Tune in Saturday September 27th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
Phone #: 844-686-5863
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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Friday, 26 September 2025
The Lilith Fair Movie
Hulu trailer: rb.gy/mxsvsi
As of this writing, "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery," is unrated on both RottenTomatoes and Metacritic, there's just not enough data. So the question arises, has anybody seen it?
Oh, the documentary has gotten reviews. Then again, even Sarah McLachlan herself pulled out of performing at the premiere in protest against ABC/Disney's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.
But I don't think that's the issue.
I think part of the issue is Hulu doesn't have the traction or gravitas of Netflix or HBO, but also...it's an indication of today's era, where everything is niche and nothing is that big. But when Lilith Fair toured the continent, it was peopled by household name stars who had hits all over MTV. You may not have liked their music, but you knew it!
And you knew what these women looked like.
In retrospect, Lilith Fair was a last hurrah for the pre-internet era, even though at that point the internet was burgeoning, albeit on dialup. I went to the initial show with a woman I met on the internet, at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank in 1996, it was a test run. Ron Fierstein, the manager of Suzanne Vega, who was on the bill, hipped me and got me tickets. It was a "tryout." I didn't get it, because a hit is a hit, and Sarah McLachlan had had some, as had Susanne Vega, and Paula Cole was bubbling up, isn't that enough?
OF COURSE IT WAS!
The following year was the first full-blown tour, and then it continued for a few years and then it was over, this film says because Sarah McLachlan was burned out. I buy that, after all it was her tour.
At the end of the film, Brandi Carlile is on stage at the Gorge, and she says it's Sarah McLachlan's house, and then she brings Sarah out, and I got goosebumps. I guess that's the power of a star, that's the power of music.
One other high point I must mention is when the Indigo Girls and the assembled multitude do "Closer to Fine" and drop out for the chorus and then the audience sings it, loudly. This was not a thing in the nineties, although it's de rigueur today.
Today...
The funny thing is the script has flipped, you've got men complaining the charts are dominated by women. In some cases, like Sabrina Carpenter, evidencing the sexuality that men used to trade on, that they used to own.
But that's today, and Lilith Fair was yesterday.
There's an overarching theme here, about the little engine that could, a lineup of women, could they sell tickets. Then there's the bonding and safety of women. And I can understand all those elements, but I went for the MUSIC!
The second time I went to Lilith it was at the Rose Bowl, and the second stage was outside the stadium. I remember going out there to hear Billie Myers do "Kiss the Rain," and K's Choice perform "Not an Addict," and then when the song broke, there was this bass thump and then a vocal that pierced the atmosphere, reached all the way outside the stadium and grabbed me, it was Sinéad O'Connor performing "I Am Stretched on Your Grave." I ran, literally RAN through the tunnel to see and hear Sinéad, who evidenced a power that most males never achieve.
She's gone now. And her later years were turbulent, but here we still have the young Sinéad, who supposedly ruined her career by ripping up a photo of the Pope on SNL. But all these years later, you see Sinéad in the film, you hear her talked about, and you realize she was brave, a trailblazer who inspired other women.
The film starts with Sarah talking about her sheltered upbringing. Ultimately learning how to stand up for herself and say no when necessary via Lilith.
And she was not the only one who had a learning experience, one performer informed another.
Joan Osborne is told not to talk about Planned Parenthood from the stage in Texas, and then she wears a shirt emblazoned with the logo of the organization. She was anything but meek.
But, Paula, Shawn and Sarah are forced to do a medley at the Grammys as opposed to each getting a solo slot, even though they were all nominated and the male nominees got to play alone. It made me think of Ken Ehrlich and his "Grammy moments." I don't think Ken even thought of sexism, but the three women...they debated refusing to perform. They ultimately took the stage, but they're still thinking about it.
And the endless backlash, the endless jokes. We live in a different era now, where internet hate is rampant, but this film is a great demonstration that you should never listen to the feedback, that people are out to get you, they make fun of you because they're jealous, don't adjust.
As for backstage... It looked like summer camp, made you want to be involved.
As for the set-up... They do a good job of delineating the players and showing them at work. Terry McBride as the manager, Marty Diamond as the agent and Dan Fraser as the road manager. I've seen a lot of rock docs, but this is the best when it comes to conception and execution, what a heavy lift it is. You've got an idea, will promoters buy it? And then you go out on the road and as smooth as it may appear on stage, hellzapoppin' off it, unanticipated problems are rampant.
Every day there's a press conference, where idiots ask inane questions. Maybe rock critics had cred in the sixties and seventies, but that was gone even before the internet.
Meaning if you're an act you must listen to your inner tuning fork, because most other people just don't know, don't kowtow to them.
So I think everybody watching "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery" will take something different from it. Some the female angle, some the gay angle, some the business angle...but for me it comes down to the music, writing a good song is the hardest part of the enterprise. And then reaching people with it comes next. Very few have the talent, very few.
And as the movie was winding down, I wondered if they'd mention the failure of the 2010 revival of Lilith Fair. Stunningly, they did. They said singer/songwriters were over, but if you ask me the problem then was time had passed and Sarah was just not that hot anymore, and you need a hook, you need a headliner.
Today?
If you're a star of Sarah's caliber you play arenas, you may even be able to play stadiums. But the funny thing is most of the public, outside of the attendees, may be familiar with your name at most, as for your music...they may not even be able to name one song.
The film may be about female breakthrough, standing up to an entrenched male society, disproving conventional wisdom, but I must say what hit me most was these were all big stars, and they may even still be around, plying the boards, but their hit eras are over. None of them are having hits today. Did they all just lose the muse? Or maybe the perspective should be like above, today no one has the ubiquitous hits of yore. But for me, it showed cycles. After all, this was nearly thirty years ago. THIRTY YEARS! A lot transpires in thirty years. New acts come along. With the same hunger of the old ones, maybe even inspired by the old ones.
So, have we made progress? There's the #MeToo movement, but there are still men who pooh-pooh music made by women, who think they and the male acts can do it better. The truth is they're just insecure. Unlike so many of the men, the women on the Lilith bill did not depend upon production, studio wizardry, they could sing and play their songs and...
I was watching thinking if this were the old days and this film was licensed to MTV it would be played ad infinitum, and become a cultural institution, bedrock. But today? Everything comes and goes, marked by lovers and styles of clothes. Yes, Joni had it right.
Will your jaw drop watching "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery"?
It's not that kind of film. But I got an e-mail from a woman saying she shed a tear and I didn't wholly get it until the end, when Sarah took the stage with Brandi at the Gorge.
You know if you need to see this movie.
Will it influence younger generations? Who knows how and why things spread today.
But one thing is for sure, when you wipe away the business and social elements Lilith was peopled with talented stars, whose music drove audiences to them, both men and women.
That's the message for me. Not that women are doing it for themselves, but that women are EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS MEN!
And these women proved it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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As of this writing, "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery," is unrated on both RottenTomatoes and Metacritic, there's just not enough data. So the question arises, has anybody seen it?
Oh, the documentary has gotten reviews. Then again, even Sarah McLachlan herself pulled out of performing at the premiere in protest against ABC/Disney's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.
But I don't think that's the issue.
I think part of the issue is Hulu doesn't have the traction or gravitas of Netflix or HBO, but also...it's an indication of today's era, where everything is niche and nothing is that big. But when Lilith Fair toured the continent, it was peopled by household name stars who had hits all over MTV. You may not have liked their music, but you knew it!
And you knew what these women looked like.
In retrospect, Lilith Fair was a last hurrah for the pre-internet era, even though at that point the internet was burgeoning, albeit on dialup. I went to the initial show with a woman I met on the internet, at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank in 1996, it was a test run. Ron Fierstein, the manager of Suzanne Vega, who was on the bill, hipped me and got me tickets. It was a "tryout." I didn't get it, because a hit is a hit, and Sarah McLachlan had had some, as had Susanne Vega, and Paula Cole was bubbling up, isn't that enough?
OF COURSE IT WAS!
The following year was the first full-blown tour, and then it continued for a few years and then it was over, this film says because Sarah McLachlan was burned out. I buy that, after all it was her tour.
At the end of the film, Brandi Carlile is on stage at the Gorge, and she says it's Sarah McLachlan's house, and then she brings Sarah out, and I got goosebumps. I guess that's the power of a star, that's the power of music.
One other high point I must mention is when the Indigo Girls and the assembled multitude do "Closer to Fine" and drop out for the chorus and then the audience sings it, loudly. This was not a thing in the nineties, although it's de rigueur today.
Today...
The funny thing is the script has flipped, you've got men complaining the charts are dominated by women. In some cases, like Sabrina Carpenter, evidencing the sexuality that men used to trade on, that they used to own.
But that's today, and Lilith Fair was yesterday.
There's an overarching theme here, about the little engine that could, a lineup of women, could they sell tickets. Then there's the bonding and safety of women. And I can understand all those elements, but I went for the MUSIC!
The second time I went to Lilith it was at the Rose Bowl, and the second stage was outside the stadium. I remember going out there to hear Billie Myers do "Kiss the Rain," and K's Choice perform "Not an Addict," and then when the song broke, there was this bass thump and then a vocal that pierced the atmosphere, reached all the way outside the stadium and grabbed me, it was Sinéad O'Connor performing "I Am Stretched on Your Grave." I ran, literally RAN through the tunnel to see and hear Sinéad, who evidenced a power that most males never achieve.
She's gone now. And her later years were turbulent, but here we still have the young Sinéad, who supposedly ruined her career by ripping up a photo of the Pope on SNL. But all these years later, you see Sinéad in the film, you hear her talked about, and you realize she was brave, a trailblazer who inspired other women.
The film starts with Sarah talking about her sheltered upbringing. Ultimately learning how to stand up for herself and say no when necessary via Lilith.
And she was not the only one who had a learning experience, one performer informed another.
Joan Osborne is told not to talk about Planned Parenthood from the stage in Texas, and then she wears a shirt emblazoned with the logo of the organization. She was anything but meek.
But, Paula, Shawn and Sarah are forced to do a medley at the Grammys as opposed to each getting a solo slot, even though they were all nominated and the male nominees got to play alone. It made me think of Ken Ehrlich and his "Grammy moments." I don't think Ken even thought of sexism, but the three women...they debated refusing to perform. They ultimately took the stage, but they're still thinking about it.
And the endless backlash, the endless jokes. We live in a different era now, where internet hate is rampant, but this film is a great demonstration that you should never listen to the feedback, that people are out to get you, they make fun of you because they're jealous, don't adjust.
As for backstage... It looked like summer camp, made you want to be involved.
As for the set-up... They do a good job of delineating the players and showing them at work. Terry McBride as the manager, Marty Diamond as the agent and Dan Fraser as the road manager. I've seen a lot of rock docs, but this is the best when it comes to conception and execution, what a heavy lift it is. You've got an idea, will promoters buy it? And then you go out on the road and as smooth as it may appear on stage, hellzapoppin' off it, unanticipated problems are rampant.
Every day there's a press conference, where idiots ask inane questions. Maybe rock critics had cred in the sixties and seventies, but that was gone even before the internet.
Meaning if you're an act you must listen to your inner tuning fork, because most other people just don't know, don't kowtow to them.
So I think everybody watching "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery" will take something different from it. Some the female angle, some the gay angle, some the business angle...but for me it comes down to the music, writing a good song is the hardest part of the enterprise. And then reaching people with it comes next. Very few have the talent, very few.
And as the movie was winding down, I wondered if they'd mention the failure of the 2010 revival of Lilith Fair. Stunningly, they did. They said singer/songwriters were over, but if you ask me the problem then was time had passed and Sarah was just not that hot anymore, and you need a hook, you need a headliner.
Today?
If you're a star of Sarah's caliber you play arenas, you may even be able to play stadiums. But the funny thing is most of the public, outside of the attendees, may be familiar with your name at most, as for your music...they may not even be able to name one song.
The film may be about female breakthrough, standing up to an entrenched male society, disproving conventional wisdom, but I must say what hit me most was these were all big stars, and they may even still be around, plying the boards, but their hit eras are over. None of them are having hits today. Did they all just lose the muse? Or maybe the perspective should be like above, today no one has the ubiquitous hits of yore. But for me, it showed cycles. After all, this was nearly thirty years ago. THIRTY YEARS! A lot transpires in thirty years. New acts come along. With the same hunger of the old ones, maybe even inspired by the old ones.
So, have we made progress? There's the #MeToo movement, but there are still men who pooh-pooh music made by women, who think they and the male acts can do it better. The truth is they're just insecure. Unlike so many of the men, the women on the Lilith bill did not depend upon production, studio wizardry, they could sing and play their songs and...
I was watching thinking if this were the old days and this film was licensed to MTV it would be played ad infinitum, and become a cultural institution, bedrock. But today? Everything comes and goes, marked by lovers and styles of clothes. Yes, Joni had it right.
Will your jaw drop watching "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery"?
It's not that kind of film. But I got an e-mail from a woman saying she shed a tear and I didn't wholly get it until the end, when Sarah took the stage with Brandi at the Gorge.
You know if you need to see this movie.
Will it influence younger generations? Who knows how and why things spread today.
But one thing is for sure, when you wipe away the business and social elements Lilith was peopled with talented stars, whose music drove audiences to them, both men and women.
That's the message for me. Not that women are doing it for themselves, but that women are EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS MEN!
And these women proved it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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Thursday, 25 September 2025
The King Records Documentary
"King of Them All - The Story of King Records": https://www.pbs.org/show/king-of-them-all-the-story-of-king-records/
I could watch this sh*t all day long. I love to learn, and I learned a lot watching this documentary.
From the very first time I met him, in a crowd at the Troubadour, Seymour Stein talked about Syd Nathan. And seemingly every time we were together after that he always circled back to Syd, working for him over the summer...AND I HAD NO IDEA WHO SYD NATHAN WAS!
Never mind basing his record company out of Cincinnati.
I knew King Records, because it was James Brown's record company, but the fact that the label was run by Syd Nathan?
Seymour assumed I knew. Because he was older than me.
But there was no internet back then.
And now there's so much history since then. And to tell you the truth, the pre-Beatle era is fading away, even Elvis Presley merch sales are declining, because the audience is dying off!
But we did have "The Twist" 45 at home.
Today's kids have no idea what it was like, the phenomenon. It was a dance everybody could do, AND THEY DID! Little kids, everybody was twisting. The twist was on TV. But I had no idea that Chubby Checker did not do the original version, that it was done by Little Willie John, a veritable superstar, who cut the original version of "Fever" for his debut King album back in '56.
Then there's "Good Rocking Tonight," which Ray Brown offered to Wynonie Harris for fifty bucks, and when turned down ended up recording it himself. But when the record got a little traction, Wynonie covered it and...
At this point, most connoisseurs consider Ike Turner/Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" to be the first rock and roll record. For a long time conventional wisdom said it was Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock," but that myth has been busted, just like Abner Doubleday inventing baseball. But "Rocket 88" is 1951. "Good Rocking Tonight" was 1947! You hear it in this doc and it screams rock and roll. Wynonie was magic, he was a star, you can feel it over half a century later.
But Syd started out with hillbilly music. Which faded away when the local radio station stopped paying live musicians and they all moved to Nashville. But race records, soul records, BLACK MUSIC, continued to sell.
