GASOLINE RATIONING AND OLD-TIME RADIO PART 1
MY INSPIRATIONS for tidbits about World War II rationing came from several sources. Reading a social history gave “Eating Brit-Style, the 1940s,” an Anglo flavor of WWII culinary matters. And … Continue reading
ON REAL DOLLARS PART 2
THE CONSUMER Price Index Inflation Calculator is a useful tool. Yesterday in Part 1, it helped assess the cost of today’s cars and their gasoline. Today in Part 2, we … Continue reading
ON REAL DOLLARS PART 1
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator offered online by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. This gizmo clarifies a multitude of issues. Among them … Continue reading
ADA LOVELACE REDUX
AN ARTICLE in the London Review of Books, June 21, 2018, taught me a new word and more about Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer. Indeed, Ada invented the … Continue reading
THE CRADLE WILL ROCK—80 YEARS LATER PART 2
MARC BLITZSTEIN’S The Cradle Will Rock was inspired by U.S. labor unrest of the 1930s. However, its story and the tale of its 1937 production are timely today. Blitzstein’s The … Continue reading
THE CRADLE WILL ROCK—80 YEARS LATER PART 1
AMERICAN COMPOSER Marc Blitzstein’s 1937 The Cradle Will Rock was a product of the Depression and yet it resonates with today’s less than tranquil times. Originally part of the government’s … Continue reading
CHIHULY’S BRIDGE OF GLASS
THIS IS a tale of an artist who overcame significant adversity through entrepreneurial spirit. And, with his help, of a city that overcame significant environmental adversity through art. In retrospect, … Continue reading
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE—AND WAS—KING PART 2
THE YEAR 1810 was a busy one for Napoleon, for Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (Napoleon’s appointed Prince of Portecorvo), and for King Charles XIII of Sweden. Emperor Napoleon’s goal of conquering … Continue reading
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE—AND WAS—KING PART 1
WITH HOMAGE to Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King, 1888, here’s a tale of Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte who actually became Sweden’s King Charles XIV John. It’s a … Continue reading
MAGIC POSTERS FROM TASCHEN
THERE WAS a time several years back when my grandson Carter was interested in magic. My singular influence in this activity was teaching him how to palm the pea in … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 