SPITFIRE FLYING, SELF-TAUGHT
I WAS SORTING through one thing and another when I came upon the British Air Ministry’s 1943 Air Publication 1565K, Spitfire F XII Pilot’s Notes. The Supermarine Spitfire single-seat fighter … Continue reading
CELEBRATING WWW: WRETCHED WRITERS WELCOME
VICTORIAN AUTHOR Edward Bulwer-Lytton couldn’t have sensed his place in literary history when he began his 1830 novel Paul Clifford with these immortal words: “It was a dark and stormy … Continue reading
PATATAS, PIMIENTOS Y LANGOSTINOS
HERE IN THE U.S., the Spanish word langostino describes the squat lobster. It’s neither prawn, nor shrimp, nor a lobster, actually closer to the hermit crab. But our local Trader … Continue reading
WHAT’S UP THERE ON THE MET’S PROSCENIUM ARCH?
DAUGHTER SUZ AND I are regular opera-goers, thanks to the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD presentations in movie theaters around the world. The view of the Met’s Lincoln Center home … Continue reading
AVIATION SELLS!
EARLY AVIATION GENERATED entirely new ventures. It also gave existing businesses a piece of the action, sometimes only indirectly. Here’s a sample of “Aviation Sells!” One of the oddest gizmos … Continue reading
THE AUTOMAKERS’ DILEMMA
“MAY YOU LIVE IN interesting times.” This classic Chinese saying was intended as a curse, not a blessing. And so it would seem for automakers today. Reading the weekly Automotive … Continue reading
BASSÉ & SELVE AERO ENGINE
ON MAY 31, 1918, a German Rumpler two-seat aircraft was shot down in combat. The Rumpler’s six-cylinder Bassé & Selve engine was retrieved by British Intelligence and subjected to intensive … Continue reading
PARLY TRAINS
THE UNIQUELY English parly trains, short for parliamentary trains, say so much about this wonderful country. Today, let’s celebrate their history and a link with the gentle humor of Michael … Continue reading
ON STAGE AT SCRIPPS COLLEGE
THE RUTH CHANDLER WILLIAMSON Gallery of Scripps College in Claremont, California, has a beautiful exhibit titled “On Stage: Japanese Theater Prints and Costume (Kabuki, Bunraku and Noh)” running through December … Continue reading
A RESET FOR MOTOR SPORTS
TO MANY, THE NAME John Glenn hearkens back to early days of the U.S. space program. And, to many, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would seem an odd place for … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 