It's that time of year again. New Jersey Transit is offering free rides to university students next week (Feb 4 - Feb 10). In preparation for this, I will make a series of blog posts about many things to see and do, from a railfan's perspective, taking advantage of New Jersey Transit's offer. I have entitled this week "Philly Week" after one of the many things that some up here in New York do to take advantage: Ride from New York to Philadelphia for free. Sure, the days are not as long as they are in September, which is the other time of year that NJT does this, but that doesn't mean you still can't take advantage of free rides into and through the Garden State.
Some of the things I have done in the past include complete exploration of the close-to-home light rail systems, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and the Newark City Subway. The more extravagant, of course, is traveling from the Big Apple to the City of Brotherly Love without spending a dime. Take that, Greyhound!
To travel to Philadelphia, you must travel to Trenton. There, you have two options, one of which costing significantly more. The costlier option is taking the SEPTA R7 line, which connects with New Jersey Transit trains in an across-the-platform transfer which makes that a bit more convenient, but like I said, it'll cost you. Buying your ticket on the train (the only sane way to do it if you ride free to Trenton) will set you back $9. If you're fortunate enough to buy a ticket in advance, you save *drumroll* one dollar. However, if you exit the station and go across the street, you'll find an option that'll make you spend those nine bucks on something you'll enjoy more…like a philly cheese steak.
The RiverLINE is South Jersey's light rail system, connecting Trenton with Camden, which is to Philadelphia like Jersey City is to New York…except there's bridges connecting the two cities down there, and tunnels up here. Take the RiverLINE to Walter Rand Transportation Center. (Yeah. I don't know who he is, either, but they named the place after him anyway.) Right across from the RiverLINE station is, shock, an entrance to another transit agency's rail station. This time, it's PATCO, a high speed rail line that runs from Lindenwold all the way to Philadelphia. Fortunately, the fare for the ride to Philly on PATCO is significantly less than that of the R7, so you can spend the $1.15 here, and save the rest for a slightly smaller Philly cheese steak.
Then again, if that $9 you have has to last you the whole day, Walk across the street into the Walter Rand Transportation Center, and proceed to Gate Eight. Enough with the Rhyme Time. Just take any bus that pulls up to Gate Eight, where there's a 99.9% chance that it'll pull in and say that it's headed to Philadelphia. Show your "credentials" to the bus driver, take a seat, sit back, and relax as the bus takes you across the Ben Franklin Bridge into Center City Philadelphia. Who knows? You might even see a PATCO train or two.
There you go. How to get to Philadelphia without spending a dime.
1. Be a college student with a valid student ID card.
2. Board a New Jersey Transit train on the Northeast Corridor Line. Take it to Trenton
3. Take RiverLINE to Walter Rand Transportation Center.
4. Board any bus that stops at Gate 8
5. Welcome to Philadelphia! What you do there is none of my business!
Enjoy!
28 January 2008
22 January 2008
Express Bus Services from The Bronx & Westchester
My latest creation is not a video, but rather, a diagrammatic map of express routes serving The Bronx and Westchester. It's a large PNG file, but if you know anyone who's been wondering about express routes in The Bronx (especially that elusive X32), check this out.
Original image: PNG, 637K, 5760×3600
Linked image: 1600×1000. I'll post the bigger one as soon as I find a way to do so.
EDIT
I've made a little something to fill the white space on the right side of the map.
Original image: PNG, 637K, 5760×3600Linked image: 1600×1000. I'll post the bigger one as soon as I find a way to do so.
EDIT
I've made a little something to fill the white space on the right side of the map.
17 January 2008
To attest to the fact people actually read this blog…
Someone told me last night that they read something about my blog.
A real post coming soon.
A real post coming soon.
11 January 2008
Happy New Year!
I know it's 11 days late, but happy new year, anyway.
Here's my latest video, featuring the top 74 photos of the year.
Here's my latest video, featuring the top 74 photos of the year.
19 December 2007
Messiah Has Come
No, I don't mean that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ has taken place (though it wouldn't be that far in the future anyway), but the Church in Manhattan had its annual Messiah sing-along this past Sunday, and I have a few things to say about it.
First off, the soloists and musicians in the orchestra were great. The chorus parts (filled in by the "audience") were a bit lacking at times, but filled in at most places where it was needed.
For example, at the beginning of And He Shall Purify, the sopranos were supposed to come in right at the beginning. However, there was some dead air for a second (at least until they all thought, "Oh crap, we're supposed to be singing now?" and then started singing.
I also have the recurring gripe about how we don't sing the whole thing. Here's the listing of the pieces, striking out everything that wasn't on the program.
As you can see by the strikethroughs, much of the second and third parts were omitted. The two arias in the third part (45 and 48) were cut short. Also, He was despised was also cut short. (I don't blame them for that though. The whole thing is 10 minutes long, anyway.) I was informed that we would be singing "the whole Messiah" by the one conducting a sacrament meeting for one of the singles wards. Obviously, this was not so. Fortunately, I have the whole "whole Messiah" on my iPod, so I listened to the omitted sections on my way home, and was completed before I walked in the door. And before that, they did an encore of the Hallelujah chorus. Personally, I think Worthy is the Lamb is the most powerful chorus of the whole thing.
Also included in the program was an intermission between His yoke is easy and Behold the Lamb of God. Hot chocolate was served, but it was the water-based kind. I prefer the milk-based kind. Anyway, it was a good time had by all.
First off, the soloists and musicians in the orchestra were great. The chorus parts (filled in by the "audience") were a bit lacking at times, but filled in at most places where it was needed.
For example, at the beginning of And He Shall Purify, the sopranos were supposed to come in right at the beginning. However, there was some dead air for a second (at least until they all thought, "Oh crap, we're supposed to be singing now?" and then started singing.
I also have the recurring gripe about how we don't sing the whole thing. Here's the listing of the pieces, striking out everything that wasn't on the program.
-
- Overture
- Comfort Ye
- Every Valley shall be exalted
- And the Glory of the Lord
- Thus saith the Lord
- But who may abide
- And He shall purify
- Behold A Virgin Shall Conceive
- O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
- For behold, darkness shall cover the earth
- The people that walked in darkness
- For unto Us a Child is born
- Pastoral Symphony
- There were shepherds
- And the Angel said unto them
- And suddenly there was with the Angel
- Glory to God
- Rejoice greatly
- Then shall the eyes of the blind
- He shall feed
- His yoke is easy
-
- Behold the lamb of God
- He was despised
- Surely He hath borne our griefs
- And with His stripes
- All we like sheep have gone astray
- All they that see him laugh him to scorn
- He trusted in God
- Thy rebuke hath broken His heart
- Behold, and see
- He was cut off out of the land of the living
- But Thou didst not leave
- Lift up your heads
- Unto which of the angels
- Let all the angels
- Thou art gone up on high
- The Lord gave the word
- How beautiful are the feet
- Their sound is gone out
- Why do the nations rage?
- Let us break their bonds
- He that dwelleth
- Thou shalt break them
- Hallelujah
-
- I know that my redeemer liveth
- Since by man
- Behold I tell you
- The trumpet shall sound
- Then shall be brought to pass
- O death
- But thanks be to God
- If God be for us
- Worthy is the Lamb
- I know that my redeemer liveth
As you can see by the strikethroughs, much of the second and third parts were omitted. The two arias in the third part (45 and 48) were cut short. Also, He was despised was also cut short. (I don't blame them for that though. The whole thing is 10 minutes long, anyway.) I was informed that we would be singing "the whole Messiah" by the one conducting a sacrament meeting for one of the singles wards. Obviously, this was not so. Fortunately, I have the whole "whole Messiah" on my iPod, so I listened to the omitted sections on my way home, and was completed before I walked in the door. And before that, they did an encore of the Hallelujah chorus. Personally, I think Worthy is the Lamb is the most powerful chorus of the whole thing.
Also included in the program was an intermission between His yoke is easy and Behold the Lamb of God. Hot chocolate was served, but it was the water-based kind. I prefer the milk-based kind. Anyway, it was a good time had by all.
06 December 2007
Keyword: Video
A few things:
1. On that search box in the top-left of the page, if you type "video" and click "search blog," you'll get a list of posts with all the past videos I've posted to the blog.
2. If you have Firefox, you may notice an orange icon on the right side of the address bar. Click on it, and you'll be able to subscribe to this blog, so that you can keep track of my latest posts.
3. Wow! Three blog posts in one day! That must be a record or something!
1. On that search box in the top-left of the page, if you type "video" and click "search blog," you'll get a list of posts with all the past videos I've posted to the blog.
2. If you have Firefox, you may notice an orange icon on the right side of the address bar. Click on it, and you'll be able to subscribe to this blog, so that you can keep track of my latest posts.
3. Wow! Three blog posts in one day! That must be a record or something!
03 December 2007
DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
As promised, here is the so-called "Unseen Video," and how it came to gain Unseen status.
It started on Friday the 23rd of November, after finishing up my video, The Rest of NYC, I sent an e-mail to the guy who was the e-mail receiver for submissions. I also uploaded it to YouTube, as was directed. I traveled to the Apple store in SoHo to make the upload, as the relatively slow 160kbps upload speed of my DSL connection would not handle the 17MB file as an e-mail attachment. After doing that, I went to gather material for my next project.
Anyway, long story short, I received no e-mail notification as to do anything else, and I assumed that all was well. Not so. When Lingo day came, I was disappointed when my creation was not shown (I should have brought my flash drive ! I still had it on there!). I then advertised it at the conclusion of the event that it would be part of a double feature at 5:30 PM Monday, which is right about now. So, without further ado, here's the "Unseen Video" Transfer Point Video #31, The Rest of NYC
And here's some new stuff, Transfer Point Video #32, (B) Movie.
Feel free to comment and read my reviews of the other Lingo films further down the main page, and PLEASE let me know what you think!
It started on Friday the 23rd of November, after finishing up my video, The Rest of NYC, I sent an e-mail to the guy who was the e-mail receiver for submissions. I also uploaded it to YouTube, as was directed. I traveled to the Apple store in SoHo to make the upload, as the relatively slow 160kbps upload speed of my DSL connection would not handle the 17MB file as an e-mail attachment. After doing that, I went to gather material for my next project.
Anyway, long story short, I received no e-mail notification as to do anything else, and I assumed that all was well. Not so. When Lingo day came, I was disappointed when my creation was not shown (I should have brought my flash drive ! I still had it on there!). I then advertised it at the conclusion of the event that it would be part of a double feature at 5:30 PM Monday, which is right about now. So, without further ado, here's the "Unseen Video" Transfer Point Video #31, The Rest of NYC
And here's some new stuff, Transfer Point Video #32, (B) Movie.
Feel free to comment and read my reviews of the other Lingo films further down the main page, and PLEASE let me know what you think!
Lingo Reviews
In this post, I play the role of film critic and will write my reviews of the several films that were shown at the Lingos. I'll rate each film using a Cow system. Eight Cows is an excellent movie, One Cow is a poor film. Ten Cows is the most a film could earn. A Moo is equivalent to half a cow. Moos will be issued only to ratings with fewer than Five Cows. With that, we begin.
One of the shortest of the short films is Movement #153. When a bunch of balloons falls from an apartment window, children in the courtyard below have fun. There's nothing more aesthetically pleasing than children playing with balloons. The music choice for this film is "Open up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine in)," performed by Australian pop/rock group Frente!, which makes it even more adorable.
My Rating: 6 Cows.
Let me start with the description that's on the YouTube page for this film.
Apparently, the film is about a photographer shooting some scenes of a parade in Midway, Utah.
While there are some slightly amusing things (like the guy in a motorized wheelchair following a kiddie train down the street), Swiss Days spends too much time focusing on the fact that the lead character is a photographer, and little on the alleged relationship mentioned in the description. Most of it looks more like a home video of some festival, with the "lead character" looking more like an extra at some places. If there were more focus on the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship between the two, this would have been a better film. In the climax scene (where we first meet the girlfriend), the dialogue between the two is barely audible. Had they gone and re-done that part, it would have been more understandable. The barely audible dialogue, the setting in Utah, and the fact that it looks more like a home movie more than anything else are all setbacks which turned a movie with a lot of potential into a dull yawnfest.
My Rating: 3 Cows
While I'm not a big fan of basketball, Inwood Good Basketball provides a soundtrack that's barely palatable (While one song does include the F bomb in its lyrics, it's barely audible unless you're listening for it). Filmed mostly on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, this film does some good moves, and a Jamba Juice run.
Overall, this film is a basketball movie that's more basketball than anything else.
My Rating: 4 Cows and a Moo
Take the TV show Kids Say the Darnedest Things and LDS gospel topics, mix them together, and you have Primary Progress. Adorable kids giving "cute" answers to basic gospel topics, like who Jesus Christ is, about His birth, the Holy Ghost, Joseph Smith, tithing, and the Book of Mormon, among others. The sad part was that the Lingo people, when they were playing this at the festival, cut off the ending, which told you who these kids were, but it's on YouTube, and you can see the whole thing there.
Seriously, this is a funny film, but that's what kids are sometimes.
My Rating: 7 Cows
Women and arm wrestling. Two worlds which some believe don't go together. However, the lovely ladies in this film, destroy that stereotypical mindset, which is the only high attribute of this film. The music sometimes overtakes the dialogue in this film, and that's the only big downside. The background music is supposed to be in the background! That's why it's called background music! If there is no dialogue, go ahead and put it at full volume. Otherwise, let the foreground sounds take their proper place in the foreground!
My Rating: 6 Cows for the film, 9 Cows for each of the ladies in the film. Good going, girls!
The genre of the silent film may be long dead in today's cinema scene, but the Bontorno Brothers make an attempt to revive it with Salad-Tong Arm Man. While it has a storyline as awkward and inconsistent as the titles of this film are, Salad-Tong more than makes up for it in the comedy department, despite the fact that the intertitles had as much action as the actors did (which gets quite annoying if someone's actually trying to read them). Even the blatant misspellings of words like e-mail and en garde were minor points. The combining of the Western genre with modern-day technology makes it a bit more humorous.
This film was a great mix of Western, Silent, and Modern in what can only be described as a great mix of Western, Silent, and Modern.
My Rating: 7 Cows
While literacy awareness is not one of my favorite genres of film, Love to Read Ⅱ provides a glimpse into a few people's favorite books. Dr. Seuss makes a surprising appearance in this film, which is the only real funny point, especially when he's referred to as a "prophet of another faith." The film is basically a book review of four different books, with the Dr. Seuss book thrown in there for a laugh.
My Rating: 5 Cows
This movie starts off as a film trailer for movie you'll never see, then confuses us as it turns out to be an advert for a web site. The hopping scenes were remotely funny, but turning a web site into a movie is more difficult than the reverse.
My Rating: 5 Cows
One of the three transit-related films submitted for the Lingos, NY NY Underground is the story of a sister missionary who serves in the fictitious New York New York Underground mission, based in the subway. Despite the fact that the film allegedly takes place in the subway, there are some obviously non-underground scenes here. However, this heart-warming tale about people who are not mole-people is a touching tale, and is well-deserving of my rating.
My Rating: 7 Cows
Internally known as Transfer Point Video #31, The Rest of NYC is my video. I don't want to sound biased or anything, but this is a great film, with a masterminds of Daft Punk providing the soundtrack. A rather funny "faux commercial" is played alongside the credits.
No link, as my previous post says it will be shown on the B24 Blog as part of a double feature at 5:30 PM today.
No rating either. As I said, I don't want to sound biased.
Now, here are some that weren't posted on YouTube.
This movie was basically a montage of paintings, many of them from artist Vincent van Gogh. There isn't much to say about this one. After about two minutes of watching this, I continued to think to myself, "Is it over yet?" Two words can best describe this movie: Totally Boring! Even more than Swiss Days!
My Rating: 1 Cow and a Moo… And I'm being generous with that Moo there.
This video documents a day in the life of Phyllis, a bus driver for Utah State University. While the campus shuttle bus theme was right on the edge of being interesting, there was a good cameo by the UTA's TRAX light rail system. And you can't go wrong with being pro-transit. Near the end, Phyllis was all like, "Don't drive to class, take the bus. You may show up a few minutes late, you may be a few minutes early, but at least you'll get there!" The second of three transit-related movies that were in the running, not bad at all.
My Rating: 6 Cows
After a planned date to a Hannah Montana concert didn't go as planned, a group of friends get together and try to recoup the loss. Selling cupcakes on the street, doing drawings in Central Park, selling MetroCard swipes in the subway, or rapping elsewhere in Manhattan, each of the couples has their own obstacles to overcome, For example, Jen can't really rap that well, but Oscar teaches her a couple of things. This film was one of the highlights of Lingos, and there was a great effort put on by the cast, to make this film a hit.
My Rating: 8 Cows
Walking through the projects in Manhattan's Alphabet City can be tough, especially when confronted with a couple of street thugs, one of which being armed with a knife. Don't worry, because the hero of the story has a little Western in him and gives is friend some advice he received from an Indian chief. Little does he know that the friend had some advice of his own.
This film was voted the best film of the night. I agree that it was good, but I don't think it's worth any more than my rating of 8 Cows, which is still excellent.
My Rating: 8 Cows
The surprise hit of the evening (and my personal favorite) is a short film called TAFT. William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States, but that factoid has nothing to do with this film.
Picture this, an oil field with numerous "nodding donkey" pumpjacks dotting the desert landscape. At the start, everything is still and silent, with the pumpjacks motionless. Then suddenly, things liven up as the song Rock Around the Clock starts up, and the pumpjacks start movin' and groovin' to the music. A hilarious and totally unexpected film which deservedly gets my highest rating for the night.
My Rating: 10 Cows
There you go, those were all the movies, and thank you for reading my reviews.
Movement #153
One of the shortest of the short films is Movement #153. When a bunch of balloons falls from an apartment window, children in the courtyard below have fun. There's nothing more aesthetically pleasing than children playing with balloons. The music choice for this film is "Open up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine in)," performed by Australian pop/rock group Frente!, which makes it even more adorable.
My Rating: 6 Cows.
Swiss Days
Let me start with the description that's on the YouTube page for this film.
Jason is photographing the annual Swiss Days Festival when his girlfriend, Sarah, surprises him by showing up. She asks him to spend the day with her. He turns her down. A man overhears their conversation and suggests she goes with him. Jane leaves with the man. by Mark Finch Hedengren
Apparently, the film is about a photographer shooting some scenes of a parade in Midway, Utah.
While there are some slightly amusing things (like the guy in a motorized wheelchair following a kiddie train down the street), Swiss Days spends too much time focusing on the fact that the lead character is a photographer, and little on the alleged relationship mentioned in the description. Most of it looks more like a home video of some festival, with the "lead character" looking more like an extra at some places. If there were more focus on the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship between the two, this would have been a better film. In the climax scene (where we first meet the girlfriend), the dialogue between the two is barely audible. Had they gone and re-done that part, it would have been more understandable. The barely audible dialogue, the setting in Utah, and the fact that it looks more like a home movie more than anything else are all setbacks which turned a movie with a lot of potential into a dull yawnfest.
My Rating: 3 Cows
Inwood Good Basketball
While I'm not a big fan of basketball, Inwood Good Basketball provides a soundtrack that's barely palatable (While one song does include the F bomb in its lyrics, it's barely audible unless you're listening for it). Filmed mostly on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, this film does some good moves, and a Jamba Juice run.
Overall, this film is a basketball movie that's more basketball than anything else.
My Rating: 4 Cows and a Moo
Primary Progress
Take the TV show Kids Say the Darnedest Things and LDS gospel topics, mix them together, and you have Primary Progress. Adorable kids giving "cute" answers to basic gospel topics, like who Jesus Christ is, about His birth, the Holy Ghost, Joseph Smith, tithing, and the Book of Mormon, among others. The sad part was that the Lingo people, when they were playing this at the festival, cut off the ending, which told you who these kids were, but it's on YouTube, and you can see the whole thing there.
Seriously, this is a funny film, but that's what kids are sometimes.
My Rating: 7 Cows
Smackdown
Women and arm wrestling. Two worlds which some believe don't go together. However, the lovely ladies in this film, destroy that stereotypical mindset, which is the only high attribute of this film. The music sometimes overtakes the dialogue in this film, and that's the only big downside. The background music is supposed to be in the background! That's why it's called background music! If there is no dialogue, go ahead and put it at full volume. Otherwise, let the foreground sounds take their proper place in the foreground!
My Rating: 6 Cows for the film, 9 Cows for each of the ladies in the film. Good going, girls!
The Adventures of Mr. Salad-Tong Arm Man
The genre of the silent film may be long dead in today's cinema scene, but the Bontorno Brothers make an attempt to revive it with Salad-Tong Arm Man. While it has a storyline as awkward and inconsistent as the titles of this film are, Salad-Tong more than makes up for it in the comedy department, despite the fact that the intertitles had as much action as the actors did (which gets quite annoying if someone's actually trying to read them). Even the blatant misspellings of words like e-mail and en garde were minor points. The combining of the Western genre with modern-day technology makes it a bit more humorous.
This film was a great mix of Western, Silent, and Modern in what can only be described as a great mix of Western, Silent, and Modern.
My Rating: 7 Cows
Love to Read Part Ⅱ
While literacy awareness is not one of my favorite genres of film, Love to Read Ⅱ provides a glimpse into a few people's favorite books. Dr. Seuss makes a surprising appearance in this film, which is the only real funny point, especially when he's referred to as a "prophet of another faith." The film is basically a book review of four different books, with the Dr. Seuss book thrown in there for a laugh.
My Rating: 5 Cows
HireASaint.org
This movie starts off as a film trailer for movie you'll never see, then confuses us as it turns out to be an advert for a web site. The hopping scenes were remotely funny, but turning a web site into a movie is more difficult than the reverse.
My Rating: 5 Cows
NY NY Underground
One of the three transit-related films submitted for the Lingos, NY NY Underground is the story of a sister missionary who serves in the fictitious New York New York Underground mission, based in the subway. Despite the fact that the film allegedly takes place in the subway, there are some obviously non-underground scenes here. However, this heart-warming tale about people who are not mole-people is a touching tale, and is well-deserving of my rating.
My Rating: 7 Cows
The Rest of NYC
Internally known as Transfer Point Video #31, The Rest of NYC is my video. I don't want to sound biased or anything, but this is a great film, with a masterminds of Daft Punk providing the soundtrack. A rather funny "faux commercial" is played alongside the credits.
No link, as my previous post says it will be shown on the B24 Blog as part of a double feature at 5:30 PM today.
No rating either. As I said, I don't want to sound biased.
Now, here are some that weren't posted on YouTube.
Vincent
This movie was basically a montage of paintings, many of them from artist Vincent van Gogh. There isn't much to say about this one. After about two minutes of watching this, I continued to think to myself, "Is it over yet?" Two words can best describe this movie: Totally Boring! Even more than Swiss Days!
My Rating: 1 Cow and a Moo… And I'm being generous with that Moo there.
Riding the Bus with Phyllis
This video documents a day in the life of Phyllis, a bus driver for Utah State University. While the campus shuttle bus theme was right on the edge of being interesting, there was a good cameo by the UTA's TRAX light rail system. And you can't go wrong with being pro-transit. Near the end, Phyllis was all like, "Don't drive to class, take the bus. You may show up a few minutes late, you may be a few minutes early, but at least you'll get there!" The second of three transit-related movies that were in the running, not bad at all.
My Rating: 6 Cows
Group Date
After a planned date to a Hannah Montana concert didn't go as planned, a group of friends get together and try to recoup the loss. Selling cupcakes on the street, doing drawings in Central Park, selling MetroCard swipes in the subway, or rapping elsewhere in Manhattan, each of the couples has their own obstacles to overcome, For example, Jen can't really rap that well, but Oscar teaches her a couple of things. This film was one of the highlights of Lingos, and there was a great effort put on by the cast, to make this film a hit.
My Rating: 8 Cows
Challenges
Walking through the projects in Manhattan's Alphabet City can be tough, especially when confronted with a couple of street thugs, one of which being armed with a knife. Don't worry, because the hero of the story has a little Western in him and gives is friend some advice he received from an Indian chief. Little does he know that the friend had some advice of his own.
This film was voted the best film of the night. I agree that it was good, but I don't think it's worth any more than my rating of 8 Cows, which is still excellent.
My Rating: 8 Cows
TAFT
The surprise hit of the evening (and my personal favorite) is a short film called TAFT. William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States, but that factoid has nothing to do with this film.
Picture this, an oil field with numerous "nodding donkey" pumpjacks dotting the desert landscape. At the start, everything is still and silent, with the pumpjacks motionless. Then suddenly, things liven up as the song Rock Around the Clock starts up, and the pumpjacks start movin' and groovin' to the music. A hilarious and totally unexpected film which deservedly gets my highest rating for the night.
My Rating: 10 Cows
There you go, those were all the movies, and thank you for reading my reviews.
Johnny Lingo Had a Cow, Traded for an Ugly Wife…
On Saturday, the Lingos Film Festival took place in Manhattan. In preparation, I submitted a video entitled, The Rest of NYC. I put a great deal of time and effort into making that video, and was satisfied to submit it via e-mail, and post it on YouTube.
At the start of Saturday night's event, I was excited in anticipation to see my creation presented before the large crowd that showed up there. There were several films that had me laughing, and then there were some that made me want to do my best impression of Homer Simpson shouting, "Boring!" Out of respect for the creators of those videos, I kept my mouth shut when such feelings came upon me.
The biggest surprise was not what was shown, but what was not shown. Even though there were many good videos, mine was not shown! At all! Not even a reference to it! The worst part is that nobody said anything to me about whether it could or could not be shown there. If I had received an e-mail a day or two before saying something like, "Hey, Robert. Could you bring a copy of your video on CD or DVD [or even on a flash drive] to the event? I can't seem to play it on my computer." I would have done so. I had produced it in 3 different formats: AVI DivX, WMV (which I sent via e-mail), and iPod-compatible MP4. However, nobody said anything to me about getting it in another format.
These videos, they're like my children. I have made 31 of them (with a 32nd on the way), and if someone doesn't give the video the respect it deserves, or the respect which I expect it to receive, it offends me. Nobody has given me a clear and proper explanation as to why it was not shown. I have worked my butt off to get this out before the submission deadline, and having done so, I expect nothing but the best treatment. (I'm not saying that it deserves to win an award, I'm saying that at the very least, it should have been shown to the audience.)
To not show a video which was submitted according to the directions I had received, and presuming that others had done the same, and not give an explanation as to why the video is not being shown, demonstrates a lack of respect toward the video and its creator. It's as if someone had come out of nowhere and slapped me in the face, for no other reason than to slap me in the face.
I had planned a release of this video on my blog during the week following the Lingos, so I promoted it to all I could get to listen to me for a moment. I am posting the video I submitted for Lingos as part of a double feature at 17:30 EST (That's 5:30 PM for those who don't understand the 24-hour clock), on Monday, December 3, 2007. It'll be right here on this blog. I've already mentioned it to many, and hopefully, they'll be watching.
For those who may wonder where the title of this post is from, it is from the film Johnny Lingo, where the name of the film festival comes from as well. A basic synopsis of the film can be found here. At the wedding party for Johnny and Mahana, some of the island kids began taunting him, saying, "Johnny Lingo Had a Cow, Traded for an Ugly Wife. Johnny Lingo's married now, He'll be sorry all his life!" That's how I felt when I discovered the faux pas of not seeing my video at the LFF.
At the start of Saturday night's event, I was excited in anticipation to see my creation presented before the large crowd that showed up there. There were several films that had me laughing, and then there were some that made me want to do my best impression of Homer Simpson shouting, "Boring!" Out of respect for the creators of those videos, I kept my mouth shut when such feelings came upon me.
The biggest surprise was not what was shown, but what was not shown. Even though there were many good videos, mine was not shown! At all! Not even a reference to it! The worst part is that nobody said anything to me about whether it could or could not be shown there. If I had received an e-mail a day or two before saying something like, "Hey, Robert. Could you bring a copy of your video on CD or DVD [or even on a flash drive] to the event? I can't seem to play it on my computer." I would have done so. I had produced it in 3 different formats: AVI DivX, WMV (which I sent via e-mail), and iPod-compatible MP4. However, nobody said anything to me about getting it in another format.
These videos, they're like my children. I have made 31 of them (with a 32nd on the way), and if someone doesn't give the video the respect it deserves, or the respect which I expect it to receive, it offends me. Nobody has given me a clear and proper explanation as to why it was not shown. I have worked my butt off to get this out before the submission deadline, and having done so, I expect nothing but the best treatment. (I'm not saying that it deserves to win an award, I'm saying that at the very least, it should have been shown to the audience.)
To not show a video which was submitted according to the directions I had received, and presuming that others had done the same, and not give an explanation as to why the video is not being shown, demonstrates a lack of respect toward the video and its creator. It's as if someone had come out of nowhere and slapped me in the face, for no other reason than to slap me in the face.
I had planned a release of this video on my blog during the week following the Lingos, so I promoted it to all I could get to listen to me for a moment. I am posting the video I submitted for Lingos as part of a double feature at 17:30 EST (That's 5:30 PM for those who don't understand the 24-hour clock), on Monday, December 3, 2007. It'll be right here on this blog. I've already mentioned it to many, and hopefully, they'll be watching.
For those who may wonder where the title of this post is from, it is from the film Johnny Lingo, where the name of the film festival comes from as well. A basic synopsis of the film can be found here. At the wedding party for Johnny and Mahana, some of the island kids began taunting him, saying, "Johnny Lingo Had a Cow, Traded for an Ugly Wife. Johnny Lingo's married now, He'll be sorry all his life!" That's how I felt when I discovered the faux pas of not seeing my video at the LFF.
26 November 2007
Anagram Maps
Sometime last year, I was inspired by the London Underground anagram map to make a few of some of my region's transit network.
Here's the first of that series: The Long Island Rail Road. I used the official fare zone map as a base.
Next came anagram maps for New Jersey Transit and Metro-North. There were a few bugs and other things that made me take them back into the shop to re-work them.
I also did one of the Washington Metro.
Now, if you've ever seen the official WMATA map, you'll notice immediately that the style on my map is completely different from theirs. Also, notice that some stations (like "Neon Quorum Servant" [Mount Vernon Square]), I've taken a few liberties.
1. Generally speaking, anagrams on this map are based on WMATA maps published in the early 1990's. Since this time, it seems that WMATA has been tacking on ancillary points of interest to the official station names. Take a look at the name of the station two stops up from Neon Quorum Servant. ("Zero Date Courts"). This is derived from the string, "U Street-Cardozo." The latest map labels it, "U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo." Too many letters!
2. Street names are fully spelled out.
3. University abbreviations in station names are omitted, unless the abbreviation is ridiculously obvious.
It wasn't long before I discovered someone else had done a different version of the same system, modifying the official map. Cords Loosing. I guess because the station names are so short, or there are very few anagrams for certain stations, both anagram maps have the same name on both maps.
Enjoy! More soon.
Here's the first of that series: The Long Island Rail Road. I used the official fare zone map as a base.
Next came anagram maps for New Jersey Transit and Metro-North. There were a few bugs and other things that made me take them back into the shop to re-work them.
I also did one of the Washington Metro.
Now, if you've ever seen the official WMATA map, you'll notice immediately that the style on my map is completely different from theirs. Also, notice that some stations (like "Neon Quorum Servant" [Mount Vernon Square]), I've taken a few liberties.
1. Generally speaking, anagrams on this map are based on WMATA maps published in the early 1990's. Since this time, it seems that WMATA has been tacking on ancillary points of interest to the official station names. Take a look at the name of the station two stops up from Neon Quorum Servant. ("Zero Date Courts"). This is derived from the string, "U Street-Cardozo." The latest map labels it, "U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo." Too many letters!
2. Street names are fully spelled out.
3. University abbreviations in station names are omitted, unless the abbreviation is ridiculously obvious.
It wasn't long before I discovered someone else had done a different version of the same system, modifying the official map. Cords Loosing. I guess because the station names are so short, or there are very few anagrams for certain stations, both anagram maps have the same name on both maps.
| Franconia-Springfield | Frangipani-Cornfields Mine omits the hyphen |
| Crystal City | Catty Lyrics |
| Pentagon City | Giant Potency |
| Smithsonian | This Mansion |
| L'Enfant Plaza | Fatal Zen Plan |
| Morgan Boulevard | Vanguard Bloomer |
| Takoma | Oak Mat |
| Landover | Old Raven |
Enjoy! More soon.
Randomoneum #2
I've been pretty bored recently, but I found a good way to entertain myself (at least for a little bit). I use Microsoft Train Simulator to pull a mixed consist down the Northeast Corridor. The train consists of three supercharged Dash 9's a few Tropicana cars, a few other assorted cars, and four passenger cars at the end. Now, the "Super-Dashes" have an insane top speed, and I can drive one from Philadelphia to Washington in a few minutes, reaching a top speed of something like 5,000 MPH. With three of them pulling the mixed consist, I can get the train to 1,000 MPH quite easily. I get the train to a certain speed, uncouple the locomotives from the train (which causes the locos to accelerate even quicker), and then drive them to a certain point out of the way of the "runaway cars." If I pull off the "Get the locos out of the way" bit successfully, the cars pass by and I chase them on an adjacent track to see where they stop. I got the train to 1,000 MPH south of Wilmington and uncoupled. The "runaway cars" stopped… 76 miles later, south of Baltimore. They were doing at least 200 by the time they passed the locos. Yesterday, I did this with 5 Super-Dashes, and let the train go at 1,400 MPH. They passed by going about 300 MPH, and they ran all the way to Washington Union Station. What happened? It's something like the GG1 wreck of 1953. I'll probably do it again and make a video of it and post it on YouTube or something.
Speaking of videos, I've made another one, and uploaded it to YouTube, in preparation for the Lingo Film Festival. The LFF is basically a thing where you have to make a short film, and it gets shown there. Hopefully, mine gets shown. The last I checked, there were only four videos (including mine) on the YouTube page. I was stressing about it on Friday, worrying that the e-mail wouldn't be received. Then I found that the deadline (which was that Friday) was extended to this coming Wednesday. I'll post it to the blog after this coming weekend, and will probably be as a double feature with another project I'm working on.
Speaking of videos, I've made another one, and uploaded it to YouTube, in preparation for the Lingo Film Festival. The LFF is basically a thing where you have to make a short film, and it gets shown there. Hopefully, mine gets shown. The last I checked, there were only four videos (including mine) on the YouTube page. I was stressing about it on Friday, worrying that the e-mail wouldn't be received. Then I found that the deadline (which was that Friday) was extended to this coming Wednesday. I'll post it to the blog after this coming weekend, and will probably be as a double feature with another project I'm working on.
19 November 2007
Of Pushing Daisies and Stuck Elevators
Of the new shows of the fall television season, the one I'm hooked on now is Pushing Daisies. It's about this guy (Ned the pie maker) who has the power to bring dead things back to life, and… well, I'll spare the details at this point, but the interested reader can check out the Pushing Daisies article on Wikipedia.
Anyway, when I watched the first episode, I was amazed at how everything was put together. The extra details of a person's age (i.e. "36 years, 3 months, 9 days, 12 hours, 17 minutes"), the place names (A pie shop named "The Pie Hole." Could there ever be a better name?), and the interesting relationship between the main characters (Ned's childhood sweetheart, Charlotte, who everyone calls Chuck. She was revived by his power, and as a result, cannot be touched by him again, or she would die again.) There's just something about this show that draws me to it again and again, over what else is on at that particular time slot.
There is something else of interest for that show. I first noticed it in the first episode. Ned had to encounter a man named Wilfred Woodruff. Wilfred Woodruff was of Asian descent, and his ancestor took on the Woodruff name during the U.S. Civil War. Notice that name, Wilfred Woodruff. Change the vowel in the second syllable of the first name, and change its position, and you get Wilford Woodruff, the name of the 4th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm not the only member of this church who has noticed this. About as soon as the episode was over, a thread about the show was posted on LDS Linkup, which basically asked if there were any Mormons involved in the writing of the show. One claimed that one guy was actually an anti-Mormon (using the statement that Wilfred Woodruff was commonly used on anti-Mormon web sites to refer to Wilford Woodruff). I thought this was interesting.
Another link between the writers and producers of the show and aspects of LDS history was established in the episode that aired this past Wednesday. In this episode, a man was murdered, and Ned was brought in to ask the deceased who it was that killed him. His response, "My wife did it." It turns out that his reply was more complicated than it first appeared, because the man had four wives. He was a polygamist. The practice of polygamy, officially discontinued by the Church in 1890, is still practiced by some groups known as Fundamentalists, who are not associated with the Church. (Church policy says that anyone practicing polygamy is excommunicated, so none of these people are members of the Church.)
Anyway, all of the stuff I've seen so far has been well-written, and changed just enough to eliminate any relation to the Church, whether it be pro- or anti-Mormon (and the word "Mormon" has yet to be uttered by the characters). As long as that continues, I have no problem with it.
Have you ever been stuck in an elevator with an attractive member of the opposite sex, and it was just the two of you in there? Well, I was, except for that last bit. Here's what happened. After an institute class, a bunch of us went to one guy's apartment for a pizza party. A few people, including myself, went to get the pizza, It turns out that the apartment we were going to is on the thirtieth floor of the building. We get on the elevator (there were six of us in there, including the A.M.O.S.) and begin to go up to the 30th floor. After starting up, there's a sudden jolt, and the elevator stops. None of the buttons respond, and we're just stopped there in a tiny elevator (at least we're the ones with the pizza). After a few minutes, the elevator creeps up and opens on the 4th floor, and the rest was an uneventful trip up to the 30th floor.
This brings to mind a conversation I heard on a radio show a few weeks ago. Two people from the show, a singly guy and an attractive single woman, were on an elevator when they got stuck. It was just the two of them in the elevator, but the other guys on the show (and a few guys who called the radio station) were ripping on the guy for not "taking advantage of the situation." I remember that after Blackout of 2003, there were stories about couples getting together, after being stuck in an elevator during the blackout. This talk of two people from this radio show being stuck in an elevator lead me to think about what I would do if I were in that situation. I'd say that it would depend on how well I know the person, and the status of the current relationship with that person. I don't think I'd need to say any more than that. Such details are not to be posted about on the Internet, especially if people actually read this thing.
Anyway, when I watched the first episode, I was amazed at how everything was put together. The extra details of a person's age (i.e. "36 years, 3 months, 9 days, 12 hours, 17 minutes"), the place names (A pie shop named "The Pie Hole." Could there ever be a better name?), and the interesting relationship between the main characters (Ned's childhood sweetheart, Charlotte, who everyone calls Chuck. She was revived by his power, and as a result, cannot be touched by him again, or she would die again.) There's just something about this show that draws me to it again and again, over what else is on at that particular time slot.
There is something else of interest for that show. I first noticed it in the first episode. Ned had to encounter a man named Wilfred Woodruff. Wilfred Woodruff was of Asian descent, and his ancestor took on the Woodruff name during the U.S. Civil War. Notice that name, Wilfred Woodruff. Change the vowel in the second syllable of the first name, and change its position, and you get Wilford Woodruff, the name of the 4th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm not the only member of this church who has noticed this. About as soon as the episode was over, a thread about the show was posted on LDS Linkup, which basically asked if there were any Mormons involved in the writing of the show. One claimed that one guy was actually an anti-Mormon (using the statement that Wilfred Woodruff was commonly used on anti-Mormon web sites to refer to Wilford Woodruff). I thought this was interesting.
Another link between the writers and producers of the show and aspects of LDS history was established in the episode that aired this past Wednesday. In this episode, a man was murdered, and Ned was brought in to ask the deceased who it was that killed him. His response, "My wife did it." It turns out that his reply was more complicated than it first appeared, because the man had four wives. He was a polygamist. The practice of polygamy, officially discontinued by the Church in 1890, is still practiced by some groups known as Fundamentalists, who are not associated with the Church. (Church policy says that anyone practicing polygamy is excommunicated, so none of these people are members of the Church.)
Anyway, all of the stuff I've seen so far has been well-written, and changed just enough to eliminate any relation to the Church, whether it be pro- or anti-Mormon (and the word "Mormon" has yet to be uttered by the characters). As long as that continues, I have no problem with it.
Have you ever been stuck in an elevator with an attractive member of the opposite sex, and it was just the two of you in there? Well, I was, except for that last bit. Here's what happened. After an institute class, a bunch of us went to one guy's apartment for a pizza party. A few people, including myself, went to get the pizza, It turns out that the apartment we were going to is on the thirtieth floor of the building. We get on the elevator (there were six of us in there, including the A.M.O.S.) and begin to go up to the 30th floor. After starting up, there's a sudden jolt, and the elevator stops. None of the buttons respond, and we're just stopped there in a tiny elevator (at least we're the ones with the pizza). After a few minutes, the elevator creeps up and opens on the 4th floor, and the rest was an uneventful trip up to the 30th floor.
This brings to mind a conversation I heard on a radio show a few weeks ago. Two people from the show, a singly guy and an attractive single woman, were on an elevator when they got stuck. It was just the two of them in the elevator, but the other guys on the show (and a few guys who called the radio station) were ripping on the guy for not "taking advantage of the situation." I remember that after Blackout of 2003, there were stories about couples getting together, after being stuck in an elevator during the blackout. This talk of two people from this radio show being stuck in an elevator lead me to think about what I would do if I were in that situation. I'd say that it would depend on how well I know the person, and the status of the current relationship with that person. I don't think I'd need to say any more than that. Such details are not to be posted about on the Internet, especially if people actually read this thing.
07 November 2007
Randomoneum
I got this game yesterday for my iPod called Phase. If you've ever played Dance Dance Revolution, StepMania, or Guitar Hero, you'll catch on quickly to Phase. The goal is to catch as many "notes" as possible as the song plays. One of the interesting things is that one of the background "journeys" you can take is an urban "landscape," with various buildings, yellow taxis, bridges, subway entrances, and even buses passing by you as you play. One such graphic is of a bus, either an Orion 5 or a Gillig Phantom, with a destination sign reading, "M5 LIMITED." (EDIT: Here's a screenshot!) I found that to be quite interesting. I'm pretty much hooked on the game, too. In my first day of having it, I've caught almost 2,000 notes.
Another new record on the 60th Street Tunnel run. 2:58.07, on an N with another set of R160's. However, it was spoiled by a missed connection with a 7 local train at Queensboro Plaza.
Here are a few nuggets I wrote, and posted at LDS LinkUp recently.
1. It isn't about homophobia. It's about protecting and defending the standards and values that God has set forth for His children.
2. Sure, there may be some who claim that God does not exist. However, there are many things in this world that could instantly disprove that claim, tearing it down like the winds of a tornado to a house of cards.
3. The creations of God are all around you. You needn't go far, just look out a window.
Look up at the sky. Notice the clouds, the sun, the moon, the stars. They didn't show up there all by themselves. Read the first chapter of Genesis. <link> It says that it was God that made all of those things. If you don't believe that, look at the Big Bang theory. It didn't happen all by itself. Someone or something had to start it all. Guess what? It was God.
Look at any buildings that may be in your view. Sure, they were constructed out of steel, or wood, or stone, but where is the source of those materials? If your answer is a business that sells building materials, ask yourself where did they get their supplies from. Follow this chain all the way to the source. Eventually, you'll realize that the source is something that was created by God, either directly or through a process which He gave power to exercise.
Finally, look in a mirror. You see that person staring back at you? That marvelous creation known as the human body. It is one of the greatest of God's creations. Both male and female were created after His image. In other words, the body which we all possess is designed after the body which God has. There is not one human being on this earth that was not created by a man and a woman, or at least the key components from each which make babies possible.
The creations of God are all around you. You needn't go far, just look at yourself!
Another new record on the 60th Street Tunnel run. 2:58.07, on an N with another set of R160's. However, it was spoiled by a missed connection with a 7 local train at Queensboro Plaza.
Here are a few nuggets I wrote, and posted at LDS LinkUp recently.
1. It isn't about homophobia. It's about protecting and defending the standards and values that God has set forth for His children.
2. Sure, there may be some who claim that God does not exist. However, there are many things in this world that could instantly disprove that claim, tearing it down like the winds of a tornado to a house of cards.
3. The creations of God are all around you. You needn't go far, just look out a window.
Look up at the sky. Notice the clouds, the sun, the moon, the stars. They didn't show up there all by themselves. Read the first chapter of Genesis. <link> It says that it was God that made all of those things. If you don't believe that, look at the Big Bang theory. It didn't happen all by itself. Someone or something had to start it all. Guess what? It was God.
Look at any buildings that may be in your view. Sure, they were constructed out of steel, or wood, or stone, but where is the source of those materials? If your answer is a business that sells building materials, ask yourself where did they get their supplies from. Follow this chain all the way to the source. Eventually, you'll realize that the source is something that was created by God, either directly or through a process which He gave power to exercise.
Finally, look in a mirror. You see that person staring back at you? That marvelous creation known as the human body. It is one of the greatest of God's creations. Both male and female were created after His image. In other words, the body which we all possess is designed after the body which God has. There is not one human being on this earth that was not created by a man and a woman, or at least the key components from each which make babies possible.
The creations of God are all around you. You needn't go far, just look at yourself!
26 October 2007
I just came home from the Apple Store…
And all I got was this cool-looking T-shirt!
OS X Leopard (10.5) came out today, so I went over to the Apple Store in SoHo to check it out. I tell ya, it looks FREAKIN' AWESOME!
LOL. This shirt will be SO out of style when Mac OS 10.6 comes out!
18 October 2007
The Price Is Right: Another Reason to Hate the President
I have been watching The Price is Right for many, many years now. Of all my years of watching Price, the thing that bugs me most is when it's preempted by a CBS "Special Report," which usually involves somebody speaking about something I have completely no interest in. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but that's what most of these unnecessary interruptions are. With Bob Barker retiring a few months ago, I've been watching the reruns of his Season 35 episodes, including his final sign-off (which originally aired on June 15th). Now that the Drew Carey era (read: Season 36) is upon us, I've been taping the episodes so I can watch them later. I have Monday's "season premiere," and I saw Tuesday's episode, where a contestant named Marie won her way out of Contestant's Row.
Now having seen this clip before on YouTube, I already knew it was her the second she arrived (she was one of the First Four). When I saw her again on the TV, I was laughing and smiling so hard, it made my face hurt. More discussion about Tuesday's game can be found on Golden-Road.net. Long story short, she won her way into the showcase round and overbid on hers by $612. Anyway, I had to go to school, so I set my VCR to tape Wednesday's episode. I come home, cue up the tape, and hit "play," and what do I see? It's Ol' Shrubbery yakkin' it up in some stupid press conference! I hit the "fast forward" button. After he shuts his pie hole, some other dude (probably an "analyst" of some sort), He speaks for a bit, and we FINALLY get to see some Price action. All that's left are Act 6, Showcase Showdown #2, and the Showcase round.
Now, this isn't the first time my favorite daytime TV show (and the only one I'll ever watch) has been preempted by something I don't care too much about. CBS Sports usually preempts it with a tennis match or an equally boring golf tournament. CBS News shows coverage of a guy I didn't even vote for spewing hot air out of his mouth for 45 minutes, etc. It totally ticks me off. I feel like asking him what his favorite TV show is, so that when I'm President, I can preempt that with some of my boring and completely worthless drivel. Well, it may not all be worthless drivel, most of it might, but not all of it.
Now, he's not the only one to blame. With everyone now getting their news from CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc. and the Internet, you would think that if someone wanted to hear the crap he has to spew, they would just turn there, right? NO!!!!!! The Networks have to preempt TV shows that people would be actually watching! Know how'd I'd react. I'd turn off the TV and find some way to watch what I wanted to watch via some other means. For example, CBS has InnerTube, where you can watch recently-aired episodes of their shows. I tried to watch Wednesday's episode of TPiR, but it took two minutes to play 19 seconds of video! ARGH!!!
29 September 2007
Remember Speak & Spell?
As a child of the 1980's, I grew up with things like the Speak & Spell. A device made by Texas Instruments used to teach spelling to kids. Well, I've found something that causes me to think about the Speak & Spell. It's a song. The song is 4 Bit by Überzone Besides the catchy beat, the only vocals in the track seem to have been made by a Speak & Spell, which is made to say the words "FOUR BIT," and the letters which spell it. The song is definitely worth a listen!Speak & Spell image © Bill Bertram 2006. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License. Found on The WikiMedia Commons
24 September 2007
My Latest Video
My 30th video montage features some of everything. Planes, trains, buses, and boats.
I took a trip to Philadelphia last week on Tuesday. I also did an S89 trip on Thursday, and a trip to Elizabeth & Newark on Friday. Because I haven't much time right now to do the ol' copy and paste routine, I've simply posted the links on the respective SubChat threads I posted the trip reports on.
I took a trip to Philadelphia last week on Tuesday. I also did an S89 trip on Thursday, and a trip to Elizabeth & Newark on Friday. Because I haven't much time right now to do the ol' copy and paste routine, I've simply posted the links on the respective SubChat threads I posted the trip reports on.
15 September 2007
iTunes Bugs
Well, in case you haven't read the story on iLounge yet, iTunes users (including myself) have been having issues downloading content from the iTunes Store. I made a couple of purchases on Wednesday and they were stuck in download limbo for over 24 hours. It wasn't until yesterday I was able to download them, even though the receipt for my purchase showed up in my e-mail inbox almost immediately after buying it. I also received credit for 5 song downloads from the Store. I wonder how many of these credits they were giving out after this episode. During this fiasco, my opinion on Apple dipped into the red, but it's now back in the black… just barely.
Note in the image (click on it for a larger view), that this credit doesn't expire until 31 December 2099.
I have inserted this countdown timer to tell everyone how much time is left for this credit.
EDIT: I've used up the credit already, but I think it would be fun just to leave it up here.
10 September 2007
Take the A Train
With the 75th anniversary of the first running of the A train today, I made a video featuring nothing but the A train. Enjoy.
01 September 2007
My Latest Video, and My Latest Trip
Where can you find a trip to Utah, a 12 train, footage of the South Brooklyn Railway, and a few pics of a train called the Cannonball, and an R train above ground, with footage set to the music of Daft Punk, all in one place? In my latest video, of course.
On Friday, I took a little trip. Here's my trip report as it appeared on SubChat (Or rather, as I intended it to appear on SubChat, since there was a word that was way out of place on the post, and since you can't edit your posts on SubChat, you need to make a new post to make any corrections. Anyway, here goes).
Here are the links to what I posted on SubChat and OTChat:
Was it an N or a B?
West 8th Street
Coney Island
(N) West End Express
This station is… Rosedale.
Other Stuff
On Friday, I took a little trip. Here's my trip report as it appeared on SubChat (Or rather, as I intended it to appear on SubChat, since there was a word that was way out of place on the post, and since you can't edit your posts on SubChat, you need to make a new post to make any corrections. Anyway, here goes).
Yesterday, I took a little trip, with three phases.
Phase 1: Broadway Junction.
I had heard something about an interesting G/O where L trains from Canarsie would terminate at the Eastern Parkway J platform. I missed a southbound Q39 and eventually caught a northbound Q39 which I took to the G train. After sprinting to catch an L train of R160 cars, I discovered that the G/O must have finished early since it was after 11 AM, and the train was going to Canarsie. So Phase 1 was abandoned, and I immediately moved on to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Coney Island.
Having not visited Coney Island all summer, I decided to take a trip down there and take a few pics of the 'hood before the summer ends. On the journey, I took the C to the FAS, and transferred to a southbound Brighton Line train.
Was it an N or a B?
As part of my trip yesterday, I made a transfer from the Franklin Avenue Shuttle to the southbound Brighton Line. As I'm crossing over the tracks, I notice a train of R68 cars pulling in on the southbound express track and immediately proceed to board the train. A quick glance of the signs told me that this train was either lost, confused, or rerouted. The signs in the car I boarded showed (N)|Astoria|Coney Island. "An N on the Brighton? Weird," I thought, but since I was going to Coney Island anyway, I figured I'd go along for the ride. It continued down the express tracks and called at Church Avenue. That's when I moved into the next car forward, and to my surprise, one sign showed (N)|Astoria|Coney Island, but exhibited a case of Upside-down Letter Syndrome, since an upside-down <Q> was peeking through on the exterior side of the sign. The other sign showed (B)|Astoria|Coney Island. The train continued on to Newkirk Avenue. I moved to the next car and discovered another car that appeared to be confused. This time, both signs were showing (B)|Bedford Park Bl|Brighton Beach, but the sign nearest the corner cab was showing 6th Avenue B, and the sign nearest the full-width cab was showing Broadway B! The train called next at Kings Highway, where I had to bypass the next car forward due to the fact that all its doors were closed, and go into the next car forward of the closed car. This car was properly signed for N service as well. Now, I'm thinking, "This train is either going to Coney Island, or Brighton Beach. If the train doesn't know where it's going, how should I?" Since we didn't pass any Q trains going southbound, they probably should fill the gap by sending this BeN down to Coney. We get to Sheepshead Bay and I go to the front car, which is properly signed for B service. Then came the moment of truth: the interlocking north of Brighton Beach. If we go to the local track, we're going to Coney. If not, our best bet is this being a Brighton Beach B. Sure enough, we pull in on 3 track at Brighton Beach, and get the last stop call. Since there wasn't a Q in sight, I went through the train, taking some pics and taking notes on this confused consist.
From the north end:
Car 2814 was properly signed for B service.
Car 2815 had both signs reading (B)|Astoria|Coney Island.
Car 2813 was properly signed for N service.
Car 2812's 1 sign was set (B)|Astoria|Coney Island, while the 2 sign's ULS notwithstanding, was properly signed for (N) service.
Car 2856 was almost properly signed for B service. The only deviation being the route sign on the 1 side was showing Broadway (yellow) B.
Car 2857 was properly signed for N service.
Car 2859 also.
Car 2858 was properly signed for B service.
When my Q train finally arrived, I got on and looked at this confused train as we left. The front sign (which I never saw until this point, since the front of the train had already entered the station as I crossed over the tracks) said B. I guess it was a B train after all.
After taking the pics and grabbing some lunch at Popeye's, I headed over to the N train and boarded car 8850 (W00T! the Siemens set). Another interesting thing, it was signed up as an N via the West End line. For a moment the FIND went blank, and came back up, showing Bay Parkway was the next stop, and the local stations were Will Not Stop'd (W00T²! West End Express). I got off at 9th Avenue and photographed the next two N trains as they went around the curve. The second N train was an R160 set, and a moment later, a D train showed up. The C/R of the N announced that the D would leave first, so I got on the D. I went from 9th Avenue to 7th Avenue, and it took 30 minutes. At 7th Avenue, I hopped on the E train to proceed to Phase 3.
Phase 3: Cannonball East of Jamaica.
Up until yesterday, all of my photos of the Cannonball (The Long Island Rail Road's special express train to Montauk, which leaves from Hunterspoint Avenue at 4:06 PM, then stops at the following stations: Jamaica, Westhampton, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Montauk) were at locations west of Jamaica (HPA, Woodside, 60th Road). I wanted to take a stab of getting one pic of it from a location east of Jamaica. I had taken trains to Freeport before, and as I pass by the Laurelton and Rosedale stations, I was interested in the fact the latter has a TTTPT track/platform configuration, so I figure that would be the optimum choice for the purpose. Before the trip, I had planned to take either the Q5 or Q85 to the Rosedale station to get there just about when the Cannonball was scheduled to leave Jamaica. I got to the surface just in time to see the Q5 (which was the later of my two target buses) pulling away. All was not lost, though. I walked a bit past the other bus stops along Archer Avenue, when I see something on the ground that saved the trip. An unused Long Island Rail Road ticket which was printed almost two hours before I found it. I went over to the Jamaica station to get a refund (which I may not have needed, since the ticket as printed was Jamaica to Nostrand Avenue, but since I wanted to go Rosedale to Woodside, I didn't want any conductors telling me that I was on the wrong train). I photgraphed the Cannonball as well as a few other trains, and got on the train that would take me back to Jamaica, where I would catch the train to Woodside. The latter train had come from Ronkonkoma, so it was über-crowded. It was making all stops between Jamaica and Penn Station. Apparently one guy didn't get the clue that at Forest Hills, you need to be in one of the first 4 cars (I was in the 5th). The train stopped at FH just off the platform, and I told him that he needed to be in the next car forward, and he rushed out. I got to Woodside and took the 7 train home.
Pics have been uploaded, and have been posted on SubChat and OTChat.
Here are the links to what I posted on SubChat and OTChat:
Was it an N or a B?
West 8th Street
Coney Island
(N) West End Express
This station is… Rosedale.
Other Stuff
13 August 2007
Someone Wants Me to Defect?!?
The other day, I received this e-mail.
****Calling on all LDS Soccer fans in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut!!! Come and see Real Salt Lake take on Red Bull-NYNow, I'm not a big soccer fan. Tell you the truth, I'm not much of a soccer fan at all. But when I saw this e-mail, I was surprised. They want New York people to support a visiting soccer team? What's up with that? It's like telling a bunch of New York Yankees fans to root for the Boston Red Sox!
