HAPPY 400TH FIRST FOLIO
THE JUNE 2023 BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE has a fascinating article by Michael Wood on “400 Years of the First Folio.” Here are tidbits gleaned from Professor Wood’s piece, together with … Continue reading
JAGUAR TRIPPIN’—VIRTUALLY
THE JAGUAR HERITAGE TRUST is in Gaydon, south of Coventry in the English Midlands. It’s a vast continent and vast ocean from my home, but I’ve just tripped there—virtually. All … Continue reading
FILLING OUT FORMS PART 2
YESTERDAY, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS contributor Jonathan Sawday introduced us to filling out form A. 2042. Today in Part 2, we learn more of this and other bumf in Brit … Continue reading
FILLING OUT FORMS PART 1
JONATHAN SAWDAY’S “FILL IN THE BLANKS,” London Review of Books, June 29, 2023, shares vignettes of official correspondence employed by the British during the First World War. Like other LRB … Continue reading
TOYOTA TOYOPET DE LUXE—A 65-YEAR LOOK BACK
“WE BELIEVE,” WROTE R&T IN March 1958, “this is a first complete report of any kind of a new car whose significance may not be fully realized for at least … Continue reading
LISTEN UP! BUT TO WHAT? AND HOW?
THERE’S CONTROVERSY GALORE about old fashioned AM radio these days. At first thought, I would have said this is akin to arguing the merits of floppy discs or BetaMax or … Continue reading
RICH GUYS, ETHICS, AND THE LAW
ANATOLE FRANCE, 1921 NOBELIST, wrote in 1894, “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal … Continue reading
SAMOAN DAYS—REPEATED, LOST
THE INTERESTING FACTS WEBSITE NOTED that “In 1892, Samoa had two July 4s in a row.” “The international date line,” Interesting Facts says, “established in 1884, lies smack dab in … Continue reading
BABY TALK—DOLPHIN STYLE
WE’VE ALL HAD GENTLE LITTLE CONVERSATIONS with infants, this “baby talk” helping them to learn how to speak. What’s more, Beki Hooper Ph.D. reports in Psychology Today, July 3, 2023, … Continue reading
PURITANICAL PACHYDERMS
H.L. MENCKEN DEFINED PURITANISM as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” G.K. Chesterton wrote, “A puritan is a person who pours righteous indignation into the wrong things.” … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 