Newsom's Texas Gun Law

"In Response to Texas abortion ban, Newsom calls for similar restrictions on assault weapons": https://lat.ms/3yiFIaF

This is how you run for President.

Two can play this game. For decades the Republicans have been defining the game, with the Democrats too afraid to take action, for fear of alienating some centrist defector who is never coming back to the party anyway. Biden wanted kumbaya with the opposing party and all he ended up with was wasted time and anemic poll numbers. Because it's no longer business as usual in the U.S. anymore, it's WAR!

So the Republicans have been playing the long game for decades. Most notably with the Federalist Society. Control the legal system and you control the country. So when a Democrat is in power, few federal judges get cleared. And when Republicans are in power, they jam through a flotilla of right wingers willing to uphold the inanities of the right wing that most of the country is not for. Yes, abortion, guns, health care, the results are in, and the people want abortion and health care, but not guns.

But the people have no power. And the Republicans are doing their best to institutionalize this. No longer will we have majority rule. As a matter of fact, we haven't had majority rule from day one, since less populated states like North Dakota get as many senators as California.

As for California...

For years, and especially since the arrival of Covid, the right has made California its punching bag. You'd think everybody in California is homeless, or worried to leave the house for fear of violence. The statistics say otherwise. As a matter of fact, only 8.4% of the American public moved last year, primarily because THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO!

But just like the right controls the narrative in D.C., it controls the narrative on California, to the point that nincompoop Farhad Manjoo wrote an article in the "New York Times" about moving to Texas when the fact is almost no one is, and there's a plethora of stories of those who did moving back!

Yes, the left has taken the bait. As a matter of fact, Biden is doing quite well. As for leaving Afghanistan, turns out that the Taliban had been infiltrating the government for years, which is why the propped-up army didn't fight back.

Never mind the other laws Biden has actually gotten through, the actions he's taken. It's all right wing b.s. all the time.

But the truth is California is the opposite of Texas, it's completely blue, and unlike in the Lone Star State, the Democrats' power is not challenged. Yes, Texas is gonna go blue, it's just a matter of when, it's those pesky immigrants who are gonna flip the switch, the minorities, and about the only tool the Republicans have in defense of their majority is rigging elections, via gerrymandering and so much more.

But in glorious California...

The truth is most people haven't been anywhere. Back in the sixties you hitchhiked across the country, you wanted to see what Paul Simon was singing about in that classic song. But ever since Reagan movement has been de minimis, because as the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer, and they can't afford to take a trip or move. Which is why our low paying jobs have to be filled by immigrants. Used to be Americans were ski bums, now it's Australians and South Americans on school vacation, because if you've graduated from college you must immediately get on the career train, because otherwise you'll be permanently left behind.

Or, you could try and make it in sports or entertainment, which is akin to playing the lottery, there are a zillion entrants, but almost no winners. But you can dream can't you? Not really anymore.

So, the right keeps making fun of California, holding up Texas and Florida as paragons of healthy life. The rulers of those states ensure that there's no Covid lockdown, no masks, and the people die. As for Florida's low numbers right now, that's because everybody's outside, and in the north they're inside, and it's more complicated than that but it's worthless trying to convince those inured to the bogus information they see on social media.

So all we hear from the Democrats in D.C. is their hands are tied. They're beholden to Manchin and Sinema. As for the exalted Obama... He wanted Merrick Garland to be a Supreme Court justice? The guy is almost worthless to the left, he's essentially a Republican. The left tries to compromise and still loses, whereas the right installs indoctrinated nitwits like Amy Coney Barrett, who says we don't need abortion, the pregnant should just give up their babies for adoption! Meanwhile, the right continues to fight for less of a social safety net, hell, in some southern states the gauntlet you have to run for unemployment is so dizzying that you end up with no money.

And the right thinks it's winning, but today the true blowback began.

Forget the bloviators on TV, they've got no power, whether it be Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow. It's kinda like deleting your Facebook or Amazon account, the companies don't care, the joke is on you, now you can't play or buy with everybody else. Protests are a joke.

But the law...

It's California that cracked down on the working conditions in Amazon warehouses. Everybody else bitches about it, but California does something. As it did with internet privacy. As for all the regulations the red states castigate, a building collapsed in Italy just before I started writing this. You want those codes, you want the government to enforce them. The contractors who built that building in Florida cut corners and there wasn't enough supervision to catch it. As for Boeing... The government let the company do its own oversight, and as a result two planes crashed! To make more money Boeing said no new training was needed to fly a 737 Max. That was a joke, now you do. And the Dreamliner is sidelined because of the ineptitude of the company, but now the government is on the case. But if you died in the crash, of either the building or the airplane, you're SOL. Kinda like that William Hartmann in Michigan, who wouldn't certify the election for Biden. Have you heard? He drank the metaphorical kool-aid, which means he's a right wing nutjob through and through, so he didn't get the jab and you know what just happened? HE DIED!

That's right, the Republicans are all rhetoric and no compassion. They don't care if you die in a back alley abortion, or because you're unvaxxed, you're expendable. Everybody at Fox News has been vaxxed, THE COMPANY REQUIRES IT! Yes, Laura and Tucker and the rest of the blowhards are telling you not to give up your rights, that it's all about freedom, but they sacrificed theirs right away, BECAUSE THEY WANT TO LIVE!

So, this is what Roberts was afraid of. The left twisting the theory the Supreme Court used to let the Texas abortion law stand in unintended ways. Yes, you want to take away the right to an abortion, WE'RE GONNA TAKE AWAY THE RIGHT TO MANUFACTURE GUNS!

It's utterly hysterical. The right has been winning for so long that they're oblivious. And like I said, the Democrats in D.C. keep telling us their hands are tied, and if you want change, like Bernie or AOC, you're asking for too much. The people want better pay, they want unions, they want higher taxes on the rich. But in the U.S. money talks and the poor die because they can't afford health care. That's right, the rich live longer because they can afford to see a doctor!

So now individual citizens in California will be able to sue gun manufacturers. Do you think they'll be making any guns in California anymore? OF COURSE NOT!

And this is just the beginning, politics goes forward, not back. One state steps forward and then the rest do. What was unfathomable in the past becomes de rigueur in the future, like gay marriage and legal marijuana. Believe me, they're not getting rid of gay marriage, and where there's legal cannabis they're not doing a 180, no way.

So the right wing idiots in California called an expensive recall election. End result? Newsom won with more of the vote than he did the first time! They emboldened him. And having broken his own Covid rules he's now on guard, he's a straight arrow. And he's young and handsome.

And I'm not saying he's the greatest, but at least the left now has someone to believe in, who can take action, who is on the right side of things. And we haven't had that for a very long time.

So the left may not pack the Supreme Court, but that does not mean the Republicans are gonna get away with the shenanigans they employed to make it right wing, not representing the majority.

Sotomayor had the wisdom here. Keep coming up with these inane rulings, ignore stare decisis and the court is gonna lose credibility. It already has with me. Hell I could do a better job than these bozos, twisting case law to come to political decisions that are anti-woman, anti-health, anti-PEOPLE!

And since we live in the internet era, by time you read this EVERYBODY is gonna know about Newsom's action. And it doesn't matter what anybody in the right wing media says, they've got no power.

Finally someone fights back.

That's what we've been looking for, someone with a backbone, someone we can believe in.

As they say in sports...NOW WE'VE GOT A GAME!

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Michael Nesmith

There was an obituary for Don Zimmermann in the "Los Angeles Times" today. Actually, it was a remembrance, as Don died a year ago, at 85. I started doing the math, how old was he when I worked at Sanctuary, when I went to his house in La Cañada for that party, with Ed Bicknell and so many more... 49. Not too old for a record company president, he made it. But no one who wasn't there remembers Don Zimmermann today.

Nor do they remember Bhaskar Menon, the last big cheese at Capitol//EMI, who made "Dark Side of the Moon" a hit. Menon died earlier this year. There were eventually obituaries, but in most cases not instantaneously, he wasn't a big enough presence, not in 2021.

Who is the president of Capitol Records today?

Actually, I know that. But try naming the rest of the execs and you're gonna have quite a problem, because being a record company executive is not the exalted position it once was. We all know Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings, but most people have no idea who is running the movie studios, whereas in the seventies in Los Angeles they were gods. And Michael Ovitz was ascending, now he's barely a footnote.

Is it just age or has something else changed?

Well, we all know who Jack Dorsey is. He just ankled Twitter. We can talk about financial pressure, but the truth is it just wasn't fun anymore. He was managing the service, the innovation was in the rearview mirror. All that was left was the privacy issues. So he moved full time to his other gig, Square, now Block, where there's still runway, the blockchain is still on the horizon, ready to be colonized and utilized by those with foresight and sharp elbows.

Then there's the strange case of Doug Morris. The most powerful man in the record business for decades, no one even mentions his name anymore. Maybe he's ill, I have no idea, but the truth is he's forgotten. As for his legacy, the building of Universal Music, all the attention goes to Lucian Grainge these days, who's getting a huge payday, but who is not as powerful as Michael Rapino, even though the media thinks recordings are more sexy than live performance.

Clive Davis? He's hanging on at 89. He keeps trying to burnish his image, with books and film and his Grammy party. But when was the last time anybody listened to Ace of Base? And Milli Vanilli is talked about, but as a joke. When Clive passes away the somnambulant media, beholden to the past, will make a big deal about it, but the truth is no one will care, and the legacy will be invisible.

And then there are the Monkees. They say BTS is big, but they're nowhere near as big as the Monkees were and continue to be.

Let me see, the big issue in their heyday was they didn't play their own instruments, it was a knock on their credibility. Now almost no one plays an instrument period. Dancing seems to be more important. As for credibility...if you've got a check, they'll take it.

The Monkees were on network television for only two years. But that was when there were only three networks, no cable, no streaming, no internet. There was not a boomer alive who didn't know them and their songs, NOT ONE! And unlike the boy bands that followed them, they cut memorable material, that sustains to this day. Then again, their songs were written by such notables as Neil Diamond, Goffin and King, David Gates, Boyce and Hart, who all ended up having significant hits under their own names.

And the band were irreverent. That's something that's been excised from today's society completely. Oh, there are jokesters, but many young music fans believe the presidency was stolen from Donald Trump and that Hillary was running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor and that vaccinations will work against you as opposed to for you. They're willing to die on these beliefs, not any record. A record is entertainment, not real life. The only people who take the artists seriously are nincompoops.

Not that the artists don't think they're bigwigs, deserving of attention. They're competing with billionaires for money, and they're never going to win that competition, whereas in the sixties, musicians were the billionaires!

