Yes, we've featured the martini numerous times on past Cocktail Hours. And that's for a very good reason: there is no libation more classic -- or classy -- than the venerable martini.

There are many variations for this drink, including the very fundamental alteration of substituting vodka for gin. Different strokes, of course, but I'm a purist. Here's how I'm making mine.  Adjust yours to your unimpeachable good taste:

1.  In a shaker filled with cracked ice, add a large quantity of Bombay (white label) gin.

2.  Shake vigorously.

3.  Pour a minuscule amount of Italian vermouth in a chilled martini glass, swirl once or twice and pour out vermouth.  Down the drain with it!

4.  Strain gin into chilled martini glass.

5.  Garnish with three green olives.  I use blue cheese-stuffed olives, but tradition calls for pimento-stuffed. 

6.  Receive this gift from the heavens.

You know how your Blue Lake friends are always trying to convince you to move out there?

Folk-poppers Mad River Rose made a video for "This Is Life," and it's basically more firepower for the Blue Lake propagandists.

The video was funded with a Blue Lake Rising* grant and produced by Chuck Johnson. 

[*Blue Lake is beating Eureka to the rising. For now.]

Photo: Ryan Burns

Californians aren't taking the drought seriously enough, say state regulators. According to state data, California actually used 1 percent more water in May 2014 compared to May 2013.

In response, Sacramento is taking aim at landscaping, lawn overwaters, and washers of cars, driveways, and sidewalks.

Dave Hull of the Humboldt Community Services District told KHUM today:

The State Water Resources Control Board passed an emergency resolution last week, and it was really intended to heighten awareness to the condition we have, and to put some prohibitions and restrictions on water use.

So what is 'wasting water' under these new rules? According to a press release from the State Water Resources Control Board:

With this regulation, all Californians will be expected to stop: washing down driveways and sidewalks; watering of outdoor landscapes that cause excess runoff; using a hose to wash a motor vehicle, unless the hose is fitted with a shut-off nozzle, and using potable water in a fountain or decorative water feature, unless the water is recirculated. The regulation makes an exception for health and safety circumstances.

Residents could be fined up to $500 per day. HCSD's meter readers and other staff will be the eyes of the program, and Hull said they'd be talking to customers in violation of the new rules. 

Hull on Enforcement

Agencies like HCSD will be held accountable by the state if they do not enforce the new rules, Hull said. Despite NoHum's water supply being in relatively good shape, those agencies now have a more powerful regulatory tool at the their disposal.

"I think you probably saw the statewide survey about how much people have conserved water over the last year.. Our area is down 12%, so people have done a great job of heeding the warnings and being aware of what's going on."

Hear Hull's full KHUM interview below.

Dave Hull on KHUM

PS - Hull was very clear that these restrictions apply to potable water, so your hippie neighbor with the rainwater-harvesting roof gets the last laugh. Again. Jerk.

Reposted with permission. Shawn Herlihy is a general contractor & historic-structure preservation specialist.

The play from 1857 "The Poor Of New York" will be open tonight at the North Coast Repertory Theater in Eureka. During the Melodram the audience is expected to play along and boo and his at the bad guys and cheer for the good guys. This morning I spoke with Jim Bushman and Shirley Santino, who are in the show, about it.

Audio

Lead singer Dave Wakeling of the English Beat performs at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX

Dave Wakeling of The English Beat will be catting with Larry Trask today a little after 2pm. The Beat have a new record coming out and we'll talk about that as well as their upcoming tour. "Mirror In The Bathroom" is NOT about cocaine, btw.  We covered that in an earlier conversation.  Join us this afternoon for a talk with a musical legend.

To help support the new album or to check out pre-release demo tracks, click this link.

UPDATEl: If you missed the live interview, you can relive the magic here.

Over at the Jefferson Project in Eureka, people are getting. stuff. done. 

Heidi Benzonelli and a team of community organizers are quietly turning a blighted eyesore, the old Jefferson school, into a bustling neighborhood resource. Free lunch programs, a new playground, a produce giveaway, a DIY bike repair 'kitchen'' and other programs are breathing new life into one of Humboldt's most-populated 'hoods. 

Via the Northcoast Journal:

To hear it from Benzonelli, the center's momentum is nearly unstoppable. "We're a multi-million-dollar organization overnight," she said. Three years after negotiating the purchase of the Jefferson School with a $3.3 million grant, the property is paid off, bills are paid on time and the Westside Community Improvement Association has no debt, Benzonelli said.

Grant Scott-Goforth of the North Coast Journal strolled the Jefferson Project grounds with Benzonelli, and spoke with KHUM earlier today about how things are going over there. 

GSG On KHUM