Playing a free show TONIGHT!!! @ the Pike in Long Beach…
1836 E 4th St
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 437-4453

presents:         

featuring

• Marshall Goodman aka Field Marshall (Sublime, Long Beach Dub All Stars, Dubcat)

[Drums]

• Jack Maness (Sublime, Long Beach Dub All Stars, Dubcat)

[Vocalist - Reggae, Rock, Soul]

• Tim Wu (Sublime, Long Beach Dub All Stars, Dubcat)

[Saxophone, Vocals]

• Jud Nester (Abstract Workshop)

[Vocalist - Funk, Soul, Hip Hop]

• Philieano (Skunk Records)

[Emcee - Hip Hop]

• Mike Long (Capital Eye)

[Bass]

• Jon Tomlinson (Economic food chain music group, LMNO & the Six Foot Trolls)

[Guitar, Keys, Vocals]

• Ed Kampwirth (Suburban Rhythm, Nevelle Staple of the Specials)

[Keys, Bass]

• Toko Tasi (Skunk Records)

[Vocalist - Reggae]

Rickshaw is a collective of musicians that have come together to create a variety of musical stylings. Featuring several different vocalists with several different styles that blend together in a production not to be missed! Put together by Marshall Goodman aka Field Marshall aka Ras MG, who is one of the pioneers in the modern music scene from his contributions and production with the multi-platinum Sublime, Long Beach Dub All Stars and Dubcat. Bringing together some old friends and some new, Marshall has the chemistry right and the music speaks for itself.

… Exclusive leak!!!

This is the Delmos Wade works in progress with DJ Greyboy

Delmos Videos

I Don’t Know

Guitar String

Warchurch- live improvisational turntable band doing there thing @ the pike in Long Beach, CA.

Abstract Workshop presents – The Mix Up

November….Friday the 13th…2009!
@ the Basement in Long Beach, CA.
the Abstract Workshop Collective took the stage with Tycoon on Drums, Erick “Jesus” Coomes on Guitar, Mike Long on Bass and Jud Nester on Keys. Here are some clips from a truly amazing night!

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3 featuring Philieano

• Part 4

    In the wee hours of the morning POLITICS 24/7 had learned that that the National Republican

Conservative Republican Doug Hoffman

Congressional Committee was withdrawing resources from the special election to fill the vacancy in the 23^rd district congressional district of New York.   POLITICS 24/7 noted that between a cessation of ads and a withdrawal of Republican workers on the ground out of the 23^rd and into New Jersey indicated that to the NRCC, winning the election with the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava was impossible.

This morning, Assemblywoman Scozzafava withdrew from the race as she announced that for the good of the community, she was suspending her campaign and releasing those who endorsed her and her supported her to do back who ever they see fit.

Citing a recent Sienna Research Institute poll that put Scozzafava behind her closest rival by as much as 14 percentage points, the Assemblywoman claimed that she did not have the funds have to make up all the ground she needed to cover to win this election.

The 23^rd was previously held by Republican Congressman John McHugh who resigned his seat after President Obama appointed him to the position of  United States’ Secretary of the Army. The seat is a totally Republican congressional district. It has been in Republican hands since 1871 and the most that aDemocrat candidate normally receives there is 38%. And that is in the worst of environments for Republicans and best of environments for Democrats.

However, when the establishment Republicans of New York joined forces with national establishment Republicans, they decided to run Dede Scozzafava, a New York State Assemblywoman with a particularly liberal record. Perhaps the thinking of establishment Republicans was that in the age of Obamunism, a left of center Republican would be more palatable. So in typical fashion, for the sake of political expediency, the Gop leadership delivered the nomination to Dede.

Problem is that Dede Scozzafava was not just left of center, she was down right off the map left.  As a supporter of ACORN, high taxes, increased spending, and abortion, in past elections, Scozzafava accepted the nomination of the Working Family Party and ran under their name . The WFP is a socialist organization, that simply stretches the meaning of “family” and exploit’s the word “working”. In addition to that, Dede Scozzafava’s husband is a big SEIU organizer. SEIU is the union that stands shoulder to shoulder with ACORN. Scozzafava’s family connection to one of the largest unions in the nation has allowed her to endorse Card Check legislation which strips individuals rights and tightens the grip of control that unions have.

