a risk and in a lot of ways the music is just reflecting on my decision to be a musician because I decided to do this right out of high school. I gave university a rain check and decided to go for it.”

Passing up a more traditional education in favor of getting an education in pursuing her dreams: that certainly qualifies as taking the road less traveled.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly

www.BoulderCountyEvents.com Friday december 12

How THe GroucH STole XmaS Tour FeaT THe GroucH & eliGH, cunninlyGuiSTS, dJ abiliTieS, Scarub, dJ FreSH & reaSon THe ciTizen

Sunday december 14

cervanTeS Hip Hop SHowdown (33 acTS)

THurSday december 18

waka Flocka Flame FeaT kid veGaS & Trev ricH w/ FuTure HeroeS

Friday & SaTurday december 19-20

THe Funky meTerS w/ THe earFul FeaT live painTinG by FrencHy, Scramble campbell & JoHn bukaTy

every THurSday @ THe oTHer Side

GraSS For THaT aSS

Free beFore 9pm or beFore 10pm For TeXT meSSaGe SubScriberS!

12/11: world’S FineST and wood & wire w/ cHain STaTion 12/18:vince Herman oF leFTover Salmom & FriendS w/ GipSy moon & leFT coaST counTry wedneSday december 10

blackaliciouS & daniel marley w/ mindSTaTe, Jack FlaSH, cory kendriX, mikeminded

Friday december 12

Joey porTer’S SHady buSineSS

FeaT Joey porTer (moTeT), eddie roberTS (new maSTerSoundS), niGel Hall & nikki GlaSpie (nTH power), JanS inGber & GarreTT SayerS (moTeT) & dan ScHwindT (kyle HollinGSworTH band) w/ eddie roberTS’ weST coaST SoundS & Jaden carlSon band

SaTurday december 13

THe conGreSS & eddie roberTS’ weST coaST SoundS w/ THe recovery acT

TueSday december 16 Sub.miSSion preSenTS

elecTronic TueSday FeaT bukez FineTz & kurSk

Sunday december 21

SaTurday december 20

denver baTTle oF THe bandS

(led zeppelin TribuTe) w/ raH, & dorian vibe

Honey puddle

SaTurday december 27

monday december 22

vicTor wooTen

w/ yukona, dillard, valac & umble

w/ THundercaT

Tuesday december 23 • Free Holiday ParTy Sub.miSSion preSenTS

& GarreTT SayerS Trio

Foleydub

FeaT coFFi, Grimblee, Subliminal & more

cHriS robinSon broTHerHood

TueSday december 30 Sub.miSSion preSenTS

dirTy dozen braSS band w/ FilTHy cHildren

Friday & SaTurday January 16-17

cervanTeS’ 12TH anniverSary everyone orcHeSTra FeaT oTeil burbridGe, eric kraSno, al ScHnier, durGa mcbroom (pink Floyd), roberT walTer, dave waTTS, JanS inGber, Jeremy Salken, naTalie creSSman (Trey anaSTaSio band), Gabe mervine & maTT piTTS

Friday February 6

3rd annual bob marley birTHday celebraTion FeaT wake up and live & TnerTle w/ liberaTion

SaTurday marcH 7

zion i w/ Jack FlaSH

monday april 20: JuST announced!

alTiTude THe diSpenSary preSenTS

FeaT deSerT dwellerS w/ dubviruS, yu yu & dillard

wedneSday december 31

dyrTy byrdS

SaTurday January 3

nappy rooTS

w/ rabid & Jalen bee

wedneSday January 7

THe ben miller band w/ crow moSeS

Friday January 9

Turkuaz

w/ JonaTHan ScaleS FourcHeSTra

Friday January 16

FiSHbone

w/ draGondeer & JudGe rouGHneck

SaTurday January 17

broTHerS keeper

FeaT JoHn popper oF blueS Traveler w/ rodina FeaT memberS oF new maSTeSoundS, euForqueSTra & kineTiX

Friday February 5

THe Travelin’ mccouryS w/ denver blueGraSS GeneralS (cHriS pandolFi & andy Hall oF THe inFamouS STrinGduSTerS, Tyler GranT oF GranT Farm, leSlie zieGler oF THe railSpliTTerS) & wHiTewaTer ramble playS bob marley

SaTurday February 7 THe STeady Tour

GianT panda dub Squad w/ TaTanka & HeaTboX

SaTurday February 14

420 in THe STreeTS

niGHTmareS on waX Sunday February 15

Hill, collie buddz, FlaTbuSH

Call for more details: 303-444-snow.

very Speical elecTronic TueSday

FeaT meTHod man & redman, cypreSS zombieS, dizzy wriGHT & more Tba!

GroundsGuys of Boulder is now HIRING FOR SNOW REMOVAL POSITIONS. Snow shovelers and plow drivers needed.

elecTronic TueSday

TueSday & wedneSday december 30-31

Friday January 2

Concerts, Happy Hours, Nightlife and more!

(dJ SeT)

True ScHool live band w/ lucid viSion & SpecTacle

2637 Welton St • 303-297-1772 • CervantesMasterpiece.com TexT CervanTeS aT 91944 for TiCkeT GiveaWayS, Drink SpeCialS, DiSCounTeD TiCkeT proMoTionS & More

Max 15 Msg/Mo. Msg & data rates May apply text stop to opt out for our privacy terMs & service go to http://cervantesMasterpiece.ticketfly.coM/files/2014/03/cervantes-privacy-docuMent.pdf

Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 39

COLORADO CHIRSTMAS

Symphony for the Holidays

Nationally Recognized as the 12th BEST Flea Market

by Good Housekeeping Magazine

Win a

$25

Gift Card Mention this Ad for a FREE Entry

20,000

Square Feet with More Than Half-a-Million Items!

130 E. Spaulding Street • Lafayette, CO 80026 Just East of S. Public Road • 303-665-0433

Handel’s Messiah

Scott O’Neil, resident conductor Colorado Symphony Chorus, Duain Wolfe, director

DEC 13-14

SAT 7:30 T SUN 1:00

Celtic Woman: Home For Christmas, The Symphony Tour A Colorado Christmas

DEC 17

WED 7:30

DEC 19-21

Scott Terrell, conductor Colorado Symphony Chorus, Duain Wolfe, director Colorado Children’s Chorale, Deborah DeSantis, director

FRI 7:30 SAT 2:30 & 6:00 SUN 1:00

Too Hot to Handel

DEC 27-28

SAT 7:30 T SUN 1:00 Leslie Stifelman, conductor Too Hot to Handel Chorus; Mary Louise Burke, associate director

A Night in Vienna

DEC 31

WED 6:30

Scott O’Neil, resident conductor

tickets

coloradosymphony.org | 303.623.7876 box office

1000 14th Street, Denver, CO 80202 mon-fri: 10 am - 6 pm T sat 12 pm - 6 pm Boettcher Concert Hall at the Denver Performing Arts Complex

Open Monday-Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday from 11am-5pm 40 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

arts & culture

Christmas keeper

ON THE BILL: A Christmas Carol, through December 28.

Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1345 Champa St., Denver, 800-641-1222, $49 and up.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year at the Denver Center

by Gary Zeidner

T

he world has turned all red and green. Every kid is on his or her best behavior. Christmas tree lots are springing up like mushrooms after a hard rain and lights are twinkling on houses and businesses all over town. Love it or loathe it, the holidays are officially here.

For many keepers of Christmas (or heeders of Hanukkah), that Jennifer M. Koskinen. means revisiting much-adored holiday entertainments.

Whether it’s making a trip to Bedford Falls to remember why life’s so wonderful, searching for a Red Ryder BB gun or tagging along for some drunken larceny with a very bad Santa, it’s the time of year to watch and rewatch a favorite or two.

One of the old- The company of A Christmas Carol. est and most venerated Christmas yarns is, of course, A Christmas Carol. Ol’ Chuck Dickens couldn’t have known when he penned it back in 1843, but A Christmas Carol would enjoy instant success and become one of the most beloved and enduring Christmas stories ever.

Similarly, the Denver Center Theatre Company couldn’t have known it back in 1990 when it brought forth its first production of A Christmas Carol, but it was creating its very own heartfelt and heartwarming holiday classic. The DCTC’s A Christmas Carol quickly became and still remains a joyous December tradition for people throughout the Denver-Boulder metroplex.

Combining a Christmas fable with a ghost story, A Christmas Carol tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge. A bitter, nasty, skinflint of the first order, Scrooge (Philip

Pleasants) prizes money above all else. Charity and its seasonal embodiment, Christmas, have no place in Scrooge’s life. He even decries having to give his only employee, Bob Cratchit ( James Michael Reilly), a paid day off each year on Christmas Day. Then, on Christmas Eve, the Earthbound spirit of Scrooge’s deceased business partner, Jacob Marley ( Jeffrey Roark), appears and tells Scrooge that his only hope for redemption is to turn his back on miserliness and embrace his fellow man. To help Scrooge see the error of his ways, Marley sends three specters to scare Scrooge straight: the Ghost of Christmas Past (Stephanie Cozart), the Ghost of Christmas Present (Leonard E. Barrett Jr.) and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come (Allen Dorsey).

Revisiting the happier days of his youth, realizing his biggest mistake was choosing acquisitiveness over the love of his soulmate Belle (Courtney Capek), witnessing the happiness a simple life provides to his nephew Fred (M. Scott McLean) and Bob Cratchit’s family, and being shown a potential future in which he dies alone and unmourned, Scrooge (Spoiler alert!) repents and embarks on a life of kindness and generosity.

Only the Grinchiest of holiday-haters will “Bah. Humbug!” the DCTC’s A Christmas Carol. Everyone else will find something to love. Pleasants’ finely honed and surprisingly funny take on Scrooge, Reilly’s supremely relatable Bob Cratchit and McLean’s buoyant

nephew Fred are all performance highlights, and as in years past, Leslie O’Carroll takes the cake — and a stein of beer — as Mrs. Fezziwig.

The costume design by Kevin Copenhaver is wonderfully opulent and anchors the Victorian aesthetic.

From the oversized top hats to the plaid skirts and brass buttons, the costumes often communicate the setting more than the set itself. This is not a criticism of Vicki Smith’s set design, which is dominated by two staircaseand-platform constructions that move on and off stage repeatedly, as much as it is an observation of its understated utility.

The evolution of the DCTC’s A Christmas Carol mirrors the past, present and future structure of the story itself. The first version, by Laird Williamson and Dennis Powers, that ran through 2004 was purely a play.

The second (and current) version, by Richard Hellesen, initially added a few musical interludes to what was essentially still a play. In 2014, A Christmas Carol has morphed into a musical with as much or more of its run time dedicated to songs and dance numbers than to dialogue and character interaction. If the trend continues, the future will find DCTC audiences being treated to a full-blown, Broadway-style version of A Christmas Carol.

Who knows, maybe that’s what Kent Thompson and the rest of the company are angling for? Who wouldn’t want to get credit for engineering the definitive A Christmas Carol musical? Audiences certainly seem to be eating up David de Berry’s combination of Old World carols and original material as well as Christine Rowan’s choreography.

For me, though, as enjoyable as the DCTC’s increasingly musical take on A Christmas Carol is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the original, non-musical rendition. The Williamson/Powers production allowed the actors more room to work and the drama more room to breathe. This resulted in a less cluttered, more focused final product with a significantly bigger emotional punch than the show has today. If I were writing a letter to Santa, I’d ask him to bring back the old A Christmas Carol.

Respond:letters@boulderweekly.com

Creative Music & Critical News Since 1978.

88.5 FM Boulder+Denver 1390 AM Denver 93.7 FM Nederland kgnu.org

ALL NEW!

2015 Honda LX CVT Elizabeth Frame #GK5H5FEW

$195/mo

is here to Help You!

I am committed to making your car buying experience easy and fun!

Awarded Best of Boulder by the Daily Camera

Call Elizabeth Today!

303-772-2900 WAC 36 Mo Lease, 12k miles/yr, $1999 Due +Tax

Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 41

AUTO TECHNICIANS WANTED

Unique Holiday Destination

Locally Owned & Operated Dealership Looking for 2 ASE Certified Auto Technicians.

Business is BOOMING and we are looking to grow with the right people.

Please Contact Service Director, Briant Szobody Briant@boulderhyundai.com Or stop in the dealership today!

Locally Owned & Operated

Boulder Hyundai 2555 30th Street • Boulder, CO 80301

303-442-1114

www.BoulderHyundai.com

LOCAL ARTISAN-CRAFTED GIFTS

“... If I were buying a budget table tomorrow, this is the one.”

– Brent Butterworth, Sound & ViSion

$399

DAILY DOOR-PRIZES

Put simply, the Pro-ject Debut Carbon delivers more performance per dollar than any other turntable on the market. Available in a variety of colors, including gloss black, red, white, blue and others, the Carbon is a great introduction — or reintroduction — to the world of vinyl.

Nov. 28th to Dec 21st THURSDAYS, FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS u Unique, Affordable Local Art & Crafts u Delicious Local Specialty Foods u Gift Certificates, Gift Baskets u Gifts for Gardeners, Kids, Naturalists

Choice Local Hand-Crafted & Sustainable Gifts Two More Weeks!

2015 SEASON OPENS MARCH 5

OPEN for HOLIDAY GIFT SHOPPING

Our hottest turntable is back in stock

Holiday Hours: Open 10am - 5pm Thursday - Sunday

www.listenup.com follow us

Boulder 2034 Arapahoe Ave., 80302 | 303-444-0479 denver 685 South Pearl St., 80209 | 303 -778-0780 Colo. SPrInGS 888 East Woodmen Road, 80920 | 719-633-2600 CuStom dIvISIon 5295 East Evans Ave., Denver, 80222 | 303-744-1179

42 December 11, 2014

Details at www.HarlequinsGardens.com Boulder Weekly

Courtesy of The Grouch and Eligh

HOW THE GROUCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

with The Grouch and Eligh 9 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 11, The Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder, 303-447-0095, $23

SEE FULL EVENT LISTINGS ONLINE. To have an event considered for the calendar, send information to calendar@ boulderweekly.com.

Please be sure to include address, date, time and phone number associated with each event. The deadline for consideration is Thursday at noon the week prior to publication.

Boulder Weekly does not guarantee the publication of any event.

Thursday, December 11

665-2757.

Music

Jayme Stone. 7 p.m. Larry’s Guitar Shop, 508 Fifth Ave., Longmont, 720340-4169.

Arthur Lee Land (SOLO). 8 p.m. Agora at the Riverside, 1724 Broadway St., Boulder, 720-477-4164.

Christmas with The King’s Singers. 7:30 p.m. Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder, 303-492-8423.

