Farm to vending machine (Japanese curry rice)

Marco Island landfall for Irma?

It looks like it. My in-laws have a vacation condo there on the second floor of Sunset House North. It has been in the family since the 1970s and holds a lot of memories. They've spent virtually every Christmas there. It's a short walk to the bathtub warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. With storm surges of over nine feet predicted, the FLAT island will be inundated. Apparently, until the 1980s, there was no sandy beach there. The shoreline was right in front of the condo. They pumped white sand from the Gulf to create that artificial beach.

Irma makes landfall around 10 a.m. Eastern on Sunday.

The condo is at the 3:00 mark. It is the second oldest building along the beach. Developers made a fortune there.

How to make a baseball

So imprecise and labor-intensive. And beautiful!

Walt Disney-designed children's gas mask, WWII

Genesis valet

Didn't they try this with the Phaeton here in the U.S.? That didn't work out.

Interview with a Lithuanian

Thanks, BHF!

1 What are your fondest memories of growing up in Lithuania?

Summers in the city. The city would get almost empty since most of the parents would ship their kids to the villages to stay with their grandparents. I had nowhere to go, everybody lived in the city. I mostly stayed with my grandparents that lived in Zverynas, one of the oldest residential parts of Vilnius and was allowed to do whatever I wanted. Then there were summer vacations on Lithuanian beaches that are beautiful. One place is the Curonian Spit. The other is the seaside resort town of Palanga.

2 What are your worst memories?

I really have nothing. My biggest complaint was that I was not allowed to have a dog.

3 Did Communism permeate through every aspect of life?

Pretty much. I knew that we lived in an occupied country since I was very little.

4 When the Soviet Union broke apart, what were you doing?

I was on the streets. On January 11, 1991, I was outside the Lithuanian Parliament. We honestly thought that the Soviets are gonna attack. We all were ready to die.

5 Before the Soviet Union broke apart, could you ever imagine it would happen one day?

The hope was almost lost.

6 What is the relationship between Lithuanians and the Russians who stayed in Lithuania today?

It's really hard to say, I do not live in the country since 2000. The Russian community was not that big there. The biggest issue is so called local Polish community that is supported by the Soviets. It's pretty complicated, would require a lot of writing but if you wanna now I will try to put something together.

7 Are Lithuanians afraid that Russia will invade again?

Yes, very much so.

8 How similar are the Lithuanian language and culture to the languages and cultures of Estonia and Latvia?

The Latvian language is pretty close, but Estonian is totally different, it belongs to the Ugro-Finnish language group. We were mostly united because our countries were occupied by the Soviets. 

9 Did your family have a car when you were growing up? What was it? What do you remember about it?

We did not have a car. There were very few people who had cars when i was a kid. My great uncle had a Pobeda, but I saw it only in the pictures. That was a beautiful car.

10 What would you like people to know about Lithuania? 

We were the last pagan country in Europe. We were baptized only in 1387. I think that says a lot about our resilience. Also, we are very proud of our language, one of the oldest spoken languages in the world.

All 5 former Presidents appeal for Harvey help

Look at these men! I even miss W, a little.

Stay safe, Floridians. Irma looks bad.