Hobby Thread - March 21, 2026 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. When you follow the long and windy road, you end up with maps as a theme for this Hobby Thread.

[Top photo: Lupine Lane, 20x30 acrylic, Misanthropic Humanitarian]

What are you hobbying?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. I understand that some people pay attention to military hardware, tactics and strategy as a hobby. Discussion of current events permitted but must be made in the form of hobby commentary. Pants are optional. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.

Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

Handmade map making:

Old maps are time machines. 1847 Manhattan.

Flight maps are cool. Istanbul apparently has the most direct connections of any airport in the world (310).

Berlin U-Bahn map from 1967

Visualizing Pickett's charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863:

Look closely at this street map from Silver Springs Shores in Florida. What do you notice? So many streets with "spring" in the name! Drive, road, place, lane, run, radical, circle, loop, loop circle, pass, trace, terrace, track and more. What a postal nightmare.

British documentary from 1961 when they actually made things and did stuff.

Race track map? The Nurburgring in Germany is so big that three villages exist inside. It was built in 1927 and is about 15.7 miles long. If you have any sympathy for cars or motorsport, it should be on your bucket list. Even better if you go for the annual 24 Hour race.

Map of all 54 Buc-ee's locations:

Mapping tips for places that don't exist:

Population around a point

This website estimates the total human population within a distance, from any point in the world. Select a radius and click on the map.

Musical interlude:

Helps to have a map to find your way around Yosemite National Park:

Do you collect antique maps?
10 Things Every Map Collector Should Know

Using a map and compass:

Impressive woodworking project to make a globe:

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a calligraphy theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, contribute your own. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things but don't run with scissors.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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