Boise Weekly back issues from July 2007:
ME, THE ALIEN
Jul 04, 2007; ... A Norteamericano's take on being illegal Hey Americanos: I was an illegal alien. I worked without papers, never paid taxes, avoided cops and lived below the system. I ate Big Macs and drank Coke. I took language courses, observed the local holidays, attended an Easter service and ...
THE PRESS CONFERENCE
Jul 04, 2007; ... Part One You'll never guess who I was with last week. C'mon ... try. Not that you'll ever guess. But just think about it for a minute: Who's the most unlikely person Cope might have been with on the afternoon of June 26? Hmm? Hah! You'll never guess! I'll give you a hint: He's ...
LET THEM DRINK RAPESEED OIL
Jul 04, 2007; ... In Tajikistan, United States runs a distant fifth in the race for hearts and minds GORDO-BAD AKHSHAN AUTONOMOUS OBLAST, Tajikistan- Finally! I waited 43 years and traveled to one of the most remote places on earth to find it, but find it I have: American tax dollars being spent ...
NOTE
Jul 04, 2007; ... I love a good letter to the editor more than most. So I wasn't disappointed to see a flurry of reactions to my homeschooling story (BW, News, "Keep 'Em Home," June 20, 2007). But I do take exception to the error made by several writers: Calling me ...
TO CHIP OR NOT TO
Jul 04, 2007; ... Annual chip sealing creates headaches. The toxic scent of oil and tinkling of loose rocks hitting the underside of your car is as much a sign of summer in Boise as minivans heading for the waterpark or.the drone of air conditioners. The annual rite of chip sealing has been part ...
NEWS SHORTS
Jul 04, 2007; ... DOGFOOD DEBACLE We seem to have stirred up quite the hornets' nest with our story (BW, News, "War of Words, " June 27, 2007), which outlined the nasty battle between the Boise City Council and Boise Police Union over a new contract for the cops. Councilman Alan Shealy's comment ...
BLM IN HOT WATER
Jul 04, 2007; ... Government begins assessing Idaho's geothermal future You don't have to travel far in Idaho before running into a hot spring. Although the City of Boise has the largest municipal geothermal system in the United States, Idaho lags behind other Western states in developing this ...
NEW MONTH, NEW LAWS
Jul 04, 2007; ... July ushers in spate of new state laws Sorry kids, no more piling in a car driven by a 16-year-old friend to head to the bowling alley to spend an evening lighting up cigarettes. The good news though, is that if you get arrested, you'll be released on a more timely schedule. With ...
CELESTE ALLER
Jul 04, 2007; ... INTERVIEW As the events and rental coordinator at Boise Art Museum (BAM) and volunteer publicist for the Idaho International Film Festival, Celeste Aller has to have an eye for details, be flexible and think big. No problem for this 34-year-old, whose history includes; growing up ...
COLDEST BEER
Jul 04, 2007; ... Yes, people, we do have the best job in town. Got it? What, you think we do this for the money? (Don't answer that) We've gotten used to the comments from the barflies by now, as they watch us go through this testing business, on company time. "Hey, bet you love your job," they gurgle, ...
THE RISE OF CHAINS
Jul 04, 2007; ... One trend has become preeminent in the six years that we've been conducting our annual Coldest Beer test: The chain restaurants have the locals beat, time after time after time. If we look back on restaurants that hit the top five coldest beers regularly, we find that a chain has been ...
WHEELING INTO THE TROUBLE YEARS
Jul 04, 2007; ... BW turns sweet 16 We've been humming some '90s music around the office these days. In just one e-mail exchange with co-workers about 1991 and 1992, my head filled up with sounds of classic U2, Pearl Jam and the fading years of the Grateful Dead. With this issue, the Boise Weekly ...
MIXED MEDIA
Jul 04, 2007; ... The busy world of local artist Tarmo Watia If you threw the styles Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt and Marc Chagall into a bowl and stirred them together, Tarmo Watia would come out of the mix, ready to paint. An artist who works with extreme commitment and dedicated routine, Watia has been ...
STRINGS ATTACHED
Jul 04, 2007; ... Weiser's annual fiddle festival "you get extra points if you don't spill your beer!" At 2 a.m. on June 19, Weiser was two days into its National Oldtime Fiddle Festival and, if the collection of beer cans and plastic cups was any indication, everyone who was still awake in Fiddletown was ...
PUSSYGUTT, JULY 10, RECORD EXCHANGE AND TERRAPIN STATION
Jul 04, 2007; ... When I started working at Boise Weekly, I wasn't surprised to learn that BW classified sales rep, Blake Green, was in a band. Bright and eccentric, it made sense he would have some form of creative outlet. The surprise was hearing the music Green and his bandmate, accomplished violinist Brittany ...
DOMINIC CASTILLO AND THE ROCK SAVANTS: VOL. II
Jul 04, 2007; ... DOMINIC CASTILLO AND THE ROCK SAVANTS: VOL. II God, I wish it were illegal to release EPs! 1 get this great record, but at a measly five tracks, it's over as soon as it begins. The first song, "Miss Everdine," begins with a beat that you can't help but nod your head to. But it's not even ...
ENDWELL: HOMELAND INSECURITY
Jul 04, 2007; ... ENDWELL: HOMELAND INSECURITY In the age of hardcore, it's hard to say that it doesn't all sound the same. Endwell's latest release, Homeland Insecurity starts off with "The End." It has typically heavy distortion, redundant screaming and heavy metal breakdowns. But as I listened to the ...
BEN BURDICK TRIO: FRETLESS JAZZ STANDARDS
Jul 04, 2007; ... BEN BURDICK TRIO: FRETLESS JAZZ STANDARDS Ben Burdick's new album, Fretless Jazz Standards, is exactly what it says it is. Burdick plays the tried-and-true jazz standards on fretless guitar. This homegrown musician is someone us ldahoans can be proud of, with his obvious technical ...
OK JONES: ELEPHANTOMS
Jul 04, 2007; ... OK JONES: ELEPHANTOMS There's a bit of melancholy in OK Jones' third album, Elephantoms. A little distress comes through in singer/multi-instrumentalist Richard Gintowt's voice. Still, if it weren't so warm, honest and heartbroken, it wouldn't do these 11 ridiculously well-arranged songs ...
BOISE'S BIRD MAN
Jul 04, 2007; ... VISUAL ART Local artist Toby Robin on his art This year, the Record Exchange - a downtown Boise landmark - turns 30. To commemorate the occasion, owners Mike Bunnell and Jill Sevy commissioned a new mural to be painted on the outside of their building that turns the corner from ...
ARTS NEWS
Jul 04, 2007; ... A SOURCE OF COOL ART The Art Source Gallery is located between the crossfire that is end of the Linen District and the entrance to downtown, and it has thrived in its current place for three years now as a place where artists can express themselves. The gallery has been around for 13 ...
TIME MACHINE
Jul 04, 2007; ... TIME MACHINE Thomas Pynchon's latest novel, Against the Day It was rumored for years that the author of Gravity's Rainbow and Mason and Dixon had another epic literary monster on the way. Thomas Pynchon finally delivered Against the Day. This novel met with mixed reviews from ...
MYTH OR REALITY
Jul 04, 2007; ... MYTH OR REALITY DISAPPEARANCES (PG-13) Directed by Jay Craven Starring Kris Kristofferson, William Sanderson Opens Friday at The Ricks Vermont "Frontier Film" is about tradition, family and the transition to manhood When a mysterious fire destroys ...
JAM
Jul 04, 2007; ... JAM A car accident occurs on a lonely mountain road and several motorists' lives intersect, never to be the same afterward. I've paraphrased the back of the DVD case here, and I remember thinking it sounded a little like 2006 Best Picture winner, Crash, but with a cast full of C-list ...
DRIVING LESSONS
Jul 04, 2007; ... DRIVING LESSONS Q: Can the Harry Potter kids successfully take on roles in films far away from the fantasy-magic genre? A: At least one of them can. In the first movie I've seen in which a juvenile star of the Potter series is featured outside of the franchise, I have to ...
A NEW SPIN ON AN OLD GAME
Jul 04, 2007; ... Disc golfers tee up for this weekend Brightly colored spheres soar through the air to occasional shouts of "Heads up!" in Ann Morrison Park during the summer. No, it's not a Technicolor alien invasion. It's actually a sport that has been around for more than 30 years: disc golf. At one ...
MARLY'S GRILL
Jul 04, 2007; ... Marly's Grill on State Street could be described as a "tasty little corner sandwich shop." This would be precisely accurate on all counts. Marly's serves sandwiches, most notably cheesesteaks; their fare delights the taste buds; and their structure is minuscule, triangle-shaped and situated ...
FOOD NEWS
Jul 04, 2007; ... LOUIE'S HAS LER THE BUILDING After 18 years in Boise, the downtown. location of Louie's Pizza and Italian Restaurant closed its doors for the last time Sunday night, Monday, generai manager Lou Mattane, son of owner and founder Louie Matiane, announced the restaurant's permanent closing ...
BEER & WINE GUZZLER
Jul 04, 2007; ... LAGUNITAS MAXIMUS IPA, LIMITED RELEASE This is an interesting take on the style with a decidedly different flavor profite, in which the sweet malt flavors come first, lingering for a while before the bitterness kicks in. From then on, it's ait about the hops - rattier aggressive but with ...
HOME SWEET HOME
Jul 04, 2007; ... 3116 W. HILLWAY DR. 1850 SQ. FT.: 3 BEDROOMS, 3 BATHS LOT SIZE: 100-FEET BY 76-FEET BUILT IN: 1967 $414,000 GROUP ONE: JOAN ROBERTS 208-631-6911, HTTP://JROBERTS.GROUP-ONE.COM ' he magazine Atomic Ranch: Midcentury Marvels focuses on ...
THE PRESS CONFERENCE
Jul 11, 2007; ... Part Two I left it last week with me - a journalist by no stretch of anyone's imagination - on the verge of attending my first press conference. Holding it was Alberto Gonzales, George Bush's idea of what constitutes an attorney general. It was Alberto who brought 100 demonstrators out ...
RESISTANCE IS FISCAL
Jul 11, 2007; ... After repression, China uses cash to woo Muslims KASHGAR, CHINA- The last time I wrote from here was 1999. 1 filed my column from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Now there isn't enough left of that somewhat fictional official autonomy to justify the dateline. Today, the ancient ...
NOTE
Jul 11, 2007; ... Just a few pages back, in our Mail section, you'll read the latest barrage of comments regarding City Councilor Alan Shealy's statements to B W in a recent News section (BW, News, "War of Words, June 27, 2007). Call it the gift that keeps on giving, that you wished you hadn't given ....
NEWS SHORTS
Jul 11, 2007; ... BOY SCOUT SEX SUIT A former Idaho resident has filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and the Ore-Ida Council of the Boy Scouts alleging the organizations did not do enough to protect him and other scouts from sexual abuse by a known abuser. The suit, filed Monday In ...
WELCOME TO CASCADIA
Jul 11, 2007; ... Idaho lags behind other Northwestern states in new study The fact that Idaho is changing isn't a tough conclusion to reach. Just look around. The state - and especially die Treasure Valley - is a testament to growth of all kinds: population, development, industry, culture. But is ...
SALI VS. ?
Jul 11, 2007; ... Nampa Republican announces run for 1st District seat While Democratic challengers have been quick to sign up to take on Rep. Bill Sali for the state's 1st District Congressional seat, Republican candidates had yet to make an appearance - until now. Matt Salisbury, a 34-year-old Nampa ...
STOP!
Jul 11, 2007; ... Planning commissioner calls for growth moratorium An Ada County Planning and Zoning commissioner has called for a moratorium on growth in the Treasure Valley, a move seemingly born out of frustration with development. In a column published July 7 on the Boise Guardian Web site, ...
CHRIS CRAWFORD
Jul 11, 2007; ... The Boise River drew Chris Crawford ro the Treasure Valley, and now it's at the center of his life. As the founder of Boise River Volunteers and Great Outdoors Opportunities for rhe Disabled, Crawford, 30, has dedicated himself to keeping the river the jewel of the valley. During the ...
CURIOUS TIMES
Jul 11, 2007; ... MY IMAGINARY GIRLFRIEND WONT LET ME COMPETE What do you do if you're a hard-up Japanese dude who can't get laid? Start a new trend called Air Sex, of course, the latest craze sweeping Japan in which fully clothed men simulate screwing an imaginary partner. 'So tax, It sounds like a ...
