Funk-Adelly!

Wow, what a weekend! It was almost non-stop. The highlight was definitely seeing George Clinton and Funkadelic on Sat. night at I-Fest. George Clinton, who I've seen before back in around '01 at Galveston Mardi Gras, is not so much a musical concert as it is a genuine life experience. One to recall on your deathbed, even!

Unfortunately, S had to miss the Law Enforcement Barbeque AND George Clinton. He missed the BBQ b/c he was sick to his stomach, and he missed George b/c he had to work late. :-( So I went to the BBQ with Mudflap and his girlfriend. (On the way there though, we stopped by this lady's house so I could buy her radio flyer wagon for only $25! I found her on craigslist, of course, and thought this would be a great thing to have when taking the baby to the zoo, etc. Now when she doesn't feel like walking, I can stick her in that thing and tow her around, along with all our other provisions.) The BBQ was pretty good and we ate lots. Mudflap and I even did a couple of jello-shots! We were there until after 11pm and when I got home S was fast asleep.

Saturday I relished sleeping in. Then I went to pick up little bro and his girlfriend so we could head to I-Fest! We saw the Capoiera act, as I do every year. We caught this wild local band called the Medicine Show and that was great--they played washstand bass and even a cigar box guitar! Also banjo and harmonica and mandolin and they all sang and passed the instruments around as well which is one of my favorite things to see in a band.

It was such a beautiful day for I-Fest too, sunny but not getting really above 80 degrees. We ran around checking out the sights and as always, I saw bunches of people I know. We caught an awesome act from Congo at the same stage George Clinton was to come on so we could already be there to get our positions ready. I made sure we were in the FRONT ROW for George, and we were!
I got to touch "Mr. Nose" here when he came down front to grab us all! Whooo! Clinton played for 2 solid hours until I saw my friend Lupe, who was the stage manager, getting nervous and agitated since the cop presence was growing, and he managed to get George's attention and finally put a stop to the insanity. I am serious, I was getting worried there that the entire audience was going to start having sex with each other. Good Lord, though... what a show! He's got like, 40 people in that band and they all work their asses off to whip us all into a mad frenzy! It made me want to rush out to the nearest salon and get multicolored braids weaved in my hair. How come people in bands are so cool???????

After the show was finally over I was sorry to have missed Tito J.'s b-day dinner, but I had no idea George would play until 10pm. I dropped off li'l bro and I went home where S was with "Mano" who he'd invited down. I couldn't stop singing "We Want the Funk" and my feet hurt SO bad from all the dancing!

Sunday I slept in and slowly got my ass up to go on patrol and joined my "Coffy Brown" partner late, not getting to the substation until 10am. He himself had been at the Jimmy Buffett concert the night before! (He's married to a white woman who drags him to all these terrible concerts like Cher and Barry Manilow! But I have to admit, I wouldn't have minded seeing Jimmy in concert. After all, I grew up with "Son of a Son of a Sailor" and have the CD in my car right now!) We both agreed that hopefully neither of us will be called up for drug testing soon, due to the fragrant air we both breathed in at our respective concerts. Anyway, patrol was mostly uneventful since we were told by the Sgt. to not go hunting, and stick to the calls that were coming in. My partner, who's been on the force for 25 years, loves to go hunting and he's damn good at it. He can sniff out anything, I believe! His cop sense is honed! However, the last call of the day was a little dramatic, as it was a weapons call and when I heard it come over the radio I begged, "Oooh, let's get that one!" Granddaughter had grandmother at knifepoint. So we raced over to these apartments, but got to the wrong damn one, crap! We raced to the correct one and this little boy threw open the door and pointed! Everything was so fast! My partner had his Taser out and I had "unlocked" my holster. We ran to the back bedroom where these 3 women were screaming and crying. Partner told me to get the older women out of there and to cuff the younger one. However she was holding onto her mom and wouldn't let go. I tried to pry her hands off and cuff her and Partner pointed the Taser at her. I yelled, "You better let me cuff you or he's gonna Tase you, I mean it!!!" She saw the laser light on her and stopped resisting.

We got her into the back of the patrol car where Partner's IPOD of funk, R&B, soul, etc. was playing and calmed her down a little. Turns out she was a 19-year old mental patient among having other health problems and they couldn't afford her Zoloft anymore. So she went nuts. An FTO and his partner stopped by and a few phone calls were made. It was determined that rather than take her to jail (no one was hurt by any knife or any other weapon) we were going to have to do an emergency psychiatric commitment. The FTO transported her for us and we went back to the station where I wrote my 2nd report ever!

When I got home Mano was chilling out, having spent all day at our house. He had figured out how to work S's Total Body Gym and promised to show us how when S got home from work. I had to take a power nap, I was so tired (but again, in that good way that I get). When S got home we went to eat Mexican food w/a coupon. Later the 3 of us went for a walk around our entire block, which took about 25 minutes. It was a great night out and a nice walk. Nice end to an awesome weekend!