A Couple of Things…

Posted on October 31, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. So my father turned 80 years old this week. That’s quite a milestone you know. He’s 80 and still hitting on women. What’s so funny is that NO ONE is surprised by that!

2. Yeah, I’m so done with seeing ice water dumped on people. I am glad it helped to do something awesome, raising money and awareness for ALS, but come on already! It really became a PR opportunity for people. Now if we can have George or Brad in a white T, or even shirtless do this on video, I might actually pay for that.

3. Shortly after my divorce I had a date with a man I had a crush on. It was my first crush and only one for almost ten years after my marriage ended. We had one date and then that was all. I felt bad that he never asked for a second date until I spotted him in a grocery store this week. Honestly, he was not really handsome then, but since he completely let himself go…well let’s just say it looks like I dodged a bullet, and that other expression WHICH I HATE, actually makes some sense for this occasion, “Everything happens for a reason.”

(Josh McNutt, Charles Lloyd, Dorothy Darr, Adam Randall and myself)
4. I attended a screening of the documentary, “Arrows Into Infinity” about the life and career of Charles Lloyd. Both Lloyd and the director/life partner of Lloyd, Dorothy Darr, were in attendance and did a Q&A after the screening held at Squashed Grapes. It was a privilege to meet Lloyd and his life partner Darr. He will be receiving the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award in 2015.

5. I’d like to think that none of my friends watch “reality” TV shows like that Honey Boo Boo thing. Seriously.

6. Speaking of scary things, this post happens to fall on Halloween 2014 so I thought I would share another one of my favorite Halloween pictures with Sydney when we’d go out trick or treating together. She was so freakin’ cute! This particular year we went as Madeline and Miss Clavel from the Madeline book series, and then later of course the movie starring Frances McDormand as Miss Clavel.
I love Halloween for a couple of reasons: kids costumes are adorable but mostly because I get my fill of black licorice and candy corn for the year.

7. Did you ever see that movie “Julie and Julia” about a struggling writer who starts a blog and works her way through Julia Child’s cookbook? Seemed like a good idea, so while I was perusing through a recently acquired “Beginner’s Cook Book” from Home and Gardens (circa 1984), I thought maybe I would do the same thing! Well, I probably wouldn’t blog on each recipe, but how great would it be to finally learn how to make my own spaghetti sauce or make pot roast and gravy? Yes Maggie, I will cook for you.

8. Not only do I get grossed out, but I get a little indignant when I discover a spider or mosquito bite, like I’ve been violated somehow.

9. From the “Really Bad Ideas” file comes this news story, “Mom Bakes Vagina Cookies for Second Graders, Can’t Believe Teacher Has the Nerve to Refuse Them.” Best line from the article is when the author wrote, I think vagina-inspired art is actually quite beautiful. I still wouldn’t bake a plate of vagina cookies and bring them to my grade-schooler’s class, because I’m not bat-shit crazy.”

Too funny!!! Here’s the story for reference: http://www.mommyish.com/2014/09/23/mom-bakes-vagina-cookies-for-second-graders/ I found it originally on the Huffington Post.
Warning: Clicking on photo is not for the faint of heart.

10. I saw an MSN story with this title (I copied & pasted it): “5 People Who Only Vowed to Eat One Food”

Not to nitpick or anything, but shouldn’t it be, “5 People Who Vowed to Eat Only One Food?” What they’re saying is they only made one vow, which was to eat one food, as opposed to vowing to eat only one food. You get it, right?

11. My knee has been really giving me trouble the past month or so and as a result, I can’t exercise at lunch so I’ve been reading. I typically have a book going at any given time, but I’ve been going through more books more quickly now. Nice for mental stimulation, not so nice for my midriff. Next step, Orthopedic surgeon and most likely an MRI.

12. From my favorite quotes files, “There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” –Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Thanks for listening.

A Couple of Things…

Posted on October 23, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. The trip to Oregon with Maggie to visit Sydney was super fun. If Syd Rose started popping out grandbabies for me, I would seriously think about moving up there. Meanwhile, Portland-Rocks.com could be in the works! Just sayin’.

