Some times we feel like everything we’re after is just “A
Step Away.” This song’s about that. I think. I’m still uncovering what those
song and the 23 others I wrote on a sweet San Diego day several weeks ago are
all about. I had fun playing a bunch of them yesterday with a sunny halo over
my dome. And now it’s Sunday. Sweet Sunday. Only one thing to do. Meet with
Steph G at high noon and make more videos for you. First, these, I’ll power
through. Always fun things to do.
Maybe we’re never a step away. Maybe it just means we’re
close. Maybe we’re already there and we just thing we’re “A Step Away.” That’s
wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Words – 150 “Fly
Elsewhere, Jim”
This video was initially going to be called, “If You Believe
What You Read…” Lots of folks do. Most of them are misinformed. Ha. Then I
realized the true subject of this video is the planes that are constantly
buzzing over my head and cockblocking my videos. Unsolicited cameos, Jims. Disapproval,
planes. Disapproval. It’s Sunday. Quiet time. Shhhhh…
Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Covers – 150 “Making Our Dreams Come True” by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox
I just learned this number’s not called “Laverne and
Shirley.” Nothing flicks my nostalgia trigger more than theme songs of
the TV shows from yesteryear. Just listening to ‘em makes the tears all pile up
behind my eyes for some reason. And it’s not just acute adult onset allergies
like my wife is attempting to allege.
Honestly, It transports my instantly to a simpler time and I
am putty. I can’t resist it. It’s 1979 all over again whenever I hear any of
‘em. “Alive,” my initial intended target for this morning, “Facts of Life,”
“Get Smart,” “Monday Night Football,” Good Times.” There’s a million of ‘em. I
am grateful to have lived when I’ve lived and to still be alive to enjoy. Huge
hail to Penny Marshall who seems like she would be really cool to meet. And to
any one whoever spoke Yiddish, without whom, this song and life itself, would
be different.
Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - BONUS – 150 “Don't Make Fun of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus”
Folks, I was reading the Twittersphere and was yanked into extra innings (much like how The Bat Signal affects Batman), by this unbelievably awful controversy, that some are calling a hate crime, right here in my home field of San Diego.
http://thebiglead.com/2016/05/22/san-diego-padres-gay-choir-at-odds-over-botched-anthem/
The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus was scheduled to sing the National Anthem before last night's Padres-Dodgers game at Petco Park. Sounds simple, right? Not for the Padres. Instead, they played recording played of a woman singing the song. The SDGMC stood there mortified. In the link above, it says that fans in the large Baseball Night in San Diego crowd laughed at and mocked with cruel and painful taunts.
Shame on you, Padres. Let people sing the song, darn it. It's America. That's the whole point. We let you field a bad baseball team. We fund it, in fact. Let people sing the song you asked them to come sing. It's rude not to... Duh. And if you did, it would prevent you from "accidentally" insulting your guests, one of the least elegant faux pas on the planet. Gauche, sirs.
Many years back Roseanne Barr, at her peak of fame, sang an awful version of the National Anthem in San Diego. She was out of key, grabbed herself and spat. I think she was joking. She was not a singer. She's a comedienne. What did they expect? The Padres are an organization that struggles to meaningfully move forward. They struggle to not offend their friends and their fans. It's sad. Despite ownership changes, and changes in the front office, life goes on in last place for the Padres.
The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus needs a huge apology, one at least as long as the statement they provided, reprinted below in full. I was so up in arms over this enormous snafu, I launched myself into immediate action and I accidentally (and repeatedly) referred to the The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus as the The San Diego Gay Men's Choir. For that I apologize. I simply could not contain my fire and my muse.
Padres, this is a matter that could have been easily avoided. Why invite a choir, or anyone to pretend to sing? You do this all the time. It's why you recordings on hand that you play when the The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus are standing in centerfield, so ridiculously handy. Too handy. It's an insult, however it happened. I apologize to the SDGMC on their behalf, as a San Diegan and a baseball fan.
No more lip syncing, Padres, on or off the field. Let's get serious about respect. Let's get serous about singing our country's National Anthem and then, let's get serious about winning at least ONE World Series for San Diego. We deserve it.
Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - BONUS – 150 “Don't Make Fun of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus”
Folks, I was reading the Twittersphere and was yanked into extra innings (much like how The Bat Signal affects Batman), by this unbelievably awful controversy, that some are calling a hate crime, right here in my home field of San Diego.
http://thebiglead.com/2016/05/22/san-diego-padres-gay-choir-at-odds-over-botched-anthem/
The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus was scheduled to sing the National Anthem before last night's Padres-Dodgers game at Petco Park. Sounds simple, right? Not for the Padres. Instead, they played recording played of a woman singing the song. The SDGMC stood there mortified. In the link above, it says that fans in the large Baseball Night in San Diego crowd laughed at and mocked with cruel and painful taunts.
