Let’s be clear.  These are the BEST of times for music and musicians.  The stranglehold of big radio and big labels has been broken.  AND THEY DON’T LIKE IT!

The majors’ power comes from a monopoly on physical distribution.  But physical distribution’s days are history.  And anybody can purvey their wares alongside that of the majors’ online.  Furthermore, you don’t even have to employ the majors’ business model.  You can give the music away for FREE!  You NEVER have to charge for it.  You never have to play live.  You don’t have to play by any of the majors’ rules AT ALL!

But don’t you want to get on the radio?

The people making the music, who are rejecting the majors’ game, DON’T LISTEN TO TERRESTRIAL RADIO!  Why would they want their music alongside Britney’s and that of the other posers?  It would be DEVALUED!  They don’t listen to the radio and neither do their FANS!

But what about TV?  You want to be on TV, don’t you?

No.  TV shortens acts’ careers.  Sure, major labels can still find people who want instant fame.  But more acts see that Pearl Jam is the only band broken on MTV that still has its bona fides and a career intact, and they won’t go on the boob tube.

Our money.  You want our money.

Some do.  But that cash comes at a price.  And that price IS EVER GROWING!  You don’t only don’t want to pay royalties, you want a piece of touring, merch, all 360 degrees of revenue.  And when it’s all said and done, YOU still own the record, even though sales paid for it.  This is a business proposition?  Maybe acts will take it when there’s no other game in town.  But those days are through.

The majors’ game is based on control.  And a narrow sphere of availability.  Neither of which is in existence anymore.

So, we’re living in an era of chaos.  Not only is the future incomprehensible, SO IS THE PRESENT!  But it won’t last forever.  But those making change are not those who WERE in power.  Because they’re not willing to take chances, not willing to INNOVATE! 

(Read Seth Godin for edification: Radiohead and the mediocre middle)

The majors made music free, not the public.  Napster offered to pay.  So many people offered to pay.  Even Verizon.  But the labels wouldn’t take the money.  They wanted to protect Best Buy and Wal-Mart, who have got NO LOYALTY TO THEM!  (Meanwhile, they continually fucked the indie retailers in the ass.)  They wanted the CD economic model.  In an era where people buy iPods capable of holding thousands of tracks, computer hard drives have the capability of holding TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TRACKS!  To deny this reality is to try and get everybody to do their word processing on IBM Selectrics!

The future is here.  The only ones not embracing it are the old wave players.

Songwriters…  Don’t bitch at the public stealing your wares, scream at the labels who wouldn’t embrace new business models.  Who turned down every innovation the Silicon Valleyites came up with.

Oh sure, it wasn’t this simple.  Napster wanted to make money too.  But it was clear the labels had to do SOMETHING…but what did they do?  NOTHING!

They killed Napster.  They killed Kazaa.  Today they killed Oink.  Did ANY of these efforts increase legitimate sales?  NO!  A failed strategy, wouldn’t you say?

So what do the labels do?  As delineated above, ask YOU, the MUSICIAN, for a bigger piece of the pie.  FOR WHAT?

The majors are out of touch.  Music is no longer about videos, but the live experience.  That’s why concert tickets cost so much.  You’d think labels would invest in touring acts.  But they’re too hard to break.  Can’t anyone give the labels a break?

WHATEVER you do, don’t give the labels a break.  They just want to put a drag on the future, control you, milk more money before the inevitable decline occurs.  Then again, the decline has been going on for almost a DECADE and now it’s getting worse and they’re doing NOTHING!  Oh, they’re suing Usenet.  Usenet was more popular back in 2000.  Hadn’t they heard of it then?  Why didn’t they sue it THEN?  Could it be that those plotting strategy are too busy going to lunch and playing golf to be net-savvy?

Yes, the future is controlled by those familiar with keyboards and mice, not radio payoffs.  If you make the music, align yourself with new, honest businessmen.  With transparent accounting.  Who love your MUSIC!  Fans…keep acquiring the music the way you want to consume it.  That’s the ONLY WAY change will happen.  The labels don’t want to lead, they follow at best.  A buck a track is bullshit.  Ten bucks a month from EVERYBODY is a better business model.  But the labels will only allow this if they’ve got CONTROL, if it’s a RENTAL MODEL!

