City Weekly April 13, 2023

By Wes Long

S AP

BOX

“Druggie Abuse,” April 6 Private Eye

This piece by John Saltas really hit home on two fronts. I share his opinion on both drug abuse and high school football. Parents, keep your kids away from both drugs and high school football.

I injured both of my knees playing high school football—my left knee during freshman year and my right knee as a junior.

After decades of pain, I finally opted for knee replacement surgery. Out of roughly 20 senior men in my orthopedic surgeon’s office for knee replacement, 18 of us had

played high school football.

If I could turn back the clock, I would have played tennis.

RIC LEE Sandy

The problem is I don’t think most of the people who end up as addicts are in pain. I think they start out recreational.

I know so many women who went to meth to lose weight. Yeah.

JULIE VAN

Via Facebook

To be fair, Republicans are ruining most of Utah. We need separation of cult and state.

CAREYVALENTINEONTHELINE

Via Instagram

The GOP doesn’t care about any of it. They continually let Utahns die from policies they enact that only further harm Utahns.

I don’t care what your ideology is, but the current GOP and the United Utah Party are dangerous parties that push theology and take away freedoms.

When was the last time the Utah GOP

did anything to help out their actual constituents?

C_GROENDYKE

Via Instagram

I’m not a Republican or a Democrat—I’m independent and am irritated with everyone. How is pointing fingers fixing anything besides making everyone mad and polarized?

It sounds a lot better to focus on our own streets instead of focusing on the border, and it would probably get you double the audience than pointing fingers will.

Dems and GOP and all of us should start talking to each other about issues. It’s about time, don’t you think?

Or are we all loving the polarization? Because I’m not.

I have learned a lot from just trying to have conversations with those whose opinions differ from mine. It’s hard as hell but needs to be done.

You might persuade more people to your opinions this way, too.

FITLUVINLEGGY

Via Instagram

Tax Season

Our yearly federal and state taxation, For most of us a burdensome vexation. Our 16th Amendment grants our Congress, Power to collect taxes on income success.

But every April filing deadline, Anticipated with an anxious mind. A bureaucratic complicated mess, Too many forms causing citizens distress!

So many rules and calculations invented, To save or expend a penny is lamented. Citizens need to contribute for all welfare, So that we as a nation can persevere.

No exceptions for this arduous money task,

What a compassionate democracy need ask.

GEORGE KIBILDIS

Sparta,

New Jersey

Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern? Write to comments@ cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!

THE WATER COOLER

Which reality TV show would you like to join?

Scott Renshaw

Is there a reality show where you get to stay comfortably at home and nobody bothers you or films you? That one, then.

Katharine Biele

Aren’t we already in one? I think Season 2 of Orange is the New Democracy is currently in progress.

Benjamin Wood

Survivor! These new seasons have been a blast to watch.

Bryan Bale

Wait. People are still making reality shows?

Bill Frost

Growing Belushi, so I could work on Jim Belushi’s cannabis farm in Oregon. Looks like a fun gig—every day is 4/20!

Kelly Boyce

Whichever one allows me to have my shirt off the most, so that I can promote my OnlyFans account more and retire.

Paula Saltas

The Real Greek Housewives of America. Show people who make the best baklava and who have the best unibrow shaving technique.

Derek Carlisle

Ink Masters for the illustrations, flash challenges and passing out the skulls!

PRIVATE EYE

Travels With Mike I

t’s taken virtually the entire length of his career, but I finally have something nice to say about Sen. Mike Lee. I mean, I don’t even wish the guy “happy birthday,” nor do I send him holiday greeting cards—for any holiday.

By and large, I can find nothing in his life or political resume that has ever merited an accolade from me. Lee believes he’s a far superior human being to the likes of myself and those fellow humans I’ve chosen to surround myself with—you know, normal people.

But, as we normal people lack the requisites for membership in the U.S. Senate in the categories of religious birthright, aggrandizement, self-pity, finger pointing, pilfering and bootlicking, we are not so likely to benefit from the rare good deeds from a fellow such as Sen. Lee. However, we normal people do understand and hold dear the valued principles of fair play. Thus, it’s my role today not to condemn Mike Lee ... too much.

On Monday, April 10, not just Lee, but the entire Utah congressional delegation submitted a request to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressing concern about passport processing delays (for new passports and also renewals) that are causing their offices to be flooded with complaints and requests for help. The request to Blinken includes a call for Salt Lake City be selected for the site of a new passport fulfillment agency.

While there are such agencies in California, Colorado and Arizona, it’s not an easy thing to travel hundreds of miles in order to get the documentation required to travel hundreds of miles more. An agency in Salt Lake City would fill not only a geographical gap for such need but also grant easier access to passport fulfillment for our growing population as well.

BY JOHN SALTAS @johnsaltas

Given the propensity of former Latter-day Saint missionaries to take a pilgrimage to the countries where they once pedaled their bicycles to peddle their Books of Mormon, it’s a great surprise to me that we don’t already have such an agency here. Also given that the annual City Weekly Tour to Greece is growing in popularity, I can attest firsthand that solving passport issues is no minor priority.

In just the past five years, around 200 people have traveled with me to Greece via the City Weekly tour. It is not a small fraction of them who have experienced major heartburn while awaiting their passports, or who have had other passport problems. I get at least one call or email each week regarding passport issues.

Therefore, a thank you to Sen. Lee is in order for his hard work and sweat in moving this issue forward. Sure, the actual legislation is contained within the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023, which was authored by Sen. Mitt Romney. But Romney doesn’t have ego issues, nor is he wanting for political or professional accomplishments as is Lee who, as far as I can tell, hasn’t done a damned thing for Utah. This is a big step for a guy who needs a ladder to mount a pony, so I’m all in favor of him basking in something positive for a change.

I’m not alone in this thought, evidenced by the fair play also exhibited by Utah’s congressional delegation that joined Lee and Romney to call for better passport service for Utahns. I do hope they didn’t hold their noses too tightly while doing so, however. Still, isn’t it refreshing to see what can happen when our representatives go to work for us? Sure it is, so let’s rejoice that they co-signed a letter! It’s even more amazing since I know of no PAC that’s dedicated to the support of passport fulfillment.

That’s why this is big news. It’s not only big news for my aforementioned support of old men and women who

suddenly have a yen to speak in the language and eat the horrible foods of their 19-year-old selves. Those spiritual reboots potentially occur at more than 400 LDS missions worldwide. The biggest reboot of all, though, is for those who tag along with me to Greece to partake in life’s other supplements, like ouzo and Greek salads.

Did you know that in all of Greece, there are fewer than 1,000 members of the LDS faith? Out of 11 million people? I only mention that because in the interest of additional fair play, I’d like to offer to any returned LDS missionary who served in Greece a 20% discount on a future trip with our City Weekly tour.

Greece is obviously not an easy place in the world to find LDS converts (especially among native Greeks, as a good many of the LDS members there have immigrated from elsewhere). I know my way around, so maybe I can help.

It’s the least I can do, given Mormonism was the religion my grandmother was born into. Heck, if Sen. Lee wants to come along, I’ll even show him around. I’ll pay his way, too (we all know that Lee won’t lift a finger without first making sure a silver dollar is attached).

He’s a so-called expert on democracy, so why not drag him up Acropolis Hill, where he might come to understand that the word “democracy” itself—the core notion that government is for “We the People”—is not of local origin. I’d also take him through the Roman Agora and Hadrian’s Library, where Latin once was spoken, giving us a word so dear to Lee: Constitution.

Never mind that he is not a pal of either word. All I need is a passport—and a case of ouzo, enough to get me through a couple of insufferable days with Mike Lee. And all he has to do is stay out of jail. CW

Send comments to john@cityweekly.net

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE | @kathybiele

MISS: Any Port in a Storm

You just can’t go to the bank with things like air and light pollution, or damage to the wetlands and farms. It’s not a game that Utah likes to play when the other side offers something to “create new employment opportunities, expand rail services, improve movement of materials in and out of western Utah and better utilize railroad infrastructure which would reduce truck traffic and maximize regional transportation resources.” Fox 13 News reported on one of the latest great economic ideas from the Utah Inland Port Authority, which is determined to turn the state into a rail and truck haven. The Tooele County Council is considering a satellite port on a piece of unincorporated Tooele County land south of Interstate 80. The port authority has also approved the creation of a new project area outside of Cedar City—The Iron Springs Port, which will provide unnecessary tax breaks (up to $83 million) to port developers Savage Services and Commerce Crossroads, according to the Stop the Polluting Port group.

MISS: No Democrats Allowed Legislators, many of whom pushed for the inland port, showed how much they fear clean air advocates. Gov. Spencer Cox had the audacity to appoint Democratic Salt Lake County Council member Suzanne Harrison—a physician— to the Utah Air Quality Board, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. When Harrison was a legislator, she apparently didn’t show the necessary deference to the fossil fuel industry, and that upset some Republicans. Her votes reflected a move toward cleaner fuel and that made her “not a team player.” Harrison has had to overcome partisan politics before, as she was gerrymandered out of her legislative district. Utah Democrats are up against a supermajority at the Capitol, and a Republican is set to fill the Air Quality Board slot.

HIT: Gas Guzzling

The Kum & Go gas station just might go. Neighbors and businesses have been lobbying against the fueling station set to go in next to Sugar House Park on the old Sizzler site. It’s a crowded area with heavy traffic, and city planners now say there’s a risk of a gas tank leak or contaminated runoff that could damage soils and water resources in the park, Parleys Creek or farther downstream, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. The mayor had said city code prevented her from stopping the development, but the planners’ 78-page report came to another conclusion. “Just because the roadway can physically handle the increase in traffic, does not mean the community can,” planners wrote. The effects of more truck traffic on pedestrians and cyclists could be catastrophic. Planners have listed conditions if Kum & Go wins approval, but they are unlikely to stanch the damage. A decision may be made at an April 12 hearing just as City Weekly goes to press. The outcome may depend on the public’s outrage. CW

What’s in a Name?

