BANNED WORDS
OH, I get it. Trump officials weren’t limiting freedom of speech in prohibiting those at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using these seven terms: diversity, entitlement, evidence-based, … Continue reading
ALEISTER CROWLEY—A FIRST-RATE NUT CASE PART 2
AT A TIME when representatives fail to represent, judges can’t judge, and leaders don’t lead, it’s somehow comforting to hear about a nut case who was first-rate in his outrageousness. … Continue reading
ALEISTER CROWLEY—A FIRST-RATE NUT CASE PART 1
HERE’S A guy who invented his own religion, practiced English Magick, channeled an ancient supernatural Egyptian, popped recreational drugs, climbed Himalayan peaks, and maybe even acted as a British intelligence … Continue reading
JOSHUA A. NORTON, AMERICA’S ONLY EMPEROR PART 2
ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1859, after having bankrupted big time on a rice scam, Joshua Abraham Norton sent the following proclamation to several San Francisco newspapers: “At the peremptory request and … Continue reading
JOSHUA A. NORTON, AMERICA’S ONLY EMPEROR PART 1
THE STORY of Joshua A. Norton, aka Emperor Norton I of the United States, is offered as historical entertainment here in two parts, today and tomorrow. You are free to … Continue reading
FASHION? ART? BOTH
IT TURNS out that I’m a fashionista. Or would that be fashionisto(?), though Merriam-Webster is gender-neutral in defining “fashionista” as “a designer, promoter, or follower of the latest fashions.” I … Continue reading
CELEBRATING ALL THE CODE TALKERS
SEVERAL DAYS ago in celebrating Thanksgiving here at SimanaitisSays, I cited “more than a dollop of respect for Navajo, Cherokee, and Choctaw code talkers,” World War II communications personnel whose … Continue reading
CULTURAL BITS—SOME CORRECT, OTHERS POSSIBLY MISLABELED
“FRANZ SCHUBERT was just making up those Impromptu piano pieces as he went along.” “Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 is really pathetic.” “And so is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6.” “Cinderella’s … Continue reading
THANKS, MR. AVAKIAN
ANOTHER THING for which I can be thankful is the life so richly lived by George Avakian, who died November 22, 2017, at age 98 in New York City. Over … Continue reading
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, WHOMEVER YOU ARE
AN OLDER relative used to sit us down at holiday time and tell us family tales. He invariably prefaced them with, “Now listen carefully, because some of the things I’m … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 