Kelly Morris (@BirdsWerds), the creator of the "More" video, has released a beautiful new video, inspired by "Rise / Come Together." If you would like to support her work (e.g., by helping cover the cost of removing the "Adobe Stock" watermark from this film), please visit https://www.gofundme.com/risecometogether.

Welcome to the 303rd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first* and easiest of December. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Thanks for playing!

*Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a blog comment below. If you have previously won an MJM, but you'd like to submit a guess before the hint, you may do so by PMing me; once the hint has been posted, everyone should answer on the blog. If that's confusing to you, check out the handy decision tree I threw together to help guide you. If you're not sure if you've won before, check in the MJM Results spreadsheet linked below.

Update: We have a winner by PM... will announce tomorrow.

Hint: Congrats once again to @wforwumbo, who is hell bent on breaking the record for the fastest to go from first win to MJM Emeritus status. This week he recognized the extra percussion and extra guitar, was able to quickly identify the 7/3/15 "Playing in the Band" from the Fare Thee Well shows put on in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. Is anyone brave enough to step in front of the Wumbo Train, or will he hit Lucky #7 before NYE? Find out next week when MJM304 gets weird...

Welcome to the 302nd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the last and hardest of November. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the three mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday if the puzzle hasn't yet been solved. Good luck!

Note: Here's a SoundCloud link for any suffering technical issues:

Answer: Congrats to @wforwumbo on his third win in three months – do we have our next MJM Emeritus rising through the ranks? Or will one of our other multi-MJM winners break through first? For this week's puzzle's answer, it's time for a (recent) history lesson, as some may not know:

After what was perceived by some fans as writers' block, and many previous albums being mostly Trey and Tom collaborations with one or two songs sprinkled in from the other bandmates, the band scrapped their old approach and began a collaborative songwriting process in 2013. For inspiration, they began by rooting through Mike's notebooks (in which he writes about each show) for recent jams he felt were particularly cool. They relistened to those jams and the cool sections Mike noted, excised their favorite bits, and reshaped them into songs that debuted on 10/31/13 as Wingsuit – see the 2013 PhishBill here for the band's take on that songwriting process. I chose three of those reshaped jams for this week's MJM:

- the 8/19/12 "Light" had a section that was written into "555" – that particular section was played publicly only once, during the "555" debut on 10/31/13, but left on the cutting room floor for the album and all subsequent versions
- the 9/14/11 Soundcheck had a section that became "Fuego," and other sections that may have been the genesis of "Wombat" and perhaps even "Wingsuit," as @My_Powerful_Mind points out
- the 8/12/10 "Drowned" had a section that became "Waiting All Night"

The theme for this week's MJM is "jams that became songs on Fuego / Wingsuit." Thus concludeth your history lesson. See y'all on Monday for MJM303, where things get easy and less verbose once again.

...get something nice for the Phish fan in your life — perhaps a nice pint of Phish Food? — because apparently they, more than anybody, care enough to save you and your Netflix addiction.

[Fan Keith Eaton, @Midcoaster, is contributing a piece to the blog for the first time. He first became obsessed with music when, in 1979, he sat in a darkened theater and watched Apocalypse Now. Nothing was ever quite the same after that opening sequence.]

After 30 years, I have to honestly ask myself, "Is this devotion?" That word, devotion, sort of goes against everything that I thought was irreverent in me all these years. Sort of. I mean, devotion is a weird thing. Many Americans marry but don't even want to acknowledge devotion, as it sort of conjures demeaning levels of servitude despite horrid conditions. (We opt for divorce rather than weathering the storm more often than not.)

30 years of fandom, though, whoa. But it's never that. It's never a straight line. There was no sense of devotion during my irreverent (or so I thought) late-1980s self. There was this cool band that I saw, Phish, and they were nice dudes. They were dudes with whom I could talk about music when their set was done, slathering on my love praises for the SST and Touch and Go labels, even though I looked every part the slavishly devoted Deadhead. Let me explain.

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Welcome to the 301st edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third and second-hardest of November. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the three mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Good luck!

Note: Sorry for the delay today – everything will be shifted back by about 7 hours this week (hint, end of MJM) to give folks time to track down these... tracks.

Soundcloud link: If you're having trouble hearing all three clips, you can listen here.

Hint:

Answer: Congrats to @Patwich on his first win! While other folks closed in on the answer, @Patwich saw right past the "Harry Hood" red herring and the "opener" hint to identify the 7/1/14 "Harry Hood," 9/27/95 "Harry Hood," and 11/18/09 "46 Days," all of which were played during tour opening shows. Special thanks to MJM Emeritus @WayIFeel, who for the second straight week recommended some killer jams for use on the blog. See you at MJM302!

Twenty-six years ago today, Lee Silverman posted the first Phish.net Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) File. It's evolved over the years - up and out, to an unwieldy 500+ pages of cruft; and slowly back to a more tidy but still in-need-of-attention ~100 questions currently. But when Lee started it, it was just the following twelve (provided here with links to select, current, relevant resources):

1. How do you pronounce Junta?
2. What are they saying in "You Enjoy Myself"?
3. Can you give me some basic background info?
4. How do I post to the Phish-net? Change Subscription?
5. What is The Helping Phriendly Book?
6. Is it a Fat or Furry creature from Mars?
7. What is "Mike's Groove"?
8. How do you pronounce "Guelah Papyrus"?
9. What are the really early albums and what songs are on them?
10. What's Trey's real name?
11. How are Phish related to the Grateful Dead?
12. What is a tape tree and how does it work?

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[Post is courtesy of phish.net user @swittersdc. - Ed.]

The “turning points” in Phish history. What comes to mind? What’s on your list? On this week’s episode of the Helping Friendly Podcast, the crew is joined by the great @waxbanks to discuss these moments throughout the history of the band. As you probably know, Wally (@waxbanks) is the author of two Phish books, one on A Live One and one about Fall 1997. Wally brings a really unique and smart perspective, and this episode is a great example of that. This is Part 1; Part 2 will be up next week. We appreciate you listening, and you can review and subscribe to the Helping Friendly Podcast on iTunes, or listen through the player below. The HF Pod team is me, @mdphunk, @rowjimmy and @brad10s. Thanks for your support!

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JamBase is posting reflections about every fall tour 1997 show, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of one Phish's most celebrated, legendary tours.

Many of the tour's show reflections will be authored by Mockingbird Foundation and Phish.net fans, including those who have recapped shows on this blog (e.g., @Icculus authored the first of the series, about the tour's opener on 11/13/97). If you enjoy the series, please consider donating to The Mockingbird Foundation, whose volunteers operate this site. Thank you.

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Welcome to the 300th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second and second-easiest of November. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of both mystery clips, which are connected by a theme. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Good luck!

Note: I dropped the ball on getting a big event together for #300, but I'll make it up to folks soon, and announce it in advance so folks are ready. Thanks, as always, for playing – I wouldn't keep this up each week if it weren't for folks' enthusiasm. – pete

Answer: And then there were fifteen! For the third time in the past six MJMs, and the seventh time in the past 19 months, @mickeyjoe86 beat everyone to the punch, becoming the latest MJMer to join the Emeritus ranks! In his seven victories, he found a total of 20 clips from late '94 through the Baker's Dozen, hitting all eras and most years in between. It is with great pleasure that I force him into the Phish-themed retirement home, where all audio is lossless SBD, all the roses (and dr006z) are free, and the other 14 Emeriti await his arrival, steeped in their own excrement – welcome @mickeyjoe86! Special thanks to fellow Emeritus @WayIFeel for his help on this week's clips, and we'll see you next week for MJM301...

