Monthly Archives: January 2020

Goya on My Mind

Posted on January 30, 2020 by JMN

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/28/goya-paintings-many-not-work-of-spanish-master-studio-assistants She spoke of her “trepidation” about challenging attributions as Goya’s pictures change hands for millions of pounds: “If a picture turns out to be by an assistant, of course the value collapses. “Artists in the shadow of a great … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Roots

Posted on January 30, 2020 by JMN

http://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/26/opinion/media-politics.html Do you want to predict how a certain region is going to vote in the 2020 presidential race? Discover who settled the region in the 17th and 18th centuries. If the settlers were from the East Anglia section of … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 2 Comments

What’s “Up”?

Posted on January 30, 2020 by JMN

Jack ran up the hill. Jack ran up the bill. Why can we also say “Jack ran the bill up” but not “Jack ran the hill up”? What does “up” add in the following: She’ll try to climb up your … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Musicianshift

Posted on January 30, 2020 by JMN

http://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/arts/music/terry-riley.html “For me music is a daily practice that I try to deepen in the sense that I get to understand more about what music really is, and sometimes what I think it really is is the simplest elements — … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

One-One-Twenty-Twenty

Posted on January 30, 2020 by JMN

At nine PM on New Year’s Day 2020, it’s quiet in my neighborhood. Two earsplitting reports in quick succession rip the peace: POP-POP. A second or two of silence, then one more: POP. I recall an old cartoon in which … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Onboarding HNWI’s in Hacked States

Posted on January 24, 2020 by JMN

http://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/opinion/jeff-bezos-phone-hack.html … Christopher Pierson… founded BlackCloak, a cybersecurity company for high-net-worth and high-profile individuals — executives, celebrities and billionaires. According to Mr. Pierson, few people take their digital lives as seriously as they should. “The majority of clients we onboard … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Saloon Spittoon

Posted on January 21, 2020 by JMN

The bucal effluvia belched from limousine and lectern  drums the ear like the per- cussive splot of a hocked  louie slapping a saliva slick  in a saloon spittoon. (c) 2020 JMN

Posted in Anthology | Tagged | Leave a comment

You Can Pick Your Battles, Not Your Wars

Posted on January 21, 2020 by JMN

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/21/crushed-by-brexit-how-labour-lost-the-election My title is what I extrapolate from the tersely cogent remark attributed to an anonymous Labour Party strategist: “In the end, you can’t just fight a battle and ignore your opponent. You can’t just say: ‘We’re fighting at sea’, … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Getting Itself Done

Posted on January 20, 2020 by JMN

http://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/opinion/uk-election-labour.html … The mines of County Durham, the pottery workshops of Staffordshire and the textile factories of Lancashire… Onetime Labour strongholds stretching from West Bromwich on the outskirts of Birmingham to Blyth Valley near the Scottish border… Bolsover in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Spilt Pith

Posted on January 20, 2020 by JMN

http://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/opinion/walt-whitman-nytimes-2020.html Such was [Walt] Whitman’s description of [President] Lincoln in a March 1863 letter to two New York friends. The president, wrote Whitman, had a face “like a hoosier Michael Angelo, so awful ugly it becomes beautiful, with its strange … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment