Female Fullsterkur

As a rule I find the 'first woman to X' thing to be a little dated; at this point, there's almost nothing that women haven't done. Increasingly those headlines are 'first woman to X while also Y and Z and Q' to get to a genuinely unique accomplishment. 

Yet there remain a few things that truly are worthy of notice. For the first time in recorded history, a woman -- Hannah Linzay-Wade -- has completed the Húsafell carry.


She is thereby rated "full-strength" according to the old test, which dates to Viking-era Iceland. 

Some New Americana

The young people working in this genre, which seems to include a lot of what we used to call country music as well as some other things, produce some good stuff. Sometimes it's covers of old Hank songs. Most of them are original, though. There's some good writing. 


Hank Jr. always had good writing.


The Lord and cold beer/
You can find both 'round here/
They'll take you, just as you are...


She asked me to dance, I could see/
She let 'em all think I could lead.


Well I lost my job today because the bossman's out of pay/
He said the price of life has gone astray and he just can't afford my cowboy wage/
I've got a wild horse, and a wild woman/
I'm gonna load 'em up in my pick-em up truck/
And head back down to the Land of Luck.


Bless his liver and his honky-tonk heart...