If you read the music business press yesterday’s Spotify numbers are a step in the wrong direction, if not a veritable disaster, a wake-up call. But if you read the business press…

“Spotify’s Crown Lies Heavy, but It’s Still the Streaming King – Latest results trip up expensive stock, but the company still has growth opportunities to tap”

Free link: https://www.wsj.com/business/media/spotifys-crown-lies-heavy-but-its-still-the-streaming-king-4d8498ae?st=5XyEJa&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Here are the money quotes:

“The Swedish company is on top of the streaming world, with 696 million monthly active users at the end of the second quarter, compared with 310.5 million people subscribing to HYPERLINK “https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/NFLX”Netflix’s various tiers of service.”

And: 

“The same survey highlighted Spotify’s stickiness, with the lowest percentage of customers saying a $1-a-month price hike would compel them to cancel their subscriptions.”

Spotify won the war, it’s only disgruntled musicians and their poorly informed fans who don’t acknowledge this.

The labels LOVE Spotify. It’s their number one account.

As for the Street…

Well, here’s one more quote:

“Yet even Tuesday’s slip leaves Spotify’s market value nearly double what it was a year ago. At around 50 times forward earnings, the stock is also still twice as expensive as the multiples commanded by HYPERLINK “https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/NL/XAMS/UMG”Universal Music and HYPERLINK “https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/WMG”Warner Music—labels that together control about half of the market for recorded music.”

And why is Spotify’s multiple so high?

Because investors see potential, i.e. growth. Whereas the labels? I won’t quite say they’re moribund, their catalogs keep them alive, but as for giant leaps in revenue?

The labels have squandered opportunities for twenty five years. Universal tried to tap television with Jimmy and Doug’s Farmclub and although Iovine sold Beats to Apple and is a billionaire he got squeezed out of the fruit company because he’s a hustler and that just doesn’t work in a world of ones and zeros. Any efforts at building distribution platforms was so hobbled by a perceived need to preserve the past as to fail.

So now we hear all this mumbo-jumbo over AI potential and superfan tiers… And so far, nothing has materialized. As for superfan tiers… How much of a business will there be? Well, right now no offerings of any consequence have been proffered other than superior audio quality on Spotify, fans need incentives bigger than just lining the pockets of acts and their attendant distribution companies.

In other words, there’s no innovation at the labels, and furthermore they can’t break a record! The traditional recording business has been beaten at its own game. By the influx of indies who can do it by themselves using internet tools that continue to flummox the labels who continue to focus on old means of promotion. Now even the late night video performance slot is dying…how can the major label advance my career other than by giving me a big check? It’s hard to see.

As for Spotify… It’s amazing to see the company eat its competitors’ lunch.

Apple owned podcasting, after all, they call it a PODCAST, but has squandered its lead. Spotify has gone into video podcasts while its competitors have been asleep. Spotify is nimble because its survival is dependent upon it. There is no other business propping up the company, akin to the steady catalog sales which require no investment that fund the bad business of new music creation. At what point does some hedge fund or other entity buy Universal or Warner and turn them into licensing houses? Blackstone now has a deep penetration in copyrights via its acquisition of Hipgnosis…

The world modernized, and the major labels did not. They’re still operating like it’s the pre-internet era, wherein soft skills are everything and muscle/intimidation will deliver profits.

But that’s not the ethos of the technological era.

And who are you going to subscribe to, with Spotify’s multifarious offerings for the same price. A place where all your friends are, akin to the incredible penetration of iPhone usage in America, especially by youngsters. Sans the Apple halo, Spotify would have even more marketshare. And going forward… Who are you going to subscribe to, the innovator or the company with a fading brand name like Cadillac?

If anything, the labels have contributed to the decline of music’s importance in the culture. Not developing acts of consequence, but purveying trifle pop stars and cartoon hip-hoppers. If the labels were so smart they’d grow their businesses from within, instead of trying to purchase indie distributors. But they don’t know how to do this. There’s no vision. And little upward mobility to boot. Go to work in tech and the sky’s the limit. Go to work at a label and you’ve got to wait your turn for old fart boomers to retire before you can make any real money. For a fluid business, it’s amazing how moribund it is.

We’ve got a content problem. Sure, brain dead youngsters are buying multiple vinyl versions of the same product, but the overall cultural impact… Let’s not forget, all the noise about Taylor Swift concerned the gross, the money she made, not the underlying music.

