FIASCOES, SHAMBLES, HAVOC AND HUBBUBS
I WAS reading recently about Chianti Classicos, Italian red wines. This evoked memories of romantic restaurants, red-and-white checkered tablecloths and candle wax dripping down onto straw-wrapped wine bottles. Well, it … Continue reading
SUZUKA SHENANIGANS
THIS WEEKEND, October 4 – 5, 2014, is the Japanese Grand Prix, held as it has been, on and off for years, at Suzuka Circuit in central Japan. I have … Continue reading
FAMILY-STYLE DINING
WHEN I say “family-style,” I’m not just talking about food “like mom used to make.” I mean classic eating establishments where everyone is served communal meals at shared tables. It’s … Continue reading
LESS, BUT BETTER
THE NAME Dieter Rams was unfamiliar to me before I read an item in Style Magazine T of The New York Times, September 26, 2014. It turns out, though, that … Continue reading
LLOYD STEARMAN, WICHITA AIRMAN
THIS TITLE may sound as though I’m channeling a Glen Campbell song, but indeed I’m celebrating an aviation great who played a role in earning Wichita, Kansas, the title “Air … Continue reading
CELEBRATING SIR HARRY FLASHMAN
IN THESE complex days of heroes and antiheroes, it’s fun to celebrate a downright scoundrel. Not just any downright scoundrel, but Sir Harry Paget Flashman, VC KCB KCIE. Sir Harry … Continue reading
DARL’MAT SPÉCIAL SPORT ROADSTER
EMILE DARL’MAT apprenticed with French aviation pioneer Clément Ader and, thus, could have been an aircraft builder. But, instead, Darl’Mat chose automobiles. He started in 1923 with an auto repair … Continue reading
THE TRAIPSING ROCKS OF RACETRACK PLAYA
A MYSTERY for more than 70 years has been solved: What prompts rocks, some weighing hundreds of pounds, to move across Racetrack Playa of Death Valley? Racetrack Playa is a … Continue reading
REAL FOLK
THERE WAS a time, not that long ago if you’re “of a certain age,” when folk music was all the rage. And when I say “folk music,” I mean the … Continue reading
GRUMMAN’S (AND MAUREEN O’HARA’S) GOOSE
THE GRUMMAN Goose sure did ok for itself. Designed in 1936 for well-heeled Long Island commuters, this amphibious aircraft was Grumman’s first monoplane, its first with twin engines and its … Continue reading
