The temperature inversion lifted about Noon today -- blue skies and starlit nights, but we may get some Arctic cold too. I'm plugging my dam' block heater in tonight.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Toyota, Japan; Bad Liebenwerda, Germany; Brooklyn, New York; Los Angeles, California; Rock Hill, South Carolina; Hyderabad, India; Lancaster, Ohio, and City of London, UK (Fleet Street, St. Paul's Cathedral etc.)

Watch for revisions at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's FIRST illustrator of the 21st, for including my efforts on his Flash Gordon Resources Page -- along with actual creators like Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, and others!

Charity Alert: Play the FreeRice Game -- improve your vocabulary, and donate food to the United Nations. Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day. BTW -- AIDtoCHILDREN.com is a bit simpler than FreeRice Game.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art has two new shows -- Seldom Seen, from the Permanent Collection, and First Nations Artists -- Contemporary / Traditional. We still have Crown of the Continent, and Ace of Diamonds. I also got my first compliment about the Bull Head Lodge video -- THANKS Doc!

Media Watch: Montana NPR played music by the late guitarist Davy Graham for an hour or more last night. He was VERY influential in the 1960's -- Paul Simon dropped his name on the liner notes of his Sounds of Silence album, and used Graham's music on two songs -- the instrumental Angie, and Somewhere They Can't Find Me. Jimmy Page adapted his instrumental tour de force White Summer from one of Graham's compositions too. I wish those two industry insiders would have championed records by Davy Graham -- if they did, I never saw any for sale in those days. RIP Mr. Graham, you influenced many other fine guitarists, like Bert Jansch, and made our world brighter.

On The Road: I snooped various sites for coverage of the Heroes Red, White and Blue Inaugural Ball for news of George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars, and found a little something on MTV's website:
... the night was a huge success, with performances by Parliament Funkadelic mastermind George Clinton — who is renowned for his wild live shows — David Banner, Memphis Gold and others.
"We can be so proud," Captain Angelina Carrera said. "We served our country with love and honor." Carrera served in Iraq with her husband, Colonel Stephen K. Scott. He was killed by a mortar round in Baghdad last April.
Carrera's remarks came during an intermission between performers Memphis Gold, Peter Paul and George Clinton in the historic Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.
... The sacrifice wasn't lost on the quickly organized group of performers, including George Clinton and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, who stepped up to give America's heroes a show.
"This is an honor," (Mr. Robert (P-Nut) Johnson) of George Clinton's entourage said. "We don't say it enough. We don't say 'thank you' enough."

George Clinton reaches out to a crowdmember during the Heroes Red, White, and Blue Military Ball. (Digitally enhanced image from a photo by Erica Anderson)

From the "Army Times:"
George Clinton brought on rarely seen Sly Stone with his group, and was a big hit with the troops, many of whom flocked forward to the stage.

From "UFO5000" on the P-Funk Boardroom:
Sly Stone also showed up at the end and drove the media wild in the front of the stage. He did:
If You Want Me To Stay,
Higher,
Thank You,
and Stand.
He sported a very funkadelic look with a Mohawk and Irish kilt style outfit
There was a guy filming at the sound board that said he saw Sly at the original Woodstock concert and to see two of the biggest legends together on stage alive in funk music history blew his mind!
(Sly) came on while (my friend) Mike Hampton was finishing up a very impressive version of Maggot Brain.

This generation has no clue how rare this was to see Sly Stone and George Clinton at the World's Greatist Inauguration in History at the famous Warner Theatre that has hosted some of the most classic funk shows in D.C. -- Funkadelic, PRINCE, Betty Davis, Graham Central Station, and many others

Set List
Cosmic Slop
FlashLight
Maggot Brain
One Nation Under A Groove
and Sly Stone Medley

Was a Funky Good Time and very Honorable
Had 2 B THERE!

Later on, I read some media kerfluffle about a handmade sign, but the Funk Mob jokes around all the time, and I'm neither going to repeat the tale, nor comment on it.

Temperature inversions make every day seem to be the same cold, gray day.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Louth, Ireland; La Fert-Bernard, France; Sherwood, Oregon; Hayward, California, Whitefish, Montana, and New York City, New York.

Watch for revisions at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's FIRST illustrator of the 21st, for including my efforts on his Flash Gordon Resources Page -- along with actual creators like Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, and others!

