A PAIR OF WIND WAGONS PART 1
BILL MILLIKEN AND TEDDY JAMESON were kindred spirits born two years apart, 1911 and 1913, respectively. Both were enamored of things mechanical; both were evidently inspired by Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic … Continue reading
THAT MOVIE STANK! PART 2
YESTERDAY, LETTERS TO LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS encouraged me to research olfactory cinema, movies with accompanying aromas (besides popcorn and perhaps stale seating). Today, specifics are addressed with a brief … Continue reading
THAT MOVIE STANK! PART 1
BUT MAYBE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO STINK. A recent “Letters” column in London Review of Books, February 19, 2026, follows up on a citation of mine: Susannah Clapp’s reference to … Continue reading
LOSING A $50 BILLION BET—OR JUST MORE TRUMP CHAOS? PART 2
YESTERDAY, LINDSAY VANHULLE DESCRIBED “Automakers Regroup As Market Shifts After $50 Billion EV Debacle,” Automotive News, February 13, 2026. This, of course, is a fair piece of change, but implications … Continue reading
LOSING A $50 BILLION BET—OR JUST MORE TRUMP CHAOS? PART 1
“IT’S A BILLION HERE, A BILLION THERE, PRETTY SOON IT BEGINS TO ADD UP TO REAL MONEY.” So recounted The New York Times in 1938. And a variation of the … Continue reading
BOUBA-KIKI: EVEN CHICKS CAN PLAY PART 2
YESTERDAY IN PART 1, WE LEARNED ABOUT ASSOCIATING shapes with made-up words, briefly spiky ones linked to “kiki,” blobby ones to “bouba.” Surprisingly enough, people around the world speaking different … Continue reading
BOUBA-KIKI: EVEN CHICKS CAN PLAY PART 1
BEFORE YOU BEGIN, PAIR THE MADE-UP WORDS “BOUBA” AND “KIKI” with these pictured shapes. Which is which? Images from science friday. As noted by the sciencefriday.com website, “The Bouba-Kiki Effect … Continue reading
CELEBRATING TWO TEENAGERS, THE BECHDEL TEST—AND MAYBE A NEW PARLOR GAME PART 2
YESTERDAY, TWO TEENAGE GIRLS ENCOURAGED their Illinois state legislators to include climate change in public education. Today in Part 2, Good Energy applies a test devised by cartoonist/memoirist Alison Bechdel … Continue reading
CELEBRATING TWO TEENAGERS, THE BECHDEL TEST—AND MAYBE A NEW PARLOR GAME PART 1
THE GOODGOODGOOD WEBSITE POSTS TWO FASCINATING ITEMS: Kamrin Baker’s “A New Law Requires Illinois High Schoolers to Learn About Climate Change. It Was Written by Two Local Teens,” and Meghan … Continue reading
LIGHTING OPERA
GIVEN THAT IT WAS A TEENAGE AMBITION OF MINE, I read with interest Anthony Freud’s “Illuminating the Stage,” Opera With Opera News, February 2026. In this article, he speaks with … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 