WHAT WE DID: NOV. 4TH

Nathan Williams of Sunday Print Shop picked out his favorite sub $20 items at the Handmade Harvest. We like his Matthew Sallack pics. 

Nathan Williams of Sunday Print Shop picked out his favorite sub $20 items at the Handmade Harvest. We like his Matthew Sallack pics. 

The Center for Visual Arts was packed from 10am until closing time at 4pm. 

The Center for Visual Arts was packed from 10am until closing time at 4pm. 

Our tag made the board at the Handmade Harvest! Pic from Brad Koehn.  

Our tag made the board at the Handmade Harvest! Pic from Brad Koehn.  

Elyse Harlow dug The Green Piano's wares at the Handmade Harvest. 

Elyse Harlow dug The Green Piano's wares at the Handmade Harvest. 

Futuro Woman liked Quilts by Emily.  

Futuro Woman liked Quilts by Emily.  

Rock Lottery 12 was another well-attended event this past weekend. AV the Great (pictured above), a local rapper, fronted a rather eclectic group of musicians (the best kind of Rock Lottery group) that called themselves The Trill.

Rock Lottery 12 was another well-attended event this past weekend. AV the Great (pictured above), a local rapper, fronted a rather eclectic group of musicians (the best kind of Rock Lottery group) that called themselves The Trill.

 "The" Moist was the band that we most hoped would create some sort of an ongoing collaboration, however, we're not sure how keen the Dallas Cowboys drumline was on it. 

 "The" Moist was the band that we most hoped would create some sort of an ongoing collaboration, however, we're not sure how keen the Dallas Cowboys drumline was on it. 

Daniel Ziegler of The Corn Kit Quintet. 

Daniel Ziegler of The Corn Kit Quintet. 

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We all voted early. Did you? If not, Tuesday's the day. The Denton ISD bond proposal makes up the crux of it. If you aren't sure what that entails, they have a good rundown here. There's also a Facebook group that is encouraging folks to know that i…

We all voted early. Did you? If not, Tuesday's the day. The Denton ISD bond proposal makes up the crux of it. If you aren't sure what that entails, they have a good rundown here. There's also a Facebook group that is encouraging folks to know that is okay to vote no on the election. 

The very first dial tone phone call in Denton was made on this phone from Mayor Mark Hannah to his wife. No joke. We used it to prank call our friend Tommy. 

The very first dial tone phone call in Denton was made on this phone from Mayor Mark Hannah to his wife. No joke. We used it to prank call our friend Tommy. 

Michelle Bradley likes the fact that Viet Bites is BYOB. What wine goes best with banh mi and shrimp chips?  

Michelle Bradley likes the fact that Viet Bites is BYOB. What wine goes best with banh mi and shrimp chips?  

Royal Grub had a launch party for their salsas. Sara Button dug it. 

Royal Grub had a launch party for their salsas. Sara Button dug it. 

Alphonso might be our new favorite bartender at Paschall's. This "Older Fashioned" he elegantly prepared for us was so beautiful it was hard to bring ourselves to drink it. 

Alphonso might be our new favorite bartender at Paschall's. This "Older Fashioned" he elegantly prepared for us was so beautiful it was hard to bring ourselves to drink it. 

We checked out a house show with former Dentonite Bryce Gilbertson. 

We checked out a house show with former Dentonite Bryce Gilbertson

We tried the new gourmet grilled cheeses at Shiitake Swerve. The order may have taken a little while to arrive, but it was delivered to us inside of Oak St. Drafthouse and worth the wait. We tried both "The Swerve" and "The Decadent." Both were perf…

We tried the new gourmet grilled cheeses at Shiitake Swerve. The order may have taken a little while to arrive, but it was delivered to us inside of Oak St. Drafthouse and worth the wait. We tried both "The Swerve" and "The Decadent." Both were perfectly crunchy on the outside and the cheeses on the inside were a great mix of salty and sweet - no soup needed for dipping. 

