Category: blog

Happy 2022*

jamie
Happy 2022*. Staying Home. Staying Stoned.

I truly thought 2020 was the worst year ever. I was optimistic when it ended. I thought things would be better in 2021. Here we are anyway.

Last Year’s New Year’s Message: Happy 2021 It Might Not Suck

2022. Pandemic year two. They say it will become endemic. That we will learn to live with COVID-19. Like the flu.

Fuck.

Some really great things have happened this year. Most of them have come with caveats and asterisks. Just like 2020. *Pandemic year. It’s easy to forget the little joys in the big hurt. Lots of hurt.

We moved to upstate NY this year. That was a good thing.

This overwhelming sadness is what I’ll remember most about these times. So much loss. My spirit feels beaten and bruised. PTSD seems the new norm, in a world where we must fear living among liars and idiots, who would profit or die by denial of the common sense measures to keep everyone well.

We lost Betty White on the last day of this piece of shit year, confirming it’s status as ‘worst year ever’. #RIPBetty

I don’t go anywhere that isn’t absolutely necessary anymore. Certainly not the crowded indoor areas where music and alcohol flow. The places we used to love to go. Where life stopped for a few short hours, and the only thing that mattered was how the music moved the crowd. Where we all came together, sometimes encroaching on each other’s personal space, if only because somebody lost their balance in the drunken, drug steeped swerve to a frenzied beat that infected the entire crowd. It was fun. It didn’t feel like a death threat, like now.

COVID killed businesses across the country in 2021.

If this is what ‘living with it’ will be like, I don’t think I’m ready for that. I’m not ready to go ANYWHERE without an N95 mask and a litre of hand sanitizer. I don’t see that changing because they start calling it an ENdemic instead of PANdemic. Call it whatever you want. I’m staying home.

So Happy 2022 from my house. Where I plan to spend the year, with the (vaccinated) ones I love most. ~jg

*Pandemic year three.

Jamie Gray | Musician and Writer. Pessimistic optimist.

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

Autumn Kindling

jamie

I’d like to say I know who I am. I’m pretty sure I’m still finding out.
I’d like to say I know how things really are…that I know a lot about lots of important stuff.
Maybe I used to. The truth is, these days I feel like I know a lot of useless stuff that I’m absolutely sure will someday be important to someone, someplace.

Fall leaves in the yard | Original Photo by Jamie Gray

But, I do know a lot of things that could be much better, but for some ‘important’ people who are unwilling to change and uninterested in doing anything for anyone but themselves.
I also know that we all can make a difference if we decide not to be indifferent. I try to do my part.
The sun rises and sets, and all that I know seems everyday madness. But it’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than us.
Another day in the gilded age of Internet and impressions.

Every age of glory fades away or goes down in flames. And…It’s just…well, everything about America right now looks a lot like Autumn kindling.
~jg


Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

Jamie Gray – Upstate NY Musician, Writer, and Photographer

Or 1 N Big 9 S 8 Brother A 4 Well

jamie

…”They have some pretty slick AI that screens for connections and the tell-tale hearts of anti-american hostility and malcontent. It sniffs it out chunks of terrorist cholesterol from the Internet’s arteries, as gigabytes of data streams past their hidden packet snatchers.”…

They know you already. You don’t have to believe it for it to be true, and knowing the truth doesn’t make you crazy. Unless they need you to be, and generally speaking, they don’t.

So…Once the NSA knows-that-you-know that they ‘listen’ to everything you do online, it’s basically #GameOn. Are you a subversive? Who are your followers? Who do you follow? Are any of them ‘terrorists‘? Because since 2001, that’s the best way for the .gov folks to shut down the voices that are violent. Preach revolt. Or maybe just make too much sense. 

We’re Watching. ~The NSA

I know they’re watching me. Because they watch everything. Everyone. They have some pretty slick AI that screens for connections and the tell-tale hearts of anti-american hostility and malcontent. It sniffs it out chunks of terrorist cholesterol from the Internet’s arteries, as gigabytes of data streams past their hidden packet snatchers. Filters the digital goo. Combs thru it all, looking for nuggets of evil against Uncle Sam.

Uncle Sam Towers Above The Danbury CT Railroad Museum

Good ol’ patriotic malcontent used to be ok, back in the day. You can still say the government sucks, if you’re careful, but thanks to the MAGA Revolution, we now know that even patriots can be terrorists…and so does the NSA. Even a gentle grumble can raise the AI hackles these days, which flags you for human eyes to review your dossier. Everyone’s got a dossier if they have any sort of online presence at all. I bet you think you don’t, but if you’re reading this, you know me, so they definitely have you in their crosshairs too.

The good news is, as long as you don’t go too far, they would rather just keep watching. Of course, if you suddenly ‘radicalize’ by plotting violence, or maybe worse, disappear from the Web, don’t be surprised if that generic panel van parked on your street is full of feds with heat tracing cameras and parabolic mics. These are scary times…it makes sense. Sort of. In hugely Orwellian fashion.

