EVADING THE PERILS OF PIMM’S PART 2
SO THERE I WAS, comfortably hob-nobbing at the Stewards’ Enclosure of the 1988 Henley Royal Regatta. We encouraged favourite teams and, between rowing events, chatted about university days, motor racing, … Continue reading
EVADING THE PERILS OF PIMM’S PART 1
I WAS RECENTLY SEARCHING through old files for something or other which I never found. But I did uncover two bits of Henley Royal Regatta memorabilia, plus a goofy photo … Continue reading
FAUX PEOPLE AND PLACES
I’M REMINDED OF the practice of including a fake entry to detect unauthorized use of copyrighted material. A recent example appears in the Interesting Facts website, November 25, 2021: “Google … Continue reading
A POTATO NAMED DOUG
OUR FAMILY HAS a heritage of worshipping Solanum tuberosum, the potato. But we’ve never taken to naming individual ones. This is despite potatoes being among our Christmas ornaments and a … Continue reading
ON TRIGGING
QUITE APART FROM slang for trigonometry, I always thought the verb “to trig” meant something like “to get the drift of” in the sense of revealing something: “He trigged to … Continue reading
CONKERS, ANYONE?
BEING AN ANGLOPHILE, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit I’ve only recently learned of the game of conkers. The Discoverer, October 19, 2021, posted “How British Autumn Differs From American … Continue reading
BAEDEKER’S, MURRAY’S, AND MY MEDITERRANEAN PART 2
YESTERDAY’S MEDITERRANEAN COASTAL adventure began at Barcelona and referenced classic Baedeker’s and Murray’s guidebooks. Today in Part 2 we visit Marseilles, Nice, and Èze on our way to Monaco. Marseilles. … Continue reading
BAEDEKER’S, MURRAY’S, AND MY MEDITERRANEAN PART 1
I LOVE COASTLINES. The beauty of California’s Route 1. The panoramas of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. And then there’s the coastline of the Mediterranean, as exemplified by Baedeker’s, Murray’s, and my … Continue reading
TRY YOUR LUCK FOR A CAPSULE O.L.
GEE, I WISH I were in Japan so I could pop coins into a vending machine and have it reward me with a miniaturized bit of reality: an air conditioner, … Continue reading
ARLES TIDBITS
LYDIA DAVIS DOESN’T call them “tidbits,” though her article One French City,” London Review of Books, August 12, 2021, is a perfect example. Davis begins her article with “What follows … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 