Boulder Weekly 12.07.2023

DEAR WHOLE FOODS DADDY

Holiday Edition

chilly

Your burning Boulder questions, asked and answered P. 15

CONTENTS 12.07.2023

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15 08 NEWS The War on Grass (and how to win it)

BY ALLEN BEST + SHAY CASTLE

13 MUSIC Genre-scrambling metal band Deafheaven

• Gifts for any cook • Fun and colorful kitchenware • Specialty foods, local and imported • Gadgets, cookware, and kitchen essentials • Louisville’s one-of-a-kind kitchen shop

marks 10 years of a breakthrough BY JEZY J. GRAY

15 COVER Dear Whole Foods Daddy: Holiday Edition

BY GABBY VERMEIRE

728 Main Street • Louisville • 720.484.6825 www.SingingCookStore.com

25 NIBBLES Lafayette’s Off Campus Cafe dishes hard-to-find Yucatecan tastes BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

18

BOULDER’S BOOT HEADQUARTERS Blundstone, Lems, Ecco, Merrell, Bos & Co, Dansko & More!

DEPARTMENTS 05 THE

ANDERSON FILES

Kiss off, Henry

06 LETTERS

Criticism, disdain and a recommendation

11 NEWS

BVSD’s Green New Deal, Wildfire Partners’ new territory

BOULDER WEEKLY

18 EVENTS

23 FILM

22

29 GOOD TASTE

Where to go and what to do

ASTROLOGY

Be a grower, Leo, not a show-er

22 SAVAGE LOVE

Forget meet-cutes; meet-sleazy instead

The Boy and the Heron soars

There’s growth in giving

31 WEED

Supreme Court weighs definition of marijuana

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

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In Store • Online • Curbside DECEMBER 7, 2023

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PRESENTS

For gig�lers of all ages!

A WORLD PREMIERE

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by Matt Zambrano Music & Lyrics

by Frank Oden

December 7 - 31 Opening Night: Friday, December 8 The Dairy Arts Center | Boulder

In the teeny tiny town of Holly, Alaska, a merry band of community theatre actors has kept the tradition of the annual Holly Daze Spectacular! alive for 119 years. If they do the show just one more year, they'll make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, proving to their rival town of Ivy once and for all which town is the best in the cold northwest.

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COMMENTARY DECEMBER 7, 2023 Volume 31, Number 16

PUBLISHER: Francis Zankowski

E DIT ORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Will Matuska FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff INTERN: Lily Fletcher CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Dan Savage, Colin Wrenn, Gabby Vermeire

S A LE S AND MARKET I NG MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Chris Allred, Holden Hauke SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

P ROD UCTION CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mark Goodman

C I RC UL ATION CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

B US I NESS OFFICE

THE ANDERSON FILES

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

Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly. com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

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

BOULDER WEEKLY

KISS OFF, HENRY Kissinger was a war criminal and destroyer of democracy

BY DAVE ANDERSON

W

hen Henry Kissinger died at the age of 100 recently, leading politicians of both parties praised him effusively.

Kissinger was national security adviser and then secretary of state to Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford but offered advice to every administration ever since.

“One of the very few things that still brings the Republican and Democratic political establishments together is their shared reverence for Henry Kissinger,” Julian Borger of The Guardian wrote. This has angered

many progressives who consider Kissinger to have been a ruthless war criminal.

President Joe Biden, who had praised Kissinger when he was a senator, was cautious this time: “Throughout our careers, we often disagreed. And often strongly. But from that first briefing, his fierce intellect and profound strategic focus was evident.”

Ben Rhodes, Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, speculated about the widespread reverence: “Some

Democrats and some liberals have a lack of confidence on foreign affairs, and there’s this aura of credibility around Kissinger,” adding that many Democrats can feel defensive about being considered unrealistic idealists.

Rhodes’ former boss, Obama, was an exception. In an interview with The Atlantic in 2016, Obama criticized Nixon and Kissinger’s legacy in southeast Asia: “We dropped more ordnance on Cambodia and Laos than on Europe in World War II, and yet, ultimately, Nixon withdrew, Kissinger went to Paris, and all we left behind DECEMBER 7, 2023

5

THE ANDERSON FILES torians challenging excessive national was chaos, slaughter and authoritarian security secrecy, it is the leading nongovernments that finally, over time, profit user of the U.S. Freedom of have emerged from that hell.”

Information Act (FOIA).

The Paris peace deal that Kissinger helped negotiate in 1973 was similar to what was offered in 1968 before Nixon became president. Nixon prolonged the war at the cost of tens of thousands of American lives as well as untold numbers of southeast Asians.

Historian Jeffrey Kimball, in his book The Vietnam War Files: Uncovering the Secret History of Nixon-Era Strategy, delved into numerous declassified files to conclude that Kissinger’s record “is one of persisting in a deadlocked war for the sake of appearances — i.e. salvaging an elusive and false U.S. credibility.”

The National Security Archive (NSA) recently published a very lengthy “Declassified Obituary” of Kissinger. The NSA is a Henry A. Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State, 1973-1977 research and archival institution The documents deal with Kissinger’s at George Washington University in involvement in illegal bombing in Laos Washington, D.C. and is the largest and Cambodia and complicity in genorepository of declassified U.S. docucide in East Timor and Bangladesh. ments outside the federal government.

Founded in 1985 by journalists and his- Hundreds of thousands killed.

Let’s just focus on Kissinger’s role in the overthrow of Chile’s democratically elected president Salvador Allende.

Just days after Allende was elected in 1970, Kissinger called the CIA director to discuss how to undermine the new government.

Kissinger would become the chief architect of the policy to destabilize it.

Kissinger told Nixon that they couldn’t deny that Allende was legitimately elected. This was unlike Fidel Castro in Cuba who came to power via a violent insurrection. The election had “an insidious model effect” that could inspire people around the globe.

Kissinger said, “The example of a successful elected Marxist government in Chile would surely have an impact on — and even precedent value for — other parts of the world, especially in Italy; the imitative spread of similar phenomena elsewhere would in turn significantly affect the world balance and our own position in it.”

When Allende was overthrown by a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, Kissinger ignored State

Department aides who were concerned about hundreds of Chileans being killed and sent a warm secret message of support to Pinochet. The U.S. helped Pinochet with economic and military aid and diplomatic support; the CIA created a secret police agency.

When Nixon bitched about the “liberal crap” in the media surrounding Allende’s overthrow, Kissinger said, “In the Eisenhower period, we would be heroes.” Yes, the CIA overthrew democratically elected governments in Iran and Guatemala in the 1950s.

These days, the Trumpist foot soldiers of the Jan. 6 insurrection like the Proud Boys wear T-shirts saying “Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong.” They are MAGA’s persecuted heroes.

Pinochet and his crimes are celebrated by the far right. This is domestic blowback, an unintended consequence of America’s foreign dirty deeds — and part of Kissinger’s legacy.

who promoted the Sugar Beet site, which could open a can of worms as the site and adjacent buildings could require demolition, remediation and, perhaps, even some toxic waste mitigation. The Y/Centennial Pool land swap to accommodate low-cost housing was never sufficiently explained to voters. A new rec center, pool, ice rink and library on the west end of town could each appeal to a segment of voters, but a plurality is required for any ballot approval.

Voters generally seemed to express that the three measures would increase taxes at a time when those same voters will be facing record tax increases due to rising home valuations. Those anxious homeowners are still awaiting the cost on their coming real estate tax bills.

Whether the individual measures could pass if spread over several election cycles or if presented during a general presidential election remains to be seen. The only certainty is Martin’s condescension of her own constituents.

— John Loughran, Longmont

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

Have a different view of things?

Email your take to letters@ boulderweekly.com

LETTERS RECOMMENDED READING

In 1989, John McPhee published The Control of Nature. Akin to your description of Over the Seawall by Stephen Robert Miller (“Sea Change,” Nov. 16, 2023), though without the urgent backdrop of carbon-fueled climate change, it documented three challenges to human infrastructure — the course of the Mississippi River, lava flows in Iceland and debris flows from the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles — and the massive engineering projects undertaken to mitigate them.

Readers curious about Miller’s book may be interested in McPhee’s as well. The latter is available at the Boulder Public Library, and the former is on order.

— Matthew Messner, Boulder 6

DECEMBER 7, 2023

DISAPPROVAL DOESN’T WARRANT DISDAIN

“We don’t need no stinking public amenities,” is how Longmont Council woman Marcia Martin characterized her constituents’ rejection of three local ballot initiatives as quoted in Boulder Weekly (“Ballot Breakdown,” Nov. 16, 2023). In the section entitled “Longmont Hates Taxes,” Martin was quoted as saying, “… everybody’s mad, everybody’s nostalgic for the Longmont of 1980.”

There could be several reasons for Longmont voters — even those who support the arts, libraries, recreation and lower-cost housing — to not support the measures. The proposed arts center, at an undetermined location, seemed to get a lot of press from realtors; Martin and other supporters

ON CRITICISM

It is not anti-Jew to criticize Israel for human rights violations. It is not antiBuddhist to criticize Myanmar for human rights violations. It is not antiMuslim to criticize Saudi Arabia for human rights violations. It is not antiHindu to criticize India for human rights violations. It is not anti-American to criticize the United States for human rights violations.

— Seemanta, Boulder BOULDER WEEKLY

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NEWS

WATER HOGS How bluegrass lawns became the default for homeowners associations

BY ALLEN BEST COLORADO NEWSLINE This story, a collaboration of Big Pivots and Aspen Journalism, is the third of a five-part series that examines the intersection of water and urban landscapes in Colorado. Find Parts 1 and 2 online at bit.ly/water-series

B

etween 50% and 60% of Coloradans live in housing governed by homeowners associations, commonly called HOAs. Squeezing water devoted to urban landscapes must necessarily involve these neighborhoods.

