THE RICHNESS OF PRESTON STURGES PART 2
YESTERDAY, FILM DIRECTOR PRESTON STURGES lolled with the likes of folks named Hutton, Post, and Woolworth. It apparently rubbed off, and his movies blended this rich environment with a screwball … Continue reading
THE RICHNESS OF PRESTON STURGES PART 1
CONNECT THE DOTS: THIRTIES FILM DIRECTOR Preston Sturges and Mar-a-Loco, er… Lago. Indeed, as cited by David Trotter’s “An Elite Worth Joining,” London Review of Books, April 13, 2023, the … Continue reading
BROCCOLI TIDBITS—INCLUDING A MCDONALD SNAFU, A MISRECALLED CARTOON, AND A RECIPE COMPLETE WITH FULL DISCLOSURES
THESE PARTICULAR TIDBITS SURELY DON’T suffer from lack of variety. They arose from two seemingly unrelated events: reading about a rare McDonald failure and wondering how to finish off the … Continue reading
CORONATION TIDBITS
MOST APPROPRIATELY, THE MAY 2023 ISSUE of BBC History featured Tracy Borman’s “How (and How Not) to Stage a Coronation.” Here are my favorites, together with a Papal tale topping … Continue reading
MY CLASSICAL EDUCATION PART 2
THIS ALL STARTED with Opera News’s celebration of Daffy Duck, which jogged my memory of being educated about classic music through Looney Tunes cartoons. Today in Part 2, we continue … Continue reading
MY CLASSICAL EDUCATION PART 1
OCCASIONALLY DURING MY YOUTH, THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA would have children’s concerts. However, my education and love of classical music came not from these privileged trips to Severance Hall, but from … Continue reading
FRED ASTAIRE AND DANCING PARTNER PRINCESS GRACIE ALLEN PART 2
YESTERDAY, COMEDIENNE GRACIE ALLEN hoofed it admirably with Fred Astaire in A Lady in Distress. Today in Part 2 Gracie dreams of being a Princess, most appropriately on November 20, … Continue reading
FRED ASTAIRE AND DANCING PARTNER PRINCESS GRACIE ALLEN PART 1
I’VE LONG ENJOYED the SiriusXM “Radio Classics” pair of George Burns and Gracie Allen. Her Presidential Campaign of 1940 was one of its highpoints. I’ve also enjoyed the Turner Classic … Continue reading
DÉDICACES GOURMANDES
A COUPLE MONTHS AFTER inaugurating SimanaitisSays, I wrote about La Pyramide, the restaurant established by Fernand Point, who mentored many chefs renowned for Nouvelle Cuisine. About 20 miles south of … Continue reading
WOMEN IN THE CRUSADES
A TYPICAL IMAGE OF CRUSADING WOMEN has them as suffragettes or wielding hatchets against Demon Rum. But Barbara Newman writes of “Cauldrons for Helmets” in London Review of Books, April … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 