Tears Of January 2026

Music, Politics, Earth This Month

Jan 31, 2026

World’s Gone Wrong….has been on repeat since it was released 8 days ago. Yes, it’s a great record and a sentiment we can all connect to. Check out Lucinda’s listening party and hang with her and her art that brings us together to console and help us raise our voices in these troubling days. Commune with Lu and her band below. We all need these songs.

Continuing to try to slow down. It’s not always easy for someone like me. Inputs, movement, news, media, songs, conversations, photos, rambling…

Substack…it’s more like social media everyday….mmmm

Choices. As I wrote about last year, 15 years on social media has sort of crumpled my brain. I want to be here, not looking for short, sharp dopamine hits that feel like a slot machine. If I press that button, I will get more short films confirming my bias. More humour. More music. More, more, more, that’s not amore!

That deluge of information, that firehose pouring into my consciousness, has dulled some of those synapses. Numbness is not quite accurate, but it is close. We can all say we want to connect more and be here now, but we need to make that decision and flick that switch off. I have flicked that switch off more often now in order to be present. It’s not always easy to be present when you are surrounded by bright lights in human hands. Am I missing something? Time will tell. I might fall behind in my knowledge of AI slop. (God forbid that happens….!)

You know all the political grief vomiting out of America. The web of violence, lies, and corruption weaves from Washington, D.C. to Washington State. The Orange Biden Blamer continues to speak on TV with his drug-addled, meth/cocaine fuelled moments of wakefulness, matched with his what he denies is public sleeping.

This is like Grand Dad saying he does not snore.

Greenland, or is it Iceland? Venezuela. Davos Speech. ICE is killing American Citizens protesting. Rattling sabres with Iran. Detaining children and disabled people in America. Dancing to bloody YMCA! And arresting journalists.

And so much more violence and racism coming out of Stephen Miller’s White House. And withholding the Epstein Files until they were Trump-less and now they are released today, 30th of January, not too many moments ago…and we await the fallout of what will be a redacted mess.

Here is the QOBUZ playlist link….switch to QOBUZ….it sounds better and real easy to mover from Spotify!
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/55023622

Yes, deja vu all over again….

Justice will be served one day. The truth will come out and the magazine cover below will hopefully become a reality. I am hoping there will be many more on that cover. Noeme. Homan. Patel. Etc. They are all evil and liars. You know that, don’t you?

And speaking of bribery, did you see the Melania fil m? Based on this chart, no one is seeing Bezos ‘gift’ to Melania.

Slow, mindful living is ‘trending’ as we head into the 2nd Quarter of the 21st Century. We are all saturated. I am so over-saturated that I am dripping data. Trying to keep in mind what is most important in the moment. Snuggling up with that moment and experiencing it. Trying to avoid distraction when you are a pedant with definitive attention issues is not all that easy. I was waiting for the internet as a teen in the 70’s. Reading 3 newspapers a day, magazines, books, I loved information.

I got more than I wished for.

Remember when the internet was not shit and it was exciting. Now it just enriches advertisers….click…click….click….

There are 3 pictures in this piece that tell you NOT to believe your eyes.
For the memory of Alex Pretti and Nicole Renee Good, believe your eyes.

The kid pictured below is Jude from Manchester. He is the youngest GEEZER.

Jude Owens, pictured with his two Guinness World Records

Please enjoy this month’s playlist. Early January found me deep in the Cowboy Junkies, going through most of their catalogue and marvelling at Margo Timmins’ voice. I did not listen to a new album until January 11th, and it was Zach Bryan’s With Heaven On Top. Bryan released 2 versions of the songs, one with production and the other in acoustic mode. I am still giving it a go.

Lu’s album is the best of the year so far. I know it is early days. Jim Keller’s End Of The World and Lettuce’s funky release Cook, are two more new ones I got into this month and I recommend them both.

There was some Blood Sweat and Tears, some Doors and as usual, a bunch of Grateful Dead being listened to. With Bob Weir leaving the planet, the frequency of Dead music increased. For months now, I have been going through Dick’s and Dave’s Picks….Really like Dick’s Picks Volume 12 from 1974 East Coast Tour.

I also got my ears around Quah by Jorma Kaukonen a record everyone should hear. It’s only 52 years old.

Hooteroll (1971) by Jerry Garcia/Howard Wales was worth going back to and ACE (1972) by Bob Weir got a few spins. It’s a solo album, but it’s a Dead record. Check out the playlist to see who else I visited.