Free Republic 2nd Qtr 2024 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $25,907
31%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 31%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Hobbies (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • FReeper model builders? A question.

    08/23/2021 12:57:05 AM PDT · by ExGeeEye · 16 replies
    I'm looking to repaint a small steel toy. It's nearly 50 years old, and some of the paint separated while in storage and fell off. I'd like to repaint it, and thought of brushed-on model paint as the best solution. However, model paint is usually sold near plastic models. So, the question for model builders: can these paints (like Testor enamel) be used for steel parts, or is there something more suited? Thanks :)
  • Weekly Garden Thread - August 21-27, 2021 [Extending The Growing Season Edition]

    08/21/2021 6:12:14 AM PDT · by Diana in Wisconsin · 70 replies
    August 21, 2021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes
    The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...
  • North Carolina legislature passes bill eliminating pistol permit system

    08/19/2021 2:20:03 PM PDT · by Libloather · 18 replies
    The Hill via MSN ^ | 8/18/21 | Celine Castronuovo
    The North Carolina state Senate on Wednesday voted to approve legislation that would allow residents to bypass the longstanding requirement to obtain a permit from the local sheriff in order to purchase a handgun. While Republicans were successful in passing the bill in a 27-20 party line vote, the measure is expected to be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who has repeatedly signaled his support for additional gun control measures and implementing more restrictions on gun sales. GOP members in the state legislature argued that the requirement to seek approval from the local sheriff is not necessary due to...
  • Dealer Gives C8 Corvette Owner New Car After Mechanic’s 148-MPH Street Race

    08/19/2021 2:17:10 PM PDT · by DUMBGRUNT · 79 replies
    The Drive ^ | 19 Aug | PETER HOLDERITH
    Earlier this month, we brought you the story of a Fremont Chevrolet mechanic caught taking a customer's C8 Corvette for a high-speed joyride, and it was even worse than that classic setup makes it sound. The tech ran the car up to 148 mph on a public highway in a street race that went viral once the video from the car's Performance Data Recorder was shared online. Michael showed up at the dealership the next morning, the general manager, Boni, met him outside, and he was taken to his office where the paperwork was completed and the new car was...
  • EV Bike From Offset Brings Dirt Bike Power to Carbon-Free Electric Riding

    08/18/2021 8:09:25 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 32 replies
    https://www.autoevolution.com ^ | 17 Aug 2021, 22:59 UTC · by Todd Halterman
    They may be new to the EV motorcycle manufacturing game, but Danish manufacturer Offset is crashing the party with style and guts. Their new battery-powered cycle, OFR-M1, does what few have tried before by cramming a brawny all-electric drivetrain into a cycle aimed at taking on off-road terrain. While it may weigh in at just 253 pounds (115 kg), this rough and tumble dirtbike can do zero to 62 mph (99 kph) in 4.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 80 mph (128 kph). It does the trick by using a 6.2 kWh battery pack to spin a “radial...
  • Is the housing market finally improving for buyers after the pandemic rush?

    08/17/2021 7:56:31 AM PDT · by millenial4freedom · 25 replies
    Yahoo Finance ^ | 08/11/2021 | Oliver O'Connell
    A five-month run of record-setting home prices has come to an end, according to new data, potentially signalling that the home-buying surge that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic in the US may be tapering off. Real estate brokerage firm Redfin released a new report based on aggregated market data from multiple-listing services showing that the median home-sale price did not rise to another record high as it had in each month since March. Instead, prices were stable in the more than 400 US metropolitan areas covered by the data, dipping 0.2 per cent from the four-week period up to 25 July.
  • Fishy

    08/16/2021 3:20:46 AM PDT · by sodpoodle · 3 replies
    email from friend | 8/16/2021 | unknown
    A man was stopped by a game-warden in Northern Algonquin Park recently with two buckets of fish leaving a lake well known for its fishing. The game warden asked the man, “Do you have a license to catch those fish?” The man replied to the game warden, “No, sir. These are my pet fish.” “Pet fish?!” the warden replied. “Yes, sir. Every night I take these here fish down to the lake and let them swim around for a while. I whistle and they jump back into their buckets, and I take em home.” “That’s a bunch of crap! Fish...
  • 1938 Mercedes Benz 540k wins Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Best of Show

    08/16/2021 1:25:00 AM PDT · by nickcarraway · 12 replies
    KSBW ^ | Aug 15, 2021 | Josh Copitch
    Automobile enthusiasts and collectors crowded the famed 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links on Sunday for Monterey Car Week's premier event, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. After a day of perusing and judging it was announced that a 1938 Mercedes Benz 540k took home the "Best of Show" trophy. In 2019, the last time the event was held, a 1931 Bentley 8 litre Gurney Nutting Sport Tourer took the trophy home. The announcement of the Best of Show marks the curtain call for a memorable week of roaring exotics and classic rides on the Monterey Peninsula.
  • A Gallery Sells Hunter Bidens. The White House Says It Won't Know Who's Buying.

    08/15/2021 3:30:31 AM PDT · by Libloather · 27 replies
    NY Times via Yahoo ^ | 8/14/21 | Graham Bowley, Robin Pogrebin
    NEW YORK - The Georges Bergès Gallery has sat on a chic stretch of SoHo for six years now, a relatively little-known newcomer in a New York art world that has long been dominated by name-brand power brokers like Pace Gallery and Gagosian. This summer, however, it has unexpectedly become one of the most talked-about galleries in the nation, thanks to its plans to sell works by another relative newcomer to the art world: a fledgling artist who happens to be the son of the president of the United States. The gallery is planning to sell 15 works by Hunter...
  • Weekly Garden Thread - August 14-20, 2021 ['All Kale Caesar' Edition]

    08/14/2021 6:17:50 AM PDT · by Diana in Wisconsin · 113 replies
    August 14, 2021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes
    The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...
  • Iowa State Fair Thread...

