[VIDEO] I consider myself an AMC customer and enjoy their Stubs premiere membership which one time saved me a lot of money as I built up enough rewards to not pay for tickets or concessions. The only thing I had to pay for after my visit was parking. That cost more than the tickets I think.
Most of the news about what's going on with AMC I get from John Campea and since the start of this pandemic he's been keeping track of AMC's financial health. With the Stubs premiere membership to start with he stated AMC would likely make a profit if that coronavirus hadn't hit. AMC and other theater chains shut down from about March to about August. Like many businesses the film exhibitor industry took a hit because of the lockdowns and changes in consumer behavior.
I don't know how AMC comes out of bankruptcy. Do they recalibrate as most businesses do in this situation? Perhaps they close some locations layoff some people sell some properties. Does another company come in to bail them out or just outright buy them? Will this be the end of the company that was originally founded in Kansas City, Missouri?
[VIDEO] Found this at random this morning, Eleanor from The Simpsons is the crazy cat lady. We see her as a child ready to take on the world to a courtroom where she wants to go on recess to deliver a baby and then we see the start of her becoming crazy cat lady. The comments to this video are very interesting their own analysis of her psychology.
I won't try to analyze because she's a cartoon, but who knows how many people out there have this type of story. You never know where someone is coming from in their lives. Who knows what they've been through in their lives or psychology.
However, this video is hilarious and fitting of The Simpsons. 😛
[VIDEO] This video explores Amtrak's brand identity. I remember the reverse arrow and often tried to recreated it by hand even just drawing lines as opposed to the blocks the logo represents to show my interpretation of Amtrak's logo.
I remember my first trip by train most Amtrak trains were in what they call phase three livery. Seeing that takes me back to the 1980s at least. Of course times change and the Amtrak I rode in the last two decades carries the "travelmark" logo. It's an abstract version of the rails trains are transported.
I really got to do some research on Amtrak uniforms what they had for Amtrak personnel in the 1970s seem very far out. It sees as if they tried to do that reverse arrow on everything including uniforms. Imagine that arrow on your shirt cuff or on the skirts the women wore as part of their uniforms.
I hope you enjoy this presentation by AmtrakGuy365. As you may discover in this video Amtrak and perhaps other businesses continue to move forward and get with the times.
BTW, Amtrak will celebrate 50 years next year. It's unbelievable that it's been that long since the National Passenger Rail Corporation was created to take over passenger rail operations from the railroads. I hope they do what they did after 40 years which is create heritage livery for their locomotives. Perhaps even reactivate those iconic EMD F40PH locomotives. Those are the engines I remember from the 1980s also.
[VIDEO] I didn't get to finish this video from Doug DeMuro but want to share with you his review of the GMC Hummer EV. I always thought Hummers were oversized and I'm sure there are people who believe these are literal gas guzzlers. Well Hummers got a reboot with this electrical vehicle treatment, so for those who care about how much gas such vehicles burn they took that aspect away.
Meanwhile I wait for this idea of an electrical Volkswagen Beetle to hit the market. Though I've heard nothing so far so probably be waiting a while. 🤷
[VIDEO] The card for last nite's WWE PPV wasn't entirely stacked. I would dare say it resembled a card for an NXT TakeOver. Regardless the main event for the WWE title between champ Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton continuing their feud it produced a surprising result, Orton taking McIntyre's championship.
I was scare of a Mick Foley spot that is one of these performer falling through the hell in a cell structure. It was close when McIntyre fell off the side of the structure onto the announcer's table.
However, YouTube channel Wrestlelamia takes a look at the WWE Championship match at Hell in a Cell. Why did Orton finally win the WWE championship?
[VIDEO] Bought one of these from an art store the other day. Seems like a cool creative project on a day off and put it on display somewhere at home. Just to show one aspect of the escapes from the real world I have.
I don't really eat movie popcorn as much as I had years ago. I don't really drink slushies and unfortunately for movie candy I'm not into licorice. But then I do usually get concession foods when going to the movies.
I just have to add this dire news of the film exhibition industry. AMC Theaters may have depleted cash reserves if there are no movies to attract a larger audience. Most theaters since perhaps August have reopened and then Regal announced they've closed again because there are no movies coming out that would draw an audience.
At least since theaters have reopened he had Tenet which I was lucky enough to see last month. It has made according to Internet Movie Database $48.3 Million in the US and $323.5 million worldwide. It's making money, however, I consider that perhaps it would've made more if not for this pandemic issue we're experiencing.
This image was something I shared on fb at one time, I didn't know at the time this image were on t-shirts. This is an indication of my Star Trek fandom as this represents two characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. We have Data a good android on the left and then we have his evil "twin brother" Lore on the right. We had so few episodes of this series with both of them, and unfortunately Lore was deactivated and disassembled in the last season of The Next Generation.
I could let you know of Data's fate, but you'll have to watch Star Trek Picard on CBS All-Access.
Also Trust data, not lore should be a slogan for everyday life in anything that you do or consume in your life. Yes I mean the information you take in!
[VIDEO] Well let me not waste your time if you're not watching this video in full. The expectation for a while has been that Triple H & his wife Stephanie McMahon would one take over where Vincent K. McMahon left off. Though I expect it will be a long time off before that happens since WWE is Vince's baby and the only way he goes away is when he's not able to run it any longer.
Of course as I see in many videos about this particular subject, there is some palace intrigue noted here. Earlier this year Triple H had been demoted reportedly from whatever role he already has. Triple H's main focus has been on NXT for the most part. It was even said in this vid that the relationship between H and Vince is often complicated.
Another wrinkle to this is Shane McMahon. McMahon took a break from WWE after 2010 to take advantage of other opportunities returned to the company in 2015. He was the storyline commissioner for SmackDown was removed from TV when SmackDown moved to FOX. He recently returned for Raw Underground although those segments haven't been seen on Monday Nite Raw for two weeks straight now.
Either way it has been mentioned that there were some expectations for Shane-O-Mac to take over creative for Raw to ease the workload of one Bruce Prichard whos overseeing the creative for both Raw and SmackDown. So who knows if Shane McMahon is successful in improving Raw's ratings he might have a case for being part of the future of WWE.
However, we can only speculate at this point what happens when Vince leaves the scene since I do believe that is a long time off.
[VIDEO] If you haven't checked out the webcam from Ft. Madison just across the state line from Illinois via Virtual Railfan you should check them out.
I've only passed through this town a handful of times going to Los Angeles via Amtrak which passes through daily with service on the Southwest Chief. You will see this train regularly as it heads towards it's Amtrak depot past what looks like an old Army fort, a decommissioned Santa Fe steam locomotive, and an old railroad depot trains would pass by.
Also you can't beat the scene of the Mississippi River streaming by. You might occasionally see the bridge part to accommodate river traffic from time to time.
BTW, I do have to note that due to this coronavirus pandemic the schedule for the Southwest Chief will change from daily to three days weekly. It's expected to happen on October 12, 2020 and some trains are already affected starting this month. As far as the Chief train #3 will depart from Chicago Monday, Thursday, and Saturday & train #4 will depart from Los Angeles Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
I typically watch the railcams for Amtrak trains especially cams where you will see the Southwest Chief. I've commemorated my two trips on that train via my Railcam page on my main blog. However, you can continue to watch any rail traffic through Ft. Madison, IA as I shared this stream on this blog over the summer when it was first available on YouTube
[VIDEO] The star of the latest NXT TakeOver was the Capitol Wrestling Center which is located at WWE's Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. I did some cursory research on this as I watched last nite's event on the WWE Network.
Before the broadcast commenced there was some archived footage of 1950s wrestling especially what was produced by the preceding companies of WWE. Capitol Wrestling Center is in fact named for the predecessor company of WWE the Capitol Wrestling Corporation utilizing the graphics that was that company's logo.
We see references to Vince K. McMahon's father Vince J. McMahon. A letter written on Capitol Wrestling Corporation letterhead. We see a reference to *gasp* professional wrestling - and allow me to state NXT is really the property of Triple H who is the husband to Vince McMahon's daughter Stephanie however WWE is Vince's company and he wants his product to be not pro-wrestling but sports entertainment.
Either way, I'm sort of glad of the set up they created at the Performance Center. Once the pandemic was in full force WWE was forced to take it's programming out of the arenas onto a WWE owned property. WWE isn't generally known for that, but as we know this is new territory.
At first there were no spectators. As you recall there was no audience for WrestleMania this year. Eventually as an audience you would have trainees at the Performance Center - well the PC is actually a wrestling school after all - sometimes fans however coronavirus reared it's ugly face there. From the PC the WWE moved to the Amway Center in Orland where LCD screens represents fans showing their faces and sometimes weird pictures occasionally of other wrestlers to enhance the arena look which was missing for the last few months.
And now we have NXT's answer, the Capitol Wrestling Center. As I understand it Full Sail University where NXT normally broadcasts their weekly programs were skiddish about allowing fans on their campus. WWE moved TakeOver to the PC and it appears the CWC will be the home for NXT from this point forward.
As per usual, here's hoping the world begins to return to normal and fans can attend wrestling shows in the near future. I still can't wait to go to my first WrestleMania...
Oh, I almost forgot! Perhaps in anticipation of this move WWE began renovations of the Performance Center to created the Capitol Wrestling venue for NXT. I do wonder if this is the same closed set that WWE Raw & SmackDown and PPV were filmed at least before those renovations. I look forward to see more of this venue in the future on NXT.
[VIDEO] Yesterday, the YouTube channel Wrestlelamia discusses the probable member part of the wrestling stable Retribution that debuted on SmackDown in dramatic fashion last month. Retribution are a group of nameless so far talent and its rumored that many of these talents are from NXT the developmental brand. Some of the nameless talent are people we may know.
Social media sleuths have been able to identify a few. And since they started making promos within the last few weeks I can safely identify a few of them especially with whatever social media posts or videos about Retribution that may exist out there on this topic.
Either way I can't wait until things start to settle down and we'll know more about who Retribution is in the coming weeks. That's assuming Vince McMahon who really controls creative doesn't just pull the plug with no explanation.
BTW, three members of Retribution debuted in the ring last nite on Raw. You will see three names in the above video that I think were part of that main event last nite, the six man tag between Tmar, Mace, & Slapjack of Retribution vs. The Hurt Business of Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, & Cedric Alexander. Well now Retribution isn't so nameless, however, I just know these are aliases.
[VIDEO] Count this as another train I've yet to take at least along the whole route, Texas Eagle. Actually I've taken this train from Chicago, Ill to Dallas, TX over the years but I've never taken it past Dallas. Years ago YouTuuba took this trip from Chicago all the way to Los Angeles, Calif. Duration for video above is just over three hours.
Well you know Texas Eagle seems as if it's two trains. The segment from Chicago gets attached to another Amtrak train Sunset Limited which terminates in Los Angeles. It was not a memorable journey for YouTuuba so he has no plans to take the trip.
For myself one consideration is that would I want to get to my destination in the wee hours of the morning or at about 5:35 AM. Well when it comes to traveling when you get there isn't going to be at the perfect time.
Starting Sept. 29, Los Angeles County residents will be given the opportunity to book a stay at the home in a group of up to two. The five available dates, which will only cost $30 in honor of the show’s 30th anniversary, are Oct. 2, Oct. 5, Oct. 8, Oct. 11 and Oct. 14.
During each one-night stay, guests will have access to the wing of the house where Smith’s character crashed, as well as a poolside lounge area and a dining room. The bedroom includes a basketball net, and there will be turntables to spin classic songs on. Other perks include access to Will’s wardrobe and a virtual welcome by DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Due to COVID-19, those selected must prove residency in L.A. County and be from the same household. The rental will be compliant with CDC rules and follow the enhanced cleaning protocol made by Airbnb as well.
...
And as part of the celebration, Airbnb is making a one-time donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia. See the Airbnb page for the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” house here.
Well it was cool until I found out it's available for a limited time and perhaps if I go to LA in the future it wouldn't be available to rent.
[VIDEO] Casey Neistat had a streak of three straight vlogs starting on Friday and took a break on Monday. Then he comes back on Tuesday morning where he explains that he's trying to figure out the next chapter of his career as a filmmaker and a YouTuber.
Neistat is one escape I had discovered in the last few years and had largely missed out on the height of his daily vlogs while he remained in NYC. Basically I've spent some time over the years catching up to what he has done. In catching up lately I forgot his favorite mode of transport was a Boosted Board which unfortunately is no longer in business.
Though I noted Neistat's vlog is an escape he did wade into current events a few months ago with his video on the George Floyd protests. I find myself disagreeing with some of his conclusions, however, this is what YouTube is for as it's something of a soapbox.
RELATED: Do what you can't over at Shedd school - I just had to highlight a Neistat video with a message I could relate to. Also anyone can relate to.
[VIDEO] In all the times I took the train due south on Amtrak via the City of New Orleans train my travels have never taken me further than Memphis, Tennessee. If my travels took me further south into Mississippi then the second stop after Memphis would be Greenwood, Mississippi. This is a great look at an Amtrak station in the state of Mississippi.
Perhaps one day my travels will take me south towards New Orleans, Louisiana which is the final destination of the City of New Orleans.
[VIDEO] I saw this video a while ago a trip from New York to Los Angeles on Amtrak. This surely was shot before coronavirus, social distancing, etc. This video is a different world from the one we're still living in. Even worse it seems as we head into summer some parts of the country is suffering some setbacks as far as coronavirus cases.
Still it's cool to see his trip aboard Amtrak's Cardinal and Southwest Chief trains with his critique of the services and amenities aboard the train. It makes me nostalgic for my trip to Los Angeles just about four years ago.
When we finally beat this dreaded disease and the world fully reopens, I look forward to hopping on the train again in the near future. I'm very sure we'll beat a virus with a relatively low death rate, however, communicable it may be.
[VIDEO] Honestly I've only see All Elite Wrestling on TNT a handful of times. I got some catching up to do on that program.
I had the chance to view the most recent edition the main event is Dustin Rhodes taking on Brodie Lee for the TNT TV title in a losing effort and sorry for the spoiler. It was a different show than of course any programming from WWE.
I like the interviews they do during the course of their two hour broadcast. Wednesday night they interviewed separately the former AEW tag team champs of Cowboy Adam Page and Kenny Omega by Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross respectively. Of course the interviews will go according to whatever angle their running at any given time. It's one feature that is different from WWE and something that's missing on all their brands from Raw to SmackDown to even NXT.
The production of the program seems very high definition and the character work is outstanding. One edition I saw in the last few months showed the legendary Tully Blanchard yelling at Tye Dillinger errr I mean Shawn Spears trying to get him fired up as his manager. Although at this moment I have no idea where Spears is going as a character and I see Tully has taken on new clients the new AEW tag team champs which changed at the recent All Out PPV the Revival.....errrr I mean FTR.
Perhaps what holds me back is the so-called Wednesday nite wars between AEW and NXT from WWE. I will admit to being a WWE mark and spend most of my Wednesdays watching NXT. However in light of some sports programming which has shifted NXT - hopefully temporarily - to Tuesday nights while USA Network airs the long pandemic delayed 2020 NHL playoffs.
Another thing about AEW is I'm trying to decide their styles. WWE is about sports entertainment. The old WCW in the early days was more or less southern style wrestling. ECW was more hardcore in their presentation. AEW seems to be going for more edge in their programming however there isn't a hook that causes me to want to tune into their programming.
So the video you see above is one woman's opinion on AEW and why she no longer watches Dynamite. And she started off with how she hates the direction of the women's division for example. I'm going to guess it'll take some time before AEW goes in a direction where fans will pay attention to them.
When you think about it, it took time for WCW to become a solid competitor to the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990s. It also took time for ECW to gain enough traction to be brought up in the same sentence with WWE or WCW in the 1990s. Perhaps it'll take the same amount of time for All Elite Wrestling.
They were off to a great start close to a year ago, it's hard to say they're in a much better position compared to WWE a year later.
[VIDEO] This is the first Grilling J.R. podcast where Conrad Thompson and Jim Ross - the legendary voice of WWF Monday Night Raw. In this episode we hear J.R.'s account of the events surrounding his departure from World Championship Wrestling owned at that point by Ted Turner and his Turner Broadcasting properties.
I think he compared what was going on at WCW back during his time with them back in the early 1990s to a terminal medical condition. As happened WCW is now a property of Ross' former employe WWF now WWE. Whatever afflicted WCW proved to be terminal as WCW no longer exists as an entity.
He also couples what happened back then to him meeting his wife Jan. Ross already had two marriages under his belt and he was working on his next one. Unfortunately Jan died in 2017 after a vehicular accident so there are quite a few stories from Ross as far as his relationship with her back then.
And then of course, he talks about the situation within the Turner organization. It's very fascinating.
BTW, these days you can catch up with Jim Ross as the voice of All Elite Wrestling which currently airs on Turner Network Television aka TNA every Wednesday night on their program Dynamite.
One of my favorite YouTuber's is known as YouTuuba who goes to Mansfield, Ohio to not only visit the Ohio State Reformatory he also drives along The Shawshank Redemption trail. The trail shows sites where the movie was filmed which includes the Ohio State Reformatory.
Actually I always thought the movie was filmed in Maine which is where Shawshank was filmed. I never before knew that the film was mostly produced in Ohio in or around the Mansfield area.
The one thing I do like about YouTube - yeah being a bit childish here - is that it takes you places you never knew existed. It takes you places you're not likely to visit although now that you see it, you might want to visit these places.
A walk through the Ohio State Reformatory: Shawshank prison about an 1 hr 25 mins [VIDEO]
A drive along the Shawshank trail: In and near Mansfield, Ohio about a 20 mins [VIDEO]
Amongst other things that give me an escape, it's movies like Shawshank. I never saw it in it's initial theatrical run over 25 years ago, however, seen it on TV enough times to enjoy the movie. It's one of those films I should've had in my VHS or DVD collection. Perhaps at some point in the future I should just download it through iTunes.
They especially talk about the plans with regards to Roman Reigns and his new advocate Paul Heyman. Earlier this summer Heyman had been removed from his role as the Executive Director of Monday Nite Raw - actually it was described as a firing. The focus for him was to be more of a talent that an important player on the WWE's creative team specifically for Raw.
And last night shockingly he was the man with Roman Reigns once the Big Dog finally signs his contract for the triple threat match at tomorrow nite's WWE Payback PPV. The triple threat match is for the WWE Universal Championship and features Reigns, former Universal Champ Braun Strowman, and finally current Universal Champ "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. The Fiend had just won the Universal Title just last Sunday at SummerSlam.
Regardless during the first three minutes of WrestleTalk's video they discuss future plans for the heel turn for Reigns and Strowman. And can you imagine The Fiend as a babyface? I don't know how that could ever work, but we'll just see how that turns out. All we can do...
I may do more wrestling posts here....
Last nite, I shared news of the death of Black Panther. I also related that as the motion picture is my escape as it turns out so is pro-wrestling.
I found out about it through ig and it shocked the hell out of me. Boseman who is well known for playing the Marvel Comics superhero Black Panther was still a very young man having passed away from colon cancer. I want to say I had no idea he was ill, but then that's his business and for those that he cares about.
It's been quite a while since I've covered anything going on in Hollywood since I am a film buff. I miss watching a flick and am glad some movie theaters in the city has reopened.
I wanted to opine on what's been going on in sports for a while, and the news surrounding the activism of today's athletes. For me going to the movies are an escape, and for many so is following what's going on in the sports world.
It was great to see a short list of some of Boseman''s films. Unfortunately I never actually seen 42 about MLB hall of famer Jackie Robinson or Get On Up about legendary musician James Brown - the King of Soul. However I have seen Black Panther, he was also in Draft Day, and I wrote about seeing him in Marshall on this blog about Thurgood Marshall a supreme court justice.
BTW, got to note the Howard University connection. One of Boseman's last tweets were to note Howard Alum U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California who is the Democrat nominee for Vice President. Boseman himself graduated from Howard and another Howard connection is Thurgood Marshall who attended the law school there. Yep Howard University has a supreme court justice in their hall of alumni.
Anyway back to movies. The last movie featuring him that I saw last year was 21 Bridges a very interesting crime thriller where he plays an NYPD detective and one who I'd want on my case. And I didnt get to see him in the latest Spike Lee Joint Da 5 Bloods.
However, one movie that did make him famous was Black Panther and while they may have to recast the role if there are future films in development. However his sudden demise bums me out and I really believed him as the King of Wakanda. RIP Mr. Boseman.
[VIDEO] If you've enjoyed 10 hours of ambient sound from an Amtrak train perhaps you'll enjoy the beginning of my trip from Chicago to LA in 2016. Perhaps you'll watch with the Amtrak sound in the background and mute the video with music by Lakey Inspired.
Well if I wanted a few more photos or videos for this video, it would've been a lot longer. This video still clocks in under 15 minutes of footage leaving Chicago photos along the way until we arrive in Los Angeles. And driving long the Pacific Coast after a quick stop in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. I still fantasize about this vacation to this day, and I like trains.
[VIDEO] I love trains and this video is cool. 10 hours of Amtrak train ambience and this is something worth playing on my Apple TV as opposed to the screensaver which is usually some Los Angeles city scape. At least I'll have this until the world can begin traveling again.
Of course I'll be taking the train somewhere in the future.
I just found out about this tonight, and confused Jake with is brother Logan who's a very prominent YouTuber who himself isn't a stranger to controversy. More on that in a minute, however, whats' going on with Jake Paul?
3:06 PM PT -- It appears almost certain Wednesday's raids in Calabasas and Vegas have to do with Jake's Scottsdale arrest. Armani Izadi -- a longtime collaborator and former friend of Jake's -- owns the Vegas home that was raided by the FBI. Izadi was also arrested with Jake in Scottsdale.
2:08 PM PT -- The FBI has just played its hand -- partially -- and revealed the raid is somehow in connection with Jake getting arrested in Scottsdale during a George Floyd protest. The FBI tells TMZ, "The FBI is investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May, 2020."
Jake was in the mall and arrested for trespass and was charged with a criminal misdemeanor, but the City Attorney has dropped the case -- it appears at the behest of the FBI -- and the more serious investigation has taken precedence.
I really don't follow Logan or Jake Paul's YouTube channels but it seems both of these young men have had some controversies as YouTubers. Indeed it was noted by TMZ that some of Jake Paul's stunts on YouTube had gotten him into trouble over the years.
As far as Logan Paul, Casey Neistat had a lengthy interview with him over two years ago which explains some aspects of his controversy. Logan paid a visit to a forest and recorded the remains of a person who committed suicide. I've never seen that video, however, Logan had to answer for that with Casey and its said that after that incident changed his strategy. [VIDEO] I hope you enjoy yet another change of pace on this blog, although I'm sorry to have yet mentioned the name George Floyd once again on this blog. As you see from the above excerpt Jake Paul was arrested during a Floyd protest back in May.
[VIDEO] I know I've done this at the original blog, however, is this something worth doing here. My own personal videoblogs here in addition to any other content.
On this occasion I'm sharing this video shot over four years ago. I'm leaving Flagstaff, Arizona in the wee hours of the morning beginning the end of my west coast jaunt. The main reason I was in Flagstaff was because my party wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. I would like to share footage from that as well.
[VIDEO] I've been following Jim Zimmerlin for the last few years now and mostly became attracted to his videos of his G-scale model trains. He does a number of videos about going on cruises and indeed one of the videos that went viral were those videos showing people going down a waterslide on one of his cruises.
As of late some of his videos are more personal as he discusses retiring from his day job and moving from California. At about 11:00 AM presumably my time he will share another video of model trains running through his home in California for the last time.
Zimmerlin doesn't really have a set layout, he get very creative as far as the route the trains will take running throughout his property both inside and outside of his house. As far as G scale trains go as he''s always said it's best to not get into that hobby of collecting such trains until you've retired. Such sets are very expensive and I only wonder how much money he's spent on his collection.
For myself, I'm only willing to invest in at least HO scale model trains and I won't be as creative as far as their layout. Although I'm always looking for a good train set. Anyone got any HO scale model Amtrak trains for sale?
[VIDEO] I like some of Scotty Kilmer's videos. If you want to be into cars these are the types of videos you should watch.
In this recent video he sounds off about how much he doesn't like Cadillacs. It causes me not to want to buy one although, I've always wanted one.
To be fair, Kilmer isn't the first one to say Cadillac's quality hasn't been the best in recent years. Kilmer would say the quality hasn't been very good since the 1960s or so. I probably shouldn't pay a pretty penny for an Escalade at least. 🤷
[VIDEO] I'm glad to see this Virtual Railfan webcam in Fort Madison, Iowa is up. Ft. Madison is yet another stop on Amtrak's Southwest Chief train and although its not located at the local Amtrak depot you will see the train roll by according to its schedule (though also when its delayed as that happens with Amtrak trains relatively often). I hope you enjoy the views of the Mississippi River as the Chief crosses the Mississippi into Iowa. 👍
I forgot to add this in the previous post about a train webcam in Galesburg, Illinois which you can always use Amtrak train tracker to check when trains are come. The tracker is often very accurate.
EDITED Oct. 6, 2020 to change the link and embed to the webcam for Ft. Madison via Virtual Railfan.
[VIDEO] The Concorde aircraft has been out of service since 2003. It was a project of both the French and British governments who wanted to take the lead in manufacturing supersonic airliners. After some issues with noise and potentially environmental issues, this aircraft did begin to make some money.
During the 1980s and 1990s it became the flight of choice for wealthy flyers. It could cost up to $25K to fly across the Atlantic from NYC to London in just about 3 hours time. However, but the time the Concorde was retired what ultimately hurt this aircraft was it's complexity and some safety issues that began developing. One Concorde aircraft crashed which probably hastened - and the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks didn't help either - it's retirement after almost 30 years.
Mustard is a channel I've been following for a few years now, and it looks at a variety of aircraft in history. From helicopters to jet airliners to even military aircraft. I admire the modeling which is mostly CGI, however, the aircraft shown in this video and others are very convincing.
I've reactivated the "Beta" version of this blog. I hope to do more mobile pics and share more entertainment based items on that blog. Perhaps you will see more wrestling there and hopefully more movies. I want to keep this blog for more news, political, history, or certainly more serious purposes.
I still want to be more creative for the new My Mind's Eye blog, however, I feel as if I won't be as creative there for now. Perhaps you'll see more of my YouTube videos there, or perhaps you might see them at the "Beta"
Origin: When Blogger had their own Beta version of Blogger not long after the purchase by Google in about 2006-07 I started such a blog back then. I get bored with the concept and choose to delete it though brought it back years later. However Blogger Beta, eventually became Blogger itself and at some point there was no need for a Beta blog.
Now I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of a "Beta". Hopefully i found a formula though this blog itself isn't updated as often as it used to be. Let's feel this out!
[VIDEO] I shared this on another one of my blogs Shedd School. A live webcam of railroad traffic going through the western Illinois city of Galesburg. It's one of the stops of Amtrak's Southwest Chief on it's way to and from Los Angeles, California.
The Chief is a trip I rarely take as I've only taken the train twice so far. However, I do have many memories of my trips back and forth from out west to the point that many of my latest YouTube uploads had been of my train trips to California or out west in general.
This webcam is only a demo so it's only on YouTube via Virtual Railfan for a limited time only. Perhaps someone out there would like to sponsor this webcam at some point in the future.
Paid a visit to Comiskey Park Wednesday afternoon. Good game although the White Sox lost. Will have more on this experience in the future.
I snapped this shot back during the summer of 2014 and amazingly the 2020 MLB season has yet to start due to current circumstances involving some virus.
When I took this shot, possibly in the fall of 2014 it was likely when the new iPhone was released. It was probably the iPhone 6 & 6 Plus. Took this snapshot on my iPhone 4S.
[VIDEO] There is some real stuff going on in the world and at least we're no longer talking about the coronavirus. I just wanted to celebrate finally making 50 subs on my original YouTube channel which has been around since roughly the first year of YouTube.
In this case it's a train video (of course!) and it shows my arrival in California in July 2016. It hits me that using my cell phone as the primary record with a video and still camera is quite a creative boon. I can do video and a slide show utilizing iMovie and they have a trick where you can use a Ken Burns crops.
With a Ken Burns crop you can basically focus on one area of the picture and as the movie plays the camera can either zoom in or zoom out to reveal the rest of the scene. Or you see the rest of the scene and you'll zoom in on what you want the crop to focus on. It's really cool especially if you got some good background music.
In which case unless you're voice over intensive or plan to do a lot of talking find yourself some public domain music. That should save you from anyone attacking you over any copyrights.
I hope you enjoy the video. If you like what you see give me a subscribe. Perhaps one day this blogger can do more with his YouTube channels. I do have three one I announced here lbj79us and one called The Sixth Ward.
BTW, no more than I anticipated doing a 50 subscriber video I never anticipated doing a 50 subscriber post. It wasn't that long ago that I realized that my channel was one away from 50 and even then halfway towards the next goal of 100 subscribers.
[VIDEO] Well sometimes things happen in spurts, but at times I share small accomplishments. It's been seen at there that you get more attention upon posting 100 videos on YouTube. Well on my new channel that milestone hasn't been reached yet though on the channel I've had since roughly the beginning there are literally 100 videos and more including the above one.
So basically it's me on the train to Memphis, Tennessee leaving Chicago back in December 2014. This was the trip I wrote about at that time my first real trip out of town in a few years. A lot of the recent old videos I had posted to my other channel so far were recording years ago on a MiniDV camcorder. This time around I used the then new iPhone 6 at the time.
[VIDEO] Having subscribed to CBS All Access I need to do some catching up on Star Trek Discovery. I've already enjoyed the first season of Star Trek Picard. During the second season of Star Trek Discovery the titular starship was commanded by legendary Capt. Christopher Pike. For those of you who aren't familiar with Star Trek canon, Pike preceded Kirk as Captain of the USS Enterprise.
This has been speculated and certainly more accurate people have been calling for this new Star Trek spinoff which has been announced on Friday. You see John Campea further discuss this news in the video above.