There IS NO CONTROL!  Face it!  The genie can’t be put back in the bottle.  Deal with reality old farts.

The field is wide open for young entrepreneurs.  Who’ll control the filter, what to listen to, as radio continues to falter, and will control sales, when music is paid for once again.

Revolutions don’t happen without revolt.  The public has been revolting since 2000.  And those in power have continued to sit in Versailles.  The beheading has begun.  CD sales will sink even further after Christmas.  Did you see Apple’s numbers?  Once you get an iPod, you don’t WANT a CD!

What do the majors say to this?  Apple is the ENEMY!

Apple is not the enemy.  People love their iPods more than they love your labels.  Because iPods enrich their lives.  That hasn’t been the label’s mantra for decades.  It’s about theft, about rip-off.  The public’s moved on.  Time to chase people, play by their rules, because they’re NEVER COMING BACK TO YOU!

There’s this song on the new Little Big Town album that’s a cross between "Crystal" and "Landslide". I discovered it how you find all great songs. When I wasn’t looking for it.

I was reading newspapers and magazines way past midnight on Felice’s dining room table. She was asleep. I haven’t gone to bed at the same time as my significant other since law school…and that relationship didn’t work out. I need that extra time, to cool down, to be alone, to catch up, to get my bearings in this world. And I get my bearings by reading.

I was catching up in the "Wall Street Journal" on pumpkin boating. Yup, growing giant orange globes, hollowing them out and even putting motors on the back, crossing icy waters, in this case far up north in Canada. And this song playing on my Nano matched the late night vibe perfectly, I had to play it again.

Used to be the music got me through my loneliness. Oh, I haven’t flown solo my whole life. Maybe I just don’t trust people to be there for me. That’s why I like contained environments so much. Like summer camp. Where people can get to know me over a period of time, the real me. And can’t abandon me.

Do you worry you might just say one thing, act one way and the rest of the world might disappear? I do. It inhibits me. I like to be my fully-realized self. I like to crack jokes. As well as be compassionate. And it’s these moments when I’m my real self that I triumph. But as one grows older those cohesive moments begin to evaporate. Or maybe it’s that I’m just not a joiner. As for working for the company… Not only do you lose your job, the whole company disappears. And too many mass gatherings are based on compromise. I’m not long on compromise. I don’t want everybody to be happy, I’ve got no problem with everybody being happy, but I pray at the altar of excellence. Too often making sure no feathers are ruffled results in a less than gratifying product, or experience. So I live in my own little world, in search of greatness. Not always finding it, not always creating it.

And I don’t know if it’s this Internet era or my age, but I can no longer make sense of the world. There used to be a list, a Top Forty, a structure. Now everything’s chaotic. I can’t take it all in. I end up rejecting so much. Because I don’t have enough time to get into it and understand it. And too often what’s being sold to me is constructed by those same build by committee folks, and I’m disappointed, and I swear off their wares for good. But I’m still hungry.

This leaves me in silence too often. The cacophony is deafening. I need a respite. But I’m desirous of fulfillment. And when I get a lead, when I find something, I DEVOUR IT! I want EVERY track that band has ever done. I only want to listen to them until I can listen no more. I don’t think the album has a future, but dedication to acts does. You have to get someone to buy into your culture. Once they’re hooked, they’ll buy everything you’ve got.

Not that it’s about money. It’s about the FEELING!

When I first inserted the new Little Big Town album in my CD player, I didn’t get it. The first track wasn’t a killer. Remember that old vinyl rule? That the first track on each side had to slay you? Maybe the rule doesn’t apply in the CD world, where you can program whatever you want. But I think you should worry less about pacing than quality. Just stack all your best tracks at the top. Sure, a song might flow better slotted at 8, but is anybody going to GET THERE?

The next song was the single, which isn’t burning up the chart, but I really like, "I’m With The Band".

The track after that, "That’s Where I’ll Be", blew my mind. It was what everybody buying the new Eagles album is going to expect. Something from "Greatest Hits Vol. I", not "II".

And really, the best song on the album comes next, "Evangeline". But I caught that on random, sitting in front of my PowerBook in my Nashville hotel room.

I always listen on random. Which, I know, undercuts my track listing argument above, but I’ve got to be able to contradict myself. I’m human, I’m not a robot. And I almost never listen to CDs. It’s just that I wanted to EXPERIENCE Little Big Town’s album "A Place To Land".

