Category: Opinion

Opinion pieces are meant to articulate thoughts and ideas informed by fact. They are not, however, formal reporting.

June 23, 2026

How To Destroy A Brand

Fender appointed a new CEO recently, and that CEO has decided to unleash the lawyers. The company has sent cease and desist letters to a number of guitar manufacturers that are either in the EU, or sell product in the EU, that make S-style, or Stratocaster-style, guitars. It was done on what may be very sketchy legal ground. Others have covered the saga in more detail. I’m here to talk about some of the legal issues. And I’ve seen people talking about things that are, as I understand them, actually wrong.

A Disclaimer

I am not a lawyer, I just play one on the Internet. I am not an expert on contract and intellectual property law in a common law setting. I am, however, an informed amateur, having been involved in drafting and reviewing contracts, trademark applications, and patent applications. This does not constitute legal advice. If you have questions, consult a real lawyer, because that isn’t me.

A Shaky Foundation

Fender acted shortly after receiving a default judgement in a German court. The lawsuit involved Fender claiming they had a copyright on the Stratocaster body design. This was their basis for suing a company in China for violating that supposed copyright. The defendant, however, never showed up or provided a statement of defence. As such, the court had no real choice but to grant default judgement. This is normal in a civil suit: if the defendant doesn’t show up, then the court awards the plaintiff judgement.

However, to use this to claim that they now have a copyright on the Stratocaster body shape is a pretty big stretch. Why? Because the judge didn’t rule on the merits of Fender’s case. The court followed procedure. A default judgement is generally not considered a “win” in the sense that the party that showed up was right. They “win” because they were in the courtroom and the other party wasn’t.

No Actual Review of the Merits

There was no opportunity for discovery. No evidence was presented for examination. There were no witnesses called to be questioned and cross-examined. There was no expert testimony. The judge did not hear any citations of prior law or rulings. Neither party presented any sort of case to back up their claim.

Again, the default judgement was entirely procedural. It cannot be considered a statement or position on the merits of Fender’s claim. Thomann, a German retailer and owner of the Harley Benton brand, is taking Fender to court after having received one of these cease and desist letters.

Their goal is to force Fender to defend their claims, and present evidence. It will result in a discovery process, where information will have to be disclosed. There will be evidence, witnesses (expert or otherwise), and an opportunity for them to be examined. It does not appear that Thomann is interested in settling this case.

This is Civil Law

Any before anyone tries to claim that the ruling is wrong because the defendant should be considered “innocent until proven guilty”, I have some bad news. This is a civil case. The rules are different.

Both parties are required to present their case and argue why they should prevail. As such, the defendant must provide an affirmative defence. The burden isn’t just on the plaintiff. It falls on the defendant too.

It also isn’t about guilt or innocence. No one is “at jeopardy” here, with fines, jail time, and a criminal record all potentially resulting. There isn’t a “conviction”. The judge finds in favour of one party or the other. If only one of the two parties shows up, they win. Otherwise, the judge (or jury) uses a standard called “preponderance of evidence”. Which side presented more compelling evidence to support their case. It is not about “reasonable doubt”.

Some Misinformation

I have heard at least one person on Youtube claim that the German court’s ruling does not have effect outside of Germany. For some types of intellectual property claims, this would be true. Patents, for example, are only enforceable within the borders of the country that issued them. Copyright and trademark, however, are a different story. They do, in fact, apply internationally.

Germany, the United States, and about 180 other countries have signed something called The Berne Convention (the full name is The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works). This convention was first drafted in 1886, and went into effect in 1887. It has been updated from time to time, and still carries legal effect. The gist of the convention is that all signatory nations will recognize copyrights from the other signatory nations. It allows people from one participating country to sue someone from another signatory country for infringement of copyright or trademark.

This means that Fender, an American company, can hypothetically sue a Swedish company for violating their copyright. Fender could use a proper precedent-setting judgement from a German court to bolster their case. This would affirm that Fender holds a copyright in Germany, and therefore essentially has it in all the other nations that have signed the convention.

