It's been magical pretending we live in Wine Country. We head back home tomorrow after a great week here. Travel Guide? Certainly and soon, but its scope will be limited to Downtown Sonoma, vs. a vineyard touring thing. But believe me: we went wine tasting. I hope you enjoy today's short rant. Many (OK, none) have noticed and asked about my new term Psycho Woke. Today, I will bring it to life with a wonderfully sad example from north of the border. Perhaps you've heard about this elsewhere; I saw it on the website of The Economist magazine. The boldface and italics are mine.
In Canada, Brownies, a junior branch of the Girl Scouts, are henceforth to be called "Embers". Change had been brewing since the George Floyd protests of 2020; the name felt uncomfortably racial to some. Its origin was neither related to race nor to baked goods, but to Scottish goblins. In 1915 the name replaced “Rosebuds”, which irritated scouts of its day.
"Embers"? F'ing Embers? When the underlying history is innocent? Who exactly demanded this change?
This is Psycho Wokeness in action. I'll go as far to say that if you think calling young Girl Scouts "Brownies" is somehow an afront to people of color, you are the problem, and you may even be Psycho Woke yourself.
Because isn't this just a tad condescending to black people? Hearing the word "brownie" triggers them and stirs memories of our vile racist past? Don't black people just think of chocolate (or junior Girl Scouts), like everyone else???
But hold on. At a wine tasting yesterday, they served crackers and cheese. I was triggered, as "cracker" reminds me of what a privileged white man I am. So please, from now on, it's wafers and cheese.
Whoops: wafer sounds a lot like "waif", and isn't that a sexist word, or worse, one that could make a person with an eating disorder uncomfortable?
Hmm. We better tie this all together with my Diamond Certified brownie recipe, courtesy of The New York Times and their indispensable Cooking site.
I apologize in advance if it makes you uncomfortably aware of America's racist history. Or binge on sweets. But please don't cancel me - Brownies, in all their various forms, are a great thing. Have a great weekend.
FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES
I was jacked to get another dispatch from our man in Southeast Asia, my great pal Arthur. He sent a picture of this lovely creature, and Mrs. Crup isn't too bad, either . . .
Found a place we can catch fish almost at will. Even I caught half a dozen in 30 minutes cuz they stock the shit out of it. Pretty tasty, too.
I'll say this: if Arthur caught 6 fish in half an hour, this place must be fucking teeming with fish, because Jimmy Houston Outdoors he ain't.
Of course, I jest. It's the lovely Mrs. Crup, and ace rod & reel man Arthur. Keep those reports from Thailand coming!
Because of the crush (there were none) of comments I got regarding my Apple blog, I will share this gem, discovered when I researched the Bell System stuff for the post. It is an unparalleled time capsule, at least to this observer (Julie, too). Ignore at your own risk, but it is 30 minutes long. I bet you won't mind.
Thank you to any one that is reading this newsletter.
KLUF
I feel these guys are somewhat underappreciated, although I suppose their somewhat dour approach isn't for everyone. On a personally curated playlist of their 17 best songs and one that features a song entitled "Words", here are Doves.
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