Comments on: Four unusual hobbies

By: Urszula

Urszula — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 17:38:29 +0000

Hi Francis,
Thanks for sharing these unusual hobbies and starting an intriguing conversation that continued over the years. If you’re still into this theme, I invite you to have a look at the European Award for Lifelong Passions – a prize aimed at collecting and rewarding people who pursue unconventional hobbies (we call them passions). You can find a number of bizarre activities on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/lasecondaluna – and of course, we’ll be very thankful for any contributions that come to your mind. Have a good read!

By: J.T.

J.T. — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:59:56 +0000

There is also yarn bombing… It’s like knitted graffiti.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yarn-bombing/112073532141890

By: Serry

Serry — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:15:41 +0000

I once had the honor of meeting “the Orange Man” (a former philosophy professor who’d got beaten up and thereafter spoke slowly – at the rate of approximately one word per minute, allowing time for thought between words). His hobby (besides drinking gallons of carrot juice each day) was to surreptitiously plant orange tree saplings in regional parks and on other public lands, and to offer them, free of charge, to people who were leaving their churches on Sundays. I also had the priviledge of seeing his room. It was nearly wall-to-wall with orange tree seedling, with several bunches of saplings leaning against the walls, and a few avocado plants just beginning to grow – a side line, I presume. An early introduction to the world of unusual hobbies.

By: PhilipWmatthews

PhilipWmatthews — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:23:46 +0000

Obscurists are an international organisation devoted to being obscured by things, with competitions, awards, conventions they are even putting obscurism forward as an Olympic event.

By: Keith Fryer

Keith Fryer — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:21:53 +0000

I need a hobby for a character in my crime novel – it adds depth of character. He is a mildly reclusive American living in LA. Not weird or “off the planet”. Collecting baseball would be too ordinary. I need one that is masculine, plausible and unusual. Any suggestions? Is there a list of hobbies somewhere?

By: Francis

Francis — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:33:50 +0000

The comics at zug.com have done a few Space Hijacker style stunts, including hacking the superbowl.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:28:42 +0000

Pastafarianism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Fantastic absurd response to a very serious issue…

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:47:44 +0000

Not a hobby but a trend that could be ‘used’ for some good, interesting causes maybe?

Crowdsourcing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 09:48:59 +0000

Less exciting but I came across some unusual ‘spotting’ hobbies if it takes your fancy. As well as train spotting, people spot a variety of other vehicles…

http://www.lorryspotting.com/

http://www.buszone.co.uk/Why.html

Sure there must be more exotic vehicle spotting than buses and lorries too. Meanwhile there’s a whole panoplie of exotic spotting hobbies available, including spotting tornadoes etc.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 08:33:26 +0000

Been meaning to add this one for a while – on the ‘urban exploring’ theme, there are some fantastic catacombs beneath paris, and all sorts of people who explore them – allegedly no complete maps available anywhere but partial maps passed on between people, secret entrances in people’s cellars, etc. All fantastic stuff, not least the cinema they discovered down there recently:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1299444,00.html