EthicalDative

I rarely read or use the verb “(to) rive,” which I think of as “(to) split.” A cautious Google dip confirms that meaning. The usage example also confirms my predisposition toward “riven” as the past participle: “the party was riven by disagreements over Europe.” (Google)

Things change. I’m happy to live with “rived.” I’m sure it has passed muster with the style czar or czarina at the NYTimes. One wonders if “given” will ever give way to “gived.” Or has it already, and I missed the memo? I think we Yanks are winked at by the Brits for hanging on to “gotten” where they’ve moved on to “got.” Archaisms are stubborn in the colonies.

But there’s more in the way of participles to enjoy here:

… Climate wars have… rent electorates into bitterly opposed camps…

There it is: “rent,” past participle of “(to) rend” meaning “(to) tear.” Indeed, Google gives “rent” as a synonym of “riven” (or “rived”). Splitting and tearing seems to be on the minds of the Times editors today.

Following “rived,” by the way, we would expect “rended” and “teared” instead of “rent” and “torn.” Consistency, however, is not the hobgoblin of language, as it is of small minds.

To end, there’s a folksy Aussie slogan in this column that’s pure fun:

A fair go for those who have a go…. [Prime Minister Scott Morrison]

I don’t know exactly what the slogan means — slogans rarely mean anything anyway — but to an American polluted by a lifetime of advertising it’s impossible not to think of an ad campaign in which cute cartoon bears extol the delights of using a certain brand of toilet paper for personal hygiene:

“Everyone goes. Why not enjoy the go?”

Everyone indeed. We can safely say that no electorate is rived or rent over this particular “going.”

Posted in Commentary | Tagged Australia, grammar, language, past participles | Leave a comment

Parting Looks –15 by HJN

Posted on May 20, 2019 by JMN

More Galleries | Tagged art, bronze sculpture, oil, painting, watercolor, western art, wood carving | Leave a comment

Furiouser Than Thou

Posted on May 20, 2019 by JMN

St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre, La., was destroyed in a fire. Credit William Widmer for The New York Times.

Margaret Renkl writes from Tennessee. Her anguish over what she calls the racist and misogynistic travesty that is endemic and persisting in southern society is palpable in the column cited here.

Renkl cites recent instances of atrocities committed by southern citizens and legislatures, but also defends her culture from the uninformed abuse that can lash back unfairly from “outsiders.” Unsurprisingly, her example comes from Twitter bilge:

“It’s really easy to #BoycottAlabama because who the [expletive] would ever want to go to that redneck [expletive] on purpose?”

And she usefully cites numerous instances of noble, constructive initiatives that bloom throughout the region. Her balancing is clear-sighted and eloquent:

It’s not that I don’t understand the anger [of non-southerners]. The fury of a blue-state outsider can’t possibly touch the fury of someone like me — someone who lives in one of these states, someone who is actually subject to these dangerous laws.

Renkl’s emphasis on “touch” connotes extremity of feeling. I share it. I receive daily at least one bulletin concerning reactionary measures enacted by state government that are cynically corrosive to the general good and profoundly regressive.

It’s saddening that one must ponder one’s own fury in relation to that of outsiders… or be furious at all. I struggle to believe with Ms. Renkl “that what you see coming out of statehouses and frat houses down here isn’t… the only true South.”

(Margaret Renkl, “Shame and Salvation in the American South,” NYTimes, 5-20-19)

Posted in Commentary | Tagged language, misogyny, racism, southern culture, Twitter | Leave a comment

Guide by the Perplexed: NODS & Buck-Effing

Posted on May 20, 2019 by JMN

Juan Gris, “Guitare sur une table,” from 1916, at Helly Nahmad. Credit via Helly Nahmad Gallery.

I’m not a rocker or blues man on a Gibson. I can make a long-fingered foray into the twelfth-fret region, but it’s not fruitful. When I mention “buck-effing” around the fretboard, therefore, only one B-C and E-F pair obtains per string. That’s final.

The premise of buck-effing is if you can swoop to the B and E on each string, naturally occurring diatonic semitones (NODS) get you to the following note virtually in your sleep. It’s the very next buck-effing fret every time.

Here’s a string-by-string tick-off of the pairs:

(1-0E/1-1F) (1-7B/1-8C)
(2-0B/2-1F) (2-5E/2-6F)
(3-4B/3-5C) (3-9E/3-10F)
(4-2E/4-3F) (4-9B/4-10C)
(5-2B/5-3C) (5-7E/5-8F)
(6-0E/6-1F) (6-7B/6-8C)

You’re four-sevenths of the way to note nirvana after several months of intense work on this shortcut. That leaves just A-D-G, which I tag with ADAGE for easy recall.

There you have it. In the quest to subvert musicology we’ve added NODS to OOF and OOP. It’s time to fabricate a cockamamie expedient for ADAGE — coming next.

Posted in Anthology | Tagged guitar, music, musicology | Leave a comment

“Fervent Repetition”

Posted on May 20, 2019 by JMN

An installation view of Josh Smith’s exhibition “Emo Jungle” at David Zwirner. His colorful Reaper paintings are the best in the show, our critic says. Credit via David Zwirner.

… Josh Smith… degrades and celebrates his medium through the relentless yet fervent repetition of a selected motif. [He] tends to work fast and a trifle sloppily, until a certain image becomes second nature, a template. This automatism opens the door to incessant variations in brushwork, background and, above all, color… The visual deluge of this terrific if vexatious show meditates on painting as object, performance, psychic communication, pleasure and, yes, salable product.
ROBERTA SMITH

(“New York Art Galleries: What To See Right Now,” NYTimes, 5-16-19)

Posted in Quotations | Tagged art, Josh Smith, painting | Leave a comment

No Decapitated Nudes, Please

Posted on May 20, 2019 by JMN

The artist C. Finley, organizer of the Every Woman Biennial, in front of works by Deming Harriman, Florencia Escudero, Cynthia Alvarez, Amy Vensel and Valincy-Jean Patelli that are part of the exhibition. Credit Andrea Mohin/The New York Times.

Like so many good ideas, the Every Woman Biennial was born of a joke. Now it’s in its third edition, displaying the work of over 600 female and nonbinary artists, and expanding to Los Angeles.

C. Finley, the exhibit organizer, is “a painter who splits her time between New York and Rome.”

In curating, she had only two rules: no hate, and no headless women. “I don’t want a nude body with her head cut off in the show,” she said.

(Melena Ryzik, “An Art Show for Hundreds of Women. And That’s Just the Artists,” NYTimes, 5-16-19)

Posted in Quotations | Tagged art, Every Woman Biennial | Leave a comment

EthicalDative

Parting Looks — HJN

Parting Looks — HJN

Parting Looks — HJN

“Rived”!

Parting Looks –15 by HJN

Furiouser Than Thou

Guide by the Perplexed: NODS & Buck-Effing

“Fervent Repetition”

No Decapitated Nudes, Please

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