All over Humboldt County, Kinetic Grand Championship racers are likely still icing their quads from the 50th annual three-day human-powered sculpture race over land and water that ended on Ferndale’s Main Street on Monday. In the end, the Grand Championship trophy went to Team Trilo Bike and its diner on wheels. But ACE awards (for […]
Kinetic Grand Championship
Posted inArts + Scene
Splashdown! Photos from Kinetic Day 2
Hang onto your paddles, the Kinetic Grand Championship’s 50th annual Humboldt Bay crossing made a splash with the amphibious leg of the race yesterday. Photographer Mark McKenna was there to catch the flipping, floating and fun. Enjoy the highlights in the slideshow below — from outside the splash zone. Related Stories
Posted inArts + Scene
Rolling Through: Photos and Video from Kinetic Day One
On Saturday, May 26, crowds gathered on the Arcata Plaza to see the blend of art, engineering and madness that is the parade of Kinetic Grand Championship teams and their wild rides. Around midday, after a kind of show and shine with spectators checking out the amphibious marvels and their brave crews, participants looped the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Kinetic Party People
If you’re going to come up with a wacky theme and wild costumes for your Kinetic Grand Championship team, you want to make the most of them. This year, on Friday, May 25, the eve of the human-powered sculpture race, the bold and bewigged donned their gear and put on a show for the Kinetic Thrills […]
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McKinley Draped in ‘Justice for Josiah’ Banner in Dual Act of Protest
The thousands of people who descended on the Arcata Plaza this morning to watch the Kinetic Grand Championship race begin were greeted by an unusual sight. The McKinley statue in the plaza’s center — the source of months of public debate — was shrouded in a white sheet painted with the words “Justice for Josiah” […]
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The Crown: Rutabaga Style
Like the rest of the world, we put our worries aside for a few brief hours of royal watching — the dresses, the headwear, the pageantry! We refer, of course, to the annual Rutabaga Ball on Saturday, May 19 at the Arcata Community Center. Once again, the queens assembled to judge a competition of wit, […]
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Duane Flatmo’s Dragon Heads for the Smithsonian
How do you pack a giant, flaming scrap-metal monster on wheels? Artist and Burning Man regular Duane Flatmo has done it plenty of times with his iconic fire-spouting octopus “El Pulpo Mecanico.” But now he’s shipping the fiery dragon he built in 2009 to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The museum will display the gleaming […]
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Splashdown: Kinetic Day 2
They survived the sand and dared Deadman’s Drop. On Sunday, Kinetic Grand Championship competitors got amphibious, using foam, floats, kayaks and paddles to navigate the waters of Humboldt Bay. Making waves (and making it back to shore) is no joke — listing craft, log jams and busted cabooses were just a few of the challenges. […]
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All Downhill: Kinetic Day One
After parading around the Arcata Plaza, teams competing for glory (or just trying to stay upright) took off on the 2017 Grand Kinetic Championship. As the crowd cheered on Saturday, the human-powered contraptions made their way to the Manila Dunes to face Deadman’s Drop, the steep, sandy, downhill challenge that’s toppled many a team. Photographer […]
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Keepin’ it Kinetic: Last Legs
In the end, Team Tempus Fugitorium crossed the Ferndale finish line first for a thrilling third consecutive win. Time flies and so do they. We tip our oversize steampunk hats to all who made it through the sand, sea, rough road and hellish hills. Today the sore and the sunburned rest — their battered contraptions […]