I'm just going to share the link to this 12 year old post here. Took an Amtrak train from Dallas, Texas during roughly this time back then and went through two state capital cities Little Rock, Arkansas & of course Springfield, Illinois.
Despite having an interest I've never actually been there. It's time to put some plans into motion as far as that. This is what I saw about that back then:
BTW, I would like to do a special field trip to Springfield, Illinois at some point. I don't know when but I would like to do something when I do for this blog. Hopefully do a little bit more than my vacation last summer in Washington, DC. It'll be fun and I'll be sure to work on it.
[VIDEO] I think I actually saw his video shown on TV one the morning of Xmas Eve. Didn't quite get the context and I thought he was largely blackballed after allegations of sexual harrassment. Remember he was even edited out of a Hollywood release All the Money in the World where he played J. Paul Getty. He was replaced by Christopher Plummer and select scenes reshot.
With this article from the Daily Mail there's some more context to this video.
Wearing a Santa Claus apron, he is seen preparing Christmas dinner in a smart kitchen.
'They're going to say I'm being disrespectful, not playing by the rules. Like I ever played by anyone's rules before. I never did. And you loved it.'
His monologue is delivered straight to the camera, just like his character famously does in House Of Cards to make viewers complicit in his immorality. 'They're just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved.'
He goes on in Frank's unmistakable Southern states drawl: 'You wouldn't believe the worst without evidence would you? You wouldn't rush to judgments without facts would you? Did you? No, not you, you are smarter than that. I can promise you this… I'm certainly not going to pay the price for the things I didn't do.'
With a final glower followed by dramatic music, he asks: 'Miss me?' It was classic Frank Underwood — menacing, malevolent and creepy — all the more so when it became clear that Spacey wasn't talking as his fictional character but as himself, and that the footage appears to be an aggressive riposte to news of an impending court appearance.
The Oscar-winning star played Underwood, a conniving schemer who resorts to murder on his path to the U.S. presidency, in five seasons of the award-winning Netflix thriller (based on the 1990 BBC adaptation of Michael Dobbs' novel) before he was embroiled in sexual scandal in October last year.
Without this context, I was believing that he was portraying a character. He was not being himself. Although I wonder if what happened to his career last year is what inspired this most recent video.
And looking through to his YouTube channel, this is his first video in a year. I'm guessing if he used this to publicize his work, he took a year break after some long ago sexual harrasment allegations come to light which you will read from the Daily Mail.
[VIDEO] I had to share this video of a model train running over simulated jointed rails. It's a cool effect and just shows how I'm still learning about different aspects of railroading.
I didn't realize that during the course of the past decade, I've been through an area that still has jointed rails. That among other antiquated aspects of railroad technology. Like I said I'm still learning and as you see in the above video you might see some aspects of this along the Raton/Glorieta pass which is the route of Amtrak's Southwest Chief. [VIDEO] I just feel the need to share the more common video of an Amtrak train doing through New Mexico on jointed rail and this time from the inside. [VIDEO] Finally, here's a video about jointed rails vs. welded rails. As I figured would be the difference a quieter and smoother ride. I would imagine welded rails are what CTA uses for the L especially when there are opportunities to rehab the infrastructure. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] This is pretty cool. A custom made locomotive dedicated to a former POTUS. And while he only took one ride on it, he will ride on it again.
Union Pacific locomotive 4141 will carry the body of former Prez. George Herbert Walker Bush to his final resting place at his presidential library at Texas A & M University. And the livery makes it attractive as it mimics Air Force One and he took that bad boy for a spin one-time! Cool!
I wish I could have a locomotive when I become famous. :P
I just had to share this review with you all. You might have seen me retweet this on my twitter page. Here's in the tweet you can click on it to see the review in Cosmopolitan. It's interesting that they typical readership of Cosmo would even be interested in a boxing film.
So, #Creed2 is enjoyable and all, but I finally had to come to terms with how the franchise - in particular, this film - enables toxic masculinity at the detriment of its female characters. My latest for @cosmopolitan: https://t.co/JD7h0MA8bF
I saw Creed 2 on Thanksgiving. And not to steal a schtick from the late critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel but I've give this film a thumbs up. The story of a man (Adonis Creed) who's about to fight the son (Viktor Drago) of a man (Ivan Drago) who took part in a fight that resulted in the death of that man's father (Apollo Creed). Basically we can call this sequal not only a sequel to Creed (2015) also for Rocky 4.
However the review for Cosmo that I just became aware of recently turns this film as an enabler for toxic masculinity.
It’s a boxing movie that we’re told has “heart,” a word coach Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) uses a lot in the film. "Listen to your heart," he keeps telling Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), who’s determined to defend his championship from Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), whose father Ivan (Dolph Lundgren) defeated Adonis’ dad in the match that killed him back in 1985’s Rocky IV. Adonis has some seriously unresolved issues about how his father’s death permanently devastated him and his mom Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad) and attempts to use this fight with Viktor to settle a score.
So right away, the two opponents—Adonis and Viktor—are established to have major daddy hang-ups. Viktor is also fighting to reclaim the title for the sake of his dad, whose own was stripped by Rocky himself in 1990’s Rocky V. This means everything that happens in Creed II is dependent on how these two male fighters choose to define their own machismo and protect their paternal legacies. Even Rocky talks about his estranged relationship with his son. These themes of masculinity are so oppressive that they relegate everything else that happens in the film—including the fact that Adonis and Bianca (Tessa Thompson) are expecting a baby—to the background.
I'm going to assume the "toxic masculinity" of the movie is bad for the women most affected here. Mother is concerned about her son and his wife is definitely concerned about her husband. Well the family drama is important, but then the other side of the movie is the drama that takes place for the boxers once they get into the ring.
I wonder if it's ever understood that a man feels as if he must handle his business. Sometimes a man might let something slide, however, in the case of boxing why should he stand down from a guy boasting that he won't lose. Perhaps Creed needed to get back into the ring and prove something. Somewhere out there and under different circumstances (and yes not exactly within the context of competitive sports) a man is facing similar situations.
What this writer might neglect is what I was able to deduce in this movie. Viktor Drago is with his father Ivan at a dinner to celebrate their boxing successes. It gets somewhat marred when an elegant blonda haired woman enter the dining room. As it turns out it's Viktor's mother and Ivan's ex wife. After the events of Rocky 4 (1985) Ivan's life unraveled and that woman played by Brigitte Nielsen in both films left Ivan and his son. So now I understand why Viktor seemed upset and let his father know what's up. And matter of fact Ivan tells him what happened Ivan lost!
I won't give too much away, but once the fight is over I began not to be surprised at what happens near the end of the movie. Especially with the background I gave you, although I've yet to really fully watch Rocky 4 which I concluded years ago was probably the beginning of the Rocky franchise jumping the shark.
All the same, this toxic masculinity, where is it here?