We never really had much material involved Capt. Pike on Star Trek. There was a pilot that was unaired known as "The Cage" which featured Pike, his first officer a woman known as Number One, and a curious but well known alien named Spock. That Pike was portrayed by movie star Jeffrey Hunter.
In Star Trek's first season Capt Kirk's Enterprise was essentially hijacked to a forbidden planet under the penalty of death (I'm glad Starfleet didn't go through this) in the two-parter "The Menagerie". Anyway the mission was to deliver a now disfigured and essentially paralyzed legendary Capt. Pike to this forbidden planet to live out the rest of his days under the illusion of full autonomy. Jeffrey Hunter was replaced by another actor Sean Kenney however this episode although footage with Hunter as Pike from "The Cage" was reused as evidence for a court martial scene, remember, the Enterprise was going against starfleet orders to travel to this forbidden planet.
In 2009 Star Trek and in 2013 Star Trek into Darkness Christopher Pike is played by Bruce Greenwood. He recruits the delinquent James T. Kirk to attend Starfleet Academy is the first Captain of a newly launched USS Enterprise and was taken prisoner by a time traveling Romulan. He eventually is promoted to admiral and made a brief appearance in into Darkness however his character was killed off during the movie.
And then we see Pike and Spock and Number One during the second season of Discovery. Pike is portrayed by Anson Mount and per Starfleet orders Capt. Pike is ordered to assume command of USS Discovery by the end of the season he continues his adventures abord the USS Enterprise during the final episode of the second season.
I haven't been able to see when this series will be ordered - and I'm sure it's noted that it probably won't start shooting until we're out of current circumstances. Still it would be cool to see adventures only hinted at not only during the 1960s Star Trek run, also during the course of Discovery's 2nd season. We get to see more of an Enterprise captain whom Trekkies have never really had the chance to get to know.
[VIDEO] Shot this video in July 2005 on my way to Los Angeles, California and had to have shot this somewhere between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona. As a matter of fact way before the footage of that lightning strike that occurred not long after sunset and at that point the Southwest Chief was closer to Flagstaff.
I suppose it' very fascinating to look at the geography of the American southwest. The buttes, plateaus, hills, mountains, even the dry river beds. I can tell where at one point water flowed when it rains. It seems like a hot desolation region yet, full of life which the desert adapted plants and of course human civilization within the desert.
I look forward to the day I can ride through again, but one day I need to spend some time in this desert area.
[VIDEO] Still uploading video from many years ago taking the Southwest Chief. Today I just want to show this video of my train in 2005 going through the desert between Colorado and New Mexico (or it could be New Mexico) I just don't remember.
This video which I uploaded by lbj79us on YouTube probably had an echo from many years ago as part of this long ago footage was used on my first YouTube video. It was an attempt at a "Lumiere" style vid which seemed popular amongst videobloggers during the mid-2000. And certainly around the time when YouTube was becoming established. Here it is below. [VIDEO] I hope you'll consider subscribing and watching. Constructive feedback is needed. I'm only getting started and as in all things in life the best thing to do is to just get started. That's what I'm attempting to do with this new journey. Just get started and hopefully the progression leads to something gaining traction.
[VIDEO] I want to take my mind off of this pandemic. The posting as of late on this blog almost always involved any news on the pandemic. Indeed anything that lets me know that we're closer to the down curve with regards to coronavirus infections.
I started yet another YouTube channel which I've branded to my old Yahoo! GeoCities username which was lbj79us. Right now I plan to post old video shot by myself over the years that has never before uploaded. My original YouTube channel that I have shared with you in the past, I don't have much plans for it beyond posting more current videos.
What develops beyond that who knows, however, as I've often said the point is to just get started if one wants to gain traction especially with YouTube. Feel free to subscribe and even have a box for that purpose in the sidebar.
This could be one of those "My Mind's Eye" episodes that I had been talking about doing lately. My videography wasn't very good in July 2005 when I shot this video on board Amtrak's Southwest Chief. I was sitting in the observation lounge going through the Arizona desert - probably on the way to Flagstaff, Arizona. I knew to keep any eye on the sky because there were lightning strikes, and made sure to record a few near the end of this almost ten minute video, if you want fast forward to about 8:30 in this video.
[VIDEO] Only recently during the course of the history of this blog had I ever tried to monetize this place. I never would've imagined that Google Ads would be placed here and probably would've come in handy during those rare times when this blog received some traffic from a variety of sources. I always considered this place a hobby something to be enjoyed for free, but then again it's something that if one chooses is worth making some money off of.
I've been following Timothy J. Ward for a while especially with another one of his YouTube channels the Frugal Travel Guru. Going somewhere shouldn't cost you a lot of money and just think when I started following that channel he went from talking about tips as far as riding the Greyhound Bus to taking little trips overseas. There are some valuable lessons with that.
Due to unforeseen circumstances of the past two months I'm taking a look at one of his vids from last year declaring this year 2020 as the year of the side hustle. Of course what I have to admit in a time of a great economic downturn perhaps it's hard for many to think of a side hustle. However, as so many have lost their jobs due to this pandemic I wonder how many have turned to another way of earning income.
And no I don't mean OnlyFans, I do mean that many of us have a talent that we haven't utilized that's worth making a small income at least until the economic world stabilized. I'm lucky to still be working right now in this downturn, however, now is the time to figure out for myself other ways to make money. Perhaps that means doing what I've always done since my undergrad years which is creating content people enjoy online.
Besides, perhaps you won't be able to earn a fortune however a lot of eyeballs are on the internet right now with so many people stuck at home with all these shelter in place orders.
If you're reading this blog let me know what your sidehustle is...
[VIDEO] Remember Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future franchise? The bully of Marty McFly's father who as it turns out with the help of time travel became less of a bully towards his father?
The man who played Biff - Tom Wilson - has his own YouTube channel where he does "vlogs" about various aspects of his life and career. He starts off by making light of this pandemic noting his master plan. I have to get over the fact that he's aged since the mid to late 1980s. And starts off noting that he had dyed his hair gray so that he can play parts in commercials geared for the elderly.
Pretty funny stuff but he goes from that parody to going on set and later explaining that he hoped to have these videos for his descendents. Though I hope you were entertained by this episode.
