This last weekend (June 12th and 13th) I had the pleasure of helping out my friend/neighbor/producer/engineer, Craig, who was finally getting back to playing live events. He had done a couple of small gigs lately, outdoor socially distant kind of gigs, but these were more on the normal, or what used to be called normal, side of things. One was at a restaurant with an outdoor stage in Novato, and the other one was on a floating barge, private club in Sausalito. One of the best things about both of these gigs was the fact that almost everyone, with the exception of the staff, had ditched their masks. It made my heart smile when Craig and I walked into the Novato place and the owner wasn’t wearing his mask. The first band had already started their set, and they had a really good crowd, with NO ONE wearing a face covering. It was like going back in time, people drinking, laughing and dancing, thoroughly enjoying themselves. The first band was named Firewheel, and they put on a great show. They played straight through their break, combining 2 sets into one, and were obviously having a great time.
Craig had asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in being his guitar tech/roadie, for a couple of shows, and of course I said hell yeah! So, naturally, I had been looking forward to this for a while. I got to meet the rest of his band, a really great group of guys, Roscoe, who is around 70 but doesn’t look like it, on keyboards and the 2 Brians, on bass and drums. Not only are these guys really cool dudes, they are top notch musicians, so I was in heaven. Being the guitar roadie, I got a backstage view of the performances, which was kind of like going to school. The Craig Caffall Band is a tight knit outfit that knows their stuff. Because of the pandemic they don’t rehearse! Craig will send them computer files of the tunes he wants to play, with some directions on how he wants to handle the arrangements, and the rest of the guys pull it off with no problem. The sets were a mix of classic cover tunes like “Taxman” and “Start Me Up”, along with a selection of songs from Craig’s latest C.D. “Chasing The Moon To Reno”. They played straight through as well, playing for 2 hours. The people loved it. You could tell that there was a lot of pent up desire for live music. Everyone was being super cool to each other, and even though the wait staff was busy as hell, they were enjoying it all as much as the crowd.
The next gig was more of a low key kind of affair at a private club in Sausalito. They were supposed to play outside, but because of some high winds, the manager told them they could go inside. Once again, no masks! They played 3 hours, 2 sets, before a crowd of mostly older, or at least as old as me, ladies and gentlemen, who had no problem cutting a rug, digging the blues and the classics they were listening to.. All in all, it was a great time, Craig offered to pay me for my help, but I had to refuse. Yes, it was the first work I’ve had in a year and a half, but I had so much fun that it was well worth it, and if I can help, even in this small way, local musicians try to get back to playing live music and making money, then it was my absolute pleasure to do that.
So, California rescinded most of the Wu-flu restrictions on the 15th. I went out shopping on that Tuesday and as I was about to enter the store, I started, out of habit, to put my mask on. Then, I read a sign that said something like “if you are unvaccinated, we would greatly appreciate it if you continued to wear your mask.” I chuckled to myself and put my mask in my pocket. I understand that the stores are complying with the new rules being set down by Governor Hairdo, but really if you think about it, it’s ludicrous. Hippa laws prevent anyone from being able to ask if you have taken the jab, so it’s totally based on the honor system. Now, I like to think of myself as an honorable person, but there is no way I’m going to wear one of these useless masks unless I absolutely have too. I would bet that probably 90% or more of the people who were still wearing their coverings, have either had the jab, or the Wu-flu. One lady I overheard in Safeway, was talking to an elderly gentleman, both wearing their signs of obedience (masks). She said that she had had the jab, but that it was “just the right thing to do” to continue wearing it. The elderly fellow agreed, even though he said he had also been fully vaccinated. My jaw dropped, and I had to turn my head away, because I didn’t want to offend them. But really, when did logical thinking become obsolete? If the jab is safe (something I have issues with, call it what you will, it IS an experimental drug) and effective, then if you have been vaccinated, there is no need to mask up, other than virtue signaling, or in the case of a lot of people on the left, to show that they are not a Republican or conservative. That is all it is. Governor Hairdo said they have administered 40 million doses in California, interesting with a population of 39 million. Ok, I’ll l give him the benefit of the doubt and concede he’s probably talking about 2 doses per person, otherwise it obviously just doesn’t add up. So, half the population has had the jab, another 3.8 million have officially had the virus. 2.4 million are minors, so they have a 99.97 % chance of recovery from the bug, another 11 million are between 20 and 30 years old and their recovery rate is about the same. Taking all of that into account, then the probability of dying from or even getting the Wu-flu is virtually nil, you probably have a better chance of winning the lottery, or getting struck by lightning. So, if you have either been vaccinated or have had the bug, why wear a useless mask. You also have to realize there is no mask currently being used that will stop something as small as a virus. So, other than virtue signaling, there is absolutely NO scientific reason to wear it.
What really drives me crazy however, is the parents that are forcing their kids to wear the mask! EVERY study and statistic shows that people under 25 have virtually no chance of dying from the Wu-flu, With all the lockdown foolishness that has been perpetrated on them, they are probably more likely to die from suicide, drug overdose, or car accident than Covid. Yet, I see teenagers all over town, walking in the bright sunshine of a summer day, with a mask on! The parents have to be the ones to blame! The worst are those parents who are forcing their very young kids to wear a mask when they are outside. I was out walking my dogs, and passed by a number of youngsters, kids, with their parents, masked up on a blistering hot day! There is NO evidence of outdoor virus transmission! Too me it’s no less than child abuse! I felt like calling C.P.S.! The psychological issues that children and teenagers have had to endure this past year, let alone the physical health issues, should be more than enough reason to stop this insanity. I read in the story about the new Covid mask regulations that said kids K-12 will still have to wear them in school, it’s totally insane! I wrote a blog a while ago that asked, "why do we hate our children", and the question still remains. Why are we forcing children and young adults to get vaccinated with an experimental drug when the survival rate is so high? Not only that, recent studies from Israel and Germany show an alarming number of young males who received the vaccine are developing myocarditis, which can weaken the heart, leading to heart failure, abnormal heartbeat and even sudden death. The government’s own VAERS system, which shows abnormal reactions to vaccines, is reporting that over 2 thousand people have died from the jab. That is more that than the last 10 years combined for ALL vaccines. It makes no sense morally or medically to vaccinate young people, IT IS CHILD ABUSE, as bad or worse than what the evil teachers unions have inflicted on them.
I realize that it seems like I’m on 2 different tangents with this, so I’ll try and tie this together. In my trips to the stores in the last couple of days, I would have to say that 95% or more of the people were still wearing their masks. I’m sure most of them are doing so out of habit. Speaking for myself, as soon as I saw that I wasn’t required to wear it, I stuffed it in my pocket, I figured if someone asked me about it, I would say that I “identify” as being vaccinated. My hope is that, like the shows I went to this weekend, that when people see that they don’t have to wear them anymore, then they will ditch them. I firmly believe, and have from the beginning of this, that masks are useless, they are only a sign of obedience to the state. Hopefully we can get back, or maybe a better way to say it, would be to move forward, to a place where the only people who wear them, are either doctors performing surgeries, or criminals, (maybe some of our politicians should still wear them in that case,). I didn’t like the way I was “mask shamed” by people when I refused to wear one outside in the sun, (which kills the virus by the way), and I certainly don’t want to reciprocate against mask wearers, who, despite all logic and scientific reasoning, will probably still continue to do so. My hope is that they will see the error of their ways and take THE DAMNED THINGS OFF! Then, maybe, we can get back to enjoying things like live music, theaters, sporting events, church and social gatherings without this added layer of divisiveness that’s been foisted upon us by manipulating liars. (which by the way is the title of a song on my demo, which you can listen to on Mixposure or ReverbNation, I had to put that in there.) Anyway that’s my 2 cents.
As always PEACE AND LOVE and ROCK ON Y’ALL!