As is my tradition at Pencil Storm I am going to tell you how I voted. Also a tradition at Pencilstorm is my reminder that if you don’t think you can handle hearing an opinion different than your own, and you are going to freak out, just stop reading. 

See, we all get one vote. I get mine. You get yours. I’m not here to tell you how to vote. It’s cool. It’s nothing to me. You do your thing and I’ll do mine. Ain’t that beautiful? It’s called “Democracy” and a bunch of folks died fighting kings and Nazis (German variety, not Illinois) so we could each have our one vote. 

Along those lines, Day Drinking for Democracy returns to Woodlands Tavern Sunday November 3rd. Doors 3pm and the show starts at 4pm. It’s a stacked lineup and all donations at the door benefit Matter News. 

Actual important info: No matter who wins this election, all citizens win with strong, independent local journalism. I beg you to visit matternews.org/donate and consider becoming a subscriber. Editor Andy Downing is a world class journalist doing the work of ten people covering Central Ohio stories that would otherwise have no advocate. And Matter News doesn’t just tackle serious subjects, they cover the local music/arts scene like no other. (Click here to read Andy’s story on Watershed) 

Once again, I don’t make this request very often, so I beg you to visit Matter News right now to get a taste of what Andy is doing.  And share it with your friends. 

While you do that, let’s enjoy a song by the Australian band Quivers who I recently saw open up for the mighty Superchunk at Skully's Music Diner. It was a great show all around. See you in a few.

Before I tell you how I voted, I should mention the final two shows of the Watershed tour are happening November 8th in Raleigh, NC and the 9th in Myrtle Beach, SC. The other shows have been a blast (click here to read more) and we cannot wait to play these new songs a couple more times for our friends & fans. 

Hard to imagine that the election will be finished by the time we climb back into the van. Yeah, I know, since January 6th, elections have gotten really negative/hateful which is sad and stressful for us regular Americans. 

It is important to develop election survival skills. I have been working on mine.  Along with regular exercise and long walks in nature listening to Gillian Welch, these are some other things that have brought me peace with so much negativity being jammed down my throat. 

In addition to Quivers and Gillian Welch, I have been digging the latest record from Jack White. Biggie has often tried to compare Jason Isbell to Eddie Van Halen, obviously, everyone except Biggie finds this patently ridiculous. However, perhaps one could find a correlation between EVH and Jack White. Both are crazy talented musicians who prefer blasting three-minute hard-rock gems over fancy, pretentious type stuff. And as preposterous as this sounds, perhaps Prince is a better comparison? Ok, maybe scratch that… but my point is Jack White has the musical chops to do anything yet he consistently chooses to try and make the best Led Zeppelin album of all time. Let me be clear, this is the opposite of an insult. Jack’s latest record is a masterpiece. It is full-tilt boogie rock n roll. I think it is his best yet, and that is saying something. When you find yourself googling Presidential Polls for the 35th time that day, crank this record up and it will knock the corn cobs out of your ears and the maddening political ads out of your soul. 

Perhaps you enjoy being stressed out but just not by fake Bernie Moreno TV ads.

Then dig into Disclaimer on Apple TV. Whoa. Drama. Heavy stuff. 

And I have started watching Slow Horses too. Honestly, I think I would be too slow for even the lowly Slough House. I read recaps after I watch this show and I STILL don’t really understand what is happening. I would have made a terrible spy. Excellent show though.

But when you are down in the dumps and you need something to pick you up, I chug a glass of cold gin. Actually I don’t.  But I do religiously watch Mr. Show sketches and last week I had the honor of seeing David Cross in person for the very first time.  Pound for pound, David and his comedy partner Bob Odenkirk have made me laugh more than any other people on the planet. It was a treat to finally be in his presence and I laughed a lot. (Achtung: next clip not appropriate for all folks.)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot; of course I’m voting for Kamala. The other guy is a million years old and acts that way. Have we all lost our minds putting a person that old in charge of the country?  Just look at him.