If you haven't seen it do so here's a trailer to get you excited. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] Having been wrestling obsessed over the weekend, I just wanted to share this vid from Virtual Railfan. Two Amtrak Southwest Chief trains back-to-back in LaPlata, Missouri train #4 was very late coming from Los Angeles, it would normally get into LaPlata in the morning. I'm curious what happened although I see it was pulled into the station by a BNSF freight locomotive.
That happened 20 minutes after train #3 pulls out of the LaPlata station near it's regular time. Sometimes (perhaps often) the train is late pulling into LaPlata especially when I'm able to see train #3 at night. I rarely get to see Train #4 it seems I'm more of a night owl when I watch the Virtual Railfan cams on YouTube.
[VIDEO] Been years since I've seen this film. I was horrified when I first saw this film at even a humorous idea of a nuclear-power bus. Now looking at recent clips of The Big Bus beyond this trailer, I just can't take this movie.
The odd subplots a fallen veterinarian, a man with a terminal illness, a couple about to divorce, a pastor who lost his way, a bus driver accused of cannibalism, and that's probably not have of the subplots. The main plot is that an intercity bus company creates and builds a nuclear-powered bus for non-stop service between NYC and Denver. And this is seen as a threat to the oil industry.
You know this movie is absurd and is a cult classic. It probably wasn't very popular when it was first released but someone appreciates it now. For me, it's probably one of those movies I would think of as you're entertained and then you can forget about it later. I would put The Big Bus in that category, though just for old time sake this is one movie I would like to see one more time.
No more clips on YouTube! Like this one! [VIDEO] Hmmm, it's funny to see the stars that I know in this movie. Rene Auberjonois, Richard Mulligan, Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, and I just found out the late Larry Hagman is in this movie though probably in a bit part. These are names I would know today though one of those (Bologna) I know from this movie. The others were in far more well known productions years down the road Auberjonois I mostly know from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Mulligan was the star of series Empty Nest & Soap. Channing was on the series The West Wing.
While awaiting WWE SmackDown Live and the results of the 2018 midterm elections this caught my eye today. And interestingly since I unveiled my new "Champs" page here on the blog. This caused me to say woah today... From the Sun-Times
Before practice, the Hawks announced a coaching staff overhaul, which included the firing of coach Joel Quenneville and his assistant coaches, Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson.
Rockford IceHogs coach Jeremy Colliton replaced Quenneville as the 38th head coach in Hawks’ history.
The Hawks also named Barry Smith, who most recently served as the director of player evaluation for the Hawks, as an assistant coach on Colliton’s staff. The rest of the coaching staff is expected to stay with the team.
There’s no doubt that Quenneville, who has a Hall of Fame resume, is one of the most successful coaches in the history of both the Hawks franchise and NHL. His three Stanley Cups in six seasons speak for themselves. But after missing the playoffs last season, which was Quenneville’s first losing campaign in his 21-year coaching career, and a slow 6-6-3 start through 15 games this season, something had to give.
General manager Stan Bowman said the decision to part with Quenneville, the second-winningest coach in franchise history (452-249-96 in 797 games since 2008), was “very difficult.” He also clarified that Quenneville’s firing wasn’t based on one specific incident, although the Hawks’ most recent road trip was “concerning.”
Yeah, I remember they missed the playoffs last year. Just three years after winning their last Stanley Cup. An unexpected result to those of us used to the Hawks going to the playoffs during the course of the 2010s. Here's hoping Colliton brings the Hawks back to the dance this year.
And perhaps Coach Q isn't ready to retire from coaching in the NHL yet.
[VIDEO] You know why I thought of this? In the pilot episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Cmdr Benjamin Sisko described to some aliens known as "the prophets" the game of baseball. That's the scene you will see above. I like how simply he describes a game that he's passionate about, although the heyday of baseball was hundreds of years in the past. He was born in the wrong century I'd say.
Well I do consider myself a baseball fan although I'm sorry to say once the Cubs had been eliminated from contention, I hardly followed the post-season (where the Boston Red Sox defeated the LA Dodgers in the world series). I guess it's time for me to recognize that I'm just not a huge sports fan although as of late I became far more of a fan of pro-wrestling, especially the "sports entertainment" of WWE. And I'm glad for my subscription to the WWE Network.
Either way if I was in Sisko's shoes how would I describe to the prophets professional wrestling?
Professional wrestling is a performance art that mimics a combat sport such as boxing or mixed martial arts. Often it's a mixture of athleticism and theatrics as most of the performers in wrestling often portray larger than life characters.
The theatrics often is heighted by storylines that either emphasizes personal issues between the performers or often a championship is involved. Often the performers are put into two categories either good guys or babyfaces and bad guys or heels. For the most part in storylines the heels' jobs are to get the babyfaces over. For the most part babyfaces - especially at the main event level - are the ones who are expected to be the faces of a given wrestling promotion.
Most performers have an athletic background. Often they may have played a team sport such as football (which is very common) or they may have a combat sports background. A performer might have a background in mixed martial arts or in a martial art such as karate, judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu etc. Often another background for most performers is in amateur wrestling.
Often the matches are choreographed usually by the performers themselves. Usually the matches will end in a pin fall with the referee counting one-two-three with the wrestler's shoulder on the mat. Or they may end in a submission. Less commonly there may be a disqualification often due to an outside competitor's interference, usage of a foreign object, or other rules infractions.
Finally another part of the theatrics is the promo. Wrestlers often give speeches that usually to promote an upcoming match. Often this promo is given in front of a wrestling audience or usually on the broadcast medium of TV (or perhaps a stream service). The promo often serves to heighten the theatrics of a particular storyline between performers.
I think I wrote more than enough on this subject. Knowing me it's probably still not concise enough. However, I think this explains the "sport" of pro wrestling.
[VIDEO] To break up the posts about "sports entertainment" especially with the sad announcement that Roman Reigns had to give up his WWE Universal Title on Monday so that he can take some time off to treat his leukemia, time to share a Virtual Railfan video.
VR has a number of vids featured "hooligan" who's real name is John Misur who has been seen in not only on two occasions in La Plata, Missouri - a live feed you can actually watch on the railcam page. He also has been seen in Barstow & San Juan Capistrano, California.
Often he doesn't seem to have a crowd with him, however, on this recent vid you see above he had a nice crowd with him. His shtick when is the next train, push ups, and then stand behind the yellow line. And let's not forget if you can hear him speak he holds up legible signs for you to read as he puts on his show for those "virtual railfanners". :)
[VIDEO] As I watch SmackDown Live this evening I felt the need to write in long form my thoughts on last nite's Monday Night Raw were Roman Reigns announced that he is again ill with leukemia forcing him to relinquish his WWE Universal Title. I took to twitter immediately when I heard it in a post that didn't go viral but it was a tweet of disbelief. He told us that he had been living with that illness for 11 years and it had returned.
Needless to say as he starts to treat his illness Reigns will take some time off and it'll be time to determine the next Universal Champion. What I rue right now is that while I would salivate over Braun Strowman taking the title he has to go through a longtime former champion in Brock Lesnar. And Lesnar had often been rumored to be returning to UFC so while I don't expect him to regain the title, who knows if WWE will book him to win the title.
