WHAT WE DID: NOVEMBER 18TH

Well, we've been pretty busy this weekend, y'all, but we didn't get to take too many photos. Y'all still did, though, and that's awesome. Bike races, parades and the little fest that could, Oaktopia, all happened this weekend. Here's the pics to prove it. Remember to tag your photos with #WDDI whenever you're up to any awesome stuff this week for inclusion in next week's What We Did. Read on for pretty pics. 

Denton loves its parades. Veteran's Day is included among those days we celebrate with a parade. Now that we think about it, are there any holidays that can't be improved by a parade? Can't think of any. Here's a shot from Bryse Olcon of the parade from last Monday. 

Photo by Bryce Olcon. 

Shaina Sheaff enjoyed taking in some jazz over at Kenton Hall. 

Gabe Bunch got excited that Mellow Mushroom had some Breakfast Stout on draft. 

Remember when we recommended the lovely movie descriptions over at Silver Cinemas in the mall? Yeah, we still love those darned things. Crack us up every time. Worth the price of admission just to read the heavily-stroked text. 

Del the Funky Homosapien brought it down at Oaktopia. According to twitter the eclectic rapper could be heard from many blocks away. Photo by KBrownies. 

Oaktopia had acts of many shapes and sizes (and playing at lots of different places). Here's Afro Deezy Axe playing on the courthouse lawn. Photo by Stefania. 

We do love it when we get larger names (that would normally play Dallas or Ft. Worth) to pass through our humble abode. We hope Del enjoyed his time here and that we see him again sometime. Thanks, Oaktopia!

MIDLAKE ON THEIR 'HOMETOWN'

Hometown heroes, Midlake are up to their old shenanigans again. This time giving Off Main St. a tour of our beloved downtown square, the studio where all the Midlake magic happens and their not-so-secret / secret bar, Paschall Bar. If you were one of the lucky folks who braved the haze machine at one of their sold out  Dan’s Silverleaf shows last month you’ll recognize the stage they’re on as they take you on an epic musical journey on search of the one flute to rule them all. 

DIME FEATURED MAKER: SAVANNAH TEEL

Interview by The DIME Store, Photos by Savannah Teel 

Savvie Designs may be new to the DIME Store, but the amazing lady behind the brand, Savannah Teel, has been on the Denton creative scene for quite a while. She runs two Etsy shops, works part time at SCRAP, and serves on the DIME leadership board, all while hammering out the last few classes of her UNT visual arts degree. This busy gal took some time out of her busy schedule to sit down with us and talk about her love of making, lasers, and most importantly, tacos. Unfortunately, we didn't get to discuss laser tacos, the taco of the future. 

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Have you always been involved in creative things and making?

Yes! I often joke that I was born with glitter in one hand and a glue gun in the other. I grew up in a very creative family. Both my dad and brother were engineers and builders, my mom was the craftiest lady in town, and my grandmother was a DIY queen. It was impossible to just sit around when I was constantly surrounded by creativity.

What first inspired you to get into laser cutting and material fabrication?

I needed an extra studio credit and UNT was offering an online Digital Fabrication course over the summer. I enrolled because it sounded like an easy elective but after the first day, I realized that it was so much more. I was amazed by the possibilities that laser cutting provides and it was something that just clicked for me. Out of pure curiosity, I started searching for actual Digital Fabrication jobs and found a part-time summer gig working with laser cutters and 3D printers. I landed the job and had an incredible opportunity to pick up the trade. It fell together so quickly that I just knew it was what I needed to be doing right then. 

What’s it like to finally have your own laser cutter?

So amazing! I’m not going to lie, it was the most terrifying purchase that I’ve ever made. Not only because it was a huge investment but because I had so much to learn. But now I feel so empowered by the potential!

What struggles have you faced in growing your business while still in school and still in a student apartment?

For one, there is no “I was late to class because I stayed up all night filling a rush order of 150 custom boxes” option on the syllabus. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to balance but it can be done. I’ve learned that time management and self-discipline are my best friends. 

Now, trying to create a digital fabrication studio environment inside a tiny college apartment is an art within itself. The other day, one of my neighbors approached me and said, “You must be the girl who plays with power tools at 3am and has smoke billowing out of the window from time to time. Can you tell me what you’re doing?” Besides looking like I’m cooking meth in my apartment, I’ve also learned that space is crucial. Thankfully I have a roommate who doesn’t mind me storing piles of salvaged lumber in the living room and a little sawdust in the carpet from time to time. 

