What are your other obsessions?

<p>Hi Everyone - <br /> <br /> A long time ago, in a forum far, far away, I dared to ask everyone what their other obsessions were. Presumably photography counts as one, but what else makes you tingle? I'll start. <br /> <br /> I've been a lifelong astronomy enthusiast and was lucky enough to be an adjunct at the local college for about twenty years. I'm sure some of my students never got astronomy vs. astrology but I did my best. <br /> <br /> I've been playing bass in bands for about thirty years. I'm not much of a guitar player but lately I've gotten into making Frankencasters...unholy assemblies of eBay parts. We're talking unnatural creatures like three-pickup Teles and hard tail Strats with only two knobs.<br /> <br /> See a few pics <a href="http://www.kevinbourque.com/guitar/strat_01.jpg">here</a>, <a href="http://www.kevinbourque.com/guitar/tele_01.jpg">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.kevinbourque.com/guitar/tele_02.jpg">here</a>. I finished the two wood bodies. They all three play pretty well. Also see the water-slide decal below. I wanted it to look real from a distance and leave no doubt about its heritage if examined closely. <br /> <br /> Thanks to the mods up front for indulging this wildly off-topic post. <br /> <br /> Happy new year! </p><div></div>

<p>Oddly enough, as obsessed with photography as I am, my #1 obsession is also music. More specifically, playing guitar. I've played off and on for almost 30 years (since my teens) and recently I've gotten back into it with both feet. A couple of years ago I sold all of my gear, with the exception of my Cry-Baby Wah, but I replaced it all last spring. My current weapon of choice is an Ibanez RG-series guitar but I'm seriously considering a newer and much nicer acoustic than what I have now, perhaps an Epiphone. I also enjoy astronomy and have considered buying a basic telescope with a tracking feature to allow me to do long exposure night shots without those annoying star-trails. Any feedback on a simple and inexpensive telescope you can give me <strong>Kevin</strong> would be greatly appreciated. I usually do night shooting with my DSLR but I have been trying to decide which of my classic cameras to use for this as well.</p>

Also an astronomy enthusiast. My largest scope is an Orion Apex 127 (5" Mak) mounted on a Vixen Porta II mount. It has

fantastic resolution for an instrument of it's size. Also have an Apex 90, Orion Short Tube 80 refractor, and a Celestron C-

90 Astro with wedge and AC RA drive.

<p>I don't want a pickle, I just want to ride my motorcycle.</p>

<p>Same as Tim. I ride motorcycles. I have a Suzuki GSXR 750 which is currently sitting miserably in my parking garage thanks to the crappy weather.</p>

<p>Duck hunting. Ducks are evil. We must shoot them every time the opportunity presents itself.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>OK, motorcycles, colour and b&w darkroom work to support the photography habit, repairing cameras, microscopes, electronics, cars, inc machining replacement small parts in the workshop, woodworking, etc. Way too many hobbies. :)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Astronomy is cool, but I leave that to the more passionate and just enjoy the results!</p>

<p>My interests:</p>

<p>- Theology, Jesus studies and New Testament criticism.</p>

<p>- Motor cars, usually the ones I can't afford. I refuse to throw money at them, though, as I'd rather spend precious dollars on things that matter (i.e. photography).</p>

<p>- The Second World War. Pretty much every aspect. I'm playing an old game, MOHAA on the old Toshiba laptop. Very atmospheric. I used to play Day of Defeat (online multiplayer) a hell of a lot. I've been reading about WW2 since my teens IIRC.</p>

<p>- Industrial design & architecture.</p>

<p>- To some extent I'm interested in languages.</p>

<p>Fountain pens. These days I hot rod Noodler's Piston Filler pens ($14 each). These come with steel nibs (usually rigid points, but he's offering flexible nibs now also). I upgrade mine to flexible 14K gold nibs taken off "parts" pens. Much nicer writing! These can also have the filling piston upgraded by using 2 O-rings (50 cents for two rings), and silicone plumbing grease. The O rings are more durable than the original nylon piston. One ring is insufficient to prevent ink leakage, however, so two rings it is.</p>

<p>When I'm not fooling around with these cheapies, I do have a collection of very nice vintage and modern fountain pens, some of them in the Leica M range of prices.</p>

