Around this time last year, my world was different. I was in the second month of working nightshift, was slightly fatigued and disheartened by what felt like a backslide at the time, and utterly devastated by the fact that I worked on Christmas Day.
In the last couple months, I feel like I have reversed that.
I started a nonprofit this year. Five years after receiving an advanced degree in Nonprofit Administration, I finally am living my passion. While tax exemption is likely going to be something that happens closer to 2021, I am in the midst of looking into microgrants and beginning the process of looking into the space necessary to make the Roll Anywhere Denver shop a reality.
That being said, the Denver I am coming back to is not the Denver of December 2019.
A couple nights ago, I rode my bike down to Capitol Hill to grab a DVD from an old friend. After a brief ride and catching up outside, most of which was us comparing the miseries of our years, I started riding home. On my way home, I stopped at the Capitol to look out upon what Denver had become.
While still a wonderful city, Denver had been fundamentally changed by the events of 2020. The skyscrapers of lower downtown are still visible, with tags from the George Floyd protests, text from another chapter of America reckoning with its racist past, up and down the first floors. As your gaze turns closer to Civic Center park, a more “traditional” winter Denver becomes visible.
An ad for a European Christmas Market in Civic Center Park
A winter market that feels very much like a relic of Pre-COVID Denver is in the center of everything, along with a city hall that is lit like the city was in the middle of an economic boom.
But it isn’t. The 2021 Denver will still be in a deficit budget wise, forced to take austerity measures during a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted people in the service industry, Denverites of color, and those already in precarious economic situations. While those in high tech arenas were quickly able to recover, the floor bottomed out, and tent cities comparable to Hoovervilles in the 1930’s were everywhere. Many people who are renting are also on the edge, crossing fingers hoping the federal government gives them aid. Businesses are counting their pennies, hoping for rental assistance and help as things stall in Washington.
Yet, the park seems like a Disneyland amidst a city on the edge.
When I took a picture of City Hall from the Capitol, the most prominent thing in the foreground was the graffiti on the statue. “Jesus Saves” a popular expression, caught my eye. A phrase often used to signify faith in god will make things all aright, Jesus Saves felt like only part of the story this year. Jesus saves, sure, but COVID Withdraws, and will continue to withdraw, even long after its completely gone. Or we are.
Featured image is of the former monument to the Sand Creek Massacrestatue, which is being replaced in the New Year, with the Denver City-County building in the background.
When I started this year, I wanted to get into swing dancing. A friend of mine who I met online said that she would go with me to the Mercury Café’s swing nights and support me in my endeavors. The first two sessions in early January were electric, and it was a morale booster that brought me into a better state of mind.
I was also applying for jobs at this time as well. With the economy still very vibrant in Denver, I was getting interview requests every other day, slowly chipping away at the possibility of getting a new job. I had heard on the news that a virus was spreading rapidly in China and Europe, but thought the myself “this won’t ever spread to the US, and if it does, we will contain it!”
Flash forward to today.
As I sit and type this down on my couch on a day when 3,000 Americans, more people than have died since 9/11, have been killed by COVID-19 I feel like I have been “flattened” by this year. Beyond the global pandemic, America’s racist history was brought to the forefront as George Floyd and Elijah McClain were murdered by police officers. As the election drew nearer, the sitting president, who tried several times this year to incite war with Iran and minimized the pandemic and protests, is challenging election results after they have been submitted, and shows no signs of conceding gracefully. There is no national strategy when it comes to COVID-19, and the vaccine distribution process looks like it won’t be complete until summer 2021 in Colorado.
Now, breathe in and breathe out.
This year, I have had to accept that there are things I can’t control in life. The “flattening” of this year was one of them. To explain what I mean by that, my “flattening” felt like loss of stability in everything in my life all at once. From the loss of the opportunity to dance, to an economic depression that ended my job search, to work becoming a warzone as police got into standoffs with protestors, I felt that this was the new normal.
It fundamentally changed me. Similar to how Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbits true form is shown to be a manic Toon after being run over by a steamroller, the flattening revealed my true self. A good self, but tired, on the ground, and wary.
Now, as the year ends, I start the process of getting back up. Realizing my values, including commitment to community, outspokenness on issues of injustice, and, a recent value, relentless advocacy for myself, I am ready to roar into the new year and all the new challenges in my way.
Featured image is of the author waiting at a light rail station with a towel he borrowed from his relatives.
Note: This is a bit of divergence from my typical, non-political topics of discussion. I would like to emphasize that I am focusing on local elections and things that are Colorado-centric in my analysis. I hope you understand.
Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.-Friedrich Nietzsche
While focus in the national sphere is on the chaotic state of the Georgia Senate races possibly shifting the balance of power in the senate and the seemingly endless lawsuits of the Trump campaign against certification of state Biden won by a slim margin, local Colorado races and events are showing signs of a post-Trump GOP. Though he has shown no indication that he is going away, Coloradans rejected Trump soundly, voting by a nearly 14 point margin to send their 9 electoral votes to Biden. On a congressional level, Colorado stayed relatively stable, with one major exception.
During the primaries in the race for Congressional District 3, business owner Lauren Boebert defeated longtime congressman Scott Tipton in the Republican primary and ultimately defeated Diane Bush in the general election by a margin of 5 points. Lauren Boebert, who defied the state’s public health order by keeping her business, Shooter’s Grill, open during the worst of the first and second waves of the pandemic, is also a supporter of the baseless Qanon conspiracy, which in broad terms claims that Donald Trump is fighting against a deep state that has been housing pedophiles and an agent with Q level clearance is revealing information about this fight (1). Her biggest claim to fame prior to her ascendency to power was challenging then Democratic presidential candidate Beto O Rourke at a rally on gun control in Aurora, where a major shooting occurred nearly 8 years ago at the premier of The Dark Knight Rises. She is set to be sworn in with the next congress in early January, and has repeated the baseless conspiracy theories about the election being corrupt and rigged.
Lauren Boebert
Meanwhile, while Democrats held their majority in the state house and expanded it in the State-Senate, the special session called in regards to COVID-19 had a particularly viral moment, both literally and figuratively. Representative Larry Liston, whose district includes much of Northern Colorado Springs, chose to wear a mask on his head and mocked his Democratic colleagues.
Representative Larry Liston wearing a mask on his head
Reelected with 56% of the vote, Liston has been in and out of power in the Colorado State House since 2005, and has been incredibly active in the Republican party before then, being involved in different roles on the campaign for George W Bush. Along with Liston’s dissent, half of the Republican delegation went mask-less as well.
The substantive votes on the spending packages were overshadowed by the behavior of the Republicans during the legislative session. Bills in regards to small business relief, a housing fund for disadvantaged renters, and increasing broadband capacity passed, with some Republican dissent.
A final event in Colorado politics focuses on Congressman Ken Buck. The current head of the Colorado Republican Party and a sitting US Congressman in a heavily Republican district, Buck defended Colorado’s election integrity from attacks from president Trump. this drew the ire of many rank and file, with a baseless conspiracy theory by the president himself that Dominion voting machines deleted millions of votes for him being tweeted out in mid-November.
So, what are some common trends emerge from this era of politics in the State of Colorado? A few, actually.
A complete lack of regard for scientific reasoning.
While this stretches as far back as the 1960’s with debates over water fluoridation and the candidacy of Barry Goldwater, Covid-19 has intensified some of the worst elements of the Republican Party’s distrust of science. Prior to outright defriending them, several of my more conservative friends shared a viral video about COVID-19 being a planned event meant to encroach on individual liberties. This slickly produced YouTube documentary formed the intellectual basis for not wearing masks, and, in some ways, led to the “debate” over widely established facts that masks prevent the spread of viral infections. Representative Liston’s refusal and mockery of wearing a mask is the height of an utter disdain for science and reason.
Deference to strongman*/spectacle driven politicians.
Though this seems to contradict my attempt to articulate what a party will look like post-Trump, this is actually a more deeply rooted aspect of Republicans that has its roots in the election of Ronald Reagan, who, during his own campaign, said he would Make America Great. Trump, far from being the beginning of deference to personality driven politics in the GOP, is only a symptom of it. While many names have been floated as successors to Trump at the federal level, including Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, and his own son, the Colorado GOP’s most likely candidate for that role is recently elected Boebert. During the Thanksgiving Holiday, Boebert hosted a large Thanksgiving Party/”Turkey Funeral” that had at least 30 attendees during a time when Colorado had 1 in 41 residents infected. Though she is expected to vote and carry herself as a staunch conservative as she enters the House of Representatives, her actions and words are more in the spotlight than her possible positions on the issues. Expect this kind of politics to be front and center in a post Trump world.
A conspiratorial disdain for “the elites”
Though this is a messaging tactic that was pioneered by Barry Goldwater and refined and polished under Ronald Reagan, it emerged in full force in the Trump-era. Q-Anon conspiracy theorist, including Lauren Boebert before her disavowal of it, pride themselves on believing that elite forces in both parties that have encourage pedophilia are being thwarted by Donald Trump. Note, this is a conspiracy that crosses party lines Ken Buck to a lot of rank and file is very much part of this elite class for claiming that the election was not rigged and that Colorado is fairly good when it comes to voter integrity.
A violent rejection of democracy/general inclination towards violence.