So Micky Dolenz had been "Circus Boy," and to this day he says he was just playing a role, that he was primarily an actor and then a director. He may feel that way, but that undercuts the fact that he had a mellifluous voice, when he "ahhhed" on "I'm a Believer"...I get chills writing about it now.

Davy Jones was the cute one. He sang some songs, even though Micky, on the drums, was truly the vocalist, kind of like Glenn Frey and Don Henley. (Ride with it please, Henley is a drummer with a unique, sandpapery voice, and it was always Frey's band, but over time Henley outshined Frey.)

Peter Tork, the goofy one, was actually a musician. Would he have made it if he wasn't in the Monkees? Highly doubtful. It's Stephen Stills, who failed the audition, because of his teeth and more, who ended up being the superstar.

And that brings us down to Michael Nesmith. He was actually a musician. He wrote "Different Drum" for the Stone Poneys, a certified smash, a classic.

And he was the one with the wool hat. As identifiable as the others, if not even more so. And despite the hijinks, he was the voice of reason, the elder statesman on the show, he was the only one with gravitas, if we can say so. And when it was all over...he flew the coop (or the tree, maybe it should be).

So when it was over, Nesmith was the only one who had any traction as a musician. Dolenz stayed in TV, Jones went to legitimate theatre and Tork faded away, but Nesmith had the First National Band, and consensus was they were good, and credible, which was quite a leap if you consider his start in the public eye as a member of the Monkees.

And then Nesmith was on the bleeding edge of video, remember when his " Rio" was a breakthrough, back when video was the cutting edge? I can still remember him flying in the sky in that clip, but today everybody has a quality video camera in their phone and is making their own clips and posting them online.

But Nesmith kept pushing the envelope, and you started to wonder as the years went by, how could he afford it?

His mother invented Liquid Paper. Just ask a kid what that is today. After you tell him that phones used to have dials, that people even used to talk on the phone. Forget offices, where it was a staple, if you went to college Liquid Paper was your friend, there was no spellcheck on a Smith-Corona typewriter.

Yes, Nesmith was rich, and therefore could follow his muse, and it took him a very long time to decide to become a Monkee once again.

The Monkees did not fade away. The deserving songs survived, but then there was the renaissance of the TV show thanks to MTV. And then, believe it or not, people started to agitate for the band to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I'll tell you one thing, the Monkees had more hits, more memorable tracks, than many of the members of that august institution.

But they'll only get in as oldsters, like Kraftwerk, if at all. Too much time has passed, the organization must stay relevant, it must induct young 'uns.

So now Michael Nesmith is dead. 78 seems young these days. We expect you to live into your nineties, like Lina Wertmüller, who made Giancarlo Giannini famous in "Seven Beauties" and "Swept Away," two utterly classic films from the art cinema era that no one even talks about anymore, but they were events, they impacted the culture. Wertmüller outlived her relevance, her legacy, she just died at 93, but the radio is still playing those Monkees songs. And we're still listening to them.

"Here we come, walkin' down the street"

And now they're going, and in the case of three Monkees, gone. History. Kaput. Which means...we're next.

Yes, the baby boomers are falling off the edge of the conveyor belt of life. You can try to resist, but it's fruitless. Walt Disney has never been reanimated and despite his best efforts, Sumner Redstone died too. It's inevitable.

But it's even worse, so much of what you held near and dear is gone already. All those albums you bought in the sixties and seventies. You sold your vinyl years ago, when you grew up and had no room or when you were told CDs were perfect. However much you regret the loss, the truth is no one ever talks about them, no one laments the inability to hear them, and if you Google "Already Gone" you'll get the Kelly Clarkson song, not the seventies classic sung by the aforementioned Glenn Frey.

But the Monkees remained and sustained. Funny how despite all the naysaying fifty plus years ago, they're still part of America's fabric. It's the songs. Songs last. Assuming they have melody and all the rest of the building blocks the Brill Building was built upon.

So it's very strange to be a baby boomer. You ruled for your entire life. You rolled right over Generation X, the Millennials were your kids so you influenced them, but Generation Z? There's no direct connection, they don't have the same history, they don't care about their elders, they're concerned with global warming and fairness in a way the boomers never were, it's their world now, no matter how hard the boomers try to hang on and maintain control.

But we had a good run, a great one. The government worked. As did protest. We changed the world. And then the world changed us, we became greedy, everything was personal as opposed to group, screw society, what's in it for me? Meanwhile, democracy started to fall apart while we were all focused on our lifestyles.

But once upon a time, we were believers. And in truth we believed in so much, but primarily music. And there were so many stars, that's how big and powerful music was. And Michael Nesmith was one of them, he was in the galaxy, he never became a joke, always maintained his dignity and we still wanted to see him perform.

But now the Monkees are history. Micky Dolenz could still go on the road, but what's the point, it's too sad. Maybe as part of an oldies show, or Ringo's All Starr Band, but as a solo act? Almost too creepy.

As for those still alive, some have lost their voices, you go to see them and wince, telling yourself you'll never go again. Others are just too infirm to work anymore. And there are a whole slew of others who can't go out because no promoter will pay for them, never mind fans ponying up to buy tickets.

Rock and roll was supposed to be forever, it was supposed to never die. And the funny thing is, despite its absence in the hit parade, it's still the dominant sound today, on jukeboxes, live, it's an underground consciousness.

Not that we truly wanted to die before we got old.

But now that we're old we don't want to die at all.

Like Michael Nesmith, gone...

BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!