What we’ve got here are uneducated nitwits who are creating fodder for the ignorant. And if you think that’s a recipe for growth… Let’s see, “The Sopranos” built HBO, “House of Cards” built Netflix… Where is the concomitant artistic endeavor that has blown up not only music, but the label responsible for it? NONEXISTENT!

As for disruption, TikTok and YouTube and Netflix have disrupted the music business, because that’s where the innovation is and there are only so many hours in a day.

As for the concert business… The population has swelled by a hundred million since the heyday of the seventies but the venues are still the same size. Don’t be so thrilled that they’re full. Having said that, the story of the summer is how poor ticket sales are for acts other than a few superstars. The legends like the Who and Cyndi Lauper… You don’t see this covered in the music business press because everybody’s so busy shucking and jiving, stroking each other whilst living elevated lifestyles, that they can’t see it or won’t cover it or want it pushed under the rug.

But the audience knows… How much to see this act that’s been on the road regularly? Are you KIDDING?

Spotify keeps adjusting. Getting into podcasts and then lowering costs, figuring out what works and what doesn’t. What do we get from the labels and the musicians? COMPLAINTS! Somebody is screwing us, we just need to figure out who and get the money we deserve.

Well, why do you deserve it? People need to eat, not listen to music, and they certainly don’t have to listen to YOUR music!

Now I’m raining on your parade…

No, see this as a wake-up call.

Music’s power exceeds everything but sex, but it’s been abdicated. If the music says something, if it’s innovative and necessary, it not only generates revenue, but changes the culture. In the days of yore EVERYBODY was a music fan. Today?

This is what happens when government and big business refuse to address a problem or pay lip service and sweep it under the rug.

Roger Goodell makes in the neighborhood of $65 million a year, do you think he’s going to do anything that challenges the financial success of the NFL?

Ditto United Health.

The public is disillusioned. If I hear one more Democrat tell me to wait until 2028… If you believe there will be a fair election that year you’re delusional. Trump has already requested the voter rolls from every state. Furthermore, it has been documented that Republicans deleted many legitimate Democratic voters from the rolls in 2024. I’m not saying Trump didn’t win, but I am saying that once you control the apparatus of the system, you can put your finger on it to tip the result. And who wants to give up their job anyway, the Republicans in Congress are so afraid of Trump that they refuse to challenge him, because if they do they’ll be primaried and out of a job.

Now I’ll get e-mail from Republicans saying I’m wrong. But one of the big problems is they’re reading different news, which intentionally leaves out anything negative about their party or its officials.

Ditto the NFL. Are you going to see reports on C.T.E. during the game? OF COURSE NOT!

Actually, C.T.E. has been well covered in the “New York Times.” As has the deletion of legal voters. But when you have an autocracy, the first thing you do is hobble the legitimate press. To the point now where those on both the left and the right refuse to believe anything in the “Times,” never mind the “Wall Street Journal” or the WaPo.

Unlike ABC and CBS, the WSJ is never going to cave. Rupert Murdoch knows if he settles with Trump his entire staff will revolt, there will be no paper. Furthermore, if you know anything about legitimate news outlets as opposed to online blather, the price to pay for willingly printing a falsehood is so high that they fact-check stories up the yin-yang before they run them. But Trump says he doesn’t doodle and sues. Even though many of his doodles have now surfaced.

What’s a poor boy to do? Certainly not play in a rock and roll band. That’s for chumps. Everybody starving becomes an influencer, because that’s where the big, easy money is available.

Or believes they’ll become a sports star.

Now I’m not saying the rest of the sports are injury free…

Anytime I write about the NFL, people ask me about skiing. Did you see that Italy just passed a law making helmets compulsory?

But that’s an apples to oranges comparison anyway. Skiing isn’t based on hitting your head repeatedly, violently, which football is.

John Madden, who may be dead but whose name still fronts a mega-successful video game, said that your body would never be the same after just one game in the NFL. Many of these men can barely walk, never mind think. But the game continues.

Not for me. I’ve opted out for years now. I’m boycotting. I’ll watch the Super Bowl because it’s a national holiday, but nothing else.

I’M UNAMERICAN!

