ON HIS BLISTERING NEW RECORD, GREGG DEAL FUSES PUNK, POETRY, POLITICS AND PROTEST
+ IN THIS ISSUE | NEW SPARK FOR NEGLECTED NORTH NEVADA | THE FALSE PROMISES OF URBAN RENEWAL | ON STAGE: A PLAYWRIGHT DROWNS IN GRIEF | A SWITCHBACKS PLAYER GUIDE
A Pikes Peak Media
Francis J. Zankowski
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ben Trollinger
REPORTERS Cannon Taylor, Noel Black and Andrew Rogers
CONTRIBUTORS
Rob Brezny, Lauren Ciborowski, Kandace Lytle and Tiffany Wismer
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Monty Hatch, Jacob Lonergan, Sidney Fowler, Carla Wink and Karen Hazlehurst
AD COORDINATOR
Lanny Adams
DIGITAL AND MARKETING MANAGER
Sean Cassady
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER
Kay Williams
Jennifer Caress | Credit: Sean Cayton
Annie Pieper | Courtesy: Annie Pieper
Blondie’s Gas Station | Courtesy Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
NEON TREES
TUESDAY, APRIL 15TH
Known for their catchy blend of pop and alternative rock, the band gained widespread recognition with their multiplatinum hit single “Animal.”
Neon Trees is celebrated for their energetic live performances, infectious hooks, and vibrant style. Subsequent hits like “Everybody Talks” and “Sleeping with a Friend” cemented their place in the modern pop-rock scene.
By J.W. ROTH
Editor’s note: J.W. Roth is co-owner of The Colorado Springs Independent. His opinions are his own and do not influence The Independent’s news coverage.
On November 3, 1969, President Richard Nixon coined the term “silent majority,” intent on shoring up support for an increasingly unpopular war.
Though the noisy antiwar movement had monopolized media coverage, Nixon believed most Americans supported the perpetuation of democracies abroad. He just had to draw them out.
“And so tonight, to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans, I ask for your support,” he appealed.
In identifying the silent majority, Nixon distilled an enduring dilemma in American democracy: what happens when a government for and by the people no longer represents the majority’s interests?
In cities like Colorado Springs, such inversions wreak havoc on the economic, social and cultural development we need to thrive.
Lasting, sustainable growth requires prolonged collaboration between governments, business owners and citizens. Local democracies facilitate these partnerships by giving citizens and businesses a way to communicate with the government and, in turn, giving representatives an accurate picture of how residents want their city to grow and change.
But democracy, as it relates to development, is only useful to the extent people
The silent majority in Colorado Springs
An exhortation away from apathy
participate. But, too frequently, people don’t participate. They don’t vote or attend community meetings. The closest they get to local politics is watching their neighbors duke it out on Nextdoor. com.
Sound familiar? You just might be in the silent majority. According to voting records , most citizens in El Paso County are.
Since 2019, only 38% of registered voters, on average, have turned out for local elections. Voters show exponentially more interest when state and national representatives are on the ballot, with a whopping 77% voter turnout in 2024. It’s not unusual for citizens to consider local happenings small potatoes compared to state and national issues — but it is a mistake. City and county goings-on are far more likely to impact residents’ everyday lives. When a silent majority forms in a city, the only people that weigh in on these key issues are the most vocal — or the most extreme.
In either case, political economist Andrew B. Hall tells the Stanford Business Journal , these voices generally do not represent the interests of the community.
“When there’s differential participation in [collective governance], we get the aggregated views of whoever has the strongest incentives to participate,” he says. “It [can] draw these extreme, unrepresentative people whose values don’t fit with the broader set of people who the policies are going to affect.”
I can personally attest to the veracity of Hall’s findings.
For months, Colorado Springs officials and I have been working with a group of vocal neighbors perturbed by the Ford
Amphitheater’s ambient noise production.
In community listening sessions dominated by this group, it’s easy to feel as though the city I love opposes a project I whole-heartedly believe will benefit it for generations to come.
But, according to a poll conducted by 6035 Strategies this January, a decisive majority of people in the Amphitheater’s district actually support it. Of the 75% of participants with an opinion on the project, more than two-thirds (67%) favored the venue.
The input and involvement of silent citizens could change our city’s approach to issues that affect us every day — including housing, zoning, public infrastructure and policing.
In that spirit, I exhort the silent majority in Colorado Springs to come out of hiding and help us build a healthy, vibrant city — not out of desperation, but voluntarily, out of love for our community.
I do not mean to suggest every citizen become a pundit or run for office themselves. Instead, I propose Colorado Springs return to a culture of civic engagement like the one Alexis de Tocqueville observed in 1831.
“It often happens that the English execute very great things in isolation,” the French political scientist wrote in his renowned, Democracy in America, “whereas there is scarcely an undertaking so small that Americans do not unite for it.”
De Tocqueville believed these partnerships led to America’s success. Citizens’ collaboration and civic-mindedness, he argued, allowed localities to solve
problems, build infrastructure and enrich their communities in ways even the most specialized governments could never match.
De Tocqueville went on to caution readers against the impulse to pull away from public life.
“Among democratic nations, all citizens are independent and weak;” he wrote. “They can achieve almost nothing by themselves…Therefore, they sink into a state of impotence if they do not learn to help each other voluntarily.” It seems to me that Colorado Springs has fallen into this trap. On crucial issues of development, I’ve personally observed the monopoly a few bold voices hold over the conversation. Other, more temperate perspectives, have been lost to fear, or apathy, or perhaps a little of both.
But our city does not have to stay in this place. You, a member of the moderate many, can choose today to engage in local politics and development — be it by taking ten minutes to acquaint yourself with our city councilors, subscribing to a local newspaper (I’m partial to the Colorado Springs Independent ) or acquainting yourself with businesses and projects starting in your area.
I don’t mean to suggest this process will be easy. Exercising personal responsibility rarely is. You might have to rub elbows with people you disagree with or tune out an aggressive neighbor. You will likely have to sit through a meeting or two that you find uninteresting.
But the rewards exponentially outweigh the challenges. Luckily, I’ve never known the people of Colorado Springs to shy away from hard things. n
OEfforts underway to bolster, beautify neglected industrial corridor with economic development plan Renewing Nevada
By RAVEN SANCHEZ
n March 7, a nine-member panel from the Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services Program presented suggestions that centered around turning the North Nevada Avenue Corridor into a community growth hub. Their study and suggestions focused on revitalizing the industrial area of Nevada Avenue between Garden of the Gods Road and Fillmore St.
One of the overarching recommendations from the Urban Land Institute (UIL) was to lean into opportunity areas that promote economic growth in Colorado Springs. They introduced the idea of creating a mixed-use “innovation neighborhood,”
featuring clusters of arts and entertainment spaces, social areas, and other neighborhood and business amenities. It would also serve as a center for cyber engineering, defense, aerospace and medical research.
The panel also recommended increasing affordable housing in the area and working to offer more housing options for University of Colorado at Colorado Springs students.
John Olson, who is co-chair of Southern Colorado’s ULI chapter and chair of the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority (CSURA), reflected on the panel’s affordable housing suggestions and their thoughts on the corridor’s mobile home parks.
“One of the things that I thought was quite interesting from the conversation was really embracing and figuring out how to maximize and utilize the mobile home parks, and how do we embrace that affordability aspect into our community,” Olson said.
The panel encouraged the city to collaborate with local partnerships to foster community talent, support research efforts and work within economic growth areas. To embrace sports performance technology opportunities, the panel suggested collaborating with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to establish new facilities and programs. They also proposed partnering with city-wide hospitals to support health and wellness
research.
The presentation also encouraged maximizing the city’s partnership with UCCS to develop local talent through educational opportunities and connect the area with the university’s downtown space.
Jariah Walker, who is also co-chair of Southern Colorado’s ULI chapter and the executive director of the CSURA, said economically, “that area is very important to UCCS, and UCCS is very important to this community.” He sees a need to figure out how to integrate students and local talent into the revitalized area while making it distinct and complementary to its surroundings.
Erin Welch stands for a portrait in front of her business, RAD Hostel, one of 15 hostels in the state. | Credit: Ben Trollinger
Council President pro tem and Chair of the Local Panel Committee Lynette Crow-Iverson expressed her eagerness to collaborate with project partners and stakeholders that recognize the corridor’s potential in a public statement.
“I’m excited to see what bringing forward this shared public-private partnership could do in support of economic vitality, housing and improved safety.”
For each of their studies, Walker said the ULI selects members for the panel based on their areas of expertise and experience with similar development projects in other communities.
The panel spends a week getting to know the area and engaging with the community through focus groups, interviews, meetings, tours and data analysis. The week ends with a presentation of their recommendations, followed by a published written report weeks later, after further analysis.
The ULI panel’s study of the area isn’t the first. The city had its most recent master plan for the North Nevada Corridor approved in 2017, which outlined development processes and opportunity areas.
The panel recommended creating an independent group to help the city act on future plans, prioritize, make decisions and solve problems. They also recommended exploring multiple funding avenues, strategies and tools to find financial resources.
Walker said CSURA, a group of land use industry professionals that work on curing blight and revitalization, has focused on the area for years. Their webpage on the North Nevada renewal project notes that development plans began in 2004, and University Village construction began in 2008.
It also notes that the area will experience “gradual redevelopment,” and that the plan offers “significant opportunities for commercial development.”
Several business owners think this proposed commercial development will affect their presence in the area and hope the changes have positive impacts.
Martin Davidson, co-owner of KaPow Comics & Coffee, sees CSURA’s vision. He and his business partner and sister, Laura Davidson, chose the shop’s location partially because of its visible spot in a
high-traffic area.
Davidson thinks this renewal project could have long-term visibility benefits for businesses that depend on the project’s timeline. He has observed that the University Village’s updated feel draws “all kinds of people” to its shops.
“It’s a matter of how long it could take and what it’s going to be like in the years where they’re doing all the work,” he said.
Erin Welch is the owner of RAD Hostel, which provides lodging for international tourists and operates out of an early 1950s building within a cluster of hospitality businesses.
While she is unsure if RAD Hostel will remain in the long-standing building once the area is revitalized, she thinks it could relocate successfully if needed, as the city has “a great market for a hostel.”
Welch also said she and RAD Hostel’s guests want to see changes to the area’s roads.
“I’ve even had guests who’ve left reviews that they’ve loved our space, and they had a great time, but the road getting into the property is so terrible,” she said.