All together, Dede Scozzafava’s inclinations, were not just left of center, they were offensively liberal to the people of a red district. The fact that many establishment types endorsed her only added salt to the wounds of many conservatives.

So in came Sara Palin. She became the most prominent anti-establishment to come out and endorse a third party candidate against Assemblywoman Scozzafava. Palin proudly proclaimed her support for Doug Hoffman a Republican running on the New York Conservative Party line.

Others began to follow her lead. People like former Senator Fred Thompson came to Hoffman’s side. So did people like Republican Congressman Todd Tihart of Kansas former House leader Dick Armey, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and even former New York Governor George Pataki.

Pretty soon it became clear that the GOP was becoming sharply divided and the establishment mentality which helped lose the White House in 2008 and the House in 2006 was rearing its ugly head again as Republican renegades abandoned party label loyalties to declare their commitment to Republican principles.

Perhaps  the one person whose reputation was damaged most here was former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a leader long considered unconventional and a visionary.

Gingrich was one of the most adamant supporters of liberal Scozzafava. He was persistent in his campaign to make sure that Republicans stuck together and stood behind Dede Scozzafava because she was a Republican. Problems is that Scozzafava may have been a Republican on the ballot but she was at heart, a DIABLO, a Democrat In All But Label Only. Gingrich’s failure to call a spade a spade here tarnished his own renegade credentials and helped move him into the ranks of the “establishment”.

Bottom line in the 23^rd Congressional District is this. The anti-establishmentarians of the GOP, the ones who are the future of the Republican Party, scored a decisive victory in the 23^rd, even before the first Election Day ballots have been cast. Scozzafava’s withdrawal from the race is proof of that. The suspension of her effort for Congress means that the continuation of at least one pseudo-Republican campaign has been blown to bits by the purity of principles and the sincerity of purpose that true Republicans believe the GOP must represent.

Even if Democrat Bill Owens happens to win this on Tuesday, anti-establishment Republicans will still have won. They will have made it clear to that establishmentarians in the Party, that they better stop losing by acting liberals and start trying to win by acting like Republicans, conservative Republicans, not Arlen Specter Republicans.

Currently, Doug Hoffman seems to be the beneficiary of Scozzafava’s suddenly derailed campaign but if her 20% or so, will all come out and vote for Doug Hoffman is yet to be seen. Some Scozzafava fans may have bitter feelings over the split that Hoffman’s candidacy created. So far RNC Chairman Mike Steele has declared that with Dede Scozzafava out of the race, the RNC endorses Hoffman and will pump their resources in to Hoffman’s campaign during these closing days.

That is important. Those resources will provide Hoffman with the finances needed to saturate the district with ads that can increase his exposure more than ten times the extent that his limited war chest had permitted up to this point in time.

The race will most likely be much closer than it ever has been, but with three days left, Republicans could just get their act together and elect one of the only conservatives to Congress to hale from America’s North East.

Oh, kids, there’s a fight abrewin’ in the Rethuglican tent! From Bill Pascoe (ex-press secretary at the RNC) at CQ Politics:

These days, whether you’re a conservative activist, or a Republican Party official, saying “New York 23″ out loud leads to a shortening of breath, a quickening of the pulse, and a tightening of the muscles. Heads whip around to see who said it, and in what context — friend, or foe?

…snip…

The official GOP nominee — Dede Scozzafava, a very liberal New York Assemblywoman — now trails her Democratic opponent, Bill Owens, and the Conservative Party nominee, Doug Hoffman, according to a survey released Monday by the Club for Growth.

Original movie poster

[...] the apparatchiks at the National Republican Congressional Committee continue to view Hoffman and his candidacy as some sort of flu-like disease [...]

For more than two months, Hoffman’s momentum has been building, as conservatives of all shapes and sizes and pedigrees — Old Right barons (Mike Long, chairman of New York’s Conservative Party; David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union; Ron Pearson, of the Conservative Victory Fund; Citizens for the Republic), new media conservatives (Erick Erickson of RedState; Michelle Malkin; Patrick Ruffini), social conservatives (Concerned Women for America; the Susan B. Anthony List; Eagle Forum; National Organization for Marriage) and fiscal conservatives (Club for Growth; Steve Forbes; Dick Armey), and political leaders like Rick Santorum, Fred Thompson, Sarah Palin, and Tim Pawlenty — have come together behind his candidacy.

Oops! He forgot Marilyn Musgrave, who lost in Colorado but who has yet to concede the race or congratulate Betsy Markey, who unseated her.

Those few GOP leaders who have dared speak out publicly in support of GOP nominee Scozzafava — like Newt Gingrich — have been roundly criticized by conservatives. (For Gingrich, in fact, the criticism has been especially brutal. Whatever plans he may have had about running for President in 2012 have taken a major shellacking since he dared stand up to the conservatives on this one.)

Not only Newtie, John Boehner has taken some of the time he usually devotes to tanning to endorse Scozzafava.

As the weeks have worn on, and the race has intensified, the campaign has become a proxy war for control of the center-right political apparatus in this country.

…snip…

But the truly stunning news was Hoffman’s endorsement by Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who is, to my knowledge, the only former political consultant currently serving in the Congress.

Before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2002, Cole served as chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, as executive director of the NRCC, and as chief of staff of the Republican National Committee.

…snip…

But, more importantly, in the 2008 cycle, Cole served as Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

…snip…

Other Republican members of Congress had endorsed Hoffman — Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Todd Tiahrt of Kansas had previously endorsed Hoffman, while Dana Rohrabacher of California and Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina joined Cole in endorsing Hoffman yesterday — but, frankly, I can think of few who look to them for political guidance in a matter like this. Each has established a reputation, to varying degrees, as a political maverick; no one confuses them with the Republican Leadership.

So Cole’s endorsement represents the first breach of the Hoffman Flu into GOP leadership circles.

…snip…

Pete Sessions [Chairman of the NRCC, who replaced Tom Cole] didn’t make the choice of Dede Scozzafava, 11 GOP county chairmen in upstate New York made the choice.

Oh, and there’s one other person involved in this farce who doesn’t live in the district for which a rep is going to be elected. That would be Conservative Party candidate himself, Doug Hoffman.

Greyboy Presents – Warchurch Turntable Band
CURTIS GREYFIELD-Turntable Drums and thangs, SPANKY ORTIZ-musical tidbits, DELMOS WADE-keys & vox, EZEKIEL DUNBAR-bass, TRUMAN ODEIUS-turntable terrorist, MICHELOB LONG-electric bass…

This is a conglomeration of various sounds colliding to make a funk soul stew. Make sure you come experience the Church at “the Pike” in Long Beach on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month for an improvisational jam jumbalaya from some truly creative heads… see you there.
-Delmos

So I’ve done a whole 2 tattoos this week, things are falling into the unfortunate fall lull.  Today I tattooed a drawing of a Lion’s head a client brought in that was somewhere between art nouveau and an acid drawing, it came out looking nice and she was very happy with it, which is all I could hope for.  She had a very “excitable” friend with her though, who was a nice enough fellow I suppose, but he had had a few drinks and fancied himself a bit of an “expert” on everything surrounding the tattoo process which can be quite annoying.   Oh well, if he actually comes back and gets tattooed it will have been worth it.

Yesterday I received word from my best friend Mike that he has gone against all conventional wisdom put forth in tattoo motifs since time immemorial, and gone and asked his long time girlfriend to marry him.  (she said yes) So congratulations to them both.  Hopefully now that he’s back from working in France he and I can spend some time together and maybe start a new tattoo on him.