In addition to Savvie Designs, you also have a partner Etsy shop with your mom called Regeneration. Is it easy to design and create for both, or is it a difficult balance?

You know, I feel like they sort of balance each other out. Although I love the creative freedom that the digital process provides, I think it is important as a maker to hang onto the skills that come with a more physical, hands on process. If I were doing it alone, I don’t think I could make it happen but my mom is a total rock star and it gives us something really fun to do together.

What are your plans for Savvie Designs once you finish your degree at UNT?

My thoughts are constantly evolving. One thing is that I really want to bring a more tactile sense to my work. I want to incorporate my love of sewing, drawing, and other hands on assets even more. I also have a vision of creating a resource for other makers. I’ve had so much fun finding ways to promote my own brand via laser cutting and I would love to explore the needs of today’s creatives. At the end of the day, there are so many possibilities.  

How did you become involved with DIME?

I went to the DIME Spring Bash during my first year at UNT and was overwhelmed with excitement about what was happening. Later, I met the lovely Shelley Christner while volunteering at SCRAP and I remember thinking “I’m not sure who this chick is but we need to be friends.” When she told me that they were opening an actual store, I was beyond excited. I wasn’t selling at the time but I couldn’t get over the concept of a DIME Show year round. I was so encouraged by the creative community and realized that I had been ignoring my need to make for far too long.

If you’re not hanging out up at the DIME Store, what are your favorite places to be around town?

I would have to say SCRAP is at the top of my list, which is rather convenient since I also work there. When I’m not being inspired from the goodness of creative reuse, I love to scour through the thrift stores of Denton or hang out on the square. I also frequent every single taco shop in town. All of them. That reminds me, I don’t think any interview is complete without noting that I do trade laser cut goods and services for free tacos. I’m looking at you, El Guapos.

Where can we shop your work?

You can find my work online at Savvie Design Co. I also sell at the lovely DIME Store, Fun and a Lil’ Chic Boutique in Irving, and I've made a custom line for Bella Gardens, a cute little flower shop in my hometown.

Do you have any advice for aspiring Etsy sellers?

Don’t play the comparison game. When I began thinking about starting an Etsy, I would go to the front page, look at the featured listings, and then close my laptop and walk away. I didn’t account for the fact that I was comparing myself to trained artisans who had years of practice under their belt. You should never stop learning or growing as a maker and as a person so don’t expect to start at the top. The best thing I ever did was write down all of my self-doubt on a sheet of notebook paper, then rip it to shreds and throw it away. Make what you love and make for the love of making.

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The DIME Store is a shop and artist collective in downtown Denton that features art, craft, and vintage from 40+ local makers. Rachel Aughtry and Shelley Christner act as the "curators and purveyors" of the shop. When they're not at DIME, you'll find them behind their sewing machines or enjoying a margarita at The Greenhouse.

THE DEN10: NOVEMBER 13

Is it winter yet? Sure feels like it. Time to bundle up and hit the mean streets of Denton to check out what’s happening. There’s tons of stuff going on but we paired it down in this neat little list of ten things since it’s just not possible to go to everything that happens. This week we’ve got different breweries in town plus the inaugural Oaktopia Fest that will be happening on Saturday. Make sure to get click happy with your cameras and hashtag happy with your #WDDI and check back on Monday to see if your picture made it on the What We Did post.

Questions or comments? Email glen@wedentondoit.com

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Wednesday November 13
NTX Beer Week: Four Corners Brewing Co. | East Side Social Club | 7PM | 
There’s a week of really cool breweries taking over one of our favorite bars, and since Four Corners is also one of our favorites we figured we’d let you know that this would be a good day to check out what’s going on. While you sip away you also get to keep the glass and meet the owner.

JFK: Breaking The News | Dan’s Silverleaf | 8PM | Donations
Watch this riveting KERA documentary and ask questions from Bob Huffaker, a reporter who was there on the scene when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot. This is a pretty awesome little slice of Denton that happens every year at about this time. 

Thursday November 14
Peter Case / Isaac Hoskins | Dan’s Silverleaf | 9PM | $12
Here’s a night of songwriters for songwriters. Quite a pairing and possibly the perfect venue for this sort of thing.