Danny Shafer. 5:30 p.m. Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, 1555 S. Hover Road, Longmont, 303-485-9400.

David Booker. 6 p.m. Upslope Brewing Company (Flatiron Park), 1898 S. Flatiron Court, Suite 110, Boulder, 303-396-1898.

Denny Driscoll. 6 p.m. 300 Suns Brewing, 335 First Ave., Longmont, 720-442-8292.

Dexter Payne Quartet. 7 p.m. Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway St., Boulder, 303-499-2985.

Hazel Miller. 7:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 2675 North Park Drive, Lafayette, 303-

So You Think You Can Dance tour

Courtesy of SYTYCD

Dance

8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, 1STBANK Center, 11450 Broomfield Lane, Broomfield, 303-410-0700, $38.50-$58.50 For the past decade So You Think You Can Dance has been one of America’s favorite reality talent-competition shows.

As much of a thrill as it is watching these skilled dancers compete from at home on your couch, seeing it live is a whole other level of entertainment. The flawless 18-year-old Ricky Ubeda has already been crowned winner of the show’s 11th season, but you can relive the season’s best performances and also see new routines from the top 10 finalists of the competition when their national tour hits Colorado.

Boulder Weekly

Low Spark. 8 p.m. The Laughing Goat, 1709 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-4404628.

Matt Flaherty Band. 10 p.m. Conor O’Neill’s, 1922 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-1922.

Matt Skinner Band. 8 p.m. Jamestown Mercantile Cafe, 108 Main St., Jamestown, 303-442-5847.

Mayhem Gulch. 9 p.m. Bohemian Biergarten, 2017 13th St., Boulder, 720-328-8328.

Music of Joy, Solstice & Noel. 7 p.m. Longmont Public Library, 409 Fourth Ave., Longmont, 303-651-8470.

Open Bluegrass Pick. 8:30 p.m. Under the Sun, 627 S. Broadway, Boulsee EVENTS Page 44

Planet

Flying Susan France

Frequent Flyers Scrooge’s Holiday Flight Various times Friday, Dec. 12 - Sunday, Dec. 14. Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826 What do you get when you mix Frequent Flyers with Christmas? An aerial-dance performance of A Christmas Carol, one of the holiday’s most storied theatrical productions. If you haven’t been to the Frequent Flyers aerialdance theatre yet, now is your chance to see this classic “turned upside-down” with aerial actors performing on trapeze, stilts, hoop, chains, aerial fabric and more. The show will be put on by 40-plus student and professional members of the Frequent Flyers.

New Horizons to the Pluto System

Courtesy of NASA

7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, Chautauqua Community House, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-442-3282 In 2006 when the International Astronomical Union created an official definition for planet, Pluto came up short. Pluto meets two of three conditions for an object to be considered a planet; First, it is an object in orbit around the Sun. Second, it has enough mass to be a sphere by its own gravitational force. The third stipulation for planet-dom, which Pluto does not meet, is that it must clear the neighborhood around its orbit, which it does not. Pluto was reclassified a “dwarf planet.”

But some never accepted Pluto’s demotion, such as Alan Stern, who is the principal investigator for the upcoming NASA mission called New Horizons, which is set to explore the Pluto system and launches in early 2015. Experts will be discussing why this mission is important at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder during the Chautauqua Space Series. Tickets are $10.

December 11, 2014 43

events EVENTS from Page 43

der, 303-927-6921.

303-823-6685.

Open Mic Night. 7 p.m. Spirit Hound Distillers, 4196 Ute Highway, Lyons, 303-823-5696.

Josh Vogeler. 6 p.m. Upslope Brewing Company (Lee Hill), 1501 Lee Hill Road, Unit 20, Boulder, 303-4492911.

Open Stage Special with Eben Grace. 7:30 p.m.

Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, 303 Main St., Lyons, 303-8236685.

Swing Night with Boulder Swing Collective. 9 p.m.

Waterloo, 809 Main St., Louisville, 303-993-2094.

Makeshift Funk Band. 8:30 p.m. Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, 1555 S. Hover Road, Longmont, 303-485-9400.

Events

McKay Brothers. 4:30 p.m. Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Tap Room, 1800 Pike Road, Unit B, Longmont, 303776-1914.

Amazing Artists. 3:30 p.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Michael Foreit and Many Mountains. 8 p.m. The Laughing Goat, 1709 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-4628.

Boulder Salsa Social plus Blues and Swing. 6:30 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

The Mystery Shifters. 7:30 p.m. Cannon Mine Coffee, 210 S. Public Road, Lafayette, 303-665-0625.

Business Research 101. 7 p.m. Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-441-3100.

Pocket Change. 5 p.m. Vindication Brewing Company, 6880 Winchester Circle, Suite F, Boulder, 303-5300642.

GED Classes. 10 a.m. Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-441-3100.

Policulture. 10 p.m. Conor O’Neill’s, 1922 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-1922.

Getting Started with Google Analytics. 6 p.m.

Boulder Digital Arts, 1600 Range St., Suite 100, Boulder, 303-800-4647.

Psychodillo. 10 p.m. Pioneer Inn, 15 E. First St., Nederland, 303-258-7733.

The Great Indian Novel. 4:30 p.m. Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-441-3100.

Newton Running Lab Fun Run. 6 p.m. Newton Running Lab/ Active Imprints, 1300 Walnut St., Suite 20, Boulder, 303-494-0321.

Open Access: Painters & Potters. 6:30 p.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Tango Intermediate Drop in Class. 6 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303440-8303.

Tenkara Presentation. 6 p.m. Rocky Mountain Anglers, 1904 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-447-2400.

Zumba GoldToning at the Avalon Ballroom. 9 a.m.

Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Friday, December 12 Music Alex Culbreth. 6 p.m. Jamestown Mercantile Cafe, 108 Main St., Jamestown, 303-442-5847.

Americana Highway. 6:30 p.m. Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co., 297 N. Highway 287, Suite 100, Lafayette, 303-908-6036.

Ash Ganley. 6 p.m. Oskar Blues CHUBurger, 1225 Ken Pratt Blvd., Longmont, 303-485-2482.

Ryan Flick. 9 p.m. Waterloo, 809 Main St., Louisville, 303-993-2094.

Sound Circle: Appetite. 7 p.m. Unity Columbine Spiritual Center, 8900 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303546-0114.

Steel Pennies. 6:30 p.m. Bittersweet Cafe & Confections, 836 Main St., Louisville, 303-317-5522.

Troy Clayton. 5 p.m. Pearl Street Pub, 1108 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-777-6768.

World’s Finest. 10 p.m. The Lazy Dog Sports Bar & Grill, 1346 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-3355.

Glory of Christmas Concert. 7 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, 1820 15th St., Boulder, 303-402-6400.

Jami Lunde Duo. 7:30 p.m. Oskar Blues CyclHOPS, 600 S. Airport Road, Longmont, 303-776-BIKE. Jeff Scroggins & the Colorado Bluegrass Band.

8 p.m. Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, 303 Main St., Lyons,

44 December 11, 2014

The Affordable Art Show will be at the Firehouse Art Center displaying works on sale for $200 or less through Dec. 28.

Cabinets of Curiosity — by Clayton Blair Dougherty, various artists. Longmont Center for The Arts Muse Gallery, 356 Main St., Longmont, 303-678-7869. Through Dec. 23

Drawn to Action: Posters from the AIGA Design Archives — by various artists. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720-865-5000. Through Jan. 18.

Conversaciones en español. 4 p.m. Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-441-3100.

Dancin Divas. 7 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Freaky Fridays — for Teens! XBOX Premier! 4 p.m.

Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-4413100.

Masterpiece Makers: All About Animals. 1 p.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Girls On Top! 7:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 2675 North Park Drive, Lafayette, 303-665-2757.

Bubble Garden — Architect Paul Andersen.

MCA Denver, 1485 Delgany St., Denver, 303-298-7554.

Boulder International Folk Dance. 7:30 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303440-8303.

Caribou Mountain Collective. 7:30 p.m. Harmony Music Hall, 2525 Broadway St., Boulder, 303-444-7444.

Friday Afternoon Concert & Art Show: Captivating Holiday Music. 2:30 p.m. Longmont Senior Center, 910 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont, 303-678-7869.

Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century.

Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720-8655000. Through March 15.

Photography for Change — group exhibit. Community Art Program Gallery, NCAR, 1850 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, 303-4971174. Through Jan. 30.

Drawings — by Carroll Dunham. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720865-5000. Through Feb. 15.

Holiday Time Out. 5:30 p.m. vpk by Maharishi Ayurveda, 2035 Broadway St., Boulder, 303-440-3427.

Friday Afternoon Club. 3 p.m. Centro Latin Kitchen and Refreshment Palace, 950 Pearl St., Boulder, 303442-7771.

ART/TEKNE: Part 3.

CU Art Museum, 1085 18th St., Boulder, 303492-8300. Through Dec. 20.

2014 BDA Winter Holiday Party, Raffle & Drive. 6 p.m. Boulder Digital Arts, 1600 Range St., Suite 100, Boulder, 303-800-4647.

Cabaret Events – Cora Vette. 8 p.m. Agora at the Riverside, 1724 Broadway St., Boulder, 720-477-4164.

Denny Driscoll. 6 p.m. Sun Rose Cafe, 379 Main St., Longmont, 303-651-3533.

Acrylic Paintings by Cynthia Marsh. Community Art Program Gallery, NCAR, 1850 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, 303-497-1174.

Through Jan. 30.

Events

The History & Mystery of Historic (Haunted?) Callahan House. 7 p.m. Callahan House, 312 Pratt St., Longmont, 303-775-7137.

December Reflections: Christmas with Ars Nova.

7:30 p.m. St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1419 Pine St., Boulder, 303-442-5246.

Britt Ripley

Affordable Art Show.

Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Ave., Longmont, 303-651-2787.

Through Dec. 28.

Defaced — by various artists. Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St., Boulder, 303-443-2122. Through Jan. 8.

Brad Upton Quartet. 7 p.m. Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway St., Boulder, 303-499-2985.

Danny Shafer. 9:30 p.m. LOCAL eat + drink, 432 Main St., Lyons, 303-823-2472.

arts

Minecrafternoons* at Meadows. 3:30 p.m. Meadows Branch Library, 4800 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-4414390.

Second Friday. 6 p.m. Historic Downtown Longmont, Main Street & Third Avenue, Longmont.

First Glance/Second Look: Quilts from the Denver Art Museum Collection. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720865-5000. Through March 22.

Printed and Painted: The Art of Bark Cloth — Various artists. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720-865-5000.

Through Aug. 27, 2017.

Reflections: The MIck Fleetwood Collection — by Mick Fleetwood. Fascination St. Fine Art, 315 Detroit St., Denver, 303-333-1566.

Brunch Jazz Duo. 11 a.m. Agora at the Riverside, 1724 Broadway St., Boulder, 720-477-4164.

Cat Jerky. 5 p.m. Vindication Brewing Company, 6880 Winchester Circle, Suite F, Boulder, 303-530-0642.

Tango Ground School Class. 6:45 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

David Potter. 7 p.m. Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co., 297 N. Highway 287, Suite 100, Lafayette, 303-9086036.

Zumba plus Zumba Toning with Mary Kay. 9 a.m.

Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Dog and The Rangers. 9 p.m. Stage Stop, 60 Main St., Rollinsville, 303-258-0649.

Saturday, December 13 Music Arthur Lee Land. 7:30 p.m. Oskar Blues CyclHOPS, 600 S. Airport Road, Longmont, 303-776-BIKE. Blue Canyon Boys. 10 p.m. Bohemian Biergarten, 2017 13th St., Boulder, 720-328-8328.

Boulder Concert Band Festive Holidays Concert. 7 p.m. Pratt Middle School, 6096 Baseline Road, Boulder, 720-561-5536.

Fall Equinox Ecstatic Dance. 10 a.m. Free Motion Dance Studio, 2126 Pearl St., Boulder, 415-290-9242.

Foxfeather. 6:30 p.m. 300 Suns Brewing, 335 First Ave., Longmont, 720-442-8292.

Greg Blake & K.C. Groves. 4:30 p.m. Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Tap Room, 1800 Pike Road, Unit B, Longmont, 303-776-1914.

Jan. 25.

Photography and Vision: The Influence of Joyce and Ted Strauss — Various artists. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720-865-5000. Through

Matisse and Friends — by Henri Matisse and friends. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720-865-5000.Through Jan. 25.

The Art of Fiber: 50 Years of the Boulder Handweaver’s Guild — by various artists.

The Dairy Center for The Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826. Through Jan. 18.

Myopia — by Mark Mothersbaugh. Museum of Contemporary Art, 1485 Delgany St., Denver, 303-298-7554. Through April 12.

Recent Aquisitions — Oliver Herring. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720-865-5000. Through Jan. 18, 2015.

A Table (Somewhat): Conversations Between Objects — by various artists. CU Art Museum, 1085 18th St., Boulder, 303-492-8300.

Through Dec. 20.

Trespassing — by William Matthews. Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, 720-865-5000. Through May 17, 2015. zin*dath*in*a, (zin ‘däth i n?) n. ­­— by various artists. CU Art Museum, 1085 18th St., Boulder, 303-492-8300. Through Dec. 19.

St., Boulder.

A Homestead Christmas. 10 a.m. Wise Homestead Museum, 11611 Jasper Road, Lafayette, 303-8284561.

Intergalactic Radio. 10 p.m. The Lazy Dog Sports Bar & Grill, 1346 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-3355.

Johnny O Band. 8 p.m. Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, 303 Main St., Lyons, 303-823-6685.

Left Coast Country. 8 p.m. Jamestown Mercantile Cafe, 108 Main St., Jamestown, 303-442-5847.

Opera for kids: Hansel and Gretel. 11 a.m. The Nomad Theater, 1410 Quince Ave., Boulder, 303-4437510.

Outliers. 8:30 p.m. Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, 1555 S. Hover Road, Longmont, 303-485-9400.

Gumbo le Funque. 8 p.m. The Speakeasy, 301 Main St., Longmont, 720-684-4728.

RockRadzi presents ‘CAN you dig it?’ with the Malai LLama. 9 p.m. The Black Forest Inn, 24 Big Springs Drive, Nederland, 303-582-9971.

Henscratch. 9 p.m. Illegal Pete’s Boulder, 1447 Pearl

see EVENTS Page 46

Boulder Weekly

THIS WEEK AT PEPSI CENTER

AVALANCHE VS JETS Thursday, December 11 7:00 pm

GUYS NIGHT OUT $69 PRESENTED BY BUD LIGHT

®

2 Tickets + 2 Beers or Pepsis + 2 T-shirts

AVALANCHE VS BLUES LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE

Saturday, December 13 8:00 pm

Packages start at 88 per seat!

