WHAT WE DID: SEPTEMBER 8th 2014

What We Did is our version of the water cooler talk. We can talk about the weather or sports or whatever else happened over the weekend. So...howsabout that nice tease of fall weather on Sunday, y'all? Pretty nice huh? Plus that Mean Green win, too? Not a bad weekend at all if you ask us. 

Below is our Monday morning collection of photos from WDDI readers and contributors over the past seven days. If you'd like to have an image included, tag your photos with #WDDI on Instagram and we'll include our favorites next Monday. Click the photo to be led back to that photographer's Instagram account. Have a great week!

Friday Stonehill Center (the old antique mall area at the "other" side of Loop 288) had a little celebration with free margaritas and free bounce houses. 

Birthday beer and pizza looks like an awesome way to spend those b-day calories. Tasty choice, @jesskachav!  

@jinniprrr says safety first y'all. Always best to wear a helmet when your bike has some sort of shining supernova exploding on the front. 

@christianblues made a stop at our favorite place to grab a root beer float. Who doesn't love Mr. Frosty's? 

@christianblues apparently also found a dilapidated old chair. Cool. 

@nemergut et co are ready to root for the Mean Green! Caaaa! 

@thepaigels made it to Rubber Gloves Free Week. Did you? 

Stonehill Center Celebration

Here are some pics from Friday's Stonehill Center Celebration. Horny Toad had free margaritas, our buds at Rose Costumes were there and Matthew Sallack (whom we covered last week) had a booth, too. Oh, and a bearded guy walked on shards of glass while juggling and hammered a nail into his nose...so that was cool.

Chinaski the Fury at Rubber Gloves Free Week. 

We hope you enjoyed Free Week at RGRS as much as the great guys at @panector did! Nice poster, bros. 

@denton_social_runners teamed up and ran 160 strong last week at Oak St. Drafthouse.  

@otoole824 ready to run the Beer, Guts N' Glory run! 

Will King by @fussbudgets. 

@dimehandmade sipped sangria and got all awesomely nostalgic with coloring pages at First Friday. 

DONUT PICTURES

As y'all already know, Hynotic Donuts and Cultivar Coffee Bar opened last Wednesday. We've seen a flood of great pics of both since they opened their doors. Below are some of our favs. 

@taylorbunch_

@meganpearrrl

@jadewintersee

@__will

@thepaigels

@baileygillreath

@thelovelybirds

@chambersmusic

@MelissaLaree, some sweet shades, and a windswept selfie. 

@mollythevaldez finds the upsides to living next to the tracks. 

INVISIBLE TACO PICTURE: 

DIME FEATURED MAKER: MATTHEW SALLACK

Every so often, we like to check in with the ladies over at The DIME Store and highlight one of the makers whose work they sell in-store. This month we hear from illustrator Matthew Sallack. We've been admiring Sallack's work for a while now and have purchased several of his prints, ourselves. This interview had us pretty excited. After all, when else can you discuss fair use, the Nintendo Virtual Boy, and wompas all in the same interview? Read on to find out what drew Sallack to illustration, why he thinks Predators are so good at fighting, and his advice for aspiring makers. 

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Have you ever been surprised by how well a certain piece of your art has sold? 

I have this one piece called “Teeny Turtles” which is my most popular design, by far. It’s an illustration of four box turtles and a rat, dressed like the characters from the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series. It has sold really well. In fact, I feel like that piece single-handedly saved me in my Master’s Thesis review in grad school. The director of the program didn’t care much for what I had brought into the room, but he just happened to jump online during the review and see that particular image on my website. He said, “Why didn’t you just make more stuff like that?!” He was very impressed with the style and composition, saying “I just love that rat.” 

And I guess what surprises me is how timeless and universal the Ninja Turtles are. They were so popular when I was a kid and are still just as, if not more, relevant. At Dallas Comic Con back in May, I was actually next to one of the artists who works on the Nickelodeon Ninja Turtles cartoon and comic book. (He was really cool, and he did this awesome Krang illustration for me.) And it’s just crazy how popular that franchise still is. And we don’t need to talk about the new movie. Let’s just not talk about it.

So what's with the "Otter" part of Otter Illustration?

