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Posts published in “Essays”

The Exhilaration of Being Shot At Unsuccessfully

The famous and also infamous director Werner Herzog is giving seminars for aspiring filmmakers (which the Rand Corp. pegs at 75% of the U.S. popu lation). Included in the curriculum is: “…the art of lockpicking.…

Line’s End?

The North Coast Railroad Authority, the pub­lic agency that controls the long-dormant train tracks between Humboldt County and the Bay Area, is on the verge of running out of cash. It's been 12 years since any…

‘We Need Jobs! Now!’

Of all the ideas out there on how to pull us out of the economic mess we’re in, none makes more sense than the program laid out by the AFL-CIO and a coalition of civil…

The Auld Triangle Goes Jingle Jangle

Obama’s dipped below 50% in public approval, which — so the pollsters tell us — is nothing particu­larly unusual for a new president at this stage of the game. This week, he’s scheduled to announce…

Valley People 12/2/2009

GUIDO PRONSOLINO died Monday at his home in Yorkville. He was 83. A full obituary will appear next week, but a potluck celebration of Guido's life will be held this Friday (December 4th), 1pm at…

Looking For Captain Fathom

Katheryn and I never did connect with Soren, or Alan Graham. I did deliver the IWW tee-shirt he’d sent me years ago he'd asked me to bring so that he could reproduce it. But I…

Monk, For The Record

In Michael Ondaatje's wonderful novel “Divisadero” — a most memorable part of which is set in Sonoma County — the jazz of Thelonious Monk is likened to “imprisoned birdsongs.” Leave it to a superb novelist…

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