Broken

This is Don Winslow’s best book.

Winslow is most famous for his drug cartel trilogy. You should check it out. “The Power of the Dog” is excellent, “The Cartel” is even better, however last year’s finale, “The Border,” is a disappointment.

You see Winslow has a couple of writing styles. One dense, another minimalist. To read something in the latter style, check out “Savages,” or “The Gentlemen’s Hour.” They’re easily read, and the former was made into a substandard Oliver Stone movie, but watcha gonna do.

And although I liked Winslow’s 2017 book, “The Force,” about New York City cops, in retrospect it was not completely satisfying, it was almost like an abstract expressionist novel, not everything was clear, not everything was comprehensible, and ultimately you got the final story, but I do not want to recommend it.

But, once again, I want to recommend the drug cartel series.

You see Winslow seems to know more about the dope scene than any other writer. Sure, there might be some people in the government, some students of the game who know more, but they don’t write, certainly not in a readable way. If you want to understand all about the Sinaloans, the distribution of heroin today, just read the trilogy.

Not that it’s didactic. There’s a story, involving people, it’s not dry, it’s not only facts and figures, like “Midnight in Chernobyl,” which I finished recently.

I needed more about Russia and the nuclear disaster. “Midnight in Chernobyl” has a five star rating on Amazon, it was one of the “New York Times” best books of the year, but it’s not as good as the HBO series, it’s dry, the people don’t come alive, it’s a tome, good luck getting through it. I did, as I’ve said previously, if I buy it I finish it. It’s less about getting my money’s worth, and more about completion. Because if I don’t complete this book, what else won’t I finish? It’s kinda like listening to playlists. You’re into it, and then then it flows into a track you’d rather not hear, but if you skip that one, you end up skipping a bunch thereafter, and your good mood is broken. So I try to endure what I’m not dying to hear, at least in my self-created playlists, as for those curated by others, all bets are off.

If you’re interested in getting a taste of Don Winslow’s drug knowledge, I point you to these two magazine articles. Even if you’re not going to read the trilogy, check these out, you’ll learn so much.

“El Chapo and the Secret History of the Heroin Crisis”

“The Dirty Little Secret of El Chapo’s Downfall”

So, Winslow’s new book, “Broken,” is comprised of short stories.

These books are almost always unsatisfying, you get into a story and then it ends, I was reluctant. But Steve Martin bought me a copy and I had to check it out.

I’m glad I did.

The first story was a bit dense and then…

I got hooked.

Yes, this is crime fiction. People get murdered. So, if you can’t handle that, maybe this book isn’t for you.

But Winslow has an amazing way of detailing characters, they come alive, you know them, especially if you live in Southern California, where most of these stories take place. We resonate when a writer lays down what we see, when they encapsulate and add to our vision, and Winslow has got a skill for this, raising him above too much two-dimensional crime fare.

And living in internet, celebrity culture, we lose track with daily life, ordinary people, who may not be broke, but may not be famous, who are just doing their job. Normally, these people are not three-dimensional in either the news or on television, but in writing…that’s where you can do it, which is one of the reasons the written word will never be supplanted by video.

And Winslow has incredible skill when it comes to love. That warm feeling you have that you wonder if someone else has. And how do you respond? Do you say something or not, do you double-down, do you ask for a date. Two people have feelings for each other, but that does not mean the other one knows, nor does it mean they’re going to end up together, nor does it mean they know how to follow those feelings into a sustained relationship.

And laws have consequences. Change ’em, and you might be out of business.

Enforce them and you might end up with a result you do not want.

I’ve got to admit, I didn’t really feel the sin of the incarceration of those illegally crossing the border until I read the final story in this collection. You’ve got a right wing Fox viewer, confronted with reality. And it’s not black and white, nothing ever is. And that’s why the story is so good.

And the silent suffering.

And the struggle of life. We think everybody is paid attention to, everybody’s got their place, but the truth is many fall through the cracks. You can be damn smart and end up nowhere. Is anybody looking out for you? Do you have the wherewithal to make good choices and stick with them?

