View Full Version : Hobbies!
Curious to know what hobbies people have here?!
For me I kind of have obvious hobbies... drawing, geetar and piano playing (not simultaneously :p), filums, reading and walking. Buuuut I've just got back to an old rusty dusty hobby which I heart muchly....
Last night I attended our local Magic Society and it brought flooding back how much I actually LOVE magic. As in... properly!
I remember being obsessed with it when I was younger (would always get magic boxes and tricks and all sorts until I was about 16 when I then went to a school magic club and got into more hard core tricks with cards and sponge balls and laccy bands!) I would sit under my duvet with a torch for HOURS at night trying to practice/figure out how to do a trick!
The guy who taught me was amazing. He held a magic club at school and I went religiously even though it fizzled out and I was pretty much the only attendee! In 6th form I would even sneak in to the back of his Year 7 French Lessons and wait patiently until he'd set work (whilst doing some coursework of my own) and then he'd come over, show me a trick and I would end up practising :D
Since moving though and getting jobs etc... I started to rust up. I used the odd bit of magic here and there (especially at Uni... free drinks galore! Woo!) but nothing other than that.
Until NOW! Hahaha!
I'm the only lady there (and the youngest too) so immediately I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. Introduced to lots of people, some really lovely, others... I think I would be wise to avoid. Or rather be aware of. Most are fantastic though, very helpful probably 50's through to 70's with the odd splattering of 30's - 40's with various interests in magic. Most do children performances for work despite being mainly interested in close up table magic (it's quite a seasonal job really).
Last night, there was a German dude giving the lecture and showing various tricks and explaining them and although I think much of the performance lost it's shine due to his broken English, it was quite good! Some tricks I knew a slight variations of, others were obvious, others I was like... wooo... that's cool! His slight of hand with cards was impressive. Man I need to practice. A chap collared me at the end and told me not to be put off by the performance though as normally they do stuff a bit more bamboozling! So I'll be intrigued what the next ones like as I really enjoyed his lecture!
I have to do an initiation test within 6months... the earlier the better. Was thinking about it last night and as it's an all male audience I think I will play up to that. I think I may have myself a good advantage here with being the only lady there ;D Lots of the guys said actually if I were to get into it professionally I would do pretty darn well as there are hardly any decent lady magicians out there. It's mainly blokes! Apparently no one has failed the initiation yet and they do help you out a bit with sorting a routine sooo I'm sure I'll be fine. Just need to get practising again!
Lately I've kind of felt a little bit... like I'm missing something. A hobby.. something unique. And I think I've rediscovered it ;D
I'm not professing to be able to do anything amazing... as said I'm very rusty buuut if I recall rightly I did pick things up quite quickle :D With lots of practice... and hopefully someone willing to take me on as an apprentice type jobby... I can change that! Watch out Mister Blain, Daniels, Copperfield and Brown! Here I come!
WOo wooo!
*goes and finds her squidgy sponge balls and playing cards and laccy bands and all sorts*
:D
Any one else in to the Magic goodness?
http://hem.passagen.se/rust29/images/HOBBE/CH_DANCE.GIF
Ohhh... wait. You said Hobbies, not Hobbes.
Missed that extra i, sorry :o
Knipples
27-03-2009, 11:11
Pheebs, I demand you show me some tricks at the earliest opportunity!
I discovered last weekend I can still walk round on stilts! Was quite chuffed with myself. :)
Ere Pheebs, we could combine the two, you do the magic tricks, and I wander about on stilts collecting the pennies! :D
I love magic as well, I got very much into it a good few years ago but discovered quite quickly that I'm not a performer. It was all well and good being able to perform the illusions but I just can't get the performance and the presentation together so I gave up.
I've got piles of tricks and boxes of bicycle decks in the loft! Anything gimmicked with rubber bands is probably perished now and I've forgotten how to do most of it.
Sounds very cool to me :)
Chick Magicians, excellent !
I collect Adidas Trainers, I really should grow up at some point
Justsomebloke
27-03-2009, 12:05
Off Road - need another vehicle now though, Won't take me long.
Boat - Cruiser is ok but I want a barge, may take longer ;D
My Tower - Just upgrading/clocking/tweaking & running my tower is a hobby.
Gaming - PC & 360 & Lots of it.
Music - I Always have music on, Always have & Always will.
Women - I am open about how I am & I enjoy women, Looking/chatting/riding etc etc etc
My Life - Has been one big hobby, I've done just about anything I can think of & pushed it to the max, I'm not dead yet & plan on pushing it further.
I build stuff in the garage and I'm into old cars mainly. Cooking as well. Got loads of other smaller hobbies but I don't tend to pursue them so much these days. Used to be into electronics, speaker building and radio controlled cars. Mostly revolves around making stuff ;)
I have a fairly volatile and short attention span so I get obsessed about a thing but then lose interest and move on to the next.
However things I still sort of carry on with are, travel, food, wine, sports, guitar playing, cars and motorbikes. That's about it really. My main hobby used to be skydiving, but I ran out of time, money and couldn't be bothered to do it any more. I have little time to do things these days and not really interested in learning anything new at the moment. I guess my current and long term obsession now is the gym and betterfying myself... that'll take a while!
Apart from the usual I'm trying to get into making music. I've installed Reason but really haven't gotten very far with it! I would love to get some extra kit and make some fun electronic music but I never seem to have the time!
My other main hobby is climbing. I've been going about a year now and I love it. I love the feeling of nailing a move that used to be so hard and all of a sudden it becomes so simple. I go twice a week for about two hours at a time and I always look forward to it!
My main one is my horse I guess. I didn't have any around for about 2 years (owned them but didn't actually have anything to do with them) but it left a huge hole in my life. I've bought the little one back and I now take care of him again and I absolutely love it, it's my haven. I also love that I've had him since the day he was born and everything he 'is' is because I've taught him. Even the mundane stuff like mucking out etc has a very positive effect on me. Because he's a baby I can't do a lot with him so I can spend as little or as much time as I like at the yard, so it has no impact on my time with the girls. They are loving having a yard to go to again and they come with me a lot.
My other hobby is reading. I adore books, this month I needed some new clothes so allocated myself a bit of money, went into town, mooched around the clothes shops a bit and blew the lot in Waterstones.
I also adore music, my new hobby is live music and have some good gigs planned this year.
Things I'd like to do if I had more time are falconry, I've always wanted to do this and almost did when I gave up the horses. Also wall climbing and I'd love a pole at home for fitness.
Pole Dancing is my new hobby. No matter how many times I hurt myself I keep going back for more! I'm loving it and getting a pole for my birthday :)
I love reading too. I can read for hours and totally get lost in the pages.
I used to go Airsofting a lot too but haven't been for 2 years now as I used to work every weekend and after falling out with my brother I doubt I'll get any of my stuff back :(
I'm just getting into photography and can't wait till it's nicer weather and I can take my camera down the park.
Spending time with animals is another one. I love finding out about their personalities and bonding with them. I also make a point in learning about animals; anatomy, personality traits, how to intro them to each other. Anything I can find out really. This is probably why I'm loving my uni course so much (animal biology)!
Also wall climbing....
If you're ever in North London I'd be happy to show you the ropes (pun intended).
Piggymon
27-03-2009, 19:05
I mostly love Thai Boxing and lifting weights :D
Everyday stuff - Reading. Either at lunch time or bedtime I read.
Seasonal stuff - Fishing and cycling. I'm a fair weather fishermen, can't be arsed with sitting by a lake in the cold anymore but when summer arrives you'll find me most Sunday evenings down in Wales with the sun on my back and bottle of Budweiser or other light beer in my hand.
Infrquent/aspiring stuff - Tweaking with my car. Cleaning it, polishing it, changing little things, learning bit by bit what stuff does. Also learning to play the piano so that'll hopefully become a regular hobby soon too. :)
Everyday stuff, reading, playing geetar and such like.
Depending on free time, playing games, perl scripting, whatever geekish thing is fascinating me.
I think most of you will have gathered that motorsport is my big hobby! I own a sprint car with Phil and compete in the Toyota Sprint Series, so this takes up most of our time tweaking the car and competing, as well as doing trackdays for practicing.
I have a season pass for Snetterton circuit which is just down the road, and spend a lot of time watching the racing there.
My camera now goes everywhere with me and I'm trying to improve my photography skills.
