New combat log and window..

Select "Self" instead of "Everything". Or just hide it.

The great thing about the new combat window is the huge amount of new features and flexibility it adds for mods to take advantage of. If there aren't some already that allow extremely specific control over the new combat log then I'm sure there will be some soon. Until then you can just ignore what everyone else is doing and see what's affecting you by clicking the Self button.

Q u o t e:
even when you have it on "self" only, it still spams every single action in the recent past and scrolls through it all for about 10 seconds after loading anywhere new. its a little ridiculous.

Looks like there's a temporary workaround for that: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5540035829&pageNo=1&sid=1#0

Q u o t e:

But the thing is, the combat log, when set to "Self" still picks up crafting done by other people. If I click the "Self" button again, they go away, but when they happen, they still appear in the log.

Sounds like an issue. It's certainly a first iteration on a fairly ambitious change to the combat log. You may want to visit the UI & Macro forum for assistance in possible workarounds, and of course the Bug Report forum is great for reporting any issues that seem kind of weird, like the one you described.

Q u o t e:
Temporary workarounds do not justify poor QA. You know better Drysc.

Hehe, well then don't use it I guess?