While this has a recent history in GOP history, including Bill O Reilly’s “Tiller the Baby Killer” rhetoric that contributed to George Tiller’s Murder by right wing extremists and Gabby Giffords Shooting being a byproduct of the NRA’s escalation of violent language, the appendage of rejecting and constantly attacking democracy relentlessly is new and a direct byproduct of Donald Trump’s continuous refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and baseless attacks on the process by his personal lawyer is incredibly new. It also fits into a couple of other molds as well. Earlier yesterday, Ken Buck discussed the possibility of reopening an investigation in Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine, a conspiracy meant to discredit the incoming Biden administration. Some Republican state legislators have bought into the baseless conspiracy that the 2020 elections were rigged, and have unsuccessful attempted to overturn the results in Colorado. A Patriot Muster Rally, which resulted in a deadly shooting, was found to be directly connected to the Colorado GOP. The inclination towards violence has a storied past, and will have a devastating present and future in a party that refuses to accept basic principles of democracy.
A Photo from the Patriot Muster Rally
When I started my quote with the Nietzsche quote, I meant it as a warning. Though this piece does not mention the opposition to the Republican party, which is primarily composed of the Democratic Party, both its governing wing and its left leaning activist contingent, these elements play an important role in slowing the march of these destructive trends in the GOP. In a later blog (probably for next week), I will talk more about prescriptive elements the Democratic party and other groups concerned with the state of our democracy to fight these destructive trends. Until then, stay informed, but stay sane.
*Featured Image is from a February 2020 Colorado Springs Rally, the basis for the bulk of Donald Trumps support in the State of Colorado*
During the election, Boebert disassociated with the Q-Anon conspiracy theories.
Went to an election watch party in 2016. I knew the historic opportunity to see our first woman president break the glass ceiling was something I needed to experience with a group after a contentious primary and general. An extension of the current administration seemed like something I could stand for, and I needed a lift.
Lifted to the party up the escalator, which consisted of two monitors and few chairs. Lots of people sitting.
Local races mixed and national results didn’t show up until later in the night, with mostly Coloradans staring at Midwestern counties.
US Wisconsin senate goes red. Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana too. Conversation about expanding on previous administration’s success becomes chess match.
Eyes on executive.
Turning point for the room spiritually is Florida. Latino voters are not unanimously out for the Administration: in fact, older Cubans pulled hard for regime change.
I left the room, the parking lot to clear my head. You can see my flannel in election night photos. Head less clear.
People go to lot with me.Remember having a cigarette, realizing that, at the very least, we were defensive against an ascendant right wing nationalism worldwide that the Philippines and the UK had already experienced.
Battery low
Phone dying, get home. Leave the parking lot. Meet friends soon
Never Meet. Hope Ok, Hope survived.
Some don’t
Regime ascendant.
Train home. Tense. Hope path to victory for Administration. Health repeal discussed. Regime Speaks. Forgotten men speech. Black men in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin turned away polls. Law and Order. Get to Station, ride home. Bed.
Chess Board Knocked Over.
Mind drained.
November to January blur. Last ditch efforts by electors to vote their conscience, recount attempted to be initiated by minority party candidates across 3 states, and the sadness of outgoing Administration officials, towards what the Regime would do to the office.Go clubbing January 19th. Come out.
Minutes into Regime. Dismantling Administration. Express they had the largest inauguration size ever (and subsequently disproven by Regime’s own agency in later statement) begins to go to war with reason, a war that would ultimately result in an incoherent foreign policy, trade deals that made little sense, forming a 5th branch of the military purely out of ego, and, most infamously, a sluggish and conspiratorial response to a pandemic and racial protests that hasn’t been seen since 1918.
Regime overthrown. Qualified checkmark Twitter. While still active, the news media has gone Watergate, deplatforming and contextualizing Regime every chance they get.
Getting closure myself though, I needed to get back to the parking lot. The place where the Regime was born. The place I started panic thinking in regards to issues, and playing defense in my life.
I rode my bike through the back alleys of my apartment, realizing that the Hyatt was actually part of a larger complex of buildings that composed a large outdoor shopping mall. The spot was easy to scope from memory. I snapped a pic and headed inside.
Inside were 3 concierges, wearing black masks. I asked if there was a way to the second floor, and was told it was restricted due to COVID-19. I briefly chatted with a guy who was working the night of the election party, joking that “must have made a lot of alcohol sales that night”
I left the parking lot in a significantly better state of mind than in 2016. It was cathartic, feeling like leaving a weight behind that had built up over years of fighting for survival. It was freedom, and the ability to forge a new identity separate from that of the Regime.
