NorthAmericanHouseHippo

TORONTO, CANADA (April 22, 2024). The Canadian Television Network (CTV) and other Canadian media reported on the latest nominee for the Darwin Award, a 15-year-old Toronto boy who, along with his friends (ages 14 and 16) thought it would be a good idea to climb up on top of the commuter train on which they were riding. The boy's head was struck by an overhead signal (it was a double decker train) and he was thrown off the train. Literally. At the time of writing this, he is alive. I thought it would be fun to combine of the reports from the corporate media with a 1936 Paramount short animated film, "Play Safe," which was produced to teach children the importance of railway safety. And I thought it would be even more fun to mock CTV for reporting this as if it was some kind of unavoidable happenstance. The film is in the public domain now (I guess because Mickey Mouse isn't in it). It's widely available on YouTube. What you see here is a significantly-edited version. The entire cartoon is fun to watch, particularly the boy's dream sequence in which is is driving one of the locomotives, he loses control of it as it comes to life. I like this cartoon because of the end where the dog, whom the boy was mean to, saves his life. In the end, the boy and the dog hug and kiss each other. The bus I drive often shows this cartoon (among others) in its video rotation. Fun fact, the voice of the boy was provided by Mae Questel, who was also the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. A little snippet from the subway scene in Men In Black II (2002) as a bonus. As for the real-life boy in this case, and his two pals, I'm sorry for him and his family that he's had to learn one of life's lessons the hard way. But, seriously, in what world does anyone thing riding on top of a train (outside of India or Mexico) is a good idea? Why should Canadian taxpayers have to foot the bill for his health care? Here in Florida, his age notwithstanding, the boy would referred to as "A 15-year-old Florida man." Full disclosure: I am a former GO Transit employee (bus driver from 2004 to 2017, when I moved to Florida). During my time with GO, I had heard of things like this happening from time to time. However now, apparently, it's downright common.

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA (February 27, 2008). I was mid-way through a five-day trip from Vancouver, B.C. to El Paso, Texas on Amtrak. I wanted to get a better look at the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha cars they often keep at St. Paul, so I jumped out while the train was being serviced. Probably not the best decision I ever made, since I was still wearing my Vancouver clothes: jeans and a hoodie. This video was taken at Amtrak's old St. Paul station before it moved to "Midway." Compared to today, the quality isn't the greatest but, again, we're talking 2008 here. A lot has changed since 2008, just in this video. And not just the way we shoot videos. Internet-enabled smartphones. We no longer have payphones or newspapers. And Minneapolis used to be a nice place, the cold winters notwithstanding. I found more videos from this trip in a pile of DVDs that I'll be posting as time permits.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (March 13, 2024). Driving my empty bus into the Orlando Airport to start my work for the day. The Orlando International Airport is absolutely incompetent when it comes to traffic management and enforcement. The delays getting into the terminals are often so severe that even those that allow plenty of extra time to get to their gate risk missing their flight. And that's just what goes on outside. Once you get inside, you have to deal with the dateless wonders, autistic savants and other assorted degenerates whose only marketable job skill is to be a TSA security guard.

Warning for unfortunate language. Trump supporters (ie MAGA) hate Fauci, they hate the lockdowns, they hate the masks, they hate the Trump juice, they hate everything that has happened since the "emergency" of Friday, March 13, 2020. But they love the guy that did it to not only them, but us. And, no, I'm not FJB's bitch either. The whole two-party system is corrupt and there is nobody, AND I MEAN NOBODY in the district of criminals who is coming to save us. Best case scenario? A Soviet-style collapse of the federal reserve which would take Washington, D.C. with it. Next base case scenario? Free states asserting themselves and nullifying Washington, D.C. The Marxist left showed us how it can be done with their pet projects (namely marijuana and illegal immigration). The Free States can do it with everything else. And it starts with refusing Washington's "money." I hope it doesn't take a decade for Trump to become as reviled to "conservatives" and "Republicans" as the likes of the Bushes and the Cheneys are today. In the video I speculate that Trump will not only be re-installed, but his running-mate and vice-president will be none other than Namarata "Nikki" Haley. I am typing this out and uploading the video on Friday, March 15, 2024. If you're reading this a year from now, of course, whatever happens, you know how it turned out. Lest I be accused of the insufferable "TDS" (Trump Derangement Syndrome), let me assure you that my confidence that Trump will regain office on January 20, 2025 is based on the fact that he did everything the globalists demanded of him, particularly after declaring the aforementioned "emergency" and everything since. He betrayed his supporters with the full, unwavering support of his supporters. Why WOULDN'T the globalists want Trump back in? For them, an opportunity like this will never come along again. It makes things a lot easier, doesn't it?

