THE LRB ON KISSINGER PART 1
“POLITICAL SATIRE BECAME obsolete,” Tom Lehrer quipped, “when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” That was years ago, 1972, though both of these guys are still around; Lehrer … Continue reading
LET US CELEBRATE!
TODAY, JANUARY 20, 2021, at noon Eastern Time, 9 a.m. for those of us on the Pacific side, 7 a.m. in Hawaii, we gratefully return to our democracy’s decency, honesty, … Continue reading
ON CULTS OF IGNORANCE
WE ARE BEING besieged by cults of ignorance. Alas, in their dying breath, Covid-19 sufferers are calling the disease a hoax. What appeared to be a late summer diminishing of … Continue reading
HOW DO YOU SAY “HALLELUJAH” IN TURKISH?
GOOGLE TRANSLATE SUGGESTS “şükürler olsun” as a Turkish “hallelujah.” Back-translated, though, this literally means “Thank God,” which somehow misses the fervor of Adnan Oktar. This Turkish Islamic TV evangelist was … Continue reading
BUCATINI CONFIDENTIAL PART 2
THIS CONTINUES RACHEL Handler’s entertaining story of missing bucatini pasta, described in “What the Hole Is Going On?,” New York Magazine’s “Grub Street,” December 28, 2020. Yesterday’s tidbits concluded with … Continue reading
BUCATINI CONFIDENTIAL PART 1
TO QUOTE RACHEL Handler, “What the Hole Is Going On? The very real, totally bizarre bucatini shortage of 2020.” The story of this extruded pasta is compelling. Rachel Handler’s investigative … Continue reading
SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH: REPUBLICANS EVOLVE TO HAVE SPINES IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS!
“EVOLUTION IS CHANGE in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations,” this, according to Wikipedia. In ordinary times, these changes take eons to evolve. However, as you might … Continue reading
INCREASINGLY BOHEMIAN BOHÈMES PART 2
PUCCINI’S LA BOHÈME has been a recurring opera here at SimanaitisSays. Yesterdays’s Part 1 described its 1977 TV premiere; “Create One’s Own La Bohème” was D.I.Y. Today in Part 2, … Continue reading
INCREASINGLY BOHEMIAN BOHÈMES PART 1
OPERA IS ALIVE and well. I recently enjoyed three remotely viewed productions of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, one from 1977, another from 1981, and the third—the most bohemian—a 2020 production. … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED SEALIONING LATELY?
GIVEN INCESSANT DEBATES of late, it’s likely that you have encountered sealioning, described by Merriam-Webster as “a harassment tactic by which a participant in a debate or online discussion pesters … Continue reading →