This is not difficult reading. “Broken” is the kind of book you will enjoy even if you only crack one book a year. Not to say that it’s lowbrow, but that it nails the essence of life with a lot of plot, it makes you think and you reach a point where…

You cannot put it down.

Is this the number one diversion for Covid-19?

I’m not sure.

But it’s definitely one I recommend. It’ll make you think about more than what is in the news today without being a total fantasy. It’ll root you in life, making you feel like an outsider at the same time you feel connected.

That’s right. Few care about you. Maybe your family, maybe a couple of friends. The media doesn’t care. So how do you navigate life?

The characters in “Broken” are trying and not always succeeding. These are real people. You’ll dig this.

Bassist for the Go-Go’s, Kathy Valentine recently published a memoir, “All I Ever Wanted,” that is a must-read. Listen as she tells tales of growing up without limits as the daughter of a single parent, venturing to Los Angeles to make it and becoming a member of the Go-Go’s. Valentine is articulate and quite the raconteur, you’ll dig this.

iheart

spotify

apple

stitcher

There’s never gonna be peace in the Middle East.

Unless the Arabs succeed in eliminating the Jews.

The “R” word the Israelis are up against isn’t rationality, but religion. Everybody in Gaza, everybody south of Hebron, greets each other in a religious way. Religion is baked-in to everyday life. To a limit even the Evangelicals don’t push. But both believe they’re going to be saved in the afterlife.

And life in Gaza ain’t so good to begin with.

The power goes out. There are few opportunities for work. Best to dedicate your efforts to a cause.

Now, in these days of political correctness, you can’t call a spade a spade, you certainly cannot use that word to describe a black person, oops, an African-American. And somehow, you’re unenlightened if you don’t see the plight of the Palestinians and blame Israel.

Israel is not blameless. Netanyahu is not a saint and the settlements in the West Bank are just asking for retaliation.

But once again, the Palestinians won’t be satisfied until Israel no longer exists. Would you fight for your very existence?

I’m sure you would.

Right now, you’re at home worried about a deadly virus. But you also know if you stay home, you most assuredly will stay safe. Whereas in Israel nowhere is safe. Your life is constantly on the line. It’s palpable, you can feel it in the air.

But “Fauda” is not about the big issues, a theoretical two-state solution that the Arabs have refused to ever agree to, the Israeli government, no it’s about the ongoing war between the two sides, and neither emerges a winner, it just goes on and on and on.

Now season three is different from seasons one and two.

Usually, these series that are a surprise hit falter after their initial success. The producers/actors/directors wing it the first time around, they’re not self-conscious, they’ll try anything, after all no one is paying attention. But when everybody is…

We laud the basketball players. They’re incredible under pressure. But they’re not reinventing the game. That’s the essence of creative work, you start with a blank slate. Sure, you might have some parameters, the characters from the season before, but you’ve got to make it up out of thin air.

But “Fauda” delivered, season two was just as good as season one.

But the first two seasons were about the nuts and bolts. How the Israeli and Arab bosses speak to each other, how there are constant skirmishes.

Season three is about the action.

Hebron is part of Israel, but it’s never been safe for Jews. You enter uptight and you do not close an eye, assuming you enter at all.

As for Gaza…

That’s what frightens all the Israelis, going into Gaza.

So, at first you’ve got no idea what is going on, Doron seems to be hanging with Arabs, or..? It’s confusing. But then it comes clear.

And it seems contrived, seems like a typical cops and robbers Hollywood thriller but it just doesn’t work out that way. Of course Doron can’t die, he’s the star, but everybody else is fair game.

So what we’ve got here is a group of adrenaline junkies. They’re willing to face fear, put their lives on the line all the time for the good of the country.

Not that they’re automatons.

Sure, their home lives suffer, but they have emotions. That’s one of the best parts of this season, seeing how the team deals, or doesn’t deal, with loss.

But just when you’ve got it figured out, when you wince because you’re sure you know what is gonna happen, it doesn’t go down that way.

And once again, victory is only temporary. And the worst offenders can be returned in a prisoner swap. It’s a game, but it involves life and death.

