Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

Smith at the Crease

Posted on August 4, 2019 by JMN

I’ve excerpted this piece with love and impish selectivity from Vic Marks’s excellent cricket bloviation. While [Steve Smith] is still at the crease nothing can be guaranteed… England made some solid progress: a first-innings lead of 90 and three early … Continue reading →

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Epitaph

Posted on August 1, 2019 by JMN

Like the blogs of yore, podcasts… are today’s de rigueur medium… And yet the frequency with which podcasts start (and then end, or “podfade,” as it’s coming to be known in the trade) has produced a degree of cultural exhaustion. … Continue reading →

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Bed Science

Posted on August 1, 2019 by JMN

The Bed Science Made Better Can your bed make you feel this good? (Ad in NYTimes online) Can my bed make me feel that good? Probably not. But the improved bed science created by an elided subordinating conjunction, and Henry … Continue reading →

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Flock of Ties

Posted on August 1, 2019 by JMN

(c) 2019 JMN

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(Cough, Herd)

Posted on July 30, 2019 by JMN

If past experience (cough, blogs) is any indication, a shakeout is nigh. (Jennifer Miller, “Have We Hit Peak Podcast?” NYTimes, 7-18-19) A bigger shakeout than podcasting (cough, climate change) is nigh. I’m reminded of a New Yorker cartoon in which … Continue reading →

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Fuchsia Parabola

Posted on July 30, 2019 by JMN

[Frank] Bowling, born in Guyana 85 years ago, has lived for more than five decades in the London district of Pimlico… Jason Farago’s recent appreciation of Frank Bowling’s work is full of verbal spice. (Jason Farago, “A Trans-Atlantic Artist, Recognized … Continue reading →

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TV America Breaks News

Posted on July 12, 2019 by JMN

Talky talky head head, talky head, talky head. Heady heady talk talk, heady talk, heady talk. Talky head, talky head, screeny fully talky head. Heady talk, heady talk, fully screeny heady talk. Repeaty-peat, repeaty-peat, peat-peat, repeaty, Peat-repeaty peat-peat, peaty-peaty poot. … Continue reading →

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Amazing Apology

Posted on July 8, 2019 by JMN

The man who wrote the words of “Amazing Grace” was a reformed English slave trader. He wrote the following: “I am bound in conscience to take shame to myself by a public confession which, however sincere, comes too late to … Continue reading →

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The Guardian on Relationships

Posted on July 3, 2019 by JMN

“How to tell your best friend you’re in love with them — by those who have taken the plunge” (Sirin Kale, The Guardian, 7-1-19) In days of yore this headline would not invite the interpretation that you love your best … Continue reading →

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New Old Proverb

Posted on July 3, 2019 by JMN

… “Skinfolk,” as the old proverb goes, aren’t always “kinfolk.” (Jamelle Bouie, “Kamala Harris Doesn’t Have to Believe in Joe Biden’s Innocence,” NYTimes, 7-1-19) This old proverb is new to me. It has the virtues of a good proverb: pith, … Continue reading →

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