When I first set up my main website about 3 years ago, I wanted to have something other than just my name as the name of my business. I wanted to have a mascot, a moniker for my body of work. And then one day I was watching a National Geographic special (I watch a lot of these) about life in the frozen tundra and there was a part about otters. They were navigating the icy mountainside with ease...basically just frolicking around. They approached the danger of the icy terrain with agile whimsy. And I just knew at that moment, that was it. That’s the spirit I wanted to portray with my work. You could say the otter is my “power animal.” Otters have intelligence, create meaningful social bonds, and exude a quirky fervor. When people ask what my style is, I reply “whimsical surrealism,” and I think that is basically what an otter is. 

The other part of this answer: I think I’ve held on to that name thus far and plan on keeping it because part of building a brand is having something recognizable, memorable, and/or relatable. I doubt many people would remember my full name walking away from my booth, but they might recall, “Oh yeah, the otter guy!” The otter is a way of establishing a connection and making the mission about something bigger than just me. 

What first drew (har har) you to illustration?

I have been drawing since I was 2. My mom would bring home stacks of paper, the old school kind with the holes on the side, so I would never run out of paper to draw on. I remember drawing Ninja Turtle comics in Kindergarten with letters in random order, because I definitely knew letters, but not so much actual words. And I took art and AP art classes in grade school. I have more or less been doing art since I was born.

What’s your favorite Pokemon?

This might surprise some, but I am not really that big of a Pokemon fan. I definitely appreciate the “fandom” of Pokemon. And I definitely played a few of the games. But I really like the design and variation of the characters. I initially set out to do illustrations of all the first generation, 151 individual characters. I called it “Monsters of the Pocket Variety.” I think I have gotten through 50 or 60 of them, but I just don’t know if I can draw them all. 

Oh, but my favorite? I don’t know. I like the weird ones. Let’s go with Duduo. 

Your work features anything from typography to movie and video game characters to dinos--- is there a method to the madness, or do you just draw whatever strikes you at the moment?

That’s a good question. There’s definitely method. But also madness, (especially when whiskey is involved.) Sometimes, I will make something special for an event, say a poster for “Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival” in which case there is a deadline. And I feel like I actually work better with strict deadlines like that. Then there are also special requests or commissions, which I will usually knock out as fast as possible.

But then there is also this long list of “elective” illustrations that I want to do, mostly pop culture stuff, but I just haven’t got to them. For instance, I want to do a few illustrations from a series of board games: Battleship, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and Connect Four. I want to do these pretty badly, and I picture what they will look like in my head all the time, but I just haven’t gotten to them yet. There is a corkboard in my room with at least 50 different illustration ideas I have yet to get to. I even will draw little thumbnail sketches and post them up there, too. It’s like the idea is waiting there for me, I just have to put pen to paper to get it out of my head. And it’s fun to get to cross things off that list. There are so many ideas: it’s just finding the time and being in the right mindset to work on them.

I think I also work better in a series. For instance, I did a whole bunch of monkey-related pieces recently, and I remember being more focused when I was working on them all as one big project rather than individual pieces. 

I get really excited about working on this stuff and I think some days I just have it going, and sometimes I don’t. And it’s good to know yourself and know when is a good time to try and bust out as much work as possible and when to lay low, recharge and binge-watch Netflix.
 

In addition to your work with Otter Illustration, you're also pretty involved with Spiderweb Salon. What kind of work do you do with Spiderweb and how does it differ from your Otter work?

Spiderweb Salon is a spoken word and art collective based in Denton. We host showcases and produce low-run publications with poetry, prose and artwork. When I first started participating with Spiderweb Salon, I was more of a participant, showing some art here and there, playing some songs. And then in October of 2012, I made a little fold-up ‘zine with dinosaurs on it. That would become the first of many, as we went on to make ‘zines a regular part of the Spiderweb Salon output, sometimes tying them into the themes of the shows. I am currently still in charge of the design and layout of the ‘zines for Spiderweb Salon as well as getting the privilege to do the cover art, which is always fun. 