Speaking of which, I have no commitments this week so if you’d like to brighten both your day and mine and get a little tattoo I would be more than happy to make something lovely happen.   Shoot me an email at a.p.tattooer(at)gmail.com if you have some space to fill and time to kill.

I’m off to go troll the internet and soak in the endless boring waves of blue light from the television until far too late in the evening.  For lack of anything cool and tattoo-ey, I’ll leave you with a photo of my soon-to-be betrothed best friend that I took at the East River waterfront a few weeks ago.  Congratulations Mikey, I love you.

It is Thursday night, which means it is Move Into Our new Apartment Eve. I get back from tennis around 9 and find Mike sprawled across the hotel bed with his laptop. As has become our custom, we exchange the “how was your day” conversation and I think for the 45th time how very much this seems like marriage, or at least being in a long-term relationship. I shower then crawl onto my side of the bed, letting my wet hair fall over the back of the fluffy hotel pillow.

“Last night sharing a bed with you, thank GOD,” I say good naturedly to Mike.

“I can’t wait to be independent of you,” he says back.

“Neither can my sleep cycle.”

“What’s worse, the snoring or the twitching?” he asks.

“TWITCHING!?” I say with mock outrage. “This,”–I feign an involuntary twitch of my leg–”is twitching.” “THIS,”–I thrash wildly with my legs and arms–”is schizophrenic convulsing.”

“Ow!” he laughs and produces a dramatic fake snore.

“Not even close,” I judge. “Yours sound like cavitation equipment.”

“What’s cavitation?” he asks.

“I don’t know. Some machine in a Michael Creighton book that creates holes the ground using sound waves.”

“And I sound like one.”

“What I imagine one sounds like, since I’m 80% sure they are a figment of Michael Creighton’s dreams.”

Mike yawns, then buries his face into his pillow. “This pillow smells like broken dreams,” he declares.

He is snoring within minutes.

Mike and I are walking by the pool on our way up to the Founder’s Pub. He looks dapper as a dandelion in khaki slacks, a light blue button down dress shirt, and brown leather shoes and belt. I’m wearing my favorite marigold dress with Grecian brown leather sandals. I spot Alek, one of the Serbian lifeguards and yell hello. She looks at me with a shocked expression I don’t understand at first, then realize that like so many other people here, she has never seen me in anything but white tennis outfits. She swings her arms as if there is a racket in them and says in, “There is no tennis today?” in a thick accent I have trouble understanding. I grin back and shrug.

“You look nice today,” she says. “But still, Adidas is nicer for you!”

“They won’t let me wear tennis skirts to work!”

“You need a better job.”

And she is so right.

I’m on the Beltway at 6:00 on a Friday, which is not a time anyone relishes being on the Beltway. I’m having a daydream about life before cars and traffic and Beltways, imagining myself galloping up to Congressional on a bay horse in a tennis skirt when my phone rings and its Cherie.

“Hey!”

“Fuck!” She replies. “I was just at the club! But that damn pub doesn’t get any cell service so I just got your voicemail and now I’m almost home!”

“So come back,” I say, as if this is a perfectly logical thing to do.

“How long are you going to be there? I have to pee wicked bad and I have to walk my dog but maybe I’ll come by after that,” she says.

In socialite, this means no. I am getting more adept at understanding this language, even though I’ll never be able to speak it.

“Stewart and Martha are there though,” she continues, “which was awkward.”

Inanely, I think “Martha Stewart” to myself and laugh out loud. Why have I never made a joke about this before?

“It was even worse because Martha’s ex-husband called me when I was golfing with the girls today and asked me out!”

“WHAT!”

“YES! He called me and said he had a really good feeling about this, that we should meet up for drinks sometime.”

“How did even get your number?” I ask.

She laughs at this. “That’s exactly what I asked him… I was so shocked couldn’t think of anything else to say.”

Suddenly, she squeals and erupts into a chorus of “FUCK!!”

“What!” I ask urgently.

“HE IS CALLING ME. RIGHT NOW. FUCK!”

“Oh shit!” I say. “Don’t answer!”

“Oh crap, I’ll call you back, FUCK!”

Meanwhile, Mike is sitting on the passenger’s side, looking at me like I’ve grown another head.

I haven’t even turned off the lights yet and Mike is already passed out on his stomach, snoring like a tractor. I put my bookmark into “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and head downstairs to crank down the air. When I come back, Mike is on his back, his head arranged awkwardly on the stack of pillows he was using to read Drudge before he fell asleep. He is still snoring. I cut the lights and make a point of making a lot of unnecessary movement and noise as I arrange myself on my side of the bed. My side of the bed, HA! This is absurd, the whole bed is mine!

I am a very light sleeper and am one of those people who can’t fall asleep unless it’s perfectly dark and perfectly silent. When I was a kid I used to dread the day our baby cows got rounded up and sent away because their moms would moo all night for a month afterwards and I wouldn’t get any sleep. Mike is not mooing, but his snores are getting louder so I get up and rummage around my desk drawer until I find two pink earplugs I keep for exactly this reason. I shove them in, close my eyes and am congratulating myself for being so prepared when I realize that I can still hear him snoring. Loudly. I rip one of the pillows out from under his head and put it over mine. His snoring stops and for a moment I think removing the pillow might have done the trick, but his snores roar back to life like someone has yanked an invisible rip cord. I lie there for a few minutes, seething, before slamming the pillow I removed from under his head on top of his face. He doesn’t even flinch, much less stop snoring. I smack him in the arm and yell at him to shut up.

“HEY.” Smack. “SHUT. UP.” No response.

I smack him harder in the chest. “OY!” 

But it’s a losing battle. I get out of bed—making as much noise as possible—and trudge downstairs to sleep on the couch.

This is a magical dancing man. He will probably annoy you. His name is Mike Long, and I am pretty sure he is my soul mate. Turns out we have a lot in common. Dancing, design, fun, colorful sneakers, sweet shades and beards. I don’t have a beard, but if I was a dude I imagine I would have a really sweet beard like his. Also, he’s from Canada, and I’ve always liked Canada, unlike most of American. Anyway, he danced everyday for a year, and he pretty much still dances a lot. Its not something you can stop once you’ve started. This video features Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, who are an excellent band if you are not familiar. Let me tell you a story:

Amy Winehouse was an okay singer. Amy Winehouse had a shitty band and was never going to be famous although she looked just like she should be famous because she was very alt looking. Then she got really lucky because Mark Ronson was all up on the Dap Kings and got them to play her album. Everyone wins, because they all get paid. Except we lose, because we have to know who Amy Winehouse is and what a trainwreck she consistently is. Sharon Jones plays with the Dap Kings and she doesn’t do piles of heroin, not surpsingly, not many people know who she is. She also has moves.

make it rain!

Some of you may have also seen this dancin’ machine, who is a MFA student in Yale’s Design School. This guy has a much more electro-tronic taste, and is very Bootylicious. Now while Mr. Kim has a pretty awesome fashion sense, I still prefer the Beard and sunglasses look. I’m obsessed with sunglasses, here are some suggestions for your summer purchase:

note: do not wear at night.

I also may or may not have been in and out of the country lately. This would explain my abcense in the internetz and my blog. This also goes to show you can’t count on Russ to run a blog on his own. Anyway, I scored some sweet 45s because I like funny record covers, and now I will share some amazing songs with you.

Grenadine Heart, MMM!

I can’t embed this great one by Week’s & Co, but trust me when I say, this video is worth it. I promise silver boots, and disgusting choreography.

It may seem a bit harsh, but this picture does Imagination no justice to the one on the 45 I have. I guess a white Grand Piano just really gets these guys in the mood for seductive faces and crawling, and they are just not that into squats.

can you imagine, gold garters?

Happy Monday!

-posted by samsquared

Download

U.S. Senator Kirsten Giilibrand

 
    When it was first announced that New York Governor David Paterson was appointing Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Secretary of State Hillary Roddam Clinton in the U.S. Senate, many of you may have been saying Kirsten who? And with good reason.She is little known to most living outside of the upstate New York region and has only served one full term in Congress after defeating incumbent Republican Congressman John Sweeney.

Gillibrand’s Congressional district is a fairly conservative oriented district, especially when it comes to fiscal issues and getting elected in her district is an intricate process that involves a great deal of bridge building.

You see, the 20th Congressional district takes in parts of 10 different New York counties spanning the Adirondacks, Catskills and Hudson Valley. Winning in her district takes a great deal of deal making.

It involves a lot of ring kissing in the rough and tumble world of New York politics.

To win in the 20th district you need to get your parties nomination and in this case that involves the county

Gillibrand's Congressional District Covered Parts of Columbia, Dutchess, Delaware, Essex, Greene, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington Counties

chairmen and county committees of not one or two, but ten different counties. That’s a lot of favors to commit to.

So the fact that Gillibrand was able to win her party’s nomination for anything in the 20th district says volumes about her political savvy. Which is probably one reason why Paterson picker Gillibrand to replace Hillary.

Paterson is going to need a great deal of political savvy to win election to governor in his own right. Which leads us to another reason why Paterson may have appointed Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate.

Kirsten Gillabrand’s selection may have been one of the first steps in Patersons reelection effort, an effort that he will need plenty of help in.

Gillibrand happens to be pretty conservative for a modern day Democrat, which is one reason why Paterson has been catching a lot of flack for picking her. One liberal columnist predicts that both Paterson and Gillibrand will be kicked out of office in the next election.

In the case of David Paterson, I find that funny.

Paterson the son of well known Manhattan liberal State Senator, Basil Paterson, is the epitome of the liberal ideology who was born and raised in a liberal political family. As a politician he is a pro-quota, pro-abortion, pro-spending, pro-tax, pro illegal immigrant, anti school voucher, liberal. He is as liberal as they come, yet because he selected Gillibrand, liberal activists want him out.

Well the joke is on them.

He’s theirs and he is there to stay. He is staying mainly due to the fact that he appointed Kirsten Gillibrand.

New York Governor David Paterson

The appointment of Gillibrand was a deal. It was a deal that would help take , of all things, pressure from conservatives off of Paterson.

Not conservative thinking people but New York Conservative Party members.

You see New York’s Conservative party is not really a political party. It is a patronageorganization.

They endorse candidates based upon how many jobs they can get for the endorsement. If the Democrat can offer more than the Republican than the Democrat gets the endorsement.

New York Conservative party officials come across principled especially on the issue of abortion. But when it comes to jobs they abandon their abortion stance quicker then the time it takes for a terrorist on a suicide mission to blow themselves up.

That is why there are so many Democrats who run with the Conservative endorsement. Many of them are pro-choice Democrats and many of them have at least 3 or 4 Conservatives on their payroll.

Kirsten Gillibrand did not have the Conservative party endorsement last time around, but expect her to have it when she runs for re-election as a senator.

Although she is pro-abortion, she has a great deal of conservative positions including on the issue of the right to bear arms. On fiscal matters, as a congresswoman she is more conservative than many Republicans. She voted against the last few bailout programs proposed. So there is room for cover for Conservative party members in their potential support for her but if that is the case, be sure to also look at her payroll and the conservative party members that will be on it.

As for Paterson, he most likely got a handshake and a promise from Conservative party officials who in turn for appointing Gillibrand to the senate, promise two things..

1. Not to cross endorse the Republican nominee for Governor and
2. To run only token opposition against Paterson on the Conservative party line.

That could help split the Republican vote and give Paterson some breathing room in his reelection effort and allows him to appeal to his now peeved liberal base.

Such a deal works well for Paterson. By appointing the congresswoman whose district garnered support from 10 different counties, Paterson probably ended up better than if he appointed Andrew Cuomo.

I mean after all, Andrew Cuomo was not going to get all that far against Paterson, the state’s first African- American Governor.

Andrew Cuomo already opposed the states first black candidate for Governor, Carl McCall, who once won the nomination but lost the elecetion to Republican Governor George Pataki.