Yes, our tribal country denigrates anybody who won’t go along with the herd. This is what artists and musicians used to do. But now everybody’s so afraid of alienating a potential fan that they refuse to. They’re business people, not artists. They’re not leaders, they’re cash registers.

My inbox is going to go WILD with pro-football people.

But do we still have gladiators?

And how about AK-47s… But you do need those to hunt, PEOPLE!

Our entire society is hypocritical. And if it makes a buck, you do what is expedient, you don’t challenge power at the risk of your enterprise.

That’s what the big law firms said… If we don’t settle our rainmaking attorneys will quit. Thank god the underlings, the associates with no power, are leaving these firms for their stance. Ditto law students who are no longer applying for jobs.

And then you’ve got ABC and CBS… Isn’t it funny that the Skydance merger was approved after Colbert was fired? If you don’t think this is a factor, you don’t believe football causes C.T.E.

Then again, RFK, Jr. is busy contradicting science every day. Science is now up for grabs. It’s what you believe, having done your own biased research, if at all… As for herd immunity…THAT’S FOR SUCKERS!

But you don’t play football and you immunize your kids so you have a hard time getting upset.

That doesn’t make it right, that just makes you complicit.

Meanwhile, the Chinese will own the car industry within ten years, but let’s focus on combustion engines and gasoline, THE PAST FOREVER!

Make America Great Again?

When the effect finally hits the individual, when you lose your Medicaid, when there’s no hospital in your neighborhood, what are you going to do.

Be disillusioned.

But there will be some who take action.

This is exactly what happened in the Arab Spring. An overeducated fruit vendor just couldn’t take it anymore. Like the guy who shot the United Health executive and this latest shooter. No one is standing up for the little guy, no one is addressing the problems of the hoi polloi.

So eventually someone revolts.

Don’t tell me they’re mentally ill, OF COURSE THEY ARE! But if you write off these two killings that way, you’re missing the point.

Notice how we haven’t gotten the true reason for Ozzy Osbourne’s death, was there a suicide solution?

I don’t know, I’m only speculating, but people take their lives because of ongoing pain on a regular basis. And oftentimes it’s nobody’s fault, but other times there’s glitch in the health care system and…

Don’t say I’m being hysterical, don’t unsubscribe and think you’ve triumphed.

I am one, just like Pete Townshend sang. Back when you got your lessons from musicians. And one can make a difference. And one made a difference here. And he’s not they only one.

Because when you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Never mind being angry at the rich whose taxes just went down, who run rampant all over this country. Bezos is so stupid that he has an over the top public wedding not realizing that he’s one of the most hated men in America. Man, if you’ve gotten rich milking the system you’re better off hiding today. Or maybe the Kiss Cam will come to you!

Just a little sunlight. Does anybody have any sympathy for the Astronomer canoodlers?

No, because they’re offended on a moral basis.

I’m offended on a moral basis that football has not been banned in America. From kids to adults. You want to play flag football, be my guest. But the full contact sport we now enjoy kills. You just won’t admit it.

But famous players from Junior Seau to Dave Duerson have shot themselves because their brains were so injured. Never mind the walking wounded still alive.

Just ignore what I have to say. Enjoy your Sundays and beer. But if you think bad behavior goes unnoticed and unchallenged…

You’re just putting your head in the sand. An uninjured head.

People feel no one is looking out for them, that they’re powerless, therefore they’re talking matters into their own hands.

Hell, isn’t that what America is all about, the rugged individual? Ha!

Think about all this and justify the status quo.

A thinking person can’t.

Are you wearing blinders?

Don’t say you’ve got no power, a movement starts with one and then engulfs many.

Is a movement coming?

I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

I stopped doing paper books four years ago, and haven’t regretted it for a nanosecond. Regarding economics, it’s important to remember authors can leverage a *much* higher royalty than print. And with no paper, postage, shipping, warehousing, etc., even with a high author royalty the publisher *also* makes more than with print.

My world of writing technical books is different from writing something like romance novels, and there are two unique advantages. First, I can update them as technology changes. Aside from keeping books current for years instead of months, this makes it difficult for the “information should be free” folks to keep up. Piracy seems to be minimal, but that may also be because my books are $19.95 regardless of page count or subject. People seem averse to stealing something that inexpensive.

