Category Archives: Quotations

Things people said.

Birds of a Kerfuffle…

Posted on February 15, 2021 by JMN

“The clear message that we get from the proceedings in America is that after all the toings and froings and all the kerfuffle, American democracy is strong and the American constitution is strong and robust.” (Martin Pengelly, “Boris Johnson calls … Continue reading →

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Make Us Better. Great’s Gone

Posted on February 9, 2021 by JMN

From the confines of a rural burrow (!) in a republic reeling from 4 years of accelerated decline, the notion of national greatness has the consistency of a heat mirage. Still, it comes as a shock, amid a pandemic, that … Continue reading →

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Shiny Objects and Hot Takes

Posted on February 7, 2021 by JMN

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 →

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‘You Have No Authority Here, Jackie Weaver’

Posted on February 6, 2021 by JMN

… 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 →

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Dada Besmirched

Posted on February 4, 2021 by JMN

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 →

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‘Certitudes’

Posted on January 31, 2021 by JMN

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 →

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Away with Wayward Words!

Posted on January 30, 2021 by JMN

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 →

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‘Style Is Character’

Posted on January 29, 2021 by JMN

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 →

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‘Photographism’: Penn’s Eye

Posted on January 22, 2021 by JMN

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 →

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‘Symphony of Tufts and Touches’

Posted on January 21, 2021 by JMN

How is this doggyphile and wannabe painter not to love the rendition of a master? The art expert Frédérick Chanoit said the painting, measuring 32.5cm by 24.5cm, had been produced in 20 minutes and is an example of Manet’s technical … Continue reading →

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