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

JAGUAR R1 FORMULA 1 CAR—VIRTUAL TESTING PART 1

BY THE MILLENNIUM, TELEMETRY had become firmly embedded into Formula 1. And in the year 2000, F1 had its inaugural United Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (not to be … Continue reading →

May 19, 2024 · Leave a comment

CALL ME ANYTHING BUT NOT LATE FOR DINNER

I AGED TEN YEARS MOMENTARILY in reading the Social Security Administration’s list of most popular baby names for 2023. Quickly, though, matters got back to what passes for normal in … Continue reading →

May 18, 2024 · 1 Comment

ALOHA, HOALOHA

HAWAIIAN IS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE of our 50th state; so is English. (The only other U.S. states with multiple official languages are Alaska including 20 Alaska Native tongues and South … Continue reading →

May 17, 2024 · 2 Comments

SLEUTHING LEONARDO’S BACKGROUND

DALYA ALBERGE WRITES in The Guardian, May 11, 2024, “Mystery of Where Mona Lisa Was Painted Has Been Solved, Geologist Claims.” Alberge recounts, “The landscape behind Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona … Continue reading →

May 16, 2024 · Leave a comment

WHATS GOIN ON AT ST MARYS WALK? OR WATERSTONES? OR VONS?

JENNY GROSS WRITES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 10, 2024, “An English Town Drops Apostrophes From Street Signs. Some Aren’t Happy.” “Malcolm Wood, an English teacher in North Yorkshire, … Continue reading →

May 15, 2024 · 4 Comments

DISSIN’ FOR FUN

BACK IN OCTOBER 2022, MY BOOK REVIEW of Colin Jarman’s Barbed Quotes: Mudslinging, Backstabbing, and Celebrity Dishing offered only one quote concerning politicians. I guess I thought Trump would just … Continue reading →

May 14, 2024 · 5 Comments

THE SANTOS=DUMONT DEMOISELLE    PART 2

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF ALBERTO SANTOS=DUMONT were offered in Part 1 yesterday. Today we focus on the 1908 Demoiselle, his last aeroplane design and my latest GMax project. An Ur-Ultralight. Quite … Continue reading →

May 13, 2024 · 3 Comments

THE SANTOS=DUMONT DEMOISELLE    PART 1

BRAZILIAN ALBERTO SANTOS=DUMONT (the “=,” his stylized choice) was a Deutsch-Prize-winning balloonist (1901) who went on to demonstrate his 14 bis aeroplane on October 23, 1906 before a large crowd … Continue reading →

May 12, 2024 · 4 Comments

R&T SORTA CARPS ABOUT THE MUSCLE CAR ERA  PART 2

YESTERDAY IN PART 1, R&T WAXED ELOQUENT about muscle cars countering a U.S. automaker racing ban and swiping car names from good, honest foreigners. Today it continues in its road … Continue reading →

May 11, 2024 · Leave a comment

R&T SORTA CARPS ABOUT THE MUSCLE CAR ERA  PART 1

R&T GOT ALL NUTSY in 1964 about the Pontiac GTO’s name, but they were also recognizing the category of “muscle car.” Wikipedia cites Merriam-Webster defining the category as “a group … Continue reading →

May 10, 2024 · 3 Comments