If you, like me, looked forward to someone new submitting his or her thoughts on the Humboldt art beat, sorry to disappoint. Circumstances have compelled me to continue. Given our now enduring relationship, I feel like you should know a bit more about what I bring to the table. Is not all reaction to art […]
Jennifer Savage
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Tricks, Tips & Scams
If you bank at Chase, you’ve been hit hard with solicitations encouraging you to sign up for overdraft protection. Hopefully you’ve stayed strong and smart and haven’t caved in to the pressure. To recap from previous columns: Fees and charges in the guise of “service” translate into many millions of dollars for the bankers and […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Relevance, Rebellion and Redemption
A tree trunk sways suspended, looming over the eight-inch seedling underneath. A heart-shaped, fibrous leaf, broad as your average human, hangs to the side of the very appealing three-piece band Children of the Sun. Their California jazz-soul winds through the Accident Gallery, buoys the heaviness suggested by this month’s exhibition, “Going Green: New Environmental Art […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Lust for Stuff
It can’t buy you love. Then again, love doesn’t pay the bills. It’s not everything, but when you’re scrounging change to put enough gas in your expiring car, it sure makes a difference. It won’t guarantee contentment. It can create conditions in which that condition is more easily cultivated. How does money connect to happiness? […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Tapping the Source
What’s a fringe artist do when the fringe becomes the mainstream? Infiltrate the mainstream, of course! Sonny Wong and Sheik, two of Humboldt County’s most prominent graffiti art practitioners, have expanded their repertoire to include painting en plein air — also known as painting’s bread-and-butter. Most recently, their show of landscapes, “Nature Bats Last,” was […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Shopping and Relationships
One of the biggest arguments my husband and I have had in our 22 years of marriage has been over window shopping. He enjoys it. I do not. For him, tripping around town checking out interesting objects appeals to his artistic nature. For me, it’s simply being thrust into a situation of temptation. Given the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Fresh Meat
Despite the persistent northerly gusts compromising the sun’s effectiveness, a certain stubborn balminess permeated Old Town Eureka throughout last Saturday’s Arts Alive! event. At long last, summer had arrived, bringing with it not only the usual hordes of event attendees, but an extra-special party down on the waterfront — the North Coast Journal‘s birthday/relocation celebration. […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Shopping, Love and Money
“It is impossible to take the personal out of personal finance.” Those words are among the first you see in Nancy Trejos’ new book, Hot (broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too. It’s a statement that rings no less true due to its simplicity. People talk about money, the saving, the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Look Inside
Ah, the weekend has arrived. Even without sunshine, the yard work beckons, the garden calls. Or maybe a late morning lie-in with a novel and mug of coffee. Or an escape to somewhere warm and sunny, assuming such places exist. In any case, why bother with trekking hither and yon to explore North Coast Open […]
Posted inNews
Humboldt Roller Derby — the Saplings Version!
Saplings! Photo courtesy Arcata Photo Studios Hardly an eye stayed dry at Redwood Acres last Thursday. There, in Francesci Hall, the legendary tough ladies of Humboldt Roller Derby‘s Redwood Rollers turned into mother hens as their young charges – aka Saplings – began their “Friends and Family” bout, complete with announcer Jason calling the action. The […]
Posted inNews
SF Outside Lands 2010 Line-up Revealed
Humboldt County offers a fair number of festivals, from oyster- to reggae-flavored. We get plenty of big name folk singers and often some notable hip-hop shows. What we rarely see beyond the struggling/touring bands appearing weekly at the Alibi, the Jambalaya and Lil’Red is serious rock shows – especially of the more modern kind. Which […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Women & Children Last
The Journal recently reported that McKinleyville Middle School’s art program and perhaps music program are set to expire due the state’s financial muddle. What kind of society have we devolved to when the very programs designed to tap into what makes us human are seen as disposable? When only the children of the wealthy have […]