I found myself at lunch a few weeks ago with some fellow grad students in my department. The conversation was scattered; deadline woes, undergrads being frustrating, research setbacks, but then the conversation turned to sports. Suddenly everyone seemed in sync. Names flew to-and-fro talking performance in the previous weeks, statistics, and predictions for future play. I was not only lost but bored stiff. I longed to have a fellow comic nerd sitting at the table to lament the state of Fear Itself or compare titles of the new DCU. But alas, sports trumped comics yet again. It’s literally a story as old as time: people care more about sports than academic pursuits such as science and the arts (not that comics are ‘high’ art, but they are art). Even amongst my fellow scientists the general trend is to talk sports over other nerd trivia. It’s actually been something of a surprise how few interests crossover between the people I see expressing overwrought enthusiasm at every nerd tidbit which are completely ignored by my fellow scientists. It’s not that scientists aren’t nerds, but they just seems to have no interest in the ephemera we revel in. Which brings me to a feeling I often have as I move through life: I have no idea what “general interest” means.
Whatever you say, TJ.
It started in high school, where I was often supposed to write papers with in-text citations. This meant that whenever I wrote about something that was outside “general knowledge” I needed to provide a source for that information, otherwise I was guilty of plagiarism. I was terrible at it. I had no idea if something was known to the public or not. I thought every knew that Hermes carried a caduceus, that stegosaur spikes are called thagomizers, and that Thomas Jefferson thought mastodon teeth looked like breasts. I’m not trying to show off trivia, I truly didn’t know that other people didn’t soak in this nonsense like I do. Fortunately, professional science eschews this problem by making you cite EVERYTHING. It’s a habit I’m still learning, but I guess it beats assumption about what “general knowledge” people acquire due to “general interest.”
To me, comics are generally interesting, but to most they are not. The intricacies of beer are generally interesting. Science is generally interesting. But the older I get the more I realize I’m a nerd about uncommon things and to geek out appropriately I have to go out of my way to find a home for it. And I think that’s a huge part of what makes the internet appealing to most of us. Apparently, for I have no actual experience, there was a time when if you had an interest in a topic, you had to seek out actual people, or pay actual money to get a magazine to learn about the thing you liked and keep up to date with the happenings.
Yet the Internet allows for so much more. Scant years ago I remember thinking a podcast about comics might be neat. I knew about podcasting from a science journal I’d been reading, circle of life, am I right? So I searched around iTunes and found there were (and are) more than a few of varying levels of quality. iFanboy was the one that stuck, and now I’m part of the team. This all feels like such a radical departure from the way things used to be that I have trouble even contextualizing it. I find it all thrilling beyond belief, but generally interesting to the average person on the street? I lost that person as soon I mentioned podcasts.
I assume they're in costume?
And just when I think I have a pretty good handle on nerd culture, I find myself at a convention like NYCC. And it is there I am put to shame. There are video game franchises with hoards of fans clamoring about a trailer for the 7th game in a series I’ve never heard of. There’s an entire floor of anime and manga culture that I’m not ashamed to admit is actually frightening. It’s overwhelming to realize just how many people are interested in so many different things, it’s a wonder we can all keep speaking the same language. And then I remember there are people on the con floor perfectly fluent in Elvish or Klingon or both and I’m right back at square one.
For every nerd like me for whom science and comics are where it’s at, there are several for whom sports and comics are the be-all end-all. You just never know where someone’s passions may lie when they navigate away from iFanboy. Just last week I wrote a column on short attention spans and two iFanboy users discovered in the comments that they were both birders. Which brings me to you, dear reader.
Let’s use the comments below to break outside the bounds of our interests in comics. We’re all here because comics are great, but I’d hate for us all to think we’re as 1-dimensional as some of the more poorly written characters found in our books. So here’s my idea. In the comments, post 1 thing you’re interested in that isn’t comics but also isn’t something you’ve ever thought was “general interest.” And if you see someone with a shared interest, reply! It’ll flesh out the people behind these usernames and maybe add perspective to other comments we all make around the site. At the very least, it’ll give me a window into just what the hell “general interest” might be.
This week Ryan Haupt finds himself at the annual meeting for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Not a cosplayer in the bunch, but some might as well be Indiana Jones. Hear him talk about it in the coming weeks of the podcast Science… sort of.
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papercraft
I’m not sure what that is but I’m curious? Is it like Origami or like making designs?
Think of it like vinyl toys (KidRobot), just with paper.. You cut them out, fold, glue. Below is a link to one of the better Paper craft designers.
http://www.tougui.fr/papertoy.html
Beyond comics, I play Magic: The Gathering casually with friends, build computers and play games (Starcraft, Deus Ex, et al), and have an interest in politics and news. I guess I also follow the Portland Trail Blazers, but the outlook on NBA games this season doesn’t look bright.
I was so sad that the NBA didn’t start last night. Maybe they’ll have games by the new year. Oh well, at least I get to pick up comics today.
I also miss the NBA, but I’m a Utah Jazz fan, and the damn Blazers keep steeling or trying to steel their best players.
The NBA can go to hell, and David Stern can burn with it.
Signed, a Seattle sports fan.
Woo! Another Magic player! Since I left high school I haven’t really met anyone else
Cool I used to play Magic (still would if I could find anyone else at Bournemouth Uni who plays) I built my own computer, big fan of SciFi although I’m ashamed to say I’ve been neglecting that part of my nerdiness recently.
Watch a lot of film and TV in general (I’m studying TV Production at the moment) and am a HUGE Whedonite.
My day job is as a choir director, singer and teacher but my other passion outside of comics is Disney – especially the parks – and believe me, that sub-culture has its own set of jargon, podcasts, conventions, celebrity and nerd-rage.
I’m a bit of a Disney guy. I’ve lived in Florida my whole life, so we go to WDW a couple times a year at least. I’m not hardcore on the collectible stuff and the history, but I know people who are. It does get deep.
When I was a kid my parents used to drive us from Rhode Island to Disney World for a week every single year. It was the best. My wife grew up near Orlando and I can’t convince her to visit DIsney when we visit her parents (although I think I’ve got a good shot next time we visit). I have a lot of really fond memories of the parks since it was the only vacation we ever took when I was young.
I sing first soprano in a chorus, and not because it’s the easy part 😉 (hitting those high notes well isn’t a ‘easy’ thing)
Salsa Dancing and I like to cook too
I used to swing dance back when it was big – I kinda miss it.
Cooking is also awesome.
When was swing dancing ever big? And why wasn’t I told?!
Remember Cherry Poppin’ Daddies? “Zoot suit riot…RIOT!!”
In the mid to late 90’s, culminating with the movie, Swingers.
The movie start point, I think, was The Mask. It definitely ended with Swingers.
I am also really into cooking, especially baking. Every Sunday I make cookies, breads, muffins…this weekend I made Halloween candy from scratch!
That Swingers period in the 90s lasted like, 4 days. But man the songs that came from it!
Now I got ‘Zoot Zoot Riot’ in my head because of you guys!
It was at least a couple years. I know, because I was alive.
oooh? I keep meaning to try Swing dancng, that looks like alot of fun!!
@bansidhewail How do you keep your cookies soft? I keep trying at making chocolate chip cookies but they constantly come out way too hard?
I just got into a conversation with a friend of mine about the brief Swing Period in the ’90s. He got really excited about all the great swing clubs that opened in Boston for just a few short years.
i was a chef for 15 years in south louisiana and some here in phoenix until my wife decided to go to med school and i became a stay at home dad until she is finished. i hate baking, though. i was a chef de cuisine
Really if I think long and hard, computers and technology in general would be the only interest I have that I don’t have a living breathing person to share it with. Also philosophy to a certain extent. NO ONE wants to talk about either really.
I have a huge store of information on technology, computers, future trends, etc… but I can talk to no one about this, ever. It is frustrating but blogs take away the pain. I mean I don’t really like cell phones, the one I own is over 2 years old, but I know everything about all of the operating systems, hardware, snapdragon versus A4 blah blah blah blah. How webOS was the GREATEST thing to happen to mobile phones and it died from dumb decisions….
I’m boring myself, I’ll stop now haha
Philosophy nerd here too. So much so that I often use ITunes U to find Philosophy courses to listen to, while playing Video Games none the less. I have read Bertrand Russell’s the history of Philosophy three times and geek out over David Hume and Kierkegaard.
i love philosophy. im a fan of diogenes and nietzsche
I have a major fascination with the work and life of H P Lovecraft.
similarly, i too am interested in racism.
kidding. i really would like to get into lovecraft, though. is there a starting point you’d recommend?
Yes, please advise!
Fuck yeah Lovecraft. I have a very Lovecraft-friendly circle of friends back in my hometown, the kind of people who have period-dress parties to play Arkham Horror.
There is a great Lovecraft podcast you can get where they break down and talk about each story. It also gives you some of the background of Lovecraft and doesn’t shy away from some of the unpleasant realities. Check out:
http://hppodcraft.com/
Also – Read Call of Cthulu
Same here! Been a fan of Lovecraft’s for ages! As for Lovecraft suggestions, I’d recommend the short story “The Dunwich Horror”. It hits a lot of what I consider to be Lovecraft’s touchstones and it avoids some of his more painful issues. While the story is available online, I’d recommend picking up one of the Joshi annotated versions simply because his annotations give a pretty good idea of the writer’s head space, influences, and references.
http://www.amazon.com/Annotated-H-P-Lovecraft-S-Joshi/dp/0440506603/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320257571&sr=1-3
thanks, guys. i’ll check these out.
TOTALLY suggest listening to the H P Lovecraft Literary Podcast, which helps gives a better glimpse into the life of the author around the times he wrote his stories.
My personal favorite tales: Dreams in the Witch House, At the Mountains of Madness, and Nyarlathotep.
Also, check out the adaptations done by the H P Lovecraft Historical Society at CthulhuLives.org. They did radio dramas of Shadow Out of Time, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, At the Mountains of Madness, and The Dunwich Horror which are excellent.
@mrgraves Yeah, totally on the spot with that HPL Literary podcast. They do a pretty good job of making HPL accessible and even shone the light on some stories I hadn’t heard of before.
I think I might be a little bit addicted to playing online video games. I also love S.L. Benfica (portuguese football team), they’re actually playing tonight, and i’m watching the game even though i’m up to my ears in college assignments!
I definitely sympathize with this article. I’m in a graduate program oriented toward entertainment design (of various kinds, though I’m most interested in video games), and even in this miniature world of entertainment nerds it can be hard to find an interest common to even a quarter of them. And in our work, our professors sometimes cite that some ideas aren’t practical, from a business standpoint at least, because they’d be hard to market to the “mainstream.” Needless to say, I have no idea who the heck that is, either.
As for an interest…tabletop RPGs are my greatest love. Good ol’ pen and paper. And I started those after I played several video game RPGs.
Oh I do love a good tabletop game. If you think comics is niche… try that hobby on.
There has been no time in the past two years where I didn’t have a weekly RPG going. Whether it’s D&D, something from White Wolf, Star Wars (we actually played the old lands end version. D6 based and pretty cool), Random franchise games… (Buffy, Serenity, Dr. Who…)
Right now it’s D&D every Friday yo.
*West End… not lands end. I think that’s a clothing line…
I haven’t played in an ongoing table-top campaign since college (2000). It’s something that I’d love to fall back into, but a) no group, b) little time.
There are literally 0 tabletop players in my local rural/suburban community.
Isn’t Wizards of the Coast working on an online program to remedy such issues? I’ve seen my DM creating things on it, but I’ve never used it myself.
I had heard that, but I believe their tool set ia focused on D&D 4. I am not a big fan of that setup. I prefer games like Enchiridion, Burning Wheel, Dogs in the Vineyard, 3:16, and what have you.
I’m enjoy teaching 5th and 6th graders in an after school program.
I’m actually writing this while my sixth grade students are at lunch/recess.
I tend to gravitate towards music that is not of “general interest” to most people, and I find myself sitting in on the “sports/beer” conversation with my friends and people at work all the time. That’s not a big deal, but it sucks when bands come through that I want to see, and no one else wants to trek out to see them. Office of Future Plans played in NYC last week, and I missed it.
I can totally relate to this. Except, most of the music I’m listening to lately is fairly retro and obscure so the artists are either dead or long since retired. But either way, it’s always been an issue with me.
I love me some literary theory. I could read about structrualist and post structuralist theory for hours and hours and never get bored.
And as much as Sports is a go to response for a topic that the general population loves and is contrast to comic books, i don’t like to see it down cast among “nerds.” I love sports, hockey and baseball in particular (go Leafs, go Sox), and i know quite a bit of facts about each, and i know that there are some commentors and staff who love them some baseball. But look at Fantasy Leagues, that is nerdy! I’ve done a few simple one, but have you seen some of these leagues out there? they are crazy complicated and extremely well organized. do you know what kind of people do that? Nerds! and hell I don’t know much about Football (soccer) orCricket, and those are immensley popular sports.
I know we’ve heard many times that sports can be geeky or nerdy, i just wish people would stop using them in contrast to the things the “nerds” like. we say we are comic book fans, but how many of us can say we read all kinds of comics?
That’s a good point. When you get down to it, the majority of comic book fans are really just super-hero comic book fans.
I majored in English and Literary theory was my thing. Love it, but have not been “active” in reading anything in a long while now.
When I hear people putting down comic or anime geeks, my standard response is that it’s no different than a sports fan who wears the team’s jersey and knows all the stats.
I majored in English as well, and that’s where i fell in love with theory, applied to grad school for it, but chose to work for the government instead!
I also have a huge interest in scented candles. my house is littered with them.
Huzzah for literary theory! I’m an English major at heart, despite where my life has gone since college.
I at least can say I read all kinds of comics. It’s only been relatively recently that I’ve started reading superhero comics with any regularity, in fact.
Totally agree with WeakleyRoll. I too get quite annoyed when “nerds” thumb their nose at sports. You’d think they of all people would know better than to belittle something that interests others, but not them. For some reason, it’s as if they feel it’s ok to do so because the things they are downplaying are super popular. The populist nature allows for them to justify tearing down things that they feel have little value, given their personal interest set. Again, I’d really like to think that they would know better to act this way.
All I’ll say is this, nerdos. Comic books and science don’t get the back page of the NY Post.
Thats realy the point J206.. that most people do not thumb their noses at sports. Its not a matter of downplaying something super popular. I have been a fan of most professional sports at various times in my life until i got bored or most often realized the question “why am i watching hours of commercials and nearly an hour of dudes standing around or commentating with every game” That’s called a waste of life. Apart from soccer.. all of the major sports in this country eat up a tremendous amount of time with pepsi and ford commercials. You cant defend watching commercials. Im still a basketball fan (only the playoffs) and soccer fan (90 minutes no commercials except at the half) but i prefer playing sports myself rather than watching others. Thats the real fun in sport. And playing fantasy sports and memorizing stats (which ive done) is at least equally nerdy to reading superhero comics and.. ill go a step further and say its as immature as many people (MANY).. people say reading comics is.
Lets also not kid ourselves about the real reason many people talk about sports or even watch sports in groups. When many of us talk about sports its because we have nothing else in common… or nothing else to say. Its not even really talking. Its about how can i not make this minute or this hour uncomfortable.. oh i know.. ill bullshit about sports. All my life ive seen groups of guys watching sports.. many times its pretty obvious to me.. some of the guys are just dying to go do something else but are too chicken shit to break the mold. Even if its some dude that doesnt realy like baseball and would rather watch soccer or some dude that doesnt like basketball and would rather watch football. Many people just sit and pretend they are being entertained.. because its just supposed to be. Its ridiculous.
I have my M.A. in Creative Writing, focusing on formalist poetry. Which is still my biggest life passion. Did plenty of study in lit theory while in grad school.
Wow, iroberts007. I really think you don’t get it AT ALL. Wow. You could not have come off as more of a “nerd who does not understand the appeal of sports” if you tried. And please, you don’t have to mask it with, “hey, I’ve liked sports my whole life. I’ve been a sports fan and friends with sports fans my entire life. The things you say are the opposite of what those people say. You couldn’t be more wrong. People like sports for many reasons. And most of them center around being entertained. Sports are an enjoyable communal experience where people can get together and share in common bonds. Rooting for team or city. Sure, it’s a mainstream thing that attracts casuals. And it’s an easy go to conversation topic. Reason being. It’s a very popular topic that most people enjoy. But that’s not just it. There are plenty of fans who enjoy the games themselves, the strategy, the drama, the excitement. I’m going to cut myself off here before this turns into an essay. But dang man. I couldn’t disagree more with every single thing you said.
Cheers. 🙂
i said i was a fan of playing almost all sports and a fan of watching soccer and playoff basketball. YOU DONT KNOW ME. I aint masking anything. I gave you a valid response.. about people wasting time .. being forced into watching commercials. I understand the appeal of watching sports for some.. and i also understand that there are lots of people that watch and talk about them because they have nothing else to watch or talk about. I can see things from more than one angle. CAN YOU. I watch sports.. i enjoy sports. i play sports and play well..and .I dont know why you think thats a lie… i just think that lots of people could do to expand their interests and unfortunately watching sports take up a lot of peoples time (mostly because of TV time outs).
and f that cheers bull as your insulting me…
I’m insulting you only after you straight up insulting all people who enjoy sports. You said that they are doing so just because and that they don’t really like it. You were describing yourself, not them. Sorry if I was blunt in calling this out. But you really have no business saying the entire world thinks as you do. And this being forced to watch commercials business is just silly and a hollow argument. Are you forced to watch the commercials during tv shows? Or are you forced read the ads in your comic books? Most certainly not. There is a myriad of productive things one can do during a sporting event’s commercial breaks. Like going to the bathroom, getting food, dicking around on the internet, or talking with friends. Really now, that’s such a stupid cop out as to try and explain why you don’t approve of something. I’m sorry if I insulted you in my disagreement. But your post is everything this thread is meant not to be. This is about embracing different hobbies and passions. Not to dismiss them. Come on now, guy. We can all get along if we try to focus on our commonalities, and not our differences.
Oh, and congrats on seeing things from more than one angle. Apparently that’s some sort of antithetical code word for close-minded. 😛
I never said the entire anything pal! The difference is i never said ALL people do this or ALL people do that. ( I used the words many and some.. that doesnt mean all or even the majority of people in the least bit)….Also I lumped myself into that crowd of being an on and off again pro sports fan (which i am regardless of what you say..HA.. ive actually been a two time season ticket holder).. and a (champion) fantasy league player … so who was i insulting. You got personnel. There are numerous people that posted similar things to what i said..(about people just bullshitting when they talk sports) so i aint the only one that thinks people do that. And again.. i dont mean ALL people bullshit about sports ALL the time.. i mean sometimes people talk about sports when they would rather talk about other things. LIKE THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE. It may be more common than you think.
This isnt a black and white situation. I was a baseball fan when i was kid a basketball fan in my teens onwards and a football fan till a couple of years back. I was watching football till i came to the reasonable conclusion that I dont realy want to watch 2-3 hours of commercials, commentary, and replays and less than a half hour of actual game time per game. Cop out .. bullshit.. You dont get back the commercial time.. there are so many commercials that time is just gone. A cop out is saying you can leave the game and not miss a play. Even with a DVR sports arent the same unless they are live. Maybe you dont mind hours of corporate advertisement but i do. I also dont like waiting in grocery lines and elevators.
Anyway i feel that comics get knocked 24/7 and sports dont. So i wanted to get some comic people thinking.. and maybe give them ammunition to use against ignorance. I would have expected a world traveling wire fan from the great city of Seattle to be a little less defensive. My intention wasn’t to attack as i said.. but i give what i get.
so how bout them Saints!!! uh!!!???!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahaha
Ya man… I now man. Fucking Saint George killed a fucking dragon man.. how cool is that….
Oh.. your talking about that New Orleans football team..my mistake..
Oddly enough.. Seattle and New Orleans.. are two o my favorite cities.
yeah, i love the saints,colts and cowboys. i really love them. i was trying to break the tension by talking bout sports. i thought since that was part of yall’s conversation that it would be funny. haha
Of course.
wish there was an edit feature.. i typed “i now man”.. in that last post… supposed to be “i know man”..
I have to add that this j206 opened the can by typing “all i say is this nerdos” before i typed one word and he has the nerve to say i “insulted sports fans” and in other words i started it. I say if you cant take it dont dish it. And this is a comic site not a sports site. I dont jump on fox sports and talk trash about sports.
The hillarious thing is honestly i like sports.. truth be told.. i just dont like watching commercials or anything that takes place in between time outs.
Take it easy sitara.
Cryptozoology
If you can only pick one: Mongolian Death Worm or Mokele Mbembe?
Yes!
Awesome! I was just drawing an Ahuizotl (mean monkey-dog that drowns you). I don’t know what a Mokele Mbembe is, but now I’m gonna look it up.
Oh hell yes! My library had an amazing cryptozoology section and it earned me the nickname of “chupacabra” among the librarians.
Ive got a friend that believes in the Yeti/Bigfoot.. and I made him a special gift of the messing with sasquatch slim jims while we were hiking in the Smokeys.
We only saw a baby bear though.
Mokele Mbembe. hands down.
my geeky/nerdy thing for the past three years has been homebrewing beer. and it. is. awesome.
NICE-My best friend loves doing that too. He comes up with some crazy ass beer flavors, heck he even included rose pedals in a batch. I was suprised how good it was.
my uncle in arkansas brews beer non-stop and that stuff is delicious. that doesnt sound nerdy to me, though. it sounds pretty fuckn awesome, actually!
Comics is my most developed interest, with movies and music aren’t far behind (nor are they terribly distinct from comics in terms of geek taxonomy). I’m especially interested in the creative production process for all of those things.
I’m a professional video editor, so I’m sure I can bore someone to tears talking about the joy of tapeless workflows, switching from Final Cut to Premiere, keyboard shortcuts, and compression settings.
Even if you can’t find someone with *exactly* the same interest as you, I recommend finding a local pub trivia league to at least be among folks with a lot of different specific interests. It’s fun, you get to show off how smart you are, and (depending on the league) you might win some money!
Don’t tell me you jumped ship because of FCPX man. The plugins are coming and it really isn’t all that bad.
I haven’t completely jumped ship.
I produce and edit a weekly YouTube podcast for a local snake breeder (snakes are not my thing, but definitely an interest in line with the subject of this article) and I’m still using Final Cut because it’s what I’ve been using since 2002.
But when it was time to spec out an edit bay for my new day job, it became clear that FCPX wasn’t the right tool for the job and Apple has made it inordinately difficult to order new copies of FCP7 (and even if you do want to call Apple and order it by the part number — which is the process — it’s still $1000 for an end-of-life application!).
I did some research and realized that Adobe has put a lot of effort into “professionalizing” Premiere Pro. I haven’t completely drank the Premiere Kool-Aid, but it’ll open FCP7 projects from XML and FCPX won’t (and because of some fundamental changes in the way it approaches editing, it never will).
So while I look forward to playing with FCPX for some future projects, and Apple will have to pry FCP7 out of my cold dead hands for personal projects, Premiere offers an solid pro app that plays nicely with older FCP projects, integrates spectacularly with Photoshop and After Effects, and will be supported by it’s manufacturer for the foreseeable future.
The new Avid suite was just announced, and I know you can get a 40% discount if you can prove you are switching from Final Cut. I haven’t had a chance to play with FCPX yet, but I have not heard good things. The people I work for just don’t plan on updating anytime soon, so it looks like I will be using FCP7 for awhile.
But I think I might look into getting Avid before I lose my student discount.
Sports? Sure, I like to hit my hockeyball through the touchdown hoop with my soccerbat. What? Why are you all looking at me like that? How about that better than average player on the sports team that is closest to our current vicinity! Wooo yeah!
Lessee…out of the norm stuff; Magic the Gathering, among other games like Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan, etc. Non-Apple computer and cellphone technology, including rooting/hacking Android systems. The tenets of the Libertarian party. Economics, and the repercussions of economic decisions made by the rats that infest Washington DC. I have an interest in astronomy, marine biology, and herpetology, though no formal training in any. I can talk about these for hours, and have had many coffee fueled conversations about these subjects with my friends. My fiancee who I am completely fucking retardedly in love with though? Her eyes glaze over and she turns on Project Runway.
Maps.
I go ga-ga for maps. All kinds of maps. Old, new, fantastical. As a teen my bedroom walls weren’t covered with posters torn from Bop and Tiger Beat, they were papered with maps from National Geographic.
I love maps. And globes. I had a great globe in my old apartment.
He does.
Maps are cool. If you like maps and comics, I’ve been working on a Google Map of Canada in the Marvel Universe: http://tinyurl.com/69l7m5h
dude! hells yes for maps and globes! i like to try and guess the year of production by the territorial boundaries of eastern european nations. i’m pretty sure i’m always wrong, but it’s still a ton of fun.
@mark – “i like to try and guess the year of production by the territorial boundaries of eastern european nations”
Oh thank god I’m not the only one who does that.
@kingdomofevan
I’m not into Marvel but that Google Map IS SWEET! I’ve done something similar for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books. It started with a huge map of the US and pushpins on my bedroom wall when I was a kid. I’ve since ‘digitized’ it with Google Maps.
@dayna – own it, man! own it!
love maps and globes, my globe actually opens to reveal a hidden bar that pleasantly shocks and surprises people. i highly recommend them
I have been known to really enjoy playing some Warhammer. Me and my friends built a large table to play on and I have a few hundred dollars in a High Elf army. We don’t play much anymore due to the changes to the rules, but there for a while it was one of my favorite hobbies.
Uggh, way too much money spent on Warhammer (and boardgames in general). Any chance you’re in the NYC area and want to get in a WHFB game sometime?
Sadly I live waaaaay down in Alabama, which is why finding people to play outside of my tight-nit group of friends was difficult.
I’ve played Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying–not the major war game but still fun. And I live in Alabama by the way.
Warhammer can be a slippery slope. I put a few hundered bucks into an army.. won the first game.. and never played again. The worse thing was that i was forced into buying an undead army. Crap to paint. Anybody want a box of pewter skeletons.
Craft beer
I do a podcast with friends on ACC football (may be expanding to more sports). It sounds general, but it’s a pretty tight niche when you only talk about a dozen of the 100+ top-level college teams, and all those teams are situated on the East Coast to boot.
Ooh, what is your podcast? UVA alum & fan here :).
Sweet! Our show is called the Virtual Tailgate. Here’s the website: http://virtualtailgate.blogspot.com/
Myself and 2 of my friends are UVA alums as well, and we added a brother/VT fan, so we weren’t just always agreeing. New show will be up tonight, as soon as I finish editing it!
That’s awesome! I found an ACC podcast a few years ago just as it was winding down. I hope you do handle other sports, too, because I’ve found college sports talk relatively lacking on the Internet. Maybe it’s because of the regionalism of it, but I definitely think there’s room for more of it. And wasn’t the NC State game a few weeks ago the most perfect thing ever?
Virginia has driven me absolutely batty this year (but then again what’s new?). I’m Andrew on the show, so you start to know who’s who. I do the editing and publishing and such, which I know nothing about, so any tips welcome!
CURLING!
hell yes, curling rocks!!!
every Olympics i watch endless hours of Curling coverage…mostly on the late night broadcast. I still don’t fully understand the game. haha =(
I love me some curling.
Yes! Curling is awesome! It’s been fun watching Olympic curling coverage go from the middle of the night to late at night to prime-time adjacent over the past 20 years.
I’ve been in many many bands in my years, so music definitely gets the top spot. Sorry comic books. You do beat out video games for second place though!
I’m obsessed with song writing, probably to my listening experience’s detriment. I analyze and over analyze, and I know what I like. A backbone of good songyness song structure matched with a little creativity/smartness. Don’t feed me gibberish. Know what you’re doing, when you’re doing it and why you’re doing it. That’s the shit I love. When you can hear how much work and time they put into really building something.
That’s one of the reasons I love this site. People here actually like music. Sometimes my tastes even align with them, which is rad.
Anyone else out there play/write music? I’d love to hear all the IFanBands (the lameness of IFanBands makes me chuckle).
Music is also my main hobby, both listening and playing (drums). I actually spend more of my disposable income on music (big vinyl nerd) than comics these days. I haven’t been able to play drums in awhile due to having twins a year ago but am hoping to find a band to join again next spring or summer. I’ve never really tried the songwriting thing…just don’t think I have the talent for it.
I’m also one of the two birders mentioned in Ryan’s article, although I haven’t been able to get out much aside from work in the last year due to the same being a dad thing. As my kids get older I anticipate I’ll have more time for all this stuff (incl. comics) than I’ve had this past year, although of course I’ll never have as much spare time as I did before I got married and had kids.
I’m a singer. Classically trained, several bands over the years (both original and cover–I write lyrics & melodies), mostly karaoke these days. If you watched the pilot episode of Karaoke Battle USA, you may have seen me briefly!
I miss writing songs with a band. Briefly tried playing guitar so I could work solo, but apparently I suck at guitar.
All you commenters in bands (yea, I see all of your posts further down) post a link to your streaming samples. I know you’ve got them.
music is probably my biggest interest outside comics. I’m big into heavy metal, but I love old soul/R&B and lots of other stuff too.
also into martial arts. I study mostly okinawan and japanese arts at a local dojo.
also love NFL and am a HUGE Pats fan.
Go Pats!
go saints!!
love football. saints, colts and cowboys BABY!!!!!!!!!!
Oh man, Ryan, we are kindred spirits on this one. I have a lifelong history of having super-specialized interests and personal research topics that I don’t share with anyone I know. These have included:
1. The history of student newspapers (I wrote a book about the history of my campus paper)
2. The history of university education in Canada
3. Canuxploitation horror movies
4. Japanese flower arranging
5. Exotic fruit
I’m also fond of board games (Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Neuroshima Hex), which is more “general interest” than the things I’ve just listed, but not much more so.
Ha, I thought I was the only one interested in Canadian historical minutia (like the monument near Queen’s Park that commemorates the defense of Canada by U of T students).
Also, i’ve been trying for much of my life to track down a movie I heard about where a Canadian tourist ends up “pushed too far” in New York and takes revenge with a hockey stick. Any help would be appreciated.
Settlers is a great game.
Teddet: Yeah, I’ve been to that monument! Very cool.
I haven’t heard of the movie you’re describing, but I know a guy who might: http://www.canuxploitation.com
I spend a lot of time at live music venues, seeing bands that aren’t exactly hip and obscure, but aren’t artists everyone has heard of, either. (I was just thinking about this last month with the news about R.E.M.’s breakup. Even years after their peak, you might need to explain why REM was important but not *who they were*, whereas the ‘mainstream’ was baffled by Arcade Fire — which I think of as a ‘big’ band — won a Grammy.) The downside of this is that it’s hard to have a conversation about music with people who don’t ‘follow’ music; the upside is it’s a great time to see mid-level touring bands at a reasonable price even in a smallish city like mine, (Richmond, Virginia — stretching to DC, Norfolk and Charlottesville for viable road trips,) especially if you like the rock/folk/punk/alt-country intersect of acts like Drive-By Truckers and Lucero and Neko Case and Old ’97s.
Big thumbs up on the DBTs and the Old 97’s! I *finally* saw the Old 97’s a few months ago, so very, very good.
I get the same thing… I play in a band, and known as a ‘music guy’, but when asked about what I listen to I get blank stares from the general public. Paul Westerberg, Bob Mould, Wilco, DBT, Ryan Adams, Jayhawks… It’s popular to me!
Big music guy here. Living in Austin, TX (aka The Live Music Capital of the World) gives me the opportunity to see a lot of live music. I used to do 2-3 shows a week, but that has slowed down in the pass year. More like 2-3 a month now.
