From: Kevin Cronin
Subject: Re: Sugar Babe (Live at Berkeley 1971)

Yo Bob,

Stephen Stills is my musical hero. Supremely gifted on acoustic and electric, genius songwriter, (I wrote one with him, so I witnessed it in real time), and that voice. I had the honor and pleasure of singing a live duet with Stephen on “Almost Cut My Hair” shortly after David Crosby’s passing …a career/life highlight for me. And Stephen is more at peace now than at any other time our paths have crossed. Good on you for singing Stephen’s praises here. When I release my little memoir, Stephen’s praises will be sung once again, in long form, from the rooftop of my soul, and deservedly so. … kc

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From: TS Bitterman
Subject: Re: Sugar Babe (Live at Berkeley 1971)

Hi Bob,

Crew guy here 

I became a bigger fan of Stephen Stills after working for him.

“Never meet your heroes”…

hmmph, then pick better heroes

Cheers, TS

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From: Fay Morgan Hine
Subject: Tina article

was a great read/tribute, fab … Roop produced better be good to me as you probably know … grammy winner 1985 … he was proud of that.
bests fay hine

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From: Paul Ill
Subject: RE: Tina Turner

Long ago and far away at the beginning of this century, Guy Chambers flew the great drummer Brian McLeod, exemplary guitarist Eric Schermerhorn and me first class to London on Capitol Records’ dime. Our calling was to record four songs with Tina Turner at his studio in Primrose Hill. Tina and Guy had written the  tunes with the singer from Train. The label put us up at the Ritz Carlton. Those were the days, man…

Upon arrival, Guy told us, “Come to the studio tomorrow. We will track the four tunes to Tina’s guide vocal. She’s still here in London. She will come to the studio the day after and have a listen. We’ll see what happens from there.” 
Day two, the four of us were in audio Heaven, tracking to Tina’s guide vocal. It was amazing… After a really good day in the studio Guy said, “Stick close tomorrow, who knows what’s going to happen…”

Day three I was having lunch in Primrose Hill with an amicable ex girlfriend when my phone rang. Those were the flip phone days. Guy said, “Come by the studio.” Five minutes over to Guy’s studio, I walked in the front lounge and there’s Tina Turner with her impeccable husband. The room was vibrant with her presence. It was like that of an Ascended Master’s. She greeted me, saying “Hello,” to which I replied, “Lifetime debt of gratitude, Miss Turner, for your music and your artistry, She replied, “Well thank you. Guy is in his control room.”

I went through the door, Guy said with a smile,  “Stay in here. Tina likes the vibe so much, she wants to track the four songs live with us. Brian and Eric will be here any minute.” Richard Flack,  Guy’s brilliant engineer was placing a packing blanket out in the main room of the studio for Tina to stand on while she sang. That way should could move and groove with no extraneous noise.

We did the three passes of the four songs, Tina in the room with us, singing live, as if she were at Wembley or Yankee Stadium. Absolute heaven. For all intents and purposes, one of the best, if not the best musical day of my life. The masters remain unreleased, presumably safe, but sadly unheard, languishing gems, collecting dust in the Capitol vaults.

A few years later Guy let me know that Tina had come to LA by herself without a bodyguard or a personal assistant to pack up her musical director’s condo in West Hollywood. Sadly, he had passed away. As Guy explained it to me, Tina’s actions were part of her Buddhist practice. Tina Turner – impeccable and every way. Simply the Best.

Peace and Love,
Paul ILL

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From: Jean Sievers
Subject: Re: Tina Turner

Brian Wilson LOVED Tina Turner more than anyone… well more than most he ever spoke about.. . She was a unique talent.. Brian never saw gender or color he only saw TALENT, vibes… and he hears it all.  He observes.. and he always talked about Tina Turner. 

For the almost 3 decades I’ve worked with him her name has always been present in one way or another.