Pick 4 games and choose an autographed puck by:

O’REILLY, VARLAMOV, LANDESKOG, DUCHENE, MacKINNON OR IGINLA!

*One with the purchase of two or more seats in the Avalanche Holiday Pack.

COLORADOAVALANCHE.COM

NUGGETS VS SPURS Sunday, December 14 6:00 pm

NUGGETS VS ROCKETS Wednesday, December 17 8:30 pm

GUYS NIGHT OUT $59 PRESENTED BY MILLER LITE

2 TICKETS + 2 BEERS + 2 T-SHIRTS

NUGGETS.COM

CHOOSE 4 GAMES AND GET AN AUTOGRAPHED GIFT FROM FARIED OR LAWSON

ALL TICKETS AT 303.893.TIXS

Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 45

EVENTS from Page 44

words

Ryan Hemsworth. 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1128 13th St., Boulder, 303-447-0095.

Skanson and Hansen. 8 p.m. Jensen Guitars, 350 Main St., Longmont, 303-827-3163.

WEEKLY EVENTS Tuesday Open Mic in the Opera House

UPCOMING EVENTS Friday, Dec 19 • 8pm

LAST MEN ON EARTH JINGLE BELL ROCK Tuesday, Dec 23 • 7pm

FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US A NIGHT OF MUSIC AND LAUGHTER

Wednesday, Dec 31 • 8pm

Soul X. 7:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 2675 North Park Drive, Lafayette, 303-665-2757.

Sound Circle: Appetite. 5 p.m. Unity Columbine Spiritual Center, 8900 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303546-0114.

The Symbols. 10 p.m. Pioneer Inn, 15 E. First St., Nederland, 303-258-7733.

Syndicate Band. 7:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 2675 North Park Drive, Lafayette, 303-665-2757.

Todd Adelman. 9 p.m. Waterloo, 809 Main St., Louisville, 303-993-2094.

Tom Weiser Jazz Quartet. 7 p.m. Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway St., Boulder, 303-499-2985.

Uncle Jesse. 7 p.m. Left Hand Brewing Company, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont, 303-772-0258.

Whiskey Autumn. 10 p.m. Conor O’Neill’s, 1922 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-1922.

A Winter’s World of Song. 7:30 p.m. Chautauqua Community House, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303952-1632.

Events Adobe InDesign Hands-On. 9 a.m. Boulder Digital Arts, 1600 Range St., Suite 100, Boulder, 303-800-4647.

Beginner Class at Boulder Tango Studio. 6 p.m.

Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Bilingual Spanish/English Storytime Hora de Cuentos Bilingües. 10:15 a.m. Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-441-3100.

NEW YEARS EVE

Bilingual Spanish/English Storytime Hora de Cuentos Bilingües. 11:15 a.m. NoBo Corner Library, 4600 Broadway, Boulder, 303-441-4250.

BAND IN JAPAN

Boulder Track Club Youth Group. 9 a.m. Viele Lake Park, Boulder.

Friday, Jan 9, 2015 • 8pm

Children’s Animated Holiday Classics & Crafts. 12 p.m. Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Ave., Longmont, 303-651-2787.

FEATURING

HAMILTON LOOMIS

Saturday, Jan 10 • 8pm

MOJOMAMA

Friday, Jan 23 • 8pm

KISSm

Saturday, Jan 24 • 8pm

THE JOHNNY O. BAND Friday, Feb 27 • 8pm

MY BLUE SKY

303-495-3303.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie —

by Rita Mae Brown. 7 p.m.

Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, 303-322-7727.

Nadia’s Good Deed ­— by Rachel Harris. 10 a.m.

Barnes & Noble. 2999 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-444-0349 Monday, Dec. 15

Innisfree Poetry Workshop Reading. 7 p.m.

Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe, 1203 13th St., Suite A, Boulder, 303-495-3303.

Peter, Paul & Mary: Fifty Years in Music and Life ­— by Peter Yarrow. 7:30 p.m. First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St., Boulder, 303-447-2074

Friday, Dec. 12 Innisfree: Coffee Cupping. 1 p.m. Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe, 1203 13th St., Suite A, Boulder, 303495-3303.

Voodoo Ridge — by David Freed. 7 p.m. Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, 303-3227727.

16th Annual Holiday Reading — by various authors. 7 p.m. Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, 303322-7727.

David Freed will be discussing and signing his new book Voodoo Ridge at the Tattered Cover in Denver on Friday, Dec. 12.

Innisfree: Michael Henry & Seth Brady Tucher. 7 p.m. Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe, 1203 13th St., Suite A, Boulder, 303-495-3303.

Saturday, Dec. 13

Does Santa Exist — by Eric Kaplan. 7 p.m.

Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, 303-322-7727.

Innisfree Writing Group. 9 a.m. Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe, 1203 13th St., Suite A, Boulder,

Boulder County AIDS Project Bookfair. 9 a.m.

Barnes & Noble, 2999 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-444-0349 Tuesday, Dec. 16

Innisfree Weekly Open Poetry Reading. 7 p.m.

Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe, 1203 13th St., Suite A, Boulder, 303-4953303.

Wednesday, Dec. 17 Innisfree: DJ and SJ. 7 p.m. Innisfree Poetry Bookstore & Cafe, 1203 13th St., Suite A, Boulder, 303-495-3303.

Calico and Boots. 7 p.m. Glenns Den, 10178 Empire Drive, Lafayette, 303-440-8303.

December Lights. 4 p.m. Sunflower Farm, 11150 Prospect Road, Longmont, 303-774-8001.

DJ Mr. Getdowne. 8 p.m. Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place, 2027 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-0120.

Flamenco Technique. 12:45 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Fly Tying with Rob Kolanda. 10 a.m. Front Range Anglers, 2344 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-494-1375.

Folded Paper Gift Boxes Workshop. 10:30 a.m.

Louisville Public Library, 951 Spruce St., Louisville, 303-335-4849.

Free Fly Tying Classes. 10 a.m. Rocky Mountain Anglers, 1904 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-447-2400.

Herbal Holiday Faire. 12 p.m. Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism, 2900 Valmont Road, Boulder, 720406-8609.

Learn Scratch with Coder Dojo Boulder. 10 a.m.

Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-4413100.

St., Boulder, 303-443-4489.

Stories on Stage presents “Making Merry.” 2 p.m.

Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303441-3100.

Tango Night at BTS. 9 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Women of the West Saturday group “Western Views.” 10 a.m. Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-441-3100.

Zumba plus Zumba Toning. 8:30 a.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-4408303.

Sunday, December 14 Music Brandon Hagen and Pete Pidgeon. 8 p.m. The Laughing Goat, 1709 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-4628.

Celtic Carols by Jerry Barlow. 2:30 p.m. Louisville Public Library, 951 Spruce St., Louisville, 303-3354849.

Chanuconcert 2014. 2:30 p.m. JCC Boulder, 3800 Kalmia Ave., Boulder, 303-998-1900.

Jami Lunde Duo. 6 p.m. Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, 1555 S. Hover Road, Longmont, 303-485-9400.

Kevin Dooley. 5 p.m. Left Hand Brewing Company, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont, 303-772-0258.

Moors and McCumber. 7:30 p.m. Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St., Boulder, 303-443-6461.

Sound Circle: Appetite. 5 p.m. Unity Columbine Spiritual Center, 8900 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303546-0114.

The Stillettos. 3 p.m. Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Tap Room, 1800 Pike Road, Unit B, Longmont, 303-7761914.

Sunday Afternoon Tea Dance. 1 p.m. Avalon Ballroom, 185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Sunday Bluegrass Pick. 12 p.m. Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, 1555 S. Hover Road, Longmont, 303-485-9400.

Sunday Music in the Yard. 5 p.m. The Post Brewing Company, 105 West Emma St., Lafayette, 303-5932066.

Longmont Lights. 5 p.m. Roosevelt Park, 700 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont.

Colorado Caroling Company. 7:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 2675 North Park Drive, Lafayette, 303-665-2757.

Timberline Handbell Ensemble Holiday Concert.

1:15 p.m. George Reynolds Branch — Boulder Public Library, 3595 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, 303-441-3120.

Make Tracks. 10 a.m. CU Museum of Natural History, Henderson Building, UCB 218, 1030 Broadway, Boulder, 303-492-6892.

Dancing Awake Your Indigenous Soul. 2:30 p.m.

Free Motion Dance Studio, 2126 Pearl St., Boulder, 415-290-9242.

Timberline Handbell Ensemble Holiday Concert.

3:30 p.m. Meadows Branch Library, 4800 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-441-4390.

Mine Karaoke. 7:30 p.m. Cannon Mine Coffee, 210 S. Public Road, Lafayette, 303-665-0625.

Danny Shafer & Greg Schochet. 6 p.m. Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, 303 Main St., Lyons, 303-823-6685.

Traditional Irish Open Session. 7 p.m. Conor O’Neill’s, 1922 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-1922.

Nutcracker Tea. 12 p.m. Hotel Boulderado, 2115 13th St., Boulder, 303-442-4344.

Dog House Music Showcase. 12:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1128 13th St., Boulder, 303-447-0095.

Events

Scandinavian Christmas Party. 8 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-4408303.

Groove Trotters. 9 p.m. Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-546-0886.

Sneak Preview Screening of The Last Avatar. 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m, and 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce

46 December 11, 2014

Thursday, Dec. 11

Gypsy Jazz Duo for Brunch. 11 a.m. Agora at the Riverside, 1724 Broadway St., Boulder, 720-477-4164.

Boulder Holiday Gift Festival. 11 a.m. YMCA of Boulder Valley, 2850 Mapleton Ave., Boulder, 720-272-7467.

Boulder Israeli Dance. 7 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, see EVENTS Page 48

Boulder Weekly

OWN it Local Own it Make a purchase at participating businesses before New Years to receive downtown discounts.

Find it

Participating businesses painted ceramic bell ornaments that are on display. Grab a sheet (or download one on our website) for clues and find the bells.

Enter to win Downtown gift cards.

For complete shopping directory, visit

d owntownlongmont.com CHEESE IMPORTERS

Fromagerie & Bistrot des Artistes

Great Gifts of the Finest

Gourmet Food

DAILY ARRIVALS of NEW & BEAUTIFUL HOLIDAY PRODUCTS We have wonderfully unique and delicious gift baskets available for shipment anywhere in the continental US. Take the Headache out of shopping and let us deliver a fine food cheese basket as a gift for your Friends or Family.

Please order online at www.cheeseimporters.com, in person or over the telephone.

Wish someone a delicious

“Merry Christmas!”

Come see why everyone is talking about our beautiful new store, and experience a unique European Marketplace!

We offer more than 350 varieties of cheeses from around the world and the U.S. along with all of the gourmet foods and European goods that you have come to know us for • finest meals Relax & enjoy the and drinks in the Bistrot des Artistes and Belle Epoque Bar, serving breakfast and lunch all day.

FULL-SERVICE •DINNER MENU Fridays and Saturdays from 5 - 8pm • SPECIALS HAPPY HOUR 4 - 6pm Mon - Sat and All Day Sunday Boulder Weekly

WE OFFER A DAILY SAMPLING OF CHEESES AND AN ENTHUSIASTIC STAFF TO HELP YOU SELECT THE PERFECT ITEMS FOR YOU

CHEESE IMPORTERS 103 Main St., Longmont, CO Store Hours: Mon - Thurs 9am - 6pm Fri - Sat 9am - 8pm Sun 11am - 5pm

•

303-772-9599

cheeseimporters.com December 11, 2014 47

events

EVENTS from Page 46

6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Boulder Silent Outdoor Group Hike. 1:30 p.m. Settlers Part & West Pearl walk, Boulder.

Comedy Night. 7 p.m. Bohemian Biergarten, 2017 13th St., Boulder, 720-328-8328.

Jess Tango Lesson. 6 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Make Tracks. 11 a.m. CU Museum of Natural History, Henderson Building, UCB 218, 1030 Broadway, Boulder, 303-492-6892.

Nutcracker Tea. 12 p.m. Hotel Boulderado, 2115 13th St., Boulder, 303-442-4344.

Reynolds Teen Advisory Group (TAG). 2:30 p.m.

George Reynolds Branch Library, 3595 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, 303-441-3120.

Scottish Country Dancers of Colorado. 4:30 p.m.

Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Tea Dance with Live Music. 1 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Wildlife and Winter Hike. 10 a.m. Heil Valley Ranch, Boulder, 303-678-6214.

Monday, December 15

Music Hall, 2525 Broadway St., Boulder, 303-444-7444.

Mark Diamond Music Experience. 8 p.m. Agora at the Riverside, 1724 Broadway St., Boulder, 720-4774164.

Open Jovan. 6 p.m. Jamestown Mercantile Cafe, 108 Main St., Jamestown, 303-442-5847.

Sneak Preview Screening of The Last Avatar. 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m, and 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder, 303-443-4489.

Music Bluegrass Jam. 7:30 p.m. Twelve Degree Brewing, 820 Main St., Louisville, 720-638-1623.

Story Slam Boulder. 7:30 p.m. Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place, 2027 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-0120.

Open Stage. 5 p.m. Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Tap Room, 1800 Pike Road, Unit B, Longmont, 303-7761914.

Electric Blues Jam. 7 p.m. Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, 1555 S. Hover Road, Longmont, 303-485-9400.

Peter, Paul, & Mary: 50 Years in Music & Life. 7:30 p.m. First Congregational Church of Boulder, 1128 Pine St., Boulder, 303-442-1787.

Free Improvisation Workshop. 6:30 p.m. Harmony

Westin Smith Duo. 9 p.m. Pearl Street Pub, 1108 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-777-6768.

Sunday Morning Zumba. 9 a.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Yojimbo. 9 p.m. Southern Sun Pub & Brewery, 627 South Broadway, Boulder, 303-543-0886.

Events

BEST TOP SHELF IN BOULDER

Citizenship Classes. 6:30 p.m. Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-441-3100.

BOULDER’S MOST CONVENIENT DISPENSARY

Mathias and the Crooked Streets. 9 p.m. Waterloo, 809 Main St., Louisville, 303-993-2094.

IS NOW BOTH

RECREATIONAL AND MEDICAL! Providing a sense of professionalism that has not yet been introduced to the medical marijuana community.

All strains are proudly grown in house.

HOURS: MON - SAT 9:30 - 6:30 • SUN 12:00 - 5:00 3005 28TH STREET • BOULDER • 303.442.0892 WWW.THESTATIONBOULDER.COM 48 December 11, 2014

Intended for MMJ Patients Only

Clay & Sculpt. 3:45 p.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Cosmology and Modern Physics. 7 p.m. Meadows Branch Library, 4800 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-4414390.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night. 6:30 p.m. Twisted Pine Brewing Company, 3201 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-7869270.

