Pie/Cake Truce
Let us not fall into the factions and false dichotomy of pie vs. cake. Really, given the fact that Boston cream pie is really cake and cheesecake — with its graham cracker crust — is more of a pie, are we not already living in a post pie-vs.-cake society? (Drag me in the comments if…
Mole Feelings
There are those who roll their eyes at the mention of another Mexican restaurant opening in Humboldt. And fine, I just did a quick count of around 60. Whatever. The cuisine of Mexico contains multitudes and we have merely scraped its surface here. The vibe at Tuyas (553 Main St., Ferndale) is modern and a…
As Supes Prepare for Thanksgiving Eve Meeting, Marcus Packs Up His Desk
UPDATE: Multiple public defenders’ office employees have confirmed that Marcus has packed up his office, cleaned out his desk and left without addressing employees. Previously: The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will meet late this afternoon in closed session to discuss the pending lawsuit against controversial Public Defender David Marcus. According to Clerk of the Board…
Old Town Residents Prepare for Thanksgiving Sock Drive
Those in need of some extra warmth can pick up a pair of socks on Thanksgiving Day, thanks to the volunteers who have been accepting donations of warm apparel in preparation for the holiday. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a few years,” says Samantha Sweeney, who lives and works in Old Town. “It’s…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Nov. 22
The Siren’s Song hosts singer songwriter night at 7:30 p.m. with a diverse lineup of some of Humboldt’s brightest young voices: Ghost, Donel, Julio Perdido, Blood Honey, Akaelah Rain and Jamie Coppa ($5 suggested). Aber Miller continues his Wednesday residency at Larrupin at 6 p.m. and, like Humboldt’s finest date-night restaurant and the dreamy environs…
Body of Missing Canadian Found by His Father
The body of a Canadian man who was reported missing nearly two weeks ago was found by his father on Monday in a heavily vegetated area of the Arcata Marsh, according to the Arcata Police Department. Felix Desautels-Poirier, who would have turned 26 on Dec. 27, was traveling through the area with a friend from…
Duane Flatmo’s Dragon Heads for the Smithsonian
How do you pack a giant, flaming scrap-metal monster on wheels? Artist and Burning Man regular Duane Flatmo has done it plenty of times with his iconic fire-spouting octopus “El Pulpo Mecanico.” But now he’s shipping the fiery dragon he built in 2009 to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The museum will display the gleaming…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Nov. 21
Siren’s Song hosts a throwback sock-hop night with Los Angeles’ always touring and vintage ’50s street fight sounding trio Three Bad Jacks screaming out their soulful rockabilly moan. Local early rock chuggers Snake Oil Lullaby sit mid-bill while local punk rock line-up Scum Lords make their live debut at 8 p.m. (price TBA).
Humboldt Bay Fire Chief Resigns
The sudden resignation of Humboldt Bay Fire Chief Bill Gillespie, announced this morning by the Humboldt Bay Fire Joint Powers Authority Board of Directors, wasn’t accompanied by much in the way of explanation. Eureka City Councilmember Kim Bergel, who sits on the JPA board, said that she could not discuss the content of a today’s…
Humboldt in the New Wrinkle Trailer
The trailer for director Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, part of which filmed here in Humboldt County, dropped during the American Music Awards last night. At last, the Venn diagram circles of movie buffs, sci-fi/fantasy nerds, YA fiction nuts, Humboldt boosters and Oprah Winfrey fans have all overlapped. The trailer…
Music Tonight: Monday, Nov. 20
Does anyone remember the movie Swing Kids? That seminal early ’90s teen flick in which a post Dead Poet’s Society Robert Sean Leonard and future Bateman/Batman Christian Bale process the oppressive grip of the Hitler Youth by surreptitiously swing dancing in Nazi Germany? I haven’t seen that film in years but, much like many trends…
Gathering Round
On Saturday, Nov. 11, The 36th annual Northwest Inter-Tribal Gathering & Elders Dinner, sponsored by the Northern California Indian Development Council, filled Redwood Acres Fairgrounds with tribal and non-tribal community members from all over the state. Attendees perused vendor booths stocked with everything from jams to jewelry made by Native craftspeople, and sat rapt during displays of…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Nov. 19
If the Dimond Saints’ show last night didn’t fill your low-gravity-bass dance desires, worry not: The Deep Groove Society has your back with its ongoing Sundaze residency at The Jam at 9:30 p.m. Five dollars will get you 20hz or lower subwoofer drops to make you shake and dance with loose subliminal passions not seen…