And the more I played the tracks, the more I liked the album. I came to realize the opener, "Fine Line", was a winner. My favorite kept switching. The album was unfolding. This is the experience you love, that you always e-mail me about. But it requires that you love the act, that you give their record a chance and that it’s good.

And "A Place To Land" IS good. The same way "Rumours" was good after the first Fleetwood Mac Buckingham/Nicks album. Even though the first one was better. Because something can only be new once, it can only be fresh once, you can only be surprised once. Then you’re along for the ride.

"A Place To Land" is not a surprise. It’s a step, it represents growth. The band has arrived, now where do they go? They’re established, it’s less about making an impression and more about making a fully-realized statement.

I was bitten by "Over My Head" first, on that Fleetwood Mac album of yore. And I love it. But not as much as I love "Crystal". Because I always trust my first initial feeling. "Crystal" is made for me. Listening alone, lost in an apartment in the avenues of Salt Lake. With thousands of dollars worth of ski equipment, but not a dollar in my pocket. Emotions, feelings, but no direction. I had to listen to "Crystal" and the rest of the songs on that album over and over to tide me over until I could see that I had to apply to law school, to get out.

And I wanted to drop out of law school. But love got me sidetracked, kept me from going back to Utah. Not that I knew what I was doing. I just listened to the records and I was able to move forward.

"To Know Love" has got good lyrics, but it’s the sound that hooked me. What do you do when you have more questions than answers? What do you do when life is as scrambled as a Brillo pad?

What I do is read. Try to get a grip. Knowledge is power.

But it’s also fulfillment.

Now I can take my music everywhere I go. I never travel without it. My Nano held my classics, and the tracks newly added to my iTunes library. It was my mezuzah. My baseball glove. My old Lange Banshees. It was something I could count on. It’s something I do count on.

It’s beautiful, but it’s what’s inside that counts. And what’s inside is treasure.

You won’t be able to buy this album until November. It might not be your kind of music. The odds of "To Know Love" being spun on the radio are almost nonexistent. But "To Know Love" counts.

So, when you get the opportunity. If you’re sometimes lonely like me. If you’re putting up a brave face, but conflicted within. Play it.

Don’t play it if you like those comeback Fleetwood Mac albums, like "Tango In The Night", you know, with "Little Lies".

Don’t play it if you have to fall in love with the player.

Play it if you want someone to drape a blanket over your shoulders, let you know that it’s going to be hard, but it’s going to be all right.

I was stealing music last night, and a trader, probably a Scot, had the entire Silencers album "A Night Of Electric Silence".

Why do I think he’s a Scot? Because he also had Simple Minds’ "Live In The City Of Light".

Or maybe he’s just a fan of Scottish bands. SO AM I! Felt so great to hear those classic Simple Minds songs again. Actually, what I liked most was the version of "Let There Be Love" from a bootleg, recorded somewhere in the USA. How MAJESTIC! You DO know that "Don’t You (Forget About Me)" was not written by the band, right? And if you delve deeply into their catalog, you’ll be rewarded. Start with "Let There Be Love", but if you want some ENERGY, try "Stand By Love"…

You know my heart beats rhythm and my dreams still take me higher
I’ve traveled ’round the world but they can’t cure my desire
The city looks pretty tonight
Hold on now let’s go till morning

You know how you’re at the gig and you’re so infused with the music that you feel completely alive and you feel like everybody in the room is your brother and the night is full of POSSIBILITIES? That’s what "Stand By Love" sounds like…

Give me one good reason why you don’t come play with fire
‘Cause when the earth starts moving you know I’m no liar

That’s what music does to you. Turns you into your best self.

And I’ve got that official double live album around the house somewhere, but it’s ECLIPSED by this bootleg. As for the Silencers live album…that’s unavailable in the U.S. at ANY price.

Funny how your favorites are not those on the radio. The bands on the radio are for everybody. You can get their material in one listen. It’s for those not paying attention, those who don’t NEED the music. Whereas the records we hold near and dear speak to us, reveal themselves over time. We would no sooner part with them than disown one of our children. We need them. We grow old with them. They might not change, but we get new insight every time we listen to them. This is how I feel about the Silencers. Especially their first two albums, "A Letter From St. Paul" and "A Blues For Buddha". You can check out what I had to say about them in my Rhinocast:

The Silencers

And I get e-mail from Jimme O’Neill now and again. He’s still at it. Living in France, where they got his music. He never gave up. That’s a musician, not those pretty boys you see on TV.

