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

EXTRACTING LITHIUM MORE EFFICIENTLY PART 1

SETH B. DARLING WRITES IN “The Brine of the Times,” AAAS Science, September 26, 2024, that “Tremendous attention focuses on lithium, which is primarily sourced from either hard rock called … Continue reading →

October 7, 2024 · 1 Comment

MASERATI 3500 GT—TIMES CHANGE IN 65 YEARS, SORTA

DRIVING AROUND YESTERDAY, I encountered a Maserati GranTurimo Trofeo, a striking looking blue one making the appropriate snarly sounds as it passed by. Well now, this is Orange County, California, … Continue reading →

October 6, 2024 · 1 Comment

POURING A CAT

ANY CAT LOVER KNOWS A FELINE’S AFFINITY for fitting itself into enclosures of any shape—and seemingly any size. AAAS Science addresses this in a scholarly manner in “How a Cat … Continue reading →

October 5, 2024 · 7 Comments

COPPÉLIA AT 50 PART 2

YESTERDAY WE SET THE STAGE for Coppélia, a classic ballet produced in 1974 by George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova. Today in Part 1, we hear from talented dancers who reminisce … Continue reading →

October 4, 2024 · Leave a comment

COPPÉLIA AT 50 PART 1

MY THREE FAVORITE BALLETS ARE THE CLASSIC Coppélia, and two 20th-century works, Appalachian Spring and Fall River Legend. These latter two have already made appearances here at SimanaitisSays: “My Favorite … Continue reading →

October 3, 2024 · 2 Comments

PORSCHE TYPE 360 CISITALIA GP CAR—ANALYZED BY POM AND OTHERS PART 2

YESTERDAY, LAURENCE POMEROY MADE a tantalizing comment about the Porsche Type 360 Cisitalia GP car—an apparent necessity of its four-wheel drive. This, recall, in 1947. Today in Part 2 we … Continue reading →

October 2, 2024 · Leave a comment

PORSCHE TYPE 360 CISITALIA GP CAR—ANALYZED BY POM AND OTHERS PART 1

WIKIPEDIA IS THE MOST CONCISE: “The Cisitalia Grand Prix is a single-seater car for the postwar 1.5-litre supercharged Grand Prix class, built by Italian sports car manufacturer Cisitalia and introduced … Continue reading →

October 1, 2024 · Leave a comment

AN APARTMENT OF ONE’S OWN

VIRGINIA WOOLF WROTE OF A Room of One’s Own, and Vivian Marino writes of “An Art Installation She Called Home” in The New York Times, September 20, 2024. “She” in … Continue reading →

September 30, 2024 · 1 Comment

DUDLEY CLARKE—MASTER OF DECEPTION

NOTES WIKIPEDIA, “AT THE TEHRAN CONFERENCE WINSTON CHURCHILL made his famous remark that in wartime ‘truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” By … Continue reading →

September 29, 2024 · Leave a comment

FIAT-ABARTH TWIN CAM—SNARLING BRIO

R&T SUMMED UP THE FIAT-ABARTH BIALBERO  perfectly: “expressly for the discriminating enthusiast.” The magazie continued in December 1959, “This extremely small Italian car, which has the rather top-heavy title, Fiat-Abarth … Continue reading →

September 28, 2024 · 4 Comments