TeeJay

Yup - it's a 22mm bob sportivo strap for panerai. I paired it with a brushed thumbnail 22mm pam thumbnail buckle to try to get as close as I could to a titanium look...

deltatahoe

I thought it had that look, it certainly suits the watch perfectly

Absolutely. I need to get that vintage feel for both. There are many suggestions for doing this on the board. I will probably try them all

Fantastic I'm sure I've read something about using something like detergent and an old toothbrush to age the 24 markings, but I forget precicely what cleaning agent was recommended... With regards dings and scuffs, I tried the 'coins in a coffee can' method, which others have mentioned, with my Daytona, and it had no effect at all

Absolutley fantastic work on the dial and hands (and shaving the crystal's none too shabby either ) Out of curiousity, as you made the dial look vintage, do you have any plans to 'distress' the case and bracelet?

i play tennis with my old-factory ti chrono avenger -- it has become my tennis watch

deltatahoe

Silly question, but was that strap originally a PAM strap?

Hah. Burtons, good man. Not cheap either, despite your sale item. As for Burberrys, as long as Barbour jackets aren't picked up by the Borstal Boys, it's all good.

I have to admit, Burtons are pretty good for stuff, but, a warning to all, avoid their shoe range like the plague. They look nice, but don't last very long (about a month or two tops / ) Also, the sweater wasn't in a sale, that was the full retail price Of course, for even better bargain goods, one need look no further than the magic that is Matalans

I'm off in my car.

Hee hee, some red neons will complete the look perfectly

(joking asside, red actually would go with that 'color scheme' as it's in the Burberry pattern anyway [which I suspect of being a Tartan maker's sick joke ])

I'm one to talk of the Queen of Chavs, Jade Goody.

(Not shown: Burberry hoodie)

Hee hee, Burberry was the company/product I first caught selling a 'high end' product, which was sold at a much lower price in a highstreet store I bought a white long-sleeved sweater for

Oh they do that with Krav Maga, there is a decent amount of full contact training that's done, all intended to teach you how to act under pressure/anxiety. Actually, the Human Weapon show on History Channel had a decent report on it, showed the training, etc. Def worth a look.

Sounds good, I'll certainly look into it

Exactly. I think it does not matter how you call it (for us germans it is indeed Wing Chun and Krav Maga), main task is to take your oponent down (and probably kill him) as fast as possible...

Absolutely. Another 'system' I've heard of, is (I've forgotten it's name) a kind of situational training to get someone used to the adrenaline rush of actual fear, and still be able to handle themselves without loosing their cool, forgetting their training, and just waving their arms and legs about while getting a good pasting It's something like P.A.N.I.C but really can't remember. One thing I did remember from reading the info, was that the 'aggressor' would be wearing a fully padded bodysuit, so they could withstand full-force, intended to hurt/maim/kill blows without risk, so the 'defender' could get used to being [censored]-scared, but still fight effectively. Another aspect, was that the training was somewhat 'randomized' so sometimes the 'aggressor' would only do something like bark like a dog to try and psych the 'defender' out, others, they would launch an unpredictable attack. Pretty awesome concept, I just wish I remember more about it

Hola, amigo

I loved my trip to Spain last week, glad to see I'm not the only one who had a good visit Awesome

@TeeJay: If hate crimes are going, can we include Jade Goody? Yes, I'll roast in Hell for saying that, but then Arabica beans always did smell good.

Must be an innie.

I think we could include her, although in all fairness, there are much more deserving people than her

PS PM on it's way on a totally unrelated issue

JFK's grandson thinks he's black, meanwhile Grace Kelly has a black grandson. Who on God's green earth could've predicted this 40 years ago?

Sadly reminds me of Tim Westwood. Now there's an excuse for a 'hate crime' if ever their was one (I'm sure in private, he is a very formal and polite man who insists on being called Timothy )

LOL, that's also my favorite line from it!

I think the thing that made the line even funnier, was that it could actually (just about) be used in real life to brush someone off

Also, the gym bit is hysterical...

Oh yeah, but not as funny as his yelling "Mom!" during his rant for PROTEIN!!! I'm sure 'his boys' could help him find another source of protein

Your haircut sounds quite unique!

