Early Risers.

[4630]

2 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

 

Popped to the shops for a couple of items and my new cordless hair clippers which then got used for a number one all over.

 

Far far too much detail for a Sunday - or any day for that matter.

 

 

[Rich_F]

Ermmm i think a rural East Sussex hillside is a bit far from the colliery. 🤔

Spotted while out hiking near Stonegate. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Weeny Works

[woodenhead]

@4630 just my head. Just my head.

 

Had my upper body waxed once for a holiday.  It looked good but for several days I felt numb, for a one day it was great and then the stubble arrived.

 

Never, never again!!’

[PhilJ W]

The worlds oldest dog.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/13/world/bobi-oldest-dog-31-birthday-trnd/index.html

Over 200 years in human terms.

 

[4630]

8 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

@4630 just my head. Just my head.

 

Had my upper body waxed once for a holiday.  It looked good but for several days I felt numb, for a one day it was great and then the stubble arrived.

 

Never, never again!!’

Quite a few years ago the current Mrs 4630 suggested a similar treatment for me and booked me to see her ‘beauty therapist’. 
 

There I was asked if I just wanted upper body, or ‘back, crack and sac’ !!

 

I opted for neither.

 

The thought of having hot wax poured on any part of my anatomy and then peeled off sounded like some sort of medieval torture.

[woodenhead]

1 minute ago, 4630 said:

Quite a few years ago the current Mrs 4630 suggested a similar treatment for me and booked me to see her ‘beauty therapist’. 
 

There I was asked if I just wanted upper body, or ‘back, crack and sac’ !!

 

I opted for neither.

 

The thought of having hot wax poured on any part of my anatomy and then peeled off sounded like some sort of medieval torture.

It was torture 😂

[iL Dottore]

I can understand an Olympic Swimmer depilating his/her entire as the microscopic reduction in a drag could (theoretically) mean the difference between 4th place and Gold, but a civvy?

 

It smacks of a perverse masochism to me.

[New Haven Neil]

7 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

On model ships, the museum to visit is the transport museum in Glasgow, it's a few years since I last visited but the Clyde Room had one of the finest collections of builders models anywhere and an enough reason to make an effort to visit. I love builders models of ships, one of the nice things about working in maritime as I do is the office decorations are often builders models. My current office as a nice model of one of the big Evergreen container ships.

 

Me too - at Bibby's we had quite a few (one of them won't be on display now though) and also the nameplates from 35020 Bibby Line Merchant Navy Class.

[New Haven Neil]

53 minutes ago, Weeny Works said:

Ermmm i think a rural East Sussex hillside is a bit far from the colliery. 🤔

Spotted while out put hiking near Stonegate. 

 

I wandered lonely as a clou.....16t Min.  Doesn't scan right.

[New Haven Neil]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

It's a lot easier to have a puppy they don't usually last past their early teens. 

 

I can cope with teens - I have some, er, professional experience of controlling their excesses. But smallies, wow they are hard work.  Really these are most sincerely NOT bad kids, they're just full on and a touch loud when operating.  And I'm just a bit to old to cope!  However, running them at full power for two days has resulted in a complete shut-down this evening, asleep slightly before touching their respective pillows. Phew.

 

[Winslow Boy]

37 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

I can cope with teens - I have some, er, professional experience of controlling their excesses. But smallies, wow they are hard work.  Really these are most sincerely NOT bad kids, they're just full on and a touch loud when operating.  And I'm just a bit to old to cope!  However, running them at full power for two days has resulted in a complete shut-down this evening, asleep slightly before touching their respective pillows. Phew.

 

 

Yes but the recharge time is significantly less than yours Neil.

 

So have your Coco and an early night as they will be back up to full power by 6 am.

[Barry O]

Feeling tired. My game went OK... but thecrope from a suitable tree branch was nearly required!

 

Early night required as its an 06:30 start for my visit to Edgbaston tomorrow!

 

Stay safe!

 

Bas

[Coombe Barton]

... finding out what I thought I had I can’t find. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/05/14/drifting-up-still-and-monkeypox-downgraded/

[monkeysarefun]

15 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I understand the need to have a profitable museum shop (it does help museum funding), but why oh why are so many of the offerings so dire? An awful lot of the “pocket money” offerings seem to have been blocked off the shelves of any toy store, rather than being a tie in with the Museum. It would also be nice to get high-quality exact replicas of some of the most famous pieces in the museums collection. Though these would undoubtably be expensive, I think that there would be enough visitors willing to pay for such items. I know that the British Museum, the Museum of Scotland and the V&A do offer a small range of high quality replicas, but it would be nice for the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Maritime Museum to do the same

 

 

I'm a member of a model ship forum and most UK members there gave up on the NMM museum as a serious place to visit several years ago. As far as I can tell Horatio Nelson populism has infested most aspects of popular maritime heritage  in  the way Thomas The Tank Engine or Hogwarts Express has infested the railway heritage world.

 

One thing it is brilliant for though is for research. They have a bazillion plans and blueprints - for example pretty much every RN vessel from the 17th Century if I recall? All are searchable on their website and they'll print them off and send them to you - not free, obviously, but one area that they are still a massive benefit  to serious research and modelling.

Edited May 14, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[PupCam]

Evening All!

 

13 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Anyone for chocolate coated potato crisps?

 

There's no post rating suitable ...... 😲

 

12 hours ago, polybear said:

I wonder if some Ship Models (and other exhibits, for that matter) have been taken off display because they were involved in the Slave Trade (or indeed some other historical event which we'd now rather not be reminded of)?

 

More than likely but museums generally seem to be missing the point these days and in fact IMHO many have lost the plot.    "It's not all about the artefacts", sorry but it is and hiding most of them away to create more "learning" and "play" zones for the screaming unwashed is not "making them more relevant" its turning them into (not very good) theme parks.     

 

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I find this whole “decolonisation” business absurd: rewriting the history books or hiding away “reminders” of the past doesn’t change the past and every country in the world has a whole closet full of skeletons (several, in most cases). I also think that it’s counterproductive - all that time, energy and money spent tinkering around the edges of an unchangeable yesterday instead of dealing with changeable now.

 

8 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I don't have an issue with museums telling the less commendable stories from our past, as it is all part of our history and we should reflect on the darker and shameful elements (and you are correct, every country has skeletons). But I think the last part of your post is what gets lost somewhat. We can't change the past but we may be able to influence the present and future. And in some ways I think we've actually gone backwards there.

<snip>

 

Absolutely!

 

8 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

<snip>

I was very unimpressed with my last visits to the Science Museum and the Royal Air Force Museum too, they still have some excellent exhibits but the expansion of retail space selling (over priced) tat has afflicted them and as with the National Maritime Museum there was a sense of trying to be different things to different audiences. That said, the Graham White hangar at Hendon is wonderful, where they have their WW1 collection. 

 

I won't be racing back to the science museum anytime soon.   I might give the RAF Museum a second chance because it was in the throws of re-structuring when I last went although the signs didn't look good, particularly with the migration of some of the exhibits off to Cosford and the complete eradication of the Battle of Britain hall.   I agree with  jjb's assertion about the Graham White hangar - a large space filled with fabulous, related exhibits devoid of fluff and nonsense to appease the uninterested.

 

In Other News

 

A chug over to Dunstable Gliding Club this morning for breakfast which was most enjoyable.     The breakfast was good although on this occasion the service was absolutely lousy.   They seemed to have fewer staff on and whether the poor service was a result of inexperienced or insufficient staff or perhaps, more likely, a combination of both I'm not sure.   It was quite grey and misty when we arrived although numerous gliders and tugs were being extracted from the hangars in readiness for "committing to aviation" but by the time breakfast had been consumed (it was a long wait!) the sjy was blue, the sun was out and some thermal activity was just getting going.      I haven't been gliding since 1976.    Perhaps I should think about correcting that anomaly sometime?  🤔

 

 

 

I chose to go on the AJ - I thought it might be a bit too far to go on the Bone Shaking Beeza.  The AJ has suspension at both ends and an upholstered seat!   

 

On my return I went for a quick spin around the village on the Beeza to see if the exhaust modification had  made a difference to the acoustic output.   I'm pleased to say the "edge" has definitely been taken off the acoustic output with the result that I didn't have induced tinnitus within half a mile of setting off.

