New and Old #88
Friday roundup and commentary
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The Instagram capital of the world is a terrible place to be, Vox, Rebecca Jennings, October 5, 2022
Positano, Italy “has become synonymous with the grandest of influencer travelscapes, clogging Instagram with photos of beautiful people on boats, staring back in wonder at the skyline behind them.
It is also the most unpleasant place I have ever been.”
This article reminds me a travel commercial from years ago, showing a beautiful scene on a beach and then panning the camera out, revealing that the beach was overgrown and littered with garbage. (“That won’t happen if you book with us,” I guess.)
Jennings’ overall impression reminds me a little of my feelings about Venice, which we visited back in 2018. Sure, it’s beautiful and full of history. But it feels dead as an actual city; it feels like a theme park. Beyond the feeling that you’re being ripped off,t here’s something eerie about it.
Jennings:
What’s most disturbing about being in Positano is the knowledge that you have been suckered, and the realization that just because you have the means to go somewhere does not mean that you are owed anything more than the experiential equivalent of flying Basic Economy.
And then she gets even deeper:
The problem of travel at this particular moment is not too many people traveling in general, it is too many people wanting to experience the exact same thing because they all went to the same websites and read the same reviews. It’s created the idea that if you do not go to this specific bar or stay in this exact neighborhood, all the money and time you spent on being here has been wasted, and you have settled for something that is not as perfect as it could have been.
Read the whole thing.
How a Maryland rescue team saved 2 from plane that crashed into power lines, Washington Post, Ian Duncan and Luz Lazo, November 30, 2022
Firefighter John Lann knew as he arrived at the scene that the rescue would be a once-in-a-career experience. About 100 feet above him in the soggy Sunday evening darkness, a small plane was wedged into a high-voltage power line tower with two people stuck inside.
This was a big local news story when it happened, partly because of the high-stakes rescue, and partly because it caused a major power outage. It took about six hours to complete the rescue, which presented the possible problems of the plane falling or the power line tower collapsing.
The Post story tells it very well.
Just ask for Lobster Lover Joe, The Rooster, D.J. Byrnes, December 12, 2022
All the managers at the Central Ohio locations and the one in Heath know me very well. Usually, Guest Services will send me a Christmas card with a gift card. And sometimes the corporate office as well.
Then, what’s nice about being a regular, is during my visits I get free food. Sometimes an entree here, an appetizer over there, or a dessert over here.
What I try to do is to help them out as well. When the new menu comes out, I try to start with all the new items and get pictures out there.
Isn’t that cool? Someone who frequents a chain restaurant so much that corporate knows him and treats him as a VIP? It’s a fun read.
Without any further ado, here are the top ten truly iconic performances of “O Holy Night”; the quintessential, non-debatable, empirical, de facto and authoritative list, according to me.
Enjoy!
Related Reading:
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Josh Groban has the best version of O Holy Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJw-ey1DPRA
Michael Crawford's is great as well.