As a producer, songwriter and vocalist he loved and respected “River Deep Mountain High” .. of course .. Always watching what Phil Spector was putting out he was blown away by that track and talked about it often. But Tina and Ike’s cover of the brilliant John Fogerty..  Creedence Clearwater song “Proud Mary” was a song he was in awe of.. Its still a reoccurrence in his playlist.  To this day he still wants to do another version of it. 

He loved Tina.. her voice, her energy and her spirit.. She was a survivor of abuse just like he was.. Having someone who was supposed to love them.. tell then they were pieces of shit.. unworthy.. Gosh can you imagine? Then succeeding to the point they did…

One of the last times we were on tour in New York he went to see TINA: The Tina Turner Musical.. He LOVED it!! Was Blown away by it. 

When I saw him a few weeks ago.. We talked about him going to see some theater and he asked to go see that show again.. 

Well now he will see it again as a tribute to a woman, artist and colleague that he so admired and respected.

RIP Tina Turner..Brian Wilson will always love you.

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From: Chuck Woodford
Subject: Re: Succession Finale

Hey Bob,

You reference to Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola.” really hit home with me as i recently DJ’d a ‘Kick Off The Summer Party’ Memorial Day weekend at a local country club here in Denver. Over the course of an hour this is just a small sampling of the requests I received, primarily from 7-17 year olds.

Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma-Ella Baila Sola.
Morgan Wallen-Last Night
Bebe Rexha-I ‘m Good
Aqua-Barbie Girl
Johnny Cash-Ring of Fire
Quinn XCII-Another Day in Paradise
Miley Cyrus-Party in the USA
Marshmello-Shockwave
Ozzy-Crazy Train
Jack Black (from Super Mario Bros)-Peaches
Shakira-Waka Waka
Weezer-Buddy Holly
Alan Walker-Faded
Abba-Dancing Queen
Pinkfong-Baby Shark
Taylor Swift-Paris/Anti Hero
Lil Dickie-Earth
Alice Cooper-School’s Out

Great Caesar’s Ghost, you wanna talk about eclectic!! We oldsters might want to think that our kids are just slaves to pop music but TikTok and Youtube are completely upending the delivery system for our kids when it comes to every form of entertainment, especially music.

As someone who works in radio, I appreciate how finite my career is going to be. Ask anyone under the age of 40 how relevant radio or corporate curation is to them and you’ll get blank stares. Ask the same demo if they even have a radio in their home! Hell, I don’t even have a functioning radio in my home and I’ve been in this industry for almost 35 years.

We oldsters can continue to clutch furiously onto the ways of the past but to denigrate and ignore the impact of social media and word of mouth is to bury your head in the sand.

I have two teenage boys and I’m constantly amazed at the diversity of artists they want to share with me. “Dad, you gotta hear this” has quickly become my new favorite phrase in my house.

Be well and Go Nuggets!!

Chuck Woodford
Denver

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Hi Bob,
 
Just saw your article about Apple using Dreamer in the VisionPro Ad.  I really appreciate it and you made a lot of great points. This is a Roger Hodgson song he wrote before Supertramp.  He brought his demo to the band so they could learn it.  Wanted you to know that the Dreamer version Apple used is actually from two different rerecordings from Roger Hodgson.  Apple put together parts from Roger’s orchestra and band performances and did a really great job. 
 
Could you please post links to his versions of his song and let your readers know that this song is performed by Roger Hodgson?   It’s not with the band Supertramp. 
 
YouTube Links below
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCqs7LF9nk4
 

 
Also, I noted that your Spotify and iTunes links go to a Supertramp version of Dreamer.  Here are links to Roger Hodgson’s Dreamer on Spotify and iTunes. 
 

 

 
Thanks for your support of artists all these years.
 
My best,
 
Linda Tyler
 
Harmonic Management

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From: Kevin Cronin
Subject: Re: Stolen Moments

Hey Bob,

Okay, “Stolen Moments”, this is my first listen, and I like it a lot. Very Tom Petty…same chords in both verse and chorus. The whole song is one simple chord pattern, just like “Free Falling”. In 1976, I brought my “Time For Me To Fly” into the studio for consideration, and a famous producer, (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty), turned it down. His reason: it only had three chords. I knew that was the lamest reasoning ever, but I was the new guy in the band so I sucked it up.