Richard Mulledy, the Public Works Director for the City of Colorado Springs,
said in a public statement that improving infrastructure like this “will spur economic vitality” in the area.
“Improved infrastructure means safer roads and improved connectivity,” he wrote. “The stormwater project ensures people and property in the area are protected. Both stormwater and roadway work could lead to an increase in housing in the corridor, another important factor in supporting economic vitality in Colorado Springs.”
The panel’s suggestions for improved connectivity included providing frequent public transportation options, especially that connect UCCS and downtown.
David Lippincott, the president of the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation, said the museum has spent years working to add to the connectivity options by establishing streetcar services. He hopes they can acquire property in the area for staging, which could lead them to “put tracks in the streets, eventually to around downtown.”
As an Old North End resident, Lippincott also thinks other residents would “be very pleased to see further development.”
In neighborhoods within the area,
residents hope to see more commercial development and cleanup.
Ted Travis, a long-time Cragmor neighborhood resident, wants to see the revitalization bring more commercial additions and small businesses to the area with job opportunities.
Sue and Alan Sindler, who have lived near Roswell Park for over 30 years, want more grocery stores and businesses “that young people enjoy going to” closer to their neighborhood. Sue Sindler especially appreciates places like the restaurants and shopping complex located in what was formerly Lincoln Elementary School.
Sue and Alan Sindler also support the city’s plans to restore the Monument Creek and Pikes Peak Greenway Trail area. Additionally, they hope the city addresses residents’ concerns with the corridor’s homeless population.
While the project is only in its early stages, John Olson, the chair of the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority, said that he and other community members can already see the corridor’s potential, noting its future “is not only really important, but it’s going to be special.”
Cyclist attempts to cross North Nevada Ave. | Credit: Ben Trollinger
Public patronage Downtown Colorado Springs uses state funds to strengthen creative businesses
by ANDREW ROGERS • andrew.rogers@ppmc.live
The Colorado Office of Economic Development introduced the Community Business Preservation Program at the end of 2023 to strengthen the operations of locally owned businesses facing possible displacement.
The Downtown Partnership was one of eleven organizations statewide to receive grant funding to support businesses in the downtown area’s Creative District.
“Downtown is in an exciting time of growth and investment, but this can also lead to our small business and experiencing displacement pressure,” said Michelle Mitchell, creative district manager for Downtown Colorado Springs.
The state provided a total of $172,000 in grant funding for developing the six businesses within the Creative District: Auric Gallery, Bosky Studio, Icons,
ICONS bar downtown. | Credit: Andrew Rogers
Ladyfingers Letterpress, Shuga’s and Yobel.
LIKE A PHOENIX
The grant funding can be used to upgrade or purchase new equipment, increase efficiency, improve property and in some cases, offset relocation expenses.
This is how both Icons and Yobel used their funds, as the two businesses were impacted by a kitchen fire from a neighboring business in downtown’s historic Majestic building on Bijou between Tejon and Cascade, in December 2023.
Icons, an LGBTQ nightclub with a staff of singing bartenders and staff, used the funds to purchase a new location, a block to the east of the original location and to provide the necessary renovations to the former office building to not only fit its needs but also expand its offerings to customers.
“The grant provided funds for our flooring and countertops. Aside from the tangible benefits, being selected for this grant reaffirmed the city’s commitment to unique artistic spaces,” said Josh Franklin-Wolfe, co-owner of Icons.
The Bijou location was constantly at or near capacity, and Icon’s new Kiowa
location can prove a larger and better space for both staff and patrons. Yobel, a boutique featuring ethically sourced, free-trade goods, also used the grant funding to relocate into a permanent retail space.
“Historically, they’ve also hung local art above their retail displays in their space under the name the Lookup Gallery and have been an active participant in First Friday art walks,” Michelle Mitchell said. “After a successful pop-up in a new location in December, the business is using grant funds for tenant improvements and is set to reopen in April of this year. The new, larger space will support an expansion of their retail business and include a dedicated gallery space, artist studios and the ability to support experiential retail events.”
EXPANDED OFFERINGS
Other downtown creative businesses are using the state grant funds to help bolster their collections and, in turn, more deeply enrich the arts community in the city.
Auric Gallery was recently formed from a 2024 merger of two existing art galleries in town, the Kreuser Gallery and G44 gallery. The space has already become a mainstay on First Friday art walks and is known for its top-notch exhibits along with a nurturing and welcoming atmosphere for local artists.
“Auric is an important part of downtown’s creative ecosystem,” Mitchell said. “Grant funds have been used to support new branding, tenant improvements and investment in the curation arm of the business.”
The Downtown Partnership says that they are continuing to look for new and innovative ways to connect the creative businesses in the city’s center to ensure that the corridor remains a vital and fertile investment space for small businesses.
“The downtown team knows that our local businesses are an essential part of what makes Colorado Springs special … The passionate innovation that these owners pour into their businesses is inspiring, and we’re excited to see how they continue to grow and evolve,” she said.
The Auric Gallery. | Credit: Andrew Rogers
The Trolley Block downtown. | Credit: Andrew Rogers
SITES
UNSEEN
By JOHN HARNER
Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of a column from John Harner, professor of geography at University of Colorado Colorado Springs and the author of “Profiting from the Peak: Landscape and Liberty in Colorado Springs.” In each installment, Harner will explore the hidden, “relict” history of our fair city. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
All cities and towns, no matter their size or economic specialties, serve what geographers call a central place. This means they provide goods and services to their surrounding hinterland, or the rural areas around those towns. People come to their nearby small town for regular mundane functions: groceries, gas, health care, etc. They go to larger cities for more specialized services, maybe to hire a lawyer, see some medical specialist, or perhaps catch an event at a theater or sports arena. Before the era of suburbanization that started over a century ago, it was the downtown that provided those services. Some of you may remember when Colorado Springs had Hibbard and other downtown department stores, the Gart Brothers sporting goods or the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Cities tended to be dense because many people walked as their primary means of transportation, and they were characterized by mixed uses: stores, food, housing, maybe light manufacturing, all in close proximity.
The popularity and proliferation of private automobile ownership ushered in suburbanization, now at its extreme in what we call urban sprawl. Americans were sold the California dream of outdoor living in single family homes, spread
The false promises of urban renewal
far and wide in privatized spaces, all accessible via cars. Manufacturers and other businesses also fled the city to the suburb, where land was cheap and large factories could grow in size and benefit from economies of scale. But suburbia was not accessible to everybody — Black Americans often had no means to move and racist covenants intentionally excluded Black people from purchasing homes in many suburbs. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) institutionalized racism when it mapped cities to show bankers risky or safe neighborhoods to issue mortgage loans. Redlining ensured no mortgages would be awarded in the downtown Black neighborhoods. The suburban dream amounted to white flight from the city, as people with more means and privileges sought out areas with new schools surrounded by people that looked like them. The result in inner cities was the rise of the urban ghetto, zones of neglect with no jobs and no new investment. A national trend hollowed out urban cores across the country.
Along with prolonged suburbanization, the decline of American manufacturing from global competition in the 1970s meant downtowns suffered even more as the few remaining factories closed and blue-collar jobs disappeared. By the 1990s, cities had to reinvent themselves, now as centers of entertainment and consumption, capitalizing on their historic landscapes of walkable streets, brick warehouses and old factories, waterfronts or colonial charm. Early examples were the French Quarter in New Orleans, the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Faneuil Hall marketplace in Boston and LODO in Denver. Cities with these historic landscapes, built during the pre-automobile era with human scales that encourage interaction and exploration, are today’s winners, offering excitement at clubs, restaurants, boutique stores and loft apartments.
Colorado Springs has some of these. Indeed, The American Planning Association of Colorado named Tejon Street as the “Great Streets” 2020 winner of the Great Places Colorado program. But we also lost not only many iconic buildings like the Burns Theater, but entire blocks where today we often have empty surface parking lots. Most disturbingly, much of this was not the result of individual property owners or land developers, but
a concerted, planned effort by the city. Prior to recognizing the potential for entertainment districts in historic mixeduse spaces, Colorado Springs planners adhered to a philosophy of modernism, a belief in human progress through science and rational thought. With hopes for a timeless new world order that emphasized functionality, modernism sought to break from the shackles of the past, to liberate humanity from the chains of superstition and the rigidities of tradition inherited from the old European world. The belief was in a bright new future for humanity based on human intellect and technological progress. In architecture, this translated into forms that emphasized sleek, efficient functionality, removing ornamental frills and wasteful additions that serve no purpose, and relying on the use of new building materials such as glass and steel on large scale projects. A national trend called urban renewal charted the path to address decaying downtowns: What better way to deal with urban decay than to wipe it away, create a bold new future with institutional structures that signify progress? Clean, pure, simple, rational, functional — that is what was needed in the downtown! Throughout much of urban America in the 1960s and 1970s, the
modernist zeal for urban renewal meant wholesale destruction of the dense urban fabric that grew organically over decades, to be replaced with large scale, institutional structures occupying entire city blocks.
The old blocks with small businesses and outdated, organic architectural oddities were considered urban blight — leftover spaces of decay that detracted from an imagination of a bright new future. As the national craze for urban renewal swept city planners, by no coincidence, the landscapes deemed “blighted” were usually minority neighborhoods with low-income housing and small businesses — witness Chavez Ravine in L.A. that became Dodger Stadium, the former barrio that is now Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, or Hispanic Auraria in Denver that became the CU Denver campus.
Colorado Springs was no exception and targeted the “blighted” sections of the city south of Colorado Avenue, the historic Black business district, for renewal. The blocks from Sierra Madre Street to Weber Street south of Colorado Avenue, with a plethora of shops, businesses and housing, were bulldozed. In the heart of this zone was the Cotton Club, Fannie May Duncan’s successful music venue with
FHA map for preferred mortgage investment areas in Colorado Springs, 1936. Red is commercial, blue (Old North End) is preferred areas for banks to issue mortgage loans, green (Shooks Run, Old Colorado City) are secondary zones, yellow (south downtown, inner west side, industrial areas) are high risk areas.
the slogan “Everybody Welcome.” It was razed in 1975. Today the city’s legacy to urban renewal are numerous county office buildings, the Pikes Peak Center, the Sun Plaza, the County Courthouse and Plaza of the Rockies — large institutional structures that certainly created a clear break from the past and embraced supposed rational progress. The scale and use of these buildings kill street activity as they present an imposing, sterile face to the pedestrian with limited access and monotonous walls lining the city block. Displaced from their homes and small businesses were much of the downtown Black community. Just walk south on Tejon Street and anybody can see that our vibrant pedestrian zone abruptly halts at Colorado Avenue as you are suddenly confronted by urban renewal projects. Shops again pick up in the gentrified Trolley Block, but that requires walking four blocks past county buildings, the judicial complex and parking garages — a huge disconnect from the main entertainment zone. The Cotton Club and the many other shops in the smallscale buildings that once fostered human
interaction were sacrificed for the vision of a clean urban future. Large, impersonal institutional structures sit where once stood shops, clubs, houses and businesses — the stuff that encourages human mingling and makes a commercial zone function.
