Operation 365... Blog 7

Perhaps it was inevitable I'd find myself thinking about my old workplace Portugalia today. Portugalia is a restaurant in Ocean Beach where I hosted shows from 2006 until April of this year. It was a great run. Much if not most of my Archive footage was filmed there. As often happens when people have been places for a long time, things go downhill. I felt really taken for granted by the end so I resigned. Ideally, that would have been the end and we could have all stayed friends but things just don't always go the way you want them to.

I don't think about it too much. I feel confident that I made the right decision, but today is the day of the annual OB Christmas Parade. The last two years I spearheaded the Portugalia Christmas Parade float and hosted my "12 Hours of Free Music" show on this day. I also hosted my "24 Hours of Free Music" concert there the last 2 Junes before 2010, but I didn't think about it that day really cause I was in New Jersey at my buddy Scotty's wedding. Anyway, even though I'm playing at Winston's this afternoon and am plenty happy, my thoughts are there some today.

Even if I didn't realize it before, I am learning quickly from this project that is no subconscious. What is, is and it will show itself to you if you're looking, at every opportunity. With that being said, here's today's clips.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 10 JJ OB Parade Jam - 12-5-2009 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGJsd_GRgmM

Here we are in 2009 at the OB Christmas Parade rolling right through the heart of Ocean Beach, Newport Avenue. We were in a vehicle called "The Arc of Clark" designed by none other then the great Tim Clark, with assists from Blowski and myself. Our team was an impressive one. Featured on "The Arc of Clark" were my friends Wes Davis, Blowski, Barbara Tolbert, Charlotte James and Adrianna Martin-Morningstar. "The General" Justin Mills drove. In the last year, I've played in bands with all of these folks.

You will hear some pimping of "The Port" as we affectionately referred to it. I cared so much about that place and did everything I could to put them out there for a long time. I would have loved to post the whole parade party as we had a blast, but I chose this part for now. Maybe more later. Here I am singing a little parade medley of my songs "Good Graces," "Do You Feel Free" and the improvised "Sweet Home Ocean Beach" for the parade party people. I'll miss being in the parade this year probably, but change is the only constant life has to offer so we might as well embrace it.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 10 "The Girls" by Jennie Buss - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMR4FBmiRt4

Again, Portugalia on my mind revealed itself in my choice for a cover today. Didn't really plan it that way, but I'm thinking more and more that what you plan doesn't really matter much. It's more what happens. Jennie Buss was a regular at my shows at Portugalia and we were pals. Like Portugalia, I don't see her anymore, but I wish Jennie and "The Port" only the best. And I think this song of Jennie's rocks. My version is a little different than hers, but not too much, "The Girls," as I understand it, refers to the drama behind the scenes at Portugalia that was just simmering then, before it bubbled over.

Peace

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 10 "Meditate" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG9WBPC8b0w

One thing I'm learning is posting and preparing 3 videos every day is time consuming. Sometimes you've got to embrace the short cuts the universe holds out there for you. In this case, the result is this video of me playing my new song (at the time, 2-20-10) "Meditate" with no shirt on. Posting this is against my better judgment it is for sure, but right now, in my mind, it beats making a whole new video from scratch. I tried that last night, but forgot to put the computer mic on. Doh! Enjoy topless Jefferson as much as you can because I doubt he'll be getting any encores.

The lyrics to this tune were written upon one of my first trips to SD about 10 years ago and I finished up the music last year . I was on a "going through 10-year old writings and turning them into new songs and inspiration" tip at that time.