Hobby Thread - July 4, 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. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is feeling explosive. It spun and spun and landed on a fireworks theme for this Hobby Thread.

Fireworks are not exclusively an American thing. Other countries certainly have fireworks traditions, but seems like America embraces fireworks as an integral part of its culture. Fireworks are 'murica.

It is because we reject the paternalistic instinct to abstain from anything that might involve risk? Does the feint whiff of danger make fireworks irresistible? Is it because Americans have space to blow things up? Is it because we like fire and explosions? Is it because we have a fascination with flight and space, so we like sending things into the air to put on a show? Is it because fireworks are democratized in a sense - accessible to individual people and not restricted to "official" displays?

Dunno. The emergency rooms of the nation can testify that fireworks present peril for the unwary. Not all fireworks, however, inherently flirt with disaster. Sparklers? Snakes? Fun for the whole family!

What fireworks are your favorites? Have you stocked up for the holiday? Have you ever made your own? What large scale displays are memorable? Do you have childhood memories of fireworks?

Firework delivery vehicle:

Not those fireworks? Oh well... Never mind (but I've been waiting to use the photo).

What are you hobbying?

The thread is not limited to to the theme. Anything (legal) you are hobbying is welcome. Even if the theme does not speak to you, you might learn something. If not, find something else or offer something else relating to hobbying. If all of that fails, just check in and say hello.

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Leave politics and religion to threads elsewhere (unless your hobby is building or restoring churches). 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.

Time for science:

Flying a drone through a fireworks show:

Don't try this at home.

How does a synchronized fireworks show come together? Glad you asked.

There are many videos across the interweb of stupid people doing stupid things with fireworks. Those will not be appearing in this content. But... was anyone in San Diego in 2012 when all the fireworks were set off within 15 seconds?

Sydney's New Year's fireworks show on the bridge is one of the biggest each year:

Check out the Nagaoka Fireworks festival in Japan each August:

Drone shows are a related but separate concept. I was going to leave them out, but "explosive laden quadcopter" earned a spot in the content.

The scale modelers of the group that make race cars should love this:

Did some of the flyover activity yesterday pass low and slow above TRex HQ? Yes. Yes it did. It did not suck.

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

Notable comments from last week:

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).

Reminder: if you put links in the comments, use a URL shortener and describe what you're linking to. Failing to do either or both makes you barrel-eligible. Don't make people click to find out what you're linking.

Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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