At this late date, people point to Motown as the breakthrough Black music label, it even has its own museum in Detroit, King Records has been nearly forgotten.
Not that I knew much to begin with. I can distantly remember Bobby Rydell and Fabian, and the novelty records of the early sixties, but when it comes to the forties and fifties? My mind is a blank slate. But hearing the songs in this doc...there were a lot of great ones back then, and it's all part of a giant continuum, an evolution, the sound keeps changing, up through today.
So this doc is premiering on PBS on October 10th, you can see it on your local station or via the app. And PBS tends not to get a lot of popular music respect, it's not where edgy lives, but it lives here.
So if you watch this at home will you get the same feeling I did?
I mean almost nothing can maintain my interest these days. There's always something better, never mind the greats of yore. I have no time for most things. And I pulled up this doc just to get a taste, I'm running on empty, I had no interest or desire to watch the entire thing, but I couldn't turn it off. Because it was a window into the way it once was. The fifties... I lived through them, they feel like a dark age, but they come alive in this film.
And James Brown's evolution into funk...
I don't need to recite every element, there are many more high points in this documentary. Will you be bowled over, absolutely gobsmacked? No. Consider it a journey to another era. That had vitality, but has been mostly lost to the sands of time.
And unlike so many of the modern music documentaries, Syd Nathan is dead! Therefore he didn't have a hand in the film's production, his buddies were not building a monument to him at the same time pussyfooting around the facts, unwilling to offend anyone.
So it's not the usual hagiography.
But it's not too negative either.
Then again, Syd and James Brown fought a lot. And Syd was wrong more than once, as one person says in the film, he couldn't hear a hit.
But Syd was nobody from nowhere who got into the music business by accident. He was paid a debt in jukebox records. And when they sold like hotcakes at the electronics/photography store he worked at, he opened a record shop. And that evolved into a record company. This was the way it used to be, you didn't see acts on MTV, rich and famous musicians were not parading in the media, you didn't go to music business college, those who worked behind the scenes in the business...they fell into it.
And eventually, like tech, the business blew up, after the Beatles. But Syd Nathan had been working in music since the forties, just another business man. He was a wild card, as most of the original entrepreneurs were.
Watching this documentary is like going to a museum, one of my favorite pastimes. Drives my girlfriend crazy how I have to read each and every card, every explanation. But that's what turns me on.
Will everybody be turned on by this movie?
No, it's not "Jaws."
But for a certain subset of people, like me, it's a MUST-SEE!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
I could watch this sh*t all day long. I love to learn, and I learned a lot watching this documentary.
From the very first time I met him, in a crowd at the Troubadour, Seymour Stein talked about Syd Nathan. And seemingly every time we were together after that he always circled back to Syd, working for him over the summer...AND I HAD NO IDEA WHO SYD NATHAN WAS!
Never mind basing his record company out of Cincinnati.
I knew King Records, because it was James Brown's record company, but the fact that the label was run by Syd Nathan?
Seymour assumed I knew. Because he was older than me.
But there was no internet back then.
And now there's so much history since then. And to tell you the truth, the pre-Beatle era is fading away, even Elvis Presley merch sales are declining, because the audience is dying off!
But we did have "The Twist" 45 at home.
Today's kids have no idea what it was like, the phenomenon. It was a dance everybody could do, AND THEY DID! Little kids, everybody was twisting. The twist was on TV. But I had no idea that Chubby Checker did not do the original version, that it was done by Little Willie John, a veritable superstar, who cut the original version of "Fever" for his debut King album back in '56.
Then there's "Good Rocking Tonight," which Ray Brown offered to Wynonie Harris for fifty bucks, and when turned down ended up recording it himself. But when the record got a little traction, Wynonie covered it and...
At this point, most connoisseurs consider Ike Turner/Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" to be the first rock and roll record. For a long time conventional wisdom said it was Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock," but that myth has been busted, just like Abner Doubleday inventing baseball. But "Rocket 88" is 1951. "Good Rocking Tonight" was 1947! You hear it in this doc and it screams rock and roll. Wynonie was magic, he was a star, you can feel it over half a century later.
But Syd started out with hillbilly music. Which faded away when the local radio station stopped paying live musicians and they all moved to Nashville. But race records, soul records, BLACK MUSIC, continued to sell.
At this late date, people point to Motown as the breakthrough Black music label, it even has its own museum in Detroit, King Records has been nearly forgotten.
Not that I knew much to begin with. I can distantly remember Bobby Rydell and Fabian, and the novelty records of the early sixties, but when it comes to the forties and fifties? My mind is a blank slate. But hearing the songs in this doc...there were a lot of great ones back then, and it's all part of a giant continuum, an evolution, the sound keeps changing, up through today.
So this doc is premiering on PBS on October 10th, you can see it on your local station or via the app. And PBS tends not to get a lot of popular music respect, it's not where edgy lives, but it lives here.
So if you watch this at home will you get the same feeling I did?
I mean almost nothing can maintain my interest these days. There's always something better, never mind the greats of yore. I have no time for most things. And I pulled up this doc just to get a taste, I'm running on empty, I had no interest or desire to watch the entire thing, but I couldn't turn it off. Because it was a window into the way it once was. The fifties... I lived through them, they feel like a dark age, but they come alive in this film.
And James Brown's evolution into funk...
I don't need to recite every element, there are many more high points in this documentary. Will you be bowled over, absolutely gobsmacked? No. Consider it a journey to another era. That had vitality, but has been mostly lost to the sands of time.
And unlike so many of the modern music documentaries, Syd Nathan is dead! Therefore he didn't have a hand in the film's production, his buddies were not building a monument to him at the same time pussyfooting around the facts, unwilling to offend anyone.
So it's not the usual hagiography.
But it's not too negative either.
Then again, Syd and James Brown fought a lot. And Syd was wrong more than once, as one person says in the film, he couldn't hear a hit.
But Syd was nobody from nowhere who got into the music business by accident. He was paid a debt in jukebox records. And when they sold like hotcakes at the electronics/photography store he worked at, he opened a record shop. And that evolved into a record company. This was the way it used to be, you didn't see acts on MTV, rich and famous musicians were not parading in the media, you didn't go to music business college, those who worked behind the scenes in the business...they fell into it.
And eventually, like tech, the business blew up, after the Beatles. But Syd Nathan had been working in music since the forties, just another business man. He was a wild card, as most of the original entrepreneurs were.
Watching this documentary is like going to a museum, one of my favorite pastimes. Drives my girlfriend crazy how I have to read each and every card, every explanation. But that's what turns me on.
Will everybody be turned on by this movie?
No, it's not "Jaws."
But for a certain subset of people, like me, it's a MUST-SEE!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
Mailbag
From: Joseph A. Ondris
Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
You are the MOST biased person I know and an old out of touch old geezer that you
How's California going … I can't think of a place destroyed outright by policy more then your sh*thole
Sad but true
__________________________________
Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
Bob. You've been saying for ages that musicians need to stand for something again.
In a vanilla world where everyone is scared to be cancelled. Who would have thought that it would be a late night tv host in a suit that was more punk rock than most bands out there
Jason Perry
Producer / Writer / Other Stuff
https://www.jasonperry.london/
__________________________________
From: Patrick V. Cook
Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
I reject this notion of "right wing." I think it's the right WAY, and liberals are trying to f*ck it all up because they think f*ckin stuff up is progress - which is morally and intellectually false.
__________________________________
Subject: What people don't get about late-night TV
Nexstar is shooting itself in the foot, because exerting such control over local stations will just hasten the decline of network television, which would make Nexstar increasingly irrelevant. I saw a graph posted online that showed how much the audience for late-night TV shows has declined over the years, with the comment "This explains it all. No one likes these late-night comics."
Except he also didn't post a graphic showing streaming stats. Kimmel has an average of 1.77 million viewers a night on network TV, but he has 20,000,000 subscribers on YouTube and his show segments invariably pull in 3+ million views. Some of his segments go viral and get over 10 million views. So, late-night TV *viewing* may be dying. But late-night TV *content* is thriving more than ever.
Craig Anderton
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Re: Jimmy Kimmel Comes Back
Over the weekend we cancelled our Disney subscription in protest of its treatment of Jimmy Kimmel.
At the same time, our family could only wonder why Disney did not stand firm with Kimmel against Trump. Wasn't this the company that taught us to stand up against the ignorant and intolerant (Belle against Gaston), the deceitful (Simba against Scar), the vain (Snow White against the Evil Queen), the cruel (1001 Dalmatians against Cuella de Vil) and the power hungry (Prince Ali against Jafar).
Disney knows how to write this script.
Reinstating Kimmel is a good start.
And I hope this story ends with the renewal of our subscription- and many others.
I'll be watching Tuesday night.
P. V. Nunes
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Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
If I get my medical advice from an x-junkie like Bobby-Jr ~ I think I would prefer a man like Keith Richard's a person with more medical experience ~
R Singer
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Re: Kimmel Comes Back
You are so right about what happened at MCA/Universal and at Warner. I worked at MCA/Universal for 25 years, including when Doug Morris came on board, and while we had already acquired Geffen Records under Al Teller, the "music men" in Doug's C-suite (many of them Warner execs that we had poached) took us to the stratosphere with the purchase of Polygram. While they obviously knew how to identify musical talent, they also knew how to identify and maintain executive talent that appreciated the intersection of business and creativity. Lucian's team has mostly continued that tradition, but taking a company from last place to first is a much heavier lift than defending your crown.
By the time I got to Warner as Chief Data Officer, the culture was one in which executives from other industries (film, advertising, tech) were brought in to shake things up without any "feel" for the history of the business or the uniqueness of music as a consumer product. I will not deny that balancing the old and the new is a supremely difficult feat, but Universal's success and Warner's "long, slow decline" is fundamentally a result of getting the balance right vs. pushing too far to one side.
Regards
Vinnie Freda
Former EVP of UMG
Former CDO of WMG
Owner of Record Research Inc.
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Re: Men In America
Toward the end of the MeToo movement I remember turning to my wife and saying, "America can continue to label white males as pieces of sh*t for so long before they are going to push back." It wasn't an indictment of the movement. People like Weinstein are human garbage and needed to be dealt with. But the left took it too far. For the last two decades or so, the LGBTQ movement has made a lot of progress. Much of the messaging during this time was that everyone should be allowed to freely express who they are. They shouldn't feel that they have to suppress how they feel to please others. Spot on correct, totally agree. While this was going on, there was definitely a mood change toward alpha males. Much of their behavior was labeled gross or toxic. They became the villain. And the messaging was very clear that alpha males needed to change who they were, resist and control their natural urges and control their behavior. In the case of the MeToo movement a broader net was cast and all males were basically told to sit down, shut up and listen.
I'm not at ALL defending rape or sexual assualt, that is not what I am getting at. But, the left simultaneously wanted to empower the LQBTQ community and tell them, "Be who you are," while also telling alpha males to change or resist who they are.
And then along comes Trump who tells them, "I can solve all your problems. It's the woke culture. It's women. It's immigrants. It's people of color. It's DEI. I'll wipe it all out and make your lives better." And to an unstable mind that likely hasn't even begun to deal with any of their childhood trauma, this makes sense.
Neil Johnson
P.S. Re: Jimmy Kimmel: Put simply, Trump and his supporters just aren't smart. What's worse, and more embarrassing, is how insecure he is. If he/they had treated Kimmel as a non issue, people like me wouldn't have known what was said. But his ego couldn't let it go and Kimmel is (even if it's temporary) more popular than ever. Trump touts himself as some self aggrandized businessman. He's an idiot. All he's done is promote Kimmel's brand. He is such a child and it's exhausting waking up everyday wondering, "What's this fool going to do now?"
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Re: Men In America
You have probably listened to Galloway and the Mooch podcast. Lost Boys. The say exactly what you did here. I told my wife and other women the ideas and they got very defensive. My wife said "men don't know what it's like worrying all your life about rape". That really shocked me. So I've asked numerous women if they have lived like that. Literally every one of them said absolutely.
I found that stunning.
On the podcast Scott said if a woman is in a situation in public where she is afraid she should ask a man to escort her to her car because men are physically stronger and can be the deterrent. Women I spoke to responded to that by saying you don't know if the guy you ask is the one who will harm you.
Its pretty obvious we in America have created a society where over decades, systematically, common people have gotten poorer.
To counteract that,we created programs to assist. Snap, medicaid being the biggest. Instead of increasing wages, 1099 work is more rampant and employers don't have to pay because the government fills in the gaps. Men without a college education fill these positions and have found the message on the right compelling.
Now we are at a pretty much unsustainable level.
As one of the other readers you posted in a mailbag said, and I'm paraphrasing, "late stage capitalism is finally here".
Marty Walsh
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Re: Men In America
Well described Bob. I think about this a lot because I have five sons including grown and also 2 y/o and 5 y/o. The only part missing from your write up is how the pandemic isolated boys in their teens more so which has compounded many of the problems of going from boy to man in the age you describe. Keep sharing your observations on this topic. Thanks
John Roberts
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Re: Men In America
A thoughtful piece, sir. I always appreciate your insight.
I wonder if the Oasis juggernaut speaks to this issue. So many of my friends and their kids have reached out to me about what it all means. They don't remember being that fond of the band nor are they that into their music. Yet, they find themselves drawn to the whole spectacle in a way they can't explain.
Oasis is a mediocre musical group, but they are unabashedly rock and roll. Drunk, irreverent and unapologetic. All attitude. Piss and vinegar. They are testosterone unleashed and on full display.
Rock and roll at its core is simply testosterone in audible form. All attitude, sex and swagger. Sweaty men with hairy chests and bulges in their pants screaming about girls and good times. We had our choices of leaders back in the day: Plant, Daltrey, Ozzy, Roth, Axl and hundreds of others. Rock and roll: all balls, blood and sweat.
Somewhere along the way, that all disappeared and gave us the sensitive sad boy pop of Mayer, Sheeran, Styles, et al. Good music, but just….missing something. Something human and primal.
It is against this backdrop that makes the raw masculinity and brashness of Oasis so striking. We haven't had that spirit here since….1995(?). What can a poor boy do?
Phil Pritchett
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As a suburban left-leaning semi-libertarian, I've noticed that same attitude when we play gigs in the bright red rural areas of central NY. We still have our fans that have followed us for several decades, but back in the days of "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother" and "Long Haired Country Boy", they were just good old boys doing what their tribe has been doing for generations. They might have mocked the college bros and downtown dudes, but they didn't hate them. Of course, that was before politics permeated every corner of our existence. Now those same people fly Trump flags and wear MAGA hats and hate the libs. But if they know you, you're still a friend, and they'll have your back when the chips are down.
So at a typical gig at a country bar, people dance, clap, cheer the solos, hug us and get us high on the breaks, and buy our CDs (don't underestimate that market, these are the people who actually still own CD players). They take videos and post them online along with comments about how the band was on fire last night. It's big fun, all the way. But when I bring out friends from suburbia, the business world, or the country club, they roll their eyes and say "wow, rough crowd." And that happens even if I warned them to wear jeans and leave the khakis and polo shirts at home, so it's not like they're getting the side eye from the locals. They're just too uptight to relax, suspend their judgments, and have a good time. And I'll mock that myself, because it's the exact problem you're talking about. If they want to wallow in their success, they can do that, and they can afford to, so good for them. I prefer to wallow in humanity, in all its glorious forms.
Best regards,
C Darryl Mattison
Utica NY
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From: Hope Dlugozima
Re: Men In America
you're getting at this good truths here, Bob (and I write this as the mom of two kids in their mid-20s). but its not just guys in the trades...my college grad/successful son is fully in the Vance/Kirk camp and articulates the same feelings that you write of. and this is spot-on.
Men are different from women, don't try to turn them into metrosexuals and don't pooh-pooh all their behavior. Everybody wants to keep men in a box.
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Re: Men In America
Totally agree with your closing point re the "problem here". Harris was no different than Gore and Kerry. The only thing I remember from her closing campaign speech was a big shoutout to the LGBTQ community, a move with no other impact than enraging and getting out the vote for MAGA. She had the LGBTQ vote in the bag. Should have gone on Rogan, too. And, like Hillary and Kerry, she had the chops to viciously smack down Trump in a debate (see Senate hearings with Kavanaugh), but she just shook her head instead. That's Dem SOP. I still believe that if Kerry had turned to Dubya, pointed at him, and said, "Don't you EVER question my combat service to this country when you have done NOTHING", he would have won. Ditto if Hillary had stopped when Trump stalked around the stage, turned, pointed a Trump's lectern, and said, "What do you think you are doing? Get back to your place," she would have closed it. These things are authentic and create huge energy. And respect. But here we are. Harris shook her head and defended Biden while Walz collapsed in front of coach boy when America reached a crossroads...and then chose Trump.
Robert Bond
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From: Coliln Dutton
Re: Men In America
Thanks Bob,
Great insights once again.
I've thought about this issue for a while now and I think the focus that has been put on girls over the last two or three decades has left boys without that same or equal attention. Not that girls didn't deserve it but it almost seems like boys have been punished for wretched behavior they/we have sometimes displayed previously. Now we have marginalized boys growing into marginalized men who have less wits but the same amount of testosterone. This is and has always been a bad combination. We need men to be smart so the chances of there being at least one smart voice in the room is increased. Some of those rooms are bereft of anyone with a sense of reason which is how revolutions start.
As for getting these men back into the game? I think we ask them for help. Business 101 tells us to ask someone for a favor to win their trust and this ask might also give them a purpose. How this is done is above my pay grade but I feel like this is the direction the world needs to move in to win back the bro's.
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Re: Men In America
My question is, when do you become a man? Your first drink? First f*ck? First deer you kill? At least in the US (and the West in general), we lack defined rituals of manhood. I think this causes men to act out more- you're never sure you are really a man, so you feel you have to prove it over and over.
Riffing on your points - maybe people feel that having a lot of power and money does make you a man, so those without either always feel insecure, and those with both never have enough.
Being a man these days is a treacherous path lined with landmines. Yes, I know being a woman isn't exactly a picnic, but to your point, that doesn't mean we ignore the problems men have.
Dave Richards
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Re: Men In America
Wow. What a take! I applaud you for putting yourself out there with this! I couldn't agree with you more. I have noticed the chilling effect in my life and career. I am a road crew guy, a true roadie I smoke, I drink, I occasionally do drugs, I'm a veteran of two wars, I'm loud. I have been foes from gigs because I was too male. True story - was doing lighting for a drag tour, I don't care what it is - I'm there for a check, and a nice one at that. I truly thought it was interesting and funny, some of the performers were hysterical and nice people. However, when I quite vocally asked a gay cast mate to stop touching me inappropriately or I would knock him out I was fired. I asked nicely the 1st time and laughed it off, the second time I was firm and said "listen that's not me, please don't touch me" - no avail. 3rd time on the bus after getting done with a load out was accosted again I said to the man you touch me again Ill knock your teeth in.
I went to production and they laughed at me and literally told me to stop being homophobic. I said calmly, as I am a big guy, "imagine if I was a woman and made this claim". Crickets.
after the episode I was fired for homophobic behavior - and slandered until I sent the videos I had taken to my rather large production company and mentioned the words I will be retaining counsel to sue for sexual harassment. That seemed to catch someone's eye, and was placed on another tour immediately. The point I'm making is that there are rules for
They/Them but not for thee. It's disgusting how men are immediately looked as the problem until they are needed to fight wars and lift heavy truss and lights. I am not a right wing blowhard or a super liberal but Jesus Christ can I live a little? You're so right in what you're saying Bob. The left doesn't want to listen to anyone except themselves- and that's a circle jerk! Hell I'm a republican (or what used to be one) and I am begging the left to give me anyone else!!!
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Re: Rosh Hashanah
I guess not all Rosh Hashhannas are for celebrating. This is the equivalent of a new year's following a really bad year.
I'm from Panama, artist and jew. This week we're hosting Premios Juventud, which are very big Latin Grammy-like event that has never been hosted outside the US.
Because i am in cinema, musical theatre and music i get to be in the front line of the "avant-garde" way of thinking, which includes a very superficial form of "Free Palestine" while in Costa Rica a synagoge was vandalized last week. Coming from an orthodox community, here in Panama in the holidays everybody's walking down the street in groups.
It's overwhelming to feel fear for those who are visibly jewish in the streets, to be thankful latin music industry hasn't eaten the free palestine agenda and at the same time being constantly attacked by the cinema/musical theatre scene because i'm jewish and zionist… like you said, you can separate the terms but i truly truly doubt you could ever separate the difference in people's mind.
By reading you, i feel the pain but less alone… i guess as in many moments in history, jews had to feel like that, a hybrid between come what may and we're not alone.
Shanna Tova, stay safe and keep being.
Arian S. Abadi
www.arianabadi.com
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From many
Re; Kimmel Comes Back
"Even Michael Eisner backed Disney."
I'm sure everyone has told you that Eisner backed Kimmel and blasted Carr…
(Note: My mistake. My excuse is I was writing quickly to deadline and I missed it. Sorry!)
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Re: Rosh Hashanah
I remember learning about the Holocaust when I was a youngster in school many years ago and having an overwhelming thought that I could never shake— BUT HOW COULD PEOPLE HAVE POSSIBLY LET THAT HAPPEN?! How was it even possible for people to be so complacent for such a horrific genocide to occur?
And yet, here we are…
Thanks always for your writing, Bob.
Melissa Marchese
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Re: Rosh Hashanah
Thoughtful and pretty much on target. As a Jew living in Canada our government has stood with France, Great Britain and too many others giving legitimacy to a Palestinian State, brilliant. If you go back historically just a few hundred years ago there was no Palestine no or any tribe or people called Palestinians. Thank the Brits for their wisdom when they took over the region after WW1 and then walked away after WW2 leaving the region to its own devices. Back to modern times and talking about our culture and constantly being under a microscope and always waiting for the next pogrom or Kristallnacht. I have long been involved with Human Rights and a strong supporter of our people. I am getting tired and frustrated at the constant hate and battle we go through. In fact due to the recent response I received from a so-called non Jewish friend to something I reposted that summed up what we have been through as a people over the millenia through to today I have decided to no longer talk politics or religion and keep it simple sports and music from hereon in. The response was full of venom and hate directed at what he described the criminal and disgusting state of Israel. In addition he insisted that if any members of the IDF immigrated to Canada they should be arrested by the Canadian government and tried for war crimes. Oh he went on and on and I asked him if we should do the same to any members of Hamas, Hezbollah who made their way to Canada, never got a response, just more blowback about Israel. I know you have visited on a number of occasions. Bob we have idiots, MAGA and non-thinkers up here. Nobody ever said it easy being a Jew wherever you live. I too out of habit attend services online. My temple of choice is the Central Synagogue in Manhattan. Interesting Rabbi and everbody on the bima could or maybe has sung on some broadway production, great voices. From a Jew in Canada to one in the US Shana Tovah.
David Stein
Ottawa
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From: Khila Khani
Re: Rosh Hashanah
Yes, there are risks to attending any building where people gather. I can't say I'm very religious, but I'm fiercely cultural and proud of my heritage. My synagogue is quite a special little reform synagogue that began in the 70's, built by a community of people generally have stuck around, people I have known my whole life. This little synagogue is struggling, just like every other house of worship and every congregant has felt that greater distance from religious institutions but....this year, I noticed something about Rosh Hashana services were different.
This year, the sanctuary was filled with levity, laughter and incredible music. It's like we all stepped into a space and time that allowed us to take a pause with one another in a real communal way, and without the distractions of life.
Each year, I'm honored to contribute my talents and have served as our synagogue's shofar blower (he wasn't that great a driver), for over 10 years. During the first round, I thought I was supposed to begin playing notes and lifted my shofar up to my lips too soon, but quickly realized the error and returned to my original position. The movement seemed to generate a huge roar of laughter from the congregants and made me feel less anxious about the notes that followed.
When sounding the shofar, there are a total of 4 rounds of shofar blasts. The last round, typically consists of the same set of notes as the 3 rounds before, but the last note, the g'dola, is the meant to be played the longest. I can typically last around 30-50 seconds, but the Rabbi changed things up on me this year. Instead of playing all the notes first and then the g'dola at the end, after we clinked horns, and then he decides to ONLY play the last note. Not knowing this, I don't prep m6 breathing properly for the long blast, but do it anyway. As I'm playing the note, I feel the air completely escape my body, and continue repeating in my head..."don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out...." I manage to keep it together and actually outlast the Rabbi, but only by a second or two. After I finish, I slightly stumble backwards, but nobody really notices. They embrace the errors, they appreciate having this time together, but really all they see is how much joy this service has brought to the community.
And finally, Bob, wishing you a very Happy New Year. May you be inscribed in the book of life. This note's for you!
https://youtu.be/kjxkb__cMJc?si=l9w-Jdw0Z-UBstey
Lots of love,
Khila
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Re: Rosh Hashanah
Bob, I really appreciate your letters. It (you) were recommended years ago by my sons' music manager in NYC, Peter Casperson, as a must read.
My boys, formerly the Abrams Brothers, now the Abrams. They're heading to Israel next week to play a festival at Kfar Blum.
The festival, Jacob's Ladder, is a mix of expat Americans, Brits, Canadians and Israelis. My boys have played the festival many times since 2007. And though they're now young men, I still tag along. We love the country and the people. So, thanks again for your letters.
Kind regards,
Brian Abrams
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From: Paul Lohr
Subject: RE: Falling
Bob, I am sorry to read about your fall. My wife read that most accidents happen within 10 miles of your home. So we moved.
Sincerely,
Paul
Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
You are the MOST biased person I know and an old out of touch old geezer that you
How's California going … I can't think of a place destroyed outright by policy more then your sh*thole
Sad but true
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Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
Bob. You've been saying for ages that musicians need to stand for something again.
In a vanilla world where everyone is scared to be cancelled. Who would have thought that it would be a late night tv host in a suit that was more punk rock than most bands out there
Jason Perry
Producer / Writer / Other Stuff
https://www.jasonperry.london/
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From: Patrick V. Cook
Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
I reject this notion of "right wing." I think it's the right WAY, and liberals are trying to f*ck it all up because they think f*ckin stuff up is progress - which is morally and intellectually false.
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Subject: What people don't get about late-night TV
Nexstar is shooting itself in the foot, because exerting such control over local stations will just hasten the decline of network television, which would make Nexstar increasingly irrelevant. I saw a graph posted online that showed how much the audience for late-night TV shows has declined over the years, with the comment "This explains it all. No one likes these late-night comics."
Except he also didn't post a graphic showing streaming stats. Kimmel has an average of 1.77 million viewers a night on network TV, but he has 20,000,000 subscribers on YouTube and his show segments invariably pull in 3+ million views. Some of his segments go viral and get over 10 million views. So, late-night TV *viewing* may be dying. But late-night TV *content* is thriving more than ever.
Craig Anderton
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Re: Jimmy Kimmel Comes Back
Over the weekend we cancelled our Disney subscription in protest of its treatment of Jimmy Kimmel.
At the same time, our family could only wonder why Disney did not stand firm with Kimmel against Trump. Wasn't this the company that taught us to stand up against the ignorant and intolerant (Belle against Gaston), the deceitful (Simba against Scar), the vain (Snow White against the Evil Queen), the cruel (1001 Dalmatians against Cuella de Vil) and the power hungry (Prince Ali against Jafar).
Disney knows how to write this script.
Reinstating Kimmel is a good start.
And I hope this story ends with the renewal of our subscription- and many others.
I'll be watching Tuesday night.
P. V. Nunes
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Re: Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
If I get my medical advice from an x-junkie like Bobby-Jr ~ I think I would prefer a man like Keith Richard's a person with more medical experience ~
R Singer
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Re: Kimmel Comes Back
You are so right about what happened at MCA/Universal and at Warner. I worked at MCA/Universal for 25 years, including when Doug Morris came on board, and while we had already acquired Geffen Records under Al Teller, the "music men" in Doug's C-suite (many of them Warner execs that we had poached) took us to the stratosphere with the purchase of Polygram. While they obviously knew how to identify musical talent, they also knew how to identify and maintain executive talent that appreciated the intersection of business and creativity. Lucian's team has mostly continued that tradition, but taking a company from last place to first is a much heavier lift than defending your crown.
By the time I got to Warner as Chief Data Officer, the culture was one in which executives from other industries (film, advertising, tech) were brought in to shake things up without any "feel" for the history of the business or the uniqueness of music as a consumer product. I will not deny that balancing the old and the new is a supremely difficult feat, but Universal's success and Warner's "long, slow decline" is fundamentally a result of getting the balance right vs. pushing too far to one side.
Regards
Vinnie Freda
Former EVP of UMG
Former CDO of WMG
Owner of Record Research Inc.
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Re: Men In America
Toward the end of the MeToo movement I remember turning to my wife and saying, "America can continue to label white males as pieces of sh*t for so long before they are going to push back." It wasn't an indictment of the movement. People like Weinstein are human garbage and needed to be dealt with. But the left took it too far. For the last two decades or so, the LGBTQ movement has made a lot of progress. Much of the messaging during this time was that everyone should be allowed to freely express who they are. They shouldn't feel that they have to suppress how they feel to please others. Spot on correct, totally agree. While this was going on, there was definitely a mood change toward alpha males. Much of their behavior was labeled gross or toxic. They became the villain. And the messaging was very clear that alpha males needed to change who they were, resist and control their natural urges and control their behavior. In the case of the MeToo movement a broader net was cast and all males were basically told to sit down, shut up and listen.
I'm not at ALL defending rape or sexual assualt, that is not what I am getting at. But, the left simultaneously wanted to empower the LQBTQ community and tell them, "Be who you are," while also telling alpha males to change or resist who they are.
And then along comes Trump who tells them, "I can solve all your problems. It's the woke culture. It's women. It's immigrants. It's people of color. It's DEI. I'll wipe it all out and make your lives better." And to an unstable mind that likely hasn't even begun to deal with any of their childhood trauma, this makes sense.
Neil Johnson
P.S. Re: Jimmy Kimmel: Put simply, Trump and his supporters just aren't smart. What's worse, and more embarrassing, is how insecure he is. If he/they had treated Kimmel as a non issue, people like me wouldn't have known what was said. But his ego couldn't let it go and Kimmel is (even if it's temporary) more popular than ever. Trump touts himself as some self aggrandized businessman. He's an idiot. All he's done is promote Kimmel's brand. He is such a child and it's exhausting waking up everyday wondering, "What's this fool going to do now?"
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Re: Men In America
You have probably listened to Galloway and the Mooch podcast. Lost Boys. The say exactly what you did here. I told my wife and other women the ideas and they got very defensive. My wife said "men don't know what it's like worrying all your life about rape". That really shocked me. So I've asked numerous women if they have lived like that. Literally every one of them said absolutely.
I found that stunning.
On the podcast Scott said if a woman is in a situation in public where she is afraid she should ask a man to escort her to her car because men are physically stronger and can be the deterrent. Women I spoke to responded to that by saying you don't know if the guy you ask is the one who will harm you.
Its pretty obvious we in America have created a society where over decades, systematically, common people have gotten poorer.
To counteract that,we created programs to assist. Snap, medicaid being the biggest. Instead of increasing wages, 1099 work is more rampant and employers don't have to pay because the government fills in the gaps. Men without a college education fill these positions and have found the message on the right compelling.
Now we are at a pretty much unsustainable level.
As one of the other readers you posted in a mailbag said, and I'm paraphrasing, "late stage capitalism is finally here".
Marty Walsh
__________________________________
Re: Men In America
Well described Bob. I think about this a lot because I have five sons including grown and also 2 y/o and 5 y/o. The only part missing from your write up is how the pandemic isolated boys in their teens more so which has compounded many of the problems of going from boy to man in the age you describe. Keep sharing your observations on this topic. Thanks
John Roberts
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Re: Men In America
A thoughtful piece, sir. I always appreciate your insight.
I wonder if the Oasis juggernaut speaks to this issue. So many of my friends and their kids have reached out to me about what it all means. They don't remember being that fond of the band nor are they that into their music. Yet, they find themselves drawn to the whole spectacle in a way they can't explain.
Oasis is a mediocre musical group, but they are unabashedly rock and roll. Drunk, irreverent and unapologetic. All attitude. Piss and vinegar. They are testosterone unleashed and on full display.
Rock and roll at its core is simply testosterone in audible form. All attitude, sex and swagger. Sweaty men with hairy chests and bulges in their pants screaming about girls and good times. We had our choices of leaders back in the day: Plant, Daltrey, Ozzy, Roth, Axl and hundreds of others. Rock and roll: all balls, blood and sweat.
Somewhere along the way, that all disappeared and gave us the sensitive sad boy pop of Mayer, Sheeran, Styles, et al. Good music, but just….missing something. Something human and primal.
It is against this backdrop that makes the raw masculinity and brashness of Oasis so striking. We haven't had that spirit here since….1995(?). What can a poor boy do?
Phil Pritchett
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As a suburban left-leaning semi-libertarian, I've noticed that same attitude when we play gigs in the bright red rural areas of central NY. We still have our fans that have followed us for several decades, but back in the days of "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother" and "Long Haired Country Boy", they were just good old boys doing what their tribe has been doing for generations. They might have mocked the college bros and downtown dudes, but they didn't hate them. Of course, that was before politics permeated every corner of our existence. Now those same people fly Trump flags and wear MAGA hats and hate the libs. But if they know you, you're still a friend, and they'll have your back when the chips are down.
So at a typical gig at a country bar, people dance, clap, cheer the solos, hug us and get us high on the breaks, and buy our CDs (don't underestimate that market, these are the people who actually still own CD players). They take videos and post them online along with comments about how the band was on fire last night. It's big fun, all the way. But when I bring out friends from suburbia, the business world, or the country club, they roll their eyes and say "wow, rough crowd." And that happens even if I warned them to wear jeans and leave the khakis and polo shirts at home, so it's not like they're getting the side eye from the locals. They're just too uptight to relax, suspend their judgments, and have a good time. And I'll mock that myself, because it's the exact problem you're talking about. If they want to wallow in their success, they can do that, and they can afford to, so good for them. I prefer to wallow in humanity, in all its glorious forms.
Best regards,
C Darryl Mattison
Utica NY
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From: Hope Dlugozima
Re: Men In America
you're getting at this good truths here, Bob (and I write this as the mom of two kids in their mid-20s). but its not just guys in the trades...my college grad/successful son is fully in the Vance/Kirk camp and articulates the same feelings that you write of. and this is spot-on.
Men are different from women, don't try to turn them into metrosexuals and don't pooh-pooh all their behavior. Everybody wants to keep men in a box.
__________________________________
Re: Men In America
Totally agree with your closing point re the "problem here". Harris was no different than Gore and Kerry. The only thing I remember from her closing campaign speech was a big shoutout to the LGBTQ community, a move with no other impact than enraging and getting out the vote for MAGA. She had the LGBTQ vote in the bag. Should have gone on Rogan, too. And, like Hillary and Kerry, she had the chops to viciously smack down Trump in a debate (see Senate hearings with Kavanaugh), but she just shook her head instead. That's Dem SOP. I still believe that if Kerry had turned to Dubya, pointed at him, and said, "Don't you EVER question my combat service to this country when you have done NOTHING", he would have won. Ditto if Hillary had stopped when Trump stalked around the stage, turned, pointed a Trump's lectern, and said, "What do you think you are doing? Get back to your place," she would have closed it. These things are authentic and create huge energy. And respect. But here we are. Harris shook her head and defended Biden while Walz collapsed in front of coach boy when America reached a crossroads...and then chose Trump.
Robert Bond
__________________________________
From: Coliln Dutton
Re: Men In America
Thanks Bob,
Great insights once again.
I've thought about this issue for a while now and I think the focus that has been put on girls over the last two or three decades has left boys without that same or equal attention. Not that girls didn't deserve it but it almost seems like boys have been punished for wretched behavior they/we have sometimes displayed previously. Now we have marginalized boys growing into marginalized men who have less wits but the same amount of testosterone. This is and has always been a bad combination. We need men to be smart so the chances of there being at least one smart voice in the room is increased. Some of those rooms are bereft of anyone with a sense of reason which is how revolutions start.
As for getting these men back into the game? I think we ask them for help. Business 101 tells us to ask someone for a favor to win their trust and this ask might also give them a purpose. How this is done is above my pay grade but I feel like this is the direction the world needs to move in to win back the bro's.
__________________________________
Re: Men In America
My question is, when do you become a man? Your first drink? First f*ck? First deer you kill? At least in the US (and the West in general), we lack defined rituals of manhood. I think this causes men to act out more- you're never sure you are really a man, so you feel you have to prove it over and over.
Riffing on your points - maybe people feel that having a lot of power and money does make you a man, so those without either always feel insecure, and those with both never have enough.
Being a man these days is a treacherous path lined with landmines. Yes, I know being a woman isn't exactly a picnic, but to your point, that doesn't mean we ignore the problems men have.
Dave Richards
__________________________________
Re: Men In America
Wow. What a take! I applaud you for putting yourself out there with this! I couldn't agree with you more. I have noticed the chilling effect in my life and career. I am a road crew guy, a true roadie I smoke, I drink, I occasionally do drugs, I'm a veteran of two wars, I'm loud. I have been foes from gigs because I was too male. True story - was doing lighting for a drag tour, I don't care what it is - I'm there for a check, and a nice one at that. I truly thought it was interesting and funny, some of the performers were hysterical and nice people. However, when I quite vocally asked a gay cast mate to stop touching me inappropriately or I would knock him out I was fired. I asked nicely the 1st time and laughed it off, the second time I was firm and said "listen that's not me, please don't touch me" - no avail. 3rd time on the bus after getting done with a load out was accosted again I said to the man you touch me again Ill knock your teeth in.
I went to production and they laughed at me and literally told me to stop being homophobic. I said calmly, as I am a big guy, "imagine if I was a woman and made this claim". Crickets.
after the episode I was fired for homophobic behavior - and slandered until I sent the videos I had taken to my rather large production company and mentioned the words I will be retaining counsel to sue for sexual harassment. That seemed to catch someone's eye, and was placed on another tour immediately. The point I'm making is that there are rules for
They/Them but not for thee. It's disgusting how men are immediately looked as the problem until they are needed to fight wars and lift heavy truss and lights. I am not a right wing blowhard or a super liberal but Jesus Christ can I live a little? You're so right in what you're saying Bob. The left doesn't want to listen to anyone except themselves- and that's a circle jerk! Hell I'm a republican (or what used to be one) and I am begging the left to give me anyone else!!!
__________________________________
Re: Rosh Hashanah
I guess not all Rosh Hashhannas are for celebrating. This is the equivalent of a new year's following a really bad year.
I'm from Panama, artist and jew. This week we're hosting Premios Juventud, which are very big Latin Grammy-like event that has never been hosted outside the US.
Because i am in cinema, musical theatre and music i get to be in the front line of the "avant-garde" way of thinking, which includes a very superficial form of "Free Palestine" while in Costa Rica a synagoge was vandalized last week. Coming from an orthodox community, here in Panama in the holidays everybody's walking down the street in groups.
It's overwhelming to feel fear for those who are visibly jewish in the streets, to be thankful latin music industry hasn't eaten the free palestine agenda and at the same time being constantly attacked by the cinema/musical theatre scene because i'm jewish and zionist… like you said, you can separate the terms but i truly truly doubt you could ever separate the difference in people's mind.
By reading you, i feel the pain but less alone… i guess as in many moments in history, jews had to feel like that, a hybrid between come what may and we're not alone.
Shanna Tova, stay safe and keep being.
Arian S. Abadi
www.arianabadi.com
__________________________________
From many
Re; Kimmel Comes Back
"Even Michael Eisner backed Disney."
I'm sure everyone has told you that Eisner backed Kimmel and blasted Carr…
(Note: My mistake. My excuse is I was writing quickly to deadline and I missed it. Sorry!)
__________________________________
Re: Rosh Hashanah
I remember learning about the Holocaust when I was a youngster in school many years ago and having an overwhelming thought that I could never shake— BUT HOW COULD PEOPLE HAVE POSSIBLY LET THAT HAPPEN?! How was it even possible for people to be so complacent for such a horrific genocide to occur?
And yet, here we are…
Thanks always for your writing, Bob.
Melissa Marchese
__________________________________
Re: Rosh Hashanah
Thoughtful and pretty much on target. As a Jew living in Canada our government has stood with France, Great Britain and too many others giving legitimacy to a Palestinian State, brilliant. If you go back historically just a few hundred years ago there was no Palestine no or any tribe or people called Palestinians. Thank the Brits for their wisdom when they took over the region after WW1 and then walked away after WW2 leaving the region to its own devices. Back to modern times and talking about our culture and constantly being under a microscope and always waiting for the next pogrom or Kristallnacht. I have long been involved with Human Rights and a strong supporter of our people. I am getting tired and frustrated at the constant hate and battle we go through. In fact due to the recent response I received from a so-called non Jewish friend to something I reposted that summed up what we have been through as a people over the millenia through to today I have decided to no longer talk politics or religion and keep it simple sports and music from hereon in. The response was full of venom and hate directed at what he described the criminal and disgusting state of Israel. In addition he insisted that if any members of the IDF immigrated to Canada they should be arrested by the Canadian government and tried for war crimes. Oh he went on and on and I asked him if we should do the same to any members of Hamas, Hezbollah who made their way to Canada, never got a response, just more blowback about Israel. I know you have visited on a number of occasions. Bob we have idiots, MAGA and non-thinkers up here. Nobody ever said it easy being a Jew wherever you live. I too out of habit attend services online. My temple of choice is the Central Synagogue in Manhattan. Interesting Rabbi and everbody on the bima could or maybe has sung on some broadway production, great voices. From a Jew in Canada to one in the US Shana Tovah.
David Stein
Ottawa
__________________________________
From: Khila Khani
Re: Rosh Hashanah
Yes, there are risks to attending any building where people gather. I can't say I'm very religious, but I'm fiercely cultural and proud of my heritage. My synagogue is quite a special little reform synagogue that began in the 70's, built by a community of people generally have stuck around, people I have known my whole life. This little synagogue is struggling, just like every other house of worship and every congregant has felt that greater distance from religious institutions but....this year, I noticed something about Rosh Hashana services were different.
This year, the sanctuary was filled with levity, laughter and incredible music. It's like we all stepped into a space and time that allowed us to take a pause with one another in a real communal way, and without the distractions of life.
Each year, I'm honored to contribute my talents and have served as our synagogue's shofar blower (he wasn't that great a driver), for over 10 years. During the first round, I thought I was supposed to begin playing notes and lifted my shofar up to my lips too soon, but quickly realized the error and returned to my original position. The movement seemed to generate a huge roar of laughter from the congregants and made me feel less anxious about the notes that followed.
When sounding the shofar, there are a total of 4 rounds of shofar blasts. The last round, typically consists of the same set of notes as the 3 rounds before, but the last note, the g'dola, is the meant to be played the longest. I can typically last around 30-50 seconds, but the Rabbi changed things up on me this year. Instead of playing all the notes first and then the g'dola at the end, after we clinked horns, and then he decides to ONLY play the last note. Not knowing this, I don't prep m6 breathing properly for the long blast, but do it anyway. As I'm playing the note, I feel the air completely escape my body, and continue repeating in my head..."don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out...." I manage to keep it together and actually outlast the Rabbi, but only by a second or two. After I finish, I slightly stumble backwards, but nobody really notices. They embrace the errors, they appreciate having this time together, but really all they see is how much joy this service has brought to the community.
And finally, Bob, wishing you a very Happy New Year. May you be inscribed in the book of life. This note's for you!
https://youtu.be/kjxkb__cMJc?si=l9w-Jdw0Z-UBstey
Lots of love,
Khila
__________________________________
Re: Rosh Hashanah
Bob, I really appreciate your letters. It (you) were recommended years ago by my sons' music manager in NYC, Peter Casperson, as a must read.
My boys, formerly the Abrams Brothers, now the Abrams. They're heading to Israel next week to play a festival at Kfar Blum.
The festival, Jacob's Ladder, is a mix of expat Americans, Brits, Canadians and Israelis. My boys have played the festival many times since 2007. And though they're now young men, I still tag along. We love the country and the people. So, thanks again for your letters.
Kind regards,
Brian Abrams
__________________________________
From: Paul Lohr
Subject: RE: Falling
Bob, I am sorry to read about your fall. My wife read that most accidents happen within 10 miles of your home. So we moved.
Sincerely,
Paul
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Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Men In America
Used to want to be rock stars.
But that was back before the cell phone camera. All the perks of being a rock star are gone. You can no longer rape and pillage across America, and you aren't even that rich, so where is the opportunity?
Rape and pillage. You can't use the former word if you're a male. It's taboo. The language police will get you. As a matter of fact, if you're male in America today you're constrained, you're issued a list of taboo behaviors at birth and if you cross them...
Now of course this doesn't apply to all men. But somewhere along the line all men were considered macho boors. You're lumped into that category by your penis, period. You're aggressive and macho and not in touch with your feelings and if we don't constrain you, there will be trouble.
Not if you're a college graduate, not if you're a winner, but not everybody can be a winner.
And if you don't go to college, where does that leave you?
With the short end of the stick, not much money and not much power. All you can do is sit around and let your anger stew, get drunk, listen to bro podcasts.
The left brought this upon itself. Hell, the most reasonable of men can't live up to Democratic standards. They too are lumped into the macho bag, any rough edges are decried, if you don't acknowledge the equality and power of women you're a pariah. Truly.
