Unreasonable Demands

1/13/18

This week I took a documentary film making course in Boston. It was an in-depth, hands on, step by step documentary film process that concentrated on everything from sound, story telling, camera work, editing, lighting, computer software and 'Treatment' i.e. pitching a story or concept to potential donors and producers. There were about twelve of us in the class, each with varying degrees of experience and backgrounds. Each of them were open to ideas, easy to communicate with and our instructor Michael Sheridan really knew his stuff. I'm always impressed with a person who is willful enough to travel to places like Afghanistan to film documentary stories and travel to third world countries like Bangledesh to chase down events in realtime. I left feeling empowered to continue on this process. 

'Live at the Midway' is morphing in various ways on how it will be told. I guess that's the normal pace of a documentary. I thought all there was going to be was rock n roll and interviews and some silly skits, but as the (ahem) years have gone by with the preparation of this crazy idea, this town, Jamaica Plain, has turned and become more gentrified and isolating. This film feels as if it's  becoming more about one's own tale of self preservation and survival as the economic hysteria becomes ever more present in the collective consciousness. If this can somehow resonate in the souls and minds of the country, then how is that a bad thing? 

Take, for example, the Hippie Hour. Now, you go to any town, in any State across the entire country and the chances of you finding a Grateful Dead covers band - or at the VERY least a classic rock, jam band, are going to be pretty, um, "high?" So you have a local band that has a paying gig for all the friends and friends of friends that come out to the neighborhood bar, the band gets paid, the pub gets popular and everybody gets together and it's a win win. I defy anyone who would see that as a negative impact on community. 

Still, it's not up to me. There's a lot of hidden variables involved. People have to be willing and ready to talk about shit on record. There's a lot of preparation to do even just for that! It's about meeting people and building relationships. Getting involved in the community on a deeper, more intimate level. I'm not doing myself any favors by going out one night of the week to the bar that I talk to the same people to over and over again about an idea that I'm working on. It's better to be out and about and attending community meetings, getting to know the club owners and getting perspectives. There's much more to this than just music and silliness. There's a story here. There's emotions. Real people doing real things with real struggles. Anyone in America can relate to this story. For this is an American story. One that is much more important to tell than any "leader" who talks openly about "shit holes" when we all know that he is a direct descendant of that hole. 

  1/12/18

I'm filming a Rockumentary. It's a funky, community based project that has national importance and I'm only trying to shine a little light onto this particular subject. The Midway is a local favorite and a Boston legend. This is going to happen because I can literally SEE it happening. Why is there any reason to fear anything? If there is any logic out there, it's that if you listen to your head too much you'll go nowhere because you will have thought yourself into doing nothing. There is no time for that. 

So far, there is only a few characters for this project. Sometimes I think a better title may be "GentriFunkation". I think it's a pretty cool title but it's a personal struggle about one man's fight to keep the bar that everyone loves open and not sell out to the contemporary whores of Mayor Walsh's demolition despots.

There is this little motorcycle gang that rides around JP in the Summer time. They have a few street bikes and they cruise up and down Boylston street. One of the scenes for the film is to get the followers of 'The Crank Tones' to show up in all their Rock-a-billy garb with their hair all slicked black and their ladies all dressed up in their 50's retro fashion and  with their hot rods, scooters and motorcycles. They ride along the Jamaica Way and this motorcycle gang will follow them and drive along with them with a camera man on the back taking the shots of the cars and people and shit as they eventually make their way down Washington Street and eventually show up outside the Midway. One of the shots is from up on the roof looking down as they all pull up outside. They get out of their cars and off the bikes, they all make their way into the bar and the Crank Tones are on the stage and they all start doing their wicked awesome swing dancing. Call me crazy but that is a fucking wicked scene that maybe complicated but what they Hell? I'm not married nor do I have any kids so I am not afraid of putting my life (or anyone els's) at stake. If they show up and do the scene that day, I treat them to a preordered lunch buffet at Doyles and feed them pizza and egg rolls. Why the Hell not?

Rocky at the bar is going to talk to Mike about Guinness and why he likes Lesbians. 