If only planners in the 1960s and 1970s could have seen the value of small shops and diverse architecture that invites exploration on foot and had truly valued small independent business owners, they would never have destroyed the landscapes in the southern part of our downtown. While certainly many of the old Black neighborhoods had poorly constructed shacks and other self-built structures, wiping them clean rather than investing in upgrades illustrates institutional racism written large in the urban landscape. These blocks today would be thriving zones of activity, attracting people from around the country to a unique urban experience. Just think if our downtown could rival LODO for its ambiance, a place with character attracting both tourists and urban entrepreneurs. But hey, we have the Sun Plaza, in the style of a Second World War military fortress — what a great expression of modernity! ... CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
Figure 2: Entire city block of urban renewal, a pedestrian void zone on Cascade Avenue. | Credit: John Harner
Figure 5: Looking west from Nevada Avenue between Cucharras and Colorado, where once stood small businesses. | Credit: John Harner
Figure 6: Sun Plaza, West Colorado Ave, where the Cotton Club once stood | Credit: John Harner
Roots and gold leaf
An artist’s journey to Colorado Springs
by CANNON TAYLOR cannon.taylor@ppmc.live
Porta-potties were set up on the roof of San Francisco City Hall in 1998.
A group of five overall-clad workers from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades rubbed 24k gold squares into the building’s dome as the wind whipped their hair every which way. City Hall was undergoing renovations to make it more earthquake-resistant, and the union had been hired to help restore the dome’s gilding.
One member of that team, 24-year-old Annie Pieper, lost herself in the relaxing, monotonous work. She’d never worked with metal leaf, but its value and glimmering quality made her work feel important. After the job, the only question on her mind was, “What else can I do with this?”
Twenty-seven years later, Pieper gilded a wooden panel with copper leaf in her studio in Cottonwood Center for the Arts.
“When I’m preparing the art surface, I feel like it’s like a ritual. There’s something really tactile and pleasing about just doing it,” she explained. “I’ve probably done a square mile of this in my lifetime.”
Tiny, curly scraps of metal detritus could
be spotted in neat piles in her studio. The artworks from her latest exhibit, “LUSH,” leaned against walls. Even while working with precious metals and naming an exhibit for a word with connotations of richness, pleasure, sensuality and drunkenness, Pieper came across as incredibly humble, simply content to be sharing her craft with an interested audience.
Each work from “LUSH” is a wood panel gilded with different kinds of metal leaf, then adorned with oil paints depicting patterns from clothing and everyday objects.
“Circe’s Parasol” copies the pattern of a sky-blue parasol hanging from the ceiling in Pieper’s upstairs bathroom.
“Mata Hari” — named for the Dutch exotic dancer-turned-German spy — sets a strip of cloth from a “sexy, going-out-inmy-20s” dress against a rusting gold and green background.
References to history are abound in the exhibit. For example, “Times New Romanov” is inspired by the archaeological discovery of the remains of the last tsars of Russia in a shallow grave in the 1970s.
“We were on a camping trip once, above tree line, and near our campsite, there was this perfect circle of grass,” Pieper
elaborated. “There wasn’t a spring bubbling up out of it or anything. We were all just trying to guess why and how [it grew], and we all decided that the likeliest thing was that some large animal had perished there and made that patch of dirt really fertile.”
Thinking that, perhaps, a shallow grave like the last czars’ could produce a similar patch of vegetation, Pieper painted a circle of floral print against a metallic sea.
Pieper’s interest in history comes from her upbringing. Pieper — whose father worked for a company contracted by the Air Force — was raised in Germany. Her mother was always dragging Pieper and her sister to some new country or cathedral.
A class field trip to the Dachau memorial site was a particularly formative experience. Decades later, her family would receive a letter from a distant relative revealing that they had Polish and Jewish heritage, which had been intentionally obscured during the Holocaust.
Pieper’s rediscovery of her heritage frequently bleeds into her artwork. For example, “Matka,” a piece depicting a family of red-crowned cranes, is named for the Polish word for mother, and is inspired by Pieper’s feelings about her 16-year-old daughter eventually leaving the nest.
“We moved around so much. I never really felt like I had a place that I was from, or a neighborhood or a group of people. We weren’t religious. It was just my me and my mom and dad and sister, and all our weird little things,” said Pieper.
WHERE: Auric Gallery, 125 E. Boulder St.
WHEN: First Friday, April 4 through Friday, April 25
WEBSITE: auricgallery.com
When Pieper was in the eighth grade, her family moved from Germany to Colorado Springs.
“It was like living in a magical fairy land, and then living here, it just sucked,” she joked.
Pieper fled to Portland at the first chance she got, attending Reed College. She moved around for some time after graduating, eventually ending up in New Orleans.
When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Pieper and her husband lost many of their belongings and their jobs.
“Mayday,” a sea of solemn bunnies huddled together on rafts, surrounded by their floating belongings, was inspired by the experience.
When Pieper returned to Colorado Springs for the family support, she was surprised to find a city that had begun to flourish in her absence, with a vibrant, accessible arts scene to boot.
Pieper is now the education director at Cottonwood Center for the Arts, and “LUSH” is just the latest in a long line of gallery shows.
“You can just barely compete in a city where people are already established and already at the top of their game,” Pieper said. “But here, I feel like if you have an idea, you can just do it. I love that about the Springs.”
“Matka” | Credit: Annie Pieper
Annie Pieper in her studio in Cottonwood Center of the Arts | Credit: Ben Trollinger
DROWNING LESSONS
Jennifer Caress |
Credit: Sean Cayton
Aspecter haunts the birthday party. “What’s the saddest song you’ve ever heard that makes you think of me?” he asks.
Refusing to answer, Jessica pushes the emotion down. It’s supposed to be a happy day; she even made a cake. She responds by telling the spirit to make a wish; she’ll blow out the candles for him. Just don’t say the wish aloud, or it won’t come true.
The ghost locks eyes with Jessica and, unhinging an incorporeal jaw, utters, “I wish for my wife to have peace.”
Colorado Springs playwright Jennifer Caress doesn’t remember which year her ex-husband, Patrick, committed suicide.
“It’s all a blur. It was years, but I don’t know how many years,” Caress explained. “I purposefully didn’t hold onto the specific year that I left, or the year that he died, because people who have not been through it tend to not understand how this type of wound does not heal. So, if I said, it was 20 years ago, or 10 years ago, or five years ago, people would be like, ‘Oh, you’re still thinking about that?’”
Caress does know that Patrick’s death fell on March 16, a few months after they divorced. They had been together for 12 years.
On their 10th anniversary, Patrick proposed to Caress a second time, a sweet gesture that only made Caress think about how she couldn’t do it anymore. Still, she said, ‘Yes.’
“At that point in our marriage, I had essentially almost given up on everything, and I was not willing to stand up for myself anymore. I wasn’t willing to fight back anymore,” Caress explained. “He never said, ‘I would kill myself if you left me.’ We all just somehow knew.”
During her marriage, Caress wrote a monologue about loving an addict. The speaker relayed a metaphorical story about seeing someone’s arm waving for help from the center of a swimming pool. Diving in, she tugged on the submerged body, trying to bring it up for air. Then, she realized that the person she was trying to save was clutching onto a grate with his other hand, anchoring him to the floor.
Though he was crying out for help, he refused to be saved.
A few years after Patrick’s suicide, Caress stumbled across the monologue again. She had written plenty of novellas — primarily horror, sci-fi and dark comedy — and had been told by readers that her strength was dialogue.
She began writing a drama script called “The Pool.” The play premieres at the Three Leaches Theater in Lakewood, April 17-26.
“The Pool” is a ghost story following a woman named Jessica (played by Caress — who is primarily a film and improv actor — in her first theater role) navigating the aftermath of the suicide of her ex-husband, Phillip (played by Korbin Stein). The action mostly takes place in Jessica’s talk therapy sessions, which feel more like couple’s counseling with the constant interruptions from Phillip’s ghost. While the flavor of the script is bitter, it has a tender texture. Abrupt shifts in tone are frequent; Jessica and Phillip will hurl insults at each other in one scene before slow dancing or cracking jokes in the next.
The relationship between haunter and haunted becomes so symbiotic that it leads the therapist character to ask Jessica a difficult question: “Who are you without this trauma?”
It’s a question Caress has had to grapple with herself. She’s spent several years re-building a sense of identity, a constant yet fulfilling work in progress. She keeps having to give herself new permissions: to say no, to stand up for herself, to let people go.
When I interviewed Caress, I noticed how she quietly apologized for little things — everything from stumbling over a word to accidentally speaking at the same time as me. But I also noticed a message tattooed in cursive on her forearm: “I wrote my way out.”
Now, Caress is writing the way out for others. Often, she wants to pretend that it’s all fiction, but being starkly vulnerable about her experience has brought fellow survivors out of the woodwork.
Though Caress views “The Pool” as her penance, it could very well be someone else’s salvation.
“Don’t be the person holding onto the bottom of the pool, expecting
someone to try to save you to their own detriment. If you are the person trying to save the other person, and they’re not willing to save themselves, it’s time to walk away, consequences after that be damned,” Caress advised. “You can’t save yourself if you’re dying. At some point, you just have to wish love upon someone else and walk away.”
IF YOU GO
“The Pool” WRITTEN BY Jennifer Caress
DIRECTED BY Paul Rohrer
STARRING: Jennifer Caress, Korbin Stein, Gerrie Walker and Ryan Swanson
WHEN: Thursday, April 17 through Saturday, April 26, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Three Leaches Theater, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood
Jennifer Caress | Credit: Sean Cayton
3 WONDERCHILDREN
Friday, April 4 through Wednesday, April 26, Manitou Art Center, 513 Manitou Ave. Times vary. manitouartcenter.org
“Wunderkind” is a German word derived from the words for “wonder” and “child.” We all know them —baby-faced prodigies whose relative success in our fields creates an unnecessary feeling of insecurity that refuses to leave. The Manitou Art Center has hosted a juried exhibit for high school juniors and seniors for 26 years now. Be sure to visit the exhibit to see what these Pikes Peak wonderchildren have created.
