Category: Musings

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

—000—

This weeks miniature goes by the name of Major Hoare and he is a 28mm Hasslefree figure.  He is based on the character “Dutch” played by Arnie in the Predator movie.  Those of you who follow this blog may recall seeing a similar version which I painted for IRO at the tail end of last year.  IRO had this great idea of trading figures and by way of return I received a cracking Cowboy miniature painted by the Orc himself.  As an avid collector of Hasslefree figures (really you hadn’t noticed?) it was inevitable that I need to add this classic to my collection.

The figure itself was pretty straight forward helped no end by the fact that I had performed a dummy run on the one for IRO.  If anything though I think the one I sent to him actually turned out better.  As with my previous effort I decided to stay as true as possible to the clothes as worn in the film.  Not spot on by any means but hopefully a good representation at the very least.  A bit of vegetation for the jungle vibe and voila!  I’ll now leave IRO to compare the two versions!

—000—

Well It Made Me Laugh

—000—

The Wednesday Whinge

This weeks whinge will most likely be the last.  On April 12th (which also happens to be my wedding anniversary) the pubs open up again.  I need to check the rules of engagement but I am hopeful that my mate John and I will be able to meet for a mid week beer once again and start to put the world to rights.  I have every confidence that you will feel the seismic waves heading your way.  With so many things to moan about the Wednesday Whinge may well make a guest appearance from time to time.  Be that as it may this week I thought I’d take on the minor subject of Global Warming!

Let me start by saying I think Global Warming is for real.  I will also add that all the shit us humans have pumped into the atmosphere, and still are, is doing no good at all.  Neither are we helping ourselves with our destruction of nature in all its forms.  Doing stuff to remedy all this, and as soon as possible, is highly commendable morally if nothing else.  But here’s the thing for me, isn’t the planet just warming up naturally?

Now putting away my high levels of ignorance on this subject let’s just look at some simple logic.  Over thousands if not millions of years the planet has had previous ice ages.  After the first the earth warmed up a bit and then we had another.  Then it got a bit nippy again and then it warmed up again.  It’s done this a few times.  Why therefore does the earth stop evolving just because man is on the planet?  In short it doesn’t so are we therefore not simply living through the next warm period albeit one being accelerated by us humans?   I’m inclined to think so.

In the meanwhile I will continue to do my bit for the environment, reduce my carbon foot print and stay living several metres above sea level while I see out my days and keep my fingers crossed for my kids.

—000—

Give Me Five

The recent return of “Line of Duty” (series 6) got me thinking about my top five UK TV police/detective dramas.  Over the years there have been some great ones but these proved the most unmissable for me both now and in there day.  In no particular order:

1. Line of Duty
2. Prime Suspect
3. Unforgotten
4. Luther
5. The Professionals

—000—

This week TIM has been listening to …

“Diamond Dogs” by David Bowie and the title track from another great album of his.  The more I think about it the more I think there is a little diorama to be had inspired by this song title. 🤔

—000—

This week TIM has been watching …

Divergent” starring Shailene Woodley who I had never heard of but thought was quite hot and Theo James who I recognised but couldn’t initially place what I had seen him in and then remembered it was the first Inbetweeners movie.  Apparently this is the first part of a trilogy.  Having enjoyed this one I will pick up on the next two in due course.

—000—

Remember …

If you are attending a career interview remember a gang bang isn’t proof that you can work as part of a team.

—000—

TIM

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

—000—

This weeks miniature is surprise, surprise another Hasslefree figure and one I have done before at least once.  Taking advantage of a Hasslefree offer of 20% off over Christmas I put in a large order and included a number of figures I had done before.  Not an issue because I love painting them.  I have still to decide if this one will stay in my collection or find its way onto Ebay.  If I do end up selling it I will probably spend the money buying him again!

—000—

Well It Made Me Laugh

—000—

The Wednesday Whinge

Maybe it is only something which happens in the UK?  It has been about for a a good few years now so it’s not new either, but it does now seem to be a constant.  What am I talking about?  Resignations.

