Cover Story
Saving Sam
The early winter sun shone in a glittery slant onto the bright green grass of the field, on the edge of Arcata, where you had to cross muddy braids of earth and streamlets to get to higher ground. There were cows in a distant corner of the field, noses down. The highway and a busy…
Tough soft guy
Check out the profile on one-time Eureka High football star Rey Maualuga.
Say “Awww”
Poor docs, starting tomorrow they will no longer be showered in free, logo-bescribbled office tools and medical devices. According to a story in the New York Times , the pharmaceutical industry has gallantly decided to stop said showering: Starting Jan. 1, the pharmaceutical industry has agreed to a voluntary moratorium on the kind of branded…
Dude…
I think you hit record insteada play…
Frank Rich on K-SLUG Wed. morn
This just in from the folks at Lost Coast Communications: New York Times Columnist, Frank Rich with John Matthews on KSLG 94.1 FM On Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 9:15 AM, KSLG morning host, John Matthews will speak with New York Times columnist Frank Rich about Barack Obama’s decision to have Reverend Rick Warren perform…
Demand Quality Cinema!
Editor: Charlie Myers’ column of Dec. 11 (“Filmland”) bemoans the slim diversity of offerings Coming Attractions Theatres allows Humboldt County to choose from. It’s appropriate to fuss about the lack of choice — Milk, Gran Torino and others currently available in most markets remain elusive to us slack-jawed yokels. But Myers errs in accepting this…
Defending the Messenger
Editor: — Dana Silvernale thought Heidi Walter’s piece about Marsh Commons was “sarcastic” and “offensive” (“Mailbox,” Dec. 18). I think that Heidi was both respectful and neutral in her portrayal of our playful dinner banter — sarcasm and offense included. When a good reporter quotes a person in a news story, that quote does not…
Mental Health Resources
Lea Nagy, Humboldt County’s mental health liaison, says one in four people are diagnosed with a serious mental illness. That’s you or me or someone we know and love. Nagy says Humboldt has no safe house, where a person suffering depression — a biological brain disorder — or other mental illness might find respite from…
Loss
is a hollow pelvis on a desert floor…
Blooming in Winter
Among garden bloggers (a small but mighty force in the blogosphere) there is a tradition of posting a photo of whatever happens to be blooming in your garden on the 15th of each month. It’s a useful practice for a gardener; if you keep it up for a couple of years, you will be able…
Pride of McKinleyville
In 1990, two years after we moved to McKinleyville, a deli opened across from Cal’s Unocal station. Cal’s wife Ann had alerted us. "They make their own sausage!" So we were almost their first customers. And there were indeed sausages, fascinating ones like a Northern Italian-style with fennel, garlic and red wine, Moroccan lamb sausage,…
Top Five (+5)
Massive Conspiracy Against All Life. Leviathan (Moribund Records). While the past year brought about several notable black metal releases (e.g. Krallice, Winterfyllah, Nachtmystium), Leviathan’s ability to both work within and expand genre conventions makes this a landmark effort. The album not only serves as a benchmark; it also further legitimizes a quickly expanding United States…
Top Five (+5)
Dawn. Mount Eerie (P.W. Elverum & Sun). The saint of all albums for 2008, Dawn is humble, beautiful, insightful, simple, honest, pure and good; sort of makes me want to cry. A slow-motion journey through the emotionally exhausted heart of Phil Elverum, it holds both renditions of older tracks as well as some fresh ones…
Top Seven (+4)
Taking The Soul For A Walk. Dafnis Prieto Sextet (Dafnison Music). Prieto’s October RJA appearance was like Miguel Zenón’s in April: a brilliant showcase of the fresh jazz springing from Afro-Latin and Caribbean roots. The album sparkles even more with the addition of Yosvany Terry’s sax and Avishai Cohen’s trumpet. Awake. Miguel Zenón (Marsalis Music).…
The Transglobal Tourist Tube
We’re in an economic slump, no question. What we need is a new and profitable tourist attraction right here in Humboldt. Nope, not a steam train around the bay, much as I’d love to see it. I’m thinking just a tad grander. Here’s the plan: Announcing the Transglobal Tourist Tube. It’s pretty simple, really. My…
Low-Speed Broadband
It may have been the greatest gathering of techie brainiacs in county history: The fourth annual Broadband Forum, held at Fortuna’s River Lodge in August, attracted dozens of tech-oriented business owners, elected officials and — significantly — representatives from 11 broadband service providers. If your BlackBerry were to go haywire, this was the place to…
Holidays Past
In the winter of 1985, I moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., and I worked at the now-closed Gotham Book Mart on 47th Street in mid-town Manhattan. The wooden floorboards were worn, and the shelves held books two rows deep. It was one of the oldest bookstores in New York, at the time, and it had held…
Yes Yes Yes
Previews The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, has generated Oscar buzz. Benjamin is born looking 80 years old; aspiring ballerina Daisy meets him in a nursing home. They fall in love, but he’s getting younger and she older. Seems very promising. Rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content,…
No Apology Necessary
Editor: As the President of the Board of the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center I need to apologize to Ryan Burns ("Red Tail Stare-Down," Dec. 18). It was unfortunate that we were unable to help with the injured juvenile red tailed hawk he found at the Arcata Marsh. We try to check our hotline (822-8839) every…
Steam Donkey Days
Editor: Hank Sims referred in the “Town Dandy” of Dec. 18 to “… the Timber Heritage Museum, a proposed showcase of ancient train equipment …” Well, yes, it is that — and so much more. The Timber Heritage Association is planning an extensive and partly interactive museum displaying our large collection of historic logging equipment.…
