B.C. HUCKS’ MARVELOUS STARTER
THE IMAGE OF firing up a vintage aeroplane is embedded in my mind: An intrepid fellow manually turns the propeller through a couple of rotations. The pilot yells “Contact!” The … Continue reading
THE HARLEY GUYS AND THE RAMJET PART 2
YESTERDAY’S CELEBRATION OF the 1953 Studebaker Starliner evoked other memories of Tom’s Stude sedan and his mentorship with our control-line model airplane flying. Today, we pick up with Tom’s ramjet-powered … Continue reading
THE HARLEY GUYS AND THE RAMJET PART 1
PHOTOS OF A 1953 Studebaker Starliner/Starlight coupe jogged my memory about the Harley guys and the ramjet. All this happened 67 years ago, and please excuse my rambling tale appearing … Continue reading
ADS, A HALF-CENTURY AGO
I WAS RECENTLY LEAFING through a January 1969 issue of Popular Science, which says something about retirement, life priorities, and proprietorship of SimanaitisSays. This particular Pop Sci had a 16-page … Continue reading
LIGHT MY FIRE—SELECTIVELY
A NEW BOOK, Stephen J. Pyne’s The Pyrocene, puts historic and environmental aspects of fire into perspective. Its review in Science, October 15, 2021, by Mary Ellen Hannibal is subtitled, … 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
POM ON THE 4 1/2-LITRE SUPERCHARGED BENTLEY PART 2
THOUGH DESIGNED AS a Le Mans sports car, the 4 1/2-litre Bentley in supercharged form took to Grand Prix racing. Today, we continue Laurence Pomeroy’s analysis of this car in … Continue reading
POM ON THE 4 1/2-LITRE SUPERCHARGED BENTLEY PART 1
LAURENCE POMEROY, F.R.S.A., M.S.A.E., is author of The Grand Prix Car.Though not explicitly designed for Grands Prix, a 4 1/2-Litre Bentley finished second in the 1930 French Grand Prix and, … Continue reading
A TYPEFACE RECONCILIATION PART 2
YESTERDAY IN PART 1, Comic Sans typeface entertained us with its popularity—and notoriety: Indeed, which other typefaces foster hate groups? To which I‘m tempted to respond “Get a life.” Today … Continue reading
A TYPEFACE RECONCILIATION PART 1
IT’S QUITE ENOUGH that we argue about Covid vaccinations, women’s bodies, and batshit crazy politicos. I offer here reconciliation on typefaces, specifically Helvetica versus Comic Sans. My sources for these … Continue reading
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