12-19-2013, 12:46 PM
I assume everyone by now knows about the visit over-the-hill rocker Rod Stewart paid to George Sellios's Franklin & South Manchester <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/north/10012433039643/rod-stewart-visits-peabody-model-train-collector/">http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/loca ... collector/</a><!-- m --> It probably isn't so bad that celebrities, even those well past their prime, "come out" as model railroad hobbyists, although Stewart isn't the first by any means (Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, and Tom Snyder at least were known to have model railroads of various kinds; Torme endorsed Fleischmann in ads in the 1950s.) It's interesting that Sellios would be the one actually to draw the attention of a real Hollywood celeb, since I have the impression that he's the humblest of the first-tier well-known hobbyists, like Tony Koester, Lance Mindheim, or Tony Thompson. Of course, nobody in LA is ever going to get past Stewart's security and entourage to get in to see Stewart's own layout. But think about this: Stewart's visit to Sellios came only after Sellios retired from the kit business. Presumably he's not going to sell any more kits, for any more money, because Stewart paid him a visit and was photographed with his arm around Sellios's shoulders. Says a lot about Sellios, I think.
Then there's the second tier. I got in a certain amount of trouble on Lance Mindheim's blog <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.lancemindheim.com/blog.htm">http://www.lancemindheim.com/blog.htm</a><!-- m --> (scroll down to November 30) for a post I made as JWB on another forum, raising some questions about his approach to the hobby and second-tier hobby celebrity status. He also got bent out of shape at a letter-to-the-editor I sent to MR in which I noted a problem in Mindheim's article in the December 2013 MR -- a reference to "checken in a bag", whereby voodoo practitioners would place a live chicken in a bag, together with some money, to be squashed by a train as some sort of sacrifice. I suggested this was revolting cruelty to animals that shouldn't appear in a family magazine. MR apparently copied Mindheim on my letter, and Mindheim was upset enough about it to post on his blog. (Thinking further about this, I realized that this sort of thing is a felony in Florida. Lots of felonies take place in Miami -- why bring them in on model railroad layouts?)
I've gotten in some amount of trouble from time to time raising reasonable questions about hobby celebrities. The forum where I made the original post that got Mindheim upset wound up reviving the thread but, not banning me from posting in the rest of the forum, banned me from any more posts in the thread! They were much upset that I pointed out that cruelty to animals is a felony in Florida (and most other places, of course). I got in trouble on another forum several years ago for questioning a statement by Tony Thompson as to factuality. And not just on the forum -- guys have been angry with me for ten years or so about it!
Rod Stewart, at least, doesn't mind what's been said about him for 40 years. George Sellios no doubt knows that, while his modeling is top notch, not everyone has found his layout their cup of tea. Then there's the second tier. In the post where he complains about me, Mindheim compares himself to Miley Cyrus, of all people, so I guess he think's he is some sort of celleb. It's amazing how insecure some of these guys are. If you want to be a celebrity, it seems to me, you've got to take the stuff that goes with the territory.
Then there's the second tier. I got in a certain amount of trouble on Lance Mindheim's blog <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.lancemindheim.com/blog.htm">http://www.lancemindheim.com/blog.htm</a><!-- m --> (scroll down to November 30) for a post I made as JWB on another forum, raising some questions about his approach to the hobby and second-tier hobby celebrity status. He also got bent out of shape at a letter-to-the-editor I sent to MR in which I noted a problem in Mindheim's article in the December 2013 MR -- a reference to "checken in a bag", whereby voodoo practitioners would place a live chicken in a bag, together with some money, to be squashed by a train as some sort of sacrifice. I suggested this was revolting cruelty to animals that shouldn't appear in a family magazine. MR apparently copied Mindheim on my letter, and Mindheim was upset enough about it to post on his blog. (Thinking further about this, I realized that this sort of thing is a felony in Florida. Lots of felonies take place in Miami -- why bring them in on model railroad layouts?)
I've gotten in some amount of trouble from time to time raising reasonable questions about hobby celebrities. The forum where I made the original post that got Mindheim upset wound up reviving the thread but, not banning me from posting in the rest of the forum, banned me from any more posts in the thread! They were much upset that I pointed out that cruelty to animals is a felony in Florida (and most other places, of course). I got in trouble on another forum several years ago for questioning a statement by Tony Thompson as to factuality. And not just on the forum -- guys have been angry with me for ten years or so about it!
Rod Stewart, at least, doesn't mind what's been said about him for 40 years. George Sellios no doubt knows that, while his modeling is top notch, not everyone has found his layout their cup of tea. Then there's the second tier. In the post where he complains about me, Mindheim compares himself to Miley Cyrus, of all people, so I guess he think's he is some sort of celleb. It's amazing how insecure some of these guys are. If you want to be a celebrity, it seems to me, you've got to take the stuff that goes with the territory.