My picks from America's top 40

 

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THE GAMES A FOOT!

Today I went and saw SHERLOCK HOLMES with a few friends.

FILM REVIEW

19th century London comes to life in all its splendor in this, the most recent adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The poring rain, and muddied cobble shadowed by the all too recognizable scaffolds erecting the forth coming Tower Bride really set the scene. Everything is believable from the costumes down to the pernicious Victorian tone of the "upper classes". Downey Jr pulls off his version of Holmes including his snippy impatience. Jude comes across as the typical rational Watson with his own style added. The plot was well thought out and the acting including the evil kingpin was done flawlessly. Special effects and artistry were top notch.

This is a very doable film with all the perks to keep your interests.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!
 

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I heard a statistic today

I heard a statistic today that read: 83% of all statistics are made up on the spot, and 43% of the true statistics are in error.

How can anyone trust a statistic? So 17% of the statistics you hear are based on facts, but 43% of those are still in error.  This suggesting, if you hear 100 statistics a week, 83 were made up, and 17 were based in fact.   Of those 17, roughly half, 43% are in error. Leaving you with 8 that you can somewhat put faith into.   Trouble is, out of the hundred you hear, which 8 should you trust? lol

The Vernon Tunnel, Tunnel Road, Vernon CT & The Rails to Trails project

The Vernon Tunnel is another rare engineering structure from Connecticut's first generation of railroad construction. Like other railroads of the period, the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad had to accommodate numerous pre-existing rural roads when putting through their line. While most roads simply crossed the tracks at grade, at least initially, tunnels such as this were needed when the railroad, in order to maintain a near-constant elevation for its line, constructed a high embankment. Massive ashlar masonry such as that of the Vernon Tunnel was typical of these early railroad structures. The tunnel has outlived the rail line, which was abandoned in the late 1970s.

Vernon Tunnel

This Single lane auto/car tunnel is still in use, whereas the

high embankment above has been fashioned into a beatiful hiking/bike/jogging/walking path.  They tore up the disused Rail Road tracks and liked the path with heavy sand. 

From the embankment you look down upon sprawling woodlands and neighbouhood farms.

This Multi-use 'greenway' consists of 5.05 miles of trail along an abandoned railway (Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill RR) from the Vernon/Manchester town line easterly, then southerly to the Vernon/Bolton town line. From Bolton, the railway has been re-graded 15 more miles to Willimantic and is identified as a Connecticut State Trail named the "Hop River Linear Park Trail". In Willimantic, it joins the Airline Linear Park Trail which is approximately 40 miles long. These trails are permitted on Connecticut DEP property.

The original railroad was completed in 1849 and ran for over 100 years. The Rails to Trails project was designed and engineered by the Town of Vernon Engineering Department. Phase 1 of the project funs from Tunnel Road to the Bolton Line and was dedicated in 1995(2.43 miles). This section in Vernon was re-graded by the Connecticut National Guard- Bravo Company of the 242nd Engineer Battalion and was then covered with stone dust by the Town of Vernon. The trail was named "Route Sapper" in honor of the Bravo Company in Vernon. The funding for this project was obtained by the Vernon Hockanum River Linear Park Committee from the State via ISTEA funding, grants and the Boulder Ridge Subdivision sidewalk fund. The trail provides to the public a route for biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, and horseback. Handicap usage is encouraged. The trail is maintained by the Vernon Parks and Recreation Department and by volunteers. Phase 2 of the project, which was dedicated in 1998, runs from Tunnel Road to the Manchester town line and from Phoenix Street to the Tankerhoosen Bridge(2.62 miles). This phase was funded by State and Federal STP enhancement programs and HRLP funds. Phase 3 of the project runs from the Tankerhoosen Bridge to West Road and was dedicated in 2000 (3.19 miles). This part of the trail was constructed by the Town of Vernon Department of Public Works with National Recreation Trails program grants and State LOCIP funding

There is even on the Tunnel Road Embankment section, a very rustc little shed/outbuilding that is a beautiful focal point along the hike.

Or as I like to think of it as "The house in the woods"

SPOOKY!

Twenty Years After Revolution Romania Grapples with Future

Romania is gearing up to remember next month's 20th anniversary of the violent revolution that overthrew the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in which some 1,300 people lost their lives. Celebrations and memorials are planned - though some Romanians still feel ambivalent about the 90-minute show trial of Ceausescu and his wife Elena on Christmas Day, 1989, which was followed immediately by their execution by firing squad.

Ironically, Romania finds now itself in the middle of a crucial presidential election still colored by the deep shadows of the past. It remains one of Europe's poorest countries and has been hit especially hard by the global recession.

In last Sunday's voting, incumbent Traian Basescu of the centrist Democrats won almost 33 percent of the vote. He'll face off in a run-off on December 6 against Mircea Geoana of the Social Democrats, the heirs of the Communist Party, who won around 30 percent. A third candidate, Crin Antonescu, took around 20 percent, and has thrown his support to Geoana. Polls suggest a close finish with Geoana possibly holding a narrow advantage.

In many ways, Romania emerged from the revolution the least prepared of any country in Eastern Europe to face a non-communist future. Its economy was in ruins, its people half-starving. Unlike Poland, which had Solidarity, or Czechoslovakia, where Vaclav Havel was the natural choice for president, Romania had no dissident movement to provide its new leaders. Ceausescu had ruthlessly crushed any and every sign of dissent. The Securitate secret police were ubiquitous, monitoring every citizen's movements, associations, telephone conversations and activities. It's been said that one in every four Romanians was collaborating with the Securitate in one way or another.

After several days of bloody street fighting, so-called "moderate" communists led by Ion Iliescu managed to exert authority over the country. Iliescu duly won almost 90 percent in the first post-communist election in May 1990. Former communists stayed in control for all but four years until 2004, slowing economic reforms, keeping the lid on attempts to investigate the crimes of the past and allowing rampant corruption to emerge as the country's biggest problem. Indeed, today corruption permeates almost every aspect of daily life, from visiting the doctor to winning prized slots in medical or law schools.

The country's agricultural sector remains hopelessly backward and many Romanian villages still lack running water.

The no-nonsense Basescu, a former merchant marine captain, promised a fresh start when he narrowly won the presidency in December 2004. He steered the country to European Union membership in January 2007 and presided over several years of economic growth. Foreign investment flooded into the country, real estate in and around Bucharest took off and the government took some halting steps to tackle corruption and come to terms with the past.

But the Social Democrats still controlled parliament and were able to frustrate much of Basescu's agenda. They even engineered an attempt in 2007 to impeach him - but a referendum decisively returned him to power.

Then came the global economic slump. Thousands of Romanian workers who had found lucrative employment in Italy, Spain and elsewhere in Europe, lost their jobs and had to return home. The Romanian economy is forecast to shrink by 8.5 percent this year and had to look to the International Monetary Fund for a $30 billion bailout. The country has been run by a caretaker government since mid-October when the Social Democrats withdrew their support. There is no state budget for 2010 and the IMF has delayed disbursing its next scheduled loan payment of $2.2 billion until the crisis is resolved. The money is needed to pay some 1.3 million state workers, who will likely have to celebrate Christmas without their salaries. For them and for millions of other Romanians, it's likely to be a long, cold winter.

As they mark their anniversary, Romanians should take pride in their revolution. They exhibited enormous courage, defying the dictator's tanks and guns with their bare hands to win freedom and the chance of a brighter future. But for many, the promise of that revolution has yet to be fully redeemed.

Alan Elsner

Author, Journalist