Hang with me here. I'm trying to explain the vibe, where we were, how we got here, if you're nitpicking you're missing the point.
I'm inundated with right wing blowback. Which is marked by misspellings and bad grammar. Just today I got an e-mail from someone talking about Jimmy Kimmal and Jay Lenno...
What has that person's life been like? Probably not good. Because if you make mistakes like this chances are you are not educated and cannot get a good job and therefore you are resentful. And this resentment trumps everything else in your life, this is why you vote for Trump.
You're driving Uber. You're barely making ends meet. And all you hear about is social welfare for people of color and the disadvantaged. It's not that you're really against these people getting help, but you're pissed that no one is looking out for you, no one is taking action regarding your problems. Where are the better jobs? And if I hang with my bros and get high after work I'm still going to be denigrated.
We all need something to live for. For most it's job or family or both.
But what if you have a lousy job and can't get laid.
To you it looks like the world has been feminized. Look at the Spotify Top 50, dominated by KPop Demon Hunters. Sure, there are male fans of KPop, but if you'd rather wrestle and talk about hunting, is this going to be your music?
And we do have a problem with guns in America, but there are people who like to hunt. But if you kill anything in America today you're the problem, not the solution, even though in many areas conservation is handled via hunting, otherwise deer and other animals would overwhelm the area.
You're constantly being told that your behavior and values are wrong.
Don't confuse these men with religious zealots, or rich profiteers, they're the rank and file. They listen to Rogan and Theo Von not because they think they're right so much as these guys don't talk down to them, they make them feel COMFORTABLE!
Come on... You see a guy with a blue collar job driving an old pickup and you don't judge them? Maybe you don't, but a lot of educated/desirable women do. And if these guys dare to approach women...they've got to run a gauntlet to get access. No means no...
There are many bad actors who need to be taught limits. Then there are normal guys, maybe insecure and shy, who'd have trouble with women in any event but are lumped in with bad actors...
It's kind of like mass shooters. The main thing they have in common is mental derangement. But if a shooter is trans or has any other characteristic, if you share it, you're tarred too.
Are macho males going to be fans of Justin Bieber?
Look once again at the Spotify Top 50. We've got Alex Warren and Benson Boone and the sexed-up Disney star Sabrina Carpenter? She's enticing all the men who know they've got absolutely no chance, despite decrying her pop music. But all the media is raving about her and Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo and...where are the concomitant male stars, marinating in their maleness?
Well, there are some in the heavy metal/active rock world... Then again, a lot of them are cartoons, not truly dangerous, that's just an image. If you want something that resonates, you go to the Gathering of the Juggalos.
Or are a fan of a dangerous rapper. One who brandishes a weapon and risks going to jail. That guy is STICKING IT TO THE MAN! Somebody's got to do it. Many males see men who test limits as part of a great rebellion, a great reaction, against a system that keeps them down.
One of the reasons the left can't get organized against the right is because those on the left have it pretty good, are complacent. They're not worried about the working man, which is why these people are now Republicans, they can only provide lip service.
So you've got Scott Galloway and others talking about how we have to lift up young men. I'd say we have to change the attitudes of those who are already here.
Men are different from women, don't try to turn them into metrosexuals and don't pooh-pooh all their behavior. Everybody wants to keep men in a box.
As for the male leaders on the left...
Who can identify with Chuck Schumer? And Gavin Newsom is slick. As for Cory Booker...I've never met anybody like him. Where can I see people like myself, that's what men want to know.
Well, those guys aren't given positions of power because they have edges that are too rough. Which is why men cotton to Elon Musk, because at least he's unconstrained, he's got power.
You might look at the downsides of Musk, but what are you providing in the alternative?
Talk about orthodoxy... A male might vote for Kamala Harris for intellectual reasons, but emotional ones? She's as phony and wishy-washy as they come. But if a male says this he's accused of breaking the Democratic code, and if you do this they don't want you around... Big tent, my ass.
You went to high school, didn't you? What did it feel like to be left out, to have no power. You weren't cool, you weren't part of the student government, you didn't play on a sports team, it's almost like you didn't exist. But supposedly graduation was liberation. NOT ANYMORE! Regular life is like the purgatory of high school.
And the funny thing is if you don't play along, it drives the women and their minions NUTS! If you say something politically incorrect, they just can't handle it. You'd think that you shot someone.
And where are the men on the left saying NO MAS! Standing up to the pronoun and trans people in sports and men having babies rhetoric. Everyone on the left is so afraid of offending a single person that they bend over backwards to defend every person, to the point of ridiculousness. But they aren't bending over backward to support the average male, who is considered to have been born on third base.
We don't live in a post-racial society, but to look at everything through the lens of the past is plain wrong. Women may still be disadvantaged, but they've come a long way, baby. And the problem with DEI isn't that those gaining advantage are unworthy, but more WHO'S LOOKING OUT FOR ME!
Let's be clear. I'm focusing on a subset of the population. Not every man and not every Republican man. But there are those those who believe they got a raw deal and no one is listening to them. And believe me, no one on the left is. It's like showing up at a black tie event in a Canadian tuxedo. You stand out and are laughed at.
You just don't do it right. People are constantly watching you for bad behavior.
We don't need a major adjustment here, only a subtle one.
Men can't be guilty until proven innocent. Not every male is a wannabe rapist.
As for behavior... Why is it only girls' actions are approved. So, the male world tends to be more physical...do we have to leave all of our maleness aside to be accepted?
Women need men too.
And women get to choose. Never underestimate that.
As for the media... It's so afraid of being excoriated by the left wing police that it's complicit.
From little kids to adults, we have to change our behavior towards men. If a little boy is running ragged on the playground, raising his voice, he is not defective. Ditto men. But they're told they never grew up.
Wow.
Is it worse being poor and broke and a person of color? ABSOLUTELY! But that does not mean the plight of the average male should be forsaken.
We've got a problem here, and those on the left aren't even aware of it.
They created this problem. They created the men on the right who hate the libs.
And they give these men no reason to love them.
Think about it.
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But that was back before the cell phone camera. All the perks of being a rock star are gone. You can no longer rape and pillage across America, and you aren't even that rich, so where is the opportunity?
Rape and pillage. You can't use the former word if you're a male. It's taboo. The language police will get you. As a matter of fact, if you're male in America today you're constrained, you're issued a list of taboo behaviors at birth and if you cross them...
Now of course this doesn't apply to all men. But somewhere along the line all men were considered macho boors. You're lumped into that category by your penis, period. You're aggressive and macho and not in touch with your feelings and if we don't constrain you, there will be trouble.
Not if you're a college graduate, not if you're a winner, but not everybody can be a winner.
And if you don't go to college, where does that leave you?
With the short end of the stick, not much money and not much power. All you can do is sit around and let your anger stew, get drunk, listen to bro podcasts.
The left brought this upon itself. Hell, the most reasonable of men can't live up to Democratic standards. They too are lumped into the macho bag, any rough edges are decried, if you don't acknowledge the equality and power of women you're a pariah. Truly.
Hang with me here. I'm trying to explain the vibe, where we were, how we got here, if you're nitpicking you're missing the point.
I'm inundated with right wing blowback. Which is marked by misspellings and bad grammar. Just today I got an e-mail from someone talking about Jimmy Kimmal and Jay Lenno...
What has that person's life been like? Probably not good. Because if you make mistakes like this chances are you are not educated and cannot get a good job and therefore you are resentful. And this resentment trumps everything else in your life, this is why you vote for Trump.
You're driving Uber. You're barely making ends meet. And all you hear about is social welfare for people of color and the disadvantaged. It's not that you're really against these people getting help, but you're pissed that no one is looking out for you, no one is taking action regarding your problems. Where are the better jobs? And if I hang with my bros and get high after work I'm still going to be denigrated.
We all need something to live for. For most it's job or family or both.
But what if you have a lousy job and can't get laid.
To you it looks like the world has been feminized. Look at the Spotify Top 50, dominated by KPop Demon Hunters. Sure, there are male fans of KPop, but if you'd rather wrestle and talk about hunting, is this going to be your music?
And we do have a problem with guns in America, but there are people who like to hunt. But if you kill anything in America today you're the problem, not the solution, even though in many areas conservation is handled via hunting, otherwise deer and other animals would overwhelm the area.
You're constantly being told that your behavior and values are wrong.
Don't confuse these men with religious zealots, or rich profiteers, they're the rank and file. They listen to Rogan and Theo Von not because they think they're right so much as these guys don't talk down to them, they make them feel COMFORTABLE!
Come on... You see a guy with a blue collar job driving an old pickup and you don't judge them? Maybe you don't, but a lot of educated/desirable women do. And if these guys dare to approach women...they've got to run a gauntlet to get access. No means no...
There are many bad actors who need to be taught limits. Then there are normal guys, maybe insecure and shy, who'd have trouble with women in any event but are lumped in with bad actors...
It's kind of like mass shooters. The main thing they have in common is mental derangement. But if a shooter is trans or has any other characteristic, if you share it, you're tarred too.
Are macho males going to be fans of Justin Bieber?
Look once again at the Spotify Top 50. We've got Alex Warren and Benson Boone and the sexed-up Disney star Sabrina Carpenter? She's enticing all the men who know they've got absolutely no chance, despite decrying her pop music. But all the media is raving about her and Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo and...where are the concomitant male stars, marinating in their maleness?
Well, there are some in the heavy metal/active rock world... Then again, a lot of them are cartoons, not truly dangerous, that's just an image. If you want something that resonates, you go to the Gathering of the Juggalos.
Or are a fan of a dangerous rapper. One who brandishes a weapon and risks going to jail. That guy is STICKING IT TO THE MAN! Somebody's got to do it. Many males see men who test limits as part of a great rebellion, a great reaction, against a system that keeps them down.
One of the reasons the left can't get organized against the right is because those on the left have it pretty good, are complacent. They're not worried about the working man, which is why these people are now Republicans, they can only provide lip service.
So you've got Scott Galloway and others talking about how we have to lift up young men. I'd say we have to change the attitudes of those who are already here.
Men are different from women, don't try to turn them into metrosexuals and don't pooh-pooh all their behavior. Everybody wants to keep men in a box.
As for the male leaders on the left...
Who can identify with Chuck Schumer? And Gavin Newsom is slick. As for Cory Booker...I've never met anybody like him. Where can I see people like myself, that's what men want to know.
Well, those guys aren't given positions of power because they have edges that are too rough. Which is why men cotton to Elon Musk, because at least he's unconstrained, he's got power.
You might look at the downsides of Musk, but what are you providing in the alternative?
Talk about orthodoxy... A male might vote for Kamala Harris for intellectual reasons, but emotional ones? She's as phony and wishy-washy as they come. But if a male says this he's accused of breaking the Democratic code, and if you do this they don't want you around... Big tent, my ass.
You went to high school, didn't you? What did it feel like to be left out, to have no power. You weren't cool, you weren't part of the student government, you didn't play on a sports team, it's almost like you didn't exist. But supposedly graduation was liberation. NOT ANYMORE! Regular life is like the purgatory of high school.
And the funny thing is if you don't play along, it drives the women and their minions NUTS! If you say something politically incorrect, they just can't handle it. You'd think that you shot someone.
And where are the men on the left saying NO MAS! Standing up to the pronoun and trans people in sports and men having babies rhetoric. Everyone on the left is so afraid of offending a single person that they bend over backwards to defend every person, to the point of ridiculousness. But they aren't bending over backward to support the average male, who is considered to have been born on third base.
We don't live in a post-racial society, but to look at everything through the lens of the past is plain wrong. Women may still be disadvantaged, but they've come a long way, baby. And the problem with DEI isn't that those gaining advantage are unworthy, but more WHO'S LOOKING OUT FOR ME!
Let's be clear. I'm focusing on a subset of the population. Not every man and not every Republican man. But there are those those who believe they got a raw deal and no one is listening to them. And believe me, no one on the left is. It's like showing up at a black tie event in a Canadian tuxedo. You stand out and are laughed at.
You just don't do it right. People are constantly watching you for bad behavior.
We don't need a major adjustment here, only a subtle one.
Men can't be guilty until proven innocent. Not every male is a wannabe rapist.
As for behavior... Why is it only girls' actions are approved. So, the male world tends to be more physical...do we have to leave all of our maleness aside to be accepted?
Women need men too.
And women get to choose. Never underestimate that.
As for the media... It's so afraid of being excoriated by the left wing police that it's complicit.
From little kids to adults, we have to change our behavior towards men. If a little boy is running ragged on the playground, raising his voice, he is not defective. Ditto men. But they're told they never grew up.
Wow.
Is it worse being poor and broke and a person of color? ABSOLUTELY! But that does not mean the plight of the average male should be forsaken.
We've got a problem here, and those on the left aren't even aware of it.
They created this problem. They created the men on the right who hate the libs.
And they give these men no reason to love them.
Think about it.
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Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
You don't poke the bear.
Let's say you're called into the principal's office. And this puffed-up authority figure starts coming down on you, reciting your so-called offenses... You hang your head and listen. You stay quiet. You certainly don't bark back, because of the CONSEQUENCES!
The principal has the power and you don't. You will ultimately be gone, but the school will remain. The institution is bigger than the individual. Therefore, you must heed its rules, however insane they might be.
But not Jimmy Kimmel.
The course of behavior was clear. Jimmy needed to do a bit of a mea culpa and then go completely off topic, steer clear of the controversy, but Kimmel LEANED IN!
My inbox is full of right wingers telling me Kimmel isn't funny and he and late night will soon be gone. That's completely missing the point, in a world where what is said today may not even be remembered tomorrow. The future has never appeared less locked down. The nation is in turmoil. You fight your battles today, because the war might be over by tomorrow.
So Jimmy comes on and says it was never about Charlie Kirk, says that no one should die for their beliefs. And then...
He lays into Trump and Carr. Hangs them with their own words, and then twists the knife.
Now wait just a second... This is America, you're just a cog in the system, you think you can change the world?
YES! That's the power of the individual, that's what the Democrats have been lacking, someone to stand up for their beliefs and damn the consequences.
So what are the consequences?
Disney ain't gonna fire Kimmel, not for quite a while, if ever...because the company is afraid that if they do none of the talent in Hollywood will want to work with them and they'll be SOL.
And the flame of hope has been lit under those who are unhappy with Trump and his policies, who believe they have no options.
Turns out they do. And it comes down to something very simple, money. As the Kinks say:
"Money talks and we're the living proof
There ain't no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks"
But it's about more than money. Kimmel has blazed a trail for others, who have been too fearful to reveal their beliefs. To quote Elton, he's still standing. Yes, you can take a position and still stand too.
Too many on the left have been overwhelmed by right wing blowback. It's not only corporations, but citizens. Everybody's on the rear foot, everybody's afraid. But if Jimmy Kimmel can not only survive, but push the envelope even further, so can they.
Will Nextstar and Sinclair come back?
Probably not before their merger issues are decided by the government. But after that?
The tide is turning. Trump says that ABC settled once before... But they were playing by Mafia rules, not legal rules, and Homey don't play that no more.
This is classic government overreach. And it looked like no one was going to stand up to Trump and then he and his minions pushed it too far, with Kimmel.
Never mind that unlike Mafioso they say what they're going to do, reveal their heinous policies, up front and personal, for all the world to see.