It's about 2.5/3 inches long all over, and pretty even. I've cut my own hair before a few years back with clippers, but this was more a 'damage control' exercise as, when I bleached my hair before going to Spain, I left the bleach on too long, and the lower 9-12 inches (which had been bleached several times over the past 18 months) pretty much disintegrated and snapped off, leaving me with what felt like a load of cottoncandy at the tips, so, it was out with the scissors and emergency action Not the first time I've had to cut my own hair, and it probably won't be the last

JFK's grandson looks like he's about to bust up some of his hos.

Oh dear People like that really irritate me. I wonder when he last looked in a mirror and realized that he wasn't a gangsta from Compton...

I'd originally asked for and received a 127, but, an issue with the CG Lever meant it had to be returned... Not to worry, I'll be ordering another in due time, but, just to remind myself, here it is

Did I like it? Yes. Will I be getting another? Definitely. Would I have worn it every day as a beater? No... Although the case didn't swamp my wrist, I felt that the dial was a little too big for me. More of an instroment dial than a watch... Maybe longer to adapt to another would change that feeling... Anyway, onto the outcome. I returned the 127 in return for a PVD 111g, and I absolutely love it. Love the movement bridges, love the dial, I even like the AR. I do have plans to have the dial replaced with a re-lumed sandwich dial, but, untill the funds become available, I'll be wearing and loving it 'as is'. Here're some photos

Correct! That said, I would not call it a martial art, I would call it a system of self-defense. It is certainly not artistic, lol. Martial arts have a basic choreography to them, which is why they can be called an art. Krav Maga does not have that.

That's very true. One of the problems I've found with many 'organized' martial arts, is, as you say, when it's put to situational use, someone who relies solely on kata and form will wind up, at best with an ass-whooping, and worst dead as real life opponents don't stand where the form 'says' they 'should' stand, or react in the way a fellow student would in a training session.

I'll knock down any man who says the SAS are pansies!!

...and then run like hell.

Seriously, very interesting this. Will read up on it.

Another interesting martial art, is Kali, and this was the style Matt Damon trained in for his appearance in the Bourne Trilogy. (His fight in his apartment in Paris in The Bourne Identity is probably the best clear example of it) It's an extremely brutal, but extremely economical art, where strikes and counter-strikes are totally seamless, so the practicioner is only expending a minimum amount of energy, but gaining a maximum effect.

Jennifer Mrs. Ben Frikkin Affleck Garner?? Good God. No wonder she kicked terrorist butt in The Kingdom.

Absolutely

Me, I did Tae Kwondo at school, and started kickboxing before an untimely skiing accident which broke my leg, put an end to that...

Interesting I've been studying bujutsu since I was about 8 (Japanese fighting in it's purest forms) I haven't been to a dojo in years, but still practice regularly

And do you know how difficult it is to casually recycle Muay Thai shorts as daily shorts in SoBe? Hard, my friend, hard.

How about donating them to el Papi with the lime greens?

You what?

I believe krav maga is the martial art taught by the Isreali Special Forces (who are essentially Double-Hard Bastards who make the SAS look like pansies )

I also seem to recall reading that it was one of the fighting styles Jennifer Garner received tuition in for her role in Alias.

Obviously then, you must have a winder? You have the older Omega SMP which was quartz, I know, but the others all need some TLC.

Nope, no winder, I just give them a shake as needed, but other than that, don't keep them all running all the time. As someone once said in another topic on the issue, you wouldn't keep a car on a rolling road to keep the engine going, and then get in it to actually drive it

Also, none of my SMPs are quartz... The 2531.80 I have (which is the older model) is the automatic counterpart of the 2431.80. The quartz 2431.80 was what Pierce Brosnan wore in GoldenEye, but in Tomorrow Never Dies, he was wearing the automatic 2531.80

YEAH RIGHT. A few minutes. You just wait until you have a wider selection, my friend, which you will quite soon. Those minutes will turn into half-hours. Emily will be right snarky.

We'll have to wait and see I've never been one to do 'change for the sake of change', so I tend to wear a certain watch or watch/strap combo for a while as a beater, only then changing for a special occasion, or a definite wardrobe shift. I tend to wear tan/brown shoes most of the time, so unless I'm wearing black shoes, I tend to keep the straps brown (if possible for the watch) As for Emily getting snarky, she's already quite keen to have a go at the fuss I give my watches, but, I can always counter that with the fuss she gives her collections of rocks and gems

I liked your Wristcheck today!

Thanks I'm getting ready to do 'the photoshoot' for the Panerai Area which will (hopefully) showcase the watch to it's full

You sleep with your watch on?? Even I don't do that. I'm scared of scratching or drooling on them. Oops, TMI. Sorry.

...what am I talking about? This is the guy who answered in the famous "Do you wear your watch during Sex?" thread.

I do indeed Part of it, is, as mentioned in that thread, if it's a practice good enough for James Bond, it's good enough for me, but the other part, is that I don't like to be without a watch on for too long, as I like to know what the time is (not quite an OCD, but more compulsion than habit) and at night, I don't like having to turn a light on to check the time, as a sudden light when my eyes are totally relaxed and dilated is a tad painfull, so it's as easy for me to keep my watch on, and, that also saves fumbling round on a nightstand and knocking stuff onto the floor I just find it the easiest option all round

I've had this on since it arrived, but only just got access to a camera to get a decent photo. I'll do a series later in the Panerai Area to show it off properly, but for now, here's a taster of my PVD PAM 111(g?)

I've never had a problem running or swimming in either my Planet Ocean, SMPs or 111h. By running and swimming, I mean full out sprinting and swimming against a tide and wave machine (at different times ) No problems with either leaks or hand slippage

Funniest thing I've seen in a while

"Not now, Chief! I'm in the [censored]in' Zone!"

Comedy Gold.

And as for My New. Hair. Cut...

I grabbed a fistfull of my hair with my thumb pressed to the scalp, used sharp scissors to cut along the outer edge of my fist, and repeated the process

In an average day, I spend hardly any time with my watches at all, other than wearing one, and occasionally glancing at the collection. If I do change straps, then maybe a few minutes doing that, then it's back to business as usual I don't really 'chop and change' much, so it is literaly a case of spending a few minutes once in a while changing the strap, and then putting it back on I think the most time I actually spend is taking photos and loading them for the wrist-checks That said, with my PAMs, they do get treated to a few moments 'off the wrist attention time' around midnight, as that's when I wind them, and then charge the lume to last me through the night

Look, nobody ever said there was anything wrong with sport shooting, But what if I were say to you that you must leave and store your weapons at the shooting range?

That was one of the proposals for UK gun clubs to function under, the problem, was that a lot of small clubs could not afford to install the security systems necessary to ensure that all guns remained on the premises and were 100% securely stored, which meant they had to close. According to the letter of the law, target shooting is still a totally legitimate, legal, and possible sport. The problem, is the actual reality of the situation, where clubs have to close due to being financially unable to comply with the law.

But deep down the just feel powerful having that gun in their bedside table, ready to blast some imaginary intruder.

Utterly false generalization. I've studied martial arts for 21 years. I don't need a gun to feel safe either at home or in public. That's not to say that there aren't a few people who want to stand in front of the mirror with a gun muttering "You talking to me??" or "Good Evening, Mish Munneh-penneh..." But those are not the majority of shooting enthusiasts, and not the kind of people who should be licenced to own a firearm in the first place, which was the point I was making about Th0mas Hamilton. The man should never have been let near a firearm -or children- in the first place. The fact that he was, was the problem, not the guns themselves.

As to your comments about proving yourself trustworthy? Impossible. I am for the most part sane (if you ignore my rather odd watch obsession), law abiding, intelligent, good looking, etc. Those facts wont change if I decide tomorrow that I want to go shoot all the people at my workplace will it?

Impossible? I think not. At least, not impossible to give reasonable assurances. For example, UK teachers must be CRB checked in order to work in schools, and for every county they work in, they require a valide CRB check from that county's police force, and, if they don't work in a school for more than (I believe) a three month period, they must be re-checked. Now I admit, that is not a 100% fool-proof system, but, it is certainly a reasonable one, and one which a prospective gun owner should be made to undergo.

My honest take on this issue is that you need to make guns accessible to those that need them for recreational use, but not have them in the home. The waiting period needs to be significant, at least a month, and licensing should be graduated over a period of years. Gun related crimes (including simple possession) need to be treated seriously, with stiff minimum sentences.

The consequences of gun misuse are serious, and thats how the issue should be handled.

