Pony Express Days Kicks Off With A Bang!

McKinleyville California has held the pony Express days since 1968. At the time is was a family friendly barbecue, parade and equestrian race.

   The event has grown to include a barn dance, parade Gymhhana, a horse shoe tournament, a festival with a saloon and more. The event this year runs May 30th to June 7th, 2015. There will be a chili cook-off on Wednesday evening, but the barn dance that used to kick off the last weekend of the event, was moved to last night, or the first weekend. Also added were the farm fest which took place Saturday from noon to 4 pm and included local members of Future Farmers of America, this kid friendly event had a bounce house, face painting and other kid activities. Later at the same location, A&L Feed Store held the barn dance starting at about 9 pm.

What was totally new this year was the Boots, Brews, Bites &  Bordeaux walk. There were 20 locations between A&L Feed and HealthSport (about a mile or so apart) along Central Avenue. From 5 to 8 pm each location had either a brewery or winery represented and they were paired with small food tidbits, everything from a desert or chocolate to a full on pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw at Nor Cal Pets.

 I had a place to stay in Macktown so I didn't have to drive at all. I would suggest finding a friend's place to crash at in McKinleyville if you want to attend this next year. And I would recommend this event for sure.

The event was walk friendly but there was a shuttle of sorts. Wes Green who owns a landscape and materials business in Arcata, brought out his fully restored ancient Ford tractor and a trailer for a fantastic open air hay ride along the route.

The barn dance used to be inside the barn portion of A&L Feed Store but they moved it outside on the dock so that more people could attend. It seemed to be a great time had by all in attendance.

I'm Doing A Classic Rock Show Now On Radio Vegas Dot Rocks!

For those that haven't heard, I am now doing a 2 hour Classic Rock show on www.radiovegas.rocks! The station is run by a college friend of mine and there are several genres of rock and comedy. That's right, mixed in between the music are stand up comedy bits. This is internet radio so expect some four letter words from some of the comedians and other show hosts. I try to keep my 2 hours PG rated.

My time slot is 9 am to 11 am Friday mornings. Join me for a great mix of classic hits and great classic rock songs every Friday morning.

Aerial Views Of Trinidad And Moonstone Beach From Chad Johnson

Below are videos shot by local Chad Johnson with his drone aircraft and other cool gadgets.
Some of these shots are just breath taking. Enjoy and share. Thanks to Chad for sharing this with the public.

Trinidad State Beach


Trinidad Ceremonial Lighthouse


Moonstone Beach, just south of Trinidad.


In this one, when the camera looks up the beach,  you can see what looks like hill sticking up out of the water. That is Trinidad Head which overlooks Trinidad Bay. Trinidad Head is north of Moonstone Beach by about 5 miles. 

Eternal Disaster, The Dutch Comic Version

Click here to view a somewhat simplistic comic of where we are with the disaster coming out of  Fukushima.

March Against Monsanto Saturday The 23rd. On Memorial Weekend

As Eric Kirk shared at SoHumParlance II, one can go to the Kinetic Sculpture Race water crossing in Eureka and then attend the March Against Monsanto, Saturday May 23rd.

Here is the scoop on the march from their facebook page. 

Bring your kids, dogs, costumes (honey bees, bumble bees beekeepers, butterflies, ladybugs, the possibilities are endless!), dogs, signs, drums - whatever your imagination dictates, to this important part of the global

movement to label, better yet, ban GMOs. Together, we will MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO!! Protect ourselves, our children, our CSAs, our bees, our mother earth, our organic farmers, ourselves, our rights, our very existence!

We will meet at 2nd and I streets, and at 3:00 we march to the Humboldt County Courthouse, where we will listen to various speakers and have the opportunity to speak ourselves, if we so choose.

THIS IS A FREE EVENT IN WHICH YOUR PRESENCE IS GREATLY NEEDED AND VERY IMPORTANT!! Come join us in a march for Seed Freedom, Food Freedom, Individual Freedom, and all sorts of Freedom!!

Here is a link to a article titled: The Economic Argument Against GMO's, A Top 10 List.

The Ocean Radiation Is Here. Assuming We Ever Find A Way To Stop Fukushima, What's Next?

Be sure to watch the video at the very bottom of this post. Between here and there are some depressing observations about the situation the planet is in due to the nuclear industry and more specifically Fukushima. First is a well done story from Statesman Journal that lays out where we are and that the governments of the world aren't actually doing much to help or test for radiation. 

Here is the information up to this point from the StatesmanJournal dot com. In November, Buesseler reported that Fukushima radiation had been identified in 10 offshore samples, including one 100 miles off the coast of Eureka, California.
Here is a story link from enews about the dead animals from the pacific being tested at US universities. If you want the more scientific stuff see this.