There was lots of outdoor hiking with Maggie, good food, cold drinks, and as much time as I could with Sydney in-between her jobs.

2. I saw a cooking website with a blog called, “15 Dinner Recipes Impossible to Mess Up.” I feel a challenge is afoot.

3. Kobe’s first shot of the season was an airball? Okay, in all fairness, it’s the preseason; but still, how much does that suck?

4. Did you see those advertisements how Brett Michaels was appearing at an RV Show? Reminded me of that line in that Don Henley song, “I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.” Just didn’t seem right.

5. On the other end of the spectrum – on the extremely COOL end – there’s this video I saw recently of a school band rockin’ some Rage Against the Machine. Damn I would have been in band if my school had rocked some Zep or Bowie back in the day. Check it out:

6. Speaking of music, I wonder, “Is it better to have diminished hearing, than to not have enjoyed live music your entire life?” I pondered this after my Aunt Angie’s recent visit. She is 86, my father is 80 and he’s going deaf. She has perfect hearing. My dad spent his entire life enjoying loud music, his sister hadn’t been to a live music event until this year, not since she was a teenager. My question reminds me of that famous quoted question “Is it better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.”

Of course there’s always a good argument for wearing earplugs.

7. I saw someone poise the question, “If you could rid the world of one thing, what would that be?” Someone commented, “Cancer.”
I gave it some thought and I came up with, “Stupidity.” I figured if we were smarter, we could find the cure or stop it in the first place.

8. I believe I experienced my first (and hopefully last) scintillating scotoma. It last about 15 minutes, then it went away. It could be described as a half circle of refracted light in my vision path, like a floating aroura borialis or light shining through a quartz crystal. Bright jagged semi circle. TOTALLY freaked me out! I’ve read up on them and they usually are followed by a migraine, with or without a headache. Who knew you could have a migraine without a headache!

9. I hate it when I arrive at an event and run into friends who say, “Oh! I have that same shirt!” I guess it could be worse – they could be wearing the same shirt.

10. Oh! The raccoons are back. Yep, I woke up and laid in bed listening to odd noises around the house. So I looked out my back bedroom window, and turned on the outside light to find two humongous vermin walking across the back fence. They froze at first and then looked up at the house with their beady evil eyes, then continued on. They had to be at least 45 pounds each. They were huge!! And again, I live at the beach! So weird.

11. Sometimes when I want to show off, I will work into the conversation that I once dated someone (Victor) who saw Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour in the Seventies. But now I can say, my good friend Linda LeBrock actually met Gloria Steinem. One degree of separation should account for something, which I guess is that I know how to pick cool friends!

12. From my favorite quotes file: “Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

Posted on August 22, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. For those who never read about why I started this blog (Read “About Pam”), here it is in a nutshell: “It’s therapeutic as it takes my thoughts out of my head, and frees up that much needed space for handling life.”

The photo I use on my blog is of me and my daughter, Sydney Rose, celebrating my birthday a couple of years ago. THIS is how I take on life!

2. I read a blog called “31 apologies you should make to your bartender.” I’m sharing my two favorites, the first of which resonates totally with me, the second is just funny:

#6. I’m sorry I ordered Cabernet in a bar and then made an icky face like I expected it to be good.
#12. I’m sorry I told you my drink was too strong. Who does that?

3. I had never been a fan of the marmot, that’s not to say I didn’t like them, but I just didn’t give them much thought until I saw this video from Greenpeace. They were doing a time lapse video at Glacier National Park when this furry guy came along and ruined it. They weren’t too mad about it though, how could you be? Check it out (make sure volume is up):
https://youtu.be/3O05nyS6hwQ?si=9wUHg3ur8JXnZ9Ho

4. I saw a story called, “Famous products back from the dead”, one of them was the Astro pop. I gotta get me one of them!

