{"id":20439,"date":"2023-12-29T19:50:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T03:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=20439"},"modified":"2023-12-29T19:50:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T03:50:34","slug":"re-kennedy-center-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2023\/12\/29\/re-kennedy-center-honors\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-Kennedy Center Honors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re completely correct about the changing paradigm of what people watch on television. At least as far as my own kids are concerned.<\/p>\n<p>My daughter and her husband are 33. When I visited them this past September I was surprised that they did not have cable. Their subscriptions were Disney, Hulu, and Netflix. That was it. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t miss all of the cable channels showing mostly nothing along with the monthly fee those channels cost.<\/p>\n<p>But it gets better. My son and his wife are 26. When I visited them last month I was even more surprised that they subscribe to NOTHING!! \u00c2\u00a0They watch what they want on YouTube (not YouTube TV). They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re completely happy and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re missing anything. (In fact my son just purchased a Toyota based mostly on watching several different YouTube clips of mechanics discussing which cars they see most and least in their shops. He also watched several clips on how to negotiate at a dealer and what to look out for in terms of dealer add-ons)<\/p>\n<p>Jim Blaney<br \/>\nNashville<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I think you should draw the line at bashing the Kennedy Center Honors. Honoring our older artists is important. Most of them have been to hell and back over the years and honoring their work is something every civilized culture should do. Please show some respect and a little more class. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a better look for you.<br \/>\nHappy new year,<br \/>\nChris Frantz<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I usually agree with you but today we differ.<\/p>\n<p>I really enjoyed the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153variety show\u00e2\u20ac\u009d last night. It gave me hope that the government can still support the arts. Biden was there ( unlike Trump who never bothered to attend).<\/p>\n<p>The fact that you skipped Queen Latifah and Renee Fleming just shows how deep into your silo you are. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak about rap\/hip hop but there were 4-5 of the greatest living opera sopranos on stage giving tribute to a truly genre-bending artist. You should go back and get a lesson in singing technique and expertise.<\/p>\n<p>We turned it off after Renee Fleming. The BeeGees could only be a let down after that.<\/p>\n<p>George Kahn.<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree more with your sentiment!!<\/p>\n<p>All the best, Susan Slamer<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>By skipping Renee Fleming, you missed my favorite new singer: Ailyn Perez.<\/p>\n<p>Too bad for you. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>Regards, Steve Schermherhorn<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for saying what I was thinking. However you were a more gentle about it than I would have been.<\/p>\n<p>Roger Humphrey<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>AMEN TO ALL OF THIS<\/p>\n<p>Kurt\u00c2\u00a0Osenlund<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I love reading you when you are on the rag. Dionne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice was very special. She sold B\/D songs like no one else could.<\/p>\n<p>Respect your elders and the elderly. IOW: respect yourself.<\/p>\n<p>The border not his frailty will sink Biden AKA RBG in drag.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Fremer<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Man, I used to adore variety shows.<\/p>\n<p>Standing ovation for you. Thanks for saying this.<\/p>\n<p>Natalie Davis<\/p>\n<p>NYC<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>You really nailed it with this one.<\/p>\n<p>We want bold, brave and true.<\/p>\n<p>Not old, lame and blue(haired)<\/p>\n<p>Delia Rae<\/p>\n<p>Burbank, Ca<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Oh, Bob\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6your review was much more entertaining than the show was. And as depressing as your message was, I laughed all the way through it. Good stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Tom\u00c2\u00a0Gribbin<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Spot on, Bob<\/p>\n<p>Happy New Year&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Cob Carlson<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>They missed an opportunity to have two older, black performers, who can REALLY sing, honor the man, and at the same time present them to a new audience. Al Green is still working and he recorded How Can You Mend A Broken Heart in 1972.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K9YIq0oNiSM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Also, Candi Staton, who is also still working, did a great version of Nights On Broadway in 1977.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ghjxSlfLJYs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kevin Kiley<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>As a lifelong Democrat and sometime left-wing radical, I agree with you. Biden makes me wince, although who else is there to vote for? I choke on my oatmeal everytime\u00c2\u00a0I hear about all the &#8220;other&#8221; candidates. Nikky Haley is toast.