And thinking about the Silencers, I decided to see if there were any YouTube clips. And checking out the listings, I came across a video for "Wild Mountain Thyme":

The Silencers – Wild Mountain Thyme

I have not been myself since Nashville. Or maybe myself too much. I crashed. All that excitement, all that interaction. And now I’m back to my own little life. I wonder…should I just stay on the road forever? Watching this Silencers video last night I got the desire to go Scotland. Look at that SCENERY!

And it’s that scenery that got me to see "Into The Wild" this afternoon.

You see I’m living in bizarredom. I woke up this morning, and the light was akin to the end of the world, after the nuclear holocaust. All muted and golden. As if we were in a halfway house on our way to heaven. Or maybe hell. It was creepy.

There were too many ash particles in the air to go hiking. So I decided to ride the crisis out at the movies. The new Landmark, in Westwood:

Landmark in Westwood

You see that picture in the lower center? With the orange couches? I sat right behind them, in that love seat…

Sean Penn takes himself way too seriously. The only humor in this 140 minute flick was encapsulated in the few minutes when Vince Vaughn was on screen. Do people really live their lives with this few laughs, with this few smiles? Was Chris McCandless really this humorless?

I doubt it. I think this is Sean Penn’s version of Chris’ story. Which is not akin to the real version. The real one was more similar to Sean’s life. Someone trying to play a role, to turn himself INTO something. We live in a lonely world. We want to feel a part of something. We want to be the star of our own movie.

And the moral of THIS flick…that we need people. I think that’s a message for Sean too. Since he’s removed himself from the rest of us so much by being such a smug pugilist. Hey SEAN! You’re just the scion of low-level Hollywood royalty. Uneducated at that. Why don’t you enjoy the ride a bit? Then we wouldn’t need to constantly attack you. For taking yourself so seriously.

Which brings me right back to where I started. At a movie that wasn’t good enough to recommend. But there’s a performance contained therein deserving of an Oscar. Hal Holbrook’s. As a discharged military loner. You know excellence when you see it. And I saw it.

Just like you know it when you hear it.

And nothing Eddie Vedder composed for this film stopped me in my tracks, made me think this guy is as legendary as he acts. Hell, he and Sean deserve each other. But at least Eddie can laugh a LITTLE!

Still, out in Slab City, deep into the movie, Emile Hirsch and Kristen Stewart get up on a makeshift stage and start playing "Angel From Montgomery" and the whole movie suddenly makes sense.

I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that’s grown old
If dreams were thunder and lightning was desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago

There’s more honesty in these lines than there was in this whole damn movie. That’s the power of music. That’s what has us burning the candle. That’s why we care. Because these troubadours, laying down their sound, we believe in them. We NEED TO! We need to feel someone has insight, that someone can help us make sense of this crazy world we inhabit.

That’s the music that got us baby boomers addicted. Sure, we loved the train-wreck of MTV, but those acts that laid their souls upon the wax… Those are the ones we cared about. Those are the ones we still care about.

Sure, the superstars of yore can play stadiums. But we went to see a whole bunch more we still care about in clubs, and theatres. Because they didn’t just represent a good time, they represented LIFE!

"Into The Wild" talks about the pain of family. We’ve all experienced it. But in this movie, you can’t FEEL IT!

And the scenery is oftentimes beautiful, but too often we’re not awed. Or the effect is compromised by the bogus filmic effects.

Having said all that, this movie isn’t bad, it just wasn’t GOOD ENOUGH!

I don’t want my three hours back. I just want something that delivers. Too much of what’s out there doesn’t deliver.

Hate to tell you, but Led Zeppelin at the O2 Arena won’t deliver. It’ll be sans all the danger, all the importance the band held back in the seventies, when it still counted. You may want to go to impress your buddies, but you’ll get more soul-fulfillment listening to Robert’s duets album with Alison Krauss. Because, you see, just like you, Robert kept on living. He didn’t get a facelift. Didn’t record dance numbers. He kept lifting the rug, seeing what was underneath.

