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
GAI LAN AND DUCK BACON
SO THERE I was, shopping at Mitsuwa, our local Japanese supermarket, for sashimi, inari sushi, salmon bento, and pickled cucumber. It’s a full marketplace, complete with Books Kinokuniya, boutique shops, … Continue reading
A POND AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, PART 2
HENRY DAVID Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience discourse first appeared as an essay “Resistance to Civil Government; a Lecture delivered in 1847” in Aesthetic Papers, a New England periodical. Thoreau had recently … Continue reading
A POND AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, PART 1
HENRY DAVID Thoreau wrote, “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.” His writings on this influenced the thoughts and actions of Mahatma Gandhi, … Continue reading
A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR DISNEY IMAGINEERS
IT IS rare that I turn to Variety, America’s weekly entertainment trade magazine, for political updates. Typically, the Orange County Register and The New York Times suffice for balance, along … Continue reading
