In the past week, I fired three
days and loaded a stone train on Wednesday. As such, in those four
days, I reached 40 hours easily. So here I am, enjoying the
day off and boring the socks off of everybody with a movie list. Bold
the ones you’ve seen, and then add five more at the end…(and I’ve
added a few personal notes on a couple of ‘em ).

“If you bold more than 70, you are a movie whore.” ~ Roseanna

1. Napoleon Dynamite

2. Saw

3. White Noise

4. White Oleander

5. Anger Management

6. 50 First Dates

7. Jason

8. Scream

9. Scream 2

10. Scream 3

11. Scary Movie

12. Scary Movie 2

13. Scary Movie 3

14. American Pie (under duress, I swear)

15. American Pie 2

16. American Wedding

17. Harry Potter 1

18. Harry Potter 2

19. Harry Potter 3

20. Resident Evil 1

21. Resident Evil 2

22. The Wedding Singer

23. Little Black Book

24. The Village

25. Donnie Darko

26. Lilo & Stitch

27. Finding Nemo

28. Finding Neverland

29. 13 Ghosts

30. Signs

31. The Grinch

32. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original)

33. White Chicks

34. Butterfly Effect

35. 13 Going On 30

36. I, Robot

37. Dodgeball

38. Universal Soldier

39. A Series Of Unfortunate Events

40. Along Came A Spider

41. Deep Impact

42. Kingpin

43. Never Been Kissed

44. Meet The Parents

45. Meet The Fockers

46. Eight Crazy Nights

47. A Cinderella Story

48. The Terminal

49. The Lizzie McGuire Movie

50. Passport To Paris

51. Dumb & Dumber

52. Dumb & Dumberer

53. Final Destination

54. Final Destination 2

55. Halloween

56. Halloween 2

57. Halloween 3

58. Halloween 4

59. Halloween 5

60. H20

61. Halloween: The Resurrection

62. The Ring (one of the reasons I don’t have a TV…)

63. The Ring 2

64. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

65. Practical Magic

66. Chicago

67. Ghost Ship

68. From Hell

69. Team America: World Police

70. Hellboy

71. Secret Window

72. I Am Sam

73. The Whole Nine Yards

74. The Day After Tomorrow

75. Child’s Play

76. Bride Of Chucky

77. 10 Things I Hate About You

78. Just Married

79. Gothika

80. A Nightmare On Elm Street

81. Sixteen Candles

82. Bad Boys 2

83. Joy Ride

84. Seven

85. Ocean’s Eleven

86. Ocean’s Twelve

87. Identity

88. Lone Star

89. Bedazzled

90. Predator

91. Predator 2

92. Independence Day

93. Cujo

94. A Bronx Tale

95. Darkness Falls

96. Christine

97. ET

98. Children Of The Corn

99. My Boss’ Daughter

100. Maid In Manhattan

101. Frailty

102. Best Bet

103. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

104. She’s All That

105. Calendar Girls

106. Sideways

107. Mars Attacks

108. Event Horizon

109. Ever After

110. Forrest Gump

112. Big Trouble In Little China

113. X-Men

114. X-Men 2

115. Jeepers Creepers

116. Jeepers Creepers 2

117. Catch Me If You Can

118. The Others

119. Freaky Friday

120. Reign Of Fire

121. Man On Fire

122. Braveheart

123. Cruel Intentions

124. The Hot Chick

125. Swimfan

126. Miracle

127. Friday Night Lights

128. Old School (hard as I tried not to pay attention to it, but my roomies were…)

129. Ray

130. The Notebook

131. K-Pax

132. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

133. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

134. Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (’nuff said. )

135. A Walk To Remember

136. Sweet Home Alabama

137. Moulin Rouge

138. Boogeyman

139. Hitch

140. Back Door Sluts 9

141. The Fifth Element

142. Star Wars Episode 1

143. Star Wars Episode 2

144. Star Wars Episode 3

145. Star Wars Episode 4

146. Star Wars Episode 5

147. Star Wars Episode 6 (now we’re talkin’. )

148. Troop Beverly Hills

149. Trainspotting

150. People Under The Stairs

151. Blue Velvet

152. The Sound Of Music

153. The Parent Trap

154. The Burbs

155. SLC Punk

156. Meet Joe Black

157. Wild Girls

158. A Clockwork Orange

159. The Order

160. Spiderman

161. Spiderman 2

162. Amelie

163. Mean Girls

164. Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen

165. Shrek

166. Shrek 2

167. The Incredibles

168. Collateral

169. The Fast & The Furious

170 2 Fast 2 Furious

171. Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow

172. Closer

173. The Sixth Sense

174. Aritifical Intelligence

175. Love, Actually

176. The Sweetest Thing

177. Shutter

178. Ella Enchanted

179. Princess Diaries 1

180. Princess Diaries 2 (I LOVE YOU, ANNE!!! )

181. The Breakfast Club

182. October Sky

183. Remember The Titans

184. Titanic

185. Boondock Saints

186. American History X

187. Fight Club

188. Heavenly Creatures

189. Stealing Beauty

190. Like Water For Chocolate

191. Pow Wow Highway

192. Secretary

194. I <3 Huckabees

195. Ripley’s Game

196. Coffee & Cigarettes

197. Taxi Driver

198. Silence Of The Lambs

199. The Exorcist

200. If Lucy Fell

201. Lady Jane

202. Me, Myself & Irene

203. Kung Fu Hustle

204. Sin City

205. Labyrinth

206. Much Ado About Nothing

207. The Cowboy Way

208. Paulie

209. Blazing Saddles

210. Galaxy Quest

211. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

212. Citizen Kane

213. You Can Count On Me

214. Young Frankenstein

215. Raiders Of The Lost Ark

216. Starman

217. St. Elmo’s Fire

218. Coyote Ugly

219. The Other Sister

220. Rainman

221. Little Shop Of Horrors

222. Chasing Amy

223. House Of Sand & Fog

224. Mildred Pierce

225. The Big Lebowski

226. Mallrats

227. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

228. The Goonies (I think this movie defined 80′s teen films…)

229. Starsky & Hutch

230. Saved!

231. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song

233. The Cat’s Meow

234. The Rutles

235. Waking Ned Devine

236. Pirates Of The Caribbean

237. Little Women

238. Huck Finn

239. National Treasure

240. Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

241. Dick

242. Howard The Duck

243. Garden State

244. Hero

245. Spinal Tap

246. Almost Famous

247. Before Sunrise

248. Before Sunset

249. Troy

250. Gone With The Wind

251. Chocolat

252. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

253. Now & Then

254. Romeo & Juliet

255. Ferris Bueler’s Day Off

256. Grease

257. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?

258. Mr. North

259. The African Queen

260. The Wizard Of Oz

261. Country Girl

262. The Philadelphia Story

263. Bringing Up Baby

264. The Aviator

265. An Affair To Remember

266. Sabrina

267. Holiday

268. Conspiracy Theory

269. Stage Door

270. Rigaletto

271. White Christmas

272. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

273. The Wedding Planner

274. Arsenic & Old Lace

275. A Day At The Races

276. Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

277. Bend It Like Beckham

278. A Beautiful Mind

279. Urban Legend

280. Dead Poets Society

281. Kill Bill Vol. 1

282. Kill Bill Vol. 2

282. The Royal Tenenbaums

283. The Life Aquatic

284. American Beauty

285. A Chrous Line

286. Iron Jawed Angels

287. Phantom Of The Opera

288. A League Of Their Own

289. Stuart Little

290. Notting Hill

291. A Lot Like Love

292. Along Came Polly

293. Billy Madison

294. Happy Gilmore

295. A Hard Day’s Night

296. Monty Python & The Holy Grail

297. The Motorcycle Diaries

298. Y Tu Mama Tambien

299. Bokura No War Game

300. Raise Your Voice

301. The Birds

302. Camp Nowhere

303. Billy Elliot

304. Anchorman

305. The Crow

308. *62

309. Queen Of The Damned

310. Jumanji

311. Gattaca

312. Benny & Joon

313. Tank Girl

314. Monty Python The Meaning Of Life

315. A Knight’s Tale

316. Anastasia

317. Unconditional Love

318. Casablanca

319. About A Boy

320. Bridget Jone’s Diary

321. Bridget Jone’s Diary: The Edge Of Reason

322. Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

323. House Of Flying Daggers

324. Legally Blonde

325. Sense & Sensibility

326. School Of Rock

327. It Could Happen To You

328. Wilde

329. Dark City

330. Home Fries

331. House Arrest

332. Leon: The Professional

333. You Can’t Take It With You

334. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

335. Singin’ In The Rain

336. Ball Of Fire

337. Double Indemnity

338. Mame (Auntie Mame)

339. The Grass Is Always Greener

340. Bonnie & Clyde

341. Valley Girl

342. Fast Time At Ridgemont High

343. Sleepless In Seattle

344. Serendipity

345. It’s A Wonderful Life

346. Crash

347. We Don’t Live Here Anymore

348. The Girl Next Door

349. Amadeus

350. Life As A House

351. Bubble Boy

352. Shattered Glass

353. Big Fish

354. X-Files

355. Sleepy Hollow

356. Robin Hood Men In Tights

357. The Faculty

358. The Fog

359. Buried On Sunday

360. Better Than Chocolate

361. The Hulk

362. Empire Records

363. Hunt For Red October

364. Heathers

365. Where Eagles Dare (My favourite non-Star Wars movie of all time, I daresay.)

366. Latter Days

367. Goldeneye

368. The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert

369. Gladiator

370. Master & Commander: The Far Side Of The World

371. The Matrix

372. Rocky Horror Picture Show

373. Amature

374. Bride & Prejudice

375. The Seven Samurai

376. Emma

377. Love! Valor! Compassion

378. Behind The Red Door

379. Dead Man

380. Star Trek: Generations

381. Good Fellas

382. The Road To Perdition

383. Hedwig & The Angry Inch

384. Pillow Talk

385. The Kids In The Hall Brain Candy

386. Interview With The Vampire

387. Philadelphia

388. Frequency

389. Lost In Translation

390. The Commitments

391. The Court Jester

392. How The Grinch Stole Christmas

393. The Lion King

394. Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me (again, under duress)

395. The Last Samurai

396. The Patriot

397. The Grudge

398. Dangerous Liasons

399. Ice Age

400. Cabaret

401. Constantine

402. Batman Begins

403. Jesus Christ Superstar

404. Garfield

405. Erin Brockovich

406. The Italian Job

407. Pearl Harbour

408. Requiem For A Dream

409. Twelve Angry Men

410. Ray

411. The Princess Bride

412. The Cutting Edge

413. Fools Rush In

414. Broken Hearts Club

415. Tommy Boy

416. Land of the Dead

417. War of the Worlds (remake)

418. Batman Begins

419. SpongeBob Squarepants the Movie

420. Quills
421. Das Boot

422. Witness

423. The Untouchables

424. U-571

425. Runaway Train

*whew* Looks like I’m not a movie whore after all.

Deeamn. Ungh. Creak.

I’m starting to understand why the Trans-Siberian Railroad had close to
a 100% mortality rate amongst firemen. 3:00 trip today almost did me
in. That’ll teach me to alter my morning routine or forget to buy
Gatorade…

At least Bill and I seem to have broken our rain curse – although I
would have rejoiced in a good hard downpour at the end of the day.
*sigh*

Does summer exist in its praises?
Does summer exist in its praises?
Summer lives here in its praises

Come on up here, we got something to show you
Wanna show you everything we know
Wanna show you we can vanish before you
Wanna show you we got our blind roads

And does your family know your wishes?
‘Cause this chorus’ll do ya like the dishes

Summer’s killing us, it’s just sing, sing, sing all day
It’s as if summer existed in its praises

Come on over, I got something to play you
Record sunshine, it’s the Shadow Band
We can have strictly cactus relations
Telling the waves to stop crashing

And does anybody know your wishes
‘Cause this tune’ll do ya like the dishes

Summer’s killing us, it’s just sing, sing, sing all day
It’s as if summer just exists in her praises

It’s a time for more to happen sooner
A time to be a person you still know
To float a while on your shore power
Till you say, “Canada lost, go home”

Where summer’s killing us, where we sing, sing, sing all day
It’s as if summer exists here in its praises

Summer exists in a doorway
Summer exists at the fair
Summer is forever changes
Summer’s taken me unawares

Weather forecast for the rest of this week: hazy, hot and humid, with highs averaging 90-93 just about every day.

Work forecast for the rest of this week: On the steamer tomorrow,
possibly off Wednesday (barring freight), and then on the steamer three
days in a row.

Yay fun.

Anybody around here wanna know how it was done back in the early 20th
century? Well, this is how it was done – with two gallons of water at
your side and a couple of good big sandwiches to keep you going. At
least three days in a row will get me used to it in no time. Wouldn’t
give much for my bodily fluids, though – but then, what better way is
there to flush out the ol’ system? Or so I was told during a nice long
conversation with the ticket agent, a new girl who…believe it or
not…is going to UNH!!!

*whistles Chopin’s Death March*

Aye, ’tis a small world after all. Her roommate grew up in the same
town I did (sadly). She’s studying German with the same professor whose
class I took in senior year, she’s living in a dormitory behind which I
used to lay over before bus runs, she’s been to hockey games at the
Whittemore Center, and she even knows a few of the people I worked with
at transit. If there had been anybody at the platform during the
heights of our conversation, I leave you little doubt that they would
have turned around and backed away slowly from these two youths, one in
a neat white shirt and one in grungy brush-cutting clothes, both
laughing maniacally over people and places of mutual acquaintance.

However, the poor girl is going into her sophomore year. This is the
part where we alumni invoke the UNH Sophomore Syllogism: You are
attending the University of New Hampshire. You are a sophomore.
Therefore, you are fucked. Housing, dining, classes, parking -
ohhhhhhhh, did we have a fervent gripe session about parking – this
poor girl is gonna get eaten alive next term.

Oh, but UNH bus drivers be warned: She has leverage! She catches one of
you doing something boneheaded out on the road, all she has to do is
call me and all I have to do is call Mark. HMHMUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Well, my new friend,  thank you for that relaxing little stroll
down Amnesia Lane. Time to take out the trash and clear my mind of UNH.
Whoops, sorry, being redundant again.

Godawful boring day on the
passenger trains today. If we’d skipped a run (which we almost did if
it wasn’t for two, count ‘em, two people who came up the platform five
minutes before departure time), I might have worked a little more on my
latest Star Wars fanfic – if it hadn’t turned into such a waste of time
and forum space. How has it earned this designation? you ask. Nobody, I
say, no damn body can be bothered to click over and read it, save for
the same two or three people every time. For most of my life, I have
been possessed of an inhuman desire to write, but writing seems like
such a waste of time if nobody reads it, don’t you think? I used to
write for a lot of different fandoms – Due South, Star Trek, and JAG,
to name a few – and I had so many stories planned for all of them. But
they never got finished because they never got read. They utterly
failed to generate any interest, making me lose interest in writing
them. I’m teetering on that point with my Star Wars fanfic now. If
you’re even still reading this entry, here’s what I posted in the story
thread on the Star Wars forums…

You know, I find it very telling that this story has been going for
four months, that it is in fact the Epic of the Month (which is almost
half over), and yet 1) it is still utterly failing to get any further
interest and 2) the epic stories thread is currently dead as a
doornail. Not that I don’t appreciate the feedback I’ve gotten. I do.
Enormously. But I am still left wondering why that’s all I ever get,
after three and a half years on this forum, while new authors sign up,
post a fic and immediately get a dozen or two replies every time. I
know what everybody keeps saying, that I’m such a great author and that
this stuff is so unique and exciting and I should keep at it. Well,
that being the case, why the hell doesn’t anybody else seem to think
so? What am I doing wrong here? Is it that Jaina Solo is not the main
character? Is it not mushy enough? Is it too run-of-the-mill or dull or
clichéd or overdone? Do people have a hard time following it? Are any
of these avenues even truly wrong? Granted, this is a complicated plot,
but it can’t be that hard to follow. Now I am really wondering
why I try. I keep telling myself, as do other people, that this is a
really good story, but the evidence, or lack thereof, speaks for
itself. You know how many people I’ve seen on the fanfic boards saying
Jacen Solo is their favourite character and they think he’s got such great
potential and he’s been so character-assassinated in the NJO? Well,
what’s stopping them from clicking over? Now before anybody starts in
with the Patience-Is-A-Virtue Corollary, let me reiterate that I’ve
been patient for three and a half years and almost never gotten more
than the coveted three or four readers for whom I thank my lucky stars.
For the sake of those people, I’m not going to stop posting, but in all
realism, I am going to continue to be frustrated out of my mind pouring
115 percent into this story and watching it fall into the clutches of
Darth Obscurity at every turn.

If an infinite number of yuppies
and soccer moms, driving an infinite number of outrageously huge SUVs,
shut off their engines for an infinite number of minutes at an infinite
number of convenience stores, I’d lay you eight to five that gasoline
would cost about a dollar less than it does right now.

I think it is now official,
sanctioned, and unavoidable. Whatever days Bill and I work together
this season, it is going to be pouring rain, and by day’s end I will be
frantically scratchscraping at the tender deck trying to find something
resembling coal – or, at that, anything that’ll burn hot enough to make
steam. However, I can safely conclude on behalf of you
aspiring firemen that if you can keep steam up with wet coal, you can
keep steam up with anything.

Stubble update: full of soot.

Ugh, long day…Over the weekend,
my boss explained to a cab rider that I earn my wage going up the hill
while he earns his wage going back down. Well, today the engineer and I
bloody well should have earned something extra.

(The engineer, incidentally, is two years my junior and popularly known
as “Angry Bill” – working with him has been a chore the last several
months. But wonders will never cease; he and I got along quite well
today, as I apparently did well enough to please him. And believe you
me, he’s hard to please.)

So anyway, I hopped up in the cab this morning – and almost hopped down
again upon recognising that I’d be scraping the bottom of the coal
bunker by day’s end. Aye, that bunker was only a third full and we
didn’t have time to get fresh coal before doing our routine on the
train. As such, I spent most of the day on my feet, ripping into that
accursed fire and then diving back into the coal bunker to try and dig
some more out of a liberal packing of dirt that had accumulated in the
lower section. And as if that wasn’t enough…SHITTY COAL!!!
It was just like my first day as a student fireman: couldn’t keep up a
good head of steam because I wasted too much time trying to turn up
fresh coal at the back of the bunker. It was buried in dirt, and when I
did dig it out (which might as well have warranted the use of a pry
bar), it wouldn’t burn for love or money.

Bill, in the meantime, was thoroughly occupied with unreasonably touchy
brakes, which turned out to be a cranky air valve in one of the
coaches. Had to drop that one and pick up another. Be interesting to
see how far we can drop the brake pipe pressure next time (i.e. three
or four pounds) before it brings the train to a complete halt…Long
day for both of us, but we didn’t get at each other’s throats over it,
so at least it wasn’t a total write-off.

And yes, I do still love my job.

Man, this was a day of firsts for
me…It was my first day running solo as fireman (first trip was a bit
of a lip-biter, but the rest of the day went pretty well), and
ironically, I also had my first student! – if you want to call him
that. Aaand, at the end of the day, for the first time, I
carefully and trepidly wrapped my fingers around the throttle of the
steamer and ran it from the water plug back to the engine house.
Short trip, yes, but now I’ve run one of those bygone
beauties for real. You talk about euphoria, you’re talking about having
the power and the grandeur of a live, full-size steam locomotive right
there in your hand.

Soooo…my “student” was a high school grad who was cruising
tourist/shortline railroads in the MD/southern PA area, hoping to find
a summer arrangement; so my boss invited him along on the steamer for
the day, and I let him get his hands on a few of the basics. Cool kid -
he knows his stuff about steam engines, and he was fun to talk to. I
for one would like to see him with us a year from now. It called to
mind an instance a couple of weeks ago, after we had done our
inspection and were sitting at the station awaiting the first trip.

A couple came up the platform with an elderly man in their company -
must have been in his late 80s or 90s. I stepped down to say hello, and
it turned out that the old timer had been an engineer on the
Pennsylvania Railroad back in the grand old days of steam. As such, I
was more than happy to have my picture taken with him; but at the same
time, you could see how happy he was to be there. He was overjoyed to
see not only that there was someplace in Pennsylvania where steam still
reigned, but that there were young men still learning his trade to this
day, so many years after its supposed demise.

I really do love this job. No matter how poorly the engine steams or
how long the train gets delayed or how much flak I take from the guys I
work with, I’ll never love it any less. I sure as hell won’t ever go
back to driving a bus – not after the blast of a day I had, and not
after seeing that old fellow as pleased as he was that the glory days
were far from over.