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

ECLECTIC ELECTRICS—17 YEARS AGO PART 1

IT WAS EARLY 2009 THAT R&T GOT SERIOUS ABOUT BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES, BEVs, for short. (And no pun intended). In February 2009, we tested the Tesla Roadster, a rolling-chassis Lotus … Continue reading

May 17, 2026 · Leave a comment

ROUND, BLACK, STICKY—AND ARTFUL (REDUX)

’WAY BACK WHEN SIMANAITISSAYS WAS YOUNG, “Round, Black, Sticky—And Artful,” April 7, 2014, celebrated the Discount Tire Company’s collection of poster art. Indeed, I visited its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. … Continue reading

May 16, 2026 · 2 Comments

HAVEN’T WE A WORD FOR IT?     PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN GLEANING TIDBITS FROM FRANCIS GOODING’S LRB REVIEW of Steven Mithen’s The Language Puzzle: How We Talked Our Way Out of The Stone Age. We continue here in … Continue reading

May 15, 2026 · 1 Comment

HAVEN’T WE A WORD FOR IT? PART 1

FRANCIS GOODING’S “ROCKET SCIENCE FOR MONKEYS” is the compelling title of his London Review of Books review of Steven Mithen’s The Language Puzzle: How We Talked Our Way Out Of … Continue reading

May 14, 2026 · 1 Comment

WE USTA HEAR AMERICA PINGING

“TO UNDERSTAND THIS (HISTORICAL) ABNORMALITY OF COMBUSTION,” I wrote (sans the parenthetical modifier) in R&T back in December 1979, “we’d be wise to begin by examining the combustion process as … Continue reading

May 13, 2026 · 3 Comments

HORTUS DELICIARUM—THE GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

MY RECENT TREATISE ON PRETZELS got me consulting The Authorized King James Version of the Bible. Prompting of this biblical research was straightforward: Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus enjoying a … Continue reading

May 12, 2026 · Leave a comment

D.J. SIMS GOT THINGS RIGHT, SORTA

IT WAS MORE THAN A HALF-CENTURY AGO (AGG!?) that a math professor at the College of the Virgin Islands on St. Thomas submitted a freelance piece to R&T.  Image by … Continue reading

May 11, 2026 · 4 Comments

IN PRAISE OF THE COMMON    PART 2

THE THEME OF GENTLE CONVENTIONALITY echoes in our review of the British flick This Happy Breed. Its time capsule continues here in Part 2 as the Gibbons family settles in … Continue reading

May 10, 2026 · 3 Comments

IN PRAISE OF THE COMMON       PART 1

BEING THE ANGLOPHILE I AM—SHAKESPEARE, MARLOWE, Morgans, Dellows, and White Stilton with Apricots—I was attracted to Turner Classic Movies’ recent showing of This Happy Breed.  This Happy Breed, based on … Continue reading

May 9, 2026 · Leave a comment

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK IN THE CRETACEOUS SEA      PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE LEARNED FROM AAAS SCIENCE THAT THE CRETACEOUS SEA contained cephalopods of unprecedented size. Sources for this are Phie Jacobs’ “Octopus ‘Krakens’ as Large as Semi-Trucks Stalked Ancient Seas,” … Continue reading

May 8, 2026 · Leave a comment