The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: arts

  • Humboldt hosts late-night legend Jay Leno

    Humboldt hosts late-night legend Jay Leno

    by Andres Felix Romero

    Originally printed March 1, 2023

    He’s been burned by gasoline, cracked both his kneecaps after being clotheslined by a wire while riding a motorcycle, and he testified at Michael Jackson’s 2005 trial. He’s the hardest working man in show business, and he’s met several sitting presidents. He’s Jay Leno. 

    The Centre Arts Department of Cal Poly Humboldt hosted two Jay Leno stand-up comedy shows on Feb. 26 at the Arkley Center for Performing Arts in Eureka, CA. Centre Arts puts on many performances for the Humboldt Community, but Leno’s first outing in Eureka is undoubtedly one of the biggest names they’ve booked. 

    I was amazed to see that Jay Leno, an entertainment legend known for his shows such as Jay Leno’s Garage and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, was going to be down the street from campus.

    Being a huge fan of stand-up comedy, I was pleasantly surprised when Leno managed to hit my favorite markers in any comic’s set in his first punchline; personal stories, social commentary, and just the right amount of dark humor. He began his show by telling us how the process of healing from a garage accident last fall had left his face with burns that came with  a surprising expense.

    “The most expensive part of the situation was the gasoline that burned my face,” Leno said to the crowd. 

    Not every joke landed for me, and some plain went over my head. Granted, I don’t always understand humor or sarcasm. Leno also knew his audience and jokes were directed to an audience more his age. I enjoyed the self-awareness the seasoned comedian displayed.

    Despite this, I still appreciated hearing Leno compare different aspects of society from decades ago to today, such as how the Sears catalog is the original Amazon Prime. Also hilarious are his own personal thoughts as an elder in a world that is always changing socially and developing technologically. 

    My favorite parts of Leno’s show came from his social commentary, which he often gave through jokes on topics such as backwards values on violence in entertainment. His set included stories of his wife refusing to watch animal violence on television, but enjoyed a scene where a woman brutally stabs her husband to death. One of the highlights of the night was the story about a mafia member venting to Leno about how The Sopranos was offensive, because a mob boss going to therapy in the show highlights the strange value system in entertainment. 

    “Oh, it’s not the murder and beheadings,” said Leno, “It’s the mental health aspect he’s upset about.”

      Towards the end of his set, Leno began to stray away from personal anecdotes and began to rapid-fire jokes and punchlines on a variety of subject matter, some risky and others lighthearted. Getting the audience to laugh at a topic as heavy as Bill Cosby’s abuse allegations to something as stupid as remote control breast enhancements showed me Leno’s veteran status as a stand-up comedian. 

    My favorite of these punchlines was on the topic of politics and how just about anyone from either side of the political aisle can enjoy them, like when he poked fun at the investigations into Joe Biden.

    “You know what you call someone who digs up dirt on Joe Biden?,” Leno questioned the audience. “An archeologist.”

    After the show, some of Leno’s fans waited behind the Arkley Center for a chance to meet him. A half-hour later, Leno popped out the back door of the building. 

    He greeted us, took pictures, shook hands and signed autographs. He still carried the same calm demeanor he had had on stage that made it feel easy to talk to a man who has a chin known by most of the nation. It was cold outside, he was likely exhausted from flying into Humboldt earlier in the day, but he still took a few minutes to chat with us. It was a great lesson on humility.

    Before he left, I asked Leno if he could share any advice to Cal Poly Humboldt students trying to figure out how to succeed in their fields. Leno recommends that when trying to contact someone in your field, be personable by writing a letter to stand out in a digital age and be professional.

    “But if you actually handwrite a letter, you got to have decent penmanship.” Leno said. “Don’t write in crayon on a paper bag.”

  • New arts faculty hit the scene

    New arts faculty hit the scene

    by Jasmin Shirazian and Jack Hallinan

    With the recent upgrade to a California Polytechnic, many changes have been occurring on campus. Among these changes is the addition of new arts faculty members Justin Maxon and Sarah Lasley.

    Justin Maxon is a photographer and educator who grew up on the Hoopa Reservation and in Eureka. He moved to Santa Cruz to attend Cabrillo College, where he had his first experience with photography in an academic setting. 

    “I wanted to do environmental science, and then I took a darkroom class and I was just like, ‘this is it,’” Maxon said. “I already loved photography, but I didn’t actually think that I could do it, then as soon as I took that class, I was like, ‘this is what I have to do.’”

    As an artist, Maxon’s focus lies in community based work that has an impact. Although he has a background as a journalist, he considers himself a documentary photographer who prefers to work on long term projects. Maxon’s recent work “A Field Guide to a Crisis” is an ongoing project in collaboration with people residing in sober living homes in Eureka. The work focuses on flipping the narrative of those dealing with substance abuse disorders by “repositioning them as experts in how to survive crisis.” Maxon brings this philosophy of community-based work to the classroom when he teaches his Professional Practices class. 


    “A lot of the folks in the program are like, ‘I wanna work in a specific communal context…’ Well, that can be your art form,” Maxon said. “How you collaborate with people, and the aesthetics of that collaboration and how that is visualized [can be art].”

    This semester Maxon is teaching Darkroom Photography I, Digital Photography I, and Professional Practices in Art. 

