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: June, 2017

A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR DISNEY IMAGINEERS

IT IS rare that I turn to Variety, America’s weekly entertainment trade magazine, for political updates. Typically, the Orange County Register and The New York Times suffice for balance, along … Continue reading

June 30, 2017 · 1 Comment

MY (NON-FAKE) MAGAZINE COVERS

WHAT WITH the current brouhaha concerning the alternative-fact March 1, 2009, Time magazine cover, I should like to go on record that my eight, possibly nine, covers of R&T are … Continue reading

June 29, 2017 · 9 Comments

A HOLMES RIVAL IN DEDUCTION?

THE WORLD’S first consulting detective has exhibited great deductive prowess, but he may have a new rival, a mere junior office clerk in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester. I enjoy … Continue reading

June 28, 2017 · 1 Comment

HERMANN THE GERMAN JOINS THE GREATER HUMAN RACE

MIGRATION, ETHNICITY, and racial purity have been much in the news these days. Fortunately, so have the stabilizing influences of scientific research. In particular, goodbye to a favorite myth believed … Continue reading

June 26, 2017 · Leave a comment

TOURING THE WORLD’S LETTUCE CAPITAL

EL CENTRO, once renowned as the Lettuce Capital of the World, is in California’s Imperial Valley, about 115 miles east of San Diego and 15 miles north of the Mexican … Continue reading

June 24, 2017 · 7 Comments

GIMME AN O! GIMME AN X! GIMME AN …

LET’S CELEBRATE the Oxford comma and its use at this website. Indeed, it made its debut here only yesterday with that second comma in “greed, stupidity, and political corruption.” There’s … Continue reading

June 23, 2017 · Leave a comment

NIKOLAI GOGOL’S GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR

IT’S A “story as timely as today’s headlines.” Well, maybe only in that Nikolai Gogol is a Russian and his play The Government Inspector, 1842, is a satire about greed, … Continue reading

June 22, 2017 · 1 Comment

PAPER CHASE!

DESPITE OUR “paperless society,” my computer printer still inexplicably keeps asking for the stuff. And I learned a lot more about it in the London Review of Books, June 15, … Continue reading

June 21, 2017 · Leave a comment

WHAT AN ODD LANGUAGE ENGLISH IS

AEON IS a not-for-profit digital magazine “committed to big ideas, serious enquiry and a humane worldview.” Founded in London in 2012, it publishes thoughtful essays, ideas and videos on all … Continue reading

June 19, 2017 · 3 Comments

WHAT IF ROBOTS UNIONIZE? PART 2

YESTERDAY, I shared robotic tidbits from Isaac Asimov and an Automotive News story about mirror specialist Gentex’s closure of its Mexico facility. Today, we pick up with Gentex’s business in … Continue reading

June 18, 2017 · Leave a comment