The ultimate nerd mashup thread

ThraxThrax 🐌Austin, TX Icrontian
edited February 2014 in Lifestyle
Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Hold onto your asses, because we're about to cram hobbies together like a particle accelerator. I know you mofos are into a lot of strange shit: ponies, foxgirls, photography and--crap on a cracker--even truly sordid affairs like crocheting. I know we have threads on all of these, but it's time to bring them under one roof so we can bumblebee it up and cross-pollinate this bitch.

RULES TO REPLY:
1. State your favorite hobby. COME CLEAN.
2. Share your prized possession/memory/object/whatever from that hobby.
3. LEARN US FOOLS 'BOUT YO' WHYS AND HOWS. Educate us. Why is it your favorite? Why did you get into this hobby?

I SHALL GO FIRST:
1. Watch collecting is probably my favorite hobby.

2. This is my prized possession.

3. This is why it's my prized possession. I got into watch collecting because I ran across the Orient Esteem one day and had my mind opened to the very possibility that watches could look like something other than a Rolex. I don't know why I'd never considered this before... Surely there's some smartypants word for an event that immediately and profoundly broadens your horizon? In lieu of knowing that word, let's just call it the "Orient Effect." Anyways, the Orient Effect hit me like a sack of bricks and I began to obsessively learn all about watches and movements and manufacturers. I started with Reddit, but I quickly realized that /r/watches was decadent with smug shitlords and their abundance of Benjamins, so I stumbled into watchuseek.com and fell in love with the depth and breadth of the community--a watch for every taste, and so friendly!

I'm only a beginner, and I hope to one day advance my knowledge to the point that I can perform rudimentary repairs on simple movements. I'll get there! But for now I'm happy to add pages to my encyclopedic knowledge.

Hell, one day I may even like divers. My journey to the Dark Side will be complete.
TushonIlriyasmertesnSonorousBobbyDigiRahnalH102BasilPinkoni_delsMiracleManSTeramona

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    Great stuff, @Ilriyas! Didn't know you were a comics dude.

    MOAR.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    No wonder you like Mechwarrior so much! Cool stuff!
  • RahnalH102RahnalH102 the Green Devout, Veteran Monster Hunter, Creature Enthusiast New Mexico Icrontian
    edited February 2014
    1. Monstrology? Omni-biology? I'm not sure what to call it. If it's living, real or mythic, I want to learn about it.

    2.I can rarely pick singular favorites (except for the color green.) So I'll just go over a couple notables.

    Honors Biology Class
    It was a requirement to have a science project for this class since it was honors. So I decided to do a project regarding researching Bigfoot and proposing methods to identify it's preferred habitats. Some classmates where skeptical that such a project would work. Got an B+ cause I didn't think to proof these methods to known animals of similar size and potential diet (bears.) Biology is not my field of profession though.

    Favorite creature: Dhobar Chu (doe-bar koo)
    Roughly translated as water hound in Gaelic, the Dhobar Chu is said to be a large (6-8 feet / 2-2.5 meters) amphibious mammal that is white with a black cross-like marking on it's back, and is extremely strong, fast, and territorial. Some liken it to a ferocious otter, others as something else entirely. It's had many reported sitings in the past and can be found as the cause of death on a grave. If this was a real creature it is believed to be extinct now. I've sort of evolved my own mythos around it but I have plans for that and should keep it secret for now.

    There is much more then that overall; videogames, books, movies, collectibles, etc, but I can't put it all in here.

    3.I like to learn about and exerience other organisms whether they be real, or mythic. Especially if they are mythic; that is to say, they are diverse and complex creature(s) with an ecology and or history. If it's got monsters, creatures, aliens, etc, I want to know more. The closer to being real the better. Games that really flesh out their beasties draw me in for long periods of time (TES series, Monster Hunter, Pokemon.) Works of fiction that place such creatures as main characters are also a great source. Th Redwall series and the Bartimaeus series are by far my favorite books. The more worlds and creatures I get to learn about and experience, the more satisfied I feel.

    When playing these games or reading/watching these stories, I look at the creatures with a scientific eye. Monster Hunter is a great example for this. Each monster has it's own ecology that you should take into account when hunting it.
    image
    The Uragaan is a large, metallic, geovore that prefers rocky areas that it can munch on. Volcanic areas are it's favorite due to particularly rich ores being brought to the surface by the volcanic activity. It likes to roll up into the shape of a wheel, it's rocky back provided great traction. Leaving explosive traps to weaken it's rocky shell allows you to actually cut into it with your relatively dull weapons. Every monster in the series has traits like this and this is part of why I love this series so much.

    After thinking about this thoroughly, I've noticed that a lot of what makes me "me" is rooted in this interest. What my various theological and ethical views are, what my goals for life are, why I chose to "follow" the color green though I can't see it for what it actually is, why I like visual art, why I like certain genres of music, why I like certain anime series, why I enjoy what others say I shouldn't because of target demographic (MLP, Pokemon, cartoons in general,) why I chose other races in RPGs (Tauren FTW,) why I'm disappointed in the Twilight series (I respectfully disagree with her Vampires and werewolves,) and more stuff.

    Building on the MLP:FiM for example. I like it as an artist and storyteller (my main profession,) and as this omni-biologist whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Skipping the animation and the like, there are creatures both old and new in this series that I look forward to learning about in a new episode. They have classics like dragons, hydras, manticores, phoenixes, sea serpents, and of course unicorns and pegasi. They have more obscure creatures from Native South American (Ahuizotl) and Austrian (Tatzelwyrm) mythologies. And their own new creatures like the timberwolves (necrotic, wooden, tiki-like wolves) Ursa Majors & Minors (huge, living, bear constellations) Diamond Dogs (sentient, greedy, upright, gem hunting dogs,) and an insectoid/alien/zerg/tyranid (of course not nearly as fierce) take on the changeling concept.


    If there are any errors in this wall of text it's cause I cobbled this together over a day.
    TL;DR
    Bad reader. Read. LEARN!
    oni_delsPirateNinjamidgaBasil
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    Leaving myself a reminder to come back to this. Somebody remind me if I don't post back in a few days.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2014
    @RahnalH102 one of the monsters that absolutely fascinated me in my years as a D & D player was the mythical Tarrasque. I've always been fascinated with world-sized creatures. You must have loved Shadow of the Colossus :D
    oni_dels
  • TeramonaTeramona Consulting Tea Specialist Best Coast! Icrontian
    edited February 2014
    1) So, my favorite (some would say only, but they'd be wrong) hobby is writing.

    2) My prized possession? Would it be narcissistic to say my brain? Probably. Let's not say that then. Let's call my prized possession the book I'm working on at the moment.

    3) I started writing when I was little. In an effort to make up for the mistake of having me at such a young age, my parents were very diligent about making sure that I was able to read and spell words like "stethoscope" before Kindergarten (my mother's a nurse by trade, so she thought it was cute). Looking back, when I was around 6 or 7, I remember a woman once telling me that I could talk circles around adults... but she wouldn't give me her phone number when I asked for it, so mostly I don't think she was complementing me. Regardless, I had a love for words, and some lady refusing to give me her phone number wasn't going to stop me from using them.

    By the time I was in the second grade I was penning stories during recess to recite to my classmates when we got back to our seats. My favorite memory of this involves a character called the "Big Daddy Monster" (loosely based on my father), and me crawling in between fellow students on the carpet, acting out different voices for them. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why my teacher allowed this. I do know that she wrote "Can't wait to see what you write in the future, I'm sure it's going to be great!" in my yearbook at the end of the year... and sometimes I can't shake the feeling that she's still waiting for that "great" piece of work from me. In any case, I'm working on it.

    In fact, writing is something I'm always working on. If it's not through yelp, it's through my blog, or my journal, or some funny notes on my phone, my book, or random letters to friends... or even here on Icrontic. It's all I've ever really wanted to do, and when I decided to leave school (I was studying psychology, for those who want to be in the know), my dad told me "I've never seen you in a 9 to 5 kind of job. I never thought it would make you happy", and he supported the decision completely. Now, with a year and some between me and that moment, I'm ready to go back for a journalism degree.

    As to why I love it... Nothing else gives me the feeling that I get after writing a particularly good line of dialogue or narrative. I can make people up, I can travel to places no one's ever been... I can get lost in characters and not even be me for a little while. I can be funny and confident, and in a world where I've never felt myself to be either of those things, it's awesome.

    So, you know... Look for me on a book shelf one day, because I'm going to be there.

    RyanFoddermidgamertesnRahnalH102
  • d3k0yd3k0y Loveland, OH Icrontian

    @RahnalH102 one of the monsters that absolutely fascinated me in my years as a D & D player was the mythical Tarrasque. I've always been fascinated with world-sized creatures. You must have loved Shadow of the Colossus :D

    http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?261519-D-amp-Dish-The-city-built-around-the-tarrasque

    I always wanted to try this campaign, but I am really bad at DM-ing.

  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    1. My hobby is record collecting. Yeah, you thought I was going to say photography, didn't you? I love photography, but no.

    2. My prized possession *was* a near-mint copy of Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick," with the fold-out newspaper. However, all of my records were destroyed by saltwater, sewage, and heating oil, from Hurricane Sandy.

    3. I got into record collecting by way of a friend of mine, who is an audiophile. I didn't have enough money to buy ridiculously expensive equipment, so I did what I could. I bought an inexpensive phonograph, a cheap preamp, and a pair of headphones. I started small, with a few records I already owned, then started looking for older LPs, like Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, etc. Then I started getting into limited edition pressings, like MSFL (Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs), colored vinyl, imports. I had a nice silver-colored "Deloused in the Comatorium" pressed on 180g vinyl.

    Over time I traded up certain parts of my gear. The player stayed, but in came the $200 cartridge, the dedicated phono stage, and the Sennheisers. Then marriage came, and I had to put aside my hobby for a bit. Hurricane Sandy seriously derailed my efforts, but if we move to a new house, I promised myself I would start saving for new gear and new vinyl. This go-around, I am getting a numbered Apple Records pressing of The Beatles- known unofficially as "The White Album."
    oni_delsRahnalH102MiracleManSGnomeQueen
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    Snarkasm said:

    Leaving myself a reminder to come back to this. Somebody remind me if I don't post back in a few days.

  • d3k0yd3k0y Loveland, OH Icrontian
    1. Honestly by only "real" hobby is collecting things from the trips I take. My wife thinks I am weird, she likes to collect magnets from zoos and little nick-nacks from gift shops. Personally I like collecting receipts from the things we do, I feel they tell a better story.

    2. My prized possession isn't really one thing, but a grouping of movie tickets from pretty much every movie I have seen since 2001. I lost a good deal of them to backpocket washing machine disasters, but I think I have kept about 80%. I have well over 200 movie tickets, I average out about 2 movies a month every month since I was 14 (14 years ago).

    3. I don't know when I would say I officially started doing this, movie tickets are easier to pinpoint but that was kind of what got me started into collecting receipts from my trips. When I say above I think they tell a better story, I mean it is a something that takes up only a small space, but tells me everything I did that day (more or less). I can see where I went to dinner, on what day, at what time, what I ate, which then reminds of me how I felt about it. To me it is like a picture that allows you to paint the picture in your head more clearly than an actual picture telling you what to remember.
    MiracleManS
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    1. Photography.

    2. Can't pick a single photo, so instead, I'll say it's my site.

    3. I don't really know how it started. I think it was originally due to growing up with National Geographic around the house, and then it just gradually grew into a thing. I don't have nearly enough time to give to it nowadays (which you might notice, thanks to the dearth of pictures on the site), which makes me sad, but I like to think that I'm just one trip away from getting right back into it. Still, I miss it. Need to take my vacations.
    RahnalH102
  • ChoochChooch K-Pop authority™, Pho King Madison Heights, MI Icrontian

    @Basil‌ where do you get your Gundam Model kits? I am having a hard time finding a place locally that sells them.

  • BasilBasil Nubcaek England Icrontian
    edited March 2014

    @Church4252 I buy most locally which prolly isn't much good to you on the other side of the pond.

    I've also used HobbyLink Japan on occasion, given @midga and @ilriyas have used them with no issues (AFAIK) I've got no problem recommending them. Prices are good (example :P) and they'll hold items for up to 60 days after purchase so you can play about with shipping options.

    Other US peeps use random Amazon sellers, AmiAmi or one of the specialist domestic retailers; Barnes and Noble are actually supposed to start carrying gunpla in April so you might want to keep an eye out for that.

  • ChoochChooch K-Pop authority™, Pho King Madison Heights, MI Icrontian
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