I am writing this in my living room on my couch with a large Italian mastiff snoring like a Sardinian sow pig behind me. She doesn’t mean any offense and, in fact, Grinza is a sweet dog, stinkiness notwithstanding. She’s better company than most people, if I am being honest. I mention her because she […]
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Posted inArts + Scene
The Basket and the Blade
I have reiterated tendencies, certain go-to forms,” Robert Benson said. “It’s like with any artist: You get caught up in your own style. With me, it’s the tension between angles and curves.” The trope has been evident “forever” in art made by Indigenous people of far northwestern California, as Benson, a Tsnung’we elder, observed. In […]
Posted inArt Walks + Festivals
Arts Alive!
Presented by Eureka Main Street. Opening receptions for artists, exhibits and performances are held the first Saturday of each month. For more information, call 442-9054 or go to www.eurekamainstreet.org 707 BAR (formerly Steve and Dave’s) First and C streets. Music by Dr. Squid. A TASTE OF BIM 613 Third St. Maggie Draper, paintings. ADORNI CENTER […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
On the Wing
Damsels in fall The unseasonably warm and dry weather seems to be allowing some species of insects to linger later in the year than I’ve seen before. Among them are two damselflies. I checked my archives and this is the latest date in the year I’ve ever noted either the rubyspot or California spreadwing (Archilestes […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Every year the bird known as the Arctic tern experiences two summers and enjoys more daylight than any other animal. That’s because it regularly makes a long-distance journey from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back again. Let’s designate this hardy traveler as your inspirational creature for the next eleven months. […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Bear Harbor Railroad, 1892-1905
Last week, we followed the saga of the Bear Harbor Railroad from the delivery in 1892 of a “Gypsy” locomotive — what would become Bear Harbor Lumber Company No. 1 — to the early 1900s, when the grandiose plans of lumberman Neff Anderson began to be fulfilled with construction of the mill town of Andersonia, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Weed for the 1 Percent
Americans have a tendency to take things too far. It’s true. That’s why Christmas decorations have begun to infiltrate department stores before their Halloween counterparts are off the shelves. It’s why large swaths of rainforest have been obliterated so we can have cheap hamburgers. (One might argue that it’s also why we have military bases […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Champurrado
As the weather gets colder, the drinks get warmer. While I do appreciate a good seasonal drink, I’m not talking about pumpkin-spice-anything. It’s time to let atole warm up your heart. For those unfamiliar with atole (pronounced ah-TOH-leh), it’s a corn-based drink made throughout Mexico and Central America. With origins dating back to pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, […]
Posted inMusic
A Little Music, a Little Kindness
I am going to ignore the holiday altogether, as far as my music beat goes, because virtually no one books shows on that day. I will instead make a couple of suggestions for those of you who celebrate or discard this gluttonous holiday. Firstly, be nice to other people whether they are your family or […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Street Poetry
If not from spotting him around Old Town, you may recognize Bob Hager from his Oct. 26, 2017, Journal cover story “Homeless Survival Guide.” Hager is a veteran and he and his late wife, Kathleen, had been homeless off and on for decades and were evicted after a long-term stay at the Budget Inn in […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
North Coast Legislator Heading Effort to Identify Fire Victims
North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood was 6,000 miles away from his home district, on a legislative study trip in Chile, when he got word Nov. 12 that he needed to return to California. The Camp Fire in Butte County that sparked Nov. 8 near Pulga and tore through the community of Paradise continued to rage […]