Why Buy Vintage ??

Mmmm, because when you buy something that was made a long time ago,with materials that have been already harvested and finished......and with a good chance the shop was union....or not...
Well, the best reason is that when you buy something vintage, you are not exploiting todays workers and the environment !
in other words, the damage has been done.....
We can't change the past, but we can fashion the future !!

I have been railing against buying from 3rd world countries...like China for nearly 2 decades....
and now that we are bombarded with recalls of nasty merchandise and toys and toothpaste we need to find a better way ....Disney, Pirates of the Caribbean, Boy Scouts products have been recalled...........
and do you want to know who makes your "distressed furniture" imported from China? Do you want to know the conditions that exist where they make the toys we buy for our kids?
It doesn't have to be disgusting !

Click here for a shocking expose on conditions in China
From the SLC Tribune:

Charles Kernaghan, the director of the National Labor Committee, told Dorgan about factories with forced 70-hour work weeks, where overtime wages are withheld. Workers sleep in "primitive dorms," with a dozen people in each room on metal bunk beds. They have substandard food, no hot water and take home 46 cents an hour.
Kernaghan held up a Barbie produced under these conditions. The labor cost the factory 19 cents. The U.S. company paid $9 to ship it here and then charged the consumer $30 for the doll.
"There is enough money here to make toys safe and to treat the workers in China with dignity and respect," he said.

Sure -- shop funkoma vintage and the other used and vintage shops in T*Town...
Look where the thing was made......if it was made in Europe or the US there is a very good chance
that there were environmental laws and worker safety laws and decent wages laws in place when/where your widget was made.........
It's not a perfect world...but there is something Good to be done about this !

I'll post Over there on the right side under the TACOMA Stuff !
of great places to shop right here in T*Town...places that offer good old-fashioned stuff made safely & fairly, and things that you can feel good about buying and owning.....
It's not just about Being Green......it's about being a moral person !

Sent this to Scott Fontaine at the TNT

Am I the only one who is Pi**ed?

About Ladenburg etal owning stock in a company while promoting it to taxpayers to fund it?

Sometimes I wonder !

Hi Scott --

Every one is so pi**y about Crime In The Streets !!! Meth Capital of The Universe !!! yet our elected officials and their pals are lining their pockets (not too effectively I might add..) at our expense....and at the expense of the homeless/drug addicts etc.

UnIdentified Downtown Business/Property Owner goes on and on and on and on about her precious property rights d-town, and I sure would like to see some righteous indignation about the perversion of one of the answers to Crime In The Streets !!! That is --- solve the homeless/drug addict problem and a lot Crime In The Streets !!! will disappear.............

Tressie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter

Is there crime in Downtown Tacoma?

I'll let you read the BIA blog..... (one would think that with all of us blogging (now) about/in Tacoma, we'd all crash into each other at the corner of 13/pacific!!)
Fact #1
Crime is everywhere.
Fact #2
Corporations commit crimes all the time.
Fact #3
Drug-addled & Mentally challenged people are not just in the street scaring the straights.
Fact #4
Blaming the poor ---- for the problems ---- created by the rich is counter-productive in the long run, but sure creates a stir and is good for more corporate-sponsored "crime solutions".

Really now, if you truly want to reduce crime you have to treat the poor as if they were You......... Just ask ....If I was mentally challenged what would I like in my life to help me live a good life?
and then Do it !
I've listed the tools you need in this post, now you need to make sure the people that you think are causing you problems are helped to solve their problems so that they don't cause you an unending array of problems.
This is called " Being a Good Citizen"
This is a good thing........
of course it was held in my neighborhood and on my birthday....
Coincidence....I think not!

It's almost Halloween.....Who Are You?

There are no other holidays worth celebrating.....
Halloween is it Baby!
ah yes !
I hate that women/girls dress like tramps and sluts.... I mean is that really all you got going on for H'ween...and you had 364 days to plan ahead ??.....Do something more creative than trading on your boobies and stuff girlfriend.
Here......read this......
Now that we're all over that.....funkoma has stuff.....I still got some pirate stuff here
and neat things.....but don't forget to visit the Halloween Store up by Michael's crafts over by the mall...... ewww........
Here's some in the store right now !