Dinosaurs can still do this. But too often they don’t. Because it’s not what the audience wants. The audience wants to relive its youth, as its hair grays and its body thickens. The audience wants to look back. And the music’s greatness, its importance, was based on looking forward, leading us.

But now we’re led by Live Nation. It’s not about the acts, but the institutions. But we’re still the same, we might have changed on the outside, but we’re still desirous of that hit, that surprise, that insight right around the bend. We still want to drop the needle and be taken away. The song doesn’t have to be new, sometimes it’s just a different interpretation. But we want something added, we don’t want rote. Just like Chris McCandless didn’t want rote.

Chris McCandless wanted to believe there was something more. Than the moneygoround. He didn’t want to be burdened by the past. He was just another kid graduating from college. I’d say no different from you or me, but today’s college graduates are not the same. They want the cushy job, they want the accoutrements, they’re not interested in finding themselves. Maybe that’s why their music is so vapid. Maybe that’s why those coming up behind them look to classic rock.

I recommend "Into The Wild". The BOOK! Because Jon Krakauer is a fabulous writer. Check out his story in "Eiger Dreams" about soloing in Alaska if you doubt me. Sean Penn is a brilliant actor, but a second-rate director. I wish a true auteur had helmed this film. But the story lives on, in the book. Just like our history lives on, in these records.

I was stealing music last night, and a trader, probably a Scot, had the entire Silencers album "A Night Of Electric Silence".

Why do I think he’s a Scot? Because he also had Simple Minds’ "Live In The City Of Light".

Or maybe he’s just a fan of Scottish bands. SO AM I! Felt so great to hear those classic Simple Minds songs again. Actually, what I liked most was the version of "Let There Be Love" from a bootleg, recorded somewhere in the USA. How MAJESTIC! You DO know that "Don’t You (Forget About Me)" was not written by the band, right? And if you delve deeply into their catalog, you’ll be rewarded. Start with "Let There Be Love", but if you want some ENERGY, try "Stand By Love"…

You know my heart beats rhythm and my dreams still take me higher
I’ve traveled ’round the world but they can’t cure my desire
The city looks pretty tonight
Hold on now let’s go till morning

You know how you’re at the gig and you’re so infused with the music that you feel completely alive and you feel like everybody in the room is your brother and the night is full of POSSIBILITIES? That’s what "Stand By Love" sounds like…

Give me one good reason why you don’t come play with fire
‘Cause when the earth starts moving you know I’m no liar

That’s what music does to you. Turns you into your best self.

And I’ve got that official double live album around the house somewhere, but it’s ECLIPSED by this bootleg. As for the Silencers live album…that’s unavailable in the U.S. at ANY price.

Funny how your favorites are not those on the radio. The bands on the radio are for everybody. You can get their material in one listen. It’s for those not paying attention, those who don’t NEED the music. Whereas the records we hold near and dear speak to us, reveal themselves over time. We would no sooner part with them than disown one of our children. We need them. We grow old with them. They might not change, but we get new insight every time we listen to them. This is how I feel about the Silencers. Especially their first two albums, "A Letter From St. Paul" and "A Blues For Buddha". You can check out what I had to say about them in my Rhinocast:

Bob Lefsetz talks about The Silencers

And I get e-mail from Jimme O’Neill now and again. He’s still at it. Living in France, where they got his music. He never gave up. That’s a musician, not those pretty boys you see on TV.

And thinking about the Silencers, I decided to see if there were any YouTube clips. And checking out the listings, I came across a video for "Wild Mountain Thyme":

The Silencers – Wild Mountain Thyme

I have not been myself since Nashville. Or maybe myself too much. I crashed. All that excitement, all that interaction. And now I’m back to my own little life. I wonder…should I just stay on the road forever? Watching this Silencers video last night I got the desire to go Scotland. Look at that SCENERY!

And it’s that scenery that got me to see "Into The Wild" this afternoon.

You see I’m living in bizarredom. I woke up this morning, and the light was akin to the end of the world, after the nuclear holocaust. All muted and golden. As if we were in a halfway house on our way to heaven. Or maybe hell. It was creepy.

There were too many ash particles in the air to go hiking. So I decided to ride the crisis out at the movies. The new Landmark, in Westwood:

Landmark in Westwood

You see that picture in the lower center? With the orange couches? I sat right behind them, in that love seat…

Sean Penn takes himself way too seriously. The only humor in this 140 minute flick was encapsulated in the few minutes when Vince Vaughn was on screen. Do people really live their lives with this few laughs, with this few smiles? Was Chris McCandless really this humorless?