Huffman, Thompson Blast Trump Admin for Leaving California out of Disaster Funding
North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman and his predecessor issued a scathing joint statement yesterday, blasting the Trump administration for leaving wildfire-ravaged California out of its disaster funding request. Huffman released the statement with Mike Thompson, who represented Humboldt County and the North Coast for 14 years until redistricting bumped him to California’s Fifth Congressional District…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Nov. 18
Mr. Moonbeam continues his ongoing one-man band whistle-stop tour of the twilit heavens of yesteryear when playing The Siren’s Song tonight at 9 p.m. (price TBA). Expect mini-flute melodies, pitch-pipe cowboy vocals and well-plucked space oddities tuned to the vibe of Santo & Johnny’s “Sleep Walk.” The soundtrack-rock trio The Mojave Green brings its Old…
New State Cannabis Regulations Allow for Limitless Grow Sizes
It looks like you’ll be able to munch down on that cannabis beef jerky come January but the stony shrimp cocktail will have to wait. California dropped its long-awaited emergency medicinal and adult-use cannabis regulations yesterday, setting the rules for legal markets slated to open in 45 days on Jan. 1. The new regulations —…
Mushroom Fair
Whoa, don’t just eat stuff you found in the woods. Join the fungus curious at the Mushroom Fair on Sunday, Nov. 19 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds (free). You’ll learn all you ever wanted to know about mushrooms and have your haul identified by an expert mycologist.
D.U.F.F. Enough
Given how eye-poppingly weird our reality has become, it’s hard to freak people out with a short film these days. Still, the good folks who’ve assembled the Druid Underground Film Festival are giving it a shot again with their 10th annual collection on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7 and 10 p.m. at the Miniplex ($10).…
Music Tonight: Friday, Nov. 17
The Outer Space has a fun early Friday show for you at 7 p.m. with the heart-tugging rock chug of Philly’s Radiator Hospital, local folk act Julio Perdido and the synth-pop sounds of Eureka City Councilmember and multitalented polymath Natalie Arroyo’s act, Smilebright ($7). Five years seems like a long time until you open your…
Creamery District Night Market
Revel in the early darkness at the Creamery District Night Market on Friday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. (free). The Creamery District’s shops and studios will open their doors for a night of browsing, music from Bandamonium and the Sand Fleas, and Bollywood dance at Redwood Raks. Along with beer and wine, toddies and mulled…
Henderson Center Holiday Open House
Get in the spirit of the season at the annual Henderson Center Holiday Open House on Thursday, Nov. 16 from 5 to 8 p.m. (free). Enjoy photos with Santa, free trolley rides, Christmas carols and a visit with familiar faces from Beauty and the Beast and Narnia. And if it doesn’t rain, it just might…
Sticky Situation
Humboldt’s cannabis enthusiasts may find themselves torn this weekend, as a pair of events attempt to Bogart their attention. Down in SoHum at the Mateel Community Center, the Golden Tarp Awards are going out to the cream of the light deprivation crop from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. ($20). Speakers include Mowgli Holmes, whose work…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Nov. 16
I sometimes talk about my personal “three decade” bands, meaning bands I saw live as a surly teenager in the ’90s, an unmoored and rudderless 20-something jellyfish in the ’00s, and a sane and professional adult “hanging on in quiet desperation” in this decade. That list is fairly brief, with heavy metal luminaries like The…
Niche and Nuance vs. Nazis
When Janis Ian wrote her seminal song “At Seventeen,” she started with the perfect stanza about tragic, trapped, popular and doomed teenage girls who peaked too soon: “I learned the truth at 17/ That love was meant for beauty queens/ And high school girls with clear-skinned smiles/ Who married young and then retired.” She goes…
Flash Fiction 2017
Judging the Flash Fiction Contest is a binge in small bites — a tasting menu from a multitude of cuisines. In the course of reading 134 submitted 99-word stories and vignettes, we whipped between murders and love stories (or both), the supernatural and the animal kingdom. We sampled humor, heartbreak, political allegory and some downright…
Judge Cuts to the Chase in Public Defender Lawsuit
Next month, visiting Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Marjorie Carter will attempt to block out all the noise surrounding Public Defender David Marcus — the allegations of political witch hunts and incompetence, shoddy work histories and politics — and home in on a simple question. “The bottom line is we’re going to have to determine…
Seriously?
