He died.
We were the first TV generation. This was before they called it the "boob tube." Its novelty had started to wear off, but our parents still remembered getting together for Sid Caesar and "The Honeymooners." TV was a breakthrough, just like the internet. And you'd watch anything, just for the experience, just like you surfed mindlessly in the early days of AOL and the World Wide Web.
I can't remember the first TV show I watched. I think it was "Winky Dink." You put a plastic screen in front of the TV and drew along. And then there was "Tom Terrific." And "The Mickey Mouse Club."
I don't remember a time when "The Mickey Mouse Club" was not on the air. It was a ritual, watching it every night while we ate dinner, at least we three kids. Sitting at our table in the lower floor of our split-level, the "playroom." One wonders where that table went. It hung around for quite a while, it became a utility table thereafter, a place to store goods, it wasn't even three feet square. It had black and white-checked linoleum on top. And four miniature chairs that disappeared quickly. It's my Rosebud, but not really. I have essentially nothing from that period. My mother could throw anything out. Like the day's newspaper. Sleep in? It's too late, it's ten a.m., the papers are GONE!
And what I remember eating most was buttered noodles. Much better than with tomato sauce. And we never ever drank milk, unless it was chocolate. My father owned a liquor store, we had a flowing pipeline of soft drinks.
So we're sitting there eating and there were the Mouseketeers.
We were too young to know that Annette was a dream. She was a teenager, we looked up to all teenagers, never mind the ones on "The Mickey Mouse Club." They were tall, and had a level of freedom. And it wasn't only Annette. There was Cubby and Tommy and Darlene.
And there was "Spin and Marty." It was a serial within the show. Set on a ranch. In black and white, nothing was in color. And Tim Considine was Spin.
"Spin and Marty," no one ever talks about it anymore, but they did all the way up until the early seventies. I remember at a summer program in Chicago I was called "Moochie." Maybe the most famous actor on "Spin and Marty." But even he's dead now, he passed in 2015.
And then came "My Three Sons." It started in 1960. A new decade, which we were excited about, it was all about new back then. Shiny, pushing the envelope, possibility.
I had no idea Fred MacMurray had starred in "Double Indemnity." He was just the guy from the Disney movies, all of which we saw. The two best, which Fred starred in, were "The Absent Minded-Professor" and "The Shaggy Dog." Going to the theatre and watching them in pristine black and white, what an experience. MacMurray was a comic actor. But really he wasn't.
So "My Three Sons." Of course my favorite was Chip, he was closest to my age. I only wished I could be beamed into the TV, for I had no brothers, never mind two!
Robbie was the in the middle, played by Don Grady, whom I met a little over a decade ago. I went to see the Refugees at the Getty, and he came up and introduced himself. ROBBIE! He was a reader. At first I was speechless, he was a god in my book. But here he was, older, much shorter than I'd thought, talking to me! Turns out he was a composer.
The oldest was Mike. Played by Tim Considine.
But five years later, when the show jumped networks, he was gone. He'd gotten married, he'd started his real life, at least on television. He was replaced by Barry Livingston as Ernie, Chip's younger brother in real life. Who I never accepted. He was young and goofy. None of the three sons had ever acted so. Sure, they screwed up. But they projected an air of maturity.
You have no idea how much kids wanted to be on TV back then. There was no internet, essentially no way to break out of your hometown, you had to move to Hollywood, where they not only made the movies and TV shows, but the music too. California was aspirational. Instead of the right wing punching bag it is today. It was three hours behind. Long distance phone calls were expensive. It might as well have been a different planet.
But it was beamed into our homes almost all day long. Programming filled the air between the test pattern. Haven't seen that recently. In the eighties, with the growth of cable TV, there started to be 24/7 programming, and that was a boon for a night owl like me. If you needed a friend in the middle of the night, you could find one. An old movie. Or the infomercials. They were everywhere, and you knew them all...Didi 7, did it really clean that well? I knew to be wary of products hawked on TV, there was usually a scam involved, I mean how could they offer two for the price of one if you called right now, but I always wondered.
But we had plenty of TV back in the fifties and sixties, at least in the New York market. Three networks and three independents. And I thought CBS was on channel 2 everywhere, just like NBC was on 4 and ABC was on 7. Turned out this was true in Los Angeles, but in the rest of the country the networks could be at any number from 2-13, which I still don't get. Then again, it's not about networks anymore. It's not even about cable, but on demand streaming. Actually, there's a good chance you're paying more for a little less, how did that happen?
So Beaver came back. Some of the legendary fifties and sixties actors. Hell, even Sid Caesar came back in a Mel Brooks movie. But mostly they live in our minds. And before the internet you had no idea what they were up to, they were just royalty, living in Hollywood somewhere. At least until they started ripping-off 7/11's and having their mug shots in the news.
So Tim Considine was 81. Is that old or young, I no longer know. 81 was ancient when "My Three Sons" was on the air. 70 was old. But now your seventies are seen as an active decade. And you slow down in your eighties, but if your health is good you're quite alive, you get around.
But reading the obituary I learned that nothing really happened for Tim Considine in show business after "My Three Sons." He ultimately became a photographer, of cars and sports. He pivoted. He survived. Ironically in Mar Vista, only a hop from where I used to live.
And Tim's death has me thinking, how life is long. Seemed short and immediate when I was watching him on TV, you had to do it now or forever lose your chance. And we know now that fame wasn't everything we thought it was. Sure, kids knew you all over the country, the world. But you didn't go to regular school. Your parents banked and possibly stole your money, which wasn't huge to begin with. You had to have a second act.
That's hard for boomers to square. At the end of our parents' work lives we learned employment wasn't for life. And today's kids know that jobs are temporary and they'll have a zillion. But us? We kind of still believed in the company, even though we ultimately got canned, and too many never recovered, if for no other reason than age makes you a pariah, companies don't want to pay the health insurance.
So you've got to start all over, alone. Be an entrepreneur. But no one ever taught us these lessons. Certainly not in college. You took a job, you didn't make one. And being an entrepreneur involved risks. Which our parents never wanted us to experience. Get a degree from a good college, plug yourself into the system and hang on. Or if you really wanted to go all out, become a professional, a doctor or a lawyer, accountants weren't in the same league. And none of them were upper class, you could make good money as a surgeon, but you couldn't afford to live in a 10,000 square foot house.
So many baby boomers are lost. They don't know what to do with themselves. They may even have enough money to survive, but how to fill up the time? And volunteering just doesn't fill you up, have the same gravitas, as getting paid.
So actually, Don Grady, who passed back in 2012, and Tim Considine won. Unlike one hit wonder musicians, they didn't trade on their one success for the rest of their lives. They could leave the spotlight behind and continue. Maybe they were forced to, who knows. It's hard to stay in the action in Hollywood, and like I said, pay was nowhere near what it is today, even in adjusted dollars.
But Mike can't be dead. I mean Fred MacMurray, sure. But the three sons...they were always young and cool. Like an old girlfriend they're fixed in our brains. And when we run into them years later, we're shocked they still don't look the same.
Tim Considine was Mike, but his hair had lost its color, he wore glasses, he looked like the guy you saw at the supermarket, or maybe down on the docks, looked fine, but older, which he most certainly was.
And if Tim got old, if even he couldn't hold back the sands of time, that means...
I got old. You too. Time is running out. What do we want to do with it? Because if Robbie and Mike can die, ANYBODY CAN!
"Tim Considine, Young Star of 'My Three Sons,' Is Dead at 81": https://nyti.ms/3CgPxYI
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Saturday 5 March 2022
Thursday 3 March 2022
3/3/22
It's my father's birthday. It would have been his 100th, but he passed away thirty years ago, at 70, just after his birthday, in fact. I spoke with him on the phone the night he died, he was scared. I remember. He didn't want to go, it was too soon. But he was prepared. No, let me change that, he was warned. He had multiple myeloma. A death sentence at the time. They said three years, turned out it was four.
Back then you doctor-shopped for cancer treatment. At least for multiple myeloma. My hematologist now says you can get good treatment everywhere, at least in the metropolis, because multiple myeloma is a hot area, it's where all the breakthroughs are, they just approved a drug from China this week, but too late for my dad.
Then again, you should still get a second opinion. And if you don't live in a major metropolis, you should go to one for a consultation. There are specialists in the city who see these illnesses all day long, whereas in the hinterlands you get generalists, who see your condition much less frequently, and are not up on the latest breakthroughs. My dad ended up going to this physician in Arizona, Dr. Salmon. He said half the chemotherapy was just as good, which turned out to be true. It was hard to tolerate to begin with, just imagine if my father had to take double the dose.
You'll get cancer. Everybody does. At least if you live long enough. That's what Mitch, my internist, says. That all his aged patients have had at least one bout of cancer. You think you're gonna live forever, you're not. And you probably don't realize it. But one day you will. Maybe you'll try to fight it, with plastic surgery, quack treatments, but no one here gets out alive.
And speaking of quack treatments... If you get cancer you'll hear about them, from friends telling you western medicine is screwed-up and if you just ate the right thing, went to their unaccredited shaman, you'd live. You won't.
Why the government gets a bad name here I don't know. And Big Pharma too. Big Pharma is flawed, but you want their medications when you're bitten by a bug. And the government is looking out for your health. At least the FDA, the CDC has been politicized, it used to be run by lifers, now it's run by a political appointee, and politics enters the equation. We want someone like Fauci, who is not beholden to the ballot box, but somehow he's the enemy now too. I mean life must be tough if you can't trust anybody other than nitwits who spew falsehoods that align with your beliefs. We need some trust in our society in order for it to function, big time.
Not that I planned to write all this medical stuff when I started typing. But I'm gonna die, and it's now sooner rather than later. It's weird. Not frightening, but hard to accept. I look in the mirror and I'm old, but inside I'm still young. But I do notice no matter how much I exercise I can't build the muscle mass of yore. But there's so much I want to do. But my generation's time is waning. At this point, the boomers my age are either running the outfit or retiring. It's very strange. Everybody's talking about laying down their sword and living a life of leisure. Seems positively scary to me. What are you gonna do all day? I got enough of streaming TV during lockdown, let me out!
But you reach a certain age and you realize it's just a game, it's all meaningless. But those younger just cannot understand. That's the funny thing about life, you can tell people about it all day long, but in truth they have to experience it for themselves.
But some wisdom is important. If you've got a pile driver parent, that's probably good. When I came home from high school the first quarter with a bad report card my father went positively insane. And that he knew how to do. That was one of his skills, going absolutely crazy.
He'd lose control. The older you got, the more you got scared. You'd be standing there, enduring verbal punishment, but you were more worried this guy was gonna start destroying the environment, wreaking havoc.
But in truth education is everything. You're eager to start, people drop out to do their heart's desire, but as you age you realize that head start was just a drop in the bucket. Four years? In the blink of an eye.
So my father supported my passions, but education was always number one.
And he was a strange guy. Very internalized. My older sister went to social work school and started to unpack the family's issues and at first my mother was open to it, but then she shut down, didn't want to hear it, barked back that yeah, everything was her fault, right...facetiously.
And it's funny, because my mother was the verbal one, the life of the party, the straw that stirred the drink, but her death is liberating in a way the passing of my dad was not.
Well, maybe too much time has gone by and I don't remember. I do remember my dad always being there for me when I was truly low, whereas my mother'd kick me. And then she'd be pissed that I wouldn't share my feelings. So you can put me down?
It was hard to even have a conversation with my father. You could listen to him, giving you the Morris Lefsetz Philosophy, but as far as telling your story and interacting, never really could happen. But he had a bit of a sixth sense. He was the one who took me back to the big box store to return that record. Hell, when you're young and you mix in some OCD a defective record could mean a lot to you, throw you off course. My mother wouldn't quite laugh, she'd just say it wasn't a big deal. So I stopped sharing. And then she was mad I did.
My father was a self-made man. He came from nothing. And was very proud he established what he did. He never ever invested in the stock market, he didn't trust it. Real estate was his game. Not that he had enough money to play it at a high level, but...
Those were different times. Everybody was middle class. No one was rich, not like they are today. Sure, there were people poorer and wealthier but you could reach out and touch them, you could enter their sphere, end up in their world, whereas today it's an impossibility.
And when you're a strange guy people say strange things about you. My dad died, but it didn't take long, until just after the funeral, that some people started talking shit about him, as if they were better. My father knew how they felt. He'd always say we don't live in a big house, we don't drive fancy cars, but we travel and eat out, we have a good life. And we did.
Yes we did. And my father cared about his kids before he cared about himself. During the tennis boom he bought a racket at the gas station, from a passing sot. He didn't need a good one, the rest of us did.