4 FINDING BIGFOOT
Friday, April 18, The Black Sheep, 2106 E. Platte Ave., 8 p.m. blacksheeprocks.com
Saxsquatch’s natural habitat is YouTube, creating covers of the cantina song from “Star Wars,” “Get Lucky” and “Better Off Alone” in his woodland studio. But occasionally, he takes the stage, giving fans the opportunity to capture blurry concert photos of the elusive beast. The biggest mystery of Saxsquatch, though, is how he doesn’t die of heat exhaustion in that suffocating armor
8
1
GLIT TER AND GOLD
Saturday, April 12, The Black Sheep, 2106 E. Platte Ave., 8 p.m.
blacksheeprocks.com
Glam band Glitter Porn have been known to set up miniature models of Colorado Springs to be destroyed by a mosh pit of kaiju monsters. The last time I saw them, they went off the grid to escape the clutches of some otherworldly entity. But recently, I’ve been hearing cryptic whisperings as I fall asleep and catching glimpses of a Michael Myers-masked, pink-haired drummer out of the corner of my eye. In April, Glitter Porn will be celebrating the release of their debut album, “POLARI.” Local bands Moth Season, Broth and Solar Point will be opening at the album release concert. Be sure to come in your best clown regalia — I hear it’s going to be a circus.
Courtesy: Saxsquatch
I
12 LIMINALISM
Friday, April 4 through Wednesday, April 30, Bosky Studio, 17B E. Bijou St. Times vary. boskystudio.com
If you’ve ever visited an office or school at night, the emptiness may have crept up and unsettled you. These liminal spaces have been popularized in countless found footage TikTok videos. Typically, liminal spaces are manmade and indoors — but what if they weren’t? Artist Brett Andrus has painted a series of abandoned settings: an abandoned downtown, a road under construction and vast mountain ranges. Usually, the outdoors inspire us, but Andrus’ depictions raise questions.
9 EARTH TONES
Saturday, April 12, Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 N. Nevada Ave., 7:30 p.m. entcenterforthearts.org
AConcluding the Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble’s 32nd season is the concert “A Sense of Place: Reflections on Belonging.” The ensemble will perform “Walden Pond” by Dominick Argento in tribute to Earth Day. “This concert speaks to something deeply human — the need to belong, to find home not just in people, but in place,” said artistic director Deborah Jenkins Teske. “In honoring the natural world through music, we also reflect on our responsibility to it and to one another.”
13 BOARD TO DEATH
Friday, April 4 through Sunday, April 6, Memorial Hall, 606 Manitou Ave. Times vary. pikespeakgamers.com
THE DEAD STILL EAT
Saturday, April 12, Shutter & Strum, 2217 E. Platte Ave., 6 p.m. shutterandstrum.org
Artist Jasmine Dillavou’s “The Dead Still Eat” is a performance exploring the intersections of womanhood,
is “a
and
Just what, exactly,
p.m. pikespeakcenter.com In most contexts, if you see a neon sign
you should probably see a doctor; but at an iLuminate show, that’s par for the course. Dancers don black suits bordered by vibrant neon light strips. The resulting look is “stick figure gets into the Christmas decorations.” iLuminate had a chokehold on Hollywood in the 2010s, appearing on “Dancing with the Stars,” “The X-Factor,” “Good Morning America” and more.
10 NEGATIVE NELLIES
Friday, April 4 through Saturday, April 26, Cottonwood Center for the Arts, 427 E. Colorado Ave. Times vary.
cottonwoodcenterforthearts.com
Cottonwood Center for the Arts presents “OMISSION,” a juried exhibition focused on the negative. Finally, an exhibit that speaks to my pessimism about the world! …Wait, I’ve just been informed that “negative” refers to negative space, which, in the right hands, can be a good thing. What once pervaded the outskirts and backgrounds of artworks has now become the primary subject, allowing the viewer to gaze into the quiet emptiness.
14 SHOCK AND AWE
Friday, April 4 through Wednesday, April
It’s a
Anyone like me — one of four children, force-fed “Settlers of Catan” from a young age — knows that board gaming is an impenetrable hobby, passed down from generation to generation. Surely, some distant ancestors read the “Monopoly” rulebook, but most picked it up through an informed relative. Pikes Peak Gamers’ Board Game Convention is the ideal place to play board games with likeminded players instead of forcing your loved ones to play with you. The convention will also feature tournaments and a flea market.
113, 125 N.
for
by our
and
make our views any less stunning. During the month of April, Gallery 113 is featuring John McClusky’s awe-inspiring photography and Kim York’s intimate oil paintings. Be sure to catch them on First Friday.
Courtesy: PAGE Public Relations
Courtesy: Don’t Tell Comedy
Credit: Brett Andrus
Credit: John McClusky
30, Gallery
Tejon St. Times vary. gallery113cos.com
cliché
Coloradan artists to be inspired
natural landscape of mountain ranges
wildflowers, but that doesn’t
EXCLUSIVITY AWAITS.
ARTS&CULTURE .
DON’T LOOK BACK
W.I.P. IT
By LAUREN CIBOROWSKI
Orpheus had a hell of a few years. First, he falls in love with the beautiful Eurydice, only to have her die by snake. Then, he traipses to the underworld to try to get her back, striking a deal with Hades and Persephone, who agree to let her go as long as Orpheus doesn’t look back at her on their way out of there. I hate to spoil it for you, but back he looks, whoosh she goes, and Orpheus then wanders the earth playing emo lyre until he gets eaten by beasts and/or maenads. Maybe both? That’s a would-you-rather that I don’t want to play.
Although local painter Brett Andrus wields a paintbrush rather than a lyre, he’s been working through his own underworld scenario lately. In 2022, he wrapped up a year of chemo for a form of leukemia not often seen in 40-somethings. In that same month, he lost several people close to him. And then, last summer brought the spectre of divorce. But regardless, in this new body of oil paintings, said Andrus, he’s “taking time to understand that [he] can tell a story of hope and love in the face of hard times.”
“My work used to be a response to sadness and a way to be emotive and angry, but now I’m trying to find a way to work from a different space,” he said. This, says Andrus, is not just emotional catharsis, but a way to try to tell a “big-
ger story of perseverance, and show that joys can occur in the worst of times.”
When I first encountered Andrus and his paintings in 2007, he was working almost exclusively in the narrative figurative space. Since then, his oeuvre has broadened, and his technique is almost unrecognizably different. As someone who has been curating in this town for nearly 20 years, I’ve seen a lot of artists come and go, but I can’t recall seeing any artist improve as drastically as Andrus has, all through his own work ethic and dedication. It’s truly impressive.
His new show at Bosky Studio, “Meditations on Orpheus: A Reclamation of Liminal Spaces,” does have four figurative pieces, but the other fourteen are all landscapes and cityscapes, a subject that Andrus has been toying with for the past few years. The pieces feature places that are meaningful to Andrus, many of which he’s hoping to reclaim and remember differently.
In one, a construction-cone-littered city street corner sits bleakly. Another features a nearly Bierstadt-esque canyon, its facets and shadows carefully rendered. A brilliant sunset over south Union paradoxically illuminates a neighborhood of cookie cutter houses. The work is well-executed, but undeniably moody.
Treating Orpheus as a cautionary tale, Andrus is committed to not looking back, and his progress shows in this new body of work. The opening reception is Friday, April 4 from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm, and the show runs through the end of the month. Bosky Studio is located in the alley by Shame and Regret.
You need art. Art needs you. Lauren Ciborowski writes about the arts and music in every issue. W.I.P. stands for Works in Progress.
BEST BITES
128 S Tejon St. (Historic Alamo Building) 719-635-3536
326 N Tejon St. 719-228-6566
MacKenzie’s Chop House
Voted Best Power Lunch, Steakhouse, and Martini! Downtown’s choice for quality meats and mixed drinks. Open Monday-Friday 11:30am-3:00pm for lunch and 5pm every day for dinner.
MackenziesChopHouse.com
Tony’s Downtown Bar
Winners of 80+ Independent “Best Of” Awards in 25 years. A great Midwestern Tavern with warm beer, lousy food & poor service!!! Pabst, Leinenkugel’s, fried cheese curds, , walleye fish fry, cocktails, burgers, and more. 11am-2am daily. Happy Hour 3-6pm. GO PACK GO!
TonysDowntownBar.com
34 E. Ramona Ave. (S. Nevada & Tejon) 719-633-2220
Edelweiss
For 55 years Edelweiss has brought Bavaria to Colorado Springs! Using fresh ingredients, the menu invites you to visit Germany. Voted Gold Best German, Silver Dessert Menu, and Bronze Best Patio by Indy readers! Reservations and the menu can be found online at EdelweissRest.com
222 N Tejon St. 719-636-2311
Celebrating 50 years! Authentic Tex-Mex & Mexican fare in a contemporary Santa Fe-styled establishment. Across from Acacia Park Downtown. Award-winning queso, chili rellenos, and mean green chili. JoseMuldoons.com
112 N Nevada Ave. 719-377-5444
7140 N. Academy Blvd. 719-698-7002
Burnt Toast
Elevate your brunch with us. Local, non GMO and plenty of Gluten Free options. Soon to be world renowned Huevos Rancheros and favorites. Full breakfast cocktail menu and mimosa flights. GoBurntToast.com
José Muldoons
MUSIC
.
Raw deal
ON HIS BLISTERING NEW RECORD, GREGG DEAL FUSES PUNK, POETRY, POLITICS AND PROTEST
by CANNON TAYLOR • cannon.taylor@ppmc.live
The album “PO$T AMERICAN” begins with the sound of Gregg Deal thumping an animal-skinned hand drum. He opens his mouth and belts out the American Indian Movement’s intertribal song of protest — more specifically, a version performed by the band Blackfire.
It’s the most melodic vocal delivery you’ll hear from Deal, who tends to blend spoken word poetry with incensed, punk zeal on most Dead Pioneers tracks. Before recording “A.I.M.,” Deal hadn’t sung in that way in 20 years. His bandmates, apparently, were gobsmacked when they realized he could carry a tune.
