WHAT WE DID: SEPTEMBER 23rd

Y'all have been busy. Hard not to be with that first discernible drop in temperature in the fall. The town seemed to be jam-packed with people listening to blues chord progressions over at Quakertown Park or taking in some food and drink on the square this weekend. Take a look below to see what Denton was up to this weekend.

Make sure to tag your photos with #WDDI over the next week, and, as always, thanks for sharing your photos with us.

We took the North Lakes Park frisbee golf course for a whirl for the first time in a while. While it may need a few repairs (or a good mow), it's still plenty of fun.  

Hares on the Mountain rocked the patio at The Labb Sunday evenin'. Sara Button was there to nab this pic. 

Ravelin's flaky chocolate croissants make for good morning fuel. 

 The Denton, Dallas and Beyond podcast celebrated their first year of existence with a trip to East Side Social Club. 

Jessica Chavolla had our second favorite cinnamon roll in town from Loco Cafe.  

Sunday's brunch bout of Pamfood (Pam Chittenden's sometimes bi-weekly food happening at Paschall's Bar) was chicken and waffles and full of people. 

In preparation for Better Block - Denton, we made the trek over to Oak Cliff to check out the site where a better block was held a few years ago. It's currently undergoing much revitalization and is awesome. Here's a shot of the inside of Davis St. Espresso at the corner of Tyler and Davis. Check out a video of what they went through for Better Block here. Hopefully, we can take it as a precursor for what to expect for our own Better Block undertaking. Read more here. 

 Rachel Aughtry and her husband Bo enjoyed a #40 and some football at the non-campus ESSC on Sunday. 

 Improv comedy pusher, Sarah Adams, turned 30 and drank some coffee in celebration. Interesting that she went the stimulant in lieu of a depressant in this case, right? 

Denton did Dallas this weekend when Bad Sports and the Marked Men played Three Links.  Luckily Dave Koen was there to catch all of the action. 

photo by Dave Koen 

VIDEO: SEE YOU AT THE TIME CAPSULE

Video by Addison Day 

http://www.wedentondoit.com We take this time to look back at the past year, at our hope, dreams, and expectations. I'm sure we all remember exactly where we were on September 12, 2012 when we first heard that they had forgotten to open the time capsule.

A week and a day ago marked an anniversary of sorts. It's a story that's hard to explain and that many people don't really even care about, but we do. On September 12th, 1992, the late First State Bank buried a time capsule at the corner of Hickory and Locust. This capsule was to be exhumed in twenty years. Eventually, September 12th, 2012 rolled around and the day went by without any shovels, jackhammers or digging tools of any sort. The time capsule stayed buried. 

Time Capsule Awareness by Aaron White

No one was organized enough to get a simple tube out of the ground. Of course, First State Bank had closed many years prior and Wells Fargo (the current inhabitant of the building on that sidewalk) had nothing to do with the time capsule, but you would have thought that surely someone, somewhere would have had the wherewithal to put a plan in place to get that time capsule up and out of the ground. After all, we had 20 years to plan for it. At midnight that very evening, several Dentonites met at the site, right on top of the time capsule. We poured one out for the capsule and talked about our own stupidity, prowess and lack of forethought. Then, we decided that we would protect that time capsule from ever being taken out of the sidewalk to preserve it's memory. We wanted to be able to walk over it and see the inscription with the date "September 12th, 2012" on it for the rest of time. The time capsule was unearthed a short while later. 

Last Thursday was the first anniversary of that day. Once more, we met up at the spot the time capsule used to be. Councilman Kevin Roden and We Denton Do It-er, Glen Farris gave speeches on the subject, Fishboy was there to sing some epic tunes, and many others gathered to share in the anarchy. Above is a video documenting that evening. If you want to learn more about the Denton time capsule, you can read our story on it from last year, Kevin Roden's (great comments on this one) or even the Dallas Observer's article. Please share time capsule awareness with your friends and make plans next year to meet us over at the corner of Hickory and Locust to celebrate one of the most Star's Hollow like moments Denton has ever had. 

BACK IN THE DAY: THE LEGEND OF POPS CARTER

by Shaun Treat   

Denton Blues icon ‘Pops’ Carter, photo by Marcus Junius Laws for the Denton Record Chronicle 

This September marks the crystal anniversary of the Denton Blues Festival, one of our community’s many music events. In celebration of this landmark fête, here’s a look back at a Denton legend who for four decades was a major force of bringin’ the Blues to Denton.