@pyynk I actually knew NOTHING about Old ’97s when I went, and I went with a friend who likes to press right on the stage. We were right there, and the band was much more ‘rock’ than I had expected. It was a fantastic concert. Also, Rhett sweats like a beast. Or, well, beasts don’t really sweat, so he sweats like a dude that sweats a lot. But in a sexy way.
@Wolfdog Totally! The notion of who is ‘big’ in music is very nichey.
@William I am very jealous of Austin!
@WilliamTrinity Are you going Fun Fun Fun Fest this weekend?
@alan I’m actually passing on FFF this year. Large outdoor festivals aren’t my thing.
I have always desperately wished to know someone in real life who had at least somewhat similar music tastes to me. The internet has always been my only outlet to talk to people about music.
And I completely know what you mean about “big” bands that plenty of people have never heard of. Arcade Fire’s a good current example. A few years back It mystified me that I could mention The Decemberists to someone and still get blank stares. Until it hits the radio big time ala Death Cab… they’re doing fine, but still relatively unknown to the population at large.
@itsbecca I would have given the blank stare at The Decemberists until I heard The King Is Dead. Like DCFC before Narrow Stairs, I kind of knew of their stuff before, but then each of them made an album that was right up my alley.
Becca, I am lucky to have friends who live not TOO far away and are willing to check out shows with me. I’m still working on people who actually live in town (convergence of money + time + interest can be tough). Over the past year or so I’ve finally gotten to the point where if I want to go and see a show, I’ll just go, and last time I did it I met some awesome people who wanted to talk about, like, the difference between Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons. That said, the Internet has helped facilitate a lot of that because before I started following music blogs and podcast, and using YouTube and Spotify to check out new bands, it was a lot harder to stay on top of things.
@ohcaroline Their newest The Grand Theater took me a little while to really get, but Satellite Rides and Fight Songs are super hooky from the first listen. The crowd for the show was probably one of the most eclectic I’ve ever seen, everything from Buckhead Betties to rockabilly folks to semi-hipsters.
Oh I straight up go to concerts by myself. All the time. I don’t mind it while the music’s on, but I do have to push down that awkward feeling of not having anyone to talk to between sets. I usually find a balance between pretending I’m texting people and looking deep by writing in a little notepad. The one good thing about being alone is you totally don’t have to worry about dancing dorky, no one will know!
*le tear*
A few things I nerd out about that I think are a bit out of the mainstream:
* Journalism (my career), improv and sketch comedy (I’m at UCB constantly and perform/write stuff in my non-comics spare moments)
* Pro wrestling (used to write about it and currently cohost a podcast)
* A cappella music (got rejected from my college a cappella group, but sing on occasion with a gospel choir still and love the Sing-Off with all my heart)
(There was a typo in that. My copy editing journalism nerd side is ashamed.)
Yes! A fellow copy editor!
Hurrah for copy editors!
Hell yes, improv. I perform with Comedy Sportz in DC, previously Philly.
Rock on with the a cappella! I always hide behind my guitar, which I should really play more….
Rock on other Pro-Wrestling fan!
Video games, or more specifically, I love game design. Also, I play a lot of competitive Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Horror movies are my other big intrest, the gorier the better!
ANTHROPOLOGY – Biological and Psychological
CLEAN EATING
MINIMALISM – Comics are my exception 😉
Clean eating? LIke washing your food? Please expound. Thanks.
HA!
I know I am way late to respond being as how you’ve posted the stats for this thread, but … Clean eating is basically eating whole foods. Cooking meals with the simplest ingredients. Eating foods closest to their natural state. Being that so much of what is sold in stores is processed, it takes a bit of effort and time. It probably went into your category of “Food/Drink.”
Other than comics, I enjoy anime, playing drums, MMA, computer programming. Most of all, I enjoy billiards. Whether it’s in a pool hall or in my game room, I love to shoot pool.
I love playing pool to It just helps me relax. I’m in a pool league but I have yet to win a tournament. It’s going to happen soon, I hope lol
Independent cinema; love the Criterion collection and supporting the local indy theater chain.
Love the Utah Jazz and Chicago Cubs, and professional boxing.
Trivia leagues are also always a blast.
always wanted to do a trivia league!
God, I want to get into trivia.
Love Independent Cinema.
Go Cubs Go – they just fired their manager, btw.
I don’t think there are too many metro-Detroiters around here, but Quizzo is where it’s at for local pub trivia around here.
I am also a huge fan of the Criterion Collection. You get anything from the current B&N sale yet?
Not to go against the flow by bringing it back to comics, but I think this relates to your post. I find it hard to find people in the “real world” that I can actually talk to about comics the way I see discussed here and some other sites. What I mean is that for the most part, if I find someone out there in the world that is into comics, they are usually hung up on all the “wrong” things. I’ll ask if they’ve read the new Batman, and the answer will be along the lines of “DC screwed everything up again with this new 52 crap!” And then I’ll find out they haven’t even read a comic that was published in the last 5-10 years and have no idea who Scott Snyder is.
For sure. I know I can’t be the only fan who feels just a tinge of jealousy sometimes when I listen to the podcast.
This happens to me constantly. I realize that often when people say they like comics, they really just like the *idea* of comics. I start rambling off excitedly about different books and they start losing interest.
I count myself incredibly lucky to have good friends who I can talk all kinds of comics with.
Aside from the usual nerd go-to’s of Magic: The Gathering and Tabletop gaming. Theatre has been my major hobby for about 10 years now. In front of the curtain or behind it, I just love the society that comes along with it. At my lcs though, many of us are pretty entrenched in both the Harry Potter-Verse, so much so that we actually call our non-regular customers Muggles.
I love science and sports.
Cricket is my sport and I can wax lyrical about googlies, wickets, slips and silly mid-on. Cosmology, parallel universes and new & future technologies are my scientific areas of interest, though I’m by no means an expert. I’m also as equally into animation as I am into comics. Oh and I love TV, cartoon and movie theme tunes, that’s probably my nerdiest passion.
My major in college was philosophy and, although my career has zero to do with it, I’m still a bit obsessed. If I can’t have a ridiculous debate about abstract concepts and moral quandaries once a month, I start picking fights randomly with my fiance. She doesn’t like that.
That and clocks. I fucking love analogue clocks of all kinds, purely aesthetically, for no reason. I’m putting together a decent pocket watch collection and I’m starting to learn how to fix them.
Oh, and improv. I’m a member of Comedy Sportz DC, performing Friday and Saturday nights.
High five on philosophy. I majored in it for a year, but eventually ended up in Graphic Design. This semester they offered an Art Theory and Criticism class that I found out only because I noticed the book “Has Modernism Failed” in the bookstore and wondered, “What class could possibly require that?” It is a very small class and I tried to garner support for it early in the semester and was mystified when no one else I knew wanted to join up.
I have wanted to pick up a pocket watch for a while now, but don’t really know how cheap I can go while still getting decent quality. The price range is huge.
i love clockworks. i have a decent pocketwatch collection bestowed upon me by my grandfather. the crown jewel of my collection is a 1914 waltham. when you pop the back off, you can see small precious stones encrusted in the clockworks. apparently that is what they did back in the day and i dont think they do that anymore.
I’m mostly a generalist, knowing a little bit about many things. But my areas of passion are:
Comics
Human history
Weight training (Not power lifting per se, and not bodybuilding)
Writing
Table-top role-playing games
And while I think of myself as not being anywhere NEAR educated enough to say that the sciences are a geeky passion of mine, I find that what I know falls outside the general knowledge of my coworkers.
you sell your “little bit” of knowledge entirely too short when it comes to human history.
great history podcast is Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. If you haven’t had a listen it’s great. he has ten hours worth of stuff on the fall of the roman republic.
I love old movies, really old stuff like Chaplin and F.W. Murnau and Douglas Fairbanks. I think that’s a part of my general interest in history, although finishing grad school with a degree in history has led me to do a little less theoretical historical reading the past few years and reading more narrative stuff (I’m sure my grad school friends would be scandalized).
I also love to write and one of the things I write is a blog about old movies (that’s what I call full circle).
I forgot to mention marathons, but I’m pretty sure I retired from that after running Hartford two weeks ago.
Oh I forgot to say I love running too. Just ran my first half marathon last month and hope to do the full one some time in the near future. That buzz is addictive right?
Every time I finish a marathon I tell myself that I don’t want to do another, and then a week or so later I start to change my mind. I’m running my first 5K soon, which will be an interesting experience I’m sure.
I like to practice Target shooting with a handgun on an indoor gun range or rifle shooting on an outdoor range, outside of comics.
Kinda a shame that I had to scroll down this far to find someone else who enjoys firearms. One of my GRADE A pet peeves in comics (or other creative fields) is how much creative types like to use firearms in their fiction, but how incredibly lazy “they” are about getting any of the details right. I’m talking things like pistol’s “clicking” to signify that they’re empty, drawings of weapons that defy logic and physics and made up crap like “45 magnums”.
@dftstell I feel your pain. While I’ve been enjoying the new Rucka Punisher, his artist reaaaallly needs to look at some pistols so he can better understand what he’s drawing.
Interesting stuff, all!
Beyond comics, I’m really into 2D fighting games. I actually created and run a site on The King of Fighters. I’m also into old-school Transformers and art in all of its forms.
Ugh, I wish I remember most of mine what with me working my tail off at my full-time job and doing my own comics podcast. If I have the time, I’ll focus a lot on learning new programming and playing the occasional video game. I do also have a fascination for Irish culture and folklore and am not afraid to admit that Riverdance started that fascination, which in turn pushed me to have the utmost respect for Irish tap dancers.
I’m incredibly interested in mainstream pop culture. As a designer/art director, its part of my job to be aware of what’s happening in the world around me. I used to be really into the obscure cinema, and super indie bands, but as i’ve grown older i’m more interested in being in touch with the masses than the fringe subcultures if that makes any sense.
Kind of obsessed with sports. NFL, NBA, MLB and the Olympics, but really I tend to follow players and the storylines. Fantasy Football is quickly becoming an obsession. 8-0 this season with the most waiver wire/ roster moves in my entire league!
Also art history and wikipedia-ing the most random things is something i’m very interested in. I have a pretty robust Podcast playlist on all kinds of topics from sports through comics and all kinds of things. I’ve basically replaced music in my life with podcasts. Its kinda weird, but not really.
I love me a good podcast, anything outside of comics and sports you could recommend? My current favourite is The Moth.
i mentioned it up in another comment, but Dar Carlin’s Hardcore history is fantastic!
If you like comedy the Nerdist series of podcasts is always fun.
“how did this get made” is hillarious…bunch of actor/comedians talking about bad movies
the “stuff you missed”, “stuff you should know” line of podcasts are pretty fun. Really fascinating things.
There is an ESPN writer…Bill Simmons…outside of his sports stuff, his podcast have A LOT of pop culture…he did an award show for 90210. He even talks about Walking Dead. Pretty entertaining stuff.
Thanks guys I’ll check these out.
Oh and in the spirit of sharing…
@WeaklyRoll just checking Hardcore History and it’s great, there’s even a 5hr episode on there! If you like that sort of thing you should check out In Our Time. It’s a BBC radio show here in the UK (available as an itunes podcast) that looks at the great subjects of the ages, dissecting them in layman’s terms with expert guests.
@wallythegreenmonster The bad movies & stuff you should know podcasts seem like great shouts. There’s one called Movies You Should See where a bunch of friends talk about movies old and knew. I heard about that because Skottie Young mentioned it on twitter one time. I think it was Skottie Young anyhow, I can’t completely remember.
this american life is also good.
Other than comics, I love baseball (although that could be considered “general interest” and I’m a major mythology/classical history nerd. I was a classics major in college (focusing on the Roman Empire and Mythology) and I relate damn near everything back to it. Despite the fact that I’m 22, I still read Rick Riordan’s books to see how he makes myths modern.
I guess gaming would be my “other” interest, though I think nowadays it could be classified as a “general interest”. Then again, most peoples idea of gaming is playing Halo or CoD, but when I mention something I normally play, I just get blank stares. Or worse, you run into people who still call every console “the Nintendo”. But lack of a steady job, and thus, income has severely limited my gaming collection lately.
I’m into triathlons and woodworking!
Some really great responses to this article.
Love reading Horror and Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Watching Pro Sports
Playing Softball
Playing Games on my PS3
Would really love to get into photography….that’s my next thing I think.
I sing in a chorus. I write long, unpublished novels. I like hockey more than most, but not quite to the level of being a serious fanatic.
Dinosaurs. Nautical history to a lesser extent, but I love learning about and drawing dinosaurs.
I typically stick with a classic and say parasaurolophus is my favorite, but there are so many good options!
Hell yes dinosaurs!
I have a few interests. None of which are as intellectual or fancy sounding as some of you guys. But besides reading comic books, my interests are as follow:
Sports (sorry Ryan) – Seattle sports fan through and through. Which is hard seeing as my teams always suck. But go Seahawks, Mariners, University of Washington, and Canucks. And as I said above, David Stern can go to hell. And on the personal level, I enjoy playing all sports, including snowboarding.
Movies – Big film buff. Enjoy keeping up with all the big comic book summer blockbusters as much as anybody. But my preference usually falls more along the indie/foreign film side of things. Love thought provoking films that stay with you for weeks after viewing. However, that doesn’t preclude one of my all-time favorite movies from being The Jerk. “HE HATES THESE CANS!”
Serialized television – TV gets scoffed at by more literary/artsy types. But over the past decade or so, there have been more than a few outstanding television series that warrant being mentioned with amazing films or novels. The format allows for an entirely different form of decompressed storytelling and character development. Much more along the lines of the comic books we all enjoy. I’ll play the role of hyperbolizing tv snob, but The Wire really is one of the best things I’ve ever watched, tv or film. That said, Breaking Bad is making it’s case for honorable mention.
Music – Not nearly snobbish enough about it to wax poetic or impress. But I enjoy all types. Mostly into more current indie rock/lo-fi type stuff. But I have a wide range of taste. Only musical stylings I avoid are country music and modern r&b. There is nothing cooler, imo, than discovering new genres of music. As we age and mature, most people’s musical tastes morph and mature with them. It’s a neat gauge to see where you are yourself as a person. Both at the current time in your life, as well as your current mood. Also, music along with movies is a great way to gauge your potential comparability with a member of the opposite sex. Nothing worse than a girl with terrible taste in music or movies. Usually that’s a sign that things aren’t going to be as copacetic on the whole.
Traveling – Who doesn’t like going on vacation? But I have a bit of a different passion as opposed to relaxing at the beach or shopping. One that falls more along the lines of exploring different cultures and seeing how other places around the world are. Getting outside of your comfort zone and broadening your horizons is one of the most educational experiences one can have, IMO. Not to mention the thrill you get out of experiencing (or eating and drinking) something new. I’ve visited somewhere around 40 different countries, and want nothing but to see the rest.
Photography. Forgot that one. Thanks, RobotZombie.
Here to help
I heard a person argue once that basing a potential date on choice in music was superficial and silly. I think not. If I meet a gal, and her favorite artist is Yung Jeezy while mine is Sonic Youth, I don’t think that particular endeavor is going to go anywhere.
I sing the praises of serialized television in very similar phrasing! My collection of TV on DVD is massive (though not so massive, or certainly so heavy!, as my comics).
Serialized tv for me here too. I love what you can do with a long-form story like television (or comics) rather than a film (or novel). Don’t get me wrong, I like films and novels, the longform is the way to go, IMO.
I’ll second love for The Wire any day of the week!! Probably the best show ever produced on televison. Breaking Bad would be second, with maybe Deadwood or Sons of Anarchy third. All have wonderful narratives that stretch over several years.
My other interests are:
-Architecture (i am going to study it next year).
– Old books
-Drawing
And watching baseball (Big New York Mets fan).
I have an MBA in Finance and Strategy. I consider myself an amateur marco-economist. I find myself constantly looking at the most recent economic data and assimilating it into my world-view. Bringing it back to comics, I generally love the posts by Jason Wood.
My pastimes include HeroClix, sports (Bears, Cubs, Bulls), film and playing video games (Arkham City is AMAZING).
This is a really cool thread. Great idea, Ryan! I can’t stop posting.
Back to the whole nerds/sports fans thing for just a sec. I commented earlier about how I find it disappointing when comic fans scoff at sports. Just the same as I find it annoying when people of more general interests scoff at comic books. The reason I’m bringing this up again is that I really don’t think those two groups of people are all that different. Not that different at all.
I grew up a kid into sports. Main reason, my dad was into sports, and all of my friends were into sports. Had I had a father who grew up into comics, or friends who went to the comic shop instead of the sports card shop, I’m pretty sure I’d have grown up a huge comic book dork. Seeing as how I discovered comics at a later point in life, the predilection was obviously there.
As a kid into sports, I collected sports cards just like comic kids collected comic books. They were a thing to geek out over when hanging out with friends. And just like with comic books, they provided me with an outlet for an onset case of borderline OCD. I was always taking my cards out and organized them by team, player, brand, or numbering. Very similar to comic kids and their long boxes. I would buy the latest issue of Beckett to find out the value of all of my cards that I would be able to sell for a fortune in my old age. And just like comic book kids, I now have boxes of old cards that are worth absolutely nothing. The similarities are endless.
Sure, my fondness for sports as a child caused me to play sports with friends and to go to sporting events with my dad. But the comic kids had D&D, comic book conventions, and whatever other things they were into. Again, it’s not about the form, but the function. For the most part, if you are able to tear away from all the surfacey exterior reasons that you do not have anything in common with others, you’ll really find that you actually do. That is, unless they are stupid. You probably don’t have a ton in common with the guy who watches Two & Half Men, can’t wait to see Jack & Jill, and orders MMA pay-per-views. 😉
punk music. web design.
I loves me some punk music. Makes me wish I was older actually so I could have seen the late 70’s – early80’s movement.
My musical tastes also lie heavily in the different punk varieties. Over the years my taste for punk combined slowly with metal turning me into a headbanging punk/metalhead maniac.
Like… I think Rocksteady and Bebop are two cool dudes who you’d drink a beer, listen to a Testament album, and kill mutant turtle people with.
I always thought it was hilarious that the thrash punks were the bad guys in every 80’s cartoon and video game.
“Makes me wish I was older actually so I could have seen the late 70′s – early80′s movement.”
I used to wish that as well. Now that I’ve mellowed though, I doubt I would ever last in the 70s.
punk is very important to me. Was always a bit of an shy, awkward, outsider type of kid and punk some how made me feel more confident about myself.
I’m right there with ya guys. Punk always made me feel more confident in High School. It kind of shaped and informed most of my youth. I wish I was around back in the 70s too. The only punk band I’ve seen live is Social D.
I also love Bob Dylan and lots of other folk music, however. (Folk-Punk is what I’m currently really in to)
I would love to see Social D and I keep missing them!
Nighthawk, speaking of folk-punk, have you heard Frank Turner?
I didn’t mind folk punk. Played with a bunch of bands like that while touring…
But one of my bands played The Fest a couple times a few years ago. It’s a Gainesville Florida punk festival that No Idea records throws every year. If you ever go you will leave HATING folk punk. My god, I’m ready for that shit to be done with. Not that there aren’t good bands that play the style, there are and they’re worth listening to, but the sheer volume of shitty folk punk bands that end up at The Fest is vomit inducing.
@ohcaroline
FRANK TURNER. YES.
I’ve become downright evangelical about Frank Turner over the last couple years. I don’t know why he isn’t everyone’s favorite. I saw him play in Detroit last week for the first time and loved it. Such a cool dude and a great musician. Easily my favorite new musical find of the last 5 years.
YES love me some punk music-From “Black Flag” to “The Vandals”-I’m actually listening to Dead Kennedy’s as I write this.
Professional wrestling baby, also Mixed Martial Arts.
I’m a big wrestling fan also. It has many parallels to the comics industry if you think about it. It’s not necessarily cool in the mainstream, the internet crowd always rushes criticism but hardly ever stops paying attention, and the top indies are often
better than the mainstream.
My dad can get behind my comics obsession, but the love of wrestling has always went over his head. I’m a pretty intelligent, well-read and thoughtful chap… Who really loves seeing guys hit each other with steel chairs.
Bewilders him.
F sports unless it is Mutant League Baseball or NBA Jam for the SNES
I absolutely love Korean pop.
That sound interesting and suggestions?
I play the ukulele. And I’m big into juicing (the fruit and vegetable kind, not the steroids kind).
Live theater. Just as a viewer these days. I went to school for screenwriting and playwriting, and though I followed the screenwriting path as my focus in the later years, I probably got the most out of playwriting.
Last night I saw a great play called The Whipping Man about two slaves and their former master in the wake of the American Civil War. It was a terrific show with three great actors and a script that really inspired me as a writer.
I majored in Theater at a performing arts high school (yes, like Fame), then Screenwriting in college. Seattle has a thriving theater community. Last weekend I went to see Midsummer Night’s Dream. They did this bizarre and pointless stunt with turning Lysander into Lysandra, so suddenly it’s some kind of political statement about gay marriage rights…um, fine, I guess, if it doesn’t otherwise screw with the internal logic of the play…but dude, Oberon instructs Puck to find an Athenian *man* in the forest…it makes no sense.
I need to learn more about live theater in my community. A friend’s son just started in the theater program at the local university, which is very arts centric, and I’m hoping that will get me more involved. Great thing to be keyed into!
My main interest outside of comics at the moment is theatre – I currently have rehearsals 5-6 nights a week after work for the two shows I am in (a musical and a children’s play)
The only sport I follow is English Football and, being in Canada, no one I know cares about it.
I’m also really passionate about Freddie Mercury
I love to work out. Either running or weight lifting or something physical and challenging. I think watching sports is boring as shit though. I almost fall asleep whenever my buddies get into it. Give me the Gotham Central conversation any day. Also, I’ll talk nutrition til your ears fall off.
I love talking fitness and nutrition! Mind and body dude!
Oh i guess im not the only one that likes physical activity but thinks watching sports is boring as shit.. HA
Etymology, Frank Zappa, advertising history.
Film is really my love, more than music, books, comics, anything. I started watching dvds released by the Criterion Collection in college and never looked back. On the 15th of each month, I wait for annoucements of new releases and blu-ray upgrades from them (already pre-ordered for January TRAFFIC and GODZILLA). Barnes and Noble is doing a 50% off sale for Criterion Collection right now; $20 per movie is still pricey for many, but I am all too happy to pay for these amazing releases (ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, KURONEKO, FANNY AND ALEXANDER, THREE COLORS TRILOGY, all will be mine). The films are incredible, always taken from the best available elements; the supplements are very impressive.
But unless you think I’m an arthouse snob, hold off. I just spent the Halloween season streaming and renting various slasher film knockoffs from the 1980s (stuff like SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, NEW YEAR’S EVIL, GRADUATION DAY). I went opening night for TRANSFORMERS 3 and the remake for THE THING. Of course, I didn’t really like any of those films so… maybe I am a snob? But it’s fun watching that stuff.
I do love that my friend and I had a conversation after seeing TREE OF LIFE that went from discussing the work of Terrence Malick to talking about FLASHPOINT and the DC New 52.
We like what we like.
Do you have the Criterion Collection release Island of Lost Souls? I’ve been desperate to see that movie for ages and heard that’s a good one, but the dvd hasn’t come out in UK yet.
I assume youve seen all the Kurosawa stuff then if your a criterion fan.
So what did you think Tree of Life was all about. I took from it that an individual life was meaningless in the scheme of things. Is that what you thought?
Its funny cause lots of people walked out of the theater as i watching it.. just shortly before the dino scene. I think they may have understood it if they stayed.
Godfrey- It’s in the mail now! I waited for the Barnes and Noble sale on November 1 to order it.
007- Definitely! Probably my favorite Kurosawa is either HIGH AND LOW or RAN. So many great films.
I definitely saw walkouts and people audiably being frustrated (“What is going on?”) I don’t think that the message is that the individual life is meaningless. It’s part of the larger story of creation and evolution of all life. The struggle to balance “nature” and “grace” is beyond just the one individual growing up with a compassionate mother and strict father. There can be comfort in realizing the conflict isn’t just yours to bear. And that there’s not just one moment of resolution (like when he apologizes to his younger brother for the bb gun incident). Even as an adult, he’s trying to navigate the world and come to terms with it all.
My biggest passion outside of comics is music, so most of my time and other spending money goes toward music-related things – instruments, equipment/gear, accessories, etc. I started on sax and switched to guitar. I’ve become somewhat of a guitar hoarder/collector, although I usually gravitate to the odd/unique/less mainstream. I enjoy discussing gear, musical history/instruments, and so on. I have performed in front of people for over 20 years and still do weekly. I also enjoy seeing live bands on occasion (saw Dream Theater last week, Blink 182 last month). So, that all takes a lot of time (and money).
I enjoy a number of television shows (UK Top Gear, The League, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Workaholics, Death Valley, Tosh.0, Homeland, Death Valley, etc) which is a complete waste of time, but fun. I am also a big movie fan and often go to the movies or watch them at home. I have a pretty sizeable DVD/BD collection.
I too enjoy obscure trivia and facts. I know a lot of weird stuff that I’m sure I will never use outside of Trivial Pursuit or similar games.
I eschew sports for the most part and only have a passing interest. I don’t follow individuals or stats. I follow the local high school and my alma mater uni football, and that’s really about it. Watching the playoffs or championship games are enough for me. I believe that men talk about sports so they don’t have to talk about their feelings or their lives.
Just a light tease: with a name like Kenny G, you should have stuck with sax.
I ostensibly played sax in middle school, but I never did it well. I never practiced. I grew up listening to music on CDs, never really went to a lot of shows or was around bands. So performing music was never really present in my life. I decided to change that, and started taking violin lessons three months back. I stink, but it’s very fun. When I pick up the instrument, it’s a complete change from everything else in my life. Just starting that, doing something completely different from everything else in my life; it’s a very refreshing change.
All that said, I’m still not practicing enough (but now I can blame work, instead of laziness).
Yeah, I was playing sax before he was on the scene. He kinda ruined it for me! Actually, I kind of plateaued on sax my first year of college. I wasn’t a music major, and it would have taken more work than I was willing to put in to progress, and my heart wasn’t in it anymore. I miss it sometimes and still have my sax, but I’ve moved on. I think it broke my dad’s heart – he was a professional sax player from his teens, being snuck into jazz clubs to play.
I am also fascinated by WWII Europe. That’s probably what I read most of in non-fiction. Not that I get much reading time anymore. I’m half way through “A Clash of Kings” and haven’t had time to read more. Man is the series great so far!
I just started Littel’s The Kindly Ones. It’s an exploration into the psychology of a Nazi officer. Grotesquely fascinating.
I had not heard of The Kindly Ones. Even though it is fiction, it sounds like it was meticulously researched, so I may have to check it out. It also sounds like a rough read, like American Psycho or something graphic and disturbing.
For a shorter non-fiction book for casual readers, I would highly recommend Inside Hitler’s Germany: Life Under the Third Reich by Matthew Hughes. It starts at the end of WWI and really explains how this group could rise to power and how, for some, life was at a high point under the Nazi regime. It explains how they won people over through social programs, increased employment, higher standards of living, and so on. It also features excellent photographs, many of which I had never seen before. Please realize I am NOT defending or endorsing what they did, but if you’ve ever wondered how something like that could happen, this book is an excellent starting place.
Keenyg.. yay its a great series. Storm of Swords is even better.. although theres a quality dip with the 4th book (crows). Book 5 is sweet again though.
I had an opportunity to meet GrrMartin at c2e2 a coupla years back. Nice guy too.
is Star Wars too obvious?
Nah. I loved the West End Star Wars roleplaying games when I was in middle and high school and I still have all of my decks from the decipher card game. Tying your life force to your deck was possibly the most brilliant card game innovation ever. That and every year I watch my version of the Star Wars Saga: 1) A New Hope 2) Empire Strikes Back 3) Clone Wars Parts 1 and 2 – the ones that first appeared as animated shorts 4) Revenge of the Sith 5) Return of the Jedi. Although there were things I liked about Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones ultimately I find them too painful to watch. I legitimately enjoyed Revenge of the Sith however and put it on par with Return of the Jedi.
I totally agree about Revenge of the Sith being on par with Jedi! You’re right there are some merits to Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. And the Customizable Card Game was amazing. I kept forgetting rules though, which made it impossible to teach to others.
Your life force pile was simultaneously your mana and your draw pile. If you remember that you’re good.
fuckn love star wars
I love going to local rock shows.
Watching talented people who just love playing music is always awesome.
Yeah not much can beat seeing an awesome band perform, especially seeing a band you’ve never heard of and just falling in love with thier music on the spot.
Although I wouldn’t necessarily say it is outside the realm of “general interest”, I’m a hardcore oenophile (wine lover). I guess you could consider it general interest for your average casual wine drinkers. But being an oenophile, for me anyway, consists of subscribing to wine magazines, researching different vintages, varietals, and wineries, having a bottle or two every week, receiving yearly shipments, actively trying out new wine bars, and amassing a small wine collection.
I’ve dabbled in wine. Not hardcore, but a little more than casual.
Ever since I saw that moving Sideways with Paul Giamatti I wanted to get into wine tasting and collecting. Just seem like a fun hobby.
being a gourmet chef for 15 years, i certainly had an apreciation for the fine art of wine making with a focus on food pairing
Well aside from comics I would say that my other interests/hobbies are videogames, anime/manga (although unlike the regular Anime/Manga fan I have a very small and limited selection of favorites) as well as enjoying Japanese series (mainly Sentai and Kamen Rider).
Other than that I have a interest in things mythological/fantasy and tried before to get into RPG’s (at least the pen and paper ones) without much success.
I’m a bit of a Tokusatsu fan myself.
You watch the old Sentai and Riders, or the newer stuff?
Actually I just started like 3 months ago or so…so I been working my way from newer to older.
Sentai so far I seen/currently watching: Gokaiger, Goseiger, Shinkenger, Go-Onger, Gekiranger & Boukenger
Kamen Rider: Fourze, OOO, W & Decade
Also I forgot to add that I’m a casual cosplayer and odd enough I attend more Anime Cons than Comic ones.
I’m a big tokusatsu fan too. I’m mostly into Kamen Rider, but have been known to enjoy some sentai and GARO as well. I collect SH Figuarts when I’m not broke.
I think toku would appeal hugely to cape comic fans if they knew about it. Everyone I’ve gotten to watch Kamen Rider W absolutely loved it.
I also always have some comics that no one else seems to be reading. I have a lot of comic reading friends, but none of them read Daredevil, Severed, Green Wake, or most non-cape books I like. And almost all of them read more X-books than I do.
I too was randomly gonna post Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, hohoo looks like we’ve got a lotta hit people and sparks fly out warriors on here indeed! Henshin.
Good to see there are a few folks who love the “Karate Bug-Men”.
And I agree Marceline, most folks who love Superheroes would love Kamen Rider and Sentai. Unlike most Japanese ‘hero’ affairs, they’re not bogged with the moral ambiguity.
I’d throw Kamen Rider W or Kamen Rider Hibiki to anyone who likes Spiderman or Superman or Batman.
(Although, my favourite Kamen Rider, Kiva, I almost feel like I’m the only one who likes it…)
Besides comic books I am a huge fan of sports. This is my first year playing fantasy football and I love it. I am also a huge history nut. I enjoy listening to various podcasts and reading up on things from the past. I also love to cook and find cool places to eat. I just love searching for fun and new places to eat food that I could never make at home.
Fantasy Football is a blast but I had to stop doing it cause I hated rooting against my team when I had a player from the opposing team on my pull lol,
Economics is a big hobby for me. So much so I am considering a go at grad school. American style football is a passion. I love LMMA. Tabletop gaming is great fun when it can be had. History in general is interesting to me but I have a particular love for Rome and the succeeding Dark Ages, feudal Japan and the Wild West.
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Outside comics, I am an into cooking (but not baking!) and food history, literature (yes, including sci fi and fantasy, but also history, particularly pre-Columbian Americas and European Medieval) and fashion/clothing- I have a BFA in clothing design (I want hand-make shoes!!!!). I also attend churches, synagogues and temples of various faiths on occasion, as I have an interest in other peoples’ beliefs. And American Football. And ping pong.
It’s funny, reading these responses here, that maybe the cliche of the ‘comic obsessed fanboy with tunnel vision’ is obsolete or just plain wrong- lots of interesting responses! When is the iFanboy Con?
Existential philosophy, and early influences like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. Also anything and everything to do with Sherlock Holmes. Apart from the guy ritchie film.
love nietzsche and hate that hitler unjustly used his philosophies to fuel bat shit crazy propaganda. it puts me on edge when people confuse nietzsche for the inspiration behind nazism.
I have three kids, therefore I have no time for other interests.!
Just Kidding : HIstory : The whole of human life is there.
I love history, one of my favorite ways to spend a day is wandering around a museum and just drinking it all in.
big history buff, with a concentration in western civilization: religion, government, trade, war and its effects on society
Even my knowledge of comics is fairly recent and limited. I don’t know a lot of the history, or many writers or artists by their work. I take fleeting interests in things, but I fall out of them for varying reasons. I’ve gotten into sewing/crafting, HTML coding, writing, cooking, and even politics.
I can find interest in most topics. I love discovering new things. I especially love history, as well as analyzing human behaviour. The latter mostly with characters in fictional works. It rarely if almost never comes across when I write, but I love lame/corny jokes, and just making people laugh in general. I can’t for the life of me find interest in sports, rap, or haughty jerk-asses.
My main daily interests are music – especially instrumental works, and anything I can sing along to (I’m not very good.)
Drawing – it’s been a passion since I was small, but I only recently started learning anatomy and the likes. It’s common to find me doodling (again, not very good.)
English – This one couldn’t be any less interesting to my husband. I love learning new words, their origin, then fitting them into daily speech. Which is probably why I alienate people. Ironically, I’m awful at creative writing.
And yes, I signed up just to post. But I wouldn’t expect a lot from me, as I said about the recent and limited knowledge of comics, and the alienating people. Also, irrational fear of what people think of me. It’s caused me to leave many a forum.
Welcome. The Ifanboy community is pretty moderate and sane. I’m sure you’ll have fun. You don’t need to know everything, or even agree with the fanboy three, just have fun , and enjoy reading. It’s good that we all like different things.
Welcome! ifanboy as a community is very receptive to newcomers. When I found this site about four years ago, I was an extremely ‘new’ fan and it was a great gateway for me to learn more in a comfortable environment. Glad that you decided to sign up!
Hex-based table top war games, hard to find opponents. Classic Fender guitars and amps, hard to find cash….
Been playing battle of Westeros.. its pretty good.
I might have to check that one out, was a little scared of it. My local shop has it for $80. I bought Tide Of Iron for about that much a couple years ago and played it once…
I’ve been playing my old SPI quad games a lot lately. 30 Years War, Napoleon At War, Blue & Grey, and West Wall quads. Quick and easy gaming.
Oh.. yes amazon.com my friend. 50 dollars plus probably around 10 dollars shipping. Ebay can go wrong sometimes i guess. But most stuff off of amazon arrives in reliable time and in the condition described. I feel for the retail shop owners but you gotta go with the least expensive option.
Quick and easy gaming.. is important yes.
Does anybody else here play field hockey?
I’m a musician (all original music), fitness nut and I practice self-hypnosis.
Also, I designed a board game.
The study of religion, languages, swimming, football and baseball (including fantasy baseball), music, Babylon 5, Master of Orion II.
I love to write. I write sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction all kinds of stuff. I also really love researching the historical stories, finding out interesting facts that you didn’t know before that can in turn lead to the story spinning off in new and exciting ways.
I also love rugby league like lots, massive parramatta eels fan. My love for comics is only matched by my love of a good game of league.
why has no one said “pornography,” yet?
because that’s “general interest”
true. it is something we can all get behind.
ya pornography is general interest. Now if you were to say something like Boococky.. thats a totally acceptable special interest.
Because it would open the door to too many horrible, horrible sub-genre’s
ha! like in lovecraft, there are some horrors you just can’t un-see.
I collect Toys from Tokusatsu and Mecha series’.
Mostly Gundam and Kamen Rider stuff.
I started my little SHFiguarts Rider collection…as well as other minor things to collect (Ranger Keys, OOO Medals, Gaia Memories)
Started mine recently by buying Kamen Rider Skull Crystal.
Ended up costing $100.
So totally worth it.
poetry. Apparently somebody decided this really isn’t cool. They are bloody wrong.
I’ll read poetry occassionally, usually modern stuff, not too much historical.
When I signed up for my twitter account, my goal was to use it for haiku, one a day. That slipped after about a month, but it was an interesting little project.
Advertising/marketing, mostly the sociology and psychology behind it.
I’m into a number of different things outside of comics.
Like most of us, I love movies (every aspect, screenwriting, production design, costume, makeup, etc).
I love music, really into Metal, Hardcore, Punk, specific Rap and new and old alternative.
Grew up an avid Pro Wrestling fan, I still watch and keep up with it but my passion has waned.
Love Soccer (Football) big fan of the USA team and The EPL teams Everton and Man U.
Theology, I’m not a church goer, but I love to study religion. The history of it, it’s effect on people and societies. The stories behind all of them. How they can connect. Just love it!
But my most non mainstream fascination would probably be my focus on the Gilded age and Progressive Era in American History. How that era developed American into what it is, I just did it fascinating. I can’t really talk about that with very many people.
If your passion for wrestling has waned, trust me it’s only because you haven’t watched good wrestling. Try Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerilla. Both are great indie promotions that put on high quality matches on a consistent basis without all the stupid storylines. Check out some DVDs on Amazon. Trust me. You won’t be disappointed.
Yup Ring of Honor is great-I love the old CM Punk matches when he was with them-Great stuff
Oh, I have watched ROH a lot, the Samoa Joe and CM Punk stuff was all great. Bryan Danielson was one of the best pro wrestlers i have ever seen, His bastardization in the WWE bothers me. I think because I grew up with the WWE I want them to be the best product and they are not. So it just bothers me.
I’d like to think Television and Movies are my only lovess. Which is why I’ve made it my mission to get into either business. I’m about to finish my final semester at college and get a Bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV/Film (just a weird way of saying TV, Film, and Radio Production). I still don’t know what I want to specifically do though. I’ve dabbled in editing, camera, audio, directing, and any other production job you can think of. Now I have internship at NFL Films so we’ll see where that goes…
I’ve also taken a lot of TV and Film history classes and did a lot of critiques as well. So if none of my production goals go into affect maybe my life as a film/tv critic could happen. I watch so many movies or tv shows it’s hard to count.
I like to go to punk and metal shows, particularly all these reunions of 80’s and early 90’s bands we’ve been getting lately (Kyuss- FUCK YEAH). I work a lot so it hasn’t been happening as much, BUT this weekend, I’m going to Fun Fun Fun Fest here in Austin, which totally makes up for it.
I have also been getting into screen print poster collecting over the last few years, it can be quite a money sink.
I also really like 90’s genre television, shit like Hercules, Highlander: The Series, or Stargate: SG1.
I can discuss The Lord of the Rings for hours, use to read it once a year, when I was still in school.
Man.. whatever happened to Adrian Paul..
-I’m a huge sports fan. Hockey and Baseball are my two favorites. (Phillies and Flyers fan living in NYC)
-I was a history major, and continue be a history buff.
-I love the short story. Whether I’m writing, reading, or listening to them; it’s become a hobby of mine.
-I really enjoy fables, fairy tales, and myths. I not only enjoy reading them, but learning about their historical and cultural significance.
-I’m a big fighting game fan. I used to play in Street Fighter tournaments around the country, but as I got older I just got away from it. I still follow the scene, and love to watch tournaments on live streams. I consider it a sport.
I love to cook
I read as much as possible (right now game of thrones series)
I love Hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins r my favourite team (since i was 7 so 24 years of my life devoted to that team)
Isnt that Fire and Ice just the best..
I like to collect religious prayer cards. The more obscure the saint is, the better.
I guess I’m the only one that can point out that those girls are cosplaying as the main characters from “Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan”. I am one part Manga, one part USA comics, and half part video game. (Probably one part when MW3 comes out though).
i geek out about stand-up and books about TV.
oh, and video games
George Carlin perhaps?
I’ve been collecting comics for the better part of 30 years. But its only a small part of what I do. One also been married.for 18 years & have 3 kids. I ride bikes be it a 5 mile spin around the block or a 50 miler around the county. I love sports & pretty much whatever my kids are in to.
I have lots of Interests. .. since this asks for just one. Ive been playing the board game descent with a regular group of friends lately.. however since im not the hero/heroes.. i think i had more fun painting the figures. I learned how to properly miniature model paint because of descent.. yay…. I think the lasting hobby will be miniature painting.. although Descent is a great game.
You know what I really love? Long walks (no not on a beach :p) I love just walking and observing things around me. After I pick up my comics I would go on the Hike and Bike trail or a trail on South Lamar Blvd (Fellow Austin Ifanboys know) and just walk until I hit Town Lake. God I love walking.
Ya walking is really underrated. I just finished E Hemingway’s “a farewell to arms”… and one of things that struck me the most is how he describes just walking.. and how much enjoyment he got out of just walking.. I was thinking as i was reading it.. i was like crap.. man.. i love walking too… just walking and observing .. like you say…. maybe thats a universal human thing..
I hope it is.. cause it really makes my day.. why not someones else’s
Drum Corps / WGI.
I do standup comedy as a little more then a hobby, hoping to at least break into the buisness a tiny bit. I’m a creative writer, not a very good one mind you, so its for more myself then anyone else. I just have fun doing it. I have an obession with all things Joss Whedon, annnnnnnd above all things (even comics) I love music, I spend all my free time hunting down new bands, and buying cheap CD’s. I dont play an instrument as I have quite severe dyspraxia and could never be in time, but still finding a band I really enjoy is one of the best feelings in the world.
let me know if you’re ever in southern ohio. I enjoy going to see up and coming funnies.
I’m big into trying new food and supporting local eateries. I love finding out what the specialties are of whatever area I live in (I move around a fair bit) and also of trying food from different countries. About 8 months ago I literally sat down with google maps and made a list of every restaurant in my town and the next one over that is not a chain. I go out to eat once, sometimes twice, a week and have tried to make a habit of going somewhere new practically every time. It’s been incredibly awesome.
Similarly, when I have the time, I love to cook and generally try to never repeat dishes, which, other than planning, is a lot easier than it sounds. I loooove Asian food and my pantry is full of bizarre and delicious smelling spices and sauces. Generally have curry once a week and try Chinese dishes just as often. I make super awesome Pan Fried Noodles with Seafood Sauce.
Other than comics I love playing tennis, so much so that I almost turned pro in my late teens. Now I coach a few kids in between my job as a teacher
I see some of you used to play Magic. I was big into Rage, myself. For those of you that don’t remember/didn’t care, Rage was a CCG about warring tribes of werewolves. Werewolves!
Hehe, Rage was very cool. I got a couple boxes because the lore and art was very cool. Nobody played though.
I scour youtube (its a good place tolook for music) for musicians that are not as popular/or obscure, yet great sounding music. I have found the band Umphery’s Mcgee, their sound is something of country/folk/indie rock?. The 1900s have a 70s style sound that I’m really digging and a gentleman known solely as Lustmord whose music? is, shall I say, all sound effects and/or noise in 7 min. to 15 min. pieces. I think he’s brilliant. And the search continues…
It looks like I’m the only one that regularly play paintball…I also like watching some MMA =P
This far down it’s doubtful anyone is reading, but what the heck.
1. Costuming. I’ve been involved in the costuming scene for years now. Started out as yet another in a sea of Jokers (Animated Series style for me) and I’m now regularly swimming in the seas of obscurity, Weather Wizard being one example.
2. Music. I don’t listen to nearly as eclectic a selection of it than a lot of folks, but I’d like to think I’ve got a pretty broad variety of things I listen to and enjoy. From classic rock to outlaw country to alt country to goth rock to ebm to indie rock and post punk.
3. History. My field of study was Social Science and I still keep my toe in it. My field of study was the American Civil War, but I’m equally fascinated by more modern history and it’s impact on current events.
I’m still reading, this is all fascinating stuff!
Hooray!
I just want to say this is the coolest thread ever. Everyone is super interesting. I love having something in common with such a wide and varied group.
Also, more on topic but with a twist. I’ve recently realized I’m terrified of real life robots which is distinctly opposite of most of my nerdy friends. Seriously though, they’re going to kill us all.
Have you gotten your insurance yet through Old Glory Insurance?
haha. If only. But see? SOMEONE knows where I’m coming from. The question isn’t if robots will kill you, it’s when.
You need to feel safe. And that’s harder and harder to do nowadays, because robots may strike at any time.
And when they grab you with those metal claws, you can’t break free.. because they’re made of metal, and robots are strong.
I am interested in outer space. This includes astronomy and keeping up with current happenings related to rocket launches and the like. I have been interested in things like how the life support systems work on the International Space Station. This also includes the space programs of other countries like China (Taikonauts) and keeping an eye on the private companies developing space flight capabilities.
How did someone NOT post “I collect spores, molds, and fungus” on this thread? Really, come on my fellow nerds, get with the program.
Call it fate. Call it karma. Call it luck. I believe everything happens for a reason.
Tell them about the twinkie.
My husband could commiserate with you. He’s a plant biologist and regularly has things in papers bags in our fridge that I refuse to let him show me. It’s called Corn Smut for a reason, don’t put that in my face.
i… can’t even remember what i like anymore. damn, sarcasm
I guess my main interest would be Music but everyone likes that in a way, i play and write and record music, Mostly heavier stuff but i now tend to lean towards Kitchy 80s music like Oingo Boingo and Howard Jones. I guess i also love (real nerd alert) Greco-Roman History and warfare, reading about that stuff is really cool, you learn about how crazy armies were back then.
You’d figure everyone was into some kind of music, but I work with a guy who says he doesn’t like music. At all. Listens to only talk radio in the car. I just find that weird as hell.
Evangelion, I bet you watch Deadliest Warrior, don’t you? That show is super interesting and awesome. I’ll watch pretty much anything on the History channel (or whatever channel) about famous battles, weaponry and technology, etc.
i actually don’t that much, but i probably should. ever since History channel started doing everything like it was directed by Zack Snyder i stopped watching.
Beside comics and movies I’m really in too skateboarding. I got into it in the 80’s and never stopped even now in my thirties. I’m lucky because there are some really great skate parks out here in Tamap. Ohhh and I like chasing loose women or is that a general interest-just j/k 🙂
I may be moving to the Tampa area in the next few years. It’s definitely on the short list. The lady and I visited Pensacola a couple months ago, and Georgia just doesn’t feel like home now. I need to be on the gulf coast.
Tampa Bay Fl misspelled
Improv and Sketch comedy.
Being a comedian, comedy is my one true passion. I love comics and science-fiction and mysteries and old movies. But comedy is what my number one thing in life is.
Also, Improv is definitely not in the general interest. I know this for constantly having to explain what improv is to people.
Also, I collect weird wikipedia pages.
i’ve commented on various people’s post concerning our shared interests: cooking,history,philosophy,maps,theology,etc…..
the one thing i’ve recently been consumed with that no one else has mentioned is ancient astronaunt theory. the possibilities are endless and fascinates the hell outa me
THIS. Ancient Aliens is almost the highlight of my week. I mean it’s so out there and ridiculous, but at the same time it’s awesome to see how it would all fit. It’s FUN!
I also like the theories of civilizations that existed long before what common history allows. Like millions of years back instead of 10,000 years, etc.
Some great responses in this thread…
1. I really like RPG games’ lore, far more than actually playing the games (although I’m not adverse to a game of P&P every so often). I love the way the worlds and settings are crafted mostly, though.
2. Music. I have lots of guitars, and listen to most things that come under the indie/alt rock umbrella. I don’t get to go to as many gigs as I’d like due to having 2 small kids, but this year I’ve got to see QotSA, Scroobius Pip, Evan Dando, Band of Horses, Brian Fallon, and lots of other fine artists, so I can’t complain too much. Here’s my last.fm if anyone’s interested: http://last.fm/user/mo6020
3. Maps. They’re just cool, right?
4. I’m a BSD Unix geek. Nobody I know gets this…
Unfortunately I now live the other end of the UK to most of my geeky friends, so I mostly just geek with myself…
Haha! Kindred spirit here! I’ve always been way more into RPG lore than actually playing too!
Radio and broadcasting. Used to DJ, was a Music Director, and Program Director in college. Used to broadcast to the air on a CB radio as a kid.
Stand-Up comedy. Mostly enjoy but dabble in it.
Pro-Wrestling, brother!
Huge Redskins fan… Disappointment.
Music. Mostly Rock. Just about any of it but 50’s, 80’s, 90’s were the big decades for me, and listen to a lot of Alternative and Punk. Mostly like the major-key poppy stuff. Also got into Industrial, Ska, Soka, Soul, and Big Band phases. Rejected “Classic Rock” from the 70’s for most of my life, but just now getting into it. Grew up with WHFS out of DC, but Little Steven’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM is probably the world’s greatest radio station ever.
MOVIES!!!! Whether it’s art house or blockbusters, I love watching movies. I have a “Keith & the Movies” Facebook page with tons of reviews, news, trailers, etc. I just love cinema.
Also enjoy Denver Broncos and Arkansas Razorbacks football and Texas Rangers baseball.
Did I mention movies?
do you listen to the slashfilmcast? That is an awesome podcast, really great
No i don’t. Thanks for the recommendation though. I’ll check it out!
I’m also a cinephile and big fan of the Criterion Collection. I like Hollywood stuff too, but lean more toward the dramas than comedy or action. My other main interest is theology, especially the practical aspect over theoretical.
I also love literature, traveling, nature, and photography.
I would have to say art. Studying art right now in North Texas and am surprised by how much interest I have in it. Always doodled, but didn’t realize the breadth of it until I started studying in depth. Fascinating stuff, especially how inspiration. Kyle be drawn from anywhere. One of the things that drew me to comics: the infinite possibilities.
Plus I never understood why modern artists were a big deal, they just looked like malformed figures and drips. Now I’m fascinated by Warhol, basquiat, and Lichtenstein. Also a bit of a history buff andfa tasty enthusiasist.
I love reading and studying Tolkien’s Mythology. Everything from the Silmarillion to the Lord of the Rings. I know a lot of people are turned off by all the description and focus on languages/names of things. But I find that I get sucked in by the feeling that there is this whole separate world with it’s own history.
It’s not that different then the shared universes created by comic books.
Tolkien mythology is made by it’s detail, which isn’t surprising really as he wrote it as a mythology for England. I love how immersive it is though..
My next interest after comics is Star Trek. And as the article states it’s very difficult to find friends who like comics and it’s even more difficult to find people who like Star Trek these days…
I have this all the time when friends come over or when people start talking at work about sports (here in Belgium soccer is the biggest sport), I don’t know anything about it. I really can’t relate to it. Every time my friends start talking about it, I go quiet, because I can’t really tell anything about it. Sometimes it’s frustrating to just sit there and listen to them, they seem to know everything about it. When I start talking about comics, they try to change the subject as fast as possible. So I’m glad sites like these exists, so I can see other people like me do exist ! Thanks guys !
Phish.
I know a ton of people have a knee-jerk negative reaction to the mere mention of the band, but of all people, comic book fans should understand the pain of having something you love, not taken as seriously as it should be / dismissed / laughed at.
I’d say the vast majority of people out there would say they don’t like Phish, while also only having the vaguest idea of what the band actually sounds like. They associate the band with their fans, and immediately decide it isn’t for them, however if they were willing to invest a bit of time and be exposed to the best of what the band has to offer, they may actually find something they deeply enjoy.
Sound familiar?
Music in general is my #1 interest, followed by comics. Other favorites: The Beatles, Talking Heads, Tom Waits, Wilco, Animal Collective, Radiohead, Of Montreal, Pink Floyd, The White Stripes, Bob Dylan, and the Band.
To anyone who claims to be open minded when it comes to music, I urge you to give Phish a chance. It can be intimidating to start, and it may not be an instant love affair, but just like comics, the deeper you go the more there is to love. Listening to a really good show (their live release from 12/31/1995 at Madison Square Garden isn’t a bad place to start) is just like a great creative team really killing it on a run of your favorite series. Phish fans talk about “Fall 97” the same way we talk about Scott Snyder on Detective Comics.
Several degrees in philosophy. (Not to be said aloud at gatherings!) Hung Gar kung fu. (Also, not to be said aloud unless you want the room to start making obnoxious Bruce Lee noises.) Comics. (Crap, also not to be said aloud in most company.)