Small Talk: Out of Genoa

[Cupid Stunt]

Pam Warren, the DJ known as Pam the Funkstress in the Oakland hip-hop duo the Coup, died Friday, December 22 at the age of 51. Warren also served as Prince's personal DJ during the final months of his life. Pam died of organ failure, and had been hospitalized after undergoing organ transplant surgery.

I met Pam the Funkstress DJing in a grrrl group called Female Funk in the late 1988 at a Bay Area freestyle battle contest. I was producing radio show for the nascent funk/rap/scratch scene on the Left Coast, where the ripples from a pebble turned into a tidal wave.

In 1994, she was at a jamming convention and Boots Riley saw her DJing. He approached her and said, “Hey, we got a record deal and I wanna know if you can come in my studio and scratch for me.” Everybody was always saying, “Oh, you’re good, I’m gonna call you,” and no one ever called. But Boots was different. He called and called and called. So Pam went into the studio, and scratched on two songs on [The Coup’s 1993 debut album] Kill My Landlord. Then Boots asked her to go on tour. And that was it. 

She was a down-to-earth sistah who had the skills to rock every party or cut n' stab contest.  DJing is all about intellect, skills and talent. Pam had that and more. No one was able to diminish or ignore her talent.

I don’t care if you’re into EDM, house, trap; or black, white, yellow, red, tan, beige, brown. Pam the Funkstress represents us all, because she never stopped doing what she loved, whether it was scratching it into history or cooking for her catering company.

Rest in bliss, Pam.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Cupid Stunt

[valleycliffe]

you are a very very interesting person cs....

a pleasure to post with you and to read yours..

[marina to]

We got the call. My mom moves into long-term care on Monday. Thankfully, we got our first choice - the Cadillac of facilities. My dad's feeling like he's betraying her. All three of us just watched Dina steal a child. My mom asked, "does she have Dementia?". (My mom knows that is what she has.) F you Mal and this effin' storyline. 

[Cupid Stunt]

(((Marina)))

With the small favor that your father has been relived of the heavy lifting of your mother's daily care, and she'll be in a controlled living situation, you're going to have to breath through this.

Y&R has become insulting with Dina's Alzheimer's Disease SL. It's being deliberately written in a shoddy, melodramatic fashion by ignorant hacks.

 

 

Lord of the Powers be with Marina and her family, and have mercy on them. Guide them through this difficult transition for her parents. I believe Lord, that all trials of life are under Your care and that all things work for the good of those who love You. Lead them to endure the fear and guilt with faith, courage and wisdom. Grant that this trial may bring them closer to You, and trust in Your love and compassion. Blessed is Your name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

We're here for you Marina.

[PatsyandEddie]

Wonderful words CS. Amen indeed. 

Many of us have been through this Marina. You can come here to vent, laugh, cry,rage if you need here. We have broad shoulders. ?

[Cupid Stunt]

Animoji Karaoke ... Entering Uncanny Valley ... Creepy and hypnotic at the same time.

You don't have anything else to do today.

Edited January 5, 2018 by Cupid Stunt

[marina to]

Pretty sure they stole the audio from here:

Thanks for this best wishes, everyone. Just have to make sure we don't watch the next episode before Monday. Hurt our hearts too much to hear Jack and Ashley's discussion about what to do with Dina.

[boes]

34 minutes ago, marina to said:

Pretty sure they stole the audio from here:

 

Thanks for this best wishes, everyone. Just have to make sure we don't watch the next episode before Monday. Hurt our hearts too much to hear Jack and Ashley's discussion about what to do with Dina.

All the love and affection I can muster is being sent your way, Marina to.

[Cupid Stunt]

Paint Like Jackson Pollock

[Cupid Stunt]

[basiltherat]

That cat IS the fridge!

[valleycliffe]

i was watching the news this morning and they aired oprah's speech.

as she got a standing ovation, the camera was panning the room and it showed angelina jolie sitting with a frown on her face..

i really can't stand the woman but it surprised me that she wasn't clapping or smiling like the rest of the audience.

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, valleycliffe said:

i was watching the news this morning and they aired oprah's speech.

as she got a standing ovation, the camera was panning the room and it showed angelina jolie sitting with a frown on her face..

i really can't stand the woman but it surprised me that she wasn't clapping or smiling like the rest of the audience.

I don't think she smiled once last night. She looked gaunt and ill. 

Woohoo James Franco, I loved The Disaster Artist.

[Cupid Stunt]

I spent the evening with a long time friend. It was as if we had never been separated. 

[peacheslatour]

Saw them in 2006 at the winery. One of the best shows I've ever been to.

[Cupid Stunt]

50 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Saw them in 2006 at the winery. One of the best shows I've ever been to.

Was that the Morph the Cat tour? They put on a great series of concerts on the Left Coast.

