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What other hobbies do you guys and gals have?


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That's cool. I envy those who can express themselves in words, and especially artistically. I've tried writing poems/songs as well as creating art, but for all my appreciation of the aesthetic, I have no talent whatsoever.

So I became a drummer.

Keep at it Holmes!

-Mike

Funny, Mike. But don't sell short - a good drummer who actually shows up to rehearsals and gigs is worth his weight in beer. Guitarists, like me, singers and keyboardists easy to come by. But decent bassists and drummers are the key to success.

An' Holmes - poetry is a window to the soul. BE not ashamed of it. Besides, poets only become recognized after they die, anyway. SO keep plugging away...

Edited by dahut
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Funny, Mike. But don't sell short - a good drummer who actually shows up to rehearsals and gigs is worth his weight in beer. Guitarists, like me, singers and keyboardists easy to come by. But decent bassists and drummers are the key to success.

An' Holmes - poetry is a window to the soul. BE not ashamed of it. Besides, poets only become recognized after they die, anyway. SO keep plugging away...

Dahut

NICE TO see you here,I do enjoy it and take your heed/advice heartily,thank you.

I am okay not that it will ever get published...{Brother has had his poetry publshed when he was 11 years old !}

HOLMES

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On top of those 2 things I'm a master diver but am now stationed in the desert :( I also enjoy flying (working on my PPL), PS3, geocashing, airsoft, but my 2 big ones are guns and my STi

Edited by Doughboy
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But decent bassists and drummers are the key to success.

What qualifies as a decent bassist?

I can play scales up and down but I can't create anything worth a damn yet. :boohoo:

Edited by Jinro
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On top of those 2 things I'm a master diver but am now stationed in the desert :( I also enjoy flying (working on my PPL), PS3, geocashing, airsoft, but my 2 big ones are guns and my STi

One simply must love being an American! Oorahh!

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DSC_7145.jpg

DSC_7092.jpg

On top of those 2 things I'm a master diver but am now stationed in the desert :( I also enjoy flying (working on my PPL), PS3, geocashing, airsoft, but my 2 big ones are guns and my STi

One simply must love being an American! Oorahh!

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What qualifies as a decent bassist?

I can play scales up and down but I can't create anything worth a damn yet. :boohoo:

Several things, actually.

+ Innate rhythmic coordination - the bassist has to hold the music together. It is really the hardest job of all, IMHO.

Scales alone are nice, but they become dry and rote. If you don't know what note is supposed to be played when and WHY, and have a dash of swagger tossed in, playing scales is just emitting tones. Creativity comes after structure, believe it or not (well, except for jazz...).

+ Playing with others. Working together, holding both the tempo in check and the music on the line is the bassists highest job. If you are playing alone and dont have a rhythm trainer, you need to get one.

+ Lead the Program. My favorite bass players are leaders, or carry a strong strong hand in the decisions made about the music.

+ Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal. This is not the same as practicing. Practice is also important for working out things you know you need to improve upon. But rehearsal is what ties it all together. The best bass players (like drummers) show up to rehearsal.

Tie all this together and you will have done your part - your creative side will start to take over on it's own.

Edited by dahut
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The reason I ask is because I've been playing bass for about 14 months in a Church band environment, and I'm fairly certain that I've got rhythm and playing with others down. I'm just not much of a leader and I'm still trying to do stuff with scales. I don't actually know any other bassists and I've never played a musical instrument before so I'm curious as to where exactly I am i.e. going the right direction or not :P

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The reason I ask is because I've been playing bass for about 14 months in a Church band environment, and I'm fairly certain that I've got rhythm and playing with others down. I'm just not much of a leader and I'm still trying to do stuff with scales. I don't actually know any other bassists and I've never played a musical instrument before so I'm curious as to where exactly I am i.e. going the right direction or not :P

Well they haven't thrown you out yet, right? That's a good thing, so hang in there!

If there is a director of the group, get with that person and work out a plan for your improvement. If that person is not a "musician" in the proper sense, partner up with that one person you get along with who is. Often it's the keyboardist.

What are you trying to do with scales, in particular? What direction are looking at?

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Well they haven't thrown you out yet, right? That's a good thing, so hang in there!

If there is a director of the group, get with that person and work out a plan for your improvement. If that person is not a "musician" in the proper sense, partner up with that one person you get along with who is. Often it's the keyboardist.

What are you trying to do with scales, in particular? What direction are looking at?

Well, the dynamics are a bit....odd. I play at my wife's Korean church, both the adult Korean service and the youth English service. In the adult service I'm just given lead sheets and I'm not really expected to play much outside of what's on the paper, and they never practice so it's still quite challenging and fun even though I'm just whacking away at root chords to whatever pattern the drummer is doing. The youth service is where I have the most fun, and I have the freedom to create basslines, but I haven't quite gotten basslines to come out of scales yet. Occasionally I can do something simple and interesting for a measure, and sometimes do a little fill between chords but that's about it.

