#missing person Melissa Richmond

[transtranscendence]

2004-2007 - We will not be silenced. We must fight back against transphobia.

For Pedro Cruz Ramos, murdered on February 4, 2004, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

For the unknown person murdered on February 9, 2004, in South Auckland, New Zealand.

For Precious Armani, murdered on February 29, 2004, in Atlanta, GA.

For Mickey Ward-El Smith, murdered on March 3, 2004, in Washington, D.C.

For Augusto Flores Munoz, murdered on April 16, 2004, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

For Thyotis Jackson, murdered on May 19, 2004, in Sacramento, CA.

For John D. Mayo, murdered on May 31, 2004, in Salt Lake City, UT.

For Cedric Thomas, murdered on June 5, 2004, in Baton Rouge, LA.

For the unknown person murdered on June 7, 2004, in Delhi, India.

For April Marie, murdered on July 2, 2004, in Richmond, VA.

For the two unknown people murdered on July 12, 2004, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

For Gennaro Rizzo, murdered on July 13, 2004, in Caserta, Campania, Italy.

For Darryl Fearon, murdered on July 16, 2004, in New York City, NY.

For Leandro Bispo Estavao, murdered on July 20, 2004, in Boltiere, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy.

For Ricky Lee Blakes, murdered on July 30, 2004, in Norwalk, CT.

For Delicious Green, murdered on August 13, 2004, in San Francisco, CA.

For Riviera Rene, murdered on August 14, 2004, in Grand Rapids, MI.

For Joel Robles, murdered on August 15, 2004, in Fresno, CA.

For Andre, murdered on September 13, 2004, in George Town, Penang, Malaysia.

For the unknown person murdered on November 6, 2004, in Long Beach, CA.

For the unknown person murdered on November 26, 2004, in Santiago de Surco, Lima, Peru.

For Luana Pereira Das Silvas, murdered on December 3, 2004, in Migliarino Pisano, Italy. For Penny Port, murdered on December 19, 2004, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

For C. Hernandez, murdered on December 20, 2004, in Mendoza, Argentina.

For Robert Binenfield, murdered on December 21, 2004, in Monroe, LA.

For Felicia Moreno, murdered on December 26, 2004, in Hollywood, CA.

For the unknown person murdered on January 12, 2005, in Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina.

For Karlien Carstens, murdered on February 18, 2005, in Okahandja, Otjozondjupa, Namibia.

For the unknown person murdered on February 22, 2005, in Neuquén, Argentina.

For Phool Chand Yadav, murdered on March 17, 2005, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

For Alisha Sandoval, murdered on March 18, 2005, in Lodi, CA.

For Gerald “Ricky” Sandoval Jr., murdered on March 25, 2005, in Lakeland, FL.

For Mylene, murdered on March 26, 2005, in Marseilles, Bouches-du Rhône, France.

For Ashley Nickson, murdered on May 1, 2005, in Dothan, AL.

For Noleen Jansen, murdered on May 6, 2005, in Luderitz, Karas Region, Namibia.

For Julio Argueta, murdered on May 16, 2005, in Miami, FL.

For Marisa, murdered on May 28, 2005, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

For Kasha Blue, murdered on June 18, 2005, in Chicago, IL.

For Irene, murdered on July 31, 2005, in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.

For C. Hernandez, murdered on September 17, 2005, in Dorchester, MA.

For Christina Smith, murdered on October 12, 2005, in Houston, TX. 

For Kaaseem Adalla Juanda, murdered on October 17, 2005, in Glenwood, IO.

For the unknown person murdered on November 11, 2005, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For Donathyn J. Rodgers, murdered on November 15, 2005, in Cleveland, OH.

For Rani, murdered on November 20, 2005, in North Kolkata, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

For Vanessa Facen, murdered on November 21, 2005, in San Diego, CA.

For the unknown person murdered on November 27, 2005, in Northridge, CA.

For Simone Walton, murdered on December 4, 2005, in Dallas, TX.

For Roberta Oliveria, murdered on December 8, 2005, in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

For Paulina Mendez Cartagena, murdered on December 18, 2005, in Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala.

For Alexis L. King, murdered on February 3, 2006, in Philadelphia, PA.

For Tiffany Berry, murdered on February 9, 2006, in Memphis, TN.

