Hooked
Blood, masochism and the shocking thrill of human suspension
Cover Story
Hooked
Standing outside Ink Addiction Tattoo and Body Piercing in Eureka, Kat, a third-generation local and social worker by day, says a few things that are frankly hard to swallow. For one, she claims to have a needle phobia, yet her body is festooned with surface piercings. Stainless steel balls cling to her sternum and rows…
Crowdsourcing the Weed Market
You ever read or watch a news story in which they mention the “street value” of some marijuana bust and think to yourself, “That doesn’t sound right”? Of course you have. And so have the guys behind priceofweed.com, a website and blog that’s compiling and reporting market data on marijuana sales from all over the…
Cash Crop: Coming Soon
Coming soon to a movie theater near you, Cash Crop, a film by Adam Ross about what he figures is America’s No. 1 cash crop. Where else would they shoot it but in the fabled Emerald Triangle. Yes, he borrowed the title from Ray Raphael’s book, but Ray’s in the movie, so it must be…
Bat-N-Rouge redux
Local politicos and businessfolk came out to the Arcata Ball Park Firday night cross-dressed in their finest for Bat-N-Rouge, a benefit for the Arcata Ridge Trail Project put together by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The Backwood Babes took on the Trail Tramps, and we can’t say for certain if either side won fair…
Anger Grows Over Airport Woes
Delays and cancellations at the Arcata-Eureka Airport (ACV) have caused a community uproar in recent weeks as construction work has taken a key piece of navigation equipment offline. This interruption of service to the airport’s instrument landing system (ILS), which helps incoming pilots navigate in low-visibility conditions, has long been foreseen, but angry travelers, armed…
Sara Bareilles: home for the holidays, again
An announcement just came in from CenterArts: They’re presenting a concert by Sara Bareilles on Friday, Dec. 17 in HSU’s Van Duzer Theatre. As you may recall, Sara comes at holiday time most years to visit with the folks — and sing for the hometown audience. From the press release: Eureka native Sara Bareilles is…
Arcata Direct — On Camera
The film Arcata From Dawn Till Dusk begins, as you might guess, with a shot of sunrise over Arcata. The camera then immediately takes you into an industrial kitchen where an early morning baker is at work. If you’ve lived in Arcata long enough you’ll figure out that she’s making challah at Los Bagels. Others…
Knockdown “Drag”out Competition
The game of baseball was just beginning to get a little stagnant, you know? Strikes… balls… home runs… blah… You’ve seen it all before. Luckily, the local chapter of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had the vision to bring the fun back into America’s pasttime. The result: On Friday, Sept. 10, as part of Humboldt…
Crime Wave
Previews RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE. Milla Jovovich is back, along with writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson, for the fourth installment in the franchise based on the relentless video game. This time Alice (Milla) battles Undead while scouring L.A. helping T-virus survivors — all in 3-D. 100m. Rated R for sequences of strong violence and language.…
Crawling
They call it the Fall Crawl. It’s another in what’s become a seasonal series of benefits highlighting the local music scene. Scott Carlson of Humboldt Brews serves as spearhead — he started with Mad River Summerfest in 2009, followed by Winterfest, a multi-venue bash in Arcata. Now after a second successful Summerfest, he’s taking on…
Broken Arrow
Last Wednesday, out at Zerlang and Zerlang Marine Services’ boat repair yard behind Fairhaven Business Park on the Samoa Peninsula, Hank, the black yard dog, and two other canines whirled about the beach playing tug o’ war with a large feather and rolling on a crackling blue and gray tarp in front of the massive,…
Unified Theory of Eureka
Four years ago, your reporter undertook a sort of sociological analysis of the Eureka city elections (“City Asunder,” Oct. 26, 2006). The division I identified at the time — between old Eureka power and the lefty newcomers — continues to fester, at least in certain circles, as this year’s massive election in the city approaches.…
Whoomp
Editor: Thank you, Heidi Walters! There it is in black and white print. Thank you to Miles Slattery of the City of Eureka for clearly stating the issues regarding the clean-up of the Balloon Track (“Sympathy for the Brownfield,” Aug. 26). The state Water Quality Control Board approved the interim plan for remediation of the…
Jesus Talk: The Finale
Editor: I’m a Christian who attends a local church and I have never attended the Catalyst Church (“Beer Me, Jesus,” Aug. 19). I realize your article was written by Deric Mendes, a self-described atheist and that newspapers articles can, without meaning to, misquote or distort. Dan Davis, being one of four co-pastors of the committee-run…
The Skin of Our Teeth
When a species gets down to a few hundred individuals, it is considered endangered. This was the case with our own species, Homo sapiens, whose numbers fell precipitously around 150,000-130,000 years ago, during the peak of one of the severest ice ages, the “Marine Isotope Stage 6.” At that time, our ancestors all lived in…
First One Free
Editor: Browsing through your wonderful Journal, my eye is regularly caught by the ubiquitous marijuana leaf gracing many of your ads, as well as the number of (wink wink, nudge nudge) horticultural supply stores. One of these ads this week is particularly clever. Under the heading “Welcome Back Students!” a young man in a backwards…
Sex With An X
It took a long time for The Vaselines to release their sophomore record, Sex With An X — in fact just over 20 years. The Scottish-based band, essentially a duo, Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly, crafted minimalist Velvet Underground-influenced garage pop predating the recent slew of lo-fi, garage-pop bands, including Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls…
Arts! Arcata
1) AMPT Skate Shop 1040 H St.2) Arcata Artisans 883 H St. Alexandra Connell, jewelry; Barbara Wright, mosaics and fused glass jewelry; Marian Coleman, ceramics.3) Arcata City Hall 736 F St. Lynne Curtis, An Eclectic Mix.4) Arcata Exchange 813 H St. The Humboldt Skindivers, underwater photographs; Music by Jenifer Breeze and David Hinz.5) Arcata Plaza.…
A Reader on Reading
One of the pleasures associated with reading literature is reading about the literature one has read, and even better, about the great literature that one has not yet read and — melancholy fate — probably never will. But in this age when such reading is considered dorky as well as obsolete, a shining rationale is…
Actual Tomatoes, Size Small
“There are no seasons in the American supermarket. Now there are tomatoes all year round: grown half way around the world, picked when it was green, and ripened with ethylene gas. Although it looks like a tomato, it’s kind of a notional tomato, I mean, it’s the idea of a tomato.” I heard this passage…
Hooked on the Bird
Step One… I am an addict. I wake up in the morning thinking about where I can get my next tasty fix. Powerless against my cravings, I’ve lost my ability to care about anything but my delicious addiction. My personal life is suffering. My sinuses are destroyed. I’ve abandoned my personal hygiene. My days are…
Relevance, Rebellion and Redemption
A tree trunk sways suspended, looming over the eight-inch seedling underneath. A heart-shaped, fibrous leaf, broad as your average human, hangs to the side of the very appealing three-piece band Children of the Sun. Their California jazz-soul winds through the Accident Gallery, buoys the heaviness suggested by this month’s exhibition, “Going Green: New Environmental Art…