Large apartment complexes in various stages of construction are pretty much unavoidable in every neighborhood nowadays. In certain sections of the city—like Central 9th and The Granary—cranes and plywood giants are more commonplace than completed buildings, it seems.

The discussion around new buildings typically centers on whether these constructions will lead to gentrification, shifts in property value or the elimination of neighborhood character—but I tend to focus more on how uninspiring their names are.

Gone are the days of creative wordplay or memorable monikers. Now, we basically have two options that we’re stuck with. The first are blasé, location-based identities such as “6th and Main” or “4th West Apartments.” They’re functional but lack any sort of—well—pizazz. The second common naming convention seems to be looking up classic first names of the 1920s and appending “The” onto the front.

I’m sure you’ve seen them before: The Edith, The Morton, The Penny, theRUTH, and on and on. When these types of housing units started popping up, the naming was novel but now it’s a bit rote. I can already envision The Gertrude or The Dorothy are next up.

It hasn’t always been this way. You can cruise downtown or to Central City and East Central to catch some interesting names on old-school multifamily residential buildings. Majestic Apartments, located at 848 E. South Temple, is more muted than the name implies, but the neatly pruned ivy-clad exterior is still very appealing.

My favorite two names, however, are basically neighbors: Bigelow Apartments, lower left, at 225 S. 400 East, whereas just around the corner are the Peter Pan Apartments, lower right, at 445 E. 300 South. I’d imagine some fans of Rob Schneider’s ’90s movie character and the Darling family, respectively, might call these places home.

I guess the name of where you live doesn’t really matter as much as its location, location, location. That’s why, if I had the option, put me in The Row at Ballpark, a stone’s throw away from Costco on 1700 South and 300 West. The $1.50 hot dog dinners will help me better afford rent. CW

The Majestic Apartments on South Temple take due pride in their vintage brick-and-ivy facade.

The Peter Pan apartments sit around the corner from The Bigelow

Film-to-TV Reboots to Stream

BY BILL FROST comments@cityweekly.net

The list of movies that have been improved upon by a TV series adaptation is a short one: What We Do in the Shadows, Bates Motel, Westworld, Hannibal, Fargo, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Rambo: The Forces of Freedom and a handful of others. Mostly, they’re exercises in futility designed to squeeze the last coins from intellectual properties, and streaming has only goosed the greed machine. Here are a few film-toTV reboots that almost worked.

Fatal Attraction (Paramount+): It doesn’t premiere until April 30 on Paramount+—a serial offender of unnecessary reboots— but an 8-episode take on the 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction practically screams “We got nothin’ … who wants a new yacht?”

While there’s a contingent of viewers who’ll watch anything with Lizzy Caplan (guilty), and the rest of the cast (including Joshua Jackson, Amanda Peet and Toby Huss) is solid, that’s a whole lot of plot padding around a boiled bunny. There’s a reason there was never a Fatal Attraction 2 Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+): It’s a prequel set in 1954, years before the adults-playing-teens travesty of Grease, the inferior precursor to Grease

A&E

2, but who asked for Rise of the Pink Ladies? This campy, colorful sugar-buzz of a concept might have worked as a 90-minute movie, but Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies consists of 10(!) hourlong episodes, which sounds as appealing as being waterboarded by the cast of Glee. I’d rather have had a musical reboot of Dead Ringers (Prime Video is dropping a boring, non-singing version on April 20).

True Lies (CBS, Paramount+): CBS’ revival of 1994’s True Lies premiered last month, and it’s not a promising indicator that the show’s leading man (Shameless’ Steve Howey, taking over for Arnold Schwarzenegger) has been easily obscured by his supporting cast from episode one. Ginger Gonzaga (assuming the spy-wife role from Jamie Lee Curtis) deserves better than a vanilla CBS case-of-the-week content cranker, as does co-star Omar Miller. Obviously, the best way forward is to kill off Howey’s character and let them carry True Lies. I’m a solutions guy.

Bad Teacher (Crackle): The 2014 TV reboot of 2011 Cameron Diaz comedy Bad Teacher had the potential to best the movie, mostly due to a killer cast fronted Ari Graynor, an actress with the chops to take Diaz’s character to funnier heights and darker lows. Unfortunately, this Bad Teacher was on CBS, so the trophy-wifeturned-accidental-educator storyline was watered down to edge-less sitcom mundanity, and Graynor’s only creative support was an impressive array of push-up bras. Still, not bad for a CBS comedy (admittedly, a low bar).

Ash vs. Evil Dead (Netflix): The only problem with 2016–2018’s Ash vs. Evil Dead was that Starz canceled the comic Evil Dead sequel series after just three seasons; we could be enjoying season 7 right now, but nooo. The demon-splattering adventures

of an aging Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell, sharp as ever) spilled more gallons of fake blood than The Walking Dead over three seasons, and sidekicks Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) and Pablo (Ray Santiago) were the perfect foils for Ash. At least there’s an animated revival in the works (hopefully not for Starz).

Crash (Hoopla): Speaking of Starz, its 2008 TV adaptation of Paul Haggis’ divisive 2004 Best Picture-winner Crash was the first of many “we can be HBO … or at least Showtime” prestige grabs for premium-cable relevance. It was also a complete mess, but at least it was entertaining, thanks to next-level scenery chewing from Dennis Hopper and the American TV debut of Israeli actress Moran Atias as one

of the sexiest small-screen femme fatales ever. Crash didn’t solve race relations, but it did manage to make Albuquerque look like L.A., so there’s that.

The Client List (Tubi): Lifetime’s 2012 The Client List was based on the network’s own original 2010 movie of the same name—does it still count as a TV series based on a film? Let’s not overthink this. Broke, recently-single mom Riley (Jennifer Love Hewitt) takes a job at a day spa in her small Texas town, and soon learns she can earn extra money by performing under-the-towel “client” services. For a PG dramedy about a rub-and-tug massage parlor, Hewitt is surprisingly committed, turning in a performance on par with Ghost Whisperer, or even Munchie CW

TV adaptations of movies don’t always work—here are some that almost did.

Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson star in the upcoming Fatal Attraction on Paramount+

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company: To See Beyond Our Time

Alarming scientific reports about the future of the Great Salt Lake—and the potentially toxic consequences for those living near it—made national news recently, inspiring conversations about what needs to be done to avoid the worst-case scenario. While the Utah legislature unfortunately focused more on wedge issues than this urgent environmental crisis, the conversation continues—and, not surprisingly, artists have been inspired to create work highlighting the need for action.

This weekend, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company presents To See Beyond Our Time, which addresses the potentially catastrophic consequences of the shrinking lake. A year in the making, it was crafted as a collaboration between RWDC artistic director Daniel Charon and director Alexandra Harbold, in consultation with local journalists, environmental activists and other stakeholders. “I cannot overstate the importance of the interactions we had with various experts of the Great Salt Lake while developing To See Beyond Our Time,” says Charon via press release. “This collaboration was crucial to the evolution of this piece. By considering the perspectives of the Indigenous Community, naturalists, scientists, and journalists the work reflects the perspectives of the people who are deeply tied to the issue. Dance can speak in its own unique way to highlight the immediacy of this moment.”

To See Beyond Our Time plays at the Rose Wagner Center Black Box (138 W. 300 South) April 13-15, with performances at 7:30 p.m. and tickets $35. A “Moving Parts” series sensory-friendly performance takes place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, with tickets $10. Visit arttix.org for tickets and additional information.

(Scott Renshaw)

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

Ballet West: The Wedding

Women’s history month in March may now be in the year’s rearview mirror, but there’s never a wrong time to highlight the accomplishments of great women—especially when those accomplishments may be less popularly known.

As part of its season-closing program, Ballet Wests offers a centennial re-staging the rarelyperformed 1923 work Les Noces (The Wedding) by choreographer Bronislava Nijinska, a grand-scale ballet with score by Igor Stravinsky and a cast of 30 dancers.

Depicting a Slavic peasant wedding at the outset of the region’s Christian era—when pagan elements were still part of the celebrations—Les Noces has already been performed in part by Ballet West in a special presentation at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. “Performing Nijinska’s monumental Les Noces is a challenge for any company, with all its intricate architectural patterns and complex musicality,” Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute says via press release. “It demands a level of focus and sophistication from every dancer on the stage. Our Ballet West artists are such a team that they can conquer this work.”

The program will also include Jerome Robbins’ 1970 piece In the Night—set to Chopin’s Nocturnes—and Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain, the latter of which marks the return of former Ballet West Principal Artists Beckanne Sisk and Chase O’Connell for select performances on April 14 and April 22. The production runs April 14 – 22, with performances April 14, 15, 20 & 22 at 7:30 p.m., and a 2 p.m. matinee on April 22. Tickets are $25 - $104; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

BEAU PEARSON

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

Plan-B: Fire!

Plan-B Theatre Company doesn’t repeat itself often—and when it does, it’s usually for a very good reason. In the case of Fire!, which Plan-B offered as a world premiere from playwright Jenifer Nii in 2010, that very good reason is also a very unfortunate reason: Nii was diagnosed in 2021 with hippocampal atrophy, a neurological condition often associated with Alzheimer’s, and which means Nii will no longer be writing new plays.

