Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

1955 FORD THUNDERBIRD—WHAT’LL SHE DO?   PART 2

R&T’s ROAD TEST OF THE FIRST-GENERATION Ford Thunderbird emphasized testing methodology as opposed to a review of the car itself. Here in Part 2 the testers share hints on optimizing … Continue reading

February 15, 2024 · Leave a comment

1955 FORD THUNDERBIRD—WHAT’LL SHE DO?   PART 1

R&T WROTE IN MARCH 1955, “With all the interest in the new Thunderbird ‘personal car,’ the performance claims of overly enthusiastic salesmen can perhaps be excused. In a quick survey … Continue reading

February 14, 2024 · 1 Comment

YET MORE DRAGON LORE

YOU’D THINK THIS WEBSITE’S “Dragons be Here and There Parts 1 and 2,” July 7, 2022, would have satisfied my (and your) curiosity. However, 2024 is the Year of the … Continue reading

February 13, 2024 · 3 Comments

WERE OUR ANCESTORS LIKE US? 

I’VE BEEN ENJOYING SIMON BANKS’ OPERA: The Autobiography of the Western World. Like other chapters in the book, it examines fundamental questions of western civilization from the perspective of opera: … Continue reading

February 12, 2024 · Leave a comment

PHYSICS OF A FORWARD PASS

I HAVE LONG ASSUMED GYROSCOPIC ACTION was responsible for the stability of a football’s spiral pass. Well, it turns out yes and no, as described by Regina G. Barber, Rachel … Continue reading

February 11, 2024 · 2 Comments

PHONY MATH CITATIONS

 THE QUALITY OF A RESEARCH PAPER, in mathematics as well as other areas, is often assessed by counting the number of other scholars who have referred to the paper. Alas, … Continue reading

February 10, 2024 · 1 Comment

ALLARD K3—GRENDEL’S SOPHISTICATED BROTHER?

TO GET A SENSE FOR THE K3’S RELATIONSHIP to Grendel, check out “Allard Palm Beach—Grendel’s Kid Sister,” appearing only three months before this particular R&T road test.  This and other … Continue reading

February 9, 2024 · 1 Comment

VAMPIRIC NUMERICS

I’M NOT PARTICULARLY INTO BLOODY TALES; I love garlic; and I’m not adverse to mirrors nor crosses. But by training I am a mathematician and can thus understand arithmomania, a … Continue reading

February 8, 2024 · 2 Comments

EMAIL ELUCIDATION 

THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY, ALAS, is sometimes a sewer. However I must say that, garbage deleted with a click, there are also gems of email elucidation, serendipitous bits of knowledge I … Continue reading

February 7, 2024 · Leave a comment

CHINA BANS TIME TRAVEL

NOT THAT I NEED YET ANOTHER reason to dislike the Chinese Communists government and control, but Interesting Facts reported that “China Banned Time Travel in TV and Movies.” Interesting Facts recounts, … Continue reading

February 6, 2024 · 3 Comments