Through a Glass, Smartly Larry Sherk is one of the world's foremost brewerianists, a collector of beer stuff who over 40 years has amassed the country's second-largest private collection of beer labels (about 3,000), many of which date to the late 1800s.
[more inside]
posted by modernnomad
on Feb 4, 2012 -
4 comments
Frederik and Gerrit Braun, energetic twin brothers with no shortage of dreams, have just finished construction of the world’s largest model airport. With 40,000 lights, 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, 10,000 trees, 50 trains, 1000 wagons, 100 signals, 200 switches, 300 buildings and 40 planes, Knuffingen Airport is both a wonder to behold as well as a technological tour de force. The best part of Knuffingen is that it’s alive. Forty planes and 90 vehicles move about autonomously.
posted by Trurl
on May 12, 2011 -
26 comments
Flight simulator. As a hobby, this guy built his own Boeing 747 flight simulator. No, not just a PC simulation, but a full cabin with hydraulics motion simulation a correct control panel and the full works, just like the real thing.
(via Neatorama)
posted by caddis
on Sep 4, 2006 -
24 comments
Making a watch by hand. In these days of “fast” and “convenient” I decided to commence a work of “painstaking” and “craftsmanship”, making my own wristwatch. I have had the idea for a certain arrangement of the watch dial, as on the image at the right, for a while now. My investigations into available movements showed that no production movement would give me this layout. After a long period of indecision and wondering what I was really getting myself into I decided to make my own movement, followed by the case and dial.
posted by caddis
on Sep 3, 2006 -
21 comments
Elongated Pennies. Pressed pennies, flattened pennies, squished pennies, smashed pennies, whatever you call them, they are an exciting, kid-enticing presence at any
tourist attraction, amusement park, or museum. For two quarters and a penny (pre-1982 preferred by the
serious buffs) you can legally flatten the lowest of our nation's currency (and sometimes Canada's) into a souvenir disk that's embossed with a picturesque reminder of your trip. But these pennies don't live and die by the child's pants pocket, pressed penny collecting is serious business. Heck, there's even a
museum devoted to the hobby, as well as a thriving
collecting scene. So next time you pass by one of these
cool machines, pause, elbow the penniless kids out of the way, and get yourself a neat little trinket of remembrance.
posted by lychee
on Jun 12, 2006 -
52 comments
Teens in Israel need to find a new hobby: Incoming recruits to Israel's Defense Forces
(Tzahal) who divulge playing
Dungeons & Dragons are being flagged with low security clearance and psychological disorders. New guidelines are in place that limit D&D hobbyists from being considered for sensitive army positions such as
Sayeret Mat'Kal, one of the most elite designations of Tzahal. Why does the IDF believe the game is so dangerous?
: "These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment, a military official says. "They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality – elements which lower a person's security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions." Many find this policy inexplicable, and are turning to
humor to
aleviate the ridiculousness.
posted by naxosaxur
on Mar 6, 2005 -
38 comments
Old River Bill really knows inland workboats. Besides exercising his novel system of punctuation, Bill makes model
tugboats and is a part of an avid community of
workboat modelers. You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about how real work is done on rivers on how the hell we move 100's of thousands of tons of crap around the country every day.
posted by badstone
on Jan 6, 2004 -
5 comments
The Postage Stamps of Donald Evans (scroll down a paragraph or two) A rich and complex internal world expressed through postage stamp art.
'When Donald Evans (born Morristown, New Jersey USA in 1945) was a boy, he drifted from his hobby of collecting postage stamps to creating his own postage stamps of countries he made up in his imagination ... He left behind an astonishing planet seen through its nations' postage stamps, thousands of them, all drawn to postage-stamp size, with all the familiar periphery of postage stamps hand-done ... '
posted by plep
on Oct 28, 2002 -
18 comments
New Bog Snorkeling World Champion Crowned People have such odd hobbies and collections.
I'm not talking about things like
CrossStiching, or
Air Guitar, or
Naming Your Pens, but really strange ones.
Air Sickness Bags are art to some, so are
Wal-Mart Purchase Receipts, and
Nobs, always fun at parties there's collecting
navel fluff, I'm not
Sure What To Call This, there's
Squirrel Fishing
, collecting
Odd Rod Cards, heck,
Books Have Been Written, even
The USAToday collects them.
I dunno, is Mefi a strange hobby?
posted by Blake
on Aug 27, 2002 -
14 comments
I'm here to tell you about the ultimate sporting clash of the titans-
Air Hockey! That's right, the ultimate rec-room sport of the '70's is alive and well. There's
leagues galore including one in
Austin, Texas(home of numerous MeFite's.), and cool
Flash animations of some slick moves. Ever since I bought my first table at age 10 at a yard sale, this has been my game. Nice to know it's still out there. There's even places to buy nifty
tables if you're in the market. Me and the missus used to love playing at the local arcade on
this beauty with the nifty flourescent puck. Now drop the puck and play!
posted by jonmc
on Apr 7, 2002 -
3 comments
SpacecraftKits.com has an interesting way of keeping their costs low. They do it
"through mass production, and by putting the extensive assembly instructions and fact sheets ... online, rather than mailing them to you." I think that's a great idea. That way if they want to revise some part of the instructions, or add schematics or notes or ideas from people who might have experienced problems, they can allow
all customers to see the new instructions without having to send recall notices or try to track exactly who owns their product. This gives a company the ability to hyperlink instructions with tons of additional information, as well as definitions and photographs. I really think all toy manufacturers should do this. It would also be great for furniture makers - Sauder and those places that make built-it-yourself desks and bookcases, etc. That way you could order that missing bolt or screw or broken piece of shelving directly from the manufacturer ...
posted by GatorDavid
on Dec 4, 2001 -
3 comments
Geocaching is a way to put your useless GPS device, and your lazy internet to work for your important fun needs. People hide Stuff on earth, and mark the spot. Publish the coordinates, and you go find the stuff. Sometimes toys and cameras are involved. Link via my good friend
J.Bu, who probably did not realize he was giving away a perfectly good Old School style MeFi post.
posted by thirteen
on Jul 30, 2001 -
26 comments
Scripophily is the misunderstood love of owning stocks and bonds that shouldn't be worth anything anymore. So why not make a
business out of it? I'm just glad to see that
e-toys is doing good once again.
posted by samsara
on Jun 26, 2001 -
5 comments
Everyone has a hobby.. mine is is playing the guitar (rather badly I may add). I love
wholenote .com. Are there any other hobbyists out there who have a site to reccomend?
posted by ttrendel
on May 12, 2001 -
10 comments
"People, let me tell you 'bout my best friend.." Are you too much alone? Does time hang heavy on your head? Do even the cold comforts of Internet chat rooms and community blogging reject you? There's hope.
Find the warmth of solid state friendship with the companionship of computerized buddies. It worked for all the greats - Luke Skywalker, Baltar, the Robinson boys (
Will and Joel) and even that creepy tree-hugger Freeman Lowell.
A servomotor, some fiberglass, and a sturdy car battery is all you need to guarantee that you will never be lonely again.
posted by Perigee
on Mar 5, 2001 -
1 comment
