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Category Archives: Commentary
Signage
Been Rode: Ain’t –> <– Done Poppy: Seed –> <– Cock For: Given –> <– Bidden Away: This –> <– That Do: Nothings –> <– Gooders (Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
The Carper
“Less than one in three Americans support U.S. pullout from Iran deal” (Reuters headline). “FEWER than one in three…” would be better. “Less” qualifies something you don’t normally count: “less sewage.” “Few” qualifies something you CAN count: “fewer turds.” (Copyright … Continue reading
Listening to…
Kizzy Crawford and Gwilym Simcock, “Birdsong” (album). The songs are in English and Welsh. (Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
To a Friend — Coding
Terrific article. I like the analogy to cooking. It’s been used before. One of the practice problems posed in an old book of mine was to write pseudo-code on how to boil an egg. It helps grasp the notion of … Continue reading
Minor Pentatonic Scale (1) [7-6-2012]
(a) I’ve adapted the above “box pattern” graphics from “Fretboard Knowledge for the Contemporary Guitarist,” Vivian Clement (Alfred Publishing Co., 2003), p. 11. I’ve put note names where the book’s originals have black dots. I do so fully realizing that … Continue reading
Listening to…
Patricia Barber. I hear a lot of her music on my streaming sources. This amazing artist is prolific, and sings unfailingly fresh-sounding covers of standards, like the one I just heard: “Bye-Bye Blackbird.” Her vocals and arrangements and accompaniment are … Continue reading
To a Friend
8-12-2012 “I need to return to it at a quieter time.” Lets have this understanding, though. Never give anything I send or link you to more than a moment of your time unless you really want to. And if you … Continue reading
Why Learn the Fretboard? (6-23-2012)
I learned touch typing in high school and have used it intensively all my life. My dream is to enable my fingers to find the notes they need on the fretboard as automatically and unconsciously as they find the letters … Continue reading
Adventures in Toponymy
King Mswati III of Swaziland proclaims that his country shall henceforth be called eSwatini. It means “land of the Swati” in the siSwati language that predominates in the southern African kingdom. The king has reigned for 32 years over one … Continue reading
Happy Words
Me neither. You too? Go ahead, make my tea. “If you can’t be funny, be interesting.” (Harold Ross) Your what? (Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)