This Sunday is Mother’s Day. If your mom is somewhere far away, you just might still have time to send her a card. If your mother is nearby and you’re planning on honoring or pampering her (or perhaps the mother of your children) by taking her out to dinner, I’d advise getting on the phone […]
Bob Doran
Freelance photographer and writer, Arts and Entertainment editor from 1997 to 2013.
Posted inNews (NCJ)
People Project protest ends
Two Sunday mornings ago, my mother returned from walking to church in town. "There’s a Hooverville down the street," she told me. My mom is just old enough to remember the shanty towns that popped up in urban areas during the Great Depression, where homeless families lived in makeshift shelters made from packing crates and […]
Posted inMusic
A Plastic Vodka Bottle Full of Pennies
I caught Jason Webley‘sact a few years ago in an unlikely place: a sports bar behind the now defunct Arcata Denny’s. (The Placebo put on shows there for a spell.) What I remember most is him jumping up on a table with his accordion to lead the crowd in one rollicking sing-along after another. Webley […]
Posted inMusic
The Coco Benefit
t was one of those phone calls. The caller ID on my phone said St. Joe’s. Not a good sign. It was my good buddy Gregg calling from a hospital room where he was visiting our mutual friend Coco Hogan, a longtime Humboldt resident, someone I’ve known since I started going to Reggae many years […]
Posted inMusic
420?
If you’re in the know you can imagine why four-twenty is such a big deal here in Humboldt – and it has nothing to do with blackbirds baked in a pie. For the uninitiated, 420 (or 4:20, or 4/20) is code for getting baked, as in the consumption of marijuana. Exactly why is lost somewhere […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Dream cafe
I don’t really consider myself a coffee connoisseur, but I’d have to say it was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. My old friend Arno Holschuh made it for me at a new place in town. If you’ve been reading the Journal for a while you’ll remember Arno. He and I were the […]
Posted inMusic
Notes From Bob’s Mailbox
Since I’m heading out to tour Cali over Easter vay-cay, I’ve put the Hum on autopilot, basically just dumping the mailbag directly into this space (sort of anyway). First one from Carol B., via Yvonne: People Productions and KMUD proudly present "Stephen Marley: Mind Control North American Tour" Wednesday, April 18, at the Arcata Community […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Broadband to the Backwoods
The cream-colored box marked "RuralConnect™Trailblazer™" is just a display model mounted on a telescoping pole in the large, dark garage in what was once the Arcata headquarters of Yakima, now home to Carlson Wireless Technologies Inc. It’s one element in an exhibit the company is assembling for an upcoming telecom trade show. The square, gunmetal […]
Posted inMusic
Golden?
For some reason the band portrait from San Francisco-based jamband New Monsoon had me feeling a bit nostalgic. I was a teenager living in the Bay Area when the Summer of Love rolled around 40 years ago. I know there’s some sort of kinship between modern jambands and the bands I heard that summer, at […]
Posted inMusic
Luminescent
The p.r. e-mail hooked me with its description of The Luminescent Orchestrii as: "a gypsy tango klezmer punk acoustic string band from New York City." There was a link to the band’s webpage; I spared no time and immediately downloaded a few luminescent MP3s – brilliant shimmering songs with complex driving rhythms, amazing East-Euro-style harmonies […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Roasting chicken and a Taste
While shopping at Wildberries not long ago, I saw Phil Ricord staring, lost in thought, in the general direction of the deli section, aka Wildplatters Café. If you shop at the store, or listen to the radio or watch TV, I don’t have to explain who Phil is – in short, he owns Wildberries. In […]
Posted inMusic
Too much
Considering the fact that we’re something of a rural backwater, Humboldt County certainly plays host to a lot of music in a wide range of styles. Sometimes there are just way too many choices of where to go and what to do. Check this week’s calendar section for a rundown on this weekend’s classical overload. […]