Something Combobulated | Cora Staffor Gallery | 5PM
We’re guessing this is a mixed media show. Check out the reception on Thursday and let us know exactly what the heck is going on here.

Spiderweb Salon + Koan School Gallery Opening | Jupiter House | 6:30PM
Jupiter House get’s new art on the walls this Thursday and the nice folks at Spiderweb Salon are doing the hanging. This is a three-month collaborative show with middle-schoolers and teachers from The Koan School.

Friday November 15
Chambers / Camp David / The Days / Bryce Gilbertson | 1711 Riney Rd. | 9PM | FREE
It’s a good ol’ fashioned, Denton house show! Newcomers to the scene, Camp David, are the ones to be on the lookout at this one. Dress to impress, fellas. 

Saturday November 16
King of The Golden Triangle Alley Cat Race | The Square | 11AM | $5 Entry Fee
Well here’s an interesting little Saturday activity for all of you cyclists in town. The race starts at noon and is hosted by the Tuesday Night Bike Ride. There are 10 stops to be mailed to each racer the night before the race and the after party is at East Side Social Club. Fixed and Geared categories on this one.

Oaktopia | Downtown Denton | 2PM | $22

Tuesday November 19
Dead Confederate / Equals / Daniel Markham | Dan’s Silverleaf | 8PM | 8PM | $10

Blessed Are They…UNT A Cappella Choir’s 75th Anniversary Concert | The Murchison | 8PM | $10
Ahhhhhh….Cappella. They’ve been at it for 75 years so that’s something to sing about. Herbert Howell’s Take Him, Earth, For Cherishing is on the top of the set list and is a work resulting in the linking of Kennedy’s death with his sons.

PREVIEW: LONE STAR ATTITUDE

Lone Star Attitude is the new burger place on the square. It opened up to the public just yesterday, Monday, November 11th. Reviewing local restaurants such as these can be tough for a hyper-local blog such as ours. We sometimes exist within the confines of a catch 22. Some folks expect us to hype anything that opens just for the sole fact that it is locally owned. Others, give us flak for giving a hard time to local restaurants that we don’t feel are up to snuff. We’re not in the business of making people happy. We just like to share stuff that we like and pass our thoughts on as for what we think is worth doing/trying in town (and what isn’t). That said, Lone Star Attitude thankfully doesn’t give us too much trouble. We like this place.

LSA isn’t the first upscale burger establishment to hit downtown. After all, Tim Love’s Loveshack closed it’s doors just one year ago before turning into a steakhouse (we still have a lot to say about that, but let’s save it for later). Love Shack was often empty. We don’t foresee the same problem for LSA.

Just a few of those friendly bartenders. 

The space that once housed Denton County Hamburgers has seen a massive overhaul. Heck, they’ve even added a rooftop patio to the darned thing. While, at times, we were slightly apprehensive about the space, after having seen it in action last weekend, we can’t wait to go back again. The sign is a fairly good indicator of the inside - lots of flash, but artfully built. The ambiance is really conducive for a great post-work happy hour with friends. Drinks underneath the beer bottle chandelier or even sitting at the bar downstairs chatting with the friendly staff will probably be in the future of many Dentonites. Now that we are able to have a view of a band playing with the courthouse as background, we can’t imagine how we ever lived without it. We don’t even care if it’s an alt-country bluegrass band. We’ll still stick around.

Homage to the old Denton County Hamburger hanging in the hallway. 

Are you tired of us not talking about the food yet? The burgers here are of quality stuff. We tried the “Georgie Boy,” their burger offering with bacon and cheddar cheese. It was meaty and the toppings were fresh. It sure did a good job of warranting its existence in a world full of cheeseburgers. Time will tell whether they’re the best in town (we still need to put them up against RG’s, Sweetwater’s and Rooster’s), but we can definitely give these burgers a thumbs up for your meat, cheese and bread eating approval. We hope to go back soon and try some of the other choices. Namely, the “Stevie,” with it’s blue cheese and bacon. Aside from the burgers, the fries were wonderful - perfectly salty with just the right amount of crispness, not too thin and not too thick. LSA offers alterations on their fries in the form of chili cheese fries and garlic parmesan fries. We got a chance to try the former, topped with real Texas chili and plenty of cheese, and were more than pleased.

