chris’ Neighborhood

Part I:  Trains and childhood memories…

Trains ran through the towns all around where I grew up.

I remember being in the car going to town or where-not and hearing “hurry up or we’ll miss the train” – meaning if we don’t hurry we will have to sit at the railroad crossing and wait for the train to pass until the gate is raised again.  I never minded, I was never in a hurry and I fondly remember counting the train cars while waiting for the caboose to pass.  Some of the past-times I had as a kid were putting pennies on the tracks to get flattened and in later years walking on the disused tracks with my friends and trying not to fall off the line.

All over the area you will still find abandoned Railway Stations.  One of our most famous, the Dansbury Depot, just burnt down, so sad.  It had been renovated into a very popular restaurant and railway museum and I had many a fine meal there.  I also hear that the Tobyhanna Station has been renovated and trains once again run through the Poconos, but I don't know if that's true or not...

I have never forgotten that there was this one gatehouse that I wanted to renovate and live in – I was 4 years old and thought that was the neatest building I had ever seen.  It’s down the line the tiniest bit from the Tobyhanna Railway Station and I can’t believe I found photos!  See the lipped arch over the doorway on the right in the second photo?  My Uncle used to hoist me up there to sit…. Super great memory!  And still to this day I’d like to renovate and live in it.

I can’t remember when the trains stopped running through my town, but I remember when they still did.

Part II: Phoebe Snow:  Famous Railway Icon, not the Singer…

The other day I saw a toy advertisement from 1909, and a game called “Phoebe Snow” was listed and since I had zero idea what that could be I looked it up…

Well.  The game took a little looking for to find, but I did easily find some interesting information.  Turns out Phoebe Snow was a very popular “local girl” to where I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania and I’d never heard of her even though I knew of my area’s rich Railroad history!

Phoebe Snow was an early 1900s invention of the advertising department of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Line and she had her image painted on rail car and on posters in rail stations where you could purchase a Phoebe Snow postcard, and actresses would even ride the rails portraying her.

She was so popular that a game depicting a trip from New York to San Francisco was made (probably heartily endorsed by the Rail companies) and probably under many a tree on Christmas Morning 100 years ago!

I wondered what other advertising gimmicks had her name on them, so I searched both the web and images on google for Phoebe Snow Railroad and found some good pictures and reading.  I encourage you to do the same… Start here:

I especially enjoyed this "first person" excerpt from womeninrailroading.com and this blog post with a large array of photos, including one not shown here of the Phoebe Snow game.  Then there's always the wikipedia page.  And a book on google books called “Railroads of Pennsylvania: fragments of the past in the Keystone landscape” by Lorett Treese that mentioned in detail the Railway history of the Pocono Mountains.

Part III:  The Toy ad.

This best-ever toy ad is for the adult with an imagination as there are no pictures.  It’s a wonderful list of what was in the turn of the century child’s nursery.  I could see every one of these toys in mind as they might have been as they were unwrapped on Christmas morning 1909.

I am so curious what the “magnetic toys’ might have been and how they must have seemed so fascinatingly forward for the time.  I could see the Indian Suit with its feathers and fringe – I wondered if it was a teepee or a tent?  I could imagine all of the gorgeous dolls with all of their finery and falderal. (like that word, falderal?  It’s a good old-fashioned one.)

I could guess what all of the Games and blocks were about as I was looking through the list:  I’ve always loved Paper Dolls, and I could understand the New North Pole game as the North Pole had been big news in the Spring of 1909 and this list is from December 1909.  The Post Office game, I could imagine… but I am sure not the one we played.  Anyway, I was all wrapped up in revelry until I got to “phoebe snow”… I took pause and thought to myself I wonder what kind of game that is!?

… and that’s the spark that started this post about trains.

Everyone should be unsuccessful so successfully: From a losing vice presidential candidacy, Sarah Palin has bounced back as a best-selling author with plans to be a major player in next year's elections.

"It has been spectacular," Palin told USA TODAY in a telephone interview Thursday as she wrapped up a three-week book tour that has made her memoirs, Going Rogue, one of the top-selling non-fiction debuts ever.