For Yardena Marsh, murdered on February 15, 2006, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

For Melissa Green, murdered on March 21, 2006, in Phoenix, AZ.

For Rupesh Mandal, murdered on March 30, 2006, in Mahottari District, Province No. 2, Nepal.

For Robert Lee Armstrong, murdered on April 15, 2006, in Canton, MI.

For Sudha alias Lakshimi, murdered on May 26, 2006, in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.

For Barbara Calderon, murdered on June 10, 2006, in Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala.

For Lupita, murdered on July 29, 2006, in Gardolo-Trento, Italy.

For Lezlie Anne Field, murdered on August 2, 2006, in Bangkok, Thailand.

For Edgar Cano Camacho, murdered on October 19, 2006, in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

For Marcus Rogers, murdered on October 22, 2006, in Baltimore, MD.

For Daxi Arrendondo, murdered on November 11, 2006, in San Francisco, CA.

For Thalia Sandoval, murdered on November 19, 2006, in Antioch, CA.

For Valentina Falco, murdered on November 26, 2006, in Novara, Piedmont, Italy.

For Tamara Sabeh, murdered on January 11, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq.

For Keittirat Longnawa, murdered on January 31, 2007, in Rassada, Phuket, Thailand.

For Tatiana, murdered on February 18, 2007, in Trani, Apulia, Italy.

For Moira Donaire González, murdered on March 5, 2007, in Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Chile.

For Michelle “Chela” Carrasco, murdered on March 16, 2007, in Santiago, Chile.

For Erica Keels, murdered on March 23, 2007, in Philadelphia, PA.

For Bret T. Turner, murdered on April 2, 2007, in Madison, WI.

For Manuela Di Cesare, murdered on April 21, 2007, in Pescara, Italy.

For the unknown person murdered on July 11, 2007 in Kingston, Jamaica.

For Oscar Mosqueda, murdered on July 29, 2007, in Daytona Beach, FL.

For Stefania, murdered on August 1, 2007, in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

For Maribelle Reyes, died from AIDS on August 30, 2007 after being turned away from various treatment centers for her transgender identity, in Houston, TX.

For Paula Cristina Hernandez, murdered on September 19, 2007, in Chinandega, Nicaragua.

For Thanawoot Wiriyananon, murdered on November 12, 2007, in Phuket, Thailand.

For Elly “Sayep” Susanna, murdered on November 17, 2007, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

For Sally Camatoy, murdered on November 19, 2007, in Dubai, Philippines.

For Brian McGlothin, murdered on December 23, 2007, in Cincinnati, OH.

For Gabriela Alejandra Albornoz, murdered on December 28, 2007, in Santiago, Chile.

For all the other trans siblings who were murdered or went missing.

[deniscollins]

Wells Fargo Says Its Culture Has Changed. Some Employees Disagree.

If you were a Wells Fargo sales employee, what would you do if your manager asked you to send customers mortgage documents even though the interest rate or fee calculations were incorrect — resulting from missing paperwork — so the team could record that the documents were sent out quickly. When you questioned this, the managers said don’t worry because another set of documents would be sent to the customer after the missing paperwork came in with the correct calculations: (1) obey boss and send out paperwork with incorrect information to meet goals or (2) refuse to do so? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

Wells Fargo has spent years publicly apologizing for deceiving customers with fake bank accounts, unwarranted fees and unwanted products. Its top executives say that because they have eliminated the aggressive sales targets that spurred bad behavior, the bank’s culture has changed.

Many employees say that is news to them.

There is no evidence that employees are secretly opening accounts in customers’ names or tricking them into buying unnecessary auto insurance, as some did in the past. The bank has altered how it pays workers and added safeguards to catch bad behavior.

But Wells Fargo workers say they remain under heavy pressure to squeeze extra money out of customers. Some have witnessed colleagues bending or breaking internal rules to meet ambitious performance goals, according to interviews with 17 current and former employees and internal documents reviewed by The New York Times.

In Des Moines, where the bank — the nation’s fourth biggest — has a large debt-collecting operation, workers in December were expected to handle at least 30 calls an hour and recoup $34,000 in unpaid credit-card and other debts for the month. In January, the targets rose to 33 calls an hour and $40,000, goals that many employees there failed to attain, according to internal records.