Some US Protection, But Not Comprehensive

Fender has tried to protect the Stratocaster design, with limited success. Fender did receive a design patent (US Design Patent Number 164,227) which was granted on August 14, 1951. Obviously, that patent has long since expired. As a US patent, it only had protection in the US. Any international patents would also have expired, if they existed.

The company was denied a trademark for the Stratocaster design in 2009. The reasoning was that the design had become generic. This is supported, to some degree, by two things. First is the long timeframe between when the design patent expired (which would have expired in 1971) and when the trademark application was submitted. During that time, the design would have fallen into the public domain, absent Fender making reasonable efforts to protect it. If you don’t make an effort to defend a trademark, you lose it.

With the patent expired, and the trademark denied, that would only leave copyright as the sole way to potentially protect the design. However, legal events would conspire against that method as well.

Not helping Fender is a 2017 US Supreme Court ruling against copyright applying to some “useful articles”. The case was decided March 22, 2017 (Star Athletica L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc.). Both companies make, among other items, cheerleading uniforms. They have hundreds of copyrights on design elements of the uniforms (colours, stripes, chevrons, etc.) . Star apparently began making uniforms that Varsity believed were similar to their own. Varsity sued Star for copyright infringement.

Ultimately Varsity won, but in their ruling the Supreme Court outlined the two tests that were required for copyright to apply to a “useful article”. The first test was “separability”: can the design be separated from the article and still be perceived? If it can, is the design, absent the article, something that is entitled to copyright protection? In the case of the uniforms, the design was separable and could stand on its own without the clothing.

Not Protectable or Protected

This ruling, though, could be seen as invalidating any kind of claim to copyright by Fender. The shape of the Stratocaster body is the entire design. There is no separate, identifiable design without the physical body.

While this is a US Supreme Court ruling, it could be argued that the Berne Convention isn’t just about recognizing copyrights across all participating nations. It could also be argued that not being eligible for copyright would also apply, absent some significantly different law in another country. Essentially both the protection and it’s inverse, no protection, would both apply.

The result would seem to be simple and straightforward: once the design patent issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office expired, the design passed into the public domain. Patents grant creators a temporary monopoly on their idea or design. Once that monopoly period expires, it can never be patented again. The inability to receive a trademark, and being ineligible for copyright further supports the assertion the design is in the public domain. Thus, if the design is public domain in the US, it should by extension be in the public domain everywhere else. This was never tested in the German court in its default judgement.

Setting The Brand on Fire

Considering that the new CEO, Edward “Bud” Cole, has spent his career expanding the presence and reach of brands such as LVMH, Pernod Ricard, and Fender, this is a massive self-own. Fender is one of two legacy brands that have been under some fire for product quality and inflated prices, so this does not strengthen the brand, it weakens it. As legendary guitars like the Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jazzmaster, and Mustang get further and further out of reach financially, others are filling that gap. Fender doesn’t like it, but here’s a reality check: Fender doesn’t make instruments that compete in some of those price points. Moreover, players aren’t just looking for instruments at a good price, they want instruments that are also well-built. The quality on some of Fender’s most expensive guitars has been rather hit-or-miss.

What isn’t helping are comments from Cole regarding this fiasco. He has, in some cases, misrepresented what Fender is doing. For example, at a dealer’s meeting, he claimed that Fender is trying to reach out to the Strat clone makers, and work with them. He also claimed that Fender has not asked anyone to recall instruments or destroy stock they already have. These are in direct contradiction to the wording of the letters sent. The letter explicitly demands companies recall instruments and destroy them along with unsold stock. The letter makes no effort to indicate Fender wants to work with them. At this point, Fender’s CEO is nearing rock bottom, and breaking out the dynamite to start blasting.

Can They Fix It?

That is a good question, and one without any clear answers. Some have called for Bud Cole to resign over this, and it may come to that. It depends on how the company’s board feels about all this.

Fender could try to withdraw all the cease and desist letters. This would kneecap the Thomann suit. But it avoid the likely loss for Fender’s claimed copyright. Fender has erased a lot of goodwill that has been built since 1946. Players have been complaining more frequently about product quality and price. Acting like an asshat just makes things worse.

