I was disappointed. Because I wanted it to be more.

There was a point in the third or so episode where I was marveling over what a good show it was, especially the nuances and emotions between Kate and Hal. It made me think of “The Sopranos,” which had all the family relationships right.

But then “The Diplomat” got caught up in fantastical plot lines, whereas “The Sopranos”… Tony was always a secondary mob guy, owning his own turf, king of his own turf, but the situations and issues he found himself in were relatively small time, they were believable, whereas the situations in “The Diplomat”…

Maybe the show should have ended. That’s a tough call, to blow the whistle when reception is still good, when everybody is on a high.

Now the machinations between Hal and Grace, whether he is deserving of the vice presidency, are well done. He’s uncontrollable, at times a hothead, always convinced he is right. And then there’s Bradley Whitford as Grace’s husband…he doesn’t ring true, but some of his insights are spot-on. Who is looking out for Grace? Would the end result of decisions be that she is squeezed out of the presidency? And his jealousy re the relationship between Grace and Hal…when people have no portfolio, they build scenarios in their heads. And the interactions between Grace and Whitford’s Todd are pretty damn good…when they roll around on the bed, when they discuss issues.

But those issues…

The show is carried by Keri Russell. Who gives an amazing performance. She can be two-faced, just like a politician, turning on the charm to impress when she doesn’t feel it inside.

And then there’s Trowbridge as the PM… I like him, he’s a bit of an idiot, but he’s got a good tuning fork, he can catch the vibe…most of the time, anyway, but…

The whole concept of America blowing up a British aircraft carrier with forty-odd men onboard… They should have left that plot point in the rearview mirror. But they kept focused on it, and then more and more plot was added on that you just couldn’t take seriously.

Which every person in this show takes their job, seriously.

But in 2025, we see politicians as doofuses. And we watch and see the endless negotiations, the hand-wringing in this series, when we feel we could come up with an answer in seconds. Sure, a lot hangs in the balance, but the decisions are belabored, especially over the consequences, and is this what politicians and diplomats do, always focus on soft issues… I mean it’s never black and white, they’re worrying about the effects and…

If this were real life, and these issues were in play, there would be more edge.

Then again, these international issues rarely come up. We’ve got the aircraft carrier, the Russian sub, what next, an astronaut lost in space?

Being a diplomat, even an ambassador, is usually boring. But a lot of stories can be derived from everyday life. Then the series would have been more believable.

And why exactly did Kate decide to “separate” from Hal, and why exactly did she decide to get back together? Not enough backstory, not enough facts were laid down, these decisions seemed surface, rather arbitrary, whereas Carmela’s relationship with Tony? Her contemplation whether to stay or go? It was very nuanced.

As for Kate’s relationship with Callum… This guy radiates no sexual energy, what exactly is the attraction? He’s smart, but not suave, not charismatic.

So they keep laying logs on the plot, wrenching up the supposed tension to the point where you start to disengage, you’re watching to see what happens, but you’re no longer involved. Whereas in previous seasons, with much less at stake plot-wise, you were.

You might say I’m nitpicking, however…

In what world is good good enough? It’s hard to make a show as good as “The Diplomat,” why not try to make it even better, one of the great shows of all time, why not wrestle over the action such that it is realistic as opposed to a big screen plot-driven film? Series are all about the characters, the small stories, that’s where the focus should be.

As for tone…

“House of Cards” could be funny, yet serious. The plot lines were believable. And Kevin Spacey as the president took his job more seriously than everybody in this show, he knew what was at stake, you could feel it, it was palpable. Whereas in “The Diplomat” everybody’s impressed with themselves, saying LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT MY TITLE AND MY POWER! Power emanates from the inside. And at times Keri/Kate gets it right, but…

Multiple times the president’s inner circle is stymied, they’ve been debating an issue ad infinitum, and then Keri comes up with an idea to save the day. Why didn’t she come up with the idea earlier? I mean this is their territory, they work in it every day. It’s just not believable that when everybody is flummoxed, long after a decision has been made, that she will suddenly gain insight none of them have and save the day like Spanky in the “Little Rascals.”

