California Roots Festival @ Monterey Fairgrounds

[Drunk Monk]

6.3 miles for Friday. There was a cannabis borderline patient which was troublesome at first but resolved efficiently. 

Found an after show dancehall, but there always a big truck in the middle of what should’ve been the dancjeall floor. Bad dancehall fengshuk. 

They party is still percolating but I’m done for now. Sleep.

[Drunk Monk]

This is the halfway point. My worry for today is that it’s Saturday - the most populous day and the farthest from work for most patrons. My worry for tomorrow is this is a four dayer. Most of us pace for 3. Plus it has the hardest line-up.

[Drunk Monk]

Missed Turbulence who I wanted to see by a few minutes. 

. I so missed that fat bass.

turns out turbulence cancelled

hello my name is dm and I’m addicted to bass

Something about the halfway point has given me pause, that nagging thought that I’ll have to get back to the real multiverse soon. Must abandon that and be present.

The JNK is assembled reasonably well. Only two strays so far that need to be reeled in soon. Tara has been somewhat distant and somewhat engaged with JM, a fusion of Stacy and my approach. We’re both enjoying ourselves despite the generally mediocre music. We’re eating well and saving the day enough to make our keep, but she feels she isn’t doing enough and doesn’t want to be a mooch. The nooBs are awestruck by dm and several have asked to be my padawans but it doesn’t work that way. 

I’ve been on my qigong and managed the hippie yoga yesterday - hope to do the same today with the yoga. Did qigong in the sub lounge. Balance is way off and my legs are vibrating.

no one is masking but us in medical. 
Haven’t smoked but had some edible.
grateful to be back it’s so incredible

[Greg]

You are Doomed.

[Drunk Monk]

Sun’s out.

So yeah, maybe doomed…

[Drunk Monk]

I smudged Buck’s altar in front of his house and offered some flowers. 

 Haven’t burned a ritual smudge in years. Now I’ve done two in about a month.


The crew took some hits. No one died but 2 jnk had to go home and a responder fell.

It was so quiet - too quiet - festivals can turn on a dime.

[Drunk Monk]

So disappointed in the late night dancehalls. All lame.

[Greg]

Stay safe, Mr. DM.

[Drunk Monk]

Doing our best to do that.

We ejected two Covid positives. One was a patron who was feeling poorly. The other was a close friend on my krew, ravenclaw from team Hogwarts, a quartet comprise of me (slytherin), Tara (Gryffindor) and hufflepuff. The other two came together and both had to leave. Ravenclaw thought it was allergies but it got worse. We’ve been working closely together since Thursday. Laws I hope we can escape that unscathed. The rest of Hogwarts feels fine. All JM will test prior to leaving.

At the same moment that went down, a new responded collapsed in the middle of the main JM area. He’d been partying (he was off) shrooms in the morning, a fifth of Jack, lots of molly. He was acting odd, turned to his friends and said ‘I just shit in my pants’  stood up and face planted taking a table of plates of food with him. His crew caught him. Turns out he didn’t shit, but his name is Cody and his new nickname is Cody Brown (code brown is slang for shitters in medical).

THE FEAR is high with the Covid exposure. Not sure what our plan is today. We planned to head back to the bungalow after the show and can stage to do that. Stacy wants us to quarantine, maybe even go to my moms because she doesn’t want to be exposed. Tara was going to sleep at our place and go to sf tomorrow morning. 

It’s gutted my escapist fantasy for this weekend. I did get away Thursday and Friday but it was sold out and packed Saturday. Not sure about sales today. I had more toys to use - my replica antique Chinese pipe (but I haven’t smoked at all, only edibles) and my light saber. Now all I want is to get home safely.

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I can hear them cleaning to tho let’s so I’ll take advantage of that next.

The 420 call from RMs director was because a reaposmdrr who just returned to JM and was Rm posted a pic in Rm colors (strictly forbidden by both orgs at my enforcement). I missed it. Rm wasn’t really that upset - he wanted to check in with me and we swapped a few stories (he’s at bottlerock). The Rm/JM squad berated the violator and staged humiliating pix on fb.

And our newest vol, tg’s daughter Terra (not to be mistaken for Tara) is fitting in perfectly. She’s a natural jnk. Thanks for hooking that up, tg. She seems to be having a good time.

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It’s already clear. 

Gwan b a scorcha

[Drunk Monk]

Behind the scenes with JahMed, the medical group providing on-site care at Cali Roots.

• Jesse Herwitz
   
  
• May 26, 2022
  

JahMed, the team providing first aid and medical assistance at Cali Roots, originated at another reggae festival and is staffed by volunteers who are also a part of this festival family.
c/o LEE LEER





[b]W[/b][b]HAT YOU MIGHT NOT THINK ABOUT AS YOU HEAD TO THIS YEAR’S CALI ROOTS FESTIVAL IS YOUR SAFETY.[/b] Who will have your back if something goes wrong? If you get dehydrated? If you get an injury or have a migraine? Or worse? The good news is that you will be in great hands. Lots of great hands. With a cadre of volunteer medical professionals who share a similar love of the music and atmosphere of Cali Roots, you will be treated by doctors and nurses who, as JahMed founder David Moss suggests, are “doing what they love to do: helping people.”
JahMed is a Humboldt County-based nonprofit that began in the mid-1990s, after Moss took on the task of handling the medical treatment at the annual Reggae on the River festival. Prior to that, the medical tents and care had been provided by the George Graham nonprofit group Rock Medicine which, in the early 1970s, innovated the idea of “free, non-judgmental care.” Moss, who had been a volunteer for Rock Med, quickly assembled a group of doctors, medical care professionals, and volunteers and went to work.
“At that point we didn’t have a name. We called ourselves ‘Dread Med’ because we had lots of doctors with dreads,” recalls Moss, who has led the nonprofit organization since 1996.
Since then, JahMed – or JMed, as the group later came to be known – has provided on-site medical care at concerts and festivals in Central and Northern California, including this year’s Cali Roots.
“It’s a small family in the realm of festivals, especially in Northern California,” notes Moss, who has worked with producer Dan Sheehan for all the preceding Cali Roots festivals. “JahMed provides top-notch medical care with rapid response. Without an organization like ours, the local hospitals and urgent care sites become inundated. We can treat as many as 300 people over a weekend.”
Some of the more memorable moments in JahMed’s 20-plus-year history include treating women in labor and an instance of people chaining themselves to generators claiming aliens were coming to take them away.
“We’ve seen all types of things,” Moss says.
In addition to the medically loaded tent that serves as their base of operations, JahMed hosts self-care stations that supply band-aids, aspirin, earplugs and sunscreen, as well as more than 100 volunteers including medical doctors, EMTs, and non-medical experts.
“Effectively anyone with a radio (including security guards) can call us in,” Moss adds. The average response time for medical assistance is under two minutes. Each of those with a radio also has direct access to EMS and, if need be, can contact 911.
There’s also a non-medical safety component to what JahMed does – the group has a special team of experts trained to deal with any situations that might turn violent. And they have some qualifications you might not expect – “they are (literal) Kung-Fu experts who specialize in soft takedowns,” says Moss, who stresses safety at large events is critical.
Safety measures also come from behind the scenes. Cali Roots is joining the trend of many large festivals and restricting bags to small and clear. “In light of the shooting that occurred in 2019 at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, and all the other recent shootings at events, we have decided it is now time to take further measures to ensure the safety of everyone participating in Cali Roots,” organizers write in the policy.
Of the 100 JahMed volunteers, a core group of team members, including Lee Leer – Moss’ own doctor in Humboldt County, later business partner and, according to Moss, one of the reasons the nonprofit exists today – will work 24/7 over the three-day festival. This will be JahMed’s first large music festival since the pandemic began. All volunteers are required to be vaccinated and boosted. Their protocols are aligned with CDC recommendations.
As an equal contribution to the treatments JahMed provides concert-goers, Moss also sees what his group does as a unique opportunity for the doctors and nurses who volunteer their time.
“The red tape is intense,” says Moss, referring to medical insurance practices doctors encounter in their day-to-day jobs. “And on some levels, this is the way medicine is supposed to be. When people need help, we help. All our doctors and nurses don’t look at it as work. This is a very cool thing.”

 

George Graham? Srsly?

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Yesterday = 4.5 miles

[cranefly]

THE FEAR is high with the Covid exposure. Not sure what our plan is today. We planned to head back to the bungalow after the show and can stage to do that. Stacy wants us to quarantine, maybe even go to my moms because she doesn’t want to be exposed. Tara was going to sleep at our place and go to sf tomorrow morning. 

Ouch.
Hoping for the best.

[Drunk Monk]

Artikal sound system - husky voices female lead, decent bass, space keys. Good for a song or two the. Falls flat.

It’s beautiful today in Monterey

[Greg]

It was a good day.-- Ice Cube

[Drunk Monk]

Durand Jones - R&B vocalist with serious range. Singing drummer - 5 piece. Quite enjoyable.

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Common Kings - nice reggae bass bounce- danceable but the crowd is too thick

[Drunk Monk]

Anthony B always satisfies
Closest thing to reggae-aerobisize

Chased a rapid succession of canceled calls with the the doc & responders through the thick ass crowd.

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Anthony B always satisfies
Closest thing to reggae-aerobisize

Chased a rapid succession of canceled calls with the the doc & responders through the thick ass crowd. 

Sublime is a nest of but worth a twist (dead leader) smoke two joints lit the bowl with everyone smoked two joints. So much smoke