German Speaking Table. 6:30 p.m. Bohemian Biergarten, 2017 13th St., Boulder, 720-328-8328.

Open Mic. 7 p.m. Upslope Brewing Company (Lee Hill), 1501 Lee Hill Road, Unit 20, Boulder, 303-449-2911.

Web Fundamentals. 6 p.m. Boulder Digital Arts, 1600 Range St., Suite 100, Boulder, 303-800-4647.

Wheel Throwing. 6:30 p.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Zumba Plus Toning — with Mary Kay. 9 a.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303440-8303.

Tuesday, December 16 Music Fluxus. 8 p.m. The Laughing Goat, 1709 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-4628.

Funk Jam with Technicolor Tone Factory. 7 p.m.

The Lazy Dog Sports Bar & Grill, 1346 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-3355.

Open Mic. 6:30 p.m. Front Range Brewing Company, 400 W. South Boulder Road, Lafayette, 303-339-0767.

Open Mic. 7 p.m. Dickens Opera House, 300 Main St., Longmont, 720-297-6397.

Open Mic at the Pioneer Inn. 10 p.m. Pioneer Inn, 15 E. First St., Nederland, 303-258-7733.

Open Mic Night. 5:30 p.m. Twisted Pine Brewing Company, 3201 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-786-9270.

Open Mic Night. 8 p.m. Conor O’Neill’s, 1922 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-1922.

Robert Johnson Jazz Duo. 8 p.m. Agora at the Riverside, 1724 Broadway St., Boulder, 720-477-4164.

Events Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 7 p.m. Century Boulder, 1700 29th St., Boulder, 303-444-0583.

Beginner Class at Boulder Tango Studio. 6 p.m.

Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Boulder World Affairs Discussion Group. 10 a.m.

Meadows Branch Library, 4800 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-441-4390.

Das Boot Trivia. 8 p.m. Bohemian Biergarten, 2017 13th St., Boulder, 720-328-8328.

Meadows Creative Writing Club. 4 p.m. Meadows Branch Library, 4800 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-4414390.

Boulder Weekly

Open Mic. 8 p.m. Attic Bar & Bistro, 949 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-415-1300.

theater theater

Smokes and Jokes. 8:30 p.m. Johnny’s Cigar Bar, 1801 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-0884.

A Christmas Carol. Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1345 Champa St., Denver, 720-8654239. Through Dec. 28.

Tango Intermediate Drop In Class. 7:15 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303440-8303.

Cult Following. Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1345 Champa St., Denver, 720-865-4239.

Through May 8.

Trivia Night. 6:30 p.m. Crystal Springs Brewing Company, 657 S. Taylor Ave, Unit E, Louisville, 303-665-8888.

Fiddler on the Roof. Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-449-6000.

Through Feb. 28.

Tuesday Hikers. 9 a.m. North Boulder Park, Ninth St., Boulder.

Tuesday Night Swing. 7:30 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Making Merry. Boulder Library Theater, 1001

Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-4940523. Dec. 13 Only.

Moulin Scrooge — The Catamounts and Band of Toughs. The Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo St., Denver, 303-4475977. Through Dec. 20.

Miracle on 34th Street. The Spark Theatre, 985 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, 720-346-7396. Through Dec. 21.

The SantaLand Diaries. Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1345 Champa St., Denver, 800641-1222. Through Dec. 24.

Scrooge, Bah Humbug! Jester’s Dinner Theatre, 224 Main St., Longmont, 303-682-9980. Through Dec. 28.

Songs for a New World. Miner’s Alley Theatre, 1224 Washington Ave., Golden, 303-935-3044.

Through Dec. 21.

A Toonful Christmas— featuring a Charlie Brown Christmas. Longmont Theatre Company.

513 Main St., Longmont, 303-772-5200.

Through Dec. 20.

Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking!

Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1345 Champa St., Denver, 720-865-4239. Through Mar. 1.

Love, Loss & What I Wore — Viva Theatre.

Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-442-1415. Through Dec. 13.

Wheel Throwing 1. 3:45 p.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Wheel Throwing 2. 5 p.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Wednesday, December 17 Music Chance Trio. 8 p.m. The Laughing Goat, 1709 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-4628.

Choral Holiday Concerts. 7 p.m. Fairview High School, 1515 Greenbriar Blvd., Boulder, 720-561-3100.

Danny Shafer. 6 p.m. The Dickens Tavern, 300 Main St., Longmont, 303-834-9384.

Jennifer Lane – Piano Bar. 8 p.m. Agora at the Riverside, 1724 Broadway St., Boulder, 720-477-4164.

Karaoke at the Attic. 9 p.m. Attic Bar & Bistro, 949 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-415-1300.

Karaoke hosted by Marcus Lucas. 9 p.m. Bohemian Biergarten, 2017 13th St., Boulder, 720-328-8328.

Nelson Rangell. 7:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 2675 North Park Drive, Lafayette, 303-665-2757.

No Bird Ever Flew. 7 p.m. Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway St., Boulder, 303-499-2985.

Open Bluegrass Pick. 9 p.m. Conor O’Neill’s, 1922 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-1922.

Open Mic Night. 6:30 p.m. Cannon Mine Coffee, 210 S. Public Road, Lafayette, 303-665-0625.

Silent Night Gala. 5:30 p.m. The Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-440-7826.

Trio con Brio Tango. 6:30 p.m. St Julien Hotel and Spa, 900 Walnut St., Boulder, 720-406-9696.

Events BSD Rehearsals or Intermediate Intensive Class.

7:45 p.m. Boulder Dance Coalition, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Danceophile Studio/Postoley Dance Ensemble/Tom Masterson. 7:45 p.m. Danceophile Studio, 2126 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-440-8303.

Flatirons Running/Under the Sun Fun Run. 6 p.m.

Flatirons Running Inc., 629 S. Broadway St., Unit E, Boulder, 303-554-7837.

Great Books Discussion Group. 7:30 p.m. Meadows Branch Library, 4800 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-4414390.

Lego Story Club. 4 p.m. George Reynolds Branch Library, 3595 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, 303-441-3120.

Open Art | Drop In Art Class for Children Under 5.

10 a.m. Tinker Art Studio, 1300 Yellow Pine Ave., Suite B, Boulder, 303-503-1902.

Ski Conditioning Class. 6:15 p.m. Mountains Edge Fitness, 555 30th St., Boulder, 303-494-5000.

Socrates Cafe. 2 p.m. Meadows Branch Library, 4800 Baseline Road, Boulder, 303-441-4390.

Stigma Stains. All Day. Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Ave., Longmont, 303-651-2787.

Wednesday Fun Run. 6 p.m. Boulder Running Company, 28th Street and Pearl Street, Boulder, 800807-6179.

Boulder Weekly

Saturday, December 27 7:30pm at NISSI’S • $8 in advance

2675 Northpark Dr., Lafayette • 303-665-2757 Still time to book the band for your holiday party!

303-819-8182 • www.hindsightclassicrock.com

December 11, 2014 49

film ‘The world’s biggest student film’ CU brings ‘Bill, the Galactic Hero’ to the screen

by Michael J. Casey

I

t was 1983 when British filmmaker Alex Cox turned in his first feature film to Universal Studios. That same week, Cox optioned the rights to one of his favorite science-fiction novels for a future project. The movie was Repo Man. The book was Harry Harrison’s Bill, the Galactic Hero, Harrison’s satirical response to Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, a book that Cox describes as “a turgid ON THE BILL: Bill, sci-fi tale madly in the Galactic Hero world love with all things premiere, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday Dec. 12, military.” Bill reportMuenzinger Auditorium edly caused Heinlein and 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, Alamo to never speak to Drafthouse Littleton, Harrison again and in 7301 S. Santa Fe Drive, Denver. A Q&A with 1997, Starship Troopers Alex Cox will follow the was adapted for the big Dec. 12, 7:30 p.m. screening and Dec. 13 8 screen while Bill was p.m. screening deemed an un-marketable product and gathered dust.

Thirty years later, on Dec. 12, Bill, the Galactic Hero will finally make its way to the screen thanks to more than 1,100 Kickstarter backers and the students of the film studies program and Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Colorado Boulder, where Cox is a teacher. Funny how these things happen.

Bill, the Galactic Hero is an anti-war, anti-authoritar-

ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE

This feature-length film reveals what it is like to live and work at the bottom of the planet, in Antarctica, for a full year. The story is not from the point of view of scientists, but of the people who spend the most time there; the everyday workers who keep the stations running in the harshest place on the planet. Filmed over 15 years by Frozen Planet photographer Anthony Powell, the film features a unique insider’s point of view, with unparalleled access and never before seen stunning footage of the deep Antarctic winters. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater

THE BETTER ANGELS This poetic and visually stunning black-and-white period piece tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood in the harsh wilderness of Indiana and the

50 December 11, 2014

ian tale. CU theater major James Miller plays Bill, a pizza delivery boy — Cosmo’s Pizza, of course — tricked into joining the Space Troopers, a military organization, in a galactic battle against a reptilian race.

Not an ideal trooper, Bill is injured in battle and loses his left arm, which is replaced with a second right arm.

Bill goes AWOL, falls into a job as a garbage man, then a spy, then a war hero and finally a model-recruiting agent for the troopers. Combat transforms the naïve and fragile Bill into a drunken, demonic patchwork of two right arms, a fake leg and a couple of tusks — spoils of war from Deathwish Drang (Devon Wycoff, a sophomore film major). If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then war turns us all into

hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever and the two women who guided him. Narrated through transcribed reminiscences of Lincoln’s cousin, it conveys a detailed sense of the time, rather than relating historical facts.

At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater

BILL, THE GALACTIC HERO

See review above. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 12, IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium. $8 general admission/$7 students.

JINGLE BELL ROCKS!

In his search for the 12 best, underappreciated Christmas songs ever recorded, director Mitchell Kezin both asks and answers the question, why, when Christmas rolls around, are we still stuck cozying up with Bing Crosby under a blanket of snow? Kezin delves into the minds of some of the world’s most legendary Christmas music fanatics and hits the road to hang with his holiday heroes including hip hop legend Joseph Rev

Frankenstein’s monster.

Bill, the Galactic Hero may be a student film made on a shoestring budget, but it is a solid piece of filmmaking chock full of ambition and imagination (not bad for a feature produced for little over $104,000).

Bill combines color animation, black and white photography and lots of low-fi special effects, which is where Bill draws its greatest strengths.

French critic and filmmaker François Truffaut famously pointed out that it was impossible to make an anti-war movie because, “to show something is to ennoble it.” Cox and company subvert this dilemma by making combat sloppy and comical. The enemy is not 10 feet tall and deadly, the blasters are not hightech precision weapons and there is no ballet of destruction. Nothing in Bill glorifies war or combat. I doubt anyone seeing Bill will feel the need to take up a cause, head off to war and, as General George S. Patton put it, “Mak[e] the other poor dumb bastard die for his.”

Cox has been touting Bill as “the world’s biggest student film” and I suspect he is correct, but I don’t have the research to back that up. Instead, I would offer that Bill, the Galactic Hero is quite possibly the world’s biggest home movie. One that will hopefully function as a jumping off point for these students and for Cox, the satisfaction of seeing a project he started 30 years ago finally come to fruition.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

Run Simmons of RUN-D.M.C., The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, filmmaker John Waters, bebopper Bob Dorough, L.A. DJ and musicologist Dr. Demento and Calypso legend The Mighty Sparrow. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater

LA CENORENTOLA: TEATRO DE LICEU

Catch Joyce Di Donato and Juan Diego Flórez in what may just be definitive performances in Rossini’s enchanting rags-to-riches rendition, entreated James Sohre in his review of Rossini’s beloved dramma giocoso La Cenerentola in Opera Today. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater

PELICAN DREAMS

What’s it like to try to get to know a flying dinosaur? Sundance and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Judy Irving (The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) follows a wayward California brown pelican from her “arrest” on the Golden Gate Bridge into care at a wildlife rehabilita-

tion facility, and from there explores pelicans’ nesting grounds, Pacific coast migration and survival challenges. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater

WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD

Kat Connors is 17 years old when her perfect homemaker mother, Eve, disappears — just as Kat is discovering and relishing her newfound sexuality. Having lived for so long in a stifled, emotionally repressed household, she barely registers her mother’s absence and certainly doesn’t blame her doormat of a father, Brock, for the loss. In fact, it’s almost a relief. But as time passes, Kat begins to come to grips with how deeply Eve’s disappearance has affected her. Returning home on a break from college, she finds herself confronted with the truth about her mother’s departure, and her own denial about the events surrounding it. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

Boulder Weekly

Weekends With More!

• More Music on Saturdays with American Routes at Noon,

screen

The Colorado Sound at 2 PM, and more

• More Storytelling on Sundays, with This American Life at 10 AM, The Moth Radio Hour at 11 AM, and Snap Judgement at noon.

• More Voices: Introducing Latino USA, State of the Re:Union,

No big bang

On The Media and more, to go along with old favorites like Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, A Prairie Home Companion and more.

But ‘The Theory of Everything’ has good things

In Boulder at 102.7 FM and 91.5 FM

by Natalie Doering

I

n 1965, Stephen Hawking wrote his first ground-breaking thesis and wed Jane Wilde. His paper argued that if a star can collapse inwards to form a singularity, then a singularity can explode back outward.

The Theory of Everything explores this same theory, only instead of stars, it’s marriage. Which isn’t to say new “stars” aren’t formed; Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones both provide sensational performances in The Theory of Everything, even as director James Marsh falls back on some tired cliches.

Although hard to imagine without his motorized wheelchair, the film Working Title Films opens with Hawking cycling on his way to a party with graduate student friends.

There, Hawking (Redmayne) meets Jane ( Jones), a fellow student at Cambridge. He charms her with scientific facts and quirky smiles until all but a few have retired for the night. Hawking is surprised when a phone number is thrust his way upon her exit. Thanks to Redmayne, Hawking’s lack of social graces doesn’t feel contrived but reveals a dual nature: He demonstrates mental acumen by solving “impossible” equations for his astonished professor (David Thewlis) and yet considers his parent’s house a suitable first date. Ultimately, the optimism of young love prevails, enhanced for the audience by a strong chemistry between the actors.

Then comes Hawking’s ALS diagnosis... As with the rest of the film, writer Anthony McCarten doesn’t turn things into disability pornography.

Previous scenes serve as building blocks to garner sympathy, but characters are allowed to express genuine feelings. In one impactful montage, Hawking attempts to play croquet with Jane after Boulder Weekly

his diagnosis. Each hit of the ball and tremor of the hand conveys repressed anger. She watches in tears, then joins him later in his torn-apart room, determined to stay for the duration of his illness.

