McKinsey & Company- The biggest collection of douchebags in the world?

I just finished reading the book, When McKinsey Comes to Town, by journalists Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe.  The book was straight out mind blowing.  McKinsey & Co. is a management consultant company that's nearly 100 years old, and has advised many of the best known, major corporations, and many government agencies in the U.S., and around the world.  After reading this book, I'd like to try and explain who McKinsey is, but John Oliver and the LastWeek Tonight crew does it so fucking well in this video above.  Just watch the video. 

"To those convinced that a secretive cabal controls the world, the usual suspects are the Illuminati, Lizard People, or 'globalists.'  They are wrong, naturally.  There is no secret society shaping every major decision and determining the direction of human history.  There is, however, McKinsey & Company."

- a former McKinsey consultant, quoted in the book, When McKinsey Comes to Town. (p.278).  

For me, learning about McKinsey & Co., in the last several weeks, started with wondering why McDonald's corporate officers seem to be making so many odd decisions in recent years.  As someone who eats at McDonald's a lot, I began to wonder why McDonald's seems to have forgotten that they actually run restaurants.  

I started checking out some of the YouTube videos about the fast food industry and McDonald's, like this one, and this one. With the pandemic and high inflation afterwards, the last few years have been incredibly tough for fast food restaurants in general.  McDonald's issues though, go back a decade or more.  The McDonald's corporate officers, according to multiple reports, have been increasingly squeezing more money out of the local franchisees for several years now.  This became such an issue, that McDonald's franchisees actually started a union, to collectively voice their issues to the corporate officers.  As time passed in recent years, the local owners, the franchisees, have seen decreasing profits in many places, due to corporate decisions in many cases.  And then, the pandemic hit, with the business shutdowns, followed by high inflation and rising prices for food items.  As a business owner, that's a lot to deal with.  

After a while, I came across this article, with McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski, from 2021.  In it, and the embedded video, he talks about McDonald's focusing more attention on their rewards program, and delivery orders using Postmates, Uber Eats, and similar delivery platforms.  He also talks about McDonald's testing out restaurants that had no inside seating at all, just drive-thru, phone order takeouts, and delivery orders.  

It looks like that for three years or more, McDonald's has been looking into the cost savings of having fast food restaurants, with no actual "restaurant."  I have a hunch, that if you polled 1,000 Americans, and asked them, "What is McDonald's?" their answers would say that it's a fast food restaurant where families go to eat for a reasonable price, or something similar to that.  Tens of millions of current American adults played, as little kids, in the Play Places that no longer exist at McDonald's.  

Somehow I don't think the idea of McDonald's being just a drive-thru/delivery business would fly with most current customers.  Not for the long term, anyhow.  Maybe that's just me.  It also seems like it would be difficult to get the owners of the 12,775 McDonald's franchisees in the U.S. to shut down the indoor part of the restaurant, when it usually costs $1 million to $2 million to buy a McDonald's franchise.  In any case, it appears there's a lot more drama ahead for most, if not all, fast food companies, for the corporate staff and franchisees alike.  

In any case, that article with the McDonald's CEO is on the McKinsey & Co. website.  So I asked myself, "Who's McKinsey?"  That's when I found the LastWeek Tonight video above, and a bunch of other interesting posts about this consulting firm.  Last week, looking for an interesting book in the local library, I stumbled upon When McKinsey Comes to Town.  Since that three year old article is on the McKinsey website, it's obvious that McKinsey was consulting Mickey D's in 2021, and likely still is.  After reading that book, I now understand how McDonald corporate could have forgotten that they actually run restaurants, not just phone app delivery sites.  

Several weeks ago, I was wondering why my local McDonald's no longer have dedicated clerks manning the register and taking orders full time.  That led to this crazy trip through learning about the current the tribulations of the fast food industry, and then to this secretive management consulting firm that literally seems like a parody of the terms "management consulting."  Man, it's a weird world we live in, and McKinsey has had consulting gigs with a lot of it in 100 years.  

Before Oprah, and all the rest, there was Phil Donahue

The renowned talk show host, Phil Donahue, died this past weekend at the age of 88.  This is Entertainment Tonight's tribute to the guy who invented the afternoon, audience participation talk show.  If it wasn't for Phil Donahue's show, Oprah, Sally Jessie, Maury, Jerry Springer and all the others may have never had the shows we know them best for.  

Somewhere in a box, probably in my sister's attic back east, there's a picture of me when I was 19-years-old.  I was about as close to thin as I ever got, and I was wearing my Boise High School letterman's jacket, red with white sleeves, and a big red "B" on it.  Believe it or not, my fat ass got a letter in cross-country during my senior year of high school (Go Braves!).  In the photo, my hand is raised up, left hand, I believe, and there's a small monkey on my hand.  I had a splint on one finger that I had smashed or something.  It wasn't broken, but the doctors at the ER put a splint on it, to keep it from moving for a few days.  The monkey kept picking at the white tape and splint, trying to figure out what it was for.  The photo was taken in San Francisco, in either the fall of 1985, or spring of 1986, I think it was in the spring.  My mom and I  were standing in line to see a taping of the Phil Donahue Show.  Or Donahue, as it was called then.  That episode had something to do with grandparent's rights, when their kids were abusive to their grandkids, something like that.  The show did a few days of taping in San Francisco for some reason.  The monkey was owned by a guy working the line, letting people take photos with the monkey for tips.  There were a few hundred of us lined up for an hour or more, so I imagine he made a decent amount of money.  My mom snapped the photo.

As I recall, once we were all seated, Phil Donahue came out before the show, and let the audience ask him questions.  My mom was really excited, and he came over, pointed the mic towards her, and let her speak.  My mom, Kathy, told Phil Donahue that she had been a fan of his show since he was a local talk show host in Dayton, Ohio.  In fact, she explained, she once was in the studio audience of the local show when she was pregnant with her son, who's now 19-years-old.  She pointed to me.  She told Phil Donahue that she'd been a fan all those years, and was delighted to be able to come to another taping.  

Now even for a TV host who has interviewed hundreds of celebrities, and pointed a mic at thousands of audience members, that's a pretty unique story.  Phil Donahue was incredibly gracious and professional, and said he was glad she came to a show taping all those years later.  It's been a long time, obviously, but I think that all happened before the show taped.  

He went backstage after the questions, and came back out to tape the show.  During the latter half of the show, my mom got to make a comment about the topic of the day, which, of course made her happy.  Because of that, we were both on camera for a few seconds during the actual show.  She might have mentioned seeing him before in Dayton in the show, but I think it was before hand.  My memory is hazy on that part.  In any case, we watched the show being taped, and it was pretty cool.  

After the show, the audience was told that Phil was available to get a photo with, back in those days before cell phones and selfies as we know them today.  My mom, of course, wanted a photo.  We left the auditorium, and there was a big line of well over 100 people to get a photo.  So we stood in another line for probably 20 minutes or so, and eventually made it up to say "Hi" to Phil, and to take a photo.  As my mom walked up, he smiled and said, "You're the lady from Ohio, right?"  Wow.  That one floored me.  The audience probably had 400 to 500 people in it, and he had talked to quite a few of them, both during the question period, and while taping the show itself.  

As you can imagine, my mom was ecstatic that he remembered her, and she talked to him for a minute, and I shot a photo of them.  We headed out, and back home to San Jose, where my mom promptly called everyone she could think of and told them she saw Phil Donahue, and that he remembered her after the show.  

I'd heard the story about my mom going to see a Phil Donahue Show taping live, while she was pregnant with me, several times before that day.  I remember her watching his show going way back in my childhood.  Today I looked it up, and found that the local Dayton Phil Donahue Show started in 1967.  I was born in 1966.  But he did an earlier afternoon show called Conversation Piece, at the same station, WHIO-TV, from 1963 to 1967.  We did live in both Dayton and Cincinnati (close by) when I was little.  We moved out of Dayton when I was five.  But my parents lived up by Akron, in the opposite part of Ohio, when I was born.  My guess is that my mom went with a couple of other women to the taping back in 1966.  I never heard the whole story of the trip.  My mom died earlier this year, so I can't get the details from her.  

