Boswell who is 77 heard his daughter screaming and found an intruder on top of her with a gun in her face. He reportedly tackled the intruder and the two wrestled until his grandson entered the room with a shotgun...at which point the intruder fled. The assailant is still at large.

Via Alphecca

This is a big deal. There is no indication as I write this that this was anything but a home invasion....but this was a United States Congressman so something bigger can't be ruled out. Coming so soon after the Giffords assassination attempt this has got to have people on edge regards congressional security. I hope the powers that be don't overreact as US Representatives and Delegates are about the only federal officials the citizens have any access to.

In any event it seems that the asshat who is now on the lamb picked the wrong Congresscritter to bother...

Boswell was drafted into the US Army in 1956. According to his Congressional website, he reenlisted and became an army aviator who was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Soldier’s Medal, two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal with V device, and numerous other awards and decorations.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety said authorities had arrested Cody John Rollins, 19, of Lamoni. He's charged with first degree burglary, assault while participating in a felony, going armed with intent and three counts of first degree robbery.

He was held on $50,000 bond, and a lawyer hadn't yet been named.

Police also were searching for David Palmer Dewberry, 20, of Fremont, Neb., who is considered armed and dangerous and may have fled the state.

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Let's see how this reader reacts.

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...and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Allow me to explain.

Some years ago, a fan from my neck of the woods (one Amy Player) convinced several members of the LOTR cast that she was Elijah Wood's nephew/cousin/brother/something'r'other and conned them (and a great many Lord of the Rings fans) into donating to and otherwise supporting a bogus charity that turned out to be the Amy Player enrichment fund.

It gets worse.
Much worse.

Now she/he* has gone and gotten people killed.

Colleen Doran has a long, well researched post on this.

Read the whole thing. It is incredible and it is all true.

 ^{I see Ritzu and Yui have read it.}

Be advised that, as one of her commenters points out, the story is like a TV tropes thread. This psychopath has cut an intricate, vast and nigh unbelievable swath of misery, theft and betrayal through several branches of fandom.

This has rather more urgency than it might because the person is still out there preying on people. Even now,  under the name Andrew Blake, this character is running...yet another charity. Appallingly, it is dedicated to the memories of those that this sick person helped get killed.

Warn your friends in fandom, especially those involved in cons. Put the word out. This louse is a crook and any charity said louse is involved in is likely to be a scam.

 There is a collection of photos of this parasite here.

There is an excellent written account of Amy Players Continent Spanning Lord of the Rings charity scam by Jeanine Renne. It can be bought here.

UPDATE:

This gets creepier still.

It seems that there is another Andrew Blake who is actually known and presumably respected in the charity/NGO community.

This bit of trivia might explain why this waste of skin got such high profile endorsements for his most recent venture (Which includes Starbucks).

UPDATE2:

Via Colleen Doran

Oh how nice, a little clarification just got posted at the completely superfluous "It’s About Power” non-event.

"We are NOT a charity. We do not and have never solicited monetary donations nor do we accept them.
Under any circumstances.
The hike team has, however, sold items in order to fund their emergency cash as this kind of hike can be dangerous.
The only sponsorship we are currently requesting is 78lbs. of bison (or lean red) meat.”

Isn’t that special. Never claimed to be a charity? Never solicited donations? Pull the other one.

Backpedal faster, Andrew.

Someone really ought to tell these nitwits that a gift of property is just as tangible as a gift of money, and soliciting property is still soliciting.

There is no reason for anyone to sponsor this nonsense at all. Not even to feed the animals.

* _{( its unclear to me if there was ever surgery involved, the person was a trap when going by the name Amy Player, or the person in question is just a misandrist moby pretending to be a guy)}

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...and nowadays it frequently leads to bad places.

  So earlier today I encountered a word, in a context did not jive with my understanding of the word. I posted a comment to that effect.

My suspicions proved correct. Now I know what an imouto game is and I am a little deader on the inside for knowing that.

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1 That picture pretty much summarizes it.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sun Jul 10 11:05:11 2011 (+rSRq)

2 The best take on the issue is here:
 http://manga.clone-army.org/hh.php
I never needed to google it out :-)

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sun Jul 10 11:39:50 2011 (9KseV)

3 Man, if that's enough to blow your mind, don't ever go to Comiket. ;p

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Fri Jul 15 01:14:26 2011 (pWQz4)

4 Man, if that's enough to blow your mind, don't ever go to Comiket. ;p

Been there, done that.
Yes, there is much to curl ones nosehairs there. If I saw one of those though, the kanji did not register.

There is all kinds of deviancy in the world and it might be argued that someone who thinks Holo is hot ought not to cast stones, but I draw the line at blood, scat, vore and anything untoward involving little sisters. Little sisters are to be protected.

