Hobbies

[kaptaincarbon]

These are so bizarre, I love it.

[ranseur]

Feb 2, 2017 12:44:27 GMT -5 kaptaincarbon said:

These are so bizarre, I love it.

Thanks man.

[dungeonsnake]

those are great

[Ananoriel]

Supercool! I love the first one.

[ranseur]

thanks you guys

[Tyrannus]

Outside of making DS I enjoy making noise and black metal, haha. But really I'm so busy with grad school I feel like making music is what occupies most of my free time, since I don't have much time for other stuff. I enjoy anime and video games but those haven't been getting a whole lot of attention...

[Tyrannus]

Feb 2, 2017 12:37:30 GMT -5 ranseur said:

Shit these are huge, couldn't change that.

You can change image size my going into the BBCode tab (next to the Preview tab when you're making the post) and then locate where the image is in the code and it'll have a percentage it displays at (defaults to 100%).  I usually change the percentage to 50%

[nebulosa]

I really enjoy the outdoors in general. I go hiking at least three times a week and I really enjoy birding as well. Actually got to see a great gray owl in person for the first time recently, so that was very exciting. I also quite enjoy reading, listening to music, playing board games and videogames and watching movies, particularly of the fantasy, science fiction or horror variety. 

[nazgaldracul]

Outside of dungeon synth I've dabbled in many genres of music, though mostly metal. I also play a wide range of instruments to the extent where i don't remember all of them, but mostly folk instruments from all over the world and of course the usual guitar/bass/drums/piano. I have also dabbled in many genres of electronic music.

Other than that I have also dabbled in film making (once wrote and directed a 40 minute rather ridiculous horror comedy), archery (got a traditional flat bow), cooking (I make some mean stew, porridge and other traditional food, including international cuisine as well of course), sound engineering (got myself a small home studio which takes up most o my time). I also once had a rather small political career which I gave up as it wasn't really for me at all, but I still enjoy reading political philosophy and philosophy in general.

When it comes to games and rpgs I never really got to play much in my youth due to several reasons, but I do enjoy video games as much as anyone. I've always wanted to play tabletop rpgs, but for some reason every group of players I've ever come across has said something in the lines of "already have enough players". I don't know if it the d&d community is packed to the brim or if it is my winning personality which has kept me away from adventures. I do however have a history with computer ganes like early warcraft, the might and magic series, heroes of might and magic series, doom and so forth.

[goatwolf]

I'm a college student, so stress is high and free time and money are low. Thankfully, that'll be wrapped up soon.

Perhaps my foremost hobby is amateur astronomy.

Ever since a pair of magical nights four years ago, I've been enthralled with the night sky. I grew up in the suburbs, and growing up, I never really got to experience a truly dark night sky. One night in 2013, I was on my back porch late at night with my buddy, probably around 3AM, just smoking a bowl and shooting the shit, when a bright fireball streaked across the sky. Big yellow-orange thing, broke up into three pieces, each with its own trail of fire. To this day, it's still the best meteor I've ever seen. Stupefied by the incredible sight, I tried searching the internet to see if anyone else had seen that meteor. That pursuit led me instead to discover that we were near the peak of the eta-Aquariids meteor shower at the time.

I had read an article a few weeks earlier about how to see a clear, dark night sky. The article led to two websites; the first was the Dark Sky Finder (http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/) This website is like google maps, but with a colored overlay indicating the levels of light pollution. I learned that where I lived, the light pollution was terrible, a red on the scale, and I sought to find the nearest good site.
The second website I discovered from the article, Clear Dark Sky (http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/) gives astronomical weather charts for various locations.

After seeing the fireball, I told my friend about the websites, and how I'd learned of a good dark site from the Dark Sky Finder. The site is a blue on the scale, a tremendous improvement, and only about an hour and 20 minutes away from us. After confirming with the charts that it would be a clear night, I asked if he wanted to make a trip out the next day, and he enthusiastically agreed.

The next night, we set out for the site, and upon arriving, we sat in the bed of his truck, just soaking in the view. It was as if I had seen the night sky for the very first time, and in a way, I had. For the first time, I gazed upon a sky with not tens, not hundreds, but uncountable thousands of stars, and the silvery band of the milky way rising overhead. All this, along with watching the occasional meteor flit by, as we were in the middle of the meteor shower.

After a good twenty minutes of this, I brought our attention to the other people who were at the site. In the darkness, we could make out the silhouettes of two people, along with their trucks, trailers, and what looked like some sort of naval cannons. I suggested we introduce ourselves, perhaps these guys are friendly, and they certainly seem to know what they are doing.