As a kid in Ohio until I was 14, I watched a lot of Phil Donahue Shows as a kid.  My mom, and most other moms we knew, watched it nearly every afternoon.  The show was on a lot, whether us kids wanted to watch it or not.  My dominant memory is my mom folding laundry while watching it, on many different occasions.  

From all of his shows I watched on TV, and the one taping that I went to when I was 19, I have to say Phil Donahue was a class act, on TV and off.  He and his team figured out in the 1960's that you can do a really interesting TV show, day after day, with a live studio audience and a good topic to talk about.  He invented the afternoon talk show genre' and taped thousands of interesting shows.  RIP Phil Donahue.

I couldn't find the photo of me with the monkey anywhere online, or on social media.  If I find it, I'll put it up here, or link to it.  

Great songs: "Nothing Compares 2 U" - 40 years of evolution of a great song

This is the latest great version of this song, P!nk singing Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," backed by an orchestra, for BBC radio, in 2023.  

Is "Nothing Compares 2 U" Prince's best song?  

That could be argued forever.  Prince is the guy who gave us "Purple Rain," "1999," "Let's Go Crazy," "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry," "Raspberry Beret," "Kiss," "Cream," "Sign O' The Times," "Starfish and Coffee," played this guitar solo, put on the best Superbowl halftime show ever, and wrote dozens of other incredible songs.  He was, without question, one of the great musical geniuses of the modern era.  No arguments there.  So has "Nothing Compares 2 U" become his best song?  The song was written by Prince in 1984, and recorded as a demo, then released on The Family album in 1985.  

Prince- Original version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Original studio demo verison- 1984

Prince & The Family- "Nothing Compares 2 U" Prince's album version, released in 1985 This song was originally released on The Family's only album in 1985.

  Or is "Nothing Compares 2 U" Sinead O'Conner's song now?  Her 1990, stripped down, soul wrenching cover and full face video is what really launched this song into the stratosphere.  What about Chris Cornell's cover in 2016 with acoustic guitars, cello, and haunting vocals?  Cynthia Erivo took it in another direction at the Kennedy Center Honors earlier this year.  

"Nothing Compares 2 U" has been covered by P!nk, Brandi Carlile, Madonna, Annie Lennox, Chris Stapleton, actress/singer Kate Hudson, as well as instrumental versions by orchestras, pianists, a romantic saxophone player and a bass clarinet player, along with many more.  

But it was this cover and video by Sinead O'Conner in 1990 took this song to a whole different place.  Sinead and her crew reinvented this song.  When it's a Prince song to begin with, that really says something.  

Sinead O'Conner- "Nothing Compares 2 U" official music video- 1990

Sinead O'Conner- live cover- 1990's?  

I often learn things when writing blog posts, that's part of the fun.  I get an idea for a post, and get drawn deep into one subject or another, falling down a rabbit hole that goes places I didn't expect.  In the last 24 hours, I've learned that this epic song is not only 40 years old this year, but it has become a modern standard, with a whole lot more really good cover versions than I had any idea existed.  There are 29 versions of "Nothing Compares 2 U" linked in this blog post.  There are three versions by Prince and three by Sinead O' Conner linked, each a bit different from the others.  Then there are 23 other versions.  I discovered P!nk's cover with the orchestra yesterday, recorded in a BBC studio, embedded above.  That blew me away.  Then I just kept digging on YouTube, and finding more and more covers.  

Prince and New Power Generation- Live at Paisley Park- 1999- Features Rosie Gaines on vocals and Kathy Jensen on saxophone.

Jimmy Scott- Studio recorded cover- 2011

Brandi Carlile- live cover in Milwaukee- October 17, 2012-  Cell phone video, sub par audio recording, unfortunately.

Kate Hudson live cover in a club- 2016?