My ultimate goal with scales is to be able to sit down with my bass, and noodle around on it but still have it sound like music. If I try to play around on it now it just sounds like noise.

I would also like to branch out and play more, even outside of my church (maybe some other church setting, like at an event or something), since I go to a really small church, and I'm older than the oldest youth band member by about 6-7 years. But I have no clue where to start, or if I'm even at the level where I can advertise myself yet.

Edited by Jinro
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  • 4 years later...

I look for Pokemon. Lifting weights, cigars, cooking on my smokers, looking for comets, and reading were all things I enjoyed doing and this weekend hit and I'm now looking for make believe animals on my phone.

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Interesting how some people who replied to this thread early on haven't been active on ARC in a long while. Things sure have changed up here on Walton Mountain...

Anyway, I love coaching baseball, playing baseball, watching baseball, and collecting baseball cards and memorabilia from my favorite MLB Teams (Pirates and Blue Jays). So yeah...I like baseball :lol:! Model railroading is also high on my interest list as is traveling to War of 1812 and American Civil War Battlefields. Reading books is a constant too. There are others but those are the main ones.

:cheers:

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I've got hundreds of books, but I don't consider it a hobby...it's a given to read as much as I can. The smell of books might be a hobby though.

What I think of hobbies for me are scale models, photography, and collecting autographs.

It's been a long road to come to terms with it, but within the last six months I've been able to open up about my chronic depression. There are no ifs ands or buts with it...it just sucks. I haven't built anything on a model in 5 years; plenty of ideas but no drive. Same problem with photography; I've got lots of awesome ideas, even building my own camera.

Collecting autographs has been very therapeutic for me. I've got quite a few projects going on, from my Return Of the Jedi poster to my 20"x30" SR-71 print for Blackbird pilots/RSO's to one off actors/actress/history related themes.

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Neither of my other hobbies ever replace scale modeling.

I am an avid reader, all of my life. I like to read anything and everything,,,,,,although Anne gets tired of my quests to read book series in order, lol.

My other hobby is singing. I have always sang, but, not too much in front of people, except when I was a teen. Now I sing in public, in church, and on albums produced by a local sound guy in his studio. (Nashville area is great for that, even retired sound guys have studios all over the area)

I was with a band for about a year, but, well, "this picker didn't like that drummer, that bass player didn't like the lead, and the lead didn't get along with the rhythm player." And it didn't seem to matter who you replaced and what they played. This sums it up, lol

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Hmmm...shooting here also. I'm seeing a trend!

Like Rex mentions though, none of my other hobbies and "stuff" would ever eclipse model geeking, just part of who I am.

The only thing I geek out on more than modeling is fishing.

I used to be much bigger into shooting than I am now. The price of membership to my local range has just become stupid. So I'm limited to shooting trap and skeet from time to time.

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Since I retired at end of 2013 I spend a lot more time building models but, during Spring, Summer and Fall I am busy with the vegetable garden and upgrading the landscaping. All year 'round the wife and I visit local wineries, micro-breweries and distilleries. I am a student military history, kind of a requirement of a military career and now I volunteer at the Stones River National Battlefield near Murfreesboro, TN, leading staff rides for military organizations and tours for individuals and small groups. The staff rides were cut short last Fall and Winter after my knee replacement, but it did allow more time for building models.

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I was obsessed with triathlon till my knees suddenly and unexplainedly (by the medicos anyway) shat themselves:

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So, I got back into fly-fishing:

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Even tie a few on my own flies now, like this ugly thing I used for Murray Cod (the fish in the above pic)

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Still chase trout & do a little guiding for extra $'s (but my accountant calls it 'hobby income' :thumbsup:/> ). Off to NZ to chase trout again in Nov - trout Mecca!

MoffatTrout_zpsacb7xwln.jpg

Edited by Thommo
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My other hobbies are plane spotting and keeping a record of weather events in my area.

When an interesting aircraft lands at one of the local airports, Adelaide or Parafield, I'll go and get some photos of it. Get some photos published in Australian Aviation magazine sometimes too.

My plane spotting photos. Model photos are mixed in as well.

My Photos

When I save enough cash, I'll go in trips to see other airports. Last trip was in May when the An-225 came to Perth Western Australia.

An-225 in Perth

My weather setup.

Weather conditions

Station hardware

Davis Vantage Pro 2

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One simply must love being an American! Oorahh!

PREFIX: My points below may be seen by some as borderline political. If any of you do not care to hear me out as such then PLEASE STOP HERE! I'm going to be as level headed and clear as I can even though it is my 2cents and free thoughts.

