Thanks to Chocolate Covered Xanax for posting this video by Kristin Windbigler about her hometown Blocksburg. Listen for Jim Lamport’s voice.
She also has a website about the town. Xanax has more information through the link above.
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29 comments
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July 30, 2009 at 8:34 am
Jim Baker
Kristin’s video effectively illustrates what those of us who have our roots in, or are recent transplants to, the hinterlands of the North Coast have always known – that we have traditionally interacted cooperatively together when necessary without the luxury (or intrusion) of outside help. This has historically been the norm despite differences of opinion on almost everything and occasional outright hostility and physical violence towards one another. It is still the norm. The only difference is that marijuana and the money that accrues from its cultivation has replaced cattle and sheep as the occasional source of friction.
Kristin and I and Henry Larrabee’s great granddaughter Joetta undertook a journey throughout the western United States a few years ago to unravel the story of Henry’s participation in the sometimes violent history of the western movement in this country, and on the North Coast in particular, during the 19th century. The end result of this historical period was the temporary physical and cultural genocide of the indigenous people who had been living here for countless generations, but there is much more to be learned from the story which might be useful in moving forward in a positive way. It is a story that deserves to be told. Thank you, Kristin, for giving voice to the experience of growing up in rural Humboldt County. I hope you continue to do so.
July 30, 2009 at 8:57 am
n. bear
thanks kristin….i think you said it beautifully….we live here cause we love it here….i’ve not heard it better said…another reason we love the windbiglers,too
July 30, 2009 at 9:33 am
Inthehills
The Windbilgers are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
I happen to know that one of Kristen’s neighbors had a stroke and
she took care of him for months in between commuting to and
from work in the city and trying to build a house.
July 30, 2009 at 11:55 am
Ernie's Place
Welcome home Kristen, I fully understand your attraction to this end of creation. The only thing that I don’t understand, is how you could have ever left.
July 30, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Jane
Blocksburg also was the county seat for a bit if I remember right. Reading through newspaper archives the original road that comes up the back spine out of Willits wound through Blocksburg. My family has tons of old tin type pictures.
The old folk would tell all kind of stories about walking on the backs of fish and swinging across the river.
They mostly moved away a few generations down the road when one of the daughters died of an overdose. Decided it wasn’t the place to raise kids.
July 30, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Kristin Windbigler
Thanks, everyone, for all the kind words! I admit that it made me a little teary-eyed this morning when I saw what my neighbors had written (more reasons why I love this place). I made this film for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. The guy who runs the program is always looking for new filmmakers. If anyone is interested in trying to make a movie of their own, please contact me.
July 30, 2009 at 7:56 pm
early riser
Lovely. But how does she manage to romanticize the frequent gunfire?
July 31, 2009 at 6:26 am
Earlier Riser
Guns are part of living in the country. Just because you own or
shoot guns doesn’t mean your going to kill someone or something.
July 31, 2009 at 8:53 am
kate
Love it! So well done all around. After watching that it completely made sense to me why you’d want to be there, gunfire and all.
Funny, this morning I also watched this lovely clip about two men’s project to rebuild a 250 year-old farm house in rural Japan … somehow the films complemented each other so nicely … yours and his.
(http://vimeo.com/5394397)
July 31, 2009 at 10:23 am
Inthehills
Maybe to get one of them thar edumucations like you did!
July 31, 2009 at 1:18 pm
early riser
“Guns are part of living in the country. Just because you own or
shoot guns doesn’t mean your going to kill someone or something.’
She’s talking about a place “where outlaws sometimes gather.” In that context, the gunfire is threatening indeed, to those who are not outlaws.
July 31, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Early RIser
Outlaws with guns (her reference) are extremely threatening to anyone. Except perhaps other outlaws…
July 31, 2009 at 4:24 pm
early riser
sorry for the double post. An error.
July 31, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Kristin Windbigler
I was making fun of our reputation when I mentioned the outlaws and gunfire. Blocksburg is filled with really nice people. Some of them occasionally shoot guns for fun. That doesn’t make them outlaws.
July 31, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Early RIser
Kristen, Look, it’s a lovely film but that’s simply not in the narration. The quote I mentioned above is taken verbatim from your film. There’s no hint of irony, nor should they be. As we both know, Blocksburg is in the heart of pot country and the growers are armed to the teeth.
Yes, stand up for your home town. But don’t end up as an apologist for a bunch of thugs to do it.
August 1, 2009 at 5:43 am
Baptist
Thanks Early Riser, for taking a friendly thread about an enjoyable short film and initiating an argument.
