A QUITE PROPER MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE—1923 PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE EMBARKED ON A CRUISE around the Mediterranean Sea with Rolland Jenkins’ 1923 guidebook. Today, we continue in Part 2, first with the “sparkling city of Algiers.” Algiers. “The … Continue reading
A QUITE PROPER MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE—1923 PART 1
THEY CERTAINLY KNEW HOW TO TRAVEL BACK THEN. And to write about it as well: Rolland Jenkins noted cogently, “In looking over the material available in the form of what … Continue reading
STROLLING THE STRAND—MIND THE PRIMEVAL HIPPOPOTAMI PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN GLEANING TIDBITS from Ysenda Maxtone Graham’s LRB review of Geoff Browell and Eileen Chanin’s The Strand: A Biography. Today in Part 2, we continue the fun. Nationalizing … Continue reading
STROLLING THE STRAND—MIND THE PRIMEVAL HIPPOPOTAMI PART 1
IN READING “BUSIEST THOROUGHFARE OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD,” by Ysenda Maxtone Graham in London Review of Books, December 4, 2025, I am reminded of my sole phrase of … Continue reading
QUAINT LITTLE PUBS
AND WHEN I SAY “LITTLE”…. IN PARTICULAR, KAREN BONES IS A SCOTTISH ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE who “started making miniature buildings as a natural progression.” Karen Bones and her artful miniatures. This … Continue reading
THE SUBLIME, THE HEARTWARMING, (AND THE LAMENTABLY RIDICULOUS) PART 1
THE MONNAIE DE PARIS, FRANCE’S NATIONAL MINT, IS ISSUING 2-Euro and 10-Euro coins celebrating the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris after construction following the cathedral’s horrific fire on April 15, … Continue reading
MORE POWER TO AUSTRIA! (ARTISTICALLY)
TRADITIONAL ELECTRIC POWER LINES are functional, but not pleasing to everyone’s aesthetics. And the Austrian Power Grid has proposed a solution: reimagining electricity pylons as symbols of harmony between technology … Continue reading
CELEBRATING THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOTEL
MEGAN MCCREA CELEBRATES “100 YEARS of the Motel: Neon Signs, Swimming Pools, and American Dreams,” The New York Times, October 22, 2025. What fun, even if experienced armchair-fashion! Here are … Continue reading
NICE NEWS—和風
IF EVER I FELT THE NEED FOR NICE NEWS, it’s now as our democracy undergoes continued disintegration at the hands of Donald J. Trump. (See “Does Anyone Believe Trump?,” “Bribes? … Continue reading
IS THAT OCTOPUS A RIGHTY OR A LEFTY? NEITHER; SORTA OMNIDEXTROUS.
NICOLE DAVIS WRITES “Octopuses Prefer To Use Different Arms For Different Tasks, Scientists Find,” The Guardian, September 11, 2025. The creatures, Davis recounts, favor front arms for most tasks, though … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 