Author: Crowhill Report

It’s hard to know when an observation indicates a real change, or whether you just started noticing it more. For example, it’s common for people to take note when they see something three times in a day. E.g., “I’d never even heard of zucchini bread, and then I heard it mentioned three times in one day!”

It’s possible you had heard of zucchini bread before, you just never paid attention, and this time you did. It’s also not that unusual for there to be clumps in random distributions.

So I make this observation with the understanding that it might not have any significance at all, but it seems to me that it’s far more common these days for drivers to slow down or stop in the middle of the road, without any consideration for the people around them. I blame this on Google maps, and similar technology. People slow down or stop to read the directions.

But I’m curious if anyone else has noticed this.

A few years ago I went to DelFest in western Maryland, and I get their emails. Today I got a recording of Sierra Hull, who is an amazing mandolin player, and a lovely singer. But she has one of those “too sweet” voices that doesn’t do it for me unless she’s singing with a man. I feel the same way about Allison Kraus. She has a lovely voice, but it’s too sweet. It’s more enjoyable when she’s singing with Robert Plant, or some other guy.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Listen to the parts where Sierra is singing by herself, and compare that with when she’s singing with the fiddle player.

You can hear the same in “Compass” with Darrell Scott.

If you’re familiar with Allison Kraus, compare any of her songs with duets she does with dudes, like “How’s the World Treating You” (James Taylor), “Rich Woman” (Robert Plant), or to some extent in “Whiskey Lullaby” (Brad Paisley). Although she also sounds good with Dolly Parton in “The Last Word in Lonesome is Me.”

I was scanning the headlines from a magazine I’ve recently taken interest in and noticed how many social buzzwords it had. Imposter syndrome. Diversity. Quiet Quitting. Obsessions about race and sex.

It got me wondering (for the millionth time) which came first. Is the public actually preoccupied with these topics, and the media is dutifully covering them, or is the media creating obsessions by endlessly framing issues from a certain point of view?

The answer is obviously “both” — it almost always is — but “both” doesn’t mean one isn’t dominant.

My strong suspicion is that it works this way. Some small group of socially connected, elite types get obsessed with some issue. Media elites rub shoulders with that crowd, so they pick up those attitudes. “This is the new thing that everybody is talking about.” That filters down into the newspapers, magazines, silly TV talk shows, etc., and then becomes the new thing that “everybody” is talking about.

I stand athwart this nonsense. I won’t play. I try hard not to use the hip new words and phrases.

The breathless headline reads ‘White Men Really Are Insufferable’: Jimmy Kimmel Blasted For Playing Dead During Black Creator’s Emmys Acceptance Speech

Turns out it’s only a Tweet by a fan. Who cares?

The media needs to stop acting as if “somebody said something on Twitter” is news. It’s not. These are dysfunctional people on a dysfunctional platform that should just go away.

She was an amazing woman who lived a full and long life. Condolences to my friends who had the privilege to call her their queen.

P&C recorded a first reaction to the news last night. 262: RIP Queen Elizabeth 2, and the benefits of monarchy.