And it's one thing to be anti-vaccine, but quite another to blame autism on acetaminophen, a word which Trump found almost impossible to pronounce.
Have you seen the video? Trump's mispronunciation was all over TikTok and Instagram Reels. You couldn't avoid it.
And is there anybody who doesn't love Tylenol? The most benign of pain relievers? Take away my vaccine, but don't take away my Tylenol!
Which Trump never would have taken a stand on if he didn't feel a need to defend the unscientific policies of RFK, Jr.
Yes, yes, yes...there are Trumpers who seem to defend everything he does. But the dirty little secret here is for most it's not about Trump, it's about hating the libs, and it's hard to come to the defense of someone who is self-immolating.
And then there's the reach of Kimmel's words.
There were endless videos on TikTok long before the show even aired on the west coast.
As of this writing, the official ABC YouTube post has over 14 million views.
Jimmy Kimmel is not dumb. He knows the reach of the actual broadcast is de minimis, but he told me YEARS AGO that it was all about creating clips for social media. And in that world, he is triumphing.
So for eight months Trump believed he was inviolate. But now he knows that he is not. Sure, Trump has doubled-down on his hatred of Kimmel and the rest of the late night hosts, but they're still on. And following in Kimmel's slipstream, comedians are no longer going to be fearful of the consequences of doing anti-Trump material, it's not like YouTube is going to cancel them.
And the dirty little secret is a tiny number of people have had broad effects in media censorship, oftentimes just one or two letters or calls, far from millions. But Disney heard from the true silent majority, the ones who haven't dedicated their lives to petty scuffles on FOX, but have been living their lives until...
They were pushed one step too far.
So who is going to stop Trump?
Certainly not his cronies, certainly not Congress, they're all in.
Trump would rather shut down the government than listen to Democrats. Then again, he's suddenly done a 180 on Ukraine and Zelensky. Wasn't Putin Donald's honest friend?
I guess not.
So, Trump can pivot, the key is for those with a voice and the public not to be assuaged by these small changes, not to be satisfied. When you've got someone on the run, you keep them running.
I can debate with Republicans all day long about the welfare state, taxes, but when it comes to basic American rights...
There's only one rule of law.
If you don't start exercising your freedoms today, they will be gone tomorrow. You must make a stand before it's too late.
Just like Jimmy Kimmel.
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Let's say you're called into the principal's office. And this puffed-up authority figure starts coming down on you, reciting your so-called offenses... You hang your head and listen. You stay quiet. You certainly don't bark back, because of the CONSEQUENCES!
The principal has the power and you don't. You will ultimately be gone, but the school will remain. The institution is bigger than the individual. Therefore, you must heed its rules, however insane they might be.
But not Jimmy Kimmel.
The course of behavior was clear. Jimmy needed to do a bit of a mea culpa and then go completely off topic, steer clear of the controversy, but Kimmel LEANED IN!
My inbox is full of right wingers telling me Kimmel isn't funny and he and late night will soon be gone. That's completely missing the point, in a world where what is said today may not even be remembered tomorrow. The future has never appeared less locked down. The nation is in turmoil. You fight your battles today, because the war might be over by tomorrow.
So Jimmy comes on and says it was never about Charlie Kirk, says that no one should die for their beliefs. And then...
He lays into Trump and Carr. Hangs them with their own words, and then twists the knife.
Now wait just a second... This is America, you're just a cog in the system, you think you can change the world?
YES! That's the power of the individual, that's what the Democrats have been lacking, someone to stand up for their beliefs and damn the consequences.
So what are the consequences?
Disney ain't gonna fire Kimmel, not for quite a while, if ever...because the company is afraid that if they do none of the talent in Hollywood will want to work with them and they'll be SOL.
And the flame of hope has been lit under those who are unhappy with Trump and his policies, who believe they have no options.
Turns out they do. And it comes down to something very simple, money. As the Kinks say:
"Money talks and we're the living proof
There ain't no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks"
But it's about more than money. Kimmel has blazed a trail for others, who have been too fearful to reveal their beliefs. To quote Elton, he's still standing. Yes, you can take a position and still stand too.
Too many on the left have been overwhelmed by right wing blowback. It's not only corporations, but citizens. Everybody's on the rear foot, everybody's afraid. But if Jimmy Kimmel can not only survive, but push the envelope even further, so can they.
Will Nextstar and Sinclair come back?
Probably not before their merger issues are decided by the government. But after that?
The tide is turning. Trump says that ABC settled once before... But they were playing by Mafia rules, not legal rules, and Homey don't play that no more.
This is classic government overreach. And it looked like no one was going to stand up to Trump and then he and his minions pushed it too far, with Kimmel.
Never mind that unlike Mafioso they say what they're going to do, reveal their heinous policies, up front and personal, for all the world to see.
And it's one thing to be anti-vaccine, but quite another to blame autism on acetaminophen, a word which Trump found almost impossible to pronounce.
Have you seen the video? Trump's mispronunciation was all over TikTok and Instagram Reels. You couldn't avoid it.
And is there anybody who doesn't love Tylenol? The most benign of pain relievers? Take away my vaccine, but don't take away my Tylenol!
Which Trump never would have taken a stand on if he didn't feel a need to defend the unscientific policies of RFK, Jr.
Yes, yes, yes...there are Trumpers who seem to defend everything he does. But the dirty little secret here is for most it's not about Trump, it's about hating the libs, and it's hard to come to the defense of someone who is self-immolating.
And then there's the reach of Kimmel's words.
There were endless videos on TikTok long before the show even aired on the west coast.
As of this writing, the official ABC YouTube post has over 14 million views.
Jimmy Kimmel is not dumb. He knows the reach of the actual broadcast is de minimis, but he told me YEARS AGO that it was all about creating clips for social media. And in that world, he is triumphing.
So for eight months Trump believed he was inviolate. But now he knows that he is not. Sure, Trump has doubled-down on his hatred of Kimmel and the rest of the late night hosts, but they're still on. And following in Kimmel's slipstream, comedians are no longer going to be fearful of the consequences of doing anti-Trump material, it's not like YouTube is going to cancel them.
And the dirty little secret is a tiny number of people have had broad effects in media censorship, oftentimes just one or two letters or calls, far from millions. But Disney heard from the true silent majority, the ones who haven't dedicated their lives to petty scuffles on FOX, but have been living their lives until...
They were pushed one step too far.
So who is going to stop Trump?
Certainly not his cronies, certainly not Congress, they're all in.
Trump would rather shut down the government than listen to Democrats. Then again, he's suddenly done a 180 on Ukraine and Zelensky. Wasn't Putin Donald's honest friend?
I guess not.
So, Trump can pivot, the key is for those with a voice and the public not to be assuaged by these small changes, not to be satisfied. When you've got someone on the run, you keep them running.
I can debate with Republicans all day long about the welfare state, taxes, but when it comes to basic American rights...
There's only one rule of law.
If you don't start exercising your freedoms today, they will be gone tomorrow. You must make a stand before it's too late.
Just like Jimmy Kimmel.
--
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--
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Rosh Hashanah
You're not going to see me at shul.
Then again, I haven't been a member of a temple since the eighties, when I was married.
But what I'm referencing here...
All those parents who are afraid their kids are going to get shot in school...today I feel their pain. The LAPD is sending more officers to guard synagogues, but if they want to get you, you're gone.
Not that I didn't go to services. I did so online, have been doing so since the late nineties. I used to say it was truly a religious experience, just you alone, in front of the screen, but that was back when the service was a special one that lasted less than thirty minutes, as opposed to the livestreams of today, which are nearly interminable.
So I logged on to the Steven Wise Temple stream at six o'clock and the singing had already begun. We didn't have a choir like this back in our era. And we certainly didn't sing Beatles songs. The woman rabbi did a whole sermon on "Let It Be," parsing what Paul McCartney meant by saying "mother Mary" and...
I finally had to turn it off. Reminded me of Rabbi Davidson back at B'nai Israel in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where I grew up. It was sometime in the early sixties, he went on about a tape he'd been sent of sounds from Vietnam for nearly half an hour and to say it was boring...
Now, more than ever, I want first class entertainment. If you're going to stand up there and tell a story, maybe practice at the Moth beforehand.
But I went as a kid. It was an obligation. I never paid attention, just going was enough. Which is why the online services were such a revelation, I actually paid attention, but now I only go out of guilt.
And the guilt has just about died out.
As for believing... Listen to the George Carlin routine and it's hard to. Let me see, there's a guy in the sky, and he's watching all of us to see whether we've been naughty or nice. Yeah, right.
Then again, being Jewish is being part of a community, and I've had great experiences as a result.
Jewish summer camp... Where the focus is on your first love relationships as opposed to how good a baseball player you are. There's less of a hierarchy and more of a togetherness. And you always waited for the counselors to march through the dining hall yelling "The Big O Is Coming!" "The Big O Is Coming!"
That's the Olympics. The highlight of the year.
And ultimately Israelis were murdered at the Olympics, but now they don't even want them at Eurovision. Short memories.
Like the Holocaust. Forget those saying it never existed. If you're a child of the fifties and sixties you were fully aware of it, you knew survivors, never mind people whose relatives had been cooked.
But today we've got Jewish nincompoops like Hannah Einbinder taking the side of the Palestinians...
Talk about a dicey subject. If I don't take the anointed side, my inbox goes wild. Gaza is just like Trump. You're on one side or the other, there's no grey area, THEY'RE KILLING CIVILIANS!
But it's kind of like Charlie Kirk. No one in their right mind wanted Charlie Kirk to die, nor any Palestinians, but when you look under the surface...
I can feel the chilling effect in my bones as I write this. Unless I say Charlie Kirk was a great American deserving of the Medal of Freedom I'm a pariah. One can't even discuss his positions and the division he sowed. Once again, he was entitled to his speech. But is this Mother Teresa? Is this the right person to lionize?
The Palestinians want Israel gone, which is what "From the river to the sea means." They've been offered their own state numerous times and refused...they want it all, and unless Israel is gone, they're sitting out. As for the rest of the Arab countries...they don't want the Palestinians.
So, Hamas attacks Israel and...
Well, now everything is in play. Netanyahu, the West Bank... And the truth is, if it weren't Jews, the rest of the world would not be so concerned, they never are.
How do I know? I'M A JEW!
Is a white person in touch with the racial hatred a Black person experiences? Then how come non-Jews can tell me all about antisemitism? Sure, you can divide Zionism from antisemitism... But I've got a question, when antisemitism gets really bad, where are Jews going to go? Israel, it's the only safe place. But Jews don't know their place, they don't know how to just shut up and be thankful they've got what they do. We as Jews have been hearing this our entire lives. I can't tell you how many times I've been told I'm too loud, too inappropriate, don't fit in. It's about more than personality, it's raw antisemitism. You want to know what it's like growing up in a Jewish family? Watch the beginning of Woody Allen's "Radio Days," where the family is sitting around the table talking over each other, that's what it's like.
Not that you have to behave that way, but you are certainly judging me for doing so.
I just want to be left free to be me.
But that's hard in today's word.
Let me just dig the hole deeper... Hamas has won. I point you to an editorial in today's "Wall Street Journal":
"A Palestinian State for Hamas"
Free link: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/palestinian-statehood-u-k-france-australia-hamas-israel-6df739a9?st=bCNLLv&reflink=article_email_share
This was the plan all along. And Israel played into it. Global sentiment is now on the side of Hamas and the Palestinians. Israel's image will never recover in my lifetime.
Kudos.
However, the pro-Palestinian mobs don't realize they've been played.
All those musicians in the U.K... I didn't see them holding concerts for Israel after October 7th.
Then again, Israel is a wealthy country of Jews, it should know its place.
And if it wasn't Israel, I'd say the war would soon be forgotten, but antisemitism never dies, just like rust never sleeps.
So that's what it's like being a Jew in the world today. You've got to keep quiet, put your head down and feel privileged that you're just allowed to earn a living and exist.
The music industry, over-indexing in Jews? Do you see them taking a stand re Gaza? No, they just want to be out of the fray.
However, Paramount took a stand:
"Paramount criticizes pledge by entertainers to boycott Israeli film institutions": http://bit.ly/46w1I3q
We don't see a concomitant statement from record labels, re the pro-Palestinian concert at Wembley nor acts pulling their music from Spotify in Israel.
Then again, the Ellisons own the company, and Larry Ellison is Jewish.
As for the crackdown on colleges under the rubric of antisemitism... Most Jews don't think that's really what it's about. Then again, how ignorant could college presidents be that they allowed Jews to be targeted and afraid when they wouldn't let this happen to another minority group.
So Jews today are afraid, on guard.
And we want to tell the masses that most of us are not religious zealots in black hats. That we're more culturally Jewish.
And we want to tell the younger Jewish generations that support Palestine that at the end of the day, no matter what they say, they're Jewish too, and not immune to antisemitism. Protest all you want, it's in your blood.
Now in truth Rosh Hashanah is nowhere near as heavy a holiday as Yom Kippur, when you're either written into the book of life for the following year, or you're not.
And it got to the point when I was in high school that we'd go to Vermont on Rosh Hashanah, and go to the temple up there, if we went at all. You see you don't have to go to temple to be considered a Jew, you're always a Jew, it's not something you can wash off, you're reminded of this constantly by non-Jews.
Which is one of the reasons why Jews hang together, because of a commonality. That's got little to do with scripture and a whole hell of a lot to do with persecution. We can handle it, we've been taught to handle it. As for right wing support of Israel...if it also wasn't the home of Christianity, would this be the case?
And the dirty little secret is Judaism is dying out anyway, because of intermarriage. If you just wait long enough, we'll be gone.
But that's not soon enough.
So...
I was planning something more upbeat and sunny, about Jewish traditions and the New Year. But if you're a Jew today, Gaza is not far from your mind.
Once again, I'd say there are no victors, but in truth Hamas has already won. Never mind the masterminds still being alive in Qatar. They got the entire world on their side. They're celebrating. Why give the hostages back when their strategy is working so well?
As for Israel... Just like Jews in general, they should shut up and put up.
Innocent people are being killed. And that's terrible. And at this late date, one can certainly see the cost in status alone should have had the Israelis stepping down, stopping the war years ago. But if you think this would have placated the Palestinians, you just aren't familiar with the history of the region.
So there we have it. Israel is committing genocide. And by the way, Jews run the entertainment industry, the same Jews who've been silent for fear of blowback. All the tropes have deepened and grown, while they're blowing up synagogues and Josh Shapiro's residence.
Just giving you a bit of perspective from the inside. From the baby boomer generation, the bridge from then to now.
Never again?
It's already happening.
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Then again, I haven't been a member of a temple since the eighties, when I was married.
But what I'm referencing here...
All those parents who are afraid their kids are going to get shot in school...today I feel their pain. The LAPD is sending more officers to guard synagogues, but if they want to get you, you're gone.
Not that I didn't go to services. I did so online, have been doing so since the late nineties. I used to say it was truly a religious experience, just you alone, in front of the screen, but that was back when the service was a special one that lasted less than thirty minutes, as opposed to the livestreams of today, which are nearly interminable.
So I logged on to the Steven Wise Temple stream at six o'clock and the singing had already begun. We didn't have a choir like this back in our era. And we certainly didn't sing Beatles songs. The woman rabbi did a whole sermon on "Let It Be," parsing what Paul McCartney meant by saying "mother Mary" and...
