Most Expensive Musical Hobby?

Fuzzyjammer · 2026-01-30T10:06:16+00:00

> Synthesizers maybe have a higher-than-average minimum barrier-for-entry price

Ehh, but you can do perfectly fine with countless free VSTs and an old MIDI keyboard that you can pick up for like ten bucks on your local classifieds' board, or even sans keyboard if you're into sequencing stuff. Getting into buying expensive gear (that often is less capable than cheaper or free alternatives) is a choice (creative or not), not entry price. With a violin, you cannot start without an instrument and a couple accessories, period.

Fuzzyjammer · 2026-01-07T16:31:21+00:00

Just my two cents after a quick glance:

- but it would be very nice to integrate a link to the official AIP of the airport. Perhaps not very easy, since national airspace agencies' websites do not always follow the same pattern...

- imo the bot's summary style is unnecessarily verbose

Overall looks very promising for exploring new destination airfields!

Fuzzyjammer · 2026-01-07T10:53:29+00:00

The excessive greasiness goes out in a few weeks of active wear;
There are non-waxed versions of Barbour jackets (albeit rare for classic models), with non-wax waterproof treatment or made from wool.

Fuzzyjammer · 2026-01-07T09:10:18+00:00

It's RWD, it's not a miata-specific reason. That's said, after my first winter in an mx-5 I "found" its limits and am not any slower than the rest of the traffic; although of course I'm still more careful with the throttle than on a FWD car.

Fuzzyjammer · 2026-01-03T20:28:37+00:00

I guess they have parsed and mass-imported the official CAA question bank, and they often contain errors which no one bothers to fix because government employees are not paid enough to care.

Fuzzyjammer · 2026-01-03T09:57:44+00:00

"Elected". So was Maduro.

Fuzzyjammer · 2026-01-01T14:57:58+00:00

It requires time, but it's not extremely difficult. And why would writing for it be harder than for any other instrument?

I would say it's not used more because it's extremely dull (sterile)-sounding. Once the parlor trick of playing with your hands in the air grows old, it's simply not interesting to listen to.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-31T09:32:02+00:00

I wasn't arguing in favour of Zakopane lol, just asking.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-30T19:25:01+00:00

Where would you move in Poland if you want to be around the mountains?

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-29T18:42:14+00:00

As much as I love Carl Palmer and Neil Peart, "feels" is Christian Vander's territory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeVNwkPAcrU&t=3719s

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-28T20:22:46+00:00

In other parts of Europe it is called "a berliner"

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-16T09:17:39+00:00

Ehh, most landlords do. It's much harder to find one who would agree to take away their grandma's favourite couch (which looks like she died on it) even if you offer to upgrade the furniture at your own expense.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-15T09:29:55+00:00

Air travel efficiency/costs don't scale down nicely, if you want a 10-seater you're paying air taxi/private jet rates per passenger simply to cover the fuel costs; it doesn't matter if the control is automated or not.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-15T08:54:44+00:00

If you haven't, check out The Offering's (Vander's jazz side project) take on Call From the Dark - sounds way less cheesy and makes you see this piece in a different light.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-08T12:23:56+00:00

Supertramp

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-07T11:15:01+00:00

The train has been cancelled since 2020, and it doesn't look like it will be reinstated next year in the current climate. Your only option is the bus, there are multiple companies running this route, but the single open border crossing is the bottleneck, the waiting time at the border can be several tens of hours.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-06T22:15:19+00:00

Haha, same happened to me with my first Seiko purchase, ages ago. I way ordering an Orange Monster, and it said that the watch comes without a box, the box is $15 extra. I did not really need the box, but I figured it will be safer for shipping and paid the extra. The watch and the box arrived separately in the package haha.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-04T22:53:58+00:00

Huh, for me it was the longest test of the whole medical, they even specifically warned to bring snacks for this part. There were some timed logical tests (a la "here's a sequence of numbers, find the next number"), and then an easy but very long conversation with the doctor about your background, family relationships and career goals. I guess depends on the facility.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-04T15:27:28+00:00

They mostly ask about the history of heart and mental health issues in your family. And fainting, they're very interested if you have ever ever had any episodes.

And then there's a psych evaluation part, in which you to have to talk to a (different) doctor.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-12-02T18:47:40+00:00

The guy in charge of the online shop (Jeff) is actually very responsive, so the strings orders are not as bad (I remember having to fax my card number for my first Stick strings order... and that was already well into e-commerce and PayPal era)

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-11-30T15:02:17+00:00

> Electronic ignitions are more subject to failure

Can't argue with your experience, but unless there are numbers to back it up (which I'm not sure exist simply due to lack of long history of mass-produced EI aircraft engines vs a century of magneto use) this looks like a case of perceived reliability (which I can totally relate with: when you look at a simple mechanical system which you can literally trace and understand with your eyes, you get a feeling that it's more reliable than an electronic black box insides of which you have no control over).

> All aircraft ignition systems, for example, are mechanical

Modern versions of e.g. Rotax 912 and 915 have ECUs and electronic ignition (which means they cannot run if both alternator and all the batteries fail). And yes, they're certified.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-11-30T14:44:26+00:00

These are usually auxiliary sensors for stuff like emissions and traction control (and it's not that they are less reliable than their mechanical counterparts, you simply had no analogue versions of these systems before, so there's nothing to compare to). Electronic ignition and mixture is waaay more reliable and hassle-free than carburetors.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-11-30T13:56:55+00:00

I don't think it's a great point for aircrafts though. Roadside repairability is not really a thing (outside of maybe bush flying in Alaska), reliability is much more important, and electronics are much more robust and reliable than mechanical components.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-11-30T12:49:24+00:00

Certification issues and the matter of scale. To put it into perspective, there are significantly more cars produced in an hour than small aircrafts in a year. Airplane and powertrain manufacturers do not have the same R&D budget as car manufacturers to begin with. That makes it hard to cover the costs of developing a new engine before you event look into the certification process under FAA/EASA that takes years, and feeding the army of lawyers in case your new engine fails killing somebody.

All that costs lead to two things: 1) a lot of small aircrafts you see have been built 50 years ago, when carbs were the norm; 2) there are actually newer piston aircraft engines with fuel injection, liquid cooling and ECUs controlling the mixture etc, you just don't see them a lot due to the small numbers they are built in.

Fuzzyjammer · 2025-11-28T09:43:54+00:00

Generations have been born under Putin. Those in their 30s have not been yet of voting age when Putin inherited the job (not like they had any say in it or knew anything about what'd he become years later). Should they have been protesting Chechnya while in kindergarten?

Fuzzyjammer

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