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol

Submits a proposal for a commission for the Tacoma Dome, the sports and convention centre in Tacoma, Washington. These prints, Flower for Tacoma Dome (IIIA.37), are based on a hybrid flower created by Warhol. Daisy (IIIA.38) is inspired by this proposal. from warhol's cv 1982.
There maybe no bigger fan of Warhol than me ....so much of what we take for granted from art to film to who is and what is ART is because of Andy Warhol....

....Ok maybe there is a bigger fan......but I adore everything about Andy, The Factory, his mother-devotion, and of course, the Velvet Underground.

When I was young I had a girlfriend Lucy, who was several years older than me and she introduced me to The Mothers of Invention, The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol.....all of this about 1965 -66.
...here's pics of the Tacoma Flower plates ..don't forget the matching tumblers! all from Amazon......Hoo Haw

Here's a White Tacoma Flower poster.......

And of course the BeautifulAngle poster (of a poster?)




.....and......an art controversy I made up in my head..coming soon to a town named Tacoma........
Long story short:
I had an artist come and paint my bldg. My landlord freaked and my neighbors gave me the Poison Eye.....but I don't care. I am a brat....that is ..I do what I want if I ain't hurting nobody.......so I'm driving home the other day, and I see a Tacoma code enforcement officer taking pics of my Art and my bldg. Well, says I, no need to panic....But well here is the letter I sent out to the Art list........

Hello Art People,

I may be pre-freaking out abit, but, some of you may know I asked for Tacoma folks to come out and paint my walls...and they did ! I had a bonafide artist (as opposed to Folks!) do the upper wall. His name is Tam, and it looks like graffiti but it is not of course. It is Art. My question is: May I count on some support from the community if I get slapped with a citation for "gang graffiti"? Funny thing is ....in our spare time, we paint out real gang graffiti in the block, and we were gonna paint out Tam's work within a few days anyway......since it's not everyone's cuppa Tea...heck it's not even really my cuppa Tea....but I am an Art - Supporter !

Tressie

I am 100% in the right here........and we'll just see if the Code officer had anything to do with me.....as it turns out, I had planned to paint out the art since the agreement with Tam had run its course and we'll put something else up there.
Why is this a big deal to me??

Because I like art, I am an artist, I don't like anyone telling me what to do if it ain't hurting nobody.....and I like a good argument once in a while...I feel some days I'm wasting my paralegal skills !

But maybe most important........I Am Still Bitter about the Hillbillies that run Tacoma that didn't choose WARHOL to decorate the Dome !!
I see the Dome out my Kitchen window......This is a Big Deal to me !! Can you imagine what Tacoma could be like? I can and being a hillbilly is fine for hillbillies.........
AARRRGGGG !!!!! We had Warhol in our hands.....and they let him go.......
I am bitter.....
wink

Stuff for Costumes ! or just everyday !

Recalls And Recall the Tacoma Film Fest...

Although my son always called him "Sour Andersen" since Soren seemed to like almost nothing that was an entertaining movie, we will, here at funkoma vintage, highlight this info about Tacoma Filmfest and Click. I loved the filmfest and I love Click! for my 99.99% flawless delivery of cable internet service that flows through Harbornet. DO not miss Ray Hill's Prison Show. It was the most important film of the fest. Period.

Tune in to film fest on Click

THE NEWS TRIBUNE

The Tacoma Film Festival ended last week, but it continues in an abbreviated form on Click! cable TV.

Eight films from the festival will be shown on Click! video-on-demand through the end of the year, according to spokeswoman Diane Lachel.

The films are “South 5 – True Grit,” “The Old Son,” “My Eating Team Has a Paddling Problem,” “Ray Hill’s Prison Show,” “River Ways,” “The Phone Call,” “Vitruvirus Toybox” and “Washington, My School.”

For information, call 253-502-8900 or www.clickcabletv.com.

Soren Andersen, The News Tribune

*****************************

I told you a long time ago to stop buying crap from China. Altho the Bush Admin is trying to strangle it, The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is trying to protect you from yourself. They are trying to save your spawn from death and stupidity.
First recall on my list today:
Starbucks Recalls Children's Plastic Cups Due to Choking and Laceration Hazards

Incidents/Injuries: Starbucks has received seven reports of the cups breaking, including two reports in which a child began to choke on a broken piece. No injuries have been reported.

Next:
Kids II Recalls Baby Einstein Color Blocks Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard


Yes, Baby Einstein will make your child stupid if they lick the Color Blocks. Toss all Baby Einstein stuff in the garbage now to be sent to the Tacoma Dump. Now!