Other Hobbies (passions, obsessions?) - Page 2

[cannonfodder]

See...

Usenet refugee

[Randy G.]

Was into cycling for quite a while. Raced a season on the Encino Velodrome. Did a lot of road riding for fun and training, and mtn. biking. Got my Fat Chance a year before index shifting came out. Although the mind still enjoys cycling, the body isn't in total agreement.

I have put on quite a few miles on the BMW over the years- a 1979 R100RT I bought in '81.

Still do some photography and graphic art work on and off- some for fun, some for cash, and some for friends (shot two weddings last year for friends as wedding gifts).

Put the last two together and you get this:


My bike, my photo, my graphic art work (Mt. Lassen in the background). The large size is archived - sorry.


I spent a lot of time working on this- refurbished roof, suspension work, laptop mount, etc. I hand wet-sanded it and power buffed it all. 30 feet of motorhome is a LOT of sanding!

For the last couple of months I have gotten back to my music- playing blues harp at a local, weekly open mic jams. Picked up a nice, portable amp and a new set of harps and have been having a really great time doing that.

nationwide.
And then there's my car. Rebuilt the front suspension a while ago, but the car is just getting broken in- about to turn 200,000 miles! Relatively rare 5 speed stick.


And finally, my two German Shepherds. They are definitely an addiction! Both from rescue groups. The black one was found wandering the streets when he was about 8 months.

In our next edition we will see Randy's wife, their three rescued cats, and their ten acres in the mountains. Randy's life, brought to you by "Coffee." available at better coffee shops

[joellawry]

Computers and tech, Digital Art;



And Music, a lot of time playing and listening to music, and messing with it to - im looking into Audio Engineering as a long time career but at the moment i do web design for Canterbury University.

Finally, hanging with friends is always i high point, especially when it involves Settlers Of Catan;

For those of you who haven't heard of or played Settlers its a board game and it is incredibly addictive :p

[Coffeecritter]

Hey, Bernie! Around our house a camera is viewed with much skepticism if it requires batteries. The 8X10 Deardorff rules. Glad to see that there are still some film die-hards in this group. Hooray for Kodachrome 25 and T-Max!

The underwater kit does require batteries (lots - especially for the big strobes), but that's the exception.

Greg - I use a Nikonos V as a back-up for the Nikonos RS or for when I want quick 20mm available light shots (dolphins, anyone?). Could always use more backup strobes. PM me.

Sue

[bernie]

Hey, Bernie! Around our house a camera is viewed with much skepticism if it requires batteries. The 8X10 Deardorff rules. Glad to see that there are still some film die-hards in this group. Hooray for Kodachrome 25 and T-Max!

The underwater kit does require batteries (lots - especially for the big strobes), but that's the exception.

Greg - I use a Nikonos V as a back-up for the Nikonos RS or for when I want quick 20mm available light shots (dolphins, anyone?). Could always use more backup strobes. PM me.

Sue

Wow. A Deardorff eight bye is one spectacular piece of equipment. I spent about 10 days this past November in France floating down the Seine and spent Veterans Day on Omaha beach. I hauled the hassy which was my first trip and long shoot with medium format. What fun. Even a knucklehead like me can turn out a good shot running a ton of film through one of those.

Bernie

[bernie]

Hey there:

Glad to see you here! Another Alt.coffee refugee! Are you new here, or have you been visiting a while, and I'm not frequenting the same parts of hb? I visit AC infrequently now because it has become so trashy.

-Greg

Newbie here, Greg. Only a few posts after lurking for a month or so. This sure is refreshing after the trench warfare over at ac. Glad to see so many old friends.

Bernie

[popeye]

Greg, any chance you competed in your tornado at CORK? I grew up sailing lasers and was up there from 1994-2002ish. I was also pretty much everywhere else lasers and optimists were sailed, but that's the only place i remember tornados. That's a funny connection.

My hobbies?
Kiteboarding - it used to be sailing and will once again be sailing (when my body gives out).
Surfing - much warmer here in socal than in New Jersey
Computers - I dabble
Guitar - I dabble even less, but lately my soul has been deciding it wants to express itself, and then i play.
And i love croquet (collegiate champion, but yep, the field was tiny (# of competitors, not the actual croquet lawn))

-Spencer Weber

[lonewolfbefree]

I love cycling and salt water aquariums. Due to a semi-recent downsize in my life, I do not currently have an aquarium up. Once I finish my degree and move on to grad school, then I will probably get one up and running again. For now, all I can afford (LOL) is my espresso habit.

[ntwkgestapo]

Glad to see "Real" photography still in use! I DO have a couple of small digital cameras (that I've got to say DO see quite a bit of use), but I still have a couple of old Canon cameras (an A1, bought in '80, and an F-1n bought in 82-83 time frame) AND an older version of the camera that I learned photography on, an old Graflex Speed Graphic (the 2.25 x 3.25 press camera version). The Graflex is older than the one that I learned on (it doesn't have the newer Graflok back so it's plate film only), but I've taken quite a few pictures with it over the years! I've resisted the final move to a digital as I've got way too much invested in old Canon lenses and while the body of a good digital would cost quite a bit, the cost of the lenses to replace (almost, I'll never be able to really replace ALL of the lenses! One of my Canon lenses is the 1200mm telephoto! Don't think they even MAKE one for the newer mount!) what I've got would be more expensive than anything BUT, maybe, a GS3 (leaving out the 1200mm! add that in and it'd be MORE than a GS3 by quite a bit!).

[gscace]

Greg, any chance you competed in your tornado at CORK? I grew up sailing lasers and was up there from 1994-2002ish. I was also pretty much everywhere else lasers and optimists were sailed, but that's the only place i remember tornados. That's a funny connection.