5. I rarely have nightmares, in fact I can’t remember the last time a bad dream woke me up, but when I do they are usually one of three recurring scenarios all stemming from real life stressful situations:

The DJ nightmare – where there is dead air and I’m running around trying to get the next song on, but the equipment won’t cooperate.
The waitress nightmare – where too many people are seated in my section for me to keep up with them.
And finally, the smoking nightmare – where I realize I’m smoking after having quit for over twenty years…because IT”S REALLY HARD TO QUIT and who wants to go through that again!?

6. On the other end of the spectrum, there are simple things that ALWAYS make me smile:

The feel of the warm sun on my shoulders when I come out of an air-conditioned building or car.
Hearing the trolley make its stop around the corner from my house.
Hitting a three-pointer.
Pictures of most baby animals.
Getting a message from my daughter.
Seeing my dog, Samantha “Boom Boom” Baumgardner, waiting for me when I return home.
Seeing dolphins in the ocean.
Hearing the perfect drum fill/solo.
Hitting all green lights.
Walking into a venue and seeing someone sporting the ever popular VenturaRocks.com t-shirt.

7. Another great memory of being married was when Sydney Rose was born. Because of all the horror stories you read about how hospitals can mix up babies, Syd’s daddy never let her out of his sight while they cleaned her up and he made sure they put the proper i.d. bracelet on her. It really was sweet.

And though I was dead tired after being in labor since 5 in the morning (I gave birth at 7:10 that evening), I couldn’t sleep. I got up after midnight and made my way down the hallway to the nursery where they let me hold my baby. I couldn’t stand to be apart from her.

8. I hate that expression, “Only the Good Die Young.” In fact, I call BULLSHIT!!! After a certain age, are we all Bad??? And what age is that?

People resort to that expression because they remember Billy Joel singing it, and you may or may not know, it was actually about a young teen trying to deflower a Catholic girl: “You Catholic girls start much too late,but sooner or later it comes down to fate.I might as well be the one.” Suggesting even the good people die, so you might as well be bad.

I say we retire that expression…of course unless you’re a horny teenager. 😉

9. Sometimes I worry about writer’s block; I worry mostly because I have a deadline for my Ventura Breeze column that I write twice a month. I have to come up with 500 words about Ventura’s music scene. Luckily there is an abundance of music and I have enough contacts to get the inside scoop. I post them here (along with other editorials when I get a bee in my bonnet): http://venturarocks.com/blog/category/ventura-rocks/

10. From my favorite quotes file: “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” – Isaac Asimov

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

Posted on August 16, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. Latest adventure? Going out with the Squashed Grapes crew to help harvest grapes in the middle of the night. Left the Grape at 11 pm and returned the next morning at around 10:30 am. In return I get a t-shirt that says, “Will Work for Wine”. Totally worth it!!

2. Funny vs. Snarky. I’d like to think I can be funny without being snarky, which is to say not poking fun at the expense of someone else.

3. I saw a Depends commercial where they are encouraging people to show off their Depends. I guess they’re trying to take away the stigma of wearing an adult diaper. Well good luck with that. I guess Depends will be cool once we see George Clooney in them.

4. For my bi-lingual friends: There is a band here in town that I had never ventured out to see until recently. They were into their third song when it hit me like a ton of bricks what the English translation for their band name, Sin Chonies, is. Brilliant!*

5. How true is this?

6. Is it just me or are the people who refer to Ventura as “Ventucky” a little redneck themselves? Okay, That was a little Snarky. True, but snarky. 😉

7. It always makes it that worse when a headline includes a dead dog. “Three People Including One Dog Found Dead Inside Crashed Car.”

8. Mob mentality is a real thing; and it’s scary. Just know this, you have the ability to rise above it. I entrust you to do so.

9. I wonder why people post cryptic messages on FB about who is a good person, or how great some of their friends are, or how messed up some people are, or how they only have a few good friends. The best one I saw recently was, “I got the best compliment ever!” That’s all she wrote. REALLY? I Un-friended her based on principle.

Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 — Robin Williams
1951 – 2014

10. From my favorite quotes file:

“I’m sorry, if you were right, I’d agree with you.” – Robin Williams

May you Rest in Peace Sir.