“For us front-line workers, there’s an overwhelming sense of frustration,” said Mark Willie, who works in the Des Moines office and is part of a group, the Committee for Better Banks, trying to unionize Wells Fargo employees. “There is a general fear of retaliation for speaking out.”

Two mortgage-processing employees in Minneapolis said managers pressured their team to send documents that they knew contained incorrect information to borrowers to meet internal deadlines.

In a survey of more than 27,000 employees in the bank’s information-technology department late last year, top concerns included their ability to raise grievances with managers and whether “Wells Fargo conducts its business activities with honesty and integrity.” Workers recently flooded the bank’s internal blog with hundreds of angry comments about Wells Fargo’s sales incentives, pay and ethics and leaders’ “doublespeak,” according to screenshots of the blog reviewed by The Times.

Wells Fargo executives said in interviews that the bank’s culture had improved and that fewer bank employees had direct financial incentives to sell products to customers.

“Our entire system of how we pay, coach and develop team members is designed to focus on customer experience and customer outcomes,” said Mary Mack, Wells Fargo’s head of consumer banking. “Things have changed a lot.”

Ms. Mack said none of the debt-collecting employees in the Des Moines group had lost their jobs last year for not meeting the goals. She declined to comment on the Minneapolis mortgage processors, but said the bank investigates employees’ allegations.

Wells Fargo was regarded for years as one of America’s best banks. Then, in 2016, its pattern of wrongdoing became public. The bank admitted that employees had opened as many as 3.5 million phantom accounts in customers’ names to meet stratospheric sales goals. It also admitted forcing customers to buy unneeded auto insurance and charging improper mortgage fees.

The scandal has been costly for Wells Fargo. Its chief executive was pushed out. The bank has paid more than $1.5 billion in penalties to federal and state authorities, and $620 million to resolve lawsuits from customers and shareholders. Most painful, the Federal Reserve punished the bank in February 2018 by prohibiting it from expandinguntil it cleaned up its culture and internal checks and balances — a restriction that remains in force.

The Fed has said that before it will lift its constraints, Wells Fargo must devise a plan to ensure that the deceptive practices won’t happen again. Once the Fed signs off on the plan, the bank must demonstrate significant progress and win approval from an independent reviewer. The bank is still negotiating the details of the plan with the Fed. Its chief executive, Timothy J. Sloan, has twice pushed back his estimate for when the restrictions will be lifted.

On Tuesday, Mr. Sloan will testify to a congressional committee about the bank’s progress at overhauling its culture.

At the heart of its rehabilitation efforts, Wells Fargo said, it has changed how it motivates employees. No longer will they be individually rewarded for reaching sales targets, or punished for falling short. Branch workers were told that their primary job is to serve customers, not sell them things.

But the sales incentives have changed, not disappeared, according to the current and former employees, who work in branches, loan-processing centers and other parts of the bank. (Most spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their jobs in the industry.)

In the past, branch workers were eligible for bonuses if they persuaded customers to apply for a credit card or to take out a loan.

Now, employees are urged to refer prospects to salespeople in the bank’s mortgage or wealth management division, and some branch workers are eligible for bonuses if those referrals turn into sales, multiple employees said.

“Some retail bank positions or more experienced bankers might be eligible to be rewarded,” Ms. Mack said. “The pressure element is not there, but the opportunity to reward team members is.” She said sales weren’t the only factor that influenced bonuses.

In addition, most branch employees can get bonuses based on their branch’s overall performance.

A. J. Bula, a former branch employee in Richmond, Va., said his managers had criticized him when he failed to generate enough customer referrals to the sales team. The sales-oriented culture “was still there,” said Mr. Bula, who left Wells Fargo in July. “Just get someone something.”

A personal banker who works in a North Carolina branch said his manager had told him to increase his referrals to the bank’s mortgage team and financial advisers. He said he had ethical qualms about trying to sell more products to his customers, who are mostly college students and retirees with limited money.

For salespeople, the goals are even more explicit and detailed.

One former salesman, who sold credit-card-swiping terminals to businesses on the East Coast, shared his 2018 performance plan with The Times. It might look familiar to anyone who works in a sales-oriented job.

The salesman was required to book at least 15 sales meetings a week. For every 30 opportunities he logged, 10 needed to result in a sale. His calendar had to show regular meetings scheduled with Wells Fargo branch managers, whom he was told to lobby for introductions to potential customers.

