The portrayal of modelers in the media
- Thread starter Ralph
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Originally posted by Charlie
We are all family men, with wives & children, ..y'know, just regular American guys!
We also have these "nerdy" hobbies...one of us is a bird-watcher, one of us is a model railroader, (guess who?) & one of us like to make stained glass windows!
It's just an outlet...I think the stereotypes are way off!
My girlfriend used to do stained glass (now she does model railroad scenery). My family-man neighbour across the back alley just got started in stained glass; he comes over to use my woodshop tools to make the frames. And you know what? I think stained glasswork is beautiful!
Maybe it's just that if one does not have any talent at something (ie total boobtuber), it's far easier to ridicule those who do than admit a lack of any sort of creativity. Kind of makes them feel superior in spite of their deficiency. Robert A. Heinlein (one of my favourite S.F. authors) once described them as 'laughing jackasses, empty-minded belittlers'.
So just consider the source of the insult when it needs to be considered. Enjoy the creativity in whatever you do for your hobby.
Everyone here has brought out some very good points. You know I have to admit that when I first met Glen and he told me he was into model railroading as a hobby, I will 'fess up' to everyone here that I thought "Expensive toys for big boys". Prior to that I don't think I even realized that grown men did this as a hobby. I knew kids had train sets, but I can't ever think of knowing anybody else who had ever done this. Fortunately for me, I didn't go running in the other direction or think he was a weirdo. Little could I have known that I would eventually be drawn into this hobby.
Let people think what they will, and believe me, they will. People who have hobbies are probably mentally healthier people and are more intelligent people. And if you are a woman in this hobby, people REALLY think you're nuts. At my age, people think I should be doing something other than "playing with trains". Well, I hope to be playing with trains and doing scenery until I drop dead in the saddle.
The same thing happens to me when I tell people I lo-o-o-o-ve Celtic music and play a bodhran (OK, I'm using the term "play" loosely, but I do play one) they just think I'm nuts. Now, if you want to talk about some strange individuals, go to a renaissance festival. I don't say it to be mean, I have some very good friends who are into this. I used to manage an Irish Pub and they were some of my best customers. Anyway, enough on this.
If being in this hobby makes one weird and geeky - count me in!
Judy
Let people think what they will, and believe me, they will. People who have hobbies are probably mentally healthier people and are more intelligent people. And if you are a woman in this hobby, people REALLY think you're nuts. At my age, people think I should be doing something other than "playing with trains". Well, I hope to be playing with trains and doing scenery until I drop dead in the saddle.
The same thing happens to me when I tell people I lo-o-o-o-ve Celtic music and play a bodhran (OK, I'm using the term "play" loosely, but I do play one) they just think I'm nuts. Now, if you want to talk about some strange individuals, go to a renaissance festival. I don't say it to be mean, I have some very good friends who are into this. I used to manage an Irish Pub and they were some of my best customers. Anyway, enough on this.
If being in this hobby makes one weird and geeky - count me in!
Judy
Judy and Glen. That's the way to go. Also Catt
Would you believe my Foster Daughter bought all the lumber I needed to build my layout. Now to celebrate my succesfull surgery recovery, she is going to take me to a train store in Sacrameto and by me a bunch of stuff for my layout. Every time my son comes out, he has to see what I did to my railroad since the last time he was here. I live in a Senior Citizen Moble Home Park and there are several people here that have to check up on my progress. I guess I am just lucky to have such wonderful kids and friends. Once in a while when I mention my model railroad I get the response "Really" and the subject is dropped. Which I will do now.
Would you believe my Foster Daughter bought all the lumber I needed to build my layout. Now to celebrate my succesfull surgery recovery, she is going to take me to a train store in Sacrameto and by me a bunch of stuff for my layout. Every time my son comes out, he has to see what I did to my railroad since the last time he was here. I live in a Senior Citizen Moble Home Park and there are several people here that have to check up on my progress. I guess I am just lucky to have such wonderful kids and friends. Once in a while when I mention my model railroad I get the response "Really" and the subject is dropped. Which I will do now.
Rather than edit my post from earlier, I would add these thoughts. I re-read my post and felt I did not express myself well concerning people who are into Renaissance Festivals. I should add that people who dress in costume for Ren fairs take alot of flack from people who give them grief over dressing up in costume. Do grown people actually do that? You bet, and if I could afford it, I would too. These people are very creative and great people. And it would be too easy to look at these individuals at first glance and think how strange they are, but these people do 'modeling' also, they just do it in an earlier time and place.
Hi Judy: We go to To The PA Renn Faire every weekend when it's here LOL
That's me Morgan (mikey) front Right & my Step Daughter Astrella (jess) on the Front Left - The 4 people in the back row are The Empty Hats - A celtic band that we absolutly adore!
Also, Fred, the "F" in MF&W RR (i'm the "M"), does cross stitching - He has made many beautiful pictures including 6 for me of Train stuff!!! LOL
C
Catt
Judy,what the heck is a bodhran? By the way I like Celtic music myself.
There used to be a ren fair on at the same time as one of the trainshows my club does every year. I find the costumes fasinating.
There used to be a ren fair on at the same time as one of the trainshows my club does every year. I find the costumes fasinating.