The play focuses on Wallace Thurman, a Salt

Lake City-native queer Black writer who was at the center of the Harlem Renaissance and died at the age of 32. According to Plan-B’s press materials, there is an appropriateness in honoring Nii with Fire! by “connecting two Utah writers of color separated by a century, the careers of both cut tragically short.” Yet it’s also a rare opportunity for a creative team to revisit a work, both in the sense that it has been reimagined from its original form as a one-man show, and because actor Carleton Bluford (pictured) returns from the original production to once again play Thurman. “It’s still one of the hardest shows I’ve ever done,” Bluford said in a 2022 video conversation with Nii and director Jerry Rapier. “And also one of the easiest in the sense that it’s so close to home. … Me doing this role gave me wings.” Fire! runs April 13 – 23, for 10 performances only. Tickets are $25, but availability is extremely limited at press time. Visit planbtheatre.org for additional information, including wait-listing. (SR)

Performance Art Festival

For three years, the annual Performance Art Festival has had to adapt on the fly—from cancellation in 2020, to recorded works in 2021, to live virtual performances with the omicron surge in winter 2022. Now, the performers are live once again. And for festival founder/ curator/performer Kristina Lenzi, that returns it to the essence of the artform.

“I think during the pandemic, we performance artists did what we could to express ourselves through performance and to preserve the medium, but so much was lost by having performance presented virtually or recorded, and it is not really performance art, it is video,” Lenzi says via email. “The presence of a live audience really is the premise of performance art in my opinion.”

The 2023 festival will showcase more than a dozen artists from Utah, around the country, and even as far as Dublin, Ireland for Sinéad O’Donnell (shown here from a 2019 performance). They will all be bringing unique perspectives to a form that appeals to Lenzi for its immediacy. “That is what I like most about it,” she says. “For instance, a viewer sees a performance and many or all of the senses are engaged, since this is a live medium. Viewers take away a one-time experience and hold it in their memory.”

Catch the works at the 2023 Performance Art Festival at the Salt Lake City Main Library (210 E. 400 South) on April 14 (noon – 5 p.m.) and 15 (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.), free and open to the public. Visit events.slcpl.org/event/8094869 for full schedule and performance details. (SR)

SHARAH MESERVY KRISTINA LENZI

The Children’s Garden

A statewide expansion of full-day kindergarten builds on the trailblazing work of 19th-century Utahns.

BY WES LONG wlong@cityweekly.net

Between February and March, Utah lawmakers successfully passed—and Gov. Spencer Cox signed—legislation expanding full-day kindergarten statewide. In many areas of the state, demand for daylong kindergarten has outstripped supply, with public and charter schools relying on waitlists to parcel out available seats under tight budgets. But with HB477—which cleared the Utah House and Senate with large, bipartisan majorities—a stable funding source will make more seats available, with the aim of providing at least an option of full-day classes to any family who wants it.

“The community has really rallied around and endorsed this opportunity,” said Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, the bill’s sponsor.

Indeed, the effort to get to this point has been ongoing for over 15 years, according to Anna Thomas, senior policy analyst for Voices for Utah Children.

Witnessing a “clear majority” coalesce around full-day kindergarten (colloquially referred to as “full-day K”) has been as heartening to Thomas as the prior legislative resistance had been surprising. Still, she said, enough decisionmakers evolved in their thinking over recent years that the push was, at last, successful.

She said the current political landscape around early childhood education in Utah—notwithstanding all the hostile rhetoric directed at schools, broadly, in recent years— shows promising signs of growth in a long-dormant field.

“Even if this issue is not important to them or their family, it is of incredible importance to other families,” Thomas said.

Christine Elegante, a K-3 literacy specialist with the Utah State Board of Education, also applauded the legislative milestone, citing full-day K’s more equitable framework and the boon it gives to classroom instructors to better delve into their curricula. “For teachers,” said Elegante, “it’s going to give them one of the most valuable resources they need—and that’s time.”

The shift toward full-day K brings Utah back to its roots as an active and enthusiastic participant in the once-novel kindergarten movement. It was led on the issue by remarkable women who were formerly at odds with one another, but who formed a fusion of interests on behalf of their young children.

They were teachers, mothers and activists who welcomed a daring new educational concept and brought it here to the West, providing a needed bridge to a splintered community as it approached the 20th century.

Preparing the Soil

While early prototypes of preschool education existed in late 18th-century Europe, it was the German pedagogue Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) who laid the groundwork— and coined the word—for the modern kindergarten, or “garden of children.”

A Romantic pantheist, Froebel believed that the educational process—what he viewed as helping the divine in each person to blossom—should commence as early as possible in a child’s life through directed play, rather than rote learning. Rejecting the traditions of the time that children were inherently degenerate, he countered that they were essentially good, naturally curious, in need of nurturing to grow at their own pace and best able to discover and express their inner selves through activity.

“Play, at this age, is not mere sport,” Froebel wrote, “it possesses high seriousness and deep meaning; foster it, O mother! shield it, protect it, O father!”

Opening his first kindergarten in the late 1830s, Froebel developed a program of “gifts” and “occupations,” supplemented with songs and games, all with an emphasis on a familiarity with nature. The “gifts” were designed for specific age levels, acquainting children with such concepts

as color, form and motion (as in the case of multicolored balls of yarn—the first gift) or with the relation of parts to a whole (as with the gift of eight wooden cubes that form a larger cube). The “occupations” came after all the “gifts” had been bestowed and were meant to stimulate imagination and manual skill through activities like drawing, weaving, gardening and modeling with clay.

Froebel’s kindergarten concept became popular among German reformers in the 1840s before it was banned by the Prussian government in 1851. But its popularity, particularly among women who felt empowered by the services, saw kindergarten successfully carried over to the United States by German immigrants and subsequently championed by the Boston educator Elizabeth Peabody (1804-1894).

In the hands of some American tutors, kindergarten was merely a means of assimilating immigrants and the lower classes into broader society. But to others, it was a model that lent dignity and growth to parents and children alike.

What’s more, as Ann Taylor Allen explained in a 1988 article for History of Education Quarterly, the kindergarten movement was an “early and powerful expression of a female ethic of cooperation, nurture and community.”

“The demand for teacher training,” Allen continued, “led to the creation of institutions administered, staffed and attended by women which formed little enclaves of female control.” This phenomenon occurred around the United States during the latter half of the 19th century. And for a place like Utah, the female-led spaces of kindergarten work began in fits and starts during a particularly divisive era before developing into a unifying force for women of differing backgrounds.

Jumping the Fences

Following their arrival into what would become Utah Territory, Latter-day Saint settlers established schools that operated in accordance with their own generalist approach to learning. Using makeshift facilities, early Utah schools were voluntary establishments within the purview of local ecclesiastical leaders.

By the 1860s, legal responsibility for schools had moved to city councils and both Protestant and Catholic denominations were establishing their own mission schools to rival those of the Latter-day Saints.

Left: Class photo at the Jones High School and Kindergarten, which operated in Salt Lake City from 1880 to 1887.

Above: German immigrant Camilla Mieth Cobb opened and taught at one of Salt Lake City’s first kindergartens.

MARRIOTT DIGITAL LIBRARY

MARRIOTT DIGITAL LIBRARY

“Mormons and ‘Gentiles’ (as non-Mormons came to be called in Utah),” wrote Frederick Buchanan for History of Education Quarterly, “both recognized the school as an agent of society whose prime purpose was the reinforcement of societal values.”

A unified school policy was difficult to achieve in this kind of environment, considering the friction between various segments of Salt Lake society. The distrust that each denomination often held for one another proved to be a significant impediment to any publicly funded school system.

But while the prospect of a kindergarten program germinating in such a terrain might appear unlikely, some remarkable women helped it along to an eventual full flower.

First among these women was Camilla Mieth Cobb (18431933), who had come to the United States in the mid-1850s from her native Germany following her family’s conversion to Mormonism.

Having grown up in an atmosphere of culture and learning, Cobb honed her teaching skills assisting the Utah educator—and her brother-in-law—Karl G. Maeser (18281901), as he headed various local ward schools in the 1860s.

On an 1874 trip to New York to visit her husband’s family, Cobb happened upon a notice in the newspaper about a New Jersey kindergarten run by the German educator and socialist Adolph Douai (1819-1888). Already familiar with the kindergarten of her native land, Cobb was interested to learn how it was being approached in her adopted country. She departed for New Jersey to find out.

“I need not say that I enjoyed myself there and felt well repaid for the time so profitably spent and the knowledge gained,” Cobb recalled in 1897 for the Woman’s Exponent

While at Douai’s school, Cobb received a visit from Brigham Young’s son John Young (1844-1924), who was similarly impressed by the work being done there. Putting their heads together, Cobb and Young decided to open a kindergarten back in Salt Lake with Cobb as the instructor.

Commencing in the fall of 1874 in the vestry of Brigham Young’s schoolhouse—where the Eagle Gate Apartment Building now stands at 109 E. South Temple—Cobb’s kindergarten had about 20 participants, with Cobb and Young’s own children constituting the majority.

“I had my ardor somewhat dampened. However, I concluded to make an effort if even in a small way,” Cobb later wrote of her attempts to share this new educational method

with her neighbors. “I had brought some material home with me from the East, and some I found here, and with a little ingenuity turned many things not especially intended for this purpose to splendid account.”

Cobb’s kindergarten ran for two years before she shifted her instruction to other age levels, seeing as there was a shortage of qualified teachers in the area. She wrote articles in the Woman’s Exponent in 1875, explaining such Froebelian themes as decrying inequality within school settings, where such things as dress could divide students.

“Of all resorts,” Cobb wrote, “a hall of learning should be the last for such displays of fancy, and little children should not be made to feel their inequalities of social position by means of them.”

From the available sources, Cobb’s kindergarten seems to have made a deep and favorable impression upon those who attended. In a 1928 letter, real estate broker Seymour B. Young Jr. (1868-1941) remembered his time in Cobb’s kindergarten with fondness.

“Many boys and girls now living remember ‘Aunt Camilla’ and bless her memory,” he wrote. “Many of her pupils speak German and can sing the old melodies in German taught them a half century ago.”

Buds and Leaves

Next came Anna Richardson Jones (1853-1916), who found a love for kindergarten early in life. Born in Massachusetts and educated in Iowa, she pieced together her own kindergarten class while teaching in Ackley and later served as dean of women and a teacher of Latin at Grinnell College.

