WhatClub Show.

So… I just got back here from playing a set at the WhatClub in LA… Thanks to all who came out! And to the few that dogged out on me last minute, you owe me now… It was a good set. Lots of J.Lynn graffiti shirts in the crowd… You gotta love that… Your own somber face staring back at you in black and white… Weird…

Brian from Fine White China is crashing with me tonight. What a professional couch surfer… If you haven’t checked them out yet, be sure to hit up their website. It’s in the Links section… They start tracking in a couple weeks with Bob Marlette producing. It’s sure to sound sick… Anyway, be well… I’m shot.

Love and post-show exhaustion,
=j.lynn

STRIKE!

-Here in southern California, everyone is on strike. Well, maybe not everyone… But definitely a couple of vital segments of society here in LA. Grocery workers are picketing the supermarkets, MTA bus drivers are refusing to work, and so are the mechanics… It’s all about the same issue, too—Health Care!

-Basically, in an effort to cut costs and all that, employers are scaling back their health benefits packages, and asking many of their skilled union labor to pay for most of their medical coverage on their own. I’m sure this is a startling change for the workers individually and their collective unions.

-To be honest, I’m getting a kick out of all of it… I think strikes are a great way to bring attention to the reality of the common worker. When suddenly you find yourself faced with an angry picket line on your way to buy some more double-quilted toilet paper, it tends to snap you awake. You NEED toilet paper. They NEED to see a dentist. Some needs are just felt more urgently in day-to-day life, and the striking workers are just helping send reminders that all is not always well.

-The bus strikes are a bit more unfortunate. The people affected most by the lack of mass-transit are the ones who are struggling to get to work in the first place. I work with a guy who spent the night on the floor of the break-room because the MTA was on strike and he couldn’t get a ride to work the next day. He’s pissed off because he doesn’t have health care either, but he’s still included in the fallout of the strike.

-Health care is a necessity. You really find this out when you’re sick as hell, uninsured, and broke off your ass. Nothing makes your situation worse. You’re missing work, which you can’t afford to do if you still want to make rent. You’re miserable with your Texas-sized tonsils, but in order to get better so that you can get BACK to work, you end up spending hundreds of dollars on doctor visits and prescriptions… Take it from a guy with no insurance, the most finicky immune system ever, and no potent labor union to fight for the cause…

-Sometimes you have to disappear in order for people to realize how vital you are in their life. Strike away. I respect your lines.

Love and picket (sign) fences,
=j.lynn