<p>I'm with Andy (and Kevin) music is my second #1 obsession. Years ago, in another life, I used to play guitar too, back then I had some piano and singing lessions as well, now I just play music all day every day when I'm at home. Hmm, when I'm doing some studio stuff or editing photos I also play music - best of both worlds I guess!</p><div></div>

<p>Glad to see other motorcycle and fountain pen enthusiasts on here - I have a Kawasaki ZZR600 sitting in the garage, and for my fountain pen obsession I have a selection of Lamy pens here with Noodlers ink in them, my favourite being my lovely Lamy 2000</p>

<p>Other obsessions of mine include aviation (private pilot license since 2002), and database programming in Filemaker, which most of you will probably scoff at, but it keeps me interested. Currently trying to combine both interests by writing aviation software.</p>

<p>Oh, and not to forget my best mate, my Maltese Terrier, who is currently lying on her favourite set of pillows (which have to be arranged just so or there's hell to pay), snoring loudly.</p>

Among the things i do, i also 'create' Frankencasters.<br />

Am building two HSH strats, series-split-parallel switches for the 'H's, 7 way switch (5 way plus pull-push pot), right now. The oil on the necks is curing, and i will leave them alone for a few weeks. Some shielding to put in, a bit of soldering left, and then they're done. Don't you hate those string trees (rolling or otherwise)? I do.<br />Next on the list is a fretless bass (Jazz or Precision, or JP, haven't decided yet. I'll see what's available, for as little money as possible, to work with.)

<p>Music here too. None of those modern solid body guitars though! My main guitar is a Gretsch 6120 Nashville which gets used to play rockabilly, jazz and blues on a regular basis.</p>

Lovely thing, Steve, a Gretsch. But so darned hard to build 'from scratch'. ;-)

<p>Seems like guitar related stuff is the main theme here;<br>

I have a Memphis Les(s)Paul set neck, a slew of squire telecasters, one mutilated by my own hands to change it in a Fat tele years before they got made by squire, a genuine fat tele, a squire custom P90 tele and a regular tele that's starting to call out to me to start modding it. Then there is the old Hohner LessPaul that got changed in a Goth crunchy hogg (matt black spray paint job, Big honkin' Humbucker with only a volume knob) and my Terrada acoustic that gets requested by friends on a regular basis for recordings. So far for the guitars part. This does show that fools really seldom differ. Then there is the "management" for a friends band, Tim's Favourite. (www.timsfavourite.com) and the sound engineering part. </p>

<p>Yeah, Guitar player long time. Taylor 314CE Grand Auditorium customized with a Fishman Stereo Blender, Ebony tuning keys and John Pierce Ebony arm rest. I play this, with a mute, through a Fender Acoutisonic Jr. A Baby Taylor and Simon&Patrick(Godin) SP6-Cedar Dreadnought round out the acoustic side. A Mex Fat Strat and Dillion FrankenPaul customized with Duncan '57 Classics, Switchcraft electronics, Grover Green Tulip tuners. Played through a Marshall Valvestate AVT 2000 </p><div></div>

<p>Sailing</p><div></div>

<p>Just don't know, always too many irons in the fire. Love to read and the subjects are diverse, mostly science and astromony, and history I guess. Sometimes I'll sit in a coffee shop and try to figure out who the people are and what world they live on. About photography, well I enjoy building/modifing stuff more than using it. I think my lost calling would be camera repair but I don't have the fine motor skills for it. Most recent interest is the Apollo moon program. Those guys were nuts, very courageous too. Whenever I look up at the moon I always wonder who will it be that returns to tidy up. I mean, there is an a lot of stuff there now, 6 LM desent stages, a couple of rovers, several impact sites where empty LM accent stages and Saturn 3rd stages were crashed. They are still using the retro reflectors to measure the moon's distance but I dont know if the other instruments left there are operating. Just a scatterbrained interest in many things I guess.</p>

<p>Although I only own parts for them now, British mororcycles in the 650 cc parallel twin range have been a lifelong obsession for me (now 60 years old). My last, a 1956 BSA Road Rocket, was the best of the lot. <br>

Also, classic Boston Whaler boats, and vintage Altec Lansing Iconic speakers tend to be near the top of my list. Since it's below zero in Minneapolis, the Whaler is under wraps, but the Altecs sound wonderful with either Frank Sinatra or the Grateful Dead. </p>

