Hobbies?

I like collecting comic books and action figures.

I find bagging and boarding my comic books to be relaxing.

I also collect little statues that interest me. I've got this one of a man that feels like it was made out of paper that was hardened, and he's holding a basket that is actually made out of straw, and a gargoyle that is smiling and has it's fist against it's face like it's thinking.

Got both of those at a Salvation Army that I frequent. Always on the lookout for more.

Books too. I love reading books.

I collect spores molds and fungus.

Actually, besides gaming, I cook. And as an aside to film, I have a trading card album in which I've collected just about every ticket stub to every concert or movie I've been to since 1998.

I collect my movie ticket and concert stubs too, Justin. I've been doing it since around 2000. Brings back nice memories when I check them out.

I love reading and gaming, I write and I also have a community radio show once a fortnight on a local station here in Melbourne.

I do the same. I was 12 when I started with the stub to the '98 Godzilla movie. So I've been collecting for half of my life. I guess it's a hobby, or maybe just OCD.
I also like to shop around in little thrift stores or yard sales, go through records or book collections and just try to find cool things.

What kind of show do you put on, Rain Dog?

It concentrates on Australian and kiwi music, rock, hiphop, dyb, reggae and everything in between.

Probably my main focus is supporting aussie and kiwi hiphop.

That's sounds awesome. Any way to hear it online? I want to be able to say that I've listened to Kiwi hip-hop.

I'm a drummer and have been since I was 10 (well, I tried before that. I became capable when I was 10). I also write, and not just about film.

And I second the need to hear some Kiwi hip-hop. That sounds awesome.

Um actually yeah. You can stream it live from the stations website or you can even stream old shows through the websites 'Radio On Demand' option (click the 'Listen Live' link - top right hand corner of the site) if you register free with the site.

Just go to www.pbsfm.org.au

My show's called GONDWANA.

I'm an art major, so my hobby is my life. When I'm not being too serious with my art I enjoy silk screening. I also have collected my movie stubs. My collection goes all the way back to 1998. I've been wanting to buy a movie poster frame and mount all the stubs in order of date. Down side is that the paper the tickets are made out of sucks and alot of them are faded.

I also love going to antique stores. I'm a history buff and a collector..so it's a dangerous combination.
Racketball, running and weight lifting on the side to unwind and relax.

I love reading and gaming and thanks to my Chud Blog (cheap plug) I have really gotten back into writing.

I used to play a lot of Badminton but currently haven't got a partner so I swimming instead.

My collection starts in '98 as well. That's just bizarre.

I used to be a hardcore comic collector, but that stopped a couple years back (solidified when I finally sold my entire collection of floppies for way less than they were probably worth, but I just wanted to be rid of the damn things).

These days, my hobbies mainly consist of reading (a big one for me), writing, going to the gym, cycling (though I've had to put that one on the back burner during my time abroad), and casual gaming (card games, board games, video games). That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Apparently, I am boring.

Pen and paper Chewers represent! I'm curious to find any others besides the ones that occasionally post in CHUD's unofficial RPG thread.

My friends and I have been known to play Heroes Unlimited every now and then, but as with most things, life usually gets in the way, and we never really get to wrap up any of our campaigns in a satisfactory manner.

I'm teaching myself jewellery making - I'm decent at wire and bead work but I want to eventually learn more advanced techniques. If I can get to the point where I can make stuff to sell that'd be pretty awesome. I just started learning candle making as well though - I'm making candles as favours for my wedding.

Other than that, not loads. Does shopping count as a hobby?

Hell, we should get a listing of all the movie stubs we have..that'll be fun.

I used to play when I was an undergrad. Nothing like playing D&D in Purdue University's Physics building...it was nerd bliss.

I rock climb, read, gym and I've recently taken up cooking, which I find really relaxing. Also, I'm thinking of taking up meditation. Oh and hitting on women, that's a hobby right?

(raises hand)

I've been playing pen and paper RPGs since the early 80s. I'm currently in a D&D 3.5e game that meets once a month, and I'm contemplating an invite into a Shadowrun campaign that's starting up.

Other hobbies:
Gym (4-5 times per week)
Fishing (walleye fear me)
Guitar
Cooking (I do 95% of the cooking at our house)

Defunct hobbies:
Comic book collecting
Card collecting

Cooking is pretty much my favourite thing in the world and in the last year I've really tried to push myself into trying things more difficult (for me) and the rewards from creating something unexpectedly delicious are enormous. So satisfying.

I write a lot too, though that is becoming more of a work thing now...

I'm a very casual gamer, though Red Dead Redemption is becoming something of an obsession online.

And I like a good game of poker once or twice a month, nothing too heavy. Me and my buddies get together, play at home, have a few drinks, then go to the casino when we're warmed up and lose money to strangers. Last weekend I came out £100 up on a 50p/£1 stakes table - that was a good win for me.

Does Smashproof count? I've been listening to their album The Weekend a bit in the last year and its so accessible. Breezy, but fun.

Reading and gaming for me too. I've been into gaming since I was a wee little nugget, from the Atari 2600 on. I grew up with it so it seems to be in my DNA now. With reading I tend to gravitate mostly to horror, thriller mystery, crime type stuff, lots of times with a sci-fi or supernatural flair. It doesn't exactly broaden my horizons as much as it should and in the end still sounds like a gross oversimplification of my actual exposure... but it keeps me entertained, and that's all I ask for. Couldn't hurt to ask for some actual education once in a while though, I'm sure.

Movies and film are obvious, but I don't even get to them as much as I used to or even really want to. My wife and I (and various assorted friends/family) used to go all the time, even before my DVD craze had kicked in a ways back. But times change, and hell, it's become an expensive outing to boot. We still go but we save it for the bigger releases, the ones we REALLY don't want to miss out on, and even then, it sometimes doesn't happen. Anyway, I'm just rambling off on this tangent because I used to keep the movie stubs for all the movies my wife and I went to, but I've trailed off in recent years. I still have them all stashed away somewhere and when I stumble on them again it'll be fun to look back. (Our first real movie date was Jumanji!!!).

I maintain several collections. Among these are rocks and trinkets. I also play videogames, though I'm not sure if that counts as a hobby or not.

I'm a big reader, sometimes writer, and a cooking contester, which I've had moderate success in. But the research and the energy spent in developing recipes is a like a full time job, and I've burned myself out, so I'm taking some time off from doing that right now.

I really want to focus more on my writing, get back into spinning and yoga every day, and seriously, I want to start watching more television. HGTV and Golden Girls reruns with the occasional series tossed in makes me feel like I'm totally detached from pop culture.

-Guitar/band/synths/music
-DJ'ing (EDM of various kinds)
-Writing
-Poker

Currently defunct (but possibly resurrected someday when I get a bit more $$ and live somewhere with better/closer riding options): Motocross/Trail Riding

I'm another music guy. Played a lot in college - gigs with the guitar, campus bands (jazz, marching, etc) with the trumpet, goofing around with keyboards and synths. Now that I'm in the real world, I play a lot less than I used to, but I find that after a particularly hectic day, most of my stress just melts away when I sit down with the guitar for a half-hour or so. Therapeutic.

Gaming too - I don't really play a ton of games, but I'll get hooked every now and then (ugh Modern Warfare 2).

I write (screenplays mostly) and occassionally make movies, but being a film student, I'm hoping to turn that into a career.

I surf, although not as often as I'd like. I've never been much for any kind of athletic activities, but I love the ocean and surfing is just the funnest thing you can do, as far as I'm concerned.

I used to be a real hardcore gamer, but I can't get into it anymore. I played the shit out of Red Dead Redemption, but I can't muster up the enthusiasm for anything else. Until Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comes out, of course.

I also used to be a huge comic collector. I am hugely embarassed by my boxes of boxes of floppies in my closet. Books that just sit there that I'll never read again and when I finally sell them I'll get back a fraction of what I paid for them. The only books I read anymore are Scott Pilgrim (which is finished obviously) and The Walking Dead. Sometimes I'll pick some other books off of the wall when I go to the store but then I never read them when I get them home. I really need to just cut out the comic shop completely.

I used to collect action figures and various whatevers too. Sideshow, NECA, McFarlane, etc. They're all sitting in huge commercial bins in the garage, waiting to be ebayed. These are more embarassing than the comics.

I recently started playing the guitar, but just as a way to pass the time really. I'll never be able to put in the time or effort to get at all capable with one.

Obviously my big hobby is watching movies, but I think it's safe to say that everyone here does that one.

I am a local dj and own my own production company, I collect comic graphic novels individual issues just became way to much to deal with), and I used to collect dvds but i've really slowed down on that.

Me and my friends do a Star Wars pencil and paper every couple of weeks or so. lots of fun

Recently bought a house with some land out in the hills of melbourne and rather than see the land just sit there and grow grass that I have to mow every couple of weeks, I decided to grow fruit trees on it.
So yeah, gardening has become a serious hobby. Didn't see that one coming. I decided to grow hard to find fruits like White sapotes, Feijoas, Jujubes, American Paw Paws and various citrus trees.

Forgot to add that the wife is a keen Gardner and after three years she has finally got me involved, I have been growing my own fruit and veg. This year I have had a successful crop of:

Strawberries
Carrots
Tomatoes

I also grew Parsnips but the long box I used apparently resembled our cats litter tray so they kept getting dug up.

Let me tell you though nothing beats the taste of home grown fruit/veg.

I work a lot, and have a baby, so it's tough to have hobbies sometimes. When I have the time I like to play basketball or golf (if I can afford it). I write poetry and shorts, but I'm so ADD that it's difficult for me to finish anything.

Yeah, you got that right. Good work on the Carrots and Tomatoes. Unfortunately I suck at growing veg because the local pests just get at them before they can do anything. Herbs like Parsly and Corriander do ok, but that's about it. I've heard cape gooseberry & pepino (tomato relatives) do ok, so I'll be growing them this spring

Local pests is why I've stuck to certain fruit trees. In the hills we have a nasty possum problem and these things will make sure you get nothing from any peach/nectarine tree & any vegies in the area. That's why I've stuck to rarer fruits (outside of the fact you can't get them in the markets) because the asshole possums have not developed a taste for them as of yet and if they eat some like Avocado and White sapote.. well they'll start frothing at the mouth. I've gotten crops off my White sapotes & Jujubes. White sapote is great. I'm awaiting a nice juicy ripe lemon off my lemonade tree any day now.

And I play snooker.

I collected baseball cards at one time. Zippos at one time. Comics at one time. Bought movies left and right. Got into Green Lantern posters and action figures.

I took a two year hiatus from comics and then one day a patient walked into the office wearing a Marvel shirt of some kind. After his appointment I spent the next two months Ebaying everything I had missed from the past two years. Several years later I realized I have a problem. I have a hard time being a collector because of my completist tendencies. So I stopped collecting. I was spending $130 a month on new titles alone; then I was buying an older issue of GL every few months and to get NM copies I was spending $100-200 an issue for those.

I would love to get back into it and only collect GL related materials but the crossover events send me into a dangerous spiral. Not to mention the fact that I developed a love of Flash comics because of the close relationship and multiple team-ups of both heroes.

I have just purchased my first bicycle in over 20 years. It is a mountain bike and had to be ordered because they didn't have my frame size in. I am already considering canceling that order and buying the next bike up from where I began even after several weeks of looking and then looking some more last night after the purchase. I am currently fighting down an urge to buy a road bike as well since I will be doing 75% or more of my riding on pavement.

I play tennis and can restrain that quite a bit although I am in the market for a new racquet. I have tastes that differ from 99% of the tennis world so I can usually get the racquet I want for less than $100.

Hobbies and I are a dangerous mix because I go all out and cannot stop. Which is odd because I cannot get that way about working out as exercise. I like to play sports as exercise. But then you run into scheduling problems trying to get people together to help you maintain your "exercise routine."

Another guitar guy here; I don't mess around when it comes to user titles. I started bass before guitar, but now divide my efforts between them fairly evenly.

Art was my first love and the first thing I ever really got any recognition for at school. There was a time when I wanted to make a career out of that, but now I just do some sketching for fun occasionally.

In addition to movies & TV, reading, writing, music, gaming, collecting movie and concert ticket stubs (and all the other things I take it many if not most Chewers enjoy) I also play football - soccer, obviously, to some of you - once a week. This mostly involves poaching, trying to tackle & avoid nets, and remembering it's only a kick-about, not a Cup Final.

I play the guitar in a rock and roll band. You can hear the band in my sig below. My other hobby is telling people to listen to my band. I used to have more hobbies, then I became a parent.

I forgot to mention before I'm quite fond of recommending Chris's music to people. Thanks for reminding me, mate!

This is emblematic of a wider "champion my friends" hobby I think stems from some teenage years spent in a punk rock community.

Cheers Bobby, thanks again!

I like fast cars and fast women. My friends call me "The Cruiser".