Now there are all these canards about TV watching. That you’ve got to have someone to care about, that you must be invested in a character, there must be an uplifting ending.

Well, you root for Doron, but you’re not sure you want to be friends with him. You’re not sure he can be friends with anybody, but he’s loyal.

As for Lior Raz, who plays Doron, he used to be a bodyguard for Arnold Schwarzenegger. So, he’s not only tough on the show, he’s tough in real life.

And he doesn’t have a Hollywood look. He’s not cute or precious, this is not Brad Pitt, this is the guy down the street on a mission, and that’s who we’re drawn to, just like we’re drawn to the doctors and nurses and hospital workers during this coronavirus crisis. Surface only goes so far. Especially when your truth is exposed in this internet age and we oftentimes find out you’re a soulless dummy, an empty vessel.

So, there’s action, it’s gripping, but it’s also real.

There’s an inside joke in the middle, when in Gaza someone talks about Kentucky Fried Chicken. That was a thing, it was in the news a few years back, the Arabs tunneled to Israel to bring back KFC.

The tunnels. They’re here too. These are not the tunnels of the Sinaloans, these look like they were built by the military, you can argue they were. With finished walls and…

You can’t quite divorce yourself from the show. With most movies and TV shows they ask you to suspend disbelief. But the truth is the Israelis and the Arabs are fighting against each other as I write this.

And it’s not the low-tech war of yore, but highly digitized.

And if you only like happy shows, with no bullets and no deaths, you should watch this anyway. Because this truly is real life, these people put their lives on the line for you. And despite all the hosannas, the adulation comes and goes nearly instantly, everybody goes back to their regular life and those on the front line, stay on the front line.

Duplicity, family, honor, credibility, all the characteristics of humanity are evidenced in “Fauda.” And for those of us surrounded by our gadgets, surfing the internet, the Arab/Israeli crisis is almost appealing. These people have something to live for, a cause. It’s not about money, it’s not about your place on the totem pole, all the markers we judge each other by in the U.S. are nearly irrelevant.

And that’s one of the things too often missing from American life today, meaning.

Without meaning life is empty.

You think you want to retire, to do what?

And you work all those years at a job you far from like just so you can earn a pile of money so you can stop doing it?

Once again, these people in the show are not robots. They’ve got feelings, but that does not conflict with their mission.

Not that “Fauda” needs to be on the top of your streaming list, but it needs to be there somewhere.

For far too long television meant mindless. And although there’s still a lot of bogus entertainment on the flat screen, there’s a plethora of meaning there too, even more than you see in theatres, good riddance.

You see life is about story.

That’s what propels hip-hop.

But the best stories on television embody truth. And somehow, in music, we’ve left truth out of the equation, we equate success with chart position and dollars and making it is so difficult you’ll compromise all your values in an effort to succeed.

But the characters in “Fauda” won’t.

That’s the difference.

You should experience it.

STREAMING

“On Spotify, the largest streaming service by subscriptions, cumulative streams of the top 200 U.S. songs have fallen in recent weeks tumbling 28% from the week ending March 12 to the week ending April 16 to the low point for the year so far. The drop-off is especially pronounced, given that those weeks saw new album releases from major streaming artists including J Balvin, the Weeknd, Childish Gambino and Dua Lipa. Meanwhile, catalog music – songs more than 18 months old – has been on the rise and hit a high for the year in the week ended April 9, accounting for 63% of total audio streams, up from 60% the week ended March 12, according to Nielsen/MRC.”

“Classic Rock Gives Comfort to Music Fans During Coronavirus Lockdown – Stressed-out listeners and families stuck at home tune out pop hits and turn up ‘comfort music’

For six weeks we’ve been hearing a non-story, about the decline in music streams. Forget that they’re going back up, who cares! The paradigm has shifted, it’s no longer about sales, it’s about subscriptions. Meanwhile, they keep going up, up, up, look at today’s Spotify numbers.

In other words, there’s a pot of money. It all gets divided whether there are ten streams or ten billion streams! So, it comes down to what percentage of total streams you’ve got.