It's an Irish drum. ( and the Scots use it too!) If you saw Braveheart, the scene where William and Hamish had the rock throwing contest, one of the on-lookers was beating a bodhran in the background. Traditionally, it's goat skin stretched on a round wooden frame about a foot in diameter.
LOL - Sounds good to me.. My Tarot card reader says I have not found my "Soul Mate" yet
The lady (Left Rear) plays the bodran, She's good too they have a web site Empty Hats
yes
I find while dating it's best to not mention my interest in model training...I was getting some funny looks
I find while dating it's best to not mention my interest in model training...I was getting some funny looks
Welcome to the Gauge. You will find a great group of people here. And yes, I can understand where you are coming from.
Great...I'm a right-wing conservative, second ammendment type, Bible bangin' Baptist fightin' fundy registered Republican Model Railroader If I take up smoking again, Peter Jennings, Sam Donaldson, Tom Brokaw and Jerry Springer'll be presiding over my public hanging...Oh well, couldja pass me smore Woodland Scenics ground foam....
If I take up smoking again, Peter Jennings, Sam Donaldson, Tom Brokaw and Jerry Springer'll be presiding over my public hanging...Oh well, couldja pass me smore Woodland Scenics ground foam....Hi Guys:
Ya know,... most anything that gets portrayed in the media, is being used for some other purpose than to show a balanced presentation of what the subject is about. I recon' it's impossible for a human being to report on anything without their personal point of view being a part of the report.
When people examine subatomic particles, the light from the microscopes changes the behavior of the particles being observed. You then have to perform some mathematical calculations to subtract out the effect of the photons, which add energy to the particles and therefore change their behavior, so that you can know what the sub-atomic particles are actually up to in their little world.
The same thing happens at "people scale". The very act of observing an activity changes the activity and its perception.
It's been my observation, for what it may be worth, that people get into this hobby for all the reasons people get into any hobby. And some folks take it serious, and others, myself included, don't, at least on most levels. At the last show i attended, i remarked to a guy helping to run an HO layout that i thought he had some really neat toys. He got offended cause i called his trains toys. Felt like asking him if his trains were able to haul real coal and 1:1 scale people in those ity bity cars. But,... i just went back over to our layout and played with our trains.
But I digress from the topic at hand, Maybe we should brng back the old American Flyer “Boys Club” videos to get a more “balanced” look at the hobby?
Regard’S’,
Ted
Ya know,... most anything that gets portrayed in the media, is being used for some other purpose than to show a balanced presentation of what the subject is about. I recon' it's impossible for a human being to report on anything without their personal point of view being a part of the report.
When people examine subatomic particles, the light from the microscopes changes the behavior of the particles being observed. You then have to perform some mathematical calculations to subtract out the effect of the photons, which add energy to the particles and therefore change their behavior, so that you can know what the sub-atomic particles are actually up to in their little world.
The same thing happens at "people scale". The very act of observing an activity changes the activity and its perception.
It's been my observation, for what it may be worth, that people get into this hobby for all the reasons people get into any hobby. And some folks take it serious, and others, myself included, don't, at least on most levels. At the last show i attended, i remarked to a guy helping to run an HO layout that i thought he had some really neat toys. He got offended cause i called his trains toys. Felt like asking him if his trains were able to haul real coal and 1:1 scale people in those ity bity cars. But,... i just went back over to our layout and played with our trains.
But I digress from the topic at hand, Maybe we should brng back the old American Flyer “Boys Club” videos to get a more “balanced” look at the hobby?
Regard’S’,
Ted
Hollywood has always portrayed the sailor as a drunk, a womanizer, a gambler, a brawler, and particularly foulmouthed.
For 21 years I took umbrage to that image,,,I don't pick fights,or gamble!
If you believe in the Constitution, and the rights we all have because of that document, then you have to be able to accept any, and all kinds of behavior, as long as it doesn't physically injure anyone, destroy property, or deny anyone those same rights.
If you want to look at me as strange because I'm in the model railroading hobby, go ahead. Just don't touch the trees, they break easily.
Second ammendment.....YES
I got my sword at the Bristol Rennaisance Faire.
I can usually hit what I aim at with my compound bow.
I vote my heart, not my party.
I'm interested in archiology, geology, history , and a whole lot more.
If being a model railroader makes me the poster child for wierd,
so be it. I've been called worse.
Finally, It is usually in the "groups" which "society" calls strange, that the finest human beings can be found.. I'm honored to be part of one of those groups, here on the gauge.
Pete
For 21 years I took umbrage to that image,,,I don't pick fights,or gamble!
If you believe in the Constitution, and the rights we all have because of that document, then you have to be able to accept any, and all kinds of behavior, as long as it doesn't physically injure anyone, destroy property, or deny anyone those same rights.
If you want to look at me as strange because I'm in the model railroading hobby, go ahead. Just don't touch the trees, they break easily.
Second ammendment.....YES
I got my sword at the Bristol Rennaisance Faire.
I can usually hit what I aim at with my compound bow.
I vote my heart, not my party.
I'm interested in archiology, geology, history , and a whole lot more.
If being a model railroader makes me the poster child for wierd,
so be it. I've been called worse.
Finally, It is usually in the "groups" which "society" calls strange, that the finest human beings can be found.. I'm honored to be part of one of those groups, here on the gauge.
Pete