50 subscribers

[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.

I got 49 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.

Anyway if you enjoy this video feel free to help me get to 100 subs and hit that subscribe button. 

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds"

[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.

On the train between New Mexico and Arizona

[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.

Southwest geography

[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.

Desert lightning...

[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.

Side hustles during a #Pandemic

[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...