Plays by August WilsonTheatre Communications Group ‘Tis the season of the boxed set, but this one has more significance than the usual holiday gift repackaging. This is the first physical embodiment of a singular achievement — 10 plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century, which together tell a long story of […]
Music
Coverage of the music scene in Humboldt County with upcoming shows from locals and out-of-town acts, reviews, interviews and more.
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Heavy Metal Parking Lot
Directed by Jeff Krulik and John HeynFilm Baby On May 31, 1986, amateur filmmakers John Heyn and Jeff Krulik pulled into an arena parking lot outside of Washington D.C., unpacked their equipment, and proceeded to shoot footage and conduct interviews with the scores of fans who had gathered to prepare for that evening’s Judas Priest/Dokken […]
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Doctor Who: The Complete Third Series on DVD
BBC/Warner Home Video In terms of cultural impact, Dr. Who is the British Star Trek and Star Wars put together. The BBC-TV series about a dapper two-hearted alien traveling through time and space in what looks from the outside like a blue police box, first went on the air in 1963 and ran continuously until […]
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The Tenth Muse: My Life In Food
Book by Judith Jones Knopf The opening scene in Judith Jones’ memoir, The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, says it all: Her mother was well into her 90s, and she had one question for her daughter. All she needed was an honest answer. Jones braced herself for something heavy-duty. But her mother needed to […]
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Jeanne D’Arc
Game by Level-5 Play Station Portable I had the fortune of winning a PSP in a contest a few weeks ago, and in my hunt for an inaugural game for the system, I spotted Jeanne D’Arc on a shelf in a local toy store. Because the cover sports an awesome girl with a sword and […]
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Footloose?
Melody Walker and friends call the "Ladylike Open Mic" at Muddy’s Hot Cup "Menstrual Monday," providing fodder for all sorts of bad puns I won’t repeat here. On Monday of this week Melody was not singing at Muddy’s, nor was anyone else. She called me that evening to explain that live music at Muddy’s is […]
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I’m Not There
Soundrack featuring various artists Columbia/Sony Director and writer Todd Haynes’ new film, an unusual, eccentric biopic of Bob Dylan entitled I’m Not There, stars six different actors, including Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, portraying the enigmatic singer/songwriter in different stages of his life and career. With the wide release of at […]
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On the Jimmy Reed Highway
CD by Omar Dykes/Jimmie Vaughan. Ruf Records. Less is more. The space between the notes is at least as important as the notes themselves. That concept has been well enunciated by bluesmen like James Harman, Freddy Below and Jimmie Vaughan. This new release from Kent "Omar" Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan is a great illustration of […]
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Shortcomings
Graphic novel by Adrian Tomine. Drawn & Quarterly. Comic book artist and illustrator Chris Ware says that whenever he hears the term "graphic novel," he thinks of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. But from the underground comic movement in the 1960s, comic books elevated in form and content, employing novelistic or fictional arcs, creating personal, […]
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Shelter from the Ash
CD by Six Organs of Admittance. Drag City Records. At this point in Ben Chasny’s storied career, it is unfair to continue referring to John Fahey and Robbie Basho in an attempt to situate the Eureka native’s musical orientation. His accomplishments in Six Organs of Admittance, as well as Comets on Fire and various other […]
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Harmonic Convergence
It’s the week after Thanksgiving, a quiet time in general, and really quiet on the local music front. One holiday down, and "Christmastime is comin’…," which means lots of parties and celebrating in the weeks ahead. Since we’re nearing the end of 2007, touring musicians are starting to go into self-imposed hibernation. After all the […]
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Smells like Dead Elephants: Dispatches from a Rotting Empire
Book by Matt Taibbi. Published by Black Cat Books. There are only two reasons to read the otherwise decrepit Rolling Stone magazine these days, and neither of them have anything to do with music. One is David Rees’ pissed-off clip art comic strip Get Your War On, and the other is the stiletto sharp journalism […]