PARTS OF A WHOLE
Jul 11, 2007; ... Chuck Close, print artist in extremis "A person's face is a road map of his life." - Chuck Close The Yale University School of Art has a long roster of alumni who went on to impressive art careers (including Kendall Buster, currently installed in the Boise Art Museum's ...
CHICKS WITH PICKS
Jul 11, 2007; ... Boise State Women's Center inaugural music festival hopes to grow Benefit concerts are hot and happening right now, with global success raising consciousness for a wide variety of causes. Women's concerts, however, do not seem to be as prevalent. Wanda Biento, director of the Women's ...
NOISE NEWS
Jul 11, 2007; ... I WONDER IF THEY'D JUST PUT IN A COT FOR ME ... The Big Easy has some very cool concerts planned through the rest of July. Rock darlings Burning Bride· play the Bourbon Street stage tonight ($12 in advance, $14 at the door); on July 13, the Led Zeppelin tribute band, No Quarter, ...
GUERRILLAWRENCH CD RELEASE PARTY, JULY 13, THE BOUQUET
Jul 11, 2007; ... With their latest release, Never Gets Old, local band GuerrillaWrench - Lance Chavez on bass and vocals, Dan Claar on guitar and lead vocals, Kevin Gibb on lead guitar and vocals and Josh Wilder on drums - pounds through eight tracks of their signature thrashy, prog-metal rock. While Never is ...
STATIC-X: CANNIBAL
Jul 11, 2007; ... STATIC-X: CANNIBAL I've been told that both my mother and I were born in the wrong generation. With my mother enjoying the more modern bands like Tool and Puddle of Mudd and me enjoying music from the '80s, it's hard to argue. Luckily, the two of us can enjoy the music of our own ...
BEARS: SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR
Jul 11, 2007; ... BEARS: SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR Listening to Bears' Shortest Day of the Year is like strolling through a quaint European mountain village. It's a breath of fresh air with nothing much to worry about. At a mere 19 minutes, it seems over too soon but will leave you with a nice feeling. In ...
ELEPHANT PARADE: BEDROOM RECORDINGS
Jul 11, 2007; ... ELEPHANT PARADE: BEDROOM RECORDINGS Repeat "I like riding in your car," 10 times in two minutes, and you will have one of the premier tracks from Elephant Parade's Bedroom Recordings, logically titled "Riding in Your Car." Simplicity is key to this New York-bred duo. Even the ...
LEVIETHAN: MONUMENTS IN MEMORY OF NOTHING SO FAR
Jul 11, 2007; ... LEVIETHAN: MONUMENTS IN MEMORY OF NOTHING SO FAR If the Northwest has its own musical sound, it's exemplified on Leviethan Cecil's 2007 release, Monuments in Memory of Nothing So Far, on his label, Emeritus Records. A former Boise-based musician, a few years ago Cecil moved to Portland ...
BEYOND THE BARD
Jul 11, 2007; ... STAGE BEYOND THE BARD Idaho Shakespeare Festival replays (and reworks) tradition Six weeks into its 10th year at the gorgeous Festival Amphitheater and Reserve, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival (ISF) proves that innovation, commitment and audience sensitivity are what ...
ARTS NEWS
Jul 11, 2007; ... YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD While it's true that as we age, it becomes more difficult to master new things (it's hard enough holding on to what we already know), with the right environment and the right instructors, learning a new form of creative expression - and overcoming the challenge - can ...
WHAT A RUSH!
Jul 11, 2007; ... WHAT A RUSH! Nampa native Zack Lively goes Greek in new cable TV series. His father Scott briefly played pro baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his big brother Jake is a third baseman at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point, banking on a similar shot at the ...
THE ASTRONAUT FARMER
Jul 11, 2007; ... THE ASTRONAUT FARMER "Astronaut farmer? Why, he's a guy who works on a ranch and then goes in to space." This farmer is also named Farmer, which makes me believe an 8-year-old had a hand writing the script. Never one to shy away from non-traditional roles, Billy Bob ...
THE LAST MIMZY
Jul 11, 2007; ... THE LAST MIMZY What in holy hell is a "Mimzy"? Don't ruin it for your kids, but it's an artificially intelligent stuffed rabbit, sent back In time - with some funny rocks and a gelatinous blob - by a desperate future scientist. Yeah, it's a little far-fetched, but your offspring are ...
