Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Author Archives: simanaitissays

1932 FORD HIGHBOY ROADSTER—A HOT ROD TO THE MAX PART 1

WHEN I WASN’T imagining MG TCs in study hall, this was the prototypical car I was sketching back then: a modified 1932 Ford roadster, sans fenders and hood, with all … Continue reading

June 6, 2019 · Leave a comment

RENAVIGATING WITH CAPTAIN JAMES COOK PART 2

WE LEFT Captain James Cook in yesterday’s Part 1 during his first exploration of the Pacific, 1768–1771, the success of which depended heavily upon consummate skills of Polynesian navigator Tupaia, … Continue reading

June 4, 2019 · Leave a comment

RENAVIGATING WITH CAPTAIN JAMES COOK PART 1

AS A KID, I picked up lots of misinformation. For instance, that the famed British explorer James Cook discovered a bunch of Pacific islands and, on his return trip, got … Continue reading

June 3, 2019 · Leave a comment

CHINA’S NEW SILK ROAD

THE SILK ROAD was a classic trade route connecting the East and the West. From about 115 B.C. to the 1450s, this trade by land and sea involved China, the … Continue reading

June 1, 2019 · 1 Comment

MOVING HOUSE TO THE HUNTINGTON

IT’S SORT OF Meiji-Mura with the vast Pacific in between. Readers may recall Meiji-Mura (“Meiji Village”), consisting of more than 60 Japanese buildings from the Meiji Era (1868–1912) relocated to … Continue reading

May 31, 2019 · Leave a comment

A TALE OF TWO BOUQUINISTES

I’VE ENJOYED encounters with bouquinistes, booksellers offering their wares along the Seine in Paris. One result is a kid’s magazine, titled Tintin—Le Journal des Jeunes de 7 à 77 ans. … Continue reading

May 30, 2019 · Leave a comment

F1 AERO: FOOLING WITH THE OPPOSITION’S AIR

AERODYNAMIC DOWNFORCE has been used in Formula One for years, the 1978 Lotus 79 being exemplary in dominating the series. Today, an F1 car traveling 130 mpg generates its own … Continue reading

May 29, 2019 · Leave a comment

OUTSOARING THE RING

I HAVE FOUND something more outre than Wagner’s Die Ring des Nibelungen. True, The Ring Cycle is 17 unique hours filled with Valhalla’s Gods and Goddesses, the Nibelung underground’s evil … Continue reading

May 28, 2019 · Leave a comment

IN PRAISE OF AUCTION CATALOGS

LONG AFTER the last fall of the hammer, there’s pleasure to be had in automotive auction catalogs. Skimming through the Bonham’s catalog from the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance Collectors’ Motorcars and … Continue reading

May 27, 2019 · 1 Comment

THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK CLICKS ITS HEELS PART 2

TODAY IN PART 2, we pick up our Great American Songbook celebration of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in two more of their musicals from the mid-1930s. We’ll also encounter … Continue reading

May 26, 2019 · Leave a comment