"2001: A Space Odyssey" 50 years...

[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]

And I didn't recognize that on April 3, 1968 was when this classic was released according to wikipedia.

My thoughts on #Fahrenheit119

[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.

Now that I think about it #bitcoin

 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.

Business Insider: How pure gold is refined

[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.

Trek lore: What caused WW III

[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!

The last train odyssey video

[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

Another mini-railroad video

[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.