Friday, December 2, 2016
Manchester By The Sea/Nocturnal Animals
Friday double feature. Strangely complementary. Each more compelling viewed in tandem.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Arrival/Allied
Double Feature at the AMC Castletown 14. $10 matinee ticket. $6 fountain soda. Reserved lazy boy seats.
Left the theater with a headache.
Left the theater with a headache.
Friday, November 25, 2016
Why the Band's 'The Last Waltz' Is the Greatest Concert Movie of All Time
THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD!
And then we begin at the end, with the weary members of the Band shuffling onstage to hoarse cheers. "You're still here, huh?" asks guitarist Robbie Robertson. "We're gonna do one more song, and that's it." Drummer Levon Helm stretches; bassist Rick Danko smokes a cigarette and wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. They've been at this five or more hours now, poring through their back catalog and backing every celebrity guest along for the ride. Along with pianist Richard Manuel and multi-instrumental mastermind Garth Hudson, they tear into a funky "Don't Do It," their customized cover of Marvin Gaye's "Baby Don't You Do It." After the last note, Robertson says, "Good night. Goodbye." Exit, stage left.
Graham often said that Scorsese and company "missed it," because the lack of attention paid to the people who paid their $25 to dig Bob Dylan looking like, per Roberston, "a Christ in a white hat." There was no sense of community, he griped. But there's an incredible sense of the community onstage that gets captured by making this a performance film first and foremost, and that was exactly what Scorsese was after. The director wasn't interested, he said, in showing two girls giggling and then cutting to Rick Danko looking like a Tiger Beat pin-up; he wanted to see Helm shooting Danko a glance as they lock into the beat and go into the bridge of "Ophelia." It's as cinematic a rendering of the alchemy that musicians – and especially those five Band members – produce when they're caught in that spotlight.
Even if you don't know that The Last Waltz actually begins with the show's final number, you sense the one-more-for-the-road vibe. It's the film's very last musical interlude, however, that reminds you that you've watched both an extraordinary concert movie and something more than that. As the group plucks out the instrumental "Last Waltz Suite," the movie pulls back from Robertson's guitar to include Danko on an upright bass; we rotate and Manuel, playing a lap-steel guitar, comes in to the frame, as does Helm on mandolin and Hudson behind a bank of organs. They're playing together. The film is still playing it loud. The movie and the music are fused now. The camera pulls back farther and farther, until the shadows of these men loom larger, very large over the musicians themselves. Right before the credits roll, the Band have become dwarfed by the darkness around them, but they still keep playing. Until they don't. Good night. Goodbye.
And then we begin at the end, with the weary members of the Band shuffling onstage to hoarse cheers. "You're still here, huh?" asks guitarist Robbie Robertson. "We're gonna do one more song, and that's it." Drummer Levon Helm stretches; bassist Rick Danko smokes a cigarette and wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. They've been at this five or more hours now, poring through their back catalog and backing every celebrity guest along for the ride. Along with pianist Richard Manuel and multi-instrumental mastermind Garth Hudson, they tear into a funky "Don't Do It," their customized cover of Marvin Gaye's "Baby Don't You Do It." After the last note, Robertson says, "Good night. Goodbye." Exit, stage left.
Graham often said that Scorsese and company "missed it," because the lack of attention paid to the people who paid their $25 to dig Bob Dylan looking like, per Roberston, "a Christ in a white hat." There was no sense of community, he griped. But there's an incredible sense of the community onstage that gets captured by making this a performance film first and foremost, and that was exactly what Scorsese was after. The director wasn't interested, he said, in showing two girls giggling and then cutting to Rick Danko looking like a Tiger Beat pin-up; he wanted to see Helm shooting Danko a glance as they lock into the beat and go into the bridge of "Ophelia." It's as cinematic a rendering of the alchemy that musicians – and especially those five Band members – produce when they're caught in that spotlight.
Even if you don't know that The Last Waltz actually begins with the show's final number, you sense the one-more-for-the-road vibe. It's the film's very last musical interlude, however, that reminds you that you've watched both an extraordinary concert movie and something more than that. As the group plucks out the instrumental "Last Waltz Suite," the movie pulls back from Robertson's guitar to include Danko on an upright bass; we rotate and Manuel, playing a lap-steel guitar, comes in to the frame, as does Helm on mandolin and Hudson behind a bank of organs. They're playing together. The film is still playing it loud. The movie and the music are fused now. The camera pulls back farther and farther, until the shadows of these men loom larger, very large over the musicians themselves. Right before the credits roll, the Band have become dwarfed by the darkness around them, but they still keep playing. Until they don't. Good night. Goodbye.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Grateful Dead -- Fillmore East 5.15.70 (Early Show)
a cold, november evening. a warm, acoustic set (around the fireplace).
setlist
don't ease me in
i know you rider
ain't it crazy (the rub)
friend of the devil
long black limousine
candyman
cumberland blues
new speedway boogie
cold jordan (w/ new riders)
setlist
don't ease me in
i know you rider
ain't it crazy (the rub)
friend of the devil
long black limousine
candyman
cumberland blues
new speedway boogie
cold jordan (w/ new riders)
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Horace & Pete: Episode 10
louis ck just laid down the gauntlet
cue "america"
"that's a wrap on horace & pete, everybody."
---------------------------------------------------------
Several days later from the finale, still upsetting.
Completely of it's time. America in 2016. Angry, sad, confused. Broken. Yet full of a beating heart.
Summoning the subversive, messy spirit of Robert Altman. (Now if only we could have a voice from my generation step up.)
cue "america"
"that's a wrap on horace & pete, everybody."
---------------------------------------------------------
Several days later from the finale, still upsetting.
Completely of it's time. America in 2016. Angry, sad, confused. Broken. Yet full of a beating heart.
Summoning the subversive, messy spirit of Robert Altman. (Now if only we could have a voice from my generation step up.)
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
Phish - Amsterdam (Paradiso 7.2.97)
Set 2
Stash->
Llama>
(Wormtown Jam>)
Wading In The Velevet Sea
Encore
Free
David Bowie
Notes:
Stash (from 15:00 onwards...) canon of phish sets.
Stash->
Llama>
(Wormtown Jam>)
Wading In The Velevet Sea
Encore
Free
David Bowie
Notes:
Stash (from 15:00 onwards...) canon of phish sets.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Morning Dew (covered by The National)
(pastiche of sonic youth/velvet underground with leonard cohen. i dig it. no i don't. it's flacid.)
Horace & Pete: Episode 9
Ann:
Well, how am I supposed to make that happen?
Tom:
You can't. Not by looking for it. That's why they call it 'falling in love.' See, you can't fall on purpose. See I, I used to be an actor and I, uh, took a class on falling...trying to make it look like I fell...and [uh] still trying... I must've fallen over about a thousand times. Tryin' to make it look like an accident. And I couldn't do it. So...um...I quit being an actor.
Ann:
Well, that's not any help. I mean...I mean what is a person supposed to do?
Tom:
Well, you just accept. Just accept the fact that, that love is rare, and it probably won't happen to you. Ever.
Ann:
Is that what you do? You just accept it?
Tom:
No. (laughs to himself) No I, uh, walk around brokenhearted. (Pause) and I, I get drunk. I mean I hate being alone. (Beat) Some day it'll kill me.
Well, how am I supposed to make that happen?
Tom:
You can't. Not by looking for it. That's why they call it 'falling in love.' See, you can't fall on purpose. See I, I used to be an actor and I, uh, took a class on falling...trying to make it look like I fell...and [uh] still trying... I must've fallen over about a thousand times. Tryin' to make it look like an accident. And I couldn't do it. So...um...I quit being an actor.
Ann:
Well, that's not any help. I mean...I mean what is a person supposed to do?
Tom:
Well, you just accept. Just accept the fact that, that love is rare, and it probably won't happen to you. Ever.
Ann:
Is that what you do? You just accept it?
Tom:
No. (laughs to himself) No I, uh, walk around brokenhearted. (Pause) and I, I get drunk. I mean I hate being alone. (Beat) Some day it'll kill me.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Garry Shandling
"The world is too noisy and distracted to probably ultimately survive. Everyone needs to shut the fuck up. The answers are in the silence. Monks set themselves on fire to protest and to make this point. Just consider it."
A Note From Louis C.K. On A Saturday Morning (on the media)
A lot of shitty things happened in the world this week. Or, I suppose, to be more accurate, the news is full of shitty things. (That sentence had too many commas in it. In fact it still does.)
Shitty things happen all over the world every day. But which ones I'm aware of is a combination of what web sites make I seek out, based on a combination of who I choose to trust and where I get the most potent "hit" of satisfaction or whatever the part of me that I'm feeding craves.
Whenever a terrible thing happens in the world and you go to a news site to read about it, and they have a video of the terrible thing, there's this strange experience when (if) you click on the video, which is that before you watch the awful thing, they show you a little advertisement. Just for that little awful video. Sometimes it's very cheerful.
When the news used to be a single broadcast that you would watch on television, with commercial breaks. There was a sense that these companies bought advertising to pay for the news to be brought to you.
But now with sponsorship of individual moments of suffering, presented to comfortable gawking consumers, it feels like someone died in a far away place (so you don't have to!) and now you get to watch. And it's brought to you by Geico!
The thing that's hard to avoid is that where there is money to be made, money will be made there. When the news is juicy, we buy more Snapple.
The truth is that the news, if you're really paying attention, is complex and boring. I often set a goal for myself that I'm only going to read the news in the news paper and to stay away from Internet news. Because the stuff that goes up on the sites is immediate, brash and badly reported. They just scoop it and slop it and chuck it. The news paper has limited space. And they have until morning to get it to you. So there's more thought put into it. Internet news is heroin. Newspaper news is nutrition. That's MY view. Don't get all mad. I'm just sharing. I'm sure there are other avenues to the truth that are web based. When I walk into the coffee places where they are literally using lab equipment and glass beakers to make the perfect coffee, I get the sense that the young people sitting at the tables are reading blogs and sites that are quiet and thoughtful. My daughter reads a cocktail of blogs on her favorite subjects, knowing they each have a bias, and averages them out to find her truth.
But I'm 48. I actually remember Walter Cronkite reporting that Apollo Soyuz was orbiting and if you live in the north east you could look up and see white and red blinking lights together and that was them. And I ran out into my front yard in Newton Massachusetts and I saw. Wow. Now of course that was probably an airplane and maybe it was Dan Rather. And also I'm a liar.
Anyway I guess the more and more we share the day's news, the more we still have each our own personal way to see it. And to decide what's important. And what you think and feel about it.
I really hope that I didn't irritate anyone with this email.
Please watch episode 9 of Horace and Pete.
Louis
Shitty things happen all over the world every day. But which ones I'm aware of is a combination of what web sites make I seek out, based on a combination of who I choose to trust and where I get the most potent "hit" of satisfaction or whatever the part of me that I'm feeding craves.
Whenever a terrible thing happens in the world and you go to a news site to read about it, and they have a video of the terrible thing, there's this strange experience when (if) you click on the video, which is that before you watch the awful thing, they show you a little advertisement. Just for that little awful video. Sometimes it's very cheerful.
When the news used to be a single broadcast that you would watch on television, with commercial breaks. There was a sense that these companies bought advertising to pay for the news to be brought to you.
But now with sponsorship of individual moments of suffering, presented to comfortable gawking consumers, it feels like someone died in a far away place (so you don't have to!) and now you get to watch. And it's brought to you by Geico!
The thing that's hard to avoid is that where there is money to be made, money will be made there. When the news is juicy, we buy more Snapple.
The truth is that the news, if you're really paying attention, is complex and boring. I often set a goal for myself that I'm only going to read the news in the news paper and to stay away from Internet news. Because the stuff that goes up on the sites is immediate, brash and badly reported. They just scoop it and slop it and chuck it. The news paper has limited space. And they have until morning to get it to you. So there's more thought put into it. Internet news is heroin. Newspaper news is nutrition. That's MY view. Don't get all mad. I'm just sharing. I'm sure there are other avenues to the truth that are web based. When I walk into the coffee places where they are literally using lab equipment and glass beakers to make the perfect coffee, I get the sense that the young people sitting at the tables are reading blogs and sites that are quiet and thoughtful. My daughter reads a cocktail of blogs on her favorite subjects, knowing they each have a bias, and averages them out to find her truth.
But I'm 48. I actually remember Walter Cronkite reporting that Apollo Soyuz was orbiting and if you live in the north east you could look up and see white and red blinking lights together and that was them. And I ran out into my front yard in Newton Massachusetts and I saw. Wow. Now of course that was probably an airplane and maybe it was Dan Rather. And also I'm a liar.
Anyway I guess the more and more we share the day's news, the more we still have each our own personal way to see it. And to decide what's important. And what you think and feel about it.
I really hope that I didn't irritate anyone with this email.
Please watch episode 9 of Horace and Pete.
Louis
Songs from Georgia, KCRW (12.27.95)
Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Doe, & Smokey Hormel on KCRW and special guest Barbara Turner.
Setlist:
Buckets of Rain
There She Goes Again
I'll Be Your Mirror
Almost Blue
Yosel, Yosel
Setlist:
Buckets of Rain
There She Goes Again
I'll Be Your Mirror
Almost Blue
Yosel, Yosel
Georgia - Take Me Back (Ulu Grosbard, 1995)
Jennifer Jason Leigh & Mare Winningham.
(note: this full version will be taken down at some point)
(note: this full version will be taken down at some point)
L.A. Dive Bars (3.26.16.)
Am I a ghostwriter on this?
SMOG CUTTER
If you're willing to risk getting jabbed by a pool stick while singing karaoke and drinking cheap bottles of Miller High Life, then this dive's for you. From the sassy/surly staff and seasoned regulars to the dim lighting and well-worn decor, Smog Cutter has all the charm of a neighborhood local that doesn't really care if you like it or not. The place can get packed as the weekend nights wear on, so come early if you want to sing or snag a stool. And don't forget to bring cash.
Smog Cutter is located at 864 N Virgil Ave, East Hollywood.
CHEZ JAY
Once a favorite haunt for the Rat Pack and Hollywood's Golden Era stars, this reliable Santa Monica dive still maintains plenty of class. If you're in the mood for cold beer, quiet conversation, and throwing peanut shells over your shoulder, Chez Jay is the place. You might not beat the longtime regulars to a stool at the bar, but there's still plenty of tables in the cozy, dark bar or you can head out to the recently revamped patio to enjoy some sun. As an added bonus, their menu is pretty solid with great steaks that have kept locals coming back for years.
Chez Jay is located at 1657 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica
LOST & FOUND
While some early risers may be grabbing bagels next door, the dedicated regulars at this classic strip mall dive are already lined up at the bar. With a 6 a.m. opening, Lost & Found is a reliable, cash-only watering hole for strong, cheap drinks and a laid-back, friendly vibe. There's pool table and a solid, classic rock-heavy jukebox for entertainment, or you can just mind your own at the bar and test out your trivia knowledge on the cocktail napkins.
