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Posts published in “Essays”

Rednecks, Hippies & Me

I don’t like it when sniveling little punks from the suburbs make snide and condescending comments about rednecks. “Oh yeah, those rednecks, those scary hillbilly goat-sodomizers in their overalls and Nascar jackets.” It’s a bunch…

Buck Clark, Last Of The Old-Time Loggers

Slim Pickens, a rodeo caller who went on to fame as a movie actor, said that 1950 Boonville was the roughest place he’d ever called a rodeo in. Buck Clark admits to having been an…

Assignment: Ukiah – Red? Don’t Invite. Blue? Flip Her Off.

(Note: Today’s column is also available in Pumpkin Spice. Please see Page 42 for details.) As the days dwindled down to a tolerable few, I began taking increased interest in the sudden, colorful blossoming of…

Medical Care At Burning Man

At Burning Man sometimes something happens that is so totally unexpected and delightful you shake your head in wonderment. Interviewing the medical director of Emergency Services at Burning Man this year we both got a…

Please, Not A Country For Old Men

I’m not entirely certain what a country for old white men would look and feel like, but I have been thinking about that image/concept ever since I first saw the movie, No Country for Old…

Bum Like Me

I've never been homeless, but I've been poor, lived in shitesque neighborhoods, and over the years I've known several homeless folks well enough to say good morning and have a conversation. In my experience, they're…

Assignment: Ukiah: 1) Cured By Weed; 2) The Anti-Library

I’ve been a skeptic of marijuana as a medical miracle for almost as long as I’ve been doubtful the Easter Bunny lays eggs in my stocking once a year and the Cleveland Browns are someday…

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