To my American friends, NEVER surrender the 2nd...

Oddly enough in recent weeks I've had a curiosity about firearms. Most of my life being a Canadian I've not given firearms much a thought except that I too was once more in the camp of the propaganda against it all and I would think why does anyone need to have access to so many firearms and such variety? I know in Canada firearms are available to most as well. Mostly long arms and with numerous hoops to step through in legally possessing and storing such. Not like the Right to Bear Arms in the USA. Of course growing up, my family knew hunting families and yes up here we Canucks love the shoot em up movies and of course Dirty Harry being at the top :worship: But for me I did not see much more about guns and ownership, again especially up here the anti-gun propaganda and such rhetoric about the 'said to be lunacy' of America over guns has been strong. But for me once I develop an interest in something I want to break from indoctrination and media/special interests sensationalizing, in this case against guns. I'm like a dry sponge to soak up as much info as I can on a topic that perks me up.

So again oddly I began to learn more about firearms. Today online and especially You tube one can get good info and real facts, not just propaganda from politicians, NGO's, special interests and government bureaucracy including such on firearms. So my quest to open my mind began and my opinions on legal firearms, ownership, usage and storage has changed markedly. It is not my intent to be really political on this topic but only share my new found opinions. Again for most of my life I was more on the side of at minimum apathy or more so even sort of anti-guns. But let me please tell why I have changed my opinions on most of this.

A: The USA has more legal firearms (over 300,000,000) than any other nation on Earth, yet it is far from the most violent and gun violent. In fact its gun homicide numbers puts it right in the middle 102/200+ nations on Earth. Yes it is higher that most of its western peers in gun homicides but not much so in all homicides. IE: Canada has a gun homicide rate of about .5 /100,000 persons The USA is about 3.0/100,000 persons. But all homicides Canada is about 2.5/100,000 and the USA is about 5.0/100,000. Not much of a real difference. The most violent nation in homicides is Honduras at 51/100,000. Brazil about to host the Summer Olympics is at 28/100,000, Mexico is at 22/100,000. If guns were the reason for most homicides then the USA should be swimming in spilled blood. Add the fact that most gun crime in the USA is with illegal guns and criminals don't give a crap about gun laws or the 2nd. People kill people, some with guns, others with other means. Homicide is most prevalent in poor areas/populations and in backwards nations.

B: I from watching mostly informative Youtube videos about gun culture in the USA and yes even in Canada, I now see why shooters enjoy the sport. hickok45 has become one of my favorite Youtubers about firearms. His logical, intelligent and enthusiastic ways to video his gun life and culture is impressive and for me eye opening. I sense viscerally what the sport of shooting may be. As a Canadian who's only ever shot an air rifle, hickok45 helps me sense what it must be like to squeeze off rounds. Besides that, he is a KICK A** shot. He shoots mostly pistols and revolvers and based on my judgement in his videos he can hit targets oh maybe 90/100 feet away with a hand gun ??? BTW this stuff and other videos has me personally like the design and sexy look of revolvers most.

C: As a result of my journey to learn about firearms above my years of mainstream media and government propaganda especially up here, well I listen to myself talk to family, friends, coworkers etc. and the guy in me a mere 2-3-4 years ago would be falling out of his chair in what he'd hear me now say. I consider my eyes more open now

I find it's not too hard to be a legal long arms carrier up here, though it's tougher to get and have access to/keep restricted firearms such as hand guns up here. I'm not sure if I will ever go down that path to legal firearms ownership up here but I will defend anyone's right to do so.

So many ask, why do gun owners need or want firearms? BECAUSE THEY CAN! In the USA it's an expressed right.

To better answer the above, Why do many people feel the need a 2000+ sq.ft house? Why do they feel a need/want for 2.5-3 bathrooms? Why do many women feel a need to say a 8x10 walk in closet and to have all the clothes and shoes they often have? Why 40-50+ year old men up here in beer league hockey often buy and use $300+ hockey skates and $150+ pro grade sticks? Why does the MAN OF THE BARBECUE feel a need/want to have a $700+ gas grill? Why do many people want a 35+ft. RV? Why do some motorcycle riders want a 150-200bhp sport bike? Why if I had the cash would I want a 707bhp Dodge Challenger Hellcat?

BECAUSE THEY/US/WE/I CAN! nuff said!

To finish my thoughts. If I was an American I'd be a member of the NRA even if I did not shoot and I'd stand proudly to defend the 2nd Amendment and in fact ALL OF YOUR AMENDMENTS to the greatest man made document on this planet, the US Constitution. NEVER LET THEM TAKE IT AWAY AND BY GOD, NEVER SURRENDER IT!

Peace Out :beer4::cheers:

Edited by Gordon Shumway
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