CELEBRATING THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN
I MISSED ITS OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY, but the Hollywood Sign turned 100 on October 31, 2023. Gee, this calls for some (belated) research. For instance, the sign has its own website, … Continue reading
SERIES HYBRIDS: GOOD ENOUGH FOR LOCOMOTIVES; PICKUP TRUCKS TOO?
THOUGH WE CALL THEM “DIESELS,” railway locomotive wheels are actually spun by electricity produced by diesel-powered generators. That is, they’re “series” hybrids. This is contrasted with automotive “parallel” hybrids like … Continue reading
GRACE HOPPER FORCED COMPUTERS TO SPEAK ENGLISH, SORTA PART 2
YESTERDAY NICE NEWS INTRODUCED US TO mathematician Grace Hopper. Today in Part 2, we follow her career in the pioneer days of computers and at the nexus of academe and … Continue reading
GRACE HOPPER FORCED COMPUTERS TO SPEAK ENGLISH, SORTA PART 1
NICE NEWS (A WEBSITE THAT DISTRIBUTES JUST THAT) recently, December 8, 2023, had a fascinating item about computer scientist/Rear Admiral Grace Hopper. Quite appropriately, Hopper was known as “Queen of … Continue reading
VSCCA LE MANS ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
VINTAGE SPORTS CAR, THE MEMBER PUBLICATION of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America, celebrates Le Mans in its Number 2 2023 issue and also with its 2024 calendar. Editor … Continue reading
LUNA LUNA LA
WHAT A PERFECT ADDITION TO THE LOS ANGELES ARTS DISTRICT! “Luna Luna Forgotten Fantasy” is being installed in a 60,000-sq.-ft. warehouse at 1601 E. 6th Street, to be opened later … Continue reading
BUSBY BERKELEY—TAKING THE CAMERA TO PLACES IT’D NEVER BEEN
DAVID THOMSON PUT IT WELL in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film: “It is a delicious irony that as the cinema institutionalized its own morality—in the early 1930s—it promoted a … Continue reading
ALLARD PALM BEACH—GRENDEL’S KID SISTER
IT WAS LIKE BEOWULF’S GRENDEL having a sweet kid sister. (The Allard J2X has already appeared here at SimanaitisSays.) Above, the Allard J2X, 1951–1954. Image by cutaway artist extraordinaire Yoshihiro … Continue reading
HOKUSAI JUST UP THE STREET
I’VE LONG ADMIRED THE ART OF HOKUSAI, thus Daughter Suz and I were delighted to have an exhibit of international stature nearby at the Bowers Museum. “Beyond the Great Wave: … Continue reading
VENERATION VENDING
I LEARNED RECENTLY of an ancient coin-operated holy-water dispensing machine. Geez—or is that Zeus?—this calls for more research. A coin-operated holy-water dispensing machine. Image from Smith College Museum of Art. … Continue reading
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