Aspen

I've been without people for too long.

Have you noticed it's different since Covid? That nothing ever picked up the same? It used to be a floating party, at least in L.A. There were lunches and gigs and events and you'd run into people... I won't say it was just like high school, but you felt a part of something.

And that's done. Will it ever revive? Not the same way.

I was locked up for two and a half years because of immunity issues. My debut was a year ago. But I'd be lying if I told you I felt fully integrated. At first I'd wear my mask, there were places I wouldn't go. And I skipped Cat Power at the Troubadour recently because it seemed like a Covid incubator. I've spent a year letting my hair down, gradually not wearing a mask, going to restaurants, and...

I get to the gate and Jamie and Diarmuid are wearing masks. That was surprising, they're both so active and social. Diarmuid actually told me he got Covid recently in NYC. And he had it once before. Whereas I haven't had it at all, nor has Felice.

And Diarmuid said it was two days of being extremely tired, and then he was okay. I'm prepared, I've got the Paxlovid. Oh no, you tell me not to take it, that I'll be prone to a rebound. But I'm trusting my doctor. And I'm thinking it's inevitable, just a matter of when I get Covid.

But I've given up precautions. Not absolutely completely, I'm reserving judgment, it's just that I got too far from reality, I was too outside, and I still feel so. And my hematologist told me I was still immune-suppressed, and I doubt the last Covid shot and the flu shot even worked, they don't if you get Rituxan, like I do, for my pemphigus... Yes, I'm old and talking about my health issues. It's just a matter of time. But I'm still here. And I'm at the age where you want to fight to still be here. Give yourself the best odds. Don't smoke, go to the cardiologist...you can't fight genes, but there is so much you can fight.

But I can't live in a bubble anymore.

It's not like I'm isolated. People are looking for me all day long. I worked all day Friday of Thanksgiving, I have a radio show on Saturdays, and I'm not complaining, but have things changed permanently, is this the new normal, or do I need to fight to be included.

Being 70 is weird. Yes, that's how old I am. I could chop off ten or fifteen years like most people in entertainment, but what's the point. You get to a certain age and you don't care what other people think. As for their perception... These are the same people who think the game is the same, when it's completely changed.

Diarmuid represents Josh Groban, he's doing Broadway.

Jamie works at Nederlander.

The concert business, it's flourishing. But it's weird, if you're my friend I'll definitely come. If I have a hankering to see the act I'll show up. But there are some acts I saw when they were happening, maybe multiple times, and then on the comeback tour and then thereafter...and they're not getting better, and it's too often nostalgia, and the acts act like they're in their thirties when the audience has white hair and...

The truth is there are many young acts. But it's not the same. The best ones don't fly on the major league radar screen. Or bubble under. The names you see in the Spotify Top 50? Tend not to be interesting. It's the popular music of the younger generation, now labeled "Alpha," but we've seen the movie, we know that there's so much more. We were exposed to Bobby Rydell, Fabian, we knew what a revolution the Beatles were.

There's nothing better than a great song. But the experience is visceral. You can't force it. If you don't like it soon, you probably never will. Sure, there's stuff we hear again and again that we ultimately cotton to, but that's nothing like dropping the needle on "Let It Bleed" the day it came out and hearing "Gimmie Shelter" for the first time, with that eerie sound. "War, children, it's just a shot away." They used to shoot politicians, now they shoot the hoi polloi. I fired up my computer and saw there was a mass shooting in Vegas. We expect them now, they're de rigueur, and that's sad. Kinda like Trump's pronouncements. Our driver told us Trump said he would be a dictator for one day. In the past I'd get incensed. Now, this stuff flows over the transom every damn day.

And I read an interesting piece in the "Wall Street Journal" on the plane:

"From Which River to Which Sea - College students don't know, yet they agree with the slogan": https://tinyurl.com/ycymmb4s

That's a free link. You should read it. The writer commissioned a poll, turns out most people have no idea what is going on in the Middle East, and after hearing the facts, which aren't that complicated, they're suddenly pro-Israel, they understand it.

And I was reading the news earlier which talked about the battle in the South of Gaza. And I winced over the citizens in harm's way. Then I thought how this was an actual war, as in Hamas is fighting back, and they've been doing so for two months. What is the alternative, leave Hamas in place?

You can sign off now, people always do when I don't take the Palestinians' side, don't call for an immediate ceasefire.

And then there's the article in the "Times":

"Oakland Educators Plan Unauthorized Teach-in Supporting Palestinians - The district opposes the event, and some Jewish groups raised concerns about what they saw as bias": https://tinyurl.com/4z286dpz

That too is a free link. And I'm not against people learning about the plight of the Palestinians, but:

"A coloring book for elementary students features a Palestinian character who says, 'A group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force and hurt many people.'"

And if that doesn't scare you, you probably believe in from the river to the sea, as in Israel has no right to exist.

And that is the story of the day. Politics. National and worldwide. If Trump is elected does that mean the end of democracy? I'm reading Heather Cox Richardson's book about authoritarianism...this didn't happen overnight, it's been building for decades, actually longer.

So there's a lot at stake.

And I'm watching a TV series so bizarre I can't turn it off. Not much happens, but it's so weird and creepy I'm riveted to the screen. It's "The OA," the predecessor to "A Murder at the End of the World."

What's that aphorism, "may you live in interesting times"?

That's certainly true.

And we all want diversion, ergo concert attendance, TV watching, but the bigger issues have never been bigger in my lifetime. As for antisemitism... I've lived a full life, if they get me...I ain't gonna hide my Jewishness.

So there are four mountains in Aspen. There is excellent skiing. Ajax and Baldy at Sun Valley are two of, if not the best two, raw mountains in America. But there ain't that much snow. There was all that hogwash about El Niño, I stopped paying attention to that dreck years ago.

And I hope you have something to live for, something that keeps you going, for me that's skiing.

Although I saw a very interesting TikTok last night. The person said their college professor told them if someone is educated and smart they don't need external toys, because they can play inside their head forever.

Pretty fascinating.

Don't be who people want you to be.

We're looking for authenticity, the real you.

I'm being the real me.


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