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Tom “Pops” Carter (1919-2012) was a well-known and much beloved mainstay of the Denton music scene for decades, but his beginnings read like a page outta Delta Blues mythology. Born June 6th along the Louisiana banks of the Red River in a long-vanished Bossier Parish cotton town, a precocious 10-year-old Carter began sneaking out to hear the tent pole blues shows that would drift through Shreveport. When he and his friends were about to be tossed from one show by gruff tour roustabouts, a bluesman, whose name has been lost to time, intervened. “You let them kids stay,” Pops remembered the old musician growl that hot night, “They’s gonna sit here by the stage and get schooled in th’ blues.” Young Tom Carter was lucky enough to be exposed to the sounds of traveling legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lead Belly and T-Bone Walker.

He despised picking cotton in the family fields and received frequent beatings from his daddy for sneaking off, so the wily teen packed a pillowcase and hitch-hiked to Houston. Living with an aunt and uncle while working menial daytime jobs, Carter quickly became a fixture in the vibrant blues scene of Houston’s Third and Fifth Wards within a few years. His first band, The House Rockers, began by playing in the streets outside the hot clubs but Carter was soon jamming onstage with the most prominent bluesmen of the era. Lightnin’ Hopkins became a huge musical and personal influence. Hopkins even introduced Carter to his first-cousin, Minnie Lee. It was no surprise that the two hit if off right away.  “She was telling me about all these men who done her wrong,” Pops later recalled, “and I said, ‘Mama, I can treat you better’n that.” By the time Carter died a widower at age 92 after being married three times, it was Minnie Lee, who he always called ‘Mama’, that he considered the greatest love of his life. Carter would perform in Houston’s blues clubs during the 1940s and 50s alongside luminaries such as B.B. King, Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, Freddy King, and Little Milton.

Despite his musical notoriety in Houston’s blues circles, Carter still had to cover the bills. When a good-paying construction job drew him to Denton in 1969 he was smitten by the energy and creativity of the music scene, and preferring the small-town intimacy of Denton, Carter decided he didn’t want to live anywhere else. By now, almost fifty with a lifetime of musical experience playing with blues legends, Carter came to be known as “Pops” by the campus musicians who frequented his circuit of local pub gigs during the 70s and 80s. Over the next four decades, ‘Pops’ Carter became a one-man institution of Fry Street’s music scene as a friendly mentor and jam companion to two generations of Denton musicians. Among the many future talents that ‘Pops’ influenced were Robin “Texas Slim” Sullivan, The Baptist Generals, and a young Stevie Ray Vaughn, who used to travel from Austin to the dive bars of North Texas State University when making a name for himself. Always dressed to the nines, flirty with the foxes, and singing into the rafters, the smokey-voiced ‘Pops’ electrified audiences with his smiling disposition, high-energy onstage dancing, and trademark “Hey Hey Now!” callback that made him a mainstay for years. ‘Pops’ passion was the blues, but he never hesitated to sing with rock, jazz, or punk bands when asked. “He was a local icon,” recalled one festival organizer, and while acts “were whittling about, he wanted to be on stage.” Forming his own band Pops Carter and the Funkmonsters in 1990 when he was 70 years old. The group offered a uniquely Denton fusion of blues, roots, soul, and funk with a festive campus music vibe. “The music was in him,” Funkmonsters From Outer Space member Clarence Pitts grins; “He brought the energy every time he performed. He never did stop.”

It was 1997 when accountant John Baines became chairman of the Denton Black Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of the Denton Blues Festival. After having tried to establish their own banner community event with African-American Jazz and Gospel, the newly formed group rented a sound system and solicited volunteers to put on a Blues program “held together by prayer, chewing gum, and a shoestring.” That, and a favorite Denton Blues icon. “We had Pops Carter the very first year,” Baines recalled in 2005; “Then one year we didn’t have him, and the community got on our case. So we always make it a point, as long as Pops is alive and able, for him to play the festival. He’s a local legend.” True to their word, ‘Pops’ played alongside revered Blues headliners such as Tyrone Davis, Sam Myers, Denise LaSalle, Smokin’ Joe Kubek, Johnnie Taylor, Bobbie ‘Blue’ Bland, and Jimmy Ray Vaughn well into his 80s. “I open up for them guys every year,” Pops proudly noted of his endowed Blues Festival spot; “Its been good to me and good for everybody.” Indeed, the Denton Blues Festival is still today one of our community’s biggest and most anticipated events of the year, one of the best in Texas.

