Boulder Weekly 9.3.2020

FREE

Ever y

Thursday

For

26

Ye a r s

/

w w w. b o u l d e r w e e k l y. c o m

/

September

3-9,

2020

11

news:

Lawsuit seeks to reintroduce the Great Bear in the San Juan Mountains by Will Brendza

Eatery & Marketplace Boulder, Colorado

17

lab notes: Tracking wildfire smoke by Travis Metcalfe

buzz:

19

events:

23

heavy rotation:

25

Clay Rose talks new Gasoline Lollipops album by Dave Kirby

Longmont Chalk Art Festival, Chautauqua goes virtual, live comedy at The Dairy, and more to do when there’s ‘nothing’ to do... by Boulder Weekly Staff

Two new tracks from local artists, plus live and livestreaming concerts by Caitlin Rockett

feast:

Slow Money’s Woody Tasch on what the pandemic has taught us about funding and supporting local ag by Matt Cortina

35

FOR SUPPORTING OUR MISSION

FIRST PLACE: Best Gluten Free Restaurant SECOND PLACE: Best Organic Restaurant THIRD PLACE: Best Vegetarian Restaurant

departments 7 Guest column: Building coalition among racial minorities 8 Letters: Signed, sealed, delivered, your views 15 News: City of Boulder continues homeless sweeps; Domestic violence on the rise; Oil and gas in national forests? 27 Astrology: by Rob Brezsny 28 Film: Disney’s live-action ‘Mulan’ leaves a lot to be desired 29 Savage Love: Fantasy figures 31 Food/Drink: What to try this week along the Front Range 33 Beer: Boulder County breweries feel the churn 37 Weed Between the Lines: Leaf411, Colorado cannabis hotline, puts trained clinical nurses in your pocket to answer those burning questions BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

THANK YOU

I

FRESHTHYMES.COM EATERY 303 955 7988 2500 30TH ST. #101, BOULDER, CO MARKETPLACE 720 484 5969 2690 28TH ST., BOULDER, CO

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

3

[

]

AUTHENTIC JAPANESE CUISINE

Vote us

TRUSTED FOR OVER 37 YEARS

Best Seafood

In Boulder East County 2770 Arapahoe Rd #112, Lafayette, CO 720-630-8053 • www.eatreelfish.com

VOTE FOR US! 103 N. Public Rd., Lafayette, CO 303.284.6597 www.teocallicocina.com

FOOD Appetizers/Tapas Asian Fusion Bagel Bakery BBQ Breakfast/Brunch Burger Business Lunch Catering Chinese Restaurant Donuts Fine Dining RestauLongmont rant Food Truck Gluten-Free Menu Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt Indian/Nepali Restaurant Italian Restaurant Japanese Restaurant Kid-Friendly Restaurant Lyons Restaurant Mexican Restaurant New Restaurant Niwot Restaurant

Overall Restaurant Pancake/Waffle Pizza Place to eat outdoors Place to go on a first date Restaurant Dessert Restaurant Service Sandwich Seafood Sushi Restaurant Take-out Thai Restaurant Veggie Burger colorado Wings DRINKS Bar Beer selection wyattswetgoods.com Cidery Cocktails Coffee House Coffee Roaster Craft Brewery Distillery Happy Hour Latte/Mocha Margarita Teahouse

Wine Selectionentertainment and CANNABIS Bargains at a dispensary Budtender CBD Products Edibles Flower Medical Marijuana Dispensary Recreational Marijuana Dispensary Selection at a dispensary Wax HOME & GARDEN Carpet/Flooring Electrician Florist Furniture Store Heating, Venting, and Air Conditioning Home Builder/Contractor Home Finishing Home Repair/Handyman Hydroponic Store Kitchen Supply Store Landscaper Mattress Store Nursery/Garden Center Painter Pest Control

P O H S E P I P 9/1! T S E B • Starting

Soulderweekly.com VOTEwwU w.b

341 MAIN ST. • LONGMONT, CO • 303-827-3181 • LIKE US!

4

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Vote For Us! Plumber Golf Course Roofing Contractor Gym/Fitness Center ENTERTAINMENT & CULTURE Hair Salon Art Gallery Hospital Bank/Financial Institution Lasik Services Festival/Event Martial Arts Live Jazz Venue Massage Museum Medical Doctor Music Venue Nail Salon Non-Profit Orthodontist Open Mic Physical TheraPlace to Dance pist Place to Play Pool Pilates Studio Place to Wi-Fi Tanning Salon Private School Urgent Care Public School (K-8) Center Public School (9-12) Veterinary Care OUTWORLDBREWING.COM Sports Bar Yoga Studio 1725 Vista View Dr. FITNESS & RETAIL Longmont HEALTH Auto Dealer - New Acupuncture Clinic Auto Dealer - Used Barber Shop Auto Service/Repair Chiropractor Bicycle Shop Climbing/Parkour Gym Bookstore Dance Studio Car Wash Day Spa Clothing Store - Children’s Dental Care Clothing Store - Men’s

Vote Us

Best Brewery!

PLEASE VOTE FOR US! 728 Main Street • Louisville • 720.484.6825 • www.SingingCookStore.com

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

I

Clothing Store - Used Clothing Store - Women’s Business Owned/Led by Female CEO Computer Repair Dry Cleaner Farm Gift Store Grocery Store Hardware Store Hotel Independent Business Jewelry Store Liquor Store Music Store Natural Foods Store New Business Optical Store Pet Store Real Estate Group Shoe Store Shopping Center Stereo/Electronics Storage Facility Tattoo/Piercing Parlor Tire Shop Tobacco/Pipe Shop *List of categories Toy Store

Longmont’s

INDOOR FLEA MARKET

VOTE US BEST FURNITURE/ BEST DECOR

subject to change.

VOTE US BEST OF BOULDER EAST COUNTY 1381 Forest Park Cir, Lafayette, CO 80026 • 95abistroandsushi.com

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

5

Publisher, Fran Zankowski Editor, Matt Cortina Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Senior Editor, Angela K. Evans Arts and Culture Editor, Caitlin Rockett Special Editions Editor, Michael J. Casey Adventure Editor, Emma Athena Contributing Writers, Peter Alexander, Dave Anderson, Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Sarah Haas, Jim Hightower, Dave Kirby, John Lehndorff, Rico Moore, Amanda Moutinho, Leland Rucker, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Ryan Syrek, Christi Turner, Betsy Welch, Tom Winter, Gary Zeidner SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Sami Wainscott Advertising Coordinator, Corey Basciano Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman Graphic Designer, Daisy Bauer CIRCULATION TEAM Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer

September 3, 2020 Volume XXVIII, Number 3 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-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2020 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.

6

I

We don’t know who needs to hear this…

trap, try changing your perspective by taking the other side of the argument.” “Some people have an emotional reaction to a piece of news and think they should share it,” Dozier says. “But it’s important to know that the people who create disinformation are designing it to do just that — trigger an emotional reaction. So wait and ask questions about the content. Who shared it or created it? Why was this shared? Do some investigating.” “The algorithms used by social media and news aggregator sites are designed to make sure we see stories geared to our interests,” Dozier says. “This makes it harder to identify if a story is real or fake, and who created it. Instead of following a link from the outlet that shows up on your social media, go online and head straight to the source. Inspect the poster’s profile and their post history. See if the poster has affiliations that are in line with spreading a certain point of view.” “Fake news/disinformation often uses old images,” Dozier says. “With a reverse image search, you can search for previous instances of an image that appears online and to find if the image used is from a different story. You can also reverse image search the profile picture to see if that picture or similar photos are being used on other accounts.”

…but let’s talk about fake news for a minute. The president is now regularly floating conspiracy theories about Joe Biden, and scattered gatherings in Boulder County indicate at least some local people are on board with that batshittery. QAnon-friendly candidates have won primaries across the country, and overall, it seems like truth has become subjective. But David Dozier, a professor emeritus in the School of Journalism & Media Studies at San Diego State University and author of The California Killing Field, thinks we still have the capacity, at least, to sort through fact and fiction. “We’ve never been more polarized as a country, and fake news is dividing us further,” Dozier says. “It’s become a phenomenon, but people still have the power to sort the true from the false.” Here are Dozier’s tips for sorting through misinformation. “Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum,” Dozier says, “people lend more credence to information that reinforces what they already believe. To counteract the confirmation bias SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Fighting racism: Building coalition among racial minorities by Rezwan Masud and Haider Khan

T

he protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by four Minneapolis police officers rightfully reflected waves of anger and activism in the United States and beyond. The atrocious incident in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23, where a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, an unarmed African American man, seven times in front of his kids, proves that the heartbreaking assertion of “I can’t breathe, officer!” was not just the plea of Floyd to survive. These words also symbolize historical demands of black people to be treated fairly and equally in the U.S. In fact, these demands for equal rights extend beyond the U.S. as well. During the Algerian revolution, Franz Fanon also referred to this suffocation in his book Toward the African Revolution: “We revolt simply because, for a variety of reasons, we can no longer breathe.” In the recent protests, there have been widespread calls for systemic and structural changes. Cornel West saw signs of hope in a broad coalition of protests in recent times. The theme that being black should not itself be a death sentence echoed in different parts of the world. We have seen that different communities of color, including white allies, participated spontaneously in the protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. However, in many other communities of color, there is a lack of consciousness about the historical and systemic injustice against black people. The recent incidents of discrimination against black people have pointed out an important but often ignored aspect: questionable attitudes toward black people among other communities of color. The fact that of the four police officers involved in Floyd’s murder one was an Asian American, led to some introspective discussions of a complex dynamics of Asian Americans vis-à-vis black people. Of course, the incident should not lead to a generalized conclusion that all Asian Americans are anti-black or that they do not face discrimination themselves. Especially after BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

the Trump administration’s rhetoric of calling the coronavirus “China virus,” different types of racist incidents have taken place against Asian Americans. Likewise, there is an urge inside the

Hispanic community to confront racial stereotypes. There is a growing call for discussion among South Asians as well to tackle their own anti-blackness. With the rising xenophobic atmosphere against immigrants and Islamophobic incidents, Hispanic and South Asian communities are also subject to racial slurs and attacks. That being said, it cannot be denied that there is a problem of anti-blackness within these communities. It may be

uncomfortable for many to admit but being judged by the color of the skin happens in many parts of the world. A darker shade of skin can decrease one’s likelihood of getting married or having a good job in many countries. Recent discussions of commercial products to whiten the skin and colorism within Bollywood is a glaring example of that. One essential step toward building see GUEST COLUMN Page 8

Bilingual?

Get a Professional Medical Interpreting Certificate! CAN WE SAVE YOUR SEAT?

Work Remotely/On-Site: Locally - Nationally. Upgrade your life with options!

WE OFFER THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY!

Bridging The Gap, by the Cross Cultural Health Care Program, recognized as the “Gold Standard” in medical interpreting since 1992 is the most requested certificate and good for a life. Let it open doors for you! Investment in this course prepares one to succeed in passing both the newly required Certified Medical Interpreter exam and to thrive in daily practice as a fully prepared professional and medical interpreter. Instructor: Carolina Weaver RN, BSN Psychiatric Nurse Specialist

(underline dates are on-site, the rest online)

Take the Best & Prep for the Natl Exam: (COVID Special) *Last Class of 2020:

(Textbook, glossary, certificate included, snacks for 64 hr. class) *Early bird special $660, regular priced $760, if you sign up by 9/1.

Email: Educenter@oneworldtranslation.com Call: 303-485-5200 I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

7

GUEST COLUMN from Page 7

progressive coalitions would be to understand the plight of black people in historical context. Data show that black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by the police than white men in the U.S. More than eight in 10 black adults view that they are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Elijah McClain are not exceptions, they are the latest additions in the list of black people who have been murdered by the state. Studies have shown that inequality is not color-blind. Black people are discriminated against in accessing equal opportunities for education, health and jobs. Consequently, coronavirus has also hit black people harder in a lot of U.S. states. Data shows that on average the mortality rate among black people is 2.4 times higher than that of white people in the U.S. One positive aspect of recent times is that young people from other communities of color are increasingly showing signs of solidarity by taking part in protests for the Black Lives Matter movement in different ways. Young Asian Americans are calling for change, while some South Asian groups have also taken active stance in recent times. To make this more sustainable, every conscious individual should make active efforts to bridge any existing gap between themselves and the black community. Rights that the immigrant communities enjoy today are due to the advances made by the civil rights movement spearheaded by black political activists in the 1960s. A multiracial, multiethnic movement from below can make the progress truly feasible. There is a lack of consciousness about the history of black people in the current education curriculum. One way to redress the situation is that all schools, colleges and universities should offer courses on history of racism emphasizing the plight of black people in their core curriculum. This will help fight anti-blackness in other communities and help remove racial stereotypes. If Germany and South Africa can address their histories of holocaust and apartheid in their education system, the U.S. can follow their examples. Academic departments and educators should make active efforts to incorporate work of African American writers while reviewing the topics of national history, the legal and criminal justice system, and policing-related

studies in their course design. Black people have voice, but often institutions choose not to hear. Christina Sharpe has brilliantly demonstrated in her book On Blackness and Being about how black people have been denied agency throughout history and how violence against black people cannot be detached from being black. Saidiya Hartman showed in her book Scenes of Subjection that black people could never taste freedom in the U.S. Changing anti-black attitudes within other minority communities can begin with their leaders’ organizing public awareness campaigns to get rid of the stigma associated with darker skin color. International students’ associations on different campuses can arrange dialogues and organize activities with black students’ groups. Different solidarity groups can increase their visible support for black people through real life and social media campaigns throughout the year and not just during Black History Month. More deeply, there needs to be honest soul-searching as to why the current national and global structures do not speak for black people. Achile Mbembe argues in his book Necropolitics that liberal democracy and racism have actually been compatible in the American context. Neoliberal capitalist policies aggravated the plights of black people in many ways. Academics and policymakers should look for ways to redress the structural discrimination against black communities. These suggestions are not exhaustive, but they can be a stepping-stone for building broader coalition of solidarity to address racism in the U.S. and elsewhere. No nation can progress by putting its minorities in the back seat. Other communities of color, while fighting their own battles, need to address these biases and build solidarity with all oppressed groups. Echoing Langston Hughes, we dream of the day when every black person in the country will be able to sing: “I, too, am America.” Rezwan Masud is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at CU-Boulder. Reach him at more6600@ colorado.edu. Haider Khan is a University Distinguished Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. Reach him at haider.khan@du. edu. This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

8

Quantum leap needed Historically and culturally, the U.S. is a nation sustained by economic exploitation, violence and white supremacy, all conducted under a veil of piety and personal freedom. In essence, the Democratic 2020 platform challenges America to make a quantum leap away from this core of its selfacclaimed, God-given “Manifest Destiny.” The holocaust inflicted on native communities, the servitude of black slaves, the embrace of a catch-ascatch-can violence and subjugation of human and natural resources, and acceptance of a grossly disparate division of privilege, wealth and power can no longer be swept under the rug of political convenience. The response of Donald Trump’s MAGA campaign to those pointing to the ever-continuing inequities of justice, wealth and health care is, “It is what it is, and look how well we as a nation are faring.” By “we” he means the wealthy elite who believe fervently that white cultural and racial superiority is the backbone of America’s “greatness.” His stance on closing the borders to immigration and bringing home jobs lost to cheaper labor overseas stirs the xenophobia of white, working-class America. That this and tariffs on foreign goods will ultimately lead to higher consumer prices is swept away by the promise of restored jobs. The inconvenience to corporations profiting from global trade is offset by lowered taxes. Proposals for a more just and equitable ethos for American life are politically cast as leading to crime and chaos in I

the streets and a slippery slope into socialism and loss of the revered freedom of capitalist exploitation. Any suggestion of enacting communal values is an anathema to the world of high finance. Robert Porath/Boulder

Return wolves to Colorado With a vote coming up this fall to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our own land grant college, Colorado State University, has made available a bunch of information on what it might mean to live with wolves in the state once more. Anyone wanting to dive deeper into wolf issues should search “Colorado State CHCC” in their browser. Spend some time traversing the well-researched and documented FAQs and fact sheets available in the People and Predator Series from the scientists at CSU. I’ll bet you come away feeling more prepared to make an informed vote this fall. I hope you give time to research and think about the importance of wolves to our ecosystems. Wolves will not threaten Colorado’s livestock industry, nor Colorado’s big game hunting industry. Instead, wolves will help bring back a balance to our ecosystem’s health and integrity. As Coloradans, we should be responsible for how much we impact our environment and those living in it. That we owe it to future generations to maintain the health of Colorado by keeping wildlife, like wolves, alive. Mina Kabiri/Boulder BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Shop in-store or online with free delivery or curbside pickup

Visit comfortableshoes.com for updated hours and Coronavirus Safety protocols

Thank you, Colorado! Our local business has received so much community support since we reopened for regular care. We love seeing and hearing from all of you during our new normal. Dr. Terri Oneby 303-443-4545

303.449.0011 BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Let’s keep Boulder healthy and look forward to better days.

Dr. Lowell Steinberg 303-447-8470

bouldervisioncenter.com I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

9

We deliver in Boulder

Freshest NY Style Pizza BROOKLYN PIZZA RELIEF FUND Donate today to help your favorite Pizza Shop. Thank you to our loyal customers, family and friends for your support. Donate at brooklynpizzaboulder.com

Order On-line for Delivery or Pick Up at

BrooklynPizzaBoulder.com

Make Colorado grizzly again

Lawsuit seeks to reintroduce the Great Bear in the San Juan Mountains

by Will Brendza THE LAST TIME anyone saw a grizzly in Colorado was 1979, but a new effort to reintroduce the bears to the Centennial State is underway.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

A

fter almost a decade of federally funded bounty programs, grizzly bears were officially declared “extirpated” in Colorado in 1951. So when Ed Wiseman was attacked and mauled by a grizzly in 1979 in the San Juan Wilderness in southwestern Colorado, people were stunned — not least, Wiseman himself. A bow hunting outfitter at the time, Wiseman was out stalking elk. He was walking through the woods when he says he heard a rustle and looked up to witness a 400-pound, snarling grizzly bear, 30 yards away and bearing down on him in a full charge. “I knew what a grizzly bear looked like,” Wiseman told Denver CBS local news in 2012. “And when this bear was coming at me I knew by the hump in the back and the broadness and flatness of the head.” He raised his bow to shoot but was knocked to the ground before he could draw and the bear was on top of him. It grabbed his right leg in its massive jaws and started whipping him around like a rag doll. Wiseman recalls hearing his flesh ripping apart. He curled into a ball, trying to play dead, but he knew that if he didn’t do something soon it wouldn’t be an act for much longer. That’s when he saw the arrow lying on the ground. He grabbed it — his last chance — and thrust it upwards as hard as he could, directly into the bear’s jugular artery and then again, into its heart. Wiseman survived the attack, though the grizzly was not so lucky. I

As far as anyone knows or suspects, that was the last grizzly bear living in Colorado. Since then, black bears have been the only member of the Ursus genus roaming Colorado’s wildernesses. The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) hopes to change that, though. In June 2019, the nonprofit conservancy organization filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to expand and update the federal grizzly bear recovery plan. First drafted back in 1993, it hasn’t been updated with new science or data on grizzlies since. And the CBD says it’s time for that to change. “The last mention by the Fish and Wildlife Service that we saw of this was in their 2011 status report. In there, they say that they should be looking at other areas for re-introduction,” says Andrea Zaccardi, senior attorney for CBD. “Colorado was mentioned with several other states and that was the last we saw of the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledging or taking steps that would recover grizzly bears.” In December, a federal judge in Montana signed an order resolving that claim, requiring the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to review the status of grizzly bears by March 2021. Historically, the range these massive creatures occupied stretched from California out to the Great Plains, from Alaska all the way down to Mexico (where you might still hear rumors of el oso plateado floating around rural cantinas). Today the grizzly exists in just 5% of its historic see GRIZZLIES Page 12

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

11

GRIZZLIES from Page 11

range, according to Zaccardi. “Scientists estimate that there used to be approximately 50,000 grizzly bears in the lower 48,” Zaccardi says. “Now, we’re looking at about just over 2,000.” A USFWS report on grizzly bears’ historic ranges concluded that “abundant habitat” for grizzly bears remains in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains — a roughly 5,746-square-mile area in the southwestern part of the state. An area, the CBD argues, where grizzlies no longer exist because of an aggressive bounty program funded by the feds in the 1940s and ’50s. It’s an argument with deep parallels to the argument surrounding wolf recovery in Colorado. And, perhaps not surprisingly, much of the science that’s used to justify and support grizzly recovery is the same used by pro-wolf advocates in the state. “Grizzly bears are predatory,” Zaccardi points out. It’s the keystone predator theory — predators like bears and wolves have a cascading trophic effect across any ecosystem they exist within. They prey upon the weakest individuals in a herd; the sick and the elderly, putting a healthy pressure on herbivore populations. That allows for healthy plant generation, which provides shade, shelter and food for smaller animals; and shade keeps water cool, protecting fish populations and preventing evaporation. Zaccardi points to one paper, published in the journal Biological Conservation, in which Oregon State University researchers evaluated historical records from five different national parks, tracking populations of predators and their prey (like deer, sheep, moose and elk) and the health of the local fauna. They concluded that “the absence of large predators not only can alter the structure, composition and function of native plant communities, but also how these communities respond to disturbance regimes.” The paper ends with an emphasis on a national need to ecologically recover “herbivore-impacted ecosystems” across the U.S. “Grizzly bears also eat a lot of insects and roots and tree seeds,” Zaccardi says, adding that the bears spread them through their feces. “So grizzly bears really help to promote healthy plant generation too.” Of course, the counterarguments against the recovery of grizzlies in Colorado aren’t unfamiliar, either: ranchers would be devastated, hunters would be competing against grizzlies for elk and deer, outfitters would be out of work and people’s pets would be at much greater risk of attack, even right in their backyards. There’s one notable difference from the wolf debate, however: Grizzly bear attacks in nature are far more common and more dangerous than wolf attacks. In North America, there have only been two verified, fatal wild wolf attacks in the last 75 years. Comparatively, bears have killed 48 people in North America since 2000, according to data collected by KTUU in Alaska. Grizzly bears didn’t earn the Latin name Ursus arctos horribilis for nothing. These bears are always grumpy, says Scott Rockholm, a native of rural Idaho and organizer of Anti-Wolf Colorado, a group 12

