August 1, 2023

Dearest Querents,

Brightest Blessings from the heart of the Leo Sun - Lughasa to some, Lammas to others.

ABUNDANCE and great yield is the nature of this season, and it’s living up to the hype!!

The last time I wrote it was Summer Solstice, just about a month and half ago, and since then a lot of evolution has transpired, as we are now entering a new phase of the Clark & Kobel epic.

More on that to come, but for the moment, back to the seasonal praise,...

Lughnasa / Lammas is the first harvest of three, with Mabon coming second, and Samhain third. 

In this first harvest we gather to partake of, share in, and make use of that which we have reaped thus far - we revel in the heat of Summer’s lingering heat, and we live for the moment while also taking notice of the shortening days, which night by night shift ever so slightly from lighter to darker, earlier and earlier - BUT,... 

NOT yet,.. 

We still have until September 22nd before we officially enter the Autumn months of the year.

Till then, we sweat, we get that tan, we take on the long, dog-days of Summer with gratitude.

This *vibe* has been prevalent in the realms of Clark & Kobel.

Back at Solstice there was some paperwork needing to be completed, as there always is, and I’m pleased to report that we have secured and completed another contract that had been in the works for a little while, an Art contract to be specific, and now we are moving on to the next one, which also happens to be an art agreement, particularly it pertains to C&K Merchandising!!! Posters, Metal Pins, Embroidered Patches, and more,.. 

In addition to this document, there is a larger project at hand, and that is the copyright filings.

That is going to be a project and a half, and it will involve not only myself, but also Josh’s family, as his executors - it’s not that this is a difficult process, it’s just a process where being meticulous is imperative, and where we want to do it in such a way where it is done most cost efficiently because there are expensive ways to file a large collection of works, and there is a less expensive way of filing a large collection of works. 

We are striving for the less expensive approach.

One of the reasons I talk a lot about the contract process is because it’s a HUGE aspect that truly takes a lot of time and energy and resources, which in turn delays the actual releases, and that is because I/we want everything air-tight before we set it loose on the world, where once out there, it will be engaged with, potentially meddled with, shared, praised, condemned, bought, pirated, and really, just handled by the rough and sometimes fumbling hands of the collective “internet”. 

I also look forward to the work being gently held, carefully regarded, and yes, even cherished by those that would find it to be something dear to their hearts and minds.

In the realm of the film, there has been a BIG development:

I screened “The Fools’ Journey” twice during the Sirius Rising Festival held at Brushwood Folkloric Center in Sherman, New York.

In total of the two screenings, which were held late at night and in competition with other festival happenings, about 12 people saw the entire film from start to finish, and their responses were encouraging to say the least - it gave me a positive outlook for broader showings, as up until now it’s just been Me, some of the team, and a very select group of friends that have seen the film - not even Josh Kobel got to see it before he passed away last year on August 19 (2O22*

It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that I’ve been a protective and mindful parent, so the film being shown is essentially akin to the first time a parent lets their kid go off on a bike ride beyond the boundaries of the street for the first time… we tried to raise it right!! 

Now we wait, watch, and wonder what will happen once the project becomes self-sustaining, at least in the ways it’s allowed “off the block” for now.

There is still much to be done before it is outright released, but we are making the progress needed to provide the piece of mind required to proceed with assured confidence and security.

In conjunction with showing the film, the two weeks I spent on the road attending Starwood, then Sirius Rising were spent handing out actual postcards promoting the film, also a first,

Up until now there had not been any actual print materials to distribute, and now there are about 2OO cards out there in the world with a QR code on them just begging to be scanned *laughs*.

I also handcut the jagged edges of those cards, which took a surprising amount of time but the look made it worth it totally - they came out great, so if you have one, hold onto it for later *wink*

Maybe I should have numbered and input my initials on them,.. 

Hrmmmmm, I'm definitely gonna do that in the next batch,...

It truly a strange sensation for me to be putting things out there that are tangible;  with C&K, we haven't had much of anything like that, we’ve been working up to it, but now there is actually physical proof that something is coming, and it’s been about 1O years since I last produced an original to me project where actual items were manufactured and distributed.

There are times I feel like I will have a ton to catch up with because the last time I was in this position was back in 2O13 when Facebook was firmly established, Instagram was just at it’s dawning, and where the memory of MySpace and Napster still lingered like digital ghosts.

Itunes wasn’t really something as available to the general public seeking to post their music.

There was no Tik-Tok,  there were no IPads, and Obama was President for the first time.

The way I see it, the game hasn’t changed, just the playbook has;  the stakes are the same they have ever been and always will be - get the awareness onto your product, and make that product move and shake it’s way into the hands, minds, and hearts of the people - plain, simple. 

I mentioned it above, but I’ll take another moment to send out a call for love to be sent to the memory and spirit of our beloved, departed co-host, Josh Kobel, who passed away August 19 2O22, last year, while visiting for a week-long work engagement and film final draft screening.

For anyone desiring to go deeper into the Jimmy-Josh friendship vortex, the “Letters For Josh” Blog Series also housed on this site, contains more personal, emotional reflections, and as the title indicates, there is a communication aspect, despite the absence of Josh’s earthly presence.

As far as what the future holds, well,  festival season runs right into October, so most of my activity will be operating within those schedules and whereabouts over the next three months..

I am always working on something, even from various campgrounds throughout North America. 

I hope to see the website grow more interactive, and YES, to have music and video available for downloading, streaming, and for physical purchase - I want to see the art be unchained.

We added quite a bit of content leading up to July and August’s travels, so there is plenty to explore at this current stage - feel free to give it a visit and see the newest additions!!

Come Mabon I hope to be much closer to these goals; it’s hard to work on the content AND be in festival mode, so there is a bit of a hand-off of priorities with each change of the seasons..

Till next time,

JC