[VIDEO] 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my all-time favorite movies.
When I first saw it on cable in about 1995, I couldn't believe that something like this could be produced & released in 1968. I thought I was watching something that had premiered in the 1980s.
Also the movie was closer in time to 2001 and I also knew there was no way we were going to launch a Jupiter mission. We haven't even gone to Mars and the Apollo lunar program was over in the early 1970s, thus we don't even have moon bases there in 1995.
Oh and we didn't even have flights into Earth orbit. PanAm wasn't flying anywhere because they had closed down in 1991. If someone could revive the brand for flights into Earth orbit and to the moon that would be very cool.
And in this almost hour long documentary we see the thought put into this movie by Stanley Kubrick and his crew. This is one of his many masterpieces.
So far I've only seen Paths of Glory, Spartacus, 2001, and a Clockwork Orange. He didn't make that many movies during his career and when he does make movies he puts a lot of time and energy in them. I'd say that works for him. Basically quality of output more than quantity.
Also OTOY is also know for some of their own Star Trek projects, so look out for them also.
[VIDEO] The interesting story of how Steve Jobs, the late legendary Apple founder and CEO, handled the leak of an prototype electronic device which ultimately became the iPhone 4. Jobs didn't have great respect for tech bloggers and I'm sure it was a bit of a humiliation for this device to get leaked.
At about the 40 minute mark you find out how serious this story became - consider this a trigger warning.
[VIDEO] Shot this video waiting for a train back into downtown from my Sony MiniDV camcorder. I see those old 2200 series cars with those "blinker" or what I call bus-style doors. Those cars were taken out of service during the 2010 and you would usually see them on the Congress-Douglas-O'Hare CTA blue line. Though at this point the Douglas route would become part of the CTA pink line which would be routed into the Loop Elevated tracks.
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.
[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] On July 17, 2019 I rode Amtrak's Silver Star through Ashland, Virginia which surprisingly is one of the sites of many Virtual Railfan webcams around the country. I expect this won't be the last time this happens. It was cook to see some of the landmarks especially the storefronts that I've only seen only if I tune into one of these cams.
I tried to see if I can find my train on the site, but I had failed to find the time frame where the train passed through. Bummer, but as I stated this probably won't be the last time. Who knows I might be going to the west coast again in the future. You can check out the three cams that I do show on this blog of three stops on the way...
Here's the live webcam from Ashland, VA. On VR's YouTube channel they do show some interesting things such as bears or even cars running onto the tracks for example. Of course you will see special trains or what not also.
[VIDEO] I've been trying to just post videos to my YouTube channel more lately. When I do post it's often video shot from my iPhone.
So far I've been posting video from my latest vacation. So I took a train to DC changed trains there to take a train to Jacksonville, Florida (there is a pro-wrestling reference here as the owners of the upstart company All Elite Wrestling are based in Jacksonville as they own the local NFL club there). Then took a bus from Jacksonville, FL to Savannah, Georgia to take another bus to Atlanta, Georgia where my family had a family reunion.
Then we left Atlanta by train from a picnic to return to DC so that we can take the Amtrak Train back to Chicago. So basically the trains we took to get to and from Chicago to our various points we started out trip on the Capitol Limited and then transferred to the Silver Star we took Greyhound to our next destination and then later took the Crescent back to DC and finished our riding with a ride on the Capitol Limited back to Chicago. Whew!
So anway, I wanted to share this vid of my day at DC's Union Station where I saw the hustle and bustle during the week. It's super raw footage and this I didn't edit much, but it's an excuse to utilize my YouTube channel. It's time to come up with a real plan.
I probably should've started this process earlier, but after getting some notice with blogging this is probably the next step beyond that. As I said come up with a real plan to utilize YouTube and create some content people could enjoy.
[VIDEO] If you've been following Neistat's vlogs on his YouTube channel he already stated that he was planning to end his long chapter in NYC and moving to the golden state. In this latest one he finally packs up and leaves starting off with one of his boosted boards crashing through his glass door.
It's cool to see Neistat sharing his story about how he arrived in NYC at 20 years old with no education or money and having promises for himself when he was young. He also was a single dad and wished to be a wonderful father for his son. That's admirable and now he's married with another child and in some of his recent vlogs we see him with wife and child.
I'm excited to see his new chapter on the pacific coast. His past vids in NYC were a great setting for his once daily vlog, but what new vlogs will come from his new digs.
He makes me want to try living in NYC to see if I can make it, however, I get the idea that this ship has sailed. Although it's time for me to visit as I've never been, could I possibly make it as a tourist in the city that never sleeps?
