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: April, 2019

TO ALL OF US, SHE IS “OUR LADY” PART 2

OUR CELEBRATION of Notre Dame’s resilience and beauty continues today in Part 2. We travel down the Seine on a Batobus, get cathedral specifications from 1874 and 1937, and read … Continue reading

April 30, 2019 · 1 Comment

TO ALL OF US, SHE IS “OUR LADY” PART 1

WE WERE ALL horrified by the Notre Dame Cathedral fire of April 15, 2019. Yet we also celebrate Our Lady’s inherent resilience and beauty. Here are photos of Notre Dame, … Continue reading

April 29, 2019 · 2 Comments

WHAT DOES CLIMATE CHANGE HAVE TO DO WITH SEX?

THERE. NOW THAT I have your attention, I’ll cite “Atmospheric Scientists Join Pheromone Quest” by Kai Kupferschmidt, in Science, April 12, 2019. And, before we’re done here today, there’s an … Continue reading

April 28, 2019 · 2 Comments

ROBIN HOOD AND THE CALIFORNIA PERSPECTIVE

WIFE DOTTIE AND I recently enjoyed a Robin Hood flick on the telly. What a hoot! A classic tale of medieval England, California landscapes, and, come to think of it, … Continue reading

April 27, 2019 · 1 Comment

ON PSEUDOARCHAEOLOGY

DID ALIENS BUILD the Egyptian pyramids? Were the Americas first populated by Western Europeans? A growing number of people believe in such claptrap, according to Science magazine, published weekly by … Continue reading

April 26, 2019 · Leave a comment

CELEBRATING THE BROWN DERBY(S)

I WAS VERY WELL connected at Hollywood’s Brown Derby restaurant, albeit only briefly. A recent mention of this restaurant on SiriusXM “Radio Classics” rekindled the memory. There were actually four … Continue reading

April 25, 2019 · 4 Comments

DOUGLAS DST: WHEN FLYING WAS RESTFUL

THE DOUGLAS SLEEPER TRANSPORT arose through airline competition. Transcontinental Air Transport flights in 1929 were anything but uneventful. For example, TAT passengers interspersed train travel with segments aboard Ford Tri-Motors. … Continue reading

April 24, 2019 · 2 Comments

THE CARS OF DONALD HEALEY

I HAD A SECRET crush on a high-school math teacher who drove an Austin-Healey Hundred. This recollection came to mind while I was rearranging my Automobile Quarterly collection, far from … Continue reading

April 23, 2019 · 6 Comments

HAIL TO THEE (WHOEVER HE OR SHE IS) PART 2

WE CONTINUE OUR celebration of national personifications here in Part 2 by encountering a previous SimanaitisSays cameo, a British yeoman, and an All-American. Germany’s Arminius. Arminius, aka Hermann the German, … Continue reading

April 22, 2019 · Leave a comment

HAIL TO THEE (WHOEVER HE OR SHE IS) PART 1

IN THESE PERHAPS overly nationalistic times, it seems appropriate to review national characters, emblematic personages of the world. Plenty of countries get by with a generic Mother This or Father … Continue reading

April 21, 2019 · 1 Comment