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

Monthly Archives: March, 2014

IN PRAISE OF FILM AND ITALIAN CUISINE

A MOVIE can be inspiring. Wife Dottie and I enjoyed Turner Classic Movies showing of Big Night and, the next thing I knew, I was devising a new recipe for … Continue reading

March 30, 2014 · 2 Comments

MY HOME AIR SPACE: ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

IN REAL life and on my flight simulator, my home field is John Wayne Airport, officially SNA as in Santa Ana, California. (Its KSNA designation by the International Civil Aviation … Continue reading

March 29, 2014 · Leave a comment

AN AUTONOMOUS CAR FUTURE

SCIENTISTS AT MIT, Stanford and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology have explored implications of the driverless, autonomous car. Their paper, “Toward a Systematic Approach to the Design and … Continue reading

March 27, 2014 · 3 Comments

ON ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSES

IT’S GREAT fun watching the PBS series Downton Abbey. And one of my favorite mystery movies is Gosford Park. What’s more, through friendship with Rob Walker and his wife Betty, … Continue reading

March 26, 2014 · 1 Comment

REVE BLEU BUGATTI 100P AT THE MULLIN

COMMISSIONED BY Ettore Bugatti and designed by Belgian engineer Louis de Monge, the Bugatti 100P was considerably advanced in its 1937 conception. Features of the aircraft included a sandwich construction … Continue reading

March 24, 2014 · Leave a comment

BUGATTI ART AT THE MULLIN

ARTISTIC GENIUS surfaced often in the Bugatti family. Ettore Bugatti built cars—with an artistic flair. His brother Rembrandt was a sculptor. Their father Carlo designed and fabricated Art Nouveau furniture. … Continue reading

March 23, 2014 · Leave a comment

NEW ZEALANDER RICHARD PEARSE—FIRST TO FLY?

WHO WAS the first person to fly? Do balloonists count? What about piloting a glider? Was it Icarus? Orville or Wilber Wright? And what about New Zealander Richard Pearse? There’s evidence … Continue reading

March 22, 2014 · Leave a comment

FIA FORMULA E—PLUGGED IN FOR 2014/2015

BERNARD NICLOT, Technical Director, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, spoke on February 11 at the SAE 2014 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Symposium in La Jolla, California. His topic was “Growing Importance … Continue reading

March 21, 2014 · 2 Comments

S.S. VAN DINE’S 20 RULES

THE DETECTIVE novelist S.S. Van Dine devised a list of 20 rules for writing detective stories. Whether in observance or willful disregard, the rules first published in 1928 make for … Continue reading

March 19, 2014 · Leave a comment

COUNT THEM AGAIN—IN MY PRESENCE

THE GREAT line “Count them again—in my presence” appears in one of my foreign language phrase books under the heading “Dealing with the Help.” Many years ago, famed humorist James … Continue reading

March 18, 2014 · 1 Comment