Carla & I traversed the streets last night in a Lyft ride. Heading over to a radio studio to play, and to talk about our music and our band. Carla had decided we must do something we love to do on the last evening of the last day of 2024. It was quite a nice experience. Strangely, the streets were empty all the way there, a cross-town drive, and all the way back too. It was a little bit of an eerie backdrop to a cool thing. We wondered, “Is everyone laying low?” You know, hunkered down in their living rooms watching the clock tick down? We knew there must be some epic parties and celebrations going down somewhere, but you couldn’t tell out on the streets. We never clicked on a TV, so we didn’t see other people having fun & frolic. We were sure the “ball was dropping,” somewhere, this is the era of “out of bounds,” wealth & excess, the young rich & beautiful must be getting to it, big time, but none of that was in evidence around us. Everyone we talked to was still in a bit of shock about the latest developments in the USA, and where things were heading. Talk of the new year, and of the future, were guarded and low-key. Yes. Hope and optimism seems kind of out of tune, out of touch, and distinctly passe at the moment. I had to reach for my two go-to phrases: Joe Strummer’s line – “The Future is Unwritten,” and Tom Petty’s – “Damn the Torpedoes.” Oh yeah, might as well dig down and resurrect the old coach, Vince Lombardi’s line – “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Ha. Welcome to 2025, wonder WTF is gonna happen now!? – Jammer