Over time, Jane’s role becomes that of a caretaker, as three children are born and her husband’s illness progresses.

Marsh deftly shows this through costume changes and muted filters. At this point, a church choir director, Jonathan (Charlie Cox), becomes a pivotal third party. Instead of exploring the messy and fascinating emotions that accompany Jonathan’s, and later Elaine’s (Maxine Peake), entrance into the Hawkings’ lives, events are glossed over in favor of fictional Super 8 home movies.

Although the package will be satisfying for most, Jane’s 2006 memoir (upon which the screenplay is based) reveals missed opportunities for richer, truer reflection.

This doesn’t mean the film is a failure. On the contrary, as someone who has watched the devastation of ALS firsthand, I can attest that Redmayne’s physical performance was so accurate as to be difficult to watch. His curled fingers stirred personal memories with their bend. His slurred speech naturally progressed, with a genuine gradual head tilt and realistic stumbles. The performance isn’t simply amazing, it is wellinformed and a stunning achievement.

The Oscar buzz trailing the film is warranted, if only so far as the performances are concerned. What the script lacks in drama, the cast more than makes up for with heart. The Theory of Everything doesn’t have it all, but it does have more than most.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

KUNC 102.7 FM

Kids’ Holiday

Yoga Camp

December 21 - January 6

(no camp Dec 25 or Jan 1)

BOEDECKER THEATER Independent film & cultural performances in high definition.

THE BETTER ANGELS

Dec 11 - 7:00 talkback with Jack Hanley Dec 12 - 4:30 & 8:30 | Dec 13 - 2:30 & 6:30

PELICAN DREAMS

Dec 11 - 4:30 | Dec 12 - 2:30 & 6:30 Dec 13 - 4:30 & 8:30

LA CENORENTOLA: TEATRE DEL LICEU with Joyce DiDonato Dec 14 - 1:00 | Dec 17 - 1:00

JINGLE BELL ROCKS!

with vinyl sale Dec 14 - 4:00 with holiday reading by Andy Schneidkraut | Dec 15 - 4:30 & 7:00

WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD Your kids can now enjoy their favorite summer camp activities over the holidays.

Ages 5-14 Monday-Friday 9am-3pm $60/day $10 sibling discount Early registration discount ends Dec 14

ELDORADO eldoradoyoga.org | (303) 642-0116

Eva Green & Shailene Woodley Dec 17 - 4:30 | Dec 18 - 2:30 & 7:00 talkback with Cynthia Stevens | Dec 19 - 4:30 & 8:30 Dec 20 - 2:30 & 6:30

ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE Dec 17 - 7:00 | Dec 18 - 4:30 | Dec 19 - 2:30 & 6:30 Dec 20 - 4:30 & 8:30

THE NUTCRACKER: VIENNA STATE BALLET Dec 21 - 1:00

CLASSICS: BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S Dec 21 - 4:00

BEARS

Disney’s nature adventure Dec 26 - 12:30 & 7:00 | Dec 27 - 12:30 & 4:30 Dec 28 - 11:30

ENJOY HAZEL’S BAR AT THE BOE 26TH & WALNUT STREET - BOULDER

303.440.7826 x 110 WWW.THEDAIRY.ORG December 11, 2014 51

WHO’S EATING AT THE WALNUT THIS WEEK?

3073 Walnut 303.447.2315

LUNCH SPECIAL

$6.99

With beverage purchase.

Mon-Fri 10:30am-2pm.

HAPPY HOUR

2-6pm Sunday-Thursday

52 December 11, 2014

1/2 OFF

673 S. Broadway 720.304.8118

LUNCH

1/2 OFF

DINNER

PURCHASE 1 ENTREE & 2 BEVERAGES AT REGULAR PRICE, GET A 2ND ENTREE OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE FOR HALF OFF!

PURCHASE 1 ENTREE & 2 BAR BEVERAGES AT REGULAR PRICE, GET A 2ND ENTREE OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE FOR HALF OFF!

Not valid with any other offer. Not valid on Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day or any other holiday.

Valid Mon-Thurs at both locations. Expires 12/24/14.

Not valid with any other offer. Not valid on Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day or any other holiday.

Valid Mon-Thurs at both locations. Expires 12/24/14.

Limit 1 per table.

Limit 1 per table.

Open Sunday-Thursday 10:30am-9pm • Friday 10:30am-10pm • Saturday 10:30am-9:30pm LAFAYETTE 1389 Forest Park Circle (SE Corner of Arapahoe & 95th) 720-890-1765

ERIE 3120 Village Vista Drive (N of Baseline, Next to 7-11) 720-890-9765

www.SiSenorRealMexicanFood.com

Boulder Weekly

cuisine review Susan France

Blackbelly Market

1606 Conestoga St. Suite 3, Boulder 303-247-1000

W

ell readers, it’s that time. After a year of locally sourced food puns and stuffing my face like I’m trying to turn my own liver into foie gras, I’m taking a job in Oregon, making this my last food review for Boulder Weekly. And it figures. Like so many good things, they come around right at the wrong time to fully enjoy them.

I’m speaking of Blackbelly Market, the long-awaited and recently opened restaurant from caterer, Top Chef, and sausage-o-phile Hosea Rosenberg, who Claus-like, made a list of nice restaurant elements, checked it twice and knocked it out of the park on almost all accounts.

To illustrate the almostness, here’s me trying to explain Blackbelly’s location to a companion meeting me for dinner: “It’s, uh, on Arapahoe, sort of on the left, but you won’t really see it…

You know what: You better Google it.”

But the grievous city design flaws that haunt the parts of Boulder not built by pioneers are hardly the restaurant’s fault. They’re just working with what’s available. And doing a great job with it.

Blackbelly’s interior is tile, wood and piping, giving the decor a comfortable and solid feel, somewhere between a brightly lit corner shop and a neigh-

Top chefs

Blackbelly Market proves there is life after reality television

By Josh Gross borhood pub. The kitchen is exposed, separated from the dining area only by a counter seating area similar to a diner.

But instead of dubious hashbrowns and “brown” gravy, Blackbelly is making food people should be eating.

The house-made sausages on the small plates menu ($6) are a delight, with rotating varieties and bold flavors.

The hatch green chile posole ($6) is made from green chiles sourced from

New Mexico and a house-smoked pork shoulder. In a region where food culture is as built on green chili as Jefferson Starship alleged San Francisco was built on rock and roll, Blackbelly’s still stands out as one of the best.

The ricotta cavatelli ($17) is a powerhouse pasta platter, with roasted mushrooms and and greens mixed up with handmade pasta and an egg. It’s as rich as flourless cake, with a flavor and

texture like heavy cream, but no actual cream.

One of the most striking dishes is the prawns and pork belly ($22), which comes served on a special variety of smoked cheddar grits that Rosenberg sources from a boutique farmer in the South. They are without doubt the best grits this reporter has ever had, and even better with the collard greens and all-kinds-of-bold redeye gravy We finished things off with the best slice of carrot cake on planet Earth, which is both a statement about that slice as well as a shot at the general appeal of carrot cake on the whole.

The summary is that Blackbelly Market is the total package. It’s nice but approachable; it serves comfort food, but comfort food that’s far from ordinary; it’s focused on local, organic and in-house ingredients, but is willing to buck religion and go elsewhere if it’s to fetch a better product like the grits.

Were I going to be around to enjoy it, there’s a strong likelihood that Blackbelly Market might be my favorite Boulder restaurant.

Then I got the bill. Ouch.

Sorry Blackbelly. But until journalists start getting paid like lawyers, Illegal Pete’s is going to have to stay on top a while longer.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

DINE IN • TAKE OUT 1085 S Public Rd. Lafayette (303) 665-0666 Hours:

Tues. Weds. Thurs. Sun 11am - 9pm Fri. Sat 11am - 9:30pm Boulder Weekly

Thank You for Voting us Best Asian Fusion

Restaurant

LAFAYETTE

Closed Monday

December 11, 2014 53

PICASBOULDER.COM

NEW

Whiskey Lounge Pearl Street & Back Bar Patios Sake Bar SPECIALS

All Day & Night Happy Hour Every Monday

1/2 off Bottles of Wine Every Wednesday Night

DJ’d Late Night Happy Hour Every Friday & Saturday

HOURS

Open Daily at 1 1 am Daily Happy Hour 3-6pm CONNECT

1 1 36 Pearl St. Boulder, CO JapangoRestaurant @JapangoSushi BoulderJapango.com

THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE SMOKIN DAVE’S BBQ AND TAPHOUSE RESTAURANT FAMILY!

1940 KEN PRATT BLVD • LONGMONT • CO 80501 303.923.RIBS (7427) • DINE IN OR TAKE OUT 54 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

Food happenings

tidbites

around Boulder County

Courtesy of Avery Brewing

The FDA recently announced guidelines for one of the long-awaited provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare): menu labeling.

Any food establishment with 20 or more locations will have to include calorie counts of its offerings on menus, including movie theater snack bars, grocery store delis and more. Even many alcoholic beverages will be covered, making the guidelines far stricter than most health advocates expected.

“This is one of the most important public health nutrition policies ever to be passed nationally,” Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told The New York Times.

“Right now, you are totally guessing at what you are getting. This rule will change that.”

The guidelines are likely to face legal challenge before they kick in a year from now, and were already held up for some time due to heavy opposition from pizza chains and movie theaters, which is understandable. Turns out a medium popcorn with butter from Regal Cinemas is rocking 1,610 calories by its lonesome. Holy extra belt notch, Batman!

What does that all translate to?

According to one line-item in the FDA’s report: lost pleasure. According to an article in Reuters, “U.S. health regulators estimate that consumers will suffer up to $5.27 billion

Boulder Weekly

Southern Sun, but will be hosted (or emceed, if you prefer) by a jolly gentleman you good kids may be familiar with (but you naughty ones might be a bit fuzzy on): one Santa “Tiberius” Claus. The fat man in chief will be posing for photos and taking requests. (Just don’t ask for “Free Bird.” He’s heard that joke a thousand times already). The drive runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

If you’re too busy trying to do some last-second character scrubbing to avoid the ol’ naughty list, don’t worry. Claus will be making subsequent appearances at the Mountain Sun (so you parents can drink your way through the experience).

He’ll be at the Long’s Peak Pub and Taphouse in Longmont from 4–6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, and then at the downtown Boulder Pearl Street location from 5–7 p.m on Monday, Dec. 22.

— Josh Gross

BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH INFO ABOUT YOUR 7-11 HOT DOG

in ‘lost pleasure’ over 20 years when calorie counts on restaurant menus discourage people from ordering french fries, brownies and other high-calorie favorites.”

But who needs pleasure when we’re eating, right gang? Certainly no one who will ever have cake at their birthday party.

Sigh...

— Josh Gross

MOUNTAIN SUN TOY DRIVE

The Southern Sun is hosting a toy drive on Saturday, Dec. 13 in which toys can be donated to the YMCA. Well, that’s only partially accurate. The drive will be at the

HELLRAISER

One of Boulder Weekly’s favorite seasonal beers is being poured again at Avery: Mephistopheles Stout, a beer so strong, we just got over the hangover from the sample bottle Avery sent to BW last year. It’s a rocking 15-18 percent ABV and a sweet flavor similar to a barley wine, with notes of espresso and anise. It pairs well with all things made of chocolate, or that you’d prefer to black out. Head down to Avery and get some. But make sure to bring a buddy so you don’t get lost.

— Josh Gross

December 11, 2014 55

HAPPY HOUR DRINKS 3pm - 6pm

$1 Off All Drafts $1 Off Frozen And Rocks Margaritas $3 Well Drinks $4 House Wines $2.50 Tecate, Utica Club, 16oz PBR

Beginning 9:30 Nightly

HAPPY HOUR FOOD

w/ THE BOULDER SWING COLLECTIVE

DINING • CABARET • LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

FRI. DECEMBER 12

THIS WEEKS LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

3pm - 6pm

$2 Sloppy Slider $2 Grilled Veggie Taco $2.50 Texas Swine In A Blanky $6 Chopped Brisket Nachos $6 Smoked Wings $6 BBQ Sliders

E T S , P RPER T Z ZEELL S

Thursday, Dec. 11 • 8pm Arthur Lee Land

TODD ADELMAN

Friday, Dec. 12 • 8pm Cora Vette Burlesque and Variety Show

MON. DECEMBER 15

701 B Main Street • Louisville, CO

P R E T Z E L S ,

SWING NIGHT!

SAT. DECEMBER 13

MON - $2 PBR, Jim Beam, Smoked Tacos TUES - Texas Specials: $3 Shiner Bock, $4 Deep Eddy’s, $6 Republic Tequila, $4.5 Tito’s, $9 Brisket PHO Soup WED - Pint Night $4/$5, Smoked Reuben THU - Tap Take Over Night FRI - $5 Texas Slush, $18 Smoked Prime Rib SAT - $4 Margaritas, $13.5 Smoked Meat Loaf SUN - $4 Bloody Mary’s, $5 Smoked Wings

www.lulus-bbq.com

THURS. DECEMBER 11

RYAN FLICK

DAILY SPECIALS

720-583-1789

UPCOMING SHOWS

$6 BURGER & FRIES

Saturday, Dec. 13 • 11am Jazz Brunch Robert Johnson Jazz Duo

TUES. DECEMBER 16

Sunday, Dec. 14 • 11am Jazz Brunch Rapidgrass Gypsy Jazz and Bluegrass Brunch

MATHIAS AND THE CROOKED STREETS

Tuesday, Dec. 16 • 8pm Robert Johnson Jazz Duo

WED. DECEMBER 17

TRIVIA NIGHT

Wednesday, Dec. 17 • 8pm Jennifer Lane Piano Bar

809 Main St. Louisville, CO 80027 www.waterloolouisville.com

Friday, Dec. 19 • 8pm Purple Squirrel

303-993-2094

B R AT S BBRRA A T S T S&

&

1724 Broadway Street, Boulder • Located at The Intersection of Broadway and Arapahoe

720-443-2322 • www.boulderagora.com • www.boulderriverside.com THURSDAY, 5/15 for booking inquiries info@boulderagora.com 7:30 PM

K E B A B S

K E B & KA E BBS A B S

D A V I D W I L L I A M S THURSDAY, & G Y P S Y 5/15 JAZZ TR

LIVE

THURSDAY, 5/15

THURSDAY 12/11 - 9:00 PM

10:00 7:30 PM 7:30PM PM BLUEGRASS MAYHEM GULCH DAV I D W I L L I A M S & G Y P S Y J A Z Z T R I C K S T ESR D A N C E L M PYSI CJSA Z Z T D A V I D W I L L I A M S & G Y P EVERY THURSDAY ..................................................................