And as you can read above, current music is down, despite household name releases. What does this mean?

Don’t read the rest of this article, it’s complete hogwash, about people wanting to listen to “comfort” music. Come on, now that you’re at home has it really affected the KIND of music you listen to, significantly?

No, you like your music.

And it turns out people like catalog much better than the new stuff.

And for the first time ever, the labels get paid prodigiously when this catalog is consumed. Used to be most catalog titles were cut out and unavailable for purchase, and it didn’t matter how many times a record was spun at home, the label didn’t get paid for this!

So, is it possible that today’s music is just not quite as good? That it doesn’t mean as much to people? That it’s not as sticky? That it’s overhyped and underconsumed?

Appears so.

As the labels and the media have driven headlong into a niche, the customers are abandoning them. Turns out we do not live totally in a hip-hop, vapid pop consumption world. Oh, there’s a lot of chatter about those verticals, but that’s all it is.

Seems like if a label wanted to prepare itself for the future, it would make and promote more genres of music, and if it wanted insurance, it would be best off imitating what once was, that’s been the road to success for country music, as Tom Petty said at the Fonda, today’s country music IS THE ROCK MUSIC OF THE SEVENTIES!

POST MALONE NIRVANA TRIBUTE

Post Malone x Nirvana Tribute – Livestream

Speaking of rock…

If you were ever a Nirvana fan, you’ll dig this. Post Malone pivoted from rock to make it in today’s hip-hop world. Here, he returns to his roots with a vengeance, and demonstrates that he truly is talented. Talk about a glorious noise…

Turns out three guitars and drums can still tell the truth. This performance encapsulates attitude and anger, the essence, along with hooky songs, that drove Kurt Cobain and his bandmates to ubiquity.

No story reaches everybody these days, everybody watches nothing, furthermore we have livestream fatigue. So, this was a story, but most people don’t know it. As of this date, nearly nine million people have watched and over $4.3 million dollars have been raised and now Post Malone is asking the PUBLIC how to distribute a million. So, it turns out Post gets it when all the aged do not. You involve the public, you don’t talk down to people, certainly not during this Covid-19 era.

AMERICA

The article e-mailed to me most this past week was from the “Irish Times”:

“Donald Trump has destroyed the country he promised to make great again – The world has loved, hated and envied the US, Now, for the first time we pity it”

Suddenly, everything is up for grabs. You know this is true when the “Wall Street Journal” says the sun has set on the Reagan philosophy that government is the enemy:

“Coronavirus Means the Era of Big Government Is…Back – History shows that national shocks – the Depression, World War II, the financial crisis – have a way of expanding the role of government in lasting ways. This one is looking like no exception.”

But of all these articles, the one you’ve got to read is this:

“Trump’s Response to Virus Reflects a Long Disregard for Science – The President’s Covid-19 response has extended the administration’s practice of undermining scientific expertise for political purposes”

Let’s pull the lens back, let’s not talk about being tribal, let’s try to get some perspective.

The truth is, the rest of the world, especially Europe, is shaking its head at us. We pulled out of the Paris Agreement, we’ve pulled back from globalization, we’re pulling funding from the World Health Organization…our nation is becoming a second-class citizen, with less power, while we stay home quarantined.

Not that going out would make much difference.

You see, while we fiddled for forty years, the rest of the world modernized, and caught up to the U.S. and in many ways superseded it. Yes, we’ve been arguing about social issues, gay marriage, abortion, everything but the real thing. There’s been no vision. If for no other reason than almost everybody isn’t getting paid for the future, but today. The government is paid to look at the future, but government has been denigrated and hobbled.

So now what?

If you want to go deeper, I recommend George Packer’s piece in “The Atlantic”:

“We Are Living in a Failed State – The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken.”

You’re probably not going to click on any of the above links, so I’ll just say the bill has now come due for all these years of dicking around. We’ve got no plan for the future. Income inequality is rampant, those with money on both the left and right don’t want to sacrifice it and if the news isn’t about nitwits doing nothing in Hollywood or online, it’s all political team sports, all the time.

