Excited about Trains? You bet I am. Imagine if interstate high-speed rail in New York ran as smoothly as it does in… Florida? Looks like an upgrade or two may be in the works as The Empire State Passenger Association (or ESPA) proposes some incredible initiatives for rail lines running throughout the state. Here’s to higher speeds, faster routes, more frequent departures and more! Of course, this will all take time and money, but my ears are tuned to the infrastructure updates, and things look promising… And if anyone’s looking for a rail-ready onboard voice for those sleek new trains, I’ve got dibs.

I'm excited to start planning a trip north...soon ;) In the meantime, I'm loving the new Siemens rail fleet plans for Via Rail - sleek & modern with accessibility layouts! Check out their upgrades here:

Still trip planning...I can't help it. Now that Amtrak announced it's reviving sleeper car service on some Northeast Corridor trains between DC & Boston, I'm thinking I'll have to make the trip. For some reason, I missed this news until it popped up in a recent late-night scroll (my feed knows me well), and of course I had to explore. Turns out the original route, called The Twilight Shoreliner, was in service from 1997-2003. It's been awhile since I did an overnight train trip, and I'm definitely ready to watch the country fly by the windows - and at higher speeds.

A closer look at one of the UK's new transit lines The brand-new rail line being installed in the UK is simply one more reason I should head back to Europe, if I needed more! It offers a high-speed connection between Reading and Heathrow, and I can't imagine the breath of fresh air this will be for the locals and railway enthusiasts alike! Now, I wonder if they'd let me drive it...one can dream, can't they?

I didn't watch the game, but I watched... This BMW ad that made me laugh, with Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as an aging Conan The Barbarian? or "Zeus" as he refers to himself. Mostly, it's all about the barista's expression.

So far, Yellowjackets is a thrill ride of awesome... Friendship, tragedy, survival and secrets are given a solid 90's treatment in Showtime's Yellowjackets, and I'm loving performances by Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Tawny Cypress, and Melanie Lynksey. Not sure how this weird symbol-in-the-woods thing is going to turn out, but the casting is excellent and I'm already invested in figuring out what happened after that plane crash...

All the feels! Want to watch a family tear itself apart, piece by piece? Just got done with the latest season of Succession (It's like Yellowstone....with skyscrapers). Mind blown at the drama, with primo acting delivered by a strong ensemble cast including Jeremy Strong, Brian Cox, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, and Matthew Mcfayadden among others. The tension in each scene is palpable, and I remain riveted. Watch Trailer

Call Ray when you need better sleep, I guess... Am I losing so much sleep over these past few years that I've started looking to Ray Donovan for relaxation advice? Guess so. I thought this commercial did a terrific job of integrating Ray's character into the lives of other sleepless folks.

NY Times highlights the quintessential New Yorker accent Wanna know how some of us city folks tawk? Here's a great sampling from around the boroughs: The #BestNYAccent challenge was initiated by Nicolas Heller, a director of short films and a sort of unofficial liaison to New York City’s ample pool of eccentrics... #voice #nyc #accents #cityspeak

Output's top 10 Beatmaking Apps for iOS Beat-making, sampling and music production have been many people's creative escapes during the pandemic. I don't blame them. I myself have turned to beat-making in my spare time to help me focus more on being creative and tapping into other aspects of the audio world. Plus it's a window into the minds of some of the most talented producers and DJs out there. And as someone who grew up on hip hop in the 90s, it's pretty inspiring. Music software creator Output recently reviewed several useful apps (mostly iOS, sorry Android users) for beat making and sampling. If you're a music production enthusiast or pro looking for another way to escape, I strongly recommend taking a look. Check them out here!

Mayor of Kingstown Composer creates score on location I love behind-the-scenes footage of films and television shows. It offers a glimpse into how all the creative elements synthesize and bring a piece of work to life. A video popped up in my feed recently about the making of the score for the hit series Mayor of Kingstown now out on Paramount+. As a fan of the show, the music instantly drew me in and captured the dark reality of the world of Kingstown. Even more fascinating was how composer Andrew Lockington was able to achieve this sound: By Using the prison film location as an instrument. Watch the video below to see how this idea unfolded.

Hey wait a minute...I know that station! I'm a huge Ray Donovan fan, and just watched the movie. One scene in particular caught my eye as the familiar layout of New Haven Union Station doubled as a Boston location - cool to watch Liev Schreiber stroll through the backdoor entrance from the Avis Rental parking lot.