Archive for August, 2008
Friday, August 29th, 2008
Blood on the Tracks, Flood on the Derailed Blog
Bobby the Conductor is back on the job after scoring an Irish tan in Myrtle Beach, and he obviously came back with his batteries supercharged.
In one memorable week, Conductor Bobby gets duped by a woman holding the train doors as she waits for a phantom baby, gets his daughters’ photos leered at by a toothless riders, gets […]
No Comments » - Posted in Derailed by TJ
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
Sidewalk. Or Dog Run?
I do not hate dogs. I love dogs. I love animals.
Actually, I grew up with a dog—Chipper, a spaniel mix that loved to wrestle and hated to be bathed—as well as two cats. (Just for the record, I don’t hate cats, either. And I don’t understand this “I’m a dog person” versus “I’m a […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Foot It, Sidewalks by TJ
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
The Trainjotting Product Review: The iPod Nano
It’s been almost two months since my iPod Classic died and was replaced by the leaner, sleeker Nano, so I thought it was about time to offer up the official Trainjotting Nano review.
Two notes before we start.
1. A hearty shout-out to the clunky old Aiwa TX516 cassette Walkman–yes, you read correctly–for its positively Fernando Tatis-ian […]
3 Comments » - Posted in Bose, iPod by TJ
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
The Mark of a True New Yorker
SecondAvenueSagas offers the unique perspective of a New York native to an NY Times story on those skyline-gazing new adults arriving in our city these days and clogging our sidewalks and subways: the college freshman.
Sagas writes:
A resident of New York — a new one, recently arrived from somewhere else in the vast America that we […]
No Comments » - Posted in Second Avenue Sagas, Subway by TJ
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Word of the Week: USAIN BOLTING
USAIN BOLTING /ooo SAYN BOLT ing/ verb: The act of attaining a world record sprint time in an effort to reach a train that’s about to leave the station.
(a.k.a. “Insane Bolting”)
Usage: The lights of the 6:02 to Tuckahoe were flashing, and only some impressive Usain Bolting down the ramp allowed me to get my ass […]
No Comments » - Posted in Word of the Week by TJ
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
TJ Unwittingly Shilling For McCain
I have almost no control over the ads you see at the top of the page. Yes, I signed up for the program, called Google Adsense, and on a good day, what I and JerseyJim and Foot It guy Tim and Straphanger Joe blog about influences what ads appear. (The great Google god above reads […]
No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by TJ
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
Un-Conventional Transport in Mile-High City
Pedicab drivers are doing brisk business at the Democratic Convention, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Steve Meyer, owner of one of Denver’s largest fleets of pedicabs and a manufacturer of the vehicles, wants the convention’s national audience to see bike taxis as a dynamic part of the urban fabric and the ultimate in green transportation.
Stephanie Simon/The […]
No Comments » - Posted in Pedicabs, Wall Street Journal by TJ
Monday, August 25th, 2008
How Not to Get to Mt. Kisco
8:16 hurtling toward Gotham this morn.
Conductor comes around for tickets. The man in front of me is Hispanic, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He’s snoozing.
“Tickets, please,” says the conductor, a normal looking man, about 40, black.
The Hispanic man wakes up. He doesn’t have a ticket.
“Where you going?” asks the conductor. All eyes gradually shift to […]
No Comments » - Posted in Conductor, Mt. Kisco by TJ
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Obama Taps Uber-Commuter For Veep
While much is known about Joe Biden’s knack for a deliciously inappropriate malapropism (Lesson of the day: Calling a presidential candidate an “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking” African-American will not necessarily preclude you from being said African American’s V.P.), less is known about his tricky commute.
But not for long.
Often called the stingiest […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Amtrak, Joe Biden on Amtrak by TJ
Monday, August 25th, 2008
End of the Line: Monasteries, Fake Elvises and Shoot the Freak
Fun story in yesterday’s Times about what surrounds the 24 last stops on the NYC subway system. The reporters do a very good job in gathering interesting details, from the excessive hand-waver at Station Plaza in Queens, to the sad fate of the domestic turtles at on Shore Road Park in Brooklyn, to the battling […]