You can’t watch it.

There are two immutable internet paradigms:

1. Everybody won’t be aware of what you are doing, no way, there’s no way to reach everybody, the channel is just too clogged.

2. We live in an on demand culture, people want to experience it when they want to experience it. Of course, you can make it a one time only event, which is what live is all about, but when capacity is unlimited, was everybody aware of the show? I mean if you sell out a physical venue, you’re probably satisfied, but if the whole world is your audience, don’t you want to reach more people?

Usually the Luck Reunion garners 4,000 in-person attendees.

The Livestream last night had over 100,000 viewers. How many stayed the whole time? We don’t get the granular data we need, that’s the problem with Netflix views, you don’t have to watch much to be counted.

All this is to say what I’ve actually seen of the Luck Reunion show is FABULOUS!

Funny world we live in. The record industry keeps telling us it’s about beats, that hip-hop is the only thing that matters, and then you tune into something like the Luck show and you hear “wooden music” and pure voices and your soul is touched, your heart pitter-patters, you want more.

So sure, I saw references to the Luck Reunion online yesterday, but I was busy and I did not see it as a priority, I mean I like Willie, I’ve seen him, but do I need to stop everything to watch his show?

And live at home is not a good experience. It’s hard to sit there and watch without surfing, it’s different from being in the venue.

And to tell you the truth, so much live stuff on YouTube is awful. Sure, you can blame it on recording techniques, i.e. an iPhone far away, but even through that you can oftentimes hear how the singer can’t sing in tune, that outside the studio their voice just isn’t that pure, it’s disappointing.

And then you hear Lukas Nelson sing “Turn Off the News (and Build a Garden)” and your jaw drops.

Navigate to here:

How the Luck Reunion Pulled Off Its Most Emotional Year Yet – With No Crowd

You’ll see the pic of Paul Simon right on top, I’ll get back to that.

But scroll down to the video and click to play. You’ll be positively stunned at Lukas Nelson’s voice, this is exactly what is coming out of his mouth, with no effects, no pitch correction, no autotune.

And then you want to hear more, BUT YOU CAN’T!

The article linked to above says the show is still available on Twitch, but then you click through and it isn’t, I tried multiple browsers, is there something I don’t get? I was researching and I just could not find the complete concert, not on YouTube, not anywhere.

But then I went to:

www.twitch.tv/luckreunion/videos

And I clicked on “paul simon, edie & woody,” it was only half a minute, but their version of “All I Have To Do Is Dream” was exquisite, it reminded me of the sixties, when we got together and sang, when the songs were still singable. (Does that make me sound like an old fart? Maybe, but one thing I’ll tell you for sure is melody never goes out of style, and a great song is one that can still be sung half a century later!)

Now when you finish watching that, click back on:

www.twitch.tv/luckreunion/videos

(It’s easier this way, trust me.)

And then click on “View All,” which is in purple, above the clips.

Scroll down twelve rows to the pic of Paul Simon and click to hear an excerpt of “American Tune.” Paul seems to be wearing most of his years, but he can still pick and his slightly weathered vocal adds gravitas and humanity to the song.

So my main point is this Luck Reunion show should be available to be streamed in its entirety, and also be available for song by song streaming, especially because it was a tip-only show.

But my secondary point is this wooden music is treated like a second class genre, but it’s not, it’s primary, it’s the music that’s played in cafes, bars and theatres all over the country. And it’s this music that resonates in this time of isolation.

After this period of isolation is all over, there will be a number of resets.

First, people will stop demonizing technology, will stop complaining about kids on their phones after they realize it’s these devices, this technology, that allows us to connect, that keeps us united.

Second, people will stop demonizing Amazon, our link to products. In an era where the local merchant, if there even is one, is shut down, thank god for Amazon.

Third, we will all remember this experience, how we were alone and craved togetherness.

There’s been a tsunami of live streams in the last week. The problem has become that many musicians are using it for self-promotion, they say they’re giving back, but what they really want is fame. So…we’ve got the paradigm referenced above, so much in the channel that we don’t hear about things and end up overwhelmed.

But this Luck Show is something different, it’s a showcase of what once was, and forever will be, something we need more focus upon, because it’s not evanescent crap, but stuff that speaks to our cores, that keeps us alive.

I really don’t want to overload your inbox, certainly not with coronavirus material, which you’re inundated with constantly. But I keep getting e-mail from people who are not taking the threat seriously. Who are leaving the house and visiting with other people.

Let me make it simple… When you get together with somebody, you’re getting together with everybody who ever came in contact with them. Sure, they might not have left the house, but did their housekeeper come? And did the housekeeper drive him or herself or did they take the bus?
Of course you cannot totally immunize yourself from personal contact, you do need food delivery, which is done by humans. (As for the hoarding, this is positively insane, there’s plenty of food, I’d link you to the “Wall Street Journal” story but you either believe me or not. And when you’re hoarding, other people who might need the item you have in bulk have no access to it. You can’t buy distilled water, yet people with CPAP machines need it. As for toilet paper, I’ve heard a few good jokes, you probably have too. 1. If the people are that scared shitless why do they need toilet paper? 2. Trump is so full of shit the country ran out of toilet paper.)

So the story that had the most impact upon me today was this:

“CORONAVIRUS – CA MAN DIES AT 34 – Recently Visited Disney World In Fl”

This guy was from Glendora, in SoCal, not that far from L.A. 34? Read this, heartbreaking.
And then this afternoon, this broke:

“California governor projects ‘56% of state’s population will be infected’ in the next 8 weeks”

I’ve got to ask you, do you feel lucky? Because those are terrible odds. In other words, you’re more likely to get the coronavirus than not. And sure, not all young ‘uns are gonna die like the 34 year old above, but he did. As for oldsters, you’re in the target group.

Now the country at large is clamping down. Florida mayors closed the beaches when the governor refused to, but as the day wore on the governor got on board, well, sorta. My point being that what’s permissible, just outside the lines today, is taboo tomorrow.

Vail, Colorado, a tourist town, is inundated with coronavirus cases. Last I checked, Eagle County, which Vail is part of, had the most coronavirus cases in Colorado. Anyway, the hospital issued a memo today saying how long it’s taking to get test results (3-5 days and getting worse), and the imminent threat of running out of hospital beds

Time To Take COVID-19 Seriously In Eagle County

Now I’ve been hearing all day from right wingers saying the problem did come from China and it’s not Trump’s fault and he’s doing a great job.

You probably saw the pic wherein “corona” is changed to “Chinese” in Trump’s script, but you have to watch the video in this page:

“Sean Hannity denied calling coronavirus a hoax nine days after he called coronavirus a hoax”

Of course the video is funny, but what is vastly more interesting is the WaPo taking a side, no longer employing false equivalencies. Suddenly it’s about what is right as opposed to doing your best to appear fair when there’s no fairness at all.

Don’t commit a crime, there are cameras everywhere.

And don’t try to deny what is already out there, when footage exists.

But please, do not leave the house unless it’s to buy necessities, i.e. groceries and gasoline, your life depends on it.

Musician, writer, producer…listen to hear stories of Dave’s upbringing in Sunderland, his band Longdancer’s tenure with Elton John and Rocket Records, how he met Annie Lennox and how they borrowed money to make the first Eurythmics album, how he wrote the chorus of Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and how Dylan called him and they made movies together and…

iheart

apple

spotify

stitcher

A picture is worth a thousand words.

A subscriber sent me this video from Italy. Remember that old TV show wherein they took kids to prisons, entitled “Scared Straight”? You’ll be scared straight into self-quarantine after watching this. It’s just under four minutes. I know, I know, people are sending you articles all day long, you’re eyes are glazed over from info, but this is the most dramatic thing I encountered all day yesterday:

“Inside intensive care unit: Italy fights coronavirus outbreak”

And speaking of video, you’ll wince and get a chuckle out of these inane spring-breakers, are they even smart enough to go to college and go on spring break? I know people canceling weddings, but meanwhile these nitwits can’t miss out on a bit of partying?

“‘If I get corona, I get corona’: Miami spring breakers say covid-19 hasn’t stopped them from partying”

Meanwhile, there are multiple stories today that people under fifty are not as immune as they think they are:

“Younger adults are large percentage of coronavirus hospitalizations in United States according to new CDC data”

And there’s this fiction that the United States can go it alone, that we don’t need other countries. But the truth is that ship sailed years ago. Corporations are multinational and so is the supply chain. You’re aware that your Mac is made in China, but are you aware the swabs used in coronavirus testing are made in Italy?

“The Latest Obstacle to Getting Tested? A Shortage of Swabs and Face Masks”

The swab cannot be made out of wood and it must be synthetic, not cotton.