When: Saturday September 29, 2007
Where: Giants Stadium
Times: Gather at the stadium at 5:30pm to meet, tailgate, and practice songs and chants.
We will all march as a large group into the stadium by 6:30pm Our Goal is to bring 50 to 100 Real Salt Lake supporters from all over the Tri-State area to Giants Stadium. One important benefit for this game is: -Reduced price in tickets ($18 per ticket for groups of 15 people or more) But you must Act Now!!! Time is Running Short!!! And the Day will be here before we know it!!! We Need a word of commitment and $18 up front by (8/12) in order to participate.
GO RED BULLS!
27 July 2007
Speaking of ads…
It's not even August yet, and there are Back to School ads on the radio! It's still too early for that! These advertisers seem to be advertising these things earlier each year. There should be a law that prevents advertisers from advertising holidays and other events too early.
That way, the ads were sensible.
| Holiday | Earliest Date Commercials, promotions, store displays, etc. should start |
| Back to School | August 15 |
| Halloween | October 15 |
| Thanksgiving | November 1 |
| Christmas, Kwanzaa | The day after Thanksgiving |
| Hanukkah | The day after Thanksgiving, or three weeks before the first night, whichever is earlier. |
| Valentine's Day | The Monday after Martin Luther King Day |
| St. Patrick's Day | March 1 |
| Easter | March 18 |
| Mother's Day | April 25 |
| Memorial Day (Start of Summer) | The day after Mother's Day |
| Father's Day | May 25 |
| Independence Day | June 15 |
That way, the ads were sensible.
Changes Are Being Made to the Transfer Point Family of Web Sites.
The B24 Blog, a member of the Transfer Point Family of Web Sites, is pleased to announce certain changes which will be taking place among the other family members. The blog itself will not change. I will continue to make posts to the blog as I see fit. However, there are some changes that need to be done on the other web sites. Many of these changes have already taken place.
Here's a summary.
The answer came recently. I was reading a thread on some new 6 train announcements, and I posted that I had recordings of older announcements. I later commented, "I should put them online somewhere." That's when I remembered I had a site called Transit Sounds Millennium, which was separate from the Bravepages site, and wasn't updated in several years. I Googled it, and discovered that it was still there. The Java applet at the top of the page was gone, and I discovered that not only were my pages and images still there, the pages were all ad-free! I turned off all my ad blocking software to see if it truly was ad free, and it was. This discovery sparked the movement shown above.
Now, a little bit of explaining as to why I'm discontinuing some sections of my sites.
Bus Signs: There was a big following a few years back when I posted a GIF image of a bus sign with an improper text layout. There was a QuickBASIC program, and even a Visual BASIC app written to simulate bus signs. There's even a project on the back burner (which is currently set to OFF) for a version written in Java. Since that following has diminished significantly, I've decided to pull the plug on it.
BVE: The Japanese train simulator Boso View Express also had a big following. My first route, the G was quite popular, and it was the second New York City Subway line to be released for the program (the first being the 7). I followed it up with the E (which I released either late 2001 or very early 2002 as the "9/11 Tribute Version," which turned out to be the only version), then the L. I released the L as a skeleton version because I was preparing for a mission, and I wouldn't have time to complete it fully before I left in late February 2002. Upon returning, I found the BVE-New York crowd very into making BVE routes, and there were some nice creations. The most notable one is the 2, which, at the time of its release, ran from Flatbush Avenue to Times Square. There was talk of making an extension, but there was no action. The only action done was by me, extending it (as a skeleton) all the way to its northern terminal (Wakefield-241st Street). No other full version of the line was ever released. Later, the developer of BVE, who called himself Mackoy, released more advanced versions of BVE that completely depreciated the file format the route builders were used to making routes in. Additionally, since the G, E, and L are no longer hosted anywhere, and my various standardization efforts seem to have deflated, I'm pulling the plug on BVE.
Download Center is going simply because the hosts won't allow me to put anything available for download.
Transit Cow! Pictures is a weird one. In the summer of 2000 (Yes, seven years ago! I can't believe it either.), a bunch of fiberglass cows were placed throughout the city, and I set out taking pictures of these bovine creations. Nobody seems to remember it anymore, so I'm putting it out to pasture.
Transit Info. Not much of it here, just an outdated subway map and other junk.
Voting Place: When I first put it up, I thought it was cool. Then every few months, I would get some random notice in my e-mail about some random visitor casting a vote for some old question, like "What's your favorite subway car?" Your choices are Redbird, Brightliner, R40 slant, R42, R44, R46, R62/A, R68/A, R110A/B. No mention of the arriving R160 cars. They weren't even a major point of discussion as they are now. Since I'm not going to bother updating the questions, I won't bother keeping it anymore.
As for browser compatibility, I think it's quite obvious. There are browsers out there that are far superior to Internet Explorer. Much of the site was written when I believed the opposite to be true. The four browsers I listed ("The Big Four") are ones that I see being used all the time. Now that Apple has released a version of Safari for Windows, I'll be able to check compatibility on Safari as well as the other browsers which have versions for Windows. Way to go, Apple!
In conclusion, new and (hopefully) exciting changes are in store. Stay tunes, and keep watching the B24 Blog for the latest.
Here's a summary.
- Transit Sounds Millennium has been discontinued. Its content has been archived into a freely downloadable file hosted on zShare.
- The following pages are MOVING from the Bravepages server to the Prohosting server: Gallery of Absurd Stuff, Rollsign Gallery, Subway Bullets
- The following sections will be DISCONTINUED: Bus Signs, BVE, Download Center, Transit Cow! Pictures, Transit Info, Voting Place.
- There will be some reorganizing on the Bravepages server as the site there is dismantled. The dismantling is expected to be complete some time in August.
- Work will be done on all pages to ensure compatibility on the four major web browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Safari.
The answer came recently. I was reading a thread on some new 6 train announcements, and I posted that I had recordings of older announcements. I later commented, "I should put them online somewhere." That's when I remembered I had a site called Transit Sounds Millennium, which was separate from the Bravepages site, and wasn't updated in several years. I Googled it, and discovered that it was still there. The Java applet at the top of the page was gone, and I discovered that not only were my pages and images still there, the pages were all ad-free! I turned off all my ad blocking software to see if it truly was ad free, and it was. This discovery sparked the movement shown above.
Now, a little bit of explaining as to why I'm discontinuing some sections of my sites.
Bus Signs: There was a big following a few years back when I posted a GIF image of a bus sign with an improper text layout. There was a QuickBASIC program, and even a Visual BASIC app written to simulate bus signs. There's even a project on the back burner (which is currently set to OFF) for a version written in Java. Since that following has diminished significantly, I've decided to pull the plug on it.
BVE: The Japanese train simulator Boso View Express also had a big following. My first route, the G was quite popular, and it was the second New York City Subway line to be released for the program (the first being the 7). I followed it up with the E (which I released either late 2001 or very early 2002 as the "9/11 Tribute Version," which turned out to be the only version), then the L. I released the L as a skeleton version because I was preparing for a mission, and I wouldn't have time to complete it fully before I left in late February 2002. Upon returning, I found the BVE-New York crowd very into making BVE routes, and there were some nice creations. The most notable one is the 2, which, at the time of its release, ran from Flatbush Avenue to Times Square. There was talk of making an extension, but there was no action. The only action done was by me, extending it (as a skeleton) all the way to its northern terminal (Wakefield-241st Street). No other full version of the line was ever released. Later, the developer of BVE, who called himself Mackoy, released more advanced versions of BVE that completely depreciated the file format the route builders were used to making routes in. Additionally, since the G, E, and L are no longer hosted anywhere, and my various standardization efforts seem to have deflated, I'm pulling the plug on BVE.
Download Center is going simply because the hosts won't allow me to put anything available for download.
Transit Cow! Pictures is a weird one. In the summer of 2000 (Yes, seven years ago! I can't believe it either.), a bunch of fiberglass cows were placed throughout the city, and I set out taking pictures of these bovine creations. Nobody seems to remember it anymore, so I'm putting it out to pasture.
Transit Info. Not much of it here, just an outdated subway map and other junk.
Voting Place: When I first put it up, I thought it was cool. Then every few months, I would get some random notice in my e-mail about some random visitor casting a vote for some old question, like "What's your favorite subway car?" Your choices are Redbird, Brightliner, R40 slant, R42, R44, R46, R62/A, R68/A, R110A/B. No mention of the arriving R160 cars. They weren't even a major point of discussion as they are now. Since I'm not going to bother updating the questions, I won't bother keeping it anymore.
As for browser compatibility, I think it's quite obvious. There are browsers out there that are far superior to Internet Explorer. Much of the site was written when I believed the opposite to be true. The four browsers I listed ("The Big Four") are ones that I see being used all the time. Now that Apple has released a version of Safari for Windows, I'll be able to check compatibility on Safari as well as the other browsers which have versions for Windows. Way to go, Apple!
In conclusion, new and (hopefully) exciting changes are in store. Stay tunes, and keep watching the B24 Blog for the latest.
24 July 2007
My Latest Video
It's a bit of a departure from my previous videos, but there's not much video in the video. See for yourself.
20 July 2007
The Quest for Unknown Songs
Have you ever heard a song on TV or the radio and wondered, "What is that song?" I recently found two such songs after receiving some hints.
First, the song from the Geico commercial were a caveman is on one of those moving walkways in an airport, and he passes a Geico ad with the tagline, "So easy a caveman can do it."
The song here is "Remind Me" by Röyksopp. I found this out by turning on the Closed Captioning feature on my TV, and there it was.
Then, there's this song I first heard on Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo. Then I heard it in several commercials for shows like "On the Lot." I recently heard it on the Victoria Beckham: Coming to America show on NBC. When Victoria is finally reunited with her husband and children, and they return to Los Angeles as a family. After the show aired, I went over to NBC's Featured Music page and discovered a song that kinda sounded like what I heard, so I Googled it, and found the music video. I then hopped over to the iTunes Store and picked up "The Adventure" by Angels & Airwaves.
I wonder what I'll find next.
First, the song from the Geico commercial were a caveman is on one of those moving walkways in an airport, and he passes a Geico ad with the tagline, "So easy a caveman can do it."
The song here is "Remind Me" by Röyksopp. I found this out by turning on the Closed Captioning feature on my TV, and there it was.
Then, there's this song I first heard on Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo. Then I heard it in several commercials for shows like "On the Lot." I recently heard it on the Victoria Beckham: Coming to America show on NBC. When Victoria is finally reunited with her husband and children, and they return to Los Angeles as a family. After the show aired, I went over to NBC's Featured Music page and discovered a song that kinda sounded like what I heard, so I Googled it, and found the music video. I then hopped over to the iTunes Store and picked up "The Adventure" by Angels & Airwaves.
I wonder what I'll find next.
10 July 2007
It's Survey Time: The #7 Line
The MTA is issuing surveys for subway service. The first is the for the 7 line, which I use most frequently. The survey featured generalized questions about service, announcements, etc. Here's the list of questions.
- Minimal delays during trips
- Reasonable wait times for trains
- Adequate room on board at rush hour
- Sense of security in stations
- Sense of security on trains
- Working elevators and escalators in stations
- Signs in stations that help riders find their way
- Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way
- Cleanliness of stations
- Cleanliness of subway cars
- Station announcements that are easy to hear
- Station announcements that are informative
- Train announcements that are easy to hear
- Train announcements that are informative
- Lack of graffiti in stations
- Lack of graffiti in subway cars
- Lack of scratchitti in subway cars
- Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel
- Comfortable temperature in subway cars
- Ease of use of subway turnstiles
- Availability of Metrocard Vending Machines
- Overall Performance
Then the survey asks the three areas above that need the most improvement. There was one thing I was hoping would be on there that wasn't: comments. There are several things that are consistently nagging on this line that I wish to acknowledge.
