The News at TIM – Mid Week Musings (No: 27)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Musings!

I’ve had a lot to muse over this week so lets get started.

Model To Do List Update 

It was my birthday back in August and as luck would have it I was fortunate enough to receive a tidy sum of money which all went towards buying models and figures on my wish list.  The only problem was I got a little carried away and manged to spend far in excess of the amount I was gifted.  I suspect this is something most of us have experience of .  Anyway, having got carried away I thought I ought to update my “To Do List” before buying any more.

So, having updated my list I thought I’d provide you with a partial insight to what you can hopefully expect to see over the weeks ahead.  Make that months, I’m not Azazel!  In no particular order:-

  • Three more Reaper fantasy figures to complete;
  • Neglected model for this months challenge to be finalized providing the base I ordered arrives in time.  This figure is a return to my 54mm Old West roots and made a welcome change but more on that when I post details to the blog;
  • The Plymouth Model Club have decided to go with a D-Day theme for next years show as the beach landing will be having its 75 year anniversary.  For my part I aim to have a couple of 54mm figures done, two or three 28mm vignettes, three or four single 28mm figures and a 28mm diorama hopefully featuring a building or two;
  • At long last Hasselfree Miniatures have delivered a couple of figures I’ve had my eye on, one of which is “Ray” from the film “Shaun of the Dead” so a Zombie based model is very much on the cards;
  • I’ve also taken delivery this morning of a few more Reaper figures.  One is a Bruce Lee figure which I have a few ideas for, a couple of pirates which I thought would make for a change (and I want to see if I can make my own palm trees too) and another Wizard.  I’ve only ever done one boxed diorama and it was the toughest model I’ve ever done so I fancy the idea of doing another one and the Wizard is intended for that;
  • An order for quite few Old West figures is due from Artizan any day.  It wasn’t the original intention of the order but some of these figures will most likely be my contribution for the October challenge.  No Orcs though.  To be fare the idea of doing one appeals to me but right now that ain’t gonna happen;
  • Finally, I bought 18 figures which all relate to the TV series “Dads Army”.  Great figures and hopefully a bit of fun to do.

Not a comprehensive insight as I’ve mostly only featured recent purchases.  I’ve a pile of other stuff I ought to do but for now chunks of that look like they are heading to the “neglected” pile for now.

—000—

Modelling, Musings and Music

If other peoples blogs are anything to go by it would appear that a great many of us enjoy listening to music while we are modelling.  I’m no different but would add watching films, TV and Football too.  Those of you kind enough to follow my blog will be aware that generally my posts tend to concentrate primarily on modelling and weekly musings which, for the most part, have a modelling link no matter how obscure the content might be!

I’ve no plans to deviate from that particulalry, it is first and foremost a modelling blog after all, but as music features so much in the background of what I do I’ve decided to include a small weekly feature of what I’ve been listening to during the previous week.  Sometimes there might be a little more of a tangible link to modelling/war, as is the case this week, but this wont always be the case.  My taste is varied to say the least and as far as I am aware there is no common thread other than I just happen to like a particular song, band or singer.

Make of it what you will.  Here is my first offering …

This week TIM has been listening to …

The Dixie Chicks.

The link below is to a song by the Dixie Chicks called “The Travelling Soldier”.  If the link doesn’t work then you should be able to search for it easy enough on YouTube.

So why start with this track?

Firstly, it provides an example of what YouTube can randomly throw up. Until quite recently I had never heard of the Dixie Chicks, you may have but I hadn’t. Some how YouTube figured that I might like a song of theirs called “Goodbye to Earl”, probably the best song ever written (possibly the only song ever written!) about wife beating. I loved the song and its lyrics (link below) and so searched for more of their tracks, the result of which led me to “The Travelin’ Soldier”.

Secondly, the song itself is an anti war protest song.  Now one way or another most of us in our modelling world are depicting figures of war, be they historic or futuristic. War is historically interesting, futuristically fascinating but also frighteningly real and gruesome for those unfortunate to experience it first hand. As a consequence protest songs have grown up over many years aimed at highlighting the down side of war and seeking a peaceful resolution to prevent loss of life. This seemed like a good link to modelling and therefore a neat introduction to music as a theme.