It might just be me but have you noticed that when someone does something wrong, either actually wrong of perceived as wrong in the eyes of the politically correct brigade, that there is an instant outcry from the public or the media for the individual to resign?

Now of course there are some things which warrant individuals to fall on their sword and if they fail to do so then they should rightly be pushed.  But there are many instances it seems to me where at worse all the individual needs to is apologise, learn from the incident and move on.  That or simply stick to their guns based on our (declining) freedom of speech society.

Yet another example for me of a world which continues to go from crazy to fucking mental!

—000—

Diorama Lite

The word “Lite” in respect of beer is used to typically describe a pale lager that is reduced in alcohol and calories compared to regular beers – Miller Lite, Coors Lite, etc.  It’s a diluted form of the real thing and so is Diorama Lite. 

I’ve been conscious for a while that my Wizard Tower diorama is drawing to a close leaving me with the quandary of what to do next.  Ideally it would be another large diorama but space is a big problem I have to address before I can give serious consideration to doing another.  In due course I will resolve this issue but until I do get my head around it I’m looking at the idea of Diroama Lite, a series of posts of micro dioramas on bases of 40mm x 40mm or maybe smaller.

The idea is to really try to make something of the base as well as the figure(s) all within the confines of a limited space.  Will it work?  Possibly.  Will they all be a success?  Almost certainly not.  For better or worse what you can expect is probably a two part post comprising of the base build, figure paint job and the end result.

Well that’s the plan!

—000—

Give Me Five

This week and with the UK lockdown nearing an end my mind wandered off in the direction of Road Movies, films where essentially the director takes you on a journey from one place to another.  I settled on the following five.

1. Easy Rider (1969)
2. Thelma and Louise (1991)
3. Into the Wild (2007)
4. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
5. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

—000—

This week TIM has been listening to …

“Galway Girl” by Ed Sheeran – I don’t always live in the musical past!  I do rather like Ed probably because he offers hope to us gingers.  I also like Saoirse Ronan who I fell in love with in the film Brooklyn and who features in this video and then there is an old girlfriend and work colleague of mine called Maureen who was born and bred in Galway and who now lives back there.

—000—

This week TIM has been watching …

“Black Books” and “Breeders”.  Two for the price of one this week thanks to Wudugast and Kuribo who a couple of weeks ago each recommended a sitcom to me.  I hadn’t heard of either (sitcom that is!) but managed to track both down and have so far watched the first couple of episodes of each.  Must say I enjoyed both very much and as a parent Breeders really struck a cord.  The good news is I still have plenty of episodes still to watch! 🤗

—000—

Remember …

The world isn’t full of arseholes but they are strategically placed so that you run into one every day.

—000—

TIM

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

—000—

This weeks miniature is actually two figures.  In an effort to get my small back log of knights done and to keep you all from being bored by the same old paint scheme I thought I’d post two figures this week and if all goes well the same next week.  These Footsore figures are not for my own collection but for selling on Ebay (unless for some reason they see them as racist and they have to be taken down!), hence the rather simplistic paint scheme.  The standard bearer which featured last week has already been sold so a final group shot is now out of the question.

—000—

Well It Made Me Laugh

—000—

The Wednesday Whinge

One thing I noticed following retirement is that some people who have retired act like they haven’t.  I didn’t pick up on this phenomenon at the start of my retirement 14 years ago but even if I had I would probably have let it go.  Since then of course there have been lots of changes, chief amongst them being that I have become far less tolerant and an even grumpier old git.  I find these days that I simply cannot let things go.  I see it as one of the few perks of the aging process.

For better or worse our Village Hall Committee has recently acquired two new members.  One is an old boy, a retired army major, the other a former company director.  Both share the same common trait in that neither of them has grasped that their days of issuing orders and having them carried out without question have passed.  I have, as has become my way of late, managed to fall out with them both.