Besides there are others who should get the belt for example Seth Rollins, after winning the intercontinental title twice and then winning the tag team titles last nite (where he also got assaulted by his Shield cohort Dean Ambrose) I think Rollins should have the opportunity for the championship. Besides Rollins did hold on two occasions the WWE Championship. So it's time for him to get another world title run. And of course he's shouldn't be the only possibility that I could see is ready for that opportunity.
Anyway I got somewhat distracted here. What about Roman? Well I wish him good health and while the main event picture on the Raw brand would have to be reshuffled I can see the changes happen once he does return. To start after coming out to the WWE Universe on Raw to announce his diagnosis might certainly turn the corner for his character. How can anyone boo him once he returns from his title fight against leukemia?
The first time I knew of him was as one-third of The Shield. And they started off as heels that would swarm against the faces of the WWE and then they themselves would turn against the authorities of the WWE and turn face. And then for various reasons they split and Reigns (who by most accounts was considered the quiet muscle of the trio) began to be pushed as the new face of the WWE. Perhaps the fans sensed this strong push and didn't share the love with Roman. Even worse Reigns didn't always deliver good promos that were probably written for him by the creative team of WWE. [VIDEO]
Of course in the wrestling business the main thing you want from the audience is a reaction. If they won't react to you, then it's certainly going to hurt you in the long run. Besides one of Reign's relatives - The Rock - understood this. The Rock who was once known as Rocky Maivia was this awwschucks type of baby face who loved to smile for the crowd and honestly I probably rooted for him when he debuted. However little did I know back then is that the crowd just responded to him negatively he was getting booed he got his reaction though it wasn't the type that a face should get.
Well eventually The Rock became a heel and changed his persona and became not only the people's champion, but a big time movie actor as well. And who knows Reigns at the right time could make that transition.
I could write more about this, but I want to be sensitive. I suffered from Reigns fatigue because this year it had once too often became the main event Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesner. Reigns finally got the title off of Lesnar and was finally glad to see him take it. So now once Joe successfully beats leukemia again, I look forward to what he does in the WWE Universe once he returns!
BTW, what did he say to fans when he beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. This shows you how the crowd often reacted to Reigns at least before Monday nite. I liked how he just said his one line and then dropped mic and left the ring. If only you could've seen this broadcast live and seen him walk to the back as the broadcast team continued to hype the rest of the evening. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] "Lives are gonna to be in Waylon Mercy's hands"
Waylon Mercy is one of those characters from 1990s World Wrestling Federation that I barely remember if at all. Inspired from Max Cady of Cape Fear, Mercy is a performer that comes into the ring shakes everyone's hands and once the bell rings becomes a maniac. You can see it when he finishes off his opponents with a sleeper hold. [VIDEO] As I share one of his matches with you, in this case from WWF Superstars - syndicated throughout the nation in the 1990s - you see Vince McMahon put Mercy over. Yeah that Vince McMahon who became a wrestling character in his own right as the megalomaniac owner of the now WWE was in the early years a play-by-play man. And he put over Mercy as a maniac one the match starts which is what a play-by-play & color commentator are supposed to do.
Unfortunately as with many of the vaguely memorable characters of the WWF of the mid-1990s Waylon Mercy - as portrayed by longtime wrestler Dan Spivey who also wrestled in WCW - was nothing more than a mid-card act. WWF Superstars was a program that mainly showcased squash matches and often the matches rarely featured anyone of great note. I can't even tell you if Mercy even wrestled on Monday Night Raw (actually he wrestled another memorable character from 90s WWF Doink the Clown on Raw). [VIDEO] The thing is I saw a shoot interview with former WWF champion Sycho Sid who noted Waylon Mercy. McMahon had been trying to get that character over for years and started with Mercy and then ultimately developed into Bray Wyatt. So Sid sees a connection between those sports entertainment characters. [VIDEO] Well I have a tough time seeing it. Mercy I couldn't even see as a cult leader as Wyatt was. If Mercy had developed the way Wyatt had who knows what direction the gimmick could've gone. Perhaps it's possible that Waylon Mercy was ahead of his time. Of course I also learned the character didn't last long because Dan Spivey got injured and was ultimately forced to retire from in-ring competition.
[VIDEO] I sat on this post for a number of months and it's time to share. This is one of my favorite films of all time and have only seen it on the big screen once. The year is about over so it doesn't look like I'll find a 50th anniversary screening of this Stanley Kubrick classic anytime soon.
I had a psychology teacher in high school - GO FALCONS - who gave me a basic explanation of this movie. Well it disappointed me at the time, but now I get it - that man has become the tool. Man has grown dependent upon the tools he created.
Let's think about this it starts with our primate ancestors after encountering this mysterious object known as a monolith they use a bone from a dead animal carcass to not only hunt, but to assault another group of our primate ancestors. This primate ancestors throw this bone in the air and suddenly this bone becomes a satellite. So the tools of humanity evolves and become technology that we depend on.
Thankfully we haven't created this all-powerful human like computer that could prove capable of killing its own human creators. Hopefully 2001 with is slow pace, pre-Star Wars special effects, lack of dialogue, or even stunning visuals will be cautionary tale about the evolution of the computer. The computer which is just another tool created by man.
Here's an homage to 2001 from the YouTube channel VideoSpaceFX who recreates the intro of this classic film. You see an eclipse from a perspective beyond the moon. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] Having seen the recent Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 11/9 a few points the movie made.
To start how did we get a President Donald Trump, I'm thinking Moore's point with that is the Democratic establishment blew the 2016 election. Besides the inevitable first woman President was expected to have it in the bag right. No one believed Trump could win it.
Next how did we get a President Trump if America is really a nation that trends to the left. We want universal health care for example. I could debate this I wonder what was the basis for the polls Moore cite to come to that conclusion about America's political leanings. And yes I know Moore himself is a lefty he's been around for years obviously.
Next and this is something I do agree with. I used to eschew this, but Michael Moore solidified this with me. America has a ruling class or perhaps a political class - I don't think Trump is part of that clique actually - regardless the influential who likely are very wealthy are the ones who are turning the levers of power in America. And I could conclude that they do this in a variety of ways perhaps economically and certainly through control of the media.
Here's another thing that makes sense to me the Democrats blew the 2016 the moment they "rigged" the nomination process to insure the inevitable woman President gets the nomination. I didn't know that although Sen. Bernie Sanders had won all the counties of West Virginia, the Democrat delegation to the 2016 convention threw their votes to Hillary Clinton.
Finally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - a not quite ready for prime time congressional candidate from New York - is what Moore hopes is the future of the Democrat party. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic socialist and is one of a number of candidates who are seeking seats in Congress. And Moore makes the case through media clips that the establishment (or the so-called ruling class) doesn't want them either. The Democratic socialists are too far to the left for America and seemingly those pundits even if they're not top Dem politicos are saying this on what I may consider liberal cable news networks.
I know that Moore makes more points than this in his movie. I think he made some great points to consider in addition to bringing to light more information on the Flint, Michigan water crisis which he claims was orchestrated by Gov. Rick Snyder. He throws in the activism of students who attended Florida's Parkland High School which unfortunately was the site of an active shooter. And of course promoting union activism - which is likely how Moore got his start in filmmaking.
One of the things Moore asks is how did a nation that trends left get Donald Trump? Perhaps America isn't that much of a leftist nation in the first place. Perhaps we could believe the hype that America wanted something different a President with very little political experience. Perhaps it was just Trump's time and it wasn't time for the first woman President. And certainly the inevitable first woman President Clinton and her team thought it was in the bag that she didn't have to really work for it. While on the other hand, Trump did the work he needed to do to win.
What this movie reminds me of is, some aspects of politics aren't as black & white. Perhaps a conservative in a red state probably has the same issues with the so-called ruling or political class as a leftist in a blue state. With that said, now we know why we do have a Ocasio-Cortez who defeated a longtime Democrat politico in New York.
With this film which is a take-off of Moore's earlier effort released during the Iraq War - Fahrenheit 9/11 - seems not to pull any punches. The label doesn't matter - Republican or Democrat - Moore didn't pull his punches.
What is the current price of bitcoin? This is something I hadn't thought about at all for quite a while. At one point someone needed more than $1K to buy one bitcoin. Actually probably a lot more than that!
Well today I need over $6K for one bitcoin! And still have to remember that it's not the most secure investment one could make, but I heard so much about it. It's worth making small forays into this cryptocurrency. Still I've rather put my hands on a precious metal.
[VIDEO] Must be nice to have enough money to not only buy gold, but to also make them into any shape you choose. Especially as I can only dream about bars or coins. BTW, I wonder what is the current price of gold per ounce?
And funny thing, I was somewhat interested in bitcoin and yet I've lost interest quick. So many things to invest your money in, what does one choose. Better to invest in precious metals than something that can be as non-secure as cryptocurrency.
[VIDEO] As I check out this woman who does a video about a future world war in the Star Trek universe - which helped to usher in a better future for humanity believe it or not - I just want to say where is this girl. To find a woman into geeky stuff, that's attractive...
It's great to know she knows enough about Star Trek lore to talk about the Eugenics Wars and then the future world war which goes nuclear. This leads humanity to eventually create warp drive, get the attention of the Vulcan race (think Mr. Spock folks) and finally Earth unites under a world gov't which ultimately become a member of the United Federation of Planets.
You know it gives me an even geekier idea of a movie where people try to cause a third world war and using the Star Trek universe as a rough guide. In which case it needs not be taken seriously, and certainly to be taken comically!
[VIDEO] From YouTuuba he posts the last leg of his "train odyssey" starting in Chicago to Los Angeles aboard Amtrak's Southwest Chief. Then he leaves Los Angeles to take the Coast Starlight train along the California coast to Portland, Oregon. Then he leaves Portland on the Empire Builder to return to Chicago.
Thus in the above video you see another version of the trip depicted in another video shared here. A British tourist travels from Portland to Chicago on the Empire Builder and most of the sound track are contemporary music and it sounded great. Of course, this one is more of a documentary with "YouTuuba" doing a lot of talking with regards to what we're seeing in his videos.
I'm aching for a trip to the pacific northwest at least though I know it'll probably be a lot like what's going on in LA. Portland and Seattle has been in the news for a burgeoning homeless population. I remember being in Skid Row in LA in 2016 and it wasn't entirely pleasant. Don't know what I brought that up, I just recognize that Portland and Seattle are nice places to visit but not without their issues. There probably isn't a place on this planet that doesn't have their local issues.
Duration of the above vid is just about 4 hours. A long one but to see various streetscapes and landscapes, it's worth it
[VIDEO] So Jim Zimmerlin visits another mini-railroad this time in Oregon called Train Mountain. Here's his description:
The Guinness world record for the longest miniature railroad is an amazing 2200 acre property in southern Oregon known as Train Mountain. I met up with Tom Watson for a tour of the railway, first from a golf cart, and later from his own gas-powered train. In a two-hour train ride, we only managed to travel on a portion of the layout!
I also got a look at G-Ville, the four acre section of Train Mountain dedicated to G-scale garden trains... and I'm seriously thinking about bringing some of my G scale model trains up to G-Ville to run on their layout.
And check out the metal work shops. If they make these trains from scratch they have a lot more talent than I do. Wouldn't mind taking up that hobby.
[VIDEO] The death of the "Old Man" from Pawn Stars is actually old news since he died in June. Did a brief tribute to him on my twitter. I'm a fan of that History channel program it's very entertaining with negotiations over historic and culturally relevant pieces.
And the cranky Old Man is as much part of the show as his son Rick Harrison's vanity - which isn't about his good looks BTW. I find the Old Man quite earthy and old school and most of the time even if I'm not in his orbit get where he's coming from on some things. I enjoy his quips and knows how to keep the two generations under him in line.
I saw the program put together in light of his death Rick and Big Hoss speaks of him. Then we also have Chumlee who was another foil to the Old Man. I got a sense of who the man was and now we won't see him again. I might be scared to be in business with him, but he's a business partner I wish I had. Though with that recent episode I got more of a sense of who he was outside of the cameras of the TV program.
And yes we got to see representatives comment on Mr. Harrison particularly executives from the owner of History - which is owned by A & E networks. I thought it was corny but hey Pawn Stars has proven to be a successful show that TV viewers want to see. We'd better see the network pay tribute.
[VIDEO] Thanks to YouTube I know far more about the semaphore signals along a stretch of the Amtrak Southwest Chief route (Glorieta/Raton Pass). These are likely the last of them on any railroad in America - or for those of you who are nitpicky the United States.
This type of railroad signal is what I was referring to with regards to Jim Zimmerlin's video I had shared with you on Friday. If I had my own miniature railway - I titled that post "Big Model Trains" - I would like to have semaphore signals!
[VIDEO] If I got myself some land anywhere and enough of a lot do something like this I'd like to. Build my own railroad and spent my free time riding around on it using sets like the ones you see above.
Jim Zimmerlin is a man who not only like cruises, he also likes model trains. He owns G-scale model trains and he takes us to the Bitter Creek Western Railroad in San Luis Obispo County in California. It's a very cool video and a very cool layout you see here.
I wonder what they do for railroad signals, because I wouldn't mind installing those old fashioned semaphore signals on such a railroad.
One of those 21 ways is something that I'm doing here which is using Google Ads, and of course I should see which one of the other ways works for me. I'd have to see about writing a book, doing a YouTube tutorial or even using referral links.
[VIDEO] Within the DC Comics Extended Universe the Joker made his first appearance in 2016's Suicide Squad. It was cool to see Jared Leto play the role however I recognize how he just didn't fit in that film. He was there for his comic ally Harley Quinn - who was at first a creature of Batman: The Animated Series. Beyond that he was there so that we could see the Joker in that very young DCEU.
While this film reportedly isn't intended to be part of the DCEU, however, it's interesting that they got Joaquin Phoenix in the iconic role of the Joker. Joker has been played by such actors as Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamil (voice on Batman: The Animated Series), and of course more acclaimed by Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight). And Phoenix is a great actor so I can only imagine his own take on Batman's most dangerous foe.
Thanks to this video from John Campea we learn more about this future project.
[VIDEO] I posted earlier this month as he records his vacation in May to Los Angeles. Now he has a part two were he travels along the Pacific Ocean coast to go up through the Pacific Northwest via Amtrak's Coast Starlight. Then in another video to be posted at a later time he leaves the Pacific Northwest I think he says from Portland, Oregon via Amtrak's Empire Builder.
I look forward to a future trip to the Pacific Northwest on the Empire Builder and perhaps at another time a future trip along California Pacific Coast on Amtrak. Perhaps I should accept donations for that to record that for your benefit. :P
This is what I'm going to be talking about in this post [VIDEO]
This happened almost 21 years ago and I wish that with my subscription to the WWE Network I had watched this exactly 20 years later. That is what this before I watched last year's Survivor Series which featured mainly Raw vs. SmackDown Live talent. It wasn't a bad PPV and one of the first ones I watched since before subscribing to the WWE's streaming network that I had never before ordered a PPV.
Anyway since I admitted in another post that I never saw Mankind vs. Undertaker "Hell in a Cell" at King of the Ring 1998. I've heard about it and seen clips of it especially what you saw in that other post of Mankind (Mick Foley) being thrown off the top of the cell it was groundbreaking and special. Certainly very dangerous to Foley taking mainly two high-risk bumps! With this PPV there were other matches of note Ken Shamrock was that year's King of the Ring defeating The Rock by tap-out and then the main event a "First Blood" match between Kane and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship.
Too bad that with the Survivor Series 1997 I hardly know anything else about the card without looking it up. And without watching the PPV before starting this post, most of those matches don't capture my attention. Lucky for you, this is one PPV I will watch for you all. Especially for the one thing fans know from this PPV which you see in vid above!
Below another vid I mentioned the "Bret screwed Bret" interview with Vince McMahon. This is the capstone for the year in the World Wrestling Federation. Little did I know watching Raw during the course of the year that the creative direction of this product was about to change and drastically. [VIDEO]
Here's one drastic creative change, I can't believe Vince McMahon used to be the one who called most of the matches in WWE. He used to be the play-by-play man when in reality he was the owner. The he transitioned to the evil owner of the WWE, he became that character. The Montreal Screwjob is probably a unplanned consequence where eventually Vince McMahon would become Mr. McMahon. And of course as stated, this event would be both mimicked and referenced in pro-wrestling for years to come!
I will discuss more when I watch the PPV finally after over 20 years.
[VIDEO] A few posts discussed my 2016 trip on Amtrak's Southwest Chief to Los Angeles. A YouTuber named youtuuba documents his recent trip this year to Los Angeles via the Southwest Chief. This is almost a 3 hr video.
As I type this post out what I've seen is from him taking Metra into Union Station and then Amtrak pulling off from Union through the western suburbs intro rural western Illinois and then across the Mississippi River into Iowa. Whatever else you see well if you have the interest you will see for yourself, I'm just going to watch the rest of this later.
You can still check out my Railcam page to see two stations along the Southwest Chief La Plata, Missouri & Flagstaff, Arizona.
BTW, I hope you all are enjoying your 4th of July holiday.
Back in March I posted about an "American Concorde" plane that never really took off (no pun intended). Then yesterday at Instapundit, there was news of another proposed hypersonic passenger jet. Looks like we might get another airliner that could jet past the speed of sound.
Boeing has revealed its first-ever concept for a hypersonic passenger plane that could cross an ocean in two hours for military or commercial customers. Debuted at an aerospace conference in Atlanta today, the design shows that the aerospace giant is ready to compete for this high-flying piece of the aviation future.
“There is an inherent value in speed,” says Kevin Bowcutt, Senior Technical Fellow of hypersonics in Boeing Research & Technology.
...
Although the airplane Boeing showed off today is just a concept and will certainly change before its possible flight in 20 or 30 years, Bowcutt can showcase the engineering decision-making that goes into such a vehicle.
You don’t need (or want) to go Mach 5 during takeoff. Boeing’s designers envision using a commercial turbofan engine capable of a wide range of speeds that can be bypassed when it’s time for the airplane to really zoom. Besides, a traditional engine’s fan blades would disintegrate at such velocities. While traveling at hypersonic speeds, you don’t need fan blades to compress air anyway because the speed of the craft does that for you.
That’s why most modern hypersonic jet designs rely on a ramjet, which uses the plane's forward motion to compress air, to reach truly awesome speeds. “The turboramjet would be designed to valve the air so it bypasses the (turbofan) engine and dumps into a combined afterburner ramjet,” Bowcutt says. “That same afterburner would function as a ramjet.” The ramjet would propel the vehicle to Mach 5, fast enough to get from New York to Tokyo in about 2 hours.
Such speed influences the design in radical ways that can be seen in the render. For one thing, as airplanes go faster, the ratio of lift–to-drag (the thing that makes airplanes fly) drops.
I'm very much looking forward to flying on a hypersonic airliner in the near future. Though I hope it wouldn't take 20-30 years, I don't think I want to wait that long for my first overseas vacation!
I published another version of this post over at My Mind's Eye on Thursday. So today's post will be slightly different. It was video I shot going through Arizona on the way to California.
[VIDEO] Unlike the other video which shows the landscape outside of the train through the windows of the observation lounge, this video is of the inside of the consist that most Amtrak passengers will have access to. Seems to be a fitting video to give you an idea of what you can expect aboard a train. I shot this on the way to the west coast in 2016 aboard the Southwest Chief.
I start off in a coach car on the lower level where I take a shot of the rolling landscape. I head up stairs where you see the coach accommodations before heading towards the observation lounge. The observation lounge is where many passengers sit around to look at the landscape or often socialize with other passengers. What I didn't document was the cafe downstairs where passengers can purchase snacks and beverages from the lounge attendant.
Beyond the observation lounge is the dining car where passengers take their meals. If you have coach accommodations your meals are extra, when I travel by coach I wouldn't be as willing to eat in the dining car. They won't cost an arm and a leg but often they're not cheap. However, you will at least have breakfast, lunch and dinner and often require a reservation. As you may see in another video shared here on this blog, the seating is often communal meaning you will be meeting your fellow passengers as you take your mean. Well that is assuming you're not seating with a young person who is more interested in their mobile phones as happened at one point during my trip....
Anyway if you travel by coach you will have to pay for your meals, however, if you have a sleeper car accommodation meals are complimentary. The accommodation fee for a sleeper is what pays for your meals although think of a dining car as a restaurant. You may not have to pay out of pocket for your meals, however, you still should tip your server just to let them know you like the service. I would like to explain at length making your train reservations at a later time.
Beyond the dining car are the sleepers here I go through two of them until I had downstairs to look out both sides of the train at the rolling landscape. On this trip I was in a roomette with my mother and it was definitely cramped space. It was adequate though I would've liked my own roomette just didn't work out for this trip. The cramped space meant I'd have to take the upper bunk while my mother slept on the lower bunk. At least there were another place on the car for other carry-ons that it wouldn't be feasible to put in the roomette. I would like to explain the sleeper accommodation also at a later time.
This three minute video in a nutshell is documentation of riding a long-distance Amtrak train.
I've been part of the internet for many years. When I first logged on most of the homes that were online connected through a dial-up connection on a telephone landline. The designs of most websites were pretty basic as opposed to now (to understand what I'm saying look up Greyhound.com and go back as far as you can over at archive.org). What a vastly different place it is today.
You don't really hear about webpages anymore. Basically a website is a collection of webpages though virtually every website has a webpage. Even this blog could be seen as a series of webpages and it gets updated semi-frequently which constantly expands like a book.
I always imagined having a website even though ISP's once commonly offered free webspace to customers it's something that has become obsolete these days. As stated before there are so many free tools these days that allow anyone an online platform. In the late 1990s through early 2000s you had to create that platform. There was no social media, and the service I currently use Blogger didn't exist until at least 1998.
When I first created a website it was through Geocities - which had been owned by Yahoo!. Of course I never realized that if you want people to visit you had to have a draw to it. I bought a photo scanner to post some pics and used the rudimentary photo editing software. I also shared some of my favorite Star Trek pics that I found online at the time. And this was during the time I was at Morehouse College. Of course it wasn't until 2005 that I started blogging which makes updating a website far easier.
And yet the internet evolved some more with Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram. Now most people access the internet on their smartphones. I myself now own an iPhone which is a multifaceted tool that allows me to make phone calls, text, email, shoot photos, shoot video, etc. And with an iPhone and these other smartphones you can also update social media, and upload photos & video on the go!
Now it causes me to wonder where I could've taken this internet thing if I had discovered Blogger in the late 90s to early 2000s. The tech available at the time that I just simply had no idea about beyond what I had already learned about back in the day. Though thankfully it doesn't take long to find out about what's available these days online. Not only that there is an app on a mobile device also!
[VIDEO] As I hit the sack tonight, I wanted to share this vid with you. I've never taken Amtrak's Empire Builder. This would take you through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana with one section to Seattle, Washington and another to Portland, Oregon.
This video of over 30 minutes shows a British man named Paul leaving Portland, OR going through big sky country arriving in Chicago's Union Station. It's an interesting look at a trip I can only imagine although it's time for me to travel again perhaps go somewhere I have never been. Seattle or Portland are places I've never been.
It must be very nice to create a YouTube channel which through either advertising or donations that could provide an income so that you could literally travel all over the world as Paul has. His channel is very interesting but the incidental music provides a very nice soundtrack to his travels. This is probably stock music but I could never imagine taking an Amtrak train and having hip-hop instrumentals as the sounds of the passing country, suburban, and urban landscapes.
Let's not forget, for the most part he shows us the meals he takes aboard the train in the dining car. He certainly travel in style with a sleeper car berth which also would enable those passengers to a complimentary meal in the diner. Then he also shows us that his sleeper car has a shower for those passengers.
I guess we could say we are certainly living in populist times. Donald Trump was a very unlikely presidential candidate somewhat representing a form of populism and then we have Bernie Sanders who represented a different form of populism. One form of populism proven more popular or potent than the other since one populist movement elected a man to the White House and the other well he couldn't even win his party's nomination.
Regardless, sometimes I have thought what if I combined two of my favorite past times or subjects professional wrestling and politics. What if I as a candidate sported a wrestling championship belt emblazoned with text "people's champ". Perhaps I as a candidate utilizing social media video could cut campaign speeches in the style of wrestling promos. Though I know I can't be violent in my speech, it would be important to cut through the cutter and present something different. Something the public wouldn't expect, worst case scenario is that this would be too different and I wouldn't be successful anyway
The people's champ could be a euphemism of populism, a people's movement. Say in Chicago, Illinois people are sick and tired of being taxes and having very little in return. Bad schools, awful public safety (as I wrote on my other blog downtown Chicago is even seeing an uptick in violent crimes), the costs of goods continuing to rise, etc. I'm sure people are having enough of this and perhaps there needs to be a people's champion in Chicago, Cook County or Illinois. Unfortunately in this year's primaries this candidate hasn't emerged, and sadly the Republicans aren't even woke.
I have very dubious graphic design/sketching skills but this people's champ belt would be done in the design of the big gold belt made famous by "The Nature Boy" Rick Flair during his time in WCW. Then I can imagine in script lettering "people's champ" on the front of the belt. Of course a championship belt isn't complete without an American or democracy or popular themed side plates. It should be designed well to really catch the eye of the public. Depending on the importance of this public figure any videos seen of this candidate - the so called people's champ - and the belt will hopefully be seen in a museum.
I'm surprised that the President hasn't done such a thing as he has the money to do it. Perhaps he isn't as huge of a wrestling fan as I thought, especially since he literally fought Vince McMahon and was involved in shaving the WWE's owner's head. I could possibly relish Trump lifting that belt over his head during a campaign rally.
Well a wrestling fan can dream about the imagery of "sports entertainment" used in a political campaign. And I realize in publishing this post my idea could be snatched away from me. Oh well, and unfortunately I don't know when a future candidate will emerge who will truly become "the people's champ". Will be the political world's version of The Rock or Diamond Dallas Page who have been referred to during their wrestling careers as "the people's champ".
Perhaps I should realize this could be an idea that could backfire. Perhaps depending upon where you may attempt to run for office voters could be jaded to this idea. Then one may wonder how one could afford to create their own championship belt. There will be some questions, however, there is and will always be a way for those questions to not matter. Besides imagine a people's champ movement in populist politics.
[VIDEO] Watching this brings back some interesting memories. In the late 1980s our home was connected to cable TV for the first time. It was my first exposure to Nickelodeon - a network advertised for children. However this wasn't exactly my first exposure to the children's game show Double Dare. It aired in syndication around the nation back then in addition to airing on cable.
Before I became fascinated with pro-wrestling or Star Trek it was game shows. In the late 80s it was hard to change the dial during the daytime without running into a game show. Especially without cable if you only got the channels 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 32, 50, or 66 (before they became a Spanish network) in Chicago.
Think about it. There was The Price is Right, Classic Concentration, Card Sharks, Blockbusters, Jeopardy and surely some others that had been then in production. There wasn't a game show out there for the younger audience especially children. Double Dare certainly fit the Nickelodeon network back then with the emphasis on slop or messes or even green slime.