Photo by Sara Button. 

Photo by Sara Button

MIDLAKE'S ANTIPHON

In case you haven't heard yet, Midlake has recorded their fourth album, Antiphon that is slated to be released on November 5th. Lucky for us they've released their title track single and have also released a trippy video to go alongside it. We dig the psychadelic vibe they're putting out, and the fact that much of it was shot in their downtown Denton bar, Paschall. 

While they're away touring in Europe, w'ell be taking a listen to their album before it's release on NPR's First Listen and keeping up with them through their Instagram


 

THE DENTON SRIRACHA MERGER

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As you probably already know by now, the factory that produces Sriracha, the condiment made of chili and garlic also known as “the best thing ever,” has shut down for the foreseeable future due to the fact that the townsfolk of Irwindale, CA, the town in which the factory resides, are a bunch of whiny babies and jerks. Said jerks apparently can’t appreciate the slight smell of garlic in the air or breathing in delectable spices all the time. Kevin Roden, Denton city councilman and over-pronouncer of Sriracha, has made a bid for Denton to be the new home of the beloved company and we’re right behind him on this. Yesterday, Roden took to social media, encouraging Dentonites from all over to show David Fong, CEO of Huy Fong Foods (the company behind Sriracha), reasons why Denton should be their new home. If you search #Sriracha2Denton, you’ll find tons of pics of the iconic Sriracha bottle in front of plenty of Denton landmarks. In a bid of positivity, we’re jumping the gun and discussing a list of things in Denton that would be markedly improved with the addition of Huy Fong Foods and Sriracha to town. If you have your own to add, tell us in the comments!

 

1. A Sriracha Flavored Ice Cream from Beth Marie’s

We’ve tried their “red wine and blue cheese” and their whiskey and honey concoction and both were delicious and left us clamoring for more. What if Huy Fong moved to Denton and collaborated with Beth Maries on an ice cream flavor? Can you imagine the possibilities? You could place the garlicky, spicy ice cream that you could place on top of some sort of dessert that we currently can't imagine, but we’re sure exists. We need this now.

2. Sriracha in some Morrison’s Corn Kits Mixes

People don’t realize that Sriracha isn’t just good on Asian food. It’s good on all sorts of stuff. You can dip pizza in it, use it as a replacement for salsa or stir it into some corn bread for a nice, spicy kick. We hope to do just that. Just put “Thanks, We Denton Do It” on the mix when you sell it, Morrison’s.

3. Sriracha Cocktail at Paschall’s or Oak St. Drafthouse

Oh man, can y’all imagine the possibilities? A teaspoon of sriracha in a bloody Mary (or Maria) from either of the aforementioned bars would give it just the kick that we love. We could even see The Greenhouse getting on this bandwagon. Heck, maybe y’all should just go ahead and do this and we’ll hop in over the weekend and try one. Maybe for free? What other drinks would sriracha be good in? Shoot, just shake it in a shaker with some tequila and maybe a lime and we’ll drink whatever you wanna call it.

4. An Asian Market

Do you know that it takes like half an hour to get to Super H Mart? That’s not even when it’s trafficy. Maybe if we get Huy Fong to move to town, we’ll get us enough Asian cred that we could have a suitable Asian market in Denton. After all, we need a place where we can go to purchase some shrimp chips, (cheaper, fresher) kimchi, spices, some salt-cured duck eggs and other perfectly normal things. Foreign exchange students might feel more comfortable in town, too.

5. La Estrella Tacos

Because we can’t go a week without mentioning our beloved taco lords, we figured we’d throw them in here, too. Have bottles of Sriracha on the tables at La Estrella and you won’t have to worry about over or under-pouring your salsa from the little plastic cups onto your tacos. Sriracha bottles have that handy-dandy green cap that allows you to precisely control just how much red sauce makes it onto your food of choice. We imagine that the spicy condiment would go just perfectly on any taco from La Estrella.


