FARMER’S COKE AND OTHER SIPS
HERE’S AN ALTERNATIVE FOR NON-beer drinkers who’d like to experiment with nucleated peanuts: “Farmer’s Coke.” Atlas Obscura describes, “Historians speculate that the Southern tradition of blending shelled, salted peanuts and Coke … Continue reading
AVOCADO CARNITAS JALAPẼNO PIZZA
VOICE OF AMERICA REPORTS “THESE ARE Young America’s Favorite New Ethnic Foods,” and they ain’t pizza anymore. Dora Mekouar writes in VOA, June 14, 2023, “Millennials, people between the ages … Continue reading
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
Simanaitis Says 