This won’t destroy Fender. But it will cause some financial harm in the short term. Contrition and a “sacrifice” (pushing out the new CEO) could help at least stop the bleeding. It would take the spotlight off the company. But they have a lot of work ahead of them to rebuild their brand and reputation.

June 6, 2025

Did Disco Foreshadow Mainstream 80’s Music?

I watched a recent episode of Professor of Rock about Rick Astley and his biggest hit, Never Going To Give You Up. One commenter on that episode said that, to them, this song is a disco song. And that got me thinking: did disco foreshadow mainstream pop and New Wave of the 1980’s? Did disco actually die, or did it simply evolve like other music genres? It’s an idea worth exploring.

The Rise of Disco

Disco evolved from mainstream pop music in the 1970’s. The songs generally featured an increased use of horns and strings, as well as synths. The objective for most songs was for them to be danceable. In some cases, songs came with a new dance. The Hustle by Van McCoy was one popular example of it. Disco essentially went mainstream when the movie Saturday Night Fever came out in 1977, and with it one of the best selling soundtracks and albums of all time. It put disco firmly in the middle of western culture.

There was, of course, a host of other music genre followers that hated, even reviled, disco. I have to admit at the time that I was one, although to a limited degree. The music was catchy, it was usually upbeat and uptempo, and it wasn’t filled with “messages” or “lessons”. The songs were about dancing, partying, and just generally having fun. But the use of orchestral instruments and synths, coupled with a degree of over-production, put off listeners of rock and country. It spawned fashion styles that some derided, even viciously mocked.

Disco Replaced by 1980’s Pop, Rock, and New Wave

As the 1970’s rolled into its final years, bands began to release albums mocking disco. ELO’s 1979 album Discovery was meant as a bit of a response (with the name including “disco”), as one example. By this time, disco was now mainstream, and was getting a bit “worn” and “tired” for some listeners.

While some claim that Rick Dee’s 1976 novelty song, Disco Duck, was when disco jumped the shark, the music form would continue for years beyond it. There were disco, and disco-like, songs released right up until 1982. Many of the core aesthetics of disco would carry on into 1980’s New Wave and pop, using similar production philosophies, and featuring synths and, at times, orchestral instruments.

All Music Is An Evolutionary Form

All music styles are an evolution of some older style. At it’s core, all modern music calls the blues as it’s core foundation. Blues gave rise to jazz and folk music. Those were remixed back with the blues, and each other, to spawn Big Band, country (first called race music, then hillbilly music, followed by country & western), pop, and rock ‘n roll (later just rock). While new genres can have a distinct sound and feel, ultimately, you find a lot with the basic 12-bar blues structure somewhere at its core.

In the same way that gospel and folk (evolutionary descendants of blues) foreshadowed country, disco could be seen as the natural ancestor of mainstream 1980’s music. Again, they share some similar sounds and a similar feel. The difference can be more use of political or social messages, or exploring deeper topics around breakup, loss, or failure. Not all New Wave songs were uptempo, cheerful dance numbers.

Even 80’s Music Would Decline

In the same way that disco gave way to mainstream 80’s music, other forms would supplant the 80’s. The new forms didn’t, of course, conveniently start in 1990. By 1988 and 1989, you could already see a shift. Rap was becoming more prominent. The early sounds that would become garage rock and grunge could be heard. The music of the late 1980’s was different from the early and mid-1980’s. You could feel a shift in 1987 and 1988. The same happened in the late 1970’s, where some songs that sound quintessentially 80’s came out in 1978 and 1979. Genesis’s “Follow You Follow Me” (1978) and “Misunderstanding” (1979), as well as some of Pat Benetar’s first hits are from the period.

So, was disco foreshadowing mainstream music of the 1980’s? Did a form sometimes thought of as a niche (you’d never know it listening to the radio in the late 1970’s) presage what was coming? Based on a cursory look, that would seem to be the case. Performers and songwriters may have been influenced, even if only indirectly, by the sound that was prevalent on the airwaves, in movies and television, and in school dances. The fingerprints of disco can be seen all over many, many hits of the 1980’s.

July 18, 2024

So You Want To Make Content?

Watching a Youtube video by Mary Spender got me thinking about content creation. In it, she discusses her thoughts on the future of her channel, asking her audience for some feedback and guidance. One thing she said really caught my attention, and I think it’s a very important point when it comes to making any kind of content. I was going to leave a comment, but since I do tend to ramble on, I thought it best to post something here instead and leave a link to it. Maybe it will be of value, maybe not.

No Change In My Plans

Okay, yes, I’ve been lax in putting up regular content. And, no, I have no plans to create videos or podcasts. I have toyed with the idea of a podcast, but I’m not sure I can commit to the time it takes to post one regularly enough, let alone be one that is interesting. I have no interest in doing one just to hear the sound of my own voice.

There is no change in my plans because, at the moment, I don’t really have a “plan” in the formal sense. I have some ideas of what I want to do, but that’s about it.

Be Actually Authentic

One point Mary made was that she was only going to make videos on topics that interested her. She wants her content to remain truly authentic. She had no interest in trying to create something viral or in chasing trends. To me, this is the core, central, fundamental, underlying principle for anyone creating anything in this space. If the creator of content isn’t actually into the content, or doesn’t feel some passion or connection to it, that will come through. Their work will appear to be inauthentic. It will be clear it is trying to pander to some short term trend or gimmick, and not contain something that they actually believe in. It will be shallow, hollow, a facade without substance.

I have watched videos from some content creators where it was clear they were only doing it for the money and the views. It became readily apparent in a few cases. A lot of their content was repetitive. It was shallow or vapid, and it was clearly there to either get you to watch or to generate a reaction (not a real conversation). After a handful of videos, I gave up. I believe I have at least one that I’ve told Youtube to stop recommending entirely.

Of Course, Revenue Can Be Important

For anyone trying to make a living off of their video or audio content, obviously creating something people want to watch (or even pay for) is important. If you hope to pay the bills, you obviously need to make something that’s marketable. But that content has to be more than an obvious attempt at a money grab, at least if you want an audience that sticks around for the long haul. Certainly, you can make something that is shocking or outrageous, or is aimed at gaming SEO systems. That might make you some money in the short term. But it can mean that, after you’ve ceased to be “the new hotness”, the audience moves on to the next thing.

Certainly, there are creators who are simply looking to hook into the “next big thing”, and milk it for as much as they can for as long as they can. Copycats are everywhere, in every arena, and in every genre. Streaming services will be flooded with certain styles or genres as soon as one or two become hot commodities. The same goes for games, fashion, and Youtube content. If that works for you, fine. But unless you can stumble upon the next hot trend, it may be a one-and-done situation.

Please, Care About Your Content

As a consumer of content, I ask that you create authentic content you have a passion for. Ideally, also have some expertise. Unless, of course, you’re documenting your growth and development in something new, hoping to teach others along the way.

But don’t just try to chase the most recent hot trend, Make content you care about, because then the audience will care about it, too. And they’ll come back reliably. Some will even pay you, through things like Patreon, to help you create more. I believe that’s the right answer to long-term and enduring success.

February 28, 2024

Erased Vocals, Incorrect Lyrics, Music Brilliance

I stumbled up on this video on YouTube by the Professor of Rock, and learned something about one of my all-time favourite songs, California Dreamin’ by the Mommas & the Poppas. Watch the details about the history of the song, and the consequences first. Then come back and read my thoughts on the subject, because I have some opinions of my own. None of them, though, will necessary conflict or contrast with those in the video.

June 13, 2023

The Beginnings of 80’s Music

Rick Beato recently released a video talking about some of the landmark albums that were released in 1978. He admits that the list is incomplete, but it features albums with songs that would come define a new era in music, what generally call “80’s music”.

Releases vs. Calendars

Music styles and genres don’t generally stick to formal calendar boundaries. Music is released when the artists and/or labels figure it’s ready. As such, there isn’t a clear delineation on a calendar when some “era” of music begins. But being who we are as humans, we will often describe something based on the decade we associate it with.

