IT USTA BE SAID…
COLLOQUIALISMS ARE here today and gone tomorrow. But like this temporal analysis, some remain. A little research and some thinking revealed several gems of both categories, which follow in no … Continue reading
ON GRAVITY CLOCKS
THE TERM “gravity clock” suggests sci-fi. In fact, though, it can be quite the traditional opposite. I learned about gravity clocks through a friend gifting me with the RM /Sotheby’s auction … Continue reading
THE NEAR FUTURE: LET’S GET REAL
MEDIA ARE filled with predictions of a personal-mobility future. It’s “Soon we’ll commute by helicopter!” all over again, and in as few as four more years. Let’s get real. Despite … Continue reading
FRANCE FOR THE MOTORIST, 1927
CHARLES L. FREESTON legitimately appended F.R.G.S. to his name. Indeed, he was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences. In the … Continue reading
HOME THEATER, FIFTIES STYLE
MY PARENTS, rest their souls, were home-theater hip in the 1950s. This was a half-century before movie streaming, Amazon Fire, Hulu, Netflix and the like, but our shared experiences remain … Continue reading
STEERING WHEELS I’VE LOVED
I DON’T PARTICUARLY like modern steering wheels. What with their buttons for everything from sound system to phone to navigation to cruise control to voice activation, not to say their … Continue reading
BRITS GRITS—HOLMES STYLE
FOR A WHILE there, like two millennia, Great Britain was not highly regarded for its cuisine. Even Sherlock Holmes had trouble detecting a decent repast. The Sacred Writings, as Dr. … Continue reading
WHALE CHAT
“CALL ME ‘MOBY-DICK.’ ” Melville didn’t begin his novel with these words, but the latest cetacean research may suggest he should have. Divers are recording and videoing sperm whales as … Continue reading
GOVERNING BY WORD
WHAT WITH our being in the midst of highly divisive presidential campaigns, it’s a good time to discuss the etymology of words that are associated with how people rule themselves—or … Continue reading
ROMAN VILLA FOUND IN BRITAIN
THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 27 BC – 395 AD, extended as far as the British Isles. And, as recently as last week, a huge Roman villa was discovered in Tisbury, Wiltshire, … Continue reading
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