JOAN OF ARC, 15TH-CENTURY GRRL PART 1
WHY MY INTEREST in Jeanne d’Arc, the Maid of Orléans, the heroine of all France? Actually there are multiple reasons: one, a recent retrospective in London Review of Books, others, … Continue reading
FRANCO CORTESE’S BRIT RIDE
ITALIAN RACE DRIVER Franco Cortese competed in 156 races between 1927 and his 1958 retirement. These included one Formula One Grand Prix, three Formula Two Grands Prix, and 14 Mille … Continue reading
REPUBLICAN THEATER OF THE ABSURD PART 2
YESTERDAY IN “Republican Theater of the Absurd, Act I,” we commented on this theater genre’s dramatic circularity, starting with initial logic, then deteriorating into irrationality, and culminating where it all … Continue reading
REPUBLICAN THEATER OF THE ABSURD PART 1
MERRIAM-WEBSTER SAYS “Theater of the Absurd is theater that seeks to represent the absurdity of human existence in a meaningless universe by bizarre or fantastic means.” Wikipedia adds, “The structure … Continue reading
RETHINKING NEANDERTHALS PART 2
JOHN LANCASTER’S ARTICLE, “Twenty Types of Humans,” London Review of Books, December 17, 2020, got me thinking about the status of Homo neanderthalensis. In particular, perhaps they weren’t knuckle-dragging stocky … Continue reading
RETHINKING NEANDERTHALS PART 1
“OF ALL OUR human relatives,” John Lancaster wrote in the London Review of Books, December 17, 2020, “the closest in both time and genetics, the most compelling, and the best … Continue reading
MAKING A POINT, ARTWISE
POINTILLISM, AS DEFINED by Merriam-Webster, is “the theory or practice in art of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance they blend … Continue reading
“CAN YOU READ ME A FLOPPY, GRANDPA?” PART 2
YESTERDAY IN PART 1, we found that scads of 1s and 0s weren’t amenable to human memory. Stacks of punched cards had critical ordering. And cassette loading of programs was … Continue reading
“CAN YOU READ ME A FLOPPY, GRANDPA?” PART 1
THE QUESTION ABOVE is grammatically correct: I intend “can,” not “will,” nor “may.” Those of a certain age may remember asking, “Mrs. Grimbly, can I open a window?” She’d say, … Continue reading
SLEEPING WITH VIRGINIA WOOLF, DREAMING ABOUT A NAKED GIRL WITH LONG JADE EARRINGS
MAYBE YOUR READING habits are like mine? I always seem to have four or five books that I’m part way through. Whenever I finish one, I’ve added another to my … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 