What we think of as “50’s music” didn’t really get started until 1954/1955, and lasted until around 1963/1964. There is “60’s music”, which didn’t get going until 1964 and transformed into “70’s music” closer to 1974. The disco era sort-of started in the mid-to-late 1970’s and by the early 1980’s it was pretty much gone. But in both these cases, there was overlap, there was a transition. There wasn’t a hard bright line that delineated these eras, and certainly not any that line up conveniently on decade boundaries.

A Defining Decade Personally

I turned 16 in 1980, so the 1980’s defined a lot for me personally. I finished high school, then university, and had my first full-time job. It was the decade that I moved out on my own. It was when I bought my first new car. We had the Winter Olympics in Calgary, and the Flames made two trips to the Stanley Cup final, winning in 1989. My brother and I attended Game 1 of the 1986 Cup finals, which was the only game the Flames won in that series.

Music has always been a big part of my life, if only as the ‘soundtrack’ to it. I spent 4 years at the University of Calgary with headphones on or nearby. My knock-off of a Walkman was eventually replaced by a real Sony Walkman for my last year of university, and it or a small boombox were ever-present from 1986 onward. I was always playing music somewhere: around the apartment, in the car, when coding. During university, most of that music was typical 80’s music: Billy Joel, Genesis, The Police, and a host of others. I also listened to a lot of ELO, and they became one of my favourite bands, along with The Moody Blues.

1978 Was A Watershed Year

When you listen to Rick’s list, you get the first or new albums from some quintessential 80’s music acts: Dire Straits, Billy Joel, The Police, Kate Bush, AC/DC, Van Halen, Bob Seger, Devo, Rush, Peter Gabriel. More would come in 1979 with acts that had debut or new albums such as Pat Benetar and Genesis. These groups and others began to transform the sound of popular music, and genres like New Wave would find their footing.

1978 was definitely a watershed year. It is, I would argue, the beginning of what we think of as “80’s music” in western culture.

April 21, 2023

And That’s It? (spoilers)

Warning, this contains spoilers for Season 3 of The Mandalorian. Continue reading at your risk.

That’s it? All that build up to end in Mando and Grogu hanging out in a cabin in the countryside? Seriously? The ending of this season was entirely underwhelming. It’s hard to know where to begin on this mess.

Too Many Loose Threads

Nothing got resolved about the Mythosaur, it’s as if it was never part of the story. IG-11 is “miraculously” put back together to be the new Marshall. The Darksabre is destroyed, which implies it was never that important. Who the hell knows what’s happening back on Coruscant, even though it was important enough to dedicate 1/8th of the season’s story to it (seriously, it could have been a 10-second sequence). Oh, and what ever happened to those giant chicks they got? Did they become dinner in some subsequent episode? And where’s the pirate gone? Is Moff Gideon really ash, or did his super-duper armour protect him?

Yeah, yeah, stuff for Season 4. If there is one. If Disney decides to end it here, I’d be fine with that. The only good season was the first. The second was okay, although the “let’s set up another spinoff” thing was getting a bit wearisome. This third season was a pointless mess.

It all wraps up so Mando and Grogu can go off on new adventures. Yeah, this is such a satisfying end (spoiler alert: it isn’t).

All Filler, Little Content

There was, at best, 2-3 hours of actual story in this season, and 5-6 hours of useless filler. All the stupid side quests did nothing to advance the overall plot, and weren’t a way to introduce any new meaningful characters. As cool as it was to see Uppa back in his X-Wing, and as amusing as it was to see him show just how incompetent the New Republic is, again, it added nothing overall. This whole season could have been a movie, and then it might have been more satisfying.

If there is a Season 4, maybe getting back to a more episodic form might be better. Although a different title might be in order (maybe The New Adventures of Mando and Grogu?). It might be entertaining. But part of Star Wars is that there is a grand arc, a bigger story that the stuff we watch (or read) is part of. The entire franchise is premised around it. And as bad as Lucas might have been at dialog, he had a knack for telling stories within stories. Season One of The Mandalorian fit within that. The next two started to drift somewhat.