The salesman said that when his managers had wanted him or his colleagues to ratchet up their sales, they had used coded language: “We’re not helping enough customers.” He quit last summer because of the relentless pressure to hit his targets.

Another Wells Fargo salesman, who said he had also left because the sales pressure had been too intense, confirmed his colleague’s account and said he had received similar performance targets.

Ms. Mack said only 20 percent of equipment sellers’ compensation was based on their sales performance.

In another division of the bank, which handles mortgage applications, several employees said managers dangled rewards to get them to process loans faster.

In previous years, workers got bonuses if they processed 25 mortgage applications a month, getting all the necessary documents in order, verifying borrowers’ sources of income and sending out paperwork. Then the target was raised to 30. At the beginning of 2017, it went up to 35. (Mark Folk, a bank spokesman, said the increase had stemmed in part from the introduction of technology intended to speed up the process.)

The employees said the intense pressure led some workers to break the rules.

In one Wells Fargo office in Minnesota, two current employees said managers sometimes asked them to send customers mortgage documents even though the interest rate or fee calculations were incorrect — resulting from missing paperwork — so the team could record that the documents were sent out quickly. In those instances, the employees said, another set of documents would be sent to the customer after the missing paperwork came in and the calculations were corrected.

Ms. Mack said that, starting in January, the bank had stopped paying bonuses based on hitting mortgage-processing goals.

Employees’ frustrations with the bank extend beyond the pressure to keep hitting lofty targets.

Melissa Kinnard, who worked in Minneapolis as a financial adviser, said the company had sometimes pushed her and other brokers to steer clients toward investments that would generate recurring fees for the bank, including in a case where “it was not in the client’s best interest.”

Frustrated by what she saw as the bank’s culture, Ms. Kinnard quit in January.

Days later, the bank sent a letter to her clients, in her name, announcing that she would be teaming up with another Wells Fargo employee to handle their accounts. The Jan. 29 letter, reviewed by The Times, falsely indicated that Ms. Kinnard still worked at the bank and that she endorsed the other employee’s credentials.

Ms. Kinnard repeatedly asked the company to retract the letter. It didn’t.

“That letter went out in error,” Mr. Folk, the bank spokesman, said on Friday. “We apologize for the mistake.”

Many Wells Fargo employees are also upset about what they said was a drop in their compensation after the bank phased out many of its old sales bonuses.

On the company’s internal blog in January, Patrick Timmons, who works in Minneapolis on resolving customer complaints, accused Wells Fargo’s executives of trying to “string us along with an endless series of platitudes and doublespeak.”

While the bank’s leaders receive “obscene pay packages,” its rank-and-file workers are struggling, he wrote. (Wells Fargo’s chief executive, Mr. Sloan, was paid more than $17 million in 2017, up 36 percent from the year before.)

“I completely agree,” a teller in Miami responded. The teller said there was “a disconnect between corporate and branch/officer workers.”

Alex Ross, a bankruptcy specialist for Wells Fargo in Minneapolis who is also an activist for the Committee for Better Banks, stood up at Wells Fargo’s annual shareholder meeting last April and told Mr. Sloan that many employees felt unable to speak frankly with their managers about problems. He said that some feared that they would face retaliation if they complained.

“Candidly, we need to hear from our team members more often,” Mr. Sloan responded. “I don’t want you to think that we are not listening. We absolutely are.”

Mr. Ross said in an interview that he hadn’t seen any change since then in the way workers were treated.

“There’s a sense among the workers that most of the reforms the bank has made are very superficial and only being done for P.R. reasons,” he said.

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/technology/entertainment/celebrity-birthdays-for-the-week-of-april-14-20/

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 14-20

April 14: Country singer Loretta Lynn is 87. Actress Julie Christie is 79. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is 74. Actor John Shea (“Gossip Girl,” ”Lois and Clark”) is 70. Actor Peter Capaldi (“Dr. Who,” ”The Musketeers”) is 61. Actor-turned-racecar driver Brian Forster (“The Partridge Family”) is 59. Actor Brad Garrett (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 59. Actor Robert Carlyle (“Once Upon A Time”) is 58. Singer-guitarist John Bell of Widespread Panic is 57. Actress Catherine Dent (“The Shield”) is 54. Drummer Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees) is 52. Actor Anthony Michael Hall is 51. Actor Adrien Brody is 46. Singer David Miller of Il Divo is 46. Rapper Da Brat is 45. Actor Antwon Tanner (“One Tree Hill”) is 44. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is 42. Actor Rob McElhenney (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) is 42. Singer Win Butler of Arcade Fire is 39. Actor Claire Coffee (“Grimm”) is 39. Actor Nick Krause (“The Descendants”) is 27. Actor Graham Phillips (“The Good Wife”) is 26. Actress Skyler Samuels (“Scream Queens”) is 25. Actress Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) is 23.

