OK, look, normally I'm pretty easy going. I laugh a lot, I try to make good dinners for Heather, and I make sure the cats don't get locked out all night even if I have to stand at the back door rattling 'Kitty treats' at 2 am.....but Peter...an example of what I'm talking about (if you quoted it right) is them calling the song "Rank StrangerS". The title is "Rank Stranger"..Singular, not plural. Makes a big difference to the meaning of the song. I know, I know, I know, I'm being soooo picky, but when you see stuff like that ALL through most articles, it can get on your nerves if you're as obsessive as I am. One quick proofread by anyone who actually KNEW bluegrass would eliminate 90% of the errors.

I read an article on Ralph recently (not the New Yorker) that talked about "from the start, their recordings featured Ralph's haunting tenor singing....." Any Stanley Brothers nerd knows how many tenor singers the band had before Ralph started to find his voice. There has seldom been (if any) a mainstream article that talked with any authority on Carter's skill and roll, 'cause he's long dead, and never recorded with Emmy Lou or Alison Krauss. It's a shame, 'cause he was more than the equal of Ralph as a skilled singer. His dynamics were amazing.

All I can do, is ask anyone to think whether a bunch of slight (or major) inaccuracies in something written about "you" would be annoying. I'm afraid I'm one of those people who's assimilated trad bluegrass culture to the extent that I take it far tooooo personally. Other than that I'm reasonably normal.

Paddymac

Stew recipe (changeable 'cause I improvise EVERYTHING!)

Stewing beef, Cut up turnip, carrots, cut up potatoes, Ginger root, minced garlic, onion flakes, water.

Throw in pressure cooker. Cook for twenty minutes.

Toss into big pot. add more water and half can consomme soup. several cherry tomatoes from garden. Bit of oregano, basil, salt and lots of cracked black pepper.

Mix cup of "biskwik" (or Martha White's self risin' flour if you're being true to Bluegrass) with 2/3 cup water and pinch of salt.

Spoon in dumplings. Turn stew on to medium.

Go write "silly rant" on Mudcat.

Eat stew.......verrry good......fall asleep.

Cheers, I feel better now.

Rick