All’s Quiet On The IdiotJam Front

[Dub]

Normally by this time in the year ‘Holers are scrambling to catch the last available room at the Cobblestone. Discussion usually begins in late January or February. This year, nuttin. I’m not surprised at this, there have been a few other things occupying our attention, but figured Idiot Jam should at least be mentioned.

There are a number of questions that should be discussed.

• Is it appropriate to plan IJam this year?
• How many “fly ins” would want to get on a plane three months from now?
• If held, will there be enough players for the Saturday night show or would this be more of a minIJam? No show, just friendly pickin’ and maybe a saloon jam.
• If not held in September, should it be rescheduled a month or two later?
• What about Farmer’s Mercantile Hall? Will Nick want the hall open by September? What is his schedule for other dates?
• Is this whole discussion just too far from anyone’s mind to even talk about?

[billhammond]

Jun 8, 2020 9:57:11 GMT -5 Dub said:

Normally by this time in the year ‘Holers are scrambling to catch the last available room at the Cobblestone. Discussion usually begins in late January or February. This year, nuttin. I’m not surprised at this, there have been a few other things occupying our attention, but figured Idiot Jam should at least be mentioned.

There are a number of questions that should be discussed.

• Is it appropriate to plan IJam this year?
• How many “fly ins” would want to get on a plane three months from now?
• If held, will there be enough players for the Saturday night show or would this be more of a minIJam? No show, just friendly pickin’ and maybe a saloon jam.
• If not held in September, should it be rescheduled a month or two later?
• What about Farmer’s Mercantile Hall? Will Nick want the hall open by September? What is his schedule for other dates?
• Is this whole discussion just too far from anyone’s mind to even talk about?

I've just been having a gut feeling that it won't happen as scheduled this year. And waiting a month or two after that traditional September weekend to gather risks getting into troublesome weather, although early October would probably be safe.

[coachdoc]

Good to plan ahead, but there are too many unknowns and shaky predictive models to make planning that far ahead useful. I wouldn't commit at this time to a flight no matter how much I want to be there...and I want to be there a lot. I wouldn't plan any flight until we have had a vaccine available for months. The innefficent air recycling on a plane almost guarantees inhaling any virus present on the plane.

[paleo]

Looking at the projections for COVID-19 for the next several months, it does not look promising. I certainly wouldn't expect people to commit at this time.
If things improve later I'd be up for a small, "Not the Idiot" jam, some weekend. I've been rolling this thought around in my head for a while now, and have thought that I'd be willing to rent the Mercantile for such a small, private gathering.

[Dub]

Jun 8, 2020 10:13:47 GMT -5 coachdoc said:

Good to plan ahead, but there are too many unknowns and shaky predictive models to make planning that far ahead useful. I wouldn't commit at this time to a flight no matter how much I want to be there...and I want to be there a lot. I wouldn't plan any flight until we have had a vaccine available for months. The innefficent air recycling on a plane almost guarantees inhaling any virus present on the plane.

I get that. Fiddlerina and I would not even consider getting on a plane in September for pretty much any reason.

[Russell Letson]

My strong suspicion is that we'll be seeing Covid flareups for the rest of the year and maybe beyond, and that makes anything more elaborate than a jam that can fit in a driveway or back yard unwise and marginally satifying. (I geezer-jammed yesterday afternoon, outdoors in a mask, probably not quite distanced enough from some others--it was better than sitting alone, but not the way I would like to proceed.)

We're not going to see a vaccine anywhere near soon enough to put together the kind of IJam we've had in the past for this year--and even a decent treatment regimen wouldn't get me to change my risk-assessment profile very much, since I have no desire to test the limits of the symptomatic spectrum. So I guess I'll be seeing everyone next year, if the crick don't rise.

[Marshall]

I have a conflict that weekend already and was a likely no-show. At least for that September weekend. Some other possible conflict in October.

I'm pretty easy myself. No planes. Just hop in the car and drive. So the transportation thing is no biggy for me. But I expect it would be for the far flung.

Also on the health front, I doubt that it would be wise for the likes of Marty, in particular, and others like Don Clark to even consider the possible exposure. Radtke already announced his unlikeliness. And I just announced mine. And we're pretty healthy. So do with it what you will, but it doesn't look like it can happen in any big way like in past years.

[mnhermit]

I'll probably make the trip since I still have 2 storage units of stuff to move and planned a substantial cleanup and haulage this year. But don't want to endanger anyone.

[drlj]

The IN branch of the family is just watching for signs.

[gbacklin]

Virtual over Zoom or similar ?

[Marty]

I still *may not be able to drive by then and I still need help with some things so DaWife would have to come, not that she'd mind that. She would love to see all of you but I don't think it's in the stars this year.

*I can drive now but I don't feel like my reflexes are quick enough to make a responsible driver thus making me a danger to myself and others.