April 15: Actress Claudia Cardinale (“Son of the Pink Panther”) is 81. Singer-guitarist Dave Edmunds is 76. Actor Michael Tucci (“Diagnosis Murder”) is 73. Actress Lois Chiles (“Austin Powers”) is 72. Actress Amy Wright is 69. Actress Emma Thompson is 60. Singer Samantha Fox is 53. Guitarist Ed O’Brien of Radiohead is 51. Actor Danny Pino (“Cold Case”) is 45. Country singer Chris Stapleton is 41. Actor Luke Evans (“The Hobbit”) is 40. Drummer Patrick Carney of The Black Keys is 39. Bassist Zach Carothers of Portugal. The Man is 38. Actor Seth Rogen is 37. Actress Alice Braga (“I Am Legend”) is 36. Singer-songwriter Margo Price is 36. Drummer De’Mar Hamilton of Plain White T’s is 35. Actress Samira Wiley (“Orange Is The New Black”) is 32. Actress Leonie Elliott (“Call the Midwife”) is 31. Actress Emma Watson (“Harry Potter” movies) is 29. Actress Maisie Williams (“Game of Thrones”) is 22.

April 16: Actor Peter Mark Richman (“Dynasty”) is 92. Singer Bobby Vinton is 84. Midnight Oil singer-turned-politician Peter Garrett is 66. Actress Ellen Barkin is 65. Actor Michael Gill (“House of Cards”) is 59. Singer-bassist Jason Scheff (Chicago) is 57. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 56. Singer David Pirner of Soul Asylum is 55. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 54. Actor Jon Cryer is 54. Actor Peter Billingsley (“A Christmas Story”) is 48. Actor Lukas Haas is 43. Broadway actress Kelli O’Hara is 43. Actress Sadie Sink (“Stranger Things”) is 17.

April 17: Actor David Bradley (“Game of Thrones”) is 77. Musician Jan Hammer is 71. Actress Olivia Hussey is 68. Actor Clarke Peters (“Treme”) is 67. Rapper Afrika Bambaataa is 62. Actor Sean Bean (“Lord of the Rings”) is 60. Actor Joel Murray (“Dharma and Greg,” ”The Artist”) is 57. Singer Maynard James Keenan of Tool and of Puscifer is 55. Actress Lela Rochon is 55. Actor William Mapother (“Lost”) is 54. Actress Leslie Bega (“The Sopranos”) is 52. Actor Henry Ian Cusick (“Scandal,” ”Lost”) is 52. Actress Kimberly Elise is 52. Singer Liz Phair is 52. Rapper-actor Redman is 49. Actress Jennifer Garner is 47. Singer Victoria Beckham of the Spice Girls is 45. Actress Lindsay Korman (“Passions”) is 41. Actor Tate Ellington (“Quantico”) is 40. Actor Charlie Hofheimer (“24: Legacy”) is 38. Actress Rooney Mara (“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”) is 34. Actress Dee Dee Davis (“The Bernie Mac Show”) is 23.

April 18: Actor Robert Hooks is 82. Actress Hayley Mills is 73. Actor James Woods is 72. Actress Cindy Pickett (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) is 72. Keyboardist Walt Richmond of The Tractors is 72. Bassist Jim Scholten of Sawyer Brown is 67. Actor Rick Moranis is 66. Actor Eric Roberts is 63. Actress Melody Thomas Scott (“Young and the Restless”) is 63. Actor John James (“Dynasty,” ”The Colbys”) is 63. Bassist Les Pattinson of Echo and the Bunnymen is 61. Actress Jane Leeves (“Hot In Cleveland,” ”Fraiser”) is 58. Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is 57. Talk show host Conan O’Brien is 56. Actor Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”) is 56. Actress Maria Bello is 52. Actress Mary Birdsong (“Reno 911!”) is 51. Actor David Hewlett (“Stargate: SG-1”) is 51. Actress Fedro Starr (“Moesha”) is 48. Actor David Tennant (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) is 48. Guitarist Mark Tremonti of Creed and of Alter Bridge is 45. Singer Trina of Trina and Tamara is 45. Actress Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 43. Actor Bryce Johnson (“Pretty Little Liars”) is 42. TV personality Kourtney Kardashian is 40. Actress America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) is 35. Actor Tom Hughes (“Victoria”) is 34. Actress Ellen Woglom (“Marvel’s Inhumans”) is 32. Actress Vanessa Kirby (“The Crown”) is 31. Actress Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) is 30. Actress Britt Robertson (“Under the Dome”) is 29. Actress Chloe Bennet (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” ”Nashville”) is 27. Singer Nathan Sykes of The Wanted is 26. Actor Moises Arias (“Hannah Montana”) is 25.

April 19: Actress Elinor Donahue (“Father Knows Best”) is 82. Keyboardist Alan Price of The Animals is 77. Actor Tim Curry is 73. Singer Mark “Flo” Volman of The Turtles is 72. Actor Tony Plana (“Ugly Betty”) is 67. Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight is 54. Country singer Bekka Bramlett of Bekka and Billy is 51. Actress Kim Hawthorne (“Greenleaf”) is 51. Actress Ashley Judd is 51. Singer Luis Miguel is 49. Actress Jennifer Esposito (“Blue Bloods”) is 47. Actress Jennifer Taylor (“Two and a Half Men”) is 47. Singer Madeleine Peyroux is 45. Actor James Franco is 41. Actress Kate Hudson is 40. Actor Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars Episodes II and III”) is 38. Actress Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Che,” ”Maria Full of Grace”) is 38. Actress Ali Wong (“American Housewife”) is 37. Actress Victoria Yeates (“Call the Midwife”) is 36. Drummer Steve Johnson of Alabama Shakes is 34.

April 20: Actor George Takei (“Star Trek”) is 82. Singer Johnny Tillotson is 81. Actor Ryan O’Neal is 78. Keyboardist Craig Frost of Grand Funk Railroad is 71. Actor Gregory Itzin (“24”) is 71. Actress Veronica Cartwright (“Aliens”) is 70. Actress Jessica Lange is 70. Actor Clint Howard is 60. Actor Crispin Glover is 55. Actor Andy Serkis (“Lord of the Rings”) is 55. Country singer Wade Hayes is 50. Actor Shemar Moore (“Criminal Minds”) is 49. Actress Carmen Electra is 47. Actor Joey Lawrence (“Blossom,” ”Brotherly Love”) is 43. Multi-instrumentalist Clay Cook of the Zac Brown Band is 41.

[winstonhcomedy]

How’d Winston Do This Weekend? 11/2-11/3

What a wild and wacky weekend of wonderful comedy!!! We had a twofer on Friday in Petersburg, and then a bit of a road trip for a shit show at Smith Mt. Lake on Saturday!!!

I love a twofer. Two sets in one night. It’s especially rare when the show isn’t in a huge city. The fact that Petersburg had two shows on Friday is kind of ridiculous, but I am definitely not complaining.

The first was the Off The Rip Improv Showcase at Plaza Mexico Bar and Grill run/hosted by my buddy Mu Cuzzo. I think it was Mu’s first time running a show like this which is pretty neat. I hit him up before the show and asked for a spot. He put me on and let me go first so I could make my second show.

I get there early and get to hang with Mu, his dope girlfriend Paula, and Bryan Williams. I knew Paula before I knew Mu. She used to come out and support a bunch of comedy shows. She’s a pretty dope artist as well. She is a poet, a writer, she makes jewelry, and there’s probably a lot more I’m missing as well. She’s a good influence on Mu, and supportive af. I always enjoy talking to her!

Mu is in a super good mood, because his mom is coming to watch him perform for the first time. This is a super dope moment to watch. When his mother gets there Mu hands her a bouquet of flowers (it’s her birthday) and gives her a huge hug. Shit like this gets me teary eyed. Small stuff like that really touches me in a crazy kind of way.

Mu’s mother is a pretty strong, and awesome woman. Mu told me she’s on city council and when city council tried to knock down city worker’s pay by 10% she told them to take all of her pay. This is a bad ass move. It show’s she gives af about the community, which is rare as hell nowadays.