3 hours ago, valleycliffe said:

i was watching the news this morning and they aired oprah's speech.

as she got a standing ovation, the camera was panning the room and it showed angelina jolie sitting with a frown on her face..

i really can't stand the woman but it surprised me that she wasn't clapping or smiling like the rest of the audience.

It's interesting that in fewer than 80 days, so many people that profited and personally benefited from the Charlie Rose's and Matt Lauer's and Harvey Weinstein's of the world, are demonstrating their solidarity to those that were ground under the wheels of Rape Culture, while they bleach clean their conscience and memory of any personal subterfuge or collusion.

Convenient and fashionable, no?

 

Everyone knew.

[Cupid Stunt]

Meeting with NYC corporate mucky mucks ...

[Cupid Stunt]

[Cupid Stunt]

Hyperbole and a Half

[Cupid Stunt]

First the wildfires,

 

and then the torrential rain and mudslides,

 

I am so thankful to the first responders who have been working tirelessly for weeks to protect the public and save lives.

[Petunia13]

It's terrible! My heart aches for all the people and animals affected. And those lost. They say all of this is directly tied to climate change and I believe it!

I have an interview next week at an outside organization. Here's hoping another door will open for me. Also George has been wonderful - he's truly the light of my life and constant joy to be with. 

[valleycliffe]

that's awesome petunia13.......

shoulders back, head up and a smile on your face...

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, valleycliffe said:

that's awesome petunia13.......

shoulders back, head up and a smile on your face...

And remember, you're a Prevert!

[Petunia13]

This is terrible to admit but after my interview with the Senior VP at the headquarters on my day off ... where I was passed up for promotion... .three men I work with were met at my store on their work days and offered promotions they didn't even formally apply for. And since then my responsibilities have increased and I'm getting a lot more guff with less support. Wed was my day off and I had 7 emails of job requests and complaints/issues with 14 attachments. It was ridiculous when there's another managers there in store and my assistant was there too. Lord forbid they do any of that stuff lol! 

[valleycliffe]

that's shitty........

will the job you are interviewing for be the same kind you are doing now?

hopefully it will be for alot more pay and better work environment...

do you know much about the new company?

[Petunia13]

No this is actually crazy and why I'm not as excited or hopes up as my internal interview I just had.  This job is at a startup in IT and pays much more money. 

[valleycliffe]

well, don't be afraid to let them know how good you are.

you are your own best salesman.

you don't have to be arrogant, just confident.

you are not afraid of hard work.

you are always willing to learn what you don't know and will accept any challenge.

go get em.......

[jewel21]

Good luck, Petunia! You deserve to work for a company that values you and your skills.

Can I rant?

Wtf is wrong with the healthcare system? I want a second opinion before having surgery but I need a referral to see another specialist.

I called my GP asking her to fax a referral. It took her four days to get back to me to ask what is going on. I explain and she tells me she has nothing in her files about my follow up visit with the first specialist and his surgical recommendation. So I said I would call his office and have them fax my last results. Easy peasy, no?

No.

Instead I have to wait two weeks for my surgical consult to ask him to fax his findings to my GP since according to his receptionists, nothing was written in my file about my last visit. Like wtf.

Then apparently it'll take two weeks to write up the report before faxing. And then who knows how long before my GP faxes her referral. Like the hell?

Fuck you, Quebec.

[Cupid Stunt]

You can make this happen Petunia.

 

Breath, Jewel. Nothing is easy, and everything is frustrating in the healthcare system.

 

Students who took couple's honeymoon story to heart take action

[peacheslatour]

You're gonna be awesome Petunia. You would be an asset absolutely anywhere you chose to work.

[Snaporaz]

Sending all of you the best vibes.  And it's so freaking cold here that those vibes should arrive at the peak of freshness.  Good luck, Petunia.  Scratch George's belly before you leave for the interview.  Jewel, if it isn't too inconvenient, maybe try going to the office in person to ask for the referral.  Sometimes, it's harder to give people the run-around when they have to look you in the face.  (But I haven't been to a doctor since 1987, so I may not be the best person to give this kind of advice!)  Cupid, I really hope Californians get some respite soon.  Those pictures are heartbreaking.  But I love that honeymoon story! Especially after this week.  From the mouths of babes...  Valley and Peaches, stay awesome!

[Cupid Stunt]

1 hour ago, Snaporaz said:

Sending all of you the best vibes.  And it's so freaking cold here that those vibes should arrive at the peak of freshness.  Good luck, Petunia.  Scratch George's belly before you leave for the interview.  Jewel, if it isn't too inconvenient, maybe try going to the office in person to ask for the referral.  Sometimes, it's harder to give people the run-around when they have to look you in the face.  (But I haven't been to a doctor since 1987, so I may not be the best person to give this kind of advice!)  Cupid, I really hope Californians get some respite soon.  Those pictures are heartbreaking. But I love that honeymoon story! Especially after this week. From the mouths of babes...  Valley and Peaches, stay awesome!