I remember when in about 1988, a family version of Double Dare aired on the emerging FOX TV network. It didn't last beyond that summer, but it was interesting to see a version of a children's game during the prime time hours on a broadcast network on Saturday. It was much different than the game show I became used to.
Of course as happens over time, things evolve. Double Dare ceased production in the early 1990s. I grew up a bit after that and lost interest in Nickelodeon as a regular viewing option. It also didn't help that periodically the cable subscription would be cancelled for reasons that likely include costs. If I recall having options beyond the regular broadcast networks weren't as readily available as they are now. Our local cable company eventually evolved into Comcast and these days there are more competition as far as TV services.
As much as I want to get into the technology of cable or even cable boxes between then and now, I'll save that for another time. This post is about nostalgia for one of my old favorites from my youth. And as an aside Nickelodeon tried to bring back Double Dare for a new millennium and sadly it didn't take. I wouldn't even watch it when it was in production in 2000, however, who knows if the executives at Nickelodeon might consider bringing back this game show one more time.
BTW, for a few months last year on Sunday nights Buzzr aired episodes of a 1970s game show also called Double Dare. It counts a young Alex Trebek as host for it's one year in production. It wasn't as sloppy and messy as the Nickelodeon show, however, to my adult sensibilities it was an interesting game of wits and risk. It also was the first game show with that name although it proved not to be an issue when the Double Dare I'm most familiar with aired in the 1980s.
I have to do my own research on this but I hear that with Trump's tax reform you can no longer claim a credit on student loans. I suppose this will be seen with this year's taxes.
This intrigues me. Kind of like what they're doing with Star Wars with a Han Solo movie being released next month. It seems the Star Wars universe isn't just concerned with the two trilogies that were released in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s.
There are plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Wars universe and so will there be plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Trek universe. So whatever Tarantino is coming up with, I'm interested! Read this post from TrekMovie
Also check out this satirical version of a potention Tarantino Trek movie. Pretty funny but for now we can only imagine how an actual movie trailer is going to look like. [VIDEO] I know this is an obscure reference, but I really miss Cinescape magazine. It got be exciting for a lot of coming movie projects and news of them!
Perhaps this will be the first in a series of posts with regards to pro-wrestling. Perhaps every Monday I might write on a subject of interest with regards to what could be called a sport or more accurately a performance art. With this said wrestling has been an occasional subject on this blog over the years.
Today I want to talk about ECW - Extreme Championship Wrestling. ECW lasted from about 1994 to 2001 when they went bankrupt. WWE bought the brand in the early 2000s and former ECW talent were utilized for that unfortunate invasion angle in 2001 essentially lumped in with former WCW talent. It was a disaster and both brands were shelved after 2002.
The video below is the intro to a TV show from the original ECW [VIDEO]
Then in 2005 WWE produced an ECW reunion PPV called "One Night Stand". Production values when ECW was an independent wasn't that good however with WWE producing the show it was much better. The show was like the promotion I had the chance to get to know for a brief time although it was essentially a WWE production. Regardless even with the appearance of WWE superstars who were there for heat purposes (well theatrical heat, yes my term more than anything) I could literally forget that WWE was involved with this. This show as just like the old ECW and almost as if after a four year hiatus the show itself never skipped a beat!
Then in 2006 another "One Night Stand" and ECW returns as a WWE brand. While I never saw the first episode of the new ECW there seemed to have been some excitement at first. It was almost is if the spirit of ECW is back, though let's not forget WWE owns the brand and produces the show. Eventually ECW became less ECW and more WWE of course early on there were some noticeable changes to the product. One of those changes is that every match won't be a hardcore match with no DQ as happened in the original promotion. It was somewhat sanitized for WWE's tastes.
Which is funny because as time went on the original ECW was a promotion that essentially became a reaction to what was going on with the then World Wrestling Federation and WCW. ECW was a hardcore wrestling promotion known for some serious brawling and blood. There basically just about anything goes and when I first starting watching by 1998 this is what caught my eye the most. They were a national promotion though without the reach and relationships that WWF and WCW had, however, they had a good product worth watching and following. By relationships I should add that their syndicated product rarely had advertisers not only that I don't know how they got advertisers when ECW had their cable TV show on the old TNN (then later Spike and now Paramount Network). See the action isn't exactly family or advertiser friendly!
Finally they had PPVs to compete with WWF and WCW. While I never had the opportunity to watch any at the time - thought with a subscription to the WWE Network I can watch most of them now - I could surmise that these events had better quality than what was mainstream at that time. Surely the action was a lot more out there than would be seen on a regular TV episode.
Though as happens in the wrestling business especially an independent company ECW ultimately ran out of money. Even now a wrestling company will need a boatload of cash to operate with a number of obligations. Of course you have to pay your personnel, then of course you have to pay a venue, if you want to be serious you have to pay for the production and broadcast of the product, and perhaps some other expenses. Paul Heyman was the owner of ECW when it closed and many have described him as a pro-wrestling genius, he may well have not done very well with the business aspects. And also early one with the start of WWE's ECW brand he was the creative force until he decided to leave the wrestling business for a while.
With this said when WWE ended the ECW series in 2010, it was replaced by NXT. ECW for most of it's later existence aired on the SyFy network and NXT later replaced it. Eventually if you want to see NXT action it would be thrown onto the WWE Network were you can see the action every week. Essentially NXT is the developmental territory for WWE where in the past this was done in conjunction with other indepedent promotions with whom there was relationship. Perhaps that'll be the next subject next Monday.
To sum up with other wrestling action on the WWE Network with NXT and 205 Live (for WWE's cruiserweights) perhaps the vision for both of those brands are what ECW could've been. Yeah, WWE can make ECW what they want it to be however with the right vision or perhaps the right people running the brand it could've been something great. Here's hoping in the future that perhaps if WWE decides to create future brands for their online streaming network that they can hold to what was created for NXT and 205 Live!
[VIDEO] Here's an unusal video to mark this Good Friday. I've been watching videos over the last few weeks by Shawn Woods. His shtick if you will is trapping rodents who may be running around in his barn. And he has a regular feature called "Mousetrap Mondays". It's even the url for his website mousetrapmonday.com.
On this day Woods share with us footage of rodents squirrels, mice, and rats who are eating off of a Reese's peanut butter Easter bunny candy. He's not outright trying to trap these animals he's probably trying to see what creatures are running around on his property. He also finds chipmunks and shrews running around.
When he does his videos on mousetraps they may be live traps where he'll allow the mice to go free and he's may use traps that are fatal. He has said that he's run into issues with YouTube as he's set up his channel to generate revenue, however, an algorithm has determined his videos to not be family friendly. Especially those traps that are designed to kill mice and recently he's even had to unlist those videos of those fatal mousetraps for those of us who want to see how those various traps work. For public consumption he's forced to edit and censor such videos.