Now let me be clear, “The Diplomat” is light years better than most of today’s series. Kudos. You don’t have to dumb yourself down to watch it. But instead of continuing to walk the razor’s edge, they jumped down into mass market with endless unbelievable twists and all the gravitas, never mind believability, is excised.

It’s hard to get it right. To keep your vision and not compromise.

Try.

P.S. We are now watching “The Asset.” A lot less money was thrown at the screen, but it is gripping in a way that “The Diplomat” is not. At times “The Diplomat” is uber-serious, then it’s bozos playing at politics. The visceral quality of “The Asset” hits right between your eyes. The Danish (along with the Israelis) are known for making the best television. Watch this and you can see why.

I was reading “Record Collector” magazine and learned that there’s a 50th anniversary version of “Captain Fantastic,” which I immediately pulled up on my phone, I needed to hear the demo version of “Tell Me When the Whistle Blows,” one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, tracks on the album.

But this was more of a personal experience, if you weren’t a hard core fan I didn’t think you needed to know about it.

And they also wrote about the new Dylan Bootleg series, “Through the Open Window – 1956-1963.” The opening track is positively revelatory, Dylan’s version of “Let the Good Times Roll,” recorded in the Terlinde Music Shop in St. Paul back in 1956, when Bob was only fifteen years old. This demonstrates his roots. As Dylan claims, he was always a rocker. He wanted to be Elvis. But you ultimately have to find your own path. Yet, few know Dylan’s roots. They’re all here in this package, as well as his development in plain sight when no one was paying attention. Acts don’t emerge fully-formed, they develop.

And then I wondered what other acts had released albums full of demos/rare recordings.

I found a “Deluxe Edition” of the Cars’ “Heartbeat City,” their Mutt Lange return to form, and it had “Just What I Needed” from Live Aid, but that stuff is not truly rare, and even though I bought it, “Heartbeat City” was never one of my favorite albums…can we all agree that it’s really all about the first?

And then I saw an expanded version of “Who Are You.” The title track is now a Who standard, but the song that always moved me was “Music Must Change,” however, by this point the band was running out of gas, it was really about Pete’s dawning solo career. And one of the gems on this package is a band version of “Empty Glass,” which is more of a curio, but interesting.

And the Who have been repackaged ad infinitum. They’ve been on the road so much that many shrugged when their final tour was announced, at these prices they didn’t need to see them once again. And I kind of get it. The act hasn’t changed. And how many times has the band retired anyway? I remember taping their final show, which was simulcast (in stereo!) on the radio in 1989. A monumental event. Not really. The band came back. And came back. And…

Somewhere along the line we lost touch with what the Who were really about. ENERGY! Sure, Pete is an intellectual, sure there are messages in the songs, sure, at this point no classic rock act is truly dangerous, is pushing the envelope, but when you listen to THIS, you’ll be shocked into submission, because this is IT!

Today “Quadrophenia” is legendary, but it was a bit of a disappointment upon release back in 1973. There was no hit single, there wasn’t even an obvious FM track. No, you purchased “Quadrophenia” and digested it personally, turned the pages of the included booklet, as the album revealed itself to you track by track.

For me it was always about side 3, with “Sea and Sand.”

“The girl I love is a perfect dresser

Wears every fashion, gets it to the tee”

And the closing cut, the majestic “Love Reign o’er Me.”

Then there was the first side, which started out with Pete’s synthesizer opus, “I Am the Sea”…I always thought that recording the real ocean would have been better. But after two minutes of noodlling, the guitar riffs, the bass dances underneath and Roger starts singing about “The Real Me.”

Now in truth, if you want to listen to “Quadrophenia,” you’re better off listening to the John Entwistle remix for the movie (the best rock flick ever, if you’re asking me)… The original was a bit dull, but Entwistle stripped away the flat exterior, the result was more in your face, more rock and roll, with louder, more prominent bass (what did you expect?)

