Operation 365 2... Blog 2

Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 2 "How the Time Flies" by Jefferson Jay and Blowski My main man Ski (aka Michael Blow) and I wrote this jam at The Blowski Compound just hanging out one night years back. I think it was 2011. I’ll check. I recorded and posted this a few weeks ago in honor the SkiMan’s Birthday. Aloha. I’ve decided since to do 365 2, so I’m a choosing to repost this as part of it. And through the miracle of the 365, I can add birthday wishes here to Kimmy too. Happy celebrating, you two. Time flies indeed. 5 years since the last 365. Two more since the great Don Truesdail last kicked it Christmas Earth-style. My first X-Mas without Angel since 1999. 1999! Zany. Well, it’s a thrill to be part of this whole thing called life. Honored and privileged, big time. Humble and grateful. Hail life and living! Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 2 "These Are the Daves I Know" by Bruce McCullough So, my good man, Dave Sparling passed away during Open Mic on Wednesday, earlier this week. He was a legend in Ocean Beach, the little beach neighborhood in San Diego we call home. He took to the stage to explore “show biz” at Winston’s Comedy Open Mic at age 73. When I started Open Mic (for music) at Winston’s on March 1, 2012, Dave was there. A gnomish-looking fellow. 5 foot 1 about and a long white beard, Dave was thrilled to be a part of the party. We treated him like a part of the Open Mic family. He rhymed the News of the Week and a poem, backed by the heavy metal guitar stylings of Anton Chuk. He was irreverent, unapologetic and revolutionary. Flag-bearer of the extreme left, Dave was always lamenting the roles the “super-rich,” “Cheney/Rummy/Blair,” and Muslim “terror dudes,” had in our modern world. And that’s just the tip (of the iceberg). He was 5 Daves. The Old Hermit Dave was the one who joined us every week at Open Mic (pretty much) for years before he got sick one year ago. He was Guantanamo Dave, a political prisoner in a orange jumpsuit. Sacreligious Dave represented the proud atheist that Dave was. So did Reverend Dave, albeit satirically. The Cowboy Wordsmith wore a hat and sat in with rockabilly bands. I guess that’s it. He became a rapper character named Johnny LoPants for a bit when he took up rapping. And his final genial alter-ego, The OB Gnome, was based as much on his gnome-like look as anything else. Dave was the most appreciative person who ever played Open Mic in mny many years of hosting. He grabbed my arm and thanked my weekly. Sincere, serious, Dave was happy to the only poet to weekly grace our stage and delighted to be appreciated and welcomed unconditionally as one of our own. When the OB comedians who helped orient Dave to show biz, roasted him, I went. I sat in the back and laughed as Dave, a very easy guy to tease, took each dig with grace and class. Eventually, his turn came and the main thing I recall him saying was thanking me by name and all the Open Mic folks for making him have the greatest life 5 guys named Dave could ever ask for. I’m not atheist. I wonder if Dave’s changed his mind yet on that one. I’ll miss him. I felt he’d bounce back from his serious ailments. I feel his presence still. Strongly. More than I have since he was forced to step back from Open Mic a year ago. For months, he’s sent me news poems occasionally that I read in his voice. I feel his gratitude tangibly. But that’s to be expected. I have a long history of being extremely close with dead folks. Oh. “These Are the Daves I Know” is from The Kids in the Hall, a comedy series on HBO that scared me as a child. Many cross-dressers. Gayness, I had no context for. I liked the tine though, and it’s stuck in my head for 30 years. Partly because it’s very catchy and partially because 80s Yankee legend Dave Winfield cameoed in the video, I recall. I’m crushing your head! I liked that skit too. Machaca. I just like to say “machaca.” To me, it sounds like clapping. Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Words - 2 "Dave’s Last Dance" 12-10-2014 I’ll let “The Old Hermit Named Dave” Sparling have the final word today. Here he is, doing his final live poem, “Ask and Yell” and a “Boom-Boom” OB Gnome rap at my Open Mic at Winston’s on December 10, 2014. He rarely missed before he got sick and he never forgot to thank me before he left at the end of the show, after staying to enjoy all the performers. That’s the kind of guy Dave was. I’ve only met one like him. Or maybe five… He is accompanied on guitar by Anton and on rapping by me. Over a Destrcuto Bunny beat I believe, if you can make it ‘til the end of the video. I hope this brings some people some happiness. Dave was brilliant and swell, unusual and unusually likable. Genuine and a straight-shooter. Fun to be around. Enjoy remembering him or perhaps getting to know him a little, posthumously through some pictures I got off his Facebook and this recording done by another friend of ours, Rob Zero. A couple pictures go twice. Warts and all. Dave wouldn’t have minded. That’s the spirit this is offered in. I spent the day celebrating Christmas with my friends. The Snow Angel would be proud. I’ll tell you more about him another time. Oh, and it hailed today. Hail Christmas. Hail Dave.