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Re-Red Oaks

When I discovered "Red Oaks" a few years ago I was late too and it came via a friend's recommendation. I never saw it advertised or even heard of it. When I did get around to watching it I did what I hadn't done since "Transparent" and binged it. So did everyone else I raved to about it. Hell, I even made my own bootleg Red Oaks Country Club™ shirts. Every actor in the series was fantastic. We see this all the time in the music industry and as fans of music in general…an artist makes a great record that doesn't get the accolades you feel it deserves. So, you climb on your soapbox to hip all your friends to it so they're in-the-know too. Sure, season two wasn't as strong but overall it still ticked the same boxes that "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Caddyshack", "Stripes" and even "Stand By Me" did for me back in the day.

-Greg Glover
Portland, OR

_______________________________________

We loved it and friends I've recommended it to keep thanking me for it. Josh Meyers (Seth's brother) is over-the-top but hilarious.

Steve Gillan

_______________________________________

My wife and I love Red Oaks!! We couldn't get enough.

-Dan Diaz

_______________________________________

We caught Red Oaks about a year ago and couldn't believe we had never heard of it. Great show, great cast, but weirdly no hype

Jack Pratt

_______________________________________

One of those hidden gems...absolutely LOVED this series for all the reasons you stated.

Sandy Alouete

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So glad you wrote about this! Found it during the pandemic, too, and it had just the right amount of "feel good" for these crazy, shtty times. When Esmer said "boychik, boychik, my dear" to the 3 younger actors at the wedding it killed me.

Jared Milgram

_______________________________________

Great fucking show. Wife got me hooked.

Mike Serra

_______________________________________

Wow this is the first time and likely the only time I watched a series before someone!!
And I loved it.

Kara Horvath

_______________________________________

This is an amazing show, came out almost 5 years ago. Fantastic!!!

Jared Polin

_______________________________________

When son tells dad (Richard Kind) he doesn't want to work in his field, dad simply says "I know." But the look on Kind's face, & the delivery of the line literally made me burst into caterwauling tears.
I too found the series strangely beautiful.

Peter Zizzo

_______________________________________

I'm actually surprised no one turned you on to this before. I thought it was a gem, and the character arcs are anything but stereotypical for this genre. I know you still parse through Amazon Prime Video, because you turned me on to "Bosch"!

Roy Liu

_______________________________________

Red Oaks is great. Actually, Greg Jacobs, who worked with my Dad and Soderbergh on all the Oceans movies and Candelabra, created and produced it. It is largely, I think, his story.

Glad you found it and enjoyed it.

Michael Weintraub

_______________________________________

Saw Red Oaks years ago…even before Maisel. Loved it! Definitely an homage to the John Hughes movies of the '80s. Nice to see Paul Reiser as a sort-of asshole for a change, and I'll take any excuse to see Richard Kind. You're right…on Netflix it would've been a smash.

Rob Maurer

_______________________________________

Red Oaks was a surprisingly enjoyable show -- we streamed it earlier this (when Delta curtailed our nascent going out). The soft glow of nostalgia, with a fantastic cast, (and not too much schmaltz). And it's fun watching Resiser play an asshole.

Streaming has helped us find lots of pre-Covid show that we missed first time around
Try "Madame Secretary" (Netflix) for its surprising depth and characters

-Barry Ritholtz

_______________________________________

Bob I agree with you 110% on this. I had Red Oaks in my watch list for a couple of years and recently found myself scrolling through Amazon Prime for no good reason. I had this one saved and decided to give it a go. And you're right, it is a show you cannot stop once you start....the acting and the characters are all top notch, like you said. it helps that I was the same age as these kids were in the 80's, so I could almost feel the hi-jinks happening around me. my wife and I binged this show in about two weeks' time....it's so worth taking a chance on and I'm not surprised it had such high marks. I'm glad you chose to watch it and write about it!

Mike Farley

_______________________________________

Good morning Bob. I loved Red Oaks, but you neglected to mention the best part of the show - the music! So many great 80s tracks and not the ones you always hear. They played Ceremony by New Order in episode 1 of season 2, which I've never heard in a movie or a TV show. Incredible!

The acting is awesome, but for me, the music stole the show. I'm glad you liked it and you're right, they don't make movies like that today, which is a shame.

John Byrne

_______________________________________

Great review. I watched this a few summers back when it first came out. It being an 80s period piece attracted me, and the characters were all likeable and kept me in it. It also turned me on to Roxy Music's Avalon!

Keep it up,
Nick Benko in Windsor, Ontario

_______________________________________

Personally, I loved it.

Richard Stumpf

_______________________________________

As a big time tennis player from NJ, this show captivated me!

Gary Eskow

_______________________________________

I watched Red Oaks after hunting for something/anything on Prime. I put on the show not expecting much but hung around. The characters are engaging as are the actors.

One of the better parts of the production is that it doesn't hit you over the head with '80s clichés. I don't remember one "Flock of Seagulls" haircut reference, for example. It's more subtle and you catch yourself thinking, "oh yeah, I remember that."

The show works because of not only the characters and casting but also because the many storylines are smartly interweaved and are relatable in any decade. It's got a nice chill pace and you can get lost in the show as desired.

Paul Nordlund

_______________________________________

I watched this a year ago, very entertaining…anyone who grew up in late 70's or early 80' and was coming of age knew someone like at least one if not more of the characters….

Michael Creamer

_______________________________________

Hey Bob! Glad to hear you loved Red Oaks too! My wife discovered it, and I saw bits and pieces of it when she watched. Liked what I saw, started watching on my own, then once I caught up with her, we watched it together and loved it! The only thing I wish they would've added was the typical 80s movie end credits like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, etc, with an update on David, Misty and Wheeler, etc. I had to write that part in my head. Great show though, fun to hear your thoughts.

Pete O.

_______________________________________

I stumbled on to Red Oaks 4 years ago and watched every episode. Completely agree with your assessment. It's good clean fun and well acted. Blows away any of these silly laugh track network offerings. You would think the networks would have gotten up to speed by now as you can say just about anything (IE cartoons like Family Guy) but they seem to live in the past just like the record labels. Lame

Justin Fontaine

_______________________________________

Oh man..spot on. I kinda hated this show while loving it…or loved it while I hated it. I watched the whole thing. About 2-3 years ago after a friend mentioned it. Some of the acting is really bad, I thought…but in a corny way. This write up nails it.

Best Regards,
Eric Seifert

_______________________________________

Glad you found Red Oaks. Steven Soderbergh is a sure sign of at least an attempt at quality and intelligence. He was intelligent enough to hire Hal Hartley to direct a few episodes. Hartley's films are cult favorites among those who get his dry sense of humor. They have their own rhythm, like Pinter Plays and Mamet Movies. Also, Red Oaks features my old college roommate Richard Masur as Morrie.

best

Michael Ross

_______________________________________

Loved Red Oaks. I don't know what prompted me to watch because Prime is so cluttered as you say and it's annoying to navigate. But i'm glad I waded in and somehow found Red Oaks. I thought my wife and I were the only ones who'd seen it!

Rick Saunders


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Fandom

Chris Christie sold 2,289 copies of his book "Republican Rescue."

Now wait a second, this guy was EVERYWHERE! Does it really mean no one cares?

I think so.

But it gets worse...well, nothing could be worse, but... Billie Eilish sold 64,000 copies of her book, and Justin Timberlake's "Hindsight" has sold 100,000 since its release in 2018. What does this tell us? Not only that selling a book can be difficult, but that being in the public eye, the beneficiary of reams of publicity, does not mean people will lay down their money for your work. Turns out fandom is oftentimes skin-deep. Of course there are superfans, who will buy every iteration of a CD and vinyl album, skewing first week sales so the public, even the media, thinks their work is a big success, but the truth is even some of our biggest heroes/icons/hypes are nowhere near as big as we perceive them to be.

Streaming is good for artists. Because the barrier to entry, to exposure, is so damn low. Don't these wankers with few streams realize if it weren't for Spotify, et al, almost NO ONE would be listening to their music! And the big acts benefit from this too. But just because an act has a track with a few hundred million streams, that does not mean it's got a passionate fan base that will buy tickets.

Everybody is available, very few are desirable.

The media needs heroes to run up the flagpole, stars to influence somnambulant Grammy voters to nominate, but the public at large, do they really care? In most cases NO!

Where the rubber meets the road... There are very few automobiles with traction. Kind of like all those new electric car companies, the Wall Street IPOs...that's all buzz, not reality. Manufacturing and shipping quality automobiles is not an easy task, never mind software and supply chain issues. You'd think Rivian is a powerhouse in the auto industry, but essentially it's sold ZERO CARS!

Yes, we live in the age of data, and unfortunately data can be presented in a way to prove just about anything, to the point where facts no longer seem to exist.

And then there's the spin. If people believe in QAnon, and are convinced Bill Gates has inserted microchips in covid vaccines, what chance do we have to get the truth to them re entertainers? Essentially none. Which is why entertainment has always functioned on smoke and mirrors. If Nielsen Soundscan was reporting troop deaths they'd give a lower value to those killed in tanks, and a higher value to those killed in a group, making the final number far from accurate, giving those who read them a skewed view, just like they do with album (sales)!

People don't like reality. It hurts. Just ask Elizabeth Holmes. Let's hope she gets convicted, but we already know there's no truth in America anymore...you can't even have faith in the Supreme Court, never mind some local court. Just like Steve Bannon's bogus case scheduled to be heard on July 18th. Hmm... You're arrested for robbery, if you can't make bail your ass is in jail. But if you're networked, in power, you skate, and in the end the President pardons you. I don't care what you believe, but the truth is the public has lost faith in institutions.

Truth is Billie Eilish's latest album is a stiff. She's been superseded in the hearts of young people by Olivia Rodrigo, who will probably be superseded by someone else soon. And that's fine, that's the way it almost always has been, those who appeal to a younger demo, the boy bands, BTS, are flavors of the moment, they don't last. But the media loves a story and those not living the reality 24/7 are prone to disinformation. The game in music is to last. Especially in the streaming era. And streaming is a way to make your name. Sure, you can get paid a ton if you have a big hit, but really it's the road and other opportunities that generate your income.

Just like Miley Cyrus. Parents couldn't get tickets for their kids. So the next tour went paperless and...turns out desire was just not that strong. It was a false mania, driven by scalpers. Which is why acts hate paperless, because too often it turns out demand is low, they can't sell out.

It's hard to get people to spend money. They've already got a subscription to a streaming service, they can check out your track, but lay down cash? Acts keep bitching that the new economics don't work for them, but...who is going to actually buy their physical product? This is not the pre-internet era, with fewer than 10,000 releases a year. There are 60,000 new tracks A DAY, and it's harder than ever to get noticed. Maybe you're just not that big. But the truth is NO ONE IS THAT BIG! No one has the mindshare and reach of the pre-internet era, there are just too many options, and no one outlet where everybody is exposed to the same thing. If you're bitching about streaming payments I hope you're ready to give up your computer and jet back to 1988, because the world has completely changed and you must change with it.

