CHRISTMAS OPERAS PART 2
THE OPERA AIN’T OVER… until we wish each other a Merry Christmas! And here’s Part 2, following yesterday’s Part 1. Today’s Christmas operas include one of Russian folklore, one that’s … Continue reading
CHRISTMAS OPERAS PART 1
ONE OF MY OPERA T-shirts reads “Murder, Treachery, Adultery, and Incest—All Sung to your Favorite Tunes.” In marked contrast, and what with the approaching holiday, I went looking for operas … Continue reading
GREMLIN TIDBITS PART 2
TODAY’S TIDBIT COLLECTION traces back to Roald Dahl’s book about gremlins described two days ago at SimanaitisSays, continued yesterday with ”Gremlin Tidbits Part 1.” Actually, though, all this began a … Continue reading
GREMLIN TIDBITS PART 1
YESTERDAY AT SimanaitisSays, we talked about Roald Dahl and his dealings with Walt Disney, which culminated with the book The Gremlins. Today and tomorrow, in a continuation of this theme, … Continue reading
THE GREMLINS—THE LOST DISNEY (AND DAHL) PRODUCTION
ROALD DAHL WAS an author of children’s books, a screenwriter, a short story writer—and a fighter pilot. That is, this British author of James and the Peach and Matilda, screenplay … Continue reading
UP, DOWN, AND AROUND WITH FÉLIX NADAR PART 1
FÉLIX NADAR WAS a 19th-century pioneer French photographer, but so much more. Like others, he did a lot of studio work, society portraits and the like. But Nadar also soared … Continue reading
OH SOY, CAN YOU SAY? PART 2
YESTERDAY, IN PART 1, livestock and we savored tidbits of soy ranging from soy meal to soy sauce to edamame to tofu to faux meat to the challenge of food … Continue reading
OH SOY, CAN YOU SAY? PART 1
THE SOYBEAN IS among the most versatile of legumes. What other vegetable can supply feed for livestock, yet be toxic to us and other monogastric sorts in its uncooked form? … Continue reading
HISTORICAL—AND HYSTERICAL—CONGRESSIONAL SHENANIGANS
“SUPPOSE YOU WERE an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”—Mark Twain, a Biography. Corroborating this is “The Great National Circus,” by Eric Foner, … Continue reading
WILL THE REAL PIETER BRUEGEL PLEASE STAND OUT
THE MODERN WONDERS of infrared macrophotography, infrared reflectography, and X-radiography have offered new insights into the works of 16th-century Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. “Peeling Back the Paint to … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 