The Pantless Question of the Week - Other Interests.

[FatherJack]

In the tiny fragments of time when I am not gaming, buying games or thinking about games, I partake in these activities:

Reading - I like reading books, largely fantasy stuff from authors I know, but most recently lots of manga. I've always found it a bit of a trial to follow very action-heavy stuff, find the lewd stuff all rather samey and have lately grown disappointed with the lack of sustained interest in further volumes of the more girly stories, so I've been seeking out more generic, slow-paced character-based stories and have found a few gems I'll post in the rec. reading thread.

TV - I don't watch a massive amount, and since I despise adverts, it's all planned prerecorded stuff - which also cuts down the time it takes to watch stuff. I often fill the disks of my DVRs.
Top Gear, F-Word, Wimbledon and the Grand Prix are on there, but I also like programs about places I'm never likely to see like Dan Cruickshank's Architecture and Wild China - I only really like the very epic nature programs. I like some detective programmes - Silent Witness and George Gently are on there, and Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes was a favourite. Doctor Who and Torchwood do me for British sci-fi, and I look forward to more Heroes and Sarah Connor Chronicles from the US. Shockingly, I do watch Big Brother - I record a whole week, then just catch up on the summaries and the Friday show.

Music - I listen sporadically, but it's not really entertaining enough for me to just sit and listen to it. I think anything is worth a listen and my last.fm library shows my tastes vary. I used to be very much into a lot of the bands Roman likes now when they were first out, but they make me feel old listening to them now and I'm always trying to find something new.
I like to mess around and make music, while I have a bass guitar and a Yamaha DX21 they rarely come out and I like to tinker in computer-based music programs like Acid, Reason and Native Instruments - usually what comes out are remixes of game theme tunes or 80's pop, and I've been experimenting with 8-bit style stuff.

DVD - I have a mountain of unwatched anime to catch up on, but more often find myself watching regular films on BDs which I buy on a whim. Most recently The Golden Compass, Run Lola Run, AVP2 and Beowulf - I tend to go for things I think will look good in hi-def.

Sport - I like to see Coventry City (football) and Coventry Bees (speedway) do well, but haven't been to either in person for a good twenty years, and they don't feature often enough on Sky to justify the subscription. I don't play any sports anymore, standing up for more than 10 minutes gives me backache and I'm too heavy for my ancient mountain bike, but I like remote-controlled cars and helicopters and often go for a drive (in my real car) for hundreds of miles just for the hell of it.

Cooking - Family and friends say I'm great at it, but I know I don't hold a candle to the professionals. I do big recipe-based based meals with my Dad around Christmas time and am good at keeping everything on-track and recovering from disasters, but at home it's usually making stuff up on the fly given what I have to hand, and experimenting with new ingredients.
I don't know if I'm being arrogant, but I'm often disappointed with restaurant food, thinking I've made better myself - but of course I'm remembering the one good time it all came together, not the 10 inedible disasters that preceeded it.

DIY - I do a bit, at first reluctantly but then kind of get into it. Since I'm lazy and only want to have to do stuff once, I try to do a good job of it the first time. I hate gardening for exactly the same reason - the stuff you don't want always grows back, my solution involved a lot of sand, gravel and concrete.

Pubs - Used to go every week but our group grew smaller as we got older. Haven't been in a pub since the smoking ban - and I only smoke these days after I've had a jar or two. I don't really miss it.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

I don't know if I'm being arrogant, but I'm often disappointed with restaurant food, thinking I've made better myself - but of course I'm remembering the one good time it all came together, not the 10 inedible disasters that preceeded it.

Very hard.

I don't think it's arrogance though, I think partly it's just shit restaurants, and partly that foodies will often not cook decent simple food, but go for the more extravagant options, so spend more time than is sensible on making something really good.


Only restaurant I've been impressed with (and not sent something back at) recently, was the Ramsay one at Claridges, but, that's not something you could ever hope to replicate without 20+ extremely talented cooks/chefs, and massive amounts of money for produce.

[Dog Pants]

Shit, I don't have time to read all these. Someone reply in about half an hour so I'll remember it when I get back.

My interests generally involve things that require little commitment and effort.

I've always got a book on the go, usually read while pooing.

I love film. I've over 450 DVDs now.

I've got a good ear for music but am otherwise completely musically untalented.

Onanism. That's fun.

Ladies: I've got Mrs Pants, who has lovely bewbs.

Beer: Not so much any more, but I reckon I've been a borderline alcoholic in the past.

Beardage, as we all know. The dirtier and closer to modern the better.

I now have a new hobby: Sprog Pants. She's not that interesting at the moment, but I reckon we'll have loads of fun because I'm going to mold her in my image. Poor kid.

I like taking photos, but I only really snap at things, I've never tried to be any good at it.

[Nickface]

Cycling - I love my road bike and try to ride 90 miles a week (three 30 mile trips)

Geocaching - Global GPS scavenger hunt thing (if you're really intrigued www.geocaching.com)

Photography - I've been slowly getting back into it. I used to do a lot of older processes from the late 1800's and such and other uncommon practices.

Cooking - I can successfully mimic several dishes my mother makes, which were handed down to her, so I'll leave the idea of quality up to you.

Reading - I love to read, and I've been going all over the map with the books this year. Some notable books in 2008: The Iliad, Along Came a Spider, the Sun Also Rises, and others.

Hang Out Mode - Just hanging out with friends doing whatever, such as going out to a film or grab some food, perhaps have a bon fire, etc.

Sporting Events - I'll watch almost any sport for some background noise or entertainment. Two I will go out of my way to catch: Hockey and American Football.


That's all I can think of at the moment.

[amblin]

.

[nunoncastors]

Posts by Buzz and Roman reminded me that I didn't point out that I'm a Reading fan.

This, only where it says Reading, read Notts County. Yes, I know.

[randomgazz]

Like pretty much everyone else I read a lot, and it's pretty much exclusively science fiction or fantasy. Here and now doesn't do much for me.

Bizarrely I actually seem to enjoy my job, though it burns me out and sucks up far too much time. However, there is something about seeing a building come together, and noticing where the problems you have overcome are.

Kayaking, I don't get to do anywhere near as much as I would like, but I just love being on a nice bit of white water early in the morning on a chilly day in Wales. This probably means I need psychiatric attention.

Music: Supposedly I play bass, though it's dusty enough for that to be a bit of a lie. I'm always listening to music when I can though, and it usual can cheer me up when I need it. I don't go to enough gigs nor do net radios as often as I would like.

Finally boozes, I like these more than I should and my gut will testify to this. In fact it seems keener to tell; people more and more, as it keeps getting bigger. However a nice beer really can put me in a great mood, or make me feel better.