Lost & Found is located at 11700 National Blvd, Mar Vista
HINANO CAFE
Just down the street from the beach, this Venice stalwart is the perfect place to escape the sunshine and throw back a few cheap cold ones. Inside you'll find plenty of salty locals, a few pool tables, sawdust on the floor, a good beer selection and a really solid cheeseburger that's not to be missed. Pints are around $5 to $6 and you can get a pitcher for $15 or $17, depending on the beer. Plus they often have live music on the weekends—though it can get pretty crowded. Bring cash.
Hinano Cafe is located at 15 W. Washington Blvd, Venice
CLUB TEE GEE
This Atwater Village haunt is about as no-frills as a dive bar gets. And while you won't find karaoke or free popcorn, there is a dart board, jukebox, a few TVs, and inexpensive, potent drinks. Club Tee Gee has served as a refuge since 1946 and hasn't had much in the way of a revamp since sometime in the 70s it seems—including the gold-glittered green ceiling—and we're just fine with that.
Club Tee Gee is located at 3210 Glendale Blvd
THE DRAWING ROOM
Another bastion of cheap and strong pours that opens at 6 a.m., The Drawing Room remains a solidly divey destination despite efforts to the contrary around the neighborhood. Order up a drink, put in your requests at the jukebox and settle in to a worn, plush booth. You can also try your hand at the "fancy" electronic dart board in the back. Definitely bring hard currency and prepare to lose a few hours in this dark and red-hued cavern of a bar.
The Drawing Room is located at 1800 Hillhurst Ave, Los Feliz
TATTLE TALE ROOM
Another great dive bar for karaoke, this Culver City classic is perfect for cutting loose without breaking the bank. It's also another spot that opens at 6 a.m., so if you're looking to avoid the crowds, you can always come early. You'll encounter stiff pours and tallboy cans of beer, and while there's no food, you can always bring something in to balance out the booze. The crowd tends to be pretty diverse, ranging from older locals to newcomers, and things usually get pretty lively. The bar is, after all, officially known as Roger's Exciting Tattle Tale Room.
The Tattle Tale Room is located at 5401 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City.
THE SCARLET LADY SALOON
One can hardly mention the Tattle Tale Room without also raising a glass to the equally-divey—if not slightly more cheery—neighbor, The Scarlett Lady. You'll also find karaoke most nights, pool tables, dart boards and games, and oh yes, cheap cocktails and pitchers of beer. If you're lucky, the staff may even bring in some free food to feed the boozy crowd of regulars.
The Scarlet Lady Saloon is located at 5411 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City
THE FROLIC ROOM
This classic Hollywood haunt is still a refuge for the neighborhood's drinkers—both young and old. You'll find plenty of cheap, cold beer and strong, non-craft cocktails served up by vested bartenders decades older than most in the area. Rumor has it that the bar used to be a speakeasy for the adjoining Pantages Theatre during Prohibition. The bar hasn't changed much since the last remodel in 1963—including that amazing mural of caricatured stars—and we're hoping it stays that way.
The Frolic Room is located at 6245 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood
THE COLORADO BAR
This Pasadena favorite keeps things simple and the drinks inexpensive. They've got a great jukebox and plenty of tables perfect for catching up with friend over strong drinks. They've also got a couple of pool tables and feature the occasional live band. In classic dive fashion, there are no windows, so you can easily—and happily—lose track of time.
The Colorado Bar is located at 2640 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
ERCOLÉS
This Manhattan Beach institution since opening in 1927, and still maintains plenty of its original charms. Order up a cheap bottle of beer or a stiff drink and settle in to a booth to catch a game on the TVs or just wile away the day. There's also a pool table in back if you want to try your luck against the regulars. Should you get hungry, they serve up a delicious griddle-cooked burger that is really worth a try and you can get a $1 Dodger Dog when a game is on. And on Wednesdays, you can get two burgers for the price of one when you buy two drinks—just be sure to bring your cash.
Ercolés is located at 1101 Manhattan Ave, Manhattan Beach
MONTE CARLO
We'd consider the Monte Carlo to be a true dive, operating out of a single small room right on 3rd St., near Vermont. If you're looking for frills, hit up the nearby Lock & Key for its extensive craft cocktail selection. If you're looking for a place to chill without fanfare and watch the condensation form on a glass of cold poison, go to Monte Carlo. It's very much just a bar, and it's not too clean. It's got a diverse jukebox, cheap drinks, an old pool table and worn-in stools for contemplating life's questions. Bring cash. —Juliet Bennett Rylah
Monte Carlo is located at 3514 W 3rd Street in Koreatown.
The Speak Easy cocktail bar (via Facebook)
THE SPEAK EASY
It's rare to find a Santa Monica bar so uncomplicated and low-key, but The Speak Easy is the one. Don't let the name fool you: there's no password here or hidden door, and you're better off with a whiskey-ginger than an old-timey drink that requires a muddler. A couple of pool tables, a jukebox, and a long wooden bar will greet you as you walk into the dark bar. No-nonsense bartenders offer up stiff drinks for a cheap price here, and the crowd varies between twenty-somethings and retirees. It also opens every day at 10 a.m. —Juliet Bennett Rylah
The Speak Easy is located at 1326 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica
CHIMNEYSWEEP
This Sherman Oaks dive can be a lot of fun. The drinks are strong and cheap, and they have a decent selection of bottled and draft beers. You can grab a seat at the bar or one of the many plush booths, including one near the fireplace. It's not a bad place to camp out during the day if you need to get some work done. It's usually quiet, and has Wi-Fi. At night, the crowd picks up and there's usually a good sample of confident, if not talented, singers for karaoke. —Juliet Bennett Rylah
Chimneysweep is located at 4354 Woodman Ave. in Sherman Oaks
FRANK 'N HANK
The perfect spot for a nightcap after stuffing yourself silly with Beer Belly's duck fat fries or seeing a concert at the Wiltern, this classic Koreatown dive has retained its classic, grimy charm despite being in the nouveau-glitz and glamour of its surroundings. Beer Belly's Jimmy Han took over the spot in October and beefed up the liquor selection and added a little polish to some of the furnishings (they even take credit card now!), but the carpet is still fairly dingy and the pool table' felt still has the same scuffs. The drinks might cost a dollar extra, but whatever it takes to keep Frank 'N Hank around. —Carman Tse
Frank 'N Hank is located at 518 S Western Avenue, Koreatown
SMOG CUTTER
If you're willing to risk getting jabbed by a pool stick while singing karaoke and drinking cheap bottles of Miller High Life, then this dive's for you. From the sassy/surly staff and seasoned regulars to the dim lighting and well-worn decor, Smog Cutter has all the charm of a neighborhood local that doesn't really care if you like it or not. The place can get packed as the weekend nights wear on, so come early if you want to sing or snag a stool. And don't forget to bring cash.
Smog Cutter is located at 864 N Virgil Ave, East Hollywood.
CHEZ JAY
Once a favorite haunt for the Rat Pack and Hollywood's Golden Era stars, this reliable Santa Monica dive still maintains plenty of class. If you're in the mood for cold beer, quiet conversation, and throwing peanut shells over your shoulder, Chez Jay is the place. You might not beat the longtime regulars to a stool at the bar, but there's still plenty of tables in the cozy, dark bar or you can head out to the recently revamped patio to enjoy some sun. As an added bonus, their menu is pretty solid with great steaks that have kept locals coming back for years.
Chez Jay is located at 1657 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica
LOST & FOUND
While some early risers may be grabbing bagels next door, the dedicated regulars at this classic strip mall dive are already lined up at the bar. With a 6 a.m. opening, Lost & Found is a reliable, cash-only watering hole for strong, cheap drinks and a laid-back, friendly vibe. There's pool table and a solid, classic rock-heavy jukebox for entertainment, or you can just mind your own at the bar and test out your trivia knowledge on the cocktail napkins.
Lost & Found is located at 11700 National Blvd, Mar Vista
HINANO CAFE
Just down the street from the beach, this Venice stalwart is the perfect place to escape the sunshine and throw back a few cheap cold ones. Inside you'll find plenty of salty locals, a few pool tables, sawdust on the floor, a good beer selection and a really solid cheeseburger that's not to be missed. Pints are around $5 to $6 and you can get a pitcher for $15 or $17, depending on the beer. Plus they often have live music on the weekends—though it can get pretty crowded. Bring cash.
Hinano Cafe is located at 15 W. Washington Blvd, Venice
CLUB TEE GEE
This Atwater Village haunt is about as no-frills as a dive bar gets. And while you won't find karaoke or free popcorn, there is a dart board, jukebox, a few TVs, and inexpensive, potent drinks. Club Tee Gee has served as a refuge since 1946 and hasn't had much in the way of a revamp since sometime in the 70s it seems—including the gold-glittered green ceiling—and we're just fine with that.
Club Tee Gee is located at 3210 Glendale Blvd
THE DRAWING ROOM
Another bastion of cheap and strong pours that opens at 6 a.m., The Drawing Room remains a solidly divey destination despite efforts to the contrary around the neighborhood. Order up a drink, put in your requests at the jukebox and settle in to a worn, plush booth. You can also try your hand at the "fancy" electronic dart board in the back. Definitely bring hard currency and prepare to lose a few hours in this dark and red-hued cavern of a bar.
The Drawing Room is located at 1800 Hillhurst Ave, Los Feliz
TATTLE TALE ROOM
Another great dive bar for karaoke, this Culver City classic is perfect for cutting loose without breaking the bank. It's also another spot that opens at 6 a.m., so if you're looking to avoid the crowds, you can always come early. You'll encounter stiff pours and tallboy cans of beer, and while there's no food, you can always bring something in to balance out the booze. The crowd tends to be pretty diverse, ranging from older locals to newcomers, and things usually get pretty lively. The bar is, after all, officially known as Roger's Exciting Tattle Tale Room.
The Tattle Tale Room is located at 5401 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City.
THE SCARLET LADY SALOON
One can hardly mention the Tattle Tale Room without also raising a glass to the equally-divey—if not slightly more cheery—neighbor, The Scarlett Lady. You'll also find karaoke most nights, pool tables, dart boards and games, and oh yes, cheap cocktails and pitchers of beer. If you're lucky, the staff may even bring in some free food to feed the boozy crowd of regulars.
The Scarlet Lady Saloon is located at 5411 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City
THE FROLIC ROOM
This classic Hollywood haunt is still a refuge for the neighborhood's drinkers—both young and old. You'll find plenty of cheap, cold beer and strong, non-craft cocktails served up by vested bartenders decades older than most in the area. Rumor has it that the bar used to be a speakeasy for the adjoining Pantages Theatre during Prohibition. The bar hasn't changed much since the last remodel in 1963—including that amazing mural of caricatured stars—and we're hoping it stays that way.
The Frolic Room is located at 6245 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood
THE COLORADO BAR
This Pasadena favorite keeps things simple and the drinks inexpensive. They've got a great jukebox and plenty of tables perfect for catching up with friend over strong drinks. They've also got a couple of pool tables and feature the occasional live band. In classic dive fashion, there are no windows, so you can easily—and happily—lose track of time.
The Colorado Bar is located at 2640 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
ERCOLÉS
This Manhattan Beach institution since opening in 1927, and still maintains plenty of its original charms. Order up a cheap bottle of beer or a stiff drink and settle in to a booth to catch a game on the TVs or just wile away the day. There's also a pool table in back if you want to try your luck against the regulars. Should you get hungry, they serve up a delicious griddle-cooked burger that is really worth a try and you can get a $1 Dodger Dog when a game is on. And on Wednesdays, you can get two burgers for the price of one when you buy two drinks—just be sure to bring your cash.
Ercolés is located at 1101 Manhattan Ave, Manhattan Beach
MONTE CARLO
We'd consider the Monte Carlo to be a true dive, operating out of a single small room right on 3rd St., near Vermont. If you're looking for frills, hit up the nearby Lock & Key for its extensive craft cocktail selection. If you're looking for a place to chill without fanfare and watch the condensation form on a glass of cold poison, go to Monte Carlo. It's very much just a bar, and it's not too clean. It's got a diverse jukebox, cheap drinks, an old pool table and worn-in stools for contemplating life's questions. Bring cash. —Juliet Bennett Rylah
Monte Carlo is located at 3514 W 3rd Street in Koreatown.
The Speak Easy cocktail bar (via Facebook)
THE SPEAK EASY
It's rare to find a Santa Monica bar so uncomplicated and low-key, but The Speak Easy is the one. Don't let the name fool you: there's no password here or hidden door, and you're better off with a whiskey-ginger than an old-timey drink that requires a muddler. A couple of pool tables, a jukebox, and a long wooden bar will greet you as you walk into the dark bar. No-nonsense bartenders offer up stiff drinks for a cheap price here, and the crowd varies between twenty-somethings and retirees. It also opens every day at 10 a.m. —Juliet Bennett Rylah
The Speak Easy is located at 1326 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica
CHIMNEYSWEEP
This Sherman Oaks dive can be a lot of fun. The drinks are strong and cheap, and they have a decent selection of bottled and draft beers. You can grab a seat at the bar or one of the many plush booths, including one near the fireplace. It's not a bad place to camp out during the day if you need to get some work done. It's usually quiet, and has Wi-Fi. At night, the crowd picks up and there's usually a good sample of confident, if not talented, singers for karaoke. —Juliet Bennett Rylah
Chimneysweep is located at 4354 Woodman Ave. in Sherman Oaks
FRANK 'N HANK
The perfect spot for a nightcap after stuffing yourself silly with Beer Belly's duck fat fries or seeing a concert at the Wiltern, this classic Koreatown dive has retained its classic, grimy charm despite being in the nouveau-glitz and glamour of its surroundings. Beer Belly's Jimmy Han took over the spot in October and beefed up the liquor selection and added a little polish to some of the furnishings (they even take credit card now!), but the carpet is still fairly dingy and the pool table' felt still has the same scuffs. The drinks might cost a dollar extra, but whatever it takes to keep Frank 'N Hank around. —Carman Tse
Frank 'N Hank is located at 518 S Western Avenue, Koreatown
Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band (with special guest Eddie Vedder) -- Bobby Jean
Key Arena. Seattle, WA. March 24, 2016.
now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their nose
we liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same clothes
we told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we'd ever seen
now i wished you would have told me i wished i could have talked to you
just to say goodbye Bobby Jean
now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from the world we hid
now there ain't nobody nowhere no how gonna ever understand me the way you did
maybe you'll be out there on that road somewhere
in some bus or train traveling along
in some motel room there'll be a radio playing
and you'll hear me sing this song
well if you do you'll know I'm thinking of you and all the miles in between
and I'm just calling one last time not to change your mind
but just to say I miss you baby, good luck goodbye, Bobby Jean
now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their nose
we liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same clothes
we told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we'd ever seen
now i wished you would have told me i wished i could have talked to you
just to say goodbye Bobby Jean
now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from the world we hid
now there ain't nobody nowhere no how gonna ever understand me the way you did
maybe you'll be out there on that road somewhere
in some bus or train traveling along
in some motel room there'll be a radio playing
and you'll hear me sing this song
well if you do you'll know I'm thinking of you and all the miles in between
and I'm just calling one last time not to change your mind
but just to say I miss you baby, good luck goodbye, Bobby Jean
Friday, March 25, 2016
The Dating Game circa 1976
“Bachelor #1: describe your perfect first date.”