Had to talk to Bryan about staying in his lane. Bryan is a good dude who means well, but he sometimes gets involved in some stuff on fb he really shouldn’t. I think arguing about stuff on FB is super annoying and pointless (even though I’ve done it.) I just advised him it’d be best to mind his own business and keep his head down and just write/tell jokes. He’s so new he doesn’t need the reputation of a White Knight or argumentative dude on FB. It was about some personal stuff going on in the comedy scene rn so I don’t want to go into it, but it was a good talk.

The room itself is pretty big and spacious. There is a weird divider in the middle of the room. The DJ is set up on one side, and the comics perform on the other. There is a pretty good crowd there, but because the room is so big it doesn’t feel super intimate. Also there's a table of about 11 people behind us that you have to turn around to see. It’s an odd setup, but it works.

Mu went up first and did a good job getting the room ready for comedy. Since the microphone was wireless and he knew a lot of the audience he walked out into them a little bit and did his thing. He got his mom involved a bit, and warmed up the room nicely.

I go up first and have a pretty solid set. I only did crowd work. It did not have the vibe of a crowd that would be into my material. I only did about 5 minutes since I was a guest, but I got his mom involved and his cousin. I had some pretty good lines, and got some big laughs. 

All in all I’m glad I went to the show. I’d give my set a B-. After the set I hopped in my car and drove straight to Wabi Sabi.

Wabi Sabi is one of my favorite comedy rooms. It is usually hosted/run by Jason Klingman. Tonight Kenny Wingle was hosting since Jason was at the Brian Wilson concert in Richmond. 

This is a room set up for comedy. It is in a basement, has low ceilings, tight seating, brick wall backdrop, separated from rest of the restaurant, and usually has a good crowd. This is not an easy room by any means, but they do reward funny. You have to be willing to work for your laughs. They like jokes and crowd work. 

I’ve had some of the best sets of my life at Wabi and I honestly think it’s a room that has made me into the comic I am now. I’m not afraid of any room, and it really helped me build my confidence while doing material or crowd work. 

When I got to the show Alex Castagne was on stage and he had a hot one. The room was full, and he was slaughtering. Alex is a funny dude, and a good friend. A real fine jew of a boy.

 He gets off and Joshua Horsford goes up. Joshua has been in and out of the comedy scene for a long time. He started well before me, but he also writes/acts so there are times where he is absent from the scene for months. He had a pretty good set and Kenny went back up and did some crowd work in-between him and the next comic.

Next up is Patrick Nowaczyk one of the members of Rich Girls comedy. A comedy troupe that isn’t really doing anything anymore but was full of some of my favorite comics when I started. Pat started out super strong. He was really killing up top, but then he got into some of his longer jokes and they either didn't get them or just didn’t have the attention span for them (which sucks because he did two of my favorite bits he does). 

He gets off stage and since it is late about two tables get up to leave. Which is always disconcerting as a comic who is going last on a show. 

Bryan showed up to hang out after his set at Mu’s show. When he got there he asked for a guest spot. Kenny came up and asked if it was ok if he went in front of me.  I didn’t give a shit. Bryan’s five minutes aren’t going to affect me. 

Bryan goes up and really does not have a good set. He caught them when he got on stage, but after that he really let their lack of laughs get to him and he got more and more timid. He just had no confidence and they just weren’t his crowd. After his set about half of the remaining tables leave. 

Kenny goes back up and does a little more crowd work to get the crowd back and excited again. Luckily the tables that were left were great audience members. 

I go up and just go right into crowd work. They are vibing with me and my energy right away. I do about 25 minutes and I can honestly say I did one joke in the middle (and it worked).

The audience members left were amazing. I had one of the best sets I’ve had in a while. I was jumping back and forth between two large tables of guests, calling back to crowd work, and really getting weird and intimate.

Talked about sex with a mom/dad in front of her daughter who was celebrating her birthday. Talked to another lady about how much she loved to be choked. I had a lot of lines I can’t even remember, but it was a super fun and hot set.

I’d give it an A- and maybe even bump it up to an A. 

It was so much fun, and really glad I was booked on this show. After the show I hung with the guys a bit, and then Klingman showed up. We talked about the Brian Wilson show, and I asked to be on next month’s Wabi show (it is the 9th year anniversary and I didn’t want to miss it.) Afterwards I headed home.