Shame on you, Padres. Let people sing the song, darn it. It's America. That's the whole point. We let you field a bad baseball team. We fund it, in fact. Let people sing the song you asked them to come sing. It's rude not to... Duh. And if you did, it would prevent you from "accidentally" insulting your guests, one of the least elegant faux pas on the planet. Gauche, sirs.
Many years back Roseanne Barr, at her peak of fame, sang an awful version of the National Anthem in San Diego. She was out of key, grabbed herself and spat. I think she was joking. She was not a singer. She's a comedienne. What did they expect? The Padres are an organization that struggles to meaningfully move forward. They struggle to not offend their friends and their fans. It's sad. Despite ownership changes, and changes in the front office, life goes on in last place for the Padres.
The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus needs a huge apology, one at least as long as the statement they provided, reprinted below in full. I was so up in arms over this enormous snafu, I launched myself into immediate action and I accidentally (and repeatedly) referred to the The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus as the The San Diego Gay Men's Choir. For that I apologize. I simply could not contain my fire and my muse.
“You Sing Like a Girl”
San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus Statement on
San Diego Padres National Anthem Incident
San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus Statement on
San Diego Padres National Anthem Incident
SAN DIEGO, May 22, 2016—What should have been a night of joy and celebration at Petco Park last night, instead turned into a nightmare raising serious questions about homophobia within the San Diego Padres organization and its relationship with the LGBT community.
Before the start of the last night’s San Diego Padres game, 100 volunteer singers of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus took to the field to proudly sing the National Anthem. Instead, in front of the large crowd gathered for the LA Dodgers game, the San Diego Padres played the recorded voice of a woman singing the anthem.
No attempt was made to stop the recording and start over. No announcement of apology was made to the singers or their friends and families in the stands. No attempt to correct the situation occurred other than to force the 100 men to stand in the spotlight of center field for the song’s duration and then be escorted off the field to the heckles of baseball fans shouting homophobic taunts including “You sing like a girl.”
This incident followed several days of troubling comments and behavior within the San Diego Padres organization. Three days before the game, San Diego Padres representatives aggressively sought to prevent singers from performing the National Anthem unless they purchased a ticket to the game—even if they did not plan to stay for the game—which was not part of any previous discussion or written or verbal agreement and would have cost the small, community-based non-profit thousands of dollars. The demand eventually was rescinded on Friday following repeated complaints made by SDGMC and San Diego Pride to San Diego Padres management.
With this as background, we call on the San Diego Padres and Major League Baseball to immediately launch a full and transparent investigation into the incident to determine if someone or some people intentionally engaged in anti-gay discrimination or a hate crime by playing a female’s voice to represent a group of gay men with the purpose of denigrating and/or ridiculing gay men. The historic significance of such an act is not lost on the LGBT community—especially in relation to professional sports—and added to the depth of embarrassment experienced by the singers and their families.
We also call upon the City of San Diego City Attorney’s Office and the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission to independently investigate this incident to determine if members of the San Diego Padres organization engaged in activity in violation of the San Diego Human Rights Ordinance or engaged in any deliberate hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
We applaud San Diego Padres President and Chief Executive Office Mike Dee for reaching out to our organization to apologize and to offer to meet with LGBT leaders to discuss the incident. We look forward to this meeting. We believe it is important to work together with the San Diego Padres organization to build bridges within the LGBT community rather than burn them down as happened last night.
However, we are very disappointed with the San Diego Padres dismissively brief two sentence statement at 9:37 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, 2016 which did not appropriately address the gravity of the situation nor pay due to the 100 volunteers who took to the field in celebration and were led off in humiliation.
Padres, this is a matter that could have been easily avoided. Why invite a choir, or anyone to pretend to sing? You do this all the time. It's why you recordings on hand that you play when the The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus are standing in centerfield, so ridiculously handy. Too handy. It's an insult, however it happened. I apologize to the SDGMC on their behalf, as a San Diegan and a baseball fan.
No more lip syncing, Padres, on or off the field. Let's get serious about respect. Let's get serous about singing our country's National Anthem and then, let's get serious about winning at least ONE World Series for San Diego. We deserve it.
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