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We visited friends in the country this weekend–it was lovely. Our time there made me realize how much I dislike riding in cars–perhaps as much as I imagine many loathe public transit.

This also made me think about my general transportation preferences. Here they are, ranked:

  1. Walking
  2. Cycling*
  3. Subway/Metro
  4. Tram**
  5. Boat
  6. Train
  7. Taxi
  8. Bus
  9. Car–driven by me
  10. Airplane
  11. Car–driven by most other (non-professional) people

Those last two really are in a tie for dead last in my book. But, sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.

* I rarely cycle these days, but I liked it when I did
** We don’t have trams in NYC, if we did, I’d rank them about equal to the subway

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Mostly political this week, sorry…

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vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what: it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine…. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.

– Donald Trump 26 Jul, 2024

He plans to fix it real good. Let’s make sure he doesn’t get the chance to “fix” anything. Check out the voting links below and make sure you’re registered. Especially if you’re in a swing state.

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Screenshot of New York Times mobile app headline on July 21, 2024. The headline reads "BIDEN DROPS OUT OF 2024 RACE". A picture of President Joe Biden appears below the headline.

The political craziness continued this week. I took this screenshot shortly after Biden announced the end of his reelection campaign. When I first saw it, I thought there was no way anyone could defeat Trump, not this late in the game. However, Harris seized the moment and really energized people–amazing.

Meanwhile, the former president essentially told people he’d ensure the next election is the last one people will need to vote in. Yes, the stakes are high this year, please be informed and vote in November.

In lighter news, I did a volunteer project at Wetlab in the Hudson River Park. It’s a cool place that’s doing good work. They are open to the public several days a week. I recommend stopping by to learn more about the wildlife in our waterways.

On two separate video calls at work, I received comments on the Gibson t-shirt I was wearing. Of course, they were musicians and we chatted about what we played etc. One of these guys was a pro (before he decided he wanted health insurance). I was surprised that he never heard of Jamulus. I then proceeded extol the virtues of it–always be evangelizing.

We went to Academy Records and Kalustyan’s this weekend. Both are amazing and examples of great New York City stores. One could get lost in either for hours.

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A lot of crazy shit happened this week, I don’t feel the need to rehash or react to any of it here. I’ll say only this: Americans, please make sure you’re registered to vote and understand what is at stake in the upcoming elections. Then, of course, vote!

On a lighter note, after last weeks live jam, we were back to using Jamulus this week. Last weekend’s “intensive” seems to have improved my playing ability just a bit. Things felt and sounded a bit smoother this Friday.

In other music news, I discovered that we have a drummer in the family! Honestly, they didn’t seem all that interested in joining our jam, but they have a kit at home and live well within Jamulus range to the rest of us. I’ll turn on the charm and see if I can recruit him.

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I am behind on my weeknotes. Partially due to travel, partially to lazyness. I’ll publish this abbreviated edition a week late and catch up next week.

Black and white photo of three men in a garage with guitars.
Meet the monotones (working name, not to be confused with The Monotones). Photo: Angela Lin

The highlight of the week was a visit to the country–if you can call destinations reachable by Metro North “the country”. On the agenda: Play some music, chill by the pool and sail. The weather wasn’t conducive to sailing, but we played a lot of music and really enjoyed the pool.

This was a rare, live jam of the regular Jamulus crew. It’s wonderful that we can play together online, I doubt we’d play much at all if we couldn’t; however, being in the same room is so much better. We worked on tightening up a couple of the songs on our regular playlist and started working on a couple new ones.

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