Re: The Secret Committees

Although I enjoyed the “debates” involved with picking the alternative category selections, the process was very frustrating. Everyone submits their music to every category hoping for a nomination anywhere. At the beginning, it seemed like the alternative category was the place where things were sent that people didn’t want in their category. Later on it seemed as if the rock category took over that role. As Jethro Tull changed things, so did Coldplay when they won the category 2 years in a row in spite of debate over their place in this category. After that, “no more Coldplay” came up often when discussing artists and their work.

There were definitely other issues representative of your post. I remember age discussions about an artist I won’t name when his album probably should have even won that category. I couldn’t believe it. And then people vote for their friends or personal motives.

Although I’m always happy for my friends that win, I’m also happy as this becomes more and more visible.

Robin Danar

https://bit.ly/3qDXvnq

The Mossad doesn’t always win.

This show debuted on Netflix eighteen months ago. I saw the hype, but you can’t watch everything. And for some reason “The Spy” did not have staying power in the national consciousness. Maybe it should have.

It’s a true story. That’s what makes the whole show work. Sacha Baron Cohen is excellent, but still some of the scenes appear phony, constructed to make a point, but just when you’re beginning to wince, you’re brought back to some fact and you’re hooked again.

This is sixty years ago. Israel was a nascent nation, with few friends it could depend on. So it had to take matters into its own hands. It was literally a matter of life and death.

What would you do for your country? Would you die for it?

So, Noah Emmerich turns the eager Sacha Baron Cohen into a spy, who ultimately infiltrates the highest reaches of the Syrian government and…we know the end from the beginning, that’s how the series starts, Cohen has been caught.

Emmerich… He was phenomenal in “The Americans,” which you must stream, it’s one of the few series that’s get better as it goes along, and he can alternately appear likable and hatable, depending upon the role. And although tall and skinny, Emmerich is not beautiful, he’s more of an everyman, and therefore we can relate to him.

Now despite being in English, “The Spy” features many Israeli actors, who you will recognize if you’re a fan of Israeli television. Yael Etan, who had the uncontrollable hots for older men in “Prisoners of War,” is part of the Mossad establishment, and she’s all grown up, yet evidences the same edge. Uri Gavriel, from “The Baker and the Beauty,” which was too predictable for Felice, she insisted we axe it after two episodes, is now a successful Syrian merchant as opposed to a lower class baker. Neta Riskin is a satisfied upper class wife as opposed to a struggling Orthodox believer in “Shtisel.” Yousef Sweid, who you know from “Baghdad Central” and “Unorthodox” plays a Syrian broadcaster. With less money for stars, everybody is a character actor in Israeli productions, it’s fun to see them play different roles and be believable.

As for Sacha Baron Cohen…

It’s funny, he’s not completely believable as Eli Cohen.

But he’s totally believable as Kamel Amin Thaabet. It’s funny how he ultimately can’t separate the two identities.

And unlike the CIA, the Mossad sends its agents into the field for extended periods of time. This is not “The Bureau,” where you’re there and then you’re gone, here you leave and come back and repeat the process.

So, Eli/Sacha is dispatched to Argentina to integrate himself into the Syrian intelligentsia. He plays a Syrian so well! But he keeps pushing the limits. Does he just want success this bad or is it about helping his country? Once again, it’s about life and death in Israel.

And once in Syria Eli/Sacha lives the life of a playboy and enjoys it. Fooling all the powers-that-be. That’s the power of money. And alcohol. People are susceptible to anybody rich who is nice to them, who gives them perks.

And you don’t have to know much Israeli history, or maybe you just have to be a boomer who lived through the ’67 war, to know that the Golan Heights were crucial. The Syrians could fire down from the hills on the Israelis, but Eli/Sacha undermines even this advantage.

So you’re watching the series, which is only six episodes, it wouldn’t work as a movie, and something seems unbelievable but then you realize it’s true! And when it was all done I did online research and found…many fewer liberties were taken that I thought. The truth is real life rarely lends itself to drama. There’s no natural arc. And a lot of life is just plain boring. So creators juice up the drama. But the hard core elemental drama is enough here. Eli/Cohen always has to worry about being caught.

Now I wouldn’t put “The Spy” at the top of your streaming list. But if you’ve seen so much, especially during the pandemic, and are looking for more, you should definitely check it out.

And unlike so much streaming TV, it sticks with you. It has you pondering… What if your life was on the line on a regular basis. What would you do for your country. People always talk about “first world problems,” saying we should save our sympathy for the third world. But there are plenty of problems in the first world too. How far should governments push? And in any event, you’re just a cog in the machine, you live, you die and you’re replaced. Strange this life.

Blame Jethro Tull.

In 1989 Ian Anderson’s successful yet hated band of rotating musicians won the “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards and all hell broke loose. That Grammy was supposed to go to Metallica, for their album “..And Justice for All.” And the only people more vocal in their displeasure over perceived abuse than rappers and the hip-hop community are metal and their diehard metalhead fans.

Something had to be done.

And Mike Greene did it. Ergo the so-called “secret committees.”

Since the end of Greene’s tenure atop the Grammy organization the outfit has been on autopilot, believing that appeasing major labels and CBS means it is on the right path. Meanwhile, the entire nation has been digitized and revolutionized, hip-hop embraced the internet and became dominant and right wing populism took hold. Talk about burying your head in the sand.

Not only do you have to take action to curb past inequities, you must look around the corner to assure you’re on top in the coming years. This is how Mark Zuckerberg has won. Facebook purchased WhatsApp when most people in the U.S. had never heard of it, never mind used it, the citizens of the country having never been outside its borders, where WhatsApp was dominant. Zuckerberg also purchased a fledgling Instagram to cement Facebook’s power in the social media sphere.

Greene’s efforts were laudable. But since he’s been gone they’ve been ripe for abuse.

Kind of like earmarks.

In today’s “Wall Street Journal,” Katie Porter lobbies for the continued halt of the utilization of earmarks: https://on.wsj.com/2Q0ivbo Which are notorious for allowing representatives to attach local benefits to broad bills. Porter, a woman, famously left-leaning and anti corporate corruption, went into the devil’s den to make her case, the aforementioned “Wall Street Journal.” Porter wants sunshine on the issue. The Grammys always want darkness.

The problem is, just like with earmarks, the Grammy secret committees have been abused by members for their own benefit. Come on, let’s nominate our friend. If you know anything about musicians, it’s all about quid pro quo, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. It’s about relationships and favors owed. And in the down ballot categories the benefit of a Grammy nomination, never mind a victory, far exceeds the reward in the major categories, where the performers are usually household names and a Grammy is just a cherry on top. Actually, one could argue winning hurts you. Even Billie Eilish realized this when she mouthed that it not be her who won her umpteenth Grammy. There is backlash. When you’re atop the heap there’s nowhere to go but down. And sure, the hoi polloi suddenly knew who Eilish was, but her victories hurt her bond with her fans, she was no longer only theirs, and ultimately her credibility and even her career. Forget the chart numbers, if we go to the data of choice, the most accurate in the music business, i.e. Spotify streams, her recent singles have had nowhere near the impact of her previous hits. “My Future” has 179,746,629, “Therefore I Am” has 313,355,435 and “Lo Vas a Olvidar,” only 46,456,148. Meanwhile, “Bad Guy” has 1,709,432 and “When the Party’s Over” has 1,104,294,539 and “Lovely” has 1,333,036,817. In music you don’t want to be too successful, people burn out on you, they hold you to a higher standard, you’re a target for abuse.

So, with the continued use of secret committees, the Grammy organization has lost touch with the music landscape. It has become self-serving, contrary to its mission. And it refuses to air its laundry, provide any facts and figures, we must trust the organization to evaluate and potentially fix any irregularities. That’s right, in Grammy court you don’t even get a hearing! Which is why the Weeknd has pulled his music and possible future performances from the Grammys for all time: https://nyti.ms/30CUJnU Meanwhile, the Weeknd’s “snub” and boycott have generated more ink than the awards show itself.

Deborah Dugan blew the whistle on these secret committees. As a result she got fired. Isn’t it interesting that she was a woman. As for her replacement…they couldn’t find another woman? Harvey Mason, Jr. is another old boy caretaker, taking control of the ship as it is listing. Sometimes radical change is necessary to survive, and stasis, even minor corrections, doom you.

We live in an era of data. You can see anybody’s stream count on Spotify.

But the Grammys are opaque.

Then again, music is not like movies. There’s no way anyone could possibly know all the music released in a year. As for the preponderance of categories…there’s no other awards organization that compares. But you can’t eliminate any of them because you’re going to hurt the feelings of lifers without purchase in the national mind-set who need these awards to feel good about themselves. Marlon Brando refused to show up for the Oscars, Woody Allen too, when they were favored to win and did! They didn’t need a phony victory lap to believe in the quality of their work and their mission as artists.

But we can’t draw any lines. The Grammys are just like millennials. Everybody’s entitled to a trophy. Unless you’re an actual winner. Could it be that Grammy voters have contempt for the Weeknd because he is so successful and they are not?

The Brits, a successful enterprise of the BPI (British Phonograph Industry), whose show has been produced numerous times by Ben Winston, only has ten categories. It’s comprehensible. Voters can familiarize themselves with the entrants. Then again, the U.K. has consistently punched above its weight in music, for decades. The only genre they missed out on, that was developed in the U.S., was hip-hop. Ironically the genre that is continually under-recognized by the Grammys.

Radical change is needed.

But the old boy network said Deborah Dugan wanted change too fast.

It’s clear who was right.

This is what happens when elected officials lose touch with the populace.

The only way to fight right wing insanity is through humor.

Today the “Washington Post” did a lengthy story about children trying to bring their mother back from the dark side, from believing in falsehoods, like Trump won the election, etc. Her kids mailed her the facts, she came back with disproven videos. You see there’s an entire disinformation network doing its best to keep the truth from citizens while it simultaneously fills their ears with crap. You can check the story out here: https://wapo.st/3thpBGW But it will have no effect, it’s like watching four years of MSNBC, I hope it makes you feel good, because it’s not going to move the needle.

But John Oliver just might.

Once again, distribution is king. And right now the channel is so overcrowded that great can’t surface. Furthermore, the platform of choice is Netflix. If you sell your project to another streaming outlet when Netflix has put in a bid and wants it, we know you’re not a true artist. A true artist wants their work to be seen and heard first and foremost. Money is secondary. If we had true artists with stature in today’s musical landscape right now there’d be an anti-NFT song climbing the charts. But no, everybody wants to know how they can make that bread too. Remember when Neil Young won the VMA for “This Note’s For You”? It wasn’t a hit by traditional metrics, but in terms of mindshare…it’s got more than almost anything else that was released that year, it’s got staying power, that’s what happens when you speak the truth, because like Leonard Cohen sang, everybody knows.

So most leftist outlets criticize Tucker Carlson via facts. Not knowing it’s all about emotion. And style. The key is to get under Carlson’s skin. And if Oliver’s takedowns were on cable news or Netflix instead of HBO, you know Carlson would respond soon.

Tucker doesn’t respond to the traditional news media, he shrugs off their commentary, by eviscerating the platforms wholesale. But John Oliver, a man who consistently bites the hand that feeds him, every week he seems to take down AT&T, knows how to do it. And the truth is, stunningly, when Oliver makes a statement, there are usually effects. Last week it was about Florida’s concerted effort to limit unemployment payments. It’s pretty ugly. But the problem is the perpetrators are on record. Yes, you think you’re preaching to the choir and nobody knows, but the truth is you’re leaving digital bread crumbs that can be followed, one to another.

Watch this Oliver clip: https://bit.ly/3bJtjTq

By time it’s over you will no longer debate Dr. Seuss. Oliver lays it out so clearly, and so convincingly, that the case is closed. And in doing so, he nails Carlson. Who does have a thin skin. Remember when he freaked out about the possible release of the address of his Maine vacation house? It was a preemptive false strike: https://wapo.st/3qJ8jQY, but Tucker thought it was true, he was freaked out about being canceled, the same way he canceled Taylor Lorenz this week: https://bit.ly/3tkWYsp But the truth is Carlson is just fighting a culture war so his viewers won’t pay attention to the real issues.

And is the real issue Andrew Cuomo’s harassment of women?

OF COURSE NOT! It’s about Covid-19 and Democratic power. You could take down Andrew Cuomo and a Republican could gain the seat. But Cuomo lied about nursing homes! Well, the truth is most of the public doesn’t care about that, they believe Cuomo was on the front line of the pandemic and he cares about them. Republicans are willing to overlook any behavior, all aligned with the Trump doctrine and its adherents, but Democrats are detached from what their voters believe.

We’ve seen this movie before, in Virginia, with Ralph Northam: https://nyti.ms/30Ct1HZ Caught in a racist photo, Northam refused to step down and Blacks stood behind him, BECAUSE HE WAS GOOD FOR THEM!

But you won’t get any of the talking heads, worried about today as opposed to tomorrow game, to bring this up. Wow, this is a great story, we’ll get ratings, let’s run with it. The bubble-headed bleach blonde comes on at 5. Whoops, can you even say that forty years later, even if it’s true?

The Democrats are all about winning the battle and losing the war.

As for due process…

Read this story: 

“They Didn’t Show THIS On TV! See The Creepy Messages Mia Farrow Sent Woody Allen During Custody Brawl”: https://bit.ly/3rVCFBz

Turns out Farrow was sending messages and even posting a sign that Allen was a child molester BEFORE she taped the interview with Dylan that is the linchpin of the HBO series. What are you gonna do with that?

I don’t know. But the government refused to prosecute Woody. But we’ve been convinced public opinion, swayed by the media, trumps the legal system.

Now maybe Woody Allen should be canceled for his relationship with Soon-Yi. But…

Then again, we know Trump did it, but he wasn’t convicted, at least not yet, and his constituents don’t even believe he did it, CRAZY!

So, did Cuomo do it? Shouldn’t we have due process first? And does this automatically disqualify him from office? I’m not saying I endorse the alleged behavior, but we’re all flawed, but if that’s the case you’re excised from the Democratic Party.

The Democrats are losing this war. Just like with “fake news,” the right has embraced “cancel culture,” twisting its meaning to the detriment of the left.

This is where we are in America today. The penumbra is more important than the core. We consistently lose the plot. Everything’s for show. No one is playing the long game.

Before Cuomo is forced out, one must determine not only who will replace him, but the odds a Democrat will win in the next gubernatorial election.

And there’s a very good chance this will all blow over before the next election, like with Ralph Northam.

I’m not the only one asking these questions. Turns out the “New York Times” is too: https://nyti.ms/30DPrsd

But we live in an era of groupthink, where everybody’s afraid to go against the grain. And then a bloviating bully speaks his truth and gets elected president. Ever think about that? Trump tapped into something, and not all of it was racism.

So, hopefully John Oliver will continue to take on Tucker Carlson, he’s done so twice already this season. You know Tucker was not popular in school. He feels inadequate, his hot spots are right under the surface. That’s the battle we should be fighting, that’s the danger, the right wing. Cuomo is imperfect, maybe he should go.

But maybe he should not.