Getting published 2
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Getting published
The British Invasion
Salvador
The quality of sanity is not strained
Going round in circles
Where do you hide your money?
For film buffs
SteamboatsFive unusual hobbies
1. Duct tape art
“My aunt uses duct tape, positioned sticky-side up, on her tables to discourage her cats from jumping on the tables. It works. However, it is not recommended that anyone puts duct tape directly on cat’s fur. I’ve obtained many many cat bites and claw scratches from that (every time after the first was an accident). Also, my mom likes to place random strips of duct tape, also sticky side up, on the floor by walls and effectively traps spiders and other bugs” – Jae
2. Rice grain carving
A man in Hainan Province has carved 115 Chinese characters onto a grain of rice, breaking the record of 113.
The man spent three days on the work, carving a famous poem and his name on the grain. Unsurprisingly, it takes a magnifying glass and a keen eye to see the characters.
The most I’ve managed is the end of a piece of dry spaghetti.
3. Making sheets of paper
The presence of green and brown vegetable fibers from the grass will give your sheets a special charm. Also, the addition of petals will contribute to make the sheets more beautiful. You can even use the paper you will have made to write a letter.
4. Taphophilia
Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile. It involves epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art, and history of (famous) deaths. An example of an individual’s expression of taphophilia is the character Harold in the movie Harold and Maude (1971).
5. Train knives
This was our hobby as boys and there was quite a skill to it. Six inch nails were carefully placed on train lines where the metal line was flat and even, then it was a case of hiding. After the train passed, you’d collect the new knives from where they’d been flung and scarper.
The best of them [often scimitar like] would then have the head placed between two halves of a carved handle and the whole screwed together in four places. They were good.
Do you have any hobbies fit for printing? Paper gun making, for example?
Filed under: Arts & culture, Diversions
Sounds like some people have too much time on their hands LOL
When you think about it participating in life shortening indulgences like drinking and smoking must come above the given hobbies as rather unusual. At least the given hobbies are relatively harmless.
As for Taphophilia…this is something I have been taking a lot of images of lately and is in part inspired by my daughter who has a fascination for graveyards….this goes back to when she was in nursery….I remember going to a parents evening in her nursery and looking at the pictures on the wall of her nursery drawn by the kids. There was one that stood out……instead of happy images of Mummy and Daddy it was an image of graves and dark clouds…it was of course drawn by my daughter.
I felt like the worst parent in the world when I saw it. But then upon asking my daughter what her inspiration for such a painting was she replied that she just liked the difference between her chosen subject matter and that of her class mates.
This rebellious concept has continued on through her life and as much as I find it uncomfortable at least she is at ease with her personal expression and disdain for conformity…which is more than can be said for my own personal battle with the world at large.
The other day she asked me to photograph her down in a grave yard 100 yards from our house and take photos of herself amongst the graves for her “Green Man” GCSE art portfolio.
One of the images that she staged is absolutely beyond words…..I am a proud Dad of a very creative daughter.
So this brings me to believe that such bizarre pastimes like the ones you have mentioned are only part of a greater appreciation of our environment….. and to follow “Proper” guidelines of protocol for how we pass the time between our working hours is a form of enslavement.
I will add to my previous comment…Upon starting my site I did a video with a good friend of mine to promote the site he is also an old Gothic at heart…..we did this video and I did the music for it but needed a dark mysterious/eastern vocal to embellish the mood…..I tried various different singers who I have worked with but none had the Dead Can Dance vocal that I needed…..anyway I played the song to my daughter for advice. She said “Dad just give me the mic and press record”….so I thought I won’t batter her confidence and gave her a chance…this is the end result.
http://www.youtube.com/user/economicvoicedotcom#p/a/04CF3864BF4B1C3C/0/TN5IteI2bNw
As I said very very very proud Dad….
… Althought Harold’s tastes extende to the nearly dead too! I can understand taphophilia. I love cemeteries
That’s an interesting youtube video. Abstract and eerie.
I like cemeteries too. Not for any weird reasons though
I’m not into necrophilia or anything!
I like them because they’re usually quite peaceful places and tend to have a calming effect on people. The older headstones are a part of history and are often really beautiful pieces of sculpture.
I’m a Gothic freak too, anything Gothic, architecture, music, art, movies, clothes and graveyards.
Interesting to read what people are saying here. I’d not have thought it. For me, it is the heavy rain of yesterday and black and white landscapes, plus film noir which does it for me. In Three Days of the Condor, the heroine’s art was a case in point.
Number 1 is more of a household tip. However, I bet there are people out there who make works of art from duct tape so I concede the point.
The all sound harmless enough to me. Although Number 5 will have many whingy whiney people whringing their hands. We should replace it with people making their own guns…. Wait! That might cause heart attacks up and down the country. How about flower arranging.
Hi Sue….yes sometimes beauty is subjective. I don’t really enjoy graveyards as a rule but the one down the end of my lane is over 1500 years old and the ruin of the church there is mesmerising. As youngsters we would climb into the rather well preserved ruins and go up into the higher parts of the church which had an upstairs fire place where we would light fires and stay the night telling ghost stories. Unfortunately the roof has fallen into disrepair and the floorboards are too unsafe to walk on.