Rudy Giuliani

For Andrew Cuomo to oppose a sitting Governor who happens to also be black, would be suicidal.

So Paterson is in a good position despite the bad state of affairs in New York and his bad decisions as governor.

The only real threat that could present itself is if Rudy Giuliani were to run. But if he was to run, the conservative split, set in motion by the Gillabrand appointment, has already helped to make it that much tougher for Rudy to beat Paterson and the same would hold true if he ran against Gillibrand for the U.S. Senate.

Conservatives hate Rudy Giuliani. He refuses to play ball with them and so they refused to endorse any of the three times that he ran for Mayor of New York City and if he runs for Governor, they are more than likely to find themselves running against him again.

So the bottom line is that the Gillibrand appointment was not a stupid one.

It was a smart choice. It was a choice that gained Paterson some respect from voters because of his bucking the establishment and not picking any heir apparent. It also did not anger moderate voters who would have held some animosity for Paterson for picking some leftwing radical.

Stupid. I think not!                                                           

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the Governor’s Mansion…

…in Springfield, Illinois; One from Chicago, another from Tennessee, & a third from Kentucky. They all go with to examine the fence.

The Tennessee contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil.

“Well”, he says, “I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me.”

The Kentucky contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, ‘I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me.’

The Chicago contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to and whispers, ‘$2,700.’

The Governor is incredulous and whispers back, ‘You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?’

The Chicago contractor whispers back, ‘$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire that guy from Kentucky to fix the fence.’

‘Done!’ replies . And that my friends, is how it all works in Illinois politics!!!Submitted by Bill, Ardmore, Pa.

In a few weeks I’ll finish my academic requirements for Georgetown University’s Masters in Public Relations/Corporate Communications.  Georgetown has an applied curriculum (Master of Professional Studies) approach to their program structure.  Essentially, you learn something in class from the professor’s lectures & assigned texts; then you complete projects and writing assignments to actually demonstrate proficiency.   In contrast, other programs focus on theory of communications and fixate on research.

Taz didn't go to Georgetown!

So I’m thankful this holiday season for the following things I’ve learned:

1.)  Effective communications brings good ideas to life

2.)  Public Relations practitioners should think of themselves as persuaders (H/T Profs. Mike Long & Don Neal)

3.)  A professional communicator’s personal code of ethics should exceed the standard of their employer

4.)  Facebook is not evil nor is it only for millennials.

5.)  When writing a speech remember that “nobody cares” so make it engaging and appealing to the ear (More tips here)

6.)  Your classmates are a key part of your network (H/T Ashley Duque Kienzle)

7.)  Social Media is so important to communicators that it can impact the outcome of presidential elections

8.)  Nonprofits can benefit from skill-based volunteerism by communications professionals..Social Impact Communications (H/T Denise Keyes, Jen Gilman, Joy Bates Boyle)

9.)  The most successful PR Professionals seem to have worked their way up the ladder in a variety of roles in a variety of cities (advertising, public affairs, branding, press secretary; nonprofit, agency, government)

10.)  Achieving at Georgetown is similar to anything else in life.  A positive attitude, strong teamwork, and good mentors are required.

I suppose this list is sorta boring.  I guess that’s to be expected since I’m blogging on a Friday night during a holiday weekend. *shrugs shoulders*

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about Georgetown’s program.  I think it was well worth it.

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Don’t miss the local Battle of the Bands competition happening at the Memorial Park bandshell this Friday starting at 5:14 pm (no, that’s NOT a mis-type; check the poster).

If you like music and live shows, you NEED to be there!  And guess what?!  Your’s truly — Pastor Shawn — is one of the judges!  BONUS!  And… free pizza!  BONUS!  And…the entire event is free!  TRIPLE BONUS!  See you there!

(click for larger view)

We’ve got a couple of community events coming up sponsored by Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention, the CareNet Pregnancy Resource Center, Stop and Think, and the Bella Pregnancy Center.  Visit CareNetPartners.com for more specifics and to register for these free events online.