Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

The Fellow’s Garrulous, But a Decent Painter

Posted on December 5, 2022 by JMN

He talks about a narrow, closed view of the world in which a contempt for America – the home of “degenerate” jazz for the Nazis, the capitalist enemy for the GDR – was a constant. “Until I was about 20 … Continue reading →

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Once Was Lost, But Now Is Found

Posted on December 1, 2022 by JMN

“We were flabbergasted. It has taken 100 years to rediscover Atlantic City.” [Petulant style note: Equally flabbergasting is British journalism’s insufferable convention of not setting off titles with quotes or italics. What two researchers rediscovered was not the coastal city … Continue reading →

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Bill Lynch Painted on Wood

Posted on November 30, 2022 by JMN

“I realised that the art of the 20th century is the fruit of personal revelation,” Lynch wrote, “while ancient art is the product of mystery initiation.” I’ve no idea what Bill Lynch (1960 – 2013) meant by his incantation about … Continue reading →

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Sensing the Presence of Vinegar: Food Poetry

Posted on November 25, 2022 by JMN

(A squalid detail to put behind us: “vichyssoise” is misspelled in the review as “vichysoisse.” Slipshod, to be sure, but my esteem for Pete Wells’s writing remains intact. Even Homer nodded.) Pete Wells said once that when he became restaurant … Continue reading →

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Is Soccer Sick? I Keep Hearing of Catarrh

Posted on November 20, 2022 by JMN

“We all have difficult lives…” (Infantino) Bent like Beckham, rich as Croesus.This Bud’s for you, now let ‘em fleece us.He marinated in the sauce,pronounced himself the biggest boss.“I’m fed up with your utter gall.Zip it now and kick the ball.” … Continue reading →

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Hardcore Arabic: ‘Treble Formation’

Posted on November 19, 2022 by JMN

The language has astonishing sweep and granularity that are explicit and penetrative to a degree redolent of lore and legend. The open-sesame to Arabic’s magic for this English speaker is Wright’s majestic grammar. (1) Here, of an early morning on … Continue reading →

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View from the Low Side of Town

Posted on November 16, 2022 by JMN

My illustration is an abstraction derived from the layout of structures and spaces on my squat down by the Big Muddy. The turgid Waddy Loopy is a conduit of Texas Hill Country drainage that lumbers past me on its way … Continue reading →

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The Charm of Sharm Is Lost Upon the Gentleperson from Sweden

Posted on November 14, 2022 by JMN

“It’s like being in Las Vegas, but somehow worse.” (Swedish COP27 Delegate) It’s possible the fossil-lobby-infested, desultory yak-a-thon held at a glittering tourist watering hole in The Tonino Lamborghini International Convention Center — let me repeat that for its delicious … Continue reading →

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‘A Writer Who Composed Prose Like Poetry’

Posted on November 13, 2022 by JMN

Considering the toll it takes on me to construct a writing boiled down to within an inch of its life about something I think, punctuate it punctiliously, then figure out too late what I’ve said, much less thought, if anything, … Continue reading →

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‘It’s More Than It Initially Appears’

Posted on November 11, 2022 by JMN

The comment attributed to a museum director about Jennifer Guidi’s painting reminded me of Mark Twain’s remark that Wagner’s music is “better than it sounds.” “I’m thinking of color as a way to connect — a way to engage — … Continue reading →

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