Surf ‘N’ Turf tacos during The process of searching to see what was open and what they were doing for this issue motivated us to hit up Surf N’ Tacos, a food truck we’d never tried before

Bad ideas 101: Let’s conduct a Faygo taste test [ drink]

Whoop whoop, my ninjas.

On a recent trip through Mancos, we noticed the P & D Grocery carries around seven different flavors of Faygo soda. Naturally, we bought the six flavors they had in stock and decided to conduct a little taste test.

What’s that? You’ve never heard of Faygo? Let us fill you in.

Founded in 1907 as the Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works, Faygo was created by Russian immigrants Ben and Perry Feigenson. The Detroit-based soda manufacturer is said to have based their original three flavors – fruit punch, strawberry, and grape – on family cake frosting recipes.

In the early 1990s, Detroit hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse referenced the hometown soda brand in a number of their songs. At a show in 1993, Violent J (one half of the duo) threw an open bottle of Faygo at members of the audience who were flipping him off. For whatever reason, this got a positive response from the concert-goers. Since then, “Faygo Showers” – spraying each other with Faygo (and ostensibly drinking it as well) has become a popular practice among Juggalos and Juggalettes, the clown-faced fans of the music group. Like virtually everything that happens at their annual Gathering of the Juggalos, it’s delightfully gross.

The soda was crazy cheap at $.75 per 20 ounce bottle, and since we don’t see it that often, we decided to see what the big deal was. We originally envisioned our test would feature a panel of experts, but thanks to the coronavirus and social distancing, we had to settle for one bored guy isolated in his house. (We aren’t taking ICP member Shaggy 2 Dope’s advice of eating dirty snow to stave off infection.) Here’s what we found:

Nick Gonzales/DGO » » Long before it was co-opted by the Insane Clown Posse, Faygo was founded by two Russian immigrants over a century ago.

Faygo Cola: Smelling just a bit like damp cardboard, this one didn’t taste like most mainstream cola brands. If we had to choose its closest cousin, it’d probably be RC Cola, but the Faygo version lacked any sort of a bite. It was mostly just a weak interpretation of what a cola Continued on Page 9

Ska Brewing hard seltzers should be a virtual happy hour staple during the COVID-19 crisis

One of the many staples of the coronavirus experience is virtual happy hours. If you’re not doing them already, please start living your best life and get on it. It’s a great way to feel like you’re hanging out with friends and to show off whatever happens to be in your sad coffee mug that evening — be it wine or just straight tequila. Whatever floats your boat.

During a rare grocery store run, we happened to run across a variety pack of Ska Brewing’s hard seltzers recently released to the masses. Because of our many, many upcoming virtual happy hours (we’re very popular, OK?!), we found ourselves adopting one of the boxes and bringing it home with us for said happy hour purposes. Not only that, but we also needed to lay off the beers.

We dedicated many a hour sipping on these in our living room, and decided it was about time the world knew our hard seltzer thoughts.

Blood Orange

I was bracing myself for this drink to be a lot sweeter than it was, but if you’re the type of person who gets nauseous just looking at a can of blood orange hard seltzer because you can imagine how sickeningly sweet it probably is, think again. Ska does a good job of walking that line and holds back on overloading it with sugar. It has just enough of an orange essence to keep you reaching for another can without feeling guilty. Besides, how can you look yourself in the mirror after saying “no” to blood-orange flavored anything?

However, as a sugar fiend, I would not mind another 9897324823 grams of sugar with my hard seltzer. OK, OK, I know that’s not the point of hard seltzers, but let me have this!

Hibiscus Lime

While I am a fan of lime, I was a bit nervous about popping open this can. Obviously I will consume anything at this point, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect with this one, and I found myself pleasantly surprised by this one.

Turns out, hibiscus lime is a great pairing with the bitterness of hard seltzer. The two, we found, go together like a booze-dipped peanut butter and jelly sandwich, just with a lot less sugar and carbs. It had a nice bite to it, with a lime-flavored aftertaste that kept me

awake for these late-night virtual happy hours.

Black Raspberry

This was my personal favorite of the whole bunch. Not gonna lie, I thought my favorite was going to be blood orange, but I instead found myself immediately finishing off these cans first out of the bunch. This one was a total winner in my book.

I love the cool, tart flavor of raspberry, and the longer I drank these cans, the smoother they got. Out of all the flavors, I felt that black raspberry emerged the most between each sip. There was no mistaking this fruity flavor, which is simultaneously not overpowering for those who can’t say “no” to fruity drinks. — Amanda Push

Trying out Surf N’ Tacos turf-ier fare during a time of restaurant chaos The al pastor pork tacos transported us somewhere tropical [ eat]

For many Colorado foodies, and those in food service, the coronavirus restrictions felt uncomfortably close to home when Governor Jared Polis shut down all restaurants for dine-in service. A large percentage of the affected eateries have pivoted toward delivery and take-out options, while others have closed entirely, hoping to reopen when the epidemic has passed. There was, however, an entire category of restaurants that didn’t have to change business quite as much: food trucks.