Now today it's trendy to poor-mouth. To say you had nothing and still have nothing and isn't it nice that others have it so good. Forget that so many are lying. Someone just told me he grew up blue collar, lower middle class, but then he let slip his dad was a lawyer. Impossible back in the fifties and sixties. First and foremost there were so many fewer attorneys. But my dad laughed at these people, caught up in their petty games, he was living in his own bubble, his own universe, and created his own rules. My father never adjusted for anybody, being himself earned him his coin.
But we lived in the suburbs, the dreams were different.
So many from my generation grew up in similar circumstances. They did okay financially, but their aspirations were not that high. Writing this right now I realize my aspirations came from my dad, not my mother, the culture vulture. My mother always told me I couldn't do it, but my dad would smile, maybe give me some cash to proceed and then it was up to me.
Not that he could understand me. But the weirdest thing is so many years later I realize I'm just like him. Which is just plain strange, because if you asked me back then I'd say no way. I too don't suffer fools. I too don't weigh in until the conversation is so far off the rails that untruths are being accepted as fact. Because if you interrupt with the truth, people don't like it. There are people who know the truth, with ambition, but you've got to make the contact, you've got to figure out a way to enter their circle, be accepted in the virtual club. That's something most people don't understand whatsoever. If you're dealing with someone further up the food chain your only hope of being accepted is acting like you belong, that you're worthy. Kiss ass and they'll keep you at arm's length. Meet so and so, tell the story, a brush with greatness. But hang with them and go to dinner? Priceless!
I really didn't understand all this until I went to Middlebury College. This was not the suburbs, these people's fathers were running the country, and suddenly I had access. That's probably the biggest lesson I learned there, how to deal with the rich and famous, much more important than anything I learned in class.
And my father set me up. He paid the freight. He was proud. Much prouder than I was, in fact. Same deal when I became a lawyer. But then he expected me to stand up and fly straight, when I'm categorically incapable of doing so.
That's another thing I never realized, my upbringing prevented me from playing the game. Which is all about calibrating your personality and lying so you can make friends and get ahead in business. My father was unfiltered, I had to figure out a way to be so myself and make it work financially.
But then he cut me off. My mother made him. My mother believed in an honest day's work, punching the clock. God, she tore me down so much that I thought I should be one of those people standing on the street corner, twirling a sign. It was the opposite of today's generation, parents telling their kids how great they are. Even worse, my parents would tell us how great other kids were. My sisters are still scarred by this. Then again, this yields determination, to prove them wrong. Well, at least in me.
My father knew the grandkids, but not the great-grandkids, who my mother knew before she passed. My father is in the rearview mirror, a part of history. And soon I will be too.
I do the math in my head all the time. How growing up in the sixties if someone was born in the twenties, they were really old. And the Beatles were born in the early forties, very different from the early fifties. And now if you were born in the eighties you're in your thirties. How did that happen?
And I see people still acting like they did as children. In their behavior. Where do I fit in?
I guess I don't.
Well, in truth my shrink taught me how. And for years I did that, and there are a ton of rewards in being a member of the group, but now even that group are out of the business, most of them. Music is a young person's game. You think it's forever, but in reality it's for very few.
70 seemed old back in 1992, now it seems young. But it's not only me who's going to pass, but everything I believed in. The culture. Most of it was of a moment. Maybe better than what we've got today, but those were different times, you have no idea how much the internet has changed the world. At first it was exciting, now we can see the flaws. The mis and disinformation. The ability to become an influencer, famous from your own home. And you're connected everywhere, and you wish in many ways you weren't. You don't want to hear about the old people, what they're doing. And you don't want all of their information online, to look up. Because when you do you see where you are. On your way over the hill, when you thought you were different. It's kind of like "Godfather III," just when you think you're out of it, you get pulled back in, your whole history boomerangs back on you.
And I remember the dates. My parents' birthdays. Those of college friends. Exes. Some of these people aren't here anymore, and that's strange. You think about stuff you did that you're embarrassed by and then you realize it doesn't make any difference, you can write about it, you're liberated, because they're dead! And soon you will be too.
And it's not that I want my father back around, he'd still be the same guy. He still wouldn't fully understand my hopes and desires. It's just that now I'm part of the continuum. He had his time, I had mine, and soon it'll be someone else's. We all think we're living in the future, but one day we wake up and it's the past.
They told us it would be this way, but we didn't believe them. But it happened to us too. We're now the elder statesmen. We didn't trust anybody over thirty, should today's generation trust us?
We've got a lot to say, but they're not listening.
But you get old enough and you realize the totems of success are nice, but not necessary, even worse, no one is toting up the numbers, there isn't a tally at the end, no one ends up on top. Ultimately you're on your own trip, you've got to satisfy yourself. I read a great thing in a book a couple of weeks back. The protagonist was debating whether to take a risk. And he spoke with someone older and wiser and they said that's how you move ahead in life, by making decisions. You make one, and even if it's wrong, it will take you to a different place, with a new viewpoint and new opportunities. It's so hard for me to make a decision. Has this held me back? I want to do it all, will time run out of the hourglass first?
My father made decisions easily. I am the beneficiary.
I am his son.
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Back then you doctor-shopped for cancer treatment. At least for multiple myeloma. My hematologist now says you can get good treatment everywhere, at least in the metropolis, because multiple myeloma is a hot area, it's where all the breakthroughs are, they just approved a drug from China this week, but too late for my dad.
Then again, you should still get a second opinion. And if you don't live in a major metropolis, you should go to one for a consultation. There are specialists in the city who see these illnesses all day long, whereas in the hinterlands you get generalists, who see your condition much less frequently, and are not up on the latest breakthroughs. My dad ended up going to this physician in Arizona, Dr. Salmon. He said half the chemotherapy was just as good, which turned out to be true. It was hard to tolerate to begin with, just imagine if my father had to take double the dose.
You'll get cancer. Everybody does. At least if you live long enough. That's what Mitch, my internist, says. That all his aged patients have had at least one bout of cancer. You think you're gonna live forever, you're not. And you probably don't realize it. But one day you will. Maybe you'll try to fight it, with plastic surgery, quack treatments, but no one here gets out alive.
And speaking of quack treatments... If you get cancer you'll hear about them, from friends telling you western medicine is screwed-up and if you just ate the right thing, went to their unaccredited shaman, you'd live. You won't.
Why the government gets a bad name here I don't know. And Big Pharma too. Big Pharma is flawed, but you want their medications when you're bitten by a bug. And the government is looking out for your health. At least the FDA, the CDC has been politicized, it used to be run by lifers, now it's run by a political appointee, and politics enters the equation. We want someone like Fauci, who is not beholden to the ballot box, but somehow he's the enemy now too. I mean life must be tough if you can't trust anybody other than nitwits who spew falsehoods that align with your beliefs. We need some trust in our society in order for it to function, big time.
Not that I planned to write all this medical stuff when I started typing. But I'm gonna die, and it's now sooner rather than later. It's weird. Not frightening, but hard to accept. I look in the mirror and I'm old, but inside I'm still young. But I do notice no matter how much I exercise I can't build the muscle mass of yore. But there's so much I want to do. But my generation's time is waning. At this point, the boomers my age are either running the outfit or retiring. It's very strange. Everybody's talking about laying down their sword and living a life of leisure. Seems positively scary to me. What are you gonna do all day? I got enough of streaming TV during lockdown, let me out!
But you reach a certain age and you realize it's just a game, it's all meaningless. But those younger just cannot understand. That's the funny thing about life, you can tell people about it all day long, but in truth they have to experience it for themselves.
But some wisdom is important. If you've got a pile driver parent, that's probably good. When I came home from high school the first quarter with a bad report card my father went positively insane. And that he knew how to do. That was one of his skills, going absolutely crazy.
He'd lose control. The older you got, the more you got scared. You'd be standing there, enduring verbal punishment, but you were more worried this guy was gonna start destroying the environment, wreaking havoc.
But in truth education is everything. You're eager to start, people drop out to do their heart's desire, but as you age you realize that head start was just a drop in the bucket. Four years? In the blink of an eye.
So my father supported my passions, but education was always number one.
And he was a strange guy. Very internalized. My older sister went to social work school and started to unpack the family's issues and at first my mother was open to it, but then she shut down, didn't want to hear it, barked back that yeah, everything was her fault, right...facetiously.
And it's funny, because my mother was the verbal one, the life of the party, the straw that stirred the drink, but her death is liberating in a way the passing of my dad was not.
Well, maybe too much time has gone by and I don't remember. I do remember my dad always being there for me when I was truly low, whereas my mother'd kick me. And then she'd be pissed that I wouldn't share my feelings. So you can put me down?
It was hard to even have a conversation with my father. You could listen to him, giving you the Morris Lefsetz Philosophy, but as far as telling your story and interacting, never really could happen. But he had a bit of a sixth sense. He was the one who took me back to the big box store to return that record. Hell, when you're young and you mix in some OCD a defective record could mean a lot to you, throw you off course. My mother wouldn't quite laugh, she'd just say it wasn't a big deal. So I stopped sharing. And then she was mad I did.
My father was a self-made man. He came from nothing. And was very proud he established what he did. He never ever invested in the stock market, he didn't trust it. Real estate was his game. Not that he had enough money to play it at a high level, but...
Those were different times. Everybody was middle class. No one was rich, not like they are today. Sure, there were people poorer and wealthier but you could reach out and touch them, you could enter their sphere, end up in their world, whereas today it's an impossibility.
And when you're a strange guy people say strange things about you. My dad died, but it didn't take long, until just after the funeral, that some people started talking shit about him, as if they were better. My father knew how they felt. He'd always say we don't live in a big house, we don't drive fancy cars, but we travel and eat out, we have a good life. And we did.
Yes we did. And my father cared about his kids before he cared about himself. During the tennis boom he bought a racket at the gas station, from a passing sot. He didn't need a good one, the rest of us did.
Now today it's trendy to poor-mouth. To say you had nothing and still have nothing and isn't it nice that others have it so good. Forget that so many are lying. Someone just told me he grew up blue collar, lower middle class, but then he let slip his dad was a lawyer. Impossible back in the fifties and sixties. First and foremost there were so many fewer attorneys. But my dad laughed at these people, caught up in their petty games, he was living in his own bubble, his own universe, and created his own rules. My father never adjusted for anybody, being himself earned him his coin.
But we lived in the suburbs, the dreams were different.
So many from my generation grew up in similar circumstances. They did okay financially, but their aspirations were not that high. Writing this right now I realize my aspirations came from my dad, not my mother, the culture vulture. My mother always told me I couldn't do it, but my dad would smile, maybe give me some cash to proceed and then it was up to me.
Not that he could understand me. But the weirdest thing is so many years later I realize I'm just like him. Which is just plain strange, because if you asked me back then I'd say no way. I too don't suffer fools. I too don't weigh in until the conversation is so far off the rails that untruths are being accepted as fact. Because if you interrupt with the truth, people don't like it. There are people who know the truth, with ambition, but you've got to make the contact, you've got to figure out a way to enter their circle, be accepted in the virtual club. That's something most people don't understand whatsoever. If you're dealing with someone further up the food chain your only hope of being accepted is acting like you belong, that you're worthy. Kiss ass and they'll keep you at arm's length. Meet so and so, tell the story, a brush with greatness. But hang with them and go to dinner? Priceless!
I really didn't understand all this until I went to Middlebury College. This was not the suburbs, these people's fathers were running the country, and suddenly I had access. That's probably the biggest lesson I learned there, how to deal with the rich and famous, much more important than anything I learned in class.
And my father set me up. He paid the freight. He was proud. Much prouder than I was, in fact. Same deal when I became a lawyer. But then he expected me to stand up and fly straight, when I'm categorically incapable of doing so.
That's another thing I never realized, my upbringing prevented me from playing the game. Which is all about calibrating your personality and lying so you can make friends and get ahead in business. My father was unfiltered, I had to figure out a way to be so myself and make it work financially.
But then he cut me off. My mother made him. My mother believed in an honest day's work, punching the clock. God, she tore me down so much that I thought I should be one of those people standing on the street corner, twirling a sign. It was the opposite of today's generation, parents telling their kids how great they are. Even worse, my parents would tell us how great other kids were. My sisters are still scarred by this. Then again, this yields determination, to prove them wrong. Well, at least in me.
My father knew the grandkids, but not the great-grandkids, who my mother knew before she passed. My father is in the rearview mirror, a part of history. And soon I will be too.
I do the math in my head all the time. How growing up in the sixties if someone was born in the twenties, they were really old. And the Beatles were born in the early forties, very different from the early fifties. And now if you were born in the eighties you're in your thirties. How did that happen?
And I see people still acting like they did as children. In their behavior. Where do I fit in?
I guess I don't.
