As Daylight Savings time and Day of the Dead both draw to a close, it’s a good time for two early theatre gigs germane to the time at hand. First up at the Eureka Theater at 4 p.m. is Centro Del Pueblo’s Dia de Muertos celebration, where you can join in with the community for […]
Arts + Scene
Reviews, interviews and upcoming highlights from the week in visual and performing arts around Humboldt County.
Posted inBook Review
Fresh Blood
Four horror reads off the beaten path Horror crosses human boundaries in a way other works of fiction struggle with. Humor, for instance, is notoriously difficult to translate, as the comedic power of wordplay doesn’t always work across cultures, and nothing kills a joke more than the expository annotations required to bridge the gap. Horror, […]
Posted inScreens
A House of Dynamite’s Harsh Realities
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE. “Not exactly escapist fare,” was my first thought, which was followed rapidly by the notion that maybe, in the face of racist, fascist theocracy on the rise internationally, a movie about mutually assured destruction by nuclear annihilation can offer some fleeting relief. I kid (sort of), because A House of Dynamite […]
Posted inPoetry
The January Wake Up
I was a baby-faced eagle who woke in January. Flying near a screen, I had to stop before I could even start. I witnessed barricaded doors being torn apart. Subjects wielded weighty flagpoles. They smashed at the foundation; the shards were yelled out whole. Guards were knocked into crying arms, and eagles looked around for […]
Posted inFront Row
Rocky Horror’s New Thrust
The Rocky Horror Show is an iconic cult classic that manages to bend theater norms and create a pearl-clutching experience for staunch and pedigreed theaterists with the level of debauchery its script unabashedly offers. In its 50th year, productions of this scrappy “don’t like it? don’t care” musical often try to mimic the movie in visuals, concepts and characterizations with varying degrees of success. Not being a fan of cookie-cutter theater, nor lazy recycled […]
Posted inScreens
Play Dirty and Shane Black’s Comeback
PLAY DIRTY. Sometimes (often? always?) the thing that suits is a rollicking actioner in the classical mode. Something with gunfights and car chases and heists and revenge, hopefully a soupçon of dark humor and sex appeal, maybe even set at Christmastime — a Shane Black movie, in other words. Black, to use the Wayback Machine, […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Spooky and Spookier Fairgrounds Fun
The Humboldt County Fairgrounds have you covered this Halloween. One venue, two vibes: scream or stroll. By night, the fairgrounds turn into Griffin Loch’s Scaregrounds, a full-blown fright fest with three haunted mazes, roaming haunters, Marie Laveau’s Voodoo Lounge, food trucks and the eerie glow of Frightdale’s Symphony of Lights. The scary action starts Friday, […]
Posted inArt Beat
A Mosaic Elk at Prairie Creek
Those who wander into the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Visitor Center are in for an encounter with a Roosevelt elk — but not the usual live elk typically found in nearby Elk Prairie. Instead, they’ll find a one-of-a-kind, glass-encrusted bull elk sculpture by Jennifer a’Midi, a local Southern Humboldt mosaic artist. Her 225-pound, life-sized […]
Posted inScreens
Roofman Aims High
ROOFMAN. Putting aside the fact that the early 2000s has been a nostalgia-trip backdrop (which makes me feel old and sad indeed), purporting to be “a true story,” as this movie does, is often cause for concern. It might be a function of my innate formalism or my ongoing, probably misplaced umbrage at the paucity of […]
Posted inPoetry
Still life with flower
By the greatest of powerHidden from viewThe journey beganTo still life with flower Top of the towerInfinite stepsLast one attainedTo still life with flower Colors blended and pulsedSubtle and strongFrom a distanceA never heard song Out to the edgeEmpty and vastPeak of perfectionThen on past With lingering glowAbsolute peaceLasting foreverThe final release Nothing to distractRiver […]
Posted inArts + Scene, Food & Drink
Choose the Bear
Toast Fat Bear Season at OktoBEARfest at Sequoia Park Zoo with Humboldt CiderCo. on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 4 to 7 p.m. ($25). The 21-and-over crowd can enjoy ascience-based good time with squee-inspiring animal feedings, informative zookeepertalks, live music, trivia, and tree-climbing and pumpkin-carving demonstrations (byhumans). Food and drink will be available for purchase, and […]