Unfortunately our Secretary was unable to attend the recent Zoom meeting which led to the former company director taking it upon himself to instruct me for some reason to do the minutes.  I politely declined pointing out he was quite capable of doing them himself without the need to delegate.  This didn’t seem to go down well with the retired major who for reasons best known to himself saw fit to admonish me which got right up my nose.  With much satisfaction I informed him that he was no longer in the army, I was not under his command and if I wanted to tell him to Foxtrot Oscar it wouldn’t result in a Court Marshall.  All in all a great meeting.  Two birds with one stone.

The sooner this obnoxious pair begin to understand that retirement is a level playing field so much the better.

—000—

Give Me Five

Having done UK sitcoms last week this time it is the US.  Just as difficult as last time to come down to five but nonetheless here they are.  In no particular order:

1. MASH
2. Friends
3. The Munsters
4. Roseanne
5. Home Improvement

—000—

This week TIM has been listening to …

“We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel.  I hadn’t intended to listen to this but it popped up on YouTube.  I like the track anyway but this version caught my attention with the historical edit.

—000—

This week TIM has been watching …

“The Bay” series One and Two.  Only discovered this series when a mate mentioned it in passing during a Zoom call.  Binge watched them over a few nights and enjoyed them both.  It always helps when the characters in a drama are believable.

  —000—

Remember …

If you are taking Viagra and drinking prune juice you may not know whether you are coming or going.

—000—

TIM

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

—000—

Another of my leftover and forgotten Footsore Baron’s War figures.  I still have another four foot figures to do and a couple of mounted figures as well.  Each one done I’ll consider a bonus but I have a sneaky feeling I’m going to get bored with these long before I finish them and if I don’t you guys certainly will.  I might have to look at what else is in my pile which, with a push, I might be inspired to do.  Failing that I might have to resort to buying something new. It’s a tried and tested method that has always worked in the past and I can’t see it letting me down! 😉

—000—

Well It Made Me Laugh

—000—

The Wednesday Whinge

Let me say up front that I am not anti Human rights but like other policies, Health and Safety springs to mind, there are grey areas.  In this instance my issue is a simple one, when does one persons human rights become detrimental the human rights of another?  The latest example of this is the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Within the UK there are a number of people, not exclusively ethnic or religious groups although they do make up a large proportion from what I understand, who are refusing to have the vaccine.  Personally I couldn’t care less if these individuals do not have the vaccine.  If they want to risk their own lives they are more than welcome to.  It is their human right to refuse the jab and if they die of Covid then they might be sadly missed by others but they won’t be missed by me.  But what about the human rights of others?  Are people not entitled to walk around feeling safe?  Should NHS front line workers continue to be at risk just because some people won’t have the vaccine?

Ignorance and fake news has played a significant part in raising concerns over the safety of the vaccine and its side effects but hopefully most people will eventually see the light.  Personally I just think the vaccine should be made compulsory but of course plenty of people will jump on the band wagon and say you can’t.  That’s fine, just don’t expect the NHS to bale you out.   

—000—

Give Me Five

This week I decided to choose my top 5 sitcoms.  It took all of a few seconds to realise this was going to be impossible unless I split it between the UK and the US so this week I have gone with the UK and next week we can do the US.  I still found it very, very difficult as so many shows have made me laugh out loud over the years.  In no particular order I settled on the following:

1. The Office
2. Extras
3. Only Fools and Horses
4. Fawlty Towers
5. The Inbetweeners

—000—

This week TIM has been listening to …

“The Jean Genie” by David Bowie.  Classic track from one of my absolute favourite performers.  Sadly no longer with us but his music lives on.

—000—

This week TIM has been watching …

“Ivanhoe” starring Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor.  The original film adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s classic novel.  Thought I would sit down and watch a classic.  In truth the acting is dire and the quality of the filming and effects are little better.  The story is still a classic though and the young Elizabeth Taylor remains for me the most beautiful women of her generation.

—000—

Remember …

If at first you don’t succeed it’s only attempted murder.

