TŌKAIDŌ ADVENTURES PART 1
THIS BEGAN AS a book review of Philippe Delord’s Hiroshige’s Japan—On the Trail of the Great Woodblock Print Master, and it still is. Also, though, this lovely art book recalled several … Continue reading
POLITICAL REPARTEE
CURRENT POLITICS ARE LAMENTABLY lacking in so many aspects, among them any sense of repartee, wit, or humor. Here are earlier examples as gleaned from Dr. Mardy Grothe’s Viva La … Continue reading
ROAD AND TRACK’S INAUGURAL ROAD TEST
IT WAS IN MARCH 1951 that Road and Track inaugurated “a series of road tests of foreign and American automobiles from the American driver’s viewpoint.” Indeed, there had been earlier … Continue reading
WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE RICE? OR WAS IT A TIE? PART 2
RECENT RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT a wild jungle fowl evolved into today’s chicken, and much later than was previously thought. Today in Part 2, we continue sharing tidbits from AAAS Science … Continue reading
WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE RICE? OR WAS IT A TIE? PART 1
DOMESTICATION OF THE CHICKEN, you’d think, would have been an historically defined deal. But, indeed, research published only recently has upset traditional thoughts on the matter. Here, in Parts 1 … Continue reading
TRAVELS WITH EMMA—THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY
I WAS ORDERING another book entirely (of which more, once it arrives) when the Amazon Smile algorithm was spot-on with two other recommendations. Here are tidbits about one of these … Continue reading
SPINNING MERCURY!
THOSE OF US of a certain age remember pushing little blobs of Mercury around in science class; this, before people got all antsy about handling this extremely toxic element. Science … Continue reading
CASTAWAY LISTENING PART 2
YESTERDAY, MIRANDA CARTER introduced Desert Island Discs, a long-running BBC interview program, its theme describing desirable musical accompaniments to castaway island living. We continue today with tidbits about this, together … Continue reading
CASTAWAY LISTENING PART 1
THE IDEA OF BEING a castaway on a desert island seems increasingly pleasant these days. The London Review of Books, June 6, 2022 offers “My Castaway This Week, Miranda Carter … Continue reading
IN PRAISE OF BREWER’S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE & FABLE
FROM TIME TO TIME, I feel the urge to seek trivia. Not directed research on one thing or another. Just taking pleasure from unadulterated facts I really don’t need to … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 