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

1933 ALFA ROMEO 6C 1750 GRAN SPORT DROP HEAD COUPE—A SWEETHEART WITH BRIO

ITALIAN COACHBUILDER CASTANGA made magic art combining elegance with Alfa Romeo brio. This 1933 6C 1750 is the third Castanga-bodied Alfa featured here at SimanaitisSays. I described the 1934 2.3-Litre … Continue reading

July 26, 2020 · Leave a comment

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TIDBITS FROM AAAS

IT’S NO SURPRISE that Science, the weekly magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, should be an excellent source of information on science, you’ll excuse the term … Continue reading

July 25, 2020 · 2 Comments

CELEBRATING GEORGE CARLIN

I RECENTLY ENCOUNTERED one of comedian George Carlin’s great lines: “Have you noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster is a maniac?” Thus … Continue reading

July 24, 2020 · Leave a comment

SWORDPLAY OVER THE AGES AND AROUND THE WORLD PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN our swordplay tales with the Völsunga’s Gram aka Wagner Ring Cycle’s Nothung and Arthurian legends of Excalibur and the sword in the stone. Today in Part 2, … Continue reading

July 23, 2020 · Leave a comment

SWORDPLAY OVER THE AGES AND AROUND THE WORLD PART 1

NOT THAT ANYONE has asked lately, but here are swordplay tidbits collected from a variety of sources, some even overlapping with others. In Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, … Continue reading

July 22, 2020 · 1 Comment

A QUARANTINE QUERY

WHO’D YOU LEAST like being quarantined with? Anna Whitelock, head of history at Royal Holloway, University of London, assembled responses to this Twitter query in one of the Talking Points … Continue reading

July 21, 2020 · Leave a comment

ON POST-PANDEMIC NORMALCY PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE SHARED insights about post-pandemic normalcy from a professor of psychological science, public health, and medicine. Today in Part 2, young scientists focus their thoughts on the year 2040. … Continue reading

July 20, 2020 · Leave a comment

ON POST-PANDEMIC NORMALCY PART 1

I MAKE TWO assumptions here: first, that the presence of Covid-19 will eventually diminish to the point of other viruses. These include, in no particular order, smallpox, chickenpox, measles, mumps, … Continue reading

July 19, 2020 · 2 Comments

A LOVE POTION GONE AWRY PART 2

YESTERDAY, A WAGNER opera taught us that chemical enhancement of boy meets girl can lead to trouble. Today in Part 2, Tristan and Isolde aren’t the only ones encountering life’s … Continue reading

July 18, 2020 · Leave a comment

A LOVE POTION GONE AWRY PART 1

I ENJOYED WATCHING Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, part of the Metropolitan Opera’s free streaming. This opera generates ecstatic appreciation from some and bored derision from others. I place myself in … Continue reading

July 17, 2020 · Leave a comment