Let us not even mention the iQ – now that Toyota has been found innocent in the the great Unintended Acceleration case (see, e.g., Audi) why can’t we have have this car? It’s an Aygo, by the way:

“(NEWSER) – A potentially life-saving “emergency bra” invented by a Ukrainian doctor has gone from award-winningly odd idea to actual commercial product. The bra, which doubles up as a pair of gas masks has gone on sale online for $29.95, Fox reports. Inventor Elena Bodnar, who witnessed the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster, says readily available gas masks could have prevented many cases of radiation sickness.”

So tonight we’re going for the gold – Sole Meuniere (the dish that turned Julia Child on to French food), haricot vert (in this case, French green beans from Fairway), and pommes de terre (here Potatoes Lyonnaise).  First, the potatoes, because they can be made ahead and reheated. The finished dish:

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As many of you know, I was adopted. I have no idea who my biological parents or ancestors were.  So when NatGeo launched their Genographic Project, I paid my hundred bucks, sent in some cheek cells, and waited for the result. And here it is:

It appears I’m French, or at least my people started there.  I suppose this explains my politics and all the Julia Child cookery.

Frank Lloyd Wright died in April of 1959, and the museum on Fifth Avenue was not completed until October. When Wright found out where the museum was to be built, he was glad that it would stand nearly across from the Metropolitan Museum and declared that “his museum” would make the Metropolitan look “like a Protestant barn.”

This is a photo I took of the Guggenheim in 2003, using my crummy little Holga and standing in more than a foot of snow.

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Another Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece I visited a few times in 2000 and 2001 – it’s in Western PA, about 10 minutes from Fallingwater.  I took a few photos, as you might imagine. This is the front of the house – the carports (Wright refused to build garages lest they fill up with crap) are off to the left.

Yet the house looks like a fortress on the approach.

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A long time ago (1997), before Top Gear thankfully turned into a show that dropped pianos on Morris Marinas and played caravan conkers, they actually gave useful advice once in a while. Although this clip is 13 years old, the tips in it are spot on even today.

Trying to figure out who made that Volvo – I’m sure it’s another make and Volvo just slapped its badge on it. Mitsubishi, perhaps?