Editor: I appreciate Jennifer Fumiko Cahill’s badly-needed humor on the topic of sexual harassment (“A Men’s Guide to Surviving a Sexual Harassment Witch Hunt,” Nov. 8). My own reaction to this national conversation is very complex, but boils down to two points: 1) What kind of family life did these sexual harassers grow up in?…
Generally Concerned
Editor: In regards to the column “The General Concerns” (Nov. 2), I am proudly one of that “small group of parents” who voiced concerns over The General being chosen as the silent film for the ArMack Orchestra performance, but as a person of color (POC) I am used to being in a small group in Humboldt County.…
Statement of Support
Editor: The League of Women Voters of Humboldt County has a “Public Health Services” position which states that: Health care should be obtainable by all; the rights and dignity of the individual should be safeguarded at all times; social services are an important part of patient care. An important part of healthcare is treatment for…
The Silent Compromise
It was with a great sense of disappointment that I sat down in the Wharfinger Building on Nov. 13 and watched Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming publicly unveil a draft policy covering every law enforcement agency in the county that will decide which police officer involved shooting videos will be publicly released and how.…
Back on the Train
Reviews MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. From the first trailer, it struck me as a little odd that a murder mystery set in 1934 would be positioned as a peak-season prestige release. Granted, the credentials of the cast and crew befit such a thing and adapting an Agatha Christie novel — even for the third…
HumBug: Itsy Bitsies
It is a very human thing to look for the largest of anything. Here in Humboldt County, we have the world’s tallest trees and largest stonefly. We have giant water bugs and giant silk worm moths, and so it is easy to overlook small things. But I find them fascinating. Yesterday I saw a column…
Circus within a Circus
Plays offer a look into a different era, with modern productions taking on material written centuries ago. But Pippin affords a chance to see a dual track on that: The era in which it was first staged is the early 1970s. To see it now is a glimpse into that era, but also into a…
I Passed Notes
I believe that the Journal has raised a couple very important points in its lawsuit and accompanying editorial (“Stop Passing Notes!,” Nov. 2). The first involves the transmittal of otherwise personal communication during an official’s “public” working hours. On this subject I believe the Journal is incorrect in its assertion that these communications are disclosable…
Spoiler Alert: The Popular Vote Doesn’t Matter
Nearly two out of three Americans now support the federal legalization of marijuana, according to a new Gallup poll. That’s a staggering number, especially considering just 12 percent of the nation’s adults supported the concept the first time Gallup asked about it back in 1969. Today, 64 percent of Americans support legalization, including for the…
Grandsons
Are not suns. They do not shine For billions of years Racing through space Away from each other Bending nothing indelibly In gravitational waves No one notices. They race into our hearts Moving what matters Marking everything In their way Towards our need For another day Held together…
The envelope. Please.
Count this publisher’s column Bay Trail Update No. 10. The last one, No. 9, was April 24, 2014 and I just discovered an error in it. I wrote that my advocacy in print for a trail along the corridor from Arcata to Eureka began in 2007 when I hiked the rail line clipping blackberries with…
Cannibal Lancetfish
In recognition of the poor eating quality of the longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox), parts of this story are written in poor taste. Longnose lancetfish, also known as longsnouted lancetfish and cannibal fish, wash up on the beach here occasionally. Their discovery sometimes makes the news. I’ve even seen them correctly identified in a local paper.…
Hum Plate Round-up
Hotsy totsy School cafeteria lunches don’t have their bad reputation for nothing. Those of a certain age remember when ketchup was declared a vegetable and meatless Fridays meant frozen fish sticks or pale, Styrofoam-y squares of pizza. Still, did you secretly revel in those fish sticks and their accompanying tartar sauce packets? Was there shameful…