The music will speak for itself and the interviews will be good but the story is about Jay and no one else. It's his bar and his struggle to keep it open in this ridiculous place that will be totally different in less than 5 years. This town is going to be unrecognizable to anyone who grew up here. That's why this film is so important. It's a page in history out of a town coming of age. Some of us live here full time and made it our home. We continue to roll with the punches and people change. Friends come and go. I do not care about the summit. This is not about the glory or notoriety. This is my legitimate territory and it's my mountain to climb. The peak and the glory can go to Hell. I want to make a rock n roll movie about a cool, small town pub that is home to the old JP. I'm into the work because it's the work that keeps you young and vibrant. It's the uncertainty that keeps you real.  

1/11/18

Chances are, if you're reading this it's because you're fed the 'f' up with Facebook. SO much has changed. Politics, relationships, social issues, rents have gone up, health care has gone up, everything has gone up, anxiety has gone up. Who the Hell cares about your shit anymore? Everyone is struggling and it's damn winter time again and I'm feeling pretty torn in my emotions, not that anyone gives a rats ass.

 I've been immersed in this independent film project where I live in Jamaica Plain for a couple of yeas now. The pre-production stage of this has been extensive because the concept came to me when I didn't have a job and busted my butt for a start up that was filled with beer soaked - dead beat, washed up geniuses that couldn't keep their ego from flying off the scales and unbeknownst to me, they were total and complete advocates of FAKE NEWS, pumping that shit out like candy bars on the Facebook conveyor belt. They still won't admit that men like them elected THAT thing who is sending our brave sons and daughters to fight against the cowardly heathens of the unrighteous whether they be foreign or domestic. I blame myself for holding on even when our office space became vacant and our weekly meetings were held in some bar out on the outskirts of wasteland 128. That film is starting to take shape. It is working out now .

Women are taking over and I think that’s AWESOME! Men take a whole lot for granted while taking their own sweet time to come around from their bruises and are shy of Love, especially if those men have been burned by what they thought was love before. We enjoy the comfort and stability of women to help us out and support us and in turn, we are there for them as companions and all the while trying to work out how and where to fit everything in. 

Yeah, I know, I have TWO Facebook accounts, one for those of you that think what I post is actually TRUE and the other is where I can get away with political slander and put you down through a virtual, digital, disguise and not give a cheese laden toenail about what you say or why. Chances are, I unfriended you a while ago because your bullshit stank so bad that I saw you as a smelly gym sock on my try-to-be-pristine mud-porch. 

Somehow, I still struggle to belch out in my chosen path that we're only here for a short amount of time. If you can't enjoy yourself in this journey that could end tomorrow than you may as well sign off now. Embrace the fact that you are going to die one day. Namaste mo-fos!

This has been my album for the Holidays.

This is to show you that I'm still in the game.

The 2015 JP Music Festival was fantastic. Everything seemed to flow perfectly. It was a little dodgy with some low pressure hanging around the North East for the few days leading up to the show on Sept 12, but Saturday afternoon was sunny and warm, peaceful and LOUD! Then on Sunday, the rain came back again! Perfect timing. 

The community of JP is what helped bring this all together so flawlessly. If it were not for the Galway House sponsoring, JP Licks contributing and Tres Gatos for volunteering, nobody knows how this could have gone. My personal highlights were of the Alexei Tsarnov Trio, The Beauty Way and Junko Ogawa. I have some of their individual sets on my YouTube channel. It was so fantastic putting their songs together for the videos and if they don't like them or want me to take them off, please let me know and I'll do what they ask. 

This is something that HAS TO BE DONE! The time is now for a Rockumentary about The Midway Cafe in JP. Ransom Note Productions is proud to be filming this for release in the Spring of 2017. This is an effort to bring to the minds and consciousness of the community and the Country that simply demo-ing old neighborhoods to bring in Condos and ruining our local culture is not a healthy, long term solution. In fact it does the opposite. Too many houses and condos creates, ironically, isolation. Everybody watches each other! Not watch out FOR each other. When you have a place like the Midway Cafe in your community, it promotes creativity. A venue like that promotes culture and experimentation, entertainment! How could a town or community give that up? 

Very easily without your support. 

This has been a fantastic journey so far. RNP is proud to continue this road and to help discover what is truly unique about JP and the music of the might Midway.

See you around the town.

Many of us out there don't know the drill. So here it is. Usually there are about 100 bands that APPLY for the JP Music Festival. About 20 get in. The criteria is simple: One member of the band has to either live or work in JP, no headliners, (though I guess being a guest on Late Night Television somehow disqualifies you for being a headliner) and your band has to play originals, predominantly. 

