frustratedpilot | Entries tagged with wishlist

Because of the various discussions and whatnot about the 50th Anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, I think I'll start off with what I said about my view of the Beatles in general about eight years earlier:

I suppose I have a rather skewed view of the band compared to most people. You see, I was a baby in their heyday (I was born around the time Revolver came out) but they had already broken up by the time I was allowed to listen to the radio in the early Seventies. So I knew all four of them as solo artists FIRST. It wasn't till much later in life that I got the message that these guys were THESE GUYS and so on.

The media establishment was so quick to move on that their songs as a group were largely out of circulation for some years. Besides, Paul kept on making hit records with Wings. There was no point to look back at that time...unless you were looking back to the Fifties in the wake of American Grafitti and Happy Days. It took the Disco backlash, Elvis' death, the Beatlemania Broadway show (anybody remember that?) and the Sgt. Pepper's movie/soundtrack to start a Beatles nostalgia trend in earnest.

Anyway, I come from a time warp with regards to that realm of pop culture. I'm like a baseball fan who has to remember that the Dodgers once played in Brooklyn, or a car nut who must be prompted that GM used to have a brand of cars called LaSalle. Well, I'm not THAT bad. After all, I can ask my brother (who played a role in his High School's Beatles-based revue).

--So, what about the album itself? Really I took my own sweet time getting to it. You see, my sister had the vinyl of the movie soundtrack, which of course threw the original narrative of the album out in favor of a contrivance of both it AND Abbey Road. So my own views of what the songs were and what they meant were very very wrong, on many levels.

I only got to hear the songs that were on the album that were not remade for the movie in the early Eighties when a family friend let me borrow her vinyl of the Beatles LP--and I never heard the Beatles LP all the way through till just after the start of this Millennium when on a road trip with my brother. The new PBS special about the album's making swung my compass on it completely around.

The new remaster is going on my Xmas Wishlist.

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of February 4, 2016

Richard P. Feynman was a brilliant physicist who won a Nobel Prize in 1965 for his pioneering work in quantum electrodynamics. He also played the bongo drums and was a competent artist. But excessive pride was not a problem for him. "I'm smart enough to know that I'm dumb," he testified. "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself -- and you are the easiest person to fool." I suggest you adopt him as your role model for the next two weeks, Sagittarius. All of us need periodic reminders that we've got a lot to learn, and this is your time. Be extra vigilant in protecting yourself from your own misinformation and misdirection.

I applied to be a Delegate at one of the Presidential Election National Conventions overnight. I'm not fooling myself in believing that I'll get my ticket--but I sort of feel that my chances are good. We'll see in March.

http://www.bmh-ltd.com/midget.htm

Or BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL II?

My research addiction led me to British Motor Heritage, which produces repro parts of British cars from the Sixties and Seventies. As my father had two MG Midgets in his driving lifetime, this has immediate appeal to me...the possibility of buying a brand new body of a classic sports car and making a 21st century iteration.

Maybe something to add to the "if I win Publishers Clearinghouse" wishlist.

(I'm "relieved" they don't have TR7/TR8 bodies in white yet. That would really bend some minds.)

FP

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My wishlists are a known quantity.

Universal Studios is celebrating their 100th Anniversary this year by having a Sweepstakes on Facebook. The prize is FREE DVDs and Blu-Ray disks from their catalog, which is considerable. I went to their website just now to see exactly what I would want from them in the event of my success, or barring that, coming into a flow of cash to allow me to purchase my desired content.

I came up with about seventy titles, a mix of film sets and TV show seasons for the most part. A lot of the material shows up on Universal's TV channels, namely TH¡S and Retro.

Depending on how they count, I'd think I'd even have to find more titles to get if I won. Which, I suppose, is better than having to choose between existing favorites.

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Darn. I wish I had one.

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That we suffer no disasters in the coming year.

My sister gave me a Birthday Gift Card for Amazon.com today so I went and placed an order. I'm not going to talk about what I ordered before it arrives, but I wonder about how to muster the energy to keep on with the sweepstakes. Only have a few more days to go, tho'.

This week: All the 1/200 HBM WW2 airplane miniatures that I could either find on my list, or failing that, proxy.

I don't know if HBM is even still in business; their website hasn't been updated since 2007 and the e-mail I sent the webmaster bounced. I sent him a snail mail postcard on Monday, so I suppose either I'll hear from him or I won't.

Meanwhile, one of the main stores that sells Wings of War around here, HobbyTown USA, is clearing out their Nexus-boxed stuff for 50% off or better. And here I am with no cash to spend. Granted their selection was down to Vals and Dewoitines (which I have no prejudice against as such, but...).

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Move out. And I do mean OUT.

A follow-up to the post about the Doomsday Roster of plane miniatures for Wings of Glory...

I did the math. 320 miniatures, which, by the looks of retail pricing from the only reliable sources, means at least $1500.

Yes, I know I could probably do better. Especially now in this age of CAD to Fab, and with contacts I have in the plastics production business. Heck, I don't even need the actual miniatures, when I could design compatible game cards myself from existing graphics and either print them myself or have pros print them.

So why do I obsess? Why make chessmen when I have no playing partners?

The addition to my Amazon Wishlist for today is a set of LITKO flight bases for Wings of Glory (nee Wings of War) miniature aircraft. And so I am trying to set a limit on which miniatures to acquire and how many. This is a real balancing act, as it's great to have a good diversity of subjects, in good numbers, but not so great to have too much of something either because it's a waste of effort and resources.

Back in March I did a likeable plan--a Doomsday Roster--to see what I could justify and what I couldn't. Wings of Glory uses 1/200 scale miniature pieces. There isn't exactly one-stop shopping for these; Ares (ex Nexus) sells some of these but there are still a great many that are possible choices in the game that aren't available from them yet. Other manufacturers have some, but not all. Still, I looked over Wishlists of years past and came up with the following plan:

TWELVE EACH of: P-51 Mustang (various versions), Yakovlev YAK-1/YAK-3/YAK-9, P-47 Thunderbolt (various versions), Lavochkin Lagg-3/La-5/La-7, F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat, Spitfire IX (to use as Seafire).
EIGHT EACH of: P-40 Warhawk (various versions), P-36 Hawk 75, P-38 Lightning, Hawker Typhoon, Hawker Tempest, Boulton Paul Defiant, Spitfire (early version), Hawker Hurricane, A-20 Havoc, P-61 Black Widow, DeHavilland Mosquito, Brewster Buffalo, F4F Wildcat, Gloster Gladiator.
SIX EACH of: P-39 Airacobra, P-63 Kingcobra, Polikarpov I-15, Polikarpov I-16, Messerschmitt Bf110, Messerschmitt Me410, Junkers Ju87 Stuka, A6M Zerosen.
FOUR EACH of: Nakajima Ki-43, Fiat CR42, FockeWulf Fw190A, FockeWulf Fw190D, Dornier Do335, Junkers Ju88, Messerchmitt Bf109, Macchi MC202, Kawasaki Ki-61, Reggiane Re2000, Reggiane Re2001, Kawanishi N1K2-J.

Again, this is one of those "if I somehow come into a boatload of money to blow" pipe dreams. I probably won't even get a small fraction of these. But I've at least got a plan in my mind and on paper.

For my Week 4 entry in the Wishlist sweepstakes at Amazon.com...over on saferacer.com I found the version of Alpine Stars driving suit that The Stig wears on Top Gear. They're on special this season, but I'll never be able to afford to buy one myself. I could probably get a huge chunk of my existing Wishlist for what this one article of clothing costs!

For somebody who can't exactly watch the show I'm becoming a big fan.

As for the Power Lap project, I did a little research. I'd done an estimate from the drawing I had here earlier that it was probably around 1.5 miles around--and then I found a source that told me it is 1.76 miles. If so, completing the circuit in exactly 60 seconds makes the average speed just over 105 mph.

Actually, this makes sense as there are no places to really go flat out, and a lot of hard braking and cornering is involved.