10:00 PM 10:00 PM DANCELYMPICS DA N C E L Y M P I C S FRIDAY 12/12 - 9:00 PM

FRIDAY, 5/16, 10:00 PM & GUEST

SACRE G O R A BLEU GORA

FRIDAY, 5/16, 10:00 PM

FRIDAY, 5/16, 10:00 PM ..................................................................

GORA GORA & GUEST

GORA GORA & GUEST

SATURDAY, SATURDAY 12/13 - 10:005/17 PM SATURDAY, 5/17

BLUE CANYON BOYS 12:00 PM 5/17 SATURDAY,

12:00 PM SCHOOL OF ROCK ..................................................................

12:00 PM SCHOOL OF ROCK

LATE NIGHT MUNCHIES LATE NIGHT MUNCHIES LATE NIGHT MUNCHIES STARTING JANUARY 12TH 2015 MUSIC MONDAYS

SCHO L PM O PM F ROCK SUNDAY - O7:00 9:00 PM 12/14 9:00 M A R C U S L U C AM S AGR AM E SS HLOUWC CU AS G AME 9:00 PM

COMEDY NIGHT

MARCUS LUCAS GAME SHO

WITH

..................................................................

SUNDAY, 5/18

MARK G R I L L O P E N UDIAMOND N T I L C LO S E G R I L L O P E N U N T I L C LO S E G R I L L & O PFRIENDS E N U N T I L C L O S E

2017 13th St.

2017 13th St.

HAPPY HOUR: 3 : 0 0 - 6 : 3 0 D A I LY AH LL D UO ND A P H O UAY R :: H AP P AY PY Y SH U R

SUNDAY, MONDAY 12/15 - 3-6:30 & 5/18 9-CLOSE 12:00PM S C H O O L OHAPPY F ROCK

SUNDAY, 5/18

HOUR 12:00PM

12:00PM

SCHOOL OF ROCK ..................................................................

7:00PM SCHOOL OF ROCK

$8 1 LITERC O M E D Y N I G H T TUESDAY 12/167:00PM - 8:00 PM 7:00PM DAS BOOT CCOOMME E DD Y YN N I GI G HH TT ALL DAY ON TRIVIA TUESDAYS TUESDAY, 5/20, 8:00 PM

H3 P O ::U3 AA I LY: 0 3R0 0DD D A LY3 : 0 0 - 6 : 3 0 3A:: 0 0P 0Y --H 6 6 II LY AL YL O SS UENSDUANYD AY & M O N D AY & C A9 L :L L0 0D D -A AY S U N D AY

56 December 11, 2014

SHOW

..................................................................

DA S B O OT T R I V I A TUESDAY,5/20, 8:00 PM TUESDAY, 8:00 PM WEDNESDAY 12/17 5/20, - 9:00 PM DA S B O OT T R I V I A

D A PM S B O OT T R I V I A WEDNESDAY, 5/20, 8:00 KARAOKE PARTY W I N E PA I R I N G - $ 2 O F F

WEDNESDAY, 5/20, 8:00 PM W I N E PA I R I N G - $ Weekly 2 OFF Boulder

WEDNESDAY, 5/20, 8:00 PM

cuisine Trimming the fat on fat

Everything you thought you knew about fat is wrong

by Ari LeVaux Tamorlan/Wikimedia Commons

W

ith the salad days of summer behind us and dark, cold days approaching, fat is in season. The holidays, and the accompanying onslaught of rich feasts, present a timely opportunity to think about fat, and there is much to consider these days. I used to assume that we ate more fat in winter because our bodies wanted to pack on some extra insulation against the cold, but the evidence in support of this seemingly obvious notion — that dietary fat leads to weight gain — is being challenged.

And beyond the relationship between fat and health, it’s “Bandeja de Panceta,” aka, fatty, fat fat. beginning to look like other deeply-held beliefs about fat might be wrong as well.

Long considered a threat to public health, some Taubes argue that low-fat and non-fat diets, rather recent books, such as Big Fat Surprise by Nina than fat, are behind the rise in obesity and related Teicholz and, before that, Good Calories, Bad Calories diseases. And Teicholz makes a strong case that fat,

by Gary Taubes, have challenged the idea that dietary especially saturated fat, is actually good for you. As fat is the cause of obesity, heart disease and other we speak, many government agencies, like the USDA, associated ailments. Big Fat Surprise was lauded by which have long championed low-fat diets, are tipthe Economist (among other media), which called it toeing away from their anti-fat stances.

2014’s “most surprising diet book.” Both Teicholz and Other shifts in our understanding of fat are

Boulder Weekly

underway as well. One such aspect, much less discussed, is the science of how fat is perceived by the body.

A friend of mine who went to cooking school was fond of saying, “fat is flavor.” This idea has infiltrated the restaurant industry to the point where recipes for many dishes might as well be written as, “Heat edible materials, add butter, and serve.” This isn’t the most nuanced of culinary strategies, but it works.

According to traditional scientific understanding of flavor perception, however, fat doesn’t have any flavor. This isn’t to say that anyone ever claimed fatty foods aren’t delicious — that is beyond debate.

But it was thought that other qualities of fat made this so. It’s long been understood that the texture of fat, and the creamy, viscous, lubricating qualities that it imparts to food, are what makes the food to which it is added taste better, and easier to chew and swallow.

But flavor is a specific metric, a combination of taste — what is perceived by the tongue — and see FAT Page 58

December 11, 2014 57

cuisine

FAT from Page 57

smell. And fat, until recently, was thought to contain neither taste nor smell. But thanks to some new research, it looks like the cooks might have been right all along.

Earlier this year, researchers at the Monell Center, a nonprofit institute dedicated to research on taste and smell, reported evidence that humans can smell fat. And in the last few years, fat receptors on the human tongue have been discovered and confirmed by

other research teams, which indicates humans can taste fat.

If we can taste it and smell it, then it has flavor.

Whether by taste, smell or texture, our attraction to fats has been widely assumed to stem from the fact that fat is the most calorie-dense type of food we eat. Our hunting, gathering and often hungry ancestors were programmed to eat as much fat as they could find, goes the logic, and this

genetic disposition remains to this day.

Fat is also crucially important to brain development in children, and according to Teicholz’s research, a lot of other bodily functions too. In this context, the existence of fat taste receptors makes a lot of sense.

But in a surprising twist, the fats to which these receptors are tuned taste bad, not good. They detect free fatty acids, which are found in large quantities in rancid fats. Rancid fats, which

$16 off PER couple This holiday season it is best spent with friends and family. Bring this ad in and receive $16 off per couple with a purchase of our nightly four-course Wine Dinner. Not valid with any other offer or discount. Valid only at the Louisville, CO location. Valid now till January 31, 2015

LOUISVILLE • (303) 666-7777 • MELTINGPOT.COM 58 December 11, 2014

can be poisonous, are worth avoiding, which is why they taste bad.

By contrast, the form of fat that is so pleasing in our mouths (and more subtly, our noses) is a type of fat in which the fatty acids are bound into molecules called triglycerides, which comprise most of the fats we eat.

Thus, it appears we’re programmed to be attracted to the triglyceride form of fat, while being repulsed by free fatty acids. But there’s yet another rub: When we chew those yummy, non-toxic triglycerides, enzymes in our saliva break them down and release the dreaded free fatty acids.

Richard Mattes, a professor of nutrition science at Purdue University, has researched and published extensively on fat perception. He told me he believes there is a delicate balance at work here. A small quantity of free fatty acids, coupled with the glorious mouthfeel (and subtle smell) of triglycerides, tells the body that this is good stuff to eat. But too many free fatty acids triggers a rejection of the food in question.

To a certain extent, Mattes said, we can be trained to tolerate higher levels of fatty acids. Stinky cheeses, he pointed out, have a characteristic foul element to their flavors due to high levels of free fatty acids. But we’re able to learn to accept those free fatty acids in this context because we know that stinky cheese won’t kill us, and actually tastes pretty good if one can get over the fatty acid taste (not to mention the stink). But the same amount of fatty acids in, say, a glass of milk would be a red flag.

These fatty acid taste receptors aren’t just present in the mouth, but in other parts of the body as well, including muscle, skin, blood, spleen, intestine and brain cells. Free fatty acids are the breakdown products of triglycerides, and it is thought that these receptors are widely dispersed in the body so the various tissues can detect and appropriately deal with the free fatty acids that result from fat consumption.

So one doesn’t just taste fat in one’s mouth, but in one’s whole body. While we don’t consciously experience pleasure when our spleen detects a free fatty acid, this revelation suggests a broader level of meaning to the idea of taste perception. One thing that all of these new developments haven’t changed is that eating fat makes us happy, which is especially important during this dark, dreary time of year.

On that note, could you please pass the mayo?

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly

2907 2907 55th 55th street

Boulder Weekly

street

beer tour

Coffeehouse

weekend special!

off $1 $1 off

ANY coffee drink

coupon valid saturday & sunday 2907 coupon 55th street

the

exp.

GoAt

2013

valid baby saturday & sunday 10.31

the EXP. weekend babyspecial!

12.18 2014 GoAt Buy any weekend special! coffee drink, receive 2nd Buy any for a penny!

2907 55th street

by Josh Gross

Boulder Weekly

10.31

12.18 2013 2014

ANY coffee drink

Eighth edition of the ‘Beer Drinker’s Guide to Colorado’ has it all

T

GoAt

exp.

EXP.

weekend special!

Maptastic

he newly21ers out there may not believe it, but there was once a time when those of us aged more than 25 years — you know, “old farts” — didn’t have a fully interactive, voiceactivated GPS in our pocket at all times. We had to carry around giant, totally unfoldable pieces of tree carcass with directions scrawled on them in tiny, barely legiThe new beer drinkers map to Colorado. ble print to know where we were going. You know, maps. And in this age of smarthouse, outhouse and doghouse — in phones, it would be almost inconceivthe Colorado area making it the boozeable that anyone would still lug one of hound’s guide as much as the beer-lovthose dinosaurs around. er’s.

Except…

The guide is organized into seven It’s really fun to stick ’em to the geographic regions, each with fold-out wall and put red pins in all the places mini-maps, breaking down all the local you’ve been, perhaps with strings webhooch, its relevant deets and marking it bing out from your home base. Can’t do on both the fold-outs and the larger, that with a smart phone. wall-sized map. But it doesn’t stop And for beerophiles out there, the there. There are also guides to which map is alive and kicking. glasses go with which drinks, ABV Beer, Wine and Spirit Drinker’s Guide rates, basic brewing and distilling proto Colorado just published its eighth edi- cesses, available beer/bike trip options tion of its map of the state’s breweries and various legal guidelines. A whole (something that has to be updated page is devoted to weed, and so on. annually to keep track of all the new One page covers the state’s 14ers, since additions). nothing seems like a better idea after a In the eight years the map has been couple of drinks than mountaineering. publishing, Colorado has more than Of course, seasoned — or saisoned, doubled the number of breweries in the as the case may be — Colorado beer drinkers may already have a lot of that state — enough that the map alone info internalized, ready to be brought wasn’t cutting it anymore. up at any and all conversations with “We just couldn’t fit it all on a sinout-of-staters and newbs browsing the gle sheet of paper anymore,” publisher book. For them it’s all about the map Mike Laur wrote in a press release. “So and the Passport, the corresponding we created a whole new guide book.” coupon book with around $300 worth The map now comes with a 174page spiral bound guide book, as well as of free beers and discounts at breweries a thick stack of coupons for breweries statewide. around the state.

The guide is now available at bookAnd in another big move, the publi- stores, and at www. cation expanded beyond beer for this BeerDrinkersGuideToColorado.com/ edition. The guide now includes every beermap.html. brewhouse, cidery, meadery, wine-makAbout the only thing the guide er and distiller — or as Tommy Lee doesn’t come with is all those red Jones would put it: every gas station, thumbtacks you’ll need... residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henRespond: letters@boulderweekly.com

the the baby baby GoAt

2907 55th street

next to valmont post office mon - fri 6 to 6 | sat 7 to 3 | sun 8 to 1

2907 55th street

coffee drink, receive 2nd for a penny!

coupon valid saturday & sunday

CONVENIENTLY LOCATED NEAR THE BOULDER CREEK BIKE PATH AT

55TH STREET & PEARL PARKWAY

$2 OFF select wine, beer and $5 small plates

coupon valid saturday & sunday

Introducing Happy Hour 4:00-5:30

Detox-Retox combo!

Organic spirit and juice of choice

exp.

10.31 2013

We call it “Food for Enthusiasts”... you’ll call it zeal.

1710 Pearl Street • Boulder 7am-10pm Weekdays • 8am Saturday & Sunday zealfood.com

next to valmont post office

mon - fri 6 to 6 | sat 7 to 3 | sun 8 to 1

Devoted to creating a space at the crossroads of vibrant flavors and sustainable health.

December 11, 2014 59

LZ Ydcยนi lVci id hVn ^i idd adjYan! Wji djg '& XdjciZg ^h [^cVaan deZc Ndj VgZ XdgY^Vaan ^ck^iZY id XdbZ ZmeZg^ZcXZ i]Z WZhi `Zei hZXgZi ^c i]Z 7djaYZg XVccVW^h hXZcZ# &)Zg! ndjg [Vkdg^iZ WjY iZcYZgh [Vkdg^iZ Y^heZchVgn

BZbWZg eg^XZh Vaa bdci] &%$ (%$ *%$ '%% '-., BVeaZidc 6kZ# HiZ -%% 6Xgdhh ;gdb I]Z BVeaZidc 7Vaa[^ZaYh

(%(#*(.#+*'* 5&)Zg7djaYZg Eg^XZh VgZ WZ[dgZ iVm dc V \gVb$Z^\]i]$fjVgiZg$djcXZ# LZ XVggn DCAN [adlZgh VcY &)Zg >8:lVm! CD 7=D VcY CD :9>7A:H# >cfj^gZ Vi i]Z hidgZ VWdji ]dl id WZXdbZ V bZbWZg VcY Zc_dn i]ZhZ eg^XZh V[iZg i]^h bdci] ZcYh# BV`Z >i <gZVi L^i] &)Zg

Service Directory MASSAGE AND SKIN CARE

Reach over 98,000 Boulder Weekly readers by advertising in the Service Directory!

Email: avalles@boulderweekly.com • 303-494-5511 ext.122

MASSAGE

CLEANING SERVICES

EcoSafe Housecleaning Reliable, meticulous, efficient weekly/biweekly, non-toxic products.