      Sarah Lasley, an award winning filmmaker, has joined Cal Poly Humboldt’s film department. Lasley previously taught at the Yale School of Art for over a decade, and later at the University of Texas San Antonio. Lasley is now a part of the Lumberjack family, teaching FILM 378, a digital production workshop showing students the ropes of video and film editing.

    Lasley has had her work featured in several film festivals, including the world-renowned AVIFF Cannes FIlm Festival in France. 

    Lasley has been creating art of all mediums from a very young age, though she began her filmmaking journey in 2006 during her time at Yale School of Art, where she was attending school for painting. 

    “A month into the painting program, I stopped painting and I picked up a video camera,” Lasley said. “Growing up, I had a VHS camcorder, and I would make stop motion animations with my Barbie dolls, so motion had always been in my groove.” 

    Lasley’s most well known film, “How I Choose to Spend the Remainder of my Birthing Years,” is a solo film she created during the COVID-19 quarantine lockdown, in which she replaces Baby in “Dirty Dancing.”

    “I had just moved alone, at the age of 38, to a city where I knew no one, away from everyone, as a single woman,” Lasley said. “I was like, I guess this is it. This is it for me, I’m going to just focus on being alone, and I was feeling down on myself, so I put on Dirty Dancing. I thought, ‘You know what would be so funny?’ To remove the 16 year old who’s romancing the 30 year old, and put like a 40 year old in there.”

    Lasley, who has been in the arts for over a decade, knows the struggles of being a student trying to get their foot in the door of the industry. 

    “Just never quit… going into an industry like film, you’re going to have so much burnout because there are big pockets of long hours,” Lasley said. “You can burn out fast, but what you can’t do is let go of making your own work and your own side projects.”

    Lasley currently has two upcoming screenings for her new film, “Welcome to the Enclave,” a contemporary think-piece on the different reactions received by the Black Lives Matter movement. The showings will be held at the Burb Contemporary in Sacramento, California and The MAC in Dallas, Texas.

  • This semester in news

    This semester in news

    By | Curran Daly

    Spring term began on January 17. Since the first Lumberjack issue of the semester, we have covered a wide range of topics within HSU and the local community. Here is a look at some of the top stories the Lumberjack has covered this semester. For all these stories and more go to thelumberjack.org.

     

    Largest March in Eureka City History

    On January 21, women and men took to the streets of Eureka to march in protest of the inauguration of Donald Trump.

    “We need to be together, as the mass of humanity, with all our diversity in order to join up and be powerful, and challenge the other powers that are trying to oppress us,” Arcata local, Joanne McGarry said.

     

    Protesting Banks in Arcata and Eureka

    On January 28, protesters stood outside of local Wells Fargo branches to protest corporate banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline.

    “We want to tell Wells Fargo to stop financing the North Dakota Access Pipeline. We are here to tell them that we are in solidarity with those at Standing Rock even all the way from the West Coast. We are here to fight.” Mahilija Florendo said, a youth activist who helped organize the protest.

     

    Uproar Over Shiny New Floor

    Humboldt State’s Fulkerson Recital hall received a new floor that made it hard for students to see the music they were supposed to be playing.

    “It’s super shiny and distracting when standing on the stage and it is very hard to read music. It doesn’t really feel like a performance stage anymore.” Music student Telisha Moore said.

     

    Berning Green

    Jill Stein, former Green Party Presidential Nominee, came to Humboldt State on March 8. Stein spoke to nearly 400 Humboldt County community members including human rights activists, environmentalists, future, the past, and present politicians and a large number of young people.

    “The important thing here is not to close your eyes to what history is telling us…If you think we have more time to keep beating around the bush, stay in the Democratic Party. If you don’t? Move on, move forward. The more of us the better.” Jill Stein said during her speech.

    The Vote is In, Tuition Goes Up

    On March 22, the California State University Board of Trustees voted 11-to-8 to increase student tuition for the 2017-18 academic year by $270 for undergraduates.  There are over 100,000 more students enrolled in the CSU system today than in 1985 while funding has decreased by 2.9 percent. The state’s gradual abandonment of CSU funding commitments has pressured the Board of Trustees to find alternative financial support for institution services.

     

    Theatre Arts Retrofit Postponed – Again

    The grandaddy of all structures on Humboldt State’s deferred maintenance list will have to wait at least another year before seeing some much needed tender love and care.

    “It’s frustrating, we spent months preparing to move,” Development director of KHSU David Reed said. “We have a large operation, many moving parts. The only good side is that we digitized much of our paperwork in preparation for the move.”

     

    Humboldt Cuts Child Care Services

    After running on a deficit budget for about three years, the university decided to close the children’s center on 10th street.

    “With the overhead, administrative costs, the cost for teachers benefits and salaries, we could not make that extra center work,” Director of Housing and Residence Life and manager of the children’s centers on campus Steve St. Onge said. “We really have to focus on our values, the reasons that we exist and that is to support the academic success of our students on campus.”

     

    Remembering David Josiah Lawson

    David Josiah Lawson, a second-year criminology major and president of Brothers United, was stabbed and killed on the early morning of Saturday, April 15. Brothers United organized a vigil to remember their brother. The audience consisted of Lawson’s family members who traveled from Riverside, California.