I try and be artistic and every so often make cards and jewellery.
Haven't really got back into it since I did my leg in but I also do poi and staff spinning.
Reading and ratties (and rat shows) are the only things I can think of to count as hobbies.
...is shoe collecting a hobby??? I have new shoes!!!!!!!!!!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/Muban/Photo1.jpg
Piano
I have a tutor who I see every two weeks or so. I'm doing approximately 30 mins a day and more at the weekend - nothing like enough for what I'm playing really but I don't have any time.
It can be very exhausting and frustrating - I'm sure I've lost a bit of sanity on my current work piece - a Beethoven sonata, the ubiquitous Tempest. I'm going through phases of liking and hating it but at least it's always a good prelude (npi) to jumping on the exercise bike as I'm then warmed up and ready :D
Piano can be so rewarding but sometimes it's just about gritting your teeth and working through a piece, hoping that the results will justify the means.
Other than that, just reading really.
Reading and ratties (and rat shows) are the only things I can think of to count as hobbies.
LOL, rat shows :D
I actually thought of you whilst watching Breakfast TV the other day. They had a beautiful pouch rat featured that apparently sniffs out land mines, etc. They're considered to be excellent at the job - I bet they've prevented many deaths and serious injuries :cool:
Piano
I have a tutor who I see every two weeks or so. I'm doing approximately 30 mins a day and more at the weekend - nothing like enough for what I'm playing really but I don't have any time.
It can be very exhausting and frustrating - I'm sure I've lost a bit of sanity on my current work piece - a Beethoven sonata, the ubiquitous Tempest. I'm going through phases of liking and hating it but at least it's always a good prelude (npi) to jumping on the exercise bike as I'm then warmed up and ready :D
Piano can be so rewarding but sometimes it's just about gritting your teeth and working through a piece, hoping that the results will justify the means.
Other than that, just reading really.
May I ask how long have you been learning? and ar eyou doing grading?
May I ask how long have you been learning? and ar eyou doing grading?
I've been playing since I was very young and did all my grades back then :)
I think most of you will have gathered that motorsport is my big hobby! I own a sprint car with Phil and compete in the Toyota Sprint Series, so this takes up most of our time tweaking the car and competing, as well as doing trackdays for practicing.
Did I talk to you about this at the '06 Essex meet?
Can you play I Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats?
That's my aim. I'm learning the piano to play *that* song. Once I can do that, I'll be happy. ;D
I've been playing since I was very young and did all my grades back then :)
Oh wow, then you must be a pretty competent player, i wish i could just get to a point where i can sight read.
Oh wow, then you must be a pretty competent player, i wish i could just get to a point where i can sight read.
I know people say it all the time but it really is just practice. Try just playing with your RH at first and train yourself to spend more and more time looking at the music whilst you're playing. In that way it's like typing at a keyboard. If your fingers learn where to "find" the keys, it's that much easier to concentrate on what's happening with the music. Also, just do the RH first and do small sections at a time.
Even the best pianists have to repeat and repeat until they get it down. There's an interview with a well-known pianist where the interviewer is asked to sit down (at the pianist's home) and wait as he's just completing his practice session. The interviewer expresses surprise at the pianist when he finally enters the room because he's heard the guy playing, at most, just a few bars of some piece. He asks (politely) why so much repetition. The polite answer from the Maestro is that he always practices like that - "to achieve perfection one must practice beyond competence".
I know people say it all the time but it really is just practice. Try just playing with your RH at first and train yourself to spend more and more time looking at the music whilst you're playing. In that way it's like typing at a keyboard. If your fingers learn where to "find" the keys, it's that much easier to concentrate on what's happening with the music. Also, just do the RH first and do small sections at a time.
Even the best pianists have to repeat and repeat until they get it down. There's an interview with a well-known pianist where the interviewer is asked to sit down (at the pianist's home) and wait as he's just completing his practice session. The interviewer expresses surprise at the pianist when he finally enters the room because he's heard the guy playing, at most, just a few bars of some piece. He asks (politely) why so much repetition. The polite answer from the Maestro is that he always practices like that - "to achieve perfection one must practice beyond competence".
I do realise that, that's basically how i can touch type, i never took any course or lessons. With the hours i spent on doing essays and MSN was how i learn how to type. Obviously that is much easier being i spent hours on the computer practically everyday. If i spend that much time on the piano i am sure i would be competent too. :p
Oh some quite interesting ones just reading the thread. I'm just a typical geek so films and my xbox keep me occupied when i'm not at work.
I've been looking at getting into something else recently, and i've been needing to travel more with my work so i'm looking into learning to ride a motorcycle. Would be great to get a bit more freedom, just need to get round to booking my cbt at some point.
Blighter
03-04-2009, 21:11
For me it's:
-Work. I'm a workaholic! :p
-Computing (Web development, a lil bit of VB6 "programming", general tech support rubbish, etc)
-The Outdoors. Lurrrveee the outdoors.. walking, camping, running.. all of it!
-Random childish stuff with mates (bouncy castles WIN \0/)
That's about it :)
Psymonkee
03-04-2009, 22:30
Gaming/Reading (sometimes :p)/Music (listen to, not playing :p)
Not a huge amount but meh! :D
I do realise that, that's basically how i can touch type, i never took any course or lessons. With the hours i spent on doing essays and MSN was how i learn how to type. Obviously that is much easier being i spent hours on the computer practically everyday. If i spend that much time on the piano i am sure i would be competent too. :p
Exactly! Playing piano will benefit your typing speed and accuracy too, and vice-versa :cool:
Exactly! Playing piano will benefit your typing speed and accuracy too, and vice-versa :cool:
Just spent the past hour practicing the start to White Houses by Vanessa Carlton....boy, my right hand hurts ! :D The start with the whole octave of the b to b note stretches my hand and although i can reach it, i will need a lot more practice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBGQjDuKzE&feature=related
I think i can do it up to 4:12 sec in so far, then i am lost lol;D
Just spent the past hour practicing the start to White Houses by Vanessa Carlton....boy, my right hand hurts ! :D The start with the whole octave of the b to b note stretches my hand and although i can reach it, i will need a lot more practice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBGQjDuKzE&feature=related
I think i can do it up to 4:12 sec in so far, then i am lost lol;D
If a single octave is a big stretch then you're right, you'll need to practice and get as much flexibility as possible. Are you using an electric piano/keyboard? I wonder if there are ones available to suit smaller hands?
If your RH is hurting, take a look at your technique. Use your fingers to play the notes rather than your forearms and keep your hands raised over the keyboard rather than flat against it (if that makes sense!). Keep your back straight and your arms at a level just below the keys, and keep them fairly relaxed. It can all help to avoid fatigue - that's why you see ancient pianists who can play long complex sonatas - it's all about technique :)
Here's the one I'm doing (and failing miserably to master):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFTLkyb-IKk
I am playing on a Yamaha P-70, a keyboard with Graded Hammer Action.
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3803/14812207.jpg
Another problem i think is that i don't have a stand at the moment, its really at the wrong height, its too low if I stand up, its too high if i sit down.
I am playing on a Yamaha P-70, a keyboard with Graded Hammer Action.
Another problem i think is that i don't have a stand at the moment, its really at the wrong height, its too low if I stand up, its too high if i sit down.
I've only tried the P120 and P80 (both graded actions); Yamaha's hammer action is excellent and better than the equivalent Rolands IMO. I used an electronic piano when mine was away being tarted up and I miss it now - the harpsichord and church organ sounds, etc.
If you're sat at the wrong height it's not going to help your playing. TBH, it's no wonder your hands are hurting! I'd invest in a decent quality X stand if I was you and a good seat. Are you using the pedal at all? If you haven't tried the "deluxe" Yamaha pedal, rather than the flat one they supply with it, try one - they're tons better IMO :)
ooh, Stand arrived ! X Stand, guess i'll need a nice chair now :p
didn't do much tonight, apart from i learn how to play heart and soul ! :D I can do both top and bottom, but just not together, my fingers still don't know where they are on the keys just yet.
ooh, Stand arrived ! X Stand, guess i'll need a nice chair now :p
didn't do much tonight, apart from i learn how to play heart and soul ! :D I can do both top and bottom, but just not together, my fingers still don't know where they are on the keys just yet.