“I feel more and more interested in that work,” Jones wrote of kindergarten in her journal, “I think it one of the greatest needs of today.”

Jones’ daughter Mabel Jones Broaddus (1881-1970) wrote of her mother in 1928: “She was always progressive, eagerly availing herself of every new good thing. … She was never too busy to leave everything she was doing to help any young person who was in trouble.”

Moving to Utah in 1880 for an expedition with her husband, the botanist Marcus E. Jones (1852-1934), Anna Richardson Jones started her own kindergarten in a rented space with approximately 16 students. The kindergarten steadily grew to the point that it relocated in 1884 to the old

Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue that once stood on the northwest corner of 300 South and West Temple (where the Peery Hotel has now stood since 1910).

Renamed the Jones High School and Kindergarten, Jones taught primary and kindergarten classes while her husband oversaw the college preparatory courses. Although the school lasted only until 1887, Jones continued to advocate for kindergarten work in various capacities, such as training future kindergarten teachers at the old University of Deseret building.

“In our present school system, children before entering the schools have had five or six years of life,” learning good and ill at an early age, Jones remarked at an 1887 teachers’ gathering, as reported in the Salt Lake Herald-Republican. “Why should not the public school provide a training for the little children as well as for the large ones?”

Already, the momentum had been building for kindergarten to take an established place within Utah’s changing educational ecosystem. Some noticeable buds were springing up in the city during the 1880s, particularly among the Presbyterians. The antecedent of Westminster College, Salt Lake’s Collegiate Institute had been accepting students since 1875 and operated as an educational auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church.

Seeking a kindergarten teacher with Froebelian training, Rev. Robert G. McNiece (1839-1913) and Mary Giesy Parsons (1843-1938) requested that the Presbyterian Women’s Executive Committee of Home Missions send someone over to the West. In 1883, Elizabeth Steele Dickey (1833-1898) arrived to set the kindergarten effort onto a new phase.

Trained in Germany and having overseen a Philadelphia school, Dickey started her kindergarten in the basement of the original First Presbyterian Church on the northeast corner of 200 South and 200 East. On top of teaching kindergarten, Dickey was interested in training teachers and developing a day nursery. “On the opening day,” Parsons later described, “a goodly number of eager children arrived, curious about the new methods to be taught them, brought by mothers as curious.”

Many of these mothers were subsequently trained by Dickey to become full-fledged kindergarten teachers and the day nursery idea picked up enough steam to be formally established in 1884 as the Orphans’ Home and Day Nursery (known today as the Children’s Service Society of Utah).

Left: Anna Thomas, front right, of Voices for Utah Children poses with full-day kindergarten proponents at the Utah State Capitol.

Above: The former location of First Presbyterian Church hosted a kindergarten in its basement.

Right: Christine Elegante, literacy specialist with the Utah State Board of Education

COURTESY PHOTO

COURTESY PHOTO

MARRIOTT DIGITAL LIBRARY

“Miss Dickey sowed the seed and tended it and watered it faithfully for four years, and saw her efforts yielding precious fruit,” Parsons wrote. “Her class of young women was enthusiastic and responsive to her instructions. At the end of four years of arduous work, her health failed, and she was obliged to resign.”

Dickey’s kindergarten may have closed with her 1887 departure, but the field would soon be festooned with new kindergartens and kindergarten associations.

In the wake of the anti-polygamy prosecutions that were occurring in the territory and a monumental change in education looming on the horizon, divisions in the city were stark.

Forming Associations

With the passage of Utah’s territorial free school law in 1890, all of Salt Lake’s schools were now consolidated into a single district and made free to their patrons.

Like so many others around the country that were forming organizations to advance childhood education, the Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake organized the Salt Lake Kindergarten Association in 1892. Its primary goal was to train teachers and to ensure that kindergarten was a fixed element of the public schooling system.

“By this time,” wrote Andrea Ventilla in a 2013 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly, “the women’s priorities shifted from converting the LDS population of the territory to making kindergarten education free and available to the general public.”

The association was replaced in 1894 with the Free Kindergarten Association under the leadership of Emma McVicker (18461916), who later became Utah’s first female superintendent of education. Sponsoring a new instructor, this organization secured the services of Alice Chapin (1845-1931)—an eminent instructor from the Indianapolis Seminary—to train teachers and run a model kindergarten.

Chapin, wrote Carol Cornwall Madsen for Utah Historical Quarterly, “was well received by both Mormon and gentile teachers, who later attended her kindergarten training classes at the University of Utah.”

Moved with enthusiasm—and some amount of competition—Mormons formed their own group with the Utah Kindergarten Association.

A training program had begun in 1891 at Brigham Young Academy (later renamed Brigham Young University) and individual kindergartens were sprouting up within ward precincts. The future direction of the Latter-day Saint Church’s Primary auxiliary was thus formed.

“By 1896,” Madsen summarized, “the overlap of goals and methods, mutual need for funding and lobbying power, and the new spirit of détente prompted the two organizations to merge.” Called the Utah State Kindergarten Association, it drew membership from among the differing religious faiths of the community.

“Their parochial interests were submerged in their mutual enthusiasm for early childhood education,” Madsen wrote, “and the establishment in Utah of the progressive methods popular elsewhere in the country.”

The Free Kindergarten Association eventually morphed into what we know today as Neighborhood House, while the Utah State Kindergarten Association moved ahead as a unified front to advance the cause of kindergarten statewide.

Training each other and advocating for the ideals of kindergarten, the women of this period succeeded in ultimately enshrining kindergarten into Utah’s Constitution and further bolstered it with subsequent pieces of legislation in the 20th century.

Our Modern Garden

Today, there are over 2,200 kindergartens operating in the state of Utah, with almost 700 of those within the greater Salt Lake region alone. Much has changed since the days of Camilla Cobb, Anna Jones, Elizabeth Dickey and the women who harvested the grounds they planted.

The early Froebelian kindergartens over which they so enthusiastically presided have been largely supplanted by a model that places a primacy on “evidence-based instructional strategies”—to quote the Utah State Board of Education’s Best Practices guide—and continuous monitoring of explicit academic progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Operating through the prism of data and goal-making, many modern kindergartens possess more of the technocratic and managerial aspects of the industrial world than Froebel might have envisioned.

On the other hand, literacy specialist Christine Elegante hails what modern kindergarten has achieved in the realm of emotional development, such as helping children to express their feelings and to work with others.

Just as Froebel and those early Utah women contended, Elegante—with 14 years of experience as a teacher—noted how easily we can underestimate children.

“I had no idea what 5- and 6-year-olds were capable of until I taught [kindergarten],” she said.

Thomas, of Voices for Utah Children, added that many assumptions that recent generations of Utahns have entertained about a young child’s learning capacity—and consequently the resources they have withheld from nourishing those children—have been “completely backwards.”

“There is so much learning and nurturing and developing that happens in the first five years of a kid’s life,” Thomas said.

With HB477 having passed out of the Legislature, significantly more families will now have access to a full-day kindergarten in their area.

While advocates estimate that about 60% to 65% of the current waitlists can be immediately addressed, there will still be areas of the state where a waiting period lingers for at least the next few years.

Time will tell what will follow this longawaited bit of intentional investment for children and families. However, if there is anything to learn from people like Camilla Cobb, Anna Jones and Elizabeth Dickey, it is that a garden can indeed grow from loving community care, even in the most difficult of terrains.

Sprit Is Willing

A grounded approach to trauma helps Rare Objects overcome an overstuffed narrative.

BY MARYANN JOHANSON comments@cityweekly.net

For her third feature film, actor-turneddirector Katie Holmes appointed herself a challenging task: adapting a novel that is, by all accounts (I have not read it), introspective and meandering, neither of which are qualities that easily translate to the screen. The result? Holmes’s Rare Objects, based on the book by Kathleen Tessaro, is not entirely successful. But it is honest and unassuming, a story about kindness and gentleness that is never insipid or sentimental.

Benita (Julia Mayorga) is a young woman much in need of gentle kindness— which, as the film opens, she is attempting to administer to herself. She has dropped out of college after a traumatic incident left her with PTSD and profound anxiety, and returns home to live with her widowed mother (Saundra Santiago) while she recovers. She speaks to no one of what she has gone through—not even her mother— but she is haunted by it, as the film is.

Not a spoiler: Benita was raped. Depressingly often, the sort of thing is lazy shorthand for creating a supposedly complex female character, but Holmes and her co-screenwriter, Phaedon A. Papadopoulos, treat Benita’s flashbacks to the event and her unfolding misery in response to it with nary a hint of fetishization or titillation. The crime itself is not depicted, only the immediate before and after, and while not graphic, it is briefly horrific, not least because her shock and dismay are the focus. (It helps, too, that the cinematographer, Lisa Rinzler, is female; this matters.)

The film wanders from here, and takes

too long to settle into necessary forward motion. We’re half an hour in before Benita gets a job that may help her find a new groove for herself, in a small but ritzy antiques store. And it’s only now that we also meet, in another flashback, Diana (Holmes), a fellow patient in the mentalhealth facility Benita had checked herself into to recover after her rape. (She is checking herself out as the movie begins.) With its runtime of just over two hours, Objects is overstuffed; it could easily have done with a trim from its rambling and diffuse first act, and been all the stronger for it.

There’s a bit of a tone shift at this point, too, when Benita meets the shop owner, Peter ( played by Alan Cumming, being charmingly and insouciantly Alan Cumming). And when Diana turns up at the shop one day—surprise! She’s a wealthy, influential socialite.

There are just a few too many elements that are suddenly jarring here, from Cumming’s humor, modest though it is, to the coincidence of Diana to the unlikeliness

that someone like her would even be in the same medical facility as a poor, debt-laden student such as Benita.

