- Sanchos History - 

"Look, sir," answered Sancho Panza,
"those which appear yonder are not giants, but windmills;
and what seem to be arms are the sails,
which whirled about by the wind make the millstone go."
"It is very evident," answered Don Quixote,
"that thou art not versed in the business of adventures."

When I was young and when many other people were young and very good at expressing themselves they would give something like a wad of paper or a rubber band to somebody they liked. The recipient would, in turn, say "thank you, I'll treasure it forever" and they certainly meant it for the wad of paper was really something to give. However, they soon got old and forgot what the wad of paper meant. They forgot that they would treasure it forever. They demanded and gave bigger and better things or so they thought because bigger and better things do not necessarily mean bigger and better. Bigger and better things are easier to give because they only involve the sacrifice of money not the heart. The wad of paper was more important because it was not the wad that the person gave or recieved, it was the heart--it was love and that cannot be bought.

Love is harder to give and recieve than any present in the world. The song that I believe best represents the gift of the heart is "Broken Arrow" and the lyrics go like this--"Who else is going to bring you a broken arrow, who else is going to bring you a bottle of rain." Now seemingly, these two things are not worth a lot, but when you think about them you realize that they are the only things worth while.

My father has brought me many broken arrows and many bottles of rain, both apparently useless in the world of commerce and conspicuous consumption, but both brought as peace offerings--a very valuable thing to give.

A specific instance comes to mind on a day that my mother and I were quite upset with my father--the reason fails to reveal itself. My father left the house in an uproar and we were glad to get rid of him. He came back ten minutes later with a bottle of rain; not exactly, but a piece of cardboard with a sheet of ice on it, saying "Margie, do you need some ice." That was the end of that squabble, peace was at hand because it is quite hard to stay angry when you are laughing. During the middle of summer to find a large amount of ice is quite a feat, but to bring it back is something else entirely.

Once again it is the heart at work rather than the mind. Buying something would destroy the feeling, it would be contrived, it would not be a bottle of rain--it would be an arrow armed and ready, ready to shoot--only a temporary calm rather than a real one.

Sometimes we must look back and remember that as children we knew everything and as we grow up we forget what is really important. My father has shown me the value of the child that i have occasisionally tried to lose, that is why when he was dying I took him to Deer Creek on my birthday to see a "Broken Arrow."
We must always remember what the fox said to the little prince holds true - - 'what is essential is invisible to the eye and that only with the heart may one see rightly.'

Today, my gift to you is "Sancho's Broken Arrow."

With it, I wish you peace and love and that all your dreams come true.

Thank you,
Jay M. Bianchi

Stay True Blue

This place is dedicated to our mother, Margaret Ann Bianchi, who maintained the practical there by making it possible for us to dream the impractible. -

-Quixote's History -

Quixote's True Blue, established by three brothers, Jay, Philip and Aric/Dante, as a gathering for deadheads and kindred spirits after Jerry Garcia laid down his weary head one last time, is a bar dedicated to music. The derivation of the bar's name is twofold. Quixote comes from the Miguel de Cervantes' picaresque novel of the same name. The fictional figure Don Quixote was a man dedicated to the spirit of imagination and adventure that was inherent in the long strange trip that so many of us have and continue to take. Don Quixote was a character who found the magical in the everyday. He was also my father's favorite literary figure. Thus, the bar is partly dedicated to my father who succumbed to cancer the day before his birthday September 24, 1994. Both my father and Jerry Garcia were on a quest to bring a smile and higher awareness to all of those they encountered. Since the history of Jerry's travels is more commonplace knowledge, I will submit a brief history of my father and his personal, quixotic journey.

Philip A. Bianchi is an artist with a vision. He has created art since his youth. His hobby has become his life's work. He spent years in the art-steeped climate of Northern California, running a gallery near Mendocino. He has since moved to Denver and finally settled in the desert Southwest of Mancos, Colorado where he has set-up his Best of Quixote studio.

Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote has had a profound influence on Bianchi's life and his work. He sees himself as a man struggling with Quixote against the "windmills' of society. His art makes a bold statement: "It's the picture that's there when you take all the bull out of contemporary existence, the very essence. Their true meaning is reverence and grace. It takes me days and days to get to that place." His rich and complex work draws observers into themselves: "You won't have to ask what the work means, because you'll be a part of it. If you put good stuff around you, good stuff comes out of you. I believe art can save the world."

Philip A. Bianchi lived a lot in the short time he was here as did Jerry Garcia. Although they traveled in different circles, they proceeded on the same path. They brought joy to the people around them through their art. The vehicles they used as their canvas were simply different.

Jerry Garcia used music as his vehicle to "take the bull out of contemporary existence." Thus the second part of this establishments' name is derived from a song. Not a song by Jerry himself, but a song that he made come into being. A song that looks back as it looks forward. "True Blue" is a song written by The Grateful Dead's last keyboardist. It is about life after Jerry. The song details a personal struggle Vince had dealing with the death of a man who in such a short time had such a profound effect on him. His letter best encompasses the feeling that gripped our community when Jerry Garcia died.

Jerry was a patriarch of a loosely woven community. His death, although sad, has united a community. A common tragedy becomes a common thread weaving through our community. We become "tangled up in blue" and we become stronger. My father's death intertwines with Jerry's death. They become one as all the years combine. We become one.

Fare thee well,

Our love will not fade away,

Thank you, Jerry.

Thank you, Dad.

Thanks!


- Cervantes’ History-

Spirit is Something That No One Destroys

Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom is named after the author of Don Quixote. We are dedicated to bringing you great things, so we are naming the venue after the creator of the masterpiece from which we have drawn our inspiration. By making a move toward the creator we have finally reached the beginning of the story and we can begin to weave our own stories and myths. Miguel de Cervantes wrote about the follies of a errand knight, but in doing so he created a masterpiece which repeats itself throughout time. Don Quixote remains one of the most famous literary figures of all time, but at the same time it only his spirit succeeds. All his quests end up failures and on his death bed he is forced to renounce his errant wanderings. Yet, his failed journeys reverberate throughout history even though he is an imaginary figure. His image is replicated by Pablo Picasso in one of his most famous sketches. The spirit of Don Quixote is indomitable. My father painted an image of him as his last masterpiece. The character approaches the infinite as it is replicated throughout history in various forms like a virus unleashed. 

History builds upon a whole set of failures--Adam's inability to avoid the temptation of the apple--dominoes outward eventually creating a civilization more famous for its failures then it successes. History chronicles various conquerors who always meet their maker. Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hilter all tried to conquer history, but their images fade into the past. It is art that survives history and vanquishes leaders. It is art that subtlely asserts its importance. While hubristic leaders try to muscle themselves into history, Leonardo da Vinci inserts himself quietly into the very fabric of history by painting his self-portrait with the sly, knowing smile and naming it Mona Lisa. He reaches for the infinite, not by conquering anyone, but by painting a veritable no one. Without harming a thing da Vinci nods and winks and smiles into the infinite. The Mona Lisa survives in many shapes and forms and is reproduced and replicated into eternity. It is from this image that we have taken our inspiration. Don Callarman recreated the image of the Mona Lisa to represent our next endeavor only this time she is staring into an M.C. Escher-like mirror ball. It is an image, which has already attained the status of the infinite, refined and modified into a reflective sphere thereby doubling and perfecting its expansive scope at once.

And it was M.C. Escher that possessed me when I was just a young boy. I would take my finger and trace his images like maps as they circled around themsleves repeating and creating for the first time a mobius strip of ideas. It was through M.C. Escher that I learned to understand and accept that which no one can understand except in linked fragments. It was a simple code, a simple block of time and space, repeated indefinitely that created the infinite. It was through Escher that I first glimpsed the infinite.

These masterpieces that we draw our inspiration from form the essence of the ballroom. It has culminated from the mistakes of Quixote's True Blue, which trudges along from failure to failure always seeing another grand adventure in the horizon. It is this sense of adventure, however, failable that keeps the spirit churning. And even as Don Quixote is sacrificed so that Cervantes' may prosper we grow closer to that elusive point of time which Bob Dylan holds in front of us like a carrot: "Someday life will be sweet like a rhapsody, when I paint my masterpiece" We are fast approaching that day, but God forbid we ever finish or complete anything because then the carrot will gone. 

So thus ends another chapter of Quixote's True Blue, its star has shown brightly and it will shine again, but for now it must be sacrificed for the greater good. Its' force is stronger now and it will only get stronger as its spirit has been transferred into Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom. Quixote's is now imbedded in the fabric of our community as an integral part and it will not soon fade away. Its' physical manifestation may be gone, but its spirit lives on, grows and flourishesin all of us. The force is with you, please help us to continue this dream... 

In the end there's just a song, comes cryin' up the night

Thru all the broken dreams and vanished years...

- Dulcinea's History -

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
T.S. Eliot

This is how the story ends and this is how it will begin--with monkeys. This monkey business began with a monkey--yes, one big mother fuckin' heavy stone monkey (carved out of pure granite by a guy named Phil Sanguidoce that I never met, it might have as well have been placed there by God Himself for all I know). This monkey sat in our house quietly contemplating the world that swirls about around him with misunderstandings and misgivings. It was always there it seemed and it was always a curiosity to me. "It's just a fuckin' monkey," I muttered, but I knew it would not be so easily dismissed. There was something about that monkey which held my attention. It sat there stoically and stone-faced contemplating what, I don't know, but it kept doing what it was doing even as I changed and got bigger and it got smaller. It was, shall we say, insistent and this insistence was disturbing. Something had to be done for this monkey was unrelenting in its insistence. Well, what happened is what so often happens with things of this sort, the monkey was passed on to the next generation as a symbol of power and became a theoretical hot potato that no one really wanted to possess.

So then the monkey was made to disappear, sitting in limbo, quietly shelved to avoid arguments, disappointment and resentment. Out of sight and out of mind as they say to comfort you, but we all knew it was far from gone. It weighed heavy in our thoughts. We recognized it as something very powerful and meaningful, but we also saw it as a burden. You see the monkey was thinking and that made us think about the infinite struggles, conflicts and injustices of humanity. As things weighed heavier in the outside world, it could no longer be suppressed. It was summoned by us to resurface. No matter what happened this monkey was stone-faced and resolute. It was not changing and suddenly we realized its secret: this monkey was heavy, but not heavy with a burden, but heavy as a concept for this monkey represented peace and understanding. It was never thinking of anything else. It never could belong to anyone or be swayed by anyone because greed and possession are inconsistent with its central tenets. The only way to experience the full power of the monkey is to relinquish the power of it and allow its peaceful nature to grow within each of us.

But this is only one monkey, albeit a very wise and stoic monkey. One monkey cannot change the world, but it can be the seed from which a new world and vision grows. Quixote's True Blue is one more monkey and Sancho's Broken Arrow is another, but they lack the feminine touch. Quixote and Sancho are expecting a sister monkey on the way and she will be filling them in on a thing or two. They are full of sound and fury, signifying an overwhelming absence that cannot be filled. They overcompensate, speaking too much when they can answer with a powerful silence. The absence of a voice reveals once again a determined insistence. This silence is replete with meaning. It is pregnant with possibilities. It is here where Dulcinea steps into the picture. Dulcinea is a breed apart lacking nothing in taste or decorum. She has acquired a lounge which she wishes to be called Dulcinea's 100th Monkey. She has a penchant for acid jazz and she is bold enough to create the first non-smoking bar on Colfax. Imagine! This bold sister has gotten the name from a Jerry Garcia interview in which he talks about the power of change enacted by the 100th Monkey. The 100th monkey is the point at which society reaches a critical mass of people believing the same thing. When it reaches this point, the possibility for rapid change to occur happens and it spreads into all aspects of society even to the point of teaching old dogs new tricks. Yes, this lounge allows reversals and transmogrifications. This lounge that Dulcinea envisions is a comfortable one, incorporating the balance of nature and the tenets of Yin-Yang. It is balanced. It is all a state of mind for Dulcinea herself was the old hag that Don Quixote envisioned as the beautiful maiden--so she has been transformed. The primary tenet of Dulcinea's 100th Monkey is transformation--from evil comes good and from ugliness comes beauty. It is our intention to use the weight of the world that was thrust upon us to our advantage and to redirect our energies against each other into one of peace. So, in essence, Dulcinea's 100th Monkey is a peaceful place and it is our space to leave your worries behind. This is home.

So, yes, I say yes, you can go home again. You can feel youthful and let your fears fade away. The monkey will sit in this peaceful room/womb absorbing anger and fear and it will become lighter in this world as we imagine a world without greed, strife and fear. It is a supreme alchemist. It will take the load off us and carry the weight of the world, but it will transform it into peace. If the world decides to get angrier and angrier, it will remain steadfast and true. But suddenly, someday, without warning peace will happen. Peace will break out and spread like a calming, cool wave over a sun-dried beach. Because in the end we will all be tired of fighting. Because in the end all we really want is to be back where we started in those idyllic fields of green and know that we need not leave again. . .

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
T.S. Eliot

So let the monkey business begin. . .

This lounge is dedicated to our mother--the real 100th monkey--who is able to absorb all the weight of a family torn apart and always radiate sunshine, to our mother who has Parkinson's but still manages a smile everyday, to our mother who loves each of us equally and differently.

Thanks Mom,
Your children

An idea is a treasure ruined by the word.
It's all a state of mind.
Words are the source of so much misunderstanding.
I who believed so much in words.