SCULPTURE OF THE STONE AGE
IT’S SAID THAT Michelangelo “liberated bodies that were trapped in blocks of marble.” And, hundreds of millennia before this, stone age hominins chipped away at stone to reveal tools and, … Continue reading
SCIENCE TIDBITS PART 2
THE AMERICAN Association for the Advancement of Science publishes a weekly magazine, Science. Yesterday’s SimanaitisSays offered Part 1 of its recent tidbits. Here’s Part 2. Could artificial intelligences get the … Continue reading
SCIENCE TIDBITS PART 1
I AM a science dilettante in the original sense of this word. “Dilettante,” which today may carry a sense of superficiality, comes from the Latin, dilectare, “to delight.” That is, … Continue reading
PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT: “DON GIOVANNI”
WHAT WITH the past two days here at SimanaitisSays devoted to Mob Talk, it’s logical to follow up with a review of Pacific Opera Project’s Don Giovanni. Logical? Yes, because … Continue reading
MOB TALK, SELF-SELECTED PART 2
THIS CELEBRATION of mob vernacular has turned out to be more compelling than I expected. Yesterday, I didn’t even get through the C’s. Today in Part 2, I will be … Continue reading
MOB TALK, SELF-SELECTED PART 1
MY MOB experience is modest indeed. I enjoyed The Godfather, 1972, but have viewed it only once. I saw neither Godfather Part II, 1974, nor Godfather Part III, 1990. I … Continue reading
“THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH” PART 2
THORNTON WILDER adopted a cosmic view when he composed The Skin of Our Teeth, a history of mankind that intermingled prehistoric creatures, ancient Greeks, classic literary characters and a family … Continue reading
“THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH” PART 1
AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT Thornton Wilder called The Skin of Our Teeth “the most ambitious project I have ever approached.” And no wonder. The play mixes the early 1940s with prehistoric times, … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: AT SIXES AND SEVENS
THE WORLD, it has been said, is “at sixes and sevens.” On the other hand, researching this phrase gave me some comforting insight into the practice of etymology and, indeed, … Continue reading
WHENCE U.S. OIL THESE DAYS?
WHAT WITH the world at sixes and sevens (now there’s a phrase to investigate!), it’s worth identifying the sources of petroleum and its products imported into the U.S. Recent data … Continue reading