The rape seems to be a deviation from the novel, according to the Wikipedia synopsis, just one of many significant differences from the source material. This is set not in Great Depression–era Boston, with a protagonist who is the child of Irish immigrants, per the book, but in contemporary New York City, with Benita the child of Latinx immigrants. New York is a genuine character here, which is terrific, especially Benita’s Queens neighborhood and the urban lifeblood of the subway. But although the film was shot during the coronavirus pandemic—there are lots of face masks in use—that’s mostly in the background.

The pandemic itself does not feature as a larger trauma impacting everyone (as surely the Great Depression was) and which, it’s impossible to escape wondering, might have made the theme of finding a new story for your life when it all goes wrong resonate far deeper than it does.

It’s all a bit of a mess, a bit all over the place. But there’s rough power to Rare Objects: in the friendship that develops between Benita and Diana, in the groundedness of both women’s troubles. In the hands of a lesser director and a lesser actor, Diana could easily have become a clichéd manic pixie. The performances—especially Mayorga’s, an auspicious debut—are warm, wise and perceptive; the terrific cast also features Derek Luke as Peter’s business partner and David Alexander Flinn as Diana’s brother. Clearly a labor of love for Holmes, this is a film with a generous spirit, and that’s lot more than can be said for many movies at the moment. CW

RARE OBJECTS BB ½

Julia Mayorga Katie Holmes

Alan Cumming Rated R Available April 14 in theaters

Derek Luke and Julia Mayorga in Rare Objects

Birria for Breakfast

Check out El Barril’s tasty variations on traditional Mexican breakfast.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

When springtime finally chooses to reveal itself in Utah and I feel the need to wake from hibernation, my thoughts always turn to breakfast. Warmer weather increases my overall motivation to seize the day, and a proper attempt at day-seizing just isn’t complete without a good breakfast. With its penchant for embracing food that is simply too rich and flavorful to enjoy at any other part of the day, breakfast has a way of making you believe in the impossible.

There are plenty of places to indulge a deep breakfast craving, but lately I’ve been a bit smitten with El Barril in Sandy (9460 S. Union Square, Ste. 105; 385955-8838; facebook.com/CafeElBarril). I checked this place out after I first visited Venezuela Mia (since they are neighbors), and it’s got all the charm of a familyowned diner with a few welcome twists.

For example, El Barril focuses on the comforts of Mexican breakfast and lunch favorites while operating a full-service juice bar. So, if you’re after something quick and healthy instead of slow and decadent, you can pop in for one of their fresh fruit smoothies ($6.75) or immunityboosting juice shots ($4.99). I was pleas-

antly surprised with the Vampiro, which mixes carrot, beet and orange juices into a vibrant and unexpectedly sweet breakfast beverage. I was also impressed when my daughter ordered a chocolate milk ($4.50) and she was presented with a mason jarsized beverage drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream. As it turns out,,their drinks are just as composed and balanced as their food.

Not only does El Barril have classics like huevos rancheros ($16) and chilaquiles ($11.50), it’s got a few creative fusion dishes that mix other classics into the mix. During my inaugural visit, I tried the biscuits-and-gravy burrito ($16.50) because why wouldn’t you get a biscuitsand-gravy burrito if the opportunity presented itself? Overall, this variation on a breakfast burrito is a win; the housemade chorizo and their country gravy are excellent together.

It does tend to get a bit dry, since there are biscuits and tater tots inside, but that’s usually fixed when the gravy is evenly distributed throughout. A bite with every element inside is really quite excellent.

In keeping with El Barril’s creative pairings, they have a few different versions of chilaquiles that are worth checking out. For example, their cochinita pibil ($16) version is great for those after a spicy kick to their morning meal. The marinated pork has the traditional citrus acidity that you’d expect from a cochinita pibil, but that salsa Yucateca really ramps up the heat levels.

For something a bit less spicy but equally impressive, the Birriaquiles ($16) are another tasty option. It maintains the traditional chilaquiles preparation of tortilla chips, salsa and made-to-order eggs, while adding tender beef birria to the mix. I think the latter option is the one I’d go back to for breakfast. It’s got a

bit of heat from the salsa, and the slowcooked birria goes very well with some silky egg yolks.

Those who like their breakfast sweet rather than savory will dig El Barril’s menu of crepes ($15). Their berry cream cheese crepe is the most popular with its cool mix of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries and plenty of sweetened cream cheese. The banana caramel crepe isn’t a bad option either, however—just depends on what kind of crepe suits your fancy in the early hours.

If you are visiting El Barril for lunch and also haven’t eaten in some time, their house specialty known as El Barrilazo ($35) will set you up nicely. It’s a monstrous combo meal featuring carne asada, chicken, flautas, a chile relleno, a grilled nopal, three chorizos, rice and some flour tortillas. It’s the kind of lunch that makes you feel a bit like a king feasting in your own court, and really is a lot of food for the price point. I wouldn’t attempt this one for lunch unless you had a pretty clear schedule for the rest of the day, however.

For something a bit lighter, the mulas with consomme ($14.25) are a solid bet. A mula comes with your choice of meat that gets stuffed between two crispy corn tortillas and is served with some savory consomme broth.

Overall, El Barril feels like a special place in the local dining scene. It’s got the welcoming service and homey vibes of a neighborhood diner, but the menu is touting some takes on Mexican comfort food that you just can’t get anywhere else. When you consider this place is also doing crepes, operating a juice bar and serving mimosas all at the same time, you start to realize that you’re dining someplace very unique. If you’re after a true breakfast of champions from start to finish, El Barril should definitely be on your radar. CW

ALEX SPRINGER

2 Row Brewing 6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

Avenues Proper 376 8th Ave, SLC

avenuesproper.com

On Tap: Blizzard Wizard - Hazy Pale Ale

Bewilder Brewing 445 S. 400 West, SLC

BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap: Gluten Reduced Kolsch

Bohemian Brewery 94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

Bonneville Brewery 1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Chappell Brewing

2285 S Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84115

chappell.beer

On Tap: Playground Hazy Pale Ale (lemondrop)

Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC craftbyproper.com

On Tap: That’s a KnifeAustralian Cold IPA

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap: Tropical Fruit Storm Pale Ale

Epic Brewing Co.

825 S. State, SLC

EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: Peach Cream Ale

Fisher Brewing Co. 320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com

On Tap: Up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com

On Tap: Extra Pale Ale

Helper Beer 159 N Main Street Helper, UT 84526 helperbeer.com/

Hopkins Brewing Co. 1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com

On Tap: You can’t do that on Television! IPA

Kiitos Brewing 608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake

LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Pink Boot’s “At Our Wit’s End!”

Bingo: Wednesdays at 7pm

Moab Brewing 686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap: Bourbon & Blonde (Bulleit Bourbon Barrel-aged Blonde Stout)

Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Pomme Paloma

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/

On Tap: DOPO IPA

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden

OgdenRiverBrewing.com

On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA

Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com

On Tap: It’s Complicated Sour

Proper Brewing 857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Cloud ChaserKölsch with Strawberry and Watermelon

Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191 Moab, Utah 84532

On Tap: Angus McCloudScottish Ale

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Munich Dunkel

Red Rock Kimball Junction Redrockbrewing.com

1640 Redstone Center

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: Pink Boot Hibiscus IPA

Roosters Brewing

Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Identity Crisis Session

West Coast Hazy Cold IPA – the name says it all!

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, S. Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com

On Tap: Fury Kolsch

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Save the Lake Pilsner

- 5% of sales donated to local non-profits to support preserving our Great Salt Lake Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Finn River Perry 8.5% ABV

Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, S. Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer

On Tap: Mango IPA

Live Music: Thursdays

Shades On State 366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Mexican Lager Karaoke: Wednesdays

Silver Reef 4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com

Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co.

147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/squatters

On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. Dog Lake (American) Pale Ale

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery

1763 So 300 West, SLC Utahbeers.com

On Tap: Top of Main Ginger Beer, 5% ABV Strap Tank Brewery Multiple Locations

StrapTankBrewery.com

Springville On Tap: PB Rider, Peanut Butter Stout

Lehi On Tap: 2-Stroke, Vanilla Mocha Porter

Stratford Proper 1588 Stratford Ave., SLC stratfordproper.com

On Tap: Yacht Rock Juice Box - Juicy IPA

TF Brewing 936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com

On Tap: Edel Pils

Talisman Brewing Co.

1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com

On Tap: The Patriot- Session IPA

Uinta Brewing

1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com

On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer

UTOG

2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com

On Tap: Lovely Lady Nitro Stout

Vernal Brewing 55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com

Wasatch 2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/ wasatch

On Tap: Wasatch Salt Lime Cerveza (SLC)

Zion Brewery 95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez

205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week

Barrels and Wit

Two new beers that find great combinations of components

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

UTOG - IV Anniversary Ale: This is UTOG’s Buffalo Soldier - Black IPA aged in Ogden’s Own Porter’s Rye whiskey casks. As you’d expect, it looks about the same as the base black IPA, pitchblack with a tan collar that has trouble staying full due to the barrel treatment. I have long thought this would be a great beer style for a barrel, and finally those dreams have become reality.

This IPA has a malt base like a big porter, real deep on the roast with some wonderful earthy, almost charred bitterness to it—not of sweeter crystal malts in the middle, but it does have a great body.

As predicted, it gibes well with the Porter’s Rye whiskey barrel. The sweet whiskey and vanilla notes really come out here, balancing the dark roast, bitter cocoa and coffee notes, and making it feel rich with all the wood. The hops here may be lost just a little bit to the barrel—not that it doesn’t taste fresh and hoppy, because it does, but this is a beer that has always been quite bitter from the hops, and still is. It’s just that some of the more piney hop nuance is less obvious.

Verdict: I like all the body here, and don’t mind the 10.6 percent booze warmth that this finishes with, either. This is a style we rarely see—barrelaged black imperial IPA—but with this particular beer, I think it makes a lot of sense. The result is unique and delicious, superb for chilly spring afternoons. I liked this a whole lot.