6. The Courthouse/Courthouse Lawn

We already know that you can drink wine on the courthouse lawn. Let’s just start getting weird with it and drinking some sriracha, too. On the plus side, it’s non-alcoholic and comes in a plastic bottle, so you won’t meet any apprehension from the police. If not, the courthouse has been looking a little bland lately. Can we get someone to just pour a little sriracha on the top?

 

A VERY DENTON HALLOWEEN

Picture by Rich Anderson

Picture by Rich Anderson

It's Halloween, dudes. Costume parties, candy corn, and good times are gonna be all over the place before you're even out of work this evening. Maybe this is the year you finally stop being the Popeye to your spouse's Olive Oyl costume. Maybe you're tired of being a sexy nurse/politician/ocelot/what-have-you. We figured we'd step in and give you a hand. Here's a list of possible costumes for you to blow the lid off of whichever local costume party you plan on attending.The list is full of suggestions of Denton Halloween-specific costumes and how you can put them together. 

1. A Bartender at Paschall's

What you'll need to to: 

Go to Denton Thrift and find an old vest. Hit up Rose Costumes and grab a nice, curly mustache and some spirit gum (or grow one real quick). Carry around a jigger and a bottle of St. Germaine or Luxardo and discuss Norman Mailer. 

2. Peter Weller

What you'll need to to: 

Did y'all know Robocop got his degree in Theatre from UNT in the 1970's? He might not have spent too much time here after that, but we'll still claim him. With Weller, you have lots of different options. You could go as old school Robocop (just spray paint your naked body silver), William S. Burroughs from Naked Lunch (get a top coat, a fedora and a bunch of heroin) or even that one character from the 90's sci-fi classic Screamers that we honestly remember very little about, but we would definitely love to overhear you explain your costume to friends. 

3. Shiny Around the Edges (a couples costume)

What you'll need to do: 

Channel your inner White Stripes, it's an all red and black wardrobe from here on out. If you're going as lead singer, Michael Seman, you're gonna need some orange pants, a black t-shirt, some New Balance kicks and an Oakland Raiders baseball hat on top of your fro. If you're adventurous and going as going as Jenny Seman buy yourself  a red dress, a black sweater, some decent cowboy boots and try out a crazy sweeping side part to your luxurious dark brown hair. Pepper your conversations with topics like urban economics and free form jazz performance art in the form of indie rock. Maybe carry around a book or two, as well. 

4.  One of them Local Farmer People

What you'll need to do: 

You know these people right? You see 'em at the market. They're cool. They have good food, too. We just decided to be jerks and stereotype them a bit. This can be done with or without dreads. That's your choice. Get some patchouli, some 1970's era Levi's and carry around a bunch of eggs. Bonus points if you zone out in the middle of all of your conversations or introduce yourself to the same person three or four times in the course of a single evening. 

5. The John Williams (owner of East Side Social Club and Oak St. Draft House) 

What you'll need to do: 

Grab a beer, a bottle of whiskey and a stack of shot glasses. Wear an Oak Street Draft House shirt or sweatshirt, cargo shorts and flip flops. Offer a shot to anyone you make friends with. 

6. Frenchy's Famous Van

 What you'll need to do: 

Head to SCRAP or Hobby Lobby, grab a bright orange shirt and blue paint. Craft an excellent message on your shirt touting the local news, events or a message to a friend. Mow people's lawns even if they ask you not to. 

7. Endive

What you'll need to do:  

As we all know, Denton is known for it's endive - why not embrace it in the form of a Halloween costume this year? Wear some combination of white and green and smell fresh. Maybe be in a salad or something. We don't know. How do you prepare endive again?  

 

THE DEN10: OCTOBER 30th

We’re almost through with Denton’s National Holiday, Halloween and what a Halloween it has been so far! Last week we saw the coffin races, Denton’s Day of The Dead Festival and an incredible Cirque du Horror. All that continues through this Thursday when the contests get underway and we discover the true meaning of Halloween: making cold hard cash for your Sexy Mustard costume. So get out there and gram and hashtag #WDDI and get featured in our What We Did post on Monday.

