Operation 365 2 - Blog 1

Operation 365 2: Blog 1.
Christmas Eve, 2015

Surprise and Merry Christmas! The Operation 365 is back and one sentence in my wife has already told me “Baby, it’s time for bed,” seven times. Where will I find time for three videos every day for a year? Seven more. I gotta go. We’re watching “Die Hard” ‘cause it’s a Christmas movie. Nakatomi Plaza. Here I come. Tomorrow, I’ll explain.

13 minutes until midnight. Happy Birthday Jesus soon.

So, why do another 365? In case you didn’t know. From Thanksgiving 2010 to Thanksgiving 2011, I posted three videos every day, an original song, a cover song, and an “Archive” filmed at one of the shows I host. To my knowledge, it is the largest 365 project in the history of the internet. It was executed and like the Creation of man, it was “good.”

When I did that project, my goal was merely to find out what would happen. If I could do it, what I might learn, stuff like that. I posted about 1100 videos and learned a lot, including that I could indeed do it. Now, I have different goals, three of them, essentially.

Goal One is growth. Always a nice goal. I wrote 211 songs for the first 365. I have written approximately 150 in the five years since. So even if I play every single one of those, (which I won’t) I will still have to write about another 211, so that will be fun. I played a ton of guitar every day on the last one, so my playing improved. You never know what will happen any day, much less through 365 days of shared creating, so experiencing growth is one reason to do it again. This also leads to Goal Two , which is productivity.

Goal Three is Connection. Connection with you. During the first 365, I enjoyed the back and forth I had with those who interacted with my videos. Comments of those who appreciated my contributions were regular day enhancers. So I look forward to seeing who I connect with this time. It is a ton of work so maybe I will scare up a sponsor or two. Think there’s anyone who wants to sign on with who has completed the largest 365 project in the history of the internet and now is coming back for more? GoPro? GigTown, maybe? Let us see what happens. Isn’t that what life is most about?

December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas. Hans and Karl are currently shooting the glass. So let’s catch up a sec. What’s changed since Thanksgiving 2011? Well, I’m married now. Leanne, who starred as my girlfriend in the first 365, has been promoted to my wife and the drummer in The Jefferson Jay Band. The Band is doing quite well lately. I am thrilled to be playing with them on New Year’s Eve at Ocean Beach’s fine club, Mother’s Saloon. The Band currently features a handful of my dearest friends and for this, I am humble and grateful.

Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 1 "Headstrong" by Jefferson Jay

My life partner/pooch Angel passed away in August after 15 and a half amazing years by my side. Our love will never die and while I miss her daily (this will be my first Christmas without her since 1999) we are reuniting spiritually at all times I am honored to have been so close with such an enlightened being.

Angel literally had a strong head. And an equally strong will. She was charming. I recorded this song for her on May 23, 2014. I will be using some older videos I’ve accumulated here and there, since the last 365, but not too much.

I have been hosting Open Mic at Winston’s a legendary nightclub near my home, for nearly four years now. I love that job. I work with Special Needs adults on music now and I enjoy that job as well. Maybe I can share some of those sides of me here somehow eventually. I’ve also become a contributor The Mighty 1090’s Scott and BR Show, a great sports radio show in SD. I sing funny songs about our two local maladies, the Padres and the Chargers.

In 1941, Ted Williams chose to play both games of a doubleheader on the last day of the baseball season. He could have sat it out and made sure he finished the season with a batting average of .400. He believed in himself and he played both games. He got 6 hits in 8 at bats and finished the season at .406. Nobody has hit .400 since. I may not make it through a second 365. It’s huge undertaking, specifically, and I quote from the final blog of the first 365 here.

“I assume I spent an average of an hour a half a day readying the 365. It could easily have been more. There’s no way of knowing. Some days it was much more. Some days it was less. An hour and a half a day times 365 days equals 547.5 hours. 547.5 divided by 24 = 23 days. That’s right. I worked the equivalent of twenty-three days straight with no breaks on the 365. If I worked one hour and forty-five minutes a day, which is entirely possible, then the figure jumps to 27 days. That’s practically a whole February. Happy Operation 365uary.”

So wish me luck, even though I don’t believe in luck. I believe we are all one and everything happens for a reason.

The New Rules.

1. A video of an Original Song posted on the internet every day. Just like the first time. Repeats are not allowed. 365 new songs.
2. A video of a Cover Song (a song by someone other than me) posted on the internet every day. Again, just like the first time. Repeats are not allowed. 365 different cover songs.
3. Jefferson Jay’s Words of the Day. This will evolve over time, but I imagine it will be almost like a short show, every day. Some will be real short. I am looking to connect and communicate with the outside world. Hopefully this will help start some discussions that needed starting long ago. May it also provide amusement, entertainment, absurdity and whatever else needs providing.

I have had some ideas for segments in this 3^rd chunk such as The Daily Chuckle, Words on the World. Maybe I’ll even rhyme the News of the Week. Who knows? I aim to keep this part fluid and fun. 

So call me what you will. Crazy? Excessive? Mr. 365. Did you know I hosted 24 Hours of Free Music four times? Mr. All Day Every Day? Now, perhaps that goes too far.  I jest.

Oh, one last thing. Or two. I blog it too. It’s like this when I do. I wish to provide a context for all this videoing. Yes, two. I am working on my 7^th CD. It is tentatively titles, “The Best of Operation 365.” Out of the 211 tunes I wrote for that one, I picked the 12 “best” and am working on recording them. So if all goes well, we’ll be talking a lot about the Operation 365 for a long time. Well, that is if you consider a year a long time. Onward and upward, Excelsior.

Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 1 "Winter Wonderland" by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith

How did I not do this one last time? I have a feeling I may be asking myself that a lot. Looking forward and looking back are the same thing. They’re both looking. Learning time…To the Google. Wikipedia thinks “"Winter Wonderland" is a winter song, popularly treated as a Christmastime pop standard, written in 1934 by Felix Bernard (music) and Richard B. Smith (lyricist). Through the decades it has been recorded by over 200 different artists.” Thanks Peed. I likes me knowing stuff.

Operation 365 2 2016 - Jefferson Jay - Words - 1 “Merry Christmas”

In case you don’t have time to read or listen to songs, I’m coming live and direct into your brainstem with verbiage straight from ye ole horses’ mouth. I love you. We are all one. Merry Christmas.