I’ve been hearing a lot about the idea that our current situation is the fault of the American voters, some even suggesting, in this paper and elsewhere, that the public can’t be trusted with the task of participating in a democracy. Given that this week covers the inauguration and return of a very divisive president, […]
Flo J. Simpson
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Nov. 6
Here’s a rap and hip hop throwdown for your midweek’s delight. A touring ensemble of DJ True Justice, Vocab Slick and Z-Man, traveling under the moniker The Ninth annual Slap Frost Tour hits the Basement tonight at 8 p.m., where the roadsters will mix and mingle with some of our local heroes. Representing the 707 […]
Posted inMusic
Box of Rain
It’s fitting that the man who co-wrote the most famous song about dying, by a group called The Grateful Dead, would see fit to pass away during this period of days that finds the living in communion with the departed, surrounded — around here at least — by a fat backdrop of rain. More on […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Friday, Dec. 15
Hot on the heels of the Hip Hop Humboldt Holiday hoedown earlier this month comes another group cypher with a lot of the same names on the marquee. This one’s at Humbrews and it comes in two stages, so listen up. 6-9 p.m. is the free all-ages Fatbol cypher. After 9:30 p.m., however, it’s $10 […]
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New Moon Fever
I don’t attribute much of human behavior to the far-out celestial bodies in our solar system. Credit that to a rebellious streak I’m employing against my now-deceased parents who met in the 1970s in a transcendental “community” that was somewhat active in that archetyping. I don’t worry about which planet is in retrograde. I do, […]
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Dr. Strangelove 2.0
Sunday marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Anybody want to guess why I’ve been thinking about that lately? With no sign of de-escalation in sight on the European front, we’re all back under the umbrella of the dumbest human action imaginable: the specter of nuclear war. Back in 1962, […]
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From Tragedy to Farce
There are a lot of things I didn’t like about last week, from comical nonsense like The New York Times endorsing Elizabeth Warren AND Amy Klobucar as the Democratic Party candidate because apparently we plan on being ruled by an executive diarchy harvested straight out of the professional managerial strata and with absurdly low support […]
Posted inMusic
Some Things Last A Long Time
Last week two very different musical geniuses passed away. Ric Ocasek was a hook-writer like no other before or since, and was the mind behind The Cars, as well as a talented producer behind the boards. Daniel Johnston was a lo-fi music collage artist who suffered openly and tremendously from various mental health issues for […]