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

of Westerners dedicated to preventing wolves from “establishing a foothold in Colorado.” “As a person who lives among grizzly bears and wolves, I can say it’s miserable,” he says. “I have three daughters growing up. They cannot even ride their bicycles down the driveway by themselves.” Rockholm has his doubts about the keystone predator theory, despite the professional biology community’s research on the subject, going so far as to call it “absolute garbage science.” Anecdotally, he describes how grizzly bears decimate the native populations of deer, elk and moose in Idaho. He tells a story about a family of moose that used to winter on his property every year, but which have now been either killed or run off by grizzlies; and another story about how his horses were so badly traumatized by the stress of living with grizzlies they became “un-ridable.” Plus, he says, Colorado’s wildernesses are far busier than those of Idaho, Montana or Wyoming, where grizzlies still roam free. “In Colorado, you have much greater numbers of recreationists that go to places, right in the middle of what would be ‘bear country,’” Rockholm says. “You’re going to have conflict right there.” And, due to decades of grizzly extirpation, Coloradans generally don’t have a very keen sense of bear-safety. It’s why human-bear conflicts are already on the rise in the state: People aren’t handling their garbage carefully, black bears get into it and, over time, some start to have a diminished fear of humans. This rarely ends well for the bear: In 2019 alone, Colorado Parks and Wildlife euthanized 92 black bears. In places like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska, where grizzlies roam free, bear canisters are essential for backpacking or camping trips; campers need to cook their food away from their camp sites; people carry bear spray or hand-guns and make noise as they walk through the woods. That would have to become the standard in the San Juan Mountains if grizzlies were recovered there — people would have to change their outdoor habits. However, Zaccardi, who also lives in Idaho, thinks that’s a challenge that could be easily overcome. “I think that with the right education in place before re-introduction, people could learn very quickly and easily how to coexist with grizzlies,” she says. The status report on grizzlies that the Montana federal judge ordered from USFWS isn’t anticipated until March 2021. And even if that does prompt the USFWS to reconsider the recovery of grizzly bears in parts of their historic ranges — even if the CBD’s lawsuit against the Trump administration to expand and update the grizzly bear recovery plan is ultimately successful — it will still be a very long time before grizzly bears are brought back to Colorado. Unless, of course, the Great Bears venture back on their own — not unlike Colorado’s recently returned wolf pack, which has taken up residence in the northwestern part of the state. Recent eyewitness accounts suggest the pack may already have a wolf pup, proving that sometimes native inhabitants don’t wait around for humans to legislate their homecoming. I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Discover options and flexibility to help you stay on track. Own your journey.

BULK HOUSEHOLD AND BODYCARE PRODUCTS & SO MUCH MORE - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO LIVE A LOW-WASTE LIFESTYLE.

LOCAL DELIVERY & SHIPPING AVAILABLE therefillrevolution.com

OF COUNTY 2020 WINNER

OF COUNTY 2020 WRITE-IN

14

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

EMMA ATHENA

Domestic violence on the rise

City of Boulder continues homeless sweeps

D

O

n the morning of Friday, Aug. 28, the City of Boulder cleared the encampment in the Sister City Plaza in front of the Municipal Building, what some called Occupy Boulder. Residents of the encampment told Boulder Weekly they were awoken before dawn by lights shining into their tents and yells of “Boulder PD.” Several folks said they are epileptic and the flashing lights almost caused seizures. According to Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) police officer Ross Maynard, officials began clearing the encampment at 4:40 a.m. in an effort to preempt Occupy Boulder supporters and advocates’ “security forces,” who were expected to show up later that morning. The City had previously issued an eviction notice announcing a clean-up on Aug. 18, but that effort was met with a protest and march in support of the encampment (see “An incomplete picture,” News,

Aug. 27). “There’s a lot of political will right now behind clearing encampments,” Maynard told BW. About 20 people were moved from Sister City Plaza according to a City press release. Six people were connected to Coordinated Entry to receive services, while others were transported to the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. “All personal property that people wanted to keep but could not move is being stored for their safekeeping and eventual return,” the release stated. The removals were part of a larger effort to clear urban campsites that have popped up around the City since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The City says it will continue its efforts, as many moved to Central Park and elsewhere along the creek to continue camping. Occupy Boulder President Amos Washington Jr. told BW, “Occupy Boulder is still alive, we just moved, that’s all.”

Oil and gas permitting in national forests may get easier

O

n Tuesday Sept. 1, the Trump administration published a proposed rule-making that could open up the 193 million acres of National Forest Service lands across the country to fossil fuel development. “By accelerating new drilling in national forests, the Trump administration is once again taking steps that will worsen the climate crisis and hurt public health by further polluting our air and water,” Sharon Buccino, senior director of lands for the Nature Program at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said in a press release. “Tens of millions of people use and enjoy the national forests each year. ... This rule would sideline their voices in favor of the fossil fuel industry and more drilling that the public doesn’t want, and that the climate can’t afford.” The proposed rule would remove environmental considerations, reduce public input and transparency, and limit the Forest Service’s ability to protect the lands in its charge, according to the release. Many of these lands include both current and traditional territory of indigenous people, and by limiting public input, the new proposal threatens to undermine tribal sovereignty as well. It would also allow operators to file unlimited extensions to address management plan violations, even if they are the result of negligence or misconduct. And it is espeBOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

cially concerning to conservationists given the recent National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rollbacks. “By undermining the public participation and environmental review required by [NEPA], this proposed rule puts the interests of the fossil fuel industry ahead of the public interest,” Will Fadely, senior government relations representative at The Wilderness Society, said. “Our national forests and grasslands JOEL DYER have never been more important for preserving and passing a healthy world forward to future generations.” The plans are part of Trump’s overall “energy dominance” strategy designed to boost fossil fuel extraction across public lands. A 2019 Congressional Research Service report states only 2.7% of National Forest Service land has been historically leased for oil, gas and geothermal activity. According to the NRDC, land in Arapahoe, Medicine Bow, Routt, Gunnison, Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, White River, Pike, San Juan, Rio Grande, Comanche and Pawnee forests and grasslands in Colorado have oil and gas potential, and could be open to development under the new proposal. Public comments will be reviewed before the rule is finalized. Visit federalregister.gov for more info. I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

omestic violence has increased around Boulder County, according to data collected by the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. The local data aligns with state and national trends, and confirms concerns of area nonprofits and law enforcement had at the beginning of the pandemic about a potential increase in domestic violence. The DA’s office asked local law enforcement and services providers to submit numbers between March and July 2019 to compare the 2020 data from the same period. It found: A 31% increase of domestic violence arrests an Boulder; the Boulder County Sheriff ’s Department saw in increase from 20 to 34 domestic disputes; and the Longmont Police Department reported record-breaking numbers in July alone, with more than 100 reports of domestic violence. There has also been a drastic increase of calls to domestic violence service providers according to the data provided by the DA’s office. From January through July 2019, Safe Shelter of St. Vrain fielded 800 crisis calls compared to 1,916 in the same time period in 2020. That’s a 140% increase. In the same time period, reports of child abuse have decreased. According to data provided by the Boulder Police Department, child abuse reports have gone down by 55% since the pandemic began. “That’s not a sign that child abuse is decreasing, that’s a sign that reports are decreasing because kids are being isolated at home with their abuser,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty says. He also reports that driving under the influence and drug offenses have decreased around the county, while motor vehicle theft and vehicle trespass cases as well as assault investigations have increased.

I

15

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL Serving Boulder since 1986

Open Range Competition Teams Summer Day Camps Classes & Private Lessons

Target & Hunting Full Service Retail Pro Shop & Service Recurve & Compound

Avoid the hassle of people in your home - consign your furniture and leave the rest to us. Locally Veteran owned Family business.

High Altitude Archery 455 Weaver Park Rd #500 Longmont, CO 80501 720-491-3309

We sell brand new fully assembled furniture. Now you can see our inventory of new items on our website. GENTLY USED CONSIGNMENT FURNITURE AND NEW FURNITURE SINCE 1986

USEDFURNITUREBOULDER.COM

SEPTEMBER SCHOOL 2020 - 2021 SCHOOL YEAR

OUTDOOR EDUCATION

LEARNING. TOGETHER. OUTSIDE NEED IN-PERSON LEARNING FOR YOUR 8-12 GRADER? LOOKING FOR OPTIONS? September School is enrolling with a No Commitment Tuition rate for August and September! In person, outdoor education. 8 students per class.

Email: Kelly@SeptemberSchool.org www.SeptemberSchool.org 16

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER WEEKLY

NOAA

Tracking wildfire smoke by Travis Metcalfe

I

t’s already been a challenging wildfire season in Colorado, with crews currently battling four major fires around the state. Driven by an exceptionally hot and dry August, the air quality along the Front Range has suffered, not only from the smoke of our local fires but also from California and other Western states. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder have recently developed a forecast model to track the wildfire smoke as it spreads across the country and disrupts outdoor activities. Climate change does not start wildfires, but it creates the conditions that make these extreme events more frequent and severe. Across the globe, other countries have also experienced the impacts. Australia had unprecedented bushfires during its hot season six months ago, and Russia is currently fighting widespread fires in the boreal forests of Siberia. Ironically, the burning trees release more carbon into the atmosphere and thaw the methane-rich permafrost in the Arctic, adding to the heat-trapping pollution that is already making conditions worse. The dryness that facilitates wildfires comes about from a combination of declining rainfall and hotter temperatures. After a strong start to the winter snow season, Colorado saw a sudden drop in precipitation during the spring. To make matters worse, the monsoon pattern that normally moistens and cools the Southwest never materialized, drying out the region for the third year in a row. These dry conditions were compounded by record heat through most of the West, bringing temperatures to nearly 130 degrees in Death Valley, California. BOULDER WEEKLY

I

About half of the reduced flow of the Colorado River over the past century is attributed to evaporation from higher temperatures rather than reduced precipitation. “In Colorado, half the state is in severe or extreme drought conditions right now,” says Jennifer Balch, director of the Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Across the West, human-caused warming has effectively made fuels much drier and doubled the amount of Western forests that have burned since 1984.” Smoke is the most visible impact of the new wildfire reality, but it affects more than just the view from your favorite mountain peak. The haze blocks sunlight during the day, and traps heat during the evening, so there are direct effects on the predicted temperatures downstream from the fires. There are also chemical reactions of the smoke in the atmosphere that have potential health impacts for firefighters near the blaze as well as kids at the school playground. When wildfires were smaller and less frequent, weather forecasters used simple rules of thumb to predict the local impacts of smoke on temperature and air quality. But with such events becoming increasingly common, a more sophisticated approach is needed. The National Weather Service at NOAA can now include smoke in its forecasts, as an experimental add-on to its High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) weather model. The HRRR model provides the data for most of the local weather forecasts across the nation, and it produces 48-hour projections of local conditions for every square mile of the country. To be as accurate as possible, the predictions are updated every four hours. The addition of smoke to the HRRR model changes regional temperatures, which has an influence on larger-scale wind patterns, and the smoke interacts with wind and rain as it moves through the atmosphere. SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

