Mangle the Tango 

I'm in the process of raising funds to record my first studio album in over two decades.  I've got all the songs, the producer, engineer, studio, players and special guests all lined up.  There's only one thing I don't have.  You guessed it.  Money.   I've had enough interactions on social media to get the feeling that my old fans would like to hear
this new music.  Will you please help me make "Mangle the Tango" (album title) a reality?

Pam Mark Hall - Mangle the Tango Campaign

Merry Christmas! 

Merry Christmas to everyone near and far.   I am grateful for each of you and wish you a wonderful holiday with friends and family.

Pam

Zenith 

What a thrill to perform with Noel Paul Stookey recently on a California summer evening to raise awareness and funds for a local food bank.
He is a lifelong role model and friend.  We co-wrote and recorded "Lullaby Prayer" that was included on the "Good Night, Sleep Tight"
album I produced that included songs from other artists like Debbie Boone, Brown Bannister, John Fischer, Randy Stonehill,
Jamie and Dan Collins, Kelly Willard, Patti Roberts and Jackie Cusic.



 

The Compassion Bench 

After burgers at the Black Bear restaurant around the corner from U.C. Davis, my friend,  Steve Streeter, enthusiastically urged "Oh, I've got to show you the #CompassionBench! Let's go, it's just a couple of blocks away."   As we walked,  he told me the story of how a man named David Breaux stands at the corner of C Street and 3rd Street (on the edge of AT&T's property) with a notebook asking people to share their written concept of the word "compassion."   David raised so much awareness of compassion that the community came together and built the "Compassion Bench" out of recycled materials - plastic bottles, plastic bags, covered with with plaster and embedded
centerpieces of mosaics that include symbols and words extracted from the interviews.

Delighted, I investigated the bench with my eyes and hands - feeling the different textures and sensing the inspiration one person evoked in a community to make a difference.  AT&T donated the corner property to the project, and a diverse group of people came together to create the #CompassionBench

Serendipitously,  at that moment, David Breaux, the project's visionary, crossed the street to meet us. He shared his plans to take the Compassion project to other cities around the country.   David has compiled the concepts on compassion in a book.   He graciously signed a copy for me: To Pam 
                                Live as Love through the compassion within your heart. 
Learn more about David H. Breaux and his Compassion project at www.compassionguy.ning.com

                                                                    The Compassion Bench in Davis, California


                                                          Pam Mark Hall and "Compassion Is" Visionary  David H. Breaux


ZERO VISIBILITY 

Zero visibility.   Snow Storm - Looking out the window of my flight heading back to Nashville - only seeing white.  I've spent 2.5 months,  in 7 cities, 4 states meeting hundreds of people during "open enrollment" helping them sign up for benefits offered through their employers.  I heard amazing stories from incredibly hard-working, low-paid people.  Stories of losing children and husbands to bullets from the guns of friends and gangs.   Stories of losing mothers, fathers, aunts, friends to cancer.   Stories of working two minimum wage jobs to barely meet the bills.  Stories from single moms making $9 an hour with daycare bills of $800 a month, and medical deductibles of $3000.

With all the Shouting about not increasing the minimum wage, and how "those people" feel they are entitled, I wish the shouters could be in my shoes and have met these incredible people.   The last location I worked at was a nursing home for the mentally ill and alzheimer's/dementia patients.   I met with the nurses, nurses' aids, cooks, therapists, security, maintenance and all helpers.  In order to meet with all the employees, I had to cover three shifts.  To say I am sleep deprived is an understatement.  I could not have done it without the help of three amazing people who worked there - Thanks to Keith, Rita and Kenneth.   And now, time to zzzzzzzzzz.

Everything is Broken  

This morning within a two minute period of time,  I spilled espresso on my bed; my computer charger died; and I received an email from Kyle Lehning,  husband of a woman I greatly admired, delivering the news that she recently died of uterine cancer.  Chris Caravacci.  She was an amazing, beautiful human being.  Warm and kind while equally a focused, strong business manager.

I am in tears thinking  Kyle’s loss of Chris - they had one of those rare, enviable marriages.  
Kyle Lehning and Chris Caravacci It pains me to think of her suffering a three year battle with that monstrous disease, cancer.  The hell of rounds of surgery, chemo, radiation. How it eats away at you little by little every day.   I lost my brother, Randy, the same way - beginning with the colon - surgery, chemo, radiation - then moving to the liver -  surgery, chemo, radiation -  to the lungs - surgery, chemo, radiation and finally the brain.  It was a long and terrible death.

There is no one and nothing to  convince me that anyone who suffers from cancer, Auschwitz or anything else is because it’s  “God’s will.”    No, no, no!
Do I believe God is good and can cause all things to work together for good for those who love Him, and Even for those who don’t?  Yes, yes, yes!

Life is beautiful and there’s always something to be grateful for.   But sometimes life hurts, love hurts, disease hurts and quoting a Bob Dylan song title -  “Everything is Broken.”  That is why the little kindnesses we show each other along the way are like air, food and water for the spirit and soul.  I believe that is God’s will.

