
today
8:30 a.m. Audubon Society Field Trip See Event Description
read >9 a.m. Arcata Farmers' Market Arcata Plaza
read >9:30 a.m. Discovery Walk: Unknown Waterfront See Event Description
read >9:30 a.m. Manila Dunes Restoration Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Manila Dunes Guided Walk Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Library Book Sale Humboldt County Library
read >10 a.m. Dia de los Muertos and Mexican Folk Art Sale Private Eureka home
read >10 a.m. Final Arcata Farmer's Market Arcata Farmers' Market (off the plaza)
read >11 a.m. Donlin Foreman Dance Workshop Dell'Arte
read >2 p.m. Humboldt Coastal Nature Center Draft Trails Plan Walk Stamps House
read >5 p.m. Bati Zado and Show Redwood Raks World Dance Studio
read >6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds Chapala Cafe
read >6 p.m. Ali Chaudhary (jazz duo) Libation
read >6:30 p.m. Not Evil, Just Wrong Humboldt Area Foundation
read >7 p.m. Guitar Stan (country) Old Town Coffee & Chocolates
read >8 p.m. Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona Arkley Center for the Performing Arts
read >8 p.m. Stones in His Pockets Arcata Playhouse
read >8 p.m. A Christmas Carol North Coast Repertory Theater
read >8 p.m. Donna Landry Swing Dance Moose Lodge
read >8 p.m. North Coast Wind Ensemble Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU
read >8:30 p.m. The Last Minute Men (international) Cafe Mokka
read >9 p.m. Ian McFeron Band (folk rock) Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. The Michael Paul Band WAVE @ blue lake casino
read >9 p.m. The Generatorz (classic rock) Central Station Cocktail Lounge
read >9 p.m. Taxi Bear River Casino
read >9 p.m. VJ Itchie Fingaz Pearl Lounge
read >9 p.m. Jack Ruby Presents + Blue Street + Acufunkture (DIY rock) Jambalaya
read >9 p.m. 2nd Annual Scorpio Bash The Red Fox Tavern
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >10 p.m. Jemimah Puddleduck (rock) Humboldt Brews
read >10 p.m. White Manna + Midday Veil + The King Salmon Duo (rock) Jambalaya
read >11 p.m. Radio Moscow (psychadelic blues) + Mosquito Bandito (one-man surf/garage) The Alibi Lounge and Restaurant
read >previous columns
Feb. 26, 2009
'A wonderful bird is the pelican ... '
Humboldt's wintry cold and rain will, I promise, give way ...
read >Feb. 19, 2009
The Largest Structure in the World
"Try to bring in 'Humboldt'," said the editor of this ...
read >Photos
For the Week-hearted
By Barry Evans
Every seven days, a new edition of the North Coast Journal appears in Humboldt County, regular as clockwork. What's so special about seven that it forms the backbone of our calendar? After all, the week follows no natural cycle, as is obvious when you realize that other cultures have gotten along quite happily with three day weeks (ancient Colombia), four (much of Africa), eight (early Rome), ten (ancient Peru, revolutionary France), and even 19 (Baha'i religion).
When we agree to call the first day of the working week Monday ("moon-day"), we're keeping a particular faith, dating back to at least 100 B.C., that maintains that every seventh day is ruled by the moon: Our ancestors have acknowledged every seventh day to be the moon's for over 2,000 years. Like an endless chain letter, and despite adjustments to the calendar, the cycle of days of the week has been maintained faithfully by the Greeks, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Vikings and all the rest who came before us. We just happen to be the latest generation to keep the faith.
Monday/moon-day might give you a clue why we have seven days in our week. The moon is a bright astronomical object, as is Saturn (Saturday) and the sun (Sunday). That takes care of three of the seven moving sky objects known to the ancients. The other four days correlate to the rest of the bright "wanderers" (= planets in Greek), whose names in English come from Norse theology under the influence of Angles, Saxons and Jutes who settled England in the so-called Dark Ages. Because most of the Nordic gods were associated with Roman gods during the heyday of the Roman Empire, we can trace those names back to Roman and Greek sources.
Tuesday: Old Norse Tiw, the Teutonic god of war, was identified with Rome's Mars. The Old Norse name is cognate with Latin deus (god) which in turn comes from Greek Zeus, "father of gods and men." (To complicate matters, Zeus was identified with Jupiter in the Roman pantheon, but he gets his own day, Thursday.)
Wednesday: The day of Wodan, or Odin, was connected to Mercury by the Roman historian Tacitus.
Thursday: Thor, eldest son of Odin, was the Scandinavian Vulcan, god of thunder. He's associated with the Roman planet and god Jupiter.
Friday: From Freya or Frigga (curiously cognate with ‘free'), Scandinavian goddess of love and wife of Odin. As the female member of the pantheon, she's partnered with Roman Venus, who in turn is connected with Greek Aphrodite.
Seven bright wanderers, seven days in a week: It's written in the stars. See you next week!
Barry Evans (barryevans9@yahoo.com) is a recovering civil engineer living in beautiful Old Town Eureka. His book "Everyday Wonders: Encounters with the Astonishing World around Us" led to a four-year stint as a science commentator on National Public Radio.



















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