JAPAN SET DESIGN 1979–1983
THIS BOOK, PUBLISHED in 1985, is three decades old, but its stage and television set designs seem as fresh as today’s. Plus, from a bibliophilic point of view, it’s simply … Continue reading
RIFFING OFF
I CONFESS TO being sometimes a little behind the identification of trends. For example, in the November 3, 2016, issue of the London Review of Books I learned the term … Continue reading
THINKING–AND THE TURK
HOW DO WE think? In these days of artificial intelligence, not to say unexpected political outcomes, this question is a non-trivial one. A new book on this, and more, is … Continue reading
SPITFIRE FLYING, SELF-TAUGHT
I WAS SORTING through one thing and another when I came upon the British Air Ministry’s 1943 Air Publication 1565K, Spitfire F XII Pilot’s Notes. The Supermarine Spitfire single-seat fighter … Continue reading
CELEBRATING WWW: WRETCHED WRITERS WELCOME
VICTORIAN AUTHOR Edward Bulwer-Lytton couldn’t have sensed his place in literary history when he began his 1830 novel Paul Clifford with these immortal words: “It was a dark and stormy … Continue reading
PATATAS, PIMIENTOS Y LANGOSTINOS
HERE IN THE U.S., the Spanish word langostino describes the squat lobster. It’s neither prawn, nor shrimp, nor a lobster, actually closer to the hermit crab. But our local Trader … Continue reading
WHAT’S UP THERE ON THE MET’S PROSCENIUM ARCH?
DAUGHTER SUZ AND I are regular opera-goers, thanks to the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD presentations in movie theaters around the world. The view of the Met’s Lincoln Center home … Continue reading
AVIATION SELLS!
EARLY AVIATION GENERATED entirely new ventures. It also gave existing businesses a piece of the action, sometimes only indirectly. Here’s a sample of “Aviation Sells!” One of the oddest gizmos … Continue reading
THE AUTOMAKERS’ DILEMMA
“MAY YOU LIVE IN interesting times.” This classic Chinese saying was intended as a curse, not a blessing. And so it would seem for automakers today. Reading the weekly Automotive … Continue reading
BASSÉ & SELVE AERO ENGINE
ON MAY 31, 1918, a German Rumpler two-seat aircraft was shot down in combat. The Rumpler’s six-cylinder Bassé & Selve engine was retrieved by British Intelligence and subjected to intensive … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 