To all of my fellow Phish fans, and supporters of The Mockingbird Foundation, I am thrilled to announce the first offering of Mockingbird Holiday cards and ornaments found here: http://mbird.org/2017-holiday/.

During this season of giving, there is no better way to show your support for music education for children than customizing your own Holiday cards. These cards are created in conjunction with Picaboo Cards for various causes: https://www.picaboo.com/cards-for-causes/the-mockingbird-foundation/.

You will have a choice of creating a custom collage of your pictures from 2017, utilizing one picture that sums up the year, or simply creating your own design. The back of the card provides an inspirational message from The Mockingbird Foundation that speaks in the one language that truly unites us all: sweet, sweet music.

The ornaments are available at http://www.cafepress.com/themockingbirdfoundation, and there are three to choose from. Each contains a different special message to decorate your home or tree with cheer, love and light through the season. We hope you enjoy them. Designs were created by Annie Nicholson and Elayne Best, featuring the Foundation logo designed by Heather Hanly.

The Mockingbird Foundation greatly appreciates your continued support. As we are run entirely by volunteers – with no office, salaries, or paid staff – administrative costs are very low, so nearly every penny of your donations ultimately supports music education programs for children. So far, the Foundation has distributed over $1.1M to the cause of music education for children – 348 grants in all 50 states, with more on the way. Your support will ensure further grant opportunities while bringing holiday cheer to all. Thank you!

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Welcome to the 299th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first* and easiest of November. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Good luck!

*Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a blog comment below. If you have previously won an MJM, but you'd like to submit a guess before the hint, you may do so by PMing me; once the hint has been posted, everyone should answer on the blog. If that's confusing to you, check out the handy decision tree I threw together to help guide you. If you're not sure if you've won before, check in the MJM Results spreadsheet linked below.

Answer: Congrats to @shelfofpregnanthens on his first MJM win – this time next year, will he be the fourth "Pete" to achieve MJM Emeritus status? This week, @shelfofpregnanthens was able to identify the Tweezer-esque (but definitively '94) 5/16/94 "Stash" without the aid of a hint. Stay tuned next week when we'll either go for something slightly more difficult, or something outrageous if I can put something special together in time for MJM300.

[Post is courtesy of dot net user @swittersdc.]

The new episode of Helping Friendly Podcast features a conversation with the co-hosts of Beyond the Pond, a podcast that takes Phish improv and branches way out into all kinds of music. We talk about our Phish journeys, and lots of musical inspiration. Hope you enjoy. You can subscribe to the Helping Friendly Podcast on iTunes, or listen through the player below. The HF Pod team is me, mdphunk, rowjimmy and brad10s. Thanks for your support!

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[More thoughts from new fan Ashley Ertle.]

They say music speaks to your soul. I never personally experienced it until Phish.

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Welcome to the 298th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday: the fifth of five October editions, and (hopefully) the hardest of the month. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of all five mystery clips – these clips are connected by a theme, which should help to narrow the search, but it needn't be part of the correct answer. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, after which each person gets one more guess before I reveal the correct answer on Wednesday. Good luck!

Hint: George Orwell's last novel PLUS Pearl Jam's first album = ????

Answer: Serious congratulations to @WFORWUMBO, who claimed his second MJM win, and simultaneously bludgeoned the blog, seemingly poised to claim an ever-so-rare victory, by corectly identifying this week's 5 mystery clips: the Tweezer from 11/23/94, David Bowie from 4/24/94, Weekapaug Groove from 10/25/94, the 11/3/94 Split Open And Melt, and Mike's Song from 12/31/94, all connected by the theme: 1994. Incidentally these are all awesome jams, well worth checking out if you're unfamiliar with any. Next week's MJM, the first of the month, will be a pedestrian walk in the park, compared to this week's labyrinth. Please take it easy on my pal, @ucpete, since he'll be the one pitching you the slow, over-the-plate softball, providing the opportunity for many of you to be the first to hit that ball out of the park. Have fun, and thanks Pete.