 

Also on my return Mrs Puppers informed me that her little red driving box was making some strange knocking sounds at the front from time to time.    An investigation was started by driving down the road in it which unfortunately confirmed the symptoms.    A quick look under the front nearside wheel arch after jacking it up revealed the plastic arch liner to be flapping around due to failure of the funny little two piece plastic buttons that hold these things in place.  As the sound has a distinctly metallic ring to it this was of course clutching at straws but I replaced the failed button temporarily with a nut and bolt in vain hope!   Misplaced as it turned out.    Having had numerous Ford driving box suspension spring failures I checked as far as I was able the nearside spring.   It seemed OK and the car does not appear lower, normally a dead giveaway.    Then my enthusiasm for grovelling under motorcars wore out (it never lasts long these days) so first thing in the morning I'll be going round the local garage to see if they can take a look sometime.    As the Mondog has got an MOT and service looming May could be a relatively expensive motoring month.

 

TTFN

 

Alan

 

[New Haven Neil]

31 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Yes but the recharge time is significantly less than yours Neil.

 

So have your Coco and an early night as they will be back up to full power by 6 am.

 

Not wrong, but the cocoa is Guinness flavoured.

[Winslow Boy]

19 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Not wrong, but the cocoa is Guinness flavoured.

 

Just bear in mind the 6 am start time for the little 'darlings' though.

[monkeysarefun]

14 hours ago, Barry O said:

The UTE my friend has is badged as a Holden @monkeysarefun. But I checked out others which allseem reverse tardis like.

 

SInce its International Ute Week I can sneak one more ute based information post in while yous are all off getting your cocoa and taking off your fluffy slippers. 

 

A proper  Oz ute, before the US and Japan wrecked them on us by making them truck-like dualcab things ,  is based on a particular car model. It will therefore be the same size as the car it is based on. My ute for instance is a Commodore. It is therefore the same size as a  Commodore sedan.

A Commodore sedan width-wise is on par with  say a XF Jaguar and is wider than say  a Mitsubishi Outlander. It has more front legroom than both an XF Jaguar and a Mitsubuishi Outlander.

 

Some cars are smaller than a Commodore sedan  and therefore are more cramped. The ute  that is based on them will therefore be smaller and more cramped! 

A ute will also drive and handle and use fuel pretty much as per the car they are based on, although they can be a handful in the wet when you put your foot down, -  driving one in a rain storm will usually sort the sheep from the goats, not that you should be carrying livestock in them.

 

If you are talking about the back seat then that is definitely cramped because it is non-existent. Mine, being a sports based ute targeted at a certain market has factory-fitted  some of that space with twin Bose sub-woofers.  Hearing "Highway To Hell" cranked up through two sub-woofers about 8 inches from your bum  is quite an experience, though  the vibration tends to render the rear view mirror pretty useless.

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Gwiwer]

11 hours ago, PhilH said:

In recognition of super Saints being relegated from the premier league I have my black underpants on.

By contrast I should be waving a plastic seagull around tonight as the determination of Brighton & Hove Albion's kick-balling mob seems to know no end.  A three-goal away win against the second team in the Premiership is not to be sniffed at.  

 

A long and tiring weekend comes to a close.  A newly expanded role within the wider hobby movement has been accorded as I become both Chairman and General Secretary of the group concerned, having already held the latter role for the past six years.  

 

And there are now only two more full days before I could retire.  Dr. SWMBO advises me that she is taking me out on Wednesday evening to mark the occasion.  I suppose I had better invest in supplying cake for the workplace as has become the tradition in recent times.

[monkeysarefun]

12 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

 

The problem is that most British cars are/were too small to make a good a Ute. Two that were though was the Standard Vanguard and the Austin A70.  Even Armstrong-Siddely had a fairly good stab at th Australian market, even describing their offering as  Ute. Another reason is that sales of pickups in the UK is a lot smaller than in Australia or the USA but light car based vans are far more popular.

