Derek asks: A Song For Tacoma...

I've answered that ? a bunch of times....
I'm sorry that the "Yeasty Puke-Stockinged Slug" Rush Limbaugh, a man that is a brown stripe inside a teenager's underwear...(Insult courtesy of Shakespeare Insult Generator)
uses this song...but still a great song...
"...by a government that had no pride...."

The Pretenders- My City Was Gone (vinyl) from JeffN1960 on Vimeo.

When Tacoma is being Sweet...and a bit of a personal anthem:


& fuck the raccoon....I'm being Chrissie Hynde for Halloween.

Staunch

Pariah?

Fall Winter Steampunk and my art tree....

Look, it's an art tree with fake hair that my friend Jen made for Mark and me...to cheer us up over Lack of Electricity issues....



Ladies....In the store....steampunk, bloomers, fancy-pants stuff and boooots and boooots....
next we shall try to work on the gentlemens needs for fall and winter and the holidays....



Bloomers !
Fringe leather shirt....Flying ducks Mary Maxim sweater
do I need to remind you that funkoma is Always Cute and Never Mediocre??


mmm...Military..Steampunk....Edwardian Velvet coats
There's that corset and crinoline.....

Hot Topic striped pants sz. 11, Romantic 80s jacket

tux jackets and a hoop crinoline

Witchy topshop commercial....

with Melissa Auf der Maur.......

sign me up for EA Tacoma. I am Powerless

Electrics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover their electrical services.

Early Saturday morning my building at 712 Broadway suffered the sudden realization that nearly one hundred years of using the same wires to pass electricity from some fast flowing water to provide heat and light was destroyed by the old bitch, Time and Despair.



Workmen descended upon the premises early Saturday morning to pronounce the building unusable for the purpose for which it was rented.
Therefore funkoma vintage was closed and shall remain closed until all Electrical services are restored.

My landlord, rumor has it, is vacationing in Palm Springs.
For a month. The duties of spearheading the restoration project and signing the checks and work orders will fall upon the capable office manager, Susan.

Will funkoma vintage rise again? Will she have the Power?



She admits she is powerless, and further admits that her skills concerning Stone Age trading and bartering are rusty at best.
Many have expressed shock, dismay, and sorrow when learning of the sad and dark life that has befallen funkoma vintage.
Many have rolled their eyes in hopes that funkoma vintage would just shut up already.


6 steps to recovering are outlined below:

* admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion to living with utilities;
* recognizing a greater Power that can give strength;
* examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member)such as a team of licensed electricians;
* making amends for these errors of being dependent upon simple utilities;
* learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior, and possibly more windows for daylight and/or a gasoline generator;
* helping others that suffer from the same addictions or compulsions to Electricity to enjoy warm milk and dressing in layers.

So, until funkoma vintage recovers from her dependence on Electricity and/or is mainlined to her chosen Power Provider, she wishes no one would remind her that the whole situation could be worse.
To pay proper respects to funkoma vintage and her horrific situation, she requests all her friends and acquaintances, but not her family (they have suffered enough), to live without any electricity usage in their lives for 24 hours in solidarity.

You won't be able to do it, but I forgive you.

Until funkoma vintage has her full set of Powers restored, she is finding the Power of Humor and blogging stupidity to tide her over until she can reclaim the Sewing Machine and her computer and her printer and her scanner and her coffee pot again.

'In the time of ancient Gods, Warlords and Kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty Princess forged in the heat of battle...her courage will change the world.'

- Opening Monologue from Xena: Warrior Princess

October Makes me Do it !

now at etsy...clicky


Embellish!
a witch hat...Baby's arm holding the 8 of clubs



a pinstripe jacket frosted with lace and ribbons...a fine design for a Dandy or a Victoriana gal....size 16 XL....







And a Rose velveteen ruched and draped dress...er, corset top...thing...all ready with an overflowing amount of detail !

Apples and Pumpkins and Leaves Oh My!

Yeek! My vintage fabric apple is featured on etsy here !

This was vintage fabric I made into curtains for my apartment above my old shop on E 26th St. I love the autumn colors...orange, gold, moldy green, and yes, metallic gold. You know I have soft spot for Bright, Shiny, Sparkle!

I love also, the impressionist modern 50s floral ...it looks so Calder...so Matisse..



