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
PLACE NAMES—SIGNPOSTS TO THE PAST
HISTORIAN MICHAEL WOOD WRITES, “… a rusting cast-iron signpost peeping through the foliage in a sunken lane gives me an inexplicable thrill. It’s the idea that the deep past might … Continue reading
COME FLY WITH ME
I SHARE FRANK SINATRA’S VOCAL ENTHUSIASM for air travel: “Once you get up there, where the air is rarified/ We’ll just glide, starry-eyed” being a particularly telling lyric. And thus … Continue reading
ITALIAN HAPPY SNAPS
THE DISCOVERER BLOG CONTINUES TO DELIGHT and to remind me what wonderful adventures Italy has provided. Here, tidbits gleaned from its “Stunning Photos That Will Make You Want to Book … Continue reading
BAEDEKER’S CANADA 1900 PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE FIGURED IT’S TIME to learn more about Canada. And my Baedeker’s Travellers Guide, 1900, seemed a fine place to start. Here in Part 2, we’ve missed our train … Continue reading
BAEDEKER’S CANADA 1900 PART 1
WHAT WITH THE ACQUISITIONAL WEAVES of our Queens Felon, I thought it’s time to direct attention toward our friends to the north. And, you’ll not be surprised, I have a … Continue reading
KEWL BUILDINGS U.S.A. PART 2
PART 1 YESTERDAY GOT US STARTED VISITING the Discoverer website’s choices of cool buildings around the U.S. Our travels and recollections continue here. Topeka High School—Kansas. “It’s hard to believe,” … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 