Massage and Skin Care A Clean Slate

Call Peggy, 303.271.3461 VACATION CABIN RENTAL

(acne clearing)

SKIN TREATMENT

Golden - Bald Mountain

This organic skin treatment includes: Deep Pore Cleansing Extractions, High frequency, Lymphatic Enhancement Therapy, Omnilux Plus (Near Infra Red) Light Therapy, two organic enzymes, Colloidal Silver and Lavender Clay Mask, plant based Hyaluronic Acid with steam and vitamin C

LEGAL SERVICES

THE DIVINE RESONANCE

A full service law firm dedicated to providing quality legal services.

(anti-aging)

SKIN TREATMENT

We handle a variety of cases throughout Boulder County and beyond. Please call if you or someone you know needs our help. If we cannot take your case, we will help find someone who can.

(for either treatment) * both include Phenomenal Touch Massage, Big Sur Jade Hot Stone Gem Therapy with Sun Infused Herbal Massage Oil Blend, Acoustic Resonance Technology (A.R.T ), Herbal Facial Steam, along with Aroma Therapeutic Essential Oils.

AVAILABLE GIFT CARDS

A DEBT RELIEF AGENCY

$100 for 1 hr or $135 for 1 hr & 30 minutes

Helping People File for Bankruptcy Under the Bankruptcy Code

This organic skin treatment includes; organic products for sensitive skin, an organic vitamin C peel, a papaya Bromelain enzyme, Sapphire Microdermabrasion, and Omnilux Revive ( Red ) Light Therapy.

ARE BILL COLLECTORS

THREATENING YOU? The law office of

BARRY SATLOW offers Immediate Relief while

PROTECTING YOUR INTERESTS.

303.442.3535

www.barrysatlow.com

BEST VACATION CABIN VALUE IN BOULDER COUNTY • Sleeps 8 People • $749 Per Week • Concierge Available

420

Friendly

Located atop Wondervu Pass at Bald Mountain, just minutes from Eldora Ski Area. 30 minutes to Denver, Boulder & Nederland. Walking distance to Wondervu Cafe’ and Gift Shop

2 1/2 bedrooms, Large Bathroom, Heated Floors, Fully Furnished.

ON 2 PRIVATE ACRES

Call Jeff at 404-771-2106

MUSIC & VOICE LESSONS

VOICE, GUITAR, FLUTE, PIANO LESSONS beginners to pros, performance coaching, basics, harmony, songwriting, improvisation lessons available in studio or via skype

GUITAR SALES, REPAIR, LESSONS BEST SKIN CARE

Nora Keahon L.M.T/L.E 720.432.1108 • 1634 Walnut St., Ste. 111 • Boulder www.divineresonance.com www.bouldermassageandskincare.com

Boulder Weekly

MUSIC

Quality Guitar Repair & Sales with Luthier & Tech On Site

Peggy McCarty 303.271.3461

Affordable Rates

BUSINESS STAFFING

Guitar Lessons with Virtuoso Staff New, Used, Vintage & Unique Stringed Instruments Live Concerts every Thursday Night 7:30 - 9:00

ONE UP STAFFING SOLUTIONS

STAFFING SERVICES

We want to help maximize your company’s performance. Schedule a consultation appointment with one of our experts so we can determine what your company needs.

HIRE US

Whether you want us to work with you, or help staff your current business needs we can help!

JUST CALL OR EMAIL US!

303-845-2615 • oneupstaffing@gmail.com www.oneupstaffing.com

508 5th Ave., Longmont CO 80501 720-340-4169 • www.larrysguitars.com

Advertise in Service Directory...

It works!

303-494-5511 x 122

December 11, 2014 61

boulder marketplace HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Duties include appointment coordination, event and meeting planning, making travel arrangements, recording and monitoring expenses, raising monthly invoice. Send your resume and salary expectations to josod14@gmail.com Automation Engineers sought

by SolidFire Inc. in Boulder, CO. Dvlp automated test solutions for cloud storage product.

Rqmts incl. MS in Comp Sci, Math, Engg, Physics; & 2 yrs exp as an automation engr, s/ware engr/dvlpr; & functional expertise in Automation Frameworks (Django or Robot Framework), Python, Linux, SCM (Mercurial, Bazaar, or Subversion), & Bug tracking tools (Bugzilla, Jira or Fogbuzz).

BS in same fields + 5 yrs exp in lieu of MS + 2 yrs exp is accepted. Resume to: solidfireresumes@solidfire.com.

Ref job PM1117SV.

As the world leader in next generation mobile technologies, Qualcomm is focused on accelerating mobility around the world. Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, has the following positions available in Boulder, CO: Senior Software Engineer/ Linux: Proficiency in Embedded SW design and development and C or C++ req’d (FR-LA14-P) Multiple openings avail.

Mail resume w/job code to QUALCOMM, P.O. Box 919013, San Diego, CA, 92191-9013.

EEO employer: including race, gender, disability & veterans status.

ATTORNEY Trouble? Traffic to Murder.

Jonathan S. Willett, Attorney.

28 years of experience.

Highest peer ratings. Personal attention. 303-832-5648. jwillett@willettlaw.net

COPY EDITING Dont let typo’s ruin you’re image!

I would have caught the errors in the sentence above, before it hurt your reputation. If you would like to have your content copy edited thoroughly before it goes out for public consumption, whether it’s for an academic paper, a website or advertising, e-mail veteran local journalist and editor Jefferson Dodge at jdodger71@gmail.com. Don’t let your credibility suffer.

PIANO MAN

Sell something you can really get behind.

If you have the gift of sales and a willingness to work hard and think entrepreneurially, Boulder’s only independent media organization is ready to bring you into one of the most unique organizations in Colorado.

Boulder Weekly is a progressive company dedicated to a set of principles that will give you something to sell that you can truly get behind.

If this seems like a good fit to you, send your resume (PDF format, please) to publisher@boulderweekly.com.

Available for all occasions.

Acoustic or digital piano, with or without vocals Dave Grimsland • 720-841-1940

PERSONAL SVCS

TO PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIED AD Call 303-494-5511 x122

Body Rubs at Your Location or Mine…

Now accepting credit cards 720.253.4710 Goddess of Massage Hurry and call me to set up that relaxing moment with my hands that will have you feeling like butter.

720-297-5882

maximum wellness Massage E&W

303.443.3336 open 7 days

grand opening special

60 min./$4999

VIDA MASSAGE Walk-Ins or Appts.

WELCOME!!!

H FEEL YOUR BEST H COMFY, PLUSH, 2890 W. 92nd Ave. WARM LOCATION (92nd & Federal) 303-429-1303

1750 30th St. #8, Boulder

The Goddess of Massage

Offering exciting discounts on Thursdays and Fridays only.

It’s time to get into the holiday cheer, now offering discount massages only for calls 24hrs before appointment.

720-297-5882

Ask for Irene.

MAKE MY CHILDREN’S DREAMS COME TRUE ON CHRISTMAS

NOT AN ESCORT • PHONE CALLS ONLY • NO TEXTS, PLEASE

62 December 11, 2014

WELCOME CRYSTAL

from texas NEW HOURS...OUTCALLS AVAILABLE MON-FRI 8AM-8PM • SAT-SUN 9AM-6PM

WE ACCEPT VISA/MASTERCARD/DISCOVER H SI HABLAMOS ESPANOL H

Positions available in

Maximum Wellness

Call for special rates! 303-494-5511 x 113

ASIAN STYLE

MASSAGE foot massage

$35 for 1hr.

full body massage

$50 for 1hr.

Open 7 days in Boulder

(303) 449-8005 1666 30th St. Boulder, CO. 80301

All Natural Massage

• Hot Oil Massage • Relaxing Massage

• Shower & Sauna • All New Staff

$49/hr with this ad 5290 Arapahoe Ave #A, Boulder Past Foothills, 2 traffic lights on right side.

720.565.6854

Open 7 days a week • Hours: 9:30am-10:00pm Visa & Mastercard accepted

Boulder Weekly

astrology ARIES

LIBRA

MARCH 21-APRIL 19:

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22:

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Lord Byron (1788-1824) Even if you are not forwas an English poet who mally enrolled in a course Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO loved animals. In the of study or a training HOROSCOPES and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE course of his life, he not program, you are neverHOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes only had dogs and cats theless being schooled. are also available by phone at 1-877as pets, but also monkeys, Maybe you’re not fully 873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700. horses, peacocks, geese, conscious of what you a crocodile, a falcon, a have been learning. crane and a parrot. When Maybe your teachers are he enrolled in Trinity disguised or unwitting.

College at age 17, he was upset that the school’s rules But I assure you that the universe has been dropping forbade students from having pet dogs, which meant he some intense new knowledge on you. The coming week couldn’t bring his adored Newfoundland dog Boatswain. will be an excellent time to become more conscious of There was no regulation, however, against having a tame the lessons you have been absorbing. If you have intubear as a pet. So Byron got one and named it Bruin. I think itions about where this educational drama should go it’s time for you to find a workaround like that, Aries. Be next, be proactive about making that happen. cunning. Try a gambit or two. Find a loophole.

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20:

Whenever I lost one of my baby teeth as a kid, I put it under my pillow before I went to sleep. During the night, the Tooth Fairy sneaked into my room to snatch the tooth, and in its place left me 25 cents. The same crazy thing happened to every kid I knew, although for unknown reasons my friend John always got five dollars for each of his teeth — far more than the rest of us. I see a metaphorically comparable development in your life, Taurus. It probably won’t involve teeth or a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Rather, you will finally be compensated for a loss or deprivation or disappearance that you experienced in the past. I expect the restitution will be generous, too — more like John’s than mine.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20:

Through the scientific magic of grafting, a single tree can be altered to grow several different kinds of fruit at the same time. One type of “fruit salad tree” produces apricots, nectarines, plums and peaches, while another bears grapefruits, lemons, oranges, limes and tangelos. I’m thinking this might be an apt and inspiring symbol for you in the coming months, Gemini. What multiple blooms will you create on your own metaphorical version of a fruit salad tree?

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22:

No other structure on the planet is longer than the Great Wall of China, which stretches 3,945 miles. It’s not actually one unbroken span, though. Some sections aren’t connected, and there are redundant branches that are roughly parallel to the main structure. It reminds me of your own personal Great Wall, which is monumental yet permeable, strong in some ways but weak in others, daunting to the casual observer but less so to those who take the time to study it. Now is an excellent time to take inventory of that wall of yours. Is it serving you well? Is it keeping out the influences you don’t want but allowing in the influences you do want? Could it use some renovation? Are you willing to reimagine what its purpose is and how you want it to work for you in the future?

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22:

The Arctic Monkeys are British rockers who have produced five studio albums, which together have sold almost five million copies. Rolling Stone magazine called their first album, released in 2003, the 30th greatest debut of all time.

Yet when they first formed in 2002, none of them could play a musical instrument. I see the current era of your life, Leo, as having a similar potential. How might you start from scratch to create something great?

VIRGO

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22:

Alan Turing (1912-1954) was a British mathematician and pioneering computer scientist. After World War II broke out, he got worried that the German army might invade and occupy England, as it had done to France. To protect his financial assets, he converted everything he owned into bars of silver, then buried them underground in the countryside north of London. When the war ended, he decided it was safe to dig up his fortune. Unfortunately, he couldn’t recall where he had put it, and never did find it.

Let’s draw a lesson from his experience, Virgo. It’s fine if you want to stash a treasure or protect a secret or safeguard a resource. That’s probably a sensible thing to do right now.

But make sure you remember every detail about why and how you’re doing it.

Boulder Weekly

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21:

You now have a special ability to detect transformations that are happening below the threshold of everyone else’s awareness. Anything that has been hidden or unknown will reveal itself to your gentle probes. You will also be skilled at communicating your discoveries to people who are important to you. Take full advantage of these superpowers. Don’t underestimate how pivotal a role you can play as a teacher, guide and catalyst. The future success of your collaborative efforts depends on your next moves.

SAGITTARIUS NOV. 22-DEC. 21:

Harper Lee was born and raised in Alabama. At the age of 23, she relocated to New York City with hopes of becoming a writer. It was a struggle. To support herself, she worked as a ticket agent for airline companies. Finding the time to develop her craft was difficult. Seven years went by.

Then one Christmas, two friends gave her a remarkable gift: enough money to quit her job and work on her writing for a year. During that grace period, Lee created the basics for a book that won her a Pulitzer Prize: To Kill a Mockingbird. I don’t foresee anything quite as dramatic for you in the coming months, Sagittarius. But I do suspect you will receive unexpected help that provides you with the slack and spaciousness you need to lay the foundations for a future creation.

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19:

In the ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey, Odysseus’s wife Penelope describes two kinds of dreams. “Those that that pass through the gate of ivory,” she says, are deceptive.

But dreams that “come forth through the gate of polished horn” tell the truth. Another ancient text echoes these ideas.

In his poem the Aeneid, Virgil says that “true visions” arrive here from the land of dreams through the gate of horn, whereas “deluding lies” cross over through the gate of ivory.

Judging from the current astrological omens, Capricorn, I expect you will have interesting and intense dreams flowing through both the gate of ivory and the gate of horn. Will you be able to tell the difference? Trust love.

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18:

Your chances of going viral are better than usual. It’s a perfect moment to upload a YouTube video of yourself wearing a crown of black roses and a V for Vendetta mask as you ride a unicycle inside a church and sing an uptempo parody version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” It’s also a favorable time for you to create a buzz for you and your pet causes through less spectacular measures. Promote yourself imaginatively.

PISCES

FEB. 19-MARCH 20:

At age 80, author Joan Didion has published five novels, 10 works of nonfiction and five screenplays. When she was 27, she wrote, “I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be.” That wasn’t a good thing, she added: “We are well-advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind’s door and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends.” I recommend her counsel to you in the coming months, Pisces.

Get reacquainted with the old selves you have outgrown and abandoned.

December 11, 2014 65

BEST TOP SHELF IN BOULDER BOULDER’S MOST CONVENIENT DISPENSARY IS NOW BOTH

RECREATIONAL AND MEDICAL! Providing a sense of professionalism that has not yet been introduced to the medical marijuana community.

All strains are proudly grown in house.

Intended for MMJ Patients Only

HOURS: MON - SAT 9:30 - 6:30 • SUN 12:00 - 5:00 3005 28TH STREET • BOULDER • 303.442.0892 WWW.THESTATIONBOULDER.COM

Spend $100 and receive a pre-rolled joint of your choice for a penny!

Offer expires Thursday December 18th

66 December 11, 2014

Boulder Weekly

Dear Dan: You may not be the right person to answer this, but your commenters might be able to help. I love and support my friends who are transgender, but I don’t understand all the 18- to 21-year-olds among my friends who are declaring themselves “gender-neutral.” I am a bit older and have always been interested in queer culture and history.