Well, in truth my shrink taught me how. And for years I did that, and there are a ton of rewards in being a member of the group, but now even that group are out of the business, most of them. Music is a young person's game. You think it's forever, but in reality it's for very few.
70 seemed old back in 1992, now it seems young. But it's not only me who's going to pass, but everything I believed in. The culture. Most of it was of a moment. Maybe better than what we've got today, but those were different times, you have no idea how much the internet has changed the world. At first it was exciting, now we can see the flaws. The mis and disinformation. The ability to become an influencer, famous from your own home. And you're connected everywhere, and you wish in many ways you weren't. You don't want to hear about the old people, what they're doing. And you don't want all of their information online, to look up. Because when you do you see where you are. On your way over the hill, when you thought you were different. It's kind of like "Godfather III," just when you think you're out of it, you get pulled back in, your whole history boomerangs back on you.
And I remember the dates. My parents' birthdays. Those of college friends. Exes. Some of these people aren't here anymore, and that's strange. You think about stuff you did that you're embarrassed by and then you realize it doesn't make any difference, you can write about it, you're liberated, because they're dead! And soon you will be too.
And it's not that I want my father back around, he'd still be the same guy. He still wouldn't fully understand my hopes and desires. It's just that now I'm part of the continuum. He had his time, I had mine, and soon it'll be someone else's. We all think we're living in the future, but one day we wake up and it's the past.
They told us it would be this way, but we didn't believe them. But it happened to us too. We're now the elder statesmen. We didn't trust anybody over thirty, should today's generation trust us?
We've got a lot to say, but they're not listening.
But you get old enough and you realize the totems of success are nice, but not necessary, even worse, no one is toting up the numbers, there isn't a tally at the end, no one ends up on top. Ultimately you're on your own trip, you've got to satisfy yourself. I read a great thing in a book a couple of weeks back. The protagonist was debating whether to take a risk. And he spoke with someone older and wiser and they said that's how you move ahead in life, by making decisions. You make one, and even if it's wrong, it will take you to a different place, with a new viewpoint and new opportunities. It's so hard for me to make a decision. Has this held me back? I want to do it all, will time run out of the hourglass first?
My father made decisions easily. I am the beneficiary.
I am his son.
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Fee Waybill-This Week's Podcast
Fee Waybill is the lead singer of the Tubes. Listen to how he made it from Arizona to San Francisco, from the country to the city, from roadie to frontman. And get an education on polo to boot!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/fee-waybill-93635114/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fee-waybill/id1316200737?i=1000552806204
https://open.spotify.com/episode/175E9UKBhy6Uwz6jHE4CmZ?si=HJSIOaMPQeKoU8z1wtT88w
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/7393fa53-98eb-4eae-adff-82bfe28823c5/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-fee-waybill
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/fee-waybill-93635114/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fee-waybill/id1316200737?i=1000552806204
https://open.spotify.com/episode/175E9UKBhy6Uwz6jHE4CmZ?si=HJSIOaMPQeKoU8z1wtT88w
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/7393fa53-98eb-4eae-adff-82bfe28823c5/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-fee-waybill
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast
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Wednesday 2 March 2022
The State Of The Union
Does anybody take this shit seriously?
It's political theatre, and a bad production at that. The team in control stands up and applauds, sits down and then does it all over again. Over and over and over again. The president promises stuff that will never come to be, and then the pundits analyze this worthless affair ad infinitum. I never watch, it's a waste of time. I read about it after the fact. But tonight, doing my back exercises, I tuned in. This is our country?
I guess when I was young I believed in the government. And I'm not talking about the bureaucracy, all the stuff some want to drown in the bathtub. I mean I thought the elected officials were educated and intelligent people with the best interests of the public at large in their hearts. After all, there's not a single person elected in the House or Senate who only represents people from one side, but that's how they act. Until they want to weasel out of commitments, like Joe Manchin, telling us those on the other side won't tolerate it. No Joe, you don't want to vote for it because you're afraid you won't be able to get all those donations, and god forbid you lose your seat... When did serving as an elected official become a permanent job? Too many of these people have lost touch with real Americans. And by that I don't mean just those living in rural areas with too much power in the Senate and ultimately receiving more than their share of government aid. If you've got money, you're removed from the street. That's one of the reasons you make the money. The goal is to have a private jet and vacation on a private island, meanwhile jumping from house to house with impenetrable security. You don't even do your own grocery shopping, how in the hell would you know what is going on?
Oh, by reading the news. And believe me, that goes a long way. But never forget that the news media missed Trump. You've got to do more than go out there and shake hands. You've got to read your e-mail. You've got to live amongst your constituents. You've got to come down off your pedestal and be one of us. But no, politics is show business for ugly people and they all think they're better than the rest of us, ain't that a laugh.
Now, with democracy in jeopardy, the Ukraine war putting the entire world into focus, illustrating how we're all intertwined, you'd think the country could come together. BUT NO! Politics has turned into a 24/7 sporting competition. You've got to take the other tack from your opponents. I mean aren't we all against Russia? I mean even Tucker Carlson switched sides.
As for Donald Trump telling us it wouldn't happen under his watch... Why doesn't he tell us not only exactly why, but what Biden should be doing, be presidential. But no, we just get endless self-promotional platitudes, saying to trust him. Does anybody truly trust Donald Trump? Not even Melania does. They voted for Trump because he captured and articulated their pain and frustration, something the Democrats have given up on. The Democrats are all intellectual now. Feeling is not a part of their platform. As for Biden...Bill Clinton felt people's pain better, however his wife Hillary was a technocrat.
So the bottom line is Putin is a dictator.
I'm just reading the news and they're speculating there's something wrong with him. He looks puffy. Macron said he sounded different.
Oh come on, Putin is single-minded and he doesn't suffer fools. Would you like someone to take a look at a photograph of you and judge you?
I mean at some point elder people are more prone to dementia, like Ronald Reagan, who had the disease while still in office, but enough with Biden being out to lunch. He hasn't evidenced this whatsoever. And he's your president as well as mine, and what he does in office affects us all, especially regarding Ukraine.
And then there was the inane response from Kim Reynolds, the Governor of Iowa.
The Republicans employ code words. They focus on social issues, which usually fade away, to rile their troops and get elected. So fearful of critical race theory, which is not even taught in today's elementary and high schools, they elected Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, who immediately reversed so much of the progress and social equality measures his Democratic predecessor instituted.
So Kim Reynolds rails on about education. That we've got to get the parents involved. If only they truly were! And I don't see them running to get minorities' parents involved. No, this is about coddled white people, who want vouchers so they can attend schools that exclude everybody who doesn't look like them, or maybe have a token or two. It's about separation, not inclusion. And in truth, parents shouldn't be hands-on re the curriculum anyway! If you think you know better, home school your kids, which too many people are doing, as if it's all about the subjects. Most of what you learn in school is how to get along with people! Like college, I learned a hell of a lot more out of class than in. If for no other reason than I was exposed to people from around the world, with different backgrounds and beliefs. I mean I grew up in a suburb, only fifty miles from New York City, but until I went to college I had no idea what was going on in the rest of the country, despite watching television and reading the news. I'd never been around people SO RICH! You think you want a seat at the table, but you can't get and keep one until you know where these people are coming from, how to behave around them.
So all this stuff Reynolds and the Republicans are going on about we all want. We all want better schools, we all want a more efficient government. Then again, in some cases, Reynolds wants the community to do it instead of the government. Can the community fight a war? Is the community gonna take care of the underprivileged and abandoned? No, the government does the work the rest of us don't want to.
And talking about Democrats and taxes. This ties me in a knot, trickle down economics never works, the Republicans kept lowering taxes and the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. And therefore every new tax is wrong? I mean why can't you be a student of history?
And it's not only tax policy, but environmental policy. First, let's accept climate change. Second, let's stop putting up straw men like China. The truth is China has cut pollution far in excess of what the U.S. has. And their electrical vehicle production and consumption far outweighs that of America. Oh, but you'll read blowhards in the WSJ talking about electric vehicle subsidies... What about gas and oil subsidies, what about farm subsidies? The government invests for the future, LIKE THE INTERNET! Which I'm employing to reach you right now. You spend to grow.
As for the governmental subsidies, to keep people and the country afloat... They didn't cause inflation, Covid and the supply chain did. Furthermore, the economy is raging. Why do people keep thinking governmental monetary policy is the same as personal monetary policy. It is not. Turns out printing money can be a good thing. Austerity... Germany and the EU almost broke Greece and Spain a decade ago. Made them pay for prior mistakes. End result? Generations out of work.
So let's find common ground on a few of these points.
Right now, the enemy is Putin. And we can't be isolationist. Because rust never sleeps and neither does Putin's effort to restore the old Soviet Union. I mean Tucker Carlson went to Hungary and sang its praises. What next, praising Cuba? Or North Korea?
Yes, we can differ on how much to tax and spend. But that's not what we're doing, we're doing NOTHING! As if broken down infrastructure will fix itself. Yeah, what if you're on that bridge when it collapses. How lucky do you feel, punk.
As for the tearing down of all Covid restrictions, which seems to be a train that has left the station based on the words of a very few blowhards... Have you seen what happened in Denmark when they did this? Covid infections WENT THROUGH THE ROOF! But Denmark's vaccination rate is very high, the United States' is very low. And the new variant is more contagious. So if you're not vaxxed... Once again, how lucky do you feel? When you have to swim across the river, and it looks kinda far, do you want to depend on your inner strength or would you like the aid of a life preserver? Which will keep you afloat when you tire, so you can rest and then complete your journey.
Then again, safety nets are anathema. It's like everybody wants to live in the old west, with their boots and their gun. Well, if you got sick or shot in the old west...you died. There was not a hospital nearby. And if you get Covid and need to go to the hospital, if you have to go to the hospital for any reason, good luck getting in. Did you know that more people have died of Omicron than Delta? Yes, Delta was inherently more deadly, but so many more people got Omicron.
Don't bother to send me b.s. contradicting what I have to say. That's just b.s. from tireless self-promoters looking to become rich and famous, selling their untested nutritional products to fund their quest. You'll put this junk in your mouth but not take a Covid vaccine?
We have a lot of common ground. But it's being denied, by Mitch McConnell and the rest of the team players. Imagine if you worked at the corporation and you told the boss your goal was to make sure your coworker never completed anything, how high would that fly? NOT AT ALL! You work together for the best result. I mean come on Mitch, your job is to legislate, you really can't find common ground? I'm sure if we had dinner we'd find we're more similar than different, but you single-handedly changed the balance in the Supreme Court, undermining the INTEGRITY of the institution. And yes, I can no longer belief in the Supreme Court, and I'm not the only one. And as a lawyer, the entire system is based on stare decisis but these judges are ignoring it? Tell me these decisions are not political.
You don't want to involve the police and you don't want to go to court. Even when you win you often lose. It's expensive and try collecting.
Ukraine is a thorny issue, can we please address that?
And pierce the veil. The Republicans keep foisting good-looking women to spread their message, but so many of their policies are anti-woman. Do you think we're stupid? Oh, that's right, many of us are. Believing that Biden is responsible for dramatic gas price increases. But in 2021 America had the third highest domestic oil production in history!
And Tucker Carlson railing against dollar stores. I can't even comprehend this. So you're poor and you have to shop there and now Tucker is criticizing you for it, telling you you're making America dirtier, littering all the while?
Yes, read the "Washington Post" fact-check on Tucker's Monday night show: https://wapo.st/3HyKW5m I really wish you would, I pay attention to Fox News.
And while you're at it, read Thomas Friedman's piece on Ukraine in today's "New York Times": https://nyti.ms/3IDVXn7 He lays out the three possibilities of how the war in Ukraine plays out. You need to familiarize yourself with the possibilities, after all this is affecting you and your wallet, never mind your future.
And enough with the left crapping on Friedman. Sure, he's married to a rich woman and he's not always right, but basically you're pissed he's in the "New York Times" and you're not. That's America today, everybody believes their opinion is entitled to a hearing. Talk to your friends and neighbors, but if you want a bigger audience you've got to earn it, build it. And journalism is a game, I don't care how good you are, do you know these people at the "Times" and other papers?
I don't and I don't care. And some of these blowhards are so bad. Farhad Manjoo was a reasonable tech columnist, but as an opinion writer, he's too often whacked. And Michell Goldberg too often shows her biases and misses the point. But the "Times" has never called me to write for them and never will. I own it. I've got my audience, I've got distribution and if I do something really damn good it goes viral, that's how it works.