“I nod off in Rock’s basement while reading sci-fi novels and playing scales, then accidentally set an ottoman ablaze. You can do whatever you want.”
“Garcia?”
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Grateful Dead - Riverbend Music Center (June 24th, 1985)
Cincinnati, OH
Set 2
Iko Iko
Samson & Delilah
He's Gone
Smokestack Lightnin'
Cryptical Envelopment->
Drums->
Comes a Time->
The Other One->
Cryptical Envelopment->
Wharf Rat
Around & Around
Good Lovin'
Notes:
I skipped the first set. Iko Iko notified me of the casio sound that it was 1985. but it got me movin.' cryptical through wharf rat transforms to the psychedelic good ol' grateful dead. seamless hour of music. time disappears. a momentary trip and forward. around & around lands you back to skip the rest.
Set 2
Iko Iko
Samson & Delilah
He's Gone
Smokestack Lightnin'
Cryptical Envelopment->
Drums->
Comes a Time->
The Other One->
Cryptical Envelopment->
Wharf Rat
Around & Around
Good Lovin'
Notes:
I skipped the first set. Iko Iko notified me of the casio sound that it was 1985. but it got me movin.' cryptical through wharf rat transforms to the psychedelic good ol' grateful dead. seamless hour of music. time disappears. a momentary trip and forward. around & around lands you back to skip the rest.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Bob Dylan -- Dubuque, Iowa (11.12.96)
No Security. The 90s grunge scene invade dylan tour. (stage jumpers and gals start around the 40 minute mark during "Silvio.")
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973)
"Legends in their own time. But time was running out."
Opening The Books on Donald Trump's Business Deals in Atlantic City
Fresh Air with Washington Post investigative reporter Robert O'Hara (who dissected Trump's acquisition of the Taj Mahal casino/hotel, which went into bankruptcy a year after it opened.)
Donald Trump is running for president without ever having held elected office, but he offers as qualifications his record as a great businessman and dealmaker. This week, he tweeted that he will make the American economy sing again. Here's an example of what Trump promised last June when he announced that he was entering the race for the Republican nomination for president.
DONALD TRUMP: Rebuild the country's infrastructure. Nobody can do that like me. Believe me. It will be done on time, on budget, way below cost, way below what anyone ever thought.
GROSS: My guest, Robert O'Harrow, a reporter with The Washington Post's investigative unit, has examined Trump's business practices and the promises he made when Trump acquired Atlantic City's Taj Mahal before the Taj was completed. The Taj was Atlantic City's largest casino hotel complex when it opened in 1990. Trump already owned two other Atlantic City casinos, Trump Plaza and Trump Castle. These three casinos could have enabled him to dominate gambling on the East Coast. But the year after the Taj opened, it filed for bankruptcy.
O'Harrow says this was the first and most significant of the four bankruptcies Trump's companies have experienced. Robert O'Harrow, welcome to FRESH AIR. Let's start with why you wanted to examine Donald Trump's business deals. Why did you choose the Taj Mahal as the focus of your longest piece?
ROBERT O'HARROW: We decided to look at bankruptcies in general after the issue came up over and over again in the debates. In each case, Donald Trump assured voters and viewers that he personally had never gone bankrupt, and so we thought we ought to examine the details and find out what sort of culpability might have he had, what forces were working against him.
And in doing that, it became clear to us that the Taj stood as perhaps his most - the most significant bankruptcy that he was involved with. It was his first, and it had some elements to it that were seen strikingly germane to the current election.
GROSS: So why did he want the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City?
O'HARROW: In the 1980s, Donald Trump made a successful move into the casino business in Atlantic City, and he had acquired and built two casinos. And there came an opportunity to get involved with the Taj Mahal when the then-owner of it died suddenly and the company, Resorts International, went into flux. And so Donald Trump saw an opportunity to become the dominant gambling force in Atlantic City.
GROSS: And the Taj Mahal was only what, like, half completed by then? It wasn't a functioning casino yet. It was still being built.
O'HARROW: No, it was what many people at the time called a white elephant. It was the dream of the resort's owner to build this tremendous, lavish, giant facility. But it stalled for a lot of reasons, not least of which was the financing. And so yes, it was a hulking, half-finished building.
GROSS: So when Donald Trump took over the Taj Mahal casino, he had to convince the casino commission that he could raise enough money to complete the project. And he bragged that he could get a better deal than other developers could get and that he wouldn't have to rely on junk bonds. And just so we can understand, could you explain what junk bonds are and why Donald Trump tried to convince the commission that he would avoid using them?
O'HARROW: Well, I should point out first here that this is one of the reasons why we thought this was such a relevant story to today. And the key here is that Donald Trump had to convince this commission that he could raise enough money at a low enough interest rate to make this ambitious project feasible.
And what he told the commission in early 1988 was that he wouldn't use a type of loan called a junk bond. And a bond, of course, pays people loaning the money a certain amount of interest rate in exchange for loaning the money. Junk bonds are called junk bonds because they're very high-risk, and, as a result, they pay a much higher interest rate than a traditional loan or, let's say, a mortgage would pay. So junk bonds were available to a whole host of developers and entrepreneurs back in the '80s.
The problem, of course, is the more interest you take on, the higher the risk of the failure of the project because it means you have to make more money to pay off the loans. Now, at the time, junk bonds were very common. But Donald Trump appeared before the commission, and he made a very, very stark promise. And he did it in a way that has similarities to some of his statements today. He did it with disdain, and he did it in an unequivocal way. And he said, for example, that he would get loans from regular banks not junk bonds, and he said junk bonds are ridiculous. He said the funny thing with junk bonds is that junk bonds are what make - what made the companies junk. And he said - he just flat out said he would not use them, and that was in February of 1988.
GROSS: Yeah, and I want to quote him from a transcript of one of these Casino Commission hearings. He said, I don't have to use junk bonds. I can use my own funds or I can use regular bank borrowing, so I can build at the prime rate. I mean, the banks call me all the time. Can we loan you money? Can we do this? Can we do that? And he also says it's easier to finance if Donald Trump owns it. With me, they know that there's a certainty that they would get interest. I get it done, and everybody is happy. And it turns out successfully. So those are the promises he was making to the Casino Commission.
O'HARROW: That's right. What he was selling was himself, and he said he could pull off this project for one main reason - because he was Donald Trump.
GROSS: Was Donald Trump able to get the lower interest bank loans that he promised? 'Cause he promised, I won't use high-interest junk bonds. I'm going to get good rates from banks.
O'HARROW: No, the striking thing for us is just months after he received the approvals that he needed for the Taj, he discovered the prime-rate loans never materialized. He was still determined to move forward. As he told me in a phone conversation, he didn't want to be personally liable for whatever happened, so he went ahead and got the junk bonds after all and paid roughly 50 percent more than he had told the commission he would in order to raise $675 million.
GROSS: So Trump ends up doing what he said he wouldn't do, financing the Taj with the help of junk bonds. He wanted the Taj to be the biggest and the most luxurious, extravagant, whatever casino. It was definitely going to be the biggest. But were there, like, extravagances that he spent money on that he maybe had second thoughts about later when he went bankrupt?
O'HARROW: I've never heard him express any regrets about what he spent money on, but he definitely spent a lot more money than he originally projected. His plans included super deluxe suites and crystal chandeliers and all these expenses, and Trump was questioned about it. And they pressed him about his projected costs which were going to add luxury suites and gourmet restaurants and opulent fixtures, and the commission referred to them as extras.
And one of the commissioners asked him, don't people have to live within their means? And Trump responded that the costs were insignificant, and that they were really necessary to impress customers. He said we are probably talking about a difference of 50 million or so. He said, I mean, the worst thing to happen with the Taj Mahal is for the building to open and for people to have been disappointed with it because word-of-mouth on something like this is so important. He said, it's like a Broadway show.
GROSS: Right. If word-of-mouth is bad in a Broadway show, it's going to close.
O'HARROW: He added one thought that I - depending on your point of view - is true or ironic. He said, my basic attitude has always been that I want to do what is good for Atlantic City.
GROSS: So the Taj Mahal opened in April of 1990. Michael Jackson was the star guest. How were Trump's finances by the time the Taj actually opened?
O'HARROW: Only some people seemed to understand it at the time, but it soon became clear that his company's finances were in dire straits. He had taken on too much debt in a number of different areas, including his other casinos. And so when it came time to pay the interest payments on his junk bonds, the Trump company finances went into a tailspin. And so to jump forward a little bit in July 1991, the Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy.
GROSS: What does that mean exactly?
O'HARROW: That's when you're seeking protection from creditors in order to reorganize your finances. And this is a very important point, Terry, because this is one of the ways Donald Trump says that he's a great negotiator. When you go into bankruptcy, you begin negotiating with the lenders, and in this case, it included large banks who were in it to try to make lots of money. And Donald Trump began negotiating and trying to rearrange the deal in order to salvage his ownership of the Taj.
GROSS: Was he able to renegotiate the deal?
O'HARROW: He was, and he ended up giving - eventually on not only the Taj but on the two other casinos over the next couple of years - gave up significant ownership of those to the banks as part of the negotiations.
GROSS: So he could brag that he negotiated a great deal, but the deal depended on him giving up a lot of what he owned and handing it over to the bank.
O'HARROW: A lot of these circumstances depends on how you view the outcomes and if - how you decide to frame it. And Donald Trump has framed these bankruptcies and others and his experience in Atlantic City as an extremely profitable set of endeavors for him. So he says that he was at the helm, at a time when Atlantic City was going through a very tough economic time, that everybody was suffering from it.
The East Coast was suffering from an economic downturn where he ascribes much of the blame for the troubles, and he said - he told me that he had no regrets whatsoever about how things unfolded. He said, the Taj Mahal was a very successful job for me. He said, it's not personal. This was just business. And then he said, I got out great.
GROSS: If you just look at it mathematically, how much money did Donald Trump make or lose by the time he sold the Taj?
O'HARROW: It's a terrific question because in some ways it's unanswerable. Because the Taj was a private company, it's hard for anybody to get deep into the books and to be able to pass judgment on exactly how much he was up or how much he was down. But the Casino Control Commission did some studies of his numbers, and they're really interesting. About the time the Taj was opening, that casino and his two other casinos had a total of about $1.3 billion in debt. And Trump himself personally had guaranteed 833 million of it, and that's according to the Casino Control Commission.
There was a lot of debate. What was his net worth? Trump said that it was about 1.4 billion. Forbes Magazine put it at about 500 million. And the Casino Control Commission reported that it was actually worth 206 million, and that's because - how do you do the math? Well, Donald Trump did the math on the value of the assets that he was involved with. The others did the math subtracting how much debt was owned by other people. It gets complicated, but one of the things that we know is that by March of 1991 - and this is a year after the casino opened - the Casino Control Commission said that he was in noncompliance - that's their word - on $1.1 billion in loans across his empire and that included the Taj, Trump Shuttle Airline, which we haven't mentioned he owned that, the Castle, which was another casino, Trump Palm Beach Corp. down in Florida and Mar-a-Lago, the spectacular estate in Florida. So that's a lot of detail for you, and it's suffice to say that to stay afloat, he had to give up the airline. He gave up a very expensive yacht and other holdings in order to keep his enterprises going.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Robert O'Harrow. He's a reporter with The Washington Post. He works on the investigative unit, and he's written several articles about Donald Trump's businesses examining his business practices. And in his largest article so far about Donald Trump's business practices - is about the Taj Mahal casino. Let's take a short break, then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. And if you're just joining us, my guest is Washington Post reporter Robert O'Harrow, who's a reporter in the investigative unit. And what he's been examining lately - well, one of the things he's been examining lately is Donald Trump's business practices.
Donald Trump has never held elected office, but he's promised that because he is such a great businessman and makes such great deals that he'd be able to do a great job running the country and making business deals and so on. The largest article that O'Harrow has written so far about Trump has to do with the Trump Taj Mahal, the large casino that Trump owned and then sold after it went into bankruptcy.
So when you file for bankruptcy for your business but you own all the shares in the business and it's a private company, where is the line between a personal and a corporate bankruptcy, especially if you've personally guaranteed some of the loans that your company has taken out?
O'HARROW: You've just asked a question that they examine in the best law schools in the country. But suffice it to say that there is a line, and he filed corporate bankruptcies, not personal bankruptcies here. And he has rightfully pointed out that the law provides bankruptcy in a positive way. It's to enable entrepreneurs to restructure and to keep going rather than just fail outright.
And so, you know, we need to note something that he has said repeatedly is that he used the laws of the nation to his own benefit. And everybody's going to have to decide on their own the degree to which he was personally involved here and what that means to them because there's no question this was a corporate bankruptcy.
GROSS: So we actually have a clip standing by of exactly what you talking about, so let's listen to this clip. And this is an excerpt of the first Republican debate hosted by Fox News. This is August 6, 2015, and the person asking the question is Chris Wallace.
CHRIS WALLACE: Trump Corporation's casinos and hotels have declared bankruptcy four times over the last quarter-century. In 2011, you told Forbes Magazine this - I've used the laws of the country to my advantage. But at the same time, financial experts involved in those bankruptcies say that lenders to your companies lost billions of dollars. Question, sir. With that record, why should we trust you to run the nation's business?
TRUMP: Because I have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, for myself, for my employees, for my family, et cetera. I have never gone bankrupt, by the way. I have never. But out of hundreds of people...
WALLACE: ...No, but sir, that's...
TRUMP: Excuse me.
WALLACE: ...You're lying.
TRUMP: Excuse me...
WALLACE: ...But your companies have gone bankrupt.
TRUMP: Out of - what am I saying? Out of hundreds of deals that I've done, hundreds, on four occasions I've taken advantage of the laws of this country like other people. I'm not going to name their names 'cause I'm not going to embarrass them, but virtually every person that you read about on the front page of the business sections, they've used the laws. The difference is when somebody else uses those laws, nobody writes about it.
GROSS: So, Robert O'Harrow, when you spoke to people who had worked with Trump and when you spoke to members of the casino commission in New Jersey, did they talk to you about how he used the bankruptcy laws and if he used them kind of, like, straightforwardly or if there was a lot of, like, manipulation of those laws?
O'HARROW: I did. You know, of course, some of these folks feel spurned by Donald Trump because he made a whole host of promises and they felt that he didn't keep his promises. One of them was Steven Perskie. He's the former chairman of the Casino Control Commission. He also was a former Democratic lawmaker.
