Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

ALOHA, HOALOHA

HAWAIIAN IS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE of our 50th state; so is English. (The only other U.S. states with multiple official languages are Alaska including 20 Alaska Native tongues and South … Continue reading

May 17, 2024 · 1 Comment

SLEUTHING LEONARDO’S BACKGROUND

DALYA ALBERGE WRITES in The Guardian, May 11, 2024, “Mystery of Where Mona Lisa Was Painted Has Been Solved, Geologist Claims.” Alberge recounts, “The landscape behind Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona … Continue reading

May 16, 2024 · Leave a comment

WHATS GOIN ON AT ST MARYS WALK? OR WATERSTONES? OR VONS?

JENNY GROSS WRITES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 10, 2024, “An English Town Drops Apostrophes From Street Signs. Some Aren’t Happy.” “Malcolm Wood, an English teacher in North Yorkshire, … Continue reading

May 15, 2024 · 3 Comments

DISSIN’ FOR FUN

BACK IN OCTOBER 2022, MY BOOK REVIEW of Colin Jarman’s Barbed Quotes: Mudslinging, Backstabbing, and Celebrity Dishing offered only one quote concerning politicians. I guess I thought Trump would just … Continue reading

May 14, 2024 · 4 Comments

THE SANTOS=DUMONT DEMOISELLE    PART 2

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF ALBERTO SANTOS=DUMONT were offered in Part 1 yesterday. Today we focus on the 1908 Demoiselle, his last aeroplane design and my latest GMax project. An Ur-Ultralight. Quite … Continue reading

May 13, 2024 · 3 Comments

THE SANTOS=DUMONT DEMOISELLE    PART 1

BRAZILIAN ALBERTO SANTOS=DUMONT (the “=,” his stylized choice) was a Deutsch-Prize-winning balloonist (1901) who went on to demonstrate his 14 bis aeroplane on October 23, 1906 before a large crowd … Continue reading

May 12, 2024 · 3 Comments

R&T SORTA CARPS ABOUT THE MUSCLE CAR ERA  PART 2

YESTERDAY IN PART 1, R&T WAXED ELOQUENT about muscle cars countering a U.S. automaker racing ban and swiping car names from good, honest foreigners. Today it continues in its road … Continue reading

May 11, 2024 · Leave a comment

R&T SORTA CARPS ABOUT THE MUSCLE CAR ERA  PART 1

R&T GOT ALL NUTSY in 1964 about the Pontiac GTO’s name, but they were also recognizing the category of “muscle car.” Wikipedia cites Merriam-Webster defining the category as “a group … Continue reading

May 10, 2024 · 2 Comments

SHILLING FOR PROFESSOR EAGLETON

NOT THAT TERRY EAGLETON, English literary theorist and public intellectual, needs the like of me to encourage folks to his lectures. But his “Where Does Culture Come From?,” London Review … Continue reading

May 9, 2024 · 3 Comments

GREAT (AND NEAT-O) LAKES

THE INTERESTING FACTS website offered a tidbit that the Great Lakes hold more that 20 percent of the world’s fresh water, six quadrillion gallons of it: “That’s so much water,” … Continue reading

May 8, 2024 · 4 Comments