BIG, BAD WHEELS
Jul 11, 2007; ... Boise bicyclists take their sport seriously You've probably seen them. Any time after 5 o'clock, Hill Road is a prime cyclist-watching location. On their megabucks bikes, they roll up in their spandex and look serious about cycling. Some of the best spots are at the stoplights where they ...
REC NEWS
Jul 11, 2007; ... BARS AND STRIPES REDUX Inserting shameless self-promotion here: Last Saturday, Boise Weekly and Northstar Cycle Courier gathered 62 alley cat racers at the corner of 6th and Broad streets for the start of a tour de beer, two-wheel style. The mission: be the first competitor to cross the ...
BRIDGE
Jul 11, 2007; ... A GOOD BOARD WITH A MINUS SCORE One of my themes in these columns is that the scoring In duplicate bridge allows you to get a bad result in rubber or party bridge and a good result in duplicate. On the hand diagram shown, the contract of four hearts by west could be made with a different ...
SONO BANA
Jul 11, 2007; ... SONO BANA On one plate then the other ... BW sends two critics to one restaurant. Sitting in the parking lot in front of Sono Bana at 6:30 last Friday night, my husband and I eyed the restaurant we were about to enter. Except for a new sign and a new name, it seems nothing about ...
FOOD NEWS
Jul 11, 2007; ... THE NAME QAME A meager staff of little more than a handful we are. Add to that the excuse that we're often relying on a slightly unproductive combination of overworked creativities and underfunded coffee budgets, and we think we have a pretty convincing argument for asking yet another ...
WINE SIPPER
Jul 11, 2007; ... AMERICA'S WINE I used to love Zinfandel. While its progenitors go back to Europe, it has morphed into a uniquely American variety. At its best, it is a robust, brambleberry-flavored wine that's just the thing for backyard barbecues. At its worst, it is an over-the-top, high-alcohol ...
HOME SWEET HOME
Jul 11, 2007; ... At CitySideLofts, a one bedroom loft starts at $276,600; a flat in the lower $300,000s; and a two-story penthouse runs between the $400,000s to the $500,000s. Any one of these choices, and you'll be living at the western edge of downtown at 13th and Myrtle streets. The exteriors of the four- and ...
STREET TALK
Jul 11, 2007; ... What's the dumbest this you've ever done on a bike? "Ride it. Simple and sweet." -Paul Whitworth, 33, sanitation specialist (and men 's winner of this year's Bars and Stripes Alley Cat Race with Northstar Cycle Courier and Boise Weekly.) "I got lost at night by the ...
CRIME AND COMMUTATION
Jul 18, 2007; ... They're starving the Blind Lady to death I tell you, citizens, we are running out of words to describe these creeps. A vice president who insists he's beyond the reach of any examination whatsoever? A White House that refuses to comply with Congress' oversight authority? Vanishing ...
LOGIC BOMB
Jul 18, 2007; ... As usual, Pakistan is about to explode WAGAH BORDER CROSSING, PAKISTAN/INDIA-The first indication that Pakistan is a mass of internal contradictions occurs at the airport. In the arrivals area, there are two passport lines-one for men, the other for "unaccompanied women and children." ...
NOTE
Jul 18, 2007; ... We're swimming in a sea of schadenfreude these days, and that's not such a good idea. Yes, we're happy as clams to see a certain wannabe weekly go down in flames. And to the numerous BW fans who wrote in' with nearly-identical e-mail headlines of "DING DONG! The Witch is Dead!" well, you're all ...
NEWS SHORTS
Jul 18, 2007; ... DEJA VU? As construction of two underground additions to the Capitol gets under way, some passersby may find a vague familiarity in the gaping hole where the east wing steps used to be. Yes, just five years ago, Boiseans were treated to a similar sight when the steps were rebuilt ...
TRIBAL SCHOOLS GET AN ADVOCATE
Jul 18, 2007; ... Idaho hires first Indian Education Coordinator Fifteen years ago, six Indian nations in Idaho endorsed a set of goals for improving American Indian education in die state. Last month, one of die primary recommendations was set in motion: The Idaho State Department of Education installed ...