DIEGO RIVERA—ART PRODIGY, MURALIST, AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST
MEXICAN MURALIST DIEGO RIVERA briefly appeared earlier at SimanaitisSays as the mentor of aviatrix/muralist Aline Rhone. Her Roosevelt Field 1938 mural celebrated aviation from 1909 to 1927, with more than … Continue reading
BABBLING BABY BATS
WHAT WITH COVID and all, bats have had particularly bad press of late. However, science comes to a rehabilitation of their reputation: It turns out the greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx … Continue reading
MUDLARKING—ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
A MUD LARK IS defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who grubs in mud (as in search of stray bits of coal, iron, rope). specifically: an urchin who grubs for … Continue reading
THE ART OF IMPERIAL AIRWAYS
FROM 1924 TO 1939, Imperial Airways linked the British Empire during what in retrospect is termed aviation’s Golden Age. It was a golden age of aviation graphics too, as displayed … Continue reading
A JEOPARDY SETUP (AND AN R&T ROAD TEST)
THE JEOPARDY CATEGORY is “Celebrity Cars.” The setup is “This British-bodied GT coupe is piloted by a driver known by two different names.” Ah. Easy-peasy: “What is James Bond/007’s Aston … Continue reading
ME AND THE SUITS
I’VE NEVER BEEN much of a corporate type. When I left Caribbean academic life for the real world in the mid-70s, Joe Gilbert, rest his soul, was general manager of … Continue reading
HOLMES NOIR?
IT SOUNDS ACHRONOLOGICAL, but was the world’s first consulting detective a noir shamus? Let’s examine this thesis with the help of Merriam-Webster, Sherlockians, and film authorities. Weak Merriam-Webster Evidence. M-W’s … Continue reading
FAMILIAR OPERA SETTNGS
SETTINGS FOR SCENES of an opera are contained in its libretto, “booklet” in Italian. Many librettists offer extreme detail; others give no more than suggestions. Here are tidbits about three … Continue reading
INNES’S GRANDE EPREUVE WIN PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE SET the stage for the 1961 U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Team Lotus’s first Formula One victory, and Innes Ireland’s sole Grand Epreuve win. Today, R&T’s Jim … Continue reading
INNES’S GRANDE EPREUVE WIN PART 1
THE U.S. GRAND PRIX, October 8, 1961, is multiply significant, as reported by R&T’s Jim Crow: “Statistically, it was the first World Championship win for the uninhibited Scot, the first … Continue reading