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (February 26, 2024). Driving my empty bus from the downtown bus yard to Walt Disney World's Blizzard Beach to start my working day. For the first bit of the video, post-edited "voice over" of Toronto's pathetic CityNews 680 (formerly 680 News) contrasting the weather in Toronto (where I used to drive a GO Transit bus, as seen in other videos) and here in Orlando. At least until they started talking about the Hollywood fluff crap. Followed by my idea of what Gerald Celente (Trends Research Institute) would say. And, yes, Gerald uses some bad words. Also some interspersed cameos by a couple of copyrighted characters, whose use by me is without explicit written permission and strictly prohibited. Nothing particularly interesting here. But my worst day here in Orlando would be my best day back in Toronto. But I'm going to do more of these videos mocking 680 News, its affiliated Rogers Media stations and other corporate media as well. It really is insulting, the bullshit they try and feed us. I only pick on 680 right now because, of all the "news" radio stations around the world, they make it so damned easy with their A.P. propaganda pieces, their adolescent, diversity-hire announcers.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (February 26, 2024). Leaving. the bus yard and heading down to Walt Disney World to start another working day. I normally drive Universal, but today I'm going to The Other Place. For some reason, this bus is equipped with a ship horn.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (March 1, 2024). Adding my Natural Voices Text-To-Speech to a self-checkout experience at Wal-Mart's Metrowest (Pine Hills) Super Center. They really do have us well-trained, don't they? It's only a matter of time before War-Mart starts demanding their customers drive themselves to the poh-leessss station and book themselves into jail for shoplifting.

TORONTO, CANADA (February 16, 2024) Toronto's moribund, pathetic and long-since discredited CityNews (formerly 680 News) passes off as news of Charles Mountbatten's cancer and the visit by his pussy-whipped, gender-confused drug addict of a son. What would Trends Research Institute's Gerald Celente say? I've got a pretty good idea. Stay tuned for bonus footage of vice president (God help us) LaLa Harris talking about electric school buses.

(January 19, 2021). Sadly, this did not age well for either man. On the eve of the installation of the Biden regime, John Stadtmiller, founder of the Republic Broadcasting Network and host of his own program, The National Intel Report, interviews Stewart Rhodes of Oathkeepers. It will come as a surprise to many that Rhodes is as disdainful of then-president Trump as he is of Mr. Biden. Rhodes calls out Trump's inaction and incompetence in dealing with the riots and for not invoking the Insurrection Act. Rhodes said Trump simply handed us over to the China Communist Party and made us a vassal state. Rhodes accuses Trump of cowardice and dereliction of duty. Suffice it to say, MAGA's True Believers are not going to like this one. Steve Elkins, host of another RBN program, Off The Beaten Path, makes a cameo appearance as well. As many of us know, Mr. Rhodes is now in prison. Unfortunately, Mr. Stadtmiller passed away less than 11 months later on, of all days, the Fifth of November, 2021.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (February 1, 2024). And an order of chicken lumps on the side. Credit where credit is due. The girl spoke English. Which is a damn sight better than you get in most establishments in this city. And for my wife and I, the food actually waited until after we got home before it decided it wanted out.

