annoyagonian

it’s a small thing, but the oregonian often pulls this crap.
in the arts section of the sunday o! there is an article called “street corner symphony.” (oregon live version of the story here). this could be a really cute article if it wasn’t so condescending to the reader. it is less of an article about this cool kid’s attempts to raise money to get a music education and more about the oregonian talking down to its audience about the meaning of busking. the term busk or busking is used at least 16 times in the article. the meaning of the word is explained three times, including once with an insert about the history of the word. a little explanation is fine, but that was complete overkill. i realize that not everyone is keen on the music world and would necessarily be familiar with the term busk, but just mention it once and get on with the point of the article.

further, the above article about the new gillian welch cd says, “she could be found on records from tom jones and bright eyes and old crow medicine show and robyn hitchcock.”

ok, first of all, the oregonian doesn’t need to try and sound so hip by acknowledging that they listen to records. but, more importantly, don’t name drop artists like that in one article and then go into a long-winded lesson about busking in the next. now, sure, i may know who all those above named musicians are, but it’s not your average person that listens to robyn hitchcock. i am guessing that people that listen to “records” are likely to know what busking is, but i’m even more certain that anyone who knows who robyn hitchcock is also knows what busking is.

so, to the oregonian, i say next time you feel like giving a sesame street lesson about a word we could just as easily derive from one little caption, why not be consistent and give us a full page biography on robyn hitchcock. we could all use a little soft boys flashback, as a refresher.

i should give at least one obligatory nice comment about the oregonian. the article about american idol concert at the rose garden was pretty spot on and humorous. not that i would’ve gone to such an event, but it was described well enough that one need not actually attend.

anyway, anyway, anyway, continue having a great day!