ON THE SMOOT
LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS is a perhaps surprising source of Americana. For instance, what’s a “smoot”? The London Review of Books online, October 4, 2021, presented “Paper Cuts: Smoot Day,” … Continue reading
PARENTING/PARENTALITÉ/ELTERNSHAFT
ADAM GOPNIK’S ARTICLE “How to Raise a Prodigy,” recently featured in The New Yorker Classics online, also discussed different parenting in the U.S., France, and Germany. Here are several tidbits. … Continue reading
LET THEM EAT GOSSIP? PART 2
MARIE ANTOINETTE OF France and Swedish nobleman Axel von Fersen were 18th-century pen pals Later, many of her letters underwent redaction by an unknown hand. However, as reported by Sabrina … Continue reading
LET THEM EAT GOSSIP? PART 1
THE HEADLINE READS, “Marie Antoinette’s Letters to Her Dear Swedish Count, Now Uncensored,” by Sabrina Imbler, The New York Times, October 1, 2021. However, if you’re seeking the embarrassment of … Continue reading
LITHUANIA RULES—YET AGAIN
“AR GALITE MANE IŠGIRSTI DABAR?” This Lithuanian query of “Can you hear me now?” is most appropriate in response to news reported by the Voice of America, October 1, 2021: … Continue reading
YET MORE ANTIQUITY CONS
LAMENTABLY ENOUGH, ANTIQUITIES are as accessible to bad guys as to legitimate people. This was an earlier topic here at SimanaitisSays. Here are updates of antiquity cons, inspired by references … Continue reading
KING FOR A DAY—OR, IN FACT, ON AND OFF FOR YEARS
HERE ARE TIDBITS about how one thing can lead to another… and another…. and another. So there I was, listening at 6:30 a.m. to classical KUSC’s Jennifer Miller comment on … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR OPERA!
AMONG ALL THE performing arts, opera is the most expensive to produce. Consider: It has singers also acting roles. It has musicians performing with them. It has theatrical lighting, scenery, … Continue reading
AUTO SHOWS I’VE LOVED
A CONFLUENCE OF THINGS, especially the Internet and Covid-19, all but put paid to international auto shows. But, as shown by I.A.A. Mobility, a Munich replacement for the traditional biennial … Continue reading
ON SPAGHETTI AND MURAKAMI
HARUKI MURAKAMI’S BOOKS have entertained and occasionally baffled me. They’re typically first-person narratives, with side trips to history, psychology, and fantasy. This Japanese writer came to mind while reading The … Continue reading
