CONAN DOYLE’S OTHER CLIENT: BRIGADIER GERARD PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE LEARNED how literary agent Arthur Conan Doyle latched onto hussard ancien Brigadier Etienne Gerard, who shared plonk-encouraged adventures of Napoleonic times. Today in Part 2, at Emperor Napoleon’s … Continue reading
CONAN DOYLE’S OTHER CLIENT: BRIGADIER GERARD PART 1
AS IS WELL documented, the world’s first and greatest consulting detective experienced a Great Hiatus extending from Monday, May 4, 1891, to Thursday, April 5, 1894. Have you ever wondered … Continue reading
MG A 1600 MK II—ABINGDON’S MULTITUDE OF A’S
OLD CAR ENTHUSIASTS (these first two words with or without a hyphen) associate the name MG with classic sports cars, its TC, TD, and TF variants, as well as the … Continue reading
LUCIEN BOSSOUTROT—A SORT OF FRENCH CHARLES LINDBERGH/STEVE MCQUEEN/BERNIE SANDERS/ NOAM CHOMSKY PART 2
FRENCHMAN EXCEPTIONAL LUCIEN Bossoutrot was more than a pioneer aviator. Today in Part 2, we’ll see why I can include Steve McQueen, Bernie Sanders, and Noam Chomsky in my Bossoutrot … Continue reading
LUCIEN BOSSOUTROT—A SORT OF FRENCH CHARLES LINDBERGH/STEVE MCQUEEN/BERNIE SANDERS/ NOAM CHOMSKY PART 1
LUCIEN BOSSOUTROT’S ATTRIBUTES were revealed from my reading a short item in Chronicle of Aviation, Bill Gunston, editor in chief, JL International, 1992: The item’s title reads “Nomads Rescue Stranded … Continue reading
ROYAL HISTORIES RECORDED IN THE ELEMENT LEAD PART 2
YESTERDAY, GRAPHS FROM Science, April 3, 2020, displayed trends of medieval English taxes on silver and lead with those of lead traces found in a Swiss ice core. Today in … Continue reading
ROYAL HISTORIES RECORDED IN THE ELEMENT LEAD PART 1
WHAT A PROVOCATIVE caption for a graph; “The fortunes of kings, written in ice.” The graph, shown later here, accompanied “Lead Pollution Traces the Rise and Fall of Medieval Kings,” … Continue reading
JOHN TAYLOR, GEORGIAN RASCAL PART 2
YESTERDAY, JOHN BARRELL introduced us to John Taylor, Englishman of George III’s era. Despite Taylor’s outward image of blandness, he was also engaged in skulduggery as part of his majesty’s … Continue reading
JOHN TAYLOR, GEORGIAN RASCAL PART 1
THE LONDON REVIEW of Books is running Diverted Traffic, an online series of selected articles from years past. A recent one is “The Reptile Oculist,” by John Barrell, originally published … Continue reading
TIME FOR SOME GOOFINESS
THIS WEBSITE’S UNOFFICIAL Southeast Pennsylvania correspondent, bless him, recently shared a bunch of jokes, many credited to humorist and folklorist Garrison Keillor. Here are some favorites, plus a few from … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 