Phil Grossfield's Blog

My Schedule…and A Little Extra:   I’m voiceless.   It happens to me occasionally…it is not uncommon.  When I was younger it happened every time I went to a concert.  I suppose it was cause I was singing with Billy Idol at the top of my lungs, or The Who, or Prince, or U2, or the Grateful Dead, or Van Halen, or Pink Floyd, or, well, you get the picture.  Then it started to happen when I went to parties, pretty much any loud party.  Now it only happens when I get sick since I rarely go to loud parties anymore.  I think it’s the Universe’s way of telling me to shut the hell up.  So, I’m shutting the hell up.  I will not be answering my phone today…only emails and text messages.  |||  I watched the Grammy’s last night with my wife.  While she commented on every single outfit, hairstyle, and guessed the age of all the singers, I tried to see if I was completely out of touch with today’s music culture.  Back in college I considered my tape collection to be pretty comprehensive…I loved music from Crosby Stills Nash & Young to Prince to John Denver.  Last night I was actually pleasantly surprised I recognized almost all the songs, although I had no idea what the people looked like that sang them.  I was also pleasantly surprised to really enjoy all the performances…all in all I’d say it was one of the better Grammy Award shows.  However, I didn’t see one awe-inspiring performance, you know, like Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean in 1984 or P!nk’s Glitter In the Air in 2010.

My Schedule:  I have one meeting in OC at noon and another at 2:30p.  Then I’ll hit a Starbucks and get caught up on emails and then drive home late.  Because my voice is gone, I will not be answering my phone today…only emails and text messages….

My Fun Stuff:  As I feel more and more alone, my phone confidently connects with everyone. As I feel more and more lost, my phone calmly knows how to get anywhere. As I struggle to remember mundane things like the name of that movie with the boat and the guy with the lip, my phone smugly recalls literally everything. As I increasingly lose the nouns, verbs and adjectives that once stood ready to articulate my thoughts, my phone taunts me with its instant access to all the words there have ever been. There is only one possible conclusion. Slowly, without realizing it, I seem to have outsourced my mind to my phone. And to make matters worse, the damn thing knows it…and it’s starting to screw with me. Several times during the day I feel it buzz in my pocket, alerting me that some vital information has just arrived. Then, when I look, there’s nothing there. No email. No text. Nothing. Was the buzz in my mind? I don’t think so. I think it’s purposeful. I think my phone is mocking me. And it’s not just my phone. It’s all of them. They are working together, systematically robbing us of our intelligence, our humanity. And then, when we are made stupid and helpless, they will take over. It’s just a matter of time before the next generation of iPhone is equipped with an opposable thumb. Oh yeah, they’re smart alright. Evil, world domination smart.  Vanity Card #407 – Chuck Lorre Productions |||  All My Fun Stuff

My Market Watch:  There’s not much going on today so I expect the market to be docile…I kind of wish I hadn’t typed that.  Rates are a little better than Friday by about 0.125 in price.  Unless something out of the ordinary gets reported today or some unexpected news comes out of Europe, I expect trading to stay flat all day….   My Disclaimer