If you are into scat you are sick. If you are into vore, gore or little sisters you are just a bad person.

 Other than that, we here at Brickmuppet Blog are pretty tolerant, even if certain fetishes give us the creeps. If, for instance you are into yuri romances involving Rainbow Dash and Applejack...we will merely mock you mercilessly but we wont hate you.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Jul 16 12:38:50 2011 (EJaOX)

5 Oh good, I'm a Twilight Sparkle/Pinkie Pie sort myself.

...

What?

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sun Jul 17 09:59:18 2011 (PiXy!)

6 No, I read those posts back then, was going for humor. Unfortunately, I fire with open sights and a myopic gunner...

I keep seeing comments to the effect of "little sisters are only attractive to people who never had a little sister".

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Mon Jul 18 01:54:05 2011 (mRjOr)

7 No need to apologize....the in-your-face prurient pornageddon nature  of many of the tables at Comiket needs to be put out there lest some fragile soul go there and die of the vapors .

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Jul 18 13:46:22 2011 (EJaOX)

8 I think anyone who MAKES it into the hall is probably more or less immune to vapors... At least for summer Comiket, you know?

That said, if Japan wasn't as odd as it is, we wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much.

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Mon Jul 18 15:07:48 2011 (mRjOr)

9  I didn't mean THOSE vapors...

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Jul 18 15:47:34 2011 (EJaOX)

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235 years ago today the 13 southernmost of England's North American colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss what to do about the various political disputes they had had with London...disputes that had been festering for a decade.

One of these representatives, Benjamin Franklin, had spent 11 years in London trying to resolve these disputes. He had attempted to, amongst other things:

*set up a process for the colonists to elect MPs.

*represent their interests in policy discussions

*relay the London perspective back to the colonies.

While he was in England, he was increasingly treated not as a representative, but an ambassador from a hostile nation. Finally, in 1775, he was called everything but a child of God, told his people were nothing more than subjects who were not entitled to representation of any sort, He was summarily dismissed.

One of the most respected Britons of his age had gone to bring the nation closer together and returned convinced it was not possible.

The various delegates conferred and decided on a course of action. They published their conclusion and the reasons they reached it. It bears remembering that they did not come to their conclusion lightly .

Their statement is below.

Today is the day we celebrate their difficult, but demonstrably fortuitous decision.

It is also a time to reflect on the fact that Washington imposes afar greater degree of interference in our lives than Lord North ever contemplated. However, it is important to remember that the founders provided us with the very tool Lord North had denied them; the ballot box. 

^Before

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The Signatures.....

Georgia:
   Button Gwinnett
   Lyman Hall
   George Walton

North Carolina:
   William Hooper
   Joseph Hewes
   John Penn

South Carolina:
   Edward Rutledge
   Thomas Heyward, Jr.
   Thomas Lynch, Jr.
   Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock

Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania:
   Robert Morris
   Benjamin Rush
   Benjamin Franklin
   John Morton
   George Clymer
   James Smith
   George Taylor
   James Wilson
   George Ross

Delaware:
   Caesar Rodney
   George Read
   Thomas McKean

New York:
   William Floyd
   Philip Livingston
   Francis Lewis
   Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
   Richard Stockton
   John Witherspoon
   Francis Hopkinson
   John Hart
   Abraham Clark

^After

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Johnathan Tappan has put together a concise and informative series of posts on the histories and tenets of the various denominations of Buddhism found in Japan. Start here, then there are posts here, here, here, here and here. He also has a lengthy post on Buddhist in general and its representations in Japanese visual media.

^{The Great Buddha at Kamakura.}

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A few weeks ago Worlds Best Comics, the store run by my friend BOB!1!^tm was robbed. The thief made off with the register...on a Sunday night/Monday morning...This was a pretty bad hit for the store.

One of the more minor bits of fallout from this was only just realized this week: In the ensuing Chaos and confusion the Sentai Filmworks order for June was not placed...no HSotD on the 28th. This has been rectified....but there is no Zombie Cheesecake for Ken this weekend.

So I wait.

In the meantime I ponder spontaneous hydroponics.

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...but the results are hard to tell apart. The Anchoress has a post up regarding the current administration that some will find off-putting, but it's a good opportunity to touch on something I've wanted to...

..What?

Oh right. It's politics...so it goes below the fold...

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I really hope this release is successful. I'm actually pulling for ZOMBIE ADV Sentai Filmworks, but in a larger sense, I suspect that sales of this show (which given buzz and subject ought to be a runaway hit) are going to be very closely scrutinized with regards to the future viability of the R-1 Market. In other words, if this isn't a hit the viability of companies like  Sentai, Funimation and the others might be dubious indeed.

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ACE posted this picture as the lead in to last nights Overnight Thread.
The political skew of various sports. It does highlight some common ground on golf, though that bipartisan image is of dubious provenance.

But that's not all about the chart that strikes me as odd.  I would expect the NBA to be rather closer to the middle, but Monster Trucks? Seriously Monster Trucks is left wing? That is SO not green.
It's also not the oddest of the bunch...
WWE (pro wrestling). I cannot not see Bo Bo's going anywhere near a raslin' match...and I just cannot see Arn Anderson in Birkenstocks.

I question the methodology.

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Civilization is lost.*
The longest entry on Wikipedia is...this.  _(via)

_{* Of course I mean Civilization the human society that is advanced in science technology and division of labor: not the Sid Meir game....so don't panic}

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_{Click here for supah size.}

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June 28!

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When I first heard about this I thought I had to be hearing it wrong. It is after all insane.

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I can't listen to the radio.
Even blogs are a sketchy proposition.
'cause everywhere I go, I C Wiener.
I'm sick of it.

The damned story seems inescapable...

Well, today I slogged through and found a non-weiner story.

Oh wait...

Recent housing and employment data suggests the U.S. economy is at a tipping point where a double-dip recession is possible and home prices could have much further to fall, a veteran economist said on Thursday.

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Almost 40 years represented here.

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Pulpjunkie, a friend of nearly 20 years has been 'downsized'.  Fortunately he was able to get 're-purposed' by his company, however his new purpose is not in Northern Virginia, but the impenetrable jungles of deepest, darkest Pennsylvania. Shorter version, I won't be able to see him for a vary long while after this week.

I've been trying to get up there for weeks but family obligations, school or work have stymied me. As I was finally free, I decided to brave the horror that is I-95 on Memorial Day Weekend. Naturally, the Cressida chose that moment to have a coolant casualty and I pulled into the repair shop with the radiator boiling over,  The repair was minor, but the parts could not be delivered until after the holiday.  Dreading the un-air-conditioned and rickety Pickup of Peril, I decided to check how much an Amtrack ticket was.

$41 dollars each way is not bad and about what I'd spend to fuel the car (but about twice what I'd spend in the truck). I haven't been on a US passenger train in 30 years so  I figured  this would at least be interesting. After confirming that the Alexandria Station is close to a Metro station and coordinating with Pulpjunkie to pick me up, I purchased the tickets online and was at the Newport News station bright and early Saturday morning. The station has very limited long term parking but if fortuitously close to Worlds Best Comics (about a block).

I was interested in how Amtrack compared to Japanese rail, and was pleasantly surprised in all areas....except speed and punctuality.  The line from Newport News to Richmond is not high speed rated and while the tracks from Richmond to DC are,  heavy freight traffic and a lack of parallel rails frequently preclude really high speeds. The US train is thus theoretically comparable to Japanese non-Shinkasnsen long haul trains.  In contrast  to those, ( and even the bullet trains) the internal appointments compare favorably. Every seat, (even in coach!) has electrical sockets unlike the Japanese models, and in one other area the comparison is decidedly in the US trains favor.

^Compare.

The snack car is not a vending machine in the vestibule but a small kitchen staffed that serves a variety of fast food. There are dining cars on either side.

For a good distance east of Richmond the rail line runs next to its predecessor, one of the canals designed, surveyed and built by George Washington ( who was an accomplished civil engineer).

Before government regulation and competition with autos devastated the US passenger rail industry, small towns were built around the rail lines. Today many of these farming communities still have stations for freight and in Virginia the 'main street' is often parallel or perpendicular to the rail line. The train runs right up through several towns.

Ashland, now a suburb of Richmond, is one of the few that still has passenger rail service. Between Ashland and Fredricksburg there is mostly farmland, recent development has followed the interstates and most of the train stations like this one are no longer in service.

There are a few freight stations though.

 ^{This is a very bad picture of one}.

Rail freight is still a hugely lucrative and highly developed business in the USA, a fact that seems lost on many. Only marine transport is more efficient at transporting large quantities of goods. It also means that all these rail lines are filled with slow freight cars, which stymie most attempts to re-introduce passenger rail.  Danny Taggart ought to go into freight.

Because most actual real estate development gravitates to the roads, the areas around the rail line are often picturesque.

^{A beaver lodge!}

We proceeded on time until just short of Alexandria when the train stopped for 20 minutes because a CSX train was blocking the way.  Amtrack in Virginia  is using CSX rail lines but not actually paying to build parallel lines, so.....

20 minutes late, I arrived in Alexandria Station I helped an old lady maneuver her bags onto the train and met Pulpjunkie across from  the Washington Monument.