If there's one bit of advice I would give it's doing your scales and arpeggios each day. If you don't have any time to do anything else, at least do those. They'll help you train your hands like nothing else will :)
whats arpeggios ?
It's like a cross between a scale and a chord. You take the components of a chord and play them as a scale. For example, you'd play a C Major arpeggio (ascending) from middle C as C, E, G, C (one octave above middle C) and then descending, G, E, C (back to middle C).
For anyone, beginner to advanced, I'd strongly recommend a good book of scales and arpeggios. I think the ABRSM does a set of books which are graded as well but there's one that covers all of them IIRC - mine's years old but I'm sure they must still do it.
Getting the best results quickly requires a tremendous amount of discipline and though it might sound a bit tedious, practice of scales/arpeggios will soon yield results and you'll be able to play the more ambitious stuff all the quicker. It's all about how rewarding it is to work your way through something, starting to recognise the theme as you get better; and eventually mastering the piece and adding your own interpretation. There's no better feeling IMO :cool:
Did I talk to you about this at the '06 Essex meet?
I wouldn't have thought so, we only started last year :)
I wouldn't have thought so, we only started last year :)
Ok. I remember talking to someone about their Mk1 MR2 but I'm terrible with names (especially when you're meeting 20-30 people in one weekend).
For me it's the usual geeky stuff like gaming and such like. This weekend was a LAN party for me and some of my buddies and their buddies. Not a drop of alcohol passed my lips but yet it was tiring.
I suppose you can class it as a hobby but it's become more of an obsession, is football coaching. I kind of got asked a few years ago to help out with my sons team and I was very meh ok lets give it a go. But since then I have never really looked back. A lot of my spare time is took up coaching or planning sessions all for Saturday match day.
It's a huge investment of time but I can say in all honesty I have got a lot more out than I have put in. Seeing some kids develop from having two left feet and no idea what direction they should kick the ball to being competent to the point I would have no problem putting them in any game. It really gives you a sense of accomplishment. Your giving some really dis-advantaged kids a sense of achievment in a constructive and (sometimes) disciplined environment.
Plus it has given me the opportunity to learn coaching skills and experiences off some ex pro's such as Andy Cole, Stuart Pearce and Steve Wigley.
Ok. I remember talking to someone about their Mk1 MR2 but I'm terrible with names (especially when you're meeting 20-30 people in one weekend).
You spoke to us about MR2s I'd assume :) Just not about the sprint car.
Kell_ee001
07-04-2009, 21:12
I need a new hobby! I watch TV, listen to music, go to the gym, love reading... nothing exciting though :o
I'd love to play a musical instrument (most likely guitar as I *love* listening to accustic) but I'd ideally want someone to teach me :) Don't think I have any volunteers though!
Snuggle Ferret
08-04-2009, 13:00
My hobbies are:
Reading, cross stitching and calligraphy at present. I'd like to get back into the piano however with the calligraphy exam etc., my time would be limited. I loved learning the piano when I did a few years ago.
leowyatt
08-04-2009, 14:45
...is shoe collecting a hobby??? I have new shoes!!!!!!!!!!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/Muban/Photo1.jpg
that is an addiction, not a hobby :p
They are very nice though :)
I thought I'd replied to this with my hobbies but seems I haven't :o
Mine are quite normal really. I play lots of games, I like to read, love going to the cinema etc.
I write a lot too. Besides the many game reviews I write for a few sites, I often write just for my sake as I enjoy it so much.
I'd love to get into photography but money's a bugger for that one :( But hopefully one day!
Now the weather's getting nicer, I'll be out walking more as I'm lucky to live near so many scenic places.
That's probably about it which may not sound like a lot, but it certainly all seems to take up my time hugely!
GSXRMovistar
09-04-2009, 09:57
I have a lot of fad hobbies, normally ones that require me to spend money on something I use once or twice before getting bored or distracted. Although the ones I stick with are cars, beer, photography and gaming (mainly x360).
okay, i thought i will learn some Coldplay tunes....managed to learn The Scientist then i thought i give Clocks a crack.......until i saw this...
It titled slower version............:shocked:
XHKy0PThJKA&
I've not been very active for a few years but I'm a radio ham. Over the last week or so I've got enthusiastic about amateur radio again, I dragged my wireless out of the loft and I've got the aerials sorted out. I had a 9 element beam on the side of the house that I couldn't turn because the cable was caught.
At the weekend I got it all sorted and it's all working fine. Conditions are very good at the moment and I've just been working into Holland and Germany. Not huge distances, around 400-500 miles or so but it's really quite refreshing to be doing it again after so long.
Here's my radio which is pretty old now but is still working rather well:
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/751e-20090601-200752.png
And here's my small aerial farm:
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/beam-20090601-200327.png
Knipples
01-06-2009, 20:12
Feek, I am genuinely intruigued as to what you do with these? Would you mind letting me in on it. :)
I talk to people. The front beam aerial is rotatable so I can turn it round to point directly at damn johnny foreigners and we talk! The vertical at the back is an omni-directional aerial that's used for local chatter.
Actually, there's more to it than that - I used to be very involved with radio contesting where the idea is to work (talk to) as many people as possible over a set period of time. Points are worked out using distance and square multipliers. The whole world is mapped out as a series of locator squares so it's possible to determine where someone is to within quite a small area.
In contests, people exchange their callsigns, signal strength, serial number of the contact (serial numbers start at 001 for the first contact during the contest and increase per contact) and locator and from this the final score is calculated.
I've done a lot of contest operating over the years and I really enjoy it.
Knipples
01-06-2009, 21:14
Interesting to say the least! :)
What people did before MSN/Facebook/Twitter etc hey?
You don't have to climb onto your roof do you?! Please don't fall off!! Or if you plan on doing so, stick a few feathers to your arms before hand :D
Sounds very intriguing! What kind of things do you end up chatting about?! Or anything?!
I'm still LOVING my magic. Like... proper now! I absolutely heart the people I have met (apart from one... but one bad egg out of 20 ain't bad) and yeh. I can see me getting properly into this!!
Got an awesome chap popping over from Switzerland to do a leccy next week. I'm a bit YAY and Boo over it as I think he's going to show off a rope routine I really like, which I'm hoping to do in a few weeks time. If he does I will just have to adjust it and make it more silly ;D
Canny wait to see you all next! I'm no Derren Brown but I'll show you some faberoo tricks :D
Feek - getting me one of they thingys you showed me in Chester this week (hopefully!) I've been told they do quite a selection and that if I get one that kind of fits and dip it into hot hot water I can mould it to fit me better so it won't be mahoosive :D Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Knipples
01-06-2009, 21:23
*bounces up and down like a big Kid and demands to see some magic soon!*
I'm really looking forward to seeing your magic, Pheebs - As I said early on in this thread, I used to do a fair bit of illusion stuff but I just didn't have the desire to perform so I just let it drop a while ago. Good stuff about what you're getting, I did the same thing with mine for a decent fit.
I didn't get on the actual roof to do the aerial work at home, we were able to lower the mast and work on it at a lower level (although we were standing on a flat roof that you can't see in that picture). I have spent a lot of time on roofs in my youth though, I was regularly on the roof of our house in Harlow.
At the weekend we were working on this little array at a Martello Tower at Point Clear:
http://www.ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/tower-20090601-223715.png
That's very high up and is a great radio site.
As for what we talk about, when it's not contest stuff it's just general waffle. I was chatting to a dutchman earlier who has holidayed in my town and we were talking about how it's changed over the last fifteen years. When the RF conditions are up (as they were tonight) then the contacts can be pretty quick, a short talk about equipment, power and location and then it's onto the next one.
Tomorrow evening we're operating a contest from the tower, I'm really looking forward to that. We should exchange details with well over 100 people during the 2.5 hours that it goes on for.
I used to do hospital radio. I really should do it again now I have wheels.
I would put gardening - if I had a garden.
Does baking count? :p
BB x
semi-pro waster
01-06-2009, 23:54
My most recent hobby is climbing, I've been doing it for about 6 months now and I'm still really enjoying it so I'll need to find a wall that I can go to in London.
Other than that snowboarding is my long term passion, I'm probably not great but I can't see myself ever getting bored of it. Kayaking is something I should probably do more of as I used to go quite often and always enjoyed it but it's quite a hassle arranging it a lot of the time. Going to the gym is something of a hobby for me but it's also just part of my routine now. I suppose you could count reading or travelling as other hobbies but I don't think of them in the same way as the rest.
