A Crow’s Murder – About the blog and the author.

                This blog has been a spark floating somewhere in my consciousness, behind the random clutter of deadlines, work, schooling, etc until it was forced in existence in the ephemeral world that is known as the blogosphere by an assignment for an English class. So, A Crow’s Murder moved from the realm of speculation in my cluttered consciousness, where it probably should have stayed into the realm of the pseudo-existence, the internet. 

Is the author advocating the cruel and unusual treatment of avian species? 

The obsidian-winged members of the family corvidae have been used as a metaphor , portent, omen and harbinger ad nauseum.  The crow was the portent of death and retribution in the film named after the bird which claimed the life of Brandon Lee. The crow had its name sullied by racism and discrimination when the forename Jim preceded it. A crow is considered a harbinger of the devil because they feast on dead flesh, removing the potential for spreading bacterial disease and noxious fumes that accompany roadkill on a hot day. 

The crow is in the same family as blue jays and magpies, but the crow has been the one chosen by society to represent a manifestation of death and ill tidings instead of its singing, carrion cousin the magpie or the azure-winged aggressor, the blue jay. And as such the group noun for crows was chosen with its arbitrarily assigned anthropomorphic attributes in mind. Thus in North America one may observe a herd of deer, a flock of sheep, a gaggle of geese and murder of crows. 

The word “crow” has another meaning: “crow, v: to make the loud shrill sound characteristic of a cock,” or to “to exult gloatingly especially over the distress of another; to brag exultantly or blatantly.” And thus in this sense I will use the verb “to crow” to use back-formation and create an alternate noun meaning for “crow:”

Crow: one who makes the loud, shrill sound of a cock, while gloating exultantly over the distress of another and brags exultantly. See also: The mass media.

The crows in the mass media, especially those charged with representing and reporting current, factual events, have become enamored of the ratings-creating spectacle. While entertainment is a valid form of recreation, the spectacle that so engrosses the glazed-eye, drooling public is removing itself more and more from facts, relying instead on logically inconsistent methods and fallacious reasoning. Not to mention a gross lack of reputable sourcing. (Don’t believe me? Listen to a 24-hour news network for an hour an count the number of times a story is lead with words to the effect of “Some say.” or watch it here).

 With that definition in mind, “A Crow’s Murder” is my homage to how logic, reason and the basics of the English language can be used to sift through din of the crows. I promise the reader that I will attempt to keep updates regular and relevant. I hope that you find the posts entertaining and informative. I will post about any material that I find, and if you are offended by my critique of something dear to your personal beliefs, that is fine. I am not trying to force my beliefs on anyone, but I am trying to foster a discussion of media and rhetorical techniques that are more about pathos and less about logos.