Thanks for listening.

*Translation is “without underwear”

A Couple of Things…

Posted on August 10, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. I truly believe that laughter is the best medicine, but I also believe that music is the next best thing.

2. I recorded my first song courtesy of Christine Law. SOOOO much respect to artists who do this for a living. Grueling!! It still needs beaucoup work, like lyrics, so don’t even ask.

3. What does it say about society when you have to offer a reward for someone to come forward and do the right thing?

4. You know that expression, “A body in motion, stays in motion”? It’s really true, and to be honest, I hate it; because a body lying about watching a movie and eating potato chips…with dip, and a root beer float, sounds so much more fun.

5. It just occurred to me why people love Weird Al so much (See #1). Combining wit with music is genius, which also explains why I love Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice Restaurant.” It was tradition for the longest time to play the title cut every Thanksgiving. I miss that!

6. The Huffington Post had a blog called “23 Reasons You Should Go Hug Your Mom.” Just a couple I would share with Sydney Rose:

a. For every event that you tried to resist photos, because your mom is probably the only person in your life who will take more photos of you than TMZ does celebrities. She wanted to capture every prom, little league game, and academic awards ceremony because to her you are the biggest celebrity.

b. For supporting your decisions and dreams no matter where they took you.

There were 21 other ones, but really, they didn’t so much apply. I thought about how sad this one was: “For every time you acted like she was embarrassing you and she had to hide how much that probably hurt her feelings,” Because I only remember the times she showed me off to her friends thinking I was kind of cool, which is the best feeling EVER! My daughter rocks!

Here is the blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lexi-herrick/23-reasons-you-should-go-hug-your-mom_b_5584982.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000037&ir=Parents

7. When I log on at 4:30 in the morning, I wonder how many people are up late, and how many are up early. Sometime for me, I’m just taking a break from sleeping.

8. Life is full of interesting phases, obstacles, amazing highs and frustrating lows. It’s the human experience that makes the ride worthwhile. How one handles adversity is a character issue.

9. Someone, some time ago, made a statue of Father Serra and it can be found in front of Ventura City Hall. Then someone thought it would be a good idea to paint a picture of this statue of Father Serra and that life-sized painting is found inside City Hall. Then I thought, hmmm, how can I make this even more removed from the actual subject? Hence, this photo of a painting of a statue of Father Serra. I do what I can to forward the arts. 🙂

10. I love silly headlines. Here are a couple more I’ve come across recently:
a. What happens if your parachute fails

b. Super rich pets who live better than you do.

11. Even as an adult, my future ex-husband use to say that I run like an upright turtle. It made me laugh because it was so true.

12. From my favorite quotes file: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” –Stephen R. Covey

Thanks for listening.

A Couple of Things…

Posted on August 3, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. I love birthdays. I love partying with family and friends, there’s nothing like it. A couple thoughts about celebrating getting older:

a. Age is a state of mind; however, one’s body isn’t always on board.

b. When people say, “You’re 29 and holding” that just means you look NOTHING like a 29 year old.

c. I’ve gotten over the embarrassment of people singing “Happy Birthday” to me. I use to cringe, now I embrace it.

d. I rarely remember the gift, but I always remember who I was with and where we were at. Friendship is the best gift.

e. I can’t believe what a charmed life I live. Family, friends and this amazing community. I feel the love. I will never take it for granted.

2. Okay, I’m just thinking out loud here, but if a younger man flirts with an older woman, she doesn’t qualify as a “Cougar”, right?

That being said, Casey Abrams singing to me at Squashed Grapes recently was too freakin’ cool. You might recognize him from American Idol. He is self taught – by ear – on eleven musical instruments, the man is such a talent! There were a handful of us hanging out after his show and when he sat down at the piano and asked what song we wanted to hear. I said, “You know what I want to hear” to which he said, ‘I’ll play it only if you sit next to me.”