Now he worked very closely with Trump to sort through a lot of these problems that came along, and the way he describes it is that the city - Atlantic City officials and the casino regulators were in a really tough spot because Atlantic City was struggling. The casino business was struggling. And in maneuvering the way that he did, according to Perskie, Trump gave them really no choice but to keep going. And here's what Perskie said.
When I read and hear him say he was beloved in Atlantic City, that was before the bankruptcy. He remembers to perceive how he started, not how he was perceived when he left.
And Perskie went on to tell me that it got to the point where Donald Trump himself was such a force in Atlantic City with the three different casinos that he became too big to fail, so that they cut him slack with that in mind because they were worried about the impact on a city that was already struggling.
GROSS: Because if this huge casino, the Taj, went under, it would be bad for all of Atlantic City.
O'HARROW: Well, not just the Taj. The other two casinos also struggled and eventually filed bankruptcy as well.
GROSS: My guest is Robert O'Harrow, a reporter for The Washington Post's investigative unit. We're talking about his article examining Donald Trump's business practices and deals when he took over the Atlantic City casino hotel the Taj Mahal. After we take a short break, we'll talk about who lost out when the Taj went bankrupt. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross, back with Robert O'Harrow, a reporter with The Washington Post investigative unit. We're talking about an article he wrote examining Donald Trump's deals and promises when he took over the not-yet-completed Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. When it opened in 1990, it was the largest casino hotel in Atlantic City. He already owned two other casinos in the city, Trump's Castle and Trump Plaza. The year after the Taj opened, it filed for bankruptcy. When we left off, we had listened to a clip from the first Republican candidates debate, which was hosted by Fox News in August. Chris Wallace had asked Trump about his company's four bankruptcies.
So in that clip that we heard, Donald Trump said that he did a great job for his company, for himself, for his employees and his family. And he's talking about how the Taj ended up after bankruptcy. But you looked into, like, who lost money on this deal when he declared bankruptcy and couldn't pay all of his loans. So who lost out?
O'HARROW: The answer about who was affected is deeper than it might seem because in March of 1992, Trump's Castle and his Plaza casinos also filed for bankruptcy. And to resolve those debts, Trump gave up half his stake in each of the casino to the lenders. So the lenders definitely lost money through the cascading failures of these three casinos. But small-time investors who had bought the bonds directly or through retirement funds also suffered losses. And so did small business owners who sold the Trump organization paint, equipment, food, limousine services. And many of those were eventually paid only a fraction of what they were due. And we know this in part because a professor at Temple University - in your town - Bryant Simon went in and studied Atlantic City and found that a lot of people recall having to struggle to get by after these bankruptcies.
Bryant Simon - the professor - told me that Trump was quote, "a brutal and ruthless negotiator." And he said that people paid the price. And when I brought that up with Donald Trump, he said that he acknowledged that he drove hard bargains, but he said that he created many opportunities for a lot of people in the city to make money. And here's what he told me.
I wasn't the nicest person on earth. Many of these same people, if not all, made a lot of money with me.
GROSS: I want to play another Donald Trump clip. And this also is from the first Republican debate, which was hosted by Fox News on August 6, 2015. And this is Donald Trump speaking. And he's speaking about getting out of the casino business in Atlantic City.
TRUMP: I had the good sense to leave Atlantic City - which by the way, Caesar's just went bankrupt. Every company - Chris can tell you - every company, virtually, in Atlantic City went bankrupt - every company. And let me just tell you; I had the good sense - and I've gotten a lot of credit in the financial pages. Seven years ago, I left Atlantic City before it totally cratered. And I made a lot of money in Atlantic City. And I'm very proud of it.
GROSS: OK, and the Chris that Donald Trump referred to is Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. And of course, Atlantic City is in New Jersey. So what do you think about when you hear that? Like, what facts did you find that either back up or contradict what Donald Trump just said?
O'HARROW: Well, I'm going to tell you what Steve Perskie told me. But first, I think it's worth noting - and I've been struck by this during the whole election - that how often Donald Trump uses money as the measurement of his civic virtue, or his talent, or his credential to become the president of the United States. And clearly, money can serve as one way of measuring success. But it's - in my business over the years as a journalist, I haven't seen another candidate rely so much on claims of wealth to underscore personal integrity.
GROSS: Right. Well, you know, he said, I made a lot of money in Atlantic City. We've been talking about his bankruptcies, how he couldn't pay off his debts, how people who he owed money to lost money. So is it true that he made a lot of money in Atlantic City, as he said, by the time he actually pulled out? Can we - can you tell whether he made money or lost money?
O'HARROW: Oh, I think he made money. The degree to which he made money and how he made it I think is open to question. I would like to get specifics. But getting specifics on the actual dollar value and how they're anchored to particular deals and bottom lines is a very difficult thing. But I think that probably the - the - maybe the thing that is more illuminating for me is the reaction that people had after he was gone. And Steven Perskie - again, I think his voice is interesting. And he said to me this.
Trump was welcomed with open arms by everybody. And he provided the sense that he was able to do everything he promised, Perskie told me a few months ago. He said, his name and his legacy in the city were significantly tarnished. The business community and regulators no longer accepted the music of the Pied Piper.
I thought that was really an interesting statement from a man that in some ways helped Trump get through the bankruptcies by allowing him to continue to do business.
GROSS: You should just refresh our memory of who Perskie is.
O'HARROW: Perskie is the - was the head of the Casino Control Commission at the time that Donald Trump was going - and the Taj - were going through the bankruptcies.
GROSS: Donald Trump owned two other casinos in Atlantic City that ran into financial trouble. One of them was the Castle - Trump's Castle. And there was a point when he owed a lot of money for the Castle, and he couldn't pay off the debts. So he got a loan from his father, Fred Trump, who founded the real estate empire that Donald Trump came to take over. So he got a loan from his father. And it's an odd kind of loan. And I'm going to ask you to describe how it worked.
O'HARROW: Sure. It really is a fascinating episode because let's remember that Donald Trump was a young man still when all of this was unfolding. And he was the son of a real estate tycoon in Greater New York area and in fact really got his start with help from his father, who underwrote a lot of loans. This loan in particular is singular. The Castle was facing the prospect that it could not pay lenders the high interest on the loans that were outstanding. Now, they knew it. But nobody else knew it. They head off the crisis. And because Donald Trump himself did not have enough money to pay the interest, he turned to his father. And the father sent a lawyer into the Castle and handed over a check for $3.3 million, according to the Casino Control Commission documents. And that was called front money, as though it was going to be used for gambling. And the lawyer walked out with an equivalent amount of $5,000 chips in a bag. The next day, they did the same thing and bought chips worth $150,000 and walked out with those. That money that was handed over for the chips was used in part to pay for the interest. And the casino recorded it as an outstanding gaming liability. But when state officials examined it later, they ruled that in fact it was a surreptitious loan and that it violated the state casino regulations. And the State Division of Gaming Enforcement fined the Castle $65,000 for participating. Donald Trump was never found culpable of any wrongdoing, and nor was his father, Fred.
GROSS: I guess I'm a little confused why they weren't found guilty of any wrongdoing, since the
money - the way you described it - was from the father for the son - for Trump.
O'HARROW: That's right. It was the father giving the son's business - the Castle - this infusion of money. And that was used to pay the - you know, you're not the only one who is mystified. Armstrong - the Casino Control Commissioner - was very distressed that more wasn't done with it. But that's where it stands.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Robert O'Harrow. He's a reporter with the investigative unit of The Washington Post. And we're talking about stories that he wrote examining Donald Trump's business practices. Let's take a short break. Then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR, and if you're just joining us, my guest is Robert O'Harrow. He's a reporter with The Washington Post's investigative unit. We're talking about stories that he's written examining Donald Trump's business practices. We've been focusing on O'Harrow's examination of Donald Trump and the Trump Taj Mahal, the very large casino that he owned in Atlantic City that went into bankruptcy.
So this is a very complicated business story that you've written, and a complicated examination that you undertook. So what's your takeaway?
O'HARROW: There's a couple of things that I was struck by while I was reading through all of these records and all of these transcripts and eventually briefly talking with Donald Trump. And the stories are complicated. And they're massively complicated. But at some level, there's something very, very simple that happened that is worth thinking about when thinking about a presidential candidate. In this case, Donald Trump had tremendous ambition to finish something that some people said was an impossibility. You cannot make this Taj Mahal work. And he went after it. And his ambition was notable. Along the way, he was questioned by regulators who were supposed to look out for the interest of the state and Atlantic City. Well, how can you do this when nobody else can? And his answer was very clean and clear. Because I'm me, he said. In effect, he said, because I'm Donald Trump, and I'm going to get money at such a low rate that this is just going to become one of the greatest successes of all-time.
And he derided a financing method that he said he wouldn't - that was ridiculous and he wouldn't use, which was junk bonds. And then a few months later, as we said, he used those. So he - tremendous ambition, tremendous set of promises and he turned his back on his promises. And then he told me, that was my prerogative. Now, I think it probably was his prerogative. But as a reporter trying to take stock of a presidential candidate, I think that's noteworthy. Making promises, changing the promises or turning your back on them, suffering the consequences and then later saying, that's my prerogative. So I think a very complex story can be reduced to something really quite that simple.
GROSS: Now, he threatened to sue you when you were writing this story. What was the nature of the threat?
O'HARROW: Well, he seemed very concerned that I was going to somehow frame this as a personal bankruptcy. I told him multiple times I wasn't going to do that. But I think in his anxiety about this being a personal bankruptcy, he got a little distressed. And he said this was not personal; this was a corporate deal. If you write this one, I'm suing you. And, you know, I assured him that I understood the difference, and, you know, we've reported that in the story because we felt that it was part of the story after he made the, you know, that statement.
And talking to him was very, very interesting. And he underscored probably a couple, three times that he was worth billions of dollars. And I told him that I understood that. And, you know, it was an interesting conversation. I will say that after having spoken to him and read and seen much of what he's said during this campaign, the similarities in language between now and then are really striking. And the core of his promise then and now is very, very striking. And in some ways, it comes down to two words - believe me. And it's hard not to ruminate on that.
GROSS: After the bankruptcy of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino, what effect did that have on Donald Trump's other businesses and on his general approach to business?
O'HARROW: So at the time of the Taj's bankruptcy, Trump's organization labored under tremendous debt across the board. And his empire owed something like $3 billion-plus to institutional lenders. And Trump had personally guaranteed 833 million of that, according to the Casino Control Commission. So over about three years, he gave up half through negotiations of the three casinos and sold off a number of his assets, including a small airline that he had and a giant yacht that he had down in Florida in order to remain, you know, afloat. And over the years, Trump eventually adopted a kind of a new approach to his business, where he chose not to have his own money personally invested and that he started building an empire that was built around his brand and selling his brand. And he now claims that that approach has helped him earn enough money so that he claims to be worth $10 billion dollars now.
GROSS: What does it mean when Donald Trump licenses his name so that something becomes the Trump something? So it's like, you know, Trump Steaks or Trump Water or Trump magazine. Like, what...
O'HARROW: Or Trump buildings - what it is is very simple. He'll, for a fee - large fees - he'll allow a building to put his name on the building. And he may take a role in helping management, helping promotion and so on.
GROSS: So he has a role in it, but it's not his business per se, even though the business carries his name?
O'HARROW: Well, branding is a real business. Lots of companies brand. But with Donald Trump, it's a personal brand that he's selling, which I think lends, in many people's eyes, lends cache, glitter, the promise of glamour. If it's a Trump building, a lot of people will want to rent there. I think that's - that at least is the theory.
GROSS: Robert O'Harrow, thank you so much for talking with us.
O'HARROW: Thanks for having me on.
GROSS: Robert O'Harrow is a reporter with the investigative unit of The Washington Post. His article about Trump's Taj Mahal is called "Trump's Bad Bet: How Too Much Debt Drove His Biggest Casino Aground." After a short break, rock historian Ed Ward will tell us about the band Them, in which Van Morrison got his start. This is FRESH AIR.
Donald Trump is running for president without ever having held elected office, but he offers as qualifications his record as a great businessman and dealmaker. This week, he tweeted that he will make the American economy sing again. Here's an example of what Trump promised last June when he announced that he was entering the race for the Republican nomination for president.
DONALD TRUMP: Rebuild the country's infrastructure. Nobody can do that like me. Believe me. It will be done on time, on budget, way below cost, way below what anyone ever thought.
GROSS: My guest, Robert O'Harrow, a reporter with The Washington Post's investigative unit, has examined Trump's business practices and the promises he made when Trump acquired Atlantic City's Taj Mahal before the Taj was completed. The Taj was Atlantic City's largest casino hotel complex when it opened in 1990. Trump already owned two other Atlantic City casinos, Trump Plaza and Trump Castle. These three casinos could have enabled him to dominate gambling on the East Coast. But the year after the Taj opened, it filed for bankruptcy.
O'Harrow says this was the first and most significant of the four bankruptcies Trump's companies have experienced. Robert O'Harrow, welcome to FRESH AIR. Let's start with why you wanted to examine Donald Trump's business deals. Why did you choose the Taj Mahal as the focus of your longest piece?
ROBERT O'HARROW: We decided to look at bankruptcies in general after the issue came up over and over again in the debates. In each case, Donald Trump assured voters and viewers that he personally had never gone bankrupt, and so we thought we ought to examine the details and find out what sort of culpability might have he had, what forces were working against him.
And in doing that, it became clear to us that the Taj stood as perhaps his most - the most significant bankruptcy that he was involved with. It was his first, and it had some elements to it that were seen strikingly germane to the current election.
GROSS: So why did he want the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City?
O'HARROW: In the 1980s, Donald Trump made a successful move into the casino business in Atlantic City, and he had acquired and built two casinos. And there came an opportunity to get involved with the Taj Mahal when the then-owner of it died suddenly and the company, Resorts International, went into flux. And so Donald Trump saw an opportunity to become the dominant gambling force in Atlantic City.
GROSS: And the Taj Mahal was only what, like, half completed by then? It wasn't a functioning casino yet. It was still being built.
O'HARROW: No, it was what many people at the time called a white elephant. It was the dream of the resort's owner to build this tremendous, lavish, giant facility. But it stalled for a lot of reasons, not least of which was the financing. And so yes, it was a hulking, half-finished building.
GROSS: So when Donald Trump took over the Taj Mahal casino, he had to convince the casino commission that he could raise enough money to complete the project. And he bragged that he could get a better deal than other developers could get and that he wouldn't have to rely on junk bonds. And just so we can understand, could you explain what junk bonds are and why Donald Trump tried to convince the commission that he would avoid using them?
O'HARROW: Well, I should point out first here that this is one of the reasons why we thought this was such a relevant story to today. And the key here is that Donald Trump had to convince this commission that he could raise enough money at a low enough interest rate to make this ambitious project feasible.