[VIDEO] I saw the documentary Apollo 11 on Friday and it was great to see archival footage and even some modern graphics depict the mission that landed men on the moon. I can't believe it's been 50 years since that historic achievement in human technological history. The greatest engineering and technological challenge had been achieved and the names Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin will forever be part of human history.
It's fascinating to see the trip happen in just about real time, the trip to the moon from launch until lunar orbit was three days for Apollo 11. It was fascinating to see the Saturn V launcher being moved to it's launch pad, it was cool to see the preparations for this historic space voyage, it was amazing to see everyone there for the launch of this mission, and then all the footage in space. It was interesting to see the Apollo spacecraft probably filmed through a telescope of some sort get propelled towards the moon on their three day journey.
I can only imagine that the animations were with the voice overs were made by a public relations officer with NASA who described all the maneuvers the astronauts were expected to make. These maneuvers ensured that the astronauts will make their flight objectives. They get to their destination and they don't veer off course from getting to the moon and returning to earth safely.
I was almost reminded of the movie that was released last year with Ryan Gosling playing the Apollo 11 mission commander, Neil Armstrong - First Man. It's great to see the real story as it was shot back in 1969 shown to the public.
[VIDEO] I didn't have a wrestling post this week so, how about a post from WWE's YouTube channel about WrestleMania rings. It's appropriate because we're slowly but surely approaching next month's WrestleMania extravaganza, the grandest stage of them all.
We visit with Mark Carpenter who's been a longtime ring maker for WWE. I saw WrestleMania III last year and he was the one created those carts for the wrestlers which were made to resemble a wrestling ring. Then they found some other work for him especially for WWE's ring.
He created the rings and then made changes to the steel cages for WWE and now he has a regular job with them. He's the one who created the stage - err the ring - for the performers. You see in this video that he's working on a ring with a heating system that will keep the dynamics of the ring as if it's indoors. See at this year's WrestleMania which will be in at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, WWE Superstars will be performing out doors. That means they do need a ring that functions like the superstars are performing indoors and I would imagine the weather of New Jersey in early April won't quite be that warm.
[VIDEO] Earlier this month I saw the masterpiece that is They Shall Not Grow Old. It's a documentary that features 100 year old footage from the first World Ward - one of two of the most deadly human conflicts fought in the 20th Century.
The beginnings shows men signing up and then being mustered into the armed services of the British Empire and then we get into the true artistic vision of the film. Footage from the battlefield remastered colorized and then set to modern speed as the many soldiers who fought on the western front during that war spoke to us about their experiences.
When I think of silent film often my mind is of people walking around like penguins. How the people move in those early films for my eyes aren't normal motion. Sometimes its the technology of the time also as when cinematographers shoot the moving pictures they're using a hand-cranked camera. Sometimes it might be faster or slower.
The director Peter Jackson - many of you may know him from Lord of the Rings - gives us a featurette at the end of the movie about the process of directing the film. It's absolutely fascinating how much work they did to make this movie. To integrate old interviews with the many soldiers who served on the western front with the century old footage.
It's not an academic look at the war - this is a history film for non-historians. Perhaps someone who saw this movie had relatives who fought in this conflict. My own family had their own connections to the conflict who went to Europe once America declared war on the German Empire. All the same the film allows those old vets who recorded their interviews during the course of the mid 20th century to share their thoughts about the war and why they served and their experiences.
We hear a lot of men say they had a job to do they were professionals and they did it. Some said they had nothing going on at home so they signed up. It wasn't uncommon also to be caught up in patriotic fervor. Some still admitted they were too young to serve but were accepted anyway for service.
What's strikingly familiar with these WW1 vets is that once they got home from the western front, most Brits were ready to turn the page from this conflict. They might have been happy that the vets in their family returned home, but they just seemed to want to forget about the war. I could say it might've been similar to the experience of Vietnam veterans once that conflict drew to a close.
As much as the British citizens were glad that the war was finally over it was all for naught. As history records the harsh treatment of the former German Empire which suffered a change in regime and other economic hardships as a result of a treaty that formally ended the war only lead to another world war. The supposed war to end all wars, didn't do the job unfortunately.
[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.
[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] 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
[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.
[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] It seems often when I go to the movies the thing to see are some low-brow comedies such as the often maligned Bad Santa 2, Office Christmas Party or more recently Fist Fight. Those movies would give a great tickle but these aren't films that would place in the Oscars. Nor do they have to they're just entertainment that could be forgotten about later.
Before viewing Fist Fight on Saturday, I also viewed I Am Not Your Negro. It's a documentary based on an unpublished manuscript by the late author James Baldwin. It offers his thoughts on American culture, race relations, and the civil rights movement. It's pretty powerful and Baldwin's voice is provided by one Samuel L. Jackson and you couldn't recognize him if you tried. Jackson's voice was so unusually subdued.
