The China Connection
Humboldt State opens a gateway to the world’s next superpower
Cover Stories
The China Connection
It’s early December at Xi’an International Studies University in Xi’an, China, and the students have been in the classroom since 7:30 a.m., preparing. Some read. Others write. A couple text on their phones while others catch a few more minutes of sleep before class begins. None of these 13 Chinese freshmen are quite ready for…
Swaps Happen
The journey between the campuses of Humboldt State University and Xi’an International Studies University (XISU) spans more than 6,000 miles, from a small college town on Humboldt Bay to one of the oldest cities in China. In the past five years these two schools, nearly half a world apart, have formed an unlikely alliance, enabling…
Klamath River Gray Whales Photo Dump
This week’s Journal stars the two photogenic whales who recently ventured into the Klamath River. But since cyberspace in unencumbered by space limitations, we thought we’d drop a whale-size load of images we’ve collected over the last couple week’s on ya. As always, right click/view image to biggify. This first batch features mama/baby adorableness and…
California Redwood Co. Adapts to International Market
More of Humboldt County’s trees are bound for Asia — or parts of them anyway. Unlike recent whole log shipments out of Humboldt Bay, the wood this time around will be milled locally, then trucked south and loaded onto container ships at the Port of Oakland. The California Redwood Company has entered into an agreement…
Mike Thompson Fears No Beard
If you aren’t Facebook friends with Congressman Mike Thompson, then you missed him hanging out with the San Francisco Giants this week. Here he is showing bravery when faced Brian Wilson’s imposing beard. Source.
No Big Deal, Just Plaza Bubbles
My path to Tomo was delayed for about half an hour Sunday night when the curiosity stemming from the giant bubbles floating over my head inflicted me with temporary sushi hunger amnesia. The source? Crescent City resident Janice Morgan. She and a companion had driven to Fortuna for the Redwood AutoXpo and decided to stop…
Meat, Eureka!
Here at the Journal, we get oodles of announcements from various peeps about store openings, ribbon cuttings, and ground breakings. Hum ho. But this one caught our eyes and moistened our food holes. After months of rumors, the highlight of Hwy. 36 is finally sticking its barbecue sauce stained shovel into Eurekan dirt. Sorry, PETA!…
Drawing it Out
Just 11 more days, politicos, ’til this mapquake subsides. By July 31, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission expects to have finished remapping the boundaries of the state’s congressional, senate, assembly and board of equalization districts. The redistricting, which happens every 10 years, will adjust districts so they’re relatively equal in population, using data from the…
Not Quite Traditional
The year may be 2011, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it fashion-wise. Retro is in, particularly styles from the ’30s and ’40s. Pokey LaFarge, a neo-trad artist on the rise who headlines Saturday’s Jefferson State Old Time Review at the Arcata Playhouse, has a fine-tuned retro sartorial sense (also imposed on his band The South…
Wizard of Awe
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2. As some readers know, I began my association with the Journal as a film reviewer in November 2001 when I reviewed Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, the film adaptation of the first in J.K. Rowling’s seven-book series. The cover story of that issue dealt with three…
Princess Diaries
Editor: The beauty pageant supported by The Ink People (“Really?” June 30) represents yet another form of the highly constrictive and narrowly defined version of the female our young girls are steeped in. Is it a horrendous, dangerous or violent activity? Not necessarily on its own, but it needs to be seen together with all…
A History of Violence
Editor: In regards to the subversion of federal efforts to kill a Native American culture (“Tales of Subversion,” July 14), this is the story of many in our history. Over and over again people have been subjected to persecution and attempts to change this nation’s character into the puritanical vision of the 1600s. Native Americans…
No Time For Dreaming
Brooklyn-based R&B soul singer Charles Bradley has traveled down a hard, crooked road, eventually making a circuitous journey back to his old stomping grounds after stops in Maine, Alaska and California. Now, at the age of 63, Bradley has finally gained some recognition with his excellent, aptly-titled debut, No Time For Dreaming, accompanied by Menahan…
Joyous Zumba
Six bucks can buy you a margarita. That’s also the fee consummate musician and merrymaker Marla Joy charges for the Zumba classes she teaches from Fortuna to Trinidad. “Drink one margarita and you might consume 300 to 600 calories,” Joy says. “You might feel OK, but for six dollars come in and get a better…
Stage Presence
As the current theater season winds down, announcements of next season’s offerings on North Coast stages are beginning. Before some of those are revealed later in this column, a few words on the wider context, and a reminder. The reminder is this: All theater is local. It’s true that the plays we see here are…
Of Mice and Men and Deodorants
Jan. 24, 1984, Bellingham, Wash. Around 2 p.m. I take a break from the water system I’m designing and walk downtown to our local computer store — someone’s told me they’re unveiling a fancy new machine there. I join a group of rubberneckers standing around a beige box, two feet high, a foot on each…
Fortuna’s Second Act
Fortuna knows how to rip the fun band-aid off. For 50 weeks a year, the friendly city keeps it low key as the Humboldtian small town America-standard bearer. Kids go to school. Parents go to work. Boats don’t rock. Not much. But for two consecutive July weeks a year, Fortuna exhausts itself and cranks up…
Middle of Everywhere
Pokey LaFarge and The South City Three are a prime example of a talented, hardworking band that put in their time and are finally starting to receive their due. After touring non-stop throughout the US and UK, being declared “best new act” of last year’s Newport Folk Festival by SPIN Magazine and recording a single…
July Twenty-Third
Saturday is one of those rare summer Humboldt days when there’s just too much entertainment to take in. We have several conflicting music festivals and shows north and south county that probably should not have been scheduled on the same day, all vying for your time and attention. We’ll start with the Humboldt Folklife Society…
Dog Eat Dog
Folks, we have a hot-dog standoff happening right now, right down here on the flower-besotted, layabout-dotted Arcata Plaza, where the statue of Prez McKinley generally rules as the more constant source of rankle. Yes, hot dogs — but no fear, some are tofu! And organic! Relax, troglodytes — some are regular, too. The battle is…
Wind Chimes
The soft refrain Of ancient algorithms Race down…