    08/13/2021 12:24:35 PM PDT · by US Navy Vet · 7 replies
    13 Auf 2021 | US Navy Vet
    Post thoughts here...
  • State Parks unveil new website to offer public updates for the rebuilding of Big Basin State Redwood Park

    08/12/2021 6:24:10 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 11 replies
    KSBW ^ | Aug 12, 2021 | Phil Gomez
    Nearly a year after the CZU Lightning fire burned through California's oldest state park-the clean-up continues. The fire swept through 97% of Big Basin State Redwood Park's 18,000 acres. With historic structures now gone, the public is being asked to help with the rebuilding process. It's really going to be a labor of love, as this week the state parks unveiled a new website: ReimagingBigBasin.org, where the public can get information and get involved in the planning for its rebuilding. "The canopy is gone. So what you have are big hulking, tall hulking things that is now sprouting out greenery...
  • France outlaws more traditional bird hunting techniques

    08/09/2021 3:48:52 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 6 replies
    TheLocal.fr ^ | 7 August 2021 09:52 CEST | AFP
    France’s top administrative court on Friday banned more traditional techniques for hunting birds following the banning of glue hunting in June, in a ruling welcomed by environmental pressure groups but denounced by hunters. The techniques banned in the new ruling by the State Council included practices popular in the southwest of France and the Ardennes region of the east of the country, such as hunting with nets or bird cages. Its ruling revoked exemptions granted by the government to allow the hunting of birds such as lapwings, golden plovers, skylarks, thrushes and blackbirds after a 2009 EU directive that banned...
  • Live Speedweek Bonneville Salt Flats

    08/08/2021 2:54:44 PM PDT · by Pajamajan · 11 replies
    Speedweek land speed racing streaming live from Bonneville Salt Flats now.Link
  • Nastia Liukin Writes Powerful Note in Support of Simone Biles: 'You're Leaving as a Hero' (celebrating failure alert)

    08/08/2021 2:12:56 AM PDT · by Oshkalaboomboom · 12 replies
    People magazine ^ | 7/29/2021 | Abigail Adams
    Nastia Liukin has penned a special message for Simone Biles. The 31-year-old gold medal-winning gymnast shared an emotional note to Biles, 24, on Wednesday, after the decorated United States gymnast bowed out of the women's team final as well as the individual all-around at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. "Thank you for showing the depth of who you are beyond an athlete as a leader, role model, mental health warrior, and person," Liukin wrote on social media, adding that Biles is "epitomizing what the next generation of role models should be." Liukin also lauded Biles "for creating a safer space for...
  • Preorders For This Electromagnetic Rifle Are Being Taken For $3,775

    08/07/2021 3:51:29 PM PDT · by DUMBGRUNT · 36 replies
    The Drive ^ | 6 Aug 2021 | BRETT TINGLEY
    Arcflash Labs has developed what it calls the world's first and only handheld Gauss rifle, capable of firing metal projectiles at lower velocities. The company says the weapon is “capable of accelerating any ferromagnetic projectile (under 1/2″ in diameter) to 200+ fps [feet per second]” and can produce up to 100 Joules of force, or 75 foot-pounds, similar to the muzzle energy of some .22 rifles, making it the “most powerful coilgun ever sold to the public, and also (very likely) the most powerful handheld coilgun ever built.” Arcflash's rifle measures 38 inches in length with a barrel length of...
  • Weekly Garden Thread - August 7-13, 2021 ['Everything's Coming Up Tomatoes' Edition]

    08/07/2021 5:31:07 AM PDT · by Diana in Wisconsin · 162 replies
    August 7, 2021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes
    The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...
  • Disney’s new Star Wars hotel comes with an out-of-this-world price tag

    08/06/2021 3:46:18 AM PDT · by Libloather · 27 replies
    CNN via East Bay Times ^ | 8/05/21 | Frank Pallotta
    Disney revealed pricing for its new, highly anticipated Star Wars hotel on Wednesday - and the cost to immerse yourself in a galaxy far, far away for a few days will not come cheap. The Disney World-based hotel Galactic Starcruiser is essentially a cruise ship set in space, with the pricing to match. The company says it’s the “most immersive Star Wars story ever created,” and to partake you may have to shell out $6,000 for two nights. The hotel, which opens in spring 2022, is billed by Disney as a “revolutionary new two-night experience where you and your group...
  • Lionel Messi: Barcelona say Argentina forward will not stay at club

    08/05/2021 3:22:24 PM PDT · by Oshkalaboomboom · 8 replies
    BBC News of the World ^ | 8/5/2021 | BBC News
    Barcelona say Lionel Messi will not be staying at the club "because of financial and structural obstacles".Messi, 34, has been a free agent since 1 July when his contract expired."Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled," the club said.Barcelona had said Messi was poised to extend his 21-year career with the club by signing the new deal on Thursday, and blame La Liga for the failure to do so.He had reached an agreement to stay with the Catalan side until 2026 - but La Liga said the club must...
  • AYOOB: DO YOU MAKE THESE 1911 MISTAKES?

    08/05/2021 10:52:50 AM PDT · by COBOL2Java · 27 replies
    The Armory Life ^ | 5 August 2021 | MASSAD AYOOB
    Versatility, dependable function, and high hit potential are among the reasons why so many of us cling to a 110-year-old pistol design. However, we have a couple of generations of gun owners who didn’t grow up with that particular pistol — the 1911 — and can benefit from the experiences with it of those who have gone before. Let’s look at a few “hacks” that make life with the 1911 a little bit easier and, even, safer. Safest grasp for holstering: thumb safety engaged, shooters thumb holding the hammer, no pressure on grip safety and the finger off of the...