What news stories transcend the delivery by media outlets and become word-of-mouth stories? In recent days, during the immolation of all other things personal, I have had a few interesting leaks to ponder.
The death of the singer Amy Winehouse immediately became, literally, a public discussion. Within an hour of the discovery of her tragic death, the tweet world had alerted the waiter where I was eating and I quickly overheard the conversations regarding her untimely passing.
Our celebration of the cult of celebrity has led to a fascination with all aspects of the lives of the famous or infamous. Add to that the terrible irony of some of MS Winehouse's song titles and her frequent public binges and there is certainly something for the paparazzi to sink their bloody teeth into. Yet without a hungry audience, the paparazzi would drift off into their deserved ignominy. Our collective hunger for a window on fame creates an engine for information that quickly bypasses the mainstream media.
Even with a complete news blackout, I cannot help but hear about the complete lack of leadership (my interpretation) in Washington, DC, that has led to yet another budget "crisis." I have to question whether this even qualifies as a news story, for as ineptitude and what Mencken would call "boobery" have become the status quo in the US Capitol, why would it be news? Partisan brinkmanship and threats to shut down the government's finances have become a routine so devoid of content as to become a definition of demagoguery.
The last and most serious news story that quickly became the talk on the street was the massacre in Norway, an almost unbelievable act of barbarity. I heard of this within hours of it happening and details continued to be discussed around me, the most telling being America's amazement at the sentencing structure of the Norwegian judicial system.
These were three news stories, as distinct from one another as could be imagined, that could be heard from mouths of the citizenry in the last few days. I am not sure what conclusions to draw from this so I will just present this in the form of observations.
The list of rants to come, under the loose heading of "Strike a Blow" will start tomorrow. In the midst of moving and schlepping and "watching it burn, all Halloween orange and chimney red",
I have let writing and music slip to the wayside. But no more, no more chants he.
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