It’s easier to write songs with a ton of chords. Try writing one with only three. Lucinda and Tom know how. Okay now Joni Mitchell is singing about how she wishes she had a river so she could sail away…beauty.

I was listening to Chris Stapleton Radio on Spotify yesterday. I had to stop my workout four times in a row to check my phone and see the song/artists I was hearing. I have no idea if these are new or older songs, and I don’t give a shit. Good songs are good songs. They never get old …once they are good, they are always good!

1. Chris Stapleton, “Millionaire”
2. Cody Johnson, “Nuthin’ on You”
3. Luke Grimes, I missed the title, but the line: “I’m a falling star without a midnight sky” stuck with me. And the song was great
4. Brandi Carlisle, “Most of All” … this song stops me in my tracks no matter what I’m doing.

Good songs do that. They put your life on pause for three and a half minutes, maybe even longer. You have been echoing my thoughts a lot lately. Looking forward to the podcast … kc

Apple VisionPro ad: https://tinyurl.com/2a2wsxxr

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Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/42638p7s

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/mrsbadd9

“I said dreamer, you’re nothing but a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!”

Well, yes. With the Apple VisionPro.

If you watched today’s presentation you weren’t quite sure whether it was one giant step for mankind or a Saturday Night Live skit. I mean the people smiling wearing ski goggles…

Then again, it’s like “Minority Report” come alive, but better. Funny when engineers can come up with a better future than the creators, who have a completely clean slate.

In any event, you’ll hear a lot about the VisionPro in the coming months. Will you buy one?

Doubtful.

Then again…

We have very few signifiers of cool anymore. And if you’ve got an Apple VisionPro…for a while there, you’re going to be unique, with a status item on your head. Or will you just look like a geek?

There is no denying the VisionPro is cool. And using your hands as a mouse, clicking your fingers instead of tapping or clicking. To be able to see your entire computer, with a huge canvas/screen, in space. Amazing.

And movies… Gonna be better than any theatre. And the floor will be a lot cleaner.

But will we be further isolated? Never to encounter each other in real life?

Well, the conundrum is as a result of the internet I know and interact with many more people than I did before. And you might deny this, but you do too. Do I reach out and touch them? No, but with Zoom and other software it’s a good facsimile.

Speaking of facsimile, that’s where the VisionPro will shine, with pornography. That’s a breakthrough app, makes people buy the hardware just to experience the software. You used to have to go to the theatre to experience what became known as XXX, now you’ve got a cornucopia of clips right in front of your very eyes, on demand, and you never have to pay a dime.

So expect some amazing sex apps for the VisionPro. Which will drive adoption. But what we’re really in search of is the killer app, and it’s not there yet. But it just might come.

The Apple Watch didn’t blow up until it was used for health.

What broke the personal computer wide the first time was word processing, and then the spreadsheet. Lotus 1-2-3 was the Tesla of its day, and Mitch Kapor was Elon Musk, albeit much more down to earth.

And then came the internet. People who pooh-poohed computers from day one suddenly went out and bought one, they needed to play online. The mission was driven by AOL, another company that’s faded in the rearview mirror. Unlike Apple, which gets more and more powerful. Now it’s a bank? With a better interest rate than all the name brand banks?

But what it really comes down to is R&D. To dominate in the future, to even play in the future, you’ve got to spend prodigiously, which many CEOs and boards refuse to do, busy buying back stock to try and prop up the share price, so the execs can get huge bonuses.

But if you put that money into R&D, and you’ve got vision…

This is what was lost in the music business, vision. You don’t want to hold people in the past, you want to get ahead of them, and lead them into the future.

But speaking of the past…

At some point today, Apple itself will post the ad for the VisionPro. And you’ll be stunned to find out the accompanying music is nearly fifty years old, but fits perfectly. It’s “Dreamer,” from the truly legendary Supertramp album “Crime of the Century.”

What a sync! The question is, does “Dreamer” become the new “Running Up That Hill” or “Bohemian Rhapsody,” both of which were jetted into the stratosphere with syncs, the former “Stranger Things,” the latter “Wayne’s World.” “Running Up That Hill” was completely dormant, never a hit to begin with. And as big as Queen is today, without that sync, they’d be a fraction as large. Believe me, everybody was not listening to and talking about Queen prior to “Wayne’s World.” You might hear “We Are the Champions” at a sporting event, but you didn’t read umpteen analyses of it, it wasn’t the most streamed song from the twentieth century…

So now it’s Supertramp’s turn.

Well, probably not. But there’s been a bounce for every track that’s been involved in Apple advertising. But most of them were new. As far as using a classic…

In case you don’t know, “Crime of the Century” is not only one of the best albums of the twentieth century, it’s one of the best sounding. Listen to it in hi-res, even better in the original Mobile Fidelity half-speed mastered version from the seventies. That’s the record I used to test stereo equipment, and I’m not the only one.

But unlike today, “Crime of the Century” was not a pure dash for cash, it was about our educational system, our society, how you’re forced to conform, to your detriment. Be yourself, let your freak flag fly! That was the message of the sixties, put forth by our musical artists. Today it’s just narcissism on parade. Me, me, me! 24/7. Money trumps art. We seem to talk about ticket prices more than the music. I mean what’s the value of a classic concert? Priceless! If prices are high, that’s because people want to go, but no one can seem to wrap their head around that. As if an Apple product should be cheap because everybody wants it.

And everybody didn’t want “Crime of the Century.” It wasn’t until 1979 and “Breakfast in America” that Supertramp had a Top Ten hit with “The Logical Song.” “Give a Little Bit” from 1977’s “Even in the Quietest Moments” went to number 15 in the U.S. and number 8 in Canada, but around the world…it was number 29 in the U.K., the band’s home.

And before “Even in the Quietest Moments” came “Crisis? What Crisis?,” which wasn’t quite as good as “Crime of the Century,” nor as commercially successful. Not that “Crime of the Century” was so successful. You occasionally heard the magical “Bloody Well Right” on FM radio, but that was about it. “Crime of the Century” was for a club of people who listened at home, they didn’t need no machine to tell them what to listen to, they found it themselves, and were dedicated to it.

And Supertramp’s long gone. Rodger Hodgson, of the high voice, writer and singer of “Dreamer” left the band one album after the peak of “Breakfast in America.” The subsequent Supertramp albums had a fraction of the success of what had come before and as for Hodgson… He had one played song, “Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy),” and then he essentially disappeared.

Kinda like Kate Bush, kinda like Queen, but even worse. Supertramp is not top of mind, but when you hear “Dreamer” in the VisionPro ad…

Used to be hits were made on the radio. Blockbusters. But today you can have a number one record on Top Forty and the majority of America has never even heard it. Streaming rules. But even the Spotify Top 50 doesn’t reach everybody. If you want to reach the masses, you’ve got to have a sync.

Usually with a streaming show. A hit streaming show. Just getting in some TV show might get you a fee, but it won’t boost your career. But if you’re in a series that penetrates the culture… Yes, don’t listen to the bozos telling you music is as good and powerful as ever, that’s complete hogwash. If that was so, new tracks would penetrate the public consciousness, but they don’t. They’re all niche products. Even though the music business hates to hear this. But a hit streaming TV show? It often cuts across demos, both in age and wealth. You don’t need to hear a record, you can live without that experience. But if you hear about a streaming program from enough people you have to tune in, to be a part of the conversation if nothing else. You can live quite happily without knowing a single track by the Weeknd, and you won’t feel left out either. Same deal with Taylor Swift. But Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat spins Morgan Wallen’s “Somebody’s Problem” in the locker room. Because it resonates. Most of today’s music doesn’t resonate, it doesn’t have that kind of message, most acts are boasting, issuing platitudes or defensive…it’s hard to relate to that.

