LEONTYNE PRICE—DIVA EXTRAORDINAIRE; THE MET—OPERA HOUSE DITTO
THE OPERA HOUSE is an award-winning documentary by Susan Froemke about the Metropolitan Opera’s Lincoln Center home and its mid-1960s construction. One of its stars is diva extraordinaire Leontyne Price, … Continue reading
ON FUNKY MOTORING
I SUPPOSE my love affair with space-efficient Mondrian-rectilinear funky motoring began with the 21-window Volkswagen Transporter Microbus, aka the Samba, built 1964 through 1967. Alas, this love was, and will … Continue reading
DAVID HOCKNEY AT THE MET
NEW YORK’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is celebrating the career of David Hockney. The exhibit runs through February 25, 2018, and has a preview, complete with short video, at David … Continue reading
THE DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT, ME, AND JOHN CLEESE
IT SOUNDS like a Grade-B sci-fi theme, but the Dunning-Kruger Effect is, alas, as timely as today’s headlines, rings true with my own intellectual life, and, what’s more, has an … Continue reading
THE MEAL/LE REPAS/DIE MAHLZEIT/IL PASTO
OF COURSE, even jingoistic world travelers need sustenance. And, indeed, mealtimes are part of the pleasure of mixing with foreigners, especially if you know how to order them around. Have … Continue reading
TOADY, pl. TOADIES (THERE’S NO LACK OF THEM)
I FIND it odd that the word “toady” dates from not quite 200 years ago. One would have thought such “flatterers in hope of gaining favors” had been around long … Continue reading
HEDGING THE ODDS OF WARTIME AVIATION
IT HAS been said, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” And so it is for those fighting in the air above. Flying Against Fate, by S.P. MacKenzie, is a highly … Continue reading
MASANIELLO MAKING NAPLES GREAT AGAIN?
TOMMASO ANIELLO, Masaniello, for short, was a Neapolitan fisherman who led a populist revolt against Habsburg Spain in 1647. So far, so good. However, he was destined to be dissed … Continue reading
RACECAR NOISE!
LET US celebrate the New Year with racecar noise. This celebration came to mind a couple weeks ago when I unearthed my Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band Beatles album … Continue reading
2017—WE MADE IT TO THE END!
IT HAS been an interesting year here at SimanaitisSays. I’ve had a ball researching and composing items at a rate far exceeding my pre-retirement editorial activities. Here, celebrating 2017’s passage, … Continue reading
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