Lucky for you we spent our fair share of time at the bar, since we know how important the cocktail scene is to you. Normally, at places as glitzy as LSA, the drinks tend to be overly sweet and made from mixes. Thankfully, LSA is better than their flashy brethren in this case. The drinks were skillfully muddled and swirled and deliciously strong. Believe us, we tried all of them. (We're not kidding, we really did.) The price points were right on mark, too. If you’re looking for fun dining on the square, LSA is gonna be hard to be beat.

While the place is not the most prim and proper, who needs it to be? White tablecloths be damned! This is Denton y'all. There are probably at least two city councilmen at a tattoo parlor right at this very moment (no tribals, guys). Love Shack doesn’t exist anymore because they never understood that fact. LSA, however, seems to get it. We have a pretty good feeling they'll able to sustain it too.

The Last Supper - but with all Texas musicians. We love that the owners have made sure every corner is full of Texas charm and is as creative as Denton itself. 

WHAT WE DID: NOVEMBER 11TH

We went back to being our normal fat ass selves this weekend. We hope you like food photos, because there's a bunch of it below. Burgers, chicken fried steak, smoked meats, etc... It's all included in this week's What We Did. Also, we were in a parade and hung out at The DIME Store for a while. Y'all took some great photos, too. Ya know what? Now that we're thinking about it, this is a pretty gosh darn great post. Have fun perusing them! And remember to tag your photos with #WDDI on your social network of choice to get included in What We Did every Monday morning.  

Lone Star Attitude had a soft opening over the weekend. They officially launch to the public starting today, November 11th. Above is the "Georgie Boy," their burger with bacon and cheddar. Our expectations for the place were all over the place, but now that we've finally been there, we're happy to say that LSA is a welcome addition to the Denton square. While the sign or overall feel might be a bit more "in your face" than many are happy with, they are able to pull it off. The food is good and cheap and the atmosphere is fun. It's definitely a wonderful spot to take out-of-towners and/or family visiting you in town. We'll have more of our thoughts on LSA in a separate post tomorrow. 

Most places with vibes like LSA have overly sweet drinks, but we found the drinks - most of which are tequila or vodka based - to be very well thought out, and believe us when we say we tried a lot of the drinks. 

There's even a nod to the former occupant of the space inside. You can catch it if you keep looking up. 

The dudes over at Pan Ector were awesome enough to get us a limited edition run of some "Mean Green" UNT shirts for  the Homecoming Parade this past Saturday. Maybe you caught some of us on top of a float yelling at you about your haircut or that sweater we liked. Where did you get that sweater anyway? Thanks Pan Ector!

Reader Sarah Adams (and a bunch of other WDDI friends) went to UNT's Homecoming game, too. 

We checked out Loop 288's pedestrian bridge at night. Still a fun walk, but could definitely use some additional lighting up there. The current ambiance is very "mugging friendly."

Watch out Denton, we're all over meetings and committees near you.  

If you really want to make some change that can be noticed in town, we encourage you to do the same - join a committee or group and start giving your opinion. We know you have them. The breakfast taco committee is full, though. 

We had a Christmas-themed photobooth at The DIME Store's Holiday Open House this past Saturday. Here's a few of the shots from the participants. We had a fun time and can't wait to lose our paycheck buying Christmas presents for our friends and family at DIME. The new guy's section is fun, too. 

We also made it over to the newly-opened Horny Toad Cafe over in the old Good Eats spot on the loop. - another family-friendly (and more upscale than we had originally imagined) eatery that's popped up on the scene in the past week. 

This enormous chicken fried wagyu steak may give Cartwright's a run for its money as far Denton's best CFS goes. 

Horny Toad Cafe features lots of "Farm to table" ingredients on their menu. The restaurant is owned by the same people behind The Abbey Inn, too. It's a much better use of the space than Good Eats ever was and we actually will probably go back again sometime. Above is the smoked meatloaf and organic "mash." 

Photo by certifiedelvisa

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has an 'On the Go' preformance at UNT's Murchison Performing Arts Center last week. We especially enjoyed a particular flutist with a gold flute who played with plenty of flair.  

Big Mike's has the best mugs. Photo by Shaina Sheaff. 

Photo by Shaina Sheaff. 

Made a quick trip out to Lake Ray Roberts to get a glimpse of Texas fall at it's finest. The trees were turning, the air was crisp and a few campfires made us feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.  

TRADE FEATURED ARTIST: DANIEL ROUTH

Interview by TRADE  

Daniel Routh is a self-described "multimedia creative" working predominantly in the realms of video, photography, and music composition. Daniel's visual work tells tales of his personal travels and explorations across the country, while his musical compositions travel across multiple genres showing a depth of emotion and range. Read on to find out how his multiple disciplines collide, as well as his latest project about an attempt at breaking a world record.

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What is the focus of your work?

At the core of what I do I'm trying to stir up something inside of people that maybe they haven't been in touch with in a while or ever before. I want to break away from surface level thinking in terms of 'art' and really push the boundaries of our contemporary views concerning what art is or is not. So in my work, whether it be a composition, or a video, or whatever, I want people to feel that there is something deeper, something more meaningful and more real. I have a real distaste for a lot of mainstream music, art, and films. I don't mean that to sound pretentious but whenever I watch one of those movies or hear that music on the radio I find myself completely unmoved – like I'm no different now than I was before I went into that movie. And to me that's a complete waste of time. It's like candy, you kind of can't help but like it but it will never sustain you and isn't good for you in large quantities.  I'm constantly trying to go deeper, to get more meaning and more substance in my work, and to do it in a way that I just think is cool. 

From where do you draw inspiration?

That's a hard question. It's often times from unpredictable places but generally I find a lot of inspiration from other artists, from the natural world, from strange or peculiar sounds, from books and poetry. Some of my favorite artists are Beethoven, Arvo Pärt, Mark Rothko, René Magritte, and C.S. Lewis. 

What kind of work do you make?

I call myself a multi-media artist. For me, that encompasses music, photography, and video.

What drew you to that form of art?

I've always been the kind of person that needs variety. Growing up, my older brother and I would film skateboarding videos using our parents’ VHS video camera. Then we would edit using two VCR's where we'd start and stop one of them and hit record on the other one and add music. So that got me really interested in video, I would film everything I could whenever my family and I went out to do things.

I always wanted to do photography but the kinds of cameras that I had access to were never really able to produce the quality of images I was looking for. Last summer, a friend and I took a long road trip up to the Pacific Northwest with a loaner 10 mega-pixel Nikon DSLR and an iPhone case that allowed us to attach an old Nikon manual lens. We filmed everything and took a ton of pictures. When I came back I put together a video of the trip which was my first video I'd made since was a kid. That experience really re-sparked my interest on a surprising level.

I grew up in very musical home. My dad is a piano tuner, my mom used to be a singer, and my step-dad is a musician and composer as well.  Through high school I was really involved in band and jazz band and I spent the summer before my senior year touring with a drum corps. I wanted to study music at UNT but I had switched instruments a whole lot and didn't have exceptional talent on any one instrument. Because of that, I was initially rejected into the music program at UNT. But I knew I wanted to study music composition and I wanted to do it at UNT, so I practiced three hours a day for 8 months and then auditioned two more times until I finally got accepted, probably just out of sympathy.

It was a weird time for me, I knew I had a lot of potential as a composer and a musician – I felt it inside me – but I couldn't play any one instrument exceptionally well. I had all these people telling me that I wasn't good enough but I knew that I was good enough. In the end, all it really took was just a lot of patience, a little bit of spite, and a few people who saw the potential in me to help me through that time. Four years later, I won one of the biggest competitions a composer can win at UNT and I had a piece that I composed performed by the UNT Symphony Orchestra.

Do you find that your different creative disciplines influence or inspire one another? 

Definitely. It's cool because especially when I'm editing video I find myself doing the same kinds of things that I do when I'm composing music. For example, a lot of times I'll create formal, structural designs and then I'll try and create these 'moments' that are special and stand out because of the context I've built around the 'moment'. That kind of thing definitely transfers over between composing music and editing video.

But the more challenging one for me has been photography, because I've been so used to working within time and suddenly I'm doing this thing that isn't really time-based. So I'm constantly asking myself "how do I create something deep and meaningful without time?" With photography, people can look at a photo any different number of ways but I think a good photo will almost lead the eye to where the artist wants it to go, and I think that's partly what would make a person subconsciously want to stop and stare at an image for a long time, it's almost like they can't look away. Those are the kinds of images that I try to create – something that almost pulls them in and makes them feel like they're inside the photo.

Tell us about your workspace and what tools you use the most.

