Survival!
Stocking up for economic catastrophe in the SoHum hills and elsewhere
Cover Story
Survival!
“I’m gonna be the last man snackin’,” M. R. Robinson grins as he indicates his storeroom. Sixtyish, short with clipped silver hair and a ramrod back, Robinson looks more like a military man than the artist and master carpenter he currently is. Last year, Robinson foresaw the recent economic downturn and, worried that events might…
Arcata Council passes new pot guidelines
marijuana growing in an Arcata dispensary After a long discussion and some resistance on a couple things — the definition of caregiver, and whether the words “total canopy” should be included as part of the definition of square footage — the council voted unanimously to adopt new land use guidelines covering how medical marijuana works…
Oh, mama mia!
Well, hell. Damn. There goes the local Pizza Mia™ and those chocolate dunky things. And 16 jobs. Donald Davenport, who with his wife Jo Ann owns the Pizza Hut franchise in Eureka, just flashed us a news release saying they’ve closed shop. The Davenports were embroiled in a fight with Pizza Hut, Inc., of Dallas.…
News Flash on Prop 8
Prop 8 protest in Eureka – photo by Kim Sallaway The Sacramento Bee reports that the California Supreme Court will consider issues brought by those opposed to Proposition 8 . They’ll be looking at three things: Whether Prop 8 is a revision of the California Constitution when it should have been an amendment. If it’s…
Journal columnist in New Yorker
Midnight Moon The current issue of the New Yorker is all about food. In connection with it, today’s online New Yorker includes a short food related piece by occasional Journal food columnist Jada Brotman . As you might recall, Jada is a cheesemonger in an upscale Brooklyn establishment called Provisions . Apparently her literate cheese…
Black Sabbath, Master of Reality
I know it’s obvious, but it has to be stated as a starting point: The Mountain Goats are the greatest band of all time. This is primarily because bandleader John Darnielle is a supreme lyricist, though he also happens to be the No. 1 impersonator of 15-year-old mental institution patients totally obsessed with Black Sabbath…
What We Do Is Secret
The power of myth. In many cases, the myth overshadows the reality. For the legendary L.A. punk band The Germs, who experienced a meteoric rise during the late 1970s, this was always the case. More often than not, Germs shows were chaotic episodes, with unfinished sets. In 1979, the Germs released their first and only…
Acid Tongue
t’s time to start taking Jenny Lewis seriously. Probably we should’ve started a long time ago — around 2002, when her band Rilo Kiley released The Execution of All Things (still, I think, their best album). But she was a former child actor. She did have The Wizard, Troop Beverly Hills and Foxfire to live…
Rainforest Remedies
Many scientific discoveries affecting our health have come from research done with plants from rainforests. Did you know native rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, including the redwoods, have contributed greatly? Very important historical and contemporary medicinal compounds have been isolated from native plants of California. Often these pharmaceutical breakthroughs originated with the native wisdom of…
Getting It Right
After rescuing Opera Omaha and growing the Sacramento Philharmonic as executive director, Dell’Arte cofounder Jane Hill has returned to the North Coast, where she’s also known as a stage performer, dramatist and director. When she first presented her monologues in Getting It, she performed all four characters herself, making her costume changes on stage. In…
The Big Buy-in
A couple of rings and then, in a chipper sing-song: “Thanks for calling The World’s Greatest Bank this is Tracy how may I direct your call?” That’s how tellers at Umpqua Bank answer the phone, all earnest and frighteningly pert. Lots of companies force this kind of pathological sunniness on their workers, like those acid-trip…
Bye Bye Bernie
Previews Opening Friday, Nov. 14 is Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond film and the second to star Daniel Craig in the title role. I was a big fan of 2006’s Casino Royale, which brought a fresh perspective to the series, not to mention the best “Bond girl” ever in Eva Green. At least…
Hippie/Punk Mumbo Jumbo
Anti-folk singer Kimya Dawson seems an unlikely superstar. I’m sure she’d blanch at the suggestion that she’s a star of any sort, but the truth is her sweet little lo-fi love songs set the tone for the movie Juno, filling it with a simple honesty that helped turn it into a surprise hit, thus thrusting…
Logjam
Times is tough, but in Humboldt County, few have it tougher than mill workers. Hot on the heels of the Evergreen pulp mill shutdown comes another closure, this one on the opposite end of the Samoa peninsula and, hopefully, much shorter-term. Sierra Pacific Industries’ Arcata lumber mill halted operations Monday citing market conditions, that insurgent…
Full Court Depress
Election night was a blast at northcoastjournal.com, and on the air with our friends at KHUM radio. For one, the occasion was the debut of the Journal’s electronic intern, who was tasked with bringing home all the latest results so participants in our online chat room never had to leave the page. Visitors to our…
Death of the Reporter
Last Friday was nothing like a normal Friday at the typically ship-shape Eureka Reporter. Shoes were off, T-shirts and jeans on, the dress code kaput. Cardboard boxes filled with personal items and work files sat on mostly emptied desks. On the sales side of the office in the early afternoon, employees tossed a ball about…
Second Friday Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held from 6-9 p.m. Friday, November 14th at more than 30 participating locations in Arcata. Visit www.artsarcata.com for even more information about the event or call 822-4500 1. East Side Deli and Market 420 California St. 2. Big Pete’s Pizza 1435…
The Obama Garden
I am writing this on the morning after the election, trying to tame my hangover in time for more champagne at another victory party tonight. During his acceptance speech last night, President-Elect Obama laid out many challenges that Americans face, but he overlooked our most pressing problem: What to do with all those hours that…