Everything is hard. But Americans want it to be easy. And everybody believes they're entitled to be a star. And the one that bugs me the most is Americans don't believe in sacrificing, not whatsoever. The greater good? Screw the rest of the populace. In the U.S. no one can lose their job, progress is hindered because wankers want the past protected, and that's a journey to disaster, which is happening right now in electric cars. GM and Ford are dabbling at best, Lucid and Rivian can't even build them. Meanwhile, China and VW are whole hog. And despite all the blowback on Tesla, it keeps selling more and more cars.
So it's all bad. Not only do I not believe in too many Americans, I don't even believe in the SYSTEM anymore. I don't call this democracy, when the Dakotas get four senators and California gets two. But the Constitution is inviolate. Why? Imagine if your smartphone or computer were inviolate, imagine using an original iPhone, even worse a Treo.
It's dusk in America. But can't we at least rally around the common enemies, Russia and Covid?
I guess not.
It's political theatre, and a bad production at that. The team in control stands up and applauds, sits down and then does it all over again. Over and over and over again. The president promises stuff that will never come to be, and then the pundits analyze this worthless affair ad infinitum. I never watch, it's a waste of time. I read about it after the fact. But tonight, doing my back exercises, I tuned in. This is our country?
I guess when I was young I believed in the government. And I'm not talking about the bureaucracy, all the stuff some want to drown in the bathtub. I mean I thought the elected officials were educated and intelligent people with the best interests of the public at large in their hearts. After all, there's not a single person elected in the House or Senate who only represents people from one side, but that's how they act. Until they want to weasel out of commitments, like Joe Manchin, telling us those on the other side won't tolerate it. No Joe, you don't want to vote for it because you're afraid you won't be able to get all those donations, and god forbid you lose your seat... When did serving as an elected official become a permanent job? Too many of these people have lost touch with real Americans. And by that I don't mean just those living in rural areas with too much power in the Senate and ultimately receiving more than their share of government aid. If you've got money, you're removed from the street. That's one of the reasons you make the money. The goal is to have a private jet and vacation on a private island, meanwhile jumping from house to house with impenetrable security. You don't even do your own grocery shopping, how in the hell would you know what is going on?
Oh, by reading the news. And believe me, that goes a long way. But never forget that the news media missed Trump. You've got to do more than go out there and shake hands. You've got to read your e-mail. You've got to live amongst your constituents. You've got to come down off your pedestal and be one of us. But no, politics is show business for ugly people and they all think they're better than the rest of us, ain't that a laugh.
Now, with democracy in jeopardy, the Ukraine war putting the entire world into focus, illustrating how we're all intertwined, you'd think the country could come together. BUT NO! Politics has turned into a 24/7 sporting competition. You've got to take the other tack from your opponents. I mean aren't we all against Russia? I mean even Tucker Carlson switched sides.
As for Donald Trump telling us it wouldn't happen under his watch... Why doesn't he tell us not only exactly why, but what Biden should be doing, be presidential. But no, we just get endless self-promotional platitudes, saying to trust him. Does anybody truly trust Donald Trump? Not even Melania does. They voted for Trump because he captured and articulated their pain and frustration, something the Democrats have given up on. The Democrats are all intellectual now. Feeling is not a part of their platform. As for Biden...Bill Clinton felt people's pain better, however his wife Hillary was a technocrat.
So the bottom line is Putin is a dictator.
I'm just reading the news and they're speculating there's something wrong with him. He looks puffy. Macron said he sounded different.
Oh come on, Putin is single-minded and he doesn't suffer fools. Would you like someone to take a look at a photograph of you and judge you?
I mean at some point elder people are more prone to dementia, like Ronald Reagan, who had the disease while still in office, but enough with Biden being out to lunch. He hasn't evidenced this whatsoever. And he's your president as well as mine, and what he does in office affects us all, especially regarding Ukraine.
And then there was the inane response from Kim Reynolds, the Governor of Iowa.
The Republicans employ code words. They focus on social issues, which usually fade away, to rile their troops and get elected. So fearful of critical race theory, which is not even taught in today's elementary and high schools, they elected Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, who immediately reversed so much of the progress and social equality measures his Democratic predecessor instituted.
So Kim Reynolds rails on about education. That we've got to get the parents involved. If only they truly were! And I don't see them running to get minorities' parents involved. No, this is about coddled white people, who want vouchers so they can attend schools that exclude everybody who doesn't look like them, or maybe have a token or two. It's about separation, not inclusion. And in truth, parents shouldn't be hands-on re the curriculum anyway! If you think you know better, home school your kids, which too many people are doing, as if it's all about the subjects. Most of what you learn in school is how to get along with people! Like college, I learned a hell of a lot more out of class than in. If for no other reason than I was exposed to people from around the world, with different backgrounds and beliefs. I mean I grew up in a suburb, only fifty miles from New York City, but until I went to college I had no idea what was going on in the rest of the country, despite watching television and reading the news. I'd never been around people SO RICH! You think you want a seat at the table, but you can't get and keep one until you know where these people are coming from, how to behave around them.
So all this stuff Reynolds and the Republicans are going on about we all want. We all want better schools, we all want a more efficient government. Then again, in some cases, Reynolds wants the community to do it instead of the government. Can the community fight a war? Is the community gonna take care of the underprivileged and abandoned? No, the government does the work the rest of us don't want to.
And talking about Democrats and taxes. This ties me in a knot, trickle down economics never works, the Republicans kept lowering taxes and the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. And therefore every new tax is wrong? I mean why can't you be a student of history?
And it's not only tax policy, but environmental policy. First, let's accept climate change. Second, let's stop putting up straw men like China. The truth is China has cut pollution far in excess of what the U.S. has. And their electrical vehicle production and consumption far outweighs that of America. Oh, but you'll read blowhards in the WSJ talking about electric vehicle subsidies... What about gas and oil subsidies, what about farm subsidies? The government invests for the future, LIKE THE INTERNET! Which I'm employing to reach you right now. You spend to grow.
As for the governmental subsidies, to keep people and the country afloat... They didn't cause inflation, Covid and the supply chain did. Furthermore, the economy is raging. Why do people keep thinking governmental monetary policy is the same as personal monetary policy. It is not. Turns out printing money can be a good thing. Austerity... Germany and the EU almost broke Greece and Spain a decade ago. Made them pay for prior mistakes. End result? Generations out of work.
So let's find common ground on a few of these points.
Right now, the enemy is Putin. And we can't be isolationist. Because rust never sleeps and neither does Putin's effort to restore the old Soviet Union. I mean Tucker Carlson went to Hungary and sang its praises. What next, praising Cuba? Or North Korea?
Yes, we can differ on how much to tax and spend. But that's not what we're doing, we're doing NOTHING! As if broken down infrastructure will fix itself. Yeah, what if you're on that bridge when it collapses. How lucky do you feel, punk.
As for the tearing down of all Covid restrictions, which seems to be a train that has left the station based on the words of a very few blowhards... Have you seen what happened in Denmark when they did this? Covid infections WENT THROUGH THE ROOF! But Denmark's vaccination rate is very high, the United States' is very low. And the new variant is more contagious. So if you're not vaxxed... Once again, how lucky do you feel? When you have to swim across the river, and it looks kinda far, do you want to depend on your inner strength or would you like the aid of a life preserver? Which will keep you afloat when you tire, so you can rest and then complete your journey.
Then again, safety nets are anathema. It's like everybody wants to live in the old west, with their boots and their gun. Well, if you got sick or shot in the old west...you died. There was not a hospital nearby. And if you get Covid and need to go to the hospital, if you have to go to the hospital for any reason, good luck getting in. Did you know that more people have died of Omicron than Delta? Yes, Delta was inherently more deadly, but so many more people got Omicron.
Don't bother to send me b.s. contradicting what I have to say. That's just b.s. from tireless self-promoters looking to become rich and famous, selling their untested nutritional products to fund their quest. You'll put this junk in your mouth but not take a Covid vaccine?
We have a lot of common ground. But it's being denied, by Mitch McConnell and the rest of the team players. Imagine if you worked at the corporation and you told the boss your goal was to make sure your coworker never completed anything, how high would that fly? NOT AT ALL! You work together for the best result. I mean come on Mitch, your job is to legislate, you really can't find common ground? I'm sure if we had dinner we'd find we're more similar than different, but you single-handedly changed the balance in the Supreme Court, undermining the INTEGRITY of the institution. And yes, I can no longer belief in the Supreme Court, and I'm not the only one. And as a lawyer, the entire system is based on stare decisis but these judges are ignoring it? Tell me these decisions are not political.
You don't want to involve the police and you don't want to go to court. Even when you win you often lose. It's expensive and try collecting.
Ukraine is a thorny issue, can we please address that?
And pierce the veil. The Republicans keep foisting good-looking women to spread their message, but so many of their policies are anti-woman. Do you think we're stupid? Oh, that's right, many of us are. Believing that Biden is responsible for dramatic gas price increases. But in 2021 America had the third highest domestic oil production in history!
And Tucker Carlson railing against dollar stores. I can't even comprehend this. So you're poor and you have to shop there and now Tucker is criticizing you for it, telling you you're making America dirtier, littering all the while?
Yes, read the "Washington Post" fact-check on Tucker's Monday night show: https://wapo.st/3HyKW5m I really wish you would, I pay attention to Fox News.
And while you're at it, read Thomas Friedman's piece on Ukraine in today's "New York Times": https://nyti.ms/3IDVXn7 He lays out the three possibilities of how the war in Ukraine plays out. You need to familiarize yourself with the possibilities, after all this is affecting you and your wallet, never mind your future.
And enough with the left crapping on Friedman. Sure, he's married to a rich woman and he's not always right, but basically you're pissed he's in the "New York Times" and you're not. That's America today, everybody believes their opinion is entitled to a hearing. Talk to your friends and neighbors, but if you want a bigger audience you've got to earn it, build it. And journalism is a game, I don't care how good you are, do you know these people at the "Times" and other papers?
I don't and I don't care. And some of these blowhards are so bad. Farhad Manjoo was a reasonable tech columnist, but as an opinion writer, he's too often whacked. And Michell Goldberg too often shows her biases and misses the point. But the "Times" has never called me to write for them and never will. I own it. I've got my audience, I've got distribution and if I do something really damn good it goes viral, that's how it works.
Everything is hard. But Americans want it to be easy. And everybody believes they're entitled to be a star. And the one that bugs me the most is Americans don't believe in sacrificing, not whatsoever. The greater good? Screw the rest of the populace. In the U.S. no one can lose their job, progress is hindered because wankers want the past protected, and that's a journey to disaster, which is happening right now in electric cars. GM and Ford are dabbling at best, Lucid and Rivian can't even build them. Meanwhile, China and VW are whole hog. And despite all the blowback on Tesla, it keeps selling more and more cars.
So it's all bad. Not only do I not believe in too many Americans, I don't even believe in the SYSTEM anymore. I don't call this democracy, when the Dakotas get four senators and California gets two. But the Constitution is inviolate. Why? Imagine if your smartphone or computer were inviolate, imagine using an original iPhone, even worse a Treo.
It's dusk in America. But can't we at least rally around the common enemies, Russia and Covid?
I guess not.
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Tuesday 1 March 2022
Border
Trailer: https://bit.ly/35fmdWJ
This is one of the strangest movies I've ever seen.
Can I talk about movies? Or should it be war 24/7. I don't want to be disrespectful, but I am paying attention. And I don't see how the Ukrainians ultimately succeed against the Russians, who thought a little dab would do 'em and when this turned out not to be true doubled down, tripled down.
I mean we could send troops. Not only us, the EU too. But then what happens, does it turn into a worldwide conflagration instantly? Desperate people do desperate things. Meaning if we push his back to the wall, then Putin really will launch his nukes, hell, he'll think he has nothing left to lose.
Meanwhile, this war is happening. There, not here. It's so strange to live a normal life here when they're losing their lives there. When survival is the only thing on your mind, well, along with fighting back. Most Americans have never been in that situation. A disaster for them is when the Wi-Fi goes down. But that's one reason to be athletic, to go out into the wilderness, because if you do this on a regular basis, I guarantee you you'll end up in a life or death situation. At least it will seem so to you. And that's all that matters. And you'll never forget it.
I mean there's a war going on right now and people are being shelled and losing their lives? It's almost incomprehensible, doesn't compute.
But we did watch this movie last night.
Actually, we've been on a run of stuff that I don't feel comfortable recommending, like "Hellbound." The "Telegraph" said it was one of the best foreign streaming shows extant, more popular in South Korea than "Squid Game." And I've watched a bit of Korean TV. Tends to be slow, with a lot of air. But not "Hellbound." They talk, there's action, but there's this supernatural element... And that doesn't really appeal to me, but I don't want my money back from Netflix.