Pink Boots Utah/Level CrossingOur Wits End: It’s Pink Boots time once again in Utah—the time when the local

industry’s women and LGBTQ+ employees brew special beers to support these crucial members of our craft-beer community. It was decided that this year’s hop blend would lend itself well to a Belgian style witbier, and damn it if they didn’t nail it.

There’s no doubt that this is a witbier; the pale-hazed, nearly eggshell-colored wheat beer looks incredible with its big frothy head. Clove, white pepper, mild bubblegum and a blast of lemon peel greet the nose, resulting in a very pleasant bouquet.

The first taste is light and crisp, but still decently rich from the addition of wheat. The flavors pretty much follow the nose, predominantly constituting a gentle floral/spice note initially that isn’t overpowering or overtly cloying. Up front, it tastes like gentle clove and grains of paradise, maybe even white pepper, before opening up into sweet white bread and whipped cream. At the end, you get more clean, floral, dry flavors like peppery yeast and a big blast of bitter citrus rind—very refreshing and thirst-quenching. It feels light in body and carbs without being “watery;” it feels heavier than it actually is. It’s airy and smooth, and the flavor profile is perfectly suited for the mouthfeel, with a great balance between drinkability and spice/wheat flavor.

Verdict: A deliciously tasty witbier with plenty of subtle flavors, and a very restrained and appealing nose. Even after all that, taste is king, and I have to recommend this as one of the best witbiers I’ve tried in recent memory, as well as one of the better 5.0 percent Pink Boots collabs from the hearts of Utah’s breweries. This will be available at most participating breweries on draft.

As of this writing, you can find Our Wits End at Level Crossing, Roosters, Ogden Beer, West-Side Tavern, Bricks and Fisher, though I’m sure it’s at other breweries with a guest tap by now. IV Anniversary Ale is available in 16-ounce cans at UTOG’s brewery to enjoy in house or to-go. As always, cheers! CW

MIKE RIEDEL

MIKE RIEDEL

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

Mazza Chef Named James Beard Award Finalist

As the James Beard Awards draw closer, we’ve gotten news that Chef Ali Sabbah, owner of the legendary Mazza, is one of the five finalists for the outstanding chef award in the Mountain region. We’re happy to see Chef Sabbah get some national recognition after the difficulties he and his restaurant have faced over the past few years. Hopefully, a nod from the James Beard Foundation will help Mazza reclaim some of the ground it lost after closing its locations in the Ninth & Ninth area and Sandy. We’ll have to wait until June 5 to see how Chef Sabbah fares against the other finalists from this region, but we’ll all be rooting for him.

Paradise Parlor at Flanker Kitchen and Sporting Club

Carver Road Hospitality recently announced that Flanker Kitchen and Sporting Club (flankerslc. com) will be unveiling a new pop-up bar concept called Paradise Parlor starting on April 20. Paradise Parlor will encompass all the boozy kitsch of a tiki lounge, featuring art by Trent Call and a private “Jungle Room” inspired by the legendary persona of Elvis Presley. The cocktail menu has been curated by Francesco Lafranconi, VP of Beverage and Hospitality Culture at Carver Road, and will feature a wide range of craft cocktails that capture the tiki vibe. Paradise Parlor will be open every Thursday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Fridays through Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Bigtooth Maple Festival

I don’t know about you, but the idea of getting together with a bunch of syrup enthusiasts to tap Bigtooth Maple trees for their sugary bounty sounds just about as spring-y as you can get. The Bigtooth Maple Project will be hosting a festival full of games, activities and music, while those interested can learn how to tap our local Bigtooth Maples for syrup. According to the event description, Bigtooth Maple syrup has a different flavor profile from the sugar maple variety we tend to pour on our pancakes—and I, for one, am curious. The event takes place on April 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Luartizen Field (1145 S. Loafer Drive) in Salem.

Quote of the Week: “I’m not from a maple producing area, so my maple syrup credentials are very much of the eating side.” –Nancy Greene

The Power of Perseverance

Utah band Royal Bliss shares the secrets to 25 years of survival

BY LEE ZIMMERMAN comments@cityweekly.net

There’s no doubt that 25 years is a long time to claim a career in rock and roll. At a time when one-hit wonders and the latest flash in the proverbial pan all compete to dominate the charts, any band with the substance and dexterity to find success for any substantive length of time qualifies as a phenomenon.

Royal Bliss—specifically, Neal Middleton (lead vocal, guitar) Taylor Richards (guitars, vocals), Jake Smith (drums, percussion) and Brian Hennesy (bass, vocals)— are one of those isolated examples.

Since their formation in the late 90s, they’ve managed to release five albums (After The Chaos II, Life In Between, Waiting Out The Storm, Chasing The Sun and the band’s 2019 eponymous debut) with a sixth, as yet untitled album set for release later this year. They’ve toured continuously, sidelined only by the pandemic, climbed to number one on multiple Billboard’s charts and garnered over 100 million streams and 180,000+ monthly listeners on Spotify alone. Nevertheless, the band members insist that their greatest accomplishment has been their sheer survival.

“Survival in this ever-changing music industry is extremely difficult if you plan on making a living at it,” Middleton says. “We came up in a time when social media was still very new. We had MySpace, and t hat’s about it. The only way to get your music heard was to get out

were playing, and hoping we’d get to play there one day.”

“Sometime around 2003, we did a road trip and actually drove from here to Reno, to Sacramento, to San Francisco, hitting just about every city down the coast,” he said. “We’d look at their local papers and see where all the cool bands were playing. We’d drop off a CD and press kit and talk to the bartender, or manager. We actually booked a few tours based on that.”

Having the opportunity to perform for appreciative audiences has been well worth the effort, though, according to Middleton. “Being on that stage performing is one of the greatest feelings in the world,” he said. “To hear an audience singing your lyrics back at you is absoxtremely addicting. We all have that same love of music and an addiction to the live show, o whatever we have to do to be able to continue to perform and make a living doing what we love. For some musicians, that is too much work, and I don’t blame them, because at times it’s overwhelming. We just usic is therapy, and we’ve also noticed over the years that our music is therapy for others, so we continue to serve them.”

In that regard, the members of the band have remained united for a common purpose. “We all have different tastes in music and come from vastly different backgrounds as well,” he says. “I think it’s our differences that hemistry work so well. It would be boring if we all loved the same music and had the same personalities. nique musical skills as well as business skills that we have refined through the years.”

Middleton notes that it’s their shared love of music that also makes that pursuit worthwhile: “This band is kind of all we have known, so we have to make this work.”

Richards concurs. “It’s still fun,” he says. “Sure, there are hard times, arguments, frustrations, but at the end of the day, week, or month, we get to do what we love to do: Play music. Also, we keep growing and getting bigger and bigger. It may be the slowest growth process ever for a band (laughs), but it’s growing. And we are still growing as songwriters and musicians as well.”

For his part, Middleton sees a definitive trajectory. “We were young when we started, teenagers,” he recalls. “We just wanted to have fun, meet some girls, make some money and party. When we realized pretty quickly that people liked our music and we might have a shot at making a career of this, we set out to conquer the world. That young ambition and persistence really paid off.”

Asked if he thinks they’ve succeeded in realizing their initial goals, Middleton pauses. “If you asked me that question even five years ago, I would have probably said no,” he replies. “As we look out at the audience nowadays and see the connection they have to us and our music, then I have to say yes. We have people all over the world that listen to our music through hundreds of millions of streams and views, so I would say we have a made an impression … and that is pretty amazing.”

That said, both Middleton and Taylor agree that there have been difficulties they’ve encountered along the way. “There were many times where we thought about taking a break or hanging it up,” Middleton says. “Hell, at one point, after an accident, I was told I would never walk again. It was the fans and the local music community that got me back on that stage. I believe we have built something with this band that will last forever.”

Richards has his own reasons why they persevere. “Not giving up has made us stronger,” he argues. “So many bumps in the road have made us question if we should continue. Failed record label deals, loss of money from tours and promotions, extremely high gas prices, time away from family and loved ones and a pandemic!”

“There are e xperiences we have had, people we have met, food we have enjoyed and beautiful places we may have never seen if we had not stayed on this path,” Middleton concludes. “We have been a part of this community for most of our lives, we would not be where we are without their support. So we have to thank them for the amazing ride that they’ve allowed Royal Bliss to take. A band is nothing without their fans, and they have made our lives unbelievable. Cheers to 25 years and hopefully a few more!” CW

Royal Bliss COURTESY PHOTO

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS DJ FRESH(NESS)

SATURDAYS POKER @ 2PM DJ DELMAGGIO

SHARK SUNDAYS POOL TOURNEY HOSTED BY JARED AND TANNER

MONDAYS REGGAE MONDAY WITH DJ NAPO

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS KARAOKE

MUSIC PICK S

By Emilee Atkinson

WEEP

WAVE @ Quarters DLC 4/13

Psychedelic alternative punk blooms in the hands of Seattle trio WEEP WAVE. A fun, Halloween spookiness embroiders their energetic, echoey sound to create the perfect blend of upper and downer. Reminiscent of the opening club scene of 1998’s Blade, the blend of eeriness, live instruments, quick melodic synths and distant sounding vocals invoke a sense of partying in Dracula’s castle. WEEP WAVE’s 2019 debut album S.A.D. (an acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder) put them on the map for the Pacific Northwest punk scene, with dozens of singles and EPs gaining major recognition as well. “Perfect Piece of Pretty Trash” is a favorite, with drums that smash you awake and electric guitar that pulls you along, making for a pretty awesome double-espresso. WEEP WAVE has the new Join Our Cult EP as well as two singles to take on their West Coast tour, all leaning towards their psychedelic range more than their prior work. Space is a major influence for the trio, and their most recent releases have proven that in both tone and sound. Trading in their traditional dungeon sound, we now hear more of a spaceship dungeon sound, no less ready to headbang to. Just Mustard meets Talking Heads, teleports to the 1977 punk show scene and back to Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 13. Swing by downtown’s Quarters Arcade Bar to check out WEEP WAVE. Tickets are $10 at 24tix.com—but only if you’re 21+. (Caleb Daniel)

