Are you offended when the media poke fun at your hobby?

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

I think many of the Wargamers have sound modelling credentials, one of my friends enjoys painting his armies in great detail with well researched features, the battlefield features and scenery use much he same techniques as model railway construction. Some talented sculptors make the moulds for the casting of the soldiers. Some people are gamers and just enjoy that aspect of the hobby just as some people like building engines and some like running them.

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

“You want to try being a botanist”

No I don’t , they make fun of minority groups like lichenologists – despicable!

Rik

[Robin GrahamParticipant @robingraham42208]

First thing I made when I got a lathe was a chaotic (aka double) pendulum in polished brass, steel and rosewood – hence chaoticbob. Some folk found it beautiful and fascinating, some were 'what's the point of that?'. Even more so when I (only half jokingly) suggest it might be the basis for a chaotic clock which wouldn't tell the right time even twice a day – some people sort of stare at me and back away, obviously I'm deranged, others laugh and say they want one. I've even been offered £400 to make one!

The point being that I personally don't give a toss what other people, in the media or elsewhere, think about my interests – I do what I do because it pleases me, and if it pleases others that's a bonus.

Bob.

PS forgot that I'm Robin Graham here, chaoticbob is my screenname elsewhere.

Edited By Robin Graham on 26/10/2017 22:04:02

Edited By Robin Graham on 26/10/2017 22:06:44

Edited By Robin Graham on 26/10/2017 22:10:42

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Mike Poole on 26/10/2017 21:30:33:

I think many of the Wargamers have sound modelling credentials, one of my friends enjoys painting his armies in great detail with well researched features, the battlefield features and scenery use much he same techniques as model railway construction. Some talented sculptors make the moulds for the casting of the soldiers. Some people are gamers and just enjoy that aspect of the hobby just as some people like building engines and some like running them.

My brother used to put immense effort into fantasy wargaming models and scenery alongside a hobby interest in art in general. Nowadays he sells his paintings

[CHARLES lipscombeParticipant @charleslipscombe16059]

I think Duncan Webster has summed the situation up very well and concisely. Basically I couldn't care less what people think about my interests.

Am I a saddo for liking my hobby? If I am, I am sure I am less sad than the people who stand in the freezing rain and who actually care which team wins a football match. And at least I produce something tangible, even if it is only swarf!

What does annoy the c…p out of me is the blatant misrepresentation of American documentaries, for example about the way they single-handedly won WW2. Crass populism for the American market maybe, but with the power to distort history

Chas

[IanTParticipant @iant]

One of my sons was keen on Games Workshop and was very good at painting the figures – something we tried to encourage by regularly buying him figures and paint etc. (much better we thought than him just watching TV). Then I found out that he was selling them (at less than cost) to his mate's at school. I decided he could buy his own GW stuff after that…

Been thinking about how to fit the EW's compound slide to the boring table and finally came up with a potential way. I didn't have much in the way of materials in the junk box but did find an old shower tap front plate. Wasn't sure what it was made of and feared some kind of muck metal but it turned out to be chrome plated brass. Decided to save the middle bit (a nice large brass washer back to the scrap box) so trepanned it out with a small parting tool, stepping slightly side to side. It made a bit of a racket but worked Ok.

So, if all goes well – I shall soon be the proud possessor of a lathe where the compound slide is graduated with "Off", "Cold", "Tepid" and "Hot".

Time for bed I think.

Regards,

IanT

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

If only the media would notice us engineering related souls at all in a positive way. All we hear is doom, gloom and the China syndrome.

[David TaylorParticipant @davidtaylor63402]

This seems to be mostly a British preoccupation. Yanks are proud of their hobbies. Us skips don't worry about it. I don't see much media coverage of my hobbies but in the local paper it's always positive. The parents who bring their families to our monthly running days are nothing but positive and always give admiring comments about the locos.

I'm not going to get offended by what some latte slurper or progressive twat thinks until I've seen what they've produced.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Whenever I get asked about my hobby I try to explain it like this:

(There is a lot of puzzlement surrounding our hobby)

"Everything you are wearing and everything you are surrounded by in our modern world is made by lathes or made by machines and tools which are made by lathes"

Before lathes I would think that blacksmiths were the only modern toolshop"

 

Edited By Ady1 on 27/10/2017 01:41:31

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

👍

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

As a radio amateur, Volvo driver, and ex-scout, I get insulted stereophonically…

Geoff

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Many people have such thin skins these days and take offense at the slightest thing.

I'm proud of my hobbies but I'd quite like to be able to poke fun at others' hobbies too e.g. like watching reality TV, stamp collecting, playing computer games, gambling etc etc which ought to be fair game IMHO. (I'd also be tempted to include religion in this list too – but perhaps with the caveat that the participants live in free countries where it represents a lifestyle choice).

So if its just poking fun at our hobby then why not try to just treat it as a joke?

Jon

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Learning, playing or practising seems to sum up hobbies. All three are, or can be, useful for those taking part. Engineering hobbies can fall under any, or all, of the three categories.

Simply collecting car registration numbers (or those of other vehicles) seems to me to be just ticking off boxes like telephone numbers.

There are bird watchers and 'twitchers' – the latter, some of whom simply rush around trying to tick off the birds from their list and then have no further interest in the species would not be my favourites in that particular field of interest.

[John MCParticipant @johnmc39344]

I find those who tease me about my hobbies have hobbies of there own and the teasing is mutual (and fun!).

I also find that there is a more "sinister" form of teasing from those who do not have hobbies other than, say, visiting the pub most evenings. They are, as well, those who are not looking forward to retirement because they have "nothing to do". A generalisation I know, but often fits. Rather than be upset at their comments I feel sorry for them!