Deal’s singing is soon overtaken by an ominous, fuzzy distortion. The sound was accomplished by connecting the drum’s contact mic to the War Pony distortion pedal created by NativeAudio.
The track goes silent as actor Michael Greyeyes recites a quote from John Trudell’s character in “Thunderheart”: “Sometimes, they have to kill us. They have to kill us because they can’t break our spirit.”
Then, the sound erupts into a different kind of protest music: the irate guitar and
pounding drums of punk rock.
‘BAD INDIAN’
Dead Pioneers began as an outgrowth of Deal’s 2022 performance piece “The Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy,” a memoir-style talk about his upbringing and musical influences.
Although Dead Pioneers is Deal’s first band, it’s far from his first artistic endeavor. Over a two-decade visual art career, his work has appeared everywhere from Colorado to Washington, D.C.
Colorado Springs residents probably know him best for “Take Back the Power,” the 80-foot-tall mural painted in downtown. It depicts Deal’s eldest child, Sage, in an Interrupters t-shirt, with a red handprint painted over their mouth in recognition of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.
“It was about representation in the easiest way possible. Like, Sage isn’t wearing regalia or feathers or beadwork. Sage’s hair is down, not bound up, and they’re wearing their favorite t-shirt for their favorite band,” Deal said. “You can see this in Dead Pioneers, because this is something I’m doing there as well … representing Indigeneity
Lee Tesche, Shane Zweygardt, Gregg Deal, Abe Brennan and Joshua Rivera of Dead Pioneers| Courtesy: Dead Pioneers
IF YOU GO
Dead Pioneers “PO$T AMERICAN” Album Release Show with Cheap Perfume, Spells, I Am The Owl
WHEN: Sunday, April 20, 8 p.m.
WHERE: Bluebird Theater, 3317 Colfax Ave., Denver
WEBSITE: bluebirdtheater.net
“PO$T AMERICAN” cover art | Courtesy: Dead Pioneers
without pandering my own cultural wares along the way.”
Deal’s first-ever performance piece, “The Last American Indian On Earth,” involved him donning culturally inaccurate Native American garb and going out in public to document reactions.
Deal writes about one of the encounters in Dead Pioneers’ first song, “Bad Indian,” which was written and performed as the conclusion of “The Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy.” A woman begged him to tell her his “real” Native American name. Deal provides a few contrived examples: “Grayskull” (a He-Man reference) and “Walking Eagle” (based on a joke about how the only time an eagle walks is when it really has to use the restroom).
The tongue-in-cheek, spoken word comedy left a lasting impression on audiences. Along with guitarists Joshua Rivera and Abe Brennan, bassist Lee Tesche and drummer Shane Zweygardt, Deal released a rapid-fire, 22-minute debut album in 2023.
“It kind of feels like we did [the first record] by accident,” Deal admitted. “The second record is more deliberate.”
Part of the evolution can be owed to the band members’ wealth of experience. For example, Brennan, a staple of the Denver scene, has been in bands that have opened for the Descendants, Soundgarden and Nirvana.
“I’m surrounded by musicians that know exactly what they’re doing,” Deal said. “They can hear things I can’t, and they can push me.”
Deal’s national art career also brings a lot to the table. It’s the reason why Dead Pioneers were recruited to open for Pearl Jam on tour; bassist Jeff Ament had purchased work from Deal before, and they became acquaintances afterwards.
In 2024, Ament recruited Dead Pioneers to headline the Big Sandy Pig Roast, a charity punk fest in his hometown in Montana. Ironically, the mascot of Big Sandy High School is the Pioneers.
WEIGHT OF RECORDS
The cover art for “PO$T AMERICAN” depicts a Native American cutting down a white settler.
The image comes from “The Others,” Deal’s series of reappropriated comic book depictions of Native Americans from the 1940s and ‘50s. For the exhibit, Deal added speech bubbles with lyrics from punk songs. The image on the cover was originally paired with a lyric from D.O.A.’s “That’s Progress”: “You’re evicted, time to leave / Don’t matter if your family’s lived here 30 years.”
The back cover and lyric sheet for the record were also designed by Deal and feature a plethora of Easter eggs, including cameos by actor Will Sampson and Deal’s mentor, James Luna. The lyric sheet depicts a row of books, providing listeners with suggested reading material, from “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi to a biography of Che Guevara. In an age where many labels lazily toss a black LP into a floppy cardboard sleeve, the design of Dead Pioneers’ second album is lovingly intentional, designed by a true discophile.
Deal collected records growing up in Utah but left them behind when his father kicked him out at 17.
Deal estimates that he moved no less than 25 times in the seven years before he got married. He carried that
lack of permanence with him into his 40s, never really unpacking and setting down roots.
It was Deal’s wife, Megan, who encouraged him to get back into record collecting, despite his initial anxiety about the venture.
Now, he’s accumulated eight boxes, each weighing 40 pounds and containing about 65 LPs. He’s currently in the middle of a move to a smaller home in Peyton, and moving his record collection was a bit of a workout.
CINEMATIC STEREOTYPES
Growing up in Park City, home of the Sundance Film Festival, movies were just as important as music in Deal’s family.
The influence shows in “PO$T AMERICAN.” Quotes from films like “Smoke Signals” and “The Outlaw Josey Wales” are sprinkled throughout the album, and there’s even a reference to Lily Gladstone’s Oscars snub in the humorously titled “My Spirit Animal Ate Your Spirit Animal.”
One track is an ode to Chief Bromden from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The character pretends to be deaf
MUSIC .
and mute for much of the film — the stereotype of a silent, stoic Native — but reveals he can speak when offered a stick of gum.
“Who would have known that him saying, ‘Juicy Fruit,’ would have changed the face of Native people in cinema from that point on?” Deal enthused. “It’s this incredible moment in cinema, because you just took that monolith, and you just brought him into the contemporary world.”
Deal’s favorite genre is the Western. He grew up on spaghetti Westerns, thinks “Unforgiven” is a marvel of cinema and can even get a little enjoyment out of “The Magnificent Seven.”
“The whole cowboy and Indian narrative, I resent significantly. But I think one of the weird things about westward expansion is nobody realizes that poor whites were being sacrificed for that expansion,” Deal said. “There’s some
interesting history there that I think would benefit a lot of Americans if they actually paid attention to it and not got so caught up in the romantic, nationalistic narrative of it — this sort of ‘land of opportunity’ thing. It was a terrible time.”
The second single on “PO$T AMERICAN,” “Mythical Cowboys,” addresses how many John Wayne and Kevin Costner films romanticize westward expansion and inaccurately or negatively portray Native Americans.
“We wrote that song, and we recorded it, and that night, I had a dream that Kevin Costner was really upset with me, and he wanted to give me a talking-to,” Deal laughed.
“We’re past the point of non-Native people telling our stories,” Deal asserted.
“You either need to invite a Native person to help inform those stories, or you just need to back away and let us tell the stories ourselves.”
WHO’S IMPORTANT
Beyond the treasure trove of film references, “PO$T AMERICAN” covers a lot of lyrical and instrumental ground.
“Pit Song” is a pummeling tribute to losing oneself at a punk show, and the self-titled “Dead Pioneers” keeps up the fast-paced energy with a hardcore bass groove and a reversal of the “Ten Little Indians” rhyme.
“Love Language” is a takedown of toxic masculinity, backed up by Petrol Girls’ Ren Aldridge, whose English-accented enunciation infuses sarcastic venom into every line.
In “The Caucasity,” Deal recalls being interrupted while speaking at a university by a student who inquired, “Why do you spend so much time complaining and not putting your energy into actually helping your people?”
Over a bouncy bassline and scratching,
skeletal guitar, Deal answers the question with outrage and a dash of humor, his voice filling with spite that nearly boils over by the end of the five-minute track.
In the moment, Deal asked the student whether he had ever learned about the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island by Native Americans, or the 1972 sitin at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. He hadn’t.
“As you’re sitting here saying that I’m complaining, I’m teaching you things that you don’t even know, and you’re not asking yourself why you don’t know them,” Deal said. “The omission of information is immediately telling you who’s important, and who isn’t.”
Many of the more somber tracks pull from Deal’s parental perspective.
The piano-backed “Bloodletting Carnival” is inspired by the traumatizing pressures put on children in America.
A scene from a Dead Pioneers performance in Denver. | Credit: Gregg Deal
MUSIC .
“One of the comments I saw during the Palestine protests at colleges was that they couldn’t believe how well these kids could build barricades, without realizing that this is the generation of kids that have been building barricades their entire life in preparation for school shootings,” Deal observed.
“Fire and Ash,” with its walking, synthetic bassline, pensive acoustic guitar and choked-up vocals, stems from Deal’s reaction to the death of non-binary high schooler Nex Benedict in 2024, and his own feelings as the parent of a nonbinary child.
Meanwhile, “White Whine” pulls from Deal’s own childhood as he teasingly clarifies that he doesn’t hate white people. The lyrics are inspired by a friend of a friend’s response to being invited to a Dead Pioneers concert: “I don’t feel like going to your show and feeling bad for
being a white guy.”
Deal then explains that his intent is not to make people feel guilty for immutable characteristics like their skin color or heritage, but to denounce white supremacy.
Growing up on the receiving end of racial bias from authority figures like his gym teacher, Deal thought that he was, somehow, a problem — a perception he didn’t shake for a long time.
“A lot of what I do is trying to write something that I would have wanted to hear when I was a kid,” Deal explained.
“I’m not as concerned about white folks’ feelings being hurt as I am about the Indigenous or Black or brown child feeling like they’re a problem.”
Dead Pioneers’ second album,“PO$T AMERICAN,” releases April 11 through Hassle Records.
Art from the lyric sheet of “PO$T AMERICAN” | Credit: Gregg Deal
Every Pet Deserves Tender Care
MUSIC .
THURSDAY, APRIL 3
The Browning, SWARM, The Defect, Thirteen Plagues | Metal. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 7 p.m.
Nefesh Mountain, Clare Elich | Folk. The Basement at Oskar Blues. 118 N. Tejon St. 7 p.m.
True Loves | R&B/Soul. Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 8 p.m.
Jason Eady, Joe Johnson, Tim Meegan Jr. | Country. The Basement at Oskar Blues. 118 N. Tejon St. 7 p.m.
Sheena Easton | Pop. Phil Long Music Hall. 13071 Bass Pro Drive. 7 p.m.
