ETYMOLOOGY: DEUTSCHESPRACH AND OTHERS
THE GERMAN LANGUAGE is great at word-building. For instance, I recall the following storefront signage. Come to think of it, my source for this photo, translated into German, is another … Continue reading
ROBOTS: DO WE PREFER PALS OR MACHINES? PART 2
YESTERDAY IN SIMANAITISSAYS, we encountered variations of robot design: C3-PO’s plated mechanicals are nonetheless humanlike. R2-D2’s mechanical torso, arms, and legs give him some humanoid cred. HAL 9000’s impersonal red-eye … Continue reading
ROBOTS: DO WE PREFER PALS OR MACHINES? PART 1
SCI-FI AND REALITY have given us extremes of human/robotic interaction, everything from anthropomorphic constructs to idealized machines bearing no resemblance to humans. What do we prefer? A human-shaped C-3PO? A … Continue reading
CASES OF MISTAKEN IDENTITIES
LITERATURE—AND LIFE—are replete with mistaken identities. Confusion, chaos, and often hilarity follow, as exemplified in the following three tidbits. Gogol’s Government Inspector.. One of these mistaken identities made an earlier … Continue reading
EGYPTOLOGY, THIS TIME WITH HIGH TECH
WHEN I MENTIONED EGYPTOLOGY as the topic of yesterday’s SimanaitisSays, Daughter Suz said, “Oh, you mean that thing about King Tut’s meteorite?” Then the postman delivered Wife Dottie’s latest BBC … Continue reading
ON MATTERS EGYPTIAN
I SEEM TO be accumulating a lot of ancient Egypt tidbits, of which several follow here. Philip Glass’s Akhnaten. A week prior to its December 7, 2019, final performance at … Continue reading
IS IT TIME FOR AIRCRAFT TO PLUG IN? PART 2
ELECTRIFICATION OF MOBILITY is all the rage. So what about air travel? Tidbits yesterday focused on clearing up a misunderstanding (English Electric aircraft weren’t electric) and celebrating a circumnavigation. Today … Continue reading
IS IT TIME FOR AIRCRAFT TO PLUG IN? PART 1
ELECTRIFICATION OF the automobile is a done deal, albeit not without challenges in its becoming dominant. But what about aircraft? Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are … Continue reading
ACTION! CUT?? PART 2
YESTERDAY’S TOPIC of extended takes in cinematography focused on Orson Welles’ film noir Touch of Evil. Today, in Part 2, we confirm French director Jean-Luc Godard’s truism that cinematographic truth … Continue reading
ACTION! CUT?? PART 1
“FILM IS TRUTH 24 times a second,” French film director Jean-Luc Godard said, “and every cut is a lie.” Given this, almost all films are filled with falsity: They’re formed … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 