IMERO FIORENTINO, EXPERT OF LIGHT
WHEN I was in high school, my ambition was to design theater set lighting. Then someone told me that perhaps six people in the entire world specialized in this and … Continue reading
VERDI, HITLER & GODWIN
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Joe Greens! In fact, October 10, 2013 is a very special birthday—the 200th of Italian opera composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi. Verdi is renowned for such famous operas … Continue reading
VIRGIN ISLAND KITCHEN
THERE’S SERENDIPITY in organizing old books. Where else would I expect to find my signed edition, from 1969, of Erva Boulon’s cookbook? And why else would I research this Virgin … Continue reading
WHY “THE FAT LADY” IS FAT
AS THEY say, “The opera ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings.” And, with evidence of two wonderful cookbooks in my collection, I believe I know why the fat lady … Continue reading
CARS AND THE ‘BURBS
SOME OF those into social engineering delight in disparaging the automobile and its suburban environment. From whatever their view—a luxury midtown loft?—they want to shame us out of the ’burbs … Continue reading
NICK SLONIMSKY
“MUSICOLOGIST” CONJURES up the image of a musty academic muttering something or other about a dominant-seventh chord in Sixteenth Century works for the shawm. But then there was Nicolas Slonimsky, … Continue reading
ENGLISH MAGIC
BETTY WALKER, wife of motorsports great Rob Walker, rest both their souls, taught wife Dottie and me about ancient Glastonbury, a revered site in southwestern England that’s been inhabited since … Continue reading
NEW ARTISANS
LUDDITES FEARED technology would destroy their livelihoods 200 years ago. Today, some researchers claim that we may be losing the “race against the machine” yet again. However, others foresee a … Continue reading
CREATIVE HEARING
AN EAR is a terrible thing to waste. In our family, we use the term “creative hearing” to describe our aural misunderstandings. Maybe your family experiences this communicational chaos too. … Continue reading
A YEAR IN REVIEW
THIS MINI-ESSAY appears precisely one year after the first of SimanaitisSays. As such, it’s devoted to a review of the past year’s activities, the highs, the lows… no, let’s leave … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 