RESTORATION RIFFS
ENGLAND’S DISSATISFACTION with Puritan Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, 1599–1658, led to more than the people’s exhuming his body in 1661, hanging it in chains, beheading it, and then losing the … Continue reading
AH, THOSE “GOOD OLD DAYS”….
TWO RECENT HAPPENINGS remind me that those “good old days,” the Fifties and early Sixties, were hardly the stress-free idylls nostalgically recalled. Nor am I talking about misogyny and racism. … Continue reading
SHERIDAN’S THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL PART 2
WITHIN THE FIRST few lines of The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the play’s satirical intent is evident: Lady Sneerwell says to her accomplice, “Did you circulate the … Continue reading
SHERIDAN’S THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL PART 1
IF EVER THERE WERE a theatrical title sounding timely, it would be Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The School for Scandal. Even its character names have resonance today, among them Sir Benjamin … Continue reading
A WHITE HOUSE CANTATA—RECONSTRUCTED FROM 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE
LEONARD BERNSTEIN and Alan Jay Lerner once had an immense Broadway flop. Bernstein, the composer of West Side Story, 1957. And Lerner, the lyricist who brought us “I Could Have … Continue reading
TIDBITS FROM THE FACTORY FLOOR
FACTORIES ARE wondrous places. Bits and pieces enter one end and, often in seconds, spiffy new products come out the other. Somewhere in between, workers and machines perform their magic. … Continue reading
AMERICAN DESIGN—A TIME CAPSULE
NOW THAT WE’RE well into the 21st century, several design books on my shelves have taken on the aura of time capsules. One in particular, The Index of American Design, … Continue reading
SCIENCE AND EVIDENTIAL TRUTH
SCIENCE CONSISTS of following evidence in seeking truth. This succinct characterization comes from comments made by Rush Holt, in his editorial “Democracy’s Plight,” in Science, February 1, 2019. “Observers,” Holt … Continue reading
A SERENDIPITOUS APPEARANCE IN THE FRIDGE
OUR FRIDGE JUST happened to contain a bottle of Scottish ale, some sausage, and veggies including Brussels sprouts. A perfect time for making stew. SCOTTISH ALE STEW 2 Tbs butter … Continue reading
RECENT IVANKA VACUUMING; 1996 FLAG TRODDING
WHAT IS PERFORMANCE ART? According to Merriam-Webster, it’s “a nontraditional art form often with political or topical themes that typically features a live presentation to an audience or onlookers (as … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 