SHAMUS SLANG—YOU GET ME, NATCH?
WIFE DOTTIE fears I might be enjoying too many old-time radio shows. You know, Nero Wolfe, Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Boston Blackie. Shamuses who treat their molls tough. Dolls who … Continue reading
THE MOOR OF THE MET
GIUSEPPE VERDI’S Otello opens the Metropolitan Opera’s 2015-2016 season with a break in tradition. Hitherto, its Moor of Venice has appeared in black makeup, but not this time. Tenor Aleksandrs … Continue reading
MOROCCAN RIFFS—AND MORAL CONSEQUENCES
FULL DISCLOSURE: This began as an item on U.S. World War I pilots taking part in the 1925 Riff Uprising in Morocco. However, the name Riff rang an old-movie bell. … Continue reading
VW’S DIESEL SCAM
THERE IS technical interest in Volkwagen’s scamming of government and customers. According to Bloomberg Business, almost 500,000 VW and Audi diesels, beginning in Model Year 2009, are involved in the … Continue reading
JEREZ, CADIZ, AND A BASELESS GLASS OF SHERRY
FORMULA 1 winter testing is big-time today, with guided tours for enthusiasts in March 2016 to the Spanish Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. In 1989 when I first attended one, things were … Continue reading
CHOCOLATE: MINE! MINE! MINE!
THE BBC World Service alerted me to yet another world conflict, this one between chocolatiers. Sometimes called the Chocolate War, in legal circles it can be identified as Kit Kat … Continue reading
WHAT’S A “RENEWABLE RESOURCE” ANYWAY?
THE TERM “renewable resource” gets bandied about a lot. Indeed, I’ve been party to such bandying in discussion of California’s electricity and its sourcing. Most people think of hydro power, … Continue reading
SOCIAL ENGINEER, HEAL THYSELF
HERE AT SimanaitisSays, I avoid political matters, especially local ones. There is a surfeit of websites addressing them and, besides, statistics show that typically more than half of you, bless … Continue reading
CAR SCHLEPPING IN DAYS OF YORE
ZILPHA’S COMMANDOS comes immediately to mind with car schlepping in days of yore. In the early days, R&T staff members did their own fetching and returning of test cars. Then along … Continue reading
THE FIRST U.S. CIVIL WAR
DISPUTED SURVEYS led to the first war between U.S. citizens. The year was 1835, 26 years before the Battle of Fort Sumter and the American Civil War. The conflict, known … Continue reading
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