"Four-twenty is like a holiday around here," said the 20-something reveler wearing a Humboldt hoodie as he walked with friends up the winding road leading to Arcata’s Redwood Park. While the precise origins of the connection between 420 and marijuana are indefinite, lost in smoky memory, a popular theory traces it back to the early […]
Bob Doran
Freelance photographer and writer, Arts and Entertainment editor from 1997 to 2013.
Posted inMusic
Where You Go With The Notes
In a certain sense, Patty Larkin is your basic singer/songwriter, a woman with a guitar who plays chords and melody, works on them to fit her intelligent lyrics. She’s been doing it for 20-some-odd years, starting out busking on the streets of Cambridge then learning jazz licks at Berklee. Then about 10 years ago her […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Why Does Food Cost More?
If you’ve been grocery shopping lately, and paying attention at the check-out stand, you know the food we eat has gone up in price. Basic things like bread, milk and eggs are all more expensive than they were last spring — a lot more. And if you’ve been watching the news, you know food prices […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Burgers for Earth Day?
This just in: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: KSLG’s afternoon radio personality, Dr. Syd wants to buy you breakfast on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the northern Eureka Burger King. The catch is that Dr. Syd will only buy you breakfast if you carpool, “The importance of carpooling is finally being […]
Posted inMusic
Godzilla Plays the Tango
The note from Lisa B was straight to the point: "Performing at Jambalaya in Arcata on Thursday, April 17, is Yo Tango!, Humboldt’s new Tango band, from 7-9 p.m. $5 cover. Come dance the Tango or just enjoy the music." Being a tango fan, I was intrigued. I actually learned to tango, a little bit, […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
David Simpson blogs from Corpus Christi
Petrolia resident David Simpson has been down in Texas attending the Palco bankruptcy hearings. This week he started a Community Forest Team blog titled, Dispatches from David . As someone involved in the legal morass , he has an axe to grind — that said, his first hand accounts are insightful and well worth reading. […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
After You’re Dead
What happens after you’re dead? The exact nature of the afterlife (if there is one) is debatable and far from certain. What is certain is that we leave behind a body, a mass of flesh and bone that someone has to deal with. Have you made plans for the disposition of your remains? Chances are […]
Posted inMusic
Puzzle Pieces
There’s a certain fusion of ancient and modern in the music of Toubab Krewe that grabbed me instantly. At first listen you might think it’s an African band, perhaps brothers to the electric Saharan desert blues of Tinariwen — and they are — but Toubab Krewe is from Asheville, N.C., and their musical merger comes […]
Posted inMusic
Following the Stream
When you hear Leo Kottke play guitar, you know the instrument is something like his soul mate — playing guitar is what he’s meant to do. As he explained in a recent interview on Minnesota Public Radio, he did not find the guitar initially. When he was a boy, he’d actually taken up trombone and […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Mo Spankers
This week’s Hum began with an interview with Christina Marrs of Austin’s Asylum Street Spankers , who are just about to hit Humboldt County for a Monday, April 1 ( April Fool’s Day ) gig at Humboldt Brews brought to you by the good folks at Inferknow . Our conversation went on a bit longer […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Pan Bagna
It wasn’t what you typically expect at a birthday party for a 5-year-old. Sure there were hot dogs on the grill for the kids, but there was also an absolutely scrumptious spread of food aimed at the parents in attendance. Among the morsels prepared in advance by Diane, a marvelous cook (and the mother of […]
Posted inMusic
Crazy Fools
The Asylum Street Spankers’ van was in Arizona heading west when I rang Christina Marrs, the band’s saw player (and vocalist, tenor guitarist, banjo and uke player) on her cell. We started off talking about Asylum Street, a thoroughfare in the Spankers’ hometown Austin, Texas. "It’s the street that goes by the asylum," said Christina. […]