Not that my words will make a difference. It FEELS like you've been ripped off, so it must be true. It FEELS like Billie Eilish is a big star, she's got 97 million followers on Instagram, but she's nowhere near as big as the perception.

And enough with the social media metrics, forget about the bots, the fakes, how many of those 97 million do you think actually see every post, even one post? How many never even check their feed?

At least in music the major label does not give you a deal until you prove yourself. Whereas in the book business they're flying blind. They think these social media metrics are a reflection of hard core fandom, but they're wrong.

Want to know if you're a star?

Check your wallet.

Just like the corporate sponsors realized they were not getting their money's worth sponsoring endless tours, the book business has been burned by social media stars and will tighten up the coffers.

So it all comes down to you. What you like, what you do. If nobody you know is talking about it, then it probably isn't that big. Which is different from good, you can be good and go unnoticed in today's topsy-turvy world. But if book publishers can't get it right predicting success based on internet numbers, what are the odds politicos and pollsters truly know what is going on in America? Pretty damn low, ergo the Trump ascension. Chris Christie won as governor. But then he vacationed on a closed beach and uttered nonsense about Trump and he blew all his credibility. And the only people who didn't realize this were those in the media! They should have said NO WAY to booking him. He's toast, people don't care about him, there's no passion. And it's all about passion. Without passion there is no sale. You want deep fans, who will stick by you, not looky-loos. Too many are caught up in the moment. Theranos's idea was unworkable from the start, but fat cat oldsters, mostly men, were mesmerized by Elizabeth Holmes and invested nearly a billion dollars. And it turns out there was nothing there. Sometimes the truth is hiding right in front of your eyes. Chris Christie is a lug without fans, the public is not waiting with bated breath to read what teenager Billie Eilish has to say, and people were passionate about Justin Timberlake twenty years ago, when he was still in a boy band.

And Britney Spears is forty.

Can we please stop living in the past? It's a changed world, but too many have not changed with it. The public was disinterested in Christie's book, they knew the score. Forget publicity, if you want to know what is going on put your ear to the ground, listen to the people's truth, but you might not want to hear it.

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Dave Schools-This Week's Podcast

Dave Schools is the bassist for Widespread Panic. We discuss the band, but we also cover the "Get Back" documentary and Dave's personal life and... Dave is quite the raconteur, you will be entertained and edified!

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dave-schools/id1316200737?i=1000544433379

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/dave-schools-88894388

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jCICwqyqSDGzhmEjACqjJ?si=_joZUxDTRay-TeSrYNPBSQ


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Red Oaks

Trailer: https://bit.ly/31KuO1w

This show is strangely affecting. On one level it feels like fluff, on another you can't stop watching it.

So "Red Oaks" is an Amazon Prime series. If you're a student of the game, you might remember the hype. Paul Reiser is one of the stars and Steven Soderbergh is one of the producers, but I'd never seen it, never thought of watching it. Then a reader hipped me to it and I checked it out on "RottenTomatoes" and it had a 93% critics score and 94% audience score. How did I miss this?

Oh, that's right, it's on Amazon Prime.

Never forget the initial Netflix show was the excellent, highbrow "House of Cards," one of the best series ever made (well, at least until the final season.) With that imprimatur of quality, your expectations rise, you're looking for the next show.

The same thing happened with HBO. There was "Dream On" and "Larry Sanders" and then the silver bullet, the killer series, "The Sopranos." Thereafter, Sunday night was for HBO. Not every HBO show is good, but there's enough quality in the history to pay attention.

But Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime started low and has stayed there. Furthermore, its homepage is cluttered with other offerings, just like its retail site. If it weren't cheap and convenient shopping on Amazon I'd switch, because now it takes me ninety minutes to figure out what I want to buy, what with the sponsored products and the other diversions from reality. So I wanted to buy an electric toothbrush. Well, the model numbers on the Philips site didn't align with those on Amazon, and what I thought I wanted to buy was gonna be delivered in weeks as opposed to overnight, which is now the Amazon Prime standard, and I was completely flummoxed. After wasting an hour and a half, I ended up triangulating with Amazon Prime delivery, the number of reviews and the "Amazon's Choice" badge. I literally had no idea exactly what I was getting, and when I opened the box I was surprised...HOW CAN THIS BE?

Distribution is king. Which is why you want your show on the platform with the most subscribers that will promote it for you. Apple TV+'s numbers are fading now that they're charging, let them build the network, not you, go somewhere else. Then again, having so little product they promote their shows, they don't get lost in the shuffle. Whereas on Amazon everything gets lost in the shuffle.

Bottom line, I hadn't heard of "Red Oaks" but then I tuned in and it was a bright spot in these hazy, lazy, confusing days of Covid-19.

So what we've got here is a country club story. A Jewish country club, there's no hiding behind other ethnicities like on "Seinfeld." And you've got the aforementioned Paul Reiser as a Wall Street king and head of the club and he's not trying to be loved by the audience like he usually is...and with this edge, he's ultimately more believable and likable.

And you've got the poor Jews, Jennifer Grey and Richard Kind. Grey killed her career with her nose job but she does an A+ job of acting here. And Kind and his shtick are overexposed, but by the end of the series he's three-dimensional and you love him too.

