The only Levon Helm story I have is the ticket I didn't buy to see the Last Waltz - the concert, not the movie.

I was 20 years old, working part-time at an ice-cream shop in Santa Cruz while I went to school. It was a great gig - paid a… Read full post »

Best Costume Design. Really, Academy? That’s it? As a good online friend would say, Pffft.

The most overlooked movie of the year, by far, is Bright Star. From the opening shot—an extreme closeup of a needle pulling through fabric—you know you are in the hands of a ci/… Read full post »

Seeing the stories on the cover of Open Salon today reminded me of my own little adventure at the Playboy mansion. Don’t get too excited, it wasn’t like that.

It was 1973, and I was a junior in high school. Two friends and I were on our way from the… Read full post »

It’s snowing in Seattle! The weather people have been predicting it for days, and this time, they got it right. It’s a light snow, for now, but it is sticking, and the world has been transformed.

Snow always makes me giddy. Maybe it’s a result of growing up in… Read full post »

I’ve been having a rough couple of days. There are a lot of things I am supposed to be working on, but somehow I couldn’t get myself to move on any of them. And the longer it goes like that, the worse it gets. Like a hoar frost spreading into… Read full post »

The first major gusts of the season tore through here last week, shutting down power and scattering trees, as if announcing the change. My thoughts turn again to Jesse, because this is the month in which he died.

Steven J. Bernstein, aka Jesse, was a writer, an ex-junkie, and… Read full post »

Caution: this story includes a link to the song “Beach Baby." If you listen to it, you will not be able to get it out of your head.

Recently I watched a movie called The Mayor of the Sunset Strip, which tells the story of Rodney Bingenheimer, a seminal/… Read full post »

The sun is back, and so are the whales. We celebrated a few weeks ago with a trip to San Juan Island for an event called Orca Sing.

Washington State is home to three resident pods of orcas (killer whales). They are an iconic species for the region—beloved, respected,… Read full post »

Last week I went to Desolation Sound to help my friends harvest oysters at their family cabin.  We set out on Friday for the trip north, which happily includes two ferry crossings. We arrived just before dark to find the rest of the crew and dinner waiting, salmon and… Read full post »