 

 

Ah, but now you are entering the world of the Panel Van. Every teenage girls parents worst nightmare was to hear  them say "Just off to the drive-in with Kev tonight!" then see Kev turn up in one of these.

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

That’s not a ute. There’s nowhere for the beer fridge, tucker box, dogs, half a dozen head of cattle, electric winch, chains, blankets, pillows and doona (duvet). Why the latter?  In case you’re caught out bush overnight. With or without … errr … company. 
 

The Moggie pick-up is too small for even a pick-up; there’s no back seat for use after you picked up. 
 

🤣

 

 

 

Australian Philosophers, Culture Vultures, Number Boffins and those who write thick books  always make sure they keep one weekend in September free for the Deniliquin Ute Muster!

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[pH]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

On model ships, the museum to visit is the transport museum in Glasgow, it's a few years since I last visited but the Clyde Room had one of the finest collections of builders models anywhere and an enough reason to make an effort to visit.

 

3 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I was taken around this exhibit in 1961, when I was nine, as part of a family touring holiday that lasted four weeks and took in Ireland as well as Scotland as far up as the Trossachs.  Glad to hear it is still going, as I've never been back to Glasgow but it would deffo be on my to-do if I ever did!  The standard of modelling was a revelation to me, I'd never seen anything as good as that, and as an illustration of the development of steamships it was superb. 

Johnster, what you would have seen in 1961 is not what’s there now. In 1961, you would have been in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and the number and range of the exhibits was huge. As jjb1970 says, the display is now in the Transport Museum and I don’t think there are as many models on display as there were in the Art Gallery. I can’t remember if there are any still on display in the Art Gallery (maybe someone local could confirm). Visits to Kelvingrove on more recent trips back to Scotland have been to see things other than ship models.

[New Haven Neil]

25 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Just bear in mind the 6 am start time for the little 'darlings' though.

 

It's my start time too!

[tigerburnie]

3 hours ago, Weeny Works said:

Ermmm i think a rural East Sussex hillside is a bit far from the colliery. 🤔

Spotted while out hiking near Stonegate. 

I need one of them for my new layout..................................

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

I'm a member of a model ship forum and most UK members there gave up on the NMM museum as a serious place to visit several years ago. As far as I can tell Horatio Nelson has infested most aspects of popular maritime heritage  in  the way Thomas The Tank Engine or Hogwarts Express has infested the railway heritage world.

 

One thing it is brilliant for though is for research. They have a bazillion plans and blueprints - for example pretty much every RN vessel from the 17th Century if I recall? All are searchable on their website and they'll print them off and send them to you - not free, obviously, but one area that they are still a benefit  to serious research and modelling.

Many years ago when I was researching for a model ship, the WW1 HMS Conqueror I discovered that they had a builders model in their off site store.  They happily let me visit that Aladdin's Cave, with an escort, at no charge.  I believe that the 12' long model has now been given some tlc and put on display.  This was it in January 1986

A closer shot

And the state of the rigging.

I did get as far as making a plug for moulding a hull at 1/96th that I sold on Ebay for someone to finish when we moved to France.  I believe that a lot of the NMM's funding is because they are an educational resource.

 

Jamie

 

[Adam88]

 

I tend to agree with the majority of the comments given here about the major museums.  However, on my most recent visit to the RAF museum I was more than pleased to see this picture prominently displayed on an information board.  My total aviation uncle also had it on show in his study and as a 19 year old he travelled to Normandy on the evening of the 6th June 1944.  He was a member of the RAF Servicing Commando - a unit which does not feature prominently in most of the Overlord histories (sometimes I think that applies to the RAF in general).  They were principally aircraft ground-crew who had also been given commando training in the Highlands.  On the way over a nearby landing craft was blown up and quite a few of them had to be comforted by their NCO who was probably not much older they were themselves.  They set up a number of airstrips in the Bayeux area, the sites of which are marked to this day and you can still see the occasional fence patched up with perforated steel runway sheet.  My uncle said that this picture was taken by an official Air Force photographer and shows him refuelling the first Spitfire to be turned round in Normandy.  He said he's the one not wearing a tin hat and holding the funnel - the only one of them actually doing any work!

Edited June 6 by Adam88
Reinsert lost image