The newest U.S. halls of fame you can visit, starting with New Jersey

I’m intrigued by the number of halls of fame that you can visit spanning sports, entertainment, business and other endeavors. To date, I’ve documented over 500 halls of fame in North America.
What follows is a roundup of the newest physical halls of fame.

New Jersey Hall of Fame

On June 28, the New Jersey Hall of Fame’s Entertainment and Learning Center officially opened at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, N.J.
The 10,000-square-foot facility honors New Jersey’s accomplishments in entertainment, sports, business and more. The center boasts state-of-the-art exhibits and highlights the accomplishments of more than 200 inductees.
(See articles by NJArts.net, NorthJersey.com and News 12 New Jersey.)

Maui Nui Hall of Fame

Maui County in Hawaii now has a Maui Nui Hall of Fame display at the Kahului Airport. The display honors 40 inductees who have made significant contributions to Hawaii sports, music and films from across the county. The exhibit opened in June.
(See articles by Maui Now, KHON 2, Hawaii Public Radio and VitaVerse News.)

World Golf Hall of Fame

The World Gold Hall of Fame relocated to a new facility in Pinehurst, N.C., on June 10. The museum is located in USGA’s Golf House Pinehurst. The World Golf Hall of Fame had been in St. Augustine, Fla., for a quarter century.
The Member Locker Room at the Hall of Fame features nearly 3,000 artifacts showcasing the most accomplished and influential figures in the game.

New Mexico Music Hall of Fame

The New Mexico Music Hall of Fame has an exhibit at the Route 66 Visitors Center in Albuquerque, N.M. The 21,000-square-foot visitor center includes a taproom, event space, museum and amphitheater. Organizers are doing a staggered rollout of operations at the new facility.

Photos: New Jersey Hall of Fame and World Golf Hall of Fame.

Animal attack movies are popular summer fare

Movie audiences love a fun animal attack movie. That explains the popularity of the recent Netflix movie “Under Paris” about sharks invading Paris.
In fact, “Under Paris” was so popular, a sequel is already in the works.
Up next is the shark thriller, “The Last Breath,” which is set for a limited theatrical release on July 26.
Earlier this year saw the release of the well-reviewed spider-themed horror movie, “Infested.”
Last year brought a bunch of animal attack movies. Topping the list was horror-comedy “Cocaine Bear.” The year also saw shark thriller “Deep Fear” and alligator attack movie “The Flood.”
Plus, the CW aired the miniseries “The Swarm” about ocean animals attacking humans.

Related articles:

Animal attack movies are a staple of summer cinema (Aug. 28, 2022)

The best animal attack movies of the past 20 years (Jan. 3, 2021)

Photos: Promotional art for “Under Paris,” “The Last Breath,” “Infested,” “The Flood” and “The Swarm.”

Crappy post-apocalyptic movies flood Amazon Prime Video

One of my contributions to the internet has been chronicling notable movies set in a post-apocalyptic world. And it’s not easy.
For starters, most lists of post-apocalyptic movies mix in movies about dystopian futures. And many lists add in movies that take place before or during apocalyptic events. I’ve tried to keep a clean list of movies showing people living a hardscrabble existence after apocalyptic events.
Another issue is dealing with the scores of low-budget, poorly made post-apocalyptic movies that have flooded the market, especially in recent years. You can see many of these flicks in the pay-per-view marketplace on Amazon Prime Video.
To date, I have documented 297 such crummy post-apocalyptic movies on Amazon, including 33 new titles listed below. These movies are not significant enough or good enough to put on my main list of notable post-apocalyptic movies.
But wait! There are other lesser post-apocalyptic movies to be found on Letterboxd. I’ve included 42 titles from Letterboxd below. Together with the Amazon titles, that’s 339 movies in the genre that aren’t significant enough for my main list.
By comparison, my list of notable post-apocalyptic movies has about 240 titles.

Latest lesser post-apocalyptic movies on Amazon Prime Video:

Rats: Night of Terror (1984, Italy) aka “Rats - Notte di terrore”
Savannah Electric (1985)
Deadly Reactor (1989)
Doom Runners (1997)
Against The Dark (2009)
Dark Nemesis (2011)
The FP (2011)
Day of Reckoning (2017)
Zombie Road (2018)
Lection (2019)
Impact Event (2020)
Strain 100 (2020)
The Long Dig (2020)
Among the Living (2022)
Forever’s End (2022)
Some Be (2022, Mexico)
The Inevitable (2022)
Tin Can (2022)
Walking Against the Rain (2022)
America Is Sinking (2023)
Arctic Armageddon (2023)
Darkness (2023)
Day Zero (2023, Philippines)
Dome House Six (2023)
End Times (2023)
Gangnam Zombie (2023, South Korea)
Ravage Nation (2023)
Remnants (2023)
Shelter (2023)
Solace (2023)
2029 (2024)
Once Upon a Time in the Wasteland (2024)
Planetquake (2024)

Lesser-known post-apocalyptic movies from Letterboxd:

The Lost Missile (1958)
In the Year 2889 (1969)
Battletruck (1982, New Zealand) aka “Warlords of the 21st Century”
2020 Texas Gladiators (1983, Italy) aka “Anno 2020 - I gladiatori del future”
Survival Zone (1983, South Africa)
W (1983, Philippines)
Sexmission (1984, Poland) aka “Seksmisja”
The Final Executioner (1984, Italy) aka “The Last Warrior” and “L'ultimo guerriero”
Z for Zachariah (1984, U.K.)
O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (1985, Poland)
Survival Earth (1985, Canada)
Dead Man’s Letters (1986, Soviet Union)
Hands of Steel (1986, Italy) aka “Vendetta dal future”
Osa (1986)
Interzone (1987, Italy) aka “Lobos guerreros”
Morning Patrol (1987, Greece)
Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1987, Australia)
Survivor (1987, South Africa)
Terminus (1987, France and West Germany)
Empire of Ash (1988, Canada)
Escape from Safehaven (1988)
Hard Knuckle (1988, Australia)
Mutant War (1988)
Bunker Palace Hotel (1989, France)
Warlords (1989)
Legend of the Roller Blade Seven (1993)
Return of the Roller Blade Seven (1993)
The Last Border (1993, Finland, Sweden, Germany)
Warlords 3000 (1993) aka “Dark Vengeance”
Sentinel 2099 (1995)
Dragon Head (2003, Japan)
Casshern (2004, Japan)
Puzzlehead (2005)
The Dark Hour (2006, Spain) aka “La hora fría”
20 Years After (2008)
One Hundred Mornings (2009, Ireland)
Arctic Blast (2010, Australia, Canada)
World’s End (2010) aka “Downstream”
Extinction: The G.M.O. Chronicles (2011, Germany)
The Forbidden Dimensions (2013)
Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl (2014, Austria)
In My Room (2018, Germany, Italy)

Related articles:

More low-budget, post-apocalyptic movies showing up on Amazon (March 12, 2023)

The complete post-apocalyptic movie list (Updated June 23, 2024)

Photos: Movie posters for “End Times” (2023), “America Is Sinking” (2023) and “Strain 100” (2020)

K-pop filling a gap for boy bands and girl groups

I recently attended a concert with my daughter for Korean boy band Tomorrow X Together at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. A good number of K-pop acts have been touring the U.S. in recent years including girl groups Aespa, Blackpink, (G)I-dle and Itzy and boy bands Monsta X, NCT Dream and TXT.
What’s behind the rise in the popularity of K-pop groups?
My guess is that K-pop is filling an unmet demand among young people for single-sex music and dance groups because the U.S. and Europe aren’t producing them now.
Such acts used to be plentiful in the U.S. and U.K. There were boy bands Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, NSync, New Kids on the Block and One Direction. And there were girl groups like Destiny’s Child, En Vogue, Fifth Harmony, Pussycat Dolls and the Spice Girls.
So until the West produces the next wave of such musical groups, expect K-pop to dominate the category.

Photo: TXT promotional poster.

The world’s longest right-turn lane

Road improvements near my home in Vienna, Virginia, added a ridiculously long right-turn lane. That got me asking the question: What’s the world’s longest right-turn lane? Or at least the longest in the United States.
After a Google search gave poor results, I decided this was a great question for AI chatbots to answer. After all, these artificial intelligence tools are supposed to be able to scour massive databases to come up with simple answers to queries.
The right-turn lane from eastbound Leesburg Pike between Baron Cameron Avenue and Delta Glen Court in Reston and Vienna, Va., is 0.6 miles long, according to Google Maps.
To find the world’s longest right-turn lane, I first tried Microsoft Bing Copilot, which uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Unfortunately my queries produced conflicting answers from Bing Copilot.
“The title of the world’s longest right turn lane goes to Interstate 285 (I-285) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Specifically, it’s the right turn lane from westbound I-285 onto northbound Interstate 75 (I-75),” Bing Copilot said. “This seemingly endless right turn lane stretches for an impressive 2.4 miles (3.9 kilometers)!”
That doesn’t sound like a turn lane. It’s more like a highway lane that just ends and tells drivers to merge left or take the exit. That could make the turn-lane distinction hard to quantify.
However, in a follow-up query, Bing Copilot had a different answer for the same location.
“The right turn lane from westbound Interstate 285 (I-285) onto northbound Interstate 75 (I-75) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, is approximately 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers) in length. This lengthy turn lane was part of the I-285/Peachtree Boulevard Interchange Improvements project. The project aimed to enhance traffic flow, reduce bottlenecks, and improve operational efficiency for drivers making this critical right turn,” Bing Copilot said.
So it’s either 0.8 miles or 2.4 miles long. Come on, Microsoft, choose a lane!
Next, I went to Microsoft’s source, ChatGPT. But it gave a wordy nonanswer:

Determining the absolute longest right turn lane in the world would be challenging, as it would require detailed research and measurement of various roadways worldwide. However, some cities, particularly those with extensive road networks and high traffic volume, may have exceptionally long right turn lanes.
For example, cities like Los Angeles, California, or Houston, Texas, known for their sprawling urban landscapes and extensive highway systems, might have notably long right turn lanes in certain locations. However, without specific data or studies on the exact length of each right turn lane globally, it's difficult to definitively identify the single longest one.
In such cases, road authorities or transportation departments in respective regions might have records or data on the longest right turn lanes within their jurisdictions.

Then, I asked Google Bard to tell me the world’s longest right-turn lane. It said lack of records on the subject would make it difficult to get a correct answer.
“That being said, there are discussions online about a long right turn lane near Ikea in Taastrup, Denmark, clocking in at around 900 meters (3,000 feet),” Bard said. That turn lane is about 0.57 miles long.
Bard said its source was a Reddit discussion thread titled “My town has an extremely long turn lane” on r/mildlyinteresting.
I then asked Bard for the longest right-turn lane in the U.S., but it didn’t have an answer.
Finally, I asked AI Chat from DeepAI to tell me the longest right-turn lane in the U.S.
“The longest right turn lane in the United States is located in Houston, Texas. It is approximately 2.6 miles long and stretches along the West Loop Southbound (Interstate 610) exit to Woodway Drive,” AI Chat said.
AI Chat said it got the information from a Houston Chronicle article titled “Houston’s longest right turn lane gets a facelift.”
So, there you have it, no definitive answer on the longest right-hand turn lane. Thanks for nothing, AI.

Photo: Google map of Leesburg Pike in Vienna, Va.

Rock Hall voters stick it to the music snobs

The 2024 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced on April 21 and there were the usual complaints about the selections.
This year’s honorees include performers Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, and A Tribe Called Quest. The hall also added eight additional honorees in musical excellence and other categories, including Jimmy Buffett and Dionne Warwick.
Music pundits groused that some inductees weren’t good enough for the honor or weren’t “rock and roll.”
Much of the vitriol was directed at Foreigner, a group popular with the masses but not music critics.
AudioPhix writer Lee Vowell said the 2024 Rock Hall inductees were “marred by one undeserving band.” He called Foreigner a commercial sellout.
Author and pop music critic Robert Hilburn said, “I’m comfortable (in) saying this year’s (list of inductees) must be the weakest ever.”
Past inductees have received similar criticisms to those for Foreigner. To name a few: Bon Jovi, Journey, Rush and Kiss.
The Rock Hall voters likely vote with their heart as much as their brain. That makes them more populist than the elitist music critics. For some critics, commercial success is a negative for music acts.
The eight Rock Hall performer inductees were selected by hall voters from 15 nominees. When you include the special categories, the hall is inducting 16 persons or groups this year.
Radio and TV personality Eddie Trunk carped that the special categories allow the hall to “circumvent voting” and induct anyone they want. But I have no major problem with that. It lets the hall honor influential and important acts that don’t get the respect they deserve from voters.
Trunk added, “It’s reduced the voting to almost being irrelevant since they can basically back door in any one they want in that doesn’t earn the votes.”
The honorees will be officially enshrined on Oct. 19 during a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, which is home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Related articles:

Rock Hall’s 2024 Hits, and Misses (Populism; April 24, 2024)

Crowning the Idols: Thoughts on the RRHOF Class of 2024 (Iconic Rock Talk Show; April 24, 2024)

Crash into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2024 (So It Goes; April 22, 2024)

Rock Fans Share Vocal Reactions to 2024 Rock Hall Snubs (Loudwire; April 22, 2024)

Post-apocalyptic TV shows get refresh with ‘Fallout’

While it’s been slim pickings for post-apocalyptic movies, TV series in the genre have been plentiful.
Current series getting new seasons include “Invasion” (Apple TV+), “Silo” (Apple TV+), “Twisted Metal” (Peacock) and “The Last of Us” (Max). There also are at least two “Walking Dead” franchise series developing new episodes (“Dead City” and “Daryl Dixon”). Plus, “Snowpiercer” has jumped to AMC from TNT for its fourth and final season.
Today saw the premiere of “Fallout” on Amazon Prime Video. The adaptation of the popular video game series released all eight episodes at once. The series is set 219 years after the outbreak of nuclear war sent Americans underground into fallout shelters called Vaults.
Last week, Netflix premiered the South Korean series “Parasyte: The Grey.” The alien-invasion horror series is more pre-apocalyptic, but the outlook looks pretty grim.
But with the era of peak TV at an end, the plentiful genre offerings could be slowing down.
The number of scripted TV seasons being ordered in the U.S. has nearly halved since 2019, according to Ampere Analysis. However, international TV production could pick up the slack, Deadline reported.