—000—

TIM

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

—000—

I decided a review of my bits box and all of my modelling stuff was long overdue.  Time I felt to clear out the stuff that I would never ever finish or even start in the first place.  In theory this was a good idea but in practice it turned out to be a little depressing.  I had no idea I had accumulated so much stuff that I had forgotten about.  Only recently I had thought all of my knights had been done but oh! no.  Consequently this week, and by way of a change from Hasslefree and Knuckleduster, I have a Footsore Knight, one of half a dozen foot knights I aim to work on until I get bored.  All rather plain and simple but that I’m afraid is where my level of interest began and ended so not very exciting.

Overall I did manage to clear out some bits and I certainly tidied things up a lot that’s for sure but on the downside, largely out of guilt, my to do pile grew even bigger.  I was confronted with the inevitable choice of getting them all done or bothering only to do some.  It was time to man up or be a mouse.  Squeak.  Yep, I put most of them back and decided to face them all another day.

—000—

Well It Made Me Laugh

—000—

The Wednesday Whinge

I’m not one to shy away from a controversial subject, truth be told I like a grown up debate on pretty much anything but lockdown is preventing me form going to the pub with my mate John and putting the world to rights.  As a consequence this part of my blog is taking on the temporary role of filling this void until lockdown is eased.  This week I thought I would consider the subject of bullying, specifically when is the line truly crossed?

When I was a lad at school bullying was clearly defined, if you were physically picked on or had things like your dinner money stolen you were being bullied.  Pretty much everything else came under the banner of “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”.  In short, man up was essentially the message of the day.  Tough love and not great but that was the situation back then and as someone with ginger hair (its auburn son, not ginger) I had more than my fair share of verbal “banter” and one or two fights along the way.  Even my teachers would single me out at times! 

In fairness everyone back then got picked on for something, typically the characteristic that made them standout – glasses/four eyes, the fat kid, the tall lanky one, the ginger, the nerd, the spotty kid, etc.  Like it or lump these were their distinguishing features and kids as we know can be cruel.  Tabloid Cartoonists work in exactly the same way by highlighting key characteristics and then emphasising them and yet ironically that’s considered acceptable.  But is it funny or cruel?  Even the tough kids weren’t exempt.  Generally they were considered thick but you just didn’t tell them to their face!

So, back in my youth was any of that acceptable?  Certainly not by today’s standards but that was the way it was and why for some people of my generation it is hard to determine what is and what isn’t bullying in the modern world.   Being beaten up is still way out of line and we have rightly moved on in recognising other forms of bullying behaviour, well in theory at least.  Verbal bullying is unpleasant of course it is (I certainly never enjoyed it) as is online bullying and other forms but does it all need to be reported or just simply ignored?  Social media has a lot to answer for but why not switch it off? 

I’m not condoning any of this type of behaviour but I do wonder in a general sense if we are pampering a little too much to some people’s sensitivities?  Some kids and adults too these days strike me as overly fragile.  As I hold out little hope of bullying ever being stamped out completely  I do fear for those of a weaker disposition and wonder if the subject wasn’t better deat with when I was a kid. 

—000—

Give Me Five

Last week I chose my top 5 dinner guests no longer with us, this week if I have chosen my top 5 people currently alive who I would like to chat with over dinner and glass or two of wine.  To provide a mix I went for a politician, comedian, sports person, actor/actress and a TV personality.  I did also cheat in that I would have two evenings, the other would be just me with Jenna Coleman.  It’s my blog so my rules and if I want to cheat I will!  As to the five, in no particular order they are:

1. Boris Johnson
2. Lee Mack
3. Alex Morgan
4. Tom Cruise
5. Amanda Holden

—000—

This week TIM has been listening to …

“Word Up!” By Korn.  I do like this track but the dogs in the video are a little freaky.  Can’t help but think there is a modelling conversion to be had here chaps!   

—000—

This week TIM has been watching …

“Line of Duty”.  With the new series due out soon I thought I would binge the first five series.  Whilst each series has its own story line there is a thread that runs throughout.  Am currently on series four which featured Thandie Newton.  A seriously great drama in my opinion.

—000—

Remember …

Money cannot buy happiness but it sure can make misery easier to live with.

—000—

TIM