Hugo Chavez is at it again.  He seems to think that he is the leader of the buffoons.  Well, he has a long way to go.  He will have to be more buffoonish than Fidel Castro.  Good luck Hugo.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he "still" smelled sulfur after President Obama made a keynote speech at the Copenhagen climate conference Friday, accusing the American president of carrying the same satanic scent that Chavez believes followed Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

• 03:31 @NathanFillion: Oh, Nathan Fillion. How I love you and your nerdy Christmas tree. #
• 16:53 @GameStopCorp: I have to go with Batman: Arkham Asylum #seasonstweetings #
• 17:44 If you're looking for something to do tomorrow night, don't forget that @HoustonGaymers will be at @CoffeeGroundz. Rock Band time! #
• 18:36 Getting dressed for Leslie's party and rocking out to some @JonathanCoulton. Plywood! Brushed steel! ♫ blip.fm/~i0afe #
• 20:25 At Leslie's for holiday celebrating. Yay! #
• 22:29 Sitting outside at Leslie's by the fire. Dave told me I look skinny. He's like the sixth person to say that to me lately. Weird. #
• 22:54 And the Columbian Firewater makes an appearance. #
• 23:17 Woot! @m_kammon left so I got her white elephant gift *and* I drew number 1, so I get to steal at the end! #
• 01:07 I just had first smores and now I have marshmallow in my hair. #

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Big box o' chocolate covered strawberries!!

Since I'm leaving tomorrow, I'll have to eat as many as possible today. Or share with the rest of the office - all four of us who are here today.

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This big box just arrived on my desk. Whatever could it be? My co-workers are watching to see if I'll follow the instructions.

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Read because: I'm listening to all the HP books on CD

Borrowed from: the Sacramento Library

Rating: 8 out of 10

Synopsis: Harry is back and in fine form in the third installment of his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His summer with the hideous Dursley family is cut short when, during a fit of quite understandable rage, he turns his Aunt Marge into an enormous balloon and then runs away. Soon, it becomes quite apparent that someone is trying to kill him; even after Harry is ensconed in the safety of fall term at Hogwarts, the attacks continue. Myriad subplots involving a new teacher with a secret, Hermione's strangely heavy class schedule, and enmity between Ron's old rat, Scabbers, and Hermione's new cat, Crookshanks, all mesh to create a stunning climax. The pace is nonstop, with thrilling games of Quidditch, terrifying Omens of Death, some skillful time travel, and lots of slimy Slytherins sneaking about causing trouble.

My review: I really like book 3 of the series. Things get really dark, with omens of death for Harry, a mass murderer on the loose, and some really close calls for the three wizards. I also love the introduction of Sirius Black (played by Gary Oldman in my head), who is one of my favorite characters in the entire series. He's extra crazy in this book, and it's really fun to watch Rowling develop his character, not to mention the characters of other adults in the book -- Snape, James Potter, Pettigrew, and Lupin. I also really like Lupin in this book, and how he gives support to Harry when most others write him off. And once again, Jim Dale is the best audio book reader out there. (Finished 11/23/09) 

Recommended by: a bunch of people. Plus I'd read other books by Bell.

Purchased from: A Borders going-out-of-business sale, at 80% off. Woot.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Synopsis: "Is sex a picture of heaven?" Bell wonders. It's all about God and sex and heaven, he says: "...they're connected. And they can't be separated. Where the one is you will always find the other." It's the story of God becoming human, of humans mirroring God and love made manifest in the chaos of our humanity. Sex God is about relationships revealed in a way that elevates the human condition and offers hope to those whose relationships are wounded. In Bell's spare, somewhat oblique style, he addresses lust, respect, denial, risk, acceptance and more. He does a fine job using the Bible and real life to show that our physical relationships are really about spiritual relationships. This book joyfully ties, and then tightens, the knot between God and humankind.

My Review: I feel like I should have read this a long time ago. I've had it for a while and I read it in less than twenty-four hours. It was a wonderful picture of what God has set out marriage and sex to be. Bell really delves into how the spiritual and the physical come together and how our relationships here are a picture of God's relationship with us. It's fascinating, really. Bell's style takes a little getting used to -- it's sparse and really uses the white space on a page. This book, though, was probably the least-difficult to handle visually (compared to his other books). I wish I had it with me so I could quote from it a bit. Anyway, I highly recommend this book, especially to high schoolers and people who work with them. I could have used some of this information back in my youth-leading days.