A. Delays
In the morning, some Flushing-bound 7 trains don't even make it to Flushing. They terminate at 111th Street and then proceed into the nearby Corona Yard after leaving passengers on the platform. However, there are two things wrong with this. The first is that usually, it seems that not even the train crew knows the train is terminating at 111th Street. It is an unpleasant surprise for everyone, this causes the second problem. Because the train is stopped there for about 5 minutes, the train behind it usually waits outside the station for 5 minutes. This causes a backup along the line, with train after train being delayed by either discharging its passengers, or taking on passengers that the previous train discharged. Now, these delays have been so bad at times, that trains were backed up all the way to 40th Street! That's when the transfer at 74th Street comes in handy for me.What should they do?
In the afternoon rush hours, when a train terminates at Willets Point, there's an across-the-platform transfer to an arriving express train to carry passengers to Main Street. My idea follows a similar vein. Instead of terminating at 111th Street, they should terminate on the middle track at Willets Point. Manhattan-bound expresses would platform on the default Manhattan-bound platform to allow this move, and would switch to the express track south of the station.
Graphics to come soon.
Until the graphics are posted, here's a text description.
7 Express Southbound: On C2 or CM track at Main Street. Switch to CM at Main St. Interlocking. Switch to C1 north of Willets Point. Switch back to CM track south of Willets Point. If Local and Express depart Main Street at or near the same time, Express has priority at the merge point.
7 Willets Northbound: On C2 at 111th Street. Switch to CM south of Willets Point. Discharge passengers and reverse direction. Switch to CMc south of Willets Point and relay on CMa or CMb at 111th Street. Reverse direction and proceed into Corona Yard.
This way, trains to Main Street may arrive across the platform from the terrminating train, and nobody (especially the train behind it) would to wait 5 or more minutes for the train crew to make sure the train is empty of passengers.
B. A Certain Station
The worst thing about the 7 line can be summed up in three words: MAIN STREET STATION. This three-track malady of a station has crowd flow issues. In the afternoon, it's sometimes impossible to determine which track the next train will depart from. Logic dictates the first train in will be the next train out. The mezzanine signs say it will be on another track. The signs on the platform say it will be on another track. And the guy on the platform will tell you it's on yet another track! And when the train does come, it's usually packed, and that means that the crowds will make a mass exodus out of the station. It gets to the point that you have to yell and scream at them to have them get out of your way.Ugh! I hate that!
What should they do?
Logic should dictate train departures. First in is first out. Stairs closest to the turnstiles are designated Down staircases. Remaining stairs designated as Up staircases. The policy should be tightly enforced. Platform signs, mezzanine signs and all announcements should clearly and unambiguously announce which train is leaving next. If a train leaves from a wall track, the next train to leave must not be on the opposite wall track unless the middle track is occupied with a standing train of revenue service cars with doors open on both sides. If a train arrives on the middle track, doors are to open on the side opposite the track where the next train out is standing. If an arriving train is to be taken out of service, clear and consistent and constant announcements should be made from the time the train enters the station until the train doors close. Such train may not arrive at a platform where signs indicate the next departing train, unless the arriving train is on the middle track, in which case the train doors will open only on the side opposite the next departing train. A departing train should receive the "line-up" (clear departing signal) within 20 seconds of receiving the starting lights (green lights hanging over the platform adjacent to each track).
There. Now that I've vented about Main Street station, a bit on the good things about the 7. The express is fast, you never have to wait long for a train during rush hour, and the views are great. That's about it.
03 July 2007
Safari for Windows
The ubiquitous web browser for Mac, Safari, is now available for Windows. It may not replace Firefox as my top browser, but at least my computer can be more
02 July 2007
A New Version of iTunes is upon us
With Apple releasing the iPhone on Friday, they also released a new version of iTunes, version 7.3. One of the "features" of the new version of iTunes is an "improved" sorting method. It now takes those songs, albums, artists, etc. which start with a number or punctuation character, and sorts them to the bottom of the list. For example, it would sort "311" after "ZZ Top" instead of before "Ace of Base." Now, I'm very particular with how my library is sorted. I actually like the numbers on top. So when I found The Veronicas' "4ever" somewhere after The Cranberries' "Zombie," I wasn't too pleased with it. I basically spent about 20 minutes changing the sort order back to something I could live with. Otherwise, I'm quite pleased with iTunes 7.3.
24 June 2007
My Dream Machine
&tWell, I think I've found my Dream Machine. For some, it's a car. For me, it's a computer. But this is not just any computer.
It's a Mac Pro with 2 GB of RAM, two 500 GB hard drives, Bluetooth and WiFi, with Final Cut pre-installed. It'll cost over $3,000, but oh, man! The things I can do with that!
Though, I'll be waiting for Leopard to come out before getting a Mac.
It's a Mac Pro with 2 GB of RAM, two 500 GB hard drives, Bluetooth and WiFi, with Final Cut pre-installed. It'll cost over $3,000, but oh, man! The things I can do with that!
Though, I'll be waiting for Leopard to come out before getting a Mac.
22 June 2007
LION IN THE CITY… Salt Lake City
I posted a thread on LDS LinkUp (Where I'm known as "The Church Avenue Lion") about my recent travels to Salt Lake City. Now, I've finally got a chance to post them here, so here it is.
Day 1, Monday
After a long flight, where I was able to watch Cars, Shrek, and a 10-minute short featuring the Newark, NJ subway, my mom and I arrived in Salt Lake City. We had a bit of confusion upon arriving at the baggage claim. When we arrived at the baggage claim, we were presented with baggage claim carousels 1, 2, 3, and 4. After a much needed restroom break, I went to see where the bags for our flight were. A display indicated that the bags were being displayed on carousel 5. Since we only saw carousels 1 through 4, we had no idea where carousel 5 was, since all that was there was the ticketing and check-in counters, and baggage claim carousels 1 through 4. There was absolutely no indication of where carousel 5 was. After asking a security officer about the location of this mystery baggage claim carousel, we went over to the building next door, where carousel 5 was prominent in our view, showing flights from various cities across the country…except New York. My mother, who had a very distinctive bag, spotted it on carousel 6, which didn't even show our New York flight on its display. After arriving at the hotel, which just happens to be across the street from Temple Square, we went and did some business in Temple Sq. First, an organ recital at the Tabernacle. I can sorta understand all the cracks the GA's have made about the seats in there. Then, we stopped over at the Long John Silver's over at ZCMI (it was about 12:30, and I hadn't eaten any real food (snacks on the plane don't count) 8½ hours!) and then went into Deseret Book. Then, into the JSMB for the distribution center. My mom asked if they had The Testaments on VHS, but they said it's only available on DVD. Looks like we know what to get Grandpa for his birthday.Then, we went back to DesBook after seeing that the metal oil vials are only sold there. We went to the north visitor's center and saw the Christus statue. We rested a bit in the hotel room and went back at about 8 for dinner and another walk through downtown SLC.
Day 2, Tuesday
After a breakfast buffet, mom and I went to the temple for the 9 AM session. It was very interesting how it the temple is laid out. My mom saw it interesting how there were so many marriages going on…on a Tuesday! After we were done in the temple, we went over to the post office, to mail a letter to my dad. Then, we went to the Gateway. After browsing through there and buying some socks, I was hungry for some Carl's Jr, and having searched for one on the Internet the day before, I had to make sure it was where I thought it was. Apple Store to the rescue! The nearest one happens to be at State and 200S, not far from the TRAX station. With that, off we went. When I received my Double Western burger, there was an extra surprise for me. On the tray was not just the burger and fries, but two small containers of fry sauce. Only in Utah, I guess. After that, we went back to the hotel for a little rest. Noticing that the studio for Channel 2's news broadcast was right by the TRAX station we visited earlier. For dinner, we met up with some friends who had moved out of the Astoria Ward and then went over to a park adjacent to the Church Office Building to see a T Minus 5 concert (They're dropping a new album on August 25th, for anyone who's interested). After that, some nighttime photos of the Temple, then dessert, and back up to the room for the night.
Day 3, Wednesday
Everyone who has visited Utah has said, "You've GOT to visit Park City." I was expecting something interesting. We did visit some Olympic venues, including an active ski jump,, and the bobsled/luge/skeleton track. Main Street was more blah than wow, though. There were some nice stores, but like I said, more blah than wow. Later on, we met with some other folks who used to be in the ward, and we went out for dinner at Tucci's. It was nice.
Day 4, Thursday, A.K.A. The Voyage Home
Mom had signed us up for a 2:00 van to take us to the airport from the hotel. However, since check-out time was at 11, that left us with some time to kill before going home. After breakfast, mom and I hung out in the room, taking some last photos of our view from our 8th floor hotel room. Once check-out time came, we went back over to the Gateway for some last minute things. We partook of the services of Auntie Anne's and Ben & Jerry's. That Phish Food shake they sell is de-lish! Mom was looking for an aquarium to kill some time, but I told her that I've been seeing some commercials for this aquarium down in Sandy, and I figure that if there was an aquarium at the Gateway, they've packed up and moved down to Sandy. We spent the last hour watching TV and surfing the Internet in the hotel's library. There was a tour bus operator there. As I was walking over to the men's room, I overheard him say something I thought was very interesting. "This hotel is owned by the LDS Church.…"
Our ride to the airport was delayed a bit because we had another person to take with us, and by the time we were in the van she was still over by the Convention Center! Just as we were about to leave, we saw her. She got on, and we were off.
At the airport, I had a more pleasant experience going through security. This is due to the fact that I was wearing pants that didn't have any metal in them. Afterwards, having some food at the Burger King (Isn't it funny that both pre-flight meals were at a Burger King?) we strolled over to the gate. I noticed that as I looked out the window, I could see downtown Salt Lake City, including the temple, so I got a picture of that. Once aboard the plane, my mom says to me, "Did you notice that lady sitting in First Class with the blond hair?" I said that I didn't. She then says that it was Sheri Dew. I thought that was cool. A prominent member of the Church flying to New York with us. The pilot had said that it was a good day for flying, and he was right. There was a bit of rough air, but not too much. The flight was otherwise uneventful, and I passed the time by watching Over the Hedge and Back to the Future, then some Bugs Bunny cartoons. By the time we were approaching New York, it was dark, and I couldn't identify anything because there weren't any identifiable landmarks. Then, I saw a tower/smokestack thing which I knew was in the vicinity of Westbury, New York. We were flying over Long Island. I watched as Roosevelt Field Mall passed before me, then no other recognizable landmarks until the Green Acres Mall came into view…Then Brookville Boulevard. Then, without me seeing any other signs of airport, we had landed. (I later found out that we had landed on Runway 22L, which is near the eastern edge of JFK Airport.) It was definitely the airport because I saw airport signage passing by, the first of which being a big illuminated 5 on the side of the runway…then a 4…then a 3…By the time we passed the 3, we had lost much of our forward speed, so we taxied over to the gate. The pilot announced a gate change. We were scheduled to arrive at Gate 3 in Terminal 3, but we arrived at Gate 28 in Terminal 2. Our bags would be brought over to Baggage Claim F, and afterwards, we got a taxi to drive us home, where we arrived at 12:20 AM.
OK, so that's it. I'm home now. It's good to be back.