Jamie Gray|Musician and Writer

I suppose I should worry. I talk a lot about revolution and rebellion. I DO think the government sucks. But I’d never condone violence, except in self-defense. And I’d never advocate for a coup. I think we SHOULD overturn our government…from inside. Through VOTES and legislation and policy. Kick the moneychangers out of the temple of democracy, so to speak. Voting and peaceful protest. Through free speech, empathy and kindness, educating people to see the corruption that is right in front of them, and show them how to be a part of the solution rather than a victim of a system that pretends to care.

I’m not a threat to anybody’s safety. I’m an advocate for a better America. One that takes care of the little guy…and the victim. An America like they told us about in Civics class. Do they even teach Civics anymore?

Most importantly, I’m not a threat to the status quo. Nobody actually listens to me. I’m just a crazy old guy on a couch, with a guitar, a remote control, and a lot of ideas. If I ask my followers to do anything, most of them might get around to doing something. 
If it’s not too hard or uncomfortable.
Someday. Soon, for sure.
One of my favorite songs puts it best: 
“I’d start a revolution…
…If I could get up in the morning”. 
~ Aimee Allen

Thanks for reading to the end. Please #Vote. ~jg

“I’d Start a Revolution (If I Could Get Up in the Morning)” Aimee Allen

Aimee Allen

Can we save our planet? Is it too late?

jamie
Several nations are threatened with extinction due to climate change.

Maybe the climate deniers were wrong.
Maybe the scientists were wrong, too, and it’s MUCH WORSE than they thought.
Maybe it IS too late.
But maybe it’s not.
Even if the experts were sure it’s too late.
Maybe they’re wrong. ~jg

Jamie Gray | Musician. Writer. Ally of Earth.
Not a tool of corporate greed.

Read the articles that inspired Jamie’s Rant:

These countries have warned they face extinction. They hope climate report is a ‘major alert.’ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/climate-change-rising-seas-may-lead-extinction-small-island-nations-n1276394

Is too late to save our planet? https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2021/8/10/is-too-late-to-save-our-planet

Gulf Stream crisis study: Atlantic pessimism fit for a disaster movie

jamie

This is really a BIG deal… No #GulfStream means everything coastal must change. Or die.

This is really a BIG deal. The Gulf Stream current is THE key to the marine and estuary foodchain up and down the US East Coast. No #GulfStream means everything coastal must change. Or die. Everything.

Because, Climate change is real. It doesn’t even really matter whether you believe we humans are the cause. What matters is that we CAN do something about it. We can change. For the better, if we CHOOSE to. We can CHANGE, to a sustainable, climate neutral lifestyle.

Fuck all the arguments against…we’ve heard them: Not practical. Expensive. Will cause unemployment. #YadaYadaYada

They simply are false. Political fear tactics by powerful entities with something to lose if we move away from oil, gas, and coal. Entities that pay very little in taxes and make millions in profits because we don’t have affordable, clean and green choices to THEIR products. They are a cartel. A monopoly, with many allies in Congress, thanks to the legal bribery we call our political $ystem…but I digress from my point. Sorry.

Choosing Earth-Friendy energy and green products shouldn’t be the more expensive, alternative choice. It should be the ONLY choice. It should be affordable and easy for ALL. Everyone.

Is the Gulfstream Current threatened by climate change?

Politicians want us to believe we’ll all suffer if we choose the sustainable, climate friendly, non-fossil-fuel-based options. In truth, for MOST of us…most of our lives will improve. New sustainable industries will grow the economy, promote innovation and create jobs. Hopefully they’ll pay taxes, too. More for everyone.

Only the super-sized, dino-energy shilling, tax-avoiding parasite corporations (oil gas & coal corps…you know who they are) and their comrades in oil (read: business partners) will suffer.

For awhile, anyway. Until those oil-slick corporate barons figure out another way to royally fuck us all up the ass. Sustainably. ~jg

Read the Article Jamie based his rant on here: Gulf Stream crisis study: Atlantic pessimism fit for a disaster movie https://www.slashgear.com/gulf-stream-crisis-study-concludes-atlantic-pessimism-fit-for-a-disaster-movie-06685568/

Jamie Gray is a musician, writer, and tireless advocate for sustainable choices.

25 Years Ago Today: Final Grateful Dead Concert 7-9-1995

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On this day, 25 years ago, the Grateful Dead played their final concert at Soldier Field, Chicago. A month later, Jerry Garcia would be gone from the stage forever, as the other members struggled to keep the music flowing thru the Space & Drums portion of the band’s long history.

Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead played their final show 25 years ago today, 7/9/95, but The Music Never Stopped.

The Music Never Stopped, as Bobby, Phil, Billy, Mickey, and all of their amazingly improvisational friends, have kept moving the Dead’s music moving Further on, Truckin’ through the Lilly Fields on the Bus to never-ever land.

I still miss Jerry’s soulful plucks and crackly croons, and watching the last show can be hard. Still. 25 years later. But if you’re so inclined, YouTube of the show is below.

Listen/Watch to the whole show on YouTube: