Columbo - Sharp as a glass

 

[VIDEO] I had binge watched a number of Columbo episodes last year and you can always find clips of that show on YouTube.

Columbo as a character started off in two TV movies with different versions of the character. One portrayal in the TV movie Prescription Murder, he doesn't seem like the one to mess with once he's on your trail. He starts harrassing the female accomplice telling her that he will break her.

Of course later portrayals are far more softer. Columbo is very adept at lulling his suspects into a very false sense of security. And he's "sharp as a glass" enough to get all the proof he needs to prove the committed the crime.

This video I found today via Count Akira is a love letter to this beloved TV character portayed by Peter Falk which was part of the line-up for the NBC Mystery Movie during the 1970s. I do wish they could find a way bring this character back even if they had to recast him.

Michael Franzese on the NBA betting scandal arrests

 

[VIDEO] Former Columbo crime family captain discusses how the mob operates when it comes to athletes (college or professional) involvement in sports gambling. He illustrates how the mafia (perhaps any organized criminal organizations) are able to sink their teeth into these athletes.

Chicago Tribune: NBA’s Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups charged in sprawling sports betting and Mafia-backed poker schemes

OTOY: Creating Kubrick's Space Odyssey

 

[VIDEO] 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my all-time favorite movies.

When I first saw it on cable in about 1995, I couldn't believe that something like this could be produced & released in 1968. I thought I was watching something that had premiered in the 1980s.

Also the movie was closer in time to 2001 and I also knew there was no way we were going to launch a Jupiter mission. We haven't even gone to Mars and the Apollo lunar program was over in the early 1970s, thus we don't even have moon bases there in 1995.

Oh and we didn't even have flights into Earth orbit. PanAm wasn't flying anywhere because they had closed down in 1991. If someone could revive the brand for flights into Earth orbit and to the moon that would be very cool.

And in this almost hour long documentary we see the thought put into this movie by Stanley Kubrick and his crew. This is one of his many masterpieces. 

So far I've only seen Paths of Glory, Spartacus, 2001, and a Clockwork Orange. He didn't make that many movies during his career and when he does make movies he puts a lot of time and energy in them. I'd say that works for him. Basically quality of output more than quantity.

Also OTOY is also know for some of their own Star Trek projects, so look out for them also.

Isaac Asimov: The Last Question

 I found a video of this last month on YouTube which I will share with you, however, if you prefer to read it here's a link that I found to this short story. Can't believe it's publicly available. Perhaps this is something worth saving to your hard-drive before it's taken off the internet due to copyright.

Upon finding out the story, I just see it as an instant favorite. Seems to combine A.I., questions about the universe with even a biblical origin story. I've been using A.I. to ponder the fate of the universe - don't worry much about it though it's trillions or more in the future, not imminent.

This is of course a sci-fi story taking place in the future. Who knows what mankind's fate will be after thousands of years let alone millions of years.

Here's the video that discusses The Last Question [VIDEO]

Ted Turner's Doomsday Video

Go see it if you want

I won't embed that video here. It's basically put me in negative spirits. Besides who wants to think about the end of the world?

As it turned out Ted Turner did (or as I like to refer to him Billionaire Ted). He started CNN (Cable News Network) back in 1980 and it was the first 24/7 cable news channel. He sold CNN to Time Warner (now Warner Discovery) in 1996.

He was eccentric enough to believe that there might be a CNN left at the end of the world, whenever that might be. You can read more about the story behind this video at Jalopnik.

And let's start with what could happen. In the 1980s we were concerned about a nuclear war with the Soviets and thankfully that never came to pass. Though somehow I think that humanity might survive that horrible event, although who's to say how many nuclear exchanges might end the world as we know it.

I could also consider the possibility of something cosmic ending the world. An asteroid strike, the sun emitting life killing radiation or even the sun becoming a red giant evaporating our oceans or even peeling away at our atmosphere if not cooking all life on Earth with increased luminosity.

Regardless the planned video to be the last thing that aired on Earth at the end of the world is a military band playing "Nearer My God To Thee"

Either way hopefully I won't see the end of the world in my life time. As for CNN well with the changing cable news business and the fact that they've been bleeding viewers within the past decade thanks to their biased political coverage, I doubt CNN will last to play this rather creepy video.

Jim Crockett sells to Turner

 

[VIDEO] Jim Crockett sold his company Jim Crocket Promotions to Ted Turner. As Crockett explains Turner wanted to keep wrestling on his networks and wasn't going to do business with Vince McMahon so he went about to buy out JCP - that company ultimately became what we now refer to as World Championship Wrestling or WCW.

It's amazing to see this clip of this interview with Conrad Thompson and not too long after this Crockett would pass away. At least we got some of his thoughts on his time in the business.

The JCP brand would be revived for Ric Flair's last match, hopefully more to come with that brand in the future. Flair's one-time match hopefully is a one-time deal as he's a legend but he's in his 70s now and he was recently diagnosed with skin cancer.

Grounded Life Travel: Amtrak's 10 Best Train Routes And The 2 Worst

 

[VIDEO] A few surprises especially among the two worst.

The Cardinal is a train I was on briefly but only as a last minute means to get home. I've never traveled on it to get to either Washington, DC or New York where it finishes it's journey. Watch the video to see why they consider it the worst.

And then of course the best among the 10 best is the Floridian - which essentially replaced the Capitol Limited and is intended to be temporary. The Floridian is Chicago's Florida connection and before it entered service late last year when you leave Chicago you have to change trains in Washington, D.C. to take a train into Florida. As the couple above may say this is the perfect way to get down to a cruise that departs Florida.

And then they mention my favorite standby, the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles.

For me, I like trains because I like the journey. And it's not often I get to ride through the southwestern United States and see the deserts, buttes, mountains, etc.