Using my talents for Spiderweb Salon is special in that I am not getting paid to do this. It is a labor of love. And it is a lot of work, but I believe in the mission of community and creation behind Spiderweb Salon, which is why I have been doing it this long. What makes it different than how I normally work is that we have to have coordination with all the many arms of Spiderweb Salon: we have workshops, we have meetings, we have correspondence over email or phone, we have to make decisions by consensus. There is a lot that goes into it. This differs from the normal Otter Illustration regiment, where I am making all the decisions, executive or otherwise, by myself.  I have really cherished the opportunity to be a part of Spiderweb Salon. I admire the founders for being able to lead such a meaningful creative movement here in Denton. 

How did you get involved with DIME?

When I found out about the DIME store opening, I was really excited. I knew that it would be perfect to have a store like that in Denton. So in the beginning, I think I was just a fan of what the DIME store founders were doing. Then I think I was volunteering at SCRAP one day, when Shelly (one of the founders) came by and we started talking about the store and what I do, and she was so nice and interested to hear about what I did. From there, I think the first thing I did was I went up there with a little sample pack of my stuff for everyone that worked there as a gift and a way of introducing myself. I remember going in there the first time, looking around and thinking that I didn’t really have anything that I had created at that point that would really fit with the overall aesthetic of the store. But I was fortunate enough to get a spot at the Handmade Harvest show/market in November of 2013. After that I started making stuff with the shop in mind: I think the first thing they bought from me was Christmas Cards. Which led to Valentine’s Day Cards, Mother’s Day cards, Denton postcards, Denton magnets, Denton posters, etc. It has been a wonderful symbiotic relationship that we have developed, where I will go in and we will discuss stuff I am planning on working on, sometimes showing prototypes or just spilling out ideas, and we will refine the ideas and try to figure out what might be good for the store. My relationship with the DIME store has been really beneficial for many reasons and I am thoroughly grateful for all they have done to grow Otter Illustration. 

Aside from the DIME Store, where can we find your work? 

I’m up at the Denton Community Market pretty much every other weekend. Plus I have booths at various local shows and markets like the upcoming Handmade Harvest as well as the Day of the Dead Festival. I have also done big events in the past like Dallas Comic Con and Alternative Press Expo when I lived in San Francisco. You can also buy stuff at my online shop: www.theOtterShop.com.

You use a lot of well known characters in your art. Explain to us how the concept of fair use allows you to legally utilize those characters.

Right. I could probably go on and on about this, because I am interested in the law itself lately and especially how copyright law is interpreted. So, I’ve done a lot of research on this because I obviously don’t want to be ignorant about the matter, and I definitely don’t want to be sued. Fair use, which is covered under the First Amendment, basically lays out what is allowed in terms of using copyrighted material in your own work. It is an extremely gray legal area and much of what is and what is not copyright infringement is open for interpretation. “Fan Art” has become so popular, it really has changed what that law is all about. For me, I always try to present my work as a new interpretation of an established idea or character. If I can claim it as parody, which is usually what I am going for, then it should be protected under Fair Use. Some companies are more stingy about it, and there are other companies that embrace it, citing that it adds to the canon of the characters or work. Also they might elect not to seek legal action as it can be a PR nightmare for them: a big-time greedy company going after an individual.

You can’t make a derivative work. It has to be dramatically different than the original. If it’s clearly satire, then it’s protected under Fair Use (think MAD magazine.) A good example of people who are infringing on copyright: the people on Etsy who are making Batman logo or Mario character decals for the back of your laptop. You can’t do that without a license from the copyright holders. But even when it’s clearly copyright infringement like that, companies generally won’t go after you until you are really making a lot of noise. That’s when they might come knocking at your door with a “cease and desist” order or worse.

Your work fits into a very specific age group. Do you feel like this works to your advantage or not?

I don’t know if I agree with that statement. I do feel like there is a certain demographic that certainly “gets” my work more than others. But working my booth at the Denton Community Market, I can tell you from first-hand experience that I have people from age 6 to 60 who come up and purchase my stuff. 

For instance I have an illustration called “Toads of Battle, Frogs of War,” inspired by the old NES game, “Battletoads.” It’s an image of a frog with sunglasses, a frog with spiked bracers, and a toad with leather gauntlets. And there was a lady who really liked it and bought it. She’s like, “I love frogs!” And I said, “Yeah, that’s from a game called ‘Battletoads’.” And she had no idea what I was talking about, and she was just like, “Oh, I just really like frogs.” Even if you don’t get it necessarily, you might still appreciate it on its own. Plus, I have a lot of stuff that is just generic animal or generic Denton stuff that doesn’t have any specific pop culture reference at all that seems to sell with all sorts of people.

