ARTURO BENEDETTI MICHELANGELI, CLASSICAL PIANIST—AND RACE DRIVER? PART 1
THE CLASSICAL music announcer added casually that pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli also competed in the Mille Miglia. Though I had heard of Michelangeli the pianist before, I was intrigued by … Continue reading
HYPOCRISY ON THE HIGH SEAS
THE JONES ACT, a U.S. regulation dating from 1920, is strangling humanitarian shipments to Maria-stricken Puerto Rico. What’s worse, the Trump administration has refused to waive this federal restriction to … Continue reading
TO A MORE APPROPRIATE KINGDOM, THIS TRULY COULDN’T HAPPEN
A TEXTBOOK is being withdrawn from Saudi Arabian schools because it contains a photo of the late King Faisal, a Saudi prince at the time, signing the UN Charter in … Continue reading
ON BENJAMINS, JACKSONS, HAMILTONS—BUT MAYBE NOT TUBMANS
U.S. CURRENCY has been in the media a lot these days. Recently I’ve read stories about our paper money in The Christian Science Monitor, The New Yorker, The New York … Continue reading
STILL STUCK ON YOU (AFTER ALL THESE YEARS)
ELVIS IMPERSONATORS, including some more than 10-ft. tall, got All Shook Up at the 18th Annual Elvis Festival in Garden Grove, California, this past Sunday, August 27, 2017. And the … Continue reading
HALLELUJAH HYPOCRISY
IT IS extraordinary that I am disturbed by reading something in Science, the weekly magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. But these are extraordinary times. Indeed, … Continue reading
KABUKI SHOWDOWN IN BOSTON
THE MUSEUM of Fine Arts, Boston, is reviving a competition between two woodblock print artists, Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Utagawa Kunisada, that began in 19th-century Japan. It’s a fascinating exhibition, especially … Continue reading
A FANTASTIC TALE FROM THE ISLE OF MAN
I WAGER that most who ever think of the Isle of Man do so within the context of its 38-mile round-the-house race circuit and annual display of motorcyclic mayhem known … Continue reading
ON NIGERIAN OFFICIALS, SPANISH PRISONERS, (AND RUSSIAN AGENTS?)
AS A SimanaitisSays Public Service Announcement, I thought it most appropriate to offer details of classic cons. Three that come to mind are the Nigerian Official, the Spanish Prisoner, and, … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
BEL CANTO POP!
PACIFIC OPERA Project’s production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor was great! This Los Angeles-based opera company, known affectionately as POP, has even made a Bel Canto lover of me. … Continue reading →