trains and trivialities

First the trains...

On Sunday morning, I drove out west of Weatherford on the UP Baird Sub to photograph some trains. After that, I came back to Ft. Worth and shot several more... it was one of those "fish in a barrel" type of days where I was practically tripping over trains everywhere I went, there were so many of them. I only have time to post one shot tonight:

A pastoral scene on the former T&P - Preble, TX 10/1/06

On Monday, I took my truck over to Grapevine for servicing. I brought my bike along, so I could ride the Cotton Belt trail while they worked on my truck. The Cotton Belt trail follows the former Cotton Belt (now Ft Worth & Western) rail line southwest out of Grapevine toward North Richland HIlls. There are a couple of gaps in the trail where I had to ride on the streets to get to the next section, but it wasn't too bad. When I reached the end of the trail in North Richland Hills, I decided to keep going -- all the way to the FWWR-UP interlocker in Haltom City. Both railroads rewarded me for my efforts -- I saw an eastbound FWWR and southbound UP just minutes apart. When I got back to Grapevine (3 1/2 hours and 42 miles later), my truck was ready. I'll have to post those pics next time.

trivialities

So I got in the truck on Tuesday afternoon, and decided to switch over from the cd I was listening to, to see what KHYI was playing. Damned if they weren't playing the SAME EXACT SONG I had been listening to on my cd... "Texas Flood" by Stevie Ray Vaughan! My musical tastes, and KHYI's catalog, are both diverse enough that this isn't likely to happen much... in fact, I'm not sure that it EVER has on KHYI. And the Range doesn't play much Stevie Ray...

Oddly enough, I had heard that song on KHYI a week or two ago -- and I heard a different SRV song on KNON's "Texas Blues Radio" yesterday -- which is what led me to load up that cd today while M and I were driving around. Anyway, chalk up a moment of musical serendipity in the ole Tacoma...

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Football season is in full swing; if you haven't been paying attention to the games, maybe you've at least noticed the beer commercials.

I guess when you have the worst-tasting beer, you have to have the best commercials... I don't know if I've drunk an entire bottle of Bud Light since I was in college! But going back to the days of "Dr. Galazkiewicz? Yes, I am" and "I love you, man", Bud Light has, by and large, been running the most entertaining ads for several years. Last year's "Magic Fridge" and some of this year's spin-offs show that Bud Light is still carrying the torch, at least in the advertising department. Miller Lite's star-studded "Man Laws" series hasn't been too bad, and has been fairly consistent with its recent trend of using irreverent comedy.

Coors Light has perennially lagged behind in third place with regard to the entertainment value of its tv ads (last year's "Love Train" / Silver Bullet Express series got "old" REAL quick). But they've made some big strides this year -- those spots with the football coaches answering questions posed by a football audience are pretty good.

The bottom line, though, is how good is the stuff they're advertising? I don't care if Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears are running around in string bikinis waving bottles of Bud Light... it's not gonna make that stuff taste any better! I'm a big fan of fairly dark, sweet-tasting beer like Dos Equis Amber, Negra Modelo, Shiner Bock, and Ziegenbock. But when it comes down to the ultra-mass produced light beers offered by "the Big Three", there's really only one choice, and it's the one that doesn't taste like water (Coors Light) or horse piss (Bud Light). I guess that narrows it down to Miller Lite. They could have Mark Foley and NAMBLA doing their spots... it wouldn't stop me from picking up a 12-pack of Miller Lite longnecks the next time the refrigerator's empty.

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On the subject of advertising, I noticed an interesting ad today... as I drove past a Walgreen's store, I saw what looked like one of those election-season campaign posters (usually about 12 by 18 inches on a wooden stake) that people put in their yards to show what candidate they're supporting. There was a hitch, though -- this one said "Tom Dobbs for President" and had a picture of Robin Williams on it -- it was an ad for his new movie "Man of the Year". I've gotta hand it to the advertisers -- that's definitely a unique approach to advertise a movie. It doesn't necessarily make me want to see the movie, but I'll sure give 'em credit for thinking outside the box. I wonder how much one of those posters would fetch on ebay...

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speaking of trivia...

Bryan Nelms of El Reno, Oklahoma returned the first correct answer to question # 4: What 1980s fantasy movie featured a character named Atreyu ("a-TRAY-you")?

Answer: "The Neverending Story".

You can look it up on imdb.com if you're interested... it is not my intention to discuss the movie here. I remember it and I guess it was ok... What is significant here is my amusement at how pop culture references from 20+ years ago are resurfacing in modern times, like the Tennessee Titans' cornerback Pacman Jones, or the rock band called "Atreyu" (my inspiration for question # 4). That's a pretty cool name for a band, although it probably means nothing to the large percentage of their fan base who probably haven't seen the movie.

Moving on, here is question 5:

5) In what movie would you find the Castle Anthrax, a discussion about laden swallows, and the Gorge of Eternal Peril?

If you think you've got game, you can email me or post a response in the comments section below.

WSC

np: dvd of The Good Fight Corporation's motion picture release "The Range" -- adding plenty of fuel to the fire of my love-hate relationship with KHYI in the post-Bruce Kidder era...