After introducing ourselves, the other two, these amateur astronomers were more than glad to share with us the views they were getting through what I quickly learned were their gargantuan Dobsonian reflecting telescopes. They showed us planets, galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and all sorts of deep space objects that until that point, I had only thought were accessible to Hubble or huge observatories where the roof opens up to reveal monstrous building-scale telescopes.

After that night, my curiosity about the night sky was sparked in a big way. I immediately set out to learn as much as I could, and within a month or so, I had saved up to buy a telescope of my own, an 8" Dobsonian, a fairly large and respectable telescope in its own right, certainly for a beginner, but absolutely dwarfed by the 16" and 25" monsters that I had looked through that first night.

From there, I bought books, software, and I sold blood plasma for a while to afford a pair of expensive, expansive, wide-field eyepieces. Almost four years down the line, I landed an internship with the National Park Service to work at a national park out west starting next month, where one of my responsibilities will be giving presentations about and demonstrations of the night sky and the wonders it holds to park guests.




In addition to astronomy, some of my other hobbies include:

Hiking - Inexpensive, and a fantastic way to relax and unwind out in nature.

Camping - Spending nights out under the stars, with a campfire, beer, food, and good friends. Heavenly.

Music - As a listener: My taste in music spans many genres, but I'd probably call myself a metalhead first and foremost. I really dig black metal, but I'm into traditional, speed, thrash, and power metal as well. Of course I enjoy dungeon synth, and I also really enjoy chiptune and synthwave, and probably some other electronica that I don't really know how to categorize. Other than that, I appreciate good music regardless of the genre. Whatever the ear likes, it likes, so even if it's a type of music I don't regularly listen to or seek out, if I hear a song that strikes me a certain way, I respect that as quality musical output.

As a player - I'm not a serious musician by any stretch but I play guitar for fun and to relax, again mostly metal, a lot of black metal or black metal-inspired riffs. I do wish I had more diversity in my playing. I use power chords and/or tremolo picking extensively, but I don't really know chords, or too much theory other than, "here's a set of notes that sound good together, this will be the scale I use." I've come up with a whole bunch of riffs that I think sound halfway decent, but I haven't gotten as far as putting an entire song together.
I also dabble with the keyboard; I've come up with some decent dungeon synth sounding riffs, but again, I have a lot of room to improve, and I need to work on progressing from riff to riff to build a song.\

Photography - I bought a used DSLR off craigslist a few years back, and I've had a lot of fun playing around with that. I do a lot of astrophotography, but because of budget, I'm limited to wide-field stuff due to lack of lenses and tracking mounts. Still have plenty to learn on the post-processing side of things. I also like shooting nature shots when I'm out on hikes, sunsets, that sort of thing.

Beer - I enjoy beer. I love craft beer; Stouts, India Pale Ales, sours, you name it, I probably enjoy it. It's always fun to go to the beer store, wander around until something catches the eye, and try something new I've never had before. As far as cheap, shitty beer, you can't go wrong with Pabst Blue Ribbon. As a Pennsylvanian though, Yuengling is my go-to; there's better beer, there's cheaper beer, but there's no better cheap beer. I've drank more Yuengling than any other beer by far.

Running - It gets the blood pumping, and I find it clears my head. My usual run is about 5 miles or so. I haven't been doing so much running lately, as it's been difficult to find the time. I plan on getting back into it once the semester is over. In the same vein, I like working out, mostly bodyweight and dumbbell stuff, but school has seen me neglecting that too as of late.

Rock and mineral collecting - Part of my education is in geology, and I enjoy collecting rock and mineral samples. I think it's cool that they're all pieces of the planet we live on, but the compositions can vary so wildly from place to place. For the most part, at least to me, each rock kind of tells its own story of where I got it from, along with the aesthetic value of looking at pretty rocks and minerals.

Gardening - I started vegetable gardening last year, and I find it quite rewarding. I won't be around to garden this season, but I've been helping my friend start his garden up, and I look forward to receiving updates. I really like the idea of growing my own food, and I'd like to get into it more when I have the money and a place to call my own.

Fishing - Another activity I find fun and rewarding, and also yields food.

Cooking - Love to cook. I can cook a better pot of rice than anybody I know. Grilling is a favorite of mine.

Psychedelics - It's fun to explore the inner workings of the mind.


There's probably a couple more that I can't think of right now. I'm something of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none kind of guy when it comes to these things. I've got a broad base of knowledge and interests, but my skills in any one area aren't as well-honed as I'd like. I often find myself bouncing from one thing that captures my attention to something totally different. It's a blessing and a curse.


I enjoy hearing others talk about things they're passionate about, even if it's something I otherwise have no interest in.. I love being able to learn something from somebody who's genuinely interested and invested in something. I'd love to hear more about some of your hobbies if you're willing to share.

[goatwolf]

My apologies for writing a book, didn't realize I had written so much until I actually posted it up.

