Interesting hobbies?

[Mune]

Hey guys,

We all share a common hobby of course, which is gaming (specifically playing TF2, but I'm sure none of us limits ourselves to just one game). I was just curious as to what sort of alternative hobbies we all might have, the more unusual the better. Perhaps we can find some other common interests among us, or at least get a chance to share our ideas. So, please do dispense your wisdom here and tell us all about your own unique hobby you like to do in your off-time.

I'll start the ball rolling by sharing my new hobby with all of you, as it's been something largely on my mind as of late and I've just been aching to share it with someone...

First, I'll open by saying I have always had a strange fascination with the medieval era. I've been a practitioner of traditional archery since I was young, and I do some target shooting a few times a week on my longbow. My newest twist on this general theme is my long-held desire to learn how to fight with a sword. Even when I was young my dad would make me little wooden swords to play with, but I never followed through and took it to the next level until this past month or so. After a great deal of research, I broke the bank by purchasing this interesting piece of medieval authenticity.

Now, it's one thing to own a sword (I own many non-functional swords, typically called 'wall hangers') but it's truly a whole different experience to own something made exactly like it was back in the day. Cheap swords break when used like they should be, but real (and unfortunately, expensive) swords get the job done. Of course, just owning a sword doesn't make you good at it, so I'm now following through with learning western medieval martial arts technique. So far I have been doing so by myself, so no sparring partner unfortunately, but it has been great fun nonetheless. Check out this cool video for an idea of what I mean.

Now that I've gotten my rant out of the way, feel free to share your own interesting hobbies here with us all, and discuss them to your hearts content. Any other medieval history buffs out there maybe? Probably not...

[Still Learning]

You're on Your way to becoming a Larper.Or possibly just re-enacter. Congratulations, see You in Hell

No, seriously now. Mine....hm. I've got two hobbies that are a bit out of the ordinary. First is quite similar - I was an avid roleplayer earlier, now just a little bit now and then - but I made larper friends whom I still meet, and for them, I'm the acting bard. So my hobby there is to polish up my amateur singing and guitar playing, learning songs, writing some, and performing every now and then. I'm pretty terrible, but they still like it I also do some sparring, both with larp and with real weaponry, but not too often. 'd be glad to partner up with You, but alas, I'm from germany (Edit: More of a high fantasy environment than real medieval for me, though. But I don't shy away from real history )

Tied to that is my instrument collecting. I tend to pick up cheap instruments, then try to learn to play them on my own. So far, I have the guitar, an ocarina, and a while ago I purchased a violin. Next on my list will be either a saxophone or bagpipes, whichever I can find for little money

On a totally different note, I also try to crack roulette as a hobby. Pointless endevour, but filled with nice what-if-dreams It's a fascinating field, though, makes me dibble into higher mathematics and physics.

[Softskin]

I've always been fond of drawing, which is closely tied to my proffession. Although I've never been as good at drawing as I was back when I was in drawingschool. I also dabble a bit in sculpting/maskmaking (although I have no room for that now) and I actually also built a miniature French trebuchet a couple of years ago. I like little hobbies I guess. Although swordplay and archery sound way badass.

Check out my blog for art at: http://massibum.blogspot.com/

[Still Learning]

Dude! Your art is awesome o.O

[Corkydog]

I second that opinion. I'd like to see if you could draw realistic or dramatized versions of tf stuff, your style would give it a nice twist.

As for my particular interest, recently I got liscensed for scuba diving to 130 feet. So I guess that fits. But the Puget Sound (Washington State) is really cold, especially now during fall and winter, so it's a wait before I can test my skills. (BTW I totally recomend it)

I don't know, but I sometimes write short stories, if I get a sudden inspiration for one. They tend to be depressing though, just because it's so easy (just kill someone likeable, and presto!). Besides that all I can really say is that I'm a kickass skier, did double blacks when I was in grade school, now I can do anything. Too bad I'm usually too busy to go to the mountains...

[Softskin]

I second that opinion. I'd like to see if you could draw realistic or dramatized versions of tf stuff, your style would give it a nice twist..

Yeah, the thing is that the conceptart for these things are waay awesome, so I think it would only seem like a watered down version of that. Check out the character portfolio:

http://www.mobyfrancke.com/

But hey, maybe I'll do some at one point

By the by, I also did some scuba diving, but that was ages ago.. I'd love to take it up again, though.

