Everything Old is New Again...

To most people, the whistle and chug of a steam locomotive is a haunting memory from the past. Specters of a time when steam was king still are scattered throughout the world in museums and (in some rare instances) as working dinosaurs brought back from the railroad boneyard. The golden age of steam is gone. These trains are a thing of the past.

Or are they?

On first glance, Britain's Class A1 Number 60163, named the Tornado, looks like just any other resurrection of the past. In reality, while the plans date back about 5o years, the locomotive itself first took its trial run in August of 2008. It's a brand-new steam locomotive built in Darlington by Hopetown Carriage Works which took 18 years and £3 million to create. Saturday marked her maiden voyage from York to Newcastle.

In fact, with booming fuel costs, people the world over are rethinking the use of diesel over steam. In Paraguay, steam has been brought back for tourist trains. Switzerland and Austria added new steam locomotives to some rail lines. A steam line from Chile to Argentina also is in the works. In fact, the Hunslet Engine Company (founded in 1864) is back to producing steam locomotives in Leeds after 35 years out of the locomotive business.

There is a certain mystique to steam engines which are lacking in cold diesel locos carrying freight to and fro across the US and many other nations. The beauty of the intricate gears spinning in clockwork unison harkens back to the time when travel wasn't only about the destination, it was about how you got there. Today, we speed along in a hurry to get somewhere while missing everything along the way. We clambor into planes hoping for a quick flight or drive at fastest speeds to get from point A to B.

But for many of us, the ghosts of steam still haunt us with pleasant longing. We long for excellent meals in dining cars instead of inedible rubbish on a plastic airline plate. Hopefully, with such specters as these rising from the grave, people will start to rethink their priorities. Instead of insane breakneck speeds in automobiles, applying make-up in rear view mirror while texting and risking accidents for that not-very-important instant message, we still might be able to relearn allowing someone else to take the reins as we sit back, enjoy the ride, and have more time to do these daily mundane tasks as scenery flies by our windows. To interact with other people in public transportation instead of closing ourselves into little boxes and avoiding the world around us.

Dead or alive, we're all a part of something greater than ourselves. We're a unique blend of thoughts, history, and cultures. The world isn't something to be afraif of and avoid; it's something to embrace, learn from, and become involved with. Perhaps our world would be a better place is we took the time to think about what lies beyond the dashboard and step on board a railway once in a while...

You Can't Keep a Good Gnome Down...

Some of you may remember the "creepy gnome" of Argentina sighted earlier this year and the infamous video circulating the web. It was later determined to be a hoax, though the teen responsible for that footage, Jose Alvarez, still claims it was real.

But now, the creepy gnome tale has resurfaced. Footage was recorded in early October of a "midget monster" near a water fountain in Clodomira, filmed by Juan Carlos Roldan and friends on a mobile phone.

“We were messing about - singing and dancing - when we heard a loud rustling noise from behind us. This tiny thing started running down Avenue San Martin at us. It had a pointy head and dark clothes," said one of the teenage witnesses.

“This little thing was barking like a dog, but running sideways on two legs. It headed off towards the football stadium.”

A photographic expert from Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero has reviewed the footage and believes it could be authentic. Aldegonda Alvarz hasn't found any obvious trickery.

Should Argentina be renamed "Munchkin Land" or is it in fact an animal or little person playing a prank, as skeptics allege? Watch the footage and judge for yourself:

Return of the Roaming Gnome...

Did anyone really think the Argentinian gnome story would go away?

Countless people from far and wide have commented about the strange sighting and the mobile phone video. Some say it's a hoax. Others, a clever Travelocity ploy. Our iconic image of the typical gnome dates back only to the 1970s. Before the book, Gnomes, was published, no two people could agree on their appearance.

And the debate still rages on. 90 percent of the residents of General Guemes believe in the small creatures.

Now, more people are coming forward. Apparently, only weeks before the infamous footage was captured near the town cemetery, rail workers reported a strange gnome-like creature on the tracks they were working on during the night. Other Argentinians claim to have witnessed gnomes over the course of their lives.

Could this be real? Or has someone been reading too many of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books? In fact, is was done by R.L. Stine... There is an episode (ironically) titled "Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes"!

And actually, it all depends on who you ask. Take, for example, Christian von Lähr and Christopher Valentine of Myst of the Oracle: a pair of mediums who communicate with gnomes, elves, leprechauns, and faeries (of course, I didn't realize there was much demand for it in North Carolina). They've written a few books on the subject too... or should I say channeled the wee folk and wrote their words for them? That interesting information is discussed more on their other site, The Gnome's Station.

I pass no judgments...

Not Just the Garden Variety...

Residents of the Argentinean town of General Guemes are gripped by fear. Something has been seen, lurking in the darkness and terrorizing the locals. What sort of hideous creature could plague a neighborhood and keep people indoors after night falls?

A gnome.

Yes, a small figure wearing a pointy hat and "walking sideways like a crab". Making strange noises. Throwing stones.

Juan Alvarez and his other teenage friends were hanging out near a cemetery when they spotted the dwarf or "midget-like creature". They were scared—so scared that one of them had to be taken to the hospital. Other townspeople have since come forward with similar reports.

And so the panic spreads.

Luckily, he had his mobile phone handy and was filming his friends at the time of the incident. Watch the heart-pounding footage for yourself:



I would think that watching the movie 'Trolls' would have been a far more frightening experience, but I'm sure "you just had to be there".

Gnomes are actually taciturn mythical creatures from German folklore believed to live underground and guard buried treasure. They are commonly categorized as earth elementals, or creatures attuned with the ground.

Have gardeners finally gone too far? Is it a Travelocity gimmick? Have we pushed little people over the edge?

You decide.