I'm severely procrastinating right now, and I become very productive when I'm procrastinating, as long as it's not the thing I'm actually supposed to be doing.

If you're interested in talking about anything I just posted about or about your own passions and hobbies, feel free to direct message me.
Never hurts to have conversations and maybe make new friends.

To make up for writing an absolute tome of a post, and as a reward for those of you who might have actually read the whole thing, here's a picture I took of the moon setting over a 'lake' of fog on a hazy night with the Milky Way just visible in the background.

[andrewwerdna]

No need to apologize, that was a good read. The stuff about astronomy was particularly interesting, I'm jealous, I wish amateur astronomy was a hobby I had the patience and focus to get into. I tried to get into it when I was a teenager, bought a telescope, subscribed to astronomy magazine and really gave it a solid effort. Unfortunately the only really cool thing I was able to find with my cheap telescope was the "seven sisters" (don't remember what the proper name is). It blew my mind that when I pointed it there suddenly there's a massive pile of stars.

One of the problems with my attempt at amateur astronomy though is that I live in Alaska. You'd think that'd be a good for stargazing because we have very little light pollution, however it's way too cold to stargaze in winter for very long and in the summer it rarely gets dark enough for good stargazing. But at the end of the day I'm just too lazy and stupid to pursue this hobby, as much as I was enjoying it when I did.

[thekeeper]

I liked the long post as well. Really kool that your interests led you into your internship. Nice when things work out like that.

Anyone interested in clouds? I got a pair of somewhat decent binoculars a few months ago along with a cloud form book. Only problem is that it's always really overcast almost all the time where I am up in the NW and the clouds are typically just one big grey mass that consumes the sky. Similar to Alaska and the stars I guess, you'd figure the NW would be great for clouds but it's always just a single mass. Used to live in AZ, that's really cloud-heaven.

Also, goatwolf, what's the secret to your rice? I always just use a rice cooker..

[goatwolf]

Apr 27, 2017 1:26:28 GMT -5 thekeeper said:

I liked the long post as well. Really kool that your interests led you into your internship. Nice when things work out like that.

Anyone interested in clouds? I got a pair of somewhat decent binoculars a few months ago along with a cloud form book. Only problem is that it's always really overcast almost all the time where I am up in the NW and the clouds are typically just one big grey mass that consumes the sky. Similar to Alaska and the stars I guess, you'd figure the NW would be great for clouds but it's always just a single mass. Used to live in AZ, that's really cloud-heaven.

Also, goatwolf , what's the secret to your rice? I always just use a rice cooker..

I've said for a long time, people don't look up enough. Just today, I was doing a quick bit of cloud-gazing outside work. I like playing that game of looking for recognizable shapes and forms in the clouds and calling them out. I'm especially attentive toward what the clouds are doing when it gets close to sunset time; you know, it's those times when it's just cloudy enough that you get the most striking colors. Too much clouds and it's too dark, too clear and there's not too much going on other than the color gradient, but when you get that right mix, the whole sky lights up with color. Actually, in spite of what I just said, just a couple days ago, I saw a real subtle sunset on a mostly overcast day, where a few patches of cloud were bright pink against the grey. Real subtle, but absolutely striking.

For the rice recipe, I usually use long-grain Jasmine rice, it's got a certain aroma to it that's really pleasant. Great for Thai food.

Anyways, I use a 4:5 dry rice to water ratio, usually 2 cups rice to 2.5 cups water. Put them both in your pot or saucepan or whatever, and add a dash or two of salt if you want.

Turn the heat to medium, and you wanna get the water to a light boil, stirring it a couple times throughout. You wanna just be able to hear the water bubbling, and have some bubbles forming at the top. Don't let it boil too hard. Give it one last stir, cover the pot, and set the heat for about a 3/10 level. Set a timer for 10 minutes. When that's up, turn the heat off, and don't touch your pot for 15 minutes. Leave it sitting covered on the turned-off burner so it steams the rice nicely. After 15 minutes of steaming, you're good to go.

Those instructions are what I use, living at about 500' above sea level, so anyone living at altitude might have to adjust accordingly.

[goatwolf]

Apr 27, 2017 0:14:39 GMT -5 andrewwerdna said:

No need to apologize, that was a good read. The stuff about astronomy was particularly interesting, I'm jealous, I wish amateur astronomy was a hobby I had the patience and focus to get into. I tried to get into it when I was a teenager, bought a telescope, subscribed to astronomy magazine and really gave it a solid effort. Unfortunately the only really cool thing I was able to find with my cheap telescope was the "seven sisters" (don't remember what the proper name is). It blew my mind that when I pointed it there suddenly there's a massive pile of stars.