Their son is Craig Roberts as David Myers. Turns out Roberts is Welsh, not that you'd know that without looking it up. David is from a lower middle class family, his education is in limbo and he takes a gig at the Red Oaks country club as a tennis pro. Which brings us to...

ENNIS ESMER! The main tennis pro. Esmer is so good he carries the whole series, even though he doesn't have to, there's so much other talent involved. An overweight schmoozer and schnorrer with an indeterminate accent...you laugh and marvel at his performance, he steals the show.

Then you've got stoner Oliver Cooper, as Craig/David's sidekick. A loser who parks cars and deals dope at Red Oaks.

As for the rest of the cast, there are tons of greats, they didn't settle for second-rate, Gina Gershon is spot on as Reiser's wife and comedian Freddie Roman is a crotchety oldster willing to speak truth when necessary.

So, what you've got here is an ongoing search for love. And Reiser and Gershon's daughter, Alexandra Socha, is fantastic as the rebel artist living off her daddy's money. She's edgy, yet hungry for romance.

And Cooper, he consistently eyes the unattainable, employing bad judgment all the while.

"Red Oaks" is an extended teen movie in an age when they no longer make teen movies. They make teen HORROR movies, but the old romp... There are so many great ones, like "Can't Buy Me Love," on one hand lowbrow yet meaningful nonetheless. But in today's blockbuster era, film companies are reluctant to green light anything that doesn't appeal to everybody, that also has a fantasy aspect to it, never mind that comedy is hard to do.

Not that "Red Oaks" is as good as the classic film comedies, but it's certainly better than traditional network sitcoms.

These are just people lost in the eighties, trying to figure out their future. Not everybody is going to end up on top, just like in real life, not everybody can be a world-beater. But you're entitled to have some laughs along the way!

So don't go in with high expectations. Just like you never went to a teen movie with high expectations. It was something to do, it entertained you, was a respite from everyday life. That's how you should look at "Red Oaks."

And it's already old, it was made from 2014-17, but it was new to me and will be new to anybody else who hasn't seen it, and being set decades ago it is inherently dated, that's one of its charms.

"Red Oaks" would have performed much better on Netflix.

But I'm telling you, if the foregoing resonates with you, you'll dig "Red Oaks," at least until the final third season, with only six episodes. But you've got to watch those too to see how the story turns out.

That's right, once you have a summer with hijinks there's nowhere left to go. They have a plot twist for season two, but ultimately the story has been told, done, finito. But that's all right, sometimes that's all that's there, no use beating a dead horse like on network. But what's there...

It's hard to explain. I can't rave, you can live quite nicely never having seen "Red Oaks," but it touched me, warmed my heart and made me feel good, and there's always room for a series like that!


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Final Money Heist

You want to watch it. Assuming you've seen the previous seasons and the five episodes of the third season that premiered in September, which were the worst ones ever, it seemed like they were just stretching the plot, and having to wait months for the final five...

Not that I knew they launched last Friday. I mean even Netflix hypes their shows in the media these days, but I didn't come across the drop until I was researching newly launched shows. And having completed the series, not one person has e-mailed me about it. Not that this means none of the devotees watched the finale, but I bet some still don't know it's available.

"Money Heist"... A failure in Spain, its native country, yet a worldwide success. Netflix is laying down cash in all its territories, making local product so people there will continue to subscribe. And generally speaking, the content is superior to that made in America. Can you say "Squid Game"? Not that that's one of my favorite shows, but it demonstrates the paradigm. "Money Heist" is not brand new, so there's less hoopla, but it's better than "Squid Game."

So what you've got here is a Mamet movie sans the deeper meaning. In other words, the plot/tricks are convoluted and it's an E-ticket ride...you buckle up and go for it. And if you've never watched, you're in for a treat, but be sure to employ subtitles as opposed to dubbing, the story resonates so much more.

So what you've got is a criminal mastermind, the Professor, and his band of merry criminals. Misfits who've found their home on the wrong side of the law, where life is exciting, but can be short.

And you've got the police trying to thwart the Professor and his gang, yet the people align with the robbers. Everybody is anti the system other than those feeding off of it. It's hard to have faith when you see billionaires getting subsidies while you're broke. As a matter of fact, the best thing I read last week was in the "New York Times" "Sunday Review" section:

"Behind Low Vaccination Rates Lurks a More Profound Social Weakness": https://nyti.ms/3pI7cTc

You want to read this. The article posits that low vaccination rates are a result of the loss of trust in the government and society. Ever since Reagan we've been told to rely on ourselves, that the government screws things up. This has affected our outlook, it's every person for themselves, but also has affected our behavior re government programs, we don't trust them. Forget the highfalutin' people who get ink, those on government assistance, those at the bottom, see how the government promises but doesn't deliver. The law says one thing, but reality is quite another. You're supposed to have heat in your building, that's what the law says, but there is none and despite your protestations it doesn't get turned back on.

We can look at politics, but we also have to look at society. Our bonds are torn and frayed. We're all suspicious of being ripped off. We all don't want to go down a rung on the greased pole of life. It's not just about vaccination, but so much more.

But "Money Heist" is a fantasy. And in these final five episodes there are a ton of flashbacks, so you get to see favorites from the past, like Berlin, yet the action moves along at a quick pace, unlike in the initial five episodes of the season. It's a return to the "Money Heist" that hooked you in the first place.

Unfortunately, the last episode is a bit slow, more talking and less action, but the ending is satisfying.

