Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

1954 MORRIS MINOR—A TRIM TIDY SEDAN

THE MID FIFTIES were an exuberant time in American automotive design. Bigger was better. Fins were appearing, albeit not yet as expansively as in the late Fifties. In the MOBILGAS … Continue reading

September 13, 2020 · Leave a comment

LE MANS 2020—PANDEMICALLY MODIFIED

TRADITIONALLY HELD MID-JUNE, the 24-hour race at Le Mans is being held this year on September 19-20. Here are tidbits on implications of this pandemically modified event gathered from a … Continue reading

September 12, 2020 · Leave a comment

KING CNUT’S BAD RAP

APART FROM HIS name offered as Canute, the medieval King Cnut got another bad rap from history. You know the story: The king planted his throne at the seashore and, … Continue reading

September 11, 2020 · Leave a comment

TIDBITS GLEANED FROM THE CLASSIC AUCTION MARKET

MY ENTHUSIASM FOR classic cars is enhanced each month with the arrival of Keith Martin’s Sports Car Market, aptly subtitled “The Insider’s Guide to Collecting, Investing, Values, and Trends.” The … Continue reading

September 10, 2020 · 2 Comments

BBC PROMS 2020

THROUGH BBC WORLD SERVICE, I am virtually taking part in a British tradition, The Proms concerts. And, most appropriately, Diverted Traffic 115, London Review of Books, September 6, 2020, reprinted … Continue reading

September 9, 2020 · 2 Comments

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON SCIENCE

SCIENTISTS AND OTHER commentators of science are often very articulate—and entertaining. I’ve been collecting such tidbits on this from one place and another for a while. As a followup to … Continue reading

September 8, 2020 · Leave a comment

MOBILGAS ECONOMY RUN—1954

A MOBILGAS AD back in 1954 read, “In the greatest road test of performance and mileage characteristics of American stock cars, 20 automobiles vied for Sweepstakes and price class honors … Continue reading

September 7, 2020 · 3 Comments

POMPEII—95 OR 1941 YEARS ON

THIS DUAL DATING, almost a century or nearly two millennia, has logic: Pompeii was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and my primary source for this … Continue reading

September 6, 2020 · Leave a comment

HOLMES CHRONICLER “JAMES” H. WATSON? PART 2

JUST WHO WAS Mrs. Watson referring to when she used the name “James” instead of “John”? See HOLMES CHRONICLER “JAMES” H. WATSON? PART 1. Today in Part 2, we’ll examine evidence … Continue reading

September 5, 2020 · Leave a comment

HOLMES CHRONICLER “JAMES” H. WATSON? PART 1

MANY SHERLOCKIANS MAINTAIN the charming conceit that Dr. John H. Watson was the chronicler of the greatest consulting detective. Conon Doyle was merely Watson’s literary agent; see CONAN DOYLE’S OTHER … Continue reading

September 4, 2020 · 1 Comment