[VIDEO] WrestleMania 36 will be interesting considering the time during which it was produced. It feature two cinematic wrestling contests, many title changes, and it was too big for one night. See WrestleMania 36 would've taken place in a football stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida with roughly 70,000 in attendance. The problem was a worldwide pandemic artfully referred to by Stephanie McMahon as "current circumstances"
The video above by Wrestlelamia explains the imagery you see in one of the cinematic contests of WrestleMania weekend which is the Firefly Fun House match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt or The Fiend. From the comments I've seen online it was often panned but what I appreciate from the video above is the many explanations for what happened during that match. You might even see Titus O'Neil''s confused expression at the conclusion of that contest as he wasn't sure what he saw.
There seemingly was a lot in there and what should be conveyed in that "match" is that we're looking at Cena battling his past. Whether or not he was a wrestling fan who was watching the old Saturday's Night Main event and by extension the comparison with Hulk Hogan in the portion where they mimic the NWO and Hogan's heel turn in WCW. Then we look at key moments of Cena's career from his debut slapping the legendary Kurt Angle before a match and his eventual character development as the Doctor of Thuganomics. We see how Cena's career had developed.
I this video you see that Cena had heat with superstars. He held other performers back to certainly protect his position as a main event guy in WWE. And I suppose during this whole "match" we saw a point where Cena could've built a new star in Bray Wyatt and chose not to.
We also find out that Cena had a failed "rap career" and that in the beginning he was almost fired from WWE. If he had never became the Doctor of Thuganomics he would've never gotten close to the dance.
Regardless in this "match" The Fiend claimed yet another WWE legend. However, I have to add that one could say Cena was his own opponent. I don't know if you can call this a match, it seemed more like a dream sequence. It probably took place in the mind of Bray Wyatt and somehow Cena was caught up in it.
When Cena came out to his entrance music and then the scene transitioned to Bray's Firefly Fun House. I couldn't tell if any commentators were at the desk in the empty arena at the WWE Performance Center. So I find myself wonder if this "match" was nothing more than a dream sequence.
With this said, the Firefly Fun House match was a memorable moment from this past weekend's WrestleMania. It held my attention as much as the Boneyard Match between AJ Styles and the Undertaker. Both told very unusual stories and I have a hard time believing either match would be seen as it were in a live venue with so many fans. I think we'd get a typical WrestleMania match if this pandemic hadn't hit.
Also bear in mind finally that this WrestleMania was taped in advance, it wasn't live as it usually would be. I'm glad WWE went ahead and produced this PPV with the line from Ms. McMahon that the world needs entertainment more than ever. So many of us who have been sheltering in place may have found something on both nights that entertained them.
[VIDEO] As a geek I wish I could do a far better job of following the news on genre films especially comic book movies. There is to be a new Batman movie next year featuring Twilight's Robert Pattinson as the titular character. It''s expected to be the reboot of the DCEU Batman franchise as Pattison is taking over the role from Ben Affleck.
I saw a lot of comments pouring over the music you will hear in the video above released two months ago. basically your going to hear the same notes repeat as this short clip comes to it's conclusion. The Batsuit looks like a suit of armor although the cinematic Batman for the most part always wears armour to protect himself from typical hazards such as bullets or knives. And to see Pattison in his costume is cool as it previews the movie ahead.
I have to admit I really liked Affleck's batsuit as in the comic cinematic world it's not often we see Batman in a cloth suit as opposed to heavily armored. It was a great change of pace although he portrayed a much older Batman who was worn down by his war on crime in Gotham. Pattison is expected to portray a young Batman at the start of his war on crime.
As stated earlier this is something of a reboot as the DCEU isn't as critically acclaimed or profitable as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been. Or I should say the DCEU hasn't made as much money over time as the MCU. The movies unfortunately haven't been that great since Man of Steelthe first movie of that franchise was released in 2013.
I even saw the movie Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn that came out earlier this year before the pandemic. It's set in the Batman universe and somewhat connects with the DCEU, and indeed the Harley Quinn of the title was first seen in the other DCEU installment Suicide Squad. Both were fun movies, however, the story was a bit of a mess and I left the movie ultimately unsatisfied. I didn't even wait to the end to see the last scene of the movie after the credits. Like a few of them with very few exceptions many of the DCEU movies could've been better.
Hopefully The Batman for next year will reinvigorate the DCEU. I hear it's production is delayed due to the pandemic, however, when theaters reopen later this year hopefully the public will get to see the 2017 Wonder Woman sequel Wonder Woman 1984.
BTW, having seen Joker last year I find myself wishing that universe (its actually not part of the DCEU franchise) could be expanded upon. It would be cool to see a Bruce Wayne/Batman develop in that universe with Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of the title character as an antagonist. In an interesting way they setup Batman's origin story. If you're sheltering in place, I suggest you check it out on your favorite streaming service.
[VIDEO] The idea of this is impractical but the construction and demonstration of this isolation is entertaining to watch. Would you want to ride out the pandemic in this thing?
[VIDEO] Usually I avoid posting on Sundays on any of my blogs, however, in this case I will make a exception. Besides, I don't really post a lot anywhere these days.
Dan Mace was mentioned in yesterday's video by big time YouTuber Casey Neistat as Mace himself - as the 67th case of corona in his native South Africa - stated that he was positive for the coronavirus. Listen to Mace talk about his symptoms as he states that others experienced the loss of his sense of smell & taste. He also noted that this symptom was experience reportedly by others who had been infection with this contagion.
He talks about difficulty breathing, fatigue which are symptoms of this virus. However, its often been noted how these are also symptoms of the flu. He was treated accordingly, however, he was actually tested for the coronavirus and he was positive.
Mace has opted not to monetize this video and wants to educate the public on this. I hope someone see this 10 minute video. Instead of panicking I hope they go to the doctor not only to get tested, but to get treated. If you don't have any major medical conditions, especially the illness will be unpleasant however it will still pass.
[VIDEO] One of my favorite YouTubers Casey Neistat has his own experience with the coronavirus. His friend and fellow filmmaker Dan Mace had been diagnosed with this very contagious pathogen. He's going to be fine, however, he experience issues with his breathing for example and trying to get tested. That seems to be a recurring thing once this became a real issue in American society, you don't get tested unless your condition is grave.
[VIDEO] I've never had an opportunity to own a Boosted Board, they're just a bit expensive for me. If only my blogging career could afford me one of these powered skateboards or even an electric scooter.
Well I'm mostly familiar with Boosted Boards from Casey Neistat's YouTube channel and it's his primary way of moving around NYC. Then we see one of his associates above Sam Sheffer talking about Boosted's demise. If you look on their website you aren't able to purchase any of their products.
Like I said I've never owned one, however, it would've been quite nifty to use one to get around Chicago especially to work or just after I get off the CTA. It's too bad that they seem to be shutting down operations. Although I do hope they get back into business soon.
[VIDEO] For the first time I've purchased a subscription to CBS All Access which streams a number of original programming in addition to a library of classic TV programming owned by CBS and Paramount. This enables me to watch episodes of the new Star Trek series about Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
Picard in this series is a retired starfleet admiral who finds himself trying to get back into the saddle. He mourns the death of a friend he served with as Captain of the USS Enterprise. If I had nostalgia for the adventures I often watched from Star Trek: The Next Generation on WPWR-TV 50 here in Chicago it came back. We only see a quick look at the USS Enterprise D in this series looking better than it had the last time we saw that ship in Star Trek: Generations where it was destroyed.
One disheartening thing about the first three episodes I watched over the weekend is that Picard is treated as a pariah. I'm sure there was a variety of disagreements that occurred that led to this development, however, a man of Picard's stature and legend shouldn't have been treated the way another starfleet admiral treated him as he sought to return to duty to the service he faithfully served.
This transmission from Junkball Media mentions at least the drama I mentioned. We get the good and bad and some of this I would agree. The melodrama between some of the characters on this show leaves us numb, however, I think this series has time to develop.
What has been established so far has me interested in what's next. The next episode drops tomorrow and hopefully it's a good one.
BTW, one thing noted concerns me although I wish I had read up on it more. Do the people who wrote and produced this program have any great knowledge of the United Federation of Planets and the Star Trek universe. Unless some research is down by the creative team behind this series I can only wonder if this series is doomed, especially for long time Star Trek fans like myself.
Finally, it's probably about time I catch up to Star Trek Discovery. I hadn't seen a full episode since the series premire actually aired on the CBS Network on a Sunday in Primetime in 2017.
[VIDEO] I missed this from last year. There was an episode of WWE Untold that explored the relauch of ECW as a brand with both RAW and SmackDown. It's akin to what's going on with NXT in the Wednesday nite wars against the emerging All Elite Wrestling.
ECW I only had three short years with the renegade promotion that was on the heels of both WCW and WWE (or WWF). The wrestling I saw was gritty and definitely didn't have the production values of both WCW or WWF. Somehow I admired that quality as the polished I expect from the other two companies.
What I do agree with as I continue to learn more about the impact of ECW is that they were the disruptors. If creatively WCW and WWF was in a rut, ECW was the guide out of it. And they had the fanbase to prove it as they were part of the episodes I saw on TV for those three short years. It will always be in my head how ECW fanatics would chant the three letters of their favorite promotions or pop huge for their favorite performers.
Another think that caught my attention with ECW is the violence. There was truly a form of anarchy in ECW although matches do end when a referee calls a submission or counts a pinfall. Beyond that the match could go all over the building and weapons could be used or even outside interference. The referees were said to wear costumes similar to the apparel of MMA referees. The action I saw as the WWF attitude era was in full swing was something different from the fare I would be treated to during the Monday nite wars.
Of course as happens, I came to the party late. When I discover ECW the ratings domination between WWF and WCW was beginning to turn. The NWO storyline was beginning to fizzle by 1999 and WWF as ascendant with the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon storyline. And by 2001 WCW would become a WWF property and also ECW was bankrupt.
Then by 2005 ECW would become a WWE property and while fans yearned for its return it was revived. Of course now that it was part of the establishment it became the one thing wrestling fans in the 1990s rebelled against. And that is the story you see in the video above.
I can see where the revival fell short of the original. I can also see that ECW as a third brand that aired on the former Sci-Fi (no SyFy) allowed some future WWE superstars to gain some exposure and get TV time.
If the ECW revival hadn't gotten the attention of advertisers and networks prompting the involvement of Vince McMahon, fans can only wonder the direction of the ECW revival with the leadership of yet another McMahon, Shane McMahon. Oh man another thought just hit me.
What if WWE had been able to properly relaunch the aforementioned WCW as another brand? Ah well for both we'll never know!.
[VIDEO] I'm sorry to have missed this Tuesday. WWE superstar Matt Hardy's YouTube channel finally got their silver award from the largest most important video site in the world. Although currently the subscriber count is at 261K, you're eligible to receive the silver plaque you see Hardy holding once you arrive at 100K subscribers.
Also at 1 million subscribers you get a larger gold plaque and at 10 million you get a diamond play button. There are other awards for becoming a YouTube channel with a large subscriber base as PewDiePie at 103 million subscribers has arrived at, but I won't mention that. It has to essentially be a stratospheric rise.
Congrats Marr Hardy, I hope that you will either return to the ring (and not to put someone over) or otherwise you find another role in wrestling. Hopefully you will continue to put out content on your channel. I've watched some of it and was greatly entertained.
[VIDEO] I can't believe it's 2020 and I probably said that about 2010. Ten years ago the first iPad was released and it was quite a boxy device. Perhaps one day I will show you the first iPad I bought which was actually the iPad 2 which isn't as boxy and the form factor I do miss these days.
It's amazing to see how the tech has evolved from the iPad to the iPhone for example and I've been thinking about showing you my favorite and first iPhone of all time. Interestingly for the iPhone I see there could be a return to the form factor that I do like from the various designs.
Either way I never owned the first iPad but it was a nifty device. As a consumer my first question ought to be what can I do with it? I know what I do with my iPad now which is basically surf the internet, check my social media, and my emails. Sometimes take photographs and video and more often use it for streaming.
To see this review brings back some memories of playing with this device at the Apple store on Michigan Avenue. However little did I know that I'd be playing with other devices in addition to an iPad from Apple Inc.
