Oh, Sister!
How the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence woo Humboldt into happily emptying its pockets
Cover Story
Oh, Sister!
Back last summer, before the thing called Bat N’ Rouge had first batted its eyes at Humboldt, the powerful were wary. Participation in the charity softball game to raise money for a four-mile trail along a ridge behind Arcata required some flounce, some feminine accoutrement. You had to come in drag, that is: a dress,…
Shunka Moves On
Jason Wilson — aka Shunka Wakan — is hanging up his monkey wrench and hammer. Or, his website, anyway. Said the long-time, heart-on-his-sleeve, softspoken Earth First! activist in his e-mailed newsletter this week: This will be the final e-mail from North Coast Earth First! Media. After 13 years of activism, under the banner of “North…
The Golden Rule revival
Remember the little peace ketch we told you about, the Golden Rule? She’s the 30-foot double-masted tall-ship beauty whom Quaker activists twice tried to sail to the Marshall Islands in the late 1950s to interrupt U.S. atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. She fell into a variety of hands after that, including, more recently, into those of…
Class action money
Another round of payments has gone out in the Skilled Healthcare nursing home settlement, potentially triggering fresh confusion over how to keep as much money as possible without losing government benefits. Many people getting compensated for time they spent in understaffed nursing homes, including five homes in Humboldt County, receive disability or medical coverage that’s…
Lumberjacks Were on the TV!
The snazzy highlight reel above fails to capture the excitement of last night’s gridiron battle, which was broadcast nationally via the CBS Sports Network. According to the announcer administering the halftime trivia challenge, this was the first sellout Jacks football game in more than 40 years.
Get on Your Bikes and Ride!
Bikes + babes + bands + bucks. If you do your math right — be sure to carry the “fun” — your answer should come out as the Blue Lake Ride, taking place again this year at the Blue Lake Casino from Sept. 8-11. Need me to break down those four “b”s further? Check it:…
Take Another Drag
If “reality” television’s Nielsen stranglehold has taught us one thing — just one, now — it’s that Americans love to see people make asses of themselves. Compare Jersey Shore’s ratings to something more wholesome and traditional, say, oh I dunno, any MLB game this year. Not even close. Questionable behavior might as well replace baseball…
Sisyphus on Absurd Riots
The boulder is heavy, But it is…
Oh, That Arcata
Editor: Regarding “Whose Arcata,” (Aug. 25): When I first moved up here I loved the strong sense of community, but now I don’t even leave my house at night. I get harassed every time I do my five-minute walk to the plaza, and I truly believe this town’s image is going downhill. Vagrants and pot…
Humboldt Country
Are you ready for some country music? It’s one of those weekends, you know, when people pull out their boots and cowboy hats, start dropping the “g” from the ends of words and sayin’ y’all. All around American music icon Willie Nelson plays on the racetrack at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds on Friday night with…
The Secret War Between Downloading and Uploading: Tales of the Computer as Culture Machine
What Marshall McLuhan did in analyzing the meaning of 1960s media, Peter Lunenfeld does for the electronic media of 2011 — chiefly the computer and the Internet. Like McLuhan, he coins or adapts catchy new expressions for his concepts, like “unimodernism,” “unfinish,” “web n.0,” “info-triage,” “bespoke futures.” He also develops his ideas in cultural and…
Tassili
Tinariwen, a group of musicians from Northern Mali led by guitarist and main vocalist Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, draws inspiration from Mali’s land, people and culture. The nomadic Toureg culture, centered in the desert lands between mountain ranges, has been disappearing — mainly due to droughts and political unrest. On its fifth full-length release, Tassili, the…
Waste Safe Here
Editor: No nuclear garbage collector is needed for Humboldt County (“Wanted: Garbage Collector,” Aug. 25), though some corrections are needed for the article. Humanity needs to stop creating more nuclear waste. There is no good way to store it. The article did point out that dry cask storage (DCS), like used here, is “one of…
Baron versus Mountain
According to his wife Clémentine’s memoir, at age 37 Baron Ernest de la Grange needed a midlife challenge after too many sybaritic years managing the family château in northern France. La Grange sailed to New York in 1892 and struck out for the gold fields of northern California, accompanied by Clémentine and their two children.…
Yes Walmart!?
Editor: That’s right, yogadon is asking you guys to give up all the resistance to W-Mart (“Where’s WalMart,” Aug. 11). I call on all the hippies and yuppies and puppies, the vegans and veggie, yogies and bogies, the mommies and babies, and yes the rednecks and no-necks and bookworms and carnivores!! I really, really, really…
Puzzle Pix Answers
1. Old Coop building, First and E streets, Eureka 2. Hurricane Kate’s, 511 Second St., Eureka 3. Arcata Fire Station, 631 Ninth St. 4. NW end of Samoa bridge 5. Humboldt County Library 6. Arcata Post Office, SW corner of plaza 7. First Presbyterian Church, 670 11th St., Arcata 8. Trompe l’oeil “stand here” marker, Third and I streets, Eureka 9. Table Bluff lighthouse,…
Peach Wonderfulness
It is almost too late to write this column — almost. Peach season is winding down, but as of this writing I’m still getting sweet, local summer peaches in the market. So move quickly. You might need to get this done tonight. We begin, of course, with bourbon. Maybe you’re not a big bourbon drinker;…
9/11 Blindness
A condensed version of this article appeared in the Sept. 8 print edition of the North Coast Journal After witnessing the first jetliner crash into the Twin Towers on that September 11 morning, a friend of mine’s wife and 7-year old daughter fled to their nearby Manhattan loft and ran to the roof to look…
Rain or Shine
Korbel doesn’t have a church or a school. There aren’t any hotels and or bars, no stores or gas stations. It would be a stretch to call it a town at all — if not for the post office. Korbel is one of seven towns in Humboldt County faced with the prospect of losing their…
Do It Green Guide 2011
Do It Green Guide 2011
Turned Off
When I read that the federal government might close eight local post offices I thought: Do we still need rural free delivery? Who needs snail mail these days more than once a week? It seems the last time I needed mail service was back in the 1990s. As a business reporter I needed annual reports.…
9/11 Blind
[The full-length version of this story can be found here.] Ten years ago this Sunday, 9/11 produced a spasm of blind rage in America. It arose from a pre-existing blindness as to the way much of the world sees us. That in turn led to the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, Afghanistan again, Pakistan, Yemen and…
Spies, sharks and secrets
REVIEWS THE DEBT. The Debt, a remake of a 2007 Israeli film that I am not familiar with, is a tautly directed, effective spy thriller. As with the best spy stories, John Le Carré comes to mind, but this film is much more than gripping cloak-and-dagger. Its core narrative concerns the nature of truth and…
Thoughtcrime Music
From the outside it looks like any other garage in a suburban neighborhood, but as you approach you hear the barely muffled sound of a raging post-punk band. The mattresses, carpet remnants and other sound baffling lining the walls inside the dark practice space barely contain the controlled chaos as Winston Smith prepares for a…