Questions, comments, tricks or treats? Email glen@wedentondoit.com.


Wednesday, October 30th
UPC Boo Bash / Children’s Halloween Carnival | The Coliseum | 6PM - 8PMThis is a Halloween carnival for the local elementary students and families put on by UNT student organizations hosting the activity booths and games where the kids win candy and prizes.

Tubaween Concert: Tuba and Euphonium Ensembles | Recital Hall, College of Music Building | 6:30

This is the annual Octuba Concert of music celebrating Tubaween. This is a very real thing that we have discovered for you to go enjoy. Get out there and get video and/or pictures!

 

Thursday, October 31st

North Texas Football vs. Rice | Apogee Stadium | 6:30PM 
Alright, we’ve become pretty big fans of going to football games this year. Thanks to a better than decent team, a good coach and an incredible marching band, home games are now something we really look forward to. Right now we’ve got to win one more game to #Hit6 which means we get considered for an actual Bowl game. So get your Eagle Talon ready, wear green, black or a costume and let’s keep our 3-0 at home record by whipping Rice in this Thursday’s battle of the birds. GO MEAN GREEN!

Monster Mash Part Deux w/ Mountain Sounds / Valise / The Days / Goldilocks & The Rock | 817 Anderson | 9PM | FREE
It’s a good old fashioned Halloween house party!

The Savage Beatles: Halloween Costume Contest | Sweetwater | 9:30
Is this the top halloween costume contest this year? 

Halloween Dress Up Pub Crawl | Oak Street Draft House / East Side Social Club / Mulberry Street Cantina | 9PM
Here’s a novel idea: a pub crawl & a costume contest wrapped up into one. First prize is $150 cash and a $150 bar tab. 

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Friday, November 1st
Spooky Folk / Pageantry / Peopleodeon | Dan’s Silverleaf | 9PM | $7
Kaleo is back in town to participate in Rock Lottery 12 and he handily set up a reunion show at Dan’s for Spooky Folk.

First Friday | Downtown Square | 6PM | FREE
This is something that we really hope turns into something bigger - because what’s better than grabbing a bite downtown and then shopping into the evening before hitting one of our favorite watering holes?

Saturday. November 2nd
The DIME Handmade Harvest | Center for Visual Arts | 10AM - 4PM
One of our favorite events and if you check it out you’ll know why. Our town has an amazing collection of crafty people doing some incredible things and The DIME Store has become the center for the best our town has to offer. This weekend's Handmade Harvest will feature 40+ makers, selling their goods. The first 100 shoppers get a goody bag stuffed with handmade local merch and a little something from We Denton Do It. If you #WDDI a picture of our item from the goody bag you will win the weekend and a high five from Will.

Good / Bad Art Collective Presents: Rock Lottery 12 | Dan’s Silverleaf | 8:30PM | $15
Twenty five hand picked musicians get put into 5 bands at 10AM and have to write and rehearse a set to be preformed at Dan’s that night. This is the 12th such event and it is always a sellout so be prepared to get there at 8:30 if you want to experience this evening. For $5 extra you can go to the selection ceremony, get breakfast and watch the official band portraits get made. All proceeds this year will go to the Denton County Friends Of The Family.

 

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DENTON'S GHOSTLY GUARDIANS

Written by Shaun Treat 

The Homer Flow Memorial Hospital built in 1950

The Homer Flow Memorial Hospital built in 1950

 Halloween is upon us, which seems the perfect opportunity to revisit some of Denton’s most legendary ghost stories. Although most TV and movies tell us that ghosts are frightfully vengeful ghouls, there are also tales of dear departed Dentonites who linger on as guardian spirits. We're going to take this opportunity to warn you of a few of the ghastly souls you should be on the look out for this Halloween. 