<\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;ll never get past that quote about slavery, no matter how hard they spin it. Someone has to whisper in Joe&#8217;s ear &#8220;Time to step aside Joe&#8221;.\u00c2\u00a0 And I like Biden, but his &#8220;Speak softly and carry\u00c2\u00a0a big stick&#8221; approach is a tough sell in 2024.There are plenty of Democratic warriors on our side. But it may be too late for them to jump in. I&#8217;m secretly hoping Obama can sit with Joe and tell him the truth, but that&#8217;s not gonna happen. Biden is like the Raiders quarterback.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;ll have to do. I think we can win with him.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Cartwright<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I can respect some of your comments, Bob, but you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about with Queen Latifah. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s definitely not B level to the hip hop community and beyond. Any artist would love her career accomplishments.<\/p>\n<p>Stacy Turner<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>The singers of &#8220;Alfie&#8221; and &#8220;Walk On By&#8221; were not good. Nothing but vocal histrionics from the first. The &#8220;Walk On By&#8221; singer had a weird, nasally voice. It was awful.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Quinn<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Agree 100% Bob about Biden and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a diehard Democrat.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Pisaneschi<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I hate when you fall into, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 angry old man\u00e2\u20ac\u009d complaining.<br \/>\nSome of what you say is true but not enough\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6not every endeavor in the arts or farces has only you in mind.<br \/>\nDeNiro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s remark wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a dig\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it was an endorsement!<br \/>\nYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all wrong on Biden you know.<br \/>\nSo what if his body is old, his experience and expertise saved this country and trashing him could give us Trump again.<br \/>\nBig fan of most of what you write but not this one.<br \/>\nLighten up Bob, enjoy!<br \/>\nAlan Crane<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Biden is basically unelectable and I am having a meltdown about it. Clinton, Reagan, Kennedy have\/had charisma and charm and smarts. Biden has smarts. You need more. Ugh.<\/p>\n<p>Alan Stewart<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Well said Bob! \u00c2\u00a0To me the last truly great and surprising performance\/tribute the Kennedy Center Honors had to be in my opinion, Heart doing Stairway to Heaven when the surviving members of Led Zeppelin were inducted. How long ago was that now? (Just googled it and holy crap that was 11 years ago!). That was a truly stunning and complete unexpected performance. Hell even Robert Plant who had long since tired of the song, was moved by it! \u00c2\u00a0Sadly even when Jon Stewart was inducted a few years back, you expected some bite and John Oliver did oblige but overall it was still a pretty meh tribute, it being a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153polite DC society\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and all event.<\/p>\n<p>Some things are just best to let go of gracefully and lament their passing than watch it die a slow agonizing death while trying to pretend there is nothing wrong. Seems the KCH and Biden\/DNC are ignoring this fact.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Moniz<\/p>\n<p>P.S. Biden is our 1\/6 is an all time bad take.<\/p>\n<p>But your point is salient about our own eyes.<\/p>\n<p>My question would be where are these acolytes ? \u00c2\u00a0Do you know people in your life that say its not true? \u00c2\u00a0Or are you just referring to media.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know anyone in my life who is a fan or defends him. \u00c2\u00a0Just the typical \u00e2\u20ac\u0153he can beat trump\u00e2\u20ac\u009d arguments , but always whole holding their nose.<\/p>\n<p>Theres a clip somewhere of a comedian where someone yelled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153f*ck joe biden!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And hes like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153is that supposed to offend me? \u00c2\u00a0You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re making fun of my 17th choice for president?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Seems to be the consensus to me<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Biden should do what FDR did, he knew his health was bad- also knew that Wallace was too progressive, and the country had turned more center. He decided to let the convention pick the VP and they picked Truman. We all knew what happened then. I think that may be the thing that will help Biden. Confidence in who may have to take his place.