Spring has sprung and Money is back in business. No, I’m not talking about the dark force of mammon that weaves its evil spell through our very lives, but rather Humboldt’s premier Pink Floyd tribute act. Tonight at 9 p.m. at the Wave Lounge at Blue Lake Casino, the group will be performing a free […]
Money
Posted inMusic
Bowling for Housing
Very few people are immune to the temptations of self-mythologization. This makes sense in America, where we are raised from birth by the flashing dream machines provided by the entertainment, sports and advertising industries. Narrative is injected into our minds like the processed filling in Twinkies at such a rate and volume that we are […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin
“I think that the internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government. The one thing that’s missing, but that will soon be developed, is reliable e-cash, a method whereby on the internet, you can transfer funds from A to B without A knowing B or B knowing […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Cryptocurrencyand the Blockchain
Cryptocurrency, especially the largest, Bitcoin, is often touted as “new gold,” a way of holding wealth independent of banks. I discussed cryptocurrency briefly a few years ago (“Cash, Plastic or Bitcoin?” May 5, 2016), when I compared explaining Bitcoin to the challenge faced by Marco Polo when he tried to tell 14th century Venetian city […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Charon’s Obol and Other Coins
“My luggage is but a flask, a wallet, my old cloak and the obol that pays the passage of the departed.” — Leonidas of Tarentum, third century B.C. Today, we take coins for granted. But there was a time when being able to trade a small disc of metal for a sheep, a bushel of […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Gold Bug
After having proved the metal with aqua fortis, which I found in my apothecary shop, likewise with other experiments, and read the long article ‘gold’ in the Encyclopedia Americana, I declared this to be gold of the finest quality, of at least 23 carats.” — From “The Discovery Of Gold In California,” by “Captain” John […]
Posted inMusic
Mr. Moonlight
February is an often overlooked month, a wet and cold placeholder in the depth of the northern hemisphere’s winter that isn’t even considered worthy of 30 days. Throughout history various cultures have named the month after frost, river ice, firewood cutting, mud or even cabbages (cole crops were staples of the winter in most of […]
Posted inMusic
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
Blackened Brightness
This week is a bit of a somber one for me, as Nov. 25/26 marks the 20th anniversary of my mother’s death from cancer at the far too young age of 52. I give those dates because she passed away late at night after Thanksgiving of 1999, likely with the cold front that curls over […]
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 […]
Posted inMusic
Back in Town
I have written here before about my antagonistic relationship with nostalgia and the withering contempt it generates in me. As Spider Jerusalem from Warren Ellis’ excellent comic book Transmetropolitan observes, “The future is an inherently good thing.” However, with all of the familiar faces and returning musicians in this week’s column, I find myself flexing […]
Posted inNews
Humboldt Has Given Bernie Sanders Almost $400k
The LA Times just released an interesting report on Bernie Sanders campaign donations, offering a look at the regions that have supported his successful grassroots funding campaign. The data, which was compiled into an interactive map you can explore by visiting their story here, lets you look at donations by ZIP Code, and contains some […]