Last Sunday, I found myself with my arms spread against the wood-paneled base of the chromatic brass battlements of the pipe organ at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka, my left ear pressed against the wood, while the tubes roared out beautiful sounds after the morning mass. I am not necessarily endorsing this behavior — I […]
The Setlist
Our picks for the week’s best live music plus interviews and music news.
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Dog Days and Old Ways
The summer always seems kind of dangerous to me. I could be lazy and credit my years in New Orleans for this feeling but that wouldn’t cover the issue. I can’t seem to enjoy the summer the way other people do, when they share pictures of themselves looking warm, loving, clean and happy like the […]
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Bold as Love
This month has been, for me, a period of increasing despair and detachment from the news at large, both at home and globally. It’s all so bad. And while I enjoyed the spirit of Spain beating Argentina in the FIFA finals, the whole spectacle itself felt like a stupider version of the 1936 Summer Olympics […]
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Bye Bye, Badman
I’m going to keep this brief because I am worn out. A little too much fun and sundown by the riverside over the weekend has caught up with me and I am tapped out. All work and no play might make one dull, but I’m not exactly feeling sharp at the moment either. There’s probably […]
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The Pan Piper
A few weeks ago, I wrote an intro here about a dawn chorus of birds I heard while camping. I titled that column “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” after a famous chapter from The Wind in the Willows, in which the pagan god Pan appears as a benevolent shepherd of animals to help the […]
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Born in the U.S.A.
I’m not interested in celebrating another “birthday” for America, particularly at this moment in time, but I think I am in the majority here. Not that a majority matters in a country that pretends to be a democracy while being burdened by wealthy authoritarian minority rule, but that’s not the point. There’s weariness and unease […]
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Shiny Happy People
A few weeks ago, I came across a new band while reporting on a show at the Outer Space in Arcata. As is sometimes the case, I was first drawn to the group’s name: Thee Olde Druids. I threw out a line about that first impression, something about my assumption of their knowledge of lunar events, […]
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Life Goes On
Years ago, when I was sluicing off layers of the ooze of deep irony in which I and many other older millennials were minted, I started thinking about the effects of that caul we were born and burdened with. One of the defining qualities of certain seers of my generation is a bitter clarity that […]
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The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
There’s a certain magic about waking up in an unfamiliar place at an unusual time. Even when pain and confusion are involved, there’s still a special glow surrounding the experience. One that I suspect serious alcoholics and other addicts simply register as standard turbulence in the regular flight logs they file in pursuit of those […]
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Sideways
This one goes to a hard deadline and print on the first Election Day of 2026 for us Californicators, so bear that in mind while reading whatever comes next. Regarding the gubernatorial race, I am tempted to write “whoever wins, we lose,” but that’s not my exact sentiment. I’ll be cautiously optimistic if Tom Steyer […]
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A Slow Slide Whistle Before the Bomb
Judge Doom, the villain of 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, was the despotic lawman of the film’s fictitious Toontown, a zany Hollywood for animated characters that existed alongside its real-world cultural mecca in the film’s 1947 storyline. Himself a cartoon in human disguise, this demonic executioner of toons sold out his own kind to pulverize […]
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The White Rabbit
Sorry about the brief intro, but like Lewis Carroll’s running plot device, I’m late for the party. Have a great week. ThursdaySavage Henry Comedy Club is hosting the first Barnstitch Artist Collective fundraiser for the Ink People Dream Maker Project and queer BIPOC creative nonprofit. The all-ages punk show is at 7:30 p.m., with a […]