POM ON RACECAR BODYWORK, 1920–1939 PART 1
PAST GENERATIONS EXPERIENCED more future shock than we do. For example, Sherlock Holmes contended with the introduction of electric lighting, the telephone, the automobile, and the aeroplane. Even past generations … Continue reading
SPACE TRIPPIN’
I MARVEL AT WACKOS who believe that NASA’s six manned Moon visits were hoaxes. People of this sort tend to profess that the world is flat, jet contrails contain mood-altering … Continue reading
LIVING IN A TOURIST ATTRACTION
BARCELONA THRIVES AS being popular with tourists. Ana Viladomiu, a resident of this beautiful city, sees this as something of a mixed blessing, as described in Raphael Minder’s “What’s It … Continue reading
ON OPIOIDS PART 2
OPIOID ADDICTION IS plaguing the country. Tidbits on this epidemic are gleaned at SimanaitisSays yesterday and today from “A Blizzard of Prescriptions,” by Emily Witt in the London Review of … Continue reading
ON OPIOIDS PART 1
IN 1984 I suffered from an extruded disc. The extreme pain of this malady introduced me to hydrocodone-based Vicodin, a painkiller that helped me through the problem. A standup art … Continue reading
GETTING EVEN—THEATRICALLY PART 2
WHEN WE LEFT Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, his life of French polymath/entrepreneur was complicated by a court case involving business dealings with the late Joseph Paris Duverney. Today in Part … Continue reading
GETTING EVEN—THEATRICALLY PART 1
APART FROM BEING a spy, diplomat, arms dealer, and revolutionary (French and American), playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais sure know how to get even. His means of revenge? His theatrical … Continue reading
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE UPDATE—PLUSES AND MINUSES
WHAT WITH CONCERNS on ethical grounds, technical matters, and practical aspects, I have been skeptical of any onrush to driverless vehicle technology. However, the Automotive News weekly keeps me updated. … Continue reading
WITH JOE MILLER, THE JOKE’S ON MOTTLEY
JOE MILLER, 18th-Century English Theatre tragedian, is remembered today. John Mottley, a contemporary of Miller, ends up as a false etymological hint. My inspiration for these tidbits arose from “The … Continue reading
SOAP BUBBLES AND WINE LEGS
SOAP BUBBLES make for a fascinating physics lab, even on your own table top. Knvul Sheikh gives proof of this in “Watch Soap Bubbles Turn Into Tiny SnowGlobes as They … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 