The process of searching to see what was open and what they were doing motivated us to hit up Surf N’ Tacos, a food Nick Gonzales/DGO » Did you know tacos al pastor came to exist thanks to Lebanese immigration to Mexico? Now you do.

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» Surf N’ Tacos had its grand opening in August 2019. Last we saw it, it was parked at Durango Kia on the south end of town.

truck we’d never tried before.

We caught up with the food truck on a Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of Durango Kia, 1195 Carbon Junction, across Highway 55 from Walmart. As you can probably guess from the name, the taco truck has a flair for seafood. Its owners, Jorge & Emily Gutierrez, are a husband-and-wife team who came to Durango from San Diego. The truck’s grand opening was Aug. 7 of last year.

When we visited, the eatery was out of aquatic proteins, and that development stopped us from ordering fish tacos or ceviche. It wasn’t that much of a loss, though, because they still had spit-roasted pork for tacos al pastor. So, that’s exactly what we got, in a combo with rice and beans. And a Jarritos.

The tacos were true to their style, featuring marinated pork, diced pineapple, onion, cilantro, medium-heat salsa, and guac sauce served on corn tortillas. From Spanish for “shepherd style,” tacos al pastor were created as a Mexican take on lamb shawarma brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In fact, in the early 2000s, tacos al pastor re-influenced Middle Eastern food in the form of shawarma mexici – chicken marinated al pastor-style and served wrapped in a flatbread. Globalism is fun (when it isn’t allowing COVID-19 to ravage the entire planet).

Surf N’ Tacos’ pork was very tastily seasoned (that achiote/annatto flavor – yes, please) and just a little bit spicy. The presence of the diced pineapple in the tacos, and probably the marinade, hit the spot perfectly, mentally transporting us hundreds of miles to somewhere tropical and warm. The guac sauce and lime juice we squeezed onto the tacos added to the effect. Like the majority of living humans, we’re starting to think we need a quarantine-free vacation somewhere that serves drinks garnished with little umbrellas.

Just two tacos was a surprisingly filling meal, so we could probably have gone without the rice and beans. There was nothing wrong with the sides, but they don’t necessarily add anything to the flavor experience.

We’ll almost certainly be back for more, especially because we’re still intrigued by the taco truck’s “surf”-ier menu items, the fish tacos. And our interactions with the couple who own Surf N’ Tacos were a pleasant island in a sea of social distancing. — Nick Gonzales

Social Distance Powwow takes indigenous gatherings and traditions into cyberspace Multi-platform group has members in the hundreds of thousands [ lifestyle]

The coronavirus pandemic is a truly global problem, and Native American communities aren’t immune to the effects of social-distancing efforts to “flatten the curve” of the virus’ spread. The same restrictions that have banned or greatly limited public gatherings have also canceled and postponed events like powwows, including the massive Gathering of Nations that would have been held in Albuquerque from April 23-30.

This hasn’t put a complete kibosh on opportunities for indigenous peoples to share their cultures, though, and quite a few individuals are thwarting the virus by moving their celebrations into the digital realm.

The Social Distance Powwow, a Facebook group, was created on March 17 by Dan Simonds, a member of the Mashantucket Pequot, and has grown to over 115,000 members. Its stated mission is to provide a forum “for all to share their creator-given talents and be supported,” including vendors, dancers, and singers affected by the shutdown.

The group has also spread to Twitter and Instagram.

“The whole idea was to maintain that super important cultural connection while we are all having to do the exact opposite, being isolated and distancing,” Stephanie Hebert, one of the group’s administrators, told AZcentral. “It’s also to help protect those vendors, our emcees, our area directors, who may be losing a lot of business (and) who financially struggle when these events go away.”

Diane Holyan, a resident of Hogback, New Mexico, east of Shiprock, is one of many who are thankful for the group. A healthcare worker and jingle dancer, she posted a photo of herself in a jingle dress to the group. The caption spoke of Holyan’s gratitude toward the Ojibwa people for creating the dance and the personal meaning of the dress she was wearing, and it asked people to be careful about spreading the virus and requested prayers for the Navajo people as they face the pandemic.

Before disappearing into the sea of other posts, Holyan’s post received over 5,000 responses, all of which were positive.

“I made that post asking for prayers ... and they blew me away. My post went global ... I have people that messaged me from France, from all over. And I thought, ‘Wow, they’re praying for my people, and they’re praying for the whole world – it’s not just for my native people. It’s for everyone. We’re all in this together; it’s affecting us everywhere,’” she said.

While powwow ceremonies such as jingle dress dancing double as competitive sports, they also provide emotional and spiritual support to the communities. According to tradition, the jingle dance came to an Ojibwa chief in a dream as a means of healing his sick daughter, Holyan said.

Old-style jingle dresses, such as her Courtesy of Dianne Holyan » » Diane Holyan, a jingle dress dancer from Hogback, New Mexico, posted a photo of herself in one of her dresses to the group with a message of concern and healing. Like many of the posts to the group, it reached people around the world.

own, and dancing are done to mimic the original ceremony without adding anything too fast or fancy. Contemporary jingle dress dancers have added plumes and extravagant colors to their dresses, and graceful spinning and movements to the dances.

The dress Holyan wore in her photo also symbolizes healing for her – she commissioned the dress after the death of her father so that she could dance as part of her personal grieving process.

“It has really helped me because ... I love dancing, and that’s kind of helped my healing process,” she said.

Like Holyan’s post, the group contains thousands of other photos and videos of its members often showing off their regalia and dances. The crowd isn’t the only thing that the online powwow borrows from its in-person cousins. It also features a grand entry and general sessions with drummers and dancers streamed live in specific threads.

As of March 30, the group also has a marketplace where indigenous vendors can sell the wares they’d be bringing to gatherings any other year. Going forward, the group will be hosting themed weeks with topics such as storytelling, Native history, and traditional foods, as well as information from tribal communities throughout North America, Hebert said in a press release.

“Everything on there is for the people; it’s not for themselves, it’s not for them to show off what they have, what they can do. It’s for the people around the world ... sharing in the dances and their prayers,” said Holyan. “It’s amazing how through the internet we come together like that, even though we’re in our own homes.” — Nick Gonzales

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Our top five classic video games for exploring feelings of isolation [ recreation]

Feeling lonely because of coronavirus? Let’s get lonelier

With many states, including Colorado, under stay-at-home orders, it’s a great time to take up a new hobby or to do something creative. But you and I both know that’s probably not going to happen. We’re going to veg out in front of the TV, catch up on Netflix, and – if we’re lucky – read a book. If we feel like doing something active and engaging, we might boot up a video game console.

On March 20, the same week that the U.S. finally started paying attention to the devastation this virus causes, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It seems tailor-made for gamers self-isolating as a result of COVID-19. You can explore a small world, complete little tasks, decorate things, befriend anthropomorphic animals, and visit with your real-world friends – everything you need to destress instead of thinking about the end of the world.

On the other hand, though, many of us don’t play video games because we like being social. What if we really want to explore what it means to be isolated? Which games allow us to really explore the feeling of being alone in a time like this?

Here, in descending order, are our top five picks for classic games that come with a side of solitude: 5. Metroid Prime (GameCube, 2002)

The entire Metroid series follows bounty hunter Samus Aran as she fights Space Pirates who attempt to harness the power of parasitic Metroid creatures. The worlds are quite dark and foreboding, and Samus is often a silent protagonist unaided by allies of any sort. Prime, the first game in the series

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to give the player a first-person view as they explore Tallon IV with no other characters to converse with, is the first one in which the player really feels immersed in the world. The decaying ruins on the planet give it an extra eeriness and sense of foreboding.

4. Limbo (A bunch of platforms, 2010)

Incredibly dark and creepy, Limbo finds players controlling a boy as he tries to navigate a dangerous and monochromatic terrain where everything is out to kill him. The art style is very minimalist and feels like something German Expressionist filmmaker Fritz Lang would play if he were – you know – born a century later. The games’ puzzles aren’t ridiculously hard to solve and the game itself is relatively short. You could easily finish it in a single sitting if you really wanted to.

3. Shadow of the Colossus (PlayStation 2, 2005)

Frequently cited as one of the greatest video games of all time, Shadow of the Colossus has the player travel across a vast and quite empty expanse to hunt down a handful of giant creatures in an effort to bring a dead girl back to life. While the act of killing the colossi feels morally ambiguous at best, the moody soundtrack and long stretches of travel prod the player to engage in

quite a bit of self-reflection. The battles, though, feel epic in their own right.

2. Portal (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC; 2007)

Perhaps the most unique puzzle game of its time, Portal forces the player to use inter-spatial portals to manipulate physics in order to progress. The entire game takes place in a weapons testing facility and the only voice in the game is that of the villain, GLaDOS, who needles the player throughout. The game creates such a feeling of isolation that players develop an emotional attachment to the Weighted Companion Cube, an inanimate box with a heart on it.

1. Myst (PC, 1993)

While its trial-and-error puzzles can be incredibly frustrating, Myst does a great job of dropping the player into a world devoid of people, time constraints, or instructions of any sort. It was one of the first CD-ROM-based games, and while the very static graphics may not hold up today, it has been remade a number of times – always preserving its perfect feeling of solitary exploration. Completely without enemies, violence, or even obvious goals, it’s the perfect game to play when you just want to be alone and think. — Nick Gonzales