While a lot of people will look at this and say “see, you did survive the Regime, it wasn’t that bad,” consider this:
The Hyatt nationally is now a company that provides lodging to COVID-19 healthcare providers. Beyond that, I was one of the few people out in general, due to the fact the city put in a 10 AM curfew. I have been COVID-adjacent two times, and that is a level of paranoia you never want in your life. Some people in that parking lot have had Covid, and there is the possibility that some in the party have died due to a strong 3rd wave and involvement in anti-Regime politics. While I was able to escape the parking lot, the victims of Regime era deaths are buried in the concrete of fascism, negligence, and outright violence.
I was madly refreshing my large laptop, watching with a friend as states were flashing blue and red, blue and red. We were in Downtown Denver at Union Station, and it felt electric. While many of us were not super enthusiastic about Hillary, we were about to beat Donald Trump, a womanizer that said that he would “grab em by the pussy” merely 10 years before.
The “party”
I went to the Colorado Democratic Hyatt watch party stag. Despite not knowing anyone, I knew the historic opportunity to see our first women president break the glass ceiling was something I needed to experience with a group after a contentious primary and general.
A Description of the Watch Party in 5280 Magazine
Then, the results came in.
Early signs were mixed. Morgan Carroll lost in Colorado’s-6th congressional district heavily against incumbent Coffman, but a social use amendment (AKA marijuana coffee shops) was approved in Denver overwhelming. A Bernie style healthcare plan was rejected at the state level, while Bennet was returned to the Senate and the minimum wage was increased.
After a flurry of wins and failures, however, all eyes were on the presidency.
The Takeover
While, in the final weeks of the campaign, Clinton had wanted to expand the map by adding Arizona to her column, she ended in Philadelphia on the night before election night in New York in a ploy to get a swing-ish state from Trump, results didn’t show up until later in the night, and activists were nervously looking at their phones as the TV was calling many traditional Midwestern states “Too Close to Call”
The first moral loss at the national level to me was Russ Feingold, a progressive force in Wisconsin politics who lost to Ron Johnson. Other possible pickups, including Rubio in Florida, Toomey in Pennsylvania, and a seat in Indiana did not come to fruition. What was once a conversation about expanding on progressive ideals during the Obama years became slowly became playing ball with Republicans to ensure stability.
Then, the chessboard was knocked over
Eyes back on the presidency.
The turning point for the room felt like Florida. True to the election night 2016 skit, the “Latino voters” did not come out for Hillary: in fact, some of the more conservative portions of Latino voters, including Cubans, pulled hard for Trump.
This is when I left the room, and headed to the parking lot to clear my head. You can see my flannel between the couple.
I was not the only one to do so that night. The way the event was handled was that the “party” was on the second floor, so large groups of people would go up and down a set of elevators to get to the parking lot to smoke/call relatives and friends in concern and semiprivate, and seek consolation from others. While I cannot remember much beyond that, I do remember having a cigarette, realizing that, at the very least, we would be playing defense against an ascendant right wing nationalism that both Duterte in the Philippines and Brexit in the UK had already experienced.
Battery low
My phone was dying, and I needed to get home. I left the parking lot and said my goodbyes to my newly found friends.
The Regime was ascendant.
On the train ride home, everyone was doom scrolling, doing the same dance I was doing in my head as to if there was any path to victory for Clinton. McConnell was talking ACA repeal, and Trump, once Pennsylvania flipped to his column, gave a speech about the forgotten man, as many black men in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were turned away at the polls in concerted voter suppression tactics. I got to a light rail station in Littleton, got a ride home from my uncle, and went to bed.
The events of and leading up to the inauguration seem like ancient history. Last ditch efforts by electors to vote their conscience, a recount attempted to be initiated by green party candidate Jill Stein across 3 Midwest states, and the sadness of outgoing Obama officials, including Obama himself, towards what the Regime would do to the office.
Minutes into his Regime, Trump began the process of dismantling the institution. Tweeting that he had had the largest inauguration size ever (and subsequently disproven by his own Park Service in a later tweet) Trump began to go to war with Washington, a war that would ultimately result in an incoherent middle eastern policy, trade deals that made little sense, forming a 5th branch of the military purely out of ego, and, most infamously, a sluggish and conspiratorial response to a pandemic and racial protests that hasn’t been seen since Woodrow Wilson invited EW Griffith, the director of Birth of a Nation, to the White House (Trump would invite Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, and Sarah Palin who took a distasteful picture in front of secretary Clinton, which felt similar)
But its over. As I speak, Trump has an asterisk next to his name. While he is still active on Twitter, news media has completely abandoned him as a voice, and de-platforms and contextualizes him every chance they get.
To get closure myself though, I needed to get back to the parking lot. The place where, the one cigarette I had during the regime was had. The place I started panic thinking in regards to issues, and playing defense in my life.
I rode my bike through the back alleys of my apartment, realizing that the Hyatt was actually part of a larger complex of building that composed a large outdoor shopping mall. The spot was easy to scope from memory. I snapped a pic and headed inside.