John

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

Criticism is water off a ducks back to me, My real concern is that the top end of town in particular and the media in general are at best disinterested in the applied engineering art, unless it has some sensational twist that can be made use of in their agendas. 3D printing is a good example, and the suggestion that those terrible plastic guns will get into the hands of miscreants or terrorists who of course have a lot more sense and by nefarious means find it much easier and far cheaper to locate the real metal equivalents that actually work. But most of the time its just the China bashing story that prevails, the end result is little risk capital is available for Engineering.

Regards
J

Edited By John McNamara on 27/10/2017 08:03:27

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

It seems that having any kind of hobby these days is considered oddball. The norm today is to spend your spare time on Facebook, video gaming or watching your big screen TV. Any pursuit that requires high skill, dedication, knowledge and a commitment to excellence is seen as weird, be it restoring vintage motorcycles or steam machinery, model engineering, or stamp collecting or gemstone collecting and cutting etc.

If you want to be considered really weird, pull out a book and start reading it in a public place like a cafe or seaside park. Looking at your phone for hours, or tapping away on a laptop or tablet is all fine. But reading a book? 'E must be one of those "intelligentia's" that are screwing up the world. (Train commuting seems to be the one exception to this, for now, down to long tradition I suppose.)

Edited By Hopper on 27/10/2017 08:11:16

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by John McNamara on 27/10/2017 08:02:31:

… My real concern is that the top end of town in particular and the media in general are at best disinterested in the applied engineering art, unless it has some sensational twist that can be made use of in their agendas….

Edited By John McNamara on 27/10/2017 08:03:27

Not so much they are uninterested as they are just absolutely clueless about anything scientific or applied scientific like engineering. I spent most of 20 years in newspaper newsrooms and was considered the office Einstein because I could work out percentages! I kid you not.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

This thread seems to be two parallel discussions…

One is about people 'poking fun' at our hobby (which, let's face it is no more than Tool Time and 'More Power!&#39 the other is about how the media deals with engineering in general. I think they are very different and it its hard to see to which camp some of the indignant responses belong…

I do think knowledge of engineering in the press is poor, but hey, the press struggle to understand MOST technical subjects. At least the BBC have the likes of Rory Cellan-Jones and Adam Rutherford.

I'm sure JS would have reminded us not to take ourselves to seriously though:

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I got to work out 5% on $10.20 last week, "that's 51p so I would call it $10.70"

The young lady thought I was amazing "You did that in you're head !??"

The shopkeeper used a calculator and charged the extra penny

(sigh)

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

There seems to be a trend in the media nowadays to take the p*** out of any activity they don't understand, and one of the worst offenders is the BBC. And, yes, I am offended. When I trained as a journalist in the 1960s I was told that, if there was any activity I didn't understand, then I should speak to someone who did. On the other tack, I can still do mental arithmetic – in £/s/d. Proper money!

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

I have heard it said that half the UK population don't understand percentages!

My wife often laughs out loud when reading a humorous book, for some obscure reason people look at her sideways, as though this is odd.

Geoff

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

I was lambasted by G/F and mates when I purchased a lathe and mill, oscilloscope and various bits of electronic test equipment.

Nowadays it's a knock on the door with a humble "can you have a look at this?" Current project is a Marshall amp for a muso friend. I usually save more than 50% of submitted items from inhabiting the local rubbish dump.

Similar when I purchased my first multicopter, neighbours and friends asked why?

Why is because it's the way of the future. With a commercial licence one can earn a very lucrative income by filming wheat silos, irrigation channels, wind generators, real estate and crops etc etc etc.

The sweet aspect is when the local media ask for a few shots because their camera operator is not qualified/licenced/insured so cannot get clearance to fly. The downside is that to obtain authorisation a flight plan has to be lodged beforehand by a registered operator and it's not free nowadays.

So average geek earnings are about $120-$150 P/H (even for old geeks) but even more is on offer if one cares to work on a an oil rig in the Timor Sea during the cyclone season.

* Danny M *

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

Danny, this reminds me of my mother's reaction when I bought by first computer. "It's lovely, dear, but what exactly does it do?" She never did understand the reply I gave her: "Well, mother, what do you want it to do?."

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Commenting/criticising other people's hobbies and interests isn't a one-way street:

Work colleague to me: 'You should take up bridge'.

Me: 'No thanks, I don't believe in games of chance'.

Colleague (outraged): 'Bridge isn't a game of chance!!'

Me: 'It would be, the way I'd play it!!!'

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

No – I don't get upset by people taking the piss out of my hobby. It gives me great pleasure doing it and if I produce something that looks good/solves the problem then I am well pleased. I don't get upset either by people taking the piss out of me – my early engineering was done in an atmosphere where taking the piss out of each other was expected and it was expected for you to give at least as good as you got.

If I say "I'm having a senior moment" then I am making fun of myself. I once got corrected " you can't say that now, you must say you are having an agest moment:" That did upset me. I don't do – can't stand – politically correct. My reply back soon ensured I got the information I wanted and the telephone call swiftly terminated.

The bad light engineers and engineering is held in general in the UK does upset me. 16 years in the food industry where engineers and engineering was considered a necessary evil, and any of the management and production staff considered themselves far better able to fix problems themselves until they ended it with a situation so dire that only the engineers could, and had to, fix saw to that. Engineering is held in high regard in other countries it seems but not here, despite as has been said that if it were not for engineering we would not be where we are, or have what we have, today, and that does upset me.

Chris.  Confirmed Anorak.

Edited By ChrisH on 27/10/2017 11:50:19

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