Second, there are ways to encourage ownership. When you buy one of my books, you’re entitled to free updates when new versions come out. The ebooks also include supplementary material like audio examples, presets for gear, and the like. Because of the extra material, the books can sometimes run into hundreds of megabytes. I can’t see libraries wanting to store all that stuff, they’d probably just go for the PDF. Also, if you own the book, you can mark it up, make notes to yourself, etc.

And of course, eBooks are a whole lot better for the environment.

Craig Anderton

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Big user of Libby and kindle unlimited here. So cool to be able to borrow books from different libraries and not have to make the drive:)

Wendy Waldman

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So right, Bob.

Been using Libby since the pandemic. I had been purchasing books digitally on Amazon, but when Covid sequestered us, I was reading 3 books a week and spending a fortune. Then I discovered Libby. I don’t even bother with the Kindle. I read everything on my phone with the Kindle app. The vast majority of my friends refuse to go digital. I still love browsing in bookstores. Interestingly, Barnes and Noble just opened in a neighboring town. But I’m not going back. I’m a Libby lover.
Oh, and my aging eyes can read endlessly with digital.

Vicky Germaise

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You said it, Bob. Long live Libby. There aren’t many things anymore that are good and free and just there to make you happy and make your life better, without any catch. Libby is one of those things though!

Bill Higgins

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Libby is fantastic! There is also Kanopy, which we access through our local library. It’s a streaming video platform that offers films, television shows, documentaries, etc. The depth of the catalogue of available titles is outstanding. Only a library card is needed for full access.

John Schimmelman

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Libby is a god send.

 

In the DC area, there are reciprocal agreements between different libraries around the region…so you can get the best of a number of libraries.

 

Libraries are real gifts.

Dave Wakeman

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I LOVE Libby for ebooks and audiobooks. The speed and convenience of browsing and borrowing is unbeatable.

My wife still swears by hardcopy books – but she gets them from the library. She checks them out by the dozen because our local library has done away with late fees. She’ll get the same titles as audiobooks to get through them more quickly (she drives a lot for her job).

More generally, we just love our library as a community resource. I’ve gone there to work during power outages, I use their printers (cheaper than Staples or owning a printer), we’ve borrowed their hotspots for travel, I access LinkedIn Learning and the Times through them, on and on. During COVID, I got my elderly aunt – a voracious reader – a Kindle and sent books directly to it using my library account. That capability converted her to ebooks.

CK Barlow

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I read Libby on my phone, same as your letters.

Best thing since sliced bread.

And best of all, I’m reading books again . . .

Cheers

Paul Holdom

Aotearoa New Zealand

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I have been taking advantage of getting ebooks for my Kindle from the library for years.  The only ebooks that I buy are Michael Connelly novels since I don’t want to wait for them.

Robert Paris

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Funny you should mention it. My son goes to BCIT here in Vancouver and he mentioned it to me as he’s been using Libby, along with most other students today, since it came out. I love it and just got signed up after I got a library card from my local library this week and wouldn’t you know it, here’s your take on it.

Once again you hit the mark on tech, technology and how everyone should at least be aware of what there missing out on.

I, like you, am a little long in the tooth and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who is excited for what comes next.

Mike from Mission

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Love this, Bob.

I was THE physical guy. From books and magazines to pen and notebooks. The first shift for me was the Kindle, but now it’s all iPad Mini. Which, I think is the best content device ever created. For ebooks, digital magazine, newspapers, comic books/graphic novels but especially video. You need to add a “paper like” screen protector but once you do, the Apple Pencil and writing experience is brilliant.

I’m also a huge Libby user. Through my library we also get PressReader which is a ton of newspaper, magazines and more books. It’s incredible to have access to to magazine like Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Mojo, Uncut, Classic Rock and countless others. All free. Wild.

Lastly, every morning, on Amazon under Kindle section, they have daily deals where ebooks can be as low as .99 cents and it’s just fun to browse those daily deals as well.

Keep reading and learning…

MITCH JOEL

Six Pixels Group

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Can’t live without access to my e-books. In fact, my library is quite extensive.

Khila L. Khani, Esq.

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Gen Xer here and I’ve been an audiobook lover for over a decade since my job involves driving, as as much as I love music, some shifts I need more to stimulate my brain. Podcasts are my main thing but audiobooks not far behind. Discovered Libby probably 5-6 years and love it. Sure I may have to wait a while for a popular title, but it’s a minor inconvenience for free access we collectively pay for like other public services like fire, police, parks, healthcare(Canadian here).

