OPERA’S RAZOR EDGES
I ENJOY QUOTING SIR PETER USTINOV: “Opera rides the razor edge of absurdity.” The October 2026 issue of Opera With Opera News offers interesting extremes of scenery and notable examples … Continue reading
GEORGE HANGER: 4TH (AND LAST) BARON OF COLERAINE, MILITARY BLUNDERER, EARLY FEMINIST (??)
THE SLEEZE MEDIA THESE DAYS ARE REPLETE WITH GOINGS-ON (or non-goings-in) of English Royals (or non-Royals). Leafing again through Brewer’s Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics, I came upon George Hanger, 4th … Continue reading
FAIRY TALES: CRADLE SCISSORS, SHAKESPEARE, CONAN DOYLE, OSCAR WILDE’S MOTHER, AND A WOMAN IN THE BATH
SOMETIMES, I FEAR, I MISS THE POINT of a book review. In London Review of Books, September 10, 2026, Nick Richardson offers a lengthy (7107 words!) article “Cradle Scissors,” (the … Continue reading
CELEBRATING OSCAR WILDE ANNOTATIONS PART 2
WE STARTED THIS ANNOTATION GLEANING YESTERDAY, with H. Montgomery Hyde’s The Annotated Oscar Wilde: Poems, Fiction, Plays, Lectures, Essays, and Letters as our source, specifically its play The Importance of … Continue reading
CELEBRATING OSCAR WILDE ANNOTATIONS PART 1
I HAVE LONG SAVORED THE WIT, ERUDITION, AND STYLE of Oscar Wilde. See “In Praise of Annotated Editions,” November 22, 2013; “The Best of Lines,” April 21, 2017; “In the … Continue reading
2026 IG NOBEL AWARDS—WITH A NEW HOME
I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN WAITING, AND JENNIFER OUELLETTE ANNOUNCES THE 2026 IG NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS, ars TECHNICA, September 3, 2026. She observes, “It’s that time of year again, when we … Continue reading
BENITO MUSSOLINI: BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
TRUMP’S AUDACIOUS BANNING OF REPORTERS WHO DISAGREE WITH HIS ACTIONS is yet another step in his striving for fascist rule. Ava Berger reports, “CNN, MS NOW, Politico Reporters Denied Access … Continue reading
THE LIGHTER SIDES OF AUTOMOTIVE WOES PART 2
YESTERDAY, I WENT CHERRY-PICKING MY FAVORITE AUTOMOTIVE NEWS for the ridiculous and the absurd. Fun continues today in Part 2 with two test drives. “Extended” Test Drive? Nick Bunkley (who … Continue reading
THE LIGHTER SIDES OF AUTOMOTIVE WOES PART 1
EVEN THE MOST RESPECTED AUTOMAKERS FIND THEMSELVES occasionally on the wrong side of propriety—or common sense. Leafing through the last two months of my favorite automotive journal, Automotive News, I … Continue reading
CELEBRATING ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE PETER HELCK
BACK IN R&T 1981, SAM POSEY CELEBRATED ARTIST PETER HELCK: “Peter Helck was born in 1893, just in time for the invention of the automobile The first car race, the … Continue reading
