WORLD WAR I AVIATION
AVIATION ENTERED World War I as almost a curiosity, balloons and fledgling aeroplanes used for observation and little more. Within five years, 1914-1918, aircraft became deadly weapons bringing warfare to … Continue reading
WHAT A SYNECDOCHE!
WORDS CAN arise in the most circuitous ways. I was reading about French president Francois Hollande’s relational complexities—His Élysée Palace live-in pal, Valérie Trierweiler, apparently moving out in response to … Continue reading
HOLMES IN AMERICA?
DID SHERLOCK Holmes ever set foot on the North America continent? I mean actually, not just in those charming, but non-Canonical pastiches. Watson’s chronicles are wonderfully ambiguous in this regard. … Continue reading
CHRYSLER FIVE-PACK
I CONFESS that this title sounds like Chrysler getting into the brewery business with a cost-cutting move. But, in fact, the Chrysler Five-Pack is one of World War II’s success stories. … Continue reading
WE ARE WEIRD
A PROVOCATIVE recent book offers the view that we have a lot to learn from primitive societies—from what we might call uncivilized sorts. What with savage rites and all, I’m … Continue reading
LOUGHEAD AND THE ALCOR C-6-1 JR. TRANSPORT
AVIATION BUFFS may connect a fellow named Allan Loughead with an aircraft company named Lockheed. But I wonder how many recognize one of his aviation achievements, the svelte 1938 Alcor … Continue reading
HOCKNEY ART: STAGE AND i
BRITISH ARTIST David Hockney, age 76, has never shied away from new media. In the early 1980s, he formed scenic montages, each Polaroid snapshot not quite merging with the next. … Continue reading
BLACK BEAUTY = PHANTOM CORSAIR?
I BELIEVE I’ve identified Black Beauty, the car used by the Green Hornet—the real old-time-radio Green Hornet, not some latter-day phony-schmony counterpart in a rudely customized Chrysler, for goodness sake. … Continue reading
FLAME EATER ATMOSPHERIC ENGINE
MY 21ST-CENTURY Flame Eater atmospheric engine is a technical delight that traces its origin back 300 years to the dawn of mechanical power. The very earliest of engines were of … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 