“The first step in the process is for satellites to detect the presence of a new wildfire,” says Curtis Alexander, a scientist at NOAA who leads the development of the HRRR. “The model has the wherewithal of understanding how the winds are going to transport the smoke downstream and disperse it over a three-dimensional depiction of the atmosphere.” The haze in Boulder was already thick in midAugust from the Colorado wildfires, especially the Williams Fork fire near Granby. At the same time, lightning from thunderstorms triggered hundreds of new fires in Northern California, bolstering the total of a million acres that had burned across the state. Within a week, the surge in haze from California made a noticeable contribution to Boulder’s air quality problems, and ground-level smoke from all of the Western wildfires stretched as far as Washington, D.C. “Smoke is interesting, and the HRRR gives you much more detail than air quality websites, like how concentrated is it going to be, and where did it come from?” says Jessica Gilman, an atmospheric chemist at NOAA who is studying changes in Boulder pollution levels during the coronavirus pandemic. Before you head out for your next run or bike ride, you can check the local smoke forecast at hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke. There are options to see vertically integrated smoke through the whole atmosphere, or near surface smoke that produces the noticeable haze and potential health impacts. With climate change making Western states hotter and dryer over time, smoke forecasts from NOAA are poised to become the new normal during wildfire season. Travis Metcalfe, Ph.D., is a researcher and science communicator based in Boulder. The Lab Notes series is made possible in part by a research grant from the National Science Foundation. I

17

Check out our New Merchants Cards up to 50% off

Save on local dining, entertainment, retail and wellness. bestofboulderdeals.kostizi.com Go to website to purchase

LOST DOG “Peanut”

30 pounds, 11 years old. White with tan spots We are missing a member of our family. Last seen on 8/29/20 at 1pm near Lashley and S. 40th St. (no collar or tags) Call/text Alison and Ben:

970-342-0002 or 970-372-8010 $1000 CASH REWARD NO QUESTIONS ASKED #BRINGPEANUTHOME

18

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

SUSAN FRANCE

Chasms and bridges

With the release of the Gasoline Lollipops’ new album, lead singer and songwriter Clay Rose talks about beating the shutdown by a matter of days, flipping the canvas, a live show at Red Rocks, metaphysical grace and paying the cost of singleminded focus with the wages of daily bewilderment

T

by Dave Kirby

he skies were a sickly slate gray a couple of weeks ago when we caught up with Gasoline Lollipops’ singer/songwriter Clay Rose. Not so much the annual summer monsoon — we should have been so lucky — but the formless ghost of Colorado’s incinerated forests, drifting mournfully eastward like a pale funeral shroud. And much of the rest of our world, it seemed, if not burning with vigor and light, smoldered with exhausted despair and masked-up frustration. Mailboxes hijacked away to undisclosed locations. Fact-checking political pundits swinging fly swatters at the locust swarm of election season rhetoric. COVID statistics. Portland. Justin Townes Earle. Against this toxic zeitgeist, at maybe simultaneously the best and worst time, GasPops drop their much-anticipated album, All the Misery Money Can Buy. Recorded out of town, at Dockside Studio in Lafayette, Louisiana, the album reveals a cowpunk band grown into a pair of Saturday night boots, a self-assured call to arms in places, tempered bittersweet personal testimony in others, and true to form streaked with pleas for redemption and resolve. “A lot of curveballs were thrown at us,” Rose recalls, “but honestly, it’s been the strangest series of events. For every obstacle that was thrown our way, a bridge just magically appeared right in front of us. This would have been impossible for me to figure out, or create a strategy around, if I were left to my own devices and my own willpower. It was... metaphysical. I mean, I can’t explain it any other way. Every single obstacle was turned into a blessing.” Amid the trials of so many musicians sidelined by the COVID curse, Rose says a combination of fortuitous timing and sheer good fortune helped the band complete recording and polishing before everything stopped. “The last time we went to the studio... was in February, during Mardi Gras. That was right at the beginning of the pandemic, and Mardi Gras, of course, was one of the first really big red flags,” he says. “We’d been in New Orleans the week before for Folk Alliance, and the next week we were in the studio to do some mixing and some overdubs, and then we flew home. And then all hell broke loose. Fortunately, we didn’t have to be physically present [at the studio] anymore.” Mastered by the legendary Bernie Grundman in Los Angeles, one of only two industry guys left who still master to tape, the album kicks off with the flagship single “All the Misery,” a swampy rumination on the seemingly impossible chase after the American dream, cleverly twinning addictions to material success and the narcotics promoted to ease the struggle. The sentiment echoes with the rollicking rocker “Get Up”: If ya’ go to their schools and follow their rules, you’ll get up. You know I took that bet and just watched my debt blow up. Now I’m tired of living just to pay the rent, Giving my life to the 1%. The good times came and the good times went. So get up!

ON THE BILL: Gasoline

Lollipops — with Bonnie & Taylor Sims of Everybody Loves An OutLaw. 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison, redrocksonline.com.

see GASPOPS Page 20

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

19

COURTESY CLAY ROSE

GASPOPS from Page 19

“HAS THE WORLD really changed? Or did

Elsewhere, Rose tackles toxic masculinity on the NSFW and unmistakably targeted “Lady Liberty,” a gentle ode to bestowing his son a damaged planet on “Dying Young,” and a — poised country lamentation on walking away from a failed relationship on “Train to Ride,” which if there were any justice in this world would get a generous airing on country radio. And the album’s coda, a seven minute, failedbrakes homage to Nina Simone’s iconic 1965 rendering of the African American spiritual “Sinnerman” (sub Donny Ambory’s guitar for Nina’s piano) that booms and chastens and rolls like thunder. And yeah, the listener would feel as if this were really two albums; the topical and barbed poli-social projectiles, uncompromised and unfiltered, and the more introspective, personal songs. First person plural, first person singular. Rose concedes as much, although in the months intervening, when the world changed beneath everyone’s feet, the focus has evolved. Songs are planted on tape, but they grow and flower in the world that hears and responds to them. We asked Rose if the songs (most of which were written either collectively by the band, or with help from songwriter Max Davies and Rose’s mom, Donna Farar) feel the same as when they were originally composed and cut, pre-pandemic. “Has the world really changed?” Rose wonders. “Or did we just put a magnifying glass on top of it?” “But yeah, it just feels more intense,” he concedes. “They all still really apply, it’s just when I listen to them now, it’s really visceral.

“If we had a big label where we could simultaneously be pitching it, touring it and promoting it, then we’d be doing that,” Rose says. “But I’m the management company; I can’t do all that. We were supposed to be touring all summer; if that had been the case, I wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to do the publicity, nor would we have had the funds, because all the funds would have gone into touring.” But the spiked summer tour doesn’t silence the GasPops’ experience completely. Through the tireless efforts of longtime superfan Angela Vallero (who has virtually no experience in booking concerts), the GasPops have a two gig/one night live appearance at Red Rocks on Monday, Sept. 14. Socially distanced, CDC complaint, the whole enchilada. Managing which entrances they need and don’t need. Trash can placement. Seriously, don’t try this at home, kids. “As we’ve been talking,” Rose says toward the end of our interview, “I’ve gotten three texts and one email from her. I mean, it’s just non-stop. They just keep throwing curveballs at her…. It was just super important for her that we finish this thing right. She’s really, really gone to bat for us. “If we sell out two shows, we’ll break even. That’s the goal.” Is Rose nervous? “No. My average day is so goddamned stressful, any day I get to play music, that’s in the bag. Once I’m on stage, I’m OK. I can do this job. “Every other day, I’m just bewildered.”

we just put a magnifying glass on top of it?”

20

I

Clay Rose

“There were a few songs on the record that I thought, these songs are the canvas, like ‘Train to Ride’ or ‘Gypsy,’ these were a little lighter, maybe a little more familiar to GasPops fans. They were the canvas, and these other ones were going to be punctuated color. And now, the way I look at it, because the whole world has been ‘punctuated,’ those are more the entrée now, and the others are sort of the garnish. The sugar for the medicine. And I think they’re way more important for me now, those lighter songs, because they’re reminding me of the days before COVID. The days before... you know.” As far as curses morphing into blessings — the GasPops was denied their summer tour this year, so Rose spent his time working on a proper publicity model for boosting the album. With help from Gregory Alan Isakov and his longtime manager, Sarah Levin, Rose navigated the tortured and perilous machinery of radio and press exposure, a minefield daunting enough under normal circumstances. He says he isn’t particularly embittered that the band can’t take the new songs out on the road, at least for the time being.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Photo: Susan France

CALL US TODAY TO ADVERTISE!

303-494-5511

What to do when there’s ‘nothing’ to do...

EVENTS BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

If your organization is planning an event of any kind, please email Caitlin at crockett@boulderweekly.com.

NANCY NORTON — WITH JOSE MACALL, KATE STROBEL, SALMA ZAKY AND ZOE ROGERS.

7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, Dairy Arts Center loading dock, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder, thedairy.org. Tickets are $20. Enjoy pandemic-friendly, socially distanced live comedy at the Dairy Arts Center’s Backporch Series. Last December, headliner Nancy Norton was named the 2019 Champion of the 40th Seattle International Comedy Competition. You may have seen her at the Dairy Arts Center when she became the 2016 Grand Champion of Truth Be Told. She will be joined by Jose Macall, host of the weekly Three AM podcast and veteran of many comedy festivals, dives and clubs. Kate Strobel and Salma Zaky are also on the bill, with Zoe Rogers opening and hosting the evening. Come laugh in your mask.

LONGMONT MUSEUM PRESENTS: FREQUENT FLYERS AERIAL DANCE — ‘BECAUSE THE SKY IS BLUE.’

DOWNTOWN CHALK ART FESTIVAL.

10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, Downtown Longmont. The Downtown Chalk Art Festival will bring more than a dozen artists together to create colorful, intricate chalk art throughout downtown Longmont on Sept. 5. Artists will be socially distanced enough to allow people to watch their creation process. Enjoy live music and local artisan vendors as you peruse the chalk art and cast a vote for your favorite creation. The People’s Choice winner will be named based on likes on the ArtWalk Longmont Facebook and Instagram pages, where all works will be featured.

CHAUTAUQUA@HOME FALL 2020.

Sept. 23-Dec. 14, chautauqua.com. Tickets on sale now. The Colorado Chautauqua has announced the first round of its Chautauqua@Home virtual programming season, featuring Chautauqua’s popular Space Series, in addition to Grammy Awardwinning comedian David Misch (of Mork & Mindy fame) and powerful stories and images from Jon Waterman’s National Geographic Atlas of the National Parks. The centerpiece of the Fall 2020 Chautauqua@Home season is the family-friendly Space Series, which provides the opportunity for patrons to ask speakers live questions during the program, along with other interactive features. Chautauqua@Home events start at 7 p.m. Chautauqua will announce a second round of virtual programming in October, including silent films, local dance films and kids’ concerts. For a full lineup, please visit chautauqua.com.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont, frequentflyers.org. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $23 for students/senior, $20 for museum members. Drawing inspiration from Terry Maker’s Because the World is Round exhibition at Longmont Museum, Frequent Flyers has tailored-made the site-specific performance, Because the Sky is Blue, especially for the museum. Aerial performers suspended in flight invite audiences to see the world from a fresh perspective. Three groups of 50 audience members will be led through three spaces, spending 15 minutes in each. Starting in the museum’s atrium, then moving into a large classroom and ending outside in the courtyard. Staggered start times will facilitate social distancing. Audiences will be seated, and staff will ensure ample room for social distancing. All are required to wear masks for the duration, including performers and tech staff. Purchase tickets online or call 303-651-8374.

CU BOULDER CONFERENCE ON WORLD AFFAIRS VIRTUAL SPEAKERS.

Sept. 10-11, colorado.edu/cwa. The CU Boulder Conference on World Affairs virtual event will feature eight sessions over two days discussing leadership and human connection. The event is free and open to the public. Watch live at colorado.edu/cwa. Speakers include: A’shanti Gholar, president of Emerge, an organization dedicated to recruiting and training Democratic women to run for office; Steven Olikara, founder and president of Millennial Action Project, a nonpartisan organization of millennial lawmakers in the U.S.; and Roger McNamee, Silicon Valley investor and author of the New York Times best-selling book Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe. There will also be conversations about combating loneliness with a former astronaut and crew member of the International Space Station, sports activism with the executive director of the U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team Players Association, and lessons in leadership across generations with the Founder and President of the Privilege Institute. see EVENTS Page 24

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

23

art

EVENTS from Page 23

art

BARBARA RUDLAFF: ‘SEEN,’

Sept. 10-Oct. 4. Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Ave., Longmont, firehouse.org. Second Friday reception 6-9 p.m. Sept. 11. Barbara Rudlaff presents the culmination of her summer residency at Longmont’s Firehouse Art Center in her solo exhibit Seen. Featuring oil portraits of lesbians in her social circle, each 12”x12” portrait depicts the subject in a realist style against a white background, wearing a mask for health and safety in response to the pandemic. Portraits are spaced in the gallery at least 6 feet apart, commenting on distance while encouraging us to draw closer. To focus on representation, Rudlaff has chosen to depict only lesbians experiencing professional achievement. Accompanying the portraits are written statements from each person about their own experiences since the beginning of the pandemic, ranging in style from poetry to prose.

BARBARA RUDLAFF

MUSEUM OF BOULDER CALL FOR ARTWORK SUBMISSIONS — ‘DRAWING PARALLELS: COMMUNITY ART & ARTIFACTS FROM 2020.’

Submissions accepted through Oct. 1, museumofboulder.org. Museum of Boulder invites you to submit art that explore the relationships among simultaneous, sweeping events — from world wars, to movements for civil rights, to pandemics — in Boulder’s past and present for the fall exhibit Drawing Parallels: Community Art & Artifacts from 2020. Submissions may be centered on any relevant events or topics the artist deems significant to this year. Submitted artwork can date from the March closures up until present. Artwork will not be accepted past the proposal due date. No submissions of digital media — 2D and 3D pieces only. Photography accepted. The Museum is not responsible for any printing costs. For more information and to submit artwork, go to museumofboulder.org.

STREET WISE MURAL FESTIVAL.

Sept. 7-13, various locations around Boulder, streetwiseboulder.com. Street Wise Boulder is back, Sept. 7-13, for its second year, bringing more than 30 muralists (and 3D artists) from around Colorado and as far away as New York to paint engaging works in public spaces around the city. RSVP for workshops and panel discussions, and to take a self-guided walking or biking tour of the murals, with QR codes available to learn more about the artists and stories behind the art. Please respect social distancing and wear a mask while touring artist installations. RSVPs are donation-based — give what you can. Sept. 4 — Soft opening First Friday art at the Bus Stop Gallery in NoBo Sept. 9 — Virtual Live Art and Activism panel hosted by Museum of Boulder Sept. 7 and 12 — Womxn’s Spray Painting workshop with Grow Love (ages 13+) Sept. 12 — Artist Reception and Exhibition at the NoBo Bus Stop Gallery

24

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

HEAVY

KEEP CONNECTED

ROTATION

facebook.com/boulderweeklymedia twitter.com/boulderweekly

Two new tracks from local artists, plus live and livestreaming concerts

by Caitlin Rockett

“BLOSSOM,” BRITNEY JANE

“How come I gotta forgive and forget / Walking ‘round like you ain’t done no silly shit?” Britney Jane asks in her new single, “Blossom,” a relaxed and self-assured farewell to a toxic relationship. The Denver-based soul and R&B singer has provided backup vocals for a bevy of the city’s up-and-coming acts — Kayla Marque, Kid Astronaut, Lee Clark Allen, and Haitian-American low-fi hip-hop artist Donny Blot, who’s featured on “Blossom” — but now she’s gearing up to step out on her own with a forthcoming four-track EP called In My Feelings. “Being a black woman I feel like there’s a lack of respect for black women and even just women in general,” Britney Jane said in a press release about “Blossom.” “I want everyone to be able to connect to my music — not just black women or black trans women — but all communities.” True to her word, Britney Jane has created a versatile empowerment anthem with “Blossom,” a mantra to chant in any situation that makes you question your self-worth: “It is what it is / Can be what it can be / All I can start to do is start loving me.”

“STRONGER THAN I ONCE WAS,” ZACH HECKENDORF

At 26 years old, Denver-native Zach Heckendorf has opened for Lana Del Rey, The Infamous Stringdusters, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Ozomatli, ZZ Ward and Michael Franti. The young guitarist — back in Denver after a four-year stint in the Big Apple — has a knack for crafting the kind of acoustic-based indie pop ear worms that burrow deep down in your temporal lobes for days, evidenced by the anthemic pep talk of his new single, “Stronger Than I Once Was.” “[The song] is a fable of sorts, a fictionalization of my personal journey,” Heckendorf told music blog Ones To Watch. “It’s about moving from a place of weakness to a place of strength and believing that you have the power to get there. Above all, it’s about using that personal strength of ours to better serve humanity. It reflects my belief that we have the potential to move ourselves, individually and collectively, to a higher state of being.”

JOEL ANSETT: LIVE FROM STONE COTTAGE STUDIOS.

7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, stonecottagestudios.com/ events. Tickets are $12-35. Denver artist Joel Ansett will be performing a live set from Boulder’s Stone Cottage Studios on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 7

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

p.m. The event will be a live streaming production, featuring 1080P video and audio for the highest quality viewing experience. Ansett’s music effortlessly blends folk and R&B sounds into soul-soothing creations all his own. During the livestream, Ansett plans to debut new music and tease fans with sneak peeks from an upcoming EP. “The EP is all coming from realizing I don’t know how to rest, and the pandemic obviously amplified that realization because there I was with extra time but I actually didn’t have the skill or know how to really wind down,” Ansett said in a press release. Tiered ticketing provides options to attend a virtual Q&A with Ansett after the show, digital and physical copies of Ansett’s most recent album, as well as a “download only” recording of the livestream for those who can’t make the show.

boulderweekly.com

TAKÁCS QUARTET PRESENTED BY BOULDER SYMPHONY.

6 p.m. Sunday Sept. 13, Jewish Community Center (JCC), 6007 Oreg Ave., Boulder. Tickets are $45, bouldersymphony.org. The Boulder Symphony presents the Takács Quartet for the Grammy-winning quartet’s first live performance of the season with their new violist, Richard O’Neil. Takács will give a one-hour performance at the Jewish Community Center lawn with “COVID pods” to keep audience members safe at 8 feet apart. Each “pod” can hold up to four patrons. To make the seating as easy as possible, patrons must book their tickets together. There will also be a limited number of “balcony” car spots for patrons who prefer to stay in their cars with great views of the stage and will have optional FM transmission of the concert.

SUMMER SERIES ON THE PATIO: ERIC GOLDEN.

1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6, The Dickens Opera House Patio, 300 Main St., Longmont. This event is free. Eric Golden, the Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame’s 2019 New Artist of the Year, is a Denver native singer/guitarist with music in his blood. As the son of a musician, Golden grew up around live music. His performances are deeply influenced by the classic Bakersfield honky tonk scene, so you’re sure to hear Golden cover multiple decades of classic country music.

Call 720.253.4710 All credit cards accepted No text messages

see EVENTS Page 26

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

25

LIVE MUSIC IS BACK!

Contact us for Take Out orders!

25% OFF

the purchase of a Big Daddy Club Mug, & get FREE COFFEE REFILLS EVERY MONDAY WITH THE MUG

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

15

YEARS IN A ROW!

26

I

HOMEVIEWING ‘Beau travail’

by Michael J. Casey The Tune Up at Full Cycle Friday, September 4 6:00-8:00 PM

1795 Pearl St., Boulder, Co 80302 www.tuneupboulder.com

Contact us for Take Out orders!

VOTED BOULDER’S BEST THAI

EVENTS from Page 25

LUNCH: Mon-Fri Noon-4pm DINNER: Mon-Sat 4-9pm Sun 5-9pm

1600 Broadway, Boulder

We Deliver!

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

R

eleased at the tail end of the last century, Beau travail was filmmaker Claire Denis’ fifth film: the one that launched her onto the world stage and established her as one of the key cinematic voices of this century. The emphasis on chronology isn’t arbitrary: Beau travail (French for “good work”) is a loose adaptation of Herman Melville’s unfinished novella, Billy Budd — written in the 19th century, published in the 20th — and a spiritual sequel of JeanLuc Godard’s 1960 film, Le petit soldat. At the end of that film, Bruno Forestier (Michel Subor) flees the French-Algerian war and the world of double agents. Forty years later, Bruno (still played by Subor) resurfaces as a French Foreign Legion Commandant stationed in Djibouti in Beau travail. The return of Bruno is one of many resurrections in Beau travail. Denis pulls the past to the present and confronts it with a poetic and inquisitive gaze. The legionnaires train under Bruno’s watchful, but distant, eye. The grunt work of day-to-day training is left to Sergeant Galoup (Denis Levant), who becomes suspicious of Sentain (Grégoire Colin) once Bruno expresses an interest in the young legionnaire. Galoup’s face is craggy and pockmarked; Sentain’s is smooth and sculpted. You could say that the underlying tension between Galoup and Sentain is homoerotic, and you’d be right. You could also say it smacks of Snow White with Galoup as the Evil Queen and Sentain as the fairest of them all. Galoup and Sentain bicker and

fight, and Denis and cinematographer Agnès Godard eschew their masculine bravado by stripping it of violence and choreographing their movements. When one strikes the other, the punch is slowed to the point of softness. When they perform calisthenics with the rest of the legionnaires, the motions look like ritualized worship. It gives the men a spiritual quality, but it also gives them sensuality. The results are hypnotic and dreamy, and Beau travail would have floated away if Denis had not grounded it by pulling on strands of African colonization and populating the frame with foreign faces in captured spaces. A feeling no doubt familiar to Denis, who was born in Paris but raised in colonial French Africa — her father was a civil servant stationed in West Africa. It all works, but it is the movie’s final scene that brings everything home. Without hesitation, it is one of the most ecstatic endings in all of cinema, a moment where 90 minutes of tension and rigor release with a flurry of motion and music: A curtain call like no other. Janus Films’ stunning 4K restoration comes to CU-Boulder’s International Film Series’ virtual theater on Sept. 4. On Sept. 15, the Criterion Collection releases a Blu-ray and DVD set — including interviews with Levant and Colin, a video essay from film scholar Judith Mayne, a written essay from critic Girish Shambu, and a conversation between Barry Jenkins and Denis. And on Sept. 29, TCM screens Beau travail as part of their 14-week series, Women Make Film.

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

not-at-all impossible. In the coming weeks, you’ll have a finely tuned intuitive sense of how to proceed with flair. Start by imagining the Most Beautiful You.

BY ROB BREZSNY

LIBRA

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: I propose we resurrect

Venus attended by graces. More commonly it’s modeled of baling wire and acne. More commonly it wheezes and tips over.” Those words were written by Aries author Marge Piercy, who has been a fount of good new ideas in the course of her career. I regard her as an expert in generating wheezy, fragile breakthroughs and ultimately turning them into shiny, solid beacons of revelation. Your assignment in the coming weeks, Aries, is to do as Piercy has done so well.

the old English word “museful.” First used in the 17th century but then forgotten, it meant “deeply thoughtful; pensive.” In our newly coined use, it refers to a condition wherein a person is abundantly inspired by the presence of the muse. I further suggest that we invoke this term to apply to you Libras in the coming weeks. You potentially have a high likelihood of intense communion with your muses. There’s also a good chance you’ll engage with a new muse or two. What will you do with all of this illumination and stimulation?

TAURUS

SCORPIO

more beautiful things,” said painter Claude Monet. “It is intoxicating me, and I want to paint it all. My head is bursting.” That might seem like an extreme state to many of us. But Monet was a specialist in the art of seeing. He trained himself to be alert for exquisite sights. So his receptivity to the constant flow of loveliness came naturally to him. I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because I think that in the coming weeks, you could rise closer to a Monet-like level of sensitivity to beauty. Would that be interesting to you? If so, unleash yourself! Make it a priority to look for charm, elegance, grace, delight and dazzlement.

metaphorical blueprint of the beautiful person we could become by fulfilling our destiny. If our soul’s code remains largely dormant, it will agitate and disorient us. If, on the other hand, we perfectly actualize our soul’s code, we will feel at home in the world; all our experiences will feel meaningful. The practical fact is that most of us have made some progress in manifesting our soul’s code, but still have a way to go before we fully actualize it. Here’s the good news: You Scorpios are in a phase of your cycle when you could make dramatic advances in this glorious work.

GEMINI

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: “Life is the only game in which

ARIES

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: “A new idea is rarely born like

APRIL 20-MAY 20: “Every day I discover even

MAY 21-JUNE 20: Author Renata Adler describes

a time in her life when she began to notice blue triangles on her feet. She was wracked with fear that they were a symptom of leukemia. But after a period of intense anxiety, she realized one fine day that they had a different cause. She writes: “Whenever I, walking barefoot, put out the garbage on the landing, I held the apartment door open, bending over from the rear. The door would cross a bit over the tops of my feet” — leaving triangular bruises. Upon realizing this very good news, she says, “I took a celebrational nap.” From what I can tell, Gemini, you’re due for a series of celebrational naps — both because of worries that turn out to be unfounded and because you need a concentrated period of recharging your energy reserves.

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: “I like people who refuse to

speak until they are ready to speak,” proclaimed Cancerian author Lillian Hellman. I feel the same way. So often people have nothing interesting or important to say, but say it anyway. I’ve done that myself! The uninteresting and unimportant words I have uttered are too numerous to count. The good news for me and all of my fellow Cancerians is that in the coming weeks we are far more likely than usual to not speak until we are ready to speak. According to my analysis of the astrological potentials, we are poised to express ourselves with clarity, authenticity and maximum impact.

LEO

JULY 23-AUG. 22: Of all the mournful impacts the

pandemic has had, one of the most devastating is that it has diminished our opportunities to touch and be touched by other humans. Many of us are starved of the routine, regular contact we had previously taken for granted. I look forward to the time when we can again feel uninhibited about shaking hands, hugging and patting friends on the arm or shoulder. In the meantime, how can you cope? This issue is extra crucial for you Leos to meditate on right now. Can you massage yourself? Seek extra tactile contact with animals? Hug trees? Figure out how to physically connect with people while wearing hazmat suits, gloves, masks and face shields? What else?

VIRGO

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: “Like any art, the creation of

self is both natural and seemingly impossible,” says singer-songwriter Holly Near. “It requires training as well as magic.” How are you doing on that score, Virgo? Now is a favorable time to intensify your longterm art project of creating the healthiest, smartest version of yourself. I think it will feel quite natural and

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: Each of us has a “soul’s code”: a

2020

Gallery WINNERS Taylor moving

1275 Sherman Dr, Longmont 303.443.5885

North boulder dental

SAGITTARIUS

the object of the game is to learn the rules,” observes Sagittarian author Ashleigh Brilliant. According to my research, you have made excellent progress in this quest during the last few weeks — and will continue your good work in the next six weeks. Give yourself an award! Buy yourself a trophy! You have discovered at least two rules that were previously unknown to you, and you have also ripened your understanding of another rule that had previously been barely comprehensible. Be alert for more breakthroughs.

North Boulder D E N TA L

1001 North st., BOULDER 303.447.1042

COTTONWOOD KENNELS

CAPRICORN

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: “If you’re not lost, you’re not much of

an explorer,” said rambunctious activist and author John Perry Barlow. Adding to his formulation, I’ll say that if you want to be a successful explorer, it’s crucial to get lost on some occasions. And according to my analysis, now is just such a time for you Capricorns. The new territory you have been brave enough to reconnoiter should be richly unfamiliar. The possibilities you have been daring enough to consider should be provocatively unpredictable. Keep going, my dear! That’s the best way to become un-lost.

7275 VALMONT RD., BOULDER 303.442.2602

HOSHI MOTORS

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: “Dreams really tell you about

yourself more than anything else in this world could ever tell you,” said psychic Sylvia Browne. She was referring to the mysterious stories that unfold in our minds as we sleep. I agree with her assessment of dreams’ power to show us who we really are all the way down to the core of our souls. What Browne didn’t mention, however, is that it takes knowledge and training to become proficient in deciphering dreams’ revelations. Their mode of communication is unique — and unlike every other source of teaching. I bring this up, Aquarius, because the coming months will be a favorable time for you to become more skilled in understanding your dreams.

FOLSOM & SPRUCE, BOULDER 303.449.6632

PISCES

Zoe ma ma

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: In June 1876, warriors from three

Indian tribes defeated U.S. troops led by General George Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana. It was an iconic victory in what was ultimately a losing battle to prevent conquest by the ever-expanding American empire. One of the tribes that fought that day was the Northern Cheyenne. Out of fear of punishment by the U.S. government, its leaders waited 130 years to tell its side of the story about what happened. New evidence emerged then, such as the fact that the only woman warrior in the fight, Buffalo Calf Road Woman, killed Custer himself. I offer this tale as an inspiration for you Pisceans to tell your story about events that you’ve kept silent about for too long.

I

2010 10th St., Boulder SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

27

DISNEY

A foggy reflection

Disney’s live-action ‘Mulan’ leaves a lot to be desired

by Michael J. Casey

Schedule an appointment with yourself today

28

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

n 1998, Walt Disney Feature Animation released its 36th film, its first and only retelling of a Chinese legend: Mulan, the story of a daughter who dons her father’s armor and pretends to be his son to fight the invading Huns. As companions, Mulan gets some assistance from her faithful steed, Khan, a lucky cricket named Cri-Kee, and an ancestral dragon, Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy. Maybe Murphy wasn’t the most culturally sensitive casting for the movie — Disney’s writing and animation staff created the wisecracking dragon, a character closer to The Lion King’s Timon and Aladdin’s Genie than the story of Hua Mulan — but it works, and Murphy’s performance is one of the movie’s highlights. If you’re looking for something out-of-place in Mulan, then Harvey Fierstein’s performance of Yao (Brooklynese by way of a belt sander) ought to do the trick. You’ll find no talking dragon in Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan — directed by Niki Caro and starring Yifei Liu as the infantry soldier in disguise. There’s no Harvey Firestein either, but Cri-Kee’s back, he’s just been recast as a lucky warrior named Cricket (Jun Yu). Gone, too, are the songs: No Christina Aguilera singing about reflections, and no Donny Osmond promising to make a man out of you — he’s been replaced by Donnie Yen as Commander Tung, who is too old to be Mulan’s love interest, and out goes the romance subplot. The filmmakers don’t seem to know what to do with Yen. Nor do they know what to do with Jet Li as the Emperor, a grand warrior who hasn’t lost his edge. It seems preposterous that anyone as lame as Böri Kahn (Jason Scott Lee) could hold an ass-kicking Jet Li hostage. That’s more or less what this Mulan is: A lot of humorless action with no songs that doesn’t quite add up. And if you thought dropping the music would save some run time, you’d be wrong. While the animated movie came in at 89 minutes, this Mulan tacks on another 20, adds a subplot of Xian Lang (Gong Li), a shape-shifting witch who aligns herself with Böri Kahn while simultaneously tempting Mulan — an echo of Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora and Maleficent’s relationship that is cast off as soon as it’s introduced. Splitting the villain in two complicates matters further as both need motives: She is tired of living as a powerful outcast; he seeks revenge for his father’s death. Neither improves upon Shan Yu’s desire to take the Emperor’s throne in the 1998 version: “By building his wall, he challenged my power.” Simple, clean, elegant. A story in eight words. There’s nothing in this Mulan with that economy. The action is a hybrid of wirework and digital effects — there’s too much of both, not enough of either — and the images are pretty without being distinct. Liu is believable as warrior Mulan but is given little when it’s time for dramatics. A fate that falls many here. Disney loses a lot in translating its animated classics into live-action spectacles. Oh, for want of a talking dragon and a song now and then. I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BY DAN SAVAGE

es involve heightened attraction to certain objects (like boots and shoes) and/or body parts beyond the genitals (like feet and armpits).” So, all fetishes are kinks but not all kinks are fetishes. I hope that clears things up!

Dear Dan: I just read your advice for CATMAN, the person who asked if there was a name for his specific and newfound fetish: he wants to marry a submissive bisexual guy and then pick up and Dear Dan: I’ve been with my boydominate submissive women together friend for three years. I’m a 27-year-old with his guy. As I read it, I wondered, is woman and this was my first “real” relathis a sexual fantasy or is it a fetish? tionship. Before I met my boyfriend, I Then I wondered what the difference is would have considered myself a steady between a fantasy and a fetish. Is there dick-jumper. I went flitting from guy to guy. one? Does it matter? On paper, our relationship seemed great. —Knowingly He tries to make sure I ROMAN ROBINSON Investigating Newly Kinky have what I need, whether Yearnings it’s a meal, a TV show, a record to play. He is stable Dear KINKY: What and affectionate; most of CATMAN described — what all, he wanted to be with CATMAN was looking for — me. But he’s boring. When was a relationship. He was I talk to him, I want to be fantasizing about his perfect somewhere, anywhere partner and wondering if he else. The more I tried to was out there somewhere. engage with him, the more Since literally everyone obvious our lack of any does that, KINKY, I wouldn’t deep connection seemed. describe fantasizing about a He is stoic and unemotionperfect partner/partners as al whereas I cry during car commercials. a fetish or a kink. Vanilla or mildly kinky I’m desperately seeking an emotional or wildly kinky, we all want that perfect equal. Every day I go back and forth match, i.e., a person or people whose between loving where we are and wanting sexual desires and/or relationship goals to run the fuck away. I have a tendency to parallel our own. And a lucky few manage do the latter — with guys, friends, jobs — to find someone who comes really close. so I don’t know what I REALLY want. But I People don’t just fantasize about sex, feel so incredibly unfulfilled. We have a of course; people fantasize about dream lackluster sex life and I feel more like his jobs, dream vacations, dream weddings. roommate the past year than his girlfriend. (Wedding fantasies aren’t about who I want to be inspired by my partner. My you’re marrying but how you’re marrying them, e.g., a destination wedding, a tradi- question is... actually, I’m not really sure I tional wedding, a non-traditional wedding, have a question. —First Relationship Fizzle etc.). But when it comes to sex, KINKY, fantasies are best understood as scenarios or situations that incorporate important elements of a person’s sexual desires — desires which may involve kinks or fetishes or may not. Think of fantasies as sexy little movies we screen for ourselves in our heads and kinks or fetishes as optional plot points and/or props. The natural follow-up question: What’s the difference between a kink and a fetish then? While people often use those terms interchangeably, KINKY, they mean different things. Dr. Justin Lehmiller recently unpacked the difference on Sex & Psychology (lehmiller.com): “Kink is a very broad concept that encompasses pretty much any form of sexual expression that falls outside of the mainstream. This includes the eroticization of intense sensations (such as mixing pleasure and pain), playing with power differentials, deriving pleasure from inanimate objects, role playing and more... [whereas] fetish-

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Boulder’s Local Music Shop Since 1971 Shop online at hbwoodsongs.com for no contact pickup or free local delivery (on purchases over $20). Open to customers or for pick-up with these new hours of operations: Mon.-Sat. 12-5 pm Sun. 12-4 pm

3101 28th St, Tebo Plaza, Boulder

303.449.0516

hbwoodsongs.com

Dear FRF: Since you didn’t ask a question, FRF, I guess you don’t require an answer. So I’ll make an observation instead: You repeatedly refer to this relationship in the past tense. (“…this was my first ‘real’ relationship,” “…our relationship seemed great,” “…the more I tried.”) So you obviously know what you need to do. Your soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend sounds like a good guy, FRF, and you don’t want to hurt him, which makes dumping him harder. But if he’s not the right guy for you, FRF, you’re not the right woman for him. Go back to flitting — and who knows? Maybe one day you’ll jump on a dick that’s attached to a guy who inspires you. Or maybe you don’t want one guy — forever or for long. Some people are happier flitting than settling. Send questions to mail@savagelove. net, follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage and visit ITMFA.org. I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

29

Join us for “Social D” sushi, drinks & more in our dining room and extended patios. Reserve today at boulderjapango.com Not venturing out yet? You can still get your Japango favorites. Order for delivery or call us to order for curbside pickup* U B E R E AT S | D O O R DA S H | G R U B H U B

Daily: 11am–10pm +1 303 938 0330 boulderjapango.com *Sake, beer, wine & cocktails available for curbside pickup with valid ID.

On the corner of Folsom and Arapahoe

rinconargentinoboulder.com

S I M P L E

|

L O C A L

S AT & SU N 9 AM - 2 PM 30

I

|

TUE-FRI 11AM-2PM SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

FA R M

TUE-THUR 4:30PM-8PM

T O

TA B L E

F R I & S AT 4:30PM-9PM I

S U N D AY 4:30PM-8PM BOULDER WEEKLY

BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

THE CORNER. 1100 13th St., Boulder, 720-398-8331, thecornerboulder.com

TRY THIS WEEK:

Asian Chicken Salad @ The Corner

Lucky are you if you’re hungry and on The Hill. No

matter the time of day, or the food you’re craving, you’re likely to find something satisfying at The Corner. At least that’s our experience. The menu of bowls, salads, sandwiches, soups and more are flavor-forward, substantial and always made with fresh ingredients. We opted for the Asian chicken salad on a recent visit: a hefty amount of grilled chicken atop fresh spring greens, cabbage, shredded carrots, snow peas, red peppers, green onions, toasted almonds and crispy rice noodles. The ginger soy vinaigrette was irresistible.

2

1 Drink this: Vision Quest Brewery’s Hole in Yer Pants Porter THE TEMPERATURE has dropped, and even a few trees have started to turn. Soon Märzens, pumpkin beers and stouts will load tap lists and box out the ever-durable porter: once a staple of the craft beer movement, now a forgotten favorite. Thinness did the porter in — far too many brewers used theirs as the beer poured for customers who didn’t like beer. That’s not the case with Vision Quest Brewery’s Hole in Yer Pants Porter, a harken back to the good old days of dark, full-bodied ales free of adjuncts and soaring ABVs. Made with heaps of chocolate rye malt, Hole in Yer Pants smells like cracked rye bread on the nose. But in the mouth, holy cow: Creamy, rich and loads of dark chocolate, with an echo of Belgian dubbel on the finish. It’s fall in a glass. Bring a sweater.

BOULDER WEEKLY

I

Flapjack Day in Berthoud FLAPJACK DAY is a big deal in Berthoud. Take the drive a few minutes north of Boulder County this weekend to celebrate a revamped, COVID-amended version of Flapjack Day at City Star Brewing. All Labor Day weekend, you can pick up a crowler (can + growler) of dry flapjack mix and breakfast beers in 16-oz cans: Morning Coffee Stout, Maple Brown, Fruit Cup IPA and Jasmine Green Tea Pale Ale. Or on Labor Day itself, from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m., City Star’s tap room will be open, serving flights of five breakfast beers with The Waffle Lab food truck serving food out front. All proceeds benefit the Berthoud Historical Society. More info at citystarbrewing.com.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

31

High end quality meats Catering also available

2426 Arapahoe Ave. Boulder 303-443-0596 www.kalitagrill.com

1085 S Public Rd. Lafayette (303) 665-0666 Hours: Tues. Weds. Thurs. Sun 11am - 9pm Fri. Sat 11am - 9:30pm

Thank You for Voting us Best Asian Fusion

Restaurant

Closed Monday

32

I

2016

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Brew news

But all of that will have to wait for a postCOVID world. In the meantime, you can visit Mossdeep and try one of six beers, three of which you shouldn’t miss: Kombeercha, a surprisingly quaffable blend of two-parts sour beer, one-part kombucha; Saison, mellow and bready; and New Zealand IPA. That one has a nose of lemongrass and an underlying smooth herbal freshness. Drinking it is kind of like walking on a bale of fresh-cut hay. I’m sure you can relate. All are on the small-batch side, so get to Mossdeep sooner rather than later — although there was an ESB waiting in the wings as of Aug. 28. When was the last time you had a good ESB? Mossdeep’s open Thursday through Sunday, for both in-house drinking and to-go sales.

Boulder County breweries feel the churn

by Michael J. Casey

O

ver on Boulder’s north side, the taproom nestled between auto repair shops has a new tenant, one for fans of Bruce Sanderson and 20-sided die: Mossdeep Brewing Co. The space comes with a little history: In 2016, Zach Nichols established 1001 Lee Hill Drive as a watering hole when he left Sanitas Brewing Co. to open Cellar West Artisan Ales behind Boulder’s nowdefunct strip club. Two years later, Nichols relocated Cellar West to Lafayette (778-B W. Baseline Road), and Adam Kandle, of VisionQuest Brewery and the adjacent Boulder Fermentation Supply, took over the taproom in spring 2019. Kandle wanted a new place to experiment with yeasts without worrying about infecting his usual VisionQuest brews, so a second location seemed like a good idea at the time. But it’s time-consuming to run a business, let alone three, and as of July 2020, Kandle is letting Hunter Momberger and Scott Weiland take over 1001 Lee Hill Drive for their brewery: Mossdeep. To visit Mossdeep right now is to see a brewery in transition. The space is small to begin with, but construction and COVID-19 regulations have trimmed that even more. The sign on the door still says Adamant — his beers are also on tap — and they’re currently building a large walk-in cooler in the taproom. It’s ambitious, but so is their plan: A D&D-esque world with Mossdeep as the hub. Their brewery logo is a shield with four sections for four graphics: Flowering hop cones, golden barley stalks, a mug of beer and a map (Carlisle Momberger does the artwork). The map relates to the world-building story of Mossdeep, a story Momberger and Weiland will one day expand in greater detail on the taproom wall. Future can art will also incorporate clues and puzzles, not to mention plenty of chances to interact with like-minded beer drinkers, maybe even don a costume or two.

WESTBOUND & DOWN COMES TO TOWN

Mossdeep isn’t the only brewery taking over pre-existing Boulder County space: Later this year, the award-winning Westbound & Down Brewing Company out of Idaho Springs will be taking over Endo Brewing Company’s spot at 2755 Dagny Way in Lafayette. As Westbound & Down’s Eric Schmidt tells BW in an email, the move to Lafayette is on hold due to uncertainty in the lending world, while the Idaho Springs brewpub is currently operating under COVID safety guidelines. Like the rest, the brewery’s had to pivot to packaging, which exceeded its 2020 goals five months in, and requires another location to accommodate demand. And, as Schmidt says, “Purchasing an established brewery also meant that we weren’t further saturating a market, rather building on what was already existing. “The team at Endo has been extremely gracious and helpful with the transition, and we look forward to keeping beer culture alive in the space,” Schmidt says. Once it’s up and running, Westbound & Down will offer beer on-site and to-go with a brewpub model “not far behind.” Production-wise, the goal is 3-4,000 barrels per year.

Mixed packs from Oskar Blues and Bootstrap

O

skar Blues Brewery and Bootstrap Brewing Company have been keeping Longmont hoppy for some time now, but with a new mixed-pack apiece, beer drinkers can bring the pleasures of sampling through a tap list to the patio, the pool, even on the trail. Let’s start with Bootstraps’ Party Pack, which, according to the brewery, is the only mixed-pack out there with both beer and seltzer. The pack features six styles: Insane Rush IPA, Lush Puppy Juicy IPA, Chillax Pineapple Golden Ale, Wreak Havoc Imperial Red Ale, Stick’s Pale Ale and two types of Sparkalicious Hard Seltzer. All are good, but if you’ve never tried the orangey Lush Puppy (so fresh and clean, you’d swear it wasn’t a hazy) or the beautifully balanced Stick’s (a stone-cold classic), here’s your chance. Bonus points go to co-owner Leslie Kaczeus for coming up with the best name for a seltzer. Sparkalicious indeed. The Greyhound, made with 5% real grapefruit juice, is delicious, sweet, fruity and slightly bitter. It’s like a Fresca, only better. There’s plenty of hops to be had in Bootstrap’s Party Pack, but Oskar Blues’ Pack-O-Bliss crams them in to the point of “hop Nirvana”: Pinner Session IPA, Can-O-Bliss Double IPA, Can-O-Bliss Citrus IPA and, newest on the block, Can-O-Bliss Resinous IPA, which sports the nickname “the sticky-icky.” The nose is of fresh stone fruit; soft and sweet malt gives the beer body; and loads of snappy hops prickle all four corners of the mouth while activating the salivary glands south of the teeth and gums. Drink this one pre-dinner, and it’ll prepare you for just about anything.

