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

EARLY AIR MAIL SNAFUS  PART 1

IT’S INTERESTING ENOUGH that a philatelic screwup complicated early U.S. air mail, so too did prenup nepotism. Here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow are tidbits especially focusing … Continue reading

November 17, 2023 · 1 Comment

A PRE-COMPACT FORD

COMPACT DOMESTICS WERE STILL TWO YEARS AWAY in 1957 when R&T noted “What Dearborn doesn’t have, Dagenham does.” The car tested was the English Ford Consul II, a downsized rendering … Continue reading

November 16, 2023 · 4 Comments

SCRIPTS REDUX   PART 2

YESTERDAY, WE LEARNED OF A RECYCLED SCRIPT going from play to movie to Broadway musical to movie of the musical. Today, the recycling continues, even to including an original author … Continue reading

November 15, 2023 · Leave a comment

SCRIPTS REDUX   PART 1

SOME TALES ARE SO GOOD that they’re worth repeating. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. La Bohème and Rent. The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz. Here, though, I’m … Continue reading

November 14, 2023 · Leave a comment

ALPHABETS, SYMBOLS, AND OTHER SQUIGGLY STUFF

ONE OF MY MORNING RITUALS, after 6:00 a.m. Pacific BBC World Service and a final reading/editing of the day’s SimanaitisSays, is Voice of America News. Each day VOA includes its … Continue reading

November 13, 2023 · Leave a comment

TOYOTA ENTHUSIASMS

WHEN A GUY IS A CAR NUT—and his name, sorta, is on the building—enthusiasm filters down. And so it seems with Akio Toyoda, current chairman of the board and past … Continue reading

November 12, 2023 · 1 Comment

A VERTICAL TOUR

BRITISH ASTRONOMER FRED HOYLE GOT ME THINKING about the sliver of atmosphere making life possible on Earth. Here are tidbits about this, sourced from one place and another, including SimanaitisSays. … Continue reading

November 11, 2023 · 1 Comment

SCIENCE FOR ARTIES, POETRY FOR TECHIES

WE LAMENT THESE DAYS the chasms of thought between this and that, reds and blues, one thing and another. Occasionally, though, a unifying aspect appears. And so it is with … Continue reading

November 10, 2023 · Leave a comment

EVS AND THE POLITICAL SPLIT

RECENT ITEMS DISCUSS YET ANOTHER SPLIT between Republicans and Democrats: how best to accomplish the inevitable transition from internal-combustion to electric mobility. Indeed, my choice of the word “inevitable” places … Continue reading

November 9, 2023 · 7 Comments

BENJAMINS, MAJESTIES, GATES AND BRIDGES, AND OUR NATIONAL MUSHROOM

I GOT STARTED ON THIS with the Interesting Facts website saying, “Only One Building Outside Washington, D.C., is Featured on U.S. Banknotes.” Our National Pyramid. Here’s an architectural tour, starting … Continue reading

November 8, 2023 · 1 Comment