ZOMG Magic just keeps getting better. I LOVE it. Beyond belief. I get so so excited about it I actually end up making myself feel ill with excitement! It's like I'm some school child! Hahaha!
Last night we had a lecture with a dude called Pavel from Switzerland. He was pretty darn mega! Some of his ideas were so simple, yet so effective! Very inspirational! Managed to pop to the pub with him and a handful of others too - so nice to have a chin wag about these things after!
I'm kind of sidling my way into lots of different things at the moment! I think I have been "accepted" into the group quite nicely which is awesome as they seem like a closely knit little community! But yeh, a couple have invited me to jam with them next Wednesday and Thursday in Brizzle (Thursday being the official everyones coming to jam day and Wednesday a quieter day of playing around with tricks and routines with only 3 of us while their Missus go off for a day of face painting!) Just. I feel privileged really. Sounds stupid but they've all known each other from anywhere between 7-30 odd years and then little not-particularly-experienced-me comes along and they're so so so welcoming.
Also! Met a wickedy woo guy yester who's like a mega awesome magician! He travels the wooooorld doing magic - I think he's just got back from Las Vegas! But yeh, he's putting together a Doovd with 5 other mega magicians in Portsmouth and I've kind of asked if I could gate crash it for a day and watch type thing and he's more than happy to let me come play! How awesome!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee *pop*
Seriously, I love it. If I could I would practice magic every day all day. Everyone is so so super encouraging too. When newbies come along they seem proud to introduce me...which is a bit nutty as they've only seen a few basic things I can do... but yeh they're such lovely people. I think with their being no big mega lady magicians and very few lady magicians about they're kind of all a bit "eeeeeeee" over me being so "eeeeeeeeeee" about magic and and and.
Yeh.
I'm rambling.
In short, Pavel was awesome, made loads of contacts, even been offered a few hours work too and I can now penetrate a piece of rope through my whole body.
How blooming wicked is that?!
Psymonkee
12-06-2009, 08:29
Cool :D
I wish I could do magic :(
Hey Pheebs, when I get my trapeze we can have a garden circus!
My most recent hobby is climbing, I've been doing it for about 6 months now and I'm still really enjoying it so I'll need to find a wall that I can go to in London.
Other than that snowboarding is my long term passion, I'm probably not great but I can't see myself ever getting bored of it. Kayaking is something I should probably do more of as I used to go quite often and always enjoyed it but it's quite a hassle arranging it a lot of the time. Going to the gym is something of a hobby for me but it's also just part of my routine now. I suppose you could count reading or travelling as other hobbies but I don't think of them in the same way as the rest.
I climb here (http://www.castle-climbing.co.uk/) all the time, loads of bouldering as well as routes, updated all the time. Then there is Westway and I think a bouldering only place near London Bridge. Let me know if you decide you want to go to The Castle.
semi-pro waster
12-06-2009, 09:39
Thanks for that, I might well end up taking you up on that offer. Went climbing again for the final time before I move last night and managed to scrape my knee again, it seems strangely fitting to finish as I started :D
Stan_Lite
12-06-2009, 10:20
I have a fairly volatile and short attention span so I get obsessed about a thing but then lose interest and move on to the next.
I'm like that. I get into something and get really obsessive and then it wanes away until the next thing comes along.
I used to be obsessive about PC building and overclocking and spent huuuuge amounts of money building and running a large Folding farm (Folding at home is a distributed computing project run by Stanford University for those who don't know). That obsession has fallen away drastically now and I don't really bother with it now.
I've recently got the photography bug, having bought Matblack's EOS 300D from him. It's something I've wanted to get into for a long time but never wanted to invest a huge amount in. Luckily, Matt sold me his gear ridiculously cheap which was enough to get me hooked. I'm now planning on getting an EOS 40D as soon as possible which is a fair step up equipment wise and after a while, I'll be investing in good lenses. It's a fascinating hobby and improving one's skills and getting the odd shot right is hugely rewarding.
I have also been a whisky lover for several years and have been fortunate enough to have sampled many very good malts over that time. This is something which gives me immense pleasure and is one hobby I can envisage continuing to enjoy for many years to come. Ironically, developing a taste for fine malts has encouraged me to cut my alcohol consumption drastically. I now drink mostly for pleasure and flavour rather than to get drunk as used to be the case. I also enjoy real ales for the same reason and I enjoy drinking wine but my palate for wine is nowhere near as sophisticated as my palate for whisky so I tend not to buy truly expensive wines as they would be wasted on me.
Whereas I would (and have) spend upwards of £200 (and regularly spend £50-£100) on a bottle of whisky, I will rarely spend more than £10 on a bottle of wine.
Sounds like the magic is going brilliantly Pheebs :) Happy for you :D
One new-ish hobby for me, I'm trying to get more into photography now :) Thanks to Stan selling me his Fuji s6500 at an excellent price, it's given me something great to fiddle with. Alongside that I'm trying to learn Photoshop more, and hoping to maybe take an evening course on it in the Autumn.
Been going for a lot more walks and taking the camera so I think it does me good :) Certainly cheers me up!
Davey_Pitch
12-06-2009, 11:06
My main hobby lately has been poker, with me playing it so much that I'm spending more time playing poker than I am playing on the Xbox (shock horror!). I really feel my game is improving and over the past month or so I'm about £100 up, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things but considering I only play the cheap tournaments it does represent a significant improvement for me. If I'm not playing it at home I'm generally reading about it in work and trying to learn more about it. My realistic eventual aim is to become good enough to pull in a few hundred pound extra each month from my poker wins. I'm looking at that as a long term goal but as my bankroll increases and I play in the more expensive tournaments it's something I feel is possible. My completely unrealistic aim is to one day win enough money and be good enough to buy my way into the World Series of Poker (I think entry is roughly $10k) and go in feeling I stand a chance of doing well. That's a completely unrealistic goal, but hey, if you don't set your sights high you might as well not bother setting them anywhere :D
NokkonWud
12-06-2009, 12:17
Sports, I love them, though Football is the one I really love. I am pretty knowledgeable in European football and very knowledgeable about Man Utd who are my passion. I also love playing it, playing twice a week (Wednesday and Sunday) with different groups of people.
Gaming is an obvious one, particularly Xbox360.
I love TV shows, American drama to be precise. I seldom click with UK TV, but have hundreds of pounds worth of TV show DVD's and watch them all the time.
I've just bought one of these.
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/736-20090613-232751.png
Yaesu FT-736R multi-band multimode radio, currently has 2m and 70cms and I used to own one so it's a real pleasure to have another one. I'll have my hands on it during the week as it's in the shop at the moment being checked over to make sure it's all OK.
I've just bought one of these.
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/736-20090613-232751.png
Yaesu FT-736R multi-band multimode radio, currently has 2m and 70cms and I used to own one so it's a real pleasure to have another one. I'll have my hands on it during the week as it's in the shop at the moment being checked over to make sure it's all OK.
That's a real mans gadget.
Knipples
14-06-2009, 19:02
Ere Pheebs, I can do stilt walking if you want to set up a travelling circus?
:cool:
Ere Pheebs, I can do stilt walking if you want to set up a travelling circus?
:cool:
And I'm a really crap juggler.
NokkonWud
14-06-2009, 22:09
I've just bought one of these.
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/736-20090613-232751.png
Yaesu FT-736R multi-band multimode radio, currently has 2m and 70cms and I used to own one so it's a real pleasure to have another one. I'll have my hands on it during the week as it's in the shop at the moment being checked over to make sure it's all OK.
Could turn into a real life 'Frequency'. I love that film.
Streeteh
14-06-2009, 22:19
Sadly my first and foremost hobby is gaming. I love it but i say 'sadly' as lets face it, it isn't mountain biking or climbing or something cool like that but i'm good at it and i enjoy it.
I'm also very partial to a spot of gardening but my current flat completely lacks a garden, communal or otherwise, so i'm really twitching to cut down something and possibly burn it.
I'm a big film lover and i'm very much into music but i'm one of those annoying people who only enjoys 'his' music.
Could turn into a real life 'Frequency'. I love that film.
Can you believe I've never seen it but I'm working on changing that right now ;)
Feek, nice hobby, and nice kit. Do you have to go outside and turn the aerial manually or is it motorised? About 20 years ago I would regularly sit in my dad's shack when I was visiting and listen in. Don't recall if he had one or two aerials atop the mast, but it was motorised. He used to work 2m and 70cm, voice and occasionally RTTY.
I kept thinking about doing the course and getting a license, but I never got around to it. The fact it would only be practical to work handheld from home probably didn't help my motivation.
I'm also trying to get into photography a bit more. I never expect to be that good, but had an unexpected surprise on Friday. I thought I'd go do a bit of practice during an inter-departmental sporting event organised through work. Then the organiser's camera died and as I had the 450D around my neck I got called upon. The results weren't spectacularly great but far better than nothing and I was happy to help. Even if I don't get spectacular results, it's getting me outdoors and talking to people, which can only be a good thing.
Someone tried to sell me some L glass while I was there. I'm not that mad, yet. ;D
The aerial is on a rotator, although it's quite a cheap and nasty one but it does the job. It's something I'd like to get replaced but while it's still working I won't bother to do so. I'll video it spinning around and post it if I get a chance sometime soon.
I used to use RTTY a long time ago, it's more prevalent on HF than VHF and it's always been that way although there used to be a group of us who were quite active using RTTY on 2m. I used to use an old Creed teleprinter and then I got some software for my Acorn Atom which worked very well.
The whole course and licence thing can be done in a very short time now, Mark. There's more than just the old Class A and Class B tickets and I've known people go from having no qualifications to holding a licence with a single day course at a radio club. No more having to sit a C&G exam and then wait months for the results.
I don't suppose you remember what your dads callsign is?
Rotator, that was the word I was looking for.
I certainly do recall the callsign - heard it often enough. Golf Six India Foxtrot Zulu. Based in East Hanningfield, near Chelmsford at the time.
Didn't know the C&G exam had died. I reckon I would have breezed it anyway, but still. As I said, being restricted to handheld only would be a downer. No way I could plonk a mast on the side of the flat. :)
Don't laugh, but my hobbies are:
Playing the flute and learning the piano
Metal detecting
Photography. Although I'm only just beginning to take this up.
hobbies... Gaming, Golf, Beer, Photography, being a geek, American Football.
Knipples
15-06-2009, 07:14
I can still sit down and play a few tunes on the piano, and can usually work out the tune to a song if I sit there long enough.
Stilt walker - you're hired :D
Cooooooool stuff!
Went out last night for some grub with a couple of awesome friends (you know who you are ;)) and then met up with some other people later on (Pickys work mate and wiffy and friend). I ended up showing them all a few magic things (I always carry odds and sods on me) and they really liked it and so a bit later on I thought "Hmmm I'm go to go show they people over there" and ended up showing a group of girlies and boys some things (to which one gave me a quid for performing?!?! I totally didn't expect it! He did then try and hit on me so maybe that's why :p) What was a bit daunting about that was one of the chaps there was actually a magician dude which I didn't know and after seeing me do my bit he told me and said "Hey, I do magic too, but I'm an amateur, I can't do the stuff you're doing". I was like "Cool, that's awesome!! Nice to meet you" but in my head all a bit "zomgwtf I'm an amateur... complete amateur... guess if he thought I was good I must have done the tricks well!"
So yeh, I got a bit of a buzz doing that and then by the end of the evening I had wondered around to a few tables here and there showing a handful of really simple tricks... and they were so well received! I was applauded and had people asking if they could shake my hand/pose for photos, asked whether I do parties and all sorts!
I've never really gone as far as wondering about from groups of people to groups of people and thought it would be a giggle (particularly after having a pint of cider - dutch courage and all that) - only really shown people I have been with and maybe the odd small trick to someone at uni in order for me to have a drink bought :p So it was all new to me.
And I loved it :D
Seriously loved it. A couple of know it alls but then I managed to get them all confuzzled with other tricks and things. Only really did four odd tricks - all very short and sweet and simple - but it was enough to keep people astonished :D
I'm not professing to be anywhere near the standard of any magicians out there at all. In fact... I'm years away from it and have so so so much to learn - the tricks I did weren't perfect by far and just really simple. But still... proud of myself and on a high :)
\o/
Was so happy. Wanna go out wandering tonight and do it again ;D
Pheebs, what you've done is awesome. It's actually _exactly_ what got me interested in magic a few years ago. We were at a company do and there was a wandering magician there who did a few illusions (I so prefer the word 'illusion' to 'trick') at the tables. It got me into the 'I want to do that' mode and I was hooked.
Once I learnt how to do some magic and perfected it, it then occurred to me that I actually wasn't bothered about performing in front of others really and that's when I lost interest!
Knipples
20-06-2009, 09:34
I am expecting you to magic all my packing into boxes next weekend ok, so we can go out and have silliness! :p
Sounds excellent :) Must have been a huge confidence boost so congrats! :)
Briggykins
20-06-2009, 14:30
the tricks I did weren't perfect by far and just really simple.
Pfft, they looked pretty flawless to me and they had us impressed. And I'm not simple! Not really.
Feek - I think you'd make a very funny magician :) But if you have no desire to show people things then it's not worth it. I just... randomly want to go talk to whoever and make them have a bit of a giggle and a different evening to remember :D Tis fun!
Knips - I will try my best! I need to PM you actually, looks like the inlaws are due back around 13:00-14:00 so if you're still up for it I may come up later in the day for evening fun and morning fabness (maybe a swim or something?) on the Sunday?! :) If you're willing to have me ;D There's actually a bar in Bristol which sounds interesting... not sure I'd want to go to it but it's called Illusions and it's always full of close up magicians! Intriiiiiiguing! :D
Jen - fanking you :) It did boost my confidence because if you show a magician a little something, they're not particularly wowerfied as they've seen it all before and things. Showing people and seeing a reaction of "OMG how did you do that!?! I saw it jump! WHAT?! NO WAY!" has made me think "phew... I'm not bad... have a long way to go... but it's already working now on what little I know so that's good!". Makes me realise if I keep working hard at it, I could be fairly awesome (hopefully!) in a few years time!
Briggy - you're too kind!
Makes me realise if I keep working hard at it, I could be fairly awesome (hopefully!) in a few years time!
I'm sure you could, and will be :)
You'll have to come up here sometime soon and see the magic shop I was telling you about :D
Kind of was mega happy earlier and now am like massively booed out and gutted over Micky J.
Good happy news was - I'm now 100% member of the magic society I'm in. Passed the initiation and what not! I have a badge and everything!
I was so super dooper happy. I guess I won't forget the day I became a fully fledged member of my first magic society easily.
:(
Boo.
But yay but Boo.
That's brilliant news!
Congratulations :) *hugs*
Knipples
26-06-2009, 07:07
Yay! Well done Pheebs!
Last night!
OMG!
A chap from Helder called Portugual is over to do a variety of lectures throughout the UK! Young chap, very funny and incredibly talented with cards. He has a FISIM award... this is probably *the* most prestigious award you can ever have as a magician. Seriously top TOP TOP.
His lecture was fanBLOOMINGLYsuperb! What a complete legend! He and cards... they're like one with each other. Nothing is particularly fancy (no funny flourishes or what not) and most things are fairly simple but it's b-e-aaaaayyutiful to watch and the way he had come about to doing certain illusions... it was stupendously clever.
Awe inspiring.
I am so excited.
I love my hobby. I love love LOVE LOVE my hobby.
I sooooo want to be as good as these people eventually. I really do!
*keeps practising*
Glad you're still enjoying :)
I'm pretty chuffed. This weekend was National Field Day, a huge radio contest where the idea is to talk to as many people as possible. I spoke to a guy in Portugal using Sporadic E (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporadic_E) propogation, that's a distance of 1120 miles using 144MHz, a frequency that's more akin to VHF radio with a typical range of under 100 miles. It's the furthest station I've ever worked on 144MHz.
I was so super dooper happy. I guess I won't forget the day I became a fully fledged member of my first magic society easily.
:(
Boo.
But yay but Boo.
Maybe you should wear a sparkly glove as part of your act in tribute to Mr J? :)
Feek, I don't really understand most of your post but YAY!! ;)
Can't believe I missed this thread.
My hobbies are 4 wheeling and model rocketry. I recently got to do some wheeling.
