Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see!

Finally another blogpost!

It has indeed been a while but in that time I have been preparing for a new arrival to the family who turned up just over a week ago!

So now to catch up on the interesting/geeky stuff I have been up to.

My main topic for the moment is stargazing.

The past couple of weeks have seen some beautiful clear skies and some wonderful sights.

A few key highlights have been keeping an eye on Betelgeuse, a massive red star that is very noticeable.   If you can spot Orion's Belt (3 stars in near alignment) look up from the left most star there will be a very distinctive red star.   Hello Betelgeuse!   This one is only about 640ly away and in a state that it could have gone supernova at anytime in the past 500-600 years so we may witness a supernova at some point in time, but do not hold your breath, it could still be 100's of years away!

Keep looking up from Betelgeuse and there will be a faint star and a very bright one above this, the very bright one is no star but Jupiter, the biggest planet in the Solar System.

Further east, recently around where the moon has been you will spot another red star, but again no star but another planet, the Red Panet of Mars, this object is very bright at the moment so nice and easy to see and spot.

My final bit of info is that April is a great month to see the International Space Station flyby.   It is usually in the evening between 9pm and 10pm, there can also be another pass about 1.5-2 hours later.   The ISS rises in the west and fades in the East.   It is very easy to spot as it is very bright and crosses the sky in only a few minutes, it is traveling at about 17,500mph.   If you have a camera with slow shutter speeds and a steady tripod you can get a time lapse photo of it passing as I am posting below.

For more info I highly recommend visiting: www.meteorwatch.org

In the below photo the pass of the ISS is shown by the thin line, the bright object in the top in the top is Jupiter.   Unfortunately I do not have a tripod so that is why the image is slightly wobbly.   The second image is a slightly longer path of the ISS.

A lil catch up...

Sorry for no posts for a few weeks.
This post is just a quick catch up, I have been busy over the past few weeks with birthdays, Christmas, New Year and getting back into the swing of things at work etc.

So over the new few weeks I am hoping to get a few more posts up including:

A look at the new Tyranids for 40k, this will be a positive look as there are many things in there that I like rather than what appears to be the current, lets say, moany, whingy, bitchy internet tone regarding this release.

An overview of Malifaux 2nd Edition, I have a tourney coming up in a few weeks so getting in the practice games and may do a tournament run down.

My thoughts on The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

So fingers crossed for a productive start to the New Year!

WFB: Skulltaker

Skulltaker is all done now and ready to wreak havoc.  

He is painted using my standard method for bloodletters with additional layers, a roughly 1:1 Mephiston red with bugmans glow between the Mephiston red and bugmans glow layers and a thin highlight of Kislev flesh on top of where ever bugmans glow has been painted.  

The skulls are painted in a similar style to the method in the 'eavy metal master class book and I really like how it has come out.

I had a go with a small bit of object source lighting from the flaming skull just to try it out, it is a technique where it is easy to go ott, I have hopefully kept it light.  

Also in the pictures there are some bloodletters and my flesh hounds converted from VC dire wolves.

Cricket: Catches win matches

Just a quick post tonight looking at the 3 Ashes test so far this winter and what I feel has been England's main downfall.

Firstly, congratulations to Australia, they have been the better team in pretty much every department, I still think their sportsmanship leaves a bit to be desired but none the less, congrats.

Right a bit of nitty gritty.   I have read several articles, new stories and the like saying how England did not turn up with the bat, ball and/or the right mind set.

Yes form with the bat and ball has been lacking but there is one key area that has not had as much attention as I think there should have been.   Fielding.
It has been mentioned that the fielding has been subpar this series, and it has been but I think what has been missed out is the discussion on how it affects the bigger picture.

In  each test match England have had the Aussies on the ropes at some point (final innings score in brackets),1st test 1st innings 132-6 (295), 2nd test 2nd innings 65-3 (132-3 dec), 3rd test 1st innings 143-5 (385) but along the innings somewhere the fielding became wayward and lost it.   Simple catches put down, run outs missed and general mis-fielding.   These things have cost England not a few runs but a few hundred runs each time and snatched away any momentum.

Think about it, each time the Aussies recovered to double or more their score after each trouble spot.   It took some bravery from their batsmen to dig themselves out but each run made matters worse for England, and each drop, spill etc magnified it.   I have been there in games and have seen both sides of the coin, catches are missed, ground work is sloppy and heads drop, shoulders sag and tempers fray.   Sound familiar?   But a catch is taken and everything changes, the opposition are under a bit more pressure, the bowlers are buoyed as they know the rest of the team can support them when needed and everyone is happy.   It also takes pressure off when it comes to batting, imagine if England had been facing only 250-300 runs to chase in the fourth innings of the match, I think we would have a different series scoreline.   An oft mention factor has been so many batsmen out of form at the same time, well with lower scores to chase it would allow the batsmen to ease themselves back into form rather than try and do it under pressure chasing big totals.

It really goes to show the old adage "catches win matches" is very true and unfortunately England have shown us what happens when it does not happen, be aware all you cricketers out there, be very aware!!

It will be interesting to see what the final 2 games bring and if the fielding and results  improve.

WFB: Tale of Many Gamers

My local GW is running a tale of many gamers (ToMG) event over the next few months for Warhammer, so getting in the spirit I am going for a Khorne Daemon force.   So I am starting a1k list with:

Skulltaker

11x bloodletters (M+S)

12x bloodletters (M+S)

5x flesh hounds

5x flesh hounds

Skull cannon

Got most of my core painted now, but have only a few days to get skulltaker painted up for the first in store challenge.  Updates to follow...

Cricket: 2nd Ashes Test day 4 thoughts

Well the game has taken an interesting turn.

An early declaration by Australia followed by a bit of brave batting by England.

England have passed 200 for the first time this series and the likes of Matt Prior looking more comfortable at the crease.

I am feeling hopeful that I can wake up tomorrow with either England scraping a narrow win or digging in for the draw.  I know, I know a win really is pie in the sky thinking!    But if England can keep the Aussies at only one win then I think England can take the series.

I think this as I think the Aussies appear mentally fragile.

All the bluster and slagging off of some England players show a team of bad winners, a team almost unaccustomed to winning, therefore I feel any set back will shake them.  It is all good and well taking wickets and scoring runs when you are on the up but I think they lack the strength to keep up the good when the opposition fight back.  As the likes of the Durham test this summer showed.  

I may well be proved wrong but those are my hopes and thoughts and will keep me going until my alarm goes off tomorrow morning :)

Welcome to the 25th hour!

Hello reader!

This is hopefully the first of many posts to this blog, the 25th hour hobby, and don't we all wish we had an extra hour to fit in our own hobbies and interests.

That is what this blog will be about, my hobby time, be it computer games, tabletop war games, movies, music, podcasts anything that I enjoy so it will be eclectic and random at times but please leave comments and questions

:)