Writer's Block: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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I've named both the cars that have been mine. The 1973 Datsun station wagon was The Yellow Peril (an exceedingly apt name, trust me.) My current Ford Ranger is named Darby.

The flag will be lowered by fur-clad barbarians wielding massive iron swords. With polar bears.

Frank Frazetta, an illustrator whose  vivid colors and striking brushstrokes conjured up fantastic worlds of musclebound heroes fighting with broad swords and battle axes to defend helpless women from horrible beasts, died on Monday in Fort Myers, Fla. He was 82.

The death, caused by a stroke, was  confirmed by Rob Pistella and Steve Ferzoco, his business managers. In a telephone interview, Mr. Pistella said that Mr. Frazetta, who had a history of strokes, had returned from a Mother’s Day dinner with his family on Sunday night and complained of feeling ill. Emergency medical services were called and Mr. Frazetta was rushed to the hospital, where he died.

via filkertom. One of my favorite artists, and one of the people who defined the look of modern fantasy.

OMG, go watch this!!!!

Best Motivator recession EVER!

Well, that was fun.

So here I sit, recovering from this morning's adventures in food poisoning, playing CivIV very badly, when there's a knock at the door. A very insistent knock. Not a pounding or hammering, but a staccato rapping that had some urgency to it. I went to the door and opened it, fully expecting another guy selling bootleg DVDs or boxes of strawberries, or the local religious annoyances, but no. . . this is something new.

A San Jose Police officer in full tactical gear down to the M-16A2 slung over his shoulder. Now there's something you don't see every day.

I look him up and down and say "Boy, you guys are serious about those parking tickets." Got a chuckle.

He tells me there is a "situation" and for my own safety I should remain in my apartment with the door locked and bolted. Oh, and don't answer the door without looking to see who it is. and we'd prefer it if you'd not call/text/tweet anyone about what's happening.

OK, staying indoors was my plan anyway, but I made a circuit of our windows to see what I could see. They police had closed Almaden Expressway in both directions, closed off our little road, and I really didn't know we had that many police cars. Plus a couple of black Chevy Suburbans that just screamed "federal agent" to me. Alas, we don't have a window that looks into our alleyway, so I couldn't see where things were going down.

After about 20 minutes, the all-clear sounded (couple of bloops from a police siren) they re-opened the roads, and I and all my neighbors who happened to be home, pop out to see if anything interesting was still about. Y'know, like chalk outlines, crime scene tape, spare guns that someone dropped... no such luck.

My best guess is that it was the Federal Marshals making a high-risk arrest. From what I've read, they are more likely to use local police for support and perimeter securing than the FBI.