All I can say now is thank goodness for Andor and The Bad Batch. Maybe we can get some stories about the Adelphi Rangers?

April 14, 2023

It Took 7 Episodes To Get Here? (spoilers)

Warning, this contains spoilers for Chapter 23 of Season 4 of The Mandalorian. Read at your own risk.

Took Long Enough

So it took us 7 episodes (and about 7 hours) to finally get to the point of this thing. Seriously? Take away all the side-quests and distractions, and this should have been the third episode of this season, not the seventh. It could have even been the second episode. We didn’t need to know what was happening with Dr. Pershing. They could have left it as mysterious. A two-minute holo comms sequence with Moff Gideon and Kane, the “His research is lost” line in the holo-Zoom staff meeting, and leave it at that. The “let’s fight pirates” bit. The useless “have to fix IG-11” and it turns out it wasn’t necessary. The rescue, the droid behaviour mystery. Seriously, none of this advanced the narrative.

Too much of this season feels like padding, like fan service and not story telling. It’s like they don’t actually know what story they want to tell, or maybe don’t have a story to tell. I mean, cool, we get some great cameos from some great performers. But we don’t have to try to jam every character the series has presented (that’s still alive) into the season. That’s just not necessary.

Grogu’s New Toy

I was so worried they had pulled a deus ex machine with IG-11 when he came strolling in. But when it was clear he’s just a mech, okay, maybe that’s something that can work. At least Grogu has a bit more mobility, and can do more than make baby noises and Force Grip stuff. It was funny watching him stumble around a bit while he figured the machine out, and pounding away on the “yes” and “no” buttons.

The only concern I would have might be budget. It’s way cheaper to digitally composite a floating egg (which can be closed, reducing detail and fidelity requirements) than an intricate machine. But whatever, not my problem. At least Grogu can be a more active participant in things.

Expect It To Feel Rushed Or Incomplete

There’s only one episode left in the season. That can mean one of two things. First, that they’re going to rush the final conflict between the Mandalorians and Gideon. Don’t be surprised if the New Republic just happens to show up, riding to the rescue. Given how sloppy the story telling as been so far, that wouldn’t be surprising at all. But it would also be a massive disappointment.

The other alternative is that the Mandalorians are chased off “for now” in a lame attempt to set up the next season. Assuming there is one. I have not seen a lot of positive comments or reviews so far, and I see a lot more “glad I skipped this season” instead.

And that leads to the question: will there be a fourth season? With poor reviews, what appears to be a disappointed (and possibly shrinking) audience, this could very well be it for this story line. It could live on in comics and novels. But these aren’t cheap to make, and Disney’s pockets aren’t infinitely deep. I’d rather see the budget put toward ensuring Andor retains it’s high standards and quality. Money spent making another disappointing season like this would be a waste.

April 10, 2023

When The Plot Twists

Warning: This contains spoilers from episode 3 of season 4 of Succession. Major plot points will be discussed, so read at your own discretion. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, don’t read any further. Seriously. Just stop now, watch it, then come back.

A Brilliantly Simple Plot Twist

It is amazing when a show’s team decides to take the story in a new and radical direction. This happened on Succession, in the most recent episode of the final season of the show. Episode 3 of the 4th season, Conner’s Wedding, starts off as expected. We see the first stages of a ludicrous and over-the-top wedding. Logan is plotting and scheming, testing his youngest son. Tom is trying to find more ways to stay useful and be important. The early scenes are basically a carry-over from the previous episode. The closest to a ‘surprise’ we get is that Logan tells Roman, his youngest, to let Gerri know she’s on the way out.

And while the plotting and scheming continue, we get the twist. Not the “Gerri is fired” twist. The “Logan is dead” twist. At some point, we knew that Logan would have to either retire or die. The show is named “Succession”, not “Game of Org Charts”. Someone has to succeed the old man. And for most of the second and third season, it didn’t look like Logan was going anywhere any time soon.

The whole thing plays out while the main characters are basically in no control of where they are going, physically. The children and Cousin Greg are on a boat, leaving dock and sailing toward the Statue of Liberty. Logan and his team, along with Tom, are in a plane in the air. There’s no hopping into a luxury SUV or limo to meet at some office, apartment, restaurant, or karaoke bar. Boats don’t turn on a dime. Planes can’t just park where they are.

The brilliance was, after a few minutes of “perhaps he’s faking it to test the kids”, it was clear that Logan really was going. There’s a body on the floor of a plane. A flight attendant is giving CPR. We hear the distinct sound of a defibrillator being fired. Doors are closed. He doesn’t just pop up, and there would be little point of playing out a lifesaving routine since nobody is using Facetime or Zoom for this. A visual performance wasn’t required. It was all done without the grabbing of chests, shortness of breath, or all the other trappings of an “old man death scene”. We see him get on a plane. We get to hear phone calls.

It’s Par For The Show

Really, this fits with how Succession has played out from the start. There is plenty of absurdity, over-the-top behaviour, a sense of entitlement, and basically no boundaries or limits. There are also virtually no consequences except those imposed by the limits of physics and what the universe allows, which does track for the most part with the real world. The ultra-wealthy are largely immune to the artificial consequences imposed by society. They only thing they can’t ignore is things like gravity and mortality.

I’ve been watching the show regularly from the start, but I’m still not certain I’m a “fan” in the conventional sense. All of the characters are irritating, there are no good guys here, and none rise to the level of anti-hero. Even Cousin Greg is, frankly, obnoxious. The writing and acting, though, are absolutely brilliant. Everyone in the show is scheming and plotting, and most of them actually aren’t very good at it. Having a real curveball thrown at them from time to time is how the showrunners keep the characters off-balance. This curveball, though is a doozy. While it looked like we would get more of the usual plotting and changing allegiances, the story takes a hard right turn, knocking over the crockery and spilling everyone’s drinks.

It Isn’t What I Thought

It wasn’t until I was reading some summaries during season two that I learned the show is meant to be a dark comedy. There was little I found “funny” in a sense that you’d laugh at it. The business elements are entirely fictional, and a complete and utter mess. Unlike Billions, where they actually get a lot of the technical aspects around markets and trading right (or at least close), Succession makes no effort to do so. And that is, apparently, by design. It’s meant to be absurd, not just in how the characters play our their parts, but in how their weird and twisted world works. And if anyone thinks “well, rich people get away with lots”, even rich people aren’t that stupid, and there are limits. You don’t get to be rich without at least a modicum of intelligence.

When I first started watching, I was sort-of expecting something like Billions, just focussed more on the family and business dynamics of who takes over when the old man is gone. It was clear after a few episodes that all the business jargon was used more or less at random, meant to sound “business-y” without worrying about details. Once I got a handle on that, it was then only about the characters and their interactions. The plots and schemes and twists and turns. And the sheer ineptitude of the of all these people.

Which is how the show is brilliant on multiple levels. That ineptitude isn’t necessarily that far from the truth. It’s further demonstrating that being rich doesn’t mean you’re smart. And it isn’t unusual to see ultra-wealthy people somehow believe that they are smarter than everyone else, when the truth is that they are just luckier. They were in the right place at the right time and stumbled onto something that let them build insane levels of wealth. But they succeeded in part because they were at least surrounded by smart (or smarter) people who could actually do the work. If you want to see a so-called “genius” at work, without the supporting talent, just watch the implosion of Twitter.

In For A Bumpier Ride

The ever-changing landscape of who is working with whom in Succession is now in new territory. The first half of season one was off-balance, in part because we’re still learning who the characters are. Things settled down into a pattern in the latter half, plus for the next two seasons. Sure, there were lots of small twists and turns. Characters would be loyal to some faction at one point, only to betray them when it looked like things were better on “the other side”. None of what we were seeing for the past two seasons was particularly surprising. It was, for me, getting a little stale.

They could have gone on like this for some time. At some point, though, they were either going to have to do something more radical. Of course, the showrunners could have simply introduced new characters to add a different dynamic to the show. It could have chugged along while we all waited for it to jump the shark.

But instead, they blew the shark up, and I’m thankful they did it. Not having Brian Cox on the screen is going to be unfortunate, since the man is a brilliant performer. The show, however, needed to get to the point. It was losing its focus for the past two seasons, becoming more of a soap opera (albeit with writing and acting that were several orders of magnitude better, and characters that weren’t glorified cardboard cutouts). In some ways, Logan’s death gets the train back on track. We’ve had too many side-trips that didn’t really advance the plot. Hopefully we’re done with those. We have seven more episodes to find out.

December 13, 2022

Social Media Ambivalence

I am experiencing some ambivalence when it comes to social media, although most of that is about Twitter. I use a few different platforms, for different purposes, and I am trying out a pair of newer ones.

What and Why

I currently use most of the common social media platforms. Facebook is mainly about friends and family, keeping up with what they are doing or thinking. LinkedIn is about professional connections, and keeping up with that community. Instagram is a weird mix of friends, family, and various celebrities or other notable personalities. I visit each of them once per day. On Instagram, once I’ve “caught up”, I don’t keep scrolling. I did for a time, and it was easy to lose a lot of time to that. No more.

Then there’s Twitter, Mastodon, and Post. The latter two I’m experimenting with, seeing if I use them differently than I did with Twitter. Twitter is, for me, an oddball. There’s no way to keep up with each and every tweet from the people I follow. I’ve reduced the number of accounts I follow there over the years, but even then, I usually didn’t read everything. It wasn’t hard for a thousand or more tweets to pile up in a 24-hour period, and that’s with me following maybe 50 people.

Twitter The Outlier

I wasn’t sure about Twitter when I first joined in 2009. It was already 3 years old by that point, and appeared to be gaining traction. It was when social media was becoming more of ‘a thing’, and there was an expectation in some circles that you should be part of it. I followed a lot of different people and organizations, all of whom I was interested in, or sometimes connected with, in some way. But it didn’t take long to get buried in tweets. I would check once a day, and there were thousands of unread tweets. This was before promotions and recommendations started to appear on the site.

For the next few years, I would stop using Twitter for months at a time, or even for more than a year. Then I would come back, pay attention for a few weeks or months, then just sort-of “wander off”. I removed more and more of the accounts I followed to try to get the volume of tweets down, but it was relentless/ There were just enough accounts that I wanted to follow, and many are fairly prolific posters.

To Stay Or Go

I have been considering deleting my Twitter accounts for some time now, long before the Elon Musk Imploding Disaster Show arrived on the scene. And leaving isn’t really about the dumpster fire fueled with thermite that Twitter appears to be devolving into. Twitter was a mess before that, it’s just managed to get worse. I, fortunately, had been spared that, in part because I used TweetDeck, which doesn’t show ads, promoted or recommended tweets, or following suggestions. I rarely posted anything. What I did tweet was apparently uninteresting, so I wasn’t subject to the trolls that roam the Twitter landscape.

But I also found that I had little or no engagement from Twitter and my modest number of followers. I generally tweeted a link to my most recent blog posts, as I do on other social media sites. The number of visits to my blogs that were courtesy of Twitter were generally zero. I would get some from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. But almost nothing from Twitter.

The only thing holding me back is that I have a few connections on Twitter that aren’t on other social media platforms, and I’d like to stay connected to them. I go back every week or so and check for notifications on Twitter. But otherwise, I’ve stopped using it again.

Stay, For Now

For the moment, I’m going to keep my personal and Vintrock Twitter accounts. Part of it is to retain the Twitter handles. Part of it is because maybe, perhaps, things might change again. For now that appears unlikely, but who knows. But I’ve got the accounts reasonably secure, I’ve removed a bunch of personal information from them, and it costs me nothing to let them sit. Whether I also stay on Mastodon and Post is a question mark, but I need to give both a lot more time before I decide what I do next. It’s too soon to make any decisions on them.