MY BRIGHTEST (ALBEIT SHARPEST) OF SOUTHERN ITALY
OF ALL MY BAEDEKER’S GUIDE BOOKS, my Southern Italy is in the best condition. A 1912 edition, it’s far from the newest. Yet its spine is tight, its pages unruffled, … Continue reading
GIAMBATTISTA BODONI—”JUST THE TYPE”
MOLLY YOUNG WRITES ON X (formerly known as you-know-what), “Can’t help but think that ‘Bodoni’ sounds like Italian slang for ‘gorgeous big butt’— e.g. ‘Mamma mia, check out the bodoni … Continue reading
NESSIE TIDBITS PART 2
I’M NOT SURE HOW I got into researching the Loch Ness Monster, but it’s fun to tiptoe between truth and supposition. Indeed, here in Part 2 matters seem to reside … Continue reading
NESSIE TIDBITS PART 1
I TEND TO BE A SKEPTICAL SORT (my mathematics training rates proof above supposition) and I dislike anagrams (which sounds irrelevant but of which more anon). These two personality quirks, … Continue reading
FERRARI GROWL FROM A TINY TIGER—THE 1958 FIAT-ABARTH 750
“UNDOUBTEDLY A FAVORITE SPORT of Fiat-Abarth owners will be VW-baiting,” R&T said in June 1958. “Even our somewhat jaded test crew got a tremendous kick out of driving the Fiat-Abarth … Continue reading
DECIMAL SEPARATOR TIDBITS
“THE DECIMAL POINT,” REPORTS SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, February 29, 2024, “is 150 Years Older Than Previously Thought, Medieval Manuscript Reveals.” Sarah Kuta writes, “A Venetian merchant used the mathematical symbol while … Continue reading
LET’S AIM FOR LAGOM
A RECENT WORD•GENIUS introduced me to the word “lagom” and also got me thinking about life in general. Originally a Swedish word, lagom (LAH-gawm) is “the principle of living a … Continue reading
NON-ABELIAN OPERATIONS
AN OPERATION IS COMMUTATIVE (OR ABELIAN) if the order of its application is irrelevant to the result: A • B = B • A. It is non-commutative (or non-abelian) if … Continue reading
RUM-RUNNERS OF THE AIR PART 2
YESTERDAY, A 100-YEAR-OLD REPORT from The New York Times described “Flyers Who Ply Their Contraband Trade on Our Landward Borders and Our Coasts.” What writer Howard Mingos had in mind … Continue reading
RUM-RUNNERS OF THE AIR PART 1
THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION and its enforcing Volstead Act, 1919, prohibited the manufacture and sales of alcoholic beverages. Note, however, it didn’t outlaw the possession or consumption of … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 