Night Child, Nightwraith, Upon A Field’s Whisper | Punk/metal. What’s Left Records. 2217 E. Platte Ave. 7:30 p.m.
Local Live Music, April 2 April 16
THURSDAY, APRIL 10
Hooks and the Huckleberries, Patchwork Jack | Country. The Basement at Oskar Blues. 118 N. Tejon St. 7 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 11
Hemlock, Don Gatto | Metal. Sunshine Studios Live. 3970 Clearview Frontage Road. 6:30 p.m. Southern Avenue | Soul. The Basement at Oskar Blues. 118 N. Tejon St. 7 p.m.
The Expendables, Kyle Smith | Reggae. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
Iced Wrist, Cold Glock, Cortez, Contorted Self, Hard To Kill | Hardcore. What’s Left Records. 2217 E. Platte Ave. 7:30 p.m.
D.R.I., Scattered Guts, Night of the Living Shred, Panpsychism | Metal. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
The Palmer Squares, TobyRaps, Afflication Music, Holy Smoke | Rap. Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
SUNDAY, APRIL 6
Laura Jane Grace & The Mississippi Medicals, Alex Lahey, Rodeo Boys | Punk. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
MONDAY, APRIL 7
The Koffin Kats | Rock. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9
Kevin Nichols, hugo, Trepanned | Indie rock. Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
Card Catalog, Dante Must Die, Noise Resort | Rock. Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
Glitter Porn, Moth Season, Broth, Solar Point | Local alternative. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
SUNDAY, APRIL 13
Sara Evans | Country. Phil Long Music Hall. 13071 Bass Pro Drive. 7 p.m.
Authority Zero, Sack | Alternative rock. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
Perpetual Groove | Rock. Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 8 p.m.
Sunfish, Letters From the Sun, Oyarsa | Rock. Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
TUESDAY, APRIL 15
Pop Evil | Rock. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 7 p.m.
The Hooten Hallers | Blues-rock. Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
Neon Trees | Pop rock. Phil Long Music Hall. 13071 Bass Pro Drive. 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16
Academy Order, WitchHands, As in Heaven As in Hell | Goth/death rock. What’s Left Records. 2217 E. Platte Ave. 7:30 p.m.
Baptized In Sin, Skull Tomb, Wargrime | Punk, metal. Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.
Steve Poltz, Daniel Rodriguez | Alt-rock. Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 8 p.m.
Soulja Boy | Hip-hop/rap. The Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 9 p.m.
Triple Take:
EXPLORING THREE INFLUENCES ON
RYAN FLORES
by KANDACE LYTLE Special
to The Independent
Ryan Flores is back, and he’s bringing his usual heat — Latin rhythms, classical vibes, and a new vision of electronic pop to keep you on your toes. His soon-to-be-released new album, Little Sparks is a set of vibrant, genre-blending tracks Flores recorded in just a few weeks. Expect confessional, raw and real paired with electronic experimentation. It’s a collection of songs inspired by fleeting moments of inspiration, anguish and hope — each “little spark” lighting the path forward. His lyrics are a bold critique/exploration of capitalism and freedom, delivered with a poetic touch that manages to stay grounded and catchy musically. This album is very different from his past releases. Luckily, I got a sneak peek and a lyrical highlight on the future album for me is “Pink Clouds,” a poetic meditation on today’s chaos that digs deep into modern life’s strange contradictions. On April 15, put on your headphones and brace yourself; Ryan’s got something new to say, and we should all listen.
FOLLOW NOW: @ryanaflores on Instagram
THE ARTIST: Leonard Cohen
“Definitely Leonard Cohen… and Bob Dylan… and Tom Waits for sure. All true poets. With Cohen, it’s both his lyrics in his music and his books of poetry, too, especially the Book of Longing; he’s an absolute genius. But, you know, his songs, man, just the first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen is a seminal work. I go to an unusual place when I listen to it, you know, where it’s just like, oh my God, this is pure reverence for the craft itself. And … despite the fact that he’s not the best singer or the best player or a producer or any of that stuff, it doesn’t even matter. What matters is what he’s saying; there’s so much that is conveyed in his words. His choice of words alone. I have a degree in literature. I pored over tons of books. I admire anybody who can render something meaningful in concrete detail. Because it is easy to talk about concepts or abstractions like love or anger or sadness, but they are meaningless without grounding. If an artist can anchor an abstract idea in concrete detail or imagery, where the lyrics are something that people can almost touch, feel, see, taste, and smell … then it’s meaningful and it has staying power, and that’s why Cohen is so powerful to me. Everything he does is so ripe. It’s so potent.”
THE SONG:
As a songwriter, “Famous Blue Raincoat” by Leonard Cohen
As a producer, “Space Song” by Beach House
“‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ by Leonard Cohen. I love the way it’s written, the lyrics, and the imagery. It’s a letter, which is great. It’s stirring and beautiful and it really resonates with me as a writer. But I also think of ‘Space Song’ by Beach House. That song is so hauntingly gorgeous. The production, the mood, it’s evocative — it just really captivates me. I love how it’s both ethereal and grounded at the same time … I have to think of songs as both a songwriter and a producer, because to me they’re not really that similar. Michael Angelo said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved it until I set him free.” You just have to chip away what’s not meant to be there. I love that idea. It’s so gorgeous. like just conceptually that’s really rich. and for me, it’s the same way as a producing a song, so writing the song is like, you know, getting the idea, sketching it out. Producing it is chipping away all the marble is not supposed to be there, and I think both of these illustrate that idea in different ways. Cohen as a writer. Beach House in their production value.
THE ALBUM: THE ENTIRE LED ZEPPELIN CATALOG
“I love the Beatles. I love Pink Floyd. I love The Stones. Roger Waters is a favorite. I mean, there’s a ton of classic rock bands that are really fucking good and really salient and indispensable to the annals of rockand-roll, but I just don’t think there’s ever had been or ever will be another band with that kind of I feel that Led Zepplin has. Jimmy Page is my favorite guitarist, and one of my biggest influences. So, I couldn’t even pick an album. Usually when I go on a long road trip, I’ll listen to the whole catalog, beginning to end. But Jimmy Page…I mean, of course he’s just such a genius. He’s a riff factory for one thing, but the other component that people don’t realize or a lot of people in a cursory way, is who he is as a producer. And I hear his experimentation and constant evolution in every album when I listen to all their albums.”
Ryan Flores | Courtesy: Ryan Flores
By TIFFANY WISMER
IA Sermon on Style THE DRESS CODE
visited a church a few weeks ago and heard a sermon which was (ostensibly) about modesty. Modesty, the preacher somehow twisted the Scripture to say, means you don’t draw attention to yourself. You cover up as much as possible — not just your body, but also your personality. It is not Christlike to be seen — especially if you’re a woman.
I will now attempt to say something helpful, rather than simply airing long-held personal grievances against this type of pastor / church / sermon. I have no desire to attack true Christian values. Perhaps for that very reason, I can’t let this one pass.
What are we actually talking about here? Is the Venus de Milo statue immodest? What about a ballerina? What about a bodybuilder? If the answer to any of those is “yes,” then I have some questions about your theology.
This pastor was not interested in providing definitions. He was promoting a very black and white practical application of what he believed the text to be saying. When he said you should cover up as much as possible, he meant it. Oh boy, did he ever.
“Men,” he said at one point, “you are the masters of your household. If something in your wife’s closet or your daughter’s closet is immodest, go into their closets, take it out, and throw it in the trash.”
The most troubling moment was when
he recommended that fathers keep their daughters from playing sports like volleyball, swimming, or cheerleading, because the uniforms are too revealing. Yes, a teenage girl playing volleyball or swimming is likely wearing an outfit that reveals her body to some degree. That’s true. Her muscles, her athleticism, her beautiful, functional, miraculous body. If you make it sexual, that’s on you.
And is he honestly suggesting that if we’re all entirely covered up nobody would think about sex? If that were true, the human race would have died out in the Victorian era. And psychologically, we all know it isn’t true. We love mystery. The more something is covered, the more you want to uncover it. Expressing your personality or culture through what you wear is not immoral. Flaunting your wealth by how you dress may be. Making other people feel less-than definitely is. But wearing flattering and self-expressive clothing shows respect for yourself, for others, and for your society. Surely true modesty has something to do with how we treat people, doesn’t it?
Maybe none of this is begging to be said. Maybe it’s not my place to say it. But I’ve heard women shamed from the pulpit one too many times now. And it’s usually by pastors who are so ignorant about normal human life that I’m tempted to wonder if they are literally of another world — not Heaven but another planet.
“I actively love to dress in a way to showcase my style and love of life! I grew up a Tomboy, and I hated dresses and skirts. I was 25 when I started to see people in magazines as art and their clothes as a palette. To me, fashion is a way for me to bring a magazine to life. I wanted to see myself in their outfits posing for the camera, and I thought “why not”, and started dressing like I dreamed of. I think that overall I am a bright person but have often struggled with feeling small or unsure. My fashion helped me step out of that box and let my light out even more than sometimes I feel inside.”
Tiffany Wismer is the owner of Luna’s Sustainable Fashion Boutique. In every issue, she will investigate the driving forces behind fashion in our city, and the narratives and values that are communicated through style.
Claire Moore
FASHION PLATE
Claire Moore | Credit: Tiffany Wismer
Six Switchbacks to Watch in 2025-26
by NOEL BLACK • noel.black@ppmc.live
The Switchbacks are off to a slow start this year with a 2-2 draw on March 8 in El Paso, and a 1-2 loss to Detroit City in their home opener on March 15 at Weidner Field.
Though they dominated possession throughout the game, and Juan Tejada opened the scoring at the end of extra time in the first half, a couple of rust covered lapses in communication and judgement in the second half put Detroit over the top, and Switchbacks couldn’t find an answer.
But let’s not forget they lost their first 5 games last season and went on to win the championship. Plus, it was a beautiful day, the stadium was nearly full, and there’s a long season ahead.
By the time this edition of The Independent comes out on April 3, the Switchbacks will have travelled to face the Sacramento Republic FC,
who they beat on the road in the first round of the playoff last year, and will be readying to face Indy Eleven at home on April 5 at 5 p.m.
With the recent announcements that the USL will add Division 1 professional teams (the same level as Major League Soccer, though it’s unclear if those teams will play each other) starting in 2027 and to formalize a 3-league structure that will allow for promotion and relegation (moving up or down between leagues), competition for the top spots in the 2nd-Division USL Championship in which the Switchbacks play will be fierce.