[Village Idiot]

I'm glad this got brought up. Nick and I have discussed this, concluding with both of us shrugging our shoulders and saying "who knows". We have had these thoughts, however:

• We're not the only entity involved in this. There are also the library ladies and the popcorn guy. Would they even be allowed to serve food? That's just one question.
  
• There is also the audience. Would they want to come? Sure, several would, but how many people would be allowed in the building? Six feet apart, masks required?
• I personally would discourage anyone from getting on a plane.

That's just the beginning of the discussion we've had around here.  One thing I do know, from living around here, that people are really missing the monthly concerts at the Merc.  Nick is taking things one month at a time, I suspect whatever is going on in July will be cancelled as well. 

On the other hand, people are looking for some reprieve.  People miss each other, in some ways even moreso in rural areas.  The monthly concerts have really become a big social event.  There might be a creative way of doing something, and if people are allowed to safely gather by then I wouldn't be opposed to anything. 

One thing that crossed my mind is that I do believe the Cobblestone would be safe.  Everyone would be spread out, although who knows what would happen at the after-concert party in the lounge. 

Our local contingent rivals the Minnesota Mafia in terms of numbers.  There are quite a few of us.  Perhaps something could be done along those lines, along with anyone else who would be willing to travel by car. 

I've been thinking of ways to come to some sort of creative conclusion, but I don't want to post any of those yet unless I hear any other ideas.  Thoughts, anyone? 

[coachdoc]

An open mic over Zoom might make a best possible tho' not very good sustitute. I've done one here and some folks that were not in need of social distancing from other group members (marrieds playing together, guys that were practicing together through the whole thing) sumitted group music. It was very nice.

[Tamarack]

I would be happy to make the annual drive to Iowa, but not sure I will be ready to be in interior spaces with other human beings not in my immediate family.

Multiple Zoom meetings over the course of a weekend would be a good option - one as a virtual open mike, one for shooting the bull and demonstrating licks, one for telling banjo jokes, one for telling trombone jokes, etc.

[dradtke]

Jun 8, 2020 23:03:57 GMT -5 Tamarack said:

I would be happy to make the annual drive to Iowa, but not sure I will be ready to be in interior spaces with other human beings not in my immediate family.

Multiple Zoom meetings over the course of a weekend would be a good option - one as a virtual open mike, one for shooting the bull and demonstrating licks, one for telling banjo jokes, one for telling trombone jokes, etc.

That sounded good up until you got to the part about trombone jokes.

[coachdoc]

So who is going to host the Zoom meetings. My wife is very conversant in Zoom and has a more than 2 user license, I believe.

[Dub]

Zoom is good for face-to-face banter but not really good for music. I think there are other platforms that do a better job with music. Let me see what I can turn up.

[Village Idiot]

I've been involved with a few attempts, and none of them work in terms of being able to play with more than one person online. Even a millisecond delay throws things off. I've also tried setting up my own zoom meeting, then hitting record, then playing a song. When you click on done recording, Zoom sends you a link of what you recorded. That doesn't seem to work either. Zoom and other things might be good for people talking, but any guitar music is rather jumpy, even in G.

I assume this would be the same for any meeting platform, unless someone has several thousand dollars to pump into the problem. I appreciate Coachdoc's willingness to invest in this.

In case I misunderstood him, there is a different way of going about things. It would require, at meeting time, people having two devices open. Record yourself an upload it to YouTube. That way we have a live-time zoom meeting where we can talk, but listen to the line-up on a different device. For example, one could listen to the music on one device while maintaining the zoom meeting at the same time. The recording would be done, and we could watch that and be on Zoom at the same time. Am I making any sense?

[Rob Hanesworth]

My opinion is to not invest a lot of effort in trying to create a virtual Idiot Jam that can't begin to equal the in-person experience we all love so much. As much as it disappoints me, I think 2020 is destined to be the year without an Idiot Jam.

[Dub]

Jun 9, 2020 12:50:02 GMT -5 Village Idiot said:

Am I making any sense?

Yes, you’re making sense. But let’s find out what options exist before we start to make decisions.

I’ve been in a Zoom meeting where the host played a YouTube video for us as part of the meeting. What we got was a mostly complete audio stream with a series of jerky stills flashing through as the audio progressed. The actual YouTube vid was professionally done and very smooth. We get 100 Mbps from our ISP and have the latest eero Pro mesh WiFi setup so nothing here is slowing it down. I think the host site, in that meeting, has a far more humble technology platform. Only pointing out that some of this stuff just doesn’t really work for music.

But some does. Pros are using other platforms to get real time streaming with real time audience feedback. I don’t believe there is any platform that will support a live jam from remote locations. The best we can do, I think, is find a platform that provides quality real time streaming of music and treat our virtual gathering as a song circle rather than a jam or a show.