I quite agree there. The issue, as I mentioned above, is that technically, guns are accessible to those who want them for sporting purposes, the problem is also down to the clubs not being able to ensure adequate security, and also, the restrictions placed on pistols above .22 calibre makes for a very narrow range of available firearms for use. To compare it to watches, although we all have our favorite marques, we still have other items in our collections, and firearms would be no different, in that someone might well be able to go along with shooting a .22 target pistol, but, it would also be fun to shoot a .44 Magnum one week, or give a Beretta 92Fa try, or even compare the Walther P99 to a Sig Sauer P228... None of those things would be permitted under UK law, and, as long as those firearms were owned by properly licenced (and the key issue here is proper licencing procedure) individuals, and stored in suitable locations, there is no reason to restrict the calibre to .22...

[Edit to add]

As mentioned above, it is not the law-abiding people who carry concealed weapons in public, but criminals, carrying illegally owned guns... Legislation means nothing when people simply ignore it and carry on regardless. As mentioned above, all that means, is that it results in the legitimate enthusiast being penalized for the actions of a criminal minority...

[Edit]

Hit 12 instead of 21.

Personally, I like guns. I like shooting. It is the one of the few 'natural gifts' I was born with (the other being able to mimic foreign languages with near perfection [even if I don't necessarily understand what I am saying, it will be understood by someone else]) I've always wanted to belong to a gun club and take part in pistol shooting, but thanks to the knee-jerk reactions to the Dunblane Massacre, have never been able to do so. What people failed to realize or acknowledge, was that the cause of that massacre was not the guns used, but the mentally unstable paedophile who was (for utterly incomprehensible reasons) granted a firearms licence. Obviously there is a problem with illegally acquired weapons which is something which needs better controls, however, there is no reason why that should impede on people who wish to legally own a firearm, and prove that they are suitable and trustworthy to do so. People are trained, tested and licenced to drive cars, yet there are still more deaths annually from driving-related accidents than firearms, but people are not calling either for cars to be banned, or for licenced drivers to be continually monitored and tested (when in all fairness, a person's vision or co-ordination could suddenly deteriorate below an acceptable level without their knowledge, which routine testing would detect and then remedy)

As for the issue of British police carrying firearms, my personal opinion, is that all police officers should be trained in the use of, and carry a sidearm at all times. Had she carried a firearm, PC Sharon Beshenivsky would not be dead. On my admitedly limited trips abroad, I have always felt much safer to see local police carrying guns, than I feel 'at home', where the police aren't allowed to carry anything more offensive than a baton and a pepper spray... In Spain, even the 'local police' were packing P99's for their routine patrols, and, compared to the Guardia Civil, they're little more than glorified trafic wardens. My other issue with police firearms, is that the firearms units are not adequately trained, and do not have enough 'day to day experience' with responding to firearm-related incidents to be able to react without getting goosed up on adrenaline and shoot someone coming out of a pub carrying a table-leg. Perhaps an exchange training programs to countries where they would deal with those situations day in day out would then enable them to actually carry out their duties without a repeat of the Jean Charles de Menezes fiasco...

Sorry for the rant, but this is an issue I feel very strongly about, and find incredibly frustrated that nothing is likely to ever change rationally on the issue.

Sorry flame away if you want but I find this whole 'issue' ridiculous and the worst kind of affectation. Thank god I live in a society and and within a peer group that would just rip the [censored] out of anyone even attempting to show off in this way. If you're really thinking like this (i.e. the exact placement of your watch on your wrist, custom tailoring cuffs to highlight specific watches; etc.), then you really need to get out more.

Innie or outie? May as well be talking about your navels, you know, the same ones you're gazing away at down there...

I absolutely agree 100%.

If I couldn't get a particular watch to go under a shirt cuff, I'd wear a thinner watch. I hardly ever have to wear a shirt with a suit jacket, so most of the time, I'll either have cuffs rolled back (a style I picked up from Jean-Michel Jarre, 17 years ago) or wear a T-Shirt. I like to be able to read my watch easily, but I don't wear it to display it for other people. Those shirts shown above, while certainly going to make the creator a wealthy individual, are just ludicrous, and indeed, the worst kind of affectation.

I am disappointed....

Sorry, amigo, but Rico's about 18 months old now... You can always be his Uncle R11co though