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I still think they should have turned the old smoking lounges into excercise rooms with video monitors in front of each machine, connected to a camera on the locomotive. Cajon Pass coming up, pedal harder!
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Ah, the above story reminds me of the guy who I overheard complained to the LSA a couple of months back on the Zepyhr, that they "didn't have slurpees" (yes, I am serious!)
Nice.
Anyhow, I think getting rid of the movies is a great idea. Even after dark when there isn't much to look at out the window, it's still nice to go and sit in the lounge car and just enjoy the night or get to talk with fellow passengers (like people did on trains in the old days!) When I go in there and a movie is on, everyone is mostly glued to the movie. Why not mingle and socialize with your fellow passengers?
I will definetly not miss the "kid movie".
Posts: 100 | From: Milwaukee, WI | Registered: Feb 2006
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As the mother of a bagpiper (who even got a bagpipe scholarship when she went to college), I can assure you it is definitely an OUTDOOR instrument for listening, but a notoriously tempermental one in bad weather. I vote for keeping pipers off the trains & at sheepdog trials, ship welcomings, golf tournaments and funerals where they belong. A byproduct of having a piper in the family is that I now can tell when a bagpipe is out of tune - I didn't even know they COULD be tuned before she learned to play.
Posts: 337 | From: Goshen, IN | Registered: Jun 2006
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OK, maybe "pipes in the Parlour" isn't going to fly. But I have another idea to solve the current entertainment crisis.
How about Amtrak showing it is a progressive, sensitive, and caring organization concerned about the well-being of its "guests." What if it offered complimentary... drum therapy! You know, have a variety of drums available throughout the train (even coach) for those in need.
Just imagine. You got a problem with being 8 hours late? Here, have a drum, compliments of Amtrak. Are your kids sad because they no longer show cartoons in the lounge? Didn't like your dinner in the diner? Bathrooms not working in your car? The lack of air conditioning making you uncomfortable? Can't sleep? No problem--just grab a drum and beat it. Ah, drumming can be so therapeutic. Check it out at www.drumtherapy.co.uk.
Yes, let's all write Amtrak and demand they offer drum therapy. Wow--wouldn't that be great, or what?
Posts: 445 | Registered: May 2002
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Drum therapy just makes me giggle - imagine a whole coach full of drummers on a late train whacking their drums, any Amtrak employee who walks by, and their pesky neighbors (glad I'm in the sleeper where I can drum in a solitary fashion. . .)
And yes, if you know a bagpiper who needs financial aid, I can refer you to the college. She was also "recruited" by another college because of her piping skills.
Posts: 337 | From: Goshen, IN | Registered: Jun 2006
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Judy, I think the basic concept of drum therapy is to beat on drums, not Amtrak employees or fellow passengers. Jeez......
Posts: 445 | Registered: May 2002
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I am having a hard time letting go of that vision of a flatcar of bagpipers speeding by at 79 mph -with Mr. Toys doppler effect and kilts blowing in the wind. But alas, my pipe dream is dashed by the harsh reality of weather factors.
One of those bagpiping colleges wouldn't happen to be my neighbor, Macalester here in St. Paul would it? I know their pipers used to tour the country.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Actually, TwinStarRocket, she looked at Macalester, but she ended up going to the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH. She didn't hit it off with the band director & head piper (called him an insufferable derriere, as I recall).
zephyr - I get the point of drum therapy - but I think if the train is too late & the toilets too stinky & someone hands you a stick, you are going to whack the first thing you see, not necessarily the drum.
And I, too am struck by the vision of the flapping kilts going by on the flatcar at 79 mph. Do you know what is worn under the kilt? (Nothing, everything is in perfect working order)
Now back to trains, anyone??
-------------------- My new "default" station (EKH) has no baggage service or QuikTrak machine, but the parking is free! And the NY Central RR Museum is just across the tracks (but not open at Amtrak train times. . ..) Posts: 337 | From: Goshen, IN | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Judy McFarland: Do you know what is worn under the kilt? (Nothing, everything is in perfect working order)
Judy, thank you, thank you, thank you. I've always wondered about that, but never had the nerve to ask. You learn something new every day around here.
Actually, I suspect that very same question was on Mr. Rocket's and Mr. Toy's minds also. That's what got them so obsessed with putting the pipers on the flatcar. Don't be fooled by the doppler effect thing. It was the thought of those kilts blowing about as the flatcar sped down the track at 79 mph. That was their hope of getting an answer to the question. Those two are very devious, and you must watch them very carefully (they're on the forum's "watch" list).
Now, back to more serious Amtrak matters. Everyone had a chance to think about complimentary drum therapy? Working on those letters?
Posts: 445 | Registered: May 2002
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Yes, it's correct - a true Scotsman won't be wearing any undies. There is a famous class-photo style picture of HRH the Queen sitting next to a Scots guardman who, shall we say, didn't have his legs together. Alas for him, no thermometer was required to judge the outside air temperature (ie chilly).
Which brings to mind: do the women bagpipers... no, let's not go there!
Sorry.
Geoff M.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Well, a bit off track, or should I say off kilter. Nevertheless, try this for a link to a great song. I first heard it sung by Brian Bowers in the early 80's. I have it on some LPs. I am guessing it is available by someone on CD.
posted
You gotta expect that sort of stuff from Ira. He's a charter member of the "watch" list. But from you?
Actually, Geoff, I had you in mind when I came up with the drum therapy idea. Note the web address of www.drumtherapy.co.uk. Being that you reside in the U.K., I was hoping you could give us some first-hand insights into this form of therapy.
As far as your suggestions, we already have "punchbags" on Amtrak. Here in the U.S., we call them conductors, car attendants, and the like. I'd rather see passengers vent on a drum.
Regarding virtual reality machines, I don't think we want to go there. Amtrak is sort of a Twilight Zone mode of travel. A big, long, hermetically sealed, silvery tube worming its way through time and space. Trying to insert a reality, virtual or not, inside this thing could upset a cosmic balance. I think it best we not try this.
Therapeutic drumming or bagpipers inside this metallic worm, however, could only enhance this Twilight Zone experience.
Posts: 445 | Registered: May 2002
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Inside the warm, cosy exterior, I have a wicked, dark interior, Mr. Zephyr!
Drum therapy... well, it's not common here, if that's what you mean. I've heard of screaming sessions though.
I suppose Amtrak is a kind of cosmic experience. You go to sleep in Denver, CO one night and you wake up the following morning... still in Denver, CO. But reality says that you should be in Nebraska by now. Mighty confusing.
Geoff M.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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As stated, all Superliner trains will be effected except the Auto Train. As for the Pacific Parlour Car on the Coast Starlight, who knows, since only 2 are currently in operation.
Posts: 1082 | From: Los Angeles, CA. USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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Thanks Ira - the only time UK trains are warm and cosy is when the air-con has broken down and it's 30 degrees [celsius] outside! Yes, we do have a day or two like that each year.
Geoff M.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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