Inside were 3 concierges, each wearing non-descript black masks. I asked if there was a way to the second floor (which is where the party took place) and was told it was restricted due to COVID-19. I briefly chatted with a guy who was working the night of the election party, joking that “they must have made a lot of alcohol sales that night”
I left the parking lot in a significantly better state of mind than in 2016. It was cathartic, feeling like leaving a weight behind that had built up over years of fighting for survival. It was freedom, and the ability to forge a new identify separate from that of the Trump administration.
Photo before leaving parking lot
While a lot of people will look at this and say “see, you did survive the Trump Administration, it wasn’t that bad,” consider this:
The Hyatt nationally is now a company that provides lodging to COVID-19 healthcare provider. Beyond that, I was one of the few people out in general, due to the fact the city put in a 10 AM curfew. I have personally been COVID-adjacent two times, and that is a level of paranoia you never when in your life. Some people in that parking lot have had Covid, and there is the possibility that some in the party have died due to a strong 3rd wave and involvement in politics. While I was able to escape the parking lot, the victims of Trump era deaths are buried in the concrete of fascism, negligence, and naivete.
If you have been keeping up at all with the news the past few weeks, its been a doozy. Everything has been overshadowed by the fact that the President of the United States was diagnosed with COVID after an incredibly irresponsible rollout of his Supreme Court nominee that he had while we are still in a global pandemic and refused to participate in a virtual debate due to issues with the format. Additionally, during the initial Supreme Court confirmation hearings, senators from the opposing party that were both in at least one high risk category hugged each other, completely unmasked.
Hell, typing that made me feel exhausted.
As other countries around the world are beginning to return to a post-pandemic “normal” to varying degrees, the United States is still stuck in a situation where we are still, as a country, on the flatline of a first wave that is slowly coming back up
At this point, regardless of how the election goes, regardless of whether my State of Colorado decides to go back into Shelter in Place, and regardless of what family members think about it, I cannot justify interstate travel for the holidays, or even traveling within the state to see relatives at this point.
In anticipation of arguments that people, including family members, will have against my decision, I have put together a quick FAQ that I will submit to anyone that asks.
Aren’t you personally in a fairly low risk category and wouldn’t be severely affected by COVID-19?
While, as a relatively healthy 28 year old man, I would be less likely to come down with the most severe symptoms of COVID-19, I also have the potential to carry the disease in an asymptomatic way. I have a 93 year old grandmother that has had several health problems over the course of the past couple decades external to COVID and a couple of friends and family that are immuno-compromised that I also would not want to spread COVID to. Additionally, I know I am not invincible. Several articles have come out in regards to people in their 20’s and 30’s that caught the virus in March and, as I am writing this in October, they still have symptoms/are not fully recovered.
Also, I am not doing this for myself. I had an extensive conversation with a friend a couple of nights ago about how, as an immuno-compromised individual, they are at higher risk for catching and experiencing the worst symptoms of the disease, including death. I am doing this for that person. I am doing that for people that cannot leave their house because of individuals that refuse to wear masks. I am doing this for elderly people in my life that I cannot afford to get sick.
2. The United States is going to be flattening the curve anytime now! A Vaccine is right around the corner.
Bullshit.
I am going to break this one into 2 parts:
A. While cases in the United States have been relatively steady for the past 2 months, my state of Colorado, particularly in Boulder and Fort Collins, have started to see a third wave emerge primarily associated with the decision of CU Boulder to open for limited in person instruction in the fall. Along with this, Denver Public Schools will be beginning classes for K-5 children in less than a week. There is no political will at the state level to do anything rivaling the shutdown that we had back in March, and the federal government hasn’t shown any leadership as well.
B. I have been off and on following Operation Warp Speed, the US’s approach to getting a vaccine, for the past six months, and its. While approval for a vaccine has been “fast tracked” in the past by the FDA and it predecessors, particularly in regards to polio, it came after decade of research prior to the existence of the FDA and a sitting president (FDR) having the disease. When Jonas Salk started distributing the polio vaccine, the disease had been around for decades. COVID-19 has been around for less than a year.
3. A Biden administration willmake things better!
Sure, Biden will probably have a significantly more rational public health policy than Trump, but, to an extent, there is no going back now. Red state governors have fully opened in some regards, and even the ski resorts in Colorado are opening as usual, which is terrifying because COVID-19 started at the resorts. As of October 10th, Colorado has gone above 1,000 cases in a single day, something not seen since the worst surges earlier in the year. Today, as I am revising this article on the morning of October 16th, we have hit over 1200 positive cases in a day . We are in it for the long haul, and only a vaccine or effective treatment will get us out of this crisis. I would hope that a Biden administration would have a rational health policy, but that wouldn’t get us out of the hole we have dug for ourselves.