MUSIC PICK S

By Emilee Atkinson

Sego

Sego, Holy Water Buffalo, 26fix

@ Velour 4/14

Velour + this lineup = an amazing evening. Members of Sego are torn between L.A. and Utah. They’ve spent a ton of time in L.A., but band members still identify as Utahns at heart. “There’s this annoying conversation: Do we call ourselves an L.A. band, because we’ve been in L.A. a long time? But I still identify as a Utahn,” founding member Spencer Petersen told The Salt Lake Tribune in 2019. “It’s the ever-long tug-of-war. Obviously, if you travel at all, you’ll find no shortage of trash talk about both Utah and Los Angeles—which is ironic, because I find both places charming and cool.” The indie pop group has been cranking out epic music for about a decade, only getting better with time. Their last full release, Sego Sucks, dropped in 2019, a time that wasn’t so long ago, but which many of us probably already feel nostalgic for. With this album, Sego went on their first nationwide headlining tour, which was a perfect way to connect with fans. Holy Water Buffalo have a story similar to that of Sego; they came together in Utah, but currently reside in the City of Angels. The folk-rock trio have a nearly 15 year run, and dropped their latest EP Las Palmas earlier this January. Rounding out the local lineup is SLC singer/songwriter 26fix, who has been working hard on a concept EP about a girl who chokes on a pickle and dies—not one to miss. Come out to this great local lineup on Friday, April 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $12 and can be found at 24tix.com.

(Emilee Atkinson)

WEDNESDAY, APR. 12 JONATHAN FOSTER FRIDAY, APR. 14 STONEFED THURSDAY, APR.13 POMPE N HONEY

MARCELLO AMBRIZ

By Emilee Atkinson

KBP4 Local Highlights @ Urban Lounge 4/15

Kilby Block Party Four is right around the corner, and while it’s fun to get excited for the big names heading to SLC, there are plenty of fantastic locals who will be playing alongside them. The Plastic Cherries are becoming a staple in the Salt Lake music scene. They’re known for their retro-yet-new vibes and high energy performances. They hit us with their most recent single “Lovers on the Run” in 2022, and fans have been itching for more from the group, so hopefully 2023 will bring a nice surprise. Joining the Cherries are Musor, the three-piece psych rock who beautifully blend their culture with their trippy tracks. Their 2022 self-titled EP debut takes listeners on an ethereal and entrancing journey, perfectly fitting for the other-worldly album art that accompanies the music. It features the three band members sitting on a couch facing open space in all its mysterious wonder. Hitting the mix is singer/songwriter Joss Doss, who brings a country/ folk sound to the show. Doss has a signature twang to his voice that often has a charming echo effect applied, lending itself well to the country vibes of his music. There’s always an energetic drum beat in the background, driving the track paired with acoustic or light electric guitar. Overall, this is a great sampling of some of the awesome local talent. Come check out these acts before they hit the stage for Kilby Block Party this summer on Saturday, April 15 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $10 and can be found at theurbanloungeslc.com. (EA)

Daisy the Great, Olive Klug @ Kilby Court 4/19

This isn’t the first time Daisy the Great has come to town. Last fall, they opened for tourmates The Happy Fits, but this time they’ll take the stage as headliners. Since they were last in SLC, the indie-pop/folk group released their sophomore album All You Need is Time, which has garnered exceptional reception from fans and new listeners alike. Part of the reason Daisy the Great’s music is so good comes down to the close connection between the frontwomen, Kelly Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker. Writing and performing have only brought the two closer over the years. “I think that started a really healthy band relationship, because we began as collaborators and that morphed into a best friendship,” Walker told Document last December. “There was a time when we were writing every single day—everything was [about the] band, all the time. We’ve gotten to a point where it has calmed down a bit.” The duo’s double-lead-vocal harmonies add such a beauty to their music that it’s hard to stop listening. The album starts out with a deeply emotional and meaningful track, “Time Machine;” it’s a song that focuses on healing, and will leave you a little tearful. Daisy the Great are joined by Olive Klug, a folk singer who also isn’t a stranger to SLC. Catch these great acts on Wednesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $18 in advance, and $20 the day of the show. Grab tickets at kilbycourt.com. (EA)

P T H U R S DAY

All Draft Beer $2.50/pint & $5 Steins

SARA LAUFER

Daisy the Great

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

I hope that in the coming weeks, you will keep your mind bubbling with zesty mysteries. I hope you’ll exult in the thrill of riddles that are beyond your current power to solve. If you cultivate an appreciation of uncanny uncertainties, life will soon begin bringing you uncanny certainties. Do you understand the connection between open-hearted curiosity and fertile rewards? Don’t merely tolerate the enigmas you are immersed in—love them!

TAURUS

(April

20-May 20)

An old sadness is ripening into practical wisdom. A confusing loss is about to yield a clear revelation you can use to improve your life. In mysterious ways, a broken heart you suffered in the past may become a wild card that inspires you to deepen and expand your love. Wow, Taurus! I’m amazed at the turnarounds in the works for you. Sometime in the coming weeks, what wounded you once upon a time will lead to a vibrant healing. Wonderful surprise!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

What is the true and proper symbol for your sign, Gemini? Twins standing shoulder to shoulder as they gaze out on the world with curiosity? Or two lovers embracing each other with mischievous adoration in their eyes? Both scenarios can accurately represent your energy, depending on your mood and the phase you’re in. In the coming weeks, I advise you to draw on the potency of both. You will be wise to coordinate the different sides of your personality in pursuit of a goal that interests them all. And you will also place yourself in harmonious alignment with cosmic rhythms as you harness your passionate urge to merge in a good cause.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

Some scientists speculate that more people suffer from allergies than ever before because civilization has oversanitized the world. The fetish for scouring away germs and dirt means that our immune systems don’t get enough practice in fending off interlopers. In a sense, they are “bored” because they have too little to do. That’s why they fight stuff that’s not a threat, like tree pollens and animal dander. Hence, we develop allergies to harmless substances. I hope you will apply this lesson as a metaphor in the coming weeks, fellow Cancerian. Be sure the psychological component of your immune system isn’t warding off the wrong people and things. It’s healthy for you to be protective, but not hyper-over-protective in ways that shut out useful influences.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

One night in 1989, Leo evolutionary biologist Margie Profet went to sleep and had a dream that revealed to her new information about the nature of menstruation. The dream scene was a cartoon of a woman’s reproductive system. It showed little triangles being carried away by the shed menstrual blood. Eureka! As Profet lay in bed in the dark, she intuited a theory that no scientist had ever guessed: that the sloughed-off uterine lining had the key function of eliminating pathogens, represented by the triangles. In subsequent years, she did research to test her idea, supported by studies with electron microscopes. Now her theory is regarded as fact. I predict that many of you Leos will soon receive comparable benefits. Practical guidance will be available in your dreams and twilight awareness and altered states. Pay close attention!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

You don’t know what is invisible to you. The truths that are out of your reach may as well be hiding. The secret agendas you are not aware of are indeed secret. That’s the not-sogood news, Virgo. The excellent news is that you now have the power to uncover the rest of the story, at least some of it. You will be able to penetrate below the surface and find buried riches. You will dig up missing information whose absence has prevented you from understanding what has been transpiring. There may be a surprise or two ahead, but they will ultimately be agents of healing.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Visionary philosopher Buckminster Fuller referred to pollution as a potential resource we have not yet figured out how to harvest. A company called Algae Systems does exactly that. It uses wastewater to grow algae that scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and yield carbon-negative biofuels. Can we invoke this approach as a metaphor that’s useful to you? Let’s dream up examples. Suppose you’re a creative artist. You could be inspired by your difficult emotions to compose a great song, story, painting or dance. Or if you’re a lover who is in pain, you could harness your suffering to free yourself of a bad old habit or ensure that an unpleasant history doesn’t repeat itself. Your homework, Libra, is to figure out how to take advantage of a “pollutant” or two in your world.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Soon you will graduate from your bumpy lessons and enter a smoother, silkier phase. You will find refuge from the naysayers as you create a liberated new power spot for yourself. In anticipation of this welcome transition, I offer this motivational exhortation from poet Gwendolyn Brooks: “Say to them, say to the down-keepers, the sun-slappers, the self-soilers, the harmony-hushers, ‘Even if you are not ready for day, it cannot always be night.’” I believe you are finished with your worthwhile but ponderous struggles, Scorpio. Get ready for an excursion toward luminous grace.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

I periodically seek the counsel of a Sagittarian psychic. She’s half-feral and sometimes speaks in riddles. She tells me she occasionally converses by phone with a person she calls “the ex-Prime Minister of Narnia.” I confided in her that lately it has been a challenge for me to keep up with you Sagittarians because you have been expanding beyond the reach of my concepts. She gave me a pronouncement that felt vaguely helpful, though it was also a bit over my head: “The Archer may be quite luxuriously curious and furiously hilarious; studiously lascivious and victoriously delirious; salubriously industrious but never lugubriously laborious.” Here’s how I interpret that: Right now, pretty much anything is possible if you embrace unpredictability.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

“I’m not insane,” says Capricorn actor Jared Leto. “I’m voluntarily indifferent to conventional rationality.” That attitude might serve you well in the coming weeks. You could wield it to break open opportunities that were previously closed due to excess caution. I suspect you’re beginning a fun phase of self-discovery when you will learn a lot about yourself. As you do, I hope you will experiment with being at least somewhat indifferent to conventional rationality. Be willing to be surprised. Be receptive to changing your mind about yourself.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

People of all genders feel urges to embellish their native beauty with cosmetic enhancements. I myself haven’t done so, but I cheer on those who use their flesh for artistic experiments. At the same time, I am also a big fan of us loving ourselves exactly as we are. And I’m hoping that in the coming weeks, you will emphasize the latter over the former. I urge you to indulge in an intense period of maximum self-appreciation. Tell yourself daily how gorgeous and brilliant you are. Tell others, too! Cultivate a glowing pride in the gifts you offer the world. If anyone complains, tell them you’re doing the homework your astrologer gave you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

I encourage you to amplify the message you have been trying to deliver. If there has been any shyness or timidity in your demeanor, purge it. If you have been less than forthright in speaking the whole truth and nothing but the truth, boost your clarity and frankness. Is there anything you could do to help your audience be more receptive? Any tenderness you could express to stimulate their willingness and ability to see you truly?