...since I'm an October Baby...you can imagine that I love all things Autumn....I even love that autumn is spelled a*U*t*u*m*n...
which has an N follwing an M...
but has the words AUT
& TUM...
& 2 U's,
since it's always about You.
Words to live by.



Here's the Baby Boo pumpkins I made from a tweedy vintage fabric. yup, moss green corduroy leaves and curly green wire.



I made the pattern for these apples and these pumpkins....some are in my shop, some are at etsy....If you'd like a free pattern and some handwritten instructions, just email me and I'll send you a letter (by snail mail) with that stuff...

mmm... Black Apple...

I make stuff....many people like it...

Just saying...because when you spend your day and many many middle of the nights, thinking and making, and then someone buys what you Dreamed and Made....well, it sets the world spinning on greased grooves.
I have been playing around with bloomers since I was a wee one...they just fascinated me...so different from modern underwear...bloomers are big and baggy and not form-fitting. Made to be worn under a full skirt.

When I was in Junior High....
we wore tight girdles to keep the stockings up...tights were around and I certainly wore those....and then exclusively after awhile. But as a grown-up I played around with vintage stockings and garters and garter belts and girdles once I moved to Washington.
It's a matter of Cold.



In a screened porch of my parent's cabin at the Hotel, about 1963, I found a trunk of clothes that dated to the 20s and 30s. Lots of satin and lace and fluffiness and fringe and musty smells. There was pair of bloomers made of black satin and trimmed with baby blue ribbons and pink lace, rosettes of velvet and rhinestone buttons.

I was only able to wear them a few times before they tore to shreds. I continued to wear the antique dresses and skirts and do all the things that little girls do who are growing up in a tiny country town.




I've recreated those 20s satin bloomers many many times. I've been playing around with cutting up and restyling sweaters for about 40 years and a few years ago I drew a picture of a sweater turned into some warm bloomers. My prototype was made of a knit flannel and wow! that was the beginning. A few weeks ago I cut out a few pair, gathered my laces and ribbons and got to sewing.........


The Bavarian Steampunk Cashmere bloomers were featured on the front page of etsy where I list everything, until I get the ol' funkoma website remodeled and listed with tons of stuff for sale.
Being on the front page of etsy is important for me because I'm not a Chosen Few for them. I don't live in NY, I am not young, my photos just barely fit their criteria of "white"....so I was honored and it has given me a huge burst of energy.........
well, that and the fact I have a show in early November...and I am a never-ending protoplasm of Ideas...
I got to the Front Page of etsy on pure merit...great idea, well-photographed...and a unique design reinterpreted from something traditional and fun, practical and functional....
and Handmade.
Not factory made. Unique ...there will be more cashmere bloomers with vintage lace, but none will look exactly like the others.
Unique...because no one on the internets is doing this with cashmere for the ladies.

These are the first 4 pair for you.










Filling up and Spilling over it's an Endless Waterfall.
Stay warm Ladies!

We Could Be the New Pittsburgh !

Hey Tacoma....Feeling down? Down Down Down as a Luzon Building Brick? A pile of Luzon Building bricks?

Feeling as down as a world class bridge...that has no purpose in life but to mock you as it lays barren staring at a world class corporation headquarters that just broke up with you....over the phone...with a text???
Hmmm?

You need direction ! You need a Role Model !
Here, take a look at Pittsburgh....
just one quote...OK, maybe 2 or 3...This will cheer you up...because There Is Hope !!
Just get off your flaccid ass and quit accepting the idea that businessmen and women with an MBA know anything about Life!
Invest in Art. Art. Art.
Art Garfunkel.
Art Walk.
Art Run.
(2 of my friends have MBAs and more are lusting for them....)
Oh sure we need Bean Counters, but they can't be Leaders...or you end up with the Tacoma Mall. Which is an underground Tomb of Corporate Crap. (now that there is no alcohol-serving bar)

I mean the name alone...Pitts...burgh...who knew??
a snippet or 2...

"Jeb Feldman, owner and co-manager of UnSmoke, fell in love with the town soon after he arrived from New Mexico, also to study arts administration at Carnegie Mellon. Braddock's empty lots and neglected streets inspired him to work with others to help spur development. He joined ranks with the city’s young and determined mayor, John Fetterman, who has gained national attention for his efforts to create a workable model of urban renewal. With the support of the mayor, Feldman sees investment in the arts as essential, both to invigorate residents and lure artists and their followers. He has become an unofficial spokesman for Braddock's artistic development."

and very very important...

