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jacenta
Thank you jacenta. It was awesome, and as you say, the casino itself with its breathtaking art-deco styling was breathtaking. It must have been a marvelous experience to work at a casino.
posted by
johnmacnab
on November 7, 2006 at 6:18 AM
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mneme
It is and it was, mneme. I've been to hockey games before but this was the first time I'd been to a small rink. I couldn't believe the noise, the passion and the ferocity of the players. Quite awesome. If I'd been born here it would have been one of my passions as a teenager as well as motorbikes.
posted by
johnmacnab
on November 7, 2006 at 6:15 AM
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johnmcnab
Your post about the Tesla machine is great. I worked at a casino and the bright lights and beauty of the casino is amazing in itself. Thanks for sharing your experience in regards to the Tesla machine. It had to be awesome.
posted by
jacentaOld
on November 6, 2006 at 11:33 PM
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hi johnmcnab, easily done..
- enjoy the hockey.. great game.
posted by
mneme
on November 4, 2006 at 7:03 PM
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mneme
Sorry about that, mneme. I was trying to delete a comment I was making and deleted the whole post. Call it a frail old man's whimsical innocence. I am trying hard not to stop but I am getting really pissed off with life getting in the way. The problem being that without life getting in the way, I would have nothing to write about. It is going to get in the way today again. It looks like it will be tomorrow - perhaps - before I can sit down at this keyboard in peace and quiet. Thanks for the compliment. You never know, I may get around to reading some of your entertaining blogs soon. Have to rush - swimming - auction - the States to take granddaughter to hockey match - freze while watching her play - take her home and after that, who knows.
posted by
johnmacnab
on November 4, 2006 at 4:33 AM
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hey, what happened to the other one..?
johnmcnab, I hope this doesn't mean you are going to stop writing, you are such an entertaining writer.
posted by
mneme
on November 4, 2006 at 1:08 AM
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Blanche
I would think that living to the age of 40 in the 1700's would be the equivalent of living to 80 in this century, blanche.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 31, 2006 at 4:45 AM
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I used that very one in a title to a post, "The best laid plans of mice and
men aft go agley", (I have a Norton's anthology of poetry with that in it). Apparentlly, good ol' Robbie Burns died very young in his 40s of a heart condition. Life the 1700s, very hard, I suppose.
posted by
Blanche.
on October 30, 2006 at 5:30 PM
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Blanche
It's coming through now, Blanche. I need complete silence - here it comes......'Wee sleekit cowrin; timorous beastie, Oh whit a panic's in your breastie' - darn it, it's gone. Funny enough, Blanche, I used to pass Rabbie's cottage twice a day going and coming from work. Maybe that's where the connection comes from.....ooooooaaaeee.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 30, 2006 at 5:28 PM
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TAPS-
'God's ain tongue' is simply a description of the Scottish language given by arrogant Scots - that would be all of us. Scotland is a small country so we tend to brag a lot to make up for it, Taps. Try not to lose too much money, Taps.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 30, 2006 at 5:24 PM
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Are ye channeling Robbie Burns, then, JohnMnab, lol. God's ain tongue!
posted by
Blanche.
on October 30, 2006 at 10:15 AM
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Great post, Mcnab. Makes me want to go lose some money somewhere. Never heard of Tesla until now and I don't understand "God's own language, I guess. LOL
posted by
TAPS.
on October 30, 2006 at 10:05 AM
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Pat
Ah kin write God's ain tongue fur ye, Pat, but ah dinnae think ye'd un'erstaun' it, which wid be a bit o a scunner. As ah explained tae Whacky, there's a video demo oanline.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 30, 2006 at 9:43 AM
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mneme
You are dead right about the endings, mneme. Sometimes I work the post around the ending, but it must have a funny ending - I can't help it.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 30, 2006 at 9:37 AM
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OFFBEATS
Thank you for the compliment, OFFBEATS. It was a marvelous demo and, as you say, that part of the country is so laid back and confident in itself. And if it is only 4 hours away, you'll have to go. As for the machines, you'll have to ask Ell about them, as she is the addict - the bankrupt addict, please note.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 30, 2006 at 9:35 AM
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Ooooh... I'd love to see that demonstration...
and hear a bit of "god's ain tongue" as well. Nice narrative journey! :)pat
posted by
Pat_B
on October 30, 2006 at 6:14 AM
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johnmcnab,
what I enjoy about your writing is that I find myself reading it with interest, to see what you have to say, and then find there's a quirky ending that makes me laugh. I think you just can't stop yourself, and I like that - but if I misunderstood your authorial intent, I hope I didn't offend you. I'd like to have seen that demo myself.
