… I was momentarily stirred to hear there were some handbags between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer in one of parliament’s corridors after prime minister’s questions on Wednesday… According to some reports, the Labour leader was “puce” and “rattled”… I … Continue reading
It is radical in its inanity, a legislative chamber designed by dadaists. No, Ezra Klein! Comparing the U.S. Senate to a Dada design sullies Dada and its legacy. There’s a better comparison elsewhere in Klein’s essay: In 2012, Steven Teles, … Continue reading
[XCII]Amor mío, si muero y tú no mueres,My love, if I die and you don’t die,no demos al dolor más territorio:let us not give grief more territory:amor mío, si mueres y no muero,my love, if you die and I don’t … Continue reading
This is the Cubist revolution: Here, for the first time in Western art since the Renaissance, the world as we see it no longer has primacy. The picture is no longer an act of perception. It’s an act of imagination, … Continue reading
In a dispute with the EU, AstraZeneca’s CEO insists their contract requires only “best reasonable efforts” to meet delivery schedules. Lawyers disagreed over the language of the E.U. contract, which was only partly made public.(Steven Erlanger and Matina Stevis-Gridneff, “E.U. … Continue reading
Didion once wrote, “Style is character…” Rhetorically, a “this is that” assertion that plops two abstractions around a copulative can be a facile expedient for simulating profundity. Nathan Heller comments that Didion’s observation about style has to do with “the … Continue reading
Robin Williams performs (I use the word advisedly) Pablo Neruda’s sonnet XVII in a scene from Williams’s movie “Patch Adams” (www.pocketfulofpoesy.com). “Patch” recites the poem at the grave of his dead girlfriend. I recoil at the acting out of poetry. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 1 photo.
Oneis orange, the color of Sunas she sets and rises.Twois blue, a hue Sky fakesfor inattentive irises. Threeis the olivescent greenof a certain stand of tree.Fouris a dour English colour,Marmite and chocolate fudgey. Fiveis alive with unexpected yellowlike engine oil … Continue reading
But is “photographism” even a word? Not entirely. It is, though, a term that was coined by the photographer [Irving Penn]. It isn’t a theory, but an idea supported by sketches, notes, photographs and posters. “It was never clearly defined … Continue reading
EthicalDative 
Shiny Objects and Hot Takes
When I re-read my EthicalDative posts at a later date they often seem overly arch or frivolous — less trenchant and cleansing than they felt at the moment of posting. “Stale” is the word to describe them, I suppose, with … Continue reading →