REMEMBER WHEN: MARCH

​Craig Welch, vocalist for Brutal Juice belts one out at 35 Denton in March. 

It’s been a little over a month since our relaunch. While we've been busy covering as much Denton stuff as possible, sometimes we're busy eating tacos when something important goes down. This year's particularly moody month of March brought lots of interesting events to town, but said month is finally coming to an end. Monday will be the 1st of April and many of us will wake up to find that our roomate/significant other/imaginary friend has put ex-lax in your orange juice, replaced your shampoo with urine or something worse. We'll get through it together. In the mean time, let's celebrate the month that was with a list of various things we've deemed important.

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• 35 Denton happened again. Solange Knowles was forced to do the Denton rain shuffle and we saw Denton making great use of it's resources in The Hive. 

• We got our first taste of local food truck, Shiitake Swerve, and it was good. 

• Some interesting people announced their candidacy for this year’s city council election.

• Longtime Denton coffee shop, Art Six closed down.

• We talked to a couple of interesting local photographers and artists and got our first peek at the upcoming Denton Camera Exchange. 

• Denton ISD developed a new mission statement and we chaperoned a bunch of their 6th graders on a field trip. ​

​A photographer takes a digital shot of an analog camera at 35 Denton in March. 

• DIME had a pop-up shop during 35 Denton. We also talked to them more in the month of March than we talked to our own mothers. Have you called your mom lately? 

• Armadillo Ale Works started selling their first official beer, Quakertown Stout.

• That Kohl’s opened up at Rayzor Ranch. Ugh.

• Denton city council members made a step towards preventing payday lenders from screwing over Dentonites.

• Spiderweb Salon continued their dominance of the literary scene in town. Besides having a multitude of events and sharing some of their favorite pieces with us, they also experimented with new formats and helped us find out that other people like to read, too. 
  

• We urged you not to try Guatelinda Cafe.

• We talked with Caitlin Crawford of Austin St. Apothecary and got excited about the Denton Community Market opening up soon.

• An art piece killed a man’s car.

• Oak St. Drafthouse celebrated their 1 year anniversary party.

• Central Track thought we had style.

• Two new cupcake places opened up in town. More on that soon. 

• Our friends at Little D After Dark got a new website.

HEY WISEGUY: MIFFED AT MEXICANA

Hey Wiseguy is a recurring column featured in Denton's Little D After Dark. Here, we are presenting a bonus edition of the Wiseguy column for 35 Denton. Make sure to check out Little D's new website when it's up!

​La Mexicana, "authentic" Mexican food for 35 Denton attendees. 

Hey Wiseguy,

I’m a waiter at a local restaurant called La Mexicana. It’s located on S. Locust St. over by Eagle. Anyways. I’ve worked here for about five years now and I’ve just put together that every March, things get kinda weird. For a few days in the middle of the month we have an influx of customers. Not just customers, but a specific kind of customer. I’m not sure how to describe them. They overly enunciate words such as cilantro or carne asada and they always ask for “off-the-menu” items.

We have a few people who come in at other times in the year (I think one of them is a local city councilman), but it’s always the worst in the middle of March. Anyway, as nice as it is to have the extra business, they don’t tip well and they make me feel really awkward. Do you have any tips on how to deal with these March people? Thanks in advance, Wiseguy.

Sincerely,

Miffed at La Mexicana

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Dear Miffed,

Email your Question to ​Hey Wiseguy

Oh no. We think that we might have been that person before. The temptation to roll “R’s” when given the opportunity is just too much to resist. Is hitting the “T” in “horchata” really frowned upon, as well? If so, we’ll stop it. Promise!

Anyway. I think I have half of an answer for you (we’re good at that -- it’s the full answers we have problems with). 35 Denton is a local music festival that happens every year in the middle of March. The bands booked at this music festival tend to attract the type of people you’re describing. The majority of the festival happens in or around the square, but oftentimes some of the crowd will eek out to other areas of Denton and you guys are pretty close, as-is. It’s good for our local economy, but hard on some folks' patience. 

“...think about temporarily changing the name to ‘THE Mexicana.’”

Anyway, attendees of this event are probably the patrons you’re having problems with. They tend to seek out the most “authentic” places of any given area and eat/shop there. Take it as a compliment! La Mexicana must be pretty authentic Mexican food in their eyes. We tend to eat our Mexican food on the EMTC (read East McKinney Taco Corridor), but to each their own. If you want them to stop attending your establishment, think about temporarily changing the name to “THE Mexicana,” putting ketchup bottles on the table or by having exclusively large-breasted women work as waitresses for a bit. They’ll stop showing up. Promise. If nothing else, just put up a sign that says, “Closed for 35 Denton. Go eat at La Sabrocita.” Then go fishing. They’ll be gone by Monday.

JIVE FIVE: 35 DENTON

35 Denton is upon us once again. Sure, you could go out without any plans and probably manage to have a good time, but wouldn't it be much better if you let some strangers on a blog give you questionable advice? Of course it would! Here's a list of We Denton Do It-approved things you can do (and some that you shouldn't) during the next five days. We'll be updating with some coverage during the festival on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram so make sure to follow us there if you haven't already. Oh, and don't fest too hard, y'all! 