posted by
mneme
on October 30, 2006 at 4:37 AM
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JohnM
I would love to see that! A few of my friends were just talking about this a couple weeks back. Sounds like a must see! It's only 4 hrs away so maybe next spring, I love that area....and I heard the machines pay better there then they do around us...Thanks for the great description!
posted by
Offy
on October 29, 2006 at 8:10 PM
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Whacky
He sounds like a true genius, Whacky. You can see some videos on the net of the machine at the Casino in Niagara falls.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 29, 2006 at 7:53 PM
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Blanche
As I just explained to Ariala, the one we saw in Casino Fallsview was a replica, and is seemingly called the 'Tesla Waterfall.' History is a load of crock - let's face it, we tend to embellish our own histories, so God knows what lies the history books contain. Perhaps Dan Brown is right after all, how would we know. I remember going to the church in Scotland mentioned in his book, where the 'prentice pillar is, and nobody was allowed in then - but that was 40 years ago.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 29, 2006 at 7:51 PM
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Ariala
Absolutely fascinating information, Ariala. Thank you for sharing it. The more I read, the more I dislike Edison.
Re the Tesla machine we saw in the Fallsview Casino - it wasn't a 'real' machine inasmuch as it was a nonfunctional replica of Tesla's machine. I looked it up and some blurbs on the net call the Casino machine 'Tesla's waterfall.' because it is basically different coloured liquid pouring down and arcs of light shooting up to the dome. It was, nevertheless, enthralling. I took photographs of it working. I don't suppose the one in the film was the real thing either - not now in 2006
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 29, 2006 at 7:45 PM
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My dad was an electrical engineer so I had heard of Tesla.
Didn't know about that demo though!
posted by
Whacky
on October 29, 2006 at 7:08 PM
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JohnMcNab, the machine in the movie looked awesome. I don'lt know if the
one you saw looked like that. They probably glammed it up for the movie, but still, it's quite amazing. And yeah, like Rockefeller burning down his rivals' oil rigs, these guys played dirty, history records them as sainits, what a crock.
posted by
Blanche.
on October 29, 2006 at 7:53 AM
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John, I've written a couple of blogs on Tesla in the past...one here:
http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/Ariala9203/192317 that will give you a list of some of his inventions...
posted by
Ariala
on October 29, 2006 at 6:04 AM
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Blanche
Thanks for reminding me, Blanche. Since Ell explained about Tesla and Edison, I have to hold my tongue when I hear someone extolling Edison's virtues; after all what would I know?
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 28, 2006 at 11:43 AM
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blackcat30
Isn't it great when you learn something new, or in my case when I re-learn after reading Blanche's comments.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 28, 2006 at 11:39 AM
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Ariala
After Ell explained about Tesla, I looked him up and came to the conclusion that the history I had been fed was a load of garbage. The demonstration was electrifying, if you'll excuse the pun, but the most startling part was the pillar.
The pillars had benches attached to them, and when we sat on one - early, in case we missed the demo - it was accepted as a seat and nothing else. We had to lean back against the pillar to look up at the arcing lightning, and the trembling of the pillar came as a shock. Put it this way, Ariala, the Tesla machine was the highpoint of the casino.
posted by
johnmacnab
on October 28, 2006 at 11:38 AM
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JohnMcnab, I did know that Tesla and Edison had a feud over the
future direction of electrical research and development, whether it would be Edison's DC or Tesla's AC, and Edison fought REALLY dirty. He got an electrocution machine, and made sure that it was run on AC, Tesla's version, so that in the public mind, AC would be "dangerous" because it was linked to the public perception of death by electrocution.
Also, in the movie, The Prestige, Edison sent out his goons to smash up Tesla's laboratory, probably not too far-fetched either. I didn't know that he invented the microwave and radar, what a visionary.
The machine in the movie looks way cool, I love those old vintage Victorian machines. (and yes, imagine a Scottish machine handing out money, lol). God's ain tongue, lol.
posted by
Blanche.
on October 28, 2006 at 8:06 AM
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Cool... I've never heard of him either, but I learned something today!
posted by
-blackcat
on October 28, 2006 at 7:31 AM
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You answered my question...I've been wondering the last few weeks whether
or not anyone has ever recreated the Tesla Lightning machine...just the other day I went to see the movie, "Prestige" and Tesla was in it, along with his machine. I've long been one of his fans, and his work and genius are incredible, but I had no idea you could actually go to see his machine reinacted like this...very interesting!
posted by
Ariala
on October 28, 2006 at 6:16 AM
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