Lion
Have you read "The Tiger" by John Vaillant? It's a true story about a man eating Siberian Tiger. I recommend it.
I play bass trombone in a big band. Wish I could play more, but there's just not a lot of demand for that stuff around here any more. What a shame, really. Great music. I love listening to it, too.
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
I'm a sport shooter and collector of military surplus firearms. Nevada has liberal firearms laws and in my area...there is an abundance of wide open space for me to shoot at inanimate objects. I don't hunt. Just to mention a few, I have a 1911 45, a 1944 Russian Mosin Nagant, a 1941 No.4 British Enfield, and an M1903 Springfield-Rock Island arsenal. Been my favored outdoor hobby for nearly 40 years. Also an enthusiast of US Colonial history being a native SE Pennsylvania.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
BATMANI also am a Huge Star Trek fan.
Have you seen the web series Star Trek Continues? They've done a pretty impressive job of recreating the sets. James Doohan's son plays Scotty, and Grant Imahara from the Mythbusters plays Sulu (though he's not very good.) The guy playing Kirk is pretty good, but his voice is a bit high-pitched.
http://www.startrekcontinues.com/
Steve S
mononguy63What a shame, really. Great music. I love listening to it, too.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I do some stained glass pieces, mostly for family gifts, help my wife with the computer side of her jewelery business, and walk the dog. This winter, I have spent too much time shoveling snow and removing ice dams from the roof of my house. Spring is only a couple of weeks away, but in Maine winter often stays around until mid-April
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Is railfanning really a different hobby? If it is then that is another hobby of mine, but I do not really separate the two. Organizing and editing years worth of photographs, mostly of trains, is almost a hobby in and of itself. The usual homeowner stuff including gardening but also some elementary shop type stuff. Nature and animals -- reading and photography. I have been playing the violin for 50+ years and still take lessons.
I hate to admit this but in a way YouTube has almost become a hobby. In the course of an evening (when I should be wiring the layout or building kits or scratchbuilding structures) I might look at some animal videos, some music videos including old TV shows like Tennessee Ernie Ford, other old TV such as What's My Line, a Star Trek excerpt or two, and films of ships and boats in distress, hard landingings of airplanes, and very old Thomas Edison movies.
Dave Nelson
OK, since you asked:
I like to turn old, nicely weathered tractors like this:
Into this: Along with working on our place in the north woods of WI. Mike.
Into this:
Along with working on our place in the north woods of WI. Mike.
Along with working on our place in the north woods of WI.
Mike.
My You Tube
I just got back into trains after 25 years away from them, but my longest continuous hobbies are hiking, camping, and flyfishing. Man I need to get out of Texas. I also like to build vacuum tube audio equipment, fly R/C helicopters, and play jazz guitar and saxophone (been playing for 30 years--started at age 10.)
Bruce
Other hobbies include photography....trains, flowers, architecture, landscapes as seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/synthdawg01/
I'm also a musician, playing synthesizers in my church's worship band and occasionally composing and recording, as heard here: https://soundcloud.com/wjwilcox
I also volunteer at a local Christian radio station, a sideband radio station servicing the visually impaired and an organization providing support services to the elderly.
Bill
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig"
Big sports fan here.
Other then Model railroading which for me is usually Sept-April but this year may be June, I am big into sports gaming ( Strat o matic,video games ) and during the warm months mountain biking. Also enjoy reading (WWII history,Trains, and sports )
Some woodworking, reading, my grandson take up most of my leisure time other than model railroading. Does surfing the internet count? I probably do too much of that.
Paul
I test golf clubs to see if the game improvement technology has been perfected. Thus far, they have to develop much better clubs to accommodate my skills. Buying golf ball stocks would be a good move.
Oh, and I try to keep a '66 GTO running.
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I like 1:1 model cars, and gardening.
