CELEBRATING THE BRITS’ EARLY TELLY PART 1
HAVE YOU BEEN watching a lot of electronic images lately? Me too, including television, opera streaming, GMax aeroplane crafting, and occasional Zooming. I guess I count any screen, be it … Continue reading
DEATH AT THE OPERA MATINEE
TRAGIC DEATHS ARE nothing new to opera. But these two were tragically real. At the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday matinee performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth, January 23, 1988, opera singer Bantcho … Continue reading
COVID-19 AND WORLD WAR II
GROUPS AROUND THE United States are pushing for elimination of various lockdowns. Some are using Constitutional rights in their argument, as opposed to health, economic concerns, or simply cabin fever. … Continue reading
LINCOLN AND MATHEMATICS
HERE’S A TELLING commentary about Abraham Lincoln and his times: “He studied and nearly mastered the six books of Euclid since he was a member of Congress.” The source of … Continue reading
LUCIEN BOSSOUTROT—A SORT OF FRENCH CHARLES LINDBERGH/STEVE MCQUEEN/BERNIE SANDERS/ NOAM CHOMSKY PART 2
FRENCHMAN EXCEPTIONAL LUCIEN Bossoutrot was more than a pioneer aviator. Today in Part 2, we’ll see why I can include Steve McQueen, Bernie Sanders, and Noam Chomsky in my Bossoutrot … Continue reading
JOHN TAYLOR, GEORGIAN RASCAL PART 2
YESTERDAY, JOHN BARRELL introduced us to John Taylor, Englishman of George III’s era. Despite Taylor’s outward image of blandness, he was also engaged in skulduggery as part of his majesty’s … Continue reading
JOHN TAYLOR, GEORGIAN RASCAL PART 1
THE LONDON REVIEW of Books is running Diverted Traffic, an online series of selected articles from years past. A recent one is “The Reptile Oculist,” by John Barrell, originally published … Continue reading
TIME FOR SOME GOOFINESS
THIS WEBSITE’S UNOFFICIAL Southeast Pennsylvania correspondent, bless him, recently shared a bunch of jokes, many credited to humorist and folklorist Garrison Keillor. Here are some favorites, plus a few from … Continue reading
COVID-19 AND THE WORLD ECONOMY
IN THE LONDON Review of Books, April 16, 2020, historian Adam Tooze’s “Shockwave” offers insights on the Covid-19 pandemic’s consequences for the world’s economy. Here are tidbits selected from his … Continue reading
ON PRESIDENTIAL WIT
INHERENT PRESSURES OF the job tend to preclude witticisms on the part of our national leaders. Over the years, though, there have been exceptions beyond an inadvertent toilet-paper heel, staring … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 