PASTIME WITH GOOD COMPANY
GIVEN COVID-19’S SUGGESTED pastime at home sans company, I got to thinking about fulfilling ways to hunker down. Recently here I cited armchair travel. Today, tidbits touch on Henry VIII … Continue reading
ON EQUALITY, MATHWISE AND OTHERWISE PART 2
WHAT BEGAN yesterday at SimanaitisSays as a math discussion takes a decidedly cultural turn today. The equality symbol “=” joins two things that are of the same value. And this … Continue reading
ON EQUALITY, MATHWISE AND OTHERWISE PART 1
“THE SQUARE OF the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.” Apart from giving us the pun about squaws sleeping on various hides, … Continue reading
INTERNATIONAL AIR RACES AND POLITICS—1920
THE ROAR OF the Roaring Twenties could well have been airplanes setting new records. World War I aviation technology would be transformed into peaceful endeavors of air mail and the … Continue reading
RALLY ’ROUND THE FLAG PART 2
YESTERDAY’S FLAG LORE had theories and practices of political science, religion, combustion, and inversion. Today in Part 2, the flag is monochromatically bland, though we’ll see that white flags have … Continue reading
RALLY ’ROUND THE FLAG PART 1
THE RALLY ’ROUND the Flag Effect is a political-science concept not exactly evident today. As detailed in Wikipedia, the concept describes an “increased short-run popular support of the President of … Continue reading
ICELAND—LAND OF OPERA, SCULPTURE, AND STREET FOOD AT 1 A.M.
ARMCHAIR TRAVEL IS a blessing these days. And, for me, old travel books provide the vehicle. Cook’s Traveller’s Handbook to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, 1936, is a fine example … Continue reading
THE BALSAMO/CAGLIOSTRO SAGA PART 3
WERE THE COUNT and Countess Cagliostros merely 18th-century proto-Eurotrash? Or is this too strong an assessment? Here in Part 3, we conclude with more tidbits gleaned from faust.com. The Affair … Continue reading
THE BALSAMO/CAGLIOSTRO SAGA PART 2
YESTERDAY, HERE AT SimanaitisSays, 18th-century conman Giuseppe Balsamo and his wife Serafina were in Cadiz, Spain. He had just “acquired” an expensive walking stick set with diamonds in its handle … Continue reading
THE BALSAMO/CAGLIOSTRO SAGA PART 1
MODERN CONMEN ARE short-fingered vulgarians compared to Giuseppe/Joseph Balsamo aka the Count Alessandro di Cagliostro. This 18th-century scam artist was in no particular order, a mystic, magician, gigolo, pimp, Coptic … Continue reading