[Pie21]

Man Softskin... max respect for that stuff. It must be amazing being able to draw. I'm passionate about creating things - there's something special about making something yourself, like your making a tangible addition to the sum of human accomplishment. Of course the Web is brilliant in that respect, in that you can put your work somewhere and it's available forever for everyone to see.

My problem is I've never been a good artist. I struggle with the simplest kinds of shapes, and just completely give up on humans and animals. I guess that's why I took up programming - it lets me create appreciable things just by combining the right words and rules, not having to do any artwork

I know this thread's about interesting hobbies and programming is just about the driest thing many people could imagine, but over the last couple of year I've completely fallen in love with it. Most importantly, once you get the basic concepts down, you really get that feeling (call it an understanding) that the world is at your fingertips - you can pretty much write a program to do ANYTHING a computer is capable of, it's just up to your imagination to decide WHAT to code. And like music, you never stop learning. There's always another language, another library, another pattern, another application for existing knowledge. And of course the most satisfying part is when all your code comes together and compiles, and you can run it and see your very own words turned into incredibly powerful operations.

You may have picked up I like music as well. A lot. I picked up the drums, wow, it must be nearly 8 years ago now, and it completely changed how I experience music. I was pointing out an awesome bit of drumming in one of my song to my Dad one day, and he was like "wow that is pretty good, normally I barely hear the drums in a song". That got me thinking about how I listen to music, and over time it's become such that when I listen to music, the primary instrument I listen to is the drums, like they're the lead instrument and the others just kinds of sit around it to make the song complete. I know it's an odd approach, but it's what I do, and it's what I get enjoyment out of, so I don't mind if people think it's weird or "wrong" or whatever. I guess I love the drums because drums are all about groove and feel, and it resonates with something primitive in my mind. I don't particularly like metal because however impressive the drumming may be, it just tends not to groove right for me. I'm a bit of a prog rock fanboy

Other than that, I guess I just like learning. The educational process and institutions can be tiring at time, but what happens within them is just fascinating. It's very hard to explain, but just consider what knowledge is, and hopefully it sort of explains itself. I mean, what's the point of life? You do some stuff and die, then 500 years later you're little more than a name in a family tree. Obviously everyone wants to be the best person they can be, and I see learning as the clearest path to self-improvement. Hearing and wrestling with new concepts and thoughts is just... well, it makes you feel a part of humanity, I guess. The human race is little more than the sum of its accumulated knowledge anyway - if you wiped out all knowledge in one go, we'd be set back thousands of years, whereas if you took everyone's money and burned it, then destroyed everything we've ever built, we could just build it straight back up.

I tend to dabble in cod philosophy as well, or hadn't you noticed? Great thread, btw! Keep 'em coming. I find personalities interesting too - there's like billions of people alive, and billions more in the past, and EVERY SINGLE ONE has their own consciousness and thoughts, approximately as complex as your own. That's pretty incredible to consider, if you ask me.

[Mune]

Still Learning

I used to dabble a bit in LARP, mostly playing random villains (NPC's) rather than my own character. I had lots of fun and met some pretty interesting and/or crazy people. Fond memories of stalking victims as a kobold assassin, oh what fun...

I haven't been in many years though, partly because my local chapter closed down, but also I just found I wasn't quite socially inclined to the necessary level. I wasn't very good at roleplaying, and could never quite shake that feeling that I was doing something rather silly. On the other hand, I had much fun sparring with those chunky foam 'weapons', and even fashioned myself a nice boffer katana for such occasions.

Anyway, I don't intend to go back to LARPing or become a re-enactor, I simply feel like learning a largely useless skill just for the heck of it. It gets me doing some more exercise, which is a good thing of course. I compare it to deciding to learn karate or judo, as it is indeed a martial art (just not an eastern one). The hard part is that I have no access to a 'dojo' equivalent, and the documentation of sparring tactics with my weapon of choice is rather sparse. So, I'm borrowing from better known forms and taking a bit of creative license as I go. I've got a couple books on German longsword technique and Italian sword-and-buckler style to use.

I envy you and your new violin, as that's also been something I've always wanted to learn. Stringed instruments turn an ordinary song into something awesome, I find. I attempted to learn guitar in highschool but never got very good at it.

Oh, and good luck cracking roulette! Let us know if you make any major breakthroughs.

Softskin

Very nice artwork you got there, top honors indeed. Many different styles, showing a good diversity (computer gen, pencil sketch, etc.). Some of them have a really nice fantasy-type theme; looks like stuff I'd find in a cool RPG game or fantasy novel. Reminds me of my old D&D books, particularly the wizard at the top and the knife-wielding shady character at the bottom.

