Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

Music Versus Dance

Posted on June 7, 2020 by JMN

Check out this video on YouTube: “Because it spans a very windy gap across the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge is now effectively a giant orange wheezing kazoo.” Citizens have weighed in disparately: — Can someone explain me why is … Continue reading →

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The Dome and the Well

Posted on June 6, 2020 by JMN

Umm Kulthum died in 1975. I had a passing acquaintance with the singing of this venerated Egyptian artist, but knew nothing of her life. I learn from this article by Tom Faber that Umm Kulthum’s singing was admired by western … Continue reading →

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Dust-Up in ‘Bama

Posted on June 5, 2020 by JMN

Life in these United States leads to comfort where you can find it: In this case, the theory by police that this is an isolated killing and not a spree killing. Seven adults were found shot dead last night, June … Continue reading →

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View from The Shed

Posted on June 4, 2020 by JMN

The knowledge and assumptions that determine The Shed’s personal path through the pandemic are excerpted below. As the science evolves, our behavior will adapt accordingly. Godspeed and safe harbor to everyone. May we reach a common goal of the greatest … Continue reading →

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Poetry Barasingha

Posted on May 30, 2020 by JMN

My dog with the candy name goes off at the drop of a hat. When the washing machine rumbles a cycle-change from the tenebrosity of its cave, I wish I could say Taffy ululates, but it would overdress the event. … Continue reading →

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Respect for the ‘Bloody’ Irish

Posted on May 25, 2020 by JMN

“You have to keep them as your friend,” [Trump] said while presenting the traditional shamrock bowl to the Irish prime minister at the White House last year. “You don’t want to fight with the Irish. It’s too tough — it’s … Continue reading →

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Is Art Complex?

Posted on May 22, 2020 by JMN

“Great art is, by definition, complex…” (David Zwirner, “Art Is How We Justify Our Existence,” 5-22-20) Says who?* A thing, by definition, doesn’t define itself; its definition is a human construct — like art itself. Religions are complex. Christianity, for … Continue reading →

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Just a Closer Walk: Things Figured Out

Posted on May 19, 2020 by JMN

Dark matters don’t lend themselves to nosegay piety. I sniff something of my allergy to vestments and gospels in Sonny Rollins’s tolerance, at 89, for honoring the elusive there where it lies. He has, by his words, shunned the laughing … Continue reading →

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Nor Reason Not to Think

Posted on May 18, 2020 by JMN

This late-February news item, which is ancient now in pandemic time, struck me as emblematic of a longer-running rhetorical contagion infecting mass communication: the incitement by vested or corrupt interests to a leap of ignorance rather than to informed prudence. … Continue reading →

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Peace, Love, Productivity

Posted on May 16, 2020 by JMN

Mr. Delsarte moved out West for a time in the 1970s, painting murals in and around Laguna Beach, Calif., living on a commune and settling in Arizona… Long after he went back East, leaving his hippie days behind him, Mr. … Continue reading →

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