STOBBIES
HOBBIES

It's the Column where Mike Stobby looks at their Hobby!

All to often, we forget that when our fave prog stars aren't on stage or recording albums, they do have other interests outside of music. Good Prince Harry (Grace) enjoys coin-rubbing, Mike Holmes plays ping-pong, Cliff Arsi (ex Arean) keeps his poodles, Gary Ghandler has his charity work and Peter Gee loves his photography. In this new Silhobbit feature, I will be taking a regular, indepth look at hobbies of the progworld and I'm particulary interested in the more unusual ones, so if you know a prog-celeb who has a divought pastime then please drop me a line.

Dave Wagstaff - Cheese Taxidermy

Dave Wagstaff from Landmark has an interesting hobby that goes back hundreds of years. I caught up with Dave at his East London penthouse where this drummer was busy with his hands, doing what he loves best. His shelves are a treasure chest of cheeses from around the world.

"This is my favourite and it is a coats milk cheese from Nigeria called N'Dvo Cheesc. This one took about two weeks to do and I’m very proud of it. Cheese Taxidermy is, I guess, very similar to what normal taxidermists would do to animals and birds, except I restore and stuff rare cheescs so that they can be displayed without the cheese degrading and the odour."

The tools Dave uses to pursue his craft include a selection of cutting instruments, brushes, scoopers and various prescrving oils.

"It is essential that you first cut a tiny slice of the cheese and leave it in embalming fluid for about a week and then let it dry naturaly at room temperature. This ensures that the renit inside the cheese is not resistant to the acids in the fluid. If they are then you need to mix the solution with a neutral liquid such as a sodium based hynatetraflorine or paradynsodabyothene. These are expensive but a necessary expense. Once you’ve got this correct you know that the cheese isn’t going to detiriorate once it has been stuffed.

Dave likes to work in silence so that he can concentrate on his cheese. I sat at the back of the room and acknowledged a master at work. Once Dave had tested the cheese with the correct preserve, he is now able to continue. Today he is working on some Welsh Stilton, which is both crumbly and delicate.

"Stilton is very tricky because I want to keep it exactly as it is now" comments Dave.

Next he slices about 10mm from around the ridge of the cheese or the 'face' and makes a horizontal incission all the way around. Then be uses a very fine tool which scoopes out the insides before foam is injected into the gap. Dave leaves the foam to set which takes about an hour. Now the cheese roof can be glued back on using a resin based adhesive.

"The crucial part of cheese taxidermy is evenly brushing on the finishing fluid which prevents the cheese shell from going off. It takes about six hours to harden where it is then stored in a cool room for a week to prevent cracking." explains Dave.

If you are interested in Dave's Hobby and want to learn more then write to him at Landmark's Fan Club

Next issue 'Richard West talks about his boomerang