Madonna- live cover during Prince tribute at Billboard Awards- 2016

Chris Cornell- live cover for SiriusXM in studio- 2016   

Here's how this blog post came to be.  As a homeless blogger, I spend most mornings in a certain McDonald's, with a sweet tea, and a sausage biscuit on a good day.  I'm usually hanging out with 3 or 4 other homeless guys, decent guys from different backgrounds.  We sit there, talking about one thing or another, from the weather to politics to surfing and current events.  We have some really cool conversations at times.  

Yesterday, one guy mentioned something about Chris Cornell being in Soundgarden, which I didn't know.  Yeah, they had several cool songs, but I was never a huge fan, and I'm not someone who knows every musician in every band.  I just like music.  

About a year ago, I ran into Chris Cornell's incredible SiriusXM version of "Nothing Compares 2 U," and I love his version.  Yesterday, I realized I probably met him, way back in 1989.  One day while working at Unreel Productions, the Vision Skateboards video company, a band walked through our studio.  That happened occasionally, Vision was trying to get bands to help promote Vision Street Wear clothes.  Gene Loves Jezebel, Antrax, and INXS all toured Unreel back then, along with several lesser known musicians.  Our office was the coolest part of Vision, with a 7 foot high Statue of Liberty on the landing of the steps, an ocean view from two offices, and the $500,000 video edit bay.  So when Vision owner Brad Dorfman wanted to impress someone, he brought them to Unreel.  

As I walked out after work that day, one of the guys from the band said something like, "Hey, we're Soundgarden, want some stickers?"  This would have been in their early, SST Records days.  I may have heard the name of the band at that point, but wasn't familiar with them.  But I was a BMX guy, I never turned down free stickers.  "I said, "Sure."  They gave me maybe 20 of the rectangular, "Soundgarden Louder than Love" stickers.  I put them in the glove compartment of my truck, and forgot about them.  A couple years later, my friend Keith was digging the the glove box for something and found them. He freaked, "Holy shit, dude!  You've got Soundgarden stickers.  Can I have a couple?"  "You can have them all," I said.  Did I meet Chris Cornell that day in the Unreel parking lot?  Probably.  But, I can't say for sure.  But I remembered the band's name after that, though I never was a became a big fan.  Yesterday, when I realized I probably met him, I got the idea for this blog post, thinking there were at least three awesome versions of "Nothing Compares 2 U."  

In 2016, after the untimely death of Prince, Chris Cornell did his amazing cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U," as did several other people, as a tribute to the purple musical genius.  As you can see in the links below, several people covered this song in 2016 and 2017, but I, personally, think Chris Cornell's cover rises above the others.  This led to a resurgence of interest in Prince, and in this particular song, still best known for Sinead O'Conner's breakout, 1990 version.

Then, in 2017, Chris Cornell tragically died by suicide.  His death brought another wave of interest in this song, since he had just done an epic version of it.  Though my list of links below may not be in perfect order, you can see that there was a surge in people who covered this song, in that era.  This brought "Nothing Compares 2 U" into the awareness of a whole new generation of fans, and the covers of this song increased.  

Then, last year, 2023, Sinead O' Conner passed away, also at a relatively young age, of pulmonary issues.  Whether she liked it or not, this was the song that unexpectedly launched her into mainstream success and notoriety.  As a singer, songwriter, activist, and all around strong woman, Sinead had a huge fan base.  Her death led to yet another wave of interest in her work, and in this song in particular.  Another wave of young people was introduced to this song, and more began to cover it, in a variety of ways.  "Nothing Compares 2 U" has become a true standard of our times, as it turns 40 years old this year.  

As if the song is not haunting enough, the three people with the strongest ties to it all died in their 50's.  Prince was 57, Sinead O' Conner was 56, and Chris Cornell was 52.  That's as tragic as the heart wrenching song itself.  