All genres of music can be heard at the JP Music Festival. Ethnic variety, Punk, Ska, Blues, Church Choirs and dancers. That is what JP is all about and is trying to promote. There's a lot of music in the hood and there are plenty of bands that don't get to see the inside of a bar or pub because they're too young. That doesn't mean they're not any good. It only means that communities NEED events like this so that these talented, young artists can be heard! On September 12, you could hear everything from the Swampy Blues of Georgia to the back streets of Havana, Cuba. JP Music Festival has it all waiting for you to enjoy. 

In part 6 of our coverage of the JP Music Festival, we should bring to your attention that it's not easy putting on a non profit music festival. Anywhere. Big surprise! The JPMF costs about $30,000 to put on. That money has to be raised in Jamaica Plain by a small group of people. David Mueller, the treasurer and Justin McCarthy are nothing short of genius when it comes to putting out the word for fund raisers for the Jamaica Plain Music Festival, held this September 12, 2015. They come up with awful and hilarious ideas. 'Smell the Love' (The Anti Valentines Day fund raiser), Before the Gold Rush, a Neil Young Tribute show and tributes to Levon Helm have all been home runs for the JPMF. Some of the more lampooned events that they'd like to forget was the Meat Raffle where the grand prize was a big block of Tofu!, Bad Movies by local film makers (stand up Billy Squire!) and a Chili cook-off. 

Getting these things together is all part of the game when it comes to putting on the Jamaica Plain Music Festival. If you're going to have that much of a headache getting dozens of permits from City Hall and dealing with Parks, Cops and Fire Departments, Ambulances and an estimated 4,000 people descending on Jamaica Pond, you better have a blast getting the word out and raising awareness. Something that David Mueller (Treasurer) and Justin McCarthy (Design) know a tremendous amount of.

In Part 5 of our coverage of the JP Music Festival, Rick Berlin and Shamus Moynihan talk about the 'unsung heroes' of the JP Music Festival. The collaborative and outstanding effort put forth by the crew of the JPMF; David Mueller as Treasurer, Charles McEnerney handling Marketing, Margie Nicoll as the Artist and Justin McCarthy doing the design, all of these professional and down to Earth individuals contribute to this hugely anticipated community event. Saturday September 12, 20015 will be the 5th year anniversary of the Jamaica Plain Music Festival and it couldn't have happened without these people AND the people of Jamaica Plain. Businesses and friends, musicians, artists and townies MAKE this come together and help celebrate the sheer COOLNESS of JP.

As Rick Berlin put it, "It's not Boston calling, it's what JP answers." The balance of this team is nearly perfect. Everybody has his or her strength whether it's dealing with City Hall (never easy), the bands (never, NEVER, easy), Public Works or Police, all the bases must be covered for a NOT FOR PROFIT like this to go down smoothly. It costs over $30,000 to put on this festival and ALL of it has to be raised in Jamaica Plain and finally, after 5 YEARS, the JPMF is able to pay its musicians.

Contribute to the Arts. It's what makes your community a better place.

March 2015 at The Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain held a very unique event. The Bar Wars is held as a fund raiser for the JP Music Festival this Friday September 12 and served as THE catalyst for kicking down the door and celebrate the survival of getting through another hellacious winter. 

Two years ago, Rick Berlin was not exactly greeted with warm applause for this idea, but during a meeting with the members of the JPMF at The Galway House, the final push over the cliff came from a chance walk by from a waitress that sealed the deal – and who could have thought that rallying a bunch of musicians AND bar tenders to show up on time? Unheard of – but Berlin pulled it off.

We are looking right into the face of another New England Fall and the Winter will soon be here. It's important to look back on some of these positive and important events that help define this community. Jamaica Plain needs to hold onto this zeal, this grit of integrity and creativity. What Rick Berlin and Shamus Moynihan are doing is exactly that. 

See you at the show.

In what has to be some of the most dramatic stories of putting on a live concert event in Jamaica Plain, Rick Berlin and Shamus Moynihan tell all about how the JPMF came to be. It wasn't a walk int he park (no pun intended) when you're transporting a $20,000 generator down the J-Way, dealing with State Troopers and slamming in a 7 foot metal tube for grounding with a sledge hammer so nobody gets electrocuted! Putting up an event like this, you're bound to hit a few bumps in the road, literally! Some bumps are so huge that that very generator could fall off the truck and go sliding along the J-Way with sparks flying out in every direction at 11pm at night! 

I wish these guys got more recognition for what they do. They should be exclusively interviewed by the Boston Globe!