Are there certain areas of pop culture in your art that sell better than others? What doesn’t sell that you wish did?

Things that sell well: anything with animals. Most of the pieces that reference Nintendo games do well. The Star Wars stuff does well. I definitely have some stuff that doesn’t sell well, and I can’t necessarily predict it. But I feel like I can look at the information and derive some sort of pattern in the purchasing habits. One illustration I did that I really like but I don’t think I’ve sold even one print of is called “Virtual Insanity” which is an illustration of the Virtual Boy, with the graphics projecting out of it. It's appropriate considering that the Virtual Boy itself was a huge commercial flop. 

Pikachu vs a Wompa vs Predator who wins?

Ok, this is easy. The Pikachu and Wampa would essentially cancel each other out in all-out, ice-versus-electricity battle. And if either one of them was left standing, Predator would be waiting, cloaked in the corner. And then it would be up to him whether he wanted to finish things off with a ranged attack from the shoulder cannon, smart disc, or javelin. But a Predator versus a Snorlax? Now that would be an interesting match-up.

THE DEN10: SEPTEMBER 3

It’s never an easy slide into the hecticness of the fall semester, it’s a toss into the fire. As these events come along and you feel like you've got something that we should highlight, make sure to email us info and a link to your event by Tuesday since we post our listings for Wednesday - Tuesday. We only list 10 items so you’re not guaranteed a spot but we love to know everything that’s going on in the 76201 (Editor's Note: What about 76207, you square-ist?). Also remember to #WDDI all your pics you want us to check out for our What We Did post on Monday. People love hashtags. 

Email questions or hot tips to glen@wedentondoit.com

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Wednesday, September 3rd
FREE WEEK: Clear Acid / Power Objects / Problem DOGG / Fun Button | Rubber Gloves | 9PM | FREE
The week that is when everything in Denton is free continues with this eclectic lineup.

Thursday, September 4th
Boulez Campbell Soup Hour | Andy’s Bar | 8PM | $3
A new, new-music night at Andy’s looks interesting, carefully curated and worth checking out.

Friday, September 5th
Stonehill Center Celebration | Stonehill Center Merchants | 5PM
Live music, free drinks and unique shopping experiences are promised  at the “Square off The Square” which is that interesting little plot of shops north of town on 288 that looks like it may have been an outlet mall at some point, but currently features Rose Costumes, the Horny Toad Cafe and much more. 

Queen Tribute featuring Ginny Mac & Queen For A Day | Dan’s Silver Leaf | 8PM | $10
It’s Freddy Mercury’s birthday and all proceeds will go to Giving Hope, Inc.

Mooney Manor VI: Part 2: Animal Spirit / Class Action / Panic Volcanic / West & The Grooves | Mooney Manor | 8PM
The exciting second half of what was part six in a string of possibly never-ending house shows brought to you by Mooney Manor. 

Pan Ector Presents: Burnt Skull / War Party / Chinaski, The Fury / Jungle Ruckus | Rubber Gloves | 8PM

Coloring + Carousing: First Friday | DIME Store | 6PM
People love to color! Go and color some awesome locally made art work, but make sure to stay in the lines, y'all. 

Song & Story: Sydney Wright / (carucvana) / Ellie Meyer | Richard Gilbert | Banter | 8PM

Saturday, September 6th
UNT vs SMU | Apogee Stadium | 11AM
It’s an early season home opener but it will be nice to be able to celebrate our win over the mustangs for the rest of Saturday. 

Tuesday, September 9th
Chimpanzee Book Release Party | Dan’s Silver Leaf | 8PM
Special musical performances by Spitfire Tumbleweeds and the Nice-Up Crew plus a staged performance from the Chimpanzee audio-play will round out this opportunity to pick up the latest release from local author, Darin Bradley.

QUICK DENTON BUSINESS UPDATE: SHUTTING THEIR DOORS

In the past few days, we've seen a few Denton businesses close down. On Monday, Last Drop Tavern announced that they would cease operations at their current location on S. Elm in the same shopping center as Bet the House BBQ. They claim that it was due to disagreements with their landlord. This comes after they announced they would be making changes to adjust for the city code just last week. We actually loved their pizza (it helped that they named one after us), and put the spot in our pizza Jive Five even, but know that they had their share of operating problems. Their Facebook page says that there's a possibility we may see them reopen at some point in the future closer to the square. We hope that happens and that a few of the kinks get ironed out, because that was some darned good pizza. 

Pizza from the recently shut down Last Drop Tavern. 

In addition, Gold Mine BBQ announced that they would close down for good on Tuesday, September 2nd. The barbecue restaurant has been operating in the old Vigne wine location on W. Hickory for over a year. They make the claim that much of their closing has to do with TABC restrictions. While it wasn't our favorite place, we're still sad to see any locally owned business close their doors. 

South Elm Restaurant and Bar (on S. Elm in the old Irish Boozer spot) closed down super fast last month after only a few months in operation. We actually never got the chance to check it out so we're not sure what we're missing. 

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Tai Pei Railroad on Pockrus Paige Rd. has also ceased operations. We'd love to get in touch with that dude and see if he plans on relocating at all because that place was flipping delicious. So, if you know the dude, get us his contact info, please. 

On the positive side, August saw the opening of Big Fatty's Spanking Shack (yes, Big Fatty's Spanking Shack) on Parkway. While the folks behind Big Fatty's have been kicking it around in town in some way or another for a while, we're excited they have this space now and are excited to check it out. The menu looks fun and even has an item called, "spanked balls." 

Also, in the realm of spaces that have held many restaurants in the past couple of years, Beirut Mediterranean Grill recently opened in the old Royal East/that one cajun spot place on University Drive. We haven't had the chance to check it out yet, but they have shwarma and falafel, so...we'll be headed there soon. 

And, finally, Hypnotic Donuts and Cultivar Coffee Bar officially open today in their spot on West Hickory. We had a little preview of the space yesterday, but we're excited to get back in and try out a few more items. In addition, the new location of Viet Bites should open this week (if not today), and the Denton location of Pizza Snob (from DRC) should open in the retail section of the H Squared apartments (also on W. Hickory) in about a month or so. 

Do all of these business closings spell out doom for the world of Denton business? Surely not. In the same time frame, several businesses have opened and been met with vast amounts of success. After-all, 80% of businesses fail within their first 18 months. Some more organic growth and time and we'll be seeing South Elm hopefully frolicking in no time. And if we look at what's succeeded in Denton lately, maybe we just need a hybrid handmade BBQ/donut shop with a rooftop patio and food trucks nearby. Get on it, people. 

HYPNOTIC: DONUT EVER LEAVE US

Words and Images by Will Milne

We've been super excited about Hypnotic Donuts and Cultivar Coffee Bar opening in Denton since November of last year. People have conceived and given birth to children since then, y'all. Wednesday, they will finally open their doors to all of us clamoring for fun donuts, wonderful coffee, chicken biscuits, and more (we haven't had the chance to try their salads or poutine yet). 

Sunday, they held a soft-opening in which customers could grab a free donut and glass of beer or wine. People responded. There was a line down the block. Also, it was hot. We waited for while after thinking we were smart getting there fifteen minutes early, but apparently in Denton, everyone is smart. They had a double super secret opening before the soft-opening, but we weren't invited to that (whine). Oh well. The wait was worth it. We grabbed an Evil Elvis, Breaking Bad, and a straight up glazed (requested by the six year old in our party). All of which lived up to the hype. 

The Breaking Bad was a chocolate donut with caramel icing and sea salt. The flavors all coalesced perfectly and had just a hint of saltiness which we loved. The Evil Elvis featured peanut butter, bacon and banana all on a yeast-raised donut and was a meal unto itself which we'd rather have than a sandwich any day. The comfortable pillow-like consistency of each donut had us already feeling nostalgic for this place that hasn't even opened yet

Cultivar is also one of our favorite coffee roasters in DFW and didn't disappoint in their new Denton location. They're rocking a La Marzocca espresso machine and the cold brew was on point - it had us awake until 9:15pm (with a combo of donuts and red wine, this is saying something). The space is nice, bright and can easily accommodate a line, which we're guessing they will have quite a bit. The little patio area outside will also be fun. And if you eat too many donuts, Sprockets is next door - just hop on over, buy a bike/helmet and work off them carbs (might as well buy a cupcake from NV while you're at it, though)!

