SCHMID’S LSR
EVER SINCE La Jamias Contente (French for “never satisfied”) set its land speed record of 105.882 km/h (65.792 mph) in 1899, cars designed for breaking speed records have been bizarre … Continue reading
CELEBRATING JAMES THURBER
“HUMOR IS emotional chaos remembered in tranquility,” said James Thurber, one of America’s greatest authorities on humor. From the Preface of The Thurber Carnival: “Thurber’s life baffles and irritates the … Continue reading
CARBON FIBER TIDBITS
CARBON FIBER’S time has come. This is not only in aerospace and high-end sports like Formula 1, but in automotive uses where material costs are typically figured in pennies rather … Continue reading
SARTORIAL CUMBERBATCH—AND THE CASE OF THE MIRRORED PAGET
ALL BRITAIN is abuzz with the sartorial style of Benedict Cumberbatch of BBC’s Sherlock. This prompted yesterday’s examination of the real sartorial Holmes (http://wp.me/p2ETap-2aR) and today’s followup on Mr. Cumberbatch. … Continue reading
SHERLOCK’S SARTORIAL STYLE
BRTISH MEN’S fashion has been jazzed up by Benedict Cumberbatch of BBC’s Sherlock, and thus I believe it’s not inappropriate to examine the sartorial style of the real Sherlock Holmes. … Continue reading
THE PILOT’S VIEW, EPISODE 1
THE EARLIEST aeroplanes were less than open-cockpit, for they had no cockpits at all. Orville or Wilbur Wright initially lay prone on a padded cradle on the bottom wing of … Continue reading
TONY PALLADINO’S GRAPHIC ART
ART MAKES us think, even if its intellectual prodding is subliminal. Tony Palladino, who passed away two weeks ago at age 84, knew how to prod with typography as well … Continue reading
SELFRIDGES AND A DAY OF SHOPPING
THE BBC series Mr Selfridge is now in its second year of an anticipated three. I’m a fan of it and of the social phenomenon of shopping; to wit, http://wp.me/p2ETap-10O … Continue reading
I RECOGNIZE THAT!—GOOD OR BAD?
THE TECHNOLOGY of image recognition is as old as computers. To wit, consider the CAPTCHA test used to separate our recognition abilities from those of electronic machines. CAPTCHA stands for … Continue reading
BROOKLANDS AND ITS SILENCERS
APPARENTLY THERE’S not enough noise in Formula 1 this year (see http://wp.me/p2ETap-28h). This got me thinking of the opposite problem: Automobile racing is inherently a very noisy activity and, occasionally, … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 