In the meantime, here are profiles of six Switchbacks players to watch for casual fans who may just now be getting to know the team, and for those long-term fans who want to get to know them better as we move into season 11.
Quentin “Quenzi” Huerman
#11 Forward
Age: 24
Position: Forward
Hometown: Vannes, France
Advice to young players: Hard work, dedication, and have fun out there. Just have fun.
One of the most exciting players to watch off the bench last season, Quenzi (pronounced KWEN-ZEE) Huerman is back for his second season with the Switchbacks. With his trademark Slim Shady blonde buzz and a tricksy style of play, Huerman credits his willingness to make thrilling attacks and daring shots from the fringes of the box to his childhood in France. Huerman had to keep up with his older brother and his friends on the banlieus (small soccer fields that, like basketball courts in America, that can be found in every park). “Playing on the streets allows you to play with instinct rather than just a system,” he says. His parents taught him to value his education, and he came to the United States to go to college. He was a two-time All-American and played his final year The University of North Carolina. Though he came on mostly as a sub last year, his goal this year is to have a bigger impact on games, become a starter, and be an entertaining player for the fans to watch.
Juan Tejada
Age: 27
Position: Forward
Hometown: Panama
Advice to young players: If you’re small now, there’s gonna be a time when you catch up. But right now, being smaller and having this adversity when you’re young makes you work twice, or even thrice, as hard as kids that are taller than you. So, you’ll have a bigger advantage when you catch up to them because you’ll be more technical, more sneaky, faster, and working harder.
At 5’7”, it might be easy to underestimate Juan Tejada, who, on paper, only scored 4 goals last season. But two of those goals came in the playoff as he delivered the game winners in both their semi-final against the Las Vegas Lights and in the USL Championship game against Rhode Island FC, for which he won MVP. Tejada’s biggest contribution may be the
positivity and joy he brings to the filed, which, along with his signature long, curly black hair, has earned him frequent comparisons to Danny “Football is life!” Rojas from “Ted Lasso.” Growing up in Panama, Tejada remembers playing on gravel fields. “I was always known for running hard, going to ground and I always bloody knees and elbows.” Tejada watched his friends who were bigger and stronger got promoted to teams above him, but it just made him work harder. “I remember at the time being really sad, but it made me stronger mentally and made me even want to be professional footballer even more.” He got a scholarship to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida where he met his wife. After college, he made his way up through the ranks of the USL. Whatever Tejada’s contributions on the fields in the coming season, he’s a fan favorite and prized for his infectious positivity in the locker room. And it doesn’t hurt to remember that Leo Messi is 5’7”, too!
SPORTS & OUTDOORS .
Age: 29
Position: Defense
Hometown: Poughkeepsie, New York
Advice to young players: Enjoy the game and don’t have any regrets that you didn’t do something you could have to reach your goals. Make connections — if you think it’s stupid to send an email to somebody, it’s not. Be a good person on and off the field. Don’t take things personally. Work hard. If it’s your real goal, you have to work for it. It’s not gonna be easy, so if there are setbacks, keep fighting through.
Matt Mahoney
Switchbacks team captain Matt Mahoney got cut from the New York Red Bull Academy when he was a sophomore in high school. “I hadn’t really had rejection like that. I had always been kind of one of the better players, and then to experience that was a real setback.” Though he had doubts, Mahoney didn’t quit. He joined a smaller, local club and eventually earned a scholarship to Temple University in Philadelphia. After college, he went to a pre-season tryout for The Philadelphia Union and turned pro with their second team, Bethlehem Steel FC. Now entering his fifth season with the Switchbacks and his ninth season as a professional, Mahoney anchors the team’s defense where tries to lead by example and be a good teammate.
Age: 18
Position: Midfield
Hometown: Pueblo, Colorado
Advice to young players: Just keep chasing. If you really love the sport, then you would do anything and everything to become a professional soccer player.
Marco Rios
Our very own homegrown prodigy, Marco Rios grew up just down the road in Pueblo and came up through the Pueblo Rangers, Pride Soccer Club, and then the Switchbacks Academy. He nabbed a spot on the first team last year as a 17-year-old.
“My dad was a really big push on me for what I wanted to do,” says Rios. “He would always ask me, what do you want to do when you grow up? And I’d say, professional soccer player. And he says, well, if you wanna be that, then you have to do other things besides doing training as well. So, he would take me out like almost every day. We’d go on runs, train with the ball, and it was just a lot of one-on-one time with him.” Rios’ dedication meant that he missed out on a lot of the experiences most high school kids have, including. But his dedication has paid off, and he proof to other local players what a pathway to the pros can look like here. Fans will be rooting to see more of him on the field.
Age: 28
Position: Midfield
Hometown: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Advice to young players: Consistency is the biggest thing. Every day you’re doing something to get better.
Midfielder Zach Zandi almost threw in the towel after a potential career-ending Achilles heel injury at the end of the 2022-23 season. But he’d been through some serious injuries and illnesses before. He had 6-month bout with mononucleosis as a young player, tore both of his hamstrings going into his freshman year at Villanova, and broke his arm in his TK season with the Switchbacks. “Rebounding from [those early setbacks] was the beginning of a learning process for me and how do I take care of my body in the best possible way.” Though he gave serious thought to retirement after the Achilles injury, he trusted the club, the trainers and his body’s ability to heal. Not only did Zandi come back from the injury in 2023-24, but he scored both goals for the Switchbacks in their USL Western
Age: 25
Position: Midfield
Hometown: Newark, Delaware
Advice to young players: The biggest thing is just to enjoy the game. I’ve met so many people along this journey, and some of them chase money or other external things. But the main thing is enjoy the game and if you really are having fun and loving it, then that’ll take you farther than anything else.
Conference seme-final against Orange County, flicking the match-winner in with a brilliant heel flick. Like Matt Mahoney, Zandi came up as a professional through the Philadelphia Union system, and this will be his fifth year with the club.
While this may not mean a lot to casual fans or others new to the sport of soccer, it’s kind of a big deal for the Switchbacks to land a mid-fielder like Anthony Fontana, who also came through the Philadelphia Union system and played with US Men’s National Team player Brendan Aaronson. Not only did he play for the Union’s first team in Major League Soccer for four years, he also played for the past four years in Europe — two in Italy’s second division, Serie B, and two in Holland’s first division, the Eredivisie, with PEC Zwolle. Though European soccer wasn’t his final destination as a player, Fontana says, “the experience not just on the field, but of the field, just living in different countries, gaining that life experience was amazing”. Like many other Switchbacks players, it’s Fontana’s longstanding relationship with Coach James Chambers, who he played with in Philadelphia, that ultimately lured him to Colorado Springs. If he feels pressure coming onto a squad that just won the national championship, he doesn’t show it. “I think I’m a good player with the ball,” he says without the slightest hint of arrogance. “I would say I’m pretty technical. I’m also good around goal.”
Anthony Fontana
#21
Midfield
Zach Zandi
#10 Midfield
#19 Midfield
SPORTS & OUTDOORS .
POUNDING THE PULPIT ROCK TRAILS
Once the current master plan for Colorado Springs’ Austin Bluffs and Pulpit Rock Open Spaces was completed in 2000, work started on implementing it, with new trails being built, old rogue trails closed, trails being realigned and a whole host of other changes and improvements that come with making an open space a place for as many people as possible to enjoy. Some of the most significant changes and improvements to the area include a one-way, cycling-only trail, the formalization of what was an unofficial parking lot and trailhead at the southwest corner of Pulpit Rock, improved trail signage, and integration and connection of the city-owned trails with trails on the adjacent University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS) campus. Obviously, the main attraction at Pulpit Rock Park is the massive rock that gives the park its name, with many — most, probably — visitors hiking up to the top. And who could blame them? The view from there is breathtaking, and photos of, or from, Pulpit Rock have been featured in the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department’s calendar over the years.
While there is no shortage to the variety of hikes you can do in Pulpit Rock and Austin Bluffs Open Space, I usually like to do loops and hikes of 5
"OBVIOUSLY, THE MAIN ATTRACTION AT PULPIT ROCK PARK IS THE MASSIVE ROCK THAT GIVES THE PARK ITS NAME, WITH MANY — MOST, PROBABLY — VISITORS HIKING UP TO THE TOP. AND WHO COULD BLAME THEM? THE VIEW FROM THERE IS BREATHTAKING ... "
miles or more. I put together a loop that starts and ends at the newest trailhead and parking lot at the southwest corner of the open space, just south of the car dealership. The loop then goes to the north end of the open space, circles around to the east, then back around, climbing to the top of Pulpit Rock before heading back northeast to the east edge of the park before dropping down south to UCCS property, where it then turns back west. The heads final turn north and then winds its way back to the parking lot, for a distance of 5 miles and about 775’ of ascent.
Colorado Trails Explorer (COTREX), the official State of Colorado trails resource, has been updated with the new trails in Austin Bluffs/Pulpit Rock and I created this loop route there. You can view it and download it so you can follow it, here: https://trails.colorado. gov/routes/145331
You can learn more about the Austin Bluffs/Pulpit Rock Open Space master plan on the city website: https://coloradosprings.gov/abomasterplan
Pulpit Rock is a very popular, and subsequently, busy place, especially on weekends, so your best bet is to go on a weekday. For the best views from the top of Pulpit Rock, go late in the day, an hour or so before sunset. The trails are open to foot and bike uses. and motorized vehicles (as defined by city ordinance) are prohibited. Dogs are allowed but must be leashed — and please pick up after them, too. There are no water or restroom facilities available. And of course, follow Leave No Trace Principles.
Be Good. Do Good Things. Leave No Trace.
Bob “Hiking Bob” Falcone is a retired career firefighter, USAF veteran, an accomplished photographer and 30year resident of Colorado Springs. He has served on boards and committees for city, county and state parks in the Pikes Peak region, and spends much of this time hiking 800 or more miles each year, looking for new places and trails to visit, often with his canine sidekick Coal.