Now about the library streaming service Kanopy…..shhhhh!!!! ?

Michael Moniz

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I joined the Enoch Pratt Public Library (that’s our main library here in Baltimore City) a few months ago, and I’m totally hooked. I haven’t read this much in decades.

My preference is Kindle, but if something’s available sooner in hardcover, I’ll go for it. I just had a two-week e-book loan for Long Island Compromise expire before I could finish it. So to renew, I got back in line for both the e-book and the hardcover. The hardcover came through first, and I’m reading it now.

So guess what? I can now officially attest to this: Kindle is fifty times better.

Rich Madow
Baltimore, MD

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I am a recent Libby-ite too, though my preference is audio and some books are available only as text.

Yes, with Libby you may have to wait for a title (I am currently 14th in line for Peter Wolf’s  “Waiting On The Moon” – I started at 73rd a couple weeks ago.  In the meantime I read 7 other books that had little or no wait and would have cost me over $100 on Audible (which is worth keeping for immediate access and titles that are unavailable on Libby).

Also, you can read or listen directly on Libby, you don’t need to use Kindle, though you can if you want to.

Love going back to the library again!

Judie Gregg Rosenman

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I’ve been using Libby for years. I love it! And there’s Kanopy – library videos. That match all the DVDs they offer. Its interface is not as seamless as Kindle but it’s pretty good.

The other great thing is, you can highlight sections of the book or mark them up in your Kindle, and it will save them. Before you return it, you just download all those sections if you want to use them in something – such as having ChatGPT, write an essay for you. 🙂

John Parikhal

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I love reading and I’m as dedicated a lover of books as you’ll find. In fact, every shelf in my house, and there are lots of them) are cram beyond belief with printed matter

But for the past two maybe 2 1/2 years, every book I’ve read has been on The Kindle or the Kindle app on other devices. Look, the fact that I can enlarge the text, read at night and not have to worry about where I put the book down are compelling arguments. I read plenty of classics, too. Companies like Delphi make brilliant editions of classic authors – complete works of Dickens, less than two bucks, well organized and proofread. The early days of substandard additions of Project Gutenberg are far behind us.

For the record, I’m a boomer and I’ve never been down on e-books. Why be stupid about it?

Last book finished, all on Kindle:

“London: the Biography“ by Peter Ackroyd

Currently reading: “Walden, or, Life in the Woods” by Thoreau

Up next (unless I change my mind): “Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident and the Illusion of Safety” by Eric Schlosser

Happy reading!

David A. Basskin

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Libby rules. My experience mirrors yours, re the “long estimated wait”, and then much faster actual availability. I agree that perhaps the library rental model needs a royalty tweak but there is NO going back. E-books allow me to bring a MUCH wider diversity of reading materials with me on travels. I used to have to pick 1-2 for size and weight, and like you would get “stuck” with a  dud, because that was the only book I had with me.

*They are positively transformative for guidebooks- Michelin/Lonely Planet, et al.. I can have 2 or 20 on my phone and/or kindle now. And can use the phone for maps and Kindle for guidebooks and content. Just sayin’…

 

I assume (I’m sure) you have used Hoopla as well? The 5 instant d/l’s are good for back catalog, or a deeper dive into a rabbit hole if you can’t get it right away on Libby. Some of the other A/V content is decent as well, especially if you are chasing foreign series, and don’t want to join every Scandinavian or Spanish version of Britbox (ha), but then the 5x limit is terrible if it’s a longer series.

 

I didn’t realize that we were at the Fanning to Ek tipping point (re publishers), but I should have guessed! My children only wanted d/l’s or e-books for HS and College instead of paper. Even though they read paper frequently, they all said “Will I ever read this again? And if so I can get it…” And to be fair, only very few of the many textbooks I kept (from my K-xxx education path) have proven to be evergreen. Well framed!

 

Do keep up the reading rec’s, I’m sure they not your biggest fan favorite, but as you have frequently pointed out – we lack viable and accurate curation (in all media and news). I’m happy to poke at something that someone literate and learned is passionate about, even if we diverge on some authors or genres.

 

Best-

Jonathan Pines

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And no silverfish to eat the bookbinding glue!

