My wonderfully talented friend, art consultant and writer Sarah Cohen went to George Clinton's birthday party and wrote a little ditti of how it all went down with the master of funk...

George Clinton's Party People

If you're George Clinton age is just a number and you never need a reason to throw a party. So its no surprise that Clinton's 67th birthday party felt like any other day when the Parliament-Funkadelic family gets together and spends the night eating, drinking, singing and dancing. I was invited by Overton Loyd, an artist who spent almost 20 years touring the world with Clinton and P-Funk, designing multi-media stage shows, costumes and album covers and most recently, an animated music video "Bounce" which played on the big screen behind the stage towards the end of the evening. The party, held in an intimate chapel-like space with whitewashed walls and high ceilings, was in full swing when I arrived.   Dressed to the nines in a suit and his signature rainbow dreads, George was the center of attention, only to be challenged by a rare sighting of the legendary Sly Stone who came to support his friend. The crowd, young and old, surrounded Clinton with such fervor and excitement you'd have thought he was the messiah. And to drive home the message that George is more than just an influential musician, George's artwork, along with a few works by Overton, was on display in a small gallery upstairs.

Besides George and Sly Stone, there was no shortage of characters.  You'd think it'd be hard to stand out but not when you're the Poo-Poo Man, an old school self-promoting R&B singer and one of George's pals (and a friend of the venerable Red Foxx). And yes, he's got some old school moves but he still makes it look good.  One of my favorite and most enduring P-Funk characters, Sir NoseDevoidoFunk (think urban Pinocchio), played by Carlos McMurray and brought to life by Overton Loyd, was in full effect.  I also had the pleasure of meeting Tom Vickers, P-Funks PR man in the 70's, wearing the most genius satin Funkadelic jacket I've ever seen.  But the best part of meeting Vickers was hearing his parting words "I'll Dig You Later" and I realized that I may have been born in the 70s but this guy's got nothing on me.  He's a witness and a testament to the enduring admiration for George Clinton, the man and the message and the Funk.  And the notion that getting your grove on, even at 67, never goes out of style.

Photos by David Quadrini






















Overton and his painting of Sir NoseDevoidoFunk



























George and a friend



















George surrounded by the ladies



















Poo-Poo Man's still got the moves






























Carlos McMurray with his Sir Nose nose hanging low


















Me, Tom Vick's fresh satin P-Funk jacket and Overton

My love for an incredible fashion accessory is profound. A knock out pair of shoes, just the right piece of jewelry, a delicious handbag, they all have the power to transform a girls outfit, not to mention frame of mind. For this upcoming fall season I'm putting my resources into this little conversation starter. "The Present" as I like to call it, ahhh the power of the conceptual fashion designer. Martin Margiela, I adore you!!!

Well, to be honest, with two kids, a husband and a kinda job, sifting through music sites and working on downloads for my ipod doesn't get top billing, but what kills me, is I want the sick collection of music at the ready with out doing all the work.

Say hello to my new BFF, www.pandora.com. This site, shockingly put together by music geeks is based on The Music Genome Project. Started in 2000, they began compiling and analyzing music by studying its "genes". They found out that by looking at a piece of music's melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics etc. that the music had certain shared attributes with other music. Okay, what the hell does that mean? Basically, you go to their site type in any kind of artist/band you like and the site will stream music that is similar to the music you type in. Pretty amazing...chart your musical course and sit back and listen.

I started by typing in Nina Simone, how you gonna go wrong with that.

Now that I am in this blog world, it has sparked me to explore what is out there in the land of blog. On my far from exhaustive search, I stumbled upon 3191. It encompasses all that is good, simple and right about the art of creative dialogue, and the subtle yet complex endeavor of lives lived and shared. Two friends Mav and Steph who live 3191 miles apart, each take a photo of something in their daily lives, then post the images side by side on their site. If you are a fan of Uta Barth, you will be swept away. Warning, viewing is somewhat addicting.

Their first visual conversation 3191, A Year of Mornings began on January 1, 2007 and lasted the entire calendar year. Their exchange is being released in book form this Fall by Princeton Architectural Press. The friends have since moved on to A Year of Evenings. Here are a selection of some of my favorite moments so far.

mav:left/steph:right

Creative Growth in Oakland CA is just about one of my most favorite places on earth. It is an art center for adults with developmental, physical, and mental disabilities that provides a stimulating environment for artistic instruction, gallery promotion and personal expression, but really that is just the half of it. I have been lucky enough to work with and collect the artwork from Creative Growth for a couple of years now and honestly the experience has been life changing. The work that is created here will blow your mind. Last week, I had reason to visit and was taken away by the gallery's exhibition "Multiplicity" a show that explores themes of repetition and obsession in the work of Creative Growth Artists. One of the highlights to be sure is James Ferrell who marries his love of paper mache with his passion and knowledge of cars. The combination evokes such feelings of nostalgia, you are happy to get behind the cardboard wheel of 1968 Bonneville and be taken away.

Multiplicity
Featuring the work of Gerone Spruill, Terri Bowden, Jay Daley, William Scott, Dinah Shapiro and more...artwork in wood, ceramic, textiles, painting and drawing, along with limited edition artist inspired merchandise.

Creative Growth Art Center
355 24th Street, Oakland
www.creativegrowth.org