Posts published in “Essays”

The most influential promoters of California's messed-up cannabis "legalization" scheme (they are often IDed as "thought leader" or "visionary" when speaking at conferences) are now its most vocal critics. None are expressing any self-criticism. The…

The last time marijuana did me a favor was when I went to see the Grateful Dead along with 30,000 other smelly hippies and, just as the show was about to start, realized I’d left…

I know James Taylor has seen fire and rain. I have heard him sing about them. Bully for him. I, too, have seen fire and rain, lived with them and nearly died from them. I…

Way back when I was a free-range kid in coastal Southern California, there was a decent-sized freshwater pond about a twenty-minute walk through the barbed-wire fence and up into the hills behind our street. Whether…

It was a time when everybody in the neighborhood trusted everybody else. I mean that my parents and Dave’s parents trusted each other with their kids; even though our parents rarely spoke to each other.…

Is there a city in California, other than Ukiah, so eager to wipe out its history and destroy architecturally significant buildings? Why does Ukiah have a near spotless record of bulldozing and/or setting fire to…

“The power of the dog is all those urges, all those deep, uncontrollable urges that can come and destroy us.” – Jane Campion, director, screenwriter What’s a “western”? Moviegoers and film critics have been asking…

At well over two hours running time, Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up (streaming on Netflix) isn’t exactly a bagatelle, but it mostly retains its satiric lightness and goes by quickly. A holiday film about the…