So a little cribsheet to compare to the numbers for The Stig's runs and Celebrity In A Reasonably Priced Car:

Speed to Lap Time
170 km/h = 0:59.7
100 MPH = 1:03.4
160 km/h = 1:03.5
95 MPH = 1:06.7
150 km/h = 1:07.7
90 MPH = 1:10.4
140 km/h = 1:12.5
85 MPH = 1:14.1
130 km/h = 1:18.1
80 MPH = 1:19.2
75 MPH = 1:24.5
120 km/h = 1:24.6
70 MPH = 1:30.5
110 km/h = 1:32.3
65 MPH = 1:37.5
100 km/h = 1:41.5

And anything slower than that, is not important. (To paraphrase Raul Julia in The Gumball Rally)

No, I'm not going to talk about the Autumn of Discontent. Tho' it is tempting.

That extra hour of rest from the end of daylight savings time was welcome...but I don't like having to pay for it every spring. *shrug*

I have this bizarre notion now that if war breaks between Iran and Israel, hostilities will begin at either midnight Teheran time (2030 GMT/3:30 PM Eastern US) or midnight Jerusalem time (2200 GMT/5:00 PM Eastern US). Because, as Revelation puts it, the Apocalypse comes "like a thief in the night".

* * *

Meanwhile, I've had to update my Amazon wishlist, because a great many things on it have since become unavailable. Mainly in the fields of graphic novels, CD audio, old movies and collectable game booster packs.

My week 3 contribution to the Sweepstakes? A pilot's uniform jacket from Gibson-Barnes.

Week 2: The Armor Hunter Mellowlink action figure set I've lusted for for years.

Week 1: A rugby scrum cap (so I can convert it into a post-modern costume aviator helmet), and a Carrera Digital 132 Ford Capri slot car.

I want one of those rugby headsock things so I can convert it into a Steampunk aviator's helmet. (PS: They are called SCRUM CAPS.)

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What I've always said I'd do if I had the power of God--build dozens of life-supporting planets across the cosmos and drop a lot of people from here on them so as to prevent future wars and conflicts here.

It came from seeing THIS FLOWCHART...

And the way the maker of the flowchart split Trekkies into those who liked Wil Wheaton and those who didn't.

I know there probably isn't any new Trek TV series on the horizon, but what if there were? Just thinking aloud.

I'd want a series where Wil isn't necessarily playing Wesley Crusher, of course. I'd rather see him play a new character. He'd be the Captain of a smaller starship, a frigate or destroyer. His ship would be part of a squadron in a sector of the Federation's interior, doing Starfleet's grunt work (search-and-rescue, convoy escort, hunting down pirates and smugglers--and of course those multitudes of operational drills, wargames, and training missions). Unlike TOS and TNG, there wouldn't be much exploration or encounters with new species...there would, however, be opportunities to tidy up the dozens of narrative loose threads left behind by all the previous series. (That alone could fill out several seasons of episodes!)

I put in the last entry of the Amazon.com sweepstakes this week, and now I'm loading up my wishlist in the who-knows-how-likely event of my victory. Which means going through my old Columbia House wishlists and seeing what I can get.

I need to go to Knoxville tomorrow evening and I hope I don't get snowed in.

PS: In a fit of wisdom I added some shelving units to my Amazon wishlist. I don't like their selection of bookcases, tho'--think I'll procure those locally when the need arises.

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Stephen R Bierce

Frustrated Pilot

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Pilot's Log

Where Very Little Happens

Entries tagged with wishlist

Goin' In And Out of Style, But They're Guaranteed To Raise a Smile

FreeWill Finds Wisdom In Folly

This Way Leads To Madness

Writer's Block: I Wish I May

...And Then I Wouldn't Spend My Life Just Wishing...

Writer's Block: B.Y.O.B. Holidays

Writer's Block: B.Y.O.B. Holidays

Red 'Zon Fighter

Amazon Wishlist Updating...

Writer's Block: It's payday!

The Damage Of Doomsday

Another Doomsday, Another Roster

Wishlists, Mathematics, And Other Strange Stuff

Rest And Unrest

Playing The Amazon.com Wishlist Game for 2011

Playing The Amazon.com Wishlist Game for 2011

Fashion!--Turn to the Right...

Writer's Block: Merlin revisited

A Wish For Wil

Gimme Gimme Gimme...