One of the problems with my attempt at amateur astronomy though is that I live in Alaska. You'd think that'd be a good for stargazing because we have very little light pollution, however it's way too cold to stargaze in winter for very long and in the summer it rarely gets dark enough for good stargazing. But at the end of the day I'm just too lazy and stupid to pursue this hobby, as much as I was enjoying it when I did.

One thing I've picked up from astronomy books and forums and the like is that cheap-o department store telescopes are a great way to kill any interest in the hobby. They're simply too wobbly and unstable, and the optics are fairly bad, and while you may get a decent view of the Moon and maybe Jupiter, they lead to more frustration than good views. 

The thing that sucks about the hobby is it's a decently big chunk of change to drop down.
For a basic entry level scope, unless you're getting a deal, the bare minimum you should be spending is about $100

Something like a small tabletop reflector like this would be a good value for about 100 bucks.

The best value of imaging power for the money would be with Dobsonian telescopes. They use a fairly inexpensive wooden mount, which is heavy, but solidly built, instead of a tripod, which could be either cheap and shaky, or pretty expensive.

Because of the robust mount, they can hold big "light bucket" reflectors, giving you a lot of aperture- and therefore a lot of imaging power, for a price that's far lower than similar telescopes of other construction.

The problem with these telescopes is that while they're a tremendous value for visual astronomy, they're rubbish for imaging. Outside of taking pictures of the moon and maybe the planets, the lack of tracking means you won't be able to take long exposure picture, as whatever you're trying to shoot will quickly drift out of your field of view, leaving a smeary trail instead of a crisp image. For that though, you need to drop probably at least a grand on a rig like this, which has an equatorial mount and tracking.

The advantage of the equatorial mount in imaging is that while significantly more complicated and expensive compared to the standard altitude-azimuth mounts, they align with the polar axis, allowing them to track along with the motions of the stars in only one axis, rather than have to move up/down AND left/right in steps, which leads to significantly less movement of the field, and thus sharper, clearer images.


I digress however. If you're just trying to look at cool stuff and you harbor no illusions of becoming an astrophotographer, a Dobsonian is the way to go.


This is the telescope I own. I paid about $360 for it four years ago, but it's provided me with plenty of great views.

I've caught all 7 of the other planets, other galaxies, nebulae, and some nice star clusters, as well as incredible views of the Moon, including watching the Moon during the lunar eclipse back in September 2015.

If you know where to look and what to look for, you can see some pretty cool stuff with a scope like that.
With what I've got, with a sufficiently dark site and some patience, you can see pretty much anything in the Messier Catalog

Some favorites of mine include

Summer
M13 - a tremendous globular cluster. At first glance, it looks like a big fuzzy ball, and as you look at it, you can make out the detail of individual stars.

M57 - The Ring Nebula - A 'planetary' nebula. A shell of ionized gas; the remnant of a red giant star that threw off its outer layer of gas as it died. Looks like a ghostly smoke ring in the telescope. With enough power, you can actually see the white dwarf remnant of the core of the star.

M20 - the Trifid Nebula - This is a true nebula, an interstellar cloud of dust and gas, a region of active star formation. This looks absolutely tremendous in the scope. One of my favorite objects to look at. Right nearby is M17, another similar nebula.

Albireo - Point a telescope at this star, and you'll see it's actually two stars. Now, double stars are fairly common, but this one's special. The one component star is red-orange, while the other is a cool turquoise green. Really a fantastic contrast.

Autumn
M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy - If you were only going to check out one galaxy, this is the one to look at. For a galaxy 2.5 million light years away, it's huge! You can actually spot it pretty reliably with the naked eye from a dark site. The nearest big spiral galaxy to us, and indeed we're on a collision course; the Milky Way and Andromeda will eventually collide and fuse into one big galaxy. Also within the same field of view are two smaller galaxies, M32 and M110. 

I always find it really fascinating when I'm looking at other galaxies, that my eye is detecting photons that have travelled for millions of years, just to land on my retina. Makes me feel delighted in a strange way.

M45 - the Pleiades - The Seven Sisters. Subaru. It goes by many names, but it's the most recognizable open cluster of stars. Dominated by a couple beautiful bright blue stars that are visible with the naked eye, the telescope reveals plenty more.

The Double Cluster - Doesn't have a Messier designation, but it's a pair of open clusters right next to one another. One of the coolest star fields in the sky to point the scope at. Absolutely dense with stars, like diamonds on black velvet.

Winter
M42 - the Orion Nebula - the deep-space highlight of my favorite constellation, Orion. The Orion Nebula is probably the most famous of all nebulae. It's another object that's visible by the naked eye. Words don't do it justice, it's seriously cool.


I could keep going, but I'm running out of stamina for one post. If anyone wants to learn more, don't hesitate to ask questions.