Not Sure

On May 7 and 8, 2010 Spring Heeled Jack performed two shows at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT. We had some foresight and decided to film the shenanigans of the entire weekend.

I have no idea what will actually become of this footage but I think that Spring Heeled Jack was more than just the 7 of us. There were so many of YOU. You fed us, kept us clean, gave us beds, made us brownies. you meant so much to us. We want to hear from YOU.

So sit in front of that computer, iPad, android, iPhone, hell…go to the apple store and film a 30 second to one minute clip of why you liked/loved/despised/kissed/drank til you blacked out with us and email it to LessThanJR@gmail.com. I can’t wait to see them.

Thanks for reading this and for all the support.

“What have I done wrong and how do I fix it?”

When was the last time you heard that? Do you know what that is called? It’s called ACCOUNTABILITY. Its a word maybe you’ve heard before but perhaps aren’t aware of the meaning. I downloaded the webster’s dictionary app because I actually wasn’t sure either. Here’s what I got:

noun
: the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions (public officials lacking accountability)

Not discounting how ironic it is that webster’s uses public officials as an example of lacking in it, accountability has become a popular word these days. If your job is that of an elected official, it is not only expected, it is demanded. John and Joan Q. Citizen pay their taxes and enough is enough. They want to know who they can blame for the mess.

John and Joan can start by looking at themselves. Accountability starts at home with how they run their house, how they raise their children, how they do or do not pay their bills on time, how they have a job or are on unemployment or welfare, if they are adding to society or taking away from it. Basically, it’s the old question: are you part of the solution or part of the problem?

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably realizing this isn’t my usually blog about music and/or the music industry. To be honest, fuck that shit. The entertainment industry’s losses are just a spec in the eye of the real problem. A problem we are ALL accountable for.

I think it’s easy for people to call other people names for standing up for what they believe in. Protests are nothing new and neither is the concept of government collapsing; the major difference is that now when it happens, within seconds we are all exposed to it and form opinions just as quickly. Blackberrys and iPhones buzz with twitter feeds from CNN, Reuters and other news sources that tell us about the divisions in the house and senate, the response from the president, the global economic decline all in a convenient 140 character or less package. How do a majority of us react? We sit back and go, ’ Fuck those hippies at occupy wall street. I have to go to work tomorrow cause my bills still need to get paid.’

Yeah, you’re right. You do and you are lucky to have a job. But do you ever step back from your problems for a second and look at the big picture? Probably not because when it comes to finances, nobodies debts are more stressful or important than the ones that you owe. Totally understandable and valid. But what if you lost your job tomorrow and found out it was because your boss got a raise? Would you take it at face value, clear out your desk and sulk home? Or would you go into your boss’s office and tell him where he can stick that new jacuzzi he just bought?

Most of us would say out loud they would do the latter but, in reality, sulk sulk sulk all the way home (with a possible extended stop at a local bar to numb up). Now, perhaps your boss isn’t part of the “1%” all those “hippies” are drum-circling about but if handed a pink slip, he surely wouldn’t be a saint to you, either. This isn’t about a pink slip. Its bigger than that. The fundamental foundation of what we based our economy on has collapsed because we’ve gone from being a ‘can do’ to a ‘pay me more NOW or someone else can do’ society. Even if people have a great job they want a more ( see: NBA lockout). I suppose its human nature to want more, but what happened to the “we’re in this together” attitude we had a decade ago after 9/11? You might be asking what can I, one person, do to help? Change really has to start at home. Here are a few simple things each of us can do to help balance out this unbalanced planet:

Register to Vote and the ACTUALLY VOTE. The time it takes to register and vote is roughly 15 minutes and that’s if you go and stand in line and vote. I usually go to my town clerks office and request an absentee ballot. Then I can vote on my own time and pace. You may think your voice doesn’t matter but it does, especially for congress and senate seats. You can’t bitch about the elected officials making poor decisions if you don’t choose to vote. You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.

Buy Local - No chain stores. Buying from local merchants may cost you a few dollars more but the customer care you get is normally far superior to any conglomerate and you are putting your money back into your local economy. It’s impossible to avoid the chain stores totally, but if you can put money back into your local economy it helps create jobs in your community, not in other countries where many of the larger companies tend to hire out to.

Do It Yourself. It seems we are all guilty of buying new when something breaks when many items require only a simple fix. Our impatience as a society is glaringly obvious by the amount of waste we produce. Instead of throwing out and buying new, there are multiple website with free and easy to follow steps on how to fix everything from a fan belt to a leaky faucet. A little extra time and you can save yourself a lot of money.

Do you really need the iPhone 4S? Maybe you do but it’s not really worth having if you have to scrape by. I’ve always felt that if you are going to be stressed from purchasing an item that’s supposed to bring you pleasure, then why buy it? It’s ok not to get the latest piece of technology, jeans or whatever material item you think you need right now if you can’t afford it. Your friends won’t look down on you for it and if they do then FUCK THEM. They aren’t your friends. Living beyond your means these days is probably the dumbest thing you could do. Re evaluate.

Pay your bills on time. Yeah. I know. Sounds so simple but for a lot of people, it isn’t. Part of the reason for all this inflation and bad loans is because people aren’t paying them. It’s not just a few people either. By the looks of things, it’s a lot of people.

Stop calling people names that you disagree with on the economy and start talking to them. Yeah, I’m talking to you. The judgmental one that thinks they know everything and feels that all of this isn’t your problem. Guess what? It is. Cause if the federal reserve collapsed tomorrow all the money you’ve saved wont be worth the cotton it’s printed on. It’s a big problem, globally, and you calling people names isn’t helping come up with a solution. The best way to fix problems is to talk about it. Check the anger at the door along with your preconceived notions and watch how fast things get fixed! Now if only this was so easy, but politics have never been solved by politicking. Compromise wins every time. Look for compromise when possible. It helps.

Politics aside, this isn’t about our style of government or wether or not we should be more socialistic or capitalistic. This is about life and how we get through it. It’s about humans treating other humans with respect instead of spite. It’s about making the world a community and not a big high school cafeteria where different groups talking shit on each other. The time to stop looking for who to point fingers at is now. We’ve all messed up financially and the first person that needs to accountable for me is ME. If we all start acting more responsible, things will start to fix themselves. History proves it. If there’s no time for a revolution there might be sometime time for evolution.

Mankind could sure use a quick boost of it right now.