So, binge away!


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Rock Instrumental Playlist

https://spoti.fi/3Gpynco

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Rock Instrumentals-This Week On SiriusXM

Tune in today, December 7th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863 

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive  

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive 


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Drake Punts

https://bit.ly/3IndLmO

Blame Neil Portnow. Or to use the words of a man sorely ignored by the Grammy organization in his initial heyday, "He not busy being born is busy dying."

Clayton Christensen said you have to disrupt yourself. Or you end up being disrupted. And the disrupting enterprise that steals your business starts off as outside, and cheap, and then it gets better and more dominant over time, and then it takes over. Can you say hip-hop?

Drake isn't pulling his nominations because of what was done yesterday, but what was done over the past two decades. While the Grammy organization remained a boys club, while it was all perks and insider dealing, the recording landscape changed dramatically. What was a release? What was an album? Genres were no longer clearly delineated. And while the oldsters were debating Napster and its descendants, the youngsters were giving away mixtapes, knowing that we live in an attention economy, and that's the number one criterion, getting noticed, and as the years have passed this has become nearly impossible to do. To the point where not only are people unaware of the nominees in the big categories, they're completely clueless as to the nominees and the winners in the other eighty odd categories. It's an inside job, a circle jerk to reward believers. Drake doesn't need a victory on his resumé, the saxophonist in a jazz combo does. But if we're giving that guy an award, and it always seems to be a guy, how about the person who plays klezmer music, or the doo-wop group. According to the Grammy organization the world revolves around it, when quite the opposite is the case, and the Grammys are struggling to even be in orbit.

There should have been a revolution FIFTEEN YEARS AGO! The organization should have foreseen the future and gotten the hip-hop world involved. It's not like they weren't warned, Steve Strout took out that full page newspaper ad and what did we hear from the Grammys? Crickets.

Awards have been devalued. Every millennial got one for participating in soccer and there are so many the audience has stopped paying attention, never mind caring. Hear any buzz about the American Music Awards that just happened? That used to be a big story, how they were whacked, now there's not a peep, because nobody is interested in music awards.

For the brief era they mattered, basically the late eighties and nineties, there was a monoculture and the goal was to reach said monoculture. You were either inside or outside, now nobody is inside! You can be #1, like Drake himself, and still tens of millions of people have never heard your music. But in the old days, the goal of winning an award was the name recognition, the exposure and the SALES! There are no sales anymore, it's all streams, and the Grammy bounce has evaporated. So the truth is, if you're a superstar in the music world, you're doing the Grammys a favor by appearing on their telecast, there's no upside, only potential downside, you risk committing a faux pas.

In addition, in an era where institutions are challenged 24/7, Drake actually gains credibility for not participating. He's not beholden to the man, he's beholden to no one but himself! Isn't that what a rock star is supposed to be?

And speaking of credibility, the Grammys have sacrificed almost all of theirs over the years, with the secret committees, the firing of Deborah Dugan and now the expansion of the big categories to ten nominees at the last minute, including biggies like Kanye and Swift. I don't care what their motivation was, even if their intentions were pure, it looks like they did it so big stars would show up and add some razzle dazzle to a rinky-dink show.

The Grammys will die of their own accord. Because they're funded by CBS and all awards shows are losing viewers. The Grammys could take the financial hit and embrace the internet, there would be a painful transition period, but the end result would be a vast improvement. Look at Adobe, which changed its business model from sale to subscription. For a short while revenue faded, and then it burgeoned! And the solution was better, because software is no longer a fixed item, it's fluid, it's updated on a regular basis and users want these updates.

The Grammys are like the Democrats. Yes, for decades the Republicans have been chipping away at abortion rights, even in plain sight. What did the Democrats do? Not a whole hell of a lot. And now it's too late. Change happens very slowly and then all at once. If you want to win in the future you've got to start changing when it's risky, endure the blowback to ultimately emerge victorious.

And it's not like the Grammys have not been shown the way. The VMAs said it was about humor and moments. What did we get with the Grammys? Endless painful duets. MTV knew it was about a television show, not the awards themselves, no one can even remember who won in years past.

And eyeballs are everything. The Grammys should have made a deal with Netflix years ago. That's right, live performances streamed on demand. No one watches in real time anymore, you've got to give people what they want, and exactly what they want, when they want it. Appointment television? Can you tell me one person who is excited about the Grammys other than the wankers involved?

And I want to stop hearing about the good the organization does, the explanation that Dugan moved too fast. Radical change is needed, and if it's not executed, there's no money, no future within which to do those good deeds.

Drake demonstrated his power today. He knows the score, and he laid it down. As he said:

"You already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if they're singing in your hometown. You're already winning, you don't need this right here."

Truth resonates. And truth doesn't come from network television...young 'uns, rap fans, may not even have a cable subscription, and that's fine with them.

Music is an outsiders game. It's all about being an individual, following your muse, doing it your way, not being corralled by the suits. Meaning anybody involved in the Grammy organization is just the opposite, they want to be members of a group, they want to be involved, they want to compromise, all anathema to artists. So the concept is flawed, and now the internet has blown it all to hell and the Grammys have circled the wagons, put their hands over their ears as they keep telling us how pure their organization and its message is.

Yeah, right.

And Trump won the election and covid is no worse than a seasonal flu.

Gimme some truth. Isn't that what John Lennon asked for?

Today Drake laid some truth on the Grammys, he's already won.

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