Not that I want to say Wallen’s tracks are ubiquitous either. But they’re closer to what Queen was selling than most of the hit parade. We’re looking for that which we can identify with, because after all we’re human.

Humanity, what a concept. That’s the essence of life. It’s not hardware, but software. It’s not the computer, but what you use it for.

“Dreamer” stands alone. As do “Running Up That Hill” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” They don’t need the sync to complete them. But when used with the visual image…

This is a new paradigm. This will keep the classics alive. That’s why they call it “classic rock.” This rock of yore contains something that today’s music does not. If nothing else, more people know it! And when newbies are exposed to it, they resonate.

Will the public resonate with “Dreamer”?

I wouldn’t bet on it being ubiquitous, but more classic rock tracks will be. And this success won’t be driven by radio or Spotify, but syncs.

Today everybody’s depressed, pessimistic, not optimistic. Oh, don’t talk to me about putting on a false attitude, convincing yourself you’re a winner, I’m talking about your essence, the vibe around you… That’s what the sixties were about. Sure, there were riots in the street, but everybody was thinking about possibilities, what they could become. They weren’t playing it safe, they were going for the gusto. And people listened to and were inspired by the music, it helped foment change.

Today we depend on Apple for that. And looking at the VisionPro, all you can say is…

“Far out, what a day, a year, a life it is!”

Amazon Prime: https://tinyurl.com/2xjrjs4p

I was trying to figure out what was wrong with this series. Whether it was me or whether it was possibly not that good. And I didn’t want to ask Felice her opinion, because I thought she wasn’t into it, and that once she expressed her thoughts that would be it, we’d shut it down, move on, for she has veto power. And especially when you’re unsure about something yourself, you’re easily influenced by another’s opinion.

But I wanted to keep watching it.

I’d never heard of the show, but Jake sent me an article from the “Globe and Mail” entitled “The 10 best international police series you need to stream right now,” and I researched each one and wrote down those that appealed to me. You can read the article here: https://tinyurl.com/2apzd2dt

And I’m always interested in foreign recommendations, because they take effort, you have to search. And the first series listed was “Happy Valley,” which is one of my absolute favorites, the third season is being dribbled out in the U.S. now. What a horrible viewing experience. There are only six episodes, why can’t we binge them? It’s hard to remember the details from week to week, never mind having to fast-forward through the commercials, which upends your train of thought.

So looking at the list, I decided to start with shows on services we already had subscriptions to, which brought me to Prime’s “Informer.”

The concept is not difficult. It’s about a police informer. But it starts with one plot line and then jumps to another and you wonder how this fits in with what the show started with and you know they’ll get back to it, but it takes a while.

And I can’t say you get the complete feel from one episode.

But the second episode was better. And by the third…

And I’m thinking about it. What was wrong with the show…

And then it came to me, all the characters were UNLIKABLE! There was no one to root for. This doesn’t bother me, but I know it drives others wild. As if there’s a saint in every situation, whereas usually everybody is chiaroscuro, even yourself. And nitty-gritty reality…it’s kind of like that old Jack Nicholson movie, people can’t handle the truth, can’t handle characters being complicated, making bad choices, crossing the line sometimes, so they stay away, they want something they can watch that doesn’t stick with them.

Not that “Informer” will really stick with you, but you’ll get caught up in it. It’s visceral.

But it’s not “Happy Valley.” Or “The Bureau.” Or “Spiral.” Not the best cop show you’ve ever seen.

But it’s realistic. But having said that, there are just a couple of plot points where they seem to skip over the obvious, when another character would notice some behavior and does not.

But having said that…

Paddy Considine is the star. And he is, a bona fide star. But you just can’t like him. There’s something about him that you just can’t warm up to. And you think it’s a character flaw and then you think it’s his job and…

His costar is Bel Powley, who looks strange and acts strange. She’s present, but she’s of the other. You know, you work with people like this, they never joke around, never talk about their personal life, you end up being suspicious of them.

