GRACIE FOR PRESIDENT!
NOW THAT the phone is free of recorded pitches, the ballots are counted and all the neighborhood election posters have been taken down (would that they were!), I can share … Continue reading
SIMON JEFFES’ PENGUIN CAFÉ ORCHESTRA
SIMON JEFFES may not be a familiar composer, however his music has been danced by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. There’s a BBC Concert … Continue reading
MAGNIFICENT MACHINES—AND TALES TOO
IT’S AS though a bunch of aeroplane enthusiasts got together to make a comedy flick—and spin off a wonderful book. The full title, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines … Continue reading
NELLIE MELBA—DIVA EXTRAORDINAIRE
WIFE DOTTIE’S prudent editing precludes my calling this item “Nellie Melba—Toast of…” or “Nellie Melba—A Peach of ….” But, in fact, this extraordinary opera diva of a century ago was … Continue reading
THE ARROGANCE OF GENIUS
IT IS generally observed that geniuses have no lack of ego. They’re arrogant. Research has shown this. The arrogance of genius is a recurring theme in literature, theater, movies and … Continue reading
LESS, BUT BETTER
THE NAME Dieter Rams was unfamiliar to me before I read an item in Style Magazine T of The New York Times, September 26, 2014. It turns out, though, that … Continue reading
CELEBRATING SIR HARRY FLASHMAN
IN THESE complex days of heroes and antiheroes, it’s fun to celebrate a downright scoundrel. Not just any downright scoundrel, but Sir Harry Paget Flashman, VC KCB KCIE. Sir Harry … Continue reading
REAL FOLK
THERE WAS a time, not that long ago if you’re “of a certain age,” when folk music was all the rage. And when I say “folk music,” I mean the … Continue reading
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
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