I finally had to turn it off. Reminded me of Rabbi Davidson back at B'nai Israel in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where I grew up. It was sometime in the early sixties, he went on about a tape he'd been sent of sounds from Vietnam for nearly half an hour and to say it was boring...
Now, more than ever, I want first class entertainment. If you're going to stand up there and tell a story, maybe practice at the Moth beforehand.
But I went as a kid. It was an obligation. I never paid attention, just going was enough. Which is why the online services were such a revelation, I actually paid attention, but now I only go out of guilt.
And the guilt has just about died out.
As for believing... Listen to the George Carlin routine and it's hard to. Let me see, there's a guy in the sky, and he's watching all of us to see whether we've been naughty or nice. Yeah, right.
Then again, being Jewish is being part of a community, and I've had great experiences as a result.
Jewish summer camp... Where the focus is on your first love relationships as opposed to how good a baseball player you are. There's less of a hierarchy and more of a togetherness. And you always waited for the counselors to march through the dining hall yelling "The Big O Is Coming!" "The Big O Is Coming!"
That's the Olympics. The highlight of the year.
And ultimately Israelis were murdered at the Olympics, but now they don't even want them at Eurovision. Short memories.
Like the Holocaust. Forget those saying it never existed. If you're a child of the fifties and sixties you were fully aware of it, you knew survivors, never mind people whose relatives had been cooked.
But today we've got Jewish nincompoops like Hannah Einbinder taking the side of the Palestinians...
Talk about a dicey subject. If I don't take the anointed side, my inbox goes wild. Gaza is just like Trump. You're on one side or the other, there's no grey area, THEY'RE KILLING CIVILIANS!
But it's kind of like Charlie Kirk. No one in their right mind wanted Charlie Kirk to die, nor any Palestinians, but when you look under the surface...
I can feel the chilling effect in my bones as I write this. Unless I say Charlie Kirk was a great American deserving of the Medal of Freedom I'm a pariah. One can't even discuss his positions and the division he sowed. Once again, he was entitled to his speech. But is this Mother Teresa? Is this the right person to lionize?
The Palestinians want Israel gone, which is what "From the river to the sea means." They've been offered their own state numerous times and refused...they want it all, and unless Israel is gone, they're sitting out. As for the rest of the Arab countries...they don't want the Palestinians.
So, Hamas attacks Israel and...
Well, now everything is in play. Netanyahu, the West Bank... And the truth is, if it weren't Jews, the rest of the world would not be so concerned, they never are.
How do I know? I'M A JEW!
Is a white person in touch with the racial hatred a Black person experiences? Then how come non-Jews can tell me all about antisemitism? Sure, you can divide Zionism from antisemitism... But I've got a question, when antisemitism gets really bad, where are Jews going to go? Israel, it's the only safe place. But Jews don't know their place, they don't know how to just shut up and be thankful they've got what they do. We as Jews have been hearing this our entire lives. I can't tell you how many times I've been told I'm too loud, too inappropriate, don't fit in. It's about more than personality, it's raw antisemitism. You want to know what it's like growing up in a Jewish family? Watch the beginning of Woody Allen's "Radio Days," where the family is sitting around the table talking over each other, that's what it's like.
Not that you have to behave that way, but you are certainly judging me for doing so.
I just want to be left free to be me.
But that's hard in today's word.
Let me just dig the hole deeper... Hamas has won. I point you to an editorial in today's "Wall Street Journal":
"A Palestinian State for Hamas"
Free link: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/palestinian-statehood-u-k-france-australia-hamas-israel-6df739a9?st=bCNLLv&reflink=article_email_share
This was the plan all along. And Israel played into it. Global sentiment is now on the side of Hamas and the Palestinians. Israel's image will never recover in my lifetime.
Kudos.
However, the pro-Palestinian mobs don't realize they've been played.
All those musicians in the U.K... I didn't see them holding concerts for Israel after October 7th.
Then again, Israel is a wealthy country of Jews, it should know its place.
And if it wasn't Israel, I'd say the war would soon be forgotten, but antisemitism never dies, just like rust never sleeps.
So that's what it's like being a Jew in the world today. You've got to keep quiet, put your head down and feel privileged that you're just allowed to earn a living and exist.
The music industry, over-indexing in Jews? Do you see them taking a stand re Gaza? No, they just want to be out of the fray.
However, Paramount took a stand:
"Paramount criticizes pledge by entertainers to boycott Israeli film institutions": http://bit.ly/46w1I3q
We don't see a concomitant statement from record labels, re the pro-Palestinian concert at Wembley nor acts pulling their music from Spotify in Israel.
Then again, the Ellisons own the company, and Larry Ellison is Jewish.
As for the crackdown on colleges under the rubric of antisemitism... Most Jews don't think that's really what it's about. Then again, how ignorant could college presidents be that they allowed Jews to be targeted and afraid when they wouldn't let this happen to another minority group.
So Jews today are afraid, on guard.
And we want to tell the masses that most of us are not religious zealots in black hats. That we're more culturally Jewish.
And we want to tell the younger Jewish generations that support Palestine that at the end of the day, no matter what they say, they're Jewish too, and not immune to antisemitism. Protest all you want, it's in your blood.
Now in truth Rosh Hashanah is nowhere near as heavy a holiday as Yom Kippur, when you're either written into the book of life for the following year, or you're not.
And it got to the point when I was in high school that we'd go to Vermont on Rosh Hashanah, and go to the temple up there, if we went at all. You see you don't have to go to temple to be considered a Jew, you're always a Jew, it's not something you can wash off, you're reminded of this constantly by non-Jews.
Which is one of the reasons why Jews hang together, because of a commonality. That's got little to do with scripture and a whole hell of a lot to do with persecution. We can handle it, we've been taught to handle it. As for right wing support of Israel...if it also wasn't the home of Christianity, would this be the case?
And the dirty little secret is Judaism is dying out anyway, because of intermarriage. If you just wait long enough, we'll be gone.
But that's not soon enough.
So...
I was planning something more upbeat and sunny, about Jewish traditions and the New Year. But if you're a Jew today, Gaza is not far from your mind.
Once again, I'd say there are no victors, but in truth Hamas has already won. Never mind the masterminds still being alive in Qatar. They got the entire world on their side. They're celebrating. Why give the hostages back when their strategy is working so well?
As for Israel... Just like Jews in general, they should shut up and put up.
Innocent people are being killed. And that's terrible. And at this late date, one can certainly see the cost in status alone should have had the Israelis stepping down, stopping the war years ago. But if you think this would have placated the Palestinians, you just aren't familiar with the history of the region.
So there we have it. Israel is committing genocide. And by the way, Jews run the entertainment industry, the same Jews who've been silent for fear of blowback. All the tropes have deepened and grown, while they're blowing up synagogues and Josh Shapiro's residence.
Just giving you a bit of perspective from the inside. From the baby boomer generation, the bridge from then to now.
Never again?
It's already happening.
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Monday, 22 September 2025
Kimmel Comes Back
This is the left's Bud Light moment.
Or to put it another way, now we've got a game.
You may have seen that Disney kowtowed to DeSantis in Florida. Assuming you care. And most people do not, because they don't live in Florida, never mind Disney's enclave.
But Disney's entertainment tentacles? They seem to reach EVERYBODY! On both sides of the screen, from the producers/actors/talent to the viewers. And can the Mouse House afford to alienate this many of its customers, when it's in a battle for streaming eyeballs with Netflix?
Image is everything. And therefore Bob Iger was caught between a rock and a hard place. Does he satiate the government or the company's customers. Cave to the administration or go its own way. And let's be clear, it's not about right or wrong, but DOLLARS!
You can destroy a venerated enterprise in a minute. Which is what happened at Warner Music. Bob Morgado, who was power drunk and knew nothing about artists, let Interscope go in the wake of complaints about Ice-T and "Cop Killer" and begat a power shift we're still feeling to this day. MCA, an also-ran record company, became a juggernaut with the addition of Interscope, and after Doug Morris got fired at Warner, he ended up at what came to be called Universal too, building it into a monolith! I won't say that the record division was sold for peanuts, but the $2.6 billion Warner received for the assets was far below true market value. This is not tech, where what you have today might be worthless tomorrow, but a bastion of intellectual property, rights that go on for decades after the death of the creators!
But the soft power element was worse. Mo and Lenny were gone, who wanted to sign with Warner after that?
And there began the long, slow decline of Warner Music, from the tippity-top to an also-ran in the recording world.
What is the future of broadcast television? What is the future of late night television? One thing is for sure, it's declining. To put these assets before the streaming division, to alienate talent and voters to satiate affiliates, would be short-term thinking. Iger HAD to bring Kimmel back.
But it was the anti-Disney blowback that sealed the deal. The cancellations may have been de minimis, but they were not insignificant. I wrote about a movie streaming on Hulu, and readers responded they wouldn't watch it. A Lilith Fair film premiere for Hulu was held in Hollywood last night and the red carpet was canceled, for fear of protests and talent not showing up. Distribution may be king, but if you've got nothing to distribute, you're nowhere.
Meanwhile, Kimmel refused to compromise. That was Disney's first request. Deliver a mea culpa and move on. But Kimmel stood his ground. Put his livelihood at risk. Who else is willing to do this, for what's right? Sure, Jimmy's got a ton of bread, but Jack Paar gave up the "Tonight Show" and his career never recovered. Never underestimate the power of being on television screens five nights a week.
Even Michael Eisner backed Disney.
But the true crack in the armor was Ted Cruz, hated not only by the left, but many Texans, a man who was notoriously on vacation during a natural disaster, came down on the FCC re Kimmel.
As for the Democratic elected officials... They went on record, but they didn't lead. They didn't say to cancel Disney subscriptions, after all, Disney is a donor. And this is why the Democrats lose. They put their finger to the wind, they do the research before they say anything, before they take any action, whereas Trump shoots from the hip and is loved by his acolytes for this.
No, this pro-Kimmel groundswell came from the literal ground, the people, with no lead. They organized online, sent e-mails urging cancellations. Proving the power of the people, something we learned in the sixties and John Lennon even sang about, something that the Democratic party, which refused to tell Biden to go and then foisted Kamala on the public without a primary, still doesn't know.
This is what the denigrated internet has wrought.
Yes, have you been following all the anti-social media screeds in the wake of Charlie Kirk? It's the devil, control it, shut it down... But without the internet, how could the public rally around Kimmel and pull their money from Disney? And this effort and its results were not followed in the mainstream press, but online, that's where you got the story.
In other words, the internet and social media are the left's 2nd Amendment, their gun control. Republicans say they need guns to fight a wayward government...maybe in the eighteenth century, but good luck today. But words? The power of the internet? That's modern technology, that's power, and it was exercised here in support of Jimmy Kimmel.
So finally, someone has stood up and pushed back at Trump's creeping autocracy. And if you're on the right and deny this... I mean Trump goes on record he wants the rest of the late night hosts gone. One thing about Trump is he does exactly what he says he will, why don't' people believe him?
And Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is so despised that they're rebranding it:
"Trump's Tax Cut Is Underwater. Can a 'Refund Boom' Save It? - Republicans are hoping a new name, along with larger refunds for many Americans next year, can buoy an economic agenda that polls show is unpopular."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts.html
So the farmers are freaking and the fallout from the rest of Trump's policies is starting to take hold and we we still haven't felt the full effect. Did you see that "Wall Street Journal" article about people resorting to Hamburger Helper to save money? And how cardboard sales are off, because shipping is down?
I don't want to overstate the impact of Kimmel's reinstatement. Let's be clear, it's not about the show itself, but Kimmel's suspension. Yet for the first time in seemingly eons, the left had a rallying cry that was heard by the powers that be, illustrating the power of the pocketbook.
The right should be happy Kimmel is coming back too. Because issues of speech cut both ways, and if you push too hard...
That's the issue here, will there be further reaction to Trump's actions? Is this just the first, or the only one?
We will see.
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Or to put it another way, now we've got a game.
You may have seen that Disney kowtowed to DeSantis in Florida. Assuming you care. And most people do not, because they don't live in Florida, never mind Disney's enclave.
But Disney's entertainment tentacles? They seem to reach EVERYBODY! On both sides of the screen, from the producers/actors/talent to the viewers. And can the Mouse House afford to alienate this many of its customers, when it's in a battle for streaming eyeballs with Netflix?
Image is everything. And therefore Bob Iger was caught between a rock and a hard place. Does he satiate the government or the company's customers. Cave to the administration or go its own way. And let's be clear, it's not about right or wrong, but DOLLARS!
You can destroy a venerated enterprise in a minute. Which is what happened at Warner Music. Bob Morgado, who was power drunk and knew nothing about artists, let Interscope go in the wake of complaints about Ice-T and "Cop Killer" and begat a power shift we're still feeling to this day. MCA, an also-ran record company, became a juggernaut with the addition of Interscope, and after Doug Morris got fired at Warner, he ended up at what came to be called Universal too, building it into a monolith! I won't say that the record division was sold for peanuts, but the $2.6 billion Warner received for the assets was far below true market value. This is not tech, where what you have today might be worthless tomorrow, but a bastion of intellectual property, rights that go on for decades after the death of the creators!
But the soft power element was worse. Mo and Lenny were gone, who wanted to sign with Warner after that?
And there began the long, slow decline of Warner Music, from the tippity-top to an also-ran in the recording world.
What is the future of broadcast television? What is the future of late night television? One thing is for sure, it's declining. To put these assets before the streaming division, to alienate talent and voters to satiate affiliates, would be short-term thinking. Iger HAD to bring Kimmel back.
But it was the anti-Disney blowback that sealed the deal. The cancellations may have been de minimis, but they were not insignificant. I wrote about a movie streaming on Hulu, and readers responded they wouldn't watch it. A Lilith Fair film premiere for Hulu was held in Hollywood last night and the red carpet was canceled, for fear of protests and talent not showing up. Distribution may be king, but if you've got nothing to distribute, you're nowhere.
Meanwhile, Kimmel refused to compromise. That was Disney's first request. Deliver a mea culpa and move on. But Kimmel stood his ground. Put his livelihood at risk. Who else is willing to do this, for what's right? Sure, Jimmy's got a ton of bread, but Jack Paar gave up the "Tonight Show" and his career never recovered. Never underestimate the power of being on television screens five nights a week.
Even Michael Eisner backed Disney.
But the true crack in the armor was Ted Cruz, hated not only by the left, but many Texans, a man who was notoriously on vacation during a natural disaster, came down on the FCC re Kimmel.
As for the Democratic elected officials... They went on record, but they didn't lead. They didn't say to cancel Disney subscriptions, after all, Disney is a donor. And this is why the Democrats lose. They put their finger to the wind, they do the research before they say anything, before they take any action, whereas Trump shoots from the hip and is loved by his acolytes for this.
No, this pro-Kimmel groundswell came from the literal ground, the people, with no lead. They organized online, sent e-mails urging cancellations. Proving the power of the people, something we learned in the sixties and John Lennon even sang about, something that the Democratic party, which refused to tell Biden to go and then foisted Kamala on the public without a primary, still doesn't know.
This is what the denigrated internet has wrought.