It’s already happening but, so far, mostly on the edges. A case in point: a small HOA in Greeley called Bittersweet Pointe.

There, three-fourths of an acre of Kentucky bluegrass had been replaced this year by a mixture of blue grama and buffalo grass. With a summer of watering bills now in hand, Sandy Bertch, president of the board of directors, estimates that the HOA needs 60% less water to irrigate that section. More turf replacement will

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DECEMBER 7, 2023

occur on the HOA’s 2.5 acres of common ground, Bertsch promised, now that the efficacy of the native grasses has been demonstrated.

Ron Mettler, a retired electrical engineer, was president of the board when he brought up the subject of turf conversion. He got immediate pushback.

“Don’t you touch that green grass.

That’s why I am here,” said a resident, who has since died.

Finally, last year, consensus was achieved. Costs were crucial. The retirees will save money in reduced water bills and won’t need to mow the difficult hillside as frequently.

Making the decision easier was the City of Greeley’s incentive: $1 a square foot for removal of Kentucky bluegrass in addition to rebates for water efficiency.

Clinching the deal was the shared perception of growing water scarcity.

Homeowners agreed that they needed to do their part in lessening demands.

“These two are poster children,” Ruth

Quade, Greeley’s water conservation administrator, said of Mettler and Bertsch. “The key to a successful project is having one or two champions, and that is what these two are.”

Replacing Kentucky bluegrass and other cool-weather grasses with native grasses and other less-thirsty species will not solve all of Colorado’s water problems. Nearly 90% of water in Colorado goes to agriculture. Only 7% of the state’s water gets used within towns and cities, and roughly half of that goes to outdoor use for lawns, gardens and other urban landscaping.

So, why does it matter? For one thing, it’s very expensive, and politically fraught, for cities to develop new water sources, usually from distant locations.

Treating that water to potable standards is expensive, too. Water used indoors, which is largely contained in pipes, can be recycled. Water engineers calculate that 85% of water used for outdoor landscapes is lost because of evaporation and other causes.

All of this has water providers looking to focus on water devoted to discretionary outdoor use in road medians, business parks, homes and common areas.

Experts say this transition to less waterdemanding landscapes in urban areas will take many years.

CLEARINGS AROUND CASTLES

How did thirsty bluegrass become the landscaping default, the cultural norm in Colorado and elsewhere?

“Nowhere in the world are lawns as prized as in America,” Michael Pollan wrote in an essay published in The New York Times Magazine in 1989.

“In little more than a century, we’ve rolled a green mantle of grass across the continent, with scarcely a thought to the local conditions or expense.”

Pollan and other writers have traced our modern idea of a lawn to the early 17th century. In at least one telling, aristocrats wanted clearings around their castles for

defensive purposes. They either had animals graze it or dispatched servants with scythes to keep the grasses low.

The idea of grassy lawns around homes was transferred to the United States in the mid-19th century. At first, it was limited to the American aristocracy. Thomas Jefferson put in a lawn at Monticello. So did other wealthy landowners. But for Americans of lesser means, yards were devoted to more functional pursuits, such as the growing of vegetables or the keeping of pigs and other animals.

Others spread the gospel. Frank J. Scott, in an 1870 book titled, The Art of Beautifying Suburban Home Grounds of Small Extent, wrote that “a smooth, closely shaven surface of grass is by far the most essential element of beauty on the grounds of a suburban house.” Frederick Law Olmsted deployed the broad lawns of Central Park and also planted grass in some of our first suburbs.

Technology also played a role. In 1830, a textile engineer in England adapted a carpet cutter to create the world’s first reel lawn mower. After an improved design in 1870, handpushed lawn mowers were produced by the tens of thousands annually. In 1893 came a patent for the first steampowered mower. We were well on our way to the Saturday ritual many people know so well.

“Over time,” wrote Kolbert, “the fact that anyone could keep up a lawn was successfully, though not altogether logically, translated into the notion that everyone ought to.”

COSTS OF WAGING WAR ON WEEDS

By the time baby boomers were mostly toddlers, the idea of a perfect lawn had swept the country, even to the smallest of Colorado towns and cities. Along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Abraham Levitt, the namesake for the Long Island town, declared that “no single feature of a suburban residential community contributes as much to the charm and beauty of the individual home and locality as well-kept lawns.”

Perfection was possible — but at a well-known cost. Rachel Carson, in her 1962 book, Silent Spring, described the BOULDER WEEKLY

NEWS risk to human health posed by indiscriminate pesticide use. This, wrote Kolbert, inverted the calculation about the meaning of a well-tended, unblemished lawn.

“Instead of demonstrating that a homeowner cared about his neighbors, a trim and tidy stretch of turf showed that he didn’t,” Kolbert wrote.

Perfect lawns also bump up against a hard hydrologic reality in Colorado. It is the nation’s seventh-most-arid state, and the story of the 21st century has been of a warming, drying climate.

Cities with growing populations exist in this shifting axis between supply and demand. They’re looking to conserve water in the most-cost-effective ways. To succeed, some of this must necessarily involve homeowners associations.

PRIVATE GOVERNMENTS

Homeowners associations have been described as private governments enforcing covenants among homeowners. Colorado as of 2022 had 10,510 HOAs with 2.4 million residents, according to the Community Associations Institute, a national organization. Most are managed by private companies. And, according to detractors, they tend to be stuck in their ways.

Before George Teal became a Douglas County commissioner, he was a member of the Castle Rock City Council for 6 1/2 years. Because the city was heavily reliant on a large but unrenewable underground aquifer, it wanted to encourage low-water landscapes — what it calls ColoradoScapes.

Homeowners associations resisted, said Teal. He cited “just numerous examples” given to the City Council members each year of homeowners being told by their HOAs that they could not rip out their turf. That includBOULDER WEEKLY

ed his own neighborhood and HOA, Crystal Valley Ranch, one that he describes as consisting of mostly working middle-class people. A change would have required a 65% vote. He similarly cites another HOA, Woodland, which consists of moreaffluent residents.

“It became kind of a rallying cry on the council,” Teal said in a recent interview. “What could we do to get HOAs to accept the more water-smart landscape methodologies that were being advocated by our water utility?”

The answer was nothing. Local governments did not have the power to curb HOA powers. It had to be done at the state level.

In 2019, Colorado legislators passed the first of four laws that do so. House Bill 19-1050 stipulates that it is contrary to public policy for common-interest communities, such as HOAs, to “prohibit or limit installation or use of

drought-tolerant vegetative landscapes, or require cultivated vegetation to consist wholly or partially of turf grass.”

The law did allow HOAs to adopt aesthetic guidelines.

In 2021 came another law, House Bill 21-1229. It required HOAs to allow artificial turf in backyards and also solar panels, once again subject to “reasonable aesthetic guidelines.”

These steps were applauded by Jody Beck, an associate professor in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver. “Extensive green lawns are almost never an appropriate expression of responsible citizenship in the arid West, if by responsible citizenship we mean the conscientious use of limited shared resources,” he said.

In 2022, legislators did not specifically target HOAs and water. Instead, House Bill 22-1151 instructed the state’s chief water agency, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, to develop a program for the voluntary replacement of turf in cooperation with local governments and appropriated $2 million for that work. After administrative expenses, $1.5 million has been awarded to more than two dozen local jurisdictions in Colorado.

Later that same year, legislators were advised that another law was needed to close a loophole in the 2019 law. At least some HOAs had used the clause that gave them aesthetic discretion in reviewing plans to effectively stall or even block turf-replacement projects proposed by owners of singlefamily homes.

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

This year’s bill had bipartisan support.

“In practice, we see barriers to people who want to replant their front yards

with more water-conserving plants,” said state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, a Democrat from Longmont, when introducing the bill, House Bill 23-178, at a legislative committee hearing.

The bill requires that HOAs must select at least three pre-approved water-saving landscaping templates that residents can follow. Residents and HOAs can choose to go for other designs, but at least three options must be pre-approved. There’s no real excuse for saying no.

The state’s most significant organization representing HOAs didn’t bother to show up to testify one way or another. The bill passed with minor opposition grounded in questions of local control.

Teal, who testified in both legislative committee hearings, said he would have preferred local control.

But, given the sweeping powers of HOAs, he believed the state had to step in order to aid municipalities.

“Water conservation and water reuse have become primary goals of the town of Castle Rock and, I think, soon will become one of our primary policy goals here in (Douglas) County as well,” he said.

Also testifying was Chris Marion, who began work in 2017 as a water conservation specialist. After getting a master’s degree in sustainability planning from CU Boulder, he founded a company called 3.0 Management. It provides management for about 40 HOAs in metropolitan Denver.

Marion sees an opportunity for HOAs and other places with large expanses of turf to rethink their landscapes. Irrigation systems installed 40 to 50 years ago need replacement or updating. Some HOAs are poorly funded for replacement of leaking pipes and so forth.

“It’s not only the cost of water, but the associated maintenance costs of older grass,” he said.

Something else is going on, a shifting cultural norm. The impetus for expanses of Kentucky bluegrass that we see today was “simple, cost-effective landscaping, which was primarily bluegrass.” Now, said Marion, younger generations in particular have become at least aware of “the concept of personal ecological footprints.”