Yet aside from his unquestionable musical influence on Denton, ‘Pops’ Carter was by all accounts notoriously charitable to acquaintances and strangers alike. “He treated everybody like they were family or close friends,” insists ‘Texas Slim’ Sullivan; “He was certainly someone that didn’t have an awful lot, but he would share anything that he had.” In a 2008 short documentary titled Pops Carter: Keeping The Blues Alive, Carter spoke of giving meals and supplies to people in need. “I believe in helping people if I can. If I can help them, I’ll help them,” Carter told the filmmakers; “I was taught that you can’t live in this world by yourself.”

In 2011, Denton mayor Mark Burroughs recognized Pops' many decades of contributing to local culture and community by declaring June 5 “Pops Carter Day.” Although formally “retired” for years before his oft-rumored passing, ‘Pops’ Carter made irregular appearances into his 90s as the spirit moved him, ambling in on a cane, which became impromptu “happenings” by text message or social media invitation only when he was sighted onstage. It was just such a spontaneous appearance that we last saw ‘Pops’ at Riprocks on Fry Street the September 2011 evening before moving to Houston to live with his son Tommy. The farewell song of his set was the James Brown tune “I feel good,” fittingly enough, which he crooned in his own unique style swaying in a chair, beaming with glee. He passed away the following April but that’s how we remember him, physically feeble yet as vocally powerful as ever, inspiring a parade of booty-shaking from a cheering standing-room only crowd. Sadly, not unlike the blues travelers of old who inspired him, ‘Pops’ didn’t leave much recorded music behind when he was buried alongside his sweetheart Minnie Lee. The Denton Blues Festival is a grand continuation of ‘Pops’ Carter’s legacy, a yearly celebration of the Blues ambassador of Denton who for 40 years was as essential to our local music scene as a B flat.

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Back in The Day is an ongoing WDDI contribution from Shaun Treat, an assistant professor in Communication Studies at the University of North Texas and founder of the Denton Haunts historical ghost tour. Doc Treat has written about numerous local places and personalities at his Denton Haunts blog, and is forever indebted to the great work of the fine folks with the Denton County Historical Commission and local keepers of history like Mike Cochran and Laura Douglas at the Emily Fowler Library for their tireless work in helping preserve Denton’s intriguing past.

WHAT WE DID: SEPTEMBER 16TH

It seems like a month has passed from last week's What We Did until today. In that period of time, we celebrated some Denton failure, heard lots of opinions on Walnut St., looked at a bunch of old cars and took the a-train on a trip to Dallas. What were you out doing this past weekend? Make sure to throw #WDDI on your photos from week to week to be included in our What We Did post. 

We went out to Viet Bites again and ate our heart's out for a forthcoming review. 

We remembered why the "Poached Bananas in Coconut Cream" at Andaman Thai was our favorite dessert in town. 

We could write poetry about the ice spheres encapsulated in the old fashioned's at East Side Social Club. 

The square was shut down to cars Saturday morning and afternoon in order to showcase...cars. Special cars, that is. The annual Arts, Antiques and Autos show saw lots of people milling about around the antique and strange cars and quietly bidding on silent auction pieces inside the courthouse. 

Come and Take It Denton was out and about again Saturday morning. 

Lots of interesting cars were on display, like this 2005 Renault to a 1999 Ford Focus with french fries on the dash that someone from out of town accidentally left parked on the square. 

Yeah, yeah...we know we talked about La Estrella last week, but we just love this place so much and we're there all the time. This is a mural on the east side of the building that had us wondering what was really in that carne asada (carne acid-a?).  

William Andrew Ganzer silently watched over the items in the silent auction held inside of the courthouse during the Arts, Antiques and Autos show. 

We gathered around the Well's Fargo building to once more celebrate the failure of the city of Denton to excavate a time capsule in a timely fashion. Both Glen Farris and Kevin Roden gave speeches on the matter.  (photo by Dave Koen) 

FishBoy played a couple of songs to get the crowd pumped. (photo Dave Koen)

We took the A-train to the Perot museum in Dallas again. This time without a bunch of 7th graders. (photo by @naysnews)

It's a great reason to take the train. Plenty of spots nearby and the weather is getting to the point where you won't be drenched in sweat by the time you arrive. (photo by @naysnews)

We found some spirit deep within us and cheered on the UNT football team on Saturday. Thankfully we were there to witness their victory over Ball State. We even got spotted dancing on the big screen. 