<\/p>\n<p>Peter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Fallon<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Man, this was like watching television in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc70\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. Love the audience shots of old white people trying to groove\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Sad to say the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Honors\u00e2\u20ac\u009d jumped the shark.<\/p>\n<p>Doug Pomerantz<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Gimme some truth<br \/>\nThank you for the truth it is SO rare that I hear it now, it just stands out and stands up<br \/>\nThanks for telling it<br \/>\nPeter Stema<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Wow, Bob, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect to see Florence Greenberg get well-deserved credit in this one. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often navigate towards classic soul.<\/p>\n<p>She earned it. Not only with Dionne, but with the Shirelles, Maxine Brown, Chuck Jackson, Tommy Hunt and more. Hey, even the Kingsmen and B.J. Thomas. You know those artists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 hits, if not their names (let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not discuss the British covers).<\/p>\n<p>Hooray.<\/p>\n<p>Adam White<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>The reason kids love\/watch YouTube is that teenagers are always more interested in each other than any celebrity nonsense the media manufactures. If you pay attention to young people you will learn that this has always been true.<\/p>\n<p>Liz Dean<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Absolutely fabulous piece Bob. As someone that has produced, a live broadcast of an award show celebrating the arts for the last eight years, it is discouraging that most broadcasters and streamers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have an appetite for award shows or variety style shows such as the Kennedy Center Honors .<br \/>\nBroadcasters will tell you that in the face of declining ratings there is not much an appetite from the public for this genre of entertainment but what they failed to understand is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way beyond ratings it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about supporting artist, discovering new artists, celebrating extraordinary talent and Ensuring that the arts continue to thrive. I do applaud Netflix for picking up some of the award shows that have been abandoned by Traditional broadcasters, and I do hope other streamers will find a home for variety and award shows in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Barry Avrich<br \/>\nProducer\/Director<br \/>\nMelbar Entertainment Group<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Hear, hear Bob.\u00c2\u00a0 I agree with every word of this letter.<\/p>\n<p>R. Scott Furtney<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Bob \u00c2\u00a0I enjoy your writing \u00c2\u00a0please keep piushing for new leadership w Dem,s \u00c2\u00a0Michigan governors Adam kinnzinger if not Newsom \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Scared of Trump return and Winn by default \u00c2\u00a0please keep pushing<\/p>\n<p>Dave Prutting<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>You may be correct that award shows are losing their relevance and audience, but last night&#8217;s performance of Alfie by Cynthia Erivo was riveting and worth tuning in If for nothing else. I was also there in the audience during the filming and felt transported to another world by her voice and presence. I was unaware of her prior to that moment and I&#8217;ve been obsessing ever since!<\/p>\n<p>I have a 10 year old who watches mostly tik tok and YouTube and last night I had her watch just that song on the honors and her reaction to Cynthia reminded me of how I reacted when I saw Streisand in the movie Funny Girl as a child. Together we went down the YouTube rabbit hole finding Cynthia videos but few compared to what we just watched on KCH which was a brilliant matching of voice, song and production elements. Stunning.<\/p>\n<p>Jennifer Cooke<br \/>\nArtist Manager<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>This show, along with Tony\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s are the only things left that come close to a classic Variety Show.<\/p>\n<p>Who the hell chose those songs to honor Dionne?! The Spinners\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 duet? A horrific arrangement of Walk On By.\u00c2\u00a0 I Say A Little YAWN! Cynthia killed Alfie &#8211; thankfully.\u00c2\u00a0 Where was Manilow? He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a KC Honor yet, shockingly. But it was he who produced Dionne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comeback album for Clive (winning her two Grammys). And while it may be a cheesy moment, the right 4some belting That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s What Friend Are For, which Dionne personally made sure made millions of dollars for AIDS, could have been a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153moment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0 Either the bookers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bother or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize that some talented youngsters like Jonas Bros, Olivia, Ariana, Miley, Shawn Mendez, Puth, Demi, Normandie would likely jump to salute their &#8211; or their parent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s &#8211; idols.