Now Pete revisited the bookend to “The Real Me,” “I’m One,” on his 1986 album, “Deep End Live!,” there’s a ton of meaning, gravitas, but it’s not the Who.

But this performance of “Real Me” from the deluxe “Who Are You”…it’s most certainly the Who, and it’s a STUNNER!

Recorded at the Philadelphia Spectrum on December 10, 1979, not long after the tragedy in Cincinnati, it closed the show and closes this seven album package.

The Who… You’ve got to remember, it was a trio with a vocalist. Making a glorious noise, with holes in the live sound, inevitably…there was only one guitarist.

But John Entwistle rivals Paul McCartney as the most melodic bass player in rock, and his role is even larger with only three instruments in play. Entwistle is not only holding down the bottom, he’s pirouetting all over it, he’s not buried in the mix, he’s RIGHT THERE!

And sure, it’s not Keith Moon on drums, but Kenney Jones…he’s not far off…you can hear the individual hits, it’s not a whirlwind where the plot is lost in the process.

As for Pete… He always claimed to be a rhythm guitarist… He’s not constantly playing here, but throwing in chords here and there, picking a few notes…he doesn’t see a need to carry the tune, he’s just part of the ensemble, occasionally dropping out.

And there you have the glorious noise.

But sitting on top of it all is Roger Daltrey’s vocal, WHEW! The man in his prime. Not singing from deep in his chest, but from his head and heart with no limits…there’s energy, but there’s also power, AND ANGST!

“Can you see the real me, doctor, doctor?”

That was the thing, THEY COULDN’T SEE US!

We’d cut loose, we’d disconnected. Our parents couldn’t understand our music, and oftentimes couldn’t understand us.

And the music spoke to our alienation.

And it was loud and noisy and uncontrolled and…

Many say “Live at Leeds” is the best live album of all time. I don’t agree, because there’s no crowd noise…sure, there’s great playing, but in a vacuum it doesn’t work for me.

But this…

Sure, the Who have recently been on the road, but it’s not the same thing.

You can go see Paul McCartney, he plays your favorites, but it’s not the same thing. Once upon a time it was fresh, groundbreaking, but that’s no longer the case.

As for the Stones? They haven’t been dangerous for a long time.

Maybe you can feel the energy from an act from back when that never broke through, but those who had success…they’ve been to the mountaintop, now the money is as important as the adulation, whereas way back when THEY HAD TO DO IT! Had to express themselves, they worked out their frustration live, and if you were in the audience you felt it, you were transfixed. The music penetrated you and sparks emanated from your body. No one was shooting selfies, not because there were no smartphones, but because everybody was focused on the music, we were all Tommy, maybe not deaf, dumb and blind, but in tune with the music. Which was more than the music. More than commerce. It was life itself. And if you listen to this track, you’ll get it.

What once was.

It’s gone now.

And it doesn’t seem to be on its way back, because today’s acts are self-conscious, money-oriented, whereas back then the acts were less interested in being brands than changing the world…or at least sticking a finger in the eye of the world. We live like Gods, we trash hotel rooms, our road manager has a roll of c-notes, women are clamoring for us, our gigs sell out, we’re the other, our own context, which you can either accept or not.

But back then the youth was all in. Music was the basis of the culture. Its power was undeniable.

And as time marched on, acts shaved off their rough edges. They were concerned with replicating the record live, with extra players and tapes, but the Who were still doing the same act from the sixties, it was still powerful, undeniable, JUST LISTEN!

P.S. Listen LOUD!

Tonight they want to party like it’s 1999. Because they sure as hell don’t like the era they’re living in.

If you’re expecting new protest songs…don’t hold your breath. Gen Z is looking for escape. They’ve been beaten down by a society that seems not to understand them, that actually has contempt for them, and they stayed home from school during Covid and can’t get a good job and…

The Boomers were coming from a place of optimism when they embraced protest songs back in the sixties. They truly thought they could change the world. This optimism has been replaced by frustration and disillusionment in today’s youth, who are just trying to survive.

