GETTING EVEN—THEATRICALLY PART 1
APART FROM BEING a spy, diplomat, arms dealer, and revolutionary (French and American), playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais sure know how to get even. His means of revenge? His theatrical … Continue reading
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE UPDATE—PLUSES AND MINUSES
WHAT WITH CONCERNS on ethical grounds, technical matters, and practical aspects, I have been skeptical of any onrush to driverless vehicle technology. However, the Automotive News weekly keeps me updated. … Continue reading
WITH JOE MILLER, THE JOKE’S ON MOTTLEY
JOE MILLER, 18th-Century English Theatre tragedian, is remembered today. John Mottley, a contemporary of Miller, ends up as a false etymological hint. My inspiration for these tidbits arose from “The … Continue reading
SOAP BUBBLES AND WINE LEGS
SOAP BUBBLES make for a fascinating physics lab, even on your own table top. Knvul Sheikh gives proof of this in “Watch Soap Bubbles Turn Into Tiny SnowGlobes as They … Continue reading
1934 ALFA ROMEO 2.3-LITRE CASTAGNA—BRIO WITH ELEGANCE
AMONG THE MANY adjectives that characterize Alfa Romeo automobiles, “sleek,” “snarly,” and “swoopy” come readily to mind. The word “elegant,” though, usually describes other marques: Bugatti, Delahaye, and the like. … Continue reading
THE END OF AMERICAN WORLD ORDER?
OCCASIONALLY THE London Review of Books baffles me with (its understandable) focus on British matters. It reminds me of “Fog Shrouds Channel; Continent Isolated.” Most times, though, I find the … Continue reading
HIGH ON MANHATTAN PART 2
CELEBRATING MANHATTAN SKYSCRAPERS continues here in Part 2, with tidbits gleaned from Stefano Chen’s “New York City’s Evolving Skyline,” The New York Times, June 9, 2019. Here, developers seek to … Continue reading
HIGH ON MANHATTAN PART 1
IN “NEW YORK CITY’S Evolving Skyline,” Stefano Chen writes that this year “could be the city’s busiest year ever for new skyscrapers.” Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and … Continue reading
ON QUARKS, ROBOTS, AND PANDEMONIUM
PROFESSOR MURRAY GELL-MANN died, age 89, on May 24, 2019. He was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of … Continue reading
GODZILLA—AND CHANGING TIMES
SINCE ITS 1954 film debut, Godzilla has doubled in size, breaking all sorts of guidelines in evolutionary theory. It’s more along the lines of the Hollywood dictum that if one … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 