<p>Tim: "And I don't want to die, just want to ride my motorcy.........................................cle!"</p>

<p>Kent: Thrashing ducks is good!</p>

<p>Best regards,</p>

<p>/Clay</p>

<p>Photography is my #1, mashing into my biology studies. That way, I get to shoot lasers and high voltage at things, and it's ok. But I'm also fascinated with any technology that was from the past- even the recent past, as my 1989 Macintosh I take everywhere attests to. I love fountain pens, old computers, making books (from scratch), typewriters, and am never without a pocketwatch. I read about everything I can, but never got the ear for music or the balance for a motorcycle. <br>

For Miss S, though, it's knitting.</p>

<p>I discovered astronomy when I was about eight years old. A decade later, I discovered the world of the microscopic. Photography happened somewhere in between, though it was some years before it partnered either. The telescope is an Newtonian 6" from the English maker Orion Optics, and the microscope is a Leitz SM-Lux. I'm a great enthusiast of binocular astronomy, and routinely dissuade beginners thinking of investing in cheap jellyscopes in favour of good binoculars and a sound tripod.<br>

<br />I too am an ink pen writer. Penmanship was still taught at school when I was a boy, and I loved dipping pens from the first day they were handed out to a class of nine-year-olds. I write personal letters with my fountain pen, and there's something special about ink on paper that just doesn't happen with ball pen or roller pen. I mainly use Sheaffer, Cross, and some ancient dipping pens with wooden penholders. My favourite pen for carrying around for general use is a stationery store (WH Smiths in UK) pen, which happens to be a rebadged Sheaffer. Light, smooth, starts first time. My favourite nibs are medium left italic (being sinistral) and copperplate. <br>

<br />Another passion is electronic calculators. My first was a Royal Digital IV calculator, which used an electronic stylus instead of push buttons, and was surprisingly faster to operate than a push button calculator. My first scientific calculator was the Sinclair Scientific, a very attractive calculator to look at, but possibly the worst calculator ever made, utterly dreadful. Looking up log tables was faster, and more accurate. Although there were lots of other calculators that appeared and disappeared, the Texas SR56 was a favourite for many years, even though its memory was volatile. I was working in telecommunications exchange planning, and managed to get it to do some fairly sophisticated stuff in its one hundred non-merged program steps. These days, I use an HP50g or TI92+, or occasionally a TI83. I still have my original slide rule, a Faber-Castell 57/87, from 1968, and an Boots Ringplan badged log-log slide rule.<br>

<br />Musically (my wife disputes the adverb) my other passion is recorders. I love the sound they make.<br />When I get the opportunity, there's nothing I like more than getting on my cycle, and cycling through the leafy lanes and minor roads of Surrey, far from the madding crowd.</p>

<p>Driving aimlessly on gravel backroads listening to good music.</p>

<p>Used to do a lot of sport diving, and liked my motorsport back in the day...gotten a bit too old and sensible now! I like to go on long walks with a classic (camera that is) slung over my shoulder. Still like the surf too, hard not to where I live.</p>

Well I like so many different things, it's hard to put put any order to it. Like so many here I've been fully and steadily busy with music all of my life and all it's side interests (recording microphones tube(s) amps PAs etc). I actually studied Music for a few years. I'm one of those guys that play most anything. Initially guitar, then keys and sax. Toss in an harmonica and the other woodwinds like flute and clarinet. I too have a love for old electric guitars and indulge in the Fender direction. I also have had a life long love affair with Hammond Organs. Own two in storage, and 4 Leslie amps. For my regular gig I use an old CX3 and a Technics P30 and usually blow a Conn C-Melody. I love to read history and politics. Strong Interests in the America Civil War. I used to be active with old European Sports Cars MGs Triumphs, Alfas Fiats etc but married life and moving to europe has set that on the shelf ..for now! I've been steadily involved in technology; radios (cellular),Loran C, GPS , wireless networking etc, and while I rarely seek out technical work.. I'm pretty handy at resolving computer problems. I like tinkering with OSs be it UNIX variations and/or WIN/Mac etc. I'm ADS positive and quickly distracted from everything, which is both good and bad! I like old stuff! I like older cameras. Glad I found this forum!