WHA’CHA’CALL’IT IN OLD MANHATTAN?
IT’S ALWAYS ENTERTAINING—and never too late—to bring one’s knowledge up to date. Like, for instance, is there an original Mr. Wall of Wall Street? Or why did a street in … Continue reading
THE LRB ON LONDON’S WILD ’N’ CRAZY SIXITIES
“IF YOU REMEMBER THE SIXTIES,” Comedian Charlie Fleischer observed, “you really weren’t there.” Well, true, I was at Worcester Poly—majoring in mathematics, of all things—and later in grad school at … Continue reading
NICE NEWS—AN ONLINE SOURCE OF POSITIVITY
THESE DAYS, NEWS NEGATIVITY isn’t hard to come by. But the Nice News website offers a much welcome reason to visit online (as well as a great source for SimanaitisSays). … Continue reading
BRITS BEING SILLY
I LOVE BRITS BEING SILLY. Peter Sellers, Spike Mulligan, and Harry Secombe had The Goon Show on BBC. Gerard Hoffnung brought silliness to the concert hall. Dudley Moore and his … Continue reading
HAMILTON—AUF DEUTSCH
TRANSLATION OF VOCAL MUSICALITY can be straightforward, difficult, or well nigh impossible. For instance, the German of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle would be a natural into Icelandic, workable into English, … Continue reading
DUKE ELLINGTON’S THE QUEEN’S SUITE PART 2
YESTERDAY IN PART 1, JAZZMAN Duke Ellington flirted ever so gently with Queen Elizabeth II at the 1958 West Yorkshire Centenary Festival of the Arts. Today we see how this … Continue reading
DUKE ELLINGTON’S THE QUEEN’S SUITE PART 1
AT THE CENTENARY MUSIC FESTIVAL 1958 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, perhaps not surprisingly a duke encountered a queen. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits … Continue reading
GANDER SENDS COMPASSIONATE PEOPLE TO FLORIDA AND TEXAS
THIS JUST IN (Well, not really….): Sensing a crying need, the people of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, have organized flights of compassionate folks to Florida and Texas. Some say it would … Continue reading
A REAL LULU OF A SILENT FLICK PART 2
SILENT FILMS LACK NOTHING in entertainment value. Today in Part 2, we continue with movie treatment of Die Büchse der Pandora, Pandora’s Box, 1929. Lulu’s Cinema Career. Frank Wedekind’s theatrical … Continue reading
A REAL LULU OF A SILENT FLICK PART 1
I HAVE LONG BEEN an aficionado of silent films, no less entertaining than those of the chit-chat variety. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are recollections of … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 