DECEMBER 7, 2023

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NEWS

WHEN THE GRASS ISN’T GREENER Local efforts are targeting Boulder County’s thirsty turf

BY SHAY CASTLE

A

s state lawmakers handle homeowners associations’ addiction to green lawns, local governments and organizations are targeting turf outside the confines of HOAs through incentives of their own and replacement of governmentowned grass.

Locally, Resource Central is leading the landscaping revolution with its turfconversion, irrigation analysis and garden-in-a-box programs. The Boulderbased nonprofit has partnered with nearly 50 water utilities along the Front Range, “including pretty much all of Boulder County,” according to Resource President Neal Lurie.

Since 2016, Resource estimates it has saved 1.5 billion gallons of water through its various programs. They

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DECEMBER 7, 2023

started turf removal four or five years ago, Lurie said, after a survey revealed that physical removal of grass was the biggest barrier for homeowners.

Lurie estimates the company will complete 1,000 lawn removals next year.

“Water-wise landscaping is rapidly becoming the norm in Colorado,” he says.

While no local governments appear to have outright banned Kentucky bluegrass in Boulder County, some municipalities have more strict rules than others. For example, Lafayette does require new developments to limit landscaping to water-friendly options and limits lawn-watering to certain hours, no more than three days a week.

“All new commercial, multiREBATE ROUNDUP family, and common areas/rightMore information about your town’s of-way landscaping in new resiturf replacement rules: dential subdivisions … must be designed such that no more than 15 gallons per square foot ERIE per year will be required to Rebates of $1 to $2 per square foot for maintain,” wrote city spokesperlow-water grasses and garden plantings up son Debbie Wilmot, in response to 1,000 square feet. Replacements and to emailed questions. “The City new construction eligible. Learn more and is in the process of reviewing apply: bit.ly/erie-turf-rules our land use code and will likely consider landscape regulations LAFAYETTE with any revisions in the future.” $25 discount on Resource’s Garden-in-aLafayette is also setting a Box kit. Various rebates on water-efficient good example for private resisprinklers and drip systems. dents, by xeriscaping seven Learn more: bit.ly/lafayette-water City facilities. Other local governments have joined them in LOUISVILLE ripping out and replacing thirsty $25 discount on Resource’s Garden-inturf. a-Box kit. $500 discount on Resource’s Longmont tore up Kentucky Lawn Replacement Program. bluegrass in front of its Hover Learn more: bit.ly/louisville-turf Street service center and went with a wheatgrass blend that SUPERIOR reduced water use 30-50% on Free indoor and outdoor water audits via the site. A consultant is working Resource’s Slow the Flow program. on recommendations for new Various rebates for rain barrels and waterlandscaping rules that will limit efficient drip and sprinkler systems. non-essential turf on governLearn more: bit.ly/superior-water ment, commercial and industrial properties.

LONGMONT “We feel really passionate $750 discount for the Resource about getting our own house in Central program of your choosing. order and being efficient before Various discounts and rebates for we mandate that our residents water-efficient upgrades. do that,” says Hope Bartlett, Learn more: bit.ly/longmont-water Longmont’s water conservation specialist.

BOULDER Erie will replace 24,000 $500 discount on landscape conversion square feet of bluegrass outthrough Resource. Learn more: side its service center next bit.ly/boulder-water year, according to water conservation specialist Dylan King.

Thanks to a state grant, Erie offers its Before you plant anything, it’s a own rebates for lawn conversions. The good idea to check with your local town replaced more than 50,000 government (or HOA, if you have one). square feet of turf in 2022 and 82,018 Resource’s water-wise gardens and square feet in 2023. gardens-in-a-box are pre-approved by “We’re very proud of that,” King says. local partners, Lurie says, so no worries there.

Lurie recommends redoing your WANT TO YANK yard in sections, starting with at least OUT YOUR YARD? 200 square feet (the minimum for Homeowners looking to level up their lawns should do two things, Lurie said: Resource’s removal program). Turf replacement starts in late winter or First, check resourcecentral.org/lawn. spring (frozen ground is too hard to Select your water provider to see what remove) so “winter time is the perfect discounts, rebates and incentives they time for planning,” he says. offer.

BOULDER WEEKLY

NEWS A GREEN NEW DEAL FOR SCHOOLS

The Boulder Valley School District Board of Education unanimously passed the Green New Deal for Schools on Nov. 28, a resolution that requires the district to make commitments to mitigate impacts of the climate crisis.

The student-led initiative was supported by the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate justice organization that advocates for political action. More than 60 students attended the meeting wearing yellow armbands with “GND 4 BVSD” written on them. Ten young people spoke during public comment.

“I’m sharing my story tonight because I want my school to prepare me and other young people to grow up in a world that is greatly affected by climate change,” said Eira, a fifth-grader. (Editor’s note: Boulder Weekly does not publish the full names of minors without explicit permission from their parents or guardians.)

One thousand BVSD students and staff also signed a petition calling for the board to support the resolution, which includes commitments to clean energy, improved climate change curriculum and student pathways to green jobs.

It’s the first such resolution passed by a school district in the nation, according to the Sunrise Movement.

— Will Matuska

WILDFIRE PARTNERS EXPANDS SERVICE AREA After providing support to residents living in the foothills and mountains since 2014, Boulder County’s Wildfire Partners will now support East County residents.

“In areas with higher density of homes, wildfire mitigation needs to be viewed as a community effort since what happens on one property will affect outcomes on the neighboring property,” Abby Silver, Wildfire Partners’ outreach coordinator, said in a press release. “We are excited to be on the cutting edge in developing relevant wildfire mitigation programs for plains communities.”

Wildfire Partners is a collaboration between community members, fire departments and municipalities that has a variety of programs to increase local wildfire-resilience like community chipping, home assessments, advising, education and outreach. According to its website, programs were expanded to East Boulder County after the Marshall Fire.

The County is hosting a virtual community mitigation information session on Dec. 12 from 5-6 p.m. Register at bit.ly/WP_Info_Session.

— Will Matuska

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MUSIC

ELEGANT MISERY Deafheaven marks a decade of ‘Sunbather’ with Front Range anniversary show

BY JEZY J. GRAY

W

hen it comes to extreme music over the past decade, few bands flipped the script quite like Deafheaven. The heavy San Francisco outfit’s 2013 breakthrough Sunbather turned the heads of critics and listeners under the banner of its now-iconic pink cover art, scrambling the boundaries of black metal, postrock and shoegaze to dazzling and devastating effect. With soaring crescendos and gauzy guitars laid over breakneck blast beats and the formidable shriek of frontman George Clarke, the group’s genre-allergic sophomore effort — divisive at the time, now widely considered a classic — set a bold new template they have been redrawing ever since.

Ten years later, the Grammynominated group’s watershed LP gets the anniversary treatment with a new remixed and remastered edition and a corresponding U.S. tour stopping at Summit in Denver on Dec. 13.

But looking back on Sunbather a decade after it first sparked backlash from black-metal purists and effusive praise from a growing legion of Deafheaven obsessives, Clarke reflects on both ends of the highA remixed and remastered version of Deafheaven’s 2013 breakpitched response with a through Sunbather was released Nov. 17. Courtesy: Deathwish Inc. good-natured shrug.

“For us, the whole process is quite “You naturally want to defend yourdown to earth. So for people to be like, self and be like, ‘No, this is what we ‘This record crumbles mountains,’ like, and this is coming from an authenthese sort of poetic exaggerations that tic place. We’re not trolling anyone,’ were happening at the time … I’ll take which was something that had been it, but I don’t know if I feel that way,” published at the time,” the 35-year-old Clarke continues. “It all feels a bit chafrontman told Boulder Weekly from a New York City apartment before lighting otic in retrospect. It’s fun that we went out on the band’s upcoming tour. “While through it, and it’s kind of just part of our story now.” it was our natural inclination to do that, That story didn’t stop with Sunbather. we were also pretty vocal about being While reactions to future records like, ‘By the way, we’re not curing canwouldn’t quite match the fever pitch of cer here. This is just a record, and discourse surrounding the band’s first three people made it while drinking 40s major splash, Deafheaven have reinin a 10-by-10 room.’ vented themselves in equally bold strokes with each new release. But the even-keeled Clarke says the 10th anniversary of their landmark LP is giving the forward-looking collective a chance to pause and reflect on the winding path that brought them here.

“It’s not very often that we do things that are strictly fanfare.

We’ve always done this for ourselves. Being able to let go of that and just do something for fun and experience a little bit of nostalgia … it’s a nice little aside,” he says.

“It feels like this kind of wholesome thing, which I can appreciate.”

KILLER INSTINCT “We gotta just follow our instinct and our heart,” Deafheaven frontman George Clarke says of the Grammy-nominated metal band’s knack for reinvention. Credit: Robin Laananen

BOULDER WEEKLY

Deafheaven’s knack for reinvention was pronounced with perhaps its biggest flourish on 2021’s Infinite Granite, which saw Clarke

swapping his ferocious black-metal screech for a clean singing style that shares more chromosomes with Morrissey than Mayhem. In a career full of stylistic departures, this was arguably the band’s biggest.

“We gotta just follow our instinct and our heart, and it would have been really ham-fisted to do anything else,” he says of the stylistic curveball. “I would have way rather thrown this crazy Hail Mary and hope that our audience would be prepared than to do, you know, Sunbather: Part 4.”

Vocal delivery wasn’t the only place Clarke set out to recarve the map on the band’s latest left turn — with his obscuring scream stripped away, the lyrics took on a new urgency. “Forgive the trembling love / I’m weak and acting bold,” he sings on the Side A standout “In Blur,” with a scaled-back vulnerability that pushes against the more baroque phrasing of past efforts.