This blog post is my little tribute to this incredible song, during its 40th anniversary.  This is a tribute to its creator, Prince, and to Sinead and Chris.  This is a tribute to all the musicians who have given this incredible song a go, adding their own soul and style to the song, and the music world as a whole.  If you've read this far, check out any of the links that sound interesting, above and below.  Maybe all these variations of this song may spark some inspiration in you to write your own song, or do whatever creative work you do.  Or maybe this song will help you survive your own broken heart someday.  I think music is one of the great things human beings have come up with, and we need musicians to keep creating as a key part of human society.  Music is a form of magic that, sometimes, just keeps growing and expanding on its own, even long after the creator of it is gone.  

Chris Stapleton- live cover at The Greek in Berkeley- April 23, 2016

Choral Stimulation- live cover a capella- 2016

Coldplay with James Cordon- Live at the Rose Bowl- 2016 or 2017?

Delta Goodrem- live acoustic cover taped in studio- 2017?

David Nilsson- live in studio recording- August 2017

Chris Buck- electric guitar instrumental cover- April 2018

Jesus Acebedo- Home recorded piano cover- 2019

tronious- home recorded cover with piano, vocals, and cat- November 2019 

Sinead O'Conner- cover live on The Late Late Show- 2020?

Kelly Clarkson- live cover on her TV show- 2021 (shorter- edited down version)

Epic Orchestra- Full Orchestra- instrumental cover- 2021

Alyona Yarushina- live cover in 2021

Gina Miles- live cover on The Voice- 2023

Damien Rice- live cover in concert- July 26, 2023  This is a spontaneous cover, without ever having played the song live before, upon hearing of Sinead O'Conner's death while on stage.  

Angelo Torres- Saxophone cover over backing track- 2023

xtrexjpsouz- Multi-track bass clarinet instrumental cover- 2023

Adam Levine- cover sung live in studio on Howard Stern Show- December 13, 2023

Irish Women in Harmony- Pandemic-style, multi-location, multi-artist, studio recording, acoustic  cover- 2024

Cynthia Erivo- live cover at the Kennedy Center Honors- 2024

Annie Lennox- live cover with Wendy & Lisa at 2024 Grammy's 

Nothing Compares- trailer for Sinead O'Conner documentary that came out in 2022, and is available on one or more streaming platforms.  

I'm proofreading this post right now.  The finished version will be up in half an hour or so.  

There are no paid links in this blog post.  

Competitive trampoline bails

Six minutes of some crazy competitive trampoline bails.

In my current situation, with no phone, no laptop, and no TV, I haven't seen much of this year's Olympics in Paris.  But at a restaurant the other day, I caught some of the competitive trampoline event.  Personally, I think this is more entertaining than the traditional gymnastics.  These competitors are bouncing 20 or 25 feet up in the air, doing amazing flips and twists.  But even in the Olympics, I saw two serious bails, one man, one woman.  

The female got bucked on the edge, and did an accidental flip so low that her hair bun skimmed the safety pad on the end of the trampoline.  A couple inches lower, should could have broken her neck.  It was scary to see live.  The guy got a little squirrelly, and came down from 25 feet up and missed the entire trampoline, landing on the spotter's crash pad beside the trampoline, on the floor.  Even for all you Old School BMXers on my feed, 25 feet to flat is gnarly.  I can't find good shots of the bails from the Olympics on YouTube, so here's a compilation of gnarly bails from other trampoline contests.

As a guy who once was a spotter for the American Gladiators and their contenders, I have to say these spotters are all pretty amazing, which is good.

A change in the wind...

The wind is changing.  The Tumultuous 2020's, as I dubbed them four years ago, will be one of the craziest decades ever, and what we do in this decade will set the stage for generations to come.  Our "Dystopia" is change, massive change on multiple levels.  Here's Chapter 20 of my online book/blog, Welcome to Dystopia: The Future is Now, which I wrote in the first week of June, 2020, when we all thought the pandemic would be all over in a few more weeks.  What will you do in this period of great change?  That's the real question.

Welcome to Dysttopia: The Future is Now- Chapter 20- "Our Dystopia is CHANGE... it's time to mold a new reality."