Below are a few of our shots from the soft-opening on Sunday. Hypnotic Donuts and Cultivar Coffee Bar will open for good in Denton on this Wednesday, September 3rd at 7am. We're probably gonna be there. 

The menu. 

Breaking Bad on top. 

The line at about 7pm. 

The Evil Elvis is on the left. 

Picking out donuts. 

Wade Matheny on the espresso machine. 

The breaking bad. 

Owner James taking a picture of the line. 

The inside

A stack of 'em. 

WHAT WE DID: SEPTEMBER 2nd 2014

It's the Tuesday after Labor Day so we hope y'all aren't wearing white this morning. That was an eventful seven days of fun, wasn't it? It's still going strong, too. Great photos yet again this week, everybody. How could they not be, though, when you had so many awesome things to take photos of. East Side turned 1, Hypnotic previewed some donuts, and 35 Denton woke from it's slumber at Hailey's. Lots of fun stuff going on this week, too. Check tomorrow's Den10 to find out what. 

Until then, remember to tag your images with #WDDI to be included in our weekly What We Did column, check out the images below and click on them to be led back to the photographer's Instagram account, and make some new friends. Have a great week, everybody! 

The Raised Right Men played East Side's 1 year anniversary party. Country covers plus fun beers is always a good time in our book. 

Denton Design Co. at the Community Market on Saturday. 

The Pastrana's opened up their webstore last week. Check it out here. 

@cassiearnoldart prefers Lowe's to Home Depot. I guess because you can apparently buy babies there. 

Landscapes and VSCO. 

Y'all ever checked out the rare books section at Recycled? 

What's your favorite mini-mall find? It's just like Flea Market Montgomery. 

EAST SIDE 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY 

Y'all made it out in droves for East Side's 1st anniversary, and why wouldn't you with all of the awesome beer, live music, food trucks, and more that were set up there? 

@beardn

@dearedeker

@beerdrinkerssociety

@peopleofdenton

@BellandOak

@__will

Threadwell is back and so is instant film. 

Glen busted this back out because Doug Burr told him to. 

Oaktopia is soooooooon. 

The last weekend of the water park came and went, but it went out in style. 

VoltRevolt at AV Avant's Back To School Birthday Bash and 35 Denton Presale Party.

Black James Franco at AV Avant's Back To School Birthday Bash and 35 Denton Presale Party.

The Mink Coats at AV Avant's Back To School Birthday Bash and 35 Denton Presale Party.

Hypnotic Donuts and Cultivar Coffee had a soft opening. More on that later. 

@michagb86 got poutine, but they, "didn't have any" when we asked. 

More of this in another soon-to-come post. 

HOUSE ARREST: AUGUST 29th

Danielle Longueville

Last time we spoke of the current state of our beloved DIY house show music scene, things seemed rather bleak, to the point of what felt like an early on-set plague. However, that was just a bad week. Things aren't actually all that bad. In fact, our recent forays into homes blasting with tunes have gone pretty well. Read on for more!

This past weekend played host to the re-debut of a not-so-new house show venue, the Congress Collective. Same house, new tenants, all with a piquing interest in involving themselves in the local music scene, which is great because their location is PRIME TIME.  Thankfully, this was just the first installation of what we hope will be many shows featuring up-and-coming artists.

For those of you who may not remember, we had a chance to catch Thank You (the band) at the last Mulberry Mansion extravaganza, and man do they continue to impress. For being one of their first house shows, these guys have great showmanship, super groovy bass lines, and tasty guitar melodies that kept everyone grooving throughout the whole set. The funk is making a comeback to Denton, and we couldn’t be more eager to see what Thank You is cookin’ up for the future. Click here for a little taste, if you haven’t had one already.

Elegant Avalanche has an electronic drum-set. Yes, please! This duo, accompanied by a third-party projector operator/ trippy image aficionado was a breath of fresh air. With not one, but TWO keyboards to accompany some super sick lead vocals, Goldenjoy’s pop-esque melodies, and techno drum fills, they reminded us of when we loved Neon Indian before Alan Palomo abandoned us for Brooklyn or wherever (who’s playing a DJ set at Oaktopia, did y’all know that?). These guys have a great potential and are clearly welcome to the scene by all with open arms. Denton, you’ve redeemed yourself once again. Get yourself to a house show stat. 