Yes, have you been following all the anti-social media screeds in the wake of Charlie Kirk? It's the devil, control it, shut it down... But without the internet, how could the public rally around Kimmel and pull their money from Disney? And this effort and its results were not followed in the mainstream press, but online, that's where you got the story.
In other words, the internet and social media are the left's 2nd Amendment, their gun control. Republicans say they need guns to fight a wayward government...maybe in the eighteenth century, but good luck today. But words? The power of the internet? That's modern technology, that's power, and it was exercised here in support of Jimmy Kimmel.
So finally, someone has stood up and pushed back at Trump's creeping autocracy. And if you're on the right and deny this... I mean Trump goes on record he wants the rest of the late night hosts gone. One thing about Trump is he does exactly what he says he will, why don't' people believe him?
And Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is so despised that they're rebranding it:
"Trump's Tax Cut Is Underwater. Can a 'Refund Boom' Save It? - Republicans are hoping a new name, along with larger refunds for many Americans next year, can buoy an economic agenda that polls show is unpopular."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts.html
So the farmers are freaking and the fallout from the rest of Trump's policies is starting to take hold and we we still haven't felt the full effect. Did you see that "Wall Street Journal" article about people resorting to Hamburger Helper to save money? And how cardboard sales are off, because shipping is down?
I don't want to overstate the impact of Kimmel's reinstatement. Let's be clear, it's not about the show itself, but Kimmel's suspension. Yet for the first time in seemingly eons, the left had a rallying cry that was heard by the powers that be, illustrating the power of the pocketbook.
The right should be happy Kimmel is coming back too. Because issues of speech cut both ways, and if you push too hard...
That's the issue here, will there be further reaction to Trump's actions? Is this just the first, or the only one?
We will see.
--
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--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Sunday, 21 September 2025
A Movie and More Mike Campbell
NIGHT CALL
Trailer: http://bit.ly/42F0i5q
I found out about this via the "New York Times" Watching newsletter. I highly recommend you sign up for it. Not everything mentioned is great, but you can triangulate, do research, before you dive in.
Once again, I find streaming algorithms and media hype unreliable.
To give you an example, advance word was that "Black Rabbit" was a tour-de-force. It is not. Jude Law is almost unrecognizable, he disappears into the role, it's a phenomenal job of acting. Jason Bateman is always good, and likable, but the story is predictable and ultimately reviews were not good, but knowing that it was launching on Thursday, instead of pulling up a new series on Wednesday, we watched this movie.
It's on Hulu. And I highly recommend it.
I thought it was American... If something appears appealing, I stop reading the review, but it turns out it's set in Belgium. Having said that, if the film was American you'd know about it. It's gritty and fast-paced like an American production, but with the intensity and three-dimensional characters and emotions you get in a foreign film.
And yes, at times there is violence, and those who can't handle it might be tempted to turn the movie off, but don't...this is not a blood and guts/gory film, although it does have those elements. It's kind of like "Run Lola Run," but not really. As in the protagonist is on a timed adventure.
But you won't know that for a while.
So yes, this is a crime film. It's more than surface, but not incredibly deep. But it's fiery and it flows and it keeps you involved. You won't know what is going on at first, but then it'll all come clear, and then maybe it won't.
I must admit the ending did not have the impact of the rest of the film, but if you're looking for a ride, something that will take you away from regular life, check this out.
THE MIKE CAMPBELL BOOK-2
The first half is about making it, the second half is what transpires after making it. And two sequences stood out in the latter half...
Bob Dylan... He's seen as an obfuscating brooding icon in the world, but if you know him...
The guy knows hundreds of songs, can play them on a whim, and is not concerned about feedback and in all is unpredictable. Maybe the most insightful words on the Bobster ever.
And, Jeff Lynne.
Who was second banana in the Move, but then drove the ELO bus himself, and that band was kind of faceless, but then he was in the Traveling Wilburys and had production credits...
He's fleshed out here. Well, his techniques are.
Tom and the Heartbreakers are used to working with the likes of Jimmy Iovine. Belabored productions based on getting it exactly right. Whereas Lynne works fast. If it's right, there's no need to redo it.
He leaves Petty's vocals dry, which is one of the reasons "Full Moon Fever" stands out. The songs are written quickly. The emphasis was on the process, as opposed to constantly worrying about whether the work would be commercially successful.
And it was.
If you're at all knowledgeable about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Heartbreaker" is a must-read.
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Trailer: http://bit.ly/42F0i5q
I found out about this via the "New York Times" Watching newsletter. I highly recommend you sign up for it. Not everything mentioned is great, but you can triangulate, do research, before you dive in.
Once again, I find streaming algorithms and media hype unreliable.
To give you an example, advance word was that "Black Rabbit" was a tour-de-force. It is not. Jude Law is almost unrecognizable, he disappears into the role, it's a phenomenal job of acting. Jason Bateman is always good, and likable, but the story is predictable and ultimately reviews were not good, but knowing that it was launching on Thursday, instead of pulling up a new series on Wednesday, we watched this movie.
It's on Hulu. And I highly recommend it.
I thought it was American... If something appears appealing, I stop reading the review, but it turns out it's set in Belgium. Having said that, if the film was American you'd know about it. It's gritty and fast-paced like an American production, but with the intensity and three-dimensional characters and emotions you get in a foreign film.
And yes, at times there is violence, and those who can't handle it might be tempted to turn the movie off, but don't...this is not a blood and guts/gory film, although it does have those elements. It's kind of like "Run Lola Run," but not really. As in the protagonist is on a timed adventure.
But you won't know that for a while.
So yes, this is a crime film. It's more than surface, but not incredibly deep. But it's fiery and it flows and it keeps you involved. You won't know what is going on at first, but then it'll all come clear, and then maybe it won't.
I must admit the ending did not have the impact of the rest of the film, but if you're looking for a ride, something that will take you away from regular life, check this out.
THE MIKE CAMPBELL BOOK-2
The first half is about making it, the second half is what transpires after making it. And two sequences stood out in the latter half...
Bob Dylan... He's seen as an obfuscating brooding icon in the world, but if you know him...
The guy knows hundreds of songs, can play them on a whim, and is not concerned about feedback and in all is unpredictable. Maybe the most insightful words on the Bobster ever.
And, Jeff Lynne.
Who was second banana in the Move, but then drove the ELO bus himself, and that band was kind of faceless, but then he was in the Traveling Wilburys and had production credits...
He's fleshed out here. Well, his techniques are.
Tom and the Heartbreakers are used to working with the likes of Jimmy Iovine. Belabored productions based on getting it exactly right. Whereas Lynne works fast. If it's right, there's no need to redo it.
He leaves Petty's vocals dry, which is one of the reasons "Full Moon Fever" stands out. The songs are written quickly. The emphasis was on the process, as opposed to constantly worrying about whether the work would be commercially successful.
And it was.
If you're at all knowledgeable about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Heartbreaker" is a must-read.
--
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--
Listen to the podcast:
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The Katrina Doc
"Katrina: Come Hell and High Water": http://bit.ly/46L7rDM
I don't watch documentaries of events I lived through.
I'm going to need to re-evaluate that position after watching this three part documentary on Netflix.
The levees breaking, like in that Led Zeppelin song based on the Memphis Minnie original.
The flooding of the 9th Ward.
The heat and the insanity of the Superdome.
The rescue of Fats Domino from his home.
It was in the news for a week straight.
But really, we had no idea.
This is a racial story. This is a governmental story. This is a people story.
The first episode is all about the lead-up. Was the hurricane going to hit... Live in the east and it's a regular feature, hurricane warnings. Happen all the time, but how often does the storm live up to advance billing? Very rarely, but when it does...
So what do you do?
That's the question confronting not only those in the path of the hurricane, but Jews constantly after the Holocaust. Do you slowly boil in the ever-increasing temperature of the water, or do you bolt? When do you bolt?
Now prior to this doc, we watched the Christopher Reeve doc on HBO. How much interest do I have in Christopher Reeve? Almost none. I've got nothing against the man, but I lived through his career and tragic accident and thought I knew enough. However my sister Jill strongly recommended it.
Reeve's mother wanted to pull the plug. His wife didn't want him to. What would I have done in that situation?
I'd have pulled the plug. No judgment of Reeve's choice, but I don't think I could have confronted the uphill climb to...far from the mountaintop.
But what struck me vividly in the Reeve doc was how time had passed by, children had grown up, people had aged. After all, the accident was thirty years ago. And the mother of Reeve's first two children...
You could see the years gone by in her face.
Which made me think about the years gone by in my own face. You get to the point where you can't look in the mirror. It's too scary. It's not only that you look old and different, but that you ARE old and different. As for plastic surgery... At this point the only person who has defied the odds and still looks like herself is Susan Sarandon, do you really want to take that risk?
So twenty years have passed since Katrina. And everybody is twenty years older. Kids now have kids. Dark hair is now gray. Time keeps on marching on. I wonder about that, what am I not going to live to see? I can't even conjure that up. We never did get our flying cars, but the internet, the smartphone? They were unfathomable, along with a Black president and legal marijuana.
Or did we live through a great leap forward technologically, and things will be relatively static after I'm gone. Or will you be able to fly to Europe in twenty minutes. I don't know. But I do know that time keeps marching and there will come a time when it does, but not for me.
So anyway, the first episode of this Katrina doc concludes with the storm itself. Am I the only one who wonders if I'd be able to fight the winds, who wonders what it would be like to be out in the elements? It's kind of like jumping off a bridge, you're not going to do it, but what would it feel like?
And then it's calm, the sun is out, the land is dry, and then the aforementioned levees break.
And everybody is unprepared and doesn't know what to do. Not only the citizens, but the government.
And this is where it gets ugly. The suffering people. The Black people. If this people had all been white?
Or is it just that Louisiana depends on New Orleans economically, but has contempt for the city.
Or is it that D.C. is just too far away.
But Brownie was doing a hell of a job. I remember that.
But it was much worse.
And the narrative was wrong. It was all about crime when that was not much of a factor. Showing how the media gets it wrong. What else does it get wrong?
And when it's all over, where does that leave us?
With a hell of a lot fewer Black people in New Orleans.
You wonder how poor people can survive when the rich are flaunting their wealth in front of us 24/7. Well, money and accoutrements don't mean you're happy. This doc focuses on culture. People, conversation, laughs, music, dancing, fun... New Orleans was definitely not like the rest of the country. Which was fine with the residents of the city, until they and their culture were thrown aside in the rescue and rebuilding of New Orleans.
This documentary is about more than the hurricane. What's it like to be a minority in America? The racism is palpable. You're disadvantaged. Occasionally you're paid lip service, but...
This is not an episode of "Behind the Music." Life just peachy, then a tragedy and then a rebirth. The renaissance...there has not been a return to normal and there may never be. And a lot of choices were ignorant, or made without consideration of the people involved.
Everybody in America should watch this doc. It should be shown in every school.
But in truth, people don't want to see the underbelly of America. They don't want to be shown that the country doesn't always work. That you may be left out alone in the cold, that the government may not help you much.
We prefer the two-dimensional cartoon narrative. Good and bad. Your team and mine. But the people underneath...
I couldn't stop thinking of the Depeche Mode song...
"People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully"
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I don't watch documentaries of events I lived through.
I'm going to need to re-evaluate that position after watching this three part documentary on Netflix.
The levees breaking, like in that Led Zeppelin song based on the Memphis Minnie original.
The flooding of the 9th Ward.
The heat and the insanity of the Superdome.
The rescue of Fats Domino from his home.
It was in the news for a week straight.
But really, we had no idea.
This is a racial story. This is a governmental story. This is a people story.
The first episode is all about the lead-up. Was the hurricane going to hit... Live in the east and it's a regular feature, hurricane warnings. Happen all the time, but how often does the storm live up to advance billing? Very rarely, but when it does...
So what do you do?
That's the question confronting not only those in the path of the hurricane, but Jews constantly after the Holocaust. Do you slowly boil in the ever-increasing temperature of the water, or do you bolt? When do you bolt?
Now prior to this doc, we watched the Christopher Reeve doc on HBO. How much interest do I have in Christopher Reeve? Almost none. I've got nothing against the man, but I lived through his career and tragic accident and thought I knew enough. However my sister Jill strongly recommended it.
Reeve's mother wanted to pull the plug. His wife didn't want him to. What would I have done in that situation?
I'd have pulled the plug. No judgment of Reeve's choice, but I don't think I could have confronted the uphill climb to...far from the mountaintop.
But what struck me vividly in the Reeve doc was how time had passed by, children had grown up, people had aged. After all, the accident was thirty years ago. And the mother of Reeve's first two children...
You could see the years gone by in her face.
Which made me think about the years gone by in my own face. You get to the point where you can't look in the mirror. It's too scary. It's not only that you look old and different, but that you ARE old and different. As for plastic surgery... At this point the only person who has defied the odds and still looks like herself is Susan Sarandon, do you really want to take that risk?
So twenty years have passed since Katrina. And everybody is twenty years older. Kids now have kids. Dark hair is now gray. Time keeps on marching on. I wonder about that, what am I not going to live to see? I can't even conjure that up. We never did get our flying cars, but the internet, the smartphone? They were unfathomable, along with a Black president and legal marijuana.
Or did we live through a great leap forward technologically, and things will be relatively static after I'm gone. Or will you be able to fly to Europe in twenty minutes. I don't know. But I do know that time keeps marching and there will come a time when it does, but not for me.
So anyway, the first episode of this Katrina doc concludes with the storm itself. Am I the only one who wonders if I'd be able to fight the winds, who wonders what it would be like to be out in the elements? It's kind of like jumping off a bridge, you're not going to do it, but what would it feel like?
And then it's calm, the sun is out, the land is dry, and then the aforementioned levees break.
And everybody is unprepared and doesn't know what to do. Not only the citizens, but the government.
And this is where it gets ugly. The suffering people. The Black people. If this people had all been white?
Or is it just that Louisiana depends on New Orleans economically, but has contempt for the city.
Or is it that D.C. is just too far away.
But Brownie was doing a hell of a job. I remember that.
But it was much worse.
And the narrative was wrong. It was all about crime when that was not much of a factor. Showing how the media gets it wrong. What else does it get wrong?
And when it's all over, where does that leave us?
With a hell of a lot fewer Black people in New Orleans.
You wonder how poor people can survive when the rich are flaunting their wealth in front of us 24/7. Well, money and accoutrements don't mean you're happy. This doc focuses on culture. People, conversation, laughs, music, dancing, fun... New Orleans was definitely not like the rest of the country. Which was fine with the residents of the city, until they and their culture were thrown aside in the rescue and rebuilding of New Orleans.
This documentary is about more than the hurricane. What's it like to be a minority in America? The racism is palpable. You're disadvantaged. Occasionally you're paid lip service, but...
This is not an episode of "Behind the Music." Life just peachy, then a tragedy and then a rebirth. The renaissance...there has not been a return to normal and there may never be. And a lot of choices were ignorant, or made without consideration of the people involved.
Everybody in America should watch this doc. It should be shown in every school.
But in truth, people don't want to see the underbelly of America. They don't want to be shown that the country doesn't always work. That you may be left out alone in the cold, that the government may not help you much.
We prefer the two-dimensional cartoon narrative. Good and bad. Your team and mine. But the people underneath...
I couldn't stop thinking of the Depeche Mode song...
"People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully"
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