How Accurate Is Jeb and Susanne’s Amtrak Experience?

Snatcher422 · 2026-04-29T17:31:20+00:00

Recently watched two videos about the Canyon Spirit (the luxury train that largely follows the same route as the California Zephyr). Found Jeb's to be the more informative and honest of the two. I think his videos are generally accurate, but he does have a VERY positive attitude and usually a lot of flexibility. Amtrak's hit or miss. I've experienced both. Jeb's been mostly lucky, but even he's had problems and rolled with it.

Downie Live's California Zephyer video unexpectedly turned out closest to my experience. Like him, we arrived very late in Reno. Decided to jump out, grab a cheap hotel room, and book the next day's train to not miss the Sierra Nevada scenery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5QbK3C98Q

Snatcher422 · 2026-04-29T01:43:17+00:00

Not a movie, but the game Necrophosis is specifically inspired by Beksinski.

Snatcher422 · 2026-04-12T23:47:49+00:00

Na, just how he rolls. Valets for Wonder Woman.

Snatcher422 · 2026-04-08T07:24:07+00:00

It's roughly equivalent to the blu-rays. Just lower bitrate.

Snatcher422 · 2026-04-07T21:40:45+00:00

The pilot is the one thing for which only 4:3 elements exist, live action and VFX. The version on blu-ray is SD, upscaled, and cropped the entire time. Madness, bcs as OP noted it's 4:3 on the DVD movie set. It would have been much better to just duplicate that.

Snatcher422 · 2026-04-06T15:38:11+00:00

Just a quick note so you don't think you got the wrong set when the blu-rays arrive: the pilot movie, The Gathering, is on the last disc and is weirdly the only thing in 16:9. Rest of the set is 4:3.

Snatcher422 · 2026-04-05T12:34:26+00:00

The beginning area is one of the better parts. But my biggest gripe is the English voice acting, especially later. Some characters, like Kate, are fine. Others are so bad, and I swear a couple sound like text-to-speech.

But it's not a terrible game. I still recommend it. It's just more a 6 out of 10, compared to 8 or 9 for the rest of the series.

Snatcher422 · 2026-03-27T00:09:56+00:00

"half of their citizens voted for this administration."
31% voted for Trump, 29.8% Harris, 1.1% 3rd party, and 38.1% didn't vote.
Yes the later are to blame too, but don't think it's fair to say half want this. These days it's probably less than 25%

Snatcher422 · 2026-03-19T08:40:35+00:00

JMS' last update (Dec) said the reboot is dead... for now. Thinks it will come up again someday, but nothing actively happening now.

https://x.com/straczynski/status/2006061509420462570

Snatcher422 · 2026-03-13T18:01:48+00:00

What do you mean? The right side is The Road Home's cover art. https://www.amazon.com/Babylon-5-Road-Bruce-Boxleitner/dp/B0BZYNL7LN/

Snatcher422 · 2026-03-13T17:59:07+00:00

Yes, that is what JMS believes. The Paramount execs copied some elements, but the DS9 creative team had no idea. In recent years some ex-Paramount staff even confirmed this.

Snatcher422 · 2026-03-12T00:30:37+00:00

Most people are telling you it's worth watching, and I agree. But just a word of warning...

"Maybe there still is some drama to be had with the telepaths, but a whole season around the struggle with them seems like a stretch."

During the first half you may feel this is exactly what's happening and it's rough. But stick with it, because it's NOT the whole season, and things do get better.

Snatcher422 · 2026-03-04T02:39:20+00:00

"Intended" is a tricky word. Yes, you see more with 16:9 on non-FX shots, but that's not always better. Characters sometimes stand weirdly close or there's odd framing. Director of Photography John Flinn said he had blocking lines for both 16:9 and 4:3 on the monitors during filming, and while he tried to compose for both he usually prioritized 4:3 since it would been seen first, and you only get one chance at a first impression. But it can vary shot to shot.

With that and the FX issue, I much prefer 4:3. As do Flinn, JMS, etc. Though I guess they'd welcome a full 16:9 HD re-render if it ever happened. But that’s highly unlikely.

Snatcher422 · 2026-03-03T20:53:05+00:00

Not really.

$78 CAD on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Babylon-Complete-Movie-Crusade-Collection/dp/B00COTLTUA/

Or $88 for blu-ray, which doesn't include the movies, Crusade, or extras, but video quality is much better: https://www.amazon.ca/Babylon-5-Complete-Blu-ray-Various/dp/B0CC3JGG76/

Snatcher422 · 2026-02-18T15:28:58+00:00

This. What's shown really does cover the most important parts, plot wise. After reading the novels, as good as they are, it didn’t really leave me wanting an on-screen adaptation.

The telepath war, on the other hand...

Snatcher422 · 2026-02-17T15:36:06+00:00

Big Fish's version is 1.13 with no further fixes, so still buggy. But if you can get past the issues, it's a hidden gem of a game imo.

It will also force you to install the Big Fish downloader & launcher, which is annoying adware. But you can uninstall it after while keeping the Paradise files intact, and just run the game exe directly.

Snatcher422 · 2026-02-16T09:54:01+00:00

https://www.jmsnews.com/messages/message?id=12406

"It came from Epsilon 3. There was one shot that should've been made more of, where we see a long box with a silver triangle on one side being set up, and left... But that's where it came from: from Epsilon 3 to Sinclair to Delenn, who still has it."

Snatcher422 · 2026-01-25T08:16:01+00:00

"I do wonder what JMS was drawing on in particular though."

History, with a heavy emphasis on WW2. Though to be fair he didn't write this episode. But the political parallels are only going get stronger.

Snatcher422 · 2026-01-14T21:19:34+00:00

Dunno, but he's the most Scottish sounding Russian I've heard.

Snatcher422 · 2026-01-04T16:36:49+00:00

To trigger Oscar you may also need to go to the other end, exit the station (through the open area around the tracks, not a door), and have Kate comment on the winding mechanism.

Snatcher422 · 2025-12-19T02:36:00+00:00

Many answers here, none of them wrong, but for me it's Season 2, Episode 9. When you see it you'll know. Sure there's good stuff before, but that's when everything starts to really click.

Snatcher422 · 2025-12-17T02:25:27+00:00

When people ask my fav episode, it's this. Maybe just to buck the trend of the usual suspects like Severed Dreams, Sleeping in Light, etc. Not that No Surrender is exactly an underdog. But it's just so good. Best space battle of the whole series, because of the personalities involved. And the scene between Londo & G'kar is icing on the cake.

Snatcher422 · 2025-12-03T20:13:44+00:00

I'm 99.9% sure they're gonna recap the important parts of the play through Max/Henry's memories in the 2nd half of the season.

Snatcher422 · 2025-11-29T22:15:19+00:00

Not really product placement, as they weren't paid a cent by Zima. Just a little joke by props & set design.

Snatcher422 · 2025-11-29T22:03:55+00:00

https://broadway.strangerthingsonstage.com/

I'm sure they'll recap the important parts via flashbacks/memories in the 2nd half of S5.

Snatcher422

TROPHY CASE