SEAL HIJINKS
THE PRESIDENTIAL SEAL, formally the Coat of Arms of the President of the United States, is an impressive thing. Its definition contains plenty of heraldic jargon: The shield consists of … Continue reading
IACOCCA’S FIRST MUSTANG
THE RECENT PASSING OF Lee Iacocca, age 94, reminded me of his Ford Fairlane Group’s first Mustang. I’m not thinking of the Falcon-based four-seater introduced in ’64 1/2 and destined … Continue reading
THE ENGLISH JOHNSONS: DEFT OR JUST DAFT?
TO SUMMARIZE ENGLAND’S new Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his family, imagine the Trump clan, including in-laws and hangers-on, all as Donald J.’s brothers and sisters. Oh, and toss in … Continue reading
FACIAL RECOGNITION—GIGO PART 2
ARE YOU CONCERNED that facial recognition might become overbearing in its disturbance of your privacy? As suggested yesterday, sorry, folks, that train has already left. Today’s tidbits are gleaned from … Continue reading
FACIAL RECOGNITION—GIGO PART 1
PHRENOLOGY, THE ANALYSIS OF head contours to predict mental traits, used to be considered a science. This led to eugenics, selective improvement of certain genetic groups and elimination of others … Continue reading
CURTISS MODEL F—A FLYING BOAT OF FIRSTS
GLENN CURTISS was the first in the U.S. to take off and land on water, January 26, 1911. And within a year, he commercialized this achievement with the Curtiss Model … Continue reading
CHAPLIN-AIR-LINE PART 2
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Syd Chaplin, Charlie’s half-brother, to add aviation to his entrepreneurial set of ambitions. A hundred years ago, Los Angeles was a center of aviation development, … Continue reading
CHAPLIN-AIR-LINE PART 1
TODAY, THE INTERSECTION of Wilshire and Fairfax is a Los Angeles cultural focus: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Architecture and Design Museum>Los Angeles … Continue reading
HOW DO YOU SAY THAT IN ENGLISH?
A LETTER TO the London Review of Books got me thinking about words that don’t readily translate to English. Jem Thomas, Bristol, cited the Portuguese word saudade and the Welsh … Continue reading
PORSCHE BEETLES
DR. ING. FERDINAND Porsche’s company was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to design the rear-engine Volkswagen in 1934. This was five years before Porsche built the Type 64, which used many … Continue reading