Back in 2007, a YouTube, "NanaimoCanadians" posted a video which exposed how the Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) sent three (that we know of) armed agents to a protest in order to stir up trouble and try and cause a riot. 2007 was a time when the unions and other leftist organizations were still opposed to war, multinationalism, unrestricted immigration and free trade. It was a time when unions saw "free trade" and multi-lateral "trade agreements" for the threats that they are. Threats to the jobs of their members and threats to all of us. David Cole, then president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) was leading a protest at the site of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (now defunct), a trilateral organization whose membership consisted of the governments of the Canada, Mexico and the United States. At the summit were Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, U.S. president George W. Bush and Mexican president Felipe Calderon. While Mr. Cole is leading the rally, three mask-wearing gentlemen who were later exposed as officers of the QPP, started picking up rocks and generally causing trouble. Mr. Cole orders them away from the protests. There is a confrontation which becomes physical between he and one of the cops. The intent of reposting this video on this channel is to expand on it and demonstrate how provacateuring by armed government officers is not a "conspiracy theory," is not rare and is, in fact, downright common. The Quebec Provincial Police did us a service nearly 20 years ago by showing us just how brazenly such operations are performed, and how shameless their armed state collaborators are. That's the problem with real criminals. When the cops show up, they tend to fight back. But taking down a couple of dozen law-biding, peaceful (albeit pissed off) citizens is like taking candy from a baby. If they're really lucky, the protesters will thank the officers for their service while they're being handcuffed and thrown in the back of the police cruiser. The January 6th, 2021 police riot in Washington, D.C. is but the most recent and most memorable example. The guy egging the rest of you on, the guy talking shit about some big ideas and who seems to have come out of nowhere and has an endless supply of money, the guy who says, "let's you and him fight," that guy is a cop. And while Canadian courts - up to and including their supreme court - have smacked down cops for entrapping and provacateuring. cops here in the United States still have free reign to engage in behavior that would have made the East German Stasi blush. During the intro and outro to the original video (shown unedited, in its entirety), enjoy David Knight's performance of John Williams' "The Patriot" score. Mr. Bush also makes a cameo appearance when he appeared as a guest on Family Guy. The video is mostly in English with some French. Even if you don't speak french, you'll get the hint. ---------- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/quebec-police-admit-they-went-undercover-at-montebello-protest-1.656171 Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest CBC News · Posted: Aug 23, 2007 6:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 23, 2007 Quebec provincial police admitted Thursday that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during the protest at the North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que. However, the police force denied allegations its undercover officers were there on Monday to provoke the crowd and instigate violence. "At no time did the police of the Sûreté du Québec act as instigators or commit criminal acts," the police force said in French in a news release. "It is not in the police force's policies, nor in its strategies, to act in that manner. "At all times, they responded within their mandate to keep order and security." Police said the three undercover officers were only at the protest to locate and identify non-peaceful protesters in order to prevent any incidents. Police came under fire Tuesday, when a video surfaced on YouTube that appeared to show three plainclothes police officers at the protest with bandanas across their faces. One of the men was carrying a rock. In the video, protest organizers in suits order the men to put the rock down, call them police instigators and try unsuccessfully to unmask them. Police-issued boots identified fake protesters Protest organizers on Wednesday played the video for the media at a news conference in Ottawa. One of the organizers, union leader Dave Coles, explained that one reason protesters knew the men's true identities was because they were wearing the same boots as other police officers. Coles said on Wednesday that the only thing he didn't know was whether the men were Quebec police, RCMP or hired security officers.