Here is a video that was taken afterhours when Casey Abrams performed “Cougartown” July 26 here in Ventura:

3. For my bi-lingual friends: I love that somebody poised the question: “What if Soy milk is just regular milk introducing itself in Spanish?

4. When you see an obviously photoshopped picture, don’t you wonder, “Who do they think they’re kidding?”

5. As you may or may not know, I am on a quest to spot an owl in the wild. I understand they are nocturnal, so I look at dusk and dawn and in the evening, but my night vision really sucks. I spoke to my optometrist about it complaining that the Lasek surgery I had diminished my night vision, but sadly he said, “No, it comes with old age.”
Fucker.

6. Funny anecdote from my marriage. One weekend we decided to take Sydney Rose up to the local mountains for her first encounter with Snow. As we drove through the winding roads, we finally got high enough to see the fluffy white stuff on our way to Mountain High ski resort. It was at this point that Sydney started shouting, adamantly I might add, “NO NO NO!!!” So much so that Chris stopped the car because we were so startled. Turns out she couldn’t enunciate the “s” yet, so “Snow” became “No”!

7. On the subject of breasts, my daughter said she’s been told that more than a handful is too much. Of course, only small breasted women believe that. HA! I am JUST KIDDING!!! But that being said, of course men have their preferences. I know a man who loves teeny weeny hardly-there breasts. I never dated him of course because clearly we are not a match..

8. Another real book title: Knitting with Dog Hair: Better a Sweater From a Dog You Know And Love Than From a Sheep You’ll Never Meet.

Creepy?
Now I’m re-thinking those sweaters in my closet. Is sheep hair kind of creepy too?

9. Do you remember seeing E.T. The Extraterrestrial for the first time? Or Jurassic Park or Indiana Jones Temple of Doom? Independence Day? So thrilling!

10. From my favorite quotes file: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” – Maya Angelou

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

Posted on July 24, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. Today would have been my mother’s 79th birthday. Honestly, I don’t think she would have aged all that gracefully, but it would have been fun to watch. I’m sure she would have been that special grandma to Sydney Rose, the kind that do everything against your wishes, the kind the grandkids love! And I would like to think she would have been proud of how her daughter turned out. Well I’d like to think so. 🙂

Happy Birthday Mom. 40 years gone, and miss you everyday.

2. Seriously, Couldn’t someone have fixed my hair for me????
Here now, City of Ventura employees sharing how green we try to be:

3. My conversation with a gentleman at the recent Latino Business awards presentation touched on what people’s “exit strategy” is for retiring from the work force. Mine is dying. And believe it or not, I’m totally fine with that. I’m happiest when I’m productive!

4. How can something so good be so evil? I’m referring of course to the new Lay’s Cheesy Garlic Bread favored potato chips.

5. It’s no secret that I play guitar. It’s also no secret that I suck at it. But I was playing around one night recently and I wrote a song (well the music) and I wondered to myself, “Have I heard this before?” So I started asking songwriters that I know whether they question themselves on songs they write. Everyone so far has admitted they do.

6. I was saddened by the passing of actor James Garner this week. I wasn’t so much into his show, The Rockford Files, but I LOVED his movie Support Your Local Sheriff. He was a great comedic actor. Also, just an aside and a sort of Six Degrees of Separation, Garner was actually born, James Scott Bumgarner…so very close to my married name Baumgardner. So we were sort of akin. RIP in James Garner. He was 86.

7. I placed a button on VenturaRocks.com where readers and fans of the website can make a donation to defray costs. The first few weeks I actually had a VERY small number of contributors but I was completely jazzed. Two of them I had never met before! One of them is the Mayor of a neighboring City! But then I got to thinking, 99.999999999999% of the readers had not made a contribution. What if I charged an annual membership, and maybe throw in a t-shirt. Would that be too much to ask for this service? Would I be able to retire? I’m thinking no and no. I’m still hoping for the honor system.

8 My view on life’s set backs: You can overcome them, or defeat the. Those are the choices. When you say you can’t do anything about it, you have succumbed.

9. Have you seen that Facebook quiz you can fill out to see “What is Your Old Person Name?” I’m afraid mine would be “Pamela”.