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Things to do:

Stop by Banter Friday evening to pick up compilation #4 in Gutterth’s ongoing series. It’s full of great music from Denton that you can own! If you miss the show, it’s still available to download on their site starting Friday!

Enjoy the non-35 Denton shows. Just because you spent some money getting your pretty wristband doesn’t mean you should ignore the free shows going on that aren’t part of 35. Your Facebook events page is probably filled with house shows and other day shows that aren’t affiliated with 35 in any way and are sure to be a blast. That said, still support 35 Denton!

Wear your vintage 35 Conferette or NX35 T-shirt. Remember that word Chris Flemmons made up that never caught on? Bring back those memories. Hopefully, you’ve washed the Flaming Lips confetti off of it since then.

Get one of those awesome, new Denton shirts from Pan Ector with the horrible profanity on the front. Watch them make it for you on the spot, while you’re at it.

Pick up a Local Lore zine from the Spiderweb Salon show -- it includes prose, poetry, essays, and art inspired by our amazing city and is the perfect memento for this weekend/life in Denton ($3).

Things not to do:

Don’t forget your rain jacket at home. We can’t remember a 35 that it hasn’t rained at least once. If you don’t own a rain jacket, be prepared to steal a stranger’s umbrella. Just make sure it’s a nondescript one!

Don’t eat at home! We’ve had the ability to have food trucks in town for about six months now, Denton, and we’re still pretty few and far between as far as consistent trucks go. Show the trucks at 35 Denton how much we like to eat and maybe they’ll come back again! Also, don’t forget to patronize the restaurants and shops around the square so that they’ll know that 35 Denton is a boom to local business.

Think that you can show up late to a show and get into a venue. 35 Denton shows can get to 1-in-1-out level very quickly. Don’t think you can show up ten minutes before Com Truise starts and expect to get in. Plan ahead, get there early and stay through the crappy opening bands.

Heckle the 35 volunteers. These people are working their butts off for free so you can celebrate flunking your midterms. If you’re one of the guys that normally walks right into Dan’s Silverleaf without question, these people will most likely question you. Be polite to them, Glen.

Wear your wristband anywhere other than your wrist. It ain’t a necklace and you don’t want to cut off circulation to your foot. Keep your wristband on your wrist where it belongs.

MR. FARRIS GOES TO CITY HALL

Our very own Glen Farris has been darting in and out of meetings all month long. Apparently he’s taken up keeping tabs on city task forces and various associations as his newest hobby. After many excited conversations and meetings that shocked and surprised him – he sat down with me and we went over a few of the things that are blowing his mind about Denton these days. 

1.     A handful of folks are terrified of the recent progress that's been made in Denton. The phrase “We are just a handful of funerals away from being a really amazing city,” should be our new motto. Our motto for the past 20 years was, “That was grandfathered in."

2.     The fund matching grant program is fascinating. Not only is it a really cool resource for making neat things happens in our city – but also in the process of grant proposals, we are seeing where our city needs to go, including improvements outside of the grant program like pedestrian-scaled lighting around the square. That’s a capital improvement and is already part of the Master Plan, but isn’t getting done yet.

3.     A few new businesses opened – we welcome Authentic Life Yoga, Viet Bites, 7 Mile Coffee and Barefoot Apparel. A few more businesses will be here soon. See you soon Denton County Hamburger (new concept), Subway (yes, that Subway), Herrera’s, Rusty’s Tacos, Queenie’s, Smiling Moose Deli, DIME and Mulberry St. Cantina.  Thankfully 7-11 is not opening any where near the square (that almost happened, y'all). 

4.     Dan’s is expanding! This is especially great news since we feel like some of our favorite shows sell out way too quickly and we can never get a table when we want one. Apparently word on the street is that Little Guy’s Movers is moving off of Industrial Street and over to McKinney. After they move, Dan’s is going to bust down a wall and expand into a good part of that space. Sounds like more room to get our groove on – which is always a good thing.

5.     Some people claim that parking on the square has always been a problem. But no more! Or… hopefully not as much -– the city has done their homework and has proposed some awesome angled-back-in parking a la South Congress St. in Austin, TX up and down East Hickory Street which will make the bicyclists safer when coming down that hill. Plus, the new parking plan will provide for several more parking spaces.  

6.     Jim Engelbrecht, our city councilman for District 3 now has a challenger in the upcoming city council elections. Hello there, Brendan Carroll – how nice of you to run. This will make city elections super exciting – and will make every vote super important. Last year, Jim won by 19 votes. That’s it. Not even 20. So if you’re reading this and you live in District 3 – start researching your stuff and figure out whom you want to vote for – your voice really matters especially if over 19 of you are reading this. 

7.     Sometimes the red tape that is the City of Denton is crazy. Did you know that if you want to hang a sign on your building you have to either take a special class for it, or find a sign maker who has? 

8.     We’re actually really impressed with how the city is all ears for new ideas. We love living in a place that listens to its citizens, and listens well. We look forward to taking advantage of that and taking part in local activism.