“I was reading a lot of surrealist poetry [while writing Sunbather] — a lot of purple prose and Victorian-type things.

Whereas I think my tastes are a bit more modern now and maybe a bit more American,” he says. “I think that has lended itself to a welcomed simplification.”

Despite the chasm of experience and growth between these two points, Clarke looks back on those early years with warmth as he and his bandmates gear up to bring Sunbather back to life for audiences around the country. Such a victory lap is an opportunity not every band has, and one he is determined not to take for granted.

“During Sunbather, there was [a sense that] we could lose this tomorrow. And to be frank, we were losing it every six months and finding a way to piece it back together,” Clarke says.

“Getting to see how it’s still resonating with people 10 years on is quite surreal.

I think we’re very lucky to have a record like this.”

ON THE BILL: Deafheaven

Sunbather 10th Anniversary Tour with Touché Amoré.

7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, Summit Denver, 1902 Blake St. $35

DECEMBER 7, 2023

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DEAR WHOLE FOODS DADDY: HOLIDAY EDITION chilly

Your burning Boulder questions, asked and answered

BY GABBY VERMEIRE

W

e all have questions and need advice, but sometimes the pseudo therapy in the Instagram stories of astrology girls doesn’t cut it. Or maybe the gatekeeping culture of adventure bros has you fearing the judgment that comes with revealing yourself as a newbie at anything. This advice column exists to hold space for you and your (holidaycoded) Boulder queries — especially the uncool ones.

Spot. Stay strong, friend: 2.5 months of warm, but kinda … sandy-feeling? ... cuddles aren’t worth the awkwardness of a subpar, small-town situationship. (Sidenote: “Subpar Small-Town Situationship” is a Zach Bryan song waiting to happen.)

ing in line for the Sundown Saloon; it’s that it’s all worth it for the 0.5 seconds of attention from a worthless frat bro.

Best holiday cocktail in Boulder?

Depends how you define “best.” By some standards, a $17 “winter-edition” drink with an uncomfortably horny name like The Naughty List Negroni (i.e. a Negroni with cinnamon liquor) crafted by a License No. 1 mixologist with an alt-right haircut is the superlative holiday cocktail.

Here’s a better recipe: • 12 oz Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat tea • 4 oz cheap whiskey • The best company money can’t buy

Which hotel lobby can I post up in around the holidays to ogle the silver fox daddies?

It’s not too late! Here — play the webpage-refresh-game as soon as Gregory Alan Isakov NYE at Gold Hill Inn tickets go on sale, and buy two.

Make suitors fight each other to the death for the chance to be your date to the most exclusive night in town.

You’re welcome.

Thoughts on research suggesting ‘hoes don’t get cold’ as plausible.

What do you do if you’ve been skipped over this cuffing season?

Stop selling yourself short. You haven’t been skipped over; your standards have just been too high to succumb to swiping right on that total fuccboi you see every Wednesday night at The BOULDER WEEKLY

The research referenced in this question claims that feeling objectifiable is associated with not actually perceiving the cold. I’m calling BS on this science. If my hazy memory of those nights serves me right, it’s not that the hoes in question don’t feel miserable wearing a questionably constructed Urban Outfitters dress shiver-

nitely decorated with prayer flags — so cool and not cringe at all in hindsight. But hey, at that age you’re more concerned with lighting up other kinds of trees if you know what I mean, haha! (Get it? Because CU kids smoke a lot of weed...)

While I can’t condone explicit creepiness, respectful gazing is permitted. Daddies? They’re not at the Boulderado or the St. Julien; they’re on the Pearl Street Mall, waiting to plop their offspring on the lap of the silveriest, foxiest, daddiest daddy of all, who’s been making a list and checking it twice. “Please,” his children beg, “can we have some treats with refined sugar this year?”

Does a self-respecting Boulderite get a real Christmas tree?

YES. Every Boulderite remembers their first Christmas tree in their crappy Uni Hill sublet that was defi-

Do people still you-know-what inside the big star on Flagstaff and take a bulb when they do?

Traditions!

To answer this question, I consulted the experts, i.e. those who actually got some action in high school, and it is indeed a thing. As with anything fun, someone (probably jealous of their hot roommate’s increasing collection of large LED light bulbs in the garage) fenced off the area at some point in the past few years.

DECEMBER 7, 2023

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COVER BOULDER NAUGHTY/ NICE LIST NICE whose cinnamon rolls have always been, and remain, some BIG OL’ BOYS.

BOULDER CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS If you haven’t experienced the Parks and Rec episode vibes of Boulder City Council meetings, you’re not just missing out on the sartorial sensibilities of over-educated retirees; you’re missing out on the spiciest issues of the Boulder zeitgeist, including Marshall Fire conspiracy theories, NIMBY tears and our collective moral obligation to the lives of East Boulder prairie dogs.

BIG PASTRIES For a few years, Boulder pastries had become fashionably itty bitty.

Those of us feeling underfed after an Instagram-able but microscopic kouignamann from Boxcar were left wondering if a pastry could ever constitute a full-ass meal again. But trends change, and hip coffee shops like Beleza are once again serving up some honkers. Shout out to Breadworks,

SAMPLES ARE BACK, BABY! While the pandemic took many things from us — in-person work meetings, Herman Cain — one of the hardest was sample culture. Well, let me tell you, tiny plastic cups of marinated salmon and random tortilla chips have once again materialized in Whole Foods, and you bet your booty that I am sticking my nasty hand into that weird half-sphereshaped container and taking two, thank you very much. Nature is healing.

NAUGHTY CO-OPTING MUSHROOM CULTURE Must every subculture be gentrified into whitemom aesthetic? Oh, so you think that whitespotted red toadstool mushrooms are cute to have as a salt-and-pepper shaker? Can you name the top three visions you’ll have after being poisoned by Amanita muscaria?

Clearly not, poser.

DEION SANDERS’ SUNGLASSES Coach Prime has clearly yet to have the crucial Boulder experience of listening to a very spun girl very intensely explain why eyes are the windows to the soul.

Please, Mr. Sanders: 16

DECEMBER 7, 2023

ALONE BUT NOT LONELY Your guide to a solo holiday season in Boulder

I

t happens. All the homies went home for the holidays but you. Or maybe Boulder is home, and none of the other Boulder-borns made it back this year. Either way, it’s just you, your regrets and some edibles this year.

But I promise it can be survivable, even a blast, if you keep these three guidelines in mind.

GIVE INTO THE XMAS SLEAZE OF IT ALL

Sure, 11 months of the year, Peppercorn is where you buy some granny-ass napkins for your mother-in-law’s birthday that you totally forgot about until day-of. But during this most special time of year, Peppercorn is a good ol’ Christmas orgasm. Stand amid the holidayfrenzied tourists and the niche Euro-candy vibes, and let it seep into your soul.

GET PAGAN WITH IT

When it comes to religion, Boulder is like a slightly awkward but intellectual teenage girl searching for identity. We like to consider ourselves a little “alt,” and became Buddhism-curious after reading Dharma Bums. But that doesn’t mean Boulder doesn’t absolutely fuck with Christmas.

As yuppies and crunchies alike have found, hip Winter Solstice parties can bring the seasonal vibes without the attachment of the problematic Western Christianity vibes. Wander your lonely ass into a moonlit circle of influencercoven-bitches on the eve of Dec. 21; I promise, no one checks the guest list on these things.

EMBRACE THE TRUE MEANING OF THE SEASON

The last thing Boulder men needed was another excuse to wear sunglasses indoors in an effort to avoid emotional vulnerability.

SHARING SCREENSHOTS FROM DATING APPS ON SOCIAL MEDIA I know, everyone will think it’s sooo cool when

you post screenshots of you owning a girl on a dating app chat who clearly is not as much of an expert on early-era Grateful Dead as her profile picture of her wearing a slutty Dead shirt would suggest. OH MY GOD this is unclassy, especially in a small town. I have no jokes; please just stop.

Some of us believe this time of year is holy regardless of religion. There is something ancient and universal in the recognition that, in our coldest and darkest hour, there is light in human connection. As Gen Z-ers would say, it’s giving “giving.” It’s radical empathy. It’s being in the Whole Foods express checkout line behind an oblivious lady with a cart exceeding 10 items (or fewer), and thinking, “She must be in a hurry! I hope she has a good rest of her day :) Oh my god, is she actually going to make a thing about her Amazon Prime membership?”

Look over there, at that older man sitting at the Trident (yep, that one with the hat and vaguely offputting vibes!) who is visibly starving for human interaction. Striking up a conversation with this fella is about as hard as getting your sweet mother to eat just one more piece of peppermint bark from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory — that is to say, he’s more than willing. You’re sparing the vulnerable young ladies in his geographic vicinity from his unintentionally creepy, but still very creepy, attempts to engage them in conversation.

And, whenever you feel alone, look up at that star in the foothills. Take a deep breath and remember that you might be alone for the holidays, but two people with freezing tushies are probably getting illegally laid inside that very star. Happy Holidays, baby.

Got a Boulder-centric question or conundrum? DM @wholefoods_daddy on Instagram, or email letters@boulderweekly.com with the subject line “Dear Whole Foods Daddy.”