—000—

Home Alone – Domestic Progress Update

Only a few days to go before She Who Must Be Obeyed returns home and mild panic has begun to set in. If I’m being honest the first signs showed themselves yesterday when for the first time I put the washing machine on. The instructions SWMBO left were indeed as basic as she described. Load after load and before I knew (well it took most of the day actually) it was all done. Bloody marvelous. What will they think of next!

Tip of the day – if you let the dirty washing spill all over the utility room floor like I did for the last couple of weeks then the floor doesn’t get dirty meaning one less to clean!

Next up I decided to make a check list to make sure I had all my bases covered.

  • The Blacksmiths Arms – what happens in the pub stays in the pub, Rob’s rules, no chance he will spill the beans, besides he wants my business if SWMBO has to go away again. Check.
  • The daughter – needs my agreement to go to a party at the weekend and, more importantly knows the money she gets from me will dry up if she let’s the cat out of the bag. Check.
  • Credit card bill – bill should arrive before SWMBO does. Paid for most things by cash anyway but just in case will take her to the Blacksmiths when she gets home in case the next bill has a rogue entry on it. Check.
  • Washing – up straight, happy day’s. Check.
  • Ironing – create pile of stuff to be ironed and claim it’s only just been washed. Check.
  • Floor cleaning – tell her it was spotless until the bloody dog made a mess (make note to give dog a treat to make up for the guilt!). Check.
  • Shopping – make claim Ì was just going to get a few bits in when she came through the door. Check.
  • Modelling – only leave one out that I’m working on and put the rest away for now to reinforce the claim I’ve had no chance to get any done. Check.
  • The Cunning Plan – make her a cup of tea and then reveal. Check.

The Cunning Plan.

Now one of the first thing SWMBO is going to say when she gets home is something along the lines of “now you know how to do these jobs you can do it more often”. The hell I am!  (Spoken in a John Wayne voice).

Now as luck would have it at about the time SWMBO gets home she is due her Annual Appraisal (seriously known of you do this?). To be fare she’s due a good review and aside from a few minor blips she has achieved her objectives for the year. I’m pleased with her. Going forward though, based on my new found experience, things need to change.

In reality they don’t need to change at all but there is something you need to know about SWMBO. There are only two ways of doing something, her way and no way. By implementing changes a pound to a penny says she will hit the roof at which point I will say “have it your way, I’m having nothing to do with it”.

What could possibly go wrong?

—000—

Until next time.

TIM

 

40 thoughts on “The News at TIM – Mid Week Musings (No: 27)”

  1. A good post. Whilst painting I tend to have DVD’s on the portable DVD player. Of late I have gone through the full set of Resident Evil films including the CGI ones, Sleepy Hollow and then I have my audio books too. Good luck with the return if your good lady. A nice biscuit might help with the cup of tea… not a chocolate hob nob as that stinks of guilt 😉

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  2. Haven’t heard Goodbye Earl for ages, great song though. Not usually my kind of music but I’ll give The Traveling Soldier a spin later. Good luck with your cunning plan, might be worth making sure the sofa is clean and tidy, just in case you need to sleep on it 😉

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  3. As I’ve noted elsewhere, I tend to “watch” Wrestling, True Crime Forensic shows (Homicide Hunter & Forensic Files mostly, atm), sometimes I leave the music video channel running, and sometimes I listen to music. Right now I’m listening to a Blink-182 song called “She’s Out of Her Mind” which has an interesting video (I recommend googling it to check it out on YouTube. Right now.)
    Anyway, it’s a fun thematic throwback/reference to the classic music video for “What’s My Age Again?” (which you can also look up, if you like). More my speed than the Dixie Chicks. 🙂

    Anyway, good luck with the return. We’ll know how well it went by next week’s musings (or if there’s no musings…)

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    2. Haha, nice how the two videos pair up. And like other posters, it immediately bugged me that the drummer girl didn’t know what she was doing. Though just for humor’s sake, she gets a pass.

