Wildlife: Quite a menagerie under our Chokecherry Tree in the backyard today! Deer; Pheasants (Male and Female); Ravens: Redwing Blackbirds: Finches; and a pair of Mallards.



Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!

Weather: Dark, wet, cold, and dreary -- that person who predicted snow in the upper altitudes was right.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site Every click will be alright!

Media Watch: How Late Do You Have To Be Before You're Absent? by George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars. Gave it a first hearing, and watched Jamaica Inn at the same time. The movie WAS sub-par considering the capabilities of Charles Laughton, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert (Long John Silver) Newton, and Maureen O'Hara.
Strangely enough, it looked to me like the problem was excessive RESTRAINT, which I never expected from either Laughton or Newton. So many scenes called for broad clowning and scenery-chewing, but efforts to keep it low-key just smothered what could have been a rolicking thriller. I was startled to see the last-billed Newton as a (somewhat) romantic HERO, with almost as much screen time as O'Hara or Laughton.
The latter two went to Hollywood for Hunchback of Notre Dame after this flick. I kinda like Lon Chaney's unrestrained gothic version of that very strange tale, but I've never been fond of Laughton's sexually creepy film, or even Dumas' book for that matter.
Oh, speaking of P-Funk, I can't really evaluate an album until I've heard it several times. George's Website (Flash Required)

Wildlife: Two Raccoons were helping themselves to the peanuts and sunflower seeds on the deck this morning. They usually are gone by daylight, but not these guys! My wife went out with a stick in her hand, but they regrouped after a short retreat and started advancing. I went out and made a lot more noise, but they weren't very shy with me either. It took a garden hose to discourage them, but they were still pretty defiant. (No, I didn't hurt them or soak them, but I confused them JUST enough.)



Visit: A Tale of Two Movies
Watch for the Update SOON -- starting tonight!

Weather: It's been threatening all day -- maybe a little rain has fallen in the mountains, but not much.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site Clickety-click will do the trick!

Media Watch: I can't stand to see more than a few minutes of the New Orleans catastrophe at a time, or emotionally deal with the massive failure of our institutions in the face of it all -- so I'm reading even more than I normally do.
Last night it was An Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth (1969) by R. Buckminster Fuller.
He was an inspiring man for those of us who prefer optimistic philosophy, but he had a warning for our species in this book:
(Paraphrased)...Like a baby bird is allowed to grow within his shell for a given period of time, we humans developed our civilization on Planet Earth without suffering too many reprecussions for our often-destructive actions. With our numbers and technology the way they are now, our former shell of global insignificance is broken, and the old ways will not promote our survival or growth anymore.


This is ME, clowning at Sykes Grocery
with my OWN coffee cup.

Wildlife: These birds looked about the size of Redwing Blackbirds, but they weren't. They had dark breasts with almost-white speckles, and light brown heads. Their bills were long -- more like woodpeckers. We looked through the bird-books and decided they had to be female Common Flickers.



Visit: A Tale of Two Movies
Watch for the Update SOON -- very very soon!

Weather: Warm and dry -- rumors of snow when we finally get moisture.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site Just click -- how easy does it have to get?

Media Watch: Listen to samples from George Clinton's new CD
Fan Review: Posted by jsconi on 9/7/2005, 9:50 am at ONE NATION Board Room
I'm feelin' the CD. After a couple of listens - it's what we've come to expect from our crew. Weird, wacky - and funky. Coming from all angles. Not sure what to expect from the next track. And I love it! I Can Dance has already been worn out by my CD player with my bass turned ALL the way up. I sure hope they make a video to that - I can see a lot of CONCEPT in my head...I'm sure GC sees even more. It's different from anything out...and in the video age GCs imagination will pay dividents. Plus - the Nappy Dugout sample - the original Go Go song - AWWW YEAAH! THE GIRL'S GOT A FUTURE BEHIND HER! Viagra - LOVIN IT! My faves Belita and Kendra gettin' loose on a few tracks. Inhale Slowly. Booty on a CD. And my girl Shon...er, Sativa the Diva liftin' from her CD. Ain't no fakin' that funk! I could go on and on. No Clinton/Collins/Worrell - but I'm lovin the CD.
I GRADUATED HIGH FROM SCHOOLAs for the rappers - I ain't mad at GC for havin' em - and I like the flavor. I especially like the one with Del the Funky Homosapien (where's he been?) Again - it's a new day. Rap is funk DNA. George was the first rapper ANYWAY in my opinion (Loose Booty, and especially Let's Take it To the Stage, with the key hip hop musical elements of rhyming on beat, bragging/boasting, and DISSING). Not to mention Nubian Nut in my opinion is one of the most underratted raps on the planet. At the time (1983) that style was OFF THE HOOK.
Ridin' in a space ship up and down the street
Tootin' at the funky women on the block he meet
And when have you seen a compilation album with the same group as a base?
Once again, GC ahead of the game. GC - MAKE A VIDEO FOR I CAN DANCE!
The Funk has returned to claim the pyramids!

