Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in December 2016

Brahms & The Tears of Britain’s Oppressed

London — ‘Tis the season to think about the next season. Before letting the wave of Christmas gifts crash of over their heads and/or into the digital stockings, and before undertaking their own yuletide retail…

Give Thanks For The Golden State

For over a month now, at least half of the nation has been suffering from PTSD: Pre-Trump Stress Disorder. Our nation has self-inflicted a very serious sickness - actually, a relapse of a recurring, chronic, ugly syndrome. And when Patti Smith, standing in for Bob Dylan at the recent Nobel ceremony, sang his "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," I could only think, Alas, yes indeed.

The Season Of Giving

The holidays loom again, and isn't it funny how we use the word “loom,” with its slightly dire connotation, to describe the approach of this most joyous of seasons. You know what else “looms”? Giants,…

Vina Revisited

My late friend Ernest Peninou wrote four books on vineyards and wineries in California. I met Ernie in 1977 when he co-owned a grapevine nursery in Winters. Grape vines were in short supply and my…

Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016

Tragic House Fire;
Blackbird Pitch;
Oaky Joe;
Mayor Lindy;
Scent-free AVA;
Orange Inaugural;
Extinguisher Bandit;
Police Report;
Rohrbaugh Confusion;
Little Dog;
Tough Call;
CHP Save;
Depression Watch;
Dying Ocean;
Yesterday's Catch;
Shop Local;
Navarro De-thistling;
Liberty Grab;
White Guys

Local Impacts of Standing Rock

On Sunday, November 6, in Redwood Valley, several hundred people gathered to listen to activists report back from Standing Rock where they had stood in solidarity with Native American Tribes, known as Water Protectors, opposing…

Vernon & Charlene, Take Two

The Mail Tribune, an Oregon newspaper, published a long story last week on Vernon and Charlene Rollins. The Rollins’ are retiring after a presumably lucratively long run as proprietors of a famous restaurant just north…

More Edu-Bucks Down The E-Drain

We stopped complaining about computers in the classroom decades ago because the train left the station and the educrats drank the Kool-Aid (pardon the double cliché) and no rational arguments were allowed. According to the…

Letters (Dec. 14, 2016)

Keegan Personal Protective Equipment (KPPE) requirements per OSHA: Hard hat, eye protection, hearing earplugs, hobnail/safety steel-toed boots, mouth restrictor, Kevlar vest, Kevlar underwear, and perhaps some penicillin. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the big RAT TRAP! Along with percussion gear around bathrooms.

-