Most ghost stories that get sensationalized are about vengeful or malevolent spirits, like the terrifying tale of the Goatman of the Old Alton Bridge, but not all ghosts are scary monsters. In fact, there are a number of local spectres who are loitering as guardian spirits to our fair community. One is the ghost of Nurse Betty from the old Homer Flow Memorial Hospital.

Many a Dentonite claim their honest-to-Betsy local bonafides by having been born in the old Flow Memorial Hospital, founded with a 1949 post-mortem donation by Homer Flow who is himself buried in the IOOF Cemetery.

Apparently old Homer had donated his property and a chunk of change to the city and Denton County jointly on the condition that they bankroll a charity hospital that provided affordable medical care to the poor. A downright Christian mission that worked for almost forty years, until politics and some municipal tax disputes contributed to the controversial bankruptcy of the Flow Hospital in 1986. Developers have since turned its lot into student housing on Scripture Hill, but stories of a ghostly nurse had already been haunting the hospital grounds for decades.

An unidentified nurse outside of the old Denton City Hospital south of the square, which has it's own ghostly stories. 

An unidentified nurse outside of the old Denton City Hospital south of the square, which has it's own ghostly stories. 

Laura Douglas, a librarian at the Emily Fowler Library, has kept records on the ghost often called Nurse Betty after her mother’s own accounts as a nurse there were passed down. As early as the 1950s, night staff, security guards, and even patients had inexplicable encounters with a woman dressed in a nurse’s white gown and cap. Many told of a dedicated young nurse at the Flow Hospital, pregnant from a tryst with a married doctor, who had died in the elevator after collapsing from a botched back-alley abortion yet her spirit still lingered as a caretaker. A new mother groggily saw a nurse in “a vintage uniform” close a window and then blanket her newborn in the middle of a chilly night, but was later told by the night nurse on duty that there was no one else on the floor. Even after the hospital closed, one shaken co-ed claimed that a woman “dressed in a nurse costume” had spooked away a potential attacker during her walk home in the wee hours after the campus bars had closed. Most accounts of Nurse Betty are similarly benevolent or benign, even if often unnerving.

Emily Fowler at the library front desk in 1949. 

Emily Fowler at the library front desk in 1949. 

Another public servant who continues her mission even after death is a well-known namesake of Denton’s public library. Emily Fowler was a dedicated crusader for free public literacy who served as librarian from 1943 to 1969. After her passing, numerous witnesses have had enough strange occurrences in the library to warrant several teams of paranormal investigators. In one of our favorite tales, a paranormal team was taking readings and recordings for EVP by prompting ghostly response with questions. When they reviewed their tapes, they were surprised by a faint but firm response: “Shhhhhhh!” Apparently, the lingering librarian likes her peace and quiet! Ms. Fowler also has a habit of stacking improperly indexed books in the middle of the floor, maybe because she is a real stickler for abiding by the Dewey Decimal System. Because of this, Laura Douglas has been working on having The Emily Fowler branch officially designated as a haunted library.

Denton has other guardian spirits, like Blind Sheriff Hodges and his boxer Candy or the mischievous Mr. Harrison of the Campus Theater, who still patrol our favorite local haunts. We’d like to think that when someone remarks on our fair town’s pretty remarkable community spirit, we can wink at each other knowing it also includes some civic-minded Dentonites from back in the day who are still lurking about.


 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: OCTOBER 28TH

Y'all take fun photos. All of those social network things you use were filled to the brim with photos of costumes we couldn't figure out and all of your beautiful faces. We liked 'em so much we had a hard time selecting which ones to include in our list. If you made it out to the Day of the Dead festival on Saturday, you know how awesome this weekend was. That, coupled with quite a few other events going on made for a great couple of days. Sadly, we haven't pigged out and taken photos of it for y'all in a while. You came to our rescue, though. Check out those food pics, Halloween shots and much more in the images below. And, as always, don't forget to include #WDDI in your photographs from week to week to be included in our Monday morning What We Did post. 