BATMAN Born in 1957 and had trains with Dad from day one. 1966 started a pretty good sized Strombecker Slot Car layout....Still had trains. 1967 Started playing a lot of Golf. Still had trains. 1970 started skiing, lots of fast (unorganized) downhill at Whistler, Big White and Lake Louise. Still had trains. 1972 started playing the Guitar and became friends with some good musicians and owners of Vancouvers largest recording studio. Ten years of seeing some well known bands recording their albums. 1973 bought a "Honda 500 four" motorcycle. 1974 Grade 11 and 12, offered a job to work in Proshop at Golfcourse 40 HRS a week, Golfcourse Pro got me playing some very good Golf, had girlfriend. Trains started getting dusty! 1976 Offered job by Federal Government. Started to Travel the world. Trains stored. 1977 Bought brand new 1978 Maroon Chevy Van and spent a ridiculous amount of money turning it into a Custom Shaggin Wagon. It was great on all those ski trips. 1978 New girlfriend has horses, spent a lot of time riding and going to events with her. Broke up 8 years later. 1979 Learn to fly and would chase my friends around the sky in Piper 181s pretending we were top guns. Including around those mountains in Crandells photo's NW of Vancouver. My flying instructor was a "just retired" Canadian Airforce instructor. He convinced me to go for an interview with the Canadian Armed Forces. I went to three and wrote a three hour exam to test my suitability to be a pilot. I must have passed as they phoned me on a regular basis for the next two years to see if I was still interested. 1980s Learned to Hanglide, started sailing, did white water river rafting, including rivers in Australia and New Zealand. Started Scuba Diving. Loved The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Started Mountain biking bigtime, Still played lots of Golf and Skied. Still thinking about trains. Travelled a lot. 1989 Bought a 1990 Mazda RX7 Turbo II. 1990s Still traveling and playing lots of Golf, lots of Mountain Biking and Crazy Skiing. Some broken bones along the way. 1991, Sold my Customized van for almost as much as I paid for it 14 years earlier. Did I mentioned the inside looked like a Captains cabin on an old sailing ship. I often wonder what ever happened to it. 1997 January 20th. I heard that if you haven't got married by the time you were 40 you probably wouldn't do so. So I married a long time friend of mine nine days before my 40th birthday and had a boy 11 months later and a girl in 2001. Got my bucket list out of the way and then got married and had kids. I saved the best for last. 2001 Son and I have a 5' x 10' peace of plywood full of Thomas the Train. 2002 Had to get glasses and I am slowing down. Not skiing anymore (knee's are shot) 2004 Out comes my old train stuff and away goes Thomas. 2005 Mountain Biking isn't happening very often. It's time to move the Grand Piano out of the 15'x24' trainroom "to be" and get started. 2007 Golf is no longer enjoyable. 2009 Arthitis has grabbed me by the throat and I am told to take early medical retirement from Feds, much to my chagrin. Present day, Trains, guitar, Riding my John Deere ( we have an acre in grass I feel like Forest Gump after a life of thrills) making wine and involved with sons Hockey. My wife shows and breeds dogs and our house is always full of people. I am 57, my is 52. We are both retired and that allows us to spend a lot of time with our kids now 12 and 15. In the Summer we hit the road or Airport the day after school gets out and come home when we feel like it. I also am a Huge Star Trek fan.
Born in 1957 and had trains with Dad from day one.
1966 started a pretty good sized Strombecker Slot Car layout....Still had trains.
1967 Started playing a lot of Golf. Still had trains.
1970 started skiing, lots of fast (unorganized) downhill at Whistler, Big White and Lake Louise. Still had trains.
1972 started playing the Guitar and became friends with some good musicians and owners of Vancouvers largest recording studio. Ten years of seeing some well known bands recording their albums.
1973 bought a "Honda 500 four" motorcycle.
1974 Grade 11 and 12, offered a job to work in Proshop at Golfcourse 40 HRS a week, Golfcourse Pro got me playing some very good Golf, had girlfriend. Trains started getting dusty!
1976 Offered job by Federal Government. Started to Travel the world. Trains stored.
1977 Bought brand new 1978 Maroon Chevy Van and spent a ridiculous amount of money turning it into a Custom Shaggin Wagon. It was great on all those ski trips.