And then there’s Jessica Raine as Considine’s wife, beautiful but duped? She knows something is off, but she’s not quite sure what it is.

And then there’s Rachel Tucker as the barmaid Sharon… Just because someone lives in the hinterlands, that does not mean they’re unintelligent. But the further you get into the hinterlands, the smaller the community, the more people run on their emotions, both positive and negative. So Sharon seems real. And it’s rare to see a fortysomething woman portrayed accurately on the screen. Who is attractive, but looks her age, and is more than two-dimensional.

The informer himself, Nabhaan Rizwan… He’s not a criminal yet he’s not a choirboy either. And he might not have clean hands, but neither do the police.

And underneath all this is the possibility of a terrorist plot.

And then you think about all the plots that are averted by the government, all the behind-the-scenes efforts to avoid tragedy and…we only seem to care about the tragedies themselves, when it’s much harder to squelch them.

So you end up being riveted by “Informer.” It’s gripping. It’s not quite the real world, at least not the real world of most people, but the people in it are surprisingly real. Like I said, they’re not black or white, but somewhere in between.

So I’ve been watching “Informer” and wondering whether I should recommend it. Not believing it’s a slam dunk, not at first anyway.

But as it unfolded I became more and more focused, involved, sensitive to the characters’ actions. Especially a world depicted where money isn’t everything. Not everybody can become a billionaire, you know. Or maybe you don’t.

“Informer” is darker than “Happy Valley.” And you can love Sarah Lancashire, but you can’t love anybody in “Informer.” You’re rooting for Ms. Lancashire as Sgt. Catherine Cawood, whereas you’re not sure who some of the main characters in “Informer” really are. People you’d want to have a beer with, or people you’d want to run away from.

And in truth, our entire culture is based on partying. Yup, you want to become a billionaire for the perks. Drugs and alcohol are cool and…

I’m not saying that the world doesn’t run on sex, because it does, but there are some people who are completely dedicated to their jobs, and that’s enough. It used to be that way for most of us, before income inequality. Now the poor want lower taxes because they want to pay less when they become billionaires and many are so poorly educated they can’t do anything other than manual labor, which pays poorly in today’s economy, so all they’ve got is the pursuit of getting blitzed and having “fun.”

And in America everybody takes a victory lap. Deserved or not. Remember Sully? He was just doing his job, but he became a national hero, and I don’t want to take anything away from his feat, but there are people keeping this world together every day who get no props. Worse than that, they’re seen as losers. How does that lead to cohesiveness, how does that lead to a society.

“Informer” is only six episodes. But they are an hour long. But it’s not a huge commitment. I’d watch three before you make a judgment, then again you have to get that far.

There’s something about this show that reaches me. In a way most cop shows do not. I guess it’s the business of law enforcement as opposed to clear heroes and villains. Getting the job done as opposed to reaching for glory.

I recommend it.

https://tinyurl.com/ycxfxfye

This is one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read. To the point where I constantly had to stop reading it, even though I was enjoying it, it just heightened my anxiety and made me squirm.

But it’s not horror, it’s not a thriller. Ostensibly it’s about the lives of the different classes, but what it’s really about is desperation. Desperate people do desperate things.

You can live your whole life and not know this. Used to be we were all in it together, you interacted, lived with people of different classes. Now, not only do the wealthy live behind gates and fly private, they have a gravy train of education and professional life that keeps them financially secure, but separate. The truth is they’ve got no idea how the rest of the world lives.

You can see that as a put-down. And that’s a big part of the book. How the wealthy have people who do the hard stuff for them, deliver bad news as well as clean up, but that was not news to me. I know these people.

But I also know the desperate. I must admit, at times in my life I’ve been desperate myself.

