LIKE GRANDMA USTA MAKE
WE ALL HAVE immigrant ancestors. In the long term of the Bering Strait, Native Americans have them too. In this celebration of immigrant ancestors, I offer tidbits on one of … Continue reading
AFFAIRES DE COOKBOOKS
NORA EPHRON IS one of a few writers who make me laugh out loud. The New Yorker recently republished a perfect example of this in her “Serial Monogamy,” originally published … Continue reading
TIDBITS OF COAL
SERENDIPIDLY, COAL RECENTLY unearthed in two different contexts, the London Review of Books and SiriusXM “Radio Classics.” Here are tidbits about both, together with my usual Internet mining. Coal and … Continue reading
CELEBRATING ORNATENESS
HAVING RECENTLY CELEBRATED architectural minimalism, let’s explore the other extreme. The Discoverer Blog is an entertaining website, with lots of helpful information on travel (whether real or of the armchair … Continue reading
DIEGO RIVERA—ART PRODIGY, MURALIST, AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST
MEXICAN MURALIST DIEGO RIVERA briefly appeared earlier at SimanaitisSays as the mentor of aviatrix/muralist Aline Rhone. Her Roosevelt Field 1938 mural celebrated aviation from 1909 to 1927, with more than … Continue reading
MUDLARKING—ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
A MUD LARK IS defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who grubs in mud (as in search of stray bits of coal, iron, rope). specifically: an urchin who grubs for … Continue reading
FAMILIAR OPERA SETTNGS
SETTINGS FOR SCENES of an opera are contained in its libretto, “booklet” in Italian. Many librettists offer extreme detail; others give no more than suggestions. Here are tidbits about three … Continue reading
THOMAS TALLIS—A RESILIENT COMPOSER OF MOTETS
PERHAPS IT’S NO surprise that Thomas Tallis merits mention here at SimanaitisSays, what with “Holmes and (Polyphonic) Motets” having already made an appearance here. Let’s not quibble about the redundancy … Continue reading
HIGH CULTURE IN LEADVILLE—REDISCOVERED PART 2
COLORADO PIONEER ENTREPRENEUR Horace “Haw” Tabor and his second wife Baby Doe led adventurous lives. Today in Part 2, their legacies extend to film, radio, opera, and The New York … Continue reading
HIGH CULTURE IN LEADVILLE—REDISCOVERED PART 1
THE TABOR OPERA HOUSE is in Leadville, Colorado at an elevation of 10,200 ft. Built by Horace “Haw” Tabor in 1879, it brought high culture to rough-and-tumble silver miners of … Continue reading