Lesley Bracker

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Thanks for turning me on to Libby, Bob. You’re the greatest!

Alicia Etchison

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Hey, thanks Bob! Now instead of 8 weeks wait it’ll be 6 months.

Joseph Lazar

These people are STARS!

And it’s all based on credibility and honesty.

Whilst RFK, Jr. is saying autistic people will never work, many do… Connor works at the market, as does Tyler White, Tanner works at a hotel and is loved by all, he adds joy to the experience.

Never mind Dani Bowman making a living teaching animation.

Autism is like homosexuality. It exists in every family. To varying degrees. There are those who are nonverbal and those who are just a little bit different. But now we have a label for it. So what we see on Netflix is not completely foreign, we empathize with not only the cast members but their families. It’s a constant struggle having a family member on the spectrum, but the rewards!!

Now I don’t want to generalize, it’s a big spectrum, but many of the people on it are honest and forthright. A welcome antidote to our duplicitous society. And then there is the expertise in certain verticals. Connor Tomlinson is always coming out with factoids that I didn’t know, never mind his mother.

Yes, Connor and his mother have a running series of TikToks/Instagram Reels wherein they’re in the car and discuss certain topics. It’s fascinating to get Connor’s take on things, but it’s also heartwarming.

Which is the word for Madison and Tyler’s relationship.

Now if you’re not on these platforms, you don’t know that sponsors are all over these people. James talked about his Weber grill, and he got sent a new one. 

Now James appeared to be trolling for said grill, and then there’s Madison getting tickets to see Katy Perry and asking whether backstage passes are included, and when they are not, she’s disappointed.

We are seeing the truth of fame in an unfiltered, unvarnished way. Believe me, these people dig being famous, getting the perks. And no one begrudges them, because otherwise what chance do they have of getting them? It’s kind of like Howard Stern’s Waack Pack…and if you’re a listener, you know that Wendy the Slow Adult is always asking for money…

So this is the third season of “Love on the Spectrum.” I’ve watched all three, and they’ve all been heartbreaking and heartwarming, but it wasn’t until this season that it clicked in the culture at large. Probably because there was finally love, however unanticipated.

It’s kind of like a musical act, with three albums. Today everybody expects to hit on the first, that’s what the labels want, but your product has to percolate in the marketplace, for years, until people discover it and you ultimately find the winning formula.

Now it is very easy to be completely oblivious to this phenomenon.

First and foremost, you have to have Netflix. And not absolutely everybody does. And although the big shows get reviewed in the media, there is none of the overblown hype of the music and movie businesses, no scorched earth publicity. Rather the show plays and either it clicks with people or it doesn’t. It grows via word of mouth.

Now it’s not like these cast members were not on TikTok/Reels prior to this season, but once the mania hit, they were ready. You’ve got to be in the marketplace, have a plethora of material ready for people to explore if they’re interested.

Prior to this season I got served Abby Romeo’s clips. Where I found out that she made hats. And got more information about her relationship with David.

And then I saw Tanner meet Jack Black on the Kelly Clarkson show. You can watch the video here:

Then there’s the episode of the series wherein Madison and Tyler test each other on their knowledge of country music. It’s astounding, they’re savants, they know EVERYTHING, more than many people working in the business!

These people are fans.

So today I was served up a video of Connor and Tanner at a Toto show:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Connor Tomlinson (@connortomlinson5)

And I sent the clip to Steve Lukather.

And then I got served up another clip of Tanner actually meeting Luke:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tanner Smith (@tannerwiththe_tism)

I told Luke what a big deal this was, how famous these people are.

And in reply he said:

“Hey Bob, 

I know them.

Just met.

My oldest daughter Tina followed Tanner.

You know my youngest son Bodhi is autistic.. It’s close to my heart!

Tina told me this sweet kid loved our band, showed me a clip of him seeing us last time and I reached out. 

And invited them out.

I did not know I was being filmed. 

I don’t do stuff like this for press ever!

But happy to make anyone happy.”

And I’m sure Luke is not thrilled that I’ve included his words, but every time we get together he tells me about his adventures with Bodhi. It’s like I know him, and I’ve never met him.

How long does this phenomenon last? Will we be wondering “Where are they today?” in the future?

Well, I think the mania will die down. Then again, these clips are just about their lives, there’s no trick involved.

This is what America is all about.