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

CLASSIC BRITS WITH REMOVABLE “HOODS”  PART 1

THE TITLE “35 BRILLIANT BRITISH CLASSIC CONVERTIBLE CARS” in Classic & Sports Car online caught my eye, what with my having owned several of the breed. Here, in Parts 1 … Continue reading

July 31, 2026 · 1 Comment

PUNCTUATION, LOUD AND CLEAR 

IN A REVIEW OF FLORENCE HAZRAT’S On the Mark: From Periods to Interrobangs, How Punctuation Remade the World, Judith Shulevitz writes “Punctuation: A Generational Divide,” The Atlantic, August 2026. Indeed, … Continue reading

July 30, 2026 · 1 Comment

AFFINITY, LOVE, AND JOY IN OLD-TIME RADIO

I FEEL AFFINITY for Frank Lovejoy’s old-time radio portrayal of Randy Stone, night-beat reporter for the Chicago Star. In real life, Daughter Beth, Michael, and their two kids, Lilly and … Continue reading

July 29, 2026 · 2 Comments

WWHD—WHAT WOULD HOLMES DRIVE?

I RECENTLY HAD THE DELIGHT (AND HONOR) OF BEING INTERVIEWED on the “I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere” Podcast with Baker Street Irregulars Scott Monty and Burt Wolder. With due respect to … Continue reading

July 28, 2026 · 2 Comments

ON THE VERNE BRAND      PART 2

PART 1 STARTED WITH RAYMOND N. MACKENZIE’S LRB review of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Moon, a new translation of both his De la Terre à la Lune and its … Continue reading

July 27, 2026 · 1 Comment

ON THE VERNE BRAND      PART 1

RAYMOND N. MACKINZIE OBSERVES, “By the last decades of the 19th century, Jules Verne was less a writer than a brand—one carefully cultivated by his publisher, Pierre-Jules Hetzel—promising a specific … Continue reading

July 26, 2026 · 1 Comment

THE MAJESTIC 747’S FINAL DESCENT

TRUMP’S BROUHAHA WITH HIS QATAR 747 overflies the reality noted by Ian Bogost in “Queen of the Skies,” The Atlantic, July 2026: “The Boeing 747, the world’s first jumbo jet, … Continue reading

July 25, 2026 · 3 Comments

LEAPIN’ AERIAL AQUABOTS!      PART 2

YESTERDAY WE ACKNOWLEDGED THE CHALLENGE of studying aerial-aquatic birds and, thus, the idea of devising a robotic equivalent. Today in Part 2 we continue with “Leaping Out Of The Water: … Continue reading

July 24, 2026 · Leave a comment

LEAPIN’ AERIAL AQUABOTS!       PART 1

“DIVING BIRDS,” SCIENCE’S MARC S. LAVINE SUMMARIZES, “transition between flying through the air and navigating through water by flapping, but the mechanisms by which different species try to do this … Continue reading

July 23, 2026 · Leave a comment

TRUMP AND HIS GIFTED USED BOEING 747-800

FOR A SELF-PROFESSED HYPERDEALER, TRUMP SURE SCREWED UP BIG with his gifted used 747-800. And, as is often the case, we’re being stuck with the outcome. Here are tidbits gleaned … Continue reading

July 22, 2026 · 2 Comments