KOREAN LANGUAGE, FOR THE LIKES OF ME
WHAT WITH the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and all, I thought it’s about time that I learn some Korean. And, wouldn’t you know, there’s a book on my shelf titled Speak … Continue reading
BERNSTEIN’S (AND VOLTAIRE’S) CANDIDE
I’M IN GOOD company asking whether Leonard Bernstein’s Candide is an opera, an operetta, or a musical comedy. No less than the composer himself asked the same question, with his … Continue reading
CELEBRATING &
I WORKED 33 years at a magazine (R&T) carrying an ampersand, so I have an affinity with this symbol. And, guess what, it’s one of the things described in Keith … Continue reading
WHAT’S A “78,” GRANDPA?
HEARING ABOUT the Great 78 Project may fall on ear-bud-deadened senses. But, in fact, it’s an interesting project for anyone interested in recorded music. The Great 78 Project is a … Continue reading
HENRY IV 1,2 REDUX
“TOM HANKS, Rita Wilson to Star in Los Angeles Production of ‘Henry IV.’ ” So reads a February 13, 2018, headline in Variety. This play is a production of the … Continue reading
HUGH L. COURTNEY—CHARLATAN EXTRAORDINAIRE
THEY DON’T make charlatans like they used to. I’ve just learned about Hugh L. Courtney while reading “Cheats, Swindlers, and Ne’er-Do-Wells: A New York Family Album,” by Dan Barry in … Continue reading
CAMILLE PISSARRO—A ROOM WITH A VIEW
EXCELLENT EYESIGHT would seem to be an artist’s requisite. Yet many of Camille Pissarro’s finest paintings came after a persistent eye infection affected the way he worked, not only visually, … Continue reading
A THREE-ENGINE TRANSPORT—FROM BOEING
DO I MEAN the 1926 Fokker F.VII in its trimotor configuration? Or the 1926 Ford TriMotor? Them too, but Boeing introduced its Model 80, a three-engine transport in 1928. Yet, … Continue reading
SMART CLOTHES
THE TERM “dressing smart” used to mean a man’s natty decorative handkerchief in a blazer breast pocket or a woman’s fine pearls and simple black dress. The technology of smart … Continue reading
THE ADVENTURE OF FATS WALLER AND BOSTON BLACKIE
JAZZ PIANIST and composer Fats Waller wrote perhaps 400 songs, among them “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “Ain’t Misbehavin,” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” Boston … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 