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

ON APPRECIATION OF MOTOR RACING

I’VE BEEN reading complaints about this past Sunday’s 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, some even from World Drivers Champions Fernando Alonso, who dropped out of the race, and Lewis Hamilton, who … Continue reading →

May 30, 2018 · 2 Comments

ARE YOU A HENRY? OR JUST A WANNABE?

I RECENTLY heard the demographic descriptor Henry, as in High Earner Not Rich Yet, and this got me thinking of more familiar terms, which in turn led me to some … Continue reading →

May 28, 2018 · 4 Comments

WHERE’S TH@T @T?

ONCE A MERE substitute for “at the rate of,” as in “3 apples @ 25¢ each,” the symbol @ has thrived to travel the world on the Internet. It punctuates … Continue reading →

May 26, 2018 · 1 Comment

THE FIRST PERSON TO FLY IN THE U.S.

JUST AS GEORGE Washington crossed the Delaware River in December 1776, within two decades Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard entered aviation history as the first person to fly in the U.S., also … Continue reading →

May 25, 2018 · Leave a comment

THE 1 1/2-LITRE SQUIRE

I DIDN’T realize it at the time, but back in junior-high study hall I was sketching the Squire. And, indeed, in England back in 1926, 16-year-old Adrian Morgan Squire was … Continue reading →

May 24, 2018 · 8 Comments

WHAT’S A TELEX, GRANDPA?

QUITE APART from many young people seemingly not knowing how to do long division in any sensible way, they’ve also been known to ask things like “How does a dial … Continue reading →

May 23, 2018 · 2 Comments

BOUILLABAISSE AND THE DEFIANCE OF CODIFICATION PART 2

SEVERAL OF MY other cookbooks offer bouillabaisse recipes of one sort or another, but its most entertaining description comes from Alan Davidson’s Mediterranean Seafood. This is the one that led … Continue reading →

May 22, 2018 · 3 Comments

BOUILLABAISSE AND DEFIANCE OF CODIFICATION PART 1

ONE THING leads to another. And, seemingly, to two-part items here recently at SimanaitisSays. There I was, reading a London Review of Books article by Inigo Thomas on Maison Empereur, … Continue reading →

May 21, 2018 · 2 Comments

THE NAPOLEON DUPORT CAPER PART 2

WHEN LAST we encountered the cello of Jean-Louis Duport, indeed only yesterday, it had been manhandled by the overly enthusiastic as well as musically inept Napoleon Bonaparte. Today, the caper … Continue reading →

May 20, 2018 · Leave a comment

THE NAPOLEON DUPORT CAPER PART 1

IT WAS 1812, destined to be the year about which Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky would later compose an Overture. You know the one, with cannons and bells, celebrating Russia’s defense against … Continue reading →

May 19, 2018 · 1 Comment