4. Your family/friends will miss you!
And they will also miss my germs, thankfully. As I mentioned earlier in this piece, my grandmother is 93 years old and has been in and out of the hospital several times over the past decade or so. Zoom exists, google exists. We will make it through. If anyone in my family or friend group does miss me, please reach out to me directly in scheduling a zoom/phone call. I would rather want to see you over a computer screen healthy and alive instead of attending a funeral for you without getting to even be in the same room.
Its a depressing thing to admit to your failures. I have had a ton of issues with this this year on a personal level. But admitting to the failures of your own country, particularly in continually failing to and actively working against its most vulnerable populations, hurts even worse because it affects the ones you love. I hope that, in my decision I have made, I am showing you all that I love you, because I do.
Photo is of US Senators Diane Feinstein (D) of California and Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina hugging after the Amy Coney Barrett hearings. Feinstein and Graham are 87 and 65, respectively, and are on a committee with members that tested positive for COVID-19Photo Credit to Samuel Corum / Getty Images
Since the state of Colorado initially went into its Safe at Home phase in late March of this year, I have been listening to a lot of music to get me through these trying times. Here are a few of the albums that I would like to put on your radar!
March
Phantogram-Ceremony
While technically released on March 6th, Ceremony deals with a lot of themes that have been common since quarantine and COVID have become a force in the United States. As a long time listener, Ceremony seems to be the most conventional and accessible of Phantogram’s albums, dealing with issues of faith, loss, and coping with disaster.
Favorite Tracks: Pedestal, Glowing
Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts V-VI
A Spliced image of Ghosts V and VI
A double release by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the two Ghosts albums were made in the wake of the beginning of lockdowns beginning across the United States. Following up with 2008’s Ghosts, V and VI continue the tradition of having very ethereal, soundscape esque tracks that, at their best, sound like the soundtracks of the movies Reznor and Ross have scored over the past 10 years.
Favorite Songs: Together, Hope We Can Again, Run Like Hell, Almost Dawn
April
Admittedly, I did not have a huge selection of albums that I listened to in the month of April that I can personally attest to liking due to personal events happening in my life at that time. Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters and The Strokes The New Abnormal both are records that I think I would like, however, for different reasons.
May
X-Alphabetland
After reforming, legendary Los Angeles punk rock band X released an album that matches some of their best material from the 80’s. Featuring Robby Krieger of The Doors on one of their tracks and clocking in at a sum total of 27 minutes, X has had one of the strongest comeback records of a punk band arguably in the past 10 years.
Favorite Songs: Angel on the Road, Delta 88 Nightmare, All The Time in the world.
Carly Rae Jepsen- Dedicated (Side B)
For a lot of people, this may come as a surprise that Carly Rae Jepsen is even on my radar. There is, however, a small undercurrent of my friend group that listen to Jepsen on a regular basis and say, from a pop standpoint, she is a very competent musician. Dedicated (Side B), a follow up to 2019’s Dedicated, is further proof of this. Its a good bubble gum pop record in an era where escapism is needed right now.
Favorite Songs: Lets Be Friends, Window
June
Run The Jewels- RTJ4
Holy shit, talk about capturing a moment. Released a mere 5 days after the beginnings of the George Floyd protests, RTJ4 is one of the most biting and scathing social commentaries on American Exceptionalism, police brutality, and social issues. If there is a soundtrack to the Black Lives Matter movement, this is it.
Favorite Songs: Ca$h, Yankee and the Brave (Ep.4), Walking Through the Snow
Bob Dylan- Rough and Rowdy Ways
A mostly competent Dylan record, Rough and Rowdy Ways will satisfy longtime fans with the sounds and musical motifs that Dylan has been lauded for over the past nearly 50+ year musical career. Be forewarned, there is a nearly 17 minute track at the end of the album called“Murder Most Foul” that is part tribute to John F Kennedy/part remembrance of the 1960’s and 70’s that I personally found unbearable.
Favorite Songs: False Prophet, Black Rider
Neil Young- Homegrown
If the story of June 2020 in music is ever written in detail, the fact that a lot of legacy/60’s and 70’s artists released follow up albums will be a point of note. Homegrown by Neil Young is another competent addition to that, which mostly includes material recorded in the mid 70’s.
Favorite Songs: Separate Ways, We Don’t Smoke it Anymore, Mexico
July
Taylor Swift- folklore
When I heard that Taylor Swift had made a album inspired heavily by 00’s folk, I jokingly referred to it at “T-Swift Meets the Indie Culture”, a reference to a Wu Tang album released 15 years ago that was mainly a mix of odds and ends of their collection. The album, however, is a decent indie piece that shines.
