Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Caltrain Refresher

CaltrainThis is for those of you who travel on Caltrain, a commuter rail line that runs between San Francisco to San Jose in California. With the fall sports season well underway, many are taking it as an option to attend games and special events. All others can pass this post by.

1) Clipper Card Cheaper Then Buying A Ticket
Caltrain, unlink BART, gives those who use Clipper a break in the fare. According to the Caltrain fare chart a one-way paper ticket is $3.25 versus $2.75 using Clipper. The discount gets better if you are going further to San Jose. From San Francisco (Zone 1) to Santa Clara (Zone 4) the ticket will cost $9.25 versus $8.75. A day pass, which is valid all day, is $18.50 while the round trip Clipper is $17.50.

2) Tag On, Tag Off!
This is the most important rule using the Clipper card on Caltrain. You must tag your card at the Clipper card terminal before boarding the train and again when you get off. If you forget to tag, the conductor or fare inspector can issue you a ticket for fare evasion and toss you off the train at the next stop. Forgetting to tag off at your destination will cost you $12.75! That is the maximum one-way fare. When you tag off it automatically calculates the correct fare. But if you forget to do this by midnight, you get the maximum fare. Avoid this because as it can deplete your card’s cash value quickly! Make sure you have at least $1.25 in cash on your card or it will not allow you to tag at all!

3) Do Not Use Autoload
Clipper offers the autoload feature in theory to make it easier to load cash and passes. However it is beset with many problems and can take days to actually load. The best way to load a pass or cash is use a Clipper machine at the San Francisco or San Jose stations or any Walgreens store. Usually the photo area in most Walgreens is where they process the Clipper card. Simply tell them what you want to add to the card (pass or cash) and pay for it. Then it is loaded onto the card and ready to go (unless the pass does not become active till the first day of the month).

4) Parking
Some Caltrain stations have parking. The daily parking rate is $5.00. Take note of your parking space and pay for it at the ticket machine. Just select daily parking, type in your space number, and pay by cash/credit/debit card. You do not have to put the receipt on the dashboard of your car. If you decide not to pay, expect a ticket on your windshield. There is a monthly parking permit available to monthly pass and 8 ride ticket holders. Note that at the Millbrae station the Caltrain and BART parking are separate areas. Do not confuse the two!

5) Monthly Pass Perks
A monthly pass allows you to travel in the zones purchased Monday-Friday. But on weekends and holidays, you can travel all zones for no extra cost. So if you only go between Burlingame and San Francisco on the weekdays, you can take a trip down to San Jose for no extra cost. Nice.

7) Zone Upgrade
If you have a monthly pass or 8 ride ticket, to travel outside of the zones purchased you will need a zone upgrade ticket. This does not apply on weekends to monthly pass holders but applies at all times to 8 ride ticket holders. It costs $2.00 for each zone beyond your ticket zones. A good deal and lot cheaper then buying a ticket. See my write-up on this here.

8) Stanford Games
There are no Clipper or Caltrain ticket machines at the Stanford stop (only used for games and other events). If using Clipper, get on and off at the Palo Alto station. Or use a day pass (which does cost more) and get off at Stanford stop.

9) 49ers Games
Take Caltrain to Mountain View and then VTA light rail to Levi’s Stadium. You can purchase a combined Caltrain/VTA day pass at Caltrain ticket machines. However it is more expensive than using Clipper. As of November 2015, the one way VTA fare is $2.00 or $4.00 round trip from Levi’s Stadium. San Francisco (Zone 1) To Mountain View (Zone 3) is $14.50 round trip for total of $18.50. The special day pass is $20.50. Important note: If you have a two-zone Caltrain monthly pass, you receive a free transfer on VTA.

10)AT&T Park
Take Caltrain to Fourth and King station (the end of the line for northbound trains) and simply walk two blocks to the ballpark. It is the fastest way to get to the ballpark on the Peninsula.

11) Important Reminders
* Yes you can eat and drink on the train. Alcohol consumption is allowed up to 9pm.
* There are bathrooms on the trains, just ask a conductor where they are. The newer bombardier trains have one in every car.
*If going to a game in San Francisco, Mountain View, or San Jose, be advised you must toss out your open beer cans or bottles into the trash. If you exit the track platform into the main area, you can be cited for violating the open container law. It is also goes without saying that if you arrive highly intoxicated the police will have a chat with you.
*If you loaded a monthly pass at a Clipper terminal or at Walgreens, you do not need to tag to confirm or activate it. It is already loaded on the card. Only those who use autoload have to tag to download and confirm the pass on the card.
*Do not get smart with the conductors! If you get into their face because you have no ticket or some other issue, you will be escorted off the train, arrested and charged with assault. It is not worth it.

