Non-gaming hobbies

[Warpiglet-7]

Aside from
Really s

I haven’t been to a show in a few years. Who’s the last you saw?

Aside from small bands in small venues…

Omg….it has been years!

Slayer!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Aside from
Really s

Aside from small bands in small venues…

Omg….it has been years!

Slayer!

I think the last metal show I saw was Judas Priest on their 30th Anniversary British Steel tour. No, I’m wrong- it was a couple years later, Soundgarden & Mastodon. (Same venue as JP.)

I’ve seen hard rock shows more recently, though. Last I can recall was taking my Mom to see STP and Rival Sons. Didn’t get to see STP, though- Mom was out of gas at that point. It was our second RS show, though- we’re both fans.

Before either of those, at her request, I took her to see Aerosmith with Slash’s Snakepit opening. She skipped choir night for that one, which made the music director quite confused.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I think the last metal show I saw was Judas Priest on their 30th Anniversary British Steel tour. No, I’m wrong- it was a couple years later, Soundgarden & Mastodon. (Same venue as JP.)

I’ve seen hard rock shows more recently, though. Last I can recall was taking my Mom to see STP and Rival Sons. Didn’t get to see STP, though- Mom was out of gas at that point. It was our second RS show, though- we’re both fans.

Before either of those, at her request, I took her to see Aerosmith with Slash’s Snakepit opening. She skipped choir night for that one, which made the music director quite confused.

Well the pandemic really messed with us. My kids are asking to go see Iron Maiden with me. One of them gets vinyl and has a record player!

My youngest asked if Danzig still plays live. I have done my duty!

But I recently after a long drought went to a smaller venue and had the time of my life. I need to start doing more of that.

My eyebrows were not burned off with pyro like at slayer, but I still felt a rush seeing that kind of music live.

I am in no way posturing when I say I probably should do more local music and smaller name bands. The frequency of fun will go up and honestly it’s a good dollar to fun ratio.

The last such tucker I bought was only 15 bucks!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Big shows and small shows have vastly different energies. When I lived in Austin in the 90s, I BINGED on sms avenue shows, and count several on my all-time favorites/most memorable.

One in particular was held in a venue that had been converted from a small airplane hangar. They’re concrete bleachers around the floor, which was SRO. When the volume was pumping, there was no place for the sound to go except through our bodies- it was like a 2nd heartbeat.

$15 admission. Swervedriver opening for Monster Magnet opening for Pearl Jam opening for Soundgarden.

Simply epic!

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

I seem to pick up new hobbies, every now and then, in order to develop skills that interest me.

I did semi-pro motorsports (motorcycle racing) photography for roughly 25 years, after a short stint working in the pits for friends. Still have all of the gear and am looking for other things to shoot, since I've let my press passes lapse. I was the first person that I know of to shoot motorcycle racing with mirrorless system cameras (Olympus), in Canada. Currently have a makeshift dark box in my sitting room, to control light for portraiture. Every now and then I break out the telephoto lenses to shoot birds, and the like, and do a little landscape stuff when I travel.

I did a little rough leatherworking almost 40 years ago and dusted that off again, a few years back. I've been making hats, mostly, though there have been a fair number of various sizes of bags and an 18 arrow quiver. Also a few masks, like the Plague Doctor mask that was one of my first items, when I started up again.

I've been doing chainmail for about 12 years now; everything from small pieces of jewellery to full shirts. It's mostly costume grade aluminum stuff, for friends, but I've also done a full welded shirt of stainless steel for myself. I have a shirt made with anodized aluminum scales that I need to rework, using mild steel rings instead of aluminum, because I want it to be more durable. It's a full disassembly/reassembly that I've been putting off for a while now, because of the scale of the task (no pun intended).

Every now and then I will beak out a piece of PVC plumbing pipe, a bit of 1"x2" oak, and a heat gun, and make a bow. They're great for costumes but I can make them in over 30 pound draw, so they actually shoot pretty well too. I don't currently have one as I've given them all away, at this point, so should be about due to make another.

A few pics:

I tried to get into leather working. Made one belt then I saw the show, Forged in Fire, and thought I'd like to try that. Unfortunately, the closest place to me that gave classes was about an hour away, and they required you learn how to forge basic metal works before you could take their blade forging classes. Probably saved myself an eye and a few fingers by not getting into it.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

And before my computer drowned in a flooded basement (and I lost my programs, multiple gb of source material and most of my previous work) I used to do a lot of digital image manipulation. (Before WotC crashed their forums, I used to be one of the primary contributors to the What Do YOU Think My Character Looks Like? threads. And I've obviously posted a lot of my work in the current D&D Meme thread on here and in the various threads in this forum.)
Hopefully, some day I'll be able to scrape up the money to get a new camera and a better computer and get back into them.

Actually, I do remember your stuff on the WoTC forums. Too bad you had to drown your PC in your basement to keep it from talking.

 

[Ryujin]

I tried to get into leather working. Made one belt then I saw the show, Forged in Fire, and thought I'd like to try that. Unfortunately, the closest place to me that gave classes was about an hour away, and they required you learn how to forge basic metal works before you could take their blade forging classes. Probably saved myself an eye and a few fingers by not getting into it.

I'm in a rental townhouse and don't really have a proper place for a forge, or I'd have done some knife making too. Some years back my next door neighbour was a guy from Jamaica who made steel drums, in the summer. I had a great time watching him work and 'tune' them, until some idiot decided that he was a hazard and got him evicted.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Then there's the beverages. I've always loved my coffee, but I've gone over the top with it in the last several years. I have two burr grinders, one of which is strictly for my espresso and the other for my pour over, French press, and cold brew. My beans are always fresh from a roaster and ground only when used. I've got kettle so over the top people think I'm ridiculous for having it, and my espresso machine while basic, has been modded significantly. It's also being replaced in the next year or so by one so expensive people have once again questioned my sanity.

The coffee spilled over, bad pun intended, into tea. My stupidly over the top kettle comes in handy there too. I've got at least eight varieties of loose leaf tea in the house at any given time now.

I'm an avid coffee addict, and I've been wanting to get into the whole coffee brewing thing. I just end up going other things. So, what do you recommend to start off with? I've always wanted to grind coffee fresh when I'm ready to make it. What burr grinder would you suggest?

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

I drink beer

It's been a while, Pig...
So...have you become a beer snob as well? I got into beers a while back. There was a thread on some forum site where I would constantly post about some new beer I'd tried. Can't remember what site it was. Fortunately, the local breweries I have around me also put on local band shows. Turns out to be a pretty grand time.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

I'm in a rental townhouse and don't really have a proper place for a forge, or I'd have done some knife making too. Some years back my next door neighbour was a guy from Jamaica who made steel drums, in the summer. I had a great time watching him work and 'tune' them, until some idiot decided that he was a hazard and got him evicted.

That's terrible. Some people just lack an appreciation of artistic work and cool forging and fire and all that awesomeness.