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/littlemoab/PICT002.jpg
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/littlemoab/PICT003.jpg
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/littlemoab/PICT005.jpg
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/littlemoab/PICT009.jpg
Won't get to do much of that for a while as I sold off the Jeep. I'll still be wheeling, just not as extreme. The little Vitara just doesn't have the ground clearance.
As for the rocketry, it'll be quite a while before I'll get to do any of that. It's a rather expensive hobby. I can blow off over a $1000 in one day quite easily. Not something I've been able to afford in a couple decades...
I'm pretty chuffed. This weekend was National Field Day, a huge radio contest where the idea is to talk to as many people as possible. I spoke to a guy in Portugal using Sporadic E (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporadic_E) propogation, that's a distance of 1120 miles using 144MHz, a frequency that's more akin to VHF radio with a typical range of under 100 miles. It's the furthest station I've ever worked on 144MHz.
Wowee... that is impressive!! Still intrigued by what you do! With the competition, how do people monitor who's managed to call where? So bizarre but bizarrely fab!! :D
Maybe you should wear a sparkly glove as part of your act in tribute to Mr J? :)
Hahahahaha! That would be hilarious! I canny though, prefer to do things bare handed and bare armed else people get fidgety about what you've shoved where!
Darrin - $1000 in a day!?!?!?!?!???? That's surely stupid money?! I couldn't do that at all even if I did have the wonga! Morally I would be destroyed!!
Oooh double postage alert!!
I forgot to say (Mubsys nekkid thread reminded me of this...), when I stood up to start my initiation, once the applause had died down for a few seconds my brain suddenly shouted:
"OMG YOU'RE STOOD IN FRONT OF ROWS OF JUST MEN WITH WILLIES! YOU'RE PERFORMING TO MAN BITS!! DON'T THINK OF THEM DON'T THINK OF THEM!"
I think for a millisecond the horror of the above hit my face as I pulled a bunny in the headlights expression.
Made me laugh afterwards! My brain is stoopid ;D
Darrin - $1000 in a day!?!?!?!?!???? That's surely stupid money?! I couldn't do that at all even if I did have the wonga! Morally I would be destroyed!!
Hence why I haven't been off to shoot rockets in a while (at least 10 years ago was the last one)!! ;D
One of my rockets was a scale replica of the Saturn 5. It had 5 Estes D12-0 boosters in the first stage, 3 D12-0's in the second stage and 3 D12 final stage engines in the top stage. And at $15.50 an engine per launch ($170.50 + shipping per launch), you can see where it would get spendy pretty quick!! :shocked:
Especially considering I don't count it worthwhile going out unless I fire at least 20 rockets off at least twice each, preferably three times each (unless I lose or break them in flight)!!
Oooh double postage alert!!
I forgot to say (Mubsys nekkid thread reminded me of this...), when I stood up to start my initiation, once the applause had died down for a few seconds my brain suddenly shouted:
"OMG YOU'RE STOOD IN FRONT OF ROWS OF JUST MEN WITH WILLIES! YOU'RE PERFORMING TO MAN BITS!! DON'T THINK OF THEM DON'T THINK OF THEM!"
I think for a millisecond the horror of the above hit my face as I pulled a bunny in the headlights expression.
Made me laugh afterwards! My brain is stoopid ;D
Many moons ago when I still played coronet in the orchestra I did this right in the middle of the William Tell Overture (you know, the Lone Ranger part?). I was 2nd chair, but this particular concert (at my school no less) the lead chair was out sick. So I had to do the lead part (which I had only fuddled around with a couple times). So here I am standing in front of almost 1000 of my school mates trying to sight read a solo part. The things that went through my head cannot be said without a SERIOUS amount of censoring!! Needless to say I flubbed it. But the conductor gave me a second chance and I aced it that time. ;)
One of my rockets was a scale replica of the Saturn 5. It had 5 Estes D12-0 boosters in the first stage, 3 D12-0's in the second stage and 3 D12 final stage engines in the top stage.
1:1 scale?
That sounds all kinds of awesome.
Things are going awesomely magic wise :) I'm still steadily learning... not necessarily new things but perfecting what I know to date! I'm being slightly spoilt too as a rather amazing card magician/close up artist is pretty much tutoring me too! Yaaaaaay! God knows how I blagged it but I have :) And it's well. Superb.
I could happily dedicate every waking hour I have to it! Hopefully I'll get to a point of being fairly good soon :D Yehaw!
*runs off to play with some balls*
*edit* oh yah, Mister Feeky, I will look at your request tomorrow :) Wubbles! xxx
Yeh yeh *yaaaaaawn* another magic post. Still obsessed which is good :)
Met up with some Magicians again last night. Saw some hypnosis (seriously scary stuff... it actually properly works. Freaky) and then after the pub closed I stood in the car park with 3 other Magicians and learned how to flick cards about 50 odd yards.
Very random. But very much fun!
:)
Reading and ratties (and rat shows) are the only things I can think of to count as hobbies.
I guess I can add kick boxing and pole to this now too
Hobbies.....well
Cars (the building of) but my last has caused me untold grief over the last 7 years (money and mentally) so Ive pulled the plug. Currently helping my biker mate sort his 32 out (as he doesnt normally do 4 wheels!)
Kitesurfing - this is my latest 'fad' another expensive hobby and I still have to manage to get up on the board - hopefully crack this next time im out
DJing - took this up again, but then havent followed it through as I intended (due to 1)....have lots of things I want to try though
MMA - dabble with this every now and then, but havent been for a while (my normal class shut down due to lack of numbers) and the other class I started to go to was full of full on cage fighters
Boobs - probably THE longest hobby Ive ever had :evil: Love em :)
semi-pro waster
27-08-2009, 17:49
then after the pub closed I stood in the car park with 3 other Magicians and learned how to flick cards about 50 odd yards.
How are you at doing a Southern accent? If you can do one even vaguely passably then we should have put your forward for the Wolverine film - you certainly couldn't be any worse than the twonk who played Gambit. ;D
My hobbies are relatively unchanged - I've dropped climbing for the moment due to not having a wall within easy distance but I've upped my sessions at the gym so I'm still getting plenty of exercise.
Treefrog
29-08-2009, 15:29
... the William Tell Overture (you know, the Lone Ranger part?).
Damn, I love that piece of music, it's such a shame that the Lone Ranger part is the only bit that people recognise.
Gotta listen to it again now :)
Years ago I had the 1812 Overture that was recorded using a live cannon. Digitally recorded where the cannon shot was all bits on. Sounded excellent on my friend's system in his living room. Marantz HU with some obscure speakers that went borderline blowing the windows out. Wish I could find that recording again...
oo, not seen this thread in a while.
my previous addition was boring. thought i'd make it interesting;
hobbies... Gaming (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwalker/1888039885/), Golf (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwalker/sets/72157622181124214/), Beer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwalker/2205954807/in/set-72157604273852626/), web design (http://www.shuwarriors.net), Photography (http://bigshowuk.deviantart.com/), being a geek (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwalker/2576647376/in/set-72157603838446497/), American Football (http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2599/21/46/674263904/n674263904_1493216_8202497.jpg). And last but by no means least, Women (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwalker/2261669364/in/set-72157603830604010/)
Years ago I had the 1812 Overture that was recorded using a live cannon. Digitally recorded where the cannon shot was all bits on. Sounded excellent on my friend's system in his living room. Marantz HU with some obscure speakers that went borderline blowing the windows out. Wish I could find that recording again...
I've got it on CD somewhere, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan, with the churchbells of Gothenburg and iirc the Swedish Army artillery. I first heard it on a Linn system with speakers that weighed the same as a small car.
I do believe that's the one, Faysh. If you happen to find it in your travels, any chance of a 320KB recording of it? I can give you access to my hosting if you need a place to upload it. Pretty please with sugar on top? ;D
Can someone explain to me what the difference is between:
Soccer
American Football
Football
?!
I think Soccer's the same as footy but no idea! Isn't American Football the RUgby style jobbo?
I'm off to a magic meet today in London. Bit of a biggy so nervous but excited :) Hopefully might catch some lovely lady hanging around if she's available ;)
Creature
31-08-2009, 08:42
Soccer = Football for Americans.
American Football = Namby pamby rugby rip-off.
Knipples
31-08-2009, 08:47
Football and "Soccer" (I even hate using the word) are exactly the same thing, just the Americans decided to be Americans and rename it.
