Dispatches from Vilnius

There is a marketing agency in Vilnius called Truth.  I like their email address: hello@truth.lt.  They appear to do a lot of advertising, or rather marketing work for local companies with some nice looking logos , or rather branding, that is a cut above other such efforts I have seen in Vilnius.  I don't know how much truth there is in it, but I imagine much more than will be Donald Trump's new social media platform . It may not be the death of irony , as George Takei jokes, but the title should give everyone pause.  "Truth" was the banner head of the Soviet Union propaganda machine, although they called it Pravda , the name of the state newspaper.  Trump doesn't make much effort to disguise his sources.  Interesting that Donald chooses to launch his new political organ on the eve of the Virginia governor election, a little more than a week away.  The conservative candidate is a staunch Trump ally, although Youngkin has tried to distance himself in th...

All Hallow's Eve has become a pretty big event in Vilnius with all sorts of parties around town, haunted houses and even an orientation run on the theme of Halloween Radioactivity that was staged a few years ago.  However, the one I remember most fondly was the Halloween party we had at Daina's flat my first year in Vilnius. I had been in the country barely one month.  I had just gotten to know her children and was wanting to engage them in something fun, as they were still a little bit of scared of this new man in their lives.  They didn't speak much English, and I hardly a word of Lithuanian, but Daina would translate stories at bedtime that seemed to ease their worries.  As Halloween approached, I had been coming up with ghost stories, which they thoroughly enjoyed and Goda wanted badly to celebrate the evening.    She took the lead, as she did with such events, dressing up her little brother and herself.  We were unable to find anything other than ...

October is always a mixed bag when it comes to the weather.  Starts out cold and foreboding, then warms up with a week of Indian Summer, only to vacillate back and forth as the cold and warm fronts try to figure out what to do.  The sidewalks are covered in maple and linden leaves, the two most popular trees in Žverynas, but it is the oak leaves with their rounded edges that I like the most. The dog has been anxious to go for walks.  The cat follows us part way along Lenktoji St, before ducking into a yard, only to pop back out when we return and follow us home.  She wanted to finish her breakfast.  The dog much calmer now, giving me a few moments of relief as I work at home today. I've decided to limit my time at the office to three days per week, which is what I'm paid for anyway.  The mood hasn't been good ever since the failed movie night a few weeks ago.  My wife still insists on going to the office everyday, despite similarly being paid part time...

The #MeToo movement, or whatever it has morphed into today, has certainly forced us to reevaluate our relationships, mostly for the better.  Men in power find it is not so easy to get away with the antics they were able to get away with in the past.  You may not face jail time, but you certainly will find plenty of embarrassment if you overstep the bounds when it comes to unwanted sexual advances.  Just ask Andrew Cuomo? That said, the movement has taken yet another quixotic turn.  The lyrics of rock songs are now being questioned.  Rather than risk further offending anyone, The Rolling Stones decided to drop Brown Sugar from its concert set list, a fan favorite they have been playing for decades.  Keith seemed a little bemused by this because in his mind it was about the "horrors of slavery."   It is a weird song as it drops all sorts of intriguing references  but ultimately seems to be about having dirty sex with black women.  I can w...