10. I love the kind of laughter when you can’t talk because your body won’t cooperate with what you want to say and tears are rolling the your cheeks… It’s the best!

11. From my favorite quotes file, “Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.” ― Oscar Wilde

A Couple of Things…

Posted on July 16, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. I freakin’ miss my baby! First she had a car accident last Fall, and then last week she had her car broken into and they took her ID and bank cards (yeah I know, a lesson learned), tools and a basket full of a laundry which meant she had nothing but – and I quote – “Ratty clothes at home.” Luck would be on her side though as the cops arrested a woman later that day trying to use her credit card (she had closed it) and she got most everything back but her clothes. Her grandpa and I pitched in and transferred some money to her account so she wouldn’t be known as the ratty-dressed woman in town.

Sure there have been tough times, but she’s independent, she’s brave, she’s responsible and takes care of business. I couldn’t be more proud!!

2. I received an email notifying me that the domain name, “acoupleofthings.com” is now available for purchase. You see, I own, “acoupleofthings.us”, so these commie-rat bastards thought I might be interested in their $4,000.00 price for it. I got a really good laugh out of that one! Click on image to enlarge and see.

3. I read an article on the Huffington Post called “37 Things in your Home to Get Rid of Now” and 9 of them pretty much apply to me:

The extra packet of buttons that came with a cardigan that you’ve since donated
Holiday cards
The treasure trove of plastic grocery bags under your sink
All the stacks of magazines you haven’t touched in months
All the half-scrawled lists, notes and post-its reminding you of things you have no idea about.
Old textbooks
Paperback novels that didn’t change your life
Any plastic storage container that doesn’t have a lid
Instruction manuals for appliances you know how to use

Not that I’m getting rid of anything. 😉

4. This is really a website: www.WhatTheFuckShouldIMakeForDinner.com

For some reason, this one is blocked at work.

5. One night recently I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep so I turned on the TV and Jane Eyre was on, the Orson Welles version from 1944. What a bummer of a story; so freakin’ depressing!!! I’m taking this off my “must read” list of books.

6. I read an interesting blog called, “10 Life Lessons From A Navy Seal”. My favorite was, “If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.”

It’s not always fun and certainly not popular, but reading this, I feel less guilty about “Just getting the job done” and not worrying whether I’m liked. Trust me, NO ONE EVER has called me a “sugar cookie.”

7. The funniest thing overhead at Surf Rodeo this past weekend: Two male surfers were walking up the street from the beach, one was walking gingerly, apparently injured while surfing, and his friend says to him, “You want me to get an ice pack for your vulva?”

8. I use to get offended that it was okay that guys could go without their shirts, but it’s not okay for women (for two obvious reasons). But I’ve decided to quit bitching about it and just enjoy the view.

9. Facebook posts indicate the degree of how well you know and/or like someone when it comes to acknowledging their birthday:

1. HBD

2. Happy Birthday

3. Happy Birthday!

4. Happy Birthday Ken

5. Happy Birthday Ken!

6. Happy Birthday Ken! I hope you have a fabulous day!!

7. You’re sweet face always makes my day. I’m so happy you grace our lives with your blah blah blah blah blah

(Extra points for adding a photo. Extra extra points for adding a personal photo of you and them together).

10. From my favorite quotes file: “The amount of sleep required by the average person is ‘five more minutes’.” – Wilson Mizener

Thanks for listening.

A Couple of Things…

Posted on July 13, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

1. One of the perks of writing a blog is that it’s a conversation starter. I’ll run into a friend and they’ll say, “Oh! I know what you mean about….” I like that.

2. Some women have gone way overboard on Nazi-feminism. I get it. But I’m still proud to say that I am a feminist. I publicly admit it; but I’m also guilty of keeping stereotypes of women being a lesser sex alive. I’m working on it, but whenever I get a fellow female up on the court with me, I tell her not to shoot like a girl. How demeaning is that? I saw a short clip produced by “Always” (a feminine hygiene company) about how it’s derogatory to say, you run like a girl. or you hit like a girl. They ask the question, “what does it mean to do something like a girl?” Furthermore, they ask, “When did doing something like a girl become an insult?”

I shoot hoops like a girl, because I am a girl. And you know what? That’s pretty cool because I play hard and I love the game and I’ve beaten guys half my age – although not Stephen show in this photo with me. But I have beat guys in their 20’s; you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.
The thing is though, it should never be men against women. Boys against girls. it should be, be the best you can. PERIOD. Oh! And have fun doing it! #LikeAGirl

Here’s the video:
embed video:

3. In a related subject: I’ve never understood bands who glorify the demeaning or violence towards women. Death metal, rap, whatever. Do they think it’s funny? Do their fans? Seriously, not cool.

4. I like living at the beach and the feel of being a member of this community, but I swear to God, a small number of those short-term vacation rentals really discredit that viewpoint. Some of these “vacationers” are guilty of one or all of the following infractions: they park illegally, leave trash on the beach, leave trash in front of the house, stay up late partying loudly on weeknights, have screaming kids, have yapping dogs. Fortunately most are really nice folks looking for a fun time, but don’t really realize they are in the midst of a family neighborhood, not a vacation resort.

5. In a related subject, Sammy is going deaf. She has high blood pressure. Even with her poor hearing, the 4th of July fireworks drove her crazy and her heart was racing. Fireworks at the beach are off the hook!!! But spending the evening at home with the doors and windows closed tight and the T.V. playing loud is worth the sacrifice of giving up a holiday party or two.

6. I don’t follow politics as closely as some, and typically only pay attention to National elections and California and Ventura politics, but I saw Congressman John Lewis from Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District post on Twitter that he was released from Parchman Penitentiary 53 years ago after being arrested in Jackson for using “white” restroom. What an inspiration seeing that this man fought for injustice and then become a champion and leader in the same “white” governmental process. Our own mini version of Nelson Mandela.

7. I read the following news story “‘Well-Behaved Kids’ restaurant discount sparks online debate” and I thought about it. I think it’s brilliant, mostly because we would have received the discount all the time! You were a good kid Syd Rose; but then, we have to take some credit because we didn’t take you to a restaurant if you were feeling out of sorts.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/well-behaved-kids-restaurant-discount-sparks-online-debate-1.2644240

8. Going out and taking in live music never gets old for me.

9. A little known fact about me: I have a piece of the Berlin Wall. When the wall came down in 1989, a listener of 96-ZTR had several pieces of it which he acquired while in Europe during that time. How thoughtful of him to give me one. It’s an ugly piece of aggregate material, but I can’t imagine tossing it out.

10. You ever look at your Friends list and think, “Who the hell is that?” Yeah, me neither.

11. Tacit consent is a sticky matter. You can argue all you want, but if you don’t stand up to evil or something YOU believe to be wrong, YOU are a part of the problem. End of story.

12. I would like to refute the following study: “Wide-Hipped Women Have More Sex Partners, Controversial Study Shows”. 😉

From my favorite quotes file, “”Depression is merely anger, without the enthusiasm.” – Steven Wright

Thanks for listening!

Ventura Music Week 2014 Wrap Up

Posted on July 11, 2014 by A Couple of Things by Pam Baumgardner

This was the fourth year for Ventura Music Week, my second year helping. Even though last year was so much work, I was still surprised at how exhausting it is to pull this event off.

Of course each year the goal is to surpass the previous one, and I believe we did that. We generated more interest in our music scene, further marketing this city as a music destination. Of course you’ll always have Monday Morning Quarterbacks. To them I say, “Shut up unless you want to help make it better.”

Again, this VMW team is on a volunteer basis. Some of the team members are on a payroll for their perspective jobs such as Economic Development crew, Peter Brown and Lilly Rudolph, from the City of Ventura; Kevin Clerici and Meredith Hart from the DVO (Downtown Ventura Organization), David Comden from the VC Reporter; but Kat Merrick, Sam Benner and myself don’t work for companies that cover their time spent on this.

Kat Merrick owns Totally Local VC and is also hired by different companies to help on their event planning; Sam Benner has moved away from marketing and has started working in real estate; and while I work for the City of Ventura, what I do to help is completely separate. I take personal time off for meetings, and I use my vacation time during Ventura Music Week. Many of the salaried helpers went above and beyond their day jobs helping to pull off events and showing up to lend a hand.

Again we had around 6-7 people attending meetings and making decisions on the direction we wanted to go. We really did want to start earlier on the planning stages, but somehow we managed to work on rushed deadlines which added stress to the equation.

That being said, last year there were clearly only a few people working their asses off, this year, more of us were. I’m so grateful to Kevin Clerici and Meredith Hart of the DVO (Downtown Ventura Organization), for their support. Yes, they have a vested interest in seeing their section of town (DOWNTOWN), thrive, but they took control of the budget and financial aspects, rallied their workers on physical help, and ran so many errands contributing to the success of the week.

As a committee we also put on a handful of events including the launch party, a movie screening, a visual arts presentation of rock photographers and a wrap party. Some were more successful than others, but again, “movie night” was one of the highlights for the week with a screening of the Academy Award winning documentary, “20 Feet From Stardom.”

All participating venues are responsible for their own entertainment. We just ask that they try not to hire bands/artists who are already scheduled during the week so we have lots of diversity.

Again this year we scheduled VMW so that the anchor event for the second weekend would be Roadshow Revival (RSR). We lost however Rock Picnic. No one could blame Brian Parra for throwing in the towel on this one, but I was sad none-the-less as this had been the anchor even for the first weekend. Taking its place were two solid events, the SRO Benefit (which just happened to fall during VMW), and the Global Guitar Greats Tour held at the W Gallery.

But as great as RSR is, we really don’t want this event to fall during graduations and Father’s Day. People have other things to take care of! We’re hoping next year that RSR can be moved to an earlier weekend, or we’ll find another hot event to take its place.

Even before our first official meeting, there was some heartbreak for me personally as I worked with a national touring act who has members who live here in Ventura. I went back and forth with one of the members of the band and their management trying to work on having this band launch the week with a show at the Ventura Theater. It would have been AWESOME!! But even after we met their monetary demands, management passed. I tried not to take it personally, but I truly believe, if anything business should be personal, and this left me heartbroken.

So with some air deflated early on, we still managed to increase participation up to 50 venues from 30 last year.

While Sam sets up the website, I once again took on the responsibility of entering in all the content. That’s FIFTY venues, with their specific information, and then their entertainment line up. Some changed, some came in at the last moment. I’ll be honest, I spent over 80 hours on the website and Facebook setting up information, 40 before VMW even started, and 40 while it was going on. I was up by 6 in the morning, I had to enter changes during the day, create downloadable PDFs of the schedule and update with some photos late at night.

We only had two people going out to as many venues as we could, checking in with social media, then posting photos to add to the excitement. Even with only two people, social media was abuzz with all the events. The wrap party at Discovery was super fun with some of Ventura’s top guitarists jamming including Tommy Marsh, Erik Lemaire, Guy Martin, Alastair Greene and Mark Masson.

It took several weeks for my head to stop spinning. I had taken personal vacation time, but returning to work the next day felt more like vacation as I could slow down and focus on one task at a time.

It’s been over month and I’ve started asking for feedback from the venues on what they thought, and whether they thought it was worth their time. None of the responses have surprised me. Some can’t think out of the box and only think in terms of how it benefits them personally, but most do look at the bigger picture and know that this effort benefits our town and as a result, it trickles down to them with more people coming to Ventura to hear music. But the responses I loved the best, were those who had ideas of how to better this event next year.

We’re gathering theses ideas, there will be changes, and we may lose some help from some of the entities, but we will certainly gain help from other sources. Ventura’s music scene is gaining more momentum and catching attention from neighboring counties. We are putting us on the map and this is all worthy of our time…even worthy of our blood sweat and tears.

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