SIX ON THE ROOF
THEY WERE known as “Les Six,” a sextet of French composers who enlivened Paris in the 1920s with their antics and their avant garde music. Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur … Continue reading
COWBOY TALK—”TAKE ’ER EASY THERE, PILGRIM”
I WAS LISTENING to Gunsmoke on SiriusXM’s Radio Classics, and it struck me that Marshall Dillon, Chester, Doc and Kitty all talk more or less like we do. On the … Continue reading
REMEMBERING HENRY N. MANNEY III
A KIND READER recalling early R&T reminds me that I’ve not written much here about Henry N. Manney III. I too have memories of Yr. fthfl svrt, favorites lines he composed and, … Continue reading
CENTURY-OLD SLANG
LADY MARY CRAWLEY of Downton Abbey uttered “Golly!” and that got me thinking. What were the slang terms of a hundred years ago? I dug into this with A Dictionary … Continue reading
BERKS AND CLERKS
“BERK! BERK!” says the Old English Sheepdog, about which I am delighted to share an insight from Kristine B. Loland’s analysis of the breed: “If they think you are unclear, … Continue reading
SOME OF THE THINGS I KNEW FOR SURE WERE NOT
LIFE IS full of continuing ed. Or at least it can be. Among the many facts I’ve accumulated over the years, more than a few of them are downright incorrect. … Continue reading
VIRTUAL REALITY—30 YEARS ON
CYBERSPACE HAS attracted me since I first heard of it in William Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer. The concept gained academic cred in another book, Cyberspace: First Steps, a 1991 collection … Continue reading
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A CURLICUE? I’M A LITTLE SHORTHANDED HERE
AT A recent book exchange, I swapped six bags of my literary has-beens for one bag of treasures. (The affair was enlivened when I mistakenly put a copy of the … Continue reading
ANDREW DEWAR’S FLYING ORIGAMI
TO CALL Andrew Dewar’s designs merely paper airplanes is a disservice to the planes and to this Canadian-born librarian residing in Japan. The airplanes are flying examples of origami art. … Continue reading
ON LEARNING LITHUANIAN
ALAS, DESPITE my heritage, I speak no Lithuanian. This, despite the best attempts of others. The book’s subtitle promises “This System Teaches You the Essentials of a Language (for Travel … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 