Lead Pile reduction strategy - a small set back, a birthday and an interesting conference invitation.

Well, I have sold some more figures on eBay but today I had two packages through the post containing more figures! Oh dear!  First off was a pack from the new Artizan North West Frontier releases of Corps of Guides figures.  Four figures is not too naughty and I will try to get them based today.  Also included was a free not-Biggles figure who I am sure I can fit into my Pulp project.

The other 21 figures were from a Dark Fable kickstarter and feature more Egyptian harem miniatures.  I'd actually forgotten I had ordered these.  Oh dear, again!  Now I better find some more stuff to sell!

I have a busy week in London next week with Canadian visitors, including two receptions, so have had to turn down, for the second week running, a trip to Eric's Shed.  This was doubly annoying as last week they played the sequel to the Lion Rampant game I participated in a few weeks ago.  I have managed a bit more on the Carolingians this week and have my first North Star pirate nearly ready.  

Eighteen today!

I hope to get some time to paint on Sunday but I need to support Guy in his first eights race tomorrow (he usually races in quads). He is eighteen today which is a bit of a shock.  I remember driving like mad to get to Guildford hospital in time on a sunny morning much like this.  His older sister had needed inducing as she was a week late but we only just got the Old Bat settled down in bed in time for his arrival.  From leaving the house for the hospital to him being born was under an hour!  He is going out for birthday pizza (inevitably) with some of his rowing friends today including his new "special" lady friend, the sensationally fit A.  Perhaps now is not the time to tell her that he won a most beautiful baby competition, as chosen by the local mayor - except he won the girl's category as they thought he was so lovely he must be a girl!  

I attend a lot of conferences to do with my job (I've spoken at over 170 international ones -most of them tedious, although the one in Disneyland in California was an amusing venue ) and this week I'm organising a conference at Canada House.  However, I have just been invited to participate in another rather different conference in the summer.  As some of you know, my interests and collecting are not confined to model soldiers but also to vintage men's magazines (based originally on the large collection I inherited from my father).  A couple of years ago I wrote an article on the competition between Playboy and Penthouse in the seventies for a men's magazine (for which they paid me enough to fund most of my figure purchases for that year).  I had also had another article published in this broad area in another magazine last year.   Now, Cambridge University have asked me to participate in an international academic conference on erotica in the summer.  Makes a change from talking about funding infrastucture, I suppose!