CATALAN CUISINE
CATALONIA HAS been much in the news these days, what with this northeast region of Spain wishing to extend its autonomous community status into outright independence from Madrid. As I … Continue reading
ON MEDIUMS (OR, IF YOU WISH, MEDIA)
BACK BEFORE ignorance ruled in government and elsewhere, the word “media” was the plural of “medium,” the latter in the sense of a means of effecting or conveying something. TV … Continue reading
A TURBINE CAR FROM ROVER!
THESE DAYS, we associate the word Rover with the word Land, as in the British SUV. But back in the early 1950s, the term Jet 1 would have also been … Continue reading
KATY LUTHER—YES, THAT LUTHER PART 2
IT WAS the year 1523, six years after theologian Martin Luther posted his disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church. With Luther’s help, a dozen Cistercian nuns, including novice Katharina von … Continue reading
KATY LUTHER—YES, THAT LUTHER PART 1
MARTIN LUTHER disagreed with the Roman Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences, its “Get Out of Purgatory Early” scam. October 31, 2017, was the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Ninety-five Theses, also … Continue reading
MARTIANS INVADE DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES!
WALT DISNEY Concert Hall and its Los Angeles environs won’t be confused with Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. On the other hand, this time around, an operatic version of War of … Continue reading
WAR OF THE WORLDS—ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS
IT WAS October 30, 1938. Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his wooden pal Charlie McCarthy had just finished their opening bit on the Chase & Sanborn Hour, which owned Sunday radio … Continue reading
CHARLES H. CRAWFORD, A LOS ANGELES AL CAPONE PART 2
FAILURE OF California’s Julian Petroleum Company, aka “Julian Pete,” caught up Charles H. Crawford, Los Angeles politician/saloon owner in 1930. Allegedly, he paid $75,000 to hush up exposure of his … Continue reading
CHARLES H. CRAWFORD, THE LOS ANGELES AL CAPONE PART 1
IN MY continuing recognition of scalawags, political and otherwise, I offer Charles H. Crawford, who in the 1920s was the Los Angeles version of Chicago’s Al Capone. The tale has … Continue reading
FUEL CELLS FORGOTTEN? YET AGAIN?
WHAT WITH everyone but the guy next door promising to build only “electrified” cars, it’s surprising to me that only a few of the world’s automakers are seeing promise in … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 