Tailgating includes the Mean Green marching band making their way through the crowds and into the stadium.  

Chili cheese Frito pie rounded out our football experience. 

Youthbitch from Portland, Oregon played a killer set at J&J's. (photo by Dave Koen)

AN OVERVIEW OF DENTON YOGA

by Naomi Wood

We aren't yogis by any stretch, but we can appreciate a good yoga class when we find one. Regardless of your fondness for Vinyasa, Chakra, or Hatha, at this point they're all fairly well represented in Denton.  Now if you can’t shove your legs behind your head while chanting mantras, no worries. We've gone out, stretched too much and done a little research on the various yoga facilities in town. While we're all the more zen for it, we've also got a bunch of information we'd like to share with ya.

One of the most familiar Denton landmarks, The Yoga Hut,  has been around for decades. It's been nestled in it's comfy little corner on North Locust since 2000. Their Buddhist-style frame attracts many curious glances, and although the healing garden is a bit overgrown, it could be a quiet refuge amidst Denton’s bustling streets. So if you like the shrine-y/temple feel,  you’re in luck! The yoga hut also doubles as a  residential space, where locals can live and stretch in harmony. Owner Lori Blunk follows the B.K.S Iyengar teaching, which focuses on the eight-limbed body. Now, this isn’t a human centipede style she’s talking about, the eight limbs are in reference to the eight steps of yoga, which include a focus on morality, observances, postures, breathing, senses, perception, meditation, and union.

The Denton Yoga Center on Congress was started by Denton native Becky Klett in 2008. Her therapeutic, alignment-focused practice can be adapted to all levels, whether you're a beginner or super zen. Whether you can barely touch your toes, or can simultaneously headstand while in camel pose, this studio may just be the right fit for you. The smaller setup and supportive community environment allows for more teacher-student interaction. Although Becky has been teaching yoga in Denton for over a decade, she still makes a point to walk through her classes and personally align her students.

““To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” ”

— Buddha

Valerie Warren of Authentic Yoga Life
Photo by Stephanie Smith

Maybe the kumbaya approach that the two previous studios embody are a bit much for your taste. If so, we featured the new Authentic Yoga Life studio that opened on Austin Street this past spring. Valerie Warren saw the need for a modern hot yoga studio in Denton, and jumped on the opportunity to be close to the square. This studio is bright, simple, and chic, and provides a vinyasa style that anyone would feel comfortable participating in.  

If yoga really isn’t your thing, but you’re still interested in subduing your stresses, you can head over to Seven Mile Cafe on Wednesday nights at 6:30, for a mindfulness and meditation session led by Kadampa Buddhist Teacher, Jenny Streit-Horn.

You might feel better, and if not, you can always grab a cup of joe afterward.

Namaste, Dentonites.

CANNED UPDATE

We’re less than a month away from the celebration of alcoholic beverages encased inside  aluminum and steel that has come to be known better as Canned, and we’re getting pretty excited at this point. Last Saturday Dallas had another Untapped festival at Gilley’s and while it was overwhelmingly awesome, it definitely left us waiting for more.

Thankfully, the folks over at Untapped (Canned’s mommy and daddy) were kind enough to share a few new pieces of info with us about what to expect come October 5th. Apparently, both Oak St. Drafthouse and the newly opened (but quickly embraced) East Side Social Club will play host. Between the two establishments (each owned by John Williams), over 170 different taps and over 100 different Texas-born drafts will be available for patrons to choose from. We’re making our drinking plans already.

Another aspect of Canned that has us excited is something we didn’t expect. Denton Municipal Electric has partnered with Canned, promising that 100% of the energy used at the festival will be “wind-collected.” We’ve bragged on DME before, but this was something that will make us feel a little better after paying that August electricity bill. In addition, Sierra Nevada, the world’s most environmentally sustainable brewery will provide the beer garden and Keep Denton Beautiful will be present to educate the public on recycling and sustainability. All of this together makes Canned the most environmentally friendly festival the county has ever seen. Oh, and there’s gonna be beer and live music, too. Did we mention that?

Buy tickets here and buy them fast. Or, if you want to skip the ticketing fees, you can pick up tickets at Oak Street Draft House or East Side Social Club. Either way, get 'em quick, you don't want to miss this. 