“The main manufacturer of the swabs, Copan, is an Italian company whose manufacturing plant is in Northern Italy, a region that has itself been hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak. It says it has ramped up manufacturing to deal with the extraordinary demand for an otherwise unassuming product to which many doctors gave little thought, until now.”

This makes me crazy. The left says to bring manufacturing back to America, not realizing prices would go insane and our lifestyles would go down. The right believes it can go it alone. And Trump believes by starting trade wars he’s improving conditions in America. But just ask the farmers, who depend upon exports. We’ve always been in this together, maybe the coronavirus will teach us this.

I’m reading Erik Larson’s “The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz”

If you’re unaware of Larson, he recreates real life stories, frequently ones you were unaware of. However, his books have no arc, they don’t build, they’re relatively flat, and so far, “The Splendid and the Vile” reads like a paste-up job, but still I’m intrigued, to learn so much about history I did not know. When I went to school teachers did not teach recent history, they’d lived through it and thought you knew it, when you did not.

Now if you want to go on a Larson kick, start with “The Devil In The White City,” which makes the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 come alive, while a serial killer…

If you like that, then read “In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin.” It’s the story of America’s ambassador to Nazi Germany, but what makes it so interesting is his not yet divorced daughter comes along with him and has a relationship with seemingly every major Nazi. Read this if you’re going to Berlin, if we can ever travel again. I was stunned to drive by parks and other landmarks in the city after reading this book.

Anyway, back to “The Splendid and the Vile.”

Churchill becomes prime minister. According to Larson, this is not what the entrenched wanted. Because Churchill was a man of action, and they thought his actions were unpredictable.

So one of the first things Churchill does is to hire this guy Lord Beaverbrook, who made his fortune in newspapers, to boost airplane production, which he does, dramatically! Just like in the job-seeker’s bible, “What Color Is Your Parachute,” skills are transferable. Beaverbrook keeps hearing no, but he doesn’t back down. He steps on toes to get the job done, he stands up to the bureaucracy, goes outside his purview, all in an effort to achieve the result. They call this the “can-do spirit.” America used to revel in it. But somewhere along the line, we lost our way. They’re talking about Ford, which has stopped making automobiles, making ventilators. What about all these techies? Elon Musk, who won’t shut down his Tesla production line, someone must be able to ramp up production of test kits and ventilators!

Churchill was a leader.

Then again, he was famous for writing and reading, just like our President today, HA!

The answer is never in the scuttlebutt, change always comes from the outside, leaders take us into the unknown, they just don’t manage the existing world. Change happens, leaders anticipate it and deal with it. Information is king. Analysis is king. These are skills that have been put on the back-burner ever since college was turned into a glorified trade school. We need the liberal arts Steve Jobs always talked about. We need to teach people how to think. The situations change, the ability to analyze remains.

So I was out driving last night and I tuned into Fox News…

It was after dark, I was going out hiking, I was not near anybody nor do I plan to be.

Howard Stern is on vacation, I hear he’s coming back next week. And I’m sick of the news, but I can’t quite bring myself to listen to music in the car, not that I’ve been in the car much.

So on SiriusXM they’ve got the news channels, Fox, CNN and MSNBC, as well as the BBC and Bloomberg. I usually start with MSNBC…which is seemingly only good when Rachel Maddow is on, because she analyzes the news as opposed to just bloviating on it. CNN is oftentimes featuring a different story, so I check that out, and I always go to Fox to see what the enemy is going on about.

China.

It’s all China’s fault.

If you’ve been following the news, it’s Tucker Carlson who convinced Trump to pivot and take the coronavirus seriously. Tucker was the lone wolf at Fox talking about the problem. But now Hannity and Ingraham have pivoted. I tuned in when Laura Ingraham was on.

She couldn’t stop blaming China for the coronavirus. And the problem was the Democrats, since they did business with the country, you know, the usual suspects, like Bloomberg.

I winced and laughed simultaneously. I was not expecting a mea culpa, but I was expecting a focus on the real problem, which is infection in America. But Ingraham just had to find a new bogeyman, while laying the blame at the feet of the Democrats. Fox News was bad when Roger Ailes ran it, but now it’s gone completely off the rails.

In today’s world you oftentimes think you’re the only one watching, or listening, but I was stunned to open my WaPo app this morning and find:

“‘China has blood on its hands’: Fox News hosts join Trump in blame-shifting”