FATE AND AN F1 HERO
LET’S RETURN TO THE PIRELLI ALBUM OF MOTOR RACING HEROES, assembled by John Surtees, himself a Drivers’ World Champion. Pirelli Album of Motor Racing Heroes, by John Surtees, Motorbooks International, … Continue reading
GROK GOES BONKERS PART 2
YESTERDAY, PROF. ZEYNAP TUFEKCI introduced us to Elon Musk’s chatbot pal Grok—and the latter’s prompting to less than A.I.-generated veracity. Today in Part 2, Tufekci warns that system prompts aren’t … Continue reading
GROK GOES BONKERS PART 1
I ADMIRE THE SAGACITY of ZEYNEP TUFEKCI, (“zey-NEP tuu-FEK-chee,” her given name Turkish for “precious gem” related to Arabic “fragrant flower.”) Dr. Tufekci is a Turkish-American sociologist, Henry G. Bryant … Continue reading
TIME TO EAT!
“IF YOU’VE EVERY REALLY LOOKED AT HOW FLAMINGOS EAT,” says The New York Times’ Rachel Nuwer, “you know how captivatingly peculiar it is.” This and other screenshot captures of videos … Continue reading
FRANK MUIR ON EDUCATION AND LITERATURE PART 2
YESTERDAY WE STARTED SELECTING CHOICE QUOTES from Frank Muir’s An Irreverent and Thoroughly Incomplete Social History of Almost Everything. We continue today in Part 2 with the likes of George … Continue reading
FRANK MUIR ON EDUCATION AND LITERATURE PART 1
FRANK MUIR, HE OF MUIR AND NORDEN “My Word!/My Music!,” also put together a wonderful collection of things he enjoyed reading. An Irreverent and Thoroughly Incomplete Social History of Almost … Continue reading
TRUMP’S WORDS OF OPPRESSION—ETYMOLOGY PART 2
YESTERDAY WE BEGAN ANALYSES of the Trump administration’s means of oppression. Today in Part 2 we focus on propaganda as a tool, retribution as a goal, and an easy catch-all … Continue reading
TRUMP’S WORDS OF OPPRESSION—ETYMOLOGY PART 1
SOME OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S WORDS OF OPPRESSION are corruptions of previously lofty ones: diversity, equity, inclusion are paramount among these. Others are contortions of obscure legalities: misapplying the rarely … Continue reading
ON ANGULAR SAND
SAUDI ARABIA HAS A WEALTH OF OIL, BUT its sand may be less valuable than Greenland’s. I come by this tidbit from an odd source: a lengthly response in the … Continue reading
DO PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD—FOR SOCIETAL AWARENESS
“FEARLESS. IRONIC. SUPERCOOL. BORDERLINE ESOTERIC. BRILLIANTLY OBSERVED. It is difficult to encapsulate provocateurs Martin Hablesreiter and Sonja Stummerer.” This, from their YouTube intro. “The couple,” it recounts, “were practising architects … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 