GALESBURG, ILLINOIS (April, 2013). Walking through the California Zephyr and meeting back up with my wife in our sleeper cabin (a "Roomette"). We were enroute from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Vancouver (via Buffalo, Chicago, Emeryville and Seattle). After visiting family in Vancouver, we headed down to Los Angeles for a visit to Universal Studios before heading home. I joked about starting a new life for myself in Galesburg, to which she said I'd never survive without her. She's probably right.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (March 31, 2016). We used to take these trips every year. At least, until we moved to Florida and my new job didn't give me a month's vacation (plus) every year. We lived in Niagara Falls, Ontario and had already been to New York City, Miami, Washington and Chicago before making our way out to Los Angeles. We were on our way up to Vancouver to see my grandmother and my aunts and uncles and cousins up there. It's a 6-day train ride from Miami to Vancouver. Up until this point, we had been traveling in Roomettes (formerly Economy Bedroom). But, with our anniversary being April 1, this was a particularly special segment of the trip, so I sprung for the deluxe room. As the slide says in the video, the rail fare for the entire trip was around US$6,000, with this L.A. - Seattle segment costing US$1,000. It's a lot of money, but you only live once. The best part about Amtrak is you're safe from the thieves, pedophiles, perverts and other assorted autistic savants employed by the TSA (Too Stupid for Arby's).

STATEN ISLAND, NY (March 30, 2016). Riding the Staten Island Railway (1973 R43) from New Dorp to Clifton. The first time my wife was in New York City, back in 2011, she had a panic attack because she had never seen so many people in one place. She loves Staten Island because it's quieter and doesn't even look like it's part of New York City.

NEW YORK, NY (March 2014): My wife sharing her adoration for New Jersey - specifically Hoboken - because it's the home of that stupid Cake Boss guy. Is his show even still on the air? Anyway, she loved watching it back then and sometimes still does. We were on the southbound Silver Meteor (Amtrak Train no. 97) from New York to Miami as part of our vacation. We started out earlier that day from our home in Niagara Falls, Ontario, spent a week in Miami, then headed up to Vancouver before heading down to Las Vegas and San Diego before heading home. We used to take trips like this every year. Then we moved to Florida and (predictably) my new job wouldn't allow me a month or six weeks off work for vacation every year.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (November 25, 2023): The bus dispatcher (Mr. T) had his hands full with a hundred different things at once and he was all over the place. First, he told me to go from the yard to the airport for my first run of the day. Then, half-way to the airport, he told me to turn around and go back to Universal. Then, on second thoughts (and third and fourth and fifth maybe) he told me to keep headed towards the airport. I have just gotten onto the southbound Florida Turnpike from Interstate 4, headed towards Highway 528 and eventually the airport (as per my original instructions). Steve Todd, if you're seeing this, this is in your honour! And don't worry. The ol' ball-and-chain thought it was funny.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (December 5, 2023). I'm not going to go into the weeds about the technicalities of the conversation, but, in a nutshell: The dispatcher wanted a significant amount of work done in an impossibly short amount of time. Universal demands that, after dropping off our passengers at the airport, we begin our return trip at Terminal C before heading over to Terminal A. Okay, forget the geography. I told the dispatcher I would be going through A first, and then C, in order to be on time. When he replied, "Oh, really?" I couldn't resist. "Yes. Really."

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (November 27, 2023): Driving passengers from the Orlando Airport to their Universal resort hotel when the bus shuts down on me. This is why I don't do out-of-town work; when I lose a belt, or coolant (or both. in this case), or have a tire blow-out or suffer some other mechanical mishap, help is always close by. Fortunately, the passengers were all very nice and understanding and we got them on their way. Bonus: A tiny glimpse of Epic Universe, set to open on Memorial Day 2025. Some mild profanity. At the end, some digs at GO Transit - in particularly some of their more wasteful clumps of cells masquerading as managers - back in Ontario. My worst day here in Florida would truly be my best day back in GO's West Region (signed, Seventy Nine And A Quarter). I'll take the occasional breakdown over the snow and the drama and the incompetence any day. Hamilton, Streetsville, you know who you are.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (November 15, 2023). Driving my non-Lynx bus behind a Lynx transit bus (Route 19, fleet no. 46, tag no. YT220) eastbound along Gore Street. As it approaches Rio Grande, the driver is unable to complete a lane change and stop with part of the front end crossing the yellow line and encroaching into the oncoming lane. He (she or it, who knows these days?) changes lanes mid-intersection. Then, the next block at South Orange Blossom Trail, with a city works truck WITH UNPLATED TRAILER in the left lane encroaching into the right lane, the Lynx driver chooses to get up alongside it anyway and ends up cutting across the sidewalk to make a right turn. Just wait until they make it into the cockpit at Delta and United.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (August 21, 2017). It's called Pine Hills, but around here, we call the place Crime Hills. It's Detroit, except with palm trees. I have no idea what led up to it, but a black woman driving a black Honda tries to run over a number Family Dollar staff outside their Pine Hills Market Place store. Just another day here in the happiest place on Earth. On my radio in the background, you can hear news radio station WDBO 96.5 talking about that day's eclipse, and Kissimmee Police investigating the deaths of their armed municipal agents Sam Howard and Matthew Baxter who were killed by Everett Miller, who is now waiting to ride the lightning. "Everything Is Beautiful" By Roger Whittaker, RCA-Victor, (c) 1988

