Denton, slacker capital of the American southwest, grows up

[Harry]

At first glance, the Denton town square is near-saccharine 1950s Americana – complete with baroque courthouse and ice-cream parlour. A closer look reveals a strange mix of the hip and the stodgy in and around the square.

Among the brightly-lit burger joints and craft-beer bars, there’s a secondhand bookshop with an extensive collection of vinyl, a junk store with suits of armour in the window, and a vacuum cleaner repair shop. Look beyond the fashionably attired students and you’ll notice a parade of more ragged dressers, many bearing guitar cases.

The adjective “dive” doesn’t quite cover the dungeon atmosphere of Andy's Bar on one corner of the square. Yet upstairs at Andy’s is Paschall a speakeasy whose absinthe glasses, antiques and bookcases are more Left Bank than Texas.

Denton, Texas the new slacker capital of the southwest, a mantle it took from state capital Austin and Athens, Georgia – two weird college towns that grew up.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/nov/04/denton-texas-us-slacker-capital-grows-up

[Stan R]

This has worldwide attention now. Pretty amazing.

[drex]

Be careful of the liquids you consume in Denton...there could be flames coming from the top of them.

[Keith7]

Be careful of the liquids you consume in Denton...there could be flames coming from the top of them.

Not anymore. They banned fracking in Denton.

[VideoEagle]

Not anymore. They banned fracking in Denton.

I'll bet I could still find some tasty beverages with 151 rum on top that have a nice little blue flame.

[oldguystudent]

I'll bet I could still find some tasty beverages with 151 rum on top that have a nice little blue flame.

I think I just envisioned my entry into next year's II Charlies Bloody Mary contest.

[Cerebus]

Not anymore. They banned fracking in Denton.

Let me just copy and paste what I posted in the Eagle's Nest:

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On the one hand the science on fracking side effects is still under review. On the other hand, I've seen people light the water that flows from their kitchen sink on fire. So....

That one image has turned so many people against fracking but yet no one ever bothers to follow up what happened. The state investigated and found:

“Dissolved methane in well water appears to be biogenic [naturally occurring] in origin. … There are no indications of oil & gas related impacts to water well.”

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That assertion has also been debunked by COGCC, which visited the site six separate times over 13 months to confirm its findings: “Stable isotopes from 2007 consistent with 2004 samples indicting gas bubbling in surface water features is of biogenic origin.”

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“These samples have been analyzed for a variety of parameters including natural gas compounds (methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexanes), heavier hydrocarbon compounds including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), stable isotopes of methane, bacteria (iron related, sulfate reducing, and slime), major anions and cations, and other field and laboratory tests. To date, BTEX compounds have not been detected in any of the samples.”

Methane leaks into water wells all over the country. The EPA doesn't even regulate methane in water wells because 1) it isn't toxic, and 2) it sublimates out of water very fast.

It does, however, make a great sound byte.

[forevereagle]

Methane leaks into water wells all over the country. The EPA doesn't even regulate methane in water wells because 1) it isn't toxic, and 2) it sublimates out of water very fast.

It does, however, make a great sound byte.

And a Simpsons episode.

[Christopher Walker]

And a Simpsons episode.

I've wondered if that episode had any influence from Matt Groenig's longtime continued friendship with Brave Combo.

[UNT90]

I have no doubt that The Simpsons had much more influence in Denton than actual facts.

It is Denton, after all