But one thing we did watch which was a ten was "Last Round," from Denmark, starring Mads Mikkelsen, who is never bad, the worst he ever was was when he played the Russian president in "House of Cards," but in his native country? Superb. It's billed as a comedy, but half of it is drama. What you've got is a high school teacher who has lost his way in life and then he and his buddies... Watch this, you'll dig it. It wasn't until I was researching after it was done that I realized it won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.
And "Border" had an Oscar nomination, but it did not win, and I don't want to tell you the category because that would be giving too much away. Because this film is gonna start and almost from the very beginning you're gonna wonder...WHAT IS GOING ON?
It's not incomprehensible, it's not the editing, it's just who is this person and where is this going!
Tina. Her job is as a customs agent, looking for contraband.
I thought it was a crime movie, law and order, but that didn't turn out to be the case.
You see, Tina looks strange and...
I almost don't want to tell you anymore. Because that's key to the experience, watching and figuring out what is happening.
And when it's over...you can't let go of it. You could have bad dreams, maybe, but it's not a horror film, not even a thriller.
But I immediately had to go online and find out the backstory, try to find answers to my questions.
Turns out "Border" is based on a short story, not that you've heard of the author. And there are Reddit threads discussing the film. I figured there would be little information. But if you saw "Border, you either loved it or hated it! Like the guy from "The New Yorker." He went by accident, the other film was sold out, he thought it was a different movie. He thought it was one of the best films he's ever seen —"I Accidentally Walked Into 'Border' And It Kind Of Changed My Life': https://bit.ly/3vtIY3N. But walking out of the theatre a mother was saying it was the worst!
Watch "Border" and get back to me. It and "Last Round" are on Hulu. And plenty of people have that. I not only want to know if you loved it or hated it, but what you thought really happened.
Let me know.
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This is one of the strangest movies I've ever seen.
Can I talk about movies? Or should it be war 24/7. I don't want to be disrespectful, but I am paying attention. And I don't see how the Ukrainians ultimately succeed against the Russians, who thought a little dab would do 'em and when this turned out not to be true doubled down, tripled down.
I mean we could send troops. Not only us, the EU too. But then what happens, does it turn into a worldwide conflagration instantly? Desperate people do desperate things. Meaning if we push his back to the wall, then Putin really will launch his nukes, hell, he'll think he has nothing left to lose.
Meanwhile, this war is happening. There, not here. It's so strange to live a normal life here when they're losing their lives there. When survival is the only thing on your mind, well, along with fighting back. Most Americans have never been in that situation. A disaster for them is when the Wi-Fi goes down. But that's one reason to be athletic, to go out into the wilderness, because if you do this on a regular basis, I guarantee you you'll end up in a life or death situation. At least it will seem so to you. And that's all that matters. And you'll never forget it.
I mean there's a war going on right now and people are being shelled and losing their lives? It's almost incomprehensible, doesn't compute.
But we did watch this movie last night.
Actually, we've been on a run of stuff that I don't feel comfortable recommending, like "Hellbound." The "Telegraph" said it was one of the best foreign streaming shows extant, more popular in South Korea than "Squid Game." And I've watched a bit of Korean TV. Tends to be slow, with a lot of air. But not "Hellbound." They talk, there's action, but there's this supernatural element... And that doesn't really appeal to me, but I don't want my money back from Netflix.
But one thing we did watch which was a ten was "Last Round," from Denmark, starring Mads Mikkelsen, who is never bad, the worst he ever was was when he played the Russian president in "House of Cards," but in his native country? Superb. It's billed as a comedy, but half of it is drama. What you've got is a high school teacher who has lost his way in life and then he and his buddies... Watch this, you'll dig it. It wasn't until I was researching after it was done that I realized it won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.
And "Border" had an Oscar nomination, but it did not win, and I don't want to tell you the category because that would be giving too much away. Because this film is gonna start and almost from the very beginning you're gonna wonder...WHAT IS GOING ON?
It's not incomprehensible, it's not the editing, it's just who is this person and where is this going!
Tina. Her job is as a customs agent, looking for contraband.
I thought it was a crime movie, law and order, but that didn't turn out to be the case.
You see, Tina looks strange and...
I almost don't want to tell you anymore. Because that's key to the experience, watching and figuring out what is happening.
And when it's over...you can't let go of it. You could have bad dreams, maybe, but it's not a horror film, not even a thriller.
But I immediately had to go online and find out the backstory, try to find answers to my questions.
Turns out "Border" is based on a short story, not that you've heard of the author. And there are Reddit threads discussing the film. I figured there would be little information. But if you saw "Border, you either loved it or hated it! Like the guy from "The New Yorker." He went by accident, the other film was sold out, he thought it was a different movie. He thought it was one of the best films he's ever seen —"I Accidentally Walked Into 'Border' And It Kind Of Changed My Life': https://bit.ly/3vtIY3N. But walking out of the theatre a mother was saying it was the worst!
Watch "Border" and get back to me. It and "Last Round" are on Hulu. And plenty of people have that. I not only want to know if you loved it or hated it, but what you thought really happened.
Let me know.
--
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--
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Re-The Death Of Bands
Funny, I just got my solo band back together.
I didn't know if they were going to still be on my team after two years with the pandemic, but they're jubilant.
But hell no on going on the road, unless I get a fly-in offer from a festival, which I'm not completely counting out the possibility of as my live stream following is building in the jam band circuit.
Recently I got to do a solo set inside the venue with Twiddle, which grew my live stream audiences by about 10% maybe. Modest, I'll take it.
So yes I'm excited to have the band back, but not stopping the solo live streams, people watch every Monday still, 97 weeks in.
It's great to have a band just for the power you feel from it and how it helps you grow as a performer.
The way Springsteen describes it in the Broadway show, it's true. It's like a force elevating you, if the musicians are great and you have chemistry.
But you've gotta pay everyone if you're a solo artist. Whether they ask for it or not. Even if it's just what you can afford to throw them for a rehearsal, that's how you get reliability and loyalty. I don't deal with any flakes anymore. Flaky musicians are usually the ones who are willing to play for free.
Yeah man I've been down that road, nine years in a band called BuzzUniverse teetering on the edge of being the next big jam band in the Northeast, but like you said… Your fire one person suddenly you realize 10 fans are gone… All that stuff, dead on. Lived it, done it… Done with it!
Gregory Mcloughlin
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Death Of Bands
Spot-on as ever, Bob.
Myself and a partner bootstrapped a music PR firm (Sweetheart Pub) working in the Americana niche in late 2019 and we've found success and enough business that we've never had to cold-call prospective clients to make ends meet ... and I'm also a member of a "successful" band (Great Peacock). I put that in air quotes because, yeah, it's almost impossible to make a living as a band today. It can be done, as you've outlined here, but it relies SO heavily on the live/tour component (playing to the cabal, if you can even get their attention).
We've had all the things a lot of baby bands would kill for -- top-tier support slots on tours, festival slots, radio success, a great manager / booking agent / publicist / two radio promoters all backing us. We did it without a proper label (we were lucky enough to find an "angel investor" type deal), but holy shit does the financial well dry up fast paying all those folks on top of gas/food/hotels on the road. We still get tagged as a 'baby band' by those above us on the food chain, which is undeniably true as much as we don't want to believe it. It hurts as we're all in our mid-30s now with our only viable income source being touring -- living and dying on the road is a younger person's game, and it's only gonna get harder as the years go by.
We've had decent streaming success, certainly not enough to count on the income, but we've hit all the desirable "discovery"/curated playlists that acts in our genre would want (Indigo, Pulse of Americana, etc). Six-figure monthly listeners when we were on-cycle, which is about as good as it's gonna get in our genre. What has that really done for us...? I couldn't tell you. We look good on a one-sheet, that's about it.
Social media has always been the band's weakest link, and it is absolutely part of the job if you want a stable career in music nowadays. And even if we did everything right -- you're correct, it's about the individual, the FACE nowadays in that realm. Just like it used to be with the A&R department, only now it's democratized on socials. You're an influencer first, musician second.
I say all this because in my time as a publicist, I have to reality-check almost every client that comes our way with basically what you've outlined here -- there is SO MUCH MORE that musicians need to be actively doing (24/7) beyond hiring out the work and waiting for the success to come to them. And even if, at the end of the day, you hit all those goals and benchmarks, you still might not be living off of it. You probably won't, in all likelihood.
It's grim, but it's the reality. PR work pays my bills, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.
Cheers,
Frank
_____________________________________
Dear Bob,
"A slow train still moves down the line".
That's the opening line to a Pressing Strings song I wrote called "Slow Train". I was pleasantly surprised to see you use that that term in this piece.
Pressing Strings is the band I've been fronting for over a decade now and you hit the nail right in the head about what we are dealing with as a band in these times where success is short lived, gimmicks are king, and the treadmill never stops.
My band is about as grassroots as you get. We bubble at about 50-60k monthly followers on Spotify—which is considered nothing to many big labels. But it isn't nothing. With that money we have been able to steadily fund the recording and marketing of new material, hire a radio person to shop our songs to AAA stations throughout the U.S.
From that radio play we attracted management and we're signed by Hard Head Mgmt (who originally found and backed Marcus King, The Revivalists) and is run by Stef Scamardo, who's name you may recognize from her show JAM ON on Sirius XM. She's also married to Warren Haynes.
Hard Head found us a proper booking agency (Madison House) who has been able to line up opening slots for people like your boy Neal Francis, JJ Grey & Mofro, along with Festivals like Firefly, Peachfest, Floydfest…
For years I've gone back and forth toying with the idea of going solo under my own name to simplify the process. It's seemingly easier to market one person than an entire band. But the reality is that would neuter the whole musical experience for me. There's nothing in the world like traveling with your best friends and making magic for people night after night. The collective highs and lows, the backstage hangs, the hotel shenanigans, the 14 hour recording sessions. There's no substitute.
While we may never get the band jet or the tour bus convoy. We are able to support ourselves and our families, paying our mortgages though playing music live for folks and that's way better than most jobs on earth.
Thanks for the sharing your insight. Big fan!
Jordan Sokel
www.pressingstrings.com
_____________________________________
The mythology of the rock band has mostly disappeared from our cultural milieu..
]
"Freaky Friday" came out two decades ago..Lindsey Lohan's character played in a band..JLC had to cover for her at the big showcase.."The Rocker" movie came along about the same time..All about making it as a band..
You couldn't sell a movie like that today..
I'm a sitcom/comedy movie guy..The stock character of the loser/wanna-be rocker is now the aspiring DJ or rapper..The only bands on screen are the embarrassingly unhip dads in the garage..
That Viagra ad with the old guys rockin' out didn't help..
Whenever the boss leaves the office (in a comedy flick), the employees party down to rap songs..A celebration replete with the usual tropes- making it rain, twerking, the hand/arm gestures, etc ..
Most every soundtrack uses rap songs..Dramas, rom-coms, sportcasts, westerns (!?), and documentaries..We have the "notorious RBG" now..(Bader Ginsberg)..Of course...
The rock bands that HAVE made it in the recent past seem to be one main guy and replaceable side men...Coldplay, Muse, One Direction, Panic! @, Imagine Dragons, 21 Pilots, Maroon 5, etc..
So, the band paradigm is not only economically and logistically unfeasible, it's, like, SO last century..
Like the big band era was to us..We scoffed at the absurdity of the clarinet..Kinda' still do..
James Spencer
_____________________________________
Bob
Congrats this is THE definitive explanation of the current landscape. Could be the entire first year curriculum at any school attempting to teach the music biz.
Bands have been replaced by ephemeral clusters of people who come together sometimes in the same room, mostly disconnected in time and place, some accomplished on an "instrument", others good at pushing cultural buttons, to make music one record at a time. Some call it "writing by committee". I call it collaboration.
Something that you imply but don't dig into, that leaves brain matter on the wall when you point it out to industry vets: Virtually no one making it as an artist today EVER played live before they were famous!
As you point out it's all driven by a great leap forward in the democratization of the creation and distribution of music. Next big leap which will probably trump them all - AI created music. The art will be in how the kids mess with the AI to make music that no human is capable of and no one has ever heard before.
Exciting stuff!
Best,
Michael McCarty
--
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I didn't know if they were going to still be on my team after two years with the pandemic, but they're jubilant.
But hell no on going on the road, unless I get a fly-in offer from a festival, which I'm not completely counting out the possibility of as my live stream following is building in the jam band circuit.
Recently I got to do a solo set inside the venue with Twiddle, which grew my live stream audiences by about 10% maybe. Modest, I'll take it.
So yes I'm excited to have the band back, but not stopping the solo live streams, people watch every Monday still, 97 weeks in.
It's great to have a band just for the power you feel from it and how it helps you grow as a performer.
The way Springsteen describes it in the Broadway show, it's true. It's like a force elevating you, if the musicians are great and you have chemistry.