American football is as Creature says, a rip off of our rugby.....can you see where this is leading, the Americans nicking our best ideas, and then faffing about with them. All they did was change the way they play American football, but it isnt much different from the original that they thieved from us.
Have a lovely day in Laaaandan girlie, shame you arent dragging me wiv ya ;)
The American game should be called handegg, not football!
Um, just to play devil's advocate here, but I do believe the Canadians changed the name to soccer. Then much later the Americans started playing it.
I never did understand the reasoning behind calling it "football" as they hardly ever touch the stupid thing with their foot unless they're kicking a field goal. Should be called "Tackle the other brainless twit"...
OooooOOOOooo!
Why spanking you my good friends :)
I do believe that's the one, Faysh. If you happen to find it in your travels, any chance of a 320KB recording of it? I can give you access to my hosting if you need a place to upload it. Pretty please with sugar on top? ;D
I'll have a look in the CD pile. I'll PM you when I sort it out...
Our radio contesting is going really well, we're entering two a month and are regularly coming very high up in the results considering we're a very new group. In the last 144MHz bash we had we came 4th out of over 120 entries.
I'll have a look in the CD pile. I'll PM you when I sort it out...
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/smilies/happy.gifhttp://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/smilies/singingintherain.gif
I'm working a contest from home and my aerial rotator has packed up. I can turn the aerial just about by using a screwdriver and creating oddles of sparks. That's not helpful!
*giggles*
Last night I went out to see a band I'd never heard of but apparently are doing themselves really wickedly which is cool (the dude was awesome actually - really enjoyed it)
Anyway, the people I met up with went outside for a ciggy and so I stayed at the bar and thought "Hmmm, I'm going to do some magic". Sooo went about as I did, picked a group of guys with their sexy lady friend and did some magic. About half way through I caught out of the corner of my eye that my friends had returned and were standing there looking gobsmacked! I finished off my routine, cracking a joke and then saying "Have a good evening - enjoy the music!"...
... and just as I stepped away my friends grabbed me and said "YOU DIV! THat WAS the band!"
Ahhahahahahahaha!
Whoopsy daisy! :D
I've been asked to do the HSBC Cocktail Party down here!
Ahhhaahahahahaha!
YAY! :D
Knipples
19-11-2009, 18:42
Booby gravy!
Psymonkee
19-11-2009, 19:32
Win :D
Princess Griff
19-11-2009, 19:54
Wow Pheebs! Well done!!! HSBC and the big car people - you're doing good girly! :D
Congrats Pheebs :)
Don't think I've yet added to this thread...
1) Clearly, I'm well into my swing dancing - I dance weekly pretty much - occasionally more, occasionally less. It is THE best fun, I couldn't recommend it more, big up the lindy hop!
2) About once every 18 months I'll go out and be a volunteer with the Tall Ships Youth Trust on their brig Stavros S Niarchos, as a deckie, assistant engineer, or occasionally as paying crew if it's a cheap enough voyage.
3) When I get the time and the money, I love to ski, but it's been a couple of years :(
Princess Griff
19-11-2009, 21:20
Where abouts do you do your swing dancing Sara? I'd love to have a go at it!! :D
Bristol, but there's quite a lot of it on down your way - where in Somerset are you?
I have a blog and we've got a Facebook group but I specifically put up Brissle stuff. I can find out more further south for you though :)
http://bristolswingdancers.blogspot.com/
EDIT wait, north Somerset - that's got to be nearly Bristol anyway :P
Princess Griff
19-11-2009, 22:26
EDIT wait, north Somerset - that's got to be nearly Bristol anyway :P
Haha, yeh well I live in Clevedon....so pretty darn close to Bristol!
Cheers for link - Ill have a gander! x:D
No problem! Email or contact me through whichever medium you prefer best if you want to know anything else :)
CaptRugWash
23-11-2009, 04:34
I'm new here and have read most of the thread, but not all of it, an interesting mix here. My hobbies consist of: Motorsport (Sprints/Hill climbs/Track stuff), Football (County cup & Division 2), Gym (Circuit training, spinning classes, Body pump, weights,etc), Cycling (Cross country, downhill, etc), Xbox gaming, Music and boring myself on various forums.
Flibster
23-11-2009, 13:01
Sadly for me, the only hobby I'm actually doing at the moment is increasing my CD and LP collection.
Substantially over 3000 CD's now and rapidly heading towards 1000 LP's
*gulp*
Oh, and if anyone can recommend a decent record deck that will play 78rpm Shellac records as well as 45 and 33rpm vinyl... Preferably with speed adjustment... as 78rpm records are rarely 78rpm...
I'm not after much... ;)
While being off work since July with a broken foot, I've really thrown myself into my writing, making it much more than a hobby really.
As an example of the workload, last week I produced 9 different reviews or articles of between 1,000 and 1,500 words each. Not even sure if I wrote that much in a week at University! That's excluding the amount of hours put into research for two of the pieces, and the time needed to play the relevant games.
I've got to the stage where I'm starting to get paid for some of it (albeit not much considering the amount of hours each piece can take) and have secured a couple of regular paying pieces a month. The rest is made up of unpaid work but the free games are a perk and I've got to the point where I don't have much trouble getting the best of the games to cover which is rather useful. Built up a decent network of contacts meaning I never have any trouble finding more assignments to take on. :)
I'd love to make it something that can support me financially, but as I have no desire whatsoever to do it full time in an office, the freelance path will be a much slower route to take. I've got the time spare at least!
I've no doubt that some people see it as an easy thing to do but it's far from simple if you intend on doing it well. So I'm quite happy with how things are progressing. :)
Sounds great that you've managed to turn around a bit of a poop situation with the foot, and come out with an interesting, and obviously successful, hobbie!
Writing is a natural talent that can be brushed and edited to acceptance, but the way your reviews/articles appear to naturally flow, inform and entertain is admirable.
It's great that you are choosing to take a freelance route with this - retaining the enjoyent of gaming without succumbing to the tedium of a 'forced piece of writing'... something your work will most likely benefit from also. :)
For me, my new 'hobby' is getting back to some running - I'll most likely create my own thread for this to benefit me in terms of motivation and personal advice :) Or as Desmo suggested, a good place for people to shout at you! ;D
Our radio contesting has gone from strength to strength and the results of this years contest series is out.
Bear in mind that we only picked up on this partway through the year so we only operated for 7 out of the possible 12 events and a couple of our operators are incredibly inexperienced and don't seem to be improving much. I'm hoping they'll get better as time goes on. We have one guy who's only been using the radio for a couple of years but he's a very good contest operator. I don't want to blow my own trumpet too much but he's been listening to me and has picked up on the way I operate very quickly. I _am_ a good contester :)
The overall club championship is made up of all entries that a club puts in so we have no chance with this as the leading clubs have multiple stations working for them and we only have one. We came 22nd out of 51 entries and I think that's really good for our first attempt, especially as we didn't start until June.
The individual station section is much more interesting, this is calculated by taking the best scoring eight entries of the year, we entered just seven times so we were always going to be at a bit of a disadvantage.
We came 21st out of 289 entries.
Next year we will do better. I'm aiming for top ten in the individual station section and maybe the top fifteen of the club championship.
We're also increasing the number of contests we take part in next year, it'll be three a month on 50MHz, 144MHz and 432MHz.
What's involved in Radio Contesting? I see from your earlier post it's about speaking to as many people as possible, but how much does that entail? Twiddle the dials to a random location, say a couple of words, wait for a response and job's a good'un?
Not quite as simple as that, there are a number of details that need to be exchanged between the two stations.
There are a couple of ways to operate in a contest, we tend to find a frequency and sit and call and wait for replies, the other way is to tune up and down through the band and listen for people doing what we do and then call them, this is the search and pounce method. We'll tune off of our spot a couple of times during the contest and pick up more people.
The exchange consists of callsign, signal strength, serial number and location. The planet is divided into a number of unique squares - More details of the system we use is here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Locator_System) and you can have a play here (http://f6fvy.free.fr/qthLocator/fullScreen.php) to see how they work.
A typical contest contact would be like this...
[The initial call]
CQ CQ CQ contest, CQ contest, G0PKT golf zero papa kilo tango, contest
[The reply]
Golf one hotel charlie tango
[First part of exchange]
golf one hotel charlie tango, thank you, you are five nine, zero two six, juliet oscar zero one mike tango, qsl?
