The Trickster is a classic character in myth and folklore around the world, often an anthropomorphic animal who deviates from social norms, an antiestablishment type tweaking the powers that be one way or another with mixed results. In African American folktales from the South he might be a rabbit, with Joel Chandler Harris’ Brer Rabbit […]
Arts
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Mutt Meet
Rumor has it, dog ownership can lead to one of the most rewarding relationships you’ll have in your lifetime. But let’s face it: When searching for that perfect canine to call your own, finding “man’s best friend” is the best-case scenario. Poor suckers who don’t do their due diligence may find their carpets changing colors, […]
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They Gave Me Enough Rope
Two peanuts walk into The Shanty… uh … we’ll get back to that. Often when I feel as though I’m lacking perspective in my seemingly hectic life, I like to take a long weekend and escape to Southern Humboldt to hang out with my many opinionated grower buddies — “opinionated” might be redundant, fair enough. […]
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Watch Your Back, Shamu!
Question: What was the best part of your summers growing up? Answer: Of course, cannon balls in the pool, baby! That’s why uncontrollable jealousy always washed over me as I sat in the Sea World arena getting drenched. Shamu gets to make the big bucks performing hundreds of big splashes a day in front of […]
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Pasar las Palomitas de Maíz
Pregunta: Where can lovers of foreign films and/or struggling students in search of much-needed extra credit points both get their fix? Respuesta: At the 13th Annual International Latino Film Festival being held this year Mar. 1-3. This year’s festival — a joint effort by College of the Redwoods Modern Languages Department and the Humboldt State […]
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Beautiful Body
In a week where radio talker Rush Limbaugh saw fit to note that First Lady Michelle Obama “does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue,” perhaps it is appropriate to again begin the conversation on the damaging and distorted American view of what […]
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Feeling Crabby
Bears just might be smarter than we are. I mean, hibernating — great idea, right? During the lousiest of weather, bears are straight zonked out. Come springtime they wake up skinny, refreshed and ready for action. We fogbound coastal humans, on the other hand, insist on staying conscious through the bleak seasons, with diminishing returns: […]
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The Play’s the Thing
KCACTF is underway. The somewhat unwieldy acronym stands for the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. KCACTFestival Forty-Three and the associated New West Drama Conference are underway at Humboldt State, which means a thousand or so T.A. students from all over are here for plays and workshops discussing the nuts and bolts of theater, […]
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For Last Minute Romeos
Being romantic is exhausting. Yes, this Valentine’s Day you could try and be a hero and display your devotion by coming up with some unique, orginal way to make all your loved one’s friends jealous. But c’mon. Are you really going to have the energy to pull that off? On a Monday, no less? Fear […]
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Secrets Go Postal
Secrets. Everyone has ’em. Sometimes they’re kept close; sometimes they’re revealed, as in PostSecret. It began with an invitation printed on a postcard: “You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything — as long as […]
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Gathering Talent For Your Convenience
In our YouTube era, bemoaning the shortening American attention span has… Whoa, speaking of which, did you guys see that crazy in-and-out dunk this week on YouTube? So crazy! Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. It takes a lot to hold our gaze these days. Mixing it up never hurts. Taking the “variety is the […]
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Question: Sexy Time? Answer: Booya!
Odds are, like many Americans, you have found yourself with friends during a pedestrian game of Trivial Pursuit thinking, “You know, this game just isn’t ‘sexy’ enough, dagnabbit!” You’re not alone. Pleasure-seeking board game enthusiasts have long bemoaned the puritanical leanings of the Hasbro higher ups. I mean, ‘People & Places’ and ‘Sports & Leisure’ […]