I too have built a mini trebuchet back in physics class years ago and had a blast doing so. It was some sort of contest to see who's design would shoot the furthest, and ours won because I researched the history of trebuchets and copied what was decided back then as the best model. I think it's still at my parents house, maybe in their attic... Man, I should break it out and use it as a ball-thrower for my dog or something.

Corkydog

Scuba diving, very nice. Closest I've come to that is snorkeling. No good ocean-front where I'm at so not much opportunity. Being underwater is great though, and 130 feet sounds pretty deep so that's got to be awesome. When you dive (or will dive, rather) will it be to look at something in particular (sea life, coral, ocean floor etc.) or anything of that nature? Maybe sharks?

I tried skiing once when I was little, nobody showed me how to slow down so I ended up hating it. We've got so many decent skiing areas around though I should probably go back sometime and give it a proper try. Sounds like you're good enough to do it competitively; have you ever been in a skiing competition of sorts?

Pie

Programming qualifies as an interesting hobby. In fact, just scratch that qualifier from the initial post; every hobby is interesting to those whose hobby it is. I've had plenty of fun making little games or convenience-programs, mostly on my calculator back in highschool. The actual coding part isn't exactly what I'd call 'exciting' (particularly to an audience or observer) but the awesomeness of it comes from the finished product (and it's evolution to completion). As for your school project, you're damn lucky to have such cool assignments I say. Sounds awesome and I hope I get a chance to try out the end result.

And like programming, you already know I'm a bit of a drummer myself as well (well Pie does, anyway). Only a couple years though, so I've got a ways to go before I'll be any good. Someday I need to move out of my apartment and get my own house so I can actually have my set at it rather than at my parents... damned lack of monetary units. And I definitely understand the part about listening to drums in songs more, as the same happens with me. I find myself unconsciously tapping my foot in time with the bass drum whenever a song is playing. Out of the several musical instruments I've tried, drums are my favorite as well much for the same reasons as you describe. It's nice to be able to pluck a string in just the right way and have it sound pretty, but it's fun to just smack things with sticks and have it sound good.

As for a love of learning, it is indeed fun to delve deeper into what interests us. Sounds like you've found yourself a good school too, which is great. I was never much for classes, as many I found boring or not applicable to real life, but learning itself isn't necessarily synonymous to class (at least not to me). I like to do research into things that interest me; I'm pretty good in a trivia game I think (unless it's about pop culture, then I suck). Anyway, be glad that you love to learn and are interested in education, as it's sure to take you much closer to your goal than otherwise.

Thanks guys for your replies. Please forgive my verbose response.

[Corkydog]

To Mune:

Nah, competitive skiing is all about speeding through the flags, I just ski to be by myself on a mountain face. I guess I could do it, but it would be as different as skiing on a mountain and waterskiing.

As for scuba diving, it just depends on the dive site. Some local spots have sunken boats or interesting bits of machinery, or known populations of octopi or something. Most of my future dives will be research based, as I dive through a program that focuses on Marine Chemistry, and we do a lot of stuff underwater for research projects and such. Kinda interesting, kinda boring, just doing it to learn how to dive.

Pie:

I feel silly for asking, because I simply don't know, and I can't tell from your post (which I partially read), but do you program games? Like Flash? Or just programs and mods, or whatever? In real simple terms, what do you program?

[Pie21]

Please forgive my verbose response.

I'm afraid that's just not acceptable. BANNED.

how to slow down

SNOW PLOUGH That's like the one thing I remember from my few hours of skiing lessons I got one day years ago when I went up Mt Bulla with my Dad. You point your toes in front of you so your skis make a V and really dig in with the sides. I remember I used to do it just so I could go SNOW PLOUGH! I love that phrase

Pie:

I feel silly for asking, because I simply don't know, and I can't tell from your post (which I partially read), but do you program games? Like Flash? Or just programs and mods, or whatever? In real simple terms, what do you program?

Nothing to feel silly about, I never actually specified I've got a bit of a history of jumping into the deep end of projects over the years, getting a little way in and then just kinda leaving them. I guess the first real thing I tried my hand at was with 3D GameStudio years ago, because one I decided damnit I just want to try and write a game, which on reflection was a very difficult place to start, hence why I never got very far with anything. However it exposed me to most aspects of game design, including mapping, modeling and coding.

I quickly discovered I didn't really care what things looked like, so long as they worked correctly, and so I took to the coding as it allowed me to work on that part. With GameStudio, you code in a language called C-Script, which is actually a scripting language that reads very similarly to C. Since I didn't even know any C, it was an awkward place to start and I eventually gave up.

I fiddled with this and that afterwards, but it was the start of last year that I got a bit more serious. I decided to take Informatics as breadth in my first semester of Uni, and I found out we'd be learning Python. I read up on it a bit and found an interest, so I went through the Python tutorial in a few days and got a pretty good grasp of it. This was also when I discovered the power of the Internet for learning - if you don't know something, you just Google it and have a read, and you can pick up pretty much anything.

I did a few things with Python - general little utility programs mostly as learning experiences. It was pretty much text-only output, so I couldn't get too fancy. However we had a guest lecturer from Google give a presentation and he was talking about a few of the graphical libraries for Python, including Pyglet which I went and had a look into. Pyglet gave me a new perspective on game design - write it in 2D and everything becomes a lot simpler! I tried putting a few things together, and it was difficult but I was actually getting somewhere. I didn't have the experience with program structure to get too far, but I had a shot at writing a drum tab editor, and so Taboo was born. It basically just used a sprite for each note, and had some really big lists of sprites. Ultimately this wouldn't be a great solution and it ran pretty slow, but it definitely worked, and it was the first thing I was really happy with. I even had a live input mode, where it would play a metronome and you could press buttons in time to type in notes, which was quite effective.

Since then I picked up C++ and Windows Forms last summer, and the more you learn about programming the easier it becomes to pick up new things. With Forms I wrote a real version of Taboo, which you can all have a look at if you feel like it, and that has been my most successful project ever, basically. There's still a lot of a work to do on it, but I consider that a positive, since a bad project will see you running out of ideas of what to do next. Currently I'm taking a subject on Object Oriented Programming and learning Java for it, and we're writing an RPG, pretty much from scratch (well, given a graphics library and a project brief) for our project. I'm have ing an absolute blast, and since they're encouraging creativity beyond the specs, I'm adding a bunch of Diablo II stuff, like random item drops and procedurally generated dungeons. Great fun, and I'll put it up on piemaster.net eventually, when I figure out how to

So there's all that. All this OOP stuff (especially since we're up to design now) has me pretty convinced that I want to go forward with software engineering, and I'm really just learning about a bunch of concepts now, rather than doing lots of work. As I mentioned somewhere, I'ma finish off with the Uni RPG, and then after exams I'ma start on a new game, and I'll try and document my progress a bit, just for reflective purposes. Should be fun. So in response to the original question (I suck at direct answers), I haven't learned Flash yet - I'm more into the more common languages for programming (i.e. Java, C++, Python), and using those for whatever I feel like at the time (applications, games, pretty much anything; I've still got so much to learn).

In conclusion, if you've ever considered yourself interested with programming, just give it a shot. It's SO easy to try out, and you're only limited by your commitment and imagination. I can't think of any better place to start than Python. Download it and go through the tutorial. Up to about chapter 6 or 7 from memory gives you a fantastic foundation that will be extremely useful no matter what language you learn from then on. The hardest part about learning if having a project to apply all your new knowledge to, to cement it in your mind. Just pick something, regardless of difficulty, that YOU are interested in, and jump right in. I learn by trying something too hard for myself, and then whenever I hit a wall I Google it, find a solution, and file that knowledge away so I'll know how to handle it in the future. It really can be a lot of fun - if you let it.

[Luftwaffe]

I collect baseball cards and I've started to learn about a type of fighting

[9Squirrels]

I pickle road kill that I find when travelling...

[Backerman]

I think I have at least an interesting set of hobbies... I'm a 1st degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do, a martial art I started 11 years ago. I love camping and hiking (and because of this, backpacking ). Every once and a while, I get to do some water sports, so I'm an amateur board-sailor, surfer, sailor, motorboatist, and skier. I picked up all the outdoorsy stuff through Boy Scout's (an organization I'll be in for about a year and a half more). And, contrary to the above, I love video games! My realm of video gaming is broad, I like essentially everything from shooters to RPG's to rhythm games. On that note, I picked up the string bass and bass guitar four years ago.

[DosPassos]

A couple of weird things for me... I've been trying to learn magic tricks, which isn't going too well.
I play the piano (typical asian instrument) and Double Bass (acoustic).

9squirrels, how many squirrels have you pickled?

[Roflnife]

well, like someone, said i like to ski.
im a avid skier, or more accurately, a snowboarder.
i live in maine, so its a pretty quick drive to the mountains. seeing as its cold half the year, i can board often. we already have had a big mountain open.