BOULDER WEEKLY

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just announced

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jAN 19 ................................................................... STOP mAKING SeNSe (mOVIe) mAR 27 ................................................................................... TIGRAN HAmASYAN APR 24 ................................................................................................ mOVemeNTS

THu. Dec 7

THu. Dec 7

ROOSTeR PReSeNTS “ARe YOu WATcHING cLOSeLY TOuR”

mONSTeR eNeRGY: OuTbReAK TOuR & ROOSTeR PReSeNT: mANIc DAZe / bOOGIe NIGHTS

cONSIDeR THe SOuRce + cYcLeS SAT. Dec 9

bOOGIe T.RIO + mANIc fOcuS (LIVe bAND) mARVeL YeARS, KRuZA KID

ROOSTeR & PARTY GuRu PReSeNT

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fRI. Dec 8

TLOOP

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THe cOLO SOuND & WeSTWORD PReSeNT

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PATRIcK DeTHLefS fRI. Dec 15

WeSTWORD PReSeNTS: 15TH ANNuAL

TRAce buNDY’S AcOuSTIc HOLIDAY THe AccIDeNTALS

mOuNTAIN HIGH eNTeRTAINmeNT PReSeNTS

THe eDGe bAND SAT. Dec 16 INDIe ADVANce PReSeNTS

HOWLIN’ GOATZ

SIeRRA mILeS, WeNDY WOO fRI. Dec 29

DAN HOcHmAN, THOm LAfOND, WeLLINGTON buLLINGS

WeD. Dec 20 beST. cHRISTmAS. eVeR!

fAce VOcAL bAND HOLIDAY cONceRT SAT. Dec 30 & SuN. Dec 31 WeSTWORD & AVeRY PReSeNT

eLePHANT ReVIVAL

ZImbIRA (12/30), WHISKeY bLANKeT (12/31) SAT. jAN 6

cHRIS KNIGHT

SAT. Dec 30

ADAm HOOD

KGNu & ROOSTeR PReSeNT: HOW THe GROucH STOLe NeW YeAR’S eVe

bROTHeR ALI AND THe GROucH & eLIGH ReSPecT THe VOIceS

fRI. jAN 12 THe cOLO SOuND PReSeNTS

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WWW.BOULDERTHEATER.COM 2032 14TH STREET BOULDER 303.786.7030

STUDIO ARTS BOULDER’S ANNUAL

Holiday Sale

Pottery and gifts handmade by local artists Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10 10am - 5pm each day 3063 E. Sterling Circle, Boulder studioartsboulder.org

EVENTS THU. 12/7 - 8:00PM

BOOT JUICE FRI. 12/8 - 8:30PM

ROLLING HARVEST SAT. 12/9 - 8:00PM

THE GOOd KINd’S HOLIdAy BASH SUN. 12/10 - 7:30PM

THE GAVIN WORLANd BIG BANd TUE. 12/12 - 8:00PM 105.5 THE COLORAdO SOUNd PRESENTS:

APOLLO SUNS

WED. 12/13 - 7:00PM

8

8

8-10

5-8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, Roosevelt Community Park, 700 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont. Free

7-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 and 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Heart of Longmont United Methodist Church, 350 11th Ave. $10

Various times. Fri.-Sun., Dec. 8-10, Chautauqua Park, 900 Baseline Road and 9th Street, Boulder. Prices vary.

LONGMONT LIGHTS

Visit with Santa, ice skate at the Pavilion, enjoy free hot cocoa and stay warm by the fire while watching the annual fireworks show and lights that illuminate Roosevelt Community Park at this holiday event in Longmont.

FREE BLUEGRASS JAM

HOLIDAY CONCERT

Get into the holiday spirit with The Longs Peak Chorus as they celebrate the season with a staging of traditional holiday music. Performances take place in Longmont on Friday and Saturday, and guests of all ages are welcome.

WINTERFEST 2023

Get in the holiday spirit at Chautauqua with WinterFest 2023. The anticipated yearly blowout features a tree-lighting ceremony, horse-drawn carriage rides, Santa’s cottage, guided hikes and a ho-ho-whole lot more.

FRI. 12/15 - 9:00PM

JOE MARCINEK BANd FEAT. dAVE WATTS (OF THE MOTET) ANd FRIENdS SAT. 12/16 - 8:00PM

STEPHEN KELLOGG: SIT dOWN & STANd UP TOUR MON. 12/18 - 6:00PM

OPEN MIC W/ STEVE KOPPE TUE. 12/19 - 7:00PM

OPEN MIC OLIVER FRANKLIN, HEATHERLyN, ABBy BROWN, HANNAH SAMANO Purchase Tickets at

RMPtix.com RootsMusicProject.org 4747 Pearl Suite V3A 18

DECEMBER 7, 2023

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BLUE DIME CABARET: FROSTALICIOUS 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, DV8 Distillery, 2480 48th St., Ste E, Boulder. $15

Enjoy burlesque, drag and comedy performances along with a mini fashion show presented by the Blue Dime Cabaret and DV8 Distillery. Be sure to stick around for the afterparty, included with your ticket.

8-10

WINTER MAGIC ARTS EXTRAVAGANZA

5-8 p.m. Fri.-Sun., Dec. 8-10, Wibby Brewing, 209 Emery St., Longmont. Free Support East Boulder County artists at Wibby Brewing with a market featuring one-of-a-kind gifts, ceramics, paintings, jewelry and more. Enjoy food trucks and drinks to fuel your shopping for the holidays.

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LONGMONT CARS AND COFFEE

8-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Einstein Bros.

Bagels, 2311 Clover Basin Drive, Longmont. Free Grab some coffee and join other car enthusiasts to admire some of Boulder County’s most unique automobiles at Longmont Cars and Coffee. The show comes once a month to Longmont and features decades-old vintage cars and their owners, who are happy to chat about the craftsmanship behind their vehicles.

BOULDER WEEKLY

EVENTS

day

Wednes

h

Dec 6t

show timem 9:30p

ay

Saturd

h

Dec 9t

show timme 8:00p

9

9

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway. $15

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9 and noon-4 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 10, Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave. Free

ARTISAN HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIR

Enjoy OZO Coffee and holiday music from Opera on Tap Colorado’s carolers while shopping for unique gifts and crafts from local vendors and artists.

Tickets cover the entry fee, one free drink, and access to the Museum of Boulder and vendors from across Colorado.

JAPANESE FLOWER EXHIBITION

Celebrate the season with a flower show that embraces Japan’s holiday traditions with over 50 ikebana flower creations. Edo Period scrolls with holiday art will be featured, and a flowerarranging lecture and demonstration will be held 2 p.m. Sunday.

Sunday

th

Dec 10

9

METAMORPHOSIS OF MOTHERHOOD

Noon-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Junkyard Social Club, 2525 Frontier Ave., Unit A, Boulder. $48

show timme 8:00p

day

Wednes

th

Dec 13

show timme 8:00p

ay

Saturd

Kristina Cheraneva encourages mothers at all points of their journey to join in on this mask-making workshop to connect to their creative side. This artmaking workshop is designed to help mothers reinvent themselves after experiencing a change in their identity.

th

Dec 16

show timme 8:00p

day

Wednes

th

Dec 20

show timme 8:00p

ay

Thursd

t

Dec 21s

show timme 8:00p

fRIDAY

ND

Dec 22

show timme 8:00p

AY

sATURD

D

Dec 23R

show timme 8:00p

9

HOLIDAY FAMILY FUN

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Lafayette History Museum, 108 East Simpson St. Free The Museum of Food & Culture partners with the Lafayette History Museum to host this holiday event for guests to experience new exhibits and participate in hands-on activities.

Decorate a tea towel with a family recipe or make pomanders to get into the holiday spirit.

BOULDER WEEKLY

9

YELLOW BARN FILM FESTIVAL

11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Yellow Barn Farm, 9417 N. Foothills Highway, Longmont. $15-$18 The Yellow Barn Farm presents its first annual film festival featuring Geoff Marslett’s Quantum Cowboys. The event aims to ignite the community’s relationship to the land and bridge the gap between art and nature.

sUNDAY

TH

Dec 24

11

show timme 8:00p

5:30-7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, Pearl Street Mall, 1303 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

wEDNES

CHANUKAH ON PEARL

The Boulder JCC invites the community to join them at their annual outdoor event featuring a Menorah lighting, Chanukah treats, hot chocolate and more. And don’t miss Chanukah on Ice in Louisville on Dec. 12 for even more holiday fun.

DAY

TH

Dec 27

show timme 8:00p

AY

tHURSD

H

Dec 28T

show timme 8:00p

Alex Jordan In the Bar

Chuck Sitero and Liz Patton In the Bar

Many Mountains In the Bar

Kimberly Morgan York In the Bar

The 2nd Annual Boulder county

$25 + $4

service charge

jingle jam

Ben Hanna In the Bar

Chuck Sitero and Liz pATTON In the Bar

Many Mountains In the Bar

dAVE bOYLAN In the Bar

mATT fLAHERTY In the Bar

AARON MITCHELL In the Bar

bENT bROTHERS In the Bar

DECEMBER 7, 2023

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LIVE MUSIC T HU R S D AY, D E C. 7 CONSIDER THE SOURCE WITH CYCLES. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20

ON THE BILL

Credit: Molly McCormick

TUE S DAY, DE C . 12

BOOGIE T.RIO AND MANIC FOCUS WITH MARVEL YEARS. 9 p.m.

Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $25

APOLLO SUNS. 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $15

BOOT JUICE. 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $15

BLUEBIRD SUPPER CLUB: ANDY THORN’S HIGH COUNTRY HOLIDAY. 6 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $5.

BW PICK OF THE WEEK

SOY CELESTÉ WITH PRETTY.LOUD. AND TO BE ASTRONAUTS. 9 p.m.

Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $12 HEART SHAPED ZOMBIE WITH ORNA, BEGGAR’S UNION AND FOLDED FACE. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4833 Logan St., Denver. $15 CHUU. 7:30 p.m. Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 N. Clarkson St., Denver. $123

FR I D AY, D E C. 8 DEAD FLOYD. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $15 HAMDI WITH DON JAMAL, RIJ B2B REDS, EVELATION. 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20 DELTA SONICS DUO. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free ROLLING HARVEST WITH KATE FARMER. 8:30 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $10 THE DEMOCRACY. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20 FUNK HUNK WITH SHANNON VON KELLY AND DJ KAYBAY. 9 p.m.

Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $10 RADIANT DRIVE WITH COLOR CLINIC AND DAYWISH. 8 p.m. Globe Hall, 4833 Logan St., Denver. $15 GRACE POTTER WITH TRACKSUIT WEDDING FEAT. RYAN CHRYS. 7:30 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40

SAT U RD AY, DE C. 9 TRACE BUNDY’S ACOUSTIC HOLIDAY WITH THE ACCIDENTALS. 7:30 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $26 20

DECEMBER 7, 2023

MUSE JAZZ JAM. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. Free

Join banjo player and singer-songwriter extraordinaire Andy Thorn of local jamgrass heroes Leftover Salmon for a special holiday show at eTown Hall in Boulder on Dec. 12. Presented by the Bluebird Supper Club, this intimate evening will include an optional three-course dinner. Scan the QR code for a BW feature on the artist before you go. See listing for details.

EVANOFF WITH EMINENCE ENSEMBLE AND TLOOP. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20 CHUCK AND LIZ FROM HIGH LONESOME. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free THE GOOD KIND’S HOLIDAY BASH. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $15 CODY QUALLS: CHRISTMAS IN COLORADO. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $30 CONSIDER THE SOURCE WITH MR. SPECIFIC AND SHWARMA. 8 p.m.

Globe Hall, 4833 Logan St., Denver. $15 TCHAMI X MALAA. 9 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $55 OTR WITH CLRBLND. 6 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. $15 VEGGI WITH SISS AND LEVI DOUBLE U. 10 p.m. Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver. $15 JOHN CRAIGIE WITH MADELINE HAWTHORNE. 8 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $30

SUN D AY, D EC . 10 MANY MOUNTAINS. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free THE GAVIN WORLAND BIG BAND. 7:30 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $12 JARHEAD FERTILIZER, PHOBOPHILIC, CROWNOVHORNZ, DEATH POSSESSION. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $17 LISA FINCK WITH MACIE JUNE AND FIAMORE. 4 p.m. Globe Hall, 4833 Logan St., Denver. $12 MONEYBAGG YO. 7 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40 BEA MILLER. 7 p.m. Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St., Denver. $63

THEY ARE GUTTING A BODY OF WATER, FULL BODY 2 WITH THE RED SCARE, AND EMPTY4400.

8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $17 ANDREW MCMAHON IN THE WILDERNESS. 5:30 p.m. Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 N. Clarkson St., Denver. $52 TV GIRL WITH JORDANA. 8 p.m.

Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $65

WE DN E S DAY, DE C . 13 SON LITTLE. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $25 DEAFHEAVEN WITH TOUCHÉ AMORÉ. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Summit Denver, 1902 Blake St. $35. STORY ON P. 13 KIMBERLY MORGAN YORK. 8 p.m.

Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free THE MENZINGERS WITH MICROWAVE, CLOUD NOTHING, AND RODEO BOYS. 7:30 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $35 YVIE ODDLY. 8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $35

M ON DAY, D EC . 11 NOT SO SILENT NIGHT: LOVEJOY WITH COLONY HOUSE, ELLA RED, SETH BEAMER. 6:30 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40

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

BOULDER WEEKLY

DISTRICT COURT, BOULDER COUNTY, COLORADO PO Box 4249, Boulder, CO 80306 1777 6th Street, Boulder, CO 80302 In the Matter of the Petition of: JACOB THOMPSON (name of person seeking to adopt) For the Adoption of a Child Case Number: 23JA30038 Division: M NOTICE OF HEARING To: Jason Robert Marquez Pursuant to §19-5-208, C.R.S., you are hereby notified that the above-named Petitioner(s) has/ have filed in this Court a verified Petition seeking to adopt a child.

An Affidavit of Abandonment has been filed alleging that you have abandoned the child for a period of one year or more and/or have failed without cause to provide reasonable support for the child for one year or more.

You are further notified that an Adoption hearing is set on 01/18/2024 (date), at 3:00 p.m. (time) in the court location identified above.

You are further notified that if you fail to appear for said hearing, the Court may terminate your parental rights and grant the adoption as sought by the Petitioner(s).

DISTRICT COURT, BOULDER COUNTY, COLORADO PO Box 4249, Boulder, CO 80306 1777 6th Street, Boulder, CO 80302 In the Matter of the Petition of: JACOB THOMPSON (name of person seeking to adopt) For the Adoption of a Child Case Number: 23JA30039 Division: M NOTICE OF HEARING To: Jason Robert Marquez Pursuant to §19-5-208, C.R.S., you are hereby notified that the above-named Petitioner(s) has/ have filed in this Court a verified Petition seeking to adopt a child.

An Affidavit of Abandonment has been filed alleging that you have abandoned the child for a period of one year or more and/or have failed without cause to provide reasonable support for the child for one year or more.

You are further notified that an Adoption hearing is set on 01/18/2024 (date), at 3:30 p.m. (time) in the court location identified above.

You are further notified that if you fail to appear for said hearing, the Court may terminate your parental rights and grant the adoption as sought by the Petitioner(s).

ASTROLOGY

SAVAGE LOVE

BY ROB BREZSNY

BY DAN SAVAGE

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): I will cheer you on as you tenderly push yourself to be extra exploratory in the coming weeks. It’s exciting that you are contemplating adventures that might lead you to wild frontiers and half-forbidden zones. Chances are good that you will provoke uncanny inspirations and attract generous lessons. Go higher and deeper and further, dear Aries. Track down secret treasures and lyrical unpredictability. Experiment with the concept of holy rebellion.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): In January, I will tempt you to be a spirited adventurer who undertakes smart risks. I will invite you to consider venturing into unknown territory and expanding the scope of your education. But right now, I advise you to address your precious needs for stability and security. I encourage you to take extra good care of your comfort zone and even add cozy new features to it. Here’s a suggestion: Grab a pen and paper or open a new file on your favorite device, then compose a list of everything you can do to feel exceedingly safe and supported.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) was an American Black leader who advocated a gradual, incremental approach to fighting the effects of racism. Hard work and good education were the cornerstones of his policies. Then there was W. E. B. Dubois (1868–1963). He was an American Black leader who encouraged a more aggressive plan of action. Protest, agitation, pressure and relentless demands for equal rights were core principles in his philosophy. In the coming months, I recommend a blend of these attitudes for you. You’ve got two big jobs: to improve the world you live in and to get all the benefits you need and deserve from it.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): I periodically get a big jolt of feeling how much I don’t know. I am overwhelmed with the knowledge of how meager my understanding of life really is. On the one hand, this is deflating to my ego. On the other hand, it’s wildly refreshing. I feel a liberating rush of relief to recognize that I am so far from being perfect and complete that there’s no need for me to worry about trying to be perfect or complete. I heartily recommend this meditation to you, fellow Cancerian. From an astrological perspective, now is a favorable time to thrive on fertile emptiness.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Have you reached your full height? If there were ever a time during your adult life when you would literally get taller, it might be in the coming weeks. And that’s not the only kind of growth spurt that may occur. Your hair and fingernails may lengthen faster than usual. I wouldn’t be shocked if your breasts or penis got bigger. But even more importantly, I suspect your healthy brain cells will multiply at a brisk pace.

Your ability to understand how the world really works will flourish. You will have an increased flair for thinking creatively.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): I like Virgo author Cheryl Strayed’s thoughts about genuine togetherness. She says, “True intimacy isn’t a cluster fuck or a psychodrama. It isn’t the highest highs and lowest lows. It’s a tiny bit of those things on occasion, with a whole lot of everything else in between. It’s communion and mellow compatibility. It’s friendship and mutual respect.” I also like Virgo author Sam Keen’s views on togetherness. He says, “At the heart of sex is something intrinsically spiritual, the desire for a union so primal it can be called divine.” Let’s make those two perspectives your guideposts in the coming weeks, Virgo.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): According to my interpretation of your astrological prospects, you now have the capacity to accelerate quickly and slow down smoothly; to exult in idealistic visions and hunker down in pragmatic action; to balance exuberant generosity with careful discernment — and vice versa. In general, Libra, you have an extraordinary ability

22

DECEMBER 7, 2023

to shift moods and modes with graceful effectiveness — as well as a finely honed sense of when each mood and mode is exactly right for the situation you’re in. I won’t be surprised if you accomplish well-balanced miracles.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Dear Goddess: Thank you a trillion times for never fulfilling those prayers I sent your way all those years ago. Remember? When I begged and pleaded with you to get me into a sexy love relationship with You Know Who? I am so lucky, so glad, that you rejected my prayers.

Though I didn’t see it then, I now realize that being in an intimate weave with her would have turned out badly for both of us. You were so wise to deny me that misguided quest for “pleasure.”

Now, dear Goddess, I am asking you to perform a similar service for any Scorpio readers who may be beseeching you to provide them with experiences they will ultimately be better off without.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Among our most impressive superpowers is the potency to transform ourselves in alignment with our conscious intentions. For example, suppose you feel awkward because you made an insensitive comment to a friend. In that case, you can take action to assuage any hurt feelings you caused and thereby dissolve your awkwardness. Or let’s say you no longer want to be closely connected to people who believe their freedom is more important than everyone else’s freedom. With a clear vision and a bolt of willpower, you can do what it takes to create that shift. These are acts of true magic — as wizardly as any occult ritual. I believe you will have extra access to this superpower in the coming weeks.