ACROSS

1. Bush who debated Trump in 2016

4. Persian for “king”

8. City across the Rio Grande from Ciudad

Juárez

14. ____ Dhabi

15. “Teenage Dream” singer Perry

16. Actress Tracy who married Michael J. Fox after playing Alex P. Keaton’s girlfriend on “Family Ties”

17. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are each named for one

19. “Summer’s joys are ____ by use”: Keats

20. Super Bowl III winner, for short

21. Mastermind game piece

23. Sch. with the fight song “The Mighty Bruins”

24. Angel dust, briefly

26. Slow musical movements

29. Bird of prey listed a “priority species” by Audubon Minnesota

34. Language of Pakistan’s Daily Khabrain

35. Guy of “Memento”

36. Je t’aime French :: ____ : Spanish

38. Teddy’s neighbor on Mount Rushmore

39. Battling

44. Hopped around on a stick

47. Hum from a fan

48. Food and clothing, for two

53. Boomer on “The NFL Today”

54. Goal

55. Flows back

56. Classic distress call

59. Pack tightly

63. Exercise at a Y, maybe

66. “Afraid that ain’t happening” (or a hint to solving 17-, 29- or 48-Across)

68. Starr of old comics

69. J.B. Smoove’s character on “Curb Your Enthusiasm”

70. Sports rep 71. Being 72. Eyelid affliction

73. December 31, for short DOWN

1. Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Wenner

2. Goth-like aesthetic of some TikTok guys

3. Dubai’s ____ Khalifa

4. Courtroom art 5. Crone

urban LIVING

Big in Japan

Long story short, a friend asked me to be a tour guide for a Japanese film crew here in the capital city to film a local business. They also needed additional footage of our fair city. They’d already been here once before and filmed in and around Temple Square, so I was responsible for suggesting places off the beaten path that a typical tourist might not know about.

It was easy since part of my job as a real estate broker is to show potential buyers the lay of the land. I’m also the volunteer chair of the Historic Landmarks Commission for Salt Lake City, so that gives me additional ideas.

6. On

7. Murderous alter ego of fiction

8. Mini albums, for short

9. Hack (off)

10. “The ____ and the Stars” (1937 Barbara Stanwyck film)

11. Keys on a keyboard?

12. Sickly-looking

13. Getting the job done

18. Place for a nasal piercing

22. DVD

49. Green Goblin alter ego Norman ____

Last week’s answers

I picked up the crew from their hotel, and, lucky for me, they spoke English. First stop: a drive downtown to Temple Square to explain the scaffolding surrounding the Latter-day Saints Temple. Next was a photo stop at the Lion House (63 E. South Temple), built in 1856 by the “Lion of the Lord,” aka Brigham Young, the second Latter-day Saints president. Young lived here with as many as 12 of his wives and a number of his 57 children.

Next, we drove up to the Capitol and then to the Avenues, past the grand old Victorian, Federalist and Craftsman homes up to the Mid-Mod area of Pill Hill, where we toured a home for sale with sweeping views of the valley and where I pointed out the geographical benches (foothills), the Rio Tinto mine, and Mount Nebo (you can see its peak from the top of the Avenues).

Then, off to the ultimate oddity— Gilgal Sculpture Garden at 749 E. 500 South (free to visit). This little park is the legacy of Thomas Battersby Child Jr.’s desire to give physical form to his deeply felt religious beliefs. The garden contains 12 amazing stone sculptures and 70 stones engraved with scriptures, poems and philosophical tenets that rang true to his spiritual quest.

SUDOKU X Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to

No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

There, I guided them to “Mr. Brick Pants”—one of the largest sculptures in the garden—as much else was covered in snow. They oohed and awed and took lots of video before I shuffled them back into the car to drive them past Trolley Square (the original service barns of a long-gone, citywide trolley car system) and Liberty Park.

Then, on to our final destination: the world’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. Harland Sanders created his secret recipe for fried chicken in 1940. He met locals Pete and Arline Harman at a convention, and in 1952, they made a deal to franchise Sanders’ signature chicken at what is now the flagship eatery at State and 3900 South in South Salt Lake. The host of the program informed me that, in Japan, it’s tradition to order KFC as a Christmas Day treat, so they photographed the museum pieces and bought swag from there.

We ended up at the Sun Trapp tavern, as they wanted to film a gay bar in Utah. Fun was had by all, and the show should be released in Japan soon. n

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NEWS of the

THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Weird Science

Australian company Vow has wowed the science world with a meatball made of meat cultivated from the genetic sequence of an extinct mammoth, the Associated Press reported on March 29. “This is not an April Fools’ joke,” said Tim Noakesmith, founder of the company. Using publicly available genetic information from the mammoth, along with data from the African elephant, Vow grew the cells in a lab. The large meatball—somewhere between the size of a softball and a volleyball—was displayed at the Nemo science museum in Amsterdam. “We wanted to get people excited about the future of food,” Noakesmith said. “We thought the mammoth would be a conversation starter.” People who were there as it was being cooked said it smelled good.

News That Sounds Like a Joke

Here’s an item you can share at this weekend’s cocktail party: The animatronics at your local Chuck E. Cheese may be powered by a 3.5-inch floppy disk. Of 600 restaurants around the world, about 50 still use the floppies, BuzzFeed News reported. In related news, a robust subculture of Chuck E. fans builds and restores the iconic animatronics at home, and vintage memorabilia has a strong market online. Here’s the less cheery news: Subway trains in San Francisco run on floppies, and Boeing 747s and 737s get their updates on the ‘80sera medium, too.

Saw That Coming

The Irish Times reported that The Virgin Mary, the only alcohol-free bar in Dublin, closed its doors for good on March 27. But Dubliners, do not despair! The bar’s owners said the closing “marks an exciting new chapter for us,” as they will provide a mobile experience all around the island. “Ireland get ready to drink different!” a social media post read. Slainte!

Great Art

■ As you drive along the EastLink toll road in Melbourne, Australia, you might be tempted to spend the night at the Hotel EastLink, Oddity Central reported. But it’s literally impossible to get a reservation there, because it’s not really a hotel. It’s a sculpture that was unveiled in 2007 by artist Callum Morton. At only 20 meters tall, the “hotel” isn’t exactly a high-rise, and it sits in the middle of an empty field. But it fools passersby with lights that come on at night in the “rooms”—enough that people try to call for reservations. “Putting something in a space that is slightly beguiling or is a little bit strange ... changes the way people think about art or practice,” Morton said.

■ Wilma Flintstone, eat your heart out. French luxury brand Coperni has revealed a fall 2023 limited-edition handbag that’ll put buyers back $43,000, Oddity Central reported on March 24. The Mini Meteorite Swipe Bag is

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made of a meteorite that fell to Earth 55,000 years ago. It weighs about 4 1/2 pounds empty, is too small to hold much, is nonrefundable and will take about six weeks to arrive. So yeah—maybe yabba dabba don’t?

Compelling Explanation

Springfield, Missouri, real estate agent Clifford Craig Edwards, 52, got caught up in the wild and crazy atmosphere of spring break in St. Petersburg, Florida—at least that’s what he told police after he was arrested on March 16 for felony criminal mischief, The Smoking Gun reported. Edwards was spied by the owners of a van standing near their vehicle and “making motions.” When they confronted him, he laughed and ran away. The owners discovered their car had been vandalized with a butter knife, causing “extensive paint damage” to the tune of $1,000, police said. Edwards had put his number down on a wait list at a nearby restaurant, so police got in touch with him; that’s when he said his actions were a “spring break mistake.” He was released on a $2,000 bond.

Can’t Possibly Be True

Pastor John Lindell of the James River Church in Springfield, Missouri, claimed on the congregation’s livestream on March 15 that a “creative miracle” had taken place the day before at the church’s Joplin location, the Springfield News-Leader reported. Lindell explained that “prayer team members” had prayed over Kristina Dines, who had had three toes amputated after her husband shot her in 2015. “As the ladies prayed for Krissy ... all three toes grew, and by that point, were longer than her pinky toe,” Lindell said in the livestream. “Within an hour, nails began to grow on all the toes,” he added. While Dines hasn’t commented to the paper, she said in a video on Twitter that she saw the toes reforming. “Listen, do you understand? I can stand on tippy toes. No, I couldn’t do that (before) because I didn’t have toes to tippy on,” Dines said. During the livestream, Lindell also suggested to parishioners that other miracles are coming: “... some people in this room—you’re gonna raise people from the dead. It’s going to happen.” Stay tuned.

Wait, What?

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have found that using mindfulness to treat social anxiety is more effective when combined with sniffing body odor, Sky News reported. The body odor for the study was collected from people watching films, but it didn’t matter whether they watched comedy or horror. Women who participated in a mindfulness session while exposed to the odor saw a 39% reduction in social anxiety, while those who did mindfulness alone saw only a 17% reduction. The scientists aren’t sure why human sweat affects the response to the treatment.

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

DevOps Engineer (DOECG) in Midvale, UT (Telecommuting permitted from anywhere in U.S.) Design, dvlp & support continuous integration (CI) / continuous delivery (CD) pipelines. Reqs Master’s. Send resumes to Zions Bancorporation at ZionsCareers@zionsbancorp. com. Must reference job title & code in subject line.