1978 New girlfriend has horses, spent a lot of time riding and going to events with her. Broke up 8 years later.
1979 Learn to fly and would chase my friends around the sky in Piper 181s pretending we were top guns. Including around those mountains in Crandells photo's NW of Vancouver. My flying instructor was a "just retired" Canadian Airforce instructor. He convinced me to go for an interview with the Canadian Armed Forces. I went to three and wrote a three hour exam to test my suitability to be a pilot. I must have passed as they phoned me on a regular basis for the next two years to see if I was still interested.
1980s Learned to Hanglide, started sailing, did white water river rafting, including rivers in Australia and New Zealand. Started Scuba Diving. Loved The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Started Mountain biking bigtime, Still played lots of Golf and Skied. Still thinking about trains. Travelled a lot.
1989 Bought a 1990 Mazda RX7 Turbo II.
1990s Still traveling and playing lots of Golf, lots of Mountain Biking and Crazy Skiing. Some broken bones along the way.
1991, Sold my Customized van for almost as much as I paid for it 14 years earlier. Did I mentioned the inside looked like a Captains cabin on an old sailing ship. I often wonder what ever happened to it.
1997 January 20th. I heard that if you haven't got married by the time you were 40 you probably wouldn't do so. So I married a long time friend of mine nine days before my 40th birthday and had a boy 11 months later and a girl in 2001. Got my bucket list out of the way and then got married and had kids. I saved the best for last.
2001 Son and I have a 5' x 10' peace of plywood full of Thomas the Train.
2002 Had to get glasses and I am slowing down. Not skiing anymore (knee's are shot)
2004 Out comes my old train stuff and away goes Thomas.
2005 Mountain Biking isn't happening very often. It's time to move the Grand Piano out of the 15'x24' trainroom "to be" and get started.
2007 Golf is no longer enjoyable.
2009 Arthitis has grabbed me by the throat and I am told to take early medical retirement from Feds, much to my chagrin.
Present day, Trains, guitar, Riding my John Deere ( we have an acre in grass I feel like Forest Gump after a life of thrills) making wine and involved with sons Hockey. My wife shows and breeds dogs and our house is always full of people.
I am 57, my is 52. We are both retired and that allows us to spend a lot of time with our kids now 12 and 15. In the Summer we hit the road or Airport the day after school gets out and come home when we feel like it.
I also am a Huge Star Trek fan.
Whew! Brent, I got tired reading that much less doing it! Man, You've just about done it all!
Jarrell
My other hobby is bird watching. My wife and I go out almost every weekend to see what we can see. Right now we have an abundance of snowy owls which are normally fairly rare this far south (southern Ontario). Last weekend we got to watch a snowy owl steal a freshly killed squirrel from a red tailed hawk. It was partly our fault because we unintentionally scared the hawk off of its kill before we could get the car stopped. The owl swooped in and grabbed the squirrel just a few seconds after the hawk took off so it must have been watching. The hawk gave case and forced the owl to the ground, but then thought better of taking on something with bigger talons so it flew off. We then got to watch the owl have lunch! All this within less than 100 ft. from the car.
This May we will once again head down to Point Pelee on the north shore of Lake Erie. It is a major migration point for everything coming back from their southern migrations. You can see dozens of different species in just a few hours if you are there at the peak of the migration. Often the birds are very close because there is a lot of undergrowth for them to forage in.
Its the sort of hobby where either you get it or you don't. Unfortunately the media often pokes fun at birders but what the heck, we have thick feathers!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Outside of model railroading and railfanning, for the past three years, I've been doing oil painting, which I hope to turn into a career before long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRuLSuNx9zU
I also do a little amature ghost hunting, having had experience of my own for some time now (http://chatanuga.org/MyGhost.html) and have visited the abandoned town of Moonville, Ohio (http://www.chatanuga.org/Moonville.html) a couple times.
I also enjoy spending time with my cats Casey Jones...
...and Smokey.
My first cat Chessie passed away back in August 2010.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
What? .... . There is a life outside of model railroading! .... ..... I'm stunned. Who would have thought so?
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
JeremyBBig sports fan here. I am big into sports gaming ( Strat o matic,video games ) and during the warm months mountain biking.
