Who needs CNBC when the clearest explanation of what went wrong with the economy comes from our favorite Centennial State brats? Margaritaville is the most relevant South Park episode of 2009… thus far.

Technorati Tags: South Park, economy, Margaritaville

Good news all around. Instead of kitschy gadgets, the rumor for the WWDC is that Snow Leopard and the iPhone should take main stage. Both are ready for significant upgrades.

http://www.pcworld.com/

Technorati Tags: apple, iphone, OS, rjd

These boys say, “after 30 minutes of watching the commercial, we decided to make our way down to the nearest Mcdonalds.” Yikes! Is there no more soft porn on Cinemax for kids these days?

Chalk it up to school day afternoons playing Mouse Trap, but I LOVE stuff like this. YouTube user allonewordplease has created a very cool entry for a Cadbury contest LAST YEAR, yet it is making the rounds again. And since I didn’t have this blog last year, it’s all new now.

Well, Martin Brodeur has the most wins in NHL history and April 13th MSG Plus network will have an all day marathon of Marty programming. Kind of ironic, no? MSG – the Madison Square Garden – Plus will celebrate the best goalie ever – and the best player in the NY metro area – and he doesn’t play for MSG’s own Rangers.

I see a certain silver chalice coming this Spring… to Newark!

RJD

If you will be riding NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line this summer, give me a shout about summer memberships in the Jersey Shore Commuters Club. Our private railroad car guarantees you a great ride each day. We have reclining seats with trays as well as straight seats at tables. Each day we are in NYC about 8:40am and out at 5:36pm. Many members ride just one way each day, but it is worth it.

Let me know if you are interested in one of the handful of summer memberships or stop by and see me on the car.

RJD
VP

I want to start live blogging with my iPhone, so with the app downloaded and permissions set here’s a post and a pic.

Just a note that if you missed my cover stories on modeling Reading Railroad USRA “Russian” Decapods, the SD90MACs that ran on the Green Mountain Railway or the CNJ “backtrack” Mikado you can still get back issues from Railroad Model Craftsman.

Modeling the Back Track Behemoth Part 1 — September 2005

Modeling the Back Track Behemoth Part 2 — October 2005

Modeling leased SD90MAC’s on Vermont’s Green Mountain Rwy. – August 2003

The unintended patriot: Modeling Philadelphia & Reading “Russian Decapod” No. 1127 — December 2002

The April 2009 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman marks my return to the national model railroad magazine scene. Jules Heiliczer and I have an article on his HO scale model of a McMyler Car Dumping Machine. It is a complimentary piece to Bob Fischer’s study of the prototype McMylers.

My last time out, Bob did a great article on CNJ Mikados, to which I wrote a two-part modeling piece. It is nice to see more writing from Bob.

RJD

It is not often that I drag the video camera out in the snow, but the chance to spend a day wandering around Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom on dreary winter Friday got me motivated. Add in a car full of friends stocked with jerky and coffee and what the heck? See if you likey, we did.

RJD

If I have to explain who Jean Shepherd was, I might run out of pixels. Fortunately  http://www.flicklives.com/ serves both the novice and the long time Shep fan.

Yes, Virginia, he was “that Christmas Story guy.” But to stop there is like saying brie is the cheese with the white moldy rind. You are only addressing the surface.

I am sure Shep will be a frequent topic here. He shaped my thoughts on storytelling, and in many ways influenced my interest in steel towns.

RJD

RJD

Unadorned. It’s the name of a song I wrote nearly 8 years ago. You haven’t heard it. Not to worry. Not many have.

Merriam-Webster defines unadorned as “lacking embellishment or decoration.” That’s about right. This is not a fancy blog. And I am not a fancy guy.

Hopefully, that will come through. Let us get on with it and find out.

Rob