Living Above the Fold

Those of you who live in the Bay Area probably already know about Emeryville — that weird little city that takes up about 2 square miles on the bay mudflats.  People these days know it mostly as the home of Pixar, but the city’s got a long and varied history.  For this article, I had a chance to look at the city’s strange and convoluted history, from its start as a collection of slaughteryards, gambling dens and brothels to its current incarnation as home to artists’ lofts and biotech companies.

Emeryville Unplugged (The East Bay Monthly, July 2008)

It’s one thing for a committed vegan to eliminate meat from their diet, but that’s only the first step. Because what about the clothes they wear?

Vegan, Head to Toe (Alternet.org, September 17, 2004)

Traditionally, there were only two ways to start a farm: You had to inherit one or marry someone who already had one.  But some young ex-urbanites are taking the plunge on their own, moving out to the country to take up the farming life.

Nature and Nurture (Alternet.org, July 26, 2004)

So, you guys may not know this already, but I’m going to be part of Thrill the World this Saturday. And what is that, you ask? Why, it’s only a global dance event where people all over the world dress like zombies and dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller! Hopefully, we’ll be able to break last year’s record.  I wrote a short piece about my experience:

Thrill the World (Synthesis, October 19, 2009)

I’d post the YouTube video of our practice, but then you’d see what a total, uncoordinated spaz I am when I dance!

Hmmm, after this, my piece on the Blue Room’s “Night of the Living Dead” show and my Mediashift post on zombie bloggers, I’m starting to see a theme in my writing as of late!

The East Bay is a pretty urbanized area, so you wouldn’t think that there would be much wildlife around here. At least, not outside of Sibley or Tilden Regional Parks. But the truth is, there are a lot of animals living in our midst that we rarely see – critters like wild turkeys, raccoons, deer.  In this article, I spoke with a woman who rescued a possum that had been hit by a car and a man who had some legal entanglements involving a skunk…

Wild Kingdom (The East Bay Monthly, March 2007)

One of my rare sojourns into film criticism.  In February 2004, Pixar’s Finding Nemo was widely expected to take home the Academy award for best animated feature – but I thought it should go to The Triplets of Belleville.  Though honestly, I thought that the idea of a best animated feature category was kind of a poor idea to begin with…

Triplets Should Sink Nemo (San Francisco Chronicle, February 29, 2004)

This is an old article but still one of my favorites.  in it, I speak to some committed vegans who own cats — and worry that feeding their pet cats meat compromises their commitment against animal cruelty. I have to admit that when I first started investigating this issue, I half-expected the people involved in this debate to be a little loop.  But they mostly turned out to be very thoughtful people with an interesting point of view.  This article probably generated more response than anything else I’ve ever written, thus lending support to my theory that people on the Internet love cats. I may publish a thesis on that.

The Cat that Ate Tofu (Alternet.org, May 23, 2004)

Hey cats and kittens!

Remember that photo of Sarah Palin toting a rifle while posing in her bikini? In this article, I took a closer look at that (Oh ho ho, get it?) and other hoaxes and urban legends getting circulated as truth online. Check it out here:

How Forwarded Email Jokes, Hoaxes Evolved with Social Media (PBS Mediashift, January26, 2008)
And if that’s not enough to entice you, we’ll also tell you about that YouTube video that makes you gouge your own eyes out. Or does it!? Spooky!

It was only long after I completed this article that I realized the term I was groping for in describing that eye-gouging video was the motif of harmful sensation.  A good phrase to have in your verbal repoitore to impress people at parties.

I was pretty lucky to have a chance to speak with Rev. Horton Heat aka Jim Heath before his band was scheduled to play up in Chico.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous about this one, since the Rev is known for good ole’ psychobilly music and I’m a city boy at heart.  But it turns out that Heath is a pretty laid-back fellow with a great sense of humor — which should be evident from his music — and he didn’t mind talking to this city slicker.  The big revelation of the interview was that Rev. Horton Heat did NOT, in fact, compose the Ren and Stimpy theme song, which is something that everyone I know had preciously believed.  Eat your heart out, Woodward and Bernstein, because I’m totally blowing the lid off that sordid little secret!

Rev. Horton Heat (Synthesis, Sept. 28, 2009)

I had a chance to interview Rykarda Parasol when she visited Chico last year. I didn’t know much about her going in, so it was really an experience to hear some of her creepy rock noir sounds for the first time.

A Dark and Deserted Place: Rykarda Parasol Explores the Darker Crevasses of the Human Condition (Synthesis, January 31, 2008)