3 S- NO WAIT... 4 SONGS

We're hosting a show at Rubber Gloves as part of their always-awesome Free Week series next Monday (yup, Labor Day). We did our best to highlight some of our favorite bands from Denton's house show circuit. Dome Dwellers, Bad Beats, Mink Coats, The Days, and The Hymens will all take the stage next Monday to kick off the week of free shows. We love all of 'em and think you will, too. We've expanded our monthly 3 Songs column to include all of the bands playing our show so you can get a little preview of sorts. Check all of the songs out below and we'll see y'all on Monday at Rubber Gloves!

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Dome Dwellers - "My Halo"

Dome Dwellers will be headlining the show. Here's what we said about their song, "My Halo" a year ago. We still dig this song, and they've even gone on to release a full length that you can buy here.

We just  happened to sort of stumble across "My Halo" from Dome Dwellers. As soon as that happened, everything was immediately right with the world. Seriously, this is great stuff and hopefully a precursor of more that we’ll be seeing from this trio of dudes who have a full length coming in late October. "My Halo," itself, reminds us a bit of the Canadian band, Women, before they imploded a few years back - mathy and disjointed in the best of ways. The guitars are full of 90’s-era chimey-ness and tremolo and the math rock aspect of this tune acts as more of a hook than it does a headache - let’s just say that it’s more Algebra 1 than it is Pre-calculus. Whether they’re aware or not, this slightly epic track harkens back to the days of Denton space rock and we couldn’t be happier to be reminded of that era. Do yourself a favor and give this a listen. Heck, you can even download their entire EP for free from their bandcamp.

The Days - "Roll Tide"

(Editor’s Note: We Denton Do It shares a few members/contributors with The Days, but none of them are writing this, none of them asked for this, and we're diggin' it quite a bit. Conflict of interest be damned. While we’re at it, you wanna buy a couch from us on Craigslist?) If you’ve yet to catch The Days live or hear them in any capacity before, you’ve been missing out. These dudes sound as if The Band was fronted by a younger, less smokey Mark Lanegan. "Roll Tide" is a romp of sorts through 70's -era rock songs that'll have you stomping your feet and imagining the band pointing fingers/drumsticks at each other while they're playing. The song just sounds like sweaty chest hair. Why didn't they just name it "Sweaty Chest Hair?" Check out more material on their bandcamp.

Bad Beats - "Fight"

Possibly learning a lesson from the Beastie Boys who fought and possibly died for your right to party, Bad Beats just want you to fight what you think is right. This track is an infectious minute and fifteen seconds of blasé punk anthem. This is a catchy track thrown at you with a "take it or leave it" punk for non punks attitude that, leaves you wanting more because like we said, it's only 75 seconds long, and we love that slight house show party feel it has. Fun stuff here. 

Mink Coats - "Sun Daze"

Some of the best psychedelic surf-pop in Denton - if you've seen Ft. Worth's Space Beach, this is on the same field of existence. We're pretty happy there's a local psychedelic surf rock scene going on. "Sun Daze" is dripping in syrupy summer sludge and this tune will make you wipe the mushrooms from your eyes and dream of panda bears on tropical islands if you aren't careful. That's right, suck it up kids, this is the best pack of already-been-chewed bubbalicious around. Shoving every piece in your mouth and half drooling half chewing the explosion of flavor until it's a wet gray mass of spent underwear balled-up inside of your mouth. It's kind of an awful feeling, but there's no doubt you love it and aren't gonna stop chewing anytime soon.

SECRETS OF DENTON COUNTY 4: THE SECRETING

It’s that time of year again, y’all. The school doors are fresh with WD-40 and the cars are accidentally turning north onto Elm St. again. School is back in session and with it, a new crop of Dentonites have flooded our city limits. Will these fresh, young faces become lifelong Dentonites or only commute here, never even taking a step onto our town square? Only time will tell, but we’ve decided to do our part to get them to become a part of the former group, by providing them with some insider knowledge on some cool stuff Denton has to offer that would normally take awhile to figure out. It’s time for Secrets of Denton County IV: Th Secreting. Yes, we have done this for four years now. 