My hobbies?
Kiteboarding - it used to be sailing and will once again be sailing (when my body gives out).
Surfing - much warmer here in socal than in New Jersey
Computers - I dabble
Guitar - I dabble even less, but lately my soul has been deciding it wants to express itself, and then i play.
And i love croquet (collegiate champion, but yep, the field was tiny (# of competitors, not the actual croquet lawn))

-Spencer Weber

I sailed every CORK between 1989 and 2003 except one. Tornado World Champs were held there in '95 and I sailed that regatta. The Canadian Yachting Association moved its headquarters to the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in 2000 or 2001. This was great for us as we were ramping up our Olympic bid at that time. The Canadian Tornado sailors Oskar Johanson and John Curtis were very friendly with us. We trained together and shared information. This was quite symbiotic because we weren't competing for spots on the same Olympic Team. Since Oskar and John were on the Canadian national team, we got access to the CYC coaching staff, with was better organized and more approachable than the US coaches.

So we've spent tons of time in Kingston. We have several really good friends there and visit them every year. John Curtis stopped sailing Tornados after the 2004 Olympics, and bought an F-27 trimeran. Our daughter, Anneke, was introduced to sailing last year, when we caught a ride on John's F-27 during a visit to Kingston. It's not the white knuckle adrenaline shock that the Tornado is, but it sure was fun!

Did you sail Miami Olympic Classes Regatta as well?

-Greg

[mikep]

I used to play hacky sack in high school and college, but recently I have discovered freestyle footbag. I found that a lot of players make their own footbags, so I have been working on my sewing skills:

[bernie]

Our daughter, Anneke, was introduced to sailing last year, when we caught a ride on John's F-27 during a visit to Kingston. It's not the white knuckle adrenaline shock that the Tornado is, but it sure was fun!

Did you sail Miami Olympic Classes Regatta as well?

-Greg

You guys will hate me for this true story, Greg. My wife used to be on the board of a large buying consortium which purchased medical supplies and services in the billions of dollars. The board would have nice retreats and us spouses would get hauled along. I was the only male so got my share of cooking classes, etc. I loved it. One retreat was in up the road from San Diego one time. One of the activities for the spouses was a "boat ride" in the harbor. They put us on this spiffy wooden sailboat and cruised us around the harbor. Then an inflatable rides us next to us and I'm told by the skipper to get onboard and was transferred to a really spiffy sailboat. Looked familiar, but being from the desert most boats look like...boats. Anyway, I climbed inside this thing and the interior was totally raw. Nothing finished at all. No place to sit, let alone stand without being in someone's way or stepping into a maze of ropes and gear. The captain greeted us and asked me to take the wheel and point towards a far-off bouy which was very near the dock as far as a desert rat was concerned. He told me to keep tracking toward the bouy and he would signal me when to heel the boat over and make a 180. I didn't see how a boat that big could turn in that small a distance but was game to try. As we came abreast of the bouy the captain signalled and I wheeled as fast as I could and that boat was like a hot knife in butter as she turned on a dime and headed back from where we had come. I couldn't believe it. All sorts of groans and creaks made it sound like the boat was going to come apart. There were digital meters taped all over the hull inside and on the mast to measure stress points. What a ride. I knew at the time I had no clue whatsoever of how lucky I was to be doing such a thing. Thats the story of how I got to sail the Stars and Stripes while she was undergoing a new sail configuration. I still wouldn't know a catamaran from a canoe, but I do appreciate those who understand the sea and boats.
Bernie

[ronpistolero]

Hi.

I do pistol shooting, particularly air pistol and free pistol events of the UIT. ( olympic events). No longer competitive, I just do it for leisure, sort of a way to "get out of the house". I actually bring a latte to the shooting range on a regular basis and join some matches. Not much shaking there!

[Jacob]

Hang gliding - the best thing that ever happened to me (I have no children/family)


Jacob over Umbria, Italy

Video (for better quality click here):

[popeye]

Did you sail Miami Olympic Classes Regatta as well?

Yeah, I did a couple of Miami OCR's. My brothers also sailed every year as well: Travis, Ryland and Royce. Of us all, Royce is probably the best. He had a shot at the Laser slot this past fall. I think he ended up 16th or so, but that's because he entered the US Naval Academy as a freshman in June! That messed with his olympic campaign a little bit, as you can imagine.

[Mike Panic]

photography - currently rebuilding http://www.mikepanic.com & stock for extra money @ http://www.istockphoto.com/mikepanic - worked for 4+ years shooting in the electronic music industry as well

blogging / writing - http://www.randomn3ss.com

2003 yamaha r6

my dog

cooking

eating

run an online photo forum: http://www.iphotoforum.com

run a cheap deals blog (currently on the back burner) http://www.ilikecheapstuff.com

run a photo blog for people getting nailed for shooting in public - http://www.freedomtophotograph.com (slated for redesign / new content in another month or so)

[quiltmaster]

Quiltmaking and Dishes; Fiesta and other Ohio Valley Colorware....

[hbuchtel]

Quiltmaking and Dishes; Fiesta and other Ohio Valley Colorware....

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I like those two tampers in the bowl there... interesting design!

Henry

[Ross Leidy]

I've been lurking on HB for awhile now - finding tips on getting the most out of my Europiccola, and being easily distracted by reviews of machines like the Vibiemme Domobar Super. One day I'll spring for a nice shiny new little e61 machine, but at present I'm still nursing the naive hope that I can find a reasonably-priced rebuild project at auction. We'll see.

My main hobby/obsession over the last decade or so (ouch - how the years do fly by) has been designing, building, and paddling wood strip kayaks. After spending more time recently with the Europiccola, I have determined is that woodcraft is much more forgiving than the process of making a good espresso.

Ross

[bernie]

You made that!? Holy cow is that beautiful. What are the woods?
Bernie