Favorite Songs: The Last Great American Dynasty, Cardigan, Betty
The Chicks- Gaslighter
Their first release since their name change is an anthemic country rock album that makes up for the nearly 14 year gap between their last album Taking the Long Way. Filled with contemporary American pop motifs and the best of country storytelling, Gaslighter is a unique release from an incredibly unique country pop band.
Favorite Songs: Gaslighter, March March
August
Glass Animals-Dreamland
An album so ensconced in nostalgia that the video albums accompanying it was released on VHS, Dreamland is, in a lot of ways heavily autobiographical, with the Psych rock and electronic elements that have typified Glass Animals entire career.
Favorite Songs: Dreamland, Heat Waves Tangerine
September (So Far)
The Flaming Lips: American Head
A very personal release, American Head hits all of the best notes of Flaming Lip’s musical style. To me, it seems like one of their best releases since Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots in 2002.
Favorite Songs: Flowers of Neptune 6, God and the Policeman, My Religion is You.
Public Enemy-What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?
I listened to this album yesterday with very minimal expectations. However, after the first couple tracks, I was hooked. Its crazy that a group that saw their greatest successes in the late 80’s can still find a way to be relevant in their music in 2020’s, but, then again, I also listen to Nine Inch Nails.
Favorite Songs: Grid, Yesterday Man, Fight The Power: 2020 Remix.
Is there anything I missed that you liked? Let me know in the comments below!
Yesterday morning was a whirlwind of excitement for me. I was set to start the first bike tour of my adult life after months of preparation and anticipation. I left a little after 6, using one of the major regional trails to get out of the Denver Metro area and started my way to Eastern Colorado.
A selfie before heading out on my tour
When I got off the trail at its northernmost point, cracks began to show. While the route was fairly direct from there, a frontage road that was parallel to I-76, warning signs started to arise. The frontage road, while not the worst maintained on the planet, started to get slightly bumpy as I was making my way to the turnoff point for highway 52, and the slight morning overcast was not clearing, indicating that what was in the air might not be clouds.
The flat that ended the tour
The straw the broke the camel’s back was probably a large snag that I went over on my way to the Loves gas station in Hudson. I went inside briefly to Loves to grab a snack and use the restroom. By the time I got out, my back tire was completely deflated. “No Worries,” I thought to myself. “I brought a spare tube with me!” I quickly changed the tube, taking the time to reconfigure my bag setup a little bit and preview the route to come on my phone. Not a minute after I started putting my bags back on my bike, the replacement tire had deflated. Panicking now, I tried to think of what I could do to fix the situation. There wasn’t a bike shop within walking distance, and I was slowly realizing that the morning clouds not clearing up was actually smoke moving in.
I called my relatives, who I had informed may need to bail me out if anything happened during my trip. They got to Hudson from their home in Centennial, and helped me load up the bike and take me back to Denver.
So, what did to learn from this experience?
My biggest takeaway from the mechanical is that, before leaving, always do a thorough check. While I did check basic elements were working (shifting, brakes), I failed to accurately check the tire pressure. Had I done that, I would have easily spotted that the back tube was running low and never ran into that issue.
From a preparedness perspective, having a backup plan was a godsend, and something I will do in the future when I do tour. My relatives had been informed that I was going on a trip today, so, when I called them bearing the bad news, they were able to make it up fairly quickly.
Finally, and this is a more general life lesson, state of mind is a huge part of accepting failure. When I realized that my trip was going to be cut short, I was admittedly mad for a good 5-10 minutes. However, I realized that, in a lot of ways, attitude matters most. Despite getting a C in writing in elementary school, Philip K Dick took the positive praise of his teachers in regards to his storytelling abilities and made some of the most definitive science fiction texts of our time. Just because I failed at this one trip does not negate efforts I will put into future bike tours being great.
Speaking of Philip K Dick, I did make it to the gravesite. My relatives were kind enough to drive me up there. Despite it being cut short, this bike touring season was great for me, and next year will hopefully be even better.
Jane C Dick and Philip K Dick’s grave in Fort Morgan, Colorado
Featured Image is the Author posing with his deflated tire in a Broncos T-shirt that he bought at the gas station where the tire blew out.
In an earlier post, I detailed my plans to travel to the grave site of popular science fiction author Philip K Dick’s grave. After much consideration, I have decided to expand my scope, and will be camping in Pawnee National Grassland overnight before attempting the final trip into Nebraska.
DAY 1: Denver to Fort Morgan
Using a mix of established trails such as the South Platte River trails and shoulders along Highway 52, I will descend into Fort Morgan over the course of the first day and do my business in paying tribute to the late Philip K Dick and his fraternal sister Jane C. Dick
DAY 2: Fort Morgan to Pawnee National Grasslands
After paying tribute to the Dicks, I will make the push to Pawnee National Grassland, saving that for day 2 while posting up somewhere in Ft. Morgan, and set up camp on the BLM located throughout the park.
