It is now seven days into the New Year of 2018, and outside my window, the sun is shining down its warm rays and bringing the temperature up from an earlier 1 degree to a robust 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Michael Wolff’s deeply troubling book, Fire and Fury, is dominating the news with damaging insights, backpedaling insiders and denials from a staunch staff. Meanwhile, the nuclear button size has become a talking point between the United States and North Korea. The stock market is at an all-time high. Regulations imposed upon big business have been revoked. The televised, internet and periodical news is fighting to prove itself trustworthy while talking back directly to the POTUS has become commonplace when he tweets out his own headlines.
The investigation into collusion with Russia is still in process while the White House is claiming no collusion and calling for reopening the investigation into the previous secretary of state’s emails — as well as examining the money flow through the family foundation. At a time when rich and powerful men from Hollywood to Capitol Hill are losing their jobs and families due to their predatory behavior, a good many people felt that an accused Republican child molester would fill a senate seat better than any Democrat. The women of the “Me Too” movement are to be commended for their bravery in speaking up against the predatory behavior of men in power, although it often seems that due process has been replaced by the lynch mobs of social and not-so-social media.
Twenty-nine states have allowed for marijuana use for medicinal needs. Eight states and Washington, D.C. have legalized the plant for recreational purposes. Jeff Sessions, the U.S. Attorney General, has rescinded a previous administration policy that blocked U.S. attorneys from prosecuting marijuana cases in states where the drug is legal, thereby leaving it to the discretion of federal prosecutors whether or not to enforce the federal law banning the sale and use of the plant. This decision has ironically placed the Attorney General on the federal side of the states’ rights issue — not to mention that it comes at a time when the president has declared the opioid crises to be a public health emergency. We as a nation have become inured to the mass killings and gun violence taking place almost daily while Congress refuses take a stand against the NRA. The tax code has been rewritten and, despite all the discussion and analysis, it still remains to be seen how the new legislation will affect all of us and not just a select few.
Duck and Cover — Redux
Of course there is more, but no need to belabor the point; the end is near. Armageddon is fast approaching, and we may as well all put our heads between our legs and kiss our butts goodbye as our fearless leaders try to turn back time to a era when greatness was manifest. Okay, okay, hold on now, don’t be too hasty. Before we declare ourselves an idiocracy, let’s be aware that while we appear to be living in a world gone wild, all the name calling, divisive behavior and saber rattling has taken place in every generation before us.
The Audio Side
The “good old days” were fraught with bad behavior, mistakes, protest and political animosity and — for the most part — were probably not as good as we might remember them to be. This last thought brings to mind something I read recently from an online posting. The writer of the post was seemingly well into his fifties or more and was lamenting about the good old days of audio. The writer complained how the current crop of younger technicians wouldn’t have been able to handle the long hours and physical labor that were required back then due to the much larger and heavier gear. His conclusion was that the younger guys are too soft and have it too easy with the newer, more streamlined equipment.
Unfortunately, this vision of the halcyon days of yore (when men were men and the tour bus was the chariot carrying a band of brothers on to their next conquest) is a romantic fantasy clouded by an emotional attachment to select moments. In the real world, the older guys slow down and allow the younger guys to take the bunk on the bus as they drive off into a brave new world with leaner, more efficient equipment. One isn’t any better than the other, and they cannot be compared to each other anymore than the 1958 Yankees can be compared to the 1996 Yankees — both are champions, but at different times with different circumstances.
What’s Next
So, here I sit, at the beginning of 2018, wondering what the New Year will bring and what audio innovations might come our way to change the way we do our jobs. The negatives of the job will always be there, as will the positives, and in one form or another, the old becomes the new again. Due to circumstance, the job has changed a bit over time, and whoever decides upon a career in live audio will need to be up to the challenge of the moment. New skills are developed and old skills forgotten. And while it’s helpful to have a history (or the knowledge of the same), it’s not necessarily so important to hold on to it or to relive it. The greatness is in moving forward and with an ability to acclimate to our new surroundings while learning the new modus operandi.
Change is inevitable and, if one is unable to adapt, then they will find the bus leaving without them. Let’s hope that in this New Year, Armageddon can be put off indefinitely and that nobody gets an itchy trigger finger. Let’s hope that clear heads prevail on all fronts and that everyone prospers. Let’s hope for warmer weather — but not too warm. Let’s hope for affordable healthcare, lower school tuition, no predatory behavior, no mass murder and an end to partisan politics. Let’s also hope for the younger techs to take the reins and run with it. Let’s hope for new and innovative equipment to make our jobs easier and better, and let’s hope the FCC doesn’t take any more frequencies. Lastly, let’s hope that all mixes are good mixes and that, in the future, we can always look back on this time as the good old days.