Homework: Identify three situations or feelings you will use your magic to change.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): The eminent Capricorn philosopher William James (1842–1910) is referred to as the “Father of American Psychology.” He was a brilliant thinker who excelled in the arts of logic and reason. Yet he had a fundamental understanding that reason and logic were not the only valid kinds of intelligence. He wrote, “Rational consciousness is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different.” This quote appears in his book The Varieties of Religious Experience. In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to investigate those other types of consciousness in the coming months.

You don’t need drugs to do so. Simply state your intention that you want to. Other spurs: dreamwork, soulful sex, dancing, meditation, nature walks, deep conversations.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): Are people sometimes jealous or judgmental toward you for being so adept at multitasking?

Are you weary of dawdlers urging you not to move, talk and mutate so quickly? Do you fantasize about having more cohorts who could join you in your darting, daring leaps of logic? If you answered yes to these questions, I expect you will soon experience an enjoyable pivot. Your quick-change skills will be appreciated and rewarded more than usual. You will thrive while invoking the spiritual power of unpredictability.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Romantic relationships take work if you want them to remain vigorous and authentic. So do friendships. The factors that brought you together in the first place may not be enough to keep you bonded forever. Both of you change and grow, and there’s no guarantee your souls will continue to love being interwoven. If disappointment creeps into your alliance, it’s usually wise to address the issues head-on as you try to reconfigure your connection. It’s not always feasible or desirable, though. I still feel sad about the friend I banished when I discovered he was racist and had hidden it from me. I hope these ruminations inspire you to give your friendships a lot of quality attention in 2024. It will be an excellent time to lift the best ones up to a higher octave.

My friend needs help. He’s an adorable 30-year-old gay boy who’s a top, but his mannerisms, height, demeanor and exceptionally cute butt suggest otherwise.

Here’s the issue: He’s so strident about monogamy that it turns most men off, which is a shame. Most gay/ bi men expect some degree of openness. Additionally, he thinks relationships that start out as hookups or something slightly sleazier are suspect, whereas I and the most significant men in my life disagree.

Besides occasionally offering a nudge, is there anything I can do for him? He truly is a catch, and I don’t like seeing him glum. He’s broken up with several guys who can’t commit to total monogamy forever — all while still being flirty with me, a guy who has multiple partners. (Nothing would work out between us, as we’re both tops.)

I know that my life is enhanced dramatically by my boyfriends, and I just want him to have what I have instead of going to bed alone almost every night. How can I help him?

— Boy Explaining One Possible Erotic Niche Does he want to be helped, BEOPEN? I’ve known some gay couples who met cute, e.g., their straight besties conspired to introduce them, they reached for the same sweater on a sale rack, they took a class together at college, etc. But most gay couples I’ve known met sleazy, e.g., they swapped hole pics on Grindr by way of introduction, they were chained to the same rack in a sex dungeon in Berlin, they met sucking dick in a cruisy toilet at college, etc. I’m going to guess that your friend, having been out and for at least a decade, has met enough gay couples to know that ruling out guys he meets under sleazy circumstances — he doesn’t go to bed alone every night — is an act of

romantic self-sabotage. Same goes for browbeating men who might be willing to consider monogamy (at least at the start, at least for him) by insisting their commitment to monogamy on principle before he’ll consider dating them.

I’m guessing this problem — your hot friend’s inability to find a boyfriend — isn’t a problem for him. Some people set unrealistic expectations/conditions at the start of their dating lives, they’re alone as a result, and they eventually adjust their expectations/ conditions. But not everyone who sets unrealistic expectations/conditions is unhappy about being alone — some prefer to be alone — but they would rather be seen as pitiable than damaged or emotionally stunted. (For the record: I don’t think people who prefer to be single are damaged or emotionally stunted.) They never adjust their expectations/conditions because they’re only pretending to be unhappy about still being single.

Seeing as there are guys out there who want monogamy as badly as your friend (my hunch) is pretending he does, BEOPEN, the fact that he hasn’t managed to locate even one over the last decade is solid evidence he isn’t seriously looking. Which means your friend’s insistence on monogamy isn’t an obstacle he faces, but rather a barricade he built.

Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love.

Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love!

BOULDER WEEKLY

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WHO NEEDS A SWAN SONG? ‘The Boy and the Heron’ soars

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G

olden Era Hollywood screenwriter Frank S. Nugent once described story as a disturbance of the status quo: “Something happens to upset it; the disturbance is the story; and the story ends when another status quo is attained.”

The Boy and the Heron from master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is Nugent’s aphorism writ large. Here is a story that opens by plunging the viewer into a world of exuberant energy, astounding artistry and jawdropping creativity, only to pause briefly two hours later before the protagonist exits the frame and the credits roll. In between are worlds few could conceive of, and fewer still could visualize.

Much has been written of Miyazaki’s on-again, off-again retirement. By some counts, he has either retired or threatened to retire eight times. None of them have stuck.

Lucky us. And though elements of The Boy and the Heron — the 82-year-old filmmaker’s alleged final film — feel like familiar territory, there are still moments (like the movie’s opening) that find the dedicated handdrawn animator discovering new ways to express emotional truths.

That opening, set three years into World War II, finds the boy, Mahito (voiced by Soma Santoki in the Japanese version; Christian Bale in the English dub), losing his mother in

a hospital fire. The scene plays like an impressionistic nightmare full of wispy lines, smoky figures and fluid bodies. Is this the emotional experience of Mahito in the moment or how the memory haunts him years later?

No time for that now: Mahito’s father just remarried — his sister-in-law — and they have a baby on the way. So Mahito is scooped out of Tokyo and sent to the country to live with his new mother at Grey Heron Mansion.

The mansion’s caretakers — comical and grotesque characters that look like they wandered out of, well, a Miyazaki movie — provide comic relief before revealing themselves to be much more. Nearby is an ancient tower that is easy to see but hard to get to. Mahito wants to know what secrets it holds. He also would like to know why that heron keeps pestering him.

Miyazaki and his team are setting the table for the wonders to come: an array of dream worlds and alternate realities populated by baffling creations, adorable spirits, militant parakeets, headstrong women, earnest girls and an eternal spirit ready to die.

It’s as enchanting as it is haunting.

ON SCREEN:

The Boy and the Heron opens in theaters Dec. 8.

Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron plunges the viewer into a world of exuberant energy, astounding artistry and jaw-dropping creativity. Courtesy: Studio Ghibli

BOULDER WEEKLY

DECEMBER 7, 2023

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NIBBLES

DISCOVERING COCHINITA PIBIL Lafayette’s Off Campus Cafe dishes hard-to-find Yucatecan tastes — but only on the weekend

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

M

onday through Friday, Lafayette’s Off Campus Cafe is a great place to wake up with pancakes, eggs and well-made lattes. A lunch line forms early for sandwiches, soup and salad at this classic office park eatery tucked away near Intermountain Health Good Samaritan Hospital.

On the weekend, the menu expands.

Foodies are discovering the restaurant’s blackboard roster of rare regional Mexican dishes ranging from panuchos and salbute to cochinita pibil and crimson-hued shrimp with a side of fiery habanero sauce.

Boulder County’s many Mexican restaurants offer specialties from Juárez to Baja and Oaxaca, but the Off Campus Cafe serves perhaps the least known regional cuisine of Mexico. The relatively isolated Yucatan region has a strong Mayan culture and culinary delights unique to the area. It’s the food that Mariano and Norma Rodriguez grew up

on there and fed their son, Santiago. As soon as the family bought the Off Campus Cafe about a year ago, they began offering the homestyle dishes that Norma cooks on Saturdays and Sundays.

Mariano happily introduces newbies to the nuances of Yucatecan fare. Panuchos and salbutes are almost always available, each made with fresh masa (cornmeal) and manteca (lard). For panuchos, a freshly fried tortilla is stuffed with refried black beans and lightly fried again until crispy and topped with pork, pickled red onion and avocado.

Salbutes have the toppings but not the bean filling.

Cochinita pibil is the signature Yucatecan contribution to the wonderful world of pulled pork pleasure. Mariano says the pork shoulder is coated in a distinctively red paste made from ground achiote (annatto seed), garlic,

Above left: Mariano, Norma and Santiago Rodriguez. Above right: Yucatan-style shrimp; Left: Cochinita pibil torta and huevos rancheros.

Credit: John Lehndorff

chile and citrus juice before roasting for 12 hours.

The tender, crave-worthy meat is served simply in freshly made corn tortillas or in a torta topped with pickled red onion.

New to the eatery’s secret menu is Yucatecan shrimp. Marinated with achiote, sauteed in garlic and butter and dished with cucumber slices and a

TASTE OF THE WEEK: DANNON’S DREAMY COFFEE

One can reasonably ask: What sort of person buys four coffee yogurts and tastes them side by side? I was hooked on the flavor from the instant coffee (with creamer and sugar) and milky iced coffee I started drinking as a teenager, and from Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream.

For decades, the only coffee yogurt available was the seldom-seen treat from Dannon. Choices have expanded in recent years, thanks to Starbucks which has hooked America on that magical fusion of cream, sugar and caffeination.

The next-gen coffee-flavored yogurts are far from the same, as I learned when I tasted them side by side. Look at the small container of the latest entry, Haagen-Dazs Coffee, and you will not find the word “yogurt.” This is crème fraiche, a cultured cream cousin to sour cream. Haagen-Dazs boasts a rich, dark coffee flavor and significant sweetness. It has a texture so rich and dense you could use it as cookie dip or cake filling.

