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

ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM I OWNERS—UNIQUE BLOKES, EVERY ONE

THE 1925 NEW PHANTOM was Rolls-Royce’s second 40/50 model, the first 40/50 coming to be known as the Silver Ghost after its 1907 demonstrator example. There have been successive Phantoms … Continue reading

May 16, 2019 · 1 Comment

MEDIEVAL STUDIES HIJACKED

EVEN MEDIEVAL STUDIES has been caught up in a commentary involving our contentious times. Jennifer Schuessler reports “Medieval Scholars Joust with White Nationalists. And One Another,” in The New York … Continue reading

May 15, 2019 · Leave a comment

KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915 PART 2

TWO AMERICAN cultural heroes, author James Agee and composer Samuel Barber, and their Knoxville: Summer of 1915 were celebrated yesterday in Part 1. Today, we continue with Chris Myers’ notes … Continue reading

May 14, 2019 · Leave a comment

KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915 PART 1

THERE’S A GENTLE affirmation of life in Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, a piece for voice and orchestra that this composer called a “lyric rhapsody.” Lyrics of this 1947 … Continue reading

May 13, 2019 · Leave a comment

CELEBRATING PEGGY WEBBER

WHAT DOES JOE FRIDAY’S mother have in common with Orson Welles’ Lady Macduff? They were portrayed by the same talented actress, Peggy Webber. What’s more, she’s founder and continues to … Continue reading

May 12, 2019 · 7 Comments

FUEL CELLS 2019

EVEN BEFORE my Fairbanks to Vancouver and Las Vegas to San Diego adventures in 2007, I’ve been enthusiastic about FCEVs, electric vehicles generating their own electricity from hydrogen fuel cells. … Continue reading

May 11, 2019 · Leave a comment

TIDBITS FROM AAAS

THE AAAS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and its weekly Science magazine share knowledge with an audience broader than readers of pure scientific journals. These tidbits gleaned … Continue reading

May 10, 2019 · Leave a comment

MOVING THE WATER FOR FUN AND PROFIT PART 2

THIS ALL started yesterday with my watching the Jack Nicholson/Faye Dunaway movie Chinatown and Wife Dottie’s photo of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Here in Part 2, we’ll see whether the flick … Continue reading

May 9, 2019 · 4 Comments

MOVING THE WATER FOR FUN AND PROFIT PART 1

THESE TIDBITS grew from my watching the Jack Nicholson/Faye Dunaway flick Chinatown and, coincidently, unearthing a photo by Wife Dottie of the Pontcysylite Aqueduct in northeast Wales. That is, the … Continue reading

May 8, 2019 · 2 Comments

TRUCK DRIVERS’ DESK SET PART 2

YESTERDAY IN Part 1, we considered a link between drivers of diesel rigs at the modern Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and a 62-year-old Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy comedy. … Continue reading

May 7, 2019 · Leave a comment