DESIGNING FOR THE STAGE
YEARS AGO I HAD youthful aspiration of a career in theater stage design. If blame be necessary (though it isn’t), it was the influence of National Thespian Society and dear … Continue reading
A THEATRICAL SPIN—AND ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER
BACK IN 2013, the Met produced a Live in HD presentation of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, the bel canto opera based on Friedrich Schiller’s 1800 play Maria Stuart. This Met production … Continue reading
LRB IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
SOMETIMES A BOOK REVIEW might reveal overly much. Like that kid’s comment, “This book tells me more about whales than I wanted to know.” This doesn’t disparage the writing, either … Continue reading
HAVE YOU GOT THE TIME? BUT WHERE??
THIS IS A COLLECTION OF Time Zones tidbits from around the world, combined with a confession of misinformation I offered five decades ago. When people didn’t travel much, the sun’s … Continue reading
CONTINENTAL MOTORING A CENTURY AGO PART 2
SO IT’S 1923 AND you’re considering a motoring tour of Normandy and Brittany. Today in Part 2 you might choose to do it in a light car or cyclecar. Here … Continue reading
CONTINENTAL MOTORING A CENTURY AGO PART 1
MY 1923 COOK’S TRAVELLER’S HANDBOOK for Normandy and Brittany offers interesting tidbits on Cycling and Motoring, including an extensive list of light cars and cyclecars. Here in Parts 1 and … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: FILIBUSTER
HOW CAN A representative democracy obstruct a majority view? In one word: filibuster. And an example comes to immediate mind: gun control. Here are tidbits on etymology of the word … Continue reading
Cook’s Traveller’s Handbook for Normandy and Brittany Part 2
OLD GUIDEBOOKS MAKE INTERESTING assessments, if occasionally lacking in terms of today’s P.C. niceties. Yesterday in Part 1, Thos. Cook & Son introduced us to Normandy and Brittany, 1923. Today, … Continue reading
COOK’S TRAVELLER’S HANDBOOK TO NORMANDY AND BRITTANY PART 1
HAVING ONLY YESTERDAY mentioned the Norman Conquest, I thought I’d learn more about Normandy, that portion of northern France whence came the conquerors. What better source than my Cook’s Traveller’s … Continue reading
NEW ENGLAND ON THE AZOV
THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF 1066 did more than introduce French words into the language becoming Middle English. As described by Michael Wood in BBC History, May 2022, “… when the … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 