August 1, 2009 at 6:34 am
Kristin Windbigler
Thanks. I actually welcome the discussion. That’s why I made the film in the first place. I think it’s important to talk about this stuff. Your quote, however, isn’t verbatim. I say “it’s sort of known as a rough place where outlaws sometimes gather and gunfire is not that uncommon.” Note the “known” part.
My intention was not to apologize for anyone, and I certainly don’t endorse people shooting at one another or any other kind of violence. I think, however, that when you paint a community with such a wide brush, you do a great disservice to a lot of good, honest people. And this doesn’t just apply to Blocksburg. It’s true for all of Southern Humboldt, Humboldt County in general, and a lot of other places for that matter, both rural and otherwise.
August 1, 2009 at 7:39 am
Early RIser
Works both ways, Kristen. When you sweep a problem under a rug you’re a propagandist, not an artist.
Sorry, but I don’t see the double meaning in the word “known.” The truth is our rural towns do have many nice people but most of them are living in a state of constant tension, if not outright fear. The gunfire is not innocent, it’s often rapid fire coming from automatic weapons. And it comes at all hours of the day and night.
August 1, 2009 at 7:45 am
anonymous
Early Riser
How can a person be so consistently a wrong. Do you actually live here? Your posts are so predictably full of shit.
August 1, 2009 at 8:26 am
Jim Baker
Kristin’s film is set in a historical context. Blocksburg, like many places in the American West in the 1860’s and 70’s was not much different in the “old days” than it is today. The fact is that Blocksburg is a long way from any established law enforcement presence, except for the occasional pot bust. The fact is that the economy of the area is based largely on cash, in this case from the cultivation and sale of marijuana. The fact is that many of the residents have firearms, for obvious reasons, whether they are engaged in marijuana cultivation or not. The fact is that most of the residents in the Blocksburg area are not “thugs”, unless that is the narrative one chooses to emphasize, no more than they were in the 1860’s and ‘70’s. When people with different lifestyles and points of view are living in proximity to one another without much of an externally imposed system of enforced order, they develop their own social norms. That reality characterizes the history of the American West and it is alive and well in rural Humboldt County today, for better or worse. Yes, there are problems, yes there is violence and they need to be confronted when they take place. But they are aberrations, and the dominant backdrop against which those things occur is one of neighborly cooperation, kindness and compassion, as Kristin’s film points out. That’s the narrative I see and experience.
August 1, 2009 at 9:20 am
Eric Kirk
Are you writing about Blocksburg or Fallujah?
August 1, 2009 at 9:30 am
Early RIser
The Humboldt County growers will use what’s left of our genteel rural lifestyle as a cover, if we let them. One hopes that our artists will resist the temptation to be used by these thugs.
If, say, the family restaurant on the corner is a Mafia front it’s the artist’s responsibility to call them out–not sugar coat it.
August 1, 2009 at 9:52 am
anonymous
Early RIser, are you a birther? If not, your peeps are waiting for you with open arms.
August 1, 2009 at 9:58 am
Eric Kirk
You know, some of these posts were really unnecessary for this thread. When somebody creates something like this, the usual agendas really should take a break.
August 1, 2009 at 10:35 am
Early RIser
Eric: You might want to hold off on the wet blanket approach. Here’s the filmmaker herself on her purpose: “Thanks. I actually welcome the discussion. That’s why I made the film in the first place. I think it’s important to talk about this stuff.”
August 1, 2009 at 11:51 am
anonymous
Early RIser.
You missed the social cue. Let me translate her response for you: “I will try to diffuse this obvious vinegar sipping sourpuss by being exceedingly polite. Maybe then they will realize that they are behaving like a ass.”
August 1, 2009 at 2:52 pm
early riser
What would a rude person know about social cues?
August 5, 2009 at 6:14 am
Carol
I enjoyed the film and I love to drive through Blocksburg to visit my friend in-the-hills. It has one of the most beautiful settings for a town! Know of any places for sale in Blocksburg?
August 9, 2009 at 4:49 am
John D.Kirby
Every Year I come out to visit my family on Homestead Rd.One day I was taking a walk down that road,it finally hit me!! No cars,No noise,only the rugged beauty of your area,where people even stop and ask if you need a ride!Say what you want about the locals,they have allways treated me with respect and kindness,if you lived in New York such as I do,you would see what real thugs are! See ya on the 13th of Aug. Blocksburg,Opie’s coming home!