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, it seems this show only gets it right when they honor Broadway star or creator.<\/p>\n<p>Latifah?! Really? Janet Jackson isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in there! Why? Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s CBS? Still? C\u00e2\u20ac\u2122mon now. Taking nothing away from Queen and her career accomplishments (I actually am a huge fan of her singing voice) &#8211; but the tribute &#8211; leaning on her hip\/hop contributions seems interesting.\u00c2\u00a0 She spent 9 years releasing 4 albums which maybe in all had 3 bonafide R&amp;B\/Rap hits.\u00c2\u00a0 So &#8211; a KC Honor? Was something inside CBS at work here &#8211; where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of their stars? Hmmmmm?<\/p>\n<p>Of note: in addition to Manilow, Johnny Mathis and Liza have YET to be honored.\u00c2\u00a0 As much of a shame as Cher not in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame.<\/p>\n<p>As for Barry Gibb\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that tribute was questionable at best.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost thrown together haphazardly. \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lonely Days\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? &#8211; they penned hundreds of hits.\u00c2\u00a0 And this was a hit.\u00c2\u00a0 But a memorable one?\u00c2\u00a0 Compared to the catalogue?! No.<\/p>\n<p>I mostly yelled at the TV.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll ask us for help next time, Bob.<\/p>\n<p>Jerry J. Sharell<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Longtime reader &amp; songwriter down in Tennessee. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree with you more. On EVERYTHING in this email.<\/p>\n<p>People are so afraid of everything that is happening and it seems like all anyone can do is just stick to the things that make them feel incredibly safe. Which is incredibly lame. And gets you absolutely no where fast.<\/p>\n<p>Yes the world is a dumpster fire but it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean we quit innovation. It means we gotta f*cking hustle before the great big ball in the sky burns out!<\/p>\n<p>Shows like the Kennedy Center Honors are sailing right along down the river of safety for all these liberal folks who think they are so open-minded but refuse to admit when they are wrong and when cornered they start screaming. And listen, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a liberal but I can see the writing on the wall. Both sides of the political spectrum are equally f*cked and divided within their own parties so why on earth would anyone be persuaded to be part of either side?! The narrow-minded point of view will do us all in because those at the top, with the most power and the narrowest view are steering us into what looks to be the same kind of shipwreck you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d find down in the waters of Cape Horn.<\/p>\n<p>But either way, I look forward to more of your writing and emails. They bring me comfort and I appreciate your willingness to speak the truth at a time when people choose not to hear it.<\/p>\n<p>Happy New Year,<br \/>\nLolo Pritchard<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Re: \u00c2\u00a0Youtube (and smaller screen)<\/p>\n<p>Ironically Bob I&#8217;m 50 and I watch more youtube than anything else.\u00c2\u00a0 And, aside from watching shows \/ movies with my wife on our big screen, I watch almost everything on my 14 inch Samsung S8 Ultra, which is basically a mini TV with a much better \/ brighter screen and portable.<\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t a commercial for Samsung, however when I bought one of their phones a couple years ago it included a six month trial for Youtube Premium which is basically no commercials, and I was hooked.\u00c2\u00a0 I pay $14 a month now for zero commercials.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s an endless treasure trove of documentaries, how-tos, MSNBC clips, political analysis by really\u00c2\u00a0fresh creators, I even sometimes watch OAN and Fox News when I want to get what the RepuliQans are spewing.<\/p>\n<p>The only thing I \/ you \/ we have to be careful with is the recommendation engine.\u00c2\u00a0 Watch the wrong video that has a little bit of a rightward bent, and suddenly that algorithm will go nuts showing you click bait Jewish space lasers, illuminati, stock market crashes, Andrew Tate stuff, and other right wing conspiracy nonsense or hate-filled garbage.<\/p>\n<p>The algorithm clearly WANTS you to go down that rabbit hole.\u00c2\u00a0 Obviously more money in it for google.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically some of that comes from watching more right-tilted redneck country stuff that I have to check out for work, and also enjoy a\u00c2\u00a0bit of, some of it is great music, and I need to pay attention to the genre.<\/p>\n<p>Also, Joe Rogan is a biggie.\u00c2\u00a0 Watch a couple Joe Rogan clips, even of him just telling jokes and talking about supplements, and Youtube will start recommending the craziest sh!t.<\/p>\n<p>Watch military or WWII documentaries, movie clips from more violent films, it doesn&#8217;t take much for that engine to start blasting you with nonsense.<\/p>\n<p>So I ignore the algorithm and watch what I like, but I can see why people with lower critical thinking skills can get pilled pretty quickly just by casually watching Youtube&#8217;s recommended videos.