Use the Net to catch a whole world of hobbies

Innocent hobbies can be put to not-so-innocent uses. In the wake of the horrific destruction of the World Trade Centre, it is reasonable to believe that searching on words like "rockets" or "radio control" will set off alarm bells.

Was that recent attempt to view Helen's Model Rocket Collection - ignoring the stern message: "Forbidden! You don't have permission to access /~hrapozo/modroc.html on this server" - responsible for the internet going down in the EL office?

Have the CIA or GCHQ Cheltenham got that sort of power? Maybe not, because other rocketry sites were still up. It's likely that Helen's rockets were less than ballistic.

The Rocketry Page at members.aol.com/sspacepyro/ claims to be the place for the amateur experimental rocketry enthusiast. It is written and maintained by Jonny Dyer who has "independently learned the art of rocketry, aerodynamics, propulsion and testing".

Very wisely, he advises: "Nothing on this site should be attempted by anyone without a background in chemistry, physics and model or high power rocketry...several of my early experiments were carried out without enough knowledge of the safety precautions necessary...they were dangerous and should in no circumstances be repeated." If so, why are they up on this site?

Amateur rocketry is well represented on the Net, but it is a hobby that requires a lot of space - no pun intended.

There's another warning that viewers might think about: looking at some of the photos it appears Dyer was a bit closer to the action at some of his launches than was safe.

There's a model rocket safety guide at www.nar.org/NARmrsc.html.

Now let's go for a real man's hobby - crochet. Don't laugh yourself into a stitch: there's a man in Dublin, happily retired from a high-pressure job, who used to give crochet lessons during his lunch-breaks. He is good, very good, at crochet.

Ireland, according to the Crochet Guild of America's website, www.crochet.com, is not only "rich in crochet heritage, it offers a fine variety of many fiber-related points of interest".

These crocheters get around: the guild is planning a tour of Ireland and Scotland in 2003. If you don't catch them in the Clones Lace Guild or the National Museum watch out for them in Kenmare.

Using the search engine Google, the word "wargaming" threw up more than 30,000 references, so this hobby seems probably more internet-popular than needlework, unfortunately.

At cyberbee.net, the lovely, if odd, sentiment "the honey bee and the computer are the two things I love", is proclaimed by Zachary Huang, assistant professor in the department of entomology at Michigan State University.

Nearer home, there's a man producing honey from hives in a machinery yard in Ringsend, Dublin. Hardly a location you'd expect, but the product is very palatable and good for the throat. If you think you'd like to take up apiary as a hobby, you've now got somewhere to start.

Woodturning is a pacific pursuit that has some devotees who love to share the benefit of their experience. Some raw materials may be a little hard to come by in Ireland: the Tagua nut, for example. Apparently making miniatures in vegetable ivory is a rewarding experience - real wood-turners like to work small.

Robert Spragg at users.mwci.net/#rspragg/Tagua.html/ shares his experience of turning these ivory nuts: "Select the so-called bottom of the nut (the other end is pointed in most cases), then grind the bottom flat, using a belt-sander) to about the size of a dime. But you can position the nut any way you want by studying the character of the nut for optimum usage for what you are trying to turn."

Judging from pictures he has posted he turns these nuts into beautiful objects.

Many hobbies can be solitary, garden-shed or den experiences, but Spragg's enthusiasm has been passed on to his children and grandchildren.

Want to try turning a phrase instead? You don't have to be Seamus Heaney, or even fully literate, to get your poems out on the web. For hobby poets, www.rhymezone.com offers words and phrases that rhyme with rocket. Two syllables: docket, pocket, socket, sprocket; three syllables: air pocket, breast pocket, dry socket et al; five syllables: electric socket.

I was never was much good at poetry, but this could get me going.

Even here the horrible reality of recent events intrudes. The message board has at the top: "September 11 - This forum is intended to give you an outlet for expressing your feelings in poetry on the grotesquery that took place in the US on September 11."

A recent posting, a heartfelt amateur poem, starts: "We lost so many, so many have died: For innocence didn't prevail. So today I ask why: Why such a heinous crime had to happen: Why take away so many, and leave us their asking: For all the kids whom lost a mam or even a dad: Please don't feel sad. They are not gone, just away."