The Tell Us About Your Hobbies Thread!

Demonlawyer wrote:What's prompting you to learn Welsh Dcat?

And do you get much rugby out there? The six nations here starts this weekend - I can't wait!

(Ps 500th - I feel slow doing it too)

I am Welsh (well by descent: I was born in the States) and I've done a decent amount of genealogical research into my family and just got interested in learning about the language and culture. Besides, I always like to have a hobby that is "productive". (Although one might argue about the usefulness of learning a language that very few people speak.)

As for rugby, it's tough to get here. Fox used to have the sports world channel, which would play rugby, but that channel was changed to the Fox Soccer Channel, which doesn't generally show rugby. I purchased Setanta for the World Cup in 2007 (and will probably do so again in 2011), but the channel is a la carte and I can't justify paying for it every month. I played rugby in high school and college and then coached when I was in law school and love it, so I try to keep up, but it's tough to find any matches on tv on a regular basis.

Well, if you can watch tv from Brits, have a look at bbc's iPlayer (not that I have!) You can watch tv online after it's been on the telly. Maybe they'll have the six nations there for you.

As for Welsh, I know a ton of people that speak it (well I guess being closer to Wales maybe!). There's a really popular soap opera called Pobol y cwm. It means people of the valley, though I'm sure you know that one already. (It's about the only Welsh I do know other than Aber means mouth of the river, so all these towns called Abergavenny means mouth of the river Gavenny, and Aberystwyth etc etc

PS cheers Cub. You well?

Yeah man, just coping with the heat... might write a thread about it. lol

-Cub. =o)

jcarnby wrote:

Vracar wrote:I attempt writing fiction. As of...a few days ago, I finished the first half of the novel I'm attempting to write.

Kudos to you Vracar! I too try to call myself a writer of fiction. However, that was years ago, and it has been some time since I've written anything that I call any good and have gotten attached to. Care to elaborate as to what your novel is about?

It's The Adventures of Oswald Trumpet, a fantasy about a journalist leading a regular life in an irregular world. I posted the first chapter on this forum a while back; here's a link.

http://www.unofficialtexmurphy.com/mess ... f=1&t=1504

Great sig, Vracar!

It's been really interesting to read about all my interesting friends here. I think it's interesting that so many of us enjoy writing: it is probably no coincidence that AC's writing in the games that brought us together is so well done.

Of the few personal hobbies I have time for outside my time with my family and work, I most enjoy writing on my (sorta heady) blog; it's a little more involved than the "check out this link", "saw a funny sign", "enjoyed my trip to Vegas" sort of blog. I enjoy learning about and discussing evolution and other topics of controversy within Christian theology (which I discuss on said blog). I like language, especially analyzing odd figures of speech and grammatical constructions spoken extemporaneously. I feel like a work of fiction or two is in me, but I'm afraid it will come out sounding very derivative, since I don't have my own unique "voice". I also enjoy composing on the piano and in GarageBand, although I don't have time for it near as much these days. Finally, I love camping. That's me.

Demonlawyer wrote:Well, if you can watch tv from Brits, have a look at bbc's iPlayer (not that I have!) You can watch tv online after it's been on the telly. Maybe they'll have the six nations there for you.

As for Welsh, I know a ton of people that speak it (well I guess being closer to Wales maybe!). There's a really popular soap opera called Pobol y cwm. It means people of the valley, though I'm sure you know that one already. (It's about the only Welsh I do know other than Aber means mouth of the river, so all these towns called Abergavenny means mouth of the river Gavenny, and Aberystwyth etc etc

PS cheers Cub. You well?

When I was last in Wales (it's been a while, I think it was in 2007) I caught some of Pobol y cwm. Unfortunately, not being in the U.K., iPlayer will let me listen to radio, but not watch tv programs. BBC claims that they're working on allowing non-U.K. residents to watch programs on the iPlayer. I'll just have to wait and see if they do.

What do you call someone who is constantly plagued by new stories emerging in his mind but can't write to save his life?

As a kid it was fine, what with the imaginary friends and the Lego stories. As an adult it's becoming a little problematic. I don't know what to do with all those stories. They haunt me, invade my dreams and daydreams, and they refuse to go away. I figured if I wrote them down they'd be put to rest, but it seems I'm not good enough for that

Do it anyway. And don't embellish them, just write them down as they feel natural.

Then don't look at it twice. It's a rule of nature that writers hate their own work after it's finished.

-Fred

Frank wrote:What do you call someone who is constantly plagued by new stories emerging in his mind but can't write to save his life?

As a kid it was fine, what with the imaginary friends and the Lego stories. As an adult it's becoming a little problematic. I don't know what to do with all those stories. They haunt me, invade my dreams and daydreams, and they refuse to go away. I figured if I wrote them down they'd be put to rest, but it seems I'm not good enough for that

If you're not shy, try filming them on Youtube with puppets/toys/doodles/legos/whatever for fun. Of course if you can do animation then use that instead, but if not its not a must, I fondly remember the hilarious toy parodies of movies in the Adam and Joe show which was a broadcast on Channel 4 during the 90s in the UK (look them up on the net/youtube, my favourite is the Star Wars and The Crystal Maze crossover). Maybe they'll become popular.