CALIFORNIA COOL
IN THE mid-part of the last century (how quaint this sounds in 2013!), Southern California was the birthplace of the cool. A wonderful exhibit curated by the Orange County Museum … Continue reading
WHAT’S “FRENCH KISS” IN YIDDISH?
THE WORD police of the world have been very active recently. Matters have ranged from “French kiss” to “Jewish dumpling,” which certainly suggests the breadth of it all. And, in … Continue reading
FAKED PHOTOS
IF YOU happen to find yourself in Houston, Texas, between June 2 and August 25, 2013, this city’s Museum of Fine Arts is hosting “Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop.” … Continue reading
OPERA CHAOS, ACT II
A STAGE so ripe for chaos as grand opera certainly deserves more than a single mention (www.wp.me/p2ETap-11h). In fact, there are those who say, with complete accuracy, that onstage and … Continue reading
ILF AND PETROV’S DRIVE
THERE’S AN excellent argument against having one’s book collection in good order. Let serendipity reign. I was looking for one thing or another. I never found it, but came upon … Continue reading
AN (OLD) WAY WITH WORDS
“Hear me, mother! Pull that black worm off the bark and give it to this old man. And no spitting in the ashes!” Amazingly enough, this is an ur-speech. Spoken … Continue reading
IS CURSIVE DEAD YET?
THERE’S GOOD controversy going on about cursive handwriting, also known as script, the kind in which letters of each word flow one to another. Is it of any use today? … Continue reading
BURMA-SHAVE
ARE YOU old enough to remember Burma-Shave signs? I feared as much. However, these sequential roadside messages, typically in verse, tell a lot about advertising during the middle decades of … Continue reading
VINTAGE MAGAZINE
MAYBE YOU’RE already reading Vintage Racecer/Vintage Roadcar. If not, and if, like me, you enjoy vintage automobiles, I highly recommend this monthly magazine (www.vintageracecar.com). Publisher/Editor Casey Annis has gathered a … Continue reading
PAPAL HIGHJINKS
THE ACCESSION of Pope Francis I has been taking place with high ceremony and, given His Holiness’s nature, a sense of humility. But it wasn’t always that way. In the … Continue reading