Saturday was a fun day. I got to wake up late, and hang out with my niece which is one of my favorite things to do. I also knew I had a good hang on the horizon because I was driving to Lynchburg to meet up with my dude Jake Snyder and ride with him and Paige Campbell to the comedy competition at Heath’s Waterfront Grill at Smith Mtn. Lake. 

Once I get to Jake’s we got and grab a bit to eat at Wendy’s next to his house. Someone asks him how tall he is (6′7) and they then reply with, “that ain’t too bad”. I don’t even begin to know wtf that even means. 

Paige gets to his apartment and then we hit the road. We are jamming to older metal on the radio, and it legit feels like we are comics in the 80s. Three dudes crammed into a car, driving into the middle of nowhere for some dogshit show and a chance at $250. 

We have done this show before, and it actually wasn’t bad. I had a super hot set and won some money. They had us on a real stage, and it was pretty packed out. Definitely more fun that it had any right to be.

This time we show up. The sound system is shit, there is no stage (they have moved us to the corner), very little audience, and the energy is weak af in the room. We all know it is going to suck.

The good thing is there are definitely some folks I love to hang with here. Johnny Camacho (Roanoke comic), Kristinia Montouri (Roanoke comic), Colby Knight (lynchburg/charlottesville guy), Zach Webb (lynchburg comic), and a few others idk at all. 

The host Phil Hogan goes first and he just gobbles dick for like 15 minutes. Like it is brutal. Barely any laughs at all, and really isn’t vibing with the crowd. After him he brings up a comic Ron Hebert who also bombs. The next comic is Melissa Douty. I have never seen her before, but her reputation precedes her. She is a local headliner/touring comic. Super likeable and a good joke writer. She has what I consider the best set of the night. 

I go up next and in my opinion bomb. I got some good pops, and about 3/4 of my jokes work. I try to engage the crowd, but they aren’t having it at all. I also keep stepping out of the light because it is poorly placed and bright af (I get points deducted because of this). 

The best part was in the middle of a setup to one of my jokes that needs people to pay attention a man who has to be 80 rolls in on his mechanical wheelchair. He is making what I can only describe as a comical amount of noise. He is knocking his wheelchair into tables, and the hostess is talking so loud asking him where he is going to sit. The whole time I am just on stage delivering a joke people don’t want to hear just trying my best not to yell at this old dude. HE WHEELS ALL THE WAY TO THE FRONT!!! On the inside I am dying laughing. It felt like it was out of a tv show.

I’d give my set a C-. I just didn’t have it that night.

Melissa Douty comes over and we both compliment each others sets. I definitely respect her as a comic. Super funny lady check her out. 

Everybody else goes up and honestly it feels like everybody is bombing. Paige and Jake didn’t do great but also the crowd was shit. Johnny Camacho goes up and does a German Psychic character (that I enjoy) and gets a few good laughs. Lastly a 16 year old kid goes up with a notebook and he does ok. Not bad for a first set ever, and he had a few good ideas.

They are adding up the scores at the end of the show while the host goes back up and plays guitar for an obscene amount of time. We are hanging out in the back and 16 year old is one cocky dude. You can tell he thinks he is a comedic genius. He is trying to bust balls, and be goofy. He asks me if my legs are ok because my jeans are too tight (brilliant roast). A little later he says he’s a bit sleepy because he did a bunch of heroin, so I responded with, “yea and after your set I just wish you had Od’d.” He heard me, but he didn’t respond. He also quit busting balls after that. He did have some funny shit so I hope he continues to go out and work on new stuff. His parents were there, so it was cool to see them support his dream.

They announced Johnny Camacho as the winner. Which blew me away. Not because he isn’t funny, but just because Mellissa Douty got more laughs than all of the other comics combined. I’m happy for Johnny because at least a hack didn’t win, but I felt bad for Melissa because for that room she kind of freaking crushed.

We head back and stop at Sheetz to grab some food. We park back at Jake’s place and start doing our favorite street jokes. Then we all go our separate ways. I head home and start playing tf out of Red Dead Redemption 2! Which is how I spent the rest of my weekend.

WHAT AN AMAZING TIME BAYBEES AND LAYDEES!!! I love you a lot and will catch up with you soon. Keep on trucking everybody! xoxoxo LOVE YOU!!!