^{Wait. What!?}

I shortly thereafter discovered my wallet was missing. [expletive] [/expletive]. A good bit of drama ensued as I called the station got in touch with the next station and confirmed that the conductor had found it. It turns out the lady I helped turned it in, it had fallen out when I helped her load her bags. The wallet arrived on the next train and, astonished at my good fortune, we began our bumble through DC.

Oh yeah...the Washington Monument....It looks different up close doesn't it?
Actually that is the MASONIC Washington Memorial which is the Masons own monument to George Washington. Each level has a little museum dedicated to the various branches of Masonry, the Jewish or Christian orders that support each and what charities each are involved in with a bit of Masonic history as well as a limited talk on their arcane ceremonies...but no pictures are allowed...'cause the Masons are supr sekrit...except for their brochures and websites and stuff.

The Alexandria Amtrack Station is across the street from the King Street Metro Station. This allowed quick and easy access to La'Enfant Plaza, which was being used by Native American Navy veterans who were commemorating Memorial Day with a dance and concert. 

^{La'Enfant Plaza..Note the curious lack of Super Mutants.}

After taking that in we visited the Naval History Museum, where we learned that the first US Navy Ship was named after Alfred The Great.

This is a reminder that the revolution did not actually start as a secession, but as someone once said, English subjects fighting for the rights of Englishmen...against a German king.  Flash photography was not allowed but I did get a pic of this flight jacket with unit art.

None of the other pics really took.
We headed out and towards the Mall but were temporarily distracted by an infestation of modern art which has taken root off Constitution avenue.

We wandered down the Mall museum hopping.  Little has changed since the last time I was there. I note that the National Triceratops was removed some years ago depriving kids of the experience of climbing all over it...feh.

At the graveyard of tomorrows the only new exhibit was Spaceship 1 which was in a glare that defied photography. Most of the new exhibits are at a huge new facility out in Virginia.

 Of course we stocked up on provisions...(well I did: Pulpjunkie broke morale over the dehydrated ice cream).

^{SPACE FOOD!}

The newest Museum is the Museum of the American Indian and it is an architectural marvel and very nicely appointed. Pulpjunkie informs me that it has the best museum restaurant in the Smithsonian but we arrived too late to partake.

I had wanted to hit Chinatown again but Pulpjunkie suggested dinner in Annandale. As he is leaving it was his last opportunity to hit  his favorite Chinese Restaurant...

 

Like many of the best restaurants in the South, Duck Changs advertising is handled by Quisling food animals selling out their compatriots. I ordered the Mongolian Beef which was superb. Pulpjunkie had something else...but out of respect to my readers I shan't mention it.

Sunday was spent helping load furniture, measure the condo, which is to be rented out, and doing various other things. That evening we watched various shows on crunchy roll and talked until after midnight. Pulpjunkie the suggested Korean Barbeque. It seems that Annandale has several 24 hour Korean Barbecue joints.

^{Late night meat FTW!}

This brings us to another thing about Annandale...
This is a fairly typical strip mall.

^{Will NOT be trying the Il Mee restaurant.}

..as is this

 
^{A German Restaurant run by Koreans}

I'm not sure why Annandale became such a huge immigrant community but it has done wonders for the areas food options. To Wit:

Lunch Monday where I ate ENTIRELY too much chicken.

We arrived in Alexandria early Monday as we feared delays die to the holiday. There were none so we had a couple of hours to kill in Olde Town.

As a child I had thought that Alexandria was in Egypt, and that Alexander the Great had never even gotten to northern Virginia. Well, you live and learn.

Actually it is named for a plantation owner who donated land to the then port. 

People no doubt pay a premium in rent for authentic crappy road surfaces.

Of course there is the inevitable urban blight.

The old Torpedo Factory is now an art gallery and the waterfront is quite lively.

We arrived at the station with ample time to spare and said our goodbyes. The station is quite old and has been restored nicely.

This is the tunnel connecting to the other side of the station:I gather that its rarely used.

I was surprised to learn that the commuter lines now extend as far as Fredricksburg and Broad Run. Assuming there is parking, this could make trips to DC much less obnoxious.

The return trip was uneventful till just East of Richmond when the train stopped....and then proceeded along at 15mph. It seems that the computer systems for Amtrack, CSX and Norfolk Southern all went down, and no one knew precisely where the trains were. 15 mph was considered slow enough that the train could stop if an oncoming train was seen. This put the train over 2 hours late. I'm a little suspicious of all 3 systems going down at once. It certainly bears scrutiny. In any event Amtrack blew it on the scheduling this trip. However, the customer service was beyond excellent.

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Astronaut Ice Cream + Mongolian Beef = Fail

16 Blocks is much farther up than it is down.

24/7 Korean barbecue restaurant is a technology that needs the widest possible distribution.


Oh, and this exists:

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