Charity Alert: Play the FreeRice Game -- improve your vocabulary, and donate food to the United Nations. Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day. BTW -- AIDtoCHILDREN.com is a bit simpler than FreeRice Game.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art has two new shows -- Seldom Seen, from the Permanent Collection, and First Nations Artists -- Contemporary / Traditional. We still have Crown of the Continent, and Ace of Diamonds. I've also delivered the first version of my Bull Head Lodge video.

On The Road: George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars in Chicago

Funky Marque said -- At about 12pm the day of the show I said to my wife, "Damn, I wish we could go to the show tonight." (We live in St. Louis.) She replied, "see if your mom can watch the kids." I did just that and bought a couple of airline tickets from Southwest and we were rushing to get ready to FLY FOR FUNK!! (I love my wife!) Long story short we walked into the Cubby at 930pm.
First person I saw was Kid Funkadelic (Note: My friend Michael Hampton) standing over by the guitars and went right over to say hi. He was real happy to see us! We rapped with him a little. It's always great to talk to Mike and he always makes some time for us. We then made our way toward the stage to get in position for the show.
As Jsconi said Kendra's set was awesome. Especially the solo's on "Possesion Free" (i think) with Mike and Gary trading licks on the solo. AMAZING!!!! Kendra just gets better and better! Very talented girl.
Pfunk came on and all the songs were great. Slop was burning and George came out with more energy then I have seen him with in a long time! Jsconi's review of the set is perfect. Maggot Brain was INCREDIBLE! Everyone playing sounded awesome and Mike was killing it! He was on or from another planet. When they got close to the end this chick next to us in the crowd started giving the "cut" sign. Mike saw it and really seemed to piss him off. To me it seemed to fuel him to play even harder and stronger. He turned his back to the crowd and was SHREDDING like I've never seen. PURE METAL and I was LOVING it! The extra extended close of the song wrapped up with Mike throwing his guitar towards the chick in the crowd and throwing his pick (or something) in her direction as he left the stage. A nice FU. 100% rock and roll. It was awesome. It took the crowd and the band a few minutes to recover after this all out Maggot Brain assault. Hard to follow it, but they did.
Every tune was great and before you know it was 3am, no power to the instruments or mikes and George was leading the chants before exiting the stage.

One of the best shows ever!!! Don't miss Pfunk in '09!

The merchtable was nice! I copped a One Nation T with Paint the White House Black on the back and a Drugs CD. I should have got the America Eats it's Young too but I'll just get one from Funkstore. We chatted with Kendra and Clip a bit and then hit the road in a rental car for a 5hour trip back to St. Louis. After an amazing show I'm back to reality after another voyage on the Mothership.
Just a stanky, funky dream where these cats drop down from outerspace to party with you for a while.

George Clinton in Chicago. (photo by Funky Marque) George will be playing at the American Music Inaugural Ball in Washington D.C. tonight, with his children and grandchildren, plus his friend Sylvester (Sly Stone) Stewart along for the funky ride. I hope they all can meet our new president.Note: Clinton & Co. ended up playing at the Heroes Red, White and Blue Inaugural Ball -- CNN even leaked One Nation Under A Groove (the record) during their coverage.
Another review from the same venue, in depth, from JSconi -- ..this is the year of CHANGE …and change we did see – positive change. First – y’all know I am a HUGE Kendra Foster fan – always love her vibe. Well she opened the show…doing about 3 songs from her CD that I bought a couple of years ago – and still play regularly. She was beautifully dressed in a “green for the land” Dashiki style garment that she wore very well – with the back out. Great show too – although I was caught up at the souvenir stand. You know Dr. King once said that “necessity is the mother of invention”, or something along those lines. So hard times call for aggressive measures. I have NEVER seen so many CDs and tshirts for sale at a show. They even had the FAMILY SERIES Testing Positive For the Funk and Kash Waddy POSTCARDS!!! No Gangsters of Love, though, LOL. I bought three shirts, and came back for another later – that’s $100 worth of shirts. Good thing I’m a big supporter of the band, because I damn sure wasn’t supporting the salesperson, but I ain’t gonna go there. This is all about the FUNK.
So about 10:45 the Funk began – ran into the Mayor – not Daley – our man CITYBOY – and headed up front with him and also saw Chicago Josh front and center – hadn’t seen him in a while. By the way, they changed the setup at the Cubby Bear, relocating the stage – and expanding the depth so that all 2,000 of the Pfunk band members could fit this time. The crowd was very spirited – the normal rainbow coalition. But I had no idea I was about to witness as good a show as I was. So now it starts with:

--Funkentelechy – of course – and an early Belita solo. Boogie, Ron Kat, Trey on the set. Mike solo
--Doo Doo Chasers (Clip back in the box)
--Bop Gun – Carlos on stage “blinged” up with F George on his nose
--Gamin’ On Ya
--Undisco Kidd/You Do Me – much slower than I’ve ever heard them play it – and it sounded great!
--Cosmic Slop/I am the Slime – first P nut comes out – AND NO ONE IN THE BUILDING WAS FOOLED, LOL. He even tried to give a GC scream – nope. These are real fans on the set tonight! I wish I had gotten a picture of Garry and Boogie playing side by side on this song. I’m sure someone did. By the way this version of Slop was OUTSTANDING! And of course – the Maggot Overlord enters, with a very colorful zip up sweater that damn near matched his hair.
--Then George breaks out into Icka p*i*k…”Let’s discuss disgusting” and right now I’m thinking we might be in for something serious tonight! Next thing I knew…
--Let’s Take it To the Stage/Say Some’n Nasty…and a brother had to hold his nose cuz the funk was STANKIN’! I’m talking about PUTRID. PEE-UUU!! Man that was a FUNKY GROOVE! And they sang the hook and everything! “Sittin’ in the woods upon a log…” Mixes in a few chants – Get Low (I think GC has basically jacked this from Lil’ John and made it his own, LOL), Rumpofsteelskin,
--I Got A Thang – not a typo – and it was the WHOLE SONG. The whole thang! --You and Your Folks – see above – same flavor. Cityboy and I are like damn, they are pulling out the stops!
--I’ll Bet You – I mean the whole song, even the break “oh oh oh wowwowwowowowow…
--STUFFS AND THANGS – by now I’m like AWWW HELL NAW…and the band was TIGHT!
George looks at me after this song as if to say – OK ARE YOU REDEEMED NOW?? Yes sir Dr. Funkenstein I am…I wanted to say “Thank you sir, may I have another?”, LOL
--Tear the Roof Off – sounded GREAT. Couldn’t quite see who the drummer was – he looked like Rick Ross, LOL – but he was off the chain.
--Up for the Downstroke/Slingshot. Then the rhythm section breaks into the Rumpofsteelskin lick (the Motor Booty when you shake your rump) and Greg solo’s, starting with a line from the old Bill Cosby show – the old school Chet Kincaid one.
--Bounce to This – Kendra at her finest – musically and physically. I just love her vibe and her sound!!! Nobody can perform this song like she can!
Next up was an unexpected performance. George introduces a female singer named Mary Griffin. I wonder if she is related to the Teresa Griffin that performs her in Chicago all the time. But let me tell you…SHE BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN. First of all – the Blues in Chicago is ALWAYS a good idea – kind of like go go in DC. It’s a part of the landscape here, so you will ALWAYS have the crowds attention in Chicago by playing blues. Next – did I mention she is FUYINE, dressed in a black short dress perfectly designed to show off her – um – attributes. She breaks out into “Dr. Feelgood”, and I’m thinking damn she can SANG…and she turned it OUT!. Then she goes into “Proud Mary” Tina Turner style – and she had some Tina legs too. Mary Griffin. Don’t forget that name…cuz she is the TRUTH and did I mention she is FINE?!.
--Maggot Brain – this is where things got really interesting. It was a very spirited version – with Mike really taking his time soloing before he went into the “traditional” solo. At the end there was a very spirited heavy metal funkasson instrumental conversation between Rico (who was SICK on the drums as he always is – SICK) and Mike…Mike reminding everyone that he is indeed the Kidd Funkadelic. But then right at the end, he throws his guitar toward the crowd and storms off the stage. At first I’m thinking ok – that’s some Pete Townsend type chit after that kick booty solo. Then I look at Garry- and his face was like – ‘aw hell naw Mike is TRIPPIN’. Then I look at the rest of the band and they are all STUNNED. I mean it shook everyone up…it took them a couple of minutes to compose themselves. Garry tried to calm everyone down, as one of the techs appeared to be trying to fix the lines. Garry asked the crowd to say “Alan, don’t worry about that” three times. Then they went into the slow version of…
--One Nation – Trey performed on the slow version, but the band was still shaken up from the Mike incident. It wasn’t until they went into the normal version that things seemed to come into play. Right about now GC comes back on stage with an America Eats its Young t-shirt – DAMN WHERE CAN I GET ONE OF THOSE???
--Flashlight – w/ Jerome on the synth bass – on a Moog no less! Sounded outstanding!!
--Some’n Stank and I Want Some – Trey Lewd doin’ Trey Lewd. During this time, George was handed a blunt by one of the fans standing behind me, and he inhaled it and looked back at the guy that gave it to him as if to say…
“I’m George Clinton, and I approve this message” – LOL.
--Knee Deep/Sentimental Journey - GT gettin’ his Wynne on – and Belita sangin’ for Mama and Friends. By now the lights were on. Mike DID NOT solo on Knee Deep…this was done by Ricky Rouse – and he only did a part of it. Man you can’t do that!!! That’s like only playing the 45 version of the song, LOL!
--Rubber Duckie
--Atomic Dog – you know the usual party here. Then the club turned off GCs and Clips microphones, but the amps were still on so the band kept playing and GC led the crowd in several chants for about 15 minutes until finally everything was cut off.
WHEW! I must be gettin’ old – I remember when 4 hour shows were no problem, LOL – but I’m not complaining. All in all – a great show – and yes I was REDEEMED.

