Difficult, not impossible. It boils down to community involvement. So much needs to be done, including awareness of genetically modified food. We are being poisoned daily and yet some wonder why there is a cancer epidemic.
The Green Party and Nader groups are important, as are CHEJ, Lois Gibbs, and others. |
I love to play my guitar. That is my passion also. not only to listen to music but to make it is a passion within itself. I also love golf. |
I'd rather be waterskiing |
Yes, Stereokarter, the majority here seem to be scourched inwardly by the passion for advanced audio technology--a modern and most hellish vice. (Why did not God anticipate Mark Levinson and Goldmund and include "Though shallt not reproduce the divine human voice" among the old Christian canon of the deadly sins?) What would become of some audiophiles if they could not sate their ears on enormous torments of sound, tons of LPs and the pleasures of a good tweak? There are many dangers that lurk in our age--Mapleguy has put his finger on a few, and I thus sympathetically read his post--and I think that many reside in different destructive processes of unprecedented rapidity. i.e. (biological, technological, military, political) speed. The passion for speed violates against the natural order. Stereokarter does homage to this extreme passion in his desire to attend the Indy car race. Personally speaking, the passion that brings down the greatest portion of my profane doom is simply continuing to live in Europe as an American expatriate--expatriation as the extreme of externality. How many American citizens know the baroque complications of a German "Ausländer Amt" or the contrived interventions of fate provided by a Portugese policeman's "baggage search"? It is a convenient arrangement for my audiophile demon that I live in Europe. I am so completely in the grip of the passion for quality sound that I spend a good portion of my vacations fulfilling the demon's urgings--whether it be looking for Harmonia Mundi LPs in southern france, or tracking down musique concrete classics in Belgium, or scouring London for Deccas and RCAs. I am almost incapable of any other passion; I am too exasperated. So much so that the only other vice that can emerge is the vice for writing and reading. Writing is the ritardando of audiophilia. I am incapable of writing while listening to my system--which is nearly everywhere in the apartment nowadays. But write and read in vacui. I even take silence retreats to ensure that this passion flames and flickers in the breeze of fate. |
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Reading, Golf and hockey. Golf as a participant, hockey as a spectator, reading as both. Cup time now, best time of year for us puck-heads. Slawney, your post makes me wonder what Rilke would have done in the era of audiophilia-gone for a walk after supper, and kept walking....to CES instead of Paris? No letters? |
Windsurfing and bicycling. Audio is my winter sport. |
Golf and Auto Racing, CART in particular. I've been to "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" numerous times. Stereokarter, your son is not too young, my father took me to Indy when I was two years old. Doug |
Hockey, hang gliding and writing. The first is the ultimate sporting combination of speed, power and grace. The second provides challenges, experiences and a sense of, well, being alive that nothing else in my experience approaches. The third because I'm a story teller at heart. |
It's interesting that most of these hobbies involve speed. Mine too. Sports cars, bicycling (road racing), and snow skiing. Wonder why that correlation exists with audiophiles. |
Baseball. Professional as a spectator, and kids as sort of a spectator/coach. 12 and 10 year old sons. Real baseball for them, not Little League. |
Driving. Fast.
Abstract7 - perhaps the commonality has to do with perceptual thrill / sensation seeking. |
Sterokarter: Looking at beautiful women. Women & a/v give you feelings you can't truly describe.AAAaah,OOOooh,MMMmmm. |
Sports cars. I actually drive them on the racetrack (Watkins Glen, Pocono, Lime Rock, etc.). I also have two audiophile friends who are also into the sports car/driving experience. As noted above, there seems to be some correlation. Let the pyschologists figure it out. |
Marathon running, fly fishing, mountain biking, writing, designing furniture, graphic & interior design, fashion, collectables, big sports fan and most of all - spending time with Marquise, my 3 year old son. |
This is going well....and faaaaast too! Calling Dr. Gindi on the noted correlation between audiophilia (sounds perverted!) and autophilia and possibly even "three-letter-word" (yeah, I mean SEX). The always ready to write Doctor should be able to explain this one. Who can get him to read this thread? 'Anybody here CLIMB FENCES? |
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Sorry, I've got to stop drinking so much caffeine in the morning. What I meant to say was spending time with my girlfriend. |
Fishing!
Go out and see the ocean.
However, I havn't met any audio-loving friend on fishing boat though. |
Evo845 comes from the golf clubs I use, cigars are probaly my biggest passion,A great cigar and a bottle of Bollinger Grand Anne 83 and Iam in heaven.
steve |
Hey Evo845 (Evolution, I guess), you can get great real LEGAL CUBANS right here in Toronto! And no, this is not a Cosmo Kramer deal! |
My other dedication is photography. It is my profession and art, and it supports my audio habit. Those that wish to view my site: http://www.albertporterphoto.com
My site requires a plug in to view the images. This requires a few moments to download, and may be required at other photo intensive sites in the future.