Think about this… Have you seen a single Gen Z member come out against screens? Of course not, they grew up digitally native, they know the power of the smartphone and the internet, they can’t understand their elders who don’t, the elders who seem to want to bring them back to an age that is never returning… Why not bring back black and white TV and get rid of streaming while they’re at it! The youth have grown up in a rapid-fire world of constant change, they’re adjusted to it, they can cope, it’s the oldsters who can’t.

And then there’s the influencers… Not only are old people not on TikTok, they believe that no-talents are online trying to get rich and famous. There are some like that, but TikTok is a hotbed of artistic innovation. Want to be surprised? Don’t listen to a record, dial up a clip on TikTok. Or MrBeast on YouTube. Or… The generation gap is gigantic.

Also, how is the influencer culture different from the personal development ethos of the seventies? Be all you can be! But only if you play by our rules.

Meanwhile, we’ve got newspapers telling us Democrats can only win if they move to the center. People throwing their hands up in the air re Trump. But no one sees it through the eyes of the Gen Z’ers…they’re beyond disillusioned, they’ve disconnected, they have no faith in the system. Whether it be political or corporate. All those corporate leaders kissing the ring of Trump… Gen Z is all about credibility, what’s inside. Sure, there are followers, but with so little money available youngsters cling to values first and foremost. And it’s not only credibility, but ecology and…

If you go to a show it’s less about who is on stage and more about the experience you’re having with your friends. Shooting photos. Gen Z knows musical stars are whored-out two-dimensional constructs. There are much better, smarter people to take the lead from. Performers have disconnected from their audience, so busy becoming brands that they’ve left connection and money on the table.

Don’t counter with the BTS Army and the Swifites…that would be missing the point. Then again, BTS’s success is based on culture, the music is in service to that. There’s a sense of belonging. As for Swift…she herself is a Millennial, she made it before the TikTok era, so different rules apply. And Gen Z is not looking to get married, it’s looking to get out of its parents’ basement!

They were told to get a STEM education. And now AI has come along and wiped out the coding jobs.

They’re told they don’t need a college degree, but in truth seemingly every job requires a degree to get it…it’s not what you’ve learned, but the degree is a dividing line between the capable and the incapable, that’s how the hirers see it, no matter how much bloviating there is in the “Wall Street Journal” that a degree is unnecessary.

As for Trump talking about liberal bias at universities… This is a highbrow discussion for aged people. Gen Z has no skin in this game.

Once again, Gen Z is alone, overlooked when it’s not put down.

But change will come from Gen Z. Already has in Nepal and Madagascar. In Nepal all it took was a shutdown of social media sites. While the oldsters not on the platforms are worried about China’s access to data, Gen Z knows privacy is history, they just want to be able to connect.

And they’re sick of being told how lonely they are. They know more people than any of their elders did when they grew up, that’s the power of the internet. Furthermore, like-minded people are at their fingertips. The internet connects, it doesn’t isolate. And oldsters can’t understand this, believing face to face communication is everything.

Change will come from Gen Z because its members have nothing to lose. They don’t own houses and have 401k’s, those are off on the horizon… Once again, they’d just like to be able to live in an apartment, be able to pay the bills without mom and dad’s help.

And Gen Z doesn’t need the belief in a monolithic star like their predecessors. They have their personal favorites, the fact that you have yours is de rigueur.

Gen Z  is a time bomb. It’s got nothing to do with tariffs, with bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. or ICE, it has to do with opportunity and understanding… How in the hell is a septuagenarian congressperson, an OCTOGENARIAN congressperson, going to understand their plight?

As the corporations gain more and more power and…

Crypto is a way to get rich. How else are you going to accumulate all those bucks?

Zuckerberg, Musk, Thiel…those are the heroes of their elders, Gen Z knows techies are not to be trusted, that they’re just mercurial men out for a buck. As for AI… What’s the problem, it helps with homework and allows them to create! You want to hold back the march of progress?

