BOB & RAY—LAUGH TRACKS ARE REDUNDANT
BOB ELLIOT, the smaller soft-spoken one of the Bob and Ray comedy pair, died recently, age 92. His partner, Ray Goulding, had died in 1990 at age 68. Together, they … Continue reading
YVONNE CHOUTEAU, NATIVE AMERICAN DANCER
THE TERM “Native American dancer” may conjure up the image of an Indian campfire, but actuality couldn’t be more contrasting. Yvonne Chouteau, who died recently at age 86, had a … Continue reading
SIX ON THE ROOF
THEY WERE known as “Les Six,” a sextet of French composers who enlivened Paris in the 1920s with their antics and their avant garde music. Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur … Continue reading
SHALL WE DANCE? AND WALK THE DOG?
THE MUSICAL delights of George Gershwin are just as fresh today as they were in the first third of the 20th century. They encompass genres of popular music, opera, classical … Continue reading
RHINE ADVENTURES
THE RHINE RIVER is the aquatic north/south interstate of western Europe, just as the Danube/Donau is the east/west interstate through Europe’s eastern portion. Keeping my geography honest, I note that … Continue reading
BETTER EATING—THROUGH CHEMISTRY
A CHRISTMAS GIFT from Wife Dottie was utterly impossible to guess: an 8 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 1 3/4-in. rectangle, rigid as a board—and heavy! Later assessment proved it … Continue reading
VERA NEMTCHINOVA, DANSEUSE—AND TEACHER
I RECENTLY came upon a marvelous characterization of “teacher.” My discovery evolved while I was learning about Madame Vera Nemtchinova. She was a prima ballerina and a part of the … Continue reading
BLAISE CENDRARS—FLÂNEUR EXTRAORDINAIRE
THE FRENCH word flâneur has nuances of meaning: loafer, stroller, dabbler, dawdler, loiterer, yet somehow describing a person who’s anything but inactive in these activities. Blaise Cendrars was a Swiss-born … Continue reading
IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR
ON THIS LAST DAY of 2015, it’s fun to mention SimanaitisSays.com topics during the past 12 months that occurred to me unexpectedly. Like the dotty old lady remarked, “How do … Continue reading
WHAT’S PLAYING IN OUR HOUSE THIS CHRISTMAS
I WENT SEARCHING for a particular CD to include in our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day musical selections and, while doing so, unearthed several others I haven’t heard in a … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 