I have a small music studio at home with recording gear and lots of miscellaneous instruments and music paper, so when I'm working on music stuff I usually do it at home. When I'm editing photos or videos I'll often times go to a coffee shop because I like the atmosphere and I usually am working around other photographers of videographers who can give me high-quality, honest feedback.

I use DSLR's for most of my video stuff, I think that's becoming a pretty standard thing now. For photography, I'll typically use a DSLR and my Pentax ME-Super film camera. I'm still trying out different films but my favorite so far has been Ektar 100 which is made by Kodak. I really want to learn some alternative photographic processes like wet plate collodion photography, camera obscura photography, as well as using alternative chemicals to process my film negatives (things like vodka and nail polish remover).

Your most recent video project is about your Step Dad's attempt at breaking a world record. Tell me about that project as well as a little about the inspiration behind it.

Well my step-dad, Michael Combs, had some really bad heart problems about 10 years ago that stopped his heart for several minutes. He clinically died twice in three days.  But before he was sick he always had this dream to be a pilot, so because of his near-death experience he vowed to himself that when he got well again he would learn how to fly. Five years later, after being laid off from his job, he told us that not only was he going to get his pilot's license but that he was going to fly an airplane into all 50 states to spread the message to people that it's never too late to follow your dreams. Today, more than three years later, he has completed the 50 state goal and we estimate that about 30 million people have heard his message.

Last summer he and I attempted a time-over-distance world record attempt at flying coast-to-coast in his airplane which is a special class of airplane called Light Sport.  Unfortunately, we got within 91 miles of the east coast destination but then had to abandon the record attempt because we got completely enveloped in some wild thunderstorms. We planned to try again this summer and have been waiting all summer long for clear weather so we can make our second attempt.  It just hasn't happened yet and at this point, we’re not sure it will.  We’ll likely need to wait until next year.

My plan has been to make a short documentary chronicling the whole endeavor in order to continue spreading his message about not giving up on your dreams. Honestly, if it doesn't happen until next year I'll be somewhat relieved. There are just so many factors in setting aviation world-records that it really makes attempts stressful and nerve-wracking.

Has living in Denton influenced your work? 

Living in Denton has definitely influenced my work. There's this strong community of artists here and there's this way of thinking that Dentonites have that is just magnetic. I'm not from Denton, or even from Texas, I'm from Colorado, so coming here was a big culture shock for me. But as soon as I started getting into making art and doing creative things I found myself totally embraced by Denton and by the people that make up the creative community. There are lots of talented people engaged in so many different disciplines and on some level everyone is helping everybody else; I feel really fortunate to be a part of a group of people like that.

Is it important to you to be a part of a creative community?

It really is important to me. To have a group of people that I really trust and who I really feel respect me and what I do is totally invaluable. I feel like the quality of my work would really suffer if I didn't have people to be honest with me and tell me "that sucks" or "this part here is weak" or whatever. This was especially true when I was really first starting out.

Are there any local artists that you take inspiration from? 

There are a whole lot of them. I can’t remember his name but I met this painter at the Denton Arts & Jazz fest several years ago.  We talked for close to four hours and he told me something that that really opened my eyes to the way that I approach art. He said something along the lines of "Art is not the painting, nor is it the painter.  Art is the exchange that happens between the painting and the viewer." That just really blew my mind and totally made sense to me. I mean a piece of music or a painting is not art. How could it be? It's just air molecules being knocked into each other or just colors arranged together on some paper. The thing that is art is that magical thing that happens when someone hears the music or sees that painting. And I think this is why people have different ideas of what makes good art and bad art, or even art and non-art.

So I took what that guy at the Denton Arts & Jazz fest said and I ran with it and now, four years, later my work is very focused on creating something that can be very personal to the viewer almost on a spiritual level, and doing so by creating something that might challenge them to look a little bit deeper. I love things that appear simple but actually have this subtle, nuanced depth to them that you kind of have to hunt for.

Then there are also the really talented people that I'm fortunate enough to be friends with or are at least be familiar with. People like Jordan Smith, Ryan Polly, Justin Lowe, Mark  & Lauren Apel,  Patrick Peringer,  Carlo Canlas, Jeremy Ottens, Mandy Hampton, and a whole host of other highly skilled people.

What was the last film, video, and/or composition that blew your mind?