My go-to for a while, Chobani Coffee Greek Yogurt, is also thick and creamy, but less intense than Haagen-Dazs when it comes to creaminess, coffee flavor and sweetness.

Icelandic Provisions Extra Creamy Cold Brew Coffee Skyr is a creamy yogurt delight with a silkiness similar to Colorado-made Noosa Yogurt, which offers a hard-to-find coffee flavor.

Finally, I tasted Dannon Lowfat Coffee Yogurt. I have to admit that my old familiar favorite suffers by direct comparison: Much less creamy, less intense coffee flavor and sweetness. That said, Dannon remains a perfect gateway coffee cultured milk product.

BOULDER WEEKLY

mound of steamed rice, the plump shell-on on shrimp are nearly irresistible.

The Off Campus Cafe’s large regular menu also holds some surprises. The breakfast burrito is a major meat-filled meal smothered in a satisfying green chile sauce.

Huevos rancheros appear on almost every menu in town, but this version is a little different. It’s more like nachos or chilaquiles with corn chips cooked in pork green chili and crowned with chorizo, avocado, pico de gallo, cheese, refried black beans and eggs.

According to Mariano, other Yucatan dishes will make their way onto the menu, but says all are labor-intensive, scratch-made specialties that stretch the resources of the small family staff.

These can include roasted sucking pig, banana leaf-wrapped tamales, a hamfilled sweet flaky pastry as well as kibis, a remarkable fried meat and grain street food influenced by Lebanese immigrants.

If you’re lucky, your discoveries the weekend you eat at the Off Campus Cafe may include ayote en miel, a modest dessert of pumpkin or yam slowsimmered in a syrup lightly spiced with cinnamon.

DECEMBER 7, 2023

25

NIBBLES LOCAL FOOD NEWS: 2024 DINING ATTRACTIONS

Born in Longmont as a food cart, Denver’s Sắp Sửa Vietnamese eatery is the only Colorado spot included in Esquire’s 2023 list of the fifty Best New Restaurants in America.

Coming soon: Ruzo Coffee, 3980 Broadway, former site of Cilantro Mexican Restaurant. Teocalli Cocina — with locations in Lafayette and Arvada — will open a third spot in a historic building at 460 Main St. in Longmont. The folks behind T/Aco and River and Woods will open a new eatery in Niwot’s historic Bader House, which formerly housed part of Colterra restaurant.

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WORDS TO CHEW ON: FOOD AND FAITH

“Food to a large extent is what holds a society together and eating is closely linked to deep spiritual experiences.” – From Consuming Passions’: The Anthropology of Eating by Peter Farb and George Armelagos.

John Lehndorff hosts Kitchen Table Talk with Chef Dan Asher on KGNU. Comments: nibbles@boulderweekly.com

BOULDER WEEKLY

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BIG THANKS Chef Tajahi Cooke’s Madsgiving won’t stop growing

BY COLIN WRENN

C

hef Tajahi Cooke connects.

He connects diners to the flavors of his native Jamaica with an ongoing series of pop-up dinners and collaborative meals. He connects home cooks to generations past with Ms. Betty’s Cooking, a curry powder business that pays tribute to his grandmother. Within the Colorado dining community, he connects a wide swathe of producers, chefs and organizations. And two weeks ago, he connected 13,036 individuals in the Denver Metro area with a freshly prepared Thanksgiving meal.

This was the fifth year for Ms. Betty’s Madsgiving Harvest, a project he and his wife Danielle had slowly been build-

ing toward for multiple seasons ahead of its 2018 debut.

“Me and Danielle had just been feeding our friends, individuals on our floors,” says Cooke. But in 2018, he teamed with Mean Street Worship Center to expand the project to pass out meals to the visibly hungry across downtown Denver. That year saw the production and distribution of 515 sack lunch-style hot meals, complete with the traditional holiday fixings.

Cooke says he was moved by the increasingly dire conditions he saw developing across town.

“The more we kept driving around the city, it was rough,” he says. “There were more and more tents popping up. So I

asked Danielle if this Madsgiving idea was crazy, and she said no.”

The first year was largely grassroots, with Tajahi and Danielle doing the brunt of the cooking and delivering themselves. “We could be driving to a location to drop off some meals, and if we saw someone in need, we’d pass them one out,” he says.

This year’s event took over 300 volunteers, with nearly half of them returning after contributing to last year’s event. “If it wasn’t for the community, none of this shit would have gotten done,” Cooke says.

After his mom, Sandra Shelley Williams, passed away unexpectedly earlier in 2023, “I didn’t think Thanksgiving was going to happen,” he says.

But then he and Danielle found themselves driving around downtown again, realizing that economic conditions had only grown worse in the few short years since they started the project.

“It was hard not to pay attention to what was going on, even though I was hurting,” says Cooke. “As much as I wanted to hide, I couldn’t hide.”

Cooke spent the formative years of his childhood in Kingston, Jamaica, where he says being on the receiving end of some charity from the Salvation Army helped shape his current penchant

for community organization and activism. After moving stateside, Cooke spent a year in the Big Apple before moving to Antioch, California, where he would finish out his high school years.

Since the age of 15, he had been following the footsteps of his father, Albert “Papa Pretty” Cooke, who had spent a good chunk of his career as tour manager for reggae acts like Michael Franti and Spearhead, and both Ziggy and Damian Marley. Previously an assistant, by the time Cooke was 18, he was working as the road manager for Morgan Heritage. It was a Morgan Heritage tour that first brought him to Colorado.

Cooke’s culinary knack dates back to his youth, where he says a lot of his education came from learning to feed himself at home. “Shit man, I had to eat,” he says, grinning. He pursued his career in professional kitchens after moving to Denver, beginning at Mesa Verde Bar & Grill at the Denver International Airport and later working at The Kitchen and The Kitchen Next Door, Bacon Social House and Block and Larder.

Madsgiving’s meteoric evolution has been all tenacity and the unbreakable will of a growing network of folks who really care and know how to show their kindness through food. It’s been a lot of cold-calling on Cooke’s part.

Fortunately, lots of folks answered.

“If I call you and you don’t answer on the second day, I’m showing up at your door on the third,” he says. “Madsgiving is no longer about just us. It’s about everybody.”

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WEED BETWEEN THE LINES

CANNABIS IN THE HIGH COURT U.S. Supreme Court weighs definition of marijuana

BY WILL BRENDZA

P

olice raided the Pennsylvania home of Justin Rashaad Brown in November 2016. Upon searching his residence, they found cocaine, cash and a firearm. He was arrested. At the time, Brown was already a convicted felon with five prior drug offenses — one for delivering cocaine and four for possessing marijuana with intent to deliver.

Those prior offenses and the presence of the gun changed things for Brown. The 10-year maximum he would have otherwise faced was bumped to a 15-year minimum because of a federal law known as the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). In July 2019, Brown pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In 2018, after his arrest and before his sentencing, another law was passed that has given Brown legal grounds to challenge the ACCA enhancement. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Improvement Act — commonly called the 2018 Farm Bill — changed the federal definition of marijuana, removing hemp from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Brown’s lawyer, Jeffery Green, argues that the act of decriminalization invali-

BOULDER WEEKLY

dated four of Brown’s five prior state drug offenses, negating the basis for his federal ACCA enhancement.

The U.S. Supreme Court rarely weighs in on cannabis-related cases.

But Brown v. U.S.A. highlights a gap being created as federal and state laws surrounding cannabis change and drift apart.

Green made his oral arguments on Nov. 27.

Boulder Weekly reached out to Green for comment, but he declined.

The two pieces of federal legislation at the core of Brown v.

U.S.A. are separated by 34 years. The ACCA was passed in 1984, and it mandates that anyone with three prior violent felonies or serious drug offenses — like Brown — caught in possession of a firearm should receive an extra five-year minimum sentence on top of the 10-year sentence convicted felons automatically receive when found in possession of a firearm.

The 2018 Farm Bill has nothing to do with criminal sentences. It’s an agricul-

tural bill meant to support American farmers with government programs, insurance and conservation assistance.

But according to Green, the section lawmakers included on hemp fundamentally changes Brown’s case.

Among many other things, the Farm Bill narrowed the legal definition of “marijuana” within the CSA to exclude any plant containing less than .3% THC by dry weight and any product derived from it.

The eventual ruling in Brown v.

U.S.A. could affect many other criminal defendants in the American prison sys-

tem. Any felon facing mandatory minimum sentences for gun possession, resulting from past drug crimes related to cannabis, could have their case reexamined.

Green argues that because the 2018 Farm Bill decriminalized the substance Brown was convicted for possession of, he should be disqualified

from the Federal ACCA enhancement applied to his sentence in 2019. In his opening arguments, Green told the justices that the sentencing court should use the schedules that are current at the time of sentencing, not those that were in place at the time of the original drug offenses.

“The goal of the ACCA is to incapacitate only the most serious offenders,” Green told the Court. “To do otherwise, as the government suggests, would be to ignore entirely Congress’s choice to change those drug schedules with the 2018 Farm Bill.”

Justice Samuel Alito, the court’s most conservative member, expressed skepticism about Green’s arguments. Justice Neil Gorsuch, another conservative member of the court, seemed open to the line of reasoning behind Brown’s case.

More liberal justices like Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor seemed to agree with Green, that the courts should only consider drug laws at the time of the firearm possession conviction — not those in place at the time of arrest.

“This Court has said that the ordinary practice is to apply current law, including at sentencing,” Green said. “There’s no reason to deviate from that ordinary practice here.”

DECEMBER 7, 2023

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