We see this film has not only scenes shot in the present day at various locales such as New York or taking an interstate going somewhere. We also see a lot of archival news footage some of which I suspect was colorized for the film. Also we see this interspersed with footage from past films which were shown during Baldwin's lifetime.
Films are apart of American culture and Baldwin attacks it. For example using John Wayne who we know generally is a star of the Western genre. So the attack on America's culture begins with the idea of cowboys fighting Indians with the cowboys always the good guys. And then the portrayal of the weak Black man and a very unsexualized Black man - feel some would disagree with that characterization.
It seems Baldwin had been a figure in the civil rights movement. We see footage of him giving lectures or indeed him on a TV program addressing people who may not clearly see the racial angle to American issues of his day. Baldwin as an author who just so happens to be Black is quite eloquent and I understood his points even if my views on race doesn't share the same passion or experience his does.
I have to say, the only time I knew Baldwin existed was his brief appearance as a vampire during Arsenio Hall's tenure on FOX's The Late Show. Also I'm sure there was a biography I found of him long before the creation of Wikipedia or perhaps a quick introduction to him in a textbook on African-American literature. Regardless this gave me a greater appreciation for him as an author.
Perhaps someone will be seen as the voice of this generation with some of the troubles Black-America is facing. Baldwin's generation faced outright racism which was at best legal or at worst outright homicidal. By legal I mean to say to legally treat Blacks differently than the more favored portion of the population. Blacks having to ride the back of the bus or Blacks having to enter a business through a separate entrance. For a period of time in this country something such as that was legal.
Today's generation faces different obstacles of which racism could be one, but I may state that it's not as big as others. It's not as obvious as it once was. One could argue if it's an issue it's an issue in the criminal justice system. Perhaps even though we no longer have "separate but equal" it still might be an issue in public education.
When I saw the movie on Saturday, it's message resonated and the patrons in the auditorium gave the film a round of applause when it was over. Great film and if you see it, hopefully it will resonate with you as well.
[VIDEO] One of my former professors at Morehouse College Tobe Johnson is interviewed for the King Collection. He claimed he'll keep teaching until he's carried out in a casket. Still had a sharp mind when I took his classes. Of course don't do your work for his courses and he'll still fail you!
In this hour and a half video he talks about his life and career. Video is courtesy of Morehouse College and was recorded last September.
[VIDEO] I've been an L rider all my life. Spent many a Saturday in my youth riding to downtown with my mother when she used to work at a bank downtown. Now I spend a lot of time on the CTA getting to school or work or just getting out of the house for a few hours.
Today I have a tourist piece for you. Strangely enough I'm starting with the yellow line aka Skokie Swift. Skokie is an adjacent suburb of Chicago and the CTA does have L service which travels to nearby suburbs such as Skokie, Evanston, Cicero, Oak Park & Forest Park.
Either way I realised that I've traveled on almost everyline of the CTA L system. Only recently - that is within the last 10 or so years my travels have taken me to all of the CTA's colored lines.
When I attended community college in downtown Chicago I traveled the blue line to O'Hare, Forest Park and 54/Cermak. Now the 54/Cermak branch is part of the pink line as a result of service changes. I also took the train from Ashland/63 and Cottage Grove to get downtown via the green line. Also I traveled the red line from 95th all the way to Howard and changed to the purple from Howard to get to Linden. Finally I took the orange from downtown to Midway and back.
Since then I've taken the pink line with some video that needs to be digitized in the future. Also for the first time I took the brown line all the way to Kimball and took the green line to it's west side terminal at Harlem Avenue. Since I've started working I've taken the yellow line on two occasions mainly to get up to Old Orchard mall and that means I'd have to take the bus from the Skokie stop.
I forgot to note the quirk of the purple line. While the purple is a local service within Evanston when it stops at Howard it becomes an express during rush hour with no stops until Belmont. When I worked briefly in Evanston to make up some time I took the express train to get to work there.
Needless to say there have been many interesting adventures on CTA as you can sometimes tell if you follow me on twitter. If only I had such a tool during the pre-twitter/social media days.
[VIDEO] Today in this snowy President's Day here in Chicago, we take a look at the economics of sex. I had an entirely different idea about the point made in the video. Therefore I had to rewrite this post because I thought the economics of sex involved today's economy. Not so, there's more to it than that and today's economy is not at all mentioned in this vid. So, this video above explores how difficult it is for women to seek a committed relationship with men and vice-versa!
It appears the New York Post writes about the video you see above and found via Newsalert!