A short film called "Union Man" by Bobby Lewis.  It's real short, like 9 minutes, but it's this really honest, gut-wrenching look at this janitor who works in the university union at UNT. It's all in black & white and there's this somber, melodramatic, bluesy piano thing that's going on underneath these visuals of him cleaning windows and mopping floors after everyone else is gone. The janitor, the "Union Man", is narrating the whole time and as it progresses he starts to really open up about his fears and his emotions.  And then, when he has become most vulnerable with his words, it cuts to a shot of him playing that piano tune on this baby-grand piano that sits in the union. So Bobby used that tune as the score for the film and the music really sums up all the feelings that the guy described and it's so pure because it's coming straight from the source. It's really powerful stuff; a really simply made, vulnerable look at this guy who everybody else just writes off as a loser or whatever. I thought that was really cool.

What future project are you most excited about?

Well, I have several things in the works that I'm excited about. I'm really looking forward to making the documentary about my step-dad's upcoming coast-to-coast world record attempt.  I'm also scoring a short film called Hero for writer and director Brian Anthone here within the next month or so. I'll also be composing music for a feature film called REM but that probably won't be until next summer. Lately, I've been working with the people at TRADE to produce a video that will hopefully generate a lot of interest in the future of the project.

Additionally, I've been working closely with Denton's new clothing line, Threadwell, doing mainly photography stuff. I’ve been designing their website kind of in my spare time the past couple months and we launched the site recently.  As a photographer, it's really a great opportunity for me to work with Threadwell because we'll organize these shoots, I'll show up, and I'll have three or four different models who are really talented and make the shoots go really smoothly.

I stay pretty busy, which I'm really thankful for, but the thing I'm most looking forward to is simply to continue to deepen my skills as an artist, whether it be in photography, video, or music. As a multi-media artist, I thrive on creating things in all three of those mediums and I am very fortunate to be able to support myself by doing so. I pretty much have three criteria for my life's work: I want to benefit others in a long-lasting, meaningful way, I want to create really cool things, and I want to travel all over the world. So I'm excited to see what the future holds!

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TRADE is a forthcoming collaborative creative space started by Heather Gregory and Tristan Bynum in the heart of Denton. TRADE works to bring together artists and creatives from different backgrounds and mediums by providing access to the space, tools, resources and creative community they need in order to thrive in Denton.  

THE DEN10: NOVEMBER 6th

Did y'all know UNT has a bonfire the night before their annual homecoming game? We sure as heck didn't. Why didn't anyone tell us about that until now? We will always recommend going out to said bonfire from now on because lets face it, big piles of stuff on fire are flipping awesome. As usual, there’s a ton of things going on in Denton this week. We'll even be at some of them, ourselves. We want you to be able to check them all out and take pictures and hashtag #WDDI. After all, we always highlight our faves in our What We Did post Monday mornings because we love y'all so much. Here's what's going on this week. Make your plans now. 

Questions or answers? Email glen@wedentondoit.com.

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Wednesday, November 6
Audacity / Pink Smoke / War Party / Anger House | Rubbergloves | 9PM | $6
Gloves seems to be having a pretty good run of solid booking lately so definitely check out what they’ve got to offer when you get the chance. Audacity is garage punk from Fullerton, California and Gloves is a pretty good venue for that sort of thing.

Thursday, November 7
Quasi / Blues Control | Dan’s Silverleaf | 9PM | $16
Nineties Portland rockers, Quasi, hit’s Dan’s this Thursday. An ex-husband and wife team that can sometimes get political. Seems like it could be a sketch on Portlandia.

Hunters / The Bugs | Rubbergloves | 9PM | $6

Friday, November 8
VoltRevolt / Forever & Everest / Jambunctious | The Abbey Underground |  9PM | FREE

Meet Your Makers Party | The DIME Store | 6PM
A holiday sneak peak of our favorite local maker shop? Sign us up! Oh, and there’s a We Denton Do It photo-booth, too? Bring the family and get a picture made for your relatives to stick on the refrigerator with a magnet. Just take your kid's art assignment down first. 

Jel / Sole | Rubbergloves | 9PM | $10

Robert Gomez / Bethan / Dark Rooms | St. David’s of Wales | 6PM | $5
St. David’s continues their series of excellent local artists in their beautiful cathedral with this well rounded bill featuring the prolific Robert Gomez as headliner. We love this room and this really is a perfect bill to see/hear.

Saturday, November 9
UNT Homecoming |  Apogee Stadium | 2:30PM | $15
With our 6th win on Halloween, the Mean Green are going in with a hopeful win against UTEP this weekend. Go for the football, stay for the Green Brigade and the Frito Pie. GO MEAN GREEN.

Downtown Denton Holiday Open House | The Square | 5PM
Fifty two shops open up for the downtown square open house leading up to Christmas. You know your mom wants something local so this is your time to jump on it and spend a nice evening perusing the shops looking for the perfect gift.

NTX Beer Week | East Side Social Club | 7PM
Special tappings, pint nights and the opportunity to meet your brewers at one of our favorite local bars? Count us in!

MONTH IN REVIEW: OCTOBER

Do y’all ever get into those conversations with people who have recently moved to Denton who just don’t dig it? We have - quite a bit actually. We’ve come to the conclusion that enjoying Denton life is a lot like taking a vacation to an all-inclusive resort - you have to completely buy in 100% to the events taking place while you’re there in order to enjoy it. This means going to large city events such as the Day of the Dead festival. That said, October was full of those types of events. Looks like November will be, too. Here is some of what happened over the past few weeks.

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If we want to beat a dead horse, we could mention that Subway finally changed their sign at the beginning of the month after a long wait. Not to be outdone, the soon-to-open Lone Star Attitude put up their bright sign. Some took issue with it, as well. However, we haven't really heard any major rumblings about the classy corner sign put up by Cafe Herrera. 

The Atlantic Cities blog published an article saying that Denton County ranked #6 in a list of the tech hotspots in the nation. They came to this conclusion by looking at jobs that were created in the area between the years 2007 and 2012. City councilman Kevin Roden, says the city isn’t capitalizing on this fact correctly and published what he thinks should happen on his blog.

Oh man, was Canned this past month, too? That seems like it was forever ago. We enjoyed some wonderful canned brews and interviewed Menomena in between what seemed to be flash floods. We’re hoping Oaktopia is able to defy the “Rainy Denton Festival” curse.

Earlier this month, the city of Denton filed a temporary restraining order on the Eagleridge natural gas well to get them to stop operating without the necessary permits. The suits were dropped almost as quickly as anyone could report on the matter, and we haven’t heard much else out of it yet. City councilman, Dalton Gregory, says the city plans on rewriting (again) our local fracking rules. Said new rules will only apply to gas wells that are created after they are in effect, leaving existing gas wells to operate under the rules in place at the time of their initial drilling.

On the lighter side, we put on a show with Psychic Temple, Sarah Alexander and Shiny Around the Edges in which the latter sadly played their last show with their sax player Mike Forbes. 

Maker Space officially made the announcement that they have abandoned their original name and identity to become TRADE and plan to open in 2014.

We wrote about tacos and some of y’all whined about it. We’re gonna do it again soon, so get ready to argue with us.

We don’t want to jynx it, but the UNT football team has been strangely great this season. After their Halloween victory, they’re currently 6-3. We’re excited to see where this season will take them.

Local cold brewers, Dead Beat Coffee, sold out of their first batch of java. We’ll have more info from them and what they’re all about soon.

The Day of the Dead Festival happened again (a week before the actual Day of the Dead, mind you). The coffin races were bigger and better than ever before. We got to see lots of spectacle and a fair amount of crashes. We hope those things only increase next year. Oh yeah, the costumes were good, too.

The Horny Toad Cafe started prepping the old Good Eats spot over at Loop 288 and I-35 by Rose Costumes. All we know about them so far is that they are not related to the Horny Toad Bar and Grill in Cranfills Gap, TX. As soon as we know more, we’ll share the knowledge.

The Pizza Inn at the corner of University and Carroll suddenly closed down this month. They hurriedly took all of the signage down, too. We haven’t heard yet if there’s another business with plans to move in yet, but we’re thinking there must be.

Lastly, Irwindale, CA complained about the air and smell created by the Huy Fong Foods factory that produces the spicy Asian condiment, sriracha and wanted the factory to stop production until a solution was found. Kevin Roden (haven’t we already talked about him in here?) attempted to get the factory to move to Denton and created the social media tag #sriracha2denton encouraging others to share photos of Sriracha in and around Denton. We talked about how sriracha would make the town better. Some complained that they didn’t want it. While Irwindale and Huy Fong were able to figure things out on their own, the story of a small town Denton politician stealing sriracha from California got international attention and lots of buzz.

Alright, November. What ya got?