Dec. 20, 2012 Volume XXiii No. 51
North Coast Journal Inc. www.northcoastjournal.com ISSN 1099-7571 © Copyright 2012 CIRCULATION VERIFICATION C O U N C I L
The North Coast Journal is a weekly newspaper serving Humboldt County. Circulation: 21,000 copies distributed FREE at more than 350 locations. Mail subscriptions: $39 / 52 issues. Single back issues mailed / $2.50. Entire contents of the North Coast Journal are copyrighted. No article may be reprinted without publisher’s written permission. Printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink.
publisher Judy Hodgson judy@northcoastjournal.com editor Carrie Peyton Dahlberg carrie@northcoastjournal.com art director Holly Harvey production manager Carolyn Fernandez staff writer/a&e editor Bob Doran bob@northcoastjournal.com staff writer/copy editor Heidi Walters heidi@northcoastjournal.com staff writer Ryan Burns ryan@northcoastjournal.com calendar editor Andrew Goff calendar@northcoastjournal.com contributing writers John J. Bennett, Simona Carini, Barry Evans, William S. Kowinski, Mark Shikuma, Amy Stewart graphic design/production Lynn Jones, Alana Chenevert, Drew Hyland production intern Kimberly Hodges sales manager Mike Herring mike@northcoastjournal.com advertising Colleen Hole colleen@northcoastjournal.com advertising Shane Mizer shane@northcoastjournal.com advertising Karen Sack karen@northcoastjournal.com office manager Carmen England classified assistant Sophia Dennler mail/office:
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on the cover:
“Four Bigfoots of the Apocalypse,” illustration by Chris Henry / hellochrishenry.com
6 North Coast Journal • Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 • northcoastjournal.com
Display case at the Emerald Cup holds samples of 202 cannabis strains submitted for judging. photo by Bob Doran
Green Party
Growers gather in Redway for the Emerald Cup By Bob Doran
bobdoran@northcoastjournal.com
T
he crowd jostles for position around an octagonal glass case that glows in the dim light, peering in as if it held precious jewels. The case holds a couple of hundred green marijuana buds, entries in what’s billed as “the world’s only outdoor organic cannabis competition,” the annual Emerald Cup. Here in the Grower’s Pavilion tent, entrants are listed by number and strain, with breeding information that reads like something off a racing form. Entry No. 1, Obama Drone Strike, is a cross between Royal Kush and Humboldt Kush
grown from seed. A clone strain called Three Kings is a cross between OG, Sour Diesel and Headband. Ringo OG takes its name from the master breeder, Lawrence Ringo, a botanical wizard who works with the Southern Humboldt Seed Collective. It’s Saturday, Dec. 15, and this is the ninth annual Emerald Cup. It’s the biggest so far with 202 entries in the bud contest, 40 more in categories for “concentrates” and “super concentrates” including hashish, hash oil and edibles. It’s also the first cup in Humboldt, after moving to the Mateel Community Center in Redway from its original home in the
Pope Innocent III predicted that the world would end in 1284, 666 years after the rise of Islam.