What else turns us on?

Guess it's my turn in the barrel so here goes: 1. Camera collecting, 600+ so far (time to put the brakes on for a bit)
2. Model cars 3.Photography, both books and taking photos
3.Fixing/collecting bikes, 23 + so far 4. Fixing and tinkering with my '66 Rambler Classic 550 5. Dogs, love em all, big or small
6. Slot cars both H.O. and 1/25 scale 7. Stamps, coins, bottles, although I mainly dabble in those 8. Yard sales/auctions/estate sales/thrift stores/pawn shops 9. Travel 10. On Line Gaming at sites like Pogo.com, Sci-Fi movies/novels and last but certainly not least, beautiful women. (who doesn't like women like Carmen Electra, Faith Hill, etc?) Anyhooo, just my main hobbies/likes.
 
Wierdcollector has over 600 cameras? 😱

I guess I can stop feeling guilty over the dozen or so I have. 😀
 
In addition to photography and bargain hunting, especially for cameras (I picked up a Pentax SP 1000 with 55 mm f2 lens and a simple Sunpak flash for $30.00 at a garage sale three weeks ago and an Olympus Stylus Epic 35mm f3.5 for $5.00 at a town wide garage sale Friday) I also love classical music and opera. I have been taping the live broadcasts from the Metropolitan opera for at least 35 years and have quite a collection including a few mishaps which never appear on commercial recordings.
I also like to cook as does my wife which is why we are both a bit overweight. I do the French and Chinese cuisines, she does the Japanese (which she is) and we both do Italian and American. I occasionally do a Swedish dish or two from my days in that Country, but haven't done one lately. Another interest is economics and politics. Lastly, I love walking in NYC and other cities and checking out the architecture. My wife likes hiking and mountain climbing which I hate so she has to wait for the rare visit from my daughter (she just left an hour and a half ago after a weeklong visit here in Warrensburg to return to Cleveland where she is a chief resident in orthopedic surgery) so she and my wife climbed Prospect Mountain in Lake George while I stayed home. Although my son who lives in New Jersey has been married for 4 years I still have no grandchildren which my wife and I fervently hope will become a major interest once they arrive.
Kurt M.
 
Cycling; definitely cycling. This year I've been so busy all I've done is commute to work and back (~150km per week). I've done the Rideau Lakes Tour three times, I used to race (stage races and criteriums) in my late twenties.

Music; a lifetime ago I played trumpet in highschool and a jazz band. Being a bit of a "mathole", I'm very fluent in theory despite not really being able to play any instrument very well. I just like to jam along with on recorder to keyboards. I also have an old Yamaha synth I like to make strange noises with.

My wife is a visual artist (painting, sculpture) and we occationally collaborate on mix-media stuff - especially with political bent.
 
I kinda posted this on my intro. post, but it seems right to add it here, too.

Besides photography, my other passion (apart from my wife, of course), is my 1968 Datsun 2000 Sport roadster. If you didn't know that Datsun made really cute, quick sportscars in the sixties, then www.dsrcvic.com has a few shots of them, many by yours truly.🙂 It's nice when you can indulge both hobbies at once. I'm a huge rally fan (ie, watching cars get driven very very fast in all sorts of conditions) and hope (one day) to compete in tarmac rallies in the Datsun.

Apart from that, the usual: Good music, good food, good company, and the odd good computer game. 🙂

Cheers,
Steve
 
Steve,
Oh, oh - When I was in my 20's my FIL had both Datsun 1600 and the 2000 roadsters. What a blast they are to drive, much like MG's of that era. If I remember right the main difference (other than 400cc of engine size) was the 2000 had a 5 speed tranny, while the 1600 only had a 4 sp.
Enjoy yourself, they are great little cars 😀
 
Hi nwcanonman!

Yeah, a lot of fun. One thing you left out, though. Along with the 400cc and the extra gear came another 60hp!

I can't wait to get my XA and post some pics here, though...
 