By BOB “HIKING BOB” FALCONE
Pulpit Rock looking East.| Credit: Bob Falcone
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HOROSCOPES. FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
BY ROB BREZSNY
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Have you ever been part of an innovation team? Its goal is not simply to develop as many new ideas and approaches as possible, but rather to generate good, truly useful new ideas and approaches. The most effective teams don’t necessarily move with frantic speed. In fact, there’s value in “productive pausing”—strategic interludes of reflection that allow deeper revelations to arise. It’s crucial to know when to slow down and let hunches and insights ripen. This is excellent advice for you. You’re in a phase when innovation is needed and likely. For best results, infuse your productivity with periodic stillness.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Barnacles are crustaceans that form vast colonies on rocks, pilings, whales, and boats. They may grow so heavy on a ship that they increase its heft and require as much as a 40-percent increase in fuel consumption. Some sailors refer to them as “crusty foulers.” All of us have our own metaphorical equivalent of crusty foulers: encumbrances and deadweights that drag us down and inhibit our rate of progress. In my astrological opinion, the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to shed as much of yours as possible. (I’ll be shedding mine in June.)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1088, the Chinese polymath and statesman Shen Kuo published his book Dream Torrent Essays, also translated as Dream Pool Essays. In this masterwork, he wrote about everything that intrigued and fascinated him, including the effects of lightning strikes, the nature of eclipses, how to make swords, building tall pagodas resistant to wind damage, and a pearl-like UFO he saw regularly. I think the coming weeks would be an excellent time for you to begin your own version of Dream Torrent Essays, Gemini. You could generate maximum fun and self-knowledge by compiling all the reasons you love being alive on this mysterious planet.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The mimosa is known as the “sensitive plant.” The moment its leaves are touched, they fold inwards, exposing the sharp spines of its stems. Why do they do that? Botanists say it’s meant to deter herbivore predators from nibbling it. Although you Cancerians sometimes display equally extreme hair-trigger defense mechanisms, I’m happy to say that you will be unlikely to do so in the coming weeks. You are primed to be extra bold and super-responsive. Here’s one reason why: You are finely tuning your protective instincts so they work with effective grace—neither too strong nor too weak. That’s an excellent formula to make fun new connections and avoid mediocre new connections.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): While sleeping on a recent night, I dreamed of an old friend I had lost touch with for 20 years. It was wonderful. We were remembering mystic breakthroughs we had while younger. When I awoke the next day, I was delighted to find an email from this friend, hoping for us to be back in touch. Hyper-rationalists might call this coincidence, but I know it was magical synchronicity—evidence that we humans are connected via the psychic airways. I’m predicting at least three such events for you in the coming weeks, Leo. Treat them with the reverence they deserve. Take them seriously as signs of things you should pay closer attention to.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A star that astronomers call EBLM J0555-57Ab is 670 light years away. Its diameter is the smallest of any known star, just a bit larger than Saturn in our solar system. But its mass is 250 times greater than Saturn’s. It’s concentrated and potent. I’ll be inclined to compare you to EBLM J0555-57Ab in the coming weeks, Virgo. Like this modest-sized powerhouse, you will be stronger and more impactful than you may appear. The quality you offer will be more effective than others’ quantity. Your focused, dynamic efficiency could make you extra influential.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was an influential musician in part because he didn’t conform to conventions. According to music writer Tarik Moody, Monk’s music features “dissonances and angular melodic twists, and are consistent with his unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of switched key releases, silences, and hesitations.” Many of Monk’s most innovative improvisations grew out of apparent mistakes. He explored and developed wrong notes to make them into intentional aspects of his compositions. “His genius,” said another critic, “lay in his ability to transform accidents into opportunities.” I’d love to see you capitalize on that approach, Libra. You now have the power to ensure that seeming gaffes and glitches will yield positive and useful results.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Author Richard Wright said that people “can starve from a lack of selfrealization as much as they can from a lack of bread.” That’s rarely a problem for Scorpios, since you are among the zodiac’s best sleuths when exploring your inner depths. Does any other sign naturally gather more self-realization than you? No! But having said that, I want to alert you to the fact that you are entering a phase when you will benefit from even deeper dives into your mysterious depths. It’s an excellent time to wander into the frontiers of your self-knowledge.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Andean condors hunt for prey while flying through the sky with their 10-foot wingspan. They’ve got a good strategy for conserving their energy: riding on thermal currents with little effort, often soaring for vast distances. I recommend that you channel the Andean condor in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. Always be angling to work smarter rather than harder. Look for tricks and workarounds that will enable you to be as efficient and stress-free as possible. Trust that as you align yourself with natural flows, you will cover a lot of ground with minimal strain. Celebrate the freedom that comes from embracing ease.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): While hiking in nature, people often rely on their phones to navigate. And what if their battery dies or there’s poor cell service out in the middle of nowhere? They might use an old-fashioned compass. It won’t reveal which direction to go, but will keep the hiker apprised of where true north lies. In that spirit, Capricorn, I invite you to make April the month you get in closer communication with your own inner compass. It’s a favorable and necessary time to become even more highly attuned to your ultimate guide and champion: the voice of the teacher within you.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool.” Aquarian author John Steinbeck wrote that. I think it’s useful counsel for you in the coming weeks. What does it imply? Here are a few meditations. 1. Be tuned in to both the small personal world right in front of you and the big picture of the wider world. Balance and coordinate your understandings of them. 2. If you shift your perspective back and forth between the macrocosmic and microcosmic perspectives, you’re far more likely to understand how life really works. 3. You may flourish best by blending the evaluative powers of your objective, rational analysis and your intuitive, nonrational feelings.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The earliest humans used bones and pebbles to assist in arithmetic calculations. Later, they got help from abacuses and crude mechanical devices. Electronic calculators didn’t arrive until the 1960s. All were efforts to bypass tedious reckonings. All were ingenious attempts to manage necessary details that weren’t much fun. In that spirit, I encourage you to seek time-saving, boredom-preventing innovations in the coming weeks. Now is an excellent time to maximize your spacious ability to do things you love to do.
PUZZLES!
BAD BEHAVIOR
BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
I AM NOT DEAD YET
A team of nine scientists at the Sanae IV research station in Antarctica have been upset by the behavior of one of their group, the BBC reported on March 18. The team left South Africa on Feb. 1 to spend the Antarctic winter at the station, but on Feb. 27 one person was accused of a physical assault. Another team member wrote an email describing the “deeply disturbing behavior” and an “environment of fear.”
Since then, the South African environment ministry said it “immediately activated the response plan in order to mediate and restore relations at the base.”
The alleged perpetrator has “willingly participated in further psychological evaluation, has shown remorse and is willingly cooperative.” In addition, that person has written a formal apology to the victim, the ministry said.
THE PASSING PARADE
It wasn’t a robe or a phone charger left behind in a room at the Pine Rivers motel in Cheboygan, Michigan, on March 14, the Detroit Free Press reported. Instead, when the cleaning crew arrived at the room, they looked under the bed and found Wally, “a real friendly gator.” The motel manager said he’d had no idea that the alligator was one of the guests in the room. He called the guest, who said he was “taking Wally to elementary schools and showing him to children,” but when he got up that morning, he couldn’t find the reptile and assumed he’d gotten out. “You couldn’t really miss it,” the manager said. “It’s about 3 feet long.” The owner drove back from Detroit and picked up Wally that evening.
DETROIT SHOT CITY
A 50-year-old Detroit man who uses a wheelchair tried to kill a cockroach by throwing his shoe at the pest, WKRC-TV reported on March 9. Unfortunately, the loaded revolver he had hidden in his shoe fell to the floor and discharged, hitting the man in the foot. He was reported to be in stable condition after going to the hospital; no word on the cockroach’s condition.
CULINARY CREATION
Jordi Roca, 46, chef and owner of the Michelin three-star restaurant El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, has created a “lit” dessert that’ll set diners back $362, the New York Post reported on March 12. For the pricey confection, Roca extracts the “essence” of old books by spreading their pages with “deodorized butter and (letting) it rest overnight so that it is impregnated with the smell of an old book.” Then he removes the butter with a spatula and dissolves it in alcohol, which evaporates and leaves “the perfume of an old book.” Roca borrowed the process, called enfleurage, from the perfume industry. The resulting “liquor” is dropped onto a pudding and adorned with petals of torn pages of the book. If dessert is a book, eat on!
In Kardzhali, Bulgaria, the Arda Kardzhali soccer team observed a moment of silence for their fallen former teammate, striker Petko Ganchev, 78, on March 16. Unfortunately, the BBC reported, Ganchev was in fact alive and well. Ganchev said he returned home as the match was beginning, and his wife greeted him crying in the yard: “Petko, Petko, they announced on TV that you have died!” Ganchev said, “When I heard the terrible news, I poured myself a small brandy. ... So many people called me -- relatives, friends ... The situation was not pleasant, but in the end we have to be positive.” A statement from the club read: “The management of PFC Arda would like to express a huge apology to the former Arda player Petko Ganchev and his relatives after the club received wrong information about his death. We wish Petko Ganchev many more years of good health and to enjoy the success of Arda.”
AMERICANS ABROAD
A couple of American tourists visiting Dublin, Ireland, for St. Patrick’s Day felt the wrath of the Irish after they tried to stiff a carriage driver, The Irish Sun reported on March 19. A video from the scene shows the driver chasing the two men after their horse-and-carriage ride. When he catches the men, he whips them with a stick and demands, “Pay me now.” After several more strikes with his whip, one rider pulls out his wallet and says, “I have money. I understand, I understand.” But even after he’s been paid, the driver whips them a few more times, to which one replies, “I’m sorry. We learned our lesson.”
PERSPECTIVE
The Associated Press reported on March 19 that Muslims in Jakarta, Indonesia, are taking advantage of a service offered for free by a charity during Ramadan. Amil Zakat National Agency is providing tattoo removal services to give practicing Muslims a chance to repent. Teguh Islean Septura, 30, first got tattoos when he played guitar in a band. But now, he said, “I want to improve myself by moving closer to God. God gave me clean skin and I ruined it, that’s what I regret now.” Roughly 700 people have signed up for the service this year.
KARAOKE RAGE
In the wee hours of March 15 in Clearwater, Florida, Aaron Jablonski, 34, was REALLY hoping to treat patrons of the Overtime Sports Bar to some karaoke, The Smoking Gun reported. So when he found out the machine was out of order, Jablonski left the establishment, “upset about the music.” Outside, a 26-year-old man tried to calm Jablonski down, but he produced a Glock 9mm pistol from his waistband, pointed it at the man and then fired off a round, witnesses said. When police arrived, Jablonski still had the gun -- a problem, since he had previously been convicted of battery on a law enforcement officer. He was arrested for aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm, with bond set at $40,000.
BREAKING OUR OWN RECORDS
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