Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Category Archives: And Furthermore…

WHAT’S STYLISH FOR GM IS STYLISH FOR THE COUNTRY

MY TITLE is a paraphrase of a misquote, “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country.” What Charles Edwin “Engine Charlie” Wilson, ex-GM CEO and Eisenhower Secretary of … Continue reading

September 22, 2014 · Leave a comment

ARTFUL BUGATTIS

ONE COULD say that all of Ettore Bugatti’s automobiles are works of art, but here I’m thinking about the models, miniatures and sculpted versions of this famous marque. Over the … Continue reading

September 20, 2014 · Leave a comment

EATING BRIT-STYLE, THE 1940S

SOCIAL HISTORY, nostalgia and curiosity are all wrapped in my recommending a cookbook with a particularly narrow focus: recipes for today taken from the context of World War II Britain. … Continue reading

September 19, 2014 · 2 Comments

PICASSO SHOULD HEAR IT CALLED “SHMATTE”

NOT FOR the first time, a brief news item has a lot more interest lurking beneath its few paragraphs. The item, appearing on CBS New York, September 6, 2014 (http://goo.gl/epXRAq), … Continue reading

September 9, 2014 · 2 Comments

BY THE NUMBERS….

HAVE YOU ever done anything “by the numbers”? Have you ever wondered about the origin of this phrase? Or have you actually ever painted by the numbers? This term “paint … Continue reading

September 5, 2014 · Leave a comment

A TRIO OF COOKBOOKS

I’VE BEEN accumulating cookbooks since the early 1960s. Three of them surfaced recently as I looked up recipes. Talk about a diverse trio of cookbook authors! A black chef from … Continue reading

August 23, 2014 · Leave a comment

TOYS—1927

NOT TO sound like an old guy—which, of course, I am—but today’s play for kids seems a bit artificial, if not downright electronically weird. By contrast, one of the books … Continue reading

August 17, 2014 · Leave a comment

GAMESMANSHIP—WITH A MOTORING SUBTEXT

STEPHEN POTTER (not related to Harry) was a British academic, writer/producer at the BBC and most revered for putting self-help books in their place. He originated the Theory and Practice … Continue reading

August 16, 2014 · 1 Comment

INTERIOR DESIGN

THERE ARE multiple reasons I enjoy books on interior design. The topic is interesting from a historical viewpoint of how people live. The books reinforce my interest in the art … Continue reading

August 14, 2014 · Leave a comment

MUROC MADCAPS

MUROC DRY LAKE, in the high desert about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, has a rich history in motor sport. Here are a few of my favorite Muroc madcaps, … Continue reading

July 6, 2014 · 1 Comment