SHOW CARS I’VE DRIVEN—MORE OR LESS
CONCEPT CARS are the icing on the auto show cake. These cars embody the latest trends of auto styling. They often hint at products coming soon from automakers. They can … Continue reading
THE FIRST FERRARI F1
A CUTAWAY of a car or aircraft can entertain me for hours. This one of the Ferrari 125 is a fine example. There has been a succession of Ferrari Formula … Continue reading
“AND,” MISBEHAVING
I HAVE a grammatical gripe with the misbehaving word “and.” I’m not referring to the subtlety of the serial or series comma, aka the Oxford or Harvard comma. Me? I’m … Continue reading
HEMINGWAY DECKED; FITZGERALD BLAMED
YES, HEMINGWAY as in Earnest and Fitzgerald as in F. Scott. I experienced a frisson of excitement when I learned of this odd boxing match in the “Letters” column of … Continue reading
DOUGLAS AD SKYRAIDER—TOO GOOD TO RETIRE
THERE ARE SOME aircraft so good that they defy retirement. Boeing’s B-52 Stratofortress and 747 wide-body airliner come to mind, these continuing in service since 1955 and 1969, respectively. Another … Continue reading
PACIFIC COAST TOURING
“AUTOMOBILE TOURING on the Pacific Coast is altogether a different matter from that of tooling about the East.” This claim comes from Charles Fuller Gates, a travel, bicycle and motoring … Continue reading
CHAOTIC PENDULUMS
A SIMPLE PENDULUM’s measured behavior is a marvelous thing. A clock with one doesn’t need batteries. It doesn’t need a plug. There’s no solar panel or other wizardry. All pendulums, … Continue reading
THE WEBB—AN AMAZING SCIENTIFIC ENDEAVOR
TWO AND A HALF years from now, the James Webb Telescope will surge into space to replace the current best eye in the sky, the Hubble Telescope. The Hubble has … Continue reading
PRISON FOOD
WELL, DOES the Casa di Reclusione Milano Bollate sound like a setting for an Italian restaurant? Then again, it is Milan’s Bollate Prison, a medium-security slammer. No matter, because InGalera, … Continue reading
THE FLYING MONTEES
IT WAS A FABULOUS time for aviation, the 1920s. Airplanes had proved their mettle in World War I. Plenty of these craft were now surplus, offering inexpensive means for the … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 