"Once a shell of its former industrial self, Pittsburgh has been busily making itself over. Now its cheap rents and artistic legacy are luring a new generation of creative pioneers, writes Yael Friedman ..."
Linkie here, and no ...I did not forget that Tacoma hates Andy Warhol.... that Tacoma rejected Andy is a mistake I intend to never ever let Tacoma forget...

let's say that again...CHEAP RENTS
I pay 2 grand a month and I have about 3000 square feet for workshop and retail. I love the space, but the rent is waaaaay too much. Mr. Riley charges the cheapest rent for the most space in Tacoma...in a neighborhood you'd like to have a shop in.
You other landlords, fuck you.
This is Tacoma. It is "a shell of its former industrial self"
You, bad landlords, with your insane high rents have kept Tacoma dirty and stupid. It's waaay hard for one with good intentions to get a foothold here. So...the bad neighborhoods attract the Artists, the Creatives, the Brave...
with NO HELP from the Landed Gentry, or the Government. ...which is fine, but it's too hard, and good people have to give up and leave...a dream delayed is a dream denied.


It does not have to be this way. Anymore.
Vote. Vote Responsibly.
When I think of Jim Merritt, Marilyn Strickland, Kevin Rojecki, Roxanne Murphy, Marty Campbell, Beckie Summers Kirby, Catherine Ushka-Hall and Chris Van Vechten for Tacoma School Board, Victoria Woodards....
All have vision and energy and can lead Tacoma to her new Destiny !

One of my lifelong dreams...

is to live in a house that is big and old and decrepit......
The Addams Family is a Manual for Living....according to me.


Here is my fave post of the week...Feral Houses.
I lived in a big feral house once (not counting the places I've lived that were downright falling apart, since, when you are poor, you take what you can get...)
but...
This house that is my alltime favorite was a big falling-down house my ex and 2 of my 3 kids lived in behind the Jack In The Box on Trancas St. I'm sure it's torn down now.

The house had 4 bedrooms, a huge dining room, 1 bathroom, and a glass solarium greenhouse at the back. From that room you could go to the backyard which was about a 1/2 acre. There was an abandoned garden with old fruit trees, an arbor, a small fish pond and beds and borders of all the old-fashioned flowers I love...
trailing roses, peonies, calla lillies, lilacs, viburnums, daisies, foxgloves and campanulas, delphiniums and larkspur, hollyhocks and rhubarb, cardoon and ferns.
It had red brick paths laced with thyme and moss.

It was owned by some folks that owned a big business in Napa, but that family name escapes me now. They were rich, and really nice people. So, I know that landlords don't have to be assholes, but they usually are and they choose to be assholes. When you're rich one of the luxuries you can enjoy without losing any money is the freedom to be kind.




pictures via dornob

Yo, It's almost 55 Day !

er, uh, and 35 day.
It's almost my birthday..and my son Shayne's birthday.

I love my kids...
I love my son...
and I realllllly like Sly and The Family Stone a lot...
Growing up in the Bay Area...well, they just go together like Nutella and Bananas...

Here, Shayne this is for you....this song makes me cry...Still...
Oh, and anything and everything funkoma vintage in the shop is 10% off all day Saturday, October 10, 2009....cause it's my birthday !!

funkoma has stuff and bloggers must be truthy

Real actual vintage hot rod rat rod car club Puyallup Valley Raceway 1962...

and now on etsy !



So now, when indiecult vintage sends Susie Bubble a bunch of free stuff, Susie Bubble must tell us that indiecult vintage sent her stuff for free...when Susie Bubble goes on and on about what "great stuff" indiecult has....or what great stuff Nastygal has....

It was a huge surprise to me that bloggers got sent free stuff...no one ever sent me free stuff, but then I'm not the brown nose type, and I guess that was easy to figure out....
The F.T.C will rule that bloggers must disclose the freebies if they write about "endorsements and testimonials" concerning the freebies.

"The F.T.C. said that beginning on Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently. The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter."
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I don't do trends....I just do...
Pure Cool Style

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What is just in and just photographed? it's on etsy..

I bought tons of new shoes....funky converse, boots, party dresses...and new stuff arriving in the store ....and on etsy....
white Pee-Wee loafers for when you are feeling the Full Cleveland... more pics coming up in a day or 2.




WWII Nurses Cape




60s Rat Pack vintage Sharkskin suit