But it feels like they have forgotten, or never knew, that butch lesbians who wear strap-ons are still women, or that it is very common for straight men to wear lacy underwear. They don’t seem to know that they can be gender nonconforming without having to discard gender. Because they’re so young and all of them have decided this at the same time, it seems to be some kind of trend. Some may be on their way to coming out as trans, which is fair enough, but I strongly suspect some of them will be completely conventional in a couple of years. It would be rude and dismissive of me to tell them that it’s just a phase, so I would never do that, but I don’t really understand the point of being gender-neutral. What has changed in the last few years that this is suddenly a thing?

— Longtime Reader Dear LR: Ah, gender identities — you need an Excel spreadsheet to keep track these days.

Some folks are gender-neutral, some are bigender, some are agender.

Then there’s pangender, genderless, genderfluid and genderqueer. There’s also gender-nonconforming, genderquestioning, gender-variant, as well as genderfuck, trigender and intergender.

(Who gets a hyphen and who doesn’t?

Who the fuck-knows?) Add in every genderblueplatespecial’s very own set of random and unpredictable and evershifting pronoun preferences, and you’ve got a blizzard of special snowflakes, each one primed to take offense at some real or imagined microaggression so they can dash to Tumblr for some macro-venting.

What has changed in the last few years? There’s more discussion about gender now, LR, and that’s a good thing. Culturally enforced gender norms are ridiculous, and the policing of gender expression/identity is oppressive and often violent. This critical and necessary discussion about gender has sparked a great deal of interest in — and, in some quarters, generated a lot of sympathy for — people who aren’t just talking about gender but struggling with it, doing Boulder Weekly

something about it and redefining it.

But “interest in” and “sympathy for” have a way of attracting poseurs and attention-seekers. That’s nothing new.

Pay sympathetic attention to a plate of tater tots long enough, and it’ll attract poseurs and attention-seekers, too.

But since it’s (almost always) impossible to tell the attention-seeking poseurs from the actual items, LR, your best course of action when someone declares themselves to be gender-neutral — or bigender or pangender or etceteragender — is to smile, nod, inquire about pronoun preferences, make a mental note not to use pronouns around that person (easier than committing multiple sets to memory) and then change the genderfucking subject.

Dear Dan: I love your column, Dan, but I wanted to clear something up.

Recently someone wrote to you that they — or their spouse — wanted to have a threesome, but only if it happened “naturally.” You said that was impossible: “Three-ways don’t happen that way,” you said. But I’m proof that they do. I am a female in my mid-20s, and I’ve been openly bi since I was 12. I’m not particularly fond of threesomes, but I go with the flow. I’ve already had three happen naturally and one “almost” that I stopped due to “timing issues.” (Three MFF and one FFF.) My advice: If you can get a threeway massage or a game of strip-anything going, you’re in for the gold. Alcohol really helps, too.

— Girl Gone There Dear GGT: Perhaps I should’ve said that threesomes rarely happen naturally, GGT, while emphasizing that individual results may vary. But a relationship is far likelier to survive an “unnatural” threesome — one that has been planned in advance — than it is to survive a spontaneous threesome.

Unsexy negotiations about limits and boundaries, hashing out what is and is not okay, and discussions about STIs and birth control are nearly impossible to have as your clothes are coming off.

So threesomes that people drink, massage or strip-poker their way into are likelier to result in the kind of hurt feelings that lead to breakups and make all threesomes, spontaneous or planned, look dangerous and risky.

Send questions to mail@savagelove.net and follow him @fakedansavage on Twitter.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

400 W. South Boulder Rd. Lafayette Plaza • 303.665.5599 www. herbalwellnesscolorado.com www.facebook.com/herbalwellnesslafayette Open 7 days a week • 9am-7pm

Now open to the public 21+

EVERYTHING IS

20% OFF

Both Recreational and Medical Sides

CHRISTMAS DAY ONLY! HOLIDAY HOURS CHRISTMAS EVE 9AM - 7PM CHRISTMAS DAY 12PM - 5PM S. Boulder Rd.

N

H Lafayette Plaza

We now accept

S. Public Rd.

by Dan Savage

Love

287

SAVAGE

Coal Creek Dr.

For Medical Purposes Only December 11, 2014 67

EEDBETWEENTHELINES

by Leland Rucker

Could there be an agency more inept than the DEA? be doing fine but by definition need treatment.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says the major symptoms of cannabis withdrawal are “irritability, sleeping difficulties, craving and anxiety,” and that that those who quit show “increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately one week after they last used the drug.”

I don’t claim to be a scientist, but those symptoms, unpleasant though they might sound, aren’t really that awful, or any different from anyone trying to quit anything, be it coffee or sex or alcohol.

So there’s some really goofy news on this front from Vanderbilt University researchers, who, using tests on mice, say they have found out what makes marijuana “addictive.” In a study published in Cell Reports journal, Dr. Sachin Patel and his researchers found that individuals with mood and anxiety disorders often have reduced levels of endocannabinoids, and they use cannabis, particularly THC, to trigger them to help regulate appetite, pain, memory and mood. In a study using mice, they suggest that cannabis use might also weaken the receptors, causing more anxiety and a need for more cannabis.

So clinical trials will be starting soon for what appears to be a way to develop another drug that can somehow activate those endocannabinoid receptors other than marijuana.

Has the American fear of THC really reached this level? I can already picture the television commercial. A concert-goer waiting for the band to come on pops a pill while everybody else is vaping. “Using cannabis?” a voice asks in the background. “Use AlmostCannabis instead and get that natural high you’ve always wanted. Government and Big Pharma Approved — Guaranteed no THC.” You can hear Leland discuss his most recent column and Colorado cannabis issues each Thursday morning on KGNU. http://news.kgnu.org/category/features/weedbetween-the-lines/ Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

O

V

A

CK

PE

ING PUFF

E

RS

ST

our tax money going?

Two years ago, the Mexican government did its own study that warned if legalization in other states and countries continues, it will squeeze local farmers and cripple criminal cartels. According to NPR, local growers in Sinaloa, who work for cartels, are already feeling the pinch. Cannabis production is down, and so are prices. Some U.S. police agencies are reporting that cartels are trying to adapt by either growing marijuana in the U.S. or buying it here and smuggling it across the border — even though the prices and risks are significantly higher.

One of the major arguments for legalization has been that it would funnel money currently being sent to cartels and criminal enterprises into legitimate hands and allow those profits to be taxed. Though the black market still exists, that’s already starting to break down in Colorado. As the NPR story shows, legalization is already slowing the amount of cannabis crossing the border from Mexico. Now if we could just use some of that wasted DEA money to keep American pot inside our borders.

I read a lot about the concept of cannabis addiction. I don’t know how many times in the last year and a half that I’ve heard the mantra that “one in every nine users become addicted, with even more of a chance for those who start in their teen years.” I find that often, daily use is misconstrued as addiction, and I don’t think they mean the same thing. Most people use cannabis in much the same way as others use alcohol, as a way to relax and unwind. If daily use means anyone who gets a buzz every day after work, then there are millions more cannabis addicts who seem to

Y

D

o you remember Acapulco Gold? Panama Red? If you do, you can probably appreciate the latest twist in the war on cannabis.

NPR reported recently that cannabis grown in the United States is being smuggled into Mexico and places beyond.

Yes, you read that right. Let it settle in for a minute. Most of the cannabis used in the United States over the last decades has come from south of the border. Anyone who has used cannabis over the years remembers Mexican marijuana: Seedy, not a lot of buds or very strong, but plentiful and cheap. Not anymore. Today, Americans prefer U.S.grown cannabis, and apparently, so do many Mexicans, who are willing to spend more for American pot than for their own homegrown.

Acapulco Gold, make way for Sour Diesel.

And it’s just the latest example of how ridiculous the Drug Enforcement Agency has become as it continues to churn enormous amounts of money in its insane attempt to make America THC-free. In 41 years and who knows how many billions of dollars spent, the DEA has failed at even the most basic levels. Cannabis is more plentiful than ever in the United States, available to anyone with the cash to buy it. The DEA has been a.) unable to stop cannabis from coming into the country b.) unable to stop anyone in the country who wants it from purchasing it and c.) unable to stop cannabis from becoming a major commercial American agricultural crop.

And now, the DEA can’t stop that major crop from being smuggled out of the country. Exactly where is that one-and-a-half billion dollars a year of

PEN VA

RI E

T

EVERYONE AGE 21+ WELCOME* 1795 Folsom St. Boulder, 80302 11091 E. Mississippi Ave. Aurora, 80012

ift your spirits.

www.terrapincarestation.com/uplifted | (303) 954-8402 Boulder Weekly

December 11, 2014 69

the best option for all of your cannabis needs

CAM – Colorado Alternative Medicine COMES TO BOULDER

premium hand-trimmed organic strains currently available girl scout cookies, double dream, super silver sour diesel, rascal OG cannabis cup winning strain, Santa Cruise sour Diesel

Daily Deal Grab Bag Saturday $ 00 1 PLUS TAX WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

Select $ Strain

135

PLUS TAX WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

WAX

FOR SALE

$25

PER GRAM PLUS TAX

Grab Bag Sunday $ 100 PLUS TAX WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

Sales at Boulder Location Only BOULDER • 1534 55th St. • (303) 444-0861 Hours: Monday - Friday 10am - 6:45pm • Saturday 10am - 6pm • Sunday 10am - 4pm

optionsmedicalcenter.com

21+

PEARL ST MALLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FIRST RECREATIONAL DISPENSARY IS

MASSIVE VARIETY

FLOWER

topicals

NOW OPEN!

edibles

extracts

DAILY

SPECIAL

LOCAL SPECIAL $10 $40 Love 9AMGRAMS

1/8THS

ON SELECT HAND TRIMMED HOUSE STRAINS EVERYDAY!

EARLY BIRD

COLORADO LOCALS AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT. ASK FOR DETAILS.

11am

1146 Pearl St. Boulder

720.726.5126 nativeroots303.com /NativeRootsBoulder

BOGO HALF-OFF ON SELECT NATIVE ROOTS SHATTER WAX, AND CANNASAP!

OPEN 7 days

9AM-7PM

last word

Divine Resonance Massage & Skin Care

Please see ad on page 18.

Now offering acne treatments. www.divineresonance.com www.bouldermassageandskincare.com 720-432-1108

SENIOR PORTRAITS CONCEPTUAL 303-434-5170 edsongraphix.com

2801 Iris Ave. Boulder, CO

Colorado’s #1 Source for

Grow high quality with big yields!

All products and sizes in stock.

Best Price! Best Advice! Best Organics!

Highlands Ranch – 7130 E. County Line Rd. 303-740-5713 Denver – 2046 Arapahoe in LoDo 303-295-PIPE

Boulder – 1144 Pearl St. 303-443-PIPE Westminster – 3001 W. 74th Ave. 303-426-6343

1387 E South Boulder Rd., Louisville, CO

NEW! Hummingbird Brand Bubble Hash Strains

Headband, Tangerine Haze, Blackberry Kush, Purps 3, Hindu Kush *$55-$70/g.*

Hummingbird Brand CO2 Hash Oil Strains

303.66.HYDRO (664.9376) victoryhydro.com

Alpha Blue, Moonshine Haze, Headband, Gumbi *$70/g.*

www.terrapincarestation.com See our ad below

“Weed Between the Lines” on pageDOWNLOAD 69.

THE TERRAPIN APP,

ORDERIntroducing AHEAD, Now SKIP THE WAIT! Our Weed of the Week Oz Special

21+ Counter Now Open

$100 Half Ounce Strains

Gumbi, Alpha Cow, Purps 3, Lambs Breath, Pokie, Farmer’s Kush *Strains will rotate.* *All strains may vary. While supplies last.*

Early Bird Special

Shop Between 8-10am Monday - Friday, 9-10am Saturday

Receive 15% off your entire purchase!

W.O.W $125/ OZ

*Not to be combined with other discounts*

*Members Only, Limit One Per Patient.

28th & Iris • www.thefarmco.com

For CO medical marijuana patients only.

Special Every Day!

2897 Mapleton Ave Ste 800 303.539.6525 @14erBoulder

Come Check out Boulders Best Hand Selected and Hand Trimmed Strains

Life is better at The Farm THAT’S THE WAY WE DO IT!

303.440.1323

Professional Chimney Inspections Chimney Repair Specialists Thorough Dryer Vent Cleaning

FLOWERS

Humane Animal Removal

Chimney SweepingChimney Cleaning or Dryer Vent Cleaning $20 & Dryer Vent OFF Cleaning Certified & Insured

EDIBLES

Call TODAY & Receive

10-7 MON-SAT, 12-6 SUN • www.TheDandelionCO.com • 845 Walnut St., Boulder, CO • 303.459.4676

100% Locally Owned & Grown Dispensary!

Get 20% OFF The Drum Shop midtownsweeps.com when you mention this ad.

(BW1214)

303-217-9200

midtownsweeps.com

AND MORE

NW Corner of Walnut & 9th.

Please Call For Details. Offer Expires 10/31/14. Promo Code HM2014

303-670-7785

CONCENTRATES

African drumming classes with Fara Tolno

Tuesday nights • 6-7:30pm 2095 30th St., Boulder

303-402-0122

OUNCES OUNCES

STARTING AT

STARTING AT $150.00

$150.00 Open Everyday

303.442.2565 Open Everyday 5420 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder

303.442.2565

www.boulderwc.com

5420 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder www.boulderwc.com

Holos Health

Journey2Life

Best of Boulder MMJ Evaluation Services Independently Owned & Operated WHY STAY MEDICAL?

YOUR CHIMNEY CARE EXPERTS 1. TAXES: A $250 ounce at a medical dispensary is $400 at a recreational shop.

2. VARIETY: More medicinal strains with advice on dosing & use.

3. QUANTITY: 2 ounces for medical and 1 oz. for recreational.

4. PROTECTION: Better potential legal coverage.

Taste for yourself Ask about our 30 day free trial 303-604-3000 www.eldoradosprings.com

WHERE NATURE & & MEDICINE MEDICINEMEET MEET WHERE NATURE

Dr. Joe Cohen

Best of Boulder Alternative Health Care Provider FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE • WOMEN’S HEALTH NUTRITION & FITNESS THERAPY AND A WIDE VARIETY OF COMPLIMENTARY ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Prevention and treatment of chronic disease

5377 Manhattan Circle, Suite 204, Boulder • www.holoshealth.org • By appointment only M-F • Online appointments at www.journey2life.org or call 720.273.3568