OBAMA’S MEMOIRS
I HAVEN’T READ Barack Obama’s A Promised Land, and considering the number of books already on my “to-read” stack, I’m not likely to attempt this 768-page challenge. On the other … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: VACCINE
MUCH ON OUR minds these days, the word “vaccine” has interesting etymology and important current usage. Here are tidbits gleaned from my usual Internet sleuthing. Dictionary Definition. Merriam-Webster says a … Continue reading
BARD STATS
WHEN WIFE DOTTIE was a kid, she and her friend Gracie Watts would perform plays for their parents. When she asked her dad which part he liked best, he’d invariably … Continue reading
THE DRONE RACE
DRONES CAN BE entertaining radio-controlled hobby craft. They’re useful for aerial photography and employed in news and traffic reports. They’re increasingly seen as delivery vehicles. And, alas, they’re the hot … Continue reading
1914 G.P. VAUXHALL—ANALYZING A FATHER’S WORK PART 2
YESTERDAY WE BEGAN discussing Laurence “Pom” Pomeroy’s analyses of his father L.H.P.’s design for the 1914 G.P. Vauxhall, a car replete with innovative features. Today in Part 2 we offer … Continue reading
1914 G.P. VAUXHALL—ANALYZING A FATHER’S WORK PART 1
IN 1913, ENGLISH engineer L.H. Pomeroy designed an innovative racing car for the 1914 Tourist Trophy race as well as the internationally important, and highly popular, French Grand Prix. In … Continue reading
HELDENDIVAS OF WAGNER’S RING DES NIBELUNGEN
HELDENTENORS ARE RENOWNED for their heroic Wagnerian singing. But what about the divas? They’re typically portrayed as plumpish, large-bosomed ladies wearing cow-horned helmets. Tenors, Helden and Otherwise. Nick Slonimsky has … Continue reading
POM ON MOTOR RACING AND NATIONALISM
LAURENCE “POM” POMEROY, 1908–1966, wrote about more than automotive technicalities in his classic book The Grand Prix Car. There is a tale that Pom’s father, English automotive engineer Laurence Henry … Continue reading
ERTÉ, MARION DAVIES, AND WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST
A COIN TOSS linked Art Deco artist Erté with publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst. One result of the coin toss was a movie, The Restless Sex, all but forgotten—and for … Continue reading
ENTERTAINING ENGLISH HISTORY
SURE, WE HAVE our George Washington cutting down that apple tree and proving the law of gravity by throwing an apple across the Potomac. (Or do I have this wrong?) … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 