Born in the Flood (above) is one of several Denver acts that will play Stand By Your Band III on Saturday. Photo by Brian Carney.

You know that sense of community the local media writes so much about in the Denver music scene? It’ll be in full flower at the Hi-Dive on Saturday when it hosts Stand By Your Band III, the third installment of a local indie rock mix-and-match.

Members of Born in the Flood, Everything Absent or Distorted, Hot IQs, Mothership and d. biddle will unite to benefit DenverKickstand, a not-for-profit organization “committed to supporting, educating and developing the Denver independent music scene in order to further establish the cultural significance of Denver as a city and independent music as an art form.”

And wait until you see how it works.

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Encore (above) and other Denver restaurants and watering holes are opening their warm-weather patios soon.

It’s getting to be that excruciating, teeth-gritting time of year. The time when the trees are sprouting lovely new leaves, flowers are waving gently in the breeze, flip-flops are by the door — and then it snows.

Shake a fist at the sky, smack your forehead, do whatever it takes to release the frustration. Summer is taking its sweet time coming, but we must endure. Patio drinks are worth the wait.

Once we hit the dog days, strap on those flip-flops and explore some new places to enjoy a cold one in the sun. Just this week, two local favorites are opening brand-new patios to cater to Coloradans’ love of outdoor imbibing…

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Ignore Jaya Asian Grill’s unassuming exterior and dive into the host of tasty menu options.

Strip-mall location, nondescript storefront, generic name: Looking at Jaya Asian Grill from the outside, I was hard put to distinguish it from the average greasy chopstick where some jack-of-all-noodles, master of none, blurs the lines between pad, mein and bun. But I’m glad I finally managed, because from the inside, Jaya resembles the sort of Eastern gem that remains all too rare in these parts.

Granted, it doesn’t exactly sparkle. The entry staircase leads down to a small, spare basement space brightened only slightly by chile- red walls. But a full bar in the corner offers a glimmer of recognition that Jaya’s no typical takeout joint. So does the wine list, which promises “a constantly changing selection of wines to suit your palate.” Sure, it lists only four varietals. But order one and then watch, charmed, as your smiling waitress plucks three or four different bottles from a shelf behind the bar and plunks them down on your table for you to scrutinize.

Of course, it’s the multifaceted menu that really shines.

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Does Brandi Shigley know something you don’t? Head to the Oriental Theater on Saturday to find out. Photo from MySpace.com.

If Brandi Shigley looks familiar, it’s because she is. The busy designer and entrepreneur is all over town as the brains behind Fashion Denver and the small business and marketing company B.23, as well as a “co-fabricator” with the on-hiatus Fabricate magazine.

Get ready to add another notch to resume: Shigley will debut her new band, the playful, melody-drenched b.sous (pronounced “bee sue”) at the Oriental Theater on Saturday as part of Fashion Denver’s Fresh Spring Fashion Market.

We recently e-mailed Brandi some questions about Fashion Denver, this weekend’s event and her band, which also includes Jon DeStefano (Hate F*ck Trio), Brian Hendrick (Separate Cars, Blast Off Heads) and, for the next couple shows, Ani DiFranco drummer Daren Hahn .

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Dour as he seems, this gargoyle just wants to party. No seriously.

Goths get a bad rap on a lot of things. People get freaked out by the piercings, the boots, the grinding music. Some think they’re bloodsucking vampires. Others just think they’re, like, so weird.

One of the biggest goth misconceptions is that they don’t have fun. That they’re gloomy ghouls who only want to sit together, miserably staring into their beers. Tina Berger-Everroad begs to differ. She thinks that, like everyone else, the goths want to dance.

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