I've been Liebstered - Again!

It seems its that time of year and the Liebster award is back. I was a little surprised to be nomintaed as its generally for newer blogs, typically with fewer than 200 followers, to raise their awareness in the blog-o-sphere. Plus I was nominated last time around!

So many thanks to Brendan "The Kiwi", at the Gamers Table blog.

But still, in receiving said award, again, I get that warm fuzzy feeling that someone likes my blog, and I get the chance to nominate some I feel need a little more awareness...

This years award seems to revolve around the number 11, with eleven blogs I must nominate and also 11 questions to answer.

Since I am currently enjoying the whole Middle Earth genre, I have decided to nominate blogs that feature Middle-Earth content in their recent output...

11 blogs:

Lord of the Rings Minis http://bensminis.blogspot.co.nz/
Off t'Club http://offtclub.blogspot.co.nz/
Who is Theodore Us? http://whoistheodoreus.blogspot.co.nz/
BlackWarden http://blackwarden.blogspot.co.nz/
Tell me Tale Great or Small http://tellmeatalegreatorsmall.blogspot.co.nz/
Karavatis http://karavatis.blogspot.co.nz/
Sams Mini World http://samsminisworld.blogspot.co.nz/
Llama's War of the Ring http://jaows.blogspot.co.nz/
East Grinstead Wargamers http://eastgrinsteadwargamers.blogspot.co.nz/
Werners Hobby blog http://wernershobbyblog.blogspot.co.nz/
The Dead Marshes http://www.thedeadmarshes.com/

If your blog is not in the above list please do not feel snubbed or ignored, far from it, I could only pick 11!

Keeping on the theme of "11", this years award comes with 11 questions to which I must give answers! So here goes;

• Why did you start blogging? Originally just to be able to post pictures of my painted models on the web, and as a source of logging the colours used for reference etc.... its has since grown to include terrain making, gaming reports and the odd 'ramble'...
• If you could change one thing about the wargaming hobby, what would it be? Reduce the ridiculous pricing of the current state of the "GW Hobby". Buy something else I hear you cry - but I'm a sucker for their Middle-Earth figures...
• What is best in life? Enjoying quality time with family, and if that includes my hobby, then gaming with my son has to be up there at the top. And now little daughter is showing an interest in wanting to learn how to paint mini's... she's certainly more artistic than my son!
• Do you want to live forever? If health and wealth stay in the black then most certainly!
• Fame or fortune? Fortune! You can keep fame! I couldn't be bothered with the intrusion into private life.
• What miniatures are you most proud of having painted? Generally my latest work, so long as it stays up to scratch, but I am terribly aware of gradual eyesight decline so hope I can keep churning out the goods! Favourite stuff includes my LOTR figures - probably my Elven heroes and Galadhrim.
• How do you deal with burn out? I'll admit, I'm not good at dealing with stress. I don't tend to get burn out from painting miniatures, rather the game they maybe linked to, so if I go off a game, I go off painting those figures, and then switch to painting some thing else, and I keep coming back to LOTR for my love of the books and movies, despite GW's best attempts to piss me off with their pricing!
• Why is a raven like a writing desk? Haven't got a clue mate, I guess I could try googling the answer but that would be cheating right? However, just pondering this now, there possibly seems to be a MiddleEarth connection? In the Hobbit we have the portents about the ravens returning to the mountain, and of course we see Bilbo's writing desk featured at the start of the movies... am I close? Plus I guess its a riddle, and we know how much Bilbo liked riddles!
• Star Wars or Star Trek? For Trek I like Kirk and Piccard. Couldnt stand Voyager or DS9. But do like the new movies. For Wars, the first three, or IV, V and VI. The others, other than special effects, were pretty naff... whoever created Jar Jar wants shooting as it put the nail in the franchise for me... But if I must pick one over the other then Wars! May the force be with you.
• If you could only buy from one miniature company from now on, which one would it be? Honestly that's a tough question. If I would have to answer where I feel right now, as much as it goes against the grain, with my love/hate relationship with the company, I would pick GW, purely for their Lotr/Hobbit stuff, as I would happily stay buying and painting that genre indefinitely. However, if I was to choose an 'overall' company it would probably be Foundry, as they do excellent sculpts on the whole and cover an incredibly diverse range of periods and genres.
• What is your favourite takeaway? Chinese - I like noodles and nearly always pick a Chow Mein.

UPDATE: Couldn't help but google that Riddle - seems I was off the mark,... but I have never read the book it came from... ah well...