A Canadian public service ad from the late 1990s from an outfit calling itself "Concerned Children's Advertisers" which sought to teach young viewers the value of critical thinking. Transcript: It's night time in a kitchen just like yours. All is quiet...or is it? The North American House Hippo is found throughout Canada and the eastern United States. House Hippos are very timid creatures and are rarely seen. But they will defend their territory if provoked. They come out at night to search for food, water and material for their nests. The favorite foods of the House Hippo are chips, raisins and the crumbs from peanut butter on toast. They build their nests in bedroom closets using lost mittens, dryer lint and bits of string. The nests have to be very soft and warm. House Hippos sleep about 16 hours a day.

ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY (March 20, 2014) ADVISORY FOR UNFORTUNATE LANGUAGE (Translation: There's bad words) My wife and I were traveling on Amtrak's Silver Meteor from New York City to Miami. We were staying in a roomette, a cabin which features two seats facing each other during the day and upper and lower berths at night. The toilet flips up next to one of the two seats. As anyone who has traveled in these accommodations knows, as. a matter of practicality, one traveler must step out when the other needs to "go." Rather than impose upon my wife to step outside, I would normally go to a coach car and use its restroom. While mercifully not shown in this video, the coach restroom was a mess despite the train having started its journey barely an hour earlier in New York City. When I got back to our room, I ended up performing this entirely unscripted, spur-of-the-moment, highly inflammatory yet incredibly accurate rant about the quality of people who ride in coach on Amtrak (or Greyhound or the airlines for that matter). Despite many of them being cooped up together for 24 hours or more (much longer on cross-country trips), they seem to have no sense of cleanliness or courtesy towards their fellow travelers.

NEWMARKET, ONTARIO (October 5, 2005): So I was driving my bus through Newmarket, enroute from Barrie down to Toronto, when a female driver who is no longer with GO but is nevertheless legendary to the North Corridor drivers who have been around for a while, commented on the fact that a driver who would normally be driving a city transit-type bus (an Orion V) was today driving an MCI D4500 highway coach. I am also driving a D45 (brand new!) The angle isn't the best, but you get a view of a part of Newmarket that has changed significantly in the past nearly-two-decades.

ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA (November 1, 2020): I took this video of a deer just as I was getting off of work at Walt Disney World's Four Seasons Golden Oak Resort. There are a lot of deer in the area of the Disney Channel soundstages, Golden Oak and Camp Wilderness. They are so tame, you can walk (or drive) right up to them and almost pet them. They live at Disney rent-free. They don't have to pay property taxes. Vehicle traffic moves at moderate speed. There's no hunting allowed. The weather is great. And they are large enough that even Disney cast members with the strangest predilections will have no power over them. So, in short, these guys have it made.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (July 9, 2019). This video was taken the evening we brought our new pitbull, Booger, home from the Orange County (Orlando) shelter. We also brought home Annie, a viszla, so that Booger could have a girlfriend. At first, we thought Booger had been de-barked, but it turns out it was just laryngitis. Dogs need love. Even pitbulls. Rescue a dog and give him (or her) hugs, kisses and a big belly rub today.