​Have you attended one of the Denton 2030 meetings or something else recently? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!

THREE SONGS

Here are our top three local songs to check out this month. 

Pageantry from Denton, TX

First off, we have the lead single from the full-length album Pageantry released last October. We're gonna go ahead and throw the term "math rock" out there for this, but with a qualifier. If Don Caballero is Calculus, then Pageantry is College Algebra, and that's not a bad thing. This song has enough driving force that anybody will be quickly sucked in. Over the course of the song the breaks and repetitions gradually build up to a gigantic opus that might even get away with it's use of a synth in an arguably non-synthy song. Pageantry is playing this Saturday at Hailey's with Chambers. 

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You by Sacco & Vanzetti
Denton-wise, S&A is a good mix of Sunnybrook and Matthew and the Arrogant Sea. This song is full of lots of reverb-drenched builds and falls and starts and stops more than most bands' entire EPs. It's always refreshing to hear a band full of so many ideas that they couldn't stick to just one. Sacco & Vanzetti is also playing this Saturday, February 23rd at Hailey's with Chambers, Pageantry and a few other interesting bands. 

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And not least today, we have local group, Bad Design. Bad Design definitely shows that age doesn't necessarily have anything to do with energy level when compared to our other two bands this month. Knockout Rose (track 2 from their LP released last year) moves quickly and before you know it, you've streamed their whole album. This song would fit right in the middle of any Dischord lover's collection. 

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That's it for us this month, y'all. If you have a specific song you'd like to debut on the blog or just like for us to highlight, be sure to send us a message or leave us a comment!

THE JIVE FIVE - TAKE A SEAT

THE BEST AND WORST TOILETS IN DENTON

In our constant quest to present you with the best of Denton, we thought we'd take a peek into the oft-overlooked, but ever-so-important restroom. Below you will find what we have designated the five best restrooms in Denton. In the midst of our search, we also found many water closets that weren't exactly up to par (and that's putting it lightly). Needless to say, we decided to do you a favor and include them in a "worst of" list at the bottom! Comment and let us know if we missed one!

The pleasantly scented men's room of Paschall Bar. 

The Best Rooms

Rose Costumes - The restroom at this square ex-pat is decorated like 221B Baker St., AKA Sherlock Holmes’ apt. Distressed chairs, fabric-covered walls and other things that sound like they’d make a restroom gross are all over this baño, but somehow it works. Just don't touch anything. Plus, you get to pretend to be Benedict Cumberbatch while you pee. Can’t beat that.

Paschall Bar - Cleanliness is absolutely vital to the quality of a restroom. Many bars apparently missed that meeting. Paschall Bar didn't. In addition to providing a respite from the cigar and cigarette smoke, the restrooms at Paschall are always clean and well-stocked with interesting artwork. In addition, the patrons here are such gentlemen that nobody yells at the ladies for sneaking into the mens’ room when the ladies’ has a line. Another interesting aspect is that the men's room at Paschall is routinely cleaner and nicer-smelling than the ladies. Well done, men. Well done. 

Loco Cafe - This is an executive/level restroom in an unexpected location. These facilities are not only spacious, private and quiet but also clean enough to eat your biscuit sandwich off of the floor (please don't actually do this). As an added bonus, you get to smile or grimace at a photo of Glen Farris as you make your way to the throne.

Chestnut Tree - Where else can you read recipes that include jello molds while peeing at the same time?

The Possibly Mythical Secret Restroom In the Gateway Center - Some We Denton Do It-ers swear by this restroom as the number one place in town to take care of business, but we went investigating and couldn't find it. Our friends wouldn't share as to keep this unicorn of a restroom a secret. We think they might just be big fat liars.

The men's room at Recycled.

The Rest (of the) Rooms

Recycled Books - Recycled employees even avoid this hellhole of a lavatory, instead finding safe-haven in any other restroom on the square. Due to the fact that these rooms are open to the public, it is nearly impossible to keep them clean or even passable. There is almost always a line to get in them. Also, if you enjoy hot water, you're out of luck, it's only freezing cold or lukewarm at best. However, if you're an exhibitionist and enjoy people listening to the sound of you pee, this is 100% the place for you. It's made even better due to the fact that it's right next to the children's section so you can hear small children critiquing Seuss as you try to hover above the seat.

Andy’s upstairs bathrooms (behind the stage) - These rooms are usually missing toilet seats and smell like dead things. There are no mirrors. They probably haven’t been cleaned in years, and you can’t count on toilet paper being readily available.

J and J's - The constant fear of falling into the basement below with your pants at your ankles makes for a stressful restroom experience. In addition, the long walk down the hall to get to them has a very The Shining feel to it for some reason. We wouldn't be surprised to see a guy dressed in a dog costume walk out of the men's room at some point.

Rubber Gloves - These restrooms smell of stale urine and a flavor of Doritos that hasn't been invented yet. They're always extremely dark, giving off a very dungeon of doom feeling. We wouldn't want it any other way, though, Rubber Gloves.