Michelle & PRESIDENT Barack ObamaMedia Watch: The USA now has a real president, after eight years of cabal-styled corruption by the robber barons who run the so-called 'Republican' Party. I watched and TAPED the whole event.

The damn temperature inversion still besets the Flathead Valley with dirty frost.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Canton, New York; La Grande, Oregon; New Delhi, India; Oakland, California; Lake Mary, Florida, and Hamilton, Montana.

Watch for revisions at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's FIRST illustrator of the 21st, for including my efforts on his Flash Gordon Resources Page -- along with actual creators like Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, and others!

Charity Alert: Play the FreeRice Game -- improve your vocabulary, and donate food to the United Nations. Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day. BTW -- AIDtoCHILDREN.com is a bit simpler than FreeRice Game.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art has two new shows -- Seldom Seen, from the Permanent Collection, and First Nations Artists -- Contemporary / Traditional. We still have Crown of the Continent, and Ace of Diamonds. I've also delivered the first version of my Bull Head Lodge video.

Media Watch: The We Are One Concert from the Lincoln Memorial, in honor of the forthcoming inaugurations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. There were a couple of Aaron Copeland pieces, and an army sergeant sang the Star Spangled Banner; Bruce Springsteen sang The Rising, with a big choir; Mary J. Blige sang Bill Withers' Lean on Me. (I remember most of a decade ago where she predicted she'd maintain her stardom, and compared her career with Mariah Carey's -- she was correct!) Bettye Lavette and Jon Bon Jovi (surprise!) did very well with Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come. James Taylor, Jeniffer Nettles, John Legend, and two excellent background singers sang Shower The People You Love With Love; Heart-attack survivor John (Cougar) Mellencamp sang his now-classic Little Pink Houses, in his smokey voice. Queen Latifah introduced Josh Groban, Heather Headley, the Washington Gay Men's Chorus, and reminded everyone about Marian Anderson's shamefully once-controversial performance at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 with big-screen video, setting up God Save The Queen uh, no -- that OTHER song, Let Freedom Ring, which I prefer to its real title; Black-Eyed Pea Will.I.Am, jazz legend Herbie Hancock, and barnstorming foreground/background singer Sheryl Crow jammed on Bob Marley's One Love -- Will.I.Am's viral video of Yes We Can was an important component of Barak Obama's electoral success, I must say! The U.S.A's "Usher," and Colombia's own "Shakira" sang Higher Ground along with composer Stevie Wonder, who still sings as well as either of those younger professionals; (I haven't seen Garth Brooks' performance yet.) Dublin, Ireland's own U2 honored Dr. Martin Luther King with their Led Zeppelin-flavored (Pride) In The Name of Love; Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen led a half a million people bellowing out Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land -- with ALL the verses, even the depression-era 'subversive' ones! Beyonce Knowles sang America the Beautiful just fine out in front of the big ol' choir for a perfect finish.

President-Elect Barack Obama and former Heavyweight Champion of the World Muhammed Ali, who did HIS share to advance the cause of racial equality in modern society.