And what he told the commission in early 1988 was that he wouldn't use a type of loan called a junk bond. And a bond, of course, pays people loaning the money a certain amount of interest rate in exchange for loaning the money. Junk bonds are called junk bonds because they're very high-risk, and, as a result, they pay a much higher interest rate than a traditional loan or, let's say, a mortgage would pay. So junk bonds were available to a whole host of developers and entrepreneurs back in the '80s.
The problem, of course, is the more interest you take on, the higher the risk of the failure of the project because it means you have to make more money to pay off the loans. Now, at the time, junk bonds were very common. But Donald Trump appeared before the commission, and he made a very, very stark promise. And he did it in a way that has similarities to some of his statements today. He did it with disdain, and he did it in an unequivocal way. And he said, for example, that he would get loans from regular banks not junk bonds, and he said junk bonds are ridiculous. He said the funny thing with junk bonds is that junk bonds are what make - what made the companies junk. And he said - he just flat out said he would not use them, and that was in February of 1988.
GROSS: Yeah, and I want to quote him from a transcript of one of these Casino Commission hearings. He said, I don't have to use junk bonds. I can use my own funds or I can use regular bank borrowing, so I can build at the prime rate. I mean, the banks call me all the time. Can we loan you money? Can we do this? Can we do that? And he also says it's easier to finance if Donald Trump owns it. With me, they know that there's a certainty that they would get interest. I get it done, and everybody is happy. And it turns out successfully. So those are the promises he was making to the Casino Commission.
O'HARROW: That's right. What he was selling was himself, and he said he could pull off this project for one main reason - because he was Donald Trump.
GROSS: Was Donald Trump able to get the lower interest bank loans that he promised? 'Cause he promised, I won't use high-interest junk bonds. I'm going to get good rates from banks.
O'HARROW: No, the striking thing for us is just months after he received the approvals that he needed for the Taj, he discovered the prime-rate loans never materialized. He was still determined to move forward. As he told me in a phone conversation, he didn't want to be personally liable for whatever happened, so he went ahead and got the junk bonds after all and paid roughly 50 percent more than he had told the commission he would in order to raise $675 million.
GROSS: So Trump ends up doing what he said he wouldn't do, financing the Taj with the help of junk bonds. He wanted the Taj to be the biggest and the most luxurious, extravagant, whatever casino. It was definitely going to be the biggest. But were there, like, extravagances that he spent money on that he maybe had second thoughts about later when he went bankrupt?
O'HARROW: I've never heard him express any regrets about what he spent money on, but he definitely spent a lot more money than he originally projected. His plans included super deluxe suites and crystal chandeliers and all these expenses, and Trump was questioned about it. And they pressed him about his projected costs which were going to add luxury suites and gourmet restaurants and opulent fixtures, and the commission referred to them as extras.
And one of the commissioners asked him, don't people have to live within their means? And Trump responded that the costs were insignificant, and that they were really necessary to impress customers. He said we are probably talking about a difference of 50 million or so. He said, I mean, the worst thing to happen with the Taj Mahal is for the building to open and for people to have been disappointed with it because word-of-mouth on something like this is so important. He said, it's like a Broadway show.
GROSS: Right. If word-of-mouth is bad in a Broadway show, it's going to close.
O'HARROW: He added one thought that I - depending on your point of view - is true or ironic. He said, my basic attitude has always been that I want to do what is good for Atlantic City.
GROSS: So the Taj Mahal opened in April of 1990. Michael Jackson was the star guest. How were Trump's finances by the time the Taj actually opened?
O'HARROW: Only some people seemed to understand it at the time, but it soon became clear that his company's finances were in dire straits. He had taken on too much debt in a number of different areas, including his other casinos. And so when it came time to pay the interest payments on his junk bonds, the Trump company finances went into a tailspin. And so to jump forward a little bit in July 1991, the Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy.
GROSS: What does that mean exactly?
O'HARROW: That's when you're seeking protection from creditors in order to reorganize your finances. And this is a very important point, Terry, because this is one of the ways Donald Trump says that he's a great negotiator. When you go into bankruptcy, you begin negotiating with the lenders, and in this case, it included large banks who were in it to try to make lots of money. And Donald Trump began negotiating and trying to rearrange the deal in order to salvage his ownership of the Taj.
GROSS: Was he able to renegotiate the deal?
O'HARROW: He was, and he ended up giving - eventually on not only the Taj but on the two other casinos over the next couple of years - gave up significant ownership of those to the banks as part of the negotiations.
GROSS: So he could brag that he negotiated a great deal, but the deal depended on him giving up a lot of what he owned and handing it over to the bank.
O'HARROW: A lot of these circumstances depends on how you view the outcomes and if - how you decide to frame it. And Donald Trump has framed these bankruptcies and others and his experience in Atlantic City as an extremely profitable set of endeavors for him. So he says that he was at the helm, at a time when Atlantic City was going through a very tough economic time, that everybody was suffering from it.
The East Coast was suffering from an economic downturn where he ascribes much of the blame for the troubles, and he said - he told me that he had no regrets whatsoever about how things unfolded. He said, the Taj Mahal was a very successful job for me. He said, it's not personal. This was just business. And then he said, I got out great.
GROSS: If you just look at it mathematically, how much money did Donald Trump make or lose by the time he sold the Taj?
O'HARROW: It's a terrific question because in some ways it's unanswerable. Because the Taj was a private company, it's hard for anybody to get deep into the books and to be able to pass judgment on exactly how much he was up or how much he was down. But the Casino Control Commission did some studies of his numbers, and they're really interesting. About the time the Taj was opening, that casino and his two other casinos had a total of about $1.3 billion in debt. And Trump himself personally had guaranteed 833 million of it, and that's according to the Casino Control Commission.
There was a lot of debate. What was his net worth? Trump said that it was about 1.4 billion. Forbes Magazine put it at about 500 million. And the Casino Control Commission reported that it was actually worth 206 million, and that's because - how do you do the math? Well, Donald Trump did the math on the value of the assets that he was involved with. The others did the math subtracting how much debt was owned by other people. It gets complicated, but one of the things that we know is that by March of 1991 - and this is a year after the casino opened - the Casino Control Commission said that he was in noncompliance - that's their word - on $1.1 billion in loans across his empire and that included the Taj, Trump Shuttle Airline, which we haven't mentioned he owned that, the Castle, which was another casino, Trump Palm Beach Corp. down in Florida and Mar-a-Lago, the spectacular estate in Florida. So that's a lot of detail for you, and it's suffice to say that to stay afloat, he had to give up the airline. He gave up a very expensive yacht and other holdings in order to keep his enterprises going.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Robert O'Harrow. He's a reporter with The Washington Post. He works on the investigative unit, and he's written several articles about Donald Trump's businesses examining his business practices. And in his largest article so far about Donald Trump's business practices - is about the Taj Mahal casino. Let's take a short break, then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. And if you're just joining us, my guest is Washington Post reporter Robert O'Harrow, who's a reporter in the investigative unit. And what he's been examining lately - well, one of the things he's been examining lately is Donald Trump's business practices.
Donald Trump has never held elected office, but he's promised that because he is such a great businessman and makes such great deals that he'd be able to do a great job running the country and making business deals and so on. The largest article that O'Harrow has written so far about Trump has to do with the Trump Taj Mahal, the large casino that Trump owned and then sold after it went into bankruptcy.
So when you file for bankruptcy for your business but you own all the shares in the business and it's a private company, where is the line between a personal and a corporate bankruptcy, especially if you've personally guaranteed some of the loans that your company has taken out?
O'HARROW: You've just asked a question that they examine in the best law schools in the country. But suffice it to say that there is a line, and he filed corporate bankruptcies, not personal bankruptcies here. And he has rightfully pointed out that the law provides bankruptcy in a positive way. It's to enable entrepreneurs to restructure and to keep going rather than just fail outright.
And so, you know, we need to note something that he has said repeatedly is that he used the laws of the nation to his own benefit. And everybody's going to have to decide on their own the degree to which he was personally involved here and what that means to them because there's no question this was a corporate bankruptcy.
GROSS: So we actually have a clip standing by of exactly what you talking about, so let's listen to this clip. And this is an excerpt of the first Republican debate hosted by Fox News. This is August 6, 2015, and the person asking the question is Chris Wallace.
CHRIS WALLACE: Trump Corporation's casinos and hotels have declared bankruptcy four times over the last quarter-century. In 2011, you told Forbes Magazine this - I've used the laws of the country to my advantage. But at the same time, financial experts involved in those bankruptcies say that lenders to your companies lost billions of dollars. Question, sir. With that record, why should we trust you to run the nation's business?
TRUMP: Because I have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, for myself, for my employees, for my family, et cetera. I have never gone bankrupt, by the way. I have never. But out of hundreds of people...
WALLACE: ...No, but sir, that's...
TRUMP: Excuse me.
WALLACE: ...You're lying.
TRUMP: Excuse me...
WALLACE: ...But your companies have gone bankrupt.
TRUMP: Out of - what am I saying? Out of hundreds of deals that I've done, hundreds, on four occasions I've taken advantage of the laws of this country like other people. I'm not going to name their names 'cause I'm not going to embarrass them, but virtually every person that you read about on the front page of the business sections, they've used the laws. The difference is when somebody else uses those laws, nobody writes about it.
GROSS: So, Robert O'Harrow, when you spoke to people who had worked with Trump and when you spoke to members of the casino commission in New Jersey, did they talk to you about how he used the bankruptcy laws and if he used them kind of, like, straightforwardly or if there was a lot of, like, manipulation of those laws?
O'HARROW: I did. You know, of course, some of these folks feel spurned by Donald Trump because he made a whole host of promises and they felt that he didn't keep his promises. One of them was Steven Perskie. He's the former chairman of the Casino Control Commission. He also was a former Democratic lawmaker.
Now he worked very closely with Trump to sort through a lot of these problems that came along, and the way he describes it is that the city - Atlantic City officials and the casino regulators were in a really tough spot because Atlantic City was struggling. The casino business was struggling. And in maneuvering the way that he did, according to Perskie, Trump gave them really no choice but to keep going. And here's what Perskie said.
When I read and hear him say he was beloved in Atlantic City, that was before the bankruptcy. He remembers to perceive how he started, not how he was perceived when he left.
And Perskie went on to tell me that it got to the point where Donald Trump himself was such a force in Atlantic City with the three different casinos that he became too big to fail, so that they cut him slack with that in mind because they were worried about the impact on a city that was already struggling.
GROSS: Because if this huge casino, the Taj, went under, it would be bad for all of Atlantic City.
O'HARROW: Well, not just the Taj. The other two casinos also struggled and eventually filed bankruptcy as well.
GROSS: My guest is Robert O'Harrow, a reporter for The Washington Post's investigative unit. We're talking about his article examining Donald Trump's business practices and deals when he took over the Atlantic City casino hotel the Taj Mahal. After we take a short break, we'll talk about who lost out when the Taj went bankrupt. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross, back with Robert O'Harrow, a reporter with The Washington Post investigative unit. We're talking about an article he wrote examining Donald Trump's deals and promises when he took over the not-yet-completed Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. When it opened in 1990, it was the largest casino hotel in Atlantic City. He already owned two other casinos in the city, Trump's Castle and Trump Plaza. The year after the Taj opened, it filed for bankruptcy. When we left off, we had listened to a clip from the first Republican candidates debate, which was hosted by Fox News in August. Chris Wallace had asked Trump about his company's four bankruptcies.
So in that clip that we heard, Donald Trump said that he did a great job for his company, for himself, for his employees and his family. And he's talking about how the Taj ended up after bankruptcy. But you looked into, like, who lost money on this deal when he declared bankruptcy and couldn't pay all of his loans. So who lost out?
O'HARROW: The answer about who was affected is deeper than it might seem because in March of 1992, Trump's Castle and his Plaza casinos also filed for bankruptcy. And to resolve those debts, Trump gave up half his stake in each of the casino to the lenders. So the lenders definitely lost money through the cascading failures of these three casinos. But small-time investors who had bought the bonds directly or through retirement funds also suffered losses. And so did small business owners who sold the Trump organization paint, equipment, food, limousine services. And many of those were eventually paid only a fraction of what they were due. And we know this in part because a professor at Temple University - in your town - Bryant Simon went in and studied Atlantic City and found that a lot of people recall having to struggle to get by after these bankruptcies.
Bryant Simon - the professor - told me that Trump was quote, "a brutal and ruthless negotiator." And he said that people paid the price. And when I brought that up with Donald Trump, he said that he acknowledged that he drove hard bargains, but he said that he created many opportunities for a lot of people in the city to make money. And here's what he told me.
I wasn't the nicest person on earth. Many of these same people, if not all, made a lot of money with me.
GROSS: I want to play another Donald Trump clip. And this also is from the first Republican debate, which was hosted by Fox News on August 6, 2015. And this is Donald Trump speaking. And he's speaking about getting out of the casino business in Atlantic City.
TRUMP: I had the good sense to leave Atlantic City - which by the way, Caesar's just went bankrupt. Every company - Chris can tell you - every company, virtually, in Atlantic City went bankrupt - every company. And let me just tell you; I had the good sense - and I've gotten a lot of credit in the financial pages. Seven years ago, I left Atlantic City before it totally cratered. And I made a lot of money in Atlantic City. And I'm very proud of it.
GROSS: OK, and the Chris that Donald Trump referred to is Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. And of course, Atlantic City is in New Jersey. So what do you think about when you hear that? Like, what facts did you find that either back up or contradict what Donald Trump just said?
O'HARROW: Well, I'm going to tell you what Steve Perskie told me. But first, I think it's worth noting - and I've been struck by this during the whole election - that how often Donald Trump uses money as the measurement of his civic virtue, or his talent, or his credential to become the president of the United States. And clearly, money can serve as one way of measuring success. But it's - in my business over the years as a journalist, I haven't seen another candidate rely so much on claims of wealth to underscore personal integrity.
GROSS: Right. Well, you know, he said, I made a lot of money in Atlantic City. We've been talking about his bankruptcies, how he couldn't pay off his debts, how people who he owed money to lost money. So is it true that he made a lot of money in Atlantic City, as he said, by the time he actually pulled out? Can we - can you tell whether he made money or lost money?
O'HARROW: Oh, I think he made money. The degree to which he made money and how he made it I think is open to question. I would like to get specifics. But getting specifics on the actual dollar value and how they're anchored to particular deals and bottom lines is a very difficult thing. But I think that probably the - the - maybe the thing that is more illuminating for me is the reaction that people had after he was gone. And Steven Perskie - again, I think his voice is interesting. And he said to me this.
Trump was welcomed with open arms by everybody. And he provided the sense that he was able to do everything he promised, Perskie told me a few months ago. He said, his name and his legacy in the city were significantly tarnished. The business community and regulators no longer accepted the music of the Pied Piper.
I thought that was really an interesting statement from a man that in some ways helped Trump get through the bankruptcies by allowing him to continue to do business.
GROSS: You should just refresh our memory of who Perskie is.
O'HARROW: Perskie is the - was the head of the Casino Control Commission at the time that Donald Trump was going - and the Taj - were going through the bankruptcies.
