Month: June 2007

Everybody Panic!

When reading or watching the news, beware the phrase “a new study today revealed,” or its myriad variations. One of the many sad things about the news media today is that they will go out of their way to find studies to get you freaked out. What’s particularly sad is not the goofy science they find (studies that only correlate things, which the news media then present in such a way as to assume causality), but the alarmism that the newsfolks want to generate, because that’s what makes them money.

Let this be your mantra: correlation does not equal causality. If a study finds that eating baby seal liver is linked to a longer lifespan, it may only mean that the experiment was conducted using Eskimos, who just happened to be eating a lot of fish oil or something else that gives them a greater life expectancy. You don’t know the methods because the articles often conveniently leave them out.

What I’m noticing even more today is that, as all these studies proliferate and contradict each other over time (1980: margarine is great, butter sucks! 2000: holy crap are you still eating margarine?), people trust science and scientific studies less, when the people they really need to stop trusting are the alarmist/money-grubbing news media who profit by your fear. Scientific studies at an individual level will always produce varying results, and only over long spans of time do we really gain knowledge that we can rely upon with confidence. So the next time you read about a study that links an activity with a particular outcome, don’t assume that one causes the other. They may just be correlated somehow.

Just Maybe the Songs

Perhaps the iTunes revolution will help to detach us somewhat from the musician cult of personality. Last year I was suckered into a subscription to Blender[1], which is the most heinous rag of celebrity music journalism (complete with Us Weekly-esque paparazzi shots of musicians clearly unaware that they’re being photographed), and it reminded me that the primary focus of music magazines is not music, but the people who make it. Of course this has probably always been the case, but it seems like today it’s even worse, as every magazine out there has a section full of pictures of famous people at parties, famous people buying groceries, famous people doing whatever.

I do know that there was a day when a hit song was a hit song, and ideally it didn’t matter who sang it [2]. But especially after the Beatles, the songs became unextractable from the musicians. So the musicians became more important (and easier for writers to talk about, as songs are far less often to be found stumbling out of a nightclub with Lindsay Lohan). But as we move away from albums and back to singles, just maybe the artists will become less important. MTV and ProTools have made the artist irrelevant anyway, as today almost anyone can sell millions of records, given the proper marketing push.

We’ll always be attracted to the vicarious thrills of watching celebrities, but I think as the music industry loses focus, the ocean of celebrity will be diluted. I’m probably wrong, but one can hope.

1.) If you want my full rant on Blender, say the word.
2.) So long as they were white.

Overdue

I’m tired. The last few weeks have been a lot of work. The first gigs of the new Bryan Frazier band went well. Riverfest was a lot of fun to play – the weather was perfect and the stage guys totally made me feel like a rockstar by providing me with a guitar stand and by taping down my setlist. Bryan got a good recording of the show so hopefully I can make that available to people soon.

Working Riverfest wasn’t as eventful as previous years. Pat Benetar was a diva who didn’t consort with the help. Keb Mo was laid back and cool, though. I didn’t take many pictures at all this time. On Sunday Trey and I drove up to Harrison for my grandmother’s 93rd birthday. She’s been dealing with cancer for over a year now and beating everyone’s expectations.

This morning I posted several things on Freecycle, which is something everyone needs to know about. It’s a way to get rid of things by giving them to people rather than taking them to the landfill. You post a message with what you’ve got, someone responds and they come pick it up. I got responses in less than an hour. I’m glad to finally be cleaning out the garage. It’s my first step toward the large-scale divestiture that I’ll need to consider if I’m serious about moving.

Did I say moving? Yes, I’m debating moving to New York City. Have I mentioned that? It’s been in the back of my mind since Arika encouraged me to consider it last February when I stayed with her. I’ve got a lot of friends there now, and money isn’t the obstacle it once was. The thing is, Little Rock is comfortable and I have a lot of stuff I’d have to live without were I to move.

In other news I’ve been catching up with an old high school acquaintance, Michelle Arcand, via MySpace. She’s really done well for herself creatively; she has come a long way from the girl I remember. I’m always interested in how people change over time because I still don’t feel like I’ve ever really changed since junior high.