Bongo horror

Today's word of the day is "bongo," not because of any inherent greatness in the word or musical instrument, but because of a truly amazing book that tells many a tale of woe, weirdos and bongos: The Police Log by Kevin L. Hoover.

Police logs everywhere are popular, but The Arcata Eye's Hoover has become something of a cult hero for log entries like this: "A tarp, a disused train easement and the casual elegance of a battered cyclone fence were all they needed for a sunrise soiree at Eighth and N streets. Then an officer turned the affair into an al fresco study group on the concept of trespassing." And how about this: "A weirdo vs. shed showdown on St. Louis Road ended, as usual, in utter humiliation for the inanimate object." And sometimes, the entries are uninformative but ominous: "When things don't work out, it's always the children who suffer."

I'm sure Hoover will make many appearances in this blog, because he has a real knack for making up words, like "scroungeloid," "sloshage," "multi-hairball," "jackassian," "man-spat," "mojo-harshing," "horseplaymate," "defecreation," "drunkectomy," "hissysnit," "piejacking," and "peesome threesome."

But let's not forget the word of the day--in Hoover's eccentric town of Arcata, bongos are frequently a cause of pleasure and pain, and Hoover has a blast writing about it all. In Arcata, "bongo squads" full of "bongoists," "bongo pilots," "bongo magicians," and "bongo interpreters" enjoy the "bongo magic," "bongo vibes," and "bongo merriment." "Bongo tensions" are usually high though, as non-bongoists have different feelings about what Hoover sometimes describes as a "bongo brouhaha," "bongo attack," "bongo crisis," "bongo barrage," or "bongo atrocity." I think my favorite terms are "bongo fury," "bongo flagellation," and "bongo horror." Oh, the bongosity!

You can order Hoover's book at The Arcata Eye's website.

(One more thing: Blogger's spellchecker wanted to replace "bongoists" with "fungicide," a desire I'm sure many Arcata residents share).