GROSS: Donald Trump owned two other casinos in Atlantic City that ran into financial trouble. One of them was the Castle - Trump's Castle. And there was a point when he owed a lot of money for the Castle, and he couldn't pay off the debts. So he got a loan from his father, Fred Trump, who founded the real estate empire that Donald Trump came to take over. So he got a loan from his father. And it's an odd kind of loan. And I'm going to ask you to describe how it worked.
O'HARROW: Sure. It really is a fascinating episode because let's remember that Donald Trump was a young man still when all of this was unfolding. And he was the son of a real estate tycoon in Greater New York area and in fact really got his start with help from his father, who underwrote a lot of loans. This loan in particular is singular. The Castle was facing the prospect that it could not pay lenders the high interest on the loans that were outstanding. Now, they knew it. But nobody else knew it. They head off the crisis. And because Donald Trump himself did not have enough money to pay the interest, he turned to his father. And the father sent a lawyer into the Castle and handed over a check for $3.3 million, according to the Casino Control Commission documents. And that was called front money, as though it was going to be used for gambling. And the lawyer walked out with an equivalent amount of $5,000 chips in a bag. The next day, they did the same thing and bought chips worth $150,000 and walked out with those. That money that was handed over for the chips was used in part to pay for the interest. And the casino recorded it as an outstanding gaming liability. But when state officials examined it later, they ruled that in fact it was a surreptitious loan and that it violated the state casino regulations. And the State Division of Gaming Enforcement fined the Castle $65,000 for participating. Donald Trump was never found culpable of any wrongdoing, and nor was his father, Fred.
GROSS: I guess I'm a little confused why they weren't found guilty of any wrongdoing, since the
money - the way you described it - was from the father for the son - for Trump.
O'HARROW: That's right. It was the father giving the son's business - the Castle - this infusion of money. And that was used to pay the - you know, you're not the only one who is mystified. Armstrong - the Casino Control Commissioner - was very distressed that more wasn't done with it. But that's where it stands.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Robert O'Harrow. He's a reporter with the investigative unit of The Washington Post. And we're talking about stories that he wrote examining Donald Trump's business practices. Let's take a short break. Then we'll talk some more. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR, and if you're just joining us, my guest is Robert O'Harrow. He's a reporter with The Washington Post's investigative unit. We're talking about stories that he's written examining Donald Trump's business practices. We've been focusing on O'Harrow's examination of Donald Trump and the Trump Taj Mahal, the very large casino that he owned in Atlantic City that went into bankruptcy.
So this is a very complicated business story that you've written, and a complicated examination that you undertook. So what's your takeaway?
O'HARROW: There's a couple of things that I was struck by while I was reading through all of these records and all of these transcripts and eventually briefly talking with Donald Trump. And the stories are complicated. And they're massively complicated. But at some level, there's something very, very simple that happened that is worth thinking about when thinking about a presidential candidate. In this case, Donald Trump had tremendous ambition to finish something that some people said was an impossibility. You cannot make this Taj Mahal work. And he went after it. And his ambition was notable. Along the way, he was questioned by regulators who were supposed to look out for the interest of the state and Atlantic City. Well, how can you do this when nobody else can? And his answer was very clean and clear. Because I'm me, he said. In effect, he said, because I'm Donald Trump, and I'm going to get money at such a low rate that this is just going to become one of the greatest successes of all-time.
And he derided a financing method that he said he wouldn't - that was ridiculous and he wouldn't use, which was junk bonds. And then a few months later, as we said, he used those. So he - tremendous ambition, tremendous set of promises and he turned his back on his promises. And then he told me, that was my prerogative. Now, I think it probably was his prerogative. But as a reporter trying to take stock of a presidential candidate, I think that's noteworthy. Making promises, changing the promises or turning your back on them, suffering the consequences and then later saying, that's my prerogative. So I think a very complex story can be reduced to something really quite that simple.
GROSS: Now, he threatened to sue you when you were writing this story. What was the nature of the threat?
O'HARROW: Well, he seemed very concerned that I was going to somehow frame this as a personal bankruptcy. I told him multiple times I wasn't going to do that. But I think in his anxiety about this being a personal bankruptcy, he got a little distressed. And he said this was not personal; this was a corporate deal. If you write this one, I'm suing you. And, you know, I assured him that I understood the difference, and, you know, we've reported that in the story because we felt that it was part of the story after he made the, you know, that statement.
And talking to him was very, very interesting. And he underscored probably a couple, three times that he was worth billions of dollars. And I told him that I understood that. And, you know, it was an interesting conversation. I will say that after having spoken to him and read and seen much of what he's said during this campaign, the similarities in language between now and then are really striking. And the core of his promise then and now is very, very striking. And in some ways, it comes down to two words - believe me. And it's hard not to ruminate on that.
GROSS: After the bankruptcy of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino, what effect did that have on Donald Trump's other businesses and on his general approach to business?
O'HARROW: So at the time of the Taj's bankruptcy, Trump's organization labored under tremendous debt across the board. And his empire owed something like $3 billion-plus to institutional lenders. And Trump had personally guaranteed 833 million of that, according to the Casino Control Commission. So over about three years, he gave up half through negotiations of the three casinos and sold off a number of his assets, including a small airline that he had and a giant yacht that he had down in Florida in order to remain, you know, afloat. And over the years, Trump eventually adopted a kind of a new approach to his business, where he chose not to have his own money personally invested and that he started building an empire that was built around his brand and selling his brand. And he now claims that that approach has helped him earn enough money so that he claims to be worth $10 billion dollars now.
GROSS: What does it mean when Donald Trump licenses his name so that something becomes the Trump something? So it's like, you know, Trump Steaks or Trump Water or Trump magazine. Like, what...
O'HARROW: Or Trump buildings - what it is is very simple. He'll, for a fee - large fees - he'll allow a building to put his name on the building. And he may take a role in helping management, helping promotion and so on.
GROSS: So he has a role in it, but it's not his business per se, even though the business carries his name?
O'HARROW: Well, branding is a real business. Lots of companies brand. But with Donald Trump, it's a personal brand that he's selling, which I think lends, in many people's eyes, lends cache, glitter, the promise of glamour. If it's a Trump building, a lot of people will want to rent there. I think that's - that at least is the theory.
GROSS: Robert O'Harrow, thank you so much for talking with us.
O'HARROW: Thanks for having me on.
GROSS: Robert O'Harrow is a reporter with the investigative unit of The Washington Post. His article about Trump's Taj Mahal is called "Trump's Bad Bet: How Too Much Debt Drove His Biggest Casino Aground." After a short break, rock historian Ed Ward will tell us about the band Them, in which Van Morrison got his start. This is FRESH AIR.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The Fantasy Bond -- Robert W. Firestone (1985)
"When it's love at first sight, run in the other direction.
All that's happened is your wounds have hit their wounds."
(WTF podcast with Maron & Strauss.)
All that's happened is your wounds have hit their wounds."
(WTF podcast with Maron & Strauss.)
Monday, March 7, 2016
Bruce Springsteen - My Love Will Not Let You Down (East Rutherford 7.15.99)
"Good Evening New Jersey. We're gonna bring it."
Saturday, March 5, 2016
A Note From Louis C.K. On A Saturday Morning
(I think there's no stopping Trump at this point, the more we point outt his contradictions, the more popular he becomes. We're becoming a hooligan nation with him as the leader.)
Louis CK
P.S. Please stop it with voting for Trump. It was funny for a little while. But the guy is Hitler. And by that I mean that we are being Germany in the 30s. Do you think they saw the shit coming? Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird comb over who would say anything at all.
And I'm not advocating for Hillary or Bernie. I like them both but frankly I wish the next president was a conservative only because we had Obama for eight years and we need balance. And not because I particularly enjoy the conservative agenda. I just think the government should reflect the people. And we are about 40 percent conservative and 40 percent liberal. When I was growing up and when I was a younger man, liberals and conservatives were friends with differences. They weren’t enemies. And it always made sense that everyone gets a president they like for a while and then hates the president for a while. But it only works if the conservatives put up a good candidate. A good smart conservative to face the liberal candidate so they can have a good argument and the country can decide which way to go this time.
Trump is not that. He's an insane bigot. He is dangerous.
He already said he would expand libel laws to sue anyone who "writes a negative hit piece" about him. He says "I would open up the libel laws so we can sue them and win lots of money. Not like now. These guys are totally protected." He said that. He has promised to decimate the first amendment. (If you think he’s going to keep the second amendment intact you’re delusional.) And he said that Paul Ryan, speaker of the house will "pay" for criticizing him. So I'm saying this now because if he gets in there we won't be able to criticize him anymore.
Please pick someone else. Like John Kasich. I mean that guy seems okay. I don't like any of them myself but if you're that kind of voter please go for a guy like that. It feels like between him and either democrat we'd have a decent choice. It feels like a healthier choice. We shouldn't have to vote for someone because they're not a shocking cunt billionaire liar.
We should choose based on what direction the country should go.
I get that all these people sound like bullshit soft criminal opportunists. The whole game feels rigged and it's not going anywhere but down anymore. I feel that way sometimes.
And that voting for Trump is a way of saying "fuck it. Fuck them all". I really get it. It's a version of national Suicide. Or it's like a big hit off of a crack pipe. Somehow we can't help it. Or we know that if we vote for Trump our phones will be a reliable source of dopamine for the next four years. I mean I can't wait to read about Trump every day. It's a rush. But you have to know this is not healthy.
If you are a true conservative. Don't vote for Trump. He is not one of you. He is one of him. Everything you have heard him say that you liked, if you look hard enough you will see that he one day said the exact opposite. He is playing you.
In fact, if you do vote for Trump, at least look at him very carefully first. You owe that to the rest of us. Know and understand who he is. Spend one hour on google and just read it all. I don’t mean listen to me or listen to liberals who put him down. Listen to your own people. Listen to John Mccain. Go look at what he just said about Trump. "At a time when our world has never been more complex or more in danger... I want Republican voters to pay close attention to what our party's most respected and knowledgeable leaders and national security experts are saying about Mr. Trump, and to think long and hard about who they want to be our next Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world.”
When Trump was told what he said, Trump said "Oh, he did? Well, that's not nice," he told CBS News' chief White House correspondent Major Garrett. "He has to be very careful."
When pressed on why, Trump tacked on: "He'll find out.”
(I cut and pasted that from CBS news)
Do you really want a guy to be president who threatens John McCain? Because John McCain cautiously and intelligently asked for people to be thoughtful before voting for him? He didn’t even insult Trump. He just asked you to take a good look. And Trump told him to look out.
Remember that Trump entered this race by saying that McCain is not a war hero. A guy who was shot down, body broken and kept in a POW camp for years. Trump said “I prefer the guys who don’t get caught.” Why did he say that? Not because he meant it or because it was important to say. He said it because he’s a bully and every bully knows that when you enter a new school yard, you go to the toughest most respected guy on the yard and you punch him in the nose. If you are still standing after, you’re the new boss. If Trump is president, he’s not going to change. He’s not going to do anything for you. He’s going to do everything for himself and leave you in the dust.
So please listen to fellow conservatives. But more importantly, listen to Trump. Listen to all of it. Everything he says. If you liked when he said that “torture works” then go look at where he took it back the next day. He’s a fucking liar.
A vote for Trump is so clearly a gut-vote, and again I get it. But add a little brain to it and look the guy up. Because if you vote for him because of how you feel right now, the minute he's president, you're going to regret it. You're going to regret it even more when he gives the job to his son. Because American democracy is broken enough that a guy like that could really fuck things up. That's how Hitler got there. He was voted into power by a fatigued nation and when he got inside, he did all his Hitler things and no one could stop him.
Again, I’m not saying vote democrat or vote for anyone else. If Hilary ends up president it should be because she faced the best person you have and you and I both chose her or him or whoever. Trump is not your best. He’s the worst of all of us. He’s a symptom to a problem that is very real. But don’t vote for your own cancer. You’re better than that.
That's just my view. At least right now. I know I’m not qualified or particularly educated and I'm not right instead of you. I’m an idiot and I'm sure a bunch of you are very annoyed by this. Fucking celebrity with an opinion. I swear this isn’t really a political opinion. You don’t want to know my political opinions. (And I know that I’m only bringing myself trouble with this shit.) Trump has nothing to do with politics or ideology. He has to do with himself. And really I don't mean to insult anyone. Except Trump. I mean to insult him very much. And really I’m not saying he’s evil or a monster. In fact I don’t think Hitler was. The problem with saying that guys like that are monsters is that we don’t see them coming when they turn out to be human, which they all are. Everyone is. Trump is a messed up guy with a hole in his heart that he tries to fill with money and attention. He can never ever have enough of either and he’ll never stop trying. He’s sick. Which makes him really really interesting. And he pulls you towards him which somehow feels good or fascinatingly bad. He’s not a monster. He’s a sad man. But all this makes him horribly dangerous if he becomes president. Give him another TV show. Let him pay to put his name on buildings. But please stop voting for him. And please watch Horace and Pete.
Louis CK
P.S. Please stop it with voting for Trump. It was funny for a little while. But the guy is Hitler. And by that I mean that we are being Germany in the 30s. Do you think they saw the shit coming? Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird comb over who would say anything at all.
And I'm not advocating for Hillary or Bernie. I like them both but frankly I wish the next president was a conservative only because we had Obama for eight years and we need balance. And not because I particularly enjoy the conservative agenda. I just think the government should reflect the people. And we are about 40 percent conservative and 40 percent liberal. When I was growing up and when I was a younger man, liberals and conservatives were friends with differences. They weren’t enemies. And it always made sense that everyone gets a president they like for a while and then hates the president for a while. But it only works if the conservatives put up a good candidate. A good smart conservative to face the liberal candidate so they can have a good argument and the country can decide which way to go this time.
Trump is not that. He's an insane bigot. He is dangerous.
He already said he would expand libel laws to sue anyone who "writes a negative hit piece" about him. He says "I would open up the libel laws so we can sue them and win lots of money. Not like now. These guys are totally protected." He said that. He has promised to decimate the first amendment. (If you think he’s going to keep the second amendment intact you’re delusional.) And he said that Paul Ryan, speaker of the house will "pay" for criticizing him. So I'm saying this now because if he gets in there we won't be able to criticize him anymore.
Please pick someone else. Like John Kasich. I mean that guy seems okay. I don't like any of them myself but if you're that kind of voter please go for a guy like that. It feels like between him and either democrat we'd have a decent choice. It feels like a healthier choice. We shouldn't have to vote for someone because they're not a shocking cunt billionaire liar.
We should choose based on what direction the country should go.
I get that all these people sound like bullshit soft criminal opportunists. The whole game feels rigged and it's not going anywhere but down anymore. I feel that way sometimes.
And that voting for Trump is a way of saying "fuck it. Fuck them all". I really get it. It's a version of national Suicide. Or it's like a big hit off of a crack pipe. Somehow we can't help it. Or we know that if we vote for Trump our phones will be a reliable source of dopamine for the next four years. I mean I can't wait to read about Trump every day. It's a rush. But you have to know this is not healthy.
