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Posts published in “Essays”

The Local Angle

Craig Anderson was a "patriotic deserter" from the US Navy in 1967. As recounted sympathetically by John Glionna in the New York Times December 22:…

Concert With A Catch

I took a journey last night. I pulled on my 4th layer of clothing and prepared to buck into the nearly horizontal rain of a dark and stormy Mendocino night. As I stepped out into the darkness that seemed crowded by the howling winds, and the even darker storm clouds concentrating at that very moment in the National Capital, I wondered for a moment if it might be better to drive.

Rip Taylor, Live!

Rip Taylor is a classic comedian whose career in show business spans over 50 years.

He is known to many as the king of confetti for his trademark act of throwing confetti into the audience. First gaining initial prominence as the crying comedian on the Ed Sullivan show, he has worked on various TV shows including the Jackie Gleason show, the Monkees, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, the Gong Show as well as on stage broadway and Las Vegas.

Starting Out In Fort Bragg

If I still believed the things I was told when I was a teenager, barely able to distinguish truth from fiction, I would be as cranked up about a vast liberal conspiracy to control my every action, take my guns away, and teach my offspring to be sexual deviants as the vast majority of Americans. Actually, that’s not exactly correct.

Our Dying Ocean

Kelp forests are the most complex and abundant ecosystems on earth, exceeding when they are healthy even tropical rain forests in both the diversity of species and the abundance of individuals. Enormous kelp forests once extended the length of the pacific coast to Alaska stretching out as much as three miles into the ocean. The little fish hide, the big fish lurk and the total ecosystem is extraordinarily diverse complicated and abundant. A kelp forest is a biological miracle.

Reflections

Since the election of Donald Trump, I have been haunted by aphorisms. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Everything is connected. There are no accidents. Life is but a dream.

My Days at ‘The Clinic’

In 1994 I called the Anderson Valley Health Center from a phone connected to a Redwood tree stump. I was in the third year of…

Countdown At The Trough

If you have been paying attention—and if you haven't, shame! There will be a quiz at the conclusion of this installment — you know that…

Jesu: Bach’s Timeless Broth

For many it remains an open question whether the tricentenary of one of J. S. Bach’s most famous tunes—or, to be more precise, the work…

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