<\/p>\n<p>Were I a parent, I&#8217;d be more concerned with my kids accidentally watching a couple of mostly harmless things that are tangentially connected by the algorithm, and winding up redpilled incels or end of the world doomsday preppers.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I guess that&#8217;s the price of unfiltered free content.<\/p>\n<p>Dan Millen<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I was scrolling through channels when I stumbled onto it. \u00c2\u00a0I saw Queen Latifah and just kept scrolling. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they know that people would rather watch it an hour later on YouTube with no commercials, anyway? Even boomers! \u00c2\u00a0And in whatever order they want ignoring what they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want Chrissakes! \u00c2\u00a0But you covered that in your piece.<\/p>\n<p>But there was nobody present with the capacity to raise the dead. \u00c2\u00a0And speaking of hagiography does anyone still wanna watch the Saints adoring the Saints? Welcoming them into heaven? The Elite adoring the Elite? Seriously? \u00c2\u00a0(and all the accompanying close up very emotional<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153audiencefulloSTARS\u00e2\u20ac\u009dcamera shots)<\/p>\n<p>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. \u00c2\u00a0I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n<p>And what a lame lineup! \u00c2\u00a0No apologies. \u00c2\u00a0Just lame. \u00c2\u00a0But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m old and who cares what I think? \u00c2\u00a0If any of them devoted 10,000 of Gladwell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hours to practice it was Ren\u00c3\u00a8e. \u00c2\u00a0So good for her! \u00c2\u00a0But \u00c2\u00a0the only lineup that would please me would have to include British Rocker Saints and perhaps some others\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..even born in the USA. \u00c2\u00a0Heroes for longer than 15 minutes. \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d wait for youtube. F*ckabuncha commercials! \u00c2\u00a0Maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll check out The Bee Gees minute. \u00c2\u00a0But right now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m listening to Foxtrot. \u00c2\u00a0A record I bought over 50 years ago. \u00c2\u00a0And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all I need at the moment. \u00c2\u00a0 (Hackett, thankfully, is keeping it alive) Am I digressing? \u00c2\u00a0Am I the old paradigm? Still listening to actual albums on a turntable and not \u00c2\u00a0 Spotify playlists? \u00c2\u00a0I want the whole experience. \u00c2\u00a0Even on Spotify. \u00c2\u00a0 I know, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a \u00c2\u00a0vinyl \u00e2\u20ac\u0153movement.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Vinyl is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cool.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0Great. \u00c2\u00a0But it was what we had. \u00c2\u00a0What we did. What we lived. \u00c2\u00a0And there was no tech except mebbe stereo gear, home and car, and that was analog and all about good sound and how do you explain the ethos of those times to the newlyfounds? Vinyl wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cool. \u00c2\u00a0It was everything. \u00c2\u00a0And more. \u00c2\u00a0It still is if you were there. \u00c2\u00a0You can still plug in.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m allowed to digress. \u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m f*cking old. Colin Hay said in a song \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was invincible now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m invisible\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or something similar. \u00c2\u00a0He wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t singing about me but he was\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. Nobody sees or hears me except cashiers when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m tapping or swiping a credit card or my kids when they want money.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway Happy New Year to ya<\/p>\n<p>Bill Nelson<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re way too angry man. Take a walk outside. The sun is out. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll<br \/>\nlive longer and maybe be happier. Really.<\/p>\n<p>Mitch Tenzer<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________<\/p>\n<p>You are the last cool one of our generation. \u00c2\u00a0Love your writing!<br \/>\nPS yes, I know it&#8217;s &#8220;uncool&#8221; to say &#8220;cool&#8221;!!<\/p>\n<p>Terry Savage<br \/>\nNationally Syndicated Financial Columnist<br \/>\nwww.TerrySavage.com<\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re completely correct about the changing paradigm of what people watch on television. At least as far as my own kids are concerned. My daughter and her husband are 33. When I visited them this past September I was surprised that they did not have cable. Their subscriptions were Disney, Hulu, and Netflix. That was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,12,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-television","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-5jF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20439"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20440,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439\/revisions\/20440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}