31 May 2007
A Word on Manhattanhenge
I went to Gantry Plaza State Park yesterday in the hopes of seeing Manhattanhenge, a phenomenon that happens four times a year when the sun either rises or sets aligned with Manhattan's street grid. Unfortunately, I was a bit late in seeing it, but upon seeing the following information, I came up with a great idea.
Here's the source.
The July Manhattanhenge will be on a Friday. The second Friday of July. I'm going to see about tying the Manhattanhenge viewing with the stake dance to be held that night.
Neil deGrasse Tyson's office originally supplied NewYorkology with the wrong dates, (May 31 and July 11) which were originally posted in the headline for this entry and in the text below. The new and improved dates for Manhattanhenge 2007 are May 30 (at 8:10 p.m.) and July 13 (at 8:20 p.m.)
Here's the source.
The July Manhattanhenge will be on a Friday. The second Friday of July. I'm going to see about tying the Manhattanhenge viewing with the stake dance to be held that night.
30 May 2007
09 May 2007
2:58.25!
Attention faithful blog readers: There is a new record for travel through the 60th Street tunnel between Lexington Avenue-60th Street and Queensboro Plaza. The time is 2 minutes, 58¼ seconds. The record was attained on Wednesday, 09 May 2007, at about 17:04. Lead motor of involved train is 8732, an R160B type car built by Kawasaki in 2006. Top speed during this run was about 58 miles per hour. This new record beats the previous one by about nine seconds.
I like fast trains. I love it when the express train I'm on zips past the local train I'm not on. The problem is that there aren't too many places for trains to go fast in the subway system. However, the East River tunnels make for some speedy spots. Ever since my MiniDisc days, I played “Bodyrock” by Moby as the train made its trek through the tunnel. After the train stopped at Queensboro Plaza, I would check the time, and give a letter grade for the trip. If it was below 3:10, I'd give an A+, 3:10 to 3:20, an A, 3:20 to 3:25, a B, etc. If the song finishes before the train stops at Queensboro Plaza, the ride gets and F, and since I got my first iPod, I made my own playlist which includes Strong Bad saying, “Not good enough, F--” (from for kids), and a recording of Anne Robinson saying, “You are the weakest link…Goodbye!” (from The Weakest Link). After that, I play a song from The Murmurs. More recently, I've been alternating between that song and You’re Pitiful by “Weird Al” Yankovic. When the trip goes well (i.e. “Bodyrock” is still playing while I'm standing on the platform at Queensboro Plaza, I'll play “I Like That” by Houston or “I Like It” by Narcotic Thrust, or both. Take a look at my recently played songs on Last.fm (under "What I've Been Listening To"). If you see Bodyrock followed by any of the songs I've mentioned, then you'll know I've been through the Sixty.
This doesn't mean I don't like slow. I like slow when it's okay to go slow, or unsafe to go too fast. But when your train tops out at 45 MPH in a tunnel designed for trains to go 70, then the trip leaves much to be desired. There's a reason for speed limits, but they don't need to be artificially low. I support putting the rapid in “rapid transit,” so I'll continue to do this.
I like fast trains. I love it when the express train I'm on zips past the local train I'm not on. The problem is that there aren't too many places for trains to go fast in the subway system. However, the East River tunnels make for some speedy spots. Ever since my MiniDisc days, I played “Bodyrock” by Moby as the train made its trek through the tunnel. After the train stopped at Queensboro Plaza, I would check the time, and give a letter grade for the trip. If it was below 3:10, I'd give an A+, 3:10 to 3:20, an A, 3:20 to 3:25, a B, etc. If the song finishes before the train stops at Queensboro Plaza, the ride gets and F, and since I got my first iPod, I made my own playlist which includes Strong Bad saying, “Not good enough, F--” (from for kids), and a recording of Anne Robinson saying, “You are the weakest link…Goodbye!” (from The Weakest Link). After that, I play a song from The Murmurs. More recently, I've been alternating between that song and You’re Pitiful by “Weird Al” Yankovic. When the trip goes well (i.e. “Bodyrock” is still playing while I'm standing on the platform at Queensboro Plaza, I'll play “I Like That” by Houston or “I Like It” by Narcotic Thrust, or both. Take a look at my recently played songs on Last.fm (under "What I've Been Listening To"). If you see Bodyrock followed by any of the songs I've mentioned, then you'll know I've been through the Sixty.
This doesn't mean I don't like slow. I like slow when it's okay to go slow, or unsafe to go too fast. But when your train tops out at 45 MPH in a tunnel designed for trains to go 70, then the trip leaves much to be desired. There's a reason for speed limits, but they don't need to be artificially low. I support putting the rapid in “rapid transit,” so I'll continue to do this.
05 May 2007
Where Has Cinema Etiquette Gone?
Today, I (along with my mother and grandmother) went to see Spider-Man 3 at the AMC 34th Street Theater. The film was good. The audience I had the displeasure of watching it with however, need to go take a remedial Cinema Etiquette class.
There was a group of teenage girls sitting next to me who just wouldn't shut up! Something would happen in the movie, and the girl sitting to my left would give a brief synopsis of the last 30 seconds of the film to the girl sitting to her left. By the time we were nearing the end of the film, every time she would say something about the movie, I felt like saying, "Yes, we know!"
Then, there were the cell phones. Have they stopped playing those pre-show commercials that tell people to turn off their cell phones? There must have been about 15 cell phones that rang (whether audibly or not) throughout the whole movie. And people were answering these phone calls, and having conversations!
Like I said, most of the folks in that theater badly need to (re)take Cinema Etiquette 101. At least there weren't a bunch of screaming kids to worry about.
There was a group of teenage girls sitting next to me who just wouldn't shut up! Something would happen in the movie, and the girl sitting to my left would give a brief synopsis of the last 30 seconds of the film to the girl sitting to her left. By the time we were nearing the end of the film, every time she would say something about the movie, I felt like saying, "Yes, we know!"
Then, there were the cell phones. Have they stopped playing those pre-show commercials that tell people to turn off their cell phones? There must have been about 15 cell phones that rang (whether audibly or not) throughout the whole movie. And people were answering these phone calls, and having conversations!
Like I said, most of the folks in that theater badly need to (re)take Cinema Etiquette 101. At least there weren't a bunch of screaming kids to worry about.
04 May 2007
McDonald's: Overpriced?
So I went over to McDonald's this morning to get some breakfast. I order the Deluxe Breakfast Platter with orange juice. THEY WANTED EIGHT DOLLARS FOR IT! Now, I've paid more for a meal before, but that was because the quality of the food warranted it. The quality of McDonald's food does NOT warrant paying eight dollars for two pancakes, scrambled eggs, three pieces of bacon and a hash brown. Six dollars, maybe, but NOT eight. It's drive-thru robbery! It's price gouging! It's an outrage! I'm not going back to McDonald's for breakfast anytime soon.
30 April 2007
How Could I Forget This?
I've been somewhat forgetful lately.
First, I forgot to put my latest video montage here.
Here it is.
Next, a story about what happened at the Apple Store last week. On Tuesday, I went over to the Apple Store and was using a MacBook there. After I left the store, I got on an N train (time: 22:50) and proceeded to go home. The N made an almost perfect connection with the 7 at Queensboro Plaza, and that made a near perfect connection with the B24 bus. I then had a thought about a file I downloaded at the Apple Store, and proceeded to look at my key chain to see if my USB flash drive was attached to it. I noticed that — SHOCK! — It wasn't there. I got off the bus and proceeded to walk back to the subway, trying to return to the Apple Store as quickly as possible. I didn't have to wait long for the Manhattan-bound 7 train, but the N took a while to arrive. While traveling through the 60th Street tunnel, I said a prayer, asking that the flash drive would still be there when I got there. Upon arriving at the Apple Store, I proceeded to the MacBook I was using earlier. It was now about an hour after I got on the first N train. I discovered that there was someone else at the MacBook, and I also noticed that the USB port where I attached the flash drive was empty. I let out an "Aw, shoot," and the guy at the MacBook asked if I had lost something, to which I said yes. I then gave a brief description of the flash drive. While I was doing so, he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to me. I thanked him and soon left the store, on the way home for real. By the time I returned to Queensboro Plaza (it was now 00:25), I knew I would have to walk home because the last B24 had already passed. I finally made it home and went to sleep.
Let's see… Did I forget anything else?
Random thought #2207914
I've basically convinced myself that my next computer would be a Mac. I'm just waiting for Leopard to come out.
First, I forgot to put my latest video montage here.
Here it is.
Next, a story about what happened at the Apple Store last week. On Tuesday, I went over to the Apple Store and was using a MacBook there. After I left the store, I got on an N train (time: 22:50) and proceeded to go home. The N made an almost perfect connection with the 7 at Queensboro Plaza, and that made a near perfect connection with the B24 bus. I then had a thought about a file I downloaded at the Apple Store, and proceeded to look at my key chain to see if my USB flash drive was attached to it. I noticed that — SHOCK! — It wasn't there. I got off the bus and proceeded to walk back to the subway, trying to return to the Apple Store as quickly as possible. I didn't have to wait long for the Manhattan-bound 7 train, but the N took a while to arrive. While traveling through the 60th Street tunnel, I said a prayer, asking that the flash drive would still be there when I got there. Upon arriving at the Apple Store, I proceeded to the MacBook I was using earlier. It was now about an hour after I got on the first N train. I discovered that there was someone else at the MacBook, and I also noticed that the USB port where I attached the flash drive was empty. I let out an "Aw, shoot," and the guy at the MacBook asked if I had lost something, to which I said yes. I then gave a brief description of the flash drive. While I was doing so, he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to me. I thanked him and soon left the store, on the way home for real. By the time I returned to Queensboro Plaza (it was now 00:25), I knew I would have to walk home because the last B24 had already passed. I finally made it home and went to sleep.
Let's see… Did I forget anything else?
Random thought #2207914
I've basically convinced myself that my next computer would be a Mac. I'm just waiting for Leopard to come out.
How much is too much?
When the temple opened, one feature was a security desk, just inside the front door. On events held in the meetinghouse, one could just walk in, passing the guard. He never stopped anyone. He even made friends with some of the members. When the 4th floor of the building was closed off, and reconstruction work commenced, a sign-in book was placed at the desk, intended for the construction zone on the 4th floor, not the meetinghouse on the 3rd floor, nor the temple. After a few weeks, the regular guard was replaced with another guard. He is being very anal retentive with the sign-in book. I say it's a violation of acceptable protocol for entering a church building. In any other building, you don't need to write your name in a book to go to an institute class. It is a totally unacceptable road block. It's just like those bag searches in the subway performed by the police (read: Paranoia Patrol, though the term applies only to those participating in activities prompted by paranoia). If compulsory sign-in is forced by him to attend church on Sunday, I'll go to church on the East Side. If compulsory sign-in is forced by him to attend the temple, I will promptly get on a bus, travel to Washington and attend the temple there!
12 April 2007
Spring Break Wrap-Up
Well, sad to say it, but Spring Break is over. Let me run down stuff I did.
- I watched all of General Conference. Let me tell you, there was some interesting stuff there. Jeffrey R. Holland quoting from the Apocrypha, comments on the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and other interesting things I won’t get into here.
- My second digital camera stopped working. Instead of trying to fix it, I got a new one.
- Bee-Line buses started accepting MetroCard during the break, so I spent some time in Yonkers and New Rochelle.
- Spent a lot of time online.
- And the Photos! What wonderful photos I've been taking with my new camera! Take a look at these SubChat and BusChat threads I've been posting with the new cam (Not for the faint of bandwidth):
I think I’ll keep it (like I have a choice?).