If you are a true conservative. Don't vote for Trump. He is not one of you. He is one of him. Everything you have heard him say that you liked, if you look hard enough you will see that he one day said the exact opposite. He is playing you.
In fact, if you do vote for Trump, at least look at him very carefully first. You owe that to the rest of us. Know and understand who he is. Spend one hour on google and just read it all. I don’t mean listen to me or listen to liberals who put him down. Listen to your own people. Listen to John Mccain. Go look at what he just said about Trump. "At a time when our world has never been more complex or more in danger... I want Republican voters to pay close attention to what our party's most respected and knowledgeable leaders and national security experts are saying about Mr. Trump, and to think long and hard about who they want to be our next Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world.”
When Trump was told what he said, Trump said "Oh, he did? Well, that's not nice," he told CBS News' chief White House correspondent Major Garrett. "He has to be very careful."
When pressed on why, Trump tacked on: "He'll find out.”
(I cut and pasted that from CBS news)
Do you really want a guy to be president who threatens John McCain? Because John McCain cautiously and intelligently asked for people to be thoughtful before voting for him? He didn’t even insult Trump. He just asked you to take a good look. And Trump told him to look out.
Remember that Trump entered this race by saying that McCain is not a war hero. A guy who was shot down, body broken and kept in a POW camp for years. Trump said “I prefer the guys who don’t get caught.” Why did he say that? Not because he meant it or because it was important to say. He said it because he’s a bully and every bully knows that when you enter a new school yard, you go to the toughest most respected guy on the yard and you punch him in the nose. If you are still standing after, you’re the new boss. If Trump is president, he’s not going to change. He’s not going to do anything for you. He’s going to do everything for himself and leave you in the dust.
So please listen to fellow conservatives. But more importantly, listen to Trump. Listen to all of it. Everything he says. If you liked when he said that “torture works” then go look at where he took it back the next day. He’s a fucking liar.
A vote for Trump is so clearly a gut-vote, and again I get it. But add a little brain to it and look the guy up. Because if you vote for him because of how you feel right now, the minute he's president, you're going to regret it. You're going to regret it even more when he gives the job to his son. Because American democracy is broken enough that a guy like that could really fuck things up. That's how Hitler got there. He was voted into power by a fatigued nation and when he got inside, he did all his Hitler things and no one could stop him.
Again, I’m not saying vote democrat or vote for anyone else. If Hilary ends up president it should be because she faced the best person you have and you and I both chose her or him or whoever. Trump is not your best. He’s the worst of all of us. He’s a symptom to a problem that is very real. But don’t vote for your own cancer. You’re better than that.
That's just my view. At least right now. I know I’m not qualified or particularly educated and I'm not right instead of you. I’m an idiot and I'm sure a bunch of you are very annoyed by this. Fucking celebrity with an opinion. I swear this isn’t really a political opinion. You don’t want to know my political opinions. (And I know that I’m only bringing myself trouble with this shit.) Trump has nothing to do with politics or ideology. He has to do with himself. And really I don't mean to insult anyone. Except Trump. I mean to insult him very much. And really I’m not saying he’s evil or a monster. In fact I don’t think Hitler was. The problem with saying that guys like that are monsters is that we don’t see them coming when they turn out to be human, which they all are. Everyone is. Trump is a messed up guy with a hole in his heart that he tries to fill with money and attention. He can never ever have enough of either and he’ll never stop trying. He’s sick. Which makes him really really interesting. And he pulls you towards him which somehow feels good or fascinatingly bad. He’s not a monster. He’s a sad man. But all this makes him horribly dangerous if he becomes president. Give him another TV show. Let him pay to put his name on buildings. But please stop voting for him. And please watch Horace and Pete.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Sophie Scholl - Feb. 22, 1943
A young German student executed (beheaded by guillotine) by the S.S. for distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets, alongside her brother and one of their college professors.
Their resistance group was known as the White Rose, and another six members were rounded up and executed over the next few months.
Her last few words were:
How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to offer themselves up individually for a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go.
Their resistance group was known as the White Rose, and another six members were rounded up and executed over the next few months.
Her last few words were:
How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to offer themselves up individually for a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go.
No Direction Home
"I had ambitions to set out and find, like an odyssey or going home somewhere... set out to find... this home that I'd left a while back and couldn't remember exactly where it was, but I was on my way there. And encountering what I encountered on the way was how I envisioned it all. I didn't really have any ambition at all."
Friday, February 19, 2016
Phish - July 12th, 2013
Jones Beach Amphitheater. Wantaugh, NY
SET 2
Rock N' Roll>
2001>
Tweezer->
Cities->
The Wedge
Wading In The Velvet Sea
Character Zero
Encore
Sleeping Monkey
Tweezer Reprise
Notes:
on a friday. a perfectly flowing liquid set amidst a torrential downpour.
SET 2
Rock N' Roll>
2001>
Tweezer->
Cities->
The Wedge
Wading In The Velvet Sea
Character Zero
Encore
Sleeping Monkey
Tweezer Reprise
Notes:
on a friday. a perfectly flowing liquid set amidst a torrential downpour.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Grateful Dead - Oakland Coliseum Arena (Feb. 17th, 1979)
On this night in 1979, Keith & Donna Jean performed for the last time with the Grateful Dead.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
"Narconomics": How the Drug Cartels Operate Like Wal-Mart & McDonald's
Fresh Air with Tom Wainwright (journalist for The Economist)
When Tom Wainwright became the Mexico correspondent for The Economist in 2010, he found himself covering the country's biggest businesses, including the tequila trade, the oil industry and the commerce of illegal drugs.
"I found that one week I'd be writing about the car business, and the next week I'd be writing about the drugs business," Wainwright tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "I gradually came to see that the two actually were perhaps more similar than people normally recognize."
During the three years he spent in Mexico and Central and South America, Wainwright discovered that the cartels that control the region's drug trade use business models that are surprisingly similar to those of big-box stores and franchises. For instance, they have exclusive relationships with their "suppliers" (the farmers who grow the coca plants) that allow the cartels to keep the price of cocaine stable even when crop production is disrupted.
"The theory is that the cartels in the area have what economists call a 'monopsony,' [which is] like a monopoly on buying in the area," Wainwright says. "This rang a bell with me because it's something that people very often say about Wal-Mart."
"The choice that I think we face isn't really a choice between a world without drugs and a world with drugs," he says. "I think the choice we face really is between a world where drugs are controlled by governments and prescribed by pharmacists and doctors, and a world where they're dealt by the mafia, and given that choice, I think the former sounds more appealing."
On how the narcotics supply chain is similar to the Wal-Mart supply chain
They say that in certain industries, Wal-Mart is effectively the only buyer in the industry. So if there's some disruption to supply, let's say the harvest fails for apples or something like that, apple growers aren't able to increase their prices because Wal-Mart is the only buyer and they say, "Well, sorry, but this is our price and if you don't want to sell to us, well, tough." So the sellers have to carry on selling it at the same price as before. It seemed that something similar might be going on in the cocaine industry. ...
I was looking at the supply chain of cocaine. I went down to Bolivia, and I went to visit some of the terraces down there in the Andes where the coca leaf is grown. The coca leaf is the raw ingredient for cocaine, and all of the world's cocaine is grown down there in the Andes in either Bolivia, Colombia or Peru. So I went down there, and I read about all the incredible work that's being done down there to try to disrupt the cocaine supply line, and you'll have seen footage probably of airplanes and helicopters dumping tons of weed-killer on these Andean terraces in Colombia, for instance. They've done lots of work on this and they've done a fairly effective job at making it harder to grow coca leaf. They destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares over the years, and it has made the lives of cartels more difficult on the surface, at least. And yet, I looked at the price of cocaine in the United States, and it has hardly budged. You can go back decades, and the prices remain roughly $100 per pure gram.
On why an increase in the price of coca leaf doesn't change the cost of cocaine
When you look at the economics of the supply chain, you begin to see why actually even if you could increase the price of that coca leaf, it's doubtful that it would have very much impact on the final price of cocaine in the U.S. or in Europe. ... To make, for instance, a kilo of cocaine, you need about a ton of coca leaf, and that ton, once it's all dried out, in a country like Colombia will fetch perhaps $400. Now, the kilo of the United States will fetch about $100,000. So let's say you're incredibly successful in managing to raise the price of coca leaf, and you manage to double it, to $800. If you then manage to transfer all of that extra cost onto the consumer, that final kilo of cocaine is only going to cost now $100,400. In other words, you can double the price of coca leaf and you increase the price of the final product, cocaine, by less than 1 percent. ... We're putting all this effort into raising the price of coca leaf, when in fact that's only a small part of the cost of the final product.
On how the Mexican gang 'The Zetas' franchise
The Zetas are one of Mexico's biggest drug cartels, and they've got a reputation for being one of the nastiest ones, so when you see pictures of people who've been beheaded or hung up from bridges, these are often the guys who are responsible. And while I was in Mexico, the Zetas expanded more quickly than any other cartel. It was extraordinary. Originally they came from the northeast of Mexico, but within a very short space of time, they spread across all of Mexico and in fact down into Central America as well. So I got to thinking about how they'd done this, and when you look at the way that they spread, it seems that what they do is that they go to local areas and they find out who the local criminals are, people who do the drug dealing and extortion and all the other kinds of crime, and they offer them a crime, they say, "OK, you can use our brand, you can call yourself the Zetas, just like us," and they give them, believe it or not, baseball caps with embroidered logos and they give them T-shirts with their logo on and they train them in how to use weapons sometimes, and in return the local criminals give the Zetas a share of all of the money that they get from their criminal activity. In other words: It's exactly like the kind of franchising model that many other well-known companies use.
And it comes with all the same advantages and disadvantages [of franchising]. One of the big advantages is that it has allowed the Zetas to grow much more quickly. One of the disadvantages though, and this is something you often see in the legitimate franchising business, is that the franchisees often start to quarrel among each other, and the trouble is that the interest of these franchisees, the local criminals, aren't very well-aligned with the interests of the main company. Because as far as the main company is concerned — and this applies whether it's the Zetas or McDonald's — if you've got more branches, more franchises in a local area, that means more income for the main company, because they take their money as a slice of the income of the local franchisees. But the local franchisees have totally different motives. They want to be, if possible, the only ones in the area. They want as few branches as possible. And so you've had very often cases of franchisees suing the main brand over what they call "encroachment" — in other words, when the main brand has too many branches in the same area.
On personnel issues in cartels
This was a guy ... who I went to see in El Salvador, and he's called Carlos Mojica Lechuga, who is the leader of one of the two big street gangs in El Salvador. There are two of them — one [that he's the head of] called Barrio Dieciocho, or 18th Street Gang, as most people call it in English, and the other called the Mara Salvatrucha [MS-13] — and both of these are effectively transnational corporations, really. They make their livings dealing drugs and with extortion, principally, those are the two main business lines that they have. So I thought it would be interesting to go and speak to this guy and find out how he ran his company. So I went to see him, and he's in jail at the moment, which doesn't seem to be stopping him from running his business in any way. ... We sat down and we started talking business, and it really turned out that a lot of his complaints were just like the kind of complaints that I'd heard many times before from the business people. He complained about managing his staff, he complained about competition with his rivals, he complained about his image in the international media. It was really strangely reminiscent of speaking to a kind of frustrated midlevel manager.
When Tom Wainwright became the Mexico correspondent for The Economist in 2010, he found himself covering the country's biggest businesses, including the tequila trade, the oil industry and the commerce of illegal drugs.
"I found that one week I'd be writing about the car business, and the next week I'd be writing about the drugs business," Wainwright tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "I gradually came to see that the two actually were perhaps more similar than people normally recognize."
During the three years he spent in Mexico and Central and South America, Wainwright discovered that the cartels that control the region's drug trade use business models that are surprisingly similar to those of big-box stores and franchises. For instance, they have exclusive relationships with their "suppliers" (the farmers who grow the coca plants) that allow the cartels to keep the price of cocaine stable even when crop production is disrupted.
"The theory is that the cartels in the area have what economists call a 'monopsony,' [which is] like a monopoly on buying in the area," Wainwright says. "This rang a bell with me because it's something that people very often say about Wal-Mart."
"The choice that I think we face isn't really a choice between a world without drugs and a world with drugs," he says. "I think the choice we face really is between a world where drugs are controlled by governments and prescribed by pharmacists and doctors, and a world where they're dealt by the mafia, and given that choice, I think the former sounds more appealing."
They say that in certain industries, Wal-Mart is effectively the only buyer in the industry. So if there's some disruption to supply, let's say the harvest fails for apples or something like that, apple growers aren't able to increase their prices because Wal-Mart is the only buyer and they say, "Well, sorry, but this is our price and if you don't want to sell to us, well, tough." So the sellers have to carry on selling it at the same price as before. It seemed that something similar might be going on in the cocaine industry. ...
I was looking at the supply chain of cocaine. I went down to Bolivia, and I went to visit some of the terraces down there in the Andes where the coca leaf is grown. The coca leaf is the raw ingredient for cocaine, and all of the world's cocaine is grown down there in the Andes in either Bolivia, Colombia or Peru. So I went down there, and I read about all the incredible work that's being done down there to try to disrupt the cocaine supply line, and you'll have seen footage probably of airplanes and helicopters dumping tons of weed-killer on these Andean terraces in Colombia, for instance. They've done lots of work on this and they've done a fairly effective job at making it harder to grow coca leaf. They destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares over the years, and it has made the lives of cartels more difficult on the surface, at least. And yet, I looked at the price of cocaine in the United States, and it has hardly budged. You can go back decades, and the prices remain roughly $100 per pure gram.
On why an increase in the price of coca leaf doesn't change the cost of cocaine
When you look at the economics of the supply chain, you begin to see why actually even if you could increase the price of that coca leaf, it's doubtful that it would have very much impact on the final price of cocaine in the U.S. or in Europe. ... To make, for instance, a kilo of cocaine, you need about a ton of coca leaf, and that ton, once it's all dried out, in a country like Colombia will fetch perhaps $400. Now, the kilo of the United States will fetch about $100,000. So let's say you're incredibly successful in managing to raise the price of coca leaf, and you manage to double it, to $800. If you then manage to transfer all of that extra cost onto the consumer, that final kilo of cocaine is only going to cost now $100,400. In other words, you can double the price of coca leaf and you increase the price of the final product, cocaine, by less than 1 percent. ... We're putting all this effort into raising the price of coca leaf, when in fact that's only a small part of the cost of the final product.