And then there is this from Arnie Gunderson at the World Uranium Symposium  also a link at enenews.
Here's a snippet:
Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer at Fairewinds Energy Education, World Uranium Symposium — Fukushima Workshop, April 2015 (emphasis added):

• At 7:30 in — Last week, Woods Hole announced a study that showed that about… 7 becquerels per cubic meter [has reached the west coast of North America].
• They called it ‘trace amounts’. I don’t call 7 Bq/m^3 a ‘trace amount’… that’s significant and measurable, and it’s just the beginning of the onslaught.
• There was a study in 2012 that predicted how much radiation was going to get to the west coast of B.C. … [It] was 29 times lower than what [Woods Hole] actually measured.
• So scientists have no clue how to measure what’s transporting through the ocean. Studies two years ago are already wrong by essentially a factor of 30.
• The scientists’… real goal was to downplay the significance of the damage to the Pacific Ocean. It is in fact 29 times worse than predicted.

Here is a link to video of the event.

Then there is the explosion in New York  at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant this weekend that should put people on notice that this type of power generation is always subject to scary scenarios due to that fact that it is not always controllable.  

On the bright side, if we ever figure out how to stop Fukushima, New Mexico, Chernybol and all of the other reactors and waste dumps from destroying all life on earth there is this. Elon Musk, CEO at Tesla which makes electric automobiles and sports cars has a new invention that allows wind and solar to make nuclear power obsolete. 
Read about his new battery here and here. 

Or see another video, this one from Elon Musk launching the product that has now made nuclear power obsolete. Stored sunlight. . It's a beautiful thing. This would seem to be the answer to many of our power problems because it is the power bank that has never existed before.  One that gives us the possibility to transform the planet for the better. 

I hope we embrace this technology and from what I can see, that is exactly what is happening. It is being accepted and funded. This changes the whole equation for us currently and those that follow us on planet earth. It is possible for them to say to the nuclear industry, "we don't need your dangerous technology anymore, we have wind, solar and wave generation. When that isn't sufficient, we have gas, oil, hydro-electric and coal. You have become too dangerous and therefore, obsolete. 

We however must not stand by and wish for the best, we must demand that the powers that be are held accountable to the rest of us for destroying an entire ocean and who knows how many countless lives of humans and other creatures in the ecosystem that we depend on for our own lives. 

For the first time in a long time, the banksters may see things our way and get behind this future that could exist. This is a remarkable achievement considering the future that they have currently been funding. 

Westhaven Center For The Arts Spring Fling Sunday!

It's all set to go. 
Tomorrow (Sunday May 10th,) is the 13th. Annual Westhaven Center For The Arts "Spring Fling" fund raiser.  The event runs from 1 to 4 pm.

THERE WILL BE A MAJOR RAFFLE

There will be live bluegrass music from The Compost Mountain Boys, and music from WCA's' Resident Musician Tim Breed.


A Bar-B-Q by grill masters Randy Martinez, Vaughn Beer & Stephan Spoelman include:
Smokey Chicken, Ribs and Tofu Burgers. Also served as well will be Beans, Salads and Desserts.

There will also be  Beer from Mad River Brewing Company and Classic Wines from California.

 DID I MENTION THAT THERE WILL BE A GREAT RAFFLE?

The music is free, the food is reasonably priced.

The big deal of the day is the raffle. There are just dozens and dozens of things possibly win.
Buy tickets (FOR THE RAFFLE) and drop them into the desired prize of choice and try to win.

Sorry, No Dogs Allowed.

Westhaven Center for the Arts
501 S. Westhaven Drive South, Westhaven, just south of Trinidad.


Phone (707) 677-9493

Take US 101 North to Westhaven Dr. exit just north of Clam Beach. Turn right and go up about 1/4 mile on right.

South 101. exit 6th Avenue. Go left to end of 6th Avenue. Ends at Westhaven Center for the Arts parking lot.

Local Artist Antoinette (Toni) Magyar At Trinidad Art Nights And Other Pictures

I didn't make it to the other venues for this, the first Trinidad Art Nights of the year. There was so much going on just around the Lighthouse Grill where I took dad to dinner. Salty's surf and tackle next door had the Weber BBQ going and a small crowd. There was beer and wine on the patio of the grill. Across the street and behind the Chevron station there were fire dancers after the sun went down. There was an after party party at the Town Hall and art exhibits all over town. We never made it to those, maybe next month.

Trinidad Art Nights are the first Friday of the month starting in May and going through sometime in the Fall.

Between the Strawberry Rock Gallery and Lighthouse Grill were The Compost Mountain Boys playing bluegrass music.

Local Artist in residence at Westhaven Center for the ArtsAntoinette (Toni) Magyar talked to the crowd while painting bunny rabbits in front of the Strawberry Rock Gallery.

Toni's art is currently on display at the Lighthouse Grill which is in the background of the picture above.

Below is the inside of Strawberry Rock Gallery which Toni is painting in front of.