I am big into sports gaming ( Strat o matic,video games ) and during the warm months mountain biking.
Oh, man! Back in high school my buddies and I drafted our own Strat-O-Matic football teams and played a full season. I remember my offense featured Archie Manning, Wilbert Montgomery, and Harold Carmichael.
Reminds me. I gotta get off the computer and go watch my Pacers game.
dominic c jeffrey-wimberly Tried sending you a PM on this but I can't so I'll have to answer here. The first one seemed a bit campy, a lot of 'put the other goy in his place' and the flash effects really put me off. But I did like the story line. The redesign of the Enterprise with a 'hot rod' look bugged me a bit. I give it two stars. The second one was a bit more serious with a bit of the old 'turn Kirk loose on them' mentality thrown in. Going after Khan helped to sell it as hyappening in an alternate timeline. I got to say, I really enjoyed both. It was like a breath of fresh air to the franchaise. With the new timeline, and with JJ Abrams directing, it insures more movies in the future. Joe C
jeffrey-wimberly
I got to say, I really enjoyed both. It was like a breath of fresh air to the franchaise. With the new timeline, and with JJ Abrams directing, it insures more movies in the future.
Joe C
jacon12Whew! Laugh Brent, I got tired reading that much less doing it! Man, You've just about done it all! Jarrell
I've had a great life Jarrell. We had some friends over a while back and they were telling us about a little town in South America they had visited and asked if I had been there. I said no. My wife looked at me with a frown on her face. She got up and returned with a photo of us standing in the village square. Whoops! I know I left lots of things out on my list, it all seems to run together after awhile. Must be old age.
Steve.
I have watched a couple of the "Star Trek Continues" series on the "Tube" but just can't get into it.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I like to rail fan, collect coins, and every once in a while watch airplanes take off and land. I get to enjoy the latter more since I got a job at Cessna. The only bad thing about my job is the overtime, but that's OK.
Will
Besides trains, I do the usual: home improvement, travel, sporting events, concerts, but as far as a real hobby, I build furniture:
in my shop:
My education was to be a shop teacher and it is still a great passion, even though I never worked as a shop teacher (right out of college I became a training specialist on the Space Shuttle program). I just love to build stuff.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
Investing $$$, fishing, boating, driving my Cadillac CTS fast, driving my 2011 Silverdo at any speed, going to visit railroad museums and searching for railroad historical ghosts. Traveling period, I love to be on the road.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
After being a dad of two very busy kids and model railroading there's woodworking, fishing, landscaping, kayaking and scuba diving.
Phil .. that shop looks amazing.
Mike
This is a neat subject. I have had many hobbies from building scale control line and RC planes to constructing several Marine Models sailing ships...to collecting and restoring Austin Healys (I now drive a C-5 Corvette). Then sailing...had several boats, but second wife hated the water (I'm now on my third and she is supportive of everything I do). Flying....? Could have been a hobby, but I turned it into a profession for almost 20 years. Then folk and mountain music. From age 8 to present. I've been playing guitar, dulcimer, some fiddle and mostly clawhammer banjo....also now professionally (www.newsoutherncowtippers.com ) Then there was painting and sketching. I wound up teaching figure life drawiing fo years, but new wife informed that "No nudes is good nudes."
There is much more including collecting *** cats ( We now have nine which qualifies me as being a "pussaholic") It is hobbies that keep us young and alert. I'll be 76 in a few months, but now thanks to model railroading, I feel like 46...possibly younger.
HZ
I'm a rockhound and occasional Aussie Bass fisherman. I also like to write short stories and poems and I compose music on my keyboard for my own enjoyment.
Alfadawg - love your photos
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0
Joe Staten Island West
The editorial in the April MR noted that a large fraction of Americas no longer are "hand-handy" or "tinkerers". From the responses here, virtually all MR's vary from long time tinkerers to totally addicted tinkerers! It is great to see so many folks with so many other interests that actually involved in doing something where a finished product is involved. Bottom line, behind most every MR guy is a host of hobbies and interests that involve the "hands-on imperative".
Richard
If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed