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
LET’S TALLY UP NOW
THIS ALL STARTED with my recently perusing Mayhew’s London and his tale “Of the Tally Packman.” Mayhew writes of 19th-century London, “The pedlar tallyman is a hawker who supplies his … Continue reading
OPERA TIDBITS FROM SIR DENIS (AND DENNIS) PART 2
YESTERDAY A DIFFERENT APPROACH was offered for operatic review: Combine Daughter Suz and my Met HD Live Carmen experiences with the irreverent—and occasionally non-PC—analyses of Sir Denis Forman’s A Night … Continue reading
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
Simanaitis Says 