Hey SolaresLarrae, looks like I'll be picking her up soon!!
(I've never attached a photo, so here goes - PS, I didn't take the photo, it was given to me by the previous owner and I scanned it)

1970-2800CS.jpg
 
Kirk, I'll bet the anticipation is getting hard to bear! The 2800CS is a gorgeous car; I've driven a 3.0CS belonging to a BMW club friend -- very cool! Will it be a restoration job?

Your picture didn't show up... If you use the "Post Reply" button at the lower right of the thread window, it gives you the opportunity to "point" to the picture on your own comp, and it will be uploaded like this one below:
 
No Doug, I think I'm done with the resto stuff for a bit. I'm in the middle of a 635 job still but I'm jonesin' for a toy. Besides, the E9 is my favorite body style. Next week I'll run up and get it. It's a little over 4 hours away but the trees are in bloom up in Traverse City so it'll make for a nice fall drive home. 🙂

Again, bad scan and not my photo.
 
Kirk, that BMW coupe is one of the most beautifull cars designed, IMO.

I used to be in a classic rally club, and this really nice guy used to rally one - very quick car, (3.0 CSi, I think) and it just sounded glorious taking off! One of those is on my list as daily driver when I finally get around to pulling the Datsun off the road to restore her.

Damn, talking cars again. Where's that damn camera? 🙁
 
On our way to fly out for vacation two weeks ago, we passed a group from a German car club, lost track after counting twenty+ various Porsche, 1 BMW and four Audi TT's. Would have made for a nice photo shoot if I wasn't driving. Also in Laughlin, Nevada we discovered the "Watchman's Classic Cameras" in the Riverside Casino where you guessed it, everything is for sale although not all are in working condition. Handled an Aries lll, Yashica Minister, Mamiya Elca, Kodak Signet 35 as well as oodles of Argus and Kodak models. Almost grabbed up the Mamiya and Yashica, but sanity/cheap streak prevailed so I only came home with an Olympus Infinity Zoom 200 I picked up for $2 on a whim from a thrift store. I know I'll regret not buying them, the same as the 90 Summicron I found in a pile of junk in a Tucumcari, New Mexico thrift/junk store.
 
When I first started at the lab in 1979 my first job was to convert FORTRAN programs from older computers to our enormous Texas Instruments Advaced Scientific Computer. I worked on programs that went back to the fifties, and got interested in old computers. I grabbed some surplus computer manuals from the library, including the manual of operations for the IBM Mark I. In 1981 I attended a talk by Grace Hopper and had her autograph it. She authored the book in 1946.

Last night I got out my old Wang 360 Calculator. I will take a picture of it next to my late model M3. They were made about the same time, but the calculator cost $3,500 in 1967. I need to reseat all of the cards, b3 from the ALU seems to be "stuck" but otherwise it still works. One of the Nixie tubes is out, but they are available on EBay!
 
You're showing your age, Brian. I bet you were drooling over these when they first came out:

Digital Equipment PDP-11
 
Drooling over them... Are you kidding, I was kneeling down and entering the bootstrap code in through those toggle switches!!!

Are there any ALTAIR 8800 nuts in this group?

PDP 11/20; PDP11/35; PDP11/40; PDP11/34a; PDP 11/70; VAX 780; VAX 750; VAX 730; VAX 785; and VAX 8650!
 
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Frank, thankyou for the offer. I am attempting to cut down on the amount of stuff in "The Basement of Horror". I even got rid of my Z386, upgraded from a Zenith Z241. If I get the Wang working correctly it will grace my office as a working calcuator. Hey, the Timeplex "digital tumbler" clock still works!

Some of this stuff will be going on EBay. Believe it or not some of this "nostalgic" computer stuff is selling for a decent amount. I recently saw a b&w Xerox copy of an Altair catalog sell for $20. I have the original full-color catalog. The computer itself went for almost $3K.
 
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