I'd recommend this video if you're having issues with rodents at home. Even though Woods live in a rural area for the most part, even city slickers would like to find away to get those pests that invade our space.
Meanwhile, I hope everyone had a wonderful Good Friday and Happy Easter and Happy Passover
[VIDEO] I had to throw in that extra bit of information not the late Dixie Carter of the TV series designing women, the Dixie Carter who was a personality in Impact (formerly TNA - Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling. Carter had money behind her to take Impact to the next level and she had some good perfomers for the product probably thanks to the man who actually founded the promotion WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett. Regardless what does ECW's Franchise say about her well she was clueless.
His advice spot on in fact trying to be more like WWE - err WWF - is what killed World Championship Wrestling. I stopped watching WCW when I began to see their presentation almost certainly resembling WWF. Why watch WWF-lite when I could watch the WWF itself?
His kicker, well TNA - err Impact - shouldn't be like WWF or anyone else they have to become TNA. There's a reason why fans still chant ECW on occasion. Of course Dixie dismisses this because in 2001 Extreme Championship Wrestling went defunct due to finances. That's not to say ECW didn't have an amazing run which forced the two main wrestling companies of the 1990s to change up their game.
I haven't seen Impact since they changed networks - they were formerly on Spike TV now Paramount Network. It interested me because it offered something different particularly an octagon wrestling ring. However, were there some aspects of the presentation that frustrated me yeah. They made the same mistakes WCW made which was to poach WWF talent and I'm not talking about Macho Man or Hulk Hogan or Kevin Nash who appeared on their programming on occasion in past.
Regardless while I never had opportunity to truly get to know product what I did hope for was in some way TNA could become the new WCW. They had some former WCW talents working their programs. I won't characterize it as a failure, unfortunately it wasn't a success either. My understanding as of now is that Impact is even behind another organization Ring of Honor. And unfortunately other than short videos via YouTube, I never really had the opportunity to follow their product either!
Now if only I knew more about real estate. This structure represents a single family home to be built at Polk & Dearborn with ground floor retail space. Well now we have one way to generate some revenue in a big ole home that's bound to be expensive.
Find an old building on a main thorofare and attach a home to it. It almost reminds me of this set up I found at Curbed Chicago, an old grocery store with apartments for a family attached. The ingenuity of people and their real estate!
Last month I wrote a post about whether or not it's time for a tipjar. As indicated in that post here on this blog years & years ago I had written about the need to utilize a PayPal account - most popular method back in 2005 - to raise money for a series of needs. Now the idea of using a blog to make extra income has taken a turn.
From DuplicateMySuccess.com a post that offers 7 legitimate ways to earn money from blogging. Become a book publisher, develop software, sell resources, ship physical products, promote products, offer skills courses, or offer a challenge. In other words one could always turn their blogs or social media channels into side hustles.
As noted over at The Sixth Ward I have Google ads on that blog. It hasn't made me enough money for me to consider doing it entirely full-time however with a job and the blog with ads it's one way to made some side income amongst others.
As far as DuplicateMySuccess.com those are some good ideas just wonder what it takes to fulfill even one of those ventures. Just got to find one that works for me the best.
[VIDEO] To be honest, I've never flown on a plane in my life. It would've been cool to see one of these supersonic airliners built and flying around especially going overseas - another thing I've never done.
Unfortunately I never had a chance to fly a Concorde out of this country. Not only have they been pulled out of service during the past decade, I understand that booking a flight on such planes were expensive. If I wanted to go to England for example it's least expensive to just fly on a conventional airliner.
Today however we explore why there was never an American supersonic airliners. Bottom line is that duringthe 1960s when Americans wanted to win the race for technological superiority but the 70s American excitement changes. Also the concept by Boeing just showed that no matter how good American engineers were, there were just too many challenges.
The plane needed to have a cruising speed of close to Mach 3 (or three times the speed of sound) it also has to be financially viable for commercial airlines to operate. Nevermind the engineering challenges of making this happen.
So at first the American gov't was keen on helping to make this happen, as time went on the will just didn't exist to continue public funding of the time. From any gov't in the world would there be a willingness to fund such a project here in the 21st century? Is it in the best interest of any aircraft manufacturing company to create a supersonic airliner?
[VIDEO] One of the reasons I became interested in model trains again was the many videos on YouTube featuring model trains. Jim Zimmerlin has over 100K subscribers to his channel because he shared videos of his G-scale trains and he's into cruises. Zimmerlin's most recent videos have been about cruise ships he's traveled on or even about to travel on.
If I was serious about my YouTube channel it would mostly be along the same lines. It would share my interests particularly travel or model trains. I've been trying to find some footage that I had shot on my iPhone of my trip in 2016 to California. Perhaps it's time invest in a real camcorder and then familiarize myself with some video editing equipment.
Of course I have thought about doing videos that were more political in nature, but as it so happens. Politics is important however so are developing hobbies outside of politics. This can include photography, videography and model trains.
Meanwhile I recommend you subscribe to Jim Zimmerlin perhaps after he's done doing videos of cruise ships and his cruises, he'll start posting more about his model trains.
In the mid to late 1990s Jeff Jarrett had two stints in the then World Wrestling Federation and also had stints in World Championship Wrestling. WCW was bought in 2001 by one Vince McMahon and decided to engage in this form of good TV [VIDEO] For years I've heard there was bad blood from when Jeff Jarrett ended his second stint with WWF as he was said to have held up the WWF Intercontinental title for more money. Jarrett's contract had just ran out and WWF officials failed to get the title off of him. So Jarrett had one more PPV and was pinned by Chyna allowing her to become the first woman IC champ.
All the same Jarrett went on to main event WCW during the waning days of that company. Then created the closest competitor McMahon's WWE has since it bought WCW, it's an organization now called Impact Wrestling. Though when Jarrett started the organization with his father it was known as Total Nonstop Action and in the early days was affiliated with a longtime organization known as the National Wrestling Alliance.
Of course things change and ultimately Jarrett is no longer affiliated with Impact then he started Global Force Wrestling which seemed to become part of Impact - though it appears that didn't happen ultimately. And now all the sudden something happened where Jarrett becomes a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Most fans including myself never saw this happening. Perhaps even Jarrett himself [VIDEO] Many have theorized that gradually McMahon is relingquishing control of WWE to the next generation i.e. Shane McMahon & Stephanie McMahon -Vince's progeny. Also Stephanie is the wife of WWE legend Triple H who basically created a program called NXT to train the next generation of WWE superstars. And now another sign of that shift Jarrett is going to be in hall of fame.
You know the signal this sends. It means perhaps there are more plans for Jarrett. Maybe he won't be on the road full-time, but usually if you have this distinction this means you're part of the fold again. Perhaps appearances on WWE programming, perhaps a DVD set, perhaps a few more matches because it's possible Jarrett can still wrestle and is ready to go today! I suppose we'll have to see as of now, the main thing is when Wrestlemania weekend comes, he's going to get his ring!
