Tag Archives: journalism

Dawn of the ‘Inherently Improbable’

For the observer of language, phrases are the news. Today’s newsmakers are “inherently improbable,” “AI persona” and “crypto world.” “Inherently improbable” Florida wants to change the legal definition of actual malice to include any allegation that is “inherently improbable.” The … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Gender Reveal Vagary

The byline for a good essay in The New York Times is “Abraham Josephine Riesman,” tagged as follows: Mx. Riesman is a journalist and the author of a biography of Vince McMahon. It’s my first encounter with “Mx.” in The … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Diametric ‘Scape States

“He’s showing us in the natural world our own inner landscape,” said [collector Bernard] Lumpkin, who owns four Gavin canvases. “When you’re inhabiting a painting by Cy, you’re inhabiting a world which is simultaneously strange and familiar; real and surreal; … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The French Are Okay with Being ‘The French’

“We recommend avoiding general and often dehumanizing ‘the’ labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college educated.” (Tweet from The Associated Press Stylebook) How “the French” constitutes a “label” left many French people mystified. … Continue reading

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Who’s Getting Laid in This Picture?*

“Organised chronologically, Matisse in the 1930s begins with a look at the Nice period, exemplified by his voluptuous Odalisque with Grey Trousers (1927). A seductive model in harem pants lays on a green bedroll, surrounded by brilliant red and yellow … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

A Paean to Noma

All these words are Pete Wells’s words. I’ve merely culled them selectively from his essay on Noma into a poem-like structure. I’m darned if there’s not a Whitmanesque vibe to it. It was here in the reindeer lichen and puffed … Continue reading

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘We Have to Make Forms That Celebrate the Possibilities’: Torkwase Dyson

“The paintings introduced a range of blue colors — oceanic, but resisting a direct reading.” This review bristles with strange energy, coercive structures, geographies of enclosure, and the verb catalyze. But of all the advanced art talk on display, my … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fleet Street Drool: Victoria Newton and Jeremy Clarkson

A review of Belarusian poet Julia Cimafiejeva’s book Motherfield ends with this observation: “She wields her flexed, forceful verses like that mightiest of muscles — the tongue.” That comment pairs with the ancient cliché that “the pen is mightier than … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sensing the Presence of Vinegar: Food Poetry

(A squalid detail to put behind us: “vichyssoise” is misspelled in the review as “vichysoisse.” Slipshod, to be sure, but my esteem for Pete Wells’s writing remains intact. Even Homer nodded.) Pete Wells said once that when he became restaurant … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘It’s More Than It Initially Appears’

The comment attributed to a museum director about Jennifer Guidi’s painting reminded me of Mark Twain’s remark that Wagner’s music is “better than it sounds.” “I’m thinking of color as a way to connect — a way to engage — … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments