Many of you have heard that Bob Doran, the Journal’s arts and culture editor, suffered a stroke over the weekend and is being treated in Santa Rosa. His family is by his side there. We at the Journal, along with Bob’s many, many friends and fans, are all sending him our best wishes for a […]
Section Feature
Posted inArts + Scene
Spock versus Spock
Reviews STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. My personal investment in all this Star Trek business is pretty minimal. Years ago, I burned through the first four or five movies over the course of a languorous, lost afternoon. I enjoyed the experience, but I chose those movies because they were the only ones in the house where […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Hum – CPRA
Everything seems topsy turvy. I find myself cheering Humboldt County Supervisor Mark Lovelace and siding with the government over a public records act battle. I haven’t felt this trippy since string theorist Brian Greene convinced me that existence is filled with infinite universes. Lovelace was the one supervisor who held out against a settlement between […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
What Ain’t So
James Bond’s favorite drink was champagne (neither shaken nor stirred). He imbibed 65 glasses in the books and movies, compared with 40 vodka martinis. Unless you combine bourbon and scotch whiskies (my father-in-law is having a fit) for 95 total. If you like fine legal distinctions, you can claim there are 46 states in the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Plainsong
Words that chant from the dust of the past tickle today’s heart like trout whispering to the water with veined and subtle fins. A single person, a single voice, gives a plaintive curl of smoke. Many voices run like fire through the soul. Words are clear and solitary in plainsong. There is no melody to […]
Posted inNews
The Disappearing Railroad Blues
Getting trains into Humboldt County has never been easy. The common shorthand for our region’s isolation is “behind the redwood curtain,” but those fuzzy-barked spires were never a barrier for rails. In fact, the lucrative lumber from logged old growths is what attracted railroad companies here in the first place. No, it’s the ground beneath […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Creative Cover!
Editor: We were excited to see graphic artist Lynn Jones’ creative reuse of materials for the North Coast Journal’s “Summer of Fun” (May 9) issue! Our mission at SCRAP Humboldt, the county’s first nonprofit creative reuse center, is to inspire creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the […]
Posted inMusic
Black and White or in Color?
As the multi-talented saxophonist/electronica artist/clothing designer Chris Noonan put it, “It’s that time of year again.” It’s HSU’s graduation weekend for one thing, which sort of means the beginning of summer, signaling a definite shift in the local student population. Actually, Noonan meant it’s time for another Black and White Ball, Saturday night at the […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Much Ado about Nothing
Why is there something rather than nothing? That question — pioneering psychologist William James dubbed it “the darkest in all philosophy” — feels to me a bit like “what’s north of the North Pole?” It’s a trick question because of its insinuation that an explanation is called for because “nothing” is normal and “something” demands […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Creepy Characters and Clowns
This coming weekend, May 16-18, graduating Master of Fine Arts students at Dell’Arte International School present the culmination of their thesis projects: the second and final weekend of three plays which they devised and perform. It’s the end of a process that involved weekly presentations to their academic advisers, writing a statement of purpose and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Five Things To Know Before You Name Your Child or Dog
1. Porch test: Make a list of potential pup names. Open your front door. Step outside. Holler out the first one on the list. Holler it again. How’s that feel? Do it one more time. If you find yourself cringing that you just shouted “Mr. Scritchie!” at the neighborhood multiple times, cross it off the […]