My Mazerati Does 185, I Lost My License And Now I Don't Drive

I hope everyone had a good Christmas holiday! This was one of my better ones. I got a Ferrari LaFerrari and a McLaren P1.

That's a bit misleading. They're built out of Legos. But still! They're neat little models, for minifig-scale supercars. Lego has a new theme called Speed Champions (which the Ferrari and McLaren belong to) that's actually pretty nice. All the cars are real, and very good likenesses for the size and using preexisting Lego pieces. I learned about it by stopping into a Toys 'R Us with my sister's friends one day; they had the Ford Mustang GT, and I liked the look of it enough to say hell with it and pick it up. I've built the LaFerrari already and it was a pretty clever build.

But while building it, I noticed something interesting on the back of the second (yes, there's enough steps involded that the LaFerrari needs two booklets) manual. Look at the lineup of the three cars - middle row, right side.

Ha ha! All the engine blocks are the same size! Get it? GET IT!?

They are, from left to right, the Lego versions of the Porsche 918, the McLaren P1, and the Ferrari LaFerrari. Hmmm... Where have I seen such a lineup before?

Oh. Right. 

Yes, Clarkson, May, and Hammond were working on an epic shootout between these three incredible cars on the Top Gear track, but as Ferrari and McLaren were coming around to the idea, Clarkson was booted and May and Hammond elected to follow. As they have a new show of their own on Amazon TV called The Grand Tour, I'm told they managed to organize the competition in their first episode. Still haven't seen it, or have any idea which car won. Even so... 

And If You Complain Once More, You'll Meet An Army Of Me

Ok, so sometime last year, I started getting into Björk. And even though I haven't yet picked up a copy of her 1997 album Homogenic, I did read George Starostin's review. What he thinks the album sounds like isn't important right now. No, I'm more concerned with the art. 

What.

Yeah, I have no idea. According to Wikipedia, the cover was designed by one Alexander McQueen, and he obviously was on some very 90's drugs. Björk describes the look she was going for as "a warrior who had to fight not with weapons, but with love." I will take that statement at face value (ba-dum-tish), thank you very much. 

But there was something else that I had gnawing at me when I saw the cover. It seemed (oh no) familiar somehow. And then it hit me like a 110-lb. lightsaber. 

These aren't the Star Wars movies you're looking for. Try 1977.

No less than two years later, the bodacious Natalie Portman would dress Björk-style for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The similarities are very interesting; one wonders if this was all a late-90's thing. It wasn't something I'd picked up on. The obvious question here is, was Queen Amidala's getup inspired, at least in part, by the Homogenic album cover? Google doesn't seem to have an answer for me, but I do kind of wonder. 

It's Dead! It's In The Middle! And It's Stinking To High, High Heaven!

I know! I know! My opinion of your marketing department! 

As seen at the Route 8 Trader Horn.

This Is Not 38, This Is Old 97

All of a sudden, I've been surrounded by Norfolk Southern heritage units. Until last Saturday, the only ones I'd seen were the Nickel Plate Road, Conrail, and Pennsylvania units, all with Nickel Plate Road 765 on fantrips; and one sighting of the Lackawanna unit when I didn't have my camera.

Well, all that changed after last Saturday. I happened to be heading home through Creighton, after hanging out at a friend's house. As I was headed towards the C. L. Schmitt Bridge (known to locals as just the 'New Ken bridge'), Norfolk Southern sent an oil train up the Conemaugh Line. I'm headed the opposite direction, and I take a peek at the power. At first, the two black-and-white locomotives didn't seem all that special...until I realized that the trailing unit was the Penn Central heritage unit. I swear I did a double-take, cartoon-style. So I banged a u-turn and did my best to follow the train. He was going fairly slowly for some reason. I tried to get a good picture, but it was too dark and I couldn't hang around.

Worst. Heritage unit picture. Ever. 

Next morning, after meeting my family for breakfast, my sister and I ran a quick errand and then took the scenic route home, up the Kiskiminetas River. We caught up with a train heading east (this is further east on the Conemaugh Line, for those wondering) and I decided to try a new photo spot on the Vandergrift Bridge. As the train came around the curve, I realized that the second loco in the consist was the NS 'Honoring Our Veterans' unit! I was so surprised, that Brie had to remind me to take pictures. I was hoping for a better picture, so we tried to chase to Apollo and Avonmore, but to no avail. He was moving like he was late for a hot date.

We salute you. 

And then, yesterday happened. I just wanted to go out for a little while and clear my head. As I was headed towards the city, I checked the heritageunits.com site. I discovered that the Southern Railway and Erie units were converging on the city! I had a moment where I thought I had missed the Erie unit, so I beat feet to Rochester, parked at the bowling alley, and got there just in time to catch the Southern unit on an intermodal train headed west. 

The Southern serves...southwestern Pennsylvania?

Figuring that I'd done well enough for the day, I took a brief cruise back up PA-65, and passed the Conway locomotive service terminal. And to my surprise, there was the Erie unit! It took a slight hike across busy, four-lane 65 to get a good photo, but here it is!

It's not easy being green.

As a bonus, while I was across the highway, I noticed the unit I'd been wanting to see the most - the Wabash! Unfortunately, it was dark enough I had trouble getting a good photo, and she wasn't well lit, as well as hidden behind that BNSF GEVO. But hey, it was there.

Follow That Flag!

I did previously get photos of the Nickel Plate Road, Pennsylvania, and Conrail units. Here's the NKP unit with 765 out by Leetsdale back in 2012.

Nickel Plate High Speed Freight Steam Locomotive On A Passenger Excursion Service

And here are the Pennsy and Conrail units, also with 765, on a chartered excursion over Horseshoe Curve. I got this photo from downtown Altoona.

Don't Stand Me Still? Or Keep It Moving With Conrail? How about both?

And that may not be the end of the story. Back in 2013, my friend Matt and I happened to catch the Lackawanna unit after hanging out at Primanti's in Harmarville; but that was in my pre-smartphone days and I didn't get a picture. However, as of three hours ago, she was due west out of Harrisburg on an oil train and I may have a chance at catching her today!

Also, there's the other 12 heritage units and a few other special locomotives to look out for. I'll just have to keep an eye out.

Also also, I signed up for a spotter account on heritageunits.com. If you see a spot listed by LL1060, that's me.

You Can Fly Anything Right

Ray is a friend of mine. He's also a pilot. I've wanted to get some photos from the air of western Pennsylvania, and he's been dying to go flying. So when the opportunity to go this past Friday came, I jumped at the chance and we went up for a really nice flight. We ended up delayed and the air was more turbulent as a result, but I still think everything went well. Below are the awesome results. 

Taking off!

Hey, there's Lernerville Raceway. 

This is a really nice shot of Freeport, with the Route 356 bridge in the background, the Norfolk Southern bridge over the Allegheny River near the center, and the Kiski Junction's bridge over the Kiskiminetas in the lower right corner. 

Here's Leechburg, and across the Kiski is West Leechburg. Both the highway bridge and the footbridge can be seen clearly. 

We flew as far as Avonmore - here's a good shot of the town with the National Roll aluminum mill quite prominent. The railroad bridge at bottom center is one I didn't even know existed. Unfortunately, it's rather inaccessible.

Here's an empty Shelocta coal train waiting to head back to the mines on the recently-constructed branch line. 

A few minutes later, we happened to see this loaded coal train headed east towards the Conemaugh Dam. A large portion of the railroad line was relocated in the 1960's to accommodate the higher waters east of the dam. 

Shot of the day! We had to circle about four times waiting for the train to cross the bridge, but for this, it was worth it. The stone arch bridge beneath the newer railroad bridge is on the line's old alignment which is now a bike trail. 

Heading back, we passed the mothballed West Leechburg plant, once operated by Allegheny Ludlum. 

By contrast, the Baghdad plant still operates - as a matter of fact, we happened to catch Kiski Junction using their new switcher locomotive to work the plant. It's the red object at the center of the photo. 

The last major photo I took was of Schenley. The KJR bridge over the Kiski is at bottom, Lock and Dam No. 5 is at left,  and prominent in the photo are two of the last buildings from the whiskey distillery that once operated here. 

Our intrepid pilot.

Thanks, Ray!

Turned Upon Me, Took Me By The Hair

I noticed that an old, and very good, post of mine has been getting some attention recently. It concerned the TV bumpers Cartoon Network used to use for the Adult Swim block back in 2007-08. They were fairly creative, in my opinion. Most of them used a tilt-shift photography technique in order to make the subject of the photo appear to be a model. I actually stayed up with my old point-and-shoot camera to record this intriguing bit of TV ephemera. Since there seems to be a bit of interest in the idea, I decided to post the entire series just for the heck of it.

And here's a random scene from Inuyasha just for the hell of it. 

The New Drunk Drivers Have Hoisted The Flag

I had a horrible dream the night before last. I dreamt I was eating used staples and paperclips. It was pretty bad, since it was very vivid. Hell, it was serious enough that it woke me up. That's not common for me until very early in the morning. I'm still a little freaked about it even though I remember very little about it. Sorry if I made you freaked too.

Flickr user Madbuster75

Then I had two different dreams this morning about being at the mall, of all places. In the first I was buying something that looked like gelato, then I was back for some kind of live music show. These weren't so bad. It seemed to be Monroeville Mall, actually. The second part actually felt like I was watching a performance for one of the late-night shows, come to think of it. There were two acts that played, but I don't remember anything else about them. Actually, I do remember one of the lead singers looking at me. I wonder if that means anything.

Like A Birth In Reverse, What I Saw Through The Blinds

Had an interesting experience when I found an album at the South Side CD Exchange. It was a 5-song EP in a plain white sleeve, credited to Robert Hazard & the Heroes. Didn't think much of it, but was interested to hear how it played.

A couple weeks ago, I finally gave it a spin, but not before I made two very interesting discoveries. Firstly, it turns out that 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper was a rewrite, and Robert Hazard was the original artist (hi Drew).

Secondly, when I looked in the sleeve I found these:

Ticket stubs to see Hazard at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh. Less than $20 for two people to go to a concert? What was this, 1983? (Yes, actually.) Makes me wonder about the ~$40 I spent on the last Black Keys show. 

And a poster of Hazard, with the whole band and the lyrics on the back. This is actually a pretty unique find. While there may be other posters that accompanied this disc out there, I doubt that many come with ticket stubs. Of course, I wonder what seeing Hazard live would have been like. So how did it play?

What I Liked:

Hazard's other claims to fame make up the first side of this mini-album; 'Escalator Of Life', a serious-sounding satire on materialism in the New Wave era, and 'Change Reaction' a much more poppy track. Hazard is another artist that has encapsulated what was good about New Wave; he captures the nervous energy that punk made possible, but kept the smoothness and polish - and dare I say glamour? - that put the best of New Wave artists on magazine covers and on the radio (I must confess, I'm thinking of Blondie here most of all, Talking Heads a close second). They're good at sounding serious, although it may not always serve them. Best songs: Escalator Of Life and (I Just Want To) Hang Around With You.

What I Didn't Like:

The problem here with capturing the good of New Wave means taking the bad with it. The record suffers from the same problems that bedeviled New Wave when it began. The chief complaint was always conformity of sounds, and here Hazard and crew sound very much a piece of their time. Only by the first side does the group make any progress on an individual sound, chiefly with 'Escalator'. 'Change Reaction' and 'Out Of The Blue' are nice and bright, but too sugary for my taste. Synths sound cheesy on occasion, and riffs are simple; no real head-turning hooks here. And the cover of Dylan's 'Blowin' In The Wind' is very strange a choice; the faux orchestration as the song proceeds gets cheesy too. 

In Conclusion:

I have to say the disc is a slight disappointment, but 'Escalator Of Life' is worth tracking down, if you can find it on 7". 

Thanks, WYEP. You kept playing 'Birth In Reverse' until I liked it, so I had to pick up St. Vincent's self-titled album. With a sound I keep describing to people as 'quirk-pop', the album officially has me hooked. Anne Erin Clark, who goes by the stage name of St. Vincent, was an alumnus of The Polyphonic Spree, made an album with Talking Heads front David Byrne, and has now released her fourth full-length effort. Details below. 

What I Liked:

St. Vincent and David Byrne made an album together. I see why. Clark brings that strange, awkward nervous energy of Talking Heads- or Devo-esque New Wave to a fresh look at pop music, with very good results. Quirky and alien, with a very subtle wit and will; this is what New Wave should have made thirty years ago. Best showcase is new media commentary 'Digital Witness' with it's neurotic verse and gloriously bombastic chorus; quirk-danceable 'Birth In Reverse' is a close second with its giggly, engaging hook. Slower songs do have a nice sense of polish to them, e.g. 'Prince Johnny'. The synth component of her sound is surprisingly hard-edged - something I expect from a hard rock guitarist. It likewise lends weight; but with a different feel, a different character. Best Songs? Y'know, it's easier to list the exceptions. They're discussed next. 

What I Didn't Like:

I actually had to listen again to remember what it was I didn't like: 'I Prefer Your Love'. I'm not serious about religion, but the strangeness of out-and-out declaring feelings for somebody in specific preference over Jesus is one of the more odd trains of thought I've heard. It feels as honest as it does bizarre, and maybe that's why I personally find it off-putting. Some tracks get musically quiet ('Regret', 'Huey Newton'), and on those she starts to sound like a more grounded version of Ivy. Not a bad comparison, but I'll admit I expect a more individual stamp from Clark. 

In Conclusion:

A fabulously quirky album with a strong female creative force at the helm? Sign me up! Anyone who's not afraid of something truly 'alternative' in music would do well to at least take this disc for one spin. I recommend!

There's been a single hanging around Dave's Music Mine for a while now, and since the picture sleeve features a steam locomotive, it catches my eye every time. It's 'All The Trains' by David Bavas & The Down Comforter, backed with 'Nail In The Wall'. Oddly, The Down Comforter is credited here, but not on the album from which both tracks are taken. For this 7", Bavas presents a slow and traditional country sound, which readers will know appeals to me more than current pop-country. It's well done, with subtle production, and both songs are good - 'Nail In The Wall' being the more upbeat of the two. Both sides sounded very similar, though. Checking out the album might be worth it. 

Here Comes Your 19th Nervous Breakdown

It's been a long couple of weeks. I need something to make me laugh, don't you?

(Settle in. You might be here a while. It's been a VERY LONG couple of weeks.)

I feel much better, don't you? Don't you!? DON'T YOU!?