WHAT WE DID: SEPTEMBER 9TH

First Friday is starting to become a Denton favorite around these parts. It ranks up there with Twilight Tunes as far as consistent fun goes. We hit up several different places in and around the square that were participating in First Friday - there were more things to check out than we had time to see! We hope to see a few more businesses taking part in this monthly celebration. Aside from that, we also had the pleasure of seeing some live music and enjoyed being our normal, fat selves, cramming food into our gullets. Check out some photos from our aforementioned exploits below and make sure to throw #WDDI on your pics for inclusion in our weekly photo roundup!

The last of us finally tried Goldmine BBQ and were sadly left with the same impression others have had. Above is the "burnt ends" appetizer. Not only did they have the visual appeal of dog food (covered in a syrupy sweet sauce, even), but they weren't even actually burnt ends. The rest of the meal followed suit. Maybe things will turn around soon. We hope so. 

First Friday seems to be building up some steam. Scrap and The DIME Store both had free beer, UNT had a wonderful display of Denton photos (look below), and lots of folks were out, milling about. Above you can see the crew behind Denton's Ugly Rugger brewing Company set up sharing their suds at DIME. 

We caught Chambers at St. David's on a busy Friday evening. We're hopeful that we'll be seeing more shows at this beautiful building soon. 

DIME also had free crafts for First Friday attendees. We tried our hand at embroidery. 

Paschall bar hosted a listening party for Midlake's upcoming album. We checked it out and were pleased with what we heard.

We found out that our breakfast taco dealers, La Estrella, serve some delicious menudo on Saturdays and Sundays. We suggest grabbing a bowl next weekend. 

The "Photographs of Denton" exhibit at UNT on the Square features the work of many photographers and their viewpoints of Denton. We highly suggest checking it out. Heck, it is free, afterall. 

While we haven't been inside in a while (sorry, Mike). The exterior of El Guapo's caught one reader's eye on their way down to DIME for First Friday last week. It's a great walk from the square, if you haven't tried it yet. 

We had reason to head south on the train this weekend to check out Delta Spirit as part of Untapped. It made us all the more anticipated for Canned, which will be here before you know it.  

WHERE IS THE ESSC?

The newly opened East Side Social Club is our newest weekend hang out in town. They have a seemingly unending beer list, more whiskey than we could ever dream of and they even use those really great ice spheres when we order a double bourbon on the rocks. 

It seems though - that they weren't the first "ESSC" on the Denton scene though. Lucky for us, our friend Addison Day helps clear up the confusion in his newest video.  

WHAT WE DID: SEPTEMBER 3RD

This weekend was a strange one. While for many college freshman, they had their first full weekend of hanging out in Denton. They had their choice to hit up the UNT football game (which people were tailgating for hours beforehand) or to hit up one of the many businesses that opened up during the month of August. Those that read the paper, however, were were met with an onslaught of horrible news stories around Denton County that just didn't seem to stop pouring in.

We got around quite a bit, ourselves, hitting up the newly opened Shift Coffee and More Fun Games, in addition to some tried and true activities. Look below to check out photos from us and our readers and to get some in depth commentary on what we got to check out. 

The location and exterior of Shift Coffee leave a little to be desired, but we've tried to have an open attitude in regards to location ever since the Better Block meeting and were very pleasantly surprised by what we found inside. 

Reader Sarah Adams (@SarahAnneAdams) shared her Mean Green Pride with us. Did any of y'all go out there early to enjoy some tailgating? 

Reader, Joshua Piers (@joshpiers), was one of many to hit up East Side Social Club during their opening weekend to enjoy one of the many beers and whiskey options they offer. 

We had heard rumors that the hiring of a new sushi chef at Denton-institution, Mr. Chopsticks, had revitalized the cold fish scene. We checked it out for the first time in a long time and weren't disappointed.  

September 1st marked opening day of dove hunting season in north Texas. 

Doug Burr hard at work on his upcoming record.  

We spent a little time at Redwood Recording Studio, checking out what McKenzie and Joey have going on in there... 

@davekoen caught Radioactivity kicking off Free Week at Rubber Gloves.  

FishBoy also made the Free Week scene at Rubber Gloves last night. Luckily @davekoen was there to catch it all. 

We popped by Geryn Roche's ceramics reception - we're totally in love with her work. 

We're pretty pumped that The DIME store is looking into carrying a few of her pieces.