HYPIN’ HOLMES
YA GOTTA schlep the stock, move the merchandise, fill the till. And what better celebrity endorsement than the world’s most famous consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. Over the years, Holmes has … Continue reading
FLYERS OR FREAKS?
A DECADE after the Wright Bros. first flight, Jane’s all the World’s Aircraft 1913 published 220 pages of aircraft information. The book also contained an appendix titled “Historical Aircraft.” Its … Continue reading
ARITHMETIC CAN BE MOD
MODULAR ARITHMETIC made a brief appearance in “Edo Toggles and Models”: In particular, 2010 was a Year of the Tiger. What’s more, modular arithmetic shows up on clock faces, in … Continue reading
EDO TOGGLES AND MODELS
EDO IS the traditional name for Tokyo. The Edo period is also known as the Tokugawa Era, honoring Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of a clan that ruled Japan between … Continue reading
AN ARMCHAIR TOUR OF ARIZONA, THANKS TO THE COPPERSTATE 1000
A FRIEND who lives outside the U.S. asked me about the state of Arizona. She has never visited there, so I thought I would share some photos and memories of … Continue reading
SUZ’S LOVE NOTES
DAUGHTER SUZ sent me two e-mails, the first reading “Can I have one? Please?? xo.” The second one read simply, “Bwahahahaaa!!!!” followed by four red hearts. Each was accompanied by … Continue reading
WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS
“WE’LL ALWAYS have Paris” is more than a line from Casablanca. It’s an affirmation of civilization. Here are four recollections of the City of Light, from 1931, 1954, 1962 and … Continue reading
LULUS ON MY MIND
I SEEM to be encountering an inordinate number of Lulus in my life. SiriusXM “Radio Classics” just broadcast “Too Many Crooks,” a segment of Orson Welles’ The Lives of Harry … Continue reading
STUTZ AT LE MANS
LE MANS 24-hour races in the late 1920s were dominated by British Bentleys: They won 1927 – 1930. However, at the same time, the American carmaker Stutz set a Le … Continue reading
VIRTUAL REALITY—30 YEARS ON
CYBERSPACE HAS attracted me since I first heard of it in William Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer. The concept gained academic cred in another book, Cyberspace: First Steps, a 1991 collection … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 