P.S.
I met Chris Caravacci and Kyle Lehning, then President of Asylum Records,  when I was hired by the VP of Promotions, to produce a listening event during CMA for radio programmers to hear Asylum's incredibly gifted new artist, Mandy Barnett.  Mandy became the voice/persona of Patsy Cline and continues to perform the Patsy Cline show in Nashville at the Ryman auditorium.  Chris Caravacci became the business manager for Scott Simon, who signed the Dixie Chicks, and managed Tim McGraw.  Kyle continues to produce artists like Randy Travis, Dan Seals and other greats as well as play incredible B-Hammond organ in a jazz quartet called Leonard Small regularly at Nashville's classy jazz bar and restaurant - F. Scotts. 



Fermenting in a Fertilized Creative Hot Bed 

I ferment in the fertilized creative hot bed of who I've become.  I tell myself  " There's a lot more to be done in a short amount of time so get moving!" and then I turn to my CREATOR and ask
"OK, WHAT? What do ya want? I want what You Want so Please (and I believe it is a collaboration)  SO PLEASE, GOD, help me figure this out - I don't want to get it wrong." And I think I'm hearing back...."Girlfriend, relax, keep on doing what you do..... we'll figure this next challenge out - don't worry, I already took care of that wrong part." Whew! - Thanks! gOd GoD goD

Pam Mark Hall's Top 100 List of "MORE and LESS" 

  1. More do - Less talk
  2. More God - Less religion
  3. More faith - Less* guns
  4. More polar bears - Less* pole dancers
  5. More imagination - Less* pants on the ground
  6. More wise kids - Less* widgets
  7. More recycling - Less* landfills
  8. More love-making - Less sex
  9. More sensuality - Less pornography
  10. More negotiating - Less fighting
  11. More loyalty - Less cheating
  12. More tail wagging - Less barking
  13. More determination - Less whining
  14. More walking - Less driving
  15. More gratitude - Less complaining
  16. More contentment - Less anxiety
  17. More flowing - Less flinching
  18. More confidence - Less fear
  19. More sharing - Less hoarding
  20. More believing - Less doubting
  21. More nurturing - Less destructing
  22. More effective - Less perfectionism
  23. More singing - Less sulking
  24. More generous - Less greedy
  25. More deliberate - Less impulsive
  26. More contained - Less compulsive
  27. More other-directed - Less self-conscious
  28. More requesting - Less demanding
  29. More relaxed - Less tense
  30. More journalistic integrity - Less scandalous sensationalism
  31. More compliments - Less slander
  32. More satisfaction - Less craving
  33. More humility - Less arrogance
  34. More learning - Less ignorance
  35. More garlic - Less salt
  36. More natural - Less synthetic
  37. More amused - Less cynical
  38. More adoption - Less* orphans
  39. More logic - Less paranoia
  40. More inclusion - Less exclusion
  41. More magnetized - Less polarized
  42. More beautiful - Less profane
  43. More hand-holding - Less nit-picking
  44. More back-rubs - Less headaches
  45. More peaceful - Less vociferous
  46. More fairness - Less exploitation
  47. More manners - Less rudeness
  48. More kindness - Less cruelty
  49. More value - Less hassle
  50. More giving - Less taking
  51. More negotiable - Less hostile
  52. More assertive - Less aggressive
  53. More deliberate - Less tentative
  54. More hope - Less despair 
  55. More in-bulk - Less packaging
  56. More solutions - Less politics
  57. More unique - Less* copy-cats
  58. More sexual-responsibility - Less sexual-repression
  59. More empowering - Less power-mongering
  60. More curiosity - Less* assumptions
  61. More integrity - Less scandal
  62. More shared-abundance - Less need
  63. More grace - Less shame
  64. More compassion - Less blame
  65. More role-modeling - Less preaching
  66. More mercy - Less condemnation
  67. More simplicity - Less chaos
  68. More space - Less clutter More focus - Less scattered
  69. More lean - Less fat
  70. More tone - Less flab
  71. More praise - Less criticism
  72. More creative - Less excuses
  73. More authenticity - Less posing
  74. More experimentation - Less derivation
  75. More substance - Less hype
  76. More charity - Less condescension
  77. More hummingbirds - Less* crows
  78. More butterflies - Less* rats 
  79. More corporate environmental accountability - Less* oil-spills
  80. More common sense - Less stupidity
  81. More homemaking - Less neglect
  82. More stir-fried - Less deep-fried
  83. More negotiating - Less fighting
  84. More Main Street - Less Wall Street
  85. More sustainable - Less disposable
  86. More prudence - Less risk
  87. More reliable - Less flaky
  88. More modesty - Less exhibitionism
  89. More creative community - Less cult of personality
  90. More social concern - Less social media
  91. More eye-sparkle - Less bling
  92. More bike-paths - Less pollution
  93. More urban town-centers - Less fossil fuel consumption
  94. More coal-mine regulations - Less* coal-mine tragedies
  95. More reaching out to others - Less* lonely people
  96. More prioritized city budgets - Less* pot-holes
  97. More financial intelligence - Less debt
  98. More patriotism - Less nationalism
  99. More little-guy/gal general stores - Less WalMart
  100. More affordable health care - Less hospital bill-initialized financial ruin
  101. More general practice physicians - Less* cosmetic surgeons
  102. More American made exports - Less* job losses
  103. More research for cures - Less disease re: Alzheimer's, Cancer, Huntington's Korea, Multiple Sclerosis - et al
  104. More real music - Less Lady Gag Me
  105. More Mashable - Less wasted time lost meandering on the world wide web.

*I know, I know. The correct word in this case is not "Less," but "Fewer."

Please add your own More and Less.