Meanwhile, no one has the time to become a student of the game, so they’re influenced by their environment, they don’t question their beliefs, they may not have the education to question their beliefs.

But the big wheel keeps on turning.

The coronavirus just revealed our lack of planning, the U.S. is just like its residents who are a paycheck or two away from being broke. We were humming along, corporations were buying back their stock, there was no preparation for a rainy day, and then it came. And the funny thing is everybody expects to be made whole, no one can lose out. I’m not paying my rent, screw the landlord, the landlord doesn’t pay his mortgage to the bank and the bank gets the money from the government which the people pay for. There’s no free lunch. This epidemic is affecting everybody. No one is immune to injury, whether it be physical or emotional or financial. But we now live in a country where that cannot be the case, someone’s got to pay and one thing for sure is that entity is the enemy, because for damn sure it can’t be MY FAULT!

AMC/UNIVERSAL

“AMC Theater Chain Blasts Universal’s Plans to Release More Movies Digitally – Open letter accuses ‘Trolls’ studio of showing ‘zero concern’ for theater operators”

And now Regal is on AMC’s side.

This is what happens when you deny the future.

No company is forever. Can you say GE?

Of course, GE still exists, but it’s a shadow of what it once was. GE lived in the past. You have to innovate every damn day. It’s not like the theater chains couldn’t see VOD coming, just like the government and the public at large, it can’t accept reality, wants relief while the trend is against them.

People like VOD. And the dirty little secret is Universal makes more this way, the split is less. The studios get 80% of VOD but only 50% of ticket sales at the theater. And compared to the previous “Trolls” movie, Universal netted more!

Now, just like people enjoy vinyl, people like to go to the theater.

Then there are people who are sick of the theater experience for so many reasons, the drive, the parking hassle, the cost, the texting and talking, never mind the scheduled screening time. The public voted years ago, it wants on demand. And now, Covid-19 has delivered it for first run movies. Do AMC and Regal really think they can put the genie back in the bottle?

Of course not!

Meanwhile, AMC and Regal are public companies, meaning the execs get paid handsomely but stockholders pay the price. And many own stock and don’t even realize it, with their pension plan, so the loser in all this mismanagement is YOU!

COVID-19

I ask you, what’s the truth?
Is that company in Oxford really that close to a vaccine?

“In Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine, an Oxford Group Leaps Ahead – As scientists at the Jenner Institute prepare for mass clinical trials, new tests show their vaccine to be effective in monkeys.”

And, do we need to be quarantined or do we need to rush to open the schools? Forget red state/blue state, California’s governor Newsom has appeared to say both!:

“California could begin new school year as early as July, Gov. Newsom says”

Meanwhile, it’s getting warm and people FEEL like the Covid-19 threat is past:

“‘Quarantine Fatigue’ Has More People Going Outside -New research shows that people are venturing out more frequently, and traveling farther from home.”

But feel is no match for science, as we saw in the article above.

Yes, Trump has no better scientific feel than the rest of us, and ours is not to be trusted.

Meanwhile, Biden won’t come out of his bunker and address the Tara Reade situation and now the left is on him:

“Biden himself should address the Tara Reade allegations and release relevant records”

Rebecca Traister had the most insightful analysis in “New York” magazine’s “Cut”:

“The Biden Trap – As the candidate faces credible assault allegations, his progressive female colleagues are being offered a poisoned chalice.”

Meanwhile, Reade herself looks worse every day:

“Biden Accuser, Tara Reade, Allegedly Stole from Non-Profit Organization”

This is what we’re fighting over. A he-said/she-said sexual case from decades ago while our economy is burning and we’ve got no national leadership. This is how far we’ve come. It’s gotcha politics on both sides, and it’s we, the public, who suffer. Meanwhile, all these people in the government and those pontificating on TV all have jobs that pay handsomely and come with great health insurance.

That’s the America we now live in.

Facts are irrelevant.

Science and expertise are not to be trusted.

And no one is steering the ship.

So, everybody’s forced to look out for themselves.

But the last I checked, we live in a society, amongst other people whom we interact with and depend upon.

So tell me how this is gonna work?