And seemingly everybody not a member of this cohort is missing it.

Except maybe for Mamdani…who is a flawed candidate, but is sticking his finger in the eye of the status quo, that’s why young people are supporting him…he offers a modicum of hope, where are they going to get hope elsewhere?

From a musical artist ripping them off with dozens of vinyl iterations? Selling them perfume and clothing? Stardom today is all about being embedded with your audience, appearing no better than they are, and there are some musical acts that fit this bill, but too many one-dimensional ones in blinking lights constantly selling stuff, saying they love their fans when they truly want nothing to do with them.

Change could be made, but so far it hasn’t happened.

Any change that comes will be as a result of the activities of Gen Z itself. It’s a sleeping giant, a monster. This is the true crisis in America, the misunderstood if not ignored youth…who don’t expect the government to come through for them, no matter who is in power.

A spark could call Gen Z to action. And just like in Pacific Palisades…something is smoldering, getting ready to ignite.

Beware.

“Consumer Reports” used to be my bible.

But now it’s the Wirecutter.

Now let me be clear… I don’t trust CR on that which I’m an expert. But there’s so much I don’t know, it’s good to have an outlet of expertise.

But CR doesn’t review everything. And is still operating on a pre-internet paradigm, i.e. print. Even worse, because of the challenges of print, they’ve reduced publication…now there are months when there is no new magazine at all. Sure, CR is part of Apple News+, but most of the reviews/new information featured is truncated and not new, just a retread of what is already in the magazine. So, for a big purchase, CR is worth checking out, but what if I just want to buy towels?

The Wirecutter is the little engine that could. Picked up by the “New York Times” before it had achieved ubiquity, never mind gravitas it has doubled-down since, furthermore, the “Times” features its reviews, promotes it….no one is promoting CR, either you’re part of the ecosystem, or you’re not.

Two things made me a Wirecutter believer. First, they update their reviews on a regular basis… You don’t want old information. You don’t want to wait for a slew of new products for a re-evaluation…that’s not how we buy, we buy when we need, which is NOW! Sure, on big purchases we might debate and wait…and CR still owns those categories, like automobiles and TV, but how many of those are there?

So, the frequency of information was one notch in the belt, the other was the accuracy of the reviews. Felice wanted a standup vacuum cleaner. Sure, Dysons are seen as the best, but this was for only occasional use. And the Wirecutter said to buy the Shark, which is what CR said to buy, but the layout of the Wirecutter’s take was much more readable, palatable… They didn’t review every product, just the handful that people really buy. You didn’t have to pore over a chart, the information was readily available, like the AI answer in Google… Sometimes you just want hit and run, you don’t want a deep dive.

So when Felice wanted to buy new towels… Where does one get information on that? Aren’t you a victim of the department store, of buying blind? No, the Wirecutter reviews towels (and so much more!). There’s the best, and one better than that. And a couple of also-rans… I mean how much time do you want to spend buying towels?

So the depth of categories is appealing, but also the frequency. The Wirecutter is up-to-date, CR is two steps behind.

And the reason I mention all this is not only to hip you to the Wirecutter, but to have you contemplating your activity/marketing.

Frequency is key in the internet world. Own this. Sure, a superstar might be able to coast on an album release and not much more…then again, how many of these releases are hyped and then forgotten?

This is the number one complaint I get from wannabe artists…they don’t want to post. Young ‘uns tend to understand, having grown up in a social media world, but…

Social media is just a canvas, you get to post whatever you want…not only jokes and your personal life, but your writing sessions, your rehearsals, acoustic takes of your hits… It’s part of being an artist today, see it as an avenue of expression, not a chore.

And it must be personal. YOU must create and post your internet messages. If you hire a service, the joke is on you. The audience can tell. Sure, the audience wants information, tour dates, etc…but even more people want YOU! A piece of you…can’t you give it to them, on a regular basis?

We’re inundated with information. Post or be forgotten.