DAY 2/3: Pawnee National Grasslands to Pine Bluffs, Nebraska (and Back)
Since Nebraska is only an hour or two away from Pawnee Grasslands depending on where you camp in the park, I will make a short trip up to the State of Nebraska and check out Panorama Point, possibly see if there are other points of interests, then head back down to Pawnee and bird watch/hike for the rest of the day.
DAYS 4-5: Pawnee to Home
The return route will be fairly identical to the route to Pawnee National Grasslands, minus the trip through Fort Morgan. Most likely, I will be ending up back in Denver proper on Wednesday or Thursday of next week and finding a place to stay somewhere along the route, possibly in Lochbuie or in Barr Lake State Park.
In my next few entries, I will be doing a video log of my journey, as I leave tomorrow. Stay tuned!
If you are involved in California politics, you are well aware that long time Democratic party activist and donor Ed Buck has been charged with operating a drug house from his West Hollywood home, where he would trade methamphetamines for sex, in particular with poor black men. The New York Times has written a great longform piece about it in their Wednesday edition.
Ed Buck standing trial on federal drug charges in 2019
While many right wing news sources have tried to emphasize the connections of Ed Buck to Democratic politics, and most national left leaning sources have either downplayed them or chosen not to cover the whole incident*, Buck’s elaborate system of oppression that he created around fetishizing black men and getting them addicted to drugs reminded me of one I have seen in fiction.
In Jordan Peele’s Get Out, we are presented into a world very much like that of Ed Buck’s. Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) is visiting the family of his girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams). After some brief comedic segments emphasizing the casual racism of Roses’ parents, including her father (Bradley Whitford) saying the now infamous line “I would vote for Obama for a third term”, Chris is hypnotized by Rose’s mother Missy Armitage (Catherine Keener). This hypnosis allows Missy the power to control Chris, a power that is later revealed to be used by the Hermitage family to attempt a procedure in which they attempt to use Chris’ body as a vessel for Jim Hudson (Stephen Root) to use to regain eyesight and youth.
Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), surrounded by Armitage Family members in Jordan Peele’s “Get Out”
While the science fiction/horror aspects of the movie were not present in Ed Buck’s world, a quote from a review from the Guardian of the film in 2017 showcases the similarities between Rose’s family and Buck’s beliefs.
“The villains here aren’t southern rednecks or neo-Nazi skinheads, or the so-called ‘alt-right‘. They’re middle-class white liberals. The kind of people who read this website. The kind of people who shop at Trader Joe’s, donate to the ACLU and would have voted for Obama a third time if they could. The thing Get Out does so well – and the thing that will rankle with some viewers – is to show how, however unintentionally, these same people can make life so hard and uncomfortable for black people. It exposes a liberal ignorance and hubris that has been allowed to fester. It’s an attitude, an arrogance which in the film leads to a horrific final solution, but in reality leads to a complacency that is just as dangerous.”
For all intents and purposes, Ed Buck was the definition of the “Get Out” liberal described in this article. While many of the beliefs and initiatives that Buck outwardly believed and supported were decidedly liberal, he built much of his personal life around the fetishization and control of black men through methamphetamine addiction.
The worst part about it, however, is how normal he seemed when I talked to him.
I met Ed Buck a couple of times at Los Angeles County Democratic Party functions between 2013 and 2015 before moving to Georgia for graduate school. While he had some eccentric traits, he seemed like every other Democratic party activist with a comfortable amount of money: passionate about his causes, determined to make change in the world, and somewhat self important about himself and looking to climb in the world. The contrast between him and some of the more caricature-like members of LA county politics, including disgraced ex-California Democratic Party chair Eric Bauman, was clear.
Ed Buck at a Hillary Clinton event with the candidate, September 2015
While Get Out concludes with Chris freed by burning down the Armitage house and killing the immediate family members, the black male victims of Buck’s methamphetamine addiction and exploitation have not seen the same justice. If we are to learn anything from Get Out and Ed Buck’s trial, it is this: even the “good” white liberals, the father that went to a Womxn’s March in support of his wife, the college student that shops at Natural Grocers and is thinking of going vegan, and the political activist that goes to donates to every cause and thinks of running for office themselves one day, can have a secret area of oppression. It is bringing it to the front and prosecuting them that we must seek to do as responsible human beings to create a more just world.
*Local news sources, however, have been relatively good at coverage, including WehoVille and Pride LA. The Advocate and NBC Southern California have also been decent in their coverage, but are issue orientated and regional level reporting, respectively
*Featured image is a promo banner for Get Out, Directed by Jordan Peele and starring Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams*
Mile High Guy 