Right?

Mother Evangeline reminded me, while she was reprimanding me for challenging church doctrine, "You may not reach the minds of your elders, because they do not desire change, but their children are already leading the dissent ... Now, a 450 word essay on respecting the authority of your instructors. Double spaced, with margins." 

[Cupid Stunt]

At the same time that Mr. Stunt and I were dropping off Thing1 at LAX for her flight back to school, my in-laws were calling us in a panic because they had been notified of a missile threat alert in Hawaii. They were in Honolulu, on the opposite side of the island from their newly completed bomb shelter. The roads were jammed with people running for their lives, and they didn't know where to go that was safe from the impending attack. 

"Pearl Harbor/Hickam Military Base ... That's a big no ... Then stay away from the airport too ... How about driving to the university campus; they have civil defense shelters there ... Well, if you can't get out of the Hilton parking ramp (They were visiting friends on vacation), stay at the hotel; they have utility tunnels underground ..."

By the time they returned to the lobby, the missile notification had been called off, but their traffic/navigation app told them the entire city of Honolulu was in gridlock due to the evacuation. They got a room at the Hilton, picked up some sundries at the gift shop, and went to the bar for a stiff drink with the other relieved bar flies whistling by the graveyard.

I am grateful that the alert was a false alarm and due to human error, but find it ironic the huge investment and infinite planning my in-laws made to safeguard themselves from nuclear attack, was out of reach and unavailable to them during the emergency.

[valleycliffe]

thank heavens it was a false alarm...

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, valleycliffe said:

thank heavens it was a false alarm...

This time...

[Snaporaz]

Thank our lucky stars there was no impulsive retaliation for the false alarm before it was known to be a false alarm.  This time.  

[peacheslatour]

55 minutes ago, Snaporaz said:

Thank our lucky stars there was no impulsive retaliation for the false alarm before it was known to be a false alarm.  This time.  

Might have but too busy playing golf.

[peacheslatour]

Dolores O'Riordan, frontwoman of the iconic Irish grunge band The Cranberries, has died at the age of 46.

[Capricasix]

Terribly sad, and so young. She was a year younger than me.

[peacheslatour]

50 minutes ago, Capricasix said:

Terribly sad, and so young. She was a year younger than me.

I loved her voice. So haunting. And yes, way too young. I have never heard about he being ill and I don't think she was a hard drug user. It's curious.

[Cupid Stunt]

Dolores O'Riordan's writing and performing was distinctly hard-nosed, personal and fiercely political. 

The first time you heard it on the radio -- the crushing percussion, the twisting distortion and growing dread  -- Her's was the last voice you expected to hear howling over it. “Zombie,” the lead single from 1994’s No Need to Argue, the second album from Irish rock band the Cranberries, was a startling reminder that some of the alt-rock era’s scariest anthems emerged from the most unlikely of places. It is the song that immediately came to mind when I read the Reuters notice of her death. 

Like so many Irish artists, Dolores O’Riordan was a woman with several-dozen visible thorns in her side. Her lyrics were not gentle even when she trilled and sang melodiously. Her music was an abrupt and bruising departure from the MTV-burnished image produced for public consumption, glittering through the howl of a monster distortion pedal scored across The Cranberries catalog . Her 2007 solo album, Are You Listening?, was harder-edged as she sang about abortion, and child abuse, and drugs, and suicide. She could make darkness sound awfully sweet, which only made her bitterness taste like arsenic.

Dolores' voice was always where the power came from: the feral growl and strong Limerick accent she gave every phrase, the pained upward lilt that spiked the end of nearly every syllable. Her anger on "Zombie" was shocking and disturbing as she aimed it at the abyss of indifference.

Dolores O'Riordan is survived by her ex-husband, the former Duran Duran tour manager Don Burton, and their three children.

Her mother was a devout Catholic who chose her daughter's name in reference to the Our Lady of Seven Dolours.

 

To the faithful departed, rest in the arms of the Father.

[Cupid Stunt]

[bannana]

2 hours ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Well, apparently Donald Trump is golfing.  

[Cupid Stunt]

[Cupid Stunt]

Even the eyelashes freeze: Russia sees minus 88.6 degrees F

[valleycliffe]

Mrs. O is coming to vancouver on jan.25 to give a speech at the board of trade i think.

tickets were sold out in 1 hr.  

board of trade members got first chance at tickets and any remaining were then sold to the public.

demand was so great, she will do another appearance in february.

expectations are that tickets will also sell out within an hour.

wish i could go..

[valleycliffe]

petunia13, have you had your interview with it place yet?

[Cupid Stunt]

Film by Jeff Frost

[PatsyandEddie]

Wow! Looks like a scene straight out of hell ?

[Cupid Stunt]

It is hell, and then it rains. Everything that burned is dislodged and is swept down the streets.

California’s wildfires are not “natural” — humans made them worse at every step