OPERA TIDBITS FROM SIR DENIS (AND DENNIS) PART 1
SIR DENIS FORMAN’S A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is subtitled “An Irreverent Guide to the Plots, the Singers, the Composers, the Recordings.” Daughter Suz and I, indeed, have just seen … Continue reading
NASH-HEALEY AND THE BENEFIT OF FORCED INDUCTION
ACTUALLY I ADMIRE NASH-HEALEYS of 1950-1952 Le Mans fame (finishing 4th, 6th, and 3rd overall, respectively) more than I do the marque’s later Pinin Farina iteration. To my eye, the … Continue reading
KUDOS ALL AROUND!!
HIGH PRAISE TO NASA AND ITS OVERACHIEVEMENT! On April 19, 2021, NASA’s helicopter Ingenuity made history in completing its first powered, controlled flight on Mars. As noted by NASA, “Designed … Continue reading
GOLD IN THAT THAR CREEK!
“THE FIRST U.S. GOLD RUSH was started by a 12-year-old boy,” reads the Interesting Facts website. What? Not James Marshall at Colonel John Augustus Sutter’s Mill? Well, no. And indeed, … Continue reading
ROENTGEN ARCHITECT’S TABLE
THE ARTISTRY OF DAVID ROENTGEN was unknown to me until an ad in The New York Times, January 28, 2024. What a splendid combination of marquetry and mischievousness. How else … Continue reading
JAGUAR ARITHMETIC
R&T SUMMED UP ITS June 1955 road test of the Jaguar XK-140 with what it called “COVENTRY’S FINEST FORMULA.” The magazine said, “For six years the Jaguar XK sports car … Continue reading
WHAT DO “TROUSERS” TROUSE ANYWAY?
ETYMOLOGIES OF SWEATERS, SNEAKERS, AND PEDAL-PUSHERS are clear. Even skorts. But what of trousers? Here’s what I learned from Merriam-Webster, the O.E.D., the Internet, and other sources. The Merriam-Webster entry … Continue reading
ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS REDUX
“ČAPEK’S ROBOTS” EXPLORED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE here at SimanaitisSays back in September 2017. In reviewing Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.U.R., the article asked, “Will its advancement be to mankind’s good or … Continue reading
MENUS AROUND THE COUNTRY
“AFTER YEARS OF PLEXIGLASS DIVIDERS, CURBSIDE DELIVERY, masked servers and, yes, QR codes,” say The New York Times writers Priya Krishna, Tanya Sichynsky, and Umi Syam, “one thing was immediately clear: … Continue reading
LAUGH IT UP—ONLINE OR OFF
WHAT WITH ONE THING AND ANOTHER, there seems to be little to laugh about these days. But what is laughter? Why do we laugh? And how do we laugh in … Continue reading
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