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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
A GIFT FROM THE COSMOS
EVERY YEAR, TENS of thousands of meteorites survive trips through our atmosphere to reach Earth. But the one that struck in the Costa Rican rainforest last year was really special: … Continue reading
AN INSPIRATIONAL OPERA INDEED
OPERAS CAN INSPIRE—but enough to create a country? Yes, the history of Belgium is woven into the obscure La Muette de Portici, The Mute of Portici, an 1828 opera by … Continue reading