For Further Information
Caltrain
Santa Clara County Transportation Authority (VTA)
Akit’s Complaint Blog:Perhaps the best blog out there about the various problems using Clipper and other transportation issues.


From the Halloween Files:The Amityville Horror

It is that time of year when supernatural tales abound. Most are fiction but sometimes stories come along that purport to be true. A very long time ago while in a bookstore I came across a book called The Amityville Horror by Jan Anson. Being into things supernatural back then, I bought and read it eagerly of the tale of people living in a house being tormented by demons. It scared me and the original movie had its scary moments as well. At the time the book came out, there were some who said the story was not true but they were barely heard at the time. The book claimed many things occurred and even witnesses to them. Yet when patient investigators began following up on the sensational claims, things just did not add up. And later it would be learned that a defense attorney worked to create the story so that his client, who killed his family in that home, be judged insane.

The story begins on 13 Nov 1974 when Ronald DeFeo, Jr. killed his parents, brothers, and sisters by shooting them in the beds they slept in. It was a horrific crime and DeFeo was arrested, tried, and convicted of the murders. The defense claimed insanity stating he had heard voices telling him to kill his family. A prosecution witness countered that he suffered an antisocial personality disorder making him sane at the time the murders were committed. The jury found him guilty of six counts of second degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison in 1975. That normally would end the story, except for the usual appeals by defense counsel.

In 1977 the book The Amityville Horror was released (to become a 1979 movie of the same name). It told the tale of the Lutz family that lived in the DeFeo house for 28 days between December 1975 and January 1976. The family consisted of George and Kathy Lutz with their three children. The book related tales of poltergeist and demonic activity that would drive the Lutz family out of the house. Doors opened and closed on their own, mysterious voices and hooded figures, green slime appearing on walls, mysterious stenches and insect infestation, supernatural attacks on George and Kathy Lutz, and even demonic possession, and a priest driven from the house.  And there were even demon footprints in the snow.

The problem was that many things they either saw, heard, felt or smelled had no independent witnesses. And the physical damage (doors, hinges, windows etc)claimed were not found when the building was inspected. Many other details when more closely looked into proved to be dubious, questionable or false. Joe Nickell notes that at no time while the Lutze’s lived in the house they never called the police (both the book and original film said this happened but official records have no record of any calls from the Lutze’s). The so-called snow demon footprints could not have happened as there was no snowfall during the time in question.

So then the next question is why they would make up such a story. To make money from a sensational story? That is certainly plausible but there appears another motive as well. William Weber, who was the defense lawyer for Ronald DeFeo Jr., said in People magazine (17 September 1979) that “We created this horror story over many bottles of wine.” It would be a win-win for both. The Lutze’s would have a sensational story they could market (which they did) and Weber would be able to use it on DeFeo’s appeal and get a new trial.

What they did not count on, it seems, were people who began to look seriously at the claims and start exposing the fabrication. The Lutze’s never fully retracted their claims though had to pull back on some of them. Lawsuits began to fly as well between the Lutze’s, Weber and other parties in 1977 claiming invasion of privacy, defamation, and sought damages of $4.5 million. Weber countersued claiming breach of contract. The underlying issue was whether the book was true or not. The Lutze’s argued that it was. U.S. Federal District Jack B. Weinstein heard the case. He dismissed the corporate defendants for lack of proof. In September 1977 he would dismiss their claims entirely concluding that “Based on what I have heard, it appears to me that to a large extent the book is a work of fiction, relying in a large part upon the suggestions of Mr. Weber.” He also questioned the ethics of defense attorney Weber and recommended an investigation by the New York State Bar Association.

A 2005 remake of the 1979 movie brought a lawsuit from George Lutz against the film company, producers and directors in 2005 alleging defamation and breach of contract. However the judge dismissed his claim saying that the film was a work of fiction protected by the First Amendment and that Lutz had signed a release agreement many years ago giving them the right to use the story and agreeing not to sue for defamation. His other claims of being denied profits from the original movie went forward but was apparently settled before he died in May 2006.

The Story Today

While the Lutze’s story has been largely debunked, some in the paranormal community (psychics, clairvoyants, and others)continue to say the house has an evil presence. This despite the fact no one else who has lived in the house since then has reported anything unusual. In fact, to protect the homeowners its address was changed and was  extensively remodeled so it looks nothing like it did in 1975 when the Lutze’s moved in.

