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Straight Up | Jan Herman

Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude

Nancy Masks Up in Her Bathtub

May 8, 2020 by Jan Herman

She’s taking no chances. Gary Lee-Nova has been exploring Bushmiller’s work for many years. This particular effort originated in an email exchange with Denis Kitchen who founded Kitchen Sink Press. Kitchen Sink published five volumes of Bushmiller’s work during the 1980s and ’90s. “We’ve been internet pals for several years,” Lee-Nova says.  During the early […]

Inside the CUNY Graduate Center: A Dissertation Showcase

May 6, 2020 by Jan Herman

On Tuesday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m., six doctoral students from diverse disciplines will make short video presentations, describing their research in three minutes each. Topics include increasing the efficiency of solar energy, the Black Panthers’ contributions to education, the effectiveness of anti-corruption laws in the U.K. and the U.S., the figure of the “surrogate mother” in American theater and film, how philosophy can improve policing, and the importance of seeds in evolution. See how, even while students can’t physically come to campus, the intellectual life of The Graduate Center continues to thrive.

GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
‘The Future of Health Care’ featuring Margot Sanger-Katz, Jonathan Gruber, Avik Roy, and Dana Singiser; also the Eminent Author Anne Carson on Greek Tragedy

May 5, 2020 by Jan Herman

While events are postponed at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York in the heart of Manhattan, videos of recent public programs from its archive will be featured here for your enjoyment. The videos offer illuminating discussions in two main categories: insights into current events and conversations with leading writers and artists.

Carl Weissner at the Top of His Game

May 4, 2020 by Jan Herman

He was the great German translator and agent of the U.S. underground. Now his collected journalism is being published.

A Lesson in the Art of Drawing: ‘Taking the Line for a Walk’

April 30, 2020 by Jan Herman

The point of the exercise is to wean the young artist off result-oriented copying from photos. ‘Taking the line for a walk’ lets the drawing come about in the process of drawing. The idea is to reduce line to tonal value as opposed to a fixed continuous outline that wraps around the form like a piece of copper wire. The reason is that light on any object will obviously break the outline (contour). The exercise of copying a Daumier sketch is to work with different values of ink and proceed as one would with a sketch.

GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
Andrew Yang, Leslie McCall, and Richard Reeves
on Capitalism and Democracy; also,
Authors Julia Alvarez and Elizabeth Acevedo
on Craft, Legacy, and Literature

April 29, 2020 by Jan Herman

While events are postponed at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York in the heart of Manhattan, videos of recent public programs from its archive will be featured here for your enjoyment. The videos offer illuminating discussions in two main categories: insights into current events and conversations with leading writers and artists.

Before April Slips Away

April 22, 2020 by Jan Herman

BAUDELAIRE (etching by Gerard Bellaart, 1977)

A friend who lives deep in the French countryside was listening to the radio the other day when she heard a poem by Baudelaire, called “Avril.” She spent the entire day trying to trace it and finally emailed Radio France to ask where she could read it. The answer came. But there’s a surprising kicker.

GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
Racism and Democracy; also biographer
David Nasaw on the moguls Joseph P. Kennedy,
Andrew Carnegie, and William Randolph Hearst

April 21, 2020 by Jan Herman

While events are postponed at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York in the heart of Manhattan, videos of recent public programs from its archive will be featured here for your enjoyment. The videos offer illuminating discussions in two main categories: insights into current events and conversations with leading writers and artists.

Just an Arbitrary Notion

April 20, 2020 by Jan Herman

for a useful meaning
no starched collar
inked his lines
nor the uptight
narrowness
of the familiar
bank clerk

Coping With the Shitstorm #6

April 19, 2020 by Jan Herman

Music for a Sunday morning.

From a Diary #2

April 18, 2020 by Jan Herman

Heavy snow took down the internet, which came back up just now . . . will the power lines go down ? . . . the snow is still falling . . . fingers crossed . . . beautiful to look at though, and the two grandkids will go sledding . . . hear from a friend in Berlin that the sun is out there . . . and so are the sun worshippers . . . plenty of ambulance sirens too . . . no sun here, much less worshippers . . . as to sirens, I haven’t heard one in four weeks . . . glad of that . . . even in normal times they were a regular sound track back in the city . . .

Two Peas in a Pod

April 16, 2020 by Jan Herman

Even before President Twitter Fingers declared himself “a very stable genius,” the Idi Amin comparison was irresistible. So it’s been around for years, but it’s worth renewing.

Coping With the Shitstorm #5

April 15, 2020 by Jan Herman

David Erdos reads Poem 35—about selfishness and gaining a perspective on it in current conditions—from his forthcoming book, ‘The Corona Collection: 2020 Vision.’

GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
Workers & Wages with Paul Krugman;
Marlon James on Fantasy Fiction

April 14, 2020 by Jan Herman

Why has it been so hard for American workers to make a living? Why haven’t the economy’s gains of the recent past meant higher wages for everyone? This week, as inequality and job insecurity are intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic, take look at “Workers and Wages in America Today” for a long- term perspective. Also, for a change of pace, enjoy a great discussion with Man Booker Prize-winner Marlon James about his venture into fantasy fiction.

From a Diary . . .

April 13, 2020 by Jan Herman

I’ve been skimming through a complete collection of Chekhov’s stories. There’s lotsa chaff—small anecdotes published in newspapers from early days that don’t do much and weren’t intended for the ages. But then you come upon “an unpleasantness,” a long story from a later period that stands up like an erection. It’s about a doctor who runs […]

Coping With the Shitstorm #4

April 13, 2020 by Jan Herman

Music for a Monday morning.

GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
Economists Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman;
authors Suketu Mehta & Gary Shteyngart

April 9, 2020 by Jan Herman

Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman talk about how the rich dodge taxes and how to make them pay. And authors Suketu Mehta and zary Shteyngart discuss how American culture is constantly being remade by immigrants.

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Jan Herman

When not listening to Bach or Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes, or dancing to salsa, I like to play jazz piano -- but only in the privacy of my own mind.
Another strange fact... Read More…

About

My Books

Several books of poems have been published in recent years by Moloko Print, Statdlichter Presse, Phantom Outlaw Editions, and Cold Turkey … [Read More...]

Straight Up

The agenda is just what it says: news of arts, media & culture delivered with attitude. Or as Rock Hudson once said in a movie: "Man is the only … [Read More...]

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