THE WEST INDIES—COLONIAL EDITION
THANKS TO Englishman Algernon E. Aspinall, I offer compelling information here on the Montserrat brogue, John Teach (aka Blackbeard the pirate), a Caribbean counterpart of Forty-Niner’s sourdough, and how to … Continue reading
MONOSPAR WINS 1934 KING’S CUP
IT MAY have been only a handicap race appealing to club pilots flying any old aircraft, but the King’s Cup originated by His Majesty George V in 1922 brought forth … Continue reading
TASTY TIME TRIPPIN’
COOKBOOKS FROM other eras can be fun—and real adventures in the modern kitchen. Needless to say, I have several examples; here are three of my favorites. This isn’t a cookbook … Continue reading
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
THE CONTROLLED fury of Formula 1 racing has been affected this season by discontent over the sound of the cars’ exhaust. To me, this is misguided acoustics, much ado about nothing, and in … Continue reading
JAPAN—IN 1950
MY COLLECTION of guidebooks on Japan goes back to the turn of the century (that earlier turn, not our recent one). Two of my favorite books, however, are rather more … Continue reading
JOKING AROUND, MUSICALLY, WITH GERARD HOFFNUNG
A WAGNER opera begins at 7 p.m. Three hours later, you look down at your watch and it’s 7:25. What’s the difference between a viola and an onion? Nobody cries … Continue reading
ZÉCAR AND THE MIL FOLHAS PROJECT
IT’S TURNABOUT of the best kind: A charming little toy car is helping to reforest an area destroyed by highway expansion. The toy is Zécar. The reforestation is Mil Folhas … Continue reading
TOYOTA LINEAR GENERATOR
RESEARCHERS AT Toyota’s Central R&D Labs in Japan have shared details of generating electricity with an unorthodox internal combustion engine. The engine is a two-stroke design, but with a piston … Continue reading
HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, LEONARDO DA VINCI
WELL, WE missed celebrating Leonardo da Vinci’s 562nd birthday. It was a few weeks ago on April 15 Old Style, so I can’t even appeal to the Julian-to-Gregorian Calendar update, … Continue reading
TALK TO ME, IRIS
WE’RE FAMILIAR (sometimes irritatingly so) with autonomous voices and their menu-based options. “Hello, your call is important to us,”—but apparently not enough to employ a real person. What’s more, whether … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 