Father Ralph Pecararo was the Catholic priest involved in the story. He initially stated that his only involvement as what was going on was a telephone call. Nor was his relationship close to them either. He would curiously alter his testimony when he testified (by phone) and said he did go to the house and heard the word’s “Get Out!” but ascribed no meaning to them (meaning no supernatural element). He would later give an account in 1979 to the television show In Search Of which seemed to back up the original book account of what happened. However the discrepancy between his original statement and later statements cannot be resolved. The contradiction has caused many to believe he became part of the hoax. The official position of the local diocese however is(as detailed in 2002 letter to Ric Osuna):

The Diocese maintains that the story was a false report. In November of 1977, Diocesan attorneys prepared a substantial list, to be submitted to the publisher [of The Amityville Horror], of numerous inaccuracies, factually incorrect references and untrue statements regarding events, persons and occurrences that never happened.

Since Father Pecararo has passed away, we will likely never know why his testimony changed. His superiors in the church, who asked him to detail what happened, have not altered their position since 1977 on the matter. And they were in the best position to ask the obvious questions that arose later when he changed his statements that more closely followed the book sequence of events.

Finally Ronald DeFeo Jr. did try various appeals; none of them worked and at last check was still serving out six life sentences.

The real evil was not supernatural but Ronald DeFeo Jr who killed his family while they slept in their beds.

Sources
1. Books
Kaplan, Stephen and Roxanne Kaplan. The Amityville Horror Conspiracy. Laceyville, PA: Toad Hall Inc., 1995. ISBN 0-963-74980-3.
Nickell, Joe. Entities: Angels, Spirits, Demons, and Other Alien Beings. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1995. ISBN 0-879-75961-5.

2. Articles
Moran, Rick and Peter Jordan. “The Amityville Horror Hoax.” (Fate magazine,May 1978)
Moran, Rick. “Amityville Revisited.”(Fortean Times, January 2005)
Nickell, Joe. “Amityville: The Horror of It All.”(Skeptical Inquirer,January 2003.)

3. Websites
Ronald DeFeo,Jr. (Biography)
Ronald DeFeo,Jr.(Wikipedia)
The Amityville Horror (Snopes.com)
The Amityville Horror: A Scam Debunked(Decodedpast.com)
The Amityville Murders (Ric Osuna’s site)
The Amityville Horror (Wikipedia)

Happy Sunday

Image:Petr Kratochvil(publicdomainpictures.net)


For Your Friday-Roy Hobbs Homer That Wins The Pennant

As baseball is now in postseason, I thought it fitting to perhaps play the famous (but fictional) Roy Hobbs homer that clinches the league pennant for the New York Knights in the 1984 movie The Natural. Barnard Malmud originally wrote Hobbs as anti-hero and in the end makes an unwise choice unlike the movie. For the movie, the director decided to remake Hobbs with elements of Greek and Arthurian stories weaved in. The Greek gods famously put down mortals who dared to think they were on their level (called hubris meaning excessive pride). And Hobbs’ journey in the movie reflects that kind of Greek story of a man who reaches too high, falls back to Earth, and then learns to become better than he was before without the hubris.

Hobbs has been tempted in the movie to throw the game. The Judge, Gus and his gal (who is closely allied with Gus, the Arnold Rothstein of this movie). But he realizes after talking with Iris (a friend from his youth who he was close with and the father of her child)he can still do a lot with his remaining time before a forced retirement (his stomach needed to heal from a silver bullet left in years before when he was shot by a woman desiring to kill men who sought greatness). So he tells the Judge to shove it and throws the money back. They think he will fail. And at first it does not look like he will make it. As the trio looks down thinking Hobbs will loose the game, he takes the bat he made with the teams bat boy called the Savoy Special and delivers a hit never to be forgotten in that fictional baseball world. And the music from the movie is often used when they introduce players of note in ballparks or when awards are given.

Friday Funny: Abbott & Costello

Perhaps one of the funniest sketches of all time is Abbott & Costello’s Who’s On First? Even if you do not like baseball, you have to laugh. Abbott & Costello performed it both on radio and television to great acclaim. While the routine was copyrighted, they never performed it quite the same way each time.  Sometimes the names or nicknames of real players were tossed in or referenced. A gold record of the sketch is at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Time magazine in 1999 named it the Best Comedy Sketch of the 20th century. There have been other imitators, of course, some done to parody the sketch. The original though still is the best. And whether performed on radio or television never failed to entertain.