[Response]
qsl, you are five seven, zero zero two, india oscar nine three charlie whiskey, roger?
[Close]
roger, thank you, seven three and qrz contest
So we've exchanged callsigns (G0PKT and G1HCT), signal reports (http://www.hamuniverse.com/rst.html), I gave 5-9 and he gave me 5-7. I gave him 026 serial number and he gave me 002, these increment for each contact and locators, ours is JO01MT and his was IO93CW. qsl? and qsl are part of the international q code in this context used as 'did you get that?' and 'yup' respectively. 73 is a ham term for best wishes and qrz is 'who is calling me' which gives anyone who is waiting the cue to leap in for the next contact.
These details are all logged, usually on computer now although up until fairly recently it was all done by pen and paper and then they are submitted to the contest adjudicator.
When it comes to checking the logs, if a single detail doesn't match up between the two stations then no points are given to either station for the contact so it's vital that all details are exchanged. When stations are weak with a signal report of something like 5-2 (technically the 5 means perfectly readable but even on a signal that is so weak it's practically unreadable it's very unusual to exchange anything other than a 5 although we do use 4 sometimes) it's not uncommon to have multiple exchanges to confirm details.
Not all signals are nice and strong. We get a lot of noise when our aerials are pointing directly over a nearby pub and that causes us big problems when we beam that way and there is a phenomenon called qsb which is effectively signal fading due to conditions. This can be quite bad, someone can call who is a good 5-9 signal but ten seconds later they've dropped to a 4-1 signal and then they may come back out of the noise.
You can see a map of all the contacts we made during the contest at the beginning of December here (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2009/yLuapDhkon0cTlxI347k7JveD0qd99e)
Scoring is worked out as one point per kilometre all added together then multiplied by the number of squares spoken to, that's the larger main squares such as JO01 or IO93 as mentioned above in the example contact. We generally manage 18-20 squares per contest.
So that's it. I've just realised how much I typed so if anyone got further than the fist few lines then I applaud you :)
So that's it. I've just realised how much I typed so if anyone got further than the fist few lines then I applaud you :)
Read through it all :shocked:. No small challenge you've got there! Fascinating to read, though it's not really a hobby I'd pick up. Mind you, I imagine it'd be boring here fairly restricted to just the islands if I didn't fork out the cash for some serious radio hardware :)
I'm goooooing to BLllaaaaaaaaaaaackpooooooool tomorrow for the Magic Convention!
I AM *THE* EXCITED!
Going on my tod but know a fair few peoples heading up... going to be fantastic! Lectures and shows and competitions and and and more magic and music, all gladly swished back with a deck of cards and a glass of vino!
Meganess.
Mega mega meganess!
Been waiting for this for over 5months now :D
I guess you could say my Jeep is my hobby right now. Especially with as much time and effort I put into it.
Well, today was no different. The call volume dropped to nothing and I was bored.
This is what my Jeep looked like this morning:
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/paint/unpainted.jpg
After a little masking, a light go over with the abrasive wheel on the drill and 2/3 of a giant can of Rustoleum gloss black and you have this result:
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/paint/paint1.jpg
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/paint/paint2.jpg
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/jeep/paint/paint3.jpg
Further plans are to take the black that I have on the bonnet area and continue that up over the roof and down to the pinstripe. Then after all that is done I will hit the purple part (actually it's Dark Cherry) with every form of paint restorative compound known to the automotive industry to get it shiny again.
All in all, a lot of masking, painting and buffing shall ensue in the next few days as I get time.
That looks a lot better like that, Darrin.
We have another big contest this weekend - It's actually a 24 hour bash but we're putting an entry in the section that means we only work six hours of it.
So last weekend we did some aerial work. Bear in mind that this is 30 feet up on a roof that's on top of the Martello Tower which I posted here (http://www.boat-drinks.co.uk/showpost.php?p=299938&postcount=59).
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/aerialwork-20100306-121741.png
Health and Safety would have a fit! After a while we realised we couldn't get the aerial we wanted on top of that pole so we used an angle grinder to trim about five foot off of it. Tony was really careful because as he said - If the grinder had locked he'd have been thrown backwards off the tower!
As a result though we have replacement cable to the aerial and a rather good masthead pre-amplifier fitted.
After selling off all my kites to fund re-furnishing the house, 5 months down the road....Ive just bought another ;D
Its left me short for this month, but it was offered at a too good to miss price...so I had to say yes!! (Then Virgin Media screwed up my bill and took double the amount....ooh the fun)
Its a Peter Lynn Venom II and is a nice ickle 16m baby :evil: will be getting a bit of landboarding in and then move back into kitesurfing when the water warms up a bit :cool:
Kites are interesting - You say that's a 16 metre kite, that's bloody huge.
I like the idea of getting a big kite and using wire as the string and attaching that wire to the back of a radio! A full wave vertical aerial at 1.8MHz (160m) should work quite well.
Anyway, my new toy. I sold my wireless and replaced it with this.
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/ft-847-20100516-192733.jpg
Yaesu FT-847. HF through 70cms all in one box. Nice.
Kites are interesting - You say that's a 16 metre kite, that's bloody huge.
That's more parachute than kite!
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/ft-847-20100516-192733.jpg
Mmmmm buttons!
Aerial work completed!
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/new_aerials-20100605-173739.jpg
/edit - and I just spoke to someone in Austria (673 miles) using the big vertical at the back!
Creature
05-06-2010, 18:37
I'm thinking about taking up dodgeball =/. I've played it a few times this year, and trained with my brothers uni and it's stupid amounts of fun.
Only issue is that there's no teams near here, and my brothers team is uni only...and in Derby. I know there's one hopefully being set up in Bristol, where i'll be moving next year, but for now, it's the arduous 2 hour trek to Derby every week. Worth it though.
Knipples
06-06-2010, 20:11
I know there's one hopefully being set up in Bristol, where i'll be moving next year, but for now, it's the arduous 2 hour trek to Derby every week. Worth it though.
Yay! :D
Creature
06-06-2010, 22:13
Yay! :DMajor woo-age indeed \o/
Can't wait to get rid of him :D
Creature
07-06-2010, 10:33
Can't wait to get rid of him :DLove you too.
Kites are interesting - You say that's a 16 metre kite, that's bloody huge.
Not so big when they are up in the air though ;D
These have both been sold now, as I couldnt get on with the Venom out on the water (the Venom being an ARC which is an air filled foil) and the other is an LEI (leading edge inflateable....i.e. I pump up the struts before I can fly it). Both 16m and the LEI is a real pig to move into position before take off....lord knows what my 17m will be like :evil:
Anyway....me attempting a water start in low winds on my Venom II
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/iain.burns/BoatDrinks/Venom%2016m.jpg
And this is my Naish Shockwave 16m being flown on the beach (wind was too low to get it out on the water)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/iain.burns/BoatDrinks/Naish%2016m.jpg
They're very pretty :)
I've had a cracking day on the wireless today.
On 28MHz I've worked Italy, Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, Andorra, Russia, Poland, Italy, Portugal and Croatia.
On 144MHz I've worked Russia and Spain (love Sporadic E when it reaches VHF)
On 50MHz I've worked Croatia, San Marino, Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia and Serbia all using just 5w into my 28MHz 5/8 vertical.
I've been sorting out my computer logging and even though I'm not finished getting everything done, today I plotted a map of all the contacts I've had over the last year or so using VHF (144MHz). These are all using the directional beam aerial you can see in the picture I posted above.
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/144MHz-20101015-223241.jpg
I'm very happy with that because although I don't have what could be considered a big station, it's working very well.
nothing really other than watching F!. Although when I'm in the mood I like building stuff like the bbq or gardening. Oh as well as F1 there's cooking. really think I should find more to do, but never find anything.
Not really a hobbie (yet) but have been climbing a couple of times recently and going again in a few weeks time - really enjoying it :)
The boy done good.
http://ocukroguesgallery.com/feek/temp/certificates-20101029-194306.jpg
Nobody's ever managed a Gold award yet and although I won my group (yay), I really wanted to get the Gold as well and I think I only missed it by about 2%. Next year :D
Piggymon
29-10-2010, 21:55
Oooh, did you get any caps ? I made some :D
I didn't know the RSGB did caps so nope.
What did u have to do for that Mr Feek?
:) congrats!
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