My other passions are competition shooting, collecting fine red wine, single malt scotch and spending time with my 15 year old son, ( the best person in the world ). |
Hi Albertporter, It,s great to see somebody else with a great father son relationship..Enjoy it
I also had a great relationship with my father (best freind)
He was tragically killed last year and I miss him terribly.
steve |
Evo845...Steve...your post is sorrowfull and I cry at hearing of your sadness...I'm going to play Neil Young's "Old Man" right away. Take care. |
When I'm not soaking up music in my audio room, I'm out mtn biking the Arizona desert or roadracing motorcycles. Not many things beat the rush of dragging your knee on the ground at 100 mph... |
I'm going back to golf and fishing this summer. In the last few days there have been threads about firing up the turntable and discovering that vinyl kills cd and that older cdps sound better than current ones. Don't even get me started about hearing vintage tubes. Clearly there is some sort of devolution going on. I blame Sony and SACD. So I'm going to pull out my 10 year old golf clubs, put my 30 year old boat in the water and enjoy the fact that I never break par or catch fish. Some frustrations are just more enjoyable.
Regards, |
Woodworking! Actually Woodworking is #1 and Audio is #2. |
Sex. I really enjoy having sex. Did I mention that I like to have sex? Sex is fun. Too bad I'm married, huh? |
So, the above is based on memory, no? |
At least he has a better memory than I have. |
Trying to keep my head above water.
During low tides I do enjoy a round of golf and a couple of Flor de Farach cigars with my buddies. (None of whom have the slightest inkling of interest in music, for some damn reason.) I think I remember having sex long, long, ago in a galaxy far, far away... |
(Not necessarily in this order): white water kayaking, backpacking, working out, competitive shooting, cross country ski-skating, mountain and road biking, fly fishing, scuba diving, bar tending at home, and best of all sharing them with my family and friends! (got to sleep in there someplace) |
Damn Lak, do you sqeeze any work into that schedule? Or are you retired? Looks like fun. |
I write little humor books. 10 published so far. Otherwise, radio collecting (that audio thing again!). -Ed |
Lak, the "bar-tending at home" sound like the only productive endeavour in your short list of things that keep you busy....Albert will be right over! |
HEY! I resemble that remark. |
B&W photography, cooking, playing multiplayer Descent3 (don't take that one too serious). |
Jmcgrogan2, I'm not retired, a lot of my interests are seasonal. Never a dull moment!
Stereokarter, what does Albert prefer to consume? |
Golf, gourmet cooking, photography, fine wine, travelling. |
Scuba diving is numero uno, way beyond my passion for music and high-end systems. If I lived near the ocean, I doubt that I would own a high-end system. Wouldn't need it, because I would always be in the ocean. I am also an amatuer underwater photographer and videographer. I do the recreational vehicle thing with motorcycles, jet skis, and snowmobiles. My most vivid memory was diving in the warm, clear blue waters of the Caribbean on Sunday, flying back to Colorado on Tuesday, and snowmobiling to the top of a snow-covered, windswept mountain range in the Rockies on Wednesday. It makes you realize how small the world has become, and how diverse it's beauty is. I love music and reproducing it with high-end electronics, but there is too much more to life to make it my religion. Am I committing Audiogon suicide by saying this? |
If I get another hobby I will need a good Lawyer! |
Karter, I am with you on the interest in motorsports, even if you are into weed-whacker motors :-). Nothing better than the smell of race gas in the morning! Mine started with a typical teenage infatuation with motorcycles. That led to racing them (we only think we know how to spend money-try racing ANYTHING). After lots of rides in the ambulance and leaving body parts in about four states, I finally gave it up. BTW, did you happen to catch Audi do a 1-2 at Le Mans yesterday? |
Glreno, I hope everyone here understands life if too short and beautiful for just one passion. From the sounds of it, maybe anyone with one passion also has others.
I too love to drive fast but haven't got into racing (J thunders, glad Audi did well at LeMans -- I've got a 2.7T that's lots of fun). From the sounds of it, another expensive hobby would be the end of my marriage ;-) Fine wine, single malt scotch, having a great time with friends and watching movies with my 17 year old son (especially bad ones)rounds out the rest. Too bad I have to put so much time into work -- this thread opens up another world of options. Cheers. |
in the spring and summer, i greatly enjoy flower gardening, emanating my english roots. i plant 25-30 large terra cotta pots with shade-loving flowers and tend to 5 perrenial beds. year round, especially when traveling, i enjoy visiting art galleries; i'm drawn especially to 19th century pre-impressionists and 20th century furniture and glass. i also love to visit new italian and american restaurants, savoring the food and wine. -kelly |
J_thunders...thundering on as usual, I suppose...Yes, I did peek frequently @ the "Les Quatre-Vingt" over the weekend. The brightness of the nightlights coming over the hill was dazzling! I did think that one of the team managers in an interview sounded "slurry"...too much French wine? And glad to see my friend Ron Fellows finish 8th overall. I am reduced to occasional rent-a-racer kart events with some snowmobilers. One of my favourite listens is track 85 on the Stereophile Test CD...Indy practice! Ok, ok, the rest of you, I know that this is not supposed to be the F1Racing.com site! |
My Children, my friends and family, very good red wine..and
sports cars. |