When you’re broke you’ll cross lines you would never think of stepping over previously. And then there is moral background. Your morals go out the window when you’re starving, when you’ve got no money, no portfolio. But you’ll also find everybody didn’t grow up with the same background as you. Not everybody’s parents stayed together and watched over your education. Not everybody has parents they can reach out to in a pinch, for money, never mind shelter. And then there are the children who burn so many bridges that their parents cut ties, wanting nothing to do with them.

And when you’re a woman and you’re broke…

Yes, that’s how Alex earns her living. But selling your body and your soul is work, and it’s not always lucrative. And then you end up owing people money, you become a pariah, and even in an overpopulated city like New York word gets around.

But there’s always another mark. Assuming you can hang in there while you jump from one to another. It’s like jumping from stone to stone in a fast-paced river. If it all goes according to plan, you get to the other side and forget about the journey. But if you misstep… You’re caught in the maelstrom and may not survive. And you don’t have the luxury of planning, you’re living by your wits, you’re constantly on guard.

Now Emma Cline wrote a well-regarded book entitled “The Girls.” It’s basically a retelling of the Manson story. Well-written, but that doesn’t show a hell of a lot of innovation in my mind. But “The Guest”…

I’ve never read a book quite like “The Guest.” Because I know people like this.

In truth, people trade on their looks and adjust their behavior to their benefit all over the world, but it’s especially prevalent in Hollywood, where even if you have a portfolio it doesn’t usually pay dividends. People come from across the country, the globe, to make it in Hollywood. And if you’re good-looking, friendly and know how to fit in… You’ll be stunned how far you can go. Maybe not as far as you want to, to become a star, but you can be in the scene, it really isn’t that hard to penetrate. And you’ll encounter hustlers and…

That’s a lesson that takes years to learn in L.A. Who is real and who is full of sh*t. They all talk a good game. And the wayside is littered with the well-intentioned and the talented who could never figure out the game, who never needed it that bad. But there’s a whole ‘nother world of money and lifestyle underneath stardom that most people don’t see.

I’m not saying everybody is a lying, cheating scumbag. But you’d be surprised how many are.

This is not Harvard. Where you’ve got to jump through hoops to get there. Occasionally you hear about duplicitous people faking it, breaking the rules to get in without almost anybody noticing. And then we’ve got the Varsity Blues scandal… In truth, so many of the “rich and famous” are bending the rules, especially to benefit their children, many of whom are ungrateful anyway. But above that there’s a class where you know your place from birth, there’s a safety net. The path is delineated. And you follow it, or become a party person living an empty life and maybe even O.D.

But those people are meanderers. Bumping into trouble. I’m talking here about people who make choices. Who lie, cheat and steal not so much to get ahead, but to stay afloat. Not the homeless person on the street, but someone with a brain, who knows how to operate, but has no portfolio.

Oftentimes there are tells. The shoes. The clothing. But that assumes you’re looking. And those at the elite level are not, they’re trusting and this makes them vulnerable.

Now if you go to an elite institution, marry a classmate, get a professional job and send your kid(s) to private school, you’ll probably never run into someone like Alex. Or if you do, you won’t get caught up in their web, you’re too busy playing by the rules.

Now in truth “The Guest” is leading to…it’s not quite sure, and when you get there you’re so disappointed that it makes you feel bad about the whole book. Which is probably one reason it only has three and a half stars on Amazon. Just like you need more than an 80 on Rotten Tomatoes, you need four stars or more on Amazon for it to be worth your while. Of course there are exceptions… But this is how you evaluate whether a friend testifying about some artwork is credible, by matching their opinion with those of Amazon and RottenTomatoes. If they choose something with low ratings that is spectacular, you know they’re one to follow. But that’s very rare.

And in truth most people have lowbrow tastes. And they want entertainment.

“The Guest” is not entertainment, rather it’s life. You may think it’s not real but I know otherwise, because I know people like Alex. Intimately. I’ve been had by them. Because I could not conceive of what they would do.

They can. And you can be aware of it or…

You can watch “Ted Lasso” and think everything comes up roses.

It does not.