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The coffin races get bigger and bigger every year both in the amount of racers and in the number of attendees/near-fatalities. We love it more than we ever could have imagined.
The coffin races get bigger and bigger every year both in the amount of racers and in the number of attendees/near-fatalities. We love it more than we ever could have imagined.
Lots of businesses and individuals got in this mix. T-minus 363 days until 2014 coffin races. We're planning our coffin now. Probably won't be Dr. Who related. If you were there, you know why. 

Lots of businesses and individuals got in this mix. T-minus 363 days until 2014 coffin races. We're planning our coffin now. Probably won't be Dr. Who related. If you were there, you know why. 

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Kimberly Flanagan snagged this awesome pic. Hopefully she remained unharmed. 

Kimberly Flanagan snagged this awesome pic. Hopefully she remained unharmed. 

Of course, there's more to Denton's Day of the Dead fest than just the coffin races (but does there need to be). Lots of folks in costumes (like the Ms. Frizzle pictured above), plenty of vendors and wonderful entertainment were all over. 

Of course, there's more to Denton's Day of the Dead fest than just the coffin races (but does there need to be). Lots of folks in costumes (like the Ms. Frizzle pictured above), plenty of vendors and wonderful entertainment were all over. 

We were wowed by the sheer make-up talent at play on many attendees faces. The intricate, Day of the Dead designs were beautiful and everywhere you looked like this photo from reader Veronica. 

We were wowed by the sheer make-up talent at play on many attendees faces. The intricate, Day of the Dead designs were beautiful and everywhere you looked like this photo from reader Veronica. 

Humans weren't the only ones that got to dress up. This sad weiner dog got to be encased in a hotdog costume. Naomi Wood loved it enough to 'gram it.  

Humans weren't the only ones that got to dress up. This sad weiner dog got to be encased in a hotdog costume. Naomi Wood loved it enough to 'gram it.  

Cirque Du Horror was once again happening inside Dan's Silverleaf. We interviewed David Pierce about it a couple of years ago and like what he had to say. Reader Deborah Nepal was one of the many to take part. 

Cirque Du Horror was once again happening inside Dan's Silverleaf. We interviewed David Pierce about it a couple of years ago and like what he had to say. Reader Deborah Nepal was one of the many to take part. 

Of course, there were enough activities for youngins thrown in that we could call the event "family friendly." 

Of course, there were enough activities for youngins thrown in that we could call the event "family friendly." 

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The Day of the Dead fest wasn't the only thing happening this weekend. WDDI readers, being the food loving fatties that we all are got our fair share of eatin' in. Hutch snagged this shot of Crickle and Co.'s peanut butter cheesecake. 

The Day of the Dead fest wasn't the only thing happening this weekend. WDDI readers, being the food loving fatties that we all are got our fair share of eatin' in. Hutch snagged this shot of Crickle and Co.'s peanut butter cheesecake. 

Our buddy Michelle Bradley hit up brunch at Hannah's with some friends. Hannah's has been in What We Did a lot lately. Are they having a resurgence or is it a coincidence?  

Our buddy Michelle Bradley hit up brunch at Hannah's with some friends. Hannah's has been in What We Did a lot lately. Are they having a resurgence or is it a coincidence?  

Fix My Ride was an effort from the fine folks at Cross Timbers church to fix the automobiles of college students, single parents and others in need of repair but unable to pay. It was a resounding success and we will definitely let y'all know ASAP i…

Fix My Ride was an effort from the fine folks at Cross Timbers church to fix the automobiles of college students, single parents and others in need of repair but unable to pay. It was a resounding success and we will definitely let y'all know ASAP if they have another. You can help out, too. Click here to find out more. Pic from Bryce Olcon

If our schedule would let up a little, it would give us a chance to send our mascot, Glen Ferret, out to check out Dallas Comedy improv classes in Denton. Sarah Adams just makes them look so fun. 

