APPRECIATING MATERIALS
LEARNING THAT NOTRE DAME RESTORATION was featuring medieval craftsmanship prompted pal and regular reader Bob Storck to share a similar tale from a classic barn raising: “I learned,” he wrote, … Continue reading
A.I. GIGO
IT’S A TIME-HONORED TRADITION of computer programming: Garbage In/Garbage Out. And, all its hallucinations included, modern Artificial Intelligence is nothing more than high-falutin computer programming. Here are tidbits on recent … Continue reading
RESTORATION—IN MEDIEVAL STYLE
A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF RESTORATION: Jeffrey Schaeffer reports in AP News, May 30, 2023, “If time travel was possible, medieval carpenters would surely be amazed to see how woodworking techniques … Continue reading
PITY THE AUSTIN A-30
AN ASTOUNDING DESIGN LEAP in automobile design occurred in Britain between the 1954 Austin A-30 and the 1959 Morris 850, aka the Mini. Whereas the Mini was innovative in so … Continue reading
MORETTI—AN ETCETERINA OF NOTE
ETCETERINI ARE DIMINUTIVE Italian sports cars, typically snarly Fiat-propelled and charming. I’ve never heard the singular of this Italian noun. But I assume, like macchina, it’s feminine. Thus, perhaps, “etceterina” … Continue reading
AMERICA WANTED A SMALL CAR? THE 1954 NASH METROPOLITAN DELIVERED
“THIS, THE NASH COMPANY ASSURES US,” R&T WROTE IN MAY 1954, “is what the public asked for…. Well, let’s see what the public wanted.” “First,” R&T said, “the public wanted … Continue reading
CORONATION TIDBITS
MOST APPROPRIATELY, THE MAY 2023 ISSUE of BBC History featured Tracy Borman’s “How (and How Not) to Stage a Coronation.” Here are my favorites, together with a Papal tale topping … Continue reading