But you've gotta pay everyone if you're a solo artist. Whether they ask for it or not. Even if it's just what you can afford to throw them for a rehearsal, that's how you get reliability and loyalty. I don't deal with any flakes anymore. Flaky musicians are usually the ones who are willing to play for free.
Yeah man I've been down that road, nine years in a band called BuzzUniverse teetering on the edge of being the next big jam band in the Northeast, but like you said… Your fire one person suddenly you realize 10 fans are gone… All that stuff, dead on. Lived it, done it… Done with it!
Gregory Mcloughlin
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Death Of Bands
Spot-on as ever, Bob.
Myself and a partner bootstrapped a music PR firm (Sweetheart Pub) working in the Americana niche in late 2019 and we've found success and enough business that we've never had to cold-call prospective clients to make ends meet ... and I'm also a member of a "successful" band (Great Peacock). I put that in air quotes because, yeah, it's almost impossible to make a living as a band today. It can be done, as you've outlined here, but it relies SO heavily on the live/tour component (playing to the cabal, if you can even get their attention).
We've had all the things a lot of baby bands would kill for -- top-tier support slots on tours, festival slots, radio success, a great manager / booking agent / publicist / two radio promoters all backing us. We did it without a proper label (we were lucky enough to find an "angel investor" type deal), but holy shit does the financial well dry up fast paying all those folks on top of gas/food/hotels on the road. We still get tagged as a 'baby band' by those above us on the food chain, which is undeniably true as much as we don't want to believe it. It hurts as we're all in our mid-30s now with our only viable income source being touring -- living and dying on the road is a younger person's game, and it's only gonna get harder as the years go by.
We've had decent streaming success, certainly not enough to count on the income, but we've hit all the desirable "discovery"/curated playlists that acts in our genre would want (Indigo, Pulse of Americana, etc). Six-figure monthly listeners when we were on-cycle, which is about as good as it's gonna get in our genre. What has that really done for us...? I couldn't tell you. We look good on a one-sheet, that's about it.
Social media has always been the band's weakest link, and it is absolutely part of the job if you want a stable career in music nowadays. And even if we did everything right -- you're correct, it's about the individual, the FACE nowadays in that realm. Just like it used to be with the A&R department, only now it's democratized on socials. You're an influencer first, musician second.
I say all this because in my time as a publicist, I have to reality-check almost every client that comes our way with basically what you've outlined here -- there is SO MUCH MORE that musicians need to be actively doing (24/7) beyond hiring out the work and waiting for the success to come to them. And even if, at the end of the day, you hit all those goals and benchmarks, you still might not be living off of it. You probably won't, in all likelihood.
It's grim, but it's the reality. PR work pays my bills, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.
Cheers,
Frank
_____________________________________
Dear Bob,
"A slow train still moves down the line".
That's the opening line to a Pressing Strings song I wrote called "Slow Train". I was pleasantly surprised to see you use that that term in this piece.
Pressing Strings is the band I've been fronting for over a decade now and you hit the nail right in the head about what we are dealing with as a band in these times where success is short lived, gimmicks are king, and the treadmill never stops.
My band is about as grassroots as you get. We bubble at about 50-60k monthly followers on Spotify—which is considered nothing to many big labels. But it isn't nothing. With that money we have been able to steadily fund the recording and marketing of new material, hire a radio person to shop our songs to AAA stations throughout the U.S.
From that radio play we attracted management and we're signed by Hard Head Mgmt (who originally found and backed Marcus King, The Revivalists) and is run by Stef Scamardo, who's name you may recognize from her show JAM ON on Sirius XM. She's also married to Warren Haynes.
Hard Head found us a proper booking agency (Madison House) who has been able to line up opening slots for people like your boy Neal Francis, JJ Grey & Mofro, along with Festivals like Firefly, Peachfest, Floydfest…
For years I've gone back and forth toying with the idea of going solo under my own name to simplify the process. It's seemingly easier to market one person than an entire band. But the reality is that would neuter the whole musical experience for me. There's nothing in the world like traveling with your best friends and making magic for people night after night. The collective highs and lows, the backstage hangs, the hotel shenanigans, the 14 hour recording sessions. There's no substitute.
While we may never get the band jet or the tour bus convoy. We are able to support ourselves and our families, paying our mortgages though playing music live for folks and that's way better than most jobs on earth.
Thanks for the sharing your insight. Big fan!
Jordan Sokel
www.pressingstrings.com
_____________________________________
The mythology of the rock band has mostly disappeared from our cultural milieu..
]
"Freaky Friday" came out two decades ago..Lindsey Lohan's character played in a band..JLC had to cover for her at the big showcase.."The Rocker" movie came along about the same time..All about making it as a band..
You couldn't sell a movie like that today..
I'm a sitcom/comedy movie guy..The stock character of the loser/wanna-be rocker is now the aspiring DJ or rapper..The only bands on screen are the embarrassingly unhip dads in the garage..
That Viagra ad with the old guys rockin' out didn't help..
Whenever the boss leaves the office (in a comedy flick), the employees party down to rap songs..A celebration replete with the usual tropes- making it rain, twerking, the hand/arm gestures, etc ..
Most every soundtrack uses rap songs..Dramas, rom-coms, sportcasts, westerns (!?), and documentaries..We have the "notorious RBG" now..(Bader Ginsberg)..Of course...
The rock bands that HAVE made it in the recent past seem to be one main guy and replaceable side men...Coldplay, Muse, One Direction, Panic! @, Imagine Dragons, 21 Pilots, Maroon 5, etc..
So, the band paradigm is not only economically and logistically unfeasible, it's, like, SO last century..
Like the big band era was to us..We scoffed at the absurdity of the clarinet..Kinda' still do..
James Spencer
_____________________________________
Bob
Congrats this is THE definitive explanation of the current landscape. Could be the entire first year curriculum at any school attempting to teach the music biz.
Bands have been replaced by ephemeral clusters of people who come together sometimes in the same room, mostly disconnected in time and place, some accomplished on an "instrument", others good at pushing cultural buttons, to make music one record at a time. Some call it "writing by committee". I call it collaboration.
Something that you imply but don't dig into, that leaves brain matter on the wall when you point it out to industry vets: Virtually no one making it as an artist today EVER played live before they were famous!
As you point out it's all driven by a great leap forward in the democratization of the creation and distribution of music. Next big leap which will probably trump them all - AI created music. The art will be in how the kids mess with the AI to make music that no human is capable of and no one has ever heard before.
Exciting stuff!
Best,
Michael McCarty
--
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--
Listen to the podcast:
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--
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--
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Monday 28 February 2022
Who Should Write A Book?-This Week On SiriusXM
What rock star/musician would you like to read a book from.
Tune in tomorrow, March 1st, 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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Tune in tomorrow, March 1st, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive
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The Death Of Bands
Used to be bands came first.
Now they come last, if they come at all.
Used to be you had to learn how to play an instrument. Even punks had to know the chords.
Now you can buy the beats online.
Used to be you had to form a band to hear what your song sounded like, now you can pull up sounds from computer software or your electronic keyboard.
And one thing is for sure, it's harder than ever to make money making music.
So the internet killed bands. Along with the economy. The dream of yore is passé. We've still got stars, but they're rarely bands. And unless you're a star, you're struggling as a band. Better to do it yourself.
That's what the internet has provided, you can do it all by yourself.
Used to be you had to be a wizard, a true star, to do it yourself. You had to know how to engineer, never mind getting your hands on the recording equipment, the multitrack tape machine and the board. People forget that the portastudio was such a breakthrough when it appeared, long after the Beatles had come and gone. You could record four different tracks! On a cassette. Despite "Nebraska" being recorded this way, in truth cassettes were a substandard medium, home demos were not of releasable quality. But now with GarageBand, which comes free with every Mac, you can record in .wav, and for just a few bucks you can get your production on all the streaming services. Play live? That's for suckers, it's far too slow. Ever since "Fireflies" that has been the goal. Make it in your bedroom, put it up online and hope to get lucky. And if you're not, if your track doesn't connect, you just go back to the drawing board and do it all over again. And in the hip-hop world it's even easier, you can just rap atop the above-referenced purchased beats.
Used to be you formed a band. Which required you to find the players. And then figure out who was good, who was reliable and who was committed. Also, you needed transportation. So, if someone had a station wagon or a van, they'd be in the band, even if their playing was not up to snuff.
And then you needed to find a place to play. Which was always for free at the beginning, assuming you could even find that. Maybe you entered a battle of the bands. Maybe you set up in a park. Maybe you played at a school. You had to play a bunch of free shows before you'd generated enough fans to get a paying gig. At a bar, where deejays and records were anathema, at bar mitzvah parties and weddings.
You were on a slow train to nowhere. But if you hung in there, started writing original material, then you might be able to get a label interested. But it probably behooved you to move to Los Angeles to gain notice. Because otherwise there were too many weak links in the chain, you could be pretty good but no one would know.
And you continued to go through band members. If someone quit or was fired they oftentimes took their fans with them. So your career took a step back. And indie was death. At least prior to the nineties boom. If you weren't on a major label you weren't just second tier, you weren't even in the game.
And if you got a label deal, sure you'd get an advance, and they'd deliver publicity and hopefully some radio play, but there was no guarantee you'd connect, most acts did not, and then you found yourself back home broke and disillusioned, and second chances were few and far between.
But at least you could survive on what you were making, while you were struggling. A dollar went much further than it does today. Today you can't go on the road because you can't afford it, the gasoline and the hotels.
And let's say you do make it. That's when the shenanigans truly begin.
You find out all those limo rides and meals were paid for by you, not the label. And when you split the royalties four or five ways, there really isn't that much. And you learn about publishing, and how those who wrote the songs are in a different economic bracket. This alone tends to break up bands.
But if you can do it all by yourself...
Bands used to be gangs, them against the world. Which was not interconnected. Actually, the bands connected the country. Went from town to town with their fans following, they were the link. Today you've got that link right in the palm of your hand, with your smartphone. You don't need to go to the gig to connect. As far as going to get a date? It's possible, but you're better off using Tinder, or some other dating site.
And if your band made it... Sometimes the perks alone were worth it, even if you didn't make any real money. All that travel. But today people fly hours just to see a sporting event, travel is no longer exotic. As for all the sexual shenanigans, forget HIV, there's the smartphone camera. And the mores have changed. Going on the road and raping and pillaging is a badge of dishonor today. So you're left in your vehicle with the rest of your mates, holding your own.
But if you do it alone...
Hell, you can have no label and make a living on streaming payments. You'll need an attractive song and a fan base, but it's totally doable. Those who complain about streaming payments either don't make palatable music, or have no fans, having not paid their dues, or are signed to a label, which takes the lion's share of the money, if not all of it, at least until you recoup, which you probably won't.
But if you do it alone, how big can you be?
Well, you can get lucky, like Lil Nas X ,and hit the jackpot, but odds are extremely low. But Lil Nas X did it alone. TikTok broke him, and then he was all over the web. A band? Who needs a band?
So if you own your own work, put your music up on streaming sites yourself, you might make a good living, considering the barrier to entry is so low. I hear from people making 25-60k all the time. But you don't know who they are. And the last thing they do is complain, they're too busy satiating the fans they do have, working hard to maintain a job in the music business.
It's damn hard. And do you really want to rely on somebody else?
Anybody who's been part of the label system will tell you about its vagaries. They love you but don't hear a single. Your advocate loses his job. The label just needs something to hit, not necessarily your track.
And what is a hit?
Hit records are getting shorter. Maybe you only need twenty or thirty seconds to make a record. Maybe less, the length of a TikTok clip.
But this is not music you say, this is not the way it used to be. And that's absolutely correct. We no longer live in a controlled market where radio is king. Even true hit records can take over a year to break.
So I ask you, where does a band fit in this equation?
Not to mention that bands are relics of rock and roll. Pop was never based on the band. And neither was hip-hop. Of course there are exceptions, but they are de minimis.
As for the rock bands, the Active Rock and jam ones that do exist, they have their sights set low. They're playing to a cabal. It's almost as if there's an iron curtain between Active Rock and the rest of the world. Active Rock doesn't count on streaming, and its fans oftentimes listen to nothing else, and non-fans don't listen at all.
But you can make a living.
Just like in the jam band world. There's an ecosystem, and you can do quite well, but you'll never be a superstar. Dave Matthews broke through in the old game, with video and radio play. Phish never broke through at all. But they make enough money to live well. But they're not rock stars by the old definition, driving Lamborghinis, flying to the Riviera on a whim. And chances are you have to play to eat and live. Stay home and there's no mailbox money. You're a working musician, and just like in Active Rock, most people have never heard your name and never will.
And even if a band breaks through, what do you do about endorsements and brand extensions? Usually companies want a face. Is that the lead singer? So who gets all the money? Usually not the players. Just like the players were squeezed out of that publishing money, even though they contributed to the creation of the songs. Talk about dissension.
The biggest bands in the world have broken up over money. And control. Do you really want to put your fate in the hands of others?
Turns out most people today do not. They can hire a band to go on the road if they have a hit, and be their boss and keep most of the dough. Why would you want to share decision-making power?
So the internet and the economy killed bands. And they're not coming back because of the economics. And one thing is for sure, no one, certainly not the U.S. government, is gonna give bands subsidies. And too many professionals don't want to be involved with bands, they're too hard to wrangle.
You don't need a band to be a member of a club. That's readily available online.
You don't need a band to flesh out your tunes, you can do that yourself.
And you can promote and market yourself FOR FREE online! This is what separates the winners from the losers. Unless you're willing to work 24/7 on your career, you won't have one. Social media participation is now part of the job. And it was bad enough when certain players wouldn't go to the radio station, but who needs freeloaders who just play their instrument and do nothing else?
NO ONE!
Now they come last, if they come at all.
Used to be you had to learn how to play an instrument. Even punks had to know the chords.
Now you can buy the beats online.
Used to be you had to form a band to hear what your song sounded like, now you can pull up sounds from computer software or your electronic keyboard.
And one thing is for sure, it's harder than ever to make money making music.
So the internet killed bands. Along with the economy. The dream of yore is passé. We've still got stars, but they're rarely bands. And unless you're a star, you're struggling as a band. Better to do it yourself.
That's what the internet has provided, you can do it all by yourself.
Used to be you had to be a wizard, a true star, to do it yourself. You had to know how to engineer, never mind getting your hands on the recording equipment, the multitrack tape machine and the board. People forget that the portastudio was such a breakthrough when it appeared, long after the Beatles had come and gone. You could record four different tracks! On a cassette. Despite "Nebraska" being recorded this way, in truth cassettes were a substandard medium, home demos were not of releasable quality. But now with GarageBand, which comes free with every Mac, you can record in .wav, and for just a few bucks you can get your production on all the streaming services. Play live? That's for suckers, it's far too slow. Ever since "Fireflies" that has been the goal. Make it in your bedroom, put it up online and hope to get lucky. And if you're not, if your track doesn't connect, you just go back to the drawing board and do it all over again. And in the hip-hop world it's even easier, you can just rap atop the above-referenced purchased beats.
Used to be you formed a band. Which required you to find the players. And then figure out who was good, who was reliable and who was committed. Also, you needed transportation. So, if someone had a station wagon or a van, they'd be in the band, even if their playing was not up to snuff.
And then you needed to find a place to play. Which was always for free at the beginning, assuming you could even find that. Maybe you entered a battle of the bands. Maybe you set up in a park. Maybe you played at a school. You had to play a bunch of free shows before you'd generated enough fans to get a paying gig. At a bar, where deejays and records were anathema, at bar mitzvah parties and weddings.
You were on a slow train to nowhere. But if you hung in there, started writing original material, then you might be able to get a label interested. But it probably behooved you to move to Los Angeles to gain notice. Because otherwise there were too many weak links in the chain, you could be pretty good but no one would know.
And you continued to go through band members. If someone quit or was fired they oftentimes took their fans with them. So your career took a step back. And indie was death. At least prior to the nineties boom. If you weren't on a major label you weren't just second tier, you weren't even in the game.
And if you got a label deal, sure you'd get an advance, and they'd deliver publicity and hopefully some radio play, but there was no guarantee you'd connect, most acts did not, and then you found yourself back home broke and disillusioned, and second chances were few and far between.
But at least you could survive on what you were making, while you were struggling. A dollar went much further than it does today. Today you can't go on the road because you can't afford it, the gasoline and the hotels.
And let's say you do make it. That's when the shenanigans truly begin.
You find out all those limo rides and meals were paid for by you, not the label. And when you split the royalties four or five ways, there really isn't that much. And you learn about publishing, and how those who wrote the songs are in a different economic bracket. This alone tends to break up bands.
But if you can do it all by yourself...
Bands used to be gangs, them against the world. Which was not interconnected. Actually, the bands connected the country. Went from town to town with their fans following, they were the link. Today you've got that link right in the palm of your hand, with your smartphone. You don't need to go to the gig to connect. As far as going to get a date? It's possible, but you're better off using Tinder, or some other dating site.
And if your band made it... Sometimes the perks alone were worth it, even if you didn't make any real money. All that travel. But today people fly hours just to see a sporting event, travel is no longer exotic. As for all the sexual shenanigans, forget HIV, there's the smartphone camera. And the mores have changed. Going on the road and raping and pillaging is a badge of dishonor today. So you're left in your vehicle with the rest of your mates, holding your own.
But if you do it alone...
Hell, you can have no label and make a living on streaming payments. You'll need an attractive song and a fan base, but it's totally doable. Those who complain about streaming payments either don't make palatable music, or have no fans, having not paid their dues, or are signed to a label, which takes the lion's share of the money, if not all of it, at least until you recoup, which you probably won't.
But if you do it alone, how big can you be?
Well, you can get lucky, like Lil Nas X ,and hit the jackpot, but odds are extremely low. But Lil Nas X did it alone. TikTok broke him, and then he was all over the web. A band? Who needs a band?
So if you own your own work, put your music up on streaming sites yourself, you might make a good living, considering the barrier to entry is so low. I hear from people making 25-60k all the time. But you don't know who they are. And the last thing they do is complain, they're too busy satiating the fans they do have, working hard to maintain a job in the music business.
It's damn hard. And do you really want to rely on somebody else?
Anybody who's been part of the label system will tell you about its vagaries. They love you but don't hear a single. Your advocate loses his job. The label just needs something to hit, not necessarily your track.
And what is a hit?
Hit records are getting shorter. Maybe you only need twenty or thirty seconds to make a record. Maybe less, the length of a TikTok clip.
But this is not music you say, this is not the way it used to be. And that's absolutely correct. We no longer live in a controlled market where radio is king. Even true hit records can take over a year to break.
So I ask you, where does a band fit in this equation?
Not to mention that bands are relics of rock and roll. Pop was never based on the band. And neither was hip-hop. Of course there are exceptions, but they are de minimis.
As for the rock bands, the Active Rock and jam ones that do exist, they have their sights set low. They're playing to a cabal. It's almost as if there's an iron curtain between Active Rock and the rest of the world. Active Rock doesn't count on streaming, and its fans oftentimes listen to nothing else, and non-fans don't listen at all.
But you can make a living.
Just like in the jam band world. There's an ecosystem, and you can do quite well, but you'll never be a superstar. Dave Matthews broke through in the old game, with video and radio play. Phish never broke through at all. But they make enough money to live well. But they're not rock stars by the old definition, driving Lamborghinis, flying to the Riviera on a whim. And chances are you have to play to eat and live. Stay home and there's no mailbox money. You're a working musician, and just like in Active Rock, most people have never heard your name and never will.
And even if a band breaks through, what do you do about endorsements and brand extensions? Usually companies want a face. Is that the lead singer? So who gets all the money? Usually not the players. Just like the players were squeezed out of that publishing money, even though they contributed to the creation of the songs. Talk about dissension.
The biggest bands in the world have broken up over money. And control. Do you really want to put your fate in the hands of others?
Turns out most people today do not. They can hire a band to go on the road if they have a hit, and be their boss and keep most of the dough. Why would you want to share decision-making power?
So the internet and the economy killed bands. And they're not coming back because of the economics. And one thing is for sure, no one, certainly not the U.S. government, is gonna give bands subsidies. And too many professionals don't want to be involved with bands, they're too hard to wrangle.
You don't need a band to be a member of a club. That's readily available online.
You don't need a band to flesh out your tunes, you can do that yourself.
And you can promote and market yourself FOR FREE online! This is what separates the winners from the losers. Unless you're willing to work 24/7 on your career, you won't have one. Social media participation is now part of the job. And it was bad enough when certain players wouldn't go to the radio station, but who needs freeloaders who just play their instrument and do nothing else?
NO ONE!
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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Listen to the podcast:
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Sunday 27 February 2022
OVG Blocks Russia
"In light of the tragic conflict rapidly unfolding in Ukraine, Oak View Group has pledged to not do business in or with Russia, nor will we serve Russian brands in any of our venues on a global basis, effective immediately. We stand with the people of Ukraine, we condemn the actions of Russia, and we hope our stance inspires others in our industry to take action where they can."
The war in Ukraine has caused a giant, unanticipated reset:
1. Isolationism, America First, is history. Turns out we are all interconnected. A butterfly flaps its wings in Asia... This is something the Clintons and their trade polices had right. Unfortunately, those who worked with their hands lost their jobs with no reasonable replacements, but the derided elite intelligentsia knew that we lived in a global village. You think the rest of the world doesn't affect you, but gas prices are going through the roof because of the war and the hottest social media platform is from China.
2. Billionaires are not the heroes we are looking for. We've got a Jewish comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is evidencing more integrity than those who avoided participation in Vietnam on bogus pretexts and when it comes down to the essence, corporations don't run the world, but people. Zelensky is willing to die for the cause. He only wants to do what is right. He's leading by example as opposed to polling. Furthermore, it turns out it's easy to undercut the billionaire oligarchs, just freeze their assets and ability to move freely. Turns out money can't buy you everything.
3. Credibility is key. Tucker Carlson sidelined himself overnight. I'm not saying he's lost many acolytes, but the rest of the country, the rest of the world, has seen that he is not a serious person. That he's got no grasp of world affairs. That he's little more than a broadcaster, looking for ratings. Truth, not ratings. That's what Zelensky has taught us. In one fell swoop you can undermine your career, especially in an era where nothing fades away and everything radiates.
4. You're either on one side or the other. Americans don't want to commit, for fear of being castigated. Studies have shown that essentially no one is independent. That if you check their voting history they consistently vote for one party or the other. They say they're independent so they can be above the fray, holier-than-thou, but the truth is the world is not perfect and you've got to pick a side, one or the other.
5. Military strength is important, but it turns out the internet and business have heretofore unforeseen power. Turns out you can cripple a nation by cutting their access off to Swift and the international banking system. And Zelensky has called on hackers to disrupt the Russian government's institutions.
6. Boots on the ground is everything. Which is why the "New York Times" is winning this war in terms of coverage. They've got the most people there. They didn't cut back for the bottom line. And when the crisis hit, they were ready. So, the TV outlets, all of them, left and right, have been left flat-footed, dependent on independent sources, stringers and in truth...have defaulted to the big papers, primarily the "Times" and "Washington Post." A picture is worth a thousand words, but the world is driven by print. Firsthand accounts are everything.
7. Tribes don't only work in national politics, but international politics. Germany got off its duff to aid Ukraine once other countries took a side and got active. Furthermore, the EU is a tribe, an organization to rally around. If you've got no associations to begin with, you will never be taken seriously when the crisis comes, you will not have a seat at the table. You need to be a member of international groups, you must take responsibility for the world at large.
8. But one thing about pictures, they undercut all the lies being told by those who've been getting away with it for far too long.
And music is an international business too. Entertainment may be the most. But with no leaders, no examples, the brands-to-be with their endorsements and fealty to the Fortune 500 are frozen, they don't know how to act. Except for Sean Penn. Who unfortunately is an unlikable guy, irrelevant of his political stands, but he seems to know how to do the right thing.
Turns out corporations have more power than individuals in the music business. Because we have no international stars that appeal to everybody. Except maybe Maneskin. Or possibly Ed Sheeran. For years we've been told the marginal is dominant. Turns out number one isn't really number one if most people have never heard of it, never mind heard it. The recorded music business has capitulated its power in pursuit of profits. Finding a game-changing credible act and promoting it? That's not done. Instead, the labels are marketing giants promoting that which has already been proven by individuals online. As for the film business... The tentpoles play around the world and mean nothing. Netflix has much more power than the studios, because it makes shows that speak to hearts and minds. Streaming TV is international. Who could predict the biggest show of the year would come from South Korea? In "Squid Game," your life is on the line, which appeals to those lazing on the couch, high. Turns out people want to live on the edge, alive, but in America every entertainer is telling us dope is cool. IT'S NOT! BEING CLEAR-HEADED IS COOL! Being high takes you out of the game.
So when the crisis arrives...
Most Americans don't know how to act. Told the bogus claim that America is the most powerful country in the world that can always dominate, the hoi polloi leave it to a government that they can't stop deriding, on both the left and the right. Turns out we need tax money. And the billionaires telling us that they know how to spend it better, oh, come on.
And experience counts. Sure, Zelensky rose from nothing to be everything, but he wasn't using his newfound status to get rich, wasn't minting NFTs, ripping off his own citizens with falsehoods. You can learn along the way, but it turns out government is a professional job, not a popularity contest. Do you want Biden and his team who've been through previous conflicts, or an inexperienced autocrat who doesn't even know which side America is on? Who coddles dictators like those in South Korea and Russia, admires Xi's job for life...could it be because he too strives to be a dictator?
And you can fight the petty internecine wars, but in truth that just dilutes your power. But in a world where truth is fungible, no one can agree what is happening. Sure, Covid knowledge is in flux, but vaccines do work and the latest report is the virus came from a food market, not a lab: https://nyti.ms/3K0p705 Isn't this the point at which we turn our eyes and ears away from false prophets? Even social media outlets are doing this during the war, banning people. Turns out life and death depends on it.
So I was waiting for a music entity to take a stand on Russia. No one in music wants to take a stand because they might lose a potential fan or market. Forget what they believe, they keep it inside, hidden, so when the crisis comes...they don't have a platform or a history to build upon. If you've never spoken up before if you suddenly do, late, you're seen as glomming on, you're ignored.
So all music is niche. So there's not an act big enough to reach everybody.
And in the internet world, those without traction think they deserve it and constantly complain that they're doing it right and no one is paying attention. Turns out to have a seat at the table you've got to build a base, which takes time, but no one wants to take the time.
I'd be stunned if the acts and the labels don't start taking a stand on Ukraine. When it's meaningless.
The labels control the music. I don't see them telling streaming outlets to pull their tracks from Russia, imploring them to shut down operations in Russia.
I don't see the streaming outlets taking a risk.
And I certainly don't see the acts doing so.
But in truth the music world now runs on live. For far too long the labels have gotten the glory, but in truth it's those on the performance end who have the power. They lay down the cash, to pay the acts and build the buildings.
So OVG makes this statement. It won't be long before today's media madness spreads the word. You'll see it everywhere. Where they reprint the headline but have nothing to say about it, or at least nothing that affects hearts and minds.
Turns out WE'RE ALL INVOLVED! Each and every one of us. No one is immune. To higher prices, at both the pump and in the grocery store. You cannot live with your head in the sand, you might live in Podunk, but you're a citizen of the world. And with cable television and the internet you've got the world at your fingertips. It's your choice whether to educate yourself or not, it's your choice whether to believe in false prophets or not. When you read something outrageous that you want to forward, how about googling its veracity first. And yes, we have to stop teaching to the test, moving people through the hoops while learning little. As for banned books...how can you know how the world truly works unless you're exposed to it? China punishes the Uighurs but we have to protect our children from the truth, as they live in mono-color communities clueless to what is going on outside.
So, just like Zelensky, you have power. That's right, one individual saying and doing the right thing, someone who has lived their life on credibility, can arise at any moment to change the course of history. But you must know that money isn't everything, clothes aren't either, and we all like a good time, but if you're partying like it's 1999 you're left out of the equation today, twenty plus years later.
So maybe you've woken up, maybe you haven't.
Turns out the world is changing every day. And we used to get our truth from music, but that was eons ago. Start looking inside not out. Stop trying to burnish a false image online in pursuit of money and fame. You'll probably never get there, and you're abdicating your power in the process.
And learn how to think independently. And realize your tribe might have it wrong.
Because when you're in the foxhole... Who can you trust? And can the leaders trust you? At that point you're like an athlete, running on instinct, what have you been taught, that the do-nothings are kings and those in the trenches trying to push the ball forward and improve this world are not?
Yes, the reset is both macro and micro. Worldwide and inside yourself.
Information is king. Truthful information. Learn how to parse the truth. Don't be a knee-jerk loser. And know that you count. Everybody counts. You might try to take away their right to vote, but that does not mean you've silenced them.
Right now you're seeing autocracy in action. Putin doing whatever he wants. Sending young boys to war, quashing protest. Is this what you're looking for?
No, I didn't think so.
Autocracy is at the doorstep of America. Systems are being undermined. Only you can change the future. Get informed and get involved. Because in truth no one is immune today. America is not above it all, separate. We learned this during the Second World War, and seventy five years later it's even more clear.
You're a citizen of the world, act like one.
Sometimes there is right and wrong and you've got to choose a side.
This is one of those times.
The war in Ukraine has caused a giant, unanticipated reset:
1. Isolationism, America First, is history. Turns out we are all interconnected. A butterfly flaps its wings in Asia... This is something the Clintons and their trade polices had right. Unfortunately, those who worked with their hands lost their jobs with no reasonable replacements, but the derided elite intelligentsia knew that we lived in a global village. You think the rest of the world doesn't affect you, but gas prices are going through the roof because of the war and the hottest social media platform is from China.
2. Billionaires are not the heroes we are looking for. We've got a Jewish comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is evidencing more integrity than those who avoided participation in Vietnam on bogus pretexts and when it comes down to the essence, corporations don't run the world, but people. Zelensky is willing to die for the cause. He only wants to do what is right. He's leading by example as opposed to polling. Furthermore, it turns out it's easy to undercut the billionaire oligarchs, just freeze their assets and ability to move freely. Turns out money can't buy you everything.
3. Credibility is key. Tucker Carlson sidelined himself overnight. I'm not saying he's lost many acolytes, but the rest of the country, the rest of the world, has seen that he is not a serious person. That he's got no grasp of world affairs. That he's little more than a broadcaster, looking for ratings. Truth, not ratings. That's what Zelensky has taught us. In one fell swoop you can undermine your career, especially in an era where nothing fades away and everything radiates.
4. You're either on one side or the other. Americans don't want to commit, for fear of being castigated. Studies have shown that essentially no one is independent. That if you check their voting history they consistently vote for one party or the other. They say they're independent so they can be above the fray, holier-than-thou, but the truth is the world is not perfect and you've got to pick a side, one or the other.
5. Military strength is important, but it turns out the internet and business have heretofore unforeseen power. Turns out you can cripple a nation by cutting their access off to Swift and the international banking system. And Zelensky has called on hackers to disrupt the Russian government's institutions.
6. Boots on the ground is everything. Which is why the "New York Times" is winning this war in terms of coverage. They've got the most people there. They didn't cut back for the bottom line. And when the crisis hit, they were ready. So, the TV outlets, all of them, left and right, have been left flat-footed, dependent on independent sources, stringers and in truth...have defaulted to the big papers, primarily the "Times" and "Washington Post." A picture is worth a thousand words, but the world is driven by print. Firsthand accounts are everything.
7. Tribes don't only work in national politics, but international politics. Germany got off its duff to aid Ukraine once other countries took a side and got active. Furthermore, the EU is a tribe, an organization to rally around. If you've got no associations to begin with, you will never be taken seriously when the crisis comes, you will not have a seat at the table. You need to be a member of international groups, you must take responsibility for the world at large.
8. But one thing about pictures, they undercut all the lies being told by those who've been getting away with it for far too long.
And music is an international business too. Entertainment may be the most. But with no leaders, no examples, the brands-to-be with their endorsements and fealty to the Fortune 500 are frozen, they don't know how to act. Except for Sean Penn. Who unfortunately is an unlikable guy, irrelevant of his political stands, but he seems to know how to do the right thing.
Turns out corporations have more power than individuals in the music business. Because we have no international stars that appeal to everybody. Except maybe Maneskin. Or possibly Ed Sheeran. For years we've been told the marginal is dominant. Turns out number one isn't really number one if most people have never heard of it, never mind heard it. The recorded music business has capitulated its power in pursuit of profits. Finding a game-changing credible act and promoting it? That's not done. Instead, the labels are marketing giants promoting that which has already been proven by individuals online. As for the film business... The tentpoles play around the world and mean nothing. Netflix has much more power than the studios, because it makes shows that speak to hearts and minds. Streaming TV is international. Who could predict the biggest show of the year would come from South Korea? In "Squid Game," your life is on the line, which appeals to those lazing on the couch, high. Turns out people want to live on the edge, alive, but in America every entertainer is telling us dope is cool. IT'S NOT! BEING CLEAR-HEADED IS COOL! Being high takes you out of the game.
So when the crisis arrives...
Most Americans don't know how to act. Told the bogus claim that America is the most powerful country in the world that can always dominate, the hoi polloi leave it to a government that they can't stop deriding, on both the left and the right. Turns out we need tax money. And the billionaires telling us that they know how to spend it better, oh, come on.
And experience counts. Sure, Zelensky rose from nothing to be everything, but he wasn't using his newfound status to get rich, wasn't minting NFTs, ripping off his own citizens with falsehoods. You can learn along the way, but it turns out government is a professional job, not a popularity contest. Do you want Biden and his team who've been through previous conflicts, or an inexperienced autocrat who doesn't even know which side America is on? Who coddles dictators like those in South Korea and Russia, admires Xi's job for life...could it be because he too strives to be a dictator?
And you can fight the petty internecine wars, but in truth that just dilutes your power. But in a world where truth is fungible, no one can agree what is happening. Sure, Covid knowledge is in flux, but vaccines do work and the latest report is the virus came from a food market, not a lab: https://nyti.ms/3K0p705 Isn't this the point at which we turn our eyes and ears away from false prophets? Even social media outlets are doing this during the war, banning people. Turns out life and death depends on it.
So I was waiting for a music entity to take a stand on Russia. No one in music wants to take a stand because they might lose a potential fan or market. Forget what they believe, they keep it inside, hidden, so when the crisis comes...they don't have a platform or a history to build upon. If you've never spoken up before if you suddenly do, late, you're seen as glomming on, you're ignored.
So all music is niche. So there's not an act big enough to reach everybody.
And in the internet world, those without traction think they deserve it and constantly complain that they're doing it right and no one is paying attention. Turns out to have a seat at the table you've got to build a base, which takes time, but no one wants to take the time.
I'd be stunned if the acts and the labels don't start taking a stand on Ukraine. When it's meaningless.
The labels control the music. I don't see them telling streaming outlets to pull their tracks from Russia, imploring them to shut down operations in Russia.
I don't see the streaming outlets taking a risk.
And I certainly don't see the acts doing so.
But in truth the music world now runs on live. For far too long the labels have gotten the glory, but in truth it's those on the performance end who have the power. They lay down the cash, to pay the acts and build the buildings.
So OVG makes this statement. It won't be long before today's media madness spreads the word. You'll see it everywhere. Where they reprint the headline but have nothing to say about it, or at least nothing that affects hearts and minds.
Turns out WE'RE ALL INVOLVED! Each and every one of us. No one is immune. To higher prices, at both the pump and in the grocery store. You cannot live with your head in the sand, you might live in Podunk, but you're a citizen of the world. And with cable television and the internet you've got the world at your fingertips. It's your choice whether to educate yourself or not, it's your choice whether to believe in false prophets or not. When you read something outrageous that you want to forward, how about googling its veracity first. And yes, we have to stop teaching to the test, moving people through the hoops while learning little. As for banned books...how can you know how the world truly works unless you're exposed to it? China punishes the Uighurs but we have to protect our children from the truth, as they live in mono-color communities clueless to what is going on outside.
So, just like Zelensky, you have power. That's right, one individual saying and doing the right thing, someone who has lived their life on credibility, can arise at any moment to change the course of history. But you must know that money isn't everything, clothes aren't either, and we all like a good time, but if you're partying like it's 1999 you're left out of the equation today, twenty plus years later.
So maybe you've woken up, maybe you haven't.
Turns out the world is changing every day. And we used to get our truth from music, but that was eons ago. Start looking inside not out. Stop trying to burnish a false image online in pursuit of money and fame. You'll probably never get there, and you're abdicating your power in the process.
And learn how to think independently. And realize your tribe might have it wrong.
Because when you're in the foxhole... Who can you trust? And can the leaders trust you? At that point you're like an athlete, running on instinct, what have you been taught, that the do-nothings are kings and those in the trenches trying to push the ball forward and improve this world are not?
Yes, the reset is both macro and micro. Worldwide and inside yourself.
Information is king. Truthful information. Learn how to parse the truth. Don't be a knee-jerk loser. And know that you count. Everybody counts. You might try to take away their right to vote, but that does not mean you've silenced them.
Right now you're seeing autocracy in action. Putin doing whatever he wants. Sending young boys to war, quashing protest. Is this what you're looking for?
No, I didn't think so.
Autocracy is at the doorstep of America. Systems are being undermined. Only you can change the future. Get informed and get involved. Because in truth no one is immune today. America is not above it all, separate. We learned this during the Second World War, and seventy five years later it's even more clear.
You're a citizen of the world, act like one.
Sometimes there is right and wrong and you've got to choose a side.
This is one of those times.
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