Wildlife: Magpies, Magpies, Magpies -- Yep, we're starting to put out peanuts in the bird feeders.



Visit: A Tale of Two Movies
Watch for the Update SOON -- very very soon!

Weather: Autumn is moseying along with warm sunny days -- I wouldn't mind a little rain.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site Click some more -- we have to do something.

In The Community: Kalispell City Council took about six hours out of my life last night. They were still doing a "working session" as our camera crew packed up and left after the cable-cast. I've only done three of these, but I've noticed separations between staff and council members -- people don't always wear their ears.

Media Watch: Yes, I ordered How Late Do You Have To Be Before You're Absent? by George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars yesterday from a local store. George's Site -- Click on "Viagraphy" for a picture of the group -- including my friend Bernie Worrell. (Flash plug-in required)
I saw a documentary on Sunday about Allen Woody, the late bass player of Government Mule, led by ace guitarist Warren Haynes. Among the great bassists they had on the tribute were Funkmaster Bootsy Collins, plus a short jam with Bernie -- VERY Funky!


George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars
George (lower right -- between violinist Lily Hayden
and grandaughter LaShonda Clinton)
Bernie (upper left corner)

Wildlife: I opened the garage door this morning to take out the cat litter, and other pre-work chores. A Big Mama Deer was right in front of me. She turned and bounded away immediately, but I was wide awake before I drank any coffee at all.



Visit: A Tale of Two Movies
Watch for the Update SOON -- very very soon!

Weather: A perfect Labor Day weekend, but it was close to freezing this morning.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site Click and click some more -- the need is greater than ever.

In The Community: The Antiques Fair in Whitefish to benefit the Hockaday Museum was a lot of fun. My off-the-cuff remark about the appraiser examining people's old junk was unfortunately too true. A few small pieces had some value, like a Viennese bronze paperweight, but the "Roadshow" segment was pretty undistinguished until five minutes before it was scheduled to end.
A lady and her teenaged kids wheeled in a plastic garden cart full of 18th and 19th century New England samplers, an early Audubon print, original turn-of-the-century water colors, and a silver Tiffany tea set.
The denoument was a pair of sculpted Bohemian Glass horns from the court of the Austria-Hungary emperors, via an ex-servant who immigrated to the U.S. after World War I. (Nobody wanted to leave for an hour after we were supposed to close.)

Media Watch: George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars have a NEW CD!
How Late Do You Have To Be Before You're Absent? It's their first major label release in ten years. It's a two CD set -- one of the two was supposed come out on now-defunct Mammoth Records in 1999.
George's Website
Good news from the P-Funk Bulletin Board, an Internet site I've visited since 1998 --
I am OK (New Orleans)
Posted by webmistress melissa on 9/2/2005, 6:01 pm 68.111.57.142
Hi, fellow funkateers and P-Funk family. I know it has been some time since you really heard from me, but you are always in my hearts and I appreciate the emails and outpouring of love and concern for me and my fellow citizens in New Orleans. I am very grateful to be able to write to you today.
I am safe at a family member's home in St. James, Louisiana, (about 2 hours from New Orleans, my home). Power has been out since Monday and we just got it back here in St. James today. It has been uncomfortable with no lights or air conditioning, but the fact that I am alive and that we had safe, running water (albeit not hot water) makes me feel like I am in a mansion.
I cannot say the same for the people who were not lucky enough to evacuate from New Orleans and several neighboring areas. My home city will never, ever be the same. There are rampant fires, whole neighborhoods under water, no communication (cell phone coverage is non existent), some people turning to violence and theft, dead people and animals floating in the streets, hungry people, dying children. I keep wondering when I am going to wake up from the nightmare so that I can dance to music again.
I have no idea what my neighborhood is like in Uptown New Orleans. I think it fared well as far as water. But who knows if a tree fell on top of it or if some looters broke in to steal or set it on fire.
All of my friends and family are displaced. I don't know where anyone is. City officials say we can't come back for several months. Last Friday, I enjoyed a great job as a Marketing Director at a non-profit arts center and had a successful hobby as a funk radio and club DJ. Today, I have neither of those. I don't know where I will work and have considered relocating - New Orleans and its people will never, ever be the same. It's bad, folks. But I am not complaining, mind you. Praise and thank God that I am still alive to help others.
I am praying for my community and city that I love, hoping that I have a home and if it's still there that there aren't any snakes and other flooded animals swimming inside, that I will be able to relocate and find work that I love. I am so scared that I will learn of friends who have died like so many others. I am praying for all of my fellow citizens. Many have lost everything.
Please love each other and do not take any moment for granted because you never know when it will all turn around.
Please pray for us New Orleanians and, if you can, help us please via the Red Cross funds. I am one of the lucky ones in that I did not have to wait days on a roof for a helicopter to whisk me to safety (the dangerous, uninhabitable Superdome shelter). There are so many who need you and I am speaking for them now.
love, melissa dj soul sister*new orleans*usa djsoulsister.com


George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars
How Late Do You Have To Be Before You're Absent?
Artwork by Overton Loyd (Nice guy -- that's how he spells it.)