I doubt it. I think this is Sean Penn’s version of Chris’ story. Which is not akin to the real version. The real one was more similar to Sean’s life. Someone trying to play a role, to turn himself INTO something. We live in a lonely world. We want to feel a part of something. We want to be the star of our own movie.

And the moral of THIS flick…that we need people. I think that’s a message for Sean too. Since he’s removed himself from the rest of us so much by being such a smug pugilist. Hey SEAN! You’re just the scion of low-level Hollywood royalty. Uneducated at that. Why don’t you enjoy the ride a bit? Then we wouldn’t need to constantly attack you. For taking yourself so seriously.

Which brings me right back to where I started. At a movie that wasn’t good enough to recommend. But there’s a performance contained therein deserving of an Oscar. Hal Holbrook’s. As a discharged military loner. You know excellence when you see it. And I saw it.

Just like you know it when you hear it.

And nothing Eddie Vedder composed for this film stopped me in my tracks, made me think this guy is as legendary as he acts. Hell, he and Sean deserve each other. But at least Eddie can laugh a LITTLE!

Still, out in Slab City, deep into the movie, Emile Hirsch and Kristen Stewart get up on a makeshift stage and start playing "Angel From Montgomery" and the whole movie suddenly makes sense.

I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that’s grown old
If dreams were thunder and lightning was desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago

There’s more honesty in these lines than there was in this whole damn movie. That’s the power of music. That’s what has us burning the candle. That’s why we care. Because these troubadours, laying down their sound, we believe in them. We NEED TO! We need to feel someone has insight, that someone can help us make sense of this crazy world we inhabit.

That’s the music that got us baby boomers addicted. Sure, we loved the train-wreck of MTV, but those acts that laid their souls upon the wax… Those are the ones we cared about. Those are the ones we still care about.

Sure, the superstars of yore can play stadiums. But we went to see a whole bunch more we still care about in clubs, and theatres. Because they didn’t just represent a good time, they represented LIFE!

"Into The Wild" talks about the pain of family. We’ve all experienced it. But in this movie, you can’t FEEL IT!

And the scenery is oftentimes beautiful, but too often we’re not awed. Or the effect is compromised by the bogus filmic effects.

Having said all that, this movie isn’t bad, it just wasn’t GOOD ENOUGH!

I don’t want my three hours back. I just want something that delivers. Too much of what’s out there doesn’t deliver.

Hate to tell you, but Led Zeppelin at the O2 Arena won’t deliver. It’ll be sans all the danger, all the importance the band held back in the seventies, when it still counted. You may want to go to impress your buddies, but you’ll get more soul-fulfillment listening to Robert’s duets album with Alison Krauss. Because, you see, just like you, Robert kept on living. He didn’t get a facelift. Didn’t record dance numbers. He kept lifting the rug, seeing what was underneath.

Dinosaurs can still do this. But too often they don’t. Because it’s not what the audience wants. The audience wants to relive its youth, as its hair grays and its body thickens. The audience wants to look back. And the music’s greatness, its importance, was based on looking forward, leading us.

But now we’re led by Live Nation. It’s not about the acts, but the institutions. But we’re still the same, we might have changed on the outside, but we’re still desirous of that hit, that surprise, that insight right around the bend. We still want to drop the needle and be taken away. The song doesn’t have to be new, sometimes it’s just a different interpretation. But we want something added, we don’t want rote. Just like Chris McCandless didn’t want rote.

Chris McCandless wanted to believe there was something more. Than the moneygoround. He didn’t want to be burdened by the past. He was just another kid graduating from college. I’d say no different from you or me, but today’s college graduates are not the same. They want the cushy job, they want the accoutrements, they’re not interested in finding themselves. Maybe that’s why their music is so vapid. Maybe that’s why those coming up behind them look to classic rock.

I recommend "Into The Wild". The BOOK! Because Jon Krakauer is a fabulous writer. Check out his story in "Eiger Dreams" about soloing in Alaska if you doubt me. Sean Penn is a brilliant actor, but a second-rate director. I wish a true auteur had helmed this film. But the story lives on, in the book. Just like our history lives on, in these records.