It’s Election Day where I’m writing from, so I’ll make this brief and go back into hiding. All I keep thinking of is that while nature might abhor a vacuum, the feeling is mutual. This is the salient point that keeps cresting the waves when I see the president and his toadies dismantling much of the good in the world in the sheer nihilistic exuberance of nihilism of the kind of short-term, destructive gains that usually accompany Delta P diving disasters. The call of the void is a deep and powerful force, and it can do a lot of damage before the leaks get fixed. Some of that damage is edifying, though, because while it’s one thing to speculate over the potential harm from a political project or run to cover-up the numbers and soothe the concerns with an adjustment of the gas lamp, it’s a lot harder to ignore a smoking crater. Just look at that sunken derelict in Michigan — no, not the one Gordon Lightfoot wrote about 50 years ago — I’m referring to the aftermath of the failed Senate campaign of Haley Stevens. If the manic, cartoon-Midwestern antics of that truly bizarre kobold has proved anything, it’s an exoneration of the left for their open disgust at the Democratic establishment for embracing terrible centrist candidates in opposition to populism and progress. And sure, the figureheads (mostly) came around to the better candidate eventually, but only when they had exhausted all avenues with someone who — I can’t stress this enough — seems like she came from an insane, alien dimension. One far more terrible and annoying than our own.
I’m not even mad at Stevens; I find her fascinating. It’s the jerks who run America’s (alleged) opposition party to fascism who supported her and who continue to invite the correct response of exhausted disgust from sensible voters everywhere who piss me off. I’m hoping for a good outcome from this year’s midterms, but I’m too old for illusions. Any system — like our own — administered by a corrupt, ruling elite who consider a living planet supporting a thriving society that values peace and shared prosperity to be radical and dangerous concepts is not a system that good people should invest much trust in. Still, hope remains, just as nature tries its best to fill in the giant sucking noise that seems to be everywhere lately.
Thursday
Daniel Nickerson from Makenu and the Cowtown Sound is playing a free solo set at the Redwood Curtain Brewery in Myrtletown at 6 p.m. Expect oldies, goldies, covers for lovers and original tunes for the rest of us, too.
Friday
There’s a songwriter jamberoo at the Arcata Playhouse tonight at 7 p.m. featuring Ruby Ruth George and Mike Frazier. Expect country and folk-adjacent tunes full of esprit de corps for the local scene, both audience and musicians alike ($25, $15 for students and seniors).
Saturday
Speaking of local songwriters, the Humboldt Songwriters Showcase is going down at the Eagle House ballroom tonight at 7 p.m. Come join the likes of Patrick Cleary, Xeff Scolari, Chad Johnson, Anna Hamilton, J.D. Garza and Zach Gentry for an evening of original tunes from each artist’s songbook. No cover at the door, either.
If you want something louder and heavier, roll through Savage Henry Comedy Club at the same hour for a punk and noise night featuring Chilean act SKALDIK, Lust 4 Blood from the Bay Area, along with local acts Something Wicked, Executive Order and Brain Dead Rejects. The cover is $10 and bring an I.D. if you want a beer because this is an all-ages gig.
Sunday
Yes! Jesters! Positively Stopping Amazon is a satirical bit of dinner theater at the Arcata Playhouse starting around 5:45 p.m. for the soup portion of the show, which comes with a minimum donation of $5. The show itself will feature clowning with Katie Belknap and James Zeller and company, and if you bring a plain black T-shirt, you can get it silkscreened with the message “Support Local Business — No Amazon Warehouse.” And while it’s hard to imagine much stopping the machinations of the buffoons and assholes in the Planning Department in their gross effort to ignore the public will, we might as well support these clowns giving it a try.
Meanwhile at 8 p.m., there’s going to be some sparks flying over at Moss Oak Commons with electro noise outfit Froot Loops from Cincinnati sharing the venue with local powerhouses Image Pit, DuneTV and Something Wicked. A donation of $5-$20 is lightly suggested for this all-ages show.
Monday
Speaking once more of singer/songwriters, although not local this time, Jeffrey Foucault is back in town for a 7 p.m. gig at the Arcata Playhouse. A master writer and producer of various American folk music traditions, this fella is legitimate and guaranteed to bring the goods for anyone fortunate enough to be in the audience at our beloved little wooden concert hall ($22, $20 for Playhouse members).
Tuesday
I can’t stand the band who wrote the tune, but “Tuesday’s Gone” is a suitable tune for tonight.
Wednesday
One way to cure the mid-autumn, midweek blues is to remind yourself that it can always get worse. This counts not only for practical applications in your personal life, but in the world of arts and entertainment as well. But every trip to rock bottom comes with a depth chart with which to mark one’s progress into Hell, and a major milestone in that trip down the gorge of VHS-era cult crap is playing on the big screen at the Arcata Theatre Lounge tonight at 7 p.m. There are a lot of terrible movies out there, but very few sit on the bleeding edge of oddly redemptive entertainment like Troll 2, one of the worst things ever committed to film. It’s bad, but a lot of your more interesting and/or annoying friends think it’s good. Come judge for yourself, and bring $6 for admission, or $10 if you wish to leave with a poster. It isn’t a bad idea to have some physical paper artifact you can use to wipe up the mess.
Collin Yeo (he/him) voted, but for what?
This article appears in Caring for Trans Youth.