A MODERN SHRINE TO REGIONAL MEXICAN CUISINE Our kitchen is 100% Gluten Free

#EatMoreTacos

CONTACT US FOR TAKE OUT ORDERS!

SUN l THURS 11am - 9pm l FRI l SAT 11am - 10pm TeocalliCocina.com l 103 N Public Road, Lafayette l 303.284.6597 BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

I

33

Once Again Serving Up The Food You Crave

fresh, authentic, tasty japanese food

[

34

]

AUTHENTIC JAPANESE CUISINE

I

LUNCH Tue-Fri, 11:30am – 1:30pm DINNER Tue-Thu & Sun 5pm–8:15pm Fri-Sat 5pm – 8:45pm. Closed Monday Follow us on instagram: Sushiyoshilouisville

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

SEATING INDOORS & OUT! Curb-Side Pick-Up via 303.604.6351 or Doordash or Grub Hub

Prettiest Patio In Boulder County

Open 8:00am - 8:00pm Wednesday - Sunday

BOTTOMLESS WINE WEDNESDAYS 4-8pm MORNINGGLORYCAFE | 1377 FOREST PARK CIRCLE, LAFAYETTE | 303.604.6351

I

BOULDER WEEKLY

Time for change

Slow Money’s Woody Tasch on what the pandemic has taught us about funding and supporting local agriculture

by Matt Cortina

T

he lining most silver in 2020 is that the pandemic exposed inequity across society, and that clearheaded people are working to fix it. The issues in the U.S. food system became obvious only a couple weeks into the pandemic’s spread: employees at meat-packing plants died; grocery store workers were put in dangerous situations or else they’d lose their jobs; underpaid restaurant workers were laid off by the hundreds of thousands; farmers struggled to find seasonal workers. But change is afoot. Boulder’s Woody Tasch has long been one of the clear-headed people fighting to fix inequity in the food system, founding the Slow Money Institute in 2012, which has dispensed about $75 million in low-interest loans (normally about 1%) to small farmers and food startups, many of which are based in Colorado. He then launched SOIL (Slow Opportunities for Investing Locally), which pools funds and provides 0% loans to small farmers. And now, Tasch has published a book (his third), Aha! Fake Trillions, Real Billions, Beetcoin and the Great American Do Over, which provides a practical pathway to investing in small farms. It introduces Beetcoin, which pools small contributions from average folks into impactful zero-interest loans for small, organic farmers across the country — it differs from SOIL, in that you don’t have to buy a membership into a SOIL group; you can just make the investment. Tasch says although Boulder County (and Colorado) is ahead of the curve when it comes to supporting sustainable ag, the movement is now “happening all over the country,” due in no small part to the pandemic. “There’s been a huge sort of upsurge in demand for CSAs and direct access to food as local as possible. The purest expression of it is all the CSAs are all over-subscribed,” Tasch says, before asking, rhetorically, “Is it gonna be lasting?” The yin to organic, local farming’s yang is industrial farming, which Tasch says is unlikely to go away — cheap, commodified crops are necessary in this world we’ve built. However, we can push big producers to farm in more sustainable ways, and we can grow the “slow food” movement simultaneously. “We need to accept the fact that just because it’s going to be very difficult to affirmatively influence certain farming practices that are contributing to climate change, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t change what we can.” That change starts with a conversation, Tasch says: how do we get more people funding organic agriculture; how do we get more locally grown food consumed locally; and how do we get more access to good, local food for people who can’t necessarily afford to shop at the farmers’ markets or subscribe to CSAs? What needs to come out of those conversations is a financial pathway, much like what Slow Money and Tasch’s books have produced. Because without dollars and cents involved, all the talk is worthless. BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

“If we want to help a new generation of small organic growers … we’ve got to figure out a new way to fund it,” he says. “These [farms] are too small, scattered and community-focused for traditional investment to find it.” Though “impact investing” is the trendy way moneyed folks package their fiduciary involvements nowadays, Tasch says following the money on those investments often leads to the same old recipients of capital. “Basically the vast majority of impact investing is not changing where any money goes; it’s changing how

investors talk about their money,” Tasch says, admitting that may sound snarky, though he doesn’t mean it like that. The bottom line is, he says: “If you’re trying to make competitive rates of return and do impact investing, you’re trying to have your cake and eat it too. And you can’t have your cake and eat it too; most normal people now that.” Big systemic change is how we fix the inequity the pandemic has shined lights on this year, and Tasch says Slow Money, SOIL and Beetcoin can be parts of the overhaul needed to move our food system in the right direction. “The larger thing is we’re trying to get people to connect in a fundamentally different way, to connect at the local level,” Tasch says. “To take money out of global markets and remove concerns about risk and return and say, ‘I want there to be more small farms in my community. I want my community to be more resilient and I want to have as little fiduciary involvement and government involvement as possible.’” Find books and more investment information at slowmoney.org and beetcoin.org. I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

TASCH’S LATEST book is available for free; read it in installments at beetcoin. org/publications

I

35

The missing link

M

Leaf411, Colorado’s cannabis hotline, puts trained clinical nurses in your pocket to answer those burning questions

arijuana is suspended in a strange legal and cultural limbo, somewhere between recreational drug, illegal Schedule I substance and legitimate herbal medicine. It’s a gray area that often makes it challenging for users to find legitimate medical advice on cannabis, its effects on the body and how to use it. Sure, you can ask your friend Chief, but he’s just a pothead with no qualifications. You can ask your local budtender, but they’re more of a sommelier than any kind of medical professional. You can study up online, but the internet is rampant with rhetorical science, biased articles and confused opinions, so you might end up absorbing more misinformation than facts. So what’s a cannabis user to do? If only we could dial up our primary care physician whenever we had a nagging cannabis question, or an ailment that weed could potentially treat. If only there was a medical professional on speed dial, waiting for you, ready with all the answers to your wildest canna-questions… Enter: Leaf411, Colorado’s free cannabis hotline, staffed by trained clinical nurses who know the ups and downs, ins and outs of cannabis and how it works in the body. It’s the missing link in the cannabis legalization movement. “We created this hotline because nothing like it existed,” says Jennifer Axcell, one of Leaf411’s cofounders. “Anybody around the country, and even outside the country, can call [844-LEAF411] for free as

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

by Will Brendza

often as necessary and speak to a cannabis-trained medical professional and get those specific answers to those specific questions that we know everybody has.” Whether you are brand new to the wide world of weed, a seasoned cannabis veteran or something inbetween, the nurses at Leaf411 have your cannabis questions covered. The Leaf411 website describes its trained staff as “passionate” about helping people get educational support around the safe use of legal cannabis. The new hotline is utilizing a software system that runs a virtual call center that can connect nurses with callers nationwide. The non-profit service has the potential to help a lot of people. It officially kicked off in October 2019 after Axcell and Leaf411’s other co-founder, Katherine Golden, recognized the widespread need for medically based cannabis education. At the time, both had been

I

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

working for a cannabis clinician. “That was the catalyst for Leaf411,” Axcell says. “We’re so excited to be fully operational and up and running.” Since opening, the nurses at Leaf411 have been answering questions that span the spectrum from mild to absurd. “We’ve had everything,” Axcell says with a chuckle. “You name it, and we’ve answered just about every type of question.” From strain-specific inquiries to questions about first-time usage; they’ve helped people identify random pot products friends gifted them; talked people through edible-induced freak-outs; and, of course, guided people on how to use cannabis to treat pain, anxiety or depression. “Unfortunately, our country is in pain both physically and emotionally,” Axcell says. “And so that’s usually the number one question, they’ve got either a physical pain or they’ve got an emotional pain and they want to try something that’s more plant-medicine-based.” Since March, Leaf411 has seen an uptick in calls, Axcell says. These are stressful times, people are anxious, they’re losing sleep, and they’ve got the free time to try something new to treat their symptoms, she explains. But the service doesn’t just serve cannabis users. During the recent state-wide shutdown for COVID-19, the nurses at Leaf411 helped cannabis dispensaries fine-tune sanitation protocols, answered questions about proper medical mask and glove use, and guided dispensaries on how to best protect employees throughout the pandemic. “We’re just trying to do our part, specifically from the medical-professional side of things to support our industry, support our communities and be available for anyone who needs us,” Axcell says.

I

37

Happy Labor Day Boulder! IN APPRECIAT ION OF AL L YOUR HARD WORK

119 Mix & Match $

Ounces

nuhi sugar wax & shatter 4G for

$50

$5.00 PRE-ROLLS $7.00 KIEF PRE-ROLLS

2 FOR 1 WYLD GUMMIES

65 Mix & Match $

Half Ounces 20% OFF APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES

Text JOIN THC to (720) 513-3543 for Deals and Promotions

ORDER ONLINE WITH OUR LIVE MENU

www.thchealth.com

OUR FLOWER OUR QUALITY YOUR LOW PRICE Rec 21+ Happy Hour: Tues-Sat 8-9 am/pm, Sun & Mon all day long!

537 Canyon Blvd. Boulder, CO ALL SALES VALID 9/3/20 - 9/7/20

LOST DOG “Peanut”

ALL TOP SHELF BUDS. NO STRAIN RESTRICTIONS. ONE TIER PRICING.

We are all about

30 pounds, 11 years old. White with tan spots Last seen on 8/29/20 at 1pm near Lashley and S. 40th St. (no collar or tags) Call/text Alison and Ben:

ORDER ONLINE WITH OUR LIVE MENU - WWW.THCHEALTH.COM

Available Now!

VALID SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 7

537 Canyon Blvd. Boulder, CO • 720-532-8664 • www.thchealth.com • 21+

970-342-0002 or 970-372-8010

Apartments at Winter Park Base with Village access. Available units: studio, two bedroom, two bedroom plus den. $1500 - $3500 970-531-7670 Chillrentalwinterparkcolorado.com Chillwinterparkcolorado@gmail.com

$1000 CASH REWARD NO QUESTIONS ASKED #BRINGPEANUTHOME

Help Wanted The Health Center, an award winning dispensary, is hiring for a Full Time Budtender at our Boulder location! We are looking for a highly motivated and dependable person with a MED Support or Key Badge. 21+. Prior experience preferred, but not necessary. Hourly +Tips. Please send a copy of your MED badge and resume to boulderemployment@thchealth.com.

See our ad below

“Cannabis Corner” on page 37

Vote for us Best Seafood in Best of Boulder East County

Cleanest Artisan Cannabis & Extracts Naturally-grown award winning flower since 2009

(720) 630-8053 • 11am-9pm

Atlas Valley Center, SW corner of Arapahoe and 95th

www.eatreelfish.com

Featuring fresh drops of the best concentrates in Colorado EVERY DAY! 5420 Arapahoe • Unit F • 303.442.2565 • www.boulderwc.com Now open til 8p Thurs, 9p Fri & Sat, 6p Sun, 7p Mon-Wed

Met Your Soul Drum Yet? HAND DRUMS, DRUM SETS, AND LESSONS FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES.

PEARL STREET MALL - BOULDER 303.444.1564

HELPINGHANDSDISPENARY.C0M

$25 OFF All Recreational Ounces! 20% OFF Canyon Cultivation! LYONS

Order Online - Quick, Easy Curbside Pickup

BUDDEPOTDISPENSARY.COM