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    3. Actually, I’m with Azazel on this! My money’s on SWMBO and, more than likely, no mid-week musings next week! I can’t watch TV and paint ’cause I’ve always been short-sighted – anyone looking at my minis will realise I must have got me specs mixed up somewhere along the line!
      Anyway, enjoying the musings, as always!

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      1. Yeah, the thing with TV is I pretty much go for things that you could just as easily listen to on the radio, so narrated documentatries and commentated pseudo-sports work for me.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Watching things isn’t too easy for me either at times but that’s down to wearing a magnifying visor when I paint and my ability to concentrate on a story line if it requires a decent amount of attention. Music offers the best background option by far. As for SWMBO, I’m more concerned that she ever gets to read what I’ve written! 😉

        Liked by 3 people

  4. I think you’re on your own with figuring out the house chores and how much you should or shouldn’t be doing. All I can say is “Good Luck!”, you’re going to need it.

    Musically, I’ve been really turned off by Country. Just a personal bias. I did like the Goodbye Earl video though, very cute. Keep sharing!

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    2. I’ve every confidence in my plan … 🙏! Music is one of those things, it’s personal and generally you either like something or you don’t. I like just about every genre (as you will discover!), they all have something to offer but that doesn’t mean I like it all.

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      1. Yea, I like quite a bit of different things. Some hard metal and country, aren’t really my things. Lately I’ve been listening to a jazz station, which plays stuff from all over but a lot from 50s/70s. Teen probably thinks it’s the weird grandpa music. Most likely a byproduct of having kids, as it’s something I can listen to when they are around.

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      2. I know what you mean about the teens. It wasn’t that long ago that they liked listening to some of my stuff, I guess they didn’t have a choice up to a point, but they did like some of it. Now they just take the piss out of it all! 😉

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      3. The other thing I think I really like about the Jazz station, is I have never heard the same song twice. I swear the more popular stations, play the same 5 songs over and over and over!

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  5. Dixie Chicks? Wow you’re a softer man than I thought haha. I’ll have a listen to travelling soldier as the title is intriguing enough.

    I’m looking forward to the D-day stuff and the zombie warrior and the Wild West gear the most.

    I still think you should be waiting for your lovely lady with a gift of some sort.

    Very entertaining post pal

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    1. I told you, musically you are in for a very varied ride! All genres covering many years and as far as I know the only commonplace thread is I like it. As for future models, yea, I’m looking forward to the ones you’ve listed too although the boxed diorama if I can pull it off could be a bit special, not going to be easy though. As for a gift for SWMBO, the lucky women has everything she could ever want … me!😉

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      1. Have you done a boxed diorama before? As in can I find it on your blog. Is it literally a diorama inside a box or is a diorama made of boxes haha? I’m just teasing Re the music. I have bloody Enya in my collection haha. It’s been many years since I’ve listened to it. Let’s just say I listened to it back when I seemed to get the munchies a lot in the early hours of the morning. During that period I also listened to a lot of Pink Floyd haha. In all honesty I think you must do something right for your wife to still allow you to be married to her so kudos brother 😁

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  7. Great thought provoking post, though I will say I used to live in Mississippi and country music gives me PTSD about my life at that time! Amazingly, I prefer Bowie, Zep, The Who, Stones – hey, these are your countrymen!!

    Good luck with SWMBO pilgrim…cowboy

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    1. Don’t worry Mark, this is just the start of my musical journey. Everyone you have listed and many, many more will feature in the weeks to come. My music taste is extremely varied as you will discover. 😊 As for SWMBO, most women like a rogue, only trouble is she ain’t most women! 😉

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      2. Ha ha very good. Can’t beat a bit of Who. I was recently telling IRO about an event Ì went to back in the late 70s. I was in the second row, directly in front of Pete Townsend when he, together with classical guitarist John Williams did an acoustic of that very song. You can find on YouTube. Brilliant.

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  9. I have been into the Dixie Chicks for some years Dave I’m glad you have found them ,my music that I listen to when painting is so varied ,any thing from Burl Ives to the latest release of young artists of today.

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