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First, let’s start with our lists from previous years. The vast majority of the tips found within these links are still good even to this day. If you haven't read these yet, definitely go through them. Even the most knowledgeable Dentonite may find something they didn't already know. 

First, there was Secrets of Denton County. 

Then, the following year came Even More Secrets of Denton County. 

Last year was Secrets of Denton County 3: Return of the Secrets.

Now, let's get on to a fresh new batch of secrets. Afterall, that's what you're here for, right? If we neglect to highlight a secret you feel is worth sharing, please feel free to let us know in the comments! 

If you get yourself a Tex Share card (do it here), you can rent books from TWU and UNT libraries even if you aren't a student. 

UNT has an interactive game bird sanctuary. 

While you might not see 'em around as much, you can still hitch a ride from a pedicab in town. Heck, you can even pre-order one if you plan ahead. Check out Blue Lightning here. 

The Cinemark theatre on Unicorn Lake has movies with RiffTrax (the dudes from MST3K) commentaries every once in a while. We'll try and throw 'em up on the Den10. While we're talking about old movies, Movie Tavern has special "retro" showings every week. 

SPONSOR: Oaktopia - a 2-day festival of art, music and culture on Sept. 19th and 20th. 

There is a volume knob for the live bands that play atop LSA. It's location is in the men's restroom of The Chestnut Tree underneath the sink. 

Midway Mart has a phone list of people that they will text when they get cool/fancy orders in. Also, their Twitter account does pretty much the same thing. 

Both Cafe Brazil and Tortilleria La Sabrocita are open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays. 

Broken Nose Supply has lots of awesome art supplies and knowledge if you don't feel like dealing with Voertman's. 

The A-train and DCTA often give free rides via passwords on their Twitter feed. Especially around special events or festivals, great way to ride the rails for FREE now that you can take it all the way to DFW or straight down to Love Field.

Karaoke at Crossroads Bar and Crossroads Bar in general. 

The new Hoochies Oyster House has a secret menu item: The Baton Rouge (a former favorite), an open-faced blackened catfish po boy topped with cole slaw. And you can still get a $1 "train beer" when the whistle blows from the nearby tracks. And if you ain't slurping up their oysters on 25 cent special, you're doing it wrong.

1670am exists. 

You can get local meat and dairy all week long (not just during the Community Market) at Earthwise. 

UNT has star parties on the first Saturday of every month in which you can check out telescopes and pretend to be an astronomer. Plan ahead here. 

The north branch of the Denton Public Library has a 3D printer that is available to all if you just take a free class on a Monday evening. 

Not really a secret, but there is stuff in Denton beyond the square and Fry St. Venture out and explore.

Meador Nursery on 377 is pretty awesome and has all sorts of cool plants. You know, if you're into plants and stuff (we are). 

Although another Dan is a far more famous Denton hang-out, Dan's Meat & Produce sells a shockingly diverse variety of specialty cheese and meats like grass-fed local beef, bison, duck, andouille sausage, lamb, and regular closeout specials that are competitive with the Kroger or Whole Foods fare of lesser quality. And OMG their thick-cut back bacon! 

Wine2 has a new super-secret covered back patio, perfect for lazy loitering with a cold beverage or enjoying their secret "Bottle and a Blanket" service for picnics on the lovely Courthouse grounds. Waitasec, don't print this one. 

UNT builds buildings based on the Hermetic Code or something. We dunno. Read this. 

You can get mini cinnamon rolls at Royal's Bagels if you have a large order.

We were going to say Taipei Railroad as the best secret Taiwanese restaurant, but it has since closed. So instead, we'll just say this - if you find a good restaurant off the beaten path, share it with others and go often. We've lost too many good restaurants lately (like Taco Lady). 

The Denton Firefighters Museum is free and open to the public. More here. 

Willie Nelson is actually dead and buried in between the floors at LSA.

Becoming a member of the Denton Main Street Association gets you a discount card for a bunch of participating local business. They also host a pretty cool Arts Antiques & Autos Show in September.

The bones buried in John B. Denton may very well not be John B. Denton. Seriously, though, this time. Use that in your next, "Did you know..." conversation. 

Want to partake in the vicious locally-roasted coffee wars? Shop for your roast next to the local music section of Recycled Books. They have pretty much all of the local roasters on their shelves. No kidding.