If our schedule would let up a little, it would give us a chance to send our mascot, Glen Ferret, out to check out Dallas Comedy improv classes in Denton. Sarah Adams just makes them look so fun. 

Instagram video by @SundayPrintShop of Austere's shindig this weekend that we didn't get invited to. 

We also randomly stumbled across an OU/UNT quidditch match and were immediately sucked in by the game. It was surprisingly almost as violent as rugby. We caught on to the rules fairly quickly and can't wait to check out another game. More info here.…

We also randomly stumbled across an OU/UNT quidditch match and were immediately sucked in by the game. It was surprisingly almost as violent as rugby. We caught on to the rules fairly quickly and can't wait to check out another game. More info here

Reader Shaina Sheaff really dug UNT jazz professor, Stefan Karlsson's tunes last Thursday at Dan's.

Reader Shaina Sheaff really dug UNT jazz professor, Stefan Karlsson's tunes last Thursday at Dan's.

DENTON CROWDFUNDING: OCTOBER

Denton Femme Fest is just one of the three things you can donate to that we are highlighting this month. 

Denton Femme Fest is just one of the three things you can donate to that we are highlighting this month. 

It’s been a while since we last took a while at the Denton crowdfunding scene. For those not in the know, crowd funding is sourcing money from local friends, family and invested peoples to help fund your project, idea or startup. We heard tell of a few projects making the rounds and figured it was as good of a time as any to search through Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and a few others to bring to you the best of crowdfunding that Denton has to offer.

Have a look through the following three campaigns and decide for yourself if one tickles your fancy. If so, hurry over to their page and donate. You’ll feel good about yourself for the rest of the day and probably get a prize later on.



Odds are if you have a kid and follow the Den10, you’ve crossed paths with Anyah Brittain Martinez and a baby version of the Explorium before. She’s often up at the Community Market on Saturday mornings with engaging toys, activities and craft projects for youngsters. The Explorium is a hopeful children’s science museum to be located in Denton, TX that Martinez would like to open. Proceeds from this campaign will go towards renting an actual physical space for the Explorium to operate their various exhibits within.

Every once in a while we get jealous of larger cities and their many kid-friendly activities. It always happens when we visit the Austin Children’s Museum, the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History does it, and now that the new Perot Museum is open in Dallas, it happens more than ever. We know this is a project on maybe 1/1000th of that scale, but something is better than nothing, and a little bit of heart can go a long way. Denton kids are in dire need of something like this. Unfortunately for us, there isn’t anyone with the last name Perot or overly-deep pockets living within our city limits with a foundation that needs to expel super large amounts of money. Maybe one day, but not now. For now, it’s up to us. If you can, donate to this project. It really does seem to have the best of the community in mind. The Explorium is looking for funding through “GoFundMe,” so don’t expect any silly gifts in return (it’s more like donating to a public broadcaster except with less guilt beforehand) - just the honest feeling of knowing you tried to help something good happen.

 

 

Local community activist and super-active social media person, Amber Briggle, has been in this column before. Last time we saw Briggle, she was pushing for a splash park, and while that’s still in the works, she’s back again, this time for her own, personal massage business, Soma Massage Therapy. Soma, apparently, is looking to grow.

Briggle wants to move her business out of her home and into a new space, get a new logo, and purchase some new equipment, amongst other things. This new space will also allow her to hire a few new massage therapists, as well. If you’re looking to get a massage yourself, why not go ahead and make a donation (a $100 will get you a massage and you’ll have that civic pride feeling) or, if you have more of a sweet tooth than you do back problems (boy do we envy you), make a donation of $25 and Briggle will bake you up a batch of your favorite cookies. 

If you’re interest in becoming more of a mover and shaker in the community and you like the cut of Briggle’s jib, you can attend this Saturday’s Neighborhood Empowerment Summit at the Denton Civic Center at which Briggle (and a few other cool people) will be giving some words of advice and sharing her experiences.


Here’s a quick and easy one, Daisy Salinas is looking for $200 to fund the Second Annual Denton Femme Fest at Mable Peabody’s. It looks as if it’s going to be a sure thing as they have already almost met their funding goal and the date for the shindig has already been set for November 23rd at Mable Peabody's. The event looks to have it all, complete with dancing, spoken word, a visual art auction, and “diverse” musical performances. In this particular case, your cold, hard cash goes not only towards the production fees associated with making this festival happen, but also the creation of local Latin zine creator’s, Muchacha Fanzine’s, upcoming issue entitled, “Nuestros Cuerpos/Our Bodies." A donation of as little as $5 will get you a single copy of one of their past zines of your choice. You can check out their old zines on their Etsy page.

 

THE DEN10: OCTOBER 23

If you were to ask the city of Denton what it's favorite holiday was it would undoubtedly say Halloween. This city loves this holiday. Part of the reason may be that it's the one that all the students and townies are all in for. Maybe it's the chance for a town full of creatives to go nuts on their costumes. Well here's to the month of Halloween and everything that comes with it - which happens to be a whole slew of season related events. Don't forget to hashtag #WDDI to get posted in our What We Did post on Monday.

For tips, questions or ideas for future toasts, email glen@wedentondoit.com


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Wednesday October 23
Foi Gras & Sweet Wine | Wine Squared | 7PM | $45 / RSVP!
Nothing wrong with either of these things. Another night of education and reasons for drinking and eating deliciousness and probably getting a bit of education. Confirm your attendance by commenting on the FB event.

Thursday October 24
Dyeabolical Closing Reception | UNT Art Building Gallery | 6PM
The closing reception for graduating seniors of the Fibers Program. There's usually food and drinks involved and lots of conceptual fiber pieces. 

More Fun Comics and Games Ladies Night | More Fun Comics & Games | 7:30PM
Goodie bags, wine and featured comics by female creators and characters. Sorry guys, this one is for the ladies only.

Denton Spoken Word Collective: Undead Poets Edition | Rubbergloves | 9PM
Proceeds of this go to Youth Speaks which helps lower-income kids express themselves by becoming familiar with slam poetry, spoken word and performance. People will be dressed up at this event so be prepared to get out your frog costume.

Friday October 25
Señior Fin Album Release / Pageantry / Roger Sellers / Bashe | Dan's Silverleaf | 8PM | $5

Saturday October 26
Spiderweb Salon's Second Annual Masquerade | 1200 Ridgecrest Circle | 8PM $5 donation

Bring chairs and beers to this fall themed event featuring another impressive list of local performers brought to you by The Spiderweb Salon. Prose, visual art, live art, culinary art and it's all MC'd by local comedian Alex Smelser. 

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Salsa Cook-Off Competition | Hickory & Industrial | 5PM
Part of the Denton's Day Of The Dead Festival, this year they've got six salsa entries. $10 get's you unlimited chips and and salsa and $40 gets you into the contest. Proceeds go to the Denton Community Market.

Cirque Du Horror | Dan's Silverleaf | 9:30PM | $15

One of the truest Denton experiences you can have is attending this yearly musical celebration of the season brought to you by one of our best composers, David J. Pierce. It's a Halloween celebration on a grand scale when you consider the amount of people, costumes and set designs it takes to pull this off each year. If you haven't seen this we absolutely couldn't recommend more making a point of seeing it this year. Thank us later.

Parade of Flesh Presents: White Mystery / Gal Pals / Pink Smoke | Rubbergloves | 9PM | $10
White Mystery brings you the best sibling led garage punk that's going to be found in Denton this weekend. 

Sunday October 27
Last Sunday's Open Shop | Tex's Tubs Drum Co. | 11AM - 4PM
It's another DIY instrument maker space end sponsored by Tex's Tubs and Miller guitar works. Open to anyone in need of tools or expertise in fixing their instruments. This is a really good thing, y'all. Keep it up!