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

A TALE OF TWO BOUQUINISTES

I’VE ENJOYED encounters with bouquinistes, booksellers offering their wares along the Seine in Paris. One result is a kid’s magazine, titled Tintin—Le Journal des Jeunes de 7 à 77 ans. … Continue reading

May 30, 2019 · Leave a comment

F1 AERO: FOOLING WITH THE OPPOSITION’S AIR

AERODYNAMIC DOWNFORCE has been used in Formula One for years, the 1978 Lotus 79 being exemplary in dominating the series. Today, an F1 car traveling 130 mpg generates its own … Continue reading

May 29, 2019 · Leave a comment

OUTSOARING THE RING

I HAVE FOUND something more outre than Wagner’s Die Ring des Nibelungen. True, The Ring Cycle is 17 unique hours filled with Valhalla’s Gods and Goddesses, the Nibelung underground’s evil … Continue reading

May 28, 2019 · Leave a comment

IN PRAISE OF AUCTION CATALOGS

LONG AFTER the last fall of the hammer, there’s pleasure to be had in automotive auction catalogs. Skimming through the Bonham’s catalog from the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance Collectors’ Motorcars and … Continue reading

May 27, 2019 · 1 Comment

THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK CLICKS ITS HEELS PART 2

TODAY IN PART 2, we pick up our Great American Songbook celebration of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in two more of their musicals from the mid-1930s. We’ll also encounter … Continue reading

May 26, 2019 · Leave a comment

THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK CLICKS ITS HEELS PART 1

A RECENT London Review of Books article celebrates Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in three of their ten classic movies: Top Hat, 1935; Swing Time, 1936; and Shall We Dance, … Continue reading

May 25, 2019 · 2 Comments

RACING PEUGEOTS, 1912–1913 PART 2

YESTERDAY, LAURENCE POMEROY’S book The Grand Prix Car and William Court’s piece in Classic Cars in Profile, Volume 4 offered introduction to the racing Peugeots of 1912–1913. Here in Part … Continue reading

May 24, 2019 · 2 Comments

RACING PEUGEOTS, 1912–1913 PART 1

WHAT WITH Peugeot’s scheduled return to the U.S. market, let’s celebrate this French automaker’s racing heritage. Highly recommended sources: “The Racing Peugeots, 1912–1914,” Profile No. 73, by William Court, in … Continue reading

May 23, 2019 · Leave a comment

CATS ARE SOCIALLY SMART—BUT ONLY IF THEY CHOOSE TO BE

SCIENTISTS ARE CONFIRMING what cat fanciers have suspected all along: Cats are just as smart as dogs. But I can imagine the cat saying, “As if I care…..” David Grimm’s … Continue reading

May 22, 2019 · Leave a comment

CODY’S BAA 1—GREAT BRITAIN’S FIRST TO FLY PART 2

SAMUEL F. CODY ENJOYED development work on his British Army Aeroplane No. 1. And I’ve enjoyed GMax/Microsoft Flight Simulator renderings of his developments. Here in Part 2, my sources expand … Continue reading

May 20, 2019 · Leave a comment