might as well use Ed’s shovel and dig myself in deeper.
Zardoz is out hunting patches, but when he gets back, I want him to discuss how he came up with his “handle”. You all know about mine, Ed Blysard is just too unique, Kevin’s is - well, Kevin…
But Zardoz is truly interesting for those of you (like me) that don’t or didn’t know before.
Modelcar - there is another one - I am sure Quentin will explain - won’t you?
There are so many of them - Skeets intrigues me, but we have a gentleperson’s agreement not to go there.
The ones that are just a name all run together, (Joe) I can figure out, but there are others - (tree?) So if you have a particularly interesting one - tell me about it. Zardoz - this means you!
…Sure Jen, no problem. As I have stated in my Bio I worked for a major Corp. in the Automotive field and have been interested in “cars” most of my lifetime and perhaps where I took the name from…I have a bunch of diecast models in my home office here where this computer data comes out from…and that is it. There, that wasn’t hard to do…Railroads just happen to be a parallel interest, along with photography, etc…
My ‘handle’ ZARDOZ comes from title of a sci-fi movie made in 1974.
In the movie, Zardoz is actually a huge flying stone head who makes periodic visits to Earth to pick up grain consignments and issue bizarre statements involving the male anatomy. The movie stars Sean Connery as Zed, one of a carefully bred race of supervisors, the Exterminators, who oversee the agricultural labor of the neanderthal Brutals, since in 2293, with most of the Earth’s surface off-limits as a polluted Outlands, industrial society has been abandoned. All worship Zardoz. Director John Boorman’s ZARDOZ presents the “perfect society” of the late 23rd century, in which no one dies and age is meted out as punishment.
I went to see the film one day during my layover on a passenger job in Chicago with a few other rails. Somehow, after seeing the movie, my nickname around the railroad became “zardoz”, hence my use of it here in a railroad setting.
A very cool film, best appreciated in an enhanced state of consciousness.
Mookie-
I cannot believe I forgot to mention that. Yes, in the movie, the hero discovers that the name of their almighty god (the floating head) was taken from a ‘children’s story’ , Wizard of Oz. Needless to say, the hero was rather dissapointed.
I highly (pun intended) recommend this movie if you are the sort of person that is into ‘cerebral’ sci-fi. There are no monsters, spaceships, or lazer beams, just some very interesting human-condition concepts explored.[^]
I’ve explained it several times in several places… What annoys me most is when someone takes my name on a service!!! I’m ThePuckdropper on AIM, thegreatpuckdropper on MSN, etc…
So here goes:
When I was about 14, we moved away from my home ice-rink (Owens Center) and had to find another hockey rink. I was too young to skate in the league my Dad played in, so they let me drop the puck after a goal. Quite a bit of fun, but no official officiating.
Now, for the part you guys will like. In Mt. Vernon, Indiana, the CSX ran through there. They served a factory or something where they went up a steep grade over the highway and around to the factory. Southern Illinois and Indiana are hilly anyway, so you’d see 3-4 diesels on a train, and sometimes more.
I live in a valley (yes I do, it’s true, and it’s a very pretty valley too) and I am new to the wonderous world of railroads, railfanning (dirty word) and model railroading.
{Websters 3rd Edition Definition: tenderfoot: 2. any newcomer, novice or beginner}
…Well, Jen since this thread is your creation I’ll just fudge and make this writing my 500th one and hopefully gain that star…and also make them turn green. So here we go…I seem to do much more reading than writing but enjoy it all. Really try to gain knowledge of it all on here.
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes
I am surprised. I figured when I came home from work that I might be the first one to share my “story” about my nick, but I see several have beat me to it. I wanted to give people a chance to be first anyway. Now if I can get my arm back from Duchess and I share it will you. . . .
The jhh part is my initials (who would have ever thought that) lol, now for the really hard part–trains, my mother worked for Frisco for 36 years so I grew up near the tracks and watching “her” trains. The last part–planes–as many of you know I work on airplanes (very fancy and expensive ones, as if they all aren’t expensive). You know when I started on the computer a friend of mine told me to choose a screenname that would be different and one that no one else would think of. I guess I beat everyone else to the punch because it is MY screenname and noone else’s. [:p]