On how the Mexican gang 'The Zetas' franchise
The Zetas are one of Mexico's biggest drug cartels, and they've got a reputation for being one of the nastiest ones, so when you see pictures of people who've been beheaded or hung up from bridges, these are often the guys who are responsible. And while I was in Mexico, the Zetas expanded more quickly than any other cartel. It was extraordinary. Originally they came from the northeast of Mexico, but within a very short space of time, they spread across all of Mexico and in fact down into Central America as well. So I got to thinking about how they'd done this, and when you look at the way that they spread, it seems that what they do is that they go to local areas and they find out who the local criminals are, people who do the drug dealing and extortion and all the other kinds of crime, and they offer them a crime, they say, "OK, you can use our brand, you can call yourself the Zetas, just like us," and they give them, believe it or not, baseball caps with embroidered logos and they give them T-shirts with their logo on and they train them in how to use weapons sometimes, and in return the local criminals give the Zetas a share of all of the money that they get from their criminal activity. In other words: It's exactly like the kind of franchising model that many other well-known companies use.
And it comes with all the same advantages and disadvantages [of franchising]. One of the big advantages is that it has allowed the Zetas to grow much more quickly. One of the disadvantages though, and this is something you often see in the legitimate franchising business, is that the franchisees often start to quarrel among each other, and the trouble is that the interest of these franchisees, the local criminals, aren't very well-aligned with the interests of the main company. Because as far as the main company is concerned — and this applies whether it's the Zetas or McDonald's — if you've got more branches, more franchises in a local area, that means more income for the main company, because they take their money as a slice of the income of the local franchisees. But the local franchisees have totally different motives. They want to be, if possible, the only ones in the area. They want as few branches as possible. And so you've had very often cases of franchisees suing the main brand over what they call "encroachment" — in other words, when the main brand has too many branches in the same area.
On personnel issues in cartels
This was a guy ... who I went to see in El Salvador, and he's called Carlos Mojica Lechuga, who is the leader of one of the two big street gangs in El Salvador. There are two of them — one [that he's the head of] called Barrio Dieciocho, or 18th Street Gang, as most people call it in English, and the other called the Mara Salvatrucha [MS-13] — and both of these are effectively transnational corporations, really. They make their livings dealing drugs and with extortion, principally, those are the two main business lines that they have. So I thought it would be interesting to go and speak to this guy and find out how he ran his company. So I went to see him, and he's in jail at the moment, which doesn't seem to be stopping him from running his business in any way. ... We sat down and we started talking business, and it really turned out that a lot of his complaints were just like the kind of complaints that I'd heard many times before from the business people. He complained about managing his staff, he complained about competition with his rivals, he complained about his image in the international media. It was really strangely reminiscent of speaking to a kind of frustrated midlevel manager.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Son Of Saul / Hail, Caesar
Friday afternoon double-feature at Keystone Arts Landmark.
Son of Saul:
"You betrayed those living for the dead."
Hail, Caesar!:
Low-tier Coen bros. Tiresome & Tedious.
Note: So cold. While filling up the gas tank my hand freezes to the handle -- only able to fill-up half-tank.
Son of Saul:
"You betrayed those living for the dead."
Hail, Caesar!:
Low-tier Coen bros. Tiresome & Tedious.
Note: So cold. While filling up the gas tank my hand freezes to the handle -- only able to fill-up half-tank.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Bruce Springsteen - As Dreams Don't Mean Nothing - A Night For the Vietnam Vets - Los Angeles (August 20th, 1981)
Big bussinessmen and political leaders failed to rally behind us," said Vietnam veteran Bobby Muller, speaking to about 15,000 remarkably attentive rock fans on August 20th at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. "And now it ultimately turns out to be the symbol of our generation – rock & roll – that brings us together. . . . This is the first step in ending the silence that has surrounded Vietnam."
To deafening applause, Muller, sitting center stage in a wheelchair, turned over the spotlight to Bruce Springsteen, the first of several rockers to play benefits for the veterans. Minutes earlier, Springsteen had introduced Muller with his own, terse, eloquent speech; now, he led the E Street Band into a dark, swelling melody and stepped to the mike to sing, "Long as I remember, the rain's been falling down. . . ." Creedence Clearwater Revival's eleven-year-old "Who'll Stop the Rain" was transformed into a majestic call to arms, and the next two songs deepended the mood: "Prove It All Night" was stripped of its usual joy, and Springsteen came down hard on the lines "If dreams came true, oh wouldn't it be nice/But this ain't no dream we're living through tonight." Then, without pause, he turned toward the two stage-side platforms full of veterans in wheelchairs and no crutches and ripped into "The Ties That Bind": "You been hurt and you're all cried out you say/You walk down the street pushing people out of your way."
All proceeds from the show – the first in a six-night stand for Springsteen at the Sports Arena – will be split between the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) – the organization Muller heads – and the Los Angeles Mental Health Clinic (the VVA will receive seventy-five percent of the estimated $100,000 take). Shortly after Springsteen announced his benefit, other musicians came to the aid of the veterans: Pat Benatar's September 20th Detroit performance will benefit the VVA, and Charlie Daniels will give the organization proceeds from a Warner Amex cable TV concert filmed in Saratoga Springs, New York, on September 4th. "I feel that the Vietnam veterans have been the most mistreated and most ignored people I can remember in my lifetime," said Daniels, "and this is the third war I've been through. It's time they were looked after and respected in the way they deserve."
Springsteen became interested in the veteran's plight through his friendship with disable vet Ron Kovic; he asked his manager, Jon Landau, to research the various veterans organization to determine which is the most effective, and he decided to do the show after meeting with Muller and VVA vice-president Michael Harbert earlier this summer.
"These are people of our generation – Bruce's, mine," said Landau. "I think Bruce saw a lot of his high-school friends go to Vietnam. It sounds corny, but these people we're trying to help could have been us if the circumstances had been a little different." Landau said he expects Springsteen to continue working for the veterans in different ways; an official Springsteen poster is already for sale, with all proceeds going to the VVA.
Backstage after the Springsteen show, Muller was ecstatic about the support his group is suddenly getting. "We tried everything," said Muller of his three-year-old organization. "Corporations, foundations, direct mail. We got thirty-five editorials in the Washington Post in 1978, but we didn't realize a single legislative objective. You can't push costly benefit programs through Congress with good arguments. You need political strength, and that means numbers."
With only 8000 members, the VVA does not have that strength. But after years of maneuvering, the group finally obtained a list of 1 million Vietnam veterans, and money from the concerts will go towards a direct-mailing operation aimed at those vets. Muller said that a goal of 50,000 members by spring and another 100,000 by the end of 1982 is realistic.
"People don't like to think about the Vietnam vets, because everything about the war was negative," he said. "We shouldn't have been fighting, we lost. . . . But Bruce has publicly aligned himself with the lepers of our society and taken us out of the shadows."
Springsteen made his commitment clear in his speech introducing Muller in Los Angeles. "It's like when you're walking down a dark street at night, and out of the corner of your eye you see somebody getting hurt in a dark alley," he said slowly. "But you keep walking on because you think it don't have nothing to do with you and you just want to get home. Vietnam turned this whole country into that dark street, and unless we can walk down those alleys and look into the eyes of those men and women, we're never gonna get home."
This story is from the October 1st, 1981 issue of Rolling Stone.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/springsteen-others-rally-to-help-vets-19811001#ixzz3yryqESss
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
To deafening applause, Muller, sitting center stage in a wheelchair, turned over the spotlight to Bruce Springsteen, the first of several rockers to play benefits for the veterans. Minutes earlier, Springsteen had introduced Muller with his own, terse, eloquent speech; now, he led the E Street Band into a dark, swelling melody and stepped to the mike to sing, "Long as I remember, the rain's been falling down. . . ." Creedence Clearwater Revival's eleven-year-old "Who'll Stop the Rain" was transformed into a majestic call to arms, and the next two songs deepended the mood: "Prove It All Night" was stripped of its usual joy, and Springsteen came down hard on the lines "If dreams came true, oh wouldn't it be nice/But this ain't no dream we're living through tonight." Then, without pause, he turned toward the two stage-side platforms full of veterans in wheelchairs and no crutches and ripped into "The Ties That Bind": "You been hurt and you're all cried out you say/You walk down the street pushing people out of your way."
All proceeds from the show – the first in a six-night stand for Springsteen at the Sports Arena – will be split between the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) – the organization Muller heads – and the Los Angeles Mental Health Clinic (the VVA will receive seventy-five percent of the estimated $100,000 take). Shortly after Springsteen announced his benefit, other musicians came to the aid of the veterans: Pat Benatar's September 20th Detroit performance will benefit the VVA, and Charlie Daniels will give the organization proceeds from a Warner Amex cable TV concert filmed in Saratoga Springs, New York, on September 4th. "I feel that the Vietnam veterans have been the most mistreated and most ignored people I can remember in my lifetime," said Daniels, "and this is the third war I've been through. It's time they were looked after and respected in the way they deserve."
Springsteen became interested in the veteran's plight through his friendship with disable vet Ron Kovic; he asked his manager, Jon Landau, to research the various veterans organization to determine which is the most effective, and he decided to do the show after meeting with Muller and VVA vice-president Michael Harbert earlier this summer.
"These are people of our generation – Bruce's, mine," said Landau. "I think Bruce saw a lot of his high-school friends go to Vietnam. It sounds corny, but these people we're trying to help could have been us if the circumstances had been a little different." Landau said he expects Springsteen to continue working for the veterans in different ways; an official Springsteen poster is already for sale, with all proceeds going to the VVA.
Backstage after the Springsteen show, Muller was ecstatic about the support his group is suddenly getting. "We tried everything," said Muller of his three-year-old organization. "Corporations, foundations, direct mail. We got thirty-five editorials in the Washington Post in 1978, but we didn't realize a single legislative objective. You can't push costly benefit programs through Congress with good arguments. You need political strength, and that means numbers."
With only 8000 members, the VVA does not have that strength. But after years of maneuvering, the group finally obtained a list of 1 million Vietnam veterans, and money from the concerts will go towards a direct-mailing operation aimed at those vets. Muller said that a goal of 50,000 members by spring and another 100,000 by the end of 1982 is realistic.
"People don't like to think about the Vietnam vets, because everything about the war was negative," he said. "We shouldn't have been fighting, we lost. . . . But Bruce has publicly aligned himself with the lepers of our society and taken us out of the shadows."
Springsteen made his commitment clear in his speech introducing Muller in Los Angeles. "It's like when you're walking down a dark street at night, and out of the corner of your eye you see somebody getting hurt in a dark alley," he said slowly. "But you keep walking on because you think it don't have nothing to do with you and you just want to get home. Vietnam turned this whole country into that dark street, and unless we can walk down those alleys and look into the eyes of those men and women, we're never gonna get home."
This story is from the October 1st, 1981 issue of Rolling Stone.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/springsteen-others-rally-to-help-vets-19811001#ixzz3yryqESss
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
After Party - Late Night Saturday - 80s Dance (Jan 31st, 2016)
Mick Smiley, Magic (Ghostbusters Soundtrack, 1984)
John Carpenter, Escape From New York (Main Theme, 1981)
John Carpenter, Escape From New York (Main Theme, 1981)
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Bruce Springsteen - Wreck On The Highway (1.19.16)
United Center, Chicago, IL.
So The River, I,...the {ah} thing I wrote about was time...I was sitting with a friend of mine last night and he said, ' Time comes to us all.' And The River was about the ticking of that time and how we each have finite amount of it - to do our jobs, to raise our family, to do something good....
That's The River.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We got some more left..."
Night
No Surrender (Take 2, Take 3)
Cover Me
She's The One
Human Touch
The Rising
Thunder Road
So The River, I,...the {ah} thing I wrote about was time...I was sitting with a friend of mine last night and he said, ' Time comes to us all.' And The River was about the ticking of that time and how we each have finite amount of it - to do our jobs, to raise our family, to do something good....
That's The River.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We got some more left..."
Night
No Surrender (Take 2, Take 3)
Cover Me
She's The One
Human Touch
The Rising
Thunder Road
Grateful Dead - April 22, 1978
Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN.
Set 1
Bertha->
Good Lovin'
Candyman
Looks Like Rain
Tennessee Jed
Jack Straw
Peggy-O
New Minglewood Blues
Deal
Set 2
Lazy Lightning->
Supplication
It Must Have Been The Roses
Estimated Prophet (Weir: "The rhythm section...")
Eyes Of The World (no-good-coked out super-fast '78 version)
Rhythm Devils-> (full-on jungle chanting ritual sacrifice)
Not Fade Away
Wharf Rat
Sugar Magnolia
Encore
One More Saturday Night
Notes: Another Saturday night with the Grateful Dead. Blazing Bertha->Good Lovin' combo to open the show. Rockin'. Focused. Jerry is on point. This is a really good 1st set with a delicate Candyman. looks like rain, and down home Jed with a mighty visit from Jack Straw. please please me peggy-o.
Off to watch the History of the Eagles again. Glen Frey is such an asshole. And maybe Horace & Pete (Louis C.K.'s new show that was unexpectedly released today).
Turner Classic Movies with One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
Set 1
Bertha->
Good Lovin'
Candyman
Looks Like Rain
Tennessee Jed
Jack Straw
Peggy-O
New Minglewood Blues
Deal
Set 2
Lazy Lightning->
Supplication
It Must Have Been The Roses
Estimated Prophet (Weir: "The rhythm section...")
Eyes Of The World (no-good-coked out super-fast '78 version)
Rhythm Devils-> (full-on jungle chanting ritual sacrifice)
Not Fade Away
Wharf Rat
Sugar Magnolia
Encore
One More Saturday Night
Notes: Another Saturday night with the Grateful Dead. Blazing Bertha->Good Lovin' combo to open the show. Rockin'. Focused. Jerry is on point. This is a really good 1st set with a delicate Candyman. looks like rain, and down home Jed with a mighty visit from Jack Straw. please please me peggy-o.
Off to watch the History of the Eagles again. Glen Frey is such an asshole. And maybe Horace & Pete (Louis C.K.'s new show that was unexpectedly released today).
Turner Classic Movies with One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Fiona Apple - Best New Artist MTV (1997)
"This world is bullshit."
A 20-year old who wrote Sleep To Dream, Criminal, & Shadowboxer.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/101582/fiona-apple-best-new-artist-1997.jhtml
A 20-year old who wrote Sleep To Dream, Criminal, & Shadowboxer.
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/101582/fiona-apple-best-new-artist-1997.jhtml
LIz Phair - Sessions at West 54th w/ David Byrne (1998)
Polyester Bride & 6'1".
The real thrill is David Byrne (wearing designer fatigues) as the interviewer on PBS.
The real thrill is David Byrne (wearing designer fatigues) as the interviewer on PBS.
Liz Phair - Fuck & Run (1995)
I had a crush on her in high school & I watched the X-Files. 20 years later, I still have a crush on her and the X-Files is back on television. (Hail, Hail Chicago)
Saturday, January 23, 2016
In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins, 1981) / Risky Business (Paul Brickman, 1983)
Going to the grocery in the frigid dark, this popped on the radio.
Highland Park. High School. And Saturday Nights.
Highland Park. High School. And Saturday Nights.
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