The News at TIM – Mid Week Musings (No: 49)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Musings!

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Inspiration

I got less time to think about my future modelling and blog plans on holiday than I thought I would. Some how eating and drinking and being obliged to spend more time with SWMBO and my daughter rather got in the way. I did, however, gain some inspiration from walking around Bruges and Amsterdam. Although not specifically related, the beautiful medieval city of Bruges has prompted me to look at such periods as the English Civil War, the Napoleonic wars, the Normans and the Roman Empire.  In due course I will conduct a figure search for each off these periods and see what, if anything, takes my fancy.

By contrast, Amsterdam provided less inspiration, although a diorama featuring Rastafarian’s out of their minds on drugs and a vignette of an old artist indulging in self harm by chopping of his ear did spring to mind! In fairness a visit to the Anne Frank museum really did prove extremely interesting and although I’m not inclined to depict her story the idea of delving a little more into WW2 does appeal.

One thing is for sure, I haven’t run out of ideas just yet.

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Interesting People

There are many aspects to a holiday, one of which is meeting people. On the one hand there are a great many odd and very, very weird people in the world, far more than I think is probably healthy. On the other hand, every now and then you can get to meet some very interesting people. On this occasion I got to meet several, two of whom particularly stood out.

The first was a retired civil servant who worked in the Houses of Parliament and who had met and worked in various capacities for every Prime Minister between about 1974 and 2000. She provided a fascinating insight on how things worked behind the scenes. As interesting as it was to listen to her I couldn’t help but feel following the Brexit debacle that maybe Guy Fawkes had the right idea all those years ago!

The second was a chap employed by Eric Clapton as Estate Manager on his Surrey mansion, a job he has held for a great many years. With Eric apparently out in Japan he and his wife were able to take a break of their own. Understandably, given the nature of his role he was very discreet and “dishing the dirt” on Eric was never on the cards. He was, however, happy to mention that he had met Ringo Starr a few times and that he was someone he hadn’t warmed to. A case of someone who had lost track of his roots was how he saw him. By contrast, Freddie Mercury who he had also met was in his opinion a really decent bloke.  He thought so much of him that as yet he hasn’t been able to bring himself to watch the film Bohemian Rhapsody for fear it will tarnish the image he has.

My favorite story, however, was when he told us that in the lead up to a land mark birthday a few years ago, Eric had said he would host a party for him to celebrate and, if it was OK, invite a few of his friends over.  By all accounts it was an amazing bash with a whole host of ageing rock legends in attendance!  It’s not what you know but who you know.

Both of these people were extremely interesting and made for great company.  Alas, the subject of my figure painting and modelling never came up but had it done I suspect they would have both been blown away by the finer points of the hobby!

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This week TIM has been listening to …

… Genesis and “I Can’t Dance”

Definitely one of my favorite bands and Phil Collins on his own too scores highly with me.  As with a lot of groups I could have selected any number of songs and I’m sure others will feature in future posts.  As it is this track is high up on my list and I love the video too.  Even with the two left feet that I have I reckon this is one dance I could handle

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This week TIM has been watching …

… Peter Cook & Dudley Moore and the “Tarzan” sketch.

My brother reminded me of this classic a few weeks ago.  Filmed back in 1964 but as funny to me now as it would have been back then.  If you haven’t ever seen it then I hope you enjoy it!

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Until next time.

TIM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22 thoughts on “The News at TIM – Mid Week Musings (No: 49)”

  1. Sounds like a good break mate! I’ve never been to either place, but both are on my list of places to visit. I must admit, I tend to take a bit of hobby stuff with me these – even if it’s just throwing down some base coat or pushing some putty around. Last summer I managed 23 Orks over a 2 week break in France!

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    1. I keep meaning to put together a box of stuff to take with me too, not just for holidays but for something to do when I go to shows and the such like. The one thing I haven’t been able to find is some sort of battery lamp, without a decent light I doubt I’d see sod all! Posted figures yesterday by the way, if they didn’t arrive today you ought to get them tomorrow.

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      1. Yeah, light is an issue… I can do ok in sunlight, but ordinary bulb light is only good for very basic work… I have a friend who uses a USB lamp & says it works very nicely – I’ll find out the make & model & let you know. Speaking of models, those minis arrived safe & sound yesterday – thank you again mate, much appreciated 🙂

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  2. Glad you enjoyed the break! Time to get caught up with the minis now! I’m like Alex in that my plastic tool/modelling box remains packed and ready to deploy anywhere at a moments notice – it goes to the caravan on holiday and away with me for work, and most times it keeps me busy while I’m away!

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    1. Cheers John, it was most enjoyable. I must get a transportable modelling set up too, how do you get on with a light? I guess you are fine in the caravan and hotels for electric but when I go to shows it would be nice to paint but not always easy to access a power point. Without a light I would see sod all!

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      1. I’ve got a mains power desk light that’s small enough to travel, although I usually leave it at the caravan. Funnily enough, over the Easter weekend I was painting stuff at the caravan and couldn’t get used to the massive amount of daylight I had! On those fewer occasions when I travel for work I usually take kits to build or figures to clean up, since those require less light and the lamps on hotel desks are usually good enough!

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  4. Wow man that sounds like a great getaway. I find people of all walks of life are, generally, pretty interesting. Sometimes it’s just a matter of stopping to listen. A client of mine, just yesterday, told me that her great uncle was a junior ship engineer/mechanic on the Titanic and had survived because he was on the top deck and not at work down below at the time. People fascinate me. I really hope you delve into Napoleonics as I’m quite fond of that era. Good to see you pop up in my thread again mate.

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    1. People are always interesting but not always for the right reasons. These two people were quite exceptional that’s for sure. Interesting story about Titanic as well. As for Napoleonics I think the appeal is the uniform colours, no camoflage in those days! Have you got your knuckleduster figures yet?

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  5. Sounds an interesting time away. I reckon you should go Roman or Napoleonic and do a diorama from the film Gladiator…the charge through the trees or from Waterloo, the charge of the greys 😁. I hadn’t seen that sketch before, it really made me chortle.

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    1. That would have been great to do but we were on a cruise with limited time available and excursions pre-booked so would have been difficult to arrange I fear. That said we all enjoyed it and hope to make a return visit with more time at our disposal. If that materializes I will be sure to let you know.

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    1. Yes, Bruges is a great place and in stark contrast to Brussels (albeit that I haven’t been to Brussels in years). I do love these old places. In July we are touring the Med, something I haven’t done since the early days of being married. The aim is to take our daughter who is studying History to a number of places including Rome and Pompeii. Looking forward to seeing the sights once again so your Old Glory link is most timely! Cheers.

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