Other fora, cycling and other interests

[Cyril Haearn]

Other than cycling, I think that my collection of toe nail clippings is the only thing keeping me sane

They will fascinate archaeologists in a few thousand years

[Cyril Haearn]

When language evolves, our use of medium and media have separated and expanded considerably from their latin origins. ........

+1, did you study latin?

I am "medium" actually, not too big or too small
It is convenient when buying clothes

[Stevek76]

I did not. Though I have a passing interest in ancient history and linguistics (not on a forum for that mind!) and picked up some basic understanding of the structures of latin after falling down a few wikipedia holes on the subject! One of my parents did do a bit at their school so absorbed a bit there. I knew most of the stuff about the latin loan words from a separate internet/dictionary trawl after reading 'these data' in a paper somewhere bugged me one time too many. It's like fingernails down a blackboard to me, I'm generally a descriptivist as far as grammar goes, language evolving is a tide coming in, you can't expect it to listen when you tell it to go away!

And yes, on of the original meanings of medium = middle still exists, stamen & datum have just lost relevance, though both live on meaning quite different things!

[roberts8]

I find my other interests of birdwatching and painting fit in well with cycling, on a bike I can stop and paint along the lanes and stop and observe in situations that would not be possible in a car. Walking does open up other areas but I cover much more ground on a bike. A ten minute sketch or two are also great reminders of a good ride. Best done on your own as others may not enjoy stopping for you to sketch.

[Cyril Haearn]

I find my other interests of birdwatching and painting fit in well with cycling, on a bike I can stop and paint along the lanes and stop and observe in situations that would not be possible in a car. Walking does open up other areas but I cover much more ground on a bike. A ten minute sketch or two are also great reminders of a good ride. Best done on your own as others may not enjoy stopping for you to sketch.

Birds are fascinating but I regret I still associate them with twitchers, obsessive birdwatchers who travel great distances to see (probably?) some seldom beast
I am lucky mind, I live near a lagoon where 200 species have been observed, once saw a gathering of 40 swans
Bird names are interesting too (back to language)

[roberts8]

I agree that twitchers are extreme but I guess there are these sort of people in all sports and interest, think of trying to explain sitting on a mountain pass for days to catch a glimpse of riders in the Tour de France to a non cyclist. Still as long as they are all happy and not hurting anyone why worry.

[Cyril Haearn]

I agree that twitchers are extreme but I guess there are these sort of people in all sports and interest, think of trying to explain sitting on a mountain pass for days to catch a glimpse of riders in the Tour de France to a non cyclist. Still as long as they are all happy and not hurting anyone why worry.

The twitchers do harm others, one was booked speeding at 130mph on the A9
I stayed at a B&B in Wick, the landlady told me about some twitchers who set off for home. At Edinburgh they got a call to say that the rare bird had been seen again, turned round and raced back to the Top of Scotland
Just like the three peaks challenge, illegal motor racing on public roads

[Tangled Metal]

Isn't that just a case of irresponsible ppl doing irresponsible things in a car? It isn't their hobby making them do it!

Of course I respect the rights of everyone here to condemn the majority doing an activity because of a minority being irresponsible and dangerous just so long as it's not cyclists your condemning.

[Cyril Haearn]

Isn't that just a case of irresponsible ppl doing irresponsible things in a car? It isn't their hobby making them do it!

Of course I respect the rights of everyone here to condemn the majority doing an activity because of a minority being irresponsible and dangerous just so long as it's not cyclists your condemning.

They should move to Morecambe Bay, there are more birds there than one can shake a stick at

They choose to break the law to pursue their hobby

I am a railway enthusiast, I hate the idiots who drive to photograph trains on the S&C, there are plenty of pics in the www!

[Vorpal]

I am interested in everything. I like building, making, and repairing things, but it takes relatively low priority over other things. I like to read, and read almost anything. I like history, fantasy, and SF best. Though the last book I read was about cats (another interest). I also like to play board games and strategy games. I like various sports. I played 5 seasons of women's league football (2003 - 2008).

When I was young, in the US, before the advent of studded tyres, I used to cycle in summer and ski in winter. Now, living in Norway, I find myself compelled to take up skiing again, and I have registered for a long distance event in the mountains in April.

I also like music, and play the 'cello. Mini V plays cornet, and Littlest plays 'cello. I also volunteer for Mini V's school band, and the string ensemble that Littlest plays in.

I also like photography, but I haven't been doing much with that lately. I used to do quite a bit of walking. I did some birding when I was younger, but I wasn't especially good at it. I just like looking at the birds, and seeing their behaviour. I'm not so big on keeping lists and that sort of thing. I have gone out a few times with the local ornithology association. I like science, though most of my exposure these days is through reading and Littlest's fish tanks. The only other forum I am active on is a fish keeping forum. Littlest has a couple of aquariums, but I do much of the work looking after them. I belong to a few other forums, mostly cycling ones, but I don't do much with them.

[Tangled Metal]

They choose to break the law to pursue their hobby.

They choose to break the law. The hobby does not have the importance you make. You either follow the law or not. It's not the hobby making them do it but a conscious decision they make.

I hope that explains my objection to the implication that the hobby made them do it. We have free will, as drivers that free will allows us to make the decision to drive safely or not. Hobbies do not affect that free will. By including a hobby in the statement that they chose to break the law there's an association being placed between activity and dangerous decision. It's an association made with cyclists actions (of the minority I would add which adds to my objection to this association) that ppl have commented / complained about on this forum before.

Anyway, that's just my pedantic opinion. I just firmly believe hobbies do not make irresponsible people. Also associations with bad behaviour tarnishes all practitioners of that hobby.

[Cyril Haearn]

I am interested in everything.....

I will try to top that .. . . .
I am interested in things I am not interested in!

The names of birds are fascinating, I read that one species had dozens of names (given by "peasants" +1!) in German alone
In Wikipedia it is easy to change languages and see the name in another lingo (Bokmal or Nynorsk?)

The random function in wikipedia is good too, it enables one to learn things one never wanted to learn +2

edited: "interesting" used too often

[Vorpal]

Well, I have to admit that everything might be a slight exaggeration. I am not, for instance, especially interested in shooting guns. Or hunting.

I am vegetarian, and don't plan to kill anything, if I can help it.

I am interested in some things that many people would associate with hunting, such identifying animal tracks. Sometimes, when I am in the forest, I photograph them for later identification. I have seen lynx tracks on two occasions.

I imagine that with some effort, I can think of one or two other things that I am not interested in.

[Cyril Haearn]

There is a thread for that, things one has never done. There are plenty of shops on the high street that I would never enter

You sound like the hunter in Aesops Fables, he was looking for the tracks of a lion
He encountered a native who offered to take him straight to the lion
"Oh no, I am looking for his tracks, I do not want to see the lion!" bleated that worthy

[Vorpal]

I would like to see a lynx. But they are shy creatures. They can be hard to spot in the zoo, let alone in the forest.

The only time I've ever seen them, it was because I went round to the lynx enclosure when it was feeding time at the zoo.

They are 'big' cats, but rather small for that designation; dog-sized rather than lion sized. Although they are perfectly capable of harming or killing humans, I have never heard of them doing so.