Monthly Archives: October 2022

Bedrock: The Oyster

Posted on October 29, 2022 by JMN

“Oysters are the bedrock for the vitality of our bays along the mid and upper Texas coast… They are essential to the health of our fish and wildlife, water quality, commercial and recreational fishing, tourism and coastal economies.” (Carter Smith, … Continue reading →

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The Precedent: El Precedente

Posted on October 28, 2022 by JMN

Traducción:“Don’t talk to me that way!”Translation:“¡No me hables así!” Traducción:I’m the Precedent of the Unighted Steaks!”Translation:¡Soy Precedente de los Bistecs Anochecidos!” Traducción:Don’t EVER talk to the Precedent that way!”Translation:¡No le hables NUNCA al Precedente de esa manera!” (Filtered from the … Continue reading →

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Three Deaths

Posted on October 23, 2022 by JMN

Angela Lansbury (1925 – 2022): ActorPatrick Healy, theater reporter and deputy Opinion writer for The New York Times, recounts how the actor gamely and gracefully confronted the vulnerabilities of advancing age in pursuing her long career (1). In the past … Continue reading →

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When Is a Viper Just a Snake?

Posted on October 21, 2022 by JMN

I share my neck of the world with rattlesnakes, water moccasins, copperheads, coral snakes (red-on-yellow, kill a fellow) and cottonmouths. I can’t tell a moccasin from a cottonmouth — they frequent water, and I don’t. When I see one of … Continue reading →

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Je pense, donc je blague

Posted on October 19, 2022 by JMN

When I’m tempted to post something here with greater frequency than usual, I ask myself: Am I in thrall to a voracious craving for plaudits? Am I a prelapsarian Ozymandias? An attention-seeking missile? Look what I’ve thought — done! — … Continue reading →

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The Birth of Venal

Posted on October 17, 2022 by JMN

… According to Italian law, any use of the country’s publicly owned art to sell merchandise requires permission and payment of a fee. (Angela Giuffrida) Who “owns” reproduced images pulled from Botticelli’s cloying, excessively familiar painting? The presumption to be … Continue reading →

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The ‘Burden of Exegesis’

Posted on October 15, 2022 by JMN

There is almost nothing to see, and yet everything is there. (Laura Cumming) Cumming gives a lyrical account of her responses to Cezanne. (I learn from her that the artist dropped the acute accent from his name in his signature.) … Continue reading →

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Translating Winds and Currents

Posted on October 12, 2022 by JMN

(Continued from https://ethicaldative.com/2022/10/08/assaying-a-translation-strange-dawn/ ) An interesting feature of a translation is how “faithful” it is to the source text. Faithfulness (a slippery term) tends to be a matter of degree, to fluctuate as the translation goes forward. The translator, sailing … Continue reading →

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Built Tough

Posted on October 11, 2022 by JMN

‘Is there anybody here that really believes Joe Biden was legitimately elected?’ (Jim Marchant, Republican nominee for secretary of state in Nevada) Yes. (This American) (Jamelle Bouie, “This Is What Happens When … ,” New York Times, 10-11-22) (c) 2022 … Continue reading →

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Why Do I Warm to